Goodbye 2007... the trip to Coorg

Should we leave at 6AM or should it be 7AM was the question of the hour... late night Dec 29th 2007. We finally left at 7AM (what more can you expect from us... the lazy bunch). We stopped over at one of the restaurants on Mysore road for breakfast and then it was non stop ride up to Bylukuppe.
The Buddhist monastery here is just so beautiful. From a distance it looks like a golden sphere sparkling out of nowhere and as you get closer, you realize it is far more beautiful.
The monastery premises have been very well maintained - clean, green and pleasant. If you are impressed by the outer premises, you will be stunned by what you see inside the hall. The sheer size of the statues and the colour of the frescoes on all the walls will leave you mesmerised.
After that pit-stop it was a non-stop ride to Madikeri. I say non-stop because even after we reached Madikeri, we kept going up and down for more than an hour trying to locate the place where we'd booked our accommodation :) Thanks to the hills and valleys there, its really difficult to get hold of the cell phone network for more than a few minutes at a stretch. Finally we found a local PCO from which we called up the owner of the house who was offering us the home stay arrangement.
The home-stay arrangement works out well if you will be out all through the day and only need a place for the night. When you want to relax with your family a resort would be a better choice... (Take my word for it... its not very nice when you have to go ask someone very time you need water or for that matter even a glass. It would be a different experience - totally appreciable under different circumstances)

So there began our search for a different place to stay at. Orange County - though the most popular choice when it comes to Coorg - is actually 40kms away from Madikeri. Club Mahindra said they were full, so we went to the resort next to that. They said cottages were available from the next day. It was such a beautiful place, though on the expensive side... knew it would be worth it.

After booking the cottage for the next 2 days, off we went to Raja Seat, the sun-set view point.
After sun-set they have a musical fountain show which is pretty impressive. We got back to the home-stay place in time for dinner. Aunty made akki roti (roti made from rice flor - a Karnataka delicacy), dal, sambhar n rice for us. Very tasty food.

Oh I forgot to mention - since this was a bit away from the town, electricity is a problem... there Only one lamp that will work at a time. So if you better carry your torch along :)
Once it is dark, the roads get deserted. Its pitch dark expect for a truck or tourist bus that passes by once in a way. Sitting on the outside steps... gazing at clear sky... it was such a nice feeling.

Believe it or not, 5:30 AM I was up and ready to take the camera and go for a walk. It was so foggy outside and chill (in comparison to the awfully hot afternoon). For breakfast aunty had again made akki roti and this time we had puliyogere also yum.. yum...
We packed our bags after breakfast and headed to Thala Kaveri - the place where river Kaveri originates. There's a temple and a tank built there. Many people as a prayer walk across the tank of water to get God's blessing. Amma, mami and my cousin who were standing in the line for the darshan suddenly decided that they'd walk in the water... very impulsive people I tell you :)
Behind the temple is the Brahmagiri hill which has a brilliant view. As it was the middle of the afternoon, we didn't venture out on walking up the 2000 odd steps. We did that last time we were there - though that was more than a decade ago... we'd done it :)

Now it was time to drive back and check into the new accommodation. The cottages in this place are situated on various points along a slope. We had the top most cottage - closest to the pool, the restaurant and the club house :) otherwise it would have been a long, steep walk every time we got hungry :)
We reached there at 3PM but since we'd called them earlier and told them we'd be a bit late, they had lunch waiting for us... It felt like we were eating after so many days :)
Once the hunger part was taken care of, we (or atleast me ) started seeing the real beauty of the place. We were in the middle of a group of hills. Behind the restaurant was a deep drop into the valley below. Walking out of the restaurant we walked by the pool. It looked so beautiful. I've never felt so tempted to get into the pool as I did then. We quickly got back to the cottage, got into what would serve as swim wear (you would not carry any to a place like Coorg - where you'd expect it to be cold and chill, all we had with us was sweaters and jackets..)
As the sun started setting, it started getting chill and I started shivering. Out of the pool, huddle into two large towels... still shivering... until I changed into something warm and had hot coffee with pakodas - The perfect thing to have in that weather :)

Activity for the evening was a lot of table tennis and a crash course on billiards.
Dinner was by the bonfire, after which we pulled up chairs and sat outside the cottage gazing at the night sky trying to identify the 'sapta rishi mandal' (each of us had our own idea of which 7 stars made up the constellation)

The next day was complete relaxation and nothing else.
As it was the 31st night they'd arranged for a DJ from Bangalore and special dinner by the bonfire. It was around 10:30 when we saw smoke coming from lower down the hill. Fearing the worst I asked my brother to go see what was happening and true enough the cottage below ours was on fire. As it was so noisy, it took a few minutes of screaming and sign language to make the resort guys understand the situation. After that everyone set to work. It took about an hour, 12 fire extinguisher cans, dozens of buckets of water to douse the fire only after which the the fire engine arrived (just like they show in movies... after everything is over and done with). Once the situation was under control we all got back to the party mode till the clock struck 12...

2007 has been a great year - been good at work, learned new things, shared some good experiences and bestest of all ... made some great friends! Cheers to 2007 and Welcome 2008 :)

Scott Adams rocks :)

Don't know why I found this one so funny. Never before have I laughed so much for a cartoon strip :D

Where are we headed?

A better world, a peaceful place to live, where we'll be together as one. Well.... think again.
This is a Global Incident Report that displays terrorism and other suspicious activity around the world and this feed gets updated every 360 seconds.

Islamic State of North America
This article from the report talks about a group that claims it will create The Islamic State of North America by 2050.

The paramount goal of the movement is the establishment of Islam as a complete way of life in America

The group says it has a six-point plan of action which is implemented at each location where a branch of the movement is established.

• Establishing a mosque "as a place to worship Allah in congregation and as a center of spiritual and moral training."
• "Calling the general society" to embrace Islam.
• Establishing a full-time school "that raises children with a strong Islamic identity so they can, as future Islamic leaders, effectively meet and deal with the challenges of growing up in the West."
• Establishing businesses to "make the movement financially stable and independent."
• Establishing "geographical integrity by encouraging Muslims of the community to live in close proximity" to the mosque.
• Establishing "social welfare institutions to respond to the need for spiritual and material assistance within the community as well as the general society."

