Happy New Year 2010

A New Year and Decade has dawned and here’s wishing everyone a very happy and prosperous new year 2010.

REVA Rocks!!!

I had my first chance to drive a REVA last night and it was AWESOME!!! Thanks to Rajiv for letting us drive his car. Sharath, Sunil and me had our turns to drive it and truly none of us were any less than Stunned by it.

Reva Rocks

REVA cars have been around for more than a decade, i am sure you would have noticed them, but their true worth can be felt now due to the rising Fuel Costs and the Pollution that the ever so multiplying vehicles create. It’s a small ELECTRIC car which can drive around two adults in the front and two kids in the rear. Me and Rajiv could sit it in together and could drive it easily at 50Kmph and yes our heads do not touch the roof !!!!

There are many misconceptions of this car and all the ones that i had were shattered last night.

Key things that I liked:  

• Environmental Benefits:
  • Hybrid cars and electric cars are increasing in numbers due to their environment friendly nature. They are Non Smoking cars; you should dispose the Lead batteries that are used efficiently though. 
  • Sound Pollution is NIL. The car will Whiff past you and you will not even notice.
• Fuel Economy:
  • 50 paisa per kilometer. That’s how cheap the drive around is. A fully charged REVA can travel 55-60 km before it needs to be charged again and that makes it a wonderful car for city drive. It has a very powerful A/C too; hence the usage might vary accordingly.
  • It just needs a 15Amps socket to charge.  There is an indicator that displays the amount of charge left (Analog one though. would be nice to have a digital indicator)
• Seats:
  • REVA has one of the best seats for the small cars. It easily beats Indica, Alto and the likes. The seat is at a good height; you can just turn around and get out of the car as if you have been sitting on your chair in office. 
• Leg Space:
  • Wow!! I was amazed by the amount of leg space the car has. Very comfy. You can stretch your legs and sit the way you like.  
• Steering Wheel:
  • It felt like an X Box 360 Steering Wheel and me playing a racing game in Amoeba
• Turning Radius:
  • I think it would beat my Pulsar at this. It is so neat in turning around that I was amazed. Like turning a Go-Karting car. 
• Size:
  • (Smile) Well as Rajiv put it “It will give the Auto Drivers a run for their money”. Truly the maneuverability and the size put together make a lethal combination for City Comfort Driving. Small in size means, no parking concerns too.

• Usability:
  • The car runs on a battery and has no engine, no gear lever, no clutch…. none of all that. Just an Accelerator and Brake. Switch on the car, choose one the mode (F – Forward, B – Boost, R – Reverse or N-Neutral) and get going. It will not switch off till you turn the key off, so don’t worry of half clutch and all the other concerns. Simple isn’t it. Better than an Activa, you will not fall  :)

How much does it cost? Good Question.
The basic model is about 3.5 lakhs and the high end version is 4.5lakhs. Costly i should say considering that it is manufactured in Bangalore,India and comes from an Indian Company. (yes i was surprised to hear this too). I dont think Government is aiding this company in ways it should. They support Maruthi Udyog and the likes in extraordinary ways and reel out lakhs of smoking cars onto indian roads, REVA lacks the support for sure.

All in all, a wonderful second car to have. It suits perfectly for day to day work like household shopping, kids to school, office nearby or even movies on weekends.

Kudos!!!!

PS: Thanks for the title Sharath. I could not think of a better one than that.

Spectacular Shivanasamudra

 

It had been some time that i went visiting nature. The last was to Karwar and Dandeli for white water rafting and that was an year ago!!! The wait and the delay were well rewarded with a relishing break to Shivanasamudra. 

 

Bharachukki - Shivanasamudra

What started as of a two day plan of going out somewhere and relaxing on a weekend turned out into a one day trip to this wonderful place. I live in Bangalore,India and the options of a one day/two day breakouts from here are unlimited. We have Gods own country – Kerala about 5 hours of drive away, then there is Tamil nadu and not to forget our state of Karnataka which has numerous options.

