Unicorn

Blaming our leaders of the past

2007-03-03T13:37:00.000+05:30

Time and again I have heard it - They don't appreciate Gandhi, They call Nehru a gigolo, They say Godse had done a great job, They blame Ambedkar for the prevalent "reservation" system in the country and what not -they blame all the national leaders of the past for the situation at present ... I am talking about my generation. We live in different times and those men were in a different time. Among all my friends and acquaintances a staggeringly high percentage believe that Gandhi was unfair and ineffective. They say his system was flawed and that if he hadn't been there we would have been free about 20 years earlier to 1947! There are some who say Nehru is responsible for the sorry state of affairs in the country. I have seen many people abuse Ambedkar and blaming him for the "reservation" system. What did Ambedkar do? He introduced reservations way back in 1950 and then gave the government a time span of 10 years to bring the backward classes on par with the rest of the society - What did the government do? They have kept on increasing the time span and post poned the removal of reservations to help sustain their vote banks. They all strived for the good of the nation in their own way - The leaders had clashes of ideologies like every body else in this world (Don't you have those petty differences in your office/college among peers?) I don't think there is any dark side ... If there is then everybody has one - Gandhi, Nehru, Ambedkar, Jinnah everyone has one - they were different times ... Way back in 1940s and 50s could anyone of us imagine the scope and effort involving in running an entire nation? Think about this - A year before I joined my organization it was taken over by a competitor and it took them a whole year and a half before the entire transistion was finished - we are talking here of an entity that housed about 5000 poeple - In the wake of 1947 we were a 30 crore nation! Mistakes are bound to happen because nobody ever had a problem to solve of that magnitude. We keep abusing the leaders of yesteryears for our misfortune today - but there is no one else to blame for the current ills that afflict the Indian society but us!

Feeling like August

2007-02-26T12:28:00.000+05:30

Been an year on the job! Does that sound elated? No, I think it is more like "Been an year on the job ... Hmmm ..." - a sigh rather than a shriek. I completed one year and chugging along. It has been a complex one year where I learnt and unlearnt many things. Nothing excites me anymore and I don't do the things that excite me anymore ... Perhaps it was a case of too much too soon. I seem to be unsure of everything. Nothing seems to work to rejuvenate my zest for life. Life starts or rather starts dragging on a Monday morning every week only to end on a high every Friday night and the weekend seems to have whizzed past while the weekdays seem never ending. I have made as many visits to the doctor this one year that I have made in my entire life. May be I am feeling lonely - but then again, I enjoy being the master of my remote control! Life is not all that rosy that it seemed to be in the fall of 2005. What might have gone wrong? I am not sure of that either. Every time I see a man riding on a bullet thunderbird my heart cribs in pain that I didn't buy it when I wanted to because I had the engagement coming up and it burdens my heart still further now that I am debt ridden in EMIs and I know for a fact that I will never be able to own one as my marriage is coming up. I have bought many of the modern day convenience contraptions that did make life easy but something is missing in life ... Life has become hollow. Happiness seems to elude me. On the upside, In the last one year I have learnt to cook better and faster, turned unfit to fit and unfit to fit again (If you take the measure of waist as the index), discovered a new pastime called trekking which kept me occupied for most of my weekends last year, discovered a writer called Jeffrey Archer, Finally bought a copy of "English August" after searching for it in vain in the Sunday markets at Koti, Hyderabad and also at the leading book stores in Pune. I just want to leave all this rat race and go home ... i just want to sleep to my hearts content without about bothering about anything else!

2-Wheelers on express way!

2007-02-23T14:13:00.000+05:30

With blatant disregard to the safety of others and that of their own - two wheelers driving around on the Mumbai-Pune express way (2-wheelers, 3-wheelers and pedestrians are not allowed on express way). Caught this on camera from atop Rajmachi point in Khandala with N73. One of the two wheelers is circled in red.

Vaasthushastra

2007-02-02T12:33:00.000+05:30

During the "Rang De Binary" dance competition - In the court yard of Residency club there was a huge banyan tree at the back ... All the lights combined with the twilight gave this tree an eerie look and I captured it with my N73.

A very "vegetarian" photograph about "non-vegetarian" stuff

2007-01-22T19:13:00.000+05:30

After attending the "Rang De Binary" dance competition (I didn't participate - I was there as a guest). The dances were good and soothing. More than that they were like choreographed musical plays. After a couple of hours into the event hunger struck and one of my friends suggested a famous Irani outlet that served fabulous chicken biryani - Hyderabadi ishtlye called
"Blue Nile" in camp. It was a long time since I have set foot in a cafe and it was a far cry from the so called "posh" hotels which serve tasteless morsels under the name of biryani here at Pune. The dinner was made more memorable because of this one photograph that I took in the restaurant ...

New year

2007-01-02T14:20:00.000+05:30

Purandar fort

2006-12-05T12:42:00.000+05:30

There was a gap after Raigad ... I didnt venture out across to other forts in the region as the winter has set in in these parts of the country and the land changed its hue from various shades of green to lighter shades of brown. It looks as though the land has lost its lustre! But I couldn't sit tight for long. One of my friends wanted to visit Uttarakshetra (Narayangaon Balaji temple) and I found that Purandar and Vajragad were nearby and coaxed him into coompanying me to those forts after the darshan of Balaji. Armed with the information collected from the internet I assumed that there was a well laid road to the top that would allow us to take our bikes to the base of the fort. About 20 kms from the temple towards Saswad we reach a place called Narayanpur which houses the famous Datta temple and a little later up on the same road you get a fork on the road that is adorned by color hoarding that indicates that you have to take a diversion towards Purandar (6 kms to the inside). Following that we were to the base of the hill in no time only to find that the road leading to the top was not a well laid road as was written but rather a path of stones. Yet we dared our bikes on that stone laden path all the way upto the base. The ride to the top was one of my most anxious rides as I was very tense through out the 3 km ride as there was nothing that would stop me from falling to my doom into the abyss below had my bike given away! When it was just nearing the top, the road seemed to be blown away in a land slide during the monsoon. Confronted with the option of either parking the bikes there or walking them across the land slide we decided to walk them. About 500 metres after that we were at the base standing opposite the statue of "Quilledaar" Veer Baji Muraar Deshpande. Parking our bikes at the military canteen and then refuelling ourselves with tea we started off towards the top of the fort. It was an easy climb to the top and the journey also had one of the most common questions that people ask on treks: "Why did Shivaji build these forts so high up?". First up Shivaji didnt build many of the forts - they were there since Satavahana period - He just refortified them and then used them effectively against the Mughals. He did build a lot new ones too. Second thing is that at such height you can have a view of about hundreds of miles around which lets you see any enemy force approaching. The fortification was intact and it was a good walk around the fort. There are steps leading to the fort but we took the wrong detour at the canteen only to find ourselves exerting harder to climb it up. While coming down we were able to locate the correct path. The steps start from south-east of the Purandareshwar temple which faces east. After coming down the hill and our way back to Pune we had a darshan at the Datta temple and the adjoining Narayaneshwar temple. I have the snaps ready but yet to digitize them.

What are parallel universes?

2006-12-01T19:07:00.000+05:30

I answered this question on Yahoo! Answers and my reply was chosen as the best answer.

A parallel universe is one where everything is the same - we still live on earth, you and me exist and everything else and it is governed by the same laws of physics. The difference come in the path taken by your life basing on a particualr decision that you took.For example - At somepoint in my life I had to make a choice e.g. either pursue engineering or business management. I chose engineering in this Universe and currently I am content with being a software engineer. I took one road of the fork and I am in this universe. In a parallel universe I took the BusinessManagement road of the fork and probably I own a big business in a parallel universe. My assumption is every time you have to make a choice and you choose one in this universe there will always be a story of you running in parallel in the other universes (The number of universes will be equal to the number of choices you have in hand)

Here was the reason why the asker chose it as the best:

This answer is a deeply reflected one and it makes one think about the myriad dimensional universes that oprate in our lives .I will have to think about the isses raised in here. Meanwhile many thanks for your help.

Riots in Pune

2006-12-01T18:49:00.000+05:30

The otherwise peaceful city of Pune erupted in Pune over the alleged desecration of a statue of BR Ambedkar ... Some parts of the city had curfew while some parts were partially hit. We had this by-the-hour updates by our operations manager who finally advised all of us in the office to leave home. I was oblivious to all this and was calmly pumping away in the gym (Yes, I am on fast track to fitness through diet and exercise - aim is to reduce my tummy and yet keep the same muscle mass - will tell you all how I did it once I succeed) when all this e-mail conversation took place. From the gym I went to the conference room to attend a meeting where I was surprised to find just two guys ... By the time the meeting was over we three were the only ones left in the office. Once outside the conf room the lights were out through out the building/ They even shut down the air conditioning system. I have never seen the office so deserted and it was just 8.30 PM!! Finally I left the building by about 8.45 PM only to find that I was one among the last software engineers to leave the Hinjewadi IT park - there wasn't another soul on the roads ... Who benefits from the riots? Neither you nor me - Perhaps the rioters themselves -
I heard they are paid for the rioting - But I know one thing for certain: There is one group that always profits whenever there is even a minor riot in Pune ... Thinking about Politicians? No not at all - I am talking about the the rude, idiotic, over-charging - autowallahs ... "Sir dange shuru ho gaye Sir - Bahut risk hogaa - 200 se kam mein nahi jaa sakte". Does fleecing me of a couple of hundred bucks avert the risk of riots? Especially when I am asking him for a location that wasn't affected by riots?

Yahoo! answers

2006-12-01T18:45:00.000+05:30

These days I have a new pastime - answering the questions on answers.com - a service by Yahoo! It is cool, It is sauve, It even has features that you wish your company's discussion forum had ... I am hooked!

The New Thumsup Ad

2006-12-01T17:54:00.000+05:30

"Muppai yellu gaa Thums up thaaguthunna - Kondarantaaru daanini taagadam thagginchaalani,
Inkondarantaaru ee vayasu lo naaku vishraanthi kaavalani! Motor cycle pi Araku asale vella koodadhani!! Nijaaniki Thumsup thaaginappudu naaku chaala aanandam kaluguthundhi - jorugaa parigethadam lo kalige anandam - Thumsup taagithe yekkuva kaalam jeevisthaano ledho naaku teliyadhu kaani okati maatram telusu - Aanandam tho aayusshu - Peruguthundani!"

Who ever has come up with this concept should be given an award for this year. Without the presence of the star (My beloved Chiru) the ad campaign still managed to capture my. Hats-Off of to the director. Also the ad focuses on the negative campaign against Colas. I don't mind the occassional glass of Cola even if it does contain a trace of pesticides - what the heck? Even vegetables today have alraming proportions of DDT!

Captain Jack Sparrow

2006-12-01T17:49:00.000+05:30

Could you believe that I waited 4 months before I was able to get this snap? Sparrows used to frequent the balcony in my brother's home and every time I used to take the camera out to shoot one they used to fly off - It was on a very tired saturday evening (I had just come back from Sinhagad) that I was finally managed to shoot without disturbing its peace.

Konark bird park

2006-12-01T17:43:00.000+05:30

I had the chance of seeing an Ostrich in flesh and blood during my Pune Darshan trip at the Konark bird sanctuary off Paud road. Photography is strictly prohibited here and yet I did manage to steal a couple of snaps of these rare birds like Ostrich, Emu and Cassowary.

Vetaal Tekdi

2006-12-01T17:37:00.000+05:30

Vetaal Tekdi - the hill of the phantom. The place which I frequent when I need to burn of those excessive calories over the weekend. This snap was shot when the hill was at its peak in terms of greenish grandeur. It is brown now. Fall has set in. The paths have become dry and I am not afraid os slipping in the mud anymore. Whether green or brown it is still my "affordable" treadmill!

Pataleshwar caves

2006-12-01T17:30:00.000+05:30

In the heart of Pune city amid the hustle and bustle of the JungliMaharaj road there lies this patch of land that is completely serene and indifferent to the surrounding noise as though it has built a "force field" around itself - Pataleshwar caves. These weredug up during excavation carried out in the area and hence the name. The caves house a temple of Lord Shiva with a magnificient Nandi opposite to the entrance. I went there on a rainy saturday morning which renders a mystic greenish hue to these photographs.

Mahabaleshwar - Table point

2006-12-01T17:25:00.000+05:30

Need I say more about the beauty of this place? It was simply captivating ...
For a complete set of photographs drop by my yahoo album

Photographs digitized

2006-12-01T17:16:00.000+05:30

Photographs digitised
Post Raigad, I took the time out to scan each of those good snaps and update my Yahoo album.

Visit to Fort Raigad

2006-12-01T17:09:00.000+05:30

This was my best snap among the lot I shot at Raigad - The Ganga Sagar which was supposed to contain water from all the rivers across India which were brought specifically for the coronation of Chattrapathi Shivaji. This was the view of Ganga Sagar tank (taalaab) from Shivaji's palace.

Vist to fort Raigad

2006-12-01T16:37:00.000+05:30

I went to Raigad with my brother's family to experience the ropeway. It was the first time that I felt I totally lost it. The journey was tedious - it was a good 160 kms from Pune - the warandhe ghat road didn't seem to end and the children were getting uneasy with all the constant bumping they were getting - courtesy of the bad road, I was getting worried about going back because it was already mid-day and we still didnt even have signs of having reached anywhere near Raigad! Finally we did manage to reach it and have lunch only to find out that the guys don't start the ropeway unless both the cubicles are filled to capacity (8 people in all). I lost precious sunlight (I was armed with my usual Canon locked and loaded along with an old Zenith also loaded for the occassion) because the guy didnt start the contraption until about 3.45 PM! The rope way ride was one hell of a ride! I was constantly thinking that the rope would crack and I would be hurled into the abyss below. I clenched my fists in anxiety and was looking only at eye-level and avoided looking into the valley. The most anxious moment came when the cube was nearing the top most point and it started emitting creaky noises and the cube was shaking - God! I was at a height of about 1400 ft. Finally we descended and got ourself a guide and that guy knew his craft - Just went about telling the history of the place and took us around the fort. The fort was great but it was getting darker and since both me and my brother had never been this far out on our car had our own apprehensions. So we came down via the same ropeway but decided to take another route back home via Paud road. This road was far better but was looking very very desolate - there was not another soul for miles together ... The last straw came when a buffalo jumped onto the road from nowhere and hit our car a little below the right fender rendering the car door unopenable!

The snaps came out nice ... But the CD which I bought at the fort about Raigad turned out to be a fake (They charged me a 100 bucks for that!)

Khandala Lonavla trip

2006-10-18T20:26:00.000+05:30

It has been quite some time since I blogged about my journeys in and around Pune. since I will be going home tomorrow I thought I better blog it all up now. After Lohagad I lay low for a weekend and the next weekend my family came visiting. Mom, Dad, In-laws, Fiancee and sisters-in-law, All came here for a vacation (It is Dasera time and people down south get atleast a week off). When they all came here I planned to take them for a tour of hill stations around Pune like Khandala, Lonavla and Mahabaleshwar. I also planned for the Narayangaon Balaji temple as my in-laws were keen on visiting it. In the evenings I had to squeeze in shopping trips and dinner programs at branded outlets like McD or Pizzahut. All this hectic schedule left me drained but nonetheless I was enjoying myself. I even managed to take them to Dagduseth halwaai Ganapathi temple, Shaniwarwaada fort and konark bird park in that long weekend! Follow the next few posts and catch a glimpse of monsoon magic that bowled my family over and made them fall in love with Pune!

