Bit and Pieces of My Life

Life, as I live

2012-01-14T01:00:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, I got a mail from a close friend with a link to article on how to live a life. The article talked about top regrets people have when they lie on a death bed.

1. I wish I'd the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.

I know a lot of people around me who dream, but don't work on them. Most people do not honor even half of their dreams, and reason is they choose what others want them to do, not what they want to.

Have I dreamt of anything? Let me see -

a. Open a company.

b. Have a girlfriend.

c. See the world.

d. Attend live concerts of all my favorite bands.

e. Have Lysergic acid diethyl amide (don't know why this made into the list).

f. Trek in Himalayas.

There are a lot more, but lets talk about these.

a. I haven't opened a company yet, but I have tried twice. The key statement is "I tried".

b. I dont have a girlfriend, and I don't think I tried that hard to achieve this.

c. I went to Thailand last year, and this year I plan to goto a few countries.

d. I have attended live concerts of Iron Maiden and Metallica. ACDC is still remaining.

e. I didn't get any chance to have LSD.

f. Whenever it happens, this will be big.

Ok, so I have worked on fulfilling my dreams. But, what about living life which others want me to?

Had I lived that, I would have gone to IIMC after getting a call in 2007 or applied to all big Universities in 2011 after getting a good GMAT score. But this doesn't mean I dont live live which others want me to live.

2. I wish I didn't work so hard.

Ok, I work hard in my office time. What's the big deal? To buy new phones, ipods and laptops etc, to go places in aeroplanes, to eat pizzas and burgers, to see a movie in theatre and to buy tennis balls I need money, and to get money, I need to work hard. What is more important is not to work 24x7, but to work 10x5. I dont work on national holidays (15 August, 26 January, 2 October) and on festivals of importance (Diwali, Holi, Raksha Bandhan, Dussera). I am sure most of you do not mind working on these days. When I take vacations, I don't login to check office mails. Am I working hard? Probably yes. But am I working too hard to affect my personal life? No.

3. I wish I'd the courage to express my feelings.

In this one I am big loser. No comments. Those who should know, knows, and those who shouldn't know, don't know. I wish I get courage and don't mess up expressing feelings in future.

4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.

I am in contact with most of my old friends. In fact when they become busy to ping me, I ping them. If anybody calls to meet today, I take out time, no matter what important work is going on in my professional self. None of my friends can deny that.

5. I wish I had let myself be happier.

This one is tricky. Am I happy? Well, most of the time. It depends what happiness means at that particular moment and in general. How can I let myself be happier? Probably doing what I want to do. What I want to do? Damn, it needs more introspection.

I am what I am, because of the decisions I chose in past, and I respect them all.

Do I have a life? I think so.

I know I will not regret when I will lie on my death bed.

Life is a choice. Choose consciously, wisely, honestly. Choose happiness.

Near Death Experiences

2011-12-30T03:52:00.001-08:00

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Third position:

Place - Skandagiri

Date - 31/12/2008

We went to night trek at Skandagiri. We didn't take any guide with us. Unfortunately we started in the wrong mountain. After climbing the hill for 1 hour, we could find any way to go up. There were dense bushes, thorns, very steep slopes and what not, but there was no way a human can go up. We thought to go down and start again from other side, but to our misery, we couldn't find the way down. Almost 2 hours have been passed, and we decided to just go up whatever difficult the way is. There was a big boulder, and we thought after crossing this, we might find a way.

I decided to climb first. After trying for 20-30 seconds, I started slipping. Thoughts in my minds - aaj to gayaa, ya to marunga ya haath pair toot jaayenge, agar haath pair toot gaye to neeche utarenge kaise, saale bina rassi ke koi chadta hai kya aise, main marna nahin chahata. Suddenly I felt somebody pressed me from behind. And BOOM, I was not slipping. YO, I am still alive.
After me Td tried to climb that boulder and slipped again. He tried again and was able to climb, but unfortunately there wasn't any way to go up either. We couldn't take any pictures of that boulder, but here are some from the trekking.

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Second position:

Place - Shakleshpur

Date - 24/07/2006

This was my first trekking. I was in Bangalore for my internship. I had 7 weekends here, and I was out of Bangalore for 5 of those weekends. In one of the weekend, I went to trekking with few friends and few strangers in Shakleshpur. There is a railway track where only one or two trains run in a day. Trek consists of climbing a hill, walking on railway line, and descending another hill. The railway line is on a hill range and thus has lots of bridges and tunnels. Tunnels were full of bats and had to be crossed without making much noise and light so as not to disturb the bats. Bridges had no railings and distance between two rail ties was around 1 foot. And needless to say, if you fall from the bridge, you will die.

We heard that a train is coming and we were on the start of a 410 m tunnel. Somebody puts his ear close to rail and told us that he didn't hear any vibrations so train must be far away. And we entered the tunnel. We were close to middle of tunnel and suddenly sound of train amplified 20 times.

A myriad of thoughts came to my mind - bhaago, jaan bachao, main bachunga kya, saale andar aaye hi kyun, maine to ghar per bhi nahin bataya! After running here and there for around 10 seconds, someone shouted that we cannot cross the tunnel before train, and should stick to the walls. After 30-40 secs - YO, we are still alive. We were able to experience the change of air pressure as the train was passing.

Some pics to share -

Railway bridge

Someone managed to take a pic in that situation

This is that tunnel

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First position:

Place - Sea near Phi-phi Island in Thailand

Date - 29/08/2011

Without any doubt, this deserves the top position, for the reason that I was in near death situation for maximum amount of time.

I was snorkeling in the sea and lost my boat. After swimming for around 10-15 mins thinking that I would die in a foreign country, I gave up and got in a boat where nobody knew English.

This incidence is already blogged here: Thailand - paragraph 4 to 7.

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These are the top three near death incidents I have experienced till now. I wish to experience and survive more such experiences.

ज़िंदगी ....

2011-09-24T01:12:00.001-07:00

कभी कभी ज़िंदगी कितनी झंड लगती है, और बाकी समय हम देखना ही भूल जाते हैं कि ज़िंदगी कितनी हसीँ है |

Thailand - Land of Awesomness

2011-09-05T10:41:00.000-07:00

Savatee-krap.

Thailand - the land of elephants - where tourist are treated very well, where people stops car if a pedestrian is crossing the road, where girls are thin and fair and a lot, where autos are known as tuktuk, and where I spent some of the most memorable days of my life.

If you have lost your way, ask anyone for directions and he might start walking with you till you are comfortable with the directions. If you ask the bus conductor for your stop, person at the back might shout that your stop is next only.

The trip was of 9 days total and included 3 cities - Phuket, Pattaya and Bangkok - 2 to 2.5 days each in each city and rest for travels.

Our first destination was Phuket. We stayed in a hotel in Karon. The hotel is seriously awesome, but the only problem was that it is a little far from Banga Road, the centre of Phuket night life. There are some beautiful islands nearby and some good beaches, and thus it attracts a lot of foreigners (for more than a day in Phuket I didn't realize that I am also a foreigner there).

We went to Phi-phi island on a boat and did snorkeling. For those who don't know, Snorkeling is the practice of swimming with a diving mask, a tube called a snorkel with which you breathe, and fins. Initially I faced a little difficulty in breathing, but than it became comfortable. I looked down and saw fishes - small and big, colorful and black and white. I saw rocks of different colors and sizes.

ऐसा लगा कि मैं दुनिया कि सबसे शांत जगह पर हूँ - हर एक सांस, पल का एहसास हुआ.
नीली नीली सी खामोशियाँ, ना कहीं ज़मीन ना आसमां.
सिर्फ पानी और मछलियाँ, और मेरी साँसें.

