What VB thinks ..

Failure

2008-04-26T02:28:00.004+05:30

Failure .. I think its a scary word. It has always been so for me. If you scourge the net you will find a million quotes and stories saying why failure is important. Some samples:

Failure is the key to success.
Failing is better that doing nothing.
Good people are good because they've come to wisdom through failure. We get very little wisdom from success.
Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.

When you read or listen to these, it seems very nice. These sound even better when you talk to people who experienced failure - you feel your words will do them good. But when it actually hits you, none of this matters. A failure is failure. What you do after it, how you react, and how much it impacts you - it all depends on the individual. The 'nice' quotes never come to your mind, and they dont matter when people tell you the same stuff over & over again. To some, it would even hurt - "Do you think I don't know these things? Please shut up!!"

So what next? Deal with it YOUR way. What is your way? You have to figure it out. Some would just let it hurt till it does, till it goes away. Some would move on without a bother. And some would go nuts. I guess it also depends much on the magnitude of the failure and its impact. It could also depend on the reason of failure. It could also depend on intangibles like ego.

In my book, it would depend on how it changes your life. What would have happened if you had not failed and what will happen because you did. i.e. how hard it hit you. Food for thought, right?

Back from hibernation

2008-04-13T11:28:00.004+05:30

After a long slumber, I am back. And I have a story - about what pushed me quicker to this page. While I was not 'writing' blogs, I was actually 'reading' blogs. And I read lots & lots of them. Some of those blogs became a habit (will put up a list sometime), and the list kept growing.

One blog which I used to read earlier (last year) was my ex-DM's blog. Now who is a DM? In simple words, the DM is the boss of the boss of my boss!! I stopped reading his blog after he went into hibernation, similar to what I did over two months, and I just thought I'll check if he's back. He indeed was, and that was 3 months back!

While I read all his blogs, there was one where he listed blogs of his friends with name of the author and the blog link. Obviously the list would have blogs which he likes. The last one (I think there were 6) was "Varun's blog" with a note saying "I misplaced the link. Varun, if you read this, send me the link again." That got me thinking. Was he talking about me? I didn't think so. Because we didn't know each other much and I didn't even know if he knew I had a blog!

But I could not resist the temptation and sent him an email, asking whom was he talking about. And soon he responded - it was indeed this blog he was referring to! I was surprised but very happy. And that also told me that I need to get back to writing ASAP.

So there you go. Time to start again. Especially for folks who read my blog. Thank you!!

Blog switched off :(

2008-03-11T08:02:00.003+05:30

I know I know - no blog in more than a month is almost a crime. It's not that I don't have enough time, but somehow the blogger in me has just switched off. Usually a blog just happens - something will urge me to write about it and I just do it. But that has not happened and here I am - writing this bewildered blog! I hope this is going to end soon. So folks please keep coming back - I will be back with some good stuff very soon.

Till then, good bye ...

कृष्ण की चेतावनी

2008-02-03T05:43:00.001+05:30

Today I got a very good Hindi poem as a forward - 'Madhushala' by Harivansh Rai Bachchan (for the uninitiated - that's Big B's father). It was fun to read the poem after so many years. You can read it here. That in-turn reminded me of school and of my favourite poem in school - 'Krishna kee chetavani' by Ramdhari Singh 'Dinkar'. But I could not find the poem on the net.

Some research revealed that it was actually not a poem but was created by pulling out parts of a much longer poem called Rashmirathi. I and another friend had memorized the poem in school and tried to remember it. To my utter disbelief, I could recollect most of it!! So I wrote down what I remembered. Some more serious search helped me find something - scanned images of most pages of Rashmirathi. It was diffucult to find the part (Krishna kee chetavani) in it but finally I got it, and that helped me correct errors in the what I wrote.

Thanks to Google's indic transliterator, the whole thing could be converted to Hindi fairly easily. Here it is:
कृष्ण की चेतावनी

वर्षों तक वन मी घूम-घूम, बाधा-विघ्नों को चूम-चूम,
सह धुप-धाम पानी-पत्थर, पांडव आए कुछ और निखर,
सौभाग्य न सब दिन होता है,
देखे आगे क्या होता है I

मैत्री की राह बताने को, सबको सुमार्ग पर लाने को,
दुर्योधन को समझाने को, भीषण विध्वंस बचने को,
भगवन हस्तिनापुर आए,
पांडव को संदेशा लाये I

'दो न्याय अगर टू आधा दो, पर, उसमे भी यदि बढ़ा हो,
तो दे दो केवल पाँच ग्राम, रखो अपनी धरती तमाम,
हम वहीं खुशी से खाएँगे,
परिजन पर असि न उठाएँगे' I

