"Its been a while" since I blogged. "Its been a while" since I penned my thoughts. "Its been a while" since I even visited my own blog . But I have some thoughts today to pen down. I have ended up as the captain of the cricket team of the division I work for and previously we had a disastrous tournament (in Dec) where the only match we won out of 4 was a walkover ! I had even said "I quit " as a captain but the team stuck with me and helped me through it as I was really depressed with that. We flattered to deceive.
Ever since, we have put in constant efforts in order to play better cricket and have had better practices and have tried out different combinations. We even organised weekly quizzes on the mailer and "Crowning" the winner of these quizzes to raise awareness about cricket and slowly from the usual religious 5 people who used to turn up for practice, we had constantly around 8-10 people coming in. And to add to it, we just did not have the same old people , but we had new faces as well. What this has taught me is that constant effort will definitely bear fruits , so far it has in terms of all that I mentioned , but the real test starts next weekend when we play a tournament .
We had to struggle real hard with the management to get the money to play the tournament or even buy a bat and finally got the money after promising them that we will win atleast one match. My inspiration has been Rajasthan Royals from IPL, who have shown that planning and more importantly executing that plan has great impact. We have a better team with better skills and dare say, better team spirit as people have gotten to know each other better coz' they actually come on Saturday mornings ( thats right! After a whole week of hard work, getting up and coming on Saturday mornings especially for family people is a very tough ask and people have been doing it).
And so the tournament starts on May 17th and I am nervous and silently confident that this time our preparations have been much better than before and we should perform better as well and have a good amount of fun on the field .
And our anthem for the tournament - its the blog heading - "Together we Excel".
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Out of comfort Zone.
My new mantra for anyone and everyone in life( starting from myself) is this : Challenge yourself at all times by making sure you tread on the path which is "Out of your Comfort zone" . I am trying to follow this , but its human tendency that a person sticks to what he/she is comfortable with rather than go out and try and master something new. Its at that point, where you need some kind of a trigger that will help you else even if you think that you will go and do something different , it just won't happen.
I am not saying this just to make a point that this in a way contradicts what an expert is all about . But I am trying to highlight the point that its always great and maybe necessary ( depending on the person) to master something - be it your hobby, or a habit or a technology or a tool or a course - but for a person to grow in terms of Life itself , I think its very important to keep asking yourself "Hey, whats next ? " !! Opinions are opinions , thoughts are thoughts . The above were some of my thoughts.
Coincidentally, this is also Steve Waugh's autobiography's name , someone who epitomizes being out of comfort zone though many people would still say he had mastered the art of always getting Aussies out of the dumps . Hmmph!! Well, but every situation in his case was different. Its also a fact that I have not that green big fat book of his to come up with these thoughts.
Also, since I have been giving too much gyaan to different people in recent times, this was another of my gyaan sessions . As I told someone , giving gyaan is almost part of my DNA . But then again ,I agree with Shakespeare that "Teaching people to do a task is simpler than to try and do the same task yourself" . Well well well, I shall surely give it a shot .......
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Team offsite
Why do people look forward to team offsites ? If you run a survey, then the most common answer would be that it would give them a definite break from work.
Why do people not like offsites ? Again survey results might tell you that people are given too much of unnecessary gyaan about team building which won't be anyways implemented after that. Typical team offsites have lot of silly games and then they overshoot gyaan about those games .
My team went for an offsite this time and the best part about it was it was outbound . The gyaan was definitely there but the way it was projected was much better since most of the games we played involved a lot of brain work, coming up with interesting strategies and helluva lot of team work!
OKAY - where on earth did we go ? We went to this place called Galibore Fishing and Nature camp - around 100 km from Bangalore . Listen to this - there was no Electricity apart from the bare minimum fan at night ( rest of it was all lanterns or torches) , No mobile phones worked there , No laptops , No internet , No work related stuff for 2 complete days, birds chirping away to glory, Cauvery river at the backdrop with huge mountains and hills all over with plenty of lovely huge trees along with amazing amount of fun and ofcourse, we got to know each other much better because of these games.
So what did we do ? We went trekking at 7am in the morning for 2 hours which was simply fantastic. We even played "lagori" or "pittoo" . We played a game based on huge drums and another game involving marbles and ofcourse partied(sang, danced,drank ofcourse!) in the evening even with heavy rains lashing out for a long period of time.
The best part however was Rappling. Since most of the team were doing it for the first time, the initial 2 feet of the 45 feet cliff (Its not too much , typically its a minimum of 100 feet or definitely more than that) was really scary especially at the point you just let go of yourself from the cliff . Its a moment where you feel your entire body and mind has completely left you and you have goosebumps(literally). However, as soon as you start going down , the feeling is totally different . Exhilaration, Sense of achievement, Adrenalin rush etc are just some of the things you can say to describe this! We had this ex-air force guy who was our guide and I distinctly remember him saying - "Keep your feet apart","Dont bend your knees" , "Arrey yaar, nothing will happen, its just a couple of feet","Go down now, haha , see its so simple, pls give a nice smile . Yaar ,uski photo tho lo" . Every single person did it in the team and it was just an awesome feeling. I will post the links once all the pics are posted.
Irrespective of what I do in future, this trip was so far the best I had been to( till maybe the next one comes around ;)) and even the gyaan sounded much better than before ;).
Why do people not like offsites ? Again survey results might tell you that people are given too much of unnecessary gyaan about team building which won't be anyways implemented after that. Typical team offsites have lot of silly games and then they overshoot gyaan about those games .
My team went for an offsite this time and the best part about it was it was outbound . The gyaan was definitely there but the way it was projected was much better since most of the games we played involved a lot of brain work, coming up with interesting strategies and helluva lot of team work!
OKAY - where on earth did we go ? We went to this place called Galibore Fishing and Nature camp - around 100 km from Bangalore . Listen to this - there was no Electricity apart from the bare minimum fan at night ( rest of it was all lanterns or torches) , No mobile phones worked there , No laptops , No internet , No work related stuff for 2 complete days, birds chirping away to glory, Cauvery river at the backdrop with huge mountains and hills all over with plenty of lovely huge trees along with amazing amount of fun and ofcourse, we got to know each other much better because of these games.
So what did we do ? We went trekking at 7am in the morning for 2 hours which was simply fantastic. We even played "lagori" or "pittoo" . We played a game based on huge drums and another game involving marbles and ofcourse partied(sang, danced,drank ofcourse!) in the evening even with heavy rains lashing out for a long period of time.
The best part however was Rappling. Since most of the team were doing it for the first time, the initial 2 feet of the 45 feet cliff (Its not too much , typically its a minimum of 100 feet or definitely more than that) was really scary especially at the point you just let go of yourself from the cliff . Its a moment where you feel your entire body and mind has completely left you and you have goosebumps(literally). However, as soon as you start going down , the feeling is totally different . Exhilaration, Sense of achievement, Adrenalin rush etc are just some of the things you can say to describe this! We had this ex-air force guy who was our guide and I distinctly remember him saying - "Keep your feet apart","Dont bend your knees" , "Arrey yaar, nothing will happen, its just a couple of feet","Go down now, haha , see its so simple, pls give a nice smile . Yaar ,uski photo tho lo" . Every single person did it in the team and it was just an awesome feeling. I will post the links once all the pics are posted.
Irrespective of what I do in future, this trip was so far the best I had been to( till maybe the next one comes around ;)) and even the gyaan sounded much better than before ;).
