Once my friend claimed, Bing can identify you using 128 different parameters and can store all the searches you have done so far. Though i dont bing, i know Google has control to more parameters has more data. It is equally frustrating when Facebook asks "how far from <here> do you live ?", and claims it will customize my experience based on that. Very rarely i think about these seriously. This post is the result of one such thought.
Back in college, i had the habit of doing egoistic searches. Will type my name or email address in Google and feel happy if i get few pages of search results. It gave a sense of false significance. I tried doing it a while ago, after so many years. Now it is a bit alarming when i see my name or information listed there. While i do pay some attention to this and try to keep things private, with the number of websites i have account in, this was expected. What set me off was this site called "yatedo". Yatedo is a people search engine, but how it operates seems to be a little different. Yatedo scraps information from your public profile and creates its own Yatedo profile page, will all the information including links to blog posts. If you do not want it, you have to opt out :-) Pretty cool, huh ? Atleast the creators thought so.
Who gives them the information ? It is us. Google/Facebook/LinkedIn, usually change their privacy policies, give you a two page essay to read. Never have i bothered to check it out, but i do change the settings and try to avoid displaying a lot of personal details as public. What i missed, Yatedo caught. A lot of debate is already happening in the web about Yatedo, but they manage to stay safe hiding behind some French law, which once again i never bothered to check. Read this in Quora, if you are not aware - http://www.quora.com/Is-Yatedo-illegal-How-do-I-delete-my-Yatedo-profile-which-was-created-without-my-consent. For a while I was furious about being ignorant, but when i saw most of my friends do have an yatedo profile, i felt a little ok :P The quora link has information on how to delete the information and how to make your stuff private, if you want to. After doing the steps in the link, also try to request google to remove it from search results - https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/removals
This is part of a big problem. It is always scary to think about what Google/Facebook/LinkedIn do with the data. While facebook does provide a way to deactivate your profile, linkedin does not even have an option. You can only disable your public profile. I never bothered to check about Google, because i am not planning to do it anytime. It is tough to get out of the web created by Google. Google has simplified a lot of things and that has made me totally dependent on it. When i store a contact in my android phone, i choose my google account as the one where the information should go. Considering that i format, root, install a different ROM or keep testing my phone now and then, storing in google looks like a good option to make sure i don't lose my contacts anytime.
As a last point, How far can companies benefit from this frivolous data. I have no clue, i have less idea about Big data, what exactly are the data they are looking at, how exactly can they use the data in decision making. Recently i received a amazon gift voucher from Amazon for Rs.100, for taking up a survey and letting them know about my shopping preference. If Amazon is willing to pay Rs.100 to get views of a guy who is not a avid shopper, may be it is safe to assume that companies are looking for data seriously. What if they have the data from which they can guess. Do companies like Google possess such data. What about governments ? Will be happy if they are not. This episode of "Numb3rs" TV serial episode seems to be on related lines - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWaxF0U5y28 watch if you have 40 minutes.
"Google is Skynet" looks like a pretty valid statement. I am not sure about that, only thing i am sure is i will not be the one that the terminators will come searching for :D :D :D As of now I am in a state of rest with incomplete data, feeding data to Google and getting few things done easily from them. As Newton said, need a external force for any change in action. Will continue to do so till acted upon by external force.
Showing posts with label Rants. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rants. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 04, 2015
Monday, February 23, 2015
Whats up!!!!!
Long time since i blogged. The last year appraisal(blog report) from wordpress showed 2014 was pretty bad :-) Wordpress sugar coated the report with some nice stats and encouraging words but the fact was I had a total of 3 blog posts in 2014 with the last post coming on May, 2014. Yep, it didn't make sense to trouble everyone with the details about the mundane life. While review of movies, treks and travels looks repetitive, others were too personal to share in this space. It is this thought process that blocks most of the blog posts from getting published.
A sense of ennui has crept in as years passed by and the childish excitement seems to be missing. It is tough to keep the child in you active for a long time. Without that everything looks quite normal and ordinary :-) Let us blame it on the civilization and the society :-) Civilization seems to have screwed up the priorities. Though our needs look no different from that of any other animal species, we seem to be following a very convoluted process. Enough of philosophy. From the way the human species has successfully multiplied and established itself eradicating the other species, probably it makes more sense to follow the process with eyes closed :D :D :D
Anyway 2014 has been a very interesting year with few unforgettable moments. A lot of interesting things happened personally. Few important decisions made. Reading habit has reduced a lot. I was trying to read the tamil book Kaval Kottam, and it turns out to be a book which i may not finish. Did go on few treks with the last one being Nishanimotte @ Coorg, Karnataka, but chose not to blog about them. Mullayanagiri - Kemmangundi full trek still remains incomplete, with one more attempt made during 2014 monsoon which ended again halfway at Bababudangiri. Lets see what 2015 has in store.
A sense of ennui has crept in as years passed by and the childish excitement seems to be missing. It is tough to keep the child in you active for a long time. Without that everything looks quite normal and ordinary :-) Let us blame it on the civilization and the society :-) Civilization seems to have screwed up the priorities. Though our needs look no different from that of any other animal species, we seem to be following a very convoluted process. Enough of philosophy. From the way the human species has successfully multiplied and established itself eradicating the other species, probably it makes more sense to follow the process with eyes closed :D :D :D
Anyway 2014 has been a very interesting year with few unforgettable moments. A lot of interesting things happened personally. Few important decisions made. Reading habit has reduced a lot. I was trying to read the tamil book Kaval Kottam, and it turns out to be a book which i may not finish. Did go on few treks with the last one being Nishanimotte @ Coorg, Karnataka, but chose not to blog about them. Mullayanagiri - Kemmangundi full trek still remains incomplete, with one more attempt made during 2014 monsoon which ended again halfway at Bababudangiri. Lets see what 2015 has in store.
Tuesday, February 18, 2014
Auroville Marathon
It all started with our friend Vanniaperumal asking us to join him for a trip to Pondicherry. He had plans of participating in the Auroville marathon. He has taken up running as hobby for some reason and is spending good amount of time discovering the streets in his village. It was long since we went for a trip together. With the trekking gang disintegrated escaping out of bangalore on some trip was becoming a rare phenomenon. So decided to join him for the trip and for some reason registered for the the marathon as well. We had not given too much of thought on whether it was possible to complete, what sort of training it required etc.
The training started a month before the marathon with a 10K run in lalbagh. 10KM on the first day was not a good idea, we realized it the hard way completing it mostly by walking and taking 1 hour 40 minutes. That day it dawned upon us that 21KM is going to be a daunting task and requires a lot of practice. Tried running in the morning for sometime but sleep is more precious than these stuffs. So hit the gym @ office in the evening for the first time in life. I had decided never to visit a gym but to remain healthy by doing routine activities. But i had no other option this time and started running 3 to 4 KM daily.
Running was fun. Running 21KM was self imposed punishment. Realized that when we decided to try 21KM before the marathon day and tried the same in lalbagh. It took 3 hours 20 minutes, with some running and lot of walking. End result was a lot of pain and walking style like a duck after that. But we knew it was achievable. Few more days at the gym and a week of rest, we were ready for the marathon on Feb 9. Atleast we thought we were.
Went to Pondicherry on Feb 8. Visited Auroville and collected the BIB. Liked the atmosphere in Auroville and how organized they were. After some roaming around Pondicherry and enjoying the TN cuisines in their original taste, visited auroville in the night again as Vanni had registered the pasta dinner. That dinner helps in running better next day it seems :-) Mani and myself assumed idly and dosa does the same and had that for dinner. Came back to room and rested. Should say, i did relish the food in pondicherry.
Auroville was bustling with activity when we reached at 5.30AM. This time there were more than 2000 participants for the half marathon alone so it was crowded. I was supposed to start in the first wave of 600 @ 6:15AM, while vanni and mani were in the wave that started at 6.25AM. The marathon started sharply at 6:15AM and i started running without much plan, with the only intention of finishing it without injuries. Soon i was running a decent pace, overtaking the slow runners and in sight of the leaders. Thanks to the gym, was able to maintain the pace for sometime but soon settled to the speed i am comfortable with, around 8-8.5KMPH. Was excited every time i crossed every KM mark, but as time progressed 1KM looked a little elongated. Could not stop thinking the organizers are playing some cruel trick and increased the distance. Anyway, at the end of an hour, i had completed 8KM. Was able to maintain the pace and completed 10KM in 1 hour 15 minutes.
10KM was a sign of achievement, soon a signal from the cerebrum asked me to slow down. I could see a lot of people from second, third and fourth wave overtaking and disappearing. Since it was expected didn't care much. But when girls overtook, there was a tight slap on the ego, but body and mind were in unison and made sure there was no increase in the speed. But no sign of Vanni and Mani. At the second hour i completed around 15KM and around here, Vanni crossed me, uttered few words hastily and ran ahead. Mani was nowhere in sight.
