A date with Life!

9980527616....ramachandra speaking

2009-12-04T17:42:00.001+05:30

This incident happened few months ago...

99980527616…..This is my no. or should I say othla’s no.

It was early july, everything was usual for me except this call.

I had called airtel customer care to reactivate my number which I surrendered before leaving for japan.

When the CC executive said “hello” I said “ramachandra here” and told about my request.

Then he asked for my(othla’s) home address…ooops…I knew only few details of that…..to which I confidently replied “ vinayaka layout, kempapura, hebbal”

“Sir can u plz tell me ur cross no, house no. etc” he asked politely…

Suddently a neuron in my brain fired, I had one of othla’s docs lying with me…i then ran to my desk dig my inbox for that mail, and gave him the complete address.

Zaaaappppp, came the second question..sir can u plz tell me ur date of birth”

"that is sometime in august”, i said.

He said “date plz”

I said “it is on 13^th aug 1981”…….”the month and year is correct but date is wrong” he said quietly.

Thanks to the reminder set for othla’s bday in my mobile, i said it is on 18^th of aug…

It was very hard not to laugh while all this was going on..

Iste….

Kilakila

I am back...

2009-06-14T14:34:00.000+05:30

oops...its been really long since my last post here.
Finally thot will right something..something about me...few words abt how things are.
Lots of things have changed for good and thank god somethings are the way they were(like i am still good at cricket, at cracking jokes and i still love to go out for long drives n on treks with friends)

Over the past one year few more people from SRG have moved to US with various aspirations.
Along with Reddy and Naga, Othla, Kaddi and Late are part of the SRGInternational now.

Glad that i could attend few functions and catch up with friends before coming here.

I am japan for a short visit and here I am writing this post sitting alone in the Chinki land.
Expecting few colleagues to join over the next few weeks.
Had a long weekend here...with no one around it did seem really like a loooooooooooooong weekend.
Dividing my time between books, office work, occasional cooking and lots of sleep.
I am surrounded by lots of quietness, sometimes i seem to enoy it and at times it is difficult to digest.

I was clever enuf to carry some books with me...they really are a good companion and suddenly i m believing in the old saying that "A book is a man's best friend".

ok..now something about my future...in the immediate future i can see only marriage..kind of excited at the thot of having a life partner ;)
The suspense of arranged marriage makes it a little more exciting..:))
waiting for someone who has good sense of humor, likes travelling, who is intelligent and humble...lol. I dont think i am asking for too much, these are few of the qualities which I am made up of.

Will sign off now..
PK

Basic Mountaineering Course - Part 2

2008-02-25T13:30:00.006+05:30

On tenth we trekked to Solang Nala via Manu temple and neighboring villages and apple fields.
Even with a 20 kg rucksack it was fun walking on the snake like path. The view was getting better and better as we moved closer to Solang.
On reaching there we were allotted dorms, which were good except for the dust.
Evening we were taken for acclimatization walk. On our return it was already dark. Only few guys had torch. I was finding it hard to walk without falling J.
Next day morning we started for PatalSupi, whose summit is at 14000 ft. We had to turn back after reaching the height of around 13000 ft because of bad weather and also because we had started late in the morning.
On 12th we moved to Bhakkartach which is at about 10000 ft.
The 12km long trek was very exhausting for me. Along with my rucksack I was carrying my teammate’s(who was suffering from a leg injury) stuff as well.
Initial few kilometers were on the tar road(till we reached outskirts of Dundi), but after that, my god, every step felt like that would be my last.

Acclimatization walk to Beas kund, Snow craft and ice craft was what we did for the next 8-9 days. Got to experience the first snow fall of my life.
Felt like some one was blowing cold flour on us. The view was AWESOME!!!!Occasionally we used to have white outs(occurs when the light reflected off the snow equals the light coming through the clouds) and you can not see anything which is hardly few meters away.
On some evenings when the weather was fine we had outdoor lectures on glaciers, ice boots, crampons etc in the chilling cold.

On one fine day we were taken for Height gain. We got up at 2 in the morning and started for KshitiDhar base camp(15500 ft), which was the qualifying height for BMC.
Some even made it to the summit(17200 ft).
The view from the camp was superb!! We could only see ice covered peaks in every direction our eyes could stretch.
The following day we had Snow/ice craft test. Felt very much relived after that.
In the evening we were told to pack our stuff in 20 mins and fall-in, instructors told we were leaving for Solang, but we knew something else was waiting for us !

After the Bush craft, we were given some Halwa and were informed that it was our survival night, in other words we had to spend the whole night under natural shelters without any cooked food(but we were allowed to eat dry fruits).
Me and Mahesh found a nice shelter. Avinash, Juley, Circuit and Raj had gathered sufficient wood to keep the whole night alive.
Next day we started our trek back to Solang. We were singing all the way.
I could feel the taste of spicy Omlet served at the dhaba at Solang!! Hmmm Yummy!!!
Washing hands with hot water, taking bath all seemed like a luxury after the horrendous climate we were in.
Called home after a long gap of 10 days.
We were told how to make stretchers using Jackets, rope, bamboo etc in the afternoon.
It was Rock craft test the following day. I did well considering the wounded finger.
Mean while Othla told me that I was one of the contenders for the “Best cadet” honor!!!
Thank you, Thank you!!!
Trekked to Manali the next day!!
Reached Insti around lunch time. Were told about the Written test we had the next day!
Written test was ok kind….Since in HP they were celebrating Dasara(which is their famous festival) the thinking hats of the insti decided to finish our course one day in advance.
We had the closing ceremony in the afternoon.
Felt great when we were awarded the badbges by army personnel.
I didn’t get the “Best cadet” award…but that’s Okay!!
I had a wonderful month which was packed with so many victories and wonderful moments that I would cherish forever!!

