Random Scribblings of a Wavering Soul

Manjaveyil Maranangal

2011-12-07T16:25:00.001+05:30

ആടുജീവിതം വായിക്കാന്‍ തുടങ്ങുന്നത് മുന്‍പ് തന്നെ മൈനയുടെ ബ്ലോഗില്‍ മഞ്ഞ വെയില്‍ മരണങ്ങളെ പറ്റി വായിച്ചു.. അത് കൊണ്ട് തന്നെ ആട് ജീവിതം വായിച്ചു തീര്‍ത്ത അന്ന് തന്നെ മഞ്ഞവെയില്‍ മരണങ്ങള്‍ വായിച്ചു തുടങ്ങി...

ആട് ജീവിതവുമായി യാതൊരു സാമ്യവുമില്ലെങ്കിലും വായനക്കാരനെ പിടിച്ചിരുത്തുന്നതില്‍ മഞ്ഞവെയില്‍ മരണങ്ങള്‍ വിജയിച്ചിരിക്കുന്നു... കഥയില്‍ എന്തെങ്കിലും സത്യമുണ്ടോ അതോ എല്ലാം ബെന്യാമിന്റെ ഭാവന മാത്രമോ എന്നൊരു ചോദ്യം മാത്രം അവശേഷിക്കുന്നു...

ഇത്തരം ഒരു പ്രമേയം ഞാന്‍ വായിച്ചിട്ടുള്ള മലയാളം നോവലുകളിലോന്നും ഞാന്‍ ഇതുവരെ കണ്ടിട്ടുമില്ല.. അത് എന്റെ പരിമിതമായ വായന മൂലമാണോ എന്നറിയില്ല... എന്തായാലും പ്രമേയത്തിന്റെ പുതുമ കൊണ്ടും അവതരണം കൊണ്ടും എനിക്ക് ഇത് വളരെ ഇഷ്ടപ്പെട്ടു...

ബെന്യാമിന്‍ -നു എന്റെ അഭിവാദ്യങ്ങള്‍...

Aadu jeevitham

2011-11-29T11:16:00.001+05:30

ആദ്യം ആടുജീവിതം വായിക്കാന്‍ പറഞ്ഞത് അരുണ്‍ ആയിരുന്നു... പക്ഷെ അത് കുറെ നാള്‍ മുന്‍പാണ്.. എന്ത് കൊണ്ടോ അത് വാങ്ങലും വായനയും അപ്പോള്‍ ഉണ്ടായില്ല... പിന്നെ പതിയെ എല്ലായിടത്തും
ആടുജീവിതത്തെ പറ്റി കണ്ടു.. അങ്ങനെ ഒരു ദിവസം flipkart-ല്‍ ഓര്‍ഡര്‍ ചെയ്തു.. ആദ്യം വായിച്ചത് അമ്മയാണ്.. വല്ലാതെ മനസ്സില്‍ തട്ടുന്നു എന്നാണ് അമ്മ പറഞ്ഞത്.. അത് കൊണ്ട് അമ്മ വായിച്ചു തീര്‍ത്തു വച്ച ആണ് തന്നെ ഞാന്‍ അത് എടുത്തു. പക്ഷെ വല്ലാതെ സങ്കടം വരും എന്ന് പേടിച്ചു രണ്ടു മൂന്നു ദിവസം വായികാതെ കൊണ്ട് നടന്നു.. പിന്നെ എടുത്തു വായിച്ചു തുടങ്ങി.. ഹ്മ്മം... നജീബിനെക്കാള്‍ ഹക്കീമും ഹമീദും മനസ്സില്‍ വേദന നിറയ്ക്കുന്നു...

ഈ കഴിഞ്ഞ ഒരു മാസത്തിനിടക്ക് ആട്ടിടയന്മാരുമായി ബന്ധപെട്ട മൂന്ന് കൃതികള്‍ വായിക്കാന്‍ ഇട വന്നു...

മലയാളികളുടെ സ്വന്തം രമണന്‍...
ലോകരെ മുഴുവന്‍ സ്വന്തം സ്വപ്നത്തിനു പിന്നാലെ പോകാന്‍ പ്രേരിപിച്ച Santiago -യുടെ കഥ
ജീവിതം ഒന്ന് കൊരുപിടിപിക്കാന്‍ ഒരുപാട് മലയാളികളെ പോലെ ഗള്‍ഫിലേക്ക് വിമാനം കയറിയ നജീബിന്റെ കഥ..

നജീബ് പറയുന്ന പോലെ സന്റയാഗോ യുടെ മരുഭൂമി യാത്രയിലും വഴി കാണിച്ചു കൊടുക്കാന്‍ ഒരു ആല്‍കെമിസ്റ്റും കുതിരയും ഒടാകവും ഉണ്ടായിരുന്നു...ഹൈവേയുടെ അടുത്ത് വരെ എത്തിച്ചു എങ്ങോട്ടോ മറഞ്ഞു പോയ ഇബ്രാഹിം മാത്രമാണ് നജീബിന്റെ കൂടെ ഉണ്ടായിരുന്നത്...

ബെന്യാമിന് എന്റെ ആദരങ്ങള്‍... മഞ്ഞ വെയില്‍ മരണങ്ങള്‍ എന്നെ കാത്തു ഇരിക്കുന്നു എന്റെ പുസതക കൂട്ടത്തില്‍..

