The Elixir

Birds of Mysore!!

2007-01-19T11:44:00.000-08:00

When we think of birds first thing tat strikes our mind is The Wings. Yes!! the wings of fly, wings of freedom, the wings of desire to raise higher and higher. We cant imagine of flying frm one place to other ever without the aerodynamics that birds thought us. We find them everywhere around us; every morning the bird-song wake our souls and welcomes to the real world but yet these birds seem to be unnoticed. They have no boundaries, no borders, no restrictions and they fly across miles to love, breed and offspring a new life far away from their home in a strange foreign land. Wonder what makes them to travel over continents at the stake of their life. Probably tatz wat Exploring-the-Unexplored is all about. They have their own world which is not much different from our world but yet they are so different. The way they communicate, enjoy, breed, prey, build their nests, protect their kins. At one place its a Hunter and at the other its the Hunted.

Oflate have become a enthusiast for birding, its a great feeling freezing their emotions n expressions in my shutterbox. And this being my first such birding-trip had great time reading, learning and unlearning. It all begun with SV's call to go out for the weekend away from Bangalore towards Mysore, it was an asynchronous event and went with the flow without any plan-of-action. We hiked arnd different places between Bangalore/Mysore in hunt for haunted. Kanva and karanji lake in mysore were great discoveries. Well.... Birds fly and in a place like this time too fly. Did spot wide variety of birds from kites, parakeets, erons family, egrets family, bee-eaters, cormorants family, pelicans, painted storks to king fishers. All I missed was the efficiency in my tool to capture them as close to eyes.

Here I leave with few Expressions/Emotions tat bought smiles on my face...!!

The King of Good Times-White Breasted KingFisher

Cattle Egret

Looking high-Drongo

In Vigil-Green Bee Eater

Love is in Air- Pelicans

Wings wide open-Lesser cormorant

In flight-Pelican

Serene Swim-Pelican

For the entire album check the below link.

Birds

Window to the Wild!!

2007-01-05T23:16:00.000-08:00

Watta way to bring the curtains-down to 2006; it was the much awaited, most memorable and keep-goin-back trip to JLR(BR Hills)!! It has influenced me yet again to such an extent tat m still in the hang-over of the wilderness :D. Also its dedicated to SV n TheGear on his return back to home. He wouldnt have asked for a better welcome than this [;)]!!

When u speak of JLR its 3 F's always Fun, Fanatic and Facination...adding to tat was the Forests of BR Hills!! We were warmly welcomed by shy-sambhar calf and later by friskily moving boars on our way to JLR!! The tents, food and the hospitality of JLR was juss great!!

After reaching the tent gotto unpack TheGear which SV had got!! ohh bouy was juss amazed to hold the Black Beauty, truly it was as WILD'n'BEAUTIFUL as the rest of the members in the jungle [;)]!!
Soon after the lunch v moved to the near by pond where the tusker n his mother was havin fun in the water!! it was juss amazin to watch the calf playin n enjoyin to the core!! followed by this was the Safari on a almost-open-jeep!! we were all pepped up to meet the Wild Cats!! As we moved on the jungle-routes we spotted the sharp wild-dogs, hefty-elephants, lazy-gaurs, shy-deers and long-shaggy-coated sloth-bear!! It was sun-set time and the entire jungle was engulfed with red magical hue!! The canopy of huge trees made the effect even more pleasant!!

Back to the tents, v were more than happy abt the safari!! only thing remained was to spot the wild-cat!! were hopin to catch a glimse of them on the next day's safari!!

Early in the morning v started off with the safari on the dusty n bumpy jungle-tracks, after spotting deers n gaurs v cudnt find any other wildlyfe for almost half an hour!! our exploration of wild-cat continued... v went very deep in the jungle!! but in vain cudnt spot the wild-cat, cud spot herd of wild-dogs yet again!!

On our way back to JLR v cud witness the wilderness at its best!! yes v spotted a fresh deer kill, it was almost eaten up by one of the hungry wild-cats possibly by a leopard!! On our return from safari, we headed towards the otherside of the jungle for bird-watching.... the forest was rich in diff species of birds, could spot many birds but my camera lacked the coverage!!

It was most satisfyin n enjoyable stay @ BR Hills, decided would come-back again-n-again!! Our next destination was Ranganatittu to spot diff breeds of birds!! Did spot Little Cormorants, bats, Painted Storks, Night Herons and the hibernating-crocos!!

On our way back home we could witness a splendid sun-set @ 91th Mile on BMIRC, tat made our day/year... wouldnt have asked for a better ending of the year!!

Here I leave with few snaps!!

Mr Croco saying I do Close-up!!

Spoon Bill without spoon :D

Lil Cormorant

Indian Open Bill!!

Sambar Deer

Wild-cat's mid day meal!!

Magical Light Pattern

Lazy Gaur!!

Scintillating Sun through the woods!!

Magical Hue!!Croco in hibernation!!

Herd of shyful-deers!! yeah caught them finally!!

Wild Dog lazing arnd!!

Playful Kyatha!!

Playful Kyatha again!!

Monkey business!!

Beautiful Night Heron!!

Perfect Sunset Portrait!!

New Year '007

2006-12-31T22:54:00.000-08:00

As biddin BYE to 2006 and INVITE to 2007, its been a gr8 year tat passed with new ventures, few surprises, cognitive thoughts, ecstatic moments, hard lessons, missed treats n get-together's(frm P3, wud redeem them in 2007) last but not least... the awards, rewards n recognition!! Adding to it the Jungle Adventures(more on it in my next post), wouldnt have asked for anything better!! Hope to carry on all those to 2007, with tat note lookin forward to the new beginning!!

Here wishing one and all a very Happy New Year 2007!! Have a wonderful year ahead!!

When the sun goes down...

2006-09-30T07:01:00.000-07:00

Prologue: Way back on Aug 14th mez n sv had planned for Manchanbele but ended up travelin to BR Hills n arnd Mysore(had helluva time, planning again religiously :D). Am not complainin though, neways we were at the rite time to SNAP with Manchanbele on last week of october. This time tvp didnt miss the action and sv was in FLOW with his new found comrade :D.

About the destination Manchanbele dam: Bangalore To Manchanbele Dam is a beautiful country side drive. Its surrounded by lush greenery n small hills in all the directions. Best spot for half a day outing.

Famous For: Sunset n Sunrise, Birds(though could find very few) & the (d)ambience(combination of hills, birds, water n all good things associated with dam :D).

Best time to be: Time after the beginning of twilight when the Sun itself sets, and early in the morning juss after the rise.

How to Get There: There are 2 possible routes to reach out, First, on BMRC: Take a deviation after Kengeri towards Right via Big Banayan Tree. Though ppl say the road is bad. Second, on BMRC: Take a right once u reach Ramanagar Bus Station next to KEB. Which is a long route if traveling frm Bangalore towards Mysore, otherwise frm Mysore its a good option.

Close by places: Savandurga, Big Banyan Tree and Kanva Reservoir.

Activities: Being with my pals sv n tvp(yet another day when we missed pakku :D). Was sv's first day out with his Camrade, snapped to glory. And was one of the best Sunsets(next only to Kanyakumari) I have ever seen and CLICKED in my lyfetime. In 25 odd minutes could experience the Rayleigh n Mie Scattering explained by Mr Sun himsself :D. Every minute the sun was goin down there was a drastic change in the ambience.

The red hues in the sky, result of the woes of an ending day.

Seen everyday though comes only once in a day.

It was juss one weekend bfore sv flew to Oregon. Had a great time @ KYN on BMRC, great moments to cherish.

Lost in Paradise - Part III

2006-08-20T11:20:00.000-07:00

After contemplating accelerated on the-road-ahead with the gut feeling tat we are on the right track, we reached the CROSS-Road marked on one of the bill-boards "Way to KUVEMPU-University". Tat bought a sigh-of-relief n smile on our faces for obvious reason, JLR is at 14th KM towards Kuvempu University. As we drove ahead the road was narrow, less curvy n more bumpy. There was no sign of any info abt JLR on the route, not even a single bill-board. Finally we reached Lakkavalli, the much awaited destination in our minds!! still JLR wasnt in the vicinity. We were juss 1KM far frm the 14th KM mark. Voila!! "Way to BHADRA RiverTern" was spotted, we invaded the territorial waters by entering the narrow bridge crossing the flowing BHADRA!!

It was untarred muddy road with a 25-degree-gradient towards the River-Tern; towards the right side was the barrier holding on the water!! on the left it was Bhadra Jungle which will join the forests of KGundi. As I parked my voyager, it started to drizzle. There after entire ambience was transformed within minutes. It was arnd 11.45AM, as there were not many ppl at the JLR we cud get cottages with very good views!!

We were priviliged to get a White-Eye n Bee-Eater, well names of the cottages :D!! as soon as entered the cottage was awestruck with the panoramic view!! it was heaven-on-earth, m short of words to describe!!

The cottages were on the foot-hill of Bhadra Wildlyfe, its juss a perfect landscape looked as if painted-by-GOD. Huge area with water n water everywhere, amdist it were many small islands. We heard from the in-house-keepers there tat they make trips to those islands during summer, wonder how it wud be LOST IN AN ISLAND :D. At a far sight u can visualise the clouds kissing mountain ranges of Shringeri n horanaaDu!! The best part of the mountains there was its imploring-cloud-abilities, which makes the sight a blissful. The gusty wind on the other hand was leaping the water causing small waves, from a far sight one could visualise the small white patches as a result. At the same time the contrasting light due to dark clouds abstracting sun rays reflected on water would change colors consistently from blue, green n ofcourse those white patches of small waves. Was indeed a phantasmagoric picturesque!! the next 2 hrs juss admired the nature n SNAPPED to glory :D, basking the soothing effect of water with all this exotic ambience. la-heaven!! With all this we could figure out lots of birds, esp the kites/cranes/ducks. Brahminy Kites were fishing out, guess they were very hungry!! they gulped fishes one after the other in air. While one of them was busy collecting the stack for their nest.

Arnd 2 PM we were out for GOL-GHAR to savour the hot lunch served. No wonder its a small world, i cud catch up shrikz; who was out with his buddies for same reason as we were :)!!. Next thing in our skejule was Safari on open jeep inside the Bhadra Abhayaranya, which was @ 4.30PM!! We were back to our balconies after a short hibernation :D!!

As tvp was hooked to his lappie n official mail chking process, mez n sv decided to stroll down the foot-hill to meet the waters n those flying brahminy kites. There were waves from both the directions clashing n gushing by sprinkling the water, was fun to SNAP them as well :D!! On the other hand the kites were enjoying their Fish-Hunt, juss wonder how sharp their eyes were!! whisking-off with a free fall n was grabbing up a fish nowhere from the water, although on few occassions it missed by fraction of a second!! i was juss thinking lucky fish was that...!! it was great pleasure watching it!!

