Life is Beautiful

Secrets "Revelio"

2008-06-17T11:24:00.000-07:00

Richa & Subbu sir have tagged me for this and I hope this will again revive my forgotten blog :)

Name three most valuable assets.
Family, Friends and their belief, trust & love for me.

If you were to be stranded on a deserted island, who are the three blog buddies you would take alongside with you?
No one
I would prefer my BIT@KMC mates in this kind of situation, because with them, I don’t have to think about anything else. We have come too long together to even worry about anything. We know, we will manage somehow and that’s one group with whom, you will always find time is in short supply.

Where is the place that you want to go the most?
There are so many places I want to go, the list is endless and I can’t prioritize them in any way. But still, if I have to name one, it has to be Nanda Devi Inner Santurary (Visitors are not allowed there to maintain the ecological balance of the region, conspiracy theorists say, its banned because of a lost nuclear power sensor to monitor chinese communication at the base of Nanda Devi. CIA and IB sent a team on top of Nanda Devi to post the sensor in 60’s, they were unsuccessful and lost it, though they planted one on Nanda Kot next year)

If you can have one dream to come true, what would it be?
Delhi citizens start following the rules and start caring for their city. Don’t be surprised, it can happen only in dream :(

What are you afraid to lose the most in yourself?
Any kind of physical disability.

What would you do if you found a briefcase full of money?
Some L lenses and invest rest of it. Take some amount periodically to travel to different places across India and maybe world.

If you meet someone that you love, would you confess to him/her?
Already did that :D

Which type of person do you dislike the most?
Hypocrites and Shallow kinds.

If you were given the chance to have one super power, what would it be and why?
I would stick to Richa’s ans :)
To become invisible at will and travel to any place in seconds. I can travel and survive for long without any money :)

For you life is about
Enjoying and living every second of it :)

If you could do one thing different in life, what would it be?
None as such but maybe I would have loved to study Design instead of Management.

Are you a shopaholic?
Could be, if someone is sponsoring me :)

Which actor/actress would you like to be?
None

One song that gives you goosebumps?
None
Still to talk about something in context, the current fav is “Kabhi Kabhi Adiiti” and song to humm is “Tumse Hi” from Jab We Met

Do you have any plans for tomorrow?
France-Italy match at 12:30 in night, Office, Some work at Noida Authority, A visit to Priya and then to a friend’s place

I Tag
No One :)

Pirates, Sugar Free & Ghalib

2007-06-06T01:19:00.000-07:00

Another weekend gone and few more movies are marked out from “Must Watch List”. Was it different or was it like any other weekend, depends on what side of mine is known to you :) The best way to put it up would be : From the new age multiplexes to old world charm.

Friday night was spent in watching a friendly match between England and Brazil. Beckham’s return to England team and Brazil's flair was good enough reasons to watch the match till 2:30 in night. A late surge by Brazil in the injury time resulted in a draw, which was a fair result after England took a lead through Terry header from Becks freekick.

Saturday felt like a kind of weekend, which I used to have in Chennai. A hot and humid day, with couple of movies and excellent Rajma Chawal at a friend's place. First off the list was “Cheeni Kum”. Fabulous movie with some witty dialogues, excellent characterization and good acting (Johra Sehgal was just amazing); they should have done away with melodrama in last few minutes. Sounds clichéd but it was zara hatke movie. The second one : Pirates of the Carribean – At world’s end, was a big let down and was bearable just cuz of Jack Sparrow's antics. Seemed like it was made just to have a third part in the series, without a proper script or story in place. No wonder IMDB mentions that they started filming the movie without even a finished script, which is very much unlike Hollywood (though quite a norm in apna bollywood). Till now both the third installments have proven to be damp squib (Spidey and Pirates). I hope the coming ones are much better (Shrek, Ocean etc). By the way, both these movies were seen in the latest multiplexes in the town. After hearing about it for ages, Satyam finally opened at Nehru Place and Waves have opened up at Raja Garden. From my experience, Satyam – Janak Puri and Waves – Noida are the best multiplexes in the town (Satyam is better cuz of good service). So, it was good to see one more branch of these multiplexes at different locations. The new ones are good but old ones are still better with large screens and stadium seating. Satyam is little bit costly too with Rs 160 as a cost of ticket (South Delhi effect :( ) but its better than wasting your money at PVR Saket or Priya (the seats are getting worse day by day here).

Sunday was spent in sleeping around and after lot of deliberation between me and my friend, we paid a visit to Ghalib’s Haveli at Chandni Chowk. The place was in dilapidated state earlier, but now its being maintained by Delhi Govt after it was highlighted by historians and prominent scholars of delhi. If you will ask any Rickshaw walla to take you there, chances are you would be left wondering whether you got down at the right metro station. A samartian, who was hoping to entice us into buying sarees from his shop told us to mention the area rather than just mentioning Ghalib's Haveli. Situated in labyrinthine lane (Qsim Jan Gali) at Ballimaran, this is the place where Ghalib spent last few yrs of his life. The haveli is quite small in area and has couplets written by Ghalib on the wall along with other information & trivia about the poet. Few experimental shots (one you can see at my photoblog), a quick visit for Gianni’s Rabdi Faluda beyond Fatehpuri Masjid and then we took a rickshaw to Lal Quila. It was a lovely evening with a beautiful sky and I was able to get some really nice shots out there. Back to CP by Metro and some time at Central Park followed by a visit to Wills Lifestyle, curtains were down for the weekend.

Sunset at Red Fort

On a different note, it was quite costly weekend because of some repairs done in my still faithful car (suspension, AC, Shockers etc). Its getting hot day by day and I am hating it and not at all looking forward to hot and humid days of July & Aug. Lets hope for a better monsoon. BTW, the best part about the weekend was lots of Tandoori Chicken on Fri and Rajma Chawal on both Sat and Sun :)

Cast(e) Your Future !!!

2007-05-31T04:03:00.000-07:00

A three point guide on how to have a good future in India for your kids and siblings :-

At the time of elections, demand for a lower status (as per social strata of Indian society), make the leaders promise it to you.
After elections are over, wait for sometime then demand for status change to SC/ST/OBC
If Govt. doesnt agree, then create a ruckus all across the state (demonstrations, destroy public property, stop all kind of services etc etc)

This will surely result into a community getting the desired status, which will open multiple avenues for coming generations because of the so called different categories in all the educational institutions and govt. jobs.

Probably India is the only country, where people aspire to be in lowest classes of the society. That's what happens when you base the seats in Educational Institutions and Govt jobs on different kind Quotas.

PS: I will try to be regular on this blog again :)

Culinary Escapades !!!

2007-01-02T04:05:00.000-08:00

The last few days of 2006 were spent in treating myself with multitude of culinary options across different places inside well as outside of Delhi. My family’s visit to Rajasthan coupled with my own visit to Khajuraho and Orchha just before their visit left me with the options of trying different restaurants, raiding my friend’s home and sometimes even cooking with them. Just for the fun sake, let me list day by day the food I had during this time :)

20^th Dec 2006 :

Dinner : Veg Biryani, Curd, Naan, Chole and Paneer something from Comesum- Nizammudin Railway station followed by a plum cake

21^st Dec 2006 :

Breakfast : Omlette (awesome) in front of Jhansi Station, Pakode and samosa with green chutney on the way to Khajuraho

Lunch : Noodles (egg and veg) with Peas :D, Pizza and bland spaghetti at Khajuraho (worst of all the days)

Dinner : Focaccia, Penne Pasta with tomato based sauce, Indian Veg Pizza etc…..

22^nd December 2006

Lunch : Typical Indian Lunch (though dal fry was nice)

Dinner : Chinese (Noodles, Manchurian, Veggies in Some Sauce, Scrambled Eggs and toast)

23 December 2006

Breakfast : Bread-Omlette followed by some awesome bread pakodas and poha

Dinner : prior to it we had delicious aloo tikkis with matar dal at Orchha, Veg Pulav, Dal Fry and yummy fruit Raita

24 December 2006

Breakfast : Usual Bread Omlette followed by fruit raita, Macaroni

Lunch : Bread Omlette & Fruit Raita :D

Dinner : Typical Indian Railways Dinner

Back to Delhi and I was all alone looking for my dinner, lunch was taken in office on most of the days

25^th December 2006 :

Lunch : Jassi Papaji’s wedding, - Chicken Tikkas, Chilli chicken, Seekh kebab, Rice and Raita followed by Hot Gulab Jamuns and Gajar ka Halwa

Dinner : Chicken Tikka and Roomali Roti + Vodka from Rajinder at a friend’s place

26^th December :

Dinner : Cooking time at friend's place – Dal Makhni, Aloo Gobhi, Pulav, Roti and Raita (not everything was done by me and my friend makes some yummiest food)

27^th December :

Dinner : Sharwamas at Priya, then Bun-Omllete + Egg Parantha at JNU Ganga Dhaba followed by Maggi + Coffee at IIT Nescafe

28^th December

Dinner : Seekh Kebab + Roomali Roti from Rajinder & Vodka (Vanilla Twist) at a small party at home

29^th December : Cooking Day

Lunch : Pasta with Tomato, Garlic and chilly Sauce with eggs

Dinner : Chicken Soup + Garlic Bread

30^th December 2006

Lunch : Cooking time again – Veg Biryani & Jeera Raita at friend’s place

Dinner : Khichdi (awesome) made by my friend :)

31st December : finally parents back home but my culinary escapades continued till Monday

Dinner : Pizza + Vodka from Slice of Italy

1 January, 2007

Lunch : some family friends were coming for lunch, so assisted mom in cooking Chilli Paneer, Palak Pulav, Aloo Gobhi and cooked Methi Chicken myself (need recipe :D)

Quite a culinary escapade I had over last few days. For those, who don’t know or haven’t guessed it till now. I love cooking and trying out different recipes. Happy cooking and eating out in the coming year and HAPPY NEW YEAR to all of you :)

Life is a Freeway !!!

