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In the tube


have you watched Harry Potter?

The Da Vinci Code

Watched my first movie in London :D, 'The Da Vinci Code' released yesterday and we were off to see it today. I would say it was a good movie, not great just good. Tom Hanks never lets you down, some good editing and powerful scenes, make it a good watch. However there was no climatic ending, the movie just meandered off to its end. Watchable nevertheless :)

The Palace

To me the word 'Palace' signifies, glorious, awe inspiring structures. Well Buckingham was not exactly awe-inspiring. If anything it may be described as a little dissapointing. Does'nt mean there are no photos :)

To the Palace

Glimpses of Covent Garden: 7 pm

To London,To London to look at the Queen

Am in London, there is a slight drizzle and my Konfabulator Widget tells me that the temperature is 15 degree celsius. Its supposed to be summer here !! Well I am loving this weather. I think its fabulous. Reminds me of Bangalore a few years ago, the weather that is.

The sun does not set until after 8pm...which is cool too.

More from here later

Graphic Novels

Thanks to Krishnan
I got to read "V for Vendetta" and "League of Extraordinary gentlemen" both are super cool, LXG is a shade better though.

Reading "Batman Year One" now :D

Seven Daffodils

I may not have a mansion
I have'nt any land
Not even a paper dollar
To crinkle in my hand
But I can show you morning
On a thousand hills
And kiss you and give you seven daffodils

- The Brothers Four

Do you agree?

" The mind is its own place, and in itself
Can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven"

- John Milton, Paradise Lost

Bangalore->Poona->Bombay and Back

On my way to Bombay (I refuse to call it Mumbai!), I visited Poona for a couple of days. Having heard "Pune is just like Bangalore" etc etc, I was looking forward to a relaxing couple of days ahead of the hectic life that Bombay presents. what I found was an extremely Hot and humid city with traffic so bad that it surprised even a Banglorean like myself :)

In all poona sure looks like bangalore in one sense which is that it is ready to burst at the seams as far as infrastructure is concerned.

Bombay was the usual, a city like none other in India, Bombay always reminds me of a machine that is constantly running. run run run thats how people seem to live in Bombay, unlike the lazy, laid back life that Bangalore presents.

Bombay has wonderful wide roads made at the cost of trees and greenery, I remember this one time that a friend of mine took me to see the famous "Hanging Gardens" I went with visions of a great wondorous gardens much like the one in Babylon. What I saw was a tiny little place, with dry bushes, a scattering of benches and exhausted looking trees. We have better gardens at traffic junctions back in Bangalore !

But I must say that Bombay has a charm of its own, that no other city seems to possess.

In all a wonderfully refreshing holiday for me :)

Off to Bombay...

off on a long vacation to Bombay.....more on this later too :)

My Favorite Best Movies on the Subject: Revenge, Vengence, Redemption and Vendetta

1. The Shawshank Redemption
2. Payback
3. The Count of Monte Cristo
4. Man on Fire


MORE ON THIS LATER

hmmm.....Yaaaawn !

Yes, its been a long time since I have blogged.....simply because either there was nothin specific I wanted to write about or because when there was, I was too lethargic to blog :(

This itself is beginning to look like a mock post, so I shall stop.

Wanna Mate a Movie??

Check out these really cool entries using photoshop: GO

The Best ODI Ever?

I was planning to spend the weekend out of station. a good thing I did not, for if I had then i would have missed, what can be termed as the 'best' match ever (atleast from a batsman's point of view)

Watching the SA v/s Aus finals with friends was an awesome way to spend the Sunday. The best part being, the amount of self belief that the South Africans displayed, giving a new meaning to the phrase "They can, because they think they can".

I wont write much about the match, since we all have heard too much about it already. But I would like to mention, that the turning point of the match was Ricky Ponting's decision to bowl Mike Lewis out(Lewis went for 113 off 10 overs, a dubious record). Especially with Bret Lee having 3 overs remaining.

Well I guess its easier to be critical in retrospective, but it did strike me as odd, when Mike Lewis was handed the bowl.

