Yelagiri Trekking

This trip deserves a special mention as it exposed me to some hardcore trekking for the first time. I was totally out of energy yesterday to post it, and gathered some today to post about it. Saturday morning, 3.30 AM we were awake and successfully disturbed those sleeping in our friend's home. At 4.50AM we were out and on the way to Majestic. Luckily we got a bus to Majestic. Thats where our luck ends. Reached Majestic at 5.30 or so to see a three loooong queue for taking tickets. Waiting to get the tickets meant, we will have to travel to Jolarpettai standing for two hours. Since we travelled together as a group, the trouble was esily overshadowed in the fun we had during the journey.

After finishing the breakfast at Jolarpettai, we were on the way to Yelargiri. One unique feature of the route to Yelagiri is that the hair pin bends are named after tamil poets like "Pavendar valaivu", "kabilar Valaivu" etc. Yelagiri seems to be a small town, left undisturbed till now and Yelagiri people seem to live closely with the nature. First stop was at Poonganur lake, a small artificial lake which looked ok and did not attract us very much. After that we started our trek to Jalagampaarai falls. We trode along examining the reasonably developed Yelagiri, with hotels lining both sides of the road. We had a different opinion about Yelagiri before we went there.

The trek to Jalagampaarai was a lot tiresome as we started at around 11.00 AM when Sun was ready to suck the full energy. On the way we found Mr.Raman, who from then acted as our guide. Good that we met him, it could have been really difficult to find the way. Mr. Raman, who could be easily around 55 to 60, astonished us with the stamina and strength he possessed. He rarely stopped in the 10KM trek. We were left with no other option than to run behind him :) Anyway we covered around 10KM trek in around 4 hours with very few stops except for the a long stop for lunch. It was sad to sight few plastic papers even in those untrodden hills.

We were lucky, since there was some water was tickling in the falls, hence we were able to take bath and derive some satisfaction. The most important part of the trek is that we stayed in tent. This is the first time i had stayed in tent. We started back to Bangalore the next day after having "Kaara Panniyaaram". Together we managed to eat 50 panniyaarams. To our surprise it costed us just Rs. 50.Yet another sign, Yelagiri is yet to be spoiled. We made sure that we don't disturb Yelagiri by throwing the plastic covers, and carried dozens back to bangalore to be disposed safely. The only disappointing fact about the trip is that there are not much scenic spots that would gather the attention.

Before i end, people in the trip include Muthukumar Anna, Deivapalan, Rajaguru, Sai, Nachiappan, Praveen and myself. Check out my picasa and stay in touch with the same, as there are more snaps to follow,

http://picasaweb.google.com/sens2003/YelagiriTrekking#

So there ends yet another memorable trip.

Naan Kadavul

Naan Kadavul, the much waited Bala's movie created a lot of news even before it was released and continues to do the same, three days after it got released. I did go through the reviews, and everybody seems to be enthralled by the movie. I belong to the small group which seems to have a different opinion, AFAIK.

So is the movie so bad ? No, not at all. But it failed to impress me for reasons i am not sure. Probably since cruelty and brutality was a little more than my tolerance level. Before going to the movie, i heard that the movie is all about Aghori Sadhus. I had even read the wiki about them (Preparations for the movie :)) but it turned out to be a film about the beggars and the pitiable life they lead. Bala has handpicked each and every character and has sketched athe role with full perfection and i failed to find a flaw. He also deserves an applause  for tuning Pooja and make her look exactly like that of a blind gypsy. It took minutes to realize that the girl singing in train is actually Pooja. Pooja, is exceptionally remarkable in her performance and can hope for an award.

I know i haven't said anything about Arya. Blame Bala for that. Arya's role is very minimal except for walking at a rapid pace like a sadhu, uttering few slokhas and two fight sequence at the end. Though Arya shines in the Aghori sadhu role, he does not get much opportunity. Wondering why it required three years during which Arya did not act in any other movie.

A lot of work has gone behind each and every scene. Bala has sculptured it a lot carefully. There are many situational comedies through out the movie but it gets overshadowed by the acts of the merciless villain. I don't know his name but he has done a commendable job. Though it is a wonderful depiction of the cruelty mended to the poor, think it has bit too much for me, hence i could not get myself to the position of liking it.

I usually don't mention the story. Sorry if you had come here searching for it.

"Record Breakers"

"Record Breakers" is how i fondly call the Indian cricket team, the most acclaimed team in India. Do they break records so often ? No, Not at all. So why that name ? They break the dreams of a team which is on the verge of setting a record. AFAIK, i would quote breaking the conitnous wins of Australia in test cricket.

I am thinking about adding Nadal also in the list :) But the difference between, Men in Blue and Nadal is that, Nadal himself is on the path to making history. Atleast thats what i feel as i could not see any other "Record Breaker" grooming. Enough of Nadal, i am not a Nadal Fan. I adore the way Federer play. Since i was at home, i did see the final match between Federer and Nadal. Great match, both played well. Federer was one victory short of making history and he succumbed to that pressure :( Other than that his shots were as beautiful as they used to be before few years. Still at 27 he has a long way to go. Hope he comes back strong and wins few more titles and continues to be the king.

