Is it a shame if Indian company buys a US/UK company?

Isn't it a racist remark when someone tells that "Its a shame to us to have a Indian company taking over our (US/UK) company?"

Well, but this has been the words of some of the famous and most posh business magnets of the world; they very well understanding the Globalisation happennin in the world and who very much know the contribution of India to Globalisation.

Read the full story here from TIME

India a emerging power is set to take over many of the said "posh" businessess all over the world with the intellect and the power of money we have. What do these industrialists mean when they say "We do not want an Indian to take over our business"? This is nothing less than a racist remark and I am sure the whole of India, each and every Indian resident / Non-resident would comdemn.

Sensex crashes more than 700 points again on a Monday

The indian Sensitive Index started lower than Friday's previous close and only managed to drop more and finally closed more than 700 points lower than its previous close on Friday. ( 19,261.35 : -769.48 ).

It was just last week that Sensex had climbed to the magical 20000+ figure and managed to hold it for 2 continous days till today when it fell well below the 19500 mark. It is the second highest single day point-fall for the Sensex. Nifty ended the day at 5789, (provisional), down 258 points. It is the highest single-day point fall for the Nifty.

The market succumbed to profit booking today, that came in due to weak global cues as well as profit booking by FIIs in the holiday season. The Sensex ended losing 769 points from the previous close, at 19,261. Nifty also lost 270 points and shut shop at 5777. All BSE sectoral indices closed lower, with BSE Metal, Realty, Capital Goods and Oil & Gas indices being beaten down the most. Market breadth was extremely weak, with 210 advances against 1,007 declines on the NSE. The top gainer on the Sensex was HUL, while losers included DLF, NTPC, Tata Steel and HDFC.

Source: Rediff

SENSEX Goes past 20k magical figure and maintains it for one more day!!

The Sensex hit a all time high above 20k points and managed to hold on to it for another day.

Though the Sensex did not rise too much on its previous close, happy is the fact that it could hold on to such a high score for another day!!

Gone are those days when I remember people used to celebrate 1k+ in a yr!! Its almost become a ritual on the Sensex to gain/drop by 1k atleast one day in a week!! Seems like if it does not happen, the investors are sleeping or its a public holiday and the market is on leave.

The Diwali was a huge celebration that the Sensex could touch the 20k figure once and it crowned the Elder Ambani prince as THE RICHEST MAN ON EARTH.

Though the Ambanis hold on to be THE MOST RICHEST FAMILY; Ambani lost his top position in a very short span of time.

As I have even written in one of my earlier posts, this rise/fall in the Sensex is surely trigerring the normal indian to invest in shares and attaching him with a dream of being a quick crorepathi, a seasoned investor would say that this is a false market; better watchout!!!

There are various analogies that the right score for the Sensex is around the 15k at the present Indian Economy, the current score is very tempting for a novice to get into the Market dreaming/hoping to make some quick gains.

The Market is bullying week on week and so does is become a bear the once a week!! The huge difference in the value of INR against the USD surely marking down the technology and telecom shares, is surely helping the Export industry trigger off some profits.

It has been reported that the Reliance did sell off some of its shared in the Market and sitting on some cash offlate. Who knows if its ONLY RELIANCE? Only because Ambanis are in the limelight, everyone wants to see whats happenning to them.

I being just a Market Watcher and a very selective Investor, would wanna advise a novice only to make sure 100 times before he goes ahead and buys something. Only hope that he/she does not settle in for a loss. If you are in, make some quick money on it and get out of it. Surely buy some longterm shares, keep them; who knows? u might one day even be listed on the Board of Directors of it!! Be selective. Export industry is booming. Technology companies are just hoping that they do not writedown operating losses and cling on to be the best to their investors.

Wait and watch!! The Indian Market is Bullying and Bullying a long way I must say!!

FED Cuts rate; as the Market falls again

The FED cut its rate again by quarter a point; even then, the US Markets and the DOW falls again on Tuesday.

The Wall Street expected atleast half a point cut on the FED Rates; was not happy/satisfied with the quarter point cut.

FED Cuts its rate again in this quarter (again by quarter a point) to help stave off recession says a special report from CNN Money.

Read more

As Srivatsan and I were discussing couple of weeks back. To put it in Srivatsan's words, as I quote:

Its a deadlock. Fed Rate, Dollar Value, Inflation.
Touching any one of the three will do nothing only but to increase the other two. The lately added crisis to the US market, the huge Billion dollar write down by most of the Financial Institutions; their CEO's forced to quit, the mortgages crisis all getting into one at once, making the life of an investor miserable.

Unquote.

Is US heading for another recession?
How much will this affect the Asian and the European Markets?
Is this for good or bad?
Only time is the answer at this point.

What does it take to be the CEO of Citi Group?

The Billion dollar question that was in the Wall Street for more than a month now. What takes it to be the CEO of Citi Group?

Finally the executive board has found the answer. The answer is VIKRAM PANDIT


Now or never for Citi's new CEO

If he wants investors to overlook his flimsy resume, Citi's Vikram Pandit needs to take some radical steps, right now.
By Peter Eavis, Fortune senior writer

New Citi CEO Vikram Pandit will need to act quickly and decisively to reassure investors.

NEW YORK (Fortune) -- Judging by his resume, Vikram Pandit doesn't have the depth of experience to run Citigroup, but with some quick and decisive moves the bank's new CEO could win back many of the investors who've dumped Citi's stock as it fell victim to the credit crunch this year.

What might those moves be? Pandit's agenda will initially be influenced by the immediate severity of bad loan losses and other pressing problems at Citigroup, but within his first month investors will also want a clear indication of where he stands on important longer-term questions, like whether large parts of the bank should be sold off.

Pandit, 50, has been at Citigroup (Charts, Fortune 500) only since July, when the bank bought his hedge fund, Old Lane Partners. Before that, Pandit was at Morgan Stanley, where he won a reputation for his markets savvy. Charles Prince, Citigroup's previous permanent CEO, left the bank last month when the bank said it would take up to $11 billion of losses on mortgage-related securities.

Like all new CEOs, Pandit will have a short grace period during which he can take tough measures that would normally be considered defeat if carried out by a longer-serving CEO. For instance, don't be totally surprised if Pandit quickly raises a substantial amount of new capital, adding to the $7.5 billion of stock the bank sold to the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority late last month. Eager to see financial soundness at banks, investors are tolerant of capital raises right now - and the Abu Dhabi investment may turn out to be insufficient if fourth quarter earnings are worse than expected.

Read more

Source: www.cnnmoney.com

WISH YOU ALL THE SUCCESS IN YOUR NEW JOB Vikram!!

