When Sachin Tendulkar retired

I was away from Internet when he retired in November but today as he received the ultimate honour, it’s sinking in.

We, the kids from 80s, grew up with Sachin. That signature straight drive was one of the highlights of growing up days.

And innumerable moments like this etched forever in memory.

Our hearts have a special compartment for him, for when be batted, We felt like God 

We believed

With Tendulkar it's personal because deep down secretly inside it was us in his Avatar thrashing those big bad fast bowlers. He has been a part of the kid inside. 

So when Sachin Tendulkar retired, may be it’s not just him…

Thank you Sachin, for all the joy of 24 years.

VVS Laxman, the man who never quit

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the target you are chasing seems all up hill,
When the chances are low and stakes are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Relax, VVS Laxman comes out to bat.

Cricket is queer with its twists and turns,
As every one of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about,
When you might have won had you stuck it out,
Laxman never gave up, though the pace seemed slow,
More often than not, he succeeded with another blow.

Often the goal is nearer than,
It seems to a faint and faltering man,
Often the struggler has given up,
When he might have captured the victor's cup,
But not our very own man, VVS Laxman,
He turned it on & won the golden crown.

Success is failure turned inside out—
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems afar;
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit—
VVS laxman embodied the spirit best.

'Let me entertain you', Laxman specials always arrived when rest had quit, hence my lame attempt inspired by the Don't Quit poem
Words don't do justice to the beauty of his batting, so I had refrained from writing about him all the while.
Farewell, to my all time favorite cricketer.

One Day Outing - Bangalore

One Day Outing - Bangalore - By friends.

Please spread the word :-)

Real story of a fan - Retold!

Real story of a fan - Retold!
Facebook Page

Pursuit of Excellence, starring Rahul Dravid :-)

Sehwag, Maverick; Tendulkar, Genius; Ganguly's Charm; Laxman's Elegance;
Dravid?
He kept chopping, until the tree fell. He turned it into an art! (It did help that he sharpened the axe all the time.)
Plain & Simple, yet the results were magical!
Sure the other four delighted us.
But when the going gets tough, it's in Dravid 'we - the common people' find inspiration.
Thanks & Salute to Rahul Dravid.

Nenapinangala, a book I read

Sometime back, I casually asked my colleague Sunil N, 'what's up for the weekend?'
He said he's attending something special, a book launch! And thanks to him, I got a copy of the book Nenapinangala.

The book is about late Ramesh Pattar, who was a popular government official, living true to 'Government's Work is God's Work'. Common people loved him.
Apart from serving the people through various positions he held, he also indulged in literature, writing plays, poems & stories which show his dynamic personality.
Coming from a middle class family, working his way up on his own, having experienced village life from close quarters, his writings reflect his social consciousness.

After he passed away, son Ravindra Pattar who loves his father immensely collected all his writings, brought out as a book along with photographs & opinions.
Right from the cover page design, to layout & content, just like Ramesh Pattar's life & his son's love for him, the book is special.
Here is the website

Steve Jobs: Hero, Inspiration. Thanks, RIP.

Steve Jobs in Videos

1984:
The Commercial
Introducing the Macintosh

1997: After coming back to the ailing Apple
Think Different

2001: iPod

2005: After the surgery for pancreatic cancer in 2004
Stanford Commencement Address

2007: iPhone

2010: iPad

Magic Wand

During college days I too believed that one day we will become a great nation from a developing country, soon.
After that phase of 'I can change the world' comes the reality in every common man's life, of being a part of society & system to make a living :P
I had to start learning to live with the harsh reality of, everyday fight for basic necessities, our lack of discipline & cleanliness and our general lack of awareness & interest or the will to change the system. Without realizing, I was slowly being sucked into the vicious circle of 'chalta hai', 'we are like this only'.
As terrorism & corruption grew we remained apathetic.
Doubts started creeping in, 'will India ever be a developed country'?
Engine of India's growth, the middle class, was simply detached or indifferent, seemingly happy with the status quo.

But past few days have been refreshingly different.
As Anna, epitome of a common man, set out to cleanse the system, the middle class awakened, shook the rust off hearts & dusted off the souls and responded in a manner that befits the land of Gandhi.
The floodgates opened & people warmed up to Anna from their frozen state, pouring into the streets to protest peacefully.
I think all that we needed to come out of inertia, was just a right leader.
The Jan Lokpal Bill per se may not eradicate corruption. (I partially agree with the anti-Anna (pseudo?) intellectuals on this. But the movement is not just about marching to the Jan Lokpal Bill destination. I believe, the long journey has just begun)

The common man was woken up & that's enough to restore my hope & faith.
And Mr. Prime Minister, Anna has the magic wand.

A night, when India turned into a party hall with 1.2 billion people

Yes, number one in Tests, first T20 world-cup, but deep down every Indian wanted this one, for 28 years.
And when it came, it came in some style, with Indian captain triggering the celebrations by blasting one into the crowd.

And the celebration in streets was like nothing we had ever seen before!

As we hit the road at midnight, opening highlight was an uncle parading his entire family, standing through sun roof & windows on his SUV, complete with flags & tricolor on face & screams of joy!
And then while filling petrol, we started realizing the magnitude of it all.
Long queue in the petrol bunk but no one in a hurry, people screaming slogans, loud music from a car & everyone swaying to it, party in a petrol bunk!
Celebrating all along with people on road as we neared the MG Road Bangalore, it was an unbelievable sight.
People riding on the top of vehicles, in the boot, sitting on windows, hi-fives, chanting 'Indiaa India', honking the same tune, waving flags, everyone expressing the overwhelming happiness in their own way. Each one seemed to have just realized a childhood dream.

Banners & bats, songs & dance, young & old, men & women...highlight was all of them taking turns to use the barricades in the road side as musical instrument & breaking into a impromptu jig with strangers, hugging each other and then moving ahead!
It was surreal.
Everyone had turned into a kid who just got his or her favorite toy.
Even with all mayhem, with policemen quietly watching, things were so great and there was so much happiness in air that even MG would have nodded from up above.

In the most successful ICC event ever (Inaugurated by Sehwag with a Four, ended by Dhoni with a Six!), India's journey had some awesome moments.
A tie with the entertainers of the world-cup England.
A ferocious opening assault from the big two, Sachin & Sehwag on the great SA pacers before the mind melt in the end.
And raising the game to different level in knockout stages especially with fielding from a team never known for it's athleticism!

In the quarterfinal, magnificence of Ponting & Brett Lee's fight. And then Yuvraj Singh turning a king again, slaying the demons of 2003.

The high voltage, semi-final with Pakistan,so spectacular that it made all the pre match hype look like, understatement!
A team effort to the core, with even much maligned Nehra & Munaf rising to the occasion with Bhajji's timely strike and Zaheer Khan leading the pack with sage like calm to overcome Pak with ruthless efficiency. Sehwag cameo at the top was the highlight.
Well, not to forget Afridi's dignity in defeat.

Every time, the tough time came, a hero rose for India, like we had read in fables!
And in the match worthy of final, where Mahela's class shone though, chasing 274, at 31/2 we really needed a hero.
And it was gutsy Gambir who put his hands up first looking possessed.
And when Kohli departed, out came the out of form, short of runs, Indian captain (the man surely has balls), ahead of Yuvraj, as if to announce 'I am here to take the bull by horns'.
And boy, he then went on to play what they call a 'Captains Innings'. Period.

