-: Dreamer's Den! :-

Recap of 2010 & the Fresh 2011...

2011-01-15T13:05:00.000+05:30

Happy New Year 2011 and Happy Sankranti, Pongal to all!!

Hope we all have a rocking and exiting 2011 ahead...

Having missed out of the blog scene, lot of things have passed in past year of 2010 which I would like to write...
2010 - what an year of ups and downs and ups :-)
On the professional front, I changed the job from one US blue-chip major to another US blue-chip major & apparently both being strong rivals to one another...Am talking about my job change from Hewlett-Packard (HP India) to IBM India! Both are great companies to work where both of them share a great history of innovation and culture. However once inside a company and totally involved in your job, all these will take a second priority and there comes your job&role as the first priority. So my shift from the earlier Services based / project based job role to the current Labs which involve product development & support...A better long-term view than that of a short-term :-)

One more interesting fact is IBM is going to complete its 100 years of existence...yes!! 2011 is the Centennial year of IBM and this great D-Day is on June 16th 2011!! Amazing to see that a Technology company completes 100 years of existence and still counting.... All thanks to the great leadership, management, culture of this organization!!

And from my perspective, this is the difference (and a major one!) between HP and IBM...HP does not have a 'in-built' CEO as compared to IBM...Mr. Sam Palmisano is a 37year old rich veteran of IBM and he understands the in&out of this company and is a great example of a good leader adored by everyone in the company. He knows the roots of the company and has taken IBM to a very high position. This is what HP lacks - they just bring in a new person as CEO from outside, who does not know & feel the roots of the company and the culture and that new person will start ruling the company with his own set of experience from previous organizations - sometimes this might work and sometimes not & unfortunately, in HP's case, this has always gone wrong...not once, but twice and even now for third time!! Just count Carly Fiorina, Mark Hurd and now, Leo Apothekar...all in the past 10 years! ah..and every person is unique and wants to establish their name...sometimes at the cost of other people & even a company!! Its just a matter of time to wait & watch for what 2011 and beyond is about...

Keeping it short for my professional change, on personal side, my brother is now a full-fledged Karnataka state registered Medical Practitioner aka shortly called as Doctor!! :-) He successfully completed his MBBS with flying colors and couple of awards (3rd year College topper + ENT subject top scorer in the college) and right now he is in the way of finding a good Post-graduate seat in a good college in this country...And man! this is too tough a job compared to his entire 5years MBBS degree!! There is so much competition outside and the supply-demand ratio is too pathetic to look at...I can put this number as 1:1000 (or may be more) where 1000 students are fighting it out for 1 seat!!! Icing on the cake is these PG exams are not only attended by the current passed-out batch students but also their 2,3,4 years seniors...which obviously makes the race much tough...:-( I hope somebody at the top (medical council) take some steps to enhance the quality and bring down the ratio and make the seats available for the deserved! I just hope my brother's efforts result in a very fruitful seat in Q1 of 2011!

And now, one of the major news of 2010/2011 is what my family (and of course, myself & my wife) were waiting to hear from past 1.5 years...this topic had put us and my family
in lot of emotional, mental, physical and last, but never the least, financial challenge...hence I say 2010 is not only about many ups but its about many downs also :-( Finally, in the last couple of weeks of 2010, I could see a light at the end of the dark tunnel and yeah, its about the arrival of the very very youngest member in my family...:-) My wife is carrying this little gem and some months down the lane of 2011 should welcome this innocent gem...'taare zameen par' :-))

hmmm...guess its lots for now to cover up/recap the 2010 which has gone by and welcome this new 2011 with lot of bright and fresh hopes & good 'super' time...:-)

PS. Later will talk about some exceptionally good movies of 2010, especially some Kannada ones, which is quite a rarity in today's times...and not to miss the ever-good and growing quality Tamil films...

Till then, Cheers and Keep Smiling :-)

I will be back soon...

2010-12-24T14:08:00.000+05:30

I WILL BE BACK VERY VERY VERY SOON....

AND

I like it....

I like it..

I like it....

{All in Uppi style :-)}

Its been months, rather, close to an year that I have not blogged...Dont ask me why as their were lot of reasons and one prime reason, always, to escape is that "didnt have enuf time"...but no way, I wont say that :-) Coz though I had time, lot of stuff in mind took priority and this got skipped...But I am sure that I will retain this moment of coming back and will start blogging...starting with some general updates that has been missed to come out of me from past 10months :-)

Till then...have a SUPER time :-)

2010 - The Year of Many Firsts!

2010-02-23T14:13:00.000+05:30

Year 2010 will be an year of many Firsts to me!

Here are almost all thatz crossing my mind now...

First year of my fave Indica Xeta Car...

First year of my brother's Thread ceremony...

First year of my first-time Eye Operation...

First year of my Dad's Operation...

First year of my Mom's Operation...

First year of my second-time Eye Operation...

First year of my Sydney trip :-)

I guess no one will be having so many 'Firsts' to their credit! :O)

AVATAR: Technology Explored to Limits!

2010-02-12T13:54:00.000+05:30

Yesterday had been to the sci-fi movie thriller "AVATAR" by James Cameron. Initially over the past 1-1.5 months when the movie made news, I thought its just yet another hype movie and had neglected to watch this movie.

But yesterday I realized that I had made a mistake in 'neglecting' this movie coz I watched this movie yesterday with 2 of my friends (totally, we were '3 idiots') and the one-word which can describe this movie is 'mindblowing'!!

The kind of creativity which has gone in, the kind of technology used, the amount and varieties of colors used is so beautiful that you will just be telling 'wow' thru out the movie! :-)

This movie is technologically the best, atleast for next 2-3 years...the amount of creativity gone in to bring out this movie is amazing...i recommend every one to go and watch and enjoy this superb, fantastic and mindblowing movie!!

The Bus Day Saga

2010-02-07T10:10:00.000+05:30

The 1st 'Bus Day' @ Bangalore was 'celebrated' with lot of hype and hoopla on 04-Feb-2010. I am always a supporter to take the bus to your work - let it be our BMTC or the company provided transport.

BMTC's Volvos are lot better than any company buses in terms of cost, comfort and connectivity! (though sometimes you don't get it when you need :-))

From my personal experience, I take my company provided transport, which uses Swaraj Mazda vehicles, Tata Starbus and Big buses. None of them are Air-Conditioned (A/C) which Volvo's has an upper hand, especially during Summer periods. Also, sometimes I need to / like to work / surf when I sit in my bus, which I can comfortably do in Volvo's compared to any of my company provided transport. The Volvo's shock absorption is so good that any humps/potholes (never to go away in Bangalore!) does not affect you and you can easily and happily keep working/typing in the laptop. The same thing in my company provided transport sucks! Sometimes my laptop screen goes down flat 180degrees when my bus goes over a hump/pothole!

So coming back to the 'Bus Day' - its a new concept which I liked and I hoped that many people will hop on to buses, atleast on that day. The reason am saying is daily I see approx 500+ cars (or even more!) and 1000+ 2-wheelers parked in the distributed parking in my company campus. To give another picture, Infosys has a multi-level car park which can accommodate close to 1500 cars! So given this high amount of car users to office, i some times think about the fuel consumption, the traffic, the pollution and other factors created by these many people! Even though company provides buses at many regular intervals, I dont know why so huge numbers have to take their cars out shelling more money for themselves + contributing the pollution and traffic to the already-choked Bangalore roads. The company provided transport is not for some employess but to all! Why dont they take bus instead? Should the companies come up with some strict plans to 'advise' them to take buses and create a better atmosphere?

In this aspect, 'Bus Day' could not capture much people since I saw around 80% of the amount of cars and 2-wheelers I see daily on that day. Its an individual's thinking and equal responsibility to the environment that should make him/her to leave the cars/2-wheelers and take buses. Saving fuel and conserving the nature and its resources should be the prime target and everybody's responsibility. Wish companies will take some strict measures to bring in some discipline and care towards nature and thus for our future generations!

If 2009 Was Not Good, Early 2010 is No Better!

2010-01-07T09:16:00.001+05:30

Just back from my aunt's house (my father's 2nd younger sister) but this time the tragedy is my aunt is no more with us! Yesterday midnight got a call and we all went in a state of heavy shock! That is why I thought if 2009 was not a good year for my family, 2010 starting is getting no better...

This news about my aunt's death was so unfortunate and untimely death that it has shocked the entire family. Nobody expected this death, so soon, and this is not an age for death...less than 50 years with only one daughter and she is yet to get married!

My other relatives who were next to her during her last moments told that my aunt (who passed away) was telling that 'somebody is calling and i need to get ready and go' and within some time, she took her last breath!!! It is so unexplained and unimaginable that you can see and hear death when it is approaching you...

Dont understand why so-called god takes away good people and leaves us with all filthy and crooked people who are of no use :-(

I wish my aunt's divine soul will Rest In Peace and hope god gives courage to her husband and her daughter in these tough times and in future...

Sad Ending to 2009

2009-12-30T11:16:00.001+05:30

2009 ending was not predicted this way, not in any wildest of dreams by any Kannada person.

Yesterday 29-Dec-2009 C.Ashwath the legendary Kannada singer passed away. Very (un)fortunate and very rare to find any person's death date = birth date and Late Ashwath became an example to prove this. 29-Dec-1939 to 29-Dec-2009 :: Let his divine soul Rest In Peace and let his 'kanchina kanTa' (Bronze voice - because of the high pitch singing which Ashwath used to carry on so well and people would be waiting to hear that!) enthrall the gods in heaven!

Just 12 hours after his cremation and people still in shock with Late Ashwath's death, there came another major blow and shock to the people. Dr. Vishnuvardhan, the legendary and leading Kannada film industry superstar passed away in Mysore @ 0230hrs this morning (30-Dec-2009). As of now, his body has been kept in a huge ground where people are paying their respects and in the evening, he will be cremated with State honors. 18-Sep-1950 to 30-Dec-2009 :: Let his divine soul Rest In Peace.

Less than 48hrs to go to welcome 2010 and say bye to 2009 but its been a real sad ending of this year. Wish and Hope everybody will be fine to see 2010 and there will be no more shockers like this in the next 48hrs!

Back 2 Life @ Namma BLR :)

2009-12-27T16:03:00.003+05:30

Starting of this month, had to say goodbye to Sydney where I spent nearly 2 months in this visit and more than quarter of this year in the city! Saying bye was getting difficult as the departure date came closer but unfortunately had to...Wish I could have stayed till New Year day when Sydney would be the first city to Welcome 2010 with its amazing fireworks in Sydney Harbour Bridge and Darling Harbour areas! YouTube videos of this fireworks will leave you in awe and sydney government will be spending some millions of dollars for this amazing show!! Anyways, back to namma bengaluru life now...had been to office for a week post-return and then took off for couple of weeks (and this also is getting over :-(() On the first week of my leave, my parents and my wife and myself drove to some long-pending 'temple tour'...This was the route taken and places covered. Bangalore -> Kukke Subramanya (via Sakleshpur and Shiradi Ghat) -> Southadka Ganapathi -> Dharmasthala -> Kodyadaka Hosanadu Annapoorneshwari -> Udupi Sri Krishna -> Kumbashi Aanegudde Ganapathi -> Kollur Mookambika -> Bangalore (via Nittur, Hosanagara, Shimoga, Tumkur) All the above places were covered in 3 days time with 1 night stay in Kukke and Upupi. Roads are pretty good in the above route except the Shiradi ghat, which is a nightmare to drive...thanks to all the corrupt people involved who just consume money and do nothing good. Otherwise, Kukke to Dharmasthala route is very enjoyable where we need to pass thru forest area and Kollur to Shimoga to Bangalore where the roads are excellent! Wish Shimoga-Bangalore road is made 4-lane just like Bangalore-Mysore SH-17 so that travel time still gets reduced. In Bengaluru, visited the ongoing 35th Nilgiri's Annual Cake Show Fun to watch and excellent effort by the people who have prepared this gigantic Taj Mahal!! Kudos to other cakes too :-) But only the sad part is that all the prices have gone high, infact double of last year....You can feel the pinch right from the entry ticket price, which was Rs 20/- last year and this year, its Rs 40/-. Some of the eatables stalls outside the cake show possess the same trend. Rs 20/- for chat items (Rs 10/- last year), Rs 20/- for Delhi Mega size papad (last year Rs 10/-) and many more!!

Loooong time of Blogging...

2009-11-26T06:24:00.002+05:30

Somehow, somehow, somehow....I could not blog though I wanted to...sometimes it would be either time constraint or lack of interest or having logged into the blog page, something pops up and distracts.... Anyways, update from past weeks is that I am in Sydney, Australia and its been now 5 weeks away from home...miss all my folks except my better half who is with me :-) 2 more weeks to go before I re-join my folks :-) More later...Will surely blog...

Year Of Surgeries!

2009-09-08T12:04:00.003+05:30

This year, for my family, I can term it as Year Of Surgeries!! The reason being this year saw 4 surgeries till date in my family including myself. I just hope and wish that there will be no more surgeries for anybody in the future! Starting from February this year where I was operated for Retinal Detachment (RD) surgery (a major one), my father got operated for the prostrate removal (major again) in April, followed by my mother on the table for a benign Lipoma (fat deposit) removal just a fortnight back and the 4th one and the latest being mine (yes, again!), a 1.5hours left eye surgery to remove the Silicone Oil plus the correction for Cataract using 'Phaco Emulsification' technique...just yesterday morning!! Fortunately my parents and myself are doing fine post-surgery (I am on a week's leave right now) but I believe this is too much for a family in just 9 months!! But if I think bit deeper, as per my principle, "whatever happens, it happens for good", all these are happening for a good tomorrow and not for a bad suffering tomorrow...right? :-) Another complimentary thing is that I have effectively and genuinely utilized the Medical Insurance amount (I paid INR 7500 per parent this year!) for my parents surgery and for mine too! Thanks a ton for this insurance which saved me nearly INR 1 Lac!! But nothing is precious than the health and I would mind spending more for the well-being :-) No doubt, "Year Of Surgeries" is an apt title for my family this year :O)

Books and More Books...

