Aaargh traffic..

It can play havoc in your lives.. I experienced today the worst ever traffic jam till date for me...
What normally takes me 30 to 40 minutes on my scooty took 4 hours today.. Four hours of inching in millions of vehicles .. 4 hours of inhaling pollution.
All because of one political rally. general public put to trouble.. Ambulances couldnt move, fire trucks could not.. best of disaster management plans would have failed today.. was wondering what would have happened if the mock safety drill that we had in office was held on a day like today..

Arent our politicians supposed to be facilitators to make our life simpler??

can it be worse???

Its midnight... am at work.. not working.. but sitting cos the team is expected to sit till the seniors leave.. i wonder when i will have the guts to say hey.. thats it for the day... tata.

September is gone.....

The last day of the month of birthdays.....and the last day for pressure filled work..(well for this month).

Happy posting ot me for the next month.

A toast to you..

This is to you V...
Am sorry I did not make it to your wedding... I really wanted to.. I believed i could if its on a sat or a sun.. but i forgot September is not a month when i can think of Saturdays and Sundays.. :(

Anyway, wishing you a wonderful life ahead... and am so happy for you.. I can still see your smiling fce on the engagement snap.. My friend always said one must smile when you say hello on the phone.. cos your smile reaches in the person on the other side of the line...
Your engagemnt picture had the radiance in your smile that i have never seen before....Its amazing, and am happy its a wonderful person who brought the smile on your face....:) I still remember our conversation after your enagagement, and all the ones before it centered around the marriage topic....and everything turned out so perfect for you... so heres to you and S..
I'd raise a real toast to you had a wine glass in my hand.. but.... I can only "post" as a toast.....
See ya soon sometime in chennai :)

Septembers....

This is one of my favorite months.... for me its a birthday month...:) ... Last year this time in full spirits i started this blog.. am still not a regular blogger but i think am ok at it..
I blog when i want to blog.. its not a compulsion for me.. i dont have targets set on this..

Speaking about targets.. this september for me has been unusally busy... (I know am 10 days down and this statement) well i know for a fact nothings gonna chage for the remaining 20 days in this months either.
I have "targets"... deliverables pending(yaaay... finally the jargon caught me:)

So its going to be a busy month a busy busy month....I'm going to miss my friend's wedding. i so wanted to be there.. i thought i'd be able to take off on a sat and a sun... but.....

I still remember the day after her engagement i pestered her to make sure her wedding is on a sat so that i can make it, well she fulfilled her promise.. lemme still keep my fingers crossed that i can make it to chennai for her wedding.

nyways after all the random ranting... TTFN

Ganapati bappa morya

Today when i was driving back from work i noticed that the traffic was a little more than the normal flow around my house..

As i neared Sankey tank..i knew why..Today was the day after Ganesh chaturthi..Sankey tank area was crowded with people who had come for ganesh visarjan's.. all the offerings into sankey tank.. I was surprised, cos its such a beautiful place to enjoy a nice evening walk, why would anyone want to do the ganesh visarjans there?
will the bangalore municipality, take charge and clean the tank tomor..or will all the offerings be let to rot in the water and be a breeding ground to mosquitoes.
My religious sentiments being intact i question all this.

Does that mean all those luxury apartments in bangalore which boast of their own lakes will also have ganesh visarjan's in the lakes?

I wonder how mumbai handles ganesh visarjan's... its the biggest there.

anyways..ganapati bappa mourya..

Cameras..

I've decided I want to own a DSLR.
I now own a simple point and shoot, am not a pro at photography. I dont know if i qualify as even an amateur. Simple fact i like clicking pictures.. and want to own a DSLR..

I have come to these options after some research.

1) Canon Rebel Digital Rebel xti.

(Am slightly more tended to this one;)) Have used canon cameras earlier, they are simple to understand and have brilliant features. Plus have got good reviews of Rebel from close buds..
More than pixels I've read its the sensor size and Crop factor that matters. Plus the lenses are an investment when it comes to DSLR's.

2)Pentax K 20 D

This is a new launch. I actually like the brand Pentax. I own a Manual SLR K 1000 (Pretty much Vintage now). Along with my manual SLR i bought some Nikkor Lenses . Now am not sure whether other brands allign with lenses of Manual SLR's


3) Nikon D 60

This brand because I now own a nikon Point and Shoot.. and love it. Plus the features of this DSLR are also good. Additional point of consideration - My existing Nikkor lenses can go with Nikon products.

So these are the choices that confuse me.. I have to still do a price check on whether it is better priced in the US or in India.. and i have to do it all in two weeks before i can gift it to myself..:)

Chennai Photowalk

This is a slightly late, Last week for the independence day weekend I was in Chennai. I went for the Chennai photowalk. the route chosen was Karaneeswarar Koil to Marmalong Bridge...
I always wanted to be part of Chennai's walk, considering the fact that the seed was planted there. I had been part of one walk in bangalore.. which was great..

