Some updates...
Thought i will let the world know about what's on my plate at the moment :)
Music
Of course you might have guessed this is what i would start with! At the moment, i thoroughly enjoy watching/listening to "Gods of Guitar" in VH1. It was a feast watching live shows of Nirvana, G3 (Joe Satriani, Steve Vai and Yngwie Malmsteen, Steve Vai was especially awesome!), Eagles, Clapton, Metallica...
Other than this, i also loved couple of tamil film songs. Yaaradi Nee Mohini is now my favorite, especially "Venmegam Pennaga" and "Engeyo Paartha Mayakam"(Ahem, i have some reservations about Udit Narayan singing tamil songs, but anyway, the tune is good!). "Dasavatharam" features two good songs- "Mukunda Mukunda" (by Sadhna Sargam, she can hope for a National award for this song) and "Kallai Mattum Kandal" (have a close watch on the lyrics, just too good).
Books
There has been a dry spell on this area. I am specializing in reading some dull reads, even though they have been highly recommended by others. Some of the books i read in the recent past are - "A whack on the side of the head" (a book on creativity), "A whole new mind" by Dan Pink and "Envisioning Information" by Edward Tufte. Tufte is god but to understand his works, one needs some patience! I would recommend "The visual display of Quantitative Information" by Tufte to anyone making powerpoints, excel charts or working on Business Intelligence area.
Story Writing
I have received some feedback (both good and bad) for my earlier stories. I am glad that atleast some people are taking time out to read and provide me some valuable comments. I have already started conceptualizing my next story. I am also trying to venture into something new, which will be dedicated to someone very very special :)
Hobbies
As you might have noticed, i have taken up photography and long distance running this year. In both areas, i am still in the learning phase, long way to go, but thoroughly enjoying it!
Movies
Watching tonnes of movies these days over weekends and sometimes during weeknights. Some good ones include Fight Club, Planes Trains and Automobiles, The Devil wears Prada, Kandahar...Still have tonnes of backlog!
Musings
Whenever there is a fuel hike, why do we see long line of Cars in the petrol pumps? What do they gain by saving those 100 odd bucks, which they can as well save by using public transport instead of car, for one day?
What happened to the "Unlock Bangalore" movement started by Times of India? Did they finally realize that it cannot be unlocked? Did they get locked up trying to unlock?
Why does it rain only in the evenings, in Bangalore?
:)
Thursday, June 05, 2008
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Gandhi Kanakku (Gandhi's account)
Today morning, as i was having breakfast at Dosa camp, i noticed two traffic policemen, placing orders for Dosas and not paying a penny for it! In Tamil, this used to be called as Gandhi kanakku or Gandhi's account. All of a sudden, the question on the etymology of "Gandhi kanakku" came up! Why did Gandhi's name come into a phrase that kinda indicates insincerity? Later, after heading home i referred my "trusted" source and this is what wikipedia had to tell me about the phrase:
Today morning, as i was having breakfast at Dosa camp, i noticed two traffic policemen, placing orders for Dosas and not paying a penny for it! In Tamil, this used to be called as Gandhi kanakku or Gandhi's account. All of a sudden, the question on the etymology of "Gandhi kanakku" came up! Why did Gandhi's name come into a phrase that kinda indicates insincerity? Later, after heading home i referred my "trusted" source and this is what wikipedia had to tell me about the phrase:
Gandhi kanakku (Fraudulent accounting): Before 1947, when India was fighting against British occupation, companies and individuals often included "Contribution to Freedom movement" as an item in accounting statements. Most often accounting statements would not tally because management funneled money out. "Contribution to Gandhi's freedom movement" provided an excellent means to account for the "missing" money. Hence the term "Gandhi Kanakku". One should apologise to Mahatma Gandhi as this term brings a small amount of disrepute to him, for no fault of his!!!
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Sunfeast 10k Run update!
I am happy to announce that i participated and completed the Sunfeast Bangalore 10K run, my timer says i completed it in 1 hour and 22 minutes (which is by no means big achievement, considering the fact that some of them completed in under an hour!). Anyway, this is a big thing for me as i was determined to finish the race under 1.5 hours (being my first attempt at long distance run, without much practice)! The entire event was quite well organized, things were in place and there weren't any major hiccups.
