suz_me

Photos from my visit to Kadelekai Parse 2009

Chigurige Aasare is a group started by my high school buddy Ajay and some of his friends couple of years ago, I think. The motto of this group is to identify talents and encourage school students from rural areas. We try to impart the importance of education despite what they want to become in their life. This was the 4th event of Chigurige Aasare and first for this year. I had missed the previous 3 events due to unavoidable circumstances and was looking forward this. This time around the target was the govt. primary school in GuLaganahaLLi near Kanakapura. This school has 78 students, from 1st grade to 7th grade, 3 classrooms for 7 grades, one of the classrooms with a leaking roof and 3 teachers including the head master. By the way, let me slip in this statement, India faces huge huge shortage of teachers. In rural India the students to teacher ratio is simply put, ridiculous.




Coming to the activities that we held at the school, we were a team of fourteen. 10 in class volunteers, 1 stock keeper, 1 time keeper, 2 quiz masters. We divided the student in 4 groups. 1st group comprised of 1st and 2nd grades, 2nd group had the 3rd and 4th grades, 3rd consisted 5th and 6th grades and finally 4th group had 7th grade. After morning prayers and offering respects to Pandit Nehru, me and Ravi started addressing the 2 group viz. 3rd and 4th grades. The first session was casual introduction. We made it a point that the interaction should be casual; we are not teachers and its Children’s day, a festival for them. Then we distributed stationeries. After distributions it was time for answer and win followed by drawing competition. We asked them to draw their home and its surroundings. I loved Poornima’s drawing.



Then at 10.30 it was breakfast time. Food at govt schools is provided by the govt’s Bisi Oota programme. Head Master Mr. Srinivas told me that this programme encourages the poor parents to send their kids to school and the attendance has improved a great deal.



During the break some of us got busy in drawing tracks for the sprint race. The venue was the road in front if the school. A quiz was scheduled after the break. The highest scoring students in the General Knowledge test were selected and two teams were formed out of them. Only students from 5th, 6th and 7th grades were eligible. The quiz event went on for about an hour. The sprint race was fun, we could see the children coming to life during this event and I think it was the best event of the day. Few local folks also joined in the fun. Sprint race was followed by the cultural show by the students and prize distribution. This was followed by tree plantation around the school and we planted around 10 plants. Teacher Mr. Srinivas Murthy was thrilled about tree plantation as he was planning for this from many years.



Special attention was given to the 5th, 6th and 7th grades. GuLaganahalli has no high school. After 7th grade students have to go to Yerindyapanahalli few kms from GuLaganahalli, because of which many students tend to quit school. So for the 7th grade Ajay stressed the importance of continuing the education. We also distributed postcards to the 5th, 6th and 7th grades and asked them to write to us when they finish their 7th and 10th grades or write to us if they face any other problem regarding their education.

I have addressed different kinds of audiences from fresh techies to Vice presidents of huge corporations. But this experience was special; it was my first time addressing kids from 3rd and 4th grade. It was quite a change to be talking to an audience who had rapt attention to the presenter ;). Being with kids for the entire day was a very refreshing experience. The 3 highlights of the day at the school are,

- The manner in which Pallavi from 4th grade explained how to subtract 1947 from 2009.
- The dance sequence performed by the 1st and 2nd grade. Absolutely hilarious to the core.
- The enthusiasm exhibited by the kids towards every darn thing. We don’t get to see that often in the corporate world.



I hope our presence there on Children’s day will make some difference to at least some students and increases the motivation of teachers at GuLaganahaLLi.



Looking forward to a long association with Chigurige Aasare :)

More photos from Naveen’s cam here.

Usually, during treks, we get to hear the phrase "Ah! Back to Civilization" when trek is coming to an end. It's often uttered in sheer relief. I wonder always, "Really?? Are the human settlements be it a village, town, city or a metropolis really civilized?". Destruction and exploitation of natural resources for his 'needs' have been the mantra of humans for several centuries. This model worked up to an extent when human population was smaller, but as human population grows the old model of development viz. occupying new tracts of land by destroying the jungles and its inhabitants and building concrete jungles is not sustainable. Humans are not giving the planet to recover from the wounds created by the relentless activity.

These issues are close to my heart. When I read the summary of the play 'Project S.T.R.I.P' which was scheduled to be played at Rangashankara on Friday the 13th Nov, 2009, it popped up so many questions on effect of human civilization on the planet. This was part of the comedy festival at the Rangashankara. Those of you who are wondering what is a play on such serious and important issues doing in a comedy festival, I would like to inform that I was in the same boat as yours. Actually, it made me so curious that I made up my mind to see this play, even if I had no company. Thankfully, I found some company.

The theme of the play is to project harmful effects on environment due to the activities of humans, MNCs and big corporations in the name of development. Story goes like this,
A big MNC discovers undersea vents rich in precious minerals off the coast of an Island. It's populated by indigenous tribe called Ooolongogongolong, who are leading their life harmoniously with their surroundings. The MNC plans to start mining operations at the island which threatens the balanced ecosystem of the island. For this they appoint a contractor Mr. Roy to survey the island. They also fund a anthropologist Aarti for her research project (from who the company hides its real intention) so that they gain entry to the island. The mining project starts and things take an unexpected turn when the pirates operating near the island start supporting the tribe. After some years, the geography of entire island, the tiki frog, native to the island along with the tribe get wiped off the island. The moral being that Ooolongogongolong are long gone and if the same atrocities continue the then most of the species will be S.T.R.I.P.P.E.D off the face of the earth.

It was hilarious, yet it asked many uncomfortable questions, brought up issues like globalization, pollution, greed, terrorism, politics, corporate management and recession.

