Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Deepavali Habba
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Coincidence!!
Joy of doing things!!!
Monday, September 28, 2009
My experiments with stoicism
Saturday, September 05, 2009
Life with Ritzy-Ritz
The journey so far...
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Marriage - an event of epic proportions
I can proudly brag that I have fulfilled one of the deeds, at a fairly young age ;-). Am I young? well, I am listening to "18 till I die" by Bryan Adams, as I type these lines!!
OK, straight to the fact, I am talking about my sister's marriage. Though it is well over 3 months ago, I had been thinking of writing my experiences somehow today I felt, if I don't write today I might never write. So before memories fade, I want to put them in words. I would be utter selfish if I don't thank and acknowledge all my aunts and uncles for supporting me in fulfilling this great responsibility.
I never considered myself as responsible and important before my sister's marriage discussions started. When I confronted the question of "giving and taking" (as it is commonly known as "ಕೊಡುವುದು - ಬಿಡುವುದು") I felt a sharp shiver down the spine. I was speechless because I wasn't prepared for such question.
Sunday, July 05, 2009
My New Companion - Ritzy Ritz
But rain gods made sure that my Ritzy stays out of 'dhrishty' by showering some drops of rain after I took this picture!! But I am not moved, I will wash it again tomorrow!!
Background: When I decided to upgrade myself with couple of extra wheels, I started exploring all new 4 wheeler automobile world. Its a world of its own. The decision making was very complex.
Petrol or Diesel? The price difference for a diesel engine, takes about 50000+ kms to break even. That is almost half the life of the engine, though the FIAT 1.3L internation engine of the year seem to defy the diesel engine philosophy. So after my own study and consulting friends, I decided to go for Petrol.
There is hardly any choice in this category. My preference was a hatchback, small car. Swift tops the list. I10, I20(though a bit expensive), Inidca Vista Saffire, and then newly announced Ritz. My mind was thinking of waiting till Jazz and Grande Punto too. But I knew they would be out of my budget.
Then Test drove Ritz and I20 and liked both. Vista was ruled because of Tata's poor after sales service(read in reviews). Swift was ruled out as it has become ubiquitous on roads and also average performance of petrol engine.
The K12 series 1.2l engine of Ritz seemed to be impressive(source www.team-bhp.com). Also the design, especially rear design is, I should say different!! And it is built on Swift platform, looks almost like Swift from front. I20 is on the expensive side, though I was impressed very much by the features it boasts.
So Ritzy and I were destined to be companions. I decided to opt of ZXi, fully loaded. It is packed with ABS with EBD, MP3 player with FM, stearing mounted audio controls, company fitted security system, alloy wheels with wider tyres(185/70) to name a few features.
First drive impression - Awesome. It is almost impossible to tell if the engine is on without looking at the RPM meter. So life is going to be more fun and exciting!!!
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Lots of things....
I think I have not found the answer for that question, but definitely I did not find any reasons "Why shouldn't I?"
Ok, lots of things have happened in past 3 months.
1) Most important of all is my sister's marriage, was the biggest responsibility on my shoulders. A separate blog on the experience of "ಮದುವೆ ಮಾಡಿ ನೋಡು"(plights of performing marriage)
2) Got a project, a very hectic project with aggressive schedule.
3) Booked a car, yes I decided to upgrade myself with coupled of more wheels. More on this after I get it.
At this time in night I am wondering what all insignificant things alter the course of life. When you are 'home alone', these are the things that come to one's mind.
I can't believe I am typing this blog because of elections that were held on sometime in April!!! Here is how the logic works out. I should have been out in the western ghats, some where one could not even imagine. I had planned to go on trekking with my previous gang this weekend. But un-fortunately today was a working day in my office to compensate for the election day leave. What a pity!!!. Anyway, I am glad that I am posting after a long break.....
Ok... enough of non-sense. Got to get some sleep, tomorrow I am going to meet Sri after a long time... after that I have to go to aunt's place and so on...
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Small Wonders - Living on edge...
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Haage Summane - Time pass
Today happens to be a day like that, though I did not get to see the 'Kite show'. While returning, bus was almost empty and I was in no mood to read. So I did something interesting, that I had been planning to do.
I had read this famous poem from Pablo Neruda. Lot of people had translated the English version to Kannada(including Dr Nissar Ahmad). I too tried my turn, not a bad thing to kill time in bus!! Here it goes....
'Love is short and oblivion is so long' - This line touched my heart.
