The first rule of buying electronics

Accuracy

Woman, dont get excited..!! Ur aim is so poor that God had to practically design U to sit..!!

Risks of cheating

My Brother, My Friend

It has been 9 months since he passed away and even now it all feels like it happened yesterday. The guilt, the pain, the restlessness and the tears just keep coming back.
To me, he was just more than a brother..he was a rock, he was a friend who would always be at my side no matter what..he was truly someone really special. As days go by and I see more sunsets, it reminds me of the days we grew up together, the days we spent together. It pains to see Kaka and Kaku suffer so much and it really takes a lot of courage to smile @ them even when you know how they feel about it.

He has always been mine & Mintu's "closest & the best pal"..! We miss U Chetan & it pains.

We all hope and pray that you are in a much better place because you deserve the best..as always..!

Rest in peace..!! Love U forever buddy..!!

Number with "luck"

Numerology is the science of numbers. It was given an identity of its own by Greek mathematician Pythagoras or so is what we have been made to believe. The "lucky number" aspect has been used as a practical method of understanding our deeper self, our deeper nature.

It has somehow always felt to be the "self help" tool for all significant advice for each and every situation that arises. Tats primarily been a major change that has happened to me when VJ & I came across some really startling facts during the last 2 - 3 weeks. We have been able to connect every failure (during the last 10 years) to the "lucky number" aspect and this has really made us think "WHY"..!!
From now on, it will be "18" for me..!!

Finally moved out of the township..!!

Well, Its already been long but wat the hell..!! I gotta write sumthing..!!

I have moved into a new house now. It’s a little place, a one-bedroom house, very very far from where I used to stay earlier. At 500 sq feet plot area, it’s rather modest, but those with a propensity to exclaim “so cute” won’t find many reasons to hold the compliment back..! There is enuff parking space for my Pulsar downstairs..I stay at the 3rd floor which means I gotta climb 128 steps every time I gotta get myself a damn Maggie..!! There is small hall hall, followed by an even smaller bedroom..!! There is quite a bit of space upfront which means I can walk round & round & round & round & round when Dad calls..!!

After immense consideration, the internet connection stays in the hall which also means that I can stare outside at an occasional pigeon which sits at the opposite apartment..!

Its been 8 long months & I havnt found a maid yet who would agree to clean my place..! The weekly task of cleaning up the entire house really jerks me off no end..! So much so that I sumtimes agree to live in all filth..!!

Lastly, there are absolutely no pretty faces in and around the building..! All I need now is a pretty wallpaper..!!

Adios..!! More Later..!

Choco-a-la-carte..!!

Chocolate - the universal language of friendship & love. The only word that transcends the barriers of age and language intriguing everyone alike..!! Choco-a-la-carte pampers you to indulge yourselves once again in a passion called Chocolates.

Coco loves chocolates & to be honest that does not surprise me..!


The catch here is..if she loves them, still better for me.. ;-)

Western Ghats - Karnataka Trip

7 members from my team have been planning to go on a trip for a long time now..they have not seen wat Karnataka has and after going thru several travelogues on Team -BHP, it is almost my "duty" now to show wat Karnataka is all about..!!

We have planned a 3 day trip which will cover mostly Western Ghats, Shimoga, Agumbe, Kemmanagundi, Kodachadri, Kalathgiri Falls, Sakkare Bayalu Elephant Camp, Mandagade, Mahishi, Kuppili, Kundadri, Maravanthe, Gokarna & Murudeshwara..I am not sure how many of these places we can cover within these 3 days but the idea here is to have one final blast before we all go our seperate ways..!!

Coco is getting married soon and I wanted this to be one trip that wud be very memorable for her..atleast she has the liberty to do watever she wants here with us or rather shud I say with me..!!

Tickets hav been booked for the to & fro journeys and I hav made sure that all arrangements for stay & travel have been done in Shimoga (ofcourse with lots of help from Smithu who never says no to me with her beautiful smile)..

Will post pics of this trip shortly...hope to make this one as terrific as possible..!!

An Year Away from Home..!!