-PKK

Basic Mountaineering Course - Part 1

2008-02-25T12:08:00.003+05:30

I thought I should share my(our) experiences of BMC with friends.
But u know it is quite a difficult task to write a month packed with fun, pain, excitement and expectation in few sentences.
Ok, let me give a shot at it.
The idea of doing BMC was in our(SRG) mind from a long time.
We decided to do it in October finally. Kaddi and Late dropped out due to personal reasons.
I and Othla were the one in the field.
Sometime during mid August we started with our preparation, jogging, exercise, reading blogs etc etc.
Ate Anand’s head a couple of times, even my friend Pravin wasn’t spared.
Anand was very encouraging; I should say he was the one who encouraged us the most.

We left for Delhi on 29th of Sept. The journey started in style. Our Spicejet flight was cancelled in the last moment. I troubled Othla who was in
the middle of his TOEFL test by calling him a couple of times. It was already 10 am then. We decided to go by 12:30 spicejet plane.
The way me and Othla reached airport, I think we would never forget that.(Thanks Late for dropping me in-time.)
We hadn’t booked our tickets from Delhi to Manali in advance, so went to ISBT, got a seat in 7:30 bus to Manali.
It was an ordinary, dagda Himachal transport bus. We could hardly sleep during the whole journey. Our butt, back and neck were crying for some good sleep.
Finally reached Manali at 11 in the morning, the next day.
We had to share the Dorm with 7 others.
It was a good mix of guys, from KA, HP, MH, Ladakh, GJ.
Some people came b’cos mountaineering is their passion, some because it is their bread and butter and some because they were sent by NCC.

Had our first fall-in at 8:30pm. Jagadev sir briefed us about the discipline we had to adhere to. We were also warned not to waggle our tails seeing the beautiful girls who had come for a trek.

First day: got up at 5:30, had PT at 6. Warmup exercise, which was enuf to leave us panting for breath. They took us for a run in the adjacent jungle. I enjoyed the run. After breakfast finished some official formalities; had a visit to museum.

Second day: During fall-in it was raining heavily, but instructors did not show any mercy. The run increased to 5km.
It was our first day of rock craft. The field area is very nice. Good mix of boulders, rocks in here.

For the first few days we had jogging in the morning followed by exercises and then Rock craft.
Evening it used to be “Obstacles”
If u have ever done NCC you would know what it means!!We would celebrate if on some days the Obstacles were cancelled.

We were taken to Hadimba and Sharavari temples to prepare us both mentally and physically for the treks with heavy loads.
We were given a day off to shop gloves, dry fruits etc etc required for high altitude camping.
We went to Vasistha on that day and relaxed there lying in the hot water springs.
The place is very calm and spiritual, there are Sadhus in the temple premises who can give u instant Moksha if u wish to.

(contd...)

Little joys make big difference

2007-06-28T16:14:00.000+05:30

Just returned from a visit to my Sister’s place.
It is a quiet place close to Kundapur, called Koteshwar.
Was there for mouth watering 3 days. It was totally refreshing, ate lots of food(which included both Sea food delicacies and veg treats) prepared by mom.
I reached there on 16th morning after about 10 hrs of journey from blore, after the wise last minute decision.
It was drizzling, clock was ticking 7:30, when I reached Koteshwar in the morning.

I was welcomed by my niece, who was very excited about my arrival.
The day was spent eating delicious dosas, mouth watering lunch and dinner and also playing with my niece.

On 17th I went to Aanegudde Ganesh temple with mom and Pinku. Darshan of the Lord Ganesh left me spiritually lifted.
It was getting dark due to the black hovering clouds.
Soon it started drizzling and then a very heavy shower.
We were drenched in rain from head to toe by the time we were home.

It feels great to watch the Dakshin Kannad rain pour from within the comfort of a cozy home.

On the final day we had been to Shani temple which is very close to my sis’s home followed by a visit to the sea shore, got to see the agitated sea.
It was full of waves till the point our eyes could stretch, a view I will hold for long in my memory.
I was trying my best to answer questions my niece was shooting about the disappearance of sun behind the clouds and then in water, in words she could understand.

My bus was at 8:30pm, it was pouring in buckets when I was leaving home.
Yeah, the rain didn’t want me to leave you know!

Turhalli-A tale of pinch and jug holds and lots of skids

2006-09-07T13:23:00.000+05:30

Adventure time again.
Bouldering (is a type of climbing undertaken without a rope and is normally limited in respect to the height the climber ascends the route so that any fall will not risk significant injury.) is what we decided to do this time.

Turhalli, a place about 6 kms from Banshankari bus stand, on the way to Kanakapura is a great place where you can test your bouldering skills. And we did just that. It was on our minds from the time we had our first taste of Rock climging at Ramanagar, under the able guidance of Srikanth and Anand(KMA member).

I was very happy when Anand told me that he and Srikanth were going to Turalli on 3rd of Sept.
Othla, kaddi and late geared up for the event on hearing the news. On Saturday we came to know that Anand won’t be joining us because of his other commitments.
On reaching Turhalli on 3rd morning around 9 o’ clock we found that even Srikanth wasn’t there, we thought our hunger for something exciting would go unserved.

We then decided to do it on our own. Rock climbing basics learnt during our first date with rock climbing in Ramanagar came to our rescue.
The first rock was bit difficult, because:
a. Our canvas shoes were slipping a lot.
b. I was not mentally ready
c. And because it was really difficult

After that most of us were able to climb all the rocks. Well done guys!!!!!
Thrill of conquering every rock was amazing and was different for every rock, don’t know why.
Except the first one I was able to get on top of other 6. Last climb of the day was very satisfactory, it was tall and we did it without any safety gear.
Rock climbing is not about physical strength alone but to a great extent about the genius within as well.