Lord of the Flies

2011-10-13T10:53:00.001+05:30

William Golding has done a commendable job with his first book. I havent read his other books but this one really leaves its mark in your mind.

The plot is really different from everything else that I have read. May be there are other books on similar lines, just that I havent come across them. Its not a thriller in the lines of the Millenium series but it does makes you wait for the end. I could visualize the island and climb the cliffswith the boys and attend their assemblies.I could live with the boys in the forest. And when the forest is caught in fire, I lost hope. I really jumped to last page at that point to know if the boys are rescued and then came back to reading the left out part.

Jack, used to being the unquestioned leader, cannot accept Ralph's leadership. And his team of hunters are caught between whether to break free of his commandership or to go for the thrill of hunting and killing. But finally its hunting is what gives the boys the sense of enjoyment and achievement and ofcourse, satisfies their hunger. Is it just their young age that makes them never focus on the need to get rescued and stay together?

And Piggy sticks to my mind as if he is not a fictional character. With all his shortcomings and lack of natural leadership qualities, he is the only one who never looses his train of thought and focus.

Simon, Ralph, Sam 'n Eric, Roger, the littleuns.. I think they will stay with me for sometime

10 years

2011-07-01T09:58:00.000+05:30

10 years .. looks like a long time.. Its 10 years since i came ti Bangalore.. 10years since I started working.. 10years I remained loyal to this company.. 10years since I started earning.. yet looking back, what have a I achieved?? Am I happy?

The urge to do something different .. something new.. is very strong these days. But what? searching for an answer...

Miss you dear......

2010-09-09T15:25:00.000+05:30

Its two months today since you left us... I have known you for only around 2 years.. You were so different from the image I had before I met you.. You were someone whom I felt so much at ease with when I met you.. You were someone whom I enjoyed every moment with.. You were one of the few people whom I felt like picking the phone and making a call... Yet I never understood the pain you hid behind your laughs.. Yet I didnt give in to my urge to call and talk to you on that fateful day.. I dont know why...

Miss you dear Balamani....

Vidyarambham

2010-09-03T10:52:00.000+05:30

Dusshera - to me it was always some festival that doesnt have anything to do with malayalis. Celebrated elsewhere in India.. Known to me only as the 10lines of hindi essay that I had to learn byheart.

For me all that mattered was "Puja holidays" or the "Pujaveypu" or "Vidrarambham". I knew the 10days was important for students. Starting from the first day of Navrathri, no non-veg was to be eaten. You get your morning tea only after taking bath and you have to pray to Saraswathi. And then on Durgashtami day, you keep your books for Puja. The impression I had was one should never read anything onceyou have kept the books for Puja. So I couldnt read story books, newspapers or even read the prayer books. I remember taking effort not to read the titles written while watching TV or movies.

And as every other Hindu kid growing up in Kerala, I used to look forward to the Durgashtami day. Once you keep your books for puja on this day, nobody will ask you to study anything until you take it back on Vijayadashami day morning- even if you had an exam the next day.

My memories of Pujaveypu is always associated with memories of my father's house at Paravoor (in Ernakulam Dist) and the Mookambika temple there. Every year, there were two occassions when I would definitely go to my father's house - For Puja and then when he and his brothers go to Sabarimala. Navrathri is a big festival there. On Durgashtami day, after school, we go to my father's house and then along with my cousin's I go to Mookambika temple for keeping my books for Puja. On Vijayadashami day, early morning we go for the 'nirmalya darshan' , ie worshipping the devi before the previous days decorations are removed. So we will be there before the temple opens with my aunt, mom and cousins. This is a beautiful temple with the Srikovil surrounded by a Lotus pond and shrine of Ganesha to the right of the Godess. Outside the main temple are shrines of Mahavishnu, Hanuman,Veerabhadran, Yakshi and Subramanian.

Later, as I grew up and learnt more about temples and the stories associated with them, I grew closer to another temple. Sree Dharmasastha temple at Thiruvullakkavu in Thrissur Dist. More than the legends associated with the temple, what inspired me was the family story - One of my maternal uncles and a cousin of my mother had their initiation to study (Vidyarambham) at this temple and they both were exceptionally brilliant and had multiple talents and grew on in their careers to be becomes head of major companies. The temple was close for me during my Engineering college days in Thrissur and the good thing in this temple, you can do Vidyarambham on any day at any age. So during my engineering days, I did my second Vidyarambham at this temple. [ But career doesnt look so bright and my only way becoming head of a company will be start one on my own]. This temple is a "kavu" with only the main diety and Ganesha shrine to the left. A Saraswathy shrine is newly added in front of which is a hall where Vidrarambham is done. The place is supposed to have been a thick forest in earlier days.

Anyway, it was a dream come true for me, when I was able to take my son to Thiruvullakkavu for his Vidyarambham on VIjayadashami day last year and ofcourse I didnt forget the Mookambika Devi who bestowed me with her blessings. Let both the God and the Godess bless my son and all other students with their studies.

Krishna and Nandagovind

2010-09-01T17:16:00.003+05:30

" I need two vuvuzelas."
"Why do you need two?"
"One for me and one for Krishna."

