Guruji's mysterious hints...

Guruji puts out something called "EYxx" on his blog every year where the xx stands for his age. It's an annual report of sorts which lists down his achievements, failures, takeaways, goals, etc though not necessarily in the same order.

Now I have been reading these for quite some time now and I never really gave any thought as to what EY stood for (in fact its only now that I realised its an annual report thingy) until a recent comment popped up on the latest report asking for the expansion.

I decided to try my luck and left "Evaluation Year" as a reply comment. What happened next is interesting but not really surprising*. Four days later I got my reply

ksp said...

"Nope.

Let's see, if I was Latin, it might have been a T instead of an E."

This guy had posted something on "The Dunning–Kruger effect" with a reference to the following from wiki

"It also explains why actual competence may weaken self-confidence: because competent individuals falsely assume that others have an equivalent understanding."

Notice the words emphasised above...Now you know my position.

Now I have to rack up my limited knowledge of English and come up with a word which fits the bill and validate it against something in Latin (of which I have no knowledge whatsoever except maybe "veni vidi vici").

If you had the patience to read so far I guess I owe you an explanation as to why I wasn't really surprised. I was fortunate enough to spend three years in college with this genius. During the early days (when I didn't know him better) I was hunting around for a piece of code for an assignment and someone told me that Sree had already completed it. Like any other guy in my position would do I decided to ask him if I could borrow it.

This is the interesting part - he tells me the name of a book and its author which has the relevant information about the topic for my assignment and goes as far as to let me know on which shelf in what aisle of the library would I be able to find it. I was not bitter at him in fact I respect him for the fact that he pointed me in the right direction. Give a man a fish, he'll eat for a day. Teach him how to fish and he'll never starve.

The only reason he asked me to refer a book was since he was already busy with something else. I am sure if that wasn't the case he would have taken the pains to explain it to me himself.

P.S: I am pretty sure he still keeps his work encrypted and password protected if he has to keep it in a LAN folder. Also the security software would be his own work.

To cycle or not...

Almost every other day I visit this blog (right after checking Sree's) hoping that a new post would magically appear but alas I end up disappointed. The fact that this is not a group blog means that its up to me to make stuff happen and anyone who has even remotely known me can vouch for the fact that I am not too keen on taking up responsibility.

Anyway, a post was long overdue and I got a pleasant surprise in the form of "Theme Editor". This is a new feature introduced by blogger and is really helpful for design disadvantaged mortals like me. Of course design templates have existed forever and Akky probably would disapprove of it but I liked it. It helped me change the face of my blog in like 5 secs. Cool...

The real reason of this post is to address my ever growing neglect towards my cycle. I had bought it in Trivandrum with the hope that it would inspire me to start cycling and thus in turn get in shape. But as you can guess, it didn't turn out as expected. In the two years I had it there, I might have rode it 3 or 4 times tops. I tried getting rid of it (selling it, gifting it to my brother-in-law, etc) but it stuck with me.

I had a great time cycling while growing up and I wanna feel the same energy and enthusiasm once again. Bangalore's climate is almost perfect but I just can't drag myself out of bed in the morning (its really chilly). Hopefully I will gather up enough will-power to kick aside my lethargy and begin a new chapter of fun on the road.

I guess all elder brothers dote on their siblings

I guess all elder brothers dote on their siblings... what else can explain the comments above? (I've already ruled out coincidence since that would belittle the emotion behind this post)

*_{Please click on the image to view a larger version}

Before and After - The Facebook effect

The two instances displayed below reached me as forwards but I can't seem to get over the fact how social networking sites have become an integral part of our lives.

Lying to your Boss


Ramayana - Facebook Version

Mini Me in 2010

Lets get two things straight upfront

This ain't an Austin Power movie review and

No, we are not expecting. (For God's sake its just been a year since we got hitched)

The Mini in the title actually refers to my latest gadget acquisition - the HP Mini 210 with Atom N450 (also know as Pinetrail). Its a netbook bought for my parents in Mumbai, since our faithful 9yr old PIII 550 Mhz with an Intel 810 board is on its death bed. Not that it can't be revived but I decided to give it some rest and present my folks with something which won't have me playing the Tech Support guy over the phone (pretty selfish in such matters).

