treasure's gallery

Land of mystic mountains!

2009-07-20T23:39:00.001-07:00

Kodai Kanal has always been my favorite destination, ever since I visited it as a kid. The beautiful mountains, the lush green jungles, the placid lake, the lovely mist, and the beautiful waterfalls always had remained etched in my memory. I had a chance to visit Kodai a few years back with my friends. A log of that trip is here. But it seems, I never had enough of Kodai, and my craving to visit that place is still the same :D

Kodai has always been a part of my family favorites. And guess, Ritesh had got so bored of listening to the dinner-time-kodai-stories, that he decided to visit it and become a part of the memoirs recitation :D. So when his parents were coming to stay with us for few days, we planned for this much awaited trip to Kodai Kanal.

Ever since we got our new car, we have actually never travelled anywhere without it, so this trip also had to be by car :-). We started on the friday evening and reached Salem at night for a halt, as we don't drive in the night (reason being, there is absolutely nothing that you can see in the night...driving in day is so much more interesting). And next day early morning drive from Salem to Kodai was all the justification we needed for the night stay at Salem :-).

When we reached Kodai, the scene was right out of a fairy tale. It was mist & fog everywhere. And the small town was abuzz with activity. And the best was a view from the lawn of our hotel. We just went all gaga over it...and stayed up at the lawn taking pictures and breathing in the fresh air and purging our lungs of all the pollution and toxic gases. The climate in Kodai in June was just amazing. You see a beautiful sunrise and nice "dhoop" in the mornings, then by the time its afternoon, the clouds come down as if to give you a hug, the late afternoon, there is slight showers, and then it miraclously clears up and you see twinkling stars in the sky.

We spent three full days in Kodai, each day exploring an area around Kodai that is not so well known, so as to avoid a lot of crowd. And yes, every day was followed by an evening ...cycling around the lake. Its one of the best activity you can do. Its healthy and you can take lot of beautiful pcitures around the lake. The rest of the evening was well spent at cards and food at the Kodai Club. :-)

We just enjoyed every bit of our time spent in Kodai and now Ritesh also has a craving to visit Kodai again and again...so watch out for more travelogues coming! :-)

Facts
Bangalore to Kodai - 480 kms
Route: Bangalore – Hosur - Krishnagiri – Dharmapuri – Salem – Bhavani - Erode - Kangeyam - Dharmapuram - Palani - Kodai
Kodai - Palani - Dharmapuram - Kangeyam - Mechcheri - Dharmapuri - Krishnagiri - Hosur - Bangalore
Google Map
Places to stay: Villa Retreat - Official Site, My review on trip advisor
The Kodai Club - Official Site
Best time to visit: April to June & September to October
Places to see: The Kodai Lake, Pine Forest, 12 Mile circuit and view points along the way, Coakers walk, Berijam Lake, any drive coz its so beautiful to pass through mist-ful roads and we are still exploring better places! :-)

Suggestions
Try to avoid the weekend rush and go on a weekday.
Better have your own car, so as to move around easily.
There are a lot of hiking and trekking trails in and around Kodai. Get more information from the DFO, office.
I have come to know of a trekking trail from Kodai to Munnar, and it sounds amazing. Me and Ritesh are waiting for the calendar to change, so that we can do it the coming january! :-)
There is this site 360Inn, they have an interesting and off-beat lineage of organized tour. This too is on our list and will do it soon!

...of warm hugs, subtle kisses n family reunions

2009-07-20T22:49:00.000-07:00

Last night me and Ritesh went to pick up a friend coming from Spain. We had to wait for around 1 and a half hours for them to come out.

And during this wait we witnessed so many families and friends reunite. It was a very exhilarating experience. The long waits...the searching eyes...then a glimpse of their loved ones...and then a sudden smile...the rush to meet them...the hugs...the kisses...the laughs...the questions...the compliments...the sound of shutter to capture the moment forever...the jumping around...wow!!!

That reminded me of the times when Ritesh came to Tokyo to meet me and when I cam back from Tokyo... :-)

TGDC - Top 100

2009-07-20T01:54:00.000-07:00

Finally the cat is out of the bag. Check out the top 100 couples for TGDC.

zaheer bakshi & zainab bakshi
vishal & anushk
vamsi vanka & charukesi ramadurai
unny radhakrishnan & bindhu unny
tirthankar basu & mampa basu
sudhanshu jain & aastha jain
sowmya & guru
sivakumar & ansuya
shilpi aurora & varun mehra
shaishav singh & norah singh
sajjan devaiah & ambika kariappa
thomas anand & shilpy
rupak venugopal & deblina ghosh
roohshad garda & zinaida mascarenhas
ranganathan srinath & meenakshi srinath
radhika raj & bharath belliappa
pushkar sham kulkarni & mugdha kulkarni
prafful agrawal & tara agrawal
paramjeet singh & supreet dhiman
neil sequeira & yuliya glushchenko
moiz gabajiwala & zahabiya gabajiwala
mohsin khan & mainu kalita
maya & ramesh
leena nair & sairaam rai
kartik jain & vaishali jain
joseph radhik & namrata poddar
jomy jose & asha puthran
jignesh d shah & taru j shah
' jeevan joseph mathew' & 'neetu jeevan mathew'
'janice pearl d'souza & $andhan chowdhury
imtiaz ahmad khan & sonali gupta
hina rajpal & santosh santhanam
hemant kumar tiwari & mrinalini tiwari
gregory jude mascarenhas & ruby mascarenhas
garima nahar kale & sidhanshu kale
danish contractor & leela muthana
bopanna c p & joshine antony
bhakti thakare & harpreet grover
bala murali & cauvery thimmaiah
ateet jayaswal & supriya goswami
arvind & anita
arush vohra & sarika sehrawat vohra
aneesh bhasin & dipna daryanani
ananda kumar dendukuri & nischala valli
anamika singh & pawan saxena
alvito fernandez & marsha nesamani
' aayushi awasthi & anchal kumar srivastava
aarti dayal & harsh vardhan
aadil bandukwala & saniya bandukwala
swapnil zarekar & shilpi gupta zarekar
ajay jain & anubhuti rana
saurabh uttam & divya uttam
amit sharma & ankita bajaj
abhijit shukla & vashita
deepak shivlal jethwa & priti
deepa baruah & dhrubajyoti baruah
rajat gaur & shelly
vatsal d. jogani & khushboo v. jogani
sapna bhavnani & arijit datta
harish chawla & priyanka chopra
dr. praveen jacob & dr. swati mogra
mini jacob & jason jacob
manoj agarwal & ambika agarwal
varun anand sinha & riddhi anil parekh
supratik choudhury & anindita choudhury
arvind passey & sangita passey
anand majumdar & sheetal rai
dr. gaurav chhabra & elena kasnatscheewa
girish dariyav karnawat & purvi patel
ritesh shrivastava & kosha shah
sai karthik madabhushi & anvita varshney
navin gulia & deepa gulia
harsha koda & prabha koda
mandeep mahanta & bhavika sharma mahanta
harish kukreja & pavithra ghanashyam
anirban biswas & shifra menezes
vikram srinivasan & chitra vikram
mohamed raffi & poorvi daxini
priya fonseca moizuddin & hashim moizuddin
ram & rakhi
amith prabhu & mrunmaiy abroal
aditi mathur & anupam mathur
anjali jain & hemant aneja
amit singh & jasleen chopra
harish mohan & babija d
priya ramakrishnan & gaurav phanasgaonkar
narayan mallapur & radhika mallapur
bhanu vashishta & naysa ahuja
vineet malhotra & ranjeeta malhotra
kartik kesarker & nidhi singhvi
' santosh abraham & nidhi dev
sushant kumar & sweta
pooja ganeriwala & abhishek kadam
rajat malhotra & payal malhotra
deepak raghunath & aishwarya belliappa
b a pavan biddappa & bollamma machaiah
ashish & paavani
kapil bhati & dr. reenu bhati
rishi kapoor & poonam kapoor
prashant jain & swati jain

Nods!!!

2009-05-19T20:47:00.000-07:00

I was in a training for the whole of last week (sigh...!). And me with my restlessness had to figure out new new activities to keep myself interested :D. One such activity I engaged myself into was to notice people's expression for different situations.

The expression that caught my attention this time was "Nodding" of different styles. Nodding is the most explicit expression to show you understood. Very trivial to notice so much, but at length, when you don't have anything else to do, they seemed quiet interesting.

The most common style of nodding is to nod up & down, which universally means a "yes". Another one is to nod from left to right or vice versa, which universally means a "no". But, I found it being used interchangeably with the first one to mean a "yes".

There exists another version of the left-to-right or right-to-left nod. This one is at a faster pace, which definitely implies a certain "no" (atleast from what I have seen till date).

And then there is this very very interesting, and most ambiguous nod: the pendulum nod, swinging the head in rotary motion resembling a dancing head. Can anyone tell me what this nod is universally taken as?

Sitting in the training session, I saw another classification in the nods apart from all the above nods. Nods that are completely meaningless. There are people whose minds wander off at far off places and their heads are engaged in a systematic, controlled & periodic nodding of any type of their choice. These are mere acts to imitate or, better, hide their meanderings. And to my surprise, I could see that people are becoming more & more matured in their techniques of nodding, to make it seem realistic.

You have noticed some more varieties or flavors of nods, do chip in! :-)

Happy nodding!!!

Knock! Knock!

2009-05-04T21:54:00.001-07:00

Anybody still there?
I know it's been too long.
I have been too negligent.
But there is another truth as well.
I have been very guilty of this as well.
I have felt miserable and frustrated.
And have tried for long, to come back and do what I love a lot.
And finally the blogger within me has taken the front seat.
And I am sure, I am capable enough to keep this going now.
I hope to see you all regularly again! :-)

Odds at each other's side!

2008-09-18T00:45:00.000-07:00

Last week, I was travelling to my hometown by train. It made a halt at a place, I don't which station it was as it was really dark and I was inside a new "postered" Rajdhani Express. But I still could see clearly the train standing right next to ours. As we slowly swayed past the train, one stark reality hit me. There was a sparsely filled AC coach with people sleeping with all the leisures in the world. And right next to it was a general compartment, overflowing with people, people who don't know what leisure is, people who have to even fight for the little place to sit clumsily. This is the harsh reality of India. The great divide, with which every passing second is getting wider. Though its has always been present, in and around me, but don't know why it moved me that moment so much as to make me feel like crying.

Where will this end? Would those hard working souls just persih without being rewarded? I don't know. All I can see is a bleak future. How much ever the better becomes best, the true victory of a nation is tp lift the worse to atleast good!

So Long....

2008-08-11T05:01:00.001-07:00

So long....so long I had stayed away from my camera...I don't know why and how it happened. But a refreshing break came to me in form of a pleasant surprise. One night I got a call from my uncle, to join them on a trip to Shravanbelgola. Oh, I just can't describe how I felt at that moment. I was like..."Finally my hands and my eyes will be put to some worth" :D .

But I was worried too, as I had not taken photographs for months. I didn't know that I did remember photography, or would it have evaporated out of me. But once my hands were on the shutter button and my eyes looking through the viewfinder, nothing was stopping me. And I so very enjoyed doing what I used to love a few months back. Here are just a few shots from the trip. Do tell me how you found them. I would be uploading the entire set soon on my Flickr. So, watch out.

She Blogs...

2008-07-20T23:25:00.000-07:00

Ouch...! That really hurt. I heard these words and started wondering: am I really blogging? I used to take such pride in that some time ago (rather some years ago...sigh). Whom am I lying to, by saying that i blog? How can I betray me, myself and my blog? I have been making unfulfilled promises from long that I will get back to it. But I haven't. I can no longer be called in the category of bloggers (...sobs...). I feel so ashamed, angered on myself. How did I let this happen?

Is it my laziness or my indifference or just a stagnation of events in my life? I will have to sit and think about the right blend of reasons for this misfortune of mine. And this time I wont make promises, instead let the time tell what I finally made out of this mess.

Why are they doing this to me???

2008-05-08T09:55:00.000-07:00

It was a beautiful evening, with clouds on top and a chilly breeze. I took my kinetic and started from my home, though for some work, but that was an excuse, what I really wanted was a speed ride in this climate, but but but... Why the hell do they have to spoil my speed ride???