ಈ ರಾತ್ರಿ ನಾ ಬರೆಯಬಲ್ಲೆ ಅತ್ಯಂತ ದುಃಖದ ಸಾಲುಗಳ
ಉದಾಹರಣೆಗೆ,
ಈ ರಾತ್ರಿ ಛಿದ್ರವಾಗಿದೆ, ನೀಲಿ
ನಕ್ಷತ್ರಗಳು ಚಡಪಡಿಸುತಿವೆ ದೂರದಲಿ.
ತಂಗಾಳಿ ಆಕಾಶವನ್ನು ಸುತ್ತುತಿದೆ
ವಿರಹಗೀತೆಯನು ಹಾಡುತಿದೆ.
ಈ ರಾತ್ರಿ ನಾ ಬರೆಯಬಲ್ಲೆ ಅತ್ಯಂತ ದುಃಖದ ಕವಿತೆಯ
ಅವಳನು ಪ್ರೇಮಿಸಿದೆ, ಕೆಲಕಾಲವಾದರೂ ಅವಳೆನ್ನ ಪ್ರೇಮಿಸಿದಳು
ಅವಳನು ಬಾಹುಬಂಧನದಲಿ ಬಳಸಿದ ರಾತ್ರಿಗಳೆಷ್ಟೋ
ಅನಂತ ಆಗಸದಡಿ ಅವಳನು ರಂಜಿಸಿದ ಚುಂಬನಗಳೆಷ್ಟೋ
ಅವಳೆನ್ನ ಪ್ರೇಮಿಸಿದಳು, ನಾನೂ ಸಹ ಮನಸಾರೆ ಪ್ರೀತಿಸಿದೆ
ದೀಪದಂತಿದ್ದ ಅವಳ ದಿಟ್ಟ ಕಂಗಳನ್ನು ಹೇಗೆ ಅನಾದರಿಸಲಿ
ಈ ರಾತ್ರಿ ನಾ ಬರೆಯಬಲ್ಲೆ ಅತ್ಯಂತ ದುಃಖದ ಕವಿತೆಯ
ಅವಳಿಲ್ಲದ ನೆನಪಿನಲಿ, ಅವಳನ್ನು ಕಳೆದುಕೊಂಡ ವೇತನೆಯಲಿ
ಈ ಗಾಢ ರಾತ್ರಿ, ಅವಳಿಲ್ಲದೆ ಮತ್ತಷ್ಟು ಘೋರ
ಈ ಕವಿತೆಯು ಅಂತರಾತ್ಮವನು ತಟ್ಟುತಿದೆ,
ಹುಲ್ಲಿನ ಮೇಲಿನ ಇಬ್ಬನಿಯ ತೆರದಿ
ನನ್ನವಳನ್ನಾಗಿಸಿಕೊಳ್ಳಲು ನನ್ನ ಪ್ರೀತಿ ಸೋತಿರಲು
ಚುಕ್ಕಿ ಚಂದ್ರಮರ ರಾತ್ರಿಯಲಿ ಅವಳೆನ್ನ ಜೊತೆಯಲಿಲ್ಲ
ಇದೆ ಅಂತ್ಯವೇ, ದೂರದಲ್ಲಿ ಯಾರೋ ಹಾಡುತ್ತಿದ್ದಾರೆ
ಅವಳಿಲ್ಲದೆ ನನ್ನ ಅಂತರಾತ್ಮ ಚೈತನ್ಯ ಹೀನವಾಗಿದೆ
ಅವಳನ್ನು ಕರೆತರಲು ನನ್ನ ಕಣ್ಣುಗಳು ತಡವುತಿದೆ
ಹೃದಯವು ಚಡಪಡಿಸುತಿದೆ, ಅವಳೆನ್ನ ಬಳಿಯಿಲ್ಲದೆ
ಇದೇ ರಾತ್ರಿ, ಮರಗಳನು ಬೆಳಗಿಸುವ ರಾತ್ರಿ
ನಾವು, ನಾವಿದ್ದರೂ, ನಾವಾಗಿ ಉಳಿದಿಲ್ಲ
ನಾನಿನ್ನು ಅವಳನು ಪ್ರೇಮಿಸದಿರಬಹುದು, ಅದೆಷ್ಟು ಪ್ರೀತಿಸಿದೆ ಅವಳನ್ನಂದು
ನನ್ನ ದನಿ ಗಾಳಿಯನ್ನು ಭೇಧಿಸಿ ಅವಳನು ಅರಸುತಿತ್ತಂದು
ಹಿಂದೆ ನನ್ನ ಪ್ರೇಮದ ದೇವತೆಯಗಿದ್ದವಳು,
ಅವಳೀಗ ಅನ್ಯರಿಗೊಲಿದಳೇ?
