Dr.Y.S.Rajashekar Reddy (1949 - 2009)

The news of the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Dr.Y.S.Rajashekar Reddy's chopper missing since yesterday sent shockwaves throughout the state. The worst fears of everyone came true when the wreckage of his chopper was spotted on a hill in Nallamala forests adjoining the Kurnool district.

The confirmation of his death today brings to an end the story of one who although was controversial has battled adversity all by himself. It's one of the strangest ironies of life that a man who bought his party back to power in the recently held 2009 elections against the worst predictions of his sceptics wasn't so lucky himself.

I am not a big fan of YSR but the way he came to power after the former Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu was defeated in the elections after 10 years in power is a text book example of how politicians can win people's hearts. He travelled more than a 1000 kilometers by foot in the scorching sun meeting villagers and farmers. He even took a shower staying with the villagers. Cut back to 2009 his was a one man show and he proved all his critics wrong. He was the only man in the Congress which normally interferes in the decision making of the state units who told Sonia to just trust him which Sonia did. It was a calculated risk. If YSR would have lost, he would have been literally banished into oblivion. But the fact that Congress won a majority in the state assembly and returned a lion's chunk of parliament seats proved him right.

As a voter, Congress was never my favourite party as I hold it responsible for most of the problems. However giving the credit where it is due inspite of corruption charges against him, the phenomenal rise of his son Y.S Jaganmohan Reddy especially his business interests and the Satyam scam, YSR was a towering personality. The calm confidence exuded by him meant that the state was in secure hands. The experience gleaned from his padayatra (as mentioned above) helped him gauge the pulse of rural farmers. The NREGS (National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme) which worked quite well in the state providing livelihood for atleast 100 days in a year and rural housing scheme for the poor were some of his creditable achievements. On the downside free power to farmers even when the state had a power deficit was not a sensible decision.

He wasn't in awe of even international leaders except Sonia. A case in point was when the former United States President George Bush visited the agricultural university in Hyderabad. Unlike many who fawn over foreign dignitaries he just sent one of his officials to represent the state.

Today is a sad day in the history of Andhra Pradesh. In all this, one should also not forget the people - pilot group captain S K Bhatia, co-pilot captain M S Reddy, special secretary P Subrahmanyam, chief security officer ASC Wesley who perished in the accident along with Dr.Y.S.Rajashekar Reddy. May their soul rest in peace.

(Image courtesy: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/techsatishtelugu_ysrajasekar+reddy.jpg)

Trees take years to grow.

Rain drops on the leaves, grass and the smell of the rain soaked earth. All these are part of the excitment that rains bring. Yesterday it didn't rain, it poured. Thankfully I was @ home but enjoyed the sounds of rain water flowing from the terrace.

Finally it seems that the monsoon which almost vanished this year has finally arrived. Today morning's news article about the rains which lashed the city almost sounded prophetic. On a personal note I am also happy for the farmers who were desperate for rains, it maybe late however they can salvage something out of it.

The other thing which I wanted to mention here is the news of film actor Shahrukh Khan's questioning at the Newark airport in U.S. Indian fans have been very critical of the treatment of their star. However as many have pointed maybe we should learn a thing or two from the authorities in the U.S. We have a VIP culture here. Ordinary passengers are frisked and someone like Robert Vadra is exempted from frisking (when even the three service chiefs are not exempted) just because he happens to be the husband of the daughter of India's most powerful women politician. No prizes for guessing who it is.

Even gods are not spared. Tirupathi famous for its richest donations after the Vatican gives the red carpet treatment for politicians, ministers, industrialists and filmstars. All these @ the expense of ordinary pilgrims.

I was frisked at the Heathrow airport in UK, I took off my shoes and was body searched just like other passengers. However I didn't mind it. After all the officials are doing their job and its for our own safety. For once, someone from the film industry had the courage to swim against the tide. As film actor Salman Khan rightly said that there has been no attacks in the US after 9/11. He too has faced similar treatment and as long as a minor section from one community continue to indulge in acts which threaten national security the other innocents will continue to suffer.

We need to pick a leaf from the US and get rid of our VIP culture. Western culture may have its drawbacks but there are also certain good things like rules which are the same for everyone whether its a senator, movie star or ex-presidents.

(Image courtesy: http://www.allposters.com/gallery.asp?aid=266757310)
(Image courtesy: http://www.bollywoodpicturesgallery.com/pictures/shahrukh08.htm)

Its the most yuckiest job. We all use it every morning when we discharge our waste. Yes I am taking about cleaning the toilet bowl which maybe Indian or the western commode.

I had my first brush with cleaning the loo when I was doing a part-time job in New Zealand. My supervisor who was a lady gave me the broom and the liquid to clean the men's toilet. She said she will take care of the women's toilet. Now I have never done this before. I just stared at her and told her frankly that I haven't done it before.

However my Supervisor insisted that I do it. Now I was at my wits end. I didn't want to disobey my supervisor as it was also a question of my job. I went to the men's toilet, thankfully there was only one western toilet. I started the cleaning job with a heavy heart thinking what I was doing in India and what am I doing here. Now the best part is that once I finished cleaning the loo I wasn't embarrassed anymore. In fact looking at the sparking toilet bowl there was a deep sense of satisfaction.

I have come a long way since then. Now even though I am back in India, every week I clean the toilet bowl myself. Its not an easy job alright however its a great leveler. Every time I do it I just can't stop admiring the sparkling toilet bowl :)

(Image Source: http://www.darkcreek.com/toilets)

All new borns look cute whether they belong to humans or animals. It makes me sometimes wonder as to why the same babies when they grow up more often than not don't look so cute.

Now at my place there is a female cat which gave birth to 3 kittens. The kittens are so pretty. The place is outside near our staircase. They cuddle one another, play mischievously and the best part is when they climb the stairs. You should see the look in their eyes which is full of innocence. The kittens have now started taking baby steps. Whenever we try to approach the kitten, their mom who is always around gives a worried look.

The not so good thing is the mess they leave around just like human babies :(

Ideally the month of June in India is the time when the monsoons should have begun. It's now July and so far we have received scanty rainfall and the same situation prevails all over India however its worse in Northern India.

I am a bit worried as scanty rainfall means less water flowing into the river(s) and conversely less water in the reservoirs/dams. The end result is less water flowing from the dams to the common people. So how will people survive without drinking water. The affluent ones can afford a water tanker however what about people in general. There is a report which states that in the future wars will be fought over water. Scenes of people sparring over water in a town in Madhya Pradesh even leading to the death of a person means that the reality is much closer at our door step than we think.

Our crops are dependent on rainfall and lesser rains would mean that the crop acreage would shrink. Lesser crops implies lesser food grains in the market creating a demand supply gap. Now that as we know leads to rise in the food prices. The food inflation is quite high in India unlike the western countries. I recently bought half kilo gram of Tur Dal (Pulses) from the nearby grocery store and the price of Rs.48 shocked me. Now Dal is one of the essential items for an average Indian. The price of Dal is just one of the symptoms of a larger malaise.

The problem is how do we get out of this vicious cycle. To begin with, we are too much dependent on rain. We don't have water conservation efforts replicated on a national scale. Instead of having a long term approach towards solving the water woes, our short-sighted approach sees us every year literally at the mercy of a good monsoon. One of the side effects of deficiency in monsoons is the shortage in power generation. Adding fuel to the fire of transmission and distribution (popularly known as T&D) losses in the power sector apart from pilferage of power is the free distribution of power to farmers. A truant monsoon can lead to lower generation of power from the hydel projects. At this pace, how do you jump start the economy towards a double digit growth. We say that India is a rising power however when even the basic needs are not met, our dreams will be just that... a mirage.

(Image Source: http://www.google.co.in/imgres?imgurl=http://www.mycen.com.my/sightings_pics/rain_clouds.jpg)

Yesterday was a sad day for me. Michael Jackson or more popularly know as MJ, the king of pop is no more. During my growing up years, my first exposure to western music was through MJ. His music videos, hit tracks like Beat It, Black and White, the dancing talent all made him a powerhouse of talent. I guess its the same with millions of his fans worldwide. He was a cult icon. Although, the last few years his career may have been overshadowed by his personal affairs he still was someone who was adored by his fans. Starting his career at the age of six years when most people are still grasping the nitty gritties of life he was someone special.