And it was perfect timing that i was in Chennai for Madras day in time for the walk.We sure were a large crowd, i remember counting a minimum of 30 . We were allowed to click pictures in the Temple , advantages of being part of a group like this.
APart from the fact that i felt we spent a little too mjuch time in the Temple, when we moved forward after a while it caught pace. we walked through the busy market place of saidapet and through a subway and onto main saidapet junction . Crossed the road and walked the streach on Marmalong Bridge. We then went on to Little mount.. At this point I had to break away from the group as i was short of time and had to return to Bangalore.

I had fun though. Will surely be a part of another walk in chennai or Bangalore when it happens.

Pictures are on Picasa(Couldnt upload to flickr)

Choices one has...

Am in Chennai for the Independence day weekend, and i have these choices before me....

1 ) A Madras Day hosted , heritage walk on sunday morning in Fort St. George.

2) A photowalk on the same day by chandrachoodan..(am dyung to attend one of the Chennai photowalks)

3) Tree walk in KFI..

4) And a Frisbee game in Besant Nagar beach...

what do i do.....???????

a nice sunday spent..

Few weeks back i thouroughly enjoyed my sunday..
I had my whole day planned well..
This was the plan..
Wake up early, have nice breakfast is a dependable shanti sagar.. and head to Blossoms to buy some books.
Drive down MG road and other areas and explore a bit of South Bangalore areas.
Spend time at Lalbagh.

Well the wake up early and breakfast dint happen :)(old habits die hard its said))
but i did go to blossoms,picked up some books after hours of browsing through the endless shelves of books..

I decided to ride down to Lalbagh after that..
Well now Lalbagh is a "Couples Park". You hardly find loners there...leave alone girls being alone there..
So i was but naturally the attraction for a while.. It took me some time even to convince the ticket vendor that all I really need is only "one " ticket to go in....

I picked up a nice cozy bench that dint have couples all around and opened my book and enjoyed a few hours of blissful reading, shantiniketan style :)

By evening i drove down the road to Bull temple, Jayanagar, JP nagar.. I thought i'd drop by some friends in Jayanagr.. but never happened.

I had driven for almost 80 kms by then and it was time to go back home...
A sunday well spent.

Randomness and more

Listening to : In Dino.. Life in a Metro...
Mood :Pensive

Sometimes a song pretty much speaks all about whats on ones mind...Well off late a lot of my time is being spent on thoughts of what i am doing...

My life now revolves around my work, I see no weekends, no socialising..I see year ends , quarter ends and limited reviewes..
Is this what i want to do always.?
Maybe not..actually...Absolutely not....These few weekends i have been thinking, what is the point in working so hard when i will not know i have a life to enjoy...
Its been 4 months in a new place, and all my weekends have been wasted in either sleeping or in working.
There were couple of weekends i did do interesting things... Like a Photo walk, trek up to nandi hills, drive down to Lalbagh.
My best was last weekend, when I went to Mysore.I went with a frienfd who likes to balance his life... he is categorically clear, that work is for weekdays and for a specific set of hours, he carries no homework, has hazaaaaar extra activities planned out for him over his free time...

We had a great time in Mysore, i had no work on my mind, was chilled out, i even learnt to do a few steps in jive!!!!!

Few months I still intend to work really hard, cos the person i am at work, i like to prove myself and feel indespensible for my kind of work.

But after these few month.. ohh baby its time to rock.. I'd try and keep a power packed weekend with activities...and the best thing i realised in all these weeks,If i cant find company i'd better do it alone...Life cant be wasted for good company. I dont find it weird anymore to just fill my bike with petrol and drive... drive wherever the road takes me.
I drove almost 50 kms one day and thouroughly enjoyed it.

Will soon post pics and stories of when I went visiting lalbagh and the ohh so great Blossoms :)

On top of the world

The best compliments have got in recent times... thankyou dear

1)U value your time and that of others
2)U dont seem to take advantage of people , guys in particular
3) Your confidence is internally driven and not externally influenced..


This makes me feel bright and cheerful anytime...:)

This awaited my mailbox today and eeriely so.. i relate to it..

It is when you stop going along with the crowd and start realizing that there are many things about yourself that you didn't know and may not like. You start feeling insecure and wonder where you will be in a year or two, but then get scared because you barely know where you are now.

You start realizing that people are selfish and that, maybe, those friends that you thought you were so close to aren't exactly the greatest people you have ever met, and the people you have lost touch with are some of the most important ones. What you don't recognize is that they are realizing that too, and aren't really cold, catty, mean or insincere, but that they are as confused as you.

You look at your job... and it is not even close to what you thought you would be doing, or maybe you are looking for a job and realizing that you are going to have to start at the bottom and that scares you.

