Vinay Justin - My Blog

Gopalswamy Betta

2011-06-26T06:34:00.000-07:00

I had heard good reviews about Gopalswamy Betta and not really had a chance to visit the place, being a frequent visitor to Mysore. Thanks to my collegue who had invited few of us for his daughters naming ceremony in Mysore, which gave me an opportunity to visit Mysore and Gopalswamy Betta as well.

Naming ceremony was scheduled on Sunday afternoon, it was one of my collegue who initially sugested on visiting Gopalswamy Betta early in the morning and come over to the function in the afternoon at around 1:00 Clock. I thought its good idea, since Gopalswamy Betta is at a distance of 80kms from Mysore and travelling will not consume a long time. I left to Mysore on Saturday afternoon and reached by evening 6. My collegue was scheduled to take the early morning train to Mysore and reach by 7:30 on Sunday.

As we started, on the way i picked my cousin from Mandya who had finished his classes at college and started driving towards Mysore, Since we had time, my cousin suggested that we visit " Lord Venkateshwara" temple which is in SriRangapatana. My wife and i had not been to temple before and we all agreed to go. Temple is situated atop a hill called " Karri Betta" - A quiet place, i doubt if many people are aware about the temple apart from people across nearby villages. Temple has a historical significance and it is believed that Lord Hanuman, carried the idol of Lord Venkateshwara and placed it on the hill top. A good place to visit on the way to Mysore. Here are few pictures.

We also Visited Nimishamba template and Chamundi Hills and stayed overnight at my cousin's place. Next day morning as planned we left Mysore at 7:30 in the morning, my collegue along with his wife had arrived by then. Gopalswamy Betta is situated in Bandipur National Reserve forest and is at a distance of 80 kms from Mysore. We had to take the route via Najangud--->Gundalpet. Journey took about an hour and 20 minutes. Roads are well maintained and driving from Mysore ---> Najangud--> Gundalpet was a good experience, untill we cross Nanjangud, there would be some slow moving traffic due to HTV's moving around.

From Gundalpet Gopalswamy betta is situated at a distance of 15 Kms, as soon as we entered Gundalpet we confirmed with few passerbys who guided us to take a right turn after travelling a few kms once in Guldapet. Road towards the hill is not in a very good condition, we had to manover many potholes, but again its manageble, we had to travel at a speed of 40 kms since the road was not in a very good condition. We reached the entry point at 9:00 AM and were stopped by the Forest Guards who checked our bags to see if we were carrying anything ( plastic, liquor etc) which was not allowed. Entry fee of Rs50 was collected and we were told, we had to get back in an Hour's time. There were some new rules made recently after few incidents being reported of people who violated some forest reserve laws.

Drive towards the hill from the starting point will take about 20 - 25 minutes due to the road condition, view of the huge lanscape that you get to see as you drive up the hill is magnificiant. As you tend to get closer to the hill, you can start noticing the difference in weather conditions. One has to carefull while driving up or coming down the hill, since it is two way road and there are a couple of steep turns.

Nevertheless, once we reached the template, we were all in for a surprise. As we were driving up the hill, we could see the Sun shining bright and there was no hint of rainfall, as soon as we parked the car and got down, we got to witness a thick fog surrounding the temple and within few seconds it started raining and adding to it were strong winds. We ran and took shelter inside the temple. As we waited for our turn to get inside the template to get Darshan, there was change in weather. Rain stopped and there was some sunshine and again in matter of minutes, we could see thick fog desending the hilltop. It's just amazing and i have very few words to express what i witnessed. One should see the beauty of this place through their own eyes. Surprisingly, even during summer season, this hilltop will have thick fog/mist.

As we went inside the temple, it was a bit warm. As the priest performed pooja, he briefed all of us on the historical significance of the temple. It is said that, throughout the year, summer or winter, their will be mist formation on the surroundings of Lord Krishna's idol inside the temple.

We got to wintess lush greenery and best part is seeing the weather conditions on the hilltop change every few minutes. People are not allowed to go beyond the boundary wall of temple premises. This is done in the interest of public as it is being said that wild elephants come very close to the template range to gaze around. We were happy that we got the opportunity to come over at the right time and we managed to get some nice pictures from the hilltop. I am sharing few pictures. Overall, a place which should be on the must visit list. I highly recommend visting Gopalswamy Betta.

Location : 80 KMS from Mysore.

Route : From Mysore-->Nanjangud-->Gundalpet---> Gopalswamy Betta

Best Time to Visit : 9:00 AM to 11:00 AM ( Based on my experience)

Thanks... take care.

Back after a break

2011-06-19T04:58:00.000-07:00

Hello People,

Good Evening, Yes its been quite some time since i made a blog post. Had to begin the year 2011 with new phase i was going to get into in my life" My Marriage". It was an arranged marriage, which made me realize how big the importance is of trust and faith when it comes to arranged marriages, i hardly knew my to be wife, my parents knew each other's family pretty well and thus came the proposal, purely based on the character and conduct of my parents. My wife's parents hardly knew me, i don't recall meeting or interacting with them before the marriage proposal, see how the trust come and faith comes into place. Having known my parents for many a years, they decided that i am right guy. I still wonder if i am ;) - I still remember the day when i first spoke to my to be wife ( then) who was straight out of college, enjoying her vacation, trying to all the sleep in the world which she had lost preparing for her final graduation exams and in the middle comes a marriage proposal from her parents who had mentally prepared her by saying we are looking for a suitable guy for you. Now, i don't know if my wife made the right decision to get married very early, but i really think she should have been provided an opportunity to venture out, work and have some independence. I am making sure that she certainly has all of it :) I remember questioning my mother, why are they getting her ( to be wife) married so early, she is just out of college, but you know i never got convincing answers ;)

Well everything said and done, marriage was finalized. Trust me, marriage is an expensive affair, it just cannot get simple. Well you know lot of people say, it's once in a life time, i still question, is it worth spending lakhs of rupees for 2 or 3 days of event full ceremony. All my questions related to finance which was going to spent for marriage were turned away and i never got convincing answers, well it just so happens that by the time you realize the extent of money spent on marriage, you would have got married. Strange are the ways, we go to an extent to make sure others are happy, no matter if we take pain.

I hope marriages get simple in the coming days :)

Take care..

My Little Autograph

2010-12-19T01:53:00.000-08:00

Few more days for year 2010 to end. Starting 2011, i would be beginning a new journey, a journey which i prop ably did not want to get it when i was in my early 20s. But things have materialized and i somehow understood the need for having a life partner :) and yes i am thinking it would be an interesting year to look forward to with the arrival of the new person in my life.

It makes me remember my attempt to fall in love with a girl when i was in my high school. Her home was just a block away from my house, it all started when she stared at me on first few occasions when we passed by each other. I don't know to call it a coincidence or something realistic it so used to happen that whenever i went out to buy anything from the nearby shop, i used to see her passing by, days passed, we started at each other. Months passed we still continued to stare at each other when passing by, LOL to simply say i did not have the " Meter" to go and talk to her :) Those were funny days, i remember cycling and paying endless visits to the block where she was put up and in order to make my presence felt and expecting her to come out and stand in the terrace the cycle bell used to come in handy. With all these attempts i still did not have the courage to go and talk to her. Well i don't know if it was a mature love that i had for her, but i certainly doubted and think it was more of immature feelings. Days and Years passed by and one final day another guy proposed her and she fell for him and incidentally that guy became a friend of mine later and guess what i got introduced to her by my friend :) well, thinking of it today i feel it was better off for me not to have approached that girl, because i knew it was a immature feeling i had for her. I was in my high school and couldn't have thought anything about commitment. To my surprise she joined the same same college where i Studied and she was a junior to me, years later she broke up with my friend and i knew it was a immature feeling they had between the two. She got married recently and i don't know it must coincidence, even whenever i pass by the block where she stays i see her :) but with a difference as expected there is no longer the stare that often used to be few years ago :) lol

Realizing the value of someone when they move away from you is seriously a lesson in life. Met a girl in my work life, she was a girl of great character and conduct. We liked to talking to each other and became very good friends, months passed we liked the company of each other. Something happened to me in between and i don't know if i have to blame myself i lost touch with her without realizing i would be hurting someone. SMS and Phone calls that were a daily routine dried out. Months passed by many other incidents in life taught me how to value a relationship, i got back in touch with her and we are good friends today. The gap which was generated in my absence proved good for her, cause she found a guy who was mature and more understanding than i was. Thinking about it today, i feel it was better of for me not to have proposed her or accepted her proposal , cause i knew i could not keep up to to the commitment.

Well, some of these incidents in life have taught me some lessons and i can say i am now a person who knows the importance of commitment and to value relationships, be it with a friend, father, mother, brother or colleagues.

Rocket Singh

2010-11-07T09:04:00.000-08:00

Hello Folks,

Happy Diwali, hope you all had a good time with family and friends.

