A cup of coffee
Lightly made, sizzling hot, smelling nice
In front of you, when you open your eyes in the bed
A News Paper
Not very jazzy, not full of lies & gossips
Some meaningful headlines, special articles and mirror view of what’s happening
Healthy Walk
20 or may be 30 mins some time
Feeling the cold wind, a brisk walk which sweats you away
Hot Bath
Not very hot, not very cold
Shower on & it rains on you, washing you and taking all the worries away
A light breakfast
Healthy, tasty (Stupid how can it be healthy & tasty as well ) & ready when you enter the kitchen
Not that you have to cut veggies, u have to fry, you have to mix and no time left to eat
No traffic
No honking, no exchange of words
Green signals, happy traffic cop, wishing you morning & showing the way !!!( too much isn’t?)
Office
Not many mails, not many meetings without any point without any decisions
A tight schedule with regular break, timely pack up, going home with a satisfaction
Many of these
small things, which is not impossible, which doesn’t cost much
keeps us going, waiting for the next day
Sunday, Monday , Tuesday passes away
Leaving a mark of anniversary, b’day or a simple day
Monday, November 9, 2009
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Whom to Blame ?
This is my first Short story on the blog. All characters , in fact only character in this story is fictional and if there is any resemblance to yourself , then please consider yourself as fool.
It’s the Sunday, 17th April 2011. Very windy, cold & quite Weekend for most of the people in the small town of Middleborough placed North East of England. Just an Hour drive from the city of Newcastle. But Bob was sweating & smoking continuously throughout the day. His mind was running in many directions, thinking & thinking. He was unable to sit or do anything other than roaming inside the small one bed room house.
First Call
It all started a year ago when he got a call offering Gold Credit Card from NatWest Bank. He was in no mood to take it but got excited when the advisor explained on the 5 % Cash Back offer, 250,000 Pound Credit Limit, 60 Days no interest period, EMI facility to pay back, Transfer of present credit from other cards !!!. He was like, “Let me have one” & signed up the deal. Within a week, the card with his name printed on it arrived to his communication address. He just opened the seal and put it in his card folder in his drawer. If it was only this, there was no need for him to face this day !!!
All was fine until he visited the Hartleepool Electronic Fest over a week end. He saw a Laptop with all the features he ever wanted. He already had one but it was bit slow as it was fully loaded with data & applications. He worked out his financials and realized he will not be able to afford this with his current savings and will take minimum 3 – 4 months to make it up. He lost his peace and then realized he has the brand new Gold credit card ready to swipe & shine. Next day with a single swipe he bought home his dream child laptop and I wish I could have said “He happily lived ever after “.
He did the repayment very promptly but got in to the habit of swiping. His mindset itself changed to an extent that he was ready to afford anything and everything. Thanks to NatWest. Bob bought many more things, some out of necessity and some as an up gradation. As he spent more, he owed more. What he owed was less than what he earned. In his savings he can’t pay back complete due amount. As he dint pay, interest of 17% was thrown on him. He skipped some payments. Extra interest and huge processing fee was added. The total amount was growing & growing. But not the salary. Bob doesn’t play Lotto also!!!
Calls after Calls
When he filled the form initially to apply for the card, with the best of his hand writing skills he has filled his mobile, home and residential numbers as all these were mandatory fields. Now he is repenting what he did. Now he is contactable on his mobile or house landline or Office extension. They call and give deadlines & abuse when he fails to meet. They visit his office during office hours and his home during late nights.
He is wondering what to do !!!
Some of the tips on how to use the Credit Card :
Source : http://www.credit-card-debt-info.com/Tips-for-Using-Your-Credit-Card-Wisely.html
Use your credit cards wisely and sparingly. Remember: Paying goods and services using credit cards are more expensive than using cash or checks. Credit payments include interest and other fees. Use credit cards as sparingly as possible. If you really need to use credit cards, carry only the cards that you will actually use.
Use credit only if you are sure you can repay it fully at the end of the payment cycle. Paying your debt on a credit card using another credit card does not count.
Avoid impulse shopping on your credit card.
Use credit for money emergency only.
Credit Card Facts:
Typical credit cards ask for a number of charges, including:
A finance charge, which is an interest charge for the unpaid portion of your monthly bill;
An annual membership fee;
Or if you're paying after the deadline, there is also a late payment fee which could have a higher interest rate.
It’s the Sunday, 17th April 2011. Very windy, cold & quite Weekend for most of the people in the small town of Middleborough placed North East of England. Just an Hour drive from the city of Newcastle. But Bob was sweating & smoking continuously throughout the day. His mind was running in many directions, thinking & thinking. He was unable to sit or do anything other than roaming inside the small one bed room house.
First Call
It all started a year ago when he got a call offering Gold Credit Card from NatWest Bank. He was in no mood to take it but got excited when the advisor explained on the 5 % Cash Back offer, 250,000 Pound Credit Limit, 60 Days no interest period, EMI facility to pay back, Transfer of present credit from other cards !!!. He was like, “Let me have one” & signed up the deal. Within a week, the card with his name printed on it arrived to his communication address. He just opened the seal and put it in his card folder in his drawer. If it was only this, there was no need for him to face this day !!!
All was fine until he visited the Hartleepool Electronic Fest over a week end. He saw a Laptop with all the features he ever wanted. He already had one but it was bit slow as it was fully loaded with data & applications. He worked out his financials and realized he will not be able to afford this with his current savings and will take minimum 3 – 4 months to make it up. He lost his peace and then realized he has the brand new Gold credit card ready to swipe & shine. Next day with a single swipe he bought home his dream child laptop and I wish I could have said “He happily lived ever after “.
He did the repayment very promptly but got in to the habit of swiping. His mindset itself changed to an extent that he was ready to afford anything and everything. Thanks to NatWest. Bob bought many more things, some out of necessity and some as an up gradation. As he spent more, he owed more. What he owed was less than what he earned. In his savings he can’t pay back complete due amount. As he dint pay, interest of 17% was thrown on him. He skipped some payments. Extra interest and huge processing fee was added. The total amount was growing & growing. But not the salary. Bob doesn’t play Lotto also!!!
Calls after Calls
When he filled the form initially to apply for the card, with the best of his hand writing skills he has filled his mobile, home and residential numbers as all these were mandatory fields. Now he is repenting what he did. Now he is contactable on his mobile or house landline or Office extension. They call and give deadlines & abuse when he fails to meet. They visit his office during office hours and his home during late nights.
He is wondering what to do !!!
Some of the tips on how to use the Credit Card :
Source : http://www.credit-card-debt-info.com/Tips-for-Using-Your-Credit-Card-Wisely.html
Use your credit cards wisely and sparingly. Remember: Paying goods and services using credit cards are more expensive than using cash or checks. Credit payments include interest and other fees. Use credit cards as sparingly as possible. If you really need to use credit cards, carry only the cards that you will actually use.
Use credit only if you are sure you can repay it fully at the end of the payment cycle. Paying your debt on a credit card using another credit card does not count.
Avoid impulse shopping on your credit card.
Use credit for money emergency only.
Credit Card Facts:
Typical credit cards ask for a number of charges, including:
A finance charge, which is an interest charge for the unpaid portion of your monthly bill;
An annual membership fee;
Or if you're paying after the deadline, there is also a late payment fee which could have a higher interest rate.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Buliding the Life
Building the life :
Recently I read this small story which I would like to share it with you all. Thanks to the unknown author.
An elderly carpenter was ready to retire. He told his employer-contractor of his plans to leave the house-building business to live a more leisurely life with his wife and enjoy his extended family. He would miss the paycheck each week, but he wanted to retire. They could get by. The contractor was sorry to see his good worker go & asked if he could build just one more house as a personal favor. The carpenter said yes, but over time it was easy to see that his heart was not in his work. He resorted to shoddy workmanship and used inferior materials. It was an unfortunate way to end a dedicated career. When the carpenter finished his work, his employer came to inspect the house. Then he handed the front-door key to the carpenter and said, "This is your house... my gift to you."The carpenter was shocked! What a shame! If he had only known he was building his own house, he would have done it all so differently. So it is with us. We build our lives, a day at a time, often putting less than our best into the building. Then, with a shock, we realize we have to live in the house we have built. If we could do it over, we would do it much differently.But, you cannot go back. You are the carpenter, and every day you hammer a nail, place a board, or erect a wall. Someone once said, "Life is a do-it-yourself project." Your attitude, and the choices you make today, help build the "house" you will live in tomorrow. Therefore, Build wisely!
How I relate this:
I feel that this story is written for me or by seeing me. If I look back, I have a combinations of hard work, stupidness, ignorance, mistakes, helplessness, over smart, dumb, something different & over friendly characters which has made me what I am today. Most of the time I feel I should have not done something or should have done differently, many times I dint had a clue what I am doing. Was stuck many times to decide “ is am I doing it right or wrong”. Always I wished I had a god father, who could have guided me hour by hour, day & night, Monday to Sunday and I would have simply followed, but that’s not called Life isn’t ?
A small poem from my side: ( OMG, you have to bear a poet as well !!!)
I wish I had an eraser,
really big one,
so that I could have gone back and erased few mistakes,
I wish I had a pen,
very nice one,
so that I could have written something’s very differently,
I don’t have both today,
But my mind says, I can always buy one,
For the rest of the life is the shop called “ Hope”
which never closes & never out of stock !!!