Your opinions have gotten stronger. You see what others are doing and find yourself judging more than usual because suddenly you realize that you have certain boundaries in your life and are constantly adding things to your list of what is acceptable and what isn't. One minute,
you are insecure and then the next, secure.

You laugh and cry with the greatest force of your life. You feel alone and scared and confused. Suddenly, change is the enemy and you try and cling on to the past with dear life, but soon realize that the past is drifting further and further away, and there is nothing to do but stay
where you are or move forward.

You get your heart broken and wonder how someone you loved could do such damage to you. Or you lie in bed and wonder why you can't meet anyone decent enough that you want to get to know better. Or maybe you love someone but love someone else too and cannot figure out why you're doing this because you know that you aren't a bad person. You want to settle down for good because now all of a sudden that becomes top priority. Getting wasted and acting like an idiot starts to look pathetic. You begin to think a companion for life is better than a hundred in the shack and for once you would not mind standing tall for that special someone which otherwise you had never thought of until now. You go through the same emotions and questions over and over, and talk with your friends about the same topics because you cannot seem to make a decision. You worry about loans, money, the future and making a life for yourself... and while winning the race would be great, right now you'd just like to be a contender!


What you may not realize is that every one reading this relates to it. We are in our best of times and our worst of times, trying as hard as we can to figure this whole thing out.


We call it the "Quarter-life Crisis"

Car Gadgets

My B-I-L got a new SX4 a week back... And after the weeklong wait i finally got to check it out today(Our work timings are so different that i actually never got to even see the car for a week )

Apart from the plush interiors and the grandeur of the car.. what caught my eye were two gadgets.

One was a camera fitted at the rear end of the car, which assists the driver by giving a clear image of the rear when reversing.. as soon as u move to the reverse gear, the rear view mirror magically transforms into a TV screen for one to see what we are reversing into...

The only glicth is that this camera is fitted right in the middle of the bumper... Now the bumper is the first place to get ,well, yes, hit by any vehicle...so the costs of replacing the camera will be reeeeely high.

The second gadget is music controls on the steering wheel. I always found it hard to change channels while driving.. but now its simple, its right there on ur steering wheel.
Now let people complain saying this is a distraction.

Reminds me of a friend of mine who had a habit of catching up with his close friends while he drove to work or drove back home from work. I would freak everytime i hear a ohh shucks when he is on the phone with me and driving..But i must say he was pretty good at the multitasking and to what i know has never been caught and fined for speaking on the phone.

anyways.. he had this logic that if speaking on the phone was a distraction , then talking to the co passenger, changing channels on the radio, anything is a distraction :)

So for all those who cant multitask very well..... the controls on the steering atleast solve changing channels problem :)

I love such Mondays :)

Its monday evening four o clock and am writing this post from home...
today when i went to work in the morning, my boss called and said go back home, for the hard work the team has done , we are taking a days break ..:) and so i got to come back home early today instead of my usual 10 pm or 11 pm :)

But then again the pessimistic me thinks.. will this one day off cause me not to get those leaves i'm looking forward too.Will i be able to take off to attend V's wedding ??(He's surely never gonna speak to me if i dont :(()
Hope this one day does not screw up my plans ...

anyway.. while it lasts lemme enjoy the remaining part of magnificent monday :)

A nice Sunday morning and a Photo Walk… Purffect

Today I finally got to be a part of a Bangalore Photowalk. The third of its kind.

And the first for me…the concept of walking to see places for me was from London.. I could not quite do a London Walk… but managed something called a Freedom Trail in Boston.. and ever since have been wanting to do such walks closer home.

I read about the Chennai walks but was never able to be a part of it.. (never consciously made time I guess)

And when I moved to Bangalore and read about the Bangalore photo walk…. I just had to be a part of it…

And yippeeee I finally was a part of it today J

We were a group of 15 people, me a perfect stranger to Bangalore others I must say had spent some considerable yrs here. . We started at the intersection of Richmond Road and Brigade Road , right where the war memorial is.

It was fascinating to see these streets at 8 am on a Sunday morning..(My usual time around Brigade Road has always been post 7.00 pm :)

We walked along the Commissariat Road and clicking several, yes, several random pics till we hit Mayo hall and the public utility building. All the while we were getting tidbit trivia from Karthik n Hari.

Every angle of the Mayo hall was probably clicked : ),after which we emerged out at Bangalore central.

I have never seen Garuda Mall so empty.. well at 9 in the morning what do u expect ? : ) .We walked further down, crossed the football stadium, a fire station, Ashok Nagar Police station, Sacred Heart Church.. J I did a round of Eicher Map (yes I’m glued to the map these days trying to explore the city J) browsing after I came back from our trail.. and I’m impressed with what we covered.

We overran on the estimated time, and ended the walk around 11 ish roundabout the same place we started.

