Random?

Why?

Is there a pattern that universe follows?

Or is it random?

Or ............. is randomness a pattern by itself?

Frozen .....

Frozen ......! There, a moment captured ! Though, insignificant at that point ... frozen moments can make time travel a reality. Transported magically , to the point when this moment was captured ....... one has an oppurtunity to ...... live ..... them again .......!




Chaos in tranquility.




A second chance to live.....




A new beginning......



A weird moment. ;-) Serve and Volley.



A moment to reclaim .....



Transitition .....




Does dusk indicate the gloom at the end of a day .... or is it the phase before beginning of another, probably better day?





A moment to celebrate ....





A moment to cherish .....




A moment to scale ....






A moment to ..... awe!





William Wordsworth, rightly said in his poem Daffodils,

"In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils. "



I guess, that holds good for these frozen moments as well ......

100 ....

Dictionary defines,

Scintillations (n) : rapid change in brightness; a brief spark or flash

Life ....... is a journey. In this journey you do come across, a host of individuals, some make a mark, some fade away ............. Experiences, some good, some bad ...... and some just nostalgic. Events, some great, some good and ....... some you just wish ... you hadn't been there. Encounters, some welcome, some ...... not so and the rest ...... you just wonder ... if life's playing a cruel joke!

Thus, if life were a starry sky, all the above mentioned would definitely be responsible for the scintillations in them! Hence, the name of this blog. My life's scintillations .......... are the one's spoken about in this blogspace!


Scintillations has registered, the moments of mine that cover the entire spectra of emotions i.e. venting out my frustration, interesting encounters, ah......, take a stab, take a stand, nostalgia, On a High, life's melody , a travelogue and .......a record of individuals who made a mark.

This blogspace has also bought about a few of them closer too. I' ve made a lot aquaintances and a few friends through this space. Scintillations would continue, to be a prism through which i look at life. The image is refracted for sure ............. but hey, it does produce a spectrum! :-)

PS: 100 posts till date ....! ;-). Many sure to follow!

Migration ....

Today, it seems as though it is the day of MIGRATION!

Quite a few of them i know are reloicating today.

Divs, a good friend of mine is leaving this weekend. She's somone, with wit and humor in abundance.Most of the conversations we have had can be featured on Humor sections of most publications! The fights, the arguments, the wierd talk (not a typo ... it is that weird :-)) ...................ah ....... she will be missed!

Chitra, another of the rare kind of buddies ..... is relocating too, although for a brief while (?!). An avid blogger, she is spontaneous by nature. Opinionated, strangely funny and humorous, she possess most of the ingredients that would be needed to make a good friend!


A couple of aquaintances are leaving on assignments, this weekend too.


Another, is quitting the firm we work for , and moving on.

It's Migration ..... indeed!

Life is short .....

A few month's back, a popular south indian festival was the day I met this girl. It was a bad day at work, I was just planning for a quiet journey back home. I was not too keen to have a conversation that day. That's when she came in .........

She : Hai!
Me : Hai ......
She : So ....?
Me : ??
She : It's a long journey back and i don't like to go back "quiet"!
Me : Oh ....
She : Have you ever wondered .... all the leaders who have visited here have planted trees?
Me : Yeah ... so?
She : Bill Gates has planted a Bonsaii plant though!!
She : He he he
Me : ???
She : Well, for his empire he should have planted Bamboo or something!! Grows fast, don't ya think?
Me : Hmm...........
She : Oh, when exactly do you "experienced" folks stop appreciating humor ......


Well, that was the first meet .........

Another ...

She : You are not a part of the Quiz club?
Me : No?
She : Oh, you the experienced guy who is just on the call with Onsite all the time?

Well, i was a bit taken aback by the audacity of somone who is just an aquaintance. But somewhere .......... there ....... she had a point ...! I have met her quite a few occassions and the conversations have been quite diverse. From music to recruitment drives, from traffic flows to conspiracy theories, from Beethoven to plagiarism in music industry, from "work" to "life" ........ whetever be the topic, here was a girl who was filled with life ......and had boundless energy! To, a certain level where ......... it was just ......... contagious! It was almost two weeks since i had met her ...... I recieved a mail, from the ToastMaster's Club, in my Organisation ......

