Me, Myself n My Musings!!

Gandhism - Alive and Kicking in Modern India

2008-12-07T05:51:00.000-08:00

Purists and so-called "Gandhi-ians" crib that modern India has forgotten Gandhi and Gandhi-ism is a lost cause in Mahatma's own country. I beg to disagree!!Just drive through the roads of Bangalore on a week-day (preferably peak hours) and you would find the Civil Disobedience Movement(Jumping Red Lights, Breaking One-Way rules,Jay Walking, Ignoring the No-U Turn sign et-al!!) and the Non Co-operation Movement(Overtaking from the left, sticking to the leftmost lane to turn right, not allowing anyone to overtake!!) being practised by all and sundry!! Long Live Gandhi-ism!!

The Global Mallu

2008-12-05T13:59:00.001-08:00

Mallus a.k.a Keralites are rather notorious for being present in every nook and corner of the world!! There are even jokes abt whom did Armstrong meet when he landed on the moon or abt who welcomes Edmund Hillary on the Everest!! No prizes for guessing who!! :)
Last week, I was checking into a flight from Vienna to Frankfurt. Vienna, the capital of Austria has a very sparse Indian/South Asian population, so much so that people look at you with curiousity and sometimes jealousy (well, we do have a year round tan, without having to bake ourselves live in the sun!!)
At the Austrian Airlines check in desk, the agent was of an origin I quite cudnt put my finger on. She spoke in chaste and fluent German to the lady in front of me. Finally my turn came, I handed my passport n ticket to her, with a cheerful "Guten Morgen", which was responded back with a luminous smile!! She goes through my passport, makes the necessary keystrokes on her comp and then without taking her eyes off the screen, asks me ... "Malayalee annu alle?!" (Thats Malayalam for - "You are a Mallu, right?!!")
Long live the Global Mallu!! :)

Arent we all racists?!!

2007-01-18T03:14:00.000-08:00

The recent controversy over the alleged racist remarks against Shilpa Shetty in the Brit reality show, Big Brother got me thinking.. was it all really racial?!

Lets examine what happened.. Shilpa Shetty a Hindi movie actress, with a string of flops n a career that never looked like going anywhere and her biggest assets, her never ending legs!!

Big Brother .. well actually the baap of all reality shows, where a group of strangers or celebrities live together in a make believe house, completely cut off from the outside world and a platoon of cameras capturing every moment in the house. Of course wht we get to see is an edited packaged version of the important happenings of the day.

Big Brother, especially the celebrity version, has always involved B&C grade Brit figures and has been of least interest to the massive South Asian population. To tap this huge audience, they decided to rope in smone like Shilpa, well known among the South Asian population , but in reality near jobless. A paycheck of over 3 crores and a shot at fame beyond the SAARC borders helped no doubt.

Shilpa made her entrance all decked up in a saree n tons of make up n let people know tht she is the "Indian Angelina Jolie"..(yeah right!!) and went abt with her usual filmi nakhras. Reality Check babe.. u r no longer in a film set!!! Of course this is bound to ruffle many a feather in the house and people r bound to react. To top it you go around bossing everybody, stick to ethnic dresses tht mark you out and attempt to cook smthing which you hv never done before in ur life and expect things to be hunky dory..

Housemates did react. Worse people outside, reacted violently to these reactions!! Imagine rallies in Bihar demanding shutdown of the show, which is not even broadcast in India, parliament both Indian and British, ministers n every TDH who has been within 5 metres of Ms. Shetty condemning all tht on prime time TV!! I wudnt be surprised if we had a bandh/strike to protest this!! Indian hypocrisy at its best..

Whats all this abt?!

Bcoz smone called her a dog?!.. big deal.. Dharmendra used to call every other person on screen tht !!

Shilpa Shetty was called an Indian.. now is tht really an insult?! I wonder..

Bcoz smone made fun of her cooking?!.. well it was bad enuff to be made fun of..

Smbody refused to pronounce her name... well how many times hv u pronounced Chinese/Thai/European names (try Pongpol Adireksarn or Jeroen Broekroelofs)?! Folks in most part of the world hv trouble saying foreign names with more than 2 syllables.. Bala is easy on the tongue compared to Balagopal.. check out how mutilated names like Dheeraj, Rajneesh, Jyothi or worse Shanmugasundaram , Thenpandizhan turn out when spoken by a foreigner (not necessarily European/American..) or in the last few cases even by a North Indian

She was called a Paki... well I hv been called a Madrasi by lots up north, although I hv nuthin to do with Chennai!! Similarly anybody with brown skin and black hair automatically becomes a Paki in UK or a Curry in Australia.

The last count, you cud argue has racial overtones. But then arent we all guilty on that?! How many of us have never referred to a person from the north east as "Chinky" or smone from Nepal as "Kaancha"?! I have heard fellow infoscions talking abt some of our clients from Africa with similar names. We call westerners "gora", "firang" .if they take offence to tht even tht makes it racial!!

No amount of rules or legislation is going to change all that. Its just a manifestation of our fear of the unknown and the unusual!! Unless that takes life threatening forms of hate crime , all that we are doing is over-reacting!! I can bet next week this time , not even an iota of news reel or a second of news time will be spent on the so-called "Shilpa Shetty controversy"!!

P.S- I am however thankful to this whole brouhaha , which finally put an end to the endless and pointless coverage given to two bollywood actors getting engaged!! Now waiting for the next breaking news to push this one out!!

Air Slovakia a.k.a Air Punjab!!

2006-10-13T22:16:00.000-07:00

Caught this amazing piece of news on the BBC site. Apparently Air
Slovakia , a carrier from the Central European state of Slovakia has
been bought over by a UK based businessman of Punjabi Origin.
Unlike the Mittal-Arcelor deal, this one seems to have got lost in the
backyards of newsreel!!