A small bunch of us headed to India Cofee house on MG road for Breakfast post the walk…

At the end of it..is a satisfied me..waiting to be a part of the next walk to happen next month.

Thank you Karthik for bringing the concept to Bangalore :)

Meanwhile I’d probably try familiarize myself with other places in Bangalore with my eicher Map or some climbing etc around Bangalore. This is however dependent on my work scene over weekends L

A link to my album on Flickr

A link to my Picasa album

edited to add : All flickr photos shall have the tag "bangalorephotowalk"

Feeling elated...

Today i feel good...Nothing has changed...neither work wise nor life wise....Everything is as dull as before... but still something inside me murmurs an appreciation...says "good job".

Wonder why....What changed....Hope the inner feeling lasts... :)

night night

Vent Post.....

I've really not been having a great time...its hard to clench your teeth through everything.. i want to unclench and smile....:(

Am confused and muddled up.. am asked to do "south" by person A and person B asks me to do bang opposite, "north"... whichever i do I'm in for trouble...

Aaaaaargh .......

I feel like running away into wilderness somewhere faraway.. but again the lonliness there is frightening to me.


Aaargh again...
:(

Wine is not alcohol:)

Recently the karnataka Grape processing and wine policy declared that wine is not alcohol:)

this came mainly to encourage farmers and wineries :)

but this applies to natural wine and not fortified wine...
natural wine typically has only 14 % alcohol as against 20 % in fortified wine....

So say cheers to bangalore and wine :)

Magic Lists

I read recently somewhere that a woman made a list of 100 things she wanted in life.. and buried the list in her closet. And then, oddly enough, a man who matched the list almost exactly strolled into her life.
Strange right....
Well i found it interesting.. what harm in preparing a list of things i want from life.. who knows some might get fulfilled

How to save Tax!!!

In Egypt people dont paint the outsides of the houses because the residents have to pay taxes to the dictator if the houses are painted :)

This however i must say makes the houses blend with the desert look ... whatsay.. save tax and make your house look perfectly in tandem with the surroundings...:))

Hannah Montana

Recently went for a small social gathering,where a little girl sang a song from a childrens show called Hannah Montana...
Love the song... the lyrics mean so much

It's easy to feel like
You're all alone
To feel like nobody knows
The great that you are
The good that's inside you
Is trying so hard to break through

Maybe it's your time to lift off and fly
You won't know if you never try
I will be there with you all of the way
You'll be fine

Don't let anyone
Tell you that you're not strong enough
Don't give up
There's nothing wrong with just being yourself
That's more than enough
So come on and raise your voice
Speak your mind, make some noise
And sing
Hey, hey
Make some noise
Hey, hey, yeah

You want to be known
You want to be heard
And know you are beautiful
You have so much to give
Some change you wanna live
So shout it out and let it show

You have a diamond inside of your heart
A light that shines bright as the stars
Don't be afraid to be all that you are
You'll be fine

Don't let anyone
Tell you that you're not strong enough
Don't give up
There's nothing wrong with just being yourself
That's more than enough

So come on and raise your voice
Speak your mind, make some noise
And sing
Hey, hey
Make some noise
Hey, hey, yeah

You can't just sit back and watch the world change
It matters what you've got to say
There's no one else who can stand in your place
So come on it's never too late

Maybe it's your time to lift off and fly
You won't know if you never try
COME ON!
Don't let anyone
Tell you that you're not strong enough
Don't give up
There's nothing wrong with just being yourself
That's more than enough
So come on and raise your voice
Speak your mind, make some noise
And sing
Hey, hey
Make some noise
Hey, hey, yeah
Hey, hey
Make some noise
Speak your mind, make some noise
And sing
hey, yeah
Hey, yeah
Hey, yeah
Make some noise
Hey, yeah
Hey, yeah
Hey, yeah
Make some noise
Hey, hey
Make some noise
Hey, hey, yeah

Time Flies

A month has already passed.
A new place , a new setup...An trust me i still feel new to this place. when i moved to
Chennai 4 years back, i hated the place. suddenly i was uprooted from my base, i had to leave behind the few friends i had and go to a new place.
I went to Chennai with my mind made up that i will not like the place.. and truly i dint...for the first few months.. till i slowly started going out and made friends as i was doing my articleship..

A place has to just grow on you.. that's what my move to Chennai taught me.. Sometimes when people ask me if i like Delhi or Chennai better.. am confused.. i dint like the place only for what it it.. i mean that is just one factor..as far as i build memories in any place(preferably good :)), i like any place

With this frame of mind that I WILL like Bangalore i came here..
Cant judge too much though. I haven't gone out anywhere except to clients place and home.
The weather is most certainly to die for.. I miss my friends here a lot..
I spend long hours in front of the comp working and never even talk for hours together.
Am not really in a team that will mix up well, and for the first time I feel lonely in an all men team (have been a team composed such before.. but i gelled miraculously well with everyone that somewhere i think i started believing that i am a pretty good person to be with... mebbe i should re think.)