Licensed to Drive

Got my four wheeler driving license at last after months of self imposed delays.It came as a birthday present as i chose that date for taking the test. Experiences in the RTO office was the same in the past, and it has not changed now, hope it changes atleast in the future. If you don't go via a broker or Agent, you will never be able to get what you want in a day. Though there are boards advising not to go via agents, it falls on the deaf ears of the employees and also the people. Though there are counters, there is absolutely no information about the steps you need to follow. Agents and the employees seem to be reaping rich.

Hope situation changes. Anyway i think i will not be stepping into RTO office for another 15 years.

2008

Just after the 8 days vacation i am here back in bangalore. With few minutes left to start to office, i am trying to recollect what happened during 2008, that is worth to post in this blog. So it is going to be a bit personal so you can stop reading here if you wish.

Anyway 2008 was an uneventful year and not much happened through out the year.

Not much to comment about the job.
Saw too many movies in theater and through CDs and DVDs. No new year resolution to reduce that also :) So i expect the same situation will prevail in 2009 also.
The best part of last year is the trips along with my friends and seniors, lets see whether i can get them in the correct order.
Jan - Kollimalai, Shivasamudra, Bandipur, Mysore
Feb - Chennai
April - Goa
September - Jog, Murudheshwar
Oct - Tirunelvezhi
Nov - Trichy.
For the first time in lifetime saw a cricket match in stadium. Went to the IPL T20 match between Chennai Superkings and Banglore Royal Challengers.
My sis was blessed with a baby girl and i had a great time playing with the kid.
Attempts to learn hindi and kannada went in vain and almost dropped the idea by end of the year.
For the first time started reading tamil novels with Kalki's Ponniyin Selvan and soon completed Sivagamiyin Sabatham and Parthiban Kanavu.

I am not sure whether i have missed something. Since memory is not willing to cooperate, ending the post now.

Just one resolution for 2009,

Try to come home early :) I tried and failed a lot many times last year trying to do this. Lets see whether i can make that a habit this year :)

Happy New Year.

Ghajini (Hindi) - गजनी

After a long time i woke up today early in the morning when it was still cold outside. After a long time i had got up before 7.00 and i was amused by the fact that is was for a movie, that too in a language i am not fluent in. Ghajini got released in Hindi, today and i was there at 10.00AM at the "Sri Balaji" theater to get the tickets. After a long time i got an opportunity to see the first day first show of a movie and it happens to be the first hindi movie to be seen in theater spending money from my pocket. The main reason was because of all the hype and the expectations set by the movie. Also the film was special since it marked the introduction of Asin in Bollywood.

The movie lived upto the expectations. The movie was faithfully and dutifully copied frame by frame from the tamil version, except for the climax which differed a lot. So it gave a sense of satisfaction even for those who have seen the tamil version a lot many times. Instead of Sanjay Ramasaamy you have Sanjay Singhaniah and instead of chennai it is Mumbai and instead of tamil you have hindi. I might have got this feeling, if not for the beautfully made climax, which not so well crafted in the tamil version. Director Murugadoss has worked a lot on identifying the scenes that can be changed so that it is a lot meaningful. The best part of the movie is Asin, who is meticulous in showing the face reactions. Her face reflects the mood and totally allures the audience. Though all the scenes, dialogues and at times the costume was exaclty similar to that of the tamil version, i remained glued to the seat barely producing signs of motion whenever Asin appeared. When Asin is comical, the theater erupts in laughter, when she faces some ordeal, i noticed a pin drop silence. Looks like with Ghajini she has laid a strong foundation and can build upon that to establish a strong career in Bollywood. Aamir plays his role with ease but you could not help comparing Surya with Aamir and often conclude that Surya was a bit better in few scenes. Wont mention about the movie.

But anyway the movie is awesome and soon it might find its way into this year blockbusters. Worth seeing even if you had seen that tamil version many times.

P.S. - Thought the spelling for Ghajini is गजिनी but noticed it was गजनी in posters.

Side(u) Middle(u) Berth(u)

That day the train was on time for a change. Myself and Musi got into the S8 coach without wasting time. For some reason we often get seats in S8  and lot of interesting incidents happen whenever weravel in S8. The first reaction once we got into the coach was a sign of relief. The coach did not have a side middle berth. This side middle berth seems to be a ingenious idea of a sincere government servant. On the first sight the concept looked quite ok to me. Side middle Berth meant more seats to lie down and dream for the entire night. But thats the only thing you can do, if you get up a little
fast from your sleep, you will end up banging your head on the side upper berth. The most haunting part is the way in which thereservations are made and how the seats are allocated. The way in which seats are allocated is based on the old algorithm based on 72 seats per coach, so once you board it is just confusion with all people in coach proposing their own ideas on how seats are allocated. To confuse this further you have two numbers written near every seat. The confusion will continue till the TTE arrives. One TTE preferred not to do that and we were forced to sleep on the side berths, which in no way is convenient taking the height factor into consideration.