Couple of Bruises, finger pain and a memory of a great day was what left behind.
We have decided to go there as often as we can to improve our bouldering skills and try different routes on the same rocks.

Turhalli return,

Pakya

Life "Rocks"!!!!

2006-07-11T19:25:00.000+05:30

Savandurga!!!
We decied on Friday to go to Savandurga on Sunday the 2nd of July.
Let me give u a brief info abt this place
Savandurga is 60kms from Bangalore and is very near to the historic town of Magadi.

After watching the disappointing clash between Brazil and France I slept around 2:30am to getup at 7:30 in the morning.
According to our plan we were required to assemble at 8:30 at Jalhalli cross, but later v found that that is actually very far, so we decided to assemble at KHB colony bus stand.
It was around 9 o’ clock when all the HCTs(Hard core trekkers) arrived.
After some chit chat v decided to quench our hunger en route.
The road to Magadi in parts was not in proper condition, but we didn’t expect much either. The ride on the bike in the strong winds was very pleasing.

It was around 11:30am by the time we reached Savanadurga after some pit stops on the way.

The rock was this biiiigggg Monolith.
There were a couple of routes leading to the top ranging from medium to very tough difficulty levels.
Most of the ppl were going through the common route, But we decided to go by the tough one.

The climb was awesome. There were some spots on the rocks which gave us a good seat whenever we were tired.
The view from those points were superb, we could see the black sloppy rock stretching beneath us.
We had covered almost 60% of the rock and noticed the other group coming down. They told the wind was blowing fast at the top and it was difficult to climb further. We decided to climb down against our desire of conquering the rock. L
Climbing(sliding) down was fun as well until the incident that took out breaths away.
We had almost gotten down, as usual Mr. Late(Harsha) was leading us and he was in full enthu(as usual)
Don’t know what struck his mind suddenly he started running towards us. To our shock the sony Cam popped out of its bag(may be in excitement to see why Late was running) and bang on the rock it fell and started rolling towards the base.
All of us were sitting hoping that it would stop but it didn’t.

When Harsha got it back and signaled that it was functioning normally we were relieved.

Once v got down we had some bananas and started moving towards the top by the other route.
There was some flaw in our planning, we had decided to have food after finishing the trek. It didn’t take us much time to realize our fault. Ours tummy was crying out loudly.
We finally made it to the top. The scene on the top was completely different. The strong wind was making us believe that even we could fly..
The sound of the wind was as if it was the mixture of thousands of voices ….but still smooth.

After spending some good amount of time we finally decided to descend. It was around 4:30 when v got down. We ate some stuff and then got on the back of bikes. The weather was such a relief, it was slightly drizzling, cool air and a calm surrounding.
We decided to visit “Venkataramana” temple on the outskirts of Magadi.
We realiased that the temple has some historic value as well. The temple was renovated by “Chelas” 1000 years ago.
It was around 7:30 pm when we came to KHB colony.
DJ had a flat tyre(thankfully we were in city limits then), after some search we got the patch done.
We had a fantastic dinner and a good chit chat in Parkview in Vijaynagar…..Great end to an equally great day!!!

Dream and Reality

2006-06-21T18:11:00.000+05:30

"Dream and Reality are strangers to each other, until u make them meet"

Success????

2006-06-16T17:45:00.000+05:30

"Whenever you find key to success some idiot changes the lock" :-D

A peom i liked very much!

2006-04-17T16:39:00.000+05:30

"Ninnannu mareyalendu devasthanakke hode,
Ghanteya naad ninna matinantittu…

Ninnannu mareyalendu nadi teerakke hode,
Neerina zulu zulu ninna naguvinantittu....

Ninnannu mareyalendu guddakke hode,
Tampu gaali ninna usirinantittu...

Ninnannu mareyalendu kaadige hode,
Neerava mouna ninna munisinantittu..."

I read this poem a long time back, i liked the simplicity very much.

-Pakya

Trek to Pushpagiri & Kumarparvatha with KMA

2006-03-28T15:09:00.000+05:30

Kumarparvatha(KP) was on my mind from a long time….
Because I had read a lot abt it…had seen the pics…also because it is in Dakshin Kannda District where I hail from….
But when the trek was planned it was supposed to be to “Bisale Ghat” which is in Hasan, but got cancelled at the last moment because of increased elephant activity in that hill region.
So there was more of happiness than disappointment when I was told that v wud be going to KP instead.
All of us collected our gears(backpack, sleeping bag and mattress) before the D-day.
We left Bangalore on 24th(Friday night) for Somvarpet in Coorg district.It was 15 of us(including two very friendly leads from KMA).
Anand : 28 yrs old CA, who has also done Mountaineering course and has been to Himalaya.
Deepak: 32 yrs, working with DRDO, our guide for the trek; has been to KP 15+ times, KP being his favorite.
We reached Somvarpet at 5:30 in the morning...the bus to Beedalli from where our trek was supposed to start was at 7:30am.
So finished the morning rituals, had a good idli-sambar breakfast….and boarded the bus….
The 12 km journey through the cloudy hills, green fields and snaky roads was cool…
Finally reached Beedally at 9:00, all of us gave a brief intro and started marching towards the first destination…Malvalli falls.
On our way to the waterfally v got the glimpse of Pushpagiri !!!

Half an hour of walk brought us to Malvalli falls…the water was bit less…but the view was spectacular.
Did some rock climbing, and got a more thrilling view of the valley and the surrounding dense jungles. Then v moved to the top of the waterfalls for breakfast…ate bread-jam, filled our bottles with water, the view from this point was very good. The next part of the trek was bit treacherous, followed by jeep road. Finally v reached Mallikarjun temple around noon and got the much needed break from the scorching sun, also got the treat of cold water from the hills.