According to the new owner he wants
to transform the 60-employee Air Slovakia into a "Punjabi experience".
That means using crew, food and in-flight entertainment from the
northern Indian state of Punjab and using regional headquarters based
in the Punjabi city of Jalandhar. There will be "dedicated" planes
flying into Punjab too, he said.

That would be interesting.. a lassi for welcome drink and juicy Tandoori Chicken on offer for meal service!!

Chk it out @ the BBC site..

Driving in Bangalore for Dummies

2006-09-11T06:37:00.000-07:00

Considering the amount of time I am forced to spend on the roads daily,
I decided to come up with a ready reckoner for tackling the roads of
Bangalore!!

Distances in KM/miles etc do not matter in Bangalore. Always
measure it using the number of potential traffic jams you are
bound to face on the way.

The white spaced/solid lines drawn on the road is a joke!! Its just one of the things that we ape from the west!!

Any lane is the right lane!! You are free to use any lane of the
road, no matter what type of vehicle you are driving, what speed u r
driving or where you wanna go.

If you wish to take a right or U turn, occupy the left most lane,
try turning right and block traffic on all the lanes. Feel no shame or
guilt.

Under no circumstances whatsoever, should the indicator be used!!
Its a waste on your batteries. After all the person behind you would be
breathing down your neck and would not be in a position to see your
tail lamps!!

Vehicular traffic in Bangalore is fluid. If one opening on the
road is blocked, it immediately moves to the next available opening on
or off the road. You have to be a novice or an alien to stick to
your own lane!! If your side of the road is totally blocked simply use
the other one. Dont worry about oncoming traffic. A constant flickering
of your head-lights would do the trick!! :)

Two wheeler traffic is more fluid than ones with more number of wheels.

If the gap between two vehicles ahead is atleast equal to the width
of your vehicle (excluding the side view mirrors and the other unwanted
frills!!) , go ahead and squeeze in. Otherwise prepare for a honk-fest
from the vehicles behind you.

If you happen to be at a red-light at nite, ignore it!! India is a
free country. Zoom ahead. Else you get the same treatment as above.

Pedestrians can and will cross the road anywhere and at anytime.
You touch them, you pay. After all we are a democratic country!!

The most used parts of your vehicle - The Brake, The Horn, The
Clutch, The Gear - in that order. Its a good idea to drive around in
circles in a ground once in a while, so that the gas pedal and the
speedometer get a work out!! It will also help you overcome panic and
helplessness when you are suddenly faced with a clear stretch of road!!
:)

The entire stretch of the road is considered one long bus stop,
except for the designated stops!! More so if it is a private bus!!

Beware of this species of drivers - they usual swarm out of
certain areas like e-City, ITPL, BG Roads ar pre-designated
times. Drive Indica, Tata Sumo, Safari,Qualis or Tavera. Often have a
sticker behind them which contains a 9/8 digit mobile number which you
could call up to inform abt "rash-driving". They no know fear, They
know no rules!! They would go to any extent (literally off the road!!)
to transport their "precious cargo".

There are slow trucks and then there are slower trucks. The two
of them are in a constant race to outdo each other , occupying the
entire width of the road. If you are stuck behind it, simply njoi
maadi!!

If your vehicle bumps into your "next-road-neighbour". Stop the
car wherever it is, get out and pick up a quarrel (if you like some
variety u can get physical too!!). Dont worry abt the traffic you are
holding up!! Everybody loves a little fight on the street!!

Any part of Bangalore can be considered a parking lot, as long as your vehicle can successfully stay stand still on it.

If you are looking for entertainment , simply switch on to the
plethora of identity-confused FM channels on air rt now. Most of them
are in the midst of an identity crisis - trying to position itself as
English-Kannada speaking - Hindi song playing channels!! Entertainment
enough!!

Hopefully these tips help you survive the traffic in the Garden City of Bangalore!! Happy Driving!!

p.s. Bangalore would have one of the lowest accident fatality rates in
the world!! After all its difficult to mow down a person when you r
driving below 5kmph!!

Back...

2006-08-22T06:43:00.000-07:00

Back from a month long onsite trip to the Netherlands. Love tht
country... its against the law to make you work on a weekend !! :) Got
to roam around the country n a few of its neighbours.. uploaded the
snap to picasaweb

[Warning : Too many pics n Infy n/w sucks]

P.S. Picasaweb is an amazing offering from Google. You can use it along
with Picasa to upload entire albums in one go.. no more selecting pics
n uploading!!

Growing Up!!

2006-06-29T23:45:00.000-07:00

My first memory of the football world cup was some fleeting moments during the 86 one @ Mexico. However the first one that I followed thoroughly was Italia 90 way back as a 10 year old!! As luck would have it, I was recovering from a surgery to my foot and had the entire month off from school!! :)

So there I was watching soccer matches at the dead of night, with my red-eyed parents popping in every now n then to remind me of the unearthly time. Watching Lothar Matthaeus, Maradona, Scilacci n the rest create magic with their feet, I dreamt of being a football star!! ;) ok smirks n grins accepted.. i was just a 10 year old who still had hope growing up.. Hope of doing almost everything when I grow up!! From a football star to playing in the Wimbledon to starring in Hollywood/Bollywood to being the UN Secy General to Winning the Nobel and what not!!

Fast Forward 16 years.. Done with school n college n hv been earning for abt 5 years now!! As I watch World Cup 2006, I realize tht 99% of the stuff that I wanted to do as a kid might just never happen.. If I am lucky i cud end up with atleast 1%!! But hey all is not lost .. I cud potentially still be the UN Secy General or might even notch up a Nobel.. As they say.. Umeed pe Duniya Kayam Hain!! :)

Free Visa Entry into Singapore For Indian Citizens

2006-06-29T01:01:00.000-07:00

On my way back from Melbourne, I planned to stop over at Singapore for a coupla days to meet up with a very close friend of mine. So called up the Singaporean High Commission in Canberra to enquire on the process of applying for a tourist visa. To my pleasant surprise, the lady at the other end informed me that I did not require a visa to enter Singapore as I held a valid Aussie work permit!! That entitled me to a "Visa Free Transit facility" for 96 hours.

