Yet another time in Nice

Yet another time in Nice.. This beautiful city in France is a tourist destination. If you go down this blog, the first post is about my last trip to Nice.. That was two years back and the weather was still chill.. Now its a more pleasant though a bit chill.. And I am staying in Holiday Inn at downtown Nice. Last time, though I was here for a month, I could never visit downtown. This time, I am living down there thought for just a week. Yet to visit the old town.. Dont want to miss that this time..

Unlike last time, one finds lots of people on the beaches now. I still havent got a chance to go to the beach this time. That way, I am missing the Holiday Inn in StLaurentduVar which is at the beach.. but the drive to office in Villeneuve Loubet is beautiful as we take the seaside road instead of the motorway. Food here is a problem. especially lunch at the TI cafeteria. Its difficult to get vegetarian food and whatever u get is uncooked food with no salt, spice or anything.. The hotel doesnt even provide a microwave.. So it is difficult to even bring food and heat it up and eat.. And anyway, I came without any food items this time..

Talking about food.. During the training today, they served a pastry here.. Something like a bun stuffed with a sweet butter like thing brown in color. The filling reminded me of the spread that they put in the "Kaya toast" in Singapore. Tastes and looks similar. That was really good.

This is an update to the existing.. Its Friday today.. and we are closing to the end of the day.. The training has almost come to an end and tonight we plan to go to Cannes where the film festival is going on ..

I dont know what time the sun rises here these days.. But till 9 its quite bright here.. When we leave office by around 7:30, its still very bright..

My hotel booking is till tonight.. But now since I have extended the stay till Tuesday, I had to find another accomodation. Most of the hotels are fully booked as the tourist season has started and the rooms available are at exhorbitant prices. Now we have found a place in Villeneuve Loubet itself for the next three days.. Staying in Villeneuve Lobet means its difficult to get around without a car.. So nothing planned for the weekend.. I wanted to spend a lot of time at the beach.. but moving to villeneuve loubet i wont be able to do that.. only me and karthik are going to be left for the weekend and both of us are not driving.. May be I will try to spend some time at the beach tomo morning and shift out by noon.. and then sleep thru the afternoon.. Got some work to do and then read something for the rest of the time...

Karthik is planning to look for some trip for Sunday.. I am not planning to go to Monacco yet another time..I will prefer to stay back here.. Hope he will be fine by himself..

22 May
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Friday was our first wedding anniversary. But we happened to be away on that day.. Me here in Nice and Anurag in Kochi busy with the registration of our land.. So finally we have a piece of land that we can call ours..And that is our gift for ourselves on this anniversary..

Weekend was a relaxed one.. Friday night we took a train to Cannes.. Cannes seems to be a small place with nothing to see except the film festival.. When I told the receptionist at Holiday Inn that we are going Cannes, she said she went there on the opening day and saw Aishwarya Rai. She was wondering is Aish was completely Indian. Her green eyes seems to be a wonder.

Saturday I slept late into the day. At around 12:30 we checked out of the hotel and left our baggage. Went to Noori's for an Indian lunch. That restaurant seems to be having tie up with lots of tour operators and surviving just by the Indian tourists from these tours. After lunch, we spent time at the Promenade/ English Walkway and then walking on the down town streets. By 3:30 we went back to Holiday Inn. I took a cab to move to the new hotel Le Galounet in Villeneuve Loubet while Karthik stayed back for his Monacco tour..

Le Galounet is a small hotel in a quiet village part. A very friendly couple runs this hotel. I just slept and read whole of the remaining day. We had a dinner of the readymade Ashirwad stuff and some bread. Sunday was another lazy day. We went McDonalds for a lunch of french fries and milk shake. and then spent some time at the beach. We thought of looking at the shops around but everything was closed. So the rest of the day was again sleeping and reading and a dinner of ready made stuff. For the first time, I switched on the TV during this trip and watched a French movie. I dont know the name of the movie and couldnt understand a word of what was being said. The movie went on the lines of a couple going to some remote island for vacation and due to work related emergency the lady decides to come to the city. But the helicopter looses control and lands at another isolated coast. The rest of the story is about how the lady and pilot escapes from there.

Finished reading two books over the weekend - "Amrutham thedi" by Malayattoor and "Manasi" by Madhavikutty.. Started the third "Lanthanbatheriyile Luthiniyikal" by N.S.Madhavan...

With that the weekend ended. This is my last day here during this trip and I am all excited about returning tomorrow.. Flight is at 7:30 from Nice and a 2 and half hour transit time in Frankfurt. It is almost 12 noon here .. half a day and a night left before bidding goodbye....

