Date:	2008-06-29 18:40
Subject:	Different Methods for Worst Train Journeys
Security:	Public

                                India's pride. Airtel "Rajdhani" Express. Taken by bluerailway


                                  A sample meshed window. Taken by Kim Siever

Imagine being shut up in this prison called "Airtel Express" (new name for Bangalore-Delhi Rajdhani) for 36 hours.

And you have an 8 member North Indian Joint Family (including grandmas and kids) for company in your "cabin".

And these North Indians pass on wisdom between themselves about the amount of assholism Tamilians have-- for not learning Hindi, and working for a separate country-- the "Tamil Eelam".

And you cannot concentrate on the book you've taken, even after trying so much, even after finding the book boring...

And you find the soup sticks dipped in butter and then in tomato soup-- the combo you are having the first time -- is too tasteless to try, yet you do it two times a day.

And then getting down to a frying pan- New Delhi in June, with the prospects of being there for two weeks...

Anyway, some pics .

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Date:	2008-05-17 12:43
Subject:	A complicated place
Security:	Public

Reading Amitav Ghosh's books, one kinda understands why he got so uncomfortable living in Kolkata. Kolkata had something too complex for him.

I  feel that a Kerala town- say Ekm or Tvm- or for that matter- the great Cosmopolitan city (!) - Bangalore- is too simple when compared to a place in Bengal. Just visualise- the Howrah and Sealdah stations - and then the Bangalore City and Cantonment stations. Or the MG Road in Bangalore and  Park street in Kolkata. Or the Majestic and the Esplanade. Koramangala and Salt lake. The Indicas and the ambassadors. The BMTC buses and KMC ones. The attire of policemen. The parks.

A solid contrast appears before my mind.

Though I am from Kerala, I feel I easily belong to Bangalore. And even though I compared Bangalore and Kolkata, I feel Chennai vs Kolkata is no much different. Chennai central/Egmore/Basinbridge stations, or the Suburban/MRTS rails, the Ascendas park in Taramani- I felt so belonged there. And I shudder at the thought of my visit to Dakshineshwar Temple- in the Dankuni mail from Ulta Danga.

And it is not  just the years- all three cities are at least a hundred years old. And it is not South vs North India, I think. Delhi did not leave any such air to my memory.

Kolkata has a lot more baggage behind it. And I feel that time lagged a bit in Kolkata. And perhaps the immigrants. And poverty?

Amitav Ghosh's books  add to this mystery for me- stuff that is so unimaginable in Bangalore.

And even though I have heard of  a lot of similarities between Kerala and Bengal ( CPM, rice, fish, art films, high population density), I feel Kerala is outright too simple when compared to Bengal. Somehow.

I am actually a little afraid of Kolkata now. I plan to visit it sometime soon.

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Date:	2008-05-13 10:14
Subject:	Is it just me?
Security:	Public

1.  The Shiv Sena has claimed patent to Vada Pav , has renamed it as Shiv Vada Pav and has called for a cultural movement based on it. They also went on a rampage,  burning copies of Bombay Times and wrecking boards of Bombay Dyeing and the Bombay Scottish School, demanding all Bombays be changed to Mumbai.

Mumbai Dyeing. Whatta name.
They are soon gonna tear copies of RK Narayan's, demanding Bombay Anand Bhavan must be changed to Mumbai Anand Bhavan.

2. The Chattisgarh police arrested a Human rights activist under Anti-terrorist law- means no trials and all that. This guy is an old man, the "human rights" type, member of PUCL, is very terrorizing- the typical kind of guy these anti-terrorist laws are made to arrest.

3. If these are uneducated sillies' work, then the Right wing and libertarian think-tank mega bull shit Big Shots  of Desi Blogosphere have much more fun to offer. Some watched Tare Zameen Par, and found that the problem is "the stringent laws for starting new schools", and lesson of the movie is liberalizing the criteria for starting new schools- and once that is done, everything's gonna be fine and such movies wouldnt have to be made. Some others said Bush was actually praising India when he said Indians are eating too much- and the Indian media is so dumb that it did not get even that. Yet some others said this time the Rice-At-Two-Rupee guys are going to lose because the software yuppies are going to vote en masse. And some others castigated some Justice Kaul for letting some painter scot-free for the crime of painting at his leisure.