Its a pretty little number sleek, light, beautiful and sufficiently powered (1.6Ghz, 1 GB RAM and 160 GB HDD). Battery life is satisfactory and I can romp around in the bed with it (I still remain faithful to my wifey though). The HP QuickWeb (rebranded SplashTop) is a delightful feature which every computer should have by default. It gives me access to my desktop (albeit with limitations) within 3 seconds from the moment I press the power button. I can check my mail, browse, listen to music, checkout my photo collection, IM and Skype which is pretty much all I need most of the times.

The Skype in SlashTop doesn't support video and that is why I need to boot into the Windows 7 Starter Edition that is bundled with the Mini. The trackpad doesn't support scrolling and the Up and Dn arrow keys are diminutive. Apart from these minor issues I am drawn towards acquiring another one for my wifey (well you can guess who will be spending more time on it though).

I just realized that the design of the screen is awfully close to an iPad.

The power of Satyagraha...

Wise men learn from the mistakes of past. But what do we do? Let me tell you what we do. Some of the great visionary leaders realize the mistake, get the people to solve their differences, create a united nation, fight off the oppressive rulers and gain independence after a long struggle which sees a lot of bloodshed and sacrifice. Then after enjoying many decades of independence, some political parties generate differences amongst the people for their personal gains, lead them to divide themselves and eventually end up in the same situation when the British first landed on our shores as traders. Now we are asking for separate states later we would ask for separate countries.

What happened recently in Andhra Pradesh got me thinking. Was it the fast-unto-death stance of a political leader or the very real possibility of large scale violence that led the central government to take immediate action? It is evident that the latter prevailed. Now cut back to the pre-independence era. We have one Mr. M. K. Gandhi who has a much larger group of supporters who, unlike our current politician, are spread across the entire country. Now if Mr Gandhi were to die as a result of his fast, just imagine the chaos and violence the british administration would have to deal with. This leads to a very important question "Were it the principles of non-violence and satyagraha, held so very dearly by Mahatmaji, or something else entirely that got us our freedom?" Just think about it.

Am I back?

I am not sure why or how but it seems that I have this uncanny ability to drop by alffspace after about an year's gap (this is the second time it's happened). A quick update before we move ahead.

• I've put on some weight (not a blob... yet).
• I'm married (tough luck girls).
• I've relocated to Bangalore (was with Infosys in Trivandrum now with Sapient here).

There is nothing worse than being on bench for someone who is so used to work. Initially it seems like a welcome change but spend half a day with nothing to do and you start to pull your guts out. Precisely what I was about to before I remembered about Sree and then about my very own blog (I hope it hasn't disowned me yet).

Can't say whether I'll be able to post regularly and hence the question... "Am I back?"

"Last comic standing..."

I don't know how many of you appreciate stand up comedy. I mean it's really tough to get up in front of people and hope that people like your act. Its not slapstick comedy so you really have to be witty, know your audience and most importantly know how to laugh at yourself.

There's this show called "Last comic standing" which airs on NBC (Star World here in India) which is kind of a reality show which gets together a bunch of stand up comics to perform for you. I have been watching it from season one and it's in it's fourth season now. Over the period of time it's gone through various iterations but it is a good show to watch.

Now I didn't write all this to promote some show on some channel. This season there is a guy on the show called Josh Blue. He suffers from cerebral palsy but man you should watch him perform. Now someone may point out that people laugh at his jokes because they are just patronizing him, they feel pity for him. Man you are so wrong.

Even though looking at his physical apperance you might tend to start feeling pity, once you have heard his act, you cannot but appreciate his positive attitude towards life and how he is able to overcome his disability and be so darn funny all the while laughing at himself and making us laugh with him.

You just can't get enough of his jokes. If you haven't watched him in action then I suggest you better switch on the TV and do. I am sure he will atleast make it to the final two.

"Marriage Preparation Course..."

What??? My point exactly... it seems that nowadays there is a course or a book that will help you prepare and overcome any hurdles of life (I am especially amused by the infomercials aired on TV which promise to bestow above you all the benefits of jogging without even getting your sorry arse out of the bed). But this was different (yeah isn't that normally reserved to be used by people from the film fraternity).

The marriage course I am talking about is a three day residential course mandated by the Roman Catholic Church. They have gone so far as to make it compulsary and issue a certificate without which you can't get married. Not that you can't absolutely get married but for people like me who prefer to get married in the church, its a necessity.

Now most of the people in my age group are under the impression that any thing arranged by the church will have to be boring by default (which is true in most cases) but experience had taught me that some of the classes taken by the priests are really enjoyable and these three days were a pleasant experience. You get to know a lot of stuff, both spiritual and practical, stuff that you normally wouldn't have given much thought to.

