Varun's Digital Diary

Second Innings

2011-05-15T22:40:00.000-07:00

The last time I landed in Lagos,Nigeria, it was about 8.00 pm and all I could see was the dimly lit runway. This time around though, I took Qatar Airways instead of Emirates and the flight landed in the afternoon.

Nigeria for the first time looked beautiful and I am not kidding or being sarcastic when I say it. There is probably more greenery in Lagos than we have in Bangalore and we shout our lungs out that we live in the 'Garden city'. There is nothing more pleasing to eyes and heart than wide spread greenery and a dash of rainfall. (I've been cooking here and I had to use the words 'Dash of Rainfall' just like 'A dash of Lemon') Yes!! It was also raining when I landed and the whole scene looked so amazing! Wet runway, lush pastures on either sides of the runway, fully loaded Airbus 330 carrying people belonging to almost all nationalities! So what if the the landing gear slipped and it required one brave guy and a pretty airhostess to stop the plane!? Scene straight out of a hollywood movie isn't it!? Nothing of that sort happened though and we landed safe and sound!

Elections in Nigeria completed about a month ago and the guy who has won and will continue to be president of the country is Mr. Goodluck Jonathan. I am not wishing him luck. It is his name! People believe a lot in him and are looking forward to the changes he has promised to bring. They are hopeful and the whole country is looking to move into greener pastures! For a country that was under the military for so long (Around 33 years), a whole term under a democratic party and a good president to add to it will be a welcome change.

Greener pastures I guess is something we all look forward to all the time in life. It is probably THE driving force of human kind. We always aspire for a better situation for ourselves even though the one we already have might be the best. People who manage to figure this out as early as possible I guess are the happiest. Having absolutely nothing to do gives a lot of time to think about a lot of things in life and this is one such passing thought.

Looooong flight journey gave me an opportunity to read a lovely novel called 'Life is what you make it'. It is written by one of my dear blogger friends Preeti Shenoy. I loved the book and am extremely proud of her. The book is currently 3rd best seller on flipkart and it has made it to the long list of Vodafone-Crossword Book awards announced on IBN Live. Can you beat that!? I guess she can! I want to see the book become a National Best seller! Without disclosing much about the book I would like to tell you readers that it is a coming of age story of a girl called Ankita. I do not read much books and realised that I will not be the right person to to review it! Won't do justice! I'll probably copy and paste the email I sent to Preeti.

3rd on Flipkart. Awesome! You are making faster progress than Novak Djokovic :) (Shouldn't really compare tennis to books but that is the headline I read first thing in the morning today! 'Summit in Sight'. BTW I have to tell you the book 'Life is what you make it' is awesome! Got a chance to read it in the flight... Finished it in one reading. Had to delay lunch but it was totally worth it... I cried and laughed with Ankita... Loved her, hated her, Felt bad for hating her. And finally felt great to see her back on track, on her feet and doing what she always loved to do... It put me through an emotional turbulence inside the flight. I can understand what it must have put you through to get into the skin of such a character.... Few love letters in the book are amazing... I can simply copy paste them straight out of the book and any girl would go aww :D

And as expected, I got a lovely reply (Preeti always replies) but that is a different story.

It has been raining on and off here and the weather has been quite pleasant. Pity we cannot keep our windows open for the breeze as that will be an invitation to our very own Female Anopheles and we are simply in no mood to feed her.

First week in office hasn't been noteworthy. But some events outside office have defintely been blog worthy! There is a Supermarket 'Shoprite' in Lagos that sells fresh bread in an inhouse Bakery. I had always seen people standing in a queue to buy it but had never bothered to get one for myself. This time around my friend and I decided to get our hands on that famous fresh bread no matter what. Believe it or not, we stood in the queue for about hour and a half just to buy that bread. Steve jobs will be put to shame if he sees this queue. People queue up for his product only on the first day of its launch. Now comes the curious part. How was the bread? I want to write that it was awesome, mindlblowing, yummy! But Nah!! It was like any other bread. Simply couldn't find anything special with it. The wildest guess we could come up with is it is probably the best fresh bread available for such a low price. Pictures below will tell you the story :)

Standing in the Queue

World Famous Bakery :)

Jackpot!!!!

Weekend has been a very lazy one! Completed watching the first season of 'Modern Family'. Sitcom has lovable characters and is quite funny. Will have to wait till I get back to India to download and watch the second season. Also got to watch the movie 'Thor'. 3.5 stars out of 5. I like Natalie Portman in any role :)

'Stanley Ka Dabba' (Movie) released over the weekend in India and I am feeling jealous of anyone who's watched it. I wanted to watch that movie and want the movie to do well. Good to see that the movie has been getting awesome reviews everywhere. Just hope it is still running in theatres when I get back. If not, torrents zindabad :)

What else is happening down here in Africa!? I have been travelling around the world. Am I crazy!? No! I am not! I am travelling virtually of course! Making plans, reading about new places, looking at the pictures people have clicked. Feels great to read about new places. Ever tried it? Go on.. Give it a shot! You'll love it... It is good to allow your mind to wander off... It comes back with lots of new ideas and thoughts! Where is my mind now!!? Your guess is as good as mine!

Bavra Mann Dekhne Chala Ek Sapna...

Family away from home

2011-02-20T11:12:00.000-08:00

As the day nears for my roommate to fly back to India, I have started feeling restless instead of feeling happy for him for getting out of the 7 star Jail. Am I feeling jealous that he is getting to India before me or will I miss him here!? I guess it’s both.

Roomies (I don't really like this word but since it sounds cool, I have used it) are one's backbone and family away from home. If you have ever had a bad experience with one, I feel sorry for you but then I am not talking about it here. This blog is like its author. Always positive :)

They are there to share happiness, they are there to share your dreams, they are there to hear your stories, they have seen you crib, they have seen you laugh, they have seen your anger, they have been guinea pigs for your cooking experiments, they are someone who have seen you in all moods and are there for you all the time.

They come in all shapes and sizes, all colour, caste and creed but nothing matters. At the end of the day, they are family! I am someone who did not want to get out of home for anything till I finished my college. Had I got a job in Mandya or Bangalore as soon as I finished my Engineering, I would have missed something big in life. I was always confident that I would survive anywhere in the world but got a chance to experience it only when I got out of home in 2005 and what an experience it has been!

As I am typing this out, every friend I have ever shared a room / apartment with is just walking across my eyes. This post goes out to all my awesome roommates. It will be incomplete if I do not mention their names. It will be one long list though :). I will not bore my lovely readers with their introductions but will surely mention one or two traits I love about them the most. This doesn't meant they don't have other traits :D. If you manage to relate it to your personal experiences or roommates, I would think I have done a good job in keeping you occupied :-).

Ashok Poojary - First ever room mate and a caring one at that :)

Sushanth - Kannada speaking room mate in Mumbai. What more can you expect!? Free spirit...

Purnendu Shandilya - Giant with a heart of gold :). Ready for anything anytime of the day!

Akshat Jain - Spontaneous, Passionate, Playstation Partner

Vikas Anand - Studious types

Chandan Kumar - One of the Best Friends I will ever find :)

Adityavir Tyagi - Good cook, Prankster

Alok Jain - Butt of all jokes and not so typical Jain ;)

Vikas Dhankar - On phone all the time with his Jaanu.

Siddartha Mohanty - Super Prankster, Movie Partner,

Vikram Dev - Sensible, Extremely hard working.

Abhijeet Shetty - Someone who hated to be tied down in Office, Home sick!

Bibhupada Dash - Aloof, Good at heart!

Shamendra Ekka - Explorer, Adventure Freak!

Harsh Gandhi - Khabri (He actually knew where Osama was hiding too. Pity that Bush never asked). Lovely human being.

Maneesh Shanbhag – Mr. Dependable, Personal Photographer in UK :)

Ankur Badani - Industrious

Mohit Gandhi - Rolu Polu, Someone who loves to follow rules everywhere

Sandeep Bharadwaj - Typical Jatt if you know what I mean and an extrovert. Can make friends in minutes :)

Kamal Prasad - Lively, Have a lot in common, Great Company

Love you all and miss you!!

Weekend Movie Mania

2011-02-13T11:26:00.000-08:00

I am high!! Totally high on movies I managed to watch this weekend and before my eyes drag me to my bed, I thought I should post the reviews. Some are old, some are new. Some are comedy, some are action. It was a cocktail of movies that took to me to a different world altogether. All the movies can be enjoyed at home on a DVD or you know where you can download them ;)... Links below the movie names will take you to IMDB and Wikipedia websites for more information.

Courtesy: Google Image Search

The Mummy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mummy_(1999_film)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120616/

I have watched this movie a thousand times (Okay I'm exaggerating) and still watch it whenever it is on TV. I like both The Mummy and Mummy returns. Never tried to watch the third part as it did not have the complete cast and crew of the first two movies.

3.5 out of 5

The Hangover

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hangover_(film)

www.imdb.com/title/tt1119646/

Timeless classic I would say. Manages to tickle the funny bone whenever I watch it. Awesome.

4.5 out of 5

Red

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_(2010_film)

www.imdb.com/title/tt1245526/

Out and out Bruce Willis movie. Mindless Action but well made I would say.

3 out of 5

The Town

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Town_(2010_film)

www.imdb.com/title/tt0840361/

Loved the movie. It is a movie a about a small town called Charlestown and about Bank robbers.Ben Afleck has not only acted well but also directed it really well

4 out of 5

Scott Pilgrim Vs The World

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_pilgrim_vs_the_world

www.imdb.com/title/tt0446029/

Geeky. A total geek movie. A guy to win his girl has to battle her seven evil exes :) in Mortal Kombat style. People who've played console and PC games at least once in their lives will be able to relate to the movie. If not, don't even think about watching it.

3 out of 5

Boy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boy_(2010_film)

www.imdb.com/title/tt1560139/

Beautifully told story of a young 11 year old Boy who lives with his granny, a younger brother a goat and few cousins in a farm house. Fun fact about the movie is it the highest grossing New Zealand film of all time.

4 out of 5 ( 4 only because it is just a 90 min movie)

My best friend's girl

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Best_Friend's_Girl_(2008_film)

www.imdb.com/title/tt1046163/

Romatic Comedy. Has its moments. But then thats it. One time watch only if it is on TV and you have nothing else to do.

2.5 out of 5

Ghost Writer

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ghost_Writer_(film)

www.imdb.com/title/tt1139328/

Awesome! A tale of a ghost writer (Ewan McGregor) who gets himself entagled in political conspiracy when he decides to ghost write the memoirs of an Ex British Prime Minister played by Pierce Brosnan.

4 out of 5

Since it is 14th of February, I would like to take this opportunity to wish Saint Valentine a very happy birthday and wish a very happy Valentine's day to all my loved ones!

Lots of love,
Varun

A handwritten blog post :)

2011-02-04T07:12:00.000-08:00

This is something I have always wanted to do. Post a handwritten blog post. In case the written font is not too clear you can click on the picture to enlarge and read. Hope you enjoy it.

Incredible India - Pleasures of Travelling

2011-01-09T04:49:00.000-08:00

Whenever I come across pictures of amazing locales or read about them, I add them to my never ending list of places I want to visit. Worst part about this list though is, it is no where documented! It is stored in some corner of my mind. Before I lose track of all these lovely places, I thought I'll list them out here. Listed in no particular order. I want to visit the first place in the list as badly as the last one.

♥ ♥ I love to Travel ♥ ♥

I will stick to places in India for now and in the part 2 of this series, I'll list out the places abroad.Please note that I have not listed the places I have already been to.

Travelling is something that gives one new insight to life. It also gives us an opportunity to learn new cultures, taste new delicacies and it makes us realize that there is lot more to life that updating Facebook status and it also makes us realize the importance of the place you are currently living in.

This post will be incomplete if I don't thank my Dad. If I have been to so many places in India (20 states out of 28), it is only because of him and it is only because of him that I love travelling. I can argue that I am a Sagittarius and travelling or wandering comes to me naturally but then as a kid if someone's infused that travelling is good and something that can be enjoyed and not something to be feared of, it has to be him!

Here goes the list;

1. Andaman and Nicobar Islands / Lakshadweep - Two Amazing islands in India. One in Bay of Bengal and the other in Arabian Sea.

2. Leh and Ladakh / Jammu and Kashmir / Vaishno Devi

3. North East India (Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura - Sister States)

4. Jodhpur / Jaisalmer (Rajasthan) - Only desert in India

5. Daman and Diu

6. Puducherry

7. If possible, every small village in Himalayas. Himalayas is one mountain range I never get tired of seeing. Have loved all my trips there.

8. Gokarna

9. Kanchipuram Temple and Madhurai Temple for its architecture.

10. Nainital / Kanatal / Kodai. In fact all small and big hill stations of India.Have been to most of the famous ones.

11. Reserve Forests / Wildlife Sanctuaries / National Parks - Would love to go to every one them. There are about 100. Bharatpur, Kaziranga, Gir and Corbett are on top of my list.

12. Goa - Yes! One more time.

13. Ajanta and Ellora Caves

14. Hampi - Want to go here again with a DSLR Camera

15. Alleppy - Kerala - Backwaters and House Boats

16. Dhanushkodi - End of land. Very close to Srilanka

17. North Karnataka - Bijapur, Badami, Patadakal, Aihole, Kudala Sangama

Since I am posting the links of each and every place, I am getting lost reading through them and have been typing this post since last 2 hours. I have a strong feeling that I have missed a lot of awesome places and I will surely keep visiting this post time and again and keep updating it. It also increases the numbers of hits on my blog you see :-)

If you think I have missed anything, please let me know! I'll surely add it to the list. In this busy world, I have no clue when and how I will find time to visit all these places but I am someone who firmly believes that time can be controlled and can be tweaked the way we want it to work.

I had watched the video below earlier but when I watched it on a television in Nigeria, it suddenly brought a sense of pride in me. Told my Nigerian friend proudly that this is India!

Watch out for part 2 of the series :) Hope you had a great weekend! Have a wonderful week ahead!

Update from Nigeria: Nigeria is treating me very well. 4 weeks out of the 12 have flown in no time. In 8 more weeks, I'll be back in India. Have plans to go to a nearby reserve forest and shop for some Nigerian handicrafts. India vs South Africa test series was awesome. Looking forward to one day series now.

Post card from Lagos

2010-12-26T15:33:00.000-08:00

As promised, here I am with a picture post card (Click on the thumbnails to see the full size image and don't forget to click on hyperlinks in the post) from Lagos. Before you dive into the pictures, here's a lil tidbit about the city!

"It’s the largest city in Africa, with wall-to-wall people, bumper-to-bumper cars. The city takes its name from the Portuguese for lagoon, and has been a Yoruba port, a British political centre and until 1991, Nigeria’s capital. It remains the economic and cultural powerhouse of the country, and has a superb live music scene and West Africa’s most inimitable street life. It won’t be to everyone’s taste, but if you’re up for an urban adventure then you might find Lagos truly compelling. A true megacity and the face of modern Africa as much as any picture postcard national park – jump right in." - Lonely Planet

Will start off with a sign board and then move on to my apartment and office. People do keep the city clean. Main roads look spic-and-span but sometimes the footpaths and side roads are as smelly as Phoebe Buffay's cat!

Drawing Room

Dining

Balcony next to Drawing Room

Kia Rio, My Roomie Kamal and our Driver Hakim

Stairs from Drawing room to Bedrooms

My Room :)


Work Place. Golden Plaza, Lagos

MTN's Y'ello (Yellow) Christmas Tree

Enough of apartment and Office! Let me move on to bird's eye view of Lagos! (Pictures have been shot from the 9th floor of Golden Plaza!)

MTN parking lot

Flyover, A housing colony and an old market

Boat Club. Water seen is the back waters of Atlantic Ocean!

Wasn't that just amazing!? I know I am praising my own pictures but is there anything wrong in calling an amazing picture amazing!? :-D

Okay now let me zoom in a little and show you the traffic,some buildings and anything that caught my eye while driving to work. Haven't really managed to capture the true essence of Lagos and the bumper to bumper traffic yet but since it is something that is seen almost every day, I'll capture if for you very soon!

I had read somewhere that if you drive in Lagos you can drive anywhere in the world. I think everyone would say the same about the city they live in but after seeing how people drive here, I should say, if you have driven in Bangalore, you can drive blind folded in Lagos.

Awolowo Road. Oh yes! There are Autos

Lagos Taxi. Haven't traveled in one yet

100 cc Motorbikes are everywhere

City Buses (Called Lag Bus) lined up

Back waters you saw in one of the pictures above takes us to lots of lovely little lagoons and islands! One such beach cum lagoon is Ibeshe. We had a team outing there and it was awesome to say the least. I will round off my post with some memories from that trip.

With my Manager and someone who's taller than me

I came here to work. I am not kidding!

Ibeshe Resort

Playing soccer/football

Love the last two pictures!

Hope you had a great Christmas weekend and hope you enjoyed the picture post card from Lagos! Stay tuned for more! :-)

PS:- For the entire album, please click here

Y’ello from Nigeria!

2010-12-19T04:05:00.000-08:00

It has been a long time since I updated my blog about anything and it might come as a surprise to you that I am updating it from Nigeria. I came here last Sunday and will be here for another 11 weeks. The journey so far has been pleasing and I am hoping it will continue to be the same for next few weeks and months.

Thanks to my organization, I’m living in Lagos (Pronounced as Lay-gos by people out here) and in one of the posh localities of the city.

What strikes me the most in this city/country is the stark contrast between rich and poor! Person here will either own a Toyota Land Cruiser or an Audi or a BMW or will own nothing. Middle class seems to be non-existent.

I will write more about the city as and when I visit it. The only places I have visited so far are my office, a grocery store and a night club facing back waters of the Atlantic Ocean. There is no real threat to life but then we have been advised not to venture out alone.It will be some time before I start visiting places out here.

To give you an example of the life I am leading here, I share an air conditioned 2750 sq ft apartment with my team mate. It has 3 huge rooms, an awesome drawing room and a decent dining hall. And kitchen is any cook’s dream kitchen. Spacious and with all amenities! Wait! I am not done yet! We also have a chauffeur driven black Kia Rio car and a maid/cook :-). Royal treatment Eh!!?

I don’t remember when, but I was once asked by a British guy as to why we all Indians look alike!? I had no answers back then and since he was a friend, I had told him he must have gone mad! But now I know why he asked me that question. From the day I have landed here, every person looks the same to me. I was actually worried if I will be able to distinguish between the pop singer on TV and my driver. Even though I managed it by second day I call every singer on TV as Hakim now. That is btw my driver’s name.

Every person out here is friendly and tries to help. If you are out walking about a mile, you’ll end up wishing/greeting at least 10 unknown people along the way. They know that we are scared to even walk alone and try to make our lives as comfortable as possible. Had people not scared me so much, I would have preferred to walk to office every single day. Wondering what changed the lazy guys’ preference? It is traffic jam that has changed it all!! Jams here are the worst jams I have ever seen. Beats Bangalore traffic jams hollow. It took us 1 hour to drive a mile few days back. Weather is quite hot and humid but then that doesn’t really stop us from walking and being Indians, we are used to such heat and humidity.

Coming to food, we get all sorts of veggies and meat. You name it, we get it. It is probably a south Indians’ dream city as we get coconuts :-). Nice fresh ones for cooking! If a Malyali ever decides to migrate from Dubai, this is the city he/she should come to!

The only thing that I am not really happy about is the Internet speed. Feels as though I have gone back 10 years in time. To simply give you an idea about the speeds here, I tried to download a movie last night. The estimated time remaining was 11 weeks and 8 hours. I canceled the download because I might as well reach Bangalore by then and download it in 1 hour. I am not really complaining about the place though. I know every place comes with its set of pros and cons and I am happy as long as I am able to connect to the world!

Pictures and more details in my next post and now that I have time, I’ll post regularly!

Cya later Alligator ( Picked it up from my nephew Archith :-D)

PS: Flight to Nigeria was great. Emirates gets thumbs up from me! and here's the meaning of Y'ello for you!
Y’ello - A super hybrid form of both yo and hello, making a super greeting. Used extensively in Nigeria!

Cricket Mania

2010-10-05T03:28:00.000-07:00

I feel depressed whenever I watch the Indian cricket team lose. The depression increases many folds when they lose from a winning position. I know it is something not in my control. I know it is a sport and the team cannot win all the time. I know Sachin is not God. I know Dhoni is an over-rated star. I know Dravid and Laxman cannot win us test matches all the time. So what is it that causes the depression.

I think it is simply the love for the game and the country. Honestly speaking, inspite of all the match fixing, spot fixing scandals/allegations, inspite of overdose of cricket, I still love the game a lot. I might no longer follow every ball, I might no longer look at the score card every five seconds but I still follow the game whenever and wherever possible.

I hate it when people speak badly about team India. I hate it when smart-asses say idiotic things about the game. I hate it when self proclaimed experts of the game comment unnecessary things. I sometimes speak idiotic things too but deep down inside I am always hoping that the team wins. I simply cannot take Indian cricket team's failure.

Like every kid in India, I grew up watching cricket and hoping that I would play for India some day. I always dreamt about holding a bat and hitting the winning runs for the country. I could spin the ball like Kumble and bat like Sachin. Don't get surprised! Every one in India can do that. It is only a few lucky ones who play for the country though.

===========

Lunch Break

===========

Had started to write this post when Indians were 8 wickets down. Had gone out for lunch dejected and disappointed. Mann hi mann mein I was hoping for a miracle. Wanted to end this post in a jubiliant mood no matter what.

Miracle it was! Vangipurappu Venkata Sai Laxman has taken India home yet again! I have to take one of my words back. Laxman can win us tests against Australia any given day. Australians don't seem to have the key to the treasure chest where Laxman safe guards his wicket.

What an amazing match and what an amazing player. I have been busy reading the articles written my Australian media ever since the win and it is truly a special feeling to read such awesome words.

Here are some snippets for you;

"Edges flew wide and short balls were bunted high and safe early in the partnership but eventually Laxman’s undeniable class kicked in"

"VVS Laxman steers India to very special Test match win"

"VVS Laxman has returned to thwart Australia yet again"

I don't want to discuss anything about the match since it will be the topic of the discussion in all news papers and all conference rooms for the next two days.