After 15KM, succumbed to the pressure of mind and started walking. Tried doing it at a reasonable pace, but dont think i achieved it. It was also turning hot, which was acting as a deterrent. Continued walking till 20KM in the next 50 or so minutes. After 20KM, not sure what motivated me, is that the crowd near the finishing line or the gal who was irritating me by overtaking me and then walking in front and doing the same once i crossed her, i suddenly got some energy to run again. When it was around 300 meters from the finishing line, found that there is a chance to complete the marathon within 3 hours. Was pumped up in seconds and started sprinting. It felt like sprinting, probably was running at a decent pace. Not sure where the energy had vanished after 15KM, and how it returned. Atlast the finish line was in sight, body ached, gasped a little for breath but completed the marathon at last in around 2 hours 59 minutes. Target achieved.
I am still not sure, how running 21KM is fun :-) But wont deny getting a medal and posing for a photo, though it is your own camera did give a momentary happiness. A sense of achievement and completion that is missing in this adult life. I was not comparing myself with others, nor did i find think about how will it help in future, what i had was a childish joy of accomplishing something though it could be worthless. In that way, it was fun indeed. Now i am running few KMs in gym daily. Looks like there is one marathon on the way, lets see if i run in that as well.
The training started a month before the marathon with a 10K run in lalbagh. 10KM on the first day was not a good idea, we realized it the hard way completing it mostly by walking and taking 1 hour 40 minutes. That day it dawned upon us that 21KM is going to be a daunting task and requires a lot of practice. Tried running in the morning for sometime but sleep is more precious than these stuffs. So hit the gym @ office in the evening for the first time in life. I had decided never to visit a gym but to remain healthy by doing routine activities. But i had no other option this time and started running 3 to 4 KM daily.
Running was fun. Running 21KM was self imposed punishment. Realized that when we decided to try 21KM before the marathon day and tried the same in lalbagh. It took 3 hours 20 minutes, with some running and lot of walking. End result was a lot of pain and walking style like a duck after that. But we knew it was achievable. Few more days at the gym and a week of rest, we were ready for the marathon on Feb 9. Atleast we thought we were.
Went to Pondicherry on Feb 8. Visited Auroville and collected the BIB. Liked the atmosphere in Auroville and how organized they were. After some roaming around Pondicherry and enjoying the TN cuisines in their original taste, visited auroville in the night again as Vanni had registered the pasta dinner. That dinner helps in running better next day it seems :-) Mani and myself assumed idly and dosa does the same and had that for dinner. Came back to room and rested. Should say, i did relish the food in pondicherry.
Auroville was bustling with activity when we reached at 5.30AM. This time there were more than 2000 participants for the half marathon alone so it was crowded. I was supposed to start in the first wave of 600 @ 6:15AM, while vanni and mani were in the wave that started at 6.25AM. The marathon started sharply at 6:15AM and i started running without much plan, with the only intention of finishing it without injuries. Soon i was running a decent pace, overtaking the slow runners and in sight of the leaders. Thanks to the gym, was able to maintain the pace for sometime but soon settled to the speed i am comfortable with, around 8-8.5KMPH. Was excited every time i crossed every KM mark, but as time progressed 1KM looked a little elongated. Could not stop thinking the organizers are playing some cruel trick and increased the distance. Anyway, at the end of an hour, i had completed 8KM. Was able to maintain the pace and completed 10KM in 1 hour 15 minutes.
10KM was a sign of achievement, soon a signal from the cerebrum asked me to slow down. I could see a lot of people from second, third and fourth wave overtaking and disappearing. Since it was expected didn't care much. But when girls overtook, there was a tight slap on the ego, but body and mind were in unison and made sure there was no increase in the speed. But no sign of Vanni and Mani. At the second hour i completed around 15KM and around here, Vanni crossed me, uttered few words hastily and ran ahead. Mani was nowhere in sight.
After 15KM, succumbed to the pressure of mind and started walking. Tried doing it at a reasonable pace, but dont think i achieved it. It was also turning hot, which was acting as a deterrent. Continued walking till 20KM in the next 50 or so minutes. After 20KM, not sure what motivated me, is that the crowd near the finishing line or the gal who was irritating me by overtaking me and then walking in front and doing the same once i crossed her, i suddenly got some energy to run again. When it was around 300 meters from the finishing line, found that there is a chance to complete the marathon within 3 hours. Was pumped up in seconds and started sprinting. It felt like sprinting, probably was running at a decent pace. Not sure where the energy had vanished after 15KM, and how it returned. Atlast the finish line was in sight, body ached, gasped a little for breath but completed the marathon at last in around 2 hours 59 minutes. Target achieved.
I am still not sure, how running 21KM is fun :-) But wont deny getting a medal and posing for a photo, though it is your own camera did give a momentary happiness. A sense of achievement and completion that is missing in this adult life. I was not comparing myself with others, nor did i find think about how will it help in future, what i had was a childish joy of accomplishing something though it could be worthless. In that way, it was fun indeed. Now i am running few KMs in gym daily. Looks like there is one marathon on the way, lets see if i run in that as well.
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
The Dying Democracy
“Democracy is a device that ensures we shall be governed no better than we deserve.” - George Bernard Shaw
Lets say, I have 100 Rs and i want to buy something. I go to a shop pay 100 and get it. The shop owner gets the 100 rupees, but is under the assumption that the product he sold me was given to me due to his great efforts and decides to remind me about his benevolence by printing his name, family name and his photo everywhere in the product. And the cost incurred to engrave them should also be paid from my pocket. I think it is right to feel irritated.
All this comes after buying a Rs.10 water bottle at the bus station, the famous "Amma Kudineer" water bottle that is sold at the bus stations in Tamilnadu. There is a green sticker with CM's smiling photo and the word "Amma Drinking Water". Above the sticker is a symbol of two big leaves. Everyone in Tamilnadu knows that is the symbol of AIADMK party. They can't have that. So on top of the two leaves there are two more smaller leaves. Now it is not a party symbol any more, but point delivered. Towards the bottom of the water bottle, once again it has the word "Amma" engraved in English on one side and in Tamil on the other side. The only mention about a government body involved was in "Processed & Packaged by State Express Transport Corporation Tamilnadu Ltd" in very small letters, which you can find only if you want to find. To me it looked a lot despotic.
The plan as such is a good move, was received with great acclaim, considering that earlier we ended up paying 15 - 20 Rs for sub-standard low quality water. Let us also assume that since India is a developing nation, all the tax money is spent in other activities and is not possible for government to give free and hygienic water at public places. Only problem is it is made to appear like a benevolent act for which I should be grateful, while it is nothing but a duty of the elected governemnt. A name and symbol related to the government might have left me satisfied something like "Rail Neer" as introduced by IRCTC which does not carry any officer's or ruler's photo.
No i do not support DMK, i despise the nepotism that exists in that party. I do not have high hopes on the so called secular congress that seems to be corrupt, and on Modi who has pledged to take country towards progress. I do agree, this is not an issue, when compared to the blatant violation of democracy that we see in a lot of instances. This is just another reminder of what our rulers are. And when i see people happy about atleast something happening, it reminds that we have brought democracy to a very low level with our ignorance. As a kid, I believed a lot when leaders talked about the country becoming super power, but it looks more like many many assumptions that vanished into thin year when i started becoming older. The current situation looks exactly similar to the story in "Animal Farm" by George Orwell, a revolution followed by a constitution that aims at equality which eventually ends in despotism and nepotism and slavery. Recommend you to read, if you haven't done so, and you will realize that we are no different than the horses and donkeys of the "Animal Farm" :-)
Saturday, June 08, 2013
It vanished, took time to understand why but it had gone. It had deserted me completely. I felt alone. Everyday i discovered new ways to kill time. Attempts to bring it back went in vain. Finally it came to me few months back, the long lost habit of reading something now and then. I was not a voracious reader who consumes several booksin a month, but i did have the habit of completing few good books in a year.
All was fine, until i picked up "The Brief History Of Time" by Stephen Hawking. Around 190 pages of pure science written in a way that could be understood by normal people. The book was awesome without doubts. Not sure whether the concepts can be clearly explained in a very simple language any better. I had studied Physics @ school for 7 long years, with the only intention of scoring marks. That had defeated the purpose of learning altogether. Remembering all the details presented in the book will be difficult but you will understand why and how one should learn Physics. Though the explanation was simple enough, it does require a lot of concentration to grasp the concepts. I had to read through the pages again and again to understand the concepts better. And that was the difficult part. Gradually, my mind came up with ways to stop reading, found alternatives to kill time or better pushed me to sleep once i started reading. Finally completed the book sometime around Feb 2013. I had started reading on March 2012. Sigh!!!!