2009-09-08T08:36:00.003+05:30

I am enjoying this book reading to the core...From the previous post where I mentioned about completing "The HP Way" and "The Toyota Way", I started reading couple of books related to Management! I dream and love to be in the management role and wish my dreams come true...:-) I want to be a Leader more than a Manager :-) Related to this and to understand more of Management wrt Software, I am into the PMP Preparation Guide Fifth Edition by Rita Mulcahy. (PMP = Project Management Professional) This book really gives insight on what goes into a 'real' project management and its processes. I am feeling that rarely we achieve 50% of the actual PM process!! But anyways, for me this book is a good bible to find out the in-and-out of a good project management process and wish I can start adopting them in the near future!

My All Time Fave: Back to Books...

2009-08-07T15:05:00.005+05:30

Last month I got back / resumed my favorite activity - Reading! :-) Till last month, since I was working from a different location which required commutation to the office in my own vehicle, I had lost time to devote on my fave activity - This has happened from past 3 years but now, after coming back from Sydney in June mid, I have a chance of resuming Reading. The primary reason being my office location got changed and now I have to commute by company bus and the best part is I get nearly 45mins time in morning and 60mins time in evening - dedicated to Reading! Hurray !! :-)) From last month, I was reading one of the good monthly magazines in India - Reader's Digest (RD India) {March to July series} which fills in lot of knowledge to your mind - lot of things to be learnt! Post completion, I read "The HP Way" - written by one of the co-founders of Hewlett-Packard company - Mr. David Packard...Its very inspirational and tells how HP was built right from a small Garage to what it is currently! HP's ethics and some management principles are one of the best in the industry! One thing Mr. Packard didn't tell clearly in the book is the transformation from a "pure electronics" company to the leader in Computer and Printer business! I am still interested to know what all happened to so many products (nearly 400) that HP had built pre-1970 times. Being an employee, need to know my roots :-) Currently reading the book called "Toyota Way" - about how Toyota Motor company was built and how the management principles invented by Toyota can be used...Pretty interesting and right now done with the history of how Toyota evolved (actually its Mr. Toyoda who started this company)! Overall, good to be back with books...good books help you to forget the tension in life (and of the junk traffic! :-)) and improve your skills and probably invoke your thought process...

Debue Drive To Mysore...

2009-06-29T09:26:00.004+05:30

Yesterday we (my family) decided to go to Mysore and come back in evening...It had been a long time and long pending visit to my favorite city :-) Also this visit was by our car and for the first time we were taking our car to a long drive!! So, we started in the morning and my brother drove till Channapatna, where we gave a break for our tummy's :) Then, for the first time I took position in the driver's seat to fulfill my long pending wish of driving on this beautiful road...I drove and pushed my dear car to the max of 120 (could of gone further but my parents resisted me for going :-)) in the Maddur-Mandya stretch...The most lovable stretch is from post Mandya to Srirangapatna...road is good so is the view and the drive :) Finally pre-Mysore, my brother took over again and drove inside the city. While coming back, I again drove from Mandya to Channapatna but could not go beyond 100 as traffic was pretty high at that time :-( Overall, good experience, good drive in a good car and had a good day! :-)

RIP MJ...

2009-06-26T08:58:00.005+05:30

Today it will be marked as THE sad day in the history of world music....The "King of Pop" MJ death has brought so much sadness to millions of his fans, thruout the world...count me in that..:-(( It is so difficult to build an image like his,who is followed by millions across the world...forget the religion and language..the only language his fans know is the pop music by this icon! He has written such a history which can never be forgotten for the many many years to come... My all time favorite will be "Stranger in Moscow", "Remember the time", "Jam", "Thriller",....list will not end so easily.... God should not have cheated MJ and his fans like this...MJ, still 50, deserved lot of life ahead with his planned comeback but...:-( Anyways, the world has to move on...but this will be a very sad day in the music history! RIP MJ, you are always the King of Pop, yesterday - today - tomorrow and years to come...

Melbourne Attacks Does Not Make Aussie Bad

2009-06-08T16:55:00.002+05:30

This is purely my personal opinion and does not reflect anything to anybody! I am on business to Aussie and my deep and heartful condolences to my fellow Indians who are in the troubled times. I too condemn the attacks, I join the protest to treat everybody fair without any racism. But this alone, Melbourne attacks, does not make Aussie bad. Its a very good country and the people here are so nice and helpful. There are always good and bad people in this world - in India, in Aussie and everywhere! So a bad element making this stupid junk stuff happening does not make this country bad. I have traveled lone to many places here and the people around are so helpful and nice. They will guide you if you need and respect you as any other person! Infact, they like Indian food and know couple of Indian places!! Today afternoon, in ABC television, two Aussies were discussing the "Onion Bhaji" (bhajji) - one of the favourite South indian snack!! I know some Aussie people who only say this is act of stupidity and they feel bad for the Indians who got attacked. So all in all, aussie is not a bad place at all..infact its wonderful place with lot of greenery gifted with unpolluted air and quality life!

Fantastic Long Weekend!

2009-06-08T16:31:00.004+05:30

Had this long weekend ending today and thanks to the Queen here, due to her we got a holiday today (June 8) - Happy Birthday Queen! I had a fantastic weekend, starting from Saturday...Lucky me as the weather here in SYD co-operated with me to be too good with all blue sky! :-) On Saturday, went to a suburb in Sydney called Parramatta...Access is thru Rail, Road and Ferry. I chose ferry which takes 50 minutes to reach this suburb. Super it was and I enjoyed the ride to and fro...About Parramatta, it is a nice place to have a one-day visit...a huge park and a huge shopping mall (supposed to be the largest in Aussie, some time back!) The snaps of the same are uploaded in my photo share @ Snapfish; The URL is: http://www2.snapfish.in/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=1053264013/a=100718913_100718913/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/ All access requires authentication; here are the credentials to use: username: pradeep.guests@gmail.com password: password On Sunday, went to the much awaited and long planned "Blue Mountains". This place is 110 kms from Syndey in a village called Katoomba. Accessible by Inter city trains from Sydney, it takes 2 hours to reach this beautiful place. Had a memorable day here... Snaps @ http://www2.snapfish.in/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=1065385013/a=100718913_100718913/ Finally today, didnt go out anywhere except for a walk in evening which ended up being an exiting walk! I walked on the Sydney Harbour Bridge and it was an amazing view from the bridge. It was a nice feeling to be on this world renowned bridge and viewing the world heritage beautiful Opera House. Snaps @ http://www2.snapfish.in/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=1080067013/a=100718913_100718913/ Hope the snaps are all enjoyable! Happy Viewing :-)

In Sydney

2009-05-22T06:55:00.002+05:30

AM back to the Harbour city of Sydney and staying in the same place as before..Darling Harbour area!! Winter is in strong force here with occasional rains...very cool outside and very romantic weather out here...(miss you Ro!) Day is very short here...starts at 7am + in morning and ends by 5pm itself..post 5pm, it gets pretty dark and cloudy with lot of rains (some days)!! Overall, weather wise I am enjoying a lot (and hate the blr weather right now!) but missing my dear and my family...anyways 3 more weeks to go :-)

Marriage Anniversary Day and Birthday at home..after a gap!

2009-05-10T10:39:00.004+05:30

I like the may month very much...reason being its the month with many important days, starting from my parents Wedding day to My wedding day to My birthday to My wife birthday to my father's birthday!!! lots right?? :-) But this time, My wedding day (04-may) and my birthday (today, 10-may!) is special as we are celebrating it in the family this year!! Last year my parents missed my wedding day as me and my wife were out in Dubai and we celebrated it on our own! So, my 2nd year of wedding day could not be missed this time as we are around with my family... With respect to my birthday, last 3 years I have been out of Bengaluru and missed my family on this day...1st miss was when I was in Mumbai for a project from iGate, 2nd miss was my HoneyMoon with my honey! and 3rd miss was Dubai, again with my honey only :-) So this time, my parents and my brother are very happy that I am around...nothing great celebration as such but the presense is more than any celebration...:-) I was gifted with a gold chain from my wife on this important day and I gifted her a gold ring for my wedding day...wish god gives us this happiness for years and years to come....

Back to reality and life!

2009-05-09T14:41:00.002+05:30

Bit long time gap between this and my previous blog...hmmmm...sometimes it so happens that you want to write/blog but you cannot do it...:-( Anyways, here is some of my updates from the last 10 days! :-) As my post title indicates, I am back to the reality and back with my life...in namma bengaluru :-) Flew back from Sydney on Sunday 26th April (supposed to be on 1st or 2nd may but some last minute changes forced us to travel earlier...our tickets were preponed and reconfirmation was available only on thursday evening!) Prior to our travel on Friday evening, we (with 5 of my colleagues who had travelled) went to watch a 3D film in the World's Largest 3D Screen!! This screen is in IMax, Darling Harbour - 10 minutes walk from where we had stayed. The show was about an underwater exploration for 45 minutes and narrated by Jim Carrey! It was a very nice experience and a awesome huge screen!! On Saturday, we planned and went to the most famous beach in Sydney called the Bondi Beach! Bondi is a suburb in Sydney and the water here is very pure and crystal clear and so the coastline. Making this beach more famous is the baywatch style rescue people and the topless sun-bathers :O) You can watch the 'Bondi Rescue' TV series that is shown in National Geographic channel, very often. Their is a bondi walk path that runs along the bondi beach, which is really enjoyable and so unique...This walk path connects to another beach nearby called the Tamarama beach, which is a suburb of Sydney. We all walked for nearly 45 minutes enjoying the spectacular view of the beach, the coastline and the horizon! Later, we traced back our path and then came back to our hotel by evening. Sydney underground metro had to be taken to reach to this beach from the CBD - Town Hall station. Back here, work is on full swing, where the design phase for which we went is being wrapped up and we now entering the build phase of the project. Another interesting but sad turn to our work is that we have now moved to our EC Campus and vacated our good old Al-Kareem facility :-( So, 1 hour in morning and 1 hour in evening commutation has started :-(( In one sense good, start early, come back early...and more than that, nothing is in our hand...whatever management says, need to obey them :-)

Having a good time...

2009-04-16T06:57:00.002+05:30

In Sydney now, from past 3 days...but I could not get connect to internet for 2 reasons. 1) its pretty costly at hotel to get a daily net connection {damn them, they dont give net connection for free, unlike Dubai :-((} 2) at office, there were some issues to get net access to all of us here... Now, atleast in office, I am connected to the world and so this blog..:-) Its been a good time here...good place and city, staying in the heart of the city (Darling Harbour) - Harbourside, good hotel accommodation, superb weather (cool and windy), 10mins walk to office, good food (thanks to my colleagues who cook one or the other every day for dinner) Above all, I am taking a good 45 mins walk every morning..6.30 to 7.15am! its so nice.. Not yet explored much in this 'Harbour City' but looking forward for this weekend to do so...keep looking for the posts..:-)

To the Land of Kangroos!

2009-04-08T11:25:00.003+05:30

This weekend I will be traveling to the Land of Kangroos aka to the World's Smallest continent and a country...Australia!! I will be staying in Sydney for couple of weeks on a business trip (client site) and then back here... Its the start of the winter/rainy season and the weather is a heaven compared to namma Bengaluru...But I worry if rain plays a spoil sport when we want to tour the places...:-( Work will be pretty hectic over there but overall I believe it should be a good 3 weeks break! :-) Watch this space for more info, right from Sydney!

6 years has passed by...so fast...

2009-03-29T11:29:00.005+05:30

Its been 6 years since the incident (http://deepsworld.blogspot.com/2005/03/unfogettable-29th-march.html) that gave me second innings to play in this beautiful journey called life! But on the other hand the same life made me miss my dear friend forever...:-(( Six years has passed so fast but I just cannot forget that day of 29-march-2003. When I close my eyes, everything comes in front of my eyes, the talk, the accident, the electric shock given by the doctors in a last minute attempt to save my dear friend's life and finally the death announcement...seems as though it happened just yesterday but time has passed by...I miss him so much and tears roll out when I see his snaps... Sometimes god becomes so heartless and acts without any pity to some good people...but I just pray that god to give peace and courage to the family and friends who are missing him forever... Let peace prevail...Miss you Jetty babu forever....

A month passes by...

2009-03-19T15:07:00.002+05:30

Today it is exactly 1 month that I underwent the major eye surgery! As per my latest visit to the doctor, he said Retina has attached well and things are very fine inside (the eye). Now, need to concentrate on the Cornea portion of the eye where by I need to keep it lubricated (not letting it go dry) by putting eye drops every 1 hour...So, this is in progress now :-) Otherwise, vision is still blur and hazy...Time will only tell if there is any improvement in the vision! Would like to thank the doctor, my parents, my wife, my brother and my friends and well-wishers for the ever lasting unconditional support. Special thanks to my dearest brother who is a budding doctor now; he cared me so nicely post-surgery by monitoring the time to put me eye drops, advising me of how things are coming back to normal and giving me positive assurances! Very thankful to get such a brilliant and patient doctor as my brother! :-)

Adventure and Thrill but at a not-so-good risk...

2009-03-16T10:18:00.002+05:30

Yesterday evening, we wanted to go out for a drive in our new Indica Xeta..So, we chose to take the road towards Kengeri and then enter the 'very nice' NICE (Nandhi Infrastructure Corridor) road, get something for stomach in between and come back home...

Post Kengeri, we took the left turn to enter the tolled NICE road...its an awesome privately built road for public use and have no issues in paying a mere Rs 16/- for a nice smooth pot-hole free road journey! We didnt want to take the road till Kanakapura exit as it was about to rain heavily and hence we took an exit that marked BSK Outer Ring Road (the exit point is next to PESIT college, near to my home). We happily took this exit but to our dismay, a big board after 50mtrs said 'Road Closed'!! Post this board, it was pitch dark and nothing was visible if the car headlights are not turned on...we could see some small hills ahead...So, obviously we became confused on whether to go back and join the NICE road that leads to Kanakapura exit or ask somebody and decide...