It was 4.30 n we were ready for the Open-Jeep safari, we were very eager to meet the wild-lyfe!! The guide/local-tribal was giving information abt the wild-lyfe n his experiences. As we entered the restricted-jungle-area we could spot few peacocks, as we entered the heart of the jungle light was abstrused by the tall evergreen forest trees. We could feel the serene ambience with chirping of birds occasionally!! As it had rained the track was very skidy!! We cud spot shy-spotted-deers/lazy-gaurs/jumping-langurs/quick-jackals on our safari!!

After returning from the safari we had a small documentary on human-intervention-with-nature being played!! moral-of-the-story was its juss tat selfish motive of human being today many creatures have endangered n few are on the verge of!! also this intervention has caused imbalance in the eco-system.

The last day @ JLR was too good fun, we went on boating, trekking(to near by foot-hill) n last but not least water-sports!! It was a total fun, everybody enjoyed till the last minute of our stay!! on our way back took the Tarekere--> Birur--> Kadur--> Arsikere--> Tiptur--> Tumkur--> Bangalore route!! The road was juss good with less traffic, was poised for a great drive!! As soon as we entered the vicinity of Tiptur we reminisced of good-old-college-days, place where we played/studied/watched-movie n all the fun we had!! we were struck with nostalgic moments!! The college has got a new face-lift, so as the Hassan circle n Tiptur!!

By 7 PM we were in Bangalore, tolled Tumkur road was juss too good!! as returned back to the city-lyfe was fully refreshed by the trip, 3 days flew lyke 3 minutes!! realized the need of these nature admiring trips :D!! Luckily made it on time to the Airport as my dear friend was flying to Tokyo, felt deep satisfaction of my drive :D!!

Watch on for the next, BR-Hills travelogue!! :D. Here I leave you with the collage of few JLR snaps!!

Hold On To Friendship!!

2006-08-06T06:32:00.000-07:00

Dedicated to all my dear friends!!
Watta day it has been, a call from dear friend who is miles away across the seas truly made my day!! Physical distance doesnt really rip friendship apart!! The distance is juss in our minds!!
Happy Friendship Day....!! Have a great week ahead!! Walk the lyfe along...!!

Lost in Paradise - Part II

2006-08-05T11:59:00.000-07:00

Tvp was reluctant to stay back after listening to the stories narrated by one of the cab driver abt 'staying-experiences' @ KGundi cottages. After driving 300+ kms on a terrible road to the one of the highest peaks I was almost tired, so was very much hasty to drive back to any of the places which we had on cards. At the same time returning back without spending couple of hours @ KGundi was the least expected by any of us n were against tat at the back of our minds. On the other hand if we even had to leave to a different place we were not sure about the facilities at tat destination as well. I felt it was better to have wats there on ur platter. Finally everybody was convinced that staying back was the good move under those circumstances.

We paid the advance amnt to the care taker n hired a cottage for that bizarre night. We were priviliged with a electicity-less cottage possessing 3 beds, unsecured windows and 2 candles to spend the entire night. The cottage was very lousy and to our wonder its roof was juss a wooden plank which had a crack already due to hit of dry branches being shred by the canopy of tall trees. It grew darker and along with the gusty wind, rain gained its momentum. Juss the sound makes u so scary at the night. Luckily there was a canteen near by which serves the food, we booked dinner for the night.

Since there were only 3 cots, we had to join them so 4 of us could comfortably dive in :D. Since we had skipped our lunch in the afternoon, hunger daemons had attacked our poor tummies. Thanks to aunty(sv's mom) for those chappathis, we gulped in one after the other :D. We started to chat on the processes followed by our respective companies. We discussed from the RCA to Audits to CM(Configuration Management) n all other problems, by then one of the small candles went down. Around 7.30 PM someone banged the door hardly. It wasnt any stranger but the care taker who had come to inform us abt the availability of the eletricity n we cud use it. Informed tat it would be there till 9.00 PM. Our discussion continued, it was arnd 8.30 when we went down to canteen for dinner. It was pitch dark outside and nothing was visible to normal eyes, rain still continued. The torches which we had carried was utilized to its fullest. Thanks to our mitigation-plan, we had carried a mini-home with us to takle the RISKS.

We took extra cautions while walking down, to escape from Leech attacks. Had our dinner and marched towards the cottages, as soon as we entered the power went off. We lit the candle n started to prepare the bed for sleep. Tvp unpacked his laptop n was trying to hook on to Internet. Somehow he got the signal from TataIndicom, he started to surf. Although it was bit slow but was more than happy to get the coverage. As I was damn tired, went into dreamland as soon as i hit the bed.

Suddenly heard a boisterous sound, i felt lyke a huge Dolby DTS system being played next to my ear drums. Choked off from my sleep, it was none other than sv's deep-profound-sound-sleep. Adding to it was the sound made by rain n trees. It was arnd 12.30 in the midnight, it took me sometime to go back to sleep again. Early in the morning sv started to wake everyone up, by 6.00 AM or so things had returned to normal. But the mist n fog was so dense tat was not permitting us to go out for sight seeing. So had to cut short our visit-list. Around 7.30 we got the hot water supply, everyone were thru with there early morning activities after initial hiccups as tvp occupied bit too long which caused problems to sv, who was in the queue :D.

Due to bad weather we cut short Z point, RajBhavan gardens n Hebbe Falls visit. Was a boon in the disguise for tvp was he was scared of overflooded leeches at RajBhavan. We planned to visit the KallathiGiri Falls which happend to be on the way to LingadaHalli. Last night rain had made the place very beautiful, greenary at its best and the combination of red soil n water was making the look even more exuberant. KallathiGiri falls was juss too good, on the banks of the flowing water we can find the abode of Lord VeeraBhadra. To reach the temple one has to cross the flowing water. After spending some quality time there left for the BHADRA-RiverTern, yes JLR(Jungle Lodges and Resorts). The soul reason for this trip being organized. We started to descend slowly the KGundi range of hills, on our way back we could spot the Hebbe falls. It was gorgeous, felt bad for missing it. Surely gonna cover it in the next visit.

After some enquiries and the route map we had to JLR we decided to take the route LingadaHalli--> TariKere and then to Lakkavalli. Maneuvered my voyager towards Lingadalli, on the way enquired with many villagers abt the route which we were heading was right. The journey started to become lengthy n we had not reached our actual destination. Finally we reached Tarikere, but still there were no traces for Lakkavalli. We started to doubt our track, no person whom we contacted could give us the proper detail. Tvp was in more doubt saying we have surpassed the diversion n travelled much ahead. Also we had some confusion with the map, finally we had no choice left than to call up BHADRA JLR's contact person. Unfortunately his mobile was switched off, then we tried ringing JLR Bangalore Head Office but there was nobody to pick up n answer the call. We were in a dilemma whether to go ahead on the same road or to go back. Watch out for next on what happend to our JLR trip.

Lost in Paradise - Part I

2006-08-02T10:57:00.000-07:00

Ringed by chain of mountains with lush green vegetation, blessed with rich flora and fauna. Colossal trees standing tall imploring the clouds carrying mist. Compounding to this affect is lots of phantasmagoric water falls, wild-lyfe and scenic trekking routes. Bringing down the paradise on earth!! Truely a feast for all your senses!! Yes its none other than "malenaaDu"... translated to "land of mountains" in kannada. Which was the source of inspiration and admiration to many poets. Clusters of this dense region are Kemmangundi, Baba Budangiri, Mullayyanagiri and many others.

The best part about this paradise on earth is very few people know about it, due to its tough roads n lack of good facilities for tourists this has been less explored compared to other spots in Karnataka. Tat retains its rawness n freshness of Eco-System.

We started off on a Friday early morning towards the destination. Was teamed up with my 3 other friends; after initial delay in the starting due to certain expected circumstances :D!! tvp m not blaming u... hehe!! felt sorry for samir as his waiting for the voyager was dragged a bit!! finally picked up samir around 5.40 AM and drove towards SV's abode arnd 6.15 AM.

Our destination was to reach Chikmagalur and then decide about the further plans, as we were aware of many places in and around we didnt plan precisely which one to take first. Bangalore-Kunigal road was damn good, the speedometer needle was always on the right-hand-side. As we were hungry our first pit-stop was Kunigal for breakfast!! Mez being cautious abt the drive n holding the responsibilities of other 3 people in my voyager decided not to have heavy breakfast so would not sleep while driving :D. Hit the road towards Chikmagalur whisking with the air overtaking many huge trucks n buses. On our way towards Chikmagalur stopped at a dam called as Yagachi. Not so surprisingly we were at the Chikmagalur ahead of our planned time.

On our way we planned to halt at Kemmangundi. Since we had the doubt about availability of accomodation at Kemmangundi's. We needed some backup plan if we dont get any cottage for stay. Thus decided to enquire about few hotels at Chikmagalur, infact we literally blocked the rooms for that night's stay at CM and moved on towards KGundi. After certain distance we entered the Hilly region of KGundi, from there onwards it was just ascend and ascend towards 4000 Mtrs. The scenic 'sarpadaari' which we opted for to reach KGundi was at the cost of bad roads but worth it. At few places we were dumbstruck by the beauty of scenic-mountain-juxtapositions!!

Driving towards the destination thru bends n curves, was a shear pleasance and great concentration involved. Not to miss mentioning about my navigator SV, lots of indications abt the roads and cautioning my mind!! In a way he was speaking what i had in my mind as we were seeing the same wat our minds wanted to see :D!!

Suddenly our eyes caught a beautiful water-falls between the rocky region!! all of us were excited about its gushing flow. Water was crystal clear n was damn fresh. I was happy to take a break from the driving as my legs were tired of operating clutch-accelerator plates. At-the-drop-of-a-hat we were towards the falls; as I was busy capturing the ambience, tvp got his shoes off and was inside the water!! His sudden expression was "aaah its damn ice-cold here, my legs are numb"!! mez n sv were excited by his expression n were ready to get frozen :D!! After couple of minutes of stay in the flowing-water felt the chill up my legs!! But the stay in the water gave a lease of lyfe to my paining legs, suddenly realized the healing power of water!! It was getting late, so decided to leave the place.

Had to apply sudden breaks n stop my voyager, as we had encountered a Y-route... there was a faded board indicating the left-part-of-y as KGundi and the right part as BabaBudan Giri!! Although our plan was KGundi, reading the distance to BB-Giri was just 6 kms away we didnt wanted to miss this opportunity after coming so close towards it. As everybody vetoed taking KGundi, we took the obvious path.

We were unaware abt the conditions ahead which we had to face on the favoured route!! all we had in our mind was its juss 6 kms away. As we climbed the terrain, the situation got worst. It was fully covered with mist n fog, adding spice to it was the ruthless gutsy wind n poor narrow road which was blocking us to enter. Nothing was visible in front of us, all we could see was white sheet of fog-n-mist.

