Living Without Recognition

Happen to read an inspiring quote today on FB " Living Without Recognition is a Skill" , truly it made me think, it really is tough and not being as easy as said to live up to it.  Is it not? , The human nature to comparison when it comes to who is better and deserving, why him/her why not me, why not others and all other combinations makes it toughh to really stay away from the very thought of living without being recognized. Well say, it is very important to be recognized for your skills, it is certainly one of the influential factors in a person's day to day job, it does not matter if you run a company or you work for someone, being recognized makes you come back each day with a thought of doing something good, something better than yesterday. In my journey of work so far, i have personally come across situations where i could relate myself to the above quote. I recall one of my mentors and a good friend advising me " It's always important to a good a good/great job, but its equally important for people to know that you are doing a good job, in our corporate world, we may call it " Time to Market " , they key here with my experience and something which i have always believed in 'Do not run behind recognition" , the very thought of doing things with the sole purpose of being appreciated and recognized may lead to a negative influence on the person. Eegoism, i know it all, I am the one, could potentially damage the person's value over time and affect work relationships. 

If asked, i would say an individual in his area of work should focus on building a "Brand Value". Today, we buy services and products from companies with whom we have had a good trust, experience and relationship. It is same trust, relationship, confidence that an individual needs to build over a period of time to create a brand value. This is no easy as said, and it takes years of consistent and uncompromised efforts to build one and i would say equally tough to continue managing it once you have built it, in our day to day lives, we encounter many a challenges at work, you may not always expect things to work the way you would expect it to. At times like these, it is the character, conduct and patience that is evaluated which is directly linked to a Individuals brand value. It takes a lot of time and effort to be an individual who is free to approach to, grounded, helpful and trustworthy. When i talk about an individual having these qualities, off course these are not the elements which one gets to develop when they start their Carrer, but i feel these are qualities which tend to materialize as time goes on in one's career. Having said this, i would like to stess upon on how important it is for individuals in their jobs to have a mentor, some one like a role model from whom they accumulate qualities and way of doing things and eventually build on it. For me, this has been a critical factor in my work and personal life so far. There is so much of influence which tends to fall on a individual from the outside factors, be it family, friends, society or colleagues. Your thought process, opinions and conduct can be influenced in one or the other way from these elements.

Recognition takes time. This makes me recall a day in my first job, when i had to attend a Leadership Training Program. I had to attend the training in the afternoon and as i left home and travelled for a distance on my bike to reach office, it started rainy heavily. Not sure, what i thought at that very moment, ( been 4 years now)  i was telling myself that i had to reach office on time for the training. Having got completely drenched, i was in for a surprise when i reached office. I was the only one excluding the trainer to be present in the training room, around 8-10 people were expected to be part of the training. She noticed me being fully drenched and asked why did i not make a stop over and wait for the rain to calm down, the training was cancelled for the day and i continued with my regular work. For a moment i thought, man, i could have stopped over and waited, i do not see all any else part of the training here. Upon successfully completing the training program, it was a day to get the Certificate of Completion from the operations head, we all got our certifications, however the trainer happen to go that extra mile and give a certificate of appreciation for people who had complete attendance during the training program and to my surprise i was only one to have complete attendance. I had never imagined in the wildest of my dreams that i would be appreciated for that, so there you go, something which i never though shall be recognized was in fact did. I always wanted to ensure that i am present through out the entire program, never thought of this certificate which i would receive. So ' Recognition ' may takes its time, but certainly cannot be deprived from one, cause there is someone above us watching and keeping an eye.

I would say keep doing your best in what ever you do, it might be emotional to see some one taking the credit or some one else being recognized when you or others know that you deserved it, don't worry it can be there waiting as a surprise, just keep doing your best.