While we were thinking, two TTs (Tempo Travelers) zoomed ahead post this board towards the dark area and we waited if they will return but not...Then a car came behind us and when asked the driver, he said we can go towards the ORR exit but in between there is a mud road for some distance...Having heard this, we thought we will take chance and then we stepped on the gas towards the dark area! Giving our company was thunder, lightnings and drizzling rain...

True to what the driver said, we got a mud road just 50mtrs from the 'Road Closed' board but this was not an ordinary mud road...it was mud with stones of all sizes and adding to this was the unevenness in the road...couple of minutes on the road, given the pitch dark that surrounded us with no light except the car's headlight, we were kind of in-the-jungle atmosphere!! On either side of us were unwanted plants, small hills and pitch dark....this continued for nearly a kilometer till we found again the start of the nice road!! On one hand, it was very risky and we should not have taken this stretch at that time (now-a-days, anything can happen in city and here, its a super good deal for all baddies!!) but on the other hand (post-the road stretch) its a nice adventure and lot of thrill :-)

So dudes, please do not take this road at night times and if taken, yes, you will get super thrilled but this comes with lot of risk!!

Moonlight dinner @ TEJAS

2009-03-12T13:14:00.003+05:30

Yesterday, we (my family) did a thing for the first time (formally though) after much 'planning' from past few days! We face 1-hour of load shedding/power cut in the evening time and now-a-days, the cut happens in the apt dinner time! Daily we wane about this power cut but for yesterday it was so nice to have power cut!! :-) Adding to this 'good' stuff was the ever-bright full moon! So, these two 'good' things set the stage for our family moonlight dinner! My family super-chef, none other that Mother India prepared the most-delicious BisiBeleBath (B^3) and thick curd was there to give the 'support' :-) I had brought potato chips from a local store and thatz it...our dinner menu was ready and we were also ready to hit the terrace! We had nearly 45 minutes of dinner and it was just awesome to have in the moonlight! Even the wind was on our side, blowing some cool breezes occasionally. All-in-all the atmosphere was just perfect and nice to have a great moonlight dinner, which we will remember for a long time... BTW, you would have guessed by now where is TEJAS...Yeah, its my sweet sweet home...

A Unique Experience In My Life...

2009-03-03T14:43:00.002+05:30

I will word this as my unique experience in my life because I had never undergone this stuff earlier in my 28 years of journey called Life and I never want this to happen again in my life...I dont want this to happen to any one else also... Feb 14th will be etched in my book of life for two unique reasons - one sad and one happy! The happy part is that my first car delivery happened on this day and I was very happy for myself and my family for getting a good car (at last!). The happiness is still continuing and will be there in future also... Now, the sad part of the story is that on that morning I started experiencing a reduction in my left eye vision, something like some object has been placed in front of my eye and this is obstructing me to see clearly...I neglected this for sometime thinking that my normal drops will solve this issue but till evening even after many rounds of eye drops, the problem still existed...Then I rushed to a nearby eye clinic where dilatation process was done to my eyes (dilatation -> eye drops to the eyes which will ease all the muscles inside thus enabling the doctor to check the interior of our eyes clearly!) The doctor gave me a shocking news that there is a major problem in my eye where in the retina of my left eye has got detached and this requires a surgery ASAP!! As he didn't handle retina surgery, the doctor referred us to another good well-known Retina surgeon, who again confirmed the same. My family including myself were all in a state of shock hearing this news as my past 28 years had been smooth without any major troubles but suddenly a major surgery? Took some time to digest this news... On Feb 19th 2009, the surgery was done and took a marathon 2.0 hours for the operation! The doctor, who is no less than the god to me, termed the surgery as one of the major and complex surgeries he has faced! Apparently retina had 4 holes into which the Vitreous fluid had seeped in that had caused the detachment! Also, blood had entered the holes and a clot had happened, which added to the complexity in the surgery. So, the doctor had to remove the fluid and the blood clot, insert Silicone oil, use liquid Nitrogen (Cryo) to heal the holes, use Laser to fix the holes and use Scleral buckles to hold my sclera intact! 1 week of head-down position was advised most of the times including sleep so that the oil gently sets into the holes and make room for good patching. It was a pretty tough time, right from the surgery table till the 1 week post operation. Now, things are slowly getting back on track and the doctor (my demi-god) has told that the Retina has well attached to the eye/sclera and no need to worry. But getting back my vision will take some more time like 4-6 weeks and I am just waiting for the same... Really a unique journey in the past 10 days of my life...I pray god not to give this experience to anybody else...let all be fine and happy....:-)

Unvieling the new member...

2009-02-17T12:48:00.001+05:30

And here I present the new member of our family!!

The all new Silver Colored Indica Xeta Petrol GLS!!!

How is it?? :-)

New member to our family!!

2009-02-13T14:37:00.001+05:30

Guess this...A new member will be coming to join our family and this will be happening either today or latest by Monday :-) Keep watching out for the unveiling of this new member here...very soon!! :-)

3 years and still rocking...

2009-01-28T09:22:00.002+05:30

Today, my blog turns 3 years old with 220 posts to its kitty :-)

!!! Happy Birthday my dear blog !!!

This blog has given me the power to express my views and harness my passion to write! Would thank Google for giving us this simple yet great blogging area...

Two Too Good Movies For Republic Day Weekend!

2009-01-27T09:45:00.002+05:30

This 60th year Republic Day gave us an extended weekend as it was on Monday. Even the partial Solar Eclipse happened yesterday, which was good in one sense - that we were bound to stay at home during the day time! So, to make good use of the time :-) we rented DVDs of two very good movies, which the second half of 2008 saw! The movies are: 'Vaaranam Aayiram' (Tamil) and 'A Wednesday' (Hindi). 'Vaaranam Aayiram' is a very family oriented story (more of a father-son relationship and friendship) with lot of sweet romance added! This film is worth the watch and Surya is superb in both his roles as a father and son also! Sameera Reddy, Ramya (Tamil name: Divya Spandana) and Simran add good value for their respective roles. Overall excellent family movie to watch! 'A Wednesday' is yet another excellent superb 1hr 40mins movie to watch. Its about a fight of a common man post the Mumbai blasts and how our Indian system is vulnerable to any attacks, by anybody!! Naseerudin Shah, Anupam Kher, Jimmy Shergill (surprise!) and other crew members have done really well, Shah and Kher being the toppers!! One more sensible and worth watching film, in the middle of all these stupid, non-sense films!

Operation Honey-Bee!

2009-01-22T09:40:00.003+05:30

Yesterday evening, there were some uninvited guests in my home. They were everywhere, in the living area, in dining area, kitchen, bedrooms and portico (thank god, bathroom was excluded! :O) These guests were none but the sweet Honey Bee's, which can never be sweet if they are in an attacking mode! No idea from where it came, they were all in my house, numbering 10-12!!! We started our 'Operation Honey-Bee' by first closing all the windows and doors of the house and slowly one-by-one tried to clear them off...After nearly 30 minutes of the operation, we declared the house was now safe (and so we all!)...My wife leading the numbers!! Before declaring 'All Clear' (ha ha) I was going to each and every area and scanning each corner of the wall...I was feeling as though I was counter-attacking a terrorist hidden somewhere in my house!! Anyways, it was a good experience! :-)

'Prakruthi' amidst Prakruthi :-)

2009-01-20T14:20:00.005+05:30

Confusing title right?? :-) Let me explain...On Sunday evening, we (my wife and myself) planned to visit the Cubbon Park after a very long gap! So we went to this park by 1630hrs and by the time we parked the vehicle and walked down to one of the main areas of the park (Cubbon Band Stand) it was 1645hrs. We knew that every Sunday at 1700hrs, there will be light music from a music group called "Prakruthi" backed by the Asianet - Suvarna Kannada TV channel and here we were there in front of the band stand, right on time, where the stage was being set to start the program. My wife insisted to sit there but I was bit reluctant as I was feeling not-so-interested for the program. But when the program started, I got some interest to be there and listen to the music...Guess what made me interest to be there?? It was this announcement: two Japanese folks from the renowned Toyoto-Kirloskar Motors, Bidadi plant (Bangalore) were going to sing kannada songs and that too near perfection! :-) Yes! Jappu people singing kannada songs!! I had heard about this in some news couple of months back but now, it was the time to see there real action! The program started and there were two lean Japanese 'san's on the stage (Chiba-san and Takeshi-san -> one of them is at a GM level!) who were ready to sing the beautiful kannada songs and when it started, all were left with a wow!! They sang really well and hats off to both the guys! "Santhoshakke" (Shankar nag movie) was rendered for the 2nd time from Chiba-san upon people's request (including we both!) :-) 1.5hrs went by like that where we were enjoying every moment of it...really great of these people and thanks to the Prakruthi team to bring this amazing talent to public in the midst of the Prakruthi of Cubbon Park!

Sign Of The Times!

2009-01-18T08:37:00.004+05:30

Sign Of The Times - My Submitted photo, published in the Sunday Times Of India, Page 7! :-)

BBMP Property Tax Calculator

2009-01-08T15:37:00.001+05:30

Here you go...http://164.100.80.124/rescal/ Happy Taxing Time! :-)

Raju (of Satyam) Bangaya A Big Fraudster!!

2009-01-07T16:45:00.005+05:30

Shocking and Chilling were the two words that can describe my reaction when I started reading the letter posted on Moneycontrol website, written by the great fraudster Mr. Ramalinga Raju, the great chairman of Satyam Computers! My thoughts, calmness and patience for the employees of Satyam and especially for my very close buddy who is working in this company. This Raju guy has impacted not only Satyam folks but the whole Indian market and the Indian IT industry facing the entire world! It is a big black mark on the IT industry and now things will get much tighten where clients will demand more truth and integrity, which I think is a very huge task. Convincing people is not so easy but this has to be done...to remain in the business! Now everyone is waiting for a full investigation by the SEBI and the goverment to uncover what all *still hidden* by the Raju to this world! Hope things settle down post this and hope to see a bright light at the end of this dark tunnel!

Snaps from Hampi and Aanegundi

2009-01-07T16:41:00.003+05:30

The snaps from our 4 days Hampi and Aanegundi visit, during the last week of December 2008 is available @ http://www2.snapfish.in/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=275950153/a=100718913_100718913/t_=100718913

You need a Snapfish account to view the snaps. Let me know if you need a guest account to check it out...There are around 370 snaps and some patience is appreciated! :-) But I believe you will enjoy watching the snaps and have a 'virtual' tour of Hampi!!

Work - Looooong Holidays - Work (again)!

2009-01-05T12:38:00.002+05:30

Back to office today, after a much needed loooong holidays (around 15 calendar days / 8 working days!) Not in so good mood for office but had to make it :-((( Wish these holidays comes very often! :-) Not much of activities in the holidays except 4 days of outing; BLR -> Mantralaya -> Hampi / TB Dam -> Aanegundi -> BLR and the rest 10 days, carrying out house work and aloofing around ;-) Anyways, back to work now, first working day of 2009 and hope this year brings cheer to all!

Happy New Year - 2009 - Hosa Varushada ShubhaashayagaLu!!

2009-01-01T14:56:00.003+05:30

Its time to treasure all the memories and say bye to 2008, and Welcome the new year 2009, with a bang!!! :-)

Wishing you and your family a very Happy, Prosperous, Peaceful and Joyful New Year 2009!! Let all your dreams come true and let luck be at its best for you, for all your endeavors!

Have fun, enjoy the year ahead...Lets continue to pledge and do good to this society and to the needy... Cheers, Pradeep and family! Pledge and Donate Eyes :: Gift Your Sight :: Make It Your Wish! http://www.freewebs.com/giftyoursight/

This Day, Last Year - In The 'City Of Future'

2008-12-10T12:22:00.003+05:30

This day, 10-Dec-2008 but last year 10-Dec-2007, I got a break from my routine Bengaluru home-office-home...The break was to travel to the 'City of the Future' - Dubai, UAE! This was for a new project and I was pretty exited about the whole forthcoming days...But yeah, on the personal front, not so exited as I had to leave my family behind, along with my wife...And it was painful for both of us! :-( {Tip: A separation pain brings in more love and care towards each other :-)} Wow, beautiful! is the first expression that I had on Dubai, right from inside the flight! I was travelling in the evening flight where I was landing in Dubai @ 2100hrs. It was a marvellous sight to see - so much lightings and a dazzling beauty!! Dubai Internation Airport is pretty huge and very systematic and clean...By the time I came out of the Airport, it was around 2300hrs and at that time, there was so much traffic in the city that at one time, we were struck in a traffic jam!! I was not aware of this city life and this took me by surprise!:-) The roads are so nice, so neatly maintained and the last thing you will think is that 'Am I really in the middle of a Desert??'...Just fly to Dubai and you will be amazed! Coming back to the present, I am getting nostalgic about this day, remembering the previous year that went by...pretty fast! Miss you Dubai...Wish I can go back to this great city and enjoy a quallity life! :-)

Innocence to the core!!

2008-11-10T10:04:00.003+05:30

Yesterday my wife and I visited a hospital where my sister-in-law had given birth to a cute little baby girl! It is so amazing to see this very small and highly innocent face that has descended on this earth, just less than 24 hours ago! Its eyes, its so cute face, hands, legs were so so amazing to see that I was emotionally moved by her. :-) It just amazes how we can see god in its purest form, without any worries, without all tensions, without all good-n-bad things going on, without caring a damn for anybody but with welcoming and giving laughter to everybody who come to visit them - such an innocence to the core we see in this cute little baby. Words are less to express the joy and innocence that we enjoy seeing this little 'just landed' god :-)

Weekend Rains @ Bangalore = Tokyo memories!