After some time I looked around. Holy shit! Where is my boat, and where are all the people, and where am I? There is a boat there. Is that the one, or the one in other direction? Where should I go? लगा कि साँसें रुक सी गयी हैं. I started in one direction and reached somewhere else. Soon I reached one boat, which was definitely not mine. I looked around and saw another boat and started swimming towards that boat. I reached close to it and found that it wasn't mine either and thus changed direction towards another boat. To make things worse it started raining and water was entering the snorkel, one drop at a time and after 6-7 breathes, I have to remove my mask to drain off water. हालत खराब हो गयी. करूँ तो करूँ क्या? Somehow I managed to get on one boat. Among all people there, there was only one person, a Korean guy, who can speak a little English. It took me 10-15 mins to convince him that I am lost and can't swim to my boat. He agreed to drop me to the island after 45 minutes. Just couple of minutes later, I realized that my friends would be waiting for me in the other boat. I can't describe their state of mind, but you all can imagine. How will I contact my friends? What if I couldn't meet them? What is my passport number? The Korean guy dropped me to the island. I have almost no clothes, no money, no specs, no passport and dont remember the number. Only thing I have is a snorkeling mask and fins. Now what? 20 minutes later I met my friends at the island. That was more than one moment lived in one moment. Couple of hindi abuses from him and aaah.

We also did elephant ride one day.

Each night we spent a couple of hours at Banga Road, to enjoy the nightlife of Phuket. Have few great memories from Banga Road as well.

Next destination was Pattaya, which is famous for coral island and Walking Street. We did under water sea walking in the coral island. Unfortunately water wasn't clear that day, but it was worth experiencing once. We wore helmet with pressurized air flowing in from top and thus can breathe normally. Only precaution to take was not to tilt head, otherwise water will go in. The organizers gave bread in one hand and fishes were coming to eat the bread.

Each night we spent a couple of hours at Walking Street. I have few memories from there as well.

Next destination was Bangkok, which we reserved for shopping. We decided not to use taxi in Bangkok and will use public transport only. We did shopping from local market and malls both. We managed to goto Patpong, canter of Bangkok's nightlife, last day. We had to learn a little Thai to communicate properly with local market shop owners.

Following 4 are the most used ones:-
Savatee-krap : Hello
Lagoon-krap : Bye
Kobkhon-krap : Thank you
Taorai-krap : How much

Few of the good memories:

As you pass though any massage centre, the massage girls will shout "Welcaam Massage (वेल्काम मसाज)" and you can only smile at the way they pronounce.
Talk to any bar-girl and if you speak english very fast, she will say "I know English lital lital. You sapeek slowly (आयी नो इंग्लिश लितल लितल. यू सपीक सलोली)".

Feeling bored? Have a walk on Banga Road (Phuket), Walking Street (Pattaya) or Patpong (Bangkok). And you will know why Thailand is so famous.

Show - sexy show - ping pong show - no entry charge - only pay for drink - have a look - sexy ladies. No, no, no, main-krap.

Once I asked how much in Thai for something and the shop owner said "song-roy-hah-sib" and I was like now what? I said "I know Thai little little".

Sometimes I used mobile to convert difficult english words to Thai. That was also fun.

"I no have che food (veg food)" - standard replies from Thai restaurant.

One shop-owner had difficulties with english numbers. To say 1500 bahts (for a crocodile leather bag), she said "one thaausant one two three four five hundred bahts (वन ठाउसंत वन तू थ्री फोर फाइव हंड्रेड बाट्स)". And my friend asked "arai-krap (what)" and she again started counting.

Go to any mall and start walking with closed eyes. Chances of not hitting a girl are very less.

"पतली कमर चिकना बदन तिरछी नज़र है, मस्ती भरी तेरी बाली उमर है" - this songs is more suitable on Thai girls than on Indian girls. Their skin tone is very fair, almost all of them are slim, and very beautiful. That is a heaven for guys. I don't know what all Thai guys do there, but whatever they do, keep doing the same.

Coconut water was much sweeter than in India.

I will go there again. I dont know whether I would be able to meet any of those I met this time, but would really look forward for my next trip.

28 August 2011, 29 August 2011, 1 September 2011

Kobkhon-krap Guy Rif, Alex, Nisha (Nisha in Thai means pure), the Korean guy, Tang (this is so small), Tim, Ken, Lim, Heroine (forgot real name, was very beautiful), all those who helped us with directions, and the hotel people.

Link to pics: Thailand

Lagoon-krap.

जिन्दगी ना मिलेगी दोबारा

2011-08-15T10:26:00.000-07:00

दिलों मैं तुम अपनी बेताबियाँ लेके चल रहे हो, तो जिंदा हो तुम.
नज़र मैं ख्वाबों कि बिजलियाँ लेके चल रहे हो, तो जिंदा हो तुम.
हवा के झोकों के जैसे आज़ाद रहना सीखो.
तुम एक दरिया के जैसे लहरों मैं बहना सीखो.
हर एक लम्हे से तुम मिलो, खोलो अपनी भायें.
हर एक पल एक नया समा देखें यह निगाहें जो अपनी आखों मैं.
हैरानियाँ लेके चल रहे हो, तो जिंदा हो तुम.
दिलों मैं तुम अपनी बेताबियाँ लेके चल रहे हो, तो जिंदा हो तुम.
- जावेद अख्तर

दिलों मैं बेताबियाँ भी हैं, और नज़र मैं ख्वाबों कि बिजलियाँ भी हैं, पर ऐसा क्यूँ लगता है जिंदा नहीं हम?
अर्जुन (हृतिक रोशन) कि भूमिका हम सब कि ज़िंदगी का एक कटु सत्य दर्शाती है.
काम क्यूँ बाकि सब से ज्यादा महत्वपूर्ण हो गया है?
क्यूँ हम दोस्तों के साथ एक पल बिताने के बजाये काम करना ज़रूरी समझते हैं?
क्यूँ हम खुश होने कि बजाये अपने मैनेजर को खुश करना चाहते हैं?

इन सब सवालों के जवाब तो हम सब को पता ही हैं, बस उनसे भागते रहते हैं.

ई-ड्यूडस,
२०१५ मैं एक छुट्टी कि योजना बनाते हैं स्पेन मैं.
अपने अन्दर छुपी उन तमाम इच्छाओं को पूरा करेंगे, जो अब तक बस इच्छा बनकर ही रह गयी हैं.
ये हमारी ज़िंदगी के बिताये कुछ बहुमूल्य पल होंगे, और मैं इन को बस तुम लोगों के साथ ही बिताना चाहूँगा, किसी ऐरे गैरे गांड छेद के साथ नहीं.

ये ज़िंदगी ना मिलेगी दोबारा. अभी जी लो, नहीं तो बाद मैं पछताओगे.

A momentary lapse of happiness

2011-05-23T07:48:00.000-07:00

I am writing this with a mixed feeling.

Happy - Yo! yo! yo! yo! 20000 downloads of ComicReader happened. I was waiting for this moment since last three days.
Sad - Holy fcuk! We had to remove a famous comics from the CR, due to which people are becoming insane. Shit happens! Always!

We started ComicReader with the main aim to enter Android market and start something else, than office, to look for. Continuously making apps was never a plan, though this option was not completely discarded.

Just as the case of first love crush, first product is always the first product - close to heart, and you generate a emotional bonding. This happened to me too. And why should not be? People liked it so much that it started coming at first position while searching, that it reached from 10k to 20k downloads in less than 25% of the time and than we used to get a lot of mails daily from its users.

So what happened now? The authors of one famous webcomic asked us to remove their comics from our app. It seems they are launching a paid app and don't want any free app containing their comic in the app store.

And we knew that this would create turbulence in our download rate and ratings. And we were prepared for that - mentally.
But it created a tsunami.

I just hope that this stabilizes soon.

GOA --- The best trip ever

2011-05-07T01:39:00.000-07:00

Goa is awesome.

Kerala is God's own country, but Goa is the Goddess's country. You can find not one but many Goddesses there.

We also went there with the same intention - to find some goddess.

I am late by five months in writing this, and I whole-heartedly apologize to the trip mates - Pallav, Suri, Newton and Atul.

So Suri was in India. Remember Suri [http://bit.ly/j7SDoL]? Whenever he comes to India, we go on a trip. And this time he was coming at the correct time for a Goa Trip. So we headed to Goa in Pallav's new i10. Everyone was excited - for the road trip, the beaches and the goddesses.

We started at 3am. We took NH206. Here are a few pics of the onward road trip.

First pic of the trip

Awesomely crap pose

Some road on the way

No prize for guessing anything

Random pic on the way

At a bridge near Jog Falls

Jog Falls (without water)

We finally reached Goa in the evening. NH206 goes via some mountain and forest and car's speed was very less during that time. That day we booked rooms in a hotel (thankfully we found one not very costly), bought CH3CH2OH and burgers and went to Miramar beach (closest to our hotel).

