Murder and Terror

The recent murder and terrorist attack in Bangalore has shaken me up... Is Bangalore a SAFE place? I kept boasting around saying "namma bengalooru... namma bengalooru" infront of all the friends from outside... but I'm ashamed to talk to them now...

All through the week, Anand and myself were discussing what could be done to avoid such incidents in future.. punish the culprit very severly, have women be prepared with pepper-spray and stuff like that.. teach women some basic self defensive techniques etc...

Given all these.. what can one do when people go to the extreme of terrorism..everyone is helpless :(

holidays holidays and more holidays

For me, the most boring week of the year comes when the year ends and our office shutdown... and here it is again!! :( Even though its a request from the management to the employees to not to come to office to save some $$ they make sure you dont turn up to office by shutting off the data center, AC etc.. The only problem with these holidays is that most of my office friends pack off to thier home towns and other friends dont have this shutdown ... so the fun of the holidays ceased as the weekend ends on chirstmas day...

Some how managed to kill 2 days... watched Madagascar Madagascar and Madagascar on DVD .. ya, its not a mistake, i watched is THREE times along with my niece.. i liked the movie, the cute little squirrel, the way it cries in front of Alex.. its sooo cute... hats off to those creative brains who can imagine and make it into reality... Finished peanuts, half way thro' vol 1 of 3 huges volumes of C&H :D and then pulling out some friends from work early evenings and be care-of either Barista, Cofe Day, Garuda or Forum...

Five more days to go... hope to get out of bangalore and chill out.. that too provided some friends can take off... lets see....

Weekend Trek

Thrusday evening:
tring tring(shashi calling): Lo.. eno madta idya?
me: enilla maga, helu...
(shashi): weekend trek bartya? tadiyendmol?
me: oh sure maga.. yaar yaaru?
(shashi): all are my colleagues, ninge yaaru gotilla...
me: ok maga.. barthini... anandu bartana kelthini...
(shashi): ok, amele phone madi details helthini.. bye
me: bye

Friday night, 10 pm: anand and me waiting for swaraj mazda, it came on time (IST).. around 10:45 or so... then picked up a few more guys at rajarajeshwarinagar arch and started off... some 2/3 sub-groups in the van, kannada speaking, hindi speaking and english etc.. and 2/3 guys here and there settled down zzzzzing... If there is another word for travelling on dakota swaraj mazda on the back seat on mysore road it would be hell .. Reached tadiyendmol via srirangapatna->virajpet->hunsur at around 6:30..

Saturday morning 6:30 am: We were right inside the forest, a great feeling to hear a water stream, birds chirping and early morning mist... splashed the cold fresh water on face to wake us up completely and started the trek... anand and me were left behind as we started clicking watever we saw on the way and the gang went way ahead in 2 groups... Our mission was Tadiyendmol, 7742 ft, the tallest peak in Kodagu district. Kodagu was originally called as Kodaimalenadu, meaning 'dense forest on steep hill'. From the peak of Tadiyendamol, if the clouds are cleared and lucky enough, you could see the Arabian see. The best time to trek is between Dec-March. We walked and walked.. I took so many breaks (photo tegyo nepadalli ;)) Infact I realised that my stamina has gone down so much.. I should start doing yoga regularly anta ankonde.... then at mid-way we had a breakfast break, we had packed Jolad rotti, shenga chutney, uppinkai etc.. ate everything so that there is less weight to carry ;) and then started off.. the second half is the steepest we had to climb 3 steep ones to reach the peak... The last but one was simply superb.. you can see the clouds below you... We reached the top after around 2 hours of trek, the feeling of standing on top is so good.. also, there was a small valley kind on one of the side, where one can see the clouds getting sucked into the valley, the view is fantastic... there are some snaps of that in the link below, check it out... Now comes the easy part, getting down, rather we thought it would be easy.. but since it was steep, we had to be very careful and some of us slipped once or twice, but none were injured... we took a short break at mid-way again then went on.. finally reached base camp around 11:30 or so.. we were happy that we finished the trek, but grrr to sit inside that dakota swaraj mazda again for next 8 hours! we had a small discussion if we should go to tibetian camp at kushalnagar, but most of us had seen it and more-over were eager to get back home and crash.. so we just pushed off.. stopped at cofe day on the way back, had refreshing coffee and maddur vada and finally reached home at 10 pm night....

