21.6.23 !!

The Summer of '97. ICSE exams. The examination, on "English Language", had a section on compositions, where, we had a brief series of events, that were provided to us, and we were expected to extrapolate the same and come up with our composition. Well, back then, if i had the topic as, " 10 years - A few friends -Meet at - A coffee shop", i am not sure, what i would have written ....... But i am indeed happy .... last Saturday, i was'nt writing any composition. This was reality ...... :-).


Contrary, to the saying, "Reality continues to ruin my life", the meet, that was arranged as a surprise, indeed took me on a journey to Nostalgia ville, with the pathway being adorned with trees called memories! 10 years .... yes that feels old. Although, tracing the path once again din't seem all that difficult at all.

A lot can happen over coffee ... :-)

Eight of us, ,met at Inch(9.14.3.8). Inch, a coffee hub, at hundred feet road is not "any other" coffee joint. The ambience is good. From swings to bean bags, they have it all. Above all, the folks who run the place, have loads of patience. How else, do i explain, that we were one of the noisiest crowds in that place and we hung on for about four hours and did'nt get thrown out? :D. Hey folks at Inch, thanks for being so kind, we will definitely be back again soon ;-).

In these ten years, after school, we folks had diversified to multiple disciplines. V, had struck gold down- under , and now works as a team lead with e four e. L, has ofcourse, followed the mahatma, to experiment with truth, unfortunately, this truth belongs to Ramalinga Raju :D. K, has moved on to reduce the market capitilzation of some Business machines. P, ensures risks are mistigated and keeps a close tab on, JP and Morgan's chases . ;-). H, seems to be keeping pace with E without questioning Y. M, was the soft spoken management graduate from a premier institute of this nation. Vi and me , however are powered by intellect and driven by values. However, i never denied that the others weren't powered or driven ;-). (Man..... one needs a disclaimer everywhere! :D).

Slowly, the time gap seemed to fade away and we were all transported back in time. Incidents, which had then given us sleepless nights, were all stuff we could laugh about now ......! CE ,aka , the Principal,well it would a take a couple of blogs to even explain who that individual was.He was an enigma. Maxi and Maggi duly took their positions as joint second as we had so many anecdotes to share about them. Those wedding ring impressions, that indeed wiped your smile off your face. Science, was indeed never this interesting. :D. However the litmus test for "basic" compounds could have been done near the assembly hall itself. Bunsen burners, which i think were made to order and the shape was customized specifically to my school. The "Library-detention hall- lunch room" was a feature of civil engineering brilliance, that had exploited the "overloading" phenomenon completly! The teachers. The crushes. Marathon. Relay competitions. Badminton. Marching and Display. A few dudes, who get the top slot in MAX X (thanks to I & B, AXN is back :D). The dudes include, Altaf and Michael, Sod Twins and alike........ The rented Grounds. Concerts. Ballet dances. The Slaps that landed from nowhere. The Canes, that landed everywhere. Boxing. SUPW. Crowd. Elocution. Inter School Events. Natasha Rodrigues (Ah ...). The Mathematics debacle. (SIGH :-/).................


WHOA! Each of them, if explained would take another post ......... :-).


Ah, having to discuss all this under one roof, was like winding back and running, "My life" at around 5000 X. It was awesome to recollect all those incidents and laugh at them. They say, hindsight is 20/20. How true. When we iterating through those incidents ( Yes, i am geeky ;-)), I pondered over a few things, and how they would have been different if i had reacted differently in that situation. But, life would have never been interesting, had it been any different!! :-). Anything can happen over coffee, says the punch line of a popular cafe chain. I agree. :-).

Yeah, for those who haven't yet figured out what the title for this post means ..... well they are the positions of letters in the English Alphabets, which translate to UFW .... (Unforgettable Weekend :-)). Thanks for all those who made it happen ....... and a special thanks to the "organisers" :-).

'Unarmed yet dangerous' Kids .....

Just a second...... before you start judging me that i hate children, for no good reason, hold on!! I am not anything like that .....! What put's me off , are these bunch of over-pampered kids, whose parents think, that their kids swishing and swashing a kitchen knife, dangerously close to you, is actually "cute" !! CUTE??? Damn ...... Guys .. you got to be kidding me ....! (No puns ...!)

You folks do not find that convincing enough? Okie, here goes ....