Next day, the real fun started. We went to Calangute, Baga and Anjuna beach. In Calangute beach, we played the standard water sports - banana ride, para sailing, water scooter etc. A couple of pics are here.

Masti

Bump ride

Water scooter

Fake Tattoo

Another Fake Tattoo

Bar man 1

Bar man 2

Pallav and Suri

All of us before going in the air (para sailing)

Parasailing

Newton taking pic while in the air

Banana ride

Fake pose

After this we took lunch, and went to Anjuna and Baga beach. Goa is full of natural beauty.

Random Pic 1

Random Pic 2

I know none of you in interested in this kind of natural beauty. And you must also be wondering where are the goddesses? Here is a pic.

Excuse me for the noised face. Don't want to take risk.

For dinner, we went to Baga beach again. When we were returning, on a traffic signal someone knocked on the door of the car. Pallav opened the window. Beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep. Are you mad? Beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep. Beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep. Seriously? Beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep. Beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep. Beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep. Beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep. Beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep. Beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep.

Next day morning we went to a secluded beach Arambol. Almost the whole day we were there, enjoying and making peace.

Kicking Newton's

This time jumping on Pallav

Two hats

Awesome fun

Seriously

For dinner, we again went to Baga beach. But this time we consumed a lot of CH3CH2OH.

Next day morning we started for Bangalore. We took NH4 while returning.

Phew! Finally I completed the blog. I am writing after a long time, and the quality of the blog might be a little worse then earlier ones. There are a lot of blogs in the pipeline, but I not getting time to write them. Hoping to finish to the backlog soon.

Feelings ...

2011-02-15T06:51:00.000-08:00

Is it possible to make this?
Man! There are lot of work remaining.
WTF! I also want to sleep early.
Wow! This is working great.
Shit! Today also I missed the cab :-(
Shit! This is slow. How can we improve this?
Let us bring some bottles for the D-Day.
I dont want to change anything now.
WTH! I will do it now.
Why the network is down?
Everything looks good now. :-)
Feeling "gulgulee".
Hold On! Something is fishy. Why this is happening? We may not be able to release today.
Should I click on "publish"? Wait! Wait! What happened? Nothing. :-)
Click Man!
WOW!!! We did it. Congrats! Jhappi!
Open the bottle :-).
Not able to sleep :-(. I should chat with someone :-).
Great encouragement from manager.
Seeing first download happening with naked eyes.
People talking about this. People congratulating.
Wow.
Seeing 5 friends sharing the link in gtalk.
Wow.
Oh Shit! I forgot my home keys in office. How will I enter home today?
Hearing "you seems very happy now" from some special friend.
I did it!!!!! Today I can sleep at 12.

I could not capture all the emotions experienced during the time, but these are most important of them.

Thanks to all my friends who are sharing the App via GTalk, Reader or Facebook.

Also a big thank to Newton and Ravi, my apartment mates, for the continuous support.

Posting the links again:

https://market.android.com/details?id=com.blogspot.applications4android.comicreader

http://applications4android.blogspot.com/2011/02/comic-reader-first-application.html

...............

2011-01-12T08:41:00.001-08:00

Time Mismanagement
Sleep Cycle Disorder
Living on Caffeine
What else?
I need to ctrl-alt-del my machine.

The first wicket - Prithvi's engagement

2010-12-18T08:15:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the cricket match between Prithvi and Shravya. Each single-player team will play one inning of one over each. Umpire is our very own God. I am Umesh here in the commentary box. I will present to you live moment by moment commentary of the this match.

First Inning: Shravya Batting

0.1 : Prithvi coming round the wicket and bowled a fast delivery - 137.1 kph - Shravya couldn't understand the delivery and the ball got the bottom edge - straight to Prithvi after one tip - no run. Total runs = 0.

0.2 : Prithvi coming round the wicket and bowled a fast yorker - 142.0 kph - Shravya is struggling - no run. Total runs = 0.

0.3 : Prithvi coming over the wicket and bowled another fast yorker - 139.7 kph - ball hit the pad and a big appeal for lbw - umpire raises right hand indicating no ball - Prithvi overstepped the return crease - deep disappointment on bowler's face - Shravya will get another delivery and an extra run. Total runs = 1.

0.3 : Prithvi coming over the wicket and bowled a leg delivery - 128.2 kph - and Shravya hit a FOUR on square leg. Total runs = 5.

0.4 : Prithvi coming over the wicket and bowed a short pitch - 132.6 kph - Shravya played a hook shot - FOUR on fine leg. Total runs = 9.

0.5 : Prithvi coming round the wicket and bowled a york delivery - 146.4 kph - Shravya came forward and played toward deep backward - ball is gaining height and might cross the boundary without any tip - and yes - umpire raises both hands - its a SIX. Shravya is looking very comfortable now. Total runs = 15.

0.6 : Last delivery of the inning - Prithvi coming round the wicket - a slow straight delivery - Shravya played a forward defensive shot - straight to Prithvi - no run. Total runs = 15.

Second Inning: Prithvi Batting - 16 required of six deliveries.

0.1 : Shravya coming round the wicket - slow ball 115.0 kph - Prithvi came forward and played pull shot towards deep forward - ball is going higher and higher - SIX - what a wonderful way to start an inning. Total runs = 6, 10 more to win to win from 5 balls.

0.2 : Shravya coming over the wicket - 127.4 kph - york delivery - Prithvi defended well - no runs. Total runs = 6, 10 more to win from 4 balls.

0.3 : Shravya coming over the wicket - 126.9 kph - leg cutter - Prithvi played towards long on - FOUR runs - what an amazing shot. Total runs = 10, Six more to win from 3 balls.

0.4 : Shravya coming over the wicket - 127.3 kph - leg cutter - Prithvi played towards deep forward - FOUR runs - it was like a replay of last ball - Shravya should consider changing the bowling. Total runs = 14, 2 more to win from 2 balls.

0.5 : Shravya coming round the wicket - 142.3 kph - wide of the stump - Umpire God raises both hands sideways - Prithvi gets an extra run - Scores are tied. Total runs = 15, 1 more to win from 2 balls.

0.5 : Shravya coming over the wicket - OUT - 145.3 kph - got them! Shravya has gone right through Prithvi, and the middle stump is knocked out of the ground - Prithvi played way across the line, looking to work it through the midwicket - the delivery was as straight as an arrow -Umpire God raised the finger.

Shravya got the wicket of Prithvi.

Match is Tied.

There will be two post match ceremonies - Engagement and Marriage.

_________________________________________________

In the race of marriage, Newton and Batti were the expected candidates to win the race. Everyone among us thought that Prithvi wasn't in the race at all. But the news of Prithvi marrying Shravya was a surprise to all of us. Newton and Batti are still awestruck - how can anyone else win this race?

1. Among the people I know, Newton, GolP and I attended the ceremony from groom's side, Nidhi and Bhawani attended from bride's side and Batti was undecided till the end.

2. Batti got the welcome GPL as per the EDudes tradition.

3. Since Batti was half from bride's side, we forced him to bring water and serve us.

4. Somehow we managed to get some liquid ch3ch2oh.

5. Food was awesome.

6. Prithvi and Shravya touched our feet and took blessings from us.

7. Prithvi brought liqour chocolates for us.

8. As you would have expected, we went there without any gifts.

Next day we went to Shravya's house and had great fun. For the second time, I liked south indian food. Shravya and her parents took great care of us. We played cards for most of the time. It was really nice time spent there.

Few of the pics:

Our Hero - Prithviraj Bannerjee

Prithvi with his father and grandmother

His grandmother was really very happy

Prithvi with his grandmother and mamaji

After seeing this pic, mamaji said that he has grown old. Dadi replied with something funny in Bengali and the whole room burst into laughter.

Prithvi with all of us

Again Prithvi with all of us

The couple - Prithvi and Shravya

Shravya with bride side friends

The couple with groom side friends

The couple with bride side friends

The couple with bride's family

The couple with groom's family

The couple with all the friends

Links to all the pics: Prithvi's Engg

The Vodka Smile

2010-10-26T15:03:00.000-07:00

Disclaimer : All the characters and plots portrayed in this blog are fictitious. Any resemblance to any person living or dead is purely coincidental.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+self talk+ Wow! Almost everything looks good now. I can finish all the planned things - both professional and personal - before I go on a long vacation. I am leaving day after tomorrow and thus I have two days, or rather nights, to finish everything. Today I will do all the non-packing stuffs, so that tomorrow I can pack things up. Let me start with hiding stuffs from my laptop, and in parallel do some office work too.