Recently I read this small story which I would like to share it with you all. Thanks to the unknown author.
An elderly carpenter was ready to retire. He told his employer-contractor of his plans to leave the house-building business to live a more leisurely life with his wife and enjoy his extended family. He would miss the paycheck each week, but he wanted to retire. They could get by. The contractor was sorry to see his good worker go & asked if he could build just one more house as a personal favor. The carpenter said yes, but over time it was easy to see that his heart was not in his work. He resorted to shoddy workmanship and used inferior materials. It was an unfortunate way to end a dedicated career. When the carpenter finished his work, his employer came to inspect the house. Then he handed the front-door key to the carpenter and said, "This is your house... my gift to you."The carpenter was shocked! What a shame! If he had only known he was building his own house, he would have done it all so differently. So it is with us. We build our lives, a day at a time, often putting less than our best into the building. Then, with a shock, we realize we have to live in the house we have built. If we could do it over, we would do it much differently.But, you cannot go back. You are the carpenter, and every day you hammer a nail, place a board, or erect a wall. Someone once said, "Life is a do-it-yourself project." Your attitude, and the choices you make today, help build the "house" you will live in tomorrow. Therefore, Build wisely!
How I relate this:
I feel that this story is written for me or by seeing me. If I look back, I have a combinations of hard work, stupidness, ignorance, mistakes, helplessness, over smart, dumb, something different & over friendly characters which has made me what I am today. Most of the time I feel I should have not done something or should have done differently, many times I dint had a clue what I am doing. Was stuck many times to decide “ is am I doing it right or wrong”. Always I wished I had a god father, who could have guided me hour by hour, day & night, Monday to Sunday and I would have simply followed, but that’s not called Life isn’t ?
A small poem from my side: ( OMG, you have to bear a poet as well !!!)
I wish I had an eraser,
really big one,
so that I could have gone back and erased few mistakes,
I wish I had a pen,
very nice one,
so that I could have written something’s very differently,
I don’t have both today,
But my mind says, I can always buy one,
For the rest of the life is the shop called “ Hope”
which never closes & never out of stock !!!
Monday, August 10, 2009
Ganesha Banda.............
Most of us know the story behind the Ganesha festival becoming “Street Friendly “ , if not, a quick briefing : During THE freedom struggle, THE British Raj banned people gathering as a technique to prevent them from getting together and protesting against them. As all issues have a work around, our freedom fighter Mr. Baal Ganghadara Tilak, came up with a smart idea to gather people and pass on the message of freedom by making ganesha fest a public event.
Since childhood, Ganesha has always been a fantasy and a very appealing god to me may be because of the elephant look and being foodie, also two days holiday in a row and the story tales of him made him a superstar god to us.
During my school days, in our whole area, there used to be one or two public events of LORD Ganesha, held for 3 to 7 days attracting a large crowd. We never used to get permission to attend these as we were very little and my mother would always used to fear that we would get lost in the crowd. Once during this festival, as part of the entertainment, they had arranged a film screening in a park and I happily went with my sister without telling at home resulted in my mom searching for hours and at last found me in the crowd, ending in a beating session and I walked out, eyes brimming with tears and a running nose.
So when I was in 6th or 7th standard, all my friends (a gang of around 30 guys), decided to celebrate the event in our street. A guy called “Harisha” became our leader (Qualification: Older than the rest of us& a rowdy) and started giving us instructions on the things to be done. To raise funds we had come up with a lottery system, offering a Mixie, A Table Fan, and Steel Boxes as the prizes. All of us were given a book of 50 chits to sell, each ticket costing RS. 5. As one more technique of fund raising , we had Golkas ( Piggy bank) prepared using old talcum powder and tooth powder boxes, shaking them in front of the pedestrians, not leaving them until they put some money in to it.
As the event was nearing we went to each house on our street for collection, and people gave whatever they could afford to. Had a lot of work to do like cleaning up the area, digging the road for the pillars, getting the idol on a pushing cart, decorating the street with color papers. Guys had such high level energy that each one of us was like built to kill. Any work and every work, no break, no food.
The event was for 3 days and had the orchestra program on the second day, which was the favorite day among all. The last day was the idol immersing day, with a grand procession, where we used to dance and chill for the whole 3 – 4 hrs.
With such a small budget and resources we used to have so much fun, but now we are kind of fixed to a routine life. Most of the guys are in a job earning a decent salary and it’s not a very tough job to do such an event, but we all end up claiming we have “no time” (even then we had 24 hrs only in a day) and act busy. Idea of sharing all this with you came to my mind when last week in Mysore, some guy approached me to buy a lottery ticket for Ganesha Festival. The whole story came to my mind as a piece of nostalgia.
Since childhood, Ganesha has always been a fantasy and a very appealing god to me may be because of the elephant look and being foodie, also two days holiday in a row and the story tales of him made him a superstar god to us.
During my school days, in our whole area, there used to be one or two public events of LORD Ganesha, held for 3 to 7 days attracting a large crowd. We never used to get permission to attend these as we were very little and my mother would always used to fear that we would get lost in the crowd. Once during this festival, as part of the entertainment, they had arranged a film screening in a park and I happily went with my sister without telling at home resulted in my mom searching for hours and at last found me in the crowd, ending in a beating session and I walked out, eyes brimming with tears and a running nose.
So when I was in 6th or 7th standard, all my friends (a gang of around 30 guys), decided to celebrate the event in our street. A guy called “Harisha” became our leader (Qualification: Older than the rest of us& a rowdy) and started giving us instructions on the things to be done. To raise funds we had come up with a lottery system, offering a Mixie, A Table Fan, and Steel Boxes as the prizes. All of us were given a book of 50 chits to sell, each ticket costing RS. 5. As one more technique of fund raising , we had Golkas ( Piggy bank) prepared using old talcum powder and tooth powder boxes, shaking them in front of the pedestrians, not leaving them until they put some money in to it.
As the event was nearing we went to each house on our street for collection, and people gave whatever they could afford to. Had a lot of work to do like cleaning up the area, digging the road for the pillars, getting the idol on a pushing cart, decorating the street with color papers. Guys had such high level energy that each one of us was like built to kill. Any work and every work, no break, no food.
The event was for 3 days and had the orchestra program on the second day, which was the favorite day among all. The last day was the idol immersing day, with a grand procession, where we used to dance and chill for the whole 3 – 4 hrs.
With such a small budget and resources we used to have so much fun, but now we are kind of fixed to a routine life. Most of the guys are in a job earning a decent salary and it’s not a very tough job to do such an event, but we all end up claiming we have “no time” (even then we had 24 hrs only in a day) and act busy. Idea of sharing all this with you came to my mind when last week in Mysore, some guy approached me to buy a lottery ticket for Ganesha Festival. The whole story came to my mind as a piece of nostalgia.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Easy Investment !!!
I was just thinking on this by comparing myself with my nieces and believe me we really came up as a very easy investment to our parents. I know, it’s the matter of time which has made such a huge difference in our life style. Just A few years ago, things which were “really expensive to us, which were in the “can’t afford” list or “why we need that” list are more or less moved in to “very much needed” or “very cheap” or “unable to survive without this” lists.
My parents never had much of A problem raising us. We were so undemanding, not fussy, affordable and content. Our school fee was never a burden. I still remember paying 7RS / Month as fees when I was in 7th Standard. (7 *10 = 70 was the annual fees! Bingo!! And my niece is 5th STD and pays roughly 30K / Year). Parents never had to drop and pick us from school as it was just 2 roads across. They never had to sit with us and make us do home work.
We never had a luxury of owning something ourselves as we always used to get things on sharing basis. It might be toys, bicycle, story books, geometry box, badminton bats, so many things. And being the youngest was literally a curse as things will come to you as 3rd or 4th or 5th ‘handed’ but still I was waiting to own them. I remember having a Hero Rally bicycle, which was used by my father, then passed on to my brother and later given to me. The Cycle was handed over to me with lots of instructions on how to use, when to use, where to take, where not to take, oh many restrictions, but all conditions were agreed by me as I badly wanted the cycle. I was allowed to take the cycle to school only when I came to THE 9th STD !
Later, my sister’s 2nd hand singular seat Luna Kinetic came in to my possession (For some reason I still remember the registration no: CTH 2859). Believe me, I was feeling ON top of world. I used to go for rides only in the evening as my sister used to take it TO work in the day time. I used to agree, to go to the ration mill or to the shops or agree to pay utility bills only because I was allowed to use the Luna for that period. Picking and dropping anyone in the family was also part of my service, to get my hands on the Luna. I had put a sticker on the Luna which was a cartoon face of Azaruddin. The day my dad decided to sell it off as it was not giving much mileage was one of the saddest days in my life.
The other eagerly awaited event in those years was, Diwali. We were never bothered even if we don’t get new clothes (as looks hardly mattered) all we needed was Crackers and only crackers. One day before the fest, my dad used to get the crackers and I don’t know why but he used to arrange them over shelves and curtain boxes, which was AN eye candy for us. He used to distribute the “Anae Pataki” among us (normally comes as a pack of 100, and used to get around 30 as my share) and bursting them by making them double was the most adventurous event for us.