One Man's food is another Man's poison

We have heard so many examples and instances which explain the above proverb. Wanna know the latest one? Read Below:

Being a nature lover and one among the Mountain Roarers (www.mountainroarers.net), we wanted to venture on this Rail Trek. I guess it was 4 months back that we had planned; but we were told about this Good's train which plys on this track then and were advised not to venture this. The current news that the Indian Railways at last has bridged Mangalore Bangalore via Hassan with this new train, makes the idea of trekking this again a dream. Read below, an article in Times of India, Bangalore Date: 12/12/2007 page 7

TRAIN TO MANGALORE

Track TREKKERS stopped in their tracks
Ashwini Y S | TNN

Bangalore: It’s termed Trekker’s Paradise, with good reason. The tens of tunnels (with thousands of resident bats) and bridges, steep valleys and ravines, the wilderness and, most importantly, the abandoned railway tracks. All these make for one of the most exciting trekking routes in Karnataka.
For over 20 years, the Subramanya-Sakleshpur railway track drew hordes of trekkers and nature lovers. But now, the Mangalore-Bangalore Passenger chugs regularly on this stretch, following its maiden journey last Saturday. While scores of commuters are joyful, (finally, there is rail connectivity between the port city and Silicon City), it comes as a disappointment to many. As a trekker said, “The abandoned track has a charm that the running train doesn’t.’’
This stretch of 55 km on the Hassan-Mangalore rail route saw a never-ending trail of visitors, who weren’t deterred by the gaping bridges and bats and leeches. This beaten track is accessed from Gundya, a village on the Bangalore-Mangalore national highway, about 20 km from Kukke Subramanya. At the 13th km on Subramanya-Gundya road, the Mangalore-Hassan-Bangalore railway line crosses over the road, where the trek would start.
“My first trek was on this stretch, hence it is all the more special. I ventured into this range with a bunch of friends in peak monsoon. The weather was fantastic, but the highlight was the track, tunnels and the bridges. As far as trekking is concerned, it is sad that the train has started plying on this route,’’ says Mumbai-based scribe Namitha J.
Pramod V N, a systems engineer with a software firm, too speaks with a heavy heart: “It is pitch dark inside the tunnels, and one would get bitten by the leeches endlessly. All these made for a great adventure.
However, the excitement which was
there around four years ago when I trekked here first has waned. Two years ago when I trekked here again, I realized that there was so many more people around, thanks to the broad gauge work which had begun on the track. There is no more a sense of mystery surrounding this region.’’
Avid trekker and artist Dinesh Holla lives in Mangalore, and has mastered the art of trekking on this stretch. “Now that one knows for sure a train is plying, trekkers would be fearful of this stretch. Even if the train comes, one can stand by its inside the tunnel, but not everybody would be up to this kind of an adventure,’’ he added.
According to South Western Railway general manager Praveen Kumar, it is not advisable to trek this track anymore as thee are plans to add more trains. “Currently, there are four goods trains going up and down the stretch. We are planning a day passenger train some time very soon, apart from an additional goods trains. In a year’s time, 20 trains will ply this route.’’
Though trekking is considered trespassing by the Railways, it can do little about it, he said. “It is highly unsafe to go on this route, but most trekkers are well-versed with train schedules so they take adequate precautions,’’ he added.

RIGHT TRACK
South Western Railway started Mangalore-Bangalore passenger service on Dec 8
8 goods trains ply the Subramanya-Sakleshpur stretch
SWR plans an additional passenger day train, apart from a few more goods trains
Plans also on to start Mail and Express services

Blessing in disguise?

My flight back to Bangalore from JFK via Heathrow was on 5th De 2007, at 18:25 EST.

I left home by 13:00 hrs because the weather was expected to get worse as the noon progressed. It was a full 1 hr drive in the taxi from Jersey City to JFK.

I had already checked in online with my seating and baggage. So, I had to just drop the bags off at the kiosk, collect my boarding pass and get on to the lounge for the long wait. I checked my bags in by 2:15 and the security queue was not too big, 2:30 I was on the duty free shops and the lounge.

Grabbed a Chocolate muffin (which I’ve started to love so much after coming to NY) and Ice tea, spent like 45 mins in the café.

I just them remembered that I had got this book “The Monk who sold his Ferrari” when I was leaving from Bangalore to NY. I hadn’t touched it after I came to NY coz of my hectic schedule. Started reading it from page 101 (where I had bookmarked it 75 days back).

After doing all these also, I was left with a full 2 hrs for the flight to start boarding. Tried the Duty Free shops, did some last min shopping (which I’m so obsessed with in NY). And there I was in the flight in no time.

The flight boarded by 18:10 as scheduled and left from the gate. Then started the whole episode. The flight moved from terminal 7 to the adjacent one over a bridge. Under the bridge was the traffic jam of NY. It was an emphatic view. I missed my camera too much. I remembered seeing this view in some of the pics on the internet. But this was my 1st personal experience.

Ooops!! I forgot to mention, by the time I got to the JFK, the weather did get worse (as rightly forecast). It started snowing with small flakes when I was in Midtown and by the time I got to JFK, it started snowing quite heavily.

The traffic jam I mentioned was partly due to the weather too. Though at that time of the day, the road traffic everywhere in NY gets worse.

The flight moved the adjacent terminal as I was mentioning. The flight stood standstill for like 20 mins and then then captain announced that the weather had got worse and I would take some time to get air.

I was sitting besides the window and I had quite a view of the happenings outside on the ground. There were some vehicles around the wing and tail spraying water over it to remove the snow on them.

It took a full forty mins to clean both the wings and tail completely before the wings could open up indicating that it would be taking off sooner or later.

As the flight had come over to the adjacent terminal, it had to find its way back to the runway on that terminal. The flight again stood still for another 30 mins with the captain announcing that the flight is scheduled to depart late (which was very evident by now to all, unless one was sleeping already).

Again the wheels started rolling, and we could see at a distance flights taking off, so it was a sigh of relief that we were somewhere close to the runway to take off. One the plane started to make its way towards the runway, I started counting the planes in the queue for take off… 1 2 3 4 5….. 10.. Ours was the 11th flight in the queue waiting to take off.

It took another 20 mins for our turn to hit the runway. The flight took off finally at 21:10 EST. It was a total 2 hrs 45 mins late. The only best thing that could happen to me.. I had 6 hrs transit at Heathrow. Thanks to the weather at NY and the air traffic, I was now left with less than 4 hrs of transit at the Heathrow. Is it bad or a blessing in disguise for me? Though for others in the flight who missed their connecting flight because of the delay, British Airways rebooked the next connecting flight to their destinations (as announced repeatedly by the Captain during landing).

Bye Bye New York

Ah!! Its been a good 75 days that I am here and I am all set to return to My India. My flight is in the early evening hrs of 5th Dec.

Been a good experience. Met a lot of interesting people here with different / same mindsets and tastes.

I'm surely taking back some wonderful memories back home. Will miss the fun time we had here, but I am sure god has more in store for me.

Can't pin point the best time I had. Be it the 1st aerial view of NY; Niagara Falls with my old frnds and my sweetheart; the trip to Atlantic City; watching American Gangster in the theatre; sitting by the river on the banks of the Statue of Liberty Island; roaming around the streets of NY; the Times Square; wonderful colleagues; Awesome roomies; The time we spent in the kitchen cooking the best meal we could; the long walk from Spruce to the Indian Square; Playing black jack in the Trump Taj Mahal casino; Shopping spree we(my colleagues, my roomies and I) had in the last 3 weeks; Singing and dancing to glory on my last Sunday here in NY.. lots lots and lots!!

Though one wish remained as it is. Wanted to visit my uncle in Ohio; but time did not permit. Sorry Naganne mama!! Next time sure!!

Thank you Google; Thank you Yahoo; Thank you Skype for all the help extended in making the best connection possible between my mom, my chittu, my frnds, my family and me. Without you, I would have ended up spending more than what I earn here.

Last day at office, reported the status and sitting idle for the rest of the noon, waiting for the clock to tick 5 PM to make a move.

Life is very long, atleast long enuf to remember the good times we had. World is very much round; enuf for anyone to take a tour around it again n again in a lifetime. Sure that I will meet you all again. Till then; New York!! Take Care!! Bye Bye!! Sayonnara!!

American Set Dosa

It was 2 days after Thanks Giving Day and we wanted to venture into the Deals post the Black Friday. At 11:30 in the morning, Srivatsan, Ashok and I left from Spruce towards Union City in Community Lines(bus service).

Un-boarded the bus and got into the complex. First into Staples and then Circuit City. Checked all the deals and it was almost lunch time and IHop restaurant opposite to the complex was inviting us.

We wanted to get more hungrier so that we could have the "American Set Dosas" to our Heart's content.

Chekced into Office Depot stores opposite the Restruant and spent like half and hour seeing the deals.