I am happy, I am jubilant, I am ecstatic and I am smiling. The frown I had when I started writing this post has vanished. I am as happy as the two people in the picture below;

And BTW, it will be interesting to see who takes the front page of the news paper tomorrow. Abhinav Bindra with his CWG gold medal or VVS. Your guess is as good as mine ;)

The (big) Bang!!

2010-09-13T04:26:00.000-07:00

I have this habit of reading Google talk messages of all my friends at least one time every day and I am pretty sure that this habit of mine is not unique.

People generally update their status with inspirational quotes, new phone numbers, blog updates, song they are listening to, current location, personalized messages, hilarious jokes, movie reviews etc but I had a surprise in store when I read the status messages of my friends today.

Here's what I saw!!

- Dabang!!

- Item ye aam hui... darling tere liye

- Hum tum me itne ched karenge ki confuse ho jaoge... Ki sans kaha se le aur ..... !!

- Munni badnaam hui...darling tere liye...:-P

- Da Bang.....

- Lafander se humein yaad aaya ....

What does it tell you!? It tells me that all these friends of mine have watched the movie 'Dabangg' over the weekend and loved it. No one would spoil their personal space otherwise. So what is it you think has made this movie bigger than 3-idiots (Dabangg got a better opening than 3-idiots).

Following is my take on it;

In an era where filmmakers have become thinkers and trying to out-think the audience by making films that no one really understands (Couldn't really understand the love story in Kites for example), this movie comes as a welcome surprise. You don't need brains to watch / understand this film. It is an out and out Bollywood entertainer. It is something Bollywood is known for.

Right from Deewar where the angry young hero manhandles around 20 people inside a garage to Dabangg where the hero single handedly kicks the hell out of a gang of dacoits, hindi cinema heroes are known to be super heroes by birth. Someone who can dodge a bullet or bomb and kill the bad guy with one quick blow.

We should thank Dabangg and Salman Khan for bringing this brand of hero back into Bollywood. Aamir tried it with Ghajini but it was any day a remake of tamil movie. This one is ek-dum original :)

Frankly speaking, I was tired of watching these crying, mentally retarded, metro sexual, realistic heroes on screen. I see those kinds of guys all the time on page 3 anyway.

Coming to the storyline of the movie, why do you want a story anyway when you so many other
things to cheer and whistle about (Oh yeah! I whistled to my hearts content watching the first day first show in Bangalore) . For instance, you have these amazing dialogues, brilliant songs, action sequences that even Rajnikant fans would be proud of, pretty actress and last but not least, Munni :)

Salman Khan has managed to strike a chord with everyone who has watched this movie so far and I am sure he'll continue to do so for the next few weeks/months to come. This movie is going to be one of the biggest hits of his career and one that will feed Salman's brothers and their kids for generations to come.

All said and done, if you ask me if I am waiting for Dabangg-2, my answer would be, "Kamaal karte ho yaar, ye bhi koyi pooch ne wali baat hai!!?" :)

Schumi is back!

2010-01-28T05:10:00.000-08:00

Before my comment section is taken over by spammers an

d before that poor thing surrenders into submission, I have decided to stage a comeback and kick them out!

You read it right! I am back! Tonnes and tonnes o

f work in office took me away from blogging and I somehow never made an attempt to come back after that.

My comeback news may not be as exciting as Michael Schumacher's comeback to Formula-1 but I am sure it will be more exciting than India's test series in Bangladesh :)

My parents and few friends who've seen me drive an Alto at 140 kmph, a Santro at 150 kmph, a Swift at 160 kmph and a Vauxhall Zafira at 190 kmph fondly call me Schumi and that explains the title of the post. I've been called a BMTC/KSTRC bus driver as well but I'll stick to the best name of the lot.

I get maximum number of comments when I let my thoughts flow arbitrarily and that is what I have decided to do for my comeback post. Here it goes;

Sports:

Cricket: It was good to see that none of the IPL teams hired services of Pakistani players. I simply loved reading the comments of Pakistani players after the auction was over. India Vs Bangladesh was a waste of time, money and players. It cost us Rahul Dravid and Yuvraj Singh. Hope the replacements find their feet soon.

Tennis: Haven't followed Australian open very keenly this time around but I'll be rooting for anyone who'll be playing against Serena in the finals. Good to see Andy Murray in the finals. He'll be a tough nut to crack.

Formula 1: Can't wait till March. It will be one awesome, adrenaline pumping and exciting season.

Play-station 3: I am not sure if this qualifies as a sport but I love playing it whenever I find some free time. This is by the way the latest addition to my gadget showcase and another culprit that's kept me out of blogging :). I am currently playing Uncharted 2: Among thieves, FIFA 10 and Gran Tourismo 5 prologue.

Current Affairs: Shashi Taroor's tweets are more popular than any statement made in any parliament these days. But Abdul Kasab with his tandoori chicken demands and cheap comments and without any twitter account beats even Shashi Taroor to the headlines of all news papers. Not sure why they've not hanged him yet. If both of them fail to make it to the headlines, then it is definitely an Indian thrashed in Australia who gets the footage. Padma awards were a total mess this year with Aamir Khan, Saif Ali Khan and Sant Singh Chatwal making it to that list.

Movies: Haven't watched any new movie lately (My definition of lately is one week) but have plans to watch Ishqiya, Rann and Road to Sangam this weekend. Can't wait for My name is Khan.

Television: I am hooked on to 'Ye Pyar Na Hoga Kam' on Colors, musical reality show Music ka Maha Mukabla on Star Plus and Dance India Dance on Zee. I do watch Balika Vadhu too but don't mind missing it once in a while.

Travelogue: Had been to a lot of places nearby and far in last two months. Every place beautiful than the other. Goa, Mumbai, Mudigere, Chikmagaluru, Devaladakere, Horanadu, Shringeri, Kalasa, Shivmogga, Jog Falls, Linganamakki Dam to name a few. Now that I have started writing again, I'll probably write a post on my trips in detail very soon.

I’ll end the post with a section that I had promised I'll write with every new post.

Did you know? : A Haitian girl was found alive 15 days after quake. Miracle? What do you think?

PS: Apologies for not writing regularly.

Time to celebrate

2009-09-10T23:26:00.000-07:00

It is my Dad's birthday on 11th October and since he will not be in India on that day, I have come up with a unique way to clebrate it here in Bengaluru. I have decideded to take part in two events. I have registered for one and yet to purchase tickets for another. Both the events are equally awesome and I am sure any person any where in this world would love to attend them.

Enjoy the teasers :)

To book tickets log on to http://www.livetree.in/events.html

Yeah! Sonu Nigam Live. That's what the Poster says! I just cannot wait another month to attend this concert. I'll be booking the tickets by next week. Tickets are priced at 550,1100 and 2200. A touch too high but then I am sure it will be worth every paisa.

For registration and more information, Log on to http://bsaherculescyclothon.in.com/

After the success of Bengaluru Marathon, it is time of cycle enthisiasts to do something similar. Yes, It it Cyclathon time! It is sponsored by BSA Hercules and is a Network 18 venture. I have already registered for this event and am looking forward to being a part of the first Bengaluru Cyclathon. Join me and get healthy. I'll be taking part in the 'Green Ride'.

Did you know about any of these events? Are you planning to attend them? Let me know if you do...

Apart from dad's birthday and these events there is one very important reason for me to celebrate! It is finally confirmed that we will be getting our salary hikes this year. We might get it next week! Yey, Yippe!! Yey!!. Can't stop grinning :D

From now on, I am planning to end all my posts with a Did you know section!. It might or might not be related to the post but will definintely be something new. Let me know if I should continue it or not! I promise it will not be techie stuff all the time. There are lot more interesting things happening in this world.

Did you know: Yahoo have launched thier own version of twitter (The world famous micro blogging site). It is called meme. You can create your accounts there in two ways. Either through invitation from your friends or through a waiting list which is quite long. I have created mine! When are you creating yours!?

My meme's titled Goodness Gracious Me(me) - http://meme.yahoo.com/varungiridhara

New Darling of Tennis

2009-09-05T14:08:00.000-07:00

Source: Google Images

She is just seventeen but can beat the best on her day! She is ranked seventy in the world and third in America after Williams sisters.

She has just shocked Elena Dementieva (The Olympic Gold Medalist) and Maria Sharapova (US Open Champion - 06, Wimbledon Champion - 04) in the current US open and is now going to take on Nadia Petrova in the round of 16. Guess she has taken a liking to the ova's and eva's of Tennis.

Even though I was rooting for Maria Sharapova and was very disappointed that she didn't win, the three hour match made me stand up, applaud and congratulate the teen. It was an error-prone match for Sharapova. She committed around 65 unforced errors out of which 21 were double faults. She is seriously struggling with her serve. I hope she works on it and comes back strong in her next tournament.

We cannot take anything away from the teenager though. She has been playing her best tennis and achieving the results. Her agility in the court and strong forehand makes up for the power tennis that other players play. She is a fighter and a true American at heart.

Here's wishing her all the best for her next match. Hope she wins it! Irrespective of whether she wins her next match or not, the new darling of tennis has won herself a new fan!

She is none other than Melanie Oudin.

Addendum: There were two other noteworthy upsets yesterday. Both of them after I fell asleep :)
- Another teenager Petra Kvitova (19 years) has defeated the World No. 1 Dinara Safina. These upsets have made life easier for the Williams sisters and I hate to see them both in the finals. I hope there are two more upsets in the women's draw :)
- Andy Roddick has been shown the door in a five set thriller by an unseeded American John Isner.

Don't forget to read the 16th Point

2009-09-02T02:25:00.000-07:00

I did this tag only because it is a no holds barred tag. Had fun doing it! Thanks Spike for tagging me.

1. Grab the book nearest to you, turn on page 18 and find line 4.
"He stared at it". Book closest to me - The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
2. Stretch your left arm out as far as you can & catch air?
Naa... I caught a water bottle
3. What is the last thing you watched on TV?
Dejavu in Hindi. Wo haath se nikal raha hai. Usse pakdo! LOL :)
4. Without looking, guess what time it is?
12:30 pm
5. Now look at the clock, what is the actual time?
12:36 pm
6. With the exception of the computer, what can you hear?
Sounds of tring tring and few colleagues discussing work!
7. When did you last step outside? What were you doing? –
I stepped outside to come to office.
8. Before you started this Q&As, what did you look at?
Gtalk chat window and my Google reader window.
9. What are you wearing?
Beige trousers (I know! It is very confusing but I know what colour beige is) / Striped maroon shirt.
10. When did you last laugh?
Last night. When my little nephew uttered something in his own language.
11. What is on the walls of the room you are in?
Paint and lots of posters.
12. Seen anything weird lately?
Promos of London Dreams. Two old guys dreaming of becoming rock stars! Wow! Can there be anything weird than this!? :)
13. What do you think of this quiz?
Brilliant! Complete time pass!
14. What is the last film you saw?
Woody Allen's critically acclaimed Annie Hall (1977).
15. If you became a multimillionaire overnight, what would you buy?-
I'll invest it and become a multi billionaire first and will then think about spending it. A villa overlooking the beach, A Formula 1 team, A SUV are probably the first things I'll buy.
16.

This is cheating! You cannot scroll directly to 16th point. Go back to 1 and
don't skip 16 :)

Tell me something about you that I dunno!
My blog crossed ten thousand hits last week. Yey!! Yippee!! Thanks readers. You are all awesome! Keep visiting Varun's Digital Diary :)
17. If you could change one thing about the world, regardless of guilt or politics, what would you do?
I'll probably erase the poverty line. Rest would fall in its place automatically.
18. Do you like to Dance?
Yeah... Dhan Te Nan :)
19/20. Imagine your first child is a girl /boy, what do you call her/him?
My imagination is not very good. I would have been an artist otherwise. I will think about the name when it is the right time for it. Will probably pick any one that google is not able to search :)
21. Would you ever consider living abroad?
Yes. But, Ye Mera India. I love my India. I'll come back for sure.
22. What do you want GOD to say to you when you reach the pearly gates?
Hey Buddy! I just closed the Pearly gates. It is full. Go home and come back whenever you desire. Get out now. Shoo :)

I am not tagging anyone in particular. Anybody who liked the tag is free to pick it up.

Potpourri

2009-08-11T06:17:00.001-07:00

It has been more than a month since I posted something on this blog. I am extremely sorry. I have been reading all your posts without fail (Google Reader) but have not been able to comment on any of it. First, it was office firewall that blocked me, then it was my personal laptop. I had to cough up sixteen thousand to get it repaired. Mourned a week and now that I am out of it, I am back to writing my blog. If you have a HP laptop, please make sure you get your warranty extended. HP motherboard sucks!

Travelogue
I had been to few picturesque locales near Mysore last month. That explains why I was not able to post during weekends :)

1. Himavad Gopalaswamy Betta - This peak is the highest peak in Bandipur Forest range. It is covered with dense fog round the year and thus gets the prefix Himavad (fog/mist) to it. Temple of Lord Krishna on top of the hill gives it the name 'Gopalaswamy Betta'. It is around 225 kilometers from Bangalore and 75 kilometers from Mysore. It is on the Mysore - Ooty road. If you are going to Ooty, don't forget to visit this place.

2. Backwaters of Krishna Raja Sagar (KRS) Dam - There is this small enchanting island created by the backwaters of KRS known locally as 'Blue Lagoon' or 'Thittu'. It offers a perfect picnic spot and a spot to unwind your senses. It is about 4 to 5 kilometers from the dam. Any person loitering around the dam would be able to direct you towards it. Make sure you use the name 'Thittu' when you ask for directions.

3. Gagana Chukki and Bhara Chukki Water Falls (Shivana Samudra) - It is the Mandyan Niagara :). Around 122 kilometers from Bangalore, this is definitely a place worth visiting during rainy season.

If you require more details about the scenic locales, drop me an email. I'll be more than happy to provide them.

Movies

I watched a lot of movies last month. Watched few classics and almost all new releases. Just got an email from my friend that the tickets have been booked for Kaminey. I am watching the preview show on Thursday :). Can't wait for Thursday now.

Television

Now that Teen Diva and Rakhi's Swayamvar is over, I am hooked on to other reality shows. Sach ka Saamna, Iss Jungle Se Mujhe Bachao, Dadagiri, Stunt Mania, Connected, etc etc. They are any day better than K-Soaps.

Award

My friends have been kind enough to award me even when I am not posting anything. I have been awarded by four people. Thanks a million guys!

The rules for this tag are as follows:

1. Link the person who tagged you.
2. Display award on your blog with these rules
3. Reply to the questions below
4. Tag 7 people deserving the award according to you
5. Come back to BLoGGiSTa iNFo CoRNeR (PLEASE DO NOT CHANGE THIS LINK) at http://bloggistame.blogspot.com/ and leave the URL of your Post in order for you/your Blog to be added to the Master List

1.The Person who tagged you : Chiranjib (http://chiranjibmazumdar.blogspot.com), Valerine (http://verbalfiend.wordpress.com/), penandpaper (http://penpaper.blogspot.com/) and Shayari (http://bukkichowta.blogspot.com)
2. The Date when you were tagged: 11/07/2009, 16/07/2009, 28/07/2009 and 30/07/2009,
3. Seven people I tag are :

Arnab - http://arnabchakraverty.blogspot.com/
Chandan - http://errandsnsojourns.blogspot.com/
thethoughtfultrain - http://thethoughtfultrain.wordpress.com/
Richa - http://wwwrichaagarwal.blogspot.com/
Shivya - http://theshootingstar.wordpress.com/
Vivek - http://vivek1186.blogspot.com/
Archana - http://apensievetoofull.blogspot.com/

Tag

Tagged by four, Here I go,

A – Available/Single? Both :)
B – Best friend? Have many!
C – Cake or Pie? Cake
D – Drink of choice? Water. Any day!
E – Essential item you use every day? Cellphone
F – Favorite colour? No idea. I like all of them.
G – Gummy Bears Or Worms? Yuk! None
H – Hometown? Mandya/Bangalore
I – Indulgence? Chocolates
J – January or February? February :) Work for 28 days and get full salary.
K – Kids & their names? None.
L – Life is incomplete without? Stupid question
M – Marriage date? Check my answer to the first question.
N – Number of siblings? 1 Sister
O – Oranges or Apples? Oranges
P – Phobias/Fears? Claustrophobia
Q – Quote for today? http://www.quotationspage.com/qotd.html
R – Reason to smile? Have lots of them
S – Season? Spring
T – Tag 3 People? I already have!
U – Unknown fact about me? I don't like doing tags
V – Vegetable you don't like? Muli, Spinach
W – Worst habit? I don't have any ;)
X – X-rays you've had? One during my childhood and one after I joined my company.
Y – Your favorite food? Home cooked food
Z – Zodiac sign? Sagittarius

Sports

1. Formula-1
I was beaming two weeks back when I read that Schumi is making a comeback. But it is disheartening to know that he has called his comeback off. He called it off last evening. Ferrari test driver Luca Badoer will now be replacing Massa instead of Michael Schumacher.

2. Cricket
Cricketers are scared that their clubbing days in fact nights with film stars will be over if they sign WADA.

3. Badminton
Hope India wins the world championship title this year. If not, we will definitely see Saina in next Farah Khan movie.

4. Hockey
Is anybody still playing it? :)

News

1. Swine Flu - *Achcho* Don't you worry! That was only due to the dust that had accumulated on my blog. I have cleaned it up. Talking about swine flu, I received a hilarious mail this morning. A warning email.

This is what that email read!

If you wake up looking like this, please don't come to office :)

2. What!? - Swine Flu is the only thing that I get to read in news papers these days!

Potpourri looks extremely full. Will stop before it explodes and I promise to blog regularly from now on.

Few things don't need surveys

2009-07-07T03:24:00.000-07:00

1. The number of two wheelers on footpaths of Bangalore during peak hours is equal to the number of two wheelers on the roads of Mumbai or for that matter any city at any time.

(Source: Google Image Search)

2. Most of the Kannada conversations in Bangalore start with 'Nimage Kannada Baratta!?' which translates into ‘Do you know Kannada!?’

3. Ninety percent of people, when late for an appointment and are stuck in an elevator show all their frustration on the poor elevator buttons. They hit and punch all those buttons as though it would take them to their destination faster :)

4. Only five percent of the people in this world like their managers. Rest of them...Hmmm... I don't have to tell you about them. :)

5. According to most of the people (Let me generalize it to educated class) in India, easiest way to quick money and fame is a MBA in an Indian Institute of Management and for others it is playing the Indian Premier League or winning Indian Idol.

6. When it comes to jokes on people or communities, Sardar jokes are the one to beat. Blonde jokes comes close second.

7. Two hours in peak Bangalore traffic everyday for a week can cause all sorts of respiratory (pollution) and mental (frustration of driving in jams) disorders.

8. Bangalore has one restaurant almost every street. They are popularly known as 'Darshinis' and usually serve only breakfast, and snacks in the evening. I haven't seen this in any city I have been to so far.

(Source: Google Image Search)

9. It takes at least one hour to find a true British citizen in Wembley, London. It is one of those localities that have been literally captured by the Indians. Another locality that comes close to it is East Ham.

10. There are hardly five, 5-Paise coins left in India today and I have one of them. Where are the other four? :). Is it still in circulation? The last I saw it being traded was when I was in 5th standard.

(Source: Google Image Search)

11. The ratio of official emails to personal emails in any normal person’s mail box is usually at 5:6. If that person in on bench then this ratio drops to 1:4 :)

12. The amount of time we spend waiting for our laptops or computers to respond (waiting for a download to complete, waiting for a file to open, waiting for a web page to load, etc) everyday is a painful ten to thirty minutes depending on the speed of your computer and internet. Any bright ideas on how we could use that time constructively?

13. Kids playing with marbles and kids playing Lagori (Pitthu or Sitoliya) are extinct or is it the other way round?

14. Every year, at least ten kids drown in drains and five kids get stuck inside open bore wells in Bangalore and its surrounding places .

15. And last but not the least; I change my blog template every 6 months :)

PS: This post was more or less limited to cities I have lived in because I am in no position to comment anything on other cities.

PPS: If you know of any such fact please feel free to add that in the comments section. I’ll publish them on my blog with the name of the contributor.

New Vehicle

2009-06-22T01:57:00.000-07:00

I have finally done it! I purchased my first vehicle last Saturday. All the vehicles I have driven so far have all been gifts from my parents. This is the first vehicle I have bought with my own money! Feels great! It is beautifully crafted, has two wheels, is very light and zippy and is probably the best bet to beat Bangalore Traffic. It comes in two or three colours but I picked up a twin tone one. Black and Silver! And since I was looking for a basic version with no gears, I had very few brands and models to choose from. Everybody wants a vehicle with gear these days. I am tired of changing gears in this traffic.

Once the selection was made, it was time for the payment. A payment via credit card was costing me an additional 2.5%. I was in no mood to fight for the additional amount he was charging for the credit card as I had already set my sights on my beauty and had to buy it at any cost. I withdrew money from the nearby ATM and made a full payment by cash instead. They promised to deliver it by 5.00 pm that day but to my surprise, the delivery was made one hour earlier than scheduled time. I tore all the packing off as soon as it was delivered at my door step and parked it in its assigned space. I hate to ride vehicles with their packing covers still on. And why did I park it instead of taking it on a spin!? I had to rush somewhere and didn't get time to test ride it immediately.

I had to attend an Arangetram or Ranga Pravesha that evening and it was about to start in thirty min time. Arangetram is the debut on-stage performance of a Bharatanatyam student, after undertaking years of training. The student who was performing her Arangetram was a fourteen year old kid. My distant relative! Since our families are in touch with each other even today, distance doesn't seem to be evident. The show put up by the little girl was spectacular to say the least and so was the dinner that followed it :). I enjoyed the show even when I am not an ardent fan of that form of dance.