Next day as it all started sinking in, it was stirring to see the footages of Anil Kumble being handed over the cup by Sachin, for we need to salute him & the fine men like Ganguly, Dravid, Laxman & Srinath, for being a part of the team which laid the foundation to this day.

When the man who carried the hopes of more than billion hearts for more than two decades, held his most coveted trophy aloft, every Indian in the world would have been smiling, content, proud & misty-eyed.

They say, life is about moments that take your breath away.
All the above, as I witnessed magic happen, is stored in my memory forever as a little private video.
I am sure everyone has his or her own :-)

55-fiction

(An attempt at 55 word fiction)

‘Inspector, my wife works as maid and has not returned’
‘You know the house?’
‘Yes, though I never went inside’.
No answer at the door, on pushing, it opens to darkness!
Inspector ’Light’
There lies body of a female!
‘You are under arrest’, says the Inspector, as the correct switch was pressed on first attempt!

The Killer Elephant!

Three men were strolling merrily that night.
They had a good dinner & drink. One among them had got engaged & were walking back from that function.
Suddenly, out of the thick dark forest, emerged an elephant, onto the moon lit mud road catching them unaware.
It grabbed one with its trunk, flung him into the drain beside!
Elephant threw the other one up & as the body hit the ground, stepped on him, killing violently!
It heard the moaning of the one in drain & killed him too.
The third one ran & saved his life to tell the sorry tale.
An occasion of joy in the village had turned into mourning the next day.
-----
The elephant had escaped from Circus.
It had lost one of the tusks to its antics. One day it killed the mahout & ran into the Malenadu forest.
Thus a terror was born in the neighboring villages!
Once in a while it would appear out of nowhere causing havoc, killing people, destroying houses & crops.
It had immense hatred for humans, must be due to the torture it underwent in circus days.
It disliked dogs and fire as well.
One day enraged by a barking dog, it entered a house in the village, taking the dislodged roof on its back to a distance!
It had killed around 10 people in the surroundings.
People in the villages started panicking.
And in the Malenadu village region the houses were a km apart.
There was only one mud road through village and if a vehicle passed by it was a sight/news.
Electricity or telephones were science fiction.
By night, lamps kept inside the house, dogs tied & doors closed, villagers lived in fear.
Rice being the main crop in those days, villages were full of paddy fields and few coconut trees, both prone to elephant attack.
Government finally woke up to the loss of lives & crop, to announce Rs 10,000 and a rifle as prize for killing the rogue elephant.
But in those days of license raj only two people in the village had licensed gun!
For few days, some government officers were roaming around in a jeep with guns but to no avail.
-----
It was dusk when people came running to me, terrified by the elephant!
As they were explaining me how and where they saw the elephant, few others got hold of Padmayya, the other one who had a licensed gun in the village.
I had a Game King - 12 Bore Dbbl Gun.
The cartridges came with different number of lead shots (Single Ball, Double Balls, LG (9), SG, BB...and so on) with the total weight of the lead in a cartridge being same.
I loaded the cartridge with a single lead shot & had backup cartridges in pocket.
Padmayya's gun wouldn’t take a readymade cartridge, the chamber had to be filled with bullet, gunpowder and primer for each shot, entire process taking more than a minute for even the quickest to reload!
Quickly we were set.
Two people with guns, and another with a torch.
The elephant was located in the paddy field, a km away.
Loss of lives, crops & helplessness had enraged us.
Our strategy was to go to the nearest safe distance and fire simultaneously at the elephant.
-----
We had to be careful, while walking through the narrow path through forest, with chances of facing snakes & other wild animals.
We hurried to the paddy field.
It was near full Moon. Standing at a height in a corner, we could clearly see the elephant, right in the center of the field.
It was a sight, a wild untamed elephant in all its glory!
The elephant was collecting a bunch with its trunk, hitting to its leg to get rid of mud from rice plants & eating merrily.
Even with a loaded gun, the sight of the ferocious killer elephant would send shivers down the spine of the bravest!
Luckily it didn't seem to notice us.
We took position.
After a moment, we passed the signal to each other silently.
I pulled the trigger & then Padmayya, 'click, bang' almost simultaneously!
In seconds, I reloaded the gun with a twin lead shot cartridge & shot again.
The sound of gunshots ripped through the silence of the village.
The elephant rose on its hind feet & let out a roar, echoing in the night!
And then it ran madly, with blood dripping.
It got into the nearby river, with boulders & water in the river splattering all over and disappeared into the forest.

It was only the following day we could locate the elephant.
Next day when the quarry workers, some distance away, went near riverside with thick bamboo cover, found the elephant lying in mud, which promptly got up to chase them!
It was there for three days.
And then it was not seen in the vicinity for quite some time.
----
Notes
- As narrated by my late grandfather around 15 years back & this is my recollection with inputs from those who had heard the story too.
- The elephant died, a while later, holding the electricity line with its trunk near NH 48.
- It was in the 1970s.
- And in the Malenadu village region the houses still are a km apart.

SIMPLY FLY

To put it succinctly, I had thought of Gopinath as 'an eccentric who built a low cost loss making airline by chance'

Boy, I couldn't be more wrong!

One fine day I tripped on this link

One line just struck me hard:

"ನಮ್ಮ ಮನೆಯ ಕೆಲಸದ ಹೆಂಗಸು ಹುಬ್ಬಳ್ಳಿಯಿಂದ ಬೆಂಗಳೂರಿಗೆ ಕೇವಲ ಐನೂರು ರೂ. ತೆತ್ತು ಡೆಕ್ಕನ್ ವಿಮಾನದಲ್ಲಿ ಬಂದ ಕತೆಯನ್ನು ರಸವತ್ತಾಗಿ ನಾಲ್ಕೈದು ತಿಂಗಳವರೆಗೆ ಮನೆಗೆ ಬಂದವರ ಮುಂದೆಲ್ಲ ಹೇಳುತ್ತಿದ್ದಳು. ಅವಳ ಪಾಲಿಗೆ ಈ ಜನ್ಮದಲ್ಲಿ ಅಸಾಧ್ಯವೆನಿಸುವ ಕನಸೊಂದು ನನಸಾಗಿತ್ತು."

(Sorry non-Kannada folks - no translation of the article/above line)

A farmer who built an airlines company & made common man fly - must be a mesmerising read, I thought and bought the book.

SIMPLY FLY - A Deccan Odyssey by Captain GR Gopinath

A village boy, went on to join military, quit and took to farming in a barren land to the horror of many, eventually winning awards for ecological farming, pioneering silk farming and then venturing into bike service station chain, stock brokerage firm, Udupi hotel chain, irrigation, agriculture consultancy, helicabs (!), Air Deccan, cargo airline, apart from a failed political venture... (yes the list will go on!)
From him fighting a war, to hitchhiking in US, safari in Africa, travelling in Europe, it's a travelogue, an adventure novel as much as an autobiography. From the boy who rode a bullock cart, to the man who built an airlines company, it's an endearing & enduring saga of great human spirit.

According to Peter Drucker, A true entrepreneur is the one who creates wealth where it did not exist earlier by creating a new market and a new customer. They create something new, something different; they change and transmute values; and, on a size and scale that will impact society.

And Air Deccan as we knew may not exist any more, but there is no doubt that it changed Indian Aviation forever and made the common man fly.