Mind you- all these are Mega Think Tanks, award winning people, and rightly got heavy coverage from the Desipundits.

Oh ma gawd, there's so much fun out there.

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Date:	2008-04-28 08:53
Subject:	A sixty year old lady
Security:	Public

Woah. Would you believe this? The lady in the above picture is sixty years old!

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Date:	2008-04-13 12:34
Subject:	Two links
Security:	Public

1. Politics and the English Language by Orwell

His rules for good writing:

   1. Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.
   2. Never use a long word where a short one will do.
   3. If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
   4. Never use the passive where you can use the active.
   5. Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.
   6. Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.

2.  The Emerging Mind by V Ramachandran

When I read the first two chapter of this lecture in book form, while in a Train, I found my heart beating faster, and my hands sweating a little more than normal. It did not create the same sensation to all three of my friends to whom I recommended this book, but two of them found it very interesting and informative, while the third one felt slightly bad after reading it. For a reason - I think - that is similar to that expressed in a letter Dawkins got from a reader of Selfish Gene:

"Fascinating, but at times I wish I could unread it.. [..], I largely blame The Selfish Gene for a series of bouts of depression I suffered from for more than a decade.... this book just blew away any vague ideas I had along these [spiritual] lines.. This created quite a strong personal crisis for me some years ago.. "

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Date:	2008-04-13 12:30
Subject:	Some notes after reading the first chapter of Selfish Gene
Security:	Public

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Date:	2008-04-02 19:08
Subject:	Recco
Security:	Public

Two books I read this year and that I recommend:

The Hungry Tide by Amitav Ghosh
The curious incident of the dog in the night time- by Mark Haddon

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Date:	2008-04-02 19:03
Subject:	What I wrote before I went for an exam sitting in a park
Security:	Public

The Domlur park has the power to make anybody optimistic and fill them with joy. In the ten odd times I've come here- in the mornings and the evenings, I cannot think of a single gloomy time I've had here. The place is green and always sunny. A major part of the park is of course a lawn- well cut and well maintained. There are occasional shrubs and hedges here and there- that too well maintained.

From where I sit, this park bench, I can see till the other end of the park, where it abuts the road, trees lining the boundary. If one takes a top view of the park, it will turn up as a circle- with a strong green boundary of trees and the tender green of the lawns inside.

I can see dragon flies hovering around. There are lots of them. The shrubs are kind of exotic and reminds me of the pictures of the Creek park in Dubai. In the tender leaves of the hedges, glistening in the early sun, I can see a lone stalk sprouted up. The rest of the hedge's surface -well leveled - makes me wonder, why only this branch?

There are walkways around and across the park. And towards the middle of the diagonal walkways across, there is a small pond and a hexagonal, open cabin. There is no water in the pond and the cabin is dark green in colour. Along the sides of some walkways, there are short hedges, which appear as very original to me as they are not the usual hedges in other parks.

There are all sorts of people walking and jogging along the walkways- men and women, old and young, professionals and homemakers. The park always gets sunlight, its lawn is tender green, there is energy all over- in the forms of dragon flies and the health conscious people, in the form of the soft wind and the flowers and the leaves that fall down. And unlike many other parks in bangalore I am not hunted by mosquitos.

There is a rose flower tree I can see, and I ask myself to find out it's name. The flowers do not strike me as much as the Gulmohar do, yet it makes me happy.

Enough of the interval, let me go for TOEFL.

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Date:	2008-03-31 18:31
Subject:	Self self and more self
Security:	Public
Mood:	hungry

Right now, the only thing I look forward to doing after going home is the 150 bucks second hand hard cover copy of  "Travels with Charley" by John Steinbeck I had picked up at blossoms. I have no clues abt his other writings, but like all "great writers", his too must be some kinda mix of sadness and happiness. But he did his road "travels with Charley" ( 10k miles across america) when he was 60, and when he knew he was about to die ( according to his son). May be because of that- may be he felt that he wanted to offer some pills for the masses before he died- I cant be sure of course- I feel this book is written as the ideal fix for the gloomy minded self inclined "Fucking Life Theorist".

Unlike Pirsig, Steinbeck dont want to "ponder over" or "discuss with self" while traveling. He actually wants to reduce this bullshitting called "discussions with self while driving" and all associated gloominess and so he is hellbent on seeing and hearing and observing what is happening on his way, thus distracting himself from the "self". He occasionally gets those fits of  "i felt so miserable and gloomy that i just wanted to crawl into a plastic bag and die", yet things get better with the weather and the Next Morning.