So that explains why we were happy on seeing the missing SMB. We made ourselves comfortable and started our discussion that ranges from modern day Asin to historic Kundavai. But that did not last long, soon we were disturbed by few people who claimed the seats belonged to them. Soon there were around four people checking the tickets. Everything looked perfect, except for the date of journey. We had reserved seats in S8 for the return journey. For the onward trip it was on S5. Once we realised that we were wrong, we did not stay there for more than one second. Ignoring the  smiling faces we walked away and never turned back.

S5 was in utter chaos, the reason was the SMB and two set of numbers written near every seat. Grrrrr once again there were theories floating around. Atlast TTE came around 11.00 and claimed that there is no change in the seating arrangements. The side middle berth is not to be used, which means the old numbering will be followed. But the confusion did not end, as people who boarded at the next station in the middle of the night had no other option other than waking up the people who are lost in dreams.

The final decision still remains unclear, will it continue to be like this, will it be discontinued. Hope government officials resolve it soon.

The Trichy Trip

Had gone to trichy two weeks back to attend see Senthil reluctantly putting an end to his Bachelor life but willingly stepping into the role of a family man. Finally found time today to blog about it. As usual, the preparations for the trip started a long time back, even the marriage preparations might not have happened at that time. And as usual after lot of discussions we decided on starting on saturday morning to Trichy. After a long time i enjoyed a bumpy ride in our normal TNSTC bus with attention oscillating between the "Sivagamiyin Sabatham" and the movies that were played in the bus. Conductor made sure that nobody slept in the bus and played the movie in full volume.

Reached Salem at 3.15 and from there started to Trichy. After a bit of reading, a little of discussion the tiring bus journey came to an end and we were at Trichy. From then started that eating spree. The marriage was grand, and food was just great. For two days every inch of space in the stomach remained occupied.

We did not have enough time to visit the temples around Trichy. When the initial plan was made, we had the plans of visiting all temples but once we started the trip we knew . Fortunately with help of Praveen we were able to visit kallanai and thiruverumbur temple. The recent rains have helped cauvery to cause enough damage to the nearby villages and we could see that on the way to kallanai or Grand anaicut, the dam built by Karikaala Chozhan before 2000 years. Due to the recent floods, water was diverted to Kollidam. The water gushing out of the opened shutters with great force creating a pattern and giving a illusion of standing in a ship was a wonderful sight. After visit to Thiruverumbur, we returned back to Bangalore pledging to return back to Trichy to visit the places we had missed this time. After reading Kalki's book the curiosity to visit the temples has increased a lot. Lets see how the plans go.

Home made office lunch

Inspite of the recession, customer escalations & annoying managers one thing that is to be appreciated about the software companies is, they always come up with something for the engineers to sway away from the work a little. Though most of them turn out to be favorites of management which they claim is good and voluntarily force you to enjoy, sometimes we do enjoy it. One such event happened in our office last week. Last friday we had a section cook off. Every team member was made to bring some home made food and a grand buffet was arranged in office. Not so sure how much one needs to spend to get a buffet like that. As far as bachelors like me, we had taken our empty stomach and participated only in eating. Anyway, it turned out to be a great event. There was almost all items that i could think off. To name a few, chicken briyani, chicken roast, chicken curry, egg masala, vegetable briyani, fried rice, aloo parota, chapathi, dahi vada, coconut rice, gulab jamun, carrot halwa, curd rice etc etc. For a guy who feeds on hotel food daily they all tasted delicious and i did not leave any item untasted. For the first time i ate food in office allured me. Thought it needs to be  remembered, so there goes the post.

What followed that is two customer escalations, which forced me to work from dawn to dusk in the weekend :( but that is a different story better when not thought about.

Vaaranam Aayiram

I liked the movie very much, it lived up to my expectations, looks like this is the best comment that can be made. Generalization might lead to argument. The movie has created mixed response and has kept people at two extremes, one who feel the movie is too good and another section who feel the movie too sentimental and moves at snail's pace. I was totally mesmerized by the movie and would love to see the movie once again. The story is about the life of younger version of Surya guided by his affable and responsible father, who is none other than the older version of Surya. I am not revealing the storyline more than this. Gautam Menon and Surya's hard work needs to be applauded, as they have worked really hard and achived success in showing the transition of Surya as ages from a mischievous school student to responsible Major in Indian army. What happens in between forms the story.

Though it is Surya who occupies every frame, the three heroines have used the little opportunities and make a little impression. The highlights of the movie are the songs and the romantic scenes between Surya and Sameera. Thamari's lyrics blended with Harris Jayaraj music and Surya's dance add strength to the movie. Almost all Surya's dialogue seem to begin with "Daddy" which tests your patience a bit. I am not sure about how many people will accept Surya's family using English to converse most of the times, even in critical situation they seem to stay away from their mother tongue. We have no clue on Gautam's  choice but it does suggest that the movie is intended for only one section of the audience. Other than the movie is great and does make an impact. It is better not to believe the reviews as there is a very high probability of you ending up liking the movie. Hope this film turns out to be a hit.