दुर्योधन वह भी दे न सका, आशीष समाज की ले न सका,
उल्टे, हरि को बांधने चला, जो था असाध्य, साधने चला,
जब नाश मनुज पर छाता है,
पहले विवेक मर जाता है I

हरि ने भीषण हुंकार किया, अपना स्वरूप विस्तार किया,
डगमग-डगमग दिग्गज डोले, भगवन कुपित हो कर बोले -
'ज़ंजीर बढ़ा आ साध मुझे,
हाँ हाँ दुर्योधन बाँध मुझे' I

'हित-वचन नही तूने माना, मैत्री का मूल्य न पहचाना,
तो ले अब मैं भी जाता हूँ, अंतिम संकल्प सुनाता हूँ,
याचना नही अब रण होगा,
जीवन जय या की मरण होगा' I

'टकराएंगे नक्षत्र निखर, बरसेगी भू पर वह्नी प्रखर,
फन शेषनाग का दोलेगा, विकराल काल मुह खोलेगा,
दुर्योधन रण ऐसा होगा,
फ़िर कभी नही जैसा होगा' I

'भाई पर भाई टूटेंगे, विष बाण बूँद से छूटेंगे,
वायस श्रुगाल सुख लूटेंगे, सौभाग्य मनुज के फूटेंगे,
आख़िर तू भूशायी होगा,
हिंसा का पर दाई होगा' I

थी सभा सन्न, सब लोग डरे, चुप थे या थे बेहोश खड़े,
केवल दो नर न अघाते थे, ध्रिथ्राष्ट्र विधुर सुख पते थे,
कर जोड़ खड़े प्रमुदित निर्भय,
दोनों पुकारते थे जय-जय I

I hope you liked it! And please let me know if there are any mistakes.

New look !!

2008-01-31T12:23:00.000+05:30

From wierd look to new cool look in 13 days. I know its a bit long in the blog world, but couldn't help it. Became a bit busy with work, and getting rid of the extra image and text due to the template-import-accident took me a painful 2-3 hours. Then re-doing rest of the page and the new template took another one, though this was easier. Better late than never!

So please let me know how you like the new look. Its one of the available templates so nothing great about it. But after the last disaster, I'll need some time to summon the courage to experiment again. But next time I'll have a backup of my current template!!

Hey .. there are some new things too - the newsreel being one of them. Feel free to comment on the changes as well.

Blog in trouble!!

2008-01-17T13:03:00.000+05:30

I know you are wondering why there is this weird look of my blog, and I apologize for that!! In an effort to give a new look to the blog, I tried some customizations and new templates. I was not happy with how it looked and tried to change things - and viola - my blog is in a bad shape.

Now it is in a stage where I will take some time and hard work to set it right! And I reckon 1:30AM on a Wednesday night (Thursday morning to be precise) is not the best time to do it. So now you know what I am going to do this weekend .. obviously fix the problems with this page!! Time for a thorough review of the html code, possibly using Visual Studio, followed by repair.

Apologies again! Please come back next week for a better look!!

13 vs 11

2008-01-09T08:37:00.000+05:30

What am I talking about? Of course, the Sydney test! Everyone and his aunt has talked and written about this and I dont need an elaborate blog on the same topic. So I leave you with a few numbers, views and yes - a very well compiled video.

Poor umpiring decisions happen virtually in every match but 8 in one match and 7 against one team is too much to say the least. Add it up with cheating (yes, cheating) by Symonds, Ponting & Clarke, we had a team of 13 against 11. And as Kumble rightly said - 'Only one team played with the spirit of the game'. So true.

Enjoy this video - it shows all the wrong decisions and unfair play in the match.

Credit to this video goes to ESPN/Star who created it and Mr. chatrapathi6 who put it up on Youtube!!

Winter, my new office in Houston and my b'day gift!

2008-01-04T08:26:00.000+05:30

I had done some homework about the weather before reaching Houston. I was told that its not as cold as north of US, it never snows, and winters are fairly comfy. And summers, they are very, very hot. I landed in winter, 31st December, and it was indeed a comfortable chill - around 10 degree Celsius.

But 2008 had other plans. The mercury dipped constantly, and when I checked the weather today morning, I was amused and intrigued. Amused - because it said "4 degree Celsius, feels like -1 degrees"!!. Intrigued - because it was going to be my first sub zero experience.

Coming back to the forecast - what on earth does "4 degree Celsius, feels like -1 degrees" mean? I figured out soon - the winds make it much colder than the temperature. Makes sense, doesn't it? And yes, it did feel like that. My fingers were numb by the time we reached office - even though it took only 10 minutes and we were in the warm car!! Lately every one has been talking about global warming. But temperatures in lot of places have been hitting their minimum in ages (Delhi, maybe Houston also). Seems more like 'Global cooling' - may be I can take credit for coining this new term!!

