Lessons to remember...

The memorable trip to California - Part 1

2011-09-03T23:11:00.001+05:30

The year 2011 has brought in many new things in my life. The first one was the change in the organization that I work for. The second was the completion of my master's degree in January. The third was my trip to California and the fourth, my expectations from life. So much in such a short span of time :). I will go over it one by one, with special emphasis on third and fourth items.

On the 3rd of January, I joined my current organization. It was really exciting as I was moving on to a new work environment, was about to meet new people and would be working on something quite different from wat I did earlier. My spirits were high, but I was somewhat sad that I would not be seeing my buddies from previous organization. The coffee breaks in which we used to eat chats and have coffee are still fresh in my memory. The game of carrom which had become a routine would no loger be; the familiar faces which I would not be able to see daily... All of it did sadden me, but I said to my self - move on.

I will not talk much about work as that is understood :). My current organization and the previous one are both great companies and I would not talk much on it.

All of January went in getting to know how to get things going at office. In the mean time, Vinay and me finished the Project presentation for the Master's Degree Course and successfully completed the course. It was a big relief - We had been unable to enjoy most of the weekends in the last two years due to the classes. Now that it was over, we were free :).

There is nothing to see above the clouds - Road travel is far more interesting :)

In February, I was given an option to go to California and I took the option. Although I was yet to get complete training here at Bangalore, I thought it would not harm to go to the headquarters of the company and learn a few things. The date of travel was fixed to be March 23 and I got busy figuring out the basics to be learnt before I went there. I also had to get a Visa, which I did in February. All set to go, I was somewhat worried - I was not fully prepared - but also eager to see what is there outside India :) (First time traveler you see :))

I barely remember how the days went by... and it was the 23rd March. I was traveling along with one of my colleagues and that comforted me a lot - a least I would have company is what I thought. My colleague was traveling along with his wife and I checked into the airport very much ahead of time, our seats were far away and my plans of traveling along with him were gone for a toss :) (I made a mental note: Next time, if traveling in a group, do a group check-in). I did not specifically ask for the aisle seat and I realized my mistake when I got stuck between two ladies on either side. The seats were good enough for short flights, but longer duration flights in Economy class was quite tiring.

I am not air-sick, but traveling across time zones takes its toll. We had a one stop journey with a stop over at Hong Kong. During the entire journey food was given at regular intervals - The Indian veg food started to taste like Indian-Chinese fusion food by the time we reached San Fransisco International Airport :). I was feeling tired, but happy to have reached safely. It was afternoon by the time we reached the hotel at Milpitas (45 minutes drive from SFO). My colleagues who were already there from a few weeks asked me not to sleep in the afternoon so that I get adjusted to the time zone. But, I could not control my sleep and started sleeping at odd times. It took me a week to become fully normal. All that time it seemed as if I were walking in sleep and everything around me was some new world :). Thus began my trip to California.

One of the first things that I did was getting a calling card. I was already missing my homeland. Every one at the workplace looked busy all the time and the work culture was quite different. No wonder I was lost and my only hope was my Indian colleagues. If not for them, I would not have enjoyed my trip fully. All thanks to them, I was able to visit many interesting places and there was not a single moment that has not influenced my perspective about life.

The first weekend, we went to the Hearst Castle (http://www.hearstcastle.org/ - about 200 miles from Milpitas). It was almost the end of the rainy season and we saw a few showers all through the trip. At places, the fog (due to low-lying clouds) was so dense, we could barely see anything beyond the bonnet of our car. The experience of driving through clouds was breath taking. To add to it, I was still in sleep due to the jet lag - it seemed as if I was dreaming all through. Sadly, the dream lasted only till we were inside the car. The chill due to the rain woke me up abruptly from my cozy dream. As soon as we landed at the office of Hearst Castle, we bought the tour tickets and boarded the shuttle to the castle. The Hearst castle is one of the monuments that Californians feel very proud about - to me, it was just another building. Having seen buildings and monuments that are truly antique and historical in India, the Hearst Castle looked like a remixed song from a DJ. The place is supposed to be very scenic, but we saw nothing in the downpour. The castle is atop a hill and looks quite good from the outside. I had never seen shrubs bearing fully grown oranges - I saw just those and was somewhat delighted. Getting into the castle area, we were introduced to a big swimming pool which was apparently redesigned and rebuilt thrice (if I remember it correctly). There were big stone pillars all around - and these were brought from various parts of Europe. This shows the extent to which people go when they have lots of cash :). Then, we went through the changing rooms near the pool, the bedrooms, the dining area, the huge hall, etc. All through, we saw various antiques that had been collected from various parts of Europe. There was no original American artifact as such, but the collection was really impressive. The rain played the spoilsport and we were unable to see the castle properly from the outside, but from whatever we saw, we concluded that the place was not impressive. We returned after seeing another indoor pool and a few more rooms in the castle.

A few days later, I was driving on the American roads for the first time. The left aligned steering and driving on the right side of the road confused me for a day or two and after that, it was all a piece of cake.

Our next trip came up the next week. This time it was the Sattui Wine Yard in Napa Valley (http://www.vsattui.com/). The place was around 100 miles from Milpitas and the rains had cleared off by then. The weather was pleasant and the scenes exotic.

Napa valley - Pruned grape creepers neatly aligned in the backdrop

There were lots of agricultural fields stretching beyond the horizon. Grasslands and small hills were the norm but as soon as we reached the Napa county, the landscape was totally filled with 'T' shaped Grape plants. All the plants were pruned and arranged in straight parallel lines stretching virtually to infinity. The wine yard had different parts - the first section was the factory that extracted the juice out of the grapes and stored in large steel tanks (we could not see this in detail). The second section was the dark room full of wooden barrels filled with various varieties of wines.

Barrels and barrels of wine with the year of sealing stamped on each one

It was interesting to see wines of all ages lying around in barrels :). The third section was the sales area - where we could taste wine and buy some as well. The bartenders explained the varieties of white and red wine on offering; they gave us some gyaan on how to taste wine and some tips on choosing the right wine for the right occasion. Along with the wine, bread and food, there were wine glasses and some memorabilia as well if anyone wanted. Napa valley also has a wine train (http://winetrain.com/) - that explains how famous this place is for wine.

Just a little further from there was the faithful geyser of California

The faithful geyser of California

(http://www.oldfaithfulgeyser.com/). The geyser, although small was quite interesting - letting off a jet of hot water and stream that went up to 25 feet in the air. I had never seen a hot-water geyser before - This one was interesting in that sense :). The trip ended within a day and overall, it was a nice set of places to visit. It introduced me to the foods and drinks of California.

The joy of being free

2011-07-28T17:57:00.000+05:30

March 4 2011 - 9pm - Bangalore City Railway station

Ever since I started working, I think about work almost all the time; be it a holday or any other regular day, most of my thoughts are directed towards something or the other related to work. March 4th was one of the few days on which I was unusually happy. I felt a strange feeling of joy and satisfaction; as if I was set free of all thoughts. Was it because the day before was our birthday? (Vinay and me were born on the same day) Was it because I got my new phone on that day? Was it because I was going home that night after a long gap? I think of it all the time, but cannot figure out the exact reason. I was so much relaxed, I could feel the gentle breeze touching me in the moon lit night.

Vinay and me were seated on Platform number 9, and the white dial of the clock on the platform showed 9.05. The train never comes before 10.30pm and in case it comes before 10, it never leaves before 11 :) - As ususal, we were early and had more than an hour to kill.

We sat facing towards platorm 8 and I started thinking... It seemed like everything was moving slowly (life in slow motion) It was a noisy, but it seemed to be very quiet. Some unexplainable joy filled in all my senses - so much so, I could barely notice the loud buzz of chattering all around, babies crying, people walking on the platform and children running and jumping around. Vinay and me were talking in between and the silence in between the talks was taking me to an all together different world.