"Maha"rashtra

2006-10-13T12:47:00.000+05:30

This is the e-mail I got from a friend today morning

Today i went to sation at 7:55 AM can u believe that there were 45 people in each line? 20 such lines but still i was hopeful that i would get a tatkal as this number reduced to 20 in just 45 minutes. Because every body (who wanted a delhi ticket) was returning without a ticket coz tatkal tickets were sold by that time but as ill luck would have it the server was so slow that for processing a ticket and printing it it was taking 15 minutes (per ticket) my turn came at 10:45 AM. by that time all the 100 tatkal tickets for konark were over and it entered into WL so i booked a ticket a bombay-hyd hussain sagar and hyd-vskp nizamabad exp (leaves sec'bad at 9:45 pm) ticket The first one is a tatkal i dont want to go tomorrow and waste another 2.5 hours. so u people carry on on thrursay. diwali time in pune rly station is horrible i have seen it last year and this year too.

Bye.

Mr. Xxxxxxx

Consultancy Services Limited

This was my reply:

Not just the railway station - Maharashtra (stands for “The great state”) government itself is horrible – stupid policies and policing … Like they don’t care about the roads but want censor on what’s being shown in TV. The High Court just asked to stop screening adult movies at normal times and these bungling idiots blocked all the movie channels and now the high courts is mum about it … It doesn’t care about the misinterpretation of its order!! All that those idiotic traffic cops care about it is lifting your bike off the parking lot if your back tyre has just crossed the white line but the traffic police never care about improving parking facilities! When it comes to railway station – the clerk always comes late and because of the stone-age computers and printers that adorn these offices they take at least 10 minutes to resolve each customer request and it takes at least 2 minutes to print each ticket on that old “dot-matrix” which keeps screeching all through! (keee … Ki ki ki … Keee ki ki ki!). To rub salt on ones wounds all these idiots who care a damn about rules, write registration numbers on the number plates in Marathi (making it virtually impossible to read incase they hit and run) claim themselves to be the proud sons of Chatrapathi Shivaji Maharaj!!! How atrocious can it get? Did Shivaji ever ask the Shiv sainiks “Chalo sab logon par gundaa gardi karo!” ?? This is perhaps the first time in my life I am seeing so many “Jaakat naakas” (Octroi tax collection centers) that burden everybody right from the petty vegetable vendor to the software engineer who wants to buy some piece of furniture in the suburbs because it comes for a little less there. Well, in my state it doesn’t have this octroi and yet they maintain good roads and infrastructure. The cable wallahs are the worst parasites of the lot – They charge exorbitant amount in my locality but that was fine because they were beaming down almost 90 channels. Now a premium part of the pay-channel list (movie channels) are gone owing to the misinterpretation of the HC order and still they didn’t bring the subscription down to compensate that! There is nothing great (“Maha”) about Maharashtra except some people like Sachin khedekar, Milind gunaji and Varsha usgaonkar screaming “Maajha Maharashtra” in some mobile service provider ad! Pune is great – It would have been even better if these “Dharthi ke laal” stopped spitting the gutka and pan on the walls and roads!

For this post my friend replied:

my ramblings about" maha"rashtra Plusses: It is the most industrialized, most urbanized state in the country. ample resources of any kind.. excellent tourism potential it is perhaps the only state that has so much agricultural production despite being so much industrialized Minuses: Worst Governance of all time, Highly mis-managed state u find tax of every kind: higher sales tax, service tax, professional tax than any other state in India. but still, worst possible basic infrastructure.

Lohgad a.k.a Lohagad trek

2006-09-18T17:52:00.000+05:30

Rise and Shine
6 AM - "Get up, Get up ... It your big weekend after many boring weekends! Clear up your head, charge up the cell phone, wash your face, Keep the coffee kettle on the stove, boil the water for noodles, Call others, Pack the bag, Come on - Lots of stuff to do before 7 AM - Come on ! Get up!"

Loaded and ready
ERROR: Bike NOT Started
7 AM - "It is already 7 AM and you are ready to go - Shit, the bike doesn't start! Come on, Come on, Dont keep them waiting, Start up, Wake up from your sleep you lazy horse, Give it one final kick ... " Lo and behold! Bike stirs to life and cruises along to the meeting point at Convergys Office in Aundh.

Meeting point
Everybody's here all geared up! Lets go, Lets go - We have to be out of the city before 8 AM to avoid the rush hour traffic.

Missed it by a hair's breadth
ITI Road: Zooming past, Hey! Why is Chandra slowing down? Something's coming up, Ouch! watch out!! Duck, Swerve, Zoom ... That auto driver has no road sense man! Idiot turns right so fast without even giving a hand-signal!!

Breakfast on Paud road, Asking for directions along the way. "Damn my Marathi skills, Hindi seems to be of no use here! How will I ever reach Lohgad? It been like I have been riding my bike for eternity now! Crossed Jawan village, the farthest point to which you have ventured out till date from Pune in this direction. Hey, Look Tikona fort to the right, Tung fort to the left, Aah! There it is - Pawana dam, a land mark to suggest that I have been on the right track! Congratulations, time for a pit-stop. Discharge!"

"View is breath taking. Ah-Ah! Dont get lost in the scenary! The road has snaky curves and steep inclines. Be careful you fool! Fell down twice on this bike in as many weeks last month on the muddy and slippery Pune roads - This time the casualty could be serious!Huh! Back on plain road, No way Iam going to come this route when going back, the bike can't make it up that incline - Lets go back from Lonavla side"

Wrong detour
"Took the wrong turn - Forced a detour on the team! The guy screams "Lohgad? Seedha varti ahe!" Don't know. I see the fort ramparts on the hill beyond but the road seems to lead nowhere - What to do now? Let me ask this passer-by. Park my vehicle infront of the temple like he said and start climbing up? I don't see a path out there. Still not sure what to do. Its still your call. OK guys, lets park infront of this temple and start climbing"

The lost trek
"Ground is turning slippery here - Actually you are walking across a stream coming from the hills above, what else do you expect? Be careful you might slip"

Many detours later
"Here you are at the foot of the fort - Look at the steep incline of the fort wall - Oh no! Iam going to get a heart attack incase Iam to climb that! No way Iam going to do that. Hey! This villager seems to be a god-send, It is too good to be true! If what he says is correct there should be a road a little further up that leads directly to the fort steps"

Steps atlast
"Piece of cake - Hey! this climb is by far the most easiest compared to other forts" Made it atlast. Here it is - Ganseh Darwaaja, Now what's this next door? Is it Hanuman Darwaaja or Maha darwaaja? Lets go to the next door and check" - A few minutes later - "Yes we have a hanuman idol on this door - this is the Hanuman Darwaaja means the previous one got to be the Maha Darwaaja"

Marvel of engineering
"By Jove! The walls are still intact, This is unbelievable - There are walls, Then there are doors, There are steps that lead to those doors"

Born free
"Trying to catch some fish in the water tank so that they can adorn his fish bowl at home. To catch or not to catch - Either ways I am fine with it - Afterall Iam not going to eat that fish - They will be assured of good care and three square meals a day but in a tank of lesser size." Decided against it finally.

Vinchu kaata
"Scorpion's tail - People keep raving about it but I never thought it would be so magnificient that I would be dumbstruck at it splendor! If I climb down to the end of the tail will I be able to climb up? No you can't make it back besides it raining, If you slip on the rocks you will be in a point of no return"

Telugu, Telugu everywhere
"What happened? Every body seems to speak Telugu here, Kottha oka vintha ani mana vallandaru katta gattukuni vacchi padinattunnaaru! Yem maatlaadithe yevariki artham
ipothundho ani chuttoo choosukovaali!"

Zhunka bhakar and Poha
"This tastes really good! Two rotis are not sufficient - get me one more please"

Whose bikes are these?
People at the temple seem to be wondering who left those bikes there - "Some conspiracy theorist must have thought they were laden with explosives. They must have been real scared!"

Who owns these bungalows?
"Now that we have climbed from the difficult way to ascend to the top frmo Pawana nagar side, Lets find the easy way out to this fort. Proceed straight to Lonavla from the parking place. The way up to Lonavla is marked with lavish sprawling bungalows - Who owns them? Anybody who has money to splurge and land here seems to coming dead cheap"

Full throttle
"You are consistently doing a 90 on the bike - full throttle - Touched 105 momentarily. Bike released from bondage of Pune's bad roads. Racing like a through-bred. Accelerate, dipper, gear-down, accelerate, over take, zoom ..." constant pattern. Lonavla to Pune in 35 minutes flat!

The aftermath
"Body is aching, Yet Iam filled with good memories from the trek. Throw the wet jacket on the clothes line, remove those water filled shoes, switch on the hot water, turn on the shower, relax ..." thirty five minutes later - came out and took a fresh pair of clothes. Slipped into a dreamless peaceful slip early that evening only to be woken intermittently by Sandy's crying - but that's OK, woke up fresh the next morning.

Meggy in daddy's T-shirt

2006-09-14T22:07:00.000+05:30

You keep hearing about "stepping into one's shoes" how about "trudging into one's T-shirt"? Here is Meggy in Daddy's T-shirt!

Sandy in a lungi

2006-09-14T21:50:00.000+05:30

Sandy in a lungi - I was the one who decked him up in that attire.

My old cubicle

2006-09-14T21:34:00.000+05:30

This was my old cubicle when our team was housed in STPI - Software Technology Parks of India, Maharashtra, building. Now we are into another office a little down the road which is called RedFort. Will be posting that cubicle's photo soon.

Me and Sandy

2006-09-14T21:27:00.000+05:30

Saturday night parking woes

2006-09-12T18:47:00.000+05:30

Thinking that you have heard about Saturday night fever but what the hell is this Saturday night woes? Well, to say the least this is the misery inflicted upon hapless people who just want to eat in peace by taking home a take-away from places like Pizza Hut or a McD by all those software denizens that have been unleashed owing to the weekend - having been glued to their monitors the whole week! Pune roads are bad as it is but what makes it even more irritating is the fact that parking becomes a very big problem. Like the other day I went to PizzaHut near my apartment to get a take-away at about 7.45 PM or so and there was place for parking my bike and yet couldn't do so because the other bikes were parked in a hap hazard manner and didn't let me get to that empty slot. It all started the moment I spotted that empty slot and wading my towards it and lo and behold there is a smaller bike with a middle-aged woman sitting on it - seems her husband left to give the order while parking the bike across the entrance making my entry into the parking lot impossible! By the time that very knowledgeable an civic person came out with his take-away and allowed me in the empty slot was filled. Boo-hoo! I couldn't but do anything else other than stamping my feet on the ground in anger. Finally my weight training paid off as I found that there was a huge gap between two haphazardly parked two-wheelers but nobody wanted to set them straight and park their own. I lifted each of them and made place for my own bike. Order given and take-away delivered in 20 mins flat. Cam out of the PizzaHut only to find that there was no way out as the flow has increased and vehicles both two and four wheelers were parked all over the place in zig-zag patterns. I remembered that "find a way out" puzzles that I used to play with keen interest in the magazines and newspapers. I did eventually find a way out of that parking maze. I was inching my way across to that exit slowly avoiding getting any scratches on my bike and I was just 5 meters from the exit and BANG! there she was - one fat middle aged woman riding on a 2 wheeler - with not enough horse power to make it into the thirties once she starts riding - came and parked her bike right at my exit. The moment she came into view I asked her politely "Mam! Can you please wait a minute? I want to go out" she said very rudely "Go back the way you came and exit from the other end!" and locked her two wheeler and walked away as if it had nothing to do with her! I had to again play the "find a way out of the maze" and get out. The moment she walked away my anger knew no bounds and I actually thought of hitting that "pink" "scooty pep+" bike with mine. I am pretty sure that nothing would have happened to my bike but her fiber body endowed bike would have been damaged pretty badly! But lucky she was that I am not like I used to be about 4 years ago - she must have thought that I was thinking "Pink se pangaa nahi lene kaa!" like in that ad. But neither is she as cute as the bubbly Zeinta nor is her 2 wheeler as strong! Anyways I managed to get home before my take-away got cold.

The guy in the picture biting away into that burger is me - at McD - It was just a month after I came here to Pune. I haven't been to a McD or a KFC before that.

Brave Heart!

2006-08-17T19:05:00.000+05:30

The next weekend after Sinhagad trek ...

God forbid you fall ill in Pune! I don't know about other big cities because I have never lived in cities other than my very dear twin-cities (Hyderabad and Secundrabad) but cost of living in Pune is high as it is and rising steadily. Back home in my place Doctors charge no more than 100 bucks for a consultation and they don't charge a follow-up consultation fee if the visit is in less than 15 days! The other day I woke up only to feel a searing pain in my left calf. It thought it was a muscle cramp and just went about doing my work thinking that it would subside. After 4 days it worsened still. I had no choice but to visit a doctor lest it was something serious. The doctor was a very experienced old man who examined my calf for a couple of minutes and pronounced gravely "Cellular Thrombosis!" as though he just passed a death sentence and as if to confuse me with his medical jargon. Perhaps he thought I was one of those innumerable software drones who lead a very happy life typing away on the keyboards to their pay checks and are blissfully ignorant about Biology either animal or plant or human! :) . But he was wrong. I did understand that he meant a blood clot in my leg! My real ailment surfaced when I was about to pay the consultation fee at the counter. I didn't know that I had a cardiac problem until I saw that his 5 minute examination was worth 350 bucks!! - My only offence: I admitted that I was a software engineer! He prescribed a sonograph to determine where exactly the clot was( And that cost me about 1300 bucks ). He asked me to come back and see him the next day with the test results. Armed with the test results I consulted him the next day morning only to be charged 150 for the follow-up consultation that lasted just better than 2 minutes. The doctor kept charging me 150 on each of my subsequent visits over the next two weeks. On my last visit that lasted less than a minute I was finally relieved to hear that I was completely cured. But by the time I was finished I realized that the bills totaled 3300 which included a 1000 for consultation fee alone!

In Pune it is not enough if you have an ailment to consult the doctor - You also need a brave heart!

Sinhagad trek

2006-08-02T20:48:00.000+05:30

The last two weeks seemed like eons of geological time to pass by. I embarked on a trek to Sinhagad on one of those Saturdays but was very unlucky because of the rain and heavy fog that engulfed the place - So no great photographs - the photo you are seeing on the right was taken from the digital camera of a friend who was extremely patient with his camera so as to shoot the images at all the right places at all the right spots. The fog, the rain, the chill, all made the trek a memorable one but the only complaint I have is that I could not photograph the extremely well preserved fort walls of Sinhagad as the valley was thick with fog. There was an area at the top most point in the fort where the wind was blowing so fiercely that I got the feeling that I was flying. All the small waterfalls near by became water-"ups" :) as they started shooting upwards towards the fort instead of flowing down into the valley. It was certainly not the most demanding treks but it was certainly the most trickiest treks with water flowing all along the path below my feet making me nervous to get every step right. Once on the top I was hungry like hell and was relieved to find myself treated to pitla bhakari (Jowar roti), kandha bhaaji (onion pakoda) and dahi (curd). We had hot roasted peanuts as well. As I wanted to explore the roadway to the fort also (So that I can come by bike another time) I came down by Jeep. Due to the incessant rains I was wet, trembling and exhausted by the time I came back home. Again a hot water bath came to my rescue ...