A family function. Well, those are events where, these brats get the license to kill. You need to curb your instincts to resist from reacting to their provocation. No! No, i am not somone who advocates domestic violence in any form ....! But listen to this .... I was browsing the net for some attractive (read cheap ;-)) air fares , for a cousin of mine who had to travel. A harmless(?!) brat, comes close and flashes a harmless smile. I smile back. He then enquires, very calmly, about air fares for a round trip, to a location in India, where his mom works. The kid, was missing his mother and i could see that ...... I key in the details and tell him the fare ... and carry on with my work. The kid left the scene and in a brief while ..... i can hear a lot of howls ..... ! Surprised ... i get out to see .. and there i see this same harmless kid ...... fallen on the floor and wailing .... big time. All my relatives had assembled around him and instead of resisting him from putting on a show, they were sympathising with him .... ! The entire fuss was because his dad had apparently dismissed his idea, of wanting to travel, as his mom would be coming down in a week. If you are wondering, why, i *hated* the kid for this, when i need to be sympathising .... huh? Well, the entire family turned against me .....as they felt i *was* the reason ...... he was so frantic! They felt i had incited him by giving him all the details .....! Damn! You decide ........


Yeah, that was one of them. Dismissing, the above as an one off case, i carried on with my life.That was until yesterday. At my place, we have rented out one of the portions in the first floor. The family living in that is of the quiet kinds and i am not somone who goes out of my way to make friends. Thus, i know, they exist and they are a family of three ,including a kid, aged about four. Yesterday happenned to be this kid's birthday. His parents have invested in a Digital Camera, a new Canon S2 IS. They had some issues, with the same, as it wasn't booting. Since, I am a proud owner of S2 IS myself, and i had encountered a similar issue, when i had purchased mine ... (Vasanth, stop smirking ;-)), my dad had recommended my name to them, as somone who could help them with their problem. I am not somone who offers help unsolicited . This was different, here the parents wanted to capture, their son's 5 birthday celebrations, so i decided to go out and help them. At their place, there was frantic activity, in inviting me as i had never been to their place, and then i saw this brat, winking at me! He came running into me and in order to avoid, a possible collision, i elevated him. (Huff ..) . I went, in putting on my "debugger hat", to resolve any Canon IS related issue ...... , the parents went in to bring, their brand new camera. As they placed the camera at the table, the pressure cooker shrieked..... getting them onto panic mode as they rushed into the kitchen. The grandparents were in the other room ... now that seems like a setting, where i could work in peace right? No ....! There was this brat, watching me closely. That's when it happenned. He came rushing to the table, forced himself, to open that camera from its pack, and in a split second, as he attempted to click ........ dropped it ............. down .....................!!!! :O :O :O :O !! I mean .. there i was .... shell shocked ... i mean ....there we no witnesses to what happenned here .... and as i took the camera, i tried to boot it and ..... splashed the error message, on the LCD scree, "Error - Unable to retract lens". His parents came rushing out and they saw the camera in my hands .... and as i tried to say, that the kid had dropped it ... the kid started tp claim that he was not even close to me ... and starts crying and they start cuddling him ...........! Then, they look at me and say ... "These kind of things happen .. "! I mean ... what is that? I did'nt do it! I am not trying to defend by saying the kid should be punished ....... but what's with the ... "my-kid-is-an-angel" thing ....??! Huh!


These are just two episodes .... there have been many such ........! Huh! Kids ... may look unarmed ..... but if you thought .. that they aren't dangerous .......... do so at your own risk ...... :D

A world without .....

I see ..........


A world without any prejudices.

A world without any boundaries.

A world without any discrimination.

A world without any fascism.

A world without any bias.




*Splash*

*Splash*

Ah ... that's right .....! I am asleep !

Thanks ... for waking me up ... reality .........

Intelligence ..... ?

Stumbled across, an article by Isaac Asimov, on intelligence.


We, always associate academic brilliance as an absolute measure of intelligence. Well, tasks that are seemingly, simple, sometimes manage, to fuss us. Intelligence itself, should be evaluated in perspective. Cricketing Intelligence, driving intelligence, academic intelligence, Verbal intelligence ..... and so on. The list can just go on .......





Link availed from : Thomas Kyte's Blog.

'Light' year ahead ........

Light, is an electromagnetic radiation of any wavelength, is a pretty insipid definition, i would say. The term light, in itself triggers a multitude of emotions, in us. Like .......

Hope.

Vibrant.

Happiness.

Solemn.

Celebration.

Simplicity.

Excitement.