2006-12-26T01:49:00.000-08:00

The legs are hurting, back is troubling and there is drowsiness in eyes (maybe a result of too much vodka + beer in last few days: D)

But the trip to Khajuraho & Orchha was fun and refreshing, Beautiful places especially Orchha. Wait for detailed account of the trip and photos. Till then, you can enjoy the panoramic view of sunset at Orchha across Betwa river.

I had enough time to think about certain issues and take some decisions while I was on trip.

I have been thinking about this for a while now, what is your say on it…………

Does our perception about a person’s creative work changes after knowing that person?

What might be “ok and nice” before we know him/her changes to “good and excellent” after knowing him/her …………………………….

Till then, let the life be on a freeway !!!

Do You ?

2006-12-09T20:45:00.000-08:00

Do you like the songs because of the usual reasons (music, melody, lyrics, poetry etc)

or

Do you like the songs because of the mood you are in ? Once you are out of that particular phase, those songs dont hold the same interest any more.

Traces !!!

2006-12-06T09:47:00.000-08:00

Are we all unconsciously biased toward people who have studied in good institutions?

Irrespective of where people reach (professionally), how much money they earn etc etc…..the education (not only academic) that is imparted at a school or college imbibes certain qualities or way of thinking in a person. In spite of how much a person tries, there always will be traces of that upbringing somewhere in him/her and it shows at some of the darkest time of any person’s life, when they are at the vulnerable stage and sometime in daily mundane instances too.

You can’t get away with it or Can you?

Few of you might say thats i am trying to generalize but lets face the fact that there are numerous instances of people coming from a certain place have some particular attribute common in them. Ofcourse exceptions are always there :)

PS: This is not a post written to evaluate a person, so don’t think along those lines. Neither is it written because someone has said something to me. Just something I have been observing for a while now and I wanted to know your inputs on it.

Cure ???

2006-11-30T21:11:00.000-08:00

Cure for a Headache : A Can of Super Strong Warm Beer and a plate of Omllete made in Butter :)

I am thinking about the bottle of White and Red wine from Napa Valley which are there at home now :)

Lyrics from a beautiful track ...........

If I could start again
a million miles away
I would keep myself
I would find a way

Johnny Cash "Hurt"

Breaking the Shackles

2006-11-18T03:30:00.000-08:00

Ok, let me admit one thing. There is a part of Chennai, I am missing right now. Before anyone of you raise your eyebrows, let me also state that I am missing my library out there. One of the few things, which I really appreciated in Chennai, was well stocked libraries in most of the colonies. Delhites, as we know have never been known for their love of books, therefore if you want to read, you need to buy the books at costly prices directly from stores. This has directly affected my reading habits after coming back to Delhi. I have not done any justice to my first love (Reading) after coming back here. Out there, I used to finish one new book per week but here, I think I have read only 5-6 of them after coming back. No more neglect of this precious habit of mine. As of now:-

Currently Reading: Maximum City by Suketu Mehta. A wonderful book about Bombay.

Next Read: The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai. This year Booker prize winner. I hope it doesnt turn out to be another "God of Small things"

Another thing that I have totally left behind is watching movies every weekend. Next 3 Movie on the list that i am surely gonna see :-

1) The Departed

2) Casino Royale

3) Dhoom-II

Current Mood:-

Feeling sleepy. Slept at 4 and got up at 7 for office:( though feeling liberated!!!

A Rollercoaster Ride

2006-11-13T00:00:00.000-08:00

Life has been on Rollercoaster for past couple of months. Not that I don’t love it but the Rollercoaster has its own troughs and peaks in the process. Of course these troughs and peaks are originated by my thought process most of the times. One of the biggest problems of mine is I try to think and read too much into other people actions and they lead to some of the troughs in my life :( I know the fault is mine, but it just happens with me, especially with people I am kind of attached and expect few things. Talking about expectations, one of the lessons that I learnt long time back in my life is to minimize your expectations from people and you will have fewer reasons to be sore with someone. This has certainly helped me a lot in past. I do expect, but only from very few people in my life and they have never let me down and I believe I can confidently say that I have never let them down too.

Ok enough of my stupid ramblings……the last two weekends have been total raw fun. Prashie wrote an excellent post on our day out in a local fair on his blog. One of the best evenings of life till now. This weekend, we were out to Rishikesh for Rafting. This was my third rafting trip and prior to it I have done rafting in Kullu (Beas) and Rishikesh (Ganges). Highlights of the trip:-

1) The best Rapids till now, maximum risk-maximum fun till now. Risks in life always give me high and it was no different this time.

2) Pure, clean water of Ganges, Best till now.

3) Finding two branches of an Italian Restaurant in a small town like Rishikesh.

4) Finding a pool of water with waterfall next to it in a jungle after a strenuous trek. You are all alone out there to have fun like kids, which we did. (some thing like The Archies)

5) Guys can gossip and do lots of talking, even after deciding that we would be on bed by 10 (that’s why we didn’t go for The Departed), me and Prashie ended up doing all sorts of bakar till 12:30 in night on all kind of topics including gals :D (ofcourse, it has to be there)

6) Anjie (Anjali) trying her best to wake us 3 tired souls at 5 in the morning. So much so, that she even gave two blank call to me and made Tushar listen to her talks at 6 in the morning, while I pretended to be asleep all the time :D

7) Some excellent street food in Roorkee and Rishikesh.

8) Above all, it was good to be out with people with whom you are totally comfortable and you love them for what they are. And yeah, it was good to be out with Radha after a long time :)

I believe the best way I can put it up about both the weekends being so much fun that I don’t regret missing Man Utd matches on telly (Those who know me well, know what I mean here). Some memories, i hope i dont forget ever in my life :)

Tagged Again

2006-11-08T10:09:00.000-08:00

This should complete all the tags that are due on me (Kanu's Tag). In any case, right now i am not at all in the mood to write. Last two days have been restless, pathetic and i think i have lost control over myself in certain aspects of life (very much unlike me) .

Here we go..........

1. When I look at the stars............I want to be the brightest among all of them !

2. Rains..........a good book, Tea and pakode :D

3. Happiness is.............satisfaction of doing what you want to do !!!

4. Books...........are my first love !!!

5. Men/Women(Whichever applicable)............both are important !!!

6. Love is...........magical

7. God........faith

8. Summer of 69?..................my introduction to rock

9. Pride...........is a trouble for any kind of relationship

10. Life.........is always beautiful :)

The Hidden Me !!!

2006-11-06T09:03:00.001-08:00

Time for me to do some tags....Richa has tagged me to write 10 secrets about myself. Writing 10 would be little tough for me. But let me try :)

1) I have always wanted to go into any of the creative fields, preferably something related to design. Its one thing that i knew i would have excelled because i just used to get lost while drawing, sketching etc etc and now days working with my photos on computer.

2) I have always been a favorite of all my teachers; in fact I used to make it sure that first student they should think of should be "Deepak Kumar"

3) I have only been slapped/punished in school once because i was caught that time and that too none other than principal of the school: D

4) I was a very naughty kid, almost lost my life two times and my head has seen lots of stitches. All the relatives still talk about the kind of nuisance i used to create for everyone. My sis always tease me for Gungun going after me being so naughty :D

I am still a prankster but only when i am in a mood to be so.

5) Till college second yr (graduation) I used to have crushes easily, it was like, i see someone in U-Spl and I used to have a crush and within a week it used to go. Those were some days :)

6) My name has been in a CID list for around a week when we were protesting about our course troubles (BIT) in DU. They were maintaining a list of few students, so that they can hold them incase there is some trouble.

7) My mom has already accepted that i am not going to have arranged marriage. She suspects me of having a GF :)

8) In spite of what most of the people see and believe, I am quite a private person. I don’t share any problems of mine with anyone and i can hide them easily (few yrs of dramatics have helped :D)

Its tough for me to express what i think of my friends to others or sometimes to even them. Not that, I don’t let them know but i cant tell them just like that.

But, when i compliment of say something to someone, I mean it.

9) I have been in relationship only once. It was good till it lasted and it was a mutual decision to stop it also. The only thing that I have learnt from it was in spite of how much you plan, its god who is going to decide, whether that thing will take place or not. Took me sometime to get over it, but its over now :)

10) Now, since it has to be a secrets list, there has to be gals :D

The first thing i notice in any gal is her eyes and then her dressing sense. I like gals who can carry kohl in her eyes, who can carry sarees (its one amazing dress) very well, wear sleeveless tops or suits.

Also, I don’t like typical Delhi gals, who depend on the guys to take every damn decision or end up putting so much makeup on themselves.

Well i just like that independent streak in the gals and those who can take care of herself confidently.

Tagged !!!