I definitely feel that it's a must watch, not only because it gives a nice message but also to enjoy how the comedy is beautifully woven into the script. Writer Ram Ganesh has done a stupendous job. I particularly liked the performances of 'Roy the navy boy'(Harsh Singh) and the 'first timer' terrorist (Neil Bhoopalam). Also, the caricature portrayal of the 'company's' management(Tariq Vasudeva and Shruti Shridharan) is a treat to watch. Aarti(Dilnaz Irani), the lead woman has given a very intense performance.

I thank the entire cast of Project S.T.R.I.P, the technicians, director Quasar and the team at Rangashankara for an wonderful evening.

I love gaming. I used to spend hours together when I was younger in front of TV/computer. Thanks to the Gaming community at my office, we have gaming sessions once in a while.

Other day I read about the game, Rapeplay which is being sold in the grey markets in India and it is creating some sort of demand. This game encourages violent sexual behavior towards women. This is the limit, surely. I mean can anybody in their senses be selling this game? That too, to the kids? I hope that somebody gives me a sniper so that I can blow the head off of the people who designed and released it.

Where are those so called protector of Indian Tradition, the moral police now? Those who claim bashing women visiting pubs is Indian culture. Why don't they come out and check this menace.

P.S: I am not hoping anything to be done by the authorities, coz really is there anything left to hope from them?

Nov 14th - On the account of Children's day, going to primary school in GuLaganahaLLi to interact with students - Chigurige Aasare event
Dec 12,13 - Scuba diving in Murudeshwar or Chilling out at Parson's valley
Dec 18,19 - Trek to Kuduremukha peak
Dec 25,26,27 - Long weekend, need suggestions on what to do...

I just returned from a great dinner at Kanua (ಕಣುವಾ). Kanua is a Konkani restaurant on Sarjapur Road. Kanua is a name of a lost breed of rice from the Karnataka/Goan coast.

The moment I entered the restaurant I had a good feeling about it. The ambience is simply great. Though the interiors looks simple, lot of thought has gone into the restaurant. The big tables had beautiful benches to sit on which is an eye catcher. Pretty much everything had a typical Coastal feeling about it. I also think lot of wood furniture like the almirah near the restroom are all sourced from some ancestral home of the owners.

Coming to the food, the menu is filled with Coastal dishes, with names in Konkani. I just love the idea of using Stamps to display the dishes in the menu. Simple and Brilliant. When I say coastal its Goan and Karnataka coastal food. This is not the place if one wants to eat Andhra chilli chicken and Biriyani or Kulcha and Paneer Butter Masala. Me being a native of the Udupi Coast, I could instantly relate to most of the veggie dishes on menu. This was like home for me. Out of the dishes I tasted, I loved Mushroom starter (forgotten the name). It was one of the best mushroom dishes I have eaten. The passion fruit drink was one of the better passion fruit juices I had till date. For main course Neer Dosa with Vegetable Ishtew did the trick. Ishtew is a coconut and mustard based curry and its very close to the mustard curry prepared at home. The dessert, Raagi Manni (Ragi Pudding) was delightful.
Meat eaters who accompanied me said that the Ghee Roast Chicken was the best Ghee roast they had ever eaten. Knowing their eating habits, I can safely say it must be true. When I smelt the Ghee Roast it was quite mouth watering and I could feel the over whelming smell of home made ghee. Yes not Nandini/GRB ghee it is definitely home made ghee.

They don't stock alcohol but if you carry a bottle they would be more than happy to serve (with additional service tax). The prices are pretty decent. For ex. a plate of Neer Dosa is 45, which I think is pretty decent for a place like this. The meat starters are pretty expensive when compared to other dishes. A meal, including drink and dessert for two should set you back by 600 - 800 depending whether you are a veggie or not.

One of the negatives of the place is that they do not allow children during weekends. But if show up at their place with children and say that it's your first time and you did not know then they might allow you.

How to go there?
Its on Sarjapur Road (Not the Sarjapur Ring road....the road which actually goes to Sarjapur). Please see the map.
Take the right after the More retail outlet on Sarjapur Road.

Contact - 55374471, 55374472

It's a must visit, especially for those who love coastal cuisine.

A poem on sparrows from sudhi_11in made me remember these little birds. Sparrows always remind me of old Bangalore of eighties and nineties. I remember feeding sparrows in my childhood on cold misty mornings. Now all three have vanished, the cold mornings, old Bangalore and the sparrows.

Long ago I had read an article in Outlook on the death of the sparrows. It was really sad and fascinating at the same time to learn how each small 'comfort' designed for humans, sound a death knell to other species around us. Mohammad Dilawar from Nashik has designed very simple feeders and nests which could encourage the sparrows to come back. I did some googling and found this link.
Last time when I checked this link, only house sparrow nests were available. Now there are host of nests for different birds.

Please do the needful, if you are interested. Maybe, one day chirping sparrows in your balcony will wake you up :).

P.S: M.S Gill (Our sports minister), used to keep some grains outside his home and guess what? One day he saw a family of Sparrows feeding on it. Now they are regular visitors to his home. This has increased the hopes of finding my beloved sparrow.

When came to US for the first time, couple of years ago, a typical automobile ad would be boasting about how a particular car is big, bad and brawny.  Now its interesting to see how the same manufacturers have changed their stance. Today I saw Chevy comparing itself to Toyota on the mileage stats. Even BMW are claiming they are the most efficient luxury cars in US. Come on from when did BMW start worrying about fuel efficiency? All the ads have a quote on the MPG. Good that these people are learning...Better late than never.

Seriously automobiles in US needs to be redesigned. The other day I hired a Mercury Grand Marquis. Its a premium segment car, the interiors were good, very comfortable. It had a 4.6 liter engine under its hood. Yes 4.6 liters. Does anybody need 4.6 liters to cruise at 70 miles all day?
I dont think so even 40% of the power is being used of that car and the auto gears reminded me of my Kinetic Honda days :).