And all my friends far away are either alway busy and dont call, or when i call , cant take the call for whatever reasons .

Huh... hope times change sooon
Frustrated me signing off...

Shivers.....

You know how one gets the shivers when your through a scary situation or an accident...the only time i remember feeling like this was when my car hit another one at a signal.... my car's front was damaged , nothing happened to the other car..
Well anyway.. i was extremely scared that day... thousands of things were going through my mind..On what if's and what could have...

That was one day.. and today...

Today while coming back from work late at night, my cab met with a small accident..Now my work place is a one hour drive from home and on Outer ring road in bangalore, which is filled with trucks post 9 in the night.
Just as we were nearing home, the driver decided to take a sharp left turn and dint notice a truck right behind him.
The cab is a small wagon R not the sturdy Ambi either.so basically since i was sitting on the rear seat on the left hand side.. when the truck hit us.. i got a jolt....Only when i looked back i realised..a few minutes delay and the truck would have actually hit my door..and probably turned the car around...and...

Phew..scary... am still slightly shaking... what a way to experience the traffic in bangalore.
I thank my starts am alive..and with a prayer on my lips... i say good night

Junta

To me Junta as a word was a hard core indian word..meaning crowd or public...I realised now that it has a european origin..

Its spaninsh or portuguese for committee or assosciation .

Neat na!!!

Auto mania

Its been two weeks in Bangalore now.I dont get to go out much in an auto... but the number of times i did ,experiences i have had .

The first day I was to report to my new job , just to be sure i reach on time(knowing how bad the traffic can get in bangalore) i left a little early from home.
My b-i-l offered me a ride till about half way (or maybe more than that). From wherever he dropped me i probably would have taken 20 minutes to reach office. Well i did, only i dint reach office, the auto fellow asked me to get down somewhere and asked me to walk the remaining distance.Over that he asked for 80 bucks for a Rs 30 distance... Had it not been my first day at work, i might have given him a peice of my mind.But i really dint want to ruin my day.
So i walked for about 20 minutes before i did reach my office.. and thankfully since i was over precautious that day, and left way too early i did reach office well in time.

Day 2 with auto..... well it wa sin every way a bad auto day for me..
On my way back i dint get an auto at all.. It was 6.30 in the evening, a time when i must get an auto.Not even a single empty auto came by, and when one did, he dint want to go that far.(He would say thats not bangalore... thats Yeshwantpur...
After 15 more minutes of wait, i decided to walk a bit.
Now my office is near cubbon park area.. post dark, this area..(I realised that day) can become lonely and filled with shady guys.
Well as i was walking by cubbon park for an auto, some shady cars kept stopping and people asking me if i needed a lift.. Gave me the creeps, so i decided its best i start walking in the direction of my home and try to get an auto on my way...So i walked.. walked for nearly 4 kms.. with a heavy laptop on me...
My feet were crying.. :( Left office at 6.30 and reached home at 9.00 after walking 1/3rd of the distance.

Have more stories with autos.. but laters.. me off to sleep now...

a tad bit superstitious maybe....

I remember the day very clearly... not that its difficult i have the bad habit of a "good memory" specially with dates and things that make a difference to me... i can freak persons out of their wits, by repeating things much like a parrot.....:)

Anyway...back to where i began.. 14th April 2002, Tamil New yr and the day i first moved out to a PG in delhi to live on my own.My parents were in Delhi then , but i moved to a PG cos in a few months they were moving to chennai and i wanted to get used to being independent while i knew they were there to comfort me...

Some of my most memorable days were in the PG.. where i met friends who liked me for me... no changes expected. they liked me for who i was, with all my quirkiness.
Have found very few like them and I cherish each day sent with them. I may not have said this too often, but D and M, i miss you a lot.

And 14th April 2008, 6 years later... i am moving to bangalore.. to start a new chapter in my life... my career life... I am looking forward to this... slightly scared, slightly sad at the fact of leaving behind chennai, which i have, unwillingly started to love now as a place.

Tad bit superstitious about just the fact that if 14th april, 6 yrs back started a good phase for me, sure will 2008 be good too right?

Moods of the sky....

I am a hard core sky gazer... i think i can fall in love with skies again and again....Each day when i look up i see a different sky.. almost like the sky has various moods.. An angry sky, a calm sky, a distraught sky, a sky in peace... I must be thankful to the age of mobile cameras that whenever i look up and see a sky i love i can just click it on my cam

Ive noticed that sometimes pictures look amazing when clicked in the background of a beautiful sky...

The colors in the sky are splendid even without rainbows.
The clouds in the sky having forms unthinkable are just an added attraction. I think its a great de-stresser to just sit and gaze at a beautiful sky.