We then got into IHop and the worst thing was we were 3 and we had to wait for 20 25 mins to get a table. The crowd was huge, it being a Sat and moreover holiday season. People say "America lives on Mc Donald". Maybe, we could change it to "America lives on IHop".


At last, we got a table and the menu in our hands. The Menu was literally mouth watering. Pancakes with Bluberry Sauce, with Stuffed Banana and Strawberry sauce; Combos.. Awesome!! Ashok and I were afraid how it would be. But once the order arrived, it was more than delight that we could taste the American Set Dosas and believe me, its close to the Set Dosas we have it in India. Amazing, Delicious!!

Wanna try Pancakes, try the Corn Pan Cake, or the combo with potatoes. If you are like my sweet heart who likes sweet a lot!! Try it with Strawberry Sauce or Blueberry Sauce (ofcourse with Cream).

Ram Setu - Myth or Fact?

With the Indian Govt wanting to destroy the Ram Setu to get a new Ship route so that the ships do not have to take the route around Sri Lanka to reach from West coast of India to East coast, the controversy started with the TN Chief Minister and the Central Govt of India questioning the very existence of Ram and denied the whole Ramayana as a baseless manuscript, just mythology.

A NGO expertise in research of history, has proved the existence of Rama and the Exact Dates of his birth and his achievements. This news is startling and will give directions to the case pending in the Supreme Court.

Is it Ram Setu? Or Adam's Bridge?
Is it natural or Man Made?
If Man made, How? who was the Civil Engineer? (Rama was just a King, not any Civil Engineer; neither were Vanaras)

Websites worth reading for this:
http://www.bharathgyan.com/hrama.htm
http://historicalrama.org/

NGO gives ‘proof’ of Rama’s existence

Claims He Was Born In 5114 BC; Sethu Built In 5076 B C

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Bangalore: Lord Rama is not a mythological figure, but a historical one who lived 7,200 years ago. In 5076 BC, He walked the Rama Sethu to reach Lanka. Built by Nala and Neel, the civil engineers par excellence, the bridge was built using ‘pore pressure’ concept of marine engineering.

Quite dazed? But a Chennai-based NGO, Bharath Gyan, gives even more specific dates and times of events in Rama’s life. The NGO engages itself in extensive research of Indian history. In its study, Bharath Gyan employed a varied approach, including historical, geographical, archaeological and archeo-astronomical, to chalk out Rama’s life. The study says Rama had a family tree of 60 generations and was born in 5114 BC.

While Valmiki’s Ramayana has been considered as the historic text, various reports and findings from the Archaeological Survey of India, Space Application Centre, National Institute of Oceanography, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, astronomical skycharts, geological survey, coins and inscriptions have been used in this study.

Neela Sethu, the 35-km long and 3.5-km wide bridge connecting India and Sri Lanka, was built in 5076 BC and named after its architect Neela, son of Vishwakarma. It is actually a linear structure scientifically built by connecting 103 small islands in the sea.

The construction of Sethu was in three stages — the area was surveyed to find a suitable place, utilisation of technical skills was analysed and then it was executed. “It wasn’t random throwing of stones into the sea
that made the bridge, but an aligned use of strings while logs of bamboo, sala, dhana were used to form a wooden cushion on which stones were placed to create the walkway,” said D K Hari of Bharat Gyan.

“There have been alllegations of such claims being baseless. But the ASI has drilled 11 holes in the Rama Sethu over a period and confirmed that the bridge was made of wood, and that plans have grown over the old structure.”

Source: Times of India, Bangalore: Date: 25th Nov 2007, Page 9

Sri Rama Navami - Birth day <-> 10th January 5114 BCE
Birth of Bharatha <-> 11th January 5114 BCE
Pre coronation eve <-> 4th January 5089 BCE
Khar, Dushan episode <-> 7th October 5077 BCE
Vali Vadham <-> 3rd April 5076 BCE
Hanuman's Visit to Lanka <-> 12th September 5076 BCE
Hanuman's Return from Lanka <-> 14th September 5076 BCE
Army March to Lanka <-> 20th September 5076 BCE
Source: http://historicalrama.org/dateevents.html

I live in Jersey City.. NOT US

Surprised with the title!! But thats the truth!!

Geographically, yes; Jersey City is very much the integral part of NJ. But morally, and actually, if you are new to US and you decide to stay in Jersey City, my friend, you are not going to experience the rosy picture that you have painted in your minds before coming here.

Especially if you are 2 miles around the Journal Path Station, be prepared to experience everythin you are accustomed to in INDIA.

The first thing you notice as soon as you land in Journal Square is, you see all familar faces (INDIANS); it would take you atleast 2 mins to spot a group of Americans. If you are making you way towards the Indian Square(The actual name is Newark Avenue), be prepared to see all Indians in the stores and streets.

Thers is a concept of Pedestrian signals even in India, if you are the one who is unaware of it, and got prepared to enter US learning it, you could as well unlearn it, if you decide to stay in Journal Square/Jersey City.

There are laws for the Cars that if there is anyone on the Zebra crossing, you are supposed to wait till he/she/they cross the road. This is followed strictly in US and thank god, they do. If the Pedestrian Signal starts counting down 5..4..3.. you can see people walking faster just to touch that Zebra crossing, coz after that you can take a stroll and you are sure that the cars will not move unless u cross. If in India, you will surely be run down by the cars/mopeds/bikes.

Thanks to the JCNJPD (Jersey City New Jersey Police Department) and their strict patrolling, (unlike in India), the cars still follow all the traffic laws afraid being caught and end up paying a huge fine.

If I were to tell that I saw people in the US crossing the roads in the middle of the road, if you were in Journal Square, you would at once ask me "Are you referring to Jersey City?"

Well, I do not say that the Indian population is to be held responsible for all this. I have not seen it and I do not comment on anything that I have not seen personally. However, watching some Hollywood movies, featuring Jersey City, I feel it has been like this for ages. I have also seen Americans doing the same as above. I dunno if they have been inspired by the Indian community here (or if again its been like that for some time now).

Its not that I do not do any of those things listed above. I agree to a certain extent that it depends on the urgency of the pedestrian. People may be running for a connecting train; some emergency; late to office and what nots. One would buy the excuse once in a while, but not always. RIGHT?

Did not go to the temple..

I did not go to the temple today for the deepavali celebrations as I was in a bad mood!!!..

But the prasadam and sweets came home for me in Packets.. :P :P

Diwali pooja and celebrations in US at home

"Yaar!! Humne bhi Lakshmi ki pooja ki!! Wo bhi Dollar wali lakshmi bhaiyya!!!" ya!! We all came home and did the pooja and aarthi at home.

The temperatue outside is very very cold believe me.. 41F (translates to 5 Celcius). My colleague (Kiran) I left office by 15:15. Roamed around the WTC looking for some electronics and later got to the Path to get to Journal Square. Started walking all the way from Journal Square Path Station(a little far it is that I stay in Sprice Street). Wearing a Jacket and also covering head till ears with a woolen cap, we are still shivering while walking. We decided to go to a restaurant and have some Indian Chaats. Samosa Chaat was hot, spicy and delicious. I stay with a gujarathi family; they being Swaminathan followers, do not use even Onions at home. So after a long time had food with Onions. Also took a hot "masala chai" for go and hit the streets to get to home.

We have one of my friend's Mamaji and Mamiji who is visiting US and they stay along with us. They are so energitic even in their age that they came up with doing the pooja and all sung and done for 30 or 40 mins.

Mamiji also started preparing Poori with Aloo Mutter. It will. be a yummy yummy dinner; poori with Aloo Mutter and Pulav.

