What I want to be

1) When I was 8 yrs old, I wanted to be a 'Movie Hero' running around the trees chasing beautiful girls. Thanks to the loverboy flicks running all around that time. No doubt I was caught red handed with a collection of love phrases at the end of my notebook. Ahh, really embarassing that time but now I love it. Afterall, I was way ahead of my peer group!!

2) When I was 12 yrs old, I wanted to be an 'Astronaut'. One chapter on stars and planets in school and my heart was set on it. Used to gaze at night sky for hours at stretch trying to discover a new star pattern or planet for that matter. Longed for a powerful telescope and dreamed about being in outer space hopping from one galaxy to another.

3) When I was 15 yrs old, I wanted to be an teacher. Sharing my wisdom (if any) and transforming lives of my students. Considering the pathetic pay packages of teachers in India, I abandoned the idea. Somehow I don't believe in education system in India. My idea of education is to teach lessons that one can put to use in real life and in the process act as a guide, rather than as a directive. Those who know me, can easily tell how much I still love doin it. I only need some bakras to fulfill this desire of mine. People really used to freak out in college when I used to get onto the stage for my neverending lectures (deep down I know how much they loved it ;-). May be I'll fulfill this desire as a freelancer after retirement.

4) When I was 20, I wanted to be an Entrepreneur and I STILL want to be one. Its not a decision thats driven by any fancies or external factors. Although I get pretty much excited dreaming about getting dressed up and leaving for MY company. A dream realised with lot of hard work, done smartly. An ambitious, innovative, fun to work place with sheer focus on its people. Driven by my set of unique policies and plans, it'll involve even the last grounds man in company decisions. Wow, did I just sound like a democrat??

Those who are still wondering what I am into at present: I'm in a process of continuous learning and improvement. May be I'll fulfill my dreams one day or life might lead me to some new horizon that I'll love to be in. In the meantime, I'm just enjoying the journey wondering what I want to be??

PS:
Hope you liked the pic above. I just experimented with the collage tool (wow, m good at it boy!!). It's me in a fancydress competition where I forgot my dialogues...

Flight No 6E 304

Date : 20 Oct'06
Time : 8:35 PM
Flight : Indigo AE 304
Itinerary: Chennai to Delhi
Mood : Amused
Special : Twinkling Diwali Night



Thanks to my lethargic approach to travel planning, I ended up booking tickets to Delhi from Chennai instead of Bangalore. Even though I wasted one day in journey, the flight proved to be quite an amusing experience.

As soon as I buckled up my seat belt, I realised there was a big group of youngsters on board. Gang of some 30 odd boys and girls, quite fresh out of college and undergoing training at sprawling Infosys campus in Chennai. New joinees in IT are quite easy to identify, they wear their 'access tags' wherever they go, on the streets, in buses and suprisingly, in the airplane too ;-). You can make out the sense of relief of first job and proud of being employed by one of the biggest home giants. Many were travelling for the first time and a lot of research was goin on about the aircraft seatbelts and wings. This was their first Diwali from their first salary. Sheer excitement and joy marked their journey and I was a part of it. Here's an account of the same.

Before I began, I must admit that even though Indigo claims to be a low cost airline, they have left no stones unturned in hiring a good looking crew. There was a very cute air hostess on board, much to the delight of the male fraternity present there. While she was busy giving away the safety instructions, they were trying hard to make her tip and finally she gave in with a tight lipped laughter. A huge applause followed her performance. It was not only surprising but strange too, and I had a good laugh over the ongoing events. Even the most stern looking faces finally eased up. Afterall its better to get wrinkles from a smile than from a frown. The plane rushed through the airstrip and there echoed an energetic Jaikara "Jaikara Sherawalin Ka - Bol Saache Darbar Ki JAI". Those who don't know about Jaikara, its literally a shout of victory, triumph or exultation commonly used to mark the safe journey of travel but I was encountering it for the first time in an aircraft. It was quite a nice change of breaking the norms after a long time. It felt as if I'm in a college bus to a college fest, lots of giggles, leg pulling and ofcourse, tonnes of PJ's.

I took a break from flashbacks of my college life, first job and first flight to glance through the window upon the twinkling lights of Chennai. Lakhs and lakhs of light bulbs were scattered like a sheet of stars mirroring the sky. This Diwali was quite special for me. Whole family was going to celebrate it together after 3 long years. Moreover, a surprise visit and I was quite excited bout it. I pulled over the lever of my chair and slouched back, trying to relax amidst the chaos and energy marked by festive spirits. What a joy, festival of lights has just begun!!

Festival of lights

Dear all, I am back from my Diwali vacation. Lights, crackers, sweets, prayers and lots of family time marked my favourite festival. And guess what, I'm not alone this time. I have a bag full of stories to share. Will post them one by one here. As for Diwali pics, I have got tonnes of them but uploading will take a while. For the time being, here's the beautiful Rangoli I discovered at New Delhi airport on wee hours of the auspicious day. Can you tell what it is made up of?