Monday, March 24, 2008
Holi hai bhai holi hai
Holi as we all know is a very colorful festival it had been quite a few years since I had been part of holi celebrations. Earliest memories of holi celebrations were near my place ( easily around 5-6 years ago) when people used to start by throwing water at you followed by a nice egg on the head!!Yuck ,that used to stink !
For some reason, I was not part of any holi celebration for so many years. Last year, when I heard of the amazing celebrations at my colleague's place near office ( at the Bungalow), I felt I really missed it since I was out of town. This year, when my good friend Ankita suggested the idea I was all up for it and so were many of my friends. A day before the event, things were not falling into place and thats when, since janta were really interested to play, I asked my mom to stay away from home for around 4 hours so that we could play holi ! Thankfully she did and then people also agreed to come and next day we had a very colorful, eventful, interesting, fantastic,brilliant holi celebration !! Initially there were 4 people - Aravind, Ankita , Deepthi and myself but later Narayan joined in as well and it turned out to be a fabulous experience.
Our holi shopping consisted of buying colors for around 40 rupees followed by 2 pichkaris, ( one of them badly malfunctioned too!!). Remaining ingredients that contributed were the compound, the tank water ( which was empty at the end of the celebrations!!) and 3 buckets which were misused if I may add !!! Each one had a different kind of a reaction - whereas I was mostly quiet trying to concentrate on surprising people with colors and water, dodo ( deepthi ) was mostly pointing out that pretty much every other color was "dirty" !! Ankita was very much in the mood to celebrate in the "Mumbaiyya" style since that was when she had kickass holi and then Aravind was all set as well to take part in this (which he did with great style ). Narayan was a guest in many ways, but man, was he the bakra or what !! Pouring water filled with color and spraying with a pichkari was the order of the day and wasn't it a fantastic experience !!!
At the end of it all , the scrubbing sessions did not result in complete color disappearance, but who cared ?!!! We had a super time . I can only think of expanding the audience next time and making this a yearly affair. Too bad for those who missed it this time , but hey , there is definitely a next time!!!
Here are a few pics ..... By the way we had a tough time clicking these pics as well till Narayan came !! Anyways, Happy belated holi to all janta and I love this festival ..... Holi hai !!!!!!!!!!!! To put it aptly in Golden star ganesh's style - "nooraithu rupai color jothege yeradu pichkari adara jothege hatthu litre water, unlimited fun matthe , yella corner nallu color "
For some reason, I was not part of any holi celebration for so many years. Last year, when I heard of the amazing celebrations at my colleague's place near office ( at the Bungalow), I felt I really missed it since I was out of town. This year, when my good friend Ankita suggested the idea I was all up for it and so were many of my friends. A day before the event, things were not falling into place and thats when, since janta were really interested to play, I asked my mom to stay away from home for around 4 hours so that we could play holi ! Thankfully she did and then people also agreed to come and next day we had a very colorful, eventful, interesting, fantastic,brilliant holi celebration !! Initially there were 4 people - Aravind, Ankita , Deepthi and myself but later Narayan joined in as well and it turned out to be a fabulous experience.
Our holi shopping consisted of buying colors for around 40 rupees followed by 2 pichkaris, ( one of them badly malfunctioned too!!). Remaining ingredients that contributed were the compound, the tank water ( which was empty at the end of the celebrations!!) and 3 buckets which were misused if I may add !!! Each one had a different kind of a reaction - whereas I was mostly quiet trying to concentrate on surprising people with colors and water, dodo ( deepthi ) was mostly pointing out that pretty much every other color was "dirty" !! Ankita was very much in the mood to celebrate in the "Mumbaiyya" style since that was when she had kickass holi and then Aravind was all set as well to take part in this (which he did with great style ). Narayan was a guest in many ways, but man, was he the bakra or what !! Pouring water filled with color and spraying with a pichkari was the order of the day and wasn't it a fantastic experience !!!
At the end of it all , the scrubbing sessions did not result in complete color disappearance, but who cared ?!!! We had a super time . I can only think of expanding the audience next time and making this a yearly affair. Too bad for those who missed it this time , but hey , there is definitely a next time!!!
Here are a few pics ..... By the way we had a tough time clicking these pics as well till Narayan came !! Anyways, Happy belated holi to all janta and I love this festival ..... Holi hai !!!!!!!!!!!! To put it aptly in Golden star ganesh's style - "nooraithu rupai color jothege yeradu pichkari adara jothege hatthu litre water, unlimited fun matthe , yella corner nallu color "
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Gaaaalipata
When I decided to go and watch this movie I just hoped that it would be good and to a certain extent I had expectations that it would be decent due to all the accolades that it has been receiving in recent times . Also since this brought back the successful pair of "Golden Star" Ganesh and Yograj Bhat, (previously worked together in the record setting Mungaru Male) I was hopeful that it would not disappoint.
And 2.5 hours later , the verdict ? It was definitely worth it . I wouldn't call it a great movie . I certainly felt they could have edited the second half by 15-20 mins by removing some unnecessary not so tuneful songs and some scenes, but apart from that it had all the dialogues and scenes that made it memorable. Infact, now I feel like watching it again !!!
It reminds the viewer of Mungaru Male , because there are undeniable similarities in some parts - Fantastic scenery, superb photography, Ananth Nag in a similar role but as usual excelling in his bit, repeated cast except for the heroine(s), a good Sonu Nigam song that haunts you through the movie and dialogues by Ganesh. Its a simple love story , nothing extraordinary, but since its been ages since I have watched a different kannada movie I would give this more credit.
The challenge would have been to come up with new innovative dialogues and hold the viewer's attention for a while and after the movie, I have become a fan of Yogaraj Bhat's dialogues. It definitely makes you laugh whether you like it or not coz' its witty and for people who want to cry there are definitely some scenes. I could see people wiping their eyes in front of me and next to me as well !!!!! And you cant but appreciate Ganesh inspite of his style of dialogue delivery which I think is a huge hit in the state right now!
Just to give a bit more of the story ( actually I haven't said anything so far about the story!), there are 3 youngsters who go to this village where they meet this ex "Bhetegara" who is reduced to a wheel chair due to a spinal cord failure which happened when he tried hunting a Pig !! What these guys do there form the rest of the story. The biggest USP of the movie is the place where they have shot this ! Its superb! Definitely recommended !
All in all, I would give it 3 out of 5 stars and I have a very strong feeling that I will watch it again and also that I want to really go and visit Mugalpet !!
And 2.5 hours later , the verdict ? It was definitely worth it . I wouldn't call it a great movie . I certainly felt they could have edited the second half by 15-20 mins by removing some unnecessary not so tuneful songs and some scenes, but apart from that it had all the dialogues and scenes that made it memorable. Infact, now I feel like watching it again !!!
It reminds the viewer of Mungaru Male , because there are undeniable similarities in some parts - Fantastic scenery, superb photography, Ananth Nag in a similar role but as usual excelling in his bit, repeated cast except for the heroine(s), a good Sonu Nigam song that haunts you through the movie and dialogues by Ganesh. Its a simple love story , nothing extraordinary, but since its been ages since I have watched a different kannada movie I would give this more credit.
The challenge would have been to come up with new innovative dialogues and hold the viewer's attention for a while and after the movie, I have become a fan of Yogaraj Bhat's dialogues. It definitely makes you laugh whether you like it or not coz' its witty and for people who want to cry there are definitely some scenes. I could see people wiping their eyes in front of me and next to me as well !!!!! And you cant but appreciate Ganesh inspite of his style of dialogue delivery which I think is a huge hit in the state right now!