I had heard some good reviews about the movie Rocket Singh and wanted to watch it over the weekend. Got to know from a friend of mine that the movie would be playing on Sony channel, ohhh i could not have asked for anything better. Thanks to my friend, i got to see a movie with a nice message.

I kind of felt the movie has a very good message, it shows that if a person believes in himself and the idea that he has generated and has the determination to take it further, nothing can stop him/her. It also shows that an organization with unethical work practices cannot survive in the long run. It's also conveys that one needs to take some risks in order to create some opportunities. Well i am sure, all the planning that Ranbir did sitting in office and making use of office facilities may not work in the real world, but there is certainly scope for it.

His ability to stay focused, when people laughed at him and commented on something he did which was right and correct was nice to see. It gives a right message by telling relationships cannot be built with money, relationships are built with a human touch.

Worth watching, i just wanted to share few of my thoughts on the movie.

Take care..

Few of my thoughts on People Management

2010-10-31T12:14:00.000-07:00

People Management - Terminology most used in the corporate sector. When GOD created humans he gave different abilities to each one of us. Sometimes we realize our potential and abilities very late. Working in the corporate sector i have seen many people management issues that have cropped up, some created because of personal jealously, some created because people did not get the due they deserved.

It requires a lot of effort to understand the behavior and nature of different people we work with and are surrounded with. I strongly believe people management is something an individual learns as he gains experience. With different priorities and when the ability to handle things differ its hard to meet the expectations of people.

There are some who prefer to command respect rather than trying to earn it. People management issues arise when we encounter people with this nature. They are hard to convince and generally have an attitude of " I know it all".

Today people management is a very big issue in many corporates. There are issues that crop up every day, every hour. No wonder it keeps all the HR managers and other functional managers busy apart from their regular deliverables. Lack of transparency, Division of work, authority and responsibility, lack of motivation from managers and team leads, maturity amongst the individual are some of reasons why people management issues pop up.

Every individual needs to realize that no one is perfect and nobody expects them to be perfect. There is always room for improvement and an individual needs to realize that people management skills play an important role when he/she is moving up the ladder professionally. Managers today play an important role in the functioning of the team. It is their responsibility to identify individuals in the team who are performing really well and develop a path for them. At the sametime the organization structure and policies should be supportive. You may have a team member who is technically good and is not so good when it comes to communication. As a manager when you identify the strengths and weaknesses among team members and have a transparent communication and in turn work on coming with training plans which can help in improving the weakness, it will always keep the team members engaged and work on their weaknesses.

A Thank You note for getting a task completed, appreciating the efforts of other team members, saying in forum or a gathering, how individual team members contributed towards the success of a project, knowing the political and cultural awareness of team members would certainly help in establishing a strong relationship among team members.

Just happned to think about People Management and thought of the above. This may just be .2% on people management :)

Take care..

Mysore Dasara 2010

2010-10-23T11:32:00.000-07:00

My attempt to see the Dasara celebrations in Mysore last year was not well planned, this time around i wanted to make sure that i witness the 400th Year of Dasara Celebrations. Mysore city as we all know is famous for it heritage. How can i forget few history chapters that i read in school which spoke about the great Tipu Sultan, Hyder Ali and many others. Mysore as a city is famous for many reasons. Be it, Temples - the famous Chamundi Hills, Bird Santury - Ranganathitu, Fort in Srirangapatana, and the very famous Mysore Palace and adding to it is KRS dam, which was the brain child of Sir M. Vishweshwaraiah.

My plan was to visit Mysore on the last day of Dasara which happened to be a Sunday. Got in touch with my friends Depu, Kishan, Sony & Mansi on Wednesday and checked if they want to join me. Depu and Mansi dropped as they had some work. Panda ( Sony) said he has work and did not commit. I & Kishan agreed that we going since others dropped. Kishan happened to call Vivek ( we call him Scienti) late night on Saturday and he agreed to come. With three of us confirmed, we planned to leave Bangalore at around 10.30 in the morning after finishing breakfast at home. All set, i confirmed that my Dad was willing to provide the car for the one day trip. With about an hour left for us to start our journey to Mysore, Sony's mom happened to call me and said she wanted to go to Mysore on some personal work and checked if we can accommodate her in the car. I was very much willing to and Panda agreed to join us at the last moment.

Count of 3 became 5 at the last moment. Sony's mom called Kishan and convinced him to leave at 9:30. All set we started out Journey to Mysore. Cracking jokes, making fun and recollecting some fun times, Kishan & Panda narrated my famous KFC order in Goa to Sony's mom and Vivek. We stopped at Jai Bhuvaneshwari hotel near Srirangapatana for lunch. Panda told me it's a pretty famous hotel and film actor Ambrish frequents this place.

We reached Mysore at 1:00 PM in the afternoon. We had to wait for about 30 minutes as Panda's relatives had to arrive and Sony's mom had to join them.

While waiting i spoke to few locals standing near a tea stall and enquired about good places that we can visit to see the celebrations. We wanted to see the AMBARI and off course Mysore Palace when the lights would have been switched on in the evening. I was informed that going to Mysore palace would not be feasible as there would lot of people and getting a decent place to watch the AMBARI proceedings would be difficult and more over we did not have the tickets to get inside. We were told the AMBARI seva would end in BANNIMANTAP and following that there would be some activities inside the BANNIMANTAP stadium. There was a catch as we had to get tickets to go inside the stadium and we were told the tickets were sold out. Kishan happened to call a relative who was on a visit to Mysore and luckily they had 2 tickets with them for the planned activities in the stadium and his relative was willing to provide two tickets to us as he was returning to Bangalore. We now had to worry about arranging 2 more tickets. We decided to camp in Bannimantap so that we can see the AMBARI and heard towards the stadium in the evening. While Kishan and Panda waited for Kishan's relative to arrive so that they can collect the tickets, i and Vivek wanted to take to chance and find out how we can manage to get tickets.

The road that leads to Bannimantap is one big stretch. There were barricades on both sides and general public had to stay inside the barricade, while the middle area was reserved for many activities as part of Dasara celebrations. I called up my cousin who is a Mysore localite and checked if he can arrange any tickets, he said he would check and call me back. Vivek happened to call one of his relatives who confirmed that he can get us two tickets. Somewhat relived that we managed to get four tickets, we were all happy. In no time it was 4: 00 in the evening and we could see people rushing to witness the procession. If i am not wrong there were more than 3,000 people at this big stretch. I could see people trying to find comfortable places to ensure that they get the best view of the celebrations.This meant people climbing on the walls and even trying to find comfort at the terrace of houses, sitting on trees which were situated at the stretch.

We somehow managed to find some space and stood there witnessing the different processions that went on. They were more than 50 presentations in the procession, they highlighted the culture, historical places, people who have contributed significantly to the society ( like Sir MV & Sir Puttaraj Gavai) .

With loads of noise, drums the much awaited AMBARI arrived. "Balarama" the elephant carrying idol of goddess Chamundeshwari and the golden crown weighing 750+ kilos arrived. I was seeing this for the first time and it was very good experience. History has it that it will rain during the last day " VIJAYADASHAMI" and it did. It did rain for pretty heavily for about an hour and continued drizzling, however by the time AMBARI came in Rain Gods showed some courtesy and the rain stopped completely :).

Having seen the Ambari, we headed towards the stadium. On the way we happened to meet few Yakshagana artists who politely obliged for few pictures :)

We entered the stadium and got seated in a comfortable place. I never imagined that what i would be witnessing would remain in my memories life long. With more than 4,000 people inside the stadium it looked a very energetic evening. Proceedings began with an orchestra band singing some patriotic songs and there were some guests as well. Mr Yeddyurappa having had a very controversial political battle was present and Karnataka Governor as well.

Police battalions gave different performances, like a standing ovation to the National Anthem and Composing National Anthem vocally and by different musical instruments, followed by gun shots which signified some message. I had seen the bike stunts that were performed during the Dasara festival on television, this time around i got a chance to see it live. With more than 40 bullet vehicles and over 20 performers, guys belonging to a particular police battalion started performing different bike stunts. It was really nice to see it up and close.

Bike stunts were stunning, specially the scissor cut, where bikes from four different angles pass over at a center point without crashing. Following the bike stunts, were some more performances by the orchestra band, laser show. What caught everyones attention was the " TORCH LIGHT PARADE" - In this over 300 police personal dressed in white hold a thick stick which is lit up with fire on top ( Just like that Olympic stick), stadium lights are switched off and all you can see in the center would be the men dressed in white holding the stick which is lit up with fire. They go on performing different actions which lead to some formation of a theme. To name a few they form in different ways to display a message saying " JAI HIND" " JAI KARNATAKA" " VANDE MATARAM" and many more. It was truly mesmerizing to see them perform in the middle. I could not take pictures since there wasn't enough lighting that could have supported my camera.

