Oh god, i dont know how i would manage if there wasn't any internet. Its a far-fetched statement, but yes, after getting used to the wonderful thing that can happen to this world, its difficult to think of a situation where there is no internet anymore.
The amount of money i am spending for the internet at the internet cafe will suffice to subscribe for atleast 4 months unlimited connection. Around 4 years back i had a broadband connection with a laptop. But for my nature of being hooked to the net, i hardly slept in the night. Over a period of time, i realised that if i dont get rid of the laptop and internet connection, my health would be in bad shape. Thats when i disposed it off.
After that, i havent had the courage to buy another computer for myself. Though i end up spending more, atleast i return back to normal life after the internet cafe closes. These days i am caught with my school's alumni association. So many mail ids to check, one orkut account, two blogs, two facebook accounts, one alumni group in facebook, one another group which iam managing in orkut. Ohh...my hands are full, but there is no lack of energy.
Hope i can do justice to all the spheres of my activity. And in august this year, a grand re-union of my schoolmates would happen. Greatly looking forward to that.
Wednesday, 28 April 2010
Thursday, 15 April 2010
Busy with Networking
I didnt mean any new MLM kind of networking. The past week saw me always stuck in front of the monitor, in pursuit of an Old students association for my school (KNHS, Bangalore). Since i am away from Bangalore, the only way i could give my best was by finding the alumni of my school through the net.
Some days i hardly had enough rest. One day i even spent 8 hours on the net, but it was satisfying. These days, my hours logged on the internet have gone quite high. But somewhere there is lot of satisfaction. The real satisfaction will come when the re-union planned in august 2010 becomes a success.
Fourteen years back, i did a re-union for only my class along with 2 other friends who took active part in finding the old buddies. We were much exhausted by the end of it, but still excited enough to have all old friends at one place.
My own blog has been suffering of late. I am not updating with new blogs these days, as often as i would like it. May be its also because these days the comments have gone down for whatever reasons. And know what, i am getting comments in chinese language....from unknown people. he.hehheheh.ehhehe...
Well guys, will say bye now, but shall try to keep this blog alive and kicking. See ya...
Some days i hardly had enough rest. One day i even spent 8 hours on the net, but it was satisfying. These days, my hours logged on the internet have gone quite high. But somewhere there is lot of satisfaction. The real satisfaction will come when the re-union planned in august 2010 becomes a success.
Fourteen years back, i did a re-union for only my class along with 2 other friends who took active part in finding the old buddies. We were much exhausted by the end of it, but still excited enough to have all old friends at one place.
My own blog has been suffering of late. I am not updating with new blogs these days, as often as i would like it. May be its also because these days the comments have gone down for whatever reasons. And know what, i am getting comments in chinese language....from unknown people. he.hehheheh.ehhehe...
Well guys, will say bye now, but shall try to keep this blog alive and kicking. See ya...
Friday, 9 April 2010
My unforgettable Ganesh Chaturthi
I was all of 15 years, and a few months past my high school life. There was a dramatic change that took place in the few months of exposure i got after schooling. I had become little courageous vis-a-vis interacting with people.
Community celebration of Ganesh Chaturthi festival was a trend that had caught the imagination of Bangaloreans, those days. Youth associations generally took initiative in pitching up big shamiyana and placing Idol of the elephant god inside it. Poojas were regularly conducted along with variety programmes in the evenings to entertain the crowds.
I was quite fascinated by the great appeal of these festivities. Nothing much for the worship part, but for the getting together of so many people at one place. I badly wanted to replicate such successful celebration of the festival in our own colony. But there was no mentor to look up to for support.
Somehow i succeeded in getting another guy excited with my plan of celebrating the festival. We managed just enough money to print a receipt book for collecting donation. Another couple of younger friends joined in for collecting donations from all and sundry. Just in time, we managed a decent enough amount to pitch a tent in our colony and also place a large enough Ganesh idol. The moment the women in the colony saw this development, they were all praises for us. They took part with whole hearted interest on a daily basis in conducting poojas, distribution of prasad, etc.