I had to take xtra care in driving, any small mistake would have been miserable!! my eyes was wide open juss lyke an owl...:D!! tvp warming up the back-seat was feeling 'puku puku' abt the drive n conditions, guess he woke up frm his sleep :D!! sv was over-cautious n was giving me all the info abt the track, samir had almost reached the dream land!! at tat cusp distance of 6 kms seemd lyke 60 kms under those horrifying conditions. It was lyke Enter-the-Dragons-mouth...the meticulous drive continued for around 45-50 mins bfore we stopped. Finally we cud c a huge fence n a huge bus being parked, we assumed tat we have reached the BB-Giri shrine.

The toughest part now was getting out of the car, the wind was so harsh tat wasnt allowing us to get out. On the process of getting out we managed to flew the Map/info holder out of the car, tvp ran behind to catch hold of it. In vain had to succumb for the wind god. Luckily the jungle lodges voucher was safe.

The most memorable n tranquilising moments were the Shrine of BabaBudan and Dattatreyaswamy peetha!! it was all worth the tough travel, felt a deep sense of satisfaction n happiness. The shrine is at the peak of 4000 Mts above sea level under the vault. Its were the boundaries of relegion being erased. The best part abt the vault is the warmth n positive energy radiating inspite of cold n breezy external environment. We felt as if we had accomplished everything, tvp was damn happy abt the visit.

It was arnd 4 PM when we started to descend, it was easy drive down the hill compared to ascend. From there on we moved towards K Gundi, our estimated time to reach there was 6 PM considering the road quality. By 5.15 or so we were at the foot of KGundi peak, was attracted by one of the scenic-spots and had to stop, KGundi was juss 3 kms away.

After the break we headed towards dest, all of a sudden felt some sort of itching in my left leg. When touched felt like a rubber being sticked to my skin, couldnt realize wat it could be. Tried to peal it off but was glued like a feviquik, then sensed it could be one of the blood-sucking worm. Yes it was none other than Mr.Leech who was enjoying my blood, stopped the car n got down. Without any hesitant pealed it off, though it hurt was lucky to plot at the right time. It had juss started to suck the blood. Was feeling sad to loose few drops of blood!! Now had the exp of leech attacks as well, a lesson learnt by all 4, not to hang arnd bushes n trees.

After all these we reached KGundi arnd 5.30 PM, it was fully covered with mist n canopy of tall trees. We needed a cottage for our stay, as we were enjoying the ambience tvp went ahead for enquiring. After some discussion with the care taker of the cottages tvp found n felt tat it was not safe to stay in the cottages here due to security reasons. It was getting darker, the cottages were shrouded by tall trees letting very less light. To our luck Mr Rain God started to bless upon us. At the same time due to one of the transformer burst there was no power supply. It was more likely from all these tat we had to return back either to CM or Tarikere. But driving back is not so easy under all those conditions, moreover it was pinch dark n no lights. Wat next, did we drove back or stayed in KGundi unsecured on a darkest night. Watch on for the next post!!

We were Lost-in-Paradise!!

Celestial Telepathy!!

2006-07-08T10:46:00.000-07:00

For the beginning of a busy day, u decide to wake up for a early-pearly morning by sleeping with the TIME in MIND. When u awake suddenly from the dream world and roll ur eyes on the Clock, its exactly the time u slept with the last night. Not a minute more, not a minute less.

You suddenly think of ur dear one n ur cell-phone screen flickers with the NAME.

One fine day u encounter a stranger who solves ur never-lasting problem with in few minutes!!

Enter the examination hall with few Questions in mind and read out the Q Paper to find them imprinted, ur all smiles that day!!

You are in a terra incognita and feel as if u stayed there from a long time. A feeling of able to relate urself being there before that, quite strange!!

A dreamt dream being realized...without the consiousness of realizing it!!

A snap thought of urs turning out to be a reality!!

A song which is running in ur mind, n suddenly find that its been aired in a public-speaker.

Gradually there comes a time when we never do not know what to do, when every event reveals something deeply significant to our awareness, and we can sense the deeper needs of those around us.

Are these... inner subtle skills of intuition OR the sign of my intuitive intellect at work OR is it someone reading my mind... a Celestial Telepathy??

Rustic Picturesque

2006-06-11T04:12:00.000-07:00

Destination : Kanva Reservoir & Janapada Loka
Distance : 68 Kms from Bangalore
Landmarks : K Hanuman Temple, 3 Kms from Ramanagar(yes Ramghad of Sholay fame :D)
Activities : Driving on BMIC, Rock Climbing, Ornithology and ofcourse CLICKING :D!!
Pit Stop : Janapada Loka welcomes u to The Lost World further to get rustic :D, last but not least abode for sumptuous mouth watering North Karnataka food at Kamat's.

Rest... listen to the collage wat they have to say about it ;)!!

Colors of Life: Needs...!!

2006-05-20T11:34:00.000-07:00

Goals, aspirations, motivation, actions, reactions, energies, growth, sacrifices, beginning and end all are affects derived from *needs*. Either it is physiological or psychological needs, in every aspects of our lyfe we are driven by *needs* but at different levels. Body needs food, our mind needs positive ideas and images, and the spirit needs time in silence and stillness to refresh and renew. We goto horizons to satisfy our *needs*. It is always bound to happen that once our *needs* are fulfilled we are elevated to the next level with another set of *needs*, i can term *needs* as insatiable. Juss wonder is there a lyfe without *needs* ?? arent we stuck in a the web of needs?? wat causes the urge of *need* ?? I am blogging about *needs*... is it also a byproduct of my *needs*?? juss contemplating...

Each one of us have different needs...!! to achieve them we tread a different path... our goals are formed by them... further we plan...then act upon later replan...we react...until we have achieved our needs. On the other hand sometimes knowing what u need is also very important, bcoz our *needs* today will divulge our tomorrow. It so happens sometimes to fulfill some *needs* we *need* to sacrifice some as well. At any state our needs must lead to constructive... progressive...towards growth both individually as well as collectively. It should not decay our self, morals and truth.

To satisfy his *needs*...one of my dearest friend has taken off to a new destination!! I wish him all the very best and good luck!! On the same note...I hope to realise my *self-actualisation* needs as well :D!!

Bon Voyage Paks...!!

And the award goes to...

2006-05-06T06:17:00.000-07:00

An achievement with sense of satisfaction and accomplishment is a tingling with pleasance, when the recognition is adorned for what has been achieved it is icing on the cake, cant get merrier than tat...!!

It is then the recognition is conquered by elation!!
It is then one realize humility and hard work pays off to the glory of success!!
It is then moments become cherishable in the "book of life"!!
It is then people fulcrum with felicitation!!
It is then a race has been won!!
It is then a profound sigh of completion arises within!!
It is then an another horizon is found after reaching there!!
It is when an award is embraced :D!!

Response Able ...

2006-04-15T07:22:00.000-07:00

We all are aware of the fact that true meaning of responsibility is response able or ability to respond. Whatever we may think, say, do, or feel - these are our responses for which we, and no one else, are responsible. This is easy to see but hard to live, for we have been taught to believe and think the opposite. So we don't consciously choose our response, we react instead, and then we blame others for our reaction. No wonder we feel imprisoned by others and our circumstances. Perhaps we must wait and give a thought before reacting, we must see the illusion and take full responsibility for our "response abilities" and as a consequence. We always own destiny in our own hands to reach the level of *FREE SPIRITS*, isnt' it?.

The Spring...!!

2006-04-02T08:47:00.000-07:00

Adieu to yet another rejoicing weekend...!! My sincere warmth acknowledgement to pakku's and sv's 3-Q/CH 'savor-delicacy' events...!! Now desperately waiting for the next which would be hosted by tvp :D!! As paroled by tvp himself tat it would be a gala one...:D!! Well now herez BREAKING NEWS... Miss Deadly is back with a bang from sammy's land...!! yet to unfold the knapsack of goodies/experiences :D!! Welcome back bjs...!!

It so happened that I stroll along my school-road and the campus this sunday, as i walked down the road many memories revoked. I was talking to myself... met many familiar faces in my latent mind. Its always a great feeling when u go back to your once-upon-a-time brooding places!! now u might be wondering what does that have to do with this blog's context...?? there is... as its dawn of Spring season the entire trees were adorned with blooming flowers... the path was laid with leaves/flowers spilled excessively by the youthful-trees. My senses were reciprocating to the mother nature's act of reviving the Flora!! That inturn inspired me to come up with the below phrases...!!

The cast-down leaves fluttering and dancing in the breeze
with the dawn of Spring...!!
A new life's nascency witnessed on the flora
with the dawn of Spring...!!

The hum of buzzing beez,the song of Cuculidae arbitrated by ear drums
with the dawn of Spring...!!
The sudden burst of colors, satiating the Iris with colors
with the dawn of Spring...!!

Cutaneous gentle breeze of dayspring rejuvenating the soul
with the dawn of Spring...!!
Making each heart lighter,as the world is sprinkled with sounds of laughter
with the dawn of Spring...!!

Fresh fragrance of budding flowers reaching the nostrils
with the dawn of Spring...!!
A true feast celebrated by senses
with the dawn of Spring...!!

Finally here I leave you with the collage of snaps...!!

I have learnt that...

2006-03-26T05:24:00.000-08:00

...life is juss like a pendulam which keeps swinging... we juss need to make right choices on the swing!!

...most of the most stuff are all in my mind and how I view it, is my prerogative alone!!

...losing is not that bad... because you get to know whats there down with a lesson!!

...there are many smallest of smallest instances/incidents which achieve significance and seem magnified in light of experiences!!

...few emotions doesnt need expressions, u see them in the pitching silence!!

...experiences and problems expand your mental box!!

...how u feel is how u make urself feel!!

...to be myself for who i am!!

...when a problem is thrown at u... learn the process/ways of solving it rather than zero-in at the solution!!

...at the end of the day everyone is right in their own way!!

P3A's Reprise...

2006-03-19T10:29:00.000-08:00

It was a bright saturday afternoon when P3A met at the usual "adda"...!! You may ask wats so spl about it? Yes, its special bcoz... has come after long time...!! This time was no difference when it came to the "wallet pricking"... i was been pricked once again...!! nevertheless the pricking had that essence of joy n pint of happiness...but y me always...??!!

It was a great relaxing day out...!! Well... now i dont spend much more words on the proceedings... do hit the link...for P3A's Reprise marquee!!

Wasnt tat fun... ;)!! Juss before I drop a "full stop"... this below one is dedicated to my 3 Rocking Rebels :D!!

Rang birange mausam aaye!!
naye naye vo sapne laaye !!
mahakii rahe khwaabon kii hasiin vaadiyaan!!
khilte rahen yuun hii pyaar ke ye gulistaan!!

phir se mile jo hum deewaane!!
tho yeh samjhe tho yeh jaane!!
hum bhii rahen rahe yaar hamaare jahaan!!
aaye nahiin kabhii hum mein koii duriyaan!!

dil chaahata hai!!
kabhii na biiten chamkiile din!!
dil chaahata hai!!
hum na rahen kabhii yaaron ke bin!!