Then, it was back, the reading spree, the urge to read at-least few pages daily, the urge to sacrifice sleep if necessary. Started with two tamil books suggested and lent by Subramani. Visumbu (விசும்பு) and Avvulagam (அவ்வுலகம்). Visumbu is a collection of short stories, each an attempt by Jeyamohan at science fiction. Liked a few, but was not enthralling. But Avvulagam (அவ்வுலகம்) was of different genre. It was the story of an old guy, moments before death where he gets to think about what happened in life and answers to the unanswered questions in his life. Each page had something to offer. Rightly named Avvulagam (அவ்வுலகம்), it turned out to be a different world indeed.
At this point, with all books that i had exhausted started the search for something to read at leisure. Heard a lot about "A Song of Ice and Fire" and it was in the queue and ordered "A Game Of Thrones". Aim was to complete the books and before starting with first episode of the HBO TV series which i heard is also fantastic. Did not take much time to get involved and from then on quite a few sleepless nights have passed by. Continued with the "A Clash of King" and now in "A Strom of Swords: Steel and Snow". The plot thickens with every chapter and unanswered questions continue to pile, my own theories of what will happen continue to be built, this is turning out to be a great great read. A fantasy series after a long time and it is turning out to be worth every penny spent.
There was a gap when i had completed "A Game Of Thrones" and was waiting for "A Clash of Kings". Got "The Motorcycle Diaries" to read during a day time train travel. Removing the hype around Che Guevara, it was a travelogue through unknown places in South America. Their unflinching desire to explore their continent on a 500cc bike did inspire a lot. The book also captures plight of mine workers, the native incan, the sorry state of the hospitals etc etc and how it transforms Che through out the journey. But to me it was more of a travelogue of two relentless travelers which urges you to explore the world.
As of now and for few more months from now, it will be "A Song Of Ice And Fire".
All was fine, until i picked up "The Brief History Of Time" by Stephen Hawking. Around 190 pages of pure science written in a way that could be understood by normal people. The book was awesome without doubts. Not sure whether the concepts can be clearly explained in a very simple language any better. I had studied Physics @ school for 7 long years, with the only intention of scoring marks. That had defeated the purpose of learning altogether. Remembering all the details presented in the book will be difficult but you will understand why and how one should learn Physics. Though the explanation was simple enough, it does require a lot of concentration to grasp the concepts. I had to read through the pages again and again to understand the concepts better. And that was the difficult part. Gradually, my mind came up with ways to stop reading, found alternatives to kill time or better pushed me to sleep once i started reading. Finally completed the book sometime around Feb 2013. I had started reading on March 2012. Sigh!!!!
Then, it was back, the reading spree, the urge to read at-least few pages daily, the urge to sacrifice sleep if necessary. Started with two tamil books suggested and lent by Subramani. Visumbu (விசும்பு) and Avvulagam (அவ்வுலகம்). Visumbu is a collection of short stories, each an attempt by Jeyamohan at science fiction. Liked a few, but was not enthralling. But Avvulagam (அவ்வுலகம்) was of different genre. It was the story of an old guy, moments before death where he gets to think about what happened in life and answers to the unanswered questions in his life. Each page had something to offer. Rightly named Avvulagam (அவ்வுலகம்), it turned out to be a different world indeed.
At this point, with all books that i had exhausted started the search for something to read at leisure. Heard a lot about "A Song of Ice and Fire" and it was in the queue and ordered "A Game Of Thrones". Aim was to complete the books and before starting with first episode of the HBO TV series which i heard is also fantastic. Did not take much time to get involved and from then on quite a few sleepless nights have passed by. Continued with the "A Clash of King" and now in "A Strom of Swords: Steel and Snow". The plot thickens with every chapter and unanswered questions continue to pile, my own theories of what will happen continue to be built, this is turning out to be a great great read. A fantasy series after a long time and it is turning out to be worth every penny spent.
There was a gap when i had completed "A Game Of Thrones" and was waiting for "A Clash of Kings". Got "The Motorcycle Diaries" to read during a day time train travel. Removing the hype around Che Guevara, it was a travelogue through unknown places in South America. Their unflinching desire to explore their continent on a 500cc bike did inspire a lot. The book also captures plight of mine workers, the native incan, the sorry state of the hospitals etc etc and how it transforms Che through out the journey. But to me it was more of a travelogue of two relentless travelers which urges you to explore the world.
As of now and for few more months from now, it will be "A Song Of Ice And Fire".
Sunday, January 20, 2013
Bus Diaries #1 - KPN
Subramani arrived at 9.55PM as usual 5 minutes before the departure and went ahead to check the ticket. As expected, there was a change. The Thisaiyanvillai Bus supposed to pick us up at 10PM broke down on the way and they had to arrange an alternate. This is the second time, i heard the same story for the same bus from K.P.N. Few months before, they had called me up at 8.30PM and asked me to come at 9.00PM to the boarding point. This time, they offered seats on a sleeper that was scheduled to leave at 10.00 PM. Improvement!!! Can't complain i guess :-) Boarded the bus wondering, why the Thisaiyanvillai bus breaks down every now and then or is there something fishy happening. After a few confusions with seat allocations, we were given upper berths. Sleeper bus gives you an opportunity to stretch your legs and get into sleeping position, but keeps the mind in panic state since every sharp turn gives a feeling of falling from somewhere (Thookam varum aana varathu).
Three hours later @ 1.30AM, reached Salem. 220KMs in 3 hours. Decided to set the alarm to wake up early as it looked like it may not take more than 3hrs to reach the destination. So far so good. 2hrs later, heard the driver calling for 4 passengers to shift to a new bus, 5 minutes after that learnt that bus has developed a mechanical problem. At this point, KPN one of the biggest transport corporation in South India gave its passengers only one option, shift to a different KPN bus which might pass through that route and where seats might be available. One by one passengers got down, and waited in the highway, bearing the cold weather and hoping for some KPN bus to arrive and pick them up. Amidst all the chaos, a snoring sound reverberated inside the bus. Somebody was in sound sleep. Blessed should be the one who can sleep amidst all the sound, unmindful of what was happening and not worried about the next step. Who could it be ? Vera yaaru namma Subramani thaan.
Around 5 to 10 passengers had found an alternative and around half of the crowd was still waiting. No alternative arrangements made. Spent the next one hour waiting in the cold, and hoping we would find some KPN bus with free seats. Unfortunately all that crossed were full. Few passengers could not digest the fact that they had paid exorbitant money but and left stranded in the middle of the road with no alternative arrangements and took it up with the driver and had a talk with the KPN head quarters. The only result was increase in passenger's blood pressure as both the driver and people at the head quarters remained unresponsive (pimpilika pilapi thaan). KPN transport which boasts best service and customer satisfaction neither had a spare bus nor a mechanic and no way to track which bus could accommodate us. After around 90 minutes of wait, a bus from Sharma travels had some seats left and we had to pay Rs. 250 for the remaining 1.5hrs of journey.
My roommate came in the 9.15PM KPN bus the next day and looks like his bus too broke down around the same place and the same solution was offered it seems. Seriously wonder, is this some kind of trick ? What haunts more is that the unresponsive staff.
So what next ? Though IRCTC sucks big time, and tatkal booking is near to impossible task, try to stick to train as much as possible and keep KPN as the last option.
Three hours later @ 1.30AM, reached Salem. 220KMs in 3 hours. Decided to set the alarm to wake up early as it looked like it may not take more than 3hrs to reach the destination. So far so good. 2hrs later, heard the driver calling for 4 passengers to shift to a new bus, 5 minutes after that learnt that bus has developed a mechanical problem. At this point, KPN one of the biggest transport corporation in South India gave its passengers only one option, shift to a different KPN bus which might pass through that route and where seats might be available. One by one passengers got down, and waited in the highway, bearing the cold weather and hoping for some KPN bus to arrive and pick them up. Amidst all the chaos, a snoring sound reverberated inside the bus. Somebody was in sound sleep. Blessed should be the one who can sleep amidst all the sound, unmindful of what was happening and not worried about the next step. Who could it be ? Vera yaaru namma Subramani thaan.
Around 5 to 10 passengers had found an alternative and around half of the crowd was still waiting. No alternative arrangements made. Spent the next one hour waiting in the cold, and hoping we would find some KPN bus with free seats. Unfortunately all that crossed were full. Few passengers could not digest the fact that they had paid exorbitant money but and left stranded in the middle of the road with no alternative arrangements and took it up with the driver and had a talk with the KPN head quarters. The only result was increase in passenger's blood pressure as both the driver and people at the head quarters remained unresponsive (pimpilika pilapi thaan). KPN transport which boasts best service and customer satisfaction neither had a spare bus nor a mechanic and no way to track which bus could accommodate us. After around 90 minutes of wait, a bus from Sharma travels had some seats left and we had to pay Rs. 250 for the remaining 1.5hrs of journey.
My roommate came in the 9.15PM KPN bus the next day and looks like his bus too broke down around the same place and the same solution was offered it seems. Seriously wonder, is this some kind of trick ? What haunts more is that the unresponsive staff.