They recently laid new roads in my entire area, beautiful roads...attracting and enticing and goading me to accelerate. But you suddenly realize that its all to just lure you and out of no where comes the monstrous, grizzly, huge and highly irritating speed breakers, aaaggggghhhhhh!!!!!

The road builders in Bangalore are really sadist, they lay beautifully good roads, but they just dont know how to make speed breakers. The speed breakers are narrow horizontally and rising to such heights that it really bogs you out of your mind to take your vehicle through them. Specially my poor little kinetic :(

And there goes my romantic, thrilling little speed ride! :(

Jungle Mein Mangal...

2008-03-24T23:10:00.000-07:00

Recently we had a trip to Bandhavgarh (a Tiger Reserve in M.P.). We had booked a tree-house for us to stay and were expecting an adventurous trip. With the adventure in our minds and moods we set off from Bhopal to Bandhavgarh, via Katni. The ride from Katni to Tala (District of Bandhavgarh) was all the more convincing for the adventure we thought of facing and specially the remoteness of the tree-house resort sent some warning signals to our minds.

Once reaching our destination, our adventure started to shatter bit by bit. We were greeted by the staff present there with utmost hospitality and yeah the regular etiquettes that you see in any of the 3-4-5 star hotels. We were taken down a trail to our room, which was hidden amidst trees and completely isolated. The moment we entered, we were taken by awe. The room was very well designed, all the luxuries that you could ask for, and yet conserving the basic essence of being in a jungle. The best part was, one of the walls of the room was totally glass and opened up into a deck with two lounge chairs. Oh man, it was such a romantic place. I couldn't have asked for a better place.

And there was one more blessing in disguise, only BSNL network. So we were completely off mobiles and isolated in that small place. No STD PCOs and neither did the resort have any phone, so totally off the hook. How much I loved that peace and being in the arms of the nature. In our rooms the only sounds that we could hear was wind, chirping of birds and some stray sounds of animals roaming around. It was a complete bliss. Specially the nights, the sky was like a heavily studded diamond plate. Have never seen so many stars in my life. It was just amazing to lie in the lounge chair and look at the sky and stars for hours together.

Nights were also beautiful coz the place was lit up using lanterns (the usual kerosene lanterns) and not bulbs. The trail to each room was decked up with lanterns at regular distances, which looked like a beaded strand of necklace from far away. And sometimes, if you are lucky enough, you can hear those jungle bands and songs from nearby local tribes.

The jeep safaris into the national park were too exciting too. It was fall time and the colors of the trees were awesome. The feel of being inside a jungle and be able to watch the activities happening there is just amazing. We took two jeep safaris into the national park, and finally in the second one we spotted a tigress (a pregnant one!!). Wow such a majestic animal it is.

To top it all, the service that you get is amazing, they literally treat you as kings and queens (of the jungle...hahaha). The food was amazing too, not the usual 3-4-5 star types, but a good deal home-like. In short, it was a perfect "hideaway" vacation which we enjoyed to the best. And I would recommend all of you to try out that place.

For more information visit http://www.treehousehideaway.com/

Oiling the Rust!

2007-11-14T21:24:00.000-08:00

Hello after a long time!
Well, lot of my friends have been asking me about my new updates at my blog. And even I have been trying to write something, but alas , I am not able to churn out anything good enough. I am finding my writing skills to be rusted, down to the position of making so much of fuss and noise but yet nothing fruitful out of it.

So here comes my debut post, sort of like an oil drop in the long rusted machine. You can ignore this! :D

And will try to update my blog atleast once a week! So keep dropping by! :-)

Tip Tip Tip Baarish

2007-07-22T10:46:00.000-07:00

Just came back from a refreshing bath in the nature's shower :D.

It started raining some time back and I was sitting all alone in the house and wondering, what the hell am I doing? And that's it...went up to the terrace to have a good feel of the rain.

Its so long that I intentionally got drenched...And it was truly worth going up there.

Woh thandi thandi baarish ki boondein...
woh sansanaate patton ki awaaz...
woh gili farsh pe panv rakhna...
woh paani mein uchalna...
woh baadlon ka garazna...
aur woh jhoom ke gaane gaana...

Ohhh...It was so romantic...so magical...
It made me so happy...that I came down and started writing a post...after a long long time...

I wish each one of you who is reading this to have an unrestrained joy like this. :-)

Happy Monsoon to everyone!

Moral Dilemmas

2007-04-10T03:23:00.000-07:00

Have you ever faced a situation where in you don't know which way to choose? A duvidha or dharamsankat, as called in Hindi.

For example, You are supposed to be at a contest and are the judge to find the best talent. One of your close relative is one of the contestant. There are two situations in this case. First, there is a better contestant who actually deserves the prize. You can make your relative win over him/her. The second situation is, your relative is the best. Now you start thinking that if I make my relative win, what will people think of me, that I practice favoritism. And you may deprive him/her of what he/she was worthy of. What will you do in these situations?

The above example was actually a milder version. Milder in the sense, it doesn't involve life and death. But there can be situations where a person's life or death is on stake. And you have to choose between life of someone who is close to you and life of many others. What good or what bad will you choose?

I have always had this thought in my mind, that what if I am in such a situation. God forbid, but what will I do? I still don't have a complete answer. Will I be able to think rationally and keeping my emotions behind the practical thought? Its very easy to think, when you are not under pressure. But, when in pressure, it depends on a person's mental stability and ability to think rationally and more importantly, unselfishly.

Here are few dilemmas which I found while surfing.

Of Special regard is the first one. Let me know what you think of it. Was the captain correct or was he unethical?

Weekend Spent Shooting!

2007-03-20T04:41:00.000-07:00

I am back with my tales out of my routine life. And this time its about a weekend photography shoot (so don't misinterpret the title ;-) ).

I joined this group called Bangalore Weekend Shoots very recently. Missed out on the first weekend shoot due to some unforeseen circumstances. But was determined to join the next one. After a lot of scheduling and rescheduling my weekend, I finally got myself free for the Saturday trip to Channapatna.

The trip started with meeting of all the fellow photographers from the group at Town Hall at 6:30 a.m. (believe me I woke up at 5:30 a.m...a record for me :D). I was picked up by Vinayak, Srividya and her cousin Anu from my place at 6:15 a.m. I was already pretty nervous for the shoot and once when we reached Town Hall, my nervousness had reached new heights. Looking at people with fundu gears and equipments, I felt like the odd-man-out. And knowing my inhibitions with new people, I thought of better standing quietly at one corner of the troupe. We waited for another fellow photographer, Shreelesh, while I just tried to calm myself down. Finally, with the arrival of Shreelesh, the caravan started.

The first stop was at Kamat Lokaruchi, for a nice breakfast, after all an empty stomach will drive you crazy. After filling the stomachs, cameras came out and a few shots were taken at Kamat's. We even met another flickr member with an ultimate photo gear. I had noticed him at Town Hall as well and thought he is a part of the group, but later came to know that he was not. Anyways, he took a nice wide-angle shot of the entire group and headed his way.

From there we started towards Channapatna and with a 10 min break in the way for shooting some photos, we reached the place to find it all deserted. Then Shridhar, another fellow photographer took the lead and went in search of toy industries. He finally found one, and with a bit of searching and U-turns we finally reached the small industry. It was far away from what I had expected from my a priori background study on Channapatna.

But still everyone else seemed to be busy. So even I took my camera and started taking random shots. I was completely blank in the start, what to shoot? But, as and when I took snaps, I started finding reasons and urge to take this and that. I took some snaps in that particular workshop and then headed for another one where women were the makers of those wonderful toys. Here, the colors were more, it was more lively. But something was lacking. I didn't spend much time there and started loitering around. Thats when I saw a small door at the backside of the school in the premises. There were many kids looking intently towards me and they called me inside. That was really the best part of that day.

Those kids were so enthusiastic and full of vigor and liveliness. They were all going gaga about getting themselves photographed. I liked that smile on their face when I click a photo. Wow! it was all worth those smiles and few minutes of happiness that I could give them. Looking at their ecstatic faces, even their teacher didn't mind my intrusion and was most welcoming. I took a series of shots and had a nice chat with the kids. With an intention of not disturbing them much I reluctantly left the place.

Next in line was Dilip Kumar, The Horse. He was getting too nervous modeling for two photographers shooting at him from two different sides..hehehe. Meanwhile, I had sort of made a friend their in little Irfan. He lead me to his house, though he was so shy that he hid himself. Had a small chat with her elder sister about the life and education in their place. I always feel I am over-blessed after talking to such people. I just can just hope for them!

Well, I know its getting too long...but believe me the day was too long. Anyways, from Channapatna we headed back to Kamat. Took some refuge, water, buttermilk and Sugarcane Juice to refill ourselves. And then headed for Big Banyan tree. Though mistakenly, we reached another spot, I think it was a meditation center by Swami Nityananda. We took a few snaps there and headed for the original Big Banyan Tree. Again it was a disappointment to me, from what I had imagined of the Big Banyan tree. But here again I found three kids, so eager to be photographed. They smiled and giggled and posed like whatever I asked them of. It was good. From there we parted our ways and left for our respective destinations.

All in all, the day was amazing, far from expected, but then always the uncertain is more interesting and turns out to be the best. I learnt a lot of things that day. Technically, spiritually, and philosophically. I really will be looking forward to more such trips and more learning.

Flights of Fantasy!

2006-11-20T22:14:00.000-08:00

I got a call from my uncle about a music concert, and he asked whether we will join them. I was all agog about it but hesitated and said I will call back after asking my roomie. I was a bit wary while calling my roomie...she will be interested in classical music or not...but my excitement was not subdued...she said yes.

So we both set out for "Chowdaih Memorial Hall". On reaching there, the first surprise was the building itself. I had heard about the building, but to see it in front of my eyes was a different experience. It was in the shape of Veena. There was quiet a crowd so we got inside with some trouble and found seats after scanning carefully through the overflowing hall.

The first performance was by Ustaad Shahid Pervez. The melodies of his Sitar were spell bounding. Even the hum of the strings was so enchanting. Specially the last piece that he played was just amazing. I almost held my breath through it. The Tabla was also amazing. Next performance that day was by Begum Parween Sultana. I had heard her long back on one of the television talent hunt shows. But listening to her live was captivating. But due to time restraint we had to leave in the middle of her performance. But whatever I heard has got inscribed in my memory forever :).

The second day was all the more vivid. It started with a performance by Pandit Ullhas Kashalkar. Though I am not the right person to ask about it...as I am not much inclined towards Vocal...but I can definitely say that the people around me enjoyed it to the most. I sat through the performance just waiting for the one performance I had been waiting since my uncle told me about the show. And atlast he came.

As truly said by the hostess, we Indians have the privilege of having two such artists who are not known by their instruments but their instruments are know by them. I was dawned with the privilege of listening to Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma. Everyone just waited for him with an excitement. He took some time to adjust his instument Santoor. Such small instrument and yet so much of sweetness in the sound..its really amazing. Even while he was adjusting it, it was music to my ears. I was wondering if this is so melodious what it will be like when he actually plays it. And it was something out of the world. It seemed to me that the music played by the Harps of the Heaven can not be more melodious. I was taken into a different world. A trance followed it. Time just flew by and my ears were blessed and my senses treated well. Everyone in the hall was just mesmerized and awed by his magic. There was complete silence. All you can hear is the ethereal sound from the Santoor. His hands moved so dexterously over the instrument, it appeared as a sculpture is chiseling the marble. When he finished he got a standing ovation. But the junta got greedy, they wanted more. And so he played Raag Pahadi in the end. I wanted it to be everlasting. But alas, all good things come to an end :(.

Oh my, what a performance it was. I am smitten by his music. The sound of those strings are still echoing inside my mind. I would recommend all of you who love music and melody, to grab a CD of his and experience the best of the best concord. Truly the Indian Heritage and Culture is beyond distinction.

Encounters with Faces

2006-09-03T23:15:00.000-07:00

Face, the most important element in a human's appearance. Its so intriguing, how a face plays with your mind and sets opnions. Your first impression of a person is strongly based on the face of the person. The face personifies the image of a person. Its so strange, that we can trust a person more if we have seen his/her face. Until we see someone, we always have a small doubt in the corner of our mind.