Brilliance.

Light, when incident on a prism, reveals it's true colours ;-).

Just how true, is that? ;-).

Many Happy returns to the light in my life :-).

Have a bright year ahead.

Let's Rock Hampi - Part III

Ever heard of a saying, too much of a good thing is good?
No? That's bad ...... !
For those who answered yes.........you guys watched the promos .. of Garfielf 2, isn't it? Cool .....! ;-)

Anyway, that was exactly, what was happenning to us ....!

The night's accomodation was at Malligi .... ! No, No that's not a spelling mistake! We were all raring to go the next day. Ofcourse, after (an awesome) breakfast, ....! :-). Our next stop was at Kamalapur, where we joined the fellow caravaners and off we headed, to Hampi.


The first stop was at Virupaksha Temple. We were joined by a middle aged gentleman named Keshav. He was the, ASI director (South) and curator of four museums around that place and had been involved in excavations in Hampi from about 30 years! :O. He was an individual filled with energy,enthusiam and opinions. His witty comments, just ended up making the trip-o-trivia far more interesting! Apart from a few architectural marvels, in Krishnadevaraya's signature style (all puns intended), we witness a few frescos on the ceiling!

Fresco painting of Manmatha ..... (a.k.a Ananga, lest, someone questions me about Calvin or Mickey Mouse! For the sake of argument, i don't know an alias of Mickey Mouse ... :D)

This fresco above depicts, Manmatha, yes the manipulative dude, who can't keep his arrows to himself. As, mythology has it .... Manmatha, who uses sugarcane as bow, flowers as arrows, crocodiles as earings and parrots as mode of transport, disturbs Lord Shiva (who sports a French Beard ...! This fresco dates to 16 Century ,....!! Huh! Then maybe French copied it from us ......! ), who obviously retorts by killing Manmatha. Well, brilliance of Keshav was evident, when, he explained the details embedded in the picture, by the iconographer. The sugarcane .. indicates, the sweetness that should exist in the relationship, the flowers indicate the tenderness and fragrance, the crocodiles indicate, the nature of attachment that should prevail amongst couples .......... ... Cool? Eh? ;-). He went on to add, that there are remedies to most ailments in this world, except for love, resulting in thunderous applause and laughter amongst the victims in the group ......Oops .. did i say victims? They are realists ... :-)

Sasvikal Ganesha .... A monolithic sculpture of Lord Ganesha.

This monolithic Ganesha, is at an elevated platform. The sculptor, of this structure, was pathetic in his estimation! He began, creating the structure with such finesse, that he forgot, he had used up most of the stone. Thus, the dorsal side has not much intricate work, just a thin line .....! Huh! So much for not following the process .... ! There are granaries, that can be viewed from this elevated platfrom, proving that there was definitive trade relations with other countries .........!

The Lotus Mahal ... in the Queen's Palace ...

The Queens', had a time of their lives!! Apart from having plush palaces, these folks had the treasury by their side! The had a water trough within and the place boasted of gardens and such facilities. The picture above, is the Hawa Mahal. The contrbution of Satavahanas to architecture. One can clearly see the influence of the Islamic style of construction. The arches. This place, looks like an inverted lotus. Nope, the place is not as inclined as it looks above........ ;-) . Keshav, aggressively, defended, the reason, kings had so many queens, was because, the queen's were attracted, to the king's who had power. Well, not many agreed to that ..... , though!

The Bold and the Beautiful ..... The Bold and intimidating Narasimha, with Lakshmi. Who says, manicuring was not an in thing then?

Ugra Narasimha, was a brilliant sculpture. The image of Narasimha, is intimidating to say the least. Goddess Lakshmi, is seated on Narasimha's lap. This was completly destroyed, when the kingdom was attacked. ASI has brought back and done up a lot of work on this sculpture. Keshav, then went on to narrate the story of the sculptor. When, the sculptor, was summoned to take up this assignment, he agreed, on one condition, that no one should disturb him when he worked. There were gaurds posted, and work went on for quite sometime. The gates were locked and the sculptor, worked in isolation. After, many days, the sound of chisles stopped. The alarmed gaurds communicated the same to the king, and when they came down .... to see, the sculpture was complete ........... but the sculptor, lay dead prostrated at his own creation. He paid the ultimate tribute to this timless work of art! Indeed, the sculptors' passion .........can evoke goosebumps .... even today ....!

