Every-Writer-Needs-An-Address

Damdama lake, gurgaon, December 2011

2011-12-12T10:56:00.003+05:30

A Sunday well spent!
We decided about a picnic to Damdama lake at 10.30am on Sunday morning. After a bit of hasty planning, we had bajre-ki-roti and baign-sabji packed in our lunch-boxes. There was an assortment of other snacks and fruits as well in the trunk of the car. Finally a camera, water-jug, a few winter clothes completed the preparations.

Route and timing
We started around 12:30 from home, filled the tank (over-kill for such a short drive) and were on the Sohna road quickly. The atmosphere was pleasant. There was some traffic at the Badshahpur market. But that's usual. We took left turn after the village Bhondsi. There are no clear signage. But once we take the turn, there is a yellow color board declaring water body or such stuff. There is around 7-8 Km road after leaving the highway. The road is not good but motor able anyway. In total it is <30 Km or 1Hr drive.

Place and amenities
There are two main campuses. 1. Saras complex - tourist complex operated by Harayana govt. 2. Botonix - a resort.

Saras has a restaurant, a bar, a garden and a few rooms for overnight stay. It is situated right on damdama lake. Overall it is decently maintained. There are camel rides, boating and couple of mari-go-rounds. It is good to spend 2-3 Hrs there. Or may be overnight for lake enthusiasts on a full-moon night.

Botonix comes around half Km before Saras complex. We could not explore all the facilities available. In fact we could not find the Reception / office. However, what we found was a beautiful vast garden - well maintained and divided into multiple areas. Sports area had golf (I guess). Adventure area had some 8-9 adventure activities (think of a commando training centre - without the trainer shouting at you). There was actually a small scale botanical garden as well. But I could not explore it. There was a bullock cart and a camel parked in the drive way. Overall, the natural air and beautiful surrounding made it a per fact place to spend the evening / afternoon.

On the way back, we saw many vegetable sellers. Since there were n-number of vegetable fields near by, we were tempted to stop by a couple of places to buy some just-out-of-the-field fresh vegetables. But they disappointed us. Apparently, it is better to buy veggies from a mall!
We were back to home by around 6.30p. Really good for the kids as they might have to wake up for school next morning.

Dilli ke Pakwaan - Good colors but no Pakwaan

2011-12-05T16:56:00.002+05:30

Visited Dilli ke Pakwaan (sponsored by India tourism) near CP on Sunday. It is open till next Sunday (11Dec2011) 11am to 10pm.

Likes:
Great painintgs on the wall. I am not sure if this was specifically placed for the festival or it is there due to India Tourism office. Replica of the India gate and other gates provides great sense right at the entrance. The decoration was good and it built a celebrations like feeling. I saw many firangs (including Chinese) with happy faces.

Good folk music / programs: The Rajasthani handicraft was good. Small scale puppet and other shows were good. The Quawalli and dance show was good.

Crowd: Delhi crowd, welcoming the winter in stylish jackets and sweaters was looking very happy and pretty.

Dislike:
Food!: There were hardly any pakwans. Most food was the street foods of Delhi. A few stalls sold items like Halwa or jalebi. But on the scale of 1 to 5, I would rate it 2. Even street foods were limited variety and kind of tier-2 quality.
This was bit of a turn down because I went there with quite an expectation. And the name was "Dilli ke Pakwaan" festival.

Conclusion: Go for it - to spend a happy evening in winter fair like celebrations. But make an arrangement at home for mid night meals!

Why I need second child?

2011-11-24T18:34:00.002+05:30

Probably, we will not have a second child. The cost of raising a child is too high : ) 'Serious jokes' apart, if someday my kid(s) read this page, they might be taken aghast! Nevertheless, I try to remain truthful and honest. As the saying goes - "In a family, there is always a child who does not understand her parents. And when she does, she already has a child of her own who does not understand her parents."

Why I need second child?
1. Insurance? Single child is a huge risk.
2. Variety! Boy-girl or even boy-boy!
3. Companion. For the first one and for the family.
4. Competition is good. Single child is a spoilt kid.

Let's dig a bit deeper -
1. Insurance? Single child is a huge risk. Many things might go wrong. And if it does, it would be helpful to have another child in the family. I had a close friend who died in his early twenties in a road accident. Fortunately he had an elder brother in the family. This is an unlikely worst case scenario but there are several other things which are neither 'unlikely' nor it is 'worst-case' but still need insurance. Examples include major illness, person going astray in life, etc. By this theory, more the merrier : )
2. Variety! The first is a boy and the second is girl then its a cool variety. But even two boys would provide some variety to the family and genetics.
3. Companion. Second kid would be a good companion not only for the first kid but for entire family. Family of just three is really small. Family of four is more preferred. However, we might have to take care of things mentioned in the article (A favorite child).
Another downside is from the budget perspecitve. If there are four members in the family, resources has to be shared between four.
4. Second child would provide (hopefully) a healthy competition to the first child. Parents with just single child are more likely to spoil the kid with over (hyper-) care. This is a case in the big nation with single-child policy. Second child will eliminate this monopoly.

Still, the case is not fully in favor of bringing second child. There are trade offs. And we need to make a decision.

Gene connection

2011-11-05T23:34:00.002+05:30

Banging head against a wall
Eating so much that you have to puke
ROFL - literally
Morning person, early to bed
Dancing with funny moves but still need to dance
Killing ants almost as a habit
love for animals
love for water

Does any of the above passes as a hereditary trait? Maybe the last two points can be generalized for most kids. But what about the rest of the list?

I am sure my son has never observed me doing any of the above. As a child I used to have all of the above habits. And my son also has those. I am unable to see the connection. How does he know?

* Image source: http://www.zazzle.com/

India's poverty drops to zero. Nobody is poor

2011-09-21T09:19:00.001+05:30

I was so happy to read news that while I was away from India, suddenly all the poor folks of India were alleviated the pains of starvation. This miracle was done not by providing education/training or creating jobs. Neither this feat was achieved by increasing the productivity of resources. And of course, charity is not a solution hence the poor were not provided with food or shelter. Not at all. In fact, doing any of the above would take too much of sincere effort and time.
In fact this magic was achieved by simply changing the definition of 'who is poor'.

Do you know any family who spends less than Rs 32/day/person or (32 x 30=) Rs 960/month/person? Only they can be considered poor as per this new definition. As per that, a family of four would be spending less than Rs 3840/month. I do not know any family who can stay healthy/educated/alive with Rs 3840/month in urban India.
The spend figure includes all types of spend (food, house rent, clothes, fuel, conveyance, others). Interesting analysis by the analysts of TOI around what would be approximate spend for each of the daily needs as per the definition -
Rs Daily needs
5.5 cereals per day
1.02 pulses per day
2.33 milk per day
1.55 edible oil per day
1.95 vegetables per day
0.44 fruits per day
0.70 sugar per day
0.78 salt and spices per day
1.51 other foods per day

3.75 fuel to run the kitchen per day

49.10 rent AND conveyance per month

39.70 Healthcare per month

29.60 Education per month
61.30 Clothing per month
9.6 Footwear per month
28.80 Other personal items per month

Brilliant idea to eradicate poverty :)

JJ in Jakarta

2011-07-30T01:18:00.001+05:30

Actually, writing this a few months after the event occurred.

After a long time it was a mini vacation with family! Only this time, family meant three of us.
Place: Jakarta, Indonesia.
Days: two.5.
Purpose: Site seeing, shopping, eating, enjoying.
Planning committee: A group of colleagues from Jakarta office - very helpful.

Day-0.5: Some horrible events occurred :) As Gabe said on FB - "Sh1t happens!"
JJ did not have the mobile on roaming. Neither she had any Indonesian currency on her. I sent the driver with my cell phone and a few hundred thousands (<2000 INR for the uninitiated readers). For God-know-what-reasons, JJ could not find the driver and vice versa. What would you do in a country you are visiting for the first time without money, without communication, you don't even know local language and you are carrying a little child with you and you are of the fairer sex. Most probably, you would cry. And JJ did that for a while. She at least had the address where she was supposed to reach. hence she started searching for some taxi. The driver demanded 130. JJ was happy thinking that the guy would drive her to the hotel in just 130 INR. JJ was shocked when the driver clarified that its 130,000 IDR. JJ had not the foggiest idea how much it is in INR. 130,000 sounded like a huge sum. But does she have any option? Certainly no. She went to the nearest ATM, inserted the international debit card, praying to the God that it would spit 130,000 IDR. And the Gods din't let her down! Even the remaining balance in the account showed some astronomical sum in millions (IDR)! Wow, that's some magic. JJ could reach the hotel safe. We met only late in the night.

Day-1: Saturday.
Should have started with a visit to fun-park. Actually started with a visit to airport to retrieve the lost baggage. Wifey's bag was left at the transit airport somehow.
Second half of the day, we were planning to visit the Ancole area. Little did we know that it was fairly big area and require at least a full day attention. Finally, we just visited the sea-world there. Sea-world's main attraction is an under-water tunnel. You walk through the tunnel (or a conveyor belt) and see amazing variety of schools of fish around you. Big flying fishes (the one who killed the crock-man). We din't have a proper camera with us that was a major spoil sport. My belief is that without good pictures, even the best of tours tends to faze out in the memory. But with a few good clicks, you have a 'proof' that you had good time :) The next stop was the shopping arcade in the old town of Jakarta. We spent much time in figuring out a good place to shop anything. But finally decided to avoid any shopping at all. Dinner was back at the hotel. They amazed us with superb Paratha + veg curry + samosa.

Day-2: Sunday
We started early. Had excellent breakfast in four seasons. The best part I like about breakfast there is that it fills you thoroughly but still doesn't make your stomach heavy. Otherwise, heavy breakfast immediately puts heavy weights on my eyelids :)
There was a fun event for kids. Play area was decorated near the gym/pool. Excellent confectioneries were placed for free and overall it was a celebration atmosphere. We actually thought there is some birthday party planned and were hesitant to join the celebration initially thinking its a private party. Later the hotel staff clarified that every Sunday they have such events. Wow!
Just around lunch time, we started for the Taman Mini Indonesia. I was much hopeful that DJ would love the park. I knew that JJ would not like the ride in the cable car. We hired a scooter for a couple of hours and roamed around places. We were completely surprised that DJ din't show any fear of the big Macaw / Kakatoe. The birds were really huge - they actually looked bigger in size than DJ's size. But he was cool :)
Next stop - a small artifact shop outside the bird-park. We collected several items - significant to mention was a hook that provides accu pressure to your back. I should post a snap. Around early evening we decided not to finish the park and started moving towards the grand plaza. Wise decision in the humid heat. Grand plaza was excellent. The upscale brands reminded me of the Ambi mall Gurgaon. JJ liked some brand of cosmetics and my vollet shed a few kilo. Dj was happy with a toy train ride on the 4th floor. I was happy to see them happy. A family man that i am (notice the small i).
The day ended with dinner at Royal Kitchen - an Indian restaurant. The food was good. The service was strictly OK. The prices felt higher.I would recommend the Ganesha in WISMA GKBI anytime.

All is well that ends well - or something like that!

Listening passively

2011-07-22T14:12:00.000+05:30

Apparently, I was always passive about which songs I listen to. Here goes some interesting evidence in chronological order -
1.
As a kid, I used to listen to old hindi movie songs. Not by my own choice but because my parents would tune in to the 'Vividh bharti' or 'Ceylon' or 'AIR=All India Radio'. I developed a taste for those songs at young age.
2.
When I moved to IIT, I started litening to songs from albums like Kandisa and Ghazals from various artists. Again, mainly because other people in the lab listened to those songs.
3.
During my first job, I used to share accomodation with a partner. Here I listened to some old English songs like 'Don McLean - American Pie' or 'Somewhere I belong'. Again passively.
4.
After that there was a gap. Because I stopped sharing accomodation and was staying alone. I think I kept listening to some of the songs from the above three lists. But hardly ever developed a new liking.
5.
Finally, I started listening to contemporary bollywood and some punjabi songs when I got married. However, I couldn't develop a taste for that.

Is this how it happens with most? Your taste in music is influenced mostly by people around you?

Btw, found a collection of excellent old Hindi songs here -
http://notestomyself.wordpress.com/category/lata-mangeshkar/
And ghazals here -
http://notestomyself.wordpress.com/tag/hindi-ghazal/

Idle Ideas

2011-07-22T10:49:00.004+05:30

Probably 99% of my new ideas are lost because I don't have a scratch pad to scribble it down when it occours. Sometimes even if I have a scratch pad, I misplace it later and the idea vanishes with that. To avoid such a great loss to humankind, I think, I should wear a scratch pad on myself the way people wear glasses with strings attached.

Source of the image.

For once, I could jot down this idea about the scratch screen. After a couple of months of usage, my helmet gets scratches. That's fine because that's one of the function of the helmet. But even the visor gets scratches and that's not fine. Now, I look at my wife's mobile phone and I see a thin plastic film. She can remove that screen every once in a while and replace it with another one. All scratches of past few months vanishes in a few seconds :)
Why can't we have something like this for helmet?