So what next ? Though IRCTC sucks big time, and tatkal booking is near to impossible task, try to stick to train as much as possible and keep KPN as the last option.
Monday, December 31, 2012
54, 55, 56... Beautiful Girl... Pause.. The costume suited her perfectly. Her command over the language was excellent. If you don,t pay attention to the subject being discussed, you can just keep seeing her jaws go up and down accompanied by beautiful reactions. Soon a guy joined the discussion. Even to someone who would not understand the language, their tone will set the context that they are discussing about something that they consider as the burning problem. I waited, for i knew soon they would soon be joined by another five other guys who claim to be experts on the subject being discussed. As expected they joined and discussions ensued and the guy and gal worked hard to make sure the discussion continued without reaching any consensus. Looked like a nice job to me, let two people talk, keep adding fuel to the fire on both ends, make them make mistakes, focus on the mistakes for the next hour and conclude something stupid at the end.
This is the scene in any private news channel in the country. They seem to be spending more time in playing with the people emotions than reporting news. Every news is a breaking news. While they talk in length about the victory of Indian cricket team in some match, praising the captain and players, they discuss in depth about the incapability of the players and the captain if India loses the next day. It is undeniable fact that they work hard to report few problems that we have never noticed, and make sure it gets the due attention. But most of the time, it looks like a carefully scripted drama enacted by high skilled actors.
Enough. 57, 58,59 .. 89. There it was, DD National. Gives me what i wanted, just the NEWS. News readers are old, monotonous and read without reaction. But they just report what happened. Nothing else. Also noticed a program for 30 minutes about astronomy, with neat pictures and graphics and clear explanation.
This is the scene in any private news channel in the country. They seem to be spending more time in playing with the people emotions than reporting news. Every news is a breaking news. While they talk in length about the victory of Indian cricket team in some match, praising the captain and players, they discuss in depth about the incapability of the players and the captain if India loses the next day. It is undeniable fact that they work hard to report few problems that we have never noticed, and make sure it gets the due attention. But most of the time, it looks like a carefully scripted drama enacted by high skilled actors.
Enough. 57, 58,59 .. 89. There it was, DD National. Gives me what i wanted, just the NEWS. News readers are old, monotonous and read without reaction. But they just report what happened. Nothing else. Also noticed a program for 30 minutes about astronomy, with neat pictures and graphics and clear explanation.
Thursday, November 01, 2012
Super User of Android
Not out of interest, but out of compulsion, ended up rooting my android mobile. The 180MB of internal memory in my galaxy ace was too less and it took very little time to run out of space. Decided to root my phone and move the apps to the SD card. Roo
ting of galaxy ace was simple. The internet is full of step-by-step tutorials for the same. The only problem i faced was the universal rooting package for samsung galaxy ace failed to root my phone. Few sites mention about AceGingerRoot.zip, and it did the trick. Check this link - http://rootzwiki.com/topic/23138-how-to-root-your-galaxy-ace-gingerbread/
After rooting the phone, wanted to move the applications to the SD card. The best possible way is to the link2sd app. For this to work properly, you need to create a secondary partition in the SD card. Looks like Android unmounts the first partition of the sdcard, when you try to access the sd card connecting your phone to the computer. By creating a second partition, we make sure we can access the apps all time. There are tools to create the partition in windows like minitool. I used fdisk in GNU/Linux and partitioned the sdcard. Installed link2sd and moved most of the apps to the sdcard. Check these out - http://tutorialfor-android.blogspot.in/2012/06/link2sd-complete-tutorial.html & http://www.xperiablog.net/2011/12/12/link2sd-guide-never-worry-about-internal-memory-limits-again/
Now all i have to think about is the next app to download!!!
ting of galaxy ace was simple. The internet is full of step-by-step tutorials for the same. The only problem i faced was the universal rooting package for samsung galaxy ace failed to root my phone. Few sites mention about AceGingerRoot.zip, and it did the trick. Check this link - http://rootzwiki.com/topic/23138-how-to-root-your-galaxy-ace-gingerbread/After rooting the phone, wanted to move the applications to the SD card. The best possible way is to the link2sd app. For this to work properly, you need to create a secondary partition in the SD card. Looks like Android unmounts the first partition of the sdcard, when you try to access the sd card connecting your phone to the computer. By creating a second partition, we make sure we can access the apps all time. There are tools to create the partition in windows like minitool. I used fdisk in GNU/Linux and partitioned the sdcard. Installed link2sd and moved most of the apps to the sdcard. Check these out - http://tutorialfor-android.blogspot.in/2012/06/link2sd-complete-tutorial.html & http://www.xperiablog.net/2011/12/12/link2sd-guide-never-worry-about-internal-memory-limits-again/
Now all i have to think about is the next app to download!!!
Alive, in memories
Monday, October 15, 2012
The Lapwing Incident
I approached after a tiring 10 hours journey, listening to the sound of the newly arrived visitors to our area. This time it was a pair of birds with light brown feathers, with patches of black and white on other parts of the body. Spent some time in google to find that the name of the bird is red-wattled lapwing. Reaching home, took the binoculars and started observing them for a while. Soon forgot them, and returned to the most important work of changing channels in the television from 0 to end.
After few hours, the sound of the lapwings increased. It was more like a sound of distress. Apart from me, looked like it has also attracted the attention of a old shepherd and she was doing something peculiar. She started going near the birds and kept checking the bushes. Pieces began to fall in place, and i realized that the egg or the chick is in danger. Looks like the lapwings lay eggs on the ground or depressions in ground. The eggs have very little chance of survival and the chicks little better. I kept watching, hoping she does not get what she was searching. The
birds continued to fly around making wild noises. Soon it was all over, She found the chick and its desperate attempt to escape was foiled with the long stick she had in hand. I watched!!!
She wrapped the chick carefully and left, the birds left with nothing to guard and i stood there thinking hard. The birds look better adapted than men. For the old lady it is a chance to taste meat which she may not get often. But still could not accept it. it felt cruel. Funny in a way, considering that i have no trouble in eating chicken every week :-) It is just like how vegetarians convince themselves that they are not killing anything. Civilization, most of times makes us forget what we really are. Most of the time the rules are twisted. Anyway, my affection towards my area grows exponentially with every incident like this. Looks like when i feel bored with Nat Geo all i have to do is come out of my house and look around :-)
After few hours, the sound of the lapwings increased. It was more like a sound of distress. Apart from me, looked like it has also attracted the attention of a old shepherd and she was doing something peculiar. She started going near the birds and kept checking the bushes. Pieces began to fall in place, and i realized that the egg or the chick is in danger. Looks like the lapwings lay eggs on the ground or depressions in ground. The eggs have very little chance of survival and the chicks little better. I kept watching, hoping she does not get what she was searching. The
birds continued to fly around making wild noises. Soon it was all over, She found the chick and its desperate attempt to escape was foiled with the long stick she had in hand. I watched!!!She wrapped the chick carefully and left, the birds left with nothing to guard and i stood there thinking hard. The birds look better adapted than men. For the old lady it is a chance to taste meat which she may not get often. But still could not accept it. it felt cruel. Funny in a way, considering that i have no trouble in eating chicken every week :-) It is just like how vegetarians convince themselves that they are not killing anything. Civilization, most of times makes us forget what we really are. Most of the time the rules are twisted. Anyway, my affection towards my area grows exponentially with every incident like this. Looks like when i feel bored with Nat Geo all i have to do is come out of my house and look around :-)
Monday, September 03, 2012
"Screwed"
Personally, in my life, August is the month of fall :-) August is when i got my bike. After an year fell down for the first time, on August 4th, when my bike skidded off a muddy road. Escaped with a few scratches that time. This year, i was not all that lucky on August 21 :-)
A confused guy on the bike, decided to take a hard left from middle of the road.No indicators, no signals and no botheration about the traffic behind. Unfortunately, i was closely following him with a decent speed. Too close for even disk brakes to be of any use. Brakes, crash and i was on the road. Fortunate there were no other cars behind, unfortunate that i landed on my left knee, taking the full impact on it. I had followed all the traffic rules, except for the most basic one, expect idiots on Indian roads. Expecting people to adhere to traffic rules is a luxury that is not to be expected on Indian roads. I do see a lot of super geniuses daily who feel that the red signal is for the weak and stupid, and choose to ignore it.
Anyway the guy was little considerate, stopped and asked sorry repeatedly and asked whether i need a drop to home. I was feeling ok that time, so i picked up my bike and started home without help. The bike also didn't suffer any major damage except for a scratch on the body guard. Later realized, he had given me all the burden of his mistake with the apology. What started as a small pain in the knee, became a huge swelling. The trouble started with a night without sleep and in pain. Next day, went to the hospital and the x-ray revealed fracture in the knee cap. The only fix was screws and bolts and threads to fix them up. Sad part, I will have to spend considerable time in hospital, after so many years.