Coming back to my vehicle, I finished my dinner ASAP and rushed home. I had taken my car out as I didn't know how the new vehicle would perform. I didn't want to take any chances with it. As soon as I parked my car, I took the new vehicle out of its parking area and took it out for a spin.
Even though it was not as fast as the car or the bike, it surely was as smooth as both of them.

To add to that, my new vehicle is eco friendly (No Pollution) and brings with it lots of amazing health benefits;
- It gives one's heart, blood vessels and lungs a workout, thereby reducing the risk of heart problems.
- It'll give one a trimmer and toned muscles.
- It helps one a great deal in building one's stamina. Fitness levels are improved.

Riding it is quite easy but it requires some pedalling to be done to move it forward.
Did I just say pedal! Yeah! It is a bicycle I bought! A 'Hercules MTB Thriller'. I tried my best to keep up the suspense but I am sure most of you would have surely guessed it by the end of first or second paragraph. I wanted to buy a bicycle for a long time now and I finally had enough time last Saturday and found the right bicycle.

It brings with it lots of benefits all right but the main reason I bought it is because I love to cycle. I have loved it ever since I first learnt to ride but quit due to laziness. The last time I rode one was probably in the year 2000. I have put all the laziness back now and have gone back to my first love. I have so far successfully pedalled for 4 km everyday and plan to increase it gradually.

What do you think about my first ever investment on a vehicle and when was the last time was you rode a bicycle!?

Arbit thoughts

2009-06-09T02:37:00.000-07:00

- One Day International Cricket and Test Champs (Australia) are still getting grips of Twenty-20 cricket. It is all over for them this year. They can try again in 2011. They are out of the T-20 world cup 2009. What did I feel about it!? Wooohooo... Felt awesome! It was as awesome as watching Pakistan lose to England two days back :)

- One guy is managing to annoy me every single day when I am watching cricket. He is the one who has got a free phone with unlimited calls from his company. He is misusing the phone to the fullest. He has even gone to an extent of calling friends and acquaintance who have forgotten about his existence. Wonder how he found all those phone numbers in the first place. He has his kaka's phone number too. The same old Kaka, who lit up his sets when he was still learning to act. I am talking about Hrithik Roshan and his new Reliance Ad if you didn't get it by now. :) One of those Ads is here for you.

- Formula 1 is no longer exciting with Brawn stamping their authority on all races. As far as I am concerned, if there is no competition between Ferrari and McLaren, it is not Formula-1. The anti-clock circuit didn't produce any surprises either. If FIA had to cut costs, they could have simply asked drivers to sit inside a simulation and race. They could have shown us the video.

- Star Trek is an amazing movie. I simply loved the way it has been shot. Wow! Wonder when Indian Cinema will grow up from Koi Mil Gaya and its Jadoo.

- I happened to watch a Hindi movie too. It's called 99. Yeah! That's it. It is '99' only. There are no Idiots or Fools on either side of 99. Kunal Khemu, Cryus Broacha and Soha Ali Khan star in it. It’s a light hearted comedy. It is worth watching on a weekend and on a rented DVD.

- Roger Federer finally won the French Open which had eluded him for the last three years. As a kid, I had heard a story about a spider that never lost hope and climbed a wall after 'n' number of attempts. Since that spider had no name, it can be named Roger Federer now. With this victory, he also equalled Pete Sampras' record of 14 grand slam victories. Does that make him the world's greatest then? Only time will tell. By the way, did anyone of you cry along with him when he won the last point?

- * Bing * Bing * Bing *, what's that thing!!? It is Microsoft's latest search engine. http://www.bing.com/. I will not go into the details and features of it because there are lots and lots of tech blogs who have already written about it. Grapevine has it that it is as good as Google but will take time to gain popularity. Microsoft is making sure that it reaches people by spending millions on advertising. I have always been a fan of Microsoft and am supporting their latest venture too. Are you?

- Cooking is easy as long as we have the right ingredients to mix only criterion being that the ingredients have to be mixed in right quantities. :D. Didn't get it? Don't worry! I have been cooking at home since last week and this is the effect of it. The best dish I have cooked so far is the Kadhi. It came out really well. Recipe shared on request ;). If you are good at preparing something, please do share your recipes too (Vegetarian only). I am trying out new recipes every day.

- Keeping a house presentable without help from anyone is a herculean task! I realised it only after I started dusting each and every part of the house. My hat goes off to anyone who does it all days without complaining (My mom, dad and sister included in this list). Oh no! This reminds me that I have yet to clean that carpet :)

- Any idea about what is happening with the Indian Government after the elections? Elections remind me of the mark they put on my finger when I voted. It still remains on my finger only to irritate me whenever I see it. They have to find a new ink that disappears in a week or two or they'll lose my vote :). Girls can cover it up with nail polish but what can guys do about it?

- Sitting inside a car, Bangalore's traffic looks double the usual. It takes me fifteen to twenty minutes in a car to reach office when a bike takes only ten minutes. I am not complaing as I am loving every minute of the drive. I tried switching off the Air Conditioner of my car today to save some fuel and help the environment but I have become so used to driving in an air conditioned car, I couldn't survive the noise and smoke for even two minutes. Not sure how I will ever go back to using my bike :)

- Wolfram Alpha. Have you heard about it? It is a computational knowledge engine (not a search engine) which will solve the woes of lot of college going people and lot of people who are interested to learn new things. It has been developed by the same team who developed Mathematica. It is as good as a Wikipedia or an Encarta. It is easier than most of the encyclopaedia sites because it gives all details available about the word you searched for on a single page. It displays even images and graphs supporting the documentation. Try searching your date of Birth for some fun. Format: ,

- Multiplex and Producers calling-off their strike came as a relief to me as that is the whole and sole source of my Friday night entertainment. Since there are lots and lots of movies lined up, it is going to be one hell of a party time.

- I'll end the post as arbitrarily as I started it! :) Until next post...

Little Rascal

2009-06-01T23:51:00.000-07:00

He opened the refrigerator whenever he saw it, he loved to bang and close any open doors, he loved to mess up the pooja room, he loved to scream for no reason, he loved the elevator and wanted to ride in it whenever the main door of our flat was kept open, he loved to ring the calling bell non-stop, he would switch off Television if he was not interested in watching it. He is one guy who managed to change the lifestyle of everyone around him in a short span of one and a half months. We were literally scared as to what his next move would be.

Pic: Archith Planning his next move

But now when he's gone back to USA with his mommy and grandparents (my parents),Pooja room is intact, nobody switches off Television when I am watching, nobody bangs doors, nobody screams aloud. The house is at its peaceful best but is no longer charming and lively. There's no laughter that can be heard of, there is no one to run towards me to give me a hug when I go back home from office, there's no one to shower unconditional love, there's no one to laugh uncontrollably at the silliest of faces I make or silliest of games I play, there's no one to dismantle my cell phone. Ahhh! I am missing everything badly.

It is hard, very hard not to miss kids once we get used to staying with them. With them around, the atmosphere of home is always so energetic and rattling with excitement. It is like this edge of the seat action movie. One is definitely going to miss something if one blinks at the wrong time. Kids have so much energy in them that they pass some of it on to people around. It is contagious.
Time used to fly playing with him. Blogging to chodo, I had no time even for office :). I made sure that I stayed just the stipulated time everyday and got home as soon as possible.

Now that I am all alone and have lots of time in hand I am planning to get back to cyberspace and blogging. A dear blogger friend of mine reminded me yesterday that blogging is one my jobs too and I have to get back to it ASAP :)

I would like to keep the post short and end it here. It is for you to decide whether it was sweet :)

Missing you terribly little rascal! Love you!

PS: I was talking about my nephew all along. He will turn two this month and my blog turns 50 posts old :). Quite an achievement for an irregular blogger.

Coorg Photo Shoot!

2009-05-05T10:32:00.000-07:00

I had been thinking of writing a post with only pictures in it for some time now. The picturesque Coorg gave me just the opportunity I was looking for.

Hail storm welcomed usFour MusketeersCrossed the free flowing Cauvery River
To watch wild Elephants in its natural Habitat
Couldn't help but wonder at Nature's amazing colors
and its picture perfect setting.
We set out towards the source of river Cauvery. Through the country side, turns and bends
Stopped over a lil to stare at a lovely man made wonder
Posed for a few pictures
and finally reached Talacauvery (Structure in the background)
Rounded off the trip with a visit to Abbe fallsand a stopover at one of the Coffee Plantations

I had seen Coorg three times earlier had never captured it a camera. Now that I have successfully done it I wanted to showcase it. That is exactly what I am doing now :)
Hope you enjoyed the short trip!

Thirty minutes on the footpath

2009-04-16T05:43:00.000-07:00

Before anyone starts showing concern, let me make it clear that I still have my job and this is just a one-off case where I got to spend some time on the footpaths of Chennai. I got this opportunity when I accompanied my sister to the American Embassy in Chennai. Visitors are not allowed inside the premises and are not supposed to even wait outside the gate. Since the embassy is in one of the most busiest roads of Chennai, the only place a person can wait for their dear ones is the footpath right next it. One gets to see all kinds of people there. Luckily for my sister, she had a cute and handsome American citizen to accompany her. The little fellow made sure my sister came out in thirty minutes. The cute lil fellow is my nephew.

These thirty minutes gave me a chance to sit there on the footpath and observe. Observe people who were all vying for that all important American stamp on their passports. This also prompted to me to put my guessing cap on and to start forming opinions and frame conclusions.

I usually come to conclusions soon (most of them luckily turn out to be right) and that is what I did sitting there. I enjoyed guessing the reason behind people's visit to the embassy.

Here are few of those for you to enjoy;

1. A young girl being dropped off by concerned parents - She is probably trying to get a Visa to pursue higher studies. I came to this conclusion when I saw the worried look on her dad's face. A look that said, "Two million rupees for studies!, My daughter's gone mad"

2. An elderly couple being dropped off by their relatives - Couple's daughter or daughter-in-law is pregnant or has just given birth. They are going to USA to help their kids take care of their new born kids. This was easy. The couple looked happy and a little worried because they didn't want any problems during Visa stamping. They were checking their documents time and again.

3. A confident guy getting out of an autorickshaw and walking straight to the gate - Third attempt to get his Visa stamped. He knew which queue he had to join and where to get down from the autorickshaw.

4. A mid aged guy getting out of a chauffeur driven Toyota Corolla - A high-profile IT or a management guy. His company would have done all the paper work for him. He was there to give his biometric identifications and collect his visa.

5. Girl being dropped by parents and a whole bunch of relatives - Newly married and is probably trying to join her husband who's already in USA. Number of relatives, number of bangles and amount of jewellery she wore and no sign of her husband allowed me come to this conclusion.

6. Female looking like a beggar being dropped off by a decent looking guy - She is definintely going to be the next maid in Manhattan. I know I should not go by the looks but it was the shabby dress that made me think this way.

Would you have arrived at the same conclusions?

Apart from all these fun conclusions, there was one thing I noticed which was common to everyone who came there. Every person had a sparkle in their eyes. a sparkle of expectation, a sparkle of hope. A hope that things would only get better for them. I hope it does too.

SARVA SUKHINO BHAVANTU,

SARVA JANAH SUKHINO BHAVANTU,

LOKA SAMASTA SUKHINO BHAVANTU (Sanskrit)

Poetically translated: May all beings be fulfilled, may all beings be healed and whole, may all beings have their needs met, may all beings be protected from harm, may all beings be at peace, may all beings be free.

PS: Really sorry for not posting regularly.

How does it matter?

2009-03-16T07:22:00.000-07:00

If it is a Dilemma for slum kids to Act or study

- How on earth can news like these make headlines on NDTV? I have had this dilemma whether to study or not since the first day of my school. It never got published :(

If Sharif emerges winner in Pakistan and If Zardari is the loser

- I really don't understand why the Indian media is still interested in Pakistan's news. Guess it is now up to the new government to take care of 26/11 issue. Old government seems to have completely forgotten about it and is busy distributing Rahul Gandhi's masks.

If Freida Pinto is married

- One film wonder, the eye candy of hollywood. Why should we waste our precious time to know if she is married or not. Who the hell cares!? I am not going to marry her any way :)

If Shilpa Shetty decided to call or meet the ailing Jade Goody

- Why was it necessary to print such a thing on Page one!? Didn't Shilpa have Jade's phone number or address?

If BCCI and home ministry keep fighting over the dates of Indian Premier League

- IPL is such a rich tournament. Please don't tell me it cannot arrange its private security.

If Mayawati invites third front constituents for dinner

- I am glad I couldn't find the menu anywhere

If Infosys is cutting costs

- According to an article on rediff, Infosys are planning to close down all their loos by 7:30 pm. Not sure what they are trying to save. Any ideas?

If Jesus cooks for Madonna

- Before any one gets confused, I am talking about a model named Jesus Luz who is currently dating Madonna. I am not sure if Madonna wants to adopt that guy or marry him because he is just 22 year old and she is 50. And why are we Indians concerned about Madonna any way!!!??

If Obama sneezes or Michele catches cold

We Indians probably know more about Obama and Michele than most people in USA.

These are few news items that I got to read today out of which only the last one is exaggerated. We are bombarded with such pathetic news every single day. I just hope and pray that the Indian media does not go the UK way where it is 90% gossip and 10% news.

Gossip is definitely good. It was my favourite pass time in Mumbai and it still is but I know which sites or paper to read to get my daily dose. I would prefer to read them only there and don't expect to read them every where I log in. At least don't expect to read them on sites known for their great news coverage.

Times of India, NDTV / CNN-IBN , Are you listening?

The Movie Maniax Awards 2008

2009-03-03T08:14:00.000-08:00

Ever wanted to be the jury in a movie award function? Ever felt that the award went to an undeserving person? Ever felt that that the award functions were rigged?

Feel it no more! Here's your chance to set all these things right straight away! Here's your chance to support an initiative to honour the best in Hindi Cinema irrespective of it box-office status and star power.

The Movie Maniax Aw ards 2008
---the blogosphere's final verdict---

Coming soon to a web page near you :)

Please support and participate in this endeavor. Do spread the word amongst all your friends, fellow bloggers, relatives and all netizens you know. Orkut, Facebook and Gtalk status messages are a great place to start :)

Below is the teaser of what is in store. Keep watching this space for more on Movie Maniax Awards. Don't forget to bookmark the award site.

Once the site is up all you need to do is vote, vote and vote... Vote Karenge na!?

This Movie Maniax Blogger Awards is an award 'of the people (Aam-Junta), by the people and for the people(movie stars)'. Isiko Kehte hai Democracy. What an Idea! Hai na Sir jee :)

Endeavor by: Vee with able support from Poonam, Reema, Smita, Yours truly and Vimmuuu.

Creative Consultant: Magik

Awards Badge Designer: Dev

Publicist: Nikhil

Judges: You Bloggers, Aam-Junta

The Nominations are finalized and polls will be live shortly. We are looking for support from all of you in making this a great grand success. You can j 'The MovieManiax Awards' group on Facebook and pledge a vote.

8 Oscars to Indian Poverty

2009-02-26T01:09:00.001-08:00

A lot has been talked and written about Slumdog Millionaire already but I would like to add a few cents of my own. I am mightily pleased that three people from India managed to win awards and I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate AR Rahman, Gulzar and Resul Pookutty. All three of them richly and truly deserved their awards.

Coming to title of the post, I read this in one my friend's (Maneesh) Orkut status message and felt it was so very true. Why do you think the jury gave this movie an Oscar? I think it was due to the mass appeal that this movie was able to establish. Every person everywhere in the world somewhere dreams of winning that ten million in a day and hence related with Jamaal (Protagonist of Slumdog Millionaire) the very moment they saw him. It is not only a Slumdog who would want to win that money after all. And If we talk about the feel good factor or the romantic angle (Latika) of the movie, I have seen better movies that leave a lasting impression than this one. What could and would have turned the tide towards this movie is the portrayal of Indian poverty. Westerners have seen this movie as a guide to Dharavi.

As far as showing Indian poverty is concerned, don’t you think there are no beggars on the street on New York or London? Don't you think there are no petty thieves on the street of San Francisco? Leave alone thieves, there are murderers roaming in college campuses of UK and USA with a gun shooting any random guy or girl they see. Why not portray it in a movie and win an Oscar? Why only Indian Poverty?

Indian government somehow markets itself as poor and a country full of slums and makes it easy for people like Danny Boyle to come and show whatever he wants to. I have seen and talked to people in UK who come to India to only see its poverty. Take my word for it; Dharavi will soon become a hot tourist spot in Mumbai. Maharashtra Government has gone a step ahead by gifting two slum kids a flat each. Every second kid in Dharavi would now want to act in a Hollywood movie and get a flat. They would be ready to do anything they can to please a white person. This movie has ignited false hopes in all kids who live in slums.

Felt great to know that a movie shot in India and a movie which has Indian actors in it won so many awards but at the same time felt bad that it won these awards at the cost of poor people living in slums of India and portrayal of their life. I just hope Danny Boyle and his team don't forget the people who made this movie possible and help them if not to become a millionaire at least to lead a normal life.

This post is more of a rant and not a dig at anyone. And please don't get me wrong; I liked the movie!

My Best Friend's Wedding

2009-02-19T11:37:00.000-08:00

I still remember that day, when my friend (Mimi) called me up all excited, a lil tensed, a lil nervous to tell me that the boy she was seeing has proposed for marriage. The conversation went on for about 1 or 2 hrs with no end result. The call was not a decision making call coz she had already made her decision but she simply wanted to speak to someone with whom she could share all the thoughts that was ringing in her head at that point in time. For calls like these, you need great listening skills and logical thinking ability. I am proud of both these skills of mine and I guess even she knew about it. We spoke about everything from compromises, shackles and every thing that a marriage brings with it. She seemed to be ready for all that but not ready to blurt that 'Yes' out. She was scared to the core. After a few nail biting weeks for the boy she finally said the magical three letter word.

Discussions at both homes followed the affirmation and a date was fixed for marriage which was 1st Feb 2009.

Fast Forward six months, the marriage was a great grand success. It gave me an opportunity to visit the Mishti(Sweet in Bengali) city called Kolkata(Calcutta).

I could not get a clear view of the city until the flight touched down. It is a very dusty/polluted city. I am not sure how the pilot was able to spot the runway. My friend Chandan who had landed in the city a day earlier came along with his friend Arnab to pick me up from the airport.

First thing that strikes anyone who comes to Kolkata is the way in which people drive. Drivers are rash and reckless to say the least. They have absolutely no concern about people who are in other vehicles or on foot.

Kolkata Darshan for me started the moment I stepped out of the Airport. This is my second visit to the city. First visit was way back in 1993 or 94 and I remember nothing from that trip. Not even the correct date :)

I landed on a holy day. It was Vasant/Basant Panchami (Saraswati Puja) in Kolkata. It is supposed be Desi Valentine's Day (I am sure the Ram Sena did not know about this). There were more girls on the streets of Kolkata than fishes in Hoogli river that day. All of them dressed up in their best costumes. It was as though all of them were dressed to welcome me :). There were lot of guys too but I did not have time to look at them.

Our first pit stop was Gouranga Das's (Goru - Chandan's Friend) flat in Dum Dum. Dropped off the luggage there and set out to try our Basant Panchami luck! :). Second pit stop was Salt Lake. It is a locality's name and not a lake. Even though I was not interested in visiting any malls in Kolkata we went to one called City Centre. Goru was supposed to meet us there. Waiting for him, we had Kachori with Alu ki Sabji and the famous Puchka (Pani Puri). One of the best pani puris i have eaten in recent times! Belgique chocolates then gave our burning tongues a much needed relief. My Kolkata crash course began here. First it was Victoria Memorial. It was closed by the time we reached but never the less I got a view of the amazing building from outside. It felt as though I was somewhere in UK. Right outside the Victoria Memorial is the Birla Planetarium and an old St Pauls Cathedral about which I had read in the Spice Jet's guide book. Felt good to see something I had read about just 4 hrs earlier.

Next stop was Sriram Arcade and new market. Jumped in and out of Sreeleathers (A famous shop for all leather needs) and finally settled in Barista(Park Street) waiting for few friends to arrive. One my way to New Market I saw the world famous Eden Gardens and the palatial building that houses the Indian Museum. By the time everyone came, small group had turned into a large group of around 18 people.

All of us headed to Tangra (Pronounced Tang-Da. Another locality in Kolkata. It is also known as China Town) for some Chinese food. I was the odd man out in terms of eating vegetarian food and drinking alcohol but that situation was a 'been-there-done-that' kind of a situation for me and I didn't mind eating veg fried rice and drinking coke, when other people were enjoying lobsters, chicken and vodka. One often doesn't gets to see 17 drunk people in one place. :) It was fun. I enjoyed their conversations and pitched in whenever the situation demanded.

After Tangra, the large group split and 8 of us decided to go to a Discotheque. Unfortunately for us, there was only one girl in our group. Even though the girl was very beautiful, her charm didn't work on the disc manager and he refused to let us all in :(. This prompted the group to think of an alternative and I was very quick to select home as one as I was tired and wanted to sleep. Moreover I had to attend a wedding next day(which was why I was there in the first place). Luckily for me everyone(even though a lil miffed) agreed and came along.

By the end of first day, I had boarded a taxi, city bus(dog van), shared auto and shared taxi. There are more modes of transport in this city like the tram, underground metro train and rickshaw which I had plans of boarding the next day.

Day 2:
Since wedding was in the evening I had whole morning to continue my sightseeing. The places we visited were Dakshineshwar's Kali Mandir and Belur Math. Both are on banks of river Hoogli but on opposite sides. Kali Mandir's architecure is marvellous. The colours used to paint the building are amazing. There's a multi-threaded (I am in IT. Couldn't help using this term) queue system which converges near the entrance for devotees to get a closer look of Kali Ma. Sanctity of the temple is maintained beautifully but it was disheartening to see Pundits accepting bribe to perform what they were supposed to do.

Right outside the Kali Madir, there are numerous restaurants that serve hot Kachori (Puri) and yummy Dal for breakfast. We had our share of Kachori and took a boat to cross the river. Once across, we went to Belur Math. Belur Math is the headquarters of the Ramakrishna Mission, founded by Swami Vivekananda. Beautiful place to spend time. Cool, calm and peaceful. Khichdi and Payas(Kheer) was served as Prasad. It was both delicious and filling. This meal cum prasad didn't stop us from having our lunch. Goru's mummy had prepared special lunch which we couldn't refuse.