Marrying someone is very easy, any idiot can do that (I am getting married, need I say more?) but making the marriage work is the ultimate test and challenge. You have to work on it till your last breath (Not that I want to scare you guys but remember a teeny weeny line that goes something like "till death do us apart...")

What I really want to convey to all my friends (especially mallu RC christian) out there is that even if you go there to just get it over with, you will end up thanking yourself for it.

"Handsfree... Really?"

I just had to put this one out. Its been ages since my last post and I was on the hunt for a good topic when there she was, just standing there talking on the phone. Now you may ask, what's so special about a girl chattering away on the phone? We've all seen them numerous times, sometimes even wishing that the phone be permanently glued to their ear coz they never seem to hang up. But this girl was special you see, she was using the hands-free device.

Forgive my ignorance if I am led to believe that the hands-free device (by virtue of its name) is something that should enable you to... well keep your hands free while using the cell phone. But watching this lady changed my entire concept coz both her hands were so occupied that she couldn't use them even if it were to save her own life. She was holding her cell phone in palm of the right hand, using the right hand's index finger to press in the right earbud. The left hand's index finger was pressing in the left earbud and both the little fingers were balancing and holding the mic at her mouth. (I know a snap would have been really helpful over here).

Before you start writing me off as another egoistic male inflating an alleged handicap that women face when it comes to matters of technology, let me tell you that I have witnessed far more ridiculous looking poses of men using their cellphone's hands-free devices. I guess its a general misconception that the mic on such devices is incapable of picking up and transmitting your voice which feeds this urge to stuff it right into their mouth. Probably the device manufacturers should think about redesigning some of their products (I don't know... something like placing the mic closer to the earbuds) to root out this fear.

"Taare Zameen Par..."

There is so much said about this movie in reviews, media, blogs, etc that there is really no point in me adding anything to it. Its only recently that I got about to watching this movie and boy oh boy! Great work by Darsheel Safary, Aamir is brilliant as usual and hats off to Amol Gupte. The music is touching and inspiring. If you are one of my kinds and haven't got to watching the movie yet, I suggest you buy a DVD and add it to your collection. Definitely worth it.

I know its a really short post but since my workload is a tad relaxed now, you can expect many such short posts regularly.

"2 more days to go... just made it in time"

Just 2 more days before the completion of three whole months since my last post. I somehow had to squeeze this one in before that happened. So here it is first post of the year 2008 and what more appropriate topic than to discuss the proceedings of the day, January 1, 2008.

A much awaited vacation and trip back home was realized on December 21, 2008. I had booked the flight tickets (No I wasn't gonna repeat my mistake of travelling by train) way back in September and informed my PM about the same, but the leave was not approved till the end moment (even then it wasn't, it was auto approved by the system). Being back in Mumbai was a welcome relief from the hectic work schedule. This time around the car (my baby) didn't give my any trouble and I was able to meet a whole lot of friends I had missed out on last time.

My KCGF (kaam chalau girl friend), Alpa has gone to the Arts School in California to do her MS in the field of Animation. I always knew she was a cartoon but to think of her creating other cartoons... this is too much! And yeah before you blast me for my display of ignorance I am fully aware of the fact that animation is not just only about cartoons. I returned back to Trivandrum on December 30, 2008 (I didn't know that January 1 was an optional holiday for us).

But it worked out for the better since my parents flew down the very next day since we had an appointment in Cochin on January 1, 2009. We were going to meet my future in laws and my would be wife. Huh what? when? how? I know its kind of a surprise and believe me you I still can't believe it. Her name is Shillu and she is a colleague of mine. We've known each other for over an year now but the dramatic turn of events took place in the last couple of months.

Making the long story short (since I don't wanna bore you with the details), we came to know that we like each other in the last week of October, so by November we let our parents know about it, they talked and even decided the dates by January 5. While all this was happening none of our project team members had a clue of what was going on. So when we finally broke the news, they were shocked. Many initially refused to believe it and we really had to convince them that it was true.

The engagement will be on December 21, 2008 in Mumbai and the wedding will be on January 4, 2009 (one more year to go). So there it is, I have decided to take the plunge and may God have mercy on my soul...

"Bhool Bhulaiya..."