The operation happened a day after and the knee cap, patella was put on place using screws. It was fun to see how doctors and helpers prepare for an operation. They were relaxed, discussing about their vacation leaves, cracking jokes, just like how I start fixing a bug in the code. The guy being operated on was usually referred by the bone he has broken. So my name inside was patella :-) Learned that they do around ten to twelve operations daily most of which are result of bike accidents and quite serious.
The post operation effects were a matter of concern. But when you are in pain, all you have to do is look around. I was surrounded by people with even more serious injuries in the post operation care unit. To name a few, people with broken rib cage, broken hip, crushed leg bones, hips replaced etc etc. The guy with crushed rib cage was not able to swallow a tablet. The most horrible one was a twelve year old kid with amputated leg after a bike injury :( Half of them can be averted if people start paying a little respect to traffic rules, change lanes with little sense and try driving a little predictably.
Slowly recovering from the injury and the operation. It is going to take a few more weeks to get back to normal. Life moves on, may it is just a reminder that you can be shaken and broken in less than seconds :-)
A confused guy on the bike, decided to take a hard left from middle of the road.No indicators, no signals and no botheration about the traffic behind. Unfortunately, i was closely following him with a decent speed. Too close for even disk brakes to be of any use. Brakes, crash and i was on the road. Fortunate there were no other cars behind, unfortunate that i landed on my left knee, taking the full impact on it. I had followed all the traffic rules, except for the most basic one, expect idiots on Indian roads. Expecting people to adhere to traffic rules is a luxury that is not to be expected on Indian roads. I do see a lot of super geniuses daily who feel that the red signal is for the weak and stupid, and choose to ignore it.
Anyway the guy was little considerate, stopped and asked sorry repeatedly and asked whether i need a drop to home. I was feeling ok that time, so i picked up my bike and started home without help. The bike also didn't suffer any major damage except for a scratch on the body guard. Later realized, he had given me all the burden of his mistake with the apology. What started as a small pain in the knee, became a huge swelling. The trouble started with a night without sleep and in pain. Next day, went to the hospital and the x-ray revealed fracture in the knee cap. The only fix was screws and bolts and threads to fix them up. Sad part, I will have to spend considerable time in hospital, after so many years.
The operation happened a day after and the knee cap, patella was put on place using screws. It was fun to see how doctors and helpers prepare for an operation. They were relaxed, discussing about their vacation leaves, cracking jokes, just like how I start fixing a bug in the code. The guy being operated on was usually referred by the bone he has broken. So my name inside was patella :-) Learned that they do around ten to twelve operations daily most of which are result of bike accidents and quite serious.
The post operation effects were a matter of concern. But when you are in pain, all you have to do is look around. I was surrounded by people with even more serious injuries in the post operation care unit. To name a few, people with broken rib cage, broken hip, crushed leg bones, hips replaced etc etc. The guy with crushed rib cage was not able to swallow a tablet. The most horrible one was a twelve year old kid with amputated leg after a bike injury :( Half of them can be averted if people start paying a little respect to traffic rules, change lanes with little sense and try driving a little predictably.
Slowly recovering from the injury and the operation. It is going to take a few more weeks to get back to normal. Life moves on, may it is just a reminder that you can be shaken and broken in less than seconds :-)
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Cine Time
There are times, when you may be sitting peacefully at home and relaxing, and some weird plans pull you out, slowly and steadily into disaster. Dont step into wild imaginations, i am talking about usually ending up watching a totally crap movie. Around two years back, we woke up on a sunday morning, skipped breakfast and rushed to a theater to see a movie. When we reached the theater, learnt that they timings are changed and they were running a different movie. At the end we watched Sura, which was running in a different theater in the same area. Sura was a movie which i had decided not to watch it at all. Tamil people will understand the feelings better :-)
Today was one such day. Myself & Subramani were sitting in my home with absolutely no plans for the night, other than dinner and peaceful sleep. Sudden plans, quick actions, 14KM travel and we were at Balaji theater for the night show of the movie, "Eppadi Manasukkul Vanthai". I heard about the movie just an hour back and wondered whether that was a right decision. Director of the movie helped a lot in arriving at a conclusion very early. It was a disaster. We had spent 100Rs, around 4 hrs of the time, a good dinner and the probability of getting a headache was terribly high. Tried watching, with the hope that i would find something good somewhere. Should admit my defeat, the director was very skillful in hiding the good things. Somehow didn't like the heroine too :( So qualifies to be called a perfect disaster. Had decided not to post movie reviews in blog, but realized there could be exceptions. What was more disturbing was, trying to justify murders that the hero commits in the name of love. Abusing the mysterious word called Love, it is only in this part, the movie is like other tamil movies.
Anyway for the records, i have seen around 10 tamil movies released this year in theater so far. Impressive, considering the number of times i used to visit theater during my school and college days :-)
Today was one such day. Myself & Subramani were sitting in my home with absolutely no plans for the night, other than dinner and peaceful sleep. Sudden plans, quick actions, 14KM travel and we were at Balaji theater for the night show of the movie, "Eppadi Manasukkul Vanthai". I heard about the movie just an hour back and wondered whether that was a right decision. Director of the movie helped a lot in arriving at a conclusion very early. It was a disaster. We had spent 100Rs, around 4 hrs of the time, a good dinner and the probability of getting a headache was terribly high. Tried watching, with the hope that i would find something good somewhere. Should admit my defeat, the director was very skillful in hiding the good things. Somehow didn't like the heroine too :( So qualifies to be called a perfect disaster. Had decided not to post movie reviews in blog, but realized there could be exceptions. What was more disturbing was, trying to justify murders that the hero commits in the name of love. Abusing the mysterious word called Love, it is only in this part, the movie is like other tamil movies.
Anyway for the records, i have seen around 10 tamil movies released this year in theater so far. Impressive, considering the number of times i used to visit theater during my school and college days :-)
Monday, June 18, 2012
Travel Time Gossips
X: Why she should call me up and dictate me how I should drive. I am applying brakes often it seems. What else should I do, bang the vehicle in front ?
Y: What was your response ? Did you agree to what she said ?
X: No
Y: good.. if you start saying yes now, you will have to do for the rest of your life.
The conversation continued as I settled down in my seat, as usual it was the upper berth, the undisturbed berth and continued to listen to them when eyes lazily scanning lines of the book in hand. I know i wont be reading much that day, eavesdropping was so much fun. X was still a bit furious. He was not clearly happy with his mother-in-law teaching him how to drive a bike and when to apply brakes over phone. While the conversation between two married guys is funny, the conversation between married couples is a bit scary, atleast for the bachelors.
From what i guessed, most of them seem to happen after the couple visit their in-laws and return back to bangalore. Once there was this young couple who decided to settle everything in the train itself. Though it was not serious, but nothing close to fun. It was a stiff argument between them, with the gal and the guy quoting numerous examples supporting their parents and against their in-laws. The gal was cute but sharp in words. She complained of his attitude towards her parents, and was stressing on the point how bad her parents felt and how the guy should have responded. The guy proved he has a good memory power too. It started when the train started from my home town and went non-stop for hours before i decided to sleep.
Once saw a little older couple and the ways they used to handle was ripe with maturity. The guy was like a rock, the lady poured like rain. Only action from him was nod of the head at times. He looked like an expert at handling these issues. To a bachelor, he was a walking example. When i look at things like this, just get paranoid about all these marriage stuff and later get convinced thinking they could just be exceptions. Hopefully time will have an answer :-)
Y: What was your response ? Did you agree to what she said ?
X: No
Y: good.. if you start saying yes now, you will have to do for the rest of your life.
The conversation continued as I settled down in my seat, as usual it was the upper berth, the undisturbed berth and continued to listen to them when eyes lazily scanning lines of the book in hand. I know i wont be reading much that day, eavesdropping was so much fun. X was still a bit furious. He was not clearly happy with his mother-in-law teaching him how to drive a bike and when to apply brakes over phone. While the conversation between two married guys is funny, the conversation between married couples is a bit scary, atleast for the bachelors.
From what i guessed, most of them seem to happen after the couple visit their in-laws and return back to bangalore. Once there was this young couple who decided to settle everything in the train itself. Though it was not serious, but nothing close to fun. It was a stiff argument between them, with the gal and the guy quoting numerous examples supporting their parents and against their in-laws. The gal was cute but sharp in words. She complained of his attitude towards her parents, and was stressing on the point how bad her parents felt and how the guy should have responded. The guy proved he has a good memory power too. It started when the train started from my home town and went non-stop for hours before i decided to sleep.