2006-10-24T01:19:00.000-07:00

I've been tagged by Woodie !

A) FOUR OTHER JOBS I HAVE HAD IN MY LIFE:
1. Business Analyst – Retail at Wipro Technologies
2. Consultant IT Solutions(SCM) at Wipro Technologies
3. Software Analyst at Xansa India
4. Writer (IT related articles) and Reviewer (Websites) for Civil Services Chronicle, Finance intern at Tata Power

B) FOUR MOVIES I CAN WATCH OVER AND OVER AND OVER:
1. LOTR – Trilogy
2. Godfather I & II
3. DDLJ
4. Sholay

C) FOUR PLACES WHERE I HAVE LIVED:
1. Bombay
2. New Delhi
3. Chennai
4. N.A.

D) FOUR TV SHOWS I LOVE TO WATCH:
1. Manchester United Football Matches
2. FRIENDS
3. Globetrotter
4. Most well made travel and food shows

E) FOUR PLACES I HAVE BEEN ON VACATION: (listing my favs)
1. Ladakh Region
2. Manali
3. Goa
4. Munnar

F) FOUR WEBSITES I VISIT:
1. http://soccernet.com
2. http://ibnlive.com
3. http://orkut.com
4. http://flickr.com

G) FOUR OF MY FAVORITE FOODS( IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER):
1. Rajma Pulao
2. Gobhi Parathas with Amul butter :)
3. Well made Pastas
4. Any good dessert and icecream

H) FOUR PLACES I WOULD RATHER BE IN RIGHT NOW:
1. With camera somewhere in Delhi shooting
2. With Vyom & Gungun or with any of the close friends
3. On a train trip in Europe
4. Bombay

well that was not tough...quite easy to do so...............!!!

Winds of Change

2006-10-19T23:10:00.000-07:00

I am sure people (those in Delhi) can sense the change in weather for past two days. There is a chill in the air, skies are overcast and you can feel that winters are just round the corner. Finally after 2 years, I would be in Delhi in winters and only I know, how much i enjoy it. I just love the feeling of fierce cold wind hitting the face, having a good book while you are wrapped up in the quilt or just soaking the winter sun out there in the open. Delhi is just beautiful at the time of winters. To enjoy the cold, you just need to detach yourself from your apprehensions/ fear/ anxiety, whatever you want to term it. Just be there and try to soak in the cold winds and I am sure, you can enjoy the feeling.

On Wednesday, we had ODM-VII (Orkut Delhi Meet). It was great to meet all the old friends and some new faces out there. Richa aka CM has written an excellent post on it at official blog. Me or Prashant will add more to it by weekend. Just caught up with loads of work related to Diwali at home. Its my favorite festival and probably the only one i look forward to every year. Happy Diwali to everyone and their dear ones :)

Let me end this post it with few words from one of my fav tracks..........

Walking down the street
Distant memories
Are buried in the past forever
I follow the Moskva
Down to Gorky Park
Listening to the wind of change
Winds of Change @ Scorpions

Blink or Miss !!!

2006-10-17T02:44:00.000-07:00

"Great decision-makers aren't those who process the most information or spend the most time deliberating, but those who have perfected the art of `thin slicing' — knowing the very few things that matter."
Malcolm Gladwell in Blink

In the today's fast moving world where we have to make so many decisions and perpetually there is an information overload hovering over our mind, what a person can do? Well, Thin Slicing. Thin-slicing is a neat cognitive trick that involves taking a narrow slice of data, just what you can capture in the blink of an eye, and letting your intuition do the work for you. Our mind takes usually two seconds to arrive at a conclusion about a person, situation etc.

Though Mr. Gladwell says that Thin Slicing is different from Intuition, I beg to differ from him on it. He says "Intuition strikes me as a concept we use to describe emotional reactions, gut feelings--thoughts and impressions that don't seem entirely rational. But I think that what goes on in that first two seconds is perfectly rational. It's thinking--its just thinking that moves a little faster and operates a little more mysteriously than the kind of deliberate, conscious decision-making that we usually associate with thinking." He might define intuition as a concept with emotional reaction and gut feelings but I believe those gut feelings are originated in us because of our past experiences which are lying in our sub-consciousness/unconsciousness and let us conclude to a decision. Anyways, no point in discussing the nomenclature of terms out here, when you can learn so much from the book. He picks up the e.g. from real life situations like marriage, World War Two code-breaking, ancient Greek sculpture, New Jersey's best car dealer, Tom Hanks, speed-dating, medical malpractice, how to hit a topspin forehand, and what you can learn from someone by looking around their bedroom etc. to make it quite a comfortable reading for even not so voracious readers (unlike me). The language is simple, words easy and examples perfect.

Gladwell also illustrates, how reacting intuitively to a situation can have disastrous consequences. The problem with thin-slicing, Gladwell correctly explains, is that it uses contextual cues, internal stereotypes and even prejudice to tell us what to do. For e.g. in one of the chapters he explained how people in spite of claiming (consciously) that they are not racist, they were connecting the black faces to not so good words. In another a small survey resulted in how ladies and blacks were being sold cars at high premiums. So, to thin-slice or not to thin-slice, that is the question. Unfortunately, Blink does not provide us with a clear answer. Gladwell hints that ultimately we should only rely on thin-slicing when our intuition has been honed by experience and training.

We all do thin slicing in our lives in different situations but what Blink might help us to understand is that it’s not the right option always. And as I mentioned in starting, we need to build a habit of concentrating on the things that matter while taking a decision. Most of the times we end up taking our decision on the basis of secondary factors for temporary satisfaction and not the real ones (whether it is a normal day to day problem in office or college or its a big issue at home/ relationship or society).

Thought of the post: Don’t overfeed your brain, while taking decisions. Keep things simple :)

Musings of a Stupid Mind

2006-10-12T23:16:00.000-07:00

I got my Gmail id back. Google people mailed me today in the morning after conducting their investigation (that’s what mail said) and told me how to set up a new password. Thankfully, the id was not used to send any mails and no one deleted existing mails and pictures from Picasaweb. (That means all Leh pics are still on the site). Now the orkut community part needs to be sorted out. Lets see, whether Google investigations can result into something or not. I was just going through some of the messages on orkut and came to know that a lot of communities have been hacked by the same person named “Farzana” using the phishing site. I will write a detailed mail to Google tonight and wait for their response. Let’s hope for best.

There is a new channel (FM) on the air 104.00. They were having the technical test transmission till yesterday afternoon and I heard them first time day before yesterday evening. Within those 24 hrs, they probably played some of the best music on FM. So much so that, I was doing my work in office yesterday with headphones on all the time :) Hits from 60’s to 90’s. Of course not all song were good, they played some usual pop stuff too but I can live with that. But the moment techtest was over, they started 1 English and 1 Hindi number pattern and the quality of English songs went down. Nothing against Hindi songs (I love them) but we need at least one dedicated English channel though business wise (my mba education) this doesn’t make any sense because of high licensing fees in FM sector (some stupid Govt. rules) and lack of advt. (niche category of channel). That was the reason why Go FM in Bombay changed from English channel to a Hindi FM channel. Still 104.00 is better than 95.00 which is getting worse day by day. They have same set of songs and they keep on playing it again and again. Moreover, I think they just don’t know that English music has lots of category apart from Pop and Hip-Hop. Pathetic music!!! That leaves us with only AIR Rainbow 102.6. They play probably the best music between 8-10 in the morning though the RJ's are not at all good except the one on Tue 9-10 show (thanx to a friend for introducing it to me)

Btw, after going through Richa’s post, I think we do have premonition of bad things, that are going to happen. At least, I don’t feel something is right and get a queasy kind of feeling which something is going to be messy in next few hrs. Spooky…..naah…..experience and some unconscious thoughts in the mind. Probably yes, would write about the “Thin slicing” (judging something in few seconds) in next post. The “Blink – Malcolm Gladwell” effect.

Till then probably you can think over “How you are going to react, when a day which just started like a usual day turns into a good day in 2 mins, then turns in a excellent day in next 5 mins and then into probably a pathetic day in next 10 mins” How is a person supposed to react when faced with such a kind of situation? Had one yesterday, maybe musings of a stupid mind!!!!!!

Life is beautiful indeed :)

MW to MP3

2006-10-09T23:52:00.000-07:00

I BELIEVE my car would be the only car being driven on Delhi roads in which MW (Medium Wave frequency channels from AIR) was being played for last one month or so. After giving me company for almost 6 years on uncountable number of times, my car music system finally decided to stop playing along with my rules. First the FM was gone and then the cassette (yeah, it was bought in 2000) player started to play music on its will. Finally this weekend, I decided that enough is enough and dumped my age old trusted partner in the car for a new Sony MP3/WMA music system. The pitfall: 5k gone straight into it, but finally good music on the drive because I can burn the CD’s of my liking. Already a dear friend has told me to take as many songs possible from her collection of mp3’s and I can always burn a copy of Prashie’s CD’s.

