Garam Masala

Health Insurance - how will it react now?

2010-07-13T01:36:00.000-07:00

In a recent development in the health insurance sector, the public and private health insurance companies striked off the cashless facility from the most of the hospitals in the metros. This created such a splash that the lesser important news of taxing the cashless facility (a service tax of 10.3% levied on availing cashless facility) went practically unnoticed. The insurance companies had been negotiating with the hospitals for the last 6 months to reach an agreement on pricing of procedures. Lack of positive response from the hospitals left the insurance companies with no choice but to remove the cashless facility.

The point to wonder here is that the correction did happen and the claim ratios will come down a notch. But the cost of this correction is a penalty that the consumers should pay - in terms of shelling out the total sum and claim from insurance (without assurance that all of it will be reimbursed) or pay 10.3% tax in the hospitals were the facility is still available. That is huge, considering the poor infrastructure and the lack of health education in the country. This could have been easily avoided by the government / regulatory body intervention. Instead of having the market correct itself, government could have forced the hospitals to cheat less, charge less.

One argument here is that regulating could mean stunting the growth of the health industry. However, Firstly, the health insurance is not making a hell a lot of money any way. And, health is a social issue and should be looked at as one, and not draw comparisons with life insurance / automobile / retail segment. It is grossly inappropriate. The role of the government / regulatory bodies should be pro-poor (specially in a country with (appx) 60% population living in poverty) and take proactive steps in protecting them. Secondly, have we learnt anything from the financial meltdown? - it is better to act than wait for the disaster (correction) to happen.

Now what will happen (and we have to see how companies tackle this) is that even lesser people will go for health insurance (current penetration of health insurance is less than 10%). This is paradoxical that the cashless facility was taken out to reduce claim ration, but this move is going to hurt the top-line of the company.

Where do you want to settle?

2010-05-31T02:02:00.000-07:00

I am not going to write about how to plan for retirement or tell you how much to save for kids etc. Yesterday N and I were considering options about the cities that we can settle in once retired. On the face of it weather and language was considered. Beyond that we were pretty lost on what we think is important for us during our retired life. Here are some points that we pondered over -

Going back to a calmer and more peaceful place is definitely a priority. What we had in mind was something like the Bangalore of old times. Mysore was an option... and so was Shimoga.
Fact: In India alone 15 million people are going to migrate from villages to cities in the next 5 year.
What that means is that the bigger cities are definitely going to be overcrowded (over over over crowded) and at some time Govt will have to look beyond the big cities and focus on tier 2 cities (corporations like IBM are already doing so.. the issue is that these companies are human capital intensive and cannot find required resources in a smaller town. But that is besides the point). So, in all probability, at the rate India is growing (in population and GDP) tier 2 cities of today would have been promoted to tier 1. So, at this point we might as well rule out these tier 2 cities and concentrate on some small towns that have potential of moving to a tier 2 city. But spotting those is nearly impossible at this point.

A more secure place is another important criteria. We dont want to save up for our last 10 years and be shot by some idiot who claims to be a Robin Hood.
I think the Naxalism is reached a tipping point where either the government will grant them their rights or wipe them out of the face of the earth. One way or the other, large portions of India will be rid of mindless violence. I cant say that about inflitration.. because I have more confidence in the Islamic fundamentalism than India's attempt to root them out. So, India will continue crying for US attention and US will continue asking Pakistan to stop cross border terrorism.. and nothing will come out of it.
Back to 'a more secure place' - I think it is too soon to plan.. though a rough idea of the kind of place will keep us happy. But if Naxalism will cease to exist, something else will crop up.

Third criteria was the language. This we can be sure of... more or less. Living in Karnataka, we will want to be among people who can speak Kannada. English or Hindi as second / third language is not too bad. But I would want to say a 'amman' here and an 'akkan' there to digest my afternoon meal.

Where to invest?

2010-05-06T01:58:00.000-07:00

With Greece, Portugal, Spain in the firing line, the immediate impact on India is something of a worry. 150 billion is what will be given to Greece. Just a comparative figure, the total remittances into India this year was 54 billion!! (anyway, that's besides the point).

Read (past tense) about the simplified reason for sovereign default. It goes - Govt expenditure is considered as the proven option to get out of recession. This is done by governments taking huge loans to kick start projects, which in turn generates employment. In effect the govt manages to increase GDP enabling the country to pay back the debts. But when the cycle does not complete, and the projects do not convert to employment, everything falls apart. (ah! so it is a project management issues!)

This "govt expenditure to kick start economy' works most times. It worked in the two recessions US went through. May be that is what is meant when you hear - It works most of the times. We know that Japan could not do it and piled on huge debts which, after 20 years, is still deflating. And now it is the EU countries.

So here we are - Markets are going down. Goverment bonds are not reliable. Banks are defaulting. Real estate in China is predicted to be on a collapse. Analysts (Analyst is a make believe position created. They think that the world functions based on the formula they derive by crunching some apparently useful information. Beware!) have predicted that China might collapse in a decade (or was it a year?), which will either leave India as a only prospective super power (yay!) or cause India (and the world) to collapse. So, I wonder, even for a risk taking individual (unlike me), what does one hedge his risky investments against? Gold, may be! Or keep it under the pillow!

CocaCola in Kerala

2010-04-21T21:02:00.000-07:00

http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?227376

This is the case with the CocaCola plant in Kerala which details the damage caused to the ground water in that area. The intriguing part is pH factor testing. Outlook (magazine) got the ground water tested from Sargam Metals, Chennai, whose lab is accredited by the government's department of science and technology and Cocacola, in response, got the water tested from R-FRAC which is a reputed, independent, national Accredition Board of Laboratories and ISO 17025 certified Lab supported by Ministry of Food processing industries, govt of Karnataka.

Sargam Metals reported the pH factor to be 3.5 (deadly!) while RFRAC reported 6.89 (potable). The permissible limit is 6.5 to 8.5. What CocaCola did here is not to say that they are not polluting ground water, but made those figures completely irrelevant. If you can fetch a number, so can we.

From my 10th standard Chemistry knowledge, testing pH is not complicated and will not have several parameters that each accredition uses selectively to arrive at the favorable numbers. Makes me suspicious!

Ford going back to basics

2010-04-12T20:55:00.000-07:00

Ford Motors started its journey with 1 model.. the much famous Model T over the 100 years ago, and Henry Ford prided over the operational efficiency achieved to produce that one model. At one time Henry ford called CEO of Chrysler (Walter Chrysler) (one of the 2 competitors at that time) a fool for having so many models as he could never achieve efficiency.

Now, over the years, Ford did the exact same thing as the GM and Chrysler. They acquired any brand that was for sale and released new models every so often. And in the course Ford moved from one model to a range of models and brands.

It took a recession and an almost bankruptcy for them to realize that the smaller portfolio of cars and brands is the best way they can run the company. In turn, they now realize (again) that Henry Ford was a smart man to have just one model. :) And that is why you see them selling the JLR to Tata and Volvo to Geely. Good luck to Ford...

Mobile Number Portability

2010-04-06T03:32:00.000-07:00

Making a shift - from stories to opinions. An effort to incite readers (if any) to argue with me.

I am waiting for the Mobile Number Portability to come through.

What is the problem - Since the market has opened up to the private players, the private players have become significantly big (in consumer base).. even if we consider only the tier 1 and 2 cities. The bad part is, they are probably so big that they can lobby enough so that the MNP does not come through. And then there is the BSNL and MTNL which still think they are sitting in duopolistic market. There was news that they have not even purchased equipment to test MNP, while DOT has given a deadline of May for implementation. What audacity! All these players on one side, and the (corrupt) government on the other. What a contest this is going to be! :)

So, if MNP comes through, who is to win? consumers. Who is to lose - BSNL and MTNL!

Why I want MNP to happen - not because I have anything personally to gain from it. I am happy with my airtel connection and will probably continue with it. This MNP is a pure market pressure. It is the lever that the government holds to make the market more efficient and price competitive. In the end, probably only a handful will survive and all the existing players will trade off about +/- 15% of their consumer base. With the rock bottom prices, this might be the question of solvency and insolvency.

However, India is nothing new as a market. Historically, MNP has seen opposition from the incumbents in the market. But there are many countries that have implemented it (Australia, for one). Waiting to see how everyone reacts to it in India. What do you think?

Powercuts in Bangalore

2008-07-24T08:11:00.000-07:00

Deficient water rains have forced the government to announce power cuts for 4 - 6 hours in Bangalore everyday. Actual power cut everyday is definitely more than this. Rural Karnataka probably will be seeing only a couple of hours of power everyday. People going to office often do not realize the problem. 6 hours power cut means there will not be power for quarter of the day, minimum. For jobless people like me, who quit office 20 days in advance to catch up on movies and read end up swatting mosquitoes. I have to keep my laptop charged for the hours of power cut. A few days back I had to call British Airways to enquire about transit visa requirement. When they asked me for my pnr number I had to tell them that I had it on my mail account and will have to call back when the power comes back! Lots of instances like this. Really frustrated!

How long is this going to continue. A the power we have wasted for so long, the irresponsibility of water usage is now showing up.

2008-07-21T07:50:00.000-07:00

Chili and I cycled from Bangalore to Mysore. 150 km. 10 hrs. It is the most tired that I have been in the last 28 years! Thought I would need at least 5 days to recover. But no, I am back to normal after a good night's and a good day's sleep. :)

The best part of the adventure was when we saw the Welcome to Mysore board. There are so many things to write about the goods and the bads about cycling to Mysore. About the road, the people, the hotels on the way etc. But that would make the post too long. In short -

Terrain :
Bangalore to Maddur - 85 km - flat land, hardly upslope, few down slopes
Maddur to Mysore- 65 km. 1 km down slope. 55 km of slow uphill. Extremely frustrating and the slope seems never ending. That is what tests your mental and physical stamina.

Road
Excellent. A few humps where the highway passes throug Mandya and Maddur. Else, simply excellent!!

People
We got a lot of cheering from people on the road. People passed us with their thumbs up, or a loud shout cheering us. A few guys even offered us tender coconut and briefly talked to us asking why? where etc questions. That refilled the energy in us.

Hotels
Kamat LokaRuchi saved us. 60 km from Banagalore. Buffet breakfast for Rs 60. That is what kept us going for the remaining 110 km or so. Rest, mostly barren land from Banaglore to LokaRuchi and from Mandya to Srirangapattanam.

Finally, one more thing off my list. Really glad.

2008-07-16T21:41:00.000-07:00

Sense falls below 13000. It is strange that I follow these values once in a while. I do not know why I do it. Because, my buying or selling does not depend on my analysis of the market. I do not follow it closely enough to analyse (speculate) it. It is only what my market expert friends ask me to buy or sell. I just follow instructions. Since January I have, in my portfolio, lost substantially. What pinches is that had I drawn out the money before Jan, I would have funded my MBA a little bit better. But now I will have to wait for another year (or a few years, or a life time) to see some green patches in my portfolio. But I am done with this game. Once I see 20% up on the stocks, I am going to sell all of it and swear never to enter it. But for that, I have to wait (for a year, 2 years or a life time). This game is not as interesting as people make it out to be. Yes, first year or even a couple of years it is fun to see that you, accidentally, made wise decisions, but it demands way too much attention.

Let me at least get my investment + interest that I could have earned back. I am out of it.

2008-07-14T20:57:00.000-07:00

We completed the painting in the school today. It took us 3 weekends to complete it. This time it was Chili, Ameya, Kavya, Erica and I. After painting 3 walls with light yellow, one wall with bright yellow, the bottom strip of all the walls with white and the blackboard with black, Kavya bought a few bottles of acrylic paint. We called the kids from 1st to 5th, applied their favourite colour their palms and asked them to put their palm mark on the wall. The kids enjoyed it so much when we lifted them to reach the high ends of the walls. We also pulled in teachers to do this. They absolutely enjoyed it. It was a lot of fun. Kavya got the pinup boards fixed to the walls. It looked really nice, however, the HM did not seem to be very happy with the effort. We were happy and the kids were happy. Efforts worthwhile.
Children - Explore! Fill the room with your creativity! It is totally yours!

Now I can proudly say - yeah! We can paint a room. I am actually good at it. :)

Contributors - Chili, Kavya, Anitha, Anu, Erica, Prashanth, Ameya and I.
Great effort people.

Plan for the cycle trip to mysore is on. We are targeting this Sunday!

Foot in mouth moment.

2008-07-13T04:51:00.000-07:00

My cousin had come home with her 1 year old baby. The baby peed in her diapers to which I said -
We guys never get to know how it feels to pee in a diaper. By the time we are old enough to know it, we are not wrapped with diapers.

... and my mom and cousin are giving me a can-you-listen-to-yourself?! look.

Its all about timing!

2008-07-10T01:41:00.000-07:00

Wearing high heals is injurious to health. Don't people know that it is easy to break their ankle on high heals? But the British court decides to awarded USD 14,000! Read this.

Strange world.

2008-07-08T23:11:00.000-07:00

I have contributed to the SkyLife product for the last 1.5 years but will not be around during the launch of the product. Also, I am losing out on all the bonus we get on successful launch of the product, party, drinks, appreciation mails and gifts.
Hmm...

Weekend.

2008-07-05T20:42:00.000-07:00

A well planned weekend turned out to be a huge disappointment.

Chili, Dinesh and I were planning on a cycle trip to Mysore on Saturday. One way. We planned to ride a buss on the way back. All preparations were done. We bought Helmets, puncture repair kits, tubes, spanners, chain oil and pump. God was smiling as we were buying all these. He had other ways of foiling our plans. At 11 pm on Friday, as Dinesha was cycling from Indiranagar to my house, the cycle pedal came off. Of course, we could not think of that as a possibility. After that, all we could do is have a cup of tea and laugh at our lack of luck (Say this like a Gult. Sounds really funny). Happens.