+Time is 9.30 pm+

+phone ringing+

I: (thinking - Why is she calling at this time?) Hi Priya (smile on my face).
Priya : Hi. Are you free now?
I : Yes I am (white lie). What happened?
Priya : Do you wanna join me for a drink?
I : (!@#$%^&*) (thinking - she does not drink, what happened) (still thinking - which are all the costly pubs in that area?)
Priya : Umesh! Are you there?
I : Yes, yes. What will you drink?
Priya : Something by which I can start with - may be vodka. I heard it is good for starters.
I : (bigger smile on my face) Time is 9.35 now. Everything will be closed soon. We need to hurry. (thinking - when will I do my work? but who cares for work now?)
Priya : Will you come to pick me up? Its late for me to come in auto now.
I : (adrenaline level increased) Yes, no problems. I will try to reach as soon as possible. Be ready.

+self talk+

Run Umesh, run. Hurry up. I need to take wallet, mobile and helmet, bike keys etc. Holy shit, there are only Rs. 15 in my wallet, my credit card is not working, and my bike is running on reserve gasoline. Where the hell is Newton?

+bike roaring+

+thinking+ There is a Citibank ATM nearby. Should I take out some money? It already 9.45 now. If I don't reach early, all the pubs will be closed. Let me cross my fingers and drive.

+more thinking+ Wait. What am I going to do? As a friend I should stop her from drinking. When a non-drinker is asking for drink, there is something very wrong. I should try to find that out and if possible try to fix that, in place of giving company in CH3CH2OH.

+At her home+

I : Hi Priya. I reached your home.
Priya : Ok. I am coming.

+she is coming+

+thinking+ She is looking great :D

Priya : Hi Umesh. Should we start?
I : Yup. I am gonna drive a little fast today, so be careful.
Priya : Make sure bike doesn't topple down.
I : Have faith on my driving.

+bike roaring+

+some talk+

+at pub's gate+

+thinking+ Umesh, you have Rs. 15 in pocket, no credit card, and almost no petrol in bike, and you are entering a costly pub with a beautiful girl

+more thinking+ Is there any ATM nearby

+Looked around 360 degrees + Smile + There it is

I : You wait here, I need to take out some money.
Priya : Ok.

+At a table in the pub+

I : What happened? Why did you take such a drastic decision?
Priya : Something bad happened. Lets talk something else.
I : Drinking is not a good thing. You have escaped drinking till now and should continue to do so. It's your personal choice, but as a friend I don't want you to drink.
Priya : Actually my mood is very much off.
I : Thats ok. It happens sometimes. I am pretty sure drinking won't let your mood up. You should do something else, which you have not done for long. Did you eat anything?
Priya : No. You?
I : No.
Priya : Can we go to your house and cook?
I : (bigger smile of the day) I need to ask my friend. He is at home.

+on phone+
I : Hey Newton! Did you finish you dinner?
Newton : No, I have just cooked and am going to eat now?
I : Do we have something to cook at home? Potatoes, onions, tomatoes, peas?
Newton : Yes, we have everything. What happened? You told me that you will come late today.
I : Please don't eat. I will come and cook. We will have proper dinner.
Newton : But I already toasted the bread.
I : Its ok. Eat half and throw the rest. Wait for us.
Newton : Who us?
I : Wait for some time and you will come to know.

+phone cut+

Waiter : Sir, can I take your order.

I : We are leaving. Sorry.

+Artificial smile on waiter's face

I : Come, lets go.
Priya : Yes, sure.

+At my home, after the "hello-hi-hru" thing got over+

Priya : I will cook food.
Newton and I in unison : We won't allow you that.

+phone ringing+

+after 15 mins+

Priya : Smell is good.
I : Taste will also be good.

+15-20 mins of talks+

+At dining table+
Priya : Wow, you guys are great cook.

I : (thinking - thank you Didi). +smile+

+After 15 mins and some more talk+

Priya : I think we should move now. Drop me to my home.
I : Ok.

+bike roaring+

I : Its raining.
Priya : Yes. Its going to rain heavily.
I : Should be stop somewhere.
Priya : I think we should. Stop wherever you see a shed.
I : There is a petrol pump there. Lets stop there.

+bike stopped+

Priya : Is there any place where we can sit?
I : There is Hotel Lotus which is open 24x7. We can go there if rain reduces a bit.

+some more talk+

I : Lets start for Hotel Lotus.

+bike roaring+

+at Hotel Lotus table+

Priya : The day is going really crazy.

I : Everything will be fine. We will at home very soon. (thinking- I think her mood is good now, good work Umesh)

Priya : Lets start for my home. Its very late now.

I : (looking at my mobile, self talk - shit, its 1.30 now. I have to come back and do the work too). Yes, lets go.

+bike roaring+

+A car came and splashed water on us+

Priya : I am all drenched with drain+rain water.
I : Are all the costly things fine - mobile etc?

Priya : Yeah, its fine.

I : Lets continue. In any case we are drenched.

+At her home+

Priya : Wait for some time here, and have coffee here. You might fell sick if you go in this condition.
Umesh : Ok.

+both sipping coffee+

Priya : It started to rain again.
Umesh : I will leave in 15-20 mins, irrespective of rain condition.

+some more talk+

Umesh : Ok I am leaving now. Its already 2.30 now. I have to finish my work now.
Priya : I messed up your plan.
Umesh : Its ok yaar. I will manage that. In any case I have become insomniac.
Priya : I will remember this day. A lot of things happened, from bad to good. And my mood is completely ok now. Eating dinner at you home, getting stuck in rain, drinking coffee at Lotus, getting drenched by dirty water, and that too in the night was all fun.
Umesh : (biggest smile of the day) (thinking - thank you rain god and the car driver who splashed water on us) I guess you wouldn't be smiling this big after drinking Vodka. And I too will not forget this series of events.
Priya : Thanks for all this.
Umesh : Bye.
Priya : Bye.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Umesh (real me, not the character):
All the EDudes, your questions will not be answered.

Time axis

2010-10-23T14:49:00.000-07:00

A lot of my friends have decided what to do next. There could be turbulences in their lives as well, but they have moved on to the next phase - marriage, new job, mba, phd, car.
Why is my time axis stuck?
I need more daaru.

The Guilt

2010-10-17T00:21:00.000-07:00

Why do I have to waste time by doing nothing and then repent later?

Rendezvous with Umesh ...

2010-09-16T11:54:00.000-07:00

Umesh: Hello and Welcome to "Rendezvous with Umesh". I am Umesh and in this episode, we will be questioning Umesh. Hello and welcome to this show.

Umesh: My Pleasure.

Umesh: Lets get started. So at this time of your life, where do you see it going?

Umesh: As of now, there are a lot of turbulences and it is difficult to foresee things now.

Umesh: What are these turbulences and what are the reasons for these? Do you want to shed some light on these?

Umesh: This phase of life, when you try to build your career, governs almost the whole of your life. This time needs a lot of introspection in your dreams. Every dream, even those which we saw in our childhood, counts. Think hard and decide what you really want to do and proceed in that direction. Right now I am still in the introspection phase. I am thinking, and thinking and thinking on where to go.

Umesh: But this phase comes in everyone's life. Others seem to be much peaceful.

Umesh: Yes, I too observed this. I don't understand how everyone is happy with their life. Some are doing MBA, others are doing PhD and the rest are working hard in their jobs. Everyone seems to be so happy, so satisfied. I am not! I don't want to do a job just because it gives me money, I don't want to do a PhD to settle in US and I don't want to do an MBA to get a white coller job. Everyone does this. I want to do something else. Something which will give me happiness and which will take me closer to my dreams.

Umesh: Everyone talks a lot and you seems to be one of them. Have you ever done anything towards your so called dreams?

Umesh: Well materializing a dream is not that easy. Somewhere back in time, there were a few instances where things were dragging me away from my paths. But I wasn't deterred and didn't deviate from my path. And now when I have taken a few such decisions, I am confident on myself and passionate about my dreams. Hopefully, you will get some good news in near future.