Morrow all set to go to the temple. Here in Jersey City, there is a Swaminathan Mandir and atleast huge expectations set for me that there will be 1000 types of food items!! YES BOSSSSS.. THOUSAND.. I have not put zeroes by mistake..

I will blog morrow with my enthralling experience(hopefully) in the temple.

Till then, to all of you!! Wish u a very very happy and safe diwali once again!! Have FUN!! But carefully!! Do not hurt others or either get hurt urself!!

Wish you a very happy Diwali!!!

Little I had actually imagined that Diwali of 2007, I would not be in India. Infact, back home, celebrations of the festival are after 4 yrs. (due to some customs and traditions that my dad follows very orthodoxly).

Diwali that is celebrated for 3 days is a grand festival for us Indians all over the world. It does not matter if we are in India or AU or UK or US. Atleast all of them(like me) remember how its celebrated in India and have a virtual festival. Sweets is the order of the festival.

This is the season that most of the Indian companies also announce their Diwali Bonus. Most of the IT crowd do not even have this phrase "Diwali Bonus" in our vocabulary coz we are not entitled for it. We live for the yearly appraisal and yearly salary correction that happens in our companies

I saw a thought provoking article in one of the websites online. How one shud make use of the Diwali Bonus as an investment to get the value for money over time. The share market is all prepared for Diwali. The Share market already galloping from Dussera on I must say atleast 10 horses, now in the 19000s mark now. Reached the magical 20000 once in the transit too. And Diwali for the Ambanis must be a memorable one, celebrating to have been "The World's Richest Man" for some days and ofcourse the World's richest brothers now. CHEERS to Ambanis.

This yr, I'm not home for both the Dussera and the Diwali. Even in US, we colleagues and roomies have been doing the countdown for the festival for almost 2 weeks now. My colleagues also made sure that they buy some new clothes to wear for the festival.

This time its Diwali without crackers. Its almost been like 10 yrs since I Stopped bursting crackers as I had started to think, I am not a kid to burst crackers and had the thought that I'm adding to pollution by doing it. For the sake of my parents, I used to just pick u one hydrogen bomb from the Cracker box and burst it early in the morning by 7 AM and after that I used to jus prefer sitting at home, watching movies or doing some crap work!!

This time, its been more of thinking about what sweet to prepare at home and whats the reciepe. Seems like "Rice Payasam" will be the easiest and the fastest.

Incidentally, this weekend is again a long one. Monday being "Veteran's Day" here in the US. So, the tables have turned around. It is more of a thinking as to where to travel this long weekend. We have postponed all our shopping for the Thanks Giving as I will be leaving 10 days after then. Also my shopping list being a small one, I am sure I can finish it off in one day (half day would be an exageration).

Being in NJ and staying in Jersey City where most Indians stay, the Dussera was good with the Gujarathi crowd (they being dominant here) celebrating it with some stage shows and Dandiya all night. Even though, the Dussera night, we had been to Atlantic City and returned only by 3 AM in the morning, we could still see the crowd in the Indian Street. So, by that experience, it would not be an exageration to say that the Diwali celebrations *MIGHT* be as good as Dussera. I doubt though if I would be in Jersey City to witness it.

OK.. The Diwali has started and with the India v/s Pakistan Match scheduled for today noon, I guess most of the crowd would finish bursting the crackers and get glued to thier TV sets to see the Indians and Pakis burst it on the cricket ground. Hopefully India will get to celebrate Diwali at night 11 PM by bursting the crackers celebrating the Indian victory!! ALL THE BEST INDIA!!!

Maggi or wanna make something delicious with the rice left over last night?

I moved into another place like a week back. Since then, got a little more into cooking as I am the head cook here :)

Preparing Maggi in a better way. We all prepare Maggi as its supposed to be the fastest. I dunno if people followed it the way below, but atleast for me this was something that I learnt new.


1. Take some water in the bowl and light the stove
2. Add the Maggi noddles in water
3. Add the masala that comes with the noodles
4. Add some Tomato ketchup/sauce and little bit of green sauce (if you have)
5. Cook it on high flame till the water is fully absorbed by the noodles

Serve the noodles hot garnished with coriander (and Onion if you like it raw).

Usually when we make rice for night, quite a little remains as my room mates are north indians and they prefer the chapathis to rice. So, the quick solution, I get for morning breakfast and same for lunch:

I assume you would have kept the rice in the refrigirator.


1. Take the rice out, add some hot water and keep it aside
2. In a frying pan, add 2 Tb Sp oil
3. Add some mustard and wait till it sprouts
4. Add some pea-nuts and fry it a little
5. You may also choose to add some dry red mirchi and fry it a little
6. Now the rice is quite fresh, Add the Rice to the pan
7. Add mirchi powder + Coriander powder + salt + Tamarind sauce
8. Stir the rice properly till it mixed properly
9. Fry the rice in the pan and serve hot

Some quick dishes that I relish preparing and eating too!!

Learning Indian Cooking with Design Patterns

Working on OOAD for sometime now, I have tried to emulate almost all of my daily work in OOAD; believe me, its made my life easy and more happy.

Cooking is what I got used to once I started working out of Bangalore. In Hyd, I was living alone in a room and I was just cooking rice and having it with curds or chutni pudi. Believe me, I have done it for 6 months everyday and I don't think I got bugged with it. Now, after getting to NYC, started to live in a house on shared basis, cooking other food becomes inevitable. I have learnt cooking in just 3 weeks.

This is a blog, trying to emulate the OOAD into Indian Cooking. Hopefully I will be able to put down all my design thoughts on this blog seamlessly. I would try to put down the design patterns for (1) Sabji and (2) Sambar in this blog.

Sabji:
North Indian Food that is usually served with chapathi/roti(indian wheat bread) and its not a good idea having it with rice also. Usually major chunk of the ingredients are vegatables.

Design Pattern:
Fry Oil in Pan
Put some Mustard, curry leaves
Add Vegetables
Add the Masala Powders + salt
Cook for 5 mins


Example:
Fry Oil in Pan
Put some Mustard, curry leaves
Add some Onion, deep fry till onion is brown
Add Gobi, Alu, Tomato Piecescludin
Add the Dhaniya Powder + Mirchi Puwder + Garam Masala + salt
Cook for 5 mins

3rd and the 4th step in the example depends on your choice. You can choose to add garlic also in the 3rd step. Quick and tastes good. Max of 15 mins including cutting vegetables and cooking.

Sambar
A South Indian Food. Again, can be served with Chapathi / Rice. But also a good side dish for Dosa/Idli/Vada. Ingredients are usually vegetables with some Dal.

Design Pattern:
Take some Dal in a pressure cooker and clean it in a stream of water
Add Vegetables
Add Masala Powders + Salt
Boil it till 2 / 3 whistles
Put Oggarne(in kannada)/Talimpu(in telugu)/Tadka(in hindi)
Cook for 2 mins


Example:
Take some Dal in a pressure cooker and clean it in a stream of water
Add Onion, Potato, Tomato
Add Mirchi Powder + Salt
Boil it till 2 / 3 whistles
Put Oggarne(in kannada)/Talimpu(in telugu)/Tadka(In hindi)
Cook for 2 mins

2nd step is customisable with any kind od combo vegetables you like with or without Onion. Garlic again is optional in the last but one step in Oggarne.

Hmmm.. I have told about the ingredients that get in. How about the measure of it? I Important Question. I have a very vague measure. Below is my measures for above:

Dal: For 2 persons, 2 measures of Dal as much an normal adult can take in his one palm. (ondu hidi as in Kannada)
Vegetables: For 2 persons, 2 measures of Vegetables as much as an normal adult can take with both his hands.Onion: For 2 persons, 2 measures of Dal as much an adult can take in his one palm. (ondu hidi as in Kannada)
Masala Powders: For 2 persons, 1 tea spoon each powder.
Salt: For 2 persons, 1 tea spoon.

