Let us b-friends

Disclaimer: Since the people and events mentioned in this blog are from my recent past, in most probabilities, you'll not understand whats written in this blog. With 'da Vinci code' scheduled to release on May 19, 2006 I'm getting 'fièvre de conservateur' (didn't get what I said?.. start reading the disclaimer again... :)..). So take a chance if you wish... :).

Life poses different propositions.. all these days people used to come across in some way or the other, for a purpose, either from my side or from their side. Some of them just fade away once their purpose is served (just like I fade away from their lives). But some of them hang on, return smiles, forward mails, meet up, invite for tasting something they prepare and so on...

Coming back to the topic of this post.. what is this b-friend? b-friend is blog friend, a friend who keeps in touch with you through his or your blogs. We used to hear of pen friends who would keep in touch by writing letters and then came e-friends who will keep in touch using e-mails.

I happened to bump into one of those bloggers who are good at expressing their thoughts and feelings and in a strong opinionated manner oozing with attitude.. (so unlike of me.. :(.. guess I'm getting old thats all... sigh...). So I just abruptly bumped into This person(TP henceforth. I want the anonymity to continue.. :)..)'s comment box, trying to impersonate someone TP was trying to criticise in the blog. Phat came a sportive reply and the chat (why am I not calling it blog?) went on and so did the comments and replies to the same. Somehow an image of mine was created through the blogz (calling girls 'gurlz' doesn't fascinate me much) and one day the comment box read "Hey.. you know what? I've started liking you".. phew!!!.. Some people can make out when you write your heart out and when you pretend. So there must be a reason behind writing that. But the point is eventhough we haven't met, there is an smoothness and feel-good feeling of friendship (find the meaning of sanskrit word 'Sneha' and you'll be surprised). And the disclaimer part is something I and TP share. ie, I used to do this even before I knew TP. Ask SP if you want.. :)...

Another of bloggers said ' j) Anonyomity is not a hindarance to bonding.'.. Life taught him that!!!.. how true... and TP also agreed... Guess it is true too. I know the live examples of people who have married without even seeing each other - some who have at least exchanged emails/letters, some who have not even done that, seeing each other on the wedding day!! - and leading a life of example for understanding and compassion.

Some silent (oops... not the purpose of this blog.. :P..) Person (SP {why not ssp?} from now on... can't rejist increasing the obscureness of this blog..) did not introduce me to one friend. But like TP, I figured a nice person was behind the blogs and thought of bumping in again.. but did not want to keep the shroud of mystery or anonymity. More so, felt he was in need of some help and thought of jotting some of my experiences. I'm yet to see a reply... but I'm sure I'll be replied.. (weird English hna?)

How can I post a blog without a picture? Well, I must thank the link which binds me to the three.

Did you say 'Which three?"... then its time to close this window or tab.. :).

Did you say 'Whats the link with the link in the above sentence and the picture you talk about?'

This pic itself is the link... (Dont place the mouse on the pic. There is no hyperlink. Just the pic.. :D..) Still can't figure out? Find someone who knows Kannada and if you know me, you'll figure out. If you figured somethings and are feeling kind of lost... then ask yourself 'Where am I' and you'll figure your way. Try to answer in the comments and leave me a mail or ur ID for the answer. Else, I'll celebrate meeting TP face 2 face with the answer in a blog. But I'm not sure when that will happen and dont expect it to happen too... Things are good as they are..

PS: If you figured who TP is, please dont disclose and be a spoil sport. :). If you think you are TP, then please drop a mail for verification. SP shall remain 'silent' as expected... I know I am not as good as Dan Brown in creating mysteries or codes.. but I have done it and given some - well many - hints too... I'm sure you'll find it either too easy to crack or too obscure to even challenge you. Let me know anyways..

New York International Auto show - part 4

This post is about the luxury cars. Even the earlier ones like BMW and merc had luxury in them. But these are luxurious by demand and are custom made. Like this Bentley Arnage, this is made only on invitation. The engine is handmade in France and you can find the signature of the person who makes these engines on the engine. Their prices are not mentioned since the ones who look at them, dont buy it.. :). But when I last heard, this used to cost some 3-4 Crore Indian Rupees after duty and excise.


Limousine or Limo as they are popularly called have a different aura altogether. They have an entire world inside them, like the mini bar, shown in this figure. They also have TV, wireless internet, satellite radio and the latest that technology has to office.