His writing is preachy; the kinds of preachings that brings a smile and lightens the heart . He says that he is proud to be a married to someone who likes a Man and not  an Elderly Baby. He says "I have always lived violently, drunk hugely, eaten too much or not at all, slept around the clock or missed two nights of sleeping, worked too hard and too long in glory, or slobbed for a time in utter laziness. I've lifted, pulled, chopped, climbed, made love with joy and taken my hangovers as a consequence, not as a punishment". He goes into nostalgia and fits of related mournings ("the food you get by the drop of a coin, untouched and tasteless" and all that), which he signs of by saying - " the olden times where not that golden after all, the handmade food was rarely *that* tasty, the  non-pasteurized  milk was full of bacteria and people just died of unknown causes" and "it is futile to stop some kinds of changes. it is better not to try to stop it and end up in the loosing side". He discusses Grand Theories with Charley ( a poodle, what else!) receiving just bored growls in reply. The writing brims with optimism and fun.

I am just halfway down the book. I dont want to finish it- I just want to keep it as an anti-depressant :-) But I recommend this book to all of you.

Then, Nandi Hills was an Alien Land at the final two hundred feet. We drove along the wineyards and watching those potato farmers working at 8 AM in the morning, expecting just a pleasant hill station- till we were at 1.4k MSL, just to see that in the next 100 m- the sky became dark gray, with strong winds, a slight drizzle and a fog that reduced the visibility to 5 feet. I could not see what is around me, so I just kept on walking along the walkaways between the roads, with small flowers and green grass on the way, to be lead to the Guest house ( Nehru nilaya) at the top. And I found a laterine with an indian style closet near the "tippu's lodge" ( ASI's protected monument), so I think so many people occupied the "lodge" in the last 200 years and it is not what it used to be, 200 years back. Nandi hills is a secluded place, even more secured by the fort walls, so I think it is the perfect place for coochie-cooing :-) There were so many couples around, and think it is one of the ultimate lands of freedom in and around bangalore.

Bannerghatta National Park is a forest aimed at the consumer. The mini-zoo has a decent (and neat )collection of birds and snakes. The butterfly park was a disappointment, and I could see a lot of money spent there, and the gardens beautifully kept. But the butterflies were so short in number and diversity ( compared to what I've seen at the NITC valley and at Karainji lake, Mysore). The best part of the short-trip to BNP was the 50 rupee meal at Jungle Lodges. The dining hall was half open-air, and one can see  hills  just near the horizon all around (except at the back :), with a small town at its foothills, and green grass and rocks in between. Gray skies and cold winds. Breathtaking is the adjective. And about the animals kept in secluded cages forests, the less said the better.

Yercaud was ruined by my high expectations. It is a "cold hill station" for the mainland Tamils, but for those who from the deccan plateau (at 900+  MSL), it was just every other day. It was not the sleepy tourist town, it was not the unpolluted ooty, it was a small town with a good climate and a small lake. From Ladies seat you can see a very red sunset and the Salem town downhill, and when it gets dark the lights down there appear majestic. But the monkeys were aplenty and were without aplomb, and people scaring them away or  giving them pop-corn has  made staying at Lady's seat after 7 PM a little risky.

About the rest- Calicut mornings are simple and fresh and beautiful as ever-  about the rest of the time in the city, again, "the less said the better" ( clue keywords- perverted, girl_with_me etc:). Nothing much about the  bike trip (pillion-ride) to Devarayanadurga- except the discussions with self about "India's bright future "- caused by the sprawling toll highway of NH-4 ( to Pune). And the mustache like skin-burn i got since I found my lips dried by the wind during the 100+ kmph ride  and my constant attempts at keeping it wet by licking :))

ETS sucks. All they want is money. A month past the GRE, 16 days after TOEFL. No official reports yet.