Hanuman Tekdi

2006-07-19T12:25:00.000+05:30

After lots of enquiries, I was finally able to locate the address of Hanuman Tekdi (hill) which is a favorite of joggers and located in the heart of the city. This small hill is surrounded by BMC College, Fergusson College and Symbiosis. Also on the Symbiosis side we can find Ambedkar museum. We can start our climb either from symbiosis side - from Senapti Bapat road or from the BMC college or Fergusson college. We parked our bike at the BMC college gate (two-wheelers not allowed inside college campus) and started our trek up this small hill. Once on the top the view was terrific. We could see Parvati at a distance. The glass and concrete marvels erected on Senapati Bapat road were also visible from the hill top in their full splendor in the morning sun. We got to the Symbiosis side, visited the museum and then went inside the Symbiosis institute to capture the bronze statue of "The Common Man" in my camera. Incidentally, Hanuman Tekdi was the place where there was a student initiative for rain water harvesting. On the way back we saw a small valley complete with a moss-filled pond that added to its beauty, right behind Symbiosis. There were Kingfishers flying across the pond, Lots of flowers and greenery all around. The hill is small but you get all the shots you need for photography as many as you would get in a trek on the Sahyadri hills.

Trek to Vitandgad

2006-07-10T18:37:00.000+05:30

when I came to Pune almost 6 months back people were telling me about the beauty of trekking in the monsoons and how the clubs organize those treks. Monsoons arrived and suddenly the brown hued hills around pune came alive in green. I decided on embarking on a trek with a club called vadventure1 on Sunday, the 9th of July, 2006.

D-Day arrives

I have never been to a trek before and I was apprehensive about it. I started working out and made it a point to walk atleast 4 kms everyday in the morning since the last 3 weeks. I woke up at 5 AM in the morning, got ready, had noodles and coffee for breakfast, packed my back pack with lunch, water, camera and torch and I was off to the bus stop by 6 AM to catch a bus to Swargate, our meeting point.

Bumpy ride

I still don't get it why they write the bus number only in Marathi (or use Devanagari script) instead of the regular Roman numerals. I don't know Marathi neither am I conversant with the numerals. I waited for a bus to show up, just saw if Swargate was written on it and just hopped in. I have used PMT bus for travel only once and even there I didn't sit in the last row. This time I had no chance to sit towards the front of the bus as it was full. I eased myself into the last row only to find that it was very difficult to remain in seat as the driver was speeding and the potholes in Pune roads made me jump up and down in the seat. I was relieved when I finally
arrived at Swargate bus stop.

Drive to Jawan village

We took the ST bus to Jawan village near Pawana dam. The drive was very scenic and it was a hint of the things to come. It started raining while the bus was edging its way towards our destination. We got off at the village. There were about 40 people ready for the trek now. We had breakfast of Idli-Chutney at a loacl hut there. The icing on the cake was the hot tea served while it was drizzling outside. Wind cheaters up, Cameras locked and loaded, ready for the trek we made a circle and introduced ourselves to the group. We then started to the foot of the hill.

Walk across the paddy fields

The walk towards the foot of the hill was through paddy fields. At first I was worried about all the mud that was getting stuck to my shoes. Then suddenly I slipped and I was in ankle deep mud. My brand new Adidas changed from dark grey to dark brown. Now I was no longer worried. Just continued walking while clicking snaps in between. All around me were small waterfalls about 3-6 feet in height. It was intermittently raining with bursts of sunshine in between. The hill tops were covered in fog but oddly our target - Tikona fort or Vitandgad was clearly visible from the foot of the hill.

On higher grounds

The walk across the fields lead us to our first resting point a little above the fields. After that the walk was through bushes we came to the second resting point at a temple. A Gurudwara was also nearby. After resting for a while we started on the most difficult and terrifying part of the climb. Of all the things that I weighed before I embarked on the trek, I overlooked one thing - My morbid fear of heights (acrophobia). I overlooked it because it was lying dormant for several years and I haven't been to great heights in recent times. The steep incline, the valley on
either sides, the height all made life difficult for me and time and again I thought of quitting the trail and sitting it out while the rest climbed up. I was only able to complete the trek owing to the psychological push given by my friend Vijaypal and the organizer Nitin. If not for them I would have missed the view from the top.

Hanuman

While going up right at the base of the fort there was huge stone carving of Hanuman. Nitin told me that people still come here from the village below to pay their respects to him. I too pad my respects and took a snap of the God in his cute red avatar.

Why steps are high in forts?

Nitin gave me an explanation as to why steps are high in forts - to prevent animals both domestic and wild from climbing up. If the ascent is steep then if the enemy starts climbing up the steps they just need to dislodge the top one and send him down and the rest will all tumble down. He also told us that Shivaji made good use of these forts which were built by the Satavahanas. When I questioned the logic behind constructing these forts on the hill tops when the actual city and money are in the valley below he said that the fort was for the protection of persons and not the property.

Theory of Relativity

Climbing up from the base of the fort the steps became steeper and the height of the steps was about a foot and a half each. I was getting worried about the possibility of slipping. It was a little over 90 minutes since I started walking and already I was feeling like I had been walking since five hours. When I told the same to Nitin some trekker climbing ahead of me shouted down "Theory of Relativity"!

CheGuvera

Crawling, Pushing, Hanging and hauling myself up, I made it to the top of the steps. There was this guy who was smoking wearing a red T-shirt with a Cheguvera print on it who remarked that I would die if I had been to the BhimaShankar trek. He was arguing with an odd sense of
logic when he said that he would drop his plastic water bottle on the road so that it would get picked up and get recycled rather than in the dustbin where it might not get recycled at all. While all this discussion was raging I was trying to go to the top most point of the fort. Incidentally there was a huge step on the way and that was the only place when Nitin had gladly accepted to give me a hand and pull me up to my relief (I was worried that my weight might pull him down).

Jeans are bad

Through this experience I learnt that jeans are bad for hill climbing treks. I walked towards the end of the top most point in the fort. The breeze was cool and soothing. Suddenly it started raining and we all decided to start the climb down to the base of the fort where there was a man-made cave to have lunch. That was when I noticed that Cheguvera was going into the temple of Lord Shiva present at the top of the fort with out removing his footwear and smoking a cigarette. I heard him say that God wouldn't mind.

Trek down was uneventful, it wasn't as bad as I imagined it would be because of the constant support and enthusiasm given by Vijaypal and Nitin. Finally I made it to the point where we took rest for second time while we were climbing up. After that I took a close up snap of a flower which I have never seen before - Nitin told me that it is used while worshipping lord Ganesh. We visited Chota Himkund, a gurudwara which was a replica of the Himkund gurudwara in the Himalayas. We were treated to wonderful tea by the master of the house which takes care of that gurudwara. It started raining like cats and dogs when we reached the foot of the hill and I missed several good shots because I couldn't get the camera out for the fear of rain water spoiling my lens.

The aftermath of the trek

We finally got on to the bus that brought us back to Pune. I alighted at Karve Road only to find that there were some riots going on at Deccan Gymkhana and there were no autos or buses available. I was finally able to coax an auto driver into taking me to Aundh but he charged me double the normal rate. I was home - all muddy and wet. It took me about 20 mins to clean my shoe while it took me another 20 mins to get cleaned up myself. There is no such refresher as a hot water bath after a hard day's toil to soothe your muscles.

Acknowledgements

I wouldn't have been able to complete this trek without the enthusiasm and help of Vijaypal and Nitin.

Pune Darshan

2006-07-03T14:18:00.000+05:30

IMay 27th, 2006: Today I finally embarked on a journey across Pune city - to know the place where I live, better. I booked Pune Darshan. The trip started at 9 AM and ended at 6 PM . The trip was both demanding and yet exhilarating. I was always aware that Pune had a rich heritage. I was unaware as to where to start looking. Pune Darshan trip organized by PMT is very good endeavor in helping non-puneris understand Pune better ...

First point was Tilak museum in Narayan peth. This was the residence of LokManya Balgangadhar Tilak. It was also the publishing house of his newspaper Kesari. We can find life size models of Tilak in the museum. Looking from a distance you feel that indeed Tilak is reading in his study.

Second point was Shanivarwada fort. Already been there once. Built by the Peshwas, all that is left of the fort is its wall.

Then the third stop was Mahatma Phule wada - The once upon a time residence of Mahatma Jyoti Rao Phule, a social reformer of the early twentieth century. A passing reference is made to this great man in Nehru's Discovery of India. Located in the twisted and congested lanes of old Pune the house brought back the memories of my ancestral home in my village. It was remarkably well maintained but the department taking care of it should have put enough lighting inside the house to shine on the portraits and other artifacts that were housed inside.

Shinde Chaata - The temple of the Shindes
A magnificent temple tucked away inside a remote corner of the city in Wanowrie off NIBM road. This temple was built by the Shindes. I was in for a surprise when the guide told me that this was built by the family better know today as the Scindias (They moved to Madhya Pradesh and Shinde became Scindia). The most famous of them being MadhavaRao Scindia and Vasundhara Raje Scindia and the current scion Jyothiraditya Scindia.

Katraj snake park (Rajeev Gandhi Udyan)
Until I visited this snake park I never knew that there were 3 types in the turtle family - I always thought there were only two: Turtles and Tortoises. Here I met the third kind, Terrapins - These have webbed feet with claws protruding out of their fingers. Several species of snakes were on display inside. It was very touching to know that the scientist who was instrumental in setting up the park lost his hand due to a snake bite! It seems he still preaches that snakes are harmless and don't harm you unless provoked. I bought a WWF calendar inside the park that now adorns my desk in the office.

Sarasbag Ganesh temple
A very picturesque garden, a small lake in the middle. In the middle of the lake sits Lord Ganesh in his island abode. The temple is serene and cool. The specialty of the temple is that in all other Ganesh temples the snout is bent to the left hand side while here it is bent to the right hand side. Apart from that the temple houses a museum that has various types of Ganesh idols made from all sorts of materials on display. The temple and the garden are great but you have to stand the stench of the lake.

For lunch we halted at a nice little restaurant tucked way inside a quite corner of sarasbag.

Dr.Kalkar museum
This was one of the most elaborate and biggest one-man collections that I have seen. The exhibits were neatly arranged and information was posted alongside of each one. There was very cute Ganesha made out of utensils. Also they were planning to open a new wing in the museum - Mastani Palace - They literally cut out a piece from a palace in Kothrud and pasted it inside the museum as a tribute to the eternal love story of BajiRao-Mastani. When I heard that Sanjay Leela Bhansaali was making a film called BajiRaoMastani with Salman Khan in the lead, I had no clue what it was. Now thanks to the museum I understood that it was a love story between BajiRao, the Peshwa and his court dancer Mastani.

Konark bird sanctuary
About 20 mins away from the museum and outside the city on the Pune Mumbai highway lies a small resort tucked way in the hills. "Konark" is its name. Not until you get into the first aviary, do you realize that this small resort houses a huge collection of rare birds including macaques (giant parrots from south America whose cries are deafening), Ostriches (about 8-9 feet in height), Emus, Cassowary (a bird like the Ostrich except that it is found in Australia) and loads of other avian species. The money you spend on the entry fees (about 10 bucks) is worth every penny. This is private collection and owned by an ornithologist and photography is strictly prohibited (Though I did manage to get a few snaps of the Ostrich and Emu)

Ambedkar museum
The last stop on the tour after the arduous climb at Chatu shringi temple. This museum is very well maintained, neat, clean and has sufficient air conditioning and light. It houses the relics of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar along with the Bharat Ratna medallion that he was awarded along with his personal artifacts. It is adjacent to Symbiosis college in Senapati Bapat road. The entire halle is under a huge dome built in the shape of a Buddhist stupa but only here it was covered with blue cermaic tiles giving it a very modern look. The surrounding garden near the dome make it look like a piece straight out of StarTrek! What struck me was the fact nobody bothered to take his shoes off while entering into this dome that housed the remains of Dr. Ambedkar and even the staff at the museum were very laid back and didn't ask for that to be done.

By about 6.15 PM we were dropped back at Deccan busstop. During the course of the tour I had exposed a complete reel of photographs, bought Rs.200 worth of souvenirs and was exhausted. But I felt good because I now know the city and its heritage better.

http://www.punediary.com/html/punedarshan.html

Bike trip

2006-06-19T21:07:00.000+05:30

I went on a bike trip with my colleagues last saturday. The trip also marked the completion of 2000 Kms on my unicorn. We went for a drive from Pune to Karla caves and then to Lonavla and then to Bedse caves on the way back to Pune. A trip of about 180 kms. Karla caves are on the way to Lonavla. After you take a turn to the right on the highway near Lonavla it was a 10 minute ride to the ghat road. The ghat road was steep. The climb up the hill on steps was even steeper. There was a temple atop the hill adjacent to the caves. I was panting and fuming all through the climb - signs that I am getting unfit. But once on the top all the exhasution was forgotten courtesy of the beautiful view from the hill top. Afterspending some time there, taking a few snaps and wandering around on the hill we started our walk down.

Getting back on to our bikes we stopped at a resort enroute to Lonavla for "Go-karting". Wandered around in Lonavla and went up the hills towards INS shivaji and then came back to the town to have lunch. It rained while we were having lunch only to stop raining when we finished! Then we started our journey back to Pune.

On the way we took a right on the highway in search of Bedse caves. These caves are not so popular with the tourists and it was strictly advised we visit it in the morning. Why it was so, We were about to get our answers in a few minutes after we took that right turn. While Karla was enjoying tourist patronage Bedse was like an orphaned child. True, there was no proper road. The only road that was available was just enough for a bike. we had to park the bikes about a kilometer away in a small hamlet and then proceed on foot. The walk brought to the steps leading to the cave on the hill top. It was about 3 PM and the sun was hot. Our water reserves have run out and there was no place where we could buy some. After a small argument whether or not to climb the hill, we finally decided to go for it. So started my arduous climb to the top. About 500 steps in all. I had to take rest twice before I finally made it to the top. I thought for certain that I was going to get a heart attack! When we were climbing, I observed the silence all around me and then it stuck me that there was not another soul apart from our chattering bunch! I read it was not so famous but we being the only visitors was surprising! At the top I was out of breath, thirsty and sweating all over. As I climbing the final few steps I remarked to a colleague of mine: "If only somebody would be selling water up there, I would buy it even if it 100 bucks a litre". There was little boy, from the village perhaps who was there at the top. We asked him if water was available. He said there was water aplenty. I was surprised. He opened a hatch and dropped in a bucket to retrieve pure water. I was indeed dumbfounded to find such hatches all around the cave water running inside! I thought the water would be dirty but on the contrary it was pure and clean. we drank to our hearts fill. It left me amazed that in those ancient ages they had a technology to harness water at the hill top and it works even to this day! After taking rest and capturing the view inside our apertures we started our climb down. All my exhaustion was gone. Now I want more of the excitement of exploration as well as that of a bike ride.

Samvaada - part 6

2006-05-18T14:37:00.000+05:30

He says:

Raj, I didnt use the word "risky" to denote job security. I had the following points in mind when I said "risky ". Probably my choice of the word would have been incorrect. But these are my views: 1. I was referring to the effects of such sedentary life on one's health. 80% of software employees complain of head ache, back pain, neck pain and all kinds of related problems. 2. You need to spend so much time in office. What about ur personal life? going to office early in the morning and coming back late night. working on weekends!!! would u have any time for ur wife and kids? your wife and kids would throw u out of home. I recently heard about my onsite engineer friend's father-in-law threatening him for his workaholic ways " Either u leave ur job or leave my daughter", funny is it? No, This happens to many people. Another incident in which my brother's 10 month old son fails to recognise him, because he does not get to see him often 3. I think I am going to forget my real self running in this never ending rat race. Would I get time to pursue my hobbies, my small desires?If at all a holiday comes, I am sleeping the whole day!!!! 4. In corporates, u are paid high because u work for more hours (obviously), but at the cost of ???????? Last but not the least private engineering colleges do pay high now a days, not like before!!! I have seen many uni. profs leading a happy and contented life.