Schoolmates

While my brother was browsing thru the TV channels this Sunday morning, he stopped for a moment at a malayalam channel to find out what was the programme going on. They anchor was going in a car and said she is in Dubai and was going to meet a Malayalee couple settled there. As they showed the couple I felt I know the girl and didnt really read the name that they showed. Then she mentioned her house is at Kalamassery and then i realised that we used to sit in the same bench during my 10th standard.. She was Sumi Thomas, who was one of my good friends while leaving school. After that I lost touch with her as we pursued our pre-degree in different colleges and then I moved to Thrissur and then to Bangalore, never to go back and stay in Kochi for long.. There are lots of friends whom I had lost after school this way.

Another incident happened during my final year study holidays. Lots of my friend had come to Kochi for a test(I dont remember whihc company now). It was being held at the BTH. I had gone to meet my friends as I was staying in Kochi then. While in lift, I met a guy whose face was very familiar but I couldnt place who he was. I think he too felt the same and then I dont know who started but we found out that we studied in the same school.. I asked him his name and he said Jose. Now that was bad. Anytime I was in school or after having left school, I could have talked to anyone as Jose was one of the most popular student among teachers, one of the toppers, a favourite of our principal and all that. But then 6 years out of college, i couldnt recognise him. That was bad. Then later we had a gettogether of our batch in school and then I realised how many ppl I remember about but cant recognise them when I see them and then there is a whole lot whom I recognise by face but cant remember the name..

My best friend from school was Sameena.. We were very close until we finished our school but again as we went to different colleges, I lost touch with her.. We used to exchange occassional letters and greeting cards but that too slowly ended. Then after I finished my college and was working in Bangalore, I once met a friend whose house is near but was studying in Pondicherry and she mentioned that Sameena had passed away. I knew she had some health problems right from the time we were in school but her death is something I still hope is not true.

While during my high school, four of us were good friends. Myself, Aparna, Smitha(Sumi) and Soumya. The thing that brought us together must have been that we used to go to school in the same school bus. Three of us except Soumya used to get into the bus at the same stop and Soumay from the next stop. So we grew pretty close and after school, we went to the same college for Predegree. So the friendship carried on. Aparna's house was near mine. Smitha was a relative as well. So even though she moved away from Kochi after our predegree days, I was still in touch due to the close relationship. Soumya also moved to Chennai for her degree in journalism after predegree. We never went out of touch though it used to be an occasional call or visit, I still considered them good friends. I still get to know about Smitha and Aparna from their parents as me or my mom gets to meet them once in a while. But Soumya was a special friend for me within this group. But it is with her that I am completely out of touch. The last time I met her was the day before my TI interview during my final sem study holidays. We had moved back to Kochi and she had also come to her home suring that time. I still remember the two of us going together to the Ernakulam south railway station to book tickets for me to go to TVM next day for the TI interview. And then i had dropeed her back home and she mentioned that her parents are also moving back to Madras. After joining TI also, I was in touch with her thru occassional mails. Then during my first travel to Japan in Oct 2002, I had a day to spare at Chennai. I badly wanted to meet her and called up and she said she will come to the hotel I was staying and pick me as I was not familiar with Chennai. But sometime later, she called up and said that she is having some guests at home as it is Diwali time and cant come. So I couldnt meet her then and after that she never replied to my mails and slowly the friendship faded away. I am completely out of touch with her now and it was from Smitha's sister that I came to know that she got married to her boyfriend about whom she had mentioned to me earlier when we talked in Chennai.

Those are two friends I am sorry to have lost from my school. Not to say that I am not sad about other friendships..But because they were too close to my heart...

BTW, the school I studied was St.joseph's EMHS at Kalamassery during 1990-1995.

Quotes of Swami Vivekananda

This I have seen in life—those who are overcautious about themselves fall into dangers at every step; those who are afraid of losing honor and respect, get only disgrace; and those who are always afraid of loss, always lose.

These are words of the great saint Swami Vivekananda.. And it seems to be very true to me.. Whatever I try to hug close to my heart is what I tend to loose.. Now I have started thinking that it is better to let things go so that what you really deserve alone comes to me and not what you want to have....

This brings up one more point.. I should not try to plan for everything that might happen in life.. I should learn to take things as they come.. May be that will makew my life more brighter... And that means, I need to change the comments I have put with this blog.

My manager is a big follower of Swami Vivekanada.. He keeps sending Vivekananda qoutes to interested ppl.. Here is the collection :

This I have seen in life—those who are overcautious about themselves fall into dangers at every step; those who are afraid of losing honor and respect, get only disgrace; and those who are always afraid of loss, always lose.