Umesh: Thats very good. I wish you all the best. Would you like to tell the readers about those decisions?

Umesh: There aren't a lot of things to share here. After my under-graduation, I left the confirmed seat of IIMC, so that I can spend a few years as an engineer. Everyone knows how difficult it is to get an IIM seat. But I left that. Now with 3+ years of experience, a good GMAT score and decent extra-acads, I can manage good LORs and Essays. If I apply, the probability of getting an MBA seat in a foreign university is high. But, I might not apply.

Umesh: Do you see happiness in your life?

Umesh: Why did you aks this? Am I not happy? I am working on my dreams, I am earning quite a good amount, I own a Macbook Pro, I have a couple of good female friends and I started playing tennis. Still, why I am not happy? What do I want? I think similar to others, I want to watch movies, go on car trips, drink ch3ch2oh, have girlfriend, join dance class, learn guitar and what not. Doing so might make me happy now, but I might cry in future. This is a deadlock! How can I break this?

Umesh: We will leave this question open to the readers. I hope we get some answers in comments. It was rally nice talking to you. I hope, when you read this after a couple of year, you will enjoy this.

Umesh: Thanks. I will definitely read this once I become successful.

Dream On Dream On Dream On

Dream until your dreams come true

-Aerosmith

Jog Falls, Murudeshwar Beach and the Chhoti Patti

2010-08-02T08:09:00.000-07:00

You must be wondering what is chhoti patti and why I mentioned it in the topic. You will know this as you finish reading the blog. :)

Most of my friends are a**h***s and almost 70-80% of the headache of planning a trip comes to me. This was the trip in which I did almost nothing, other than going to the trip. And the reason why all this could happen was because all those a**h*** friends didn't come to this trip. Actually this was my first all-colleagues trip to any outstation place and thus it was really a nice experience. I got to spend a valuable no-bug and no-debug time with them. Plan was very simple - take train till Shimoga, book a taxi and visit Jog Falls, take same taxi to Mudureshwar, next day spend some time on the beach, come back to Shimoga, if possible visit some places on the way, and then take train back to Bangalore.

There were six of us - Arun, Rahul, Shilpi, Sahil, Lovina and I. I was tempted to write "Senior Citizen" before Rahul, but I don't want birthday bumps for this reason, and thus I removed that. All of us reached station on time and boarded the train. The week before was a little insomniac for me and I was hoping to finish my sleep quota in the onward journey of the train, but I ended up doing something more important - we played cards till 5 am. We played the famous card game 29. Arun is like a god of 29. After each game, he was telling us new new rules. And the most interesting rule was "chhoti patti", when the smallest card becomes the strongest and vice-versa. This rule is too confusing to follow effectively for a novice. And thus, Lovina and I were doing blunders and blunders. To add to the misery, strongest card of one color, having three points, was missing from the card set, and thus we used one discarded card from the pack; the game is not played with 52 cards. Pahale kam confusion tha jo duggi jack ki jagah lagaa dee? Overall it was awesome. At 5.00am, we thought to sleep; point to be noted here is that train's arrival time at Shimoga was 5.30 am the same day. Lovina, Sahil, Arun and I slept for only half an hour. And train was not late - Murphy's law - when we all wanted the train to reach Shimoga a little later than the scheduled time.

Next thing to do was to book a taxi and that was a real P.I.A. It actually ended up in a fight between a lodge receptionist and a taxi driver. Somehow, we got a Sumo after one hour. First of all we went to some crap dam. There was nothing good to see in that dam. I was asked to mention one line about the dam, and thus I did. After that we went on a tiger safari. This was good as we got to see some tigers and lions. After seeing the enthu of the girls, the conductor asked them to go out near the tiger. Was he serious?

Four year old tiger; Lovina got a crush on this :)

The road was magnificent, with trees on both sides of the road. Very soon I went to deep sleep. When I woke up, it was raining hard and we were about to reach Jog Falls. Just before Jog Falls, rain stopped. Our luck! Jog Falls was splendid, as the name reflects. The view was awesome, as is obvious from the following pics. Though I have seen better pics of Jog Falls on bing.

We saw people sitting very near to the point of fall. It was tempting to see people there and thus we went there too. Only three among us took the courage to go to the point of fall. It always happens with me; only a part of the group joins me in dangerous missions. It happened in Kudremukh trekking when only Newton and I reached the top of the hill. Here too, only Sahil and Lovina came with me to the point of the fall. The views from there were very electrifying.

Somewhere on the way

Just before reaching Jog Falls

Jog Falls

Jog Falls again

Going to the point of fall

The great fall

On way from Jog Falls to Murudeshwar

After spending a couple of hours in the Jog Falls, we started for Mudureshwar. And I slept again; I managed to complete my backlog of sleep. I only remembered Lovina asking Arun to check that back door is properly locked. Finally we reached Murudeshwar in the evening. After that what happened you all can easily guess - bath, rest, dinner, planning and sleep.

Next morning, we all woke up at 6am to spend some time in the beach. We planned to leave beach by 8am, but that was obviously not going to happen. We could manage to leave beach only after 9.30. After bath and all other morning stuffs, we visited the famous Shiv temple. It is said that the Shivling in that temple is 1500 years old. Also Mudureshwar has the second tallest Shiv Idol.

On the beach

The Sea - a view from the 20th floor of the temple

No words

Another view from the 20th floor of the temple

Bonus pic :)

Return journey was almost similar to the onward journey, except that we played 29 only till 1 am.

Choice morsel of the trip:

1. Shilpi is also known as Lady Don.

2. Arun is also known as Papita. Recently got to know that another nickname of Arun is Pressure Cooker. He deserves this name and can be verified by seeing this pic.

3. Lovina's best moment of the trip was "Not letting Arun to sleep".

4. Sahil's best part was to watch "Not letting Arun to sleep".

5. Shilpi played 29 after a decade, still she managed to change the direction of the game.

6. In 29, I enjoyed bidding against Lovina most.

7. Rain on the beach was another amazing experience.

8. In the night, on the beach and during the return journey, dostana type relationship was developed between Arun and Rahul. They were even singing songs for each other.

9. I got a new set of audience for my PJs.

Link to other pics: pics.

Who says Rock/Metal is depressing

2010-05-23T10:06:00.000-07:00

Beatles - Let it be

When I find myself in times of trouble
Mother Mary comes to me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be.

Metallica - Nothing Else Matters

Never opened myself this way
And life is ours, we live it our way
All these words I don't just say
And nothing else matters, yeah

Aerosmith - Dream On

Yeah, sing with me, sing for the year

Sing for the laugh, sing for the tear
Sing with me, if it's just for today

Maybe tomorrow, the good Lord will take you away

Dream On Dream On Dream On

Dream until the dream come true

Led Zepplin - Stairway to Heaven

There's a lady who's sure all that glitters is gold
And she's buying a stairway to heaven
When she gets there she knows, if the stores are all closed
With a word she can get what she came for
Ooh, ooh, and she's buying a stairway to heaven

Manowar - Warriors of the World

Brothers everywhere - raise your hands into the air

We're warriors, warriors of the world

Like thunder from the sky - sworn to fight and die

We are warriors, warriors of the world

Def Leppard - Hysteria

I gotta know tonight
If you're alone tonight
Can't stop this feeling
Can't stop this fire
Oh, I get hysterical, hysteria
Oh can you feel it, do you believe it?
It's such a magical mysteria

Dire Straits - Tunnel of Love

And the big wheel keep on turning neon burning up above

And I am just high on the world

Come on and take a low ride with me girl

On the tunnel of love

Guns N' Roses - Knockin' On Heavens Door

Mama take this badge from me
I can't use it anymore
It's getting dark too dark to see
Feels like I'm knockin' on heaven's door

A or B or C??

2010-05-17T06:44:00.000-07:00

Why do I have to take decisions?

I think because this is a part of life. Everyone takes decisions, and sometimes this is a really tough job. Only those who take correct decisions at the correct time are successful.

I hope to become I am one of them.

Last few weeks have been very emphatic for me. There was a transition in my perception to different aspects of life. Suddenly I became optimistic.

In my school/iit days, I was not pessimistic. But a few back to back failures in my life changed my attitude. And I started looking everything with despair.