Reading at the Moment

Finished: "Papillon"

Finished: "Murder most Cosy" - a collection of short stories

In Progress: "The Secret of Annexe 3" by Colin Dexter, I must admit that it is not one of Dexter's best.

Lalbagh :)

Decided to jog every morning. Lots of benefits.
- Compels me to be an early bird
- Get to spend time with my inner circle (I go with a couple of friends)
- keep fit
- refreshing way to start a day :)

If anybody wants to join, do let me know! I started today, so you are not late.

Ze Tag

I've been tagged by Ashmi


Well I hope I live upto your expectations, Ashmi....Here goes

My "target"(Makes me sound like an assassin, but I shall play along) is a homosapien female


The tagged victim [that's me :( ] has to come up with 8 different points of their perfect lover.

- MUST have a sense of humor.
- MUST have the ability to make people smile
- MUST be optimistic
- Nice hair :)
- Beautiful eyes


and that is all I ask for, yes I do not want 8 points I want these 5 :D

there I am done:)

Glimpses of the Dandeli trip

Dandeli Trip

Well another weekend and another trip. This time round it was more of an adventure trip with colleagues.
Took a bus to Dandeli, a ride of 13 hrs via Hubli and Dharwad.
Dandeli is a hot and dusty place very like most of the towns in North Karnataka, However it is famous for River Kali and some of the most dense forests of South India.

A delayed arrival meant that we had to laze around till the climate cooled down and we could take a trek. Though it was just a 14 km trek, what made it exciting was that I was carrying a 12 kilo rucksack :)

5:30 am the next day we were off on a Safari through some really dense jungle, did not spot a lot except a few Giant malabar squirrels, a Rat Snake, couple of hornbills, Drongos, Barking deer, Sambhar and some wild boar(Obelix would have been excited).
The ride however was exhilirating and Kavala Caves were interesting

In the afternoon we were off to do some White Water rafting over a 10 km stretch on River kali . This was an amazing experience, there were around 9 rapids and negotiating each one was fun.

Camped out that night in the jungle near the river bank and learnt that the jungle can be a very scary place when it is all quite and dark.

Next morning we did some amazing mountain biking, riding geared cycles through the forest trails is thrilling especially because of the risk involved. however none of us were seriously injured and it was fun despite the fact that I had an encounter with a thorny bamboo "bush" that left me with scratches all over (especially since einstein was in shorts and T-shirt). 3 hours of cycling on a geared bike through steep trails did question our stamina but we did seem to have the answer.

Great Fun sums up the trip. Dandeli is the place to be if you want to try out your hand at White Water rafting or trekking

The South Maharashtra trip

The eve of republic day found us on the RaniChennama express heading towards Belgaum, which was to be a launching point for a wonderful holiday ahead.


Day I: 26th January

On Reaching Belgaum we headed right towards Amboli - A hill station in Maharashtra,
At a distance of 70 kms away from Belgaum.
This would set the tone for the trip ahead, it was to be trip that was far from the cliched Goa and Kerala.
The hillsides and valleys of Amboli along with the great food ('Malvani dishes') compelled us to make an overnight stay.
The highlights of our visit being

'HirenyaKeshi: The Cave Shrine'



'KavaleSaad: Valley point'


'Mahadev Gad: the sunset point'






Day II: 27th January

We took an early morning bus that took us 30 kms down the beautiful Amboli ghats to ‘Sawantwadi’ my native place.



We hired a cab to take us across to Malwan District to visit the serene
Lake Dhamapur for a boat ride.




From there went to
Fort Sindhudurg, which lies on an island 2 kms into the sea and can be reached only by boat!!




(So that made it 2 boat rides in a day, one on the lake and one in the Arabian Sea)

Spent the evening watching the sunset from Beach Tarkarli


Day III: 28th January
Visited

Redi Beach


Fort Tiracol in Goa


Ferry Across river tiracol


And sunset at Tiracol Beach



The best part about the trip most certainly was the peace of the countryside along with its pristine beaches, untouched by commercialization.