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Date:	2008-02-01 14:43
Subject:	appreciation- first time ( more to come ? )
Security:	Public

today i went to a young lady i've never seen before,with a light brown top and black skirt - with  twists and turns and cuts here and there, in angles etc, slightly revealing but very beautifully fitting to her- and told her- "excuse me madam",  (she said, with a smile, "yes?"), i told- "your dress looks very pretty" ( her smile became very large and she said- "thaaank you"). i said, bye, then turned and walked away (rather awkwardly :( ).

cant stop thinking abt it ( and smiling ). think they will tag me as a loony and ask me to vacate this cabin if i keep on smiling like this.

but i dont know her name ( or anything else abt her ).. feeling bad thinking abt it... :(

cant stop smiling

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Date:	2008-02-01 11:45
Subject:	Planning some parts of a daily diet: some vital ideas ;-)
Security:	Public
Location:	office
Mood:	and jobless
Tags:	nothing_much

Take it [the tea] outside with the papers, or to a windowsill somewhere, hold it between both palms, close to your gut. Watch the loopy fingers of December reach down and lick their lips, hover at the rim. Stand on tip-toe for a moment, shut your eyes for a moment. Allow the morning to taste it before your do. Take a sip. Find your own pace, here on.
Annie Zaidi, A Recipe for January mornings

In The Sign of Four, Dr Watson and Holmes does an all-nighter at Pondicherry Lodge, and while this made Holmes shed out all the dreariness that plagued his morning, Watson was completely fatigued by the all-nighter.

"A bath at Baker Street and a complete change freshened me up wonderfully. When I came down to our room I found the breakfast laid and Holmes pouring out the coffee. "Here it is," said he, laughing and pointing to an open newspaper. "The energetic Jones and the ubiquitous reporter have fixed it up between them. But you have had enough of the case. Better have your ham[1] and eggs first." "
Doyle, Arthur Conan. The Sign of Four 

TGFI does used to do all nighters and the next day:

A refreshing shower, a hearty, caffeine laced breakfast, and I was ready to get back to work myself, all charged up. I functioned fine in the day, as long as some more caffeine and lots of water were consumed. TGFI,Of one night stands and jerks

Of course, in The Sign of Four, Holmes does a few more continuous night-outs, and like any human being, gets slightly worn down. One day, Watson finds him doing some kinds of chemistry experiments - the end product of which almost forced him out of the house. The next day, holmes is all energy, found out all the vital clues, and almost solved the case. Later, he tells Watson about this:

"Well, I gave my mind a thorough rest by plunging into a chemical analysis. One of our greatest statesmen has said that a change of work is the best rest. So it is. When I had succeeded in dissolving the hydrocarbon which I was at work at, I came back to our problem of the Sholtos, and thought the whole matter out again.[..]" Doyle, Arthur Conan. The Sign of Four

Well, I think that is gross ( getting rid of the weariness of a few days of night-outs by doing a change of job, and not a day's continuous sleep!), but, though I hate to believe it, Holmes is fictional. 

[1] Hams for breakfast here is slightly out of question

 

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Date:	2008-01-07 14:50
Subject:	site prob
Security:	Public

The IRCTC site sucks.  15 times in total in the last one week- my attempts to book a ticket for a date which comes one and a half month later. The "Connection error out" sth sth error comes up after the first five 4 steps or so. Ugh. Think the tickets will be over soon. Bledy Indians.

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Date:	2007-10-11 11:54
Subject:	Trail 1/3rd complete
Security:	Public
Location:	Thrissur
Tags:	travel

When I  get interested in something,I will tell myself(like everybody else): I want to do it. And after a few days/weeks/months, the interest will slowly wither away. So when I told sajith that I want to follow Thayat's trail, while I meant it 100%, I did not have any specific plans in my mind. It was just going to be another passing interest.

But somehow, things worked out strangely ( I learned to read basic Tamizh, I got interested in South Indian history (havent learnt much though), and read a few articles about Kannagi, esp this one, where one saayippu is following the trail of Kannagi to find out the impact of the story in the present tamilnadu, and more than anything -- I got a tamil girl as my secret crush :)), and I found out I wanted to do it. At least as much as I can ( Thayat traveled for about 20 days + 10 days or so in Kodai). And I realized I can do it. I had more than enough leaves, quite enough money ( the comparison is with Thayat-- who was paid (albeit meagerly) by NBS for the trip, and who traveled by bus, unreserved-- and not Outlook Traveler). So the stage was set.