Source of the image.

To make this innovation practical, there is one addition required. Let's say I buy some five or ten scratch screens for my helmet. I use one immediately and keep the rest for later. However, after two months or so, when I want to replace this scratch screen, I am unable to place where I kept those replacements. Its usual to misplace such items for me (and for many other users of helmet). So another suggestion is that let's keep these replacements within the helmet. Between the outer shell and the inner lining. What say?

Source of the image.

Batukajang adventures - photo blog

2011-07-13T13:55:00.003+05:30

Long queue to board the ferry

The ferry - you can see buses and trucks in the lower deck and passengers in the upper deck

What is the purpose of this structure? Why can't this tower be on the shore?

Oil digging in progress

A small town on the Balikpapan side

Three vassels - so different in size and utility

A car on board my ferry

Batukajang adventures

2011-07-10T10:08:00.003+05:30

De said that I should not be afraid because some of the elite tribesmen in the Dayak tribe can smell the other person and can tell if he belongs to the enemy tribe or not. Dayak tribesmen are mystic. I said, I can even show my passport if their sense of smell fail them. Dayak tribe in east Kalimantan area in Jakarta had declared war with another tribe. And people said that there will be bloodshed even on the highway connecting Batukajang and Balikpapan. They said we should leave Balikpapan immediately – even as soon as tonight.
We were in Batukajang just for two days and a half. The overall work was not finished yet. We could have used one more day there. I could not even visit the mine because of the security clearance issue. What’s the point of putting on safety jacket and helmet and the long & heavy safety shoes?
The guest house was small but very tidy. The staff was efficient and there were posters reminding everybody of the overall objectives of the year. The great thing was the pick-up truck. I think Mitsubishi. It looked like a hunk. The flag in the front was fifteen feet tall and the purpose was to make sure that the ‘hunk’ does not get crushed by one of the elephants - big excavators. The life in the mine is tough. The long road leading to the mine reminds me of the movie ‘The Jurassic Park’. Especially when the morning mist engulfs the surrounding jungle and the make-shift road becomes wet in moisture. You can hear explosions in the mine to break the rocky surface. I wonder how do they prevent the coal to catch fire after one such explosion?
The city Batukajang is described as agropoliton by p.Adi – Agriculture – Metropolitan. The wide range of fields that you see on the way to Batukajang confirms that name. Banana plantations, Palm trees, pineapple and some more strange tropical fruits. One of the strange fruit I saw was snake-fruit.

We had our lunch at a small restaurant on the way to Batukajang. It was quite filling and satisfying. The road from the ferry to the city is more or less smooth in the beginning. It’s a hybrid between a coastal town of Spain and coastal town of SE Asia. Many small buildings with red color tiled roofs looks like they are directly imported from old Spain. Whereas, the wooden houses erected on the top of wooden scaffolding are typicl of SE Asia. You can see fishing gears near almost all of the houses. Even the inland houses have fish ponds in the verandah. Fish ponds for food not so decorative. Another surprising thing about the area is that you see houses on both side of the road throughout the way from the Ferry to Batukajang city – its around 70Km. But hardly find any village or town.
I guess the most interesting part of this journey was the ferry ride. The boat can carry around twenty cars and a few truck with its load. The passengers can seat on the upper deck. The ferry sails through very interesting landscape, resulting in enjoyable journey. The water is muddy at places and blue aqua marine at some other place. You can clearly see ‘patches’ of colors in the water. I wonder how is that possible. The boat is never too far from the land and hence you can always observe some activity on the land on either side. There are oil drilling activities on one shore and coal loading on the other. The place has wonderful natural resources. And as it happens at many places in the world, there is constant friction between the tribals and the government. One of the tribe is Dayak tribe. ‘Semi-mystic’ people who can accurately throw their matchet very long distance to chop the head of their enemies. Something to fear. Also the black-magic. De said there are many testimonials of such black-magic. And hence he believes it. These are the primary reason why we started to flee from Batukajang late that night. Better safe to be sorry.

keep blogging!

2011-06-15T14:33:00.001+05:30

Have look here -

I am not surprised about the Afghanistan being the top of the list. I am not even surprised about the African countries in the list as they have been witnessing endless war. But India? Third 'most dangerous' country for women? I know the country is not fair to women in any sense. But somehow the third most dangerous sounds exaggerated.
Well, whatever is the case, let's not wait till it becomes the first in the list.
What to do? .... well .... keep blogging!

Pyar ka panchnama

2011-05-20T23:46:00.004+05:30

Hooo hoo!
My first movie in the last 2.5 years in a cinema hall! We went to watch 'Gajini' in January 2009 last time. And then we watched 'Pyar ka panchnama' - direct :)

I went with an expectation that it would be something like 'Masti' or 'No entry'. Essentially, three men goofing up in extra marital affairs because they were getting bored in their present relationships. But the PKP turned out to be something different. Its different, its ketchup - type.

The story of three guys runs in parallel, I mean literally. They suddenly fall in some relationship at the same time. Then have good time for a while. Then screw up. Then fall apart and become bachelor again at the same time.

Well, I guess I can tell the most interesting story in the most boring way. Actually the above story is told in a damn good way in the movie. The editing was flawless for the most part except a last few sequences. The part I remember most is when the guy with live-in relationship cribs about 'girl' in general. Its some five miniute monologue ... every married men would love it :)

I din't like the falling apart part. But that's how it is in the movie. Just to make sure your relationship does not fall apart, you need to convert it into 'coffee-and-Sunday-paper' type of love at some point of time. Have a look at this "The Science of Romance"

Reducing inventory

2011-03-26T02:58:00.001+05:30

Reducing the inventory
Managing the right safety stock
Making it lean
Just-in-time

I discuss this all the time.
Not with any management guru with reference to some manufacturing plant. I discuss this all the time with my wife about our kitchen and the household.
Some examples -
Why do we have to purchase a week's supply of vegetables and then store it in the fridge, when the local sabji wala happily provides fresh vegetables daily at no extra cost?
Buying those 3+1 (buy three, get one free) packs of perishable goods means the free pack is any way going into the garbage bin.
Parents are coming to stay at our place next month. Why do we have to purchase all of these now?
Why buying winter wear now - even if we are getting it at slightly discounted price? Its summer already.

But then unlike our clients, wife hardly pays attention to any of these. What's the best way to convince her to implement these ideas?

censored wikileaks

2010-12-29T14:05:00.001+05:30

3:46 PM
BUH: KBO, busy?
3:47 PM
KBO: nope
3:48 PM
BUH: any news from UU?
i know you are going to ask me about phd etc.
but gharma problem vadhi gayo chhe.
DD does not understand my position and state i am in.
3:49 PM
it's not that i am not working for phd. but she's grown impatient now and as it is she's never the wife you can expect to be by your side in all troubles.
she's too simple for this.
3:50 PM
i mean, the kind of virtues we see in great novels and epics are hard to come to her naturally.
she's trying to. but the psyche does not change that easily.
3:51 PM
she's been raised in a richer family than me and does not quite understand. i told you in EFM only that she's going to be disappointed.
3:52 PM
some people do not have power to comprehend and because of this they feel insecure.
how much ever hard i try to explain to her and family that i can find a job whenever i want and can earn money, these people have grown impatient.
3:53 PM
after all, how much moeny does one need? i earn more than my needs. and i am happy .. because i never compare.
3:54 PM
i never do because inherently, two individuals are unique and the comparison is never fair. Comparisons require "metric" and metric needs "measure"
both measure and metric are unclear to compare two human beings. even in a prescribed subjective context.
3:55 PM
KBO: I have very similar problem
described the problem sometime back here -
but frankly could not brain storm about the solution
3:56 PM
I have not named her in that writing - but I was upset under very similar circumstances
BUH: people can change. surely can. but not their deep-rooted convictions.
3:57 PM
i cannot change hers and i cannot change mine.
these deep-rooted convictions drive my entire psyche.
i can change my habits, my home, family, food, job etc. but i cannot change that one tiny set of fundamental "axioms" i have.
3:58 PM
i dont know where these axioms come from. Even math does not answer about axioms.
by definition axioms are accepted as is.
3:59 PM
KBO: yeah, read in some novel ... if I change that fundamental thing, I will not remain 'I'
4:00 PM
BUH: but like a good companion, we try to satisfy their needs by providing them with whatever they ask for.
changing the job for me is not going to change the attitude i have towards life or life's purpose.
4:01 PM
KBO: similarly they are also trying their best to live with our 'eccentricity'
BUH: oh i agree with that. sure.
4:02 PM
but if this is understood well, shouldn't one befriend with other's beliefs, convictions, and ideals?
than the outer personality?
if that happens, there will be no quarrels at all about anything
4:03 PM
because then there will be a syllogism from action to belief and there is no inconsistency. it would be already predicted by her.
it would be already expected and accepted by her.
4:04 PM
if you carefully examine, all major quarrels in the household are of the nature: "how can you do this?"
sure, this question is never directly asked. but it is reason for all subsequent words spoken.
isn't it?
KBO: trying to think
4:05 PM
BUH: now, if this "how can you do this" can be answered by her own self, there would not be any need for an outburst.
no feelings or emotions "hurt"
4:06 PM
since there is no inconsistency. and there is no clash and there is no hurt.
KBO: yeah, but then this is even more serious issue
because you are saying that there are fundamentals involved
different fundamentals I mean
and clashing
4:07 PM
BUH: yes, but the knowledge of fundamentals or axioms remove all uncertainty and claims to irrational behavior
so, i am trying to say that if she knows what i believe in and if know what she values, the behavior is quite predictable.
4:08 PM
KBO: and we are trying to solve this issue with superfluous things like changing jobs
BUH: yes.
precisely.
4:09 PM
and so this is going to remain even after satisfying endless needs as long as that basic nature is yet to be understood.
if that is understood, my behavior will not longer appear irrational and hence unjust.
KBO: I think they already know the basic nature already ... but there is a conflict between our basic nature and theirs
4:10 PM
If I take a smaller example, I do not believe OW is bad ... whereas it is tabu for her
Taboo*
4:11 PM
how do you neutralize this conflict
BUH: only by coming to a compromise where the natures do not engender any outcomes which are physically offensive to the other party.
4:12 PM
some compromise where i can be what i am and still do not cause any damage or trouble to her "space"
4:13 PM
if the word "space" and "trouble" are defined properly, a couple must be able to come to some reasonable solution.
and here's where the major difficulty.
4:14 PM
KBO: we came to a work around solution this way - I do not go for OW when I am with her. And she avoids questioning what I had for lunch in office
BUH: wonderful!
KBO: so theoratically, your solution is right
BUH: just the corroboration.
4:15 PM
KBO: is there any way we extrapolate this idea to current problem?
4:16 PM
BUH: but just think if she includes her riligious chastity in her "space" where she refuses to drink your half-left water and continously contemplates about this, then there is a problem.
4:17 PM
i am trying to say that the word "space" must be defined as "minimum possible physical and emotional region:
and both must work hard to minimize this region .
if there is still an intersection of these spaces, then one can sit down to solve the problem.
but in most cases, there is none.
4:18 PM
So, here's the extrapolation or solution:
KBO: hmm
4:19 PM
BUH: draw up the minimum regions by identifying the corporeal as well as emotional needs
and noticing that these cannot be trespassed.
4:20 PM
but this is not easy.
since minimizing the regions is difficult ...
KBO: still not sure how we solve the current problem
BUH: that would need the consensus on "what is reasonable"
4:21 PM
KBO: So for the current problem - I think minimizing region means remain satisfied with the resources that are really necessary and not a luxury
BUH: only half true.
KBO: ?
4:22 PM
BUH: Example of the region a wife would draw is:
1. husband to earn x amount of money minimum to pull on the household.
2. to save enough for contingency
4:23 PM
3. to value her freedom and let her pursue her career in such a way that the house doesnt suffer
4. never to uestion about her friends and the past
By the way, this is not my case. i am just illustrating
KBO: yeah - hypothetical example
BUH: some aspects of the above are emotional and some are physical.
4:24 PM
5. Visit my parents at least once a month
6. leave me when i say leave me
dont keep pushing
4:25 PM
7. let me choose my career as long as it does not harm "your region"
9. never question my belief in God
KBO: I was trying to think about the definition of 'space' relevant for our current problem ... you are trying to describe a super set
BUH: there is only one space that i am talking about. Rather, a set.
KBO: the list might a bit too long
4:26 PM
BUH: the set contains items that are too important for one's own peace and cannot be foregone.
KBO: yup
BUH: there are two sets for two individuals.
each set contains physical and emotional needs.
4:27 PM
both must come to agreement on what is reasonable to include and after that is accepted, one can never find difficulty
for example, today morning
we had a heated argument
4:28 PM
i told her that it is not her business to see what i am doing: as long as i am legally making money enough for the family, and have a traceably sound future, she must not poke her nose.
that this upsets her.
now, i consider this as my own "set of needs".
where is any conflict?
KBO: hold on -
4:29 PM
In any case, she married an Asst. professor
4:30 PM
isn't it? Then why this push
how about this argument?
BUH: she says she thought i would make more progress and money
she projected.
4:31 PM
or, may be the expectaions rose after marriage
KBO: hmm .. in my case - I am sure that the expectations rose after the marriage ...
4:32 PM
BUH: most likely true in any case.
KBO: if we can get it to pre-marriage level then also we may get a reasonable solution to this issue
4:33 PM
BUH: And if you see, the root of many difficulties is coming too close to someone. There still needs to space .. i dont want her to hear my fart when i go peeing .. :-)
i just illustrating about the space.
KBO: :D
4:34 PM
this 'space' solution is a bit abstract. And secondly, difficult to implement. Thirdly idealistic. I was thinking about some second approach for a quick fix.
4:35 PM
BUH: quick fix is easy: be oblivious to these deep issues and keep pleasing each other.
4:36 PM
KBO: nope ... that's how discussion around 'getting expectations back to pre-marriage state' turned up.
BUH: One thing that is true law is
digging the past never helps
never ever.
KBO: oblivion fix we already tried ... probably for too long
4:37 PM
BUH: "i thought ... " .. "you told .." "i felt .. "
KBO: I agree
BUH: majority of these are far from the truth .. they are the projections of the present on the past.
and it is the present that is speaking through them
KBO: is it possible we convey the meaning without using "i thought ... " .. "you told .." "i felt .. "
4:38 PM
BUH: no, because all these were talking about their "expectations" which are predictive in nature.
they are talking about their "expectations" from marriage and married life.
4:39 PM
and when you ask why didn't you make clear to me about this? , the statements "i thought .." "i felt " will ensue.
no escape.
KBO: hmm
BUH: point is: digging the past is never helpful.
it is the present that needs work
4:40 PM
KBO: okay - let's get back to the first approach then
BUH: that is to sit down and talk about regions
is it?
KBO: yes
there is a bit of issue in implementation of this approach
4:41 PM
BUH: a lot of problems.
it is only good in theory.
4:42 PM
because once again, what is reasonable is debatable.
KBO: Firstly, they do not understand this approach
and talking to them about this abstract and idealistic stuff is useless
BUH: i consider it reasonable that i be in a place where i get job satisfaction.
true.
4:43 PM
and if this commes in the way of her needs to stay close to her parents (hypothetically), then there is a clash right there.
KBO: exactly ... there is no rational involved if it is in the way of their needs
BUH: solving this issue requires comparing two different needs:
4:44 PM
KBO: heck - there is no solution
BUH: one, to get job satisfaction for me and other to stay close to her paretns. both are equally dear.
how to solve it?
KBO: simple way to handle this is become the boss of your house ... dictator
4:45 PM
BUH: ironically, that is the solution our ancestors adopted .. and were quite happy actually
KBO: of course - that too is very difficult now because we have already set wrong expectations
BUH: no company can run under two chief executives.
but let us remain democratic.
:-)
4:46 PM
KBO: WTF - we are heading towards such a wrong solution approach
BUH: so, the solution is: just provide for what they ask and be happy.
ergo, coming back to my question,
4:47 PM
what happens to UU's?
KBO: we are already trying that - but that is also not working, right?
I mean their expectations are increasing at a greater pace than our "flexibility"
BUH: yes, it is not working
yes, the rate of change is huge
4:48 PM
KBO: UU's mother is in ICU - he could not work on your resume
BUH: well, there is other way:
to prevaricate, equivocate, lie
simply start lying and quick-fixing things
4:49 PM
many have chosen this .. although i am not sure what will be when one is caught.
KBO: we may have to break this discussion for now ... but I am happy we discussed this. I would have been super-happy to conclude at some workable solution.
BUH: sorry to hear about UU's mother.
pleaes do not stress him
4:50 PM
read game theory
KBO: that lying part will only worsen the situation out of control.
BUH: really, that has some insightful solutiosn to such problems
KBO: At least things are still under control - however worse they are.
4:51 PM
BUH: true. but seriously, read game theory.
you will find it fascinating
chalo then ..
bye for now .. thanks for talking
you are as sharp a friend as i need and want
4:52 PM
wish we could stay closer and take walks.
:-)
KBO: if you are referring to some online link for game theory then send across ... if you are referring to some book/article then give name
4:53 PM
BUH: i will send you ebooks that find very nice
KBO: ok. talk to you later.
BUH: bye
KBO: hey - before we jump out of this window -
4:54 PM
1. send boarding pass, etc.
2. send e-books
3. consider (seriously) visiting Insti
4:55 PM
shit - I enumerated it in the reverse order of priority
chalo bye
BUH: sure, bye