Whoa.. thts music to ur ears.. I re-confirmed with the lady and just to be sure shot off a mail to the High Commission for clarification. Copying the reply tht i recvd back.

To cut a long story short, landed in SGP , cleared immigration with ease (keep ur onward confirmed tkt in hand for inspection) and spent two gr8 days in Singapore.

Here's the mail from the High Commission:
96-hour Visa Free Transit Facilities (VFTF) for PRC and Indian nationals

For a limited period starting from 1 October 2005, 96-hour visa free transit facilities (VFTF) will be available to PRC and Indian nationals without the need of letters of guarantee by airlines if they are in possession of a valid onward air ticket departing within the next 96-hours and satisfy the following criteria:

Possess a valid visa/long term pass (validity of at least 1 month) issued by any of the following countries*:
a. Australia
b. Canada
c. Japan
d. New Zealand
e. United Kingdom
f. United States of America
g. Germany
h. Switzerland

The 96-hour VFTF is eligible to PRC and Indian nationals who are in transit to or from any third country. However, transit passengers who satisfy the above criteria are not guaranteed entry but are still subjected to Singapore's prevailing entry requirements.

Transit passengers who satisfy all the above requirements and allowed entry will be granted a stay of up to 96-hours (4 days) in Singapore. Extension of stay for transit passengers under this VFTF scheme is strictly not allowed.

* More countries may be added. Please check with the Singapore Visitors Centres at Changi Airport for more information.

God's Own Country

2006-04-27T02:54:00.000-07:00

The tourism department of the Kerala Government has successfully managed to convert this ad-phrase to stand for what Kerala truly is - God's Own Country (well considering that it my country too.. its true in more ways than one!!) .. last week had a gr8 opportunity on driving down from Cochin (which is pretty much bang in the middle of Kerala) to down South Trivandrum. Have done this trip lotsa times, but what made this one special was a detour to Chengannur to meet some family friends.

And boy.. this is a detour nebody would luv.. right through the middle of the famous backwaters of Alleppy!! .. Kuttannad is not a name that would roll out of ones tongue easily, neither is it as famous as its neighbour - Kumarakom. But this is the heart of Kerala's backwaters and like most of Netherlands is below sea level!! If you want to see people lead a normal life surrounded by water all around, just drive down from Alleppy to Changanassery!! It truly is an amazing drive. The road is good for most parts, barring a few stretches where work is on.

This road has water on either sides. You suddenly get a feel how Lord Rama n his Vanara Sena wud hv felt while crossing over to Lanka!! :) Before the road was built, the only way to got to these places were using boats. People still use boats here and there is a thriving KSWTC (Kerala State Waterways Transport Corp.) service across the region.

On either side of the road, u wud find locals selling freshly caught fish n live ducks!! Its a sight to be seen. This region is criss-crossed by a huge network of canals. You cud also hv a trip down these canals on rented boats.

Once u hv reached Changanaserry, u drive through winding roads to Chengannur. It is amazing how in a course of a few miles, the entire terrain has changed. From the lazy backwaters, we are now in the middle of the ups n downs of western ghats. But nobody's complaining!! :)

After a heavy lunch at Chengannur, we were back on the roads trying to get back to the NH on our way to Trivandrum. I must say the roads in Kerala hv improved tremendously (either that or I hv been conditioned to roads here in Bangalore :) !!) All new roads that are being laid are rubber based ones, which hv longer lifespan and a better finish!! Its a pleasure to drive down these babies!!

On our way back, we again had to take a detour (a detour within a detour!!) due to sm repair works. now this was kinda scary. It was a narrow road with no signs and I just kept going. There was this scorpio ahead of us and I just kept following that!! Abt 2 kms uphill asked a few locals the direction n they said its just round the corner, keep gng str8!! isnt it amazing how its always round the corner when u ask smone for directions!! :) Neways kept gng and the road became narrower and muddier and darker!! Smthings wrong, but atleast there was one more guy making the same mistake .. what a comfort!! All of a sudden one of the most beautiful things that I hv ever seen .. the road opens out into a wide green valley.. and this narrow road thru the middle of it.. and green fields on either sides!! A treat to sore eyes..

Soon we had our first sign that we were on our right track, n in abt an hr we were back on NH-47 zipping down to our final destination- Trivandrum.

As I was driving, I wondered if as Keralites, we tend to ignore the natural wonder tht Kerala is!! Do we take for granted what nature has gifted us or is it a case of "Muttathe Mullakku Manamilla" , which is Malayalam for "the flowers in one's own garden dont smell that good"?!!.. Well I guess I just hv to keep taking more such detours to njoi God's Own Country!!

Tale of Two Project Parties...

2006-03-07T23:07:00.000-08:00

The other day we went out to a gr8 North Indian joint near our place for Dinner. Thanx to the Avian flu scare in India, ordered some totally "chicken free" fare. Sigh!! Longing to dig my teeth into a juicy leg of Tandoori Chicken !! :(

During this time, we noticed two groups of people in the restaurant. Now this once again is a very common sight in South Bangalore. Project parties.. every once in a while techies who work in the same project are taken out to some good restauarant for dinner/lunch, often at the company's (read client's) expense. This is often preceded by a game of bowling or go -karting or even a movie.

Now here we had two teams on separate project parties at the same venue!! But guess food was the only thing that was common about the two teams.. the stark differences were glaring for everyone to see..