Then what happened all of a sudden? As you might have guessed it right, it was an incidence, and a small talk from someone.

From the talk I realized that there are infinite opportunities around us; we just have to grab one of them. Within weeks of introspection, I started looking for any luck in finding an opportunity. And I saw one, and another, and one more.

And now I am in a quandary to choose one of them.

Life is not a cakewalk!!!

Brothers everywhere, raise your hands into the air.

We are warriors, warriors of the world.

Like thunder from the sky, sworn to fight and die.

We are warriors, warriors of the world.

--Manowar (My latest addiction)

Life

2010-03-09T07:24:00.001-08:00

you take birth, you enjoy

you goto school, you enjoy

you start work, life starts sucking

you get marry, you try to forget sucking life

you get older, life sucks again

you retire, you don't remember that there is a sucking life

and then you die

Words vs World

2010-02-20T22:39:00.000-08:00

I like mountains, rivers and trees; but I like words more.

I like cars, bikes and speedometers; but I like words more.

I like ipods, smartphones and laptops; but I like words more.

I like bhatoores, pastas and brownies; but I like words more.

I like AND-gates, RocketIOs and FPGAs; but I like words more.

I like Terminator, X-Men and Matrix; but I like words more.

I like Metallica, Rammstein and ACDC; but I like words more.

I like Priyanka, Katrina and Deepika; and I like them more than words.

But I cannot get them.

So I am playing with the words more than anything else.

Bangalore to Delhi

2010-02-12T07:20:00.000-08:00

This isn't any movie because 'from' city is not Bombay and 'to' city is not Goa and this isn't as spicy as a movie script, but what the fcuk, this is my blog and I can write whatever I want. 24 hours before now, I was cruising at 800km/h in the stratosphere. On the way from Bangalore airport to New Delhi airport I came across few frustrated people.

1. I went to subway to take a sandwich. As I was waiting for my order, a girl came and ordered something non-veg. She asked the subway person who was cutting the bread whether the bread is fresh? How can she expect a no from him? She was beautiful though.

2. He was standing in front of me in the security check-in line. He was a big manager in some company and was going abroad. I think that if he stops talking on phone or replying mails, his company will go down. During his conversation, he asked the other person to send a message because he was going abroad and would not be able to check mails. I wanted to ask him how can he check messages on the plane.

3. This one is a girl, and nice looking one. She was standing in the boarding queue. She looked similar to the only female manager of my office in her twenties. But unlike the manager, of whom everyone is afraid, I was not afraid to look at the girl.

4. People on the plane are usually silent, but this time my neighbors were practicing for the silent fast they are gonna do asking the government for a different state. Speak up guys; government has given us right to freedom of speech.

5. I was seeing something on my ipod and thus i kept the book i was reading on the food tray. 1 person came to me and asked me to give him the book. Holy shit, did I bring this book for my co-passengers?

6. A cool guy, who was wearing a cool goggle on his eyes and a spectacle on his head. I was wondering whether he looks from his head or his eyes.

There were few more cartoon type people on the way, but I don't remember what they did.

I think this blog is completely useless. I don't know why I wrote this.

Just now I saw an advertisement in television and the ad urged the viewers to do something. As I am about to publish this, I am giving some value to the blog.

There are 1411 tigers left in the country. I request all the poachers, please don't kill tigers and other animals. If they extinct, someday we will follow their path.

Kudremukh ...

2010-02-05T07:53:00.000-08:00

Another trekking in a month; wow; I never thought I would become a trekking enthusiast. Quite different from the last time and a little difficult too, Kudremukh trekking gave the feeling of ultimate satisfaction after reaching the top. As there should be a reason for any endeavor, there was a reason for this one too. Apne Surinder paji kangarooland se aaye the. One of my junior in my company visited Kudremukh some time back and I was so fascinated with the beauty of the place that I decided to go there. I took all the necessary informations from the junior. The plan was to leave Friday night in Qualis at twelve, reach there in the morning, get fresh at guide's house, trek for the whole day and come back on Saturday night.

Five people - Piyush, Newton, Ankit, Suri and I went for this trek. Piyush lives in Bangalore and came to our house at nine. We had already bought all the required goods. Ankit and Suri reached our house at eleven thirty. Suri brought two bottles of liquor and who could resist the tall beauty. We started with a peg each and Syal took another one. We left our house at one. That night went on the road. The driver took a wrong turn which ended in one extra hour on the road and thus the driver had to bear with Suri's discourse for the rest of travel. We reached Kalsa at seven thirty am and called Sateesh, the person who arranges the trek. No one among us knows Kannada and thus driver acted as a mediator. The drive left us at a diversion road with this board.

Sateesh had arranged a Jeep for us. Next drive of ten kms on the muddy road with bounders of one foot diameter was pathetic. After that we felt that our internal organs had shifted. Soon after reaching Sateesh's house, we got fresh and had breakfast - some cousin of idli. We left for for trekking after the breakfast.

After crossing a couple of mountains - climbing up, climbing down, going across forests, crossing river streams etc, we reached a grassland from where the peak looks very far. Suri was getting a feeling of Lord of the Rings.

Now started the tough part. Slope was getting steeper and dangerous. This time Suri was getting the feeling of Blood Diamond. We were walking slowly and were taking a lot of breaks. We were all very tired. After some time Piyush gave up. He took my ipod to pass his time. Our pace was reducing. Suri was worried and was trying to convince others to stop the trek. Ankit started getting pain in his leg. After some time they both gave up. Newton and I were not deterred and were confident to reach the top.

And finally we did that. The view from the top was very charismatic. We hung out there for thirty forty minutes and then decided to go back. Return journey was a little easier. We finished our trek before sunset. And we celebrated the triumph with a feast of cup noodles. None of us knew kannada, but I made kannada-english cheat sheet and was able to ask hot drinking water from Sateesh.

We were too tired to leave for Bangalore that night and thus decided to stay there. The night at Sateesh's house was cold, very cold. He gave two blankets, two bedsheets, two mats and a six feet by eight feet room. Next morning, Sateesh gave lemon rice for breakfast. I swear that that was the best lemon rice I had till now. After breakfast we left for Bangalore.

Important information for trekkers:

1. If you wanna stay there, take sleeping bags.

2. Take a Kannada speaking guy.

3. Sateesh's number: 08263249595

Apology ...

2010-01-26T13:08:00.000-08:00

It was 12.30 am and one of my friends got a really good news. And as a faithful friend, I proposed that all of us should go out and party. Well my ideas are usually great but they are a little crazy, and thus no one wants to follow them but still people do what I say because I proposed them, or in other words forced them. I think I can become a good dictator one day. As it happens always, my friends listened me and we inquired for any restaurant open in the night. We went to Royal Orchid which is closest to our house. We were having nice discussion and food there, but suddenly one of us raised a topic which was sensitive to me, but not so stimulating for others. Within minutes, the nice discussion transformed into a heated dialogue and the party was ruined big time.

I apology to my friend for ruining his happy moment.

I should try to change myself.

PS: 1. For security reasons, the names of my friends, good news and sensitive topic are not disclosed.

2. The fu**ing ass*** didn't even want me to enjoy his happy moment.

And the celebrations...!!!

2010-01-09T12:12:00.000-08:00

Prologue:

The five days extended New Year plan went as awesome as it was planned. Taking out some time out of our mundane life and spending it with the best people is always heartening. And my life in particular did not experience any cheerful moments in recent past. So I took extra pain to make this occasion as cheerful and memorable as possible.

For others who don't know: Td, Newton and I live in Bangalore; Pb came to India from US for the winter break and spent that time with us and Syal came from Chennai. Batti too joined us for some time. This was one of the biggest EDudes reunion after we pass out of Kgp.

Day1 12/30:

Syal reached our home at around 8am and Pb at around 1pm. That day I was officially working from home (WFH). The best part about WFH is that you don't have to work, but only show that you are working. I worked for an extra hour the day before and sent a lot of necessary and unnecessary mail that day. We had a booking of 3 idiots in the evening. Unfortunately due to the sad demise of a kannada actor, there were rage and disruption all around Bangalore. All the malls and theaters were closed that evening. That was a sad starting of our plan. But we still went to the Mall. We met Batti there. After roaming on the Brigade Road for sometime to feed our eyes, we entered Amoeba and played games. Ass**** Newton defeated me in the bike race.