Just to give a bit more of the story ( actually I haven't said anything so far about the story!), there are 3 youngsters who go to this village where they meet this ex "Bhetegara" who is reduced to a wheel chair due to a spinal cord failure which happened when he tried hunting a Pig !! What these guys do there form the rest of the story. The biggest USP of the movie is the place where they have shot this ! Its superb! Definitely recommended !
All in all, I would give it 3 out of 5 stars and I have a very strong feeling that I will watch it again and also that I want to really go and visit Mugalpet !!
Monday, February 25, 2008
Bha and Bha - United!
After loads of struggle, my dear friends from college, Bhaskar and Bharati got married today. It was just one amazing day to just be there at their wedding .
Seldom has their been so much struggle and so much tension and so much of love - all complicated ingredients combining into one supremely valued end dish - marriage ! Imagine - a guy writing an entire book of poems for this girl. Thats just one of the small examples of what all has happened and this also proves that even today, inter caste marriages are a taboo in many Indian families and it requires lots of guts to go out of the way and marry.
The marriage was performed in a completely traditional Iyengari manner with tinges of Bengali color added for completing some traditional rituals. One of the first times I witnessed a wedding where the Purohit spoke throughout in English with the guy since the guy did not know any south Indian language! When the day began, we were wondering how will this guy go through the rituals in the required attire("Panche")! But he did so with great panache even though there was some nakhra here and there. We were thoroughly impressed that he did it so seriously .Was it because the girls' relatives were there ? We might never know the answer, but definitely there was a marked sincerity in all that he did !!! The girl was as patient as patience could be. Looking wonderfully pretty and doing all that was to be done with such ease and elegance, she definitely charmed the guy that bit more today( Not that it was really required!).
Friends from college, colleagues from office and close family members added the necessary charm to the proceedings and it was one awesome day to remember for the rest of my life! We had a wonderful time, since we jabbered from morning till night nonstop and had one of those absolutely "fun days" as one friend generally puts it. Looking forward to all the photos and videos.
Meanwhile . Here's wishing Bha and Bha a very very very happy married life!!!!!!
Seldom has their been so much struggle and so much tension and so much of love - all complicated ingredients combining into one supremely valued end dish - marriage ! Imagine - a guy writing an entire book of poems for this girl. Thats just one of the small examples of what all has happened and this also proves that even today, inter caste marriages are a taboo in many Indian families and it requires lots of guts to go out of the way and marry.
The marriage was performed in a completely traditional Iyengari manner with tinges of Bengali color added for completing some traditional rituals. One of the first times I witnessed a wedding where the Purohit spoke throughout in English with the guy since the guy did not know any south Indian language! When the day began, we were wondering how will this guy go through the rituals in the required attire("Panche")! But he did so with great panache even though there was some nakhra here and there. We were thoroughly impressed that he did it so seriously .Was it because the girls' relatives were there ? We might never know the answer, but definitely there was a marked sincerity in all that he did !!! The girl was as patient as patience could be. Looking wonderfully pretty and doing all that was to be done with such ease and elegance, she definitely charmed the guy that bit more today( Not that it was really required!).
Friends from college, colleagues from office and close family members added the necessary charm to the proceedings and it was one awesome day to remember for the rest of my life! We had a wonderful time, since we jabbered from morning till night nonstop and had one of those absolutely "fun days" as one friend generally puts it. Looking forward to all the photos and videos.
Meanwhile . Here's wishing Bha and Bha a very very very happy married life!!!!!!
Monday, February 18, 2008
Vague and Weird
As I sit and watch my Laptop screen,
I wonder why I sit and see
I wonder why I can't do something better
I wonder why is it that things don't work!
Thinking of a situation and wanting to know the truth about it,
I wonder whether I will ever be able to unravel it,
I wonder why it is so challenging,
I wonder why it isn't as easy as it seems.
Complicated and confused, Worried and tensed
I wonder who defined these words,
I wonder why it defined what it defined,
I wonder why a situation makes someone so.
To these I found no answers,
I wonder what keeps people going
I wonder why I want to contemplate
I wonder why its not simple.
Hope and trust, Strength and courage,
I wonder if these qualities spurs people,
I wonder whether these will finally win over and wipe out the darkness
I wonder and hope that this will finally be victorious!
I wonder why I sit and see
I wonder why I can't do something better
I wonder why is it that things don't work!
Thinking of a situation and wanting to know the truth about it,
I wonder whether I will ever be able to unravel it,
I wonder why it is so challenging,
I wonder why it isn't as easy as it seems.
Complicated and confused, Worried and tensed
I wonder who defined these words,
I wonder why it defined what it defined,
I wonder why a situation makes someone so.
To these I found no answers,
I wonder what keeps people going
I wonder why I want to contemplate
I wonder why its not simple.
Hope and trust, Strength and courage,
I wonder if these qualities spurs people,
I wonder whether these will finally win over and wipe out the darkness
I wonder and hope that this will finally be victorious!
Saturday, January 19, 2008
India victorious at Perth!
I rarely remember an occasion in recent times where I felt so happy and satisfied after watching TV for 5 continuous hours without a break! Reason ? India vs Aus 4th day at Perth. What an absolutely brilliant win it was for our team and more creditable, as commentators and tv channels have been blaring since afternoon , coz' it came at PERTH - Fast bowlers' paradise.
I also realised I can make very good predictions at times! After the controversy marred Sydney test, I had put my status message as "Ozies, watch out for the backlash at Perth" and I distinctly remember many friends of mine telling me that I was getting overtly emotional and that it qualified probably as the most thoughtless status message I had ever entered. All I told them was just wait and watch and yes, they won today!!!!
It was a wonderful riveting contest and definitely proved that test match cricket was THE cricket. Not for one moment was it boring . I am sure everyone would have been relieved today was a Saturday as the productivity would have surely dropped if it was a normal working day! Cricinfo would probably be happy that their servers thankfully didn't get jammed with millions of viewers religiously having one of their browser windows dedicated to cricinfo on all the other (working) days! But a fantastic test match and probably one of the most popular ones since Kolkata 2001. Probably the only sad part being that as and when India wins in cricket more and more people want to play cricket as they grow up and other sports' suffer like they have been all these years. But people and media will talk about this a bit later this year as its the Olympic year and history will as usual repeat .... But till then , come on , cherish the great indian victory!
Chak De India !
I also realised I can make very good predictions at times! After the controversy marred Sydney test, I had put my status message as "Ozies, watch out for the backlash at Perth" and I distinctly remember many friends of mine telling me that I was getting overtly emotional and that it qualified probably as the most thoughtless status message I had ever entered. All I told them was just wait and watch and yes, they won today!!!!
It was a wonderful riveting contest and definitely proved that test match cricket was THE cricket. Not for one moment was it boring . I am sure everyone would have been relieved today was a Saturday as the productivity would have surely dropped if it was a normal working day! Cricinfo would probably be happy that their servers thankfully didn't get jammed with millions of viewers religiously having one of their browser windows dedicated to cricinfo on all the other (working) days! But a fantastic test match and probably one of the most popular ones since Kolkata 2001. Probably the only sad part being that as and when India wins in cricket more and more people want to play cricket as they grow up and other sports' suffer like they have been all these years. But people and media will talk about this a bit later this year as its the Olympic year and history will as usual repeat .... But till then , come on , cherish the great indian victory!