No excuses this time around. I was just plain lazy to put up a post. Had been to B'bay during the last week of August. I had, in all, 9 days of leave 4 out of which were spent travelling in the train. My native is Trisshur in Kerela which by Konkan Rail schedule is a mere 24 hrs from B'bay. So my father insisted to curb unwanted expenses (flight tickets) as it was just the matter of one day (24hrs = 1day). But what was conveniently overlooked is the fact that I have to travel from Trivandrum (not Trisshur) and that takes 32 hrs normally. But this was no normal season. Rains always play havoc on the Konkan Rail with landslides and what not. To cut the long story short, I spent 4 days in all (both the weekends) in the train. The return journey was delayed by exactly 12 hrs. Got to meet some interesting people onboard. Took some lovely snaps of the rain soaked Konkan region. While I was in B'bay I busted my car which meant that all my plans were ruined plus as a bonus it was always raining whenever I stepped out.

Back in Trivandrum and I had an assignment waiting for me. Busted my ass on it for two weeks including the weekends only to know that it ain't decided yet whether it would actually make it into production. The next two weeks were spent in fun activities including organizing games for team building events and hosting a "Tea Party On Thursday (T-POT)". Its similar to the "Thank God Its Friday (TGIF) parties held in certain companies. In the mean time we also came up with this.



Before I forget, Bhool Bhulaiya is a pretty good movie. Unlike other mallu movies remade in hindi by Priyadarshan, this one is actually watchable. Even though I had caught the original and knew what was gonna happen next, it still sent shivers down my spine. Amisha is so cute especially in a saree, Vidya Balan is to watch out for, Akshay is good (though not as good as Mohanlal) and Shiney tends to overact a bit. Other than that I would give you the thumbs up to go watch the movie.

"An unusual dilema..."

I thought putting posts at the rate of one per month would help me find time to think and write with ease but instead I find myself with so much stuff to write about that I can't decide where to start from. So much has happened in the past one month, my buddy Mayank has left India to pursue further studies and has already accomplished one impossible task - he actually remembered my B'day and called me up to wish.

Let me give you a little background info on my buddy. He is one of those really innocent looking sweet chap on the outside but a naughty devil inside (I'm sure many girls would agree with me on this). He is a gem of a guy, kind and considerate but just can't manage to handle dates and time. We have to remind him to wish his other friends on their b'days likewise they make it a point to remind him on our b'days. So I was really amazed when he managed to remember on his own this time around (so were my college group buddies when I told them about this).

We had the Cultural Week celebrations in Trinfy (thats Trivandrum Infosys for the uninitiated) last week and it was a blast. I was part of the fashion show. Yes, I walked the ramp inspite of my height impediment (you see I am just 5'7" and I did get quite some jabs since my parter was like one or two inches taller). But it felt good to be part of something like this after so long and did I forget to mention that we managed to grab the first prize in the competition. Now I am in office trying to catch up on work, which doesn't feel that good...hehehe.

I don't get the deal with b'days. Everyone wants to know what I did "special" on this day and when I reply with a negative, have to endure all kinds of insults and strange looks. They treat me as if I have committed a grave crime by not doing something out of the ordinary on this particular day. I wish I was born on Feb 29 then I would have to endure this just once in four years. What say?

Tales from somewhere between Venus and Mars

Jack walks into his office wishing he could have just stayed back in his bed and slept while its raining heavily outside. Instead he had to drag himself out of the comforts of his warm bed and take a cold shower. He quickly goes through his Outlook Inbox for any official mails. Thats when he notices a small messenger window pop up with a "Hi". Its his buddy and colleague at work - Jill. He finds it a bit odd coz she almost never pings him this early in the morning.

Jack: Hey how are ya?
Jill: I am in a very bad mood.

(Well thats how she was - blunt but frank. Jack dashes over to her cubicle fearing the worst only to find her reading Harry Potter's latest e-book. Hearing his footsteps she turns back to look at him. He immediately notices the missing smile from her pretty face.)

Jack: What happened?
Jill: Nothing. Its just one of those days.
Jack: Did you have a fight with someone.

(She didn't answer and Jack knew very well not to prod further)

Jill: (turning towards the screen and sounding frustrated) Man where are all the people who are normally online otherwise. Where is Jane?
Jack: Ok bye. I'm leaving.
Jill: Bye.

There is a general perception that guys are not very good listeners. Here Jack is making an effort and gets shot down. Jill seems to prefer chatting with someone online rather speaking with someone in person. Maybe she just wanted to speak with another female. Whatever the reason be, Jack faced one not so good aspect of technology.

Wait a sec I am not done with my post. You gotta hear the remaining part of the story.

