Yada Yada Yudharmasya..

Have been one crazily hectic week at work, what with my colleague on a long vacation, one US counterpart on a short vacation and another ready to go on her maternity leave! Cutting down on all my food and stretch breaks and yet staying up until 5am on all the days and back at work by 2pm. On top of that, some people think that managers/MBAs dont do any work... And my manager says 'Ha! Good stuff man.. you are finally doing some work ?!' @%#$%#$^&*!!!

----------------------------------------------

Its party time.. I have another set of mock-interviews lined up at CF tomorrow!!

Ha Ha! I can never get enough of them..!! [grinding the palms..] [Obelix on hearing that a Roman battalion is camping nearby!!!]

Bhaskar !

AshAbhi or AbhiAsh?

Here is my 2 cents on this current hot topic...

Whatever said and done (by any swami) ... whatever matched and done (horoscopes)..

whatever arranged and done (by the parents).. whatever L'affaired and done...

I think these two wouldnt last long as a couple.

Bhaskar

Why I dont celebrate V Day?

a. What is that?
b. Oh, is it today?
c. I am busy..
d. I am at work..
e. I dont have a girlfriend/boyfriend
f. I dont have a girlfriend/boyfriend - I am married!!
g. I cant do justice to all my girlfriends/boyfriends.. :P
h. I am a true blood Indian and V Day is not. :D
i. I dont wait till V Day to celebrate true love!!!
j. My girlfriend/boyfriend is busy..
k. My girlfriend/boyfriend doesnt believe in these stuff...
l. My girlfriend/boyfriend has other plans.. (?!)
m. Others _______________________(pls specify!!)

Long Time...

" Hey! Dude.. (Was)Sup??! "
I watched Friends Season 6 again. Especially the one in which Joey tries to act like a 19 yr old... Man.... Joey rocks!! Have reaffirmed my faith in F.R.I.E.N.D.S. and looking forward to Mandar and my college junior, Jam to be here next month with their CD collections. tell you... I am going to be damn tied up March April guys...

-----------------------------------------

Had a great time last weekend.. Taking interviews is fun and that too CAT mock interviews...baat hi kuch aur hai!!

My friend at Career Forum had invited me over. They had lined up some dozen interviews for the day. Apart from myself, there was one IIMB guy and another B FPM guy on the panel. and the whole setup was being video-taped.

And guess who was the first guy to arrive.. somebody from my previous organization, Philips Software (Medical Systems).. bechara.. he bluffed about his work and got badly bruised... ;)

Thats how it went... was a laugh riot with most of them.. goofups/tight-cornering..
But then, I know... just about 3 years back, I was on the other side of the table. In fact, this FPM guy was one of the guys who interviewed me then!!

Time flies... past... fast...!!!
-----------------------------------------

Saw the movie "fun with dick and jane" today. Jim Carrey is good. Though we are quite used to his antics now, still it is fun and a decent watch.
-----------------------------------------

How good can a 'Tea' get?

Visit Infinitea on Cunningham road and you would know!!

I have never been too fond of iced tea. But a hot cuppa chai... thats amazing... you should definitely try 'Masala T' with Cinnamon flavor. And then, it would definitely help to have good company... shared joy multiplies!!
-----------------------------------------

Sizzlers at 20 ft high on Church street... Thats great too... try that..
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I have been getting numerous requests from my fans the worldover.. to change my page design... ;)

Love you!!
Bhaskar

Roo Baa Rooo!!

Aamir Khan & his friends die for the cause!! Thats the sane end to the sane movie 'Rang De Basanti'. Sorry guys if I had unceremoniously broken the climax. But then, that was intentional ;)

I say, it is another classy movie, a *must-watch*. And I love AR Rahman!!

What ails India today? For one, this movie doesnt promote any fake heroisms. For another, it does stimulate one's thought process, mildly yet enduring.

Aamir & his band of friends are the beer-guzzling moto-racing fighter-plane-chasing 'bindaas' pseudo-heros, who refuse to graduate out of college. Though Aamir is idolized within the campus, he has no rosy notions about what awaits him/them in the corporate world. A chance encounter with a documentary director (phoren maal) takes them back in time, to the Indian Freedom Movement. In fact, they are re-enacting the roles of Bhagat Singh, Chandrashekhar Azad, ... for the documentary.

But the death of one of their friends, a dear pilot in the Indian Air Force, shifts their focus onto the MIGs that have been turning into death machines. They intend to fight against the MIGs and the corruption that sustains them, but with no success. Their fight turns into a rebellion a'la Bhagat Singh and they kill the defence minister. They also stake responsibility for the killing and in the process, churning the thoughts/emotions across the country.

