Values Lost...values found...

The Miller of the Dee by Charles Mackay There dwelt a miller, hale and bold, Beside the river Dee; He worked and sang from morn till night - No lark more blithe than he; And this the burden of his song Forever used to be:"I envy nobody - no, not I -And nobody envies me!" "Thou'rt wrong, my friend," said good King Hal, "As wrong as wrong can be; For could my heart be light as thine, I'd gladly change with thee. And tell me now, what makes thee sing, With voice so loud and free, While I am sad, though I am king,Beside the river Dee?" The miller smiled and doffed his cap, "I earn my bread," quoth he; "I love my wife, I love my friend, I love my children three; I owe no penny I can not pay,I thank the river Dee, That turns the mill that grinds the corn That feeds my babes and me." "Good friend," said Hall, and sighed the while, "Farewell, and happy be; But say no more, if thou'dst be true, That no one envies thee; Thy mealy cap is worth my crown, Thy mill my kingdom's fee; Such men as thou are England's boast, O miller of the Dee! Brought to you my Antelope Publishing As I was starting my work day today.. I get a message from my bro asking me whether I remembered the Miller of the Dee poem. He was telling me that this poem was the key to happiness and how right he was.. As I read this known poem again, immediately there was this flashback where I was memorizing the poem beacause my teacher would be giving us a test on this... and now as I went through the poem again, I was thinking to myself how easy it is to forget the basic necessities of life. We are all geared to run, run and run some more and the achievements are never over. Today if there is one river Dee there are ten millers who are willing to compete with each other for the corn and not pausing to thing that the river is drying up and the millers need to nourish the river too.. and the song would go There dwelt ten millers, hale and bold, Beside the river Dee; They worked and sang from morn till night - No lark more blithe than them; And this the burden of their song Forever would be:"we envy no other - no, we dont -But everybody should envy me!" .... Return back to our values... not lose them even as we are zipping by the fast paced life... sometimes we can put on the brake and go back to why we started running in the first place... In pursuing the HOW are we losing out the WHY...

Reflections

Artist/Band: Lonestar Song: Not A Day Goes By Album: I'm Already There Got a picture of you I carry in my heart Close my eyes to see it when the world gets dark Got a memory of you I carry in my soul I wrap it close around me when the nights get cold If you asked me how I'm doin' I'd say just fine But the truth is baby, if you could read my mind Not a day goes by that I don't think of you After all this time you're still with me it's true Somehow you remain locked so deep inside Baby, baby, oh baby, not a day goes by I still wait for the phone in the middle of the night Thinkin' you might call me if your dreams don't turn out right And it still amazes me that I lie here in the dark Wishin' you were next to me, your head against my heart If you asked me how I'm doing I'd say just fine But the truth is baby, if you could read my mind Not a day goes by that I don't think of you After all this time you're still with me it's true Somehow you remain locked so deep inside Baby, baby, oh baby, not a day goes by Minutes turn to hours, and the hours to days Seems it's been forever that I've felt this way Not a day goes by that I don't think of you After all this time you're still with me it's true Somehow you remain locked so deep inside Baby, baby, oh baby, not a day goes by

As the week is rolling by I have been feeling like going back in a circle and starting from where I left back.. yes it seems a little wierd but this week started with lots of old contacts seeping in through the realms of time and reminding me of the world that I have passed through... Dreams... that I dreamt with friends sitting on the doorsteps giggling at little things without much cause. Always in the mind that we would be ever together.. And then we went our seperate ways and yes today after so many years, old friends sail past me every now and then and its always a nice feeling to feel the breeze blowing by me... the echoes of nonchalant laughter, threads of soft murmurs..... yes there are times when the wisps of time blow their fine threads across one's consciousness and I am like a little girl in a field of sunflowers trying to catch the flying cotton balls of memories. Some I grasp in my hand and some I have to let go. Yet the ones I grasp give me so much happiness to be remembered.... And now I have to come back to the concrete village and binary digits and pixelated words which need my attention. Back to the wheel of time I go. Rolling as I gather some moss here and there.... I flow...