Coming to mp3’s , I do remember fondly about the music collection I had before I left for Chennai (Computer crashed and lost it totally when I was there). One of the stats that I can never forget was Getright (Download manager) showing, Downloaded data : 4.5 GB in 6 months and it saved 15GB of re-download. Nothing to be surprised of in 2006 but this figure is of 1999-2000 when we used to access the net using dial-up connection. My love for technology can be guessed from the fact that I bought (or rather made my dad bought) the first MP3 system that was launched by Phillips way back in 1999 (1200 Watts and it still rocks) and I had to explain the dealer, how mp3 works and his reaction as opposed to my belief was, it never gonna work :D

Well, Sunday was spent in writing few CDs and spending some time in Palika, which resulted in 6 mp3 CDs (Sting hits over the years, One Jazz CD, One of Indo fusion and finally a collection of Kenny Rogers, Johny Cash and few more music greats, Other two of old hindi songs of 70’s – 80’s). Rest of it was spent at Zen (good Chinese stuff with few shots of Vodka and Bacardi) with my graduation friends and yeah few shots at India Gate using a friends Nikon at sunset. Lets see how they come out.

Apart from that, probably i went through one of the worst thing that can happen to anyone using net. Somebody hacked my Gmail account through phishing. I agree, i was also not careful enough. Anyways, i hardly care about my gmail account, What i am really sad about that some used the same password to login on my orkut account and transferred the moderatorship of "New Delhi" and "Delhi Eating Out Community" to his name. Neeraj sir has entrusted me with "New Delhi" community and "Eating Out" was my baby. I used to spend around 15-20 mins daily to manage that one and i thought that it was quite a success when it was mentioned on FM (AIR rainbow) for its expertise. Time to move on, guess i had to learn it too hard way :)

Continuing with previous post “Anticipation”, the feeling is still same but it has gone in negative sphere now. I guess, its time to leave that feeling and venture back into my own comfortable world. It was good till it lasted, now it has no more place in my life :)

Anticipation

2006-10-03T10:20:00.002-07:00

Do we need to look into each and every single detail, when we are anticipating something , even though that anticipation is just a thought that has been lingering in your mind and there is no practical reason behind it.

Human mind can always play so many games with the emotions of anyone that sometimes the tussle is too much for a normal person resulting into their other areas of life. Is it that tough to master your mind and heart that we sometimes are not able to control anyone or both of them...........

Anyway, coming back to point, i think the focus on small details are just to bolster our thought process, our imagination (which might be wrong) and negate any kind of pragmatic thoughts (which ofcourse are right most of the times).

Tough phase it is...............still life is beautiful :)

A New Beginning

2006-09-29T05:06:00.000-07:00

I think i can give one more try to be regular with my post on this blog. Lets see how I fare this time :)

A lot has happened between previous post and this one. Let me try to put whatever i think should be here :-

Left Wipro and joined a startup IT company in Delhi. Kind of strategic yet calculated risk. But thats me, i have always taken some big risks in personal as well as professional life. One of the mantras that i have always believed in is "The biggest risk in the life is not to take risk at all"
Its feels great to be back to saddi Delhi, among your family members and friends. Nothing can beat this feeling.
Finally out of Chennai, two year of it made me a crib-baby, which i never was. No more cribbing in life. Nothing against Chennai but I can never settle there.
I have been travelling to many places after coming back to Delhi : Lansedowne, Bhakra Nangla Dam, Kota, Boondi, Ajmer and LEH which was just awesome. Finally i can accompany Prashie in all the trips after getting J of him all the time :)
Sis-Jiju are here, kids have grown up and me being in Delhi was able to spend all the time with them. (http://photos.yahoo.com/dkmc705 Gungun Vyom-2006 Album for pics)
Finally over with something which was just lingering around for a long time and something to look forward to everyday though it could be figment of my imagination :) but i am happy and already looking forward to how it goes.
Met some really great people courtsey Orkut, connected more frequently with all old ones and found again some lost souls in the process.
Photography is going on well, made a new Photoblog and i am learning something new everyday.

Some not so good things in past one year :-

Not as independent life as in Chennai. Well I can accept that as a part of living in Delhi.
Wipro was great experience, specially the bosses out there were simply great unlike most of the middle management in wipro.
Manchester Utd. had the worst yr in Champions league, finished second in English premie league :( . hope it wont happen this year.
Some good friends got married (mostly college crowd, nothing to be sad about but then you get to meet them less often now), some left to other cities and countries (Sayantani) for jobs or higher studies.
Haven't been to Bombay for almost 1.5 yrs now :(
Not at all regular with Movies, regular means watching more than 170 odd movies in theatre in 100 weeks at Chennai.

All in all quite a eventful it has been and yeah i am looking forward to coming few months. Lets see how it turns up to be.

Cheers and have fun guys.

A New Star Debuts

2005-10-18T04:12:00.000-07:00

Long time no post..........somehow i dont think i could become a regular blogger :) ....... tough job for me...............u see what a lazy guy i am ...........now prash has asked me to put up a new post...that means, i have to write something now :)

Lstening "Na tum jano na Hum".....the best way to spend time in office: listen online FM channel.......u can check it out here : Desi Radio : just go to "listen to Radio" section...and select ur player and speed......its the best radio station online and with some lovely songs playing throughout the day.....if u love hindi music, then thats the place to be on internet......also u can request for a song........

Coming on Hindi music, its tough to follow the upcoming songs here in Chennai. All FM channels here play tam music only(even Radio Mirchi). So the only way to check them out is Promos on tv or internet. One of the latest album to hit the market is Rahul Vaidya's Tera Intezar. The first two songs are very good, u like them, the moment u hear it. A touch of Sonu Nigam's voice but now its much more diff from his Indian Idol's days. The other songs in album are also good. I think this is the best album among all the three Indian Idol album released till now. Also i feel, this guy will have a better future than other two even after coming 3 in the show. Check it out....

I am really looking forward to my trip to Delhi (well for that matter, i always look forward to my trip to Delhi). It wud be Diwali and Delhi is just the city to be in at the time of Diwali. I still remember the last time, when i was coming to Delhi on Diwali......Bombay in nite was nothing in front of Delhi at that time from the sky. Bombay is ofcourse the best city, if u look from flight in nite.....but Del arnd diwali beats it easily. Another city which looks really well lit is Hyderabad with hussain sagar lake in the centre of city. Also some of the cloud formation in the sky, when u look from flight are breathtaking. I am also looking forward to Orkut Delhi meet. To meet some old friends out there, as well new people. Hope to be there soon.

The last weekend was very different one for me this time. For once, i didnt see a single movie this weekend in theatre. Saturday was spent in reading "5$ smile" by Shashi Tharoor and later watching "Indiana Jones and the last crusade". I can stil watch the whole series again and again. Then ofcourse Manchester United match on telly. The best part was debut of Giuseppe Rossi. He is the latest from United's famous academy to make mark in premiership. Though it was his first game, the confidence he displayed while taking his goal was similar to a player playing his 100th match. He is 18 yr old Italian American and Under 20 Italy Captain. I have been following his progress for last one yr in Reserves and Under 20 cup and he has weaved his magic match after match. Seems like Man Utd has another star in making. I am sure, if he continues playing like this, he will beat Beckham by miles. He is very good in his craft and gals just love his looks. U can read more abt him here:-

Watch out for him. People have already starting to say that "I was there when he scored his first premiership goal". I am really excited with the fact that We (Man Utd) now have some of the best youngsters in football. With names like Rooney, Ronaldo, Rossi, Pique its not far that the current team will win lots of silverware in coming seasons.

More to follow on the saree shopping experience in Chennai in next entry.....

Something about me !!!

2005-09-21T21:31:00.000-07:00

Your Personality Profile

You are dependable, popular, and observant.
Deep and thoughtful, you are prone to moodiness.
In fact, your emotions tend to influence everything you do.

You are unique, creative, and expressive.
You don't mind waving your freak flag every once and a while.
And lucky for you, most people find your weird ways charming!

The World's Shortest Personality Test

Trip to Munnar - Aug 2005

2005-09-05T11:22:00.000-07:00

So my Southern sojourn continues........

After a quick one day trip to Mahabalipuram, I was kind of hooked to visit more places in South India. There are lot of places around Chennai, where you can plan out for 2-3 day trip. But, I love more of adventure trip to mountains rather than towns full of temple and beaches out here. Somehow hilly region have their own charm that can’t be matched by others. The view of sky, valley, rivers and forests implants a sense of calmness around you. Looking at the various options near Chennai, the first place everyone suggests is Ooty or Kodaikanal. Both are quite scenic and beautiful hill stations but they are too much commercialized. I would surely visit them sometime (I love hill train journeys-Shimla and Darjeeling done, Ooty left among the top 3) but I was more hooked on to the idea of a trip to Munnar. After being chosen by TIME magazine as the top destination in India and among top 10 paradises around world by National Geographic, it makes sense to visit this place.

Now it does make sense to write a little about how this trip happened. Though thoroughly dissappointed two week back for not able to a make a trip to Kodai (Munnar was left out cuz of rains then) this time me and my roomie thought of booking bus tickets as soon as possible for Munnar. Later that week on a birthday treat of my 3rd roomie, we met a guy named Bobby (working in CTS like Anubhav) and we started talking on coming 3 day weekend. We told him that we are planning to go to Munnar and then he told us that he along with his project team is also going there and they have some places in the group to fill because of last minute cancellations. He invited us along with his team for the trip and we gladly accepted that. Though I don’t prefer a big group like this, while traveling but this was a good opportunity to just hop on and get out of Chennai without worrying too much about various nitty-gritty’s of travel.