Few stories from the book are entrenched in my memory

- When in army, an adventurous kidnap of his female friend to avoid her forced arranged marriage!
- A touching incident, when Manje Gowda - his friendly neighbor pledged his farm for Gopi when every one else had doubted him.
- Hilarious episode of trying to use Donkeys' services to water the farm!
- Some great heartwarming stories like a) Kaavya who took her father for a helicopter ride on his 60th Birthday with all her savings or b) Manjunath, humiliated by village folks in childhood, left the village, studied & made a life in US, took a sweet revenge by coming back landing a helicopter in his field in the village!
- His candor when he explains his first visit to Vijay Mallya's house as 'how he felt like a village boy entering a big city'.

The story which's very much Indian common man's, with earthly wisdom, gentle humor, is told with such flair that it has an edge-of-the-seat feel!
Undoubtedly one of the most enriching books I have read recently.

And here's the link to a piece that's printed at end of the book too.
Gopi's Farm

Lonely Planet Magazine Indian Edition

My newfound interest in travel writing resulted in me going through the travel magazines in India.
And then I came across the May issue of Lonely Planet Magazine Indian Edition
To sum it up in one sentence, it’s the iPhone of travel magazines :-)
With a good mix of Foreign & Indian, popular & unexplored places & a variety of budget options, it appeals to all kinds of readers.
The photos are breathtaking and you can contribute too, via the postcard section.
The magazine oozes quality & unbelievably, the 200+ page treasure is priced Rs 100 only!
(Importantly the 'where to stay' sections don’t look sponsored, unlike some of the other magazines.)
Each month the magazine comes with a theme and the regulars like ‘easy trips’, ‘city in day’, ‘mini-guides’ etc.
The information is practical; the content clear with simple words, presentation is in an informal tone.
Sitting in your couch, you will be transported to places as you flip the pages.
Highly recommended.

Some more
- Here’s the Facebook page
- Travel Well Site – intended vibrant social community for travelers. My gripe is that it’s hard to navigate/share the links from this site.
- Personally, I envy the man, Vardhan Kondvikar, editor of Lonley Planet Indian Edition, earlier the editor of BBC Topgear India!
- In spite of best of my efforts couldn't get the first 2 issues, Feb & March, would be grateful if anyone can help.

Update: Feb & March issues were delivered at my door :-)
Debolin & people @ timesgroup, I can't really thank you enough.

Serial Killer – Full Version

Here it is, Serial Killer, complete and edited. ( blog )

Big Elephant Butt – Extension :D

Ginger Tea - Sridevi Bakers - BTM Bengaluru

Ever since I moved to BTM second stage, there is hardly a day when I didn't have the rejuvenating 'Ginger Tea'.
A refreshing dose of ginger tea, gets me starting in the morning, going in the evening & kicks ass anytime :-)
They make it freshly on order & serve, very rarely varying in taste.
And then there is the unique snacks menu.
I love the specialties, Bun Samosa, Bun Puff & the daily specials which are just plain awesome.
Clean and served with a smiling face, makes it worth waiting few minutes, with the huge crowd they attract.

Well, there won't be anyone in BTM Layout who hasn't been there, for the rest, here's the address!

Sridevi Bakers,
#688, 7th main,
BTM 2nd Stage,
Bangalore - 76.
Phone - 080 26688797

Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary

On March 20th, Saturday, instead of the scheduled 7 AM, we (6 of us) met at 9 AM, and even after breakfast, were unsure of destination for the planned (!) day’s outing!
(Yeah, I have backlog of posts too!)
Finally we headed towards Ranganathittu with low expectations!
'Sometimes best decisions of life are taken impromptu' :-)

Driving in Swift, we stopped for lunch at Kamath Lokaruchi (awesome as usual) and reached Ranganathittu (around 125 km from Bengaluru & Mysore’s just 15 km away) in less than 3 hrs.

Parking space is ample & the place’s relatively well maintained. There’s a restaurant and a garden too.


The sanctuary, situated on the banks of Kaveri River, is spread over a group of six islets.
The boat charges are reasonable, and oarsman doubles up as excellent guide too.


Birds come here in summer which’s the breeding season. They begin arriving in December, lay eggs, breed, and finally move out of the sanctuary with their little ones :-)
(During rainy season the islets submerge due to flow of water from Krishna Raja Sagara dam & the islets are restored every year.)
Starting from kingfishers, owls, pigeons & peacocks, there are spoonbills, open bill storks, heron, river tern, and many other exotic bird species.
Some of these birds are from as far as Siberia, Australia and North America. (Some one quipped; thank god human breeding isn’t so arduous!)
To think of how they make it without GPS/Google Map, is amazing!

Prettiest of them all :-)

Capturing birds is a lesson in appreciating/photography. I promised myself a SLR camera & trip again to Ranganatittu. (For now excuse the quality & quantity of photographs!)

On one of the islets we came across this statue of a Crocodile.
And to our horror, it moved upon sprinkling of water! A moment none of us will forget in lifetime!

And to give a piece of history, Ranganathittu attained the status of a bird sanctuary in 1940, thanks to, Dr. Salim Ali - Ornithologist, who, during his survey of the birds of Mysore, advocated for the establishment of a sanctuary.

The isolated islets and the abundant aquatic insects making it a paradise for birds, now there are thousands of birds of many different species.

The best time to visit would be between December & May, early morning or in the evening. (Most birds are out to work 8-5.)
Of course there are enough places around to visit.

By night we were back, in Bengaluru...from a colorful world of avians...

Verdict: - Ranganthittu bird sanctuary is a delightful getaway for wildlife enthusiasts, nature lovers, bird watchers and for one and all :-)

Buzz In Town

Sometime back, I attended a bloggers roundtable with Dr. Amitabh Saran, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Buzzintown - an online portal for events and entertainment.

True to the site, meet was informal & fun. In a free wheeling chat, Amitabh spoke about various topics. From how they source dynamic content from end users, various entities of the industry including venue managers, artistes and theatre / event production companies, to the revenue generation, through advertising, ticketing, content syndication, corporate sponsorships, and affiliate relationships.
From the vision of the portal they had from day one, to the challenges faced...it was an informative, interesting & exhilarating discussion.
Though he smiles saying 'Luck' is the most important factor for an entrepreneur, he doesn't seem to have left much for it :-)

The specialty of Buzzintown is dynamic coverage of local events which include food festivals, plays, concerts, book reads, exhibitions and expos, which are not likely to be covered by mainstream media.
Yes 'Buzzintown keeps users tapped into the cultural pulse of their towns' :-)
Most ratings and reviews on the site are by users rather than in-house critics, allowing you to obtain a cross-sectional view.

Starting in Jan 2008, they are now across cities in India, United States & Canada.
A testimonial to their growing popularity is the huge number of fans on Facebook Page.

They are adding to the travel section, featuring getaways beyond the usual, guiding the consumers to experience the place rather than just visiting it.

You can get updates through Newsletter, RSS, Facebook, Twitter and SMS, while 'selective subscription' feature is 'Coming Soon'.

Then there is a TV section too!
They seem to be doing so many things, it’s hard to explain in a post!
Well, that’s why there is the Portal, Buzzintown :-)

No-Parking, Naturally!

When it comes to 'No Parking', no one in Bangalore does it better than Kormanagala People :-)
But this latest one near the new (sinfully tasty!) ‘Natural Ice Cream’, beats them all!
The house owner must be disgruntled with too many people parking.
(Tree's strong & healthy!)

