A new gym

It had to come to an end sometime. And so it did, my illegal gymming at Andheri Sports Complex. I had taken a 3 month package way back in July and went to the gym till December. I think I was not alone in this kind of activity as the guards finally woke up and started checking the ID cards at the gate. Mine was way past the expiry date, so I had no other option than turn back before being manhandled by the guards.
I had a simple option - Go back and renew my membership or find a new gym. The renewal sounded better, but it came with a catch. The thing is, this gym was quite far from my home. So I had to take a auto everyday. And it cost me Rs25 to-fro. Even though the gym was relatively cheap at 600 pm, I used to spend more than 1000 pm. So I went to Zaf HealthClub, a high-end gym very close to my house. I ended up bargaining for a 12000 pa package which included gym, cardio, sauna, steam and locker facilities. The trainers seemed to know what they were talking, and the equipment was top notch. But what probably tilted the balance in favor of Zaf was the babes. After seeing 100kg aunties jogging on treadmills it was refreshing to see 50kg chicks working out ;-)
Hopefully I'll be able to use all those facilities regularly. More updates on the gym and my fitness later.

Alvida?

In a couple of hours, I'll be sitting in the Lokamanya Tilak Express heading towards Mumbai. This could well be a life changing journey for me. There are lots and lots of things on my mind that I want to write here... but there is an acute shortage of time. I have spent my entire life in this wonderful city of Bengaluru. All my friends are from here. Most of my relatives stay here. And of course my entire family is here. Its a really really tough thing for anyone, but especially for me to do. Being a shy guy for most of my life, it will be a challenge for me to go to a new place and start life on a clean slate. It will be interesting to see how easily I slip into this new life of mine. Hopefully it will be better than my first attempt outside home (that is one hell of a story - another post)

GTG
Will login from Mumbai

Happy Birthday

Today is the first birthday of my child. Yes last year on this very same day, I wrote the first post on this blog. What a year it has been. A complete roller coaster ride. I have been through highs and lows, but this little space right here, has given me the chance to express everything without any bias. It has been a path breaking year, where I have constantly tried to discover myself. I have been reserved and conservative all my life. That is who I am. But this blog has given me the opportunity to open up like never before. I now recognize that I have no problems communicating with others. Through this blog I have made new acquaintances, rejuvenated old friendships and also keep my close friends updated.

The year ahead promises to be another roller coaster ride, where I hopefully will have more highs than lows. The blog will continue to be one of my main mode of communicating my emotions. The support I have received for writing this blog from all the readers is nothing short of astounding. I hope the same continues for the next years to come.

On this day I would like to list a few of my posts of last year that I personally liked :
http://madhuskaushik.blogspot.com/2008/11/nightmares-and-dreams.html
http://madhuskaushik.blogspot.com/2008/10/getting-into-shape-part-1.html
http://madhuskaushik.blogspot.com/2008/09/adaptation-at-workplace.html
http://madhuskaushik.blogspot.com/2008/11/review-of-psycho-songs.html
http://madhuskaushik.blogspot.com/2008/12/cheaters-liars-and-manipulators.html
http://madhuskaushik.blogspot.com/2009/02/genius-called-madhu-ravi-kashyap.html
http://madhuskaushik.blogspot.com/2009/02/gokarna-true-paradise.html
http://madhuskaushik.blogspot.com/2009/03/mumbai-magical-place-nmims-not-so-much.html
http://madhuskaushik.blogspot.com/2009/05/india-votes.html

Thanks for all your support
Madhu

India Votes...

Yes... Its finally over. The biggest orchestra ever organized is over. And tomorrow is the verdict. As supposedly many people of my "age-group" did, I too voted. And I am not too happy. Don't get me wrong here, I am happy that I voted. But certainly sad because an old myth got shattered. The myth that education makes you responsible. The myth that education enables to make decisions and a better decision. The myth about education has been shattered. Abysmal 40% of polling in an area populated by primarily educated guys. After all the jaago re, I was feeling somewhat confident that this time would be different. And with all the things happening/not happening in the country, I was certain that people will come out to carry out their duty, at least in frustration. But no. People continue to sit on their asses and watch the news in which some stupid guy will give predictions, rather than go their and set those predictions.

As a certain survey across 172 countries shows that in terms of the voter-turnout (since 1945), India - the 2nd (or 1st??) largest democracy', ranks 105th (out of 172 countries). And this election probably contributed for it to reach abysmally lower ranks.

Perhaps this mail floating on the net says much:

10 reasons why South Mumbai didn't come out to vote on April 30:
Clashed with Salsa class
Election whites were not dry cleaned
No candidate was a hottie
Tony Jethmalani contesting from suburbs. Sigh!!
There was no valet parking at booth
I spotted servant in queue ahead of us
Driver did not come
But eElections over dude! aren't they?... Obama won!
No party is tackling real issues, eg, reduce Golds Gym rates.
There was no "home delivery!"

Apart from this, elections brought out the contrasts in India. A constituency in Nagaland had only 3 contestants and one in Andhra Pradesh had 224! Some places in Jammu had voter turnouts as less as 10% and some places in Dakshina Kannada district of Karnataka had as high as 75% turnout. As I write this, my mind skips to the day that I voted. It was a cool morning, temperatures around 25deg (not that it mattered). I headed out to the polling booth along with my parents and brother early in the morning. The polling station was in a school in a nearby vicinity. Being early in the morning I expected to see a decent crowd there. But to my disappointment, there were only 3 people in the queue ahead of me. First in the line was an old man, probably in his 90's using a cane for support, looking feebly through his thick glasses, who would go on to use his finger impression. Next in line was what I believe to be his son, who was still wearing a lungi, had a very disinterested face, almost as though he had been forced to come to vote. He kept on cribbing about the duration it took for each of them to vote and kept on saying to the old man to vote for HD Kumaraswamy (I hope he found the name of Kumarswamy there ;-)) Next to him was a business man, wearing a suit and a tie. He had shiny shoes and looked intelligent through his gold rimmed glasses. He would go on to sign in the register in his own Sheaffer pen. Like me, the old man, the young man and the business man pressed the button on the EVM to cast their vote. In that sense, in that one moment, hearing the pleasent sound of the EVM beep, all the differences between us melted away. In a way, we were equal at that single moment.
I know this must be usual, but time and again when I see a demonstration of India's strange and immense contrasts, and the understanding that still remains, I am somehow moved.