What ails India today? the lack of super heros / role models? But then, let's face it... you cannot give up on your life just because there isn't any call-to-arm, can you?

Bhaskar

Doosra!

Its gonna be another 'chill maadi' weekend. With my sis & BIL coming over, we (me n cousins) are going to let loose the party (and the purse strings) :)

Tomorrow night would be dedicated to 'Rang de Basanti'. Though I have heard quite good reviews from the folks that have watched the movie, I am keeping my expectations low after watching Mangal Pandey. I will post mine later..

Talking of movies, I watched 'Green Mile' and 'There's something about Mary' the last 2 night-outs, both for the second time, in between my waiting for results and trial and error method of addressing some issues at work. Excellent movies to soothe the side-effects of sleep-deprivation. I also watched 'The Sound of Music' - a classic - beautiful movie. It is a musical - has songs in-between like our very own hindi movies. Though I am not too fond of musicals, the songs here are very nice, smooth and gelling perfectly with the story. A *must watch* for the feel-gooders. ( I am sure this has been copied in Hindi, but I dont know its name.)

I also am supposed to be meeting a couple of my friends who are supposed to be here for the weekend from Chennai. But then, they are lazy-bums-chums and I dont expect to hear anything from them, not even a purr, when they are here with their loved ones. Though they would be very prompt in sending a 'sorry' note as soon as they are back in chennai!!

Bhaskar

The Sound of Music

The hills are alive with the sound of music
With songs they have sung for a thousand years
The hills fill my heart with the sound of music
My heart wants to sing every song it hears

My heart wants to beat like the wings of the birds
that rise from the lake to the trees
My heart wants to sigh like a chime that flies
from a church on a breeze
To laugh like a brook when it trips and falls over
stones on its way
To sing through the night like a lark who is learning to pray

I go to the hills when my heart is lonely
I know I will hear what I've heard before
My heart will be blessed with the sound of music
And I'll sing once more
....




Climb ev'ry mountain
Ford ev'ry stream
Follow ev'ry rainbow
'Till you find your dream

A dream that will need
All the love you can give
Everyday of your life
For as long as you live...



Courtesy: lyricsondemand.com

Bangalore Bloggers & Akshara!!

It was great fun meeting you guys saturday evening at Barista!

But, here, plz let me talk about Akshara specifically.

Akshara, after the successful implementation of their pilot project "Accelerated Learning Program" for primary school kids in 2 blocks of bangalore, has now taken up implementing the project throughout Bangalore (on war footing!)

Plz Check http://blogpourri.blogspot.com/2005/12/akshara-first-steps-in-read-bangalore.html for more details.

For the new-comers, Varun has also posted an excellent introduction to Akshara on his blog. http://vasingh.blogspot.com/2006/01/bangalore-bloggers-meet-akshara.html



If your question is:
How can I support Akshara in this endeavour?
or
If you had volunteered your time for Akshara,

"Now Is That Time".

Simple.. just tell me the exact dates when you can support Akshara (for a minimum of 2 hours).

Leave your Name, Email & the Dates in the next one month.

And I would mail you back the details in the next couple of days.

Regards,
Bhaskar

Map the World!

create your own visited country map

where is Jamnagar?

Just heard the news that one of my friends is getting married... On Mar 20th at Jam Nagar. Now where in the heaven is that? (marriages are made in heaven, you see...)

He is quite a cool and funny guy. I got to know him during our 4 years at a godforsaken jail.. ! The first year was the best. It was quite an experience together... eating 'rubber' parathas... running on the connector away from the warden and the senior inmates after giving gaalis to them from the roof top on a moonless night... bunking marchpast practices... watching any and every movie shown at the audi... yearning for the one or two birds around...

We met again at Hyderabad, about 5 years back, when I was there for a day.. courtesy Microsoft... And then he went to the US. It seems he met the girl of his dreams there at Goldman Sachs. And he stayed.

We met again when I took a stopover in New York. And he was going strong with the girl-O-H-D. I havent seen her yet but it seems they make a cute pair. She is a gujju and hence, Jam nagar....

Now I need to find out the Jam and if there is an airport and a flight to that place... Do you have any ideas?

Bhaskar

Jamboree

It was funnny... to see the Media crying!