We started last Thursday (Aug 25-2005) from Chennai. We all were supposed to meet at 6 at Egmore Railway Station and catch Pearl City Express (it goes to Tuticorin) I reached home around 5 in evening from office due to rains (ominous sign) and then rushed to station after packing my bag, camera and tripod. We reached station around 6:15 pm and train was supposed to leave at 6:30. But the problem was the guy having ticket was still not there. he was caught up in traffic due to rains. Well, he made it at sharp 6:30 and finally we were on the way to Kodai Road (our station). The lights of Chennai started fading gradually as the train moved at its full pace toward South East direction. We were 16 people in the group with 14 guys and 2 gals. Everyone except me was from Cognizant, So me the only outsider out there :). Soon Trichy was gone among the various talks we were having. After we had our dinner (staple Chicken Biryani) we started playing Antakshri, now you have to appreciate the fact that the songs were coming out in all direction in various lang. like Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam, Telgu cuz it was group having people from Kerala, TN, Andhra, Bengal, Bihar, Orissa, UP and Delhi. Though, majority of people were from TN and Kerala only. Soon all the songs were finished and we were still waiting for our Station. We shifted to Dumbshell Art and again we were totally bored with it within few hrs. Kodai Road is the nearest station to Kodaikanal. The train was supposed to reach there at 2 but it was late by around 30 mins. We finally reached there around 2:30 am and from there we took our Chartered Mini Bus for the whole trip. It was still raining and that was not promising in any way. Got up few times in between, had tea at one stop but fell asleep again. Finally got up around 8 and saw our bus going through the tea gardens in a serpent way.

Road to Munnar

In between passed through some lovely scenic sites, It was like u have suddenly landed out there in Scottish meadows with blue lake, Blue sky and clouds. A sight that I can never forget, unfortunately, I was not able to catch that on camera cuz of the moving bus. The next few kilometers saw us hurtling through the rugged terrain of overhanging cliffs. Then slowly we had a glimpse of the quaint little town of Munnar amidst billiard tabletop smooth tea plantations from afar. At first sight Munnar strikes as a huge neatly decorated garden of green velvet with no hustle bustle, no cacophony and no horns - a perfect choice for those who preferred solitude and peace.

We reached Munnar around 10 in morning. Munnar is a the quaint little town exuding its old world charm, while nearby rich tropical forests, abounding in exotic flora and fauna, are ready to be explored by cycle or on foot. At 5500ft, Munnar is the only hill station in South Kerala that lay snuggled in the high ranges of Western Ghats at the confluence of three mountain streams - Mudrapuzha, Nallathani and Kundala. The spectacular vista of cloud kissed rolling hills carpeted with tea plantations, rivulets dancing through green meadows and the colonial British settlements of the town make this place an ideal getaway from the rigorous strain of daily life. Munnar owes its existence to the numerous British planters, who cleared large stretches of forests from these hills to cultivate tea on the manicured slopes. Tea still reigns supreme here and Munnar holds the honour of growing tea at the highest elevated land, over 7,200 ft. above sea level. Nearly eighty percent of these estates are owned by Tata Tea Ltd and its holdings. According to the book, Facets of a Hundred Years of Planting (published by Tata Finley Ltd.) the estates initially belonged to Scotsman James Finley some hundred years back. The Tatas purchased them in the 1960s and named it Tata Finley Ltd and finally Tata Tea Ltd.

Tea Gardens

The Deshadhan resorts where we were for one day is the highest Resort in Kerala. Our short 1 day stay there was a pleasure itself. Munnar town is just 4 Km away, but the rustic ambience, virgin greenery and misty surrounding make the rest of the world seem far away. Being Kerala's highest Resort, it is banked by miles and miles of tea Plantations to one side and a huge mountain face standing sentry on the other side. The well-appointed cottages overlook picture postcard sceneries. While luxurious amenities pamper you inside the resort, virgin landscape behold your eyes outside. Inside or outside the cottage, there is an incredible variety of activities you can indulge in. After getting ready and having breakfast we went to Ernakulam National Park in Rajamalai. It’s around 15 kms from Munnar. It is the home of the Nilgiri Tahr. This endangered species of mountain goat is nearing extinction and the present population is about 2000 only, majority of which are found only here. The park covers an area of 97 sq.km. and is divided into 3 zones - core, buffer and Rajamalai. Cars can reach up to the Rajamalai region beyond which one can only trek through the forested grassland. Visitors are not allowed in the core area. As our old jeep began laboring up the hill, the green fertile tea gardens made way for the rocky terrain. Streams gurgled down the smooth slopes to hit the ground below with vibrant force. Anaimudi (meaning elephant head), the highest mountain peak of the Western Ghats at 2,695 m. could be seen at a distance. Permission for entry is obtained from the wildlife Warden of the forest department's office at Rajamalai. The moment we got down from the Jeep, it started drizzling, so we had to take umbrellas on rent (seems like it rains a lot). We strolled along for sometime and reached a vantage point, People say the view of valley from here is totally enthralling but as our luck would have it, it was totally covered with mist and clouds. Due to rains, we were not able to notice any wild animals out there but the view of the mountain was breathtaking. The famous Nilgiri Tahr also favored us with a visit but at the top of mountain. I had to use the 12x zoom feature of my camera to get more close to this endangered species. We waited some more time and in between clicked some snaps but seems like lady luck was not going to smile on us. The weather was unrelenting, so we decided to go back to Munnar and have lunch out there before moving back to resort.

Rajmalai National Park

One of the biggest problem of being in a big group is you can not look out for restaurants of your tastes. I really wanted to get into some good local restaurant and sample some of the dishes out there. Anyways, we landed up in some mediocre restaurant. The food was ok but for someone like me who relishes good food, it was lacking something. While going back, me and Anubhav got down at the dam and decided to walk the next 4 kms to resort. The weather was good and there is nothing better than exploring a hill station through walking. The main aim was though to capture few good pictures along the way. We shot lot of the pics before realising that it’s getting too dark for the lonely road to the top of the hill. The last 1.5 kms was a steep climb and we were totally exhausted even though the road was in a good shape. Rest of the day was spent in watching TV and having some good discussion on various topics.

View From Resort

The next day, I got up around 6 and went straight to balcony, No mist, no clouds at all, just breathtaking view of the valley. The next one hour was the scenic delight. Suddenly after 15 mins, clouds started coming over the valley and within a moment, it felt like we are sitting on the top of clouds. The sky at the horizon was changing hues continuously. Later the mist took over the whole valley. After packing our stuff and breakfast of steaming idlis, we bid adieu to this excellent resort and moved towards the dam. Mattupetty Dam, our next destination, was nestled amidst luxuriant tea gardens boasting splendid views.

Lake at Matteputty Dam

The district promotion council of Idukki organizes boating (both paddle and speed) in the mirror-still waters of the lake. There is Swiss Indo project on livestocks and highly specialized dairy technique is going on in a nearby area. Though others preferred to hang around the dam for some more time, we few guys started to walk around and explore the nearby area till the boating point. The entire stretch offered a fantastic panorama of gentle slopes full of tea plantations on one side and a calm and serene lake on the other. We took a big boat and cruised around in the lake for some time before moving ahead to Echo Point. The rains started again on the way. The beauty of the echo point can’t be described in words. It was just splendid example of hills, lake, forest, dark sky and rains and of course the usual echoing sound that was piercing through the valley.

Echo Pt.

Next destination: Base point for the trek
We reached the base camp around 3:30. It took some time for our mini bus to reach there through small roads of village and the slope was not helping at all in the cause. A trek after a long time, I wasn't sure whether I would be able to manage it in right shape till the end. We started from the village and moved toward the mountains through the small stretch of rocks in between the lush tea plantations. Soon we were on the brink of forest and the steep climb toward the hill. It has rained a lot and the whole path was muddy.....making it a proper breeding ground for leeches to strike us and within 15 mins of trek, we all were busy with leeches all across our legs, shoes, jeans etc. The next few steps resulted in more muddier path and more leeches, someone got a bite also and blood started trickling out. The climb started to become more steeper and the path was getting worse minute by minute. It was turning out to be one of the toughest treks, I have taken till then. The worst part was almost everyone of us were not exactly in proper physical condition to do that trek. Though the walk of 4 kms that we did yesterday was proving to be good in hindsight but still it was turning out to be one heck of trek due to leeches and regular stoppages of group. It was more aggravated by the fact that most of guys and two gals were not at all prepared for it. They were wearing wrong shoes, wrong choice of clothes and it was delaying us in moving fast, resulting in more leeches sticking to our body.

Trek Way Up

Finally somehow we reached the hill top and took few minutes to rest. All my thoughts of instant gratification of the trek were gone cuz of thick mist blocking the view of valley. Suddenly the sun came out from nowhere and resulted in a mesmerizing view of the sky for a few seconds. The funniest part here was everyone was cursing themselves for coming out here for trek. The problem with adventure sports and holidays are always same, when u do them u curse yourself, but later on you fondly remember each and everything. Moreover, you need to appreciate the nature's beauty on these kinds of trips. Anyway after that we had to come down a little to Cliff hut, which was made on the border of TN and Kerala. The view of the valley was amazing and I captured some of my best pics out there in morning as well as evening. The whole Tamil Nadu was down there in the virgin valley full of forest and plains at the end.