Well I started to write this post keeping something in mind, but in the ended up writing something drastically different. Thats why I call this My Take. I can write whatever I want :-)

Updates

Its been some time since I wrote a post here. Partly because I have been busy with work, my brother's marriage preparation, but mainly because I am so damn lazy. Lots of things have happened since my last post worth mentioning here.

-Elections : This has become the talk of the nation. Every other thing is subdued and rightly so. The General Election is and should be the biggest event in the country. I have mixed feelings regarding the elections. Sometimes I feel great to be part of the biggest democracy. Comparing the situation in Pakistan, I feel blessed to be part of India. But at other times I feel Sad, Disappointed and outright Angry. I feel that I'm part of a circus crowd watching the clowns (read politicians) perform. I won't go into the talk of which party is better, who has a better manifesto, who has criminal records, or who is worthy. Its not for me as a single person to decide. Its for the entire nation to decide. But I do feel for our country. India in its current state does not deserve Democracy. Its too much power in the hands of innocent people who are being exploited. But having heard stories about all the deadly dictators in history, I feel we are better of with the clowns leading us.

-IPL : Ranks in Second only to elections. The IPL fever has caught everyone and I'm no exception. The shift to South Africa clearly demonstrates that IPL is a truly global event. I am, have been and always will be a true supporter of Royal Challengers Bangalore. They have had some hard luck, key players losing form in crucial moments and also at times some dismal performances. But the way they have fought through criticism, is inspirational. A special mention has to be made here for Rahul Dravid and Anil Kumble. You have made us, kannadigas proud with your determination and talent. Keep the red and yellow flying. Our support is always with you.

-Friends : Lots of good news coming from friends. Ravi left to HongKong for his internship with Merrill Lynch. Aditya got his admit call from XIMB. Neeraj got a call from IIMK and converted it. Amit Bhansali got a call from SP Jain and he is coming to Mumbai.

-Tirupati : The much avaited trip is finally happening. It used to be my custom to visit Tirupati after every semister in Engineering. It gave me confidence and strength. But after Engineering I have not been able to have a darshan of Lord Venkateshwara. Not that I was busy or I was arrogant. It just din't happen, and that makes me feel sad. But I'm going to Tirupati tomorrow with Bala, Srinath, Pande and Lakshman. Hoping to have a great darshan before I go to Mumbai. Govinda Goooovinda.

-Movies : Watched lot of movies lately. Firaaq and Gulaal are two movies worthy of watching. Firaaq is extremely well directed by Nandita Das and Nasaruddin Shah, Paresh Rawal, and the small kid (don't know his name) give mind blowing performances. The film seems so real. The pain suffered by each individual is communicated to the last tear drop. Extremely well made movie. A must watch. Gulaal is also a good movie. Kay Kay's performance is top notch. The dialogues are excellent. It gives a interesting insight into politics of a different kind. Also watched The Reader, Revolutionary Road, Madagascar 2, Me and Marley, All the boys love Mandy Lane, Milk, Luck By Chance and lots more. Uff... I told you, I'm a lazy bum :-)

Decision made. Mumbai, Here I Come!

Yipeeee... I don't know which makes me more happy. The fact that I'm going to spend a good chunk of next 2 years in Mumbai at NMIMS or the fact that I have made a decision (finally) to go there. What ever be the reason, I'm really happy. I know I'll be pursuing my dreams for the next 2 years. There are lots of challenges that lie ahead, lots of uncertainities which I'll have to face. But just knowing the fact that I'll be doing something I really like is enough assurance for me.

This is probably the biggest decision that I have had to make in my life so far. Whether I have made the right decision? Only time will tell. But I am excited at the prospect for becoming a student again! The college starts on June 22nd. So I have 3 more months of tech work.

My First Final Call - Lots of Dilemma

I got my first admission call from NMIMS on 14th. Considering the fact that I am not listed in the Merit list of SCMHRD, I guess this is my only call for the season. I have been thinking a lot for the past 3 days on whether to join NM or not. Sadly I am in a big dilemma. It has been 50-50 all the way. The pros and cons are equally matched. Every time I come up with a thought , supporting me joining NM, there will be an immediate thought giving me reason not to join NM.

As of now there are only 2 options in front of me. Either join NM and be content with it, or take another shot at CAT next year and attempt for a better college. Both have considerable amounts of risk attached with it.
If I choose the former, I'll be putting on line 2 years of my life (for the better or worse) on the line. Also at stake is my Final degree. So further on, everyone will recognize me as a Alumni of NM (not that it is a bad proposition, but for some unfortunate reason, the college reputation might go down, and with it prospective placements). Although NM has its share of drawbacks, it is also one of the most popular colleges in the country, with amazing faculty and industry interactions.
If I choose the latter, I'll be facing the toughest exam in my life AGAIN. I'll have to go through the same hell for 6 months, where my personal life will be practically absent. All this won't ensure my success in CAT. But I'll have another chance at studying in the top colleges in the country aka IIM's. But is it worth it waiting 1 more year, risking not cracking the CAT again? Questions for which I'll have to find answers sooner or later.

But what ever my decision is, I'm pretty confident that once I make the decision, I'll go all out, forget all the negatives, and give my best shot.

Absurd Bureaucracy at every step!

That is a mild term to use considering my experience in the past 2 days. I have been battling bureaucracy all along. First it was the police, then came the RTO and finally the Insurance people. They made me feel so miserable that I actually started to think 'Why the hell did I come to the police?'

After my yesterday's post, I was again called to the police station. Just because the 'Inspector' had come. That SOB had no clue of what had happened. He started giving us nonsense gyan. I already had a headache. Then FINALLY he decided to file the FIR. Since the break inspection was yet to be done, I was to go there today at 9 AM and get it done. Well I was in for a ride through hell!