Even though the heavy meal was asking me to sleep; excitement of attending the marriage kept me awake. Chandan and I packed our bags, got ready and took a taxi to Sodhpur. Sodhpur is where Mimi's house is and that is where the wedding hall was too.

Mimi was looking beautiful in her wedding attire. The dulha without any doubt was overshadowed by the pretty bride. She was looking like a goddess. Wedding was supposed to start at 7.00 pm but started a little late due to the enthusiastic Baarati. First it was registered marriage. Traditional Bengali marriage rituals followed it. Marriage went on till 12.00 midnight. Food looked very tempting but my stomach didn't allow me to eat too much. The best part about the dinner was, you guessed it right! Sweets! :). Didn't miss having them. It was fun as I had never been to a Bengali wedding. It also gave me an opportunity to meet my best friend's other best friends about whom I had always heard from her. One meeting and I knew why she had picked them! Spent the rest of the night chatting with them. Came back to Goru's place at around 5.30 am and slept like a log.

Day 3:
I know very few people in Kolkata and one of them is Pavitra. She is my friend from Tech Mahindra (My ex-organization). We decided to meet up for lunch. By the time we finished our lunch it was 2:00 pm and both me and Chandan had to catch a 5:20 pm flight but to different destinations. Since we had seen how bad the traffic was while coming to this place, we decided that the fastest mode of transport even if crowded was the metro train. Luckily it was not crowded and the ride was really good and fast. It reminded me of London's Tube. We reached airport at around 4:15 pm picking our luggage on the way from our friend's place.

Both our flight's departed on time. I had all plans of sleeping in the flight. But since the seats were so cramped up I couldn't sleep for even a single minute. Moreover I got a severe back ache due to those stupid seats. It takes around 2 hrs to reach my home from the Bangalore airport, This time was enough for me to remember and cherish each and every moment spent in the lovely city.

It is always easy to find an excuse for not attending weddings. Try attending one! You'll not just make the other person happy, you will come back home rejuvenated and with a feeling of satisfaction that you were part of something BIG.

Since this post is already a mile long, i'll not be posting any pictures with it. Here's a link to my picasa album and orkut album. You'll need a gmail id to view my picasa album and you'll have to be my friend in orkut to view my orkut album. Enjoy!!

Look who’s back!

2009-01-23T04:03:00.001-08:00

Work, work and work is all that I have done since last 3 weeks. New job is no cake walk after all :). A lot has been happening around me, around the world, in cyberspace, in blogger space but I have not been able to catch up on anything. Not even sleep.

Here's a small list. Varun's e-News follows:

Bengalooru:
I have no clue about the happenings in my city and the worst part is I know nothing about republic day sale and deals in my city :(

Sports:
Tennis: It is the Australian Open that I am not able to follow. I am sorry Ana. It is Ana Ivanovic I am referring to :). I am sure by the time I would finally get an opportunity to watch the open, no-more-a-sensation Sania would be nowhere to be seen!
Cricket: I am missing Australia's battle to retain the numero-uno position.

Movies:
Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi was the last movie that I have watched in a theatre :(.
I have heard/read a lot about Slum Dog Millionaire. I'll try and catch it over the long weekend. ARR nominated for Oscars was not a surprise but being nominated for 4 awards was! Is ARR's music so good? I somehow didn't like the songs as much as I have liked ARR's other songs. Give me 'Dil Se' any day. Is Oscar turning out to be Obama's key to India?
Is Billu Barber a movie about Item songs?

International:
Black is Beautiful! First Hamilton, now Obama, Who's next?
Did Obama take his oath twice? I watched only the first one.

Television:
What is Anandi (Balika Vadhu) up to these days? I am missing watching that sweet girl on TV.
I have not been able to watch Roadies :(

Culture and Tradition:
There was Sankranti that flew past as quickly as it came. I wanted to come up with a 'How-to' post on that day illustrating the method of preparing cute moulds from melted sugar. I have all the pictures and that post is on my to-do list. I'll definitely come up with it as soon as possible. Belated Sankranti wishes to all readers :)

Business:
Recession, Satyam, Ramlinga Raju! I think its better I keep out of all these depressing issues.

Money:
It is that time of the year in India when all of us have to submit our investment proofs to save tax. Trust me this 3 letter word can give anyone sleepless nights. I am glad I finally got time to make some good investments.

Technology:
Microsoft launched a new operating system Windows Ultimate 7.0. I downloaded the beta version on the day it was launched. So far so good! Touch wood! :) It is better than Vista in terms of performance and working fine.

Music:
Dilli 6 is different and good.
Visuals of Billu Barber is better than its soundtrack.

Blogging:
I read few posts but haven't left my comments anywhere. Sorry for that! I'll catch up on all your old posts and will make sure I drop in my two cents.

National:
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will undergo a heart bypass surgery today. Even though he is just a puppet PM, he is a good man. I wish him speedy recovery and good health.

Personal:
I am going to Mantralayam today to spend the long weekend (Pilgrimage). It is going to be a family outing. I will be attending two weddings next week. One in Mysore and the other in Calcutta (Best Friend's Wedding). I'm looking forward to having great time everywhere.

Until next time...

First Day First Show

2009-01-01T09:41:00.001-08:00

It is the first day of yet another year for all of us. The word 'first', never fails to amaze me. I always liked first day's of anything. Be it

First day of school after after a holiday break.
First day in a new class.
First day in a new city.
First day in a new organization.
First snow.
First rains.
First day of a training or
First day of a new year.

It is on these days I somehow feel great from within. I suddenly feel like putting a little extra effort in everything I do. I am not sure what exactly these first days bring in me but I always feel first days are the trailers of the things to follow. If we put a little effort and make sure that the trailer goes alright, the movie to follow is definitely going to be a blockbuster.

I was looking for a picture to include in my post when I found the following image. It more or less sums up what I wanted to convey.

Here's wishing you all a very happy and prosperous 2009. May all your first-day first-shows run to jam packed houses and may all your movies be a blockbuster. May the coming year be a great one for all of you and be as crackling as the fireworks in the video below. I had witnessed this spectacle with my own eyes last year but thanks to technology I did not miss it this year as well :)

Apologies, Awards, Cricket and Christmas

2008-12-22T12:58:00.000-08:00

I am sorry for not updating my Digital Diary for so long.

I hate to give my work as excuse because I firmly believe if we make an effort to take some time out of work we can surely do anything and everything we think of doing. I promise that I’ll make it a point to post regularly from now on. This is the first time that people have been demanding my next post. It is cheerfully encouraging to see people waiting to read my next post. I will try my best and keep up with your pace.

Now that I am through with apologies I’ll move on to next topic in the title.

The awards have been flowing in even though I have not been a regular here. Thanks a lot for all the encouragement and support. These awards are as big as Oscars for me.

Proximity Award (Awarded by Smita):

Thanks will be an understatement. This award comes with a small write up as well. Here it goes;

This award is given to a blog that invests and believes in PROXIMITY – nearness in space, time and relationships! These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers! Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award.
What more can I say about this award!? Here comes the tough part now.

I pass this award to;

Kreativ Blogger (Awarded by Archana and Vivek):

If there is anything creative in my blog that should be my template :). Thanks a lot for the award. This award will now act as an inspiration for me to write something creative. Blogging is not just about writing. It is about creating something new every time. So this award goes to everyone on my blog roll and to everyone who is making an effort to write a blog.

Now for some Cricketing action;

If you are a cricket fan you would know that the last 10 days have been a golden period for test cricket. If the Indian run chase made me think about writing a post, the South African run chase made me sit up and write. What an awesome run chase it was!? Is it because the well oiled engine called Australia is running out of steam? Or is it the never-say-die attitude of South Africa that helped them pull off such a tremendous win. Only time will tell. But nevertheless it will be match to remember for decades to follow. Same is the case with the Indian run chase. It is one of those matches that will be telecast on TV time and again as a classic match. I am so glad to have witnessed it live. I would like to congratulate and thank the Indian and South African teams for taking test cricket to a new level.

Another accomplishment that any Indian cricket fan would have taken notice of is Rahul Dravid’s century. I was more relieved than Dravid himself. It was disheartening to see him in such a pathetic state. With this innings, he has not just managed to silence the critics; he has made sure he has zipped up their mouths for another season. I just could not understand what was there for him to prove. If there is anything left for anyone to prove in the current Indian Cricket team it has to Harbhajan Singh. Anil Kumble’s shoes are turning out to be to too big for him to fill. Dhoni will not be able to shield him for too long. The so called critics want a scapegoat and I am sure the turbanator is slowly turning(doosra'ing') out to be the right candidate.

That was the cricket update. Moving on to Christmas celebrations;

If I could trade one of the thousands of festivals we have with a festival from a different religion it would be Christmas any day. It has a certain aura around it. Christmas brings with it lots of fond memories. This was one of the festivals we celebrated in school with great enthusiasm. We used to decorate our class rooms, decorate Christmas trees, play lots of games, exchange small gifts, cut cakes and the best part about this whole celebration was the holidays that followed. Now when I am working in an IT organization, all I get is a day off. The office is decorated alright but no one seems to be enthusiastic about the whole thing. This has not left me disappointed though. I have my own plans for Christmas. I will be watching the first-day first-show of Ghajini with my family and will probably be lunching out after that. And since there is a sale going on in every nook and corner of Bangalore I might do some shopping as well. So, What are your plans? How are you planning to celebrate this festive week?

Orkut - Social Nuisance Site

2008-12-09T23:50:00.000-08:00

Orkut, the most happening social networking site in India has lately managed to irritate me by adding new features to its repertoire (Apps, Photo Updates). But it is its latest feature that has managed to irritate me the most. First thing I notice this morning is I can chat on Orkut!. What the hell!? What annoyed me even more was it had automatically selected few friend groups and added them to my Google talk list without my permission.

It has destroyed the whole purpose of keeping instant messaging personal. If they wanted people in Orkut to chat with each other they should have created new software or a widget that would have enabled them to do so. They shouldn't have brought in Google talk to do their job.

Don't be surprised if you type www.google.com in your browser tomorrow and find an unwanted person pinging you (all in the name of social networking) instead of finding what you were looking for.

I have so far found few ways to get around this nuisance;

1. Go offline in Orkut - But this solves only half the problem. You will not be able to remove people that Orkut obliged adding. Moreover, you will not be able to chat with people you really wanted to chat with. You will be offline :(

2. Sign in to Orkut -> Go to settings -> Chat Tab -> Uncheck all the check boxes and save changes. This will remove all the people Orkut had added without your permission.

3. Do not sign-in into orkut :)

Once you complete the first two steps, you can go back to your usual chatting.

Looking at the flip side of the coin, this new feature of Orkut has few advantages as well.

1. It is now very easy to find an Orkut friend’s Gmail ID and add him or her to your Google talk List.

2. Chat and Scrap without having to switch between browser windows.

I have nothing against Google or Orkut but it is just that I got irrirated looking at its latest feature. Now that I have blogged about it. I feel so good :)

Since my rants were focused so much on Google, I would like to leave you with an interesting piece of news that I read in the Times of India today. It is about 'Kosmix'. It is a search engine which is set to challenge the search-engine-giant, 'Google'. Venky and Anand, two Indians who missed two chances to buy Google way back in 1998 have now raked in funds to start their own search engine. You read me right! Google was on sale 10 years back for a cool $1 billion :)

Jab We Met

2008-12-08T01:05:00.000-08:00

Before you get into any sort of confusion or conclusion, this is neither a movie review nor a discussion about the size-zero girl Kareena Kapoor. I will be talking about my first ever blogger get together(Not exactly the first meet because the first blogger I ever met was Preeti during her book launch) with Oxy who is probably four or five sizes more than our very own size-zero girl :)

It was an email reply to a comment on my blog post 'India Bleeding' that made this meeting possible. Here goes the conversation;

Oxy: "Exactly, I too did not feel like writing anything on it but my reasons were not same as yours that they all had written it greatly. I disagree. I came across many blog posts, which were absolutely trash."

Varun: "I hope you didn't classify my post in the trash list :)"

Oxy: "o no no no no.. not at all.... else I wudn't have commented at all buddy..... chill... moreover u had clearly written many have already written on it.."

Even though I was just kidding, Oxy felt that I might have got offended by his comments and disclosed him to me by adding me to his Google-Talk list. I recognized him by his profile snap (Cowboy hat made it easy). We cleared all confusions we had and chatted for some time. While we were chatting on Thursday, he told me that he had an extra ticket for the movie (First-Day First-Show) 'Dil Kabaddi' and asked me if I could join him. I could not say NO for the following three reasons;

1. It was a movie invitation :)

2. It was going to be my first ever Blogger-Get-Together.

3. It was a First-day First-show.

I was so excited about the meet and movie that I reached PVR Cinemas fifteen minutes before time (The guards did not allow me to get inside the mall :)). Luckily for me, I had to withdraw some money from the ATM and that helped me kill time. By the time I withdrew money and came back to the mall, they had opened the gates. I parked my bike, came to the rendezvous point and waited. Oxy made it just in time for the movie and we rushed in after the initial Hi-Hellos. We got time to chat only during the interval as the movie was pretty interesting and we did not want to miss Irfan Khan's antics.

Both of us liked the movie and reached a common consensus that the movie deserved three and a half stars (***.5). The conversation during interval led to disclosure of few secrets about fellow bloggers and I also got to know more about a person I always knew only as Oxy. I had always read about blogger meets but it was fun to be part of one. The movie was entertaining and so was the meet. Thanks for the invitation Oxy. I thoroughly enjoyed meeting you.

The movie and the meet kick started my weekend a little earlier than usual. How I wish every single day started with a movie :)

I received few lovely awards over the weekend. I would like to thank Vimmuuu for awarding me a trophy and a beautiful 'Butterfly Award'. I have proudly displayed it on the right panel of my blog and I hereby pass it to Ashwini, Archana,Arch-Fully, IHM, Valerine and Vivek. I have tried not to repeat awarding the bloggers who already have these awards.

Here are the awards;

India Bleeding

2008-12-01T21:58:00.000-08:00

I wanted to write a post on the Mumbai Terror Attacks but I was in a complete state of shock and could not express what I felt. Moreover I have nothing left to write because great writers and great bloggers have already written everything about it.

It is now the time of post-mortem of the entire episode when facts and secrets are dug out from the dead bodies of the terrorists. It is also the time when every secret agency claims that it had warned India about the attacks. Every citizen of India has lots of questions in his or her mind but I don't see any person who has the answers to all of them. So it is time to find our own answers. Why do we always wait? I think that is how we are taught in schools. We always ask questions and wait for the teacher to respond. It is that time of our lives when we have to change and act.

I came across a lovely poem (written by famous lyricist Prasoon Joshi) that more or less sums up what I wanted to convey;

Nahin aaney doonga zindagi ko aasani se patri par

Nahin utarney doonga usey keechad main,tedhey medhey raston pe

Nahin sookhney doonga deewaron par laga khoon

Halka Nahin padney doonga uska rang

Is baar Nahin banney doonga usey itna laachaar ki paan ki peek aur khoon ka fark hi khatm ho jaye

Is baar ghawon ko dekhna hai gaur se thoda lambe wakt tak

Kuch faisley aur uskey baad hausley kahin toh shuruat karni hi hogi

Is baar yahi tay kiya hai!

My heartfelt condolences go to all the martyrs who played a big part in digging us out of the hole that we had dug for ourselves (The blasts just made it easy).

I would not like to put the entire blame on the politicians here because they became our leaders only because we voted (or not voted) for them. Please use your power, your vote judiciously and choose a worthy leader instead of moaning later.

I reached a milestone last week. The “five thousand hits” milestone. I wanted to celebrate it in style but this whole episode made me sad and I could no longer celebrate it. But since life has to move on, here I am, proudly displaying the number of hits on the left side of the screen. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all my readers from the bottom of my heart for making it possible. With each comment and each post I have improved and I would have been just another unknown blogger (Google finds me now:)) in this big wide blog world without you all. Thanks again!

Ghajini Ne Bana Di Jodi

2008-11-25T01:42:00.000-08:00

Here we go again! Here are my first impressions on the music of Ghajini and Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi. Two most anticipated movies of the year. I am carrying on from where I left.

Ghajini -

Cast: Aamir Khan, Asin, Jiah Khan

Music: AR Rahman

Director: AR Muragadoss

Guzarish

Singer: Javed Ali

Guest Vocals: Sonu Nigam

First Impression: Wow! Sonu Nigam should have done more than just humming in this song. The track would have sounded amazing in his voice. This song is my new ring tone.

Aye Bachchoo

Singer: Suzanne

First Impression: Foot tapping. The track has all the ingredients to set any dance floor on fire.

Kaise Mujhe

Singer: Benny Dayal & Shreya Ghoshal

First Impression: Too slow to my liking. I changed the track even before it ended. The singers have obviously done a great job but the track did not impress me much.

Behka

Singer: Karthik

First Impression: Sounds like 'Main Aisa Kyun Hoon' from Lakshya but very good nevertheless. Apparently Aamir Khan has changed his costume six times in this song.

Lattoo Lattoo

Singer: Shreya Ghoshal

First Impression: Shreya Ghoshal has made this track her own. She has done an awesome job to say the least

I watched memento(Ghajini is apparently loosely based on this Hollywood movie) last week and see no place for these songs in that kind of action movie. It will be interesting to see where the director fits these songs into. I give the album four stars (****).

Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi -

Cast: Shah Rukh Khan, Anushka Sharma, Vinay Pathak

Music: Salim Sulaiman

Director: Aditya Chopra

Tujh Mein Rab Dikhta Hai ( Two solo tracks)

Singer: Roop Kumar Rathod and Shreya Ghoshal

First Impression: Slow but beautifully sung by both the singers.

Haule Haule

Singer: Sukhwinder Singh

First Impression: Probably the best track of the album. Haule Haule Ho Jayega Pyar is very true for the album as well. Keep listening to fall in love with this album. I do not have the patience but in case anyone of you do, please go ahead.

Dance Pe Chance

Singer: Sunidhi Chauhan, Labh Jajua

First Impression: I have started liking this track after I saw the visuals. There are absolutely no second thoughts on the quality of the singer. She is one of the best we have today.

Phir Milenge Chalte Chalte

Singer: Sonu Nigam

First Impression: Innovative! The lyrics are at its innovative best. It's like this song 'Mere Jeevan Sathi' from the movie Ek Duje Ke Liye. The only difference is this song has mukhdas (in a different tune) of famous old songs as well. Sonu Nigam has done justice to the song.

I give the album three and a half stars (***.5). I have given the album an extra star only because it has SRK on its cover. :)

Conclusion: Given an option, I would listen to songs from Ghajini any day.

Sons of India

2008-11-18T02:41:00.000-08:00

Why do we mourn for a day or two when our favourite cricketer fails to score a century or fails to take wickets? Why do we feel bad when a movie of our favourite star flops? One of the reasons being that we see these people as part of our own family. We feel the pain that they are going through. We feel the pain as though it is our own. But why don't we feel the same when a soldier breathes his last protecting our country.

I was watching a kannada serial directed by Prakash Belawadi yesterday which touched upon this topic quite beautifully. The female protagonist in the serial is a war widow whose husband has died in Kashmir trying to protect our country. She brings this topic up and asks a simple question to her parents. "Why aren't the soldiers treated as part of everyone's family just like a cricketer or a movie star is treated? Are they any lesser to these people in importance?”

There have been instances of huge Puja being performed when the one and only Big B fell ill or just before Indian team left for West Indies for World Cup but I haven't seen or heard of any Puja being performed for the well being of the Indian soldiers. They are always taken for granted.

Do you think the soldiers need to fight in a Colosseum in front of a large audience or fight in front of a camera to gain this place in people's heart or keep a count of the number of kills that they have made so that it can be put up in the list of never ending world records?

I am not here to answer any of the questions that I have raised or the lady in the serial rose. I shamelessly confess that I don't have the answers. I just feel that it is high time that the martyrs of war get more than just the two minute mourning we give them. May their souls rest in peace. And in case any of you know the answer, please let me know.

According to me, they are the true sons of India.

Rendezvous with Meetings, Movies, Memories, Masti and Magic

2008-11-13T01:14:00.000-08:00

One of the most anticipated trips came to an end sooner than I had anticipated. I am talking about my trip to Mumbai. It had a touch of everything in it. Right from lunching at 'Not just jazz by the bay' to shopping for leather jacket at 'Dharavi'. If you are not quite familiar with Mumbai, 'Not just jazz by the bay' is a high-end restaurant located just outside the Brabourne stadium in one of the posh areas of Mumbai and 'Dharavi' is one of the biggest slums in the world.

Going with the title of the post, I'll ramble upon every word that I have used in it;

Meetings: This was the first item in my agenda. Meeting cousins (My sisters, Brother-In-Law, Niece) meeting friends, meeting old colleagues, meeting old managers. It was a wonderful feeling to meet everyone after five months. Some people were surprised to know and looked at me as though I am an Idiot when I told them that I had come to Mumbai to meet people and not on any official work. But most of them were elated to meet me which was something very nice to see.

Movies: I watched Fashion and Quantum of Solace. Fashion is a good movie but very slow. I had booked tickets for this movie from Bangalore itself. Talk about planning :). I give it two and a half stars. I would have given it one more had it not dragged on for three hours. Quantum of Solace is a good movie but did somebody tell you that it is a bond movie? Bond should stick to his tuxedos, vodka martinis, expensive cars, gadgets and leave the action to Jason Bourne or Rambo. The action nevertheless is spectacular. It gets three stars. Now that revenge is off Bond's head, we can expect the true bond to be back in his next movie. The extra star is for this optimistic expectation.

Memories: It is such a wonderful feeling to go back to the place where one once lived and worked. It brought back all my fond memories. It brought along with it memories of people who played a part in my life directly or indirectly, memories of late night movies, memories of late night parties, late night bike rides and many other things. The feeling is very hard to describe and it is something that one has to go through to understand it accurately.