The grand finale of dipping the idol in water (we chose a well) was attended by all youngsters in our colony. The boisterous kids sang paeans to lord Ganesh and it reached a crescendo while dipping the idol. Till date, that festival of Ganesh Chaturthi has been very special to me.
Community celebration of Ganesh Chaturthi festival was a trend that had caught the imagination of Bangaloreans, those days. Youth associations generally took initiative in pitching up big shamiyana and placing Idol of the elephant god inside it. Poojas were regularly conducted along with variety programmes in the evenings to entertain the crowds.
I was quite fascinated by the great appeal of these festivities. Nothing much for the worship part, but for the getting together of so many people at one place. I badly wanted to replicate such successful celebration of the festival in our own colony. But there was no mentor to look up to for support.
Somehow i succeeded in getting another guy excited with my plan of celebrating the festival. We managed just enough money to print a receipt book for collecting donation. Another couple of younger friends joined in for collecting donations from all and sundry. Just in time, we managed a decent enough amount to pitch a tent in our colony and also place a large enough Ganesh idol. The moment the women in the colony saw this development, they were all praises for us. They took part with whole hearted interest on a daily basis in conducting poojas, distribution of prasad, etc.
The grand finale of dipping the idol in water (we chose a well) was attended by all youngsters in our colony. The boisterous kids sang paeans to lord Ganesh and it reached a crescendo while dipping the idol. Till date, that festival of Ganesh Chaturthi has been very special to me.
Wednesday, 31 March 2010
Aarattu: Padmanabha Temple
Today i had the opportunity to witness the aarattu (Holy bath) of the idols of Sree Padmanabha Temple. Due to heavy crowds, a close view was impossible without risking a stampede. But all in all it went off smoothly and without any incidents. There was a cavalcade which consisted of 5 to 6 elephants, horse mounted police, traditional percussion musicians, a handful of policement with arms in shoulder-arm position, and other colourful paraphernalia.
The procession started from Sree Padmanabha Temple, East Fort, Trivandrum and ended at Shanghumugham beach, where the idols were given the holy bath in the arabian sea. Traditional oil torches attached to the end of a stick held by volunteers lit up the evening, as it was already dusk. I took few picture of the elephants which were taking rest on the beach with their mahouts sitting besides them. One elephant was made to stick to rules (i.e. not to make unnecessary movements) by slanting a stick to one of its legs. The elephant is expected to see that the stick doesnt fall. If the stick falls the elephant would be calling for trouble. But this particular elephant didnt care for the stick as i could see that the stick fell atleast 2 times and then the mahout never cared to repeat the stick trick again.
A colourful evening it was for me today. Many foreigners too had gathered with cameras which caught every action happening around them. Before it was late, i called it a day and came here to update about the experience of this nice evening.
The procession started from Sree Padmanabha Temple, East Fort, Trivandrum and ended at Shanghumugham beach, where the idols were given the holy bath in the arabian sea. Traditional oil torches attached to the end of a stick held by volunteers lit up the evening, as it was already dusk. I took few picture of the elephants which were taking rest on the beach with their mahouts sitting besides them. One elephant was made to stick to rules (i.e. not to make unnecessary movements) by slanting a stick to one of its legs. The elephant is expected to see that the stick doesnt fall. If the stick falls the elephant would be calling for trouble. But this particular elephant didnt care for the stick as i could see that the stick fell atleast 2 times and then the mahout never cared to repeat the stick trick again.
A colourful evening it was for me today. Many foreigners too had gathered with cameras which caught every action happening around them. Before it was late, i called it a day and came here to update about the experience of this nice evening.
Monday, 22 March 2010
Anger: The spoil sport
Time is a bitter thing sometimes. It doesnt have a rewind button, which would allow us to undo wrongs that we did in the past. A word uttered cant be caught back. We all know these universal truths, but still, sometimes things dont happen as per our wish.