It also begs some questions. I sometimes wonder why do people who have such amazing talent have a meteoric rise and then their fall is equally steep. Michael, we will miss you :(


Today I watched the movie "New York" starring John Abraham (Sam aka Sameer Sheikh), Katrina Kaif (Maya), Neil Nitin Mukesh (Omar) and Irrfan Khan (Roshan).

The story is about 3 friends and how their friendship is torn apart afer the 9/11 attacks. Of course it has a romantic angle as well.

9/11 attacks was a tragic day in our history and the subsequent events made things worse especially for ethnic minorities. This theme forms the background for the movie. The revelation in the movie is Katrina Kaif. She does finally learn how to emote apart from looking drop dead gorgeous :) . Of course it's not completely a flawless performance. Some of such scenes are when Maya confesses her love to Sam. It looked very superficial. The scenes I liked were the ones involving Omar and Roshan. Their humour against the serious story line not only gives comic relief but also brings an intense chemistry between the characters. The scene which nearly brought me to tears was when Sam is in detention and undergoes torture right from being stripped naked in a caged prison to being peed on by the cops. It was just too chilling and horrifying.

The characters which stand out strongly are Roshan who is an FBI officer (played brilliantly by Irrfan Khan) and Omar who comes to the United States to pursue his studies. Cinematography is good and captures the whole essence of New York. Music by Pritam as usual is good fare. My favourite is the slow song "Tum Ne Jo Haan kahan main wo sunta rahan" apart from "Hain Junoon". Kabir Khan who had earlier directed Kabul Express does extract some good peformances from his lead actors. The movie seems a sincere effort. You can see it in the climax when despite the tragedy, there is a ray of hope. I don't want to play spoil sport by revealing too much :)

(Image Source: http://www.topnews.in/light/files/michael-jackson.jpg)
(Image Source: http://movie.webindia123.com/movie/asp/movie.asp?m_id=348&movie=New+York&display=wallpaper)

We see a lot of movies made on cops. In India especially Bollywood/Tollywood movies, the majority of them portray cops in a negative light, of course there are small exceptions.

We had an altercation with our neighbour and I visited the Police Station to lodge a complaint. It was the worst experience and I believe that one should have guts of steel to visit a police station in India. There were people sitting on the floor and then a senior cop comes out. He starts shouting at the people crouched on the floor and starts hitting them with his shoes. The Sub Inspector of Police whom I went to meet seemed to fly into a rage at the drop of a hat. In the span ranging from a few minutes to hours there were people dropping in with all sorts of horror stories. It seems it was too much for the SI and he was losing his cool.

This cop walks out and starts beating up a man with a bamboo stick right in front of everyone. I felt sick in my stomach. What else can I say except that it was a nauseating experience. I met this guy who had lost his passport and wanted the cops signature for getting his duplicate passport issued. He has been visiting the Police Station for the past 4 days and was supposed to travel to UK in a weeks time. I asked him about his experience dealing with the cops. He pointed at one of the constables and told me that he is the worst guy he has dealt with. This cop was asking him money for getting a duplicate passport issued. I felt sorry for the guy.

There was this lady who visited the Police Station to complain against her drunken husband who was subjecting her to physical and verbal abuse. The lady asked me whether it was okay to file charges against her husband. I told her that if she kept quiet, things are only going to get worse. She was apprehensive that her husband would be released after a few days in detention and then torture her even more.

She was from a poor family and the police it seems were not willing to register her complaint. She was sobbing along with her mother. I felt the pain of the lady.

Overall the impression which Indians have about Indians cops seems more or less correct. Reality bites and in India it bites hard.
(Image Source: http://media.photobucket.com/image/cops/TRAVi3SO_702/643_oh_no_its_the_cops-1.jpg?o=14)

The scorching summer sun has made life miserable with temperatures hovering around 40+ degrees especially in cities like Hyderabad. Coupled with power cuts it keeps getting worse. On the lighter side, I go to work daily but with the crazy summer going to office has become a compulsion coz that's where you can enjoy the comfort of an air conditioned environment without paying the attendant electricity bills :)

(Image source: http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/watchdog/blog/sun_main.jpg)
The election results were announced on 16th May and personally I am disappointed with the results. I am not sure where my vote went and literally puzzled at the voting trends of the people. I am not insulting their intelligence here but not sure whether they voted with their head or heart. The one saving grace is that the Left parties will no longer be a part of the government and remote controlling every decision of the government.

The world's largest electoral democracy as we know, went to the polls today. 1st phase polling was held today and I was more than enthusiastic casting my vote. The last time I cast my vote was in 1998 when we had a paper ballot system.

This time the excitement was all the more palpable as I was curious to know about the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM). We may not be a perfect democracy looking at the way money and liquor has been used to woo the voters. However seeing the indelible mark on my finger I am proud of the fact that when we compare ourselves to our neighbours we are much better off atleast in having a say in electing our representatives.

The EVM is a simple machine which records our vote at the press of a button in a jiffy. People will miss the excitement of putting a stamp on the ballot paper but things change. Technology has played a large role in reducing wastage of time, efficient reuse of resources and faster declaration of results. The EVM is one such device which is also user friendly.

Holding such a mammoth election exercise is no small feat. The credit truly must go to the Election Commission of India which has a come a long way from being a silent spectator to becoming the people's watchdog.
(Image source: http://www.bel-india.com/BELWebsite/images/EVM.jpg)

Beleaguered, tainted, fraud-hit...these are some of the words which were used to describe Satyam (my employer). Satyam scam as Prannoy Roy of NDTV rightly put it was actually a Raju scam. Satyam is a great company. Truth they say has a ring to it. Nothing is farther from truth.

As an employee of the company I am relieved that we have finally found a new owner in Tech Mahindra. I admire Anand Mahindra (Chairman of the Mahindra group) for turning around the company when it was in the dumps a few years back. Launching the Scorpio was a calculated risk which not only restored the company's brand image but also made an impact on the export market.

Taking over of Satyam is just the beginning. The tough challenge lies ahead. There is one positive thing about the whole process. That even though Satyam fraud was a blot on India's corporate image, the redeeming feature has been that the government hasn't nationalized the company and allowed the market forces to dictate the agenda. It did supersede the board but that was quite understandable and the need of the hour.
(Image source:http://ceoworld.biz/ceo/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/satyam-logo.jpg)

I turned a year older yesterday. When I look back at the years gone by, it's been one hell of a roller coaster journey. Of course there have been moments of pain and moments of ecstasy.

I am not sure what's in store for this year however it will be my endeavour to achieve the best possible result. I celebrated my birthday by distributing toffees to my colleagues and then cutting a cake once I reached home. It was a double delight for me as I also received my Business Management Program certification although it was only of 2 months duration :)

How does one feel when their eyes feast on the lush green grass. For the past 2 days I worked hard to recreate a mini garden just in front of my house. I have this satisfaction that whatever I visualized has come true. It did burn a hole in my pocket but in the end it was worth it.

We engaged some labourers to to excavate the earth which was littered with concrete and replace it with freshly dug out red mud. The carpet grass was then laid on the mud and wow it's just looking awesome. There was some cute plants planted in between the grass. Our neighbours can just look and stare :)
(Image Source: http://www.chemistryland.com/CHM107Lab/Lab5/Soil/green_grass.jpg)

What's it about hair that makes people go nuts. Today when I was commuting by bus I saw a lady with scanty hair on her head. She was obviously losing hair very fast. Her forehead was bare and clearly visible. I wondered as to what was going through her mind when people were staring at her.


One of the worst nightmares which everyone has when it comes to their appearance is about their crowning glory. We all love people who have beautiful hair and empathize with those who don't. Katrina Kaif, Sushmitha Sen, Priyanka Chopra, Shahrukh Khan, Shilpa Shetty are some of the celebrities who come to mind when one thinks of beautiful hair. Hritik Roshan in one of his candid interviews has stated that his worst fear was of losing hear. Well we know why...here is a clue...Papa Rakesh Roshan :) So it's all in the genes did one say.