Take Away: To be content.
My parents never had much of A problem raising us. We were so undemanding, not fussy, affordable and content. Our school fee was never a burden. I still remember paying 7RS / Month as fees when I was in 7th Standard. (7 *10 = 70 was the annual fees! Bingo!! And my niece is 5th STD and pays roughly 30K / Year). Parents never had to drop and pick us from school as it was just 2 roads across. They never had to sit with us and make us do home work.
We never had a luxury of owning something ourselves as we always used to get things on sharing basis. It might be toys, bicycle, story books, geometry box, badminton bats, so many things. And being the youngest was literally a curse as things will come to you as 3rd or 4th or 5th ‘handed’ but still I was waiting to own them. I remember having a Hero Rally bicycle, which was used by my father, then passed on to my brother and later given to me. The Cycle was handed over to me with lots of instructions on how to use, when to use, where to take, where not to take, oh many restrictions, but all conditions were agreed by me as I badly wanted the cycle. I was allowed to take the cycle to school only when I came to THE 9th STD !
Later, my sister’s 2nd hand singular seat Luna Kinetic came in to my possession (For some reason I still remember the registration no: CTH 2859). Believe me, I was feeling ON top of world. I used to go for rides only in the evening as my sister used to take it TO work in the day time. I used to agree, to go to the ration mill or to the shops or agree to pay utility bills only because I was allowed to use the Luna for that period. Picking and dropping anyone in the family was also part of my service, to get my hands on the Luna. I had put a sticker on the Luna which was a cartoon face of Azaruddin. The day my dad decided to sell it off as it was not giving much mileage was one of the saddest days in my life.
The other eagerly awaited event in those years was, Diwali. We were never bothered even if we don’t get new clothes (as looks hardly mattered) all we needed was Crackers and only crackers. One day before the fest, my dad used to get the crackers and I don’t know why but he used to arrange them over shelves and curtain boxes, which was AN eye candy for us. He used to distribute the “Anae Pataki” among us (normally comes as a pack of 100, and used to get around 30 as my share) and bursting them by making them double was the most adventurous event for us.
Take Away: To be content.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Letter to CM
Dear CM, Karnataka State,
Hello Sir, I would like to start this letter with my warm regards and respect. I am one among the millions of common people who work hard to earn a decent meal. As a responsible citizen I thought I will write a letter to you, specifying what are our basic requirements and what’s that we look forward and expect from you. I know you have a very busy schedule and thousands like me write to you daily. I would be asking for too much if I expected a reply for this but this is a small exercise to start as a campaign, so that if many like me write, may be due to the huge volume, it might catch your attention.
As Indians, we are all very much used to adjusting with what we have and what I am putting forward here are the basic things, in fact very basic things and all it needs is an honest effort and proper planning.
Our Requests are :
1. Water, decent roads and electricity: There is lot of illegal connection and wastage. If these areas are addressed, the shortage can be met. Awareness program on usage will also add a lot to solve the problem.
2. Basic health centers – Without any expired medicines and with well staffed
3. Public Transport: On time buses, Metro rail in cities and good connection points from one place to another will encourage a lot of people to take up public transport. If you see the trend, now a days lot of people are using the City Volvo services.
4. Cut down your’s, your ministers’ and officers’ travel by introducing Teleconferencing, they are very user friendly to use and saves a lot of your time.
5. Run your Cabinet as a company : Conduct monthly and surprise meetings, review issues and achievements, tag action items to ministers and chase them to close it.
6. Don’t give false statements, fulfill what you have promised: it’s the credibility issue. People are very smart now a days.
7. Bangalore is not Karnataka : Don’t restrict all your visits and plans to only Bangalore & Mysore. North Karnataka and the rural areas are waiting for the basic requirements from A long time. Improvement of those areas and moving some of the administrational works and promoting industries to come up in 3 Tyre Cities will for sure help the localities and automatically reduce the thick cluster of population in and around Bangalore.
8. Staying in Villages : Idea of CM staying in Villages, introduced by Mr Kumarswamy, is a wonderful concept. Request you to continue the same.
9. Education : “ Bisi Oota” and “ Sarva Sikshana Abhiyana” are the currently running very successful programs and request you to continue the same. Also need to urge on improving the quality of education in Govt schools by introducing close to the reality concepts. ( 90% of the things what we studied in school , we never use in our daily life and work, at least not me)
10. Rain Water Harvesting: To be made compulsory at every house, Govt premises, parks ( literally in all the possible places) as we are nearing the water shortage era very soon.
This is what I can think as a very small element of this system.
Hello Sir, I would like to start this letter with my warm regards and respect. I am one among the millions of common people who work hard to earn a decent meal. As a responsible citizen I thought I will write a letter to you, specifying what are our basic requirements and what’s that we look forward and expect from you. I know you have a very busy schedule and thousands like me write to you daily. I would be asking for too much if I expected a reply for this but this is a small exercise to start as a campaign, so that if many like me write, may be due to the huge volume, it might catch your attention.
As Indians, we are all very much used to adjusting with what we have and what I am putting forward here are the basic things, in fact very basic things and all it needs is an honest effort and proper planning.
Our Requests are :
1. Water, decent roads and electricity: There is lot of illegal connection and wastage. If these areas are addressed, the shortage can be met. Awareness program on usage will also add a lot to solve the problem.
2. Basic health centers – Without any expired medicines and with well staffed
3. Public Transport: On time buses, Metro rail in cities and good connection points from one place to another will encourage a lot of people to take up public transport. If you see the trend, now a days lot of people are using the City Volvo services.
4. Cut down your’s, your ministers’ and officers’ travel by introducing Teleconferencing, they are very user friendly to use and saves a lot of your time.
5. Run your Cabinet as a company : Conduct monthly and surprise meetings, review issues and achievements, tag action items to ministers and chase them to close it.
6. Don’t give false statements, fulfill what you have promised: it’s the credibility issue. People are very smart now a days.
7. Bangalore is not Karnataka : Don’t restrict all your visits and plans to only Bangalore & Mysore. North Karnataka and the rural areas are waiting for the basic requirements from A long time. Improvement of those areas and moving some of the administrational works and promoting industries to come up in 3 Tyre Cities will for sure help the localities and automatically reduce the thick cluster of population in and around Bangalore.
8. Staying in Villages : Idea of CM staying in Villages, introduced by Mr Kumarswamy, is a wonderful concept. Request you to continue the same.
9. Education : “ Bisi Oota” and “ Sarva Sikshana Abhiyana” are the currently running very successful programs and request you to continue the same. Also need to urge on improving the quality of education in Govt schools by introducing close to the reality concepts. ( 90% of the things what we studied in school , we never use in our daily life and work, at least not me)
10. Rain Water Harvesting: To be made compulsory at every house, Govt premises, parks ( literally in all the possible places) as we are nearing the water shortage era very soon.
This is what I can think as a very small element of this system.
Monday, May 25, 2009
Small but Big
Some things will be very small in our life but will leave a lasting impression and keep coming in front of our eyes as memories. It can be anything, a place, a moment with friends, a person, an encounter with a known or unknown person, an embarrassing situation, an accidental event. As I said earlier it can be anything. Some faces will keep coming in front of your eyes when u think of a situation, some words ring a bell in your ears when you think of a conversation. This will happen for years. I don’t know what we call these phenomena. I would like to register some of my own experiences.
Ajji Angadi : Believe me, this shop didn’t have any board and was of a very small size. May be 5X10 feet in size which was partitioned into 2 compartments. Front end was the shop and the back portion is where the granny used to live. I am not sure how old that granny was but from my UKG / 1st standard up till my college days, she used to look the same as if she had stopped growing. The shop was at a mere 100 yards away from my school and was buzzing during breaks with pupils. She used to sell limited items may be because of the budget constraints or size of the shop. Our favorites were lemon peppermint (in Kannda, nimbe huli), ginger mint( Shunti peppermint) and small biscuits. Peppermint will cost you 5 paise each and 5 biscuits for 10 paise. I am talking about 1983 / 84. What more can you ask for. Perfectly suites our bill. Carry 25 paise and fill your pocket. Granny was a totally unfriendly business woman. Always had paan in her mouth, no smile and don’t care attitude. I heard that she passed away, recently. I have not seen her at least for a decade now but I keep remembering my visit to this shop. The irony is, may be throughout my life I would have at max done 250 Rs of business with her. I really appreciate her for leading such an independent and simple life.
My primary school : To be called as Sri Vani Vidya Mandira, situated very much in a lower middle class and middle class area in Mysore. Govt aided, only Kannada medium and was only till 7th std. It was running in 3 different locations in which 2 were in rented premises. As I know, my parents selected this school only on one merit, that It was hardly 500 yards from our house. In fact, my two sisters and a brother also studied in the same school. Each standard had two sections, A and B with a max strength of 30 pupils in each section. Most of the students used to be from the same locality, all of them would get to school on foot, accompanied by his / her brother / sister who also used to study in the same school. No autos, no jatakas. Only two or three students used to come by bicycle. Except one or two, even the teachers used to come by walk. It was so local. I still remember paying 6 Rs fees / month of my 7th Standard. Used to have one Physical Training ( PT) session for a week and eagerly wait for it. Monday to Friday we would sing one prayer and on Saturday a different one. White shirt and blue ‘nikkar’ was the outfit and whites on the Saturday. There was and is a shop called “ Jain Appealrs” who sell only uniforms which is the place where we used to buy from. I bet pupils from Vidyaranyapuram and Chamundi Puram used to buy only from this shop. As far as I know, during my 7th standard my tie would cost 5 Rs and 3 rs for the badge. I always hated to go to school and my uncle Mr Govinda Rao used to drop me every day. The only reason I agreed to go with him was ‘cause he used to get me cream biscuit on the way from a cycle shop. Till today I don’t know why that cycle shop guy used to sell Cream biscuits !!!