Masti: Food Court at the In-Orbit Mall, Mantra Lounge (Hiranandani), Turner Road Chaat, Main Land China, Naturals, Utsav (Powai), Out of the Blue (Bandra) are some of the restaurants / ice cream parlours I visited. Shopping for export surplus clothes, shopping for leather jackets, Kailash Kher Concert (IIT Powai), Local Train travel, Double-Decker bus travel, time spent with my adorable niece, lovely friends and relatives, and not allowing a dear friend to study for CAT are some things that I enjoyed doing the most. The masti doesn't stop here. I fought with an auto rickshaw-driver and a taxi-driver over the extra fare they were charging :).

Magic: I am speaking about the magical feeling of nostalgia that grips one when he visits a place that once was so dear to him. I was lucky to be back in Mumbai. Not many people are lucky in this matter. Something truly magical about the trip was that the time kept vanishing in thin air every time I wanted more of it.

It was a wonderful, and a truly memorable trip that made me sick (I caught cold) but rejuvenated my senses. And if one asks me if I would like to visit Mumbai again, my answer would be a big YES.

Happy Deepavali

2008-10-24T03:02:00.000-07:00

To me, Deepavali was always synonymous with firecrackers. It is hard to believe that I have not touched even a single firecracker in the last two or three years. It is not that I am against bursting crackers. It is just that I am no longer interested in lighting them. I still love to watch fireworks though. I was one of the lucky few who got to watch the New Year fireworks in London. It was one awesome spectacle.

I believe a lot has to do with company as well. I cannot light a flower-pot all alone and clap for myself! During my school days, all my cousins would come to my place in Mandya and we used to enjoy Deepavali for all three days. The crackers would never suffice. This prompted my dad to go to Sivakasi, a town famous all over India for its fireworks factories, to get a carton full of crackers which, believe it or not, lasted for more than 10 Deepavalis :). If you need tips on how to preserve firecrackers, please contact my mom. She did that! I have never ever dared to complain after that :). I need to thank my parents for providing me with what I wanted and, more importantly, when I wanted.

Three things then started happening parallelly with each passing Deepavali;

- The contents of the box started depleting.

- My cousins and I were growing older and wiser :)

- I gradually lost interest.

I have had my small accidents lighting small crackers but then "What is a Deepavali without a burnt finger!?” I am now looking for a spark that can ignite the interest back in me. One such little spark is in US of A, my sixteen month old nephew who has just learnt to say “BA-BA-BU-BU”. If he wants to light a firecracker someday I'll be the first person to get him what he wants and I will be more than happy to light it along with him.

Now, when I look back at each year and remember each person with whom I have shared my joy, I feel overwhelmed. I want to go back - go back and light that 100-wala all over again.

Here's wishing all the readers of my blog a very happy, safe and a prosperous Deepavali. If you love lighting crackers go ahead and light them. Just make sure you read and follow all the safety instructions written behind those cracker boxes. May the glow of prosperity, happiness and joy brighten your days in the year ahead!

First Impression

2008-10-21T05:18:00.000-07:00

I finished my work quite early today and have been listening to new movie songs that I loaded on to my Zune this morning. I have been listening to songs from the movies Fashion,Golmaal Returns and Yuvvraaj.

This is not really a review. It is just the first impression that that these songs have had on me. I am going to give them my stars anyway :)

Yuvvraaj - A.R.Rahman and Gulzar have teamed up alright but that Jaane Tu Ya Janane Na spark is missing. Tu Meri Dost hai which has already hit the TV screens is undoubtedly the best track of the album. Salman Khan has managed to strangle Beethoven in one of the tracks but there are other tracks that sound good. The album surprisingly has 8 original tracks and just one remix. The first impressions are not mind blowing but I am hoping that it might start sounding good to ears once I get to watch Katrina in the videos :). Until then, they will all be any other ARR melodious numbers to me. I give it three stars out of five (***).

Golmaal Returns - The chor Pritam has managed to compose (or steal) three peppy tracks for this album. Vacancy, Tha Kar Ke and Tu Sala. The rest are just remix versions. The music entertains by illustrating the hilarious feel of the flick. It is not as good as RACE or Jannat but it fits the bill. The Viva girl Anushka Manchanda has one solo track Tu Saala Kam Se Gaya to her name too. Golmaals Returns also gets three stars out of five (***). Three stars for the three lively tracks in the album.

Fashion - Surprise! Surprise! I loved almost every track in this album. Salim Sulaiman has undoubtedly made a fashion statement with his tracks. The instrumental track Theme of Fashion simply rocks! The santoor used in this track cannot go unnoticed as it is very soothing to ears. The other tracks Jalwa, Mar Jaavan, Kuch Khaas and Aashiyana are quite good. The find of fashion is Shruti Pathak who has sung Mar Jaavan. Her husky, melancholic voice suits the track perfectly. Another Viva girl, Neha Bhasin has made her mark in Kuch Khaas. I give Fashion four stars out of five (****).

It's a new day, it’s a new template

2008-10-16T03:28:00.000-07:00

I loved my old template, I really did but I think I loved it a little too much. I got bored! So here's presenting to you, the all new, the trendy, the cool, Varun's Digital Diary :)

In case you have still not noticed, I have changed my blog template :). The dictionary meaning of change is 'Become different in some particular way, without permanently losing one's or its former characteristics or essence'. That is exactly what I have tried.

Changing templates is one BIG task. Believe it or not, it took me an entire week to zero-in on this particular template and modify it according to my needs. The search for template was no less than a treasure hunt. Even though I had the best tool in business (Google) for my hunt, the filtering process took a long time.

Here is a little erudition that I would like to share about template changing;

- Create a new blog to test your templates. Never ever make changes to the existing one. You can always delete the new one once you succeed in changing the template of your old blog.
- Make sure you have enough space for all your widgets.
- Make sure the new template supports all your widgets.
- If you are particular about the number of columns as I was, the search becomes a lot easier. I searched for a three column template.
- Make sure the colour of the template you select is soothing to eyes.
- Learn basics of HTML. It really helps.

Few links that helped me a lot in my search are listed below;

- Link 1
- Link 2

I have had to compromise on the width of writing space but then compromises are a part and parcel of everyone's life.

I have shuffled my widgets around and have managed to add a new picture. The movie, 'A Wednesday' inspired me to light this candle. It is a candle lit for all those poor souls who lost their lives in bomb blasts.

There are few awards that I have proudly displayed under the candle. It was awarded to me by Smita. I would like to take this opportunity to thank her. It means a lot to me. Thank you. :)

Coming to the most important thing now, Please don't forget to comment on my new template.

34 Bubblegums and Candies Book Launch - Bangalore

2008-10-10T11:28:00.000-07:00

The collage sums up Preeti's 34 Bubblegums and Candies Bangalore Book Launch. It was an amazing experience. I had always seen Book launches on television or had always read about it in the newspapers but to be a part of such a book launch was indeed amazing.

The launch started with a crossword employee introducing the author and the guest of honour. Mr. R.K. Mishra of Lead India fame was the guest of honour. I had always read about him but it was wonderful to hear him speak.

The book '34 Bubblegums and Candies' is based on true life incidents. The title might sound a little peculiar but here is what the author has to say about it.

"Because, there are incidents that make you ponder and make you want to think and may be re-think. Like chewing a bubble gum. Then there are others, spiked with doses of humour that make you laugh and leave you a feel-good sensation. Just like eating a candy." (Excerpt from http://34bubblegumsandcandies.com/)

The book contains lots of such bubblegums that will make you think again and again, and candies that will make you go into a guffaw.

I have yet to read the book but have already heard 4 beautifully woven stories from the surefooted author. It was amazing to see the confidence in her. Even though it is her first book ,there was no touch of nervousness. She was talking and interacting with people as though it was her tenth book launch :).

While the book reading session was going on, the real bubblegums and candies were distributed. I ate the candy as soon as I got it and I am chewing the bubblegum as I am typing this post. If you look at the collage closely, you will be able to notice the empty candy wrapper and the bubblegum placed on the cover of the book.

Some of the stories that were read out were, Please hug me, Sly Stallone does not open up easily, Radiators and Drains and What women want. The title of each story is as interesting as the title of the book. Mr. Mishra made even Satish to read a story. I am not sure if the Pune crowd were so lucky.

After the book reading session ended, it was autograph time :). I simply loved what Preeti wrote for me on my book. You can view that in my collage. I was overwhelmed with joy when Preeti's kids, Atul and Purvi gave me my personalized bookmark.The bookmark says 'Thank you for buying my mom's book' and 'Dear Varun, This bookmark was made specially for you. It was made by Atul and Purvi. Hope you like it.' I didn't just like it. I LOVED IT.

The question and answer session gave us a slight peek into the future. The grapevine has it that Preeti has started working on her second book. Shhh...

Here's congratulating Preeti on a successful launch of 34 Bubblegums and Candies and wishing her luck for all her forthcoming ventures.

PS:
Cost of the book: Rs 100
Available at a book store near you.

A trip to God's own Country

2008-10-07T00:44:00.001-07:00

Mahatma Gandhi's birthday and Ramzan (Eid) gave us (me and my parents) an opportunity to visit Kerala's Wayanad District last week. The district headquarters, 'Kalpetta' is around 280 km from Bangalore. The route we followed was Bangalore - Mysore - Nanjangud - Gundlupet - Bandipur National Forest - Sultan Bathery - Kalpetta. There are few other routes as well but this one is the best of the lot. The condition of roads in this route are better than the other routes.

The best part of the trip was the drive and I am glad that I got to do the major chunk (Around 750 km) of it. We drove through the straight four lane highways, dense forests and through the curves and bends of the Western Ghats. If one loves driving or is a car enthusiast one must drive on these roads. I managed to test the upper limits of the Santro's to its limits. Not sure which screw or nut of the Santro has gone loose now :D

Day 1 -

We left our house at 7:30 am. It took us around fifteen minutes to dodge the Bangalore traffic and hit the highway. But once we hit it there was no stopping the Schumacher in me. This was when I was able to clock 140 km. It was a flat out drive till Srirangapatnam, our first pit stop. We had planned to visit the Nimishamba temple there. The temple is on the banks of river Cauvery and Goddess Nimishamba is known to grant one's wishes instantly. Don't miss visiting this temple if you are planning a trip to Bangalore or Mysore. The next stopover was Mysore for breakfast. We had yummy Dosa and chutney at the very famous 'Mylari Hotel'. On our way to Kalpetta, we cross Bandipur National Forest. We were very lucky to spot a parade of elephants enjoying themselves in a water hole. Here is a picture of the same.

Pic: Elephants enjoying a dip.

We reached our destination at around lunch time. We had booked Hotel Haritagiri two days prior to our departure. The hotel was recommended by most of the Kerala tourism websites and one of my cousins. It boasts of an Ayurveda village too. The service in the hotel is excellent. Very few people understand English/Hindi but we managed to get what we wanted. I even got a full body massage done :).

I am now going to post the pictures of the place we visited with a brief description rather than trying to explain everything in words. I will let the pictures speak for themselves :)

Pookot or Pookod Lake - Is a pristine fresh water lake enclosed by hills and has a walkway which goes around it. One can go paddle boating here but it was closed by the time we entered.

Distance from Kalpetta: 14 km
Entry Fee: Rs. 10
Paddle Boat: Rs 30 for 20 min
.

Pic: Pristine and placid lake

Pic : My mom and I on the walkway

Day 2 -

Banasura Sagar Dam - It is India's largest and Asia's second largest Earth Dam. There's a speed boat (a fast motor boat) that takes one around the dam. The trek from the entrance to the dam is quite long and tiring. One can hire a jeep to cover this distance.

Distance from Kalpetta: 24 km
Entry fee: Rs. 10
Jeep: Rs 50 for a round trip. (Max 10 ppl)
Speed Boat: 250 for a 20 min trip (Max 5 ppl)
View from the boat: Priceless :)

Pic: The Dam and its Gates

Pic: Ye Hassen Vadiyan, Ye khula Aasman

Kuruva Island- 950 acres of evergreen forest on the tributaries of east following river Kabini. The island is uninhabited. Rare species of birds, orchids and herbs can be found here. The road leading to this island is in quite a bad shape.

Distance from Kalpetta : 40 km
No Entry fees
Boat: Rs. 20 per head (Required to cross the river. One can swim across too.)

Pic: Mom and Dad

Pic: Land across the river is Kuruva Island

Day 3 -

Soochippara Falls - The road leading to this waterfall is amazing. Tea estates adorn both sides of the road. The trek to the waterfall is exhilarating as well as exhausting. One can get down the mountains quite easily but the slope is quite steep and the climb back up is very tiring. I did not want my parents to get down with me. My mom agreed to it but my dad didn't. He was extremely pleased when we finally got to the waterfall.

Distance from Kalpetta: 23 km
No Entry Fees
Jeep: Rs. 100 for a round trip (From the entrance to the stairs.)

Pic: Picturesque Tea Estate

Pic : Soochippara Water Fall

Pic: Thrilled Dad

There are lots of other places we skipped either due to the distance or lack of interest . I'll list them out here so that it can help the people reading this post.

- Edakkal Caves: Neolithic Caves
- Chembra Peak - 1200 metre mountain climb
- Lakkidi - A chain of Trees
- Muthanga Wild Life Sanctuary - 45 km from Kalpetta
- Pakshipathalam - 17 km Trek
- Neelimala View Point - Supposed to be good
- Sentinel Rock Waterfalls - Not very good
- Tholpetty wild life Sanctuary - 70 km from Kapetta

Wayanad is not a hill station. The weather here is more or less same as every place. It becomes cool at nights. One or two pairs of jeans, t-shirts and a comfortable pair of shoes should do the trick. Food used to be a problem in Kerala when I had visited it four years back but it is no longer a problem. We now get all kinds of food sans coconut oil too.

Like every good things come to an end, so did our trip. The trip to God's own Country was exciting, rejuvenating and truly a trip to remember. The pristine glittering waters, the drive, the picturesque tea estates, the time spent with my parents are some of the things that will be etched in my mind forever.

It's raining tags

2008-09-20T01:35:00.000-07:00

I was out on a short afternoon stroll in the blogosphere when out of nowhere a tag hit me. The assailant’s name is Aparna. She is a pioneer with a wicked smile - Muhahahahhahaha. She has started a tag and has started to pass it to any person who dares to even come close to her blog. There’s one good thing about this tag though. It’s the rules. We can set our own rules and play along with it. The tag was quite simple as there were not many questions to answer.

What do you do when!?

- You see a man (or woman) making a pass (trying to woo / flirt / impress) on a woman (or man) you like?

The girl would slap me if I try and object it. Girls love all the attention they can garner and I dare not take that away from them.

- Someone you like, is not attracted to you?

I’ll try doing an Item song. ‘Zara Zara Touch Me Touch Me Touch Me’ :)

- You are attracted to someone, but both of you are in two different cities?

I’ll take my chances as long as the city she is living is reachable by a local call :)

- You are reading a book, and your best friend wants to borrow it and can’t wait for you to finish reading, ‘coz he/she has been looking for it for all their life?

If that is the level of his or her desperation, I will definitely have to hand that book over. A friend in desperate need is a friend indeed :)

- You help plan his / her career, and then, they go on to achieve it, leaving you behind, alone…

Aree oye!! Sun to… Apne girl friend ko bhi saath leja…

Rules:

-You cannot tag me back on this one!
-You can create your own rules, as long as the above rule applies!
-Rules added as a late thought in the comments section does not hold!
-Tag Aparna whenever you get a chance!

Anybody reading this post and in dire need of something to write is tagged.

Beauties of Nature

2008-09-18T01:33:00.000-07:00

I have this habit of reading British newspapers online since the day I've come back from United Kingdom in February. Yesterday was no different. If you are a gossip lover stop reading Mumbai Mirror, Mid-Day and start reading British news papers. Among all these unwanted gossip news, there was one rare article that stood out. It was about an 'Upside Down Rainbow'.

Here is the article that followed;

Astronomer Dr Jacqueline Mitton captured the freak rainbow near her home in Cambridge. Normal rainbows are made when light penetrates raindrops and re-emerges out the other side in the same direction. But, the inverted types, known as circumzenithal arcs, are caused when sunlight bounces off ice crystals high in the atmosphere, sending the light rays back up.

"The conditions have to be just right: you need the right sort of ice crystals and the sky has to be clear," said Mitton. "We're not sure how big an area it was visible over, but it was certainly very impressive," she added. A spokesman for the Met Office confirmed the inverted rainbows are occasionally spotted in British skies. "It is convex to the sun and is formed by refraction in suitably-oriented ice crystals and may show vivid rainbow colouring, as in this case," he said.

There was also this e-mail forward I got from one of my friends last evening. The forward talked about a rare rainbow called the 'Fire Rainbow', also called circumhorizontal arc being caught on film last week. But a little googling and a little research told me that it was caught on film alright but it was on June 3, 2006 in Northern Idaho and not last week as claimed by the e-mail. Given below is the picture of that beautiful natural phenomenon.

Clouds have to be cirrus, at least twenty thousand feet in the air, with just the right amount of ice crystals and the sun has to hit the clouds at precisely 58 degrees from the observer.

Well, we all know about the strange ways of nature. The fire rainbow looks like a canvas coloured by God himself and the upside down rainbow looks as though the nature is smiling with happiness.

Love is in the air

2008-09-16T12:23:00.000-07:00

Vimal has tagged me with his ‘love is everywhere’ tag. I would have never written about love unless someone provoked me to it. Now that I have got the provocation required, get ready to find some answers :)

RULE #1: People who have been tagged must write their answers on their blogs and replace any question that they dislike with a new question formulated by them.

RULE #2: Tag 6 people to do this quiz and they cannot refuse. These people must state who they were tagged by and cannot tag the person whom they were tagged by. Continue this game by sending it to other people.

1. If your lover betrayed you, what will your reaction be?

I would never pick a lover whom I don't trust. And in case she breaks my trust and betrays me, what more can I do. It’s her loss. I will probably weep for a day or two and find another one the third day :)

2. If you can have a dream to come true, what would it be?

I’ll list two dreams;
Travel around the world in a private jet owned and flown by me.
Drive a Formula 1 Car.

3. Whose butt would you like to kick?

How many kicks am I allowed to take?

4. What would you do with a billion dollars?

How do you think I would realise my dream? I would also invest some money.

5. Will you fall in love with your best friend?

Probably! You never know ;)

6. Which is more blessed, loving someone or being loved by someone?

You need to give something to get something. Love someone and you will be loved.

7. How long do you intend to wait for someone you really love?

Not much. Who has time these days!?

8. If the person you secretly like is already attached, what would you do?

I will secretly try to break it. If I succeed, there was never an attachment, if I don’t, I will move on :)

9. If you like to act with someone, who will it be? Your gf/bf or an actress/actor?

I will probably start a reality show for this. ‘Act with Varun’ show and will act with the first runner up. There are no worthy winners in reality shows.

10. What takes you down the fastest?

A person’s attitude towards life.

11. How would you see yourself in ten years time?

I just remembered that I had invested some money in my answer to question four. I will still be rich!
On a serious note, I live in the present. I have no idea. But I would definitely like to see myself as a successful individual in whatever I will be doing 10 years down the line.

12. What’s your fear?

Failure!

13. What kind of person do you think the person who tagged you is?

He is a movie lover, a good singer and a person who has no work.

14. Would you rather be single and rich or married but poor?

I am not married so I would prefer single and rich for now. I will probably revisit this question in 2 or 3 years time.

15. What’s the first thing you do when you wake up?

I look at my cell phone for time and if it is time for me to get out of my bed, I Pray!
Kara agre vasate Lakshmi, Kara madhye Saraswati, Kara moole sthithe Gowri, Prabhate kara darshanam!

16. Would you give all in a relationship?

I will definitely have to give something but I would never give all in a relationship! No way! Why should I?

17. If you fall in love with two people simultaneously, who would you pick?

I will allow them to decide. Splitsvilla! Where love is war :)

18. Would you forgive and forget no matter how horrible a thing that special someone has done?

I do not have that special someone in my life but I normally forgive and forget. No point in holding grudges.

19. What are your three most important expectations in love (Original Question: Will you marry me?)

Trust
Mutual-Admiration and
Humour (The quality of being funny)
There are many more but these are first three things that came to my mind
Answer to the Original Question: In your dreams!!

20. List 6 people to tag:

I am tagging 7 people. In alphabetical order;

Abhishek Gunjan
Akshat
Aparajita
Chandan
Smita
Swetha
Vikram

People, please read Rule No.2 carefully. You cannot refuse! I will be waiting for your answers.

The Last Lear - Review before Preview

2008-09-10T05:48:00.001-07:00

I was one of the few privileged people who sat alongside the Big B himself and watched “The Last Lear” when it was showcased in London Film Festival “LAST YEAR”. I even shook hands with the legend. It was ‘a dream come true’ for me. I stayed in Bombay for more that two years but never managed to catch a glimpse of him but my seven month stay in London bore fruits.

'The Last Lear' is undoubtedly Amitabh Bachchan's best movie ever. He will sweep away all the awards this year unless the 'Khan'dan can do something about it.

It's the story of a seasoned thespian Harish Mishra (Harry) who lives with his live-in girlfriend (Shefali Shah). The movie starts with Harry in Coma. The film shoot has taken its toll on the old man. The co-star is truly worried but the director of the movie does not want to meet the ailing actor and is busy preparing for the movie premiere.

The story takes shape in flashback but keeps meandering around past and present.

A young impatient film maker played by Arjun Rampal (Siddharth) tries to woo Harry out of his retirement from stage into films. The interaction between the film-maker and the stage actor produces some of the pleasing and best scenes of the movie.

Harry meets Shabnam (Preity Zinta) on the sets of the movie. Shabnam is a lovable character though her husband in the movie thinks otherwise. He does not like the name and fame that his wife gets out of her movies and is very jealous of her.

Harry initially thinks that there is lot of deception in movies and performing on the stage was grander than performing / acting in movies. Impressed by Siddharth's moviemaking ability and professionalism he slowly adjusts himself to the movie sets. The bond that Harry's young live-in girl friend and Harry share is portrayed beautifully as well.