Some things that came to my mind :
Each day is a good day - It is all in our mind
There will always be resons to be cheerful and happy - it is just a matter of identifying them
Small things - such as a simple phone call to a dear one, or a chat with a friend does wonders to boost one's morale.
Everybody has problems - Managing them is an art and I need to strive to to get better at it.

For the next twenty minutes that we waited for the train to arrive, I kept on thinking about the good time that I would have with Aayi, Pappa and Vinay during the weekend. "We would go on a road trip to Aversa. We will enjoy the time together. We will meet Amma, Meenachhi, Nandumama, Nayanachhi, Dinesh mama, Anu and Abhay"

The train arrived soon after. We got into the train and the joy and anticipation was increasing by the passing time... Just as I sat down, I took this snap. Something went through my mind - We are moving on so fast that we are missing many valuable things. Is it really worth losing them?

Nano-ing

2010-04-30T09:51:00.004+05:30

April 2009:
The bookings for the Tata Nano were open and Nano was the news all around. The specs were impressive (except the small engine) and it seemed that the Nano was THE CITY CAR that we would ever need. Vinay and me had some money left and we booked the Nano....

March 2010:
There was such hype about Nano but the number of cars on road were a handful. We were given a time slot of July-Sep 2010, and I was almost sure that they would not deliver it any sooner. We really didnt care as we didnt have any requirement of car as such :)

In the last week of March 2010, I got a call from the dealer... We could get the Nano sooner than expected :) and we did get it on April 24th 2010 (I never thought that we could own a car so soon).

Pappa had come to Bangalore to take delivery of the car, and the ride from the showroom to our home was very comfortable... It is surprisingly spacious, comfortable and easy to drive. We could not do much on that day other than practicing to drive and getting used to the car...

The next day, Vinay, Pappa and me went to Nandi Hills. The drive again was comfortable (The AC is not very powerful, but does the job quite well) and all along the way we got stares and question marks on the face of the people :) The car handled well on the slopes and the engine is responsive and as good as (if not better than) the 800cc engine of Maruti 800.

The LX variant has Front power windows, AC, fog lamps and metallic colour in addition to the standard 600cc engine (which sounds like a silent 4-stroke auto :) and standard accessories. Although the car is suited for city driving, the traffic and the road manners of people makes me think some times that it is not worth driving in this mess :). The space inside the car is quite amazing. The head room and leg room in the front and back rows is comparable to Wagon R or a Santro. The seats are thin, but comfortable. The noise isolation inside the cabin is good too. With all windows closed, the engine noise is almost nil. With seat belts, and sturdy construction, it feels safe to drive. The turning radius is good too. You can move through tight corners and narrow lanes with relative ease.

Now, for the bad points. You dont get the left side ORVM! Also, the plastics are not of high grade and panel gaps are visible at many places. The gear shift is not as smooth as those found in other small cars.

All in all, you cant get any other car with these features at the price point that Nano offers (Although the wait was far too long :))

The saddest thing- Our new nano got its first official scratches from a pillar in the apartment :(
All due to my misjudgement. (The inaugural scratches were from the dogs in our street, but that is unofficial :)). Anyways, I'll get it fixed soon :)

Lessons learnt:
1. Drive slow
2. Dont expect Bangaloreans (not all, but most of them) to have road manners. When the dogs wont move even after honking so hard, how can I expect people to move?
3. It is not possible (in Bangalore) to keep the car as good as new. If you manage to keep it that way, you will have people ready to put a scratch on the car when you are not around.
4. Trust your judgment and dont trust others' judgment
5. People have to see and feel the Nano to really know what it is :). It is not at all bad :). It just cant be said that cheaper cars are not good.

Why not to watch the Saas-bahu serials

2009-12-31T13:27:00.003+05:30

Disclaimer:
The views given here are my own not intended to hurt/redicule/degrade the image of any person/community/culture. Reader discretion is advised.

Have you ever watched any of the Family sops or the Saas-bahu serials on TV? I bet you will have watched at least once. All the drama, the uncalled for suspense, the suspicion, family politics, the anxiety and the nonsense in these serials are perfectly designed to attract the audience. Although these serials have little entertainment value and almost zero knowledge value, most of the people watch them and discuss them as though it is their own story!

What is so interesting in these stories? Why do people die to see them (literally)? What is so special in them? All serials look alike and in some cases, the same actors are seen in multiple serials...

After looking into many stories (actual - and not the ones shown on TV) I came to know as to why people tend to like these family sops.... They either see their own stories in the serials or they like gossiping :)

Now,
will it not be good if we think rationally and not do all the family politics?
why not think creative rather than dwell on same old stories?
can we not have clear communication and avoid all the confusion (depicted in the serials) in the first place?
is it not possible to avoid irrational assumptions?

Everything is possible. The only thing needed is a change in mindset and the change in way of thinking. Problems will look big and daunting if they are thought to be so. Small issues will become big if ego comes in between. Misunderstandings will be abundant if people dont talk and express whatever they have in mind. And Ironically, these so called saas-bahu serials show us just that.... How to create misunderstanding; ways to trouble people; assumptions to break families and what not...

Is it possible to devote time to science, economics, arts or even nature instead of killing time watching all the bakwas serials?

I say - nothing is impossible.
:)

I love to cook food - most of the time :)

2009-11-29T21:33:00.003+05:30

Spent 30 minutes plus in the kitchen to discover that you cooked some crap? Why should any one spend the precious time in the kitchen to cook something that seldom tastes good?! The arguments against cooking are too strong to beat and rightly so... Many hate cooking. There also are complaints - " the food cooked by me does not taste good to me" "I want varieties" "I can never cook" !!

Cooking is truly an art. It takes a lot of effort and interest to master any art and cooking is no different. Having said all this, it is not such a difficult thing to cook some basic things. In the last two years, I have been cooking regularly and I am proud to say that I have improved a lot. We have cooked more than 40 varieties so far and every time, I try to do something different... Cooking is similar to the chemistry laboratory :) There is a lot of scope for trial and error. Proportions make or break the taste of food but fortunately the cases of failure have been rare with me :)

Other than getting to make something new, there are many other advantages of cooking. Here are a few which are not so obvious....
1. Cutting vegetables is a stress buster - Try to find the worst of your enemies in a cabbage. Then shred it to pieces... How satisfying :)
2. Onions are truly amazing vegetables - Difficulty in crying? Cant tell how sad you are? Try chopping some onions :)
3. Create a new recipe - name it after yourself :) Where else can you experience such freedom? :)

Let me list the different recopies that we have cooked so far at our house in Bangalore:

1. Vangi bath
2. Pulao
3. Puliogre
4. Lemon rice
5. Fried rice
6. Chapaati
7. Dosa - Masala Dosa, Plain Dosa, Benne Dosa
8. Chutneys - Pudina Chutney, Ginger Chutney, Onion Chutney, Garlic Chutney
9. Sambar - 5-6 varieties
10. Avalakki
11. Uppittu
12. Shira
13. akki rotti
14. raagi rotti
15. wheat rotti
16. shallow fry of vegetables - Potato, raw banana, onion, ladies finger, mushrooms, etc
17. boiled egg
18. egg omelet
19. Egg curry
20. Mushroom masala
21. Soya chunk masala
22. Gobi manchuri
23. Pav bhaji
24. Chana masala
25. Gobi masala
26. Low spice vegetable dishes of cauliflower, beans, etc
27. carrot halwa
28. Toor dal payasa
29. green gram masala
30. and many more....

Quite a long list :)

I hope it keeps growing...

They never seem to listen!

2009-08-26T19:34:00.002+05:30

I am writing after quite a long time and it seems that my writing skills will rust (as if I had lots of it :) ) if the gap between posts happens to keep increasing...

A day before India's 62nd independence day, we all were ready to go to Chitradurga. We had 6 tickets booked and 1 passenger missing! It was none other than Mallikarjuna (aka Malli). Malli ad some "personal commitments" to fulfill and hence he did not accompany us... Any ways, he would finish off all his "personal commitments" and join us on Sunday.