Some People

2006-02-01T23:20:00.000-08:00

Some people come into our lives and quickly go!!
Some people move our souls to dance!!
They awaken us to new understanding!!
With the passing whisper of their wisdom...!!

Some people make the sky more beautiful to gaze upon!!
They stay in our lives for awhile,
leave footprints on our hearts
and we are never, ever the same again....!!

The Raising....

2006-01-30T06:41:00.000-08:00

Straight from my Cerebral...

Before I start with a painting its juss a white canvas waiting to get colored with the colors of my 'Self'!!

Before I start with a writing its juss a white paper waiting to get phrased with the thoughts of my 'Self'!!

Before I start with a bright day its juss a 86,400 seconds to get spent with the actions of my 'Self'!!

Those actions of the day form the fabric of my 'self-belief'...!!

On that passing thought I wish everyone a great week ahead!! Its been quite sometime i updated myself on the blogosphere!! well its not that I didnt have anything to blog about but juss that I was more productive in utilizing all the 86,400 seconds allocated to me... ;-)!! Gosh its been already a month after the start of this new year, time is flee'ing very fast like the new Ferrari 248!! Thanks to 4-days-holiday season its been at the right time for me!! Although was lethargic on the first 2 days juss hooked to *my precious*, the third was a welcoming day with RDB!! it was refreshing for me after 2 days of house arrest :D!! Thanks to tvp, managed to obtain the passes for so called Aamir's flick :D!!

The long-(weekend)ed with a shocker frm pakku, yet again its a 'mangie'tal-attraction ;-)!! Now back to the same-old cubicle with my biological battery being recharged fully with energy boosters...;-)!!

Last but not least...here I leave u with a snap of Mr Sun depicting the raising act from the cluster of mountains...!! one of my fav frames which i managed to do a click-a-clack at HK while on my way back home!!

Best Moments of Life!!

2005-12-28T20:53:00.000-08:00

To fall in love.
To laugh until it hurts your stomach.
To find mails by the thousands when you return of the vacations.
To clear your last exam.
To hear accidentally that somebody says something good of you.
To wake up and realize it is still possible to sleep a couple of hours.
To hear a song that makes you remember a special person.
To feel butterflies! in the stomach every time that you see that Person ..
See an old friend again and to feel that the things did not change.
To have somebody who tells you that (s)he loves you.
To laugh ......laugh........and laugh ...... remembering Stupid things by Stupid friends.
To see people that you like, feeling happy.
To be part of close net of friends.
The first onsite trip ;)
To meet ur luved ones at the *Arrival Lobby*!!
To wake up and realize its an holiday :D!!
Calls at the midnight that last for hours :))
To manage for a vacation at some pretty place on the fly.
To listen to your favorite song in the ipod ;).
First day of the First job!!
Those freaky weekend outings :D!!
To smile by the flickering of ur cell display when a message recvd from dear ones.
Those pranks thrown by friends!!
To spend time under the canopy of moon light!!
To be in the womb of mother nature!!
Sipping to hot koffee and to listen while it rains out!!
To surprise ur luved ones!!

truely the Best Moments of LIFE !!!

We were Branded ...Commented!!

2005-12-15T09:15:00.000-08:00

Although I never shared this with anyone n will ever never do share!! doing it now for P3A... felt lyke Commenting/Sharing my thoughts to Pakku's on my page... being bit selfish abt my thoughts and friendship... ;-)!!

Sudden bang on the door and i find tvp n a stranger entering into my room!! The first thing i noticed abt the stranger was his 'green-bag' n his tall stature!! which remains eternal n integral part of him even today ;)!! I presume he preserves that 'green' bag even today...!! He was such tall that i hated to lift my head n look at him...:D!! not in comparison with Giant Gonzales of WWF fame though ;)!! Then tvp introduces so called 'The-Tall-Guy' to me...!! saying he is Prakash n his lab-mate...!! As soon as i heard his name i felt lyke entire place was engulfed with 'light'!! At tat moment i knew very lil that he will be one of my closestestestest friend...!! That was the first catch-up of pakku's glimpse!!

Now I didnt knew the second meet of pakku wud again be in the same manner...but the only difference was that he was accompanied by one more stranger to me!! Pakku would have leapt in his wonder seeing me laying in the same place again :))!! I greeted pakku with a smile...!! but there was this new guy who was very observant and was in hurry to leave as it was short break before the commence of next period!! for me he felt to be a punctual right-on-time guy...!! till date its been the same, always first to reach well before the scheduled time...:D!! as usual with our own tvp who always makes last-minute-entry was convincing him to stay for some more time..!! Again tvp comes into the act of introducing this new guy to me!! yes it was Pramod SV(SV as we call)!! Although that was the first face-to-face with SV...!! later use to meet these ppl freq in the Bangalore-Shimoga train which leaves at 6.30 from bangalore!! I always remember SV as gobbledygook!! whenever i spoke with him he use to throw some jargons...!! no wonder he was 'CHIP-Guy' who carried loads of passion and aspiration of becoming a Software Engineer...!!

Since i was not from there branch in my first year of BE!! i didnt meet them regularly on daily basis!! but use to hear a lot from my room-mate, bench-mate, class-mate Pradeep TV. Now what can i say about tvp urf deepu!! i dont even remember exactly when i met him for the first time!! May be I have to ask my parents about that....!! but to give him a formal entry i must say we knew each other from kinder-garten days!! he possessed a very devil-may-care look...n always tough from outer look!! always ahead in the group!! whether it may be participation in a cultural event or in studies!! he use to leave a strong mark!! But we become very closestestestest during our Engineering days!!

Later when I moved to CS stream after first year... the one which i always opted for from my school days!! i had a close knit of buddies by then !! From the 4th sem project we were very well known as 'gang-of-four' P3A by our classmates and prof!! we were jelling well together... although we were 4 different directions as individuals but were always/will-be fulcrum on the bondage called as 'FRIENDSHIP'.

'I do' cherish all those beautiful moments 'we' spent together!!
'I do' enjoy spending rest of my lyfe 'all' together!!
'I do' remember those wonderful and sweetest things we have 'always' shared together!!
'I do' treasure ur 'GoodSelf's for ever together!!

Today when i look back, all of them are 'rock'ing rather 'stone'ing in there arenas!! I wish the dream of starting a own Concern someday will be accomplished!!

Truely Friends remain Forever!!

cheerios to my closestestest net of 'BUDS' pakku, sv and tvp!!

Embracing change... The unchangeable

2005-11-23T07:50:00.001-08:00

When u r aware and accept that everything arnd u is constantly changing, and that u have no control over 99.99% of it... u are able to embrace change like a close friend!!

[snip...from the web]
Change is evident.
Change is inevitable.
Change is neccessary.
Change is acceptance.
Change is relinquishing.
Change is forced.
Change is to combat.
Change is ethereal.
Change sustains.
Change is ordained.
Change is obvious.
Change is effort.
Change is process.
Change demands patience.
Change mandates perseverance.
Change is nice.
[snip]

adding to it...
Change is permanent.
Change is Rule...(parivarthan prakruthi ka niyam frm The Gita)

So evident... we see changes in every panorama of our lyfe!! its in flavors... in nature...its in human being... its in feelings... its in thoughts... its in ur ideas...its in desires... its in emotions...not to mention its also in relationships!! frm past half an hour i m thinking abt something which doesnt change... cudnt think of any... there is a shelf lyfe for everything... may be "Change is the one which is unchangable".

When i entered Hong Kong i thought abt this change which is gonna affect me... the change of meeting new ppl, new culture, new environment, new food... everything new arnd!! physical world arnd me to my inner spaces...!! yes.. in a way as an impact of external entities... I must confess that I was more skeptical abt this change...!! use to think how am i gonna gasp it!! but m glad now i feel it...have accepted it!! Change is like a river, constantly flowing and moving things around!! the river of lyfe which constantly bring ideas, people, situations!! each one as an opportunity to be enriched or to enrich others, to grow and to learn. I feel push of change in the right direction can yield the best of one self...!!

I realised change is the play of the universe as it entertains us in the biggest light-and-sound show of all time. A change for betterment is good, on contrary to it wat abt a change which havoc's the stability in lyfe? sometimes which takes away a good thing frm u, which u never wanted to happen...not the loss of quality in u but ppl or a relation or the environment u luv!! a change in these is a loss or a beginning of new good ethos? not able to understand though as of now!!

Juss accept n move on is wat the essence of the Change-Affect... somewhere down the lane u do miss those pre-changed entities of lyfe...!! dont we? this is one thing have seriously thought of all my stay away frm home for almost past half of the year...!! m happy i carry forward all those memoirs of my first onsite trip back home which was the affect of change...!! these are the "aha moments" for me to be cherished for long times to come...!! embracing "change" again...:D

Adios...

Tagged!!

2005-11-01T01:42:00.000-08:00

i blame this tag on sv for getting me tagged... thank god!! things were simple... now i expect no more tags... :D. although i hate to do this but doing it for pakku's sake... ;)

watch on folks here we go!!

Seven Things I plan to do!!

1) Cruise to Goa on SUV along with my buddies P3 (Pradeep, Pramod & Prakash)
2) Go on a date with Trisha Krishnan ... ;)!! i hear pakku whacking his butt with his own legs... :D. Poor legs...hehe
3) exercise regularly... although i do lots of stretching and flexing still keep planning for this activity... ;)
4) Recruit some hot chiks in my team... ;)
5) Get a BMW 7 series and drive from my home to office early in the morning... :D!! wats big deal in it anyway...
6) Keep having 'n' short term onsite trips at 'm' intervals to exotic places round the globe... ;)
7) Get few patents and demand royalty...;)

Seven Things I cannot do!!

1) To stop inhaling O2... ;)
2) To start dieting!! obviously... hehe
3) to part away from my dear friends!! (on a serious senti note... :D)
4) Quit computers!! my source for bread, butter, jam and everything else not in the list........haha
5) To stop ornithology :D
6) stop pulling legs...
7) gather seven things to fill this stupid list!! bash... bash... sv for that...!!

Seven Things I say more often!!

1) huh!! aargh!! when frustrated example: during appraisal meeting after a long argument
2) ohh gosh!! thatz great...(exciting good news!!)
3) kewl!! rock on!! (pump someone to have fun)
4) shucks!! wat the heck!!(most of the time!! when u see the bad roads, traffic. India losing in a cricket match. Something terrible happens)
5) greet in all the languages i know...
6) namaskaara ...!! aarama
7) kudos, adios, cheerios and list goes on...

the next feature of this 'tagged' will be pakku(umbrella hero)

My Precious...

2005-10-24T09:14:00.000-07:00

Such a crystal clear voice its got. Once u start listening to it u yearn for more. Does possess good looks too once set cant take my eye off. I juss hook those 2 teeny mouthpieces on to my ears and am in my own world. Every strumming of the guitar to every beat on the drum... its pretty loud and clear. As if one can visualize the instruments being played in front of you. Yes I am talking about *my precious*, my iPOD.