Kosamerupu: Dr PGK does not own two wheeler because he does not know driving!!!

Samvaada - Part 5

2006-05-18T14:35:00.000+05:30

I also say:

You say that corporate life is risky. Yes, it is. They always want the bottom line – profits. They are not running a charitable organization. They are in the field for money. That is the reason they expect 100% from you for every dime they pay you. If your performance is bad then someone else will overtake you. You can’t call that a risk – You are not taking that risk for free and also they pay you and they pay you well 99 out of 100 instances. If we take up a job with lesser competition and responsibilities – say, our favorite, a lecturer – No body is going to hire you on a premium … unless until ofcourse you are a very famous orator with spellbinding skills and in depth knowledge of what you are speaking. Is it not?

Samvaada - part 4

2006-05-18T14:33:00.000+05:30

I say:

What I stated in my earlier e-mail was not about cost of living exactly. This is about income-expenditure ratio. When you are used to a certain amount of assured income your expenditure will also rise proportionally (unless of course you live an austere life like Dr. PGK who inspite of drawing a good salary as a Prof in JNTK still does not own at least a 2 wheeler). The income expenditure ratio follows the same rule as gases follow about space available … A gas can expand occupy the entire volume available at its disposal :)

What you observed about cost of living is absolutely correct. But who would give me 40K in Kakinada (unless until of course I join some junior college as a Maths/Physics lecturer J )?. You are also true about staying with parents. So as cost of living in place goes down, the salaries in that place are also down in tune with the times.

Samvaada - part 3

2006-05-18T14:31:00.000+05:30

He says:

Raj, I personally feel that cost of living depends on the city in which u live. see in pune for example, everything is damn costly. a rented 2BHK flat does not come for less than 8000. While in Kakinada, Vizag it is not even half of it. same is the case for other things movie tickets for example, a multiplex ticket in pune on weekends is not less than 100. while in vizag it has just reached 40. I feel that it is easy to manage things in your home town/state. u may even have ur parent's/ancestral house to stay in. For the same salary that I am drawing here in pune, I can live like a king in vizag/kakinada. Is it not the case? Our parents were not very rich, yet they managed to educate us in the best of the institutions. Did we not come up in life? I feel this corporate life very risky and monotonous. u have to be on ur toes every minute. When it comes to teaching, it is cool. An engineering prof in JNTU for example teaches for not more than 8 class room hours and 3 lab hours per week. He can prepare for his classes in his free time in the department itself. And the pay is decent enough. My friend's mother once told us that your expenditure is proportional to your income. I didnt realise it then. But now, I feel it is absolutely true. What do you say!!!

Samvaada- Part 2

2006-05-18T14:29:00.000+05:30

I say:

Seen your e-mail. Probably this heavy workload will stay for the course of my project as this is my first one in this company. So I have to learn how to do the job. So I too sometimes feel that I have been working for ages and settling down as a lect in my town will actually bring me happiness and leisure to pursue my other pastimes like reading, writing etc; But do you sincerely think that after being in this job until being 35, Will you be able to quit? By that time you will be married, have kids, kids in a costly school, drawing a handsome pay, must have bought a Car (on loan of course), maintaining a bunch of credit cards and god willing might have already bought yourself an apartment (again on loan of course). To support that lifestyle you have to work aiming at higher salaries … It is a vicious circle. This lifestyle permits luxuries which in turn breed a situation where we cannot leave everything just like that. We have to keep working in this rat race until those mortgages are paid – Or just don’t do that – no house, no cards, no loans … then only you can retire early from this job and settle somewhere in a less paying but gratifying job. What do you say?

Samvaada - Part 1

2006-05-18T14:26:00.000+05:30

He says:

Did u finally manage to remain at home this sunday or had to go to office? Are you approaching some deadline or what?u seem to be busy nowadays. didnt call satish, raja sekhar. i am not getting time to call anyone. by the time I go home and have food, it is already 11 pm. I just read newspaper for sometime and go to sleep. and again getting up, running to office blah blah.... life has become routine. I have a plan of quitting this job and joining as faculty in some engineering college in vizag. teaching life is cool. but as long as i can work hard, i will continue here. i personally feel that after 35 years u can resort to such cool life. until then work as much as u can bye, keep mailing....

Samvaada ...

2006-05-18T14:19:00.000+05:30

It has been less than a year since both of us have joined our jobs in huge corporates. This series of posts is about an ongoing discussion between us about our lives in the corporate - the pay cheques, extra long work hours etc; - Aptly titled Samvaada or discussion.

Lunch with my colleagues

2006-05-07T11:29:00.000+05:30

Lunch with my colleagues @ Talk About - Tamanna Residency, Hinjewadi, RajivGandhi Infotech Park, Pune ...

Weather was hot, Food was great, Bill was light on the pocket, Ambience was good, Rush was heavy, Hospitality was OK - All in all a nice place to spend a couple of hours in the afternoon or early evening when the breeze cools down a bit.

I got engaged

2006-05-01T20:07:00.000+05:30

I got engaged last week

RDB

2006-04-15T11:34:00.000+05:30

I watched RDB a couple of weeks ago and the effect still lingers. It was an ordinary story in the beginning depicting the care free genX of today's India. The easy going, cop-bribing, rough-riding, careless youth whom we find by the dozen in colleges today. I thought that was it. This is another DCH kind of flick where the protagonists finally come of age in the climax. I wasn't aware of the story line before I went to see the movie. What followed later on was quite a surprise and the movie during the later phases seemed quite a handful to handle, emotionally.

Every gang in college will have its own DJ, its own patriot (one who wants to join army or do other kinds of greater things), its own Sukhi (always after girls) and the financier (a rich kid who funds the operations). The beauty of RDB lies in the fact that the story took some turns that brings the protagonists face to face with reality. From the initial "System is rotten and nothing can be done" to "We have to do something", the characters under go a sea of change. It made me think as how these carefree youth could bring themselves to do those deeds that they have done! It was something which I would classify as "some one in the right mind would never do". It made me re evaluate decisions that I have made in my life.

As the British jailer in the movie would say "Some would go to their deaths screaming, Some would face their deaths in silence ... and then I met the third kind". The third kind - those who go to their deaths smiling, mocking at death itself. The protagonists in the movie might not have actually thought they would meet such a fate when they embarked upon that venture. I actually think that it was the logical ending. They matured from "Yeh nahi badalegaa" to "Hum iss desh ko badalenge". The final few minutes were heart-wrenching. Even in those last few emotionally heavy minutes the director elicits a few laughs from the audience through the dialogues mouthed by the character of DJ. At the end of it all the director depicted that a flame has been lit in the hearts of young India because of the sacrifice.

Let us think for a moment that the story was real. Had I been one of them would I have given such a sacrifice? Would the flame have endured even a single day in the hearts of the people today? How many times do we think that we need to change the system and then fall into the same complacent mode again? Public memory is short lived. Agitations are no longer the page 1 stuff unless they are backed by some political big wigs with vested interests. Being one among the current generation I would think not twice but "n" times before committing such a sacrifice because I know that public would soon forget all that was done and the ends would not have been achieved whatever may be the means whether - just or unjust, violent or non-violent! People might remember me but the flame I have lit through my sacrifice would have long been extinguished probably just after hours of my death and people become complacent again. They were just woken up only be lulled into sleep again.

Note: Aamir should be given a pat on the back for giving a relatively unknown actor from south India, Siddharth, equal footage with him. He accorded the same respect to Toby Stephens(Capt. William Gordon) in Mangal Pandey too.

Why stock markets crashed?

2006-04-13T16:29:00.000+05:30

The Indian stock exchange suffered the biggest ever intra-day decline after "Black Monday" in 2005, yesterday. Any guesses as to why? Some say it was the selling pressure that brought the otherwise bullish market down. But to quote the correct reason - Yes, yours truly has entered the stock market ... Make way for the Big Bull :) I have bought quite a few shares yesterday. no wonder the market crashed.

My noble steed

2006-04-04T22:20:00.000+05:30

How many times did I yearn to have a fifth gear on the F2 ... Lacking another gear is like shackling my spirit from roaming free and preventing me from talking with the wind. I was finally released from the four-gear bondage for the first time in my life, all thanks to my brother! Unlike the thumping noise of other bikes in its class, mine is the most silent and graceful. The smoothest ride I have ever experienced. The pot-holed Pune roads seem like a thing of the distant past owing to its superior suspension. I feel proud when people give a second gaze to when I take my red stallion out for a ride. I know deep down inside my heart that my noble steed would carry me far and for long ... I have wings now. Iam proud to have become the "wing-rider".

Noun: Unicorn <'yooni'korn>

An imaginary creature represented as a white horse with a long horn growing from its forehead. The horn is supposed to be an elixir.

RDB

2006-04-03T21:34:00.000+05:30

Seldom do we get an opportunity to watch movies in the mould of Rang De Basanti. A movie so different that nothing like has ever been shot in Indian cinema. A movie that made me think. I wanted to become an IAS/IPS officer, change the system. I was zealous at that point of time. Dreaming big about making big. Making big meant cracking the civil services then. I was idealistic. Something somewhere down the line went drastically wrong and here Iam gathering a paunch sitting all day long in a multi billion dollar software company. Democracy is the last thing I bother about. The voter identity card gathers dust serving just as another means to prove that I reside there. It has been six years and I am yet to cast my maiden vote in any form of election be it general or local body! I don't mind bribing RTOs or Traffic cops or for that matter any other Sarkaari Karmchaari to get things done. I keep thinking of ways to get away with minimum amount of income tax. Scams don't shock me anymore. Video piracy is none of my business as long as the print I brought on rent from the local video store is good. I no longer buy an audio CD because I get mp3s for download either on the net or borrow it from my friends. Long gone are the days when I used to go to the nearest flag hoisting site to salute the flag on R-Day and I-Day. Eons of geological time has passed since I sang Vandemaataram or Janaganamana! All I bother about these days is the pay cheque that gets credited in my bank account at the end of the month. All the patriotism I have swells up only during special occassions only to die the instant the emotions recede. Is is just me who turned like this? Or are the entire genX of India so? When have we,the new face of modern India turn so selfish? I think we need an explosion, something so drastic so as to shake us out of our inertia. If not we will be so used to watching "tamaashaa" that we will be rendered so powerless even to defend our own families let alone the country!

Shall we tell the President?

2006-03-31T19:23:00.000+05:30

The second novel I read which was penned down by Geoffrey Archer. A short but taut thriller about a conspiracy by a senator to kill the President of the United states. We have the usual happy ending in the end with the President safe because of the dedication of an FBI agent. The novel was a little over 200 pages and it was quite a treat to read. I couldn't put it down. The workings of the FBI and the President's Secret service was described in great detail. I always wondered why many TV series and movies showed the FBI agents showing their badge with the left hand ... This book answered that question. It had a lot of information and attention to detail. The previous work I read of Geoffrey Archer was "A matter of honor". Though this book pales in comparison with that nevertheless each of these books is great in their own right - One was about Her Majesty's secret service while the other was about the FBI.

Dagdusheth Halwai Ganesh

2006-03-31T18:50:00.000+05:30

When I first came to Pune for the interview I was astonished by the beautiful lamination of Lord Ganesh adorning the wall in my brother's house. I asked my s-i-l about it and she said that it was the Dagdusheth Halwai Ganesh. It was completely different from the normal Ganesh that I was used to seeing. I wanted to pay a visit to that temple immediately. The visit kept postponing from one weekend to the next.

It has been 3 months now. Finally I was able to pay the Lord a visit yesterday night. Yesterday being Gudi Padwa ("Ugaadi" for us) the temple was thronging with people who wanted to pay homage to the Lord of good times. The temple itself is tucked away in the middle of one of Pune's busiest markets near Laxmi road. We had to park the car at Shanivarwada fort due to the dearth of parking space near the temple. All this strain and stress vanished once inside. I have never seen a better Ganesh temple neither have I ever seen the Lord better adorned. This Ganesh was different. His temple (fit enough to be called a palace) was lavish, large and grand. The ornaments were shining bright in the arclights. The pomp and splendor of the temple increased because of the devotees who chanted the "aarthi" along with the usual accompanying musical instruments like drums and cymbals. I was really fortunate to be there at the aarthi time that lasted nearly 30 minutes. It was one of the joyous 30 minutes of my life! The visit was memorable indeed.

My best posts revisited

2006-03-22T21:31:00.000+05:30

I have completed 100 posts on my blog this week and I thought I should actually go back and read some of the older posts to commomerate the occassion. Going through the old posts I got this idea of listing my best (What I thought in my opinion to be the best posts) posts in one single post. The result is this post that lists all of the special ones. They are lsited chronologically and do not necessarily reflect my rating. All the posts are equally good for me.

1. D

2. Obituary

3. Sarkar

4. Batman begins

5. "My name is Lincoln"

6. "Made in America", The Sam Walton story

7. Mughal-e-Azam, The untold story

8. Eye of the storm

9. Mangal Pandey

10. "Tatkaal" - Bribing the government

11. "WMD"

12. The day after tomorrow

13. Sandy in McDonalds

14. "I am hungry!"

Wrestling with the pillow ...

2006-03-21T12:15:00.000+05:30

Q. Do you know what Sandy's favorite sport is?
A. "Pillow-wrestling" (as is evident from this photograph, he enjoys it quite alot)

Smiling for the camera ...

2006-03-21T12:04:00.000+05:30

Sandy and me, smiling for the camera ...

Iam hungry ...

2006-03-21T11:58:00.000+05:30

Sandy, sucking his thumb, indicating that he was hungry ...

Awestruck ...

2006-03-21T11:54:00.000+05:30

Sandy, looking awestruck at the camera ...

On top of the hill at Chatushringi

2006-03-20T18:57:00.000+05:30

The last time I went up that hill I forgot to take my camera along. This time I made sure that I take it along when I visited Chatushringi. The view from the top was breath taking as is evident from this photograph.

Back in gym ...

2006-03-10T20:14:00.000+05:30

Its been 3 months since I set foot in a gym. In the few months that I have been away from those workouts I gained a few inches across the abdomen. My office has a gym which is spacious and airy unlike the gym I used to frequent in Hyderabad. The equipment is nice. Above all the coach in the gym was nice. I can also listen to my favorite channel "Radio mirchi" while working out. The best thing about this gym - A heavy punching bag with felt covering. I thought I have to just hang my boxing gloves up in the apartment (due to lack of adequate space to install the heavy sand bag) but it seems I will be getting them off the hook from Monday!

Cricket-loyalty tests ...