The excitement was three fold:

1.I was going out with my friends; a niche 5 Member team
2.The prospect of a long drive was luring, something i love
3.Then there was Nature.

Some Trivia:

Outing:Bangalore -> Shivanasamudra -> Mysore -> Bangalore
Route Taken:Bangalore -> Bidadi -> Ramnagar -> Channapatna -> Maddur -> Malavalli -> Shivanasamudra -> Malavalli -> Young Island Resorts -> Foothills of Chamundi Hills (Mysore) -> Bangalore
Total Distance: 470 km
Vehicle:Indica Diesel
Mileage: 17.86
No of People: 5
Total Expenditure(Per head): Rs.535/-

After a little hickup in the morning, we finally left Bangalore at around 7; about an hour off our scheduled time. Shivanasamudra is about 120 km, but a little bit of research said that there is about 20 km of that stretch that is bad and hence we had to leave early due to the colossal plan we had of visiting so many places.

After driving for about 75 km and people in the back seat starting to feel sleepy, we took our first stop: Shivalli Restaurant. Road is very good in this stretch and it did not take us more than 90 minutes to reach the place. Its a small place just before Maddur. But do not underestimate its size as it if guaranteed to surprise you with the food. I, by far, had the best Idly, Dosa and Vada of my life.

You cannot miss it on the Highway as it is the most prominent Restaurant after Channapatna and for the folks who are Familiar with Maddur Coffee Day – The first 24 Hour CCD on Bangalore – Mysore Stretch, Its just adjacent to it. My vote 10/10 to this place. Dont wait to get a place to sit and eat in the Restaurant, order the food while you are in the car. They serve you food in the car itself, that’s exactly what we did as it saved us time and fighting our hunger.

Everyone just enjoyed the breakfast and it was evident in the amount of life it pumped into Jagannath aka Jags, Nuthana aka Nutty, Prasanna aka San (Don’t know why the name – ask Nutty, she can explain), Divya aka Diviand Ankith aka Ankith

 

Enjoying the Shivalli Delicacies (L to R) Me, Divi, San and Nutty

 

 

Jags - Busy Belting Breakfast

 

 After a relishing breakfast, we headed straight to Shivanasamudra. Distance from Maddur is 44km, out of which about 20km as i mentioned is treacherous. Vehicle takes a beating so snail your way through. The entire belt is filled with flowering sugar cane and ready to reap paddy fields a sight so different from the traffic that i encounter everyday. There was traffic on these roads too, but of cattles and goats crossing the roads.

 

A small insight to visit these falls. There are two sections to it. Bharachukki and Gaganachukki (Sign boards and the helpful people around can guide you to either of them). Gaganachukki is the place from where you can see the top view of the falls with no options of  enjoying the waterfalls. Bharachukki is the place where you can get into the water. Enjoy the falls right above your head and also get close to the bigger offshoots of the falls with a Theppa.

 

This is the ideal month to visit the falls i would say. The water is just enough to enjoy getting in and having a taste of some fresh Cauvery water. We did in two ways. First up was Theppa ( a round shaped boat steered by a heavily skilled person – my definition ). This was a nice experience for Rs150/- ( for one and a half trip). A great way to get close to the waterfalls and very enjoyable too. Must do for all visitors due to the sheer thrill of getting very close to a fresh water falls.

 

Jags, Divi and Me getting close to the falls in a Theppa

 

San and Nutty in a Theppa

 The next way was to jump into the water and have the falls shower you. It is a refreshing and magnificent feeling to be standing below the falls with the water hitting you as if it is punching you with all its valor. (Do not forget to take a pair of spare clothes) 

Natural Shower

After having spent about an hour in the water, it was time to say good bye to the falls with a silent promise to return again to the place. The clock was striking 2:15, we had not known the time flying, and the beating given by the falls had made us hungry. Without any second thoughts we hurried towards our next destination: Young Island Resorts, Srirangapatna.