Although I njoy with my Fourth generation iPOD around, recently got hands on the Fifth Generation one!! yeap its one of my dear friend's. Ohh boy its so much sleek and plays MPEG-4 and H.264 video too. Its LCD is simply awesome and comes with flying colors...plays video upto 30 fps...is powered up with better battery life of upto 20 hrs... isnt it a true 'Feast for your senses'. Its made very light too compared to its predecessors and the new processor used is very good. Thank Apple for this fast release of iPOD Video and foray into Fifth generation of iPOD era.

But I would have appreciated more if they would have retained the FireWire 400 ontop of the precious, such a worthy thing being removed really feel sad about it. May be it was a way to stop the manufacturers of iPOD Firewire devices from being used. The second thing is they have stopped packaging the iPOD charger with the Box. An iPOD is always an iPOD nothing can beat it!!

Make Up...

2005-10-19T20:58:00.000-07:00

While we spend much time 'making up' our faces to ensure our appearance is beautiful for others, we forget to make up our minds. This is not about making decisions. Making up our mind means ensuring that our thoughts are positive and our feelings towards others are filled with good wishes. When we do, others begin to sense a deeper beauty emanating from behind the skin! This is inner beauty. Don't hide behind your face. Let the real you show through.

Being the Sky

2005-09-04T00:35:00.000-07:00

Gloomy weather with gentle breeze brushing my skin, Sun playing hide n seek with most of the time being the hider*. The depth of the sky was partially visible, was yet another weekend with the freaky weather; past few weeks for me has been a house arrest due to the weather turn-outs with typhoon warnings and gusty rain. Hey m not complaining by the way ;-), I was glued to my balcony all the time until clouds started to hiss with tiny rather big droplets of water.

My view of blue sky was totally limited with the hulk of dark clouds. Suddenly I visualized the imposition of limitation in my mind about the enjoyment. My mind was craving for a clear view of deep* blue sky ;-). That certainly tickled a chain of thoughts.

Yes the sky is a wonderful metaphor for the unlimited. Essentially we are each unlimited in our capacity and our awareness. But we are taught to limit ourselves from an early age. There are many self-imposed limitations one has drawn a boundary. Just like the way clouds abstracted the view of sky for sometime. We seldom melt the barriers and boundaries which have been encouraged to create in the universe of our consciousness. One who dissolves the self-imposed limitations will surely know his true self. In a way to dissolve the limitation is to imbibe a limitation of exploring more of one’s own self. It doesn’t mean the limitations are bad always, sometimes they too are necessary.

After sometime the clouds got dispersed creating huge patches in turn was able to view the blue sky again.

My mind uttered; “visualize yourself rising gently upwards, slowly...gently rising, higher and higher...up into the sky. The vast blue sky; imagine yourself spreading outwards, wider...and wider...until your whole being has expanded across vast distances. There are no boundaries, no barriers, no limits to your being... You are vast...unlimited...no beginning...an end... You encompass the whole world...(at that cusp) You gently cradle the fragile planet in your cool, blue vastness”.

A quiet radiance emanated from the heart to encompass the world. Occasionally clouds drift by; they are my thoughts and feelings... They come into my awareness, but now m so vast and they are so tiny and insignificant...They drift past whilst me remain calm and peaceful and all-seeing in my silent, still state... And then slowly, I begun to shrink back into my finite self and start to descend very slowly. Back into this physical world of perpetual motion and sound. I felt then have a calm, cool, self awareness which I carry into the day...

Nothing disturbed the mind and yet was aware of all that was happening around. Like those clouds, all scenes, all people, all events, simply come to pass. I now saw more clearly what I need to do, to say, to give....But even behind my actions my mind remain......silent...and still...and unlimited...

I realized what mind and sky have in common ;-). Have your mind ever enthralled 'Being the Sky' ?

Do Now

2005-08-26T01:56:00.000-07:00

Everyday we keep repeating our activities of our biological life cycle. Some activities are well defined in our POA(Plan of Action) and some or not. Amidst of oft activities we try to find a lame reason to procrastinate some of them which are actually planned.

I was the victim of procrastinate-syndrome, I reached my 5.5/5.5 cubicle with full zeal of busting enery. I knew very little before booting the box on my desk that i am gonna get booted after its. I was awestuck on the aftermath affect of mail-box opening, yeah i saw an infamous Windows Error with a message tag conveying my .pst file was corrupt and would you like to report the error to Microsoft. Inference of this event was that my mail box had conked up.
Now I had to spend my rest half of the day in getting the information back from the corrupted file. I felt the real worth of the saying 'A stitch in time saves nine' in my mind ... I have to blame myself for procrastination of taking the backup of my information.

Albiet I got the information back...lost some of the vital information and most importantly I had to compromise in losing my time at work.

This incident evoked the urge for 'Do Now' in me... we find short of time for ToDo things in our life... we tag ourselves as 'Busy' and due to this we keep procrastinating until the activities piles up to nth state. I felt Procrastination is not only the thief of time, it is the creator of subtle inner tension too.

But sometimes its inevitable that we need to procrastinate... I am not saying we shouldnt...even in that state. I feel we shouldnt wait till we feel like doing it - the feeling will come only when we start doing it. Also prioritising the list should have helped if at all we feel we are overloaded. Finally, creating a vision of the result and be motivated by the vision of the outcome, not the thought of the process.

If there is anything we can learn from the process then see it is action learning and keep in track of POA's so that there is no schedule variance :p. These are some of the ideas and the need I felt we can avoid procrastination, but you may have other ideas.

On looking at the brightest side of today's morning event I felt it gave me an opportunity to think abt the pros and cons of Procrastination... may be this is wat we call as 'Time-Impart'. Now lemme get back to implementation/preparation/updation of POA... ;-)

When Heart Speaks...

2005-08-16T08:15:00.000-07:00

Main aur meri tanhaai aksar yeh baatein karte hain
Tum hoti to kaisa hota, tum yeh kehti, tum voh kehti
Tum is baat pe hairaan hoti, tum us baat pe kitni hansti
Tum hoti to aisa hota, tum hoti to vaisa hota
Main aur meri tanhaai aksar yeh baatein karte hain

Yeh raat hain, yeh tumhaari zulfein khuli hui hain
Hai chaandni ya tumhaari nazrein se meri raatein dhuli hui hain
Yeh Chaand hai ya tumhaara kangan
Sitaarein hain ya tumhaara aanchal
Hawa ka jhonka hain ya tumhaara badan ki khushboo
Yeh pattiyon ki hain sarsaraahat ke tumne chupke se kuch kaha hain
Yeh sochta hoon main kab se gumsum
ke jab ki mujhko bhi yeh khabar hain
Ke tum nahin h, kahin nahin ho
Magar yeh dil hai ke keh raha hain
Key tum yahin ho, yahin kahin ho

Nothing else to say :D,

Happy Independence Day...

2005-08-14T20:25:00.000-07:00

" Mitti Ki Hai Jo Khushboo, Tu Kaise Bhulayega
Tu Chahe Kahin JaYeh, Tu Laut Ke Aayega
Nayee-Nayee Rahon Mein, Dabi-Dabi Aahon Mein
Khoyeh-Khoyeh Dil Se Tere Koi yeh Kahega
Yeh Jo Des Hai Tera, Swades Hai Tera
Tujhe Hai Pukara....Yeh Woh Bandhan Hai Jo Kabhi Toot Nahin Sakta"

One of my favourite songs in recent past... Nostalgia is personified in this song... especially the lyrics... its mild... posessess a soothing touch... From the day I have stepped out of India whenever i hear this song i feel like going back to home land...

Happy Independence Day... :-)
Vande Maataram...
Jai Hind...

Colors of Life: Wisdom...

2005-08-11T20:58:00.000-07:00

Each day is filled with a hundred choices and decisions, my life ahead will depend on the choice I make right now...isnt it? The life today at this moment is the reaction of the action taken sometime back.

I am sole responsible for all my actions and the reactions that counter from the action. When something bad happens then start blaming on other entities, seldom doesn’t think about the root cap for the cause. I use to think how one can make a right choice at a give time.

I felt Wisdom is our best guide. Wisdom can take us in making right choice. Once chosen make it immutable, but how can Wisdom chose the right decision how I can possess the wisdom. My mind was wandering with this… then I thought Wisdom comes from the repository called as experience, yes something which I had followed for the same kind of instance and the illation of that action was fruitful… Experience comes from engaging with life… now this cannot be always… does that mean u gain wisdom only with experience?

No wisdom also comes from learning and learning comes from observing… each day comes it imparts a new lesson to our existence… so we are always learning and learning is an eternal process (read somewhere)… as I learn…I gain wisdom. And of course my deepest intuition… can our intuition also be termed as a source for wisdom? May be sometimes I do act based on my intuition and its spontaneous… how do u cultivate intuition… may be I should listen to myself always…So at the end of day Wisdom is required to act in a proper way.

Each day is an opportunity to gather and use all these… inculcate what did I learn and what did I hear… from myself? I did listen to myself… didn’t I?

Colors of Life: Cultivate Silence

2005-08-04T18:39:00.000-07:00

Silence means not thinking anything... I am not saying to stop thinking... if that happens then we have attained the mortality state...:D, yes its a kind of riddle our mind cannot be in a state of non-thinking... Thinking of not to think is also a kind of Thinking. But only difference in this case is we solely concentrate on keeping our mind silent state. Behind all creation is silence. Silence is the essential condition, the vital ingredient for all creation and all that is created. It is a power in its own right. The artist starts with a blank canvas - silence. The composer places it between and behind the notes. The very ground of our being, out of which comes all our thoughts, is silence. The way to silence is through meditation I feel. When you arrive in your own silence you will know true freedom and real power you possess... just take a minute and listen to the silence within us... Then we will be aware of what disturbs our inner silence. Yes now disturbances can be many things, it could be negative thoughts, memories, sensations... and when we are aware, we will know what is draining our creative power and also we will know what needs to change...on the inside! On the contrary sometimes the negative thoughts can also lead to positivity but with respect to the context of keeping our mind in silence its existence is irrelevant. But at the same time one should not try hard to seize the negative thoughts when mind is in the silent state. But not to react to the negative thoughts that come thatz the key... thatz how our mind will get free...

But this doesnt mean be silent to the external world... you will be in isolation if we do so... I feel a person should practise silence everyday at least for 5 minutes... your soul would greatly rejoice those moments. Yeah you will also be aware of your innate strength, and stopping the ripples which causes disturbance is another challenge....going by the phrase 'Practice makes man Perfect'...we need to cultivate....woaa it’s a great experience...

Huawei City...

2005-07-15T01:17:00.000-07:00

I welcome all of you to Huawei Base…As you all know….Huawei is headquartered in the southern coastal city of Shenzhen, China…Its in the place called as Bantian, Guongdong, The entire campus spans 1.3 square kilometers (I haven’t measured though…;) ).