We have to leave for Skandagiri trip in the night so we took some rest after that. Td and I read some blogs and took notes. Others woke up at 11 and got ready for the hike. We left our house at around 12.

Day2 12/31:

Last year too on the same day we went to Skandagiri. After fighting with dark, forest and mountain for the whole night we realized that we cannot reach the top and thus we gave up. Soon after starting our hike this time, we realized that last time we climbed the wrong mountain. Holy Shit! Jaana tha Rangoon, aur hum ne Cheen ka raasta pakad liya tha.

This time we hired a guide and he guided us till the top. 'The non-athlete duo, Td and I, felt depleted of energy quite a few times. We took a few breaks to rejuvenate our energies. Stupid guide was forcing us to climb faster and faster. Others took our bags and also also gave us moral support and finally we reached the top. One thing is sure that without guide we would not have reached the top. The way was forking out a lot of times and the probability of taking a wrong way is quite large.

The overwhelming feeling of reaching the top was grand. It was chilling cold up there. We reached there well before sunrise and used that time to take a small nap.

When I was waiting for the sun to rise, I noticed that moon was also at its epitome of beauty. Though my camera is not a hifi one, I was able to capture the serene beauty.

There were few localities who were selling noodles and omelette and we ordered some for us.

The views were very exhilarating. Though our expectations were a little more and thus we were a little disappointed. But I think it was worth taking all the pains of climbing the mountain. Next half hour went in photo-session of next gen super-models. Soon after that, we left for the ground.

That return part was relatively easier. After reaching home, we went to meet the Greek God Morpheus (not the Morpheus of Matrix trilogy).

Our bodies were still paining. New Year's occasion was celebrated in rock pub Purple Haze. Newton was acting as if he is out, though we were able to figure out that he was acting deliberately. Nice songs were played there and we enjoyed the music as well as the drinks.

We're leaving together,
But still it's farewell
And maybe we'll come back,

It's the final countdown...
5. 4. 3. 2. 1.
--Europe
Happy New Year 2010.

Day3 01/01:

On that day, there was another cameo of Batti. We welcomed him with a small GPL. We also spent a few hours in the swimming pool playing gend-tadi. That evening we saw Hollywood blockbuster Avatar in 3D and that was my first experience of a 3D movie. The graphics were amazing, so was the movie. That was one of my most enjoyed english movie in the theater. Dinner at Indijoes was also delectable.

Day4 01/02:

Here came the day I was waiting since last few months. Pb wanted to be in Bangalore for the weekend as he wanted to meet few of his friends and thus he didn't join us. Original plan was to leave at nine am, but we woke up after nine. We tied our bags on the back of our bikes. Ankit sat behind Newton and Td behind me. After taking a little brunch in Udupi park, we started our cruise.

Getting out of Bangalore itself took around one hour. After a while, Newton even tied the bedding to his seat to give cushion to his recently operated ass.

No Stop Signs, Speed Limit
Nobody's Gonna Slow Me Down
Like A Wheel, Gonna Spin It
Nobody's Gonna Mess Me Round

I'm On The Highway To Hell (Chennai)

--AC/DC

Onward journey was wonderful and we drove at an average speed of 100 kmps. It was a pleasure to drive on NH7. This is certainly one of the top Indian Highways. Forget the clutch for a while, and just keep rotating the accelerator. There were great scenic views on both sides of the road. Till Krishnagiri, it was like driving through the mountains. Road passing between two mountains through a valley added stars to the vista.

We took 5-6 breaks to give rest to our asses. The last 2 hours were a little painful as the road was dark, with cars and trucks high beam headlights inhibiting our visions, and full of traffic. After entering the Chennai region, our speed got limited to 50-60 kmph.

Somewhere around 8.30 pm, we reached Syal's home. We were hungry and thus after resting for some time, we left for dinner. After that we went to the beach. Enjoying Cornetto (and Feast) on the Chennai beach with the best people of the world after a drive of 7-8 hours was a priceless moment.

Da
y5 01/03:

Td and I woke up in the morning at 5.30 am to see the sunrise. There were a lot of clouds and thus we could not get any awesome view, but getting some fresh oxygen in the morning was also also a nice experience. I don't remember when did I woke up so early before this. We took brunch at Murugan Idli shop. Chennai south indian food is much better than Bangalore south indian food. I liked almost everything we ate in that shop, except that there were no spoons.

Soon after that we left Chennai. We tied one bag on Newton's bike and Td sat behind me. After reaching NH4, we started cruising again. We traversed around one third of the road in two hour. We were following the shortest route shown by google map via NH4, SH59, NH219, SH95 and few more N and SHs. There was a difference of fifty kilometers and we thought that we could save an hour by following this road. That was our mistake. We ended up driving for four more hours.

The state highways in Tamil Nadu are no more better than state highways in UP - one or two lane road where you cannot exceed 80 kmph in any case, with small villages coming after thirty minutes where speed has to be reduced to 30-40 kmph. To add to our agony, my phone battery drained out, so there was no GPS. We memorized next few places in our mind so as to take the correct road to Bangalore. There was a stretch of 30 km where we didn't see even a single human being; Td got really afraid of that situation. It was getting colder and colder and we wanted to reach home as early as possible. We reached a place from where we had to take a SH and a local road to meet NH4 at Kolar. Td was so afraid of the SH, that we drove for 60 km extra on NH219 to reach NH4. Murphy's law applied here too. NH219 and NH4 were not nice roads to drive bike in the night. Our bodies, especially our asses were already paining. Cold wave, dark road, pain, hunger, no battery in mobile - how much worse it can happen? We took a break at CCD somewhere after Kolar. I took two extra hot cafe mocha. After Kolar, NH4 was a real hell with diversions every 500m or so. We reached home at 1 am and went to the heavenly state of sleep.

Epilogue

Though it was a little tiring and rigorous, but I liked every moment of those five days. Playing video games, trekking in the night, avatar 3d, driving on NH7 at 110kmph, driving on some road in the villages on tamil nadu - everything is very memorable.

Next day I worked from home. My spine was paining a lot. I applied a hot pack on my neck and surrounding area to get some relief.

During those days, Pb frustrated us by forcing us to order pizzas on all the days. We didn't eat pizzas after that till now.

New year 2010

2009-12-20T05:56:00.001-08:00

Adding to the list in http://bitsnpiecesofmylife.blogspot.com/2009/11/f-plan.html, here is another task that I will do on this new year eve:

4. Watch the movie AVATAR in 3D. This will me my first 3D movie.

I got my bike serviced and will buy a new stylish helmet for the bike trip.

I bought trekking shoes for the trek.

I am wearing a crazy beard for the rock pub visit.

I got my specs replaced too.

We need to buy rope, torch, saw, mosquito repellent and other important trekking stuffs too.

Hopefully this new year celebration will be the best new year celebration.

Though I will miss a dinner with a girl.

Killing Time

2009-12-20T05:12:00.000-08:00

The killing in the subject is a verb, not an adjective. Time is not killing me; I am killing time.

I was pretty busy a while back.

I was busy in my professional life : my company was screwing my ass big time, as well as in my personal life : there were a myriad of tasks I had to do for my career.

I am taking a break from worrying about my career. With 40% time freed, I am spending 10% more in company tasks, and screwing those persons who were screwing me some time back.

There were a list of things I wanted to do when I was busy. I used the remaining 30% time to do those tasks.

I cleaned my hard disk for stale files.

I downloaded all the latest video songs of new hindi movies.

I synced my ipod and mobile with the latest songs.

I deleted some photos and compressed others from my 7GB photo folder. Now the folder size is only 4.5GB.

I saw some movies on my computer.

I downloaded all the latest photos of Miss. Priyanka Chopra and synced them in my Mobile.

I want to install Google Chromium OS in my computer. And I did the research and came to the conclusion that it is not possible now.

I backed up my mobile.

I want my hard disk unorganized.

I want my photo folder to be of 7GB.

My urge to install Chrome OS is gone now. I want that urge.

I am not fearful of losing data from my mobile. I want that feeling.

What happened to me?

Probably the word "Killing" in the subject is adjective, not a verb. Time is killing me.