The Stepped Tank,also known as ... Pushkarni

The citadel area of the palace, boasts of remnants of the KrishnaDevaRaya kingdom. It's majestic. One can just imagine, the way this place would have been in its days of glory....! There is a darbar hall, that contained a hundred pillars, with its pillars (at that point) being covered in ornate gems and stones. There are hosts of security points and it had seven layers of security before one can enter the royal citadel area. There are secret passges where the king could get messages from his ministers and the passages are sound proof! What impressed me, most was this tank shown above. ASI found aquaducts and on excavating found, this Stepped tank. Every stone, in this tank was pre fabricated and numbered in the quary itself!! Each stone contains the marking as to which part it would fit into! Brilliant .......! The aquaducts brought in water from Kamalapur, which is about thirty kilometers away!! The principles of gravity were used to design ..... these ducts such that once, the tanks filled it would fill the other and so on. In case, the duct clogged, there were folks who were employed, who filled the ducts back, thus ensuring, supply of water to citadel area was always intact. One can see ... the barracks where gaurds lived too ......... Its amazing ....!

A work of Art .......



A Granite pillar at Hazarama ....

The Hazarama, is another architectural marvel. It boasts of excellence in all its pillars. Granite was used in pillars and some of them have tales of Ramayana emblazoned on them ....

Tales of Ramayana .....

'Kishkinda', the kingdom of monkeys, which is mentioned in Ramayana, is believed to be closer to Hampi. There is a peak, that is supposed to be the birthplace of Hanuman.

A visit to Hampi, and all these places, bring out a mixed bag of feelings. The beauty and marvel of these constructions, on one end give you a sense of pride, that you belong to a culture that *ruled*! In every sense of the word. On the other, we just have to satiate ourselves with only these remains. We are just left to *imagine*, how this kingdom may have been in its days of glory. We walk along the left overs, that serve as a stark reminder of man's greed. The greed of power, can be that strong ....... that constructions that were meant to be timeless ........ were destroyed abruptly.

Each pillar, stone in this place has a tale to narrate. A tale of how it had witnessed, the best of the craftsmen, who shaped it ...... the best of the kingdoms, it was a part of ......... the best of the times, it has been in .........and the greed of a few men, that destroyed it.

Hampi, used to be the venue for Dasara. Mahanavami Dibba, is a platform, where .....the commoners, used to be seated to watch the Dasara celebrations conducted before them.

Seated, on that platform ............ what one can see now ...... is just a celebration of man's greed ........ and the fruits of it, which has rendered marvels as rubbles ......! The contrast couldn't have been any more stark ....!

Indeed ........it was an U ......F......W!

Legend : UFW, UnForgettable Weekends, initiative of Karnataka Tourism.

Let's Rock Hampi - Part II

An early morning drive to Vidhana Soudha.........
The seat of power in the state's capital, could not have been any more, majestic. The towering stucture, indeed looks splendid against the sun rays, early morning. It was an apt location to begin our journey to the ancient ruins. Arun Pai of BangaloreWalks, neatly summarised the journey, as a visit to the then seat of power of Vijayanagar Empire, Hampi, from today's seat of power. I couldn't agree more. The band's rendition of "Apara Keerthiye ......" was splendid. It was backed up with the theme song .... "Let's Rock Hampi ....." . Cameras, media, the who-is-who of culture and tourism of Karnataka, were in to make the event a grand success. We even got tips to visit certain individuals .......ah ..... :-). We were flagged off by the minister for culture and tourism.

The pride of Bengalooru

Suresh, our driver seemed more of a test driver for Chevrolet. Yeah, they may not be a big team in motorsports, but fear not, Suresh is around to prove how good their test drivers are....! As he floored the accelerator pedal we were transported from Zero to Fun in no time. The roads to ruins were definitely not in ruins ... which made the entire experience awesome!! The next stop was Dabbaspet, near Tumkur, where a sumptous breakfast was awaiting us. The officials did a damn neat job of organising the entire event. Their eye for detail and the shots at perfection did not go unnoticed. The roads from Tumkur, was a pleasure to drive on.

Windmill Farm, along the way.

It was a spectacular sight. The windmill farm extended for kilometres ... together. If one was amazed at how, the power of wind was harnessed, to divert it to other purposes......... i had a far more intriguing concept to digest. There were folks around, who tried to convince me that a windmill had to be pictured from the front ..... :O. (;-)) Yes, this is stuff straight out of Jay's believe it or not! ;-).