A Cab Traveler's Life :P

6.00 AM, Alarm rings. Wake up from deep sleep.
No luxury of newspaper on commode :D
Brush, bath, dress.
6.32, hear the sound of news paper being thrown at door.
While browsing through it, a second alarm rings, 6.45!
Time to tie shoes, lock & walk.
As always 5 min early, at pick up point, at 6.55.
By 7.05, after a half tea, just about to start cursing the driver, he arrives.
Get in and people in cab smile the same routine smile.
Thus begins my long journey to ITPL!
It's only just 5 days since I stared using office cab, for the first time (after 6 yrs!) & I already feel like I have joined the army!

Crypsis

Not for the first time, spotted this insect at my native last week.
Also common are the green ones, both effective in avoiding being detected among leaves.

Fab Four in Four Words & Which Car! :-)

Disclaimer: Of late I have been reading too much of Cricket & Auto content on web :-)

The current 'Fab Four' of Indian Cricket, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar & VVS Laxman are regarded the best in world cricket, so are the German auto giants BMW, Audi, Porsche & Mercedes-Benz, best in business.

So an impromptu thought & a post :P

Four words that best describe the player & the company they should be endorsing :-)

Virender Sehwag: Audacious, Maverick, Iconoclast/Pirate, Entertainer.
BMW: The Ultimate Driving Machine.

You may argue about his technique, but not with the runs scored at scorching pace & entertainment, like you can argue about looks of BMW, but not with sheer driving pleasure.

Rahul Dravid: Reliable, Persevering, Classical, Understated.
Audi: Vorsprung durch Technik.

If it's 'Advantage Through Technology' for the German, it's 'Advantage Through Technique' for the Indian :-)

Sachin Tendulkar: Master, Respected, Icon, Best.
Porsche: There is no substitute.

Both being legendary, they made interesting moves in early 2000s
a) Porsche, the sports car maker, made the SUV Cayanne, with purists crying foul.
b) Tendulkar, the master blaster, as his body took a beating, became an accumulator to the horror of fans.
Both turned out to be stroke of genius, as Porsche laughed all the way to bank, Tendulkar added tons of effective runs. Genius does what it must :-)

VVS Laxman: Artist, Nonchalant, Delicate, Elegant.
Mercedes-Benz: Like No Other.

Like the encompassing serenity of a Mercedes Benz, he brings calm to dressing room in any situation, apart from the common effortless elegance both share.

Chandamamu :-)

It was in 5th standard.
That day, I & Yathish bought new pens together during lunch break. Buying a new pen, those days, it was a huge moment!
All friends, ignoring our protests about scratches & cries not to spoil it, passed hands, tried their signatures, some keen ones even de-assembled & assembled back etc which went on till evening!
And then it was play hour in the evening. All the students ran to the ground.

I slowly walked up to Yathish with a grim face and called him aside.
(This guy Yatish's known to be a tough nut!)
Me: Hey, while running out you stepped on my bag & broke my pen.
Yathish: I didn't.
Me: You did, and there are people who have seen it!
Yathish: What happened, did it break completely?
Me: No, it's just a crack.
Yathish: Fine then, just use cellophane tape & fix it?
Me: BUT IT'S BRAND NEW.
Yathish: So?
Me: Buy me a new one.
Yathish: It's 5 rupees & I don't have.
Me: Then why did you break, I'll beat you up.
Yathish: Try it, I'll beat you back.
Me: Ok, since you broke my pen, I'll break yours...
Yathish: But it won't fix your pen.
By now there was a gathering around us, some encouraging & enjoying the fight, some feeling bad for the broken pen, some even contemplating whose side they were!
I pulled my last weapon out (or so everyone thought!)
Me: I'll complain to the class teacher.
Our class teacher was so scary that even the tough nut Yathish gave in.
Yathish: No, please, I am sorry Vinay, it wasn't intentional as you know, I can't ask money at home and you are my friend, please...
Everyone around seemed be convinced that I shouldn't complain!
And then...with a nervous smile, I uttered the words...'Well, hmm, err, actually it was me who had stepped on your bag & your pen is broke, I was so scared that you would do all those...sorry...'
I didn't want to see the changing expressions on his face.
After a moment of silence when I looked at him, he broke into a pale smile. I shook his hand, patted his back and said sorry again.
We smiled a bright smile now.
Shaking his head, he said 'you are just...' pause and then we broke into a hearty laughter :-)

(I was inspired by the story I had read in Chandamama, where Ramu's dog eats tough-nut-neighbour Shamu's hen & Ramu uses the above trick!)

Theory and Practice

Last Thursday was the 'Wake up Sid' premier at PVR - Forum Mall Koramangala.
(Twitter Review – ‘Nicely made, but the movie lacks soul’)
Since I reached early, went to Landmark & was about to make an 'impulsive buy' of Welcome To Advertising! Now, Get Lost
(Verdict – ‘Avoid’)
By now friends had come & were waiting at McDonald's in ground floor, to grab a quick bite.
7.45, 15 mins to go.
Quick glance at the long queue in the 2nd floor (single) counter & I made a dash to 3rd floor.
Multiple counters , around 10, a quick application of queuing theory, i.e. no of persons & no of items they were holding, how many were actual buyers & how many were just accompanying etc, bringing all my queuing theory basics to fore.
I picked a queue with 5 people ahead of me. On further analysis the credit card reader in the counter was working, & his processing time seemed to be lesser.
1st one was quickly done, since the uncle bought only eraser & pencil!
Satisfied with my choice, I decided not to change the queue. By now queues were growing too.
All the other queues seemed slower, for a change!
Again a call "just 10 minutes to go, where are you?"
By now the 4th one was also done & and the 3rd in the queue, a teenage girl holding only one book moved towards the counter. And the person in front me, carried only one book too.
Me "Am almost on my way", patting myself on the back for my judgment.
As I glanced ahead, a lady who looked like her mom, standing in next queue, passed 2 baskets full of stuff to be billed to the teenage girl standing at the counter!

"The difference between theory and practice in theory is much less than the difference between theory and practice in practice.” - Unknown

Update:- I had attributed the above quote to Randal L. Schwartz, who commented below “It's odd how that got attributed to me. I'm just quoting it from somebody's .sig I once saw.”

What's New!

- Updated 'Past Favorites' Section
- Labeles
- 'Email Post' option

Old but worth a look - Subscribe through RSS/email.

And feedback's welcome :-)

Tendulkar Magic & Sehwagism

Tendulkar Magic, in my words, long back.
Rahul Bhattacharya on cricinfo writes about the same.

Also sometime back I wrote, Virender Sehwag & Zen Lesson,
and now there's this priceless interview of man himself on cricinfo :-)

Real story of a fan!