Bangalored

Well now Bangalore might soon be a word in the dictionary. Going through the articles in Times... it had an interesting piece of news ( after a long time). Bangaloreans.. we are going to be a part of the English Language.. beware... is that good or bad ?? You decide.. Franky speaking I am not over enthused about the term coined .. but I guess we would not have much say over it ...

Bangalored: function� transitiveverb! Coined by Americans who frown upon outsourcing By Chidanand Rajghatta/TNN Washington: Bangalore may have become only the second modern city in the world to be turned into a verb after �Shanghaied� � a word that broadly means to force � thanks to the outsourcing controversy. An online anti-outsourcing website is marketing a Tshirt with the legend �Don�t Get Bangalored��, a term suggesting losing one�s job to outsourcing. The T-shirts, in two separate designs, are priced at $15.99. The word has already found a place in online discussions. �I am a software developer who is about to be �Bangalored�. Fine. I am not going to pout about it,�� a participant in the forum Technewsworld wrote this week. �The media write that we are in a global economy, so deal with it. Okay, I will.�� If the word sticks around, then it will quite likely make the annual addition to various dictionaries. Though there have been other geographical places that have been turned into words (called toponyms; eg Frankfurter, Marathon, Balkanisation, Finlandised, Detroit), few cities have taken a verb form. Bangalore itself is already associated with a torpedo which was devised by a British army captain in 1912. Bangalore Torpedoes were used to clear barbed wire entanglements in World War II, especially in the D-Day landings, and are in use even today. But Americans are being ribbed even while trying to make a few bucks of the outsourcing controversy. On a separate forum, an Indian named �Harish� joked that $15.99 was too high a price for a T-shirt and suggested the manufacture be outsourced. A separate website of American infotech professionals sells an even pricier T-shirt ($19.99) that reads, �My Job Went To India And All I Got Was A Stupid T-Shirt.�� The T-shirt flap aside, Bangalore has certainly entered the American lexicon. Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry recently suggested at a meeting that he wanted American cities to be wired like Bangalore, perhaps not realising that for all its vaunted reputation, the city has dismal connectivity. WHAT MERRIAM-WEBSTER SAYS Shanghai (transitive verb) Inflected Form(s): Shang . haied; Shang . hai . ing Etymology: Shanghai, China; from the former use of this method to secure sailors for voyages to eastern Asia 1 a: to put aboard a ship by force often with the help of liquor or a drug b: to put by force or threat of force into or as if into a place of detention 2: to put by trickery into an undesirable position Will �Bangalore� follow suit? Bangalore (transitive verb): outsourced, to have your work done by another

Another piece of news that had me smirking !!! Yeah smirking !!

A transfer in Vadra�s name! By Bhadra Sinha/TNN New Delhi: What was the worst that happened to you when you misspelt something in school? Being thrown out of the classroom? Apparently in India, the tradition can continue after school. Kewal Krishna Chugh, a programme officer with the Indian Council of Cultural Relations (ICCR) has been transferred from Delhi to the Thiruvananthapuram office because he spelt a name incorrectly on an invitation card. The name? �Vadra�, as in Priyanka and Robert Vadra, not �Vadhera�, mind you � that�s how he had spelt it. The invitation in question was for the presentation ceremony of the Jawarharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding, conferred on the Singapore Prime Minister on June 27. A formal complaint was lodged with the official�s senior. Chugh was served an office memorandum on June 6. He sent a written apology and explanation to his department; all the same, the next day his transfer order arrived. Aggrieved, Chugh approached the Delhi High Court. On Wednesday, Justice Manmohan Sarin stayed the transfer order, saying it was mala fide and arbitrary. In his petition, Chugh says he had been asked to include the couple in the list of invitees only on the afternoon of June 27. Unsure how the couple spelt their last name, he called up 10, Janpath and the MTNL directory service. Both said it was spelt �Vadhera�. Justice Sarin has said: �The need of accuracy in invitations which are sent to dignitaries cannot be underscored. �But should an error for which the petitioner has tendered an explanation, which appears plausible, invite a punitive transfer simply because it concerns those who are in the higher echelons of power?� With his petition, Chugh has also submitted print-outs of websites where the couple�s last name has been spelt �Vadhera�. The court has issued a notice to ICCR and asked them to file a reply on October 14.