5K run

2010-12-07T16:52:00.002+05:30

I ran 5Km after a long time. Last time I ran was here.
I was not sure how hard or difficult it would be after such a long time. But thanks to the fact that I cycle a lot, I could finish it. 31 minutes or so. The timing is not very exciting, however my target was not very high any way.
I forgot my running shoes in the office on Friday. Saturday morning, I started for office in my bathroom slippers. When I reached office, I realized that I do not have socks! There was no time left for going home to collect socks now. I went straight for the run. Running without socks was a bit awkward - mainly because the inside of my shoes are slightly twisted.
With all these hassles, I could finish it any way. And now I think, I will do it more regularly. Preferably every week.

Have a look at the snaps here -

http://picasaweb.google.com/rahulsverghese/Dec3rdAnd4thGurgaon5kAnd10k?pli=1&gsessionid=95Lnpei1yc20b47LU6owNQ#

kisi ki akhiri hichaki, kisi ki dillagi hogi

2010-11-24T17:18:00.002+05:30

Nasim-e-subah gulashan may gulon se khelati hogi
kisi ki akhiri hichaki, kisi ki dillagi hogi

Nasim = Gentle breeze
Nasim-e-subah = Morning gentle breeze

The morning gentle breeze is playing with the flowers of garden.
This can be the last passing off breath of someone, or can be a frivolous playfulness of someone.

Its very rough translation. JS has this in his album Encore.

Lyricist: Do not know

Movie mania

2010-11-23T10:31:00.001+05:30

Gone are the days when I used to go in a cinema hall and only come out after 6 odd Hrs of back-to-back movies. Now-a-days, I hardly have appetite for such fun. But still, I like movies. I watched three from an achieve last weekend -

Being Jane - It felt like a dramatized version of Jane Austin's autobiography. I enjoyed the old British curtsey throughout the movie, had a glimpse of the aristocracy during that time. And I liked the actress playing Jane - she played the role quite flawlessly. I would call its one time worth spending 2 hrs even for people who are not hard-core feminist.

Being there - This is one of those movies which could have been total flop if not for one or two dramatic ecstasy. In this particular case, the credit goes to the director and the lead actor playing the Gardner. The plot goes like this - there is this Gardner who has been working in an old man's house ever since he was a boy. For some reasons unknown, he was never allowed to move out of the house. That means his universe was limited to the house and the garden in that house. One fine morning, the old man dies and the Gardner is asked to leave the house. Now, imagine a man - in his fifties - who has never been out of that one house. Never seen any outside world except for TV. And he packs the suitcase and ventures out. And just by chance, he gets a place in the house of one of the wealthy man with huge influence on the president of the USA. After that his life moves forward in the right direction, all by chance and by the end of the movie, he not only inherits the wealthy man's empire and a beautiful wife, but also there is rumors in the political circles about him becoming the next presidential candidate.
Overall, a time pass movie with a good laugh.

Body of lies - Use of unmanned surveillance aircrafts, brad pitt as a CIA agent, adapting to geography and culture of middle eastern countries - mash these artifacts with an excellent cinematography and you have Body of lies. Story revolves around brad pitt who is working as a senior agent of CIA, trying to prevent the fundamentalist groups from achieving their targets. The story sounds very realistic. A definite watch for those who enjoy spy movies and do not mind a bit of violence here and there.

Now listening, Led Zeppelin-Whole Lotta Love.

Remain Grounded

2010-11-19T14:54:00.000+05:30

Even in the capitalist society of USA, we have such notable researchers -
" Millionaire thinking, as researched by Thomas J Stanley and William Danko, shows that living well below your financial means, investing smartly (such as buying reliable rather than flashy, expensive things), and staying financially independent (rather than showing off the wealth you do have) is the way to remain grounded and secure throughout your life." - [The Millionaire Next Door, http://www.bainvestor.com/TheMillionaireNextDoor.html]

I have seen some of the traditional young Indians who are not 'grounded' as defined above. Sad thing is they try to become happy by earning and spending more; however, this behavior only increases dissatisfaction and hence unhappiness.

I usually avoid preaching (here or anywhere) - but the above behavior has become a concern of increasing intensity within my nearby circle.

I try to remain grounded by-
1. Cycle to work
2. Wish to stay in a smaller house
3. Wish to spend less on appliences
4. Reduce inventory of my kitchen. Sometime, much of this stuff is wasted.
5. Conserve water (take bath alternate days, brush teeth only when absolutely required, etc) - TBTILV.
6. Conserve electricity.
7. Use public transport. Use trains rather than taking flights.
8. Speak less.

** TBTILV: To Be Taken In Lighter Vein

Playful morning

2010-11-17T12:12:00.000+05:30

Many a times I start my morning with a song in mind. And mostly that song does not go away for the rest of the day. Since I was up until late last night, today morning's song was a bit groggy at first. I had to google the exact lyrics to make it crisp. Here it is -
Paon chhu lene do phoolon ko inayat hogi,
warna humko nahi inko bhi shikayat hogi.

Aap jo phool bichhaye unhe hum thukrayaN,
humko dar hai ka ye tohin-e-mohbbat hogi.

Dil ki bechan umangon pe karam farmao,
itna ruk ruk ke chalogi to qaymat hogi.

Sharm roke hai idhar shokh udhar khhinche hai,
kya khabar thi kabhi is dil ki yeah halat hogi.

Sharm gairon se hua karti hai apno se nahi,
sharm humse bhi karogi to musibat hogi.

Movie : Taj Mahal (1963)
Track : Paon chhu le ne do phoolon ko
Singer: Lata Mangeshka and Mohd. Rafi
Lyrics : Sahir Ludhiyanvi
Music : Roshan
Thanks to this wonderful blog for details:
http://notestomyself.wordpress.com/category/lata-mangeshkar/

Holy shit

2010-09-17T16:11:00.001+05:30

The kid is not sleeping, can you please take care?
'Request' came at 0300 Hrs.
Response: A deep silence (I was fast asleep).

0305: I think the kid wants to go pee, can you please help?
This time any delay means sleeping the rest of the night in a drenched and smelly bed. I jumped into action.

In the middle of the peeing action, the gentleman startled me with a sound Vuvuzela like. Soon I realized that it was number two and not just quick number one. I was still half asleep and sat there for a minutes or so when the gentleman startled me again with a gurgling sound. It was a short laugh. The reason for that laugh was the excitement of playing with his own poo. Now I was forced to respond urgently. I quickly carried him to the wash basin and was about to wash the back. But he did not like being disturbed while playing with the poo and at the end moment started jumping with entire body in convulsions. For an adult with such convulsions, you need at least four-five men to handle him. Any way, I soothed him with some pacifying words and I hoped that parents around the world can use some kind of safe and quick tranquilizers for their kids. Finally I was successful in washing most part of the back and the hands. And then he dived from wash-basin to the floor for no apparent reasons. I could restrict those suicidal motions in time. But that got him enraged again. He jumped with all his force and tried to kick me on the chest (jackie chan style). The t-shirt was black. The poo was its usual color - mustard yellow and the print was like a fine block printing - work of an expert.
I am planning to preserve that t-shirt as it is. With yellow foot prints made of poo as pigment. Just want to label it 'Holy shit'.

Missing person report

2010-07-22T22:24:00.001+05:30

It has been a while since I updated this space about my family members. Family is my first priority.
But even before that let me narrate this amusing incident from a forwarded email.

-- amusing incident starts --
A woman went to police station to file a report for her missing husband:
Woman: I lost my husband
Inspector: What is his height
Woman: I never noticed
Inspector: Slim or healthy
Woman Not slim can be healthy
Inspector: Color of eyes
Woman: Never noticed
Inspector: Color of hair
Woman: Should be black
Inspector: What was he wearing
Woman: I don't remember exactly
Inspector: Was somebody with him ?????????
Woman: Yes my Labrador dog (Romeo), tied with a golden chain, height 30 inches, healthy, blue eyes, blackish brown hair, his left foot thumb nail is slightly broken, he never barks, wearing a golden belt studded with blue balls, he likes non veg food, we eat together, we jog together.
The woman started crying
Inspector: Let's search for the dog first!!!!!!!!!!!!!
-- amusing incident ends --

J says that very similar scene would be replicated if she goes missing with any of our aquarium fishes and I try to file missing person report at the station. I agree.