 

It is a resort located on the banks of river cauvery just on the outskirts of Shrirangapatna with a peaceful ambience and very good food. We were joined here by our friends and hosts for their home city Mysore – Eshwar and Rohini. No no they did not treat us, it was Nutty’s treat for her birthday .

 

Lunch at Young Island Resorts

 The place we went next was the reason for us thinking of the Mysore trip in the first place – Planet X. It is a gaming zone at the foothills of Chamundi Hills in Mysore. We reached there after a small de-tour for a side view of Mysore palace, courtesy Eshwar and Rohini. Thanks to them for being wonderful hosts to their city. It was my 4th trip to Mysore this year but this was different in many ways.

We had time for just one round of Bowling at Planet X as we still had to cover 140 km back to Bangalore and it was getting late. It was fun bowling with friends. Eshwar got the better of me and Debutant Divi was the surprise at third. Job well done . It was such a coincidence that the part in which we video taped her, she got a strike. A clip well captured

Finally, we departed Mysore at 7:30pm and reached home around 11. A wonderful day spent with friends and Three Cheers to Shivanasamudra !!!

I like this pic    

Embrace the Falls

 

A word a day keeps the mistakes in English away

I discovered today that this is a wonderful way of learning new words. It was a random thought that struck me and if there are others who have had this thought and/or are working in the same manner…. kudos people!!!

And if you have friends then you learn as many words as the count of your bunch. Isn’t that amazing?

The reason to really pursue this is multifold.

1. I learn 1 new word a day. Now suppose I have just one another friend of mine who thinks like the way I do. So we learn 2 words a day. That means 365*2 = 730 words a year at the bare minimum. What an addition to the knowledge bank!!!

That’s how long my essays were in high school!!! And I wrote them once or twice a year (Tests you see). And not to forget that I filled it with words like the, is, in, a (or ‘an’ after we knew we had to put ‘an’ before Honest), with, there, are, this, was, it and many many more. That would have accounted for not less than 50% of the words and the rest I am sure were not any new words that I used but the same old words that I learnt in Primary and Upper Primary schools.

So all in all I did not learn any new words after a certain class in school. I have been recycling the same words. Like all the words I have written in here. All the same old words I know from a long time.

2. The argument to the above point would be “that’s how it is right”. I cannot live without these words. Yes I cannot. But at the same time I can improve English Usage by learning new words. Let me give an example to claim this:

a. Usage 1: “What a lively young girl!!” There is nothing new about this.

b. Usage 2: “What a Sprightly young girl!!” Does it not sound a little more striking? Yes yes that’s a new word I leant today whether the girl or the people around listening to it understand the word or not is secondary, the objective is met. You have used something new you learnt. You can educate them with the new word though before they think you are swearing at her.

3. Learning something new excites me all the time. And on top of it sharing it with some more people is fun. When I was in a Boarding School, I remember helping my arts teacher paint words of wisdom on the School walls and one of them I remember very clearly. “A candle does not lose its light by lighting another candle“. Hmmm………

4. Let’s accept this that English is the Bread, Butter and now Biryani of our lives. It is truly a global language now. Even China has realized it and made it a part of their 10 year plan. Indian kids speak English more fluently than their own mother tongue. I do not speak in Hindi or Tamil with my Friend. We speak in English. So why not speak better English than what I do today. Unless we keep getting better, we will always end up lagging behind.

Internet is filled with resources (Oxford, Cambridge etc.). There is installable software like WordWeb. (Remember there is no plural to Software called Softwares) I like Dictionary.com .

As i say ” A word a day keeps the mistakes in English away”  

Back to Blogging!!!

Wow, It feels good be writing something again. I was browsing through my own blog and looking at the time stamps and I said to myself “It’s been an year!!”

Many things have changed from the last time I wrote. Actually to be truthful my life has taken a complete twist.

I am not in college anymore…. no no they did not throw me out or something. I graduated. I would say I did well. Could have done better though for I had the potential to do better. But that is over now and I have to move ahead.