Doesnt matter that the face should only be beautiful. Faces can be not beautiful but still charming and luring. Some faces are more touching, some you can trust instantly. Some faces, you loathe at the first glance itself, and have a tough time dealing with that person. But one thing, again a strange fact, you tend to soften for a face, once you start seeing the face quiet often. You can actually start liking a face, even if you wanted to turn the other side on the first time.

Faces are mysterious. Some faces are expressive, telling you the unsaid too. Some faces are stoic, completely indifferent from what actually is. The worst is, some faces are deceitful; acting as a mask on the reality. I have become wary of faces, dont know they project the reality or are fraud. But still, faces play a very important role in my description of a human being (not just looks). I wonder, will I be able to get the niche of finding out whats behind a face. I think I almost have it. But somethings are so unpredictable that all your statistics go haywire; and faces fall into this category.

Faces will always perplex me, sometimes making me comfortable, sometimes making me despise, and sometimes leave me with lots of questions unanswered. But still it plays a major role in charaterization of people carrying these faces. So happy face reading everyone!

Here is an interesting article I found, once I started writing this.

Facial Prejudice: Face and Personality.

Clueless Scribble!

2006-09-01T01:50:00.000-07:00

I have been trying to write something for a long time. Writing gives me a sense of satisfaction. So, I started to think...what should I write. Many things came to my mind, politics, corruption, media, communal riots, traffic blues, natural calamities, war and peace, etc. But, there is already lots written, read and ignored, stuff on these topics. Coz these are the usual masala that you can read tons of articles on. I had to think something different.

The other thing I could possible write was about my life. Now, there is another small problem to it. My life's story, if taken out my name, can be identified as story of so many people around me. That makes it non-unique. On that, a thought came to my mind. All of us are bound by so many things in life. We are bound by the society, by traditions, by the people we love, by our own narrow mindedness. Sometimes I feel, as if I am a captive in my own house. When I lie down on the bed, I feel that the ceiling binds me. It would have been so good, if I could ogle at the handsome Moon, and be envious of the beautiful stars. When I am on the roads, the traffic binds me. It would have been so good if it would be a muddy path that disappears into lush green woods with a magical mist around (almost a fairytale...right).

But I am bound, and I dont have the means to break this bound. I really adore those people who could divert themselves from the narrow line placed in front of them, and chase their dreams. I also dream, of freedom, of breaking free of traditions and follow my passions. I also want to hold the hands of life and walk towards the misty woods. I also want to whisper to the wind and fly with the clouds. But I am bound...but I am bound.

My New Mobile

2006-07-25T02:39:00.000-07:00

I recently upgraded to a better handset than the basic model I was using. And its such a relief to switch to colored screen from the black and white screen :D. I suddenly have so many things to do with my phone :).

Have a look at the specs. And here are a few pictures of the phone:

Armaggedon

2006-06-20T23:57:00.000-07:00

“Circa 2218 anno Domini…

The Armageddon has occurred… The Earth has been destroyed… Luckily, only a few years back, MARS had been discovered habitable for mankind… To ensure the survival of life, a few days before the Armageddon, a select few people from Earth were moved to MARS… This select few consist of an equal mix of males-females, literates-illiterates, young-old, Hesperian-Oriental etc… Along with them, go an equal mix of living / non-living things considered vital in human eco-system…

I am one of that select few!!”

Blue was looking awesome, as always, from the small window of the craft that was shuttling between Blue and Red. This was the last shuttle and then the chapter called earth will be shut forever. With a thousand questions running in my head and a lot of apprehension, I set foot on Red.

The life has changed, the meanings have changed; the world itself has changed for me. It was only two more days when the world I was used to, will be swiped out of existence. And all I could do is sit and watch the Blue’s destruction. But still I have thesoul left in my body; a sky, though of crimson color, is still above my head; I can still walk on firm grounds; and above all I have the spirit to explore a new world, spread out in front of me. With a heavy heart, I bid adieu to the world I had known, to reach out for the unknown and started the most gruesome journey I ever had.

The rucksack at my back, the sunglasses on my eyes, adjusted for a bigger sun in this world, and a mask for oxygen, I looked more like a Hitchhiker on a trail of the galaxy; remember “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy”. To my amazement there was a bus service taking the immigrants from Blue to the place considered home on this not so conducive planet. I took the bus and was in a flash of a second at the entrance of a huge building resembling the white house with a huge wooden door.

As the doors opened, I found the first trace of activity going on inside. It was much like a small township being developed indoors. I strolled towards the reception looking at the ceiling, which was quiet a simulation of the sky on Blue. The receptionist was a pretty lady with blonde hair. She asked me my passport to Red. After some clicks, she handed over an envelope and a key and directed me towards the escalators. Inside the envelope, I found currency notes of crimson color. I reached my room #1130 and with the key in, an automated voice asked me for my name. I pronounced my name loud enough for the entire floor to hear and the doors flanged open. Inside, the room was the size of a regular studio apartment in DC. It had all the means for a human to survive on Red.

With the money stuffed into my pockets, and all the necessary amenities into my rucksack; I locked the room and set out to look for a means to move around. I found a small car that uses the ever abundant solar energy with a good amount of oxygen, enough for a person to survive for 90 days and two for 45 days. I bought the car and was in a jiff to leave the place, but my eyes landed on a small shop selling pets. It was a good idea to have a pet and bought a cute little squirrel to jump inside the pocket of my jacket.

I took out the car on the barren roads of Red and stepped onto the accelerator. I thought it to be much similar to the drives I had through the deserts of Blue, but the sudden burst of gas just next to the path I took made me realize that this is not going to be a cakewalk for me. I stuck my eyes to the path ahead and drove on. There was a trail left by someone else, good to know that there was another crazy immigrated to Red. I diverted from my chosen path to follow the trail and concentrated on the path ahead, looking around for something that would attract my attention.

I finally found it. It was a garden inside a glass house. I parked the car near the door to the glass house and stepped inside. The place was amazingly kept. It was filled up with all the beautiful plants and shrubs and even trees from Blue. I heard someone call out, “Didn’t you read the board outside?” He was an old man; heavy glasses resting on his nose, wrinkles round his eyes and hair all gray. I said, “Sorry?” “It says trespassers not allowed. So just get out of this place.” I didn’t understand, after all it was only a garden. “You dumb struck or what? Now don’t wait till I call the security.” the old man furious. With a note of apology I came out but didn’t want to leave. Out of curiosity, I started walking along the periphery of the glass house. It was quiet big for a garden. I was appreciating the collection of the flora inside, which suddenly started turning weird. The plants I could see now were different. They were moving, sanguine in color and scary to look at, resembling predators of all those fictionla movies I had seen. Didn’t know, which category to put them under, flora or fauna?

Now, I was all the more interested in finding out what the hell was going on. I was so engrossed that I didn’t see the grotesque shadow like figure next to me. It was of a security guard of some sort. As I was about to say something, he punched an injection into my upper arm. Everything blacked out.

When I woke up, I saw myself in a small cell with nothing but a small peep hole. My belongings were taken away and so were my keys of the car. I was baffled. Trying to calm my heart rate down, I gave reasons to myself like, this, probably, is a nightmare. But it was not, it was worse than that. I was devoid of all the senses of time and direction, felt like a lost soul in the huge huge universe. I heard a squeak, and the squirrel jumped out of the pocket. I got an idea. It was my only chance. I sent out the squirrel through the peep hole hoping for it to return with something I could use for. There was a sound of some sort of babble outside and the door flanged open. The two security guards were fighting with each other. They shot each other. I ran out, picked up the squirrel and started carefully down the corridor. I was passing by a closed door, when I heard something about the Armageddon. It was a familiar voice. With a little pressure on my brains, I realized, it was the voice of the president of the “Project Red”.

The voice was remorseful; for they had caused the destruction of Blue. As the fact dawned to me that the Armageddon was human triggered, a conspiracy of the governments; a thunderous sound made me almost deaf. Everyone started pouring out of all the doors and kept running, ignoring the intruder inside. I too, followed the steps. Once outside, I could see the fireworks in the sky. Blue was in huge flames, Moon was cracking apart; the war of good and evil had begun. Another shrill, and to the horror of all supposedly safe humans on Red, a huge chunk of moon flying across the sky, was descending right on the spot. Panic struck, people were running from death, which was inevitable.

The war ended with the end of the creators of the war, humans. The galaxy rested in peace thereafter.

Hanging in the middle...

2006-06-13T06:43:00.000-07:00

I had a funny incident today. In the afternoon, as me and my friends started for the lunch. We took the second elevator for going upstairs to the 7th Floor. There were quiet many people inside, say about 10. The elevator was going at a steady pace and by the time it was about to reach the 7th floor...Boom...there was a huge sound and the elevator stopped. But the doors didnt open. My friend was standing next to the user panel, so she pushed the Open-Door button quiet a number of time but to no avail. Somebody yelled push 6th Floor button, we can go down. It didnt work. Somebody suggested to press any damn button. Nothing worked. So we just kept pressing the alarm button. Please somebody come and take us out. Another voice came, call the reception. A person tried from his cell...but damn the airtel network...there was no signal. Thankfully, my cell had FULL B-) network. So I called up the reception and told the receptionist that we all are stuck in the lift, send someone to rescue us :D. She said people are on their way and we will be out soon. Till that time, people started talking...I heard someone asking to call parents, some were worried about their insurance :D. And after gruesome 10 mins, the lights in the lift went out and the door opened a bit. We could clearly see that we were somewhere in the middle of the 6th and the 7th floor. And suddenly, the lights came on and the doors got closed and the lift started moving downwards. It didnt stop anywhere but directly on the 3rd floor. Everybody rushed out. It was such a relief to finally be out of the lift :D.

Changing the looks!!

2006-06-13T05:25:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone!!

Well I am trying to change the blog appearance, so kindly bear with the intermittent problems like the font color. I am in the process of changing it, but due to some problem I have lost the connection with blogger :-(.

Will be able to bring back the blog into a readable form by tommorrow :-).

Flying high in the sky...

2006-06-13T02:48:00.000-07:00

I dont know why, but somehow I had never had any flying experience till now. But a few days ago, I finally made it to the sky. I had my first fligh experience. The experience was so overwhelming, I thought of writing a post on it. So here I am to share what I felt when I had wings :-).

My first flight's departure time was 8:45 P.M. and out of before-the-time habit I had reached the airport at around 7:30 itself. After doing the checkin and getting my first boarding pass ever in my hand, me and my friend looked out for a good place to sit and look around. By the way, I didnt like the bangalore airport at all. It was no match to what I had imagined the airport of the silicon valley of India to be, an utter disappointment.

Well we chattered away looking at people, thinking about the wedding we were going to attend in Delhi and Beep-Beep, I got a message. It was from a friend telling me "Its raining hard". 'Oh My God'. We both turned immediately towards the terminal gate nearest to us to have a look at whats going outside and indeed it was raining heavily :-(. And then we heard the announcements, due to bad weather the outgoing flights had been delayed. I was wondering, "Why this has to happen to me?". But cant help it, so we sat around for some more time. I thought of taking some snaps for my memories of the first experience of the airport. As I ducked into my handbag to fetch the camera I realized...oh Shucks...I left my batteries inside the baggage :-(. So with a heavy heart of missing on the oppurtunity to capture those moments I sat quietly listening to Radio Mirchi and counting each and every second to the departure.

Finally the call for the security check for IT208 was called out. Me and my friend jumped off from the seat and headed towards the security check. Once outside the terminal, we realized that it was still pouring heavily from the sky. Due to all the sudden rush, there were not enough coach vans to take us to the flight. So we had to wait till other coach vans were fetched. Slowly the van took us around airport and neared our flight. It was such a good thing to see all those huge manmade birds standing in and around the place. And with the rain it was all the more exciting :-).

