Savandurga

Starring : Myself, Harshad, Ganesh, Rahul and Jagadish
Start Time : 7am , 9th September, 2006
EndTime : 8 pm , 9th September, 2006
Climbing Time : 2 Hours (though myself and Harshad took around 5 hours - as we tried a different route)


Had been on a 1 day trek to Savanadurga - the rocky mountain at the outskirts of Bangalore.IT was one of the finest rock-clmibing that i have done till date.

Though the actual route to the summit is an easy one(any 5 year old can do it) - but myself and Harshad took a different route and had some great fun.....

Death Predictor

Now this is something that kept me LoLing for atleast 10-15 mins. I have come across the Death Calculator and could at least understand the 'random' number generator funda behind it; but this is just the heights of it. This link tells you "How will you Die'!!! Note : the 'How' factor and not the 'When' factor :)

Venkatraman.S: At age 75 you will die from an equipment malfunction in an exciting, fear based reality game show. Your death will receive the highest ratings of any episode of any reality show, ever.

Check out the last few words, does it mean that i will be a great celebrity then !! or just some menial being's death has been exaggerrated by the media/press.
[ Dont waste your precious grey cells pondering this ]

1 day trip to Jog falls

Starring : Myself, Preethi,BLD,Rahul,Harshad and Ashutosh
Start-Time : 18th August, 22:00 hours
End-Time : 20th August, 06:00 hours
Trek : To the base of Jog Falls -- approx 2 Km - up and down

Fingering!

Google Again!

Been sometime since i researched on Google. My Last Post on Google was the review of the 'The Google Story' that i had read. Its been sometime(almost 2-3months) since i have touched the newpapers or online news portals.

However, I stumbled upon a Google bug today (similar to one that i had found sometime back) . I am not sure whether this is a desired functionality as envisaged by the Google Search Result Page Desgin architect(or whatever they are called as) :

Try searchig for a term from the quick search bar from the Firefox browser(provided you have a Google engine installed). The search result page will be displayed, but the mechnism to go to the successive result page seems to be lacking - that is the numbers that lead you to more pages. Have a look at the difference in the results generated from the Firefox Google Search Engine and the Google Toolbar installed in IE.

Sitanadi and Koodlu Theertha

Starring : Myself, Harsha, Ganesh, Rahul Rathan and Manish
Start Time : 21:30 hours,28th July 2006, Friday
End Time : 01:30 hours,31st July 2006, Monday
Trek distance : 8kms
Rafting Distance : 12kms




Special Features:
* Journey in the General Category in the train
* Rafting in Sitanadi + Swimming in 20ft deep water
* Hotel Swati
* Harshad and Ganesh getting lost and spending the night in the jungle
* Snakes!

Prelude :

The plan was to leave Bangalore at 10:30pm, reach Sitanadi base camp by 09:00am on Saturday; raft till 1:00pm, have lunch and then start for Koodlu Theertha; finish Koodlu Theertha by evening ; and then leave for Kodachadri base camp the same night; Start the ascent towards Kodachadri on Sunday early morning and return to the base camp by 5-6pm the same day ;and leave for Bangalore.

However, Mother Nature had things already planned for us...read on...

Myself, Harshad and Manish assembled at 9:40pm on 28th July 2006 in front of Bajaj Showroom @ Koramangala.We took an auto and reached Bangalore City Railway Station at 10:15 pm.Ganesh and Rahul were already there and had taken tickets for all of us to Shimoga Town in the General Category. We had our own apprehensions about travelling in the General Category. When we entered the platform, we were simply flabbergasted by the mere enormity of the people already present. The platform was packed ; with almost were little space to walk. As we were waiting for the train to arrive , we were trying to devise a strategy to board the train and get the seats for all 5 of us. By this time we were sure that General Category meant the 'Unreserved Category' in any other train; wherein passengers who have a ticket can simply board the train and can sit anywhere in that particular class.

The strategy was : 3 of us(Myself, Ganesh & Rahul) will keep the bags with Harshad and Manish and we will board the train when its running and get the seats. The train arrived at around 11:00pm and i tried to board into the 'running' train and got 3 seats. I was quite unsure about others; as I was peeping out of the window , Ganesh came running towards me and informed me that we already got seats for all 5 of us and I could leave my seats and come to that compartment. Apparently, Harshad and Manish had caught the seats for all 5 us :) The compartment looked pretty neat and our scepticisms about the stink and clutter came to an end. Also, I was surprised by the cleanliness of the toilet ( LoL ). Harshad and Manish slept on the lower berths whereas Ganesh and Rahul tried to place themselves on the narrow berth by the side. I had a diffcult time sleeping and adjusting myself between the 2 chairs on the side. By around 2:00am in the morning, there was an upper berth that was empty and i could sleep for another 2 hours before reached Shimoga Town.

Day -1 [ 29th July 2006, Saturday ]

We reached Shimoga Town railway station at 5:30am and took an auto to the Bus Stand ; had a light breakfast(idli + vada + coffee) . Took a bus and reached the Base Camp(Nisargadhama) at 09:30am.We were surprised to see so many people (around 50+) already present there - it looked like a park :) Changed our clothes and made ouselves ready for the rafting.



After the organiser gave introductory instructions and rules, we started our rafting at 11:00am. Kamal( a Nepali) was the instructor and the guide in our raft.He also gave some instructions about rafting and about the rapids. We were introduced to the many commands in rafting such as left-back, right-forward, all-back, all-forward, jump-right,jump-left etc . It was fun to learn the commands. There were 9 of us in the raft (incl of 1 guide).I had taken the right-hand lead role (bo-position) and the entire team was supposed to synchorize with my paddling and the person to my left.

Kamal showed us a swimming-spot and told us that we could swim there for sometime. The water was 20-30 feet deep. I wanted to take the dare and wanted to check the effectiveness of the life-jacket that i was wearing - though i do not know the basics of swimming (and have almost survived from drowning during my Goa visit).I took a plunge into the river, and was simple surprised by the way the life jacket kept me afloat and didnt allow me to sink [ guess i should have removed the buckles on the jacket ;) ]. Some of the team members knew swimming and they swam for sometime , and i kept floating around. It was a great feeling - i must say that this was one of the best times of this entire trek - i had loosened my entire body and kept floating in the water for 15 minutes.

We continued to raft for another 90 minutes and reached the final-point (Belinje Bridge) at 1:30.A jeep took us to the Base Camp and we quickly changed pour clothes and started for Koodlu Theertha.


A jeep gave us a lift till the main road. We were informed that there was a hotel 2 km down the road.5 of us walked our way down the road , enjoying the nature and capturing some amazing views in Rahul's camera ( Canon Powershot A520 ). Rahul spotted a couple of dead snakes along the road.Eventhough the snakes were dead, they had the fierceness in them to run a chill-wave along the spine.

We reached Hotel Swati; and had steaming boiled rice along with sambhar , beetroot curry and buttermilk.It was the first time that i had consumed boiled rice - this is a dish that is very much specific and staple to the coastal belt, it does not have the entire chaff removed and is not broken.



After the meal, Ganesh enquired about the way to Hebri and the way by which we could reach the base of Koodlu Theertha with the owner( a lady) of the Hotel. Suddenly a beautiful cute teen-girl emerged from the kitchen and gave some more specific routes ; all of us were spell-bound by her beauty. [ one particular aspect of the treks is that when you spot a good-looking girl during your course of the trek - she looks like a Goddess; a even-not-so inspiring girl in city would like a diva during the strenuous course of the trek ]. The dialect that she spoke coupled with a melliflous voice wooed all of us.