This is the place I am put up now….it looks even more beautiful than in pictures…:D. Fasten your seat belts…take a deep breath…I m privileged to take you virtually to the place where I m living now…:-), here we go…

Let me explain one by one…watch the photos at the same time while you read the description for experiencing it more real :D.

EntranceBlock: This is the block which is in the entrance of the Huawei Base/City…basically this is a manufacturing center…As soon as u enter the Huawei base from Shekou(the Ferry Port)…u find it towards your right side…

Administration Center: This is the place where our CEO and General Manager sit…its also the administrative block…It is built truly in Chinese Architecture…that was the best part about this building…whatever kind of buildings u find around and whichever architecture they would have adopted in building them…but the Administrative building is truly in Chinese style…Buildings built with chinese architecture are called as Yuan-Lin…

TrialManufacturer: This building was built recently…it’s of Renaissance Architecture…juss looks like White House isn’t it…?? We have named that building as Yellow House…as its some sort of yellow in color...This building is on Left most side of my office as u saw in the office photo…its next to my mess…

BaiCaoYuan: This is where I live…rather every person who is a bachelor in China ;), for married couple there is another apartments called as KaiJaoYuan.... ofcourse you cannot see my room in this snap because the photo is taken from my building…This is a chain of buildings which are linked all over internally. U can roam entire chain without going out of each cluster. In the center u find the beautiful gardens…not hanging gardens of babylonia but still they are amazing…on the rightmost side is the BasketBall courts the green patches…and next to that is swimming pool…I will show that in other snap…The tall building on the right side is Sports Complex…u find all sort of sports…from Carrom/ Table Tennis/ Lawn Tennis/ Swimming pool/ Basket Ball/Multi Gym…only thing is have to pay 40 RMB per hour…:-(…Towards left side are again Cotteges…hospital is in the ground floor of the same building….this is juss one view…There are CRC shops also …a super market…but I cannot show those photos now because I don’t have them…:D, will send it across sometime later…There is a hotel also but I don’t have snaps of that tooo…its very expensive hotel…You find people from all over the world in BaiCaoYuan, it’s a Window of the World I can say in one term…

Huadian R&D: This is one of the buildings in the campus…its very huge…it’s a R & D center again. But the core part is its Hardware R & D center…I haven’t been inside this though…

ExhibitionHall: This is an awesome building….havent seen such an Exhibition Hall in my life…it’s a dome…very huge its next to my office itself…the place is too clean and tidy…u can see ur reflection on the floors…they are posh…U find all facilities here for a proper demo…

MyOffice: This is my lovely office…looks tall and handsome…breath taking rite…;)…this is a night view…Ofcourse I haven’t taken this photo….;), I sit in the 6 th Floor in that Tall Building…Next to my office is the mess…that is towards your left in the photo…it’s a 5 storied complex...atleast 12 thousand people will have there Breakfast/Lunch and Dinner everyday…Let me tell you about the beautiful spot….On the 19th floor of my office there is a small garden…hummm if u people would have heard about Bonsai (the Japanese way of cultivating plants/trees) u find them here…its damn beautiful…during the lunch time when chinese colleagues sleep…I usually spend my time
there…its calm and pleasant…u will never know how time passes…

BaiCaoYuanClub: This is the club I was talking about…howz the swimming poolll…amazing rite…:D, only chinkis are missing...will try to snap them in my next.

Production Unit: This is the main unit where all the Switches and Routers will be manufactured…I haven’t seen the internals…this is juss a photo I got…

Now Welcome….back to the real world…:-)

I have lot many things to say….but I need to get more pictures first…then will fantasize u with more such virtual rides…:D

Time is Limited...

2005-07-04T22:13:00.000-07:00

Have a great day ahead…Wish u a brand new start for the week ahead…

My weekend was a good one….each weekend passes….I feel my presence more in this wonder land…at the end of the day…my mind says ‘I got to know many things’….but still there is lot of void that needs to be filled….:D, all these days I have been going all over the places…but everytime I step out of BaiCuoYuan…I feel like I m entering a New World…still I am a stranger in this place…ofcourse the other way around too…I would be lost in the crowd once I reach out!! I will be one among them….but still not among them…it’s a kind off riddle which I have not yet solved. Hey I m not following the Rabbit…;). Well before u get baffled with my musings I would rather tell my experiences of the weekend…:D

First time I could experience the Metro Train in Shenzhen…it was an awesome ride…After staying in China for almost 3 weeks…I have understood the importance of communication in our life…making someone understand your thoughts/ideas is a Herculean task where language draws the boundaries within…but few ppl are interesting too…they utter few Hindi words…like ‘shukriya’…’koi bath nahin’…I was taken back to here these not because they speak Hindi but becoz the way they pronounce…:D,

I almost covered the length and breadth of Shenzhen city on Saturday….yet many things are unexplored….my ride begun from BaiCuoYuan gardens in the midst of Saturday… my 99% of the time went for window shopping….As my mind was set on some shopping for this weekend…I made a mark of it in Wachangbe…now u may wonder what I bought…any guesses…?? Not to make it a thriller movie…let me whirl my wand and reveal the secret…:D, I bought a Sony DVD player. Ohh gosh…it plays any damn thing on earth. But it took the breath out of my lungs to buy it…yes I had to confirm the price tag with many people around…I also went to Walmart for the same purpose…it’s a very huge complex…ofcourse every shopping complex in Shenzhen is even bigger than Wal Mart…this was not a shocking one for me though…But the reason for getting into walmart was accomplished, I came to know about the prices…:D,

Just besides the Wal-mart there was another mall…it was blend of international brands…from Wal-Mart left for Wachengbe….the transport was Metro Train…now I knew it was Wachengbe but the Chinese name for that was something else…although the train-map was very clear alas with Chinese names…after a lots of interactions with the local station master…finally got the Chinese name…it was Hua Qiang Lu…so sweet name I thought…dropped the coins to obtain a Plastic made ticket for the entry…the Metro was so accurate in its arrival….it seems its controlled by the ‘God of Time’…entered the iron doors…reached Wachangbe within 15 minutes…although it takes more than an hour in Mini-Bus…was very happy…was well before the planned time…

Enquired two branded shops…SUNDAN and GOME…but my model was a new one it had many enhanced features compared to the one which my room mates at BaiCuoYuan had…finally grabbed it for 80 RMB lesser than the actual tag price…took a lot to bargain…huh…

Then boarded the train again to Dongmin, this is one of the shopping areas of Shenzhen…I had already written about this last week…there are few good Indian restaurants here…this time it was none other than Tandoor…I was damn hungry and my feet had tired too…:D, had some sumptuous dinner…my taste buds were very happy…the entire ambience made me feel as if I was in India all of a sudden…was not interested about anything else…ordered anything and everything…all the cuisines were good….idly and panner tikka was simply great…Met many Indians there…they were from Tamil nadu/Bengal and Delhi…It was a young gal’s birthday…they had come to celebrate…

It was almost 9.30 when we came out of Indian food house…:D, one of my colleague had accompanied me…suddenly he told about the Indian Stores in the same lane…I had no clue how it would be…It was a tall building with 30 floors…yes the stores was in one of the flats…Could find most of the ready to eat items and other pooja articles…it was a Mini-shop of India…suddenly I saw few DVD’s…I had the privilege of getting Dil Chahtha Hai and Kal Ho Na Ho…apart from SRK and AK ….they both had something in common…yes its priety…:D

After a long day…left back to BaiCaoYuan…it was 12.00 in the night…unpacked the Player…and started playing DCH…started missing all of my friends, suddenly while watching the movie…felt how strange the bond of friendship/relationship is…but I cherished all those moments again…Now I have found a weapon to demolish the Nostalgia…It was 3 AM when I entered the dream world…

The after math of the late sleep was I missed Sunday morning breakfast…:(, again the same routine on Sunday too…but one of my other friend wanted to buy the player this time…:D

Saturday Blues !!

2005-06-25T20:02:00.000-07:00

I realized its Saturday when woke up from my bed pack. And my room was illuminated with lots of light. Yes…I thought it’s a remarkable day…….I have my own reasons for it to be a remarkable. I met Mr. Sun for the first time in China…:), he was blistering out here…Out of the blues, the weather was transformed…u never know with the weather turn outs…hmmm…tatz mother nature…

It was also a different day for me because it was the first Saturday-weekends-working for me and also supposed to be the last Saturday of the month. Yes I had to go to office, it’s a policy here. I was off mood to go to office…on a weekend…

It was gonna be a short weekend for me….but in one way it was ‘boon in the disguise’ because u get so called good food prepared by Mr.Chi…usually the food will not be good on regular weekends…we have to go to another mess…so I had the chance of escaping from that. It was something to smile about….:)

I stepped out of BaiCaoYuan only to feel the scintillating light and blitz heat…I was not able to walk under the Sun…infact wasn’t able to open my eyes…tatz what it happens when u get accustomed to the environment rather murky weather…as far as now it seems the gloomy days won’t be there…somehow managed to get out of the sun…”xie-xie” to Cab service…he dropped me till the F1 block (infront of my office).

It was the same day again with loads of work…donno how time flew. It was 12 Noon and was lunch time…left for ‘Mess Hall’ which is about a furlong distance from my 20 storied office. This mess-hall is juss one among many in the Huawei City, to tell the area it covers….i can say its equivalent to Leela-Palace in Bangalore…This hall caters some thousands of people. Now I was bit early than other days…I was quite impressed by the menu…had few new things in the list…did all the field-work by grabbing the bowls fast…I was rather amazed to see a ‘jhilebi’ in China…although it was not looking like a ‘Indian Jhilebi’…but was good….comparing the fact that I m having it outside India.

I enjoyed the food, now I donno was it because that I was too hungry or my taste buds have been type-casted to this food…:D. May be there was influence of both these factors… in the mean time also got some French fries and Chinese noodles…truly a enjoyable lunch…

Now I was feeling that I am living here since aeons….although it was juss a fortnight of my stay….

Again back to work and finally looking earnest for the short weekend ahead…

Team Building...

2005-06-20T00:31:00.000-07:00

My First team building in Dragon's Land ofcourse not with dragons's around...;)

Enter The Dragon...

2005-06-13T06:57:00.000-07:00

Enter the Dragon…

It was the D-day for me…yeah it’s about embarking on Chinese venture…I reached Bangalore Airport at around 7.45 or 8.0. Thought it would be an easy go ‘check-in’…but realized its not….only when I saw the mammoth queue landing in front of the baggage sign on…it took time to complete of my formalities. Luckily got the window ticket…was more than happy for that. I was put into the cabin-crew; thought it would be boring…but couldn’t get bored though….for obvious reasons…:D. I wasn’t in a mood to leave the corridor. Suddenly came in the announcement, that the flight I was supposed to fly had got delayed by half an hour. I was more than happier to hear that.