There we go again... religion taking precedence over everything else that's far more important! So back to my initial question... where are we headed???

Music for the soul...

Browsing through the 'Blogs of note' today, I chanced upon Stephen Duros' music. I haven't been too much into guitar music till now, but this particular genre changes that. Been playing Thira in loop since morning. Just don't know what it is about the music but... it certainly strikes a chord deep inside.
Stephen on MySpace
Stephen's Blog

NY - A city of arts, music, dance and more...

Music, theatre and dance are not just activities to pass time. The importance that the city of NY gives to art is just incredible. Be it a Bon Jovi concert, a piano concert, an art exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art or even just the street dancers... the city is full of it. Even the persons performing at the subway stations are so good. If only they were given a chance to perform on stage, they'd get paid much more than the cap full of pennies they collect from passers-by.

Some street dancing at Central Park. Man were they good!

Every single day as I skimmed through the Arts section of the newspaper, I realised what we were missing out on...
One of the highlights of my trip was a broadway show called The Phantom of the Opera.
I wanted to watch a show when I was there and I'd heard so much about this particular one from various people, I decided I had to watch it. Till I reached the theatre, this was just another show, but then I was taken by total surprise. The hall, the stage, the settings, the people, the costumes, the orchestra, the ballets, the singing... my god! I was completely awestruck. I have never seen, heard or experienced anything as beautiful as this. I am so glad I went.
You can get a glimpse of what the show is all about in their official webite. Check out the 'Sights and Sounds' and 'Meet the people' sections. If the site looks so appealing you can imagine what the show would have been in reality. No wonder this is now the longest running show on Broadway overtaking Cats.
Trust me... days after the show... the music will still haunt you...

2 weeks then... 2 weeks hence...

Don't believe its a month since I made an entry in my blog. So much has happened between then and now. 2 visits (one comical and the other very interesting), 2 more visits (not very pleasant ones... bringing life's harsh realities into focus) and then, there's the trip I'm looking forward to, in the weeks to come.

Trip 1 to Chennai:
Purpose - To provide moral support to a friend who was getting engaged (no kidding)

Highlights:
Almost missing the train in the morning (not my fault)
Father of the bride2B missing the train (ahem... no comments here)
bride2B meets groom2B - but hey you are asked to go with them... coz he asks "your friend is also coming along right? coz my bro's coming with me". What I thought would be awkward, turned out to be quite a pleasant experience.
God bless my friend and good wishes to the couple.

Meeting a good friend over books n 'Mixed fruit flavoured iced tea'. My first time with iced tea and loved every sip of it.

Introduction to Thiruvasagam - such an amazing album. The music, the symphony, the voice... another favourite after "How to name it"

Trip 2 again to Chennai:
Purpose - Visa interview and much more...

Highlights:
Blueberry cheesecake - they should stick to serving just desserts on the flight.
Evening @ Amethyst - such a lovely place, a colonial building turned into a coffee-shop. A wonderful spot to spend the evening with friends.
Acid @ the museum theatre - an intense award winning play. Though at first you wonder if you made a mistake coming to the show, once you start understanding the story, its just gripping till the end. Great acting.
Dinner @ Ente Keralam - again a first time for me, this time it being Kerala food. The place is done up so well, the people friendly and the food yummy..
Pleasant experience at the consulate - till now everyone's painted such a gruesome picture of the visa consulate. I found the place quite well organised, the officials helpful and the consulate members professional and friendly - or maybe... it was just me :)

On the whole a great trip. Only complaint being - No time for the beach :(
Well, well... there's always a next time.

Sadly my CD player's conked out. Sat all day today loaded songs on to the ipod... Beethoven, Mozart, Ilaiyaraja et la.

Disclaimer: I don't talk much. As I have told people before, thoughts flow to my fingers faster than they do to the tongue. Misunderstandings/misconceptions cannot be helped. You are who you are and there's a good reason why.

Lesson learnt: Life goes on... whether you move on or not, is up to you.

Until next time... Adieu!

not *Just Another* monday morning...

T'was one of those days, when it is so difficult to force yourself out of bed. "Get up today, u don't have to do it tomorrow" was the only source of motivation I had. Why does the weather have to be so lovely on a Monday morning... cloudy but not raining, pleasant with just a pinch of sunlight and the lovely breeze...
Reached work only to find that everyone was in the "Oh I don't want to work" mood. But then, there's very little that one can do about that. Thus went half a day.
How about skipping lunch and getting some icecream instead... came a brilliant suggestion! So off we went to Mama Mia to get some gelato. Passion Fruit was the flavour I chose, far far away from my usual chocoholic tendencies ummmm yum yum.... that was until I dug into a Kit Kat flavoured cake :)
Reached my desk to learn that there was a courier waiting... (actually waiting for me to pick up) :) At first what was a shock, then turned into an even greater shock upon seeing the contents of the package. I'm so thrilled :)
The flowers, the CDs, books, poetry, calls, messages, the prayers and all the good wishes... thanks so much guys!

This is not "Just Another" day.... one of the best ever :)

Interesting Video from IBN

10 defining moments in the making of 'Modern India'



Check out the remaining part of the video here.

Reply to a comment from the previous post

I knew there was a lot that I wanted to say as a reply to Prashanth's comment to the previous post, so thought I'd write a new post, rather than a comment. So here goes...

I was discussing this topic with a friend this afternoon and he was of the opinion that somethings will never change. As long as it does not affect us, we don't have to bother about it. My reply to him was that we cannot wait for things to change, we have to change, at least in the way we think.
Only when something affects us directly, do we feel the pain - otherwise its just something that is happening at a distance and we are not bothered about it.
What if we were not in the place that we are right now, comfortably living in our well protected homes, working for MNCs, but had been at the border, scared of whether we would see daylight the next day - wouldn't we have cared about what was happening around us and prayed for a miracle to happen....