Check out some more snaps at: http://www.snapfish.com/share/p=473141134568675496/
l=71016460/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB

Beauty or Art?

Three days of continuous visit to Bengaluru Habba has finally rewarded me.. I got what I wanted!! This is the painting I liked very much and got it after a lot of contemplation. A big NO NO from friends, this art is not that much worth, etc, etc, I mean how can someone gauge the value of an art, its just upto the person who is appreciating it. I have to confess that this is the first painting I have bought... The photo might not give the exact feeling of seeing the painting, but the painting is soo beautiful.. first of all the black background, then the lamps, the mesmerizing beautiful lady, the effect of light of her face.. the light is more on the chin and reduces as it goes upwards till the forehead.. the glitter on the jewelry.... I'm not sure if this is the imagination of the artist or he made someone stand there for hours to get this masterpiece... whatever it is.. he is great.. hats off to him!!!

I took it home with a huge grin on my face and was trying to find a suitable wall for this... Even though Amma commented that the price is a bit high, I feel it is more worthy and I am proud to own it!

Bengalooooroooooooo

One person who deserves that MTV One tight slap is the guy who says Bengalooorooooooo Readynaaaaaa..... Its soo irritating... Except for that, I love the Musical-E-Azam on Radio City... Few of my all-time-favorite coming live :D .. There is nothing more happier moment than listening to your favorite song on radio and that too livE!!! Jaadu Hai Nasha Hain by Shreya, Kal Ho Na Ho by Sonu-da :) But one thing I found so artificial/made-up is when some other artist calling up and these people recognize it. Its so amazing that Shreya can recognize Abhijit voice within just 2 words but cant recognize Asha's voice even after talking for 5/10 mins!!! Today, it was Alka Yagnik and got to know that she was one who sang Meri Angne Mein in movie Laawaris and she also sang Saare Sapne Kahee Kho Gayae... Hum Kya Se Kya Hogye... wow, she has such a sweet voice! Tomorrow is the last day of Musical-E-Azam and its Kavita Krishnamurthy and I just cant wait for it :)

Ash and me had been to the Watch Mania at Bangalore Central yesterday, its such a flop show, there is hardly any watches, probably if you keep all the watches on paper, it will not even take half the space of the Ad which came out in Bangalore times! Of course there are some well-known brands.... But it was not a waste of time as we caught a glimpse of Bangalore Habba at Central, a small rock/pop group were singing some beautiful numbers. Here again, I got one of my favorites Nothings gonna change my love for you... :) We decided to walk back to my office from Central to burn some calories becoz of the chaat and coffee at Central.. we saw the Habba stalls on the other side of MG Rd, it was quite late, around 8:45pm or so, only few stalls were open but it was worth it.. superb art and handicrafts... kashmiri safforn tea... Its a MUST SEE .... really good, reminded me of childhood days of Jaatre at Ajji Ooru.. I liked a beautiful painting in one of the stalls, its a hanging lamp and a lady's face glowing with the light of that lamp.. wowww.. it was sooo amazing, wanted to buy, but I didnt have that much cash and they dont accept cards :( I will go again today and hope the painting is still there.. I'm gonna grab it ......

Girls are Girls :)

Just for pun.....

Chup Chaap

Got stuck with another song :)
What an amazing voice... Sadhana Sargam... The lyrics, the music.. I love this song!!!

Chup Chaap Chup Chaap Chup Chaap
Chup Chaap Karti Hai Baatein Jab Teri Yeh Khamoshiyan
Chup Chaap Sunte Hai Dil Ki Halki Halki Sargoshiyan
Chup Chaap Chup Chaap Chup Chaap
Chup Chaap Karti Hai Baatein Jab Teri Yeh Khamoshiyan
Chup Chaap Sunte Hai Dil Ki Halki Halki Sargoshiyan
Bechain Si Har Saas Hain Anjaana Sa Ehsaas Hai
Chup Chaap Karti Hai Baatein Jab Teri Yeh Khamoshiyan
Chup Chaap Sunte Hai Dil Ki Halki Halki Sargoshiyan
Bechain Si Har Saas Hain Anjaana Sa Ehsaas Hai
Chup Chaap