Plan 2. Chili, Namratha and I had plans of doing Bunjee jumping in palace grounds. It was this Xtreme Zone organized bunjee jumping event. In simple words - we had to jump of from 125 feet with a thin rope tied to our waist. When I mailed this idea to the whole group, people did not consider the idea very interesting (for obvious reasons). Again, God was smiling as we were making plans. Remember, He had already decided to ruin my weekend. Evening 4:30 in the gym, I sprained my neck when I was doing abdomen work out. Strange - I would understand having a back sprain during abdomen work out or a hamstring when doing a leg work out. But God wanted to add some humor to the proceedings. And that is why he came and sat as a pain in my neck.

The only good thing about the weekend was the Evam play that we watched - Doubles, Triples And Quadruples. Really, really, really hilarious. Saving grace of the weekend, I must say. I find it rather strange that God did not look for completeness and spoil this too. Well, I am glad about that. :)

History repeats.

2008-07-03T01:40:00.000-07:00

One month before I left US for the first time in Dec 2004, I was riding from Chicago to Milwaukee at 6 am. I was caught for breaking a law. They call it over-speeding.

Today, about 1 month before I am leaving for Canada, police towed my vehicle for parking in a no-parking.

Both the law breaking cost me the same (of course, not considering the conversion). 300 ($ once, Rs the next time).

deja vu in a sense.

2008-07-01T07:02:00.000-07:00

I met this 15 year old boy who fixed the puncture of my bike. He is a boy from UP who has come to Bangalore after his 8th standard exams for a vacation. He did not know how to pass time and since he was accruing expense, he thought he might as well work. And he was working with a mechanic.

Ready to help with a brilliant smile on his face. Best of luck kid!

Aa Dinagalu

2008-06-27T22:48:00.000-07:00

Directed by K M Chaitanya.
Starring : Chethan, Rekha, Girish Karnad, Ashish Vidyarthi, Atul Kulkarni, Sharath Lohithashwa

Nice movie. Very strong dialogues. Brilliant music by Ilayaraja. There are only 2 songs, but truly Ilayaraja class! Nanditha, Yesudas and Ilayaraja have sung it brilliantly.

When I was listening to "sihi gaali" song, the lyrics of the song seemed so beautifully fitting the music. Gives you a feel of those lyrics of Kasturi Nivasa and the songs of that era. I looked up the lyricist's name and it was guessably K Kalyan.
Kudos to him.

Now coming to the actors. Chethan is a new guy. True Kannadiga - reflects in his overuse of the letter 'h' in his name. I read somewhere that Chethan is has done his masters in drama from the US and wants to act in Kannada movies. Welcome. He has done a decent job. Not many screw ups. But has to learn to cry well.

Atul Kulkarni was a good choice. But personally, I feel Kannada industry should not be using Hindi actors to do powerful roles. For example, in this movie, Ashish Vidyarthi cannot speak a word of kannada and that screws up the lip sync. It makes it look like a dubbed movie. Too bad. Same with Atul Kulkarni. But atleast Atul is very expressive and manages to make up for the lip sync issues.

Archana - Ok actor. Very beautiful.

Sharath Lohitaswa - Wow! Whattay voice. Nice acting. Where was he all these days I have seen him in a kannada serial once. Liked his voice then. He is surely wasting his talent by acting in TV serials.

Girish Karnad - No comments. Never like his acting.

I liked the guy - character in the movie : sardaar. Some how such people do not get important roles.

I also learnt that there is a kannada word for underworld. It is called Bhoogata jagattu.

In all, must watch Kannada movie. In the sea of puneet raj kumar, sudeep and darshan movies, and deluge of Sonu Nigam, Kunal Ganjawala and Udit Narayan songs, such movies come and go. For a lot of people it goes unnoticed. This is not the one you should be missing.

Painting the Room - Day 1

2008-06-25T03:21:00.000-07:00

First time in life I had my hands dirty in distemper. Pretty cool.
Saturday, Kavya, Anitha, Pacchi, Anu and I painted the new room in our school. Light yellow on 3 walls and dark yellow on the fourth. Memorable. But as Kavya never does, she did not get her camera. So the moments of joy could not be captured for ever.
Anitha got the best compliment. A guy on the road asked her if she was a painter and what kind of painting she did. She was excited.
Anu did the painting but did not get her hands dirty. Did she do any painting?!
Pacchi's long hands reached every corner and swatted all spiders. Credit for painting the top corners has to go to him!
Kavya was the brain behind the act.
I was the water boy. I got people alu bun, dilpasand, water (of course) and paint. I made sure that the fellow painters were happy. Did no worthwhile work but without shame take credit of getting all of us together. Getting all the skilled workers under one roof is a tough job, I say!

Doing the second round of painting and fixing of the board this week. Interested people can join. We are only 4 this weekend. We need 2 more. Early bird gets the nail (to nail the board in the wall).

Later that day, we went to this restaurant called Colonial. The whorestest dinner I have had, till date.

Oh, Happy birthday Chili. From year you will be in your early thirties! What can I say!

HEC Montreal.

2008-06-25T03:15:00.000-07:00

I got an admit from HEC Montreal for an intesive MBA starting August 2008. If everything goes well, I will be leaving in second week of August. For all those in Bangalore, I shall see you in exactly 1 year. Hope time flies.

Wiki Montreal. Good stuff.

Parambikulum.

2008-06-10T21:47:00.000-07:00

I went to a place called Parambikulum on saturday. It is a wildlife sanctuary near Pollachi, Kerala. They have interesting packages. The one we went for was called the Tented Niche. We stayed at Parambikulum and did some animal and bird watching. It is a dense forest with 26 tigers in it. Totally unexplored and maintained by the tribes around there. The govt. is doing well to maintain the serenity of the place.

We saw deers, Elephants (a huge heard of them), bisons and wild boars. There are 26 tigers, but we could not spot any. The govt does not allow night safari as they do not want to disturb the animals in the night. It seems like a untouched forest, much like the silent valley that Chili had been to.

The interesting packages there are :
Anekal Wild : It is a 3 km trek into the forest. This is available only 5 days in a month (on full moon nights). There will be a tent for 6 people in the middle of the jungle and with us will be 2 naturalists, 2 gunmen and 2 watchmen. We have to carry the grocery and food will be prepared for us. bathrooms available. It is only one night action and we will have to wait all night to spot any animal. Chances of spotting a tiger are the highest (though people have come there 10 times and have not been able to see one). It is 3000 / tent per night.

Vengoli : This is also in the middle of the forest for one night. Since this is a daily package, the human intervention in this part of the forest is high. But, chances of spotting animals in the night is high. This package starts from 4 pm in the evening till the next morning. Grocery needs to be taken. Bathrooms not available (I think) and it is a 6 km trek to the place.

TramwayTrek : It is a 2 day trek. Total of 25 km through the forest. You will be walking through the forest with 2 naturalists, 2 gunmen and 2 watchmen in the night. You will be trekking from Parambikulum to Adarampalli. Chances of spotting a rare animals is high. Cost - 6000 for 5 people.

There are other night treks starting at 11 pm up till 2 am. From parambikulum to parambikulum, I think.

Trombay trek might be difficult for some people. Anekal wild is the most exciting. It will be really exciting to catch a glimpse of of the wild cats (restricting the usage to animals only, not porn movies. )

This place will be closed during monsoon - September, October, November. And people there understand only Tamil and Malayalam. So you can ask Chili or Achuth to get more details, do the booking etc. For booking, you need to send a money order of the advance amount.

It is about 10 hours journey from here till Parambikulum. We could take our cars or hire a TT.

Contact numbers :

04253 - 277251 - Mahendrekran
04253 - 277249 - Chandran
(These are the boat men who gave us all the details. They will also suggest good guides and organize things for us, if needed)

Parambikulum Eco-Center contact :
04253 – 245025. Ask for Gopi. He is very helpful. You can take the reference of Dinesh and the group of 6 people who came on June 7th.

Website : http://www.parambikulam.org

Okay, you will find all this info on the website. I did not know till I looked now.

Status.

2008-05-12T21:28:00.000-07:00

5 Schools applied to. 5 rejected. Start afresh.

What I have not been doing.

2008-04-28T04:18:00.000-07:00

It has been such a long time since I have played any sport.

Several weeks since I played cricket in the colony. Occupied with "something less important yet cannot miss" kind of situations.

Badminton - almost forgotten when I played last. What hurts more is that I don't see that I will be starting playing anytime soon. Sigh.

Squash - I have no idea what happened to this. No one turns up because of cost. The Club suddenly sucks!

Swimming - wanting to go for the last 3 weeks. Have not been able to. I went last week, stood in the queue and came back because they would let in only fixed number of people per batch and my number was not in the fixed number.

Cycling - Finally done away with the guilt. Gave the cycle to Ashish (for a month or two). The burden is off my shoulder for now.

I got a punching sack from Chetan. Practiced for a week. Chetan stopped coming and since then it has been accumulating dust.

Kalari - I have been so regularly irregular that I am now embarrassed to restart.

Waiting takes most of my time.

Mayada - Daughter of Iraq

2008-04-02T23:45:00.000-07:00

Finished reading - Mayada - Daughter of Iraq by Jean Sasson- True story of influential woman in Iraq during the Saddam's rule.

Brilliant book, sickening at time to read about the torture in prisons.

Thanks Neelmani, for lending the book.

To heaven and back.

2008-03-28T01:58:00.000-07:00

Last time I visited Himachal Pradesh in 2006 November, I came back with a resolution to visit heaven once every year. Once in Bangalore, work, movies and wasting time took most part of my year and I used the rest to obtain a not-so-good score in GMAT. A couple of weeks back Vikram came up with the idea of visiting Himachal and woke the sleeping bear (btw, I saw bear foot trail in the snow). The plan was made in 5 days, hotel and travel bookings were done, and before the snow could melt, we were in Manali.

Except for not-so-exceptional food, there is nothing else not-so-exceptional about Himachal. Really! Whattey place! Other than the climate and people, following things will make your eye brows go up in admiration (except the Hashish part).
Himachal is a plastic-cover free zone. The shop keepers cannot give you things in plastic bags. If caught violating this rule they will be fined Rs.1500 and the guy who takes the cover will be fined Rs. 500.
Felling of trees without permission is illegal in this state that boasts of greenery every which way you look!
You cannot spot a beggar in Himachal.. Not on the roads, not near the temples! People there tell me that most people there are self sufficient.
Malana, a place near Rohtang, is famous for hashish! And the people in Malana consider themselves the successors of Pandavas and all the brothers in a family together marry one girl!
And this is only the tip of the iceberg.

When we trekked in Solang Nala into the people free zone, I saw footprints of a bear. The bear had treaded all over the snow white snow. The thought of possibility of encounter with a 3 ton beast sends a chill down your spine.

The next time I go to Himachal (hopefully next year), I want to climb up a few mountain tops, trek for 5 - 6 days, stay in tents, and experience the wild nature. Call me if you are interested.

Hate getting back to work!

btw, received an interview call from NUS. Hopeful!

Hi-Con fitness.

2008-03-12T01:26:00.000-07:00

The gym that I used to go to (Hicon fitness) has closed down. Reason : They defaulted on the rent.
The only consolation is that they lived up to their name and managed to con all the members and run away with the bag of cash. This gym was recommended to me by Deepu (Sandeep's brother). who was one of the oldest members of the gym. The gym closed a month after he left for the US. It seemed like he had something to do with the closing down (other than Deepu himself defaulting on rent.. :) )
I made Chetan, Ganapathy and Abhilash join the gym. They were happy to get a Rs.500 off and joining fee waiver for the quarterly scheme and thought that they had struck a great deal. Little did they know what was in store.

It was time to look for another place. I went back to Ozone, where I had gone for 3 days and paid a entire month's fees in September. When I joined in September, it was 2 floors and spacious. Now it is reduced to 1 floor with all the instruments cramped in 1 room. The fees has not changed.
Sad state for the gyms. Is it because people are no more interested in going to the gym? Or is it because everyone is joining Chisel/Fitness One etc..? Or is it because all the companies have their own gyms and no one is joining local gyms? What ever it is, At the gym, I always get treadmill to run. I am happy about that.

And btw, life is not going as intended. I got a reject from HKUST (mba school). This was almost a sure shot by the way the interview went.. or so I thought.
[To myself] better luck next time dude..

God's Debris

2008-02-05T19:59:00.000-08:00

Finally read this book. Whattay book!!
For people who have not read it, it is a free to download pdf. Try it.

Experience at Hard Rock Cafe Bangalore.

2008-01-14T06:55:00.000-08:00

Inder and I had been to HRC on friday. It was a pretty disappointing experience. The fact that we walked out of the pub to have 2 plates of phuckas, cake and ice cream says it all.
1. There is hardly place to sit. Just a couple of couches. So, it is 10 people sitting and a 100 standing.
2. That place has no waiters. Alcohol has to be bought at the bar. Every time you finish a beer and wait at the bar for the next one, the effect of the first one is pretty much out.
3. There is a queue outside the pub. They let in only a fixed number of people, may be. There is no cover charge. However, they put a stamp on your hand on your way out, so that you get easy entry when you return.
4. The stirrers are really classy with a guitar at one end.
5. The cocktail was nothing interesting, for the amount they charged.
6. And finally, I had worn Chetan's jacket to that place. When I returned it had strong cigarette smoke smell. I tried quarter bottle perfume on it, but that hardly made a difference. I had to give it for dry cleaning. Sorry Chetan!

On our way back "Rukmani, Rukmani" was playing on radio. Had a nice laugh at the vulgarity of the song.
Khatiya bhi dheere dheere khat khat hone lagi (imagine the music)
aage peeche hua to zhat phat hone lagi (o..o..o..oooo)

Nice evening Inder.

Dream caught.

2007-12-16T07:06:00.000-08:00

I chased my my dream for 21 km and caught it at the finish line. Completed the half marathon in 2 hrs and 15 mins.