Oh! I forgot to tell... Why in the first place were we going to Chitradurga?
It was Manju's Engagement day on August 16th (Read it as LAST DAY OF FREEDOM) that drew us to Chitradurga. Let me not deviate from the main topic... Where were we?... Malli was t join on Sunday.

Now that we had 1 extra ticket, and Tabu was traveling back to Davangere, we invited her to join us. The train arrived at the platform 45 minutes before the scheduled departure and all of us (Praveen, Vivek, Chandrakanth, Vinay, Tabassum and me) got in. We started chatting and Chandrakanth started having his dinner... I think we had prepared Palak panneer with Kabuli Chana, rice sambar and some other things...

After the dinner, it was the time for the TC to come and check our tickets. He was 10 meters away and we told Tabu to either climb up to the top berth and sleep tight or go for a walk and come after the TC left. Our brilliant girl peeped through the passage to see where the TC was and was sure that he saw her face. We told her that TC will be seeing hundreds of people, so, dont worry and just sleep. She wont listen! She goes to the other end of the compartment and gets down and the train starts moving! Keeping all of us worried and searching for her. Now, to add to it, she gets on the moving train and comes from a way straight in front of the TC! Such brilliance!

She had all of us on our toes!

The TC came after a few minutes and we had to transform Tabu to "Chandrakantaa" :) and our one and only Kantha became Mallikaarjuna :)

After some talking with the TC, we resolved the issue and all of us went to sleep ( At least I slept ).

Girls... If only they could listen to what is being said!

Why do people like some movies?

2009-06-25T17:16:00.002+05:30

Not everyone likes a movie the same way!
The other day, some of my friends were talking about Dev-D and how good it was... I thought that it must be a "Super Movie" as one of my friends described it. I decided that I MUST see the movie; after all many were giving such good reviews...

Finally! I saw the movie, the concept and acting was pretty good, but did I like the movie? Not at all!! I felt that it was too boring and rather tasteless movie (My personal views - I am sure many will beg to differ). This incident made me think - What makes people like or dislike a movie?

After doing a lot of research ;) I concluded that there are broadly four ways or rather perspectives in which people see any movie.
1. Put yourself in the shoes of one of the characters of the movie
2. Focus on one or more favorite actor(s)
3. Be neutral - Something is happening, you are seeing it but you are not involved in it.
4. Be neutral - Judge by the merit of the film

1. Put yourself in the shoes of one of the characters of the movie
--
When people watch with this perspective, they like a movie very much if they "see themselves" in the movie, more so if the events in the movie correlate to some events with their lives....

2. Focus on one or more favorite actor(s)
--
Oh! Sharukh, my favourite hero is in there. This must be a good movie!!
This is how people feel about the movie. The conclusion is generally drawn even before seeing the movie :)

3. Be neutral - Something is happening, you are seeing it but you are not involved in it.
--
People having this view point are generally lost! The movie does not matter much to them and they see the movie for fun/enjoyment. They do not have any specific view point on any movie

4. Be neutral - Judge by the merit of the film
This category looks at the movie from analytical view. Judgement on the movie is done based on the match between the content of the movie and the beliefs of the viewer. Generally, there is no pre set notion involved in the judgement of the movie.

It is rather difficult to classify people in these groups, but it is correct to say that people see different movies in different perspectives for each movie. Some see the same movie repeatedly because they see their life similar to a character in the movie but some see it just for fun!

Summarizing it : It is a nice world to be in and movies make it a bit more attractive :)

Gods that I had never seen!

2009-04-30T19:02:00.005+05:30

Confession: I have never been to more than 2 temples in a day until now. I never knew what is to be done in the temple, but now I know. I dont like going in crowded places; if it is a crowded temple, I stay far far away, I had to break this rule this time.

Early in December 2008, one of our aunts (Nayana Pai - Nayanachhi) put forward an idea of visiting various temples in Tamilnadu and Andhra as a part of various temple visits and poojas that we had to do. The objective - All the family members get together and visit all places together :). Every one agreed and the date was fixed - 20th April to 25th April 2009. Our Uncle (Nandakumar Nayak - Nandu mama) is a busy man and rarely gets so many holidays.... But everything was pre planned and we were all set to go.

Fig 1: The route that we followed

Hmmm.... April... It is hot! Why did we choose April? "All schools have a holiday then" and hence our Aunts ( Meenakshi Nayak - Meenachhi, Maya Nayak - Maya Maami), Aayi, Pappa, cute cousins ( Anuradha and Abhay) and our grand mother (Lakshmibai - Amma) would all be available, so April is the right time! Nayanachhi had done the background research :) on the places to visit and the time needed at each place and had prepared the itenarary. We had one more person - Ayyaru Chandru, who knew Tamil and guided us through the entire tour.

April 20, Monday
Everyone, except Chandru came to our home at Bangalore. We had to take the Train (Tutocorin Express) to Madurai in the evening. We grouped together, had good food, talked, did the preparations for the trip and took some rest :)
We did miss our uncle, Dinesh Pai - Dinesh mama, who could not come along due to work...

Special mention needs to be done about Amma's cooking. One word to describe it - Fabulous :). She, along with Meenachhi and Nayanachhi had prepared many dishes while coming, but the best among them was the Holige with sweet-rava stuffing. It was perfect. Aayi too had prepared avalakki which was good.

By 7 in the evening, all of us were ready to leave - bags packed, all ready :). We got two cabs to transport 9 people and the considerable amount of luggage that we had and Aayi, pappa took the bus to railway station. Rain greeted us while departing :) and by 9.20, we were in the train. All of us had dinner in the train (it was previously prepared and packed in the evening) and went to sleep.

Our Itinerary:

Date	Place	Location	God	Navagraha	Pancha Bhoota	Extra
4/21/2009	Madurai	Thirupparankundram	Muruga
		Pazhamuthircholai	Muruga
		Madurai	Meenakshi
Halt	Tirichirapalli

4/22/2009	Tirichirapalli	Tiruvannakkaaval	Jambukeshwar		1	Water
	Tanjavoor	Tingaloor	Chandra	1
		Swamimalai	Muruga
		Papanashini	Shiva
Halt	Kumbakonam

4/23/2009	Kumbakonam	Alangudi	Guru	2
		Tirunaageshwaram	Rahu	3
		Suryanarkoil	Ravi	4
		Kanjanoor	Shukra	5
	Tirunallar	Tirunallar	Shani	6
		Kizhaperumballam	Ketu	7
		Thiruvennkadu	Budha	8
		Poompuhar	Shiva			Vinu and mama snaana
		Vaithiswarankovil	Mangala	9
Halt	Chidambaram

4/24/2009	Chidambaram	Chidambaram	Nataraja		2	Space
	Thiruvannamalai	Thiruvannamalai	Arunachaleshwar		3	Fire
	Kanchipuram	Kanchipuram	Kamakshi Temple
Halt	Kanchipuram

4/25/2009	Kanchipuram	Kanchipuram	Ekambarnathar		4	Earth
	Sri Kalahasti	Sri Kalahasti	Sri Kalhastishwar		5	wind

Day 1
April 21, Tuesday

Reached Madurai at 7 in the morning and booked retiring rooms in the Railway station. Chandru joined us there in Madurai, and we hired a mini-bus. We visited three places in the day
1. Thirupparankundram Muruga
2. Pazhamuthircholai Muruga
3. Madurai Meenakshi

Family photo :)

After the tiring climb on the super hot rocks

It was too hot (temp > 40 degree Celsius) and was very tiring, but the fact that all of us were together, talking, and seeing places overshadowed the tiredness. Nandumama, Anu, Meenachhi, Nayanachhi, Vinu, me and Chandru along with a guide climbed up to the Garbha gudi at (1. Thirupparankundram Muruga). It was 1 pm and too hot and draining. A good trek to do, but wrong time to trek :). After 40 min, we reached the garbha gudi and rested there... There is a small temple and water stored in a crevice in the rocks which is cold as compared to the extremely hot barren rocks around. Coming down was a bit easier and every body was tired. Now we know the importance of water!