Team A has guys n gals clad in sweatshirts, nike/reebok, sporting cool shades and almost all of them with the latest n slimmest models of digi cams n cell phones.. infact the constant flicker of the flash soon became an irritant. This team was all enthu n gung-ho about the whole affair!!

Team B on the other hand, was a lot more down to earth. No flashy jackets or Ts. Some of them were in plain ol' chappals. No digi cams flashing around. Pretty aam junta models of mobile phones!! Very obviously working for a smaller company or on a "no-onsite" project!!

My friend n me gave each other a very knowing smile.. We used to be Team B some years back.. almost no onsite, clients majorly in India n of all the places Africa!! Our colleagues in other units of our company roamed around US/Europe/Japan/Australia, we merely dreamt about those places!!

But today... things hv changed we have slowly turned into Team A .. yep digicams, flashy mobiles, nike, reebok, cars, flats et al thx in no small measure to overseas jaunts!! Hope the Team B we met at the restaurant, one day emerges out as Team A!! :)

Athithi Devo Bhava

2006-02-28T01:31:00.000-08:00

Aththi Devo Bhava - Sanskrit for "Guest is God".

Something that we have been taught to believe in since we were kids. Accepted, its a good tradition.. very Indian, very cultured. But is this a blanket rule that we follow?!

Unfortunately no!! Well it depends on the guest.. if the guest is indeed god, then yes, other wise maybe.. could be.. or a str8 NO!!

What brought me to think abt this topic?!.. the impending visit of George W Bush, President of the US of A to India!! Leaving aside all patriotic jingoism and socialist preachings, the fact of the matter is that the world today is dominated by one country . The US of A!! Every other country in the world either has to accept this fact or is forced to accept this fact. It is a cycle in history that at some point of time some country is on top of the world. Like the Greeks during Alexander's time , the Romans later, the Arabs n Mongols in the medievial times and later on the European colonial powers.

Today the world is ruled by American policies. Like a famous Dubya statement - "You are either with us or against us"

Now that would make Mr.Dubya, the most powerful person on Earth and ergo the God!!

And when God himself is our Guest, we bend over backwards to please him. Entire roads in Delhi and Hyderabad are being spruced up. An entire hotel has been taken over by US Security Personnel. IGI International Airport will be shut down for 1 whole hour every time Air Force One lands or takes off.

The same would happen, when lesser Gods like Tony Blair or the Saudi King become our guests. the last time the main road @ Madiwala in Bangalore saw a coat of tar, was when Tony Blair visited the infy campus in 2002!!

Would we do the same thing if the President of Ivory Coast or Papua New Guinea were to visit India? Can we expect the same treatment from US/UK when our President or PM visits them?!! .. It wud be interesting to see Heathrow Airport being shut down for an hour coz the Indian President is arriving!!

If you are way down the international pecking order, there is not much that you can do!! But it wud be gr8 if for once we could stop acting servile to the west and show some pride in being Indian.

Colour Me Yellow!!

2006-02-22T23:18:00.000-08:00

Since I signed of my last post with a quote from the movie Rang De Basanti.. thot that it might be appropriate to blog abt the movie itself.. n more so considering the fact that I have already seen the movie about half a dozen times now!! (n dont mind watching it some more!!)

RDB is definitely not your average Bollywood fare. Its one of those movies that come out once in a while, that puts you to thought. The movie succeeds in places where Swades and Mangal Pandey failed. It gets across its message loud and clear without ever being preachy. This is exactly how our education system shud be.. exciting n enlightening!! In other words , a masti ki paathshaala!!

Experts and not-so experts have reviewed the movie endlessly in all forums, so am not getting into that here. Simply listing down what I liked best abt the movie..

Probably the first Indian movie that puts Indian History in a totally different light (& sound!!) .. check out the background score during the bike-chase with Aamir Khan as Azaad.
Focuses and brings to the fore contibution of freedom fighters apart from Gandhi n Nehru, to a generation that has almost forgotten all that
The music... Amazing is an understatement!! A R Rahman truly is God!! From the masti filled Paathshaala to the peppy title track to the mushy Tu Bin Bataye to the tear jerking Lukka Chuppi and the inspirational Khoon Chala .. boy this is one complete album!! Havent removed it from the player in my car for the past 3 weeks!!
Lata Mangeshkar finally singing for somebody her own age after a long long time!! Its really painful to watch sm 16 year old like Sneha Ullal lip syncing to Lata!!
Naresh Iyer ... AR Rahman's discovery from a talent hunt show!! Check out Roobaroo n other songs for his amazing vocals!!
The cast.. each of the characters well defined and wonderfully executed
The fact that Aamir Khan the super star does not eclipse any of the new comers!! Kudos to that.. every single person in the lead cast gets ample importance
Kiron Kher .. amazing performance .. a truly accomplished performer. You wud be excused if u thot she was a born Punjabi!!
No "in your face" fundas!! Thats were Swades and Mangal Pandey faltered big time!!
The bike and jeep ride in the beginning.
Alicia Patten.. just perfect for the role!!
The ending the way it is!! Any other way wud not hv had so much impact..

This n tons more... it truly wud become a cult film of our generation.. a la Dil Chahta Hain!! Expecting more movies of the same calibre from Bollywood (just hoping!!)

p.s.

BTW also caught Chingari over the weekend.. Walked out half way thru!! Pathetic movie, which is being hyped by the "Artie" types!! Pains having to pay 150 @ PVR and not getting your money's worth!!

Back to My Alma Mater

2006-02-22T00:42:00.000-08:00

VRCE/VNIT Adm. Block

Alma mater is Latin for "nourishing mother". It was used in ancient Rome as a title for the mother goddess, and in Medieval Christianity for the Virgin Mary.It also was the motto of the oldest university in the west, the University of Bologna in Italy and today has come to stand for the college/school that one attended.

