Bangalore diaries - Hogenakkal trip

This Sunday I went to Hogenakkal with my friend. We had been planning an outstation day trip for some time and all of sudden zeroed in on Hogenakkal. We did some research on the probable places of visit but what made us select this destination were the following lines –

“Hogenakkal Waterfalls, known as the 'Niagara' falls of India, are not a single waterfall but a series of falls and they offer a promising holiday destination for nature lovers from within and outside the country.” (courtesy http://www.mustseeindia.com/Hogenakkal)

We found three routes to reach Hogenakkal. The shortest one was about 120 kms but included a hilly patch. The longest was around 180 kms but the road was awesome as per the site – a 4 lane highway. We decided to take the longest route which was Bangalore => Hosur => Krishnagiri => Dharmapuri => Pennagaram => Hogenakkal.

We started around 4 AM to avoid the city traffic as well as the crowd at Hogenakkal. My friend was driving while I was giving directions. After about half an hour and a wrong turn later my friend got irritated by my directions and handed over the driving seat to me. I had never driven this long before so it was going to be a new experience for me. As we drove the sun began to rise. The view was excellent. Cool breeze was blowing and the weather was fantastic. A slight drizzle on and off added to the beauty. The drive was simply amazing. We were chit-chatting all the way, enjoying the surroundings. We had halt at McDonalds for pre-breakfast and continued on. The road was 4-lane and brilliant and we had done well to choose this route. After Dharmapuri we had to take a diversion. Although it was a 2 lane road with no divider, the condition of the road was pretty good. And we reached Hogenakkal around 8.

The crowd wasn’t much at that time. We proceeded towards the main falls and had a nice walk watching the falls. The falls were pretty good. We even crossed a small stream on our way. We had a quick coracle (circular basket boat) ride. My friend wanted to have a bath in the falls while I was trying to avoid it. While we were still deciding on what to do, my friend decided to go for a head and body massage. I was left alone waiting. I decided to go for a head massage. The worst decision I took on the trip. I specifically told the guy that I wouldn’t be taking a bath, so that he can massage accordingly. And what he did was pour the entire packet of oil on my head in three turns. The massage was ok, nothing special. When he ended I had a feeling he had put too much oil. And soon the oil started dripping from my head. I had no option but to take a bath; ruing all the time my decision to go for the head massage. Anyways I took bath in the falls. No matter how much I hated it the bath was actually refreshing. After that we had a cup of tea and headed back.

On our way back we took the same route enjoying the same view in broad daylight now. We were having a nice conversation. We stopped for lunch and continued our journey back. I couldn’t believe I had driven so long, roughly 370 kms. I should have been a little more careful at a few places; but overall I believe I drove well. (Rest I will leave my friend to comment J).

All in all it was an amazing day. A beautiful place, a wonderful company and an amazing drive.

Bangalore diaries - Open Air Theatre

I had heard about the concept of open air theatre but never experienced it. I always wanted to experience it and finally got the chance this Saturday. I was planning to watch Desi Boyz and my friend here suggested we go and watch it in the open air theatre. For both of us it would be the first time; so I booked the tickets for Saturday evening.

Ever since I have been in Bangalore it hasn’t been raining here, which was quite unusual as per the locals. And the rain gods decided to pay a visit this weekend. The moment I booked the tickets it started drizzling and continued throughout the weekend. We were wondering if the movie would be screened despite the rain. We decided to go anyways as the weather was quite pleasant in spite of the drizzle. The venue was some 15-20 kms from our place and we didn’t know the way. We started early.

The traffic wasn’t helping and nor was the drizzle as we moved in a slow pace. But since we had given ourselves a big margin we didn’t worry too much. It took us more than 2 hours to reach the venue. There was some marriage going on nearby which had added to the traffic. We asked the parking guard about the exact place of the movie. He said the movie is cancelled because of the rain. We wondered if we had come all the way just to collect the refund. We located the ticket counter and found that the movie was on. We parked our car and went in.