Take Away : Small is not really small !!!
Ajji Angadi : Believe me, this shop didn’t have any board and was of a very small size. May be 5X10 feet in size which was partitioned into 2 compartments. Front end was the shop and the back portion is where the granny used to live. I am not sure how old that granny was but from my UKG / 1st standard up till my college days, she used to look the same as if she had stopped growing. The shop was at a mere 100 yards away from my school and was buzzing during breaks with pupils. She used to sell limited items may be because of the budget constraints or size of the shop. Our favorites were lemon peppermint (in Kannda, nimbe huli), ginger mint( Shunti peppermint) and small biscuits. Peppermint will cost you 5 paise each and 5 biscuits for 10 paise. I am talking about 1983 / 84. What more can you ask for. Perfectly suites our bill. Carry 25 paise and fill your pocket. Granny was a totally unfriendly business woman. Always had paan in her mouth, no smile and don’t care attitude. I heard that she passed away, recently. I have not seen her at least for a decade now but I keep remembering my visit to this shop. The irony is, may be throughout my life I would have at max done 250 Rs of business with her. I really appreciate her for leading such an independent and simple life.
My primary school : To be called as Sri Vani Vidya Mandira, situated very much in a lower middle class and middle class area in Mysore. Govt aided, only Kannada medium and was only till 7th std. It was running in 3 different locations in which 2 were in rented premises. As I know, my parents selected this school only on one merit, that It was hardly 500 yards from our house. In fact, my two sisters and a brother also studied in the same school. Each standard had two sections, A and B with a max strength of 30 pupils in each section. Most of the students used to be from the same locality, all of them would get to school on foot, accompanied by his / her brother / sister who also used to study in the same school. No autos, no jatakas. Only two or three students used to come by bicycle. Except one or two, even the teachers used to come by walk. It was so local. I still remember paying 6 Rs fees / month of my 7th Standard. Used to have one Physical Training ( PT) session for a week and eagerly wait for it. Monday to Friday we would sing one prayer and on Saturday a different one. White shirt and blue ‘nikkar’ was the outfit and whites on the Saturday. There was and is a shop called “ Jain Appealrs” who sell only uniforms which is the place where we used to buy from. I bet pupils from Vidyaranyapuram and Chamundi Puram used to buy only from this shop. As far as I know, during my 7th standard my tie would cost 5 Rs and 3 rs for the badge. I always hated to go to school and my uncle Mr Govinda Rao used to drop me every day. The only reason I agreed to go with him was ‘cause he used to get me cream biscuit on the way from a cycle shop. Till today I don’t know why that cycle shop guy used to sell Cream biscuits !!!
Take Away : Small is not really small !!!
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Why am I so much impressed with Mr S. L Bhyrappa?
It’s the Sunday, 24th the May, a very pleasant weather all the way through the day. I got busy without any specific reason. Went out, hunting for a site/ flat, which I am doing from a long time, with no success. But not to lose hope.
I am myself unable to understand and answer the above question. Even though I knew about SLB, it was my sister, who very recently introduced me to his books. I took the book from her, but kept it for more than a month, without turning a single page. One fine day I just started reading it, called “ Anavarana” and you don’t believe, I finished that in no time and am now reading the second one, his biography “Bitthi “.
It’s like, love at first sight. Without my knowledge, I have developed huge respect for him and for sure will read all his writings down the line. May be it’s the simplicity, facts, experience, in depth knowledge of the subject, straight forwardness, strong hold of the language, unbelievable memory – giving dates, names and figures are some of the things which makes him stand apart from the peer writers.
As I remember, “Anavarana” had at least 30 – 40 book references mentioned in its last page. Am sure he would have read and visited much more books and places to carve such a beauty. I also heard that , there was a lot of controversy when this book was released, but for sure the facts given by SLB outstood and put a full stop to all the false cry. Razia’s character, stands for a long time in the reader’s memory.
“Bitti”, his autobiography is a mind blowing piece of work. A mirror to struggling and the hard path which he has taken. Very few people can be so honest while penning down their journey. The book opens a new world for you. Gives a clear picture of the life during 1940’s and so on. Talks about the socio-economic situations, deadly diseases, transport, education system, student life, food, value for the money, people, castism, beauty of Mysore, and many more things. How can one write so openly about his cruel father ? I am not getting any writers name here. Its very easy today for us to sit on a sofa and read what he has gone through, but only the person who goes through it knows the pain. I salute him. The way he has written about the pain and the loneliness in the days after his mother passed away, makes you think, how cruel was the life, towards him. Can’t even imagine.
It’s so strange that, during 2002/03, SLB’s son Mr. Ravishankar, came down to my house in Middleborough, UK. That time, even though I knew SLB was a big time Kannada writer, I had never read any of his writings. For sure I will put 100% effort to meet SLB in Mysore, some day. Only one common factor between me and SLB is, both are Mysoreans !!!
Take away : I will try to be as simple as possible in my life. When a legend like SLB can be so simple, why can’t I ?
About SLB : ( Source : http://www.wikipedia.com/)
Santeshivara Lingannaiah Bhyrappa (born July 26, 1934), is a Kannada novelist, whose works are immensely popular both within India and abroad. Bhyrappa is widely regarded as one of India's foremost modern-day writers.His novels are unique in terms of theme, structure, and characterization.He has been among the top selling authors of Kannada, Hindi and Marathi for the past several years.Most of his works reveal the theme of Advaita vedanta and search of truth. Although S. L. Bhyrappa participated in the freedom struggle of Indian Independence at an early age, he believes that Indian Independence was just a political freedom from British rule, and the real Independence is the intellectual freedom which is nurtured by the strong foundations laid in the teachings of rich Indian culture and values.
Written Gems :
Novels
Dharmashree (1961)
Doora saridaru (1962)
Matadaana (1965)
Vamshavraksha (1965)
Jalapaata (1967)
Naayi Neralu (1968) -
Tabbaliyu neenaade magane (1968)
Gruhabhanga (1970)
Nirakarana (1971)
Grahana (1972)
Dhaatu (1973)
Anweshane (1976)
Parva(1979)
Nele (1983)
Saakshi (1986)
Anchu (1990)
Tantu (1993)
Saartha (1998)
Mandra (2001)
Bheemakaaya (2004/2005)
Aavarana (2007)
Autobiography
Bhitti
Philosophy
Satya mattu Soundarya (1966) (Doctoral thesis)
Saahitya mattu Prateeka (1967)
Kathe mattu Kathavastu (1969)
Naaneke Bareyuttene? (1980)
I am myself unable to understand and answer the above question. Even though I knew about SLB, it was my sister, who very recently introduced me to his books. I took the book from her, but kept it for more than a month, without turning a single page. One fine day I just started reading it, called “ Anavarana” and you don’t believe, I finished that in no time and am now reading the second one, his biography “Bitthi “.
It’s like, love at first sight. Without my knowledge, I have developed huge respect for him and for sure will read all his writings down the line. May be it’s the simplicity, facts, experience, in depth knowledge of the subject, straight forwardness, strong hold of the language, unbelievable memory – giving dates, names and figures are some of the things which makes him stand apart from the peer writers.
As I remember, “Anavarana” had at least 30 – 40 book references mentioned in its last page. Am sure he would have read and visited much more books and places to carve such a beauty. I also heard that , there was a lot of controversy when this book was released, but for sure the facts given by SLB outstood and put a full stop to all the false cry. Razia’s character, stands for a long time in the reader’s memory.
“Bitti”, his autobiography is a mind blowing piece of work. A mirror to struggling and the hard path which he has taken. Very few people can be so honest while penning down their journey. The book opens a new world for you. Gives a clear picture of the life during 1940’s and so on. Talks about the socio-economic situations, deadly diseases, transport, education system, student life, food, value for the money, people, castism, beauty of Mysore, and many more things. How can one write so openly about his cruel father ? I am not getting any writers name here. Its very easy today for us to sit on a sofa and read what he has gone through, but only the person who goes through it knows the pain. I salute him. The way he has written about the pain and the loneliness in the days after his mother passed away, makes you think, how cruel was the life, towards him. Can’t even imagine.
It’s so strange that, during 2002/03, SLB’s son Mr. Ravishankar, came down to my house in Middleborough, UK. That time, even though I knew SLB was a big time Kannada writer, I had never read any of his writings. For sure I will put 100% effort to meet SLB in Mysore, some day. Only one common factor between me and SLB is, both are Mysoreans !!!
Take away : I will try to be as simple as possible in my life. When a legend like SLB can be so simple, why can’t I ?