2008-10-19T16:08:00.002+05:30

This sunday has been a wet sunday for namma bengalooru! Coz from noon, it is constantly raining with few minutes breaks in between! Clouds were moving rapidly and it was playing hide-n-seek game with the Sun :-) This remembers me of my flight from Japan, en route to Bangkok/Thailand on 6th Sept 2005. My flight was at 10 AM and since the Tokyo Narita International Airport is around 85kms from the city, I had to leave early, as early as 5.30AM! But rains started previous night and hadn't stopped in the morning also. Visibility was very low but as I had booked the taxi earlier, the cab had come at 5.15AM itself. Finally I reached airport and during take off time also, weather was very bad with all black clouds around and we faced lot of air turbulances during take-off itself. To my surprise, when the flight ascended 11000feet altitude, I could the flight totally covered by the thick black clouds and lot of turbulence. Suddenly from nowhere, we saw a tinge of blue sky emerging and as the flight ascended further to 11500feet, voila! we were seeing a clear blue sky with bright sun sparkling in between!! This was the real moment for me where just below I could see thick black clouds pouring the rains to the Tokyo city and now, above this we saw a wonderful blue paradise!! I I still cannot forget this amazing moment and wish I could capture it in my camera but unfortunately due to some reasons, could not do so...But everything is right in front of my eyes and this memory will leave forever...:-) So, whenever I see the thick clouds pouring the rain, I go back to that moment and cherish my memories!! :-))

Eye Donation/Pledging Awareness Week at HP India Office - Session 2!

2008-09-24T15:20:00.004+05:30

One of our HP offices in Bangalore wanted to host the Eye Donation/Pledging Awareness Camp for 2nd session, as many people had shown interest for the 1st session but could not make it due to various reasons.

So, yesterday (23-Sept-08) the Doctor from Prabha Eye Bank visited this office and we conducted this camp for nearly 3 hours...and the response that we got was just awesome...above all expectations! We collected nearly 125 pledges from the interested employees and hitting this 3-digit number is really a milestone by itself!

Again, Thanks to everyone who opted for this camp and I wish they will spread the word among their friends and families!

Gift Your Sight :: Make It Your Wish! http://www.freewebs.com/giftyoursight

Eye Donation/Pledging Awareness Week at HP India

2008-09-13T08:14:00.001+05:30

This week (Sep 8th to Sep 12th 2008) I organized an Awareness campaign on Eye Donation/Pledging in my company, HP India. The Week was celebrated across multiple locations in HP Bangalore offices with the co-operation of Prabha Eye Bank c/o Prabha Eye Clinic, one of the oldest eye clinic's of Bangalore. About the event, over the week the response was not so encouraging (better I will not speak about the numbers!) but Myself and the CSR club of HP did our best to get people aware of this noble cause. Thanks to everyone who opted for this camp and I wish they will spread the word among their friends and families!

Gift Your Sight :: Make It Your Wish! http://www.freewebs.com/giftyoursight

Tracking US/Canada bound flights

2008-08-23T12:06:00.005+05:30

Yesterday my brother-in-law left to New York, USA for pursuing his MS program. He was traveling international for the first time and our own Air India (AI) was the chosen carrier. In its recent route expansion, AI has added 2 new routes to its kitty - Delhi-New York non-stop and Mumbai-New York non-stop! My bro-in-law went in the Delhi-NY flight. I wanted to know the flight info of this flight and the AI website was hardly coming up to check the status. So I had one more super website accessible and the site is: www.flightstats.com This website gives the departure and arrival info (real time) of all the flights flying in this world! Especially if the flight is from/to USA, then it has a real-time map that shows the flight path and status information, once the flight reaches US/Canada airspace!! This is just awesome! Not only this, it gives the real-time map of the Airport traffic in US/Canada and we can track any flight that is bound to / departing from these 2 countries! For instance: I was just observing the flights bound from/to JFK and here is the map giving the real-time data from this airport! Keep observing the aircraft movements and its so so so interesting!! :-)) So, I was just tracking the AI flight. It was scheduled to land at JFK Airport at 1610hrs IST / 0640hrs NY Time. So, around 1500hrs IST I opened the map and wanted to check for this flight. After 10 minutes, suddenly a small aircraft icon appeared on the map (from Canada Quebec side) and when I saw the flight details, it was the AI flight which I wanted!! :-) So, for next 1 hour I was tracking the movement and the feel of how technology has advanced is so evident and awesome!! Sitting in a place in Bangalore, I can track any flight (including its speed and altitude details!) which is flying around 10000kms away! Just mindblowing...:O) Finally, around 1625hrs IST / 0655hrs NY Time, the AI flight made a touchdown and immediately the status was updated saying 'Landed on the Runway at JFK at 0653hrs'! Whew! what an accuracy and punctuality for a 15hours non-stop flight! Super cool and hats off to the technology!!

'A Happening Month'!

2008-08-17T19:19:00.006+05:30

Its almost a month that I blogged about any interesting events in my day-2-day life! I wanted to blog but somehow 'diverted' my thought to some other work. Being a constant blogger, I feel that I miss something if I do not blog! :-) Back to typing my thoughts using this keyboard, the last 1 month just went by with some interesting things in my life. 1. My 1st interesting thing is: My better half (my life and wife!) got an interview call from a very well known Food maker of this country, the MTR Foods. MTR => Mavalli Tiffin Room, a small eatery joint (completely Vegetarian!) started in 1924 by the Maiyya family in Bangalore, is a very well known restaurant in South Bangalore and its foods are very popular all over the country. Even today we need to make reservation for lunch/dinner. The delicious and very famous Rava Idli was invented by MTR. Lot more about MTR can be told that brings proud to we Bangaloreans! And its also pride that my better half got a Microbiologist job in this esteemed company! The HRD of MTR was so professional in their approach of calling for interview, the interview process and offering the job letter. I visited MTR foods manufacturing division on the day when my wife' was called for interview and I was impressed by how the security staff treated the visitors and how courteous they were in offering coffee to all the visitors! I would love to see their production line of one/many foods but unfortunately, public are not allowed to enter the production area. But all-in-all, I am very proud of this great Veggie company. One has to see how a pure Veg company can survive and make its brand known to each and every person in this country!! 2. The 2nd interesting thing is: I made a quick visit to the Lord of Seven Hills, Lord Venkateshwara @ Tirumala, Tirupathi. Thanks to my bro-in-law (My dear wife's younger brother) who is flying to USA for pursuing his Master's degree; he sponsored all of us to a visit to this Lord. It was just 2nd day of the Shravana month (Saturday night/Sunday morning) and we stood nearly for 3 hours in a queue to get the darshan tickets! We stood at 0320hrs in the early morning, the queue counter opened at 0500hrs and we finally got the tickets at 0630hrs. This was for 0900hrs darshan of the Lord. But that 3hrs we spent were very bad. The queue was on the road and luckily there was no rain on that night! There is no basic facilities provided for the visitors who queue up for the ticket and no shelter in case of rain! In front of us were around 200 people and the biggest joke is only 1 computer was running this show for nearly 500 people who were standing in the queue! TTD, is a group who's revenues is comparable to Microsoft or HP or IBM, is responsible for providing facilities to the devotees who throng to this place from every corner of India and the World. Instead I don't understand why they neglect the devotees and what do they do with so much money? This is a million-dollar question, something that the concerned citizens of India need an answer! Anyways, we got the Lord's darshan at the said time (thanks to not so much people in the queue, luckily and very surprisingly!) and we were out of the temple by 1000hrs with the world famous Prasadam Laddus. 3. Coming to the 3rd interesting thing, last week I got an award from my manager, in relation to the Dubai project. This time, due to some reorg, there is a new manager's manager in place and he had a different style of giving away the awards to the employees. Previously the employees used to get the award on a very surprising day in our e-mail and attached to the mail would be a certificate! I have received this twice in my less than 2 years in HP. Now, the new manager wanted to celebrate this as an 'Award Ceremony' and almost 100 people from our division gathered in a floor and then the manager started calling names of the awardees to come in the middle and collect the awards! Frankly speaking, I expected the award in a remote corner of my mind :-) and true to my 6th sense (what I call it when I think something and it happens!) my name was called by my manager and I was appreciated for the Dubai project's good and successful effort and handed over a very nicely laminated certificate; all in the middle of around 100 colleagues and many senior managers/architects! I felt very happy and owe this to the god whom I always believe and have faith, to my dearest parents and to my dearest darling wife! :-) This award also carries a small cash component and truly, more than this cash component, I am happy that I am recognized and awarded in the middle of so many people! This, is one of the real motivation steps for any person :-) 4. This is very interesting for me, as this is my passionate initiative that I hope to take on BIG in due course of time. This is related to Gift Your Sight - My Eye Pledging/Donation Awareness Initiative. Last year I wanted to host a camp in my company for which I approached CSR club of my company and for some days things went very positive. I even spoke to Lions International to organize the camp and things were set..but not done! Due to some stupid Admin procedures, nobody took interest to pursue further and this plan died. But 2 weeks back suddenly, one of the CSR members contacted me and told that this camp has to happen and they told that full support will be given for this. Hence, I kicked off this activity by first approaching my long time eye clinic (Prabha Eye Clinic) where I am a long time patient of my beloved Dr. K R Murthy, who very recently left us for a one-way eternal journey to god's place. Here, I am currently being assisted by a very nice doctor to set up a camp in our office. Wait for more updates in the coming days and weeks...:-) 5. Last but not at all the least, is the 4th interesting thing. I started walking daily. Ah, so stupid right, as I was walking before and no big deal in this...But hold on, there is a big deal...:-) This walking habit is done in early morning, getting up at 0540hrs and then getting ready for walk, leaving home by 0600hrs and after 30-35 minutes of walking, kissing and getting kissed by the early morning cool breeze, I come home by 0640hrs. Good right! :O) Yeah, good habits are always very difficult to be picked up where as its just damn easy to leave good and take up bad! So, wish me good so that I continue this good habit for as long as possible! :-) Good day folks and I hope lot more new and interesting things might happen in my life, in the due course of time! :-)

Curd in Milk packet!!

2008-07-16T09:15:00.004+05:30

Yesterday evening, me and my wife went out for walking. We had to buy milk packet for home and while walking, we entered the Spencer's Retail store near my home. I picked up the Heritage Double Toned Milk packet from the refridgerator and then went to billing. Back home, when my mom opened the packet, she was angry at me that I didn't bring milk that she asked for; instead I have got curd!! I thought she might be joking but when I actually saw and tasted it, it was curd!! Curd in Milk packet!! :-) So immediately I called up Heritage Customer care number where I lodged the complaint, for which they promised me to go to the retail store and pick up a new milk packet. They also said the complaint will be followed up but god knows what has happened! Again, we went to the Spencer's store and told them the problem. They too were bit surprised and thanks to them, promptly they gave another Milk packet, that contained Milk and not curd! :-) But tracing the cause of this, what I explored was the the first packet which I got was manufactured in Batch B1 and the second one which I got (in which Milk was present) was of Batch B2. I think there was a mess up in the production line where for curd, they put milk labeled packets to be filled in and hence for us, the end customer, we got curd in the place of Milk in a Milk packet! :-) This was an interesting experience where again, as the world says, 'Customer is the King' and I was damn happy to be in the King's position yesterday evening!! :O)

Bangalore = IT hub and not others

2008-07-10T09:45:00.002+05:30

This is from my personal experience, which I have faced last year and now, I am facing it yet another time! When the word "Bangalore/Bengaluru" is popped up, the instant response that comes is the IT Capital / Silicon Valley of India. True, it has lived to this word and will continue to be the top IT destination in the country. But what about non-IT folks? Was this IT there when the city came on India map? How about job options for non-IT related people? The truth is, non-IT jobs are so less in this city that you have to struggle a lot to get one of them. In my case, the job I am searching is for my wife, who is a PG in Microbiology field, which puts her totally into Science field and no IT is involved! Last year, when she was fresher, finding job was so difficult for her that it took nearly 2 months to get into a Pharma company, that too with lot of struggle and with the help of a so-called 'Consultant'. The way those companies work is pathetic, just like our government where to move a file from one table to another, it takes days!! Believe me, this is what is the real truth! At one point of time, I had to talk to the HR and then after couple of interactions and requests, they finally managed to take in my wife. Now, the worst part is of the Compensation/Salary - for a PG itself, it is so less that one cannot imagine to survive with that income, especially in a metro like Bangalore, where cost of living is going up crazy! :-(( Things were going fine till I took up Dubai assignment and she had to leave that job since they denied her 3-4 months break. Coming back from Dubai now, we are now bearing the brunt again of searching for a job. We have sent the profile to so many companies but none of them respond back! This is the worst part!! When we call up HR, they say send the profile to so and so id, and when done, no response! Just keep on waiting and waiting... Now also, somehow she got thru an Interview in a MNC pharma company and its been nearly 2weeks but still they are yet to process and issue her a offer letter. When we call up HR, they say its under processing!! I dont see any professional approach in these companies at all...and the worst hit are honest people like we who look forward for a call to change our life...and keep our faith on god and believe him/her to grant us good life with peace. Overall, now the world and namma Bengaluru has turned so that if you belong to IT, then you have a job else you just pray god that someday or the other, you will get a peanuts paying job...

A memorable trip to Nilgiris

2008-07-05T21:33:00.005+05:30

Last week, took some days off and went to OOTY, the Queen of Hill stations in South India, also called "Nilgiris" because of huge amount of Nilgiri trees present in this region. I didnt opt for any package, rather arranged the stay and travel on my own.

Booked our travel in our state owned KSRTC bus and journey was not so good, in terms of getting sleep in bus, due to bumpier roads and mainly due to switching on the lights very frequently, for one reason or the other. I had the wrong notion of that this bus will be a non-stop Bangalore-Mysore-Ooty route but I was proved wrong! :-(

Anyways, we reached the much hyped hill station, OOTY, in early morning 0630hrs. First thing you will see is lots and lots of greenery surrounding this place. Next thing is that u tend to pull up your woolen wear since the weather is very cold out there. Though we had our sweaters on us, we were still literally feeling the cold! I enjoy this cold weather where as my wife is not so ok with this type of 'very cold' climate :-)

We took a hotel, which I thought would be gud but ultimately turned out to be not so interesting. We had to pay Rs 600/- for one small room, which didnt have a proper ventilation also! I even thot of changing the room but on the other hand thot it is a matter of only 1 night and 2 days and above that,we will not be in this room for all the day since we have come to this place for enjoying the nature. Hence we settled in that room.