I completed the Registration process yesterday, which was quite simple and straightforward. After collecting the bib and goody bag,I also collected a timing chip, which would get me a official timing certificate. Based on the advice provided by Manipal hospital folks, i consumed mainly carbohydrates, avoided proteins or fats on the day before the race day. Coffee was supposed to be avoided but i couldn't control that :)
Race day was quite exciting! By the time i reached the Kanteerava Stadium at around 7.45 AM, some of the Kenyans and Ethiopians had already finished the race(their run started at 7 AM). My running gear consisted of a good pair of running shoes, sunscreen lotion, sun glasses and a music player. It was quite nice too see lot of oldies and kids participate in the race. I also met some of my colleagues who had signed up for the race. At around 8.45 AM, we were asked to assemble near the Start line and there was so much cheer in the stadium. The race started sharp at 9 AM and the fun began! There was this usual media crowd (NDTV, CNN IBN, Times etc) who had lined themselves up near the start to broadcast the start live (i might have come live on TV, but at 9 AM, none of the folks i knew watched these news channels, so that's now history :).
For the first kilometer, everyone ran with lot of enthusiasm and after that, some of them where losing steam! There was also a collision incident involving a young lad and an old uncle. By the end of third kilometer, almost 50% of the crowd had resorted to walking and some of them even stopped. I continued running till about 4 Km and after that i started walking fast. My only aim in this race was to finish within 1.5 hours, so i was determined not to stop anywhere in the middle.
The route selection was awesome, it covered some of the historic spots of Bangalore. There was crowd on both sides of the road, cheering us as we crossed them. I also noticed that there were lot of old men and women (well beyond 50's) who were quite active and running for some distance.
By the time i touched 5Kms, my body was showing signs of slowing down, especially with scorching sun above! By then, i was near Ulsoor lake and suddenly, there was this cool breeze from nowhere! Almost all participants enjoyed the comfort and slowed down a bit. I slowed down initially, but then i knew i had to speed up, so i sprinted for a while, overtaking an entire bunch of crowd. I was eagerly awaiting to see the 6 Km mark and i couldn't see it anywhere! But after some distance, i spotted a marker which said 7Km! After that, i noticed that the crowd was slowly picking up the pace and i joined the bandwagon.
By the time i reached 9 Km, i was determined to accelerate, but unfortunately, the route for the 5.5Km run also merged in the same road and there was so much crowd, preventing the 10K participants from accelerating in the last leg. By the time i crossed the finish line (well, there was not even a banner called "Finish", we just had to cross an arch and we were stopped by officials saying the race is over), i noticed that i had made it under 1.5 hours! I guess i covered 6 Km in the first hour and 4 kms in the next 22 mins.
I was happy to see lot of crowd support for this run, right from a small kid holding a banner saying "Run Papa run" to two old ladies who were sitting on the median and clapping hands, cheering the runners saying "Bravo". There were also people from high rise apartments, who came outside withstanding the scorching sun and cheering the runners.
Finally, coming to the big question, why did i participate in the 10k Run? Well, very rarely we software folks get time (a lie here!) or motivation to participate in some events like these, our socialization is predominantly restricted to gmail, orkut and facebook. I took this as an opportunity to go out, meet folks, see people and have some fun. Seeing a huge crowd (nearly 20,000 in number) on a Sunday early morning definetely gives a lot of energy!
One last thing i realized during this run, long distance run is not about age! Its all about the stamina that comes from one's mental strength. I saw a lot of folks, who looked in good shape, but couldn't complete even 4 Km's. On the contrary, i saw an old man, probably in his 50's, running barefoot, who crossed most of us ( i hear that he finished within an hour!)
I am already looking forward to the next edition of this run. I would strongly suggest everyone to take part in these long distance runs, its fun!
I am happy to announce that i participated and completed the Sunfeast Bangalore 10K run, my timer says i completed it in 1 hour and 22 minutes (which is by no means big achievement, considering the fact that some of them completed in under an hour!). Anyway, this is a big thing for me as i was determined to finish the race under 1.5 hours (being my first attempt at long distance run, without much practice)! The entire event was quite well organized, things were in place and there weren't any major hiccups.