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"Its Krishna's birthday today. Let us wish him Happy Birthday. We have got him a new mundu also"
"Ok.. Let us buy cake also for Krishna"

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College Days

2010-08-31T11:08:00.000+05:30

I am a person who was never much a part of fun activites in college. For me, college life was more of attend the classes, come home for lunch, if there is an hour without class, come back home. May be my father's recent death and my mother's health issues and the resultant responsibility I felt towards helping my mother running the house were reasons to this. But still when I think about college days, there are few things that make me smile. Jotting down one of the first things that come to my mind and make me smile.

It was an Onam celebration day in class. Everyone was dressed up for Onam and then there were fun events. I dont remember all the programs we had that day. But I remember that few girls were planning some programme and I didnt have a clue about what it was. They were writing something and planning all in hushed voice. That was when someone said it was a play and they had the introduction written down and wanted someone to read it out and my name popped up. So I walked over to the dais which was acting as the stage that day with a piece of paper I had never read before. I started reading it without realising what was in store.

The play we are going to present is "...." and the people behind it are Direction.. Story.. Script... So it went for a page and then I started realising what is happening along with the rest of the class. I still cant help smiling thinking of that day and what I was reading. And then the play... A girl walked to the stage with a lighted candle and kept it on the table..

After the play I got an explanation.." You are the only one person whom the class will not think is playing a joke.. Thats why we chose you to introduce the play.."

I know its not a big joke for people who have played enough pranks and enjoyed school and college life.. But for me it is probably the only joke I can think of where I was part of..

And then the other part of college life that I always brings a smile to my lips are the Kaalakoodam editions... Kudos to all those behind that wonderful creation....

From Pensioner's Paradise to Silicon Valley of India

2010-08-17T11:32:00.000+05:30

TI completed 25 years in India. I am happy having been part of this company for the past 9 years :-) Had it not happened 25 years back, Bangalore might still have been pensioner's paradise.....

Rolling Stone.....????

2010-08-10T09:59:00.000+05:30

"Rolling stone gather no moss".. So goes the saying...

Wiki says "It appears that the original intent of the proverb saw the growth of moss as desirable, and that the intent was to condemn mobility as unprofitable.The contemporary interpretation of equating moss to undesirable stagnation has turned the traditional understanding on its head: Erasmus's proverb gave the name "rolling stone" to people who are agile (mobile) and never get rusty due to constant motion".

I have stayed on for 9 years in the same organisation.. But worked across domains on the same platform.. Now I have started feeling if I havent gained anything.. either monetary or technically..

So rolling over and over at the same place - you neither collect moss not rust....

One Hundred Years of Solitude

2010-07-01T09:26:00.000+05:30

When sometime back Dhanush suggested me to read the book, "One Hundred Years of Solitude", what I replied was something like 'the name sounds so boring and doesnt feel like reading it when I hear the name'. He asked me to change my perspective of Marquez and start reading them. So that was how Love in the Time of Cholera and One Hundred Years of Solitude got their place in my "To Read" list. Love in the Time of Cholera was a real good book. I enjoyed it thoroughly. But I started reading One Hundred Years of Solitude with the same attitude that I was having.. so boring.. And I was literally dragging on with it..sometimes falling asleep in the bus while reading it... But somewhere in the story, something just triggered my interest.. I have not been able to figure what really interested me.. But I just got involved with what happens in Buendia family.. May be the magic of Marquez's writing to start slowly, telling about everyday life in a way that you slowly feel part of the story and then after finishing, the characters just lingers around you.. Even though the story happened in a different spatial and temporal domain, you can still relate the characters and events to yourself and people around you.. Though the last of the Beundia's were carried away by the ant as Melquides' predications said, the same cycle repeats itself with a different family name at a different place at a different time..

Couple of things I cant help mentioning here..

The story made me remember one of the early poetries that my mother taught me in my LP classes for the English recitation competitions..

In the village, in the village, in the village
Life repeats itself, life repeats itself.
There is sunlight, there is darkness..

Here you can read it fully:

http://www.threes.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2176:andrew-oerk&catid=83:literature&Itemid=67

Secondly, arent Melquiades' parchments what they are promoting as Naadijyothisha these days.. Sages have written down all about your life, including when you will read them, your previous and next lives, centuries ago..

Some recent reads...

2010-06-02T10:36:00.001+05:30

The best part of having moved to the new house is I have started sticking to timings. I have decided to use the BTP bus service to and fro and hence I have regular working hours now.. Atleast for the past one month, I have been able to stick to the routine. The part I enjoy the most in that is that the time I spent in the commute, I am able to use for reading.. I have never been able to find a regular time to read ever since Govind was born.. there were weeks together when I couldnt lay my hands on a book and grew really frustrated.. But now, though it is not much time, I am able to spend some time regularly to read... It makes my whole day more pleasant...

So I finished "Mathurapuri" this way... Translation of K.M.Munshi's "Krishnavatara II : The Wrath of an Emperor".. A very pleasant and interesting read.. The origiinal English version must have been a really good one and translation is also done very well.. I never felt like keeping the book down before finishing but then I had to..From my search on the internet, looks like all 8 parts of Krishnavatara are not translated to Malayalam... So I guess I have to read the English versions only since I badly want to read the rest of it...

The second book I finished is "Afterwards" by Jaishree Mishra... A simple light weight read.. A good book to finish in a travel.. I enjoyed the way it is written and also the story.. But looking at her website, are all her books dealing with unhappy marriages??