But this comment has to be the most hatred filled reaction that I've personally seen to this topic.

My thoughts on this - There are 'some' who indulge in acts of terrorism and 'many' others, who's only 'so called' sin is to have been born in a particular nation. Isn't it too harsh to say that everyone in a particular nation should be destroyed from the face of the earth? This is like saying, people from Karnataka/TN fight for Kaveri water and in the process have destroyed life and property. So everyone from that particular state should die. Its not that every person has set out to kill. Its just a few people who trigger such disputes and controversies for their own selfish motives. I take this example only because I am from the south.

Most persons who perform destructive activities do so because they are lack guidance and are lulled away by impulsive, selfish but at the same time strong/powerful honchos who think they will take revenge for what was done to their ancestors... if people keep fighting for what was done to 'some'one in the past, when will they live their present lives?

Also, if these people had better leaders, people who showed them the right way, gave them the basic rights and amenities to live a decent & respectful life, if all these energies were directed towards a constructive purpose... if these people had the comforts that we have, had better jobs - say if they were working in the IBMs or Wipros of the world, do you think they'd still be thinking about which place to bomb next?

I am not justifying any act of violence or terrorism. Any person who kills deserves to be killed, but there should not be generalisation based on a religion/sect or nationality. There are some who turn bad, but everybody else doesn't have to be and are not like that.

This my friend, has to be the longest reply to a comment that I've written.
Let me know your thoughts.

Music Unites

Came across this interesting article
This is such a novel concept. Music has not borders, no restraints and it belongs to no single nation.
I love listening to Atif Aslam, Adnan Sami and Strings... and also Junoon (from the good old days).
We have enough reasons to be at war with the neighbouring nations, we just need a reason to unite and Music could be that reason.

Cab from hell??

Don't believe this was actually written on the back door of a cab!

"Hell was full, So I am back"

Bangalore Rains

Is it going to rain? Oh its going to pour.... All soaked up - Brigade Road

Rambling away this Saturday night....

Woke up this morning full of enthu... so full that I just couldn't decide what I wanted to do (sigh!)

Saw the picture on a magazine cover that read "Rainy days are here again". The article had several very well shot photographs of the monsoons. I gaped at the picture taken in Kerala for several minutes & longed to go there that very minute. The closest thing I could do was go through the album from my Kerala trip :(

Email/blog time - It was then that I chanced upon Chinmayi's blog from Guru, the title song from . For those who are not too familiar with the name - to mention just a few, she has to her credit Tere Bina & MayyaKannathil Muththamittal (I just love this song) & Sahana from Sivaji. Love the way she writes, her thoughts, her perspective on life, music, people.... Actually I am still reading through it.

Currently, Bangalore weather is just awesome especially during weekends. It has the right proportion of clouds 'n breeze, a wee bit of sunlight peeking through, a tad bit of laziness added in & voila perfecto!

Felt it would be a sheer waste to stay indoors on such a lovely day - so I took my ipod 'n went for a walk. This is not something that I do very often, but today it brought me such joy - my favourite songs, the fresh air, the pleasant weather... maybe I should do this every weekend. Or maybe I should start getting up a bit early & go for a walk everyday...
Knowing me and my struggle to wake up every morning - lets see how that goes :D

Felt like having eggs for dinner. Made the most perfect omelette (yet!) and was reminded of how in Pondicherry-French toast was served with honey and melted butter... oh yum yum yummm
yeah... that was a good trip, great time, good company... ahem - enough of the nostalgia!

Spent a few hours playing the keyboard. Yet to finish this tune. Hopefully will do that soon. Have the basics in mind, just need to get the other details fitted in.

Well now to watch Shrek 3... yeah that's how I'm going to end this very nice Saturday.

Half our life is spent trying to find something to do with the time we have rushed through life trying to save. - Will Rogers

Spoof on iphone

So damn funny, especially the treadmill part :)

"G" for Genes

Michael Crichton's latest book NEXT is all about genetic engineering. I'd got a hint of what the book was about from Kishore's review. The book has covered a lot of ground - but has way too many characters and so many things happening simultaneously that its hard to keep track.
But still, the book is an eye-opener.
I was telling my mom that she was petrified after reading Coma - she should try reading this book.

The most ridiculous idea that I found in the book, which could be true and be happening anytime soon (if it hasn't been initiated already) is this:
"The Natural World being used for advertisement. Imagine a coral branch reading "BP Clean", a school of fish winking "Vodafone, Vodafone", a shark with "Cadbury" across its snout... so on & so forth... all these creatures genetically modified.
The justification behind this as one of the characters in the book explains "Corporations will be asked to sponsor species as public service. Corporations can stake their reputations on the survival of animal species as they once staked their reputations on the quality of dull TV programs. Its a win-win for the environment, for the corporations for advertisement"

After reading the book, I started looking up the net for more information on the GE topic & these are some interesting links.
The human genome project
Green Peace says NO to genetic engineering
Patenting of genes
Human-mouse hybrid in the making

It may be very uncertain... but its important to be wary of what the future holds in store for us & the generations to come ....

CEO visit - Yeah right!

Movie time again

Watched 3 movies this week, good ones... each 1 of them.

Lambada - The story of a man who is Kevin - a brilliant maths teacher by the day and Blade - a mystery man who has his Lambada moves & grooves by the night. Blade reaches out to the lesser fortunate and backward kids through his dance and then helps them with their academics after the dance sessions.
When a jealous student exposes his two worlds, Kevin's whole life turns topsy-turvy and in the end its his night class students who help clear his name & prove what a great teacher he is.

The movie concept is in the same league as Dangerous Minds.
Amazing dance sequences and a couple of popular songs in the movie.
Eddie Peck is such a delight to watch :)


Fiddler on the roof - This is such a beautiful movie. A story about the Jews living in the small village of Anatevka. Their lives, their traditions, the hardships that they face. Their mental block towards change and new ideas and finally how the exodus impacts their peaceful lives.