ಅವಳ ಶಾರೀರ, ಅವಳು, ಅವಳ ಅನಂತ ಕಂಗಳು
ಅವಳನು ಪ್ರೀತಿಸದಿರಲು ನನ್ನಿಂದ ಸಾದ್ಯವೇ?
ಪ್ರೀತಿ ಕ್ಷಣಿಕ, ಮರೆಯುವುದು ಬಲು ದೀರ್ಘ
ಅವಳನು ಬಾಹುಬಂಧನದಲಿ ಬಳಸಿದ ರಾತ್ರಿಗಳೆಷ್ಟೋ
ಅವಳಿಲ್ಲದೆ ನನ್ನ ಅಂತರಾತ್ಮ ಚೈತನ್ಯ ಹೀನವಾಗಿದೆ
ಇದು ಅವಳಿಂದಾಗುವ ನೋವುಗಳ ಕೊನೆಯೇ?
ಇದು ನಾನು ಅವಳಿಗರ್ಪಿಸುವ ಕೊನೆಯ ಕವಿತೆಯೇ?
I do not take any credit for the above translation. It is just an humble effort to feel Pablo Neruda's emotions in my mother tongue.
Monday, February 16, 2009
My Valentine date...
My date was the very mother nature herself. I just lost myself exploring hidden treasures of western ghats.
It all happened in a very dramatic way. I desperately needed a break from everything. It had been a long time since I had detached myself from everything. I was getting more discontented at both personal and professional aspects. I was thinking of ways to redeem myself from gloominess. That is when Google recommended some blogs based on my reading habits and interests. One of them was http://sharavathi.blogspot.com/. I was on cloud 9 after going through it. It is maintained by Sampath, who is an avid nature lover and a techie like us. The post that he is arranging another trek on 14th and 15th was even blissful. Just what I wanted.
Everything was set and the friday the 13th wasn't unlucky for me. I found myself in the sleeper coach of Maharaja travels that was arranged by Sampath. A group of 8 other people had signed up for the trek, all of whom were strangers and would later become great company. The great team consisted of Arjun, Karen(from Sweden), Jovin, Mohan, Parag, Prasanna, Rajesh, Shivakumar, Sachin and Shashi, thats me.
Ready for a tiring journey on pick-up truck
We started our trek following Narayan into apparently raw forest, where there was no apparent sight of a trail until we reached a small stream. We followed the stream downhill balancing on slippery rocks. A wrong step would result in twisted ankles which is the last thing a trekker would want to endup. After several hours of walking, it was time for lunch. Sridhar and Gangadhar prepared toothsome lunch which was delectable along with the pickle. I think our hungriness, the nature, firewood, stone stove and the forest factor into the wonderful taste.
After lunch, we walked futher downstream passing a couple of waterfalls of few feet height. I somehow managed to keep my shoes dry, when most of everyone slipped and fell into the water. But at the end all my effort went in vain, as I had to voluntarily walk into the water!! The attraction of the first day was a falls which was about 10 feet high. It was precious because it was not easily accessible, innocent from civilization. Otherwise it was very normal and not worth the effort that we expended. But least I knew was that it was just the beginning.
Closest civilization from this point was about 4~5 km on the other side of the hill. It was not so stressful trek for about 1.5 hours before we stopped to take a glimpse of setting sun. I was still wondering about my stamina till this point.
Night halt was at PaDubeeDu, a single house in the forest. In dark I indulged myself into stargazing and virtually halted my cerebrations looking at the dark sky and innumerable stars. A campfire was arranged in the warmth of which we played anthakshari. It was a good mix of Kannada, Marathi, Tamil and English songs. Then followed scrumptious dinner, I particularly liked the payasa and had two servings of the same.
It was very cold night and the bedsheet I had carried was useless, so I hardly slept.
Morning woke up at 6 and found myself eating breakfast by 7. We set out for the big day by 7:30. None of us knew what was the day's attraction as Narayan was eluding my questions. Again the trekking was into the thick jungle and this time was very steep, downhill. I hardly got a chance to take my camera out to take some snaps. It seemed like endless descent and was wondering if I can make it while coming back. But I was amazed how my muscles were responding to my will. In fact I was ahead of the crowd most of the times.
After what seemed to be an eternity of descent, I could hear a faint sound of waterfall but I was still inside thickets. Finally I reached the bottom of the valley, after a short climb upstream, there it was, the blissful view of beLLigunDi falls. I was awestruck and went into a trance. The nature had hidden this treasure and this sight was perfect reward for my date. The falls is approximately 500 feet high.
