Tsunami ...Appeal for help from Bangaloreans... every little bit counts..

Hi, Some of our friends are visiting the Tsunami affected sites in coming days. First batch is starting tomorrow morning and some of us would be going in every alternate days. We appeal to all of you to donate blankets, old clothes, aluminum or stainless steel vessels and kerosene stoves.. You can drop it to the address given below. If it is difficult to bring to the office, we can come over to your place and collect the same. The time is short but this can be your effort to reach out. If your friends or contacts can arrange for a large collection of more than 10 carton boxes, please call any of these numbers for information so we can arrange for the donations to be collected at their venue though it would be a blessing if you can arrange for the material to reach the address given below. Contact persons: Venki - 98867 36109 361degrees@gmail.com Raja - 98863 92521 rajam@axes-mach01.usa.alcatel.com Gokul - 98862 18112 gokulb@axes-mach01.usa.alcatel.com Senthil - 98454 12042 senthilr@axes-mach01.usa.alcatel.com Amith - 98866 36539 amiths@axes-mach01.usa.alcatel.com Address to reach donations: Prakruti Mudrana No. 51, 9th Main, 29th Cross, Banashankari 2nd Stage, Near GK Kalyanamantap Landmark - Monotype Bangalore. Contact Person - Sashi Kumar/ Uvaraj Phone: 26713894/ 93412 12691 / 94483 71389 Anoop Ravi K.R. Wipro Technologies Office : +91-80-30291352 Cell : +91-9845068166 VoIP: 808-3116 (You can also contact Anoop if you would like to volunteer your services and go and help the people in need )

NOTE : Please do not make appeals for cash collections for the above effort. Only donations in kind will be accepted. We will not be responsible for any cash collections made. Click here to see how seconds can change history... To know more about Tsunami Aid and Volunteers in and around India... you can visit this very helpful blog on Tsunami Aid.

If you would like to send cheques anyway, you could do so to the following agencies: You will also get Tax Exemption under Section 80G.

Indian Red Cross Society, 1, Red Cross Road, New Delhi - 110001 Phone: (011) 23716441, 237162342. Times FoundationTimes House 7, BahadhurShah Zafar marg New Delhi 110002 Click here for more info on Times Foundation and its Relief Aid. You can also donate your cheques to the Prime Minister's relief fund and send the cheque or the Draft to the Prime Minister's Office, South Block, New Delhi-110001. Cheque/DD to: Prime Minister's National Relief Fund Address: Prime Minister's Office, South Block, New Delhi-110001. You will not be charged any commission on the draft in favour of PMNRF. The contributions will give you 100% deduction from taxable income under section 80 (G) of the Income Tax Act.

For Indians abroad you can also donate to Redcross.. online... and to Americare thanks for your help.

You can also pay online through this link.. courtesy, The Hindu.

For some more information on Tsunami aids through blogs click here.... Update: Folks in Bangalore can drop cash contributions at the kiosk setup at ITPL, Whitefield Road. Details of the stall Venue : Tech Park MallTime : 12 noon to 4:00 PM Date : 29-31 December, 2004 Contributions will be sent to organisations working for the cause. For more donation options, try http://www.formbuddy.com/helpnow/ List of medicines that you can buy and give to the voluteers... Medicine for Children -CHLORINE TABLETS -SEPTRON SYRUP AND TABLETS -FLAGY SYRUP AND TABLETS -PARACETAMOL SYRUP AND TABLETS (125,250) -ASTHALIN SYRUP -MEBENDEZOL TABLETS -COUGH SYRUP -BRUFEN TABLETS -METRONIDAZOL LIQUID -LOPRAMIDE -POXYCYLIN TABLETS -AMIPICILLIN TABLETS -SOPHRAMYCIN OINTMENT -NASIVION NOSE DROPS -ORS PACKETS -CALAMINE LOTION Medicine for ADULTS -AMOXYCYLINE 250 MG -ANTI-HISTAMINE -PARACETEMOL 500 MG -T.LOPRAMIDE (TABLET) -BRUFEN TABLET -BETADYNE TABLET -DEREPHYLENE TABLET -T.SEPTRON TABLET -(METRONIDAZOL) METROGYL FLAGYL TABLETS -DOXYCYLINE ADULTS I think if we can donate bottled water it would be of great help since the affected areas need clean water to drink. Please try and arrange for first aid bandages and gauzes which will be of great help for the victims.

