In true Christmas Spirit

Our lives always yearn for priceless moments - moments of bliss, joy or of accomplishment. Well, the seemingly unfathomable act of singing carols on the busy Brigade road was definitely one of them!
While most passersby were thoroughly amused, some of them joint us in chorus, and that was a fantastic feeling of oneness. This flagged the beginning of a very special Christmas to us!

Powered by some great wine and the best fruit cake you could ever imagine, we visited several of our friends and family that day, singing carols all along. It is quite hard to put in words the warmth of the people we met and the spirit of unity amongst us.

Needless to say, this was the best Christmas I have ever had.

A memorable adventure

On a weekend that was longer than usual, we, a bunch of four weary software professionals, yearning to get off our bums, decided to head off to the majestic western ghats – destination Hebri. Every moment of that weekend was enthralling to say the very least. Be it driving through the dense, mystic Malnad woods while playing enrapturing music, or meeting fear in the eye – socializing with the loathsome leeches in their thousands, and riding the violent rapids of the Sita river. Blessed were we to see Jog in its crowning glory – a sight that made our lives worth. While the nation celebrated independence, so did our spirit. The elusive joy was simply bountiful.

Context: Reminiscing the Hebri & Jog trip - unmistakably, the best trip of my life.

Isms of an Arranged Matrimony

There is no dearth of meaningless isms in today’s societal practices. The institution of an arranged matrimony is no exception to this. It looks like years of education and a lifetime of poring over holy texts have no effect on people’s understanding of the true value of human relationships. Marriage seems to be a marketplace to satisfy material needs - an obligatory give and take. Often times, the guy and the girl are simply left out of the whole equation (how ironical). I can’t see where love and trust are placed in this whole setup. People are measured on how much they earn, or what their stars & planets look like, instead of understanding what they are capable of achieving in life. Virtuousness is out of people’s sight.

How disconcerting is it to be a part of a society where this is the order of the day? I sincerely hope all this is just a bad dream.

Abstraction

Life is all about creating and dealing with abstractions. Most typically, you are mangled mesh of desires, dreams, and ambitions; but to the world, you are a great friend, son or husband. So, its fair to say that life is an illusion.

Time

Time is your worst foe. Ironically yet, the best healer.

A meaningful whole

At Sangam, our abode, I head the Gastronomy Centre of Excellence (also called Culinary Competency Centre), where our constant endeavor is to take cookery beyond basic survival needs, and to derive continuous flow experiences out of the fine art of cooking. Ingenuity fuels most of our creations, hunger is a mere bystander.

Sangam Noodles^TM is the latest feather on our cap. (For the academically interested, this is a marriage of Top Ramen curry, Maggi Sambhar, and Atta noodles respectively)
Tried and tested, satisfaction guaranteed.

Other GCoE Fellows:
Chaatu - Resident Prof, mentor and certification authority
Venks - Effectively uses GSM & Bluetooth technologies for cooking, practices Agile methods. Also the force behind our trademark name.
Satheesh – The silent maestro, efficient inventory management, hygiene expert.

The Sangam Noodles^TM Metaphor: Unrelated moments in life combine to form a meaningful, enjoyable whole.

Being a link in the chain

I guess tagging is a sort of a “manual virus”. But, it is a good thing and I am up to it.

1. Are you happy/satisfied with your blog with its content and look?Does your family know about your blog?

My blog layout and styling is very simple and I like it that way. Content – well that is a sophisticated collection of sundry musings, which largely may not make much sense. Again, I like it that way.

My parents are thankfully oblivious of terms like blogging or coding. There are happy to just know that I work on a computer.

2. Do you feel embarrassed to let your friends know about your blog or you just consider it as a private thing?

I think a “Private Blog” is an oxymoron. I guess the very idea of blogging is to vent out the categorical nonsense in your head. If you have a blog, I think you should be proud of it.

3. Did blogs cause positive changes in your thoughts?

Not thus far, I guess. But, it is a good thing to read your own archive and muse over your thought process in retrospect.

4. Do you only open the blogs of those who comment on your blog or you love to go and discover more by yourself?

I usually don’t go about discovering new blogs. Sometimes, I do read the blogs of those who have left some interesting comments.

5. What does visitors counter mean to you? Do you care about putting it in your blog?

It used to; not anymore. Watching my blog traffic used to give a kind of a kick. These days, my interest in those numbers is comparable to my interest in world history. I do have a counter on my blog - only because it is free!

6. Did you try to imagine your fellow bloggers and give them real pictures?

Not really - I don’t think I use my blog as a social networking medium. All my fellow bloggers are good friends of mine.

7. Do you think there is a real benefit for blogging?

Well yes. These days, Blogging is used for such things like relief activities, raising funds etc. Blogging has morphed into a very powerful medium of communication. My blog, however, consistently continues to be quite useless that way.

8. Do you think that bloggers society is isolated from real world or interacts with events?

I don’t think so. As internet is getting more & more pervasive, Blogging is slowing getting weaved into the fabric of our lives, very much like e-mail, or mobile phones today.