2006-03-09T20:59:00.000+05:30

Does an immigrant cheer for his home country or his adopted country when they are pitted against each other on the field? Hard to say ... When you have made a country your home and you are earning your living there is there anything wrong in cheering for that country? After all you have immigrated to that nation in search of better opportunities which weren't exactly available in your own! You have made the nation your home. You are eating its produce. Just like you expect the citizens of your adopted nation to treat you right the citizens too expect the same kind of loyalty towards the country from you. You have become an expatriate. Your adopted country is no longer your second home. It becomes your "home". Your kids will be born and brought up there. Then what is the problem in cheering for that team? I don't exactly recommend cricket loyalty tests being conducted but what I do say is that there is nothing wrong in expecting that immigrants (Who later on became citizens) to be absolutely loyal to their adopted country! I think that brings to the fore certain other questions ... I used to have this classmate in school who used to cheer for Pakistan (For God's sake this is unreasonable). What would happen if somebody held cricket loyalty tests in India? How many I wonder would pass the test in Hyderabad (the proper one minus the Andhra suburbs) - By passing I mean voting in favor of India when we are pitted against Pakistan?

Which one to buy??

2006-03-09T20:12:00.000+05:30

I have been using my cousin's Fiero F2 after coming to Pune and have been riding around on it quite alot. It is a good clean bike (The type that my Dad would want to ride) which offers the good fuel efficiency, ease of riding and lots of stability. The 150 cc engine tag is only for the namesake. The bike does not have the punch of a 150 cc CBz or a Pulsar 150. For that matter it is a tad better than the LML 150 NV that I am used to driving around in my home town!

Now comes the million dollar question ... Which one should I buy? If my parents and family have their way I will end up with a Splendor or Victor. I asked the opinion of cousin about buying the F2 and he gave a thumbs down (He was one of the first persons to own that bike when it got launched in Hyderabad). So that is ruled out.

I have zeroed in on 3 options:

1. The Royal Bullet Thunderbird from the Enfield motors flexing its muscles at 350cc

2. Hero honda Karizma at 223 cc

3. LML Graptor 150 cc

Mileage is not a constraint for the moment. Performance take the front seat and looks matter the most. Added to that every second bike that I see parked in the parking lot seems to be a Pulsar 150 DTS-i and every third one seems to be a CBZ. So I dont want to go for them. I have done enough research on Karizma and Thunderbird and both of them costequally heavy on my purse. The Graptor scores a perfect 10 in my mind when it comes to looks and also is economical interms of both the mileage and price tag!

My point in posing this million $ question is - I can get to test ride a Thunderbird or a Karizma in the show rooms around Pune ... But where will I get a Graptor? The LML website seems to be dead and there are not many Graptors that I have seen in Pune! :(

Celebrating with my manager

2006-03-07T09:40:00.000+05:30

We had a team dinner with our manager last month at Green Park Hotel, Baner road, Pune.

The one popping open the champagne bottle is our Boss ...

Troy

2006-03-06T15:17:00.000+05:30

I saw an ad in the local news paper today about the screening of "Troy", as a part of the current Oscar fever that seems to have gripped the city's multiplexes. I couldn't help but recall the movie and how it had disappointed me bitterly!

1992:As a part of the English we were supposed to study this text book titled "Trojan war" which was a translation from Homer's "Illiad". At that point of time the war epic captured my imagination. Especially Ulysses and Achilles were my heroes. I hated Hector. Even in those childhood days (I was studying 6th then) I thought the book was classic movie material. I had already watched Ben-Hur and Ten Commandments by then.

Cut to the present:When I heard that they were making a movie out of that epic I was ecstatic. I thought I would see my favorite characters from the book spring to life ala "The Lord of the Rings". I heard Brad Pitt was playing Achilles.

After seeing the movie a year ago:I was disappointed that the story was twisted to suit the image of hollywood star Brad Pitt. He is the only bankable star in the movie apart from the very sweet looking "The Hulk" Eric Bana. So naturally everything seems to go Achilles' way. The movie is all about Achilles and his herioc deeds! They should have named it "Achilles" instead of Troy!

Illiad has many other parts to it. As to why Helen eloped with Paris in the first place ... It was all attributed to be the work of Gods (Cupid and Venus). This was a war when Gods took sides. No wonder that it continued for 10 long years.

The way the story was projected and the actual storyline are different: (Watch the movie and read the following points from the actual story)

1. Achilles wasnt the first person to land on the beaches of Troy as shown. Infact there was a curse that who ever sets foot on the beach first will be srtuck down immediately. None of the thousands of Greeks wanted to be the first one to die. So All their ships were anchored until a brave soldier by the name of Petrocles volunteered and he was immediately struck down by Hector!
2. Achilles didn't live until the end of the war but was assasinated by Paris during the final day of the funeral games which follow Hector's funeral ceremony.
3. Achilles wasn't one of the guys inside the belly of the Trojan horse because he was long dead before that.
4. Ajax (The large warlord who weilds the huge sledgehammer) didn't die while fighting with Hector on the battlefield. Instead he actually committed suicide by hanging himself. He was frustrated when he wasn't given Achilles' armour after the latters death in the funeral games. The council chose Ulysses on whom the honour was bestowed upon.
5. Achilles was shown as a mercenary but in reality he was a prince.
6. Achilles was shown to carry scars of war on his body. What the director forgot was that Achilles is invincible to any known weapon as he was dipped in river Styx at the time of his birth by his mother (She was a goddess). His only vulnerable spot ofcourse his heel which wasn't washed in Styx's water because his mother held him by the right heel while dipping him in.
7. Agamemnon too made sacrifices for this war. Some of the gods who favored Trojans stopped all the favorable winds when the Greeks set sail. So they had to wait in the middle of the sea with no fresh supplies for days together! Then a priest was consulted who said that the sacrifice of Agamemnon's daughter at the altar of Apollo would please the Gods. Though reluctant Agamemnon did sacrifice his daughter. The moment the sword struck her neck it was converted to a garland and she from then on she turned into a priestess at the temple of Apollo.
8. Paris died in the war. He didnot live long enough until the climax so as to keep the sword of Troy.
9. Once Paris died, the magic spell of Cupid and Venus binding Paris and Helen together broke. She longed to return to Menelaus. She did return to Greek camp along with Ulysses when he came into the temple of Athena (inside Troy) to steal the statue of Athena (The statue was a good luck charm to the Trojans - If it is gone, They believed that defeat is imminent).
10. Menelaus didn't die on the first day of the battle like they have shown.
11. Brysais didn't kill Agamemnon.
12. Paris was a very good Archer but a poor swordsman. Paris didn't grow up in the palace. Rather he grew up as a shepherd in the hills because his presence in Troy was supposed to bring it badluck!
If anyone wants to know more you can always drop in comments.

Sandy in my kitchen

2006-03-05T19:45:00.000+05:30

Sandy in McDonald's

2006-03-05T19:42:00.000+05:30

See how Sandy is trying to reach the big McVeggie at McDonald's ...

Meggy

2006-03-05T19:41:00.000+05:30

Meggy ... and her toys

Sandy

2006-03-05T19:35:00.000+05:30

Sandy ...

"The inscrutable Americans"

2006-03-02T19:40:00.000+05:30

How this Anurag Mathur got this idea about writing this wonderful book called "The Inscrutable Americans" I am not knowing! The book is humorous in its own way. America - the land of dreams for many. Hollywood star Arnold also once telling me that America is also a land of opportunity. The opportunity to "score". But sadly some how the protagonist of the story "Gopal" always is seeming to have a problem with girls in America. Every time he is trying to make it, one problem or other coming. Even the Gods are seeming to be against it! He is always remembering his "Respected" parents and his "God-praise singing" grand mother always. But he studies well. His observations of Americans and their habits and calling those habits as conspiracies against foreigners is very very hilarious! The Inscrutable Americans is a take on the Americans and their habits and also Indians and their habits also. Gopal was very much surprised to see many contraptions in America as the Americans are surprised that India is no longer poor. This fellow goes from a small town in central India to America to study. Before going he is trying to know all about America from Playboy and Penthouse letters. But sad to fins that it is not at all true. Poor Gopal. I was very much relieved when Gopal lost his cherry high up in the air traveling in a plane 30000 feet above the air. If you are having free time and not knowing what to do this weekend you can read this book. If by now any of you who are feeling about what is happening to my English grammar and language it is all because of "Gopal".

Weekend woes

2006-03-02T19:03:00.000+05:30

Been sick all through the weekend. Woke up sick on Monday morning. Applied for my first sick leave this Monday. Returned to the office on Tuesday only to fall very sick in the evening and again apply for another sick leave on Wednesday. Came back to the office today to see a pile of work to do. Time to roll up the sleeves and clear it up! Time to start cutting that extra weight across the abdomen. This sickness has proved to be a valuable lesson

A strand of grey

2006-02-24T15:59:00.000+05:30

I was looking at myself in the mirror the other day and there it was, a bright looking strand of grey hair, right in the sideburns adjacent to the right ear ... Seems I am getting a bit older now though I still cant figure out the reason why I grew a strand of grey at 25!

This week

2006-02-23T12:34:00.000+05:30

This week hasn't been a good one w.r.t my health. I had this suspicious looking swelling in my left eye that was paining like hell all through Monday. Then I started suffering from stomach-ache since the last three days. The boil that resulted from the swelling has finally burst today morning leaving my eyelids heavy. Phew! I was relieved - The mere thought of a doctor using a surgical needle to burst that boil was giving me creeps!! The stomach ailment has left me drained ...

As every dark cloud has a silver lining, This week has been a special one w.r.t work. I finished my training and was assigned a bug-fix. I was able to reproduce the bug on my machine. Now I have to tweak the code a little bit to find the fix to quash that annoying bug.

I still need to do a lot of shopping for my apartment but for the time being the photos of Sandy and Meggy sit prettily on my table at home. I got to keep an appointment with the doctor at 8.45 Saturday morning.

Cost of living on the higher side

2006-02-21T21:02:00.000+05:30

When I was moving to Pune I thought that they were paying me well or more than enough. The cost of living here is higher when compared to Hyderabad. For almost all the commodities, Goods and services the prices are higher when compared to Hyderabad. comparing with those prices I can't even imagine buying the same commodity here without thinking twice. I had bad experiences here with commodities like plastics, books, clothing etc; Even the amount which we have shell out as advance for leasing an accomodation seems astronomical when compared with a paltry 6000 that we paid for in Hyderabad. Am the only one feeling the crunch? Or is it because I didnt visit the right parts of Pune city to get better deals?

Learning from kids

2006-02-21T17:05:00.000+05:30

I learnt a lot of new things about kids in the last two months. Playing with Sandy and Meggy (my niece, Sandy's elder sis) taught me some things which I would never have come to know of if I hadn't met them. They all look simple but were eye-openers.

I never knew that babies when they drink milk through the bottle tend to sleep off in the middle of the feeding session and totally forget to suck in - in which we need to change the position of the bottle to remind them that the bottle is still in their mouth! I never knew that an 8 month old baby can recognize their name (When I call out his name Sandy turns his head in my direction no matter what he is doing). I never knew that sibling rivalry could be so keen that the eldest would totally refuse sharing the toys with the younger one! I never thought that the elder sibling would start mimicking the younger one's actions to attract the attention of the parents In case he/she feels that the other sibling is getting all their attention! I also observed that crying loudly is the only way that babies can express their hunger. Sandy keeps playing in my lap and suddenly - Boom! He starts crying out loud and one look at the clock and you realize that it is feeding time! I have also observed that Sandy doesn't recognize himself in the mirror! I also came to know that babies don't rest their heads on pillows while sleeping! The most interesting observation was that babies always try to swallow things however large they might be!

I enjoy it the most when he sleeps on my shoulder holding tightly on to me or when flashes that infectious smile of his that spreads happiness around or when he starts inspecting my ears, nose and moustache or when he squeals in delight when I hold him high above me up in the air! Living with them (the kids) was one of my most enriching experiences in life ...

New LPG connection

2006-02-20T14:14:00.000+05:30

I finally managed to get an LPG connection from Bharat Gas (Their office is even nearer to my apartment than that of HP). The paper work was processed in a matter of hours and I had a brand new stove with two cylinders ready in my apartment before the evening had started to set in. A thumbs-up for the Bharat Petroleum guys. A big-"BOO" for HP.

An upheaval @ CRR campus, again ...

2006-02-17T17:15:00.000+05:30

Surfing through the channels yesterday I was surprised to find the Principal of my alma-mater "vattaloori" Anand Kumar making headlines once again for all the wrong reasons. Yes, he was the same guy who was responsible for turning the fortune's of our batch in CRR college around and yes, the students are all up against him once again. This time they even burnt his effigy ("dishti bomma") near the fountain at the gate. The students and lecturers both seem to be fed with his autocratic rule.

Either ways the cream of the faculty have migrated to other colleges and have been promoted as heads of the department! We don't have the student-friendly yet scholarly and disciplinary types anymore in the college. Perhaps the old-timers have still stuck with the Principal. Yesterday night in TV 9 I saw my "beloved" HOD "Gudumba" Suri on the news cast!! The rest like the very knowledgeable and calm "Bansal" Srnivasa Reddy, The strict but student-friendly "Jai" Jairaj, The grand old man from computer science (the-then HOD), The serious yet good hearted and dedicated Ravindra Reddy (The then ECE HOD) and many more have left the college and not to forget my favorite faculty member - Vidyasagar (the-then "Most eligible bachelor").

All this hullabaloo had started, it seems, on the imposition of a dress code by the Principal on the students. These guys weren't dumb like us anyways and they said no. The management used its most time-tested technique to disburse students: Declared holidays for an indefinite period of time until matters were sorted out.

Principal has to be accessible to the students, which he wasn't. Even parents have to take an appointment from him Incase they want to meet him. He can't deny meeting them - Afterall they are the ones who pay for our college! Then there is always the question of not having "campus placements" in the college! Imagine a college, 17 years old, and yet unable to invite any company! I still remember an idiotic company called "Emconmsys" that came to campus in 2001 and asked the selected students to shell out 25000 bucks Incase they want the offer letter. As a last straw on the camel's back there was my HOD who doubled up as the training and placement coordinator for the college and gave training in breathing techniques!

One more incident that happened a couple of months ago - Remember our the-then V.C "Y C Simhadri" (remember his Japanese-wife) who used to roam around campus with a typist by his side suspending people ala "Oke Okkadu"? Yes, Even he was impeached from his position because he was involved in some funds embezzlement !!

We completed our B.E and came out during one of the best possible years ever at CRR ... When I joined the college I regretted the decision. But after my second year it was like a cake walk and I thought the days at college should never end. CRR was in a quagmire when we entered it and fell back into a mire after we left it - We are supposed to have the last laugh!! :))

Why do we only remember poor customer service?

2006-02-16T13:49:00.000+05:30

"Why do we only remember poor customer service?" was one of the questions put to the class in one of the softskills sessions in college. True, good service is always expected and we don't even thank the party for providing us with excellent service. But when it comes to incidents of bad service we always remember them. It leaves a bad taste in the mouth. We never want to get back to them again.

Yesterday I went to apply for an new LPG connection with HP gas and was dumbfounded by their attitude when one of them said it would take me atleast 2 months before I get my connection and might take even longer. Though written in the website that it is not mandatory to take the stove along with the connection they insisted it was compulsory to buy the stove from them. Further more it was even surprising when the guy asked me to apply for a new connection with Bharat Petroleum instead as their service was good and also I can expect the connection in about a week. Asking a prospective customer to go to a competitor was indeed outrageous! Yes, these are the same guys who say "Pure bhi - Poora bhi" and "Promise yehi - weight sahi"

I was disappointed - terribly. I vowed then and there that I would look elsewhere for a new connection and even if Iam to take HP I will not take it from that agency. We remember bad customer service because it does leave a bad taste in the mouth.