An excerpt

“Life is either a daring adventure or nothing”. Well that’s exactly how it should be. One long and adventurous journey where every moment was lived to its fullest. And that once you leave there are NO REGRETS. The more difficult is the challenge, the sweeter are the rewards. It’s the thrill of rising up to the challenge and beating it in its face that becomes the prize. It’s overcoming your fear and then beating then all together. And that feeling that moment is what redefines a person. To me this moment of truth was when I was in the cockpit of a glider, airborne for the very first time. And by the time successfully completed that first sortie of mine, Ladies and gentlemen, I was a changed person.

- Shweta Jha

The 149^th Meeting of the Infosys Toastmasters Club is dedicated to the Memory of Shweta Jha. We invite everyone who has known Shweta Jha to attend this Meeting and share your experiences. "



Surprised at the way in which the invite was drafted,(mentioning an excerpt from her), I mail her. There is no response .........! Slightly concerned .....I call up a common friend .... who confirmed the news that on June 10, when off to a project party, to Shivanasamudram, she had slipped from the rocks and had lost her life .........!!



Life .......... is indeed short! It sure is!


May her soul rest in peace!!

Shaadi se pehle .....

Yeah, yeah ..... for all those who are wondering, whether, this post is a review of the movie with the same name, do not panic, this isn't ! Also, that movie did not deserve,a review is an aside!! This post is about, ad's , some select matrimonial ads ......... and the broad category they can be classified under .....

No changes have been made to the content taken from the site, names have been changed to protect identities. ">>" are comments/clarifications/doubts that occurred to me when I read these .......




1) "Crystal" and "Opinionated":

About our daughter:

Our daughter is very fair, 5 feet 6 inches tall and possesses very warm qualities. She is a certified health specialist and we definitely prefer her partner to hail from a medical profession- MBBS, MD or surgeons. She is currently pursuing her degree in alternative medicine (N. D. ) that would give her the initials of a traditional naturopathic doctor. Her accomplishments are endless and to know more, please contact us. She is easy-going, moderately religious, ambitious, family-oriented and an open minded girl with a calm nature. If you would like to know more, please contact us so that we can pursue further.

About the partner we are looking for:

The boy should be fair (Very fair a plus!), handsome and should possess warm qualities. Though we prefer hyderabad based families, we are also open to proposals from families based abroad whose origin should be either from New Delhi, Karnataka and Maharashtra. We are seriously considering doctors from Hyderabad. Please reach us through our contact information below with at least two pictures and biodata.

About us:

We are a respectable hyderabadi family, well-settled in ABS.

>> Very fair a plus??! Okie ... how is this "very fair" determined?



2) I-know-who-I-am-and-i-know-what-i-want:

See can really write a lot but there is no point. cause irrespective of what i have in me or think of me and whatever i am looking for in a person i would want to get married to,the most important thing is that vibes should match. compatibility has to be there. selfless care and concern with immense respect and complete faith. is what will result into a valid, smooth and may be beautiful companionship.by anychance we click and decide to spend our lives together we will certainly take care of each others families interest and not just care for each other but care for each others situations as well as i hear from my elders that marriages are not between two individuals but two situations,,,, two families. all we can do is deal with each others situation gracefully and honestly

>> Am I Frank enough?

3) i-want..........:

Hi my name is XYZ, i m a rajput and working in call center in dehli.I love listening to music and indain army.My father was an army personal and my elder brother he is in army .I m lookin for an army officer with good personality.Moreover an honest person with kind heart.

I m afun loving person enjoy life as it comes to me confident whatever i do like freaking out with freids but love my family alot.wants to contact me then send mail.

>> It's time somone started a matrimonial site where spell check was free!

4) Understand-who?:

looking for smart partner age between 23-25 yrs. should understand me and my family both.

>> Okie!

5) Resume - matrimonal-ad:

Iam native of Andhra Pradesh and settled in Mumbai.I have completed Btech computer science and Engineering.I am working in MNC in Mumbai since 7 years. In these 7 years i went to US on deputation for 3 years 3 times.I worked for telecom,oracle apps etc.Currently iam working in Telecom.Also,planning to travel to US this year end with H1B.Father is retired executive officer.Mother house wife.I have 1 elder sister and 2 elder brothers.