This place had this huge Sampige Tree…

v took rest for some time and went inside the temple.
The priest told us that it was time for “Mangalarathi”, after the 15 minute long pooja v got delicious prasad as well :-D.

V started from there around 12:45, trekked for another 45 minutes and had our lunch of Chapathis with Aloo palak and chutney sitting in the holay( I forgot the name :-D).
The next part of the trek was awesome, through the thick woods, with dry leaves on our way and absolute silence.
Here sun was not permitted to touch Mother earth.
We were at the base of Pushpagiri around 3:30 pm, the next part of the trek was going to be tough, because we were already exhausted and also because it was really tough.
Then v got this huge rocky slope…v climbed it to realize that v really haven’t really climbed it, lot of it left to be conquered.
V got two more such rocky slopes; it was real fun to climb those.

V were almost at the top of Pushpagiri and realized that v were not alone their, and some kids from the other side of the hill (Subramanya) were already there, and were in the process of preparing their dinner.At this time we were running short of water; and were bit disappointed to hear that the next source of water was about 45 mins away from the top. The clouds were slowly getting thick, which were rushing onto us from everywhere, and we were happy that they did. It was another 20 minutes to the top of Pushpagiri. We(actually Anand and Deepak) had lots of things to do after going there.V got this beautiful view wherein two thick white clouds were in the process of forming a big one, v stood for a moment mesmerized to see the miracle from such a close distance, where v were not looking up to see the clouds but were looking at our hieght(and sometimes even down). I was delighted(Indeed all were) to be on the top.

Within minutes the climate changed and everything was cloudy with cool wet air blowing.
Finally our tents were setup…and five of us(Ram, Harsha, amol, Naga and me) got one tent.
The tent was cozy, with one door and one little window.

V spent some time there before being invited for dinner.
Had our share of chapathis and Chutney(amlya preferred to skip dinner).
Then v made desperate attempts to sleep, initially it was difficult to adjust for all of us. But finally fatigue made us surrender to sleep.
Had a good sleep(with some 5 breaks inbetween) before finally waking up at 6 in the morning for viewing sun rise.
After many years I saw a sunrise without concrete building to block my view, the hills and clouds made that moment much more desired.

Went to some surrounding view points before finally leaving the peak around 9:30, after climbing down some rocky slopes reached one spot with water and decided to take our breakfast. After slices of breads and Chapthis all were ready to embark on the next stretch which led to KP.
The view from the top was very nice(pic here).
Downhill was very slippery and steep, one wrong step and u will definitely regret for long.
Then v started for our next destination, “Kallina Mantapa”, this was built by the king “Lingaraj”

“Bhattare mane”, it was much desired because our lunch was waiting for us there; v had glimpses of it on our way down and that kept us moving.
It was close to 1pm when v reached there, freshened up and had a great lunch(the timing made it great)
Anna, sambar, mavinakai uppinkai and Majjige…..mouthwatering rt?
After lunch took rest for some time and around 2 pm started for Subramanya which is about 4 kms from Bhattare mane.
You would not believe if I tell u that bhattru climbs down and up on this hill twice a day with Milk cans and that too without Reebok or Woodland shoes.
After 2 hrs of trek we were supposed to get a Jeep track; after every corner our eyes were looking desperately for the jeep tracks…and the frustration used to rise when there was none.
We could here sounds of drum while getting down, and thought it was close, only to get disappointed.
Finally at 4 o clock v were on Jeep track.
V left that place around 4:30 to reach Subramanya temple around 4:45.
Had some juice and then visited the beautiful temple of Lord Subramanya.
Left Kukke Subramanya at 6:30 pm and reached Dharmasthal, I was disappointed on hearing that v wont be getting darshan of Lord Manjunath.
After refreshing our selves at Vaishali Chatra we had our dinner which was server near the temple.
In two days v covered 23 kms(13 uphill and 10 downhill).

Got into 10:26pm Rajahamsa bus which dropped us at Bangalore at 6 am, thus marking the end of a wonderful trek.

-Pakya

ShivanaSamudra-Talakadu

2006-03-16T16:11:00.000+05:30

Trip time again!!!
But not whole of SRG again!!!
Mr, JPD(urf DJ) missed citing some personal reasons.

Our agenda :to visit shivanasamudra, Talakadu and somnathpura.
Reddy and Othla were successful(as usual) to cover this event with all possible hype, thanks to them for those cute SMSes.

We had booked a hitech Qualis(thanks to assid anna), it arrived at Mysore Circle at 7:45 due to some schedule slippage by Kaddi and Buss.
Not much I think, considering that our grup had 8. Except Assid and Nakli all were in the planned dress code(white T-Shirt and blue jeans)
We(our driver) decided to go via Kanapura despite we warning him that the road on that route was not good.We stopped at Kanakapura for breakfast and some shopping.
Our first major stop at ShivanaSamudra, water at the falls was bit less, but the view was good. The falls must be looking damn good when the water is full.
Spent some time there and started for Bharachukki falls abt 2 kms from Gaganachukki.Bharachukki falls was cool with lots of trees and a great view.
We reached the base of one of the falls for playing in the water, the force of the water was high, water sprinkling from the surrounding stones. Our guys(small kids shall I say?) were delighted to see the Rainbows.
We had a good lunch(chapattis-thanks to me and Puliyogore and curd rice-thanks to assid).We climbed back to our qualis and after some pegs of Tender coconut got into the oven-Our qualis again.
After some debate over the next place, it was decided to go to Somnathpur first, but we changed our plan on the way because of terrible roads and decided to go to Talakadu instead.
Talakadu is a nice place, the place is full of sand.The water in the river(don’t know the name :-D) was bit less.Me, Buss and Late played for some time in the water while others preferred to stick to Badminton and cricket.
The time was made memorable our recalling of some old memorable events from our engineering days.
We then decided to go to Temples in Talakadu, Pathaleshwara temple is about 10 ft below the ground level.
Some excavation was being carried out close to Pathaleshwara temple, the view of the excavation site during the sunset and with moon looking just out of bed was nice one.
The photo session on the sands was very funny.
Amolya programmed his cam to take 6 pics in a succession with 30 secs gap, we were running around giving different poses…..:-) :-).
After cursing the bad roads for another two hours we finally arrived on the fantastic mysore road.Stopped for “dinner in traditional style” at Kamath Upahara.
One more attraction of the night was the historic match between Aus and SA, we were listening to the Live! Commentary by Late’s friend.Qualis was full of shouts after the last boundary by Boucher.