About SLB : ( Source : http://www.wikipedia.com/)
Santeshivara Lingannaiah Bhyrappa (born July 26, 1934), is a Kannada novelist, whose works are immensely popular both within India and abroad. Bhyrappa is widely regarded as one of India's foremost modern-day writers.His novels are unique in terms of theme, structure, and characterization.He has been among the top selling authors of Kannada, Hindi and Marathi for the past several years.Most of his works reveal the theme of Advaita vedanta and search of truth. Although S. L. Bhyrappa participated in the freedom struggle of Indian Independence at an early age, he believes that Indian Independence was just a political freedom from British rule, and the real Independence is the intellectual freedom which is nurtured by the strong foundations laid in the teachings of rich Indian culture and values.
Written Gems :
Novels
Dharmashree (1961)
Doora saridaru (1962)
Matadaana (1965)
Vamshavraksha (1965)
Jalapaata (1967)
Naayi Neralu (1968) -
Tabbaliyu neenaade magane (1968)
Gruhabhanga (1970)
Nirakarana (1971)
Grahana (1972)
Dhaatu (1973)
Anweshane (1976)
Parva(1979)
Nele (1983)
Saakshi (1986)
Anchu (1990)
Tantu (1993)
Saartha (1998)
Mandra (2001)
Bheemakaaya (2004/2005)
Aavarana (2007)
Autobiography
Bhitti
Philosophy
Satya mattu Soundarya (1966) (Doctoral thesis)
Saahitya mattu Prateeka (1967)
Kathe mattu Kathavastu (1969)
Naaneke Bareyuttene? (1980)
Friday, May 8, 2009
Kannada in Karnataka
I am very proud to say am a Kannadiga and equivalently proud to say am an Indian and a human being. Kannada being my mother tongue ( Father tongue also !!! that's a PJ) I can fluently speak , write and understand Kannada. As am staying in Bangalore, a cosmopolitan city with a vibrant mix of people from different regions, color and caste, it makes me really proud to say we are so open, co operative and respect other cultures and languages. Otherwise Bangalore would not have been a 'Second Home' to many. (many have forgotten their first home and are enjoying this stay. Most welcome to do so.)
Quite often, i hear things from people like " Why should I learn kannada ? Why don't you speak English or Hindi " Also some of the claims that roads are bad, auto is expensive. I have some of the answers for that and thought I should speak out my mind on that.
1. First of all, if you learn Kannada ( or any local language of the place where you are staying), you will be the one who will be benefited as you can easily communicate in Govt offices, local markets, make local friends, understand the local history, enjoy local festivals.
2. It will be very easy to communicate and get the work done by your maid, driver or gardener. I think its so stupid to expect them to talk Hindi or English as most of them will be school drop outs or illiterates. When you can't learn a language why should they learn ? Do you think they are more capable than you with respect to learning a new language ? A bit of common sense.
3. You will be able to ask for directions or help when needed.
4. it will be easy to help your kid with his/her home work.
5.You can bargain big time. if you don't know the language then it will be hard to convince the other party.
6. If you speak to the auto or taxi guy in local language, you will have less chance of getting cheated by paying extra.
7. If you make friends with your neighbors and local people, you will always feel the presence of a local support system Who knows one day you might need help or you can help someone.
8. By speaking the language of the space, you will be paying respect to the place which is giving you food, water & shelter.
In spite of all these, if you still don't want to learn, communicate and respect the local language it's your ignorance and you end up being the loser. We don't have a Goonda raj here, which forces you to do things. And please mind that no one is stopping you to go back to your native and live, enjoy and have a nice life. it's always better than staying here, enjoying the benefits and keep cribbing. My message is crisp and clear, when you are here , have a good time, mingle with locals, build relationship, make friends. End of the day, we are all Indians, and we all have equal rights to live anywhere we want. But the question is about - Living Right.
Some of the Facts of this land.
(Source : http://www.kannadaaudio.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9024)
Kannada is one of the major Dravidian languages of India, spoken predominantly in the state of Karnataka. Kannada, whose native speakers are called Kannadigas, number roughly 35 million, making it the 27th most spoken language in the world. It is one of the official languages of India and the official and administrative language of the state of Karnataka.
1] Kannada is the third oldest language of India.(After ... Sanskrit & Tamil)
2] kannada is as old as 2000 years.
3] Kannada is 99.99% perfect - logically and scientifically.
4] We got 7 Gnana peetha awards. Look at other languages ... Hindi - 6, Telugu - 2, Malayalam - 3, Tamil - 2 (Second one during 2005)
5]Shri VINOBA BHAVE has called kannada script as QUEEN OF WORLD SCRIPTS - "Vishwa lipigaLa RaaNi - kannada"
6] So called international language - English does not have its own Script. English is written in "ROMAN"
7] So called national Language - hindi does not have its own script. Hindi is written in "Devanagari"
8] Though Tamil has a script, logically it is imperfect - as common letters are used for many pronunciations.
9] Government of India officially recognized Kannada as a classical language.
Jai Karnataka....
Quite often, i hear things from people like " Why should I learn kannada ? Why don't you speak English or Hindi " Also some of the claims that roads are bad, auto is expensive. I have some of the answers for that and thought I should speak out my mind on that.
1. First of all, if you learn Kannada ( or any local language of the place where you are staying), you will be the one who will be benefited as you can easily communicate in Govt offices, local markets, make local friends, understand the local history, enjoy local festivals.
2. It will be very easy to communicate and get the work done by your maid, driver or gardener. I think its so stupid to expect them to talk Hindi or English as most of them will be school drop outs or illiterates. When you can't learn a language why should they learn ? Do you think they are more capable than you with respect to learning a new language ? A bit of common sense.
3. You will be able to ask for directions or help when needed.
4. it will be easy to help your kid with his/her home work.
5.You can bargain big time. if you don't know the language then it will be hard to convince the other party.
6. If you speak to the auto or taxi guy in local language, you will have less chance of getting cheated by paying extra.
7. If you make friends with your neighbors and local people, you will always feel the presence of a local support system Who knows one day you might need help or you can help someone.
8. By speaking the language of the space, you will be paying respect to the place which is giving you food, water & shelter.
In spite of all these, if you still don't want to learn, communicate and respect the local language it's your ignorance and you end up being the loser. We don't have a Goonda raj here, which forces you to do things. And please mind that no one is stopping you to go back to your native and live, enjoy and have a nice life. it's always better than staying here, enjoying the benefits and keep cribbing. My message is crisp and clear, when you are here , have a good time, mingle with locals, build relationship, make friends. End of the day, we are all Indians, and we all have equal rights to live anywhere we want. But the question is about - Living Right.
Some of the Facts of this land.
(Source : http://www.kannadaaudio.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9024)
Kannada is one of the major Dravidian languages of India, spoken predominantly in the state of Karnataka. Kannada, whose native speakers are called Kannadigas, number roughly 35 million, making it the 27th most spoken language in the world. It is one of the official languages of India and the official and administrative language of the state of Karnataka.
1] Kannada is the third oldest language of India.(After ... Sanskrit & Tamil)
2] kannada is as old as 2000 years.
3] Kannada is 99.99% perfect - logically and scientifically.
4] We got 7 Gnana peetha awards. Look at other languages ... Hindi - 6, Telugu - 2, Malayalam - 3, Tamil - 2 (Second one during 2005)
5]Shri VINOBA BHAVE has called kannada script as QUEEN OF WORLD SCRIPTS - "Vishwa lipigaLa RaaNi - kannada"
6] So called international language - English does not have its own Script. English is written in "ROMAN"
7] So called national Language - hindi does not have its own script. Hindi is written in "Devanagari"
8] Though Tamil has a script, logically it is imperfect - as common letters are used for many pronunciations.
9] Government of India officially recognized Kannada as a classical language.
Jai Karnataka....
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Coincident or Signaling?
Some things happen to you us all of a sudden. That might sound like an accident for a moment. But when you sit back and give a thought, literally you can link it to some of things, leaving a question in your mind, is it true? Does this incident telling me something? Or a mere coincident? I am sure most of us would have gone through the same and left alone with questions.
I would like to give you example of some incidents, and live it to your expectation to decide.
Background: We (means me, my wife and 6 of my very close friends) recently met with an accident and we lost our brilliant friend. (I don’t want to quote his name so will be mentioning about him as Mr. A) All of us still think that he is around us, and these incidents somehow relates to that.
Incident 1:
One of the evenings, me and my friends went to the place where Mr A is rest in peace in his coconut farm, to say hi to him. Just to tell you, Mr A was very much found of Nenapirali( means Remember ) movie tracks and had a CD always kept in his bed side when he was alive). So we spent around 20 –30 minutes with him and started coming back. As we approached the main highway, an auto rickshaw passed in front of us having a slogan written at its back “Nenapirali “. We were all amazed and totally went blank. Is Mr A telling us not to Forget him? Where is the question of forgetting, we all talk about him during our each and every meet and all believe he is there with us.
Incident 2:
Me and my friend were passing through the same place where Mr A is rest in peace and thought we give a quick visit. As the Farm gates were closed, we stood near the gate and peeping in. All of a sudden, two Coconut leaves fall one after the other. Is Mr A making us feel his presence? I don’t know. Again, me and my friend carried a million questions and came back.