Ganesh & Rahul were almost salivating ;) lol.Ganesh and Rahul (both ready to tie their respecive nuptial knots) kept on talking about her for sometime and we acknowledged the same.We should have had a 'swayamvar' right there - the reaction of Rahul and Ganesh was worth watching.Swati(the girl) told us that we could arrange an auto which would take us till the base of the Koodlu Theertha (Koodlu-Pass) and the same auto could also take us back to the nearest bus stand.

As Rahul was about to explain the better gene pool in this part of the country,the auto came and we managed to squeeze inside (all 5 of us) and reached Koodlu Pass by around 4:15pm.We kept our bags in the local Bhatta's place [ a hut which was in the base ]. We happened to see a couple of trekkers returning back from their trek and were told by them that it took approx 2.5 hours for the ascent and 1 hour for the descent.We started from the Base at 4:30pm and reached the fork(marked as a Yellow Oval in the fig) by 5:10pm.



We took the route on the left and soon came across a riverlet(about 4-5 meteres wide). Ganesh and Harshad tried in vain to cross the riverlet, but the sheer force of the water did not allow us to even grab a hold.After a brief round of discussions we decided that we would stop the trek ; the rationale being it was already 5:30 and was fast getting dark, and I reasoned that even if we reach Koodlu Theertha (by somehow crossing the riverlet) by around 7:00pm, we would not be in a position to experience the actual beauty of the falls as it was a moon-less night and the visibility was dropping fast.We decided that we continue for Kodachadri.

As we were returning, Harshad and Ganesh took a break near a small foot trail (one marked Red Oval in the fig) and said that they would return in 5 minutes.The series of events that unfolded after this tormented us for the next 12 hours.

What was supposed to be 5 minutes, became 20 minutes and still we had no trace of either Harshad or Ganesh. I went near the riverlet and found none there..also took the foot-trail and found none there. We continued shouting for Harshad and Ganesh but alas!! there was no response. It was fast getting dark.Things started to get worse - we could sense the kind of mess we were into and which could probably get even more worser.Harshad and Ganesh had nothing with them - no torch / no food packets / no water - the bag that contained the torches and biscuits was with us.

The time was 6:45pm.I convinced Manish and Rahul that we would wait till 7:15pm or till it gets dark and then return to the base camp.It was suggested that we return again at 9:00pm the same night and continue searching for them.Rahul laid his white towel near the fork (Red Oval in the pic) and kept a glowing torch covered with a plastic cover and a matchbox on top of it. I collected some sticks and made the mark of an arrow near the fork.We left the fork at 7:15pm towards the base camp. It was pitch dark - we couldnt see what was around us. We switched on the torches and marched forward. Rahul was a few steps ahead of us, and suddenly I heard Manish screaming - i realised that Rahul was about to step on a snake.I asked Manish to calm down and pulled Rahul back.It was one helluva experience.We decided that we would stand next to each other till we reached the base camp.

I have never seen something so dark - i came to realise what "BLACK" actually meant - we were night-trekking in one of the densest forests in India (Bisle wasnt so dense).

When we were around 700 mts from the base camp, we saw a torch-light suddenly flashed on us from the trees, and there emerged a guy. Ganesh had already informed us that this area had some naxal-activity going on ; we got psyched.Later, that person told us that he was a localite and was returning back home after the day's work.We took a sigh of relief and took quick paces to reach the base camp.

We informed the bhatta about the event that had taken place - he told us that nothing could have gone wrong and it would be easy to trace 'the-lost-trekkers'. He also told us that till date no one had actually been lost nor had anyone met with any kind of an accident due to animals or naxalites.We had a quick dinner (Menu : bun, Veg Kurma, Bisi-Bela-bath, Sambhar Rice, Chana Masala) and were fast asleep.

I guess each of us were praying to God that 'the-lost-trekkers' atleast return back by night......But, God had some other plans in mind.

Day - 2 [ 30th July 2006, Sunday ] The-Search-&-rescue-Operation
We woke up at 07:00am and took couple of biscuit packets in the same bag and started out in our mission : search for Harshad and Ganesh and rescue them ,if they were in trouble.A guy called Shankar(a localite) came to bhatta's place and offered to help us; both of them mentioned that, till date no one had disappeared from the forest and also no one had met any eventuality.Shankar accompanied us till the fork (Yellow Oval in the fig; reached at 8:15am) and asked us to come to his residence ( a small structure made out of concrete and bricks). He offered us coffee and a mixture of rice and jaggery.

Myself and Rahul had asked Manish to stay at Shankar's place so that we could go to the fork and check the place wherein we had left the towel and the torch. Someone had already taken the torch+towel and the matchbox that we had placed there.We decided to return back to Shankar's place and were surprised not to see Manish there. Shankar's wife told us that they had taken the route at the backside of the house. Myself and Rahul searched in vain for Manish and Shankar , we shouted everwhere but couldnt find either of them. We kept shouting for Manish for around 20 minutes , but got no traces of either him or Shankar.We got a bit anxious and hoped for the best.In the meantime, myself and rahul found a log ( supported by ropes, similar to a burma-bridge ) that could serve one to cross the stream.We crossed the river and continued searching - now for Harshad and Ganesh ( and also for Manish ).


We again crossed the bridge and returned back to the other side. After sometime Manish came back with Shankar and one more localite who informed us about the terrain and the way in which we could reach the Koodlu Theertha Falls.He couldn't accompany us as he had some personal work to be done back home, but at the same time told us that if we were unable to locate Harshad or Ganesh, then we could seek his help.

Myself, Rahul and Manish again crossed the stream (log) and enquired in a couple of houses on the other side about H & G.No one had any clues of them. We decided that we would go till the base of the falls and check for ourselves.We continued climbing up the mountain and shouting for H & G intermittently.We could feel the leeches on our legs.We came across one more small stream - but this one was far smaller than the 'unfateful' one - and we tried crossing it. We realized a zillion leeches sticking in our shoes, once we crossed the stream.It was futile to venture further into the forest, as our stock of snuff-powder was fast getting empty and the leeches were a big problem.If H&G were safe then they could obviously return back to the base, and if they werent safe then obviously it would not be possible for only 3 of us to save them and ti would be far better to seek assistance.We decided to call the mission OFF and return back to the base camp and inform the Police and the Forest Department.

Rahul went to Shankar's place and took his phone number and details about the police station at Hebri.While we were on our way back, we saw 4-5 trekkers(the same who had come for rafting the previous day) standing near the fork. We informed them of our problem and gave the descriptions of H & G. I gave them my business card and asked them to call me back if they happen to get any information.Further down the road, we met a huge group of trekkers who were on the same trek.An idea stuck me - i decided that its worth talking to the lead/guide of the grouprather than talking to the members(who were mostly newbies). I narrated the entire incident to the guide for around 10 minutes.The guide empathized with us and asked us to inform the Police and the Forest officials. Just as I was about to turn and walk, he called me and told me that H & G were waiting for us near the base camp. For a second, I couldnt understand what he spoke - but soon realized the same.We thanked him for the information and walked back to the base camp.

We reached the Bhatta's place by around 12:15pm and saw H & G lying down inside in a depressed and dishevelled state. We were curious to know as to what had happened the previous night.

Ganesh told us the entire story : Harshad did not intend crosssing the stream, but accidently crossed it and so was Ganesh. But once they got to the other bank. they couldnt come back to 'this' bank, as the force of the water was too much. Ganesh tried crossing it, but was swept away by the waters thrice; each time the stream carried him for around 100-200 meteres.They spent the entire night there, sitting in the dark and doing nothing.. Sometimes they had to hug each other to bear the cold - they had nothing but their respective jerkins with them.In the morning , both of them somehow managed to cross the river and came to 'this' bank.