Chak De India !
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Movies at last!
I don't remember the last time I enjoyed watching a couple of movies so much . One of the reasons being I had absolutely no work before or after and I watched it on a laptop and at night, after the exponentially increasing traffic outside my house had considerably reduced. And both the movies were definitely worth watching! What were the movies then ?
First one, which i watched second(smile smile ),was a hindi movie called "Manorama six feet under". Recommended by my friend to a pretty high degree, this movie did live upto expectations. Its starts off completely in an unassuming manner and moves so slowly but then hello, hang on , there is definitely something interesting out there !! Script is the hero with the supporting actor being Abhay Deol, and there is nothing much to write about the remaining cast, but if your curious , then there is Gul Panag, Sarika in a cameo, Kulbushan Karbanda and Riya Sen apart from 2 ridiculous looking henchmen. Set in the sands of the great desert land, Rajasthan, this is definitely one movie in recent times thats different and worth taking a look at. By the way, its in the mystery genre, so if you like mystery and that too in hindi film style , grab this dvd !
Removed from the stack(bottom of stack , stack had 2 elements only!) is the movie "The Illusionist" starring the hugely talented Edward Norton. Its a must watch. Be it the splendid settings of "king and queen" ages or the mind blowing tricks that he pulls off on stage or the darkness thats evident throughout the movie, it makes for spectacular, compulsive viewing. Complete time pass, full enjoyment !! Don't want to divulge anything more about this movie apart from repeating the fact that its a must watch maga !
First one, which i watched second(smile smile ),was a hindi movie called "Manorama six feet under". Recommended by my friend to a pretty high degree, this movie did live upto expectations. Its starts off completely in an unassuming manner and moves so slowly but then hello, hang on , there is definitely something interesting out there !! Script is the hero with the supporting actor being Abhay Deol, and there is nothing much to write about the remaining cast, but if your curious , then there is Gul Panag, Sarika in a cameo, Kulbushan Karbanda and Riya Sen apart from 2 ridiculous looking henchmen. Set in the sands of the great desert land, Rajasthan, this is definitely one movie in recent times thats different and worth taking a look at. By the way, its in the mystery genre, so if you like mystery and that too in hindi film style , grab this dvd !
Removed from the stack(bottom of stack , stack had 2 elements only!) is the movie "The Illusionist" starring the hugely talented Edward Norton. Its a must watch. Be it the splendid settings of "king and queen" ages or the mind blowing tricks that he pulls off on stage or the darkness thats evident throughout the movie, it makes for spectacular, compulsive viewing. Complete time pass, full enjoyment !! Don't want to divulge anything more about this movie apart from repeating the fact that its a must watch maga !
Sunday, January 06, 2008
Year's first post
As people get back to work this week after a nice long end of year/beginning of new year celebrations i wonder what some of the resolutions can be. People might want to do better at work , quit smoking tor drinking, might want to spend more time with their families,gamble less, or try not to lie, try and get married etc. There are way too many of these resolutions that if I go on listing either I will get bored writing them or even the potential readers will stop reading !
I occasionally ask myself , what is it about the new year that makes people view it so differently ? There are many views. Some people might want to restart their lives or whatever they have been doing and might want to start something totally new. Some people might want to do things in a different way. Hello, they could have done it some other time as well but why choose 1st Jan or beginning of Jan ? I did realise that much of it has to do with the thinking.
A person might always want to see newer things(who doesn't like doing or getting new things ? ) and it is this passion towards something new that makes them do things with a zeal that you can probably call the "new year zeal" as it just comes once a year ! If people have a fetish towards all things new( in general) , then my strong suggestion would be to view each day of their lives as a day thats new , as a day that can change their lives, as a day they can make their dreams come true or make a stronger attempt to make the dream come true . People don't often pay attention to the change in the date as it keeps changing but when your changing a number in the year column, people suddenly look back and say, "wow! its a new year" ! That brings me to another topic .
The number thats added to the year column matters even more because people now begin to also think in some remote corner of their mind that they will be older as well by a year ! As such, no one damn it bothers about being a day older or even a month older but a year older ...hmmm... Nahinnnnn !!
Well, that brings me almost to the end of this blog entry. I started off this entry thinking of something but ended up with something else. But I stick by what I say. People have a problem in general when they look at small things, but when they look at a big picture , they somehow exude more confidence coz' the picture is big , probably a 1000 feet level view and they still aren't involved in it ! As my friend recently said , "Watching/reading about other doing physics is easy, but if you yourself are trying to create physics, then that is a real challenge". I would complete by saying/advising/lecturing ( this is a message to me as well), ------ Happy new year and hope you see the world in a different way and hope you can manage your world better and better drill down to the details and micro manage than be happy and content with a 1000 ft view !
I occasionally ask myself , what is it about the new year that makes people view it so differently ? There are many views. Some people might want to restart their lives or whatever they have been doing and might want to start something totally new. Some people might want to do things in a different way. Hello, they could have done it some other time as well but why choose 1st Jan or beginning of Jan ? I did realise that much of it has to do with the thinking.
A person might always want to see newer things(who doesn't like doing or getting new things ? ) and it is this passion towards something new that makes them do things with a zeal that you can probably call the "new year zeal" as it just comes once a year ! If people have a fetish towards all things new( in general) , then my strong suggestion would be to view each day of their lives as a day thats new , as a day that can change their lives, as a day they can make their dreams come true or make a stronger attempt to make the dream come true . People don't often pay attention to the change in the date as it keeps changing but when your changing a number in the year column, people suddenly look back and say, "wow! its a new year" ! That brings me to another topic .
The number thats added to the year column matters even more because people now begin to also think in some remote corner of their mind that they will be older as well by a year ! As such, no one damn it bothers about being a day older or even a month older but a year older ...hmmm... Nahinnnnn !!
Well, that brings me almost to the end of this blog entry. I started off this entry thinking of something but ended up with something else. But I stick by what I say. People have a problem in general when they look at small things, but when they look at a big picture , they somehow exude more confidence coz' the picture is big , probably a 1000 feet level view and they still aren't involved in it ! As my friend recently said , "Watching/reading about other doing physics is easy, but if you yourself are trying to create physics, then that is a real challenge". I would complete by saying/advising/lecturing ( this is a message to me as well), ------ Happy new year and hope you see the world in a different way and hope you can manage your world better and better drill down to the details and micro manage than be happy and content with a 1000 ft view !
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Cricket matches !
Well, I have been having a good December in terms of physical activity. Got to participate in 4 cricket matches for the Company team ( out of which we got a walkover in one of them) . I was the captain of the side due to the absence of a few folks and I have a killer record so far - something any captain might envy !! 3-1 - where 3 indicates the no of LOSSES and 1 indicates the sole win due to a walkover !
You might say this sucks . But the fact of the matter is, we have a team thats still coming together and considering that , I think its alright. However, I definitely am irritated that we lost all 3. Got to understand a few things :
1. Physical fitness sucks ! Not only mine , but pretty much the entire team.
2. Bowling in the nets is different from bowling in the match.
3. Fielding sucks again . But we have been improving !
4. Bowling has lots and lots of potential but definitely we never play to our complete potential sadly. Though today we had a really good bowling performance , that brings me to batting. Our batting sucks but as I said we are a developing team .
I got to understand a few things about myself. I am really passionate on the field and want my team to perform well . Also, even if I get injured, I swear and live by the team during the match. I try to lead the team from the front. These are some of the positives.