Matta - Review

2007-12-08T22:52:00.000-08:00

Review of Matta
Starring : Jaggesh
Director: Guruprasad

A very unique movie.
The movie begins with Upakathe Govindu [Short story Govindu] - Jaggesh - narrating a story of the Matta to a sister (Christian) who is visiting that Matta. His story starts with the Mattadeesha (Head of the Matta) giving up his position and sansyasatva to enter grihastaashrama. The head priest of the Matta now has the responsibility to find another Mattadeesha. The first part is definitely picked from SL Byrappa's Grahana. But then from here on it deviates from Grahana. The head priest (Sudarshan) picks 7 unemployed and wasted people to train them for the position. Each of the 7 people have a story that shaped them into what they have become (You realize the significance at the end of the movie. So when you watch the movie, do remember each of the stories). Every person is symbolic of a vice. The other characters are Daridralaskhmi - who is symbolic of the wretchedness of the Matta, a dog symbolic of the conscience guarding your decisions and blind astrologer symbolic of blind beliefs. The story is about how these 7 people help eachother to stay at the Matta. The last 5 minutes is when the symbolisms unfold. The movie has a strong set of dialogues. Useless songs, but they are not the forte of the movie anyway. The main story is interspersed with other interesting short stories irrelevant to the main idea of the movie. I am too tempted to tell you more about the story and symbolisms, but I shall let you watch the movie. The VCD is available in Landmark. It is a must watch Kannada movies because intelligent movies are hardly made in Kannda movies.

Do not drink and drive.

2007-10-05T12:57:00.000-07:00

Disclaimer: Do not drink and drive.

Scott Adam's recent blog gives interesting observations about how to avoid speeding tickets in the US. This prompted me to put forth something interesting. Something that would possibly not be possible in the US.

Funda 1: Never go out to a pub by your own vehicle (of course, late in the night) at the fag end of the month. That is the time when the cops have to meet their targets. Cops take their targets seriously and more often than not you are a victim to their infrequent seriousness.

Funda 2: If you do not read my Funda 1, always follow a bike or a car. Never lead the way. More often than not, you will not spot the police. They ambush you. 9 out of 10 times it is better that the drunk person driving in front of you gets caught than you. Trust me, there are always stupid people who would lead the way.

Funda 3 : (This is Ganapathy Naik's plan) If you do not read my funda 1 and do not carefully read Funda 2 and get caught by the police, DO NOT PANIC. Get out of the car. Lock it. Take an auto back home. (It seems) The police do not send you a court notice. (It seems) They simply let you go. I want somebody to try this. Feel free to post a comment if you have.

More later.

Tagged.

2007-10-02T06:14:00.000-07:00

Just felt like getting myself tagged...

2. What does your phone look like? List your reasons to buy it?
Nokia (basic model). I did not buy it. I fliked my mom's.

3. What is on the walls of your bedroom?
Absurd question!

4. What is your current desktop picture?
Windows default picture. I think the photographs on the desktops are for others to notice your desktop. I dont prefer others looking at my desktop. I prefer to keep photographs in "my pictures" folder.

5. Do you believe in gay marriage?
believe?? They happen. I accept.

6. What do you want more than anything right now?
A mail from Melbourne school of Business.

7 . What time were you born?
At 4am. Mother says that I woke her up from deep sleep when I came into the world.

8. Are your parents still together?
Absurd question. I think this tag was started by a westerner. (yes)

10. What is your favorite perfume / cologne?
Nothing particular. I am not too appreciative of fashion industry. It is a whole lot of crap.

11. What kind of hair/eye color do you like in the opposite sex?
I can see only "sex" in this question. Could you please repeat the question?

12. What are you listening to? Why?
My neighbor talking on the phone. Why?? Because he cant keep his voice down.

13. Do you get scared of the dark?
I am scared of cockroaches. They come out in the dark. I am scared of dark.

14. Do you like painkillers?
No. I think it is for the weak. But I become weak one in a while. It is embarrassing.

15. Are you too shy to ask someone out?
No. Buy me a RC large and I can do anything.

16. If you could eat anything right now, what would it be?
paani puri.

18. List one habit you have that has the potential to annoy people?
My idea about life and my flawed principles.

* I have not answered a few questions for which I had to scratch my head.
**Interested in getting tagged? Pick the tag from pratish. He has the complete list of questions...

Attack of the autos.

2007-10-01T05:16:00.000-07:00

Everyone I know has had at least a couple of bad incidents with the auto drivers in Bangalore. But as soon as we meet a good natured, 'ready for your service' kind of an auto driver we tend to forget our brushes with the unfortunate events. Read Dhi's blog. I have done that a lot of times. I give the auto community the benefit of me having met a sensible and understanding auto driver. But a couple of weeks back the auto drivers lost all the (little) respect I had for them.

I was at brigade road at 8pm on a Wednesday and was looking to get an auto back home. I made sure I completed all my work well within time so that the auto guy could not demand one-and-a-half. But time does not seem to be factoring into their logic for claiming one-and-a-half. I think there is no logic behind it. When I say Vijayanagar - Chandra layout, these are the answers I got -

"Double agutte" [I will charge double meter]
"Do sau pachaas lagega " [It will cost you Rs. 250] (Here I could not stop laughing.)
"Meter mele 40 kodi" [Give me 40 above the meter] (Meter mele 10 and 20 was at least heard of, but meter mele 40... strange)
"Corporation tanaka bidtini, 40rs agutte" [I can drop you till corporation. I will charge Rs. 40] (And that amounts to double meter).

I was not ready to pay even Rs.10 extra. So I told one auto guy that I am going to the police. The word police does not seem to scare them anymore. He gave me a 'police eh? They are capable of nothing' kind of a smile. Nonetheless, I went up to the police and asked him to get me an auto to Vijayanagar and that I was not ready to pay a rupee extra. The police said -

"You slap the guy who asks you one-and-a-half, we shall take on from there". I told the police that I did not want to get into a fight with the auto driver, so it would be nice if he could get me another decent auto driver to drop me home.

To my shock, the police guy said -

"Please walk up to the end of the road till Vellara junction. From there take a bus to majestic and then take another bus to Vijayanagar. We cannot command to the auto drivers. They do not listen to us anymore. And it is embarrassing when they reply back"

What could I do?

In that time another traffic police standing there went up to the auto stand and got me an auto. But he had told him that I would pay 10rs extra.

At the end of the day I had lost my battle against an auto driver union. Now I ride the bus as much as possible.

Sanju baba.

2007-07-31T19:40:00.000-07:00

Sanjay Dutt's sentence once again calls into question the credibility of the Indian justice system. Sanjay Dutt possessed arms and involved a few others in destroying the AK56. This is an offence. But it has taken the courts 14 years before they give Sanjay Dutt 6 year imprisonment.
In these 14 years Sanjay has repented enough for his act, helped the police and the CBI with their investigation, and behaved well during his bail time. He did not go undergroud or continue his possession of arms or maintain his links with the underworld. Are all these not considered?
Not fair. Sajnay Dutt should have been punished for his offence, but in time.

Monotony

2007-06-26T20:31:00.000-07:00

I seem to have gotten into this monotony in life. There seems to be a lack of surprises and unpredictability. It has been long since I have gotten so bored that I wanted work. Now I have my saturdays and sundays planned, and that means I have set work to do on saturday and sunday...
There is no sense of deja vu. I do the same things every day. And days are passing so fast that every thing I do seems like having done yesterday...

Have to break it ...

Chennai.

2007-06-18T01:38:00.000-07:00

- Humid.
- Crazy behind Rajnikanth.
- Lovely city.
- Starved for quality alocol.
- Lot of places to eat out.
- Food expensive as compared to Bangalore.
- Crazy behind Rajnikath.
- Nicely maintained beach. (People in bombay should learn)
- Auto guys are cheats.
- Broad roads and smooth traffic (as fas as I saw).
- They replay the scenes in the theatre. Shows are always late in Albert..
- Crazy behind Rajnikanth.
- Tirunalveli alwa - very good. In A2B alwa the cashew quantity was a bit less...
- Evam play - mediore.
- Trisha - mediocre. Looking at huge fan following, I was expecting my eyes to be stuck on her the moment I saw her. Did not happen.
- Saw the FabIndia where Mozhi was shot. Liked it. But Koramangala FabIndia is still my favourite.
- Drainage and following of traffic rules are as bad as in Bangalore
- Crazy behind Rajnikanth.
- Met Mahesh.
- I was expecting more coffee stalls than tea stalls...
- Huge hoardings.. everywhere in the city. Sarees and sarees every where..
- Nice babes. Really!
- Saw Sivaji. The BOSS. For a tamilian he is the BOSS.
- Good place to settle. Had a different opnion about it.

No Work...

2007-05-29T04:40:00.000-07:00

I have absolutely no work in office today and I have to clock 9 hours. Damn! Last week when I worked 40 mins less than the minimum to be clocked for a day they cut half a day from my available leaves. The reason given - "you have worked an average of 9 hrs through this month. That is the minimum required every day. We cannot give you a grace of 40 mins." I was a bit stunned. But then people are stingy and I dont blame them for it. I get a lot of leaves in a year so I dont complain of a loss of half leave. I have a lot to complain about the rules here. But then we are not Infosys.

Life seems fast changing. Slowly everything will change. Yesterday I met this friend after a long time. We greeted eachother as
Sudheer: Nov 3rd
Me: Nov 19th
[We were telling eachother our marriage dates]

It is funny, but suddenly everyone seems to be eager (some who cannot wait are advancing their wedding dates) to cross the bridge to go from singularity to (what kaushik calls) 'two bodies and one soul'.

Whatever happened to conjugate complex. Is anyone interested?

I am going to 'River Tern Lodge' in Chikkamagalur. This is a part of Jungle Lodges and Resorts.

Pavitra-Akshai - Wish you all the best in your lives.

Wave of Metrosexuality.

2007-04-22T08:24:00.000-07:00

I am just returning from Style-N-Style, the salon near my house. I went there for a shave and had to wait for half an hour. Reason - there were 6 people before me getting their facials done. I was surprised at the fact that there are so many guys who get their facials done, in Vijayanagar area. Some how I was of opinion that north indians take more care of the looks than the south indians. Also, I could understand with a normal head massage, but facials! That was not all. There was another guy who was getting his hair on his hands removed. I just gave up. What also surprised me was that all these guys were about my generation or higher. Shucks!

Not that I am against people taking care of their skin. I am only surprised that these guys have so much patience to put a face pack, cucumber on their eyes and sit in a place for half an hour! It is not just that, in modern times, the women walk shoulder to shoulder with men. Now men are challanging women in their area of authority - unlimited time for unncessary activity.

Forget it!

Living with parents

2007-04-21T03:31:00.000-07:00

Read this news : Land prices go of the roof.
And now read this : Banks to go slow on home loans greater than 20 Lakhs (Paragraph 2)

It seems that for us bangaloreans there is no way to own our own house. I dont care what the world has to say about "being 27 and still living with parents". For me, it is affordable and comfortable.... all the more now. :-)

Why. . .

2007-04-06T07:40:00.000-07:00

There are times when you are engaged in something which needs you to stand close to the wall, stare at it, you have nothing running in your mind and all you can do is to look at the ground once in a while. And there is a guy who is standing right next to you doing the same thing. How often do you turn to see who it is? A lot? Most times?
Why do you do that? How does it make a difference who it is?

:)

Are you a Muslim?

2007-02-26T09:26:00.000-08:00

I met these two negros looking for NIIT. They asked me for directions and I was instructing the auto driver how to take them to the NIIT near by. One negro thanked me in the end... he said - "Yello, my name is somethingIDontRemember. Thank you very much. Are you a Muslim?"

:)

Photo location: Sudeeps, Mysore Road.
Occassion: Indrashish Ghosh grows old.

My last trip to Goa.

2007-01-28T22:00:00.000-08:00

We were 10 people and 3 cars. We left for Goa on 26th Jan at 3am. We were all excited about the trip hoping to recreate the joy of the last trip. It was all fine till the Saturday evening. Till then everyone was in their own little world, sleeping by the beach, drinking their share of beer.

At 4pm we 6 of us left to Candolim beach from Baga. (It seems it is a foreigner’s beach). We went up to the hotel on the beach side and asked for a shack. There were all guys and girls naked sleeping on the shacks and we were actually, for once, oblivious to the extent of nudity. As the Indian mentality goes, one of our friends was negotiating about the cost of the beer when a foreigner came up to us and started staring. He did not say a word and we had no idea what he was doing. All we knew was he was 6ft 2 inches tall and about 100kgs heavy. After a few seconds we asked him what the problem was. "You are too loud. Try to keep it low", he said in a threatening tone. We kept our calm and sent him off. Then this waiter from the hotel came up to us and refused to give us the shack or serve us beer. Initially we did not understand what was going on. Then it was all clear - it was about money. He wanted the foreigner there and thought that we had picked up a fight with him. We tried to explain to him that we are there to just relax and be by ourselves and are going to pay for what we eat and use. But he was adamant on not being associated with us. So we started leaving. On the way back my friend gave a long stare to the foreigner. The foreigner said something and my friend walked up to him and asked – Sorry, could not hear you. The foreigner said - I said keep walking. The arrogance in his face pissed all of us off. At the end of the day he is a tourist and has to know that he does not own the place to dictate terms. We refused to move. There were a few swear words exchanged and the foreigner punched my friend in the face and he was bleeding. The waiter came to the rescue - of the foreigner. We had no one to support us. We decided to call the police. And we went to the hotel and asked for the police number. He refused to give us the number. So we had to walk about 300 mts outside the beach to get the phone number and call the police. We did. The police said that they would be in Candolim beach in 5 minutes. 5 minutes turned to 20 and we called again. By this time the Shack owner had fled the foreigner away safely. We tried to follow him but he got into the jeep and raced away. We could not note the jeep number. When we called the police the second time they said they had already sent a jeep and it should be there any moment. So we waited. We waited for 2 hrs. No one turned up. Then we called up again. This time they said - We cannot do anything in the beach. You will have to come to the station to lodge a complaint. By now the waiter had also fled. What did we have? - No trace of the foreigner, just the name of the waiter and no police. Hoping to take things to completion we went to the police station to lodge a complaint. We got the police to the place of the incident and had him spoken to the owner of the shack. We explicitly told the police that the owner of the shack had refused to give us the police number and that was - by law - a crime. But our request went unnoticed as he continued speaking in konkani to the shack owner. That shack owner said that he had no connection with the waiter and did not know who he was. There was no further investigation. Then we went back to the police station where the 2star officer tell us - Tell us how do we find that foreigner. We need some trace. We don’t have anything. Something can be done if you stay back in Goa. We don’t know how long that will be. We can’t even assure you that he will get caught.