WARNING !! There is a warning in all leading online-dailies of another impending Tsunami attack by 12 noon especially in costal regions of Tamil Nadu andKerala. Please be guarded. Lets hope that this does not happen...

For friends wanting to directly reach Chennai, this would be a helpful link for more information.

Disaster coming hand in hand with Celebrations

Just another irony of life or is it something we need to seriously think about.. ?? Sunday morning, when all were just getting over with the partying, Sumatra experienced a major earthquake which resulted in tsunami's all around the coastal areas nearby such as Sri Lanka, South Eastern Coast of Karnataka, Thailand, etc... heres looking at the timelime of the disaster...

On one side we were celebrating the holy day of Christmas and on the other hand we had disaster of gigantic proportions hit us in the form of a Tsunami.. Just when my family came from visiting the Andaman and Nicobar islands, we were shocked to hear that parts of Andaman and Nicobar were washed away.. My thoughts are also with the fishermen and the village in Mahabalipuram where we stayed. I hope there homes are safe. The fishing village in Pondicherry which we passed often when we were there have been strongly affected.. and the death toll is rising.. even as I write this... I hope my friends in Chennai are safe... the images shown in the television were not very encouraging to say the least.. one can only imagine what a havoc it must have caused.. If you want to know how the Tsunami happened... you can read this

In geological terms, what has happened? Sumatra, or north-western Indonesia, is right on a plate boundary. The earth's surface is made up of lots of different tectonic plates and they are all moving around. The plate that has the Indian Ocean on it is moving roughly north-east and colliding with Sumatra. And as that collision takes place, the Indian Ocean plate gets subducted underneath Sumatra, and as that plate is subducted it breaks up and that is what causes the earthquake. Read More...

Is this another symptom of the much discussed pole shift that we are supposed to experience..?

The magnetic field of Earth is weakening, since a strong point estimated to be 2,000 years ago. Deep earthquakes which rose almost exponentially between 1985 and 1995 have locked down the plates of Earth, such that quakes in one plate ricochet to another place, and this process and be charted from quake statistics. The weather on Earth has gone from being a bit wild to breaking records regularly to being so bizarre that broken records are never mentioned anymore. More volcanoes are active on Earth than at any time in the memory of man. And though the oceans are heating from the bottom up, and glaciers are retreating at an astonishing pace. The Earth�s rotation is slowing, such that the full moon seems now to come early. But is it just the Earth that is affected by the movement of Planet X toward the solar system, after its long stay at essentially the mid-point between its two foci?.... Read more..

Heres hoping that the missing souls do come back.. and I pray for the the souls those who have passed over...

Things to do !!

Stuff happening or happening stuff !!! If you are a music lover try checking out the Jazz Programme at Chowdaiah Memorial Hall today ... call up 9886008954 or collect the tickets from Cafe Coffee day !! If you are wondering where to go for dinner for Christmas Eve and Christmas feast you can book your tables at Sue's Food Place... where she will be spreading out a neat buffet ... make sure you are hungry before you go there.. coz there is lots to eat.. for booking you can call 080-25252494. If you are a couple it would cost you 750/- and if you are alone it would cost you 400/- . And take it from me... its worth all the money.. The feast is on for New Years Eve too. :) and that is where I am going to get my Roast Turkey and Duck hehehe !! Madhu is also putting up a seven course meal for this week.. for more information you can check this out ... the menu seems to be scrumptious.... And in both cases there are ample choices on the vegetarian menu too.. !! If you are feeling generous you could also drop in some new clothes and toys for the poor kids in the churches or orphanages.. a nice way to end your year isnt it ?? Parting Thought Tis a shame how witness and evidence can be tampered with ... just goes to show how even justice is a mockery... is it a wonder why the law is taken into one's hands or is not cared for.. ??