View from Cliff Hut

The night beckoned in sometime. By that time we were fresh again and the soon the dancing and singing began around the camp fire. It was one of the best experiences of the life. Sitting out there in the wild around the camp fire, at one side is the deep valley and at another the ferocious jungle (it has panthers and all) with the sky full of stars and mist in the air. In Dinner we had Chapatis, Aloo sabzi, rice and Sambhar and we were asleep within few mins after that in our sleeping bags. 5:30 in morning; No mist, no clouds just clear sky with diff hues and a breathtaking view of the valley. After having an early breakfast (which I skipped) we trekked back to the base camp through a different route. This route, though shorter in distance but more muddier and steeper to go down. We were trying not to slip all along the way, The clear cut rule was try to hold your toes in some rock or put them in grass instead of muddy path. We were back to base camp within 1 hr (as compared to 3 hrs of climbing yesterday). From there, we moved back to Munnar and got fresh at a hotel before having lunch. We started towards Madurai by 2 pm and there were plans to take a stop of 10 mins each at Devikulum falls and a very beautiful spot near a tea factory. We missed the first cuz people were more interested in watching a stupid movie in the bus and second one cuz of the rains. This is why I don’t like such a big group. Imagine you come to place to visit it and enjoy its beauty and you settle down to watch a movie that u have already seen. God help these kinds of people. Soon we entered in Tamil Nadu and started to move down the hills. The road was in a bad shape because of landslides and repair work was going on. At the certain portions there was no road, it was dirt path full of hair pin bends. The entire one hr of going down was giving me goose bumps cuz of the road condition. It was too slippery to drive out there; Result was; I concentrated on watching the movie "7G Rainbow Colony". Movie was crap, some outdated story of Hindi movies of 80's and early 90's but the songs were good. It was one of the last yr biggest hits. Anyway, back to plains and within few hrs we were in Madurai. No time to visit the famous Meenakshi Temple :(, we had our dinner and took the train back to Chennai.

A good break from the heat of Chennai. Though we missed few sights, there is always next time to check them out. Yeah, I will surely come back to Munnar soon. I have fallen in love with this sleepy little town, which is full of natural beauty and still so virgin.

The total cost of the trip was Rs. 3050; cost was little on the higher side cuz of Resort. Otherwise, I am sure; it would come down to 2000-2500 depending on your preferences.

The best time to go Munnar is Oct - March. Go in August, only if you enjoy rains. You might not be able to visit all sights but rains weave their own magic in God's own Country's most famous hill station. Carry Woolens in Winter Season, Temp drop to 5'C at that time in nights.

The best way to reach Munnar is to fly or take a train to Cochin (except Chennai and Bang). From Cochin its 130 kms far and you get taxis and buses. If you are coming from Chennai, take NH47 Ext. from Madurai, It goes to Munnar. From Bangalore, you can take a route via Kodai or Coimbatore to reach Munnar.

Must Do's
Visit Rajamalai, Devikulum, Echo Point, Mattupetty Dam and Top Station
If possible go to Chinnar wild life century.
If possible plan your stay at Deshadhan Resort.
Carry Spare batteries and storage cards/ films. you might now realise, how many pics u have taken.
Do boating at Lake near Mattupetty dam
Do purchase fresh tea, Spices.
Go for Trek, adventure sports etc (contact Kestrel Adventures 9447613908, kestreladventures@mail.com)
Do inquire about the condition of the roads you are going to take.

Avoid
Don’t purchase anything made of sandalwood. Most probably, you wont get genuine stuff or it would be too costly.
Avoid going in rainy season.
Avoid local food, if you don’t like your dishes spicy, otherwise they are too good to resist :)

ClIcK HeRe To ViEw PiCs oF ThE tRiP (for bigger pics and greater clarity @ Webshots)
One more link for pics (small size pics @ Yahoo Photos)

Have fun in God's Own Country. Do visit Munnar once guys, I am sure you all are going to love this place.

Trip to Mahabalipuram ! ! !

2005-08-18T11:50:00.000-07:00

"Once you have traveled, the voyage never ends, but is played out over and over again in the quietest chambers. The mind can never break off from the journey." — Pat Conroy

I am a firm believer of what "Pat Conroy" says in the above mentioned quote. There are so many anecdotes, small conversations, mouth watering dishes, expressions on locals face etc.....which keep on playing in your mind, even after long time. We fondly remember those moments as they happened yesterday. I have traveled a lot across India, from Himalayas to Ganges Planes, from Deccan plateau to Western Ghats, from Desert in west to Hills in east. The one region that is still left unexplored is Southern region. Before I came down to Chennai, I had just visited Goa: if you can call that south. And here I am, living in Chennai for past one year and haven’t traveled anywhere outside the city.

Its not like that there was any lethargy on my part. First yr of job didn’t leave us with any holidays to spare and I didn’t have my camera to move around and capture my travel moments. Anyway now armed with a prosumer digicam, I tried to fix a trip for 3 day weekend of 15th August. As it has to happened, the biggest problem, that I have faced after coming to Chennai for any travel related plan is the lack of active participation from my colleagues and friends. A 3 day weekend means, everyone going to Bangalore again and again for meeting friends, guys give it a break !!! There are so many places, when we can go. In past one year, i have planned two trips and cancelled them cuz of just 1 or 2 members. The same thing happened again this time, Kept on waiting for people to take decision and in the end me and my roomie were left on our own to go to Kodaikanal. Of course going by Qualis (as we had planned) was out of question. I prefer it that way cuz u can stop anywhere, take some great shots, rest a little and you don’t have to depend on others for break or what to and what not to see. Anyway, the next best option was to look out for train or Bus Tickets. But, all tickets were already booked, nothing there saar;sir (as mentioned by travel agent) Don’t know, but it seems like people don’t like traveling out here in Chennai, just 3 semi luxury buses to Kodai, same no. to Ooty, 1 to Munnar....hardly any option. Traveling by state buses is back breaking job cuz of 12-14 hrs ride to these hill stations from here.

Well, not to disappoint myself any more, we thought of going to Mahabalipuram for one day trip. Its quite near to Chennai (60 kms) and road is quite scenic (not like Bombay-pune highway of course) but still beautiful in its own way. So after spending the Saturday at home and watching EPL matches (Thanks god, season has started again and we had a winning start this time-My team as always Manchester Utd.) and watching quite hyped up "Mangal Pandey" for night show from first row, we were ready for our trip on Sunday morning.

10 AM: Bus Stop - Chennai
Armed with our digicams, me and my Roomie (Anubhav) left home around 10 and went to Bus Stop. So many buses but all of them were so crowded that there was no place to even stand out there. Finally found a little less crowded bus and was able to find little space to stand in corner. Though I missed most of the scenic way along the sea on the route cuz nothing was visible from the bus. But, parts of the road are quite beautiful, with a lovely view of the sea lined with coconut trees, casuarinas trees, fishermen’s villages, catamarans neatly arranged along, or just plain beach sand……and nothing else.

Chennai-Mahabalipuram Bus

12 PM: Finally in Mahabalipuram :)
But we were hungry like anything, made me remember Vyom for a while and the way he says "Mom tummy main mouse jumping" (My nephew, might turn into another ABCD). We took an Auto and asked him to drop us to a good restaurant. He took us to a sea side restaurant but somehow it was not that appealing. So, we came walking back to a place called Moonraker's on Otha Vadai Street. The name itself (Bond Movie & British History-Pirates) was quite mystic to attract us out there and from outside it looked quite different. Once you step in, u cant stop yourself from comparing it with Goa, The whole seating arrangement, crowd (mostly foreigners)and setting were so much like Goan restaurants. The only thing different were the walls, which were covered with painted rock figures of popular deities.

Moonraker''s Wall

The Menu was totally continental, which was quite evident from No. of foreigners sitting out there. We ordered for two plate of toasts with honey and butter, One Cheese Onion Omelet, One Mexican Omelet, Two ginger-lemon honey tea. The food was too good and tea was heavenly, totally charged us up for the whole day. All this for 140 bucks (quite cheap). Stepped out in the street and walked up to Main Road. Now this whole street is one big amalgamation of different cultures. You can see a German pastry Shop, Continental Restaurants, Kashmir handicraft shops, Jalebis and Samosas, Book Vendors displaying Books from various languages, a Hidesign Outlet (at top end).

1 PM: Shore Temple
We then walked to Shore Temple on the beach. After taking entry tickets, we entered the complex which marked by wire mesh from everyside. Shore Temples were built on the orders of the Pallava King, Mahendra Verma Pallava. The monuments are mostly rock-cut and monolithic, and constitute the early stages of Dravidian architecture wherein Buddhist elements of design are prominently visible. They are constituted by cave temples, monolithic rathas (chariots), sculpted reliefs and structural temples. The pillars are of the Dravidian order. The sculptures are excellent examples of Pallava art. They are given the listing in World Heritage list.

Shore Temple at Mahabalipuram

Every rock out there seems to tell a story, of either an unfinished ratha in the making, or a rock getting split up indicating quarrying of granite in these areas. The rocks speak of the methods used in the ancient times to carve chariots or architectural forms out of them. Deep grooves are made into the rock surface and then the rock is split up. Either the rock is taken else where to build a structural temple or a sculpture or just left aside incase it’s an extra.

2 PM: Arjuna Penance, Rathas, Krishna Mandapam & Lighthouse
After shooting lots of pics, we had Slice and then moved toward other major attraction, which is Arjuna Penance. : It is the world's largest bas relief measuring 27m X 9m.