By around 1000hrs, we boarded a sight-seeing group van which first took us to Conoor, yet another nearby hill station. Enroute we stopped to see the nature's beauty - green everywhere, some snaps in the tea garden, some masala and chocolate tea to sip :-) and lot of beautiful snaps to take! We saw the India's gun powder making unit in Aravanakadu (on the way to Conoor) - called Cordite Factory and is out of public reach! :-(

We also passed thru yet another town called Wellington (Late Mr. Sam Manekshaw's place) which is pretty famous as an Army training camp for South Indian states.

When we reached Conoor, we went to SIMS Park (no idea of why this name!) where we saw a huge garden in front of us with different varities of flowers, plants and trees to explore the nature!

Back to OOTY, post lunch we visited the DODDABETTA, the highest peak point in Nilgiri hills. It was so awesome on that day that we could feel the clouds touching us and it was very chilling! I really enjoy this kind of weather. Wanted to stay in that place for long time but we had to move as it was very very cold and it started raining also.

Finally, we went to the Boat house, where the famous ooty lake is situated. It was raining when we went there and I was not so comfortable to take a boat ride, though my wife wanted to go. We just roamed around in that place and came back.

Our day 1 experience was good with lot of mother nature to see and store in our memories to cherish later! But what I didnt like about this OOTY is it is very crowded town/city, with lot of residents more than the tourists! Cost of living is comparitively pretty high here, with breakfast for two people in a normal restaurant costing you nearly 60-70 INR and lunch/dinner nearly 200INR for 2! Anyways, we were there as tourists and wanted to enjoy our stay in the hills! :-)

Day 2 morning, I decided not to take any of the conducted package tours as we wanted to roam around freely, by ourselves and believe me, this is the best way you can enjoy any place, exploring on your own, without any time constraint!! So, we set off to visit the most awaited and the most famous Ooty Botanical Garden, maintained by the Government of Tamilnadu. Initially I didnt have the idea of how big this garden might be (since when I visited this garden with my parents, it was way back in 1990s, nearly 16 years back!) but when we walked into the garden, we could see an amazing world of greenery, so well maintained (could not believe that this offering is from the Government!) and all paths well laid out to walk easily savouring every second of this amazing nature! I really find it difficult to explain how green it is unless you visit this beautiful garden and then feel yourself the nature!! :-) We spent nearly 5 hours in this garden and it was the perfect combination that was pulling us not to go out of that place; the combination of nature green, superb climate with mild sun and lot of cool wind breeze...ah! just amazing!! Literally, in simple words, it is a Heaven on this earth!! With a big heart, we had to say bye to this garden and then came out to have a good lunch.

Post lunch, took some rest in the hotel room and in the evening, we set to visit the last spot left on our plate - The Rose Garden!

Reaching that place is like walking amongst the huge Nilgiri trees and its worth the walk! When we entered in front of us, we could see a small garden, which you will discover later of how big it is! Roses, Roses and more Roses...this is what the garden is about and you will find amazingly muliple colored varities of roses! This garden is also maintained by the Government and its very nice. You can see beautiful roses and a snap of them will be very memorable! Spent nearly 2 hours in this garden and then came out to explore bit more of ooty by walk.

Ooty as a town, is very small with one main road forming the heart of ooty. This is the 'Commercial Street' that runs from Bus Stand till the Charring Cross (I liked the name!) and one walk in this entire stretch will cover you most of this place. A very old Race course runs along this road and I am not sure if it is operational. Home made chocolates are a craze in this place,with every other store displaying this chocos, waiting for someone to buy. But the cost, its way too high and I really donot understand why! For instance, 100 gms of white choco costs nearly Rs 50/- whereas Almond ones cost nearly Rs 70-80/- But this is the main craze of this city! We walked till the Charring cross and sat for sometime near the road observing this city and the nature it has to offer!

Finally, time came to depart from that place, to say bye and thanks to mother nature for giving us so much green in life, to enjoy and cherish in our memories! The bus departed at 2220hrs and first thing I observed was that the driver was very rash and aggressive! In no time he overtook previous 2 buses that had departed nearly 15-20 mins back! I thought this ride will be interesting till Bangalore and yes, it turned out to be very interesting!! When I was thinking of getting sleep for sumtime, suddenly at around 2350hrs, the driver stopped the bus in the middle of the road! When I went near the driver, front of the bus, I could see a female Elephant was in front of us (single -> 'Ontisalaga' in Kannada -> Single elephant is always dangerous as they prefer to stay and move in group and if it is single, then definitely there is some trouble!!), nearly 100 meters from us. Since the road passes thru the Bandipur Wildlife Santuary (Forest range), sighting the Asian elephants, which are common in this forest, is very common. It was very disturbed and angry I think, throwing itself left and right! It was going itself into bushes but coming out again angrily and hence we could not move forward. The best thing to do in this situation is to close all the windows and then either switch off all the lights of the bus or to continuously do dip-n-dim of the headlight! Our driver was pretty experienced with these elephants coming in the middle of the road and hence he managed to do dip-n-dim continuously for couple of minutes before this huge gigantic 'Vegetarian' animal went into bushes! We then moved and were amazed by this experience! It was first time for us, though I had heard my father say about elephant coming in the middle of the road and experiencing it was just breath-taking! :-)

Little did we settle in our respective seats that we spotted one more elephant now right in the middle of the road, just after a very small U-turn! This time it was a male Asian elephant, single again, with 2 huge tusks and lucky us, our driver was about to hit that animal before he applied a hard brake, as it was just post a downhill U-turn and I guess you can imagine! :-) If he would have hit this elephant, then it would be a catastrophic result and it chills me if I imagine it!! But this elephant was so kind that it aptly gave us way by moving to a small corner of the road, within no time! Wow! two amazing experience within a span of 10 minutes! Uff...:-) But the sad part which I still repent is that I was unable to capture these two incidents in my cell phone, though I had camera and video recording also! The reason being that due to the kind of excitement state we were in, I did not realize that I shud take a shot at these two friends and when I realized, the bus had passed a long distance!! :-((

Anyways, all in all, wonderful experience in this two days, enjoying the nature with its full force! Lot of superb memories to cherish for...More than visiting OOTY, looking forward to meet my friends at night when I travel next time :O)

The snaps of OOTY and Conoor are available @ www.snapfish.co.in

with the credentials as below.

username: pradeep.guests@gmail.com

password: password

Hope you will enjoy! :-)

Cheers...

50paisa inflation!

2008-07-01T12:35:00.002+05:30

Inflation, the 'deadliest' word these days which is giving shivers to everyone right from the government to the Below Poverty Line people; has hit each and every thing in our day-to-day life! This is very bad for a common man / middle class and lower class people are the most affected and these are the people who will bear the brunt. One instance of how inflation has factored in our day to day life was experienced by me yesterday! In the afternoon, daily we (my team colleagues) will have a tea-break and yesterday we went to our daily shop to have our tea. Each cup of tea would cost Rs 2/- and it tastes good also! Yesterday, I volunteered to pay the money and I gave the tea shop fellow Rs 10/- for 4 cups of tea, and was waiting to get Rs 2/- back from him. As I was looking to get the change back from him, after couple of seconds he said the amount given (Rs 10/-) is correct! Then my friend told that from couple of days back, the tea now costs Rs 2.50/-, 50 paisa increase in each cup of tea OR 25% increase!! All thanks to the inflation, we have to pay 50 paisa more for each cup of tea now!! For us, middle class people, this 50 paisa sounds small but if you consider the state of Lower class and BPL class people, it is worse for them! 50 paisa, 1 rupee still means a lot for them and going forward they will not be able to afford this 'big' price increase! Still wonder where this inflation is headed to and what will be the future state of things! Need to wait and see how things shapes up...A worthy wait!! :-)

Miss you...dear flying machines!

2008-06-24T16:26:00.003+05:30

Been almost 10 days now in namma bengaluru and enjoying the pleasant weather (compared to our good old Dubai's bisi bisi weather!) and mother's food..:-) Only one change that I observed in my place is that there is no flying machines now, in the skies, passing above my house! :-( This is bit sad for me as I love watching (still I love!!) these big man-made birds flying above my house! Jet, Sahara, SpiceJet, Kingfisher, British Airways, Lufthansa Jumbo B747, Thai Airways, Emirates, Srilankan Air, Singapore Airways Cargo Jumbo B747...the list continues and I miss them a lot!! Ever since the much awaited BIA has opened around a month back, all the 'sky traffic' has been diverted to north Bengaluru sector and hence we don't see any commercial/cargo machines now! (My house is situated in south of Bengaluru and most of the times, most of the aircrafts were passing above this sky zone). I still remember that sometimes in the evening, when I used to be up in the terrace, I could see a small line-up of these machines, one behind another, at a huge distance separating them. But now, not even a single machine passes by. I just wish our HAL airport gets re-opened soon (million-dollar question still!) and wish the colorful magnanimous flying machines pass above my house!! I just wish...:-)

Take a break...

2008-06-24T16:20:00.004+05:30

I am currently taking a break from work and having a week-off from the work! Hurray!! :-) Already 3 days went by but still 5 more days remaining, to start again a fresh way of life with a new project! Will be leaving to Ooty, the most famous hill station in South India, for couple of days! After 15 years, I will be visiting this hill station and I hope the weather stays cool (without rains!) so that we can roam around in this beautiful hill! :-)

Back to Bengaluru

2008-06-16T11:29:00.003+05:30

Yeah, am back in namma bengaluru...lot of things to be shared, that happened in last couple of days! Firstly, had to leave Dubai with a BIG heart and lot of memories! My HP colleague took me to lunch at Ibn Battuta Mall, on my last working day and we had a good time having pasta and talking about general things. I will miss him a lot and think he too misses me! :) Back to office, I was waiting for my dear friend, to say bye to him. When the moment came, he was literally in tears (yes, I could see his eyes filled with tears!) and he hugged me and was very emotional. He misses his Big Brother (BB) a lot and I too miss him! After saying bye to my friends out there, I came to room to pack some remaining things and was feeling very nostalgic when I saw the room almost empty, without any things! This is the place where I stayed for around 6 months and now, all history and memories!! On 13th morning, one more emotional farewell was waiting and this time it was my daily taxi driver (Hayaz bhai) who came to meet me in the morning. I gave him some chocolates as a small token of gift along with 50 Dhs. I believe he would have seen that and smiled a bit :-) He too was telling me to call sometimes from India and he will miss me a lot. Miss u Hayaz bhai and InshaAllah, we will meet again soon! :-) Finally, time to say goodbye to Dubai and boarded the flight at 1130hrs, with lot of sweet memories with me, now and forever! Miss u Dubai... 1710hrs and touchdown...we were in the new namma Bengaluru International Airport (BIA)!! My parents were eagerly waiting to see us..My mom was so eager and anxiously waiting that when she saw the Emirates landing from outside of the airport, she started calling the cell!! After a goof-up by the Airport authorities and delay in getting the baggage, we were out of the Airport by 1820hrs. We were welcomed by my parents, who were standing from almost 1.5hrs and then sweet cool wind that was blowing continuously at the airport. (Yeah, I could see the wind from my seat inside the plane, where the Forward Camera was showing the plane descent and approach to the runway. There, I could see light to-and-fro movements of the aircraft, which made me bit worry! Why? I have seen lot of episodes of Air crashes in NatGeo channel and sometimes wind is one of the causes for it!!) Anyways, back in town and still waiting to see wat is in store for me (in terms of future projects) and in terms of personal life! For sometime now, let me enjoy the cool weather of bengaluru...really love it! More later! :-)

Just after 3.5 years...

2008-06-08T14:00:00.003+05:30

Mobile phone (or Cell phone), the word and the object which is with everyone now-a-days, in all parts of the world, touched me in December 2001. It was my first buy from 'my own' money (Yeah, I started working from Nov 2001 and soon after getting first salary, I decided to buy a cell!) and the obvious choice at that time was the low-end but superb Nokia 3310. I had paid around INR 3000/- for this cell! Then, after few months this started to malfunction and then my dad gifted me the ultra less weight phone I have ever seen (even, the market has ever seen) - Panasonic GD93! This was a very beautiful phone with color screen and good 'phone' features! After using this for 2 months, I went to China on a project and my dad continued to use the cell. He too liked it so so much. In China, I decided to go for a trendy and a small phone, which I think I paid a very hefty price of USD 400 (~ INR 19000!) (Oct 2002). This expensive set was the Nokia 8850, with its metallic cover and keys! I just loved its design - slide open to view the keypad and its small size! I used this expensive set (and flaunted it too :-)) for well above 2 years till I decided that I should get along with the change in technology and own a new hi-tech gizmo! :-) So, on the beautiful day of the new year, Jan 1st 2005, I spent half of the day roaming around different shops in Bangalore to check for the new cell. I was clear in my choice of the cell - I wanted a flip-based cell and being an ardent fan of Nokia, I wanted to continue my love for the same! Finally, I could grab in a fresh and new model of Nokia that suited my 'requirements' and that amazing handset is: Nokia 6260. I just love (am still using it!) the flip design and the features of this great cell. Kudos to Nokia team! And finally, coming to the present, I wanted to go for yet another replacement for my good old friend Nokia 6260, who has served me for 'just' more than 3.5 years. Being in Dubai, where electronic goods are considered to be 'bit cheaper' (because of no tax), me and my wife went out to buy a new cell. This time, I was in a mood to disown my loyalty of Nokia and then start a new relationship with the biggest competitor of Nokia - "Sony Ericsson". Yes, I was seriously looking for a good cell from this company and finally, after lot of search and research, we zeroed in for their good looking cell, loaded with hell lot of features - the SE k800i! I just feel totally different when I use this cell, as I am seeing and using one of the most technologically advanced cell phone, after a long 3.5 years! :-) The picture quality, the sound, the features and the design make me feel good to use this cell. And I just hope this cell will be so much loyal to me so as to beat my record of chaning the cell..:O) Wish me luck and wish me a good time with my new gizmo! :-)

8 more days to go...