Seasons Greetings

good wishes, good mood, good thoughts... Everyone suddenly starts spreading cheer and good will around which is nice ... it would really help if this was the case all year round... Either way the mood is infectious... at work there is an air of festivity not because of the holiday but because all the peering eyes will be out on a holiday.. mine included... to let us do our work in peace.. so what if they have given us a looooooong list of tasks to be completed... my traveling plans also seem to be cancelled due to unavailability of tickets ,... maybe can make it on my own wheels for the new year... it is so much better to travel on our own. So Christmas will be spent feasting on different feasts like roast turkey and duck which seems like a good option.. add to that some nice wine and my holiday is made... dhinchak !! So Hyderabad I shall see you some days later... hopefully will be welcoming the new year there... if everything works out... As the year is ending I am trying to tie up my loose financial ends which will be a great boon to start a new year with... nothing better than to start my year with a fat insurance policy.. and some good savings promises... for more and more traveling... yipeeeeeeeee ...

Live in the moment...

Memories are not painful if you do not have to deal with the past.... This quote was etched in my thoughts after watching the beautiful movie.. Before Sunset.. If you are the romantic sorts who likes a dialog oriented movie, this movie is a must. The whole movie is based on one meeting and on lost chances and how one gets one more chance to bring together the missing pieces.. This movie is the sequel to Before Sunrise... I finally caught my sparrows TIPLIS and TIPLAS in my lens... hehehe !! they have baby sparrows now ,... and the eldest one had her first flight today... reminded me of Jonathan Livingstone Seagull by Richard Bach. Thats the papa sparrow... chirping away to glory... I call him TIPLAS... his is always showing his fluffy self... and is a good papa trying to provide for the family Now this is the mama sparrow.. TIPLIS.. She is the shy one.. had to call her out many times before she decided to wait and talk to me in her chirps... I have been trying to catch them so often as they come to my window sill but today I got lucky or rather they deigned to pose for me !!! These shots are digital zooms so maybe they are not clear.. but I hope you can see the cute couple who have adopted me as their pet... heheh !! I am a goner for them... Well as for the other stuff its holiday season and I am missing Rocks .. had plans to drive aroudn Kerela and some other parts of the country but that has taken a back seat.. But yes I am planning to travel to Hyderabad with my aunt and uncle so looking really forward to the trip.. Hope to come back with lots of pics... and good experiences... and lots of good hogging.. I am looking forward to have some good biryanis.. yum yum... Planning to visit Ramoji Film city.. and see what the hoo haa is all about... my friends have lots to say about this place... Neels... hope to meet you and thanks for the help... you are a gem !!! Any feedback from my blogger friends would be welcome...

Dowry Speculations....

As I was having lunch with a colleaugue who is also a good friend... we were discussing his impending marriage... he was very happy and it seemed it was not because he would be getting a girl to spend his life with. His whole future will be taken care of by the dowry that he will be getting... when asked how much he would be getting .. he shyly says ... they are giving me 30 lakhs.. cash GAWK... I was like... DOUBLE GAWK...