Why are people so afraid? The answer is that they have made themselves helpless and dependent on others. We are so lazy, we do not want to do anything ourselves. We want a Personal God, a Savior or a Prophet to do everything for us.



Great work requires great and persistent effort for a long time. … Character has to be established through a thousand stumbles.




Don't look back!!!!

Look forward with infinite energy, infinite enthusiasm, infinite daring, and infinite patience—then alone can great deeds be accomplished.




The mind is the subtle part of the body. You must retain great strength in your mind and words.




Fear is death, fear is sin, fear is hell, fear is unrighteousness, fear is wrong life. All the negative thoughts and ideas that are in the world have proceeded from this evil spirit of fear.




The whole secret of existence is to have no fear. Never fear what will happen when you are dependent on no one. Only the moment you reject all help are you free.




Every individual is a center for the manifestation of a certain force. This force has been stored up as the resultant of our previous works, and each one of us is born with this force at our back.




We have to go back to philosophy to treat things as they are. We are suffering from our own karma. It is not the fault of God. What we do is our own fault, nothing else. Why should God be blamed?




Pray all the time, read all the scriptures in the world, and worship all the gods there are …[but] unless you realize the Self (atman), there is no freedom.




We want to know in order to make ourselves free. That is our life: one universal cry for freedom.




Desire, ignorance, and inequality—this is the trinity of bondage.



Everything must be sacrificed, if necessary, for that one sentiment: universality.




Stand Up!!! Be Bold!!!! Take all the responsibilities on your shoulders!!!




Learning and wisdom are superfluities, the surface glitter merely, but it is the heart that is the seat of all power.




God is merciful to those whom He sees struggling heart and soul for realization. But remain idle, without any struggle, and you will see that His grace will never come.




Who makes us ignorant? We ourselves. We put our hands over our eyes and weep that it is dark.




Every one wants to command, and no one wants to obey; First, learn to obey. The command will come by it self.





All is the Self or Brahman. The saint, the sinner, the lamb, the tiger, even the murderer, as far as they have any reality, can be nothing else, because there is nothing else.




Go on saying, “I am free.” Never mind if the next moment delusion comes and says, “I am bound.” Dehypnotize the whole thing.




You cannot believe in God until you believe in yourself.



Stand as a rock; you are indestructible. You are the Self (atman), the God of the universe.



Delusion will vanish as the light becomes more and more effulgent, load after load of ignorance will vanish, and then will come a time when all else has disappeared and the sun alone shines.




Are you unselfish? That is the question. If you are, you will be perfect without reading a single religious book, without going into a single church or temple or masjid.





This is the great lesson that we are here to learn through myriads of births and heavens and hells—that there is nothing to be asked for, desired for, beyond one’s spiritual Self (atman).




Karma is the eternal assertion of human freedom. If we can bring ourselves down by our karma, surely it is in our power to raise ourselves by our own karma.





There cannot be friendship without equality.





Stand up!!! Be Bold!!!!!! Take ALL the responsibilities on your Shoulders!!!!




Come out into the broad light of day, come out from the little narrow paths, for how can the infinite soul rest content to live and die in small ruts?




Superstition is our great enemy, but bigotry is worse.



If superstition enters, the brain is gone.



Come out into the broad light of day, come out from the little narrow paths, for how can the infinite soul rest content to live and die in small ruts?




Freedom can never be reached by the weak. Throw away all weakness. Tell your body that it is strong, tell your mind that it is strong, and have unbounded faith and hope in yourself.



Do not look back upon what has been done. Go ahead!




Fill the brain with high thoughts, highest ideals, place them day and night before you, and out of that will come great work.




If there is one word that you find coming out like a bomb from the Upanishads, bursting like a bombshell upon masses of ignorance, it is the word “fearlessness”



We are ever free if we would only believe it, only have faith enough. You are the soul, free and eternal, ever free, ever blessed. Have faith enough and you will be free in a minute.




If you want to have life, you have to die every moment for it. Life and death are only different expressions of the same thing looked at from different standpoints; they are the falling and the rising of the same wave, and the two form one whole.”





Strength is the sign of vigor, the sign of life, the sign of hope, the sign of health, and the sign of everything that is good. As long as the body lives, there must be strength in the body, strength in the mind, strength in the hand.





This is the first lesson to learn; be determined not to curse anything outside, not to lay the blame upon anyone outside, but stand up, lay the blame on yourself.
You will find that is always true. Get hold of yourself.