Incident 3:
Very recently (that’s yesterday, 2nd May), I was returning back from my trip by a normal KSRTC bus. As the bus was nearing Mr A’s place (his house) , all of a sudden, brake failed completely and the driver struggled but managed to park the bus. The bus was parked much closed to Mr A’s house. I got down as all other passenger did and called up my friend to tell him what happened. I turned back and had a chock of my breath for a minute coz there was a banner put right in front of me (where Mr A was smiling big time, the same smile when he used to play prank with us) about opening of a Library in my friend’ remembrance.
It was already 6 PM and somebody said there is a train from that place to Bangalore at 6. The train station is around 400 yards and started running. I had all chances of missing the train as it was already 6 PM and I have to take tickets also and train stops there for only 2 -3 minutes. For a surprise, the train was delayed by good 20 minutes that day and I was able to take a breath and board comfortably.
Is it that Mr A wanted to see me? is it that he was challenging me that , how can I go without stopping for him ? Was that smile on the banner, telling me “How was that?”. I don’t know. I am thrilled. I want to meet him.
Take Away : Hoping to see him very soon.
I would like to give you example of some incidents, and live it to your expectation to decide.
Background: We (means me, my wife and 6 of my very close friends) recently met with an accident and we lost our brilliant friend. (I don’t want to quote his name so will be mentioning about him as Mr. A) All of us still think that he is around us, and these incidents somehow relates to that.
Incident 1:
One of the evenings, me and my friends went to the place where Mr A is rest in peace in his coconut farm, to say hi to him. Just to tell you, Mr A was very much found of Nenapirali( means Remember ) movie tracks and had a CD always kept in his bed side when he was alive). So we spent around 20 –30 minutes with him and started coming back. As we approached the main highway, an auto rickshaw passed in front of us having a slogan written at its back “Nenapirali “. We were all amazed and totally went blank. Is Mr A telling us not to Forget him? Where is the question of forgetting, we all talk about him during our each and every meet and all believe he is there with us.
Incident 2:
Me and my friend were passing through the same place where Mr A is rest in peace and thought we give a quick visit. As the Farm gates were closed, we stood near the gate and peeping in. All of a sudden, two Coconut leaves fall one after the other. Is Mr A making us feel his presence? I don’t know. Again, me and my friend carried a million questions and came back.
Incident 3:
Very recently (that’s yesterday, 2nd May), I was returning back from my trip by a normal KSRTC bus. As the bus was nearing Mr A’s place (his house) , all of a sudden, brake failed completely and the driver struggled but managed to park the bus. The bus was parked much closed to Mr A’s house. I got down as all other passenger did and called up my friend to tell him what happened. I turned back and had a chock of my breath for a minute coz there was a banner put right in front of me (where Mr A was smiling big time, the same smile when he used to play prank with us) about opening of a Library in my friend’ remembrance.
It was already 6 PM and somebody said there is a train from that place to Bangalore at 6. The train station is around 400 yards and started running. I had all chances of missing the train as it was already 6 PM and I have to take tickets also and train stops there for only 2 -3 minutes. For a surprise, the train was delayed by good 20 minutes that day and I was able to take a breath and board comfortably.
Is it that Mr A wanted to see me? is it that he was challenging me that , how can I go without stopping for him ? Was that smile on the banner, telling me “How was that?”. I don’t know. I am thrilled. I want to meet him.
Take Away : Hoping to see him very soon.
My Visit to Ramachandra Pura Mata
It was a visit which I was planning from many days and somehow was getting postponed. At last this May 1st 2009, long weekend helped me to fulfill my wish. More than the time factor it was the laziness which was holding on it.
It’s roughly around 250+ Km from Bangalore and will take good 8 hrs of your time to reach the final destination. From Shivmoga it’s around one & a half hour drive towards a place called Hosanagar. From Hosanagar it’s around 7 Kms to Karana Giri and from there the Mata is just 1.6 Kms away. Once you reach Shivmoga, you will get private buses to Karana Giri via Hosanagar which will cost you 45 bugs. From Karana Giri you can either walk or go you can get an auto.
Directions :
Bangalore – Shivmoga (6 hrs) Shivmoga – Karana Giri( Via Hosanagar, roughly 1.5 to 2 Hours)– Karana Giri – Mata ( 5 Mins)
Cost : Bangalore – Shivmoga ( Volvo ) – 327.00
Shivmoga – Karana Giri ( Local Private Bus) – 45.00
Karana Giri – Mata – Around 20.00 (I got drop by a bike fellow)
Accommodation:
Free if you stay in the common hall
200 Rs if you want a cottage (Easily accommodates 6-8 People, bingo, it’s with AC)
Food : Simple and very tasty food – Free. Not to miss Kashaya.
I also believe there is a direct bus from Bangalore to Mata and vice versa. It leaves at 8 30 PM from mata to Bangalore and don’t know the timings from Bangalore
So as soon as you reach the place, you will get a very warm welcome from the staff, enquiring of your whereabouts and the journey. Then you will be explained about the place and the programs. They also have a small counter which has many medicinal products made out of Cow’s output. (From Milk to Urine)
Why is this place so special?
(All I am writing is what I heard during my visit.)
India had around 80 different varitey of Cows and due to negligence and so many other factors now it has come down to 33. Out of which this place has a collection of 30 breeds. And they are in putting all effort to get the other 3 as well. Million thanks go to the brilliant effort of Swamiji. It was a mind blowing experience to go through the cow shed. Some of the cows exactly match as painted in the olden time god pictures.
The breeds are from all over India, majorly from Karnataka, Gujarat & Maharashtra. Some of the Bulls are really gigantic and ferocious. It’s definitely a treat to watch them. Out of thirty, two really caught my attention. One was a gigantic bull which is literally of roof top height when it stands and the other who looks like a Chinese monk. There are around 800 + cows in the ashram and maintance is a huge task. We just go there, have a ball of time, but god knows how they are maintaining all these.
Another good thing about this place is, they also conduct awareness programs on medicinal usages of cow’s products & bio agriculture.
Its very easy to go and get a packet of milk from milk diary but only when you visit such places, one can appreciate the value of a cow, the difficulties of a farmer, what is that we are loosing due to globalization and becoming western. I don’t know. I think this is too much for my age.
Take Away : Not to waste milk. Never Ever.
It’s roughly around 250+ Km from Bangalore and will take good 8 hrs of your time to reach the final destination. From Shivmoga it’s around one & a half hour drive towards a place called Hosanagar. From Hosanagar it’s around 7 Kms to Karana Giri and from there the Mata is just 1.6 Kms away. Once you reach Shivmoga, you will get private buses to Karana Giri via Hosanagar which will cost you 45 bugs. From Karana Giri you can either walk or go you can get an auto.
Directions :
Bangalore – Shivmoga (6 hrs) Shivmoga – Karana Giri( Via Hosanagar, roughly 1.5 to 2 Hours)– Karana Giri – Mata ( 5 Mins)
Cost : Bangalore – Shivmoga ( Volvo ) – 327.00
Shivmoga – Karana Giri ( Local Private Bus) – 45.00
Karana Giri – Mata – Around 20.00 (I got drop by a bike fellow)
Accommodation:
Free if you stay in the common hall
200 Rs if you want a cottage (Easily accommodates 6-8 People, bingo, it’s with AC)
Food : Simple and very tasty food – Free. Not to miss Kashaya.
I also believe there is a direct bus from Bangalore to Mata and vice versa. It leaves at 8 30 PM from mata to Bangalore and don’t know the timings from Bangalore
So as soon as you reach the place, you will get a very warm welcome from the staff, enquiring of your whereabouts and the journey. Then you will be explained about the place and the programs. They also have a small counter which has many medicinal products made out of Cow’s output. (From Milk to Urine)
Why is this place so special?
(All I am writing is what I heard during my visit.)
India had around 80 different varitey of Cows and due to negligence and so many other factors now it has come down to 33. Out of which this place has a collection of 30 breeds. And they are in putting all effort to get the other 3 as well. Million thanks go to the brilliant effort of Swamiji. It was a mind blowing experience to go through the cow shed. Some of the cows exactly match as painted in the olden time god pictures.
The breeds are from all over India, majorly from Karnataka, Gujarat & Maharashtra. Some of the Bulls are really gigantic and ferocious. It’s definitely a treat to watch them. Out of thirty, two really caught my attention. One was a gigantic bull which is literally of roof top height when it stands and the other who looks like a Chinese monk. There are around 800 + cows in the ashram and maintance is a huge task. We just go there, have a ball of time, but god knows how they are maintaining all these.
Another good thing about this place is, they also conduct awareness programs on medicinal usages of cow’s products & bio agriculture.
Its very easy to go and get a packet of milk from milk diary but only when you visit such places, one can appreciate the value of a cow, the difficulties of a farmer, what is that we are loosing due to globalization and becoming western. I don’t know. I think this is too much for my age.
Take Away : Not to waste milk. Never Ever.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
My last day at Satyam
It was Thursday, 09th April 2009 marking an end of my two and a half year journey at Satyam. Never wanted to come across this but some of the situations forces one to do so. And people say – one day it has to end, so it was that day for me.