I can get my Getz CRDI to US and have much more fun driving it.

Prologue

The American Airlines' flight attendant standing at gate D39 in Miami International Airport said, "Sir, This flight has left already. Sorry, you are late by 5 mins".

I thought, "Shit, why are you guys so punctual. Why didn't this flight get delayed like it happens in India".

Then I asked pointing to the luggage stickers on my boarding pass, "What about my bags? Did they go on this flight?".

He asked curiously "Did you check in the bags?"

I retorted with a hint of irritation, "Obviously I did, I finished the immigration and checked in the bags".

The female flight attendant standing next to the gentleman, I was talking to replied "If the bags made it to the flight then it would be on the plane".

I was little relieved that at least my luggage would make it to Minneapolis. I said, "OK, TAM airlines' flight from Sao Paulo got delayed by 70 mins, so I couldn't make in time for this flight. Can you please put me on the next available flight."

The flight attendant replied, "There are no flights for today, you will have to wait till tomorrow morning".

She saw my Boarding pass and said "This is TAM's boarding pass. I don't think we can rebook this. Can we Mike?", she asked the other attendant.

He replied "Nope we can't. Please contact TAM airlines, they will help you".

By then I had already lost hopes of leaving Miami that day, I asked "Now, where are they located?".

He replied "Concourse J, other end of the airport".

I heaved a disappointed sigh and thought, after all I have been through yesterday and the effort I put in to get out of Brazil, I missed the flight to Minneapolis by 5 mins. While I was walking back to Concourse J, I recollected the incidents from the previous day....

Chapter 1 - You need a transit visa

Myself and Sunil left from Hilton Morumbi, Sao Paulo at 3pm on the previous day. My flight was scheduled to take off at 8pm. I figured that waiting in the airport lounge is better than waiting in the hotel lobby. My flight out of Sao Paulo was a Air Canada through Toronto and then to Minneapolis. I never planned to travel by Air Canada initially, I had booked the United airlines from Sao Paulo since I have a frequent flyer account with Miles and More. But my company suggested me to take the Air Canada airlines since it would 'save' company some money. So I agreed readily.
The new itinerary was from Sao Paulo to Toronto/Toronto to Minneapolis.

When I got to the terminal I could not locate the Air Canada check in counter. After asking around, I learnt that the counter opens at 5pm. Man! Sao Paulo needs a new airport, there were so few seats to sit on. So after standing for 2 hrs, it was my my turn to check in. I hand over my passport to the gentleman at the counter and he drops a bomb. He said that I don't have a Canadian passport, to which I respond, I am not going to Canada, I will be flying to US from there. Little did I know that Canada mandates a transit visa for all the passengers who aren't residents of Canada.
So when the travel agency re-booked my tickets via Canada, they missed to give me that precious info about Transit Visa. So this was the first of the events that completely turned my schedule on its head.

That gentleman was kind enough to lead me into their office so that I could talk to an agent. First thing which I requested was whether the current booking could be canceled. Apparently since it was booked by the travel agency, that was not possible, that too at this late hour. So I tried calling up my travel agency, since it was outside regular hours in India, I was supposed to call a toll free line, which would route the call to an available international operator. Guess what, I could never get through even after trying zillion times. So at that point I decided to drop the Air Canada plan and check for any open tickets with the US carriers. I tried my luck at Continental, United and American . None of them had any open seats.Zilch.Zippo. After walking like 100kms in the airport terminal, I decided that its better that I go back to the hotel and try contacting the India office and rebook my travel through US. Since I checked out on the same day, I could check in to the hotel at the same rate. (Since I booked the room through my company, I got the room for 309 instead of 1700). It was 9pm.

So now was the time to book the tickets and get out of Brazil ASAP. After all that activity I think my body went into a overdrive mode. Just surviving on granola bars from the minibar, I started the process of contacting emergency numbers of my company. After not making much headway, I decided to wait till the Indian travel people come online. That meant waiting till 12.30am!
Movies on a english channel helped me in being awake till 12.30. Thankfully, the India travel center understood my situation and provided me option of traveling through US stopping over at Miami. That flight was supposed to leave at 10.30 am that day. It was ideal, I gave the green signal. The operator on the phone confirmed that he would be mailing me the tickets within half an hour.
Something told me that I should hit the sacks only after I see the confirmed ticket. It meant more waiting. At 1.30am I decided to call back since I had not yet received the ticket. I got the assurance that they are on it and the ticket would be mailed ASAP. I had no other choice but to accept the assurance. I was drained by this time and decided to take a nap till 3.30 and then check on the tickets. I set 3 alarms at interval of 5 mins and crashed. When I got up at 3.30am, the ticket had not come. I got irritated. I called up the travel center again, and got to hear the same words. I hung up saying if I do not get the ticket in half an hour I would be forced to complain to their seniors.
I set my next alarm at 5.30 and slept. Thankfully when I got up at 5.30 the ticket was in my inbox. The flight from Sao Paulo to Miami was a United airlines operated by TAM airlines and the Miami-Minneapolis flight was a American Airlines flight. I didnt think at that point of time that 3 airlines on a single ticket would cause so much discomfort over the next day. I checked out of the room at 6.45 and left for the airport, again.

Due to incessant rains from early morning the flight was running late and I had only 2 hours of transit time in Miami.  Now this delay made the probability of me missing the flight, high. I asked the pretty looking female at the checkin counter about the delay and she replied that it's late by only 20 mins and wished me luck a flashed a dazzling smile. Gosh! Brazilian women are so beautiful.

I got into the flight at 10.40am, 10 mins after the actual take off time. I instantly liked the TAM flight. It was such a nice change to see some bright colors in the flight after all those dull blues and grays from other airlines like Lufthansa and Air France. The flight took off at 11.45, 75 mins late. So it meant that I would miss the connecting flight in Miami unless the pilot makes up the time in the air, which was unlikely.