The things that I need to work on is to stay calmer during times when things are not going our way. Also , I really get pissed off when someone is not putting in the required effort and hence, the challenge is to keep the player constantly motivated and urge him to give it his best shot .
Today, somehow though our batting wasn't that great , we put in a dedicated effort with the ball and on the field. Hence, not as irritated. Well, I still think I will get one more shot at captaincy unless many people tell me I suck !!! So hope things turn out for the better soon , during the next tournament.
To my team - Play with a passion thats unmatched , Play with a positive mindset to win the game, Play with an enthusiasm thats infectious and finally, Play and enjoy what your playing !!
Adios...
You might say this sucks . But the fact of the matter is, we have a team thats still coming together and considering that , I think its alright. However, I definitely am irritated that we lost all 3. Got to understand a few things :
1. Physical fitness sucks ! Not only mine , but pretty much the entire team.
2. Bowling in the nets is different from bowling in the match.
3. Fielding sucks again . But we have been improving !
4. Bowling has lots and lots of potential but definitely we never play to our complete potential sadly. Though today we had a really good bowling performance , that brings me to batting. Our batting sucks but as I said we are a developing team .
I got to understand a few things about myself. I am really passionate on the field and want my team to perform well . Also, even if I get injured, I swear and live by the team during the match. I try to lead the team from the front. These are some of the positives.
The things that I need to work on is to stay calmer during times when things are not going our way. Also , I really get pissed off when someone is not putting in the required effort and hence, the challenge is to keep the player constantly motivated and urge him to give it his best shot .
Today, somehow though our batting wasn't that great , we put in a dedicated effort with the ball and on the field. Hence, not as irritated. Well, I still think I will get one more shot at captaincy unless many people tell me I suck !!! So hope things turn out for the better soon , during the next tournament.
To my team - Play with a passion thats unmatched , Play with a positive mindset to win the game, Play with an enthusiasm thats infectious and finally, Play and enjoy what your playing !!
Adios...
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Thought of Dumb Charades !
Well, known as Janta in college to most of the other teams in college and in other fests, once we left college there has hardly been any DCs where all three of us have taken part together - Aravind, Narayan and I . There have been a couple of stray DC competitions where the missing person/persons were definitely missed and thoughts such as "Damn , he would have got this in 5 secs" or "Crap, I cant believe that he still cannot understand what I am doing , if only this guy was there .... " , but all that seems to be ending right now !!
As I heard around 20 mins back , there is a DC competition in the well known public place in Koramangala - Brew Haha this Sunday and man, are we all excited !! Just the thought of coming together and acting Dumb is enough to get the adrenalin pumping !! Using the good old codes, some of which one/two/or even all of us might have forgotten , blabbering at a break neck speed, thinking of loopholes in the rules of the game or even preparing in the last minute as the round is announced and last but not the least, going on stage when the name "Janta" is called out ,is a feeling thats unmatched !!!!
Cant wait for it . Hope its in the afternoon, as we might have a cricket match in the morning to play!! Whatever it is , Go Janta Go !!!!
As I heard around 20 mins back , there is a DC competition in the well known public place in Koramangala - Brew Haha this Sunday and man, are we all excited !! Just the thought of coming together and acting Dumb is enough to get the adrenalin pumping !! Using the good old codes, some of which one/two/or even all of us might have forgotten , blabbering at a break neck speed, thinking of loopholes in the rules of the game or even preparing in the last minute as the round is announced and last but not the least, going on stage when the name "Janta" is called out ,is a feeling thats unmatched !!!!
Cant wait for it . Hope its in the afternoon, as we might have a cricket match in the morning to play!! Whatever it is , Go Janta Go !!!!
Monday, December 03, 2007
Part 2 of the Trip
( For part 1 of the trip , read the post just below this one )
The next day I had breakfast with my multi talented , multilingual Project manager. This person is one active , hyper enthusiastic person ( I at times, look pale in comparison !) and can speak loads of languages and has lots of experience in South American countries ! Some of the languages he speakes include English ( duh! obvious :P ), Spanish ( alright), Italian , German and French !
The trip was really short to visit any actual monument or something of that sort, but we did visit , what I thought were really HIP malls ! My project manager dismissed it saying its nothing compared to any of the US malls !
A few things about Caracas :
1. Wonderful place , with mountains at the backdrop.
2. Traffic is as bad, at times worse than Bangalore.
3. Forget about surviving in Caracas without knowing Spanish! Gracias!
4. Politically, its very tricky . Let me not go into that.
5. Everyone seems to be so amazingly good looking . I have been telling so many people that Miss Venezuela would anyday be a tougher competition than Miss world .
6. People are hospitable but your not advised to go out alone if your not a local.
7. Vegetarians dont have too many options but you can eat something definitely.
8. The five star hotel was more like 2 or 3 star hotel.
9. People are extremely conscious about what they speak in public due to the situation there right now.
10. As Venezuela is a big exporter of Petroleum, the petrol price is really really cheap !!
11. Definitely worth a visit without an inkling of doubt.
My 3 days were over and soon it was time to head back .
Flight 4 : Alitalia again to Milan ! I have not sat in any flight where I experienced so much turbulence. It was extremely scary and i was just praying throughout the journey. Well, I seriously am shit scared of turbulence!
Flight 5 : From Milan to Mumbai. I got some company in this flight in the form of a lawyer from Mumbai who had won a Ten sports contest to watch a UEFA champions league match in Milan. She was super excited and I got a good overview of what to expect in Milan .
First time, i had met a winner of this sort !
Flight 6 : I was extremely tired by this time after having sat in consecutive flights. However, the last flight was highly adventurous ! The flight was a Jet aircraft that housed 50 people and the departure time was 3.30 am. Soon the flight took off, but then destiny had its own ideas. The captain announced that due to weather issues we had to return back to Mumbai.
As soon as we landed ,there were quite a few engineers who came to rectify the situation and after a chaotic time , finally we were asked to take another flight. We were all sure it was a technical snag but they didn't want to let us know maybe coz' we would panic! Finally, we boarded the flight at 6.15am and I was ecstatic amidst all my exhaustion by the time we landed in Bangalore close to 8.30am !
The funny part was there was another scheduled flight from Mumbai ( Jet again ) at 6.40 am and this flight also landed at around the same time we landed !
Anyways, all's well that ends well . But it was definitely one trip that was really short and filled with loads of incidents. More than happy to be back here safe and sound !
God bless. Amen .
The next day I had breakfast with my multi talented , multilingual Project manager. This person is one active , hyper enthusiastic person ( I at times, look pale in comparison !) and can speak loads of languages and has lots of experience in South American countries ! Some of the languages he speakes include English ( duh! obvious :P ), Spanish ( alright), Italian , German and French !
The trip was really short to visit any actual monument or something of that sort, but we did visit , what I thought were really HIP malls ! My project manager dismissed it saying its nothing compared to any of the US malls !
A few things about Caracas :
1. Wonderful place , with mountains at the backdrop.
2. Traffic is as bad, at times worse than Bangalore.
3. Forget about surviving in Caracas without knowing Spanish! Gracias!
4. Politically, its very tricky . Let me not go into that.
5. Everyone seems to be so amazingly good looking . I have been telling so many people that Miss Venezuela would anyday be a tougher competition than Miss world .