[ I guess, when we searching for them, they would have somehow managed to escape from our line of vision and would gone back to the base camp. ]

We decided to call the trek off and return back to Bangalore - as none of was in a position to trek more and also it was getting too late and we were sure that we wouldnt be in a position to complete Kodachadri.Ganesh went and made a phone-call for the auto and also thanked Shankar for his help and informed him that everyone was safe.We took bath in the river(not a stream!!) flowing near to Bhatta's place when we waiting for the auto.

This was also an amazing experience and one of the finest moments of this trek - we floated in the knee-deep chill water for around 20 minutes to overcome our tiredness.The auto arrived then.

The auto dropped us at the closest bus stand from where we could get a bus to Shimoga. We had some coconut water and some snacks in the roadside shop and baorded the bus that reached Shimoga after 3 hours, at 5:30pm.We had dosas and some juice at a hotel boarded a bus to Bangalore at 6:30pm.


Day - 3 [ 31st July, 2006, Monday ]

We finally reached Bangalore (Majestic Bus Stand) at 01:00hours. Myself, Harshad and Manish took an auto to Kormangala and reached our respective places.

Epilogue:

Looking back at this trek, we cant but say that we have learnt a lot and the experiences that we have gained during the course will be respected and retained for a long time.


Travel Expenses (Doesnt include food etc)
Bangalore to Shimoga (train ) - 74INR
Shimoga Railway station to Bus stand (auto) - 40INR
Shimoga Bus Stand to Sitanadi Base Camp (Bus) - 65INR
Swati Hotel to Koodlu Pass (Auto) - 175 INR
Koodlu Pass to Bus Stand in the Main Road (Auto) - 175 INR
To Shimoga Bus Stand (Bus) - 60INR
Shimoga - Bangalore (Bus) - 141INR

Back from Kabbala Durga

[ there seems to be some problem w.r.t images getting uploaded, because of which this post was/is in WIP]


Starring : Myself, Harshad, Ganesh, Rahul, Ashutosh, Rohit, Harish, Manish, Vikas, Venkatesh, Guru
Start Time : Saturday 8th July 2006, 8:00 am
End Time : Sunday 9th July 2006, 12:00 am
Total Distance Travelled on Bike : 180+kms
Distance Trekked on foot : 5kms


The plan was to finish the trek to the top of Kabbala Durga by around 12:00hrs or 13:00 hrs. Ganesh had estimated that it would take approx 2-3 hours to reach the top and came back to the base.Then, we had plans of going to Bheemeshwari and to Chunchi falls. Myself and Harshad had decided in advance that we would drop off from the rest of the group after Day-1. The rest of the group had some other plans for day-2.

Day - 1 ( Saturday , 8th July 2006 )

All were asked to assemble at Banashankari Bus Stand by 7am.But, as always, junta started coming one by one and we all were ready to hit the roads at 8:00am.We were 11 of us and had 10 bikes. There were Pulsar, Scorpio, Avenger, Victor, Spelndor and CT-100.I was the lone pillion rider. I was a bit sceptical as to whether the ride would be enjoyable by me or not - but anyways, i left my scpeticisms behind and was all set for my first ever bike trek. After initial round of introductions , we decided to start. Myself and Ashutosh had a cup of tea in a local tea-shop and we started.

Rohit and Rahul kept racing all throughout the trek - driving at around 90+kmph. However, my chauffeur - Ashutosh maintained a steady 70kmph which was very pleasant and enjoyable. Ashutosh happens to be an amatuer Ornithologist and he used to tell me the names of some of the birds that we could sight in the lakes that were on either of the road - this was interesting, as I was never exposed to bird-watching before [ No pun intended :) ].

[[ THE ACTUAL TREK TO KABBALA DURGA - 2 hours of ROCKY MOUNTAIN CLIMBING - WATCH OUT THIS SPACE - WIP ]]

We were told that the food at Kabbala Durga was not good enough and we could probably try out at Sathanur.The plan was to have lunch at Sathanur , which was 6kms from Kabbala Durga base and then decide on the future course of journey for the day. We had lunch in a road-side hotel - this was a very small hotel and the meals that they served were no better. Since, i was hungry i did not care about the hygiene and had the chappatti and the rice(along with sambhar) fast.Venkatesh dropped off from the trek and reured back to Bangalore.We all decided to reach Bheemeshwari, which was around 40kms from Sathanur.

[[ WHAT HAPPENED IN THE EVENING AND NIGHT -- MUST READ :) - WATCH OUT THIS SPACE - WIP ]]

Day - 2 ( Sunday , 9th July 2006 )

I got up at 5am and went to see the burning tree - alas! the canopy had broken and had fallen off ; but both the canopy and the trunk were burning. Everyone woke up by 6 and freshened themselves - along the banks of the river.We started at 06:25hrs.We decided to break at Mathhethi for Tea.Rohit and Rahul zipped away fast. Myself(& Ashutosh) and Harshad went at a steady speed enjoying the ride.

Ashutosh was also running on reserve and we had to fill in fuel.When we were 6kms away from Sathanur, Guru's back tyre got punctured. Ashutosh unscrewed the tyre out from the bike and we tried to contact Rohit - luckily Rohit responded and he was asked to wait in Sathanur. Myself and Harshad slept in the shade of the lone tree in the highway (with all the junta passing by staring at us ), while Ashutosh took Guru along with him to get the typre repaired.I had a nice nap along the along the highway - with the vehicles zipping past me. Ashutosh/Guru/Rahul and Rohit returned back in another 40mins.Ashutosh screwed the tyre back in ,while myself and Harshad had the Masala Dosa that these folks had got from Sathanur. We again started towards Bangalore - this was the last time that i saw Rahul and Rohit - they raced away to Blore.

We reached Sathanur and then continued to procceed towards bangalore.We had a brief stop after that - around 15kms from Bangalore - had fresh coocnout water :) After that , Ashutosh dropped me at Kormangala and we went back.This was a very good trek - i must say , it was one of the finest short treks that i have ever been to in the recent past; and am expecting some other trek to beat this one up hands-down.

[ Well, as I am penning down this, i am thinking about the rafting @ Sitanadi and the trekking at Koodlu Theertha and Kodachari that I will be doing this weekend ]

Trek to Tadiandamol

Starring : Myself, BLD, Harshad, X & Y.
Start Time : 9:45 pm , Friday 23rd June , 2006
End Time : 6:30 am , Sunday 24rd June , 2006
Total trek : 15 kms (approx)

Background :
Tadiandamol happens to be the highest peak in Kodugo (Coorg) District. It reaches an elevation of 5729 feet(1748 m).The Nalaknad palace at the foothills is an important historical landmark. The peak has some beautiful Shola Forests that are characteritic of Southern Western Ghats.

The idea was to reach the summit of Tadiandamol by noon on Saturday and start for Soma-male from there and finish the trek by Sunday evening.

Description:

Harshad came down to my place and we started from Koramangala at 9:45pm on Friday 23rd June, 2006. Before his arrival, i had tried my hands unpacking the tent and found that it was rather cumbersome to fold and place it back into the bag.We had a quick dinner and took an auto and reached Majestic at around 10:10pm. BLD and her pals X and Y also arrived in another 15-20 minutes.The bus to Napoklu was full and hence we had to take a bus to Virajpet; the same bus was later extended till Madikkeri. We got down at Madikkeri.

X and Y decided to drop out of the trek. Myself, BLD and Harshad continued. We had a quick breakfast in a hotel at the Madikkeri bus stand and took a bus to Napoklu. We again took one more bus to reach Kakkabbe. The trek was 'officially' started at 9:30 am, June 24th 2006. We took occasional breaks and kept enquiring the localites whether we were on the right track to Tadiandamol.There is a tar road for around 5-6 kms after which there is a jeep trail for around 1-2km and the rest of the trail (till the summit) has a foot-trail.