People fear the worst when they start losing hair. Even I am sometimes apprehensive about my hair but touchwood so far except for the slight hair loss near my temple there hasn't been any serious concern. Hang on...Bald is in too. Look at Vin Diesel. So people needn't despair :)
(Image Source: http://www.hairfinder.com/)

Over the past 4 weeks, I have been hitting the gym quite frequently. It's been more than a year since I left gymming. Ever since I have come back home, the growing sign of prosperity has been my paunch. Thanks to mom's pampering, I have gained a good amount of fat especially in the abdomen area.

I was alarmed when I looked at my paunch and decided to take action. It's been a lot of hardwork but the results have begun to show. My waistline has started to trim down and my stamina has increased. I also feel a bit lighter and energetic. There is a spring in my stride. Now my effort is to maintain the consistency so that I get a lean and mean body. My favorite is the cardio where I burn upto 240 calories and then the workout for the abs. The weight training part takes care of the muscles.
(Image source: http://www.hyatt.com/hyatt/pure/_flash/images/gym.jpg)

Yes we can...

Today it's history in the making. The United States of America will be getting its 44th president, the one with an unusual name Barack Hussein Obama and the first black president.

I am writing this even as I am glued to the television watching Obama's presidential inauguration.


Presidents come and go but they rarely influence the thinking of people outside America. This time around there is an excitement in the air and I can literally feel it. When Clinton became POTUS (President of the United States) he was very popular but his election was seen by many especially outside the U.S as just a change which ushered in a popular man at the helm .

(Image source: http://www.dmiblog.com/archives/barack_obama.jpg)

George Bush during his eight years tenure might not have made many friends but yes, there was no dearth of enemies :) As an Indian though, I feel that we may have lost a good friend in the white house but yes who knows about the future.

I have keenly followed Obama's journey from the time he won primaries of the democratic party to finally winning the party nomination. He may be inexperienced when compared to his peers but he showed that "Change is indeed possible". His slogan "Yes we can" and strong oratorical skills resonated across the american people and the world. The message of change saw many an experienced veteran like Hillary Clinton, John Mc Cain and other opponents who saw Obama as a novice bite the dust. The tide has turned and how.

What has particularly impressed me is that Obama charted a different path by taking into his cabinet those people who didn't have any good things to say about him particularly during the intense and bruising primaries. Hillary Clinton, his bitter critic and opponent is the Secretary of State designate. He has retained Robert Gates as the defence secretary. His other appointments has been equally impressive. His "Cabinet of Rivals" approach is refreshing. Sure there were questions asked as to what change does one bring by nominating same old faces in their cabinet. But then Obama also recognised the fact that people like Hillary can be an invaluable asset with their impressive credentials. His choice of Vice-President elect Biden for his foreign policy experience was spot on. Contrast that to Sarah Palin.

The only thing to watch out is once the excitement dies down, will Obama who has enormous expectations from the people live upto it? This is a question only time can tell. But for now we can only say that "Change has indeed come to America"

Stealing is a crime. What I did today, definitely can be termed stealing. I was looking for this vaccum catcher which one can stick on the glass. The first time I went to the supermarket looking for it, I couldn't purchase it as it didn't have a bar-code. Now I desperately needed it for the small teddy bear I had purchased.

Cut to today, I had made my mind to somehow steal the catcher. Except for a minor hiccup I did succeed. Even though it was a small damaged vaccum catcher, my conscience was wracked with guilt. As I tried to pocket it, I warily looked at the overhead cameras and then when I assumed I was safe headed towards the checkout counter. I could only take a deep breath after coming out of the super market. But it's definitely not a good idea. I still can't believe that I did such a thing but I realized that everyone does have an inner conscience, the one which we had read in our Moral Science text books at school.

The last week has been quite dramatic. My employer seems to be in trouble and it has come as a shock not only to me but also thousands of employees. These are challenging times and we are in the midst of a recesssion.

Well never expected such a thing to happen but it's always better to be prepared. Moving on to another topic. Slumdog Millionaire is one movie I am very eager to watch. I am hoping and praying that I get to watch it first day, first show.

Bye bye 2008 and welcome 2009. I am not sure what to look forward to in the New Year. However what I do wish is that our cities and the world should be relatively peaceful and safer. On the personal front, I do have a wishlist. Things which didn't happen last year I am hoping will work out this year :)

Two small girls are searching for something in their house when they stumble on a vintage old coin. Excited by the find they take a stroll outside the street and sight a vendor selling a coloured ice candy. Unable to resist the temptation the girls give the old coin to the vendor. The vendor thinks that it's a worthless coin and returns it to the girls.

The girls are disappointed and sit alongside the pavement. A boy approaches them and gets to know the problem. He takes the coin from the girls and rides his bicycle to the nearest antique shop. He gets some money in exchange for the old coin from the antique vendor. He gifts the coloured ice candy to the two girls. The girls are pleasantly surprised and one can sense their gratitude to the boy through their expressive eyes. This is an ad for Tata Capital. It's a very touching ad which sends a message in a subtle way.

The last couple of days my dinner has been taken care of. I attended a wedding on friday night and a family outing on Saturday night which was sponsored by my sister's employer Google. I have been gorging on food and seen my waistline expand.

And today there is one more wedding I have to attend. Last night was truly knocking. There was fun and frolic at Jal Vihar a hangout at the necklace road near Hussainsagar lake. After a long time I grooved to the music and shook my leg :) The only sore point was the stench pervading the air obviously from the lake. It's sad that lake which was one of the main attractions of the twin cities has turned to a dumping ground for industrial effluents. People too have played a part by littering the waste.

(Image source: Yahoo news)

My favourite channel now-a-days is NDTV and CNN-IBN closely following the news on Mumbai terror attacks. The sight of slain NSG Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan's mother caressing and kissing her son oblivious to the attention of people nearby was poignant and touching.

The small baby which lost its jewish parents and was rescued by a nanny or a family of five which lost its sole bread winner makes you wonder what's it that the terrorists have gained by wreaking such mayhem whatever their cause. No matter which religion they belong to...killing, maiming or slaughtering innocents is definitely not on. I have not seen heaven or hell however if the terrorists were sure their acts would become a pathway to heaven, no it isn't...they deserve to burn in hell.

I am back afer a long hiatus. The last blog I published was in October. Today I completed 1 year with my current organization. I believe that is a milestone considering my track record :)

The events of the last few weeks has been quite tragic. There was the terror attacks apart from the deepening global recession. In these times of job cuts, one must count their blessings if people still hold on to their jobs forget about the promotions :(

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi also popularly referred to as Mahatma Gandhi is someone I used to hate as a kid. I held him responsible for the partition of the country. Now after having grown up as an adult I do realize that I was wrong. I still disagree with some of his views however I think he was the greatest man who walked on the face of the earth.


When you read the everyday newspaper's which are filled with stories of deaths, deaths and more deaths we wish if Mahatma was there with us. We have become intolerant to criticism, fly into a rage at the drop of a hat and being self centered has become the hallmark of everyday life.

Youth nowadays earn more money than their previous generation however somewhere deep down there is a feeling of restlessness. Gandhi may not be here but atleast we can make this world a better place by being civil to each other and resolving our disputes peacefully.

One of my all time favorites since childhood is the elephant headed god. Yes I am talking about Ganesha also more popularly referred to as Vinayaka. There is an inherent charm in him. I have a small one on my car's dashboard. I remember as a kid, the first time I was actively involved in collecting funds for setting up the ganesh pandal in our neighbourhood. It was fun.


Many years have passed by since then. Today is the immersion day for the ganesh idols and that makes me think whether immersing idols made of plaster of paris, tons of steel and paint in the water bodies, lakes or seas is the right thing to do. It's an ecological disaster as the plaster of paris pollutes the lake/sea-bed killing the marine life and gradually leads to the destruction of lakes.


I understand the religious fervour and devotion with which people revere Ganesha however they should ask themselves whether they are doing the right thing. I am sure even Ganesha wouldn't approve of it. Instead people can opt for the the clay based ganesha idols which are eco-friendly. I hope when the festival comes around next year, people will warm up to the idea and be sensitive towards our environment.