I usually dont regret for the mistakes that i did knowingly. For example, like splurging unnecessarily while in my youth. I knew it was irresponsible, but none that would affect others. And hence i usually never regretted it, because i knew i have enjoyed that time when i did it. But thats not the case with words that are exchanged between friends or family. A wrong word uttered and the other person has difficulty forgetting it. This happened to me just this past week.
My patience levels are generally quite high, unless someone is hell-bent on stepping on my last nerve. Another factor for disappointment is expectation. We expect others to behave in a certain fashion, and when that doesn't happen, we are in for disappointment which also brings other unpleasant emotions with it.
This past week i was little disappointed about some aspect, and hence i shared it with my better half. I was expecting some kind of solace and wanted to hear some kind words from her. But she started advising me. I didn't expect advise at that hour. Without my knowledge I had started arguing with her and also i started shouting without my knowledge. Though i never use any inappropriate language, my volume had gone high. She was quite hurt, and when i realised my folly, i cooled down very soon. But the damage was already done. When loved ones hurt, the pain is all the more difficult to die down.
She expressed her unhappiness with my behaviour. Apart from tendering an apology i didn't want to say anything more. Time will heal the hurt, but its better to hold one's tongue and temper than to rue later. Every failure has a lesson. I better learn from my own mistake. Smart people learn from other's mistakes, rather than committing their own. I hope readers of my blog will be smarter than me in this aspect.
God bless.
I usually dont regret for the mistakes that i did knowingly. For example, like splurging unnecessarily while in my youth. I knew it was irresponsible, but none that would affect others. And hence i usually never regretted it, because i knew i have enjoyed that time when i did it. But thats not the case with words that are exchanged between friends or family. A wrong word uttered and the other person has difficulty forgetting it. This happened to me just this past week.
My patience levels are generally quite high, unless someone is hell-bent on stepping on my last nerve. Another factor for disappointment is expectation. We expect others to behave in a certain fashion, and when that doesn't happen, we are in for disappointment which also brings other unpleasant emotions with it.
This past week i was little disappointed about some aspect, and hence i shared it with my better half. I was expecting some kind of solace and wanted to hear some kind words from her. But she started advising me. I didn't expect advise at that hour. Without my knowledge I had started arguing with her and also i started shouting without my knowledge. Though i never use any inappropriate language, my volume had gone high. She was quite hurt, and when i realised my folly, i cooled down very soon. But the damage was already done. When loved ones hurt, the pain is all the more difficult to die down.
She expressed her unhappiness with my behaviour. Apart from tendering an apology i didn't want to say anything more. Time will heal the hurt, but its better to hold one's tongue and temper than to rue later. Every failure has a lesson. I better learn from my own mistake. Smart people learn from other's mistakes, rather than committing their own. I hope readers of my blog will be smarter than me in this aspect.
God bless.
Tuesday, 2 March 2010
A plot which disappeared
Owning a piece of land in Bangalore in itself is a big achievement for the salaried class. Many years back a government employee sold his only piece of land in his village and bought a small plot in Bangalore. It was the culmination of years of his yearning. Since he didnt have the money to build a house right away, he just waited for better days to arrive.
Once in every few months he would go and visit his plot, to see that it is safe. This went on without any hiccups for around 3 years. And on one such routine visits to his plot, he was aghast to see that a house was already standing on his plot, with a family living in it. His heart rate shooted quite high. He mustered enough courage to knock on that house's door. Some one appeared at the door and asked what it was. With a heavy heart and lot of perspiration on his face, he said this plot belonged to him.
The person who stayed in the house said that they had bought the plot few months back from the local landlord and he had built the house. This landlord incidentally was the same person from whom the first person had purchased the plot. Heart broken, the poor government employee went to the person who sold his property to another person without his knowledge. The landlord said he didnt know what he was blabbering and claimed not to have seen him earlier in his life.
The poor man returned home and narrated the incident to his family members. All were dumbstruck and shocked. There was no way he could fight the rich landlord. He shared this story with one of his colleague. Luckily his colleague said he could be of some help since he knew a notorious goon named "Seemenne Nagaraj". He and his colleague went and met this goon. Seemenne Nagaraj sent two of his lieutenants to clean up the act.