I went to the police station at 9:30 AM (thinking of IST ;-)) Not a soul to be found. After 15 mins of inquiring bystanders, we finally managed to get hold of a Constable. That fellow told us to go to the RTO for a signature from ARTO, and that we weren't supposed to touch our vehicle. So we walked to the RTO. There that bloody ARTO who was supposed to come in at 9AM shows up at 10:30 AM. After all this he acts like a dictator of his own country (read RTO) and throws back our sheet after singing it. I felt like giving him a tight slap after that. Next we were told to go to another floor (7th) to meet the brake inspector. No surprise, there were no inspectors to be found anywhere! After coming back, and inquiring a bit more, we managed to get hold of a Inspectors number. That fucking asshole was doing pooja at 11 AM. He told that he would come to office from Uttarahalli after pooja and breakfast and slammed his phone. So we waited for that SOB. He does not even turn up at 12 Noon. So we inquire more about his whereabouts. This stupid person, has forgotten us totally and is doing 'paisa vasool' with people who were getting their DL. We walked about a 1 KM to meet this guy. He has no regret, and asks us to wait in the police station! He royally comes there 15mins later and writes a couple of sentences and leaves. So for fucking 2 lines, we waited for 3 hours in that shit hole.

After getting the FIR, we went to Maruti Service station. I was fed up by this time, and thought it was the end of bureaucracy for the day. Boy, was I wrong. These insurance people act like leeches when it comes for making policies. But when it actually comes for claiming them, they are worse than the government people. This person almost wanted me to recreate the scenario, so that he can 'release' the money. The estimate had come up to 18K and I was in for another surprise. These people had lots of *Conditions Apply which no one bothers to read.
1. For every claim big or small, we had to compulsorily pay 1000/-
2. There would be a 20% depreciation in terms of my No-Claim bonus. So I would be losing 5000/-
3. The body parts like plastic and glass are only covered for 50%. So the rest 50% should be paid by us!

Taking this into account, I would be shelling out 9K from my pocket even after getting the Insurance amount. I mean, this is ridiculous. I pay 25K every year to end up paying more to get 18K. This does not make any fucking sense to me! After fighting with that insurance person for almost an hour, I am still not sure whether I'll get my insurance for this. So for no fault of my own, I have to spend approx 10K and have already wasted 2 days.

Life is cruel!

PS : please pardon my abusive language. this just reflects my state of mind.

Damn! Another Accident!

Which side of the bed did I wake up on today? What is wrong with this world? Why does bad things happen to good people like me? Depressing to read these questions right? Well that reflects my mood for the day!

Morning was as usual pretty boring. I was constantly thinking of a problem which has been bugging me for sometime now at work. I left my house at 10:30. I slowly backed out my SX4 out of the garage. The road was clear and the weather was pleasant. The sun was barely visible and all the light filtered out of the thick clouds. There was a cool breeze blowing, making me forget all about summer and my problems, but just for a moment. With some soulful music added, this looked like the perfect day. But everything perfect about it ended right about there.

As soon as I backed out, I saw a white Tata Sumo cab approaching me from behind. He seemed to be in bit of a hurry, and that dint seem odd to me. All cab drivers seem to be in a hurry, as though the world hangs on them being on time. I had to take a right turn immediately after my house. Not even 20 meters from my house. Knowing this cab driver's urgency I had put my signal well before hand, and true to his colors he was trying to overtake me, but seeing my signal to the right he swerved suddenly to the left. It was a rash and a negligent shifting of lanes from him. I was a spectator to all this and my rear view mirror acted as a show screen. The moment I started to turn right, this person wanted to pass me on my left. Well he could have done so, had he been slower and maintained a little more distance to maneuver. But the impatient bastard was unfortunately not in that position. End result was a completely disfigured rear end of my SX4.

I immediately got down my vehicle to inspect the damage. And seeing my new car in that condition, my rage shot up. It was like a vent for all my frustrations. I was so angry with him, if not for a public place, that driver would have got it from me today. Well I fought with him 'verbally'. At first he was unapologetic. He started blaming me. As it had happened virtually in front of my house, my dad and brother came out for my support. By this time he realized it would be foolish to fight and acceded his fault. That cooled me down considerably.

What followed was even more frustrating process of negotiation and some amount of dealing with the police. At first, I immediately called up the Maruti Mandovi workshop, and asked a known mechanic about the cost of the rear bumper. He plainly told it would cost us 20K. 20 fucking K for a mistake of a stupid, careless driver. He also explained to me about the insurance policies. He said that the insurance people would end up paying only 80% of the end bill and rest of it would have to be paid from my own pocket. Also there would a great deal of depreciation in my insurance claims. So the next time I had to get something done, instead of 80%, they would give me 50%. There is a very good chance that insurance people, in this market scenario, black mark vehicles that claim insurance for a big amount. I was pissed off to say the least. So it was natural that I wanted all the money from this person. By this time the owner of the vehicle had come. He was a rude, mannerless person, with no ethics and decency. His language was brash to say the least. He dint want to choke up the 20K we demanded of him. So the next option was Police. There is no other department that I despise so much as the Traffic Police. They are brute, and highly corrupt. Also today being a holiday on account of Eid, we had to go all the way to Jayanagar to lodge a complaint. After thinking a lot about taking off an acknowledgement for a insurance claim we wanted to teach a lesson to that owner. So we lodged a FIR. So this person had to keep his vehicle there in the police station. The drivers documents were seized. And a case was booked under IPC (forgot the section). I'll also have to take my vehicle there tomorrow for a inspection from the RTO Brake Inspector. So after 3 hours of constant complaint writing, getting documents in order and deliberating on a court case, we finally hope to get our justice.

After this, we have to fight in the court on getting the third party insurance. So our insurance wont be affected and every penny will be taken from that vehicle's insurance. Yipee! Also the driver will pay a heavier fine now. So for now I'm back to work thinking about the same thing as the day had started.

My Quote for the day!

I was feeling extremely sleepy after lunch today, the usual case. So came up with this quote ;-)

Sleep till you are hungry..... Eat till you are sleepy!

Oh man, the work does get to me sometimes and I come up with crap... thinking of crap, this is the modified version of that quote :-D

Sleep till you are hungry
Eat till you take a shit
Shit till you fall asleep!!

What a life!

Two years ago on Feb 14th......

Ok... For people who haven't met me personally, might be wondering, what the hell did this guy do two years ago on the "Day of Love" that is worth remembering! For those who are in constant touch with me will already be feeling betrayed that I haven't mentioned this story to them before. Well no need to use your wild imaginations. I am still waiting for my first date on the "Day of Love".