We boarded the flight and I got the window seat :-). Was just peeping outside to see the rain and the other flights. Once all the passengers had boarded they started with the welcome-on-board and instructions to be followed during the flight duration. The instructions were shown by the very gorgeous Yana Gupta on the small TVs in the front. Waise....the airhostesses were also not less than Yana Gupta :D. Anyways, it was time for the take off...I was already loaded with so many instructions from my well-wishing friends about the effects of take-off, that I decided to take their advice and stuffed my ears with cotton wool. The engines running, the aircraft started to move...it took around 5 mins for the aircraft to reach the runway. It was simply an awesome sight. The aircraft started picking up speed and with a jerk the front tyres were off the tarmac and slowly the rear ones too. We were flying....yoooohoooo... :-). The aircraft was in a tilted position and moving steadily upwards. The TV monitor in front of me was telling me the altitude, speed and the outside temperature continuosly. I had some weird feelings in my stomach whiles the ascent upwards, but the scene outside the window was too good to worry about all that :D. I could see the banglore city in the darkness, it looked as a sky beneath with thousand bright yellow stars. Slowly the rain against my window had started to be completely horizontal and then drying off. I could see beneath the dark clouds that were showering over bangalore. In sometime the flight hit the altitude of around 10,500 m above the land, the speed was somewhere around 800 kmph and the outside temperature was around -40 degrees...whooooo..that made me feel cold inside :D.

The flight was meant for to be of two and half hours but due to air traffic near the Delhi airport, the flight was hovering over Agra and later over Delhi. Finally we were told that we are landing. All passengers sighed for relief of finally getting off the plane. The descent was also quiet an experience for my stomach and my ears...I felt as if my ears were closed out. But it was overall a good experience :-). We set foot on the tarmac at around 12:30 am..the scheduled arrival was 11:15 pm :D.Though I had experiences of delayed flight and all, the feel of flying in the air for the first time was too good :-).

My flight back was also an experience. It was ontime :D...he he he. But the best part was that it was a morning flight :-). So I could see the clear blue sky from my window and white cotton balls underneath. If I try and imagine heaven, it would have a similar flooring :D. Overall the experince in the air was too good :-).

Khayali Pulao

2006-05-15T04:59:00.000-07:00

Our Brain is one of the best cooks of this world. It can cook the most spicy, chatpati and delicious stories. Now this is one khayali pulao (or rather a virtual date) cooked by me and my friend :-D.

She is from b'lore and he, from hyd. One fine day she doesnt feel like sitting in the office anymore, calls him and asks him to take her to a movie. He, like any other guy :D, takes the next flight and comes to b'lore. After a lot of heated discussion they finally went to watch a movie. In the interval there was popcorn and cold drinks, cold drink with two straws :P.

After movie was the question "What next?". He feels hungry and asks her out for dinner. She wants dinner in a candle-lit restaurant :D. So they decide to go to a restaurant overlooking Husaain Sagar Lake. They took the next flight to Hyd and soon were sitting on a romantic dinner table :D. It was the perfect place, a candle lit table laden with good food overlooking the lake with the moon-lit sky above. Everything seemed so perfect, but is there a perfect world?..naah :D. She found something wrong with the food, it was the smell of egg...and she is allergic to it :D. She was not able to eat any more. He asks her for a ice-cream and she replies with a blush "One big sundae and two spoons" :D.

They planned to go out on a two-wheeler ride and he asked her to drive!!, she happily agreed. It was a black Honda Activa. She sped thorugh the lake side road, he started feeling tensed for the speed but she didnt care a bit, she was enjoying the chill and the air passing through her hair. He starts nagging for high speed and says that he shoudnt have trusted her. Screeeeeeeeech and she gives the keys to him [-(, her soul was hurted..how could he not trust her. He is sorry for his distrust and begs her to drive again :D. She is so ecstatic about it and she speeds up again...but oopssss the bike wont go beyond 80. She stops the activa and demands for a bike. Poor Him, he goes and gets a CBZ from a friend of his for her to drive :D. They are again off in the air enjoying the night and the moonlight at a fast pace ;).

Suddenly the bike comes to a halt. They are confused, fuel seems ok, and everything else seems to be fine but the bike wont start. They look around for someone for help and realize that they are in a very deserted place. Its dark and gloomy, she starts hearing strange sounds and is very very scared. He tries all the metal in him and kicks the bike for its stubborness @$@%#% :D. They dont know what to do next. He gets an idea....aah what a timing :D....asks for her mobile, after a long search in her small yet difficult to find anything bag, she declares that she forgot her mobile in the restaurant :D. He is furious, and she, as any other girl, starts crying :D, which he couldnt bear :P. He consoles her and calls for a cab from his "Only 2 Rs. Balance" mobile :D (talk of resourcefullness - 2 Rs saved for emergency :D)..

The cab will take 20 mins. For those 20 mins they click some cutie cutie snaps around the place ;) :D. Within 20 mins the cab was there and they hopped in. He asked the cab driver to take it to airport and then to his house. On this she got really upset, she insisted him to drop her home in banglore and then come back :D. So they fly on the latest flight to bangalore and reach there at 1 am. With a romantic good bye they part on the airport and thus ends the virtual date :D, with promises for more - A world cruise perhaps!...Lolzz :D.

So how was the pulao?? :D :D.

City of My Dreams!!

2006-05-05T05:52:00.000-07:00

This one is for all of my friends from school and college and yup for all those people who hail from the wonderful city called "Bhopal".

I was kind of away from the city for say three years. And when I got the chance to be their again...I just hopped on the train and headed for the city. I had anticipated many changes and was kind of apprehensive that this modernisation might have changed my Bhopal. So, when i reached Bhopal, I kinda stepped out of the train with wary steps but full with excitement :-). It was 1:00 A.M. , the city was silent but it still looked so beautiful, as a lady draped in darkness. I just couldnt wait for the dawn to break so that I could go around and see the brighter side of it.

The day was all the more thrilling, starting from Jawahar chowk...my last home...then down the New Market main road, Top N Town, Roshanpura naka, down the road to Ravindra Bhawan, off to Lake side, Bharat Bhawan, and then the most beautiful view I saw in days...our very own 'Bada Talaab'. Then off to Kamla Park, Gauhar Mahal and swiftly onto the VIP road. Wow, the ride was so good, the same road on which I drove almost daily for four years, so many memories. While coming back I saw the perfect sunset, Sun sinking into the water of the Lake. The day was mesmerizing, set in the city I love the most :-).

During my drive through the town I noticed some very good things. Firstly the roads, after driving on the roads...rather streets of bangalore, bhopal roads were like the haven :-). I wish I had a bike and could just fly on the roads of Bhopal :D. The other thing that caught my attention were the murals on the squares and the road side walls by tribal people. I liked the concept of keeping bad posters and advertisements from creeping-in on the road side walls :-). And it looked pretty neat and artistic :-). I came to know that Bhopal was actually promoting a lot of art from nearby villages and tribal areas.

Well, next day I started off early in the morning. And this time, I covered the other side of the city. Starting from my house, through newly built Platinum Plaza (must say...amazing to see such structures in bhopal), then from Nankay (my regular petrol bunk) to the Link road, crossing Mayur Park (my childhood favorite) and from Chinar Park (place for our very entertaining GMs :D) taking a turn towards 5 no stop, Subhash School (abhivyakti garba nights...ooohh), then Bitthan Market (one of the most happening places now), towards 10 no. stop. Gosh it was a long way down the memory lane. But truly the best moments of my life spent over here.

Bhopal has always been the city of my dreams, and if not for practical reasons, I would love to spend the entire of my life in this peaceful city, amidst the lush green gardens and placid blue lakes. For me its the pradise, the ultimate city to live in :).

A Long Laccha Making Seesion!!

2006-04-03T01:27:00.000-07:00

Last night my dear friend vini came over my place for a night stay. We both were meeting alone after a long time, so thus started out laccha making session at 11:45 in the night. We started with a topic that took all sorts of twists and turns and finally we landed up discussing anything and everything under sun ;-). This laccha session ended with one of us ludhkofying at 4 in the morning :D.

But those four and a half hours were so refreshing. It reminded me of my college days, we used to have long laccha sessions, talking hours together for no reason. And the best part is you dont even feel tired and sleepy once you are in the 4th gear of laccha-gaddi :D. Though the next day will be completely sluggish and a complete waste. But I dont mind a day of sleepiness for those few tension-free hours of excitement and complete fun :-).

Thanx Vini for coming over and making that memorable :-).

Wedding Bells..Ding Dong...

2006-03-31T02:59:00.000-08:00

No baba...am not getting married. But have noticed that so many people around me are getting married. The wedding bells are going on and on from all directions. There is a line up of marriages for me to attend ;-) (....means lotsa fun and masti for me :D).

But it seems as if all the hearts are pounding around me. Everyone is hit by the cupid. Everything is so mushy-mushy and sweet, I am worried that I might become diabetic :D.

It seems its the match-making season again :D and there are many hearts getting united. Now what shall I call this...a chain of "barbaadis" or a grand fete of good food and masti-masala for others :D. Whatever its good for me...so I am so happy about people getting "barbaad" :D.

Anyways...here is me wishing all the couples getting united, a very happy married and loveful life :-).

Kabhi Kabhi

2006-03-22T02:15:00.000-08:00

Main aur meri Kine...
aksar ye baatein karte hain
road achi hoti toh aisa hota
flyovers hote toh waisa hota
potholes ke bina jhatke kitne kam hote
manholes ke bina sadak kitni chikni hoti

Main aur meri Kine...
aksar ye baatein karte hain
traffic na hota toh aisa hota
speedbreaker ke bina waisa hota
pollution ke bina hum khul ke saans lete
signal ke bina hum hawa se baatein karte

Main aur meri Kine...

Siskiyan

2006-02-23T05:14:00.000-08:00

Tode saare khwaab maine,
bikheri saari khushiyan.
Maine hi chupaya chand ko,
gira diye saare taare asmaan se.
Mitaya maine hi indradhanush ko,
chura li phoolon ki khusboo.
Khud hi bichaye raaste pe kaantein,
bujha di jeevan se roshini.
Bhare maine hi aankhon mein aansoo,
cheen li labon ki hansi.
Choda maine hi zindagi ka aanchal,
chuta ummeed ka daaman.
Reh gaya mere dil mein dard,
aur meri aankhon mein Siskiyan.

Red Means Stop

2006-02-20T01:05:00.000-08:00

I was really amazed at seeing "Red Means Stop" written on one of the signals in bangalore and started laughing that do this need to be taught to people. But lately it seems it is required. I guess many bangaloreans dont know the meaning of red in traffic signals or else they have become color blind.

Recently, I have seen this trend too many times in bangalore, people breaking the traffic signal rules and speeding across a Red Signal. With a woofing traffic on the roads, this habit is a very fatal one, not just for them but for everyone else who are driving on these roads. I have myself escaped quiet a few accidents because of others breaking the signal. And the worst part is, they dont even accept their mistakes. Say them something and they scoff at you. God, what kind of educated people are these?

I guess we need to spread this message around and have more stricter system to avoid this. Atleast teach people that "Red means stop".

When!!

2006-02-13T02:42:00.000-08:00

When I look at the moon,
I see you smiling at me;
When I glance around the stars,
I find you winking at me;
When I try to look at the sun,
I feel the intensity of your love for me;
When I walk on the shore,
I see you rushing towards me;
When I hear the birds,
I hear you singing for me;
When a breeze passes by me,
I feel as if you embraced me;
When I hold a flower in my hand,
I see you admiring me in my lap;
When I am standing in the rain,
I feel the slight touch of yours on my face;
When I smell the fresh earth,
I smell your breath in it;
When I see the mirror,
I can see you in my eyes.

Dream...

2006-02-09T22:28:00.000-08:00

Toh mar jao”, he said as he got up and started for the house.
“Tum yehi chahte ho na ki main mar jaon”, she said with a calm voice sitting on the chair, “Then do one thing, mujhe utha ke wahan phenk do.”
He stopped, looked at her with all the ire he had inside him and leaped to pick her up. She felt the grip of his hand across her waist and a sudden jerk and she was in the air and then splash, into the water. She saw him walking away into the house through the thin film of water across her face.
The world started sinking in front of her eyes. The sky was drifting away; the sounds were fading with every passing fraction of a second. All her life flashed across her eyes and she could hardly think anymore. Within few moments she had reached the bottom of the pool, bottom of her world and the wick of her life was out.

Though I don’t see dreams usually but this one I had seen during my train journey and was marked distinctly in my memory.

Coming Home!!

2006-02-09T22:16:00.000-08:00

As I opened the door, a heavy gust of wind blew on my face. My nose got filled with the smell of the fresh earth. My eyes were bejeweled by the sky, full of shinier stars than what I usually see. I stood there holding the bars and peeking outside. The chill was making my hands ache but the feel of the air and the environment was not letting me come in and close the door. All the pain was subsided by just one feeling, presence of being in the place I longed to be at. At last, I was back at home.