Since my growing up years whenever August 15th nears, it was a bit of my favorite pasttime to not miss the unfurling of our tri-color on the national television which at that time and now is mostly on Doordarshan channel. However for the past couple of years I have been giving it a miss. I am not sure about the exact reason.

Patriotism is still there however I also have become aware of the ground realities. As Chetan Bhagat (author of "One night at a call centre" and "3 mistakes of my life") rightly says in a Times of India article we still have a long way to go before claiming the tag of a super power. All this words of Indian middle class and India shining looks so hollow. Till the other day I was happy about the status of roads in Hyderabad. Then something happened.

The monsoon sets in and after a prolonged shower of rains the roads are mostly washed out. It's a bumpy ride with craters and potholes. I guess driving on the moon would have been a lot better :) As you wait at the traffic signal the endless sight of small children hawking their wares when they must be in school, disabled and the beggars makes your stomach churn. As an Indian who has lived abroad, I always think why should people emigrate if we can provide equal opportunities, have a world class infrastructure, provide a decent education and social security to everyone. This is something which looks so remote now however if we work at it, it ain't that tough a task to achieve.

There is also another important thing we need to emulate from the west. One of them is civic sense. The other is peaceful co-existence. Why should people kill each other in the name of religion. We are a religious country, there's no doubt about it, however when it becomes an obstacle in the path of prosperity and development we are better off without it. The thought is a bit radical but it's something whose time has come.

I have finished reading The Alchemist. It's been quite a while now since I have read a book. What a fascinating journey it has been from the plains of Andalusia to the deserts of Egypt. I found myself in the shoes of Santiago the shepherd boy of Andalusia. My apetite has not been whetted yet and to tell you in one line "Yeh Dil Mange More"



Last weekend I saw the movie "The Dark Knight" at Prasads Imax, Hyderabad (One of the few Imax theatres in the country). The cape crusader i.e. Batman (Christian Bale) meets his match in the Joker (Heath Ledger). As a movie review in the newspaper says Batman may be the hero but the real shining knight is the villain aka Joker played by Heath Ledger. What a mesmerising performance it was. Sad but true that Heath won't be there to see it. Other notable performances like Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) the Mayor of Gotham city who loses his beloved (Maggie Gylenhall) and becomes Harvey 2 faced lend the movie a charm of its won.

The movie based on the marvel comic series comes alive with the Joker's histrionics. Between good and evil the Joker tries hard to make people fallible and almost succeeds with Harvey Dent. The action, script and the memorable performances by the lead actors make this one of those rare movies which gets everything right.

Batman spreading his wings after jumping from a skyscraper, conversion of the batmobile into a bike, the truck getting turned upside down are some of the cool action sequences in the movie. One should definitely watch this movie on a big screen like Imax coz its definitely worth every penny spent.

It has been raining for the past few days and I am quite happy about it. Happy...well for people living in the cities who curse the rain, the power shortages should give them a reality check. We keep cribbing about the rain however we hardly realize how important it is to have regular rainfall. We need the rains for generating hydel power, farmers need it for cultivating crops and last but not the least it's the source of precious drinking water. One of the reasons I guess people hate the monsoon especially in the cities is due to the creaking infrastructure in developing countries like India.

This Saturday and Sunday I have been mostly at home. Bomb blasts first in Bangalore and the next consecutive day in Ahmedabad, added with the government apathy our cities are becoming increasingly unsafe to live in.

Coming back to the rains, the weather is so pleasant, you don't feel like getting up in the morning. It's like the cozy bed and the blanket is a paradise you love to be cocooned in forever :)

My IELTS results were out on 27th June exactly 13 days after the test. Now the results were a surprise or to be precise I can say it was a mixed bag. Speaking, my first test which I feared would be my worst performance I scored 8 out of 9. Ditto for Listening. Now comes the worst part.

I scored 6.5 in Reading and 7.5 in writing. The overall band score was 7.5 which is not bad however I was expecting something more.

The other news from my end is I bought a new bicycle 2 weeks back. It's from Atlas and has got a spring suspension to handle the bumpy ride which it surely does :). Riding a bicycle is so liberating. Now everyday in the morning I go for a bicycle ride. I avoid taking the main highway and when I need to cross the road, I just walk along with my bicycle instead of pedalling.

It's been more than 8 years now since I rode a bicycle. The cool breeze in the mornings and the thrill of cycling...you just can't beat it. Lastly I am also proud of the fact that I am not contributing to the environment pollution and the most compelling reason is to burn the calories.


The other interest I have picked up is reading a book after a long time. The book is titled "The Alchemist" by Paulo Coelho . I am half-way through the book and it's captivating enough. The book has sold 30 million copies worldwide and rightfully so. The surprise package is the author who is not a white man from a western country but a Brazilian. It just shows that there is still so much of talent even in the developing countries and it's not the exclusive preserve of the west.

Though I have been writing in English now for quite some period of time, yet after attending the IELTS (International English Language Testing System), I have realized that I have still a long way to go before I can be termed an expert user in English.

Yesterday I had a speaking test and today it was Listening, Reading and writing test. I started of my speaking test quite well however just when it was about to finish, I fumbled for answers. At the end of the test, I told my examiner that I was a bit nervous to which she replied that it was a bit unexpected. She said that probably I didn't acquaint myself well with the format. I was heart broken and a bit dejected. However I knew that there was still more hard work to be done. As I reached home, I started my intense preparation for the L/R/W test.

Today that preparation seems to have paid off. Listening test was a bit tough as the test came to a close, ditto with reading however the writing section was a pleasant surprise as I aced through it comfortably. The only worry is if I had written more than what was required. 13 days from now the test results will be out and I am keeping my fingers crossed.

One peculiar thing which happened and which usually happens in Indian test center's was a couple who were copying. Before the test, the invigilators had given clear instructions that should people be caught copying they would be disqualified. So blatant was the copying that the couple had to finally hand in their passport.

The good news is that summer is slowly giving way to the monsoon. That has brought down the temperature quite a bit. Now as for the not so good thing. The change in weather also means a change in our body temperature.

Now why I am saying this...coz the dreaded viral fever is back. For the past couple of days I am having running nose (it was pretty bad yesterday) and now it's headache and fever. Yesterday I went to the doctor and he prescribed me some medicines. The bill a whopping (INR 173) which includes the doctors consultation fee of Rs.70. Now that's pretty expensive to consult a doctor. I was thinking when I am feeling the pinch how will the poor patients pay.

I got up today morning and still have a singeing headache. I am thinking whether to attend office or not.

You have everything, a good job, 4 wheeler and a place to stay but then there is still a sense of emptiness. You don't know the reason but it's there. You're depressed but unable to fathom the reason for the depression. This is how I have been feeling for the past few days.

Now-a-days I have also realized that I have begun to pile-on weight especially in the mid-riff region. So I had two options...the 1st one is that you ignore it or the second that is to firm up an action plan. I chose the second one. I have started going for an hour's walk especially on the weekend. Today mom came along with me. It was a nice walk in the evening when the sun had gone down and there was a cool breeze. True, some things in life are priceless like the walk I had today with my mom. It's back to work tomorrow.

You're driving to work and suddenly a fly starts bothering you. You feel like catching hold of it, suddenly there are some wild ideas whirring in your head like smashing the fly with a hammer. But the only concern is that you're driving which is a highly skilled job and a momentary distraction can prove fatal. That's what happened with me yesterday. It reminded me of the MTV music video where in a guy does the same thing when a fly starts irritating him when he's driving.

He takes a big hammer smashes the windscreen and any other items on the dashboard however even then he doesn't get the fly :)

I was on a small vacation couple of weeks back. I visited a couple of temples (Dharmasthala & Subramanya) in South Karnataka.There was nice memories of the scenic drive, the baby elephant and sumptuous lunch at the Kukke Subramanya temple.

At work, the project has almost close to completion and now I need to scout for a new one. The summers are lot more bearable these days as we have applied a coat of white cooling paint on the terrace. The paint reflects the sunlight back. That really helps to bring down the room temperature by a couple of degrees and the resultant humidity and sweating. Not everyone can afford an airconditioner and the huge electricity bills.