So now the third one is the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The first book of the millenium trilogy by Steig Larsson. I had never heard about this book until Anurag got a set of books including this one for me.. Search on the internet showed that the reviews are really great.. So I have reached around one fifth of the book and I have started wishing that my bus journeys are longer.. One of the reviews said the by page 15 the reader was sure he wanted to read it fully. I didnt feel it at page 15 but at page 140, I really didnt want to break reading when my bus reached office today.. Waiting badly for evening :-)

Ponnonam 2009

2009-08-24T18:00:00.000+05:30

[Today is Chithira- the second day of Onam]
"Onam" is something I am so passionate about.. May be I became so passionate after I moved out of Kerala... I would never have missed the pookkalam when I was in Kerala inspite of all the exams that come at the same time.. I think its the same with almost every child growing up there.. But once I moved to Bangalore for my job, I started reaching home only on the day before Thiruonam or so and hence all the joys on Onam was restricted to Onakkodi and Onasadhya.. But now my entire family in Bangalore, I am once more passionate about Onam..especially the pookalam.. With no flowers available to pluck and no time to buy the flowers daily, I still make it happen with the flower purchases before Atham from the local markets and regular replenishments will support from Amma, Anurag and my maid.. Usually its less flowers from Atham to Uthradam and a grand one for Thiruonam..

This year I have gone an extra mile.. We went to Hosakote flower market on the day before Atham and made a real bulk purchase of flowers.. We prepared most of it so that mornings there is no time spend in doing that...The flowers, looks like will last us till Thiruonam.. The fridge is overflowing with flowers that my mother complains that there is no place for anything else.. I have made decent pookalams for the first two days.. Hope to keep it up for the rest of the days...[Photos on orkut]

And something I have been missing was the "Thrikkakarappan".. This year I have got that also.. That reminds me of the Onams I used to have at my mother's ancestral home.. We used to decorate the Thrikkakarappan on the previous days with all mallika poo and aarumaasa poo and smeared with rice paste.. We used to go insearch of the "thumbakkudam".. the small plant found commonly bearing a small white flower... i might not be able to find all this in Bangalore.. But still I can always do it the best way possible here..

And a long way to go for the Onam.. Inchikari and naranga achar is getting prepared early on.. Need to do "kaaya varukkal" and "sharkara upperi".. And the yummy payasams, onakkodis, the sadhya all are left to do.. looks like the coming weekend is going to be hectic..

But the best part of all this is that my son is learning what is Onam.. Currently to him it is synonymous to pookkalam and payasam.. he is all ready to help me with the pookkalam in the morning.. gets up early to help me with pookkalam and asks for the payasam when we put the pookkalam.. now he is waiting for Sept 2.. he has learnt that Sept 2 is the Onam day when he will get payasam and sadhya on leaf..

The Royal tag of Four

2008-10-13T11:51:00.000+05:30

Was feeling too lazy today to work. So was browsing through my friends blogs and came across this tag in Suneesh's blog. I just picked it up.

4 jobs I’ve had:
Had only one job till now... Joined TI right after my B.Tech and stuck here for more than 7 years now...

4 films I could watch again and again:
Manichitrathazhu
most of the old mohanlal comedies like Naadodikkattu/Pattana Pravesham
aaram thampuran
Suresh gopi's "commissioner" style movies..
Actually I can watch any decent malayalam movies again and again

4 places I’ve lived in:
Elamakkara(my home)
Aluva/Palarivattom(born at Palarivattom.. have spend most of my schools years in these two places)
Trichur(4 years of Engg)
Bangalore(for the past 7 years)

4 TV series I like to watch:
I dont watch TV much and hence no regulars.. Occassionally I watch

1. decent malayalam movies
2. movie based comedy programs
3. news based programs like kannadi, nammal thammil etc
4. tom & jerry shows

4 places that I’ve been on vacation to:
Munnar, Kodaikkanal
Ooty, Ponmudi,
Coorg, Hampi
Singapore, NewYork/WashingtonDC

4 websites I visit everyday:
Gmail
News sites - rediff, malayalamanorama etc
Orkut
symbian/S60 related sites

4 books I’d love to read again and again:
Randaamoozham
Enid Blyton stories ( I still love them..)& Dr Bhondoo (That I think was the first story book I owned..)
Hound of Baskervilles
Vikramaditya kathakal(Vikram-Bethal Stories)

4 favourite dishes:
Dosa & ulliyum mulakum chammandi that my mom makes.
Pineapple pachadi,Koottukari & Aviyal
oottada(thats a variety of ada cooked on the dosa tawa instead of steam cooking)
gobi & aalo parathas

4 places where I’d like to be right now:
My home at Kochi
Paris
Switzerland/Alps
some peaceful place with a book

4 people I’m gonna tag:
Anybody interested? Please feel free to take this tag

Dying 47-Year-Old Professor Gives Exuberant ‘Last Lecture’

2008-04-24T16:12:00.000+05:30

Link to google video

Some "Health"y Thoughts...