One thing which I was looking forward to was viewing the Amazon basin. These days airlines have a camera fitted so that the passengers can pass their time looking at the terrain below and Amazon basin didn't disappoint at all. It was one of the most beautiful sights I had seen my life. The dense forest with the green/brown river flowing through it. With my fetish for forests I spent the next entire 2 hours gazing out of the window. Ya it took 2.5 hrs to pass the basin. That's the same time it takes from Bangalore to Delhi!!!

Finally, the flight landed at 6.50pm, 80 mins late and by the time I got to the terminal it was exactly 7pm. I had just 40mins to complete the following tasks,
1. Finish immigration
2. Claim my baggage
3. Go trough customs
4. Checkin my baggage
5. Security Check
6. Run till gate D39

Honestly, I had no hopes. But each of the task was getting over pretty quickly till number 4. The security check queue was very long, even the business class one. I lost precious time here and I reached gate D39 at 7.44, 4 mins late.

Chapter 2 - Never book flights with multiple carriers

I reached the TAM airlines counter and asked the lady who seemed to be helping people who had queries, "Hi there, I came from Sao Paulo on JJ8094, which unfortunately arrived late and I missed my connecting flight to Minneapolis".

When I uttered that statement, seriously I had no idea that I would be repeating the same like  hundred times.

She asked, "Which flight did you miss?".

I said "American Airlines, they sent me over to you guys since the flight I came in was operated by TAM".

The lady said seeing my ticket "Let me check what I can do with this, this was booked as a United Airlines flight, ideally they should be responsible"

She then walked into a door which had a big "RESTRICTED ACCESS" sign on it.
After 10 mins she came back and said, "We are trying to get a ticket for you sir, Please wait".

More waiting followed, I called up Shiva in Minneapolis gave him the update of my travel adventure and asked him to abandon the plan of Drive to Badlands/Mt. Rushmore. We were supposed to leave for Badlands on the next morning. I think sub-consciously that was the reason I wanted to get out of Sao Paulo so badly.

At 8.40pm, 20 mins later, the lady approached me and handed me a ticket which had a United airlines booking for tomorrow 6.00am via Chicago. She asked "Was your ticket a economy class"?

I replied "No it was a Business class, but if that is not available I think I can live with it".

She said "Well, ask the United guys while checking in tomorrow, they might agree to give a Business seat. By the way the United's checkin counter is next to ours here."

She also handed me a piece of paper and said "And here is your hotel booking for the night. Booking is at the Regency hotel, catch a bus to the hotel outside".

I asked "How far is this hotel"?

"It's just outside the airport complex" replied the TAM lady.
I also observed that I was eligible for a 18 dollar dinner and a 10 dollar breakfast.

I decided to take a taxi to the Hotel. The taxi ride, checkin process etc went on smooth. It was quite a decent room. It was 9.30pm. I had 6 hours to finish dinner and catch up some much needed sleep.

I checked out of the hotel at 4 am and reached the checkin counter at 4.15am. I presented the the ticket given to me by TAM to the lady at the counter who seemed to be very grumpy that morning. Her hand ran over the keyboard furiously and she seemed to be hitting the Enter key very hard. Each time she did that I could hear an echo in the empty lounge of Miami Intl' Airport.

Finally she said, " There is no e-ticket number on this booking. I can't check you in until I have a ticket number".

I asked, "What do you mean?".

"How did you book this ticket?", she asked.

I started my story again, "Well I arrived via TAM JJ8094 from Sao Paulo yesterday evening. It was delayed and I missed my connecting flight to Minneapolis. So TAM booked this ticket for me."

She said, "Then I am afraid you will have to get the ticket number from them. They are right here". She pointed to the section next to United Airlines area. And added, " Once you get the details no need to stand in the line, just come over here and I will help you". I was like there we go again, one more goof up. When will this end?

I walked over to TAM section and luckily there was one female arranging some hardware. I said to her, "Are you the right person to talk about ticketing?". She said something in Portuguese and took my ticket and went inside "RESTRICTED ACCESS" door. I had a blank expression on my face.

One more lady came out of the that door and said, "May I help you?". I thought you better help me.
I told my story again (God! I am tired of typing the same sentence) and asked that I need to know the e-ticket number. She said, "Ok, let me check on our system and she went inside". It was 4.40pm.

She came outside after 10 mins and said pointing towards the door, "She should be able to take care of it".

I was puzzled, "Who?".

She said, "I have asked another person to look it to it. She will help you".

I waited till 5.05am. I asked the lady who took my ticket, "Where is the other person? That flight leaves a 6am and I can't afford to miss it".

She went inside and came out with the 'other person'. The other person asked me, "Do you have the ticket for the flight you missed yesterday?". I gave her my original ticket.

She asked me wait for 5 more mins and went inside. She came back after 10 mins, which felt like eternity and said, "We actaully do not have any records of the the flight you missed. Our system shows only the Sao Paulo Miami flight. It means that TAM received payment only for the first leg. United should take responsibility of the second leg. We cannot book a seat for Minneapolis now".

I was infuriated, I said, "Then why the hell did the TAM say that they have booked me a ticket on UA last night and why did TAM book me a hotel and meal vouchers? If this info was given to me yesterday itself, I would have approached UA"

The TAM lady was shocked, "TAM provided accomodation and meals?"

And I completed her sentence, "And this ticket to Minneapolis".

She was puzzled, "Who gave you that. Do you know the name of that person?"

I replied,"No, I didn't bother about socializing yesterday".

She asked for 5 more mins and went inside again. It was 5.25am. I had lost hopes on the United flight by then.
When she came out it was 5.35 and she declared, "I am really sorry, TAM cannot re-book the 2nd leg, you have to approach UA".