Shanivarwada fort

2006-02-14T18:54:00.000+05:30

The climb down from Chatushringi hill left us all thirsty. Once the thirst was quenched we were on our way again to explore Pune. This time it was Shanivarwada fort in the middle of the city!Crossing into the older "version" of the city was a surprise in itself. There was a lot of hustle and bustle even on a Sunday! My brother made a few twists and turns with his car through those old "gallis" and we waltzed into the parking lot outside the fort.

The entrance was marked by a huge statue of a Maratha (didn't have the chance to look at his name on the plaque on the statue) on a horseback. The gate of the fort can be described as humongous. But once inside I was disappointed to find an empty courtyard. Yet, even that vast expanse of empty land right in the middle of the city was very beautiful. Later on I came to know that the fort was burnt by a fire. The ruins in the courtyard were only an indication of how magnificent the edifice could have been when it used to stand tall! The only thing that was left was the fort wall that enclosed the courtyard. There were steps to climb up to the top of the wall. The height of each step was large. Asusual the climb to the top was exhausting as is
becoming the case these days because of my accumulating flab. But the effort was worth it. The view of the city from the top was great. Sad thing yet again that I haven't taken my camera along. As is in the case of the Chatushringi temple the one more visit to this old fort is due.

When coming out of the fort we noticed a board just beside the ticket sale counter that said that the fort was built in the 16th century by BajiRao Peshwa, the greatest among the Peshwas as a residence. There was also supposed to be a fountain that had a thousand fountain heads right in the middle of the fort. It also mentioned the fact that in those days the fort was constructed at a princely sum of Rs. 16,400. Imagine how much it would cost now just to erect the fort wall today ...

Chatu shringi

2006-02-13T21:16:00.000+05:30

"Chatu shringi" temple located atop a steep hill right in the middle of the hustle and bustle of Pune city was quite a surprise for me. Zoomed away on my brother's car yet again to pay a visit to the shrine, sunday afternoon with my parents.

The temple was serene and peaceful. The ambience was "reddish". The climb to the top was nothing short of exhausting reminding me of the fact that I was putting on flab! If I was "breathless" on the way up, the view from the top took my breath away! It was sad that I forgot taking my camera along for a few clicks :(. I shall have to pay one more visit to the shrine to capture the splendor of Pune city perched atop the hill!

"Shop around the corner"

2006-02-13T20:53:00.000+05:30

Seen the movie "You've got mail" starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan where a simple "Shop round the corner" is forced out of business by big time bookstore chain "Fox books"? Here is where the "twist" lies. We don't have any "Fox books" in my neighborhood but a little bookstore does exist! I discovered to my amazement a great little "shop around the corner" tucked away in the interiors of Aundh in Pune amidst an array of apartment complexes!

Aptly captioned "Your neighborhood bookstore" and called "twistntales" I discovered it just a couple of weekends ago. There is a play/sitting area outside the shop along with a rack that sold second-hand books. Light shades of green was the signature color on the outside. Once on the inside the personal attention I received was excellent. They were helpful and answered all my queries. They did offer the most important thing in business apart from quality that keeps bringing the customers back - excellent service!

Being a small store, space was at a premium as is expected. They can't stock everything under the sun and so they had to make a choice and yet offered the best and most popular titles of the day. Every rack was neatly named and classified in a no-nonsense manner. Books of almost every genre adorned the racks. There was something for everyone. The most remarkable about the way books were stacked up for display was the shape of the racks themselves. I don't know who came up with the idea but he/she should be congratulated. The run-of-the-mill book stores all feature the regular shelves where we have a chance to look at the top book in the stack only (with only the top book facing the customer). To look at what's next we have to shuffle through. In my neighborhood bookstore the rows were intelligently arranged in a crossed fashion allowing to the customer to have a look at the title on the side of all the books in the stack.

The store was so nice and people were so warm that I made it a point to take my Mom along last Saturday when she came to visit me. She too was impressed. Afterall who wouldn't? People need "Fox books" (to get better deals) but they need "Shop round the corner"s too (for cherishing a warm relationship)! Let us hope that my neighborhood bookstore stays safe from the "fox". It would stay safe ofcourse! Owing to the loyal customers who would not let the "Fox" anywhere even near!

Uttarakshetra

2006-02-13T20:07:00.000+05:30

My parents flew down for the weekend. I had to rush to the airport straight from the office to pick them up on Friday night. I thought two days wasn't enough to make the visit worthwhile. To my pleasant surprise something else was in store. All my doubts were dispelled once the rays started trickling in into the hall way in my apartment, Saturday morning.

To my pleasant surprise everybody was up by 6.30 AM, Saturday morning eventhough we were late to bed. Our itenary included a visit to the Balaji temple on the outskirts of Pune. Once up and running we zoomed away on my brother's car - all cylinder's fired braving the disordered rush hour traffic towards the outskirts of the city. Entering into the ghat road was an exhilarating yet anxious experience. Crossing a tunnel was the high point in that stretch of the drive.

Once out of the ghat road and on to the high way the drive was pleasant. The sun was benign enough not to scorch us off with his fiery heat and yet shone off very bright. A few stops along the way asking for directions and before we knew it we were there ... "Uttarakshetra".

Uttarakshetra is a replica of the temple at Tirupathi. I was pleasantly surprised to hear chaste Telugu hymns in the heart of Maharashtra praising he Lord. If the entry by itself was nothing short of fascinating the inside of the temple held even bigger surprises.

The "sevas" being performed to the Lord are exactly inline with those being performed at his majestic abode on the seven hills. Well, this abode of the Lord wasn't a no show either! Wedged in the Sahyadri hills, the view from the temple was nothing short of breath taking!

Once inside the premises the temple all the priests spoke Telugu. The Lord was dressed in all his crowning glory as such the Lord only can be seen on a Saturday! After the darshan and a visit around the four other smaller shrines that were located around the periphery of the temple there was the icing on the cake (For those of you who do not like this idiom - You can put it as a "cashew on the laddu") in the form of a huge free laddu for everyone of the devotees and a very very tasty one at that!

Uttarakshetra was truly worth visiting. For a moment I thought I stepped into one of the temples in Andhra. A remarkable thing about the temple - it is one of the cleanest temples I ever visited. The "Safaai - Karmchaaris" (Janitors) were so dedicated that the moment something spilled on to the ground they were ready to sweep it up!

Can you pass a test fit for an eigth grade kid?

2006-02-13T17:06:00.000+05:30

You Passed 8th Grade Science

Congratulations, you got 8/8 correct!

Could You Pass 8th Grade Science?

I accidentally stumbled upon this link while searching on the net for addresses of LPG dealers in Pune. Thought I should give it a try. One more thing - The question paper has a few spelling mistakes.

Anti-Marie ??

2006-02-08T15:58:00.000+05:30

Though Kajol looks like a million bucks in the new ad-campaign by Parle, frankly speaking, to me, it really sucks. It looks cheap. Did any of these guys ever taste the original marie made by Brittannia? Iam 25 now and I have been dunking the brittannia marie biscuits in my coffee (in milk when I was a kid) eversince I can remember. I tried other brands of marie too ... like Kwality, Parle etc; but imitations can never match the taste of the original. Can they? There is one thing I noticed - When you dunk the brittannia marie into the coffee it doesnt soften up immediately and fall off into the cup, while the other maries do fall in. Now thats a sign of quality. When it comes to Parle or for that matter any other brand who try to imitate marie they can never beat it because they fall short in the taste department itself let alone the quailty aspect! Now these guys can take the ad off the air and save themselves from certain embarassment.

Burning flab

2006-02-08T15:47:00.000+05:30

21\01\2006

I stopped working out since the last two months for obvious reasons ... Had a course to complete, interviews to attend, an unsure future ... Top it all after moving to Pune I was pampered alot by my cousin's family. I can't refuse all that attention, Can I? It was like non-stop eating the result of which is showing across my waist. I gained 3 kilos! For the first time in months I went for a jog early on in the morning. Felt great. Then I did some ab-crunches and Oops! my tummy is now aching - I guess accumulating flab is alot easier then getting rid of it! Let me see if I can burn it off and get back in shape!

5 point someone ...

2006-02-03T19:52:00.000+05:30

Just finished reading it last night (or early today morning to be precise). Never has an Indian author's work in English held my attention as this ( Barring of course the extraordinary story of Augustya Sen, "English August" by Upamanyu Chatterjee). It was hard to put it down. The work seems to be autobiographical but I seriously doubt whether any student would indeed have the audacity to do such things in their grad days! The book is refreshing. We get to hear the story through the lips of Hari, one of the four lead characters of the story. Story line is predictable and yet the author's mettle is proved when he brings in a kind of Quentin Tarantino style of story-telling!

Story starts in an ambulance when the author promises himself that he would pen the story of their escapades in case his friend in the ambulance makes it through! The author delivers and he delivers in style! Thus the story begins as a flashback. Once into the story, The other 3 main characters add their own point of view to the story each reiterating the fact that "It is of course Hari's book and he will edit it if we say too much". So much for Quentin Tarantino!

I would never have believed that there would be characters like these 3, least of all in an IIT, had I not seen people like that in a premier institute like BITS. Perhaps the labor and hassles from late high school to get into the top institutes of the country drove them so hard that they just wanted to relax - now that they are in! How true ... Even I did the same when I was into the first year of engineering.

I was doubtful whether or not to buy the book when a line caught my eye: "This is not a book to teach you how to get into IIT or even how to live in college. In fact, it describes how screwed up things can get if you don't think straight." That was it. I bought it and it was worth it!

The story is light hearted except for a few serious moments (even these elicit laughter from the reader because of the sensuous humor interlaced between the lines). The narrative races across their four years. The smile never vanished from my face all through the time I was reading it as it brought back the sweet memories of my college days!

About the author: Chetan Bhagat

Sandy ...

2006-02-02T19:35:00.000+05:30

I don't know why, but I never had any special liking towards kids in general. I always thought they looked cute in photos but thought kids to be smelly, messy, crying affairs. I never had a way with kids anyways! The only 2 kids that I ever adored, before moving here, were the daughters of maternal uncle - They were active, cute, intelligent and fast to catch up with things.(I was about 10 when then first of them was born) I used to like them a lot. Now they have grown up. Just like they have grown up I have grown older (not old! :) ) too. There was a long gap. In the last few years I had no chance of getting in touch with any kids in the family. So, no "kidding" around. Moving to Pune was great. But a big surprise has sprung up from the most unexpected quarters and a pleasant one as that! My perspective and out-of-sync ideas about kids were about to be tossed out of the window!

Enter Sandy! My nephew. I was in and out of the city a couple of times last December before finally moving in in January this year. During the whole time he was very playful, cheerful and active. Never seen such kids recently. Incidentally the family had to go on vacation the very next week after I moved in. They were out for a couple of weeks. To my surprise I started to miss Sandy! That "toothless" smile of his, His careless shouts that stem out of his utter happiness, his acrobatics when he tries to stand up (he is till 8 months old) ... I missed all that in those 2 weeks. The apartment seemed terribly boring without those kids. Something changed. My perspective changed. The moment I start playing with him I forget that I am a 25 year-old. All my tensions are gone. He made me discover a part of myself with which I was not familiar with. Suddenly kids don't look messy anymore ... I started to like the little mess they create (no problem - It is not a mess anymore!)

Of encountered gangsters and disgraced encounter specialists

2006-01-30T20:16:00.000+05:30

JCP Suchak: Aaj kal tho aap hero ban rahe hain
Sadhu Agashe: Inkaa kyaa hai Sir, Press waale tho kisi ko bhi hero banaa sakte hai ...
JSP Suzuki: Iam glad that you know
-From a scene in the movie "Ab Tak Chappan"

There are always cases of real life aping "reel" life. Cases of reel life being inspired by real life are also not unusual. Just like the protagonist in the movie gets disgraced, deserts the force, flees the city at the end of the movie, the inspiration for the movie - an encounter specialist too was disgraced and went underground. The only difference is that the cinematic version was seen by us and we knew the real reason why he left the force ...

What ever may be the reason - Is keeping trigger happy encounter specialists in the force a good idea? As in the case of the mumbai cops what if the specialists out grew the force? Who will reign them down? They are like a double edged sword. They can swing either ways. But don't we have any other ways to reign in dreaded criminals except commissioning special squads that "encounter" criminals?

Sadhu Agashe:(to a Rookie in the force) CI kaa kaam kyaa hotaa hai?
Rookie: Sir, underworld ke logon ko control mein rakh naa ...
Sadhu Agashe: Control mein nahin ... Unhe maarnaa ...

Perhaps not ... Is an eye for an eye the only answer? There is a rot in the system. The rot leads to rise in organized crime. Instead of cleaning the rot and breaking the nexus we bestow more power upon the police (The top cops in the department are always bashed publicly by the politicians for rising crime rate) to gun them down. Who then has power to control the cops? You are unleashing demons to counter demons. For controlling the specialists we need another balancing force which unfortunately is absent!

Rot in the system is very large. No two ways about that. While poor constables wield the unwieldy SLRs gangsters/terrorists use semi-automatics. Police need to be given special training to counter that too. Again no two ways about this. The real problem arises after they are successful in curbing the criminals (They killed at least 300 gangsters in between 1998-2000 and that is really huge!) So after killing 300 criminals there were hardly anyone left! The Mafia big wigs have fleed the country. Then what? The cops who wielded unquestioned authority have nothing much to do except for flexing their muscles on the "common" man or helping the corrupt people in the system there by leading to more rot. This became a vicious circle. It is high time that we start a department with in the police force to police the police! On the lines of Internal Affairs in the US! Sadly because the ACB which is already in place has limited scope. Even the most feared cops in the US fear the "Internal affairs"!

Note: Ab Tak Chappan happens to be my all time favorite Hindi movies

"King" sized movie

2005-12-17T10:56:00.000+05:30

What do you get when you cross Titanic, Cannibal Holocaust, Jurassic park and The Lost World? You would find a humongous ape jumping out of the pot right into your face! That is what Peter Jackson's "King Kong" is all about. You find yourself trapped in the theater waiting for the first one and half hours of this 3 hour long epic waiting to capture a glimpse of the great ape but alas! By the time you actually get to see the huge primate half the movie is over. The story moves at a fast pace once Kong makes an entry. The movie is staged in the depression era (late 1920's) with a movie director trying desperately to make it big. With the movie producers deciding to cut his finances he manages to get aboard a steamer along with his crew to shoot the remainder of his movie in an uncharted island somewhere in the pacific. The heroine is a theater artist who lost her job thanks to the closure of the theater because of the depression. We also have a writer in the crew who falls for the heroine. The initial scenes look as though they were inspired from Titanic but the CGI is a lot better. Once on the island we have a very fearful looking aborigines (They would make the Ogres from Lord of the Rings trilogy feel good about their looks!) who take a peculiar liking to the heroine and want to offer her as a sacrifice to the Kong. Rest is all about how the writer rescues her and how the crew capture Kong and take him back to New York. Dinosaurs keep popping in and out of the scenes interlaced with giant slimy bugs who eat away people. Kong even does Kung-fu! (A choreographed action sequence between the King Kong and three T-Rexs). Jack Black, who plays the director in the movie provides some comic relief with his efforts to keep the camera and the reel intact through the film. Adrian Brody and Naomi Watts deliver good performances even though the movie is not supposed to be an actor-based one.