Recently I added one more aquarium (all gold fish + one black moor) to one of the spare rooms. I haven't got a proper stand or anything so just set it up on the floor itself with a thermocol sheet as a base. But that aquarium members are yet to become family members - they are still pets. J is liking the goldfishes somehow and kept asking me why can't we put them in the tank in the drwaing hall. The reason we can not do this is that the drawing hall display tank contains six chichlids and one placo.
Here are the pics:
The Parrots

The Africans

The Firemouths

Gurgaon became Metro

2010-07-21T21:43:00.003+05:30

You can actually browse through the crowd from Odyssey. And read the menu card of CCD in JMD Regent Arcade while looking out of the window of Gurgaon metro.
The ride is a pleasurable 30 minutes to Qutub Minar. This might be important from the perspective of a daily commuter. But from a tourist like I am, the view of MG Road from an elevated platform is a pleasure in itself.

Gurgaon got the metro connection with Delhi on June 21, 2010. The frequency is very decent. The cars are not crowded at least during the weekends. And the view is wonderful. Have a look -

Traveling as a bachelor

2010-07-02T17:58:00.001+05:30

"This train makes me crazy" Lassiwala speaks.
"Yeah?" I speak.
"There are three counters in this shop and people shout at me from all the sides" Lassiwala speaks.
"I see" Me.
"I can only slow down after the train departs, as you can see now" Lassiwala speaks.
"Yeah? like now?" I.
"Right" Lassiwala speaks.

The station was Kota. The train was Amritsar-Kochuveli express. It only stops at Kota (19:30), between Delhi (13:30) and Vadodara (04:30, day2). I cought the train at Delhi and wanted to let it go only at Surat. And I realized that if I continue my chat with Lassiwala anymore, the train would leave me here in Kota and take my luggage all the way to Kochuveli.
The realization was slow but the reflex was fast. I jumped through whichever door was visible out of that fast pacing train. After I caught it once more, it immediately started to rain.

20 minutes later ...
I was slowly coming out of the trance of getting drenched in the rain. I was standing near the open doors. And I realized that if I do not move back to my compartment and use some cloth to wipe the access water, I will catch cold. Again, the realization was slow but the reflex was fast. I started moving towards my coach. Train coaches are connected with eachother using that pass-through joints. However, the coach I was in, turned out to be an unreserved coach. And my destination was a reserved coach. They are not connected. Yet again I realized that I was trapped in an unreserved coach until 4:30 AM next morning and it was about 8:45 PM now. Bingo! No seat - can't sleep. No stoppage - can't leave. What to do?
I climbed.
I climbed to the luggage shelf and stretched my body. Wind was cool and my stomach was full. All I know is that I wake up only at Vadodara station around 4:30 next morning, took a brisk walk on the platform and climbed another coach to go to sleep again on my bed, my bag as my pillow.

Is this your first time in US?

2010-01-06T22:40:00.001+05:30

On my first visit to the states, I was invited for dinner at a collegue's home. (I would rather say I invited myself overthere).
The dinner was absolutely fantastic - I was craving for Indian bread after having american bread for weeks. The wife of this collegue din't know me. We started having small talk. And they were talking about some friend getting his pocket picked in a tunnle-train.
I knew that organized crime may be everywhere in the world. I was considering the western world high in moral/ethics and low in this type of cheap crime. So I asked, 'Do we have pick-pocketers here as well?'
The answer from the lady came - 'Is this your first time in US?'
I instantly knew what she meant :)
People are more-or-less the same everywhere. Some good, some bad. So take care.

Dhairya

2010-01-04T00:56:00.000+05:30

MyHeritage: Look-alike Meter - Pedigree - Geneology

Gabbar: The new joinee

2009-12-17T23:16:00.002+05:30

Brought him to my office when recently the recruitment started. He is still a trainee and if any of the manager does not like him then he will be fired. Poor fellow is named 'Gabbar' by my collegues but actually he is quiet.

Some nice person put this warning near Gabbar's bowl!

Why did we invent marriage?

2009-12-07T17:55:00.002+05:30

Like so many of my profound philosophies, this one also occurred to me while I was staring at my aquarium in the middle of night. I do that (staring @ Aq) a lot now-a-days.

Scenario-1:Aquarium
The best male gets to breed the most often. The Good males may also get their chances. The not-so-good males do not get a chance.
This is an optimal selection process because after a few generations of natural selection, the overall genetic pool improves.
Note: Even in an aquarium, "The best" or "good" is not defined by just physical features.

Scenario-2:Human Society
Everybody gets chance to reproduce through one and just one female (because of the system called marriage). There are exceptions but we are talking about a majority of species here.
This means that in most cases, a female can not select the best possible male because he is already married to some other female! And hence have to chose one of the 'available' males (we call him the most eligible bachelor). But even the best of the available male may not be really 'available' because that eligible-bachelor knows that he can chose only one female (because of the constraint called marriage). Hence finally this female chose one of the "really" available male (not an optimal decision in an unconstrained scenario) who is certainly far from the best one.

A very non-optimal process.

Why did we invent this 1:1 system of marriage?

This is just a thought in its infancy . No conclusions here. Question is open ...

A Hundred Splendid Suns

2009-11-30T23:53:00.005+05:30

It was 01:00 Hrs. I had just returned from my office.
When I am bachelor, it is my routine to watch my aquarium for half an hour after I am home. So I did.
Many a times the fishes would be sleeping by the time I return home. But this time they were effervescent! I looked with curiosity. And I found something which I dreaded. No no ... none of the fish was cannibalized by another larger fish. In fact this all excitement was excitement of a beginning, a new life.
Well, calling it 'a' new life would be an understatement because I stopped counting at around 47. And at 47 I could not even scan half of the surface of the aquarium. There I found a hundred splendid suns.

What is an apple snail? Here is the pic -

A creature of yellow color. I would call it a color of sunlight of a Sunday morning.
How does its baby look like? Well, in the beginning, it looks more like a small mustard seed. But within a few days, it looks like this (they are just 4-5 days old):

Can you see those tiny yellow dots on the earthenware? Yes, those are the young ones.
How many of those are there in my aquarium? Well, you are welcome to volunteer for the census process. I try to complete the scan every night. But as I said, I stopped after reaching a count of 47 and it was not even half the population. By a conservative estimate, I have 100+ apple snail babies in my aquarium crawling all over. With the kind of food available in the aquarium, I guess they would become 1 inch in diameter within a month or so.
I know this is not sustainable at all and the story does not end there. I found some six more egg-nests hanging on the roof-top of the tank. Each egg-nest contains roughly 100 more aspiring apple snails. Aspiring to make my tank an exclusive community for themselves. But this time I was quick, I snatched the nests from the roof and at the moment they are lying on the grass field at the back side of my house. May be some of them still aspiring to become living apple snails. A hundred splendid suns, indeed!

Bicycle Diaries

2009-11-16T12:13:00.003+05:30

Link these snaps and make a story-line.
What is it some kind of puzzle? Yes. And the answer is just at the end of the snaps.

Well, one Sunday morning I found the life bit too much on the boring side and started out on the back of my holy bicycle.
As the route map suggests, I traveled around 70 Km all in all. The journey was (surprisingly) pleasant. The sun was bright but the weather was cool. The only time I felt any perspiration was when a large buffalo tried to shove me off with its giant horn … ‘holy cow’ I sighed!
When I started the ride, I thought it would be crazy but I can’t possibly say it was an adventure. At the end, it was still boring Sunday! On positive note, I had some good exercise.

Apple-to-apple comparioson: Analytics way

2009-10-12T22:57:00.002+05:30

When you are blessed with a baby - most people would ask -
Whether the baby looks like the mom or the dad?
Scenario-1
The answers would vary - depending upon who is answering the question. If I am the one who is answering, it would be I with whom all the features of the baby are in complete resemblance. For J(wifey), it would be her nails with which the baby's nails are matching! (Why only nails?)
Scenario-2
At work, we do analysis (of anything). And provide fact based information which can be used for making decisions. And I thought, it is a good idea to analyse the baby's photographs in comparison with his parent's snaps. But if I compare baby's today's snaps with today's snaps of the parents, it wont be an apple-to-apple comparison. Hence, I had to extract some copies of our younger snaps.
Here is the sample of the analysis made -

Calorie

2009-09-15T12:54:00.003+05:30

“That's the name given to this Hercules Blazer IC. Bought it on 15-June-2008.
I started going to office by Calorie soon after that and was feeling just great! I even saw a Treck (one of my favorite brands - http://www.trekbikes.com/int/en/) model in the office parking!
It feels like I am meeting a loving friend after a long-long separation. Last time when I used to cycle regularly when I was a student at IIT Bombay. Gap of close to five long years.
Bangalore has pretty nice weather for bicycle I guess. At the least it has a few good cycling communities here and there. Home to office is 6.5 Km but I hardly feel any stress. A friend cyclist says that he starts feeling tired after approx 20Km drive. I'll have to explore more to know my stamina :)
Planning to post a few more pics of the way to office.”

These were my thoughts ~one year back. I was in Bangalore at that time. Similar experience I had during my stay in the little town of Pori in Finland (that’s worth another blog post). But Gurgaon does not have that benevolent weather and commuting to office by bicycle stays largely out of scope. Or so I thought until recently.
Sometime back, I just returned from my hometown on a Monday morning and found that the darn motorcycle have a flat tire. The weather was awesome that day –
‘With slight drizzles, which ended with but fizzles,
The breeze flows but the weather sizzles.
The birds go high and I wanna try,
The cloudy sky which encourages me to fly.‘ - Author unknown
And fly I did on my calorie towards the office. The scenes en route were not as sweet a candy-to-the-eye as it used to be during my Bangalore/Pori days. But nevertheless the ride was enjoyable. I continue coming to office by bicycle since then and the experience have been pure joy that I thought I would be at fault by not sharing it with a greater audience.

No comments!

2009-08-28T11:33:00.000+05:30

When I started writing blog, I did not know why I was writing it. I just wrote it for the sake of it.
Later I realized that it is a good to keep a diary of important events/thoughts of life.
But you can keep a diary even to yourself - why on a public place? May be because you would want your friends/fellas to know "what's up?" on your end.
But how do you know that they read your blog? By the comments they make at the bottom of your blog.
Do people write a comment at your blog? Or just read it and walk away? Well, in most cases - they just walk away!

Well - then that's an issue.

Guys, we share information/ideas/thoughts/fun/life through a blog. We are not paid for it. The only incentives is when we see the comments from some folks on the blog. So, keep commenting if you want us to keep writing. Even a simple comment like "Good job buddy!" is fine. But no comments is not fine.

PS:
I read this thought as a blog and found that myself a believer of that thought.

PPS:
Have a look at this link - "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lurker".

Ggn to jaipur 'n back

2009-08-16T11:12:00.004+05:30

I have traveled to many parts of India as a tourist except my home state and the neighboring states (Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan). At least in Gujarat, I have been to the world famous sanctuary of asiatic lion and had a lucky chance of watching a lion family closely.
Thanks to my company, I had a chance to visit Jaipur last week. The experience was very relaxing as the city has its own pace (which is slower than most cities) and the ancient beauty.
The place we stayed was Trident on the road to Amber (pronounced Aa-me-r) fort. The fort itself was the old capital of the empire which was later shifted to Jaipur city.
The city have a long market road which has pink stone structures on both the sides of the narrow lane and surprisingly all the shops have uniform sign boards.
A few pics of Amber fort.

Apart from the fort, other attractions were the eateries like LMB and chokhi dani.

The training was interesting as we got to meet many members whom we would never meet except for this type of training. I liked the quality time shared with many of those .
A few pics -

A herd of tigers

2009-07-28T14:49:00.002+05:30

I just got a herd of tiger (barbs) in my aquarium. Only that some people would call them a shoal!

There are eight of them. Also, a single serpe tetra is visible in the background (there are six of them in the tank).

The Victoria Park

2009-07-23T21:38:00.003+05:30

Disclaimer: This experience was so exciting that I am unsure if I will be able to put everything in words.

I just finished my heavy lunch around mid afternoon and was planning to enjoy a quite siesta. The weather was cool and the air was wet with moisture. I hoped it would rain. It started suddenly. A sudden heavy downpour without usual warning drizzle first. I was really pissed off due to the ascetic weather of Gurgaon and hoping to restore my sinews in Bhavnagar. So I pulled the camera from the tripod, got into the hawai-slippers and decided to take a stroll.
Little did I know that the stroll would stretch towards the Victoria park and I would live my adolescence again.
For some mysterious reason, the gate of Victoria park was locked. It didn't matter though. I display great flexibility on such occasions and jump over the wall. The forest inside was probably in the same mental state as I had. The lush green trees were dripping with humility. The budding sprouts raised their chins with arrogance. And the army of big ants was on their way to conquer some unfathomable cavity of the great neem-tree.
My existence was kind of merged with that of the jungle.