It is just a co-incidence that on Feb 14th, I fell in 'love' with something else. It was my first day of internship in IBM ISL. It has already been an amazing journey, with lots of ups and downs (more ups I guess). I have met lot of interesting people, made friends for life and interacted with intellectuals who strive for innovation. I have seen people who think work is their life and other who think work itself is not part of their life ;-) One thing with working in a big company is that you will definitely get a good mix of different 'characters'. I was among the privileged few to be blessed with a excellent small team. There are lot of people who have made this a memorable journey for me. If it takes two years to get this experience, then I would say, I have made a bargain with life. The time spent in IBM has been a huge learning curve. At some level, it has also made me realize my long term career goals.

In pursuit of these goals, I was heading to Pune exactly two years later. Is it co-incidence that my first interview for higher studies was on the same day I started my internship? Will SCMHRD prove to be my 'second love'? Only time will tell :-D

A Genius called Madhu Ravi Kashyap

I wanted to write this post for some time now. But got delayed to inexplicable reasons. What better day than today to introduce to all of you one of my best and most talented friends/guru. He turns 23 today. Happy birthday dude :-)

We share our first names. That in itself is like a privilege to me. I have known Madhu (alias Ketchup) for nearly 5 years now. I must confess that I have never come across a more innocent and down to earth person than him. He is supremely talented and exceedingly hardworking - a deadly combination. His virtues have made him achieve levels of success that I can only dream of. He is the best singer that I know of personally. He is a very innovative composer. But the quality of his that I really admire is his passion and dedication towards music. It takes real determination to pursue your dreams and goals like that. Apart from being one of the most supportive friends, he is also my guru. I have had the privilege of learning music from him albeit for a short duration. Those were the days that I still cherish. Sadly all good things come to a end, and so did this. But the experience of learning from him is something supernatural. I could feel the devotion, the joy in his singing. That, I could not even come close to matching that magic on my flute is a different matter. His concerts (I have attended quite a few of them) are on a completely different league all together. His concerts are a roller coaster ride of spirituality, devotion and euphoria.

As they say "Good things happen to good people", a lot of happy news are coming from ketchup's side for couple of months now (keep 'em coming). First it was him winning the First Prize in the Star Vijay competition "Paadum Office", which is currently being telecasted on Sundays 7 PM on Star Vijay. He won First Prize in both Classical Carnatic(that was obvious) and Popular Songs categories. He also won the Second Prize in the group category where he was representing Infosys. Next news was a absolute shocker for all of us who knew him. He broke the news (over email :-@) that he would be tying the knot with his childhood sweetheart later this year. At first I thought he was joking, but immediately realized that he was serious. He is the first person from our 'gang' to tie the knot. They are going to settle down in Chennai to continue their music career. Oh ya, you read it right. His fiance is also a musician. An accomplished one at that. So we can look forward to a happy musical family :-D More good news was to follow. His sister gave birth to a baby girl. So he has a beautiful niece to share his happiness with. He is going to sing in films now. Already 2-3 are lined up. So expect his name in the chart busters to come. And today is his birthday. So many reasons for him to treat us. But of late it has been difficult to get hold of him (understandably so ;-)) It has been a great year for him so far.

@Ketchup : Wishing you many more happy and beautiful years ahead, with loads of awards and recognition for your talent.

ps : All of us are still waiting for you to introduce us to Krithi
pps : Already started planning for your Bachelor Party ;-)

Finally Goaaaaa

Disclaimer: There are lots of things that have to be censored in this post. So you must pick the subtle hints that I give and make your own interpretation using your wildest imaginations ;-)

This was my fourth visit to Goa. Every time I have visited it, it has looked different. Maybe because my perspectives have changed. But till this visit happened, I always thought of Goa to be a place where one would go and relax on the beach, drinking 'fruit juices' and reading a nice novel. Well was I in for a rude shock or what!!

We left Gokarna expecting to reach Goa by 12 Noon at the max. The way I had calculated it, Panaji was 150kms from Gokarna, and a additional 40kms to Baga beach (this was the place where we had decided to FIND accommodation). So I felt it would be a 3 - 3 1/2 hour drive. That was the mistake. I calculated this time based on travel on NH's. This NH 17 is unlike any other 'normal' NH's. Its narrow and bumpy. And of course this passes through the heart of Old Goa slowing you down to a great extent. Having said that, the scenery is beautiful, especially before and after Karwar. Driving through the small roads of Goa is by itself a pleasure, although it would have been more enjoyable on bikes. The heavy brunch also delayed us a lot. But the good news for the morning was that Ravi's train was "as usual" late and this meant that he would not be waiting for us for long.

When we finally arrived in Goa, we were damn tired. Ravi was already searching for our accommodations, and that pricked us even more. But just entering the Titos street in midday sun, I was certain we were in trouble. It was like seeing people in Majestic, only difference being there were more foreigners in beach wear and bikinis (how I wish that was true for Majestic too ;-)). The similarity was the number of tourists. It was so crowded, I was getting a feeling of being lost out there. This meant that we had to struggle to find our accommodations. And it was a big struggle. Finally we found a decent shelter and our plans had gone awry. That's when I decided to ditch all the planning and stuff and be instinctive. So the fun started :-))

First up was Anjuna Beach. Sunset was beautiful. I was still feasting my eyes on the gorgeous sights ;-) Next up was the Saturday flea market in Anjuna. Apparently very famous. Did some shopping (instantly felt that I could have bargained more. Srinath was useful there). The party started there itself. Missed the closing of flea market probably by a whisker. Not disappointed, as it meant more time for party. Party shifts to Baga beach. Dinner there. But the highlight of the night was NIGHT FRISBEE. What fun it was. Everyone seemed to have hyper energy. Ended when Bala crashed into Ravi. No points for guessing who got bruised like a peach :-D Party continues till the room. Party ends pretty early( Goan time) and we go to sleep.