One

I am addicted to the sound of fan, while sleeping. The first thing I checked was that both the fans were working, when I moved into the current house.
Also as far as possible I don’t sleep right under the fan, for the phobia that it might fall one me someday!
Both the fans in the house working fine, cot placed in the side of the bedroom, every day I slept peacefully :-)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Two

One fine day, a friend of mine, over a coffee told me about this self sufficient building he watched on some TV program, where the windmills were strategically placed on the building, which generate enough power for the building. Amazing, I slept thinking about it!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Three

I had spent the whole day & night working at office. Came home & caught 2 hours of sleep from 5 AM to 7 AM. Woke up and had to hurry again, to make sure that the critical demo to client went fine in the afternoon.
I was drowsy. I climbed on the cot like a zombie, yawned & raised my hands.
Thud...I fell on the floor!
Mind stopped thinking for a while...
After few seconds, completely awake, I was, in horrible pain.
When I gathered the thoughts, it was my hand that hit the fan in full speed!
I looked up, fan was still working but at half the earlier speed.
After stopping the bleeding from small cut with some cotton, I rushed to office.
Demo went fine, I came back home.
There were 2 things to take care of, hand, for which I bought pain relief spray & fan, since it was too fast earlier, this half the speed was just enough for me to sleep :-)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Four

That day I was alone at home, and it was night when I reached, and as I was about to open the lock, I saw it lying there.
A doll, with head separated!
Brushing aside the scary thoughts, I murmured to myself that it must be kids from upstairs who threw it there, smiled at myself for getting scared for a moment, switched on the fan & slept.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Five

It was yesterday night.
I was fast asleep.
Suddenly some creaky noise woke me up.
There was no sign of it reducing, nor could I make out where it’s coming from.
When it really got intolerable, I got up.
I asked the landlord who stays in the next house, that if it’s some neighbors making that noise, we should ask them to stop.
We decided to figure out & went out, crossing the building behind, where I had never been before.
As we crossed the tree, in front of me was an unbelievable sight!
A cross between a giant fan and a windmill fitted over a building which by it self’s a cross between a scientists lab and a scary haunted house!
It was rotating slowly making creaky noise!
My heart was thumping loud with a mixture of excitement & fear!
I looked behind & the landlord who came with me was not be seen!
That’s when I realized the tricky situation I was in, standing all alone, in the middle of the night, not knowing what to do next!

Before I could do anything...well...then...I woke up for real :D

It was the fan in my room which has been working at half the original speed, since I hit it, had now almost stopped, making creaky noise!

I switched it off, and tried sleeping without the fan :-)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Epilogue

Got the fan repaired and today, as usual, I am going to sleep peacefully :-)

Ode to a ‘haven’t met’ friend :-)

Like dewdrop that disappeared before the morning sun

Like fragrance from an unknown flower
Like streak of silver light in the night sky from a shooting star

Like distant cloud on the mountain top
Like sweet dream that vanished when I woke up
Like whisper of child murmuring its happiness in sleep

Like song from an unseen bird
Like music rustling leaves made
Like mountain streams I met and parted
Like mist in the valley, that went away with the wind

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

"A poem is never finished, only abandoned." – Paul Valery

Quotes

"A human being is a part of the whole, called by us the 'Universe,' a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty." – Albert Einstein

“A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, and die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.” – Robert A. Heinlein

The start-up checklist

Pure WOW stuff this is!

The start-up checklist


Source: Indexed

This should be on Twitter?

Over the weekend

Read Parva - Interesting.

Half way through - Inside Steve's Brain - Steve Jobs surely thinks different

Spotted, fiat 500 - Cute

Watched The Hangover and agree with the review.

RIP MJ - There will never be anyone like you.

Style Statement?! :P

Spotted @ BTM Layout Bengaluru :-)
For some MTV show said the chap when quizzed but we clicked anyway :-)

Three new exciting addresses on the web

Check, if you haven't already

Wolframalpha

bing

Google wave

'Just Lather, That's All' & Some Thoughts

Internet is a one of the best things to happen to our generation.
Well, I just tripped on this, one of my favorite short stories, which’s a part of my 2nd P.U.C (12th) curriculum.
This is one of those chapters that stayed with me even after the exams were over (:P)
Part because we had such an amazing teacher who kept us interested in ‘English’ class, which’s generally ignored by 'Science' students.
Will leave you with this.

Anil Kumble - Man of IPL - 09

The story was way too similar to IPL 2008, RCB on a losing streak, looking down & beat. To cut the story short, ‘Hopeless’ is the single word.

Enter Abracadabra Anil Kumble as captain.


Retired Test Player, smirked the people who don’t know the man well.

But for those who know that behind that gentle emotionless face lies a competitor as fierce as you get, there was hope.

Throughout his career he hardly showed any emotion or sledged, but no one ever tried harder or played the game tougher.


The under celebrated, battle hardened, gentle giant rose to the challenge magnificently. As a captain and player, he lead from front.
The bunch of losers transformed into a team of winners.

And the smiling assassin was striking at will. It’s said that he always thought the batsmen out, reminder was the game against Panjab, Kumble vs Yuvaraj

And no one deserved to lift the trophy more than Kumble. Sad that RCB ended up one blow short. It's heartbreaking.(Yeah, it still hurts)

It was vintage Kumble with a captain's spell in the finals, that best epitomized what Kumble is all about.

Bowling the first over to Gilchrist (fresh from a 35 ball 85 assault in the semi final), and outsmarting him.
Taking the bull by horns and taming.

And then coming back to remove dangerous looking Symonds.
That's what spearheads of attacks do.

When the DC were about to accelerate, removing Rohit Sharma.
Delivering when it matters.

Wicket of Venugopal Rao to the last delivery of the spell was a bonus.


Well, I have memories of mostly hearing radio commentary when Kumble was in his pomp.
Here he was turning clock back, at his very best and it's a sight!

For this one reason, no great fan of IPL to start with, now I am a convert.

Thanks to Lalit Modi, decades from now, when I will be telling tales of Kumble to my grandchildren(:P), who may not be able to relate to test/one day match, I can always refer to the IPL-09 :-)

It's cliched, but let me say, 'Form of the game is temporary; Anil Kumble's class is permanent'

RCB Rocks

I know it's little too early, but win or lose, for the first time in the IPL history I was confident to cheer for RCB, and they pulled it off in style
Salute Kumble (Written on 14-03-06 repeated here here and here)

Three of my own lines :-)

May be it’s the rainy, cloudy, breezy, drizzly weather of Bengaluru now, 3 of my own lines here :-)

1) Like waves in the beach, you are, all the time on my mind, as the shore pushes back, waves go back, for a moment, only to come back, constantly, (little scary but!) so wonderful.

2) You are appearing & disappearing like moonlight on a cloudy night.

3) Are you really everywhere or is it that just I see? :P

(Image credits: www)

Classy

Btw it's Big B with the Dog :-)

The Perfect Indian Car - Skoda Yeti?

Sometime back, in the BBC's Auto Mag, Top Gear's editorail, Vardhan Kondvikar, articulated what was on my mind for quite sometime, a perfect Indian Car.

”My perfect Indian car would be a little SUV, priced about Rs 8 lakh with a punchy but small diesel engine, under 2.0 litres, with a manual gearbox. It won’t be immensely well equipped but it will have electric mirrors and windows, climate control and good plastics. ABS and airbags of course. And flexible seating for five, with split and tumble. It’ll feel like a proper shrunken SUV, and we’ll love it.”

He went on add that he had the Mitsubishi Pajero Pinin in mind, and also mentioned the failed Ford Fusion.

I am betting on the new Skoda Yeti just from initial impressions. (No road test reviews yet)

Based on the concept showcased in 2005, unveiled at Geneva Motor Show this March, it has just begun series production, and to be launched in India, early 2010(at around Rs 10 lakh?)

It seems to have all ingredients right. Hope it's priced right too.


Start saving :-)

Links

The Latest Incredible India Commercial

Fake IPL Player

What is the best comment in source code you have ever encountered?

Allure of Amrithapura & Beauty of Kundadri

Last week I had been to Amruthapura and Kundadri

Both the places are as awesome as they are underrated.
Two separate trips, full length posts here with loads of pictures and videos are required for even trying to do justice to the places.
I am going to do it someday, watch this space, but for the time being here’s a nice blog post, Trip to Kondadri and one, two, articles about Amruthapura

Well, it was my second visit to Amruthapura, and being from Malenadu I still went gaga over Kundadri.