This is all based on my experience and the valuable guidance of my Mom and Kusuma. Thanks to them for everything and inspiring me to blog it too. I guess I will blog atleast another 3 4 cooking design patterns before I return to India (tentative return date is in 1st week of December).

I HEREBY CERTIFY WHOEVER HAS READ MY BLOG AS "SRIKANTH CERTIFIED COOK"

Great Service Is a Matter of Choice

No one can make you serve customers well. That’s because great service is a choice.

Years ago, my friend, Harvey Mackay, told me a wonderful story about a cab driver that proved this point. He was waiting in line for a ride at the airport. When a cab pulled up, the first thing Harvey noticed was that the taxi was polished to a bright shine. Smartly dressed in a white shirt, black tie, and freshly pressed black slacks, the cab driver jumped out and rounded the car to open the back passenger door for Harvey. He handed my friend a laminated card and said:

“I’m Wally, your driver. While I’m loading your bags in the trunk I’d like you to read my mission statement.”

Taken aback, Harvey read the card. It said:

Wally’s Mission Statement:

To get my customers to their destination in the quickest,

safest and cheapest way possible in a friendly environment.

This blew Harvey away. Especially when he noticed that the inside of the cab matched the outside. Spotlessly clean!

As he slid behind the wheel, Wally said, “Would you like a cup of coffee? I have a thermos of regular and one of decaf.”

My friend said jokingly, “No, I’d prefer a soft drink.”

Wally smiled and said, “No problem. I have a cooler up front with regular and Diet Coke, water and orange juice.”

Almost stuttering, Harvey said, “I’ll take a Diet Coke.”

Handing him his drink, Wally said, “If you’d like something to read, I have The Wall Street Journal, Time, Sports Illustrated and USA Today.”

As they were pulling away, Wally handed my friend another laminated card. “These are the stations I get and the music they play, if you’d like to listen to the radio.”

And as if that weren’t enough, Wally told Harvey that he had the air-conditioning on and asked if the temperature was comfortable for him. Then he advised Harvey of the best route to his destination for that time of day. He also let him know that he’d be happy to chat and tell him about some of the sights or, if Harvey preferred, to leave him with his own thoughts.

“Tell me, Wally,” my amazed friend asked the driver, “have you always served customers like this?”

Wally smiled into the rearview mirror. “No, not always. In fact, it’s only been in the last two years. My first five years driving, I spent most of my time complaining like all the rest of the cabbies do. Then I heard the personal growth guru, Wayne Dyer, on the radio one day. He had just written a book called You’ll See It When You Believe It. Dyer said that if you get up in the morning expecting to have a bad day, you’ll rarely disappoint yourself. He said, ‘Stop complaining! Differentiate yourself from your competition. Don’t be a duck. Be an eagle. Ducks quack and complain. Eagles soar above the crowd.’”

“That hit me right between the eyes,” said Wally.

“Dyer was really talking about me. I was always quacking and complaining, so I decided to change my attitude and become an eagle. I looked around at the other cabs and their drivers. The cabs were dirty, the drivers were unfriendly, and the customers were unhappy. So I decided to make some changes. I put in a few at a time. When my customers responded well, I did more.”

“I take it that has paid off for you,” Harvey said.

“It sure has,” Wally replied. “My first year as an eagle, I doubled my income from the previous year. This year I’ll probably quadruple it. You were lucky to get me today. I don’t sit at cabstands anymore. My customers call me for appointments on my cell phone or leave a message on my answering machine. If I can’t pick them up myself, I get a reliable cabbie friend to do it and I take a piece of the action.”

Wally was phenomenal. He was running a limo service out of a Yellow Cab. I’ve probably told that story to more than fifty cab drivers over the years, and only two took the idea and ran with it. Whenever I go to their cities, I give them a call. The rest of the drivers quacked like ducks and told me all the reasons they couldn’t do any of what I was suggesting.

Wally the Cab Driver made a different choice. He decided to stop quacking like ducks and start soaring like eagles. How about you?

(Excerpted from The Simple Truths of Service)

Searching for accommodation in NYC

Hmmm.. 4th week in NYC now. I have changed 2 houses now. I have had wonderful experiences here especially looking out for accommodation. Srivatsan (One of my colleagues) suggested I blog my experiences so that others might benefit out of it.

I traveled to NYC from Bangalore with close to 1 weeks notice. I'd started looking out for accommodation just after I was notified that I would have to leave the next week. Being a fan of Bangalore Craiglist, my first search started from Craiglist. I did not find any Indian posts of looking for roommate and wondered what kind of Indian population resides in NY/NJ. All that I found was in Brooklyn, Queens and Jackson Heights. I thought staying towards that NY Side will be better and not get to NJ/Jersey City.

I had a call with my Onsite Manager and he suggested I lookout for something in Jersey city as most of them stay here and most of the Indian population also is here and I would not feel LONELY and LEFT OUT!! He then referred me to the www.sulekha.com website and asked me to find something which was viable for me.

Kusuma was in CA by now and she too was assisting me search for some accommodation and was doing the calling stuff to the people enquiring about the house, rent, utils etc..

For people like me who have not been to US before and this is your 1st visit, be it with family or single, you choose to rent a house / share the house rented by someone else, the utilities are extra. The utilities include the electricty/gas + phone + internet + groceries.

www.sulekha.com is one of the best online portals to search for accommodation. The next best will be the referrals. If you know of anyone who stays in the place u r traveling, referrals is the best as usually you will land there without any hassles and have a good stay. Not to say that others don't; but others may/may not.

If you are traveling to NYC (like me) and looking for accommodation, here are some TIPS:

1. See if anyone else is also traveling so that you could share a hotel room and make your stay "The Happiest". Hotels like Ramada, Red Carpet Inn, Extended Stay America are some places you could choose to stay. You would save as well as have some real fun..

2. if you are coming single and will stay single (not with family) you could probably lookout for some shared accommodation or paying guest accommodation. If you want to be among the Indian Crowd, you may want to search something in Journal Square, Jersey City. You can find some accommodation towards in the Indian Square / Indian Street.

As soon as you come out of the Journal Square Path Station, towards your right is the "Indian Street". Prefer staying to the right of the JSQ Path Station.You will be near to the Indian street and will not feel left out. Not that the left side area towards SIP Avenue and Summit Avenue is not good; however I prefer the right for some reasons better unspoken.

Things spoken till now is only if you are coming alone or single and wanna commute to NYC to office faster. It takes just over 10 mins to get to NYC by the Path Train from JSQ. Now, if you are coming with your family, then the whole picture changes.

I would prefer to stay in Edison or near Metro Park if I am coming with my family. This would be when someone would come for a long term. That part of NJ, Edison and Metro Park is full of the Indian Community with the city being more clean and better in many ways. Though its a pinch to the pocket and time to travel all the way from Edison to NYC to work, anyone would love the atmosphere and would wanna get there if with family.

Just to brief you about the travel from Edison to NYC; anyone who is travelling to NYC, or NY, would have to take the NJ Transit train till Newark and then depending on which part of NY you would have to go, you decide the train. If you have to get to somewhere near WTC, one would have to take the Path Train from Newark to WTC; else if it is the upper Manhattan, one could take the same NJ Transit train to get to work. You may want to refer to the NJ Transit website for more information on the train network and the train schedules along with the connecting Path Train timings.

I hope reading this blog now, you have a fair idea of what you should be doing. Anyways once you get to this place you would surely learn it as this country makes you learn to live independently.

If you have any questions or comments, please leave me a comment, I will try to get back to you ASAP or atleast make sure I refer you to the right person.

The World's honeymoon Capital - Niagara Falls

Niagara Falls is known as the Honeymoon Capital of the World.