The scene looked wonderful. There was a big screen which was playing some old movie for the time being. In front of the screen at some distance there were some 10-15 rows of mattresses. There were people covering them and putting a couple of pillows on each mattress. After the rows of mattresses ended the rows of sofas started. The sofas looked good and could seat 2 to 3 people comfortably. In the middle of the sofas was the projector tent which was used to show the movie on the screen. On the far side there were 2 food outlets – one for popcorn & soft drinks and the second for cakes, pastries, samosas, sandwiches, etc. Overall the setup looked pretty good and we had already started enjoying.

Just as the movie was about to start, it started raining. Luckily there was a covered area at the back. The organizers had put chairs there as a backup plan. And soon everyone was in the cover. The movie started. As the rain stopped people started moving to the mattresses and sofas. We too went to the sofa, got a blanket to cover the wet seat and started enjoying the movie. It started raining again. I was in a mood to keep sitting there in the rain and watch the movie. But my friend had other ideas. So we moved back to the covered area. But most of the people had settled down well and didn’t come to the covered area. We had some snacks as well – samosas, cake, kebab, roll and coffee. The coffee didn’t taste like coffee, but it was hot and good in the weather. It was getting cold and my friend had put on jacket and covered up in blanket to keep warm. I was however enjoying the weather (for a change).

Overall it was a wonderful experience, something I would like to do again.

My eating habits

My friends know me for my eating habits. Mostly for all the wrong reasons i.e. I don’t eat this I don’t eat that. In fact whoever has eaten with me once would definitely know I don’t eat capsicum at all. And call it co-incidence that whoever’s house I visit for the first time for lunch or dinner, the menu for the day includes capsicum – either already prepared or about to be prepared. So I explicitly have to call out at the time of invitation that kindly do not prepare capsicum. And still I often end up having capsicum as part of the menu on my first visit.

One of my friends asked me to prepare a list of things I like and dislike. I was like “What?”. But she didn’t budge. So I sat down to make a list. And believe me it wasn’t as easy as I thought. First of all remember all food items, and then group them into – Do not eat, Like, Okay and Dislike. I did make the list and send it to my friend. But before I talk about the contents of the list let me see how many of you could actually guess the list :)

Bangalore diaries - Passing time

Its been sometime now in Bangalore and I think I am getting used to the life here. The one thing that prevents me from going all out in settling here is the fact that I know it is temporary. I will be going back to my home soon. And so it doesn't drive me to go out explore the locale for day to day needs, to know the neighbourhood, to make friends around. In short it doesn't drive me to know Bangalore as a place to stay but just a place for temporary station.

Lets see what all I can do here. Apart from office work I think I can do absolutely anything. I mean I can literally do anything I want to. There are no restrictions to follow, no routines to carry, no one to answer to. I have always thought about the things I would do if I ever get into such a scenario. And not that I am actually in that scenario I have no clue what to do. I mean there are things I would like to do but I something is stopping me from doing them. Some I fear I will not be able to do, some I am sure I won't be able to do, some I don't think is the right thing to do and some I somehow don't feel like doing. So I guess it leaves just one thing to do - do nothing. And if I somehow manage to do nothing then what will I do. Sounds confusing? Doesn't it? Well that's exactly where I am stuck. I want to do absolutely nothing but need something to pass time. Thinking about it would lead me to something called a cyclic dependency which is heading towards a deadlock.

Does it mean a routine life a better than this life? Does that mean having restrictions is better than having no restrictions? Does that mean it is good to have someone answerable? I am not sure if I could answer them in boolean i.e. plain yes and no. It is probably human tendency to want things they don't have and when they get those they don't want it. And I am no different. There are actually a few things I definitely want to do. And I have everything to do them. But somehow I don't feel like doing it. Nothings preventing me from doing it, yet something is preventing me from doing to it.

I don't think I will be able to figure out what is preventing me. The options left to me are either I drop the idea, or I do it no matter what, or I take some more time to think about it. The third option seems to be the easiest thing to do which is what I am going to choose most likely, at least for now. Wait and watch. Keep thinking about what to do and pass the time. I am sure the mind will be fed up with all this and decide the course of action. I just hope I have more patience that my mind...