I could not take many snaps as my camera resents getting drenched - so unlike me.

Context -
Victoria park is a small forest area in the Bhavnagar city - just like the Sanjay Gandhi National park is in the Mumbai city limits.
At one time it might have lions and other predatory animals - but now it has nilgai, fox, and some species of snakes. It is not very dense jungle now.
Around a couple of years back when I visited the place, I was so disappointed looking at the health of the forest area. It looked like a dilapidated garden with all the big trees rotting and most of the vegetation disappearing.
But last week, I saw that it was back on the growth track.

Steps to start an aquarium

2009-07-02T14:20:00.004+05:30

I was working on my aquarium for sometime now ... it was a long journey.
I am a thrifty person when it comes to hobbies such as this. And one my primary concern was the spend. I do not think I have done a good job in bargaining the final price - but I am sure that I did a good job in researching pros & cons.

Steps to 'create' a good aquarium with minimum mullah -
1. Decision making: buy glass tank or DIY the tank? ... after some research over the net and price comparisons of different tanks, glasses, silicon and cost of failure in DIY, I went for the first option of buying the tank. (DIY = Do It Yourself)
The tank I bought was 8mm saint-gobbin glass with dimenstion (LxHxB)=(36x18x15). And a fiber moulded cover with light fittings. Cost was Rs 2000/-

2. Buying the filter is Next step. It depends upon the size of the tank, whether it is a planted tank or just with gravel or a bare-bottom. Also depends which kind of fishes you want to grow. Finally I decided upoun a column filter with mainly sponge as a filter media and a power head which 80 liters/hour capacity. Cost was 150/-

3. Then I filled the tank and started the filter and kept it running just like that for a couple of days.

4. Next step is to add the gravel. There are multiple options here. Most LFS provides white color gravel which I despise. I like more natural looking colors. And for that I chose the 'balu' sand. I got it from a near by constructions site. Had to wash it some 25-30 time to get rid of the dust. But the final product was very clear sand which hardly created any clouds when I poured it into the tank.

5. Next step is to chose the aquarium plants and plant it. I did not have many choices available as I could find only Amazone sword and some hydrilla with the LFS. But I wiould love to have some carpet plants as well in a due course of time.

6. Finally after having setup all these, I ventured to get some fishes. The target was to get some hardy fishes which would survive the new-tank-syndrome. I chose the serpe tetra. 6 of them.

True Residents of Gurgaon

2009-05-25T11:41:00.004+05:30

The Rocking peacock -

Birdie with crown - do not know the name

Flirting squirrels

Blurty Mena

Bul-bul in flight

And the omnipresent in gurgaon - the Piggy Chops :p

Peaceful chorus!

2009-05-05T14:50:00.002+05:30

Tall girl sale !!!

2009-03-08T16:52:00.008+05:30

My dear readers, this post may not be directly useful to all of you.
As not all of you are taller members of the fairer sex. But, what Ho! You may have a friend, a relation, a colleague or a relation of that description.
Then my dear readers, spread the news and let those tall ladies have a great day!
Happy woman's day!
Happy Holi!

Series Gurgaon - A peacock in my terrace

2009-02-03T13:42:00.003+05:30

Good thing about being in Gurgaon is that there are more chances of being closer to nature.
In most cities these birds can only be seen in zoos or books ... but in Gurgaon, you may find them in the vicinity of your house ...

Aloo – Tikki

2009-02-03T13:32:00.002+05:30

Prep time – 30 minutes (15 minutes in boiling potatoes and 15 minutes in frying)
End product looks like this –

Method: Boil potatoes in a pressure-cooker, peel it off, add salt, pepper, red chilly flakes, li'l bit of sugar and Indian garam-masala. Mesh it with all your might! Create tikki-shape out of it. Put 2 table spoon of oil / ghee / butter in the pan and put all the tikkis that fit into the pan. In the next 5 minutes your Aloo-tikkis should be ready … Enjoy!

Happy Makar-Sankranti!

2009-01-14T12:41:00.000+05:30

Wish you all a very happy Makar-Sankranti!
May this Makar-Sankranti bring warmth, health and joy to your life.

Being new in Gurgaon means flying the kites strictly on-line. And not on the roof-top / out doors.
Feeling a positive envy of all Gujju junta flying kites there ...

(Photo Curtesy: http://www.flickr.com/photos/meanestindian/sets/72157594478128903/)

Happy Uttarayan!

Series Gurgaon - Episode 1

2008-12-26T15:44:00.001+05:30

1.
My Opinion (& many would agree): If you are in US & you do not have a car, you are handicapped. For most US locations, this is true.
2.
My Opinion (& many would agree): If you are in Gurgaon & you do not have a car, you are handicapped. For all locations of Gurgaon, this is true.

This is unlike most other Indian cities.
And as a matter of fact I do not have a car yet.

Gurgaon $ucks!

Please excuse the expression but I am already frustrated in my first month here.

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-24T11:42:00.000+05:30

Wish you a Merry Christmas!

For me this Christmas means -
New Location.
New Friends.
New Atmosphere.
New Office.
New Work.
New Colleagues.
New Salary.
New Expenses.
New Cell Number.
New House.
New Neighbors.
New Maid Servant.
New Malls.
New Restaurants.

In short, I moved from Bangalore to Gurgaon. Joined a new company for good. And settled in a rented accommodation.

Guys, Wish you a Merry Christmas!

Am I getting old?

2008-11-26T15:31:00.006+05:30

I generally try to restrict the posts to more of the fun filled ones.
But the reality struck me hard here - have a look:

As I will not get pension, I have to plan for it.
I was thinking about questions like -
1. How much pension would be enough?
2. And how much corpus can provide such pension?
See this hypothetical case study:

Current Approximate monthly expenditures
Food 1500
House Rent 2550
Travel 1200
Doctor 750
Entertainment 1500
Misc 7500
Total Monthly expenditure 15000

We consider average rate of inflation to be 6 %
current age 30
retirement age 65
Now the calculation about inflation and such stuff -

Age	Monthly expenditure at that age - adjusted for inflation	Annual Pension required	Corpus required to provide annual pension
30	15000	0	0
31	15900	0	0
32	16854	0	0
33	17865.24	0	0
34	18937.1544	0	0
52	54053.06125	0	0
53	57296.24492	0	0
54	60734.01962	0	0
55	64378.0608	0	0
56	68240.74444	0	0
57	72335.18911	0	0
58	76675.30046	0	0
59	81275.81848	0	0
60	86152.36759	0	0
61	91321.50965	0	0
62	96800.80023	0	0
63	102608.8482	0	0
64	108765.3791	0	0
65	115291.3019	1383495.623	23,058,260.38
66	122208.78	1466505.36	24,441,756.00
67	129541.3068	1554495.682	25,908,261.36
68	137313.7852	1647765.422	27,462,757.04
69	145552.6123	1746631.348	29,110,522.46
70	154285.7691	1851429.229	30,857,153.81
71	163542.9152	1962514.982	32,708,583.04
72	173355.4901	2080265.881	34,671,098.02
73	183756.8195	2205081.834	36,751,363.90
74	194782.2287	2337386.744	38,956,445.74
75	206469.1624	2477629.949	41,293,832.48

That is Two crore, thirty lacks, fifty eight thousand, two hundread and sixty rupees corpus required at the age of 65. This is just to make sure that you continue your current life style (no upgrades).
And at the age of 75 the same is four crore, twelve lacks, ninty three thousand and eight thirty two rupees corpus required.

Is this a dream? Am I making some gross mistake somewhere?

Who is the most impressive of all?

2008-11-22T16:48:00.003+05:30

Sometime back we went to Bannerghatta national park.
Here are the pics -
Lion couple sitting

lion couple back

white tiger

Walking tiger

Crouching tiger

Croc open

Snake - jaw open

Some big snake

Bear

Deer innocent

Bison couple

Jumbo Elephant

Albino peacock

Spotted Deers

Into the wild

2008-11-22T16:09:00.002+05:30

I was at a friend's place and browsing through his CD album. I saw this title there and liked the sound of it.
A movie published in year 2007. The story revolves around the journey and stay of a young man to and into Alaska/Yukon country.
The basis of his travel was -
"It is a mistake to think that person always derives the happiness from relationship with another person, he (The Creator?) has also scattered it amongst the earth, sky, water and such elements."
This and the Hippocratic nature of the parents and society was motivation for leading the hippy life.
The story telling oscillates between the current and the past story. Cinematography, sound tracks and editing of the movie is amazing.
Would be a must see for -
1. Those who love the creations of authors like Jack London.
2. Nature lovers
3. Solitary souls!

Finally with a hope that there is no copyright I am breaking here - the lyrics of one of the song from the movie -
"hmmm ooh hooo hooo

It's a mistery to me
we have a greed
with which we have agreed

You think you have to want
more than you need
until you have it all you won't be free

society, you're a crazy breed
I hope you're not lonely without me

When you want more than you have
you think you need
and when you think more than you want
your thoughts begin to bleed

I think I need to find a bigger place
'cos when you have more than you think
you need more space

society, you're a crazy breed
I hope you're not lonely without me
society, crazy and deep
I hope you're not lonely without me

there's those thinking more or less less is more
but if less is more how you're keeping score?
Means for every point you make
your level drops
kinda like its starting from the top
you can't do that...

society, you're a crazy breed
I hope you're not lonely without me
society, crazy and deep
I hope you're not lonely without me

society, have mercy on me
I hope you're not angry if I disagree
society, crazy and deep
I hope you're not lonely without me "

Born Brave!

2008-11-14T15:16:00.004+05:30

I am quitting this league - but not showing my back. I am still a developer and will be ...

Happy Diwali

2008-10-24T01:05:00.000+05:30

Aquarium for Sale

2008-10-16T10:45:00.011+05:30

The below aquarium is for sale (in Bangalore):

It is a well settled eco system (running perfectly stable for close to a year)
Click on the photo for larger image -

The tank size is 2' x 1.5' x 1.5' (feet).
The tank mates are depicted with their names.
Largest fish is Pleco (2.5 inch).
Two tin foiled albino barbs (red eyes) (2 inch).
One yellow platy (or is it molly?) (little less than 2 inch).
Smallest is the sunset red platy (1.5 inch).

Plants -
Amazon sword plants (three roots, growing fast).
Cocomba (two roots, growing faster)
A good amount of gravel.

Accessories -
1 Tank cover
2 CFL bulbs (required for plants) and wiring.
1 sponge filter
1 air pump
1 fish net
Some amount of fish food
Some beautiful sea shells

In short, all the necessary equipments for a small aquarium setup.
If interested, please send me an email at prashantjanis[at]yahoo[dot]com

Analogy

2008-09-29T18:02:00.008+05:30

Analogy between 1)My Aquarium with its residents like fishes/plants/bacteria etc and 2)Our World with its residents like we all animals/plants etc.
Aquarium	World
It is located in one corner of my house - where the external elements (sun-light / wind / temperature changes etc) does not affect. The fishes would not know what season it is. Or whether it is a day or night.	Our World is located at a similar corner of galaxy!
I start the tube-lights in the morning and switch it off in the night.	Sun comes in the evening and goes off in the night.
Some time I forget to switch it on.	Sometime the entire day is very cloudy and sun does not appear.
Once in a week I do 20% water change.	Annual season cycle in the world.
Once in month I do 50% water change and a rigorous siphoning!	Once or twice in a decade, we get some storm and the face of the planet changes to some extent.
Aquarium - aquascaping (Minor changes - done frequently. Major modifications - rarely)	World - Minor changes - done frequently (e.g. Earth quake or cyclones). Major modifications - rarely (e.g. change from the ice-age to our current age?)
Once in the day give food. Fishes put effort to forage through the plants/stones etc to get it.	We put effort to grow food.
Some day (generally after water change) - no food for a day. But still the fishes will get something to eat from somewhere (chew some old root of the plant or dig some corner for dirt)	Lack of rains - most of the crop go dry.
Some intelligent fish thinking that there must be some "God" running the "universe"	I am thinking that there must be some "God" running the "universe"

TV

2008-09-18T17:09:00.000+05:30

A thought was in my mind for some time now - and a few days ago a couple from near by sobha apartment dropped in for a social gathering. They asked us to switch the TV off. Reason - they have not yet allowed their son to watch TV. Age of the son - around 4!

And then I found this -
http://dewmoondrop.blogspot.com/2008/08/one-in-which.html
Copying excerpts -
"
Frankly, it much better to let kids loose in playground, let them get into brawls with cousins & neighbour kids, let them participate in dogmatic orthodox religious family customs, be told all even juicy extended family history, rather then be babysat by TV. Living in the real world, whether good or bad, will only strengten their instincts and help them think & make decisions. As compared to watching TV or Films, where we simply offload conclusions derived by someone else, for their benefit."