Thus one more memorable day became history….But at SRG history repeats itself………..very fast…………….
Pics coming soon!!!!!!!!!!!!!
-Pakya

A poem in memory of Ms.Love!!

2006-03-10T13:56:00.000+05:30

Dedicated to all the girls i am/was in love with :-D

Aaj kal khudse jyada tumhe sochta hoon!!
Kya yahee pyar hain?
Main mudta hoon koi jab tumhe pukarta hain!!!
Kya aey pyar hain?
Suraj mera khilta hain jab tumhe saamne pata hoon
Jab tum ankhonse door hoti ho toh shyam dhal jaati hain
Kya yahee pyar hain?
Jabse tumhe jaana hain meri zindagi mein tumho, tumho bus tumhi ho
Haan aey pyaar hee hai!!!

RangDeBasanti

2006-02-03T10:56:00.000+05:30

I am not going to write any review here. I think a lot is said abt RDB, the direction, screenplay, music and great performances by all the actors.

After a long wait finally we got the ticktets for RDB.
8 of us at PVR Cinemas for 10pm show.
It was decided to assemble at Forum Mall at 8:30 pm. @ 8:30pm for 10pm show?

It was great great fun; time spent in and out of the theatre.
Not only the film, the intervals were equally entertaining. V had a real good time.
However it was not whole of SRG this time.
Reddy, naga and nakli couldnt make it b'cos of various reasons.
v were sitting in the third row from the front, the screen being huge v had to literally tilt our heads, in some scenes to see both the actors.
It was 1:30am when v came out of the theatres.
Looking forward for many such nights...................................

Hayavadana

2006-01-19T11:36:00.000+05:30

Theatre again!!!

No, my blog is not about plays!! :-). Thought of sharing with u the great experience i had yesterday in "Rangashankara".

The play being showed-Hayavadana(meaning:Person with a head of Horse)

sounds interesting rt? so was it.

Let me begin with Rangashankara, the theatre is too good. The ambience is so nice.

The inner side doesnt have any plaster coated on it.

It is bricks and only bricks.

The bricks are painted black in some places and left with their original color in some part of the interior.

the seats form a small part of a big cirlce, nealy arranged one behind other

You have to see it to experience.

Coming to the play, it is based on one of the works by Jnanapeetha Awardee Girish Karnad.

The theatre group which presented the play is "Benaka"(Meaing Ganesh)

The music was composed by B.V. Karanth.

Great performances by all the artists, great music and some witty dialogues and great humour made for a wonderful play.

The stage was used very creatively.

A scene where Goddess Kali appears before Padmini which could have been very serious was filled with great humour.

Me and my friend were overjoiced at the end.

National Theatre Festival:Katha Collage-2

2006-01-11T10:43:00.000+05:30

In recent times, I am finding myself very much interested in Theatre.
This can be attributed to many things i think.
But let me tell u some thing, I am not a regular to the plays.
It was in late 2004 when I had last been to the theatre.
And the latest being last friday, the 6th of Jan.

For the first time the National theatre festival is arranged in a city other than Delhi. This time both Delhi and b'lore are hosting this mega event.

The name which always draws me to the theatre is that of the lagendary actor Naseeruddin Shah. The first play i saw in b'lore was directed(i was fortunate to see him act that time) by him(Katha Collage-I) and this time it was Katha Collage-2. But he didnt come to blore this time.

Let me tell u abt Katha Collage. Motley (Naseeruddin Shah's Theatre group) is enacting this collection of short stories for a quite a while now.
Katcha-Collage1 was a collection a collection of 3 short stories; all brilliant.
This play gave me an opportunity to see Naseer’s superb performance.

Katcha-Collage2 contained small short stories, all inspired by day to day life.

The show started with “Telephone”, which depicted how this invention has changed our lives, in a humorous way. In fact humour was the main ingredient in all the plays.
This was followed by another play(don’t remember the name :-D) where Naseer showed how people praise others to get their work done.
All the plays were equally good, with some strong message.

The artists handled emotions, comedy very well with appropriate body language. It was a treat to the eyes to watch them perform.

We were happy at the end to have experienced something different.

One thing was very annoying, the indiscipline in the audience. Inspite of several requests from the crew and the organizers many people in the audience didnt switch-off their cell phones.

Me moving out of Bangalore :-(

2006-01-04T16:17:00.000+05:30

Wish u all a wonderful year ahead.
my new year resolutions? To not make any resolution.

Let me come to the point.
Our unit in Kyocera is moving out of B'lore b'cos of business reasons. The news came as a total surprise to me. Actually first there were rumours that v will be shifting to some other location within Bangalore premises, i was not ready even for that. B'cos i had changed my room recently and was now staying very close to my good friends.
Now I have to move out of bangalore, heart aches with the thought that I have to leave my all good friends here and move out.
I will miss so many other things...the thought itself is so horrible.

But, the reasons my unit head put forth for this move were very convincing, so cant blame them for that.
The places they are considering are Mysore, Mangalore(which is close to my native), Kochin and Trivendrum.

Both Mysore and Mangalore are OK but i dont want to go to far from my Hometown.
let's c what happens.