It was the 4th floor at Sheshadripuram office where we used to rock all the time. It was a small team with like minded people, whose company I enjoyed throughout and learnt a lot from each of them on the daily course. We shared food, thoughts, files, data, work, jokes, some horrible PJ’s, looks, long lunch breaks and gassing sessions.
When I joined, at least for a week I was reading a book on policy & guidelines, but slowly and steadily we jelled and moved on with the work. I was bit hesitating to move with the team and later started mingling with the gang. From then onwards never ever had a hesitation to go to work as all of us used to have lot of fun with bit of work. Our Manager always encouraged us to enjoy the work and do – with a usual quote “ Do that particular stuff”. A lot of respect from my side goes to him.
O the last day, I got up as usual and had a feeling in my mind that – do I need to leave? Shall I pull the plug back? Will I get a team like this? Am I gonna be the looser? But the decision is already taken so cant step back. On the way to work , I started missing my daily route (through sankyee tank). All my team members had a kind of upset mood cause am leaving. During our 11 AM tea time someone said “come Rags, last tea with you “. Then I was really shaken. I always think of not to get attached to anyone but always end up doing so. They treated me with lunch and Ice Cream. They also made me cut a cake (made sure not a chocolate one, as I don’t like it) and gave me special gifts. All of them took photos with me and believe me I was literally crying inside. How can people love someone so much? If I was in there place, would I have done the same thing? I don’t know.
So finally I said good bye to them and came down. All of them came down to the parking to say bye and wish me good luck. I took my car out and stared driving with a heavy heart filled with sweet memories and love of adorable team.
Joined IBM now, new faces, new place, new team, new work. Will try to do best and justify my salary. Hpong that I find some near alternative to my old team here.
Take Away : Not to get emotionally attached at least this time. But never know, peoples love will force you to get hooked.
It was the 4th floor at Sheshadripuram office where we used to rock all the time. It was a small team with like minded people, whose company I enjoyed throughout and learnt a lot from each of them on the daily course. We shared food, thoughts, files, data, work, jokes, some horrible PJ’s, looks, long lunch breaks and gassing sessions.
When I joined, at least for a week I was reading a book on policy & guidelines, but slowly and steadily we jelled and moved on with the work. I was bit hesitating to move with the team and later started mingling with the gang. From then onwards never ever had a hesitation to go to work as all of us used to have lot of fun with bit of work. Our Manager always encouraged us to enjoy the work and do – with a usual quote “ Do that particular stuff”. A lot of respect from my side goes to him.
O the last day, I got up as usual and had a feeling in my mind that – do I need to leave? Shall I pull the plug back? Will I get a team like this? Am I gonna be the looser? But the decision is already taken so cant step back. On the way to work , I started missing my daily route (through sankyee tank). All my team members had a kind of upset mood cause am leaving. During our 11 AM tea time someone said “come Rags, last tea with you “. Then I was really shaken. I always think of not to get attached to anyone but always end up doing so. They treated me with lunch and Ice Cream. They also made me cut a cake (made sure not a chocolate one, as I don’t like it) and gave me special gifts. All of them took photos with me and believe me I was literally crying inside. How can people love someone so much? If I was in there place, would I have done the same thing? I don’t know.
So finally I said good bye to them and came down. All of them came down to the parking to say bye and wish me good luck. I took my car out and stared driving with a heavy heart filled with sweet memories and love of adorable team.
Joined IBM now, new faces, new place, new team, new work. Will try to do best and justify my salary. Hpong that I find some near alternative to my old team here.
Take Away : Not to get emotionally attached at least this time. But never know, peoples love will force you to get hooked.
Monday, March 9, 2009
On Road
Every day when we get in to the road, literally feel like getting back home. Roads are getting busier with so many new brands coming in to the market with a vast variety of vehicles of different sizes and colors. Situation is so bad that most of the time you will be scolding someone or will be getting scolded. No one has the time or temper to allow the other person to pass by. We drive with only one liner agenda – “to reach faster”.
On the other hand we have the cops standing (literally hiding) and checking for license, insurance, RC book, emit ion certificates, mirrors. I have never seen a single cop who will try to educate the caught driver. They will be busy negotiating the fine, saying “if I write the receipt you have to pay 300, else pay just 100 “.
Some of the favorite dialogues what we see when we are road are:
“Hello, L Board is it?”
Guru, all you got is my vehicle to die is it?
Boss, can’t you see the indicator?
When you are caught by a cop : “ Sir, I am on the way to donate blood”
When you are caught driving in the one-way “One-way is it? I dint see the board only, from when is it been made one-way sir? I came last week like this!!! (Admitting that last week also you broke the law.)
Let’s ask ourselves some questions and we might end up finding answers for them:
Have I ever allowed other person to pass by, understanding his urgency / importance?
Did I ever wait till a pedestrian cross the road completely?
How many times I honk unnecessarily during my drive?
Was it really required to go so fast? What did I achieve by reaching 10 mins early ?
How can I save fuel ?
Some FYI stuffs:
Here you can check your violation details:
http://125.17.140.50/bpsfinedetails/bpsfinedetails.aspx
Check for traffic and directions:
http://btis.in/
Take Away : I will minimize the number of honks while driving
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Funny Questions
On day to day basis a lot of questions will be thrown at us by the people whom we meet. For some we will have ready answers, for some we think and answer, some will be yes or no types, some you can’t answer, and some you don’t want to answer, some you will ignore. For some of the questions, you will literally would like to answer in a different way but will hold your tongue and end up saying something. Below are such questions and answer and I wish I could say so:
You will go to someone’s house and they will ask “Oh you came just now?” Then what, why will I come yesterday only and sleep in their footpath and get up and visit them now? We will foolishly end up saying “Yeah” and give a half moon smile.
On a weekend, you would have gone to watch a movie and might come across a friend during the interval. He will for dam sure will ask “Oh, you have come to see the movie ya?”. Boss what do you think I am doing in the theater? Do you think am selling Pop Corn here?
May be you will be visit some place and from some corner of earth one of your known guy will jump in front of you and ask ‘ Oh , how come you here?”. You will feel like saying - What do you mean chief? Is Am not supposed to come here? Is it a crime to come here? If so what are you doing here?
Take Away : Don’t simply shoot question. You might have the answer already.
You will go to someone’s house and they will ask “Oh you came just now?” Then what, why will I come yesterday only and sleep in their footpath and get up and visit them now? We will foolishly end up saying “Yeah” and give a half moon smile.
On a weekend, you would have gone to watch a movie and might come across a friend during the interval. He will for dam sure will ask “Oh, you have come to see the movie ya?”. Boss what do you think I am doing in the theater? Do you think am selling Pop Corn here?
May be you will be visit some place and from some corner of earth one of your known guy will jump in front of you and ask ‘ Oh , how come you here?”. You will feel like saying - What do you mean chief? Is Am not supposed to come here? Is it a crime to come here? If so what are you doing here?
Take Away : Don’t simply shoot question. You might have the answer already.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Why I don’t like Coffee Shops?
As a whole and sole, this is my view and all you people are most welcome to visit again n again n again….
By all means I agree that the ambiances created by these shops are amazing and a great place to chit chat with friends and family. My point here is, why is bloody so so expensive? By paying so much why should I prepare my own coffee by mixing milk and sugar. Pathetic feeling man.
These shops charges nearly 45 bugs for a normal coffee, whereas for the same amount you will get 250 gm fresh coffee powder!!! Some of the best hotels charges 6- 8 bugs for the superb coffee with bubbles and the best part is by – two is allowed. Okie, for the sofa and chair you charge some extra bugs and make it 15 Rs, but not even a single paisa extra man.
More than anything, people are going just to show off his / her or parent’s money power or to swipe the dangerous credit cards or just because his / her friend is a regular visitor to coffee shop or to maintain some nonexistent level. Belive me most of them will not like the taste but still would like to go.
On top of all these things, it’s amazing to know:
1. J. K Rowling wrote first few editions of Harry Potter sitting in a coffee shop. She used to buy a coffee and sit there for ages so that she will get some light and heat.
2. The CCD on the Mysore – Bangalore road is the highest revenue earner in Karnataka for the Group. They are open 24*7.
Take Away is : I love to own a Coffee Shop.
By all means I agree that the ambiances created by these shops are amazing and a great place to chit chat with friends and family. My point here is, why is bloody so so expensive? By paying so much why should I prepare my own coffee by mixing milk and sugar. Pathetic feeling man.
These shops charges nearly 45 bugs for a normal coffee, whereas for the same amount you will get 250 gm fresh coffee powder!!! Some of the best hotels charges 6- 8 bugs for the superb coffee with bubbles and the best part is by – two is allowed. Okie, for the sofa and chair you charge some extra bugs and make it 15 Rs, but not even a single paisa extra man.
More than anything, people are going just to show off his / her or parent’s money power or to swipe the dangerous credit cards or just because his / her friend is a regular visitor to coffee shop or to maintain some nonexistent level. Belive me most of them will not like the taste but still would like to go.
On top of all these things, it’s amazing to know:
1. J. K Rowling wrote first few editions of Harry Potter sitting in a coffee shop. She used to buy a coffee and sit there for ages so that she will get some light and heat.
2. The CCD on the Mysore – Bangalore road is the highest revenue earner in Karnataka for the Group. They are open 24*7.
Take Away is : I love to own a Coffee Shop.