For those who are still guessing, here's the answer - Its made from colored rice grains :-)

Dressing Up

Theme: New job, New challenges. The day, tomorrow.
Date: 15 Oct, 06
Mood: Excited
Time: 11:30 in the night
Dilemma: The perfect wear?

 

This is rather a personal note but I felt like sharing it, so here it goes:
As I was fumbling through my wardrobe to select the best combination possible, strange thoughts quickly occupied my vacant top floor ;-). A quick scan of the huge pile of clothes revealed that blue constitutes for about 70% of my whole attire collection. A majority fail to fit me now as my growing belly is unrelenting to give up. Is this the "Blue for Men - Pink for Women" factor or just my fetish for blue? Hmm whatever it is, the fact is, I love B-L-U-E (except monday blues, ofcourse). Knowingly or unknowingly, the finger always points at shades of blue ;-)

Enough discovery, now some Man to Man talk. Views expressed here are mine, individual views can differ from person to person (Disclaimer). There are very few occassions in a man's life when he really want to dress up with such a razor sharp precision unlike ladies who are groomed to look best for every possible occassion :o). To begin with - on day of his first date, first job, first proposal, first achievement award etc etc. Even though, I wrote 'first' in every instance, care is taken for every such occassion but the charm of the first moment is always a class apart. Coming back from 'wanderland', I finally decided on a beautifully crafted Ascot shirt. Gifted by my ex-colleagues & friends, it was a symbol of their love for me. So here I was, all dressed up for a powerpacked tomorrow. And as a coincidence, it was blue again ;-) 

Arati - The light of faith

Somehow my fascination with Sun and Fire never ceases. Blame it on my sunsign that claims to be governed by Sun or the dominant element of my chart, the Fire. Whatever it is, I love to be with the golden form of energy. It somehow heals my soul and warms my blood like a cold blooded reptilian. Now this comes as a contradiction to my immense love for rains but without sunrays filtering through those clouds, its incomplete for me. Now this post is not bout the hide and seek of sun and clouds, its about the "The light of faith"... The Arati.

Last weekend I happened to visit Ganesh temple in Koramangla and my fascination again came into play. In between sacred chants and holy bells, I managed to steal the beauty of evening Arati. A silent lamp, lit up to enlighten the world. Carrying the warmth of God to hundreds of devotees. As I sat there watching, I discovered so many forms of it that never existed in my conscious mind before. I saw it in form of golden glow on faces busy praying. As a twinkle in the eyes of the priest. As a form of shakti in hands that were busy collecting the sacred flame. In the soul embodying the light of consciousness. A blissful sight of an eternal fire that burns in each one of us. I looked up and thanked God for this gift called Life.

 

PS: For my foreign readers/friends, Arati is Flame, usually ghee, camphor or oil lamps, waved by the priest before the temple Deity image at the height of a puja as a means of psychically catalyzing the flow of shakti. The lamp is then passed to all devotees present, each one passing his hands through the flame and bringing it to his eyes, thereby receiving the blessings or shakti. Mostly practiced in Hindu religion. 

Picasa

Some time back one my friend mentioned bout "Picasa" to me. A freeware photo editor cum organiser now under Google umbrella. Even though I had downloaded the software long time back, it look a lot for my lazy ass to get down to work with it. And the auspicious day finally arrived, when to kill boredom, I finally started tinkering with it. Ah, Love at first sight, i must say. I just couldn't leave it till I tried almost all its features. Its such an easy to use, light weight and adorable package that I'd like to recommend it to all of you. It has a lot of stuff in store, from novice to experienced users. You save time and get results fast, what more u can ask for.

And here's me, in a pensive mood, with picasa adding shades of thought.
(Taken by my samsung mobile VGA camera)



You can download Picasa from here: http://picasa.google.com/download/index.html
You can see the collage that I made from it in the post bout Coorg below.

COORG - The scotland of India!!

** Coffee Coffee all around **
Just returned from the trip to Madikeri - Coorg and it was mind blowing. Everything was perfect, be it the wonderful weather, beautiful surroundings, coffee plantations, mist covered mountains, awesome food or just the company of good friends. We stayed in an estate with very hospitable hosts (The famous Kodavas, who else!). In sightseeing, we covered Talacauvery (birthplace of river Cauvery), Nisargadhama(picnic spot) and Tibetan Monastery (really awe inspiring). We missed quite a few spots due to rains and shortage of time but made it up with few games, in and out of the bus. Camp fire, barbecues and moonlit nights added the much needed spice to life. Below are the pics of the estate where we stayed, the cozy dining hut, the adorable Jumo (pet of our hosts) and ofcourse, Coffee beans.



For more details about the estate and their wonderful owners, call/visit:
Viju and Nimi, Biddanda Estate (+91-9845637503)
http://www.coorghomestay.piczo.com/