Each character in the movie has played their part so well, it is natural and realistic. The songs are perfectly timed and beautifully performed. For me, the touching moments in the movie are:

• Every time Tevye has to decide if he will agree to his daughters' choice of husbands
• After 25 years of marriage when Tevye asks his wife if she loves him
• Hodel's decision to marry Perchik and when she sings "Far from the home I love"
• Tevye's refusal to go against his faith & allow Chava to marry Fyedka & many more brilliant moments....
  

& finally Cheeni Kum. All that I want to say about this movie is "Very sweet". No masala no non-sense, just real emotions and beautiful acting. I'd love to watch this again :)

Another day, another place...

23rd May 07 was the day of my CTW (Community Team work) project this year. The project I had chosen this time was in relation to Rakum Blind School.

Our project was to buy provisions and vegetables for the school. We were to buy about 700 kgs of rice and 50 kgs of vegetables. We were 12 volunteers for this project. We decided that rather than all of us spending the day shopping, we'd split up such that 1/2 of us went shopping and the other 1/2 went and spent quality time with the children. So, 6 of the volunteers went shopping, the rest of us went to the school.

We reached the school at 9 AM. There were about 150 children there. 30-40 of them were below 12 years and of the remaning we even had 2 students who's given their IAS exam. We started off by giving our introductions, telling the children who we were and why we were there. We then had our breakfast along with the children.

Then it was time for activities to begin. We split the children into 2 groups, based on their age groups. For the small children we had got clay and the first activity was to help them create their clay masterpieces.

For the older children we had the activity of "know your partner better". We paired off the children and gave them a minute to get to know their partner - who they were, where they were from, what thier interests were... Then each of the children got an opportunity to introduce their partner. Initial there was a lot of hesitation to speak out into the microphone, but once we started off, they did a great job. There were a few who were not comfortable speaking in English, so we encouraged them to speak in the language of their choice.

Then it was time for some singing.
Man! are these children talented of what!

By then, the rest of the volunteers were back from their shopping adventures. We all had lunch together.

Then the music teachers from the school gave their performance.

We had the Master of Mimicry, the Hindustani teacher and Carnatic teacher each give their performance...

We then had a quiz competition for the children. We were amazed by the knowledge of the children in not just their school syllabus but also current events. They knew their trivia well, be it Narain Karthikeyan or Sunita Williams.

By the time we finished, it was snack time....and even before we realised, it was time to leave.

Before leaving, we met Mr. Rakum, the founder of the school. It takes a lot of courage, patience, perseverence and a good heart to run such an institution. God bless the likes of Mr. Rakum.

The other CTW projects that I've been a part of:
Baale school
Acts of Faith
:)

Quiet weekend

This has been an awfully quiet weekend (don't ask my neighbours **)

Watched Honeymoon Travels Pvt Ltd. The movie starts off well - but somewhere in between it loses its grip. It is a good effort but could have been made better.
I love the songs "Sajnaji vari" and "Pyar ki yeh kahani". Minissha and Abhay have done a great job with the dancing :)

Been listening to the songs from Cheeni Kum. I wouldn't use the phrase 'old wine in new bottle' because what Illaiyaraja has done to the old classics is just amazing.
I just can't stop listening to "Jane do na" which earlier used to be "Jotheyali" in the Kannada movie Geetha.
The line "na.... na na zidd na karo" There... that single line Shreya has sung it so well, I've been listening to the song over and over again just for that :)

** Quiet weekend would not exactly be what my neighbours call it. I've spent a lot of time playing the keyboard, working on a tune (with the volume really loud)

The tune

There... that was my weekend!

Movie Classics

Remember the good old days when at Cartoon Network magically turned into the TNT movie channel. I used wait for 9PM to watch all the old English classics that they played.
And then one (not so fine) day, Cartoon Network became a 24 hour channel :(
Some 2 years back I was checking the net to get a list of 'must watch' English classics and its only now that I am getting to watch them...
I guess when it comes to watching Classics... its never too late :)

Movie #1 - Singing in the rain
I love watching musicals.... the songs, the dance, the expressions, the background scores!
I've watched this movie earlier but wanted to watch it again.
Gene Kelly is such a delight to watch with his moves, his song-dance sequences and comedy.
There's one scene where Donal O'Connor tells Gene that 'comedy' is what the audience want. For this he does a 5 minute dance-cum-comedy stint that'll have your sides aching from all the laughing.
Debbie Reynolds is such a pretty face with amazing singing & dancing talent.
On the whole I thoroughly enjoyed the movie :)

Movie #2 - Casablanca
I admit, it took me sometime to understand what was happening in the begining of the movie. But once I got there, I just loved the movie from then on....
This is a movie about patriotism, sacrifice, love, sticking to your beliefs no matter what and above all.... friendship. Amazing acting by Humphrey Bogart , Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid & Claude Rains.
This is one great movie and I'm going to watch again before I return the DVD :)

The Namesake

I watched the movie a couple of weeks back and was very impressed with the story-line.
The actors had played their role so perfectly, it was as though the story was made just for them... but still, there was still something missing. A few loopholes that I cold not understand - So I picked up the book.
I finished reading the book yesterday. Yeah I finished it in a day :)
Its again one of those books that you just cannot put down. The ideas, the narrative style, the reality of the story, the true portrayal of feelings and emotions - makes you want to go on.
Movie Vs The book
I liked the book better as it has the complete picture. The book revolves around the life of Gogol, the others just being 'other' characters in the movie.
In the movie, I felt more importance was given to Ashima and Ashoke's characters. At the end of the movie, I wasn't able to fully comprehend what the story teller was trying to put across...

But now, reading the book, its all clear. Any movie which is adopted from a book cannot capture all that the book has to say. Same is the case with this movie/book.
But then, I loved the book and would now love to watch the movie again :)

Book time again!