Towards the end, we got to witness the fireworks welcoming the "DIWALI" - VIJAYADASHAMI is celebrated saying " IT is the Victory of Good Over Evil" . Having seen the all the proceedings, we decided to head towards Mysore Palace to see the lighting which is one of the main attraction, we were informed that the lighting's would be switched on until 11:00 PM, we reached there by 10: 30 and found the lights switched off :( uhhhhh i was disappointed. We decided to head back and stopped at a place for dinner. Having finished dinner, we started our journey towards Bangalore and reached home by around 3: 00 in the morning. It was a event full day, we were thank full that we got the opportunity to witness such a great event. I was unhappy over the security arrangements inside the stadium, i am not sure if it was taken seriously. I did not find a single metal detector when we had to pass through a gate to get inside the stadium after presenting out tickets and i do not recall seeing armed police men patrolling. Well i guess they were all mesmerized with the things happening in the middle. Thankfully everything went well.

I will leave you with some pictures.

More pictures on http://picasaweb.google.com/Vinay.justin/Dasara2010#

Take Care...

Remembered my Tuition Classes

2010-09-26T04:54:00.000-07:00

Today afternoon, as i was turning few pages on a book, i noticed a card which was present. I would not call it as an identity card, however it had a number which recognized that i was a student and authorized me to take tuition classes.

Having indulged in all sorts of fun activities during college days, it was time for me to drawn a line and prepare myself for the exams. In this encounter a good friend of mine introduced me to SEVA BHARATHI. Seva Bharathi was a social service organization which used to conduct tuition classes for students. Since my regular tution master had to take some exams and he could not coach me regularly, i decided to join Seva Bharathi. It was voluntary service that many people involved in the organization were doing. They primarily identified good lecturers from colleges and invited them to take tuition classes, this was to be done as part of the contribution to the society as the lecturers were not paid for taking classes and the fees charges for an individual if i remember was Rs 100. Classes were conducted in the evenings and on Sunday's it would go on from early in the morning to late in the afternoon. Many students were getting benefits from the trust as the fees charged was economical and i remember i telling a lie to my parents and collecting Rs 1000 from them as tuition fees. Well i now realize i shouldn't have done that, may be i was not mature at that age :(.

Twice every week, we had to recite a motivational poem which was composed by a famous person, sorry i do not know the name, but the poem itself had so much meaning in it, till today i recall how it was being sung by everyone present in the class. It goes like this.

ನಮ್ಮ ತಾಯಿ ಭಾರತೀ , ನಮ್ಮ ಹಿಂಧು ಸಂಸ್ಕೃತಿ
ನಮ್ಮ ದೇಶ ಭಾರತ, ನಮಗೆ ಸದಾ ಪುಜಿಥ
ನಾವು ಭಾರತೀಯರು , ನಾವು ಭಂದು ಬಾಂಧವರು

ಭಾಷೆ  ಬೇರೆ , ವೇಷ ಬೇರೆ ,ದೇಶ ಮಾತ್ರೆ ಒಂದೇ
ಜಾತಿ ಬೇರೆ,ರಿಥೆ ಬೇರೆ,ನೇತಿ ಮಾತ್ರ ಒಂದೇ
ಬಿನ ಮಥೆಯರಾದರು, ನಾವು ಭಾರತೀಯರು
ನಾವು ಭಾರತೀಯರು,ನಾವು ಭಂದು ಭಾಂದವರು

ಗಂಗೆ ತುಂಗೆ ಯಮುನೆಯರು ಹರಿಯುವ ಪುಣ್ಯ ನಾಡಿದು
ಹಿರಿಮೆ ಗರೆಮೆ ಪ್ರಕೃತಿ ಸಿರಿಯು ಇರುವ  ಗಣ್ಯ ಬೀಡಿದು
ನಮ ತಾಯಿ ನಾಡಿದು ಹೆಮ್ಮ ತರುವ ಬೀಡಿದು
ನಮ್ಮ ತಾಯಿ ಭಾರತಿ, ನಮ್ಮ ಹಿಂಧು ಸಂಸ್ಕೃತಿ

ನಮ್ಮ ಭಾರತೀಯರ ಮನವು ಮಹಾ ಸಾಗರ
ನಮ್ಮ ಭಾರತೀಯರ ಹೃದಯ ಸ್ನೇಹದಾಗುರ
ಹೆಮ್ಮೆ ತರುವ ಸಂಸ್ಕೃತಿ, ನಮ್ಮ ಹಿಂಧು, ಸಂಸ್ಕೃತಿ
ನಮ್ಮ ತಾಯಿ ಭಾರತಿ, ನಮ್ಮ ಹಿಂದು ಸಂಸ್ಕೃತಿ

ವಿರಶೋದಯೋಧರು ನಾಡಿಗಾಗಿ ಮಡಿದರು
Dirya ಶುರ್ಯದಿಂದಲೇ ಬದುಕಿ ಬಾಳಿ  ಆಳಿದರು
ಇವರು ಭಾರತಾಂಬೆ ಮಮತೆ ಮಡಿಲ ಮಕ್ಕಳು
ಇವಳು ಮನದ ಬನದಲಿ ಅರಳಿನಂತೆ ಹೂಗಳು
ಎಂದು ಒಂದೇ ನಾವುಗಳು ಎಂದು ಒಂದೇ ನಾವುಗಳು

Hats off to the writer, it displays the true spirit every Indian should have. Jai Hind.

Good Evening, take care.
Vinay.

Remembering vacation in Goa

2010-09-26T03:44:00.000-07:00

Hello People,

I hope everyone is doing great. Discussions/Debates on Common Wealth Games could have taken a high note among many individuals. Well seriously, i am not sure how the management can afford to create such a mess. It is not a matter of Delhi hosting the Common Wealth Games, but they are carrying the pride of the entire nation. I wonder why things were not taken seriously and many issues got escalated at the last hour. If not for media, i doubt if the mess created by the officials would have come to light. I only hope everythings gets back on track and people who are responsible deliver and make things happen as we reach the final few days for the games to begin.

Well, its been many days since posted on my blog. Sat down this morning browsing through things and casually remembered about my vacation in GOA in December 2008. Dedicating this post to my memories in Goa.

I am sure many would be eagerly waiting for holiday/days in the calendar year. It is a period where you get to spend some time with family and friends. As individuals we have our own way of planning for activities during holidays, it could be visiting your home town (specially for working class people staying away from family), planning a short trip with office pals, or you never know, you just want to keep aside the holiday just for yourself and indulge in getting all that sleep that you may have lost.

I would like to share my experience on one of my memorable vacation/holidays. With lot being said about GOA and having heard from many people that it is one of the places an individual should consider while planning for a holiday, I and couple of my friends decided to plan for a vacation during the last week of December. We started planning towards the end of November and I reached out to a friend of mine who had got back from a vacation in Goa. After collecting information on how things would work out for accommodation, travelling, daily expenses etc. We finally decided that it was within our budget and committed to each other that YES, we are going on vacation, come what may . Thank God, things worked out well and we were all set.

Having scheduled our leaves at work, we decided to take a vacation from December 25th to December 31st , our plan was to be in Goa on the day of Christmas. We preferred to go on our own transport and our options for considering train or bus services were very limited. I could not have asked for more, when a common friend agreed to give his car for our planned vacation. Oh boy, while the fifth guy who was supposed to be part of the vacation dropped off at the last moment, we were comfortably placed in fully loaded Hyundai Verna. I would recommend travelling on own transport as it was fun driving through travelling at a speed of 130 – 140 on toll roads/highways it was just amazing. Off Course we always kept on telling each other, Drive Responsibly whenever we drove. We left Bangalore early in the morning at around 5.30, calculating the 12 – 13 hours of Journey that we had to take to reach GOA. With pit stops for breakfast and some Tea and Coffee we reached GOA at around 7:00 PM in the evening. Honestly, the journey was good none of us were feeling tired. One has to be prepared to hand over some cash as bribe to the GOA police as soon as you enter the check post before entering the prime region of GOA. Our fault was that we had a dark tinted sun film cover on our car and it’s a rule made by the Government over there that no vehicle should have a dark tinted sun film. While the police constable asked us to pay a fine of Rs 400 and threatened that he going to peel off the sun film if we don’t, we decided to settle things under the table.We managed to settle the issue by paying Rs 100 and started our journey further.

For the next 3 days, we were going to be based in BAGA and as soon as we came close to the place, I got a call from the Villa owner who guided us to the exact location. Prior to this I had spoken to villa owner, who had said all good things about the place where we are going to be staying and I remember he had told me that the villa was just a few yards away from the BEACH and yes, it turned to be true. I could not imagine, we could see the beach from the balcony of the villa. Let me say few things on the environment as we started entering the main road that connects people to the Baga beach area. Oh boy, the entire street was lit up and you can hear all kind of music playing around as you pass by each store or a restaurant. Having settled down in the cottage, the house owner was kind enough to brief us on places that we can visit and told us about some do’s and don’ts.