Morning, yet again, no residues from the previous night. Good sign as we have lots to do for the day. First up - Chapora fort. Awesome view of the Chapora beach and Vagator beach. Lots of photos taken. Get a bit adventures and try to do stunts. Hurt my hand in the process. Next up Anjuna again. Prepared to do the Anjuna to Baga trek. Apparently there is a... ahem... secluded beach in that path. But the midday sun scares the shit out of us. Instead we decide to go to Agauda fort/jail. Jail closed. I realize it is a functional jail and thank god that it was closed (Never would I want to visit a Jail - I have what u can call a 'Jail-ophobia'). Head to Sequlim beach. Nice beach, but very crowded. Negotiations for water sports start. Super fun seeing Srinath bargain. Finally settle for a price which makes us feel proud of our bargaining skills. Thinking of using this skill for later in the night ;-) Fist we do parasailing. Its not a adrenaline rush, rather it has a calming effect on that person. Nice feeling of flying in the air. Next up was the 'Banana Ride'. This was too good. Awesome experience. Then we do some BEACH RUGBY. Super rules. Don't remember if my team won or not. Then we play diving catches. Srinath displays his athletic skills to the beach amblers ;-) We get into water, and play in the low tides. All in all, nice fun and worth the money. Even after all this activity feeling very energized. Probably because of the realization that a 'long' night awaits us.

After a quick shower, we head out on the 'happening' tito's street. We end up in a beach side shack. Did EVERYTHING that I could possibly think of. Only thing left to do was to lose my... ahem... you know what ;-) You name it, and we did it. Atul gets too adventures. Earns my respect for his courage. Srinath recounts the entire story. At some level I feel disappointed that things did not work out :-D The party in now probably in its 7th hour. Awesome feeling. But lots to do as the night is still young. Party goes on till late in the night. Final walk at 3:00 AM. End up sleeping after that, and also the last one to sleep.

Morning. Surprisingly everyone has forgot to keep the alarm. We all wake up late. This again negates our plans. Unfortunately I have the 'residues' of the night before. Not a great feeling. Ravi has to catch his train. We take a call on whether to leave Goa or stay for one more day. Decide there is not much to do in Goa and leave for Bangalore. The return journey was tiring. Played some games till we had dinner. We took turns to co-pilot our driver. Sadly I took the last turn. I swear I was sleeping with my eyes open. So was our driver. Still scares the shit out of me, thinking about it. Very scary experience. End up safely in Bangalore early in the morning. Slept for rest of the day.

In all it was the best trip of my life. The company was simply superb. The places were magical. The experience will last a life time. What more can you ask for?

Gokarna - A true paradise

Paradise might be an understatement for this awesome place. It was love at first sight for me. It was almost sunset by the time we reached Gokarna. The effects of traveling had started to show on our fragile bodies. But once we hit the winding roads of the hills of Gokarna, every body ache we had was forgotten in a hurry. I immediately felt relaxed. Gokarna amazes me because of this very inherent quality of its. It can bring peace to the most disturbed soul on the planet. It has a calming effect that I have yet to come across in any other tourist place. Even the Sun seemed to be sedated. The bright yellow star was muffled crimson red. It is very unlike any place I have visited till now.

Quick layout of the beaches of Gokarna. There are four major beaches. OM, Kudle, Half-moon and Paradise. Om beach is the biggest, most famous and thus the most populated among them. Half-moon and Paradise cannot be reached through cars due to lack of roads. You have two options. Either trek through the hills or take a boat.

After parking our car in front of OM beach, we took the winding steps that lead us to the beach. It was tranquility personified. I am sure I could have spent an entire week watching the waves crash on the rocks. OM beach lived up to its reputation. Its soft white sand is any beach goers delight. It was softer than my pillow. Sad part is we could not find any accommodation there. We decided to find accommodation in Paradise beach. And boy oh boy, was it a blessing in disguise or what! I am simply out of words on how beautiful the Paradise beach is. It is what we call in Kannada "Anvartha nama". It was almost dark by the time we reached it by boat. Actually I wanted to trek the distance. But sadly Bala was in no condition to do the trek. So we hired a boat. With minimal clothes stuffed in our carry on bags, along with cameras and torches, we headed to Paradise beach.

Once we reached Paradise beach, we found a beach side shack, that was willing to accommodate 6 people for just Rs. 200. It has to be said, without electricity, pillows, sheets and just a basic floor mat, it was not luxury by and stretch of imagination. But it was the kind of stay that I had hoped for. The foreigners there are more liberal in their dressing, and this we found out as soon as we entered ;-). We were the only 'desi' people in the entire shack, which had approx 10 rooms. We got settled in, changed to our shorts and headed to the beach (i mean we stepped out of the shack). And to our total shock, it was deserted. Not a single soul on the beach. It was like having a private beach all to ourselves. For obvious reasons the movie 'The Beach' kept on playing in my mind for some time. The sky was crystal clear, with thousands of stars dotting the sky. We could hear the guitar and the flute being played in adjacent shacks. I was really tempted to play flute there (and maybe impress some chicks ;-P ). It was time for us to start our long dinner. The starters were ordered. They were hot and delicious. Till then, I had not realized that the owner (Anil) of the shack was the waiter, the cook and the cleaner. He was all-in-one to the truest sense. Then it was time for the bonfire. This was something that I'll cherish for a long time. Bonfire on a 'private' beach. We sang, we joked, we laughed (more so because of the 'fruit' drinks). The food was ordered. We ordered mexican, italian, chinese, continental, thai etc. And all of it VEG. Anil was so good, he prepared everything from scratch, just for us. Hot delicious food in that remote place was the highlight of the night. Of course there were lots of 'wisdom' from Viji. The night ended pretty well. We finally managed to get inside our own rooms :-D All of us made pacts that we would be celebrating the bachelor's party in this place. Satisfied with the pact, I forced myself to sleep.

The morning was even more serene compared to the night. The beach was even more beautiful. So were the people who had started dotting it. I felt sad to leave that place. Although it was planned to be a 1 night stay, I wanted to stay longer in that place. But I left Paradise beach, knowing fully well that I'll be there in the near future. With that thought in mind we reached our car on Om beach. Our talk had changed to Goa, more beaches, more babes and of course of Ravi joining our trip. We left Gokarna fully rejuvinated. More on Goa in the next post.

Cheers

Jog - An experience to treasure

After reading about the famous Jog Falls for many years in school, listening about its beauty in numerous folk songs and "bhaava geethe's ", I was literally ashamed that I had not for once in my life seen this place. Its splendor showcased in the movie "Mungaaru Male" was the tipping point. Being a true "Kannadiga" at heart, I could no longer take this embarrassment.

As soon as the planning for Goa trip started, I was keen on visiting this place. I got to know from various sources that the water was merely trickling in the falls. Yet, my mind was convinced that I had to visit it. And what a wonderful decision it turned out to be!