The two lieutenants of the goon knocked the door of the landlord who had cheated. The moment he got to know that these men were working for the notorious goon, he surrendered immediately and said he would give the plot adjacent to the original plot, without any charges and that too within a week. Within a week, the new plot got registered in the name of the cheated government servant.
The poor guy went on to built a house on that plot, before he retired from service. Incidentally i happen to be his son and thought i should share this story in my blog.
Once in every few months he would go and visit his plot, to see that it is safe. This went on without any hiccups for around 3 years. And on one such routine visits to his plot, he was aghast to see that a house was already standing on his plot, with a family living in it. His heart rate shooted quite high. He mustered enough courage to knock on that house's door. Some one appeared at the door and asked what it was. With a heavy heart and lot of perspiration on his face, he said this plot belonged to him.
The person who stayed in the house said that they had bought the plot few months back from the local landlord and he had built the house. This landlord incidentally was the same person from whom the first person had purchased the plot. Heart broken, the poor government employee went to the person who sold his property to another person without his knowledge. The landlord said he didnt know what he was blabbering and claimed not to have seen him earlier in his life.
The poor man returned home and narrated the incident to his family members. All were dumbstruck and shocked. There was no way he could fight the rich landlord. He shared this story with one of his colleague. Luckily his colleague said he could be of some help since he knew a notorious goon named "Seemenne Nagaraj". He and his colleague went and met this goon. Seemenne Nagaraj sent two of his lieutenants to clean up the act.
The two lieutenants of the goon knocked the door of the landlord who had cheated. The moment he got to know that these men were working for the notorious goon, he surrendered immediately and said he would give the plot adjacent to the original plot, without any charges and that too within a week. Within a week, the new plot got registered in the name of the cheated government servant.
The poor guy went on to built a house on that plot, before he retired from service. Incidentally i happen to be his son and thought i should share this story in my blog.
Saturday, 27 February 2010
Looking back, Marching Forward
Around 14 years back, we had a re-union meeting of our high school classmates. Though in our 10th batch there were 90 students, not all could be traced. Even among the traced classmates, not everyone turned up. When we finally had the re-union meeting on 07 January 1996, only around 25 turned up. Still it was such a big emotional event that i am unable to forget that date easily enough.
We had the get together done in our class that we all studied in. Some had got married by then. Many girls had lost their old time charm, but their affection increased manifold. Most of us danced that evening to the song Ek, Do, Teen..... from the film Tezaab. That song was such craze during our final days in school and even we all had danced to it in 1989. Enough fun, frolic and catching up happened. But then, it was the first and last re-union that happened till date.
While arranging that re-union meeting, our school administration had asked us to form an old student's association. Since i was posted in another city, i didnt volunteer, likewise others had their own reservations and reasons. Now one of our old classmate has come up showing interest. I too am trying to pool in all my resources to begin an Alumni association for our school. My visit to Bangalore next week should keep me busy with this for few days atleast. Its a way of thanks giving to our beloved Ramani Madam, who wants this old student's association to be up and running before she retires next year.
I feel i have some moral responsility to fulfil my old teacher's wishes. Lets see what happens.
We had the get together done in our class that we all studied in. Some had got married by then. Many girls had lost their old time charm, but their affection increased manifold. Most of us danced that evening to the song Ek, Do, Teen..... from the film Tezaab. That song was such craze during our final days in school and even we all had danced to it in 1989. Enough fun, frolic and catching up happened. But then, it was the first and last re-union that happened till date.
While arranging that re-union meeting, our school administration had asked us to form an old student's association. Since i was posted in another city, i didnt volunteer, likewise others had their own reservations and reasons. Now one of our old classmate has come up showing interest. I too am trying to pool in all my resources to begin an Alumni association for our school. My visit to Bangalore next week should keep me busy with this for few days atleast. Its a way of thanks giving to our beloved Ramani Madam, who wants this old student's association to be up and running before she retires next year.
I feel i have some moral responsility to fulfil my old teacher's wishes. Lets see what happens.
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