Aaino Se Baatein Hum Kiya Karte Hai
Der Tak Raaton Ko Jaagte Rehthe Hai
Aaino Se Baatein Hum Kiya Karte Hai
Der Tak Raaton Ko Jaagte Rehthe Hai
Chup Chaap Ghum Huvi Kahan Na Jaane Sab Tanhayiaan
Chup Chaap Ghum Huvi Kahan Na Jaane Sab Tanhayiaan
Chup Chaap Dhoondhte Rahen Hum Teri Hi Parchaayiaan
Bechain Si Har Saas Hain Anjaana Sa Ehsaas Hai
Chup Chaap

Aaj Kal Baahon Mein Aasaman Hai Mere
Khushbuven Aaati Hai Ab Mere Sapno Se
Aaj Kal Baahon Mein Aasaman Hai Mere
Khushbuven Aaati Hai Ab Mere Sapno Se
Chup Chaap Yeh Armaan Soye Lete Hai Angdaaiyan
Chup Chaap Yeh Armaan Soye Lete Hai Angdaaiyan
Chup Chaap Hi Bajne Lagi Dheemi Dheemi Shanaiyan
Bechain Si Har Saas Hain Anjaana Sa Ehsaas Hai
Chup Chaap

Chup Chaap Karti Hai Baatein Jab Teri Yeh Khamoshiyan
Chup Chaap Sunte Hai Dil Ki Halki Halki Sargoshiyan
Bechain Si Har Saas Hain Anjaana Sa Ehsaas Hai
Chup Chaap

Home Sweet Home

San Francisco to Frankfurt , boarding begins: My seat is 48H, an aisle seat.I silently settled down for the long flight ahead of me. To my good fortune, a German babe boarded the flight and I was all eyes for her. She was in her late thirties and definitely looked like a mother of 2 kids, but still she was so gorgeous. I had seen her while waiting in the boarding area. She sat down in the "I" seat in front of my row. I was wondering who would be the lucky one to have the pleasure of her company for the next 11 hours!!
Suddenly I heard a voice, "Excuse me... I think you are in the wrong seat, this is 49H". I was slightly embarrassed, but this embarrassment was short-lived. My seat was right next to this gorgeous German babe of the "I" seat!!! Her name was Cotrinna (reminded me of Hurricane Katrina ;-)) from a place near Munich. This was the only conversation that I had with her :( and then she started talking to another German aunty next to her.
I had to rely on my book "Five point someone" for company. It was hard to digest that the book was based on a real life incident. It was almost like a Hindi movie and how can any Hindi movie be real with all that masala??? Anyways, I slept off after reading 2 or 3 chapters. Frankfurt to Bangalore was uneventful, flight was kali-kali and I slept through most of the journey.
I finally landed in Bangalore after 21 hours!!! I somehow managed to push my baggage (All 6 of 'em, thanks to my reckless shopping) out of Namma Bangalore International Airport . I was happy to see my friends and mom, waiting outside and thankfully my car was still in one shape. I didn't dare to drive it the same day/night. The "180 degrees phase shift of U.S", roads was still in my head.
I got home and gave the kids their presents. To see the kids happily playing with the toys was really worth the trouble of bugging my roomies for a week on how to pack, different strategies, pushing my luggage in and out of the airport etc...

It's been a week since I have settled down in "Nanna Bengaluru". Some points I noted after a week's life in Bangalore:
Driving.... Oof!!! Donno if it's becoz I lost touch with Bangalore traffic or because it seemed to have doubled in 6 months and roads had gone from bad to worse. The only difference I could see was that some roads had "lanes" (dotted white and solid white lines) though no one bothered to follow them.
Take aways from "Coffee Day" look so small compared to the tall ones from "Starbucks".
Raagi rotti at Nisarga had become smaller....
But one thing hadn't changed at all. Benne dose and Mangalore bajji at CTR, these will never change :)

Time flies...

Its being months away from family. Wondering how six months went by! Now that I'm comfortably settled here, kind of mixed feeling to return back.