We asked the police if it was an option that they coordinate with the Bangalore police and we will do the needful from Bangalore.The officer thought that the idea was ridiculous.

Our hearts sank. We had nothing with us. Our country people were not with us. All for a white skin and a few dollars. All we could think of was - This happened 450 years back when British came to India. Because of and with our support they started ruling us. And after 400 years of struggle and regaining freedom, what did we learn? Nothing? To go to the press we do not have sufficient evidence. The police come to us and first thing they ask is - Tumne kya kiya? (What did you do?) The investigation would begin with an assumption that we are at fault.

This left us with a lot of questions unanswered. Were we wrong in retaliating? Are Indians not allowed in a foreigner s beach? Why don’t they put up – Indians and dogs not allowed beyond this point. Is this the state of the police in India? If no foreigner committing a crime can be caught in Goa, then why do we need police there? In 2 days 10 of us spent Rs. 40,000 in Goa. Does that have any value to them? Why would Goans think of us as lesser than the white skin? If nudity is illegal in India, then how is Candolim beach exempted of this law? Isn’t assault equal to half murder? Does it hold no importance? How can the government have no concern for Indians being treated differently in their own country? Is this not racism? And many many more.

But one thing for sure. Goa seems like a foreign land to me. I don’t find the people as ours. And that to me is a huge loss.

Shivajinagar Voilence

2007-01-22T00:25:00.000-08:00

Is there a need for Jaffer Sheriff to have organized a protest (Shivajinagar Voilence) like this? Was he trying to take up some case to the Indian government? He could simply use the press to convey what he wanted to. And now all this has turned into communal voilence! Could he not forsee the communal voilence erupting? Or is that what he wanted? God knows when Indians would take pride of their communal co-existence than to push eachother towards extinction.

Tarka - the logic

2007-01-18T03:23:00.000-08:00

This was Sunil Kumar Desai's debut movie.
There are a lot of facets to this movie. I shall take one by one.

The movie starts of with a ShankarNag running out of jail and the cops chasing him. SN accidentally runs into the house of the guy (DevRaj) who had raped his girlfriend and puts the blame on SN, who is jailed for the crime. This is a pure accident that he ends up hiding in DR's house. He kills DR, who is trying to kill his wife. The motive of killing is shown to be for the revenge he seeks than to save the lady. Having killed DR he conveniently plays into the game when DR's wife takes the blame for the murder. He agrees to help her dispose the body and clean up all the traces. His character is a man with a good heart caught up between helping his friend (DR's wife, who was his classmate in high school) for both his own mistake and playing a good friend, and saving himself from a life sentence.

The second side to the movie is the DR's character. He has played a mentally troubled guy who is suspicious of his wife. He cannot sleep with her because he thinks she has slept with someone else before marriage. The torture that his wife has to bear due to his sickness leaves you thinking. The sickness that SKD tries to show is simple and at some level is found in a lot of people around us - A girl getting married to a guy whom she barely knows and ends up in a mess because of the mental illness that the guy suffers.

The third side of the story is the friend of Vanita Vasu's (DR's wife) who is VV’s shoulder to cry on. He is a guy who has loved her for a long time but nicely transforms to being a friend. There is one dialogue in which he says - I don’t want to be the one who breaks your house. But if you really want the divorce then my sister can file the case for you. The maturity in the first part of the dialogue hits you on a moral level. DR happens to catch VV and him in his own house and threatens to kill him after he has killed his wife. He runs out of the house to call the police when he is hit by the police jeep chasing SN. ( Now you get the connection?). (Yes, Vanita vasu thinks it is her friend who killed DR and tries to take the blame for the murder).

The fourth side is VVs story. She is a girl who innocently gets married to DR and then realizes the mess she has landed into. She is scared to divorce DR because she think he would kill her if she does so. At one point she confides in her friend that she is still a virgin despite being married for so long. It is just the simplicity of the dialogue which catches your attention. She does not have the courage to kill DR but wishes that he is dead and that is the reason she is not hesitant before taking the blame for the murder. SKD leaves you thinking of whether she accepted the murder of her husband because she felt so good that he was dead and had always been wanting to but having been unable to kill him or to save his friend who tried to save her.

The fifth side of the story is of Avinash. He was needed only to complete the story. Otherwise his role was a bit disappointing. He is a cop who is a witness of the DR's body being disposed off and holds SN and Vanita Vasu at ransom.

You have to watch this movie for the story and the way it is told than the way it is shot. The poor lighting and the boring locations only tell you that the kannada industry had no money to make expensive movies but nonetheless had abundance of talent to narrate a story. SKD, good job!

2006 - A year gone by.

2006-12-31T03:41:00.000-08:00

Quite an eventful year. Here are the key events. A few can relate to it. Not in chronological order.
- Surprised a friend at Koshy's. He knew something was fishy but never guessed it.
- Had a feeling of being reborn. Happiest time of the year - early february, march. Two reasons.
- Missed my friends birthday. He understood. Dont know how he did.
- Shabarimala. Had a lot of faith.
- Vikrams birthday.
- Birthday party in Indiranagar. Made a few feel awkward.
- Brother visited India. After 4 long years.
- Trip to Goa. Unforgettable.
- Shouted at a friend at the Railway station. That was not the reason why I shouted. But he too understood. Dont know how.
- She called to ask if anything was wrong. He was with her. He called up to say he was not in our league - single or pseudo-committed.
- Joined DSF. The best decision of the year.
- He punched me in the face. Dint know when he got angry.
- She thought I was gay because I used to cycle.
- Removed the blog post. She was offended by it.
- He found a job. He was desperate.
- Malleshwaram school.
- Another trip to Goa. He was sitting and talking in the restaurant after all the lights went off. I slept on the beach. He woke me up at 3AM. Went back to Germany.
- Almost thought I was totally in charge.
- She called me shallow.
- Applied for Indian Army. Never got a call.
- Quit Infy. Good decision. A very late one.
- Fulfilled a lot of craving. They always fed me with what I craved for.
- He asked me to join the sales dept of his start-up. Considered it. Ditched it.
- The name of the company changed. Met the elders on that day.
- Navrang School.
- Trip to dharmasthala, Udupi and Kukke Subramanya.
- Long standing wish of going to the Himalayas fulfilled. Stayed in McLeodGunj for 10 days. Fantastic.
- Virumandi.
- He got married. Could not go. He felt bad.
- She got married.
- Trip to Pondicherry with them. They went for a massage. I slept in the room.
- Joined MindTree. Good decision. Not good enough.
- Cheap pleasure of telling my PL that I am going to quit. It was a crunch situation.
- A letter sent. No response.
- Worked really hard for 3 months.
- My birthday. Did not get what I expected. Got what I did not expect. Loved it. I swing in it.
- Lost a thing. Got it back. Well.. almost.
- Applied for REC Kharagpur IPR course. Got it. Ditched it.
- Cleared NDS interview. GTNexus was good too. Was on a high. A few did not know. A few did not like. The rest appreciated me for it.
- Fought with a friend. All this more than compensated for the high.
- They theatened me to have biscuits with coffee. He called me a rich guy. The biscuits were good. Coffee was excellent. Brought back a few old memories.
- Her engagement. Failed myself.
- Gopalaswami Betta. Amazing.
- Patched up with him.
- Swore the second time. First was long time back. But cannot be forgotten.
- She called me selfish.
- Planned to buy a Scorpio. Plans changed as mood changed as people changed.
- Stopped using my cell phone. I can live without it.
- Party at my house. I cleaned up the basin in the morning. My hands still smell. Who is the he who did it?
- B11, SOS, Firangi Paani - a zillion times.
- Unlimited movies.
- Walked away from a friend. First time in my life. Was very angry.
- Waited for a lot to happen.
- Played a lot of badminton. He got me a raquet from Jalandhar. I lost it. Then he bought me another one.
- He got engaged. He got married.
- Bought 2 headphoes. One for each. It was a deja vu when I bought the second one.
- Gave the keyboard. Got it back. Did not want it back.
- Bought the shares.
- Went to Kalari for 8 months. The irregularity got the better of me.
- Went to HajiAli.
- Trip to ShivanaSamudra with school kids. Things had changed a little.
- Met him. Last I met him was in his marriage.
- The Delhi trip.
- A few single dates. Made no difference. I was too closed.
- Continued gymming. Stopped gymming.
- He went to Singapore.
- Stopped eating meat.
- A few lunches at my place. A few did not come. Everyone else came.
- Missed the Janmashtami lunch in his house.

2006-12-24T11:22:00.000-08:00

Principles are tricky. I dont even know a kannada word for it ...

Conversation with an auto driver.

2006-12-18T20:55:00.000-08:00

[Scene opens] I sit in an auto in koramangala to go to Vijayanagar. Autodriver spits on the road.

Me: Why do you spit on the road? Arent you making the place dirty?
Autodriver: This is not Singapore anyway...
Me: So, you dont have any intentions of making this like Singapore?
Autodriver: No. We are not paid as highly.
Me: So if you are paid enough you will not spit on the road?
Autodriver: Yes.
Me: So, do you spit inside your house too? You are not paid enough, right?
Autodriver: No. House is like a temple.
Me: huh? And the city is a dustbin? Cool. You can keep the city clean if you want to. It has nothing to do with what you are paid.
Autodriver: Hmm.. true. I like cleanliness. But now I am chewing tobacco. So cannot do anything.!
Me: Keep a pot on your auto. Spit in it.
Autodriver: Hmm... I like cleanliness a lot. But ...

[I start listening to songs. No point educating him. Or did I already do it?]

Haji Ali.

2006-12-18T08:14:00.000-08:00

I have not blogged for a long time. Reason - could not get myself to blog on anything particular. Finally I decided that I dont have anything particular to blog about.. :)

I am going to Mumbai on 27th of this month. Very excited about it. Will be visiting Haji Ali. I want to listen to "piya haji ali" song in Haji Ali. That would be awesome.

More later.

Gaade maatugalu.

2006-11-07T00:05:00.000-08:00

This post is for all those who can understand kannada.

• Kumbulkaayi kalla hegalu mutkondu nodidnanthe
• Kuniyakke baarada sule nela donku andiddalante
• Haagalkaayige bevinkaayi saakshi anthe
• Otiketakke beli sakshi ante
• Thaalidavanu baaliyaanu
• Aane ge aane hogta ittu, baalakke badedadiddarante..
• Adike kaddaru kalla aane kaddaru kalla
• Adike ge hoda maana aane kotru barallavante
• Manassiddare maarga
• Kai kesaradare bai mosaru
• Haasige iddashtu kaalu chaachu
• Manege maari , paropakaari
• Athi aase gathi gedu
• Yaraddo duddu, yellammana jatre
• Kumbhaaranige nooru varusha donnege ondu nimisha
• Mangyana mukli, menthe hittu, mysoorui maharaja
• Aarogya ve bhaagya
• Sankata bandare venkataramana
• Naayigalu bogalidare dyvaloka haalaguvudilla
• Maadiddunno maharaya
• Atthe ge ondu kala sose ge ondu kala
• Bogaluva nayi kacchuvudilla
• Ibbara jagala moorane avanige labha
• Belatanaka ramayana keli, raama seethe ge yenagidlu anta keliddanante
• Nayi bala donku
• Daana kotta yemme hallu yenisddarante
• Iddanna iddahaage helidare yeddbandu yedege oddiddarante
• Rogi bayasiddu haale, vaidya heliddu haale
• Shakti ginta yukti melu
• Mane katti nodu, maduve maadi nodu
• Jaatiginta neeti melu
• Haaloorige oldidavane gowda
• Halinadu halige neerinadu neerige
• Shavasa doshadinda sanyaasi ketta
• Gidavagi baggadu maravagi baggite
• Ganji kudiyuvanige gadda hidiyuvanobba
• Yetthu yerige helidre kona neerige ilitu
• Katte hogodu gode tappidare haalu bhavi
• Sajjanara sahavasa hejjenu savidante
• Tande devasthana kattidare maga gopura kattidanante
• Tumbida koda tuLukalla
• Kankalalli koosu itkondu oorella hudukadiddarante
• Boragallina mele neeru surida haage
• Duddu iddavane doddappa
• Murthi chikkadaadaru keerthi doddadu
• Aaseye dukkakke moola
• Maatu belli mouna bangaara
• Uppiginta richi illa, tayi ginta devarilla
• Hittalu gida maddalla
• Udyoga illada badigya mukli kattarsi mooru mane madiddanante
• Mangana Kaige manikya kotta haage
• Katte prayadalli chenna

Add more...

Dohe -

2006-11-02T22:27:00.000-08:00

mai.n royaa parades me.n bhiigaa maa.N kaa pyaar
dukh ne dukh se baat kii bin chiThThii bin taar
chhoTaa karake dekhiye jiivan kaa vistaar
aa.Nkho.n bhar aakaash hai baaho.n bhar sa.nsaar

leke tan ke naap ko ghuume bastii gaa.Nv
har chaadar ke gher se baahar nikale paa.Nv
sabakii puujaa ek sii alag-alag har riit
masjid jaae maulvii koyal gaae giit

puujaa ghar me.n muurtii miira ke sa.ng shyaam
jisakii jitanii chaakarii utane usake daam
saato.n din bhagavaan ke kyaa ma.ngal kyaa piir
jis din soe der tak bhuukaa rahe fakiir

achchhii sa.ngat baiThakar sa.ngii badale ruup
jaise milakar aam se miiThii ho ga_ii dhuup
sapanaa jharnaa nii.nd kaa jaagii aa.Nkhe.n pyaas
paanaa khonaa khojanaa saa.Nso.n kaa itihaas

chaahe giitaa vaachiye yaa pa.Dhiye quraan
meraa teraa pyaar hii har pustak kaa Gyaan

Written by - Nida Fazli
Sung by Jagjit Singh
Album - Insight

Things will change.