There were leeches all around. Every 5-10 minutes we had to check our socks and shoes for leeches(these slimy things.....phewwwww!!!).

At around 12:45 we decided to have lunch and took a particular trail that led us to a small waterfall. I ran towards the waterfall, as it was looking beautiful and thought that this will be the ideal place to break for lunch. But, as we were standing on one of the rocks near the waterfall, we saw that our shoes were covered with leeches - almost 5-6 leeches on each of our legs. We ran out of that place and had to remove all the leeches using the snuff powder. We had to look out for a 'safer-haven' for lunch.There was a big rock on the way, on top of which there were some trekkers who had also come for Tadiandamol. We also had to decide on the future course of the journey;as, we had plans of going to Soma-male, we had to take a call & decide fast as the visibility was dropping. Harshad opined that it was worthless going to the summit, as its going to be only mist (whiteness everywhere) and we cannot have a view from the top; we concurred.

We had 3 options in front of us:
(1) Go back to Bangalore
(2) Finish Tadiandamol and start for Soma-male
(3) Try some tourist spot in Coorg

(2) was not feasible due to monsoon, leeches and poor visibility. (3) was not feasible due to the money factor and also due to the luggage that we were carrying ( and BLD did not have any clothes to change ). Hence (1) was the solution.

After initial scepticisms, we decided to pitch our tent near the rock. It was a fun-time pitching the tent - almost took 45mins , after lots of acrobatics. I must say that pitiching a tent in such a rainy and windy whether was a great team-activity and needs equally great co-ordination among the members. We had our lunch inside the tent. Menu included Bread, Palak Paneer , and Bhindi masala. After lunch, we tried to pack the tent back into the bag - this was another helluva acitivity. The tent had become double heavy (due to water) ; we had to carry this all the way back home. I carried this 20kg tent almost till the base of Tadiandamol and Harshad was kind enough to carry it from there.[ BLD obliged us by not carrying the tent :-) ]

We continues our descent and reached the base. We had a break for around 30mins here; had some biscuits and chocolates and dried our socks and jerkins. We continued from there and reach Nalknad Palace. This was a small 2 storyed house that had no impressions of a Palace - but was good to look at. The door was locked , but Harshad and BLD managed to opened it. We went in and took a stroll. The 'inner' doors of the palace were locked and hence we couldnt go in.

We continued towards the road that would lead us to a bus-stand from where we could catch a bus back home. After halting in a bus-stand for around 15 minutes, we decided that we would go towards Kakkebbe and catch a bus to Virajpet from there. But luckily, we got a bus to Virajpet on the way and we reached there by around 7:30pm. We had dinner at a hotel nearby. Menu included steaming ghee rice, parotta and chappatti along with lemon tea.On reaching the bus stand, we came to know the that the next bus to Blore was only at 10:30 and had to wait till then. The bus finally came in at around 10pm and we all boarded the same and reached Blore at 4:45am.Myself and Harshad bid adieu to BLD and returned back to Koramangala.

I would rate this trek as a typical monsoon trek (2 out of 5) ; a pretty easy one and not quite amusing and would in no way will have lasting memories(except for the leech attack and the tent experience)

Probably, its the leeches that make Monsoon treks what they are. Mist laden mountains and dense forests with constant downpour make the trek interesting.But sometimes, the whiteness of the mists is too boring and can bother any anxious traveller who is constantly on the lookout for something interesting happening around and to find out some beautiful valleys and ridges.

[ No Photos available from this trek; 2 reasons : (i) Constant downpour that would in no way allow us to take our camera out and take snaps and (ii) No camera-batteries]

Travel Expenses :
Bangalore to Virajpet - 173INR
Virajpet to Madikkeri - 22 INR
Madikkeri to Napoklu - 15 INR
Napoklu to Kakkabbe- 15 INR
Kakkabbeto Virajpet - 15 INR

Dilbert - Master of Office Affairs/Management

WTF - " I Love You" Day!

We do get lots of attention seeking mails (spam) , but this particular mail really got on my nerves.

"Attention Yaar
~*~*~*~*
Tomorrow is national I LOVE U DAY if u get this that means u are loved. Send this to 10 people in the next 143 min and tomorrow will be your best day ever.

Tonight at midnight your true love will realize that they love u. something good will happen to u at 1-4 pm tomorrow, it could be anywhere. Get ready for the biggest shock of ur life, if u break this chain u will be cursed w/ relationship problems for the next 10 years. If u get it back ur loved if u have a lot of love for someone...

copy and send this to your whole list... in five min. ur true love will call or message you 12:59 AM"

Leave aside the joblessness of the guy who got this idea and the person who forwarded the mail to me - though i dont know about the guy who got this idea, atleast the latter is a highly-educated guy!

Comments:
- increases Network traffic
- unnecessary information
- Spamming
- can lead to more spamming as the mails get forwarded
- etc...etc.... you know it all :-)

The Red Pill taker

The cliche goes :
" There are 2 kinds of people :
( i ) who look at things and ask '- Whats the cause for these to be in the present state? and
( ii ) those who look at things and ask - Why cant these be like this?
"

It is the Choice that matters the most. One who is able to understand the rudimentary problem and is able to make an effective decision considering all the constraints and the goal in mind will be 'The One'. The 'One' doesnt refer to a supra-human who can lift buses/trains and can fly in the air ; it refers to the thought process that a person posses by virtue of which he/she can conquer any problem at hand.This in turn reflects on the confidence levels and associated risk-taking abilities that one might have.

Understanding the case,constraints, possible solutions and framing a feasible course of action with the minimal risk factor can be said to resemble ANOVA(Analysis of Variance). A matrix of the constraints available and solutions would help us in doing a thorough analysis. It also helps us in framing the risk associated with each and every move.Decision Trees are a quick way of framing strategies with associated probability of success and risk.

Everyone is aware of these managerial tools; but it is the 'One' who can truly apply these tools in real-world problems and emerge with a most feasible and succesul solution. We all have been blessed with almost similar skills ; but the ability to understand the intricacies and making(and not chosing) the decision is what that counts.

I cannot restrain from quoting Lee Iacoca - "The greatest discovery of my generation is that human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes of mind."

Monsoon Forest Trek - Sakleshpur to Hongadahalla et al.

Introducing : Your Truly and Manish
Starring : Harshad, Ganesh, Vishnu, Laksmhi, Meeliya, Vathsan, Rahul
Start Time : June 3rd , 2006, 10:00 p.m
End Time : June 5rd , 2006, 2:30 a.m

Day 1: 15-17 Kms
Day 2: 7-9 Kms

The starcast was asked to assemble at Platform#3,KSRTC Bus Stand,Majestic at 10pm on June 3. We boarded a bus to Sakleshpur at 11:00pm.The bus was pretty decent and almost everyone was asleep by around 1am. We reached Sakleshpur by 4:30am and were told that there were no direct buses to Bisle and would have to go to Kodu-Raste and continue to look out for options from there.The Bus to Kodu-Raste was supposed to be at 7:00am. In the meantime, myself, Rahul, Manish and Harshad went around the Sakleshpur Bus Stand. Manish enlightened us with his entrepreneurial experiences and the chat mainly centered around the possible entrepreneurial ideas and experiences. Though it was pretty heavy topic to discuss at around 4 in the morning, but it was quite enlightening.Meeliya had a nice sleep till the bus arrived, while Laksmi & Vathsan were having a fun-time with a puppy in the bus-stand.


Finally the bus came at around 7:30am and we proceeded to Kodu-Raste.The bus was a typical red-color(match-box) bus.Though the seats were straight and hard, we managed to sleep for an hour and reached Kodu-Raste at around 8:30am.Then we freshened ourselves and had steaming kodugu , dosas and chappati at a local hotel.Kodugu is a special kind of a dish(similar to Idli) that is made out of rice powder.The owner of the hotel had a sweet little cute toddler(Megha) which winked at everyone whoever said 'kannu-nodu'(blink your eyes). The owner kept referring to Lakshmi as 'young lady' which was quite amusing (was it an 'oxymoron' ??).The sun rose a little up ; the slight drizzle along with the Sun's rays bisecting these water droplets was a treat to watch.