Alright, so I've really failed at blogging for a long time now.

I promise to start again!

Or at least lemme try.

I kind of forget, from time to time, that I'm really 700 kms away from home. It's both good and bad, I guess. I miss my parents very much & there have been times when I felt very lonely. As far as actually being in Hyderabad goes, though, I no longer think of it as "being in Hyderabad."

It's more just like, "being," now.

I completed a year (a couple of days back) in the "City of Pearls" and the "City of Nizams". I have to say that this has become my second home now..I have made some gud friendz and I have to mention that Coco has made me realize the joy of being happy..Thanx Coco..!! :-)

Peace..finally..!!

It has been 8 months since I moved to Hyderabad.. Life has just been normal and that is how it has looked till now..

Days seem to have passed without coming across any major restraint.. I really can’t imagine staying elsewhere but Hyderabad for it has given me peace..

Peace was really something that I missed at Bangalore.. Jun 2007 – Mar 2009 was the worst time of my life in terms of money, work and family.

There have been so many people who have influenced the way I see life and my outlook has totally changed after this bad period..

My core team @ Hyderabad has been very influential to me enjoying peace (even thought the client has done their best to screw us). It is really terrific what a "person" can do with peace around him..!!

Humour - 3

This guy walks into a bar on the top of a very tall building.

He sits down, orders a huge beer, chugs it, walks over to the window, and jumps out. Five minutes later, the guy walks into the bar again, orders another huge beer, chugs it, walks over to the window, and jumps out again. Five minutes later, he re-appears and repeats the whole thing.

About half an hour later, another guy at the bar stops the first guy and says, "hey, how the heck are you doing that?!"

The first guy responds, "oh, it's really simple physics. When you chug the beer, it makes you all warm inside and since warm air rises, if you just hold your breath you become lighter than air and float down to the sidewalk."

"WOW!" exclaims the second man, "I gotta try that!"

So he orders a huge beer, chugs it, goes over to the window, jumps out, and splats on the sidewalk below.

The bartender looks over to the first man and says, "Superman, you're an asshole when you're drunk."

Change..!!

Times don't change. Men do.. :-|

Being Jonty Rhodes..!!

Reflex, agility and anticipation is always an irrepressible mix & that is exactly what Jonty was all about. Jonathan Neil Rhodes wasn't just lightning, he'd dive, stop a ball and get up almost in the same movement. His energy made his contemporaries blush and jugglers go white at his dexterity.

Some more stuff about him:

1. For his fine hockey skills, he got selected in the South African Olympic hockey team in 1996..!!

2. First cricket player in history to claim paternity leave..!!

3. Was famous for delaying the team bus for an extra round of work-out or signing autographs for kids..!!

Below is the link which shows him in action:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMHpZpwvPdM

Rhodes will always remain 'the best fielder in the world of cricket'..!! His greatness really said it all when one fan put up this on one of the posters during an ODI:

"Three quarters of the earth is covered by water. The rest by Jonty Rhodes"..!!

Fake IPL Player

It has been quite sometime since I've been following the Fake IPL Player blog. I must say the guy has some balls to be on the KKR team as he claims and still do what he has done so far. No one really knowz who this guy is..& hez playing along with the mystery of it all.

“And a witch hunt is on. There are 4 suspects. The funny thing is that I am not on the list.”... “Has it occurred to anyone that I might have described myself incorrectly to hide my identity?”

All this reminds me of all the fun/gossip that was on when we played @ the DGCC..!! Discussions on Milk Loki and his mysterious visitors who used to visit him @ the park, Gautham's longggggggg list of "game meat", Gandhi's unusual pace bowling, Rudru's batting, Vishwas's amazing skills..!!