We dont get proper dinner in most parts of Tamilnadu. No meal at night time, you have to make do with the dosas ans snacks. One of the moat irritating things in Tamilnadu is that most of the people dont speak any language other than Tamil, sometimes they dont speak even if they know! All boards ( Shop names, Traffic direction signs, city bus routes, and everything is in Tamil - Not even a hint of English/Hindi). We managed to have some light snacks, said adieu to the mini bus and boarded a nice A/C bus to Trichy.

Day 2
April 22, Wednesday

Reached Trichy at 12.15 AM. The bus frequency was good even at 12 in the night. We hired two large rooms at a nearby Lodge and by the time we had bath and slept, it was 1.30 AM. We had a new 12 seater mini bus for the rest of our journey. By 7.30 in the morning, everyone was ready and we visited the following temples.
1. Tiruvannakkaaval Jambukeshwar
2. Tingaloor Chandra
3. Swamimalai Muruga
4. Papanashini Shiva

A shop near the temple

There was nothing much that day. We visited temples, and while travelling, most of the people slept :)
It was hot, something that I am not used to staying in Bangalore for the last 2 years... By the time we reached Kumbakonam, it was around 9pm. We took 4 medium sized rooms and slept after having dosas... (I was missing dinner- rice and curries) :)

Day 3
April 23, Thursday

There was a bandh called on this day and it worked to our advantage. All the temples that we visited were empty, roads were free of traffic, and we covered a lot of temples. We started at 6 am and covered these temples.
1. Alangudi Guru
2. Tirunaageshwaram Rahu
3. Suryanarkoil Ravi
4. Kanjanoor Shukra
5 .Tirunallar Shani
6. Kizhaperumballam Ketu
7 .Thiruvennkadu Budha
8. Poompuhar Shiva
9. Vaithiswarankovil Mangala

This is the standard hundi in all the temples.

At Poompuhar

The strain of travel was not felt much as it was cloudy and did rain a few times on the way, but it was a restless day for me especially. Going 9 rounds around massive temples is not an easy job, more so when you have to walk on scorching hot - sun tempered granite stones. My soles were literally roasted!
Poompuhar was another place that we visited. The river Cauvery meets the Bay of Bengal at this place. There is a Shiva temple here, a small temple, but there is a cat in the temple that is really cute :). Vinay and Nandumama had a bath in the sea :)
We reached Chidam at about 10 pm and I was expecting some hotels to be open at the time, but to my surprise, all hotels close at 10!
We managed to get one hotel and had some food before that too closed :). Here again, we took 2 big rooms and slept for the night.

Day 4
April 24, Friday

Early in the morning, we visited the Chidambaram temple. All the temples we visited in the tour were mostly Shiva temples and the temples here are enormously big. When I say temple, I mean a temple complex. More than 200 idols per temple, more than 10 different gods in one complex and at least 100 eeshwara lingas... :)
These are the temples built by the Chola kings and the architecture is pleasing. All main gods have two body guards at the entrance of the shrine and male gods have male guards, females have female guards :). Most of the temples are built on single-rock pillars with artisric carvings. The only downside that I observed was that the maintenance of the temples in Tamilnadu is not good. There is oil spilt on the floor everywhere, suffocating temple shrines, and money sucking pujaris ;). We visited these temples -
1. Chidambaram Nataraja
2. Thiruvannamalai Arunachaleshwar
3. Kanchipuram Kamakshi Temple

Although everyone was tired, we had fun all the way. Engineers dont seem to get enough of tinkering - Vinay and Nandumama, along with Nayanachhi prepared Lemon juice and Lime soda in the movig vehicle, that was an adventure in itself! Making funnel out of used water bottles, making pieces of the coconut with a knife on the moving vehicle was another instance of what engineers do when there is no work to do ;)

We stayed in the Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam Yatri Nivas which was one of the best maintained lodges I got to see in the trip. Also, for a chage, we got to eat proper dinner here :)

Day 5
April 25, Saturday

We started a bit late (7am) on the last day of the tour and visited only 2 temples.
1. Kanchipuram Ekambarnathar
2. Sri Kalahasti Sri Kalhastishwar (Andhra Pradesh)

The last stop near Kamakshi Temple

The last temple is by far the most well maintained. It seems that the Andhra government has spent quite a bit of money on the security, cleanliness and the air conditioning of the Sri Kalahasti temple. :). All along the visit we had done mant anna daana, vastra daana, etc. I dont remember what all we did as the itenarary and planning was Nayanachhi's department.

After finishing the visit to all temples, we were relieved :)
We got on to a bus to Tirupati and reached Tirupati by 5.30 pm. From here, everybody except me and Vinay got on to the train to Belgaum ( Rayalseema Express) at 7pm. Vinay and me boarded the train to Bangalore (Tatanagar YPR) at 10pm. I was tired, so was vinay, we slept all through the night only to wake up at 5am the next day in Bangalore!

Now, I visited so many temples and people go to temples when they have something to ask for themselves :). I asked for the happiness and prosperity of all and the strength to face any situation. I hope to get both of them from god.

Lessons Learnt:
---------------
1. Know some Tamil when you go to Tamilnadu, because people here dont even try to understand what you speak.
2. Do not go in the summer, it is very very hot.
3. Have the itenarary ready before travel, and have adequate allowance in time allocated to each temple as the time taken in each temple varies.
4. Temples are closed from 1pm to 4pm
5. Dont climb hills after 10am and before 5pm
6. Take lots of water, ORS or soft drinks along with you.

Engineering Ethics!

2009-03-22T23:10:00.006+05:30

It has been an eventful week so far... I saw some of my friends falling ill due to extreme work pressure! I even came to know about some people who have made their work-place as their homes, literally!

It makes me wonder... What have we become? Why do we work? Is this the life we thought of? Are we happy after doing all this?

The impact of recession/ economic slow-down has been profound on every person's life... People have gone well beyond the call of their duty and well beyond their abilities to make things happen, to keep their employers happy and to save their jobs... Even then, it is a harsh world! Situations pop up; when a company can no more feed its employees and the Management has no option left but to ask its precious, trained, and dedicated workforce to leave....

I remember that we had a subject of study - Constitution of India and Engineering Ethics. I had enjoyed studying the Engineering Ethics, the case studies and imbibed most of the ethics that an Engineer must have. On completing my studies and getting into Corporate work environment, I learned that work-ethics is an important part of our life. HOW you accomplish some task is as critical as WHAT you accomplish! The work culture at the workplace is THE DECISIVE FACTOR and I am happy that my workplace gives me immense pleasure and freedom along with all my responsibilities...

Ah!... Why did I write all these things? Just to tell how ungrateful and unmindful some companies can be...

I got a message from one of my friends a few days back... unfortunately, she was fired from the job. A day or two later, some other friends (in the same company) were also asked to leave! The company was not in good financial state and they were taking such drastic measures... Understandable... The economy is not doing good anywhere... I offered my sympathies and that was it.

Today, I got a chance to meet two of them and asked them what had happened. They told that they were summoned and asked to sign on their resignation letters! One of my friends asked them as to why were they doing this? One person from HR said that my friends performance was not up to the mark! My friend protested, saying that he had received appreciation from his manager for his work and what on earth made the HR person think that his performance was not good?! Now, the second reason, "Skills don't match the current requirement"! Good lord! I am trained in Java, C++, .NET, scripting and what not. What other skills do you need? - my friend demanded an answer... Now came the actual reason... "It is due to the slowdown in economy... Sign on your resignation and take away the compensation for 1 month (READ IT AS TAKE PEANUTS)... otherwise, we will have to fire you saying that you were not a good worker..." after some more talking, and some see-saw, my friend conceded and signed on his resignation unwillingly...