6. People are hospitable but your not advised to go out alone if your not a local.
7. Vegetarians dont have too many options but you can eat something definitely.
8. The five star hotel was more like 2 or 3 star hotel.
9. People are extremely conscious about what they speak in public due to the situation there right now.
10. As Venezuela is a big exporter of Petroleum, the petrol price is really really cheap !!
11. Definitely worth a visit without an inkling of doubt.
My 3 days were over and soon it was time to head back .
Flight 4 : Alitalia again to Milan ! I have not sat in any flight where I experienced so much turbulence. It was extremely scary and i was just praying throughout the journey. Well, I seriously am shit scared of turbulence!
Flight 5 : From Milan to Mumbai. I got some company in this flight in the form of a lawyer from Mumbai who had won a Ten sports contest to watch a UEFA champions league match in Milan. She was super excited and I got a good overview of what to expect in Milan .
First time, i had met a winner of this sort !
Flight 6 : I was extremely tired by this time after having sat in consecutive flights. However, the last flight was highly adventurous ! The flight was a Jet aircraft that housed 50 people and the departure time was 3.30 am. Soon the flight took off, but then destiny had its own ideas. The captain announced that due to weather issues we had to return back to Mumbai.
As soon as we landed ,there were quite a few engineers who came to rectify the situation and after a chaotic time , finally we were asked to take another flight. We were all sure it was a technical snag but they didn't want to let us know maybe coz' we would panic! Finally, we boarded the flight at 6.15am and I was ecstatic amidst all my exhaustion by the time we landed in Bangalore close to 8.30am !
The funny part was there was another scheduled flight from Mumbai ( Jet again ) at 6.40 am and this flight also landed at around the same time we landed !
Anyways, all's well that ends well . But it was definitely one trip that was really short and filled with loads of incidents. More than happy to be back here safe and sound !
God bless. Amen .
Gracias ! Porfavore ! Agua ! - Part 1
As I embarked on a series of flights to Caracas( Venezuela), I was just hoping that the really short trip goes well.
Since I got to sit in 6 flights in 6 days, I was hoping that my travel as well would be good and uneventful. Let me describe the whole experience !!
Flight 1 : Bangalore to Mumbai - 90 mins - short and sweet. Never really realised how quickly the time passed by !! Good starting signs !
Mumbai has two of the most remarkable airports I have seen. What strikes me about the domestic airport is that its spick and span and its huge compared to some of the other domestic airports I have had the chance to see . ( Dont even think about the Bangalore airport !!)
The international airport is a really busy one as well and the service is very good and so is the speed at which things are done . At the immigration counter, they have 40 counters and one chap who directs you to which counter you should go !! Its incredibly fast . People are done with their immigration checks within a few mins , much much much ( much cube !) faster than say Heathrow or Sydney international airport !
However, there should definitely be a glitch somewhere right ? The inter airport shuttle sucks. Too many people and they are expected to stand in long lines ( one long line ! and I dont know how they can't/didn't apply the same logic of multiple servers for a single line like the other counters !! )
High time I move onto my next flight :
Flight 2 : Alitalia carrier from Mumbai to Milan . 9 hours or so. A highly uneventful flight as I was asleep for easily around 7-8 hours of the trip. Anyways, the concept of inflight entertainment is 100 years behind the current generation airlines !! Thankfully I didn't realise this on this flight !! Milan has a more traditional airport if I may say so but definitely matches upto international standards. What strikes you are the number of shops which
have the most expensive branded showrooms ! Well it was only then did I realise that Milan is pretty much the fashion capital of the world and hence the case !
Flight 3 : Alitalia again ( as it doesn't need to have transit visas !) but this time a 10.5 hour flight to Caracas. This journey made me realise the pain of travelling ! Firstly, I had a tetanus on my back a day back which began to pain , Secondly, the entertainment system wasn't great ( I fully realised it in this flight!), Thirdly, the turbulence was really high at times which did not exactly allow the passengers to peacefully sleep. There was one occasion where the flight shook and the height lowered and people in the flight , yelled out in anguish and shock .
The look on the old Arab lady on my left pretty much summarized the thoughts in the flight !
After a long arduos journey , during the course of which I felt this flight was going on and on and on , we finally landed to a thunderous applause from all the passengers !!
A painfully long immigration check later I landed up in a five star hotel in a taxi with a guy who did not know English ! I ofcourse did not know Spanish. We concluded that we were better off without communicating !!
Tired and feeling the pain of travelling so long, I crashed after a quick dinner ! More of Venezuela and the its beauty in part 2 !
Since I got to sit in 6 flights in 6 days, I was hoping that my travel as well would be good and uneventful. Let me describe the whole experience !!
Flight 1 : Bangalore to Mumbai - 90 mins - short and sweet. Never really realised how quickly the time passed by !! Good starting signs !
Mumbai has two of the most remarkable airports I have seen. What strikes me about the domestic airport is that its spick and span and its huge compared to some of the other domestic airports I have had the chance to see . ( Dont even think about the Bangalore airport !!)
The international airport is a really busy one as well and the service is very good and so is the speed at which things are done . At the immigration counter, they have 40 counters and one chap who directs you to which counter you should go !! Its incredibly fast . People are done with their immigration checks within a few mins , much much much ( much cube !) faster than say Heathrow or Sydney international airport !
However, there should definitely be a glitch somewhere right ? The inter airport shuttle sucks. Too many people and they are expected to stand in long lines ( one long line ! and I dont know how they can't/didn't apply the same logic of multiple servers for a single line like the other counters !! )
High time I move onto my next flight :
Flight 2 : Alitalia carrier from Mumbai to Milan . 9 hours or so. A highly uneventful flight as I was asleep for easily around 7-8 hours of the trip. Anyways, the concept of inflight entertainment is 100 years behind the current generation airlines !! Thankfully I didn't realise this on this flight !! Milan has a more traditional airport if I may say so but definitely matches upto international standards. What strikes you are the number of shops which
have the most expensive branded showrooms ! Well it was only then did I realise that Milan is pretty much the fashion capital of the world and hence the case !
Flight 3 : Alitalia again ( as it doesn't need to have transit visas !) but this time a 10.5 hour flight to Caracas. This journey made me realise the pain of travelling ! Firstly, I had a tetanus on my back a day back which began to pain , Secondly, the entertainment system wasn't great ( I fully realised it in this flight!), Thirdly, the turbulence was really high at times which did not exactly allow the passengers to peacefully sleep. There was one occasion where the flight shook and the height lowered and people in the flight , yelled out in anguish and shock .
The look on the old Arab lady on my left pretty much summarized the thoughts in the flight !
After a long arduos journey , during the course of which I felt this flight was going on and on and on , we finally landed to a thunderous applause from all the passengers !!
A painfully long immigration check later I landed up in a five star hotel in a taxi with a guy who did not know English ! I ofcourse did not know Spanish. We concluded that we were better off without communicating !!
Tired and feeling the pain of travelling so long, I crashed after a quick dinner ! More of Venezuela and the its beauty in part 2 !
Monday, November 12, 2007
My performance on Family day!
This was my performance a few days back . It was alrite, nothing too great but felt good singing in front of a huge crowd !! Please leave all your comments and criticisms so that I can work on it !Thanks to Aditya for playing the guitar !
Sunday, November 04, 2007
Reunion!