Once saw a little older couple and the ways they used to handle was ripe with maturity. The guy was like a rock, the lady poured like rain. Only action from him was nod of the head at times. He looked like an expert at handling these issues. To a bachelor, he was a walking example. When i look at things like this, just get paranoid about all these marriage stuff and later get convinced thinking they could just be exceptions. Hopefully time will have an answer :-)
Sunday, May 06, 2012
The Local Guardians
He woke up and stretched his legs trying to get rid of the laziness of the early morning. The city was still asleep. Not everybody get to enjoy the silent morning that will soon be ruined by the vehicles. Looking at the path, he waited for what has become the most important time of his day. Atlast Siri arrived looking happy as usual with Mr. Raj. She walked past, barely noticing him just like any other day and Mr. Raj as usual gave a look of hatred. Siri, has been his crush for the past two years, apparently lean, deceivingly calm and incessantly beautiful. She has a silky hair and seems to be a little proud about and keeping tossing it every now and then. Ooops!!! masala, tangential to the primary story which is supposed to be just about men. Bruno was on the other side noticed Mr. Raj and Siri, and growled out of fear. Mr. Raj was prepared. He hurled the stones in hand like missiles targeted at enemy. Bruno vanished out of sight, with a wail, think he got hit. Mr. Raj glowed with happiness. It is for this reason, he hates men like Mr. Raj. Like Bruno, he was an Indian mongrel, born on the streets but now under the shelter of humans. Most of the times it is the kids who give names to the dogs on streets, and that is how Bruno got the name, Bruno.
Mr. Raj loves dogs. But to him Mongrels don't come under that category. His love for dogs comes with **conditions apply. Just like any local products, mongrels not preferred by most of the local people :-) They are loyal, adorable, possess all qualities of dog and come for free. Probably somebody should attach a price tag to them to make them valuable to men. Not that he wants men to take them home and feed them, the best thing the humans can do is at least not bother the poor street dogs A doctor nearby tests his air gun every now and then by firing at the mongrels in streets. He usually gets disturbed when he hears the wailing sound of the dogs running after getting hit. Irony is that the doctor too owns a dog and claims to love dogs. Mr. Raj and the doctor would discuss about dogs for hours, about different breeds, their rates and what they are planning to buy next. They do love mongrels, but the expectation is not to bark at their dogs by any chance, and to submit themselves and let the men and their pets do whatever they want.
The life of Indian mongrels is one of the toughest to endure. At times born on the sides of the road, the initial days depend mostly on luck. Mistakes are fatal. The curiosity to explore the world ends under the tyres of two wheeler or four wheeler. Men seem to have evolved a very complex process to survive and these vehicles help them a lot in running behind too many things that they consider important, which he cannot comprehend. Though the ultimate purpose might be just like him, to live and sustain their species, their process process is simply complex. Most of the time, it would directly or indirectly affect nature and make men look like weapons of mass destruction. Co-existence is unknown to men. Men have made so many species extinct. Funny part is the campaign which they start at the end to save them. Most of the time they are not sure whether they want to kill or whether they want to save. Anyway, the most powerful species does whatever it wants.
Though the dogs have managed to live with men, still life of mongrels in street is a big challenge. The daily hunt for food, escaping the vehicles, tackling the different moods of men is difficult. At times they run searching for a hiding place, when men come in huge vehicle to catch them, and get them killed/sterilized. A check by humans to make sure that the dog population stay in control it seems. They could have avoided a lot of problems if they had controlled theirs in first place. Anyway, he is not intelligent enough to understand the ways of men, and he is grateful to god for the same.
Pets at home have the best life. Keep wagging the tail, and live comfortably. There are few owners who spend a huge money and find a powerful mate too ;) Life will be smooth, till they become old. He had seen few people taking their old dogs away and leaving them at remote places to spend their final years. Had always wondered what happens to them, how would they cope at the old age without any idea about the rules of the street. Anyway, Can't complain, humans do the same to old humans too. Some are very kind, they make sure their pets don't suffer the old age, and end their life. So Kind.
His life has been smooth from the day he moved into this family. Struggle has stayed outside his life. But for other mongrels, they continue to be the unappointed guardians of the streets, waging their tails to every human, loyal to the biscuits shared, guarding their home, at times guarding the kennels where their pets are sold, not expecting humans to adopt them and give a luxurious life, but expecting some mercy to let them lead their lives.
Mr. Raj loves dogs. But to him Mongrels don't come under that category. His love for dogs comes with **conditions apply. Just like any local products, mongrels not preferred by most of the local people :-) They are loyal, adorable, possess all qualities of dog and come for free. Probably somebody should attach a price tag to them to make them valuable to men. Not that he wants men to take them home and feed them, the best thing the humans can do is at least not bother the poor street dogs A doctor nearby tests his air gun every now and then by firing at the mongrels in streets. He usually gets disturbed when he hears the wailing sound of the dogs running after getting hit. Irony is that the doctor too owns a dog and claims to love dogs. Mr. Raj and the doctor would discuss about dogs for hours, about different breeds, their rates and what they are planning to buy next. They do love mongrels, but the expectation is not to bark at their dogs by any chance, and to submit themselves and let the men and their pets do whatever they want.
The life of Indian mongrels is one of the toughest to endure. At times born on the sides of the road, the initial days depend mostly on luck. Mistakes are fatal. The curiosity to explore the world ends under the tyres of two wheeler or four wheeler. Men seem to have evolved a very complex process to survive and these vehicles help them a lot in running behind too many things that they consider important, which he cannot comprehend. Though the ultimate purpose might be just like him, to live and sustain their species, their process process is simply complex. Most of the time, it would directly or indirectly affect nature and make men look like weapons of mass destruction. Co-existence is unknown to men. Men have made so many species extinct. Funny part is the campaign which they start at the end to save them. Most of the time they are not sure whether they want to kill or whether they want to save. Anyway, the most powerful species does whatever it wants.
Though the dogs have managed to live with men, still life of mongrels in street is a big challenge. The daily hunt for food, escaping the vehicles, tackling the different moods of men is difficult. At times they run searching for a hiding place, when men come in huge vehicle to catch them, and get them killed/sterilized. A check by humans to make sure that the dog population stay in control it seems. They could have avoided a lot of problems if they had controlled theirs in first place. Anyway, he is not intelligent enough to understand the ways of men, and he is grateful to god for the same.
Pets at home have the best life. Keep wagging the tail, and live comfortably. There are few owners who spend a huge money and find a powerful mate too ;) Life will be smooth, till they become old. He had seen few people taking their old dogs away and leaving them at remote places to spend their final years. Had always wondered what happens to them, how would they cope at the old age without any idea about the rules of the street. Anyway, Can't complain, humans do the same to old humans too. Some are very kind, they make sure their pets don't suffer the old age, and end their life. So Kind.
His life has been smooth from the day he moved into this family. Struggle has stayed outside his life. But for other mongrels, they continue to be the unappointed guardians of the streets, waging their tails to every human, loyal to the biscuits shared, guarding their home, at times guarding the kennels where their pets are sold, not expecting humans to adopt them and give a luxurious life, but expecting some mercy to let them lead their lives.
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Invisible Boundaries!!!
Caution: Feel free to stop reading after this line, nothing of great importance below.
Walked slowly through the cold bangalore streets in half sleep. We entered our house after a full ten day vacation at hometown. It didn't take time to realize that somebody has been spending their vacation in our house when we were not there. The plastic covers were out of the fridge and floating across the kitchen. Not that we keep it cleanly stacked, but dont leave it in the path. And there it was. Shit!!! That is the last thing we wanted in our house, which gets cleaned only when one of us feel probability of survival has gone really low. A bit of exaggeration, if you had missed it. Anyway, news was that the little pigeon felt it can use our house as its home when we were away, entered through the gaps in the exhaust fan and had freely roamed around freely, pooping wherever it felt.
Decided to put an end and covered the gaps in exhaust fan with plastic covers. Relief i thought. Next day i was woken by the cooings of a Pigeon. Continued for further few days. Looks like we had actually done it a favour by closing it and providing a good place to build its nest. Oops bad idea!!! The kitchen was getting more nasty.
Last Sunday, i was hyper active, decided to clean the house, heard the cooing sound, removed the plastic covers, cleaned the nest under construction and switched on the exhaust fan. All was fine, till the bird returned, sat in the opposite wall and started searching
for the nest!!! That did make me feel like a real bad guy :( :( Felt pity for the pigeon, felt angry on myself for disturbing a home. The pigeon looked helpless & confused. It has not done anything wrong, only that it crossed an invisible boundary. I was remorseful.
What to do ?What else, take a photo of it and decide never to let it come near our home to save all the troubles.
Walked slowly through the cold bangalore streets in half sleep. We entered our house after a full ten day vacation at hometown. It didn't take time to realize that somebody has been spending their vacation in our house when we were not there. The plastic covers were out of the fridge and floating across the kitchen. Not that we keep it cleanly stacked, but dont leave it in the path. And there it was. Shit!!! That is the last thing we wanted in our house, which gets cleaned only when one of us feel probability of survival has gone really low. A bit of exaggeration, if you had missed it. Anyway, news was that the little pigeon felt it can use our house as its home when we were away, entered through the gaps in the exhaust fan and had freely roamed around freely, pooping wherever it felt.