I completed the Registration process yesterday, which was quite simple and straightforward. After collecting the bib and goody bag,I also collected a timing chip, which would get me a official timing certificate. Based on the advice provided by Manipal hospital folks, i consumed mainly carbohydrates, avoided proteins or fats on the day before the race day. Coffee was supposed to be avoided but i couldn't control that :)
Race day was quite exciting! By the time i reached the Kanteerava Stadium at around 7.45 AM, some of the Kenyans and Ethiopians had already finished the race(their run started at 7 AM). My running gear consisted of a good pair of running shoes, sunscreen lotion, sun glasses and a music player. It was quite nice too see lot of oldies and kids participate in the race. I also met some of my colleagues who had signed up for the race. At around 8.45 AM, we were asked to assemble near the Start line and there was so much cheer in the stadium. The race started sharp at 9 AM and the fun began! There was this usual media crowd (NDTV, CNN IBN, Times etc) who had lined themselves up near the start to broadcast the start live (i might have come live on TV, but at 9 AM, none of the folks i knew watched these news channels, so that's now history :).
For the first kilometer, everyone ran with lot of enthusiasm and after that, some of them where losing steam! There was also a collision incident involving a young lad and an old uncle. By the end of third kilometer, almost 50% of the crowd had resorted to walking and some of them even stopped. I continued running till about 4 Km and after that i started walking fast. My only aim in this race was to finish within 1.5 hours, so i was determined not to stop anywhere in the middle.
The route selection was awesome, it covered some of the historic spots of Bangalore. There was crowd on both sides of the road, cheering us as we crossed them. I also noticed that there were lot of old men and women (well beyond 50's) who were quite active and running for some distance.
By the time i touched 5Kms, my body was showing signs of slowing down, especially with scorching sun above! By then, i was near Ulsoor lake and suddenly, there was this cool breeze from nowhere! Almost all participants enjoyed the comfort and slowed down a bit. I slowed down initially, but then i knew i had to speed up, so i sprinted for a while, overtaking an entire bunch of crowd. I was eagerly awaiting to see the 6 Km mark and i couldn't see it anywhere! But after some distance, i spotted a marker which said 7Km! After that, i noticed that the crowd was slowly picking up the pace and i joined the bandwagon.
By the time i reached 9 Km, i was determined to accelerate, but unfortunately, the route for the 5.5Km run also merged in the same road and there was so much crowd, preventing the 10K participants from accelerating in the last leg. By the time i crossed the finish line (well, there was not even a banner called "Finish", we just had to cross an arch and we were stopped by officials saying the race is over), i noticed that i had made it under 1.5 hours! I guess i covered 6 Km in the first hour and 4 kms in the next 22 mins.
I was happy to see lot of crowd support for this run, right from a small kid holding a banner saying "Run Papa run" to two old ladies who were sitting on the median and clapping hands, cheering the runners saying "Bravo". There were also people from high rise apartments, who came outside withstanding the scorching sun and cheering the runners.
Finally, coming to the big question, why did i participate in the 10k Run? Well, very rarely we software folks get time (a lie here!) or motivation to participate in some events like these, our socialization is predominantly restricted to gmail, orkut and facebook. I took this as an opportunity to go out, meet folks, see people and have some fun. Seeing a huge crowd (nearly 20,000 in number) on a Sunday early morning definetely gives a lot of energy!
One last thing i realized during this run, long distance run is not about age! Its all about the stamina that comes from one's mental strength. I saw a lot of folks, who looked in good shape, but couldn't complete even 4 Km's. On the contrary, i saw an old man, probably in his 50's, running barefoot, who crossed most of us ( i hear that he finished within an hour!)
I am already looking forward to the next edition of this run. I would strongly suggest everyone to take part in these long distance runs, its fun!
Sunday, May 11, 2008
My New Venture
I have been just too lazy to do this for a while, but this weekend, i made it a point to accomplish that task. Yes! I finally have a Flickr page where you can view the photos shot by yours truly. Oh yes, forgot to mention that i have a Canon Rebel XTi (If you've got it, flaunt it ;) )
My Photostream here
For a start, you can view the photos shot at Lalbagh, couple of weeks back. Do let me know your comments, suggestions, questions in that page!