The soaring temperatures in Hyderabad has made life miserable. Summers in Hyderabad @ 41 degrees ain't that cool. Who better to ask than my better half who cribs about the hot weather. She badly misses her Bangalore climate. I agree with her as far as the climate in Bangalore is concerned.

I had mentioned in my earlier blog as to how we can cut down on vehicular emissions by using more public transport. However I couldn't keep my promise as the cruel weather has forced me to switch to my four wheeler. The only silver lining is that the total distance covered is just 25 kms.

Missing a flight and that too an International one is the worst thing that can happen to any one. I realized it the hard way when I missed my 10:05 a.m flight just because I reached the check out counter 5 minutes late. Then I had to rebook my flight for the evening which came at an expensive price tag of 222 pounds or the Indian rupee equivalent of 18,200 bucks.

Of course the mistake was completely mine as I miscalculated the distance to the Heathrow airport. Here I need to specially thank the pakistani cab driver Zafar who shaved off about approximately an hour of commuting. The only problem was the traffic hold-ups in between. However in the end it all counted for nothing. Imagine waiting for the whole day in the airport as you're next flight is only at @ 21:05 hours. The only relief was I had some good co-passengers for company.

The security @ the Heathrow airport was so stringent that even water kept in the bottle was disallowed. One has to empty the contents of the bottle. I walked in through the metal detector and it triggered an alarm. This made the plain clothes officer suspicious and he told me to unbuckle my belt. He put his hands around my waist and checked me thoroughly from head to toe probably looking for some concealed explosives :)

Also we had to take our shoes for being x-rayed. I guess it's the John Reid effect. That's the man who wanted to trigger an explosion aboard the plane with explosives planted in his shoes.

Now I am back home atlast and looking forward to the long weekend before the hard grind ahead...yeah I am talking about getting back to work from Monday :)

It was my final working day in London today. But what a day it was...for a moment or so I was a bit of nervous wreck. I had to get the final document signed off by the client however the time taken by the client to review the document was making me a tad nervous. The problem was my ticket to India is booked for tomorrow and if I had to stay back for another day it would have been too late to reschedule the departure date. Thankfully as the saying goes "All is well that ends well" and things just evened out.

It's been madness for the past 4 days (excludes saturday & sunday) :) What I am surprised is that I exceeded my own expectations. I had to handle calls from my Project Manager in India and the big boss apart from interacting with the clients onsite. In the end it's been worth it. This has been my first exposure dealing with on-site clients directly. I agree it was tough, there were times when I thought of "Fight or Flight" but I am glad I chose the former. It has enriched my experience and that should stand me in good stead in the future.

I will miss the London tube, the daily morning English breakfast made of toast, butter, delicious cornflakes and warm milk. Who can forget the accomodation which was nice and sleeping cozily in the bed with the heater to warm up your room. The only thing which made my life miserable was the drastic fall in the temperature. Constant sneezing and wheezing has left a toll on my nose. It looks more like a joker's nose now...just kidding :)

In the evening my final port of call was the Mahalakshmi temple located @ East Ham station. For dinner, I visited Saravana Bhavan (Chennai's famous chain of vegeterian restaurants).

My Jet Airways flight departs tomorrow @ 10:05 a.m and hopefully I will be reaching India in the early hours of thursday morning. My experience with Jet Airways has been nice so far and it's nice to know even Indian airlines can give good competition to foreign airlines :)

Yesterday i.e Saturday the first thing I did in the morning was to visit the Ilford shopping centre. There were a couple of things on my shopping list. The first one was to get a pair of formal shoes. I had brought along my formal clothes however I forgot to bring along my shoes. Now that put me in an awkward situation when dealing with the client.

It was a trifle embarrassing to put on formal shirts and a sneaker. The only apprehension I had in my mind was how much will the new pair of shoes cost. As with most Indians I was used to the math of converting the British pound into Indian currency. So say for example I need to spend £ 2 on a chocolate bar, at the back of mind it implies I am spending around INR 160 bucks which sounds crazy. But is it really...what we forget is that your rupees don't count for nothing when you're in another country. So if you earn in £ pounds or have $ dollars with you, you can only spend in that currency.

Luckily for me there I found a shop where the discount sale was on. I got a good pair of shoes for just £ 8. Now that was cool. The other item on the list was to purchase a travel adapter. This one was a real pain as I had to go from one shop to another but couldn't find anything which conforms to Indian and UK electrical sockets. So the next time, when you leave the shores and have to charge your cellphone or use it for any other electrical gadget purchased in India, you need to be sure of purchasing a travel adapter before hand. Lessons learnt the hard way :)

After the shopping, I visited the "Tower Bridge" , "Big Ben" and the "London Eye". Now here's something interesting. People mistake the "Tower Bridge" for the "London Bridge" which isn't right coz both are completely different structures. The one thing which I really admired was the "Big Ben" and the "London Eye". Both Big Ben, London Eye and the British Parliament House are located near to river Thames. It was nice standing on the bridge and viewing the ferry ships transporting the tourists on river Thames.

Sunday saw a very wet weather and that kept me mostly indoors. I spent my time going to the Laundrette, preparing notes, watching television, ironing my clothes and getting ready for the busy day tomorrow. 17th March, is my birthday and sadly I will my miss my family a lot on this special day. I can't wait to get back home.

It's been 3 years since my last trip overseas. I am currently in London for a short business trip barely lasting a week. I will be holding discussions with one of our clients. From the day I reached London, I had to hit the ground running.

It's been so hectic that I indeed forgot I was away from my country. So far no time to visit any of the tourist hot spots. The good thing about London is the tube. People in London are lucky to have such an excellent transport facility. I hope we have something similar in most cities across India. I took a 1 week Oyster pass for 34 pounds. Its so cool I can travel unlimited number of times on the tube, overground trains and ofcourse the bus.

Traffic as in any western country is very disciplined. The only sore point is the crappy weather. I am put up @ Hotel Banks, Ilford.

It's a weekend tomorrow and I am hoping to visit places like the London Bridge and London Eye, stuff which I could only watch in movies so far :)

What is it, that happens to a person when they get behind the wheel? This was something which was plaguing me when I have been driving to work for the past couple of weeks. Sometimes I have done crazy things like overtaking vehicles when the road is narrow and just about saving my life by avoiding a head-on collision with the on-coming vehicles.

That day @ work I kept wondering what had seized me for that particular moment? I meant how could I do this. I keep harping on how road users here don't have traffic sense and look here I was doing the same stuff which I detest. How does even a sober person lose his patience when he/she gets behind the wheel. Anyway just as a sort of self inflicted punishment I felt like slapping myself and which I did.

Anywayz the weekends @ home are a far cry from my movie filled weekends when I was away from home. These days I am more focussed on doing "Home Improvements" There was the absence of a wardrobe since a long time and finally after 2 weeks of work its all set to be ready in the next couple of days. The downside... it did burn a hole in my pocket.:)

I am currently serving my time out in Business wait. The official name given for people on "Bench". I have been trying hard to get myself into a project however it's tough luck so far.

I have met a couple of my colleagues who have relocated from Bangalore to Hyderabad just like I have. So during the conversations we have the talk always veers down to which city is better whether it's Bangalore or Hyderabad. As usual the common complaint of most people about Bangalore is the chaotic traffic. The pleasant weather & greenery of Bangalore is no match to the hot and dusty weather in Hyderabad. Where Hyderabad does score is the cost of living and better infrastructure.

Initially it's been a bit tough settling down in Hyderabad after getting used to Bangalore. However I now treasure the moments which I get to spend with my family, shopping for groceries and other odd jobs. When I used to visit my family on weekends or on a short vacation, I wouldn't definitely have found time do all this stuff.

Take today's example. In the couple of restroom(s) we have, there are Indian toilets. Since a long time I wanted to renovate one of the restroom so that it could accomodate a western commode. Today I was finally able to do that. Poor mom had a tough time cleaning the house and getting rid of the construction materials.