Ok and he is a guy who is just starting off his career and typically getting married early.. but just thinking back in perspective as to how much they are willing to give their daughters away with... he shyly said to me that his family gave 20 lakhs for his sister ... so his family's account will be kind of balanced... Smart Aye ?? Then he went on ... Oh you know the other pal got some 50 lakhs.. 30 lakhs is nothing yaar..( NOTHING.. How can he say NOTHING !!!) .. that is what fades from my thoughts ... and I was wondering in my mind... what I would do with that kind of immediate money... Travel the world... Open a company of my own.. Buy a Bose Home theatre.. Buy a land and make my dream house... Have a kennel of dogs... ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzz...... Suddenly I am rocked with the hot !#$&&!!# pizza burning my palatte and am rudely awakened from my ruminations... serves me right for building castles with somebody else's money .. LOLOLOL Anyways... I was thinking it would be so easy to spend all that dough... and I am reminded every now and then ... how good I am at emptying my bank balance... SIGH... Back to my world of savings... spendings.. savings.. spendings... = zilch... as I call myself... pound wise pound foolish... I cant help think back to my wedding where my dad spent an indecent amount of money and bought all things necessary for my inlaws house. ( which is rotting with disuse) .. instead of giving them to me ( yeah right as if I had any say)... I still cannot understand why he had to spend so much.. when the money did not come to anybody's use... and he says... it was all for me... I do not see a ME anywhere there.. go figure... cant help wondering what a waste all that money went to... and for what.... something in the disguise of something disgusting called providing for the daughter so that the people who know you will nod with approval of giving away your only daughter with so much useless pomp and show... SIGH ... Then again my friend's dad was very smart... I call this intelligence..he gave her the cash all that was necessary and made her save it in her account.. with the help of which she has built a pretty nest for herself.. which is reasonably good use of the money... My point is... well at first there is no great need to exchange all that money.. but if one is doing so.. one has to invest it wisely .. instead of bothering about what people would say.. but I guess the society functions like that so I have reached a moot point.. Ladies, if you are getting married make sure you wisely deal with your Stree Dhan... and build a better future over what has been given to you... Am I sounding wierd ? well I guess it is the influence of the lunch discussion and a very bad cold that I am laden with... which is not making me think straight...

Living and not just existing

Just when you thought that well things have settled down enough for a hot cup of tea.. in comes another challenge.. this seems to be the month for challenges... that again enhances the fact that I have to live and not just exist. Work wise ... the "peering eyes" are acting up again for no damn reason. I have this one "peering eye" whose communication skills are lacking to the zilch.. either he does not understand english or has a very short memory... either way... I hope the Almighty blesses him with both qualities in due course of time.. Got a pack of Faery card pack to work with. This helps in working with the elementals of the elements and the elements themsleves. It has always been my desire to understand the elements better.. When it comes to cards, the media has made a joke out of it. In the channel Zoom they have this lady going dramatically about life's problems and how this tarot lady solves it.. Seems so much like a farce. ... and the sad thing is that people are lapping it up.. Living alone is pretty ok even if I am missing my man.. but it is doing good to talk to myself and reflect on what needs to be done... with myself.. as in look ahead.. but not as in going loony :) new year is dawning on us.. I was thinking to myself that I was never one to make a resolution .. or a promise.. coz i never kept them... i would prefer to look at it as commitment to some goal and go forward... has a long term meaning to it which works fine for me... Tomorrow I am having visitors from the eastern part of the country which will gladden my heart.. yes I am looking forward to meeting them... Watched Rakht.... do not think it is worth a review. Brrrr !!! Just when I was stopped thinking about the earthquake possibilities in Assam, my mom calls and tells me that there was a bomb blast in the city very near our home.. this again stresses the fact how unpredictable our comfortable existence might be.. and this occured just some kms away from where we live in Beltola. I think Shillong was a much better place even with all the insurgencies... dont know.. never could identify with Guahati..