2008-06-05T13:37:00.002+05:30

This time, by next week, I will be very anxiously waiting for my last working day here to get over (not that I am not anxious now, but next week it will be more!); as me and my wife are scheduled to fly out of Dubai on Friday noon flight! :-) So, still I have 8 more days to go and 1 weekend left in between...:O)

India Travel Blog - Walks in India

2008-06-05T11:10:00.008+05:30

One of my close dudes, whom I admire him for his 'super cool' nature, is a freelance travel writer and photographer. He has launched a concept called 'Walks in India' on his website 'India Travel Blog'. Given below is the 'Press Release' related to his concept...Please do check it out and try to be part of it... During the month of June, India Travel Blog will be featuring a series of articles on Walks in India. Unlike in many countries, walks and walking tours are not common or popular in India. This series intends to promote the idea of walks that can enable travellers to see and experience the places better by getting closer. The series explores short and easy walking trails across India, with which a traveller can witness history, culture, life, landscapes and heritage of the country. The series will have fifteen walking trails, published through the month of June, containing detailed description of the walk along with maps, difficulty level, best season to do the walk, time of the day and distance of the trail. The places include, but are not limited to metros and cities, and are chosen from every corner of the country. The walk intends to cover a lot of variety, such as walking the sand dunes in a village in Rajasthan, experiencing devotion on the bank of Ganga, seeing history come alive in the remains of ancient structures and short walks in snow amidst views of the snowy peaks. Walks are a great way to see places, get up close to people and interact, observe carefully and see things better. They help the traveller take time and feel involved with the scenery instead of buzzing past and seeing things as a window-view. This series will assist you to find some great walks from all along the country and feel its pulse. walks completed so far. 1. Introduction( http://travel.paintedstork.com/blog/2008/06/walks-in-india.html ) 2. Old Delhi Walk( http://travel.paintedstork.com/blog/2008/06/walks-in-india-old-delhi.html ) 3. Rishikesh Walk( http://travel.paintedstork.com/blog/2008/06/walks-in-india-rishikesh-laxman-jhula.html ) About India Travel Blog India Travel Blog is a popular travel blog with personal insights, first impressions and detailed description of places to visit in India. The frequnetly updated blog covers the country from end-to-end, with travel stories and beautiful images.

Less than 15 days to go...

2008-06-01T11:42:00.002+05:30

In less than 15 days, we will be back in namma bengaluru, landing at the new Bengaluru International Airport...:-) Looking at the reports of constant rains in bengaluru, seems once we land there, we will definitely feel cold..why? We are staying in Dubai where the day temperature now is 45degrees and night temperature around 25-30degrees! So, compared to this place, namma bengaluru will be a cold heaven! Counting the days...:O)

Tribute to a great person in my life

2008-05-29T10:59:00.006+05:30

Today morning when my mom called me, I was wondering about some news that she is gonna tell; because she normally doesn't call like that early morning. And my 6th sense proved me true... She had called me to tell that Dr. K R Murthy had expired, suddenly! He is the Medical Director of Prabha Eye Clinic, Bangalore and founder of Vittala International Institute of Opthalmology (VIIO). More than that, I am a patient of this great doctor from past 28 years (right from when I was 8 months old baby!) and all of us look upon him with utmost respect, for being a godfather-kind-of person in our life. The last time I met him was when me and my mom went to invite him for my wedding and he was so happy to see me, as a groom now, but a small baby in his hands, 28 years back! I still remember his 'bArayya' (in English: friendly way of calling 'do come') phrase whenever I used to visit him! Now, everything is memory and history...But this is life and we need to move on... He is the person who treated my eyes and who gave courage to my parents and myself about moving ahead in life. We are very shocked and very sad to hear this news and pray god to rest his soul in peace and let god his family members and numerous of patients worldwide, courage to move ahead in life.

Finally, At Last, Thank God...

2008-05-24T14:50:00.002+05:30

Finally, the much waited and much hyped Bengaluru International Airport opened its doors to the world!! Seems this airport has charmed the people with its looks and infrastructure...Good to know! :-) Now, we Bangaloreans, have a voice now to say that we too have an International Airport of world-class standards! Earlier this used to put us in some shade while telling somebody about Bangalore Airport (Read: HAL airport) but now, hope it lives to its expectations! I am flying in another 20 days to this brand new airport and I am looking forward to see this grand facility in namma Bengaluru!! On the other hand, I will truly miss our good old HAL Airport which served so many years for the people all over the world. Miss the (comparatively!) easy access to my home from this old HAL airport and miss the Airport Road...But as they say: "Change is the only constant in life", we need to accept this CHANGE and move ahead for a brighter future...and just hope that this particular CHANGE lives on to the expectations, now and forever... Namaskaara BIA, I am anxiously waiting to see you...:-)

Birthday wishes for two important persons in my life!

2008-05-21T12:04:00.002+05:30

Happy Birthday my dear dad and my dear wife!!

Yes, today is the birthday of two important persons in my life...My dad (fondly called 'Anna') and My dear wife (fondly called 'Ro')!! :-) Both share the same birthday and both share a good amount of love! Have a great day Anna...miss you a lot and wish we were there to celebrate this day! Anyways, We will celebrate all the missing important days when we come back..sure! :) I hope and wish I can make a great day for Ro here...I wanted to work from room today but had to come to office as I had some things to be done here...Felt bad to leave her alone on her birthday but I just wish I can make her evening bright! :-) Once again, Many Many Many more Happy Returns of the day! Have a wonderful year ahead...

This month, Gold City; Next month, Garden City!!

2008-05-14T15:48:00.004+05:30

Next month, by this time, I will be sitting at my home in Bengaluru, having food from my great mother's hands! :-) Yes, its been 5 months now in Dubai and next month, on completion of my 6 months, will be traveling back to my home and continuing my work from there!! For me, its kind of a good relief, in the sense, my parents will be happy to have us back home and my wife will be very happy to be back and start a new phase in her professional life! So, looking forward for this 1 dear month to finish soon here, in this Gold city! :-)

All Days, Mother's Day!!

2008-05-12T21:03:00.003+05:30

Yesterday was the much-hyped, Mother's Day, the day which is exploited more for commercial reasons than for love and affection! I didn't wish my dearest dear mother on this Mother's day! I just don't believe in these days, rather every day is a mother's day for me! Every day is the Father's day or Brother's day or Sister's day or in fact every day is a Valentine Day! :-) Why should there be one specific day, out of all the other 364 days, to wish your divine parents or to wish your lovely better-half?? Why this custom, which apparently is imported from our Big brother, the US of A? We understand that this country needs to celebrate these kind of days' because children can at least once in a year love their mom or dad or their spouse or their children. But why should this be 'celebrated' in our country where we value our parents as 'living god' or we value our spouse as 'better-half' for our entire life! So, when my mom today, on call, brought this point of yesterday's Mother's day celebration everywhere, I told her that I will not wish her but in fact, for me, every day in my life is Mother's day, Father's day, Valentine's day and any other day! :-) On the other side, I just hope the coming generation doesn't take these days seriously and wait for this particular day to wish their mom or dad or the near and dear ones, rather than showing them their love and affection every other day of their life! I just wish and hope we retain our precious culture!

Happy Birthday dear boy! :-)

2008-05-10T13:29:00.002+05:30

Its been 28 years on this planet now today and I am so so grateful to god for having given me such a wonderful parents, brother and now, such a wonderful wife! Thanks all for having given such a wonderful life to live!! Its my birthday today and Many Many More Happy Returns of the Day!! :-) Done 28 years on this planet and walking towards 29th year and by god's grace lots and lots more to come! On the other side, sadly, its my 3rd consecutive year that I am not with my parents to celebrate this wonderful day! 2006 @ Mumbai, related to a project work. 2007 @ Manali, celebrating my honeymoon :-) and now, 2008 @ Dubai, related to project work Hope and Wish in 2009, I can be with my folks to celebrate this day with a dinner to sign-off :O)

iPod Shuffle Docking Station

2008-05-10T13:11:00.004+05:30

Sharaf DG, a leading electronics store in Dubai, is celebrating its 3rd year anniversary celebrations. As part of their celebrations, they had given an Ad in newspaper where people need to bring that Ad and take part in spinning the 'fortune wheel', which has lot of gifts to be given. So, yesterday we went to the nearby Sharaf DG store and tried our luck by spinning this 'fortune wheel'. I asked my wife to do the honours (Ladies first! :-)) and she turned out to be very lucky!! :-) She is always lucky since she has got me as her husband!! :O) As our luck turned out, we got the iPod Shuffle Docking Station as the gift, which might be worth AED 200 (approx INR 2200/-)! This is a cute mini docking station which has 2 speakers built-in so as to dock the iPod Shuffle in between the speakers and then listen to the songs! :-) But, the catch is, we do not have an iPod shuffle and the worst part is, that iPod Shuffle that fits into this docking station is of the 1st generation Shuffle, with USB!! Now, the 2nd generation Shuffle does not have USB and its very small and does not fit into this docking station. Above all, the 1st generation Shuffle is not available since the 2nd generation is available everywhere!! :-(( So, now our task is to try a iPod Shuffle-like player with USB that fits into this station...Hope we can find one and dock it here so as to listen to cool music in this cool gift! :O)

Two hours to cover 28km stretch!

2008-05-08T15:17:00.002+05:30

Yesterday was one of the worst days in my office commutation! When it takes daily around 45 minutes to reach my hotel from the office, yesterday it took nearly 2 hours to cover this commute! :-(( The reason being our good old, E11 highway alias Sheikh Zayed road! There was an accident near the Mall of Emirates where a car had turned upside down and Ambulance had rushed to that spot. Though this accident was on the 4th lane of the road, the traffic movement on the first 3 lanes were very slow where people wanted to view the accident! Hmmm...natural tendency of a human being! :-) Once pass this, traffic gradually came to a standstill after some more distance. We were moving at a snail pace! There was no accidents (since there was no visual information on the display board) but still we were moving very slowly! This happened for nearly 1 hour where we covered barely 15 kms!! Its so frustrating to sit in that traffic which is moving so slowly. Wish we could got down and walked, but the outside weather is so hot that after some time getting exposed to sun, you skin might definitely get burnt!! The main cause of this slow traffic movement is the bottleneck at one point, where the 4 lane road converge into 2-lane where the other 2-lane goes toward Sharjah and 2 more lanes towards Bur-Dubai. People come in all the 4-lanes to converge into 2-lane that goes towards Al Maktoum bridge and then Deira. Wish something can be done at this point so as to avoid this daily terrific traffic jam! I just wish...

Accidents and Ambulances, never rest!

2008-05-08T14:56:00.004+05:30

Every day if you do not hear one Ambulance siren, the ambulance zooming ahead in 100kmph, then thank god! either the 'terrific' traffic is less OR there is no accidents! (touchwood! :-)) It has become almost a daily scene where you notice a speeding ambulance zipping past all cars in the busy roads of Dubai, at amazing speed and loud sirens. The accidents has become so much part and parcel of Dubai traffic that at least one accident happens in the busiest road of Dubai - E11 or popularly known as Sheikh Zayed Road! I don't understand why accidents should happen even when there is so much regulation of traffic and a superior traffic management in place. One of the reasons that can be attributed to is the usage of Mobile phones while driving. Here, it is so common and I believe there is some law of not using phone while driving, inspite of which people use mobile phone while driving at a speed of 100~120kmph on E11! This leads to so much distraction and chain-effect that if a vehicle speeding at 120kmph applies a sudden brake, the rest of vehicles behind need to see this action and need to apply brake and this leads to most of the accidents! Police cannot be blamed as they cannot check each and every vehicle if the person driving is using mobile or not...It is upto the responsibility of the driver to adhere to the rules and regulations and drive carefully, for his/her safety and safety of others as well!! No idea when will people realize this and when will we see accident(s) free E11!

Fantastic day - 1st year anniversary celebrations!

2008-05-05T14:28:00.004+05:30

Wow! the day which I had been waiting, came, passed thru and went away! It was a very good outing yesterday and a very memorable day to mark my 1st year Wedding Anniversary. Apart from we celebrating here, my parents also celebrated our wedding anniversary day, in a different way! My parents had given for an 'Abhishekham' of our home-god, in a temple near our home. They said it was very nice and things went fine. Later, as I had requested them to find out a children's ashram so that I can sponsor that whole day's food, they had given some amount to the ashram authorities and yesterday's food was a treat for those poor little kids in the ashram. I thank god for giving us enough food so as to share the food with other not-so-well people. Back here, our day began with my parents wishing us early in the morning (from the temple). We then got ready to visit the only temple in the town, to seek the Almighty's blessings. Then we had a light breakfast back at the hotel. After sometime, I had called up a taxi to take us to the Ibn Battuta mall, a big mall named after the traveler Ibn Battuta. This was the first surprise for my wife! She wanted to go to this mall for some time now. Needless to say, she was very happy! :-) Inside the mall, we roamed around and I bought a nice t-shirt for myself and then after our legs could not withstand the 'nataraja' service which we were doing, we decided to have our lunch. Lunch was a burger, veg wrap and french fries and coke! Very much influenced by Western culture :-) Back to hotel, we took rest in the evening before heading out for my big surprise to my wife! It was my dinner reservation which I had done in Taj Palace restaurant. There is an Indian restaurant by name 'Handi' inside Taj and we had been there for dinner. At first look, I was totally disgusted! Why? the ambiance inside the restaurant was very bad and I had never imagined it would be like that. Walls were empty, dull lighting, and some normal curtains made up the small dining hall. But somehow I comforted myself and waited for the food and their service. Needless to say, food and their service, the hospitality was excellent!! But the prices, wow!, way too high...but I was mentally prepared :-) For instance, a litre of water bottle costs AED 28/- ... hmmm, first time I am seeing that 1 litre water costs nearly 300 INR!! :-(( Anyways, our dinner progressed well with some paneer sabzi and rumali rotis, kulchas going inside our stomach! The service person suggested us to taste the signature food of that restaurant - the 'Handi Biryani', without which our dinner was not complete! So, we ordered it and wow! as promised by the service person, it was spicy and very very yummy!! Finally, the time came for yet another surprise and last one for my wife...It was the wedding anniversary cake that I had requested for! The cake was a small round vanilla-chocolate pastry with cashew nuts decorated at the sides. Given my hungry for sweets, this was really really delicious!! :-) I am so thankful to Taj for giving us this nice pastry as compliments from their side! My wife was amazed with how the dinner went, with all those surprises and overall how amazingly the day went!! Even I too was amazed and liked the day outing. Wish once in a week or once in a month, we have this kind of outing!! :O)

((-: Overall, Happy Wedding Anniversary dear and waiting for lot more to come!! :-))

Here comes my most waited day!