Rockstar

Finally watched Rockstar today. I would say it was a decent watch. The songs and music was superb – thanks to A R Rehman and Mohit Chouhan; they have simply put an awesome performance. Ranbir Kapoor has done a wonderful job except the initial stages where in I found him on the verge of over acting. The heroine I felt was disappointing. But overall Imtiaz Ali has done a nice job with execution of the movie. And Khatara bhai deserves a special mention.

There were certain aspects of the movie that really touched my heart. One of them was when the heroine was getting married she asks Ranbir to come to Prague. Did she really mean it? I don’t think so. But Ranbir had registered it in his mind and was ready to sign any contract to go to Prague when he got a chance. Of course he didn’t give a damn about the contract. He didn’t realize initially that he was in love. And he never said so in the entire movie. But he felt that.

Another such instance is when the girl says we shouldn’t be doing it as it isn’t the right thing to do. But she knew she wanted to do it. Ranbir has been projected as someone who doesn’t give a damn what people think. You have to be actually that crazy to be in love. Most people don’t have that courage to do what they want.

Shammi Kapoor plays a nice role in the movie. The scene where he is playing the shehnai along with Ranbir who is playing his guitar speaks a lot. Ranbir had made fun of classical music by calling it monotonous. Shammi Kapoor proves Ranbir wrong not by defending himself but by playing different tunes with shehnai which makes Ranbir realize his mistake. When Ranbir stops playing guitar he actually acknowledges Shammi Kapoor without saying anything. The execution of the movie is brilliant.

If I look back at the movie I don’t think I would mind watching it again. Putting it in my friend Manas’s words I actually liked the movie for certain reasons. And I guess what I think the movie conveys is that you should rather do what you want to rather than do what seems to be the right thing to do. You have one life and it’s better to live it the way you want rather than living it the right way. It actually resembles a line said by Mark Twain “20 years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do, than by the one’s you did do. So throw off the bow line. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sail. Explore. Dream Discover”. I wish GOD gives everyone the courage to do what they want.

To quote from the movie "Kyun sach ka sabak sikhaye jab sach sun bhi na paye..."

A goldfish that disturbed my sleep

“How can the alarm ring so early” I wondered in my sleep as I tried to locate my phone. I had been woken from a deep sleep. As I grabbed my phone I realized it wasn’t the alarm but the phone was actually ringing. I rubbed my eyes and read the name of the caller. It was a friend of mine. I took the call.

“Can you hold a fish?” she asked.

I asked “What?” still trying to make sense.

“A parasite has got on my goldfish and I doubt if it will survive till morning. I need to remove the parasite from its fins and for that I need to hold the goldfish”

I was beginning to understand things.

“But I can’t hold the fish” she continued “Can you hold the fish”

Her voice was serious and concerned. I hadn’t held a fish ever and the thought of holding a fish that was alive was a little scary. But as my friend was so concerned I said “I haven’t done that ever but I can try”.

She probably sensed my anxiety and asked for any other way by which she could hold the fish without hurting it. I suggested her a few ways and she said she would call me in sometime.

I looked at the watch. It was 1:34 AM. She was still awake and googling goldfish. She was concerned for her goldfish as her other goldfish had died a few days back. What she assumed to be baby fish turned out to be parasites and were actually killing the goldfish. The goldfish had come to the bottom of the jar and stayed there mostly which made my friend try and find out why it was doing so.

While I waited for her call I was wondering how am I going to hold the goldfish. If she didn’t find a way to get rid of the parasite I would actually have to hold the goldfish. The thought was a little worrying but I couldn’t have said NO.

The phone rang. She seemed relieved. She had managed to remove the parasite. She said “I used two pencils to hold the goldfish and removed the parasite using a toothpick. Now my goldfish is swimming freely”

I said “Cool. By the way why are you awake so late?”

“Koi kaam to hota nahi hai aapse ab baat karne ki fursat hai. So jao aap” she replied

All I could say was “Ok. Good night.”

This happened last night. Today morning she said that the goldfish was swimming happily and even took feeds from her hand. She was pretty happy. And in the afternoon she bought 3 more fishes to give company to her goldfish.