I have been just too lazy to do this for a while, but this weekend, i made it a point to accomplish that task. Yes! I finally have a Flickr page where you can view the photos shot by yours truly. Oh yes, forgot to mention that i have a Canon Rebel XTi (If you've got it, flaunt it ;) )
My Photostream here
For a start, you can view the photos shot at Lalbagh, couple of weeks back. Do let me know your comments, suggestions, questions in that page!
Friday, May 09, 2008
Wednesday, May 07, 2008
Self discipline vs Forced discipline
Yesterday, as i was walking back home, i read the following notice in front of a wine shop:
"Closed on 8th, 9th, 10th due to elections"
I dont see such notices on October 2, mainly because the sale continues to happen via the back door. But in case of elections, there would be some real damage and the shopkeeper would face a huge loss, if he opens the shop, daring the party workers!
Update: I notice that there are similar signs in front of "Firangi paani" and Bayleaf (that liquor wont be served on election day). Is this something mandated by law?
Yesterday, as i was walking back home, i read the following notice in front of a wine shop:
"Closed on 8th, 9th, 10th due to elections"
I dont see such notices on October 2, mainly because the sale continues to happen via the back door. But in case of elections, there would be some real damage and the shopkeeper would face a huge loss, if he opens the shop, daring the party workers!
Update: I notice that there are similar signs in front of "Firangi paani" and Bayleaf (that liquor wont be served on election day). Is this something mandated by law?
Monday, May 05, 2008
Girl on Platform 10
“50 Rupees Sir”
“No! Its only 40”
“Sir we agreed for 50”
“Don’t lie! Why cant you autowallah’s speak truth?”
“Sir Petrol prices have increased sir, 40 Rupees is too little sir”
“I am not giving anything more than 40 bucks, just take it”
Anand thrust the money in the hands of autowallah and headed towards the Railway station entrance. This has been a routine fight he has been facing during his weekly trips to and from Chennai. He is not a “Yet-another-Bangalore-techie” who splurges money on anything and everything.
Anand never liked Chennai, especially because of the hot weather. Whenever he visited the city, he used to make sure that he stayed indoors. Places like these make him think that fan and Air conditioner are the man’s greatest inventions yet!
After picking a cup of iced tea, he walked into the Higginbothams book stall to stay in the air conditioned environment and kill time. The book store owner gave him a stare; he can very well judge who is going to buy and who is going to do window shopping, just from their looks and appearance.
“The same old stuff, why aren’t there any new books?” murmured Anand.
“If you come here every week, you won’t find much change in the collection. Come here after 6 months, you will find new books” The store owner replied back with a rough voice.
As he walked towards Platform 10, he noticed a pretty girl walking past him, carrying a sports bag. She must be about 20 years old, wearing jeans and red tops, thick frame glasses and a mild fragrant perfume. She must be an angel, thought Anand.
As he reached Platform 10, he started looking for a place under a fan. His train would take another forty five minutes to get to the Platform and he couldn’t imagine standing somewhere in that hot weather. He soon spotted a place that was right under a fan and as he sat down, he could hear heavy gasps from others who missed that place just because they were 2 seconds behind Anand. This is perhaps the best place in this platform, thought Anand. He soon settled comfortably in his place, with his ipod and a Salman Rushdie novel. While he was reading, he could smell the same fragrance and as he looked up, he saw the same lavishing beauty crossing him. He also noticed that she gave a quick glance at him as she crossed by. Wow, that almost pierced my heart, thought Anand.
After couple of minutes, as the girl crossed him again, the same thing happened, but this time, the duration of her glance was slightly longer. She also passed on a casual smile at him and he was completely blown off! Oh my god, she is really watching me, thought Anand. He had always had a reputation of being a big flirt, right through his school and college years. This was yet another chance to further his reputation.
As the girl crossed his place once more, she stared at him again and also flashed a cool smile at him. Wow, she is really seeing me, thought Anand. He waited for her to cross him again. Anand waited for several minutes, but she didn’t come back. Enough waiting; let me go ahead and look for her, thought Anand.