2008-05-04T07:58:00.003+05:30

After a long wait, this d-day has come!! So fast that this 1-year journey has been...if I look back, its all a mixture of thodha gum but bhahut khushi!! All thanks to my dear darling wife, who came to my house with 2 briefcases of clothes and lot of love and affection and she won the hearts of my family!

Wish you a Very Happy and Many More Wedding Anniversary wishes dear!! :O)

I have made some plans for spending the day today and I hope and wish that all goes fine! More later :-)

Blog in South-Indian languages

2008-05-03T14:25:00.002+05:30

Though I might be very very late breaking this news, but yesterday I found out how to blog in regional Indian languages like Kannada, Tamil, Telugu...Awesome google, they are customizing to local Indian population! Well, good strategy to capture the local market :-) I have blogged my below post in Kannada language, the language spoken by the people of Karnataka, India and my birth place! Amazing to see the posts in namma regional language..:)

ಒಂದು ದಿನ ಬಾಕಿ ಇಧೆ...

2008-05-03T13:22:00.001+05:30

ಒನ್ ಮೊರೆ ಡೇ ಈಸ್ ರೆಮೈನಿಂಗ್ ಫಾರ್ ದಿ ದ-ಡೇ ಅಂಡ್ ದಿ ಕೌಂತ್ದೊವ್ನ್ ನೌ ಸಯ್ಸ್

೧ ಡೇ ಟು ಗೋ...

2 days to go...

2008-05-02T12:27:00.002+05:30

Things were & are getting really hot...:-) This day, that year...there was 'Pandal' function at home and almost all of our relatives had come to our home to attend the function...It was almost the same with my wife's side also... Everybody carried the happiness in their face, including me :-) Now, today, this year, 2 days to go...

3 days to go...

2008-05-01T13:39:00.001+05:30

Yesteday was an interesting day as we had a team dinner @ an Indian resturant here!

Well, now its 3 days to go...:-)

4 days to go...

2008-04-30T12:08:00.001+05:30

One more day gone its now 4 days to go...

Today - one of the most important days!

2008-04-29T11:58:00.002+05:30

Today, April 29th, marks one of the most important days in my life. It is the Wedding Anniversary day of my parents...

Wish you both, appa and amma, Happy and Fun filled Wedding Day!!

Love you both and god is so kind to me to gift such a nice, caring and wonderful parents for me and my family! Since I am far away to be physically present on this day, I gifted them the idea of going for a early morning Lord Venkateshwara darshan in Tirumala. They are now in that holy place and I wish both of them enjoy their small gift and trip, on this wonderful day! Hope and Wish the divine almighty blesses them and us with peace, prosperity and happiness for our journey, called LIFE! :-)

5 days to go...

2008-04-29T11:56:00.002+05:30

One more day has passed and its now 5 days to go...

Countdown begins...6 days to go!

2008-04-28T16:14:00.005+05:30

This day, last year... All preparations for the once-in-lifetime function was on, with some rituals about to be kicked off...some tension, lot of happiness in my parents face was clearly visible! :-)

So, the mega countdown begins today and now, its 6 days to go...

The Al-Shindagha Tunnel

2008-04-26T13:39:00.002+05:30

We had heard of Al-Shindagha tunnel in Dubai, close to where we stay, Bur-Dubai but we had never been to that tunnel. This is the tunnel which has been constructed under-water so as to cross from one side of the Dubai to other side, which is separated by the Creek. Yesterday we took a taxi to go to Gold Souk and to reach this place, we have to pass thru the tunnel. Just amazing to see that this tunnel was built in 1975 just to ease traffic movement from one side of the creek to another. Wish we had some infrastructure and vision like this, back in our country!

Dubai - The City of Gold!

2008-04-26T13:24:00.004+05:30

Yesterday, at last, we visited the world famous 'Gold Souk' (read: Gold Market), for which Dubai is named 'The City of Gold'! Gold prices have dropped a bit around the world and in Dubai it has come below the 100-mark, for first time after 1-2 months! Current gold rate is AED 99.50 (approx 1095 INR) There are so many stores lined up and so many 5 floors buildings within which there are so many gold shops - all sporting different varieties and designs of gold ornaments, right from pendants, bangles, chains to huge necklaces!! Some of them are so tempting to go for but the M-factor always reminds of to stay limited :-) We wanted to buy couple of bangles and we roamed around for sometime and then we zeroed on some stores like Joyalukkas, Damas, Pure Gold, Al Haseena, Atlas, Sky Jewellery. Some of the designs in every store was impressive but at the end of the day, making charges differs from each store to another. Big brands = High making charges, pattern follows... So, we went to a good shop called Al Haseena which promised us of good designs and good making charges also. After nearly 1.5 hours of our search, my dear darling wife could finally select two designs/pairs of bangles - one for my dearest dear mom and one for my dearest dear wife! :-)

2 seconds to death!

2008-04-17T11:22:00.002+05:30

Yesterday evening, my wife and myself went out for a walk and while coming back we had to cross a very busy road (Sheikh Zayed Road, off Karama area). To cross this road, there was a not-so-major signal installed to help pedestrians cross. So when we went to cross the road, the traffic signal was green and hence vehicles were zooming in, as usual, in their 80-100 kmph speed. After few seconds, the signal became red and pedestrian signal showed green to cross. Cars in the first 2 lanes stopped and the 3rd lane was pretty open with no cars coming near. So when we were about to cross the road, out of nowhere a car zoomed-in the 3rd lane and went past...Probably s/he would be in 60-80kmph speed! Some of us at the signal were bit shocked for a second since if we would have started crossing the road, then we would be hit by that stupid car and definitely some bones would have cracked! God knows why these kind of people still exist in a place where traffic violations are strict and 99% of the people conduct themselves well and adhere to the traffic. These kind of people should be fined heavily (wish I could notice the car registration number so as to inform RTA and register a complaint!). What s/he achieved by zooming like that even when the signal is red? Couldn't s/he followed the rules and waited in that signal for few seconds before s/he could zoom again! So stupid of these people; they put others lives at risk as well risk their own life!

LIFE - Driven by CHOICE and LUCK!

2008-04-15T10:52:00.003+05:30

Yesterday night standing in the balcony of my room, I was watching the empty Taxis go by the streets and checking their luck to find customers! (Needless to say, in the morning its the other way - Customers roam around to find Taxis!!) Then my mind started thinking of the CHOICE they make when they reach a intersection of roads - they can continue to go straight or they can either go left or take right or worse, they can take a U-turn and go back...As I watched, some taxis took left, some right and some continued straight to meet yet another intersection! (Good that no taxi took U-turn to go back! :-)) I was then thinking of how each taxi driver's choice would be either fruitful (to get a customer at the end of the road) or fruitless (by making them roam for customers!) This is where LUCK also comes into picture where it can either be with the driver (to make him/her find a customer) or be totally opposite to him/her (make him/her roam all the night!) I think this is one small yet perfect example of how every individual's life will be built upon - purely thru CHOICE and LUCK! This remembers me of the Hindi Comedy serial (Office! Office!) where our dear patel-saab always talks about 2 choices - 'do baatien ho sakthi hein' - either yes or no - which is true for every individual in this world! :-) (-: Wish you make the right CHOICE and the best of LUCK be with you for every minute of your life! :-)

Spotted one more..in Helicopter!

2008-04-12T14:31:00.003+05:30

Last week, I just came out to the balcony of my room and suddenly found that something was floating in the air! And a second later, found that an Helicopter is doing rounds holding this huge banner!!

I had spotted this earlier also and written about that and this was the second time I saw this - 'Helicopter Marketing'!!

A unique, new and costly approach for the marketing world! :-)

Bevu-Bella from Dubai! :-)

2008-04-07T10:43:00.004+05:30

Wish you a very Happy and Prosperous Ugadi and New Year!

It is time to have the Bevu-Bella (mixture of sour - Neem leaves and sweet - Jaggery in life) and welcome the prosperous new year!! We got bevu here, from trees lined-up on the roads and then we had jaggery at home...So, today had this prasadam and celebrate the festival day! Missing my folks back at home, holiday today and time to enjoy!

Election day on my birthday! :-)

2008-04-03T14:29:00.003+05:30

Finally, the much awaited election dates has been announced! All the related people who were sleeping/enjoying/doing whatever for the past 5 months have to get up now and start their business! Kind of bad news..:-(( Anyways, this election day for Bangalore city is on May 10th and wow! what a way to celebrate my birthday when I am away from the country!! :O) Sadly or not, myself and my wife will not be able to vote this time...hope nobody else does a proxy voting for us! :-) But now the million dollar question (is it so??) is the grand gala opening of our new and much waited Bengalooru International Airport (BIA) which is scheduled on May 11th - will it get a opening or will the dates be further postponed by a month, till the so called *new government* comes into picture?? I just think the latter one will gonna happen as lot of people have to take credit for this Airport making and opening and without those people, how can flights fly in/out of Bengalooru!! :-) Just a matter of wait and watch policy now... If the BIA opens on May 11th without *THE* people, then who knows, later they might bring some court stay on the operations of this airport and bechaara Pilot, s/he will not know where to land and will divert the aircraft to Mangalooru! (Just a letter difference :-)) But I seriously hope these things will not happen and I land safely in namma Bengalooru :-)

My times, My voice: (Good) Question of the Day!

2008-03-31T18:49:00.003+05:30

My Times, My Voice - by Times of India / Indiatimes group has asked one good question about Bangalore and the question is: How can we facilitate a smooth passage for ambulances in Bangalore? One of the worst ever death a person can face is dying in a ambulance just because of traffic jam!! Multiple people, multiple answers and some very frustrated people also keying-in their frustrations! I have posted one simple solution for this question and here it is: =================================== The simple solution lies in the hands of our fellow traffic policemen, who should be made aware of the incoming ambulance to that junction and then they should be able to send wireless message to the next signal(s) traffic police.

I have seen many instances when inspite of those sirens put on and the ambulance waiting to zoom over, these traffic police doesnt seem to bother. Instead they just stand and wait for green signal to be shown, which is so pathetic! So, make use of the technology which they already have in hand and keep the next signal policemen informed about the ambulance so that s/he can manually control the traffic till the ambulance passes off. Otherwise how can a jammed traffic move without the traffic police clearing the way! This will make every one's life easy and we can save one precious life! ===================================

5 years ago, the unforgettable day!

2008-03-29T15:09:00.003+05:30

29-march-2003, Saturday, the fateful day which has made a mark in my memory forever! The day when two things happened in my life - first and foremost, I lost my dear beloved friend, in front of my eyes and second, god gifted me life again! Now, 5 years back, the same Saturday has come back and still I cannot believe that I have lost my dear friend, 'babu' Vinod Jetty. All happened within a period of just 1 hour, 1925hrs he was very well there, with me, talking to me, making jokes and sharing his future dreams and 2025hrs, just 1 hour later, he was declared dead! Again it proves that anything and everything can happen in no-time, even death and this is the best example. On the other hand, god took my friend's life in front of my eyes, on my laps but gifted me the second chance of life to live, to live by cherishing the memories of my dear friend. Miss you my dear Jetty babu, let you soul remain in peace and let your family members get courage to overcome your absence. [ My previous posts for my dear late friend can be found at: http://deepsworld.blogspot.com/2007/03/this-day-that-year.html http://deepsworld.blogspot.com/2006/03/death-in-front-of-my-eyes-3-years-back.html http://deepsworld.blogspot.com/2005/03/unfogettable-29th-march.html ]

RACE for money, honey!

2008-03-23T11:35:00.002+05:30

Yesterday went to watch the new movie RACE. Its all about race for money and once again, nothing comes first other than money and that is what the movie is all about! Saif performance and his style in the entire movie is good and pretty fresh. Bips, as usual, is a bomb that explodes everytime she is on screen! Apart from these two, Akshay performance was good. Anil Kapoor, even in his late 40s or early 50s rocks!! Katrina and Sameera are ok. Abbas-Mustan has done OK job by revolving the story from start to end to start again! Dont have high expectations from this movie, not at all comparable to what GUPT delivered! Overall, ok time pass movie that can be watched once! Then itself you feel its a 'butter' biscuit movie :-)

Back to the City of Future

2008-03-23T11:00:00.005+05:30

Had a good 15-days break in my motherland India and now back to business here, in the City of the Future - Dubai! Its good to be back here but feel bad to leave the family and friends over there, in India. I miss them a lot and given my personal family condition, sometimes I think enuf of this 'foreign'/'onsite' and better settle down in our cool hometown! As the proverb in Kannada goes - 'Nammooru namage channa' (means our place is always fine) - I want to live by this :-) Back here, with my wife, who has come only because of me and just me! I should thank god for giving such a lovely and understandable wife for my life!! I feel so so bad for her since she has to sit all alone in that small studio room and spend most of the day in that room. I really appreciate her patience and the sacrifice she is doing for me. Its not an easy way for a working woman to sit idle at home (one small room!) without much work..hard to pass time and especially in a foreign land, where you hardly know some persons to speak to! I go so crazy when I think of her and thats where I feel enough of this onsite stuff, especially on a Visit visa.