For those who like keeping fishes here’s a useful link in case they face similar situation as my friend - http://factoidz.com/keeping-tropical-fish-in-an-aquarium-how-to-use-salt-in-killing-protozoan-parasites-plus-an-amazing-video/ She used this link to find out the problem and then sorted it out. In the process she befriended her goldfish. Cheers to her goldfish…

Mind games the Mind plays

The mind is so powerful and yet it keeps playing such petty games. It makes you do great things and it keeps you from doing the simple things. It makes one climb the Everest while it makes one fear cockroaches. It makes things look so simple but prevents you from doing it. It makes the same food taste different at different times. It makes you say things which it feels is necessary and makes you regret after you have said it. It makes you support a point while talking to someone and makes you go against the point while talking to someone else.

The mind makes you believe things will be fine and then makes everything look like a mess. The mind asks you to accept things as they are and then challenges you to bring change. It says you to keep your life simple and then complicates it by increasing your needs.

The mind has the power to complicate the simplest of things and to simplify the most complicated things. I seem to be saying the same thing over and over again. Well my mind seems to have decided to play with me. It is really messing around and I don’t know what to do. It starts with a question and helps me come to a conclusion. We (I and my mind) are on the same page. We decide on the next steps and when it is all settled it pops up a question – “Are you sure?” I am like “We finalized it together and now you doubt it. Come on man you can’t do this”. It doesn’t reply because it knows it already did it.

I can hear it giggling and I shout at it “What the hell are you doing man? Are we not supposed to be one? I mean you are part of me; you should help me; not confuse me.”

No answer. More smiles.

“I can do without you dude.”

More smiles.

“Shut the hell up. Will you?”

Smile continues.

“Go to hell”

It stops smiling. At least I think so. But that doesn’t ease the situation. I know as well as it does that this is going to happen again. Probably this is why wise men have said that one should try and control one’s mind. They could have given a guidebook for the same but instead they gave many guidebooks. Go figure for yourself which one to follow. I think I will patch up with my mind.

Bangalore diaries - the first weekend

My first weekend in Bangalore turned out to be quite good. After the not so good first 4 days here I was looking at the weekend with a lot of hope. Things didn’t start too well as my friends here had other plans and I was to spend the day with me with nothing to do. I didn’t want to spend the entire day in hotel so I decided to explore the nearby areas. I asked the hotel staff for some nearby place that I could visit and he told me to go to Forum mall. He gave me the directions to reach the mall. I had to change a bus at Kundalahalli Gate (might still have got the spelling wrong) to reach the mall. I had already been to the mall for lunch twice and wasn’t too excited but still decided to go there as it also had a movie hall. I wanted to watch Rockstar but that was planned with a friend for Sunday. So I bought the tickets for the next available movie which turned out to be Immortals. It was a decent movie. After the movie spent some time in the mall and came back to the hotel following the same route. I didn’t want to have dinner at the hotel but there wasn’t another option. I switched on the TV, logged in to the internet browsing some sites. Then my friend called asking about my dinner plans. Since I hadn’t had my dinner my friend came to pick me up and we went to my friend’s house. It was the first time I had a cup of home made tea – it was wonderful. Then had Palak Dal for dinner and luckily it was my favourite dal. We spoke about certain things and it was time well spent. I also came to know that my friend had already watched Rockstar with someone else ditching me. We decided to meet the next day for breakfast and go some place.

Sunday morning started as expected. I called my friend who was still asleep and said wouldn’t be joining for breakfast, but would meet around noon. We met around 12:30 and proceeded towards my friend’s friend’s house. It was around 30-40 mins drive and I was asked to drive. The car being new it took a little time to get used to the car. But I must say driving in Bangalore is not fun at all. As soon as the car picks up speed a speed-breaker greets you. We reached the friend’s place and had a wonderful lunch. Then when my friend enquired about the places to visit in Bangalore we got the response as “There are no places to visit in Bangalore. But there are lots of places around Bangalore.” That came as a shock as I expected Bangalore to have some decent places to visit. We finally decided to go to Lal Bagh. It was a nice place to spend time with friends although it had nothing spectacular about it. The drive to Lal Bagh was awesome though thanks to GPS and blocked roads.