I knew I could not see Jog in its full glory, when you stand at the viewing platform and just admire the mother nature at its best. But, at some level, I always want to feel the waterfall by getting under it, and not by just being a spectator. Another thing I like about waterfalls is how secluded it is and how less crowded it is. Although Jog is not secluded by any stretch of imagination, thankfully it was tourist free. When we climbed down, we were met with a 800 ft water fall, which ended in a big pool of ice cold clear green water (it was quite deep). I thought god had made this place for us to enjoy the bath. This time, I was not the first to get in :-( . But swimming in ice cold morning in that natural pool was the most thrilling experience till then. After a pretty tiring swim me, bala, srinath and viji finally came up to the falls. I was constantly thinking "shit no one is here to take a photo of this". Only later I came to realize that no photo was required, since that image is permanently etched in my mind. Going under the falls was really an out-of-body experience for me. It felt like a thousand soft hands were massaging every muscle in my body. I could not stay under the falls for long as I was shivering like hell. The swim back was nice and relaxing.

While we were almost near the falls, Bala complained of nausea. But I felt he had gotten over it. Boy oh boy! Was I wrong. Once out of the water, I saw his skin turn yellow. I knew he was dehydrated. Only then did I realize that we had not carried any drinking water. Bala was so tired, he was almost sleep walking his way up the steps. Every 10 steps he had to take rest. Every drop of water/soda/juice was puked out. He slept for 20 minutes in shade when we were half way up. We did some orkut profiling photos. Seeing the rainbow in front of the falls was the icing on the cake. By this time, the tourists had started to pour in. I was really concerned about Bala's health. We had an entire trip to look forward to and the excitement had just begun. We carried him on our shoulders for the rest of the journey to the top. It was definitely the low point of the entire trip.

Now I believe, every person should visit Jog falls on two separate occasions. One during the peak monsoon or just after the monsoons in the month of September. And one more time in winter in the months of December and January. So come this September, anyone is planning to visit Jog can expect me there :-D

We left Jog with the knowledge that we will be back here in 7 months time. One of the best waterfalls I have ever been to. Gokarna was the next destination. More on it in the next post.

PS : This is my 50th post on the blog. So cheers to it :-)

And then there were Seven

Ufff!
It has been a planning marathon. For the last two weeks, we have made plans after plans, some new, some updating, some scraping, and finally some changing so much, it looked like new ones.

Ever since I got to know that I had a extended weekend holiday (credit to Republic Day), my mind was reeling with holiday possibilities. With 6 months of constant exams, I was so desperate to go out, I started asking everyone I knew, for a trip.

Ravi (IIM-A 1st year student), one of my closest friends was here for the New Year, and that was when the plan to do a Goa trip started. It was a long cherished dream of me, Bala, Srinath and Ravi. Initially we wanted to do this trip, with just the four of us. Since Ravi would be joining us in Goa directly from Ahmedabad, the rest of us decided to do this the 'Dil Chata Hai' way. Driving to Goa would be in itself an experience to remember. Till then it was FOUR.

Driving in my SX4 would mean there would be 2 vacant seats for the journey. This would imply extra cost per head. So we decided to call up common friends to join us. First it was Atul who gave the thumbs up. Then we were FIVE.

Viji and Naga decided to hold back their response and kept us guessing. Pnadey initially gave a thumbs up. So there were SIX.

Naga finally succumbed to the temptations and caved in. So there were SEVEN :-) . By this time we had ditched our plans to travel by my SX4. 6 grown men and a giant, even my SX4 cant handle that :-(. We had started to pursue other modes of transport. Self driven SUV's, Taxi's, Train and even Bus. Bus was unanimously ruled out. The waiting list in train was shocking. And to our surprise the Tatkal was also not available. So that was ruled out. Since it was our dream to drive to Goa, we pursued the Self driven vehicle concept till the end. But it turned out to be a costly affair. The rent itself was Rs 3000/- per day. This excluding the petrol bill. Although I was a bit disappointed, our only option was a taxi.

By now, even Viji was tempted to come. So there were EIGHT. But unfortunately Pandey had other commitments, so he had to drop out :-(. Finally there were SEVEN of us, six of us approaching Goa from Bangalore and one coming from Ahmedabad.

In between there were plans to go to Dandeli. That was scraped. The Gokarna part was planned, re-planned, scraped and again planned. The much hyped Goa part has had lots of planning. Hope it lives up to its expectations.

The planning itself has been so eventful. My eyes are gleaming, dreaming of the sunshine and sand.

Jungle Mount Adventures - A real Adventure

Nine friends, 2 cars, and one destination - Jungle Mount Adventures which is the boot camp of Tadiyandamol peak.

Saturday:

04:45 AM : My alarm rings. I am indeed alarmed as I had just had 4 hours of sleep.

05:20 AM : My SX4 gives a thundering roar in the early morning silence as I turn my keys.

05:35 AM : I am at office, our meeting point. Astonished to find out that I was the first person there. Start making frantic calls to others.

06:20 AM : Everyone is slowly trickling in. Already delayed by an hour. I give the general directions to Darshan and tell him to take the NICE road to reach Bangalore-Mysore road.

06:45 AM : My SX4 touches 180kmph. I am thrilled. My highest till date. Quite ironic that it is the same measurement as a quarter ;-). So I was HIGH on a quarter.

07:15 AM : Darshan fuels up his tank. Also the first group photo.

08:00 AM : Stop at the famous Mysore Mylari Hotel for breakfast. As usual the dosa was delicious.

09:00 AM : Stop in Maddur to pick up "stuff".

10:00 AM : Waiting for Darshan at the Mysore bypass near Srirangapatna. This road eventually saves us at least half an hour.

10:30 AM : Hit SH88 Mysore - Hunsur road. Awesome asphalt quality. Extremely smooth journey on this road.

Noon : Deviation to SH88A Hunsur Virajpet. Road is bad. Lots of potholes. Dusty road. And a very aggressive bus driver ahead of us.

01:15 PM : Finally arrive at Jungle Mount Adventures, after repeatedly asking for exact directions.

03:00 PM : Feeling very relaxed after a decent lunch. Waiting to do Waterfall Rappelling. But Sagar( the owner) calls and tells we can do canoeing and swimming in the river now and the rappelling the next day.