A beach side with a beautiful sky...aaaaw am gonna miss chennai and its beaches. :(


A happy sky




A calm sky


Picturesque aint that



See the colours.....






the golden gate gets its beauty because of the sky



Early mornings can be so pretty

Jodhaa Akbar...

Finally.... Cant tell you how it feels to see a movie after waiting for so long.. The urge to see the movie actually came cos my friend introduced me to the songs(who also incidentally also promised to accompany me to the movie and never found time to... hrmphhhh). Pure Urdu... amazing lyrics.. thats what I can say about the songs.... And when you find someone who appreciates the beauty of poetry along with the deeper meanings... its like icing on the cake.. In Boston me n my friend spent hours at work with the song in the background.

The movie....spectacular... the grandeur of the forts of Rajasthan, the beauty of the Mughal jewellery , architecture were all things i had seen in excursions around Rajasthan.. Each palace and fort in Rajasthan speaks its own story. Agra , Fatehpur sikri, Ajmer, Amer.. in big picture looked so stunningly beautiful.

The director and artists sure did a lot of homework... so what if the movie was not exactly like out of books.. It still was a beautiful movie..and am probably one person who will give the benefit of doubt of it being lengthy to the director... i mean he needed the time to show all the war scenes.

Multiple personality in order??

I am in an introspection phase now, looking back on all these years and my learnings...If i were to do a postmortem of myself, i find not only different organs, but different personalities hiding within me...
Like everyone I have a social circle of people close to my heart... for once I just tried being the other to think what i probably mean to them , or what they think of me....My mind throws out many answers, not one. It baffles my own self on how two of my very close friends might think completely opposite of me.

If two of my friends were to describe me, probably both will have descriptions on completely different tangents.

So who am i?? Is there a real me??

Some might see me as a calm and composed person, some think am all ruffled and tensed. Some look up to me for advice, some think i need all the guidance and protection.Some think am a big chatterbox, some think am extremely quiet and shy. Some see me as an example of enjoyment of life, some think i am an absolute introvert and lack social skills.some think am practical and some will strongly bet against me being practical. some think i am the most easy to convince, some feel am an extremely difficult person to convince. I can be a tyrant , i can be a complete opposite.

Can anyone be all this and more?In this quest of exploring the multiple people in me... i wonder.. do all of us have different , sometimes diametrically opposite characteristics in us?

Mails and gyaan on life :..

I have got some mails several times. Same content, different ways of presentation...Sometimes i wish i had a software to skim through my mails just to identify mails with the same content so that I can delete all those duplicates..

Today i was going through each one of my mails to clear some space and organize my mailbox and heres one mail ,the content of one which I liked a lot :)

The 13 phrases of LIFE.

• I love you not for who you are, but who I am when I’m by your side.
• No person deserves your tears, and who deserves them won’t make you cry.

• Just because someone doesn’t love you as you wish, it doesn’t mean you’re not loved with all his/her being.

• A true friend is the one who holds your hand and touches your heart.

• The worst way to miss someone is to be seated by his/her side and know you’ll never have him/her.

• Never stop smiling, not even when you’re sad, someone might fall in love with your smile.

• You may only be a person in this world, but for someone, you’re the world.

• Don’t spend time with someone who doesn’t care spending it with you.

• Maybe God wants you to meet many wrong people before you meet the right one, so when this happens, you’ll be thankful.

• Don’t cry because it came to an end. Smile because it happened

• There will always be people, who’ll hurt you, so you need to continue trusting, Just be careful.

• Become a better person and be sure to know who you are before meeting someone new and hoping that person knows who you are.

• Don’t struggle so much, best things happen when not expected.

Memories gone??...

I treat my photos as memoirs... frames that capture time and put it in like a capsule...Yesterday i misplaced my memory chip of my cam..
I had just taken it out to transfer the precious memories of the past few weeks.. Before i could i started doing something else and in the multitasking mess..i lost it somewhere...I am still hoping i find it somewhere.. somewhere suddenly it pops up...but if it does not.. :((

I feel i've lost something very very precious.. i know its just a memory card.. and all my cribbing has not helped..(except that I irritated some of my friends cribbing i had lost the card)

Just yesterday it was there today its gone.. makes me think this is what happens to anything in life.. someday everything is nice and rosy.. u feel like the best person in the world.. ur made to feel like the world... the very next day.. reality bites bites hard.. and u wake up from the dream that ur as screwed up as anyone else..

A lil memory card has sure made me think too much...

Like i hope for many things to happen...Like i hope many of lifes jigsaw puzzles to get solved... short term...I wish and pray i get my memory card back....

Through the looking glass...