They say "Change is only the constant thing", but change in one aspect of ur life is OK...agreed.
But here my whole life it self drastically changed in a matter of an hour.

-Prakash

Trekking pics

2005-12-16T18:12:00.000+05:30

On the way to SwamiMalai peak

Yelagiri Hills!!!!!

2005-12-13T17:44:00.000+05:30

Yelagiri hills, a beautiful hill station in Tamilnadu...abt 180 kms from B'lore.
Actually it was Vinod's idea to visit this place....donno from where he got to know abt it.
In the beginning it was only three of us...Me, monty and Vinod. Then Spidy(Goverdhan) and Mr Otla also decided to come with us.

V started from office at 4 in the evening on 2nd of december, Otla joined us in Electrnoic city.
From there v caught a bus to Hosur, from Hosur v boarded a direct bus to Tirupattur.
We found a fellow s/w engineer in the bus who gave us some very useful tips.
V decided to have some food in the nearby Hotel in Tirupattur.

At 9:20pm v were ready for our last journey of the day, which would take us to ur destination.
About 1 and half hours of journey through the ghats brought us to this beatiful hill station called Athanvoor.
The tiny glittering lights of the city made it looks like an inverted sky.

There were hardly any lights on the road...in Athavnoon, it was all dark.
The weather was too good...it was cloudy and drizzling.
After getting down v straight away headed to Hotel Yelagiri whr v had booked rooms for our stay. On reaching v found that the Manager had let us down by lending the rooms to other people. We were lucky to find a stay in nearby Hotel Hills. Actually it was a kind of house, with one hall, dining room and bed room with TV.
The idlies which I ate in Tirupattur had already disappeared. I searched the bags and was delighted to find some sweets and chocolate(The restuarant in the Hotel was closed by that time).

It was around 11:30 pm.
After relaxing for some time v decided to go for night walk despite warnings from hotel guards.

It was still drizzling......
We walked on the road for about 2 kms...i tell u...it was real fun.
V had forgotten to take the Torches....and always it seemed like some animal was following us.
Actually spidy was not in the mood for a long walk, he was constantly asking us to return. Finally v surrendered to his wish.

V were supposed to get up at 6 in the morning and start early for the SwamiMalai trek.
I forgot to tell u abt one thing....about the main factor...WEATHER.

Since the weather in Tamilnadu had gone crazy, we had many round of disussions before starting our trip...and each time it was decided that v shud go ahead with our plan.

Day 1:
When v woke up that morning, v all thought v did ONE BIG MISTAKE. It was raining, but not that heavy and full fog.

After some time the rains lost their strenght against our strong will.
V had a very good breakfast and started for Swamimalai hills.
The base of the hill is about 3.5 kms from Athanvoor. On the way v found a litte guide for us. A local shool boy, because of rain his school had declared holiday.
It was still raining.
When v reached the village at the base of the hill it was about 10:30am, v decided to have some Tea at a nearby Hut.

The way to the hill ran in between the houses in the village.
Initially it was all muddy and slippery, later v found some stone steps on the way to the top. But the real fun is when u have to do it on ur own without any such steps.
In between v stopped to gasp some breath.
Only fog and clouds filled our eyes. The view at some points was really good....with tall trees coverd in fog, cold air filling the atmosphere, we couldnt have asked for anything more.

Finally we made our way to the top of the hill. There was one small temple, with Shiva, Ganapathy, and Nandi.
Our little guide showed us a rock which had a metallic step attached to it. V climbed it and spent some good time there.

When v returned to the base it was 1:30 pm.
V ate some food there and started for Jagadampara falls, about 7 kms away.
We found some people at a nearby junction, they told us it is difficult to cover Jagadampara falls, but we were not ready to listen to them.

V found another guide on our new mission. Initially v walked on the plain road, then v left the road and entered nearby fields. You know how it feels to walk thro' lush green fields. Soon it was all hills again. Since v had very less time v were rushing, at times sitting for some rest and some photo session.

As v came close to the falls....v cud hear the water roaring.
Finally v got to see the falls. It was beautiful!!!!!
Streams of water were rushing from the side by hills to unite into a single big flow.
At one place they had built one wall to store water, v spent some time there and started moving again.
On our way down v found a Subramanya temple at the base of the hill. Actaully the temple is in the shape of "Shiva Linga".

V had some time before the bus came, so v spent some time in the temple and remaining for Pet pooja.
From their v caught a bus to tirupattur and then to Athanvoor.

Had a very good dinner at Hotel Hills and were about to return to our rooms, but found that the Hotel people had made some arragement for our entertainment!!!
V saw a tamil movie called "Gilli", they projected it on the wall, it was a mini theatre kind of thing.
because of rain we missed out Camp fire :-(

Day 2:
The day started usual...v ate our break fast and saw the near by lake. V had plans of doing boating there, but because of time constrainst had to drop it.
One thing i want to tell u:the Seetaphals at Athanvoor are really tasty....hmmmmm.

V booked one Omni for our remaining sight seeing....
We were to visit the Indian Institute of Astrophysics(Also known as Vainu Pappu Solar Observatory). But on going there v found that it was not open on sundays and also prior permission from their office in Bangalore is a must.
People at the obsevatory told us that there is a waterfalls nearby, known as Bhima falls worth visiting.

Bhima falls is terrific, the current of water was very strong.
V climbed ladder to reach a gallery which was made of wood on a tree. The view of the falls was very beautiful from there.

It was looking as if the water was falling in slow motion from the top. It was making huge sounds, we cud barely hear any other sound.

V spent some good amount of time at Bhima falls.

V left Bhima and started for Jolarpettai from where v were supposed to catch a return train to b'lore, the train was at 16:45.

Our driver dropped us at the station at 16:30.
V caught the Brindavan express to reach Bangalore around 20:30.