The book for this weekend is "Who will cry when you die?" by Robin Sharma, the author of "The monk who sold his Ferrari"

I thought I'd just flip through the contents of the book and read it later on, but once I read through the 1st chapter I just could not put the book down. So I finished reading the book & am jotting down points that I found interesting.

The book starts off with - We live in an age when we have forgotten what life is all about. We can easily put a man on the moon but we have trouble walking across the street to meet a new neighbour. We can fire a missile across the world with pinpoint accuracy, but we have trouble keeping a date to go with our children to the library. We have email, fax and digital phones but yet we live in a time when human beings have never been less connected. We have lost touch with our own humanity, have lost touch with our purpose & have lost sight of things that matter the most.

Key points in the book to live a better and more fulfilling life:

• Everyday be kind to a stranger
• Every second you dwell in the past, you steal from your future. Every minute you spend focusing on problems, you take away from finding solutions.
• Talk to yourself - choose a phrase for a day and keep repeating it to yourself. Your phrase could be anything like "I am a confident and strong person"
• Worry breaks - assign about 1/2 hour each day to ponder upon your worries and to brood over difficulties. Do this only during the assigned time, any other time during the day is for you to be positive and efficient.
• Take more risks - On your deathbed, it'll not be the risks that you took that you will regret the most. Rather what fills you with greatest amount of regret and sadness is for the risks that you did not take, the opportunities you did not seize & fears you did not face.
• Master your time - Every person is given an equal share of 24 hours in a day - so what separates people who create great lives from the others is - how they use their time.
• Keep your cool - Anyone can get angry - but to get angry with the right person, at the right time for the right reason, to the right degree & in the right way- that is not easy.
• Get good at asking - Ask for a better table at your favourite restaurant, ask for a 2nd free scoop of ice cream, ask for a complimentary upgrade to your flight seat. The person who asks, gets... or at least has a chance of getting.
• Develop your talents - There's a difference between simply existing and living. The deepest personal defeat is the difference between what one is capable of becoming and what one actually becomes,
• Get a coach - Talk to a person who has followed steps to reach success. Learn and follow those steps and success will be yours too. Find your mentor.
• Become a volunteer - "I wept because I had no shoes, until I met a man with no feet". Find time to spend with the less fortunate & you will realise how blessed you are.
  
• Stop complaining start living - The people who get on in this world are the ones who look for the circumstances they want, and if they can't find them - they make them.
• Increase your value - You will be compensated not by how hard you work but by how much value you add to the world around you.
• Be the CEO of your life - I love this mantra which I've read sometime earlier also "If it is to be, it is up to me"
• Don't be so hard on yourself - Accept your mistakes, learn from it and move on
• Live fully, so you can die happily
  

This was a truly great read :)

Hope .... yeah right!

Musical Evening

Yesterday evening was a Musical Delight.. I went to a concert by Kadri Gopalnath with Kanyakumari accompanying him on the violin.
The very first note that he played on the saxophone had such an impact. Until then I had not heard anyone play the instrument live, I've only heard recorded versions of various songs. But then... it was a moment of complete awe... the echo effect produced and the impact it created... was just incredible.
Yesterday's event wasn't completely a classical one (though I'd have preferred it that way). Kadri played various bhajans and devotional songs and had the audience asking for more.
Smt.Kanyakumari played the perfect accompaniment. When each of the instruments is played on a different octave (for those who aren't too familiar with this term, it means playing one instrument at a higher pitch while the other is played at a lower one) the effect is magnificent!
How can I forget the percussionists :)
The Mridangam player was from Trichy and the Tabla player & the one playing the Morsing were from Bangalore. It was a great team effort!

When it comes to the sax for the Indian music - Kadri is the master!

Oh no ... No cheese for me!

Was having a discussion with a few friends over lunch on Friday about the book “Who Moved My Cheese”. We were five of us, of whom 2 hadn’t read the book.

I personally love this book. I like the concept, the way the thoughts are put across. It has complicated ideas and suggestions for betterment, illustrated in a very simple manner.

One friend said, I just don’t understand what you like about that book, I don’t like it.
Another said, I read the book like a fairy-tale. Read it like a story but didn’t pay much attention to the principles explained in the book, that why I think I liked it.

But for me, the book provided a great insight into how change affects people and how they react to them. Its something that happens to everyone, but for someone to explain it, it’s a mighty task.
There is one simple sentence in that book that I have adopted as a part of my thinking process. This is something I try to apply in my life whenever possible. The sentence goes:
There are various junctures in life, when my heart prompts me to do something, which it knows is right - but then I hesitate and think if I should be doing it. That’s when I ask myself, “If I weren’t afraid, what would I do?” and …. then I know the answer :)

Missing you... Thatha

Taking a quick walk down the nostalgic lane….

Summer holidays every year - amma, my brother and I used to pack off to my grandparents house in Madras (or so it was called then). From the Central station, the electric train to Pallavaram… and a cycle rickshaw to Pammal. Or sometimes it was a treat to get a tonga ride home :)
Then there was thatha's blue and white Bajaj scooter. I used to stand in the front as we rode across town on the bumpy roads.
I very vividly remember thatha telling us the story of “Merchant of Venice”, I was very impressed with Portia’s character hm….

There are some things that we always did when we went to Madras – one day of shopping in Mambalam, a trip to Kanchipuram, a visit to either the Vandalur zoo/the crocodile park and my favourite – the Marina Beach :)
Yeah… those were the good old days ….

Amma always says - people of the older generations knew how to love, how to show their affection and care and make others around them feel wanted – this is such a rare sight these days, that too amongst us selfish people, all that we are bothered about is "us"!
What is it about grandfathers that makes them so adorable… I'm still wondering!

Blogswara 3

For those of you who don't know - Blogswara is a collaborative effort by music enthusiasts from all over the world (who've known each other only through the world of blogs) to create an online album. March 25th marked the release of the 3rd album.
My favourite songs in no particular order are:

Vasantham - I don't understand Malayalam, but I do understand the language of music and "this" is a beautiful creation.
Anil has done a fantastic job with the tune composition and orchestration. The instruments used, various accompaniments especially the strumming of the Sitar (if that's what its called) is just too good.
The lyrics by Sreeja nicely fit the tune and bring out the feel of the song.
Murali's done a fabulous job with the vocals. The voice modulation, the stress on a few specific words - the gamakams, the variations... are all sung beautifully.
The tune creates a feeling of such tranquility.