Anand picked up his stuff and started walking in the direction in which she was headed earlier. He almost reached the end of Platform 10 but he didn’t spot her. He also looked for her in the book store and the hotel but he couldn’t spot her. He searched for nearly 15 minutes and finally gave up the search. Hard luck this time as well, Anand consoled himself. As he headed back to Platform 10, he remembered that he had squandered his comfortable seat. He rushed back to see if it was still available. As he walked towards the place, he could see a young lady, wearing a red top and thick frame glasses, sitting comfortably in the “most wanted” place. What a loser, Anand cursed himself as he reached out for his hand kerchief to wipe the sweat off his forehead.
-----------------------------------
(Dedicated to S - This is my B'day gift to you :) )
“50 Rupees Sir”
“No! Its only 40”
“Sir we agreed for 50”
“Don’t lie! Why cant you autowallah’s speak truth?”
“Sir Petrol prices have increased sir, 40 Rupees is too little sir”
“I am not giving anything more than 40 bucks, just take it”
Anand thrust the money in the hands of autowallah and headed towards the Railway station entrance. This has been a routine fight he has been facing during his weekly trips to and from Chennai. He is not a “Yet-another-Bangalore-techie” who splurges money on anything and everything.
Anand never liked Chennai, especially because of the hot weather. Whenever he visited the city, he used to make sure that he stayed indoors. Places like these make him think that fan and Air conditioner are the man’s greatest inventions yet!
After picking a cup of iced tea, he walked into the Higginbothams book stall to stay in the air conditioned environment and kill time. The book store owner gave him a stare; he can very well judge who is going to buy and who is going to do window shopping, just from their looks and appearance.
“The same old stuff, why aren’t there any new books?” murmured Anand.
“If you come here every week, you won’t find much change in the collection. Come here after 6 months, you will find new books” The store owner replied back with a rough voice.
As he walked towards Platform 10, he noticed a pretty girl walking past him, carrying a sports bag. She must be about 20 years old, wearing jeans and red tops, thick frame glasses and a mild fragrant perfume. She must be an angel, thought Anand.
As he reached Platform 10, he started looking for a place under a fan. His train would take another forty five minutes to get to the Platform and he couldn’t imagine standing somewhere in that hot weather. He soon spotted a place that was right under a fan and as he sat down, he could hear heavy gasps from others who missed that place just because they were 2 seconds behind Anand. This is perhaps the best place in this platform, thought Anand. He soon settled comfortably in his place, with his ipod and a Salman Rushdie novel. While he was reading, he could smell the same fragrance and as he looked up, he saw the same lavishing beauty crossing him. He also noticed that she gave a quick glance at him as she crossed by. Wow, that almost pierced my heart, thought Anand.
After couple of minutes, as the girl crossed him again, the same thing happened, but this time, the duration of her glance was slightly longer. She also passed on a casual smile at him and he was completely blown off! Oh my god, she is really watching me, thought Anand. He had always had a reputation of being a big flirt, right through his school and college years. This was yet another chance to further his reputation.
As the girl crossed his place once more, she stared at him again and also flashed a cool smile at him. Wow, she is really seeing me, thought Anand. He waited for her to cross him again. Anand waited for several minutes, but she didn’t come back. Enough waiting; let me go ahead and look for her, thought Anand.
Anand picked up his stuff and started walking in the direction in which she was headed earlier. He almost reached the end of Platform 10 but he didn’t spot her. He also looked for her in the book store and the hotel but he couldn’t spot her. He searched for nearly 15 minutes and finally gave up the search. Hard luck this time as well, Anand consoled himself. As he headed back to Platform 10, he remembered that he had squandered his comfortable seat. He rushed back to see if it was still available. As he walked towards the place, he could see a young lady, wearing a red top and thick frame glasses, sitting comfortably in the “most wanted” place. What a loser, Anand cursed himself as he reached out for his hand kerchief to wipe the sweat off his forehead.
-----------------------------------
(Dedicated to S - This is my B'day gift to you :) )
Monday, April 28, 2008
A comedy called Dasavatharam Cassette release
I couldn't stop laughing while watching "Dasavatharam" Cassette release function. It was a comedy of errors and ambiguities; there were also lot of incidents which made me raise my brows:
- First, in what way Jackie Chan related to this event? (Except for him being an actor).Why was he, who doesn't know Tamil or Tamil cinema, flown in to participate in this function? There were some news clips which showed Jackie Chan guessing who Kamal Hassan is! ("Is he a good Singer?")