And I did it :). I went to Chennai, Mamallapuram, Thiruchi ( Rockfort Temple), Srirangam, Thanjavoor, Madurai, Rameswaram -- all alone by myself ( Ohk I stayed with a friend in Chennai ).  The trip lasted five days. I still cant believe it that I made it. I the introvert, who hates to open the mouth to ask help from strangers, who is full of strange complexes, who gets irritated if the AC is off ( I am going to Tamilnadu from Blore hehe), if the time is noon and for absolutely no reason. I who never in my life stayed in a lodge alone. And I am an atheist -- five days of temple temple with no bhakthi means there is plenty of reasons to be bored. And to get irritated.

And the best part is, I enjoyed all of it. Ohk I got irritated during the train journey from Palani to Palakkad (metre guage!!), and when I realized that I forgot to visit the Grand Anikat dam (kallanai- built by some cholan dude), and when I realized that I cannot visit Dhanushkodi ( I was most thrilled about this). And when I had to face the dirt and  the stink in Rameswaram. But what the hell, I loved most part of it, and I am SOO thrilled and proud of myself :))

I've uploaded some of the pics in flickr ( link ). Do take a look...!!

So the Tamilnadu part of the trail is over. Karnataka and AP remains!

( I had not told a word about all this to my parents. Whenever they called, I told I am in office, I am busy etc. Yday I told them that all was a lie, and they did not mind it!!! They just laughed. Seems they too became proud of me... ambada njaane!! )

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Date:	2006-11-01 03:18
Subject:	(no subject)
Security:	Public

These days I am feeling that other people are too silly and are leading a silly life.Especially when I come to Kerala. "Ordinary" things seems silly to me.Like a girl getting married to a Carpenter fully ( and happily) knowing that she's going to be a "housewife" for life,taking care of her husband,his parents and their children and with not much of possibility of going outside their hometown even for short visits forget about settling elsewhere. How is she able to think like that? What must be her thoughts and dreams about life? Wont she have fears of getting bored sooner or later? The insecurity of living with someone who is possibly a chauvinist (like a good percentage of males in Kerala),a patriarchial joint family, an alcoholic husband etc?

Come to my feelings. I cant make up my mind about a fixed girl,a fixed job,a fixed career,a fixed home, a fixed anything. Nothing seems to be of satisfaction to me (except the fixed girl thing,where my experiances are limited). Reading Feynman's Lectures Vol 1 first few chapters made me feel like if I dont know all these,I am terrible. Same with Penrose's Emperor's new mind.I should be taking up higher studies in something technical. But the pace at which I feel these career switches...Ok I've more or less made up my mind about higher studies in tech but when it comes to focusing and specializations I am at ground zero once again.

May be it would have been better if I was able to think and live like ordinary human beings I can see around my home. Without all these intellectual (pseudo or otherwise) crap and big big things outta my mind. With a reasonable belief in god and vazhipaadus and such stuff. Consideting putting up pookkalams for Onam and bursting crackers for Vishu as "celebrations" and "meaningful stuff".

And I get bored with places so often.Thrissur,Calicut,Calcutta,Bangalore. Yeah of course I've never got a chance to "enjoy" a place; cuz I've always been under alienation.

May be that's the reason. May be life's not as bad if one doesnt live in such alienation. Hmm. May be life could even be a song if...

;-)

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Date:	2006-10-24 15:33
Subject:	Crap is crap,whats the big deal?
Security:	Public

I believe I am an explorer. Many reasons may be suggested; lazyness could be the easiest and most satisfying one. No problems.

While I try to see "The meaning and purpose of Life?" as a "pure metaphysical question" and I being a believer in the materialist reality I should "reject" this question and live my life, the question crops up now and then. I thought a bit and reached somewhere only to be informed that my "somewhere" is not much of a new idea and an already existing concept called "hedonism" is pretty similar to my "somewhere". Hedonism cant be the purpose of life for many reasons. These too have been quite well thought about. Google will help. A search tag "Erich Fromm" too must help.

From Thali with De...

Life must be just an exploration. All other explanations are pretty boring.


What crap :-)

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Date:	2006-08-23 11:42
Subject:	(no subject)
Security:	Public

It has been ages since this blog ceased to reflect my mind.It has become more of a log of the silly things that happen in my life,the places I go etc. I have been kind of reluctant to write things close to my heart- whether good or bad- here. But this thing has been going in my mind for sometime, and after talking to a colleague who had similar thoughts when he was in my age but ended up somewhat disappointingly, I thought I'll write this down.