A peak ... Let's call it Jay Rayara Betta ..... :-)

What, you say, that it resembles my name? Huh? It's all in the eyes of the mouse holder .. i tell ya .... :-).

Chitradurga, was our next pit stop. We had small briefings by the Commissoner of Chitradurga, and a performance by the Bangalore Walks, which explained the legend of Obavva, the woman who had stood fort and beat the invaders to pulp, with her Onake. ( A cylindrical household tool, used to gnash chillies) .

We were then escorted to the fort by the police in our caravan. The welcome, that Chitradurga citizens gave had us all, spellbound to say the least. Garlands, media, crowd ..... oh! It was all happenning and faster than what one could take it in. The Chitradurga fort, stood majestic. It was apparently self sufficient in its days of yore and had withstood many attacks. We were also visually treated, to the acts of a dare devil, who went by the nick, Kothiraja. His exploits on embarking tall pillars and rocks, without any rig or support were commendable!!

Chitradurga Mint. On a rainy day, it is said even now people find gold here. Ah ... is this called, raining gold? ;-)

Ouch, The Obavva Kindi! The modern Obavva's manage pretty much with water bottles!!

A lunch, served by the townsfolk, dressed ethnically, by the lake side at Chandravali, was a welcome surprise. Rajasthani and Gujurati food ..... Awesome .....!

Our (test?) driver, continued his mindless assault on the roads, as we were sprinting way ahead of our convoy. Suddenly, the vehicle switched off ... on the move ....! It was the vehicle's way of resisiting any assault on it!! Neverthless, we were stranded and with us we brought the whole convoy to halt. The organisers had other plans already. We were split and asked to board vehicles which had vacant seats and we were resuming our journey towards ...... ThungaBadra dam. The plan was to witness sunset at that Vaykunta, the guesthouse that overlooks the TB dam. Fate, had other plans in mind and we were denied the same.

Sunset Point. Ah you fell for it? This is no sunset point and all ... ;-).

The next landmark in our landscape was Vittala Temple. The place was a marvel. The Archeological Survey of India, is doing a brilliant job of restoring the remains of the once marvellous empire. The illuminated pathway, was a brilliant contrast to the darkness that engulfed us. This temple, was very famous for its musical pillars. The pillars carved in stones, emnate the building blocks of Carnatic music, the jhal tarang, the ghattam , the bell and et all ........ The same material was used in all the pillars and it just goes about to show, the brilliance of the architects. The only difference was the space between pillars, the way they were cut and the distance to the main pillar .......! Brilliance ...... pillarified ...!

The Stone Chariot, Vitthala

The temple was being illuminated, specially! It was a sight to watch! Watch this ........

The Vitthala .. in its glory .....

Are you all done with admiring the picture above? No? Okie ... I ' ll give you some more time .....! :-)

The temple, in its days of yore had diamond stalls on the outside!! Also, outside there is a King's Balance. These folks always, traded in the name of the King and God. All the measurements were done in the King's balance, with God as witness, thereby ensuring no one cheated! Wow ........! In short they believed, " In god we trust, for all the rest, we use the King's Balance".

One more .. visual treat ....

You could get more about Hampi, from our prinicpal correspondant! Right ,, sush ......? ;-)

It was a wonderful experience. As we headed back, to Kamalapur, we already had a cultural programme awaiting us. This was followed by some rip roaring mimicry. Dinner was served and that was doubled with music for us as well .....! What more can we have asked for? The songs were just getting better. Before, Na .. could go on with her debut, "pehla nasha..." ,We were informed that the 11 30 curfew did not exist and just before we could savour it ... we had to leave........ as our accomodation was at a different location!! It was a pretty eventful day and every ounce (there are lots ...) of me could do with even some more .......:-) Oh .. what a day it was ..... :-)

Let's Rock Hampi - Part I

It was a dull Tuesday morning, when I heard the question popped in the air. (Quite literally) . On any other day i would have switched channels and moved on .....! There was something about this contest...... that appealed to me. Something, that prompted me to go for it.

Was it because, i wanted a *break*? Was it because i knew i would make it? Was it because i had nothing much to do on a Tuesday morning? Huh? I guess ....... it was a combination of all these. Anyway, i gave it a shot.

Lo, in just a few minutes, i was on air and i won myself a pass for the 'Let's Rock Hampi' campaign. Little did i realize what was in store for me ..... then. I was just excited about this entire ...... trip!