So there I was back @ my Alma Mater.. VRCE, Nagpur . oops sorry its called VNIT,Nagpur.. a place where i spent four of the best years of my life.

It has been almost 5 years since I graduated and had been to VRCE only once after that.. that was 3 years back.. when there were folks whom I knew still in college.. but 5 years is like a whole generation in any Engg college.. there was not a soul that I knew in the college.. the places that were once so familiar now look so alien and strange..

Well time was not the only factor to blame.. the entire campus looks all spruced up.. the roads r wider n neater.. gardens n lawns all over the place .. new buildings n hostels..

Garden at the erstwhile Y junction

Luckily the weekend I was there also happened to be the college fest, Aarohi Finale, attended the Dancing n Singing finals.. the whole event was a lot watered down from what used to happen in our times (Never thot i wud be using this phrase so early in my life!!).. but the spirit still the same.. and oh yeah the barrier separate the ladies n guys .. still very much there!!

Good Ol' VBD sponsoring Aarohi

There are lotsa things abt the college that have changed over the last few years..

The name itself.. its called VNIT now.. not VRCE
Its a deemed university .. yipee freedom from Nagpur University!!
You no longer have a Principal.. the post is called Director now.. a case of Old Wine in New Bottle!!
All degrees and mark sheets awarded by VNIT.. no more Kochade signed mark lists!!
Results out in less than a week!! .. no more rumour mongering and late nite trips to newspaper offices!!
Near 100% attendance in classes!! .. Wonder how I wud hv survived this!!
The most amazing and incredible change of them all... final years studying for smthing called a "class test"!!! Most of us hardly studied for even sessionals n just abt managed the uni. exams!!
Every guy n girl in campus owns a cell phone.. the hostel common phones r sadly lying there all covered in layers of dust.. In fact free sim cards n mobile connections were being distributed as prizes during Aarohi..
Students with comps n laptops in almost every room in the hostel..
removal of NU quota in VNIT.. REC/NITs have a 50% quota for the home state, but VRCE had this strange rule where 95% of the Maharshtra seats were reserved for guys from the Nagpur Uni. area .. this led to almost 50% of the students being day scholars during our times (there I go again!!) .. but now with this system removed, most of the seats in Maharashtra get filled by students frm Mumbai n Pune..
The above has led to hostels being jam packed and the number of day-schis coming down!!
New and longer menu @ the canteen..

Hospital beds in our Ol' Dispensary
ATM @ the SBI Branch
Kerala quota reduced from 7 to 3!! :(

But whatever may change there r smthings that r forever ...
the spirit among the students..
the life in hostels..
the food in the mess ..
n that feeling of being a collegian .. the King of the World!!
Pretty much like what Aamir Khan says in Rang De basanti ..

"College ke gate ke is paar hum life ko nachate hain.. aur us paar life humko nachati hain"!!

Well have to get back to dancing to lifes tunes now!!

My Hidden Talent

2006-01-10T07:03:00.000-08:00

Your Hidden Talent

You have the power to persuade and influence others.
You're the type of person who can turn a whole room around.
The potential for great leadership is there, as long as you don't abuse it.
Always remember, you have a lot more power over people than you might think!

What's Your Hidden Talent?

Missing : My Bangalore

2006-01-08T22:21:00.000-08:00

The first time I landed in Bangalore, I was a precocious five year old, holding on to my mom's hand tightly!! It was the first time I flew and that in itself was a nerve-wracking experience for me. And to top it, my uncle scared me to death, telling me that people in Bangalore "did not hv noses"!! : P There I was waiting for the moment when I would come face-to-face with a "nose less" Bangalorean... but alas that encounter never happened!!

Newayz as a five year old, I was amazed at the journey from the Airport to Mission road.. wide, clean roads.. massive , shady trees with flowers the shade of a flaming red, the cool clime, a welcome change from sweaty humid Cochin and above it all the calm n peace even in the middle of the city!! Those were the days when even Brigade Road used to be two-ways (w/o a traffic jam that too!!). For a year, I stayed @ Midford Gardens, just off MG Road. That’s even before the Big Kids Kemp opened there.. n then later shifted to the suburbs of Malleshwaram, where my school was. It was an amazing experience growing up in Bangalore.. the cosmopolitan culture is unrivalled.. it was not as big, bad and dirty as the "big metros". Bangalore of those days still managed to retain the small town charm. Traveling was a breeze and as a kid we always looked forward to the long drive to the outskirts (a.k.a Koramangala!!).. This was well before IT happened.

But today, as a 25 year old, I watch as my Bangalore is slowly being devoured by unplanned urbanization, denuded by land sharks n realtors, left to rot by narrow minded politics and bled to death by us the people!! The city that i once considered the "best in India", as late as five years back, today can easily be the worst!! Just getting on the streets on Bangalore is a night-mare.. driving through the maze of traffic would feel like a trip to hell and back!!

In the past 20 years, I have changed a lot, some of it for for the good, sm otherwise. During the same period, my Bangalore has been replaced by this imposter city, which I hardly recognize!! I hope someday, somewhere I would find back, the city I grew up in.. My Bangalore!!

Stranger on the Road

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

Travelling in Bangalore these days is simply a nightmare. And if u r in the driver's seat its pure hell!! A 10 KM stretch from e-city to Silk Board Jn. on the very infamous Hosur Road could take you anthing from 45 mins to 3 hours. But usually the painpoints start abt halfway down the route.