My Base Shifting!!

2006-01-31T03:57:00.000-08:00

Last week was a very eventful week for me. With my Demo on tuesday I suddenly didnt have any work left to do...gosh its so difficult to sit idle after a long month of only work in life. But I had a really nice week. Many things worked out and many changes happened. My comapny shifted to a new and much bigger building and thus even I had to shift into a new place. Searching a house in Bangalore is the biggest headache of life...phew...but with much efforts from me, my now-roomie, her friend and my best friend...we finally found a decent place to stay. Thus I had a complete shift of the base...from working place to living place...that too a drastic change of living in a PG and in a house. But I had one of the best sleep in bangalore in my own room though all my luggage was spread across the floor...but whatever it was my own room...the feeling was so good.

With a week filled with no work and so many changes...I feel replenished and fully charged to work again. Seroiously one should have some time off in between of the work to experience the life and enjoy the moments and refuel oneself :-).

An Orgy this weekend

2006-01-29T21:55:00.000-08:00

After much planning and postponing we finally had our Paratha Party at Mipple's place. And thus started a TLTE orgy :-) and loads of fun filled hours :-).

Well the time when we were supposed to reach at the venue (Mipple's house) was 11:30 and as usual I was the first person to reach there and waited for another half an hour before Adi turned up. As Adi came, Mipple took him to fetch the ingredients for the party leaving me alone in the big big house...well I didnt mind that part ;-)... but i dont know why guys take so much of time to get things :-?...anyways in the meanwhile Vini and Samyak came and Samyak left to get Prankul as he didnt knew the way. And what good is Vini...she was stuck to her mobile phone as usual...why dont the Fevicol people take her in their Ads :-D. So I just timepassed around listening to RadioCity.

Then came Mipple and Adi...and with that loads of work to do :-D. We started with first washing the vegetables..mind it samyak washed the tomatoes (some work he did ;-) ) and then Prankul, Adi and Vini were given the work to start cutting the stuff for salad and also chillies and Ginger. And inside the kitchen me and Mipple started the work for making the parathas. I was really impressed by the way Mipple made the dough...never knew guys can be so good at it. Finally me and Mipple were ready, he with the dough and myself with the potato filling...yeah not to forget...Samyak was the person who helped me with the spices ;-)....but ohh...where is the ginger....our very own vini aka ginger lady was still cutting ginger :-D...but finally it was added leaving some ginger still in her hand to be cut ;-).

Then started the real work of making the parathas...with Mipple with the belan and myself with the spatula...it was an awesome though tiring experience of making parathas for so many people...in between we had these people coming in and shooting the making of the parthas...in the end Vini came to bake the final paratha...for which we all...mind it...even the guys had to give her loads of instructions ;-)...and then the surprise part...Samyak tried his hand at the belan and made a fine paratha resembling a map of ummmmmmmmm....dont know :-D...which only he had to eat.

With the parathas ready and waiting to be devoured..it was so difficult to resist...but :-( Prankul was busy with a special call ;-)..finally we had to pester him and get him inside to start the party :-D. We all just relished on the food we had prepared with so much of effort. And in the end me, Mipple and Vini did the cleaning part...with Mipple at the sink, myself cleaning the kitchen and Vini cleaning the living room and ofcourse Samyak to pass us the dust collector :-D. And we ended the day with a huge bumps session for Samyak. Thanks a lot Samyak..this was my first literally bumps giving experience ;-).

This was one of the best times I had in b'lore. With the spices we added spices of masti..loads of laughter and fun...with music and not to forget a very short-lived antakshari...and lots of dancing and making fun of each other...with photo sessions going on and also some movie making :-D. I never knew that the food made with friends tastes this good. It was the taste of our friendship and the sweetness of it made it so much memorable. Thanx a lot for the wonderful time and I hope I have many more such times to keep on adding to the golden memory of our friendship :-).

Giggles to Guffaws

2006-01-15T01:19:00.000-08:00

Hee Hee Hee Hee Hee...
He He He He He...
Ho Ho Ho Ho Ho...
Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha...

I have neither gone mad nor am I taking any laughter sessions ;-). But lately I have started noticing how people laugh. And believe me, its really very interesting and damn entertaining :-D.

Every person has his/her own unique style of laughing. Some have a very sweet barely audible giggle and some have close-your-ear types roaring guffaws. Some people laugh with a hesitation and that creates a very strange sound. Some are bindaas types who just laugh openly. But any type of laughter, its so contagious. Once you hear a person laughing, ok fine you might be able to control not to laugh but, wont be able to stop yourself from atleast smiling :-). Laughter actually tickles your heart, dont you think so ;-).

Have you ever watched kids laugh. Its really a marvellous sight to see them laugh. Once started, its really difficult for them to control their laughter, I guess. There's is so pure and innocent laughter that it just steals your heart.

And I dont know why but most of the females hesistate to laugh openly. They will just smile widely or giggle a bit. Is it against the rules that a woman laughs aloud? Anyways, am least bothered and laugh out as I wish to :-).

Some of the laughs that have been distinct from others are:

my friend's elder brother, infact he was the person who inspired me to start noticing laughters. His is out of the world, can-listen-from-yards laughter, which I simply adore :-).
One of the laughters that will definitely make you laugh is that of our very own Navjot Singh Siddhu. It was that laughter that made me laugh, more than the jokes in the 'Great Indian Laughter Challenge'.
The other one I like is of my cousin brother here. He also just laughs with an open heart. Though he is quiet boisterous in his laugh but its the feel-good laughter :-).
One laughter that is famous worldwide is the Gabbar laughter.
One of my friends from college. She is also a kid when it comes to laughter. Infact, if you dont stop making her laugh she will be holding her stomach and rolling on the floor :-D.
The best and the sweetest laughter I have seen and heard is of my nephew. He is just two and a half years old and I just love his laugh. And its so easy to make him laugh, just show one finger and he starts giggling, touch him with the finger and he bursts into a guffaw...wow...I can right now see him laughing aloud and m rejoicing in his laughter :)).

Its so very true, Laughter is the best medicine. It makes you forget your worries and makes you feel so light. So laugh out and laugh like you have never laughed before :-).

2006-01-10T23:58:00.000-08:00

"Life is no brief candle for me.
It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got hold of for the moment,
and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations."
- George Bernard Shaw

I read this quote on the first page of the novel I started yesterday. Liked it a lot so thought of sharing it. :-)

Past Few Reads

2006-01-09T21:12:00.000-08:00

Lately, I have tried to read more variety. I have come out of the world of books from the likes of John Grisham, Mario Puzo, Erich Segal etal. I had some interesting reads and am here to share my experiences about them :-).

Jonathan Livingston Seagull
This was the first novel in this novel novel reading session of mine :-D. A very small one, can be finished in half an hour but having a big impact. It doesnt have a word written about humans, its all about seagulls, yet it teaches us how to take challenges how to look out of the box. Its all about pursuing what you feel is the right thing, not what everyone else is doing. And apart from this, the book has an excellent collection of snaps of seagulls throughtout. I am not a good writer, so might not be able to write the gist of the book very clearly, so I ask everyone one of you to check out this one. And I will soon try to get my hands on another Richard Bach book.

To Kill a Mocking Bird
This was a very sweet and warm novel. It was set in the backdrops of a small town in US. Narrated from the view of a small girl, it is a slow yet interesting depiction of the life in a small town. Its about the mindsets and how folklore works. Though its a simple story but it never lets boredom slip in. A nicely and effectively written book.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time
I got this book as my birthday gift. The title itself made me curious enough to start it immediately. It is really a complete turn around from what I usually read. The book is about a 15-year old boy, who is different from normal human beings. He is devoid of human emotions and has a more of a computer in his head rather than a human brain. He is kinda autistic person with a sharp brain which is a complex calculator. The world from his eyes is fetching. Though towards the end it becomes a bit draggy, but overall a good read. Thanks mipple for gifting that book to me :-).

God's Debris
A book from the author of "Dilbert", Scott Adams. This book will baffle you, make you think, make your mind go topsy-turvy. According to the author its a thought experiment. It really makes you, atleast for time being, challenge the very facts and basis of life. It boggles the mind to think in a very different direction, contradicting the set thinking we develop through our lifetime. This book is meant for all those people who like to venture into the unknown of the psyche, to unleash the imagination and go on a adventurous trip in the wild thoughts. A must read for all the people who like adventure and mysterious things.

Blasphemy
Oh My God!! will be the first reaction, if one asks me about the book. Written by Tehmina Durrani, the award winning author, this book is a fictional story based on a girl named 'Heer'. It is a heart-wrenching story of torments and evils done in the hide of religion. It portrays a satan protecting the religion. But its becomes an overdose of brutality and filth. It really makes your heart ache and filled with anger and hatred. God forbid, this kinda thing should never become reality. This book shouldnt be read if one just wants to have entertainment. It tells you the tale about how low a human can go, how much devil can captive a human mind.

I had a great experience reading these out of the way novels. And thus I am going to continue reading different stuff and explore in the realms unknown to me.

Was it a year??

2006-01-08T23:30:00.000-08:00

[Firstly, a very happy new year to all the people who drop by my blog :-)...hope to see more traffic this year ;-) and sorry for updating late...was damn busy with work.]

2005 - Was it really just one year? It seemed like a decade to me!! So many things happened, so many things left behind, so many things new in the life, so many changes in and around me. It seemed as if I am living somebody else's life.

Jan, 2005 - I stepped into bangalore with stars in my eyes. I was full with apprehension but with lotsa zeal to tap into a new world, a new life. But as time went past, I realized that this was not what I had dreamt of, the life, rather the world, was vastly different from my imagination. I experieneced so many new things. And my craving for my former life kept on increasing by each passing day and night. I started cribbing for my decision of doing my internship. I was totally irritated by the new life. All I used to do was live in memories. I was not only missing the recent things in my life, I started thinking about and missing the long lost and previously forgotten days. I was at loggerheads with the present and didnt want to come out of my past.

But as they say, time heals all wounds. So were my wounds healed, but in the process of healing I was transformed. I was no more the same old kosha, I underwent tremendous changes, many good and a few bad too. I became more calm and serene...I lost my innocence towards the world. Now I know this world and am a part of it.

Till now I have only written about the things that I lost. But it was an year of give and take. I gained as much as I lost. I met and made many very good friends. Though its a part of life to make new friends but for me the number just soared in leaps and bounds. I, being a born introvert, had never expected to make so many friends. For that I will definitely thanks orkut. This was indeed the first time that I made online friends. But as time passed I realized that its not wise to have toooo many friends. You loose the closeness with friends in trying to keep up with all. Things became tangled up, life became so complicated. You tend to realize it when ypu have many many friends, and loads of work and deadlines approaching. I had never experienced this before. Where was my care-free life, Where was my always ready with a solution attitude? I suddenly started feeling much matured and old. It was as if the childhood of a child was snatched away. The sky was devoid of its moon.

One more change that I saw was, I got a bit detached from the family life. Living alone and with friends made me little less sensitive towards family. Which I am gonna change in this year, coz ultimately its family, which is utmost important. And I dont wanna loose on that front ever.

The other major thing in 2005 was becoming responsible and start my job. I faced many problems initially in adjusting and adapting to the work environment. I still am in the process though. I gained a sense of responsibility, a sense of belonging. I felt independent, confident. I now know that I can survive in this world.

Another milestone added in my life was - blogging. Blogs helped me improve on writing, though I still feel that I am an amateur, they hepled me to understand myself, detangle my random thoughts and organize them, they were a gateway to my unexplored regions.

Overall, year 2005 was the most different and the lengthiest year till now of my journey of 24 years. It will always be etched in my memory as a milestone year.

Another Leaf from my diary

2005-12-21T00:30:00.000-08:00

Life, What does it mean to me
a game, a path, a war, a prayer
or just a creation of GOD.

Whatever it is, its so beautiful
filled with the colors of joy
like a sunshine in the clear blue sky.

Its pure, like the water
of the rivers that flow down
the mountains of the world.

Its as vast as the universe,
the universe, which has baffled
each and every of us.

But a life is a life,
it can be as huge as an ocean,
or as small as an ant.