Two killed in city blastBy A Staff Reporter GUWAHATI, Dec 13: Two constables were killed and three persons were injured in a bomb explosion in front of the Hatigaon police outpost this evening. The explosives, suspected to be a bomb, were hidden inside an abandoned scooter. The dead have been identified as Pranab Bhatta, constable and Akbar Ali, home guard. The injured have been admitted to the GMCH. The incident occurred around 7-15 pm after some police personnel of the Hatigaon outpost brought the scooter that had been left abandoned near a pharmacy, towards the outpost. After some time the blast occurred, killing the duo on the spot. Police said the exact nature of the explosives was yet to be ascertained. The hand behind the blast was also being examined, police said. The whole area was immediately cordoned off and senior police officials rushed to the spot. Meanwhile, the AASU has condemned the blast, saying the Government has totally failed to maintain law and order even in the State capital. Read more

Monday Mumbles

Here comes another Monday again.. Just when I thought that I would cozy up in a corner on the weekend with movies like Before Sunset, etc., I promptly get an insistent invitation from friends who kindly decided not to leave me on my own ... for whatever puposes.. sometimes its difficult convincing friends that one likes to be on one's own sometimes... but all said and done it was fun... . Point of concern Assam has had a red alert issued by the government my folks toldme the other day. There are major possibilities of an earthquake.. lot of people were awake from 3:00 to 6:00 am in the morning.. day before . Shillong has been experiencing quakes everyday.. earthquakes in Shillong is very common that way.. but hopefully nothing major is about to happen.. people in the east are however expecting a big one like the one which happened 50 years back. If this is true then people out there need to be more aware....

Planets forecast earthquake in Assam: GeologistDecember 04, 2004 19:40 IST Planetary configurations suggest the possibility of an earthquake measuring up to five or six in the Richter scale in Assam on December 12, a Madras University geologist told an international conference on natural hazards in Hyderabad on Saturday. N Venkatanathan said a theory developed by his group indicates that the epicentre of the quake, which may occur around 0600 IST, would be 26.91 degrees north latitude and 94.49 east longitude with an error of one degree -- about 100 km west-southwest of Dibrugarh. More news reports.... Read more

One for the day !! My friend U planning to take me out for lunch.. on friday.. she insists that she wants to take me out.. I politely try to refuse but nothing doing... she is a dear friend so what the heck !! Now U is a very patient sort totally opposite to yours truly.. but when she is driving,... she kind of loses it and becomes a different personality altogether.. you can hear all teh cuss words in the dictionary which kinda makes me go GAWK... ( thinking to myself ... I think I am more tolerant on the road) we decide to meet next to Hotel Chandrika from where she will pick me up. U comes and sees some police there and is forced to move down the road... U calls me : Pallavi, I am on Cunningham Road. Where do I meet you ? I could not stop in the planned point so tell me where to meet you. Me: (Thinking fast) meet me where you parked last.. when you came to meet me.. U: Okay.... and she switches off.. I start walking down the road ... where I ask her to come ... on walking quite a distance.. i see no sign of her... I call her up on her cell and ask her... where she is ? U: okay Pallavi I am in Cunnigham road but I do not know where.. its in the beginning of the road.. and I see some bank and some office in front of me.... . Me: (Flabbergasted) but you told me that you will be meeting me here... where you parked the last time... ( my temper slowly boiling.. at having to walk quite a distance for nuts). U: well I thought this would be easier.. so come and meet me here.... wherever I am . Me: ( finding it irritating and slowly losing my fast draining patience) now how do I know where you are.. cunnigham road has lot of beginnings and lots of banks and offices.. ( I had lost my appetite by now). U: With a suffering SIGH ( as if it was my fault) ok I shall come and pick you up at your office.. Me: I say OK ... feeling really not upto going anywhere.. walked 20 minutes back to square 1 and then find her ... Question : how can one confuse oneself so ? and well how does one find someone.. if that someone gives direction as SOME office and SOME bank.. Suffice it to say that I shall be very careful the next time I go for lunch with U.. SIGH !!! . and as if it is not enough.. she puts me on edge when I am with her.. sitting next to her in the car... the moment someone honks... she is ready to get out of her car and beat the hell out of that person... SIGH !! . Moral of the story : Stay away from fussy and cussy friends... if you are not in control of the situation.. LOL .