I agree.

The tank mates!

2008-09-04T14:35:00.001+05:30

I started this hobby as a child. That time hobby meant only good things about aquarium. Playing with the fishes. Looking at them for long hours. Giving food. And whilt talking to friends, boasting about the tank and the fishes.
The second, somewhat cumbersome part of taking care of the tank and the fishes was performed by my father :)

Now, as I start this hobby a fresh, the second part is also being performed by myself. And I would say performed well.

Here are the mates in the tank -

The Oldy!

Got this yellow fish almost 1.5 years back. Then it was half the size. It has proved to be extremely hardy fish and has survived all of the ill treatments I might have given over the period :) I even moved from one house to another with this fish.

Two sunset peaceful platys

These two are with me for more than 8 months now. They have not grown at all after coming to this tank. I guess they were already fuull grown when I bought them. They are peace personalised. Never-mess-with-anybody - always-stay-out-of-the-way type. They make the tank very beautiful with their red color which is in stark contrast with the white light and green plants.

Tin-foiled barbs

I bought these around one week back on J's request. I think I made a mistake in getting them without doing enough research (I did not even know which breed it is when I brought it home).
After coming to this tank they have been constantly fighting with each other. Day-and-night-without-rest.
I figured out that one solution might be to get one more of the same kind. That makes the total number of tin-foiled barbs = 3 in the tank and they may live more peacefully as a community.
But that makes the total number of fishes in the tank=7 which is (I guess) too high for the size of this tank.

Pleco - The Whecko!

Most of the times visitors find it difficult to identify this as a fish. It remains still for so long. Originally I thought that it cleans everything from the bottom of the tank - but after getting it into the tank I figured out that it is chosy in foraging. It eats algae-like dirt. But ut never touches any other fish's feces etc. And on the top of all it 'creates' a huge amount of solid waste :(

Apart from these fishes I have plants - amazon sword and cabomba.
cabomba used to grow great in the tank but for the past couple of months the amazon sword has grown so intensly in the tank that cabomba gets only diluted light. So the growth has greatly dwindled.

Innovative Film City

2008-08-20T16:48:00.001+05:30

It was second time in the past 2 months that we visited this place.

How to go?
It is on Mysore road - 6Km further from the Wonder La. Public Transport is available from Majestic and other major bus junctions.

What to see?
There are many attractions. Some of them are still under construction. The ones which are already open and running are - Mirror Maze, Dino Park, 4D Movie, Game Zone (simulated games), Ripley's Believe It or Not, Lui Tussad's wax museum, Go-karting, Cartoon city, Miniature city.

How is the experience?
Most of these attractions are worth it. Ripley's believe it or not is amazing. Mirror maze is a place where you really lose your way out. The 4D movie experience is very real. Go-karting circuit is small. But the family cart concept is good for couples. Dino park and wax museum are good places for snaps etc. The game Zone has some very good simulations. We did not visit the aqua kingdom either time we visited.

Food?
They do not allow outside food in the city. Which means you have to be dependent on the food available inside.
There are a couple of cafe-coffee-day counters for coffee/tea. Also some counters for ice-cream etc.
For luncheon - there are some 10 counters of different caterers. The overall quality is Ok - not bad. But all this is "still in setting up" mode. Which means the coupan counter guy would not know what are the prices for item-X and many items listed on the menu may not be readily available etc.

RFL

2008-08-13T23:02:00.001+05:30

It’s drizzling!
It’s all green out there. The lush greenery and cold breeze is quite inviting for a pakoda and tea combo.
The loud music on the booster speakers and a crowd of beautiful people in the resort suggests a scene of some party.
But then why these clothes for the party … err … the fashion index of the Bangalore has always been lower as compared to Mumbai or Delhi but still this is something else …
Well, well, suddenly an announcement for a get together and then 78 people from the crowd started running. I repeat 78 of them! Why?

Runners For Life (RFL as it is known today) has been perfectly wonderful in organizing Urban Stampede – the corporate relay race. The total entries for participation to the 20K relay race have been 78 teams. Each team has four persons. Means total of 312 people running 5K distance.
The initial 500 meter had some gradient and I was panting by the time I reached 500 meter mark … phew *&(%@#$ I thought I am supposed to finish 5K, dude! But the rest of the trek was quite pleasant. Lush green on both the sides of the road. Though it was a tar road, there was a possibility of running on the mud road at the side of the main road. The rhythm of the drizzle was quite in sync with the rhythm of our running feet. The group was as cheery as it could go. The host with the microphone had that energy in his voice which would recharge a failing runner. And lastly the brunch was good.

All in all a great Sunday morning spent for making self healthy and doing charity in the process.

runners-for-life

2008-07-31T12:36:00.001+05:30

They slept when the alarm rang at 4 am. But you ran.
They told you it’s not a sport. But you ran.
They said you’ve got to be crazy. But you ran.
They told you it’s a loner thing.
So have you found your pack yet?

Yes.

The name of the event is urban-stampede. See www.urban-stampede.com
It's a 20 Km relay race. Team size is 4. Which means each member will run 5K and then relay. The event is organized by runners-for-life

From i2 we are three teams - means 12 people. And practising quite frequently together during weekdays/weekends. So I found my pack.
I trust that the practise sessions will keep going even after the event.

Sunday Morning - on the back of camels

2008-07-22T16:04:00.001+05:30

Last time I was wondering what is the best way to pass the Sunday morning apart from spending it with a newspaper and tea! Among many idea which crowded the poor processor, the most feasible (read the easiest) and interesting was to walk to the nearby park (of course with a newspaper in hand).
So I proceeded.
I was thwarted in my attempt!
By a wonderful site.
Of two nicely decorated camels crossing the street.
Out of two, one's mount was full with two kiddies.
I rushed to grab the S2 IS.
Here is the result of that Sunday morning:

Flambé - simply globalicious

2008-07-09T16:30:00.001+05:30

http://www.flambe.in/
The restaurant is opened recently. And there is no doubt that they have made a good effort to make sure that the ambiance looks casual and and still elegant. The glass fountain gives you a serene feeling and the seats are neither too plush nor too casual.

The level of service is extremely satisfying - that too on a Friday night. The service is neither too speedy nor too slow - it's just perfect. The recommendations of the attendant went very well with our taste - that's another reason for being all praise.

I do not see any point in getting traditional Indian dishes at this place. Reason being we can that at any other place but not the international menu which Flambé offers. Ratatouille Nicoise for the trolley or Ratatouille Skewers from the bar-be-que ... how many places do we get such dishes in south-east Bangalore!

But the first hand experience was some what confused - the ambiance of the place does not merge well with the surroundings. The overall effect is that you feel that you have suddenly dropped in a fine dining place from a not-so-well-inhabited-area. But that is just the first impression. And with time the overall area will "grow" up to the Flambé's status.

In Summary:
Good Things - One of the few good restaurants in South East Bangalore, Excellent food, good ambiance.
Not-so-good things - the area surrounding the restaurant, secondly it is not exactly on the main road.

In the middle of Ring Roads

2008-07-03T13:58:00.001+05:30

As my expedition on a bicycle continues- I traveled one day equipped with my camera and tried to shoot the scenery on the way to my office.
Yes on the way to office.
While most Bangaloreans keep cribbing about the traffic, pollution and crowd -on the way to their offices, I am fortunate enough for the following reason - 1. Office is just 5.5 Km away from home. 2. Very little traffic on the way 3. Most importantly - very beautiful route to the office ... see the snaps -

Crime Reporter Jani

2008-06-25T14:38:00.001+05:30

"The Godown!!"

पिछली रात Bellandur के एक 'infamous' godown में CrimeBranch के दो नौजवान 'officers' ने छापा मारा | मुतभेड में कम से कम 17 gangsters boss और उनके कुछ शागिर्दों की मौत हुई मरने वालो की संख्या 47 बतायी जाती है|

एक senior officer ने बताया की जब Detectives मौके पे पहुचे तो पहेले उनको जगह खाली दिखाई दी|

Empty Place

लेकिन जब उन्हों ने godown का पीछे का दरवाजा ढुन्ध के निकाला तब कम-से-कम 25 शागिर्दों ने उनपे हमला बोल दिया! Crime Branch के officers के जवाबी हमले के सामने उनकी एक भी ना टिकी ...

The Encounter

Calorie!

2008-06-20T12:20:00.001+05:30

That's the name given to this Hercules Blazer IC. Bought it on 15-June-2008.
Started going to office by Calorie and feeling just great!
Was surprised to see a Treck model in the office parking!
It feels like I am meeting a loving friend after a long long separation.
Last I used cycle regularly at IITB. Gap of close to five long years.
And bangalore has pretty nice weather for bicycle I guess. At the least it has a few good cycling communities here and here. Home to office it is 5.5 Km but I heardly feel any stress. A friend cyclist says that he starts feeling tired after approx 20Km drive. I'll have to explore more to know my stamina :)
A few pics here: http://picasaweb.google.com/prashantjanis/Calorie*
*Photos by Jalpa
Planning to post a few more pics of the great lake on the way to office.

मारो सूटा

2008-05-27T11:53:00.001+05:30

एक सही सोंग हाथ लगा है|
http://www.coolgoose.com/music/song.php?id=296989
मारो सूटा
सूटा लगाओ यारो ...
लो एक दूजे का झूठा
सूटे ने हाये दिल लूटा!!

Smoking is injurious to health, listening to this song isn't!

Coorg - April - 2008

2008-04-14T17:34:00.000+05:30

05-April-2008 (Day-1):
Coorg - or Kodagu as it is known by kannadigas is a popular destination for weekend retreat from Bangalore / Mysore / Mangalore.

It is different from other hill-stations in a way that it provides a lot of opportunities for home-stays.

Halli Mane Homestay: We also chose one such home-stay called Halli Mane (Halli = Village, Mane = Home). The home stay is located in Khushal Nagar (30 Km from Madikeri) and is a nice location in the middle of a farm. It would have been better to be in the middle of a dense jungle. The place might be difficult for people not going through their own vehicles. It is approx 2 Km from the town and the road is mud road. There are total of eight rooms in the building.
Good things- location, ambience, hospitality and it gives a feeling of an individual house of a village.
Not-so-good-thing: If you do not have your own vehicle - difficult to reach there. And for the ground floor rooms - the kitchen noise is perfectly audible early in the morning.
From left (ladies first): Ritu-Sushil, Ankita-Bhavik, Hetal-Achal, Venu-Tuhin, Hetal-Jaydeep, Jalpa-Prashant.

Dubare Forrest:
We reached Halli Mane in the morning around 8 - the breakfast was ready. We finished the morning routines and breakfast and started for the Dubare forrest.
It is an elephant training camp - located near Khushal Nagar. The approach is through river - means we have to take a ferry boat to reach the camp. If the river does not have much water then we can also cross it by jumping the stones (walking).

If you want to an elephant ride then only visit between 10am to 1pm. Otherwise try to visit early morning 8.30 or evening after 4.30pm. In the morning we can see the elephants getting fed and get to interact with them. And in the evening we might get to wash the elephants in the river. Or play with the calves.

List of restaurants/hotels in Khushal Nagar with contact numbers. We had lunch at Top-in-town. The food was ok - service was quick and the place was clean.

Nisarg Dhama:
Our next stop was Nisarg Dhama. It is a huge park. Quite clean. Many monkeys. Vicinity to river where you can take bath - do water sports. Facility for elephant ride (somewhat less costly as compared to Dubare Forrest).

Elephant Ride @ Nisarg Dhama

Monkeys @ Nisargdhama

Monks @ Nisarg Dhama

Nyingmapa Monastery (Golden Temple):
We started from the Nisarg Dhama @ around 3.30. Our next stop was Nyingmapa Monastery. It is a very attractive looking monastery from outside and a place so peaceful from inside.

The main gate of the monastery

One of the temple

Golden Statue of the Lord Buddha

We ended our day here and returned back to the Halli Mane. Dinner was accompanied by a camp-fire and some Kannada songs. Dinner was not very good in general - the kannada cook must have gone out of the way to make some North Indian dish but could not succeed.

06-April-2008 (Day-2):
We started the day at 8am. The major attraction was the cow of the Halli Mane farm. Enthusiast from our team tried to milk the cow (at the risk of getting kicked in the face).

Milking the cow @ Halli Mane

A beautiful bug

After the breakfast - we started for Thalakaveri. It is some 75 Km from Khushal Nagar (46 Km from Madikeri). The sun was behind clouds and the air has a tinge of coolness we get when some adjacent area is getting heavy rains. Thalakaveri has surprisingly clean temple. Only the vish-kund is not much clean as everybody wants to wash their feet (and sins?) in it.

Thalakaveri temple

On the way back from Thalakaveri - the plan was to have dinner. We reached Hotel Mayura (KSTDC) at approx 2.30 and the place was a mess. The food was all over by now and all we could get was ghee-rice.