Yesterday was a different story. Abt a km after e-city, traffic comes to a dead stop!! Two vehicles that broke down on two diff lanes, blocking most of the traffic!! Frustrating is an under statement... I was hungry, tired and was longing for a warm cozy bed!! All these factors combined to probably give me a very grumpy appearance.. :(

Just ahead of my car, was a very common sight on Bangalore roads... the call center cabs!! They generally come in the shape of a Qualis/Safari/Indica or the good ol' Amby!! This one was a Safari and sitting on the rear end was a lady, who was trying to catch my attention.. well she was making faces at me!!

Once she found that she had me looking her way, she asked me "Why the grumpy face?!" .. and I replied.."The damn traffic!!" .. well, she said "Dont worry, just be happy n smiling!!"

The fact is the entire conversation happened through a barrier of two windshields and without a single word spoken!! Yep.. it was all using simples signs!!

As the traffic moved at a snail's pace, we continued this conversation and once we got out of it, bid her good bye..

No idea who this person is.. but whoever n wherever she is.. thank you!! :)

Airtel : Status Update

2005-12-15T03:15:00.000-08:00

Just thot wud give an update on my predicament with the Airtel Data Card.

After all the trouble and travail that I had been through, I was able to locate that one customer care chap, who actually cared for the customer!! This chap, dunno if i shud take his name here, went way beyond his duty to ensure that I was connected!! he took care of calling up and co-ordinating with all the varied teams within Airtel to get my problem sorted out. And to top it he calls me up to confirm if my problem has been solved!! After going through two dozen good-for-nuthin people it really is a relief to find someone like that!! I promptly shot off a "customer-appreciation" mail mentioning this chap!! Hope it helps him!!:)

As for the GPRS net connection, its zimbly amazing!! The freedom to use the net newhere is gr8, after all these years of hving to dial up and sit rt next to ur telephone!! The speeds vary from 80KBPS to 220KBPS, good enough for me and it is accessible at the same rate anywhere in India, where there is an Airtel n/w!! The only stumbling block is the initial cost of the card.. 12 grands!! :(

Airtel - Anytime .. Anywhere!! * Conditions Apply

2005-12-06T22:49:00.000-08:00

Just got a Airtel Data card, 2-3 days back. Its a credit card sized piece of hardware, that fits into the PCMCIA slot of ur laptop/PDA and lets u access the internet over GPRS/3G. Theoretically its an amazing thing coz it gives u wireless internet "Anywhere.. AnyTime"!! And thats wht tempted me to get it in the first place.. Big Mistake!!! When am i going to learn that marketing catch phrases are not to be believed!! :(

I should have seen the signs right at the beginning.. when i went to the showroom to enquire about it, the folks sitting there had no clue abt the whole stuff. They had to call up some other guy to get the details. But alas, i decided to go ahead with the card. I was assured that within 24 hrs i would be on surfing the net "Anywhere Anytime"!!

I waited for more than 24 hrs and last night installed the software and inserted the card into the PCMCIA slot.The flimsy manual that came with the card said it would be automtically detected. i waited n waited n waited n waited n after abt 30 mins called the customer care.

Now the sweet lady at customer care tells me data card queries are handled by a "specialized" service centre. Okey. I dial the new number. After a detailed trip of all the menus, the IVR informs me that this service center is available only from 10 AM to 10 PM!! So much for "AnyTime" service.!!

I am literally at my wit's end!! Repeated calls to the customer care proved futile. They had no clue whatsoever abt the data card!! :(

I waited till 10 in the morn n then finally called up the "specialized" customer care. The person on the line tells me smthing needs to be activated on my SIM and can only be done by the "normal" service center. I call up the other guy and he tells me everything is fine and active. After shuttling between the two service centers and abt a dozen "customer service" executives my problem still remains unsolved.. the final response was .. when the clock strikes 12 tonite everything wud fall in place!! ... i hope.. else if nebody needs to be connected to the net "AnyTime AnyWhere" u cud contact me for a GPRS data card!!

I hate Microsoft Word!!!!!

2005-10-10T20:22:00.000-07:00

Grrrrrr... there isnt nething that i hv despised so much in my life!! ...am sick n tired of making word docs one after the other.. n more in the pipeline!! :(

Waiting for a mind-reading software that would automatically transfer my thoughts into a word doc!! now that wud be an amazing invention!! Bill Gates.. u listening buddy?!!

Early to Rise....

2005-10-05T13:02:00.000-07:00

Among my friends and colleagues, its a well know fact that I can never ever get up early in the morning.. even if my life depended on it!! Oh by the way even 8 AM qualifies as "very early" by my standard. Me being at office by 10 AM itself is considered an amazing event!! ..

but today i broke all odds (to be frank even surprised myself!!) and was up and about by 6 AM (yes u read it right.. no its not a typo)!!!! Why did i do that?!.. well the reason to that would violate certain company policies.. so for now lets just focuz on this once in a blue moon occasion.

Had set up my faithful music system to wake me up by 6 AM.. and it is indeed a spiritual experience to be woken up by devotional songs and chants.. and a discovery to know that bangalore's only private FM channel played devotional songs in the morning!! (that wud be reason enuff to stay put in bed for sm more time!!) .. by abt 20 mins had made myself a cuppa coffee (with no paper to read..sigh!! c people r not meant to get up early!!!) and was all set to leave for work n work out (not in that order though!!)

Bangalore these days is notorious for traffic jams n snarls.. thot leaving early wud save me frm that.. but no!!.. i got myself stuck behind a Formula X (where X is 1 greater than the largest possible number) race between two fully loaded trucks...man I honked my brains out and after abt 10 mins one of the "racers" decided to give up and I manage to forge ahead.. (Remind me again.. why is getting up early good?!!)

Finally managed to reach work (in one piece!!) and after a work out, break fast, meeting, coffee, yet another meeting here I am waiting for my lunch partners!! Oh boy .. i can hear my stomach grumbling and growling (in abt 10 mins it wud be audible to the entire floor!!).. this getting up early is hard work.. wonder how people manage to do that on a daily basis!!... i bow to such folks!!..

neways to get rid of early morning blues a few tips.. (found it on a site and they did come handy today)..