There are few questions that might remain unanswered. Why this title? What happens to Harry in the end? Will he come back from his coma? How did that accident occur? Why Siddarth does not visit the ailing Harry? I would have loved to disclose everything here but I do not want to spoil your movie going experience.

The silver mane gives Big B yet another look. He looks good though. Arjun Rampal has proved he can act and I have no comments to make on the other actors. Rituparno Ghosh has made sure that he gets the best out of all his actors. Big B has brought the characters of Shakespearean plays back into life with his impeccable dialogue delivery. I cannot praise the dialogues enough because those were written by the master himself :)

I give this movie four and a half stars. I have not given it a five because there is always room for improvement :)

I have tried hard not to disclose the story. Make sure you don't miss watching it.

News that caught my eye

2008-09-04T02:28:00.000-07:00

Following are the news that managed to catch my eye and attention last month (1st August - 31st August); some surprising, some disappointing, some stimulating and some stifling.

Disclaimer: The news items listed are not in any particular order and are not meant to offend anyone.

Beijing Olympics - After centuries, India managed to win an

individual gold and two individual bronze medals. Is it something to cheer about?? No. It is not! Countries much smaller than India, (size of an Indian state) managed to win more gold medals. Please don't tell me about the lack of Infrastructure and all that stuff. I know all the reasons. I am just not impressed.

Bihar Floods - It is so unfortunate to see such a poor state suffer from floods. The images and videos sometimes shown on TV are gory. The news channels either completely ignore that there is a national calamity or show the same news over and over 24 X 7. Can the politicians for once stop fighting among themselves and start helping the needy and poor?

Barrack Obama and McCain- Who are these guys? They are on all news channels and newspapers.

iPhone - Apple launched the much hyped iPhone 3G in India last month. I am waiting for apple to relaunch the same phone at fifty percent discount :)

Indian Cricket team wins a one-day series in Sri Lanka - After leading the Indian team to a series win, Dhoni is suddenly all pumped up. It was sheer luck that got India through and not the young blood that he always keeps talking about. He has forgotten that he's growing old everyday.

Tata Nano - Can somebody please allow Ratan Tata to start working on his Nano? More the delay, costlier the car! From where do you think the company would recover its loss!?

Nuke Deal - Has Unites States of America mislead the innocent India or has the Indian Government mislead its citizens?

Google Chrome - Internet's new heartthrob. It is the Google's latest open source beta version browser. Like all software products it has its pros (Faster than any other browser) and cons (No Ad Blocker and Download Manager). But I am sure Google would have already started its work on all the shortcomings. Microsoft and Apple, get ready for some competition :)

MTV Splitsvilla - I wanted the other guy to win only because he was my namesake. Looking forward to Roadies 6.0

Social Networking halves Degree of Separation - Have you ever heard of Six Degrees of Separation? It refers to the idea that, if a person is one step away from each person they know and two steps away from each person who is known by one of the people they know, then everyone is an average of six "steps" away from each person on Earth.

The social networking sites like facebook and cellular operators claim that they have now halved it. You are just three "steps" away from each person on earth. “Scary!”?

I got some work - I finally got some work in the new organization. It feels really good to get back on track.

Happy Birthday Sis - Last but not least 31st August was my sister Chaitra’s Birthday. I wish her all luck and happiness in life. Belated wishes dear Chaiti :)

Down Memory Lane

2008-09-02T16:04:00.000-07:00

After contemplating for about thirty minutes, I finally decided to stick to this title. It was a three hour journey from Bangalore to Mysore that took me down the memory lane. I was going to Mysore to attend the engagement of my classmate, also my colleague and friend.

On our way to Mysore we pass through a small city (district headquarters) named Mandya. This is a place where I have spent the maximum part of my life (19 years to be exact) and due to obvious reasons it is a place that is very close to my heart.
The city does not have a bypass road which is annoying for the long distance travellers but it didn't quite annoy me. I was enjoying the ride through the city. I could recognize every building, every tree, my school, our house, shopping streets, movie theatres, and petrol pumps. It was as though every building that I saw was smiling at me and welcoming me back. It was disheartening to see few old buildings demolished but then if the infrastructure of a city has to improve the old has to give way to the new. Sir Alfred Lord Tennyson knew this a long time ago “The old order changeth, giving way to the new.”

It was this five min ride through the city that suddenly took me back by twenty years. For the next hour of my journey, I stopped the music I was listening to, closed my eyes and tried to remember every single bit I could remember about that city. It was just like any flash back that one sees in a movie. All the scenes were flashing right in front of eyes. I so badly wanted to get into those scenes again but all I could manage was to open my eyes and stare at the sunlight that was peeping through the window pane.

I was expecting to meet a lot of (at least ten) old friends during the engagement but only three turned up. Nevertheless, it fun meeting old friends. The conversation started with a 'how are you' but somehow ended up in the usual/formal questions like “Which language do you code in?” and “Who are all your clients?” I am sure all software engineers would second me on this one. We could not really help it. We did not have an odd man/woman out who could divert us away from software! The lunch was delicious and so was the vanilla ice cream. We wished the couple, took photographs and bid good bye to my friend and her parents.

On the way back to Bangalore, I passed through Mandya again but this time it was not the buildings but the twinkling stars and glittering lights that smiled and waved good bye.

The friend whose engagement I went to attend was extremely happy that I could make it. I was happy too that I could share her happiness but even happier that this engagement gave me an opportunity to take the beautiful trip down the memory lane.

Mauja Hi Mauja at 90 kmph

2008-08-26T06:12:00.000-07:00

The distance between my office and home is just four km. This has given me an opportunity to commute using a two wheeler. In a city like Bangalore, I am really very lucky to find an office that is so close to my home. Like most of the two-wheeler riders these days, I too have my hands-free plugged into my ears all the time. They might use it to receive calls but I use it to block the terrible honking sound and to listen to music. I tried listening to the FM radio for few days but Bangalore FM radio stations are pathetic. The final option that was left with me was to resort to a play list of my own.
I have a play list of few hand picked songs that not only entertains me but each song changes the manner I ride my bike.

1. Aditi Hans De Tu Zara - A smile is what you need to have on your face when you are riding in Bangalore without which the ride becomes mundane. This song makes sure that I at least start my ride with a smile.

2. Pappu Can't Dance Saala - This song manages to keep the smile going that Aditi started. I just change the lyrics a little to 'Pappu can't drive Saala' and start laughing at any person who's passing me or attempts to pass me.

3. Bachna Ae Haseeno - This song gives me the feeling that I am announcing myself to the world. 'Lo Main Aagaya'. It is a feeling that can sure bring smile on anybody's face. More that the smile it brings out, it manages to bring out the guy who wants to impress the haseenas with his style of riding. Don't ever try it on Bangalore roads because you never know when a haseena might bump you off the road.

4. Mauja Hi Mauja - The title of the post would have now given you a fair idea of what I do while listening to this song. This is one adrenaline pumping song. By the time this song gets its opportunity I hit a ring road which is wide and usually free of traffic. This is a stretch of about 300, 400 metres where I get to live my dream of becoming a Valentino Rossi or a Michael Schumacher everyday. The more I manoeuvre my vehicle the faster I go. This is what I call the 'Controlled Rash Driving' :)

5. Tashan Mein - With lunch box in one hand and laptop bag on my shoulders, I feel no less than a Saif Ali Khan or Akshay Kumar walking into the office. What if I don't have size zero Kareena by my side, I have an equally smooth and sleek dell laptop on my desk :)

Between Breaks

2008-08-05T04:53:00.000-07:00

Break - 1

I have been allocated a new project called 'Meteor' and have been put into two day training. The training is going on really well but I have decided to enjoy my breaks too by writing something whenever I get one.

The new cubicle allotted to me is really good. It's very close to the entry and exit door, the rest room, the cafeteria and most importantly the fire exit :). The people around here recognize me unlike the old cubicle where I sat all alone. It’s a good feeling when somebody smiles at you early in the morning and wishes you good morning. Gives you a good start.

Break - 2

The training that I am attending is a financial training. It's a training about financial and accounting aspects of a telecom billing world. People in my organization have waited for almost 2 years to get this kind of training but lucky me, I am attending it the 2nd day I got into my project. I always wanted to get a degree in commerce but feared that it would take me no where and followed the crowd who were jumping into the world of Engineering. I have no regrets about the decision as it has done a world of good to me and has given me a lot of good friends along its way. Finance is a domain one can learn any time one wants irrespective of his or her educational background and since the term ‘finance’ is so closely associated with money it always amazed me. The words 'assets', 'liabilities', 'expense' etc never fail to astonish me. Break - 2 was a lunch break. The menu for lunch was two chapatis (6 inch radius) with chatni and a sabji. It was a welcome change that I enjoyed thoroughly. Resorted to chapatis instead of a meal because I did not feel like having anything heavy during training. Sleep factor you know!! I fall asleep in almost all my trainings unless I find an interesting trainer or some activity that can keep me awake.

Break - 3

The activity or exercise that we did was certainly refreshing. Never drowsed off and most importantly, I managed to complete it with only two minor mistakes. I am feeling like an expert already. Bring on the account books!! :).

Final - Break

The day finally comes to an end. I was playing with Alice in our very own wonderland for most of the last session. Tomorrow promises to be an interesting day. I’m looking forward to it. Hope you enjoyed reading this piece during your break :)

The way back home

2008-08-04T11:45:00.000-07:00

It was just a 45 min drive from the new Bangalore International Airport but it gave me enough time to introspect on various things ranging from importance of relationships to a country's Infrastructure. I had been to the airport to drop my cousin sister and her family (husband and 2 beautiful kids) who had come to India from USA after a gap of four long years. One might ask why they had come anyway. If you've gone through my earlier posts, I had mentioned something similar. Even though we talk on phone everyday, see the other on a web-cam or write emails regularly the feeling that you have one meeting someone in person is simply out of this world. Something which is very hard to describe in words.

She was here in Bangalore for only 15 days but managed to visit all her relatives in their own backyards. It was great to see the love, the affection and the warmth she had for all her cousins and relatives. One reason could have been the gap after which she came to India. But broadly speaking, don’t we tend to forget people as days, months and years progress? So what had made her to come to India? Had she forgotten how we looked? Did she come here to remind us that she existed? Did she come as if to apologize that she didn't come earlier? These were the stupid questions that flashed momentarily in my mind but I knew immediately that the answer was a big NO. She was here because she respects relations; she visited everyone at their own homes because she knows the importance of spending quality time with each individual.

Without boasting any further about my cousin, I just want to stress upon the fact that relationship is one thing that bonds every one of us every where. So please start respecting them and give them the importance they deserve. It could be any relation under the sun. Even your dog shares a relation with you. 'Deserve', why do you think I used this word? I am a firm believer in giving back what I get. I respect people who respect me, I adore people who adore me and ignore people who ignore me. It could probably be one reason that I can still count my friends using my fingers but then I don't really care. I am happy with what I have.

Let me speak about the Bangalore's infrastructure now. I know I have picked two topics that are no way related to each other but then I’m just going with my brain and my eyes. Just writing what I felt and what I saw.

The new Bangalore International Airport is truly an engineering wonder. It takes you to a new world altogether. It’s like one of the episodes of Alice in wonderland. Makes you wonder whether it's really Bangalore. Placed a little distance off the Bangalore - Hyderabad highway, the structure has come up beautifully. Cars coming in from 6 lanes, Colorful taxis queued up for the passengers to arrive, hep coffee shops, subway sandwiches and not to mention the amber sodium vapor lamps that light up the entire airport.

The only complaint people have about Bangalore whilst flooding it is the infrastructure it lacks and the never-ending-always-growing traffic. I am glad that it has come up with a new international standard airport which gives us sure signs that it is definitely headed the right way with respect to infrastructure but am not sure what it's doing with respect to traffic because given an opportunity, I would have killed few drivers and two wheeler riders on my way to office today. I’ll probably vent out my frustrations in posts to follow. Until then, ride safe and do keep in mind that you are not the only one riding on the road.

India shaken but not stirred

2008-07-28T23:42:00.000-07:00

The title of the post appears like a James Bond's drink but no, it's got nothing to do with the Vodka Martini. I am talking about the bomb blasts that rocked India last weekend. The serial bomb blasts in Bangalore and Ahmedabad have definitely shaken India to the core. Life is always unpredictable but these guys have made it worse. If accidents weren't enough, one now has to make sure he or she is not driving or walking around a place that can be bombed any second. Life has become a mine sweeper game. One wrong step and kaboom. Major difference between a game and life is you can always restart a game but not everyone's lucky when it comes to life.

Media has definitely played its part in hyping the issue but I believe it has become a boon in this case. The government rose to the occasion and tightened up all the screws and prevented blasts of high intensity in Surat. Coming to government, why are only the states ruled by BJP targeted!!? Does one see any reason for it? I go with co-incidence till I find something concrete to blame someone.

The blasts might have created fear in people's minds and hearts but for how long ? The last blast in Bangalore took place in the afternoon and the life was back to normal by evening. There was definitely a little fear somewhere in some corner of the mind but then you cannot sit idle waiting for some maniac to blast something. The people who plant bombs are losers. What are they trying to achieve? If they think they can imbibe fear into people's minds by blasting few bombs, their thought process needs an overhaul. They think they've won a war by killing few people but the truth is they've won nothing. Nobody fears a person they've never seen. You'll not be able to even convince a kid to get to bed by telling him 'soja beta warna bomb uncle aajayenge'. In matter of weeks, the whole bombing episode is going to become a laughing stock in shows like laughter challenge.

I take this opportunity to condemn the attacks and pray for the people who've succumbed to such hideous acts of crime.

The statements above looks like a statement cut from a politician’s speech but trust me; I don't have a spokesperson to make such bold and beautiful statements

A few crude bombs can never stir a country of the stature like India. The life in Bangalore returned to normalcy the day after and the news channels told us that the life was normal in Ahmedabad by Sunday evening. We even worked full time here on Friday which goes to show the effect t hat the bombs had on us.

It’s quite evident that India's shaken but it’s all the more evident that it’s not stirred. Yenna Rascala... Mind it... :D

An interesting reflection: Slow Down Culture

2008-07-17T04:47:00.000-07:00

This is one of the email forwards I received yesterday. I wanted to share it with you all the moment I read it. I am not sure who authored it but would like to thank him from the bottom of my heart for writing such a lovely piece.

Read on...

It’s been 18 years since I joined Volvo, a Swedish company. Working for them has proven to be an interesting experience. Any project here takes 2 years to be finalized, even if the idea is simple and brilliant. It's a rule.

Globalize processes have caused in us (all over the world) a general sense of searching for immediate results. Therefore, we have come to posses a need to see immediate results. This contrasts greatly with the slow movements of the Swedish. They, on the other hand, debate, debate, debate, hold x quantity of meetings and work with a slowdown scheme. At the end, this always yields better results.

Said in another words:
1. Sweden is about the size of San Pablo, a state in Brazil.
2. Sweden has 2 million inhabitants.
3. Stockholm, has 500,000 people.
4. Volvo, Escania, Ericsson, Electrolux, Nokia are some of its renowned companies. Volvo supplies the NASA.

The first time I was in Sweden, one of my colleagues picked me up at the hotel every morning. It was September, bit cold and snowy. We would arrive early at the company and he would park far away from the entrance (2000 employees drive their car to work). The first day, I didn't say anything, either the second or third. One morning I asked, "Do you have a fixed parking space? I've noticed we park far from the entrance even when there are no other cars in the lot." To which he replied, "Since we're here early we'll have time to walk, and whoever gets in late will be late and need a place closer to the door. Don't you think? Imagine my face.

Nowadays, there's a movement in Europe name Slow Food. This movement establishes that people should eat and drink slowly, with enough time to taste their food, spend time with the family, friends, without rushing. Slow Food is against its counterpart: the spirit of Fast Food and what it stands for as a lifestyle. Slow Food is the basis for a bigger movement called Slow Europe, as mentioned by Business Week.

Basically, the movement questions the sense of "hurry" and "craziness" generated by globalization, fueled by the desire of "having in quantity" (life status) versus "having with quality", "life quality" or the "quality of being". French people, even though they work 35 hours per week, are more productive than Americans or British. Germans have established 28.8 hour workweeks and have seen their productivity been driven up by 20%. This slow attitude has brought forth the US's attention, pupils of the fast and the "do it now!”

This no-rush attitude doesn't represent doing less or having a lower productivity. It means working and doing things with greater quality, productivity, perfection, with attention to detail and less stress. It means reestablishing family values, friends, free and leisure time. Taking the "now", present and concrete, versus the "global", undefined and anonymous. It means taking humans' essential values, the simplicity of living.

It stands for a less coercive work environment, more happy, lighter and more productive where humans enjoy doing what they know best how to do. It's time to stop and think on how companies need to develop serious quality with no-rush that will increase productivity and the quality of products and services, without losing the essence of spirit.

In the movie, Scent of a Woman, there's a scene where Al Pacino asks a girl to dance and she replies, "I can't, my boyfriend will be here any minute now". To which Al responds, "A life is lived in an instant". Then they dance to a tango.

Many of us live our lives running behind time, but we only reach it when we die of a heart attack or in a car accident rushing to be on time. Others are so anxious of living the future that they forget to live the present, which is the only time that truly exists. We all have equal time throughout the world. No one has more or less. The difference lies in how each one of us does with our time. We need to live each moment. As John Lennon said, "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans".

Congratulations for reading till the end of this message. There are many who will have stopped in the middle so as not to waste time in this globalize world.

An upsetting weekend

2008-07-07T11:35:00.000-07:00

Before you get into any sort of conclusion, I am perfectly fit, fine and doing great. I am just talking about the upsets that we witnessed during the course of the weekend. There were 3 major upsets in the world of sports;

Upsets from my point of view only because none of the teams or individuals that I supported won.

1. Formula 1 - Ferrari not managing a podium finish in the British Grand Prix (Hamilton Won)
2. Cricket - Srilanka beating India in the Asia Cup Final
3. Tennis - Nadal beating Federer for the Wimbledon Crown

The biggest upset of them all will no doubt be the third one in my list. Nadal managing to win the longest final in Wimbledon History. I was reading an article on 'Brand Fatigue' in Bangalore times the other day. This was an interesting article that talked about people getting bored of seeing the same person win again and again. Nadal has now managed to give people something to cheer about. We have a new winner, a new hero.

It was a sodden Silverstone grand prix that Hamiltion managed to win. It was without any doubt the young lad's (I am growing old) best race ever. A race that was hard on drivers and more so on the race engineers. The race required perfect strategy but it’s a touch disappointing to see that the Ferrari team clearly lacked it. Hamilton's victory has opened up the championship wide. It's now a 4 way or could even be a 5 way battle for the championship with 9 races to go. This is what every F1 fan dreams of. We have a battle on our cards. A battle at 300 kmph :)

Coming to cricket, I am disappointed to say the least. When will Indian cricket team win a final!!?? I know Srilanka had a magician named Mendes in their side who demolished India but why does it always happen to this team? Is it something to do with the team selection? Is it something to do with the players’ fitness? There are lots of questions like these that the team management needs to find an answer for and if they don't do it quickly, I am afraid we'll have to settle for India's remarkable victories in the league stages.

I do not want to speak about what went wrong or what could have been right because there are experts in every field who are better equipped and better qualified than me to talk about it. I am just expressing my disappointment as a spectator who loves watching these sports.

Every cloud has a silver lining and so does every upsetting weekend. The silver lining was 'Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na'. It's a very fresh, feel good movie. You come out of the theatre or a multiplex with a smile on your face. The movie has no sci-fi story or a time machine or a dard-e-disco but it still manages to capture the heart of audience with its simple and well narrated story. The music is wonderful. AR Rehman is truly a genius. You cannot refrain yourself from humming 'Pappu can't dance saala' or 'Aditi Hans de Tu Zara' whenever you listen to it. The cast of the movie is the main reason behind its freshness. Genelia is cute and Imran can act. I give it four stars (****) out of five. One more movie released over the weekend. Love Story 2050. Couldn't muster enough courage to watch it after reading all the great reviews it had got.

From movies to motor sport, from cricket to tennis, the greatest have their bad days. It's just a matter of waiting for another weekend, another match, another race and getting back to winning ways.

All the Best!!

Pappu Can't Dance Sala

2008-06-30T05:04:00.000-07:00

Disclaimer: Non IT people or people not associated with IT in anyway may not find the post humorous.

This song from the movie Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na is catchy but have you put in a thought on why you've liked that song. It's a song about a person who cannot do something. In this case, he cannot dance. You are laughing at him!!? What if somebody changes that song to 'Pappu can't code saala'. Have you ever thought about it?

Here goes the song;

Hai muscular (hai muscular) Hai popular (hai popular)
Hai muscular, hai popular (Every IT guy's dream. He has already joined a gym or thinking about joining one)
Spectacular! He’s a bachelor (he’s a bachelor, he’s a bachelor)
Pappu ki gadi tez hai, Pappu kudiyon mein craze hai
Pappu ki aankein light blue, Pappu dikhta angrezz hai (angrezz hai)
Rado ki ghadi hathon mein, Perfume gucci vala (One on-site trip and you can buy any designer wear you want)
[Par Pappu can't code sala] 2
..
Paida Pappu hua to kismatein chamaki
Aur uske muh mein thi chandi ki chamchi
(hey yeh yeh) Pappu ke paas hai paisa
(hey yeh yeh) Hathon ki mail ke jaisa
(hey yeh yeh) Pappu yaaron ka yaar hai
(hey yeh yeh) Pappu dildar hai star hai
[Par Pappu can't code sala] 2
..
Papa kehte hain bada naam karega
Mera Pappu to aisa kaam karega
(hey yeh yeh) Pappu ke paas hai MBA (Planning to crack CAT or GMAT yet again)
(hey yeh yeh) Karta hai France mein holiday
(hey yeh yeh) Pappu guitar bajata hai
(hey yeh yeh) Jahaan jata hai chhaaa jaaaa ta hai
[Par Pappu can't code sala] 2
Par Pappu can’t code sala…

It fits perfectly... Doesn't it???