Anywyz you can read more about the Fake IPL Player at http://fakeiplplayer.blogspot.com/. Some interesting names of guys who are a part of the current IPL tourney:

Lady Jaya - Jayawardene
Arnold Power - Ramesh Powar
Castro - Fidel Edwards
Springbok - Charl Langeveldt
Ghati Baba - Rohit Sharma
Little Monster / Aila - Sachin Tendulkar
Gilli Danda - Ashok Dinda
Bhookha Naan - John Buchanan
Boy George - Brad Hodge
Style Bhai Spinner - Murali Karthik
Lord Almighty - Saurav Ganguly
Phoren baba - Mccullum (also Gayle & Hodge when used in plural ?)
Calypso King - Gayle
Vinnie Dildo / Badshah Dildo - Shahrukh Khan
Kishen Kanhaiyya - Ravi Shastri
Sandy Babe - Mandira Bedi
Sultan of Tweak - Warne
Sparrow / Parrott - McGrath
Bevdaa team - BRC (Mallya’s Team)
Big Sister’s Team - RR (Shilpa Shetty’s team)
Mr. Bativala - Vijay Mallya
RDB - Ranadeb Bose
Prince Charles of Patiala - Yuvraj
The Rajputs - Rajasthan Royals Team
Pedophile Priest - Adam Gilchrist
Little John - Ishant Sharma
Very Very Special Ram - VVS Laxman
Former India fast bowler who will remain a former India fast bowler / Kaan Moolo - Ajit Agarkar
Bangla Tiger - Mortaza
Appam Chutiya - Sreesanth
Junta Tormentor - Ajanta Mendis
India’s best fast bowler - Ishant Sharma
Chirkut Teli - Virat Kohli
Panty Curry - Robin Uthappa
Chikna Pussy - David Hussey
Chinnu Popli - Shreevats Goswami
Budhimaan Baba - Wridhiman Saha

Moghul of Hyderabad

Finally I have moved to Hyderabad and I must say itz been one helluva task shifting here...let me list out what has happened so far:

* Get to know that boss needs me to shift to Hyderabad…am happy, at least I dint get kicked out during recession..!! Go home & inform folks about it...as always Mom is apprehensive about me moving as I have always been with them…somehow convince her that I need this..!! Dad never says no when it comes to something new and he always blesses me with his “go ahead”!!

* Leave Bangalore on Apr 2; get all my stuff transported through Packers & Movers…reached Hyderabad on Apr 3…checked out all the houses (rented) that I could that day but no luck…I was almost in tears when I saw these places..Horrifying is “the” term..!!

* Before leaving Bangalore, I was able to check for some houses on the internet. I had also spoken to a couple of guys on accommodation. Got back to the hotel that day, parents came in the next day, did the trial run again with some more houses and decided that the place which I had seen on the internet is the one where we would be staying..!! Having made this decision, got my chance to taste Hyderabadi Biriyani @ Paradise..!! I must say it was out of this world..!!

* Apr 6: Book a taxi, drive to Sanskriti Township and begin with the “house warming” stuff..!! Finally found a nice place to stay..!! One predicament though... Sanskriti Township is 25 kms away from my office and I will have to “transport” myself in APSRTC everyday..!! I have never ever used buses to go to work and this was going to be something challenging..but what the hell..!! Opportunities don’t come everyday and I dint wanna miss the experience of staying @ Sanskriti Township..!! Below is the link where U can see some pics. They aren’t mine but this is all I have as of now..!!

http://picasaweb.google.co.in/vinayghdke/SanskrutiTownship?feat=email#
All is well that ends well, lets hope things get better..!! Atleast with the weather here..!! Temperature stands impassive..!! Will update more shortly..!!

Epitome of Eggstasy..!!

I wanted to go there so badly after my first visit that I was just trying to find a reason.. :)

Too many good reviews on Burrp and a few recommendations, landed us at the much obvious "The Egg Factory". This is in the lane next to Dewar’s Wine Stores on the St.Marks road.

The door has a spanner as its handle, dining hall - dim lit with and the walls with red and off white paint and the glass wall towards the road. This one had the paint mark of leg prints of the hen. Next to the door, one would find a huge pipe at the end of which a speaker is fixed which was continuously blowing some amazing English numbers. This enhanced the factory kinda setting with the speakers hidden in the sirens. No false roofing, totally painted black with the lights hanging from top. They’ve made sure the A/Cs are black in color too! The rustic floor adds to the theme! Dining area which can accommodate around 40 people has wooden tables with long wooden bench on one side and foldable metal chairs with cushion on the other side. The third wall is damp with a board, “DAMP WALL. PLEASE DO NOT LEAN”. Later realized, it’s been purposely left that way to make it look more natural.