	1 Take action at night to shorten your morning preparation time so that you can set the alarm for 15 minutes later than usual. Wash your hair, pack lunches, lay out your outfit or pack your briefcase at night.

2.	Hop out of bed the moment you wake up. Lingering in that downy comforter will only draw out the agony.

3.	End your shower with a jolt of cold water to tear yourself out of your grogginess. Or exercise in the morning to get your blood pumping and to release those feel-good endorphins.

4.	Get out in the sunlight. Bright light tells your body that it is indeed the morning and helps reset your internal clock.

5.	Drink coffee or another caffeine beverage. Although it's not healthy to drink caffeine to the point of addiction, caffeine, when used in moderation, can give your early mornings that much-needed oomph and alertness.

What Am I?!

2005-10-04T14:43:00.000-07:00

Way back in primary school, we were taught a lesson abt the story of the bat. Neither a complete bird nor a complete animal, it cud not be classified into either.. I am now facing a similar identity crisis!! What am I?!..I am a keralite.. proud to be one at that.. but still I am not a hardcore keralite.. most of my mallu frens think that away... what abt the rest?!!.. for them I am a perfect mallu(think of irony!!)..

I majored in CS.. so am I a geek?!!.. no way.. thats what my classmates wud say.. but the rest?!!.. well just the other way!!

Am I an introvert or an extrovert?!.. am i the sporty type or the bookish?! am i modern or traditional?!.. am i this or that?!!

well what am i?!.. am i what they call non-conformist?! one who does not wish to be labelled?!.. but isnt that itself an oxy moron?!

in the end is it good not being labelled?!.. the answer i am sure is out there.. mocking @ me.. someday i will know..

The Indian Job

2005-09-26T03:20:00.000-07:00

Was going through an article on rediff , abt precious jewels in the world. Interesting to note that most of them were plundered and looted from India at various points of time in history!! That got me thinking..

Assume a hypothetical situation - a group of indians commit a hollywood-style heist and capture the koh-i-noor diamond from the British crown in London. They manage to return to India with the koh-i-noor and promptly hand it over to the Indian governement with lotsa fanfare n publicity.

Now here is where the problem starts. What course of action should the government of India taking in such a situation - should it return the koh-i-noor back to Britain and show that we r still loyal servants of the crown or should it keep the diamond and condone the act of international robbery?!! .. How wud the British Government react?! Is this reason enough to launch a war on India?!.. what abt the International Community .. on whose side would it be?!... just my thots.. wud luv to hear what others hv to say abt it...

Delayed...

2005-06-27T05:30:00.000-07:00

[This was a post that i started out almost a year back, but never got to complete it!! So finally better late than never!!]
There r days when everything that can go wrong.. well simply does go wrong!! June 23/24 2005 was one such for me.

I was in the Gulf Kingdom of Bahrain and was flying back to Bangalore. My team mates had left by an earlier flight and I was staying back with my cousin who works in Bahrain. I was scheduled to take a GulfAir flight from Bahrain to Mumbai and a connecting Jet Airways flight from onwards to Bangalore.

My flight out of Bahrain was scheduled at 10:30 PM and my cousin dropped me off at the airport at a quarter to 8. Went straight for the GF counters (surprisingly empty!!) and presented my tickets and passport. The gentleman at the counter, a Bahraini who spoke bits n pieces of English, asked me if I worked in Bahrain or Saudi Arabia. I said no I was there on business visa. He looks at me with a confused look and says " Passport no cancel"!! I give him an even more confused look and a civilized version of "What the F***?!!" .. when he consults the lady in the next counter and informs me that "Passport must cancel!!" .. Like tht was helpful.. I told him that I did not get what he wanted, when he points to his superior's cabin and says "Talk Supervisor".

The supervisor luckily spoke better English and after going through my passport, informed me that since I am on a 7-day visa I needed no such thing as a cancellation. Oh yeah "Passport must cancel" actually is required for foreigners holding a work permit visa in Bahrain. They need some sort of an exit stamping in order to leave the country!!

Relieved I walked back to the reservation counter, where the queue was now snaking three times over!! Tried being civil and waited patiently for my turn (Big Mistake!!). Scanned all the GF staff on various counter and finally went to one where the guy looked cheerful and spoke good English. He takes my ticket and passport, goes through the passport and starts issuing me a ticket without any questions asked!! Man i should hv come here in the first place.. I am looking forward to a comfy nap, when suddenly the guy at counter stares at his screen, the motions for his supervisor and they start talking to each other in Arabic. Totally clueless I ask them wht the matter was. Apparently the flight was overbooked and the economy class is full. That meant I would be on standby.

If I was at the earlier counter, I would have hammered that chap to death!! Anyways being the eternal optimist, I expected a possible upgrade to Business class and accepted the standby status. While I waited almost 15-20 people were added on to the stand by list.

The clock ticked past 9:30 and we still had no news. At 9:40 they opened 3 business class seats and there were almost 7 times that number on standby. As luck (or rather lack of it) wud hv it, there were two young kids and a very old lady who were given priority.

Alarm bells started ringing in my head!! Hv heard lotsa tales of Mid-East airliners ill-treating stranded passengers from the Indian sub-continent. I rushed to the supervisor and informed him that it is absolutely important that I reach India the next day blah blah blah. he assured me that he will try to do his best. After about 5 mins, my name is called out and I get my boarding pass!!

But, wait my boarding pass says I am travelling to Abu Dhabi, not Bombay!!! I start to point out the mistake, the agent hands me one more boarding pass - Abu Dhabi to Mumbai!! I am being re-routed via Abu Dhabi. 45 mins stopver at AUH and then from there a 3.5 hrs flight to Mumbai which lands at around 5:20 AM. Good enough I thought, still have more than an hour to catch my Jet Airways flight. My only worry now, was that I didnt hv enough time to grab some chocs at the duty-free!!