>> In response to your ad placed in Times Ascent .... i would like to enclose my matrimonial ad ........ Nice try, if not the alliance, a job is for sure!

6) Brief :

i want a smart and a person with a good sense of humour.for a journalist like me

>> I am sure, this journalist works on the "snippets" column!

7) Do you get confused easily? :

I was interested in married that boy and it was lovable boy like hindu so you will require to love me.

>> No comments!

8) Global :

I am a 31yr.MD,never married, ht.5'6", slim, tall, athletic,Indian-brahmin,raised in US. Looking for a Professional, 5'8" or taller, good family values,East&West mix, interested in:Indian,or North or South American or European, or Oriental. Religion,caste no bar.

>> Can somone ever reject such a global citizen?

9) The Regular:

Hi! its noneotherthan DBG KKK here.well i have completed graduation n waiting for my result of B.Ed. i follow simple living high thinking. I m looking for a kayastha guy who is smart,self dependable qualified n must b frm well reputed family.

>> None other than?!

10) Simple:

hai this is XTR YUS i am looking for good person handsome well educated and understanding . my self i am good looking girl .

>> Any questions, anyone??

Leveller .....

Airport Road, Bangalore. This picture should go down in history. Wonder, when this was taken, because not even at midnight you would be assured of such a shot, offlate in Airport Road. Intel, Huawei, Sykes, Ness, HAL,Reuters,NAL,Texas Instrumentation...... work out of offices along this road, resulting in bumper to bumper traffic. Do these trees still exist there?





Ah, if Airport Road were a star , welcome to its galaxy. Hosur road. Electronic City the hub of IT firms lies along this road. Needless, to explain more, picture is worth .... a million words. No exaggeration or picture manipulation. This is the case, somedays.



Well, i did not get suitable pictures for quite some other junctions that face heavy traffic. Considering the "roles" they play in lives of folks who commute using them , they can not go unmentioned!


Marathahalli Bridge : Would soon enter the record books. It s a 700 metres stretch, but a nerve centre as it connects routes that have increased traffic flows.

Jam Factory : Ah... whoever named that ...... is definitely a visionary.


Yeah, the city's infrastructure is being tested. There are projects that are being undertaken to address these issues. Anyway, we do spend a significant part of our lives commuting! As goes this cartoon ......


Source : http://www.geocities.com/nkiruthikkumar/img/bangalore-traffic-2.gif



Source : http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/arjunprabhu/etc/HosurRoad004_t.jpg




James Shirley, in one of his poetic works claims, Death is a leveller. Well, Shirley, guess what, these traffic jams are levellers in their own rights too. Just take a stroll along these junctions i have mentioned, and you would see that for yourself!


Update : The link now points to the poem I mentioned !

Big Fish - Review

Big Fish, would undoubtedly be, one of my all time favourite films! This movie was released in the year 2003.


This movie explores the relationship of a dad and son who have fallen apart. The father is an extremly creative story teller, but his stories are slightly more on an exaggerated scale! His stories are interesting and people awe at his skills, at story telling. The son, who apparently relished these stories as a child, finds them, ridiculous and insane at this point of time! He falls out with his father, as he feels, all his father can come up with are stories, which are far from reality!


His dad's stories include a village where people were always happy, meeting a 14 foot giant, a manager of a circus who changed to a "fox" at night times, catching a BIG FISH alone ..... .and so on ........ (Described visually to great detail..... Tim Bourton captures all this beautifully .....)


The son comes down, to see his ailing father, and refuses to change his opinion about his dad, as his dad just wont stop those stories or accepting that the stories are "exaggerated". His father passes away, with the son still holding, all the stories his dad had told him as figments of his father's imagination!!


Well...... thats when the plot takes an interesting twist. All the characters, that his dad had talked about, in his stories ,actually turn up to the funeral! It's overwhelming, for the son, who did not "believe" his dad, all the while, when all the time he had been just speaking the truth!