2006-10-07T01:12:00.000-07:00

No?

Dinakkondu Gaade

2006-10-02T22:09:00.000-07:00

Daana kotta yemme hallu yenisiddarante.

Translation: He counted the teeth of the the buffallo that was gifted to him.

Meaning: Poeple are not happy with what is given to them for free.

Faith..

2006-09-19T08:17:00.000-07:00

Mano to main ganga maiyya
Na maano to behta paani..

Dinakkondu gaade

2006-09-17T04:38:00.000-07:00

Aalu madiddu haalu, Maga madiddu madhyama, Taanu madiddu uttama.

Translation: The work of a slave is worst, The work of your son is okay, and work done by you is the best.

Dinakkondu gaade.

2006-09-03T10:34:00.000-07:00

Kumbalakai kalla andare hegalu muttkondu nodiddanante.

Almost means : Chor ki daadhi mein tinka.

2006-09-03T05:09:00.000-07:00

Life - Too many constraints. Living on hope is a comfort zone.

Enormity of Nature.

2006-08-16T04:34:00.000-07:00

The enormity of nature kills your ego, eats your sorrow and fills you up with an unexplainable peace. Sitting by the sea and watching the waves rise and fall like bouts of feelings, relating every incident of your life to every other one, sitting with your friend and not saying a word, sipping on vodka and ordering fish one after another is a feeling that has to be experienced. The enormity of nature teases you, throws you down on the ground and leaves you calm, light and thoughless.

Wake up India.

2006-08-10T12:44:00.000-07:00

Today there was a Dharna near Madiwala. All the vehicles were stopped causing traffic to be jammed for a long long way... till at least Bommanahalli, I am guessing. The reason for the Dharna - There are too many accidents on that road and the government should take note of it. It was a good move. As I see the indifference of government towards the traffic conditions I think that the issue has to be taken to the streets. But there were a few things I noticed that were particularly disturbing.
1. When I was sitting in the bus, another Infy guy walked into the bus and said that there was an accident on the road and people are blocking the road as a sign of protest against the increasing traffic. The girl next to me said - why are we being penalized? Penalized??!? One of us has died on the street and people don’t have a concern for it. They have to get home soon. That’s all is the intention. I think it is time that we understand that we are directly responsible for what ever happens around us. We cause the traffic and the traffic jams and the accidents are a result of it. We are the cause of a person's death. We have to have some level of sympathy for the dead and regret for what happened.

2. As I walked up to see what the problem actually was and so that I might cross the dharna peacefully and walk up a distance to take an auto, I saw this bunch of people holding a banner - Fight for the backward classes (That is what it translated to in English). Why should a person’s death be given a political direction? The dead could be any one. Unfortunately it was one of the backward classes. The person who caused the accident would not have gone chasing a backward class guy and run him down. The voice raised against the slack in governance is acceptable but making it into a political issue is unreasonable.

3. As I walked further towards Forum there were two kids running - one chasing the other. They were continuously shouting - Beke Beku, nyaya beku (we want justice). Would the kids know any thing about the accident, the deceased or the reason for the dharna? Or are they fighting for the backward class? Why are the minds of the kids being corrupted with these political issues?

4. Lastly, it is always about the money. The auto fares go up to one and a half without any rhyme or reason. When you question the auto driver he would not even bother to answer you. But I found an auto driver who did not negotiate about the price at all. Meter he said, turned the lever around and set off. I appreciate such behavior.

Things should change!

Suggest a book

2006-08-08T01:29:00.000-07:00

Fiction.
Anythiing interesting. I read only on recommendations..

Dinakkondu Gaade

2006-07-30T04:50:00.000-07:00

Aane-ge Aane hogta ittu, Baalakke badedadiddaru.

Meaning: Miss the main point and fight for the trivial matters.

Dinakkondu Gaade

2006-07-20T19:08:00.000-07:00

Udyoga illada badigya mukali kattarsi mooru mane madiddanante

Translation: An idle workman cut is arse to make 3 stools.

Chili's Tag

2006-07-17T00:16:00.000-07:00

I am thinking
A lot these days. And it is not good!

I said
A lot that should not have been said.
A lot that made no difference.
A lot from the heart.

I want
More coffee...
Solitude ..
To listen to a PJ

I wish
for my brother to relocate to Bangalore
for life to surprise me.
things never change unless you wish for it to change.

I miss
The milwaukee summer.
my mysore days and 2001 to 2003 in Infy.
A lot of my friends.

I hear
Nothing. Noise.
"Hazaron khwaishein aisi ki har khwaish pe dum nikale"

I wonder
If things will ever be as good as my days in KLE and engineering days.
Do people know who I really am ..
If money is so important in life, then when am I going to realize it!

I regret
Having not tried too hard for many things.
Hating a few people, for all silly and wrong reasons.

I am
A lose mouth.
Emotional.

I dance
Only when dragged into the crowd.

I sing
A lot.
Horribly.
Loudly.

I cry
Not too often.

I am not
A techie.

I write
Incomplete and gramatically incorrect sentences..

I confuse
Everything to suit my mood.

I need
A perspective.
A scorpio

I should
Be alone.
Start working out.

I finish
....

Panoramic view.

2006-06-28T12:50:00.000-07:00

And more ...

Dinakkondu Gaade

2006-06-25T18:29:00.000-07:00

Seetavanu sayalla, Baatavanu badakalla, Hetavanu hengo yeno

Meaning: In the context of illness - Nothing is wong with a guy who sneezes. He is not going to die.
Everything is wrong with a guy whose body starts swelling. He wont live.
Cant say anything about a guy who has motion problem. :-)

Dinakkondu Gaade

2006-06-24T06:54:00.000-07:00

Hettavarige Heggana muddu, madkondavarige mangya muddu

Meaning: Everyone likes his or her possesions, no matter what opinion others hold of it.

Dinakkondu Gaade

2006-06-23T01:49:00.000-07:00

From today onwards I shall try to update one proverb per day. Let me know your suggestions.

Rogi bayasiddu haale, Vaidya heliddu haale

Translation: The patient asked for milk, and the doctor prescribed milk.

Meaning: A strange coincidence that you get what you wished for.

Choices!

2006-06-23T01:27:00.000-07:00

Uncertainty makes life interesting. Very few people actually matter in life. There is no point. I have decided to live happily. Nothing really matters. I say this to make myself feel a touch better. Life has been about choices, all wrong choices!

Dream Destination - Bangalore

2006-05-17T07:25:00.000-07:00

Dream Destination - Bangalore. As I sit outside at 6pm Wednesday may 17, 2006 , it is raining heavily. Having been in Bangalore for more than 20 years now, I am used to the rains. Nevertheless, the beauty of these rains never fails to capture my imagination. I am sitting here sipping on a hot cup of tea and a pack of Lays - Spanish Tomato Tango and it is raining hail stones. As a look out of the gate, the roads seem dark and deserted. There is no power. The water is flowing down in small streams along the side of the road. A couple of people are walking down the road with umbrellas attempting to keep them from getting wet. A lone light from the grocery store from the end of the road is shining brightly. I can hear the sounds of thunder followed by the water trickling down into the garden from the terrace. It gives me a feeling of a hill station that is protected from all the commercialization. I know that once I get out of the house and hit the main road, the water clogged roads and the unsolvable traffic jams await me. I don’t want to be there. It is so peaceful and serene in here. There are times when the beauty of nature consumes the sorrow in you, and leaves your mind happy and peaceful. I know that this is a futile attempt of putting in words about what I am feeling.

Ps: posted after power was restored :)

Go SPJain.

2006-05-14T23:09:00.000-07:00

If any of you happen to be in Mumbai (in the next 18 months as of now) and have time to spare a couple of hours with me, then please give me a call at 09342511979. I would be delighted to meet all, anytime. I will keep the same number as decided as of now, shall let you know if I change my number.
I don’t have much to say, would love to do something for you all. If you feel that I can be of any help for you at any time in future, just call me or drop me a mail at subir.mitra@gmail.com.
Sreeja and gang and Sambie/Rao/Arora, keep me included me in all the informal group mails.

I really don’t think of anything else to write in my last mail. The ignorance is regretted.
Sambie/Saju/Sreeja, no cake cutting ceremony for me, please. This is a request.

Will miss you all,
Subir.

This was the simple mail from Subir before he left to do his MBA. So unlike a guy who is heading towards being a manager in a year and a half from now.

One day he comes up to me and says - 'I just saw a girl. I can quit my MBA for her. But I forgot who it was!

Good luck man. Shall miss you a lot! From tomorrow it would not be the same as meeting everyday for lunch. I wish to see you more often than I think I can.

Abhilash's Tag

2006-04-27T03:19:00.000-07:00

I was tagged by Abhilash.

5 people who top your shit list….. and why
1.My cousin’s friend. There are some people whom you hate for no reason at all.
2.My biology tuition teacher in 12^th standard- RamaMurthy. He used to slap us for practically no reason. For
ex. He used to conduct class at 6 in he morning and used to slap us if he caught is dozing off… Insane!

3. A guy named Vinod who used to stalk my friend.
4. BJP for stirring up the Rama Janma Bhoomi wave.
5. The customs guy at Milwaukee airport. In a queue with 10 odd people I was the only Indian. While others only went under the electronic detector he made me come out of the queue, sat me down in a corner, thoroughly checked my bags and at the end saw the chain in my neck and asked me – "Does that protect you from evil?"

Close brushes with death/danger
I was learning to drive our new santro in 1997-98. When I was with my dad in the car and I was behind the wheel, something in me said - "Brake". I immediately stopped and got off the car. I saw that I had stopped the car a couple of inches from a guy sleeping on the road. Thank you god!

5 Preferable modes of suicide, in descending order
1. Watch Matrix 1, 2 and 3 three times each without a break.
2. Jumping down a cliff - would be adventurous and is a fool proof suicide method.
3. Injecting a high doze of narcotic in the body - Die with pleasure
4. Hang to death
5. Shoot in the face - Absolutely no chance of survival!

5 Guilty pleasures
1. Eating a double cheese burger after a heavy workout.
2. Telling a lie to my mom when I can read it in her eye that she has caught me lying, but does not say anything..
3. Going out for coffee at 12 in the night when you know that you have lots to study.
4. I used to read the History text book in my 10th standard just so that I fall asleep.
5. Keeping an alarm at 6 AM when you know that there is no chance of getting up and seeing the sun rise. It is the morning sleep that is most pleasurable.

5 things you never want to forget
1. The day I got a letter of joining from Infy.
2. The first movie Sandeep and I watched together. Titanic.
3. The first time I ate fish in Mayur's house.
4. Shanmugam Master the puncher shop guy near Life Style, Bangalore.
5. The day chili left to IIMB and Sandeep left to do his MS. I was made aware of the fact that as time passes people drift apart.

5 things you wish to forget
1. Getting slapped by an auto driver when I ran my bike into a woman crossing the road. I was in 12 ^thstandard then. Nothing happened to the woman.
2. Telling my violin teacher, on his face that I would not like to learn violin. I did not want to learn, okay. No
excuse for being rude! Bad!
3. Swearing at my friend (I used the word bitch) once when I was really upset. Usage of such words, WRONG!
4. Getting a 35 in my 10th std math preparatory exam. My mom was the teacher. She cried all day as she felt humiliated before all teachers..
5. Catching my dad smoke. I had cried for 3 days. Probably that is why I don’t smoke.

5 really exotic dishes you have tried
1. Chicken in buffalo Wild Wings and Empire
2. Kerala food in Coconut Grove
3. Holige that my mom makes. No match to it.
4. Biriyani that sandeep's mom makes
5. Kori rotti and chicken curry in Mayur's house and shetty uncle’s house.

Strangest dream you ever had

A Lion chasing me in my dreams. I wake up with my heart pounding. Drink a glass of water and go back to sleep and the lion starts chasing me again. Then I go sleep next to my mom. It does not come there.. :-)

5 most valued personal possessions

1.My Immaturity

2.My Bullet Electra

3.My Hero hawk NuAge bike

4.My house in CanaraBank Colony.

5.My friends.

5 favorite superheroes….. and why
1. Sri Krishna - for obvious reasons – babes! A true super hero.
2. Mithun Charavarti – he said – "yeh glass bullet proof ho sakta hain par patthar proof nahi.."
3. Hanuman - I am just fond of monkeys.
4. Spiderman - I always think if I could be like him, I would swing my way to office in 10 minutes.
5. Rajinikanth - He spit a bullet with a knife and dodged bullets with mud pots.

The magic lamp.

2006-04-06T20:28:00.000-07:00

Chili told me he other day - that he read it somewhere that - Be very careful about what you wish. You might get it.

Ofen, there is a conscious mind wishing for something and a subconscious mind hoping for the opposite just so that you can carryon with your fruitless lazy activities only because it would be a touch easier. [I can quote a lot of examples but I think it would be inappropriate to be shared on the blog.]

In the last few days I have at some point wished for things to not happen for me only because I was confused (and ofcourse, I wanted to carry on with my fruitless lazy activities). I got what I wished for. I was disappointed at my wish coming true...

So be very careful about your wishes, the genie is waiting to grant you your wish...

Instinctive thinking

2006-04-03T10:58:00.000-07:00

I term this my theory. If anyone had come-up with the theory before me, I am ready to pay royalty...

Practically no one thinks practically always. There is an instinctive part and a practical part. Practicality comes only after instincts fade away. Does it not? When instinctive thinking gets serious, you start basing your decisions on instincts. I don’t see a problem as such basing decisions on instincts. The advantage is that your decision changes every few days. In light of practicality, this could be a disadvantage. An instinctive thinker cannot be termed confused- though he is a touch better than the eternally confused, I would rather rate them equal. The difference between an instinctive thinker and a confused mind is that an instinctive thinker is perfectly sure of what he wants at any particular point in time, but changes what he wants with the morning alarm every day, while a confused mind has more than one decision on mind at every point in time.

.... Forget it; I have changed my mind about writing this blog. Instinctive thinker, I am!!

Shabarimala - over again.

2006-03-30T10:33:00.000-08:00

March 2005

March 2006

Virumandi!!