What could I say now? I was shocked! How much more unethical corporates can become?

Threatening a sincere and dedicated worker of dire consequences, when he has done nothing? Is it ethical?

Giving false reasons when the actual reason could have been disclosed... is that ethical?

Forcing employees to sign on their resignation letters, rather than accepting the company's incompetence and giving it in writing... is that ethical? I do not believe it is legal either!

What did the company want to prove?
"Employees left by their own will and even then the company compensated them with some money?"

Great company! Great ENGINEERS of ethics!

Difficult choices to make... A retrospective view.

2009-03-11T18:58:00.005+05:30

Hmmm... There come many situations where we need to choose. Most often than not, the situation will be complicated enough to put that element of doubt and that uncertainty in the mind...

Being kids, life is lot simpler. Kids dont have to THINK before talking, they say kids have an uncluttered mind and speak whatever is there on their mind.
Ask a kid a question and you get an instantaneous answer. There lies no fear in the kid's mind; there never is a thought "What if I am wrong?" "What will the other person think" "How will I be able to say that?" "Will it be appropriate?".
Some times Aayi tells me; when I was about 5-6 years old, one of my aunts asked Vinay and me "Whom do you like the most? Aayi or Pappa?". Aayi says that we replied "Both". I don't know what made us reply that way, but we did. We had to make a choice, but it was not difficult when we were kids...

Being adults, many things change. We think more, talk less, make assumptions (wrong many a times)and then react. Today, if someone asks me "What is the effect of the slow-down on the IT industry?" The answer will obviously be different to different people... There seems to be an invisible fence around us that blurs the thoughts, limits the freedom and induces fear.

You may ask... What fear am I talking about?
Since the time I have learned to understand and comprehend things, I have observed that fear drives most of our decisions. When it comes to making important choices, fear has the upper hand. Fear of failure in exam, more than the interest in a subject makes a student study. The fear of being outcast in the society drives a person to take action consistent with the "Society Norms". The fear of hurting his family makes a son hide his emotions. Fear of losing a job makes an employee work his skin out. The list is endless...

It is such a powerful entity that it even forces people to trample on their likings and takes away the freedom.

Such are the consequences...
It is impossible to get rid of fear, but it is possible to get the priorities right so that the impact of fear is minimal. Some choices must be made based on the merit of each choice and not by succumbing to fear. Future cannot be predicted, so why make decisions based on an assumed fear?

Now, let me make some conscious decisions...
Should I believe in my intuitions or should I go by the rules? I don't know!!!
That is why I say.. IT IS A DIFFICULT CHOICE TO MAKE...

The weekend after my birthday...

2009-03-08T22:08:00.007+05:30

It has been quite a hectic week. Now a days, I get dreams (nightmares rather ;) ) related to work. The usual while-away-time seems to have vanished somewhere. Everything seems to be moving so fast, I see days, weeks and months fly by...

Having had no break, virtually , for 2 months, yesterday was a different story. Vinay and me have completed the first half semester, and I am relieved and happy. More so because I did not have to wake up late nights to study for the internal assessment and assignments.

It was a Saturday to roam about, after a long time :). Where else can Vinay and me think of going other than the famous SP road? So, there we were, on the SP road. It was 1 O'clock in the afternoon, sun shining brighter than ever, it was draining...

We decided to have food first and then do all the shopping. After having a filling meal at Pai Vihar (next to the LIC office - Corporation), we set out to roam about on the SP road. The first thing that we bought was a web camera (this one for Aayi), next were the DVD+Rs, then came the experimental remote control and screw drivers... Some how, electronics and gadgets that can be tinkered with fascinate me... By this time, the sumptuous meal that we had was showing it's effect :). Vinay and me were tired... Although we had many plans of purchasing things from the Majestic, we had to cancel all of it.

As a last thing to be done, we thought of roaming about on the JC Road to see if we find something useful. Entering the JC Road,to the other side of the road, we saw the Ravindra Kala Kshetra... There was a large banner that said ಪುಸ್ತಕ ಪ್ರದರ್ಶನ ಮತ್ತು ಮಾರಾಟ. :) That was enough to drag both of us in...

There were many stalls (around 30) representing the different exhibitors (publishers and universities). There was the Hampi University, Mysore university, Kannada Sahitya Parishat, Sumukha Publishers, Ramakrishna Aashrama, Shri Krishna Math, National book trust, etc... All stalls were full of books... Books ranging from short stories to novels, History and great people, Ramayana and stories, Cooking and housekeeping... you name it...

As always, we were in search of short stories :) We went on buying... small story books, Ramayana, Mahabharata, and some more books... Finally, we had 2 bag full of books and Vinay was too tired carrying it around. if I were not there, he would have leaned on a parked scooter and we would for sure have had a chain reaction of falling vehicles :). To bring some energy back into him (and me too), we skipped across the street and quenched our thirst with tender coconuts.

I wanted to get home as soon as possible and sleep... To our bad luck, there was a traffic jam and our bus took 2 hours to reach Benniganahalli. Anyways, we were home :) We came home, cooked dinner and had it. I must say this... "A person must be fortunate to have food cooked by me" :) I cook so very well :)

The day ended with Vinay and me seeing a movie and going to bed. Never the less, it was again a hectic day.

Day 2
Sunday

The MS class again! We rushed to the Classroom at 9am. By the way, the classes are held in Adarsha B School Building (South end Circle). We were to have back to back classes today. Both the classes started on time and it was a okay-okay day at the classroom. Nothing much to talk about....

The classes ended at about 3.10pm. We then headed straight to Vijayanagar, to Praveen's house. Mallikarjuna (Malli) was already there. Rakesh (Karade) was also there... We had a short chat and in a few moments, Santosh too joined us. Tired and sleep deprived Santosh was not the normal, clean shaven Santosh.

We'll go to Sankey Tank... that was the group decision :) Travelling for a good 15 min, we reached Sankey tank. It is quite clean and one of the few tanks that does not have any entry fee :) We started walking along the pathway lining the edge of the tank, chattering, commenting on the people around and listening to Malli's expert commentry :) Malli should have been a lawyer, seriously. Most often he has some or the other reasoning for his comments and observations, and his reasoning is non challengable... You cant win ...

Roaming about for almost an hour, we saw all the people around, walking, jogging and most of them sitting on the cast-cement benches and lawns. It was quite good, roaming about in fresh air with friends :). Just before we left from there, we met Srinidhi (IISC), again, we had a small talk on how he was doing, etc...

By this time, I was exhausted...
We left at about 6.30 and reached home safely at about 7.30. It was again the routine of cooking and having dinner....
That is it... The weekend is again gone....

I am hopeful of having a wonderful week :). Hope is one thing that I believe we should never lose. It keeps me going!

Nothing to lose!

2009-02-15T22:36:00.002+05:30

I have done many things saying to myself that "I have nothing to lose"; this makes me wonder, do I really have nothing to lose? I guess it gives a person the belief of being insulated of all the risks and consequences if something goes wrong.....

Taking decisions with belief and conviction is a good thing to do any time, and I believe, that is the way all decisions ought to be made.....

Thinking of it; do I become selfish in thinking that "I" have nothing to lose? Have the decisions of mine made the people I care for lose something? It is too complicated to judge. Some day, I hope to find a solution :)

2009

2009-01-01T21:47:00.001+05:30

आत्ता ज़ावुन गेल्ले वर्स आनी अत्ता आयिले वर्सांत नवीन कसले? क्यालेंडर नवीन ज़ाले, आनि उट्टू आषिल्या मणकी आसा. हावु देवालाग्गि विचार्न्घेवुचे इत्ले...