2008-04-23T14:46:00.000+05:30

At home, we have always followed a mix'n'match of ayurvedic and allopathic cures for common illness. My mom is pretty wellversed with ayurvedic medicines for common illnesses as she comes from a family related to ayurvedic medicines. My dad, having worked with a pharmaceutical company, has thrown light on allopathic medicines.So the first aid box at home is a mix of both ayurvedic and allopathic medicines and we often avoid a visit to the doctor for common illness like cold and fever unless it looks serious. Its usually some arishtams and lehyam for cold and paracetamol for fever.Ayurvedic medicines are preferred for cold as general physicians very often prescribe medicines like Vicks Action 500,one of the contents of which is a banned drug abroad or a course of antibiotics, repeated doses of which are not considered good in the long run and many times cause the illness to repeat in due course of time and the patient growing resistent to that particular antibiotic.[Thats my perception from my experiences. I dont want to enter into an argument with anyone who is a hardcore supporter of allopathy]

But here is one of my not-so-healthy experience with an ayurvedic practitioner. When my son was around 7-8 months, he had fever.To avoid giving him a course of antibiotics at such a small age, we took him to an ayurvedic doctor near our home. He prescribed a concoction of some 6 ayurvedic medicines in addition to Crocin drops. Crocin drops didnot surprise me as it helps to bring down the fever quickly. But it was shocking to learn that one of the ingredients of the concoction was something like an ayurvedic equivalent to a sleeping pill. The doctor might have prescribed it as my son was having difficulty sleeping with blocked nose. But the question remains should it have been given to such a small child? Wouldnt it have done more harm than a course of antibiotic he would have had to take?

Writer's block

2008-04-18T16:36:00.001+05:30

This too will pass..

2008-04-17T15:33:00.000+05:30

I am feeling too low these days.. One after the other everything seems to be going wrong - both at work and at home. I have given up trying to put things "right"or rather what I feel right. I have tried that too long and has now learned its much easier to live when I let things happen and just move along with the flow. Highs and lows keeps happening..I cant anyway change what others perceive as right or wrong.. Its always relative.. Hopefully neither good or bad days are here to stay. This day too should pass..

Rechristened

2008-04-17T15:26:00.001+05:30

For those who have visited my blog earlier, you will find that the title of the blog has changed. It used to be "My Thoughts" and I have now changed it to "Random Scribblings of a Wavering Soul". I feel this is a more meaningful name as I never use the blog as a mirror of my thoughts. But its just some scriblings once in a while. I am planning to make more regular posts on the blog and you might even see a new template in the coming days.

TAGGED

2008-04-08T16:01:00.000+05:30

I picked up this tag from Dhanush. As I dont maintain my blog regularly, I dont usually pick any tags. Anyway, this time I decided to pick it up.

1. LAST MOVIE YOU SAW IN A THEATER:

Mulla( A malayalam movie). I think my 1 year old son believes theatre is the cosiest place to sleep. Have never seen him sleeping so peacefully at home.

2. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING?

Diarykurippukal - Madhavikutty

3. FAVORITE BOARD GAME?

Do play Ludo/Uno/Rummy/Carom/Monopoly etc once in a while. But no favourites.. Or may be UNO as I feel that is the easiest of the lot..

4. FAVORITE MAGAZINE?

Used to read mathrubhoomi weekly & Vanitha and reader's digest regularly earlier. But now with my son, its just anything easy to read right from balarama to week/outlook.. Months since I read mathrubhoomi & reader's digest.

5. FAVORITE SMELLS?

Smell of rose/jasmine
Cake getting baked
Earth after the first rain

6. FAVORITE SOUND? Of MUSIC?

Favourite sound... My son's blabberings and "amme" calls....

7. WORST FEELING IN THE WORLD?

Feel of having been cheated by someone whom I wished to be the most trustworthy person in my life..

8. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU THINK OF WHEN YOU WAKE

Should I get up or lie down for some more time?

9. FAVORITE FAST FOOD PLACE?

My kitchen - always keep a pack of Maggi & some snacks in my kitchen.. No other place can be reached as fast in Bangalore traffic.

10. FUTURE CHILD'S NAME?

Forget future.. I live in the present.. And my son's name is Govind.

11. FINISH THIS STATEMENT. "IF I HAD A LOT OF MONEY I'D...?
Quit the job and lived every moment as I feel at that moment...

12. DO YOU DRIVE FAST?

No.. Forget driving fast .. Its more than a year since I drove..

13. DO YOU SLEEP WITH A STUFFED ANIMAL?

No.

14. STORMS-COOL OR SCARY?
Cool...

15. WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST CAR?

First one I drove was an Ambassador.. But the first & only one that I own is silver Santro Xing, bought against my wishes of a black one..

16. FAVORITE DRINK?

Tea, hot kanji vellam, most fruit juices and milk shakes...

17. FINISH THIS STATEMENT, "IF I HAD THE TIME I WOULD .....

have finished reading all the books that I have bought and want to buy...

18. DO YOU EAT THE STEMS ON BROCCOLI?

I hate brocolli..

19. IF YOU COULD DYE YOUR HAIR ANY COLOR, WHAT WOULD BE YOUR CHOICE?

Black.. Cant think of myself with a different hair color..

20. NAME ALL THE DIFFERENT CITIES/TOWNS YOU HAVE LIVED IN.

Kochi, Aluva, Thrissur, Bangalore, Dallas, Chicago, Nice....

21. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH?

No favourites.. occassionally watch cricket, F1, tennis...

