Exploring Bangalore City

Bangalore has been like my second home since the past one year.While I used to visit the city for interviews and walkins,I had no time to explore the city which is now famously known as the Garden city,The silicon valley and the City of lakes(262 in number to be exact).With my cousins wedding around the weekend,I decided to explore the city a bit-given the fact that its famous for its gardens all over the metropolis.

The first thing while entering the city,I captured some moments of the journey on my phone.A snap here and a snap there some instances which captivated me





Just put my hand outside the moving train to take this snap from my mobile.Looks cool isnt it?Also see how the sun rises in the distance.It was 6.00 AM in the morning when i reached bangalore.

Being an outsider meant to take a tourism package from karantaka state tourism for a ride around the city in half days time(There s a full day city package as well).My mother and twin brother joined me in the city's exploration ride.What we did not expect was the soaring temperatures which is mostly uncommon here.I then realised that Bangalore was choking.

The development and demand in the IT sector had shadowed the infrastructural facilities --The reason was obvious,People who work in the big tech parks all around bangalore earn more money,buy more automobiles and donnot care to use the good public transport system.

The half day bangalore city tour

Went to badami house,the toursim center run by the karnataka govt around 2 pm in the afternoon.Had to take tickets for the afternoon tour as the morning one was sold out mostly to foreign tourists.Tour starts around 2.20 in a Non-AC coach.Had to bear the tempratures...what the heck!!! Less number of persons in the tour  meant change of plans in the last moment(We had booked for the AC coach).After we were refunded with some of the money we were told to board the bus.

I cursed myself.Never in my life had I faced such heat in this garden city.

Just thought for a while- Had texas instruments not come to bangalore 25 years ago and recommend others to set up  shop here,things could have been quite different! LOL.

The bus started and went through the town hall.Magnificent Building it was!A center for cultural activities it had indeed lived up to the cities expectations and image.



We faced the traffic woes all along the way.More cars,less number of lanes and more heat getting added to this beautiful garden city.The next stops included the  Vidhan soudha(House of commons)and the Vidhan parishad(The secretariat).Though vidan soudha was quite and old building its still one of the best places for the post cards!.The secretariat was no less when compared to the house of commons.More bigger and majestic both of them were stealing the eyes of people going through them-Even though the roads also houses The High court complex.

With hundreds of constituencies from which the elected leaders represent their people,this temple of democracy has indeed stolen my heart.Democracies are and will be the torch bearers in the 21st century be it the United states or India(The oldest and the Largest in the world).

I am fond of certain things Trains,Rockets,Fighter jets.Never missed a rocket launch from my childhood when India sends a satellite or a soyuz launch from russia,A shuttle launch from the United states.Could only take some snaps with models of Various Indian rockets and a special section for NASA.



There was a huge fighter jet outside the museum  building.Perhaps a de-commisioned one.I went near it with glee started examing it with anxiety and took some snaps there as well



Yes i am fond of fighter jets!Seen loads of them on the TV while in my school particularly in the program called boys toys and Modern marvels,Both of them still  broacasting on the History channel.With an airforce base near by and a buying spree by the Indian airforce.I could make out the F16s the F18 hornets and the Mirage jets thundering over the city with their big sonic booms for atleast two weeks.

There were some big boys too making the rounds in the sky,The Russian Ilyushin Aircraft followed by two Mirage fighter jets.Could not take a snap of them since they were too fast for me ;) .You wont get to see so many jets all the time ;)

The last of our half day tour ended with a visit to lalbagh.Asia's largest rose gardens and one of the worlds largest botanical gardens.Thousands of sherbs and a varied variety of rose plants to look at!.Certainly bangalore is THE garden city of India.

Another un-expected tour

I was scheduled to leave bangalore in two days time.Was feeling bad for not been able to stay here for long.An un-expected call from my friends made us to make a quick decision.Tour all the Tech parks and the IT economic zones of the city.We took a Day pass and started to stare outside as the bus passed through the many gleaming buildings around the city.Though we could still not make into of them we had hope that some day we would be working in that world of glass and concrete!






One thing is for sure....Bangalore is Choking.....

Check out DAY 672

Title: DAY 672
Link: http://gotaf.socialtwist.com/redirect?l=724729807958961196221

Check out DAY 672

Title: DAY 672
Link: http://gotaf.socialtwist.com/redirect?l=724729807958961196211

Brilliant Ads....A picture is worth a thousand words!

Was just going through my gmail account when I came across this mail sent by my sister.Some  of the pictures try to address various social and economical issues and myths in Modern India,while some are  initiatives taken by the Govt of India to eradicate uncanny myths about the girl child and the rampant female foeticide

With de- forestion  on the rise days may come when there will be no holy places to go and worship!