देवा,
हे वर्स उट्टू लोकांक बरे ज़ाऊ ।
माक्का बरी बुद्धि दी ।
आयी, पप्पा, विनु, माक्का, आनी मेगेले मळ्ळे सग्ळे लोकांक खुशि दी ।
हावु कोणाले भी मन दुखैना तशि पळवुन घॆ ।
कसलॆ आयिल्यार भी, एदरिसूचे शक्ति दी ।

हे सगळे ज़ाल्यार तेन्ना हे नवीन वर्सांत नवीन ज़ाल्ले शे ज़ातले :)
तशि ज़वू.

Talakaadu....! part-2

2008-10-08T18:31:00.001+05:30

Getting out of the car, I saw sand everywhere!!! At least I did not expect sand at this place... I had imagined greens all the way. This place was arid, dusty, sandy region with Eucalyptus and cashew trees all around.... Never mind... Now, we had to explore this place and we had a lot of people vying to be guides. :) We asked one of them to show us around the place and the boy did a good job. Talakaadu has a history and a long story as to why it became sandy and arid.... I'll not go into those details. We'll keep it short... Talakaadu has five shiva temples spread over an area of approximately 4-5 sq. km, of which the main temple is above the ground and the rest have been excavated from beneath the sand. It is believed that the Chola kings constructed the main temple, and the archetecture is great. Apart from the super-hot sand, and some excavated stones there was nothing else :) I forgot... There is the river Cauvery, which flows adjacent to Talakaadu. Vedu, Madan and Chandrakanth went into the water and had a good view of the area :), but all of us were not satisfied by the place and wanted something more! We needed some greens and good clean water to play in...

1 pm.
And as I said, there were many vendors (with tented eateries and push-carts) ready to serve food. I had not seen such competition in selling lunch!!! We had food in one of those and started towards Shivanasamudra (Bharachukki and Gaganachukki). We asked for directions all along the road... The road was again horrible... The roller coaster ride would seem comfortable in comparison :) We beat the max speed of the bullock cart and finally reached Bharachukki at about 4pm.

The first look at the glorious Bharachukki falls would make any one spellbound. The height of the water fall is not much, it might be around 250-300 feet, but the grandeur is too hot to ignore! The river Cauvery branches into 4-5 big streams and in numerous small ones before falling off and merging again. The milky white water forming small pearls in water is amazing :). Time to enjoy! :) All of us changed into shorts or "water-costumes" (Except me - because I am different :) ) and started our descent along the steps towards the bottom of the waterfall. All along the way, we could see the water fall's fascinating views and once at the bottom, we saw a number of people having a great time. We looked around and saw number of small round boats, inquiring about which we came to know that the charges were Rs100 per boat and he would take no more than 4 persons at a time.... Hmmm... We were six... What to do? Go 3X2? No way, said Harisha applying his "Maximize benifit theory" :) So, we finalized on going 4X2, Harish and me went twice... The boat had one oarsman with a small, wide oar. We started from almost stagnant water and proceeded in a direction opposite to the water flow... We went almost below the main water fall.... small water dropplets splashing all around, it was awesome... a really good feeling.

After the boat ride, was the turn of a bit of adventure. We crossed a small stream (the currents were strong, but there were some bald bushes which made the crossing a lot easier) and reached the rocky bottom of one of the branches of the waterfall. The stream was forming a virtual water cave and the water was cool and soothing. The loud hum of water was adding music to the ambiance, and all of us enjoyed a lot. Chandrakanth had a free "Water Massage" :) and we took photographs all along :). It took us lot of doing to keep the camera and phones dry though... Harish has a good sense of Photography :) But luck was not with him and all the good shots that he took were either blur or unrecognizable :)

Tired and satisfied, we started the ascent along the stairs, chewing on a cucumber which was on sale at the falls. We took some more magnificent sunset photos with the Bharachukki waterfall in the background. All of us changed into fresh clothes and started our journey back to Bangalore. It was already dark and the dreadful road... We managed somehow and joined the Mysore road again :)

9.30pm
We stopped again ath the Kamath Lokaruchi for the dinner. The north-karnataka meal is the speciality of the place, so we ordered the same. The Jowar-roti unlimited meal was a boon in disguise for Chandrakanth (He had vowed to make the restaurant change either price of the meal or limit the quantity of the meal ). It was a good meal :)

We hit the road again and reached home at about 11.45. No one was in the mood to clean up the damp clothes :) so we dumped them at Harish and vedu's house and came home satisfied with our one-day venture :).

Bharachukki - a must go place :)

Talakaadu....! part-1

2008-10-05T22:03:00.003+05:30

October 1, 10.30pm:
Harish called up and suggested a new place to which we all could go for a day's trip... This was the third place that we were thinking of from the past two days and we did not want to waste Gandhi Jayanti by any means :)

Finally!... At 11pm, we decided upon Talakaadu and I slept at around12.45pm, dreaming of going to a new place, imagining all greenery and what not!

October 2, Gandhi Jayanti and Eed (Ramzan)
4.50 in the morning and my phone rang... It was the alarm that I had set for the day... Having slept so late, I could barely open my eyes; on the second thought, did I have any choice? :) :) No. Vinay , Chandrakanth and me got up and were ready by 6.30. We had taken all essential things, ( clothes, to be specific, as we were desperate to get into some water amidst the natural surroundings) and set off towards Harish's house. Reaching there, we spent a few minutes doing some last minute checks and route discussion. Harish had the route decided on the previous day and hence we did not have much to do. Vedu and Madan were ready on Vedu's brand new bike and the rest of us got into Harish's car.

A small note on Harish's car before going further: The Maruti 800 was truly maintenance free :) The thick layer of dust inside and outside said it all. To add to it, one of the rear tyres was low on air, to compensate for which, we had to place Chandrakanth with precision on the rear seat :) One should note that it is a tough job to properly and strategically position a "dynamic" person like him :) Next thing, there was no space for the luggage as the boot was totally occupied by the LPG cylinder... We managed somehow and at last... we started! :)

We took the Airport road, Richmond Circle, NR road (Corporation), Got on to the flyover and then to the old Madras road (SH 17). The road was wonderful; flat, four lane with a divider in between. We went on, talking and planning for the day and as usual, Chandrakanth went asleep. On the way, we got the air pressure checked and headed towards Ramanagaram. Harish had a long standing wish to take us all to "Kamath's Lokaruchi" dining place which is about 5km from Ramanagaram... so, we did stop there to have brakfast. I was amazed by the number of people there. It was just 8.10 in the morning and there were many (about 150) people and people were still pouring in all the time. We took the buffet breakfast priced at Rs.60 and the food was good ( the only exception was the Masala dosa which was very much average to tell the least). After having a solid meal, we went to the adjoining site - "Janapada loka" but to our disappointment, it was closed for the day (Gandhi Jayanti you know...). Never mind, we had other places to see... We set off again at 9 and reached Maddur. We took a diversion some 3 km after Maddur and there we were, struggling on SH 33. We had just moved from wonderful roads to somewhat bad roads... 15-20 km later, it got even worse. We had to take a diversion to go to Talakaadu and hence we took some road( I don't know what road it was) and it was one of the worst roads that I have ever seen. Pot-holes... no, the holes were big! I'll call them barrel-holes :). It was pathetic! It was like driving through some dirt track created by a huge heard of wild buffaloes! You could never anticipate what would come next on the road! The poor vehicle! It could do no more than 25km/hr on that stretch... and whenever the speed exceeded that, there would be some thing (a huge hump or a steep barrel-hole) to dampen our spirits... Driving on such roads pays! It improves patience :)

We managed to reach Talakaadu after 4 hours from the time we started from Bangalore! We were happy to have reached but were already worried thinking of the road to cover while going back. Mean while, Vedu and Madan were also enjoying their ride :)

Unforgettable shot!

2008-09-10T22:25:00.000+05:30

Long time since I posted anything in the blog…. There has been nothing interesting (worth writing, worth remembering, worth thinking of) in the last few weeks…

So, I thought I’d rather jog through my memories and try digging out some fond memories :)

Cricket!