I snatched the ticket from her hand and ran to the UA's checkin counter back to the 'hard typing grumpy' lady and said " Excuse me, TAM cant provide me the e ticket number it seems".

She said "So, what do you expect me to do?".

I said, "According to them UA is supposed to book the tickets, is that possible?".

She asked, " Can you provide me your original booking details?".

I gave her my ticket, after scanning through the ticket she said, " The only thing which is UA is the code share of the Sao Paulo flight between TAM and UA, the second leg is American, not UA. Since TAM brought you in late they should be helping you".

I said "So here I am walking around the airport from yesterday and 3 carriers are passing the buck between them".

"Sir, UA has no responsibility in this situation. I can check you in if get a e ticket number. The system does not allow me to checkin without e ticket number. Sorry. The American airline ticket number is not in our system. Please ask TAM", she retorted.

I was tired of arguing and convincing people. I walked away from the checkin counter and was standing between the TAM and UA sections, wondering should I swipe my corporate card and buy a new ticket yet again. It was almost 6 and I had missed one more flight.

Then a old lady with a very kind face walked up to me asked me, " You seem to be in some trouble, what's the matter?".

I thought here we go again and I rambled through my story yet another time.

She heard my story and said, "You are Indian, right?".

I was puzzled, I said, "Ya".

She said, " I love India. I had been to India 5 years ago with my daughter for 3 months. We were in Delhi, visited Goa, the Taj, Benaras, Rajasthan and Kerela. The people are so full of life".

I asked her, "Have you been to Bangalore?".

She said, "Well not exactly, the flight from Delhi to Kerela stopped over at Bangalore, so technically I have been there. Are you from Bangalore?".

I said, "Yup".

She said, "I have been in this airline industry for 40 years. According to me call up American Airlines and explain your situation and ask for help. They might even put to you on a plane with the same ticket".

She wrote a toll free number on the ticket.

I said "Thank you. I will try that. I appreciate it".
I ran to the nearest phone and called up the toll free number. The lady who answered the call transferred me to one more person after hearing my story. I explained my situation again and the female at the other end of line did not need any more details. She said, "I can put you on the same flight today. It's first class right".

I said, "That flight is 7.40 in the evening. Is there a earlier flight that I can board? Even economy would do it for me".

She said, "There is a 7.30 morning flight via Dallas and its a first class".

I asked, "When will it reach Minneapolis".

She said "10 mins to 1". I glanced my watch it was 6.10am, so I had 80 mins. I said, "I will take it".

I was so happy, I guess it was more of relief, but the way the things were shaping up from yesterday, I thought I should delay my celebration until I board the flight. Thankfully, I had no more surprises. The air hostess served me nice breakfast of cereal and fried eggs. It was the first time I was traveling in first class. After couple of hours we landed at Dallas airport. I made it to the gate C19 for the Minneapolis flight and continued reading my book. 10 mins to boarding time there was an announcement that flight has been canceled due to a technical snag and we are trying to locate a alternate flight. I could hear lot of 'Oh nos', 'Crap' and other four letter words. I wanted to announce there, "It's me people. It's all because of me. This flight was canceled because of me. I am jinxed".

Since Dallas is American airlines' headquarters, they located a flight within 10 mins. As soon as the flight took off, I realized that my luggage is not with me and I have to hunt for it in Minneapolis. I really wanted my luggage as I was already feeling dirty in the clothes which I had been wearing for two days. Its so strange that you wear same clothes for 2 days in the city, the 'civilized world' and you feel sick and while trekking one can be in the same set of clothes for several days and still feel so happy and comfortable.

Once the plane landed at good ol' Minneapolis, I dashed off to the luggage claim area and located the American Airlines luggage services center. I showed my luggage coupons on the unused TAM boarding pass and said, " I missed this flight yesterday, but I think my luggage made it to Minneapolis".

The big burly American Airlines guy said pointing to the the luggage rack, "There is your bag".
I could see my small bag on the rack. My big suitcase was missing.

I said, "Bag? Actually I had 2 bags, a big American Tourister suitcase".

He said, "Well only this arrived yesterday, a flight from Dallas has landed now, check that out, your bag might be on that if you are lucky".

I said, "I came on that flight".

He said, "If your bag is on that flight then its a nice co-incidence".

I walked up to the baggage claim section and my suitcase dropped out of the vent. I was happy and thought, "Whoa! At least something is going my way".

I grabbed both of my bags and walked out hurriedly out of the airport. I was tired of airplanes and airports and felt as if I am Tom Hanks in the movie Terminal. I had spent best part of last 3 days either in a plane or an airport.

Epilogue

That night sitting in my Minneapolis apartment, I was trying analyze what went wrong and who is to blame. First culprit would be the travel agency who did not educate me about the transit visa requirement for Canada, then there was the Airline attendants at Gate D39 in Miami Airport who shooed me to TAM, without even properly checking the ticket details. I say this because when I told the same story on the American Airlines helpline, the ticket was re-booked without any fuss and finally myself. Or should I be blaming anyone in this situation? As Murphy's laws says, if things can go wrong then it will go wrong no matter what and this was one of the those things that went wrong :)

Finally made it to Minneapolis after 5 days in Brazil...and on the way, I went through a roller coaster ride...will post all the info shortly.

As we get ready to celebrate our 62nd Independence day, take a look at
this video to put things in prespective...

Usually on saturday nights, if at home I watch Big Fight on NDTV. Though it has lost its sheen from Rajdeep Sardesai days, it still is a entertaining (sometimes learning) watch.