It happens only in India.... Have a nice weekend ........

Driving Miss Daisy

Though the title has nothing to do with any of this.. a part of it does... I was reflecting on how I started my being mobile lessons and that had nothing to do with cell phones since only pagers existed and a rare Nokia 1150. I was new to Bangalore and my brother and bhabhi convinced me to learn driving. According to my genius of a brother learning how to drive would help me learn to take the control the steering wheel of life.. LOL and yeah I guess in one way he was right. My bhabhi was great .. gave me her Maruti to drive around.. Now the whole challenge was to learn the controls.. enrolled myself in a driving school and had an instructor coming to pick me up in the morning. At that time in 1996 it was only Maruti, Fiat and Ambassador.. Now one has a great range of choices.. and I remember there was no concept of fifth gear... Me: aprehensively taking the wheels Driver : Ok Amma , try now.. daunt warry you will driive and Aie am there.. you drive no... Me: OK ( having my heart hopelessly bleeping.. where have I got myself into As we are driving through Old Madras Road we were faced with heavy duty traffic.. I am frozen at the wheels watching the big trucks coming at me ( I know exactly how it feels for a deer who stands still even it knows when it is going to be hit) Driver: Go go go Amma... I am there no ... ( I see him pjuggling with two pedals right and left.. up and down and I think to myself " if I have to do this.. I am never going to learn how to drive) As we are driving through Cox Town , Cooke Town... Me: How nice ( I say to myself) .. this is such a nice place.. ( i remark) Driver: ( with an old been there done that expression) yes yes yes Amma .. Drive Me: Oh this is beautiful.. so many trees ( here I am fresh from Shillong.. seeing all the greenery reminded me of home and I could not go gushing) where are we ? Driver: (looking at me strangely) okok madam this is Cox town but we are not here for a tourist trip you drive no... ( pushing the Break and the other thing called Clutch.. Now I was only doing Break and Accelerator..) ok amma push the accelerator strongly.. Me : ( pushing the break as strongly as possible) SCREEECHHHHHHHH the car stop.. but thank God he immediately takes control and carries on and stops at the side... Driver: Aiyyo da Aiyoo Enamma ... ( all that was greek to me then) you doing beautiful beautiful and see you dont listen..see this Break and this Accelerator... Me : ( sheepishly) Yes Sir. And we plough along.. As we are driving round Ulsoor Lake... Me: ( Now I have the hang of Clutch Breaks and Accelerator and Gear. ) Screeech.. i forget everything and just press the break... my heart beating fast... blip blop blip blop.. Driver: What happened what happened ? You should never do that.. why didnt you press the clutch.. Why did you stop ? Me: ( pretty Angry that he was so blind ) Cant you see that puppy crossing the road... how can I go without letting him cross.. Driver: (now quite frustated... ) Amma, you go dog gig no waiting.. no you kill but you go ... you dont wait.. understand... blah blah.. ( i got a long lecture but was I glad that the puppy could cross.. he he) And thus continued my classes. My driver was pretty good actually. Helped me a lot during the test and then I finally got my license. But the wait and the stifled conversations with the inspector and many strategic moves... made it quite tiring but worth the while. After that a continous practice of driving ... and yeah a lot of hits and misses..(including threats from the thella wallas to take to their politician leader.. threats from the public, one broken bulb of bhabhi's car) later, I was a full fledged driver. I still remember one incident in Vasanthnagar when I was bringing back my niece from school. I dont remember but it was something she needed.. so i stopped at a small steep. told my niece to sit inside while I got the stuff. My niece was happily sitting there .. I was about to cross the road when the car started sliding backward. To my horror and then good fortune.. the window was open and I immediately opened the door and pressed the brakes. Would not have hurt much but I would have broken another of the break lights... I can still sketch the expression of bewilderment in my niece's face.. it taught me to always put on the hand brake no matter what in a Maruti when you are on a slope.. and she never lets me forget that to this day.. :) Tall little lady that she has become... Valuable lessons learnt and today I am a much confident driver and I thank my brother and bhabhi for that... Of course I owe them thanks for many other stuff... but this was one of my important milestones in my life.. for which I will always be thankful.... Though now I also owe my learnings.. and believe me I am still learning the finer tips of meandering through the traffic with my Silverline and that credit goes to me hubby who promises me that I shall never drive like a lady drives.. and he also vows to make me a good driver with good skills. Yes without bias, he is one the best drivers I have come across... he will be crossing 100 in the speedometer and you will never realise it and his control over the wheel is something I really envy.. highways, forest, ghats, included.. yeah he sighs and tells me that when I am driving for more that 15 years I too shall become like that ... SIGH 15 years a long long long time ... LOLOL I guess just like swimming all it takes is practice practice and practice... PS: To think that learning how to navigate would be so important.. Back home in Shillong we never needed a car... out of ten houses one would be having a car. And today it has become a way of life.. But given a choice I would always prefer a bike.. no matter what..