Azhage - This is a peppy romantic number. The factors adding to making this song a success are the amazing vocals, the lively tune, the perfect combination of instruments especially the flute pieces.
I love the interlude. It has the perfect combination of vocals, a flute section played along with keyboard... its just wonderful. The mixing/orchestration add on to make the song what it is...
The facts given about this composition just make you go 'wow-that's cool'.

Lal Subah - I loved the instruments in this song especially the bass and the drums. The vocals just blend into the mixture superbly. The music brings out the feeling of desperation... about loneliness, the wait... The mixing is so well done that it makes you listen to the song again and again!

Listen to the songs and enjoy :)

Some things never change

After about 2 years (sheesh is it really that long) I met up with a couple of friends. We've not been completely in touch with one another - a few mails, a few phones calls is what its been. Over the past 2 years, we've each taken up different paths, career-wise & life-wise, doing different things, been with different people in different places, made new friends, gone through hardships, had a few achievements... yeah - a lot has happened.

Back in those days, there were no worries in life (apart from studies ofcourse). All that we bothered about was articleship, marks, pass percentages... all this related to the ever so feared demon called CA. But now when we look back, those seem to have been very happy days.

Little did we know then, that it was all just the begining. We were just stepping into the world, the corporate world as they call it. A world full of competition, tension, frustration, a rat-race where if you paused even for a moment, you'd be left behind. Ok lets not go there now....

Had a good time yesterday. Recalled the good old days, the funny incidents, the wierdos we had to deal with, the lessons that we learnt... those were the lessons of life!
Though so much time has passed and so many events have occured, the bond of friendship was not strained. I'm glad!

"Some" things never change. Even if they do... its only for the good :)

VisualDNA

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So what does your's say???

Mean Mom !

Read this in the paper the other day... liked it and could totally relate to it!

"Some day when my children are old enough to understand the logic that motivates a parent, I will tell them, as my Mean Mom told me:
I loved you enough... to ask you where you were going, with whom and what time you would be home.
I loved you enough to be silent and let you discover that your new best friend was a creep.
I loved you enough to stand over you for two hours while you cleaned your room, a job that should have taken me just 15 minutes.
I loved you enough to let you see anger, disappointment and tears in my eyes.
I loved you enough to let you assume responsibility for your actions even when the penalties were so harsh they almost broke my heart.
But most of all I loved you enough ... to say "NO" even when I knew you would hate me for it.
Those were the most difficult battles of all. I'm glad I won them, because in the end, you won too."
thus the article went....
"Because of our Mean Moms, we missed out on lots of things other kids experienced. None of us have ever been caught shoplifting, vandalising other's property or ever arrested for any crime. It was all her fault.
Now, we are all educated, honest and responsible adults.
I think what is wrong with the world today is... it doesn't have enough Mean Moms"

Lovely... isn't it!

Love is in the air....

Or should I say there are flowers everywhere...
that'll be more apt :)

Saw these very pretty pictures!

India Poised

Yet another of those ... "Don't know why I took so long to see this" situations !

Am just now going through the India Poised webpage.
I had glanced at the Anthem in the newspaper, but actually reading through it now....it makes so much sense. The words used, the feeling it invokes... just beautiful.
The Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy trio along with Gulzar have their version of the anthem which goes "phalak pakad ke utho"

Interesting pieces in the website are:
India's tragic moments
People making a difference
India's most memorable moments

India's done so much for us and now is our chance... So What Are We Doing?

UNBREAKABLE

I don't know what it is about M. Night Shyamalan's movies.... but they really make you think. Even hours after the movie is over, you are still left thinking :)
Just watched Unbreakable. Don't know why I didn't watch it for so long....
Every movie of his.... the twist in the end... just amazing! And the acting, so very real!
I admit, I didn't like Signs that much... but still... this guy's a class apart!

Pop goes the weasel!

Who are we? Seriously, are we ‘Who we want to be’ or are we just ‘ Who we became’?
How often do we wonder ‘Why am I like this?’ ‘Why can’t I just go ahead and do just what I feel’
What holds us back? Why do we think so much before doing something that we really want to?
Why do we worry about what others would think?

If I were you and you were me, would we still live our lives in the very same way?
When we feel – wish I could say this, wish I could do this, wish I could go here, wish I could meet, wish….. Why stop with wishing… why not go ahead with doing…

Your mindset would be different at home, at work, with friends, with complete strangers, when doing the thing that you love, when being with the one you love…
So why not take the best from within you at all these different points and make the New You…
The YOU that you will love, the YOU that others will love!

Life is short. We are here and NOW is the time

N.U.M.B

Over the past 2 weeks, I think I've completely lost it...
I've had this feeling before, but never did it last this long
I'm so numb, I can hardly feel a thing
One disappointment, another yet again, there... one more to the count
Wow this seems to be a hell of a year end!
People around, say things that they say - I've stopped reacting
Words just don't reach my mouth - I've even stopped expressing
When things start to go downhill - I take my seat for the deep, steep ride
Now - twist it may, turn it might - its all one and the same to me!

Hi-Fi Living

An ad for an upcoming apartment in Hyderabad... chk out the features!

News Vs. Entertainment

Just over the past 2 days I've come across various news articles, mails and TV clippings which question what is shown on News Channels. Are we being shown only stories that sell or are we actually seeing 'the truth and nothing but the truth' as it is so often called.

Got a forward from a friend on how the news about Major Manish H Pitambare was completely skipped and all that TV news channels were showing at that time were the Sanjay Dutt story. This link has the details and also other interesting articles - the link

Next is the link to the interview with George Galloway in which he ripped apart Sky News for their inaccurate report on the Israel-Lebanon crisis. It is people like him who make people like us to stop and think again - the link

The number of News Channels has just been increasing.
So who is telling us the True Story?