9. Does criticism annoy you or do you feel it's a normal thing?

I suppose not. On the contrary, it is welcome. It would broaden my perspectives I guess.

10. Do you fear some political blogs and avoid them?

Not really. Albeit political, some blogs could be very interesting (or amusing)!

11. Did you get shocked by the arrest of some bloggers?

I was surprised to know that. But again, this fact underscores the power of the blogging medium.

12. Did you think about what will happen to your blog after you die?

Nopes. My blog would just be one my worthless legacies.

13. What do you like to hear? What's the song you might like to put a link to in your blog?

This is a very difficult question. I listen to almost every type of music. Well, if I really have to pick up one, I would choose Metallica's One.

I am passing the tag I got from Mr.Mitra to Asha and Neel.

The Mission Statement Generator that you always yearned

In order to position your bleeding edge technology solution developed for rapidly evolving and ruthlessly competent global markets, and which seamlessly aligns Businesses to IT, that which harnesses synergistic and agile global delivery models to authoritatively reduce the total cost of ownership and dramatically improve the overall return of investment, the Dilbert’s Mission Statement Generator might just be the right tool you need.

Arranged or Love?

“A love marriage sees a relationship getting promoted to matrimony, whereas an arranged one promotes matrimony to a relationship.”

This is what an un-authoritative me would come up with if asked to express the difference between two marriage forms in an un-sophisticated one liner.

Democracy

Everyone asserts that Democracy is powerful, but isn’t it just hapless if all that power starts, and ends within the confines of a ballot box?

Perhaps, democracy should infer transparency, but I guess it doesn’t work that way.

I have utterly failed to understand the very fabric of the system. Ignorance is bliss, isn't it?

Men, in a Nutshell

Men are fairly simple forms of carbon. Half of our life goes into sleeping, and the other half into fantasizing about women. Somewhere in between, we discover gravity, or invent an electric bulb.

The Saint

I have been witnessing miracles of late.

Miracle 1: I lost my camera at Taj Mahal (of all places), but found it at the CISF control room. Many thanks to the CISF - their service was exemplary.
Miracle 2: My Air Deccan flight was rescheduled to start half an hour early.
Miracle 3: Roads at Koramangala, Bangalore (including the (in)famous 80 Feet Road) are getting asphalted.

Having witnessed Three Miracles in quick succession now, am I ready for beatification?

Discovery of the North!

SA got married in Gwalior recently. Being there also gave me the "North India” experience that I always yearned. So, here’s the executive summary of the same.

The real trip started at Delhi, where I went aboard India’s fastest and best train – Bhopal Shataabdi (We are getting there!) to Gwalior. At Gwalior, the Baraat and the wedding happened with full tradition, as one would expect. The same day, I happened to see the fort and the Royal Palace – great places to visit. Among hundreds of other things, the palace also shows a clear picture why the Bengal Tiger is now endangered in India. I wonder whether the kings thought tigers multiplied like rats, and hence hunted them on a daily basis - not impressive. That aside, one thing that did impress me thoroughly at Gwalior was the Tempo – the public transport of choice. Complete with all aesthetics, the tempo really looked like a Rhinoceros beetle on three wheels – awesome. What more, the tempo works like a convertible too.

The next day, I set out to Agra in MP state government bus. The bus started off with me and a handful of other folks, and everything looked great. By the time I reached Agra though, the bus had at least 150. Agra was the place my pocket started to get lighter by the second. Every person I met and talked too – the hotel guy, the travels guy, the driver, the “Special Petha” guy, the handloom guy, the N number of guides at Agra – all happened to rip me off in text-book style (this went all the way to the Delhi Airport actually¹). Notwithstanding, the trip to follow was a memorable one.

Agra and Fatehpur Sikri are places you must visit. Not just for the monuments, but also for the Pethas and special Sarees made by convicts from Banana peels and Bamboo stumps (strange, but true). After quick rounds of Fatehpur Sikri and Agra fort, it was time for the crème de la crème – The Taj. Although a solo trip to the Taj Mahal was not a very romantic proposition, it was a very rewarding experience nonetheless. To many a symbol of eternal love, the Taj truly is an example of superlative engineering combined with exquisite artwork. While couples from all over the world huddled together for a snap with the Taj in the backdrop – the ultimate souvenir, I went around doing one “Self Patel” shot after the other, which also seemed to amuse many. The sunset at Taj pulled down the curtains of my eventful UP/MP trip – something I won’t forget in a hurry.

[1] Guys, money is not everything in life. Tourism is holy – Make India shine!

Footloose

If your momma didn’t tell you already, India is a drop-dead beautiful place.

CTRL+ALT+DEL your mind, pick up your bag pack and get lost. Tried and tested, complete satisfaction guaranteed.

Context : Reminiscing the wonderful trips to Calcutta, Darjeeling, Pondy & Melukote in the recent past. More beckons

Thou are safe!

The thought of a bomb going off near you when you are in a marketplace runs an icy chill down your spine. The spontaneous “Not Me” thought becalms you, while you remain oblivious of the possibility of being hit by a meteor the very next moment.

I salute the strength of the human spirit.