Its evening now and still very, very chilly. I never used - rather never had - a jacket. Now it is a must have when I leave home!! So lots of new experiences already in 3 days. Ever seen ducks in a pond in office? I see that everyday. Whoever thought of it might have been a genius. It looks and feels so good! Lots of trees surround the pond, and there are bridges over it and ducks in and around it - all this inside a corporate campus full of swanky buildings, smooth roads and fast cars!!

Contrary to my thoughts, people here are very friendly. Though they tend to respect and expect personal space, once you get talking, they tend to make you very comfortable. I am already friends with Glenn & Harry, and they are not even in my team!! Traffic is very much organized here, and pedestrians are shown respect by car drivers. Folks, don't get carried away - I haven’t spent enough time here yet to find stuff which I didn't like (except food of course!), so lets enjoy stuff which I liked!

And yes, its celebration time! Sachin Tendulkar just gifted me a century on my birthday. Its much more special because he has been getting out in nineties for way too long, the last century coming in May against Bangladesh, and his last against a worthwhile team coming two years back!. Congratulations and thank you Sachin!! You made my day :).

Hum to chale pardes

2007-12-30T01:07:00.000+05:30

Hmm .. This had to happen but I didn't expect it so soon. When I got the VISA in October, I was thinking (read:hoping) that something should work out by April/May. I had seen so many people waiting even longer for the onsite opportunity. In addition, I had my MBA plans and I knew things will be clear (whether I am doing MBA in 2008 or not) by April.

But fate had other plans!! Hardly two weeks from my VISA, I got a call from Hyderabad saying I would need to travel onsite by November first week. But that opportunity vanished into thin air as quick as it came. So I went off home on a two week vacation. I had decided that if an onsite opportunity happens before CAT, I won't write it. But again, different plans!! I was told about the new project just 2 days before CAT and things were not yet final! So off I went to B'lore for CAT and then to Hyderabad for training on the new project. Once there, I was told of the onsite plans - I was to fly in December end.

So here I am - literally flying on "December end" - 31st Dec. The assignment is supposed to be for 1 year. And the twist in my tale - CAT was pretty good this time! My analysis shows I am very likely to get calls. And by the time results come in Jan first week, I will be in Houston. So if I indeed get calls, I'll have to come back to India for the calls, go back to Houston, and IF things work out well, come back for the MBA! Too much too soon and too quick!! Best part of it - if MBA works out, great. But even if it doesn't, no complaints!!

As of now I am very excited about going. Everyone in the family is thrilled. All relatives are happy. Getting attention everywhere. Feels gooooood!! Hoping to have a great time there, even if it is a short stay! Will keep you posted :).

Its a small world

2007-12-17T20:10:00.000+05:30

Today I came to Mangalore from Bangalore on the newly started Mangalore Express and had an interesting event worth a mention.

I got into the train at Bangalore city (8:50 PM) and was seated in the empty compartment when a very pretty lady arrived. You might recollect a Rexona ad a few years back when a journalist is trying to interview a "young and pretty" designer about her work and also about her being pretty, when suddenly a kid comes running and says "Mummy" !! The journalist is shocked. "Aapki tvacha se aapki umar ka pata hee nahi chalta!". That is exactly what happened to me when two kids followed this lady into the compartment.

But this is the lesser interesting part of the story. There were two kids - elder son in class 3 and a very cute daughter called Anna who was possibly in kindergarten. I instantly felt that I know Anna, but then I thought so many kids look so familiar!! I had a good time playing with the kids for almost an hour before we all went to sleep.

In the morning, we just had a bit of a chat and were all eagerly waiting for the train to reach Mangalore. The lady and the kids were supposed to get down at Kankanadi (now known as Mangalore Junction) and I helped them to get their luggage down. The father of the kids was there to receive them. They were in a hurry - he said thanks and they left. Instantly, it stuck me that I have seen the father also but could not remember where!!

Flashback: Suddenly I recollect my trip on the Mangalore-Madgaon passenger on 20 July on my way to Miraj. I had my grandparents, uncle, aunt and cousins with me. I was moving around the "almost" empty compartment with my 2 year old cousin sister in my arms as she was getting bored. Suddenly she saw a man with his daughter and the two kids smiled at each other. I got into a small conversation with the father, and then I moved on. I met them again when we alighted from the train.