Tiracol Beach especially is indeed one of the last untouched and virgin beaches of Goa, its clear waters, beautiful sands and a great sunset made it a perfect climax to a great trip :D




Looking forward to more such trips ahead !!

SMS policing

On 30th December
Sender : "Mr paranoid"
Text:
Plz Dont go to any crowded place. 6 terrorists are in the city and 4 of them are human bombs. just came on NDTV. So plz be alert. spread the msg plz..

On new years eve (31st Dec)
Sender: Blorepolice
Text:
msg From Police Commisioner Blore City - There were no untoward incidents in blore. Info about terrorists planning to attack the city is a rumour. Pls dont panic.

World Sunlight Map

This is coooooool :)

Happiness

I begin to realise that happiness is an extremely relative term.

Some people attain a certain level of happiness by owning a Ferrari others attain the same level of happiness just standing by the window watchin the rain.

So is the secret of a content life, the ability to bring down our happiness threshold?

Would one who does so be perceived as being unambitious?

Would a person who has discovered the secret to a content life be bothered about perceptions of others?

Is it the same with sadness....I think so.

TAKING LEAVE OF A FRIEND

-Li T'ai-po (translated by Ezra Pound)

Blue mountains to the north of the walls,
White river winding about them;
Here we must make separation
And go out through a thousand miles of dead grass.

Mind like a floating wide cloud,
Sunset like the parting of old acquaintances
Who bow over their clasped hands at a distance.
Our horses neigh to each others
as we are departing.

Song of the week

Paap: Laage tumse mann ki lagan
Somehow listening to this song, evoked a sense of intense sadness in me. An emotion I am not very used to. Superlative.

Music review: Rang de Basanti

After being fed on a diet of songs by Pakistani artistes(many of them quite good), here is an Album that is truly indian in flavor.

A.R. Rehman has come up with a wonderful album againThe Title Track, though with punjabi beats, sounds fresh.

'Tu Bin bataye' is wonderfuly haunting, this one reminded me of Enya's 'May it be' from LOTR.

The soft 'Khoon Chala' and 'Luka Chupi' are nice as well.

Rehman experiments with 'Lalkar' an inspirational chant.'Khalbali' which sounds like an Arabic number, is decent but not upto the mark.

However, the crowning glory of the album is definitely 'Rubaroo' and the more popular and peppy 'Paath Shaala'.
"talli hoke girane se, sikhi humne gravity...." go the lyrics of PaathShaala

Neat album overall :)

Movie : Equilibrium

Well, did not expect much from this one, though it gets a decent rating of 7.7 in IMDB, I did not find it 'awesome'. It was good, but then again I may be biased, as it has Christian 'Batman' Bale in the lead role.

The action is super-cool, especially the gun-fu moves, close calculated combat with a hand gun. Neato. A watchable movie. Better if you are a Christian Bale or an Action fan (who is'nt?):)

Resolution

I do not make New Year resolutions since I believe that one does not have to wait for the 1st of Jan to resolve. However here is one...

Bring a smile to someones face, make someone laugh out aloud, make someone feel nice, make someones day.

This is what I resolve to do. Its a simple resolution, thats not so simple to keep up. But trust me its fun :)

If you are reading this, I hope you add this to your list of resolutions too.

W.B. Yeats

Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half-light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.

2005

Top Movie(s) of the year

Batman Begins
Madagascar


Best Advertisement

Times of India 'Prakash Mirajkar selected'commercial.

Dissapointments of 2005

B'lore infrastucture, Traffic and Crime Rate

Bangalore to become Bengaluru and no serious opposition


Highs

Airport road flyover construction resumes (whew!!)

Laloo out !


Personal highs

Got into 'ThoughtWorks', arguably the most sought after company back in college :)

MBA

All the Mad-Ads performances

All the Jokes cracked

All the new friends met


Personal Lows

Seperation from a very special person.

Batman - DC Comics

Batman has been my favorite supehero, The Supermans and the Spidermans all possess Superpowers that help them fight evil.
Batman on the contrary is a normal human being, who has decided to fight crime.
Everything is dark about these comics, the atmosphere, the character, the Villans, Gotham City itself.