I could never figure out since I first saw the 1970s version of the King Kong on TV as to why there was only one King Kong! Was the great ape looking at the heroine like a doll to play with? I wonder if the Kong being protective about the heroine was just getting angry at anyone who wanted to his doll away. The movie could have been edited to stretch just over a couple of hours. The cinematography was excellent. The back ground score took its hints from the emotional weight the scenes carried. Adrian Brody was perfect and none else could have been a better choice for the role of Ann. But at the end you just get a feeling that you are watching a montage of various movies and not an original. I saw the movie specifically because it was a Peter Jackson movie. Peter Jackson, in my point of view has been the most successful director in recent time who made a trilogy, the best in recent times, where each part was better than its predecessor. I expected better story and logic from this New Zealander but sad to say he disappointed! If you forget about Jackson's previous track record and feel that movies are just for entertainment and defy logic and you are supposed to see things in the movies which you don't get to see in reality then King Kong is for you!

Some of the best scenes of the movie: The ship running ashore, The encounter of the film crew with the aborigines and the subsequent sacrifice scene (The most terrifying scene of all), The dinosaurs running helter skelter with the Raptors chasing them, Heroine performing her act in front of Kong, King Kong chasing the taxi near the climax and finally the scenes where King Kong beats his chest atop the Empire State Building. Everything about the movie is large ... The characters, the animals, the canvas and finally the ape itself!

Tanzania

2005-12-11T14:33:00.000+05:30

No, I didnt go on a trip to Tanzania! This was the source for the cover story for Eenadu's sunday special this week (Tanazaniaa ... Choosi Teeraalayaa ... ). There was a time when Eenadu sunday special was one of the reasons to look forward for a sunday morning. Though not the prime reason anymore it still stays on the list of reasons to look forward for a sunday. There is nothing to beat the feeling you get you complete all your house hold chores in the morning and slump down in the chair with a copy of that book. It is still one of my favorite pastimes for a sunday. The fervent interest that I used to exhibit waiting for the newspaper on a sunday morning has waned over the years but the feeling I gain from reading those articles has no match. The 'Telugu' you get when you read Eenadu is quite different from the other newspapers. No wonder when people get hooked onto it they want it wherever they are in this world. The literary quality and the number of pages on the sunday special was on the wane since the last few years - Barring a few volumes most of them were devoid of quality matter. The concentration was more on the 'novelty' factor. 'Tidbits' dominated the proceedings with the special being reduced to a tabloid. The stories being published in the short-story segment have become rather short :)) and most of them are endowed with a predictable story line. Perhaps this was also one of the reasons for the position of Eenadu sunday special dropping a few places on my sunday 'to-do list'.

The main reason I observe was that there was a dearth of good writers who used to contribute articles to this wonderful magazine. It has been ages since I have seen 'Ajay Santhi' (Who used to be a regular contributor and my favorite) on the book. I wonder what happened to him. Not that the stuff they are churning out these days is bad but I think these nexgen writers need some serious training in keeping up with old values that the magazine stood for. These new age articles carry the gen-x flavor in Telugu which I can get anywhere else (Other telugu mags). If Eenadu's Telugu wasn't what it was it would have lost its identity in this sea of mags long ago. Enough about the fall in quality now. I think today after a long long time Eenadu featured an article by famous writer and actor Gollapudi Maruthi Rao.

Gollapudi describes his journey into the heart of East Africa, to Tanzania. Unlike the cover stories these days which were either rich in illustrations or literary content, this article was rich in both. There were loads of beautiful pictures through out article. The content was pretty good too. It was interesting to read. The wasy it was written gave me the same exhilaration it used to get previously. The writer tees off the essay by quoting a conversation with his son who argued that it was perilous to visit Tanzania. On the contrary it turned out to be a delightful experience for the writer. As an icing on the cake it was refreshing to know that there were around 300 Telugu families living in Tanzania! He details his journey in chaste telugu that took him across Dar-U-Salem, Serengeti and the Khilamanjero. The encounter with the pride of lions in mountains of Khilamanjero was nothing short of hair-raising! (Incase you trash it as lies - there is photographic evidence to back it up!). It is nice to see someone breaking the mould and venturing out to tour an African destination unlike many who tour the US or Europe.

Pune

2005-12-09T11:34:00.000+05:30

It was refreshing from this daily routine. A welcome break from this rush hour traffic and extra large roads. A really recuperating 2 day trip. I expected the city to be a center of bustling activity like any other modern metro in India (Especially the ones with software firms dotting the skyline). What I saw was exactly the opposite. No hurry, No jams, No nearly placed traffic lights. The roads were not the usual smooth ones that you would come to expect. They were rough. Even roads inside KPHB would definitely give them a run for their money! They were a little bit narrow for a big city. The hoardings that dotted the skyline through out the 10 kilometer long drive to my brother's office were only that of real estate ventures unlike Hyderabad. The atmosphere was cool. My brother complained about suspended particulate matter being high in the city which is why driving 2 wheelers was inconvenient. I found that the center of the city was under a state of reconstruction with lots of fly-overs coming up. I stayed at my brother's place which was an apartment inside a sprawling complex which overlooked a vast array of farm land - Quite a rarity in a city. Probably it was possible because they were living in Aundh (outskirts of Pune). I was quite surprised to see that there was a 3-hours-a-day power cut! After coming to Hyderabad the word "power cut" seemed to be from another world. Pune to an extent seemed to be like a extra-large town rather than a city. I don't know if my observations hold good for the entire city because I didn't have the time to venture out into the city center. But I felt a certain comfort level in the city which I enjoy in my home town. I would love relocating there if need be.

GD 75

2005-11-15T15:56:00.000+05:30

This is my mobile. It has been with me since the year 2001. The stylishly grand Panasonic GD 75. There are many handsets that came after it with even better and bigger features (which we may never use) but till date I havent seen any mobile that gave me the same quality and ease when it comes to being hands-free. The voice that comes out is crystal clear and all that needs to be done is to press the track ball in the middle and you can immediately shift to hands-free mode, even while you are on a call. The next best thing I like in my handset is "cuckoo" ringtone ... The ringtone retains its identity with out being lost in a sea of blaring immitations of cinema tunes!

"Kachakach bhari Hyderabadi bus mein safar ..."

2005-11-15T14:11:00.000+05:30

When I was new to Hyderabad I was terrified, petrified and mortified by the way kids hang around at the rear exits of the local buses. "God, How am I going to travel in this place!" I thought. It is not worth the risk I thought. I used autos most of the time. I never ventured far off from my college. I stayed near the college. After some time I thought I was missing a huge slice of Hyderabadi life by not using the local transport system. To my surprise I found it both exciting and very cost-effective. Who would let you hitch a ride from KPHB to Dilsukhnagar for a meager fare of Rs.13 that too in the comfort of a "Veera" ? The more I grew accustomed to the pace of life here the more I felt that I was missing bus travel. I had other reasons for shifting to Dilsukhnagar but my fancy for bus travel was along with them. One night when I was traveling from Masab tank to Dilsukhnagar one of my friends asked me as to why I had taken the pains to change my residence. The answer was simple - In my part of the state Hyderabad was as famous for its buses as it is for bangles at Charminar! It was notorious for the 'hangers' at the exits as well. I knew that my stay at Hyderabad would be short (assuming I live to be a 100 :) ) and I didn't want to miss this slice of life in Hyderabad. I get to see a lot of different kinds of people each time I travel. Contrary to what people think I keep observing people for a lot of things - their mannerisms, voice modulations, dialects etc; What is a more perfect place to study the people than a bus? Traveling by these buses made me realize certain things in life like the other day (the two blind men episode from my previous post in this blog). The incidents have been both positive and negative but most importantly I have learnt lessons from all those experiences. Through experience I have realized that - just because there are 'hangers' at the exit doesn't mean there is no place in the bus - There is always place in the middle. When the bus for a particular route number comes crowded the next bus on the same route would be not so crowded, sometimes you would be lucky enough to find a place to sit! Lessons like this have been many. But even to this day I resist 'hanging' - It is simply not my cup of tea. I would rather wait for the next bus than to do the 'ape-hanging' act!

Worry-wart

2005-11-14T14:14:00.000+05:30

I was travelling from Dilsukhnagar to Koti last night. Since I was unable to get a seat in "Veera" I decided to make the journey to KPHB via Koti. I was seated comfortably in an ordinary bus because it was the startting point. The bus was dark. I sat in a corner seat near the rear exit. I was pre-occupied with other matters which seemed quite important to me ... Well, I worry sometimes probably a bit too much! It was dark around me and I closed my eyes and rested my head on the window. I was hearing a constant chatter and laughter from the seat near by. They were chatting in the local Hyderabadi dialect. I was hearing sounds of laughter. As already said some questions kept crossing my mind. Then there was light. I opened my eyes. The light from the street lamps fell on the two guys who were chatting. It was then that I noticed that there was something missing. To my surprise I realized that they were blind! One was completely blind while the other was partially blind. If I was in their place probably I would have been worried about getting off at the right place from that over crowded bus! But their chatter and laughter continued oblivious of the surroundings. The remarkable aspect was that they didnt even take the seats reserved for the handicapped near to the driver's seat! They suddenly made me realize that there are larger things in life and because we are so caught up with worrying about smaller things we tend to miss the bigger picture - Often. I felt guilty because I was trying to mountains out of mole hills while indeed depravation of one of the most important senses in the human body might be considered a huge loss. Those two blind men taught me to take life as it comes and enjoy the beauty of life as much as we can for indeed providence has been kind to me and bestowed upon me skills, health, senses and a sound mind. I should probably use them to bring happiness on the faces of the people around me ...

"Dus bahaane karke le gaya dil"

2005-11-10T18:41:00.000+05:30

I don't download ringtones, wallpapers, screensavers etc; on my mobile. Not that Iam a technophobe or that I don't know how to. I just don't feel like doing it. I think I belong to the old school (I have been using mobile since the grand old days when incoming calls were charged at Rs. 7 a minute) where the importance lies on the convenience the device offers rather than the features that cater to our fancy. These days whom ever I call seem to be having these nice songs coming up at the other end. I have been songs in different languages these days. As stated earlier I had an uneasy sleep last night which I attributed to my hangover. I got up in the morning and suddenly thought that I should have a caller tune. What other would fit the bill rather than "Dus bahaane karke le gaya dil"? This number was going round and round inside my head since Sunday night. I succumbed to the temptation and dialed Hutch Care and got the number set as my caller tune - Finally!

Longest hangover ever ...

2005-11-09T14:06:00.000+05:30

At MSIT 'Trance' one of the guys from 2005 said "Maadi Vijayawada ... Maadi oka metta college ... Naaku evanni kotha ... Maa vaadu yedho kashtapadi englishulo maatlaadaadu kaani, Naa valla kaadhu ..." (Iam from Vijayawada, Iam new to all this, One of my classmates here did try to pull off this intro in english but I can't do that). I had no problem with either written or spoken english neither did I fear the audience when I was on stage, even before I moved to Hyderabad. Moving to the city only chipped off the rough edges and polished my skills. Here I was able to hone my skills better because there were people around me who were good at it. I aspired to be better than them. But I do have to admit that - Pizza huts, pubs, bars, 4 track roads, traffic jams, designer clothes etc; were new to me too ... The number of restaurants offering a wide variety of cuisines was in itself a big surprise for me! The only thing that bothered me was that I didn't get enough opportunities to pub-hop (I went to a pub just once). I never set foot in a disco. I had virtually no night-life as I was an early riser all through my life. MSIT 'Trance' finally gave me a chance to swing to the tunes spun by a DJ. The party rocked ... But the hangover remained. Yesterday was my third consecutive night where those flashes of light and the numbers were going round and round inside my head. Till date this was my longest hangover. Is it always like this the first time on the dance floor? (Some of my juniors who answer the call of the night might be able to answer the question better and enlighten me) I do not know as yet. But surely I liked the taste of it. I think it is time for me to have a night life, once I settle down ofcourse!

MSIT - "Trance"

2005-11-07T12:24:00.000+05:30

I can never forget the time I had my first Pizza or the first time I shook a leg to the tunes spun by a DJ. Both of these occassions are very special to me. Both of them happened on a cool November night and both of them happened while I was at MSIT. I had my first Pizza at the freshers party at Pizza Corner on Nov 5th, 2003. The other happened yesterday night (Nov 6th, 2005) - two years later. Incidentally these were the two days I enjoyed the most where I left all my inhibitions to the winds! The day was so good that it was almost as if I was high on alcohol. When I woke up this morning I had a sore back and there was a hangover of last nights music - It was going round and round in my head (especially the DUS number). After a day of super charged excitement I suddenly felt low today morning.

The day started - We all assembled at JNTU for boarding the bus that was to take us to the resort. The ride set the tone for the next few hours. For the first time in 4 years I was posing silly and stupid questions to my juniors! :)) I enjoyed every minute of the journey that lasted a little over an hour. I was able to interact with most of the 2005 batch juniors, Courtesy: 2004 batch girls - who used to send these people to find out about date of births, nick names etc; Most of the time it so happened that they came asking for someone and I used to assume that person's name as mine and send them back with some weird replies. It was so much fun because I was at the receiving end when I was a freshman in engineering. The 2005 MSITians were made to go back and forth in the bus - guys and girls alike! The most interesting thing I heard on the bus was from a 2005 MSITian. When asked why she joined MSIT she answered that she chose MSIT over M.Tech because MSIT had no exams which was 'kinda kool' ! Good point Miss. Point taken - If you had exams like our batch and that of our seniors you would have piled up arrears which would seem impossible to pass!

The spot in the resort where we were supposed to rock was visually pleasing. The breeze was cool. The spot was a secluded neem grove in the middle of a small body of water. Everybody introduced themselves on staged. 2005 batch juniors dispayed their wares (hidden talents) :) on stage before we made way for the MSIT 'Think tank'. I think I slept open-eyed through half of those addresses. Before our blood-sugar levels went dangerously low and put us into a coma - to our relief they announced a break for lunch. The lunch had all the usual items and ofcourse my favorite - gulab jamuns! They were so delicious, soft and yummy! Umm ... mouth watering! The brigade attacked the buffet with full force. The fort was under seize! A little over an hour later the warriors rested, contended and tired but happy with their conquest.

The gastronomic warriors who attacked the buffet full force after having had their share of rest turned into real warriors. We were divided into two teams the Red and the Orange. The event manager at the resort painted us all on the faces with the colour of our team. We looked really 'Kool'. We played tug-of-war and dodge ball. We lay down on the grass in an effort to recuperate our energy for the next item on the list - the Disco. As the sun set the music got louder. My heart beat increased with the music.

The lights and the smoke were in place. Finally the hour for which everyone was waiting was announced! The DJ started spinning. It was time to rock! I never thought that a DJ-Disco could be that much fun. If swaying to the tune was fun, watching these young guns rock to the tunes was even more fun! Just watching them filled my heart with loads of excitement! I have to accept that these guys have unmatched energy levels. I have seen quite a few guys and a couple of girls who were swaying their bodies to the music all through those hours with out taking a break. Commendable stamina. I did my bit. Actually I had my heart's fill - Both by watching and doing. The disco lights had such an effect on me that I was haunted by these flashes of light all through the night. I actually couldn't sleep much (I woke up at around 5 AM. My body said that it needed rest but my mind said that its energy levels were so high that it couldn't rest :) ).