Arjuna Penance

Arjuna's Penance is the mythical story of the river Ganges, issuing from its source high in the Himalayas. It also shows deities and other semi-divine creatures and fables from the Panchtantra.

After that we saw the caves, Rathas and Krishna Mandapam and the Light house. Though there is proper paved way to all the places, we tried some adventurous route on our way through the rocks and the view from such height was majestic. The weather was turning out to be quite plesant with lots of clouds in sky, with no sun in sky and cool breeze in air, it was the perfect day to roam around on rocks. We also met a monkey family on our way but they were quite scared to come near us and totally avoided us. It was only the second time i was wathcing a light house (first one in Orissa) and how much i wished of climbing on the top of it, but it was locked.

Lighthouse

Cloud Formation

3 PM: Back to Moonraker's
We sat on the top most point for some time and then moved back to the main road for lunch. We went to two-three restaurants but no one was able to appeal so much to spend sometime out there. Hence, we decided to go back to Moonraker's. Being lunch time, it was too much crowded, but we were able to find a table on first floor. Though, i am not a big fan of sea food ( Moonraker' is famous for its sea food) But, still we opted for Prawns in Ginger-Garlic Tomato Sauce with Steamed Rice and two Beers.

Moonraker's

There we came to know more about the restaurant. Its run by three Indian brothers and known for Western blues music apart from sea food. A tip to everyone, Once u enter it, do not get deceived by the humble exteriors, the smell of the food is out here is intoxicating. Prawns were delicious and hot, very well cooked. We rounded up the lunch with Pancake with filling of Hazelnut Sauce and Chocolate, topped with Vanilla Ice-cream. That was the perfect end. A must for everyone. All this for 340 bucks, totally worth its money.

5 PM: Bus Stand
Came down to Bus stand and started looking for a bus. With no mood to stand and no Empty buses in sight after 30 mins we decided to take an Auto to Kovalam (fisherman's Village). Took an Auto for 150 bucks and came down to Kovalam and from there we took Chennai City MTC bus to our place. Landed up home around 7:30 pm. Had a tiring day but in all totally satisfied with my trip. It was great to go out after a long time.

Total cost of the trip (2 Person in INR):
Bus - Chennai-Mahabalipuram : 32
Breakfast : 140
Shore Temple entry : 20
Mineral Water + Two Slice : 36
Lunch : 370 (including tip)
Auto to Kovalam : 150
Bus - Kovalam - Chennai : 26
Total Cost : Rs 874

Fun, excitement, experience : priceless (i know sounds clichéd)

Must do:
Carry Water
Visit all the places mentioned in tourist book
Visit Moonrakers’s
Wear sports shoes which has good grip

To Avoid
Beach – its dirty
City Buses- if you cant stand for 1-1.5 hrs
Touts and guides

ClIcK HeRe To ViEw PiCs oF ThE tRiP (for bigger pics and greater clarity @ Webshots)

One more link for pics (small size pics @ Yahoo Photos)

Till then, have fun guys.......
Sayonara!!!!

Orkut Delhi Meet II - Collage

2005-08-16T22:21:00.000-07:00

Orkut Delhi Meet, originally uploaded by deeps79.

You can use Picassa Collage tool to generate it.

Orkut Delhi Meet - II

2005-08-05T04:01:00.000-07:00

How can you like talking and meeting strangers all the time?

One of my friends always put this question in front of me, whenever we talk about networking sites like Ryze and Orkut. My reply is always same; there are so many interesting people in world and this is just one of medium to know them. What’s wrong in knowing more people and really making some good friends in process. Though I agree that these sites have become more or less a friendship site where guys and gals are looking for bf and gf . But still if you want, they can let you find some really interesting people with same hobbies, passion and work area like yours. I am saying this cuz maybe I have been quite lucky and found some really great people on both the sites. With them, I can discuss a lot on photography, stocks, books, music and even the current fav. past time Sudoku.

Two weeks back, I was in Delhi after 6 months. How much I long for being there, only god knows…..anyways one of the high points of this trip was meeting some really good people in “Orkut Delhi Meet II’. Though we have been talking on orkut for a long time, this was the first time; I was meeting them in person. Already one meet has taken place, so few people knew each other. I was excited but not apprehensive about it as most of the people are. I was looking forward to it. In fact, I only initiated the second meet around one month back (Now you can see, why I was so excited about it). Though a lot of people said that they will join in, I was expecting around 10. After lot of deliberation on the meeting place, we decided for CCD (Café Coffee Day) at CP. CP being a central area was easily accessible to everyone and now with Metro reaching it, it was easy for people coming from North and North-West Delhi.

So armed with camera (Can’t go without it, everyone would have killed me) I started from home and went to South Ext first. Checked out Adidas Sale for Shoes but I didn’t liked the one I tried cuz of too much of Red in sole. That made me late for the meet at 4pm. So I had to rush to CP and finally reached CCD at 4:20 pm. Guys park your car at Palika Parking at CP, Its much more safe and organized than on road parking sites there. Being Saturday, CCD was full and with an inquisitive look I was inside the café, looking for some familiar faces (I have seen just face pics of people) For first few seconds, nothing registered me and then I identified Aseem. He was sitting on a sofa at ground floor along with two guys. At the same time, they also identified me (maybe cuz of my big camera bag :) )

So here are

Aseem: Working at a KPO in Gurgaon and staying near CP

Bhaskar: A student of Final year Engg. at NSIT and staying in Rohini.

Akshay: Chennai Dude (temporary) Studying in IIT-Madras and staying at Rohini.

So, just 4 of us and after a initial round of introduction, Aseem gave us a update on Prashant and Nisha. Nisha unfortunately wasn't able to join us cuz of some function at her home. I was looking forward to meet her, specially from whatever I have heard from ODM1 and also cuz she likes Bombay more than Delhi (you wont find many Delhites, who like Bombay, I am one of them) After 10 mins, Prashant joined us, he got late while fixing something in his Car (Radha-Red Palio Sports) at Lajpat Nagar.

We pooled in our money to avoid any confusion and as Prashant says, they made me the munshiji to handle finances for the whole day. I had taken my lunch (my fav. Gobhi Paranthas) so just had my usual Tropical Iceberg. Aseem told us about his experiences with Coffee Bars and I chipped in with my experience of doing a marketing project on Barista at the time of MBA. Soon afterwards Bharti and her friend Rahul Joined her.

So here is the rest of the group

Prashant: Working with IBM (Bharti Project) and staying in Noida

Bharti: Just passed out from SPA and planning to give GRE

Rahul: An MBA and planning to join Indian Army

It was a small group and it was perfect cuz we all could share and talk on various topics without dividing into smaller groups. I took out my digicam and that was what everyone was waiting for (Can u imagine, 7 people- 2 Digicam, 1 SLR and 1 Camera Phone) so, it was obvious that most of the conversation was about cameras and photography. For a long time, everyone was waiting to get a look at my digicam and that’s what happened. Everyone trying their hands on my Panasonic FZ20 and its amazing zoom capabilities and it resulted into more of a photography session. Few experiments and lots of Photographs later talks shifted to some other topics. We discussed on GRE, various fields in Architecture and career in it etc. After a second round of drinks, We thought of moving to a more quiet place and went to Pragati Maidan by Prashant's Radha (Palio). Bharti and Rahul had to go somewhere, so only 5 of us were left. Its been a long time, since I have been to Pragati Maidan, so that was a great idea from Prashant and after parking the car, we sat there and looked at Prashant’s latest Trekking pics. The pics were amazing, and how much I wished that I can come back to delhi and trek in Himalayas regularly. A show by “Euphoria” was going to take place at Pragati Maidan but we decided to come back to CP and have something, so went to Café 100 had some cocktails and mocktails. In between, we had a good discussion on condition of Bangalore, Chennai as IT hubs, Delhi being touted as the rape city and Salman Khan’s case. After spending a good one hour out there over drinks and snacks we decided to move back to our home.

So that was all about the meet. It was a great experience, just in one meet , you meet lots of intresting people. My take on these meetings is to just go out, meet people and enjoy. I am sure more people will join us next time at the time of Diwali.

Here are the pics of the meet

It was fun to meet to meet everyone and these are my feelings after the meet.

Bhaskar & Akshay : Interacted with them for first time here and it was pleasure knowing them. All the best for their placements and guys you both gonna treat me, when you will be placed.

Rahul: One quiet guy, maybe cuz he didn’t knew anyone well. But I really admire him for choosing Army even after doing MBA. You don’t see people joining army after completing MBA.

Aseem : One hell of intresting guy, I believe he is the most frequented guy among various comunity meetings, very jovial and has a good knack of telling stories and experiences, exactly like his pic on orkut.

Bharti: She is talented and knows her area (Architechture) very well, Always smiling and chirpy kind of gal and she is not as mature as she looks from her pic on orkut. I believe I deserve a treat now Ms. :)

Prashant: We share few of the hobbies like photography, traveling, trekking and driving. Infact we both are passionate about all these, so it was great meeting him after exchanging lots of scraps on orkut. Just waiting for the time, when we can go on some trip together. I envy u yar….for all the trip u can make out there :)

Hope to see each of them at the time of Orkut Delhi Meet 3 ..........
Cheers !!!