Yes, that was Anna and her father. I had the whole jigsaw fall into place. I thought I will tell them about this, but they were almost gone. I rushed out of the train, only to see them leaving from the exit - but Anna's mother turned back just in time & waved me a final goodbye.

Interestingly, I always tend to forget faces & names but this time somehow I recollected - but only a bit late. I don't know if I will ever meet them again, but will always carry with me memories this wonderful co-incidence. The world indeed, is very small!!

Microsoft CRM

2007-12-07T19:31:00.000+05:30

Have you heard of Microsoft CRM? Unless you are in the CRM business, I doubt you have. As the name suggests it is a customer relationship management package, actually known as Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0. So whats special about it? Don't we have SIEBEL? Or even better - don't we have SAP - the baap of CRM?

I had all these questions and more on my mind when I was told that my next project is on MS CRM. And I was packed off to Hyderabad from good ol' Mangalore. And straight away started training in CRM 3.0. And believe me folks - its a wonderful package. It has almost everything you look for in a CRM package, and it is very very light weight. That settles the question of why not SIEBEL or SAP - these are heavy duty packages!! So it is ideal for SMEs but can also be used for departments within larger organizations.

Most of the entities an organization will look for are taken care of - you have Accounts, Customers, Leads, Opportunities, Activities, Campaigns, Cases - pretty much everything you need. Basically it caters to needs of Sales, Marketing & Service. It supports creation and assigning of various roles to various users in the organization and you can set access privileges accordingly.

But its main strength is in the flexibility and extensibility. It supports variety of customizations which makes it very flexible and helps you tailor it to your organization's requirements. At the same time it supports creation and usage of custom entities which you can create and use as part of the system. [This is where my role comes in - the entensibility is through .NET - the whole MS CRM framework is based on .NET - and that's what I have worked on for 2 years!].

As if all that was not enough, being a Microsoft product, it integrates well with Outlook client. So you can forget about the web interface and have everything right inside your mailbox! It appears as a separate folder (looks like a PST). For example - A user who is assigned a case by his manager, will see it right in his inbox under the activities section, with deadlines and workflow! Isn't that nice?

Now, its not as easy to install the whole thing. The CRM Server needs to integrate with the Exchange Server and that needs to depend on an Active Directory server (Domain Controller). Plus the CRM Server will need a SQL database to store all its information (SQL Server 2005 is proffered, though it will work with SQL Server 2000 as well). So there you are - 4 servers - and assuming you will need backups for each - 8 servers. This is the ideal configuration though if necessary, you can have everything other than the Exchange Server on the same machine :).

Luckily I have got a chance to try installing the whole setup, not once but twice! Once on fresh PCs, where you start right from the OS. That is relatively simpler. But the second time was on existing systems - where dependencies will create unforeseen issues at every step. But it was a learning experience which I thoroughly enjoyed. This is only the beginning and I am looking forward to continue learning this. I know this is not my core competency, but then extra knowledge is always welcome!!

Interestingly, I have been asked to write Microsoft certification in CRM. I don't know how difficult it is going to be, but looks like an interesting thing to do. I'll be happy to supplement my MCTS [for the uninitiated: Microsoft Certified Technical Specialist :) :)] with a CRM certification!!

Cheers to a new beginning ...

For more info, see the MS CRM website.

OSO

2007-11-25T20:31:00.000+05:30

I know I am late at this one, but couldn't help it. I had almost dropped the idea of writing about it but when I saw it the second time on Friday, I thought I had to!! For those who are still wondering what I am talking about, its Om Shanti Om !!

People's responses to this movie are extreme - either they are amazed or they are utterly disappointed. I belong to the first category, and happily so. And believe me, the second category is very minuscule - that's proved by the fact that it has grossed Rs. 40 crore in India and around $5m abroad in a short duration. Its a complete entertainer from minute 1. The whole thing is so well thought out and well made. You can start talking about what you liked about it and you'll get lost. Listing a few of my favourites, and not in that order:
1. The shooting of the Tamil movie - excellent - "Muniyadaar Muniyadaar .. Yenna rascala!!"
2. The old style song where Deepika dances with digital forms of Sunil Dutt, Rajesh Khanna and Jeetendra. Neat.
3. Using technicians as actors - dialogue writer, music director, director, etc.
4. Digs at Manoj Kumar, Dev Anand, Sooraj Barjatya, etc.
5. Return of the Khiladi - though it is copied, isn't it wonderfully made?
6. The awards show with special 'self-mocking' roles for Abhishek Bachchan and Hrithik as well as SRK himself.
7. Usage of the name OK for Om Kapoor - Ok, that's not something great but i mention it because me and my roomies have a nice story to laugh off about OK :).
8. Deliberate over-acting by Kirron Kher.
9. Karz and Subhash Ghai.
10. King Khan of course - he just rocks.
11. The absolutely stunning Deepika - I saw OSO the second time for her!! And everyone (guys) I meet seems to have fallen in love with her!!