Decided to put an end and covered the gaps in exhaust fan with plastic covers. Relief i thought. Next day i was woken by the cooings of a Pigeon. Continued for further few days. Looks like we had actually done it a favour by closing it and providing a good place to build its nest. Oops bad idea!!! The kitchen was getting more nasty.
Last Sunday, i was hyper active, decided to clean the house, heard the cooing sound, removed the plastic covers, cleaned the nest under construction and switched on the exhaust fan. All was fine, till the bird returned, sat in the opposite wall and started searching
for the nest!!! That did make me feel like a real bad guy :( :( Felt pity for the pigeon, felt angry on myself for disturbing a home. The pigeon looked helpless & confused. It has not done anything wrong, only that it crossed an invisible boundary. I was remorseful.What to do ?What else, take a photo of it and decide never to let it come near our home to save all the troubles.
Thursday, February 02, 2012
Short Story of a Blog post
Some random thought at some random place. The thought looks so great!!!! Somewhere from the convolutions the command comes, go blog it and archive it forever. The command is supported with a steady flow of ideas. Under those situations there is never a shortage of words. The continuity of thought amazes me. Seldom do i get so many ideas. The mind fills up the content in few minutes with the similes, oxymorons, metaphors etc etc. The post is ready. Waits in the mind searching for opportunity to upload into the wordpress servers. Alas!!! Thats when you are far away from the digital world. The mobile connectivity too decides to take a break. Anyway a decision is made, a blog about it will be made in future about it.
The second half, when actually the thoughts are getting converted to bits and bytes. Vaguely remember the title chosen initially. Unfortunately, most of the time seems to be happen after midnight, after hours of browsing facebook(dont know for what), looking after a randon nonsense bug or a movie. The search for thoughts starts. The head was full of ideas when it first originated. Now it feels like a read from /dev/zero :( :( Ok sleep on the keyboard for 10 minutes after typing the first paragraph. Wakeup and save it as draft.
Now, the conclusion. It is no longer an interesting post that was in the mind. Rather an unfinished job. And it does disturb a lot. So on a day when some bugs dont get fixed, need something to complete and feel satisfied. Logon, add a little more BS, complete it and publish. Voila!!! Atlast a post is made and here it is!!!
The second half, when actually the thoughts are getting converted to bits and bytes. Vaguely remember the title chosen initially. Unfortunately, most of the time seems to be happen after midnight, after hours of browsing facebook(dont know for what), looking after a randon nonsense bug or a movie. The search for thoughts starts. The head was full of ideas when it first originated. Now it feels like a read from /dev/zero :( :( Ok sleep on the keyboard for 10 minutes after typing the first paragraph. Wakeup and save it as draft.
Now, the conclusion. It is no longer an interesting post that was in the mind. Rather an unfinished job. And it does disturb a lot. So on a day when some bugs dont get fixed, need something to complete and feel satisfied. Logon, add a little more BS, complete it and publish. Voila!!! Atlast a post is made and here it is!!!
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Shravanbelagola - Bike Trip
"Hampi" i said. Sai approved, and added if not anyone both of us will complete the trip. Ok, that was encouraging, if not Hampi, the probability of breaking out of bangalore was more that weekend. Soon Hampi was ruled out due to lack of crowd. Skandagiri was rejected since night trekking was no longer allowed there. Funny part, looks like few Policemen use it to bribe money from visitors. Even in bangalore, traffic police work with full force on weekends!! Anyway leave that. So the final option was Shravanabelagola - a jain piligrim center. And it was planned to be a bike trip. Exciting (to think)!!!!
The plan was to start early before bangalore wakes up. Sai took the job of disturbing the dreams and accomplished it with perfection. Started at around 6.20AM with free roads and early morning chillness to tackle. The ride was smooth, as the Unicorn and Apache sped at 80 to 90 KMPH till we reached NH4. After that the speedometer wobbled between 90s and 100s and at times above that too. Fun, it was. Can call it madness/risk or whatever. But the fingers had gone numb, felt more like a wood holding on to the clutch and accelerator. Sun popped up slowly and it was battling against the early morning chillnesswhen we reached Bangalore - Mangalore highway. The highway was free, the silent Unicorn glided at 90-100 KMPH. Cool breeze, early morning sun, a smooth bike, free highway everything was in our favour. Those bike advertisements are true, you can forget even if it is a girl sitting behind. The four lane road ended, and we took the SH to Shravanabelagola with 18KMs left to cover. We had reached there in exactly 3 Hrs, with 3 pit stops few of which were considerably long.
Finished breakfast and took 10 minutes to reach the top of first peak, Vindhyagiri. ASI has done some work, maintaining the structures, but cementing them has spoiled the architectural beauty. Highlight was the 57ft Gommatheshwara statue. Same story with Chandragiri too. The temple complex also houses few beautiful temples. At the top there was Chandragupta Paduke. After a while came down and started back to bangalore with a full watermelon packed. The journey was once again smooth, till we reached the bangalore in the evening. Back to maddening traffic and pothole filled roads. Anyway a welcome break, it was.
Photos - https://picasaweb.google.com/sskganesan/ShravanaBelaGolaBikeTrip, https://picasaweb.google.com/111446569907392516250/Shravanabelagola?noredirect=1
The plan was to start early before bangalore wakes up. Sai took the job of disturbing the dreams and accomplished it with perfection. Started at around 6.20AM with free roads and early morning chillness to tackle. The ride was smooth, as the Unicorn and Apache sped at 80 to 90 KMPH till we reached NH4. After that the speedometer wobbled between 90s and 100s and at times above that too. Fun, it was. Can call it madness/risk or whatever. But the fingers had gone numb, felt more like a wood holding on to the clutch and accelerator. Sun popped up slowly and it was battling against the early morning chillnesswhen we reached Bangalore - Mangalore highway. The highway was free, the silent Unicorn glided at 90-100 KMPH. Cool breeze, early morning sun, a smooth bike, free highway everything was in our favour. Those bike advertisements are true, you can forget even if it is a girl sitting behind. The four lane road ended, and we took the SH to Shravanabelagola with 18KMs left to cover. We had reached there in exactly 3 Hrs, with 3 pit stops few of which were considerably long.
Finished breakfast and took 10 minutes to reach the top of first peak, Vindhyagiri. ASI has done some work, maintaining the structures, but cementing them has spoiled the architectural beauty. Highlight was the 57ft Gommatheshwara statue. Same story with Chandragiri too. The temple complex also houses few beautiful temples. At the top there was Chandragupta Paduke. After a while came down and started back to bangalore with a full watermelon packed. The journey was once again smooth, till we reached the bangalore in the evening. Back to maddening traffic and pothole filled roads. Anyway a welcome break, it was.
Photos - https://picasaweb.google.com/sskganesan/ShravanaBelaGolaBikeTrip, https://picasaweb.google.com/111446569907392516250/Shravanabelagola?noredirect=1
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Work = Life
Ting!!! Ting !!! The little disturbance amidst "Asku Laska" forced me to switch tabs in my firefox and open the gtalk window. Knew, it would be one among the very few privileged people and it was. Had adorned the cloak of invisibility in gtalk, since i felt that it was disturbing my bug fixing rate, the rate at which i find which variable should be set to 0/1 or which if loop needs an extra condition to fix the high priority bug in the C code. The restriction in Gtalk was one among the self imposed restrictions. Anyway the productivity remained constant, as mind found ways and indulged in other activities, while the friendly chats vanished altogether. Anyway back to the conversation windows, it was my close friend Mr.X who had pinged.
me: not sleeping ?
time should be around 1 ?
X: 12:40
X: back to form after long time..
:)
me: he he he he :)
so how is life going ?
X: nowadays its ok.. not much work too. may be damager has to come..
next week sangoodhuradhukune vandhuruvan..
but poor thing is ur qn was how is life.. and i am answering about work..:(
me: ha ha ha...
yeah sad part..
LOL, I would have given the same reply if somebody had asked me about my "life". From that day started cautiously noticing response of people around me for the question "How is life" and it is the same. It starts with what they are working on, the work load, their manager (most of them simply called as moron), how long they stay in office etc etc etc. One thing to feel happy about is, everybody is on the same boat :)
If not work, what is this life all about ? How should we go about living it ? That is one scary question to ask anyone. Because everybody have their opinion about it and the scary part is most of them will try to thrust it down your throat.
P.S. Anyway, this conversation prevented me from deactivating my Facebook account, which i thought was taking up a lot of time.
me: not sleeping ?
time should be around 1 ?
X: 12:40
X: back to form after long time..
:)
me: he he he he :)
so how is life going ?
X: nowadays its ok.. not much work too. may be damager has to come..
next week sangoodhuradhukune vandhuruvan..
but poor thing is ur qn was how is life.. and i am answering about work..:(
me: ha ha ha...
yeah sad part..