22. ONE NICE THING ABOUT THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU.

Dhanush.. an acquitance from entrance coaching class to a trusted friend by the end of engineering.. The best thing I like about him is that he speaks out what he feels.. Dont expect him to speak out any sugar coated words when he doesnt feel so....

23. WHAT'S UNDER YOUR BED?

My Cot .. Books, specs, mobile etc goes to the side of my bed...

24. WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE BORN AS YOURSELF AGAIN?

I wont mind.. Not because I am the best person or even a good person.. But bcos everyone I have met has there own good and bad qualities.. So I dont hate myself ..

25. MORNING PERSON, OR NIGHT OWL?

Morning person.. But if I am forced to sit late, its difficult to get up early..

26. OVER EASY, OR SUNNY SIDE UP?

Sunny side-up..

27. FAVORITE PLACE TO RELAX?

Dont mind whether its home or a hotel room.. but I should be alone and home/room in perfect order.. everything in place.. bed made, kitchen cleaned etc and left with some snacks, a good book, cosy bed and quilt....

28. FAVORITE PIE?
I don’t like Pie.

29. FAVORITE ICE CREAM FLAVOR?

I like ice-cream..But cant pick a favourite flavour.. not a great fan for chocolate flavor.. but loves most others..

30. OF ALL THE PEOPLE YOU TAGGED THIS TO, WHO'S MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND FIRST?

I am tagging only one person.. My adorable cousin Priti.. Dont know if she will pick it up...

No19 Canal Road

2007-11-27T13:43:00.000+05:30

Those who enjoy reading kodakarapuranam might want to read the book "No19 Canal Road" by Sribala K Menon.. Sribala used to write in the Malayalam monthly "Grihalakshmi" on her life in Chennai. These are published as a book "No19 Canal Road".. A very simple but interesting read...If only we all could write so nicely about the little happening in day to day life....

Pookkalam by unimaginative engineers..

2007-09-04T14:58:00.000+05:30

Two engineers and an engineering student decide to make a pookalam infront of their house for Uthradam and Thiruonam for Onam 2007 with the support of Amma. The two engineers go shopping for flowers and then start browsing the web for a good design on Uthradam day. They take ideas from various designs and finally come up with a design. After dinner, they all decide to draw the pattern in front of the door and keep the flowers ready so that it is easy to make the pookalam in the morning. The REC passed out engineer takes the lead in drawing the design and the other two join as "shinkidis"..The design consisted of a circle divided into various sectors, two overlapping squares and outer squares. They start by digging out a whiteboard marker, a piece of thread and the protractors and setsquares used for the engineering graphics. With angles and lengths measured, the design is drawn on the floor and filled with flowers in the morning to make a beautiful pookalam...

I have taken part in pookalam competitions earlier in college and all.. we used to use thread and chalk to draw cirles.. but this was the first time we measured angles and drew pookalam.. I bet how many of you have really drawn pookkalam using setsqaures and protractors...

This Onam was anyways a great one.. Being the first Onam of our little bundle of joy, we really celebrated it well..With guests on Uthradam and Thiruonam days and beautiful pookalams and sadhya and onakkodi, this is the way I wish Onam is celebrated every year...

My Experiences With Driving

2006-09-20T18:58:00.000+05:30

Driving is not my passion.. Forget being a passion.. I hate the thought..

I think it was during my first year engineering that I started driving lessons.. at Siva Driving School in Poonkunnum.. I am sure my teachers there had a horrible time teaching me drive.. Any I failed my first driving test.. I could do the "T" pretty well.. But couldnt brake the car properly.. I am sure that examiner thot it dangerous to give licence to a person who cannot stop the car properly. Anyway, I managed to pass in the next attempt. That time we had a ambassador car at home. It was my cousin who used to drive it. One or twice he tried to make me drive. Both ended in accidents. Once I was just trying to take the car in reverse in the small road in front of my house.. I was not looking back while taking the reverse and the back of the car went and hit the wall of my neighbours house and the entire section of the wall came down.. Another time me and my cousin were driving to a temple. I had to take a left turn from Shornur road to go the temple. I took the turn without slowing down and lost control and the car went and hit a tree on the right side of the road. Luckily there were no vehicles or people on the road and hence no damages..Anyway with that my cousin gave up trying to make me drive and I never even dreamt of driving any more.

Fast forward 5 years.. I am on my first and only US visit till date. Since TI pays for the driving classes in US when u r on business visit, I too enrolled for driving lessons. With the automatic cars, I found driving there pretty ok. But then again, another accident purely from my mistake. And this time one of my friend who was in the back seat had her arm fractured. There were people who blamed the way I drive but luckily for me the girl who got her arm broken not only didnt blame me on my face but also showed the courage to travel with me in my car when I was driving.. Thanks for that Vindhya.. I am sorry for the mistake I did.. But the way u behaved was the only thing that gave me the courage to keep driving until I returned from US...

Back in India I again gave up driving.. Then for the past 2 and half years Anurag had been trying to get me to driving.. I do it once and if I fell I didnt drive properly I wont touch the car for the next 4 months until he finally pushes me one day.. The longest drive was around 120 kms from Coorg till Srirangaptnam.. And two weeks back when Anurag was not in Blr, I took my mom on a Sunday morning to the temple.. Then one day I drove to office again with Anurag in the passenger seat.. So slowly I am gaining the confidence to drive.. Hoping that I wont meet with another accident..