It seems they werent let anywhere close to the venues of Aamir - Kiran marriage & receptions (Panchgani/Bangalore). Especially after the Panchgani episode.. they were crying that they couldn't even get a closer look at the entrance to the place. All they wanted was to take a look at the venue, it seems. Absolutely ridiculous..

And then, they went about claiming that the events were 'shrouded in mystery'.. Do they know some such thing as privacy? let alone respect for privacy..

---------------------------------------

How to lose a loyal customer..

I have a Standard Chartered Credit Card that I had been using for the past 5 years. was pretty happy with the card and the service.. and have spent atleast 4 - 5 lacs through the card.. i remember having gotten more than 4000 reward points (you get 1 reward point for the qualifying 100 bucks of spend with this card)

Last year.. they said that I need to pay just 500 bucks and I would get the cards (had some add-on cards too) free for my lifetime. But, when I saw the statement some couple of months back, I found that they had again charged me the annual fees (1500 overall).

When I called them up, they said that they can't give to me for free.. But if I pay another 500 bucks per card I will definitely get it lifetime free, this time. I said NO and asked them to cancel the cards.

During the verification call (before cancellation), they offered to reverse all my fees and charges.. for just 250 bucks (overall). I waited till the next statement.. and lo! I found 250 bucks plus the late fees (900 bucks) on the non-existant annual fees.

I blasted them and they promised that they will send me a clean statement if I could just retain my cards.

And today, I see a statement for 75 bucks....!!

What do you think?

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Calling all tamil enthusiasts....

what do you mean by "yaer yeduththu paartha dhilla" ??!

Bhaskar

Snapshots.. Kumaara Parvatha

Here are the peaks enticing and enthralling you!


The Sign board near the entrance of the hills in Kukke Subramanya.


Starting the climb through the forest..


And continuing through the grasses (bordering the forest)..


A Forest Watch Tower! ;)


To the Pit Stop (Bhattre's place)


The next morning from Giri Gadde


To breakfast at the Mantapam (you see that?)


see that now?!


and the trail beyond..?


On the penultimate peak.. Kshesh Giri


The trail covered so far..


And the other side at Kshesh..


The (hidden) trail to Pushpa Giri through the forest


...And the waterfall face


The Cliffhanger pose :P


Pushpa Giri conquered!



top shot!!


back at Giri Gadde saying bye (and thanks) to Mahalingeshwara Bhatta ( you may also need his mobile number: 9448647947)

Happy New Year!

Wishing you a Great Grand Gamboling New Year 2006.

Bhaskar

pretty much...

this is pretty much my last post of the year... pretty much the last moor... the last sigh....
-----------------------------

We did have an awesome trek. 5000 ft of wild(ly) imposing raw terrain. (Wow!! That is just the phrase!) For the whole of the 10km trek (one way), there would been hardly a flat stretch of 300m-400m. And much of it was an inclination of 45 degrees or more which ensured that climbing down was as tough as the onward journey.

After a full 32 hours, my thighs and calf muscles are still aching for the grind! ;)

There were quite a few technicalities/fundaas involved. For example, people sometimes mistake the Kshesh Giri as the final accessible point and return. But there is a way through the forest and a dry waterfall (if it is not dry, you gotta take another circuitous route round the rocks) to take you to Pushpa Giri, the highest point of Kumara Parvatha, the second highest peak in Karnataka ?)

And another, the forest officials had banned trekking beyond the checkpost due to one researcher/scientist getting lost (and found after a week or so) during the August rains and the subsequent negative publicity. We were the first guys to get the permission after the ban, thanks to our efforts and my cousin's friend whose mother is with the Wildlife Dept, Aranya Bhavan. (After us, some 4 groups sneaked on to the top!)

If not for Mr. Bhattre at Giri Gadde, providing food and shelter midway, I think it would been impossible a trek to the top.

BTW, that dry waterfall wall fulfilled my dreams of rock climbing! :)

I would post the pics, Bhattre's phone number and some more sometime next year. For now, I gotta get ready for my HYD-CNAI flight..
-----------------------------

I saw her.. in the (very same exact) white embroidered baba (or bebe or babe or beba brand) salwar. And my mind skipped a beat.. heart beat a retreat..
-----------------------------


as another year draws to a close..
my dreams are yet unfulfilled..
are they turning sour?
or is it just my wants.. ?

Bhaskar
(May the Force and the Peace be with you in the New Year!)

Surreal World

Received by email from my cousin here.. Kalps, (Honeywell) Bangalore

--------------------------

Toys, in their different forms of engineering, colors and designs are the source of my interest of late!