While returning from Lal Bagh my friend wanted to have momos and samosa – a deadly combo. No one knew a place where they could get samosas but they knew a place where we could get momos. We reached the place only to find that momos were out of stock. Awesome. We had a cup of tea and some pakoras instead. We then headed to my firend’s friend’s home. On the way they found a place where they got samosas which pleased my friend. We had a game of Monopoly. The international monopoly was quite different from the game I had played in my childhood. I ended up having the most number of cards, the least amount of money and the highest rent payer. We had soupy noodles for dinner and bid goodbye to my new friends. I and my friend drove back and thankfully I wasn’t driving this time. We had a decent discussion on the way and to continue it further went to my friend’s house. We had ice tea and a long discussion.

Overall it turned out to be a decent weekend and the first time I actually liked Bangalore in my entire time here.

Bangalore diaries - the first 4 days

It’s been 4 days now in Bangalore. I am staying in a hotel in the outskirts of the city. The place really looks like a village. I haven’t been anywhere except for office and hotel and a mall for lunch. And on the way (via car) I didn’t find any place to visit. To summarize I haven’t got the slightest idea about the place and what I am going to do this weekend.

The office mates are pretty busy with work. I have a few folks from my previous project with whom I have spent some time in office which has been good for the otherwise boring days. The only saving grace has been a friend of mine who has been giving me company for lunch in 3 of the 4 days. Apparently that has been the best time spent here so far.

The weather hasn’t been too good either. Coming from Delhi at this time of the year, the Bangalore weather seems hot to me. Weather was supposed to be a plus point here but even that hasn’t been helpful. I haven’t felt charged up for one moment since leaving the airport.

This seems to be going on to being a pretty depressing blog. This shouldn’t have been this way but unfortunately this is this way and all I have stated so far is what I have felt. Maybe staying alone so far from home is taking its toll. Or maybe I am still struggling to get used to things here. Or maybe something else is wrong somewhere. After all being in a new place should make you enthusiastic at least in the initial days. In fact I was all charged up for this trip but somewhere something has gone missing.

I think I should stop writing now as it isn’t making things better. Hoping that the weekend will get things going in the right direction.

1st day away from home

There are certain things you want; you want to do/try things even when you are not sure how they would turn out. You desperately want to know how it feels but somewhere deep down you actually don’t want to do them. It’s like you want to do them and you don’t want to do them. How many times have you been in such a situation where in you have actually done it?

Today happens to be one such day for me. I have come to Bangalore on deputation and today happens to be my first day in here. As I am writing this blog sitting in a hotel room with plenty of time with absolutely nothing to do, I am wondering if I am enjoying it. Well, to be honest I don’t know. On one hand I have this complete freedom with no responsibilities once I am away from office; on the other hand I miss the things Mom used to ask me to do.

A sense of loneliness is beginning to creep in. and thinking of how long the stay might be I feel like running away from this city and go home. Come to think of this – I have never been away from home alone all my life. And now I am all alone in an unknown city. Of course I have friends here and I am sure I will settle in soon; but for now …

The stay here brings with itself a whole new bunch of things – an unknown city, an unfamiliar culture, a new atmosphere and loads of interesting opportunities. It is just like any other trip. Just thinking of the places I might go changes the mood completely. But when you come to think of the fact that you are here for official purpose, the mood changes again. I mean I could certainly have done without taking this project. But then I wanted to take the project for exactly the same reason. It looks gloomy when I think that I am away from my family, away from my home, away from the known. But it looks encouraging when I think of the challenges, the scope of seeing new places and giving me the exposure. Overall it looks like a coin – heads and tails can never be the same yet they are part of the same coin – you can’t separate them.

Things should get better as I spend more days here. Today being the first day I guess this was bound to happen. Lets’ see what the coming days bring in. As of now my first day in Bangalore is coming to an end.

100 Blogs

WOW - I have finally reached the 3 figure mark. I can't stop myself from saying "Bravo".

It all started as a tryst some 5 years ago on a friend's suggestion. It took more than 1.5 years to get in the habit of writing blogs. I got used to it and soon it became a hobby - in fact an addiction. My mind was constantly searching for things to write upon. Every night I would sleep thinking about what I would be writing the next day. Many topics got washed out in sleep but many made it to the blogs. Gradually writing slowed down. Not sure why but it took a back seat. But still I managed to sneak in a blog or two once a while. And now I stand writing my 100th blog.