Vinay and me were (and to some extent, are) crazy about playing cricket. It was one bright afternoon, about 5 pm on the clock; we had bought a brand new hard tennis ball and were raring to go play somewhere… Neither Vinay nor I had the intention of going to our school’s playground and start playing. So, where do we play then?!! As usual, what better a place to play other than the narrow street right in front of our sweet little home? I think that we were in standard 10 then, and had not played cricket for quite a long time… I took the bat and was ready in my batting stance. Vinay took the ball and was ready to bowl from the Old MKET High School End :). Vinay took a few steps backwards, and started running in towards me… his arm swung and in a flash, the ball was delivered. A short pitched ball!! My eyes lit up, I always wanted to try the square cut (and failed miserably most of the times :)) , I gave it a go! It was a proper (if not perfect) square cut! I was so happy, the cut was so smooth!… Oops… wait a moment… The ball was short, I hit the cut well, but where the hell was the ball going? Straight towards the glass pane of a window!!! It was almost like me seeing it in slow-mo ( as they show in TV) ….. It was going… going… going… and crash!!! The glass was shattered, and to add to that it made such a loud noise (I don’t understand why the window panes are made of glass! Should’nt the children play around? :)) all the people from the nearby houses gathered to “ENJOY” the show… Vinay and me stood there, dumb and sheepish… Post mortem of the shattered window revealed that it had no chances of survival whatsoever :) so also was my state :) . Hmmm…. After getting scolding from all possible people around, Vinay and me decided that we will never play cricket on the street… after all we were kids no more!

One year and going strong! (7 August 2008)

2008-08-10T00:38:00.001+05:30

I cant believe that I completed one complete year at work!! I never celebrated any occasion as such; every day is a new day, new opportunity, etc, etc... :) ; but, I learnt some important things in these days. I would like to list them out now; who knows, if I deviate from my goals, I can refer back anytime...

These are some very important things that I follow (most of the times...) and hope to continue with...
1. Forgive and forget
2. Take responsibility
3. Think from all perspectives before you act
4. Adapt
5. Accept the truth
6. A commitment is a commitment
7. Be positive and never have complex
8. Innovate and improve
9. Enjoy work and focus
10. Process flow: Assess-> understand-> plan-> execute-> contingency-plan

Happiness is different for different people and in this one year at office I have discovered that happiness can only be enjoyed when there is peace of mind :).
Hoping to continue with good things and good thoughts... :)

The Urban Adventure.... PART-2

2008-08-06T00:14:00.001+05:30

It was a mixed feeling walking along the road... I was happy, being with friends, enjoying freedom, breathing in fresh air and walking carefree; on the other side, I missed aayi pappa... With many different things going on in my mind, I was lost... Some times you do miss dear ones a lot, but it is natural and small outings like these keep you going... So, after a short walk of around 45 minutes under mild sunlight, we reached the railway station again. It was almost 3 and we had two choices; we either go to Balmuri falls or see Shrirangapattana and the historical places in and around it. After some negotiation with the local auto-rickshaw drivers, we settled for the latter. With three persons in each auto, we started our mini tour of Shrirangapattana.... We saw the Dungeon, water gate, Place of Tippu's death, Jumma Masjid in a short time. We then headed towards Dariya Daulat bagh. It was Tippu's summer palace and now has been converted into a museum depicting Tippu's empire, coins, some paintings, etc. The paintings on the walls of the palace are good too... The garden surrounding the summer palace is well maintained and calm; a good place to have a stroll in the evenings :). Everyone of us sat down on the lush green lawn in the garden and talked for a while... The auto drivers were eager to finish the tour as soon as possible, but who would let them to do that? :)

The next stop was at the Gumbaz. The place where Tippu and his whole family has been cremated. Gumbaz is a 60 feet tall tomb inside which are cremated Tippu, his father (I think that is Hyder Ali, anyways history was never my favourite) and his mother. Gumbaz is also surrounded by lawn and garden. Again, we sat down a bit and then came to the entrance of Gumbaz. It was about 5.30 and what better than tender coconuts to quench the thirst? The next place that we visited was the Sangama. It is a place where Cauvery meets two other rivers ( now, dont expect me to remember the names of the river)... Water everywhere! There were boats too :) The small, round ones that small fishermen generally use... Wasting no time, all of us got into one boat and there we were floating on the Cauvery for the second time in the day. The currents were swift and the two boatmen were skilfully steering the boat. It was a real short boat ride, but was thrilling...

We had completed all the places in Shrirangapattana and the only place left was the Ranganathaswamy temlpe. It was very near to the railway station, so the autos dropped us there and the tour was officially over. At 300 rupees for the auto tour, we were happy :) We got into the temple and got a glimpse of Ranganathaswamy. Everyone was happy that we had a good outing so far. We then proceeded towards the railway station and to our surprise, the Tutocorin Express going towards Bangalore was arriving on the plarform! We were being too lucky! I asked the person at the ticket counter if we could get tickets to KR Puram (KR Puram station is very near our house and we would not have to take a bus fron the Bangalore station) and also if the train would go to KR Puram. The person gave us the tickets to KR Puram and told that we could go to Bangalore on the train. We were very happy, we rushed into the train and found comfortable place to be seated. Meanwhile, Soma headed towards Mysore. So, it was five of us going back to Bangalore now...

Again, we had dosa and Maddur vada on the train and the 3-hour journey completed in a jiffy... Chandrakanth, as he did in the morning, slep all along the way :).

at 9.35pm, we were at the Bangalore City railway station. KR Puram is just 16km from there and we were eager to reach there. The train stopped for 30 minutes ( we could have easily reached home by 10.15 if we had had got down and taken a bus) We chose to travel by train and see how it feels to alight from train at KR Puram.

The Train started moving... The next station was the Bangalore Cantonment, and our KR Puram station was to be the next. All of us were tired, and eagerly waiting to get down. We got up and headed towards the door. Looking out of the door we could see the Old Madras road, the big bazaar, and vehicles moving around... The train was gradually reducing speed... All of a sudden, the train took a diversion just before the KR Puram station!!! It picked up speed. We were now sure that we were not going to reach the KR Puram station... From the open door in the train, we saw our home, and we were going in some unknown direction!!!
Where was the next station? Will we ever stop and be able to get back home? All these things crossed my mind. Vinay called pappa and told that we were going somewhere unknown :) and you dont need to guess the reaction... 5 minutes since we saw our home disappearing in the dark, the train was moving full speed... it was exciting, we were going to be lost! 5 Minutes later, the train stopped in a small station and all of us got down in a hurry... We were half relieved. Now, we had to find a way to go home... Did I tell the name of the station? It was Karmellaram if I am not wrong... We had never heard of this place before, but we were sure that we had not come too far from Bangalore. We went to the station master and apparently, he wes the only person visible in the radius of 1km!!!

He told us that the main road was just a kilometer ahead and we could get a tempo or any other transport from there to Bangalore. The last bus to Bangalore was at 9.15pm and there were none after that. All of us looked at the phones and the time was around 11pm. Anyways, we had to do something... At this point, I was feeling as if everything was a fantasy, I had never imagined such a situation before!!

We reached the main road, but there was no sigle person on the streets, all shops were closed and there were a lot of granite-selling units, all of which were closed. We tried stopping a few vehicles passing by on the road, but none would stop! Why would they? After walking a kilometer further, we saw a small hotel that was closing for the day. There were some people... oh! so nice to see some people around! we asked them if we could get any cab or bus to bangalore. They said that it was highly unlikely, and this place was around 20km away from Bangalore. Incidentally, we saw a cab just opposite to the hotel. We enquired if we could be dropped to our home. He agreed, but some issue over the charge made the cab disappear in no time :) Now, we were being very unlucky...

By this time, Vinay had called his office and asked them to send a cab. The cab was on its way and all of us were relieved. There was some confusion about our location but the cab driver found us. It was 12.20 by then. The cab dropped us till Vinay's office in Bagmane tech Park and we walked a bit to reach home.