From hot wheels to squeaky dolls, from game boys to Barbie girls, from flying UFOs to the down-to-earth spinning tops, the mechanisms and their creativity do not cease to amaze me.

So, this time when I had been to visit my cousin who had come from Australia, I was all geared up to relate to her little girl. A cute little one, who talks only in English, yet can understand every word of my Tamil.

She was not that interested in talking to me this time as she had another little girl for company. And there was something else too, with which she was very busy with. From time to time, she checked on a little dial that was tied along a colorful wire. I was getting curious as to what it could be and mentally guessed that it could be a small video game.

But when the other girl was checking on it too, my curiosity started eating me up. What could be on the dial that the girls checked often, without spending more than a minute every time they visited that contraption that lay placidly on the hall sofa? Logic started reasoning with my guess, that if it were a video game, then the kids would be holding it in their palms and not part away from it, till the time they win or lose the game. So what could it be?!

"What is that?” popped out my question to the little girls. “TamaGotchi" was something they seem to convey to me. It sounded Greek and Latin to me and I started wondering if Australia was moving towards their native language just like the numerous Indian city names are being renamed in their native tongues.

"It’s a virtual pet" answered my cousin's husband to my confused and querying brows.
"What’s that!!!" repeated a shocked me. "A virutal pet? How could it be?”
The kid answered to that now, "She is sleeping" and showed me the "she", who was a little "zzz" in the middle of oval shaped dial.

What is sleeping and where? asked me, who could not fathom where the kid is pointing to. Mustn’t the pet have a body? eyes? ears? a tongue to wag? or a pretty whisker that can tickle? or a fin to shake? or a pretty beak that can poke and nibble?

No! It needn’t! was what I understood from my cousin. This is a virtual pet that is being programmed along with the oval contraption. It would be born, it would cry for milk, (you should press a button to feed it milk), it would want to pee (another button to change the nappy), it would sleep (make it cozy - a button again, but I could see only a max of 3 buttons on the dial!). So all you need is to name the pet, feed it, change its dirty underwear and rock it to sleep. If you dare to ignore its hunger pangs, your pet would shrivel and die. And beware of the pet's early demise, as your kid might go into a depression as what is happening with the kids in many of the developed countries who are addicted to this toy. The last feature was a punch on my senses! If you are sure of your pet's sex, you can connect across a network and satisfy the sexual urges of your pet by finding it a suitable groom or a bride!
Gosh! It was becoming too virtual (weird?) to the human in me!

How could you have a pet only on a dial? How could you feed with the press of the buttons? How can you change nappies without the traditional wipes and Johnson’s powder? How can you mate without the traditional touch? How can you cry without a running nose?

Maybe I am getting old? Maybe I am not able to replace the old with the new? Maybe I am unable to free myself from the known?

But I know that no virtual touch can replace the traditional cozy cuddles and hugs to your cute poodle, no simulated feeling can replace the love that you feel towards a wiggling fish in your pond, no programmed behavior can replace the unpredictability of your cute little cat!

Mess is what makes life a wonderful art... to live, cuddle, love, play and cry. Real tears, real teeth, real touch, real growls and real hungry howls... reality bites but I do have a problem with the virtual highs!…

A virtually true!,
Kalps

Tirupati et al

It was a good trip.. quite different from my usual experience. The last couple of times I had been there with my cousins and relatives.. This time it was just the three of us, me and my parents. The last few times we had climbed up the hill/stairs.. This time we went on a package tour (AP Tourism). The last...we could see the sun. This time.. it was cold, drizzling and foggy (hardly any visibility.. 20m or so.. and the driver still managed to drive decently fast and safe downhill)

-----------------------------------

Disclaimer: A collage of my imagination/observation....

I didnt notice her when she boarded the coach. I had drowned myself in AR Rahman on my iPod. It was only after a couple of minutes of her staring at me did i notice.. quite a pleasant face, sharp eyes, neck-length hair. And there was nothing awkward about her stare... or her mother's. yes, they were 5 of them.. in fact, 6... she, her parents, her sister, bro-in-law and their small cute a-few-months-old baby.

I gave them a faint smile.. and got back to my music. It was only when the bus stopped for our dinner that I got to see them more. They seemed a loving family.. warm and friendly. Everyone was showering their attention on the newly born. And the baby was enjoying it all through! Once in a while, she would turn my side and give me a known-you-long kinda look.