Back to Blogging........

2005-08-05T02:16:00.000-07:00

Long time since I wrote anything on my blog. The primary reason for this is of course loads of work at office but I also accept that I have been little lazy to write anything on my page. Though I have a comp at home and if I wanted I could have written from there but somehow I think the best time to write blog is from office. You see, utilizing your time fully ………

A lot happened in between, went to home (Delhi) for about 10 days in mid July, got a salary hike, made some good friends and met few old and few new in Delhi and I am still looking for a good job outside Chennai. Somehow or the other, all the offers I have been getting till now are from Chennai, Bang and Pune. But, I am looking for Delhi or Bombay only……lets see when the fate decides in my favor. I have no reasons to give………maybe just cuz I am big city man J Delhi is of course home and most of my friend circle is there and Bombay is one city I really like a lot. Though both the cities have their own demons to fight with, in past few days.

What happened on 26/7 was terrible. It proved the fact that how much we progress, we need the blessings of someone above us to survive in this world. Never in my dreams, I thought of Bombay facing floods. The gravity of problem was not so visible initially to us people in other cities but gradually the images being shown on TV portrayed the true situation. The irony was that the whole India knew what’s happening in Bombay but the people of Bombay had no idea about what’s happening in other parts. Everyone was just going on in hope that next area would have been in better shape. My Uncle started from IOC office at 4 on 26th and reached Powai – Hiranandani next day at 11. With no way to contact the family and friends out there, people outside Bombay were as helpless as they can be. A lot has been written on what all happened that day but I wish that the people like us should take equal responsibility along with Civic administration for devastation caused by rains in Bombay. If only we treat our colonies and roads as our home by not polluting and fight for our rights with BMC and other administration agencies, the problem wouldn’t have been so severe. We need to forget the “chalta hai” attitude and made our polticians and govt realize the basic infrastructure needs for the society.

Coming back to NCR (Delhi), Gurgaon was in news for all wrong reasons. Though what happened at Honda factory was atrocious but why are we blaming the Police for that? For more on the story do read blog of a friend at

http://nikhilgurjar.blogspot.com/2005/07/uncomfortable-questions-ii-gurgaon.html

My thoughts are exactly same and don’t have much to add on to it.

Even after this, I still consider both the cities to be the best in India to live. Bombay has a spirit which no other city can match and Delhi has the best infrastructure and city planning in country.

Cheers to both Delhi and Bombay……..

Chennai - Turning into another Bangalore

2005-06-06T02:43:00.000-07:00

Last night I was reading an article in Hindu about "Chennai is a good city for anyone to settle in" and it gave many reasons for the same. There were few comments from different people too about how good this city is. Another point which is being highly highlighted these days is the number of IT companies, which are moving to Chennai to open up the operations. There is Infy, Wipro, TCS, Patni, Xansa, CTS, HCL and soon the likes of Accenture would be opening up centre out here. In fact after Bangalore, Infy has the biggest centre in Chennai and Accenture would be opening its biggest centre out here. As for other companies they are too having quite a huge numbers of employees here at Chennai Development centre. So if you are in IT, the place to be is Chennai right now.

Ok, enough of that, lets face some truth out here. I have been staying in Chennai for 1 year now. So, how has been my stay like? Well, work kept me busy. Maybe that’s why the year went like a whirlwind. But apart from that, I won’t say it was ok kind of yr....in fact to put it in simple way, it was one bad year. I know people who like Chennai or anyone who has been born and brought up here would hate me after reading next few lines. Let’s start with:

Things I like about Chennai:-
Beach and Sea
Good restaurants
Culturally very strong……….
Good retail chain of shops like foodworld, Subhiksha….etc.
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Yeah nothing more to write about. I have tried a lot to love something out here but somehow or the other my experiences here never let me do it. This city can really test your patience. I have been to many places all across India but haven’t seen such a water problem anywhere. For drinking you have to use bottled water only and it’s a big business out here...totally in hands of politicians, maybe that’s why this problem is continuing for ages. It’s a big cash cow for the politicians out here and instead of doing something; they are always having arguments within themselves over it. The water from which you take bath is hard and salty resulting into loss of hair and taking all the softness out of it. In a recent report in The Hindu last month, it was reported that Sea water has entered and mixed with the ground water, making it more hard and salty. Talking about weather, better not to say anything. There are three kinds of climate here “Hot-Hotter- Hottest”. There is hardly any entertainment options, just one multiplex ( for Hindi and English) which is poor cousin of Adlabs or PVRs....no places to shop unless you fancy Pallika bazar type Spencer Plaza or 5 story high saree shops of T. Nagar.

I wont be including Food and Language into it because every city and state has its own identity and these two (food and lang.) are integral part of it. Of course for someone who is coming from North India, it’s a big problem but that’s not what I am discussing out here. Though it’s tough, I agree.

But what irritates me most is the unprofessional nature of the city. Few instances of that:

It takes around 7 days and 5 people to put up an internet cable connection at your home which is 2 hour job anywhere.

Cable people don’t work after 6, so if everyone at your home is working and your cable stops working on Monday, then better wait till next weekend to get it alright.

These are small things but with instances like these, who would like to settle down here. Traveling in local buses is nightmare and watching movie is one hell of job out here and roads are so small that 70% of roads and flyovers here are one lane only.

So, why companies are shifting here?

1) The decision makers: People are from Tamilnadu, atleast Infy, Wipro are like that.

2) Man power: lots of engineers, there is Engg. College in every nook and corner for city. In fact its tough to get admission in normal grad courses rather than Engg. Quality of manpower : average kind but what works out here is that people don’t leave job easily. So, low attrition rate, that’s the key factor. They are happy with anything. I see people working 15 hours without complaining out here and they just want to code, nothing else. Imagine the quality of work force by this only that one of the PM asking my friend, did u take admission in IIM after passing 12th.

3) Proximity to Bangalore.

What ever companies say that better infrastructure, cheap land and so many work forces is all hogwash. If u will open up your office 20-30 kms out of city, u will surely get land cheap.

Anyway I just want to say that if the infrastructure problems are not taken care of then it will turn into another Bangalore. Already there is so much dense traffic, Chennai is not built up for that. It is almost a unplanned city totally. There is a need to move out from the city and develop something on the lines of Navi Mumbai, Noida and Gurgaon. But the eternal problem is water scarcity…….. What will happen to that ?????

PS: This is blog entry is about Chennai as a city and nothing else. So please dont read in between the lines from it.

Hazaron Khwahishen Aisi

2005-05-09T01:24:00.000-07:00

There goes another weekend in Chennai. Lots of sleep, lots to eat and 2 movies in between. If last weekend was a perfect one with visits to a Continental and a Lucknowi (yeah Chennai has few) restaurant, this was just spent in catching up all the sleep of last week and 2 wonderful movies and how can i forget - the weekend spl. Rajma Chawal.

As most of u must have noticed from the topic of this post that one of the movies was Hazaron Khwahishen Aisi. I heard about this movie around 1.5 yrs back and read its review on Indiafm.com. So after hearing a lot for past 1.5yrs, i was finally able to see it on Saturday. Thank god Sathyam people were showing it for atleast one show here in Chennai. Otherwise movies like these rarely get a place in Multiplex ( its not popular cinema and dont forget its Chennai ) The movie title makes u remember the poetic Mirza Ghalib Ghazal by Jagjit Singh and which also forms the starting of the movie by Shubha Mudgal.

"At the stroke of midnight, when the whole world has slept, we wake up into prosperity and freedom. Nehru has made a mistake in his sentence, because at midnight in India, people in New York are wide awake. "

Sounds ironical, but thats how the movie starts. It portrays the lives of 3 individuals at the time of political unrest, student movement, naxalite movement from late 60's to the end of emergency in mid 70's. A interwoven tale of three lives takes you to the time when the whole India was going through turbulent times in terms of social injustice and young people were trying to change India to a better place than it was. A gripping screenplay, excellent performances, vivid Cinematography and captivating dialogues makes it a intresting watch. In term of performances Shiny Ahuja as Power broker takes the cake. Kay Kay is good and Chitragandha Singh is brilliant, she is already being compared to Smita Patil. A must watch for everyone.

The second one was " Robots". I will be frank here, i love animation movies. Robots is a story of young inventor, who goes to the big city to make his dream come true. Nothing great in terms of plot but very well made and it keeps u engaged all the time. Few good Dialogues, few laughs and usual drama which results as a good time pass. Technically movie is brilliant. Again, something not to miss.

Oh yeah, yesterday it was turn of Mother's Day. One of the so many days that we have borrowed from West. Nothing against that but i wonder sometimes, Do we really need a day to celebrate that spcelliay, when everyone trying to come out with "how great their mothers are". Every mother is great, just cuz of the fact that God has only given them the right to bring someone in this world.
Amen !!!

The Beginning

2005-04-15T15:06:00.000-07:00

Here I am with my first post. My first entry in world of blogging. Tried lots of time to create a page of mine on any blog site but somehow or other , always stopped myself from doing that. Anyway better late than never.

So what is the hot topic out here ?
Anything and everything but more or less i know, I will be talking about my favourite topics and they are People, Relationships, Behaviour and my life ( dont expect too much on that though). Apart from that expect a lot on career and society with a dose of politics. I hope, people landing up on my page would have good time.

Have Fun
Deeps