How many of us know it? 9 out of every 10 people wish to see the Niagara Falls atleast once in Life time. I'm also one among the 9 people who wanted to get there.

Being in NY for 3 weeks now, we planned to get to Niagara falls, its like 6 hrs drive from NYC. Kusuma (My Fiancee) and I along with my old friends whom I met here decided to make it to this wonderful place on earth last weekend.

We decided to take the gotobus as the weather was getting cold. We booked seats well in advance and lucky to get the tickets confirmed as this is supposed to be the peak season before close of Niagara Falls by end of Oct.

Kusuma made it to NY in the early morning flight. We all meet up at a pre-decided place and made our way to Canal Street where we were supposed to board the bus. As usual, I make some last min shopping of some snacks as they do not provide any meals in the bus.

Checked into the bus with the e-ticket and the most awaited our was just about to start. There comes the guide whom name we christened as Malcolm (Chinese that he was, we wanted to name him similar to what he "welcome" us; just replace "we" with "ma").

Out of NYC into Jersey City and towards Pennsylvania. The trip was via the Corning Glass Museum. The Corning Glass Museum was our 1st stop. It was just about lunch time too. Imagine not having breakfast and having to survive on some potato chips and just juice till 2 PM. And also having to only be eating vegetarian Food in the US.

Had our food and went around the Museum clicking some pics. The Museum had some awesome collection of Glass Art. It was sheer surprise and astonishment to see the shapes, color and texture that glass can take.

The Shopping section in the Museum was again just too good. Eventhough I was crazy about a couple-a-things and wanted to buy them to take them back home, it was logical not to buy as the checked in baggage are manhandled at the Airport.

Till now the bus was half filled, at the Corning Glass Museum, many more people joined the tour (rather they were already on a 2nd day of the tour and they joined us).

It was a looooooooong way before we got to the Niagara County eventually by 6 PM on Sat. We were waiting by now to put some Indian food into our mouth. Lucky to spot a Punjabi Dhaba near the Niagara water park, we grabbed the opportunity with both the hands and all of us took the buffet there. Had our dinner so early by 7 PM and loafed around the Niagara park enjoying the night view. It was very very cold. 9 deg Celsius. I bought a cap to cover my head till ears to keep myself warm.

Got to the Hotel and then decided to go to the Waterfall to witness the night view. Toooo good. Awesome!! Niagara Falls just the one border of Canada and US. Standing on the US side, the Canada Niagara City looks cool with a lot of Casinos and some skyscrapers.

Got to the hotel at night and got to our rooms to catch some sleep as we had to get up at 6:30 the next morning to get to the Maid of the Mist.

Early morning, its so cold. Grabbed a cup-a coffee each and boarded the bus. We were driven to the Park to see the American Falls and Horshu Falls. Beautiful, amazing, awesome.. The roar of the falls, just standing next to the mighty falls, seeing the water with an unbelievable current falling off the cliff, roaring with a mighty fall of more than 100 feet. Niagara falls was the first to have the Hydraulic Power Station. The current the river catches just before the fall is enormous.
Quickly got back to the bus to get to the Maid of the Mist. This is among the common waterfall region actually separating the 2 countries US and Canada. The mighty waterfall, from more than 100 feet, oozes out so much of mist around the falls that most part of the falls is very much invisible. Maid of the mist is a Ship Cruise, which takes us close to the falls, below the falls at a safe distance and gives us the enthralling life time experience and memory of the waterfall from such a height.

After the maid of the mist, its back all the way to NYC. A loooong de-tour of more than 7 hrs. All exhausted coz of the journey and more exhausted crossing the Holland Tunnel in a huuuge traffic jam. Back to NY and Kusuma flied back to LA. End of a memorable and life time tour to the Niagara Falls, THE HONEYMOOM CAPITAL OF THE WORLD.

Mexican Food - Burrito Bowl

Its 3 weeks that I am in NY now.. I was getting bored of eating the rice I pack from home. We usually cook some extra rice every night so that we would take the same rice to office next morning with with curds / something thats there.

Too much!! You cant keep eating the same rice! Atleast I got bugged. The other day, we had been to an Indian Restaurant Baluchi's just one block from our office. The food was authentic, and tasty! Indian food around WTC, you could try Baluchi's

Today, my colleague told me he will get me some real fresh and healthy Mexican food. He said, he will get me something of rice with beans and stuff. Ahhh.. beans and peas.. made my mouth water and so, I said "OK".

Out of our office in 2 mins.. we started walking towards WTC and up there.. left and straight down the road, to get to Chipotle. Mexican he had told me. Very apprehensive I must say I was, if or not I would like it. Anyway, if I did not like it, I had the choice of getting back to office and eating the curd rice in my bag.

We stood in the queue. It was jus 12:10 when we got there and there was a long queue. Very busy restaurant with people just starting to get in. Looking at the menu, I was unable to figure out what is Veg in that. Srivatsan quickly suggested me. "I am taking a Burrito Bowl Vegetarian. Try it. You will like it."


Eventually we got to the counter in 10 mins.. ordered a Burrito Bowl Vegetarian. He put some rice, and some peas curry on it.. whoof it goes to the next counter. "What (toppings)would you want sir" the beautiful girl asked. I said, "Everything Vegetarian" (Just what Srivatsan had told). Quickly she put some Onion, Capsicum, some green sauce, some while sauce and cheese. and whoof it goes to the next counter. "$6.43 sir" the cashier said. Paid in cash and took the bowl.

We were just lucky to spot a table free and got to it quickly. Srivatsan went and got fork and a knife. Opened the bowl praying god..

"Delicious.. Amazing.. So fresh.." was my immediate comment and Srivatsan said, "I was sure you would like it." A little heavy, coz its too much(in quantity, less in calories). But yes, it was worth walking all the way from office and also enough the walk to return to office and WORK.


Given a chance, do try Mexican food. And Burrito (Bowl) is what I would recommend(coz as of now, I have not eaten anythin else there). I took a Burrito Bowl, they also wrap it a bread very much like "Frankie".

Lets see, what next food I would like in Chipotle when I get there the next time!

Happy hogging Burrito (Bowl) meanwhile!!

Believe in Yourself

Hmmm.. strange!! I'm again getting into the habbit to writing blogs to tell out things that I see everyday.

I am in NY for 2 weeks now. Today, it was the Last Working day for one of the high profile guy in my client's office. (lets be professional and keep the name to myself)

He's been with the organisation for like 11 yrs and he left with a heavy heart (I think). Before he left, our team had a small meeting with him as he was the person directly meant business to my company.

He mentioned about his 11 yrs journey of building the system to wat it is now. Very proud I must say of what the system is now. He then talked about the architecture, the flexibity that it has to integrate with other systems, the robustness of the system to handle the volume of data that actually it recieves every day. He went on and on. It was nothin but delight to listen to him speak proudly of what he calls it as "Priemer Application in this Business".

He ended our meeting answering to a question that one of our team mates asked. He answered, it is the self belief and self confidence that drives a leader. The leader must believe in himself and his potential. Once he is confident, he must show it in his work to his followers. That is when his followers will believe him. It is then the actual work of the leader starts. He needs to show the path to his followers and EVENTUALLY TAKE THEM THERE. It is very important to prove his leadership qualities to TAKE PEOPLE ALONG THE PATH with the RIGHT DIRECTIONS.

He continued elaborating his experience; When a system fails, its a faliure of the architect, not the programmer. The programmer does his work in his given view; with a deignated input to a required output. The architect is the guy who sees the big picture.

Answering a question on Integration of systems, he said, big problems can be solved using small solutions. There is no meaning in giving a complex solution, which may lead to loss of business/customers. The emphasis is always that the current business is intact; the new system integrated should get in new business/customers; else placing the new system has no meaning.

