Varun's Digital Diary

Sunday, February 20, 2011

Family away from home

Posted by Varun | Sunday, February 20, 2011 | Category: General, Roommate | 11 comments

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!!

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Weekend Movie Mania

Posted by Varun | Sunday, February 13, 2011 | Category: Movies, Valentines | 8 comments

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

Friday, February 4, 2011

A handwritten blog post :)

Posted by Varun | Friday, February 4, 2011 | Category: Handwritten, Nigeria | 37 comments

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.

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Incredible India - Pleasures of Travelling

Posted by Varun | Sunday, January 9, 2011 | Category: India, Nigeria, Travelogue | 27 comments

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.

Sunday, December 26, 2010

Post card from Lagos

Posted by Varun | Sunday, December 26, 2010 | Category: Ibeshe, Lagos, Nigeria, Post Card | 34 comments

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.