Last but not the least, the Mercedes Maybach. This again is made by invitation and the customer's interests, hobbies, etc are studied in order to suit the car to their needs and tastes. Last heard, this card costed about 5.6Cr. Indian Rupees including tax and duties.

Thus ends my series on the New York International Auto show. Much awe-inspiring these cars were, they reflected the character of the countries or continents they came from, like the Japanese cars - trying to make the cars as small and fuel efficient as possible, like the European cars - trying to make the car powerful, elegant and yet affordable with a little effort, like the American cars - trying to make the cars as big and colorful as possible with comforts and luxuries.

Some photos of the event and the place where it was conducted:


Still wondering when will Indian cars make it to such International shows - Indian in the sense genuine Indian in which each and every nut and bolt is made in India. Hope I get to see that in my life time.

New York International Auto show - part 3

Now the American cars!!!

The Americans like things big to HUGE So expect huge things. Americans also like a life of plenty. So expect fuel guzzlers.. ones which need plenty of money and fuel...

Here we start... recognize this ugly looking beast? He is Hummer.. a former Army vehicle (guess even now it is an army vehicle). So u can imagine the power. Costs just about $140,000/- and gas mileage? forget it. We can as well count the gas 'foot'age... hahaha

This is one of the most popular vehicles in the US for its sheer power and eliminator looks.

Whos next?... Meet the dodge challenger!!! Another hugie... probably 3-5 people can sit in a single seat and it is most likely to occupy the half of next guy's parking space also.. :). I'll stop talking about price and gas mileage from now on. That is soooo Indian.. ;)

Only front view will not give a good idea. Here is a side view too...


Lets have a back view also.. I somehow love this car and its color.. ;)


Dodge had a couple of Vipers also on display. These are not huge but hugely popular and powerful.














Here comes Chrysler Imperial. I like this car for its elegance and style. It is so huge and yet so elegant. A characteristic hardly seen in humans.. :).
















How can I forget Ford? Mustang and a concept car were the highlights of Ford stall. Some photos here.















Forgot the name of this car, but looked really powerful. This is also from the Ford stable.
















I know its getting tooooo big... but let me squeeze in a Jaguar... this will be the last...


errr.... a land rover too... :D

Let me stop here.. We'll see what luxury means in the next...

New York International Auto show - part 2

This one will be for the European cars...

What else to start with but Ferrari? Lesser said the better.

The model next to the master was courteous enough to get me a picture of the engine too. So different than the others who just keep blabbering about the features of the car.

Then there were a collection of Porsche cars... Carrera GT was the one which was on display. Costs a hundred grand in US. Is it worth it? I heard someone telling 'After all this is the only life I will get. Why should I settle for something less? I want to enjoy my life fully.'. I remember a saying in Kannada.. 'saala maaDi tuppa tinnu'.. which means 'eat ghee even if it means taking loan'.

Let me not diverge from the topic. Big cars for larger than life lives. Here you are!!!

Then came the Merc, a.k.a Mercedes. I just barged into a CLS550. Couldn't resist the temptation to sit behind the wheels. But this one was way too low. Felt I was just clear of the ground. I personally like higher seats.

They had displayed lot of engines of these Mercs too. Not that I understood any of the mechanical stuff or could recognize the parts. But yes.. I did see the engine of a Merc man!!.. Want proof?.. :D...

Peoples' car!!!... translated word to word, will mean 2 intertwined Vs, Volks wagen...

I had always wanted to see how Beetle looks from the inside. For the genuine design and the compact nature insipired by one of nature's cutest children, this was very spacious from the inside and impressive dashboard. I figured out that if not for the 2 seater design, it wouldn't

have been a 'BEETLE'.. :). There were the latest models of Jetta and GT also on display. But I was a happy man already.

BMW!!!... 750i was an awe-inspiring machine. I stood in the queue to just get behind the wheels. There was this dial, which moves to get different options on the LCD screen - the GPS, rear view while reversing, FM radio, video and even night vision I suppose. There are buttons all the way to open the ash tray and toll holder too. The door closes by itself without the passenger having to pull it with a thud in order to ensure its locked well. I'll need one more blog to describe all the features. Watch some pictures now. Btw, it costs just 72K USD. Taxes extra I guess.. ;)

The sad part of this show was that there were only 3 bikes on show. 2 from BMW and one from Suzuki. The suzuki was a 6 cylinder one and BMWs 4 cylindered ones. Liked the BMW for power and looks.

I did miss the Audi and Volvo segments somehow. Will try to get some pics from somewhere and post them.