In essence both the places are so very different, yet there is one thing in common, the mysterious charm.

Save Nanda Road

Jayanagar 4th Main road, which is known as Nanda Road/Rashtriya Vidyalaya or R.V. Road, runs from South end circle to 44th Cross in 5th block for almost 2 kilometers.


With well maintained parks and majestic trees on either side, it is one of the most beautiful roads, right in the middle of concrete jungle.
It’s a road I always loved to walk/drive. It never failed to Rejuvenate.
And it's in the danger of disappearing, courtesy Namma Metro.
(Yes Bengaluru has to progress, yes Metro is more than needed, but not at this cost. i.e. plan it better)
Hasiru Usiru is fighting to save it and some more of Namma Bengaluru natural heritage.
Here

Update:
They paved paradise, and put up a parkin' lot!

Thanks to Web 2.0

I come across stuff like this

1) 3D UI Interaction and some more of the very smart RIAs @ outsmart

2) Ignore Everybody @ gapingvoid

Virender Sehwag & Zen Lesson

If the ball is there to be I will hit it - Virender Sehwag

(Sometimes I suspect he added 'If' for the sake of it!)

It must be tough being Virender Sehwag.
For he made a mockery of established technique of batting.
For it seems that his motto is to hit the ball as hard as he can as often as he can.
Batting wasn’t supposed to be like this.

People who didn’t understand the man & his methods and called it madness.
They called him a slogger & his success a fluke.
He was expected die by the sword he lived by.

But after 9 years of living by his Mantra and in the process instilling fear in every opposition (Quoting any stats here would be an insult to the free spirit that he is) the cricketing world seems to be unanimous that he is a great. And he continues to entertain in his original, uninhibited, and inimitable style.

In 2003 at Australia having been warned some chin music by Aussie bowlers, Sehwag decided to play Bhangra & how. And on 195 he got out caught attempting to hit a full-toss out of the ground. More importantly he said afterwards that he would have done exactly the same if faced with the situation all over again. If anyone thought it’s false bravado, he blasted a six to reach his first triple-hundred a few months later in Pakistan. And that wasn't even a full-toss!

That’s when I fully realized the man’s genius.

He doesn’t need to open his mouth to cause mental disintegration in opposition!

My 3 favorite stories about the entertainer par excellence are below

1) Virender Sehwag was facing Pakistan’s medium-fast bowler Abdul Razzaq, who was reverse-swinging the ball, and the way the Indian handled him is narrated in an interesting story in Australia’s legendary spinner Shane Warne’s book.

“Sehwag came up to (his batting mate Jeremy) Snape and said: ‘We must lose this ball. I have a plan’. Next over he whacked the ball clean out of the ground, forcing umpires to pick another from the box that would obviously not reverse straight away.
To which Sehwag said: ‘We are alright for one hour.’ Smart I say.”

Such out of the box thinking and implementation, only Sehwag can :-)


2) When England came touring under Nasser Hussain, he had great success with negative tactics of bowling outside the leg stump using Ashely Giles. Sehwag, then batting low down the order, was sitting in the dressing room, fretting at the sight of his seniors struggling to play the wide of leg stump line with their pads, butts and other parts of the anatomy.

Sehwag blasted his mates and said wait till I get out there, I will teach him a lesson.

Sure enough, his chance came.

He charged down the wicket to loft him, reverse swept him, & then ran down the pitch to hit him... to all corners with such ferocity that within three overs he forced the Hussain to take Giles out of the attack.

Standing there and watching the balls go by is not his brand of cricket. For Sehwag it was the case of a bowler who was afraid to bowl more positive lines, up against a batsman who was unafraid to play his shots.

3) In one of the interviews Ganguly made an interesting revelation about Sehwag. "The best way to know how Sehwag's mind works is to sit next to him in the players' balcony when India are batting. Every few minutes he will clutch his head and yell, 'Chauka gaya' [missed out on a four] or 'Chakka gaya'[missed out on a six]. That's how he thinks, in fours and sixes."

Yes the bowlers always fancy their chances when they're bowling to Sehwag; it's only that Sehwag fancies his own chances much more.

Batsmen usually worry about the pitch, time of day, phase of innings, and quality of the bowler. For Sehwag the only thing matters is type of delivery.

Simple.

Absolute clarity of mind.

How many times we have watched him play and miss, and then the next delivery being carted out of the ground nonchalantly.

He does not care for what has just happened; free from the burden of past and uncertainty of future, he lives in the moment, and it is an exuberant one.

Isn’t that a great lesson for life...

Tata Nano - A Dream Becomes Reality

The man and The Machine

Like all the great human endeavors, it started with a by-now-famous dream.

Watching Indian families riding on two-wheelers - the father driving the scooter, his young kid standing in front of him, his wife seated behind him holding a little baby, Ratan Tata, conceived the People's Car, a safe, affordable, all-weather form of transport for such a family. And the goal was set at Rupees 1 Lakh.

It was an audacious move.

First they said it can’t be done.

Ratan Tata & his team marched on.

Then they said it will just be a glorified Auto.

Ratan Tata drove to 9th annual Auto Expo(first time unveiling), on January 10, 2008 at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi, India, a proper car at Rupees 1 lakh.

Damn all the naysayers.If it's good enough for Ratan Tata, it good enough for us too.

When a proud Ratan Tata said ‘A promise is a promise’, it was a statement, heard across the globe.

Obstacles were many, Singur fiasco, 26/11 terrorist attack on Taj, the flagship hotel of Tata Group and THE RECESSION.
(I am sure there many more which we are not aware)

It is said that 'A true knight is fuller of bravery in the midst, than in the beginning of danger.'

For the way Ratan Tata handled all the above & more, we just agree.

And finally today as it hits the road...Tata Nano , a 4 wheeled people mover which's so much more when viewed in totality, that it is bound to move many souls.

This is a moment to forget the recession, problems, and everyday chores of life, salute Ratan Tata and his team, and then soak in the applause as world sits up, takes notice and says WOW.

Couldn't help posting this

Linea vs Fiesta. You may like niether of the cars and that's not the point here!
Being a regular reader of Auto - Magazines, I can vouch that this has to be among the very best of automotive journalism.
Even if you are not an automobile enthusiast it’s worth a read.
Enjoy :-)

WOW

1) Sixth Sense Tech

2) Quote “A Karan Johar film attracts audiences in a way that a pile of shit would attract a swarm of flies”
:D
(Source PFC)

Rama Sene's Pub Attack + Pink Chaddi Campaign + Pink Condom Campaign

End Result for Me & You = Too Much Fun :-)

I thought the Mangalore Pub Attack by Rama Sene was a cheap publicity stunt.
Then the media outcry was plain silly.
But then this Pink Chaddi brigade outdid them both!
Quite logically(!) the next one came, The Pink Condom Campaign

After so long, just when the temptation to blog overcame the reason, that it's all inconsequential, I found one from greatbong as good as it can get :-)

For all the entertainment, Jai Rama Sene, Love You Pink Chaddi Women, & Sorry Pink Condom People :P

Well, I never thought days of recession can be so much fun :-)

Road To Success

Very thoughtful.


Tripped on this (old) one and couldn't resist posting. Thanks to Swapna for fwd via email.