The owner offered to drop us at Haddaluguddu(obviously for Rs.200!!), from where we could actually start our trek. He had a small auto(truck) which is used for transporting goods in this part of the country. 7 of us managed to sit(packed) at the back , whereas Ganesh and Vathsan sat along with the driver. It was a forty minutes drive along sinuous curves and bends; with greenery everywhere - it was a neat-jumpy drive.


We reached Hoddaluguddu at around 10:30am and started the trek after taking a few snaps/snacks here.Ganesh was busy feeding a couple of stray dogs.[ During the entire course of the trek, Ganesh was kind enough to feed all the stray dogs].Lakshmi was the first victim to the leeches. A leech was feeding on her right leg whereas another one had already had its adventure on her left leg and abandoned the place.Ganesh's snuff box came to use and the leech collapsed after he sprinkled some snuff powder on it. We proceeded with the trek after everyone checked their shoes.We continued and climbed up a hillock and had some snacks on the open scrub.In the meantime Harshad ran and climbed up an adjacent hillock , he stood on top of the hillock and waved his hands .I sprinted towards the top and was there in 2 minutes. It was great to see the other 'junta' sitting on top of other hill a few hundred feet away.

From here we had to decide on which path to take to reach the next destination. There were 2 options -
(1) to cut across a forest , climb the hill and reach the other end or
(2) to follow the foot-trail which was already present.

We resorted to the former.We had to wade through dense bushes and plants , and this was the most arduous path of the entire journey.Finally we reached the hill top after almost an hour. As we were about to relax a bit, it started to pour heavily. Myself, Vishnu, Manish,Rahul , Ganesh and Lakshmi went ahead to stand next to a tree whereas Harshad,Vathsan and Meeliya didnt follow us. Rain was pouring heavily and visibility was droppin badly.The cold wind coupled with heavy downpour drenched all of us.The water-resistant bags and wind cheaters were of no use. But, Vishnu found out an ingenious way to light a bidi(country form of a cigarette) and smoke it. Rahul and Ganesh accompanied him.We stood in this heavy downpour for almost 40 minutes. Then we decided that it was of no use to continue standing there and we better move forward, as we had to reach the next destination before dark. Vishnu went back to call the other 3. He went and returned back after 5 minutes to tell us that those 3 were sitting under the tarpaulin and were having panner-butter-masala(we all turned green!!!). Vishnu also happened to see that middle-finger of a guy(Vathsan, of course!!) emerging from the tarpaulin. After sometime Vishnu and Lakshmi went back and snatched the tarpaulin from the top of the guys. Having no options left, the three had to follow us and we continued again.

We reached Mainur at 12:30pm. It was a small village with half-a-dozen huts. We enquired about the route ahead to a couple of localites. One lady said that the route ahead is filled with leeches. We trekked further along paddy fields and land-slidden countours.We had to cross a small-river which was flooding badly and we were looking out for options. There was a burma-bridge(constructed with the locally available bamboo sticks/ropes and coconut tree bark). It was great fun to cross this bridge. Occasionaly, someone would find a leech in his shoe, and Ganesh would be there with his snuff box to lay the leech to rest. :-)

And we finally reached Hongadahalla via Jadagatta at around 6pm(June 3).We had tea and hot upma(with chatni) in the local hotel(Rs.110 for 9) and spent some time there. In the meantime Vishnu and Ganesh hunted for a suitable place to stay during the night.We checked-into the kalyana-mandapa(marriage hall) at around 8:15pm.We spent the night here. The kalayana-mandapa was under-construction. It had a clay floor and an asbestos roof, opened at one end and closed at the other three.The 2 walls on either sides had openings for the windows to be fitted. We spreaded the newspapers and feasted(dinner). Menu included paneer-makhni , Chana-Masala, Cheese-Spreads and slices, Breads, Bisi-Bela-bath and Palak-Paneer (all these were packaged foods that we had brought from Bangalore). Meeliya, Ganesh and Manish had sleeping bags and settled themselves inside it, whereas others had to satisfy themselves with Newspapers. My jeans and t-shirts were wet and heavy. The cold air hitting against me and my clothes were tormenting me and i was shivering badly.I could not sleep for the entire night ; I could hear Rahul(who was sleeping next to me) and Manish snoring to their fullest.

I decided that I would rather opt out and return to Bangalore than continuing with the Day-2 of the trek. I was unsure whether the wet clothes would help me with the trek.

At almost 3.00 am , I found a semi-wet jacket lying on the tarpaulin and tried my luck . I pulled it over myself and slept for around 1 hour 30 mins before someone's voice woke me up. Vishnu lighted the used newspapers outside the kalyana-mandapa. I sat next to the fire and dried myself. For the first time I was feeling 'dry'. My jeans were now crispy dry and my hands were warm.In short, this feeling was far better than the cold night that made my teeth go tittering.All of us vacated the mandapa and went to the hotel and had tea/breakfast(Rs.120 for 9).Ganesh fed 3-4 stray dogs with all the bread packets that we had.

Vishnu, Harshad, Ganesh and Vathsan were planning on the possible routes to trek on Day2. I was still sceptical of whether I should continue or return back to Bangalore.We were told that the bus to Bangalore was at 9:30am. Finally the bus came at around 10:15am and all of us boarded the bus.Meeliya, Manish and Rahul opted out and went back to Bangalore whereas the others(incl me) got down at Kodu-raste and prepared for Day-2 trek. Harshad wanted to go to a 17m water fall that was on the map , but none of the localites knew about the same.We also asked about the KumaraDhara Waterfalls and we were told that it was near KumaraParvatha, which was pretty far from Kodu-raste.We decided to trek to the 17m waterfall.We started at 12:30pm from Kodu-raste in search of the 17m water fall.We walked for around 3 hours before we reached a place

We halted near a streamlet and had lunch.Menu included Paneer-Butter-Masala, Pongal, Masal- Upma, Cheese Slices, Bread and Jam. Rain started as we were in the process of satisfying our apetite , but we continued our rendezvous with the food, as were drop dead hungry.


We continued to trace back the route to reach the bus-stand ; but took a minor diversion to have a view from the top of a hillock. The view from this hillock awestruck me.These were the Western Ghats with the densest forests I have ever seen. We could spot KumaraParvatha and Doddhebeddha. The summit of KumaraParvatha was covered with clouds and mist.The valley was looking beautiful, with hills on either sides. We sat here for around 20 minutes and continued our trek. { Sorry, i dont have words to describe this scenic beauty }

We reached the bus-stand , wherein the bus to Sakleshpur would arrive at around 5pm. [Hence, we did not retrace back the route till Kodu-raste.]We had some biscuits and chikki. The idea of maggie stuck me and i thought about the option of getting hot-water from the local hut. Vathsan had a couple of bites of raw-noodles and in the meantime Ganesh got the hot water(in exchange for a MTR Pongal packet). I mixed the noodles along with the spices in the hot-water (guess this is the easiest recipe that i can prepare !!). All of us had hot semi-cooked maggie. Harshad filtered the spicy-water from the maggie.Just as we were waiting for the bus, myself , Vishnu , Harshad and Vathsan resorted to some 'intellectual' discussions on cross-breeding. We were exploring the possibility of cross-breeding a hen with a dog ; and Vishnu baptised this 'possible' creation as 'Den'. All during the course of this discussiom, Vathsan gave a puzzled look and a question mark hovering over his face (guess all this was above his wavelength!!). The dicussion progressed to a yet another possiblity of cross-breed between 'our-creation' Den and an elephant. We finally abandoned this topic as it was getting highl y scientific and us mere mortals werent aware of the Laws-of-Science and Evolution.