I found out her name.. And then I noticed that her sister walked with a slight limp. Even she did. (I was wondering.. whats that? some kinda hereditary disorder or what.. but their parents seemed fine..) In a way, my respect for the guy (bro-in-law) increased. He has married someone with a walking disability (though quite slight a limp). It is quite rare to find somebody like that.. someone who values the person rather than their physical structure.. someone who didnt let the others' feelings of 'looking good or bad' cloud his own judgement..

And thus, we continued the journey up the hill and into the night.

Early morning, we reached our destination and were allotted our cottages at the resort on top. We met again at breakfast at the restaurant and thats when I noticed the thick, long, curved scar on the bro-in-law's face.

And I saw her crying.. rather sobbing.. Her family was trying to console her. Thats when I noticed her legs' finger rings..'metti'.. the like Hindus wear after marriage.

It seems.. she lost her husband a few months back in an accident at the same place.. when they and her sister's family were traveling downhill in their car.. and it took a tumble....

Travel Bug..

no updates for sometime... a bit busy at work and otherwise.. its time to chill..

The travel bug has bit me again... soon (over the weekend), I will be going to Tirupati with my parents. And then, the weekend next, me cousins & friends are trekking at Kumara Parvatha (near Kukke Subramanya)...it is an 18km trekk up to the mountain peak. read this!

Followed by travel to Hyderabad and Chennai. You asking why? just that my onsite customers would be off during christmas eve and then, Go Air gave me free tickets... so here I go!!

(try and catch me enroute :)
Bhaskar

in US? you can help this kid

My college friend Seena's 2.5 year old son, Viraj is suffering from Leukemia. And Viraj needs a bone marrow transplant. They live in Phoenix, Arizona. There are a number of bone marrow match drives arranged in Phoenix, Tempe and other cities in Arizona to help Viraj find a bone marrow match.

Details of the drives can be found in the following link. http://virajpillai.org/

Kindly forward this message to your friends, relatives etc. Your help is really appreciated.
Thanks.
AK.
( Ananthakrishnan Ananthanarayanan
hydroqual.com )

Sweet Revenge!

The best revenge on the person who wronged you is to forgive and forget that person...

Thats just what I am trying to do... it is pretty exciting and i might even succeed at it!!

Bhaskar

Best way - Q&A !!

Tagged, Again

under the influence of my love, Aekta, I follow her tag to the 'T'..!

10 years ago: November ’95.
I had missed cracking the JEE and decided not to join any aisa-waisa Engg college. Joined BSc (chem) at Vivekananda College, Chennai and was again preparing for the IITs. Being quite a strict college, within a month, one of the profs pulled me up for bunking so many of the classes and even the lab sessions. I stopped seeing him again ;) Around this time, I was bindaas!! just me and my coaching classes...


5 years ago: November 2000.
Somehow finished with my 4 years of UG in 4 yrs itself ;).. struggling nose-deep with the cream-de-la-cream.. Kinda disillusioned with the IIT (and its girls/whatever you call them ;) and computer science, decided MS(comp) isnt for me :P Wanted to build my management (work experience) muscles before I went to do my MBA. Joined as a software engineer with Philips Software Centre, Bangalore and it was our honeymoon period then! (with the company, i meant :)


1 year ago: November ’04.
Having safely cruised thro' the most my MBA, I was again enjoying the bindaas life... Last shreads in my marital relationship.. and I had more or less come to terms with it.. hence, no qualms on that front either.. Watched atleast one movie a day... With a lot of free time and free high-speed internet at my ready disposal, then started my honeymoon with the blogosphere.


Yesterday:
Reeling under the influence of Murphy's law.. Everything that could go wrong at work, went. Working overtime.. pitching-in for my colleague who was sick and on leave..


5 things I would do if I had a lot of money:
Build my dream house with runway (ala Travolta)
Buy my Skoda Octavia (and then whatever)
Hop onto my jet, in search of paradise island
Woo Perizaad Zorabian
Make sure 1% of my money reaches those who are in need


5 places I escape to:
Friendland
Musicland
Movieland
Blogland
Island

5 things I’d never wear:
(what a question??)
sudarmani jetty
govinda costumes
rupa's banians
janet's brassiere
paris's headbands (she doesnt wear much else, does she?!)

5 favourite TV shows:
Friends
Playboy series (on Russian channel!)/Baywatch
Fullhouse
Entourage
Sun TV Comedy time (a li'l)

5 things I enjoy doing:
Talking
Thinking
Reading
Working
Cuddling
(copied from Aekta!)

5 favourite toys:
(whats that.. kinky? you dont want me to name them, do you?!)

I further tag:
You, yes you!!