It was raining when we went in for lunch. But the shower had subsided by the time we started our journey towards abbey falls.
Abbey Falls:
Abbey means water fall in Kannada. It is 5 Km from Madikeri town center and the road is quite bad. The fall itself is good but the area surrounding was overflowing with plastic/litter. There is no point cribbing when your own wife throws Tea-cups near a coffee plant ?

Abbey Falls

After a couple of group snaps near the hanging bridge at Abbey falls - we headed for the Raja’s Seat.

Raja’s Seat:
It is a place from where the Rajas (kings) used to watch the sun set. The view is admirably scenic. The added attraction (if you reach there by 5pm) is the musical fountain. Many would have seen musical fountains in Vrindavan Gardens of Mysore. But this one is very near to the main gate - means no need for a long walk to reach the fountain. They played four songs. Started with “Vande Mataram”, then one Kannada, then one Himesh Reshamiya and then one English.

Musical Fountain

07-Apr-2008 (Day-3): Today we want to leave for Bangalore. A couple of ladies from the Halli Mane staff helped us to get into traditional corgi dress ?

In traditional corgi sari

Duck!

From left (ladies first): Ankita-Bhavik, Ritu-Sushil, Hetal-Achal, Hetal-Jaydeep, Jalpa-Prashant, Venu-Tuhin.
The group - minus the driver

Somanathpur:
On the way back to Bangalore - we took a detour and visited Somanathpur. It is one of the 13th century temple.

The archeological society of India (ASI) has maintained it well.

Next stop from Somanathpur was Shivasamudram.
Shivasamudram:
The place is approachable from Bangalore by two routes. Mysore highway and Kanakpura road. Road is not well maintained if you approach from Kanakpura (April-2008).
We reached Shivasamudram quite in the evening around 6pm. The sun was setting and we tried to take a few quick snaps before the natural light was gone.
The water fall is good. And from the bara-chakki side you can even get into the water (at your own risk). From the other side (Gagan-chakki) all the falls are visible and overall it is a better scenic place. But the wire-fencing and the location is such that you can not get into water.

Finally reached back to Bangalore at around 11pm.

Pori - 450 years

2008-03-10T18:34:00.000+05:30

It was a festival where I saw - for the first time the real local / traditional people, public bath, costumes, music, weaponries, pets and crockery.

People:

Public Bath:

Traditional Costumes:

Music:

Weaponries:

Pets:

Crockery:

Miscellaneous:

शामल शामल बरन

2008-02-28T12:06:00.000+05:30

शामल शामल बरन  कोमल कोमल चरण
तेरे मुखडे पे चन्दा, गगन का जादा
बड़े मन से विधाता ने तुज को घडा

तेरे बालों में सिमटी सावन की घटा
तेरे गालों पे छिटकी, पूनम की छटा
तीखे तीखे नयन मीठे मीठे बयन
तेरे अंगों पे चंपा का रंग चढ़ा
बड़े मन से विधाता ने तुज को घडा

ये उमर, ये कमर, सौ सौ बल खा रही
तेरी तिरछी नजर तीर बरसा रही
नाजुक नाजुक बदन धीमी धीमी चलन
तेरे बाँकी लटक में हैं जादू बड़ा
बड़े मन से विधाता ने तुज को घडा

किस पारस से सोना ये टकरा गया
तुजे रचकर चितेरा भी चकरा गया
ना इधर जा सका, ना उधर जा सका
रह गया देखता वो खडा ही खडा
बड़े मन से विधाता ने तुज को घडा

Navrang (1959) starring Mahipal, Sandhya, Agha, Chandrakant, Ulhas & Vatsala Deshmukh
Producer: Raj Kamal
Director: V. Shantaram
Lyrics: Bharat Vyas
Music Director: C. Ramchandra

Link to mp3 file for this song.

Tampere - Ice Walk

2008-02-25T13:37:00.000+05:30

Tampere – 23-Feb-2008

The actual objective was ‘not to stay home’ rather than let’s see a new city called Tampere.
The boredom was catching us and there is nothing much to see/do within Pori in winter which means we need to get out’a here!

Journey started by 0900Hrs bus.

And it was a beautiful day – nice sunny weather – temperature ranging between 0 and 2 degree Celsius.

We reached Tampere in approx 2 Hrs. The first thing we noticed as the bus entered the city was Näsinneula Observation Tower:

Second thing we noticed as soon as we climbed down the bus was a significant drop in temperature as compared to Pori’s temperature.

After inquiring about the last bus timings at the counter – we started roaming around.
A stadium and a small harbor were quite near the bus station.

Next we visited Lenin museum. It’s hardly worth spending time there unless you are genuinely interested in Lenin. There is just single hall in the museum which is partitioned into two rooms and most of the collection comprises of documents, photographs and a few paintings of Lenin. In Lenin museum we found a pamphlet describing the spy museum and we headed towards it –

I was under an impression that you need to be a spy to figure out where the museum is. But it turned out to be not so difficult. Or indeed we were sleuths. Another impression was that there are two ways to enter the spy museum once you discover its location – one is from the front door by paying the entry fees and another is by some underground tunnel or a backdoor entry for the real guys. We preferred the front door and paid 8 euro to enter. Spy museum turned out to be a good collection of articles, try-yourself-if-you-dare type funny gateways and a lot of real machinery involved for spying during WW-II.

There was a break for lunch and the next we headed for Näsinneula Observation Tower.

We found this frozen lake near the base of tower. Briefly we thought about possibility of walking on it but soon we reminded ourselves that the term insurance is not enough to take care of the home loans. Hence we dropped the idea of walking on the lake headed straight for the top of the tower. Besides we did not see anybody doing such thing.

Once on the top of the tower – we saw a couple of birdies in the middle of the lake

This instantly gave us inspiration to head straight for a walk on the lake.
And here we are – on the lake

Links:
Jani's Cabaret on the lake

Port of Pori

2008-02-04T19:01:00.000+05:30

Pori Beach
(Finland, 03-Feb-2008)

It was Sunday and last night it snowed good. We like fresh snow coz after the snow the roads are less slippery and because snow reflects light – even a dull day would seem somewhat shiny.

Morning happened to be a sunny one and from the window I saw a cute little bird.

This was in the backyard of the apartment. We stay on the ground floor.

Saturday was all boring – we did not go out almost for the whole day and I was playing game on the laptop for the most of the day except a couple of hours in sauna. So Sunday having this nice sunny day we decided to go to the beach. Name of the beach is Yaatri beach.
A phone call to the Sokos Hotel friend Mukesh for information, then a quick brunch and we were ready to go. The bus was at 12.15 from the downtown bus stand.

The journey started happily.

The beach was quite far from the city and the bus took almost an hour to reach there.

Before boarding down the bus we asked the driver the return bus schedule and he informed that the next bus is at 16.18.

We were quite excited about the sea and the landscape was impressive:

We had to walk some 200 Mtrs to reach where the sea was:

And then Ganesh thought of trying diving (not in the sea):

Weobserved the first boat – which looked like it was not in use for quite some time.

And then Ganesh tried to do a stunt – fell in the ice to make a lasting impression:

Next we found a yatch and thought of taking a snap:
(From left-to-right – Mukesh Munjal (walking), Anil Yadav, Ganesh R., Prashant Jani)

Next we found some buoys:

Then almost half a kilometer of walk led us to a small groove within a wilderness:

On the other side of the wild bush-hedge there was the sea. And near the sea there were many windmills:

Also next to the beach there was a restaurant (Finnish: Ravintola). But unfortunately it was closed because of Sunday. And any ways it was about the time of the bus – so we decided to call-it-a-day.

Agara Lake

2007-12-11T09:54:00.000+05:30

The fact that a number of migratory birds come here for the winter is not known to many Bangaloreans.
A few snaps taken in the morning (09Dec2007)

Fact File:
Place: SilkBoard - Sarjapur - KorMangala crossroad (Bangalore).
Area: 1 Km x 1/2 Km.

The Hubby, The Wife & The Couple !

2007-12-11T09:45:00.000+05:30

The Hubby !

The Wife !

The Couple !

New Arrivals

2007-10-23T13:50:00.001+05:30

- I thought a fish is oviparous (egg-laying).
- I thought a fish does not breed in a small aquarium (3000 cubic cm).
- I thought it takes a very precise temperature-range to get the fish eggs hatched (26-27 C).

Well, I was wrong.

- There are many aquarium fishes which are live-bearers. (One of those type has made their home in the aquarium I own).
- The fish generally does not breed in fish-bowl. But an aquarium is large enough a place for them to create colonies.
- Yes, it takes a very precise range of temperature - and in bangalore you get that temperature range during the noon / afternoon time during these days.

The crux of all is that the lady fish in my aquarium gave birth to some tiny babies (count-to-date = 20).

PS: for the type of fish I own (southern platty fish), a common statement in the trade is that its harder to stop them breeding than to make them do so, with "surprise" baby fish appearing in tank regularily.

May the God bless my soul !

-Jani

Sacrosanct Religion

2007-10-23T11:21:00.001+05:30

I so often think that the most sacrosanct of the religions is the religion of reproduction. The process by which all live creature try to ensure that the 'better' generations go to the next stage of life. Not that reproduction always means 'creating' better ones. But it so happens that surviving would be the better ones.

We brought an aquarium at home - with two fishes (southern platy fish) inside. After a few days one of the fish started chasing the other.
We thought that it's competition for food. And so started putting a few more flakes of food inside. But this great chase was almost endless - to the extent that the one getting chased started showing signs of fatigue.
Then we thought that it might be the fight of the territory. But having not known the solution, we left them there to fight. One weekend I changed some 50% of the water and added a lil bit of luke warm water. Tnext day morning I saw a small black color insect flashing inside the aquarium.
I thought that during the water change, by mistake I introduced some insect. But then I saw there are many such insects. And the fish being chased was seen with a substantial trimming of 'her' tummy. Though not of the elite intellectual class, I am not so dumb as to unable to make out the equation here. The female fish gave birth to babies!
Hip hip Hurrey! In just a few weeks, we got 20 kids out of those two fishes.

May the bestest of the best ones survive!

Garba / Dandia

2007-10-23T10:35:00.002+05:30

गरबा Festival - though originally from गुजरात is celebrated in बंगलोर very extensively. There are many groups (mostly g-u-j-j-u) organizing it at different places and at different scales across Bangalore. The last day of नवरात्रि (विजया दशमी ) was the day when these pics were captured:

Before the dandia starts -

Purvi, Prashant & Vishal-

Vishal & Purvi -

Prashant & Jalpa -

The Interval -

Place: Palace Grounds, Bangalore

Date: 21-OCT-2007

good read

2007-08-31T14:04:00.000+05:30

Thanks to Rt that I came to know abt this pretty new but rapidly developing site.
After I parted (due to my relocation to Blr) with my ex-roomie Prashant Mohan there was a need for somebody who can tip me about a variety of books so that I can pick up my next book. I generally purchase a book only after reading (and possibly liking) it.
But the fact that most of my contacts in Bangalore neither have good collection of books (especially English) nor have any inclination for reading/discussing reviews of books.
So from where the **** do I get to know which book to read next (and which to procure)?

Well this was a kind of issue I was facing for quite some time and at least a part of that issue is solved by this site:
my 'to-read' shelf:

A whole lot of user reviews will surely give some idea about whether you are gonna like the book or not. Also you can go and look into the 'Read' list of the user with whom your choices of books are matching - chances are that you will find something interesting there at the very first glance.

But then the second problem still exists - if I get a few people in Bangalore who are willing to share their collection it would be a bliss.

sravanbelgola, Bellur, Hallebid

2007-08-03T11:59:00.000+05:30

Three historic places. All of them dating back to 10th century. Two of them with excellent carvings and sravanbelgola was a monolithic statue of Bahubali.

Sravanbelgola Lake

The 60 feet monolithic statue of Bahubali:

Sumo Ride was a good one - considering the lovely monsoon weather.

The orange fervency:

Halabidu Narsimhavtar:

Chalukya Express

2007-05-04T10:36:00.000+05:30

Chalukya Express - travells from Mumbai -to Yasvantpur (Bangalore).

Travelled by this train coz there was no other option available. Had to go for tatkal booking just two days before the date of travel.

Got 2nd AC booking. Faced a few issues:
1. It's a 3rd coach from the Engine. Always stops at the end of any station - very difficult to get down and get any food/drinks.
2. H to remain totally dependent on train's pentry. Also the coach was not connected with the rest of the train - so pentry vendors come to the coach only at some major stations.
3. Train was a couple of hours late (they said it's almost always so). So by the time we reached Yasvantpur - there were not many Auto to carry everybody home :-( Had to share an auto towards the main railwaystation and from there got another Auto for home.
Udyan (and for that matter any train which brings you to the Bangalore central railway station) is definitely a better train - if reservations are available.