The bus finally arrived at 5:30pm and we reached Sakleshpur by 7:30pm. We were informed that the Bus to Bangalore was rare, and it is better to leave for Hassan and catch a bus to Bangalore from there.We had tea and waited for the bus to either Hassan or Bangalore.Just as we finished our tea a bus to Bangalore arrived and we happily got inside. The bus halted for dinner on a highway stall and we had hot rotis with tea. We reached Bangalore finally at around 2.00 am and officially ended the trek by having a hot-watery-yucky tea in the KSRTC Bus Stand.Myself and Harshad were all game to trek back to Koramangla from Majestic; however, we(incl ganesh) finally hired an auto(at double the cost) and came back home.

As I look back at this trip, I must say without any qualms that this trek was a beautiful trek to start with during the monsoon season. The nature's pristine beauty coupled with a neat clean air gave no room for any kind of cold/fever to affect us.As I pen down this experience, i must say that the trek-group was awesome and I am looking forward to more treks in the coming months with them.

Abhimanyu

Abhimanyu has become synonmous with any brave teenager , who has the potential to take on the challenges posed in front of him. He is the kind of war-hero that every school kid yearns to become one day and help this great country of ours(India) , take on the challenges.

But what Abhimanyu connotes to me is more than a mere war-hero. Abhimanyu is a phenomenon. 'He' is the process by which a goal is acheived given uncertain conditions ahead. He has high correlations with any linear programming problem wherein all the constraint equations are given and the goal is to maximise/optimise a function.'He' is the typical Manager's/Consultant's thought process.

Background :
Abhimanyu is a character in Mahabharata. He is the son of Arjun and Subhadra and a disciple of Lord Krishna. His claim to fame was his bravery ; and the way he punctured into the Chakra-Vyooha that the Kauravas had formed. He was killed in his attempt to come out of the Chakravyooha, by Dronaachaarya, Kripaacharya, Duryodhan, Karn, Ashwatthaamaa, Shakuni and Jayadrath.

First Anniversary

Its been almost a year since i started blogging - and i realized it today, almost after a month after the acutal First Anniversary date (March 29) . What started as an acitivity to keep myself occupied during my notice period(after submitting the resgination) in my previous organization , has now been quite an often activity. This endeavour has been quite interesting and continues to interest me.

I would like to thank all my readers who have been visiting my blog often and have given their valuable comments.


I hope to continue this acitivity ; and blog on quality issues. I would like to keep this blog free from any personal experiences(diary) and hope to concentrate on Science/Technology/Business/Philosophy/Current-Affairs.

qsdc njkp

Now that's not some funny collection of alphabets ....

Try to type these alphabets by keeping :
For the Left Hand
* Llittle finger on 'q'
* Ring finger on 's'
* Middle finger on 'd'
* Index finger on 'c'


For the RightHand
* Llittle finger on 'p'
* Ring finger on 'k'
* Middle finger on 'j'
* Index finger on 'n'

Try to access the other keys in the QWERTY keyboard using this arrangement; i find this to be far easier than the traditional - "ASDFG - :LKJH". I will try to upload a picture of the same in the near future.

An advantage of this combination (pattern) of fingers is that, the key-board can be separated into 2 separate pieces and can add on ergonomic postures.

However, the above mentioned pattern has not been scientifically proven, but i find it easy in my day-to-day work.

The Google Story

I have just finished this book - " The Google Story" By " David A.Vise.

I must say that its a must-read for a any Google enthusiast/fan who has been following this organization's spectacular growth in the past 7 years. Its also a must-read for all the ardent cribbers in the IT industry who have perfected the art of "How to Crib - the Programmer's Way".

Google's story is a perfect example of how technology drives business. Organizations that thrive on technology have always been successful in business , and Google is a perfect example of this.

The books dwelves into how Google started, the challenges that its faced and how it has burgeoned into a Internet Giant posing threats to the big-wigs like Microsoft and its future expansion plan. The book gives deep inghts into the corporate history of this 'noun' , that has become a 'verb these days.

A few lines from the book :

• "youth + freedom + transparency + new model + the general public's benefit + belief in trust = The Miracle of Google" Context: this is Mr.Lee's ( from MS to Google) definition of Google

• "Every declared war begins with a opening salvo of some kind" Context : Google's vs Microsoft

Munich

I was very much sceptical about spending around 140 INR for the movie "Munich" at Europa Class in PVR Cinemas(The Forum, Bangalore) ; i convinced myself that its not worth it and went for a movie called "Underground evolution" - a gory movie which mainly portrays the war between lycans and vampires. Though initially i thought the plot to be a little different, but the mundaness was something thats to be abhorred. (I had spent 110 INR for the tkt for this movie).

A week later i went for Munich (tkt = 80 INR , @ the same theatre) . I was totally awestruck - a SUPERB movie with an excellant story line and simply great screenplay and direction. Speilberg at his best , Eric Bana playing the role of a Mossad agent (though he wasnt one, actually) who leads a team of 4 to kill all those involved in the Black September attack on Israeli Atheletes during the 1954 Munich Olympics. The movie portrays how the assasinations/murders carried out by the Mossad Agents (after the Black September attack) takes the toll on themselves and affects their psychology. [ for more - go & see the movie ]

I wouldnt dare to review this movie , but would highly appreciate any serious cinema goer to go for this classic and satisfy his hunger for a 'good-movie' , that has been unsatiated for quite some time.

Google and BETA's

( This post is a follow-up to the previous post on Google , wherein i had serious doubts on the way the organization is making inroads into all the Internet-Based-Services)

I did a small sample survey of the existing Google Products/Services (List is here) and came up with the following observation :

Search Products
Alerts : BETA
Blog Search : BETA
Book Search : BETA
Catalogs : BETA
Desktop : BETA
Finance : BETA
Froogle : BETA
Scholar : BETA
Video : BETA
Images : NOT A BETA
Google Maps : NOT A BETA
News : NOT A BETA
Directory : NOT A BETA
Earth : NOT A BETA
Specialized Searches : NOT A BETA
Toolbar : NOT A BETA
Web Search : NOT A BETA ( Thats a Great News !!)

Explore and innovate
Co-op : BETA

Communicate, show & share
Calendar : BETA
Gmail : BETA
Groups : BETA
Talk : BETA
Picasa : NOT A BETA
Translate : NOT A BETA
Blogger : NOT A BETA

Go mobile
Maps for mobile : BETA
Mobile : BETA
SMS : BETA

Download the latest software
Pack : BETA


From the Google's Search Products Stables (which is the organization's forte ):
Number of Betas : 9
Number of non-Betas : 8

Most of those products that are "Not in Beta" have come up from the organizations that Google has bought over the past couple of year. Examples include - Picasa, Earth and Blogger. Writely is in the pipeline :-)


All Products:
Number of Betas : 18
Number of non-Betas : 11

Google -- Where is it heading to????

We have seen this org grow from a measely Stan project to a Search-Engine Giant in a span of little over 8 years. Google's market-cap has increased by leaps and bounds and is far ahead of the rivals Yahoo,Ask and MSN. MSN's AdCenter or Yahoo's so-called 'enhanced-ad-placement services' have not affected this Giant. Danny Sullivan, the editor of Search Engine Watch (the website is a lot cluttered - hence ahem!!), still ranks Google as Numero-Uno.