Let’s crawl on Hosur road ......

Leaving Ecity, a place we almost call home,
We head to Hosur road, ours to fume,
Steeped in jams, water clogs and time,
A cursed road ….. in its PRIME!!!

We’re crawling on the Highway,
We’re the IT caravan,
Mundhe nuggi saar,
We’re the IT caravan,
From aaga to eega,


Like a never ending saga,
Let’s crawl on Hosur road,
We’re the IT caravan,
We’re ……. The………….. IT……… caravan,

Silkboardu, the flyover stands tall,
Watch buses try in vain to scale and fall,
Jams wind like a snake,
And in its days of yore,
It has seen some sakkath,
Water clogging, jam and BORE!!!

“Comone everybody ……..*

We’re crawling on the Highway,
We’re the IT caravan,
Mundhe nuggi saar,
We’re the IT caravan,
From aaga to eega,
Like a never ending saga,
Let’s crawl on Hosur road,
We’re the IT caravan,
We’re ……. The………….. IT……… caravan

Hey, guys, on my trip to Hampi, i heard a song called, ‘Let’s Rock Hampi. On the same style and beat, I ve made this song. Apologies to Bangalore Walks band, Kini, Mani and Roopa /Arun Pai. I ve just shared the turmoil of a software Engineer on Hosur Road.

Everyone's Free .....

Chanced upon a track by Baz Luhrmann, called "Everyone's Free - To Wear Sunscreen".

Ladies and Gentlemen of the class of '99.....Wear Sunscreen

If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience...

I will dispense this advice now.

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth;
Oh never mind; you will not understand the power of beauty of your youth until they have faded. But trust me, in 20 years you'll look back at the photos of yourself and recall in a way you can't grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked...

You're not as fat as you imagine.

Don't worry about the future;
or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubblegum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind; the kind that blindside you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday.

Do one thing everyday that scares you.

Sing.

Don't be reckless with other people's hearts, don't put up with people who are reckless with yours.

Floss
Don't waste your time on jealousy;
sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind...the race is long, and in the end, it's only with yourself.

Remember the compliments you receive, forget the insults; if you succeed in doing this, tell me how.


Keep your old love letters. Throw away your old bank statements.

Stretch

Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life... the most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives, some of the most interesting 40 year olds I know still don't.

Get plenty of calcium

Be kind to your knees, you'll miss them when they're gone.

Maybe you'll marry, maybe you won't, maybe you'll have children, maybe you won't, maybe you'll divorce at 40, maybe you'll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary...


Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself either- your choices are half chance, so are everybody else's.


Enjoy your body, use it every way you can... don't be afraid of it, or what other people think of it, it's the greatest instrument you'll ever own.

Dance... even if you have nowhere to do it but in your own living room.

Read the directions, even if you don't follow them.

Do not read beauty magazines, they will only make you feel ugly.

Get to know your parents, you never know when they'll be gone for good. Be nice to your siblings; they are the best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future. Understand that friends come and go, but for the precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle because the older you get, the more you need the people you knew when you were young.
(:-))

Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard.
Live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.

Travel

Accept certain inalienable truths, prices will rise, politicians will philander, you too will get old, and when you do you'll fantasize that when you were young prices were reasonable, politicians were noble and children respected their elders.

Respect your elders.

Don't expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund, maybe you have a wealthy spouse; but you never know when either one might run out.

Don't mess too much with your hair, or by the time it's 40, it will look 85.

Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia. Dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it's worth.

But trust me on the sunscreen...

The video of the song can be viewed here ....

Video Courtesy : You Tube

A neat one .. i must say ... ... :-)

Simmering beneath the ground .....

Change, the universal truth is constant too!

What happens when this truth begins to experiment in a relationship? All of us, have a comfort zone and do not like to be miffed in that zone. The zone is where "you" are "YOU"! Most of us resist change, even though, sometimes that change is just for our betterment! We just want to be left the way we are .......


In one of our discussions, I remember Vasanth mentioning, "every individual is like a religion" . Pretty profound statement. Every individual has his/her own code of conduct. This conduct has evolved over time, based on the upbringing, culture, experiences that individual has been exposed to. What may be holy to some may be satanic to others. To make matters worse, there is no absolute of what's right or what's wrong! Whenever, one individual tries to manipulate others, in supporting his/her school of thought, there would be resistance.