Some of the things I will miss are...
* Starbucks cofe, Dopio Expresso with an inch of steamed milk to be precise :)
* Exchange the car every month
* Freeways, long drives, hikes on weekends (except for the speed limit)
* Hone my cooking skills (with the new Aloo-paratha expert crown)
* Work from home
* Walk to office (though it was only a few times)
* Los Gatos downtown
* Who will ever buy this? look at Santana Row
* Improving US Economy by doing actual shopping at Great Mall, Gilroy and of course amazon.com
* Making my roommates mad with looping Rabba or woh lamhe song
* Meeting/Talking to long-lost friends
* Krispy Kreme doughnuts
* Netflix

Things I wont regret missing ...
* arguing on who should: clean the dirty vessels, get the groceries etc..
* Coin laundry, broken dryer, wet clothes all over my room
* Cornflakes / banana for breakfast
* Waiting for Decocshan to get done early in the morning
* Thinking what to cook on the way to home every evening
* And finally automatic / cruise control cars, felt so cool in the beginning, but its so boring for anyone who is used to manual geared cars :)

and finally things I'm longing for...
* Sunday mornings Benne Dose breakfast at CTR
* Coffee Day Kenyan Safari and hangout with friends
* Raagi Rotti at Nisarga, churi-Muri at first block, Masala puri at footpath gaadi on cunningham road
* Maneuvering Namma Bengaloru traffic with my vrrrrroooming black beauty and dont have to bother about speed limit as you cant go above 40/50 kmph even if you want to...
* Babbar Sher on Radio City FM 91
* Bowling at Amoeba

Beautiful weekend

Started off with a lazy morning on saturday, somehow wanted to eat akki rotti.. So, made hurgadle chutney and akki rotti for the first time :D .. Believe me it was yummy and my roommates are still alive :) Watched T N Seetharam's "Matadhana", quite old movie, but really well directed and good story. In the night again, felt like eating poori-sagu, did a google and found out how to make sagu, but it turned out to be "some" veggie dish as i forgot to add green chillies in the mixie and tried to supplement with red chilli powder, however it was nice and we "did" have poori-sabji (not sagu :))

Sunday, Pavan dragged me to golf practice where he goes regularly. He taught me how to hold the golf club and the swing etc. Again this is the first time :D.. I tried hard and hard, all I could manage was square drive, off dirve, on drive, instead of straight drive. I could get few straight drives, but the ball was not going further.. it was just going higher and higher... at the end of the pratice, pavan told me "you are doing good", it seems the club I used is supposedly used to hit the ball high and short distance and I was tring to hit it as far as possible :D After the practice, we grabbed something and started off to the most heard of "17 mile drive" to pebble beach. There are two routes for the pebble beach, one is the Hwy 1 and the other is Hwy 1 + the 17-mile drive. It is really the most amazing drive, sea on one side, resorts, golf clubs on the other side. The villas or Mansions or whatever it is called.. wow.. no words to describe them.. I think those are some "summer vacation houses" of some hollywood stars and billionaries. As usual it was a treat for me to click snaps.. So did I, and here is one of them... this is called the ghost tree!! Only sad part is we missed the sunset as we were at the end of the drive and both of us were too tired to turn around...

Rabba...

Zindagi mein koyi kabhi aaye na rabba
Aaye jo koyi toh phir jaaye na rabba
Dene ho gar mujhe baad mein aansoo…
Toh pehele koyi hasaaye na rabba

This song from Musafir has caught me...
everytime I hear this, eyes are clouded with tears...

why do we meet people?
why do we become friends?
why do we have such wonderful time?
why do we get attached?
and why do we have to say goodbye?

all these make me feel life is predestined!!

Take off...

Would love to take off and live life the way we want, Dont we?.......

Sunrise

SUNRISE at Yellowstone National Park!!!

Heaven for Nature lovers and photographers. Sunrise, Sunset, Lake, river, grand canyon, forest, wild-life, geysers, you ask it and its there. Amazing place I have ever visited in my life till now.

I'm inclined towards photography and love nature photography. Even though I'm an amatuer photgrapher, thought this photo (one of my best snaps) was very much appropriate for my blog title :)

Inspiration...

I got the inspiration to blog from Anu's anu-bhavas. Through her posts I really could imagine all that she wrote. From songs to wandering minds to office life to knowing people and places... basically life itself.

So, I decided to share my life too... after all it's anu-bhavas like these help us become a better person, understand ourselves and also makes life richer.