Thats it for this part. I think I have enough for two more posts. So watch this space!

New York International Auto show - part 1

It was always a dream to visit one of the auto shows in my life. It came true yesteray, 22-apr-2006 in NYC, one of my favorite cities in the world. It was a bit gloomy in the morning and google said it is going to lightly drizzle. But the fact that it would end tomorrow just pushed me out of the house. Luckily we (myself and Anirban, my colleague) did not get drenched when we entered. This place was Jacobits convention centre in 34th street, 11th Ave. Official website is www.autoshowny.com

So we reached there at 1pm, thinking it is late. But that was not the case. We were quite right on time, in the sense we got to see whatever we wanted to see. All the latest cars, the concept cars like this one below from Toyota.

This is called "Fine 7". A very compact, yet a spacious car. The speciality of this car as I observed is that its rear wheels also can be turned. Imagine how easy it is to parallel park this car. Just stop the car right in front of your parking space. Turn to left (or right) both your front and rear wheels, and just reverse. You can even do a bumper to bumper to parking without wasting time to do a full turn, move 1 inch, then reverse the stearing wheel untill it stops and reverse and repeat the whole process untill you start sweating, coming out on the road with a phew.. Hats off to innovation, which decorates these Japs.

Want to see the interiors of this car? Well, here it is. I initially felt it looks very similar to an ultra luxury rest room with ivory handles for wash basin and clean white shining slabs of porcelain. This is a hybrid of a video gaming console and porcelain art. Were they trying to drive home the fact that future of car driving will be a kids' play? Well could be. Only time can tell that.

Notice the other speciality of this car? The seats, not sure if driver's too, can be turned on their axis. If you are going through a nice terrain or if you are angry with your hubby, just turn the seat to the other side and enjoy the beauty or trouble him with your nakhras.. :)...

God knows what else was in store in this car? There was no one explaining this when we were there. We also saw another concept car from Toyota. I call it a lounge car. Why? here's why.. T


The seats are all arranged in the form of a semicircle and the room window actually as two LCD screens which can be moved around as per the him of the user, all around its periphery. Driver's seat also can be turned and there are no gear panels anywhere near his stearing wheel. There is a small LCD screen near the wheels and I guess thats where the driver will have control over the vehicle, break, accelerate, reverse.. fly?.. :)...

This one is as big as Sienna or Innova in India or may be slightly bigger, but very elegant. Need to tell my manager to get this for my commute from Bannerghatta Road to Electronics City. I'm sure the honks will not be heard from inside.. :).

Mention of Japs and I dont mention Honda? That will be cheating. Though they did not have any concept cars (or I did not see them?.. i dont know).. They did exhibit their latest Acura. Never bothered to venture around Civics or CRVs.. :). I was in a fantasy world.


These were about the Japanese cars. More of the cars from Europe, Americas and the luxury ones later on. Watchout!

some of my dream houses.. as I shot them. .:)

As I already said.. they are just dreams.. These were shot in Holmdel, NJ, USA. Some of them are not that clear. Please excuse. They were taken from a moving car.

fans??

A great doyan of Kannada cinema passes away and the nameBangalore gets another tag to its image along with the IT capital and a true emerging metro, that of extreme destructive fanaticism. How much this tag will help in improving the image of Bangalore, along with the deeds of our politicians and bureaucrats? Only time can tell.

Coming to the word FAN.. It was derived from the word fanatic, which, according to merriam webster's dictionary is:

marked by excessive enthusiasm and often intense uncritical devotion

But is burning of vehicles, be it government, private or public termed as fanaticism? Were these people trying to show their respect to the departed soul? Is that the way? Would Dr. Rajkumar have loved if these people respected him like that when he was alive? For all the humility and humbleness he had, that doesn't seem to be the case, even his fans will agree. Then what happened?

Were these people trying to force the government to declare holiday the next day? Well, Govt. would have given the holiday anyways.

Were these people so much controlled by their own emotions such that the feeling that he is no more made them feel nothing should remain? Well, these people surely need some counselling.

Was it some sort of political gimmick? I can't rule it out.

Whatever the reason, I had to face some funny situations in the office. People who were having some good impression about Bangalore (apart from the traffic jams and cricket matches), were more than laughing at the fact that people can destroy their own buses, buses which their tax money feeds, if an actor dies of natural causes.

They were amazed at the fact that the entire state can stop working for a day if an actor of yester years dies of his old age. Calculate the number of man hours wasted without production to the nation.