Infact this is the 1st meeting I had with him. Only once that I have got to listen to his thoughts. I'm glad that I was present in this meeting!

Great Thoughts Sir!! "Wish you all the success in your new venture" is what all of us wished him whole heartedly.

My Tour of New York

Ah!! Just been like 1 week I’m in New York. It was a delight watching the city from the plane just before I landed at JFK on 23rd Sept. Luckily for me, the air traffic was more and the plane made almost like 5 or 6 rounds around the airport before landing. I had a good bird view of the whole landscape at various altitudes. I was waiting to get to each of the streets I saw, the monuments that were so tiny.

Last week, my roomies and I decided to make the Saturday evening memorable by visiting some places in New York. We had our food quickly and left home by 2:30. We live at Vroom Street; its like 10 mins walk to the Journal Square Path Station.

Just Lucky enough to catch the train to the World Trade Centre. (This is no new place to me, coz my office is just the next building to the construction site). Quickly showed them the site and the monument and started to the Chambers Street to catch the Subway Train to get to Statue of Liberty.

That day, the 1 train was not running and hence the authority had arranged for some free shuttles to the place. Took the bus and made it to the riverside by 4 PM. From this distance, it just looks awesome. Took tickets to the ferry and hurried to catch the next ferry at 4:30. Ah!! Watte view!! Just when we were praising the buildings of NY and clicking some pics with the buildings background, soon we were nearing the Great Monument of US of A. The Statue of Liberty!

It was a great feeling to be there. Clicked the pics of the monument from every possible angle, enjoying the beauty of the island. The island is quite small. I guess like 20 acres on the whole. Walked around the island and got to the last ferry from the island which is at around 6:15 PM. On the way back in the ferry, enjoyed the sun set behind the great monument, it was just too good.

Got back to the banks of the river and plans changed all of a sudden? We wanted to experience the nightlife of NY. Bored of being at Jersey City and not being able to see the real beauty of NY. We decided to get to Times Square. Took the shuttle back to Chambers street and hurried to the subway train to get to 33rd street. Wanted to even see the Empire state building.

Its huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuge believe me.. too much!! To make it more memorable, we went to a pizza hut nearby the Empire State Building and had some cheese pizzas (that was the only thing that was veg).

Walked all the way from 33rd street to the 42snd street, passing by the CompUSA and other famous stores. Had a gala of time at the Times Square and started back to the Subway train to get to Journal Square.

Took the Subway to get to 33rd street and then, the path train to go all the way from 33rd street, NY to Hoboken and then to Journal Square.(that’s how the train operates on weekends)

A lovely way to spend a weekend in NY. It was 10 PM by the time we got back home, and it was 2:30 AM in the morning by the time I finished uploading the pics from the 3 cameras and dozed off to a nice sleep that night to only get up at 9:30 in the morning.

You can find the pics at: http://picasaweb.google.com/srikanth.bhaskar/NewYorkTour

Rain trek in the backwaters of Sharavathi

Something that all of us rejoice and love to do: Spend some time amidst the Mother Nature and discover some great creations by her. But, only some of them eventually plan it up and visit some real beautiful places.

I am lucky to be a one among them. We have a small team comprising of 15 to 20 who love to trek and visit and discover beautiful places (www.mountainroarers.net)

This time, we all were inspired by the Kannada Movie “Mungaru Male” (Meaning: Rain before the Monsoon) and decided to discover the beauty of the places surrounding the Sharavathi river (near Shimoga). We were immediately reminded of the wonderful forest trek of 30 kms. To walk across from Kargal, Via the Kanoor Kote and come out of the forest near a village Gerusoppa across the Sharavathi River.

I must say, it was a plan that we kept postponing again and again atleast 3 times because we wanted to trek in a drizzle, and not end up there when it’s a huge downpour or when there is not a spec of rain. We eventually hooked up on a date and confirmed it with our guide Mahesh who is from a team by name “Nature Adventures” who assist people in making their trek memorable and ofcourse safe.

We 14 of us Gilli, Loki, Poorna, Diwi, Vikram, Achala, Pratibha, Sneha, Shilpi, Priya, Kavitha, Pavithra, Kusuma and I (Sriki) started from Bangalore on a Friday Night and reached Sagara early morning. On our way had fun in the bus pulling each other’s leg and sharing stories about each other. By this time, we were already greeted by the mosquitoes and Vikram was shouting from behind “Do not open the windows, there are mosquitoes”.

We then met Mahesh who helped us get fresh by taking us to a lodge and then had our Breakfast which rejuvenated us. The nature too was waiting for our visit I suppose. There were no rains in the past week. However, by the time we finished our breakfast by morning 8 and about to venture the trek, it started drizzling. As usual, some of us ran to the shelter as we still had not reached the starting point of our trek. But less we knew that we would have to walk the whole of next 2 days in the rains.

Mahesh briefed us about the trek and bid bye as he was hurt. So, Nayan was given the responsibility of making sure we cross to the other side of the forest (cannot say without any problems, because we were all well aware that we will have a tough time).

We boarded the bus back and headed towards the forest. Hills, greenery and deadly curves are the trademark of the Western Ghats. So nice, so calm, so cool we all greeted the Mother Nature. There she showed her anger on us. A branch of a tree on the road was broken and the bus had to stop 4 kms before the actual starting point. We all got off the bus, shared the grocery; Cameras lights flashed by and we all started to walk.

Amazing is not the word!! Bess me!! I was feeling on the top of the world to have been made it to the trek.


Walking through the forest, across the streams in the rain was just too good. Atleast my intention was get drenched in the rain to the core. I did not carry a rain coat and so, I was all only on some cotton wear. I had not seen a leach in my life till then. When I saw it first, I took a stick and thought I could kill it and started to poke it till blood actually oozed out of it. I did it for the 1st leach I found. But there were 100s of them ahead of me. So, took the same stick and used it from now on to remove it if it actually manages to cling on to my shoes or legs.

We managed to reach our first point, a house where we parked our luggage, took some rest and started to the Dabbe Falls. You will not believe it. We had to get down a hill holding the roots of the trees as we were descending down at an angle nothing less than 85 degrees. How easily we all draw a right angle. Imagine getting down the hill knowing that if you loose any grip you would end up atleast having scars on your body if not anything more.



It was worth descending down the hill, the scenery of water falling from a height of 450ft. We all screamed to outwit the sound of the waterfall, but all in vain. 4 of us tried to shout simultaneously to sound louder in front of the fall to exhibit our excitement and happiness, but it was all in vain.


We were advised by Nayan not to get down to the waterfall as it was very slippery and the way back up from the bank too was very scary. We all posed in front of the mighty waterfall for some pics and started our ascent back. I must say, ascent was more easy and fun that the descent. While descending, some of us were shit scared, but while ascending, we enjoyed the very way of clinging on to the roots and get to the top.

It was close to 12 noon when we all made it to the top again. We picked up our luggages and meanwhile, Nayan said, we will walk till 2 PM and then park for lunch. Meanwhile, Nayan made some lotion out of coconut oil and Nashe (I dunno what you would call it in English) and gave it to us so that the leeches do not climb up easily. More meaningful as the oily coating on the skin does not allow the leeches to crawl so easily.

We started to climb one more hill amidst the streams and the green grass.

Whatte sight I tell you! No camera on this earth can capture that image in the way that is equal to reality. We were cursing the grocery that was there in our bags and meanwhile started to eat away the biscuit and the chocolates that people had brought.

Finally at 3 PM, we reached a house where we were supposed to have lunch. Nayan asked us to offload some grocery like rice, Puliyogare Powder and some spices. He prepared some yummy yummy Puliyogore and we ate it to our heart’s content as we knew that the next meal will be nothing before 10 PM. Meanwhile, some of them were apprehensive that the leaches might have crawled up the legs. They got to a room with a torch and to their horror, it was right there. All of them took turns and checked themselves and their clothes and freed it of leeches.