It can be as pretty as a rose,
and as ugly as a corpse,
depending who owns it.

Some Beautiful Moments

2005-12-19T23:07:00.000-08:00

I had not written about some things in my account of the Habba. And the things had even slipped out of my mind. But when I was going through the snaps taken that day, that face brought back a smile to my face and all those small small but beautiful moments :-).

Well, there was this sweet little girl sitting in front of us. For her, I guess we were the performers :-D. But it felt really nice to have her attention, to make her laugh, to make her dance like we were dancing. She was soooooooo cute, we even took a snap of her with due permissions from her mother. But seriously, Kids give you that happy-happy feeling :-). They are so pure-hearted, no dirt in their mind. They remind of the good times I had in my childhood. So children will always be close to my heart :-).

In the other incident, we had turned into kids ;-). We attracted many a stares towards us by making soap bubbles in the air and that too standing on the chairs :-D. This was the most fun part of that evening. I was just thrilled and kept on blowing bubbles in the air. It again brought back some memories of my days in BITS...how me and my friends had blowed bubbles for hours together and had become an object of glance by all the passer-bys.

And last but not the least, I drove a bike. yippppeee yooooohoooooo....well this was not the first time..but yes it was after a long time :-). I am not that bad at driving the bike B-). And with few more practices like this...I will be ready to give a tough time to guys ;-).

I dont know if anyone will read this post of mine. But I am writing this coz its about all the small things that one has. The big moments are very few. That doesnt mean one cannot be happy for the rest of the time. Its these small small moments that give you Big Happiness. And writing about these things today gave me another round of that happiness :-). So, this post is for all those tinsy-winsy things that are the elixir for me to live happily in this world :-).

Saathi!!

2005-12-14T22:17:00.000-08:00

This is a reply to a question asked to me a few days ago....

Can I forget,
Meeting a person like him?
Can I forget,
The long late night talks we had?
Can I forget,
The pampering I get from him?
Can I forget,
The "yes" for anything I say?
Can I forget,
The adoration I get from him?
Can I forget,
The things I could do, just coz of him?
Can I forget,
The best mentor I had in my life?
Can I forget,
The person to whom I can tell anything?
Can I forget,
Those eyes, that face, that smile?
Can I forget,
One of my closest friend???

The Mega Giga Events

2005-12-13T08:01:00.000-08:00

From Friday night onwards there were three mega events as a part of bangalore habba in palace grounds. Fortunately or unfortunately i could attend only two of them. Here is my account for those two.

9th Dec:

This was the day when my ears were blessed by the enchanting music from two of India's leading personalities. One was, the living master of bansuri, Padmabhushan and PadmaVibhushan Pandit Hari Prasad Chaurasia. And the other maestro, one of the best known classical vocalists in India, Padmabhushan Pandit Jasraj. First, it was Pandit Hari Prasad Chaurasia who entralled the audience in the divine sound created by a simple bamboo stick. I, wondered, how can a instrument as simple as a flute create so much of magic. And I really admired his stamina, for he could pump in so so much of air into it for such a long time..phew!! The next was a solo performance by Pandit Jasraj. His voice was charming, soothing to hear to. Then came the best part of the show, the jugalbandi. It was like a play between two gods. The audience was held spell bound. The performance was so gripping, that I guess nobody moved. Time just flied away and it was 10 pm in the night. The show came to an end. But it left me with a yearn for more. I was satisfied, yet had a pine to listen to it all the way again. I can still close my eyes and listen to the bansuri...bringing a smile to my face. :-).

As soon as the performances by the maestros was over, we started and were coming out. I was on the second step, when I heard them say "Dhol Foundation"...I instantly turned around and asked my friend if we can see this too. Most of the people had left. But believe me, whoever stayed back would have never regretted for that.

The Dhol Foundation is a UK based band, led by Johnny kalsi. The band has five drummers...dhol waalahs, one on dholak, one on drums and two on guitars. The band has fuses the urban music with the dhols and music from the villages of punjab. This was their first performance in India. And the audience just gave in to these dhol waalahs with their "electric" dhols (yup...even i saw it for the first time). Overall, the numbers were too good....make u tap ur foots and even jump. The intensity of it I saw, when there was an elderly grey haired man jumping off his feet on the rhythm of the band. I could hardly see anyone sitting during the entire act...it just filled everyone present with so much of energy and enthu. Anyone fond of percussion instruments (which are my fav instruments) should not miss out on the "Dhol Foundation".

11th Dec:

Next in pipeline was the "Bollywood Nite". We reached their on the right time. We just came in and the show was on a roll. The first performance was by a singer called Ishaan. The moment he sang the first song of the show, we thought...are we at the right place? Shall we just get up and leave? The next two songs were just adding fuel to the flame. But then came in the next performer, Lalit pandit, of the jatin-lalit fame. At that time we were like...ok. He sang some of the best numbers of his career.

Then came the best part of the show. Performance by my fav, Shaan :-) :-). The public also just went wild with Shaan on stage. He started with his first song for jatin-lalit, "Tune mujhe pehchaana nahin" from movie Raju Chacha. And then came a series of all his hit songs. My favs like "Musu Musu Haasi" and "Tanha Dil". You can see the magic of his voice everywhere, people swaying back and forth with every tone of the music. Girls going just over the top on this good looking and ever smiling hunk. He even danced for the song "Main Aisa Kyon Hoon" and "You are the one for me". And he ended his performance with the biggest hit of the year, "Dus bahaane karke le gaye dil" :-) and he took away the hearts of the all the people present in the palace grounds.

Then came a singer with one of the most sweetest voice, Alka Yagnik. She sang some really good numbers. The environment became so soothing with her melodious and balming voice. Followed up by her was a High-Energy performance by "The Dance Diva" of India, Yana Gupta. The guys just went crazy for the beautiful dame on the stage. You should have heard how the public roared and revelled.

After all the dancing and singing, there was time for some ramp walks. The first fashion show was from the Pantaloon Stores. Then was the marvellous collection from the studio of Vikram Phadnis. Got to see some of very good designs and yes ofcourse some very comely models and ooohhh some hunks too ;-).

Then Alka yagnik came again and sung yet another set of songs from her long list of hits. And lastly the day was called off with a superb item number from Yana Gupta. And with this the Bangalore Habba came to an end. I had a nice time during this Bangalore habba and will look forward to it with all the more eagerness next year :-). Till then bbye bangalore habba!!

Brewing Literature

2005-12-13T07:34:00.000-08:00

I am back with my stories from the Bangalore Habba :-). There was a series of "Art Espressos" in many CCDs around the city. I happened to attend the last one in the M.G. Road CCD.

It was supposed to start at 10:30 pm. Me and my friend got a little late (IST you see ;-) ) and reached there around 10:45 pm. Anyways, there were not much people there but we could hear something going on. We took one of the tables and sat there. There were two people sitting on the chairs in the front and were reading into the mic. The piece they were reciting was a story of a guy and a girl which was very hilarious :-). It was follwed by yet two more readings and it was so much of fun!!

Well Art Espressos are actually readings of prose and pieces of literary work. It is really nice to actually listen to the work rather than just reading it on your own. This is widely practiced in western countries. You can actually hear readings in many book stores etc. Specially for kids. I hope this culture increases more in India and I could hear more of such things on a regular basis, not to wait for habbas for that.

The team cast that played it here consisted of two guys, names i forgot, and two girls, aditi and aviva. The way they articulated their voice and even their expressions, it was as if the piece was actually lived. It made me actually animate the whole scene so perfectly in my mind.

The best was one was in the last. In which the guy played the role of the female and the girl played the male part. Both of them were stunning in their respective roles and the air was filled with many smiles and laughter. :-)

The playground "Mood"

2005-12-05T20:24:00.000-08:00

Why do we have moods?
Why do we suddenly feel happy or sad?
Why cant we always be in a good mood?

I am not in a very good mood today. From morning I have been feeling gloomy. Cursed everything in the world when I woke up in the morning. I drived like a jerk today. Dont have the feeling to work. Cant concentrate on anything. I even forgot my dog-collar. And the worst thing is I dont have any reason to be like this. But still I get these tantrums. I have seen people swinging in and out of good and bad mood. Just out of the blue they will start getting irritable, yell at others. It makes me think, what causes these so called mood swings.

When we experinece some feelings...like anger, happiness, stress, fear etc., the brain releases chemicals called neurotransmitters. It is the release and re-absorption of these neurotransmitters that affects how we feel. And the imbalance of these neurotransmiiters cause the mood-swings. So this the scientific side of moods.

These mood-swings could be dangerous. Coz generally people tend to be rude and alienated during these pangs of bad mood. Others might feel offended by the behaviour and the damage has been done and you dont even relaize that at that moment. I hate being in these bad moods. It makes me do stuff that is unlike me. But yeah music is the best thing, that always brings back the smile on my face and makes me feel cheerful again :-). So I am back to music and a smile on my face. Thank god for he made music, otherwise how would I survive these mood-swings!!

____

Here is a link that I found interesting Wild Mood Swings

And also this...just for fun :D

What Mood Are You In?

Bangalore habba!!

2005-12-05T06:09:00.000-08:00

Translation in English: Celebrating Bangalore

But it is much more than celebrating Bangalore. It is a celebration of art and culture. It is a celebration of the long lost spirit of creativity. It gives a platform for all the contemporary artists in a variety of genres to come forward and let their arts be known. It doesnt only promote the classic and folk art forms but the modern art forms too. It is even more important in a place like bangalore, where we have people from very diverse cultural backgrounds. And for software professionals like me, it is a delighful treat of the things that are almost out of my life.

In Bangalore Habba, you can listen to great music and see some fantastic dances. Now these are the major events happening in habba. Infact my most awaited event will be the jugalbandi of Pandit Jasraj and Pandit Hari prasad chourasia and the performance by Amaan and Ayan Ali Bangash.

Apart from these mega events, there are many small small and very interesting things happening in the habba. You can see some Street plays, Street Magic, Literature readings, watch some outstanding movies, good theatrical performances, some sports too (even adventure sports), a vintage car rally, fashion shows, and my most favorite "The Artist's Walkway".

I first had a feel of the habba when I went to "The Artist's Walkway" yesterday. The M. G. Road Boulevard is converted into a walkway where artists can come and promote their arts through small kiosks on the boulevard. I was really amazed at the variety of arts that I got to see at same place. The thing that attracted me the most was exhibits by a few photographers. I even bought some photographs in the form of postcards :-). Then there was this small street play by few girls. It was very intersting and very well done, with a message for the society. Then there was this puppet show and even the ghoomar dance :-). There were many painting exhibits too. And yeah, if u want a caricature or a portrait done of yours...land up in the walkway :-).

Overall habba is an entralling experience which every bangalorean and non-bangaloreans should try and catch. Though its tough to get time out of our busy schedules, but believe me you wont regret taking that time out of it and going for an event in habba. I feel lucky that I got such a golden chance of experiencing this celebration :-). Will keep telling interesting picks from the events that I will attend :-).

Any one interested for more information, can visit Bangalore Habba.

SE7EN

2005-11-30T20:58:00.000-08:00

This is in response to the tag from raja ....

SE7EN Things I Plan to do:

Travel more frequently and to more exotic locations
Do a PhD
Buy a camera and take loads of snaps
Keep updating my blog
Get up early and do yoga
Buy a pulsar and race with the guys in bangalore
Keep planning :D

SE7EN Things I can do:

Watch TV
Eat a lot
Be a Walter Mitty
Use the IM services to the max
Sleep at wee hours
Fill my gmail inbox
Keep yapping

SE7EN Things I can't do:

Become an astronaut
Marry my love "moon"
Sing well
Grow taller
See my moon daily
Get up early
May be gain some weight

SE7EN Things I say most often:

Guss it
Hey Bhagwaan
Hmmmm
Stupid Idiot
Accchhha
Ohhhkkkk
Helllloooo

SE7EN persons I want to tag:

I found this quiet interesting...made me think what I can do...that part was the most difficult one *chuckle*.

Abacus

2005-11-27T21:13:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, I was sitting with my 5 year old niece and was helping her do her homework. Then she took out an "abacus" and started doing the mathematics problems. I was amazed at the speed with which she solved difficult mathematical problems. I always knew what an abacus was but never tried to use it till yesterday. So I learnt how to use abacus :-).