One thing to learn from this incident and what Krishna has always told in Bhagavadgeetha:

sangAdajAyatE kAmo, kAmAt kroDoBijAyate...

kroDAt buDhinASo, buDhinASAt vinaSyate...

Trying my hand at a very vague/crude translation, it means:

Desire comes out of attachment.. and from desire (when it is not fulfilled) comes anger... anger kills the thoughts and thus ends everything.

Anything followed blindly without reason and with full of passion on an emotional bent of mind will lead to misery. Take for example the people who elect actors as politicians. Though they are good at acting, they need not be good in politics. I'm not talking about those few good actors who have been good politicians too.. but about the people who elect them. They need not be good social workers or politicians. But still they get to cash-in their popularity for something else.

We need to change. We haven't. If I go back in time to about 50 years, our mindset would still be the same I guess. We need to open up our minds. Let some fresh air in and then take responsibility for our actions and their consequences. This can be an endless blog. I can't change everything alone. I can only change myself and hope this one change will be infectious.

Some sweet memories associated with...

... these photographs. These are the
photographs of Lucent Technologies'
facility in Holmdel, NJ, USA.

This was where I had dreamt to be when I was in the college, studying about all the innovations in the world of electronics and communications... the transistor,after which this water tank was designed, the waveguides, the Shannon's theorm, UMTS, Strowger switch, the telephone equipment, the movie camera and what not.

Then when I thought I was getting into some other company, then I got an impression that may be I was not made for that kind of work. May be I'm not that material. Then as fate would have it, I had to come here again, though through a different channel but not too far from what was being done here.

Was it some sort of dream come true? Well I thought so. A great place, a great university like ambience, huge expanse of land with lake, geese, birds, deers and last but not the least, the cherry trees which would blossom in Spring. I shall post the cherry blossom photos in some other post.

On my 3 visits here, I could also see snow for the first time in my life. That was a wonderful experience.

Friendly would be the only word which can express people who worked here with me. Want to post their photos too... but I would rather take their permission for doing so.

It is sad, but true that this will no longer be with Lucent anymore. How I wish even this dream of mine came true and what appears to be going south, actually springs up and gets back its losing glory, which is truely deserves.

All I can do is hope hope and hope for these things are too big for me to change. One should accept things are they are rather than the way one is. Isn't it? 

Maturity in focus..

The old, sober and the 'tried and tested' and not
so 'glamorous and colorful' has to be in
focus sometime or the other, especially
when men have to be differentiated
from the boys. 

Kitchen is a lab of creativity...

Disclaimer: This is a true story and the brands are purposefully kept confidential in order to prevent misuse of this page, advertantly or otherwise, for the publicity of any commercial food brand or otherwise.

Phew... #:-S... refer to yahoo messenger for the smiley.. :)

So here starts the story....

Back into bachelorhood and a lazy Saturday, made me and my roomie finalize on instant noodles for dinner. I was skeptical of this brand, but thought of taking a chance since it was still a Saturday. We did cook it, but figured out it had no taste or too many tastes. We put tomato sauce into already saucy stuff. Didn't work.

Then came the creativity part.. We put curd and Chutney puDi (for the uninitiated, this chutney pudi is nothing but the proverbial 'gun-powder' you find in Andhra style restaurants, but slightly better.. well the last part is opinionated.. so take it with a pinch of chutney powder.. ;)..) into it... and voila!!!!... here you are!!!... a new recipe... tayyaaaar... woh bhi do second mein... :). Do give it a try and let me know your comments. I'm sure you'll love it...

Now you know why the subject of this blog is what it is?...

Me too mummy...

With a mummy box from the Metropolitan art museum NYC . 

NYC metropolitan museum - post 1

Had been to NYC Mets (as they call it) sometime back. Got the photos and thought of posting them. This was a nice museum with artefacts from all over the world, each continent had some contribution to it. And was it majestic? Following are some of the photo graphs. Thanks to Mukund for the photos.

Found some unusual moortis from India too. Above is a BIG ceilig from a Jain temple with whole lot of carvings. Excuse the slightly shaken picture since flashes were not allowed inside the museum and had to rely on Av mode and this position was kind of difficult to prevent my hands from shaking.

Above is a big wall painting from somewhere in Europe (I forgot the name of the country.. :)..) The colors add life to the wall. Getting some ideas for OUR home.. :).

Above is a pic of 'Temple of Dendur - the sackler king'. Visit wiki of the same here.

Will post some more from Picasa. Need to rotate the pics.

Untill then.. :)