Never had horlicks with milk when I was a kid.Its more tasty when taken as it is ;).Even now sometimes I have it :D.As the famous quotation goes with the AD "nenu horlicks taganu tintanu" = I never drink horlicks, love it the way it is!

The CEO of pepsi earns more than the most famous bollywood stars! --> Girl power! - Govt of India Initiative

Isnt this Nice!



My favourites from the incredible India campaign done at Ogilvy and Mather



Need to refresh/reboot your mind? There is something for everyone in Yoga!

The symbol of Love -TajMahal  gleaming white

Golden Oldies back in Colors

Its been a colorful start for the Telugu film Industry.After running for 175 days sucessfully all over and creating new records, the old mythological film Mayabazar is back after 54 years.This time the film has even made youngsters- who generally avoid watching these evergreen films to go to the Theaters.  

What is so special that a 54 year old film is making headlines these days?And how is it able to attract cinema lovers from the Gen-next age?This probably has got to do with the story itself.And the fact that it has been derived from the longest epics of history makes it an interesting watch.I used to watch some of these old movies with my mom in the weekends sometime.They were very different from the current generation Bollywood films.Every storyline had a social message and were patriotic due to the Independence movement at that time.

Mayabazar pours life into a 3000 year old epic saga the same time as that of the Trojan war.It has been a wonderful experience to watch such a beautiful black and white movie in colour again.Its a good chance for today's generation to see how the films were made in the olden days.



The digitally re-mastered print made by gold stone technologies by painstakingly colouring the 24reels  using 16 million pixel technology has made other oldies to follow suite.Hope all the great oldies make inroads into the hearts of today's youngsters.

ZOO ZOO's taking India by storm

A new marketing strategy from vodaphone India during the earlier IPL was making headlines.This year they are back again!More frolic and funny as they look,the cute characters which represent the Vodaphone brand are back with a bang!.What makes them so special when compared to other Ads and endorsements is that most most of the telecom providers are being showcased by leading Bollywood stars including the Federal Govt's BSNL.

Vodaphone was a new entry in India after taking up Hutchison essar.Although being the world's largest telecom company - entering un-known waters was a huge risk.

With the first version of IPL around the corner vodaphone used it as a platform to launch the Zoo Zoo campaign.They were an instant hit and still have a huge fan following in orkut and Facebook.The captivating performances of the zoo zoo creatures brought fun and humour.
When its other competitors were busy roping in Bolywood superstars,Vodaphone approached ogilvy and mather and asked them to design a campign which would be a strong image of the company in the future.Thus were born the zoo zoo charecters.Designed at O&M bangalore and filmed by Nirvana films in southafrica,the zoo zoo's this time bring in new snippets of a regular Indian's life with a humorous touch.

The recent launch of the vodaphone widget for desktops is an icing on the cake for zoo zoo fans!As shown below one of the creature creeps through the system clock and stands on the superbar.





Looking for more fun filled Ads from the cute zoo zoo's !

Check out DAY 657

Title: DAY 657
Link: http://gotaf.socialtwist.com/redirect?l=546269901565441474911

Community tech days @Microsoft IDC

I got a chance to attend the community techdays -An event conducted by MVP's and Microsoft at the India development center in Hyderabad.Day long sessions included participation of eminent speakers and MVP's from various Microsoft communities.

The whole day was divided into two parts.One for IT pros and the other for Developers.As  a newbie  to .NET technologies it was a good chance for me to learn about the latest offerings  in .NET along with SQL server . Since I love the area of operating systems the  Session for the IT  pros was what is was waiting for.



An In depth seminar on the Core changes made in windows 7 by VijayRaj (Evangelist) from Texas Instruments  was my favourite.Interaction with  Microsoft employees in between sessions and breaks gave us knowledge on what to expect from the future versions of Visual studio and Virtualization technologies.

The participation of various community managers and a few perons from Microsoft who were involved in the development of Windows 7 and IIS in some of the sessions made the event more lively and interactive.

Avatar and an IMAX experience

Watching avatar was an experience no one should miss.The technical aspects with the amazing 3d effects has enthralled me..Watching the film was one thing,but enjoying it on the world's biggest screen in 3D was  awesome.

While watching the movie I got a feeing of being a part of the na'vi people.The use of Weta's FX technologies with Imax technologies makes it a perfect end product

The way in which James Cameron created the world of na'vi deserves accolades  from all movie buffs which it certainly seems to have gained all ready.A long time of 8 years to make a movie did not go in vain at last.