Jack: Oh so I see you prefer to stare at the screen and chat rather than speak with someone in person who is ready to listen to you.
Jill: I am so sorry. Its just that I am not myself today.
Jack: Yeah ok. Lets just leave it at that.

(Jack walks back to his cubicle)

Jill comes by his cubicle sometime later probably to set things straight but Jack being a guy (can also be substituted with egoistic jerk) seems to be too busy with his work. So after some failed attempts to strike up a conversation, Jill leaves.

Maybe technology is driving us apart in an attempt to bring us closer but there is no substitute to human stupidity.

Senses...

Humans have been gifted with the 5 senses of Sight, Sound, Smell, Touch and Taste (As if you guys didn't know that already). Teleportation they say is science fiction but I beg to differ coz I've managed to travel across space and time instantaneously. Alright not physically but atleast in my memories. Will you guys stop punching holes in my theory and hear me out.

Our memories are inexplicably related with each of these senses. For example everytime I hear the song "Aaj ki Raat" (from the new Don movie) I feel as if I am at the concert in Infy campus, Bangalore with my friends and the gorgeous Gunjan Singh singing in her melodious voice. Or when I smell a rose, I am instantly in front of my Mom's little garden at our home. Photos are a nice way of reminding you of the good times you had with your near and dear ones.

Every kiss has its own uniqueness coz each of these senses have a major contributing role. So no matter how many kisses you've had (and with how many people... hehehe...), each kiss has a special place in your heart and more importantly in your memory.

An Interesting read...

All you superman fans, this is worth a read...

http://www.rawbw.com/~svw/superman.html

Round is not the shape I want to be in...

Ever since I joined the software industry, people have been warning me about the perils of the job - late nights, irregular eating habits, lack of exercise, addiction to coffee and ciggs, etc. I was not too worried since I've avoided all but one, exercise. I am not the kind of guy who is interested in going to the gym and pumping iron. I prefer a lean and fit body over a buffed up one.

I had been a pretty active kid involved in stuff like karate. Sports was not taken up competitively but I did play. Once I got into college, I found less time for sports and moreover I didn't wanna travel back all sweaty and stinking in the bus or train. Although I am lean, I found much to my dismay that my stamina was taking a toll. Life here in Kerala is still laidback. I hop onto my bike for a thrilling ride to the office, sit there for more than 8 to 9 hrs and then back again. There is absolutely no physical exertion of any kind involved. That's when I decided to take the stairs instead of the lift, a small step in the right direction (plus I hated to wait for the lift).

During my training in Mysore, I lost five kilos in one and a half month (No I was not starving myself). I realised that all the pedal pushing really worked its charm in reducing my paunch to almost nill. My joy did not last long since I have regained those five kilos plus a bonus of one kilo and yeah the paunch has reared its ugly head. I was almost ready to buy me a new cycle but then experience has taught me that I seldom see my exercise related initiatives through to completion. Hence I decided to settle down for a skipping rope. But the pleasure of a few more minutes of sleep outweighed my exercise plans once again.

Then my roommate happened to attend a cancer awareness seminar. That seemed to strike a chord with him and we decided to take up Badminton. There is a clearing behind our house where we now regularly play in the mornings. I have never felt so good. I had almost forgotten what it feels like to jump, to sweat out of exertion and to set your body in motion. I hope we can carry this enthusiasm forward and get into shape.

Love Story of S/w Engineeers

Hero is a software engineer. He does not have a life worth speaking of.
He spends eighteen hours a day in the office working and browsing the
net.

Heroine is a software engineer in the same company. She does not have a
life either. She spends eight hours in front of her PC, thirteen hours
in front of the TV and the remaining, sleeping.

One day, Hero meets Heroine in a staff meeting. They argue endlessly
about the insanity of Microsoft applications.. especially Outlook 2003.
Couple of such fights later, Heroine is found drinking coffee with Hero
in Office canteen.

"What is life?" asks the Hero looking at the vacuum right above her
head.

"I've been wondering too." sighs the heroine.

"Why are we fighting over Outlook 2003?" Hero drinks his black coffee.

"And why are we not talking about Lotus NOtes" Heroine sips her Latte.

Hero shakes his head. "It's not about software products. It is about
life. I guess life is much bigger than OUtlook 2003."

Heroine nods. "I think it is. I am not sure though. Do you know that
Microsoft has come up with a fix to that bug you've been using to prove
Outlook is a worthless piece of garbage?"

"Heroine," Hero is now determined, "From this moment onwards, I am not
discussing anything remotely related to software."