Anniversary thoughts

Tomorrow we will be completing 4 years of togetherness.. As I was sitting all by myself, I was wondering how fast these years flew by. It was just as if it was yesterday that I got a mail from a stranger wanting to be friends and though internet was very new it was by fluke that we started writing to each other.. him from bombay and myself from bangalore... Going through painful blocks of life's ironical poetry.. I always had this clinging faith that there bloody well be someone for me who would be just right for me and walk with me. I was very well prepared to walk it out by myself if there was going to be another situation of compromise... Lo and behold.!! .. the magic of togetherness just dropped into my life.. and it seemed that this was the case with Rocks too.. a wild man but with just the right touch of crazy humor and seriousness... just what I needed to balance my whacky personality... Of course when I saw the snap which he mailed me... coz according to my little experience.. brains and brawns did not go together.... and I was not impressed with a leather sporting.. bike riding... having his share of looks.. dude... I was already charting him as another number in my very little black book of friends.. and acquaintances... But fate or lets say the fervent prayer of a soulmate... connecting to another had other plans... a narrow escape... an almost life consuming accident... communicating over the phone while Rocks was on crutches... accepting the fact that yes we definitely had the chemistry which would forge the invisible bond of love and understanding...the fact that our oats that we had sown... however wild that might have been... had borne the same fruits of pain and anguish.. the result of which made us recognise a good thing when it was staring at our face... willing us to take another final chance... .all of that had us going forward .... to create the circle of life in Barua's lane .... riding high riding low... but riding no matter what... on the highway of life...

My lessons... Life can be tough .. but one should focus on one's dream even if it is silly enough as having a pair of black pumps without bows, strings, buckles... Relationships are not easy but that does not mean that one should give up on them... and when a good chance comes along.. one should take it up with confidence... rather than live in a hell of obscureness.. thinking that it was all your damn fault. A bad relationship does not mean that you need to hang on just for the sake of it .. or for the reason ... like ... "what will people say..??" I had this feeling for sometime when I was in the circle of bitterness and bad karmic ties which had me going round and round in cirlces not knowing what to do .... Break ups are another way of fate telling you that YOU both deserve better... Reflecting too much in the past does not help.. since what is past is past.. if you keep living in the past ... the present will pass you by and the future will be without substance,... what did not work ... cannot work after whatever many years.... If you have broken up ... there is a good reason that you did and there is not use beating yourself to death about this... specially when the past comes and stares at your face and has the gall to remind you that insipte of all the pain that the soul has caused and inspite of having a mate... he would be proclaiming his love for you anyway.. DUH and you were going out with such a wimp... Past boyfriends can never be friends... no matter what the books say.... stay away from old flames... they tend to burn more brightly... LOL... and make sure that your guy also does that.. you got to have alarm bells ringing when he introduces you to his ex-flame.. who still makes his eyes misty... LOL Your past is your past and you must be careful about washing your dirty linen in front of your present, who really has no interest in that.. except for the fact that it would give that person a chance to emotionally hassle you... if your beau is the possessive and destructive kinds... ( BRRR) Never take abuse in a relationship.. emotional and physical.. it is corroding to the relationship ( ??) and to your personal growth... Love and lust are two different things... :) good to combine.. deadly if you do not know the difference.. Marriage and dating are two poles apart... and a different ball game together ... which should be enjoyed as per the rules of the concerned game... dating rules dont apply in marriage and vice versa...

SIGH and today I am remembering my man a lot... four years ... and honey heres to us ... hoping to make many memories... so far yet so near... Filled me with joy: Meeting a Fat Persian cat called Leo with whom I am totally and madly fallen in love.. reminds me of my Mini in Shillong... GRRRR : Two bikers riding parellely discussing life's philosophy... for quite a distance... thus making me late... why can't they find a coffee place to discuss whatevers bothering them ...

Another Italian Bite .... I think this is the Italian season for me..Today I discovered another place called Ambara... it was well known to people in Indiranagar. Now this little cafe cum boutique has shifted base in Ulsoor.. near Ulsoor Lake. Read More...