I know I have forgotten some!! Readers can add to the list. Anyway, a very good entertainer. Farah Khan has truly arrived as a director who delivers no-brains entertainment. For those who are yet to see it, what are you waiting for?? Rush to the nearest theatre NOW!!

Free rice!!

2007-11-24T15:13:00.001+05:30

Today i got an email from my manager saying 'Web game provides rice for hungry'. Sounds interesting, right? I went to the site and was amazed by the concept. It's a great idea. Here's how it works -

1. The game - The web page shows you a word and you have to give its meaning. There are four options to choose from.
2. Whether you get it right or not, you go to the next question. For every right answer, 10 grains of rice are donated through the United Nations.
3. Where does the donation come from? Every time you click on an answer, the next page will show you a few ads at the bottom. Every time an ad is shown, the advertisers pay for it.

Isn't that simple?

The difficulty level of the word will depend on you. The game starts with a word of random difficulty. Three consecutive correct answers will result in a word from the next level. Every right answer takes you to a word one level below the previous one. So after some time you know your level. There are levels up to 50 and each word is assigned a level. The difficulty level of each word is also updated depending on how many people get it right. Isn't that a neat algorithm?

Now for the best part - After every right answer, they show you how many grains you have donated. That gives a wonderful feeling, at the same time giving you a chance to improve your vocabulary. It has a nice graphical display to boot !!

It kinda gets you hooked - and I kept doing this for a few minutes. Then the math guy in me took notice of the fact that 'number of grains' is no indication of how much it is and I was losing the motivation! So I googled a couple of things -
1. Is this site authentic? Yes, says the BBC - check this: Web game provides rice for hungry.
2. What is the weight of one grain of rice? On an average it is 28 mg.
3. How much rice a person needs in one meal (with other stuff of course)? 1 portion - about 50 gms.
Now 1 gm = 1000 mg (Didn't need to Google that!!). And 50 x 1000 / 28 = 1785.72 which can be rounded off to 1800. So here you go - the motivation - Play till you get 180 answers right - that gets you to donate 1800 grains or one portion of rice!!

It would roughly take half an hour to provide a decent meal to a poor man in some poverty stricken corner of the world - isn't that wonderful!! And yes - you can brag about your vocabulary level - I kindof settled at 36 :)

And while you are at math & rice, read this: Rice Rice Baby - very interesting!!

Click on the image below to start playing -

Where am I?

2007-11-22T11:56:00.000+05:30

For all those who were wondering where I have been since more than a month, here's a quick update. I was a bit busy in office to start with, then went off home (Ahmedabad) on two weeks leave. After a wonderful Diwali at home, I was back around 10 days back, but before I could settle down, CAT was staring me in the face. And then came the big surprise - I had to move to Hyderabad DC for one month. So I was off to Bangalore for CAT, and straight to Hyd from there. Now slowly settling into the new place.

I have been to 5 cities in two weeks !! Was in Ahmedabad on 10th .. Mumbai on 11th .. Mangalore on 12th .. Bangalore on 17th .. and now Hyderabad on 20th - howzzat !!

Will be busy with some training for couple more days, but will be back with my blogs very soon. Thanks for reading .. please continue !!

Kudroli Gokarnanatheshwara

2007-10-19T19:12:00.000+05:30

Yesterday I visited the Kudroli Gokarnanatheshwara (or Gokarnatheshwara) temple. And now I am angry with myself for not going there earlier in my more than two years in Mangalore! It is a wonderful temple. And during Navratri it is decked up with light & flowers to create a stunning view.

It covers a significant area & significant number of gods :), but is primarily a temple of Gokarnanatha i.e. Shiva. As you enter, the first part you enter is the Shiva temple. It's a grand temple with lot of gold plated surface, lot of lights, lot of flowers, and obviously lot of crowd. I don't know whether it is because of navratri or it is always so.

There is a 'Kalyana Mantapa' to its right where they have put up wonderful statues of different forms of the goddess (Durga, Kali, Gowri, and so on .. ). This obviously is a Navratri special. In addition the place is decorated with paper flowers in a very aesthetic manner. Then there are small temples of various other gods - Ganesha, Krishna, to name a few. Each is decorated very well with gold or silver ornaments or flowers or a combination of these.