And back..

[Click on the photo to enlarge]
Chili has elaborated on the trip in his blog.

2006-03-27T11:33:00.000-08:00

The world is too small and the life is too short.

Canarabank colony

2006-03-25T11:16:00.000-08:00

This is where I stay. And I owe this blog for a long time for all the awesome fridays and saturdays I have had since I came here.
For those people who do not know about canarabank colony, this is a small colony situated on a top of a hill close to University campus. It is a calm place with every house (except ours) having 2 coconut trees. It has a fantasic temple. It has close to 20 people of our age and most of the older people are retired. In road number 3, everyone know me and I know more or less everyone.

From Left: Me, Ajith, Ganesh, Gana

Coming to the group that we are... Everyone in here has diffenrent vocational interests and academic backgrouds, yet everyone meets up on friday evenings to share the little essential of life called happiness. There is no room for feeling sad. An all guys group and mostly all single, we all look forward to fridays. People come, people go, they come back! I was out of this for 15 months (on and off) when I was onsite. This has changed nothing. Everyone still meets up, share a couple of drinks, enjoy the music, the food and the company.

I can trade anything in life for this lifestyle. During the 40 days of shabarimala, this is one of the things I miss the most - meeting up with you guys!!

There are others in the group who do not belong to the Canarabank colony. Without them too, the fridays seems dull.

I am sure none of the CB colony guys read my blog., yet this is a dedication to them and for all the good times. Rajendra Pai is going onsite. I wish he comes back, sooner or later.
The disheartening part is, there are other people too who would, in the course of 6 months, would go to different parts of the world and the group might disintegrate.

God forbid such a day!!

Buddhism - Itseems.

2006-03-16T21:27:00.000-08:00

All beings and events, by their very nature are inconceivable and therefore unapproachable, ungraspable, unfindable, unrepresentable. Thus the awakened bodhisattva manifests spontaneously the transcendent insight known as not grasping any separate thing - the omniscient insight which is limitless, unwavering, sublime. This panoramic awakeness transcends even the widest vision of any contemplative practitioner who remains subtly self-conscious and self-involved.

The absence of the substantial creation of any form is not different from the radiantly transparent, harmonious and coherent functioning of all forms. Thus absolute openness and relative functioning are not divided. They are not two alternative dimensions, but utter simplicity. If one labels and thereby experiences this expansive simplicity as material form and personal consciousness, one is foolishly numbering and labeling that which has no multiplicity and no identity.

I certainly dont understand buddhism. It is, by its very nature, inconceivable, ununderstandable and incomprehendable. Thus a human mind manifests spontaniously -!@#$!@#$@#%@#!@$!@#$!#$!@!@#$!@#$

More later...

psycho-musical disorder

2006-03-07T09:17:00.000-08:00

When you listen to a song, there are times when it gets stuck in your head. Do what you can; it is just not possible to pull it out of your mind. You involuntarily hum the song. You hum it aloud and hum it in your mind. You enjoy it for a couple of days, but then it gets beyond control when your mouth starts aching and you have a terrible headache. You can’t do anything about it except wait for the song to fade away from your memory.

Do you suffer from this psycho-musical disorder?

Excuse me. Could you please sit straight

2006-02-20T09:58:00.000-08:00

Man!! Does Neil n Nikki make any sense?!? Uday Chopra would have confessed to his dad that in his hectic schedule of making his physique he never got to kiss a girl. "Come on son, pick your girl, I shall make a movie" said his dad. And so was made the movie - Neil and Nikki.
Script, story, songs.. who gives a flying F*.

As I was sleeping in the bus on my way back from office, I had a few thoughts cross my mind..

1. If I had an ear for music, would I have been playing in a concert and signing autographs instead of uncomfortably sitting in the Infy bus?
2. If I were the primeminister of India, would I be making money, sleeping in the meetings, talking to Bill Clinton about his liasons or would actually be trying to change the face of Bangalore?
3. If I were Rahul Dravid, how would I handle all the excitement of thrashing pakistan in their backyard?
4. Would I have understood Integration and Differentiation had I viewed maths as an abstract concept?
5. If not in software, do I have a place to go?

Just then the chinese sitting next to me said - "Excuse me. Could you please sit straight". Embarassed as I was, i swore not to sleep in the bus. I did not till she got down at Jayanagar. :-)

Hum Hain Na..

2006-02-19T19:09:00.000-08:00

Over the last few years there has been a rapid increase in the population of thieves in my city. Land lords, Auto drivers, the traffic police, to name a few. To add to the list is ICICI Bank. The only difference is the former are unorganized and the latter is an organized looting. Let me tell you how..

Cut 1: ICICI Forex, Bldg 10.

Being in Infy we have very few options of not being associated with ICICI Bank. I had a loan with ICICI bank (that I finally foreclosed). A fortnight back, I had put a request for foreclosure. Since I had USD with me, I had to get it converted. Since ICICI FOREX was inside the campus, I got it converted. I was given a cheque in the name of ICICI Bank, which I had to deposit in my account, and a cheque was needed to be given out from my account towards fore closure. (The things had to be made so complicated to simplify management!).

Cut 2: ICICI bank, Terminal office.

I deposited the cheque in my account and informed the bank that I would be giving a cheque in the foreclosure department. They happily agreed. Since I did not have a cheque book, I had to fill in the form for a cheque leaf that cost me Rs. 28 per leaf! Company policy, they said. Helpless as I was at that time, I gave them a “what the heck” look and agreed for the amount to be taken out of my bank account. I walked away with the cheque.

Cut 3: ICICI bank, Lotus court office.

I informed the fore closure department that I had just deposited the amount in my account, would it be okay to give a cheque dated today. (please note this point, for later).
‘This cheque is going to get cleared only tomorrow, you can submit it now’ – is what was told to me. Again, not aware of the consequences, and not made aware of it either, I gave the cheque and foreclosed my loan. Happy ending? How I wish!

Cut 4: A few days later…
I see that the amount on my account is not debited. I walk up to the ICICI bank counter in Lotus Court.
‘Avinash! Your foreclosure cheque has bounced. There is a bounce charge of Rs 221 and your EMI for the month will be deducted’, said the all excited loan department representative.
I was a bit surprised. Wasn’t I told that the things will happen in order? That the cheque deposited in my account will get cleared before the foreclosure cheque. What went wrong? Where?
‘Sir, they did not process it before us’ she said.
‘So, is it my mistake?’
‘Okay, you give us a letter. We shall follow it up’ she said.
‘I shall give you the letter now. A couple of days later you are going to ask me to give it to the manager of the branch and then a couple of days later he would ask me to forward it to a manager in some other branch, till you get me all frustrated with the system and give up. But anyway, here is the letter. I want my Rs 221 back and also the interest levied on the EMI for this month.’

Cut 5: A couple of days later…
At the ICICI bank counter, Lotus court.
I smiled.
‘Sir, I spoke to my manager. Since this is something that is levied by the bank, they would have to take it up. They would handle both the bounce charge and the interest charge.’
‘Okie’

Cut 6: ICICI bank, Terminal, Branch Manager Mr. ManMohans desk.
‘Sir please come in’. For a moment, I really thought he cared.
I explained the situation to him.
He called the loan desk and discussed the matter with them, in front of me.
‘Sir, we shall reverse the bounce charges, but the rest has to be taken care of by loan department. But since you have come here, we would like to tell you that we will take up the matter further.’
‘So shall I go to the Loan desk now?’
‘You can go a couple of days later’

Cut 7: Couple of days later… at the loan desk.
‘Avinash, the system does not allow reversing money.’
‘So?’
‘Since it is not a fault of the loan desk, we cannot do anything about the interest money’
‘huh? Not your mistake? You could have asked me to give a post dated cheque. Just one day in the future. Not your fault? Dint I inform you of the situation before I submitted the cheque? Did you not know about the situation? Could you not see the possibility of this happening?’
‘Sir, but you wanted to close the loan’
‘So? I also want my money back’
‘Sir, the system…’
‘What system? You can’t reverse the money?’
‘Sir it was not the fault of the loan desk’
‘It was not your fault, not the fault of the bank, then who is taking the responsibility?’
‘Sir you wanted to close the loan on that day’
‘What the heck?!?! Okay, what about the 221 rs’
‘Sir, bank says, it was levied by the loan desk and that too cannot be waived by them’
‘What!!?!? He told me that he would reverse it’
‘Not any more. He says it is the loan department problem’
I realized that Manmohan had called the loan desk, immediately after I left, asking her to dismiss me once I get there.
‘Could you not tell me a word that this situation was possible? You are supposed to think that your customers do not know banking. Could you not explain to me?’
She was sorry for what happened, at least she pretended like she was.
I had to walk away, but there ends my relation with ICICI loan department. No more loans from them. I am also going to close my savings account with them.

Nationalized banks are good in this aspect. They atleast listen to you and do not blame it on the system. The manager is accountable and he listens to your grievances. ICICI Bank has a huge profit from Infosys. I have had an account with them for last 4 years. Is this the customer service – assuring me of returning the bounce charges and then instructing the department not to. And bounce charge of Rs 221 seems absolutely insane. We have to be careful with our transactions, but Rs 221 for a small folly! Next they would issue a rule that – Kill the customer if the cheque bounces. Hum hain na!!
I think ICICI bank, like all other private banks are way too unreasonable and have to train their managers to take responsibility than blame it on the system and fill the ICICI bank coffers.

HDK do something da!!

2006-02-08T08:54:00.000-08:00

The bus travel to infy and back takes me close to three hours everyday, traveling by bike takes my life!!

The last couple of days have been really bad. I am not sure if the pollution situation in Bangalore is so grave or has something gone miserably wrong in the last couple of days. I had never seen a traffic jam like this (Well, probably I am exaggerating. I have not seen such a jam in a while now). The jam on mysore road had extended almost a kilometer into the flyover. On the bike, without a helmet, and cold to break my nervous system – I don’t know how I survived my way back from kalari. I don’t know if I can take this another time. But the people around me seemed to go about the traffic as just a daily routine. Probably it is, I am never awake in the bus to see if there is a traffic jam. :-)

No one can actually complain about the situation of roads in Bangalore. If you want to experience them, take your car out at 11 in the night. Except for a few roads, you will not find pot holes as you used to. The problem is not with the condition of roads. Its with the traffic. There are still autos that jet out smoke like a petroleum refinery, the busses are not on CNG, people still use their old lamrettas (which probably takes in more fuel than the drivers capacity to booze!), there are hardly any CNG stations in Bangalore, and the few that are, have a long queue which would frustrate anyone. The trucks have no emission level check and if they have, who cares. The BTS named its middle range busses as parisara vahini. Why? They probably are more eco-friendly than the other autos and lamrettas, but unless they go on CNG, I don’t see a point.

HDK do something da!!

Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi

2006-02-04T22:19:00.000-08:00

I guess, everyone knows about the situation of politics, bureaucracy and poverty. Probably everyone holds an opinion about who is right. But there are few movies that get you to rethink your opinion. HKA is one such movie. It is a story of 2 college guys and a girl, triangularly in love, in milieu of politics, naxalism, state of bihar and the bureaucracy.

The first time I watched this movie, I was in Milwaukee. When I watched this movie, I was moved by the state of things and how mismanaged things are. How unruly the people and the government are. But when I got up the next morning, I was really not concerned about the question “How”, but was thinking about “Why” and “Who”. Why - as in, why are things the way they are. And Who – as in, who is right? Are the naxalites wrong in their fight for the rights of the oppressed? Was their means wrong? Did they have a choice? Were the government and the police wrong in terming naxalites as terrorists when they went about killing people? I watched it again today. I still have not been able to figure out what was right or what could be done to make it right.

Thinking...

To Pee or not to Pee

2006-01-13T01:46:00.000-08:00

Sulabh Shouchalays in Bangalore have work timings!! It closes at 10 in the evening. On Mysore Road Sulabh Shouchalay, KAVIKA wall takes on the downpour of all the full bladders after 10. Even if I want to keep the city clean, there are times when I am absolutely helpless, I have to take a call between being alive or keeping the city clean. What would you do?!?

Songs at the tea stall.

2006-01-12T03:33:00.000-08:00

Karunada Thayi Sada Chinmayi – Naanu Nanna hendati
SPB sings for RaviChandran

Everyday when I enter the tea stall outside office at around 2:30 in the afternoon, I get to listen to some of the most melodious songs. That is probably the only time I actually listen to radio from monday to friday. Over the last month there has not been a single day when the songs have not been good. All kannada, and SPB is in full swing. I have decided that I am going to buy a small radio to listen to the songs at my desk. But ever felt that the songs sound really melodious when played on a broken old radio kept in a tea stand and can be heard as we pass by the stall, or stand there listening to the song over a plastic cup of tea. Probably the fun of it is lost when you have your own hi-fi radio. That is the reason, I never got hooked on to my walkman and CD Man. But I think I have to buy a new radio now.

Love India for small things as this

Poets and Sadism..

2006-01-11T03:22:00.000-08:00

Gazals and Shers have always got me thinking about the mood of the poets. Have poets gone through the things they write or are they written to tease people? For example, a 60 year old poet would write about his babe ditching him for a absolutely fit for nothing, shit faced SOB. How would a 60 year old know how it feels? And at 60 your brain cells are too weak to remember what your babe did to you 40 years back. It only means that he wants to have fun at seeing you cry over your girl actually run away with another idiot. That, my friend, is called sadism!

The surprising part is that, most of the gazals start and end on a sad note and make sure they carry the mood along the whole song. But invariably, who ever understand the language, tends to identify with the song. It only means that everyone thinks alike and goes through the same shit. Or you forcefully identify your story with the song, probably, completely missing the point. Whatever be it, I still like gazals and shers. Here are a couple of them that strike the cords of your heart..

laher aati hai kinaare se palat jaati hai,
yaad aati hai aur dil mein simat jaati hai,
laher aur yaad mein farq sirf itna hai ki,
laher bewaqt aur yaad har waqt aati hai
(Waves come by the shore but turn around
Commemoration happens but it congregates in my heart
Waves and Commemoration have just one difference
Waves come by anytime but your fond memories come by always)

Manzile bhi uski thi, Rasta bhi uska tha. Ek main akela tha, Kafila bhi uska tha.. Sath-Sath chalne ki soch bi uski thi, Fir raasta badalne ka faisla bhi uska tha... Aaj kyon akela hoon, Dil sawal karta hai, Log to uske the, Kya KHUDA bhi uska tha....?
(The Destination was hers, she decided the route,
I was alone and the whole group was hers.
It was her idea of moving together,
It was her decision to part ways.
My heart questions – Why am I alone?
People were hers, but was even GOD on her side?)