Matters, which seem trivial on the exterior, sometimes, are the ones that cause devastating effects. When the individual is "driven" to change , he/she may not be able to reisist it instantly as there could be multiple layers of pressure on them. It could be peer pressure, attempt at sounding neanderthal, being conservative, being flamboyant, being brash ..... and so on .......... Though at that point the individual, seems to accept the situation, it has indeed scarred him/her. The individual already has begun to feel that he/she has "compromised" to a certain degree! Further acts .. of change would result in more scars and induce wounds on almost healed scars ....... Till the point that it is no longer acceptable by one of the individuals ........... and then ...... before you know it ........ the relationship begins to collapse. Soon, it's all over!


A discussion in time and identifying the changes that seem to be affecting a relationship .... and taking corrective action early on seems the only solution to it. If individuals 'agree to disagree' , it would solve most such issues. Simmering beneath the ground, change always exists in a molten state. It's upto the individuals to realize the same and plan accordingly.

On a day like .......

A few days back, was probably my "bad" day! No, it was not "bad" like, "hey that movie is 'bad'" , but more of ..... "hey , this parachute dosen't seem to open up!" ... "OH THAT"S BAAAD".


Well, yeah like all good day's, that day too began well, and progressed to getting better, till i revved up my bike and picked up some pace. Cruised along Airport road, Inner ring road and lo .. there began a traffic jam. A good samaritan informed me the vehicle's back wheels' tyre was deflated. Now, that's bad! That's because, Hosur road, is hell for even the best of bikers and fittest of the bikes. My bike on the other hand ..... was crippled! Inflating, the tyres, seemed a hotfix and i carried on.

I wouldn't normally recommend biking on Hosur road (HR). Lorry and Bus drivers, consider HR as Suzuka during the testing weekend! They outsmart each other, find innovative means to drive, cause accidents, touch max speeds, check braking skills, slingshot, bring down barricades and pretty much do stuff, which would have disqualified them their licensce, if done during the test. (Or would it?! ) My friend had an interview appointment and thus, i had to bike.

All seemed well and good, till about quarter to four, when i left office heading towards HR. At the parking lot, the back tyre was flat! At my organisation, we boast of a self sufficient, Multi layer parking lot, whose air pump had to give way just that day! Pushing along, for another kilometer, I found a puncture repair shop in the service lane. After some examination and testing, the guy there came up with the theory that it was not a puncture, and i had parked the vehicle in the "heat'' (??!) for long! He also suggested, that i needn't change it right away! I tugged along joining the procession, on HR. Well, procession, that's how the traffic tugs along!


Just a few kilometers, on that road, the tyre gave way! On a National Highway, where people fly past, i was tugging a vehicle with a flat tyre! Luckily, i spotted , a petrol bunk where i thought i could just inflate it and continue along! That was not to be. The tube has given way and i was now forced to change it! One respite was a puncture shop close by. The owner of this puncture shop seemed a thug. He was looking around for cops and pushing a set of lorrt tyre (?) into his mini truck to be taken out! I had to get a new tyre. My bike was in its most vulnerable state, with a tyre removed and i was suppossed to get a tyre, leaving the bike with these thugs! Universe was having a blast that day! At my expense !


I had to get to the other side, of HR. Now, vehicles on HR do not show, any mercy to pedestrians. Once, you cross that road, you feel, you are the ONE! Well, that's how Neo should have felt when he dodged bullets! But, you do have a few vehicles, that speak to us in the same tone, Trinity, spoke to an Agent, "Dodge this ..... "! Well , nevertheless, with just my bike and its state, in mind, i wanted to get back ASAP . There was just one Hero Honda showroom! My luck seemed running out! My bike was a Bajaj! :-|. Also, i was out of cash and only my debit card to my rescue. The guy in the store seemed understanding and i was more than happy that they accepted the card. But his assistant din't. She seemed to have run out of paper roll for the card swiper! After 20 minutes, she managed to locate it! Damn! My mind, had all the worst case scenarios worked out ..... my bike wouldn't be there. It's all over kinds. Anyway, i rushed back. Yeah, my vehicle was there and the thug had stayed back to just fix my bike!


Then for the last of the surprises, the tyre sizes did not match! Although, this guy did manage to put accross the tyre finally! I tugged along joined the procession and reached home at 7 30 pm!

My friend's interview appointment had to be cancelled. Traffic jams. Tyre puntures. Sidy shop. Assistant running out of paper rolls. Hosur road. Misfit tyre ..... Could the day have been any better ......?