Batman's Character is one of the most complex characters one can come across in Comic Books. Like Batman says in 'Hush'
"Deep down I know Superman is a good guy, I also know that deep down I am a Bad guy! "

Haunted by nightmares and a feeling of guilt about his parents' murder by a criminal, Bruce wayne decides to become something that he fears the most, a "Bat".

When one reads Batman, one can sense, how close Batman is to becoming the same thing that he is fighting against.

I have been reading the Batman Collection.
So far have read
Dark victory
Year one
Hush

"Year one" by Frank Miller and Joseph Loeb is the best, and the Movie "Batman Begins" is loosely based on this.

The only shortcoming, I see in the Batman Comics is the use of Superfriends - like Robin, DarkWing, Oracle, Batgirl, Huntress etc etc

This dilutes the powerful characterisation of batman.

However the Batman remains and will remain my Superhero !!

Who is your favorite Superhero?

I am an MBA !!

I got a very boring 65.84% in my final sem MBA. Boring because, I have been getting 65 - 67 % in my first 3 sems. Not complaining but yaaaaawn !!

Anyway as with everything that happens, there are positives

I am an MBA now :)
I have given all the exams, do not see myself studying for another set of exams

O Captain! My Captain

- Walt Whitman (1819–1892). Leaves of Grass


O CAPTAIN! my Captain! our fearful trip is done;

The ship has weather’d every rack, the prize we sought is won;

The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,

While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring:

But O heart! heart! heart!

O the bleeding drops of red,

Where on the deck my Captain lies,

Fallen cold and dead.


More...

A wonderful radio station

I came across PANDORA, on Dharampal's blog, before you say "well its another music cast", just check it out, all you need to do is give an artist or a song title and your station will play you songs that are similar to your selection, works wonders as you get to discover new songs. Try it.

The year(?) that was...

In a matter of a week we will be in 2006 !! The Cliche goes that "Time Flies" but one must agree it is so very true. I feel like it was very recently that I got into MBA, but now I realize that not only have I completed my MBA, but also am a couple of months away from completing a year at ThoughtWorks.

The Year has gone by in a blur. Its been a joy ride full of fun, lots of ups and few downs.

Another Cliche goes on to extend the previous one and goes " Time flies fastest when you are having most fun"

Looking forward to more years that will go past in a blurrrrrrrrrrrrr :)

Cannot resist....Another song of the week :)

Well this one would be the song of t he month for me :)

Smash Mouth- Shrek OST- 'Im a Believer"

This one rocks....

In the Jungle.....

Was listening to the Lion King soundtrack, and came across "In the Jungle....."

:D This brought back so many old memories, we had sung this for a party where Jungle was the theme, and boy did we have fun !!

This makes it my Song of the Week!!

Cricket....sweet pain !!

Last Saturday, Played cricket for 4 hours flat !! spent the week feeling like I had been run over by a truck :) Muscles that i did not know existed, announced their annoyance at not being used, so much so that even laughing out aloud caused pain (and laughin is somethin i do regularly....)

Ah the sweet pain :)

Played 3 hours of cricket again this saturday, and the pain i was expecting never came :) looks like I am fit again (ya right !!)

Weekend Movie: Bluff Master

Well, I went and watched BluffMaster, did not expect much. Was pleasantly surprised :)

Its been inspired by, "Ocean's Eleven" and "The Game", but a good hindi Adaptation. Good songs, great one liners, Nana Patekar has all the good lines.

A good movie to watch :)

The Silence...

Why, have I not been blogging ?? Well the reason is that am going through one of the most difficult periods of my life. I wonder if I shall ever overcome it. But I know that I shall not change and life will go on :D

"Whatever happens, happens for the best!" remember?

Gaming Unlimited!!