If you think that you are bound, you remain bound; you make your own bondage. If you know that you are free, you are free this moment. This is knowledge, knowledge of freedom. Freedom is the goal of all nature.



Arrow goes forward only after pulling in to backward.
Bullet goes forward only after pressing the Trigger backward.
Such that,Every human being will get happy only after facing the difficulties in their life path.
So don't afraid to face your difficulties. They will push you forward.





Are great things ever done smoothly? “Time”, “patience”, and “indomitable will” must show.





When we come to nonattachment, then we can understand the marvelous mystery of the universe: how it’s intense activity and at the same time intense peace, how it works every moment and rests every moment.





We reap what we sow. We are the makers of our own fate. None else has the blame, none has the praise.




Believe that “No Power” in the Universe can withhold from anyone anything they really deserve.




Let us calmly go to work, instead of dissipating our energy in unnecessary fretting and fuming.





Each work has to pass through these stages—ridicule, opposition, and then acceptance. Those who think ahead of their time are sure to be misunderstood.





Those who grumble at the little thing that has fallen to their lot to do” -> will grumble at everything. Always grumbling they will lead a miserable life….
But those who do their duty putting their shoulder to the wheel will see the light, and higher and higher duties will fall to their share.
More and More responsibilities shouldered definitely will yield prosperity, growth and fruitful returns” - The last statement is my add-on.





Even the greatest fool can accomplish a task if it were after his or her heart. But the intelligent ones are those who can convert every work into one that suits their taste.





A few heart-whole, sincere, and energetic men and women can do more in a year than a mob in a century.

Travel by Metros

The first time I travelled by metro was in NewYork.. The underground stations, the wide network and the crowd that commutes using it everyday impressed me. Then I got a chance to travel by the metro trains in Tokyo. What comes to my mind when I think of the Metro in Tokyo is the crowd.. The stations are so crowded, i found it too difficult to walk and then the trains were crowed that I had to stand on one leg. Next time it was the Singapore metro. The multilevel metro stations where two lines intercepted really impressed me. They were designed in such a way that the crowd getting out or waiting for one line is completely ignorant of the crowd for the other line. The last metro trip I had was in the Delhi metro. Delhi metro is still under construction. But whereever it is done,it is upto the class of the Singapore metro. Latest trains, the metro line that is sometimes underground and sometimes outside all impressed me. But I think the people of Delhi have not started making use of it much. Or maybe I got that feeling because I travelled on a Sunday because of whiCh it might have been sparesly used. Also the fact that it doesnt cover much of the city is a reason why many people are not using it. The plans displayed at the metro stations show that the metro is planned to be completed in 2021. Then Delhi will be completely networked by the metro. Kudos to the Delhi metro but with a request.. it will be good to put some water coolers in the metro stations.It will help the travellers in the hot, dry summer..

Can our examiners be bought over????

Consider this incident.. Three candidates are sent for VIVA to a professor. They are asked to meet the professor and then decide the order of the VIVA among themselves. So all three of them walk into the professors room and the professor naturally take the project report from the first person to walk into the room. So as the others wait on, the prof ask the candidate to give an overview of the work. After a brief overview, the candidate suggests to go thru the prepared presentation to which the prof disagrees and asks to continue the talk. Prof interrupts the candidate and asks questions on the work as he browses through the report and presentation submitted. It gets over without much problems and the candidate gets a grade "Good" but comments on somethings that could have been done better. Now the candidate starts saying that there were just 3 months to finsh the work and had responsibilities at work and home in addition to this dissertation. So the prof should not expect everything to be done and again repeats her request to present the prepared slides as there was a lot of time spend on preparing them. The prof disagress and grades the work. Now the candidate opens a box of sweets and offers it to the prof whihc he declines. As the candidate perseveres, the prof takes a piece of the sweet. Now the candidate says that the entire box is for him which he declines and asks the candidate to offer it to other fellow candidates. Now the sweet is offered to the other two candidates and the remaining box is left on the prof's desk for him even when he says he doesnt need it. After sometime the candidate returns for some favour and then the prof forces the candidte to take the box of sweets back as neither he or anyone at home will be able to have the sweets...

There are few questions that this raises.. Should candidates be allowed to get sweets or other gifts to evaluators?? How should the candidate be evaluated if he/she persists that I have prepared this ways and hence the evaluation needs to be done that way. Or should it be left to the evaluator to decide the method of evaluation?Should the examiner have waited till the candidate returned for favours to return the sweet box? Should the candidate be given negative marks for trying to gift the evaluator? Should it be taken as a form of bribe?