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Some of my Role Models
Some of my Role Models:
Don’t ask me – Am I a role model to anyone? I might hit you coz am not even I a successful follower, so to be a role model is far away. I am still working on how to be a follower and pick up positive things from the people whom I meet.
I am mentioning the names without taking the respective permission so my apologies. There are many people who inspired, helped, encouraged, guided me and would like to mention few here in this posting. As and when I get a chance I will pen down all of them.
My Dad: Mr. Adishesh
Who lost his dad when he was 6 month old in my granny’s womb. Bought up by his Mama, along with his 6 kids. Seen dirty face of the poverty at the early stage of his life and always made sure me, my sisters and brother never get a hint of it. Even though he never sat next to me and taught me through the books, so many live examples which he gave on the daily basis on how to give and take respect, owning responsibility, managing money and being strong from inside will take me long.
He is my role model because of the non conditional love and affection he gave me. Always I look up to him for what he is and think “will I gonna be a good father like him?
“. I don’t know.
My Teacher: Mr. Clyde D’ Costa
One of the most disciplined, very interesting, active and inspiring teacher I have ever met. He is the man who was very much focused in to his work and gave 100% in whatever he did. He was teaching Business Communication and techniques and a very practical person and used to teach us through Case studies and group activities. He has a very well maintained and informative car miniature collection.
I respect him a lot and in many occasion try to duplicate him. One of the beauty was, his mother used to stitch his clothes which was fitting him figure accurate !!!
Don’t ask me – Am I a role model to anyone? I might hit you coz am not even I a successful follower, so to be a role model is far away. I am still working on how to be a follower and pick up positive things from the people whom I meet.
I am mentioning the names without taking the respective permission so my apologies. There are many people who inspired, helped, encouraged, guided me and would like to mention few here in this posting. As and when I get a chance I will pen down all of them.
My Dad: Mr. Adishesh
Who lost his dad when he was 6 month old in my granny’s womb. Bought up by his Mama, along with his 6 kids. Seen dirty face of the poverty at the early stage of his life and always made sure me, my sisters and brother never get a hint of it. Even though he never sat next to me and taught me through the books, so many live examples which he gave on the daily basis on how to give and take respect, owning responsibility, managing money and being strong from inside will take me long.
He is my role model because of the non conditional love and affection he gave me. Always I look up to him for what he is and think “will I gonna be a good father like him?
“. I don’t know.
My Teacher: Mr. Clyde D’ Costa
One of the most disciplined, very interesting, active and inspiring teacher I have ever met. He is the man who was very much focused in to his work and gave 100% in whatever he did. He was teaching Business Communication and techniques and a very practical person and used to teach us through Case studies and group activities. He has a very well maintained and informative car miniature collection.
I respect him a lot and in many occasion try to duplicate him. One of the beauty was, his mother used to stitch his clothes which was fitting him figure accurate !!!
Himalayan Blunder – This is what I am reading now
This is an amazing book written by Brigadier Dalvi, which takes you through insider story of the Indo China war of 1962. I think this gentle man wrote this when he was in captive as a war prisoner. For your information this was banned by Govt of India due to its controversial revealing.
Believe me this is a page turner with facts which makes you feel pathetic about stupid decisions made by our so called national heroes and feel so proud about our brave soldiers who went to the war front with few days of food ration and only a pocket full of bullets. One of the facts mentioned in the book says that we had a ratio of 1 Indian soldier to fight 20 Chinese. Also says how drastically we failed in the areas of food storage, clothes, weapons, infrastructure & technology.
I think the situation has not changed much even today and to prove we have a standing example of 26/11.
If you get a chance please read this book.
I recently finished reading “Money Changers” by Arthur Hailey which is a 1975 novel where you get the description of how the big banks failed causing tsunami is US economics. You can easily relate to the fall of Lehman Brothers here.
Take Away: I am really proud of our soldiers.
Believe me this is a page turner with facts which makes you feel pathetic about stupid decisions made by our so called national heroes and feel so proud about our brave soldiers who went to the war front with few days of food ration and only a pocket full of bullets. One of the facts mentioned in the book says that we had a ratio of 1 Indian soldier to fight 20 Chinese. Also says how drastically we failed in the areas of food storage, clothes, weapons, infrastructure & technology.
I think the situation has not changed much even today and to prove we have a standing example of 26/11.
If you get a chance please read this book.
I recently finished reading “Money Changers” by Arthur Hailey which is a 1975 novel where you get the description of how the big banks failed causing tsunami is US economics. You can easily relate to the fall of Lehman Brothers here.
Take Away: I am really proud of our soldiers.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
It's WATER - Bloody don't say WHATEVER
I really get scared when I think of a day without Water. Just imagine, no water to - drink, brush your teeth, to take bath (you will start stinking in 3 days and no one will sit next to you in train, buses, planes – its good though , you have the whole seat for yourself !!!), wash clothes, vessels, vehicles, water plants, flush toilet ….. It goes on. Disgusting man!!!
But we have taken the water availability for granted. Bloody my wife leaves the tap on every day while brushing; I get my car cleaned every day. Just do a rewind of your daily life activities you will find loads of such stupid activities leading to wastage of water. Will I or you do the same if we have to carry the water from miles? But there are people who walk few miles just to get drinking water – this is not in Sahara, may be 500 – 600 KMS from Bangalore. I think we all need to do this at least one day to realize the value of water.
I hate paying money and buying bottled water. We have reached this situation just because we are not utilizing and saving it properly. Just imagine, one day we paying for fresh air and sun light.
In our house, my brother has used some old pipes to do rain water harvesting and bloody belive me, the water level in the well has literally increased. (no effort from my side though ). From my side what I have done is drastically cut down the wastage, posted few articles on water usage in our apartment notice board and educating myself by reading on the net.
In your free time please visit this below site, has some good info.
http://www.unep.org/OurPlanet/imgversn/141/ghazi.html
My take away: Will try to reduce the wastage as much as possible & whenever I build a house , I will make sure it has Rain water harvesting setup.
But we have taken the water availability for granted. Bloody my wife leaves the tap on every day while brushing; I get my car cleaned every day. Just do a rewind of your daily life activities you will find loads of such stupid activities leading to wastage of water. Will I or you do the same if we have to carry the water from miles? But there are people who walk few miles just to get drinking water – this is not in Sahara, may be 500 – 600 KMS from Bangalore. I think we all need to do this at least one day to realize the value of water.
I hate paying money and buying bottled water. We have reached this situation just because we are not utilizing and saving it properly. Just imagine, one day we paying for fresh air and sun light.
In our house, my brother has used some old pipes to do rain water harvesting and bloody belive me, the water level in the well has literally increased. (no effort from my side though ). From my side what I have done is drastically cut down the wastage, posted few articles on water usage in our apartment notice board and educating myself by reading on the net.
In your free time please visit this below site, has some good info.
http://www.unep.org/OurPlanet/imgversn/141/ghazi.html
My take away: Will try to reduce the wastage as much as possible & whenever I build a house , I will make sure it has Rain water harvesting setup.
To my friend - Sundeep
I can’t really imagine that I am writing a tribute note to this guy, Sundeep. Forget about this, I would have never written a letter to him coz we were in so much in contact through meetings & calls. On some incidents he just dropped in to see me or just to say hi or to be with us at midnight.
It dint take much time to get really close with this. I meant really close Okie! What and all we shared – accommodation, food, jokes, parties, travelling, work, dreams, money, cards, and passwords. Bloody it is as simple as like, I never said no to him and vice versa.
He was a lion hearted guy with no fear and hard feelings, always politically correct, filled with positive attitude and thinking, practical, fun loving, dam possessive about his things & sufferer of Irritable bowel syndrome.
In fact I started writing a book about our friendship and wrote about 13 pages and never moved from there. I will seriously think of finishing the same.
My take away from this guy is: “Move Forward”
What I think is: “He is just around, watching us but too busy to get in touch with us. We will wait “.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Rags - My Intro
Hi All,
This is my first blog posting and i really hope i make some sense out of this experience. This is the activity which i was planning to do from many days, and kept on postponing from may months.My obejective of this blog is to express my feelings, thoughts and to learn from every person i come across through this.
I am Raghavendra Rao Adishesh, called as Raghu, Rags by people i know. Am wroking as a Business Analyst at Satyam from past 2 yrs & 5 months.Married to Meera a year and half ago and staying in Bangalore, rooted to Mysore.
Normally a quite loving person, with always trying to keep a smile on face (quite hard though), down to earth, tend to make friends, enjoys PJ's, real life incidents & reading. Have few good friends.wants to make life as simple as possible.
This is my first blog posting and i really hope i make some sense out of this experience. This is the activity which i was planning to do from many days, and kept on postponing from may months.My obejective of this blog is to express my feelings, thoughts and to learn from every person i come across through this.
I am Raghavendra Rao Adishesh, called as Raghu, Rags by people i know. Am wroking as a Business Analyst at Satyam from past 2 yrs & 5 months.Married to Meera a year and half ago and staying in Bangalore, rooted to Mysore.
Normally a quite loving person, with always trying to keep a smile on face (quite hard though), down to earth, tend to make friends, enjoys PJ's, real life incidents & reading. Have few good friends.wants to make life as simple as possible.
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