The time is 6 pm. The day any normal weekday, and one can sense excitement around the office. The excitement is because Unreal Tournament is about to begin.
Hours and hours of Gaming on the LAN has me addicted. Be it the aggressiveness of a Team 'DeathMatch' or the Strategy involved in a game of 'Capture The Flag ', the action is relentless, the Screaming at team members, the cheering at a crucial frag makes for an amazing atmosphere in office. Good Fun :D

Power of ONE

I have been tagged by Seemantini to write about "What I am doing or going to do, to protect the Earth in my own little way"

OneEarth Communications have wonderful ads indeed, Most of them are featured on Animal Planet.

What have I been doing? I avoid using polythene bags, I never throw waste of any kind on the roadside, be it chocolate wrappers or chewing gum. Using a Dustbin is a better option. I do not smoke, thus doing my bit to reduce Air Pollution.
The important thing that I feel all of us can do(and which I do) is, to walk short distances rather than using a two wheeler. Keeps one fit, Reduces Traffic and in turn reduces Air Pollution.

What are you doing?

The Tom and Jerry Game

If you like Tom and Jerry then this is the game for you !! Childish you may say, but entertaining nevertheless :)
PLAY THE GAME

The Tank

On the Stretch of road just after Victoria road and before one gets to Airport road, to your left, just by the road, lies a Tank. A battle tank, captured by the indian Army from Pakistan during the Bangladesh War.

As a child as I passed through that road, on my way to the airport, I would wait for the tank to appear in my sights and look at it with a sense of pride, afterall it was part of the 'spoils of war'.
It still remains in the same place, well maintained. Painted a shade of dark olive green
It still has the same effect on me as it had years ago :D
If you happen to pass by that way do take a look and you shall understand what I am talking about.

Google tells me that "These T-59s were captured at the epic battle of Longewala, where an entire Pakistani T-59 tank regiment was decimated by the Indian Air Force...." more...

Interesting??

Ganguly is back...

I have been cursing Mr. Ganguly, since a long time. But I must confess as I watched him stride into the ground to Bat today morning, I was wishing he would do well !! I thought to myself, well the man has guts to come down and play in a match under Dravid, it needs a lot of humility.

Then I watched him refuse a single, a beautiful shot that Laxman hit deserved a run and Ganguly turned down the single. And back I am to square one, I think my previous attitude towards him is right. He does not deserve a place in the team.

Song of the Day

'Ruby tuesday' by Rolling Stones
is amazing, its my favorite Rolling stones song. Awesome.

Vertigo Comics: Fables

I enjoyed reading Frank Miller's graphic novels the 'Sin City' series, this was not surprising as Frank Miller is quite famous and I had expected to enjoy it.
however when I got my hands on 'Fables' by Vertigo comics, I did not expect much ,as their previous series was not too good (atleast I did not like it), but 'Fables'is awesome.
As usual it is a comic for "for Mature readers only'. the Theme rocks. The artwork is nice. and the plots are pretty decent.

All the Fable town's characters such as Snow White, Goldilocks, Big Bad Wolf, Beauty and the Beast and hundreds of others have been thrown out of their kingdoms, and make home in New York.
SnowWhite has divorced the cheating Prince Charming and is the deputy mayor of Fable Town, Goldilocks is a Psycho Killer, Jack (the one who climbed the bean Stalk) is a rouge. Mr Big Bad Wolf (taken a human form to hide himself from the prying eyes of humans) is a detective straight out of an 80's Film Noir movie.

Snow White(look at the image) and Bigby(Big B Wolf) form an unlikely team to keep fabletown going against all difficulties.

Sheer Brilliance.

Yahaan

Brilliant movie, it was great to see Minissha Lamba as "Ada" a Kashmiri Muslim in Love with Jimmy Shergill a soldier in the Indian army, with the backdrop of terrorism.Great music, realistic story. A nice Hindi movie after a long time. very fresh.

song to watch out for is "naam ada likhna". beautiful.

Wonderful...

A.E Housman writes in his poem "Trees" :

"Poems are made by fools like me
But only God can make a tree."

THE ROAD NOT TAKEN

- Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

My Inner Hero - Paladin!