But, as this story/article points out - is Google making forays into all the available sectors just for the heck of it, without caring for the excellance in each of the services that they are providing thus far?? Google News came out of the Beta version just months back(after a 'brief' testing period of around 3 years ) ; Gmail is still in Beta. We saw Google trends being launched last week and today i see Google Notebook . This is similar to Microsoft's OneNote, but with a cleaner and 'WIP' interface.

As always, Google Notebook , though still in its infancy has lots of features that are yet to be implemented; we are prompted with a WIP page on some of the features that are yet to be completed.

Try this out in IE: Login to Gmail and click on the "New Features" hyperlink on the top-tight corner of the page.That will lead you to this page. Now, did that work in IE??? Try the same in Mozilla's Firefox -- ?????? Google wake up!

A prudent customer would never settle for an uncompleted(beta) product - though he may use just for the heck of it , if that is offered freely.

I see lots of bloggers blogging about Google Trends and how intelligent it is; but at the same time we fail to see the other pothholes that Google is offering to its 'customers'. I have been a fanatic of Google since 2000, but it's 'Dalmatian-Service' does bother me.

Now on a slighlty different note..We have seen Google News being offered based on the demography of the customer (i.e., country-based)...i was contemplating on Google offering its new services on similar lines....It has already made inraods into radio-advertising in the USofA; I was thinking about Google offering Kiosks in India. (Kiosks in this context are touch based simple screens ,which will take inputs from the user and present results accordingly).These kiosks will be strategically located all across the country and will offer its 'services' to its custmers free-of-cost.

Voila - me Again!

First the Good News : I have started blogging again.There were a couple of things that are happening around that have prompted me to start this activity again and stimulate the intellectual cells of my fellow readers and make them wonder about the bogons that are being hurled against them.

Last Post

I have stopped blogging as I am quite busy with the operations of an NGO and my Quizzing venture : Gyaan.in.

Blurp! (Part - II )

## Are humans(esp men) SLRs? (SLR - Self Loading Rifles)

## If Imraan Hashmi happens to be "Serial Kisser" , Then who is "Parallel Kisser"?? -- (Ravana!!)

## Rock Bottom = Hard Ass

## why dont birds fly backwards ? (then will backwards remain?)

## Triangulated by the circular motion of the square.

## Essentiality does preclude me

## My ignorance amuses me...and will continue to amuse me.

An end to remember

This was a poem written by my pal (Kashyap) sometime back. FULL CREDITS TO HIM.

Death by sleight of the hand
death coming as a marching band
seething foaming at the mouth
marching on, marching south

as civilizations crumble
their march ended in a stumble
filled with destruction and loss
they fall to the call of chaos

one by one they all fell
we now stand at the gates of hell
death comes to hold our hand
death and it's merry marching band

break not your stride my men
let us march into the lion's den
break not your stride and fall
though all the heavens may call

heaven knows our time will come
and ash and dust we will become
but until then we will march on
to meet our doom, till we are gone

our world too will fall at last
to the lightnings the heavens cast
but until then we must hold
the last of the strong and the bold

our woes will come and we will fall
and raging fires will consume us all
but stand and burn we will and must
burn until we are all ash and dust

blood and fire will wash us all
as we go to the mother's call
to return whence we came
and none remember what became

of those who dared to stand and face
the horrors that befell our race
though none may know your name
nor mine, our race will share our fame

our work man one day will find
the ruins which we have left behind
and wonder who we had been
what these strange words could mean

but that day will not be today
so tarry not, lets be on our way
to face the coming tide of death
as long as there is one more breath

the end is coming, know it all
be it today or not we will fall
we will make an end to remember
from now on to the end of forever

and all will know of the time we fell
those from a time when all was well
facing the certainity of their doom
who stood to try defy their nation's tomb

IIMB GD/PI Experience

Firstly...apologies for the sms english in the following post.I am feeling tooo lazy to post the entire set of Q&As...

Secondly, after my IIML GD/PI oon feb 22, 2006 i had decided that i would prepare die-hard for IIMB and would leave no stone unturned. My plan was to dedicate the last week of Feb for acads and the entire March for going through the History of IT industry - i had charted out a neat plan to go through all the Business Journals, Mckinsey reports and other quaterlies.

But alas...here i was without having touched a bit about anything...just took bath in the morning and power-groomed once again and headed towards IIMB.

I had my IIMB int at 9 @ IIMB on 30-March-06.
6 ppl supposed to be in the group.
Well...the profs came at arnd 9:05 and he asked us to wait for the 6th person..we waited for a couple of mins and then the process started without that 6th person ;-).

GD: 6 ppl supposedly in the group, 1 did not turn up.1 preferred not to speak during the course of the GD....resulting in practically 4 members...and u can think of the discussions that could have happened. A case was given about an acquisition move and ......etc etc.It was peace.

We were given 10mins to think. Eventhough the profs said that we would be given 15 mins to discuss, i guess the GD would have hardly lasted for 8-10 mins. then we summarised the GD in the paper given. Kindly note that even though the paper contains lots of lines(30-40), i would have written around 12-15 lines -- splitting them across into 3 paras.

PI:
I was the fourth person to be called in. The previous 3 who came out said that they were properly screwed and it was a FULL STRESS INTERVIEW.I was least bothered and kept my kewl. I knew that INTERVIEWS ARE ALWAYS FUN and ITS UPTO THE INDIVIDUAL TO TERM IT AS A STRESS INTERVIEW OR NOT.

well...here it goes:
2 profs : P1 and P2 and solitary ME!

P1:Kindly take your seat
Me:thanks
P2:You seem to have got an exceptionally great % in you 12th and it seems that it has remarkably drpped in ur grad.
[actually, i haev got 95% in 12th and 88%in BE - am not sure how its low, the eval schemes differ!!!]
Me:>
P1:what hhave you culivated extra during the course?
Me:Sir, you mean hobbies and interests in addition to the course?
P1:yes
Me: I quiz and love watching advertisements.Initially i just used to watch advertisements , but offlate i have started understanding the nuances associated with them. But., i want to know more and am trying to go the depths of it.
P2: Why you need advertisements? whats thier purpose?
Me:<<>>
P1: what is the difference between Directive Principle and Fundamental right?
Me: I dont know the exact differnece Sir, but i would like to take a guess<>
P1:Capital of Tazhakistan
Me:I Dont Know, Sir
P1:Turkmenistan
Me:I Dont Know, Sir
P1:Krygistan
Me:I Dont Know, Sir
P1:Where are the Aravali ranges?
Me:Somweher near Madhya Pradeh :-(
P1: If you dont know say that yu dont know...dont guess
Me:Dont Know
P1:When did Britishers come to India
Me:1600s
P1:what was the significant move taken by them once they arrived here?
Me: they imposed lagaan, that is taxes.
P1: Heard of Permenant Settlement?
Me: Sir, you mean Permenant Settlement Act?
P1:Yes, If you dont know, tell that you dont know- but dont give me a wrong answer.
Me: I Dont know sir.

a few mins on my Bplan....answered all the Qs with CORRECT answers :-)

some more Qs showered by P2 for which i answered:

P2:Which were the OODBs?
P2:Give me the first 2 OODBs.
P2:Name 2 Open Source Databases.
P2:What was the tussle between Oracle and MySQl recently that was in news?
P1: Is this your 2nd or 3rd attempt?
Me: This is my First.

Whoa!!! IT WAS FUN. :-)

I wanted the panel to talk about:
(1) Quizzing
(2) Advertisements
(3) My Bplan and
(4) Some fundae w.r.t Oracle
and the panel asked me what all i wanted...though there were lots of other Qs in addition to the solicited ones. I would say it was a decent interview , but cant guess my chances of getting through - but God Willing , i should be IN!

Lots to learn. Am gonna start reading Indian Independence Struggle.

a lil' busy

shall be back to form from April-1.