The first movie which i saw thrice

I have always grown up watching Bollywood and Hollywood movies.Every  saturday after school i still remember rushing back to my home just in time to catch up with an Action based Hollywood movie in the afternoon and a Bollywood blockbuster in late night hours.But for the first time in my life i went to a movie in a theater for three times in a row that too not a Bollywood or Hollywood film but a regional movie which i generally avoid(Most of them have the same themes- love,college life and sentiments).



This movie i went to was all about a person who is  deeply attached to his best friend from his childhood. Unfortunately  both of the friends fall for a same girl.The person Arya who does not want to loose his friendship makes a number of sacrifices for his friend from his early childhood days

The dance steps performed by allu arjun are the best i have ever seen,songs are trendy- A mix of Indian and western hip hop.

Torn between the affection for his best friend and girl on whom he has a crush its an excellent movie to boot.I love it

Diwali.....

It was Dusshera a few weeks back and even before getting rid of all the excess  fat i gained by having a frequent supply of  sweets and other eatables , Diwali came along.This festival provided another reason to continue with my not so healthy diet.(I for one wouldn't mind).Compared to last year's diwali this year was a more subdued affair.The reasons were quite obvious.......  recession, spiraling costs..One had to think twice before even buying any crackers this time as it would cut deep in to one's pocket.I had the opportunity to spend quality time with my family ,my sister was home for the weekend to join in the occasion.But this year celebrating diwali was more mechanical,i had no interest whatsoever  to treat my self with burning crackers......only constant nudging and cajoling by my mother forced me to do so.I was perhaps a bit uncertain about my future this time and too preoccupied to have any thoughts of entertainment.I hope that next year would be a more  cheerful one.

[caption id="attachment_290" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="home decorated with diyas"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_291" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="my mom burning a flowerpot"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_292" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="my bro enteratining himself"][/caption]



[caption id="attachment_294" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="The wheel of fire!"][/caption]

House Party UK My Party

House Party UK My Party

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A trip down memory lane

I had a good opportunity of meeting my beloved principal Ms Hemalatha pradhan after a long gap of seven years.After leaving my school i never got an opportunity to meet her.I also had a feeling og meeting her only if i had achieved something worthwhile  in my life.A senior of mine convinced that it would be nice to visit our teacher and thank them for what they had given to us.I went to her home with an expectation  that she would forgive me for not visiting so long....

She was the person who influenced me a lot into reading books,participating in extra curricular activities and gave me a childhood which was fun and frolic.

It was an emotional trip both for meand my senior soumya.My princpal was so happy on seeing us both that we had very lengthy conversations on our schooling days and how her discipline and teaching helped us to achieve what we are right now.She took the opportunity and suggested that we can have a get together of sorts-bringing all my friends,seniors and juniors for a day and share their wonderful experiences they had with the school.I am planning to pen a book about my wonderful time at Tiny tots and ask my friends to do the same in the future very soon.This would be my guru dakshina to my school and my Headmistress.

Remembering my Guru's

September the 5th in India is celebrated as teachers day.A day in remembrance of  the teachers who shape our life and play an important role  in moulding a  student in to a model citizen.Some times teachers are our friends,our guides or our mentors who help us to get on with our studies with their support.There are many such people in my childhood i remember very well.People who have trained me to speak various languages,who nurtured my mind so that I would always think positively and take the right decisions.

My special thanks goes to my headmistress Hemalatha Pradhan,who made us to realise the importance of the English language and use it as a tool to build relations across various spectrum's of the society.Teachers who have dedicated their lives in spreading the knowledge they posses and bringing up the cognizants of tomoro in today's children should never be forgotten.



Gone are the days
When the school reopened in June,
And we settled in our new desks and benches.

Gone are the days
When we wanted two Sundays and no Mondays, yet
Managed to line up daily for the morning prayers.

Gone are the days
When we chased one another in the corridors in Intervals,
And returned to the classrooms drenched in sweat.

Gone are the days
When a single P.T. and games period in the week's Time Table, Was awaited more
eagerly than the monsoons.

Gone are the days
Of fights but no conspiracies,
Of Competitions but seldom jealousy.

Gone are the days
Of Sports Day, and the annual School Day,
And the one-month long preparations for them.

Gone are the days
Of the stressful Quarterly, Half Yearly and Annual Exams,
And the most enjoyed holidays after them.

Gone are the days
We learnt, we enjoyed, we played, we won, we lost, We laughed, we cried,
we fought, we thought.

Gone are the days
With so much fun in them, so many friends,
So much experience

A pleasant Surprise!

The thing i have been waiting for from the past 3 months has finally happened.It rained!!(no big deal)but it was a deluge.

Not that i am complaining about it but its supposed to be the monson season now and it has been a disaster this year.There are almost drought conditions prevailing in my area and boy! this was totally unexpected .