LOL, I would have given the same reply if somebody had asked me about my "life". From that day started cautiously noticing response of people around me for the question "How is life" and it is the same. It starts with what they are working on, the work load, their manager (most of them simply called as moron), how long they stay in office etc etc etc. One thing to feel happy about is, everybody is on the same boat :)
If not work, what is this life all about ? How should we go about living it ? That is one scary question to ask anyone. Because everybody have their opinion about it and the scary part is most of them will try to thrust it down your throat.
P.S. Anyway, this conversation prevented me from deactivating my Facebook account, which i thought was taking up a lot of time.
Friday, December 16, 2011
The Greener Past
[caption id="attachment_359" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="http://i.imgur.com/qWy2u.jpg"]
[/caption]
Stood there at the terrace feeling the cool and gentle breeze from the east. It felt like a child's light kiss. Saw a few cranes, and a peacock searching the fields for food. Delighted, i stood watching the vast expanse of land in front of me. I wished it would remain like that forever. And i knew i would not get a single soul in that area who would similar feelings.
Anyway, quickly traveled back in time and the old memories emerged from the rusted mind. We had shifted to our home from the every crowded, ever friendly colony life. Our home looked remote and desolate, and i quickly decided that the area is lifeless. Soon i was proved wrong. The first rainy season was special. When it rained, the area was became a scenic spot. To us it was like Venice. When we get out, it is just water everywhere. Usually the canals breach their boundaries, and it becomes difficult to differentiate the lake nearby and the area. As usual man made boundaries, wiped off by nature's fury. To others houses floating in water looked funny, to me it was fun. For i got to watch snakes for the first time & crabs too. Anytime i was able to see around 10 snakes in water. Snakes of different colors, different textures. Remember the time, when i ventured into water and a snake slithered in between my legs. Lost in childish enthusiasm, killed a lot when they ventured to land. Should be more than 25 i think. The only snake i have hit and left without killing is a Cobra :-) As myths have it, Cobra's dont forget their offenders and take revenged and kill them. Anyway, I am Still waiting!!!! FYI, i stopped killing snakes after that. Once i saw Cobra mating with another snake in real. Early in the morning, when i am starting to school, would see Mongoose leisurely crossing the street. Everytime i wished, i would see it fighting with a Cobra, but it never happened.
As water drained, different varieties of birds & cranes used to visit the place. Few looked like they had migrated from nearby places. When it becomes dry, we get a flock of peacocks as visitors. Around 10 or 11, used to visit the fields nearby. It was here i was first introduced to Quails (Kaadai) and Grey Francolins (Gowthari). Nomads, occupy the area around the lake with their ducks and we used to visit them at times to get Duck's egg, Cucumber, Brinjal which they grow.
Once as usual was aimlessly watching the fields nearby from the terrace, suddenly saw three dogs in a line running hard with their tongues out. Soon found a wild rabbit at the front. It was mesmerizing to see the rabbit's effortless jumps and the agility. Had the effect of watching Nat Geo in real. After a while, they dogs came back disappointed. At times saw rabbits searching for food and hopping away, when i walk aimlessly through the fields. What i missed that time was a digital camera.
I was lost in those thoughts when sound of the bulldozer brought me back to reality. The land was being cleared and will eventually give way to some apartment or bungalow. The rabbits are no more, the peacocks have reduced, so are cranes, Kaadai and Gowtharis, snakes i haven't seen for a long time and crabs are extinct i guess. What was once a home to snakes, crabs, peacocks, country birds & Rabbits is now an opportunity to make Lakhs & Crores. What if a 4th grade guy shifts to a house in this area now ? What will he do ? Will he lose himself in man made toys and the virtual video games? Will he miss something ? What made man constraint himself to a walled prison and feel proud about it ? With few random crazy thoughts, i watched the bulldozer returning from work. Atlast, the area was slowly turning lifeless!!!!
[/caption]Stood there at the terrace feeling the cool and gentle breeze from the east. It felt like a child's light kiss. Saw a few cranes, and a peacock searching the fields for food. Delighted, i stood watching the vast expanse of land in front of me. I wished it would remain like that forever. And i knew i would not get a single soul in that area who would similar feelings.
Anyway, quickly traveled back in time and the old memories emerged from the rusted mind. We had shifted to our home from the every crowded, ever friendly colony life. Our home looked remote and desolate, and i quickly decided that the area is lifeless. Soon i was proved wrong. The first rainy season was special. When it rained, the area was became a scenic spot. To us it was like Venice. When we get out, it is just water everywhere. Usually the canals breach their boundaries, and it becomes difficult to differentiate the lake nearby and the area. As usual man made boundaries, wiped off by nature's fury. To others houses floating in water looked funny, to me it was fun. For i got to watch snakes for the first time & crabs too. Anytime i was able to see around 10 snakes in water. Snakes of different colors, different textures. Remember the time, when i ventured into water and a snake slithered in between my legs. Lost in childish enthusiasm, killed a lot when they ventured to land. Should be more than 25 i think. The only snake i have hit and left without killing is a Cobra :-) As myths have it, Cobra's dont forget their offenders and take revenged and kill them. Anyway, I am Still waiting!!!! FYI, i stopped killing snakes after that. Once i saw Cobra mating with another snake in real. Early in the morning, when i am starting to school, would see Mongoose leisurely crossing the street. Everytime i wished, i would see it fighting with a Cobra, but it never happened.
As water drained, different varieties of birds & cranes used to visit the place. Few looked like they had migrated from nearby places. When it becomes dry, we get a flock of peacocks as visitors. Around 10 or 11, used to visit the fields nearby. It was here i was first introduced to Quails (Kaadai) and Grey Francolins (Gowthari). Nomads, occupy the area around the lake with their ducks and we used to visit them at times to get Duck's egg, Cucumber, Brinjal which they grow.
Once as usual was aimlessly watching the fields nearby from the terrace, suddenly saw three dogs in a line running hard with their tongues out. Soon found a wild rabbit at the front. It was mesmerizing to see the rabbit's effortless jumps and the agility. Had the effect of watching Nat Geo in real. After a while, they dogs came back disappointed. At times saw rabbits searching for food and hopping away, when i walk aimlessly through the fields. What i missed that time was a digital camera.
I was lost in those thoughts when sound of the bulldozer brought me back to reality. The land was being cleared and will eventually give way to some apartment or bungalow. The rabbits are no more, the peacocks have reduced, so are cranes, Kaadai and Gowtharis, snakes i haven't seen for a long time and crabs are extinct i guess. What was once a home to snakes, crabs, peacocks, country birds & Rabbits is now an opportunity to make Lakhs & Crores. What if a 4th grade guy shifts to a house in this area now ? What will he do ? Will he lose himself in man made toys and the virtual video games? Will he miss something ? What made man constraint himself to a walled prison and feel proud about it ? With few random crazy thoughts, i watched the bulldozer returning from work. Atlast, the area was slowly turning lifeless!!!!
Thursday, November 17, 2011
De-Spectacled
Woke up in the morning, and looked around, and thought for a while how can it look like this now. It took a second to realize and remember. Got down from my unicorn, was about to remove my helmet when something stopped me for a second. Realization. Same happens multiple times, when the hand scratches the space between the eyes. Habit, that i had got used to in the past 12-13 years of wearing spectacles.There is a short story as to why i went for eye checkup before 12 years. Confessions have to be crisp and unclear. If you have any doubts, keep it with yourself, as i wont answer any of them. Anyway, when i was in 7th or 8th, we had a maths teacher, who teaches with great interest and care. And obviously she was strict. Silent whispers, gossips during the class were treated with heavy punishments. It was internal test that day, and i had not prepared well, sitting in the last desk was asking my friend something. Since the rest of the class was in full silence, i was caught. True to the name of friendship, my friend gave all the credit of the mischief to me. End result was i got around 12 out of 25. I Now that was enough to get my mom mood out when she returns from work and for an hour discussion at home. I was thinking about a reason, could not think much, just told the i wrote the question wrong since i could not see it clearly.The discussion ended and the life with the spectacles began.Soon i was adorned with a big, round spectacles. First it was weird, then it became part of life, soon it was the third and fourth eye. Have slept with specs on, not intentionally for dreams, but unintentionally which would leave me with bent specs. Never felt bad for wearing specs, or without specs also it was equally horrible, fortunately/unfortunately ;)
Anyway, thought about the option of lasik once i came out of college. When my parents brought it up, i was against it, as i didn't want to play with eyes. After watching few friends in safe state after years of surgery, decided to go with it. So before one month, did it, and gave rest to my spectacles. Very few friends bought the above reason. Can blame them, at 26 purchase of a pair of kerchief will also be considered as preparation for marriage. May be parents had it in back of mind, to me it was a good opportunity to get rid of the specs.
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