The owner introduced us to his cousin who was running a shack which was just a stone throw away from the cottage and the shack was facing the beach. As soon we entered the shack we were in for a surprise. There are over 50 – 60 shacks spread across on the beach front , it was a delight to see the candle lights placed on the tables in front of the shacks which added some glitter to the place. With music playing on the background, it’s nothing but party time when we settled down on our table. With food and drinks giving us company we all had a good time.

Best thing about BAGA is, it is situated in between Condolim, Calungute and Anjuna beaches. It would take about 30 minutes to reach each of these beaches by road from Baga. The scene and environment in other beaches is no different than Baga, many people say Condolim and Anjuna beaches are where lot of foreigners prefer to stay and hang out, however Baga is the place to be as there are water sport activities that are conducted. Never miss the water sports when you are in GOA. Try banna ride, skeing, bumper ride . It is simply fun. Evenings are again a delight where you get a chance to sit by the shack and enjoy the sun set with some tea or coffee.
For all those party people you can never ask for a better place when you are in GOA. SUN-BURN is the place to be. It is mega event which happens from December 27th – December 29th. It happens near Candolim Beach and the event goes on for 3 days. I have heard that it was an event that used happen in the beach front, however when we were around it was conducted reserved area due to security concerns. Event starts at 12: PM in the afternoon and goes on till 12:00AM in the night. It attracts huge number of people and is the place to be for party goers. Place is huge and it is spread across acres. I would like to share some pictures. Please visit http://picasaweb.google.com/Vinay.justin/Photos# for more pictures.
Well it was a memorable vacation I would suggest people to visit GOA at least once in a lifetime. Here are few things I would like to share in case if you do plan for a vacation in GOA.

Make it point to go in a group, with close friends or colleagues. If there are around 4-5 people it can be fun, anything more would be great as well.
If possible travel on your own transport, drive from Bangalore to GOA is really nice. If you are travelling by road travel through Goa-------- Hubli------Belgaum----------- Amboli Ghat------- Savatwadi------------GOA.

Stop over at Amboli Ghat for few minutes and enjoy the ambience over there.

While a stay in resorts could be more comfortable, I doubt if one would get a chance to explore the local areas. If you are considering a holiday which works out economically consider staying in Home Stays ( like what we did, over there some call them Villas) . Generally prizes for accommodation are expensive starting from November. A cottage which can accommodate 4 people can easily cost you 2,500 for one day. We managed to bargain the price to Rs 2,300 from Rs 2,800 which was quoted initially.
Food and drinks work out pretty economical in the shacks. Quality and Taste of the food is very good. If you are regular customer, the shack owner will give you some discount on the bills.

Places to see : Candolim, Anjuna, Baga, Panaji and Churches.
Indulge in water sports; make it point to bargain to get the best deal. We struck a deal for 1,200 for an individual and indulged in Bannana ride, bumper ride, skeing. The initial quote was for 1,800.

SUN-BURN is one of the parties you must consider if you feel like partying. A three day pass would cost you around Rs 4,000 while if you prefer to go in just for a day, one need to spend Rs 1,500 for the ticket.
I would say a budget of Rs 8,000 to Rs 10,000 should be kept aside if you are planning for a 3 – 4 days of vacation in Goa.

Bye for now folks, take care.

Vinay.

Summer

2010-04-24T10:31:00.000-07:00

Hello People,

Yes, it's been a long time since i posted anything. Well things have kept me busy, i hope everyone is doing good.

I wonder why always i think " Why did i grow up" , was watching a bunch of school going kids playing near my home and it took me back to my school days, watching them from the balcony i could imagine myself being there few years ago with my friends. Well those were the days, with little to worry all we knew was we had to get together and play. With cricket being played the most, we did engage ourselves in other games like road hockey, where cricket wickets turned hockey sticks and road side stones turned goal posts. We made great use of the street lights to play fed light matches, ohh boy i remember it used to go on till late night during our summer holidays. Cricket matches with neighbouring areas kept us busy, we used to compete with each other for a winning sum, a win meant a visit to a nearby shop where we used to eat" KULFI" and if the winning sum was more we would settle with a Coke or Pepsi. Little did we know how hot it was during summer, we did not have any fear of getting tanned and now i complain ohh man it too hot outside ;) guess i am getting old. Luckily we had multiple playgrounds near to home during our school days, now play grounds have given way to apartment and houses. I see the kids playing cricket on the road and every time the ball is hit hard i question if it is gonna hit some window pane of any house. I remember breaking a couple when we used play cricket on the road and you bet i did get the regular gallis at home.

Well time has gone past and i must acknowledge that i have grown, however good old memories still continue to LIVE. Evening was pleasant today, before it rained there was cool breeze, it reminds me that we even used to fly kites when ever the wind was good :)well there again a good old memory.

Something made me remember good old days when i saw these bunch of kids playing near home. Signing off for today.

Oh by the way, i had to been IPL T20 match that happened between RCB & KKR , we managed to get tickets on time and trust me it so good to watch the lively atmosphere inside the stadium. I would recommend watching at least watching a couple of IPL matches in the stadium. Cricket will definitely appear to be redefined when you catch the action inside the stadium. I will leave you with some pictures.

2010

2010-01-03T07:47:00.000-08:00

Hello, Hi , Namasakara.

Wish you all a Happy New Year. Hope you all had a nice time with family, friends and collegues welcoming the New Year. I say Collegues, cause i was working on 31st December and for the first time in few years i got a chance to welcome the New Year with office pals.

A new experience, i would say. I spent most of time remembering those days of partying, planning in advance on deciding what to do on new years eve , where to go, whats the budget, who all are coming, how do we go, long drives etc etc etc. Finally had to get back on seat to complete some work and i just convinced myself saying " Think i am partying at work" well you know how much you ever convince you can't erase the good old memories. Can you?

New Year - I was just thinking about it. 'New' and' Year' the words are so promising and powerful. For many it marks the beginning of new things they want to do and for some their is a new hope that is created. New Years brings in the same 12 months on the calender, starting from January to December, yet has so much of hope in it.

End of 2009 made me witness sad and happy moments. We lost a great actor and personality " Dr. Vishnuvardhan" . I have personally seen his movies and he really was an actor carved to perfection. He will remembered for ever.

3 Idiots was an inspiring movie. It takes you back to your own memories. " All is Well" - Lets see how this works out.

I would like to end by posting some postive quotes. I found this on a daily news paper and found them really meaningful.

" There are obstacles for every dream. There is no tool than self confidence to deal with it. Let's develop and increase it in us.

" World is not a pit stop. It is a race track. If you keep moving you will survive" Stay focussed and keep progressing".

" In our life we have to show and give respect for people who are close to us. You never know when they will go away from you".

" Whatever job, it may be. Do not ignore by saying let someone else do it. Develop a positive thinking saying you will do something . This will stop many issues."

Take Care...

Vinay.

College Days

2009-11-15T06:19:00.000-08:00

Hello Folks,

Its been a long time since i logged in a new post, with many things happening on the personal and career front i remember the old saying " Life Goes On" -

While travelling to office, i recently came across a good topic that was being discussed on a radio channel. It was on 93.5 FM - It brought back some memories of my college days and i became a bit emotional. Well as we know the days spent in school and college are golden days. The topic was about " Friends" - One had to call and discuss about the friends they liked the most and who they refer to as best friend. Many people called in and shared there experiences with the RJ and discussed about how friends had been supportive and part of their life. I wonder how this world would have been without a person called " Buddy" -

Although i have good memories of days spent in college during Pre-University, it was the final year of graduation which still gives me goose bumps when i think of it. I always wonder " I always used to think of beginning my career as soon i gave my exams, which i did and now 5 years into corporate life, at times i feel like going back to college" - Well i now need to take out the college name, it is " Sheshadripuram College" . Even today when i go through the so called " Addas" and "Hangouts" i imagine myself sitting with all the college buddies. Ohh what a time it used to be pulling each others leg, discussing certain events that happened during the day etc. Classes were fun, i had an amazing group of classes mates who most likely shared same interests and best part was mass bunk ( lol) and adding to it. Myself , Mohan ( the serious fun guy) Vadi had the habbit of visting other sections and attending classes, also giving proxy to other guys untill one day we were caught and i remember running for life outside the classroon when the lecturer caught me for giving proxy to guy who had not been attending classes since 4 months. ( LOL :)- Best part came in when we all decided to dress up in a selected color for one whole week, it meant wearing similar color T-shirt or Jeans. Well everything went normal and many lecturers were impressed untill the last day of the week which was Saturday and we all had decided to call the Day as "Tapori Day" - One had to dress up typically like a taporio ( a torn jean or shirt, with shirt half tugged and anything which was creative and gave a tapori look) OH Boy what a day it was. With everyone chipping in ( boys and girls) the day was about to be made as a memorable day. We all gathered at or regular Adda called " Petties" and started commenting on everyones look. I was dressed in jeans with half tugged shirt, tilak on my forehead, tooth pick in my mouth and hanky tied round my head. A group 10 - 15 ( with many other having already reached the class room) guys all dressed up in typical tapori style decided walk in together to the first hour class before the final bell. As soon as we entered, there were lot of other guys and gals standing in the corridor who started screaming and laughing to their hearts as soon as they saw us. Suddenly the words spread and many people got to know that 3rd B.Com D Section was celebrating Tapori Day. This attracted a lot of people to our classroom who were curious to know what we were upto and note this was unoofficial and it was not authorized by the college principal. With minutes the first hour classes began and the teacher refused to take classes and asked everyone dressed typically like a tapori to leave the classroom ( well i was okay with this as this was not the first time i was being sent out) We invited more trouble as the news broke out to the principal and he decided to vist the classrooom. Well it did not become a serious issue and we were blasted and warned. Some of us were proud that we had invented Tapori Day for the first time in the history of college.