A week back, I read a post on the Baldwins orkut community, where Ajay,an old boy had written about a Baldwins reunion(both boys' and girls') that was going to take place on the 3rd of Nov. I suddenly remembered Kaushik telling me about such a thing taking place last year in Leela.This year it was in some unheard of place called Evoma. Since Mr Mohan Murthy also had just passed away, I really felt that we should somehow go there this year. Using the conference facility on the phone, I got around 6 of my best friends online and they were all very happy to respond positively to the idea and soon came Nov 3rd evening, when we landed up in Evoma after a long 2.5 hr drive(on lovely Bangalore roads, if I may add!) from Mysore road. 5 of us made it , Prashant Baliga, Kaushik S,Sharath "cow" Krishnan, Abhishek SR and yours truly.
We were right on time for the schools' songs! For the first time, all of us sang the Baldwin girls' school song and I was pleasantly surprised that the song was the same that I sang in Bishop Cottons ! The first verse of the girls' school song is the same as the Founder's hymn of Cottons! But anyways, the meaning of the song was lovely and then we proceeded to sing the school song of Baldwin Boys' high school. As we sang "Shout all hail for Baldwin high school" , we all felt really proud and there was this really good feeling. I was very excited to sing the song!
There were loads of people and the crowd kept building up inspite of the location of the hotel. There were proud Baldwinians (boys' and girls') from the 50s to the 2000s and it was great fun seeing, specially some of the real oldies !
After some tributes from some of the senior folks, one of them being the dashing,all white hair,tall, thin Air Commodore Ali with whom we had spoken on the phone, the dance floor as well as the bar opened up! The ball room dance was inagurated by a 1960s couple if I am right and it was a pleasure to watch them . Soon, Baliga joined in and at the end of the evening he almost was crowned as the "all generations" dancer as he shook a leg with a lady from the 1952 batch,56 batch, 63/64 batch, one of the 80s batch, one 90s and one 2000s batch ! We really wanted to make an announcement and find out whether there was someone from the 1970s out there !!!
A hilarious chat followed with Mr John Wesley, who taught us kannada ! We all fondly remembered how we used to love all the "masala" he used to add to all the stories ! Kaushik and I went on alternatively naming the stories and the books and he was all impressed, I must say !!!!
I completely forgot !!! COW !! I could never imagine Cow aka Sharath, dressing up the way he did yesterday! He actually went and bought an odd coat in the morning and was dressed very neatly for the evening occasion. These are far from the days he used to wear the same old Red striped shirt !! Gosh ! TCS has indeed changed him !
An even more hilarious conversation with Mr Danny Soanes followed, which also resulted in me having Red bull ! Since by then, the floor had opened up for free dancing ,we all went in there and since I cant dance for nuts, I just thought I will try my best to put in some energy and try to shake a leg or two. Few mins later, my friends concluded that I was high on Red Bull and one of them was wondering how much I drank!!! In all this josh, my specs landed on the floor with a bang and the glasses also splattered all over the floor ! But leaving that glitch, the dancing part was real good fun. Abhi and I danced the most while the remaining three took my case a bit later!!
Dancing , Dancing and eating and ragging later, we finally left that place with the thought of going again next year and also attending this year's sports in Dec ( Dec 15 to be precise! ). One of the highlights was the happy face of Mr Dinakar Wilson, the current principle who was so happy to share the 100% results in Baldwins after ages.
All in all, a total fun evening and we all had a kickass time ! Thanks to all the folks who turned up! And hope to meet more next year!
Monday, October 29, 2007
Sir, you will be missed
The experience I had in 12 years of schooling in Baldwin boys wouldn't have been the same without Mr Mohan Murthy. An amazing person, a very dedicated teacher who knew his stuff well, an excellent speaker and a compere par excellence. Its indeed very sad that he passed away on Oct 25 this year. It definitely has come as a shock to most people .The last time I heard about him was on Orkut when in one of the columns, some old student had mentioned that he was not keeping well.
He served the school for 30 years in various capacities, right from a teacher who taught physics and maths excellently to a vice principal (even when I passed out) to principal.
He used to wear a wig which got him the very famous nickname "Motte" . His way of speaking was absolutely unique and his dialogues are etched in every Baldwinian's mind. He was a person who did not like students just mugging for exams or going for tuitions and believed in them learning right from the grass root levels. "Kaka bondas" from the famous kaka shop or referring to one of the tuition teachers, or talking about going to Timbuctoo or even quipping one liners like , "You wouldn't have passed ICSE even after your son would have done it" was very much part of the entire package.
I was fortunate to have been taught Physics in 10th and he was fantastic. He was very good at conducting classes as he used to regularly ask questions to check whether students did understand what he was speaking about !
His compering on most of the occasions was almost like understood and it came so naturally to him. I heard he was going to be honored this week in the Old Boys' meet but destiny had other ideas.
You will definitely be missed sir. May your soul rest in peace.
Amen.
He served the school for 30 years in various capacities, right from a teacher who taught physics and maths excellently to a vice principal (even when I passed out) to principal.
He used to wear a wig which got him the very famous nickname "Motte" . His way of speaking was absolutely unique and his dialogues are etched in every Baldwinian's mind. He was a person who did not like students just mugging for exams or going for tuitions and believed in them learning right from the grass root levels. "Kaka bondas" from the famous kaka shop or referring to one of the tuition teachers, or talking about going to Timbuctoo or even quipping one liners like , "You wouldn't have passed ICSE even after your son would have done it" was very much part of the entire package.
I was fortunate to have been taught Physics in 10th and he was fantastic. He was very good at conducting classes as he used to regularly ask questions to check whether students did understand what he was speaking about !
His compering on most of the occasions was almost like understood and it came so naturally to him. I heard he was going to be honored this week in the Old Boys' meet but destiny had other ideas.
You will definitely be missed sir. May your soul rest in peace.
Amen.
Friday, September 14, 2007
Travel story - 1
Hello all ,
I think I am having one of the most adventurous travels. Think of Passport collection at domestic airport and go to International airport, Drive in heavy Blore rain and land 10 mins before the gate closes and finally miss a flight is all part of this story!!
Just to elaborate, my passport was stuck in Chennai as the London consulate works from there .Drama restarted at 3pm India time on Thursday , when Austin called up and said, scan the authorization letter, sign it and send it back ( the order is wrong here, but thats ok , but this is the jist of it ).Did that and waited to see what happens. Finally went home and packed and was waiting for Travel agent's call around 6.45 when his Boss called up .
He told me that there will be a person waiting at the Mumbai Domestic airport with my passport and I need to collect it from him . This was the first part as I could not now use Jet from the airport itself.
Left home at 7pm thinking I would land at the Blore airport by 8pm and things would be ok for a 9.30 pm take off. But, rain gods completely opened up and you dont have to anyways talk about Blore traffic. Took me close to 2 hours to get there. Was very lucky to get there by 5 mins to 9 . I then realised that the flight had landed but ppl couldnt get down from it at the Blore airport due to the heavy rains.
Flight got delayed by 90 mins !!!! Action shifts to Mumbai . I land there at 12.40 am . After collecting the passport there from this guy there, I proceeded to the international airport. Looking at my tension, my dad asked one of his friends to pick me up . For a 2.15am flight , I thankfully landed there at the international airport at 1.25am. After a bit of running around ( as this was my first time in Mumbai airport) , I finally was done with all the formalities and boarded the plane.
8 and a half hour flight from London magically landed half an hour early !!! So I was at the London airport at 6.30am . Travel plan was that I take a 55 min Speed link from London's Heathrow airport to Gatwick airport and check in there again before 10.45am for a 11.20 am take off.