Life has become more aimless and reckless.When I was a child,I used to have career ambitions. Like-becoming a policeman,army man,minister,bank employee (not officer but the guy who used to sit in the cash.cashier he is,isn't it?),bus driver,the kili in the bus,scientist,actor,editor... The ambitions changed very frequently,but I had some ambitions anyway. Then the ambitions where from heart, those things where somethings I really enjoyed at those respective times. Gradually the ambitions changed to becoming a software engineer,having a settled and happy married life with a beautiful wife etc Think this was more from the desire to exhibit than from the desire to enjoy. Things again changed somewhat and the ambitions changed again-scientist,novelist,journalist,IAS/IFS,professor etc etc. Closer to heart,but quite unrealistic. Just dreams,not really ambitions. But who cares? I am just 21,but now I think I am growing pretty old to continue having those crazy career ambitions. May be I'll never be able to achive those big dreams but that doesnt forbid me from dreaming about those.But its time I got realistic. If I have to be someone, it is almost time to decide. Which of course I really cannot. I still want to day dream around the careers. I am unable to finalize on one. I hate finalizing on something, cuz nothing is perfect (especially if no career is sufficiently close to your heart) that makes me depressed about about the lost choices. My ambitions continue to change all the time,so if I finalize on something...?

I desperately like to know what goes in ones mind and how a person finalizes on what he wants to be- by choice;not because he has to.Ok what I want to know is more like- what should go in ones mind and how a person should finalize on what he wants to be so that he doesnt get disappointed later. (I would also like to know what goes in the mind of someone when he chooses his partner for life-but that's quite a different topic altogether).

Ok, now I am just 21 and have all those dreams about great and successful careers and life ahead. I still continue to believe that I can still make a radical career shift if I want to and there is still enough time. I believe I can play around with this job for 1-2 years and still do the radical shift, once I realize what I want to become. That when a good number of my friends are preparing for CAT/GRE/IAS quite frantically. They've decided on what they want to be.

But.

What made me choose science stream after 10th?Or Mechanical Engineering after 12th?Or IT/Software Engineering after B.Tech? Just a mindset to adhere to statusquo, having no interest/guts to experiment with non-statusquoistic fields, parental pressure,laziness etc. I still continue to have all those things around me and in all probabilities I would end up in a statusquoistic "good life". Having a job in which I am not really interested in but pays well regularly ,a wife in which I am not really interested in (a good probability if one goes for arranged marriage) but is quite beautiful and everyone will say what a good life this guy is having. How happy and contented and beautiful this couple is. Blah.

As of now, the thing that's most close to my heart is- I just want to be a traveller. A traveller who travels around places he likes, places he enjoys being in, who takes pictures and who writes on those experiences. Quite a lazy one, who travels according to his whims. I want to be one like that only if it resembles the pretty romantic picture I have in my mind. Unrealistic and unlikely to happen. But what the hell. Holden wanted to be the catcher in the rye. I don't think he would have ended up being one.

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Date:	2006-08-22 09:19
Subject:	(no subject)
Security:	Public

Wow.What a morning.Bathed (accidentally) in some un-heated water (which is so cold here) after a long time. Left home at 7.30 for no reason,walked to office (facing the breeze) to reach there by 8.Had a crazy breakfast-a fruit bowl and apple shake;walked around the office surroundings enjoying the breeze,and got into office by 8.45.Checked mails and blogroll,and now its time to start the boring work :-(( But how can I do that...Dont feel like killing this early morning...Feeling so lazy and happy and tensed- that when I think abt work.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
But the woods are a bit too lovely, a bit too dark and a bit too deep.
And the promises are a bit too much to keep...

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Date:	2006-08-16 10:32
Subject:	(no subject)
Security:	Public

Oh man I am going to update this thing.

Has been "working" for this company for almost 2 months now;though I have done nothing worth calling "work".And I havent really found out much about the work I am supposed to do in the coming months,and I have almost nil interest in finding out that.For now,I come to office very early,after this long walk along Wind Tunnel Road and all,and browse/chat/dream till noon,then walk to Kerala Pavillion and returns to the cabin at abt 2,starts browsing again which continues till 6 or later and then this long walk again,back home.

Ok I cant call it home cuz its my friends home.I mean,it has been rented by my friends,I am staying there temporarily,till I find a house.I havent really settled down after coming to Bangalore.