Today's topic was on the self appraisal act of Maya memsaab. People were discussing whether is it right to use 50+ crores of tax payers' money to build statutes. I got to hear some of the most ridiculous stuff on today's show. And whenever Suhel Seth is on the show it's all the more entertaining :)

Just after the show there was a report on situation of the farmers in Bundelkhand, which is bearing the brunt of weak Monsoon. Recently a farmer committed suicide in one of the villages here. The villagers say that their area has not been declared as drought hit as Cogress party won the LS elections here. Other areas of UP have been declared as drought regions even though situation is better. Why? Because people there elected BSP representatives. Apparently, the center has announced a 'pacakge' of 4000 crores as aid to suffering farmers. These farmers are waiting desperately for that money as the relief given by the state govt. is ridiculous. Ram Pratap, a farmer had to visit the gov office 5 times before he could avail his aid - A check for Rs. 190.... yes 190, it's not a typo. Ram Paratap has decided to keep the check as a memento.

All I did before barging out of the room was to shout at the TV, at the farmer, " What memento? Just go and stuff the check up Maya's ass" :(

It started with a report on TV9 - Kannada news channel. It was about amount of gold Lord Venkateshwara has in his locker, supposedly 12 tons. When my mom announced this piece of info, I tried to do the quick math on my mobile calci to see what Lord Venkat’s Bullion value is. But, my mobile could not give the output as the value exceeded the limit of 10 digits. I didn't have my laptop open then, so I grabbed a pen and the newspaper and started multiplying, while I was calculating, I realized that it had been ages last since I did any arithmetic on paper, thanks to the presence of a calci on every darn gadget, including MP3 players. The value came up to ~17.5 thousand crores.

This sparked off a debate between myself and my Granny on the entire process of we mortals contributing to Lord Venkat's EMI in the form of gold, ornaments, and cash. The legend of Lord Venkateshwara says that he borrowed money from Kubera (Lord of wealth) to meet the expenses of his marriage with Padmavathi. So it is the duty of his followers to donate valuables and cash to Lord Venkat’s hundi to help him to payback his debt. This is supposed to continue till end of Kaliyuga!!!
So, I started commenting on Lord Venkat's financial planning and how his splurges is affecting the common man and all the Gold instead of being utilized to pay back India's debt, is in Lord Venkat's safe. The debate went on like this,

Me: What was Mr. Thimappa thinking when he borrowed such huge amounts?

Granny: He had to, my son.

Me: But why? I think he lacked financial planning. How I wish there was CNBC at his time.

Granny: CN what??

Me: CNBC, It’s a channel on stock markets. You can learn how to manage your money by watching it and also there is Shireen Bhan ;-) (I flipped the channel to CNBC wishing Shireen to be on screen)

Granny: Stock Markets? I heard that many people lost money in that market.... Did you also lose money trusting this channel?

Oh Oh, that was bad move; I had to change the topic and not to let her draw the first blood. I had to project CNBC is the answer for all the financial worries.

Me: No way, I did not lose any money… Coming back to Lord Venkat, what was the reason that he was forced to borrow so much?

Granny: Well, it was a very grand occasion; such kind of marriage had never taken place. There were crores of invitees.

Me: But how is that possible? Wasn’t the world less populated place then? How come there were so many invitees?

Granny: Son, when I say invitees, do not assume it to be only humans. All the 333 crore deities were also invited and everyone turned up.

Somewhat convinced by her answer, I tried one more shot.

Me: The problem of price rise could not have existed then and definitely inflation rate would have been quite low. So he could have finished the whole affair in 800 crores. (Assuming cost of a sumptuous meal in those times is 2 bucks)

Granny: No, the variety of food prepared for the marriage is unparalleled. The grandeur of that occasion is to be seen to be believed.

Me: If Lord Venkat’s financial position was so bad then why didn’t he as Akasha Raja, father of the bride to take the burden like most marriages?

Granny: Akasha Raja was not very happy with her daughter marrying a common man like Lord Venkat. I think that is the reason why he didn’t spend any money.

Me: OK, agreed that he had to borrow money, but how much did he borrow? I think the loan has been repaid by now. The crown donated by the mine barons, Reddy bros itself is worth several crores. I think someone has goofed up the calculation and presented wrong figures to Lord Venkat

Granny: Actually, the interest charged by Kubera is very high. It’s so huge that we will have to keep on contributing till the end of Kaliyuga. It’s the least that we can do to help our Lord; in turn he will definitely shower his precious blessings on us. That’s why I told you to donate your entire first salary to him. He would have made sure that you get big increments every year :-D

I selectively chose not to hear the last part of her reply.

Me: See, again Lord Venkat did not think through… Why did he agree to such a huge interest rate? And why did Kubera lend such huge amount to Lord Venkat without sufficient proofs and background checks? America is seeing the effects of Sub Prime lending now, but we have such good example in our Puranas. I think this needs to be part of Management Schools’ curriculum, across the globe.

Granny: Yes you are right, foreigners need to hear stories like Srinivasa Kalyana, there is so much to learn from us…. and Ramayana and Mahabharata also…. And Vishnu Purana also…..and the list went on, I stopped listening after Vishnu Purana and got busy surfing channels and that was the end of the conversation 


P.S: Request the reader to take this story with a pinch of humor. This is not an attempt to defame Lord Venkateshwara. It is an attempt to have a different view of Srinivasa Kalyana tale. Story of Srinivasa Kalyana is a very fascinating tale. My great granny used to narrate this story in my childhood and myself along with cousins were fascinated by it and its links with Ramayana.

I am back from a much needed and deserved break. Had been to Sar Pass trek with YHAI from 3rd to 15th and what an awesome experience it was. Will send out the link to the photos once I upload them. I will try to write blog on it shortly... but there is too much to write and I am feeling lazy....I guess me still in vacation mood :D

In the heart of Blue Mountains amidst the pine trees lies a small carrot estate. It's a long story on how I came to know about this estate, I would not divulge into the details of that story. Its around 20 kms from the city of Ooty. Its on the road which leads to Mukurti National Park. I had been to this farm house roughly 3.5 years ago. Had fell in love with the landscape and it was same this time also.