After a thorough scan of the menu, I ordered the Egg Frittata. The South Western Frittata was a huge hit. After thoroughly satisfied with the frittata, we ordered ultimate veggies omelet. This scored good, but, my favorite still remains the frittata.

For the main course, I had the Egg and Mushroom Ragout Penne which was slightly bland and had its own flavor. One of the best pastas ever for me but, turned out to be too filling for my stomach. This was served with the garlic bread. My friend tried the Mota Special – this is supposed to be one of the famous egg delicacies made on the streets of Manipal. Bread and butter with the egg curry made an exceptionally good combination.

For all this satisfaction – the ambience, the food – ofcourse delicious, the music and the impeccable courteous service, a meal for two would cost anywhere around Rs.400 which is a total VFM..!!

Highly recommended for the eggatarians and for all those who’d love to experiment and have a total transformation..!!

6 Sixes - Reality in DGCG?

First there was Sir Gary Sobers, then it was Ravi Shastri. Well, before we know that it is Gibbs & Yuvraj, there is also one man I know standing between these 2 & history..so here we go..

It was the summer of '98. All the D G boys were back set to build a team that was going to be the greatest ever to have set foot in DGCG..!!

Let me say that we had a few stars and what an amazing team we had..!! I wish we had pictures to substantiate my claim..!! Anywyz, I will check if I cud get a few from the group..!! I also remember we hosting a tournament @ DGCG & getting all the 3 matches recorded by a local chap working at the local cable network..!! Phew, still hard to believe we did all that..!!

Well, cuming back to the feat that happened way back in `Apr 98..!!

We had decided that we wud kick start our cricket practice that summer after the exams and all we wanted to do was play. Mind you, we really had a good team and had won many small tournaments. Anywyz, Letz get on to the 6 sixes in an over feat that happened on a hot summer afternoon, wch is a feat that VJ achieved during that time.

Anil, our team's fastest & most feared bowler had a brawl with VJ. Anil was supposed to have learnt the art of reverse swing. However, as U like it, VJ is VJ..and so the challenge was set..What a day that was..as Anil continued to bowl fast, the balls seemed to be disappearing faster...VJ was relaxing and in what style..Everyone looked in awe, even the guys who never knew cricket were all part of witnessing history...shortly after this as very few men know, Anil retired from cricket and got into the Dental Clinic (Nah, hez a dentist)..many feel that he has passed his prime but as I told the others that day "what we saw was pure magical"..!!

Many including I, claim this to be just a folklore..!!

Unchained Memories

Sometimes I wish I cud get back all those golden old days, all those days that I spent as a kid at '18 B Main Rajajinagar'...the days when things were so relaxed...the time when me, VJ, Sid, Supri, Gowda, Kaka, Raja & Anil wud just freak out...the 'Ganesha Habba' days...the days when we played cricket tournaments, the days when we wud go to Krishna Sweets for 'Badaam Haalu'...evenings spent with VJ in Khatta Meetha & MD...evenings spent in FP (our fav hangout even now jus for the amazing food)...days spent with Sid who pursued Spotless like a true Shikari...days spent with Supri on his Hero Puch...there was so little money & even then we enjoyed so much...hard to believe that we hav so much money now but we hardly ever meet..!!

It's really surprising how much memory is built around things unnoticed at that time..!! So enjoy while it lasts..!!

Cafe Masala - 5th Floor - Eva Mall

After reading so many good things about the buffet at Café Masala on burrp! I had no choice but to try it..!!

I went there with a friend who had come down from the US and another Vinay who has always had the advantage of being the "good Vinay" between the 2 of us...you bet I was completely bowled over at their big bang buffet spread..!!