First of all, the origin of the word. Its a Latin word with its origins in the Greek words abax or abakon (meaning 'table' or 'tablet'). Which possibly originated from abak meaning sand. It is believed that our ancestors used to make a makeshift arrangement for calculating by using sand. Abacus is, thus, the first calculating device. The early humans didnt have the notion of numbers and used abacus for the means of calculation, instead hands and fingers were used for calculations. But the traders needed calculating devices for calculating large numbers till the numbers were invented. Abacus is one of the most widely used calculating device.

Abacus, unlike the modern day calculators, dont perform the calculations by themselves. They are just a calculating aid for keeping the track of sums, carrys etc and the actual calculation is done in the head by the person operating the abacus.

The abacus has gone through many forms and adaptations. There are three different versions of abacus in use currently. They are the chinese suan pan, the japanese soroban, and the russian schoty. The one my niece had was the japanese one and this is what I learned to use. Abacus are still used a lot in Japan and China. You move into a store and see the shopkeepers still uses abacus for calculating the bill amount.

Most of the people are skeptical about the effectiveness of an instrument that looks so simple and primitive. But believe me, once you use it...u will find thats its very accurate and very easy to use. And the best part is they are very fast too. And with a little bit of mastery in using abacus, one can actually calculate wihtout using an abacus...this is called using an abacus visually. It is much more simpler and much more effective way of calculations. After getting the feel of the abacus....i will prefer using abacus in place of electronic calculators.

for those who are interested in learning how to use an abacus...
Abacus tutorial

Huh!!!

2005-11-24T20:20:00.000-08:00

God!! why am I staying in this city?? *sigh*

I am vexed, aggravated, frustrated, angry and above all tired of my daily travel from home to office and then back home. I dont want to start for office in the morning and similarly for home in the evening. I, literally, dread the voyage...yes it seems like a voyage. A daily fight through the always jam traffic, wading through the sea of vehicles. I feel like I am trapped...which makes me feel uncomfortable...I cant move in any direction...have to stand helplessly. And wait for the damned traffic to move....with strange people wading past me. Seriously, people think that "ye road unke baap ki jaagir hai". And footpath also. Its not a less headache to walk on these roads too.

Over the top the 'mashallah' roads, with uncountable potholes. I have seen the worse-than-worst roads after coming to this city. And the rains.....this city has started making me dislike rains. Overdose of anything is not good....and here we are getting too much overdose of rain. Already the roads were a hindrance test...with the rains it has become a roller coaster ride to drive on the roads of bangalore. It tests all parts of the body for tolerating high stress. If somebody is very healthy and fit...dont worry driving on these roads will soon make you go consult a doctor.

I dont have any hopes of getting the problems solved...and I will have to go through the torment of drving through the roads of bangalore daily!! Huh!!

Milte hain break mein!!

2005-11-22T06:33:00.000-08:00

Channel 1: A "K" series serial
Channel 2: A torture-to-the-ear song
Channel 3: A stupid talk show
Channel 4: Same gory news
Channel 5: A "India losing" match
Channel 6: A multi-starrer "forget-your-brain" movie
Channel 7: A Take-no-money game show
Channel 8: Advertisements

Finally I got something to watch.

Watching a television has become such a headache now a days. The number of channels is touching the sky...but its all quantity and no quality. But that chota sa (oops...wrongly said...that lamba sa actually) break in between is such a refreshment. The advertising industry has really come a long way. There was a time when people used to curse advertisements but now I can see people forwading ads on emails too!! (even i do that ;-) ) There are all sorts of advertisements...but by watching advertisements I get a little bit of everything in a small span of time...which is an important factor for a busy person like me :-D.

There are advertisements which will make you smile, laugh, definitely not cry ;-), some will make you scoff, some will give you a reason to make fun of. With all the celebrities buttressing all sorts of products...whats the need of movies now and cricket too ;-). And yeah...you get to see the cutest babies in india in all those huggies etc ads :-)...choooo chweeeet!!

Hey!! who can forget that surf excel ad - "chaila!! tune maara isko..tujhe abhi dekhta hoon...aur maaro aur maaro....sorry keh raha hai....waapas nahin karna" wowww...it brings a smile on my face even when I think about it. I remember...one of my colleague's two year old son wont eat food untill he sees this ad. Even I can watch that ad for I dont know how many number of times.

Then there is this ad of some paint...."kaat kaat...darta kyon hai....main hoon na...bindaas kaat...papa...chintoo...pata nahin subah se kuch katai shatai kar raha hai" a cutie cutie ad :*

Then those SBI ads...specially the "Chimanlal charlie" ad...its damn hilarious =)).

There are so many of them I guess I can dedicate an entire blog to them ;-)

In a nutshell, advertisements are complete entertainer and the most watched things in todays myriad and most of the time non sense world of television.

A Thousand Desires

2005-11-15T06:16:00.000-08:00

These lines are from a song from the movie hazaron khwahishein aisi....

A Thousand Desires such as these
A thousand moments to set this night on fire
Reach out and you can touch them
You can touch them with your silences
You can reach them with your lust
Rivers, mountains, rain
Rain against a torrid hillscape
A thousand
A thousand desires such as these

I loved rain as a child
As a lost young man
Empty landscapes bleached by a tired sun
And then
And then
Suddenly it came like a dark unknown woman
Her eyes scorched my silences
Her body wrapped itself around me like a summer without end

Pause me
Hold me
Reach me where no man has gone
Crossing the seven seas
With the wings of fire
I fly towards nowhere
And you
Rivers, mountains, rain
Rain against the scorched landscape of pain

A Thousand Desires such as these
A thousand moments to set this night on fire
Reach out and you can touch them
You can touch them with your silences
You can reach them with your lust
Rivers, mountains, rain
Rain against a torrid hillscape
A thousand
A thousand desires such as these

You!!

2005-11-15T06:07:00.000-08:00

Your face....
Calm and Serene as still waters
Your Eyes....
The burning heat of a wild fire
Your lips....
Arousing a thousand desires
Your Smile....
The lamp of life in darkness
Your Touch....
A spike of current
Your Voice....
The chime of knoll on the church
You....
Embracing n cuddling in my thoughts

War of the Mails!!

2005-11-11T07:32:00.000-08:00

The two sides in the battle field are - the snail mail or the letters and the very fast and very popular e-mail. Now i guess most of the people will stop reading further, coz they will say that e-mail wins without even coming into the battlefield. But for me its not the case. E-mails have not won over letters.

E-mails are much faster much easier and now a days the most preffered...or shall I say the only preffered....way of communication. Technology wise, and even having more and more people accessing e-mails, is ever increasing. Who had actually thought that e-mails will be such a huge thing in such a less time. I still remember i had my first account when I was in my first year...that too me and my friend went to an internet cafe (which were a little rare thing to find in those times) just out of curiosity. Infact, we didnt even know how to open an internet website!! But now we can see children using internet and e-mails.

Now about the other side of the coin. Though e-mails are faster, cheaper (ofcourse now-a-days e-mails are much cheaper and to people like me its free ;-) ) and blah blah blah. They dont have the human touch. The e-mails dont have that charm. Infact e-mails have dimished the charm of the letters too. But still letters are letters. You can hold them in your hand, you can preserve them forever. I still have all the letters written to me since my childhood and still brings tears into my eyes. It has a personal touch of the writer....the hand writing. You can relate more to a letter rather than an e-mail. And especially if u are still not addicted to the technologically advanced gizmos and have still that human feel left in you.

So in my opinion letters were the best and will always remain the best. Though even I have not written letters for a long time...out of utter laziness, but am gonna start writing letters again. That wait for the letter and then when it arrives...opening the envelope...its so good. Also I dont want to get lost in this cyber virtual world. I want something that is real...tangible...to remind me of my friends. So that years after also..when I open my treasure trove of letters..I can remember all my friends as I had known them always. May be am way too sentimental about things. But these are small small things which brings happiness in life...smile on my face. And so I dont mind doing that...even if people call me crazy...I will keep writing letters.

Meghdhanusha

2005-11-11T07:21:00.000-08:00

On my way

Above the lake

Was a sky so blue

Like the ocean hue

With cotton strew

As the bunch of clouds

The moon at its shine

To give a bright sight

And a colorful bow

To tie the gift for me.

la pioggia!!

2005-11-08T04:06:00.000-08:00

The sky is filled with silver clouds,
making the noise of thunders aloud.
The God's gentle and soothing shower,
watering that sweet little flower.
Hear, the music of the breeze,
swaying back and forth, the huge trees.
Enjoy, the music of the little rain droplets,
falling on the new formed water palettes.
Dance, on the thunders in the background,
and in between a frog on the round.
Smell, the freshness of the earth,
as if its a rebirth.
Cheer up, coz its that time of the year,
to sing and dance with the nature dear.
With everything around so real, so green,
I hope it does not turn into a dream.

I like rains a lot ;-)

Life!!

2005-11-08T01:50:00.000-08:00

Life, a simple little word,
carrying the meaning of whole world.
Life, with all its mystery and irony,
is not worth any money.
Life, with all its ups and downs,
gives us the power of sensitivity.
Life, with its strongness and fragility,
teaches us the best lessons to learn.
Life, with all its love and hate,
is not mere, the lines of fate.
Life, is a mirror of us,
reflecting our deeds and doings.
Life, is in our hand, whether,
to make it a blooming flower
or the worst ever nightmare.
think and think to dare.

some dried leaves

2005-11-08T01:11:00.000-08:00

Some pages dropped while reading through an old diary of mine. They were some poems that I had written long long time ago. So next few posts I will post those on the blog.

Ek Bheegi Bheegi Raat!!

2005-10-12T04:48:00.000-07:00

This was the day I was waiting for a long time. My first concert ever . And the sequence of incidents that happened will never let me forget it also . I had loads of work in office but still managed to complete most of it so that I don’t get late to the concert…was really excited to reach there. Me, adi, vini and pommu were supposed to meet at my PG at 5:30 pm but thanks to my very punctual friends, adi and vini came at 5:45 pm. And then we three kept waiting for pommu. While we were waiting…it started drizzling a little and within a minute it was pouring like anything . I got worried…I didn’t want to get drenched…some health problem. But for seeing the A R Rehman show I was ready to risk anything so decided to carry on. Well so at around 6:30 pm our dear pommu called and we came to know that he is nearby only…so we went there to give him a welcome but we were in for a surprise. There was this cute girl with pommu . The first reaction was…me and vini looking at each other with an amazed face .

Well then me, vini, and The Girl caught a rick and started towards the nearest gate of palace ground..And adi and pommu were to catch another rick and come. It had stopped raining by the time we reached palace grounds. When we got out of the auto…as the fate had set for us…it started pouring again. We went and took shelter beneath a small cabin sort of thing. Then came adi and pommu. Now we were thoroughly confused as to where is the entrance for the show. We generally started in one direction…it was pouring so me and vini took the shelter of her jacket (for anyone else we would have been looking like a gf and a bf ). Well we changed our direction of search three times and finally with a bit of enquiry came to know that we are at the entirely wrong side of the palace grounds. So we caught a rick again and started for that other side. Can u imagine…5 of us in a single rick…and ofcourse The Girl was sitting next to our shy and blushing pommu . In between the rick also sayed no to go any further…poor adi had to push the auto with four people sitting inside .

Finally we were in front of the gate for the correct entrance. But nobody was ready to get out…come on…it was pouring like hell. We were supposed to meet Mipple in there. The doubt had arisen in everyone’s mind…may be the concert stands cancelled. So we called up Mipple to find that out…and to our relief…no sign of cancellation still. We got into the palace grounds and finally with wandering here and there finally got into the concert area. So there we were in for the concert…all drenched and loaded with mud...but hey…we cant see anything and over the top there was nothing happening on the stage. After some time Mipple also joined us with two of his friends. But what to do…the concert seemed to be totally washed out with, I guess less than fourth of public than expected. Well we were in a state of confusion, whether to stay back and just linger around or to go and have some food (Mipple was the most hungry out of the lot ) in a nice restaurant and pass time. By the time all this happened we all got split…so finally me, Adi, Vini and Mipple were left. Actually we didn’t want to disturb pommu .