Now if you are actually wondering,why a review of a movie that was released long back, well, its an awesome and must watch movie. A worthy addition to your DVD collection. Worth a watch, its a movie that will strike a chord for sure!

Orku(l)t!

Yeah, from quite sometime, have been smitten by the work bug and hence the irregularity in the updation of this blog. From the drafts ...........


So, the prayers of all the single, jobless, "so want to be there" ..... cult is answered. Orkut, the "network" powered by Google has arrived. With 20,053,714 , the list just keeps growing! Yes, the scrap book is just another "open source" , giving others .....a peek view to what's hapenning in one's life!


The fact about being in that community is, it gives you a sense of belonging! Well, it makes you feel better. You probably thought there were very few folks who liked Sudoku, or the driving skills of Kimi, or believed Bangalore is Haven, or felt one should, "Ganchali Bidu, Kannada mathadu", or relished Jazz, or liked Curd rice and pickles, or were jingoistic, or adored a language ....... the list goes on! You are wrong! Orkut, also goes out of its way to prove the fact, you aren't the only jobless one around!


Oh, and the "Recently Visited" feature, was just thrown open the day i had visited the profile of an aquaintance, whom i had distanced quite sometime ago! So, much for luck because that person felt i was trying to get back!!

We were talking of jobless folks out there. One of the members of this community scraps another colleague of mine, "Hey ..... Did you visit my profile?".


Whoa! I am feeling much better. I am not that jobless as that "scrapper" atleast!! So, whats your Orkut Id? Er ....... I would be relatively free in the days to come !! I promise, i wont ask, "Hey ..... Did you visit my profile?" :D

Hearsay ......

Mahabharat, an epic 1300 verses, 2109 chapters and eighteen divisions measures up as one of the greatest epics. This epic has been translated to many languages and indeed a source of inspiration to many .......


The hearsay , I encountered had a reference to an instance from this epic, when it were being staged in a junior school.

The scene that was being enacted was the one in which Dushasana humiliates Draupadi. The scene was perfomed by a group of guys in their middle school. In the play, Draupadi's evokes Krishna's blessings to overcome the humiliation. Lord Krishna comes to her rescue by handing over an endless garment , thus avoiding the humiliation, she otherwise would have had to undergo.


When this scene was being perfomed on stage, the guy playing the part of Dushasana got a bit overzealous and tugged on the garment , "Draupadi" had adorned. The tugging gave way and the garment fell loose. In what could have turned out as a panic situation, the guy who played "Draupadi" just held his nerve. He was up on stage with quite a lot of people watching the play and to his shock .. the "saree" he was in was off .. thanks to the over zealous "Dushasana". That's when this "draupadi" , displays his "spontaneous" side.

Looking up , he apparently said .... " Hey Krishna, I just asked you for more of a garment, and you ....... you ..... to save me from all this humiliation have changed my gender itself!!! Thank You .. Lord ... Thank you!! "

Apparently the applause did 'nt die down for quite a while ......... :-)

Heights ...... - Part III

The previous night we visited Triveni Sangam, a place where three rivers met.



Early the next day was reserved for a visit to a park that goes by the name of "Raja's Seat" translated means "King's Seat". Well, I enquired about it and discovered it was "park" and in yester years king's used to visit this place at leisure. The view from this place, which is quite elevated is like this ............




and this ............


It was time to visit some popular tourist sites. On our way we found a tusker relishing his meal.
We were off to a place called "Dubare". A place where one can cool his heels in water and take on elephant rides. DUBARE is an island that can be commuted by boat or one can use a pathway and commute by foot. We chose the boat ride one way and walked back the opposite side.



Travel by boat ............



Beat the Summer heat .........




The floral side of Dubare ......




Relaxed in the water for sometime and we were off to the Tibetean Monastery at Kushalanagar.





The Monastery ........





On the inside .......





Paintings that adorn the walls ......




Their music .........





The towering Buddha stands at 60 feet and the temple is called popularly as the Golden Temple. With this, our trip to Coorg was coming to an end. Now, it was back to Bangalore. On the way we visited the Nimishamba temple, off Mysore Bangalore Highway.