After couple of futile attempts of visiting this place, finally got the opportunity to go there on Apr 11th, 2009. Eight of us, myself, Sudhi, Sandy, Ashwin, Raga, Sachin, Anil and Shree left Bangalore around 8am. Mode of transport being two Hyundai Getz CRDIs.

The drive till Mysore largely uneventful and boring, with lots of EC's check posts and weekend traffic. Once we got past Nanjangud I could see the horizon without any vehicles obstructing my view. The stretch from Gundlupet to Masinagudi in TN is a beautiful drive. This is where we pass through forests of Bandipur and Mudhumalai. To my surprise, we did not see a single animal except few rabbits running helter skelter. After a short stop for lunch near Masinagudi, we started the ascent of Kalatti Ghat. This is one of the steepest roads in South India. It comprises of 36 hairpin bends, the road climbs apprx 1200m in a span of ~15kms. Its quite a struggle keep the vehicle in the right band of power, especially the diesel engine ones like mine. At the 28th hairpin bend my car ran out of steam. I could see the drop in the power as it was over heating and the thin air of the mountains did not help much.



So we decided to give the car a break and it was a welcome one as I had not noticed the scenic beauty of the surroundings. Just see the pic below to get a hang of what I am talking about.



Once the car was ready to move, we chugged along and made it to Kalakunda junction where had pick up Santosh who would guide us to the estate. Santosh is from Channarayanapattana, Karnataka and works the carrot estate.

After a 70 min drive through horrendous roads we finally made it to the Parson's valley Dam. This is where the climax of film, Roja was shot. The carrot estate was roughly 500 mts from the dam and the road leading to it was basically a jeep road. I was pretty weary to experiment my driving skills on that road. Though, Santosh and the guard at the Dam tried coaxing me into it, I did not give in. Since I had been already to the Estate once Sachin decided to go with my decision and we left the cars at the dam and walked down to the estate.

As the estate was unraveling itself in front of our eyes, the memories from my previous visit came alive. Then, I had come with 'Vijayangar friends' and we had lots of fun. I was hoping that it would be similar this time also. Apart from us, there were two families from Bangalore at the estate. This is the main USP of this place, it never gets crowded as they have a dorm and 2 cosy cottages for accommodation. I must admit that the dorm is a huge structure with 30 beds and 5 bathrooms. It was a complete contrast to the treks where we often squeeze into small tents along with our bags. After a quick break we started playing cricket. The nature gods were merciful on us as the temperature was hovering around 15C but the sad part was it was quite cloudy. (Later I learnt from my colleague that in previous week Ooty was as hot as Bangalore, if not hotter and he had returned with a sun burn!!!)



After Sachin drove the ball to the well next to the lawn, we decided it was time for Tea and Bajjis. The bajjis were tasty and we greedily gobbled them. As the sun started to set Mr. Dorai started to get the firewood for the camp fire. The dinner was delicious, esp. the rasam. After a sumptuous meal we all settled down around the fire and the chatter was non stop. The topics were very contrasting from Automobiles to Corporate life and went on till 12.30 am and then we all hit the sacks for much needed sleep.



The morning was overcast with the skies threatening to burst open. Mr. Dorai served us bed-tea and it had been many days since I had tea on my bed. The hot tea was comforting from the chill in the air. For breakfast it was Pongal and Dosas which were awesome, again. I must say, the food here is really lip smackin'!. Then we got ready for a small trek which would take us to the Porthimund Dam. santosh joined us as the guide. The landscape on this route is the highlight of Nilgiris. Its dotted with Pine trees, which apparently is owned by the gov. These pine trees are a major source of Income to the forest dept. Every few years the trees are cut down and new forest is grown. After I learnt this fact, I couldn't help but wonder what this lumbering would have done to the birdlife around there.



Coming back to the landscape, since the altitude of Nilgiris is greater than the western ghats of Karnataka, we find Pine trees and the temperature even during summer is surprisingly temperate. Also, one tends to find more open spaces, which explains the abundance of large game like wild buffalo and Sambhar. From Kenneth Anderson's novels I know that once upon a time this area was home to the majestic tiger. Now, leapords rule the roost around there. Porthimund dam is one of the several dams in Nilgiris. Its settled next to small village on humongous valley. The catchment area had some interesting formations. Take a look below,



We returned back to the estate around 3 hours from the departure time and my stomach was rumbling. After a great lunch veg biriyani and Mushrooms, we climbed back to the highway to Parson's valley dam. Last night, Sachin who parked my car had actually forgotten to raise the window and left it open. I was shocked to see that the window was open and at the same time relieved that no one had touched anything inside. Since I have no sun films on the windows, its tough to make out whether the window is lowered or not!!

It took us an hour to reach Ooty, thanks to the 'super' road. We were in search of Modern stores in the city to buy home made chocolates. It took us nearly an hour to find that shop and it was worth it because of the variety they offer. Its a must visit for chocolate lovers. Apparently they deliver to Bangalore, all you need to do is call them and place the order, payment is through transfer of funds through net. Don't miss out Strawberry Marzipan and Blueberry truffle :)

Modern Stores, Commercial Road, Ooty. Ph - 04232442678.

After chocolate shopping we headed towards Bangalore, with a short dinner stop in Mysore. It took us 6.5 hours in total to reach Bangalore.

Contact details of Parson's valley (only through phone) - 09443553651, 09443669585. Next time when you wanna relax, try this.