I work as a Senior Programmer in a reputed software company now, but of course the Programmer is a BIG misnomer . Life has become more hectic than what it was in college and of course more challenging.

Earlier there was just one thing on the mind or maybe two, marks and career. But now I am in the real world. I used to work many hours during my college days like I do today no doubt but it is different in its own sense. Have to catch a bus at 7:50, miss it and it would be trouble reaching office by 9. Once in office there is seldom the choice of leaving (remember college?) at a time you desire, though the leaving time is 6:20. But that means to say I am not home before 8 in the night. During this time there is 3 hours in the traffic.

My college road was traffic free and less congested, but the way to my office takes it all out of me. Come back, eat and directly to bed for if you remember there is that bus to catch at 7:50 and yes I am tired. I always used to think how people can get tired working on the computer, but trust me they do!

There are so many things to think of now.

• There is the career of course, need to good one – a secure one for the industry I am in is very unstable as people say but nor me nor my company have felt the tremors yet. So that puts me in a good position for now. But change is inevitable. Good or bad time will decide. But things will change soon.
• There is the money I need to think of now. I started to work and earn a long time ago. But all those were part time jobs and I was still studying and study was first thing I needed to worry about. Now I am full time employee and money is one of the priorities. Air and water are necessary for survival, but so is money in today’s world. There are so many dreams and aspirations and money becomes a small factor to fulfill them. Of course the guts and determination is more important to pursue your dream.
• There is something called family that comes in now. For I am not a college going student any more you see. And so there are responsibilities. Responsibilities that I already have and the wonderful responsibilities that I would take up in future. I am very fortunate on that front I would say.
• Need to build a house soon. The time for that seems to be approaching soon but it is eluding and I am chasing it till it surrenders.
• Then there is my weight. For in the last year I have really gone to a bad shape. I am working on it and the results are encouraging. I will pursue with this till I have it in control the way we want it to be.

I miss college days and Microsoft Student Community. It was a lot more fun in those days where I was learning something new every day. But now the knowledge today has become stagnant and that’s dangerous. Hence I have changed certain things about it which I will write about separately when the results are there to show.

How did I miss this, I had been Dubai for a Microsoft Interview last year. Just out of college and facing an interview with my dream company. I think I did fairly well but did not get selected for reasons unknown as usual. I am in a better position today to take that interview I would say. The only thing I lacked then is the confidence. That’s one thing that caused me to be a little on the back foot. I needed this job. This job that would seal my career and my life for two of us were dreaming for it. And that desperation caused the peril to my interview I guess. I have taken that as learning and am ready to face any interview now. It was quite an experience!!

Personal Life has been a Roller Coaster ride in the last one year. So many ups and downs, but this time I would leave the roller coaster and settle in the high valleys for I know like I never did before, what I really need to do. I have come to realize a lot of things in the last few days that I have been ignorant towards all my life. Things I know I did wrong and handled in the most kiddish way possible. But things that have taught me a lesson for the rest of my life and I am very thankful for that.

I plan to go back to college and study some more. Expand my horizons of knowledge and be better equipped to face this every so challenging and changing world. And more importantly than anything else, be a better person from within, have a mature head over the shoulder and deal with life situations with greater maturity than I have done in the past. No I am not going to learn Philosophy or something. I shall write soon.

I shall keep writing. For in writing down the thoughts, I have a way to preserve them. Like a pensieve of thoughts in Harry Potter.

Head Straight for the “e-paathshala”

This was an article in todays Education Plus Suppliment of The Hindu.

What does it do us?

Raise the expectation bars.

http://www.hinduonnet.com/edu/2007/04/30/stories/2007043001160300.htm

Truly Inspiring

WOW!!!!

Imagine Cup 2007 National Finals

Hmmm….. It has taken me really long to write this post.

 WE HAVE MADE IT TO THE NATIONAL FINALS OF THE IMAGINE CUP 2007 !!