- Why is Mallika Sharawat sucking Jackie Chan? At times, it went to such an extent that Jackie felt so uncomfortable! She is the perfect example of how not to behave on stage. In short, she behaved like Rakhi Saawant(wow, i can insult her more than that!)
- Why aren't there any protests over Mallika Sharawat's attire? In fact the dress which Shriya wore for "Sivaji" was a lot decent when compared to the one worn by Mallika. Well, my opinion might be slightly biased as i am a big fan of Shriya, but still, the size and transparency of the dress will tell you everything!. Have the political protestors got used to her dress, after getting used to watching IPL cheerleaders?
- Jackie Chan kept smiling (well, his face is like that) and applauding all through the function, even though the speakers spoke mostly in Tamil. Later, i noticed that he clapped whenever there is a mention of his name.
- Actor Vijay mentioned that after meeting Indian Cricket teams captain Dhoni, he is glad to stand on the same stage with "Tamil film's Captain Kamal Hassan". Then what happened to our original Captain Vijaykanth?
- Dr. Kalaignar, known for his famous pronunciation of Hollywood hero "Arnold Chwitchneeeger" (yeah, the Terminator guy), this time was comfortable pronouncing Jackie Chan as either "Sacky John" or "Jockey San"!
I hope the movie doesn't end up as funny as the cassette release function!
I couldn't stop laughing while watching "Dasavatharam" Cassette release function. It was a comedy of errors and ambiguities; there were also lot of incidents which made me raise my brows:
- First, in what way Jackie Chan related to this event? (Except for him being an actor).Why was he, who doesn't know Tamil or Tamil cinema, flown in to participate in this function? There were some news clips which showed Jackie Chan guessing who Kamal Hassan is! ("Is he a good Singer?")
- Why is Mallika Sharawat sucking Jackie Chan? At times, it went to such an extent that Jackie felt so uncomfortable! She is the perfect example of how not to behave on stage. In short, she behaved like Rakhi Saawant(wow, i can insult her more than that!)
- Why aren't there any protests over Mallika Sharawat's attire? In fact the dress which Shriya wore for "Sivaji" was a lot decent when compared to the one worn by Mallika. Well, my opinion might be slightly biased as i am a big fan of Shriya, but still, the size and transparency of the dress will tell you everything!. Have the political protestors got used to her dress, after getting used to watching IPL cheerleaders?
- Jackie Chan kept smiling (well, his face is like that) and applauding all through the function, even though the speakers spoke mostly in Tamil. Later, i noticed that he clapped whenever there is a mention of his name.
- Actor Vijay mentioned that after meeting Indian Cricket teams captain Dhoni, he is glad to stand on the same stage with "Tamil film's Captain Kamal Hassan". Then what happened to our original Captain Vijaykanth?
- Dr. Kalaignar, known for his famous pronunciation of Hollywood hero "Arnold Chwitchneeeger" (yeah, the Terminator guy), this time was comfortable pronouncing Jackie Chan as either "Sacky John" or "Jockey San"!
I hope the movie doesn't end up as funny as the cassette release function!
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
Gliding through Bangalore traffic
One of my friends recently asked me an interesting question:
"What should i know to drive around Bangalore, in this mad traffic?"
Without any hesitation, i replied:
"Tetris!"
One of my friends recently asked me an interesting question:
"What should i know to drive around Bangalore, in this mad traffic?"
Without any hesitation, i replied:
"Tetris!"
No!
As i heard this dreaded word from her, the first thing to strike my mind was "Well, there are so many books and workshops on how to say No, but why isn't there any material on how to take a No as an answer from somebody?"
p.s: I am sure you must be wondering what this is all about, feel free to think of anything that suits this situation :) Its definitely not a breakup!
As i heard this dreaded word from her, the first thing to strike my mind was "Well, there are so many books and workshops on how to say No, but why isn't there any material on how to take a No as an answer from somebody?"
p.s: I am sure you must be wondering what this is all about, feel free to think of anything that suits this situation :) Its definitely not a breakup!
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