Scratches of conversation...

........... as I am working... someone whom i respect a lot comes to me and asks me X : hi what are you doing Me : I am fine *smile* X : So how did you reach home that day Me : Oh I got my vehicle... and also gave a couple of friends a lift .... X : Oh that van of yours.. Me : (with a pained and a DUH expression) .....VAN .. excuse me thats a BOLERO..a jeep... an SUV... (for heaven's sake... this after this person has already seen my Jeep.. GRRRR ... and also drives a vehicle... I can understand if a person is not aware of cars.. but well .. uhhhh.. oh anyways.... whatever...) While driving and giving a few friends a lift..... X : so are you married A : yes I am B : oh you dont look married... Me : Silent Smirk ... Hit is on ..... X : Oh you know Marraige.. I tell you... you should never marry a convent girl.. A : Uh why ? B : (Curious expression) X : Convent girls demand too much, aiyyo .. car, work, etc etc .. you should never marry one. You will be in trouble, I say. Me : Dying to give him a whack !! ( and he did not know to his great fortune that he was being driven and taken home by a convent girl navigating through all the roads which were really bad... HUH.. so much for an opinion...talk about prejudices...) A : GRRRRR !! After sometime.... X : Oh you know I feel it is really difficult for a working woman to manage home A : ( Sympathetically and glad that the topic has changed to much clamer waters) yes it is ... B : another curious expression wondering where the conversation is leading to... Me : Praying for their destination to come faster... before I blurted out any statement that would start a fight.. X : who cooks when you are working A : oh my husband helps me out and we do it together and sometimes he cooks ... sometimes I do... when either of us reach early... Me : Hmmm yeah same here X : Oh my God !! I would never dream of doing that.. you know my wife is working and I have a kid.. I cant take it.. you know.. her coming late and who will look after the kid.. I want her to quit job you know... aiiyoo it is too much... Girls should not work.. blah blah blah... and more blah.... and all because I dont want to help her you know... why should I ? I am not like the husbands who want to help wives.. what is that ? maybe because of that I feel like that no. Enna Sir ?? ( AH HA you said it...) A : Dumbfounded B : Getting the drift wisely keeping silent.... Me : Praying for divine intervention clutching my steering wheels and concentrating on letting them down at the nearest possible stop. Stopped the car but the blah blah went on .. till I very sweetly that I have to go a different way and they needed to get down.. and it was nice to know them ( GNASSHHHHH... GRRR...) And I rush off before I could get any more disgusted... put on some Jazz to calm my frayed nerves.. and carry on .... A : Still dumbfounded.. and regretting she ever opened her mouth... but royally pissed End of a hectic day made more hectic by prejudiced observation which can make even a non femininist's skin crawl.. and believe me I am a moderate feminist.. nothing great and I usually dont believe in the burning the bra lot but this conversation makes me realise that we sometimes need extreme gender lessons or stay rooted to that place where they were taught the such basic lessons of life... Huh now that is out of me.. I can relax... LOLOL Finally finally finally .. I removed the Google ad tag... from my template... Yeaaaaaaa !! Thanks to Gautam's and Ishtiaque's help.... Been trying to remove the ad for sometime with no clue as to how to go about it ... SIGH !!!