After having our lunch, we continued our journey. This time it was amidst the paddy fields. Climbing up and down the fields and again into the coffee plantations. All this while, we are walking in a rain that is not too heavy or too light. It was the right kind of rain to do a trek, keeping us all moist, and making sure we do not prank for breath. Walked through the villages and it started to get dark by 6 PM. We still had atleast 2 hrs of walk. It was scary as it will be difficult for us to spot the leeches. We all switched on our torches and to our horror, it’s the thick forest that we are walking by to reach our destination for the night. Some of us even tripped and one or two twist their ankle too. It was a horrendous journey just for the mere fact that we are amongst the leeches and all afraid if it would get anywhere up.

I must mention that Diwi and Loki who had a sick with them, walking with people and making sure that the leeches are removed as soon as they cling. Finally at around 8:15 PM or so, we reached a house where we are supposed to stay overnight. It was more than a horror to all of us to see leeches all over our shoes and clothes. We cleaned ourselves and started medicating the people who were bitten by leeches. Leech lady Achala was the most hit girl. She had wounds all over her feet. Loki and Pratibha too joined with Achala. Finally, got some turmeric and sprinkled it on the wounds to make sure they do not bleed more. We all sat in the hall and cursing each other in our minds if this trek was really needed at this hour.


Nayan prepared Rice with Sambar and all of us had it to content and waited to sleep. There was pin drop silence in the hall when all of us slept. Only to realize after some time that people started snoring.

Sunday Morning, we get up and have tea. Meanwhile, Nayan briefs us that we are trying to complete a 3 day trek in 2 days, so we will have to walk faster as we have a hill to cross to reach to our bus.

We started on Sunday morning walking across a stream of water that we mistook to be a small tributary. The force in the water was so much that we had to hold hands to cross it. We again had to ascent a mountain to reach the Kanoor Fort (or well known locally as Kote). The leeches started to get less. There were very little leeches today till now. We reached the Fort, took some pics and it is already 12 in the noon by now.


We started the descent to get to the bus. This journey was more of walking down the hill normally and trying to find out which way in the forest actually will take us to our destination. Meanwhile, we all manage to get out of the forest. And by now, Achala and Sneha are terrified to the limit, lamenting and want to get to the bus at the earliest. We reach a house, where in the garden we take some rest and continue. At this point, we need to cross a tributary which is overflowing and what made it more eventful is, we need to cross it over a wodden hanging bridge. I am Acrophobic (feared of heights) and it was a nightmare for me to cross it. But the fact is I have no other way. Poorna helped me cross the bridge and I will remember it all my life the very sight of an overflowing river below my feet and I just having enough place to put my foot vertically and cross it over a hanging bridge.

We now, walked across the village to cross the Sharavathi River in a boat. Would you believe it, he took us in the boat across the river for just 1 rupee per person!!

Finally made it out of the forest and an end to a trek that will remain fresh and eventful all my life. We got to the bus on the other side of the river and returned to Bangalore on Monday early morning.

Thanks to everyone who made the plans for the trek and to everyone who made it so memorable.

3 cheers to MR!!

Pics: http://picasaweb.google.com/srikanth.bhaskar/SagaraTrek

Republic (half) day in Train

As usual, a long weekend and I travel from Hyderabad to Bangalore. This time it is the Republic day. I leave Hyd in the night 21:15 train and by the time I get to home in Bangalore it is usually 11:00 AM the next day.

Off late I have been so accustomed to write bogs. I just sit back and think, why I have become so used to it? After moving to Hyd, I have been staying alone. And this is the only means I talk to others and myself. Another good thing is, I can talk on and on and on; the blog never complains of it. There have been so many instances when I have hys typed the blogs to tell out all the things that I have in my mind and just closed the word document even without saving it. Hmmm.. Yes, I type it on a word document so that I have the formatting and done automatically and then I post and publish the blog. I feel its easy to do like this rather to directly type it on the blog text field.

I actually started writing blogs to read it again and refresh my memories. And then, I thought I will write about some technical stuff, but then ended up writing mostly about my experiences. Hmmm.. Technical.. I got a new assignment at work this week. It has been very very very challenging. You won’t believe it, its been so challenging that I have been going back home the last three days only by 00:00 hrs or even one day, late than that and still, I haven’t finished my work. I dunno whether to laugh at myself or feel proud of it though. You know what, I got a spot award last week at work. Its something like, they spotted my work and awarded me.

Hmm.. Back to the half day in Train. Since, I wrote my last blog, I guess I have started to be a little more lucky (regarding chicks in my coach). Since then, I have atleast one girl.. I mean it.. ATLEAST.. and luckily ATLEAST one in my adjacent compartment. Now I see why it feels so good to have a girl in the neighbor rather than in our own compound. Its easy to look across rather than looking straight. Because, there are less chances that you get caught while looking across. I am sure all the guys will concur with me on this.

Its still 09:00 AM and atleast 1 hr more to go to reach Yeshwantpur. Republic Day and Independence Day has been so much of joy especially when we were at school. Those parades, the enthusiasm. But now, its just another public holiday for most of us who work. And for people who work in a different city, it is more of an awaited holiday, which is planned atleast 1 month early to book tickets to travel home.

So many young people (of course including me) in the train. You would not believe it, I booked my tickets almost a month back. When I checked the availability online a week back, the waiting list had grown to WL150. That is very rare. To satisfy so much of the public, there are 2 extra coaches added to the usual set.

I was reading a blog last week written by a professional blogger. He writes reviews regarding the many products right from laptops, desktops to products like antivirus and Operating System. Blogging now has become professional as we can understand and its all about building trust in people. For example: You trust me. (lest assume.. I know you do not). I have been testing/reviewing a product. If I were to recommend it to you, I am sure you would buy it. Because I would also show a demo of the product.

The long awaited Windows Vista has been into so much of criticism. Some of the Professional Bloggers are upset for the basic fact that MS tried to bribe them by providing them a Ferrari laptop (I wish I could get one for me.. a die-hart fan of Ferrari I am) with Windows Vista installed. Later the MS sales in-charge came up with a press statement that the Laptops were given only for reviewing and after that, they had to either sell it off (which I think no one would) or return it to MS (which most of them did).

Vista, a long wait for almost 7 years. Though MS claims that it is only 3 yrs since it is been in full-fledged development. No one would deny the fact that MS has announced its plans of releasing another version of Windows by name Longhorn. It is history now that it was jus incorporated into the XP and 2k3 server later. There is a lot of debate also going around whether the Vista code originates from the XP or the w2k3 server code base. MS claims that it is been done from scratch though.

After using Vista at my labs for testing, I am of the impression that, this is jus another addin / plugin to the XP. I do not think Vista would replace the current XP professional that has been a huge hit especially among the corporate community. Only the look and feel of the OS has been changed and the corporate community actually expected a lot from Vista. Maybe, one more significant change is, it come with a Ipv6 and Ipv4 stack inbuilt. But it is not difficult to download a Ipv6 stack for Windows XP and install it. It will actually very long for the transition to happen from the current Ipv4 to Ipv6. As the IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force) has itself proposed many stages from the current “Ipv4 only” environment to “Ipv6 only” environment. It is atleast 6 to 7 yrs from now that we will be stop using the conventional 32 bit Internet address and switch to the Ipv6 addressing.

Awrite! I guess I have written a too very big blog now. Its spanned almost 2 pages on my word document. Lemme stop here and continue in my next blog regarding the various aspects involved in the transition.

Wish you all a very very Happy and Cheerful Belated republic day.

Cheers,
Srikanth