1.00 am... The ordeal was over. After walking for roughly about 12km in the day, being lost in an unknown place in the middle of the night, we had successfully reached home! We could not think of anything other than sleeping, and that is what we did.
Being lost in the concrete jungle is scary and exciting!! That is why I call it the Urban Adventure.
:)

-THE END-

The Urban Adventure.... PART-1

2008-08-03T17:05:00.005+05:30

Oh! Why the hell does the alarm in the phone ring at 4.30 am!!?...
It was an unusually cold Saturday morning and I got up searching for the phone, still in deep sleep and unwilling to open my eyes.

I had no choice! We had planned to go to Ranaganathittu Bird Sanctuary and I had to be ready to board the train by 6.30. Turning the alarm off on the phone, I looked around. Vinay (my brother) was in deep sleep; I skipped on to the other bed room, Chandrakanth and Prashanth (our friend and his younger brother) were in even deeper sleep :). Chandrakant, as usual, was blurting out some of his mysterious dialogues in sleep, but I could not concentrate on what he said...

Man! We had planned it. If we don't get ready, we'll not be going...
Turning on the lights, I started brushing my teeth and by the time I completed washing my face, I was awake.... Meanwhile, Vinay's 4.45am alarm went off. He promptly turned it off and started snoring again. This is the limit! I went to each one of them and woke them up. With every person in the house up on their feet, things seemed to be moving... I called up Harish (our friend) to see if he was awake and ready; we had to leave home by 5.30 so that we would not have to rush to the railway station. Vinay called up Soma (another friend of ours), but we got no reply from him, he might have been on the way to the station, or in the toilet :)

After all that packing that we had done the previous day, the best we could manage was getting to the station by 6.25am, and the train was at 6.30am. Take this one for an example of time-management and punctuality :) Soma and Harish were already there, standing in the queue, to get the tickets. In the mean time, we enquired in the railway station about the trains to Mysore and confirmed that we had two trains, one at 6.30 and another was at 7. I had a sigh of relief, anyways, we have a train at 7, nothing to worry about...

Chandrakanth and Soma got the tickets and we headed towards the platform number 7. The clock showed 6.40, and the first train was gone... So, we had some time till the next train arrived. We started talking; having met Soma after a relatively long time, we just talked about the work, project, etc...

Ting! It was 7 on the clock and there she was! The Tuticorin Express. The trains towards Mysore are generally empty at this time of the day and it was not surprising that it was no different that day. We got onto a general Compartment, very near to the engine, and made ourselves comfortable. Ten minutes passed and there she went, off the platform, towards Mysore. In short, a pleasant beginning to our one-day outing...

Peace... The train chugged along, moving swiftly through the paddy fields, barren lands and over the small bridges constructed across the streams of water. In a short time, we were in Channapattanam. At this point, I would really like to thank our Railway minister for having given us innumerable Express-Trains that stop at all possible stations :). Okay, moving on, every one was hungry. Chandrakanth is a lot diffrent though... He was sleepy and hungry too :) NOTE: If you want to get secrets out of Chandrakanth, talk to him when he is in sleep ;)

One hour through the journey (should it be travel), we got to eat Dosa and Maddur vada in the train :). I love trains... They are comfortable, cheaper and the best part is that you get eatables right at the place you sit, the lower the class of ticket, the better it gets :)

Throughout the way, we kept talking about various topics... Many don't think that be fun, but I do. The weather was very pleasant with the cool breeze punctuating the cloudy sky, the sense of freedom was fascinating!!

After traveling for three and half hours, we reached Shrirangapattana. It is a place of historical importance, the capital of Tippu Sultan... Who cared? All of us were keen at bird watching! We headed towards Ranganathittu, and what road did we choose? The railway track! We walked over the railway bridge, saw the Kaveri river flowing beneath us, and then continued on foot till the bird sanctuary. It was a good 4km walk from the station, but we never felt it to be. Walking along the empty road and seeing all the greenary around was very soothing.

Entry fee of 25 rupees per head... Hmmm... lets see if it is worth it! Chandrakanth and Harish decided to start counting... for each good sight seen there, they would count 2 rupees ;). Ranganthittu is a beautiful place to be in, although it smells pretty bad near the bird nests :)... The moment we got into the sanctuary, we started exploring the place. Going some 200 meters inside, along the cemented road, the first thing that you get to see is the toilet complex! It is neat and clean though... The road to the left of it leads to the restaurant and the garden area. The place is well maintained, you will not see any litter or plastics anywhere. Going a little further, the Cauvery river flows with all the glory...

By this time Chandrakanth had redeemed 2 rupees ;) and Harish was at 0... Not wasting any time, we decided to go on a boat ride and watch the birds. At 25 rupees per person (again :) ), the ride was absolutely worh it. We got into a 12 feet long woodden boat along with some 8 other members. The most irritating thing was an illogical dialogue by a person who was in our boat. Obviously, he wanted the best seats in the boat, and he prevented us getting into the boat saying that "we need to give way to the family perople". I wondered... what on earth makes him think that we were blocking his way, considering the fact that he was in the boat with his family and we were still yet to get onto the boat! Okay, now concentrating on the boat and the birds! We had a single boatman rowing the boat with two oars and the water current was steadily getting stronger. The river was swelling too. We started off going upstream and believe me, it was a tiring job for the boatman. Ranganathittu is made up of small islands in the middle of the Cauvery river. Many birds perch and make nests on the trees on these islands. Crocodiles are a common sight on the islands and I heard that they eat fish and mammals... It took about 20 minutes to complete the ride and all along the ride, the boatman told us about the birds and their names. We could see some 5 varieties of them at the sanctuary as it was the lean season... The water level was getting higher as gates had been opened at the KRS dam, and the boating was stopped after we completed our round... It seemed like the gods were really happy with us :)

Getting off the boat, we started walking along the bank of the river, searching for some good places to take some snaps; anyways we could not capture any impressive images of birds, and we intended to compensate that with images of ourselves :). There were many paddy fields adjoining the river bank and the water draining out from them had made the bank very slippery. With crocodiles inside the river, it was dangerous and a bit exciting too. There was a viewpoint too, but the view was not as good as the one from the boat. It was wonderful :)

12.30 pm... and we were hungry. Having roamed about all around the place, we were tired too. Time to eat! The restaurant! Hmmm... the setting was good, the hut-like dining place was good, the only thing not up to the mark was the food! We had light lunch there and headed towards one of the cemented huts. Everyone was in the mood to sleep. The pleasant breeze by the river side and the gentle hum of the flowing water was making the environment very seductive :). We decide to rest there till 1.30 and there we go... everyone flat on the stone benches inside the hut :).

Leaning against a pole on the periphery of the hut, I saw a building, just on the banks of the river. I wished I had a home like that :). With everyone unwilling to get up, we started a lazy-chat, and in on time, it was 1.30 on the clock. With half a day still left at our mercy, we decided to walk back. By this time chandrakanth had redeemed 10 rupees from the visit and Harish had 2 ;)... I never can understand their points and redemption criteria :). We started walking along the road to Shrirangapattana, hoping to make good use of the remaining time.

to be continued ...

ಮುನ್ನುಡಿ

2008-08-03T15:57:00.001+05:30

ನಮಸ್ಕಾರ. ಯಾವುದೇ ತರಹದ ಲೇಖನ ಆಗಲಿ, blog ಆಗಲಿ ಬರೆಯುವೆನೆಂದುಕೊಂಡಿರಲಿಲ್ಲ, ಆದರೆ ಈಗ ಬರೆಯುತ್ತಿದ್ದೆನೆ :). ನಾನು ಯಾವುದೇ ಒಂದು ವಿಷಯಕ್ಕೆ ಸೀಮಿತವಾಗದೆ, ಪ್ರತಿ ಬಾರಿ ಹೊಸತೊಂದು ವಿಷಯ ಆರಿಸಿಕೊಳ್ಳಬೇಕೆಂದಿದ್ದೇನೆ.