A time of no cable land

Just when you thought that you are leading a normal life something has to jinx it.. and this time it was the Cable Strike.. which not only affected the the Cable Network ( that was the least of my problems) it also affected the internet access.. Thanks to the BESCOM officials who went out on a cutting spree without even thinking whether the cable was the phone cable or the Internet Cable. Result : A day or two without the net and I realised how much my work was affected without it... my creativity also slowed down.. LOL.. not that I am a computer freak though my livelihood depends on it.. I would much prefer to burrow my nose in a book or get lost in the world of music and sound... still given the fact that the information which is available through the net is fast and easy... I guess it makes a lot of a difference... It is a sad incident that precipitated the whole thing.. the death of a young kid when he tripped on a Cable which was hanging on to the electric wire... may his soul rest in peace...

Alternative living in Bangalore Due to the cable strike, after cribbing and complaining, the Bangalore public decided to take to the roads... families, friends, neighborhoods.. as one drove by MG Road or Residency Road after midnight too, the road was blocked with traffic and people walking and playing ... which is a fun thing I guess.. And see what we are missing when we are glued to the idiot box. Lots of healthy fun... Kids started to play which has almost become a forgotten pastime due to the advent of video games and TV programmes... Tragedy galore.. Here Bangalore was coming to terms with life without the idiot box... and there were children in Kumbakoam, Tamil Nadu, being burnt to death.. just because their teacher told them not to leave the places.. what shoudl be the limit of obedience and why did the adults not think that fire of any kind is dangerous and fatal ? Why ? The answer to this may never be sought since what we think and how the event actually unfolds are two different things... when I saw the burnt tiffin boxes in the paper and in the TV, I could only imagine the peril and the pain of the kids who were charred to death... an unfortunate incident which could have been avoided.. but then I guess it was not foreseen... May their souls rest in peace... Personal Alternative And what was I doing while the others took to the streets.. well i was watching some good movies and reading some nice books and catching on my beauty sleep.. Basic stuff I guess but matters a lot when you get the time to do it once in a while.. and of course driving around town.. doing a bit of offroading which was a challenge but could face it without hassle.. Had been to Eagle Ridge for some company function and drove down there with my hunky Silverline and WHOA mama, the roads where a driver's nightmare but I guess Silverline's dream.. it plonked and swerved but was steady on the wheels and took me to my destination without a squeal... yeah baby this is what I call driving... and I am definitely getting my confidence back on Bangalore roads... Eagle Ridge is a nice place I guess but the food sucks.. so avoid it if you want to have a good lunch but its definitely the place to have a corporate day out.. with lots of games and activities thrown in.. you could also do horse riding, play volleyball, basketball, create a disc of your own... and party hard... Connected with long lost friends and it feels good to get in touch with old friends... real good. Wanted to join Mahindra's Great Escape Event... which is happening this weekend... in Goa but unfortunately Rocks has a conference so we will not be able to make it.. Boo hoo... but plan to join it definitely next year... yeaaaa... Click here to view info about last Great Escape Event .. this was awesome... Watched Jimmy Neutron Animation movie, Deewar ( the new one), Lakhsya, Shrek 2. Jimmy Neutron is total animation fun.. and if you like animation movies, you could watch them... its never ending fun with lots of humor thrown in .. Deewar the new movie starring Amitabh B, Akhsay Khanna, Amrita Rao, Tanuja, Sanjay Dutt etc etc ... was an OK movie.. good for timepass but a little nervy... I guess you should be able to handle it if you like Hindi movies... Less songs.. more script and well good storyline but again weak continuation of the story... Lakshya a nice movie as a whole and well the theme was a repeat of Behind Enemy Lines where there is only one hero which is a little difficult to digest when it comes to war stories... But I liked Preity Zinta and the relationship between her and Hrithik... She tried to do a La Barka Dutt which I guess came out well but the story could have elaborated on her character... Personally its a sham of a war story after watching LOC and well I guess its a movie for a movie's sake.. you could give it a try. Amitabh does not have much of a presence.. In fact all the characters coudl have been developed more.. the cinematography was good and I guess you can just see it one time and forget about it... Shrek 2 ... a lovely movie.. a total fun timepass.. again if you like animation this rocks and it is a good as the first part... and you could have a good laugh over the charcters and the way the story has been wounded confusing all the fairy tales together.... Blogger has come up with a cool editor now... just like Blogdrive... easy on the keyboard I must say ... Well thats it I guess for now.. and this is another week... Click here to read about our Kemmanagundi Trip on the Royal Enfield Website.. next on line... Andhra Pradesh.. yipeeee... Highways... here we come... Met Jottingz today and it was charming to talk to her.. am i glad that I started blogging.. have been introduced to such nice people...