When I now look @ the restroom, it looks neat with freshly laid ivory tiles. The only stuff remaining is fixing the commode and that will be done by the plumber on Monday. I am eagerly looking forward to the day :)

January 20th 2008. I can't but keep smiling and rub my eyes in disbelief. Blogging which was so much an integral part of my life for the past 1 year didn't find space in my daily schedule for nearly a month now.

Anyway's its a new year and there are new things do in life. I remember last year I had made of couple of resolutions for the new year. Whether by accident or sheer luck I did manage to fulfil atleast one of the resolutions that is to get married.

I have a new job now at Hyderabad...you guessed it right, my hometown...:) So it really feels good to stay with my family. There are certain jobs you can't do when you are away from home. Now that my kid brother has left to U.S, it certainly is my responsibility to look after them. And of course the icing on the cake is the homemade food I get to have. To sum it up as the saying goes "Home is where the heart is" :)

After a long hiatus I am back. It's been quite a long break from blogging. First, I was caught up in relocating hassles and then settling down in Hyderabad apart from the wedding preparations that has taken most of my time.

I am leaving tonight by train to Bangalore and from there to Mangalore. I am getting married on 28th December. It does give me goosebumps that I am entering uncharted territory however I guess it's part of life and one must take it in their stride.

So expect some lull again on the blogging front till I get back. So all you folks who have been reading my blog please do wish me all the best as I take an important step in my life :)

Though it's a Friday, it's been one hell of a day so far. To begin with I lost my Car's RC documents. It meant that I have to lodge an FIR with the police, get an NOC from my Bank and the approach the RTA for a duplicate RC. I have to shell an amount of INR 2000.

Gosh!!! life can sometimes be so cruel. The only good thing that happened @ the end of the day was the farewell card I received. I have initiated the exit formalities and it will mostly likely be completed by the EOD (End of Day) on Monday.

I am not much excited about the weekend as there are lot of unfinished tasks. I hope I sail through this :)

Filmstars have wives who are actresses themselves or someone outside the film industry and most of them look gorgeous. But how many people associate good looking women as the better halves as far as politicians are concerned.

The counter-question to this would be...how can you even think of asking such a question? Take a look @ Union Railway Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav's wife and you know exactly what I am taking about.

However when I was going through Times of India newspaper I came across the picture of Union Steel Minister Ram Vilas Paswan who was attending a rally along with his wife Reena. Looking @ Reena she looked every bit the glamorous woman. She was fair, good looking, had a nice personality with her jet black hair (possibly dyed :)) untied. Now that was a surprise for me and I do realize that there can be exceptions :)

I managed to get an NOC from the ICICI bank regarding my car loan and the final step now is to get an NOC from the RTO. I cleaned most of my files from the PC. The important files I zipped them and sent it to my personal id. The sad part is they haven't reached the inbox of my personal mail id. It probably is due to the firewall of my company mail server...booo hoo.

The countdown says 3 more working days to go :) Today afternoon I finally managed to visit the Provident Fund Office. It was not a pleasant experience once I reached there.

I stood in a queue for a long time and then was asked to go to another counter. The person manning the desk redirected me to the earlier counter. The man @ the previous counter again redirected me to the next counter. I felt like a ping-pong ball being tossed around.

There was an old PC, no helpdesk to assist people regarding the information they were seeking, rooms filled with heaps of paper files. In other words it looked like a typical government department. For a person who is used to working in cushy airconditioned private office with all the amenities a visit to a government office is an eye-opener. It literally brings them straight down to earth...:)

The only silver lining was that 2 individuals were prompt enough to help me regarding my query. In the end, though I couln't get the balance and transfer details I was a bit satisfied that I now know where I stand.

It begs the question as to how motivated people feel to work in government office(s) in such an environment. Our nationalized banks were once a typical example of a government office however the tough competition given by private banks have forced them to change.

In other words nationalized banks had to change if they had to withstand the competition and be in business.

The rest of my day @ work just flew. So here I am waiting for a new day to begin :)

It's back to a working Monday. After having a blissful sleep yesterday night I woke up @ 7.am which is quite early by my standards :)

Sunday was nothing great except that I watched movies on DVD. Today @ office I let my replacement work on the PC for most of the time. When I went to have my dinner, the building adjacent to our office premises was lit up with christmas lights on the occassion of Karnataka Rajyotsava. It was a bit baffling for me coz that day was already celebrated on November 1st. Anyway it doesn't matter when someone is still in a festive mood and besides it's a delight for the eyes to look at :)

Friday was good not only from a personal point of view but also for my household chores. I managed to finish off the house cleaning by Friday morning.

So Saturday morning when I opened my eyes I felt so much relaxed. Well there was some more tasks to be finished. The first one was the usual car wash. The next task on my radar was going to the Provident Fund (PF) office which unfortunately didn't happen. The last task was to get my stereo from the showroom. There was a problem with the Blaupunkt stereo panel as the display wasn't lighting up. Thankfully it has been rectified now :)

Evening it was shopping time where I shopped for floor cleaning liquid and brown bread. As I am typing this stuff I still can't believe that my younger brother did indeed get a visa :) I distributed sweetmeats to my office colleagues and also to the security staff @ my office premises. Happiness gets doubled when you share it with someone :)

BTW as I wrote in my earlier about my intention to purchase the DVD version of "The pursuit of happyness". I finally got my copy though that did burn a hole in my pocket :)

It's been a rocking day for me today. The first thing in the morning I get the good news that my kid brother has got his U.S student visa after being rejected twice.

It took sometime for the good news to sink in. It's been one long road of struggle, hardships and pain. Finally as the saying goes there is always light @ the end of the tunnel. I can't express my happiness in words :)

It was a hectic day for me as my replacement has come back and I started imparting the Knowledge Transfer sessions to him.

To my surprise I could cover most of the session within 2 hours. So now there's a comfortable buffer zone for him and me incase we hit a roadblock. After a long time it felt good teaching someone. Mine was the only voice echoing in the office cubicle and everyone had a puzzled expression on their office when they looked @ me :)

So tomorrow is a Friday and end of the working week. I am looking forward to it :)

12 more days to go and counting. Well yes that's the countdown for my stay in Bangalore and the present organization where I am working.

The good news is that the candidate who will be replacing me has cleared the final hurdle. I am just waiting for him to return after his vacation so that I can impart the knowledge transfer (KT) sessions to him.

There are a lot of things to done, the only fear in my mind as it always happens I don't want to leave things till the last moment and then start ruing the lack of planning.

You can make movies with love stories in different ways or stick to the same boy-meets-girl routine. To come with up an innovative story is a challenging task. You need to break out of the rut. JAB WE MET is one such movie.

It comes across as refreshing mainly due to its strong script and the acting skills of its protagonists Aditya (Shahid Kapoor) and Geet (Kareena Kapoor). Their earlier movies might have been duds and their off screen romance didn't exactly ignite the romance on-screen. However this time around they do manage to scorch the screen with their intense chemistry. It's just a coincidence that they have delivered a hit just when they split up :)

The movie is well sustained by the songs and Pritam's melodious music. My favourites "Hum jo chalne lage", "Na Khona bhi hain" (slow one) and the foot tapping "Mauja".

My day started on a good note today. I finished cleaning my house which I normally reserve for Saturday's and that gave me immense satisfaction. It's like a major job during the weekend is over.

At work, I wasn't feeling that great due to some personal problems. I am just hoping and praying that everything goes well. One silver lining was I got the delivery of my car today though it took a bit longer than expected.

I have no tentative plans for the weekend as such except for watching the movie "JAB WE MET"

I haven't yet got the feedback for the candidate who was interviewed yesterday by the client. Looks like it's the onset of winter. I had this sore throat and then I felt a bit of feverishness.

Luckily I had some pills with me (Sinarest & Nimuselide) which was quite effective but then it also made me feel drowsy. I'll be taking delivery of my car tomorrow as there was a delay in transferring it from the body workshop to the showroom.

Yesterday and today the moon was looking spectacular in it's crescent shape. Truly it's a pleasure to watch it against the backdrop of a star lit sky :)

Nothing much happening @ work for the past few days. There was one silver lining though. One of the candidates whom we had shortlisted for interview has done better than the previous candidates in his final round. We are keeping our fingers crossed hoping that he gets selected.