Yelagiri is a very good place for weekend trip. Two days are more than sufficient.
The place is away from the chaos. You hardly find any tourists there. The ideal time to visit the place is from Sept to May.

"Five Point Someone"-Chetan Bhagat

2005-11-21T12:09:00.000+05:30

Hi Friends,
This time it is abt a book i read recently, called "Five point someone" by Chetan Bhagat.
The story is set in IIT Delhi. The author being am alumni of IIT, has written brilliantly abt the life in IIT.
The book is about three friends(Hari, Ryan and Alok). The story is told by Hari in first person.
The book is all about there friendship and thier adventures. How fun takes priority over academics, how they fail to score good marks from the beginning(first Quiz) in IIT.
I think if I start writing more I will reveal the story....i suggest u to read this book and refresh the memories of your student life. I am sure you will recognize your self with one of the characters in the book( I could link myself to all of them :-D).

-Prakash

Goa in pics

2005-11-09T15:45:00.000+05:30

At Cabo De Rama Fort.
From left: JPD Dilipa, Nakli, Buss naga, Myself and Kaddi Raghu

My Goa Trip

2005-11-08T14:38:00.000+05:30

It was a dream come true. We(myself(Prakash), Srinath(assid anna), Nagesh(buss naga), Raghu( Kaddi), Harsha(Mr Late), Dilip(JPD dilipa), Ramanujam(Nakli) and the great Ramachandra(Ots)) wanted to visit goa from a long time.

It was the time for the execution of our quarterly plan(one trip for every quarter ;-))
All of us had holidays for the Deepavali and Ramzan, in addtion v put two days leave...so it was nine days(Yeah) of holidays for most of us.

Our holidays started from 29th, and our Goa plan was supposed to start from 3rd of Nov.
V had the plan to cover most of the famous beaches in Goa. V had done extensive R&D regarding the places to visit, activites to do, night life(which was a big flop :-) ) etc.

Just a day b4 v were supposed to leave for Goa v had one big prob. Actually v had booked return tickets well in advance, from Panaji to B'lore on 6th of Nov. But my travel agent told me that the bus has been cancelled and v have to cut short our trip by one day(i.e by 25%), which meant a lot to us. This was a cause of concern for us.

Some of us(Assid, Ots, Nakli, JPD Dilipa) started the trip on 2nd itself from B'lore and Buss from Shimoga and others(myself, Kaddi and Late) started on 3rd morning from Belgaum and Dharwad/Hubli.

Day 1:
V all were suppoed to meet at Londa. From there v were supposed to move to DudhSagar(DS).
I was at Londa Railway station(RS) at 7:00 a.m.
It was around 8:15 in the morning when v all met.

On that day(Thursday) there were no passenger trains to DS. Our only hope was the goods trains going to CastleRock. There were two trains(goods) standing at the Londa RS. One was supposed to leave late(@ 10:30). The guys(Driver and the guard) in the other train which was leaving early did not allow us to board the train. One was bound by duty and other was frightened thinking that v might be carrying bombs with us(he told us so :-))

Finally we decided to travel by Rikshaw till CastleRock and by Goods train from there to DS. V hired an auto for Rs. 500 (for 37 kms), the road had hardly flat surfaces, it was a memorable journey.
V were lucky to find a goods train the moment v got off the Rikshaw. It took us abt an hour to cover 18 kms betn CastleRock and DudhSagar. V were allowed to seat in the Cockpit(control room :-)) of the engine.
Finally v got down at DudhSagar RS and had to cover the remaining distance by walk on the tracks. When v reached the site of the falls v were happy that it was more than worth of our efforts.

V all took the much needed bath at one small water falls, had some food and started moving towards our next destination, Majorda beach near Margao.

V reached Culem and from there caught one passenger train to Majorda...it was a great journey during the sunset. Some of us did some time pass in the train while others preferred sleeping.

When v reached Majorda it was around 7. V Walked for abt 2 kms to find a place for our stay. V got two good rooms at a nominal price of 500 per room. After alighting our luggage and some refreshment v started for the Beach.
It was around 8 in the evening...v cud only hear the roar of the water and a feel of smooth sand below our feet and the cold air blowing to our face. There was no moon in the sky....v walked along the beach for half a kilo meter, then it was decided to have dinner.

V decided to come to the beach again at 6 in the moring.
After a good dinner all surrendered to sleep.

Day 2:
v reached the beach at 6:30 in the morning.
V got the chance of seeing some fisherman on duty, they were at the beach and were mainly catching small fishes.
V layed in the water for abt half an hour and left for our room.
It was unanimously decided that v shud hire bikes for sight seeing, at 9 in the moring v were ready with Two Splendors and Two activas.

V contacted a local travel agent for return tickets in Paulo travels, he said he would give it in the evening.

v started for Palolem beach located in southern goa.
After loading fuel at Kamat hotel v started for 40km long drive along the highway.

The good road, made our drive smooth. Nearly 1 & half hours of drive took us to the beautiful beach of Palolem. The beach was like a piece of arc....was really stunning.
V played in the water for some time and deciced to move towards beach of Agnoda.
This beach hardly had any crowd, it had some big rocks at one end.
V left this beach early and moved towards Cabo de Rama fort.

The view of the sea from the top of the fort was cool....it provided such a strethed view of the sea that one cud get a clear picture of the activities at the sea from this point(that is y they built the fort there :-)).

It was around 5 o' clock when v started our journey towards Majorda. Our dear friend Agadi(urf Late) and Raghu(Alias Kaddi) were travelling on one bike with control in agadi's hands. On trying to negotiate a curve in the Ghat section agadi lost control of the bike when a car came infront of him. Agadi and Kaddi fell of the bike with wounds all over the body. The damage to the bike was minimum but agadi's Digicam was severely damaged.