College Day - I still remember this and may be i will not forget the day for the rest of my life. Abishek ( I call him Dadiya) came up with a plan and suggested that we should make a custom t-shirt in memory of our college days. With many thoughts flowing in , we finally decided on the text that had to be printed on the t-shirt. Well let me tell you it was an amazing idea and we had a good response. With everyone polling in money the t-shirts were ordered and we were all scheduled to wear it during the college day. Even today, if i have to remember the day for a moment i see around 50 - 60 people from our class wearing the same t-shirt. The college day began and this invited all form of dances with music being played on the background. The best part was when we decided to go on stage unofficially and do a ramp walk, with around 20 - 30 people wearing the same t-shirt and going on stage suddenly without being invited surprised the guests and the lecturers. With a loud cheer from classmates and other guys, the party continued. Some where we all knew our college days were coming close and we enjoyed each others company on the day. I remember the entire class hanging out near "Ceeges" ( which is now given way to a different hotel) for a group photo. I now realize the importance of taking copies of those pictures. Sadly i do not have any and i just posted a request on our class community page ( orkut) asking if anyone has the pictures which were taken during the day.

Me and Dadiya had won the Double's Badmitton and we both walked up to the stage to collect the winners trophy. It was ex- cricketer Brijesh Patel who handed over the Trophy.

With all the fun, finally a day came when we realized that all the classes were completed and we will have to go on study holidays. Preparations were on for the exams and running from pillar to post, lecturers to HOD, command study, in order to collect notes and important questions, we did it all. I still remember Sharmila Mam who used teach us Income Tax being kind enough to take tution classes for few of us before a month to the exam and Kala Nayak sir who gave some important study materials which were really handy when we started studying the subject Auditing.

Time has passed, its been 5 years since i graduated. Not many of us are in touch, with few of us in touch, we rarely meet. Life Goes On

Finally i would like to sign of saying " Don't let a small dispute spoil a GREAT friendship"

College day t- shirt

Good day folks.

When Advice Came True

2009-07-04T09:18:00.001-07:00

Hello People,

I have been away from blogging for few days now. Hmmm events in life give less time to blog :) - I wanted to share an experience i went through recently, i believe quite a few of you all would have go through this.

Myself and good friend of mine Vadi decided to go to Dharmasthala. Had plans of visiting the temple since the beginning of the year and just could not make it up. We were scheduled to leave on Saturday and bus journey was to start at 10: 00 PM. I boarded the bus in Vijayanagar and Vadi joined me in Sheshadripuram. The journey was good, talking about good old college days, remembering the fun and off course about work as well. You can't really sleep in a sleeper coach, can you? , It started raining as we started the journey. We managed to get some sleep after 2.00 AM and woke on time when the bus reached the Dharmasthala. A pleasant day, warm weather could not have asked for a better Sunday and i had more in store. It was day dedicated for standing in the Queue. After an hour and half of walking through the queue early morning for hair offering ritual , we managed to find our our selfs accommodation and headed towards the temple after finishing a light breakfast.Dharmasthala is one of the most sacred place in South India and has a huge following of people. We entered the temple premises at 9:50 AM and stood along side the queue, and finally managed to get Darshan at 2: 45 Pm . Hmmmm a day to remember and we could not wait any more to head to the food court. If you have been to the place, by now you should know about the timing that you need to keep up to finish the food served, its amazing and i don't complain as they serve thousands and thousands of people.

After, we headed to the KSRTC counter to book our return tickets, adding to the surprise we were informed that they only had two tickets for sleeper coach left which were seated in the last row. Opps you know it is difficult to travel in that :) - We were informed that, there would be buses heading to Bangalore ever 15 minutes. We headed to the lodge and packed our bags and left to the bus station. Boarded the bus at 3.15 and started our journey back home, and man we were TIRED :( - Managed to get some sleep in the bus started of with our conversation of professional funny experiences and the bus stopped at 9: 30 PM for dinner at a town after Hassan. Oh Boy what happened next, we could not have asked for this. We decided to get down and have dinner. As we ordered Dosa and finished eating we noticed few passengers who were in our bus next to us. Thinking that we have few more minutes before the bus leaves we stepped out to buy a fruit drink. On our way out, right in front of the hotel there was an bus standing which was very identical to the bus we were travelling in. Happily thinking the bus is still here we took our own time to finish the drink and decided to head back to the bus and now cam the shocker. We did not see any of our co passengers in the bus and we could not believe that our bus had left, Man we felt of middle of no where. We decided to approach another bus which was heading to Bangalore and request them to drop us till Bangalore or stop midway when we noticed the bus in which we travelled. Luckily a driver ( private bus) obliged and allowed us to board the bus and man it had been a day where we had to stand for hours and guess what we could not find any seats in the bus, can't complain as we invited the trouble :) On our way we could find the bus and were little afraid that we might loose our luggage. Suggested Vadi to call any one of his friends and request them to go the bus stop to collect the baggage. We only had our mobile phones and wallet with us .Thanks to my mobile phone, we managed to contact Vadi's friend and briefed on the situation and boy he was smart and quick to react. Within no time he reached few places where the bus could not stopped and finally went to the extent of speaking to the Depo manager in Majestic about our problem. He waited for the bus to arrive in Majestic and spoke in kind with the conductor and collected our luggage's. Thank God, all was fine. A sign of relief when we got to know that he was able to find the bus and collect the luggage's. I thanked him sincerely and for all his timely help. We were sure would have lost the luggage's if he had not been there on time.

Go through this situation, i always used to remember my Dad & Mom always advising to be very cautious when we get down from the bus. They tell this time and time whenever i travel long and this experience made me remember there advice and no i have not told them about we went through ;)

Alright folks, See ya for now. Next time i board a bus on Long Journey, guess what i will do? I will take down Conductors mobile phone number and buzz him if i miss the bus :) lol

Take Care...

Goa - SunBurn

2008-12-31T11:23:00.000-08:00

Goa - One stop location for Sun, Sand and Beach. I had plans for hitting Goa for Christmas holidays and the idea came up after a friend of mine came back from Goa in November. He gave some references for finding accommodation, I worked a plan and discussed with the area boys about heading to Goa for 3-4 days. We planned for Christmas holidays and i got in touch with a reference in Goa for accommodation. Everything was set and we were able to find stay within our budget. Initially 5 guys had agreed to join ( as always the last guy ) dropped out last moment. I could not have asked for anything better a fully loaded Hyundai Verna with 4 Guys on wheels ( ahhh what a comfort). Back from work early morning, packed up my bags and we all left home at 5.30 Am and out goal was to reach GOA by 6 :00 in the evening. On board were I, Kishan, Pandu, Moni - I was told drive will be a good fun as we will come across some amazing landscape and highways where you can zip. True and again with Verna on wheels zipping around at 140kms you was at ease for us. After crossing Nelamagala we stopped by breakfast at hotel ( and the breakfast was not the best of all we have had) wrong place to stop by. We were taking the Hubli , Belagum route and the roads were good and as Moni knew the route he guided us through different bypass and NH highways which made the entire journey comfortable. We reached Belagum at 2.30 PM and stopped for lunch. While enquiring about good hotels with a localite there were these two guys who were staring at me as i had a camera in hand. They were curious to know whats inside the car. I managed to take this snap when they were staring at me. I like the innocent appeal they have in their eyes.

This time around we were able to find a good place and the lunch and the food was good. We had 3-4 hours of travelling more and we left Belagum at 3.30 , we passed through the Amboli Ghats - we encountered some amazing landscapes and waterfalls, the roads are so narrow and but again they are well maintained. ( with the exception of few potholes) - As the Sun was descending it added to the beauty of the place. We stopped over for Tea and we walked a distance from the shop their was this water fall, again Natural Beauty and you just sit and appreciate God's creation. Here are few snaps which i managed.