Watched Kabul Express y'day and there too, the theme was very similar. Each character beautifully portrays the characteristics of the country he/she is from. After watching the movie I've been interested in knowing more about what Taliban is, what Al Qaeda stands for and where it all began. This is one of the very interesting links that I came across. Do check out the training manual given here.
Also found this report from the BBC site.

Now its got me thinking....

Waiting for ....GURU!

Watched Dhoom 2 today. Maybe I should say I watched Hrithik Roshan in Dhoom 2 today. His character completely overshadows everybody else's in the movie. Aishwarya is annoying, Abhishek is irritating... nothing more to say!


Mani Ratnam's movies are always a delight to watch. With themes so different, they present a whole new experience.
Not to forget another highlight of GURU, music by A.R.Rahman - the God of music!
Ths album is a master-piece. Each and every song, the way the singers' voices have been used, the fine blend of the numerous instruments...simply divine.
Favourite songs - Barso re, Tere bina, Jaage Hain and Ey Hairathe.
some tidbits on the movie...

naa na re naa na re naa na na nanare :)

Year End – @ a Dead End ?

After a lot of heaving, sighing and tugging along, I crawl past year-end mark. The ribbon at the finish line has finally been snapped in two. The past 3-4 months whizzed past me and I didn'’t even have time to measure the Speed of the Flight of Time!

Its December 2006. Today I sit down to think, what it is that I have achieved this year. What are the deeds that stand out from the rest, what makes me feel proud of myself (if at all there are any).
One-two.....five ok I confess its just a handful of things worth mentioning.
I look in the other direction, what all have I missed out on, with how many friends have I lost contact, how many times did I say "Sorry, I have no time - please try to understand"”. My God! this number is just too much, I don't have enough fingers and toes to count them all in one go!

Weighing things out - I have to do the balancing act. Its NOW or NEVER.
I have to decide where to draw the line and how dark and thick this line should be.
Did I have a good work-life balance? Life? What is that? Its just been work, more work and even more work! How do I feel about it? Not too good!… Of late, I wonder more often than not -Is it all worth it!

Am I at a dead end? Do I see no further path or do I see what I want to do?… I can'’t wait for time to tell me these things, it is for me to make the decision and the time is NOW!

Its so funny how I can totally relate to Dilbert :)

Perfect Timing!

It is appraisal time ... & this is so brilliantly appropriate :)

The thought process this Diwali!

The city is rejoicing in the Festive Spirit. The noisy crackers, the fireworks in the sky, children screaming out in delight…. (and also a lot of smoke in the air ugh!)
Standing outside, watching the dazzling display of colours, I realise that my family is one of the only two in this street, who are outside the house - having fun.

Where is every one else? No – I’m not saying that everyone should buy crackers and light them, but at least they can participate in the celebration.
Ok, so if u believe in not polluting the air, I bow down to your noble thought. In this case, the least you can do is - Wish others on the joyous occasion.

I’ve been staying in this very place for over 15 years now and I hardly know who stays next door.
Why are we isolating ourselves in this manner? God forbid, in case of an emergency or when in need, who will we go to?
May be its time for me to go around with sweets - wishing people for Diwali…
hm.... that should be a good start :)

Have a lovely Diwali!

May people realise the value of togetherness & assert their sense of belonging!

There's So Much to See

The title of this post has been inspired by Rahman's line in the worldspace ad :)

After a very long wait ( of 8 months) I finally took a week's vacation. Planned to visit Delhi and
Ranchi (where appa is working), go around, see a few places, rest, enjoy and get back...

Saturday morning 2nd Sep we left for Delhi, the flight was delayed by an hour and a half...(what's new about that)
First impression about Delhi - Clean, Green, Spacious!
It is a good 45 minute drive from the airport to the guesthouse - we were hungry and tired... Once in the guesthouse, we hogged on everything they served, the people there must have thought that we hadn't eaten for days...
Anyway that particular day it was raining cats n dogs in Delhi. The drainage system doesn't seem to be very good, all the roads were flooded, cars had stopped in the middle of the road - a few more hours of rain and I guess we'd have seen people swimming back home...
Thanks to the rain, we could not do much sight-seeing that day. Only drove to the Rashtrapathi Bhavan and the India gate.
Next day, we left for Agra at 6:30 AM. Wanted to beat the traffic. On the way we stopped at Mathura, the birth place of Lord Krishna.
The temple premises also has a mosque in it. There is a debate going on whether both these structures should co-exist.
From there we drove to Fatehpur Sikri. The architecture here is just amazing. Though you have walk through graves (hm... I actually refused to walk into any closed spaces), this place is not to be missed!
The Darga is a holy spot where people pray and tie red threads with a belief that their prayers will be answered.
From there we drove on to the Agra fort.
Here you get the first view of the Taj Mahal (though at a distance)
The Deewan-E-Khaas and Deewan-E-Aam (remember having studied about this in history) are marvelous structures.
We then headed to the Taj
People from all over the world visit the Taj - the epitome of Love. But the guards there give you such a tough time that all u can think of is "hatred". Their uncivilized behavior, the language they use...My God! People will just stop coming here...
But once you enter the premises, you will be left speechless...
Pictures in the paper, photographs on the net, you may have seen - but to see it in front of your eyes is an experience!
Monday, we set out on a journey around Delhi... Went to the Akshardham temple - closed for the day!
Went to the Bahai (lotus) temple - closed for the day!
Then went to Qutub Minar - finally something was open to visitors :)
Tuesday went around Karol Bagh and Connaught Place.. did some shopping.