As we were heading back , we encountered a huge pile up of traffic. Ah ..... reality creeps in!



This trip has given me some fond memories. Somewhere , all these memories are etched in the most indelible state of my mind ....... Somewhere ......... the term "Coorg" would no longer just evoke " a place I've heard off "feeling , it would infact evoke, "Oh ... I ve been there and it was awesome" feeling. It was a memorable trip and yeah due credits to all the folks who just let it be that way. :-)

Heights ...... - Part II

Coorg,The Scotland of India. Er ..... it should actually read, Scotland, Coorg to Rest of the World. :-) A town that wakes up to mist most times of the year, except when rain god decides to flex his muscles. A laidback town in South Karnataka. Coffee plantations seem to be the predominant occupation , whereas honey processing and small enterprises that deal with food processing that work out of home seem to be the alternate choices. Er .. to stop this being a documentary........ For more details please visit this site.

Tourism seems to be another occupation here and we had no problems with the accomodation. We stayed in a house that was owned by Sumi and Venu Ponappa. Their kids seems to like the attention we were giving them. Ashiqa Bhojamma and Shreyas were their names! They had a neat little garden and the house overlooked the peaks. We heard a trivia that people in that region are given two names each! :o


About 9 am we began our journey to the base of Tadiyandamol, until which the path is motorable. We had hired a "guide" to this trek on the advise of the folks out there, that we may probably loose our way out there. Our guide seemed to have information only about the peak and no other place within Coorg. Thus , after a small amount of "misguiding" by him we were off track by 12 kms. Reiterating our path, we were back to the base by 11 30 am. Oh, all that misguding was when were in the luxury of our vehicle. Luckily. :D


and then .....we started .........


Our fears that the weather would be a spoil sport , turned out to be just a latent one. The weather was all for us to go ahead and conquer this peak. Oh, is that a tad too bold? Never mind! ;-). Narrow, constricted pathways filled with lush greenery was how the path could best be described.



The path was quite steep and jagged all the way to the top.



We were just walking along the pathway when our guide mentioned that what stood before us was the peak we were to conquer ;-). The sight was just stunning. The mist cleared, making way for us to see the peak we were to climb. This ladies and gentlemen is Tadiyandamol a 1750 metres high peak.



The path along which we scaled seemed to be covered with jagged igneous rocks all the way. The sight was stunning. Mist covers you all the way and the weather is just awesome!! Well from this point it was tiring as we were to trek the steepest incline of this peak. With the reserves of our energies running low, the trek was getting a tad strenous. Oh, wanted to quit at that point . Well, just rubbished that thought aside and decided to move on!!



Then, it hapenned. We were there on top. That was "Heights"! A view from the top!! WHOA! What a feeling it were. The peak conquered. The feeling of making it, despite all the desires to quit, is indeed nice . The catch remains in just covering a small step at a time and not worrying about the big picture! Yeah .. words of wisdom from somone who has been there and done that! :D . Ah ,..... thanks for all the applause! :D


A sumptuous meal at the top. WHOA! We were hungry and the food was just delicious. Relished the meal. Well, after spending some more time on the peak, it was time to move down.


A few of them decided to get down quite earlier than the rest. No issues, but then the guide was with them. Me, Kethan, Kiran and Chitra were the slow coaches. As we kept moving slowly, we realized at a certain point, that we were probably "not" in the right path. A call to laksh's mobile was futile as she had carefully left her mobile with me!! Oh, that was a wonderful moment. In Coorg, lost in a forest during the trek and no source to contact the rest, even when we had mobiles and the range. As, Kiran and chitra kept searching for alternative paths, I wondered what our options were. Maybe we could scale back the peak as that was the only "landmark" around!!

The train of thoughts were broken, by Chitra who discovered one of the paths, was the one we should be taking and that luckily turned out right! Thus, we rejoined our group who seemed to be having fun at a water body!!

The trek was tiring, hectic (maybe coz I am a first timer), gruelling at times. But if i din't have fun at this trek, then I never have had fun!! :D


Now ...... in an example to show what soaps have done to Indian audience .. i would say .................

To be continued .... ;-)