The other good news is that the work on the damaged bumper of my car and other body parts is now complete. I can expect to take delivery of my car tomorrow. Good thing is that the bill isn't on the higher side and thankfully Insurance has got it covered :) I need to shell just 500 bucks from my pocket.

What is happiness? Is it a state of mind? Is it achieving material
benefits or doing well in one's career? Is it being with your near and dear
ones or friends? Well there are no easy answers. This is a dilemma
lots of people face around the world.

However when you watch a movie titled "the PURSUIT of HAPPYNESS", it takes you through a roller coaster ride of one person's trials and tribulations to succeed in his career and be a good papa to his son. You identify yourself with the character in the movie by putting yourself in his shoes.

Will Smith stars in this moving tale inspired by the true story of Chris Gardner, a San Francisco salesman struggling to build a future for himself and his 5 year old son Christopher (Jaden Smith). When his girlfriend Linda (Thandie Newton) walks out, Chris is left to raise Christopher (Jaden Smith) on his own.

Chris determination finally pays off when he lands an unpaid internship in a brutally competitive stockbroker-training program, where only one in twenty interns will make the cut. But without a salary, Chris and his son are evicted from their apartment and are forced to sleep on the streets, in homeless shelters and even behind locked doors of a metro station bathroom.

With self-confidence and the love and trust of his son, Chris Gardner rises above his obstacles to become a Wall street Legend. This film may not have glamorous heroines, slap stick comedy or slam bang stuff but it really inspires you.

Compelling performances by Will Smith and Jaden Smith make this movie a must watch for audiences across all ages.

I am so impressed with the movie that I plan to purchase the DVD. Of all the movies I have seen so far, I would rank it high above everything else.

I had a nice festival weekend except for a small accident that my car had suffered. This Diwali after a long time, I bought some fireworks.

I hate noisy fireworks and that's the reason I bought only flower pots and sparklers. It was nice watching the bright colors emanating from the flower pots once it was lit :)

It's exactly 1 year back on this date i.e 8th November 2006 that I started my blog. What an exhilarating ride it has been so far. It's a sheer coincidence that today also happens to be the day of my favorite festival Deepavali.

At office today, it was more fun than play :) We had dumb charades, skits, Mad Ads, Mr & Miss JBK (our client name) competition, songs and sweetmeats. I had a role as the person capturing the events on camera. There was prizes distributed by the top brass to the winners and the runners up.

It's going to be a long weekend as we aren't working tomorrow. I have scheduled some tasks for tomorrow. The primary one is taking my car to the workshop for inspection and new seat covers for the front and back seats as the existing one has got soiled after the long journey.

Our office wore a festive look today with cubicles decorated with marigold flowers and lights. You feel as if you're in a garden with the aroma of the flowers wafting across the cubicles.

Tomorrow we are working and everyone are supposed to be dressed in ethnic wear to usher in the festive spirit of Deepavali :)

Getting back to work after a week's vacation isn't easy. The good thing about the vacation is that I have finally found my partner. It's been a long wait but it's been worthwhile :)

Her name is Preethi and she makes my heart skip a beat whenever I gaze into her eyes :) Love is something which does strange things to people. It took a while for me to get convinced that yes for the first time I liked someone.

The journey to my hometown was very pleasant and enjoyable however I would like to forget the horrendous road that I took. It was a nightmare to drive my 4 wheeler and my car suffered some dents and scratches on the body. It's a lesson I will never forget and not try my luck driving on bad stretches like the one I experienced.

It's good to be back after a long break :)

Today while going through the newspapers I realized that the full moon I saw yesterday was one of the rare celestial events which falls on 2 consecutive days i.e 25 and 26th October in 2007.

I had shortlisted a candidate for interview yesterday and he had another round of interview today. Good news is that the interview went smoothly without a hitch. There are couple of more interview rounds to go. I am hoping and praying that it goes well.

My bags are all packed up and my bus is scheduled for departure to Mangalore @ 21:35 p.m. Yesterday I had bought a finger ring for my cousin sister as her wedding gift, hope she likes it :)

Today morning the chilly weather gave way to bright sunshine. I thought the rest of the day will be bright and sunny. However the fickle Bangalore weather has surprises in store for you :)

I hired an autorickshaw to office and mid-way it become very cloudy and strong winds were blowing across. By the time I reached office it was sunny again :)

Evening after dinner when I looked @ the sky, it was full moon in a clear sky and she was looking very pretty :)

It's been raining for the past week though thankfully only in the evenings. When I got up today morning I could still sense the chilly weather. I looked at the temperature and it read 23 degrees. It's what you call the typical Bangalore weather :)

I have still 2 more days to go before I pack my bags for the upcoming trip to Mangalore. Not much progress @ work today however I am expecting some work and that will keep me busy tomorrow :)

Sunday was special in a way for me. After a long time I got to enjoy an exquisite cuisine for dinner.:) I am talking about the wedding reception of one of my colleague.

I got to sample different varieties of dishes and as the Mac Donald's ad says "I was loving it". It was an exotic vegeterian dish and I would love to say "a Vegeterian's delight".

After a sunny afternoon the weather turned wet again. There was not much activity on the work front as the candidates I expected to interview didn't turn up.

"Nothing is certain in this world except death and taxes" How true can that be? This was something which I realised yesterday.

There was this festival spirit of "Dussehra" and on the other hand there was a death in my neighbourhood. People in the house which is right next to the place where I stay were preparing the last rites for the person who died.

One can't miss the irony. While most of the houses in the vicinity were decked with flowers and banana leaves, there was a bit of gloom which had descended on this house. History has it that Prince Siddhartha who came to be later known as Gautam Buddha was visibly moved when he saw the procession of a dead man. Cut to the present day and age, a single day doesn't pass when we haven't read of deaths caused due to accidents, murder, disease, suicide, depression, homicide and violence.

We have become insensitive about it and it no longer causes shock and awe unless our own kith and kin are involved.

Anyways life goes on. Today I have plans to attend a wedding reception of one of my colleagues in the evening. It's been a long time I have dressed in a suit so I am excited about wearing it for the occasion. The only sore point is the dry cleaner while ironing the blazer has broken one of the buttons. I need to get it fixed :)

You can call it an anti-climax, but yes I didn't dress in the ethnic wear as I thought. The culprit being my laziness. I was back in western casuals. A white shirt and ash grey jeans.

Its Friday once again. Today I took a couple of more interviews. I was impressed with one of the candidates when he was upfront and told the interview panel that he may not be able to do justice to the role.

Our office wore a festive look today on the occassion of "Vijaya Dashami" more popularly known as "Dussehra". Some of the guys were dressed in ethnic Indian wear like Kurta/Pyjama and ladies were looking gorgeous in their sarees.

I am looking forward to the weekend. The weather continues to be wet and as per the Met forecast it will remain that way for a couple of day(s). So here's 3 cheers for a wet weekend :)

The weather has suddenly turned wet since yesterday. It's a welcome change as the day was a getting a lot warmer. At work today I had a meeting with my CRM manager. It was a long overdue meeting. We had a cordial discussion.

I listen to Radio City 91.1 FM everyday @ work. I was excited to take part in a quiz on Radio City and SMSed my answer. I was 100% sure that my answer was correct, however the only problem was that mine was one of the correct answers. The random selection threw up a winner and unfortunately it wasn't me. The prize was a Rs.1000 meal voucher @ a famous restaurant.

Six years back I had won a contest on Radio City and won a dinner date with a leading fashion model. Those memories are still fresh :)

Tomorrow is "Vijaya Dashami" and we have been asked to dress in ethnic wear. I haven't decided yet as to which dress to wear for the occassion. So let's see :)

For the first time while commuting to office I travelled by the KSRTC Volvo bus. The fare was INR 15 about 6 bucks more than the ordinary bus. However the nice thing about the bus is that you travel in air-conditioned comfort and it's quite spacious.

The moment I stepped out of the bus, the outside weather hit me. It was a stark contrast :) On my afternoon stroll, I came as a french tourist. She needed directions to go to "FabIndia" store located in Koramangala which is just a stone's throw from my office.