I strive to help others, and to bring truth and harmony to the world however I can. Whether times are good or bad, you can always count on me. I'm a shoulder to cry on, a champion for the helpless, and an all around nice person. :D

How about you? Click here to find your own inner hero.

The Show must go on...

Mad-ads, to many it looks like a silly skit. To me it is a forum to put forth what one feels about the present state of affairs.
And it is here, on the Mad-ads stage that I have learnt a lot of important lessons in life. Be it the time, when as a part of an upcoming mad-ads team, facing a competition that would decide our future, We fought through adversity (Threats of phsical harm to team, Hospitalzation, injuries...) we won a place in the cultural team. Hey if any of the 'Cul-nan-Magas' are reading this I wanna say that I feel immense pride in having been a part of our team.

I know this is starting to sound like an award winning or a farewell speech, it is the latter.I along With the other core team members of the 'Usual Suspects' (Jive and Dijo),decided that the saturdays performance was our last.

After close to 7 years on stage, it is hard to ignore the feeling of nostalgia. I shall surely miss the Jam packed auditoriums, the roar of the crowd when our team name was announced, and the resounding laughter.

However I am happy that we have gone out with a blast !! Saturday was one of our most memorable performances, we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. And if the cheers were anything to judge by, the audience enjoyed it too.

So long and thanks for all the fish... :D

DON'T PANIC

Well a Colleague recommended that I read Douglas Adams, and so I did, I borrowed a book from her and started reading, the book was "Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency", and to put it mildly, I found the book pathetic.

So when I came across, "HitchHiker's guide to the galaxy" (a set of five volumes in one book), I was in two minds, whether to pick it up and read it, or to let it pass. To cut a long story short, I picked the book up and have started to read it. I have to admit, so far(I am about 5 chapters into the book), the book is amazing, it is a brilliant piece of literature. Do not miss it.
Rating **** out of *****

Amazing Blog

A friend sent me this link, this blog is about advertising and it is wonderful. Do check it out.

GO

Back to the stage…

On Saturday, I will be back on stage performing mad-ads. This Saturday, Jive and I, spent about 3 hrs on the script, it looks good. Some practice and we should be ready to rock the party, this could well be one of my last performances on stage after 5 years of mad-ads.
My present team is called “The Usual Suspects”; my original team was called “Cul-nan-magas” (A pun you would understand only if you understand kannada).
Performed competitively at many a place with Cul-nan-magas, as we were in the college cultural team.
However, “The Usual suspects” have performed only twice competitively, both at IIM-B, and we won the first place twice in as many years.
“Bas yaadein yaadein yaadein reh jaati hai…. kuch meethi meethi baatein reh jaati hai…”

Song(s) running thru my head

Coming Back to life- Pink Floyd:
“I took a heavenly ride through our silence
I knew the moment had arrived
For killing the past and coming back to life”

Winds of Change – Scorpions:
“The wind of change blows straight into the face of time
Like a storm wind that will ring the freedom bell for peace of mind
Let you balalaika sing
What my guitar wants to say”

Knocking on Heaven’s Door – GNR:
“Momma put my guns on the ground
I can’t shoot them anymore
That cold black cloud is coming down
Feels like I am knocking on heavens door
Knock knock knocking on heavens door”(The Avril version is also good)

Team Outing to PVR Gold Class

Yeah, Finally watched a movie in Gold class. The movie: Garam Masala. A pathetic movie, but a great theatre experience. What with the Lazy Boy type of chairs and being server food at your seat. Maybe a better choice of movie would have increased the enjoyment factor. Well cannot have everything. :)

Techno Savvy

I had never surfed the web until I was in 1st year degree, that is in the year 2000. Hard to believe, I did not know how to send an email. I am not exaggerating.
Now my typical day consists of atleast 12 hours on the PC or Laptop, 8 of which I spend online!! I have been in DELL helping system admins of major companies repair their PC’s and right now am working as a business analyst in a S/W consulting MNC, helping build software!!
As I look back I realize how simple it is to grasp a new technology if you are surrounded by it in all walks of life.