It has been very difficult to translate this. Had to take help from people around to translate the first one.

Sambhandha - The pleasent bonding.

2005-12-29T03:58:00.000-08:00

I got my first push into the bride searching during this weekend. It was my cousin’s marriage, the first marriage that I attended from the beginning till the end. And there were lot rituals that I had no idea about. I don’t have an opinion about the significance of the rituals, but it’s all a lot of fun.

Here are some:

1. Sodu Munji/Kashi Yatra: The groom leaves for kashi not willing to get married. He wants to enter sanyasa directly. Then the father in law goes to him and calls him back to get married to his daughter.

2. The girls and the guy are separated by a panji (towel like cloth) with swastik mark on it. Both the guy and the girl are supposed to stare into the swastik for as long the matras are on. When the panji is lifted, the bride and the groom are supposed to put akshata on each other. Who succeeds in showering the akshata is supposed to dominate the married life.

3. The bride’s uncle (mama) has to carry the bride to the bride’s chair ( hase mane). He has to carry her in his arms and hand her over to the groom.

4. During the varamala session, the mama and the brother of the bride are to lift the bride so that the groom cannot put the varamala. This is again symbolic of how submissive the bride is going to be.

5. When the bride enters the new house (griha pravesh) she sings a series of 2 liners describing her love to her husband. These are called “ogatu haakodu” ( ogatu = puzzle)

6. The bride’s mother is supposed to sit on a three legged stool. The stool is called chowklani. I don’t know why this is done.

There are more, but thts all I can think of for now.

And now to the push part. I was shown to 3 middle aged ladies and was told later that they were the girl parents and they wished to see me. Shouldn’t the girl be interested in seeing me? What am I going to do by talking to the girl’s mom? To this my aunt said – ‘The girl will look like her mom when she is fifty. So look at how you want your wife to look when she is fifty’. Nice way to look at things. Very objective. This way I don’t have to think about how fat my wife is going to be, or whether she is going to have a double chin.. I know she is going to be as fat as her mom!! Phew! That makes the search much simpler.

There is a typical way in which the girl’s mom would talk to you. You can see it in their eyes. They would have an image of their daughter in their head. They see you, take your snap and put it next to their daughter, in their head. ‘Hmm.. looks good’ and they smile. You know they like you. Else they would make conversation with your mom and completely ignore your presence. You know you are rejected!

After I met with these 3 ladies, every lady who came to me to talk to me, familiar or unfamiliar, would be looked at with suspicion. “Does she have a daughter?”, “ Would she be beautiful? This lady is. So if she is not beautiful now, she would grow up to look beautiful just like her mom!”, “What do I say? I know I should not talk about her sexy daughter, and she is bent upon knowing how my onsite trips were and how long I was there. Should I answer? Has mom sent her to me?” All I did was smile for most questions and answer the absolutely necessary ones.

And these only make you think about marriage or rather the question to you is – why not marriage? Your family has all the reasoning and you fall back on only one thing – I don’t feel like. That is not even a reason according to them!!

So I am slowly being pushed into the whirlpool. But I am safe till next December, when my other cousin is getting married. The drama is going to be more intense then.

Btw, relationship is called sambandha. It means that it is a bonding that cannot be broken, but is a bond that is a pleasent one. And that is why it is called Sam-Bandha. This was what RSS head for south karnataka told us. :)

More later.

Sleepy - not so much.

2005-12-23T00:45:00.000-08:00

Never felt this way, but have not been able to have a sound sleep for the last four weeks. Chili might go on with - 'Only babies sleep at 11' etc. But the point is, though I have been sleeping at 11 every day, I get up with eyes red and a feeling of tierdness. Initially I thought it would be just the jet lag, then I thought it could be the change of weather, then after 2 weeks I thougt it could be because I had to change my bed. Still trying to figure out what it is...

We had a project party a couple of days back. We had been to a hindi movie and then for dinner. I suggested to go for King Kong (Hindi), but you know the people around. They would prefer to go for a movie that they can crib about than come out laughing. So we went to Bluff Master. It was a nice movie. (Funda: All hindi movies are fun to watch. Never go by the TOI ratings). 10 mins before the movie started, we went into Firangi Paani. A nice cozy place serving drought beer. So we were tipsy as we went into the movie hall. There was no way that we did not like the movie!!

Then we went to a place called Chandini Chowk for dinner. Review of the hotel. But afterall, the food was okay, that's what mattered.

Interesting thing about this project party was, we managed to completely beat the purpose of a project party. We went to the movie, and then went for dinner. At the end of it all, I did not know even 5 out of the 20 people who came to the party. And while I thought that I was one of the more experienced in the group, I was totally taken by surprise when people started introducing themselves before leaving. But I enjoyed it. I dont care about the others..

Its friday night. Shall try to sleep early tomorrow ( by 2 AM saturday :)

2005-12-13T08:29:00.000-08:00

It has been a long time since I wrote anything here. Long time since I had anything to blog.
I returned after 5 months in milwaukee. This time around was shorter than my last time but I was more excited to come back to bangalore than ever. Sitting on the 7th floor of NM north building with no one to talk to and the same work for 45 days was more than an experience I wanted to escape. So I am here.

There were more reasons to come back than just about sitting alone. Hitesh was to get married on dec 12th., my cousin on dec 27th and my brother is coming to Bangalore after 4 years, Shabari Mala in february... Could not have missed so many things for an extended onsite.

That brings to me Hitesh's marriage. . I could never see this guy getting married, he would never be old enough for marriage.. :) Not talking about how funny our dear friend looked at the marriage, I would restrict myself to my experice with Delhi. Chili, SP and I had gone to the marriage in Gurgaon. We stayed in Delhi in Tilak Marg in Chili's dad's guest house. It was in new delhi in the diplomatic area. One thing very impressive of delhi is the roads there. Every road is a 4 - 6 way lane with no potholes. It looks amazing, specially when you visit delhi from BANGpotholeALORE. The bus service in delhi is just too good. But mind you, it is just the service that is good not the busses. Then there is palika bazaar... I am not sure why there are markets of this kind. Why would people quote high prices and expect you to bargain? With bargain ignorant people like us, we are bound to get comprehensively looted. We realized our weeknesses soon enough to get out of the place. Then the cannought place. At 9 in the evening, we were in cannought place and I had this urge to have beer. After all the phone calling we found that there are a couple of good places around cannought place. We went to one called Ruby Tuesday. The people who live in delhi would laugh to read this. 3 mugs of beer, 2 mocktails = 1000 bucks!!! Looted again!!
The next day was the marriage. We were the only 3 friends of his and rest of them were family. We made a complete fool of ourselves by dancing in the middle of the road as hitesh rode on the horse back. But it was all fun.
Shall write separately about marriage some time. Or may be chili would have written by now..

walking the green mile

2005-09-24T07:20:00.000-07:00

It is always difficult to walk the green mile. Today is our implementation and we are just waiting for the clients to say "Looks good". The wait seems too long and hard.
I wish there was a time machine that would just transport us into Tuesday and everything looks fine and dandy. Then life moves on.

This feeling of walking the last mile was almost forgotten. The last time I was so nervous was during my II PUC physics exam. I remember I had not slept the previous night!

Till the last week we were all cool and comforatble. But suddenly this implementation seems too hard and slow. Like the vodka, it hits at the last moment. Nonetheless, everyone enjoys it :-). We have been waiting for this moment for a long time. Not for the implementation to happen but for the implementation to get over. Just to take a breather. About the other avinash (my PL), this project is the biggest thing he has done, and I should tell you, happen what may with the client check out, we know that he has been nothing less than fantastic. We call him the "karta dharta" of our project. Rest of us did what we were asked to do.
That brings me to my next quandary, if I only did what I was asked to do, then how proud should I feel about the project? I am sure everyone would get an appreciation mail for all the hard work in the project. But at the end of the day we all know who deserves it. You know what I mean.
I think the client is back and seems happy, I can hear the laughter!!
Signing off!!

That Fateful Thursday...

2005-09-16T11:12:00.000-07:00

As written by my cousin.

15th Sept , 2005.

Yes true, we had heard rumors abt it.. every1 had met atleast 1 guy / gal who had told them the horror stories abt those bad old days..
Today seemed like a routine day.. the same installation problems.. The same nervous chatter, the same issues ..Software life was so predictable.. or so we thought.

Lunch time .. I can see that there is a nervous excitement all around.. something big is going to happen.. but nobody exactly knows what. We know that our client is not doing so well.. there are speculations of a "layoff" ..

& sure enough .. 1 by 1 messages started pouring in that some of our team mates had got mails..
" Please lock your machines & assemble at the terrace at 2.30 Pm. This message is intended just for you. Please do not share it with anyone. We have an important message to share with you. " .......
100 employees were laid off today.. I was not among them.. most were not so lucky.. (or unlucky?) ..

The 1s spared didn't know how to react? you tell me how should one react? do u feel happy bcos u have been spared? .. or do u feel scared that it could be you tomorrow? .. or do u feel sad for the employees who u will not be seeing from tomorrow.. All access cards stopped working , all emails blocked.. It was that Black thursday .. My first experience with a layoff..

There were question marks all around.. some in tears .. some saying their good byes.. some furious at the injustice.. many employess laid off had joined just 2 months back..

Life had been so secure.. I felt I could achieve anything.. I knew i had talent.. So many plans.. But in the end ... does it really make sense?

There are empty cubicles all around.. no more jokes to be shared across cubicles.. no more lunch mates.. ....

There is another release to complete, another deadline to meet. .. Life goes on............... . . . . . . .

Sarkar - review.

2005-07-02T19:12:00.000-07:00

There are umpteen movies based on underworld by Ram gopal verma. Satya, Company, D and now Sarkar. The same cast, same setup, low lightining, few dialogues, simple shoot and kill (no blood) and a heavy back ground music.Technically sarkar is not an underworld movie. Amitabh is this goonda who does not do any business that would harm his people, but kills and threatens if people dont listen to him.
There are a couple of things said about the movie.
First that it was a remake of godfather. I think so. Abhishek Bacchhan=Al Pacino and Amitabh Bacchhan=Marlon Brando. Amitabh bacchhan is not so impressive. We already have an overdose of this old man. I dont want to watch him in every movie. Here he is in a total shabarimalay dress. There was somthing about him that you would dislike in the movie. Am not able to figure out what. Abhishek Bacchhan is very good. He is as stylish as Al Pachino. As usual, Mohan lal is fantastic. His accent and his clear slow way of speaking- O man!!
Second, it is based on Bal Thackrey's life. Rubbish. Only because Amitabh has a rudrakhi mala and speaks a couple of dialogues in marathi, it does not make him Bal thackerey.

All in all it is a good movie. You would like it if you watch it. But will not miss it if you dont. As far as I am concernd, this is the last ramgopal verma underworld movie I am going to watch.

huttu habbada shubhashayagalu

2005-06-21T08:01:00.000-07:00

Though he was the one who gave me proxy and got the class suspended, I hardly knew him through the 4 years in college. 3 months of Mysore Infy trainig and a year in office got me to love this guy. A rebel, compulsive insomniac, Hardcore Rahman, Dravid and Stephen King fan, an absolute ladies man. Chili is celebrating his 26th birthday. Happy birthday dude...

short and older

2005-06-07T23:07:00.000-07:00

Today this shorty pants celebrates his 25th birthday. Who can tell his age by his structure. We call him Bippi. Wad divasacha hardhik shubechha!! (transalation : All great things come in small packages) :)

happy birthday dude...

D - Review

2005-06-06T00:53:00.000-07:00

I dont know if D stands for Dawood or D stands for Downer! The movie was a total let down, not even close to any of the ram gopal verma movies.

the movie starts off with this guy from Dharavi going as a witness of a daylight murder to the police. After getting threats from one gang, he decides to not squeal to the police, instead join the rival gang and destroy the first gang. He does so. It seems, this is a prequel to Company. But in the movie, Deshu (read Dawood, randeep Hooda) and Chandu( Vivek oberoi in Company) have the same back ground, the same series of events happening to them. Okay, the story apart (there is nothing new you can make out of a gangster movie I suppose), the music in the movie is too loud and seems like a straight flick from Company. There are hardly any dialogues in the movie. Almost throughout the movie, there is background music and the talking is muted. The songs are hopeless and hopelessly placed in the movie. Of all people, who could play striptease in an item number, ramgopal verma had to choose Rajpal Yadav!!
Shashank Singh has been wasted in the movie. Randeep Hooda in the movie is okay. But there is hardly scope for acting. For, he is wearing aviator glasses all the time, does not laugh, does not cry, does not talk. Even if he does talk, it is muted and the background music carries the story forward...

After all this, the movie hall was filled with guys, all drunk Hasims and Habibs. 'Kya ba tum bhi aisaech ....' , and 'mere ko nakko' were just too loud there.

All in all , D was a Downer!!

Big Deal..

2005-04-02T00:48:00.000-08:00

Today I am officially the owner of a plot of land. Still in shock. I could not sleep last night. First time in life when my signature was worth 13 Lakh rupees. My hands were literaly trembling. To make things worse, order planned for the day was not the way it happened. As we left home at 12, we were to finish the process of registration by 2:30. But the bank guy ( an absolutely uncourteous fellow) came in at 5:15 just a few minutes before the closing time. Unlike what people say, my dad is not calm and composed. I realized that he can freak me out for such a thing as this. He was fuming when the bank guy came in. So angry that he could not speak a word to him. And later on again the wrath was unleashed upon me. However, all's well that ends well. I am 25 and I own a piece of land.