I will just list the dishes that were on offer:

• Two soups (Veg & Non-Veg) & crackers for company
• Two types of bread (I call them buns)
• Three types of veg salads and Two non veg salads
• Lettuce bowl
• Some meat slices (which looked just like cucumber and carrot slices)
• Pizza
• Two veg starters. Two Non veg starters (do fried fish and hara bara kabab qualify?)
• Another Two non-veg dishes
  
• Veg Pasta
• Veg Biriyani
• Do-it-yourself chat counter
• Two veg gravies
• Two non veg gravies
• Another two veg dishes and two non-veg dishes
• White Rice
• Dal or something to accompany white rice
• Choice of bread (roti, kulcha etc. made after you ask for it)
• Chocolate fountain
• Marsh mellows (sticks provided to poke them and dip into chocolate)
• Fresh fruit bowl
• Three types of Mousse
• Two types of cakes
• Chocolate chips and raisins for garnishing your desserts
• Soft brownies and chocolate cakes(apart from the cakes mentioned above)
• Two flavours of icecream
• Kulfi
• Avocado Gelato

I am sure I have left out few more dishes but hey, thats all I can remember after bombarded with so much choice!

Completely overwhelmed, after the experience here, I’ve never been satisfied with any other buffet. Don’t know if its wrong to compare, but, unconsciously I do..!!

This I call – The Big Bang Effect..!!

Kukke Subrahmanya Temple

We had planned for this trip since the last 15 months but somehow I got engaged and wedding arrangements proved to make this trip impossible...I am a strong believer in following certain things when it comes to the Almighty and so certain things that happened during the past one year made me feel the importance of not having done what I was supposed to do 15 months back. Well, not that I regret it now, but when things don’t go as planned, when things fail even when U make sure everything is set right, when plans break right in front of you, it makes you feel very insecure..!!

So the stage was set for the trip to happen and so it did..!!

I happened to make a few arrangements for the pujas in the end of September. Well, I had Kala Sarpa Dosha (When all planets are to one side of Rahu and Ketu, Kala Sarpa Dosha is supposed to be caused. This is considered a very bad yoga which gives rise to misfortunes and is supposed to be a major obstruction to ones progress) and I had to make sure that I do what I was told…perform Sarpa Samskara & Ashlesha Bali at Kukke Subrahmanya Temple.

I got in touch with a Poojari (whose name I will not be able to mention due to reasons best untold) who was referred by another person (whose name I will mention if need be at a later stage). I contacted this Poojari in the end of September and booked the dates for the pujas on Nov 10 & 11, 2008 (U will need to contact the Kukke Subrahmanya office on 08257-281224 for booking any pujas atleast a month in advance. They have various pujas that are scheduled on various days and hence the start up needs to be done atleast a month in advance).

Once this is done, you will need to book your accommodation as getting a room in Subrahmanya after reaching there might be a bit difficult. There are various other websites that can help you with the list of hotels in Subrahmanya. We opted to stay at Sheshnaag Ashraya which is opposite to KSRTC bus stand and which is one of the best hotels in Subrahmanya. This is also the same hotel where celebrities like Sachin Tendulkar, the Kapoor family, Juhi Chawla, Kannada superstars Darshan & Sudeep have stayed. The hotel also has AC rooms available for Rs. 1400/- for 3 people and Non AC rooms for Rs 550/- for 3 people. The staff is extremely courteous and helpful (to the extent that they even might help you get the tickets for pujas in the temple. I actually spoke to one of the members there and he helped us get the puja tickets after we got screwed from the Poojari. Had to pay him some extra cash for this but it was worth it). The phone numbers of this hotel are 08257-281215, 281219 and 281279.

Day 1:

We left Bangalore on Nov 9 at around 8 AM. We had booked a Qualis and I think this is one of the best ways to travel to places where you have never gone before. You atleast get free transportation and are assured of not getting screwed by the local transport available there. There are KSRTC Volvo / Rajahamsa / Karnataka Sarige buses available. For more information & online bookings, you can check http://59.162.166.116/AWATAROnline/. We reached Subrahmanya at around 3:30 PM after a couple of breaks for lunch and coffee. Once in Subrahmanya, we drove straight to Sheshnaag Ashraya, rested here till 6:30 PM and went to the temple for Darshan.