If the bus ride in the morning was to be labelled exciting the ride in the evening has to be labelled 'super charged'! Everybody mingled with everybody else to pull each others' legs! Too sad for the guys and girls who came along in the morning but didn't take the bus in the evening. They have missed the loudest and the craziest part! If it was english and hindi in the morning it was telugu in the night. I don't know how the guys around me bore my really loud voice. With the help of 2004 guys sung a few 'mass' songs and after that started the most craziest session of all. Bus lo vunna vaallandariki peru peru naa arichi - vaallaki yedo oka description tagilinchi - 'O' yesukunnaam! At the end of it my vocal cords got so used to me shouting since morning that I was able to pull out only loud high pitched sounds. Anything less wasn't coming out. Incredible but true. I often face this problem when my vocal cords get stretched for too long a time. But I like the feeling the next day - My voice becomes deeper!

What ever be it - a sore voice or a deep voice - What matters the most is that I enjoyed to the brim. Once it happened because of my seniors and now because of my juniors. All thanks to their efforts in organizing this bash. They named it "Trance". The term was apt beacuse it did push me into a trance making me forget all my worries and gave me a hangover from which Iam yet to recover. I will treasure these moments for life. They will forever remain young in my mind!

Kajraare, Kajraare ...

2005-11-02T11:11:00.000+05:30

In bollywood this has been the year of the Bachchans ... Not the Roshans, Not the Chopras and finally in a long time not the Khans! (Though Saif did light some fire works). Over the past year we have seen one movie or the other starring either the junior or the senior Bachchan. Most of them have been acclaimed as box office successes. Whether it is Dhoom or Black or Sarkar or even Banti our Babli - What the critics said didn't matter because I loved them on screen. In the morning I was watching "Kajraare, Kajraare" from Bunti aur Babli and was left dumbfounded by the sheer energy that senior B exuded. He literally lit up the entire screen. The commedy timing of both senior and the junior B was perfect coupled with the oodles of oomph that was brimming from the screen in the form of Aishwarya Rai. Love them or loathe them, You have got to admit that bollywood wouldn't have been the same with out the Bs!

A 2 - day holiday for Diwali ?

2005-11-02T09:34:00.000+05:30

I think that the authorities should seriously think about the proposition of giving a 2 day holiday for Diwali. One on the day of the festival and another for the next day. People get physically and mentally excited on Diwali - it is always an adrenalin rush. The crackers, the fire works, the sound, the light all takes us to a new height. When we have that much adrenalin pumping through our arteries the hangover remains the next day morning too. We might feel lazy to get dressed and go to work. It might be an under productive day for most of us. So is it not prudent that we have holiday the next day too?

In God I trust ...

2005-10-31T12:50:00.000+05:30

Once man was shown the path of his life by God. On the sandy path there were two pairs of foot prints everywhere on the path. When asked God said - "I was always with you in life". Then Man noticed that at some points there was only one set of foot prints. Man questions God again. God said that those were difficult times in the Man's life. Then Man got angry at why God left him during the most tumultuous times of his life. God answered - There are only one set of foot prints because I carried you on my shoulders during those times! True, God is always there. In God I trust. In testing times if we never give up hope there is always light at the end of the tunnel. Now I look up to the skies and feel some one up there is watching over me.

Are fat pay checks to CEOs justified?

2005-10-29T19:01:00.000+05:30

We often hear newspapers, both online and conventional, report on the vast sums of money that are paid to top executives of many companies. Does that mean these people are at a low level in the Maslow hierarchy of motivation? Do they really need all this money to be motivated? What is the significance of these salaries in reality?

The motivation factors for each individual varies. Money might be a strong motivator but once the need for cash is satisfied man starts looking satisfaction of higher needs. For example when a payrise is given to a trainee he might be elated but a senior employee who is already drawing a healthy salary might not find the premise enthusing enough. Abraham Maslow, an American Psychologist suggested a hierarchy of needs. Man first looks for the satisfaction of basic needs - food shelter and safety. The highest level need that must be satified according to Maslow is the need for self-actualization or the feeling that he is completely fulfilling his potential.

First let us look into how a person could become the CEO of an organization. Often a person becomes CEO if he has founded the company or is one among the group that founded the organization. Sometimes a person becomes a CEO because the share holders in a company lay their confidence in him to take the company forward. What are the duties of a CEO? What does a CEO do? Stever Robbins at Leadership decision works.com gives a job description of a CEO. He goes on to say "A CEO’s responsibilities: everything, especially in a startup. The CEO is responsible for the success or failure of the company. Operations, marketing, strategy, financing, creation of company culture, human resources, hiring, firing, compliance with safety regulations, sales, PR, etc.—it all falls on the CEO’s shoulders. The CEO’s duties are what she actually does, the responsibilies she doesn’t delegate. Some things can’t be delegated. Creating culture, building the senior management team, financing road shows, and, indeed, the delegation itself can be done only by the CEO. Many start-up CEOs think fund-raising is their most important duty. I disagree. Fund-raising is necessary, but the CEOs contribution is in building a superb business with the money raised." Stever goes onto say that setting strategy and vision for the company, building a culture, team-building and capital allocation are the prime duties of a CEO. They look thin and understandable on paper. To quote Stever again, "The job is simple—very simple. But it’s not easy at all."

The value or health of a company is often estimated by the price of its shares in institutions like NASDAQ or DowJones. The price of an organization's shares is in direct relation to the actions of its CEO, the decisions he takes, the image of the company he promotes during his public outings, the confidence he instills in the share holders of the company. The CEO often turns out to be synonymous with the company he works for (e.g. Bill Gates of the Microsoft). The CEO is instrumental in decding the company's fortunes. If he pulls it off well the company is bound to prosper. Being the torch-bearers in an organization and being the ones who show direction, they command very fat pay checks at the end of every fiscal because a large portion of the company's success is attributed to them. Even the failure is thrust on their shoulders with the same force. By the time they start commanding those paychecks, it is already clear that their need for cash (their basic needs) is satisfied. So they would have already been past Maslow's first level of needs. Then it is a question of the hen or the egg. Why do they need those paychecks anyway?
What drives a CEO? Obviously a CEO would be one of the most well paid employees in an organization. We all feel a bit of awe when someone has the title of CEO behind his name. Apart from the salary, power, the chance to be the 'Boss', the level of autonomy that he has in taking crucial decisions are all a driving force behind him.

A CEO is the public face of the company. He is synonymous with the organization at events and social gatherings. A CEO of a successful company hogs the limelight at social events and his success stories - How he brought the company up from scratch, How he turned the company around to make profits etc; start making rounds in the media, both print and television. Thus His social needs (love and belonging needs) are met.

A CEO puts his skills to good use to solve problems. He plays the role of a problem solver or trouble shooter for his company. The degree of autonomy he has in his work and the responsibility he can shoulder can only be limited by his imagination. He grows with the company he heads. He is respected by others. Thus his being needs are met.

A CEO plays to his full potential to make the company prosper. Some of the younger bunch of CEOs even feel they can do better. They want more. They aspire to be better. They have reached the top of the Maslow's pyramid but it is upto them whether they think they have achieved self-actualization or not. If they are on the top of the pyramid then why do they need all those huge salaries and perks?

An ordinary employee in an organisation has his job cut out. His work influences his career, his colleagues and atmost his department. Hundreds of jobs exist in other organizations with the same job profile. If he is fired from the current organization he can get the same job elsewhere. On the otherhand a CEOs work, actions and decisions influence an entire organization and its course. He has no hard and fast job profile. He has to take reponsibility for his actions. Once a CEO is shown the door, he cannot become a CEO in another organization, for in the corporate world the stories of success travel fast but the failure stories travel even faster. The only option that he has is to start from scratch again. He has to rally for funds and establish a new start-up. The huge pay checks that he commands when he is at the top guarantee a secure financial future for him and his family for he faces the highest risk in the organization - He might not land up in a similar job ever again if he is shown the door.

Ever heard of the old adage that it is always lonely at the top? In the oranization too CEO is at the top and he does not have the same social life as that of the ordinary employee. Even if he wants to he might always be looked upon as a "boss". People like Akio Morita of SONY are exceptions as they have built a company culture round the concept of equality at work. It might not always be the case. Also some CEOs work 18 hour days and their lives are stressful. They need those limos, parties and expensive lunches for recreation. These social events are also a part of their job. They are promoting their company and building a brand value. The pay package of a CEO is dependent on how well the company does, what the board of directors offer him. If the stake holders think that he does not deserve such a huge package, why will they award it to him in the first place? In what forms do the CEOs take their salary? In cash? Of course not! Most of what comprises of their salary or earning is nothing but the value of their stock holdings in the company on that particular day. It is only under the discretion of the board of directors that they can get a 'credit card that know no limits' (a number of perks) like Conway and Walker have told in their report to the Gold Coast bulletin.

As already stated in the previous paragraphs, the job of a CEO is very insecure. He might never be able to work again once he is shown the door. They need those pay checks to secure their future financially so that they don't fall back to the bottom level of the pyramid where physiological needs take precedence over others. Hence in a CEOs life money becomes as necessary as food, water, shelter etc; Money is not a mere motivation factor for them. How much ever hue and cry we may rise over the salaries being drawn by CEOs around the world we have to admit a feeling of awe when someone has the title of CEO behind his name. The power, the salary and the perks, the success stories are all the reasons for the feeling of awe. We also have to admit candidly that even we might want to command such huge salaries if we ever were to step into the shoes of a CEO. It is always easy to throw in comments standing in the audience that we could have done better but it takes a lot of guts and efforts to step into the ring and throw those punches in reality.

Rain, rain go away ...

2005-10-29T09:38:00.000+05:30

Rain, Rain go away, come again another day! :))

This little nursery rhyme seems to be in the minds of everyone around. Rain is playing spoilsport. Torrential rains over the weekend seem to spoil everybody's plans for Diwali. For some years now we had been having too less of rainfall. This year the season seems to be almost unending. We were totally unprepared for a downpour of this quantity and since rain-water harvesting mechanisms were not activated the level of the water table in Hyderabad stays the same as it was four years ago. What a pity, all this rain water has gone waste! I still cannot figure out why such a heavy rainfall is occuring this year. For all the right reasons, I pray that rains should stop bashing us like this and let us enjoy a peaceful winter in these parts of the country.

Rocky - One last time ...

2005-10-24T10:00:00.000+05:30

15 years later, Sly reprises his iconic role of ‘Rocky Balboa’ in Rocky VI where Rock dons the gloves one more time to raise funds for a local community center and also propel his family out of debts. Balboa family’s big pay day is here. The only catch – He was advised not to by the Doctors and family. Adrian had already passed away. So goes the movie’s story line. Rock is 60 in the movie. In real life too Sly will celebrate his 60th birthday while filming the movie! He is right now getting back into shape. He also wields the megaphone for this movie. It is also heard that Rambo will have another outing in Afghanistan later next year. On behalf of all Sly’s fans I sincerely hope that Sly does not let us down by dishing out a cold turkey (As happened with Arnie in his reprise of a career defining role in T3).

A picture of Sly getting back in shape in his gym from www.sylvesterstallone.com

Dhampur's 'Mohan Bhargava' ....

2005-10-24T09:15:00.000+05:30

Remember Mohan Bhargava, the unwilling protagonist from NASA who brings the light back into the lives of villages in a small village in India's hinterland in the movie "Swades"?

Dhampur is a village in UP as similar to anyother in rural India. Power cut of more than 14 hours a day forced people out of their petty businesses (like Xerox copiers). That deeply upset Pradeep Kumar Saini, 24, a "Halwaai" (a sweet maker). Early in the morning on August 15th this year he climbed the radio station tower near the town's bus stand with a back pack consisting of a water bottle, some biscuits, a couple of litres of Kerosene, a base ball bat (in case some one tried to bring him down forcibly) and phamplets. Once at the top he started throwing the phamplets around attracting the attention of the others. It being Independence day and the entire district administration all being there, word of his would-be suicide attempt soon spread around and the electricity board officials came into the picture. He first asked for 20 hours of power supply daily to his village. The negotiations went on until sun down and finally he succeeded in getting them agree to 14 hours of power supply. The town folk were a happy lot. After he came down victorious nearly 5000 people waiting for him carried him on their shoulders. He enacted a Dharam Paaji's "Su - side" from "Sholay" to get power in his "Swades" ... Want to know what he wrote in the phamplet? - "Hum gareebon ke paas izzat aur light hona bahut zaroori hain!" (It is important that we, the poor, have respect and light in our lives). People in the town say "Desperate times need desparate measures". Ironically the electricity board has plunged a neighboring town Qasbah in the darkness to give power to Dhampur! Perhaps one more 'Mo(a)han Bhargava' is in the making there too ... We need people who take initiative. On a lighter note let me quote Shekhar Suman on "Pol-khol" - "Su-side woh hotha hain Jo Dharam Paaji kehten hain lekin kabhi karthe nahi" :))

Twisted Tower

2005-10-22T08:59:00.000+05:30

This image is not morphed. Its real. The award winning Spainish architect Santiago Calatrava designed this twister aptly called "Turning Torso tower" which towers over the Swedish city of Malmo. It has a spectacular 90 degree twist

Dumb & Dumber

2005-10-20T18:42:00.000+05:30

The President of the United States ... The most powerful man on the planet. He is supposed to be towering statesman, good speaker and motivator and above all wield charisma. Whether we acknowledge it or not fact remains that the US Presidents through the ages, with their decisions, have influenced the way we live today either directly or indirectly. I always thought Bush Jr was not so charismatic and thought would never make it to the White House. But he did. Probably the American Citizens wanted to give him a chance then. But it still beats me, Why a second time? This makes Americans akin to or even worse than "Biharis" who keep re-electing Laloo! Bush Jr is far from the inspirational speakers his predecessors were. Worse still, his grammar and speech is no more sophisticated than an average high school kid! He speaks with this funny Texan slang calling "Iraq" as "Eye-Rack" ... God save the world! First time he got elected I thought he was dumb. second time he was dumber ...

Top 10 Dumb Things Bush Said in 2004 in Politics
#10: "I want you to know. Karyn is with us. A West Texas girl, just like me." -Nashville, Tenn., May 27, 2004

#9: "Then you wake up at the high school level and find out that the illiteracy level of our children are appalling." -Washington, D.C., Jan. 23, 2004

#8: "Free societies are hopeful societies. And free societies will be allies against these hateful few who have no conscience, who kill at the whim of a hat." -Washington, D.C., Sept. 17, 2004

#7: "I want to thank the astronauts who are with us, the courageous spacial entrepreneurs who set such a wonderful example for the young of our country." -Washington, D.C. Jan. 14, 2004

#6: "We will make sure our troops have all that is necessary to complete their missions. That's why I went to the Congress last September and proposed fundamental - supplemental funding, which is money for armor and body parts and ammunition and fuel." -Erie, Pa., Sept. 4, 2004

#5: "After standing on the stage, after the debates, I made it very plain, we will not have an all-volunteer army. And yet, this week - we will have an all-volunteer army!" -Daytona Beach, Fla., Oct. 16, 2004

#4: "Tribal sovereignty means that; it's sovereign. I mean, you're a - you've been given sovereignty, and you're viewed as a sovereign entity. And therefore the relationship between the federal government and tribes is one between sovereign entities." -Washington, D.C., Aug. 6, 2004

#3: "I hear there's rumors on the Internets that we're going to have a draft." -second presidential debate, St. Louis, Mo., Oct. 8, 2004

#2: "Too many good docs are getting out of the business. Too many OB-GYNs aren't able to practice their love with women all across this country." -Poplar Bluff, Mo., Sept. 6, 2004

#1: "Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we." -Washington, D.C., Aug. 5, 2004