BTW, anybody who reads this, beware of having ever to travel with me when I am driving.. Hope u never meet with that situation :)

Mudakkiya kaashu veruthe poyi....

2006-09-20T09:33:00.000+05:30

Can you image entering a movie hall and sleeping of through the entire movie? Its not the first time I slept while watching a movie.. I have slept after watching half a movie.. But this one was different.. The movie started off with some old story and then came to the portion where the titles are displayed.. whatever they call that segment.. to be follwed by the current story.. By the time the titles we displayed, I declared that I am going to sleep and not watch this movie.. I had a nice sleep through the movie only to be disturbed during the interval by the ppl walking around to get snacks and packaged drinks. At the end of the movie I learned that my brother whom I have never seen sleeping while watching movies, however horrible they are, also slept during the second half.. And my mom said she didnt sleep only bcoz she was having the house keys in her hand and was afraid if she will loose them if she sleeps.. While walking out of the Shenoys theatre in Kochi after the second show on 16th of Sept, I could hear lots of ppl mentioning that they paid just to sleep... It was one of the Onam release mallu movie in 2006.. And I saw an interesting poster of the movie whihc said.."Mudakkiya kaashu muthalayi"(It was worth the money spend..) .. I am sure its not for the viewer..May be for the producer... And a question remains.. Why did the heroine of the movie, a pretty good actress with lots of calibre, agree to do such a character which was just not required in the movie??

Last Onam, pretty good movies had hit the theatres..and we had watched all 4 of them.. This time I have watched only 2.. After seeing the second one I felt that MahaSamudram was far far better.. But I have missed the two movies which are rated good by the viewers.. Keerthi Chakra and Classmates.. Dont know if I will be able to watch Keerthi Chakra as it was already shown in blr.. I am waiting for Classmates to be released in Blr...

Nothing :)

2006-09-19T18:49:00.000+05:30

I had almost forgotten about this blog when Manoj Sir today sent a mail to the groups asking for who all are maintaining a blog.. I dont claim to maintain one though I have one in my name.. When ppl started sending out the links to their blogs, I just found some time to go through some of them..

I saw Dhanush's post on the BITS exam.. I too wrote those exams for 3 semesters.. but I never noticed all that Dhanush noticed there.. there were sometihngs that I noticed.. like ppl drawing margins on answer papers.. I was taken by surprise when I saw that...I had never drawn marging from my SSLC exam onwards...

Anyway, I finally finished my MS in April this year.. But still waiting for the degree certificate....

I am waiting for something else now.. With Gods grace, I will be blessed next March.. Somehow there is always something good to wait for in life and thats what keeps life going on for most of us I guess....

Yet another time in Nice

2006-05-16T21:10:00.000+05:30

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
-------
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

2006-05-08T12:03:00.000+05:30

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

2006-05-05T10:34:00.000+05:30

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

2006-05-03T14:59:00.000+05:30

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????

2006-05-02T18:33:00.000+05:30

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?

Hmmmm

2004-07-28T14:51:00.000+05:30

So I created this blopspot few months back but never put in anything except the first post..Was it that I was bogged down by work.. no..never.. Just that I forgot it..May be because writing is never in my blood.. I hate..really hate.. writing down too much.. I always used to score less in languages and subjects in which you are suppposed to write pages and pages of rubbish to gain marks.. I always used to just answer to the point.. If you see my answer papers, whereever possible I would have written the answers aas numbered list or as brief as possible.. I still rememeber my chemistry professor asking me to elaborate my answers during my pre-degree days.. He said.. you write just enough to answer the question.. not a word more.. That was 8 years back.. Even now, the moment somebody asks me to document something, I start hating my job.. Now you review it and ask me to beautify it, I just want to quit the job...

And then documentation, thats all that I am doing for the past three-four days.. Writing docs on anything and everything that needs to be transitioned to others as I decided to take on a new project.. But thats the reason why I started out blogging again..

Life is in a chaotic state.. Shifted out the house I was staying and settling into a new house.. Office shifted to a new site.. and me shifting to a new project.. and preparing for my engagement..Oh man.. its all changes around.. But as my fiance says.. thats why we say life is beautiful.. Yeah.. that true.. whats life without all these changes.. You need changes to keep yourself going.. Still most of us hate changes..

So I said, I hate writing.. then what about reading?? Do I love it .. yes.. Do I really love it.. reading anything and everything.. Well..No.. I love reading fiction..But non-fiction.. I had to read textbooks to pass my exams .. now to make sure I get my hikes, it is even more imp that I read the processor architectures and instruction sets and whole lot of other stuff.. So I just read what is necessary and anything that is not an absolute necessity is a perfect no..no..

So what am I reading.. I read both Malayalam and English fiction.. Now dont ask me for a favourite author or favourite book.. I love most of the books that I have read.. Recent books that I read are Yanthram by Malayattor, The Speech of Angels by Sharon Mass, Oru Deshathinte Katha by S.K.Pottekad.. I love all these books.. Currently I am reading Neermathalam Poothappol by Madhavikutty..

I prefer to own the books I like.. I buy most of the books that I have wanted to read for a long time.. If I like a book that I borrowed and read, I make it a point to buy it.. When I was young, I had an ambition of owning a library.. Then when my father started restricting the money I spend on fiction, it became one of the motivating factor for me to study well and get a good job.. to buy all the books that I want.. Now that I have a job which pays me well, i dont get all the time I want to read :( Today morning I was not feeling like coming to office.. Just wanted to sit and finsh reading the book.. But cant afford to do that.. So came to office.. And see what I am doing.. blogging.. Let me stop this for the time being and get back to work...