03:15 PM : Start wearing Life Jackets. As always I am the first to get into water :-)

04:15 PM : After a fun filled and a tiring swim in the ice cold water, we get out to try the canoes.

05:15 PM : A horrifying experience. Our canoe hits the bank of the river, and that startles two snakes, which fall of a tree onto the bank. They were long and fat. Our instincts kick in and we start to row towards the middle. But regret later that we failed to take snaps of the snake :-(

06:00 PM : Take a cold bath. Still some discussions on the snake and what we would have done, if it had fallen in the boat instead of the river bank.

07:00 PM : Finally our mobiles start to catch some signal. Call back home to report my safe arrival.

07:45 PM : The camp fire starts. So so does our party.

08:00 - 10:30 PM : The timeline garbled due to toxication. Just remember the outlines. Did manage to embarrass myself many times :-(

10:45 PM : The most thrilling drive of my life... wait the most thrilling experience of my life starts. Sagar takes us on a 'Night Adventure Drive' on the slopes of Tadiyandamol. None of are prepared for that kind of drive in his 4X4. He switches off his head lights, uses a pen torch intermittently and drives at speeds of 80kmph. We hold on to our dear lives. Lots of memorable dialogues come out. Unfortunately not recorded as we were praying for our dear lives.

Sunday:

00:30 AM : The "Death Drive" finished 30 minutes ago. But still talking about it. Remember laughing a lot, but not sure why!

01:00 AM : I think I went to sleep. Must confirm this with sober people :-)

07:00 AM : My alarm goes off again. And to my surprise I'm completely normal. No residues from last night. Pray to god (I do this everyday :-D)

08:00 AM : I am ready. Take a walk in the morning chill. But the sun rays are strong and pinching. Thinking of the hot day ahead. And again I'm the first (lazy buggers ;-))

09:00 AM : Most of them are up and ready by this time. Talk on what happened yesterday. They manage to convince me that I cried :-(

09:45 AM : Pooris are refreshing. Finished my most important meal of the day

10:00 AM : Mr. Muttu accompanies us to show us the way to waterfalls where we are supposed to do rappelling.

10:45 AM : After travelling through back breaking roads, similar to surface of moon, we arrive at the water fall. But the water fall is beautiful, and to our disappointment, just after our arrival a college trip manages to arrive. Bad timing :-(

11:15 AM : After a short trek and a bit of confusion we meet Sagar, who is preparing the gear for the rappelling. It looks a bit scary from the top.

11:30 AM : Sagar gives us the DO's and DO NOT's of rappelling. A very educative talk.

12:15 PM : My turn comes. I am the last to do that. Not that I was afraid or anything. Nidhi opts out and regrets later. Awesome sight from the top. Take a lot of Orkut profile snaps.

01:00 PM : Bid farewell to Sagar and head towards Kushalnagar. Roads are much better. But we end up going in circles for sometime.

03:00 PM : Reach Kushalnagar. See Nisargadhama on the way and decide to have lunch over there. Did not foresee that we would be losing so much time in it :-(

04:15 PM : Finish our lunch. Food was hot but not tasty. Leave Nisargadhama to go to Tibetan Monastery in Bayalkuppe.

04:30 PM : Arrival in the Tibetan settlement. My second time here in 6 months. I get a bit nostalgic, and end up acting as a tour guide :-(

06:00 PM : After some refreshments, we decide to head home. Again I give the general directions to Darshan I hit the road. Want to cover up as much as possible in day light. I hate driving in the night.

10:00 PM : Reach Kamat Lokaruchi on the Mysore road near Ramanagaram. Stop over for dinner. Awesome food.

11:00 PM : Leave Kamat and head towards office.

12:00 Midnight : Arrive in office.

Monday:

12:10 AM : I get a call. Darshan has a flat tyre just in front of the office. Have to give it to him for the timing.

12:20 AM : Changed to the spare tyre. Took some final snaps and left the place with the sad knowledge that we had to come to the same place to work tomorrow morning.

Will upload the photos soon :-)

Why managers fail?

It has been one and a half years (two years if you include my internship time) since I started working. I have come to the realization that studying was way more easier and fun compared to work. But another shocking realization is around two thirds of workers I have met in this period say the most stressful aspect of their jobs is their immediate boss, their line manager. Does this suggests a massive number of unhappy working relationships? So, does this mean that leadership is failing on a massive scale? Well, not exactly...

The outcome of this realization was that I felt bosses aren't inherently bad people (mostly ;-))but that the modern culture of work sets them up to fail. Here are the main reasons that I think leads to the failure of management.

1. Strict Hierarchies:
Leaders are at the top of the chain and are assumed to have all the answers, so they make most of the decisions. In reality knowledge and expertise is spread across people in organizations. But it's the leaders who must be seen to lead and so followers get frustrated because their superior knowledge and expertise is frequently ignored. This leads to:

2. Poor decision-making.
Leaders often don't make any better decisions than followers, and frequently make worse ones. This is another consequence of strict hierarchies. It's better to agree that leaders are not always the best people to make the decisions. Spreading the responsibility around, or using more participatory strategies for decision-making is often more effective. But this isn't the way things generally work, part of the problem is:

3. Huge pay differentials.
Followers often hate their leaders because of the huge difference in their salaries. It's hard to feel any sympathy for someone whose pay is stratospheric (average CEO pay is 179 times that of average workers). And, because more pay means more status, leaders can quickly come to believe they really deserve the God-like status their pay suggests, resulting in their thinking they have all the answers and that they have the right to treat their employees less than fairly. In the bosses' defense, though, there are:

4. Impossible standards for leaders.
Perhaps because of the huge pay and incredible demands, followers expect their leaders to be almost superhuman. The leadership literature identifies a whole range of personal qualities thought important for a good leader. These include integrity, persistence, humility, competence, decisiveness and being able to inspire the troops. While a leader may be high on one or two of these, they are unlikely to have the full set. Followers are almost bound to be disappointed by what is, after all, another fallible human who is just trying to:

5. Climb the greasy pole.
If the boss is nice to you, it's a bonus, because it's not required for them to get on in the organization. Leaders are promoted by those higher than them, not those below them - so it's only necessary for bosses to impress their bosses. This is a recipe for disaffection amongst the followers. Talking of which, forget the psychology of leadership, what do we know about the:

6. Psychology of follower-ship?
Although it's leadership that has been most extensively studied and discussed, most of us end up as followers. So really the psychology of follower-ship is more important than leadership. What is it that makes us follow someone else? And, more subversively: do we need leaders? For example, if people really know what they're doing, they resent having leadership imposed on them. Generally, though, there's little known about follower-ship, and how to avoid:

7. Alienation.
As a result of the strict hierarchies, huge pay differentials, poor decision-making, greasy-pole climbing and feeling powerless to change huge bureaucracies, followers naturally develop feelings of alienation, and alienation kills motivation and productivity, along with any hope of job satisfaction.