The journey has been great so far. There have been many constant companions giving their opinions and views on my write-ups as well as thoughts. There have been many wonderful journeymen in the way where our paths crossed for a while. All in all it has been a thoroughly enjoyable experience. I am sure the journey will continue.

Thanks to all my readers for your time and comments. I hope you will continue to read my blogs and leave your comments.

Movies - what do you remember about them

What do you remember most about the movies?
Story?
Acting?
Songs?
Dialogues?

Until and unless it is a dialogue like “Tumhara naam kya hai Basanti” or “Don ko pakadna mushkil hi nahi namumkin hai” I don’t think you remember either of the mentioned things. Some songs do stay in memory for long but not because of the movie.

So what is it that one remembers most about a movie? For me it’s the circumstances or the incidents leading to or during the movie. And as I think of it there are some which I remember instantly

‘Welcome’ starring Akshay Kumar and Katrina Kaif somehow tops the list. We (I, Manjeet, Pomey, Abhishek, Ujjwal and Sanjeev) had gone to watch the movie during office hours without informing anyone. While the movie was in progress the project leads tried calling us but we missed their calls and it was a mess afterwards :)

‘Pyar ka Punchnama’ – watched it with Kunal and Febin. It was a complete laugh riot. More so as we compared the three characters with Kunal, Febin and Sahil. We still laugh when we remember the movie.

‘Zindagi Na Milegi Dubara’ – watched it with Sahil and Febin; probably the only movie we three have watched together. It was a wonderful movie no doubt and the food at Sahil’s place after the movie was wonderful.

‘Road Movie’ – this movie is remembered for all the wrong reasons. Watched it with Shubhi, Kunal and Dheeraj. I and Kunal were literally thinking what we were doing sitting in the hall while Shubhi and Dheeraj said that they actually liked the movie. Well, if someone asks me movies to avoid at all costs, this movie tops the list for me.

‘Murder 2’ – watched this movie with Kunal, Smita and Febin. The 4 of us actually watched the movie buying 3 tickets only. Read http://strictly-my-views.blogspot.com/2011/10/movie-without-ticket.html for more.

‘Love Aaj Kal’ – watched it with Manas. The day we watched this movie was Friendship day and we were the last people to get the tickets for this movie for the show. We watched the movie sitting in the 1st row – seat no 1 and 2.

‘Jhoom Barabar Jhoom’ – well our company decided to take the entire SBU to watch this movie. The entire hall was booked for us. About the movie, well the lesser said is better :P

‘Pirates of the Carribian: On Stranger Tides’ – watched this movie with Febin. It was the 11:40 PM show and the movie was way longer than expected. Reached home around 2:30 AM. From next morning onwards the upper limit to reach home was set to 12 midnight :(

‘Jurassic Park’ – this was my first movie ever at a cinema hall, so this has to be part of the list. And I don’t know how but I had actually fallen asleep in this movie.

‘Break Ke Baad’ – watched this movie with Minakshi. We were supposed to have a paper on this day, but due to some mishandling on the part of the university our name was not there. So we could either go to the main campus and enquire or watch a movie. We decided to do the latter.

‘Dhol’ – watched this movie with Supreet, Sachin and Manisha. It was during my part time MBA where we were studying. The mid-term was going on and we had given the morning paper. There were 2 papers scheduled the next day. I asked if anyone was game for a movie. To my surprise all of them agreed and we ended up watching ‘Dhol’ instead of heading home and studying.

‘Ghajini’ – watched this movie with Hina. It was the first movie I watched at Shakuntalam. The interiors were more like a old college auditorium than a movie hall; and the interval snacks were same as a college canteen.

‘Rocket Singh’ – watched this movie with my mom and sister. My mom doesn’t usually go to movie halls. But I insisted and took her assuring her that if she doesn’t like the movie then we’ll leave early. But she liked the movie.

There are many more movies which are fondly remembered for some reason or the other. If you remember any such thing about a movie then do post a comment; and if it involves me then you must definitely write about it ;)

Waiting for your comments…