Land Scape and Water Falls

Hello .... we are heading to Goa. Stop over at Water Falls in Amboli Ghats

Taking a break for 20 minutes, we decided to move on as we still had to cover around 100 Kms to reach Baga Beach. It was around 6: 00 PM we reached Panaji check post. As expected about the rude behaviour of the Goa police, we were stopped and enquired with typical DADAGIRI style accent. ( Oiii Kahase Araha Hea) and i was not wearing the seat belt adding to that we had dark sunfilm for the car ( which is not allowed in Goa) - I respect the rules, but we did not know that and we were asked to pay a fine of 400 Rs or remove the sunfilm. Offcouse we did not wanted to do both and as usual ( i feel sorry about this, but we can't avoid certain things at times) we paid 100 Rs under the table and left.

We reached Baga at around 7.15 PM - I called the house owner from a landmark he had given, he guided us through the small lane which lead to the cottage. The Sun had set and Goa was AWAKE - with fancy lights and road side bars, foot tapping music from every pub or a restaurant you pass through - We just saw each others face and said " Brother Welcome to Goa" - Got fresh and introduced our self to the house owner. Immanuel ( very friendly, talkative, Humble person) - He gave some tips on what to see in Goa and places to Visit. The best part of the cottage was it just 100 mtrs away from the beach front. We just had to walk down the lane to hit the beach. Long day of Journey we decided to have a drink and headed out to a near by beach side shack. Christmas Day and place was all of music and candle light tables lined up in the beach front. We sat in comfort of the sand and enjoyed the cool breeze and nice music. Security was tightened as were were able to see Commandos with Ak -47 patroalling the beach front. We even got a chance to speak to a few and did not manage to take some snaps.

Friday - Pandu aka Sony, was the first one to get up early in the morning. We came out to the shack and were so pleased to see the beach early in the morning. Endless destination and few ships and boats moving around,it was nice to see a change from our regular traffic jams in Bangalore. We had plans of doing some water sports and Sony was eagerly waiting for it. After working a deal with few people managing the show , we decided to go for Banana Ride, Motor Bike Skeing, Bumper Ride - I had seen Banana ride in MTV Roadies and i one thing i was scared of was stepping back on taking part in water sports was because i do not know swimming. But again i saw a lot people doing it and made up my mind. With life jackets on we were all on the BANANA in no time, the first fall was ok and the second was a bit scary as we went a distance away from the sea shore ( i was thinking of sharks, whales and fish ) , with that done we finished motor bike skeing and then came the BUMPER RIDE - Finally when i finished this i came to know why the game in called bumper ride, it really bumps your BUTT. ( Scary man again) - LOL :) I have a few snaps and will be adding it.

We had lunch in the same shack and were just hanging out in the near the bed, seeing other people play and also catching up on some size 0 ( Pandu, Kishan and Moni) by now know this by heart. We were tired and decided to head back to the cottage and slept for a few hours. Time for the Sub go down and what a better place to ask for sitting in beach front sipping your evening tea ( just amazing) . We took a stroll and walked from Baga Beach to Kalangut. Go by the shops picking up few things, window shopping and we decided to taste WINE. Got a bottle of SULA and reached the shack and ended the day quietly planning for the next move in the morning. We had plans to visit other beaches and locations.

Saturday: Woke up at around 8:00 Am and headed to the beach, finished our breakfast in the shack and left to vist Anjuna, Vagathore and Candolim. We just took a walk on the beach side and headed to Candolim for lunch. Boy this is the place to see SIZE 0 - There was Asia Biggest Dance Party Sun Burn happening in this area and we had plans to hit the party. Ahhhh with the budget we planned already crossed we started to wonder if we can make it up.So Saturday we decided we cannot as we did not have finances but again we did not wanted to miss the party as the environment at the party zone was amazing and it was inviting everyone.

So after spending a quite night listening to the music from the Sun Burn venue, we decided to hit the party on Sunday. We worked out finances and decided to RoLL.

Sunday: Woke up at around 8: 00 AM and headed to the beach. Lol - I was desperate to learn swimming :) and played till we got tired in the beach. We spent round about 2 hours playing and headed back to the cottage to pack our bags. We decided to leave the same night after the party and head to HUBLI - and vist Sony grand parents house. A few snaps of us with Immanuel ( Cottage owner and Bhutia who was working in the shack ( Good Boy) .

After having lunch in Chicken Fish - Restaurant ( We first visited this 5 years back when we had been to GOA) we headed to - SUNBURN

SUN BURN - GOA 08

Dec 27th - Dec 29th

Tagline - We Love Peace, We Love Sunburn

Venue : Candolim Beach Goa

After buying tickets we entered the party zone at 4.oo in the evening, the party zone was spread across and had live performances and international DJ's , Nikil Chinappa ( MTV) Band - Jilebi Cartel . Here are few snaps which i clicked as we entered.

Welcome to SunBurn....

FoLlOw Me .... Don't touch me

Party got over at 10.00 PM and after good session of music, dance and fun - we left the venue and had dinner in a Chinese restaurant. It was 11.00 PM and we were heading back to HUBLI.
After a tiring drive we reached home at 4 in the morning and slept for a few hours. At home we had some fun with little kids ( who had bunked school) and were all geared up to welcome us and i cannot forget the game we played in the evening with all the family members. ( Kavade Atta) - We left hubli at 6.15 in the evening and reached Bangalore at midnight 1.30 AM.

That's all for now. I would like share few things before i sign off:

Best time to vist - Nov till Jan 05

Place to be - Baga or Candolim ( Explore other places, dont not stick to one.)

Travel - Own transport is better, by train or flight is more comfortable.

Never Miss - SUNBURN which happens from 27th Dec - 29th Dec, Water sports ( Banana Ride,

Motorbike Skeing, Bumper Ride) - Baga is the happening place for water sports.

Don't - If you are heading back from vacation to your town . Don't travel late night by own transport ( we did it and i honestly will not recommend it to anyone).

Must Visit: Baga, Anjuna, Vagathore, Candolim.

Food : Most of shacks on beach offer good food and do not miss out the candle light table dinner and Tea/Coffee/Beer before the Sunset.

List goes on and on just remember HaVe FuN :)

If i can be any help for reference write to me at - vinay.justin@gmail.com

Here are some more snaps - Check these out SUNBURN GOA - 2008

Cheers.
Vinay.

26-11-08

2008-11-29T10:56:00.000-08:00

It was regular day and it was Wednesday. Little did we imagine this day will be a mark in history. As the Sun went down in Mumbai, in one corner of the world their was a plan to destroy peace. Mumbai which is well know as the City which never sleeps had to be kept awake to witness the horrific terror attack across different parts of the city.

For me it was a regular day in office when i heard the first news of the terror attack at around 9.00 Pm. To my knowledge i assumed it would have been a bomb blast, little did i realise it was major terror war. Things kept me busy and i could not get complete details over the incident. One of our company VP a localite of Mumbai was glued on the television set to get complete details and was calling his family and friends to get more details over the incident, which helped us to understand this was a major terror plot. We learned many police officers and general public were killed in the shoot out. Sense of comfortness declined, thinking about the incident and imagining how difficult life things would have been in Mumbai.

Reached home at around 7:oo Am in the morning and caught up the action on Times Now ( News channel). I just could not believe what i was seeing and was stuck with no words. I have not been to Mumbai, but have heard of the India Gate and Taj hotels and knew that there were iconic status symbols in Mumbai. As the news channel reported and showed the live coverage of the battle between the terrorists and commandos, I was only praying with a hope that it will end soon with the victory and the terrorists being killed. Things had a different turn and battle went on for 4 days with India loosing some able and efficient commandos, police personal and officers.

Questions arise with not many answers. What is the battle for ? What do Terrorists need? Why can't they fight upright? Who is supporting them?....

Perhaps the world has seen what happened in Mumbai, we got reactions from US and UK and people condemned the act. With most of having read and seen the entire episode of the terror attack, I would like to with due respect remember those people who laid their lives down fighting terror. As the news reporter on NDTV announced to the general public to observe a 30 second silence in remembrance of the all the people who laid down their lives this evening, it was truly a heart breaking moment. I want to take a moment to thank all the fighting commandos and police personal involved in the operations.

I hope these incidents do not happen again and wish our security agencies wake and take necessary steps to safeguard the country.

I would like to thank Times NOW....Arnab Goswami, Maroo, the camera persons and other reporters who were in full swing in covering the entire operations.

Thank you NSG.........

Vande Mataram.......

Happy Diwali

2008-10-31T01:33:00.000-07:00

Festival of lights is back for the year. One festival we used to wait eagerly for, went back to my memories of days when there was fun
The Eager Wait
Starting preparations a week before
Demanding for more fireworks
Finally when on the festive day
Early morning oil bath
Starting the day with Bijali
Carefully preserving more fireworks for the evening
Start the evening by bursting atom bombs
We did not know what a space shuttle was
All we knew was to send rockets to neighbouring houses
Closing the day with a 10,000 wala
Ohhh it was fun:)

Cheers.....