I have never been some ardent fan of glasses..... but this one glass caught my eye...Well it was laid for a banquet function in the hotel...
Have noticed many interesting and unique pieces of crockery before...but this was spectaculat.. simple geometrics...yet the appeal would be great...
Check it out...




now note.. i have not taken the photo in an angle.. the base is tilted... so the glass kinda imitates the Leaning tower of Pisa :)



Upside down :)

That was the part of the setup it was part off.. the whole decoration was beautiful.. this was in the prep area:)

IKEA...

Ikea is a home furnishings showroom in US.. Its a swedish company (and obviously the main store is in Sweden.., tis the largest one i think )
they promise you good quality stuff at best prices.. and yes.. nothing can beat ikea prices.. now it has spread world over, places like canada, US , Singapore, Australia, Austria, Belgium..etc having IKEAs..
I visited one in Boston..till today Ikea furniture was what i had seen on catalogues in landmarks store in Chennai :)

The store is designed to showcase any type of room.. Its a completely different experience to see a completed room.. I mean everyone can visualize, but to see it there.. in combinations with other pieces of furniture ,is totally different.

Anyways i had a day in Ikea.. obviously could not buy any furniture, but i could see.. and wish someday i could keep my house as organized as the displays.

I fell in love with the glassware and lampshades there...
Wish i could just buy some stuff and ship it back home.. bought a lot of small things to help in organising my room now.


Ikea was truly a world by itself..

And it snowed :)

I saw snow today....I do admit inspite of having been in Delhi for ages, i feel cold in winter, and will be all covered up, but that does not stop me from getting outside and enjoying myself..
today when i reached boston we were told at the airport that it will be sunny next week....Wa sdejected.. i wanted it to be cold and wanted it to snow...

And just about few hrs later inspite of all the weather predictions .. its snowed... it was beautiful.....
I opened up the window of my room and felt the falling snow flakes.... amazing :)

I have to say it the Mac Donald's way...... Am looooovvvving it :)

Crisis Counseling...

Last week I went visiting the Golden Gate bridge in San Francisco, California. The bridge is best enjoyed walking or biking across the whole stage.

Me n my friends walked the whole stretch on a nice windy Sunday evening.
Around Midway on the bridge at many points i saw "Crisis Counseling" boards and a toll free phone.
In case a person decides to commit suicide, he can just pick up a phone and call a crisis counselor and speak about their worries and decide not to commit suicide... nice idea aint that :)

Dreams do come true...

Yesterday was probably the happiest day for me for sometime to come...I was overjoyed because yesterday i crossed a milestone in life i qualified as a CA!

My joy knew no bounds... I felt like a 5 year old.. wanted to run and shout and scream in joy that i had cleared.

I remember my friend Siddharth once telling me the feeling cannot be put in words.. u have to experience it.. I totally agree...I could have laughed and cried at the same time yesterday..
the whole world seemed perfect.. nothing wrong.. a rosy picture around me :) I'd love time to stop :)

Yesterday i could hardly conceal my excitement...I just could not stop smiling...

Suddenly the belief in me came that yes .. Dreams do come true... you have to just "go for it" :)

"Nano"

Well this was the much awaited curtain raiser.... Today Mr Ratan Tata unveiled the Tata Motors "Peoples Car" .
And working in an automotive glass manufacturer made it even more interesting bit of news for me...
So today finally we got to see the pictures of "nano"
Aptly named... Pictures and video broadcasts do make it look really small.
Am no expert with cars.. but the specs seem ok.. 600 CC for an engine..so will be a little less powerful than the Maruti says my mind..
Aesthetics and look.. well I dont think you cant have all the good things together.. i mean if u have the money u get the look.. incidentally Skoda(I learnt only now thats its pronounced Shkoda) Fabia was also inaugurated two days back.. which looks rather appealing on pics (the price of course ..ahem needs no mentioning)

But frankly as i was driving through the traffic today i just thought.. "Is there PLACE for a new four wheeler?"
Cities in now are overflowing with vehicles.. to top it all, slow construction on the flyovers ,bad roads make a normally pleasurable exercise of driving.. at peak hours close to a nightmare..

Yes , small cars are easy to maneuver... but parking space? is this really there in the City? I wish a corporate would set up a nicely manned multi level parking lot . a good payback.. cos all those hassled with the parking problems wouldn't mind spending a few bucks to park their car safe and secure..(and not in some by lane)

The mismatch in infrastructure facilities and increasing needs of the consumer is already close to causing havoc for many.. Wondering how it will be if even 20 % of India buys the Nano.

Am soon going to be going to Bangalore after a few years now and apparently the traffic condition is the worst there.

Will try and picturise how "nano" will be the difference the "people's car" makes there :)

Tata i'd say ':)

Two weeks back I noticed that there was a lot of sound of tapping on my window.. Since i stay on the second floor its impossible that someone is tapping on my window... I opened and saw some twigs...