Bangalore is growing, it's growing like a endomorph on Cheese rich diet. We need better roads, traffic management, public transport which works, decentralization. Metro is one of the initiatives which the gov has taken up to overcome the infrastructure problems. But at what cost?
Sacrificing parts of Lalbagh and Cubbon Park which have been around centuries? Anybody who has walked on the boulevards of Nanda road or driven on the road will know how it makes you forget all the bad facts of Bangalore.

I have been moving around Jayanagar from my childhood and Nanda road has been very very close to my heart. The trees there are simply magnificent and its quite a sad situation that we reached a situation we have to strip the road of those trees to make way for Metro.

Hasiru Usiru - hasiruusiru.org is leading the protest against BMRCL. I had joined them on Sun, Apr 19th on Nanda Road. I just got a text message from Theju on Sunday morning and the thought of a barren Nanda road just freaked me out and I made it a point that I join others for this noble cause. We have been able to make this issue, which was a non-issue few weeks back, an election issue. Most of the South Bangalore candidates are with us on this subject(Hopefully!!). One sad part is that participants from the Jayanagar were very few. We had people coming Nagabhavi, Yeshwanthpur etc. but not much from Jayanagar, I guess the saying 'too much of sweet makes you lose the pleasure of it' goes well here!

Hasiruusiru have planned a Padayatra from South End circle to Lalbagh west gate on Tuesday Apr 21st from 5.30pm to protest against the BMRCL's plan of chopping 332 trees on Nanda road and encroachment of Lalbagh to build a station. Please join hands and participate.

Few pics from Sunday's protest

Apr 11-12
Drive to Parson's Valley

May 4-14
Trek to Sar pass with YHAI folks.
Sandy and Jagadish will be with me.
Need to buy a 12-24mm wide angle lens for this trek, but its Recession folks, some financial favors needed!!!

I have always believed that Apex court of India gave sensible judgments. When I read the verdict on Mohammad Salim, who wanted to sport a beard at school, I was shocked. Justice Katju, said that there is no need to over-stretch secularism and he does not want Talibanisation in India. Pretty strong words Huh!!???
If the verdict was given on aesthetics of the students, that everyone has to follow the code of uniform set by the school, I would have been convinced. But comparing a boy who has a beard to Taliban is taking it too far. Clearly, this verdict has come from a person who does not understand what Talibanisation is!

This kind of generalization is really ridiculous. If letting a Muslim to sport a beard in school means stretching secularism then what about turbans worn by Sikhs or reciting Sholkas for that matter? IMHO, these religious symbols should be allowed in Public domains. We, people should learn to live with this and not have dogmas. Secularism is 'equality' not 'uniformity'. Secularism is about educating how to interact with other religions/sects. Secularism is embracing Muslim on Id and having 'Kheer' at his house, its baking a Christmas cake in Christian's house, playing Holi and singing 'Rang Barse' with Hindus.

Btw, I need to shave tomorrow, I am looking really awful :)

Howdy!!!

Wondering why a Bengal tiger is greeting like a typical Texan? Well, let me introduce myself first, I am Mr."Wow!! A tiger", resident of Birmingham Zoo, Alabama from past 6 years. I was born in the mangrove forests of West Bengal, India. My mom is now a coat of a wealthy Brazilian and my dad is 'curing' diseases in China. I was bought to Alabama when I was just eight weeks old. From then onwards I have been living a life of retired government employee, having a sumptuous meal everyday and wondering how wild boars of Sunderbans tastes like.

Few days ago, I just finished reading Darwin's Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection. It was really surprising to know that tigers and humans have originated from the same source and yet we are so different... Since I need not go hunting, I had lot of spare time to ruminate over Darwin's theory. It also made me wonder what made Humans such a successful species in terms of sheer numbers. It puzzled me whether humans had evolved in such a way that every individual was so perfect to be naturally selected and survive and pass on the genes to the next generation? Or is he overcoming Darwin's laws

After mulling over it and observing them for couple of days, I have come to the conclusion that Darwin's theory, esp. the Natural Selection part does not apply to humans. And I present my case by stating these below points,

1. Not only the fittest(in terms of physical ability) does not survive, in fact, most of them do. Human mortality rate is so low when compared to other mammals say like me, Tigers.

2. Lack of natural predator does not help in keeping the human numbers under check.

3. Humans undergo short term mental evolution cycles through which they adjust to the 'unnatural habitat', however deplorable they may be.

4. Humans think that they own the planet and have a right an absolute right on everything and the blatant rape of the earth goes on.

I might sound 'Hitler'ish (Not sure what his agenda was, could not get through 50th page of 'Mein Kampf' on my 2nd attempt also), but I just pray something terrible happens to the human race and his choking grip on the planet is relaxed. I have lost all hopes on humanity, hence I wish that at least one of the below happens,

1. The weak ones are nurtured by the human society in name of Humanity and they consume the resources of the land without contributing anything back to nature. I think humans should stop interfering and leave it to the nature to take its own course as we in the animal kingdom do.

2. When I said that there are no natural predators of humans, I must add at the same time, human itself is a sort of predator of his own kind. And the majority of the 'culling' work is being done by clans called, 'Dictators' and 'Terrorists'. I am sorry to say this we need more of them for us to have chance of survival.

P.S: These are the thoughts of the Tiger, not mine. Its quite natural to have these thoughts when there are just 1400- of its species roaming in wild.

One more addition to the chaos in my room and I would like to say a welcome addition. Finally, bought a mate for my Ipod. The Klipsch iGroove SXT.




Actual price of it is 149 US dollars but it was available for only for 78 on Amazon. I could not resist and I indulged in yet another vice during these recessionary times :)



Its pretty compact and loud for its size. The best feature is the clarity, its soooooo sharp. One can hear all small 'tings' and 'tangs'. Metallica sound much much better on this....Yipppppie!!!! In short, its worth it.

For more Tech stuff on the dock -> http://www.klipsch.com/products/details/igroove-sxt-1.aspx