See ya :)

Chikmangalore - Mulyangiri

Just happened to see when my last posting was, and i find it hard to digest. Its been almost close to a year since i have published a new post. Uhh.. well, married life cetainley keeps you busy. Its been a year since my marraige and the experience has been mind blowing, you learn every skill, convincing, getting convinced, win to loose and loose to win, agree to disagree, conflict management and what not.  Well, what ever said, its been a good journey, Thank God, for giving me enough skills to manage and run the show :)

It had been almost a year since i and my friends went out of town for a short trip. As usual, conflicts in schedule and priorities kept every one busy. Some where we all knew that we need to gang up and go out for a trip filled with fun and leaving worries behind. I took the initiative and proposed a 2 day trip to ChikMangalore with the boys. I had never been to ChikMangalore and most of the boys in the gang also expressed that opinion saying it was a nice place to visit, few were hesitant because of the season being Summer they thought its not a right time to visit. Majority of the people were in and few others were convinced to join. ChikMangalore is famos for coffee plantations and is home to some of the highest peaks in Karnataka. So we are set and vehicles were arranged accordingly. Arun decided take his Alto K10 and Vivek wanted to get his New Fiat Punto for the long drive. Kishan and i did some research over the internet trying to figure the accomadation for Saturday and Sunday. We had scheduled to visit ChikMangalore the day after Ugadi festival. Upon doing some search, i landed up on the website http://www.mugilamane.com/ a place 22 kms away from Chikmangalore. Impressed with the few of the pics present on the site, i spoke to Sachin who runs Mugila Mane. After discussing with him on the package details for a 1 night stay, spoke to all my friends and finalized the deal as it was working out within our budget. Everything set on the stay, we charted out a plan to leave Bangalore at 6:30 AM sharp on a Saturday morning and the plan was to reach ChikMangalore by afternoon. As expected, people i feel got up at 6:30 ..lol and it was 8:30 by the time we left our homes. So recalling, good old memories on the drive we headed towards Hassan. We had pit stop in Hassan to pick up another friend who was going to join us. On the way, we visited his farm and had Yalnir ( Coconut water), as we moved forward we started thinking of places that can be seen on the way, Belur and Halebedu was on the way. We decided to drive down there and see the temple know for architecture and carvings. Well, it was summer time, clubbed with the timing that is afternoon, the sun was shining bright and we had a difficult time walking without our sandals, the floor leading to the temple premises was super hot. Few pictures taken from my Galaxy S Plus of Belur and Halebedu.

About Mugila Mane, our experience was good. Place is situated in a calm area surrounded by lot of greenery . Best part of Mugila Mane, something which i liked personally was, they have a big room with over 12 individual beds and we were given that room. Ohh boy fun was unlimited, few being drunk and passing comments over each other LOL was unlimited. Food was good, i thought it could have been a little better with some variety in menu. However its decent for a 2 day stay, no complaints on that. 

Evening got better and we settled down near the camp fire, partying, just got better on the break. We planned to get up early in the morning and drive Mulyangiri to watch the Sunrise. As expected, we were late in reaching the destination and missed the entire Sunrise episode. But a memorable drive though, foggy conditions, cool breeze, you can't ask for more. We reached Mulyangiri at around 7:00 AM and started the climb up the hill, hmmmm, with the cold wind and breeze pushing you back, it was a little difficult. Once on the top, i just could not stop admiring the beauty of the nature. A wonderful view from the hill top and a calm place to be in, just be yourself and relax. After spending some, we descended and got back to the cottage. Had breakfast and headed towards Dab Dabbe falls which is very close to Mugila Mane. It is required to walk for a distance, since vehicles are not allowed inside this private area, its alomost like a trekking zone and had to be careful watching our footsteps as the route to the falls was with ups and downs. We saw many travellers who had already gathered and having a playful time in the water. The water level that gets accumulated below the falls was not much and we could afford to hear by. Since it was summer time, the water level was low as well. Decided to jump in and we were in for a shock having encountered the freezing cold water from the falls. It was literrally impossible for anyone to stand in the water for more than 3-4 minutes. It was freezing, believe me. having played in the water for some time we decided to head baack as it was around noon and we had plans to start out journey back to Bangalore at around 3:00 PM. The way back to the parking area from the falls was the most difficult time, having played in the water, we were tired and the route was almost like a steep hill way back.

Overall a very nice place to go on a holiday, good weather conditions, places to visit and nice stay options make Chickmangalore and must place to visit. Sharing some pictures.

Gopalswamy Betta

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

College day t- shirt

Good day folks.