Found the following gyaan from one of my friend's signatures:

"Labels seem to give satisfaction. We accept the category to which we are supposed to belong as a satisfying explanation of life. We are worshippers of words and labels; we never seem to go beyond the symbol, to comprehend the worth of the symbol. By calling ourselves this or that, we ensure ourselves against further disturbance, and settle back. One of the curses of ideologies and organized beliefs is the comfort, the deadly gratification they offer." -- Jiddu Krishnamurti

Note : gyaan =knowledge

What more do i say?

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1449688.cms

Progressive Searches

After I coined the phrase "Isolated Frog Syndrome", probably this is the next nomenclature introduced by me, though the former is more concerned with the Interpersonal relationships in an organization and the correponding observations at some mangerial levels, the latter is more concerened with the technical aspects of searches.

In Google SearchBox, when you type in a search phrase, a count of the availble results that might be fetched is displayed in the drop down list. Numerous search enthusiasts have concluded that the number of duplicates is large in the count that is specified.

When one visits Clusty and does a search , the searches are categorized into various heading(termed 'Categories' or 'Dimensions'), and a count is specified next to the Categories; when the user clicks on a Category only that many number of hits are displayed. I find this to be a serious flaw, in the sense that we are not making use of the available search facility , and this prompted me to coin Progressive searches.

Probably, when the user clicks on the Dimensions/Categories, a subsequent search should be initiated which can fetch more results than the count that is originally specified.One may argue that this can confuse the user, as he/she is going to see more results than the count that is originally specified in the previous page, but technically speaking, if the user knows that the Search Engine supports a functionality of Progressive Searches , then he doesnt have to worry about the counts not matching. The Subsequent search while peroforming a progressive search will not fetch results less than the count that is specified.

Mental Borborygmi - Is it the Air that I breathe?

It was one of those mornings again.....i woke up to see myself sleeping again.

The usual Qs kept hovering in my mind, trying to titillate me and sometimes make me go deep into the uncharted waters of human emotions and associated reactions.

What am I doing? Am I doing something that I shouldnt be doing? Am i doing justice to myself and to what I have learnt? Am I following the herd? WHAT THE HELL AM I DOING?? more Qs...and still more Qs...

I was speaking about these to my pal Shravan about a couple of days back; whether are we really following our dreams or are we succumbing to external pressures and constraints.Is it necessary that people who have left their mark in History necessary be outlaws - out of the heard - revolutionaries? cant a common-man do something really simple and get accolades? Is the world too busy with appreciating wierd and idiosyncratic behaviours that it fails to admire and appreciate the nitty-gritties of life?"

He replied back saying that "this is the Matrix dud- enter it". But is this really the Matrix and is it really getting me in? Am i ready to enter the Real World? Am I presently in the Real World? Where is the Matrix?

I do want to make the keys; to open the locked and dusty rooms - to make myself free.

[
When i am blogging this , my pal shravan pings me this Q:
Shravan : what does an dyslexic agnostic and insomniac always do?
Shravan : he stays up all night, worrying about whether there really is a dog :-)
]

10 ways in which Earth can meet its END

some more Blurps...

(1) A giant meteor strikes Earth and causes a Giant Ripple -- and phusssssh...Earth is gone..
(2) Cluster of Meteorites strike Earth
(3) An alien ship [ CDS 666 - Complete Destruction Ship] enters our atmosphere and strikes a Death ray..r something like Independance Day.
(4) .....
(5) ........
(6) ...............
(7) Aish marries Bappi Lahiri
(8) Commies of the World get united
(9) Someone farts real badly and atmosphere is filled with deadly gas and someone then switches ON the gas-stove-- and boooooooooooooooooomb - Earth is reduced to ashes!
(10) TR, Ramarajan, Captain act in a movie and it gets an Oscar (along with Satyaraj, Sarath Kumar, Namita et al).

"Asatho ma sad gamaya - tamaso ma jyotirgamaya" [simply put --> Enter light..Exit Night]

Amen!

Blurp!

I could see the blood oozing from his eyes...slowly trickling along his cheeks and dripping on the marble floor. [ I could see the red-blood flowing as if , it was trying to give moksha to all the beings along its course - as if this was the great Ganges invoked by the King Bhagirat, flowing down from Gangotri...all the way through and bisecting India and finally merging with the bay-of-Bengal becoming Padma! ] There was the the .3mm pistol and the kalashnikov lying to the right of him, on the bench. An unopened-sealed TIME magazine dating back to the Feb-1980s was to his left , on the floor. There was general Pinochet's potrait hanging on the wall to the right of him - the potrait was beautifully studded with Indian Gems and diamonds.

I Dream

These days i hardly sleep for 5-6 hours. In fact, in the last 5-6 years I can hardly recollect of instances where wherein I had slept for more than 10 hours. Things keep happening at my end. First it was the board exams during 10th standard, then it was the IIT prep during 11th and again Boards during 12th. College days were filled with Symposiums ; was for most of the time either preparing for my exams/assignments or was researching on my UG projects and International Conferences. I was thrown into the IT Industry and have been quite busy with my coding endeavours here too. The last 5-6 months were again a roller-coster ride- with prep for CAT and again for GD/PI. I have to know each and every significant event happening around the world.

But, have all these years sucked out my juice??? Have i lost anything? Am i repenting on what i have done or what i want to do??

As I lookback(which i dont do generally), I see that i have judiciously used each and every moment in my life. All my decisions have been correct. I AM NOT REPENTING ON WHAT I HAVE DONE OR WHAT I SHOULD HAVE DONE. When i see my palz telling me that they should have done something else, I am really confused. The human mind does have the power to make conscious decisions, then why is that some people keep cribbing about things that happened/or are about to happen?

We do have a control as to what we do and what we want to do.The present does not have a meaning if we are unaware of the aura surrounding us. [ Defn Aura :A distinctive but intangible quality surrounding a person or thing; An indication of radiant light drawn around the head of a saint. ] Every person has a aura surrounding him/her.It is for us to dig the qualities within us and make it appear to the world.

I hear people saying "machii...the grass is always green on the other side da".

Explanations:
#1 Arent we watering our grass?
#2 Is the grass really green on the other side or is it illusion?
#3 Are we failing to see the greener-grass on our side?

My Rendezvous with Bangalore Roads

Yesterday was the first time that i hit the B'lore roads in a bike(Honda Activa).Due credits should be given to one of my colleagues who happened to leave for vacation and wanted me to 'take' of the bike. Hence, I was thrust upon the responsibility of taking 'care' of the bike.As always with great powers, comes great responsibilities - and i did take care of the bike by taking it out on a 23+km ride.

I had to attend the ET Brand Equity Quiz at 6pm and had to go from Dairy Circle to Chowdaiah Hall(near Sankey Road). I got a flavour of how 'bad'the roads are.My pillion rider(Punit) was my navigator , as I was totally illiterate about the maze-of-roads in Bangalore. I must say the roads are 'decorated' with pothholes and bumps. You hit upon unexpected speed-breakers and hitler's trenches(yet to fing the bunkers).There was a particular speed-breaker that had a 'trench' in it.Punit got a big-shot in his ass :-).But, not all roads are bad - a particular stretch near MG road is good; but i feel due to the prescence of the army cantonment near by and the other offices, the Govt cant afford to ignore its state.(I miss chennai roads[esp ECR] and the beasant nagar beach like hell)

I was totally flabbergasted on my return 'journey'. The roads were completely different and i could hardly understand the topography of the region.The funda behind 'One-ways' amuses me a lot.

I do not have a digi-cam or a cam in my phone, or else i would have photo-blogged this experience.

I am quite optimistic about the new Govt's policies and am looking forward to a better looking Bangalore with much better roads.


Aptly, Bangalore : Beware - "Dangerous Curves Ahead" (no pun intended)!