Something new something old

Finally got another template.. I have yet to fix a couple of stuff but its working as of now... yeaaaa.. I have started a new album which will have pictures clicked by me on my travels.. maybe like looking at the lesser explored India through my lenses... Yipeee... Its midweek already.. and I have shifted places in this company for 6 times.. I think its written on my face that instability is my middle name... Sheesh I sorely need a shot of Vodka.. the weather and the mood demands it.. but i have to contend with just thinking about it really strongly.. hehehe !!! SMIRK.. Suddenly I am reminded of this song for no reason.. The Rain Song by Led Zeppelin.. This is the springtime of my loving - the second season I am to know You are the sunlight in my growing - so little warmth I've felt before. It isn't hard to feel me glowing - I watched the fire that grew so low. It is the summer of my smiles - flee from me Keepers of the Gloom. Speak to me only with your eyes. It is to you I give this tune. Ain't so hard to recognize - These things are clear to all from time to time. Talk Talk - I've felt the coldness of my winter I never thought it would ever go. I cursed the gloom that set upon us... But I know that I love you so These are the seasons of emotion and like the winds they rise and fall This is the wonder of devotion - I see the torch we all must hold. This is the mystery of the quotient - Upon us all a little rain must fall.

Monday Appetisers.

A misty morning.. thus making me feel like Garfield today.. and just when I was going to burow my face in the pillow back to the la la Land... I heard this beautiful song which Frank Sintara was crooning... oh that made my day... Angel Eyes Hey drink up all you people Order anything you see And have fun you happy people The laugh and the drinks on me Try to think that love�s not around Still it�s uncomfortably near My poor old heart ain�t gaining any ground Because my angel eyes ain�t here Angel eyes, that old devil sent They glow unbearably bright Need I say that my love�s mispent Mispent with angel eyes tonight So drink up all of you people Order anything you see And have fun you happy people The drink and the laughs on me Pardon me but I got to run The fact�s uncommonly clear I got to find who�s now the number one And why my angel eyes ain�t here Excuse me while I disappear Sometimes I miss having a pet so much.. Had friends coming over for lunch with their pet Berli.. who is a 3 month old labrador.. We had a lovely time.. with the puppy running all around the house.. lots of beer and meat flowing around.. and great company too... sometimes weekends are made for this.. just chilling out ... hmmm or is it the age ... LOLOL...ahh the joys of unbridled life.. just scampering from here and there secure in the knowledge that you are taken care of and loved... not a worry here.. not a worry there.. Works for a dog I guess.. but would be boring for the homo sapiens... Afer French .. Its Tai Chi... have planned to take my spiritual explorations further by opting for Tai Chi... Hatha Yoga never worked for me .. so thought to complement my inner work with this.. and here begins a week with lot of hope and rains... LOLOL F1 thoughts Schumacher wins the race at Silverstone again but kudos to Kimi Raikkonen who made it with sheer guts.. thank god for his new car which ran fantastically. Barrichello tried his best to outwit Kimi but I guess this time Kimi was not giving up.. was real glad for him.. Trulli had a bad scrap which made my heart stop for a moment but he was very lucky to come out of that. Sato also made the same mistake but got out ok. Trulli's Renault was smashed up with his tyres flying all over and the car circling round and round... GAWK !! Goes to show how much FI has improved when it comes to safety. Compared to the crashes which took so many great lives.. on the track.. the effort to play safe at all times.. have made race watching more comfortable and enjoyable. Was rooting for Montoya and Jenson Button too.. Button has created a record of scoring the highest points without winning a Grand Prix. Good for him.. Pet Peeve of the week / perhaps the whole year Those breaks on the motorbikes which make music.. this is the new implementation which has added to the already enough noise pollution that we have to bear... just when you thought that you were getting used to the traffic there is this strange wanderer in their Splendours and KBs making funny music when they break.. startling the life out of me.. In addition to the mobile ringtones you hear on the road.. you have to contend with singing breaks.. beat that.. and heres to innovation at his noisy best !!! You will never know where to look your pockets or at your neighbor.. LOL.. And I thought that the public would be satisfied with fixing blue break lights... along with the default red ones...