I remember my phone being disconnected the entire day and i got the newsfrom JK on dads cell when i reached his office. I could not control my exitement. I was jumping all around that we had made it. Divya was short of breath and Kartik had lost his voice screaming his life out :). I shook hands with dad and he asked ” Ab aage kya hai ? ( means What next now ? ). It was 2nd April 2007.

I could proudly say around that this was the greatest achievement of mine ever. It had been two long years of dreaming, of being in Imagine Cup Competition and having that chance to walk up the national stage and present an idea. The source of the dream goes back to Imagine Cup 2005.

The National Finals was at Taj West End, Bangalore. It was the year that i had gotten into the BDOTNETStudent User Group here at Bangalore. And i knew that Sunil, Sharath and Sabarish had been to Zonal Finals. We got a ticket, and were fortunate enough at that, to view the National Finals. I saw a team from Pune take the stage and a team from Bangalore. Then there was Sriram who took the stage and i am sure, impressed every single one of them with his Presentation Skills. He was inspiring. And i remember the way he stressed on IMAGINE…. IMAGINE…. IMAGINE…. The team from Pune won.

What i returned with that day from Taj was a dream. A dream of walking up the stage one day and presenting an idea. I was full of passion and with a Dream !!!

Then came Imagine Cup 2006. And it went. 

We could not find a proper idea nor a team and our attempt failed. I dont remember feeling bad for it for i knew that i was not ready for it. It would have been a great chance to start early though.

And then Imagine Cup 2007. I had two reasons to be a part of it with full josh and commitment.

One….. The Dream. Imagine Cup is big. And i wanted to be a part of it.

Two…. I am in my last semester of Engineering and we need a Final year project. We have all the time and reason on this earth to concentrate on a project.

The National Finals this time is in  Delhi on the 4th of May 2007. It would be the first time that i would be visiting Delhi and i wish that Delhi gives me a good first time gift :) There is a lot of work left in the upcoming days. Lot of work and a lot more expectation. It is a great feeling to make so many people around us proud with a single achievement. Now the expectations are higher. 

The theme of this years Imagine Cup can be guessed by the following picture. 

 

 

 

Finally, Here is Team MERIDIO

(From Left ) Me,Divya,Kartik,Jay

 Thanks to my team mates for being a part of my Dream and helping me make it a reality.

Microsoft Student Partner Lead.

Today as i woke up i had a mail awaiting me from one of the other selected Leads from Delhi congratulating all of the people on the mailing list for becoming Leads. I looked at the mail with a sense of surprise for i had no clues that this was coming. Reza had not mentioned this to me.

I was to be on a con-call with Reza and Others, but could not make it and this happened on that call.

Looking forward to the responsibilities that this will bring along and living upto them

Weekend Marathon !!!

 

Event : BDOTNETStudent Hands on Lab.

Date : 17th March 2007.

Venue : VIT College, Bangalore.

It all started a week ago when the HOL fell into place. It was an event that was long due and we were up for a surprise.

The planning was hectic. Whether it was 3-4 hours of standing at the printing press to get the tickets and the certificates printed or the 16 hours “CD burning marathon” that JK and me undertook, it was all great fun and we got more than what we had hoped for out of this event. It has always been a great exitement to hold User Group events, this time became one of the most special ones.

 It was on the 16th that i started recieveing calls from the other student partners that the tickets were SOLD OUT !!! and they wanted more. Filling up 200 seats (the total capacity) was a great achievement, it was by far the largest HOL conducted by the BDOTNETStudent User Group. ( I will have to check for the other UG’s).

If that was not enough, on the day of the event we had 50 attendees extra than what we could accomodate. It was overwhelming, but we did not have enough place. We could not turn them down and hence had to manage it.

The sessions went on well too. I took two sessions. “ADO.NET ” and ” Advanced Winforms”. Both went really well and i was satisfied with my sessions.

The kind of support and encouragement that we recieved by the Principal, HOD, Staff and all the volunteers was unprecedented. Others should take an example out of the kind of support VIT management provided. Hats off Deepankar and his entire team.

All in all, it was a great day and i look forward to have many more such days.