I started climbing rocks and running towards the bottom of the falls. I felt like some kind of spirit was invigorated inside me. I took some more snaps and found myself running into the water to the foot of the falls. I did not care for chilling cold water. Just stood under the falls. I was there for about an hour. I think that experience is hard to explain in words.
Finally the reawrd was worth all the effort. At last it was time to say good bye to the falls, head back to fuel ourselves for the humongous uphill trek. I took the lead and started climbing up with Narayan behind me guiding me on almost inconspicuous trail. Again I was amazed at the way my muscles were responding to my will. I never felt exhausted. I just enjoyed every step of climb and kept going. In the whole climb, which was about at least ~4 km, I just took two breaks, as Narayan insisted. In my earlier treks I used to be the long pole in the group and it used to take all the fun away. But this time, I was on top, I was on cloud 9.
We made it to the paDubeeDu at around 4PM. Only lamentable part was that Karen lost her mobile somewhere on the way and couldn't trace it.
Again endured the trecherous journey to Kargal singing high spirited songs of all known languages. On the sleeper coach, I just surrendered to sleep goddess who took me into never-never land that took all the pain away.
Back to Bangalore with much needed warm-start. It was wonderful trip, dating with nature and meeting a very good natured like minded people. I am sure I would do more such trips in future.
Tuesday, February 03, 2009
Out of sight...
Here is a quick recap.
I think the year 2009 did not begin with a positive signs to anybody. It is sad to see/hear what is happening in the world. I hope and pray to almighty to end this madness soon.
My office shifted to Marathalli. All the privilege I had with office within 5 min from home is gone now. First week I enjoyed the traffic jams on outer ring road. I particularly enjoyed the ride back home in night, the music, loneliness and the feeling of all man for himself. I was particularly worried about my roadrage. I was amazed at my patience, I never lost temper so far. I don't care how others drive, I just be myself.
After 2 weeks, I am getting bored with monotonic traffic jams, mindless who don't care for red lights.
Number of vehicles increasing at rate more than our sluggish governament's projections, road repairs at snail's pace, all these are OK, if our road users understand and co-operate. Everybody seems to be in a mad rush, as if the world is going to end in few moments. I make it a point not to violate any rules as well as not to squeeze between gaps and cause annoyance to other drivers. But the result is I get left behind, but that is OK. I wonder why our people take life so easily. Everyday I see lot of lives just escape in fraction's of a second.
So far I have clocked 35min to 1 hour for 16km drive. I need to find alteranate transport since summer sun is already getting torturous.
Another thing worth mentioning is the music in some of the latest kannada movies is just amazing. Especially, hoovina baaNadante from movie birugaLi. Shreya's voice is just amazing, the initial hum is mind-boggling.
And my photography is going at a good pace, except that I hardly manage some time for post processing and publishing my work. I will take some action on this soon.
That's very much what is happening so far....
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
"No procrastination drive" - First step
One such pending thing was my bike insurance. This had been pending for almost 3 years. I finally got it done on Tuesday. As a punishment to myself, I did not want to get it through an agent. I went to Insurance office and got it done. Though it was not significant, I felt a great deal of accomplishment!!!
There is an endless list of such things which I intend to accomplish in this year. All the best to myself!!
Thursday, January 01, 2009
New year resolutions - 2009
Year 2008 was a great one. Probably the most significant year in my life so far. I had a fair share of successes this year. Few of my dreams fulfilled, few more got added into my bucket list.
I also had quite a share of failures too. Few of them changed the course of my life, few of them shaped me into what I am today. I can emphatically say that 2008 was a turning point in my life.
Above is true for both professional and personal front.
The year 2008 began with a bang, shattering one of my fondest dreams. There were other setbacks, but these are reserved for my "ಮೌನದೊಳಮನೆ"(Inner palace) .
I was awarded "Technical achievement award", the highest engineering award in my company, along with fellow teammates, co-authored for 2 patents finally ending the year with an "Individual Excellence award".
I managed to shed some weight too, though I did not go on any trekking trips year. My sister's marriage got fixed.
Professionally it was a very hectic year, working on a product with challenging development cycle, as a lead system engineer.
Those were the highlights. As I step into new year 2009, I need to have a strategy as undoubtedly 2009 is going to be even more challenging, both professionally and personally. As I retrospect on things that did not go well in 2008, the main reason I found is my procrastination.
So this year's my mantra is no-procrastination. Procrastination is a killer.
There is no meaning to "I don't have time". Everyone has 24 hours only.
Sometimes I need to swim against the tide, most of the times I went along with it.
I need to give due diligence to my hobbies (I will write about my hobbies later)
There are many other things I had in mind, but unable to remember now. Nevertheless, I am looking forward for more challenges and surprises in 2009. Welcome 2009....