Rains and more rains..

Raindrops are falling on my head I'm just like a guy whose feet are too big for his bed Nothin� seems to fit Those raindrops are falling on my head, they keep falling So I just did me some talking to the sun And I said I didn�t like the way he got things done Sleeping on the job Those raindrops are falling on my head, they keep falling But there�s one thi-i-ing I know The blues they send to meet me won�t defeat me It won�t be long till happiness steps up to gree-ee-eet me 'Cau-au-ause raindrops keep falling on my head Hahh, but that doesn�t mean my eyes will soon be turning red Cryin�s not for me �Cause I�m never gonna stop the rain by complaining Because I�m free-ee-ee-ee-ee Nothings worrying me-ee-ee Raindrops keep falling on my head Hahh, but that doesn�t mean my eyes will soon be turning red Cryin�s not for me �Cause I�m never gonna stop the rain by complaining Because I�m free-ee-ee-ee-ee-ee Nothin�s worrying me-ee-ee Just musing.... ruminating.. Yesterday Banglore experienced another bout of heavy shower and though it was pleasant to be inside the office waiting to be picked up by R, I was thinking of different times when I was stuck in between showers. Rains in Shillong.. the land where we had the highest rainfall record not so long back Rains would belt down from all directions making walking in the rain fun.. getting drenched in the rain would be a fun activity and there were hardly any puddles .. and whatever was there was clean so you could splash around as much as you wanted without getting really dirty.. after the rains the whole mountain would be as if someone had literally washed each leaf for a big Sunday party.. AHHHH the feel of a hot tea after getting deliberately soaked in the rain and cozying up with a good book watching the pine trees swinging crack by crack shaking the water off the leaves... yes a beauty only nature can provide... Rains in Kerela Recently experienced one of the common coastal showers in Kannur and it poured big drops for three hours but after that the whole town was back to normal.. no water logging anywhere.. and no one would believe that just a few seconds back.. it would hurt to just go out in the rain... Sheesh.. Watched as it rained in the sea.. and i guess I could somehow relate to the words "Swelled with Pride" watching the sea swell up to its glory... it was a thrilling experience.. Rains in Mumbai Got caught in a bad shower in Juhu... was not a great experience... except that I was afraid that we would not be able to make it to the train.. and the taxi driver.. who was driving with one hand while his other hand worked as a wiper.. he gave up after sometime and we reached the station.. with my heart beating since I had experienced the sea just beating down on the road like nobody's business and I did not find anything beautiful in that.. guess the sea was really angry that day !!! :) Rains in Assam Wading through muddy water and fields.. wading is the key word.. Knee deep water is common but everyone takes it in their stride... its fun... in a different way.. the earth soaks in all the water after sometime.. and well I usually avoided venturing out during times as this.. It was fun but definitely not clean... :) Rains in Wayanad Forest Oh this was the most beautiful experience I had.. We were waiting to fix one of the bikes in the forest and we were lashed with big droplets of rains from nowhere..when the rain announced its arrival through the woods.. I thought that it was a woodpecker pecking wood.. :).. and in seconds we were drenched.. I was dancing in the rain.. it was strong but pleasant.. I cannot explain riding in the rain.. with the deep forest sheltering you and blooming in the shower.. Rains in Karnataka Just experienced monsoon in Karnataka on the way to Kemmangundi.. its like nature is playing hide and seek with you.. a rain cloud here and a rain cloud there.. some shower here and some shower there and dry in betweem giving you the chance to dry yourself.. and a nice breeze blowing to take the wetness away.. a kiss of rain I must say.. Rains in Bangalore Bangalore was really pleasant at one time not so many years back with the population still being small and the drainage system being ok.. now.. during the rains we have people dying... by fluke.. roads beng flooded .. mini rivers flowing through the lanes making it impossible for bikes or cars to ply on these roads... and imagine we have strong rains just once or twice in a year but causes so many casualities.. have we forgotten to strive for the balance with nature... which is necessary to co exist... Rains give me a shudder now but I wish I could go back to those days when I could enjoy the oncoming of rains.. and the monsoon... without worrying about what it havoc it would cause just because of the negligence of the concerned people... SIGH... I guess its time to respect nature and the limits that a city can provide for the population.. Updated my photo blog with my travel pics... CLICK HERE to view it :)