Marriage

2007-03-21T15:44:00.000+05:30

"Marriage naam ke relationship ki imaarat, sirf jhuth ke balboote pe khadi reh sakti hai."
-We The Married Men

Kaifi Azmi

2007-01-19T15:28:00.001+05:30

"Mein yeh soch kar uske dar se utha tha
ke woh rok legi, mana legi mujko,

Havaon mein lehrata ata tha daman,
ke daman pakad kar bitha legi mujko,

kadam aise andaz se uth rahe the,
ke awaz de kar bula legi mujko,

ke usne roka, na mujko manaya,
na daman bhi pakda, na mujko bithaya,

na awaz bhi di na wapis bulaya,
mein ahista ahista badhata hi aya,

yahan tak ki us se juda ho gaya mein."

Horse Show in Bangalore - Dec 2006

2006-12-04T12:25:00.000+05:30

Date: Nov-30
Day: Thursday
Saw a hording saying Horse-Show, 01to06Dec, Free Entry.

Points to be noted:
A weekend - nothing planned yet.
A horse show - hobby of childhood.
A freebie - Well, what else you need!

02-Dec
I was there early in the morning when the riders were practising. I did not know that in a bit of over-enthu, I reached a bit too early and this is just a practice going on. I got disappointed at the site - thought this is all the horse-show is all about and all this publicity? Asked the first Hawaldar I could get hold of, if that's all that is on display? He smiled a derisive smile and said this is not even a good practice session ./

Sometime during the practice, I saw this one and I liked him:

Thought of taking a snap or two with the keepers:

And then for almost entire day - took snaps of the horses virtually flying all around. And then I was told that this was just a Junior's round!!!

Executive Chef: Author of this post.

2006-11-29T11:42:00.000+05:30

Dinner - 28-Nov-2006
Fulkaa + Raab + Pickles
Fulkaa = Gujarati Chapati
Raab = A Gujarati recipe of Jaggery, wheat, Ghee and spices.
Executive Chef: Author of this post.

Satoddi-Magud-ThannirBavi

2006-11-28T18:34:00.000+05:30

Title: A long long journey - by bus :-)

Well, the title has a major influence of a major traffic jam on M'lore-B'lore highway in the ghat-section due to the bad-roads. We (Shilpa and I) were stuck for almost 4-5 Hrs, I guess. Also our bus got a punctured tyre once in forward and backward journey each :-(

We started somewhat enthusistically from B'lore eventhough the bus started approx 1 Hr late. We were meeting after a long time and both had a US trip to discuss :-)

In the morning the bus went Sirsi around 6.30 and we thought that the Yellapur might be just another 1.5 Hrs. But alas - a flat tyre. Also the road was bad. And we managed to reach Yellapur by 9.something.

Nagappa's cousin was very kind to provide information/accomodation/breakfast/lunch :-)

Among us we also had a runaway from alcatraz:

We reached to the trek starting point pretty quickly - this is somewhere around from where we started ...

A few row on the way and some buty-snaps:-)

And lo! We are there!

Somewhere near the falls - there is an old place of the new Daku-Gabbar:

The height was around 40-45 feet (just a guess).

The current was very swift and we had to do some dare-devil-giri to reach the spot. But water and the swim was exhilarating:

Once at the falls, some people tried to breakthrough it by a ride on a bike and then when it didn't quite worked, they just dived through.

Bellow is one of the superb snap captured by the great photographer of the wildlife :-)

After the lunch and a ride back to the Yellapur city, we reached the Magod falls:

It was almost supper time for birdies and the sun was setting down:

NEXT DAY:
Got up at 8. Cooked jolly ol' b'fast of bread-omelet. And then visited the classic Pabba's for some ice-cream:

1-cheeku
1-sitafal
1-gajarHalwa + Vanila
1-Chiku thick Shake
1-AppleChiku Thick Shake
1-Sandy Nuts
between Naddy, me and Shilpa :-) Hurraahhh ...

Visited Thannirbavi Beach:

Played some catcha-catchy:

Some tug-of-war on a single side (the other side of the rope was fastened to the ground):

And as a culmination point of all these, we achieved super-powers:
Some super-hero/spider-man/shakthimaan/rocket-man tricks:

Some Details:
Best Time to visit: Nov-Dec-Jan
Distance From B'lore: 500+
Difficulty level of the trek: Easy (vehicle can go almost all the way)

My lil lib

2006-11-08T17:48:00.000+05:30

Dictionaries:

English-English-Gujarati
French-English

Textbooks:

Psychology - Robert Spencer
Complete Ref. - William Shakespeare
A few OR text books.
Java Complete Ref.

Fiction:

NonFiction

Jalebi

2006-11-06T11:47:00.000+05:30

Is it a festival special? Well, I would love to say so.
In an unprecedented enthu for improving upon my culinary skills, I made some garam - garam jalebi last Sunday :-)
Yeah ... J-a-l-e-b-i.
Overall it's incredibly simple recipe.
Approx time to make: 24Hrs 30 mins :-)
Around two hundread grams of meida mixed with a table spoon of besan and a teaspoon of curd. Knead the flour to make it semi-liquid. And keep it for around 24 Hrs.
After 24Hrs, use a plastic bottle with a hole (even polythene with a small hole at the bottom will do) to churn out round shaped jalabe. Deep fry at very low temperature. And once it's brownish-red color, immerse it in chashani for not more than 30 seconds.
Saffron and cardemom can be added into chashani for color and flavor.

Invited a friend for lunch :-)

# Man's head found in dustbin

2006-11-03T11:26:00.001+05:30

I absolutely love these headlines.
Extremely entertaining :-)
Man's head found in dustbin

“Karmanye vadhika raste maa faleshu kadachan”

2006-10-18T02:05:00.000+05:30

Merely a passing thought but worth considering:

This famous schlok from The Bhagavad Gita is meant for a loser?

Everytime when I am about to lose the game or already in a deep soup - then only this brilliant concept from The Bhagavad Gita comes to mind.
And apparently this is not just a case with me - have a look at this article by Shashi Tharoor after he was almost sure that he is out of the competition for the GS of UN. He is also alluding to doing our duties without regard to the outcome.

What say?

Right ho! Let me get back to the work ...

Lotus in the Mud

2006-10-11T09:47:00.000+05:30

In fact you have to visit the place to believe. I am talking about Lotus Pond - Marathalli.

Let me set the context first. Marathalli is the Gawd-Help-Me type of place in Bangalore. Lots of Techie population but almost hooligan type of local population. One thing attracts the attention that there are no other restaurants than Andhra Style and no other vocation other than grocery store. You can see the dingy streets literally crowded by grocery stores and Andhra-messes.

From the dirty mud rises the lotus. Amongst hovels opens up Lotus-Pond. It is a Bengali Restaurant but serves all kind of foods - Tandoori, Mughalai, Punjabi and even Chinese dishes. The location is not all that auspicious - but what the heck - we absolutely need some better eateries around this place, and this is a good one to start with. It is towards the HAL end of Marathalli Market (after the temple and almost towards the market end).

The interior is nice cozy - dim light - rather elegant furniture and a small fountain inside the hall! The plates are excellent china - very different shape and size and color. The food was good (although I had only one occasion to eat there - and it's too hurried decision if I say generically that the food is good). The waiters and the staff were civil and attentive - almost to the point of making you feel humane (which is not the case with any Andhra-Mess, mind you!).

The home-delivery is free in Marathalli area. And since the restaurant is newly opened (sometime around Vijaya-Dashmi of 2006), the services must be prompt.

So my dear gluttons, eataniacs and adventurers, what are you waiting for?

-Jani

What's in a name?

2006-01-02T15:18:00.001+05:30

The famous line of Shakespeare - and a nice philosophy in it. But even those who have read his plays might falter at times.

Now take an example the case of name Veronica Andrew. For a botanist it might refer to one of the numerous herbs based in New Zealand. For an adolescent comic lover, it might refer to the famous Miss 'Ronnie' Lodge. And for a resident of Netherlands, it strikes as just a TV channel. But dear friends, I am neither a botanist nor a dutch nor an adolescent any more. And Veronica Andrew - at any rate - gives an impression of a lovely lady with blonde hair (if it's possible in Indian context), a Madhuri-Dixit smile, Merlin Monro Lips and the attitude of Perizaad Zorabian.

I was sitting patiently in the conference room of my new company, awaiting this legendary figure to appear and bring me the formal letters of employment. This waiting happened to be for quite long hours and suddenly lo! The deity was infront of me. When I came out of the trauma after five long seconds, I found myself shaking hands with an untidy, dark south indian lady (dark of skin as well as aura) with broad lips, thick dark hair (without any style as such) and a brittle plastic smile frozen on her face. Later I came to know that the untidiness in the appearance was a strong characteristics of the working style also.

That was my first experience with the HR personnel of my company and the rest of the stay here assured that my first impression was not at all a wrong impression.
**Writing this after spending precisely one year in this company**

Save. You have to.

2005-12-14T14:38:00.001+05:30

It's in our blood. Or it should be?
Saving a certain amount of your income is there in Indian blood. It is practised for generations now. But what about those poor souls for whom the annual salary is too less to be able to make any significant investment? Or for those levish guys who needs such a huge 'liquid' assets that they are unable to invest?

Well, we have rather multiple ways to ensure that we do it.

Firstly the student class - freshly out of college and those who have started earning recently can be excluded from the set of investors. They are too effervescent to be able to understand the gravity. Also assumingly the first salary of the naive-earner may not be significant enough to be considered for savings options.

Secondly, out IT department is taking care of the savings mind-set and rather encouraging it in multiple ways. At the same time it is taking care of those poor souls who are actually in possesion of such less a income which does not allow them to look for any savings options. They are not required to pay any taxx (and in turn do not required to show any savings proof) to IT department.

Then comes the (so called) opulent class which have enough resources but as I mentioned earlier, does not want to make commitment towards investments. It is this class to which IT department chiefly slaps tax to. And the only way available to avoid this tax is to invest heavily in various savings schemes.

PS: The note might be highly influenced by a service-man type mind-set.

Lord Tennyson

2005-11-17T11:44:00.001+05:30

Whoever gave Lord Tennyson his title, did atleast one task worth doing in his life. Tennyson helps - my dear friends. And very much too.

Well in morden times and especially in Indian locale you might have to switch the flavor. You can go for english/hindi/regional poems for that account but the idea is to have it in ample quantity and quality (as you'll find in the idylls of the king).

But gentlemen, before you jump to this advice and devour some gentle poetry in presence of your loved-one(s), let me put a word of caution. Timing is importance too, brethren. It goes well after a long talk of cricket - when she is about to start dozing. Or you can try it rather in the start and when your partner gets enamored to your words, you can discuss any of your less-encouraging subjects comfortably.

Hasarat-e-didar

2005-11-10T11:15:00.001+05:30

"Aankh ki tasavIr saranAmE pE khIchI hai, kI tA
tuj pE khul jAyE kI Isko hasarat-E-dIdAr hai." - Ghalib

[Meaning: I've put my eyes instead of the address lines. So that when the letter reaches to you, I can behold you (hasarat-E-dIdAr)!]

I recalled these lines while reading a news article in Sunday Times a couple of days back. The article was about customizing the postal stamp by putting your own photograph on it. They said the softwae for this innovative stamp is ready and is being tested at several places. Let's hope we can get it asap.

PS: The software includes auto-identification of 'most-wanted' photographs and will not allow to put it on the stamp! That makes the things a lil difficult, isn't it?

Fight indolence!

2005-11-09T15:10:00.001+05:30

The indolence has to be fought back!

And must be fought with Marrie armor of biscuit and a blazing sword of capuccino. Of course, lancing chats and a clunk of causerie are not entirely out of place.

Care to come for a coffee!?!

Amen!

2005-11-07T11:33:00.001+05:30

Several times it had happened. But each time I survived - or not only survived but also thrived. 'Jijivisha'? Probably not. A desire to do better than what is currently happening - certainly yes. Each time I said to myself - you need to live coz a dead man can't improve upon the situation. Let the desire for this continuous improvements be immortal & let the force be with those who possesses it ... Amen!

Dilemma!

2005-11-07T10:34:00.001+05:30

1. Only the best or nothing.
2. It's better to have something than nothing.

country code = +1

2005-11-07T10:28:00.000+05:30

People (as a rule) might not be able to talk sanity on phone while intoxicated. And I am sure I would have sweared some immensely profane gogglings if agitated in that state.
That was the reason behind not picking up any calls during the Diwali holidays. (Did you give me a call? I got one missed call with country code = +1).

Every Writer Needs an address

2005-11-06T09:00:00.002+05:30

In yesterday's Sunday Times, Gurucharan Das quoted Yiddish writer Issac Bashevis Singer - 'Every writer needs an address'.
Gurucharan Das or Issac might be in an illusion that securing an address is an easy task; but every potential writer who have tried to get his/her favorite screen name on blogspot knows that it is as easy as waking up Kumbhkarna from his one month old slumber.
Well, if it is difficult then be it, I endeavored to perform that not-so-easy task today!