To the left of the main temple we have a fountain. Apparently they have a musical fountain show from 6 to 8 pm but I reached a bit late and missed that :(.At other times also the fountain is on, and its very nice to watch with colored lights. I am partially color blind, so if I think it looks good, you might find it even better. On one side of the fountain we have very nice artwork in form of animals depicting some event in mythology. We have a hanuman temple near the entrance and another sculpture opposite to it which I could not really comprehend who it depicts.

Final word: If you happen to be in Mangalore during Navratri, do visit Kudroli. :) Happy Navratri !!

Special Olympics

2007-10-16T19:33:00.000+05:30

Did you know that there is something called the Special Olymics? Maybe you do. Even if you did, did you know that it was held this year, in Shanghai? Even fewer people might know. Now, did you know that the Indian contingent won a whopping 150 medals - 36 gold, 44 sliver and 70 bronze!! I seriously doubt you knew.

This is amazing. As per the definition of the Special Olympics, these are people with 'intellectual disabilities'. And they go out to Shanghai to compete in Olympics and win more medals in one year than our best athletes (normal people) win in ages. I digged a bit more and found that India's all time haul of Olympic medals is a grand 17. Yes - 17 medals in 107 years. Isn't that a stunning difference?

Still I dont see any mention of this in the major news channels. Major newspapers reported this in a small column in a corner of the sports page. (I obviously didn't see all papers, so don't blame me if it did appear in one!!). Why? Because WE are not bothered. And they will show us what WE want. They are here to make their money, isn't it? The Times of India had a page-full of coverage on the India-Australia cricket series. I am a cricket fan, & a pretty crazy one at that. Still this somehow hit me. This story deserved to be on the front page.

This is part of a bigger problem. Media today is more and more concentrating on stuff which everyone WANTS to see, instead of what everyone SHOULD be seeing. The same happens to other sports when compared to cricket. The same happens to important political and social happenings compared to dumb stories about personal lives of politicos and movie stars. The same happens to soldiers dying in conflict as compared to some wacko going on a hunger strike for an illogical demand. Imagine, even 'Indian Idol' results are in the news!! This is outright stupid!

Everytime I see this I feel something is wrong. But the Special Olympics was a big one. I dont know why it went un-noticed. Kudos to the athletes who achieved magnificent success in Shanghai. Hope they and their kind continue to excel in whatever they do. Because they deserve it ...

Heyy Jonny

2007-10-05T16:28:00.000+05:30

After tring since 3-4 days, I finally saw Johnny Gaddaar yesterday. Please note, I DO NOT intend to write a review, simply writing about it because i liked it !!

It seems straight from a Chase novel, but is executed very well. Hats off to Sriram Raghavan for a very good job. Quiet a few times you feel you can predict what happens next - but lot of times you are proved wrong. The story is gripping and keeps you hooked till the very end.

The movie has great casting. The actors picked for almost each role are perfect. Niel Mukesh as Johnny in his debut movie is wonderful. I don't know how well he can keep up this show. But he's a refreshing new actor, reminded me of Hrithik in Kaho Na Pyaar Hai.

Dharmendra & Vinay Pathak deserve a special mention for an excellent portrayal of their roles. I did not think Vinay Pathak will ever come out of the 'Bheja Fry' mode, but he surprised me. Dharmendra is still going strong, in a role which is tailor made for him. I do not know the name of the guy who played Shardul, but he also put in a wonderful performance.

The title sequence is very innovative, reminding us of movies in the 70s. Thrillers were forgotten for some time but this movie has rejuvenated the genre. I hope we will see more of these. Especially in an age when there is no time to read an entire novel ;).

I am in a hurry, so I will stop here. Last word: Its a must watch. Enjoy :)

India Wins T20 World Cup

2007-09-25T20:51:00.000+05:30

I think this is what all bloggers, atleast all Indian bloggers, will write today. India winning the Twenty20 World Cup. Its a wonderful feeling to have seen the spectacle unfold in front of your eyes (on TV ofcourse!).

I somehow managed to leave office by 5:15 pm (match started at 5:30) only to realize that its raining cats & dogs - so heavy that there was no way i could ride my bike home. Fortunately, I met a friend who was heading home in his car and got a lift. I reached just after the first ball was bowled & did not miss any action after that.

It was a match befitting a final of a World Cup. Two evenly matched teams who unexpectedly reached the finals, a very un-Wanderers like pitch, good weather & a wonderful crowd. I dont think i should write much about the match as everyone and his aunt would already know. I would just write about few of my thoughts.

I know we would always regret that Misbah got out to a poor shot than to a great ball, but very importantly we won inspite of our best batsman, Yuvi, and best bowler, Bhajji, both failing to deliver. That sounds great for the future as we have been plagued with CMM level 1 victories in the past, i.e. victories achieved by individual brilliance of one or two players. This victory was a team effort with lot of players playing crucial roles.