There might be great programmers and coders who might have got offended by the post. I apologize for that but think about you as a fresher. I am sure all you knew about coding was just #include stdio.h. When you have Google why do you want to code anyway.

You can watch and Listen to the original song on youtube.

Enough of humour! Let me come back to some preaching. Put yourself in other person's shoe before you comment or laugh at him. In case you manage to laugh at yourself when you are in the other person's shoe, you are free to do anything you please. I for once loved the original and my own version of the song :)

I just need to change my ghadi, perfume and get a MBA. And yes, how can I forget the gym. I am planning to join one soon :)

Utilize your free time - My Way

2008-06-25T12:30:00.000-07:00

Here are few things you can do (rather I do) when you (I) have some free time;

1. Read Newspapers - All of them you can find. e-papers included.

2. Read Horoscopes - Read them when you are nearing close of play. You'll feel great that you proved it wrong yet again.

3. Read Blogs - All kinds of them. From celebrity Blogs to Blogs on Cooking. From Blogs on Sports to Blogs on Literature. I feel women make sensible writers but there are few exceptions when it comes to men. You are reading one of them :)

4. Wish a Friend / Relative - If it's a friend's / Relative's birthday or Anniversary make it a point to call them. I know it'll consume 2 min of your precious time but try wasting those 2 min once in a while. Given us an option we'll choose e-mail any day but it consumes more than 2 min. Think about it!!

5. Call a friend - My favourite pass time is going through phone book of my cell phone. Pick a person who is never expecting your call. Surprise him or her. Make his or her day. The same applies to chatting online. Buzz a friend.

6. Reply to e-mails - It feels great to see a reply any day any time of the year. We wait for acknowledgment in every facet of our life . Even a packet switched network waits for acknowledgment (techie stuff... cannot really help it) then why not acknowledge an e-mail. Please do it. Trust me, the feel good factor will be there both sides. The person who sent the reply will feel as good as the person who received it.

7. Write - Best way to express something is to write. Not just blogs. Write a hand written letter. It's something that has not lost its value with time. It's in fact priceless these days as you rarely find one. Write e-mails, greeting cards, in fact write anything and everything you like. If you feel you express better when you speak, go ahead find a good listener.

8. Play - I love playing games on my PC or my laptop even at this age. This is the first thing I do when I cannot think of anything else. Even a game of solitaire will cheer you up provided you win. You'll have that sense of satisfaction that you won something. Tip: Play at the easiest level. You'll never win the hardest level in your first attempt. In case you have company and like outdoor games a game of cricket or football wouldn't do any harm.Yes, Gym is a great option too.

9. Listen to Music - Thanks to my sis, i have a Microsoft Zune. Now don't ask me what's that. It's a 30GB mp3 player, a Microsoft product. Find a great pair of earphones or a headphones that suits your mp3 player or Walkman or a Disc man without which the music listening experience will not be as good as you want it to be. Do not disturb others by playing music on speakers. Speakers are for Cars and home theaters. Listening to radio is a good option in a city like Mumbai but don't try listening to radio for long in Bangalore. It's pathetic.

10. Keep updating yourself - I'll not ask you about the latest graphics card that NVidia released for gaming but you should at least know that NVidia is a company that makes graphic cards for computers. This is an offshoot of point of 1 and 3. If you read you'll know. There's another option to make yourself aware of the happening. My mom uses this option extensively. Listen to what people talk, ask questions, understand. If you don't update yourself, you'll have very few common topics to talk when you meet any stranger.

11. Making friends on orkut is not socializing - Cyberspace is an imaginary space where everybody is your friend. But you do not live in cyberspace. Wake up!!. Try to use it as a medium to find your long lost friends and a medium to keep in touch. In case you are lucky enough to get his or her number go to point 5 :)

12. Talk - Go home and talk. To your parents, your room mates. This is the only medium to vent out your anger/frustration or share your happiness. Your day will be complete if you manage to do it. In case you don't find anyone when you come back home, pick the best listener from your phone book and call him or her.

13. Dine Out - A dinner once in a while in a restaurant with good ambience and most importantly great food will surely enlighten you

14. TV - I know its addictive but try avoiding it. Ekta Kkaappoorr is the only person making money out of it. Why do you want to help her? There are more needy people in India.

15. Watch a Movie - How the hell did I forget this one. I was about to post this blog without movies. Guess its the sign of me blending in Bangalore. Rent a movie, watch movie channels or the best option would be to go to a theater and watch an uninterrupted movie.

You'll not find Read Books or Novels in my list because i hardly read them. It's definitely a brilliant option. I plan to get it into my list sooner than later.

All said and done if your mommy wants you to run to the nearest veggie store and pick sabji for her, it surely takes the highest priority.

New Number 9XXXX 23130

2008-06-24T02:29:00.000-07:00

In case you had my old number and in case you've noticed, the last 5 digits are same. There's no big history behind this number nor there is any numerology involved. It's just that i am emotionally attached to it. 23130 was our first land line number in Mandya which makes it the first phone number of my life. As long as i can get the last 5 digits of my choice i would continue this wherever i go. It's just a miniscule attempt to keep myself attached to Mandya. A place I love so dearly.

Call me!! :)

Karan Johar's following me

2008-06-23T03:24:00.000-07:00

Karan Johar has now placed his step into the world of blogging. For that matter even Amitabh Bachchan and Amir Khan have followed me. I had my own blog way before these guys knew what blogging is all about. This is starting to become a trend now. Bollywood or Indian Film Industry as Big B fondly calls it has finally noticed the importance of internet as a medium to interact with fans, and promote their new movies. The websites (for new movies) were always there but websites never gave the opportunity to interact. By reading a blog a fan feels that he's getting to know that star better than ever and he always has the liberty to drop his comments on whatever his star has written. These guys now a day reply to the comments as well there by ensuring the readership stays on.

Just in case you are interested in reading their blogs, here are the links;

Amitabh Bachchan - http://blogs.bigadda.com/ab/
Amir Khan - http://www.aamirkhan.com/blog.htm
Karan Johar - http://www.mynameiskaran.com/

I am not saying that these guys are good or great writers but they certainly have connected with the outside world quite well.

I am waiting for SRK to start writing. He is one intelligent actor who can make a great writer too. He started blogging briefly during the IPL but that was just about his Knight Riders.

I an honest in admitting that I like TV channels like zoom that showcase Bollywood gossip almost 24 x 7. But as soon as I came to know that news channels get news from blogs like these, I straight away jumped into the idea of reading instead of watching. It’s always better to get the news straight from the source. It gets twisted and turned by the time it reaches us.

If you’ve noticed, I have been quite selfish and have written only about me in the past. This is an attempt to write something out of the box. Will think about writing more stuff like this based on the response I get. Do leave a comment if you find some time.

Looking forward to other great actors joining the blog bandwagon.

Homecoming

2008-06-12T20:48:00.000-07:00

I was definitely planning to write a post on this one but thought it could wait. I guess it cannot wait any longer as the loyal readers have already started demanding. What more motivation does a writer need!? So here I am, sharing my feelings and experiences. The feeling of a farewell, the experience of a first class train journey and the feeling of coming home after three long years;

The D-Day - It was my last working day in Tech Mahindra. I was wating for this day when I resigned. I was waiting for my notice period to finish so that I can join the new organization as soon as possible. But when the day finally came, I was sad. I did not want to go. I did not want to leave my old organization. I did not want to quit. I wanted to be there, be there with my friends, and be in Mumbai.

It hurts when you have to leave something so close to your heart and when you know you are leaving it permanently, it truly hurts. The celebration committee had arranged a farewell party. A year ago, I was in the celebration committee as well and had arranged few farewell parties. I had always seen smiling faces and happy people. So it was obvious that I thought that my farewell party would be a happy affair. But it struck me that it is not really one when people asked me to speak. Speak a few words. Here goes my speech. I might not be able to reproduce everything correctly but it was more or less like this.

'I am emotionally attached to the team, team mates and the organization since it’s my first company and am feeling really bad that am leaving. Sometimes there comes a point in life where you have to take a decision and move on. I guess it’s that kind of a time in my life. I am moving on. All the best to you all and enjoy the party.'

This was what I could utter at that point in the noisy canteen but the sudden flow of words touched my heart and few others hearts as well. I could see a tear here and there. Was I crying? No I was not. Somebody once told me that I am kanjoos when it comes to crying. I guess I am. I treasure my tears. After the party, it was time to bid good bye to everyone and make a move which I gleefully did. Sarkar Raaj completed the day for me (4 stars for the movie but not recommended for AB Baby’s fans). It was a day that vanished in the blink of an eye like a B2 stealth bomber unnoticed by the radar. Before I knew, I was out of Tech Mahindra :(

This post will be incomplete if I fail to mention two names. It’s in fact three now. Prakruthi (Pakuthi), Giridhar(Bhava or Jiju) and the latest addition, little miss sunshine Anshu :). They are the prime reason for me to have liked Mumbai. When people in my college where thinking twice about going to Mumbai, I jumped into the idea. I knew I had Pakuthi and Bhava. She was not just my sister; she was my guardian, my guide and most importantly my GPS :). Yes, my global positioning system. I never got lost in Mumbai.

Just the thought of leaving her brought tears into my eyes. Yes dears, I cried. It was quite late at night but still sent a message to pakuthi saying that I’ll miss her and bhava terribly. Just the thought that I cannot go to her home next weekend was a lil painful. I’ll miss this lovely couple the most. There are such great times we’ve spent together. Like all celebrities, I now have my favourite holiday destination. It’s Pakuthi’s place, Mumbai :). I know for a fact that I’ll be welcome there all the time. It was emotional; wasn’t it? I can’t quite believe myself too. Let me move on to the train journey.

It was a gloomy morning with dark clouds hovering around ready to burst any time. The idiotic meru cabs were not able to find me a cab and it was left to me to find myself a cab and find one fast as it was already 7.15 am and I had to catch a train from dadar at 8.20 am. I was in Bandra at Pakuthi’s place. I moved to her place on Sunday. Luckily, I found a cab quite easily and loaded the entire luggage. Rushed to 4th floor to collect my lunch and breakfast packed by my dear sis. Could see a small pearl like tear just below Pakuthi’s eyes when I hugged her but I guess she controlled herself quite well. The pearl couldn’t complete its journey down. Bid good bye to everyone there and rushed back to the taxi. Meri saari jama poonji usi taxi mein thi :).

By the time the taxi could come to a halt at the Dadar station the clouds burst open in full glory. It was literally pouring down. I had no other option than to take the first coolie with a trolley in his hand. I didn’t want my luggage to get wet. I had no time to even ask him the fare. My first priority was to take my luggage to a dry place. He charged me 120 rupees. Can you believe it? I know he found a bakra early in the morning but I got my work done which was much more important to me at that point of time. Moreover, I knew that my dad wouldn’t allow even a single coolie to come near my luggage in Bangalore and we’ll make up for the money that I splurged here.

Dadar is not the starting point of this train and it stops here for only 2 min. I was really worried because the luggage was HEAVY and I knew it’ll be a tough task to board the train with such heavy luggage. The only glimmer of hope was that the coolie had promised me that my reserved train coach will stop right in front of me. The train was on time. To my utter disbelief and dismay, the compartment or the boogie that I had to board went two coaches ahead from where I was standing. The Daud started. A 30 to 40 kilo trolley suitcase in one hand, a 10 kilo laptop bag filled with all other electronic gadgets I possess (sometimes I wonder why I do I own so many gadgets) on my shoulder, The other hand had to carry a 15 to 20 kilo bag plus the packed lunch. I somehow managed to board the train with no causalities. Tension, worries, sab ek jhatke mein khallas.

The reservation chart on internet had told me that my coach number was HA1 and the seat number was ‘C’. I was sure that there must be some mistake in that chart but surprisingly there was not any. ‘C’ was for coupe ‘C’. I was travelling first class. There are only 3 coupes in the entire train. This was a twin coupe. The other two accommodate 4 people each. There were only 10 people who were traveling 1st class in a train that had more than 25 coaches with almost 72 people in every coach. Felt great!! Felt classy!! Felt awesome!! The first class coupe has beds large enough to even fit the old Adnan Sami in terms of width and in terms of height; it was more than 6 feet. The coupe has nice bed lamps too. It has a wardrobe where you can hang your clothes and a wash basin. The only thing missing was an electrical power point. It might be because the coach we were travelling was a very old one. My co-passenger, a 22 yr old guy from infy was supposed to board the train at Pune. This gave me opportunity to snap few pictures of the coupe. It was fun setting the auto timer and posing for the photographs :).

The sun couldn’t be seen anywhere throughout the entire 24 hr journey. It was either raining or cloudy everywhere. Looking at the weather, AC felt like luxury. Lonavala looked like jannat. It always looks like one during rainy season. This is my third rainy reason in Mumbai and I’m glad I didn’t miss it this time. Clicked a few snaps there as well. After Lonavala, I made a futile attempt to sleep but failed miserably. It became difficult to kill time. I resorted to music and it definitely helped. By the time I was thru with my music, it was 2.00 pm. It was lunch time. Had the delicious ‘Puliyogare’ (tamarind rice) and curd rice. It was after lunch that I felt a lil sleepy. Not even wasting a single min, I prepared my bed and crashed. This time I succeeded. The train had stopped at Sholapur when I woke up at around 5.30 pm.

The guy trying to sell fresh fruit juice woke me up. He got me interested. It was raining quite heavily out in Sholapur but I still managed to find that person who woke me up and bought a glass of watermelon juice. The juice was sweet and so was the feeling of drinking it in rain. My co-passenger also woke up at about the same time. The only difference was that he went to bed almost 3 hrs earlier than I did. As the train slowly made its outside Sholapur station, we spoke. What can two software engineers speak about? What started as a boring conversation later turned to an advice session as that guy was a fresher who’s just joined IT and I am now a 3 year pro :). When it comes to giving advice to people, I never get bored. I love it.

The dinner was good. The menu was Puri, Sabji, Dal, Chawal and Dahi. It was good enough for the 30 rupees I paid for it. I had ordered for it in Sholapur itself due to the unavailability of a pantry car in the train. After dinner it was a little g-mailing using my gprs connection. Went to bed listening to music. Woke up at around 7.30 am to find that I have already reached outskirts of Bangalore. Felt great that I have finally reached, but the stupid train took another hour and 20 min to reach Bangalore station.

I was well aware on which side of the train the platform would come, as I had spoken to my dad. Literally dragged my heavy luggage through the corridor and placed it near the door. My co-passenger followed me. It was a wonderful feeling to see my dad waiting for me at the station. It always feels great if someone comes to pick you up at a station, airport, bus stand etc. Doesn’t it? We reached home at around 9.45 am to the waiting arms of my granny and mommy dear. I was finally home. Home sweet home! I was quick in unpacking my luggage and arranging my wardrobe as I did not have to go back from where I came from this time.

It’s still sinking in that I have finally shifted to Bangalore. I guess it’ll sink in completely once I start to work. Mom and Dad still have this feeling that I might go back to Mumbai but am here to stay. Here to stay!

Beete Lamhein

2008-01-13T23:54:00.000-08:00

13th January, 8:45 AM

Dard mein bhi ye lab muskuraajate hai… beete lamhein hame jab bhi yaad aate hai…. Apart from the fact that I am stuck in Bangalore Airport for 3 hours now and still no signs of boarding the flight, the Bangalore trip has been one such experience which would bring smile on my face any day, any time of my life. It was mainly due to a wonder kid named Archith who also happens to be my cute little nephew. I would remember each and every little moment spent with him. Even though I got only 8 days I am glad that I came to Bangalore. I would have definitely, without any doubt regretted later in my life if I hadn't made this trip possible.

13th January, 9:00 AM

Just spotted the silver lining. The incoming flight landed. Its landed 4 hrs late. Just imagine the plight of the passengers in that flight. Phew... We might have to wait another hour before we can board the aircraft I guess.
Will continue once I board the flight.

13th January, 3:25 PM IST

Have to add the IST coz am flying over time zones. I am flying over Afghanistan at 35000 feet as I type this with 6.5 hr of journey still left to complete. Just finished finished watching a musical comedy 'Hairspray' (***.5). There isn't a laptop battery charger available in the Economy Class which is not making things easier for me. Will try to finish as much as possible with the battery backup left in my laptop.

I reached Bangalore on 5th to a warm welcome from my family. The newest addition was also there all awake at 5.30 AM in the morning, little eyes twinkling, trying to find his mama (or is it what I just felt). It was the warmest welcome I could ever get. Thanks Chaiti for bringing my nephew to the airport. This was just the beginning of the event/action packed days that were to follow.

After unpacking the luggage and the gifts that I had got for everyone we had to rush for lunch at my aunt's (atte /bua) place. I met all my loved ones there and one more latest addition to our family. The cutie pie named Anshu. She's my lovely mumbaiyya niece :). Have plans of visiting her every weekend once I am back in Mumbai. Had great home cooked food almost after 6 months. I had to close my eyes and sleep for sometime after the lunch because the food and the clock made me realize that I hadn't slept for over 27 hrs. It was in evening I had planned to meet my best of best friends. She had come to Bangalore all the way from Hyderabad to meet me. This is something that no friend had ever done for me. Thanks Mimi. My family still cannot believe that I have such good friends due to the history I have with friends. I know I had given her a short notice and very little time but my mommy had cooked a sumptuous meal for us. The dinner was great. Thanks Amma. Dropped her at her place around 11.00 and came back home around 11.30PM. Wait... The day's still not over. My bil (jiju), Sridhar had just returned from his workshop and was waiting to see me. It was a great feeling to meet him after almost 2 yrs. The technology has definitely reduced the distances. We talk everyday, we see each other on web cam but meeting someone in person has its own feeling.

At the pace I am currently going it would take at least half a page per day I guess. On 6th there was a Satyanarayana Pooja scheduled. I met all my Mamas, Uncles, family friends during this function. This get together was postponed from 25th Dec to 6th Jan only to accommodate me. Thanks Appa for getting this done. It was nice meeting so many people in just one day. It would have never been possible in Bangalore to meet so many people in the amount of time I had. The breakfast and the lunch in the pooja was absolutely fantastic and very heavy. By the time we came back home wrapping up everything it was around 5.00 pm. I don't remember going out anywhere again that day because all of us were damn tired and needed some rest. All along these two days the maximum amount of time I would have spent would be with the little fella.

I fed him. I got him to sleep on my lap. I changed his dress. I changed his diaper too on the last day before I came back. I wanted to spend as much time as possible with him because by the time I might get to meet him again he might be walking and running away from his mama.

13th January, 7:25 PM IST

I had not planned a trip to Mandya this time. It's a place which I love going to anytime of the year. I just have this strong attachment with that place. Have spent almost 20 yrs of my life there. I had to submit tax declaration proof in my office before 10th and the only way to get any proof was to pay the insurance premium in Mandya itself. I jumped into the idea of going there and get my work done but to my surprise everybody jumped into the idea :). All of us got ready as soon as we could and the wheel was taken by none other than the schumi himself. If you still haven't recognized the person its yours truly. The Bangalore to Mandya road is terrific to say the least. I guess in another 2 to 3 yrs time, people would refer to distances in India as the time taken to reach the destination by road (30 min drive or a 90 min drive )just like they refer to the distances in a US of A or UK. The trip more or less became an unplanned picnic which all of us quite dearly enjoyed.

To give you live update, I am still flying 35000 ft (10 km roughly) above ground over some place called Kiev. I had taken a break to watch yet another movie. This time it was an action flick 'Stardust' (****).

Wednesday was a daawat day. We were invited for lunch and dinner that day. Started at my uncle's (chacha) place. Met my granny there, She was happy to see me after 6 months. Both the lunch and dinner were very good and so was the time spent. My brother Arjun was all smiles and pleased to meet me after a long gap.

Thursday was for shopping. Went to a nearby shopping complex which is famously known as the 4th Block Jayanagar Shopping Complex. Started to shop after lunch and by the time we returned it was quite late in the evening. I had to shop for a laptop bag cum cabin baggage cum back pack. I got a bonus trouser for shopping with my sis and mom. I took some time out in the evening that day and called few friends. Decided to meet one of them the next day.

Everyone would have heard about the world famous food brand MTR. They have a restaurant in Bangalore which is very old and very famous for everything that they prepare there. We decided to have lunch there on friday. The lunch was good and not fantastic as I expected. I guess I expected too much out of the poor little restaurant. But again, all that mattered was the time spent. In the evening I met my friend, Runa as promised. Gave her the chocolates she always longs for. Her flat is quite near to our place. I missed out on meeting one more friend who's her neighbor because she had gone to her mother's place that day. We went to forum (a mall in Bangalore) to have our dinner. Another friend of ours, Ratnakar, joined us there. It was fun.

I have 25% battery remaining in my laptop and just one more day left to write about. On saturday it was just me and my nephew playing as much as possible amidst the packing marathon that was taking place in the background. By evening everything was packed and I was all set to board the BA0118. Little did I know that the flight was not ready :).
To sum it all up it was one of the most memorable trips I have ever made home. I was absolutely in no mood to come back to UK. Its just that if I wouldn't have come back I would have stayed permanently at home :)

Am thinking of something nice to end this post. I've been given some snacks to eat now. I'll take a break here, go home, find something lovely to end and then post it. Will actually try to catch some sleep.

14th January, 2:45 AM IST

Home sweet home!! Reached an hour back. To rub Insult to Injury the baggage was also delayed due to some stupid cargo which was placed in front of our luggage in the aircraft. The sight from flight during the landing was breath taking. All the major attractions of London stood there proudly all decked up in lights. It was as though they were welcoming me back. The sight certainly signaled the end of what had been a wonderful trip to India which I would cherish for long time to come.

For people who had slept reading this you can open your eyes now. Its over :)

The prince is back!!!!