Locked inside the house???

2004-07-28T14:48:00.000+05:30

This was actually written in response to a fellow bogger's blog on getting locked outside one's house...

Its equally or even more frustrating (or funnier??) to have yourself locked inside the house.. It happened to me recently.. I was sharing my house with four other girls.. each of us had a key to the house and I always keeps mine inside my purse so that I dont misplace it often and have to go searching for it.. But I had a roommate who always misplaced all of her belongings..Talking of her carelessness, she left her watch on the teapoy among the newspaper and then searched all house and office for it.. weeks later we found her watch from among the old newspapers stacked on a rack.. In another instance, she made all of us search the entire house for her lost badge and even got a new badge, when all the time she had it in her laptop bag..
So coming back to the story of me getting locked inside the house..this was one unlucky day when I misplaced the key and she didnt.. that day morning, one of my roommate left home locking the door while the rest of us were sleeping..After sometime, a guy from the nearby shop came to our house and I opened the door for him with my key.. When I went in to get the money to pay him, I left the key in the keyhole itself and happily forgot about it...Now I was in a hurry to get ready and reach office by 9 as I had a meeting.. As I was getting ready, my roomie left home.. I asked her not to lock the house but she didnt hear it and locked it.. oh no.. with my key that I had left in the key hole.. she thot, as usual, a key on the key hole must be hers as noone else can be as careless as her.. 5 minutes later when I came to open the door, i realized thar I had left it in the keyhole and that it is gone..I knew I was locked inside.. I tried calling up her to ask her if she has the keys inside or if she can come back.. but to add more damage, she didnt realize her phone ringing for a long time.. By the time she realized it and picked it up, she was pretty far from home.. Then she had to come all the way back home and let me out and by then my meeting was over...

Nice.. a nice place..

2004-04-29T14:43:00.000+05:30

This not really a blog.. Its more of a travelogue.. My job has taken me to three different countries outside India.. This include Japan, US and France. My latest trip was to the beach city, Nice or Nizza in France.. The four week stay in Nice gave me a chance to visit Monaco and its famous Casino MonteCarlo. Also a chance to make a trip to GrandCanyonduVerdon and to Grasse, the perfume capital of the world.

France and Moncco doesnt have a proper border..Its is just that there is a board kept there welcoming you to Monaco.. The only way to reach Monaco is via France.. either thru land, air or water.. Monaco doesnt have an airport.. they have only a helipad..

We first went to the palace and cathedral of monaco.. the palace, where the prince of monaco stays, is open to visitors only during some time of the year.. we just saw it from outside.. we reached there at 12 which the time of guard change.. the driver told us that the guard change is very beautiful and we should see it.. there was a huge crowd to watch the guard change.. but it didnt impress us at all.. the band parade in a school will be much better than that in India.. And the palace also was not very impressive compared to the palaces in India...

We visited the cathdral which also houses the holy remains of the royal family.. Old time hollywood actress MsKelly was married to a prince of the Monaco.. She was supposedly unhappy after marriage as she could no more enjoy the freedom that she used to enjoy as an actress.. she died in an accident and there is still lots of mystery around her death.. no one knows for sure what actually happened on the day of her death.. But people of Monaco still love her and u can still see fresh flowers being left on her tomb.. There are lots of stories about the life of her children and other members of the royal family as is with any other rich and famous family.. I dont even remember those stories now..

Then we drove thru the course of the formula1 grandprix.. the starting point, the tunnel etc.. there is not separate race cource there and hence on the day of the race the roads in Monaco are all closed..

We drove to another french city called menton which on the France-Italy border.. We actually drove to the Italy border and then came back to Menton and had lunch there.. looked into some of the shops there and then went back to Montecarlo.. the shops were all closed as it was sunday.. monaco has two casinos..

At the main Casino, they check your passport before letting you in.. also there is 10 euro charge for one day pass..we watched how the betting happens there. .also tried our luck at the slot machines and lost money..The smaller csino also has lots of slot machines and betitng going on.. but the entry is free.. But it doesnt have the huge attractive old building that the main casino boasts off.. you have really got to walk around and see the inside of the main casino.

Its a small country but the country for the rich alone.. Interesting to know that you dont have to pay tax there but even more interesting to know that you need a minimum amount in your bank to buy or rent a house there.. A country where government checks your elecricity and water usage to ensure that you are actually staying there and havennot bought a house just to evade the tax.

GrandCanyonduVerdon is supposedly the grand canyon of france..It was long drive along to the top of a mountain..to an observation deck at the top..the view from the top was great.. lingered around for some time there and took some snaps..on the way back stopped at places from where the view was good..we stopped at a reservoir built in the river coming from the canyon..there we could see a car having fallen into the water from where it was parked above the reservoir.. Also we stopped at a place from where we could see this reservoir from top.. The last stop was a bridge built across the canyon.. we were all wondering how it was built.. as it is very wide and built across such a deep river(which is now dry). Looked like two halves of the bridge were built separately and then put across the river and joined..

Thats all I can remember from a trip which was a month back..