We must appreciate Gambhir's knock. In my book, he was the man of the match. He scored a priceless 75 which was pretty much half the Indian tally, on a day when batsmen struggled. Though the wickets taken by Pathan, as well as RP, were crucial, imagine India's scoreboard if Gambhir had scored a 20!

What can we say about Joginder Sharma? I am clueless how he survived yesterday. He was bowling slow, wide & with no variation. I think the Pakistani batsman were baffled that he could bowl like that in a final and hence lost the mind game to him! I think he was simply lucky.

Spare a thought for Misbah-ul-Haq. Clearly the Player of the Tournament. A flawed points system saw Afridi winning the award just because he scored his runs quickly & got some wickets (4 of them against Scotland). Misbah is a wonderful player, especially in this form of the game. I don't know why he was not in the Pak one day team earlier. He stays calm whatever the situation, calculates his moves, pre-empts the opposing captains strategies, and hits the right shots at the right time. As Harsha Bhogle pointed out, his mind works like a computer with all the available information, and he launches an attack at the best possible time. Hoping to see more of his batting in the future.

Finally, another captain and another World Cup. Dhoni emulates Kapil in a wonderful show of captaincy. He is a level-headed, cool & thinking captain. Though fortune swung his way coupla times, we must appreciate the right moves at the right time which he made. Like bringing on Harbhajan in the semi againt the Aussies, or the intelligent bowling changes with Pathan in the final. Though his batting has not been at its best, he did play couple of crucial knocks. Here's wishing him success in his career as captain.

I dont know how selectors will deal with this situation. You can't change a team which won a World Cup. But we have the Big Three waiting at home, and they cannot be left out either. It'll be interesting to see what happens.

Congratulations to the Indian team for a memorable victory. Where's the party tonight?

Chikmagalur Trip

2007-09-24T00:09:00.000+05:30

We were planning this one for quite some time, but it finally worked out last week. Off we went to Chikmagalur for a trip of a life-time. (Not to mention it was a difficult decision as the inaugural Twenty20 World Cup was in progress!)

We started off on Saturday morning [15 Sept] at 6:30. We had hired a Chevrolet Tavera with a driver to take us around. It’s a different matter that we intended to leave at 5:30. Fortunately, the car was comfortable & the driver was pretty good. Memories of a forgettable car & driver on our previous trip were immediately left behind. We tried to doze off but the early morning freshness didn’t let us do that & soon we were whizzing past Moodubidri. We stopped at Karkala around 7:40 and had breakfast at Sagar (restaurant).

We started off again & realized that we probably chose the best time for this trip because it was just after the rains and there was amazing greenery everywhere. Our next target was the Hanumangundi waterfall. It lies between Bajegoli & Kudremukh, around 20km before Kudremukh. We reached around 9:15 but sadly, it was closed, maybe due to slippery surfaces or heavy current caused by heavy rains over last few days. So we carried on. But we made up for the loss by stopping on the way for snaps at some stunning locations. The best one was Kadambi Falls. Its a very pretty and small waterfall but it makes for very good pictures. We crossed Kudremukh around 10 am.

Soon we were in Kalasa, surrounded by beautiful tea gardens. We stopped at Goomankhan tea estate for a cup of hot tea right in the middle of the sprawling tea garden. That was a wonderful experience. Then we took a diversion to Horanadu as we still had enough time. Horanadu has a nice temple of Annapurneshwari located at a pretty high altitude and offers a good view. The statue of the goddess is covered with gold and silver, and the calm feel of the temple is very soothing. This formed the spiritual quotient of our trip!! There was some confusion about the road ahead but we were soon on track with help from locals and stopped only after reaching Chikmagalur around 1:50 in the afternoon.

Nitin’s house in Chikmagalur was the right place to land up, nice and cozy. His mother is a wonderful lady bubbling with enthusiasm. She had a sumptuous meal ready for us and we had our hearts fill. But we were running out of time and soon started off again. Our next target was Mullaingiri. This is the HIGHEST peak in Karnataka at 6317 feet above sea level. Apparently it is the highest peak between the Nilgiris & the Himalayas!! The most amazing part was that a temple has been built on the top of Mullaingiri and I have no clue when and how they managed to do that! Rain & fog tried their best to spoil our plans but we kept going till the Tavera could not go any further.