Wednesday morning left for Ranchi. This is a very small town, just one main road with shops. You can pass time watching TV or if lucky have access to the internet... its a place for complete relaxation!
Had a great vacation - already have a list of places I want to visit next... don't know when ... but already looking forward to it :)

These are my favourite pictures from the trip

Music = BLISS

Finally listened to "Colours Of India" the fusion album by the violin duo Ganesh and Kumaresh.
They've done a wonderful job with the various raagas. To me, the effect that the album creates is close in comparison to Yanni's music. If you know the awesome energy Yanni's music creates... you would understand what I mean!
Searched the web to find out more about their music and found another album that I immediately went and purchased. "SPARK" along with Taufiq Qureshi. This link has snippets you can listen to (too bad they only have really short pieces). Liked the song "Veer" right at the first go, yet to listen to the others.
Now ..... back to some more research on this genre of music :)

weekend theme - "C O M E D Y"

Had a sooper-dooper weekend... (which I realise, is ending ... right now...)
Imsai Arasan 23am Pulakesi , the Tamil movie has been banned in Bangalore. God knows for what reason. Heard from a few friends that the movie is really funny and a must watch. My cousin's friends had gone to Hosur to watch the movie. So what did we do...yeah we too decided to go to Hosur. "Balaji talkies" was the place to be and 1 PM was the show timing. We left home at 11:30 AM on Saturday, to reach Hosur at 12:30 PM. Thanks to the weekend, the roads were absolutely empty. Can you imagine Hosur road to be empty :)
Reached Hosur and asked an auto guy "pulakesi padam odara Balaji talkies enga irukku" (where is Balaji Talkies which is showing the movie Pulakesi" to which he replied "andha padaththa thaan thookitaangale. pakathla Raghavendra talkies la odardhu" (that movie has been removed from the theatre, its showing in the next theatre called Raghavendra Talkies"
So, round and round we went, through the streets of Hosur, in search of Raghavendra Talkies,

On the way we found the poster of "Mosquito Man - kosu manidhan". Can you imagine a movie by that name....
Well, we finally found Raghavendra 'theatre' DTS in the 'down road'. The show was only at 2:30 PM and the gates were locked, so went spent the time listening to music in the car.
At 2:20 when we walked up to the theatre, there was such a huge crowd that we had to stand in the ladies queue to buy the tickets.
"Dont damage seats, it is for your CONTINENT" (...... read CONVENIENCE)

The movie was hilarious, not the usual Vadivelu jokes.... we were seated amongst a huge college gang, so it was good fun!

Sriram had forwaded details of a play by EVAM showing at Rangashankara. Got tickets to watch it Sunday evening.
Once we were at the auditorium, we could see hoardings which read "Karthik Marry Me" Karthik Kumar of "Alai Payuthey" and "Kanda Naal Mudhal" fame is a part of the Evam group.
My cousin was heart broken that she could not get his autograph :)
The show was HILARIOUS! Just too much! These guys rock! Just don't know how 2 hours went by. They got the whole crowd involved in the show, at one point the everyone in the theatre was screaming out dialogues from Hamlet (or.. Evam's version of it) We kept laughing non-stop... it was just too good!

There... its now past 10:30 PM Sunday.... hm.... life goes on....

Keep Smiling :)

New Words for 2006

Got this from a friend... liked it a lot :)

NEW WORDS FOR 2006 :
Essential vocabulary additions for the workplace (and elsewhere)!!!

1. BLAMESTORMING : Sitting around in a group, discussing why a deadline was missed or a project failed, and who was responsible.

2 . SEAGULL MANAGER : A manager, who flies in makes a lot of noise, craps on everything, and then leaves.

3 . ASSMOSIS : The process by which some people seem to absorb success and advancement by kissing up to the boss rather than working hard.

4 . SALMON DAY : The experience of spending an entire day swimming upstream only to get screwed and die in the end.

5 . CUBE FARM : An office filled with cubicles

6 . PRAIRIE DOGGING : When someone yells or drops something loudly in a cube farm, and people's heads pop up over the walls to see what's going on.

7 . MOUSE POTATO : The on-line, wired generation's answer to the couch potato.

8 . SITCOMs : Single Income, Two Children, Oppressive Mortgage. What Yuppies get into when they have children and one of them stops working to stay home with the kids.

9 . STRESS PUPPY : A person who seems to thrive on being stressed out and whiny.

10 . SWIPEOUT : An ATM or credit card that has been rendered useless because magnetic strip is worn away from extensive use.

11 . XEROX SUBSIDY : Euphemism for swiping free photocopies from one's workplace.

12 . IRRITAINMENT : Entertainment and media spectacles that are annoying but you find yourself unable to stop watching them.The J-Lo and Ben wedding (or not) was a prime example - Michael Jackson, another...

13 . PERCUSSIVE MAINTENANCE : The fine art of whacking the crap out of an electronic device to get it to work again.

14 . ADMINISPHERE : The rarefied organizational layers beginning just above the rank and file. Decisions that fall from the adminisphere are often profoundly inappropriate or irrelevant to the problems they were designed to solve.

15 . 404 : Someone who's clueless. From the World Wide Web error Message
"404 Not Found," meaning that the requested site could not be located.

16 . GENERICA : Features of the American landscape that are exactly the same no matter where one is, such as fast food joints, strip malls, and subdivisions.

17 . OHNOSECOND : That minuscule fraction of time in which you realize that you've just made a BIG mistake. (Like after hitting send on an email by mistake)

18. WOOFS : Well-Off Older Folks.

Lightening fingers

Was watching this video on YouTube. This guys rocks! The co-ordnation between the left and right hand is just superb...

Final Fantasy

Wohooo I’m back

After a lot of thought and reasoning, I resumed my piano classes today. I did not have to think twice about wanting to learn, it was only the “Are you willing to get up early even on weekends” that had to be answered!
As soon as I entered the class today, I looked at the master I said “Hello Sir”.
Wonder of all wonders, the man remembers my name :)
He said “Vidya no?”
I said “yes Sir, I want to start classes from today”.
To this he said “yes yes, u have good knowledge, but why did you stop coming? Not well aa?”
(not well for a year???)... “No Sir... training, project work... busy...” I mumbled.
“ok ok, be regular from now on OK?”
OKAY!

I still remember the day I went to sign up for the class... funny story stored in my April 2005 archives : )