Alas, destiny had other plans. If someone from Britian ever complains about the slowness in the Custom area in ANY INDIAN city, I guess you can shoot them ! It was painfully slow for ppl with non British passports here. It took me close to 2 hours to complete the long painstaking custom clearance . I thought I should be wise enough to catch the Speed link and rushed out of the airport to stop 13 even without even brushing my teeth !
40 past 8 the speed link starts and I was very happy about how quickly I would reach that place. ( around 9.40) . But then what happened was just amazing. That driver it seemed, took us around a country side tour of London and since for some reason traffic was really bad today, it took us 3 hours and 45 mins to reach the Gatwick airport !!!!!!!! In between calling up British Airways and telling them that we were all stuck on the way and will be there soon did not matter to them as some zillion flights fly out every 5 mins here . There were 2 of us going to Barbados and both missed it . 2 ppl going to France missed their flights . A few more going to some other places also missed their flights . Just amazing !
Got it rescheduled to tomo morning and got a room here. Had to walk for 40 mins in search of food and by the end of it , hunger also vanished ! Well, London is a nice place full of old styled buildings and right now I am staying at a hotel very close to the airport . Hope to catch another long flight( rather 2 flights) tomo morning ! Will update you all in case anything else interesting happens !
Happy Ganesha Chaturthi .
Wednesday, August 01, 2007
TV reality shows
Since I have been taking a look at crazy number of reality shows both in India and Oz, I thought this topic really deserved atleast some modicum of space in my blog.
Why are reality shows in the market ? Coz' people are sick of daily Saas-bahu serials. But what is the result of one Reality show in the market ? Other channels want to compete and come up with other reality shows at about the same time on the same day. A great example of this right now is Indian Idol , Sa re ga ma pa and Voice of India. If I am home and end up changing channels, what do I see ? Sony TV - a "janta ka pujari" judge going crazy , Zee TV -
one of the judges talking about "Roti chahiye" and how the TRPs are kicking everything else on show and go to Star Plus , on VOI - which I fear has led to judges losing complete credibility with multiple judges standing up and shouting at each other ! Its ridiculous to say the least !!! But being a ardent fan of Sa re ga ma from early days, I prefer it as the singers atleast are really good!!
Well I thought things might change in Oz land. Here, I realised that there are more reality shows than one can remember in a week - more range , more variety and more spice !!! But I must agree, they are done more professionally and pay more respect to whats happening in the show.
The one thing that is common in all these are w.r.t the participant who loses or is eliminated during that week. Every possible thing is done in order to make that person cry and even faint in the studio at times. Occasional pledges and life history adds to the so called spice ! I agree that people want to see real things, but at times it seems so theatrical, your like -"Ah, come on !! Thats enough ! "
The next thing thats also common is the voting with general reminders from the hosts saying, if you dont vote, your favourite contestant will be eliminated !! Come on , how much can one guy vote ? If a person say watches 2 reality shows and likes 3 contestants each and since these messages are so costly -( 3 rupees per message ) , by the time you vote for one show and receive a very nice "thank you" message , your already thinking of your cell phone bill. And the next thing thats common is the decision of the judges in many of these shows over public voting . If their contestant doesnt get eliminated, things are hunky-dory else angry rants like public cant vote , they cant decide blah blah ...so if thats the case Sir/Madam , who asked you to keep public voting !!! Please remember not everyone is so rich to keep voting !
Well just to end this, you might or might not want to start watching a reality show on TV , but if you really want to, just choose one and if you want to vote, my sincere suggestion, for the sake of money, just support one contestant and anyways, dont vote too much and never feel guilty if your favourite contestant is knocked out !
Why are reality shows in the market ? Coz' people are sick of daily Saas-bahu serials. But what is the result of one Reality show in the market ? Other channels want to compete and come up with other reality shows at about the same time on the same day. A great example of this right now is Indian Idol , Sa re ga ma pa and Voice of India. If I am home and end up changing channels, what do I see ? Sony TV - a "janta ka pujari" judge going crazy , Zee TV -
one of the judges talking about "Roti chahiye" and how the TRPs are kicking everything else on show and go to Star Plus , on VOI - which I fear has led to judges losing complete credibility with multiple judges standing up and shouting at each other ! Its ridiculous to say the least !!! But being a ardent fan of Sa re ga ma from early days, I prefer it as the singers atleast are really good!!
Well I thought things might change in Oz land. Here, I realised that there are more reality shows than one can remember in a week - more range , more variety and more spice !!! But I must agree, they are done more professionally and pay more respect to whats happening in the show.
The one thing that is common in all these are w.r.t the participant who loses or is eliminated during that week. Every possible thing is done in order to make that person cry and even faint in the studio at times. Occasional pledges and life history adds to the so called spice ! I agree that people want to see real things, but at times it seems so theatrical, your like -"Ah, come on !! Thats enough ! "
The next thing thats also common is the voting with general reminders from the hosts saying, if you dont vote, your favourite contestant will be eliminated !! Come on , how much can one guy vote ? If a person say watches 2 reality shows and likes 3 contestants each and since these messages are so costly -( 3 rupees per message ) , by the time you vote for one show and receive a very nice "thank you" message , your already thinking of your cell phone bill. And the next thing thats common is the decision of the judges in many of these shows over public voting . If their contestant doesnt get eliminated, things are hunky-dory else angry rants like public cant vote , they cant decide blah blah ...so if thats the case Sir/Madam , who asked you to keep public voting !!! Please remember not everyone is so rich to keep voting !
Well just to end this, you might or might not want to start watching a reality show on TV , but if you really want to, just choose one and if you want to vote, my sincere suggestion, for the sake of money, just support one contestant and anyways, dont vote too much and never feel guilty if your favourite contestant is knocked out !
Monday, May 28, 2007
Learning.
I wanted to take up some space for highlighting one of the things that I have learnt in the past few weeks and months.
Responsibility - I heard this funda which was, you need to be responsible . You cant control what comes to you but you can indeed control what you give others . So always , think twice before you talk so that you dont hurt other people. Well , I have been trying my best not to be sarcastic at times or hurt people and I can see some improvement in myself.
But at times, its very difficult to stop saying what you have to say coz the other person is hell bent on getting onto your nerves. There is another funda which talks about going ahead and speaking out whatever you feel like speaking out irrespective of whether you hurt the other person or not . Atleast it will relieve you of what you have to say.
This is a pretty interesting thought and I think either the first case or second case depends on who you are talking to . Some people take advantage of the fact that you are silent and go ahead and take advantage of that whereas some people prefer being open irrespective of the complexity or simplicity of the situation.
So finally, the learning is that people handling skills are important not only to get high customer at work but also in order to have a good level of relationship with that person.
Responsibility - I heard this funda which was, you need to be responsible . You cant control what comes to you but you can indeed control what you give others . So always , think twice before you talk so that you dont hurt other people. Well , I have been trying my best not to be sarcastic at times or hurt people and I can see some improvement in myself.
But at times, its very difficult to stop saying what you have to say coz the other person is hell bent on getting onto your nerves. There is another funda which talks about going ahead and speaking out whatever you feel like speaking out irrespective of whether you hurt the other person or not . Atleast it will relieve you of what you have to say.
This is a pretty interesting thought and I think either the first case or second case depends on who you are talking to . Some people take advantage of the fact that you are silent and go ahead and take advantage of that whereas some people prefer being open irrespective of the complexity or simplicity of the situation.
So finally, the learning is that people handling skills are important not only to get high customer at work but also in order to have a good level of relationship with that person.
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