The last part of the journey required us to climb 350 steps to reach the top. To top it there was a somewhat heavy drizzle with very strong (& cold) wind. Bhatia was not well & we were also short of one umbrella. So we left him with Satish (the driver) in the car & started off. I was scared to take the camera or mobile but thankfully Mahesh had his N70 for our photo needs. He was clicking pretty much throughout the way & by the time we reached the top, our jaws & ears were paining with cold. But it was a memorable experience. I had never experienced this degree of cold in Karnataka, especially coming from Ahmedabad with its chilly winters. We went into the temple without our footwear & our feet went numb stepping into rainwater on the floor. But it was a truly amazing experience.

On our way down, the rain had stopped and the wind was feeling even better. Halfway down we saw Bhatia & Satish coming up. No amount of persuasion could stop them & they went all the way up!! We took some more snaps till they came back and started on our way back. Being in the land of coffee, we could not avoid Café Coffee Day!! All of us had coffee & cake at the local CCD and then headed home. On the way I picked up a kilo of coffee powder for my granny which she had been asking for since long.

We reached home around 7:30. Again, aunty had piping hot tomato soup ready for us & we couldn’t ask for more. We caught up on the day’s matches with updates from Nitin’s dad and were soon engrossed in the ongoing match. Dinner was as good, if not better, than lunch; which was followed by ice-cream & fruit salad. We went to sleep after watching Bangladeshi pyrotechnics against the Proteas.

Sunday began at 7 am and we got ready for breakfast. We had some wonderful Neer dosas before we took off at 8:30. On the way to Bababudangiri, we saw the Attugundi falls by the roadside. It’s a very interesting waterfall. It is very small but its shape & path are very pretty. The neat look is due to the cement platform over which it flows down. From there we went straight to the Bababudangiri hills. This place offers a breathtaking view of the ghats. We also visited the Manikyadhare. It is believed that if you bathe under the Manikyadhare and throw off your clothes, your sins will be washed away!! Unfortunately we could not visit the Dattatreya Peetha and Baba Budan shrine due to time constraints. This has been a site of controversy for a long time.

There was an absolutely stunning pond in the midst of the hills which caught our attention. When we reached there, it was covered with fog and we could not see the other end and that made it look huge. Later when the fog shifted, we saw it in its entirety. It had a leafless tree in a corner which added to its beauty. Then we quickly moved on. The road from Bababudangiri to Kemmangundi was the worst stretch we encountered. There was virtually no road! It was very difficult to navigate the curves on such a bad road and so we took long to reach Kemmangundi (reached around 12:30). Kemmangundi is a cozy tourist spot. We spent some good time there. The gardens there had some beautiful flowers. I had a nice time taking lot of macro-mode pics of the flowers.

We left Kemmangundi around 1:30. On the way, we stopped over at the Kalattgiri falls. Nothing great about it but you can’t deny admiring the stone carving BEHIND the waterfall. You can make out Shiva and elephants carved out of the rock over which the water is falling!! But there is a small temple and sadly visitors make the place dirty by bathing and washing clothes. We didn’t stay for long and were back on track. We were already getting late and reached Chikmagalur at around 4 pm. We packed up quickly, had some snacks & started back.

We had a nice time in the car on our return. We had some good chatting, some even better fights (over playing of music, opening/closing of windows, volume of music played - of course I lost all of ‘em) which added to our fun. We stopped in Karkala for dinner at – where else – Sagar and had a good meal. We finally reached home at 11:45 pm, taking extra time due to Ganesh processions & pandals blocking the way in the outskirts of M’lore (15th was Ganesh Chaturthi). We finished our day by watching the South Africans beat England in their Super 8 encounter. As I write this, India and Pakistan have set up a dream final in the inaugural Twenty20 World Cup. Wow!

Here you can see all the snaps we took. Enjoy!!

Note: Depending on your version of Flash Player, the slide show may or may not appear !!

2006-06-03T18:27:00.000+05:30

Hey me back .. now lets hav sumthin abt me ..
I m a fun lovin, cool, guy-next-door. Born in the temple town of Udupi near Mangalore, i spent my early days in Baramati in Maharashtra .. don remember much of it though. Then moved to Indore .. neat place .. had a gud time ther wid cousins n made sum gr8 frens. Next stop - Ahmedabad .. the best place 4 me so far in life .. was in class X. Unfortunately, short stay ther .. 3 years .. bak 2 Udupi 4 engineering .. n dat was an amazing 4 year roller-coster ride. N now here I m, in Mangalore, workin at Infy .. doin sumthin i njoi a lot .. writin code. I think dat was lot of boring stuff .. so i'll stop. Keep watchin dis space 4 sum fun stuff n more updates.
Chiao.

2006-04-15T13:53:00.000+05:30

Hi folks,

This is my first blog .. I wanted to start off long back .. but it never happened ...
Anyway, better late than never .. watch out for interesting happenings in my life n some other nice stuff/articles here .. till then .. Cheers