Music in my ears

Yesterday went and got ourselves a Worldspace Radio.. Fundo music and fundo channels.. Anybody who likes music...must try this ... Radio gaga is on... baby !!! It rocks... Tried Mainland China yesterday !! Was good !!! Had heard about the Authentic Chinese Food but well its Indianised no doubt but service and food and the ambience was great... Had some snacks in KC Das... well I must tell you that this place has renovated surely but the quality of food has gone down. I guess the sweets are OK but the Samosas and the Kachoris are not what they were some time back.. Off with the good old days and in with the new hep but mechanical days... Today morning I dont know what I was thinking.. I got out of the Auto and left my tiffin box in it ... BOO HOOOO am feeling so bad.. I am having a losing spree... I lost my pyara sa sun glasses and now my pyara sa tiffin bag... BAWLLLLLLLLLL WAAAHHH But heck what is gone is gone... tomorrow is another day... My world is in a tizzy !!!! WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE !!!! some lost some gained and life goes on !!!!

And that came to pass too

The blogger meet was a mixture of new and old bloggers and I came in late but was fun to be there.. but was pressed for time so could not sit and chat.. was very gracious of them to wait up late.. Vighy.. a bundle of contradictions.. Was waiting to meet him.. and it was great connecting with this shy guy.. sans long hair.. LOL rest of the gang seemed to be all from Calicut.. nice to have met all .. i seem to have had a hairy experience.. no offense guys with all the hairy guys in the meet.. I have a snap of them will put it up when I have it developed... Maddie was holding fort as usual... as usual was great meeting with her !! Shashank.... whoa ... I need to talk to you.. you have pissed some people off really bad... :(:( AHEM !!! SIGH !!! Thanks for the Iced Tea... Shashank !!! :) Noufal.. thanks for arranging the meet !!! nice to have met you again !!! I know you are looking forward to meeting Aditya again... yo there dude !! Old friends are always nice to reconnect.. Moonjungle.. is the exact replica of his blog image..nice to have met you !! And those whom I have not mentioned... it was great meeting all of you !!! hope to do it again sometime... Watched TROY.. It was a good movie... loved the fight scenes... the story was well done.. though the guys to whom I was gushing in the meet were not impressed. OK they thought thatI was blinded by Brad Pitt's muscular glory which might have been the trick of some prosthetics but heck I must say I liked Eric Bana better in the role of Hector. The editing was the best I liked about the movie.. I had been to different websites for information on Troy and each has a different pattern to the history ... SIGH and none matches the story..

It seems that when Hector's body was returned Achilles demanded Hector's body's weight in gold.. and only then he was allowed to go.. and not like it was shown in the movie.. The last arrow which killed Achilles was planned by Hector's cousin (some say it was his sister) and Paris. And this princess was burnt alive on his tomb.. after Achilles ordered this just before his death. It was not that easy for the Greeks to reach Troy. It seemed that Agamenon had to sacrifice his own daughter with the ruse of her having to marry Achilles to go forward to Troy.. to appease the goddess Diana.

There are more stories.. and myths to it.. but hey I leave it for you to explore... as for me I think I must just directly read Homer's Illiad.. Anyway.. was a nice movie and I liked it for the editing part and for the fast action.. though I also thought they could have done better with the emotions.. Well you got to go and watch it if you are interested in movies dipped in history.. Malgudi Days Went to this restaurant I have been hearing of from quite some time.. Food is good but service is slow.. but was more attracted by the parrot who was reading fortune.. got to play with the parrot too.. that was my aim ... sheesh !! LOLOL haha !! u must check this place out if you are nearby.. for the food and if you have time for long conversation..