We finished the first Darshan by around 7:30 PM that day, confirmed our bookings for the pujas for the next day (Nov 10 – Sarpa Samskara) and headed for dinner at a nearby hotel. There are 2 main hotels here located in the same street as the temple. First is the Neo Mysore Café and secondly we have another one which is right opposite to this. Mysore Café serves good food and is open from 5 AM to 11 PM. After dinner, we headed back to the hotel and slept as we had to get up early the next day.

Day 2:

Nov 10 – Got up early at 5 AM and headed to the Kumaradhara River which is around 1.5 kms from the hotel. You are advised (when booking for pujas) to bathe at this river and then head for the pujas. Once we were done with this, we headed to the Adi Subrahmanya temple (which is the next street to the main temple) for the Sarpa Samskara. The puja started at 8:30 AM and continued till 1:30 PM. Kala Sarpa Dosha is believed to be afflicted by the Sarpa (serpent) dosha (curse) either knowingly or un-knowingly through many ways in this birth or any of the previous births. Pooja can be done either by the person afflicted or through a priest. This is because the puja involves rituals similar to the ones done in performing Shrartham (death rites). Sarpa Samskara Seva devotees need to stay for two days at Subrahmanya and only eat at the temple where food is provided (Palya, Rice, Rasam, Sambar, Sweet & curds). The cost of Sarpa Samskara is Rs. 1500/-. After lunch, you are advised to return back to the hotel and rest till evening.

In the evening, you can opt to bathe again at the Kumaradhara or at your hotel room before heading back to the temple for more rituals. Before going into the temple, you are asked to eat your evening snack at the temple premises (food area). Once at the temple, you are advised to go in 12/24/36 pradakshine (rounds) around the outer ring of the Garbha Gudi (where the main deity resides). You are also advised to wish for anything and then go for the pradakshine as this always fulfills if done with a pure heart. After this, we were back at the hotel to rest again as we had to start off early the next day.

Day 3:

Nov 11 – Got up early again at 4:30 AM and got ready to be at the puja site at 5:45 AM. Here, we had to perform another ritual (Ashlesha Bali) which usually lasts for a couple of hours. At around 9:30 AM, we headed to have breakfast at the temple premises again and then went back to the main temple to perform the last ritual (Naga Pratishte). These pujas cost around Rs. 250/- and can be done on your own. The information counter inside the temple can help you out with more information on how to get this done. Finally, you can enter the Garbha Gudi and seek the blessings of the Lord. After this, we collected the prasadam (you need to produce the puja tickets to obtain these). Once, we were out of the temple, we paid the priest Rs. 700/- for performing the rituals for us, sought his blessings, packed out stuff and were on our way back to Bangalore at around 3:30 PM. We reached Bangalore at 10:00 PM (thanks to Mohan, who was an excellent driver). The roads at the ghats are not all that great and it is really hard to say the best time to travel to Subrahmanya using these roads. The stretch from Sakleshpur is really bad for around 20 kms until you reach the crossing to Subrahmanya.

Please let me know if you guys need any more information on reaching Kukke or booking for Darshans. I can help you out with this experience.

Tips:

• Use own transportation as this helps you to travel freely without any fixed schedules.
• The temple authorities at the entrance of the temple request all gents to take off their shirts and banians – a tradition that is followed in most temples here. So it is advisable to carry “punche shalyas” as it is best suited for this place.
• Try to visit this place from September to January as this is the best time in terms of climate.
• Make sure you book the hotel rooms and check for puja bookings either through the temple authorities or the hotel staff.
  The contact information for Kukke Subrahmanya Temple is:
  Kukke Shree Subrahmanya Temple
  Subrahmanya – 574238
  Ph: 08257-281224
• For more information on Kukke, check: http://www.kukketemple.com/Home.htm

I will upload some of the pics of this trip shortly. You can contact me on vinayghdke@gmail.com for any more information on Subrahmanya.