The Incredible Get Together

2007-12-04T22:15:00.000-08:00

Incredibles is a group of people who happened to have cleared the same aptitude test and cleared the same interview from various parts of the country who met each other on 8^th July 2005 in Mahindra BT (Now known as Tech Mahindra), Mumbai for the first time. We call ourselves ‘Incredibles’ because everyone’s special in one way or the other. It’s a group of 28 people out of which 7 of us decided to meet believe it or not in London on one particular day. 18th November to be exact. I had written a mail to our group the very next day about the visit and the fun we had. I did not want to spoil the format in which it was written and hence kept the post as it is.

Hi,

To say that the get together was incredible would be an understatement. We had lots of fun when 5 of us met after long time. The meeting was decided after long mail chains on Friday. 7 of them agreed but only 5 turned up (which includes me). Sagar did not come due to the hangover he had of the previous night and Pavitra did not turn up because she had other appointments to attend to.

Manny (Manjali fondly called Manny) was the first one to arrive at the scheduled time. I had not even taken a bath when I got a call form her from London Victoria. I knew I had 30 min before she would arrive in Wembley. I got ready as soon as I could and rushed to the station. I was there; right on time to greet the always smiling Manny :). After the initial chit chat we decided that we should go home and wait for other people. While on our way I got a call from Nandita telling me that she has left Watford junction and on her way to Wembley. So we decided against going home and went back to the station to pick Nandita up. As always we were there well before time to greet the nervously smiling Nandita who was trying to find a familiar face in Wembley. Her smile widened when she found both of us waiting for her.

We had got intelligent this time and called Bhavin to check where exactly he is. As expected he was just 20 min away from Wembley. This gave us the opportunity to shop in Wembley. Nandita was dumbfounded when she stepped inside Primark. She liked anything she saw and wanted to buy everything. She finally bought some 5 to 6 items and wanted to come back for more. After the shopping stint we went to the station again to wait for the guest of the day. There he was in his usual style all smiles. It was 1.15 by the time he came which meant it was time for lunch. Called Harsh and asked him to join us in a nearby restaurant (Tulsi). By the time he joined us we were freezing outside the restaurant’s door.

The lunch was fantastic. It was as though we were having our lunch in Mumbai (just paying 4 to 8 times for each dish and some 20 times for a roti)

The menu was

• Stuffed Capsicum
• Paneer Kadai Masala
• Veg Kofta
• Garlic Nan
• Kulcha
• Roti

Isn’t it mouth watering?

After the lunch we headed to a nearby sweet mart (Suraj Sweet Mart) where we bought some laddus and Jamoons. The sweets were really sweet …I mean to say the vendor had put an extra pinch of sugar in all the sweets. After lunch we just chatted, chatted and chatted as if there was no tomorrow. I had vacuumed our drawing room especially for this occasion… It was fun… We had so much to talk and so less time.

By 6.15 we decided that we wanted to have some Dosas. We headed to the very famous ‘Chennai Dosa’. The menu for Dinner was

• Chole Battura
• Onion Rava Masala Dosa
• Orange Juice
• Mango Lassi

The dinner lasted for more than an hour due to the mad rush in Chennai Dosa. But it was fun again… We had no complaints. Nobody needed to rush anywhere.

The dinner signaled the end of the wonderful day. Everyone really enjoyed a lot. Special thanks to all people who turned up. For people in UK who did not come… Don’t worry we can get together one more time on some other day. And for people in Mumbai, Pune and Bangalore and US of A, we’ll plan something like this in the next year well in advance so that everyone can join wherever they are at that point in time.

Chalo phir.. Its time for me to sign off… Before anybody can say anything, I had no work today and I guess I have utilized it very well by writing to you guys… I would love to get some replies.

Love ‘n’ Regards,
Varun

Mind the Gap

2007-08-08T03:08:00.000-07:00

23rd July 2007

These are the 3 words that almost every person in London would be familiar of. These are the words that are heard / announced in each and every tube station. It is used to caution the passengers about the gap between the train and platform.

London’s divided into 6 circular or I can say hexagonal zones. Almost 12 different lines run through the entire city. The tubes here or so called underground trains run underground as well as above the ground level. It goes underground as we enter the Central London Zone or the Zone One. Until then, it runs above the ground level. There’s a tube map that’s available at every station which is highly informative. Looking at the map and after few consultations I knew I had to change two lines to reach my destination ‘St Paul’s’ The station is called St. Paul’s because the famous St. Paul’s Cathedral is right outside the station. But there’s one more building outside the station that’s quite famous. That’s my office. British Telecom Centre (BTC).

I left my place at around 8.15 am, had to reach BTC by 9.30 am. There’s no fixed time to reach the office but since it was my first day, I wanted to be there right on time. Boarded my first tube at the Wembley Central Station. Tube trains normally have 8 to 12 bogies with 3 doors each. The door looks as though it opens and closes automatically but it’s manually controlled by the driver of the train. Wembley Central falls on the Bakerloo Line but St. Paul’s on Central Line. I had to change my train at the Oxford Circus Station. There are huge sign boards displayed whenever a station hosts more than one line. Some stations boast of servicing more than 4 lines. These are some of the busiest stations. The tubes got me to my destination well in time. I reached by 9.15 without breaking a single sweat. The trains are quite comfortable. The first day at office was quite comfortable too… Since I had no communicating device with me I had no work to do. This gave me time to plan for the first real sight seeing. Got hold of a laptop for some time and planned my first outing in London, ‘The Tower Bridge’. The first thing I wanted to see here in London was the River Thames. And if I could see River Thames standing on the world famous Tower Bridge there was nothing like it. Tower Bridge is quite close to my office but it’s on a different line. I had to change 2 trains before I could get to the Tower Bridge. It was drizzling quite steadily that day with the cool breeze blowing. This did not stop me from visiting the Bridge as I was quite equipped for it. Unlike my office, Tower Bridge is quite far from the railway station. It’s at least 0.5 km from the station.

Thames was flowing in its full glory due to the recent rain falls and the bridge over the over-flowing Thames looked quite stunning. I had seen that bridge some ‘n’ number of times in snaps, movies, wallpapers but it felt so very good to be standing on it. Yet another engineering marvel. There was a Chinese family that clicked my snap with the tower bridge. I wanted to see the tower bridge illuminated but it did not happen because they are automatic lights that turn on when it gets dark. It gets dark quite late here and I could not wait that long all alone in the rain. There’s Tower of London right next to the Tower Bridge where rests the famous ‘Kohinoor Diamond’ and the crown jewels. I could not get into the castle as it was closed for the day.

By the time I returned from my rainy adventure it was 9.30 pm. I wanted to inform the whole world about my first day, my adventure, share snaps etc as soon as I returned home but all I could do was to have my dinner and curl up under the blanket :)
Prince’s first day in London came to an end with three words ringing in his ears. Yes… You guessed it right … ‘Mind the Gap’

Prince's Diary Continues.... First Bus Ride

2007-08-01T02:46:00.000-07:00

Keeping in mind the length of the post I’ll be writing a new post everyday instead of adding to the previous post.

22nd July 2007

The early sun rise and the very uncomfortable spring bed had absolutely no effect on me as I slept like a log till 7.00 am. Since I was in a hurry to see London, I got ready at 7.15 and ventured out into the unknown. Every street, every lamp post on the street was new to me. Started clicking snaps like there was no tomorrow. A person (Sri Lankan) nearby noticed the mad man and asked whether I was new to this place. I affirmed and asked whether there were any places nearby that were worth visiting. He told me about a Sunday market that’s put up temporarily every Sunday next to the famous Wembley Stadium and the best part was he told me that he’ll be taking me there if I wanted him to. Shopping and a famous stadium… This was too good an offer to resist. This meant that it would be my first bus ride here in London. The most expensive city bus ride in my life. It cost me 2 pounds one way. The person I met at the bus stop got me down at the right bus stop. The Sunday Market is a big market with lots and lots of Indians selling cheap smuggled goods. You just about get anything here. It is as good or as bad as a Heera Panna (Mumbai) or a National Market (Bangalore). It’s a very good place to buy toiletries it seems. The market’s setup temporarily every Sunday right next to the lovely Wembley stadium. The stadium has a huge arch that’s visible from quite a long distance. It’s a little engineering marvel. Since I had no idea that they allow people to get into the stadium I just clicked few snaps of the stadium and one with me in the frame. By the time I returned home my friend Ankur had left a message with the land lord asking me to call him back.

I called him and fixed a time when we could meet. Since I had already ventured out I knew the exact bus stop where I had to get down to meet him. I reached that place at 10.30 only to find out that my friend still followed Indian standard time. He reached the place at 10.45. The place was Wembley Central. It’s a tube (Underground metro or local train in London is called a tube) station. We were supposed to go to Greenwich that day. But due to some stupid reasons we could not. We roamed in and around Wembley that day. Had lunch at a restaurant called ‘Chennai Dosa’. It was not bad. But again very expensive or is that what I felt due to the currency conversion that I quickly did in my mind :). Did nothing more that day… Informed everyone through mails and telephone calls that I had reached UK safely and there was nothing to worry. It was 8.30 pm by the time I came back home. The best part was that the Sun was still shining when I returned home. I had heard about this phenomenon of early rise and late setting of sun but never really believed anyone completely. It was wonderful to witness it first hand. Had dinner, selected the dress I had to wear the next day and went to bed a little un-satisfied that I couldn’t visit any one of the major attraction in London. Little did I know that the Wembley Stadium is in that list too :)

PS: Next Post – Mind the Gap

Prince's Diaries

2007-07-31T03:29:00.000-07:00

I am in the land of Queen Victoria and a place which I always dreamt of coming to. Have you heard the title of my post somewhere …Yes, you have… The title’s inspired by a movie called ‘Princess Diaries’ where a small town middle class girls wake’s up one morning only to find out that she is the next princess of a Kingdom. The journey so far has been ‘a dream come true’ for me too and since am in the land of the Queen I feel no less than a Prince…

I plan to write one day at a time and will update the same post every day… So keep watching this space for more action.

21st July 2007

I had finished the entire packing last night itself which enabled me to get up as and when I wanted without any hurry. My flight (Virgin Atlantic) was at 1.35 pm and I had to reach the airport by 10.30 am. Bhava (Jiju) readily agreed to drop me off at the airport. He might have not realized this, but the moment he agreed to drop me, all my tensions of getting to the airport vanished in thin air. Because I knew I was in safe hands and I would have no trouble what so ever… Thanks Bhava (One with the orange T-shirt).

Chandan and Mimi, undoubtedly two of my best friends were there with me at the airport to see me off. I had assumed that these two would accompany me to the airport without even asking them whether they were free. Would have been disappointed if either one of them had not turned out that day. Luckily, it was my day and everything was going my way… Thanks guys. Whenever I accompanied someone to the International airport the only question that came to my mind was ‘Will I ever be the one who’ll be going into the airport instead of going home after waving good bye?’ Here I was, all set to get inside the Chatrapati Shivaji International Airport. I was on the verge of realizing a dream.

We reached the airport at around 10.05 am. Clicked few snaps and waved good bye to Bhava. After Jiju left we had to wait for my team mate, ex- team lead and above all a friend who was supposed to travel along with me till London. He came to the airport at around 10.20 am with his wife, a cute little 10 month old kid and his in-laws. The moment I saw his MIL giving him instructions to keep his passport and visa safe, I told Chandan that it was good that I didn’t have my parents in India to give me instructions and suggestions. But I was just kidding. I badly missed them. I would have loved to enter the flight, my first ever flight outside India waving good byes to my parents. They would be so happy to see me getting inside that flight. I know for a fact that both of them would have missed me that day. I missed you too… Really missed you….

By the time we entered the airport it was 10.35 am. Got in the queue for baggage screening first then for the luggage check-in. It was around 11.15 am by the time these things were sorted out and I could meet my friends again. Waved them good bye and came through for the immigration check. The immigration officer stamped my visa without even asking a single question. The ‘masoom chehra’ must have done the trick :)

Since it was printed in the ticket that we’ll not be served lunch we had to have something before boarding the flight. I had my first subway sandwich that day. It was as though the sandwich was welcoming me to UK. It was good. Not bad actually. After having our continental lunch we went through the security check-in only to find out that the flight’s delayed by 20 min. Meanwhile I had called almost everyone on my phone book and informed them by trip to UK…
The flight started boarding at around 1.45, business class people getting the first preference.

The flight took off at 2.05 IST (30 min delay). My dream finally got its wings…
The in-flight experience and service was brilliant. It was an Airbus 340 with 2-4-2 seats. I had an aisle seat. The seats were comfortable and all the TV screens were working. I ended up watching 2 movies along the way. ‘Bridge to Terabatia’ and ‘Zodiac’ (Very good movies). Kept myself busy with a book ‘Marley and Me’ when I was not watching the television… Tried to sleep for a while but the excitement kept me awake the entire journey… The Zune kept me great company when I was not busy watching TV or reading a book. The food served was excellent too. It was authentic Indian food.

The Virgin Atlantic finally landed at 7.30 pm (GMT). By the time I could complete the immigration and collect my luggage it was 9.30 pm (GMT). The black Taxi welcomed me at the Heathrow with both hands wide open. The driver happily escorted me home (PG) for a whopping 3100 Rupees. Common… it was my first day here… I am bound to convert currencies…

It was one looooong day…Thud… What was that!!!??? It was me hitting the bed… It was 11:30 pm (GMT)…

Munnu and Me

2007-07-27T02:38:00.000-07:00

This post is dedicated to one of the best friends I ever had…The title of this post is inspired by the book called ‘Marley and Me’. All dog lovers and people who’ve raised dogs any time in their lives must read this book.

Even before writing the first line my eyes have become moist. Just the feeling that my beloved dog (This will be the first and last time in the entire post that I would be referring to Munnu as a dog) it as is no longer with me makes me sad. But that is how cruel life can be sometimes. I was watching a movie last night. A movie called ‘Eight Below’ (Recommended). It’s about eight sleigh dogs. After reading the book I had made up my mind that I’ll be writing something about Munnu but watching this movie made me to get up and start writing. So here I am…

My Munnu

Munnu – The name has absolutely no meaning. If I remember correctly, it was the first word that Chaiti (My sis) uttered when she saw the cute little fellow. The cutie was completely white with a little brownish tinge here and there. The only peculiar thing about the color was that both his ears were brown. I was playing cricket with one of my friend whose name also happens to be Varun that day when we noticed two kids throwing something in a ditch nearby. Curiosity led us to that ditch. Curiosity kills the cat but it saved the life of the little fellow in my case. If we would not have saved him that day he would have died in day or two. We brought him home with no second thoughts only to be discouraged by my mom not to keep him with us. Like an obedient son I agreed but not before feeding the little guy some milk and trying to feed him some biscuits. He was so small he could not balance himself on the 4 little feet of his. After feeding him I left him in the portico thinking that he’ll be gone by the next morning. But it was not so. He did not go anywhere. He had himself in a corner where we had stacked up some bricks. One brick on his head and he would be no more. He was so little. The thought of this made my mom’s heart melt and rest is history.

The little fellow immediately became the center of attraction. He loved this attention. Just like any baby would. As soon as he would realize that you are no longer interested in him he would do something or the other to catch your eye. It was very difficult initially to feed him. He just could not drink or eat anything from his bowl. He did not know how. It was an empty syringe that came to the rescue. I would fill that syringe completely with milk and empty it in his mouth.

He was one quick leaner. It was not long before he started eating his own food. Like his owner he ate selected food only. Only what he liked. I have improved to some extent now. The 2 yr stint in Mumbai has made me better in this matter.

He always had that naughty gleam in his eyes. He was always eying something or the other. He used to sleep in the portico on a bed made especially for him. During the rains (It was his first), I pestered my mom to let him inside the house. So there he was inside the house in the verandah very happy to have escaped the rain. The next morning was not a good morning for me. He had torn all possible socks he could find that night, out of which 90% of them were my dad’s :). My dad now wouldn’t mind sparing 100 pairs more if there are any chances of my Munnu coming back to tear them.
My mom used to run a school. Not just teach. We owned that school. Munnu soon became the pet of not just one but many kids who would come to the school. He was pampered and fed by almost all the kids. He would snatch lunch boxes from the kids but I don’t remember a single kid complaining about this to their parents. This is just how much the kids loved him.

Bathing Munnu was one huge task. The sound of his leash would send him running all around the house. He hated water…. When he was young a small tub was his bath tub. As he grew older, the tub converted to bath room then later into open space outside our house where we used a big hose pipe to give him his weekly bath.

I have many many and many fond memories with this fellow but I would not bore you guys with all these stuff. It’ll remain mine and only mine.

I can keep writing non-stop about him. But that was not I was here for. I had to apologize to him. I know this sounds crazy but I had to…

He must have missed me terribly when I left for Mumbai. My mom and dad were with him for one more year but after they left for Bangalore he did not have anyone he could call his master. He became lonely and the skin allergies got the better of him. I could meet him only twice in the last 2 years. The first meeting was lovely but the second meeting was gruesome. The skin allergy I was talking about was all over him and the worst part is he had surrendered to his fate. He was just not making any attempt to come out of it. He just did not have any motivation left in him to come back. The day I saw him this way I knew that the inevitable was near. But what I could not afford was a stay in Mandya… I had only few days of leave left before I could fly back to Mumbai to the stupid work I do.

The only regret that I have is that I was not with my beloved during his last days or should I say last few years. I know for a fact that if I would have been there with him, he would still be with me

I’m really sorry Munnu, I really am.

Lots of love and best wishes,
Your friend
Varun

The post looks more or less like a jigsaw. Please bear with me for that. The emotions just took over…

Was it really worth it??

2007-05-13T06:42:00.000-07:00

Whenever I talk to my mom over phone the first question that crops up in my mind is was it worth it?? Was it worth coming to Mumbai? Was it worth coming 1000 km away from home just for a simple job when you knew that Bangalore has the highest number of software companies in India?

This is one debatable topic. I’ve had my share of happiness as well as frustrations in Mumbai. I would say the happiness certainly has a huge edge over the frustrations or else I would have never stayed here. Whenever you come out of your house and are seeking something you always have huge expectations out of it. I am no special here. I had huge expectation from Mahindra British Telecom, TechM now.

I started writing this blog on February 18^th 2007 and after that I never really got time to complete it. I have come to the office this Sunday for some stupid End to End Support and I have absolutely no work. End to End Support is supporting End to End Test team if they face any difficulty testing the modules or programs we developed. Explanation given for non-techies only :)

Let me continue my blog now….

Where was I? Expectations… TechM more or less catered to all my expectations. They gave us a lovely flat to stay. The flat was very near my office. Believe me or not, I have never taken a local train to go to office. This could be one reason why I liked Bombay so much in such short span of time. I never had to get up early in the morning nor had to board an already overcrowded train to reach office. I would take an auto which would cost me 9 bucks or if the autos were hard to find, I would just walk. Best part here is I always had one of my friends; it was Chandan more times than not to accompany me on this short dash to office.

This was more or less my daily routine. Out of 4 people in the flat, 3 worked in the same project and that helped us to decide the time one reaches home. The one who reaches home first would either buy veggies on his way or the groceries that would never last even a week. After coming back from work; we used to cook, and if you are not already aware of this, I can cook and am pretty good at that.

Weekend: My weekend starts one day earlier. Guess how? I watch the preview show of more or less every movie that releases. I always loved watching movies and Mumbai fulfilled that desire of mine. I never miss out on a good movie. Now a day I’ve begun to choose and filter good movies from bad ones. Initially it was like a dream run. We would watch any movie that would release. If I’m not watching a movie or going out shopping, my next destination is a resort in Bandra. He He… That’s what it feels like to go to my sister’s place. I just relax there. We do absolutely nothing on weekends apart from changing curtains, dusting the house, changing bed sheets, catching up an old movie on TV, F1, Cricket, updating iPod, late night dinners, shopping for veggies and groceries and lots of other things. It just feels like you are back in your own home. Feels so good…

I must really thank my mom here. She always claims that she has trained her son to do every house hold chore and I’m just proving that her claims are really true. I cannot really say I’m proving her right, it’s just that it really helps when u have to stay all by yourself away from your home. My wife would be one lucky girl. :) He He He…

I think I’ve just gone off the track. Let me come back. Why was I frustrated here? There were two occasions when I felt absolutely helpless.

The first one was when my mom had to undergo a second operation on her broken hand. I just could not do anything to help my mom and dad out. I know there were everyone there to help but I just couldn’t do anything. I was undergoing training in Pune that time and we were not given leaves during the training period. I finally found some solace when I came to know that the second operation was completely successful. Hearing this wonderful news outside Shirdi temple was an added bonus. I had been to Shirdi with Chandan and Kundan his younger brother that day...

The second occasion was when my dad had a major heart surgery. I was told about the surgery only after the surgery was successful. It was bitter as well as sweet news for me - bitter because, nobody informed me about my dad’s health until the operation was successful and sweet because I was the first one to talk to my dad on phone after his operation. The only thing that came in the way of the news of my dad’s heart attack and me was the distance. Everyone knew that I could do absolutely nothing sitting here in Mumbai and they did not want to put in me in the trauma they were going through. I completely understand everything but sometimes I feel that I staying so far made people think twice before informing me.

But keeping aside these two things if I have to think whether it was really worth coming here, I have nothing else to say other than a BIG ‘YES’. Mumbai has certainly changed my life for good. I recommend a two year stint in Mumbai to everyone. It certainly changes you as a person. This would have put my mom and dad in worry. Don’t worry. I’ll come back to Bangalore. I promise :)

Did I get my answer? I really don’t know… You tell me…

Secret of Life

2007-02-13T01:35:00.000-08:00

I came across this mail one day and absolutely loved it. Just wanted to start blogging with something beautiful. Will surely update with some of my own stuff as time flies...

The secret of life is to make the best of whatever comes along, Make every day fresh and new,Go in search of knowledge and experience.

Let your questions and your answers reconcile.Do your best to remember that the best kind of learning curve is an educated smile.

Share your magic with the people who share your memories.Let your feelings run deep.

Be in touch with the people who live in your heart. Be a caring person who plays for keeps.

To really know what success means, earn it. Don't rely on some elevator to get you there. The higher the floor you want to reach, the more important it is to take the stairs.

The easiest lessons to remember are the ones you learn the hard way! Appreciate the little things that make each day unique and special.