मेरी पसंदीदा कथा-नायिका प्रियंका चोपरा के लिए

2009-12-06T06:58:00.000-08:00

ये चाँद सा रौशन चेहरा
जुल्फों का रंग सुनहरा
ये झील सी नीली आँखें
कोई राज़ है इनमें गेहेरा
तारीफ़ करूँ क्या उसकी जिसने तुम्हे बनाया

My Mood Swings

2009-12-04T08:30:00.000-08:00

31 Jan 2010 : Feeling grand after capturing the Kudremukh peak :) ; a little black too :(

14 Jan 2010 : Saaree umr hum mar mar ke jee liye, ab kuch pal to humen jeene do.

11 Jan 2010 : Maa ne khat main kya likha hai

31 Dec 2009 : Army returned after capturing the hill top.
31 Dec 2009 : At the downhill of a monster
31 Dec 2009 : Dushman ko nistanaboot karne ke liye fauj nikal chukee

30 Dec 2009 : Happy new year to all. Enjoy the moment.

24 Dec 2009 : World is clearer again

22 Dec 2009 : May her soul reside in heaven

07 Dec 2009 : Apache RTR 160 : Rs. 67000; Medical Insurance : Rs. 10000; Lee Cooper Shoes : Rs. 2000; Some local brand Helmet : Rs. 1500; Driving at 95Km/h, not applying brakes at a speed breaker and getting the feeling of flying without paying plane tickets : PRICELESS.

05 Dec 2009 : You think you're special You do I can see it in your eyes

04 Dec 2009 : face to face with the man who sold the world

30 Nov 2009 : This wasn't the plan

29 Nov 2009 : Fear is the key...!!!

22 Nov 2009 : Encapsulated

F*** the PLAN

2009-11-30T07:44:00.000-08:00

What shit is that plan?
Things always can't go the way you want.
Re-evaluation of the plans is very important and if some modification is required, then it should be done, without repenting. I shall also do the same.

Near plans for the next month:
1. Bike trip to Chennai. Does it sound crazy?
2. 10 pegs of Vodka. I quit drinking on 31th December 2008 and starting again on 31st December 2009. Long live Td.
3. Finish the unfinished trek to Skandgiri mountain top. We left it unfinished on 30th December 2008 after we lost the way. Hopefully on 30th December 2009 we will reach the top.

This wasn't the plan ...

2009-11-30T07:11:00.001-08:00

Remember the movie Dostana, in which Priyanka Chopra was an eye candy for boys. For her, I can see that movie any number for times.

Today I remember a scene from the movie in which Priyanka Chopra's promotion was withheld and the position was given to someone else. She was sad for this. When you are sad, you will only see the sad parts of everything. She realized that this wasn't the way she thought her life to be. She was still single, and working as a junior editor in a magazine company etc This wasn't her plan.

What I am doing now? Working in office, studying at home, doing other usual chores of life and not doing any thrilling activities. Still single and no girl gives importance too.
THIS WASN'T MY PLAN EITHER ...!!!

Question of all questions ...

2009-11-21T05:04:00.000-08:00

Why

It can capsulate all questions.

Feelings ...

2009-11-15T08:35:00.000-08:00

How can someone (Anathema) in Liverpool expressed my feeling in his songs?

Fragile dreams:
Today I introduced myself
To my own feelings
In silent agony, after all these years
They spoke to me... after all these years
Maybe I always knew
My fragile dreams would be broken

Lost Control:
Life.. has betrayed me once again
I accept that some things will never change.
I've let your tiny minds magnify my agony
and it's left me with a chemical dependency for sanity.
Yes, I am falling... how much longer 'till I hit the ground?
I can't tell you why I'm breaking down.
Do you wonder why I prefer to be alone?
Have I really lost control?

Alternative 4:
All I need is a short term remedy
Come and hide me from this terrible reality...
Dreaded memories flood back to me

Regret:
"There's no escape from this
fear,
regret,
loneliness..."

Feel:
Trying to forget tomorrow and all that's happened
This is not the way, the way I was meant to be

No doubt, I am a Rock Addict.

My Todo List

2009-11-08T12:24:00.000-08:00

Once, my manager asked me to maintain a TODO list which I have to keep updating according to the tasks at hand. Holy Cow! What The F*** is this? Why should I maintain a todo list which I am not going to follow in any case? He should only worry about the deadlines which I always try to meet.

To some extent, maintaining the todo list is helpful (manager is not fully insane :| ). Especially when the tasks at hand are numerous, the todo list helps in tracking them.

Few months back, one of my friends mentioned about a movie "The Bucket List" in which two terminally ill persons start a road trip with a wish list of things to do before they die. You must be wondering what is a Bucket List? It is the list of top N things you want to accomplish before kicking the bucket. The top N things mentioned in the list should not change as time progresses and once they are done, you are good to go to the other world.

That day I thought to make my bucket list. But this is not an easy task because introspecting what I want after 20-30 years is really difficult. But I can extrapolate (cant help; I am an engineer). But I am neither a Superman nor a Gatotkaksh. My bucket list will change; after all this is my bucket list and I can do whatever I want. :)

1. Take my family: parents, (future) spouse and (future) kids on a one month world tour. Yes this comes at number one. And why should it not be at one. They are my life and will always be.

2. Become a crorepati. I want to see 8 figure bank balances. How cheap it is, right? It is not cheap. It is crore. Whole world is mad about this, and I am also a part of this world.

3. Take a beautiful and hot girl on a bike trip. But there are few rules for this. The girl should be my girlfriend, fiancée or spouse. Bike should be mine and of at least 1000 CC. The girl should hold me tightly. And the road should not have any speed limits.

4. Attend a Metallica show. Sadly they don't do shows in India and I am not rich enough to fly to US or Europe to attend their shows.

5. Indulge in extreme sports. I am really fascinated by seeing people perform stuffs life para gliding, ice climbing, scuba diving and dirt biking etc. And the reason for the fascination is the desire to be that person.

I cannot think of anything else right now. I will update the list as soon as I get anything on my mind.

And the funny part is I never made the todo list and my manager too did not complain. Incapacitated manager! :) .

Bit and Pieces of My Life

Life, as I live

Near Death Experiences

ज़िंदगी ....

Thailand - Land of Awesomness

जिन्दगी ना मिलेगी दोबारा

A momentary lapse of happiness

GOA --- The best trip ever

Feelings ...

...............

The first wicket - Prithvi's engagement

The Vodka Smile

Time axis

The Guilt

Rendezvous with Umesh ...

Jog Falls, Murudeshwar Beach and the Chhoti Patti

Who says Rock/Metal is depressing

A or B or C??

Life

you take birth, you enjoy

you goto school, you enjoy

you start work, life starts sucking

you get marry, you try to forget sucking life

you get older, life sucks again

you retire, you don't remember that there is a sucking life

and then you die

Words vs World

Bangalore to Delhi

Kudremukh ...

Apology ...

And the celebrations...!!!

New year 2010

Killing Time

मेरी पसंदीदा कथा-नायिका प्रियंका चोपरा के लिए

My Mood Swings

31 Jan 2010 : Feeling grand after capturing the Kudremukh peak :) ; a little black too :(14 Jan 2010 : Saaree umr hum mar mar ke jee liye, ab kuch pal to humen jeene do.11 Jan 2010 : Maa ne khat main kya likha hai31 Dec 2009 : Army returned after capturing the hill top.

31 Jan 2010 : Feeling grand after capturing the Kudremukh peak :) ; a little black too :(

14 Jan 2010 : Saaree umr hum mar mar ke jee liye, ab kuch pal to humen jeene do.

11 Jan 2010 : Maa ne khat main kya likha hai

31 Dec 2009 : Army returned after capturing the hill top.

31 Dec 2009 : At the downhill of a monster

31 Dec 2009 : Dushman ko nistanaboot karne ke liye fauj nikal chukee

F*** the PLAN

This wasn't the plan ...

Question of all questions ...

Feelings ...

My Todo List

31 Jan 2010 : Feeling grand after capturing the Kudremukh peak :) ; a little black too :(

14 Jan 2010 : Saaree umr hum mar mar ke jee liye, ab kuch pal to humen jeene do.

11 Jan 2010 : Maa ne khat main kya likha hai

31 Dec 2009 : Army returned after capturing the hill top.