I had started wondering…should I ever go for any concert again…seriously I was cursing my fate. But as its rightly said…..everything happens for some or the other good. The rain actually helped us. Yes….because of the less amount of junta turning up we could actually move forward…so we kept on moving forward and finally landed up in the Rs. 2500 stall… . . And guess what we saw…... … pommu and The Girl standing in one corner and dancing . There Mipple and Adi brought many chairs and we stood on top of stack of chairs. Now this was an amazing sight. Can say that my actual concert experience started now .

The concert was just superb…minblowing…better than what I had expected. Heard many beautiful songs . Danced a lot that too standing on the chairs . Mipple, Adi and Vini did some “keechad dance” also . And the best treat to my ears was “Shivmani on drums”. He is the god the percussions. Used to listen him always but it was very different this time…seeing him perform in person…seeing his hands move with the beats…it was an out of the world experience. The junta just stood spell bound. I just held my breath for the time his drumsticks kept hitting the drums. It was a mesmerizing moment… ...But all good things come to an end *sigh*. There was one another good thing that I specially remember…the song 'Humma Humma' in rap style..that was cool. Well with that we actually thought that we had enough of the concert and it was already 11:30 pm. So we decided to leave. But The Girl didn’t want to leave…then how can our dear pommu leave. So we left both of them in their sweet little world and left the place.

From the moment we stepped out…vini was constantly searching for water…for washing her feet which was I think covered with an inch of mud *eeee*. Mipple gave her a very good idea and our very intelligent billi did as she was told to and thus successfully doubled the layer of mud ….sorry vini…I still cant stop laughing at that .

Well then we decided to go to ‘pizza hut’ to have our dinner. We caught a rick and reached the place which was almost deserted. Hey am getting a situational song in my mind …char murkh is shahar mein…raat mein aur baarish mein…khaana dhoodhne nikle… … . First, we found a ‘New Shanti Sagar’ and tried to get something there…but our hard luck they were closed. Next thing, we went to the ‘Pizza Hut’. We asked them…instead could say implored in front of them…to give us any damn thing that is available. But the oven had gone stone cold . With all the persuasion from the ladies side also they could only provide us with pepsi…huh!! But they tried a lot . Well then we thought of atleast going to CCD and have some pastries or something. On our way to CCD vini saw a restaurant in the corner…’Big Chef’…it was a Chinese restaurant. I went inside and asked if anything was left. But I got a big NO . Then Mipple said that may be he can handle this. He went inside and we stood outside wondering that what can he do. After two minutes he came out and asked that whether we can eat ‘daal and rice’ . I was just amazed…how the hell he did it. Then came to know that it was the magic of language. Mipple knew Nepalese . We were treated so well by them. And that ‘daal and rice’ was soooo good. I was so happy to know that people like them are still in this world .

Well then we caught a rick to go to my PG as Adi’s bike was parked there and they had to drop me too. But it was raining like crazy at that time. So we all sat at the steps of my PG and started talking…with me and Adi in mostly the listening mode . We sat there for an hour or so. It was so much of fun to sit in the rain and chat that too at 1 in the night . It was nearly 2 am when the others left and thus ended the day.

Overall, this was something different than usual. That walking in the rain under one jacket. That dancing on top of the chairs. That roaming on road for search of food at 12 in the night that too totally drenched and full of mud. That dinner at the ‘Big Chef’. That chatting at the steps of my PG. Will remember these moments and cherish them forever. .

Team Outing!!

2005-10-04T01:14:00.000-07:00

It was 6:11 AM when I started my bike....(shucks...why did i wake up 15 mins late...was supposed to reach office by 6). It too me precisely 6 minutes to reach office and another 2 minutes to reach my floor. That makes it 6:19. As I reached my floor I expected a bunch of people to be there and ready to scold me...but but but...there are only 3 people. Anyways, we waited and waited and waited, people came in at a very slow pace. Finally at 7:30, we decided to finish our wait. And we ended up in a group of 18, which was supposed to be of 30. So finally we were on the road :).

Our journey was made enjoyable by having various games amongst us and some brilliant performances. Can you imagine, i was made the captain of one team :D. We took a break in between for breakfast. I ate a new variety of idli :). And we were again on the road. The journey was long...infact pretty long...actually the driver took a shortcut :D ;). "Are we going on the right way?" "Does the driver know the place?" "I guess we will reach there by tomorrow!!"...were the general expressions coming from everyone gazing outside the window as if its about to come. But finally we got off the road at 1:05...yes...dont open your eyes wide open...we did reach at 1:05 :D. The first thing I saw in Talakad was this...

Talakad is the river bank of Cauvery. But looks more like a shore with sand and all. Infact, Talakad means "Sand Dunes". We had a nice time in Talakad, though none of us ladies got into water...but it was fun watching others play in the water :D. And the best pleasure was to watch Rishit play in water (he is a two year old sweet boy :)). Anyways, we did boating also, that too twice in a round boat aka tappa aka...ooops...i forgot the kannad name of it...sorry!! Have a look at the boat....

Can you imagine we went round and round in that boat :D. I was not able to stand up after that, walked like a drunk :D. And how can I forget the boat walla...He was 73 years old and spoke in english. He said he passed SSC in 1955, great na.

After that we went to a temple. A temple which looked as if it came out of my school history books. The architecture was fabulous. Took rows of snaps over there. Here are a few glimpse out of it....

Well our next destination was Sivansamudram. I will classify that place in some of the most beautiful places I have been to. Take a look... The two falls are just amazing. The nature seems to be at her bloom.

I just couldnt help myself from clicking on and on. Went crazy for taking the snaps. There was one other interesting thing in sivansamudram...lots of monkeys....specially small ones...chooo cute.

Well then started our outdoor games. The first two "one minute" games were quiet funny and innovative. Had a good time laughing over it. Then came "the tug of war". This was my first time at it...before this no one ever thought me worth to be taken in a tug of war :( :(..anyways...our team consisted of no heavy body builders but but but..we came out clear winners...yipppeee :) :).

Now it was time for us to get back to the road and head back to bangalore. I didnt feel like leaving, we were having so much of fun.

But wait, the fun didnt get over yet ;). We had a long round of Dumb C. That was the most enthued thing in the entire trip. Each and everyone participated with so much of zeal and josh. We even had a round of the "original Dumb C". It was sooooooooooo much of fun. In the end there was a tie between my team and another team for the first place, and we lost the "battle" by just a hair's difference. But the spirit of playing was good.

We reached office at 11:10. Anyways, so here ends my first team outing. In the start I was very skeptical to go. I hardly knew anyone in the team. Felt that I will be left out. But it turned out the other way. This became an Ice-Breaker for me. Now, I feel that I belong to this team and am not any outsider...which i used to feel before this trip. I just hope I have many more good moments like this in future :).

I kno am sounding too formal...but believe me this is what I am feeling.

TLTE

2005-09-14T04:33:00.000-07:00

I know i should have posted this a long time back. i apologize for the delay.

"The Longest Thread Ever"

A place where strangers met

chatted with each other

pulled some legs

smiled in everyone's joys

sulked in the sorrows

and entered into

a bond of

friendship!!

A glimpse outta the trip!!

2005-09-05T03:17:00.000-07:00

My jaunt to Kodai Kanal!!

2005-09-05T02:31:00.000-07:00

Kodai the wonderland!!

It was an exotic trip to the land of the greens. Wherever you turn your head, only the green meets your eyes. An amazing place to get your batteries recharged [:D].

The hill station is centerd around the kodai lake. The kodai lake will confuse you. It appears to be a small lake but as you take a round trip, it seems neverending!!! and imagine we took a round trip on bicycle [:)]. That was the most beautiful ride i had ever taken, along the side of the kodai lake. There are many other attractions in and out of kodai. I loved the flora which i got to see there.

And yeah...one very important point. The falls of kodai are fabulous [;)]. They are just beyond your imagination [:D]. I guess all my trip-mates will strongly agree to it and we all will advice you all to never leave out the best part of kodai [/)].

If a person loves nature, kodai is heaven then. How much I wished that I had a house there and can spend all my weekends in the arms of the mother nature, with peace everywhere. I could take a cycle ride around the lake daily then [:)][:)]. Really kodai was just like a beautiful dream and I crave to be back in that dream again. [:)]

http://www.kodaikanal.com

Refreshing!!

2005-09-05T02:00:00.000-07:00

I had gone into a hibernation for a long time. I have hazaar reasons to give and defend myself but this time i will be honest. Actually its more to my laziness than anything else. So here I am ready to start afresh. And this time I will make it sure that I dont become lazy again.

Civilization

2005-05-13T04:11:00.000-07:00

this question crossed my mind once again y'ay...."wat has civilization given to us?"
civilization has given us lots and lots of things...

it has given us reasons to hate people
it has given us reasons to kill people
it has given us reasons to abandon nature
it has given us reasons to become selfish
it has given us reasons to commint treachery
it has given us reasons to make people cry
it has given us reasons to commit crimes
it has given us reasons to forget god
it has given us reasons to become conceited
it has given us reasons to be unsatisfied and unhappy

in short it has made us an uncivilized unhumane beast....

do we really need such a civilization...it was lot better in the primitive times....it was lot better when we didnt have technology to kill people....it was lot better when we didnt have the desire for money and power....it was lot better when there was no politics...it was lot better when there was no corruption....it was lot better when people had love and happiness in their heart...it was lot better when humans were humane....

kaash...that time could come back again....

sometimes!!

2005-05-07T05:36:00.000-07:00

sometimes, i feel that i m alone in this world
sometimes, every moment seems unreal
sometimes, the music doesnt sound melodious
sometimes, the colors dont seem bright
sometimes, nothing can make me smile
sometimes, anything can make me cry
sometimes, i crave for nothing
sometimes, i grieve over everything
sometimes, the heart skips a beat
sometimes, i feel as if i dont exist

i get senti like this only "sometimes"

barkha bahaar

2005-04-14T03:54:00.000-07:00

a drop of hope, filled with joy, touched my cheeks as i was standing on the gate, feeling the cool breeze running through my hair. it was a great relief from all the heat of past few days. soon it started pouring and i was elated :).

its been long since i smelled the fragrance of wet soil
its been long since i felt the chill in the breeze
its been long since i heard water drops on the roof
its been long since trees sway and danced with the wind
its been long when the sky roared in happiness
its been long since earth's thirst was quenched
its been long since i had such a pleasnt evening

i hope my every evening of mine be filled with the pleasure of watching it rain, of feeling the serenity inside me, the serenity of the earth and the serenity of the atmosphere around me.

Kosha - a treasure

2005-04-14T03:12:00.000-07:00

"come again."
"what does your name mean?"
"Is it a hindi word?"
"you are a guy or a girl?" (when i meet someone on net)
"never heard of this name."
"is it usha."

these are many of the questions that i face near about daily. so thought y not write a blog about my name and let people know about it.

in simple words kosha means treasure. the root word over here is 'kosh'.

its origin is from sanskrit. in sanskrit the word 'kosh' or 'kosha' means sheath, a covering.
it is believed that a human soul is covered by five different koshas, namely annamaya, pranamaya, manomaya, vijnanamaya and anadamaya. these sheaths are composed of food, energy, intellect, intuition and bliss. interesting, right.

now something from history too. everyone might have heard the name of chitralekha. she had a sister called roopkosha, she was supposed to be a treasure of beauty. for my name the roop was dropped and kosha was retained :).

i am glad my parents christened me as kosha.

anybody with a different name than usual, please comment. i will be more than glad to increase my list of good names.

The First Step

2005-04-14T03:06:00.000-07:00

Into the world of blogs. Here i come.
well this is the first time i m writing a blog. its not that i didnt know about their existence till now. but there were reasons of minee that kept me from posting a blog of my own.
my tryst with blogs started during my second year in college. i accidently stumbled on rediff blogs, read an entry and was too interested in it. i started coming there regularly and always thought that one day i will also start writing my blogs, i wrote many a times but had a complex. all those blogs which i read were so nice, so well written. i felt like a wretched being, who does not know how to write. i found myself despicable. and then so many new things started in life i completely forgot about the blogs.
years later through the TLTE blogs, i was once again confronted by the blog world. at first that fear came back to me but then i realized, a realisation of my being, my self, my ego. i dont bother now that i m not that good a writer, may be i m not good with words, but i will write, i will share my ideas with people. this is what blogs are all about. right.
so i step into this terrene.