Last Fireworks of DSF

2008-02-24T12:18:00.005+05:30

Yesterday we went to the Creek so as to witness the last fireworks of the DSF 2008. DSF is closing today, Feb 24th 2008 and need to wait 1 more year for this much hyped festival! Fireworks @ Creek happen every Thursday, Friday and Saturday during the DSF time. The walk to creek and the wait over there was very worthy as we watched the fireworks opened with a zoom at sharp 2030hrs! It went on for around 8 minutes and each of the shot was just amazing to watch. The fireworks is fired from a floating barge and the firing is totally automated. The amount of money spent on this will be huge but every money is worth the colors and wows and smiles it gives on every person face watching the fireworks! :-) I had captured the fireworks in my camera lens and here is the link to watch them! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2rNX3pimbM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffpO3q2g5YU Hope you will enjoy watching them, as much as we did! :-)

Helicopter Marketing - A Unique Way!!

2008-01-23T11:24:00.000+05:30

Today morning, when I was commuting to office, I saw a helicopter holding a huge gigantic flag, making circles in the sky, on Sheikh Zayed road and something was written on it. I thought this might be the curtain- raiser-kind-of for the 2008 Dubai Shopping Festival (DSF) that starts tomorrow Jan 24th and ends on Feb 24th. When the copter came in a visible distance to me, I was wrong at my guess! Instead it was an advertising trick of the newly opened NOOR Islamic Bank!!! I was just surprised to see this new way of marketing. A very unique but costly way to reach people! :-) But they are sure to get most of the people's attention as everyone wants to see what is in that flag! Wish there marketing way gives them positive growth but really these people can do anything with the tons of money they have! :-)

Holiday in Dubai in lieu of Pongal festival! :-)

2008-01-14T16:14:00.000+05:30

Amazed?? Really?? ha ha ... Yeah, today January 14th marks the celebration of Pongal festival in South India and for me as well :) So, I approached HH here to declare a holiday and he kindly obliged! Even our favourite US president Mr. Bush is also here for this festival!! He too is taking part along with HH and other delegates, all and all in Dubai, UAE. Still confused??? hmmm..:-) Today Dubai government has declared holiday for all schools, government offices and even private offices. The real reason (if you have thought that the real reason is the above, hmmm..sorry!)..The real reason is due to the Mr. Bush visit to this amazing city, city of the future, Dubai! Due to his visit, all roads and tunnels are closed for public and nobody should travel out! Wat do you say for this?? Even Bangalore has lot of VIP visits including many PMs and Presidents but wish we could also get holiday like this! :-) Consider this as heights as stupidity, ridiculous stuff or something else, anyway we have got a paid-holiday here; confined to home though :-( All credits goes to the great King and god father of this city :-)

Kul 'am wa antum bikhair (Arabic - Happy New Year)

2008-01-01T14:52:00.000+05:30

"Kul 'am wa antum bikhair"

- Wish You All a Very Happy, Exiting and Prosperous New Year 2008!!

I am celebrating the new year, first time out of my house, my place, my family and my country!! So am all alone here, in the much celebrated 'City of the Future' DUBAI, away from my family and friends to celebrate this new year 2008!

So, wishing you all again..Have a nice day and a Wonderful Year ahead!

An year of excitement that passed so fast!

2007-12-05T09:49:00.000+05:30

A year back, 4th December 2006 is the day when the excitement began and yesterday, 4th December 2007 marked the anniversary of meeting my wife for the very first time! :-)

And yesterday to mark this "love-at-first-sight-day" (wow! a new term coined! :-)), I took my wife to Amoeba Bowling Alley where we had a fun time (she was trying her hands in bowling for the very first time and hmmm...she scored pretty good!) and then I gave her a surprise by taking her to Ebony Restaurant - 13th Floor, Barton Center, MG Road, Bangalore.

I had never been to this place even though I had heard of this nice hotel from many sources. I hadn't expected that it will be so nice and romantic! This hotel, as the name says, is on the 13th Floor of the Barton Center in the busy MG Road and the USP of this place is that 13th Floor is the terrace area of this building and hence you will enjoy your meals with the cool breeze and part of Bangalore to see! If you are not Ok with the chilling temperature, then you can enjoy your meals in the inside restaurant but the thrill and the way to have your super meals in a open atmosphere and that too sitting 13 floors high is a different feeling!! :-)

The service is good, ambiance is very nice and food is also good. Though the price is bit on a higher side for the eatables, think that you are paying the price to enjoy the view from 13th floor! We ordered a Paneer based starter and it was chilly and super! Then we went for a Hyderabad curry (pretty spicy) and Stuffed Kulchas (this was the super and soft kulcha that I ever had!) as part of the main course. Finally we went for Black Forest Sundae as part of the desserts and needless to say, it was awesome! (so is the price!) :-) Finally we left the place with big heart but with a board called 'We will be back'! :O))

The party didn't end here but it continued when we went to have the famous Kulfi, sold next to the Bowring Club (in front of the petrol bunk) and then we went for a walk around the club to Lavelle road and then back to Church street. That kulfi is my all time favourite and yesterday again it retained that spot in me! ;-)

Overall, a real super awesome and romantic evening and we both enjoyed a lot and it will be in our memories for years to come!! :-)

The Super Six

2007-11-05T12:06:00.001+05:30

Six years back on November 5th 2001, I along with many of my friends started our professional career by joining a Chinese telecom major software firm in Bangalore.

It was one small room, the so-called 'training room' where 24 of us assembled on day-one of our work life to start a new journey. And today is the 6th year for all of us, 6 years in this IT industry, 6 years experience in resume!

Lot of nice memories to cherish and to cheer. Hope this journey continues for long time to come!!

Jab We Met - 6 Months Back!

2007-11-05T11:53:00.000+05:30

First of all, after a long time I am blogging again and I love this! :-) Yesterday, went for the movie 'Jab We Met' in the newly opened Fun Cinemas hall in Sigma Mall, Bengaluru. Went in with the expectation that the movie will be good, worth watching and entertaining (Many reviews of this movie were very positive!) and the results were exactly as per my thoughts and expectations!! The movie was good, Shahid looks pretty professional and Kareena, as usual, the bubbly-girl and especially this movie, highlights her bubbli-ness :-)) Overall, no part of the movie was boring and it has been shot very nicely, all in India though (Bhatinda, Simla, Manali and Mumbai). Yesterday was one more kind-of special day...it was half-an-year or 6-months Jab We (me and my wife) Met and got married!! :O) The scenes of Manali in the movie drove us back to our romantic honeymoon that we celebrated in Manali. (I remembered my driver in Manali saying that Shahid-Kareena are here for shooting a movie - this was in the month of May, the time we were there...Pity that we missed both of them OR they missed both of us?? ;))) Anyways, memories are there to cherish and overall it was very good - revisiting the memories of Manali, the movie and the post-movie snacks at McDonalds!

Happy News on Eye Donation!

2007-07-24T11:09:00.000+05:30

In past one week, I have seen two reports, in different newspaper (one in Bangalore Mirror and another in Deccan Herald), where these reports speak about 2 different persons who donated their valuable eyes upon their death! Also, their great donation has inspired lot of their friends and families to pledge their eyes for donation upon death! Hats off to those two great persons for being an example to the people. Let their soul rest in peace and their eyes give vision to 2 + 2 = 4 corneally blind people!

This brings lot of cheers to me, a great supporter of this noble cause for which I have started a project a year back called 'Gift Your Sight' @ www.giftyoursight.info

I wish and hope more and more people who have read the report in the news paper, come forward to pledge/donate their valuable eyes.

Remember, though we will not leave in this world forever, let our eyes be, after our death, giving light to two corneally blind friends!

Super Sivaji but...

2007-07-05T11:21:00.000+05:30

Finally, the wait got over for the much hyped, much talked and much awaited movie of the year - a festival for most of the Tamil filmdom fans, the release of the movie "Sivaji - The Boss" took place on June 15th 2007. Only reason this movie got so much hype from all parts of the world is coz of our Anna, our Thalaivar, our Bengalooru Boy, our Superstar - Rajnikanth (aka Sivaji Rao Gaekwad), being in the lead role, after 2 years of break (Chandramukhi was the previous film, released in 2005)

Film-wise, nobody can speak anything about the direction, photography, choreography and above all acting by Rajni and co-stars. Rajni looks damn damn damn good (even though in real life he may look like *yuck*) and his usual styles rocks!!! Kudos to that person who did the makeup of Rajni!!

Shreya...ah! that beautiful lass deserves a mention here...she is one of the few beauties of cinema who carries all kinds of clothes and makeup so comfortably...be it a traditional saree or western outfit like jeans or minis, she is THE beauty!! {if my wife reads this, ayyo, am gone! } :-)

I very much liked Suman's role and the acting he put upon...Very decent negative role he had and he carried it so brilliantly, liked his acting! Last but not at all the least, Vivek..that guy has damn super expressions while throwing comedy dialogues that nobody can beat him...Admire him for the super talent he has! :-)

The icing on the cake is the sets created for the songs!! gosh! it is so so exotic that no wonder director Sankar has quoted the movie budget as 95 crores INR! Its really amazing work!

But one thing that I seriously didnt like in the movie is the story! Bullshit, what a crap fictious story it is! I think even Rajni can dream in his real life to do it...so much crap it is...atleast a decent story would be good here...

All in all, It was very very nice to see 'Thalaivar' Rajni come back, with his usual style and giving us a super entertainment! Long live Rajni!!

Cooler bengalooru

2007-06-21T16:19:00.000+05:30

One of the main reason why people *still* love bengalooru (Obviously, I love namma ooru always!) - the city has switched itself from 35 degrees hot mode to around 25 degrees cold mode!

Yeah, from past 2 days, the weather across the city is very cloudy, threatening to rain heavily at any point of time but sadly no rains at all...even the hottest city Chennai is getting drenched by heavy rains!!

Whatever it is, the weather is very pleasant, bit lousy though (wish I was in home, sipping a cup of hot tea with Lays/Kurkure or mom's super handmade pakodo giving the company!) :-)

Especially the morning drive thru the cubbon park is the most enjoyable stretch I can say coz U will be passing thru lush green on both the sides and adding to this, is the super cloudy chilling wind blow - Cant expect anything more from this concrete filled IT city! :0)

All in all, enjoy maaDi!!! :-))

My small travelogue published in Rediff!!

2007-06-19T13:49:00.000+05:30

Almost 2 months back, I had submitted a small travelogue of mine to a place called Tungareshwar (near mumbai) to Rediff people. After much wait and followup, I gave up on the hopes that I will see my article on rediff. But today, I was taken by surprise when I opened the rediff window. My article has been published under the title 'Walking through the Western Ghats' !! :-) Do read on the article and let me know how it is. Hope you like it and appreciate it! ;-)

Back to track..;O)

2007-05-24T16:20:00.000+05:30

After a month of super celebrations, back to somewhat different normal life now!! ;))

Check this one of the dozens of snaps and memories I have got from my beautiful trip to Manali!

At last, I discovered but after 2.5 years! :-(

2007-04-20T10:24:00.000+05:30

Today, after 2.5 years of using my dear Cell, the Nokia 6260 - clampshell shaped 'brick' :-), I discovered a super good feature (pretty common requirement though) that can save me good amount of money on every call! :-)

As the saying goes, 'Need is the mother of all inventions', in my case I had the need to see the 'real-time' call duration ie. when the call is in progress, I wanted to see how much time has elapsed. This was and is required coz countless times, indeed, countless times it has happened that I end a call at the every beginning of next minute (1 call rate is calculated for every 60 seconds), means I end a call at 01 second or 02 seconds or 10seconds or 15seconds. After every call, I curse myself was having wasted some money for just this much time where I could have spoken a bit more till 55 or 58 or 59 seconds!! I dont know how much my money has gone to Bharti's kitty just because of this and I hate to the core! :-((

So, I searched on the net and instantly found out the solution for this. In Nokia, this setting is by default DISABLED and hence we need to ENABLE it ourselves - what a crap!! Everybody definitely needs this feature and Nokia has put this optional!

Wish if I would have done this long time back, I would have saved good amount of money as well as I would have spoken more with people! Anyway, Better late than never! :-)

Dusty dust bins and vehicles!

2007-04-17T16:17:00.000+05:30

Every other day you see them, in front of your home, in the road - the carriers of dust and waste generated from homes.

Earlier their used to be big 'dust'/'waste' bins at every corner of road where we used to go and dump the waste. Then, every 2 or 3 days once, the then Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BMP) open, shoddy, ugly looking van would come and clear them, though in a super hap-hazard way! Even after the van went, one could say that today their was the BMP van here and one could track the route taken by that open-van, as waste used to fall on every inch on the road!! :-)

Now, gone those days and the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) mooted program of collecting the waste from 'your doorstep' is in progress, all over the city! Good in one way but bad in many ways!! :-(

First the good news; good because you dont need to go and find a waste bin to dump the waste;instead the collecting vans/carts come in front of your home and you can dump the waste in the bin. So, dumping the waste is now just a few steps away! :-)

But the bad news are:

1. You are now dependant on the person who comes to collect the waste. If they dont come for a day also, there will be lot of waste generated and it gets accumulated. There is no other way to dispose this!

2. The push-cart / hand-cart that they come with has 4 medium-sized black bins. These are used to collect and store the waste but they themselves are so so pathetic that those bins itself are a big waste! Even the trucks that the BBMP uses to collect the waste from all these push-carts are so badly maintained that from every corner of the truck, the waste keeps falling on the road! Adding to this, these trucks does not have any roof top to cover the accumulated waste and when the truck passes, due to the wind, lot of waste falls down. Hence I told one can point and say that their was a BBMP waste collecting truck here!!

What I wonder here is, the government apart from allocating money for these things (that money is none others than our hard-earned, tax-payed money!), also collects Rs 10/- from every house for providing this door service and inspite of that they have such a stinking, pathetic infrastructure/vechicles used! If the goverment officials doesnt want the good old Ambassador car but want luxurious Lancer or Accent to commute everywhere, why the heck cant they care about providing better vehicles and service to the people?? After all, everywhere what is being spent on them as well as some part on us, is our tax money right but still we stand to get poorer services everywhere! :-((

Dont know when the government will really turn, if at all, to service the people with better facilities rather than servicing themselves and their families!