I knew a pigeon was trying to put up a nest in the small space between the wall and the AC.

I pushed the two twigs away to stop it from doing so.

Next day the tapping continued.. I wondered why. This time i took a mirror and saw further closer to the window and discovered two nice white eggs...

(Thanks to the mobile now i can capture stuff easily)

The pigeon had not only built its nest in a cozy corner. It had also laid eggs.

Obviously now i had to let the eggs hatch and only after the lil pigeons are out and trained to fly can I think or removing the nest..

Now, two weeks later I heard chirping noise.. again my mirror came out this time i saw small little grey pigeons..

Soon these pigeons will leave the shelter of their mom and fly high.. fly far far away..:)

Will the little pigeon look forward to flying away... away to discover its own frontiers...Or does the pigeon miss its family too?

Sometime someday, all of us leave the cozy shelter we are in to fly high fly towards our dreams....just like the birds..

Watta ride!!!

Well donno if i mentioned..i go these days to audit far far away to a place called sriperambudur ;)
Ok Ok.. enuf of the attempt on some drama scene creation..
And today just around when the bus was going to leave for chennai in the evening..someone told the driver theres a huge traffic jam about 10 kms away.

so the driver..ofcourse with the consent of the people who knew anything about the routes there decided to take the Kundrathur route.
now kundrathur is a village type place a lil off the main highway.

Well bumpy roads..watter puddles , overflowing ponds..this was the sight....








Aah now u get the drift!

Hmmm..but i enjoyed it...



One i could look out the window onto green fields.. nice ponds... and generally vast open spaces..and second was the gentle breeze after the rains....its touch on the face...whooosh..can sweep me off my feet..

After an hour we reached a place where the pond had overflown and there was water on the road.. knee deep to be precise....see that..thats from the window :)

So now our bus had to go through water ;))

More bumpy roads and a town life could be seen... thatched roof homes..little tea shops..it was like driving through malgudi ;)

And just as i was enjoying bliss.. my bladder decided not to co operate..:) what timing jeez...

And just about 15 minutes delay from our normal journey time..we reached guindy where i alight...
and rush to catch a share auto ...and home sweet home.. one journey that i'd add to my list of favorite journeys :)

Cock a doodle doooo

These days am going to an audit in Sriperambudur.. Which means waking up at 5.30 every morning to be in time to catch the company bus and travel for about an hour and a half all the way to work...
Phew.. i cant believe I've already done that.. and this i'm saying cos am not exactly an early morning person..(actually to think of it..I dont know what hour of the day person I am...;)
But yeah lately having slogged for exams and having burnt the midnight oil for errr couple of months.. my body clock has kind of changed... I am WIDE awake till atleast midnight..sometimes longer and do whatever but "SLEEP" is miles away..

I tried all the fairy tale techniques, counting backwards , alphabets backwards, killing mosquitoes before they devour me alive...but alas..mujhe neend na aaye... :)
(Pity i cant count stars...cos the mosquito is mightier than the starry night :), would rather fight a couple of them indoors than be skinned alive anywhere outdoor ;)

After the tamasha..i finally manage to sleep.. dont even know which stage of sleep i reach.. REM or dream...
and I hear the alarm..Wake up time...:(( Wish i could get 5 minutes more ;((

After all this what do u expect me to do..ofcourse i find it difficult to keep my eyes open...Conversations and talking to people while working will do wonders to keep me awake.. but then .... am alone where i work..no one to talk to and no MAIL.. no GTALK.. what is the world without all this.. chah...disgrace ;)

Half the day goes by yawning..and i walk miles across the plant just to stay awake...
I'm reminded of the tom and Jerry show..where tom resorts to crazy things like putting a stick to hold his eyelid up, painting his eye on the closed lid.. he he... what fun techniques..

The only persons happy are Mom's .. who just love it when their daughters/sons have to get up early in the morning for work..... couldnt help chuckling when recently my friends Mom said she was very happy that her daughter went to this client for almost 10 months cos she got into the habit of getting up early...
Am just praying...before it becomes a habit....the work should get over...LAZY me :) signing offff

Happy New Year.....

As i usher in the New Year..I decided to make some resolutions, actually not exactly resolutions....
Things i wanna do in this year

1) Work really hard..
2) Go to Dakshinchitra and some other places in Chennai...(I feel really bad that I havent been some beautiful places in Chennai itself!)
3) Buy a dress.. preferably black (Been eying dresses since my Vacations...)
4) Make the jewelery been meaning to all these months.
5) And that jewelery holder that i have in mind ;)
6) Maybe if possible..go to Mangalore once.. old times sake.
7) Go on one hiking trip by the end of 2008.. hope am not asking for too much.. just one hiking trip..and
8) Smile.. Smile a lot..cos makes me feel really happy..



Cheerios....
and a Hap Hap Happy New Year :)