As I was guiding the tourist I encountered the crossdressers/eunuchs again. I tried to dodge him however he wouldn't let me go. I took out my wallet and gave him 5 bucks. I guess that was my biggest mistake. He started eyeing the whole wallet and wanted the 10 rupee note. I gave in and handed him the money.

I was shocked and enraged when the crossdresser demanded some more money. I just brushed him aside and walked on. My previous encounters were fresh in my mind and this time I gathered the courage to confront them.

The tourist thanked me for my assistance. I was happy that I helped someone. I feel that every citizen is an ambassador of their country and they should do their utmost to see that visitors enjoy their stay in the host country. It's even more important for India which has a dismal 0.5% share in the world tourist traffic.

At work, it was a satisfying day. The test application I am developing has come out quite nicely so far :)

Yesterday was a sad day for me. My Apple Ipod Nano was pronounced dead on arrival @ the Apple store. It's been my companion for more than a year.

The store-in-charge tried to revive it but all his efforts was in vain. He said that the battery was dead and there's nothing he could do. The other option was to replace the battery which costs a whopping 3300 bucks almost half the cost of the Ipod. The new Ipod with a 2GB storage costs around 3500 bucks and the one with a video and 4GB storage costs 7500. So it really didn't make sense to go in for a battery replacement.

I felt like crying that the money spent on the Ipod which I thought will be my companion for some more time has gone down the drain.

How important is communication skills? My answer is...its very very important in this day and age. Take the example of candidates I interviewed today to fill up my position. The communication skills was not upto the mark and the interview with the client for some ended on a disastrous note. A candidate may be technically very sound, however what use is it, when they are not able to express it in words.

It was a hectic weekend especially on Sunday. My relatives had come down and I accompanied them on their shopping trip @ Commercial street and Bangalore Central.

Looking @ the clothes on display in the mall, it was hard to resist the urge to splurge :) Thank god I didn't give in to the temptation.

It's the scourge of the century and has affected millions of people around the world with no cure so far. It's the AIDS disease which has become the bane of mankind. In a world where there still exists discrimination in varying degrees, the less said about the people afflicted with HIV, the better.

People infected with HIV or AIDS have every right to live and work as other human beings. Then why do we ostracise them, sack them from work once it's revealed they are infected with the virus. These and many questions came to my mind when I was watching the movie "Phir Milenge" on Zoom channel yesterday night.

It's a touching story of Tamanna (Shilpa shetty) who gets accidentally infected with HIV once she comes in touch with her love Rohit (Salman Khan). Tamanna works for an advertising agency and gives it her all. She helps the firm grow and wins many awards. When her boss comes to know about her HIV status without flinching even for a second overlooking the good work done by her, he sacks her.

Tamanna is down but not out. She fights a legal battle with help of a lawyer(Abhishek Bachchan). Revathi as the movie director has made a beautiful movie without sounding patronising. This is the second time I have watched the movie and the tears just can't stop rolling down my cheeks.

Abhishek, Shilpa, Nazar and other crew members have put their heart and soul into the movie and it shows. The movie looks a genuine and credible attempt with an inspiring message for hundreds of people like Tamanna.

At work I was barely half awake today and managed to survive the day. There was a small measure of satisfaction when I could resolve a minor problem in an application I was working on.

I need to catch up on sleep which I have been deprived for the past 2 days. Time to hit the sack :)

Normally on a weekend I don't watch more than 1 movie, however this weekend I ended up watching 2 movies..:) I didn't watch it continously but on consecutive days. "Manorama Six feet under" and "The Bourne Ultimatum".

"Manorama Six feet under" is a whodunit murder mystery. It tells the story of an PWD Engineer Randhawa (Abhay Deol) based @ Lakhot, a small town in Rajasthan. Randhawa is suspended for taking a bribe. Randhawa has a hidden talent as well. He is the author of "Manorama" a book which tells the story of a detective. Unfortunately it doesn't sell well.

The pleasant package in the whole movie is Abhay Deol and Vinay Pathak as the cop and Randhawa's brother-in-law. The story has a refreshing feel to it. For a change you get away from the big metros or foreign locales to the dusty towns of Rajasthan. Other cast members Gul Panag as Abhay Deol's wife, Raima Sen, Kulbushan Kharbanda (who plays the state Minister) also lend good support.

The only drawback of the movie is its slow pace and sometimes you feel that the movie is stretching quite a bit. Looking @ it in perspective, the slow build-up seems very much relevant to the theme. Unlike the other "Deols", Abhay has surely started his career on a different stroke and one should appreciate it :)

Now comes my favourite which is "The Bourne Ultimatum". I have seen the earlier sequels and it only gets better. Matt Damon as "Jason Bourne" gets in to the skin of the character. I have never read the book on "The Bourne Identity" but the movie is surely a must watch. It's a high octane thriller with car chases, hi-tech gadgets involving the premier intelligence agency of the world...you guessed it right Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and Jason Bourne. Bourne is on a mission to find his real identity.

It's a game of wits played by the CIA which wants Bourne eliminated. Bourne every time not only manages to slip but also gives a bloody nose to the CIA. However to the credit of CIA, there is one person who trusts her conscience and believes that the witch hunt is wrong.

If I were to rate this movie I would give it 4 stars out of 5 :-)

Even though it's a Friday I am somehow not enthused by it. It just looks like life has come to a standstill. The moment I opened my mailbox @ office, there was a mail from my Delivery Manager asking me to meet her.

We had a cordial discussion and she asked me the reason for putting in my papers. Before I could even say anything she wanted me to be frank and not give diplomatic answers :-) That literally had me zapped.

So much to my surprise I opened up and conveyed my concerns to her. She said that she was sorry that I am leaving and she didn't want to lose a good resource. I had already made up my mind, however I thanked her for giving me her time and listening to what I had to say.

Tomorrow I have plans to catch up on the movie "Manorama Six feet Under" The movie has won good reviews. I love the song "Tere sawalon ke" from the movie.

Let's see what I have to say after watching the movie :)

Yesterday I had forgotten to mention that I put in my papers. It was a painful decision to take however I need to move on. I have been away from home since a long time and I want to be with my family + it also makes more financial sense.

I am looking for a possible replacement for my role and I have shortlisted a few candidates. I need to take the interviews tomorrow or probably next week to find the candidate with the right fit.

"Generations to come will scarcely believe that such a one as this walked the earth in flesh and blood."
-- Albert Einstein.

That was the quote of Albert Einstein on Mahatma Gandhi. Yesterday as we celebrated the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi on the occasion of "Gandhi Jayanthi", nothing stands farther from truth. During my growing up years, I always ended up hating Gandhi because I thought he was the root cause of most of the evils plaguing the country such as the partition, his favouring Nehru as the first Prime Minister of independent India and other factors.

However as I started to learn more and more about him, I realized even with all his flaws he still stands head and shoulders above the rest. Take his book "My experiments with Truth", he lays threadbare each and every moment of his life and his experiences ranging from childhood to even sex. How many people are comfortable speaking the truth about their personal lives? Why would a person who would have led a comfortable life as a lawyer in U.K or South Africa give it up all for a nation.

So much so that even his family has suffered. The recent movie "Gandhi, My father" takes a critical look @ Mahatma. The tag line says it all "One nation's freedom was the price of his family". Mahatma Gandhi fasted to bring an end to riots and not to divide but to unite the communities. He came across as a sincere and committed human being more than a scheming politician.

Contrast that to politicians like the Chief Minister of TamilNadu who undertakes a fast just as a camouflage for enforcing a bandh in his state.

It's not just the politicians but also people like you and me who are more enamoured of the material benefits. Sure the youth of today are more ambitious but it does come with a heavy price like declining values, arrogance, lack of discipline and impatience.

Mahatma Gandhi's writing style was so simple that even a lay person can understand it. These are some of my favourite quotes.

"An eye for eye only ends up making the whole world blind".

"You must be the change you want to see in the world".

I am back in Bangalore after my mini vacation in Hyderabad . It was painful leaving however I need to get back to work. I am eagerly looking forward to my next visit :)