It was for a while that i could fully realise what was happening because i was sceptical it would fizzle out.On the contrary it went from strength to strength and the rain came down in torrents with  strong winds whipping up leaves and spraying water allaround.The next thing i did was to rush inside and grab my camera and started clicking away like mad.I didnt know why i did that may be because i wanted this to happen for many days now?

It was only a matter of time before my dog began to jump about in the water...may be it was relishing the moment too..i had to run behind it and persuade it to ocme back in the house....but not before being drenched.

Progress through processors....

I was just going through some fan sites today when i noticed this application.Called progress through processors,Intel's initiative uses Idle time of CPU'S around the world who are connected to the gridrepublic which also runs various other not for profit initatives like climate control,rosetta home and reasearch for malaria in sub saharan africa



This initiative excited  me and i decided to see how the whole system works.After logging into facebook and downloading the app,The software utilizes idle time of the CPU.

A neat interface gives information on diskusage,resource statistics and available projects which we can join.

Volunteer computing seems to be an ideal platform for organmizations who cannot afford the huge costs involved in purchasing and maintaining complex systems.The cloud has indeed made the world into a smaller place, a global village of sorts.Kudos to intel

India..beneath the mystery..beyond the history...

The trip to mysore with my college friends was an experience of a lifeime.It gave me an opportunity to study and find out about India's past filled with rich heritage and culture.

When i first visited the palace of the maharaja's of mysore as a kid i was not in a position to understand what such imposing structures as the palace made in the history of india.

The trip to mysore with my college friends was an experience of a lifeime.It gave me an opportunity to study and find out about India's past filled with rich heritage and culture.

When i first visited the palace of the maharaja's of mysore as a kid i was not in a position to understand what such imposing structures as the palace made in the history of india.



But after visiting it now,i feel that my trip has some purpose to understand what my country was like even hundreds of years ago

.The huge imposing palaces with vast areas of green gardens,the dancing fountains dating back to hundreds of years which still work perfectly,the magnifiecient temples which give peace and tranqulity.



The grandeur  of the brindavan gardens which gives a feeling of heaven on earth,The lush green coffee plantations all along the roads leading to mysore... all of this makes me go hullabol...

India turns 62...

At the stroke of midnight 62 years ago,India obtained independence from the british raj after being ruled and looted of its entire wealth.Before the british invaded and took control over india in the 1800's it was the richest country in the world with a GDP higher than that of the present United states.It took more than 55 years for india to become a formidable economic superpower in the present world league competing with China and its contemporaries.

As a citizen of the indian repulblic,I salute the initiative taken by mahatma gandhi in a non violent way to obtain independence and spread the word of peace.Jay hind!

Back to fedora once again

After tinkering for a long time with windows vista to check out its much touted security features,I switched back to Fedora-11  today which happens to be the latest avatar of the distro.Installation was fast and snappy.There are many things which i found common with both linux and vista like the UAC prompt and ASLR implementation at lower levels.Not that i hate it,but i was done with the memory hogging OS for quite some time.I never experienced a BSOD before,but when i got one due to a faulty ACPI driver which followed the death of my HDD i thought that it was enough.



It took some time to figure out on how to use proprietary software codecs and get all kinds of formats to work but finally i had done it.I have also been tinkering with the Bash command prompt which  i am very found out in linux based systems .

Some exciting artwork discussions is going on the fedora ambassador's mailing  list including more effective ways of marketing the product.Due to the various DOS attacks taking place over the internet i assumed it was best for me to switch back to the very secure linux system

With the independence day coming up i feel the launch of fedora 11 has truly lived up to its tag line Freedom +Infinty=fedora

JAy ho!Mera Bharat mahan!

Finally relief from the heavens!

After 4 months of Intense heat and Sunshine,the monsoon has finally kicked in with full force!.Just seeing the rain bearing clouds above is a rejuvenating factor for all of us.The immense heat waves have made  day to day work including travelling a big nightmare adding to the frequent power cuts due to water shortage in the Dams.

With borewells drying up and tap water on alternate days, we had to for the first time buy a tanker full of water for our needs!But hopefully this should improve by the month end.Expecting rainfall in the lots.I still remember making paper boats and playing in the water with my brother when we were kids,I hope that we could have such a good time again :) .

I joined my brother last time to try out rain water harvesting to rejuvenate my borwell,and sure enough it worked well and water began to fill in again.This time we are well prepared before hand,using simple ingenious method of collecting excess rainwater on the roof top and allowing it to pass through a pipe sent inside the borewell .The monsoon is below expectations this time,hugely deficit across the country.But i will enjoy the rainfall even if it means for a less amount of time!