After a pretty un-eventful flight to AUH, we land at a remote bay and are taken to the terminal in busses. At the transit lounge, find out that the Bombay flight is delayed by 30 mins!! Prayers answered, I do my bit of shopping and arrive at the gate promptly.Boarding done and after abt 30 mins we are still on the tarmac!! Smthings definitely wrong.

The captain comes online and announces that there was a snag with the onboard computer and that they would have to reboot it. That meant they would have to switch off the powersupply to the aircraft and switch on again!! Wow.. I thot we did that only with our Home PCs!! Anyways all that done and Captain giving an all OK, we are pushed back and we start taxi-ing. On the main runway engines all revved up, the flight starts on it flight to Mumbai... but just as we lift off, we are back on the runway again.. Pilot aborts take off!! The same computer snag appears again!! Am not sure whether I was pissed off at this or relieved that the snag did not appear 10 mins later while we were mid flight!!

Anyways we were deplaned and after a good 12 hr wait at Abu Dhabi airport, we finally got back into another aircraft at 1 in the afternoon!! In those 12 hrs, got sick of staring at the blue tiles tht make up the Abu Dhabi airport!! Abu Dhabi airport is pretty much a poor cousin of Dubai. Not much to do out there. Called up home to tell them I would be delayed and later called up Jet Airways to re-schedule my domestic flight. The lady at the other end informed me it was taken care of and i just needed to walk to their counter and would be accomodated in the next flight.

There was this lady, Ms. Shetty, who was travelling back to India for the first time, after visiting her husband in Bahrain. She had been re-routed like me. We got chatting and found out tht we were in the same row. She wanted a window seat and I gladly exchanged it for her aisle seat.

The GF flight landed in the Mumbai with all the passengers "applauding" the airlines for finally making it to Mumbai. It was raining outside and we got out into the familiar "urinal-pointing" stench of Chatrapati Shivaji International Terminal!! At the customs check point, the customs officer pointed out tht I had a digi cam and would hav to pay duty on that!! That camera (Sony P32) was a good 2 years old and had bought it on a previous jaunt. Tried convincing the same to the officer, who wanted me to prove it was old!! At this point Ms. Shetty who wa swith me thru immigration and customs asked me if it was a new camera. Immediately the custom officer says ," See, even your WIFE says its new!!!" Shell shocked , both of us shout out, WE ARE NOT MARRIED!!! Visibly embarassed, the officer mumbles an apology and lets us go!! That was a nice way to end an otherwise disastrous journey!!

With some luck, catch a Jet flight to Bangalore and land up home at 10 in the night and simply crash into my bed!! Home Sweet Home!!

When Wishes Come True.. well Almost!!

2005-06-13T06:56:00.000-07:00

The year 2005. The sport Formula 1. The event Canadian Grand Prix. 12 laps into the race.

For a die-hard Ferrari fan, the situation could not hv been more hopeless. After ruthlessly dominating the F1 scene in 2004, this year the scarlet team seem more like "also-rans"!! The year definitely seems like going the Renault or McLaren way.

The initial laps of of the Canadian GP were no different. Despite starting from P2, Schumi was languishing outside the top 10 after his first pit stop. Rubino starting dead last , was still entangled with the tail enders!!

Having just reached home n switched on the TV , I almost had the impulse of switching it off n heading off to my warm n inviting bed.. but I decided to weather out this scarlet thrashing!!

Coupla laps more n the situation is no diff!! :( I am not a very religious sorta person, but I am forced to look heavenwards n pray for divine intervention!! if sm 8-9 cars crash out of the race, I cud hv a ferrari on the podium.. a long shot yeah, but quite possible!!

10-15 laps go by n I hv decided that the concept of God is pretty fictitious .. or maybe I hv used up my quota of wishes..

and then it started happening.. on Lap 34, race leader fisichella is slowing down.. hydraulics failure .. his race is over.. 1 down , few more to go..

5 laps down, the flavor of the season, Alonso brushes his renault against the concrete , damaging his suspension n suspending himself frm the race in the process.. my faith in the supreme being slowly starts building!! :)

Now we hv 2 McLarens leading and Button n Schumi almost half a minute behind them.. in F1 terms thats an awesome margin to cover up..

but once again .. Lady Luck finally seems to be smiling @ the prancing horse... Button grazes his BAR against the wall n his car is in pieces.. one more car off n an added bonus.. the safety car is out!! .. Yipee .. the 30 second diff between Schumi n the McLarens evaporates into 3 seconds!!

Safety car stays on n almost everyone dives into the pits. Looks like its gng to be flat out upto the chequered flag.. but trust Montoya to spice things up..

Jumping a red light is common on the streets, but on a F1 circuit?!!.. what was he thinking?! neways he is black flagged by the marshals n out of the race.. Schumi is now second!!..

The cup of joy simply overfloeth!!;) behind all these action, rubino has calmly pulled himself to 5th position, with Trulli sandwiched bewteen the two ferraris!! But not for long.. Trulli was out of the race, with his front brakes exploding ferociously!!

2 Ferraris in the top 3!!! last year that wud hv been greeted with,"yeah sure, so whats new?!!" .. but not in 2005.. for the first time this year, the Tifosi hv smthing to celebrate!! :)

Schumi did push Kimi (that kinda rhymes doesnt it!!) till the very end, but the 2-3 for ferrari realy did make my day!! Way to go ferrari.. hope the prancing horses make a phoenix like come back!!

Made myself a midnite snack n toasted a Diet Coke to the Scarlet Team.. what a race.. n oh yeah.. Thank You God!! :)