"Fine Hero," says Heroine, "Good bye then."

Hero then returns all the Sybase manuals to the library and rents out
"how to live a life?"

Heroine meanwhile gets into an altercation with the villain during a
conversation on Sharepoint server. Villain vows to format the hard disk
of the heroine. Heroine takes her PC and runs away from the cubicle
trying to escape from the villain's evil intentions. Since it is night
shift, no one comes to her rescue.

Hero, who has been reading "how to live a life" very seriously, suddenly
finds out that he loves the heroine as much as he used to love Tetris.
So hero messages Heroine on Yahoo Instant messenger. But there is no
reply. Hero does not understand it. He knows that the heroine is
supposed to be in night shift. What is she doing in Night shift if not
on Yahoo Instant Messenger? As far as he know that is what people are
supposed to do in night shift.

Hero senses trouble. He runs barefooted on the Information Superhighway
and reaches office just in time to see the villain snatch the PC out of
heroine's hands and type the command "Format C:\". When his fingers get
to the "Enter" key, hero delivers the killer punch on villain's face.
Villain is thrown back. But in the process he manages to press the Enter
key...

The world comes to a standstill. The sky roars. The Rain pours.
Heroine breaks down. Villain is on cloud nine. But our Hero isn't sad.
He is smiling. Villain cannot understand. Hero then says, "Villain, You
should learn DOS properly. Your grave mistake...". He shows the monitor
to Villain. The DOS command prompt says "Are you sure?". It is waiting
for a "Y" to commence the formatting operation. Hero then simply presses
"N".

Villain cries in frustration "Nooooooo" and charges like a bull. Then
follows a lengthy fight. Heroine meanwhile calls the police and they
come right after hero beats the villain to pulp. Without asking any
questions, the police understand who is hero and who is villain and take
him into custody. Heroine, tears in her eyes, takes her PC, switches it
on and jumps with joy when she finds her favorite Calvin and Hobbes
collection intact in her C drive.

"You saved my data" she exclaims.
"No, you saved it yourself." hero says.
"No.. Jesus saves. I don't" she cries.
"Nothing happened na." Hero consoles.
"Let us get married" heroine sheds some more tears, "I want someone by
my side to protect the Calvin and Hobbes collection on my PC".

"I love you Heroine" says the hero.
"I love you Hero" says the heroine.

"So you agree that Outlook 2003 is a bad product".
"No I don't. Why not we talk about Lotus nOtes?” ... And it goes on . . .

"Magic Carpet Ride..."

Nah I didn't find any lamp or genie or the fabled magic carpet. I was just fortunate enough to avail one of the technological marvels of the twentieth century made more accessible to the common man with the introduction of low fare airlines in India. Yes I had my very first flight experience and man was it exciting (although the build up to the event wasn't).

Normally the reporting time for any flight is not more than 3 hours but I had to reach the airport 15 hrs in advance. Welcome to God's own country where even though the courts have declared a ban on 'bandhs', gross violation of this ban happens by calling 'hartals' (frankly I don't see any difference between the two). So anyways I reached the airport at 10 the previous night and rented a room (needless to say the rent was hiked by 100% on account of the hartal). By the way did I fail to mention that the day I came to Trivandrum was also graced by a hartal by the shopkeepers association. I slept for as long as I could so that I would have less time to while away waiting for the flight.

I was travelling by Air Deccan which is famous (or rather infamous) for its long delays. But God seemed to be smiling on me coz this time around everything went according to schedule. There is a free seating policy so I found myself a nice window seat.

Let me cut to the chase. Speed thrills me and I got a new meaning to the words power and acceleration. Its just an amazing feeling to be flying above the clouds (almost spiritual). For a moment I felt as if the plane was just standing still in mid air (which of course is impossible by the very basic principles that govern flight). If a commercial flight can do this to me I can't wait to get into a fighter jet plane (yeah I wish).

There is no place like B'bay and more so home. I caught up with a few friends of mine. One of the important issues I had come to take care of was to get Mahek (my bike) transported to Trivandrum and so I did. Recently we fitted my roomie's wheels with a kickass audio system. Its not too high end but the speakers from Lightning Audio (Rockford) coupled with the head piece from Pioneer do an awesome job (it should considering the fact that it set him back by 13 grands). Finally my CDs have been put to some good use.

So far we have visited just 2 beaches in Kerala, Varkala and Kollam and I am starting to love it (except for the part where sand gets into my jeans and I gotta wash it too)