Vinay

Get-away to Mysore

2008-10-18T11:14:00.000-07:00

I would say i was desparate to go to Mysore to watch the Dassera celebrations. I had heard a lot of the festive season around Mysore during the Dessera festival. I am not new to Mysore, i used to frequent the place during my school days. It was practice to go to my relative's house in mysore to spend the summer holidays. WoW!!!! those were the days i still cherish but again they are memories now.

I had actually planned to visit Mysore on the first weekend after the festival started and was prepared for it, few of my friends could not make it up and were busy with other things and i had to drop the plans. I don't why at times i don't feel like going out without my close pals.

Daseera was to end on Thursday and i was eager to find out if there would be any charm left for the weekend . I very much wanted to see the Mysore city from hill top of Chamundi Hills . Spoke to my cousin a localite in Mysore who asked me to come down as the city was prepared to extend the festive mood for the weekend. Invited few of close pals to join, but again there were busy for the weekend. So called upon my trusted classmate and a very good friend of mine Vadi. He had to attend a marraige and intially did not agree. After much pestering he was all set and confirmed he would be coming. Stage Set :)):):):):):) when i got to know that finally i am going to Mysore i had big smile on my face . Thanks to Vadi. Vadi agreed to come to my house by 3:00 pm. All set and packed we had planned to stat over night in my aunt's place. We reached Mysore by 5.30 pm and trust me the long ride was so beautyfull with our conversation of good old college days and changing times,people etc. Got frest and spent about half hour in my aunt's place and we decided to go to Chamundi hills and vist the temple first and get to the view point to see the beauty of Mysore city with the glowing lights. We had to wait for a couple of hours to get the darshan and it started to rain quite heavily, i was just praying Oh God not today i have come down all the way to see the stunning view of mysore from the hill top and finally my prayers were answered and the rain came down to a drizzle. Spent some time on the hill top and got a glimpse of city decorated with lights. I only wish that i was their on the first weekend of Dassera as the city did not have that charm when i was around as the festival was over, but again thinking something is better than nothing we decided to move on and visit the palace and exhibition. It was around 9.15 when we got down to the city and by that time the palace lightings were switched off :(... disappointed ) I don't remember if i had seen the palace with the lightings in the childhood days, but this time around i eagerly wanted to see. With the palace lightings turned off , we decided to visit the exhibition. The slight drizzle did not stop us moving from one store to the other. With the hot bajjis accompanying us we had a good time walking around. So having spent over an hour we decided to head home and i was tired by this time with just about 3 hours of sleep the previous night, we decided to call it a day and finished dinner. We planned to got to Balmuri Falls in the morning and headed to sleep.

Oh boy i never thought Balmuri Falls will be an amazing place to remember. It has been ages since i stepped into a water falls and played over. Their is walkover block constructed on the flowing water which allows you to walk to the middle of the flowing water and this is the place where everyone would like to be. You can rest on the block, water splashes and runs past you.

We decided to call it a day and headed back home. Oh... what a day to remember, never thought i could have so much fun in the water. After lunch we left mysore and reached back home at around 4.30. Reached home and had a refreshing Tea. Thanked Vadi for joining me to Mysore.

It was time to take some rest. Will be uploading some photos soon.

Changing Times

2008-10-05T07:25:00.000-07:00

I had never thought this for some time now. Life teaches you so many things in a day. I don't know i sometimes envy my approach to many things in life. I wonder why, how,what made me do certain things. I have always made people comfortable in my company, even if i had to sacrifice.

Off late i have realised that " Everyone will have their own life to lead" With the demanding world my so called friends have been busy. No i am not complaining cause this is life and if has different directions :) so accept the change with a smile and move on.

I know it sounds strange i might take some time to get adjusted to it.

Finally would like to sign off by saying " Don't let a small dispute spoil a great friendship"

So times are changing and i look forward to see how things progress in this busy world where everyone cannot be you and you cannot be everyone.

Cheers......

Vinay

My game - Cricket

2008-10-05T06:45:00.000-07:00

Hello Folks,

Its been some time since i posted anything, past few months have seen a lot of activities ,work, home front, play...etc etc...

September was filled with cricket over the weekend. We had organised interdepartment games and everyone at work was exicted to participate,who does not want to from regular course of work. Adding to our exicement was cricket and we were scheduled to play our first match with the design team. If i remember it was close to one n half years since i had held a cricket bat. Gone are those days where we used to eagerly wait for the school to get over to play cricket. Still remeber those days when we played cricket in all forms

Leg Cricket
Book Cricket
Six n Four

We just wanted to play no matter with what, we played it with what ever possible.

The stage was set, we were scheduled to play the design team at 8.00 am which was the first match. The wait was long as the ground was occupied, finally the game began at quarter past 9.00am. Having won the toss we elected to field, having been out of cricket action for more than a year i had difficulties in finding my bolwing rythdm, With the team conceding more extras ( round about 60 0dd runs :)) design team managed to score 132 runs. With 15 overs it was a difficult ask. Having rested for about 15 minutes we began our innings. With the team confused on who should be opening i chose to stand forward. With the opening parter Janmajay the stage was set, I preferred to take srtike, having judged the first two balls i sent over the third delivery out of the fence....WOW what a way to open the scoreboard. Yes i was exicted ... see the action caught with the camera (amazing work with the photo). I was not alone, Janmajay started scoring as well,with the opening stand of 80 runs for 9 overs we were set for a win. I went a shot and was caught at long off, with a few quick wickets design team were back on game .... with 15 runs required from 18 balls the match turned out to be a thriller. But we managed to score 15 runs with 9 balls to spare. Good Win and equally exicted as we got to know we had got the walkover in the first match and were through to finals.:)

With having won the match, i was happy that i contributed to the win. A quite luch with all the team players had us depart to home. With over 18 hours of continous activity, sleep was calling. Reached home late in the afternoon and took a hot water shower and headed off to sleep. Oh what a day to end.....

A win surely brings a smile no matter in what.

Will be posting some photos soon

Thinking why

2008-06-07T10:37:00.000-07:00

"Events in life make us busy, neglect and ignore few things which may be precious one cannot get back".

Thinking why??? :)

Oh! What a day

2008-05-23T04:02:00.000-07:00

Oh! what a day
A pleasant afternoon, cloudy sky
A warm breeze
Welcoming the signs of rain
Finally yes it's the rain god
In what ways do we admire this rain
Tiny little drops, a soothing sound
Invites me to play
Oh!what a day
Wonder why i have grow up to miss those days
When i used to play in the rain
With friends close by, splashing water on each other
Coming home drenched in rain! A smile from mom
Wondering what this guy is upto
Oh! what a day
With little to worry, no presence of commitments,no signs of thinking of future
We had reasons to play and just play
Wonder why i have grown up!
Oh! what a day.........

Woke up in the afternoon today to see a warm welcome by the clouds outside, it started to rain. I went back few years thinking about good old days...just penned it down.

Good day:)

Quote

2008-05-14T19:17:00.000-07:00

I simply love this quote
"Birth was not our choice
Death will not be our choice
How we lead our lives is certainly our right"
Absolutely our right!!!!!!!

Life is a book written by unknown authors
Some chapters are easy some are difficult
You are the star, shine bright
Keep your character
Feel proud!!!!!!!

Good day

I miss

2008-05-03T17:03:00.000-07:00

Being in school
Dad dropping me in his scooter
Growing up to travel on my own
Saving that rupee to buy a candy after school
Asking for a lift/drop to the nearest place (home) to save that extra rupee to buy a cool drink
Being called "KV"
Being caught for pranks in class and kneeling for hours together in the pricipal's cabin as a punishment
Practice dad's signature to sign the markscards and leave dairy, ( Not been possible till date)
School group captain elections
Those politics in inter class sports, the grudge to win
Playing leg cricket after school
Giving proxy attendence in college
It goes on n on n on....
Wonder why? Life has promised to miss something somewhere everywhere ahhhhh :)......

The day

2008-05-03T15:58:00.000-07:00

School : VVS
Standard: 7th
Event : Selection for the Shuttle Badmitton team to represent the school.

"The day when i walked out like a hero beating the opponent to get selected for the badmitton team"

This has been a memory, i would say some thing that makes me proud. A day when i had to prove myself. I still remember i did not have a racket, nor did anyone offere to buy me one, cause no one knew my potential back home:(.....anways this did not stop from getting one from a friend.

I had leave early that day to be right at time, match was scheduled at 9.00am and was planned to end before 11.15 am as the classes had to start.

Opponent was a strong contender, dont remember his name though, its been many a years. Belive it or not

I lost the first set by 4 - 15 seeing me play, The PT master decided i was not fit enough and was eager to end this match declaring my opponent as the winner. I wonder why??????? . I had to pledge him to allow me to play the second set. It was apprx 10.15 many students and other teachers had gathered. I was right in the middle surronded by close to 300 people watching me play the game, support was entirely to oppenent end as i played very badly in the first set. I was determined won the second set after a long fight 10 -15 :)................"I am back" Stage set for the final set, as we just had about 15 mins for the classes to start again there was a plot laid to set 8 points for the final set. This time i was confident but nervous and sweating. I had the whole crowd behing me, classmates cheering me it was close set that went on for half n hour, yes for 8 points no one s ready to give up....finally i made it won the set by 6 - 8 sign of relief.....As i won the match there was a loud cheer, i walked with almost pride and statisfaction and crowd made way....