Solution:
By implication the way to rectify these perceived problems is to do the reverse. Don't instigate rigid hierarchies, discourage huge pay differentials, democratize decision-making and don't set impossible standards for leaders. Some organizations are already managing this - presumably those in which followers don't find their bosses the biggest sources of stress - but most are not.

Anyone wanting to make these types of changes across an organization would have to be a really great leader - and there are truly few of those around.

What do you think?
Do you recognize these problems in your organization? Has anyone tried to do anything about it? Are there other major reasons leaders fail?

PS : This post is in no way related to my workplace or management. It is just a general realization!

Review of Slumdog Millionaire

I have been waiting for long to write the review of a movie. But all my hopes were quashed, by the series of mind numbingly silly films released, till now! But here comes a film, that I truly admire, which has inspired me in many ways. I haven't felt like this in a long time. Probably the last Hollywood film that I was tempted to see again and again was The Pursuit of Happyness.

The plot of the movie is taken from the book Q & A by Vikas Swarup. An illiterate slum kid from Mumbai goes on the local TV version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire and comes off winning Rs. 2 Crore. So why would you want to see something that you could have already seen in 'Kaun Banega Crorepati'. Well, for starters, it has not much to do with the game show. The underlying plot shows us how destiny plays a huge role in helping 'Jamaal' (a sensational Dev Patel) in answering the questions on the show.

You won't find many fairy tales that open with a graphic torture scene. The cops think 18-year-old 'chaai waala' Jamal Malik is a fraud. Goaded by the show's host (the superb Anil Kapoor), the police inspector (Irrfan Khan) is determined to beat the truth out of Jamal before he goes back on the show and hits the jackpot of 20 million rupees.

The film has got everything from humor to tragedy, from suspense to complete silliness. Yet it is nothing like the ubiquitous Indian Masala movie. Director Danny Boyle gives us a probable Oscar winner here. With amazing screenplay and sharp editing, the film pulls you towards it more than gravity does you to earth. The heart-wrenching story told through a series of flashbacks is aweinspiring. We learn the background of Jamaal and other characters, his wild older brother Salim (an outstanding Madhur Mittal), and his adored Latika (the achingly lovely Freida Pinto) in flashbacks, and as he answers the questions, we come to understand how his life experiences(believe me, this character has more 'life experience' than most of my friends put together) have helped him in answering them.

Every answer he gives, has been learnt in a hard way, and all the knowledge he has could have killed him. Accepted, the plot bends coincidence to the breaking point. But as I said before, the film is not about the quiz show, but Jamal's traumatic youth. Boyle makes magic realism part of the film's fabric, the essential part that lets in hope without compromising integrity.

A R Rehman has composed the score for this brilliant movie. Lot of hip-hop numbers. But the most I liked were the Instrumentals. Especially One track - Mausam & Escape is amazing.

Overall I would give this movie a 4.5/5. A must watch for any movie buff, and also non-movie buff's. This is how a film should be made.

The Enigma called 'MIND'

Let me start this with a short story.

Across a crowded room your eyes lock with an attractive stranger. You look away, you look back. The first hint of a smile plays across their lips. Suddenly you're nervous, your mind goes blank, you want to go over and you want to run away, both at the same time. You try to make yourself look busy in some other chore, but your mind is only thinking of that gorgeous stranger. You turn around too fast, bump into someone, almost spilling your drink. 'Wow,' you think as you recover, 'What am I doing!'. Its more of a amazement rather than a question.

And...cut.

Unfortunately I have to bring you out of this little scene to ask a question. Do you think you'd be able to accurately describe why you find this person attractive? Indeed how good are we in general at pinpointing what it was about others that attracts us? That is, the inability to describe what is attractive about another person. That's probably why we end up using such vague words like 'energy', 'magnetism' or 'electricity'. Perhaps we genuinely don't know. This, along with many other questions are simply mind-boggling.

How do great artists create? How do brilliant scientists solve the hardest problems in their field? Listen to them try to explain and you'll probably be disappointed. Artists say mysterious things like: "The picture just formed in my mind." Writers tell us that: "I don't know where the words come from." Scientists say they: "Just had a hunch."

Of course, not all scientists, artists and writers give such mysterious answers. Some talk about the processes they went through or what inspired their conceptual jump. But their explanations are almost invariably unsatisfying. They usually can't really explain how they made that vital leap of the imagination. This is strange. Why is it that otherwise brilliant and articulate people seem unable to adequately explain their thought processes? Don't they know how they did it?

What is true of great scientific and artistic leaps of imagination is also true in everyday life. When people are asked why they chose one career over another, one partner over another or one flavor of ice-cream over another, the same problems emerge. Often, people's answers are unconvincing or they just don't know.

The process of human creativity is both fascinating and, at the same time, mystifying. Understanding the mental processes of great thinkers offers an enormous reward to any who can replicate them: immortality. Perhaps if we really understood what was going through their minds, we too could create an object or idea that would live long after our deaths.

There was a study conducted some time back in a shopping mall:
"For this study researchers set themselves up in a mall pretending to carry out a consumer survey on nightgowns and nylon stockings. Passersby were asked to evaluate what they were told were four different nightgowns and four different pairs of stockings. In fact, all four items were identical.

Quite by accident they discovered a positional effect for the identical goods: people seemed to prefer the item that was on the far right. In fact this effect was really obvious for the stockings. The right-most pair, although identical to the left-most was preferred by a factor of four to one.

When asked why they had chosen a particular item, no one mentioned its position. Even when experimenters suggested to people that the position might have an effect, most participants looked at best very confused and at worst utterly dismissive.

Result: these people didn't have a clue why they preferred one identical pair of stockings over another. "

This study shows us exactly how how little access we have to unconscious processes during everyday activities. This also shows how we often fail to spot effects that are really there.