In the last month I was reading about Marxism, Lenninsm and Stalinism. Was kind of impressed by the basic thoery of Communism. It says that no one can possess land. Land will always be a property of the government. Who cultivates on the land reaps its benifits. Ya, it was an interesting read. But I could not follow it. Actually what the heck! Communism failed across the world becasue it was unpractical. The preface of the book Marx and Marxism says - ' the only good thing about communism is its failure' . Not sure how all this fits into this blog.

The point is, I am not able to digest the fact that I own the land and now possess the papers of its. It all seems unreal.

All said, now I hope that everything with this first deal of mine goes fine till the end. Hoping the land gives me no hasseles with all the crap of BDA BMRDA, CMC, Revenue and a million other things which are bacially the governemt stunts to confuse the people and entangle them in this unresolvable problems. Finally the BDA issues a notice of taking over the site. God save me from all the hasseles.
Amen.

Gods own Country

2005-03-17T05:31:00.000-08:00

2 pm on wednesday we returned from kerala. Kerala is an outstanding place with an almost unbeleivable cleanliness. All the towns, villages and cities are situated along the national highway. You would never find a stretch of road with barren uncultivated land on either side. All the girls in kerala look similar with hair which looks like a spring out of shape who would have emptied a coconut oil bottle on their head and a clip just keeping the end of the hair together. Chili says they are the best looking people in India. I am sure he was looking at the other evident things just their hair and the hair clip..
Everytime you ask direction to a malayali he would say - ' nera poyi, leppta'. It would always be a left there. why? Because in kerala left is right :-).
The hotels in kerala are kind of weird. One, they serve hot water to drink. I heard that the govt fines the hotels if they serve cold water. If you manage to drink it, it is supposed to be hygienic. Two, when we decided to go to shabaraimalay, we are not supposed to eat onion, garlic and drumsticks (aphrodisiacs). You will not find a single hotel which serves food without garlic and drumsticks. How horny!! Then there is the boiler tea. Nair chaya, it is called. Simbly suberb. You would find a toddy shop in every 100 mts. Horny, drunk and people with a civic sense, they are the mallus.
Then there is the architecture in kerala. The single storied, slanted tiled roofs, huge houses so amazing. The temples and houses are built in similar fashion. Such roofs keep the inside of the house cool.
Kerala is so clean that we did not find a single pig in the whole of our journey till we trekked the 7 km to reach shabarimala temple. The religious significance of the temple aside, the temple is strikingly unhygienic. The garbage cans are emptied inside the campus on the temple, pigs digging their way through the empty tea cups and aluminum foils. I reasoned it out as, one, shabarimalay is one place in kerala where there are less of mallus and more of other state people. Two, that keralites are more used to self management than mass management. They are not used to the fact that people, in their 25 years or more of their life, have not cultivated the least civic sense. They do not know what to do. There were boards everywhere saying, ‘Be an eco-pilgrim’, an innovative catch phrase. May be that is not persuasive enough for the pilgrims to keep the place clean.

We were 4 kannisamys ( virgin swamis) traveling. With us there was a guruswamy who had come to show us the place and to tell us the procedures. How grateful are we to him! Hadn’t he been there, we would not have seen the neyi abhisheka( ghee abhisekam) and we would also not have known how many coconuts to break, where to shove the sphere that we collected at babar’s mosque. For all those who have not gone to shabarimalay, we break about 6 or 7 coconuts at various stages of the journey to shabarimalay and back and we collect a sphere at babar’s moque at erumeli.We had an amazing driver who drove us to kerala. ShivShankar. On the way back he drove for 15 hours with 2 breaks of about 20 mins each. On the way up to the the temple, there was a place that was announcing – Vedi Vezhi padu – and a fire cracker would be burst somewhere in the forest. GD came up with this fantastic logic that the crackers were being burst to keep the elephants off the trekking area. No idea how he thought about it, nonetheless very much possible. The fire crackers were actually being burst as an offering of prayer to the lord!! Vedi Vezhi Padu. 
The 7 km trek up to the temple is really hard. The granites with sharp stones, the steep incline, and the irumudi to balance on out heads makes it very tough. Enduring the pain is a part of the austerity.

We had also been to the Guruvayoor temple. This is the temple to which jayalalitha had donated 2 elephants. To this manishankar iyer had said – ‘I would have donated jayalalitha instead!!’.

Of course, there are the backwaters in kerala. Everyone talks about ‘em. They are too good. You know it. Everyone knows it.

My next trip to kerala would be an exclusive one- sit by the back waters, drink toddy, relish the sea food and relaxxx…

The Bad and the Ugly.

2005-03-07T01:30:00.000-08:00

Has Holly and Bollywood taken a vow to make yawners. It has been 4 weeks and the oly good movie I have watched in BLACK. One classic. It is supposed to be inspired from a 1961 hollywood movie Miracle Worker (1962). this is one of those movies which would force you to think about the lives of the disabled. incrediblke acting, direction, everything. Oscar class. But dont know if inspired movies are eligible for oscars. Are they?
And ofcourse there are other movies that would force you to think. To think about what made you think that the movie would be good. Aviator and then Constantine.
Sandeeps recommendation - Aviator. One load of crap. history it is. Howard Hues was impressive when I watched him on History Channel. But a 3 hour long movie on one man's insanity and obsession would easily put an owl to sleep.
And then last night I watched Constantine. 'I am Constantine, John Constantine'. Like - Nanna hesaru Das. Parameshwar Das'. So? Anyway, Chili's recommendation. Constantine. Despite 1* on TOI I went to watch the movie. And what more, I made akshat and Priyatosh watch it. It is about this guy who has visited Hell and is back. He is sending the demons and the half breeds to hell to get his ticket to heaven. Story is fine. the problem is, I cannot point out one particular thing in the movie that forced me to sleep. A real bad ending to a relatively nice weekend. I came back at 2am on the monday morning.
come on guys, you were lying. You did not like the movie, did you?

A visit to mysore.

2005-02-18T03:52:00.000-08:00

After more than two and a half years I went to mysore. There was this friends marriage there. It was pretty nostalgic, the trip. Let me start with the cribs and then get to the nostalgia. Havent we been hearing of Bangalore- Mysore express Highway since more than 1.5 years? You would hear about it for another 1.5 years atleast. There is no work being done. After a year and a half all you can find is a couple of cranes digging the land in an effort to make the area messier than it is. Earlier it was a 4 way lane. In an effort to make an express Highway 8 lanes(right?) they have successfully made it into a 2 lane highway. And the road condition is as bad as the koramangala roads!!
Phew! I had to get this out of my system..!
Now to the nostalgia. I went past The Windsor. It was a touching moment, all the memories of our stay just crossed my mind in a second. Almost like it was just yesterday. Mysore is extreemly peaceful, clean place, wide roads (lemme come to that), few people, low cost of peaceful living. I think I would take a transfer to mysore, anyone from our batch, other than Chili, for it?
Remember the Loyal world, it is one of the few super markets, probably the only one, in mysore. And the Idly stall near the temple. Could not go to that place. Next trip to Mysore, I have to visit these places - the Idly place, Chamundi hills in the night, NalPak restaurant and I dont remember the other restaurants names to where we had been...Did I convey what I wanted to say, Transfer to Mysore...Consider it.

Did I mention about the wide roads? the Govt is promoting Mysore to be the next IT hub and the ring road cutting the city is just a 2 lane road. It is going to be a mess if mysore even comes close to becoming bangalore. The flyover construction should start now. So that once the development actually begins, infrastucture is in place. However, in my opinion Mysore must be left as it is. It is enough that Bangalore has been screwed irreversibly..
So guys..Mysore Tranfer...Conside it...

Shoot'em

2005-02-14T04:38:00.000-08:00

It is kind of boring to write about something that you would be expecting to read. Yet, read on if you are sailing with me. Else you could feel good about yourself. I dont know how, but you are permitted to.
I read this somewhere - 'Why Mother's day passed the VHP test unlike V-Day'. I said - Isnt it obvious. Most of us have mothers, how many of us have a girl? A festival is celebrated to bring joy to the whole society, and not to a bunch of people in a particular age group. I am surprised how they missed this point!

'It feels good to be single.' He means - Had I been a part of the boy friend girlfriend faction then I could have ended up in the hospital. Heard of VHP right? One which has owned up the responsibility to protect our motherland from unnecessary western influence.

'I am just out of a relationship. I do not want to get into another one'.Dude, just tell me that you are scared of VHP and RSS. They would make you squat in the middle of the road, if caught!!

'Actually I am so busy with my work that I dont care about it. ' yeah right, you are only working towards being a gay!!

I approve of 2 extremes. Either have no festival like the Valentine day, or openly celebrate Mardi Gras. After all either every ine has fun or no one has fun. India, on Feb 14th, should be monarchy of Bal thakerey. Ofcourse this opinion is subjective to happenings in my life..

Is the Pressure Justified

2005-02-04T09:17:00.000-08:00

Is the pressure justified? A non engineer or a non doctor is as good as an uneducated. Is the education system in this country flawed. The non engineering or mediacal guy is not paid as high as an engineer. Should'nt there be government norms regulating the pay at every level? Every guy cannot be an engineer or a doctor. Not because of caliber but because of affordability. There has not been a single new medical college in bangalore post independence while there has been a substantial number of private colleges in the city. So with the engineeing colleges. The fees in private colleges is unaffordable to an ordinary guy. What is the solution to this?
Is the pressure justified? Is the performance measure the right way for the companies to rate their employees? May be there needs to be another way. May there is not. But this definitely is not the right way. On the one hand, it motivates the super performers to perform better. But it demotivates the averagers to go higher. With performace being monitore all the time, are guys compromising on their personal life to stretch their limits on the professional level? Is this the right way?Has the world evolved in a wrong fashion?

Gen Next

2005-01-29T20:52:00.000-08:00

As we were standing outside cool joint in Jayanagar, Avilash and I exchanged a WOW as a female passed us. She was headed to a pub. Just a normal sight that I am trying to get used to - girls frequenting such places. As we entered the pub after a few minutes I saw something unusal. The girl that we saw was actually with her husband, another couple and their kid. As the two couples were enjoying their sip of alcohol and the music, their 6 year old kid was sitting at the bar. 6 year old kid, for god's sake!! And then people around me told me that there is a separate family section in most pubs. Family section!! Pub is just a fancier, more expensive version of a bar. They still serve alcohol. People do get drunk here. And this has a family section!!
Along with being conservative, I also border on hypocrisy. Although I go to such places, I would prefer not to see a girl in there. I cannot go out with my girl to a pub (thats in case I had one). Just that I would not feel comfortable. Since I cannot do much about females going to the pub, I had no choice but to come to terms with during the last few months. Of course, I had never thought that I would ever see a 6 year old in a place of this kind. No. Not in my wildest dreams! So there arises no question of acceptance or defiance.
During the bangalore habba (bangalore festival) KF had a counter to sell beer in the food court in palace grounds. They say beer is not alcohol. Its more like water. Excuse me?
I know a 6th std kid who surfs porn. He is one of the smatest kids that I have seen( of course not becasue he surfs porn!). He tells me that he goes to cyber center quite freuently. He was caught by one of my friends watching a 'movie' on his computer. Strictly not acceptable. Will the parents get to kow about it?I dont think so.. But may be they were linient enough for the kid to start exploring such stuff.
Another kid that I met the other day would not be more than 12 years. His tounge was surprisingly bad coming from a family that I know. I used my first swear word when I came to my 11th std. That would be 16. And had sworn to never use it again. Then in 12th that swearing became common. And this kid is 5 years smarter than I am.. :). We can either laugh about it, crib about it or blame some one.
The new year's eve when we were at 'the club', I saw a boy aged around 12 carrying a beer glass in his hand. I was just hoping that he was carrying it for his dad. Did not eventually find out who he was carrying it for. So I dont feel too bad about it. I dont know the truth there ..
Vice is a vice and has to be accepted as a vice. If selling beer in public, drinking beer in public or taking your kid to the bar is cool, then you need mentoring. Incidents like this get me thinking if the generation next would even consider listening to what elders have to say. Pay heed to their advice. Respect them. Then I find comfort in telling my self - its about how our generation brings up their kids. So its entirely upto us as to how they behave.

Who better than who?

2005-01-27T20:57:00.000-08:00

The much talked about Benny Hinn recently visited bangalore to pray for India. It was all over the paper about BJP and the Hindu samaj opposing it and the Benny Hinn defending his stance. The hindus samaj (BJP, VHP and other utterly jobless facions) were scared that the much too preserved hindu community would get converted to christianity. Mr. Hinn said he was not here for conversion. You can only laugh about the statements made by both the groups.

Some people are obsessed with conversion, others have a problem with it. Why? To make it a political agenda? BJP says, hindus dont support or practice conversion. Sure, christianity does not say it does not support conversion. They are letting people know about their relegion. What is wrong? May be I am a hindu and tend to be more critical about my birth relegion. May be I want my birth relegion to be the perfect and all accomodating one. What ever be it, conversion is not wrong. But mass conversion is wrong. There is a difference, and you surely can see it. A crowd always thinks as crowd. Not as a million individuals. It is always upto the oratory and the sweet talking of the convener of the meeting to make the crowd support or oppose his thinking. The crowd does not have the ability to express its intelligence and discreetion. And the mass convertionists(if thats a word) take complete advantage of this. I hope and want to beleive that the BJP and the VHPs were scared of this event rather than conversion per se. A crowd acting out of ignorance is dangerous to the country. Specially in India, hinduism being the main relegiion (main in terms of population) it important to stop people from attending meeting of this kind. If I want to convert , I would go to the church and get myself converted. no one would stop me. Converion is a everyones birth right. Coaxing someone by their sweet talk to convert is a fraud and should be punishable by law. This does not even mean that I support the BJPs and the VHPs for their voilence, bus burning, stone pelting, window pane breaking etc. That was done to gain political mileage. But , in my opinion, it was upto the CM to allow or dis allow such an event or to keep it under strict vigilance and to lay the right ground rules of marketing and publicity.