Finally came my Voyager….it was a colossal Boeing 747; the heart of the plane opened her arms widely. It was around 11:00 PM when the Boeing began her journey gently climbing up into the sky towards the destiny carrying all her beloved ones. Once it reached an altitude of 33,000 feet the craft was whisking the air. Take off was the awesome experience, at least Bangalore looked ecstatic from sky pack. I was sitting almost over the left-wing engine, it was a great view. The earth was laid with ‘Carpet of Lights’

Our road map…oops rather Air Map…was displayed on a flat screen…information was quite adequate. It also mentioned the Time at each zone. Thai Air-hostesses were very warm…in acknowledging to requests. I had the legion of ‘Inscrutable Americans’…was a nice read. I had gained the time when we were in Bangkok around 3.30 in the morning…huh it was a huge Airport…having 77 bays…suddenly thought of Bangalore Airport: D. Seriously we lag a lot when it comes to infrastructure…I was literally lost in the mammoth Airport….was suppose to wait for 2 more hours to obtain the ‘Boarding pass’ to Hong Kong. Did a window shopping across the Airport…by the time I completed one row 2 hrs had fled apart….:D,

Again was lucky enough to board into Thai Airline Boeing 747 with a window ticket. The only difference this time was that I was over the right –wing engine…We boarded around 8:00 AM (HST). This time it was early morning and was able to have an eye on each and every cloud that passed by…There were few ecstatic blissful views on the way to Hong Kong…especially when we passed at some place where we were sandwiched between two layers of clouds…

I had fallen asleep, suddenly listened to the announcement of entering Hong Kong terminus…ohh gosh watta view it was…it was a Da Vinci’s painting of a Monalisa…a huge cluster of mountains…..at the middle of the rocks one can find the tall sky scrapers in huge numbers trying to kiss the sky…there was huge dam at the higher end of the cluster and Sea at the other end…infact the city is in the middle of the mountain chain and Sea.

Suddenly the craft started to lower drastically, knew it would be landing…suddenly I was awestuck to see that we were landing on Sea…then found a narrow trajectory leading its way into the Island…that was the most zeal able landing one could had…yes it was Hong Kong…the beautiful city. I thought Bangkok was a huge Terminus but I was wrong when I saw Hong Kong terminus…that changed by opinion. Suddenly Air-India flight landing dragged my eyes…realized yeah I m missing India even in this beautiful place…

Hong Kong airport was build hardly 8-10 years back. It’s a ‘Man-Made’ island; there’s been a record that they shifted to that place in less than 48 hrs. The place here is very systematic…juss like the function of our ‘Heart’ is to pump and generate the blood…the function of each and every member who works for Hong Kong Airport is well defined…its managed very well tooo.

From Hong Kong it was suppose to be an hour journey, I had 2 means of commutation to reach Shenzhen from Hong Kong. One is boarding a Bus and the other is a Ferry. Although my mind had prioritized on boarding a Bus when I was in Bangalore, I changed my plans to take a Ferry. Y you may wonder…here is the answer…if I take a Ferry I would have commuted with all mediums…Land, Air and Water…thus decided to go by Ferry.

Had to fetch a Ticket for the Ferry, to reach the counter one has to take an Inline Train, he reached a distance of 2 Kms in less than 30 seconds. Now u may wonder it was outside the Airport. I say no, I was inside the HK Airport. Since it was Hong Kong had to convert the currency to Hong Kong dollars to buy a ticket. Any currency you expect to be converted its none other than Travelex, once the ticket was bought I had to take a Bus to the Ferry terminus. The bus service was called as Sky Pier. Since the Bus to Ferry terminus was bit late, I was supposed to wait for 2 hrs in the Bus Lounge. It was a nice opportunity to roam around the malls, again went wild with my window shopping.

Soon it stroke 2’O clock in my watch, rushed to the bus lobby to board the bus. It was a gigantic Mercedes make bus. He dropped us at the Ferry terminus; finally we were out of Hong Kong Airport. It was an awesome travel again. Was enjoying listening to the honking of the ferry and there fellow members; we soon reached the destination in less than 40 minutes.

It was around 3:00 PM CST, there was custom check at Shenzhen departure. Unfortunately the lady couldn’t tally me with the one in the Passport. It took 10 minutes to confirm her that I was the same guy as in the passport. Gosh I had entered the Dragon’s land escaping from Dragon’s jaws…:D,

We boarded a taxi to Huawei City located in Bantian…it took half an hour to enter the city. Roads are very much etched and buildings are posh…Huawei city is almost in the outskirts of Shenzhen but still one cannot find its in outskirts. Finally entered the Huawei City…I was dumbstuck…totally lost for second time…its simply huge…u find ppl everywhere…there are around 24-28 complexes in the campus…one such were my Apartments; which was supposed to be found first. The taxi driver was lost tooo…it took some time to make him understand how to go and where to go…for obvious reason they are not familiar with 26 lettered language and are more familiar with 3,600 lettered language.

Bingo!! Was the expression after dropping down…rather drooping down…:D, found all my colleague friends who were here. We were welcomed ‘warmly’ on a power-strip off day. I was given a room with number 351, was waiting for a key but got a card. Yeah it was my key to open the door of apartment. Nothing to worry, it works in the absence of power too…I entered the room…dropped the luggage…

This was the place I will be for next 6 months…watta bed…u never woke up once u sleep….:D, the apartments are very clean. We are entitled with hell a lot of facilities. Took a cold bath as it was pretty humid…n had a nap…then hit the roads of Shenzhen for first time. Before telling my adventure of Shenzhen strolling let me tell u about the view from my room’s balcony. There is full of trees/plants and then a road and a not so huge mountain on the other side. Can spend hours watching the place/people walking down the streets. No coming back to Shenzhen strolling…as it was Sunday my friends here usually go to Indian restaurant which is around 20 kms from our apartments. The hotel is called as Taj Restaurant…not bad it tastes true Indian…had Vada for the first time in China…:D. I also had the privilege of viewing Wachanben. It’s the SP road of Shenzhen, u find all damn electronics around here…there are branded as well as unbranded. The best part I liked was the Mini-Bus service…he takes juss 2 Yuans to take u to any part of the city. Isn’t it great….one more special thing about this service is that…there is no Bus-Stop as such….if u just whip ur hand in air…he will stop for the service…:D, imagine me whipping hand…:D

By the time we left back to our apartments it was around 11.30 in the night…I was damn tired and it was also raining like hell….

Juss went back and slept, woke up around 7:00 to realize it was morning. I couldn’t have had a better First day in this short journey to Shenzhen.

After all these I still say ‘East or West…India is The Best’…

Trio Brat's Trip

2005-06-06T20:49:00.000-07:00

It was 5 stuck in the clock on an awesome saturday morning and was woken up from the virtual world to reality by the grin of my clock. Was struggling to decouple my eyelids thus was not able to sleep off, suddenly realized the whacking blows I am gonna receive if I do not reach my first destination on time...at the same time my father reiterated about the event so i will not lag with time. Had to rush up...

Yeap the day ahead was about the dream I was about to visualize when I was not asleep...huh I had to Grin and Bear it...;)!! Also it was the day about a voyage to terra incognita for Trio Brats. For obvious reasons you already know the First Brat, well the second and third are two gigantic miniatures(Sunrita and Sandipan)...:D

Too much of suspense...hold ur breath to know the adventures of Trio Brats...well it was a curtain raiser for the trip to Nandi Hills...it was much awaited implementation of POA(Plan Of Action)...POA was done more than a year ago...due to aesthetic visionary of a person the Place in the POA was not realized...;). There were quite a few instances that could have instigated the destination Nandi Hills this time too...but brave First brat fought and won the battle for the other two....:D, because of my problems with the Chariot at the final cusp of travel. Hey hold on...forgot to introduce my sweet heart....yeah its my lovely chariot...driven by a bravo braino...;)

Road to Hebbal was serene and calm...not to mention it was early in the morning 5.45. I was literally driving my Chariot at 70 miles an hour...As soon as I stopped my chariot for first pickup...I saw an encroached person mimicking 'Cooolaa' with his spunky sunglasses...got all the cooolaa stuff from his place and marched towards The Sterling Gardens....yes i am talking about abode of Queen of Babylonia....;)...as expected her arrival was ignited with a Big Fight session....ofcourse she always wins the final arguement even though she is wrong...this time was for the Possession of Seat...

The wheels picked up its speed....we hit the NH-7 Highway around 6.15 in the morning. Awesome music of Kenny G was playing on my deck...Coool breeeze was whistling and hitting our facial muscles...Sun was rising gently on his legs...it was a pleasant day. Trio Brats were totally pepped up for the occasion ahead. We loved the drive most having lottsss of funn. This was my first to any hill station as a driver of my chariot....I was more excited....at the same time it was a testament for my driving skills...ofcourse I had the last laugh though...:D...cruising and piercing the trajectories of the hills we reached the mountain atop.

On reaching the top...we received warm welcome with sunn's friends out there....

The view from the great mountain Nandi was breath taking....Our hearts beating pitter-patter over the view...we were literally over the clouds...By this time, my stomach had sunken in....it was a rush hour for every one...in a nick of a time we unpacked the knapsack containing food...courtesy Food World...yummmy Cakes...we gulped it on the drop of a hat...in the meantime we had a photo session with sunn's kuchchikooo camcorder...

We missed a wonderful scene capture....it was sandipan's display of bravery to capture a flying cover....:)), in vain he lost to the glorious wind.

Then roamed around the hill....sunn was busy with her kuchikooo...shooting loveliest flowers on earth....;). Although I love ornithology, it was a bad time to be there. Sandipan desperately wanted a cup of tea...we obliged his request n stepped into the hotel...we got two cups of tea...woww watta tea it was...the taste was lingering around the tongue for a long long time...sunn seriously missed it, bad luck!!!

Ohh forgot to tell about the important place...on Nandi hills. It was the place where Tippu sultan's water plot where he use to park his droopy horses...:D

After strolling around the gardens n nurseries....it was around 11.30 AM...we had so called fresh cucumber and finally packed the baggage for departure down the hill. We had a plan to have the lunch on one of the punjabi dhabas....as sunn had tried the same on her previous visit...unfortunately we couldn’t have because it was too early. Well going by the thought provoking words...it always happen for good...we had our lunch at an awesome place....yes its none other than Chungs malleswaram...As soon as we entered the malleswaram realm...it reminded all of us about the past Golden Days we had at ISS...once again it made all our memories lively...it bought back all those enticing moments we had at that place...

After an exotic...mouth watering lunch, I thought...ahead was the Herculean task for me...As it was the last weekend in India before I land up at Dragon's Land...I had huge things to shop for. Then I realized there was nothing to worry about when I have Queen of Shopping besides me...:D, I utilized the expertization of sunn's shopping skills...:D. Have to mention sandipan's ideas were brilliant. Infact it was his idea about selecting the destination for shopping. It was none other than Garuda Mall...I went bizarre all over....got all the things required...

It was around 2.30 in the noon when we entered Garuda Mall...I can say its a budding shopping mall....soon will be transformed into Forum n Central with hell a lot of ppl arnd doing less shopping...