When v reached Majorda it was 7 in the evening. First v went to the travel agent to ask for the tickets, but for our disappointment there were no tickets available on 6th of Nov.

V left Majorda with the intention of staying at Panaji, caught one Tempo to the main road and from there got in to the Kadamba bus destined to Panaji.

When v reached Panaji it was around 9. V enquired at all the lodges and Travel agencies for rooms and tickets. Finally v got a place to stay at Messa, a small place near Panaji. The house was owned by Illacio(Mr. Season...b'cos for every price he charged when v tried to negotiate he used to say it is Season in Goa).

V had dinner in Messa in a small restaurant and came to our room.

Day 3:
It was 9 0' clock when v started from the room. First place on the list was Fort of Agoda.
The fort was not that big one. It also housed one light house. There was one Jail, one big under ground water tank inside the Fort.

V left Agoda fort and and started for the famous Calangute beach.

The crowd at the beach was HUUUUGGGGE.
The waves too were excited on seeing such a crowd i think...the waves tooo were big ones.

V did some water biking there... vow...it was really exciting...the jump on the waves...the speed turns in the water.

Next on the list was Anjuna beach. The beach is full of huge rocks. One has to get down the hill to go to the beach. Mighty Sea waves hit the rocks, only to get scattered in all directions. The sprinkle of waters on the body feels really nice when one stands on these rocks.

V left Anjuna and started moving towards Vagator beach, The beach is really good and is very safe for playing in the waters, V had a very good time on the beach and spent good amt of time on the beach.

Chapora fort...the fort which became well known(atleast to us) after DCH was the next target.
It was the largest of the forts v visited in Goa. The fort is full of white, tall grass. The rock walls, the refreshing air, the view of the Vagator beach from the top, the not ending sea....cool.

Actually v were supposed to reach Panaji at abt 6 in the evening and were supposed to go on Cruise. But v wanted to spend evening/night in Baga. So assid called Mr. Season(Illacio) and told him that v wud b coming late. He agreed.
v all were happy to have earned time to spend at Baga, where the night life is very colorful.
spent some time outside the Chapora fort and started moving towards the famous Baga beach. V stopped at a roadside hotel to fuel our stomach. the hotel was good, with good lights, sand at our feet and ofcourse good food.
It was around 6:30 when v reached baga beach. All of us decided to go on walk on the beach side. The beach was full of restaurants, which had put thier tables on the beach sand and some melodious music.
v walked for abt half an hour and stopped at the sight of Titto's DIsco(Yeah).
On enquiring v came to know that the 'night' was supposed to start only by 11pm(:-().

Assid Reddy called the manager of another Disc0(Matrix) and gave us the good news that the show('night') at Matrix starts early(9 pm). It was abt 7pm, v still had 2 hours before going for the disco. V decided to go into the city of Baga. The city with its beautiful small roads, with restaurants/shops lined on either side, with decent lighting is a great place.

By the time v reached the place where v had parked our bikes the night plan was put off. Like good kids v had decided to return to panaji. Less than half an hours of drive brought us to Panaji. V decided to have dinner at the Udupi Restaurant near the Kadamba Bus stand. There was one 'Jogi' standing at the entrace who became food for all Nakli's jokes.

When v returned to our room, Mr. Season, his mom and Fraancis were all waiting for us with thier guns loaded with words. Like in Matrix we tried to avoid all the bullets but they stuck us hard and cost us dear money. V were made to cough up Rs. 500 extra for using the bike for two extra hours.

By this time v had got the return tickets(Hurray.!!!!!)...releiving us of the big headache.

Day 4:

Sunday(6th Nov) was our last day at Goa. V had plans of visiting Old Goa. When v reached there it was 10:30 am. After eating some Bread Bhaji at one hotel hugry lions decided to load some more fuel at another nearby hotel.

V visited two churches(one of them being the famous church(Boom Jesus Basilica) where the body of St. Francis Xavier is preserved.

By the time v reached Panaji it was 1:30 pm, v decided to first go Mahalakshmi Temlpe and then to the Panaji market.
The temple was quiet and good.
Since it was sunday only few shops were open in the market. Our guys purchased some Hot beverages like Fenny, Port wine etc.

V had a good lunch at the nearby Nova Restaurant.
After lunch v walked to the main road and relaxed on the Benches put on the banks of River Mandovi.
3 of us(myself, Otls and JPD Dilipa) decided to go on the ferry, to our surprise the ride was free(they only charge guys with motor vehicles).

V then went to Panaji bus stand and two of us(myself and buss naga) went to Messa to bring the bags.
The reporting time for our bus was 6pm but after going there v came to know that the bus would only leave by 7pm. so v had some more time. Late and myself went on a walk and found a peaceful park, v sat there for some time refreshing the memory of our trip.

At 7 o' clock v boarded the bus for Bangalore.
As in the college v got the chance to sit at the last benches(seats).

Since the "Goa kick" had not dried off, none of us was ready to settle. Some titles were awared to our Fellow Halkas(Nakli and Ots).
Nakli also sang "Chitradurgada...." song for us.

V all surrendered to sleep only to get up at the Checkpost. The guard entered our bus, came to our seats. He then checked our bags to find some sound of liquid, since our guys had taken the permit there was no problem.

The bus started moving again, the roads in some pars of Karnataka on our bus route were horrible, denying us our right to sleep.

It was 12 noon when v reached bangalore.

To summarize the trip, it was good, full of energy(may be excess of it).

Do visit my blog to see the pics of the trip.

Prakash

2005-09-22T17:14:00.000+05:30

Hi,
Welcome to myBlog.

My name: Prakash Kamat.
My job : software engineer.
I like travelling, adventure sports, swimming, trekking and making money ;-)

I am just back from a trip to Goa(details coming soon)