AR Rahman - Top 10 Hindi Movie Albums

Any work from Rahman is special and choosing the best is like choosing among gems...
So there will be disagreement, but below is my favorites list, in chronological order.
(Before we start, the near misses are Bombay, Earth & Meenaxi)

1) Roja – First one’s always special and boy, wasn’t it…
Best Song: Chhoti Si Asha, it all began with this, the song that catapulted Rahman into greatness and got me hooked to music forever.

2) Rangeela – Rahman’s first true foray into Hindi film music elevating it to an all new different level.
Best Song: Tanha Tanha, it will always remain special(:P) to my generation, an emotional bond of growing up days!

3) Dil Se – Rated by many as maestro’s best work.
Best Song: E Ajnabi, it's simple, beautiful lyrics & music, Udit Naryanan’s rendition of voice takes the song to higher altitudes.
Haunting, 'once in a lifetime' stuff.

4) Taal – It so nearly dethroned ‘Dil Se’ from Rahman’s best work. Well...
Best Song: Nahin Saamne, Hariharan at his best, a song that will touch your soul every time you listen. Ethereal.

5) Takshak – All Rahman albums take time to get addicted, but this one takes the longest and then gets you hooked completely.
The album and each song’s so very different and my favorite here changes every time I listen :-)

6) Lagaan – A timeless classic.
Best Song: O Paalanhare, “A great album is like a bhajan" Rahman had said once and here's a beautiful Krishna bhajan which's a musical masterpiece.

7) Saathiya - Mostly South Indian tunes, rich & enthralling.
Best Song: Saathiya, Gulzar’s lyrics are a breath of fresh air and syrupy sweet vocals of Sonu Nigam do wonders.

8) Swades – An album that’s earthy, pure and has an inexplicable special charm about it.
Best Song: Ye Jo Des Hai Tera, Rahman's best as singer, even long after you have switched off the music, the song keeps playing inside your heart.

9) Rang De Basanti – Considering the range & variety this has to be the most complete Rahman album.
Best Song: Roobaroo, OMG it beat the ‘Luka Chuppi’, can you believe it!

10) Slumdog Millionaire – WOW.
Best Song: One of my friends succinctly put it “Best work from the combo of three of India’s finest ever, Rahman, Gulzar & Sukvinder”
JAI HO.

Update 1: Where do I fit in Dilli6 now? Every time I listen, it's becoming tougher not to:-)

Update 2: Two more trophies to the maestro and this time it's Oscar :-)

How Apt - Considering the times we live in

No Parking!

I was trying to find a parking space in this street in Koramangala, Bengaluru.
And found these warnings in the below order!











Wisely I took a U turn and got out of the street :-)

Best Of Me

This is a shameless self promotion post!

12 of the very best of my blog posts so far, handpicked by none other than me :P

2008
Just One Last Thing
Road Trip Diary-8 Days,8 People,2 Cars,2478.3 kms and some 1000 snaps:-)
Snapshot from ‘Life at a Traffic Signal’ :-)

2007
India’s journey to T20 final...
My favorite Worldcup moment...
A moment in life :-)

2006
PAUSE effect!
Anil Kumble, A true champion

2005
Reclaim your life
Kukke Subrahmanya - Wanna be Brand Ambassador of my place!
Steve Jobs and Innovation
Journey of thots...

If you want to keep them coming to your inbox, subscription box is on the right side :-)
Also don't forget to keep clicking on the shiny google ads on the top & help me make some money.
Recession times are here!

Saluting Anil Kumble, the greatest warrior of Indian Cricket

Anil Kumble, A true champion

Bryan Adams Top 5

(A prologue would be a misfit here!)

Everything I do: My personal favorite :-)

Look into my eyes - you will see
What you mean to me
Search your heart - search your soul
And when you find me there you’ll search no more
Don’t tell me it’s not worth tryin’ for
You can’t tell me it’s not worth dyin’ for
You know it’s true
Everything I do - I do it for you

True love & passion. Perfect combo of lyrics, guitar and vocals . Well, easiest way to your dear one’s heart :-)

Summer of 69: Classic, (half) the world recognizes Bryan Adams by this song. A song filled with energy, passion and the thirst for fun.
Love the way it starts and keeps the tempo going till the end. This is a song that you can listen to all the time.
It has a certain mysterious quality. Can pick up the mood any time of the day :-)

Please forgive me: If this song doesn’t touch heart then what will? A beautiful love song, probably one of the best ever. Eternal vocals, great guitar notes, and lyrics, mushy at places, sentimental at some, a complete love song.

Have you ever really loved a woman: Anyone who wants to learn how to win over a girl’s heart must listen to this song :-)

His voice never sounded better. And the entire lyrics go here

To really love a woman
To understand her - you gotta know her deep inside
Hear every thought - see every dream
N’ give her wings - when she wants to fly
Then when you find yourself lyin’ helpless in her arms
Ya know ya really love a woman
When you love a woman you tell her
that she’s really wanted
When you love a woman you tell her that she’s the one
Cuz she needs somebody to tell her
that it’s gonna last forever
So tell me have you ever really
- really really ever loved a woman?
To really love a woman
Let her hold you -
til ya know how she needs to be touched
You’ve gotta breathe her - really taste her
Til you can feel her in your blood
N’ when you can see your unborn children in her eyes
Ya know ya really love a woman
When you love a woman
you tell her that she’s really wanted
When you love a woman you tell her that she’s the one
Cuz she needs somebody to tell her
that you’ll always be together
So tell me have you ever really -
really really ever loved a woman?
You got to give her some faith - hold her tight
A little tenderness - gotta treat her right
She will be there for you, takin’ good care of you
Ya really gotta love your woman...

Here I am: Just when you thought Bryan Adams magic’s fading, here came this song and I have been listening ever since… even as I write this…

Raghu Dixit: Indo-World_Folk-Rock: Music that's Really Different and Definitely Rocks

One fine morning on the way to office, “Ninna Poojege Bande mahadeshwara...” a fresh, deep, throaty/grungy voice, burst from FM.
Beats were western, but a voice that’s folksy!...
Interesting, but I still tried ignoring it as some crazy chap/one song wonder, as is the norm these days in the world of reality shows/3 minutes fame.

But when I heard it the second time, I just got hooked. There’s something magical about it that it’s so enchanting.

I couldn’t help googling and got introduced to the world of Raghu Dixit


Raghu Dixit at "Namaste India” in Tokyo, thanks to my friend Prithvi for the photo :-)

Raghu Dixit’s music is a seamless amalgamation of Indian beats and sounds from around the world, befittingly labeling his music as Indo World Folk Rock.

A gold medalist in Masters in Microbiology and a proficient Indian classical dancer in Bharatnatyam, Raghu Dixit, is now a self-taught guitarist-singer-composer-songwriter, strumming guitar wearing colorful lungis, anklets and beads!
His successful first band Antaragni(meaning ‘the fire within'), that was the rage at college festivals and music tours, and shows, finally broke up in 2005. In his own words “We were always on the edge of something great. That itself was a great turmoil. Despite all this, we would perform mostly for free or very little money.”
Not the one to make compromises in music, he still kept that ‘fire within’ burning and after 9 long years, the album, finally produced by Bollywood musician duo Vishal-Shekar was out in February 2008.

Words of Vishal and Shekar sum it the best.