By the time we ended with my shopping....insatiable thirst for shopping stroke Shopping Queen which is by de-facto....always happens....now we were roaming everywhere like a worker bees behind a queen bee....:D, I must say we didn’t leave a single shop without entering....huhh...

Bingo!!! we left the Garuda mall at 6.45 in the evening, still there was a dissatisfaction of leaving early on Queen's face....

Finally left to hebbal and further to their respective homes....watta way to Ring Down the Curtains for an eventful day...I wouldnt have got a better weekend like this...before my departure...

Not to mention....this is juss a beginning....more to come...

Truly a cooooolllaa trip....:D

Remembering you . . .

2005-03-21T08:32:00.000-08:00

You were in my mind
when i woke up
this morning..

And i've been thinking
about you
all day long..

Remembering your smile,
your voice,
the sound of your laughter..

Remembering the little things we've shared
and how long it will be
before we're together again
with a time to share even more..

I can't think of anything or anyone
but YOU today..

I guess i m missing you,
more than i usually do . . .

P3A's Day Out

2004-11-14T06:22:00.000-08:00

I was in deep sleep when the alarm stroke on saturday morning, It was around 4.0 O Clock. Had to hurry up for the daily activities as mez and pradeep were suppose to meet at pramod's place for the rendevzvous of Sangam. I reached pradeep's house at 4.50 exactly, he took his time to get ready as he always does...finally left his place at 5.10 in the morning to pramod's place...as per the plan we were suppose to leave bangalore by 5.30 AM. Everything was planned very well...there was no hiccup of ne sort.

It all happend on thrusday evening when P3A met near Crossword...we all were conspiring for this trip from long long time but cudnt materialise until Saturday. We had the tasks distributed, each person knew exactly wat all the things he is gonna get in his knapsack. From food to first aid...from Camcorder to Yellow pages we had each and every facility at our fingertips...thanks for proper managment.

As it always happens with me i forgot the Map, the same happend with tvp also...but we knew the places which we were suppose to cover. Around 5.40 we started our voyage to the destination...we all were so much exuberant as it was the first P3A's day out...the morning was enticing...the weather was at its best...we were ruling the road literally as it was piloted by sv and navigated by pakku...mez n tvp where juss enjoying the cosiness of back seat...in few occassions we had the bumping effect bcoz of the road....the Sun was raising majestically from the horizon with a huge smile...by this effect the whole environment was transferred into paradise. It was lavishing green on the either sides of the road...was a feast for eyes...on the other side....cool breeze was giving us a very warm hug as I usually say ;)...

In the mean time vacuum was created in my stomoch...the chocs got by paks was not at all sufficient...i was eagerly waiting for the happy hour...it was realised around 7.15 or so when we stopped for the breakfast few kms after crossing kanakapura... Thanx to aunty (sv's mom) for making such a tasty chappathis...Potato Pealer was the Chappathi Roller that day....we had some small photo session there...After some effort from our navigator we finally reached the Chunchi falls(river arkavathi)...it was the first one on our map. We had to go down to watch the falls...the place was a mixture of wet mud and rocks...the path to the falls was very narrow. After lots of balancing act we got to see the glorious Chunchi with 2 tributaries...one was roaring with force and the other was genuinely gentle...the temperature there was pretty humid but the tiny droplets generated from the hard hitting water gave a pleasing effect on skin...the sight was absolutely charming with the formation of a rainbow around the falls because of relection, refraction and disperssion of sun's rays and mist...we had spent enough time at the place...While returning back we lost the path...after some trial and error could finally reach the top....in one word it was great trekking experience....our energy meters where very high...had coke n some snacks before starting to next destination.

Our next place on cards was Sangam....a trinity, rendezvous of 3 rivers... it was around 20-30 kms from Chunchi falls...we reached arond 10.30. We had to stop the voyager and walk down into the river...This was the place we had hella lot of fun...actually we had to go to Mekhedaatu which is around 7 kms from Sangam...enroute to Mekhedaatu we had to cross sangam...At the drop of a hat we changed our clothes...we crossed the river sangam by bare foot...it was a shallow water....reaching one's waist's height...played alot along the path...It was the time to reach Mekhedaatu, we boarded a luxury volvo bus...;)....we had to climb up....as we had booked seats in first floor. The ride was absolute fun with humping and dumping...by the time we reached Mekhedaatu our butts had taken a different shape...:D...

Hmm...what can one say about mekhe daatu....huh its breath taking...the river cauvery flows between 2 huge rocks....rocks there were very steep n slippery...one could find many whirlpools....one shouldnt miss watching the formation of whirlpool...But why this place is named as Mekhe Dhaatu ? Mekhe in kannada means goat...Dhaatu means cross...once a goat crossed the flowing river...from then onwards its named as Mekhe daatu...we got down thru the steep steps provided...the water here flows with great commotion...one has to be careful while climbing/getting down the rock at this place...it has a very good record of ppl being losing their lives...It was mid afternoon...sun was perpendicular...above our heads...it was time for lunch...had fruits and bakery stuff....Then after lots of conversation left for the View point....it was a good place....one could find almost entire mekhe dhaatu from there...Finally took the volvo bus again to reach sangam...spent almost 1.5 hour in the shallow waters of sangam...played alot...everyone was drentched by the other...rested on a small rock which was almost at the mid of the flowing river...tat was a great experience..P3A ON A ROCK...tvp was collecting the oyster shells...mez helped him in getting few...:D

Back to voyager...had to change our drenched clothes....it was around 3.30-3.45 when we departured from Sangam towards Bangalore....on the way stopped at few beautiful places...enjoyed the scenic beauty of early evening....It was around 7 pm when reached bangalore...on the way had decided to visit the abode of Goddess Raja Rajeshwari....couldnt have ended the day better than this...after the divine darshan returned back to home...

If anybody ask me the moment of the day....i would say the entire day...this is juss the beggining....more to come....The one to be cherished forever...

Colors of Life:Success

2004-10-10T21:08:00.000-07:00

Minds Move Mountains...

Was watching the cricket match yesterday between Australia and
India, I was so much annoyed to see India losing. How come
Australia win their matches most of the time, how can they steal
the show everytime? what makes them invincible? how are they so
much successful? These questions were striking my mind...

Now this one thing that everyone wants in their life....success.
Whatever may be our undertakings, nobody likes to fail.... We all
want to succeed.... Success though we all desire, truely
successful people are handful. There will be many factors for our
success and failures of life. But in every single case there will
be one main factor involved and that is Will Power and
determination. The degree of one's success in life is
commensurate to the degree of will power that one has attained.

Having said about will power, what is will? wherefrom does it
originate? Will is a compound of Self(our soul) and Mind.... our
soul is undifferentiated consiousness, in this consiousness their
is no will... because will presuppose of our mind and our mind is
the impeler of soul.... Thus will power is positive and creative
function of the mind which propels and enables us to do chosen
actions in definitive way and avoid unchosen actions in equally
definitive way.

Will power is that power of mind which enables us to do what we
know to be right.... and not to do what we know to be wrong...
under all circumstances, favourable or unfavourable, known or
unknown. Will power increases our innate strength... no one is
born weak..... Its all the circumstances and the ambience in
which one grew tat makes him strong or weak.

Judging what is right and what is wrong is the key to success. If
Wright brothers wudnt had the will power to think about inventing
flying machine we cud never fly. I read somwhere tat it took 1000
times for Thomas Alva Edison to invent bulb, they never gave up.
Nothing is impossible though it may be difficult to acheive.....
most of the times our failures show path towards success....but
we need to learn good things from the failure....and never repeat
the mistake which caused failure....juss the way aussies did...
:D they didnt give follow on...remembering their failure last
time...

We always face many problems in our life, everyday it comes as a
challenge for us but most of the time we will not juss solve
them. We never maneuver the problem, when we stay more time with
the problem we will surely be able to find a solution...their is
no problem in this world without a solution...the solution we
find should be simpler but not simplest....when we correct all
our small things in day to day life...big things get solved by
itself....

Its easy to say but very difficult to follow, we need to beleive
in our soul....we need to nurture power with in us....certainly
if we have will power....we can surely move mountains.....

Althoug Indians lost their match...that made me to think about
will power....:D This is the lesson that a failure teaches us....

Wish our Indian team will surely attain will power to demolish
aussies next time...

Colors of Life: Happiness

2004-09-05T08:00:00.000-07:00

It was dusk and sky looking absolute beauty yesterday, I was on terrace juss spending my time doing nothing. Suddenly I saw a bird it was a small one flying and fluttering in the air with a great zeal of happiness. It was probably enjoying its freedom, may be it used to do the same thing everyday but I only noticed that day. It had nothing to fear about; enjoying life to the maximum. Suddenly I realized the message that it had conveyed me.

Happiness !!! a great word, what is this happiness? why shud one be happy? what r the reasons for a person to be happy? are the queries one shud really think about. As far as I feel...Happiness is very small word which cannot be measured with any damn thing in this world. It is the state of ones mind. We are always perplexed and lost in this very big world. we often forget to be happy although we want to be happy. we run around things which are external and material, We often feel those things will fetch u a greater amount of happiness and start to posess them. Doing this we forget to be happy.

Its very much necessary for a person to be happy, becoz it energizes ones own self. He starts feeling the presence of soul in him; this inturn transforms the place around u, ppl around u, this makes u enthu and the whole ambience is happy becoz of ur happiness being transformed.
When I was young I use to like choclates (to this present day i still love them ;) ) and toys. If I had those i was very happy about it. When we r old our definition for happines changes...this happiness changes from person to person as well. Some feel very happy when they r with their GF's/BF's, some feel very happy in pulling others legs, some ppl feel happy when they r in the womb of nature...enjoying the beautic scenary...some feel happy listening to music or playing music... But I doubt is this the actual happiness? is this a permanent happiness? No this is juss a transient one...

According to me True happiness is one who loves his soul...There is a relationshp betwween soul and mind for being happy. The above phrases for being happy r juss reasons...but true happiness is when u r in solitude when ur mind is conversating with ur soul...n ur soul responds to it... Then ur soul will rejuvenate mind....its a great feeling then....Its very intrinsic and true. Its the same kind of happiness that the bird was experiencing...This happiness cannot be lost.One of the greatest enemies of happiness is expectations...U start expecting something and that if its not fulfilled then u r disappointed n stop being happy...ur mind loses its steadiness n calmness. Yeah its very easy to say not to expect but difficult to follow...I accept it but we need to practise.... We often look at the door of happiness which is closed rather than looking for a open door...

So to be happy ...start loving ur soul...know ur soul...understand ur soul....no person in this world is greater than his own himself (maane soul)....If a person understands, knows n loves his own soul will never be unhappy no matter what it is...

But sometimes I simply feel very happy juss like tat...what is this all about? No reason....yet to find it...I guess its my soul enjoying without any reason....;)...dont call me mad...

Thanx for bearing my torture....hahaha