Woke up eary in the morning today remembering my past memories,just thought of penning it down...

Good day...

Hmmmmmmm

Just Thought

2008-02-28T15:48:00.000-08:00

Life:
Life is lead by dreams and hopes
Dreams lead to imagination
Imagination leads to hopeHope leads to desire
Desire leads to path
Path leads to way
Way leads to encounters
Encounters lead to experience
Experience leads to confidence
Confidence leads to stability
Stability leads to success....
Life is like a matchbox, with minimum sticks which can burn for good or bad
Life is an encounter with different situations
Life is a journey in fast rail, encounter with charecters, personalities,attitude,hopes,desire,care and more
Life is not promised
Life is like a clay, it is upto us to provide shape.
Life is to learn, experience, lead and set example.
Life is not certain but death in life is.
Make most it........

Life is not promised
As we walk the journey it teaches a lot
Things change as we grow up
Past is a unforgateble kiss, It only leaves beyond memories
I was, I could, I did, I wanted....
Remember those who helped you learn
Remember those who were inspiring
Remember to care and to help
Don't avoid things that make you smile
Cause these one day would be your past.......

Nagarhole - Outing

2008-02-23T10:55:00.000-08:00

Nash....had been insisting on a outing, we managed to drag it for a few days but finally decided yes lets all go to "Nagarhole".Hatched a plan and zeored on 10 guys who agreed to join, i was doubtful as i had to attend a wedding, managed to drop in at the last moment. Finally we were set and 3 guys pulled of at the last moment.

Destination: Nagarhole

Date: 08/02/08

Members: Neil, Myself, Bappa, Nash, Chiranthan.

Distance: 230kms approx - One way

Duration: 4- 5hrs ( With pit stops)

"Nagarhole lies within the Coorg and Mysore districts.There are a few rivers that drain the national park; Kabini is the largest river on which a dam was built in 1974. Other rivers that flow through the park are Lakshmana, Teentha and Nagarhole. Nagarhole National Park has deciduous forest and a beautiful landscape."

It was a 2 day trip, planned to get back by Sunday evening. All set we started of 7.15am , the place was calling as we set out it started to drizzel. Stopped for breakfast at Kamath ( Neil and Bappa) like the idlis here... Its is stop over for many weekend travellers. It is the atmosphere, place, food that keeps calling people to Kamath. As we stepped out it started to rain...........Weather was perfect and it was a pleasure watching the clouds....Chiranthan

had been playing games all nite and he prefered to sleep for a while. As we had a DVD in the cab ..... we travelled watchin movie Spider Man 3 :) ... (guess this might be the 10th time). We stopped near Gundalpet ( not sure though) to pick up few of our companions Mr.Smirnoff, Mr Signature,Mr Beer....had a few breezers ( Account opened):)....Around 2.30 Pm entered the forest area......Our vehicle was checked by the security and advised not to stop anywhere in the middle jungle...Chiranthan got up from his sleep...he had a nice 2-3 hours of sleep. As we ventured into the forest first thing that caught our eyes were the Bison's ( they

were in a group) started to run deep inside the jungle the moment we stopped ( common we just wanna see u!!! :)...) managed to click this photo.

Moved on few distance spotted a "Dear".... he/she was brave and stood right there....kind enough to phose for a photo. We reached Nagarhole reception by 3.15Pm waiting for a person to guide us further. There was a bit of confusion here as we were told that we will be lodged in Kabini river ( Jungle lodges) but apparently we did not. He informed that he had arranged a home stay and we will be going there for lunch....we had no clue where the place was and travelled around 15 kms further from Nagarhole..... We can find a lot home stays as we venture through COORG. They offer accomodation, food etc... for travellers. The place was good but lacked the privacy we needed..... had lunch ( BIG TIME BATTING) . We were supposed to go back to Nagarhole for a evening safari... we decided not as we were tired.....Finally decided to move to a different place....Valli our contact person informed us to come near IRAPU FALLS .... he had booked a different home stay....Time for the SUN to go down... Evening 5.40 we reached IRPU Falls .... we were not allowed to visit the falls as per the rules. No one is allowed to go on after 5.45 Pm. Valli had been to the falls with a different group of people had to wait for him to come down.......Played with a nice little doggie and gave him so CASHEW as he looking hungry....6.45 Pm Finally arrived at a new home stay... Place was very good and had privacy..... NASH went to sleep ( He was seeings stars) ......My self, Neil, Bappa and Chiranthan sat down at the balcony. Bappa has some snacks and wanted to sleep for some time.... Chiranthan and Neil are a good company adding to that we invited Mr. Smirnoff and others....i was comfortable with a beer.....Had a very long chat discussed many things.....with some nice music on phone ( Got to know that Chiranthan plays piano and he loved the music which i had from " Life Like")..... I was pestering Nash to get up from sleep and join us ...finally after much torchure he comes out ... 11.30Pm we were served dinner .... Neil n Chiranthan decided to go to bed...hmmmmm i was not sleepy caught hold of Nash ....Got inside the cab and watched movie " Tarle nan Maga" ( hehhhehehe :).......) around 1.30 Am finally i decided to go back to the cottage.... Had a good 4 hours sleep and got up by 5.30 Am..... Tourchure session pestered Nash and got him up from sleep :)........ It was very silent outside ...... could hear the pleasing sounds of different birds.... ( Wish i get to see n hear them everyday in bangalore) 7.00Am was served with Tea.....did not quite like it but that"s okay cannot expect everything to be as good as what mom gives:)......... Good Morning Good Morning Neil, Bappa, Chiranthan are awake.... We had decided to leave the place by 10.00Am and go to IRPU FALLS and travel bacl to Blore........ had break fast ( Bread and Omlet)........Settled the bill and reached IRPU Falls by 10.30 .... we had to walk a few distance to reach the falls passed through the big bamboo tress...Got to see the falls from a distance ....... Its takes about 15 - 20 mins on a average to get the falls by walk..... It was sooting to see the falls from a close....Water is so pure....We were not carrying additonal clothes n could not get inside the water ( :( mistake....) just managed to see others play and enjoy took a few snaps ....stayed there for about half hour and returned back 11.30am started climbing down.....the river that flows through is "Lakshmana Teertha"

Once we get down there is also a "Rameshwara" that can be visited. Usually its during weekends people come over and summer holidays....and stricly not advisable to visit the falls during winter season as level of water will rise and lot of leeches can be found. It was good experience and nice place to visit.

11.45 Am set to return to Bangalore...... i am wanted to catch up with some sleep ...slept for while....not it was Nash 's turn to torchure me to get up.... woke up after some time.... Bappa wanted to go for Go - Karting in mysore it was around 2.15 Pm .....decided to go to Mysore.....but had to stop for lunch....stepped in to a very good restuarant BOPY'S had food ( Batting) .... Bappa says no to karting ....Back to Bangalore - reached around 8.00Pm ....got down at Mysore rd as it was near to my house....Shook hands :).......and wished good nite for all and reached home by 8.20pm.....

Few Things i would recomend for people having plans to visit the place

1) Plan in advance - Go for :TREKKING" don't miss this - Not sure if you can see Tiger's and other wild animals ...but they would take you deep inside the jungle - people there know the best

2) Jungle Lodges & Resort is a good place to lodge - Although i have not see the place, have heard a lot of good things about it... It is situated on the banks on river Kabini - and they offer Safari, Accomadation, Food...etc.... as a package

3) There are many home stays in COORG - Like the one in which were lodged ....they are pretty econimical and charge 500- 600 per head for accomadation and food ( that includes - brakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks) ....

As i was talking to Valli - he has organised various trekking camps and there are lot of places in Nagarhole to visit. Its not just about visiting the falls there are lot of nature camps n trekkings organised.

Overall it was a good experience , but feel we missed trekking and playing in the water.....

Photo courtesy: Sony Ericsson W550I

Vinay

How Bangalore got its name

2008-02-18T15:09:00.001-08:00

Here is a small fact on how Bangalore got its name ……Long Long ago there was a King Veerballa of Vijayanagara who once lost his way in forest. Hungry and tired, he came upon a lone hut in the thick forest where he met an old woman.When he asked for food, she gave him baked beans Benda kalu in Kannada .He found this humble meal taste better than the richest fare.To commemorate this incident, he called the place "Benda Kalu Ooru" Intresting isn’t it ....

It's now "Bengaluru"

Bengaluru has been a center of activities be it in Information Technology, Biotech, Automobile,Infrastructure, Real estate, Education, Politics etc .

The next big thing is the "New International Airport" in Devanahalli which is just days away from the grand opening. Its been much talked about and will for sure give a new face to " Bengaluru"