“Raghu Dixit makes music that we love to listen to. It's honest, beautiful and moves one in an almost primal way. You can feel each note, each word, and each texture of his soul! The sound, the energy, the fury, the passion, the emotion, the simplicity, everything that music should be about is right here in this album. Raghu has this huge voice and sings unlike anything you've ever heard before. Backed up by a band that obviously feels his music, this album is truly a self-propelled, irresistible creative journey through the uniquely personal vibe of Raghu Dixit.” - Vishal and Shekar

Here’s a review

“I confess I was desperate to get my songs heard. When a musician says ‘I play for my own joy and satisfaction’ I don’t believe it one bit,” he says. After Antaragni disintegrated, he decided he won’t have a fixed band. The Raghu Dixit Project today is a floating group of musicians who play together, with each song left to the musician’s interpretation.

His debut film music, in Kannada, Psycho has created a sensation and the song ‘Ninna Poojege...’ is the current rage.

Namma Kannadadha huduga antha swalpa jaasti khushi :-)

He has a cult following & he's on a world tour as well.
Well I hope, as they say, it’s just the beginning.
The dude makes music that’s really different and definitely rocks.
And the world is waiting...

Just One Last Thing

You won a series against a strong Pakistan team single handedly at Toronto. Well, against Pakistan, it's always more special.

You taught us how to celebrate, after winning the Natwest series finals. It was more than just winning a cup, it was a statement, after being bullied for years, on the world stage, 'Now, it's our turn'

You had the guts to stand up to the ugly Aussie and beat them in their own game of so called ‘mental disintegration’, in 2003. Like you once famously said “We know, and they know, that we can beat them” and then beat them and how...

You lead from front and set the tone at Brisbane with a back to the wall, blistering 144. India playing in Australia has never been the same again.

You didn’t give up during that worst phase of your life, and made a deserving, fairy tale comeback. Simply heroic

Yes we agree that, on the off side there’s God and then there’s you.
And when you came charging down the track to those spinners, we never had an iota of doubt, going up screaming “SIX”, and you never let us down.

Well, with you more than the stats(&controversies!), it’s always the emotional connect.

You always wore your heart on the sleeve, never backing away from a fight, with the visible passion and the naked aggression that made us stand up from seat and shout, “GO, GIVE IT TO THEM”.

Thanks to all those moments of sheer joy.
When you go out for the last time, head held high, we owe you a standing ovation.
Goodbye dear Sourav Ganguly.
The memories will stay.

Storytelling...

Here's Bhimsen (episode 10), Mahabharata from the point of view of the Pandava Bhima , an English-language re-telling of M T Vasudevan Nair’s Randaamoozham, as a series of blog posts, by Prem Panicker.
It’s just brilliant.
Archives in sequence here
(Note: the website is problematic, so refresh/reload a couple of times if it doesn't open at first try.)

I am hooked to it, events unfolding as if real.
Takes me back to childhood days, reminding me of my grandpa, a narrator par excellence. Apart from Ramayana & Mahabharata, which he translated to mother tongue from Sanskrit, he had his own amazing hunting experiences to narrate, which’s still so vivid in my memory.

With the choice of words, voice modulation, gestures and pauses, storytelling is an art tough to master and listening to a master storyteller is such a wonderful experience. Ah, those days...

Road Trip Diary - 8 Days, 8 People, 2 Cars, 2478.3 kms and some 1000 snaps :-)

One of my close friends, Raghu, moved to USA, last weekend and this one's for him, wishing him fun filled times ahead :-)
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We had 8 people packed in 2 cars and a draft plan for 8 days, to start with and by the time we were back in Bangalore, we had loads of moments for lifetime.


‘Live For The Journey, Not The Destination’ never sounded more true.

Route:
(31-08-08 6 AM) Bangalore -> Belgaum -> Amboli Ghat -> Ganapathi Phule -> Mahabaleshwar -> Panchgani -> Pune -> Ganpati Temple -> Lonavala-> Sinhgad –> Kolhapur-> Davangere -> Bangalore (07-09-08 9 PM)

Instead of covering the entire stuff (which deservers too many words/photos and still can’t do justice) here I recall few moments.

1) 2nd day of the trip, lot of travelling, and not much fun (yet), first spot ‘Amboli Ghat’ wasn’t all that great and we were heading to Ratnagiri. And after reaching Ratnagiri, we realized that we actually had to go to Ganapathi Phule beach. Desperate to hit the beach for sunset, we kept on travelling on the narrow road, heading nowhere. No sign of beach yet. With sun about to set, our energy levels dipping, patience running out asking for directions, inconsistent signposts only adding to the frustration, mood was blue. All of a sudden, out of the blue, road took a curve and then we screamed with glee...

Magnificent Sea, behind the greenary, beautiful sand & beach, Sun turning orange and about to set. Clouds covering half the Sun.
It was like nature wearing a sari, hint of clouds hiding a part of the beauty, or was it revealing the other half? :-)

A moment in memory, that’s forever.


2) 3rd day, driving to Mahabaleshwar through never ending scenery, after lot of stops & snaps at picturesque locations, it was evening and sun was fading, we thought we had seen everything...till we saw it. As the cars screeched to halt, if sky’s the canvas, that’s the most beautiful painting we have ever seen, with sun setting behind the mountain, and sky, and there were all shades of blue, white, orange…well, all colors possible. One of us wanted to see stomach full before taking any pictures and other one quipped, taking a photo is doing injustice to the scene. And then magically there was cloud and mist/fog covering everything. Those few minutes were enough to wash away from the soul the dust of everyday life :-)


In the background nature played music, interrupted once in a while by passing vehicles with their lights fighting to pierce the fog, a battle which fog won hands down. It’s the most wonderful drive ever, with nature revealing herself in all her unhidden beauty and the ghat section roads - silently screaming – 'Come but be gentle on my curves'...

3) 4th day, Mahabaleshwar to Panchagani, lot of view points, but the Kate Point’s the one that takes your breath away. It’s a place which has almost everything you can ask for in a view point. River, mountains, hint of roads through them, streams and waterfalls, a dam, rock, trees & fields, flowers…and of course monkeys make it complete!


We saw the cloud filling in and covering the entire area, clearing again to tease us and re fill and hide the beauty. As we left the place truly on ‘Cloud 9’, there was more. We saw the sky painted with rainbow, well 2 of them together….


Bhagavan Jab Deta Hai, Chappar phad ke deta hai!

This was a day I think we should have gambled! We were walking through famous ‘Table Land’ in Panchgani which’s around 2km stretch. Suddenly, as is the norm in these areas, it looked like it’s going to pour. There was no shelter in sight & we had no umbrellas/rainwear. Just then we saw a sign board pointing downwards, to a cave hotel, right there where we were standing. As we reached inside that amazing place it started raining hard. We had fun inside with tea & snacks, walk through a cave inside and photo session. After nearly 2 hrs just when we were contemplating having to make a dash in the rain, it did stop, just before the deadline :-)
It was one of the days, lady luck kept smiling at us.(As a matter of fact, one of us did gamble and win, a water bottle by throwing a ring :P)

4) 5th day, on the way back from Lonavala - Sahara City, we stopped beside the road, in a scenic location, though it was hard to see anything beyond 10 meters in the mist. As we were making merry in the cold breeze, a voice shot from behind the mist!
“Saab, Chai?”
“YES 8 cups” screamed our collective voices, though we couldn’t see where the voice’s coming from. And we couldn’t actually believe our luck until a person appeared from mist and delivered tea!
Tea can never taste better….as we sipped slowly…well sometimes you really don’t have to die to be in heaven :-)


There were moments aplenty and I have tried hard to relive some of those, but the end result seems to be an exposure of my limitations as a writer :-(

Well, beyond that considering the fun we had, wise man would end saying 'words and languages (& photographs) have limitations...' :-)