Oh I havent told u that I am in Bangalore right now.Yeah I was transferred from Calcutta to Bangalore some two weeks back.I now work from EGL near Domlur.Work means-my office is there,doesnt mean that I do some "work" and all.

Bangalore has been great,the climate is great,and food is way better than Calcutta.Oh sorry.I had almost stopped taking food in Calcutta.I no more used to have this thing called appettite,and I lost 6 kg in 1.5 months in Calcutta.Cant really claim I lost 6 kg,I can just say that when I left Calcutta,the weighing machine showed 6 kg less than what another machine in trichur had shown some 1.5 months back.Zero error and least count of those machines-who knows.

And finding out a home in Bangalore has been a pain for lazy soul like me;I am settling for a small house near Airport Road-not a good deal or anything but I dont really care.I look forward to long walks to/from office and all.

Yeah,I went for the Collective Chaos (of which I knew from the posts of Sajith and Ratheesh) screening of this Italian film whose name I dont really remember.Let me check that out from the CC website. Yeah,La Dolce Vita's the name.Good movie;I didnt feel much bored and all,though I didnt really take the ending.I mean,I didnt know that the ending was ending untill it was wrote on the screen.yeah they didnt write "The End" or anything;they just wrote the directors name and all such stuff.I havent become a member of CC yet,they said I can do that in their next screening which is Kurasova's "Dreams".

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Date:	2006-07-10 18:48
Subject:	Some more silly update.
Security:	Public

Hi,

I am not very sure of this but I was thinking that it must have been named after the Lappierre book City of Joy.( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_of_Joy ).Calcutta is also famous for the festivals and may be that also could have counted.Thats just a guess.

As I had written elsewhere,Kolkata and Salt Lake are absolute antonyms as far as standard of life and the people are concerned.Proper Kolkata is supposed to be really poor and crowded(especially cuz of the immigrants from Bangladesh n of course like any metro city,from other parts of the country),much like the rest of West Bengal(which has the highest pop. density in the country).I havent really ventured into the crowded parts yet.May be except for the market near howrah bridge about which I had written in the blog.

Most people I have met understands Hindi,so I havent learned more than 3-4 Bengali words.Hindi- i am kind of improving.

I havent read newspaper except for 1-2 days after coming here.The Statesman is supposed to be the better one among the lot which also comprises of TOI and Telegraph.Hindu is not available in newstands but I think one can make special arrangements to get it towards evening(flown in from Chennai).

Yep,I want to look around.But after 6 day morn 2 night training,and with sunday a perfect holiday(even for the metro,for which its a half holiday)....

I havent really settled down here the way I would like to be.Staying as a paying guest,which gives me a bed's space in the whole house.Food is a real mess,but since I am very flexible with it,still managing somewhat.

Dont have enough knowledge to comment on it yet,but I believe the manorama version on bengal-cpm is more right than the deshabhimani version.And 30 years of CPM rule hasnt really made it a paradise as desh.. claims it 2 be.

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Date:	2006-07-03 20:17
Subject:	Nothing,absolutely no subject at all.
Security:	Public
Location:	Salt Lake,WB
Mood:	dunno
Music:	a faint sound of AC in an otherwise dead silent office

Oh man.Its been more than two weeks ever since I set foot in Dumdum.Two weeks.Not much of a time to have a significant change in life.But of course,life progresses through evolution and revolution;gradual changes and sudden changes and surely the last two weeks will fall in the second category,especially when considering the monotonous little life I have been living.

Bah.Its not that I have changed.A lot of complexes and fears gave way.Thats all.And luxury and its antonym (former from morn to evening and while sleeping ,and the later during the rest of the time.),formality,English,lonelyness etc has become more familiar.And seems I have grown a bit brave as well.

Crazyness.Whats that.Arent all of us somewhat crazy?If someone feels different from the average,is he crazy?I dont know.When I had to come to Kolkata,I hoped that I will be able to see around the place,its landmarks,its people and how the 30 odd year left rule has changed the place and stuff.Two weeks down the line,what has I achieved?No one wants to come around and see Kolkata.They just label it as "gandgi" Kolkata.Howrah bridge.How many times we must have come across that picture?I wanted to go there.No one will come along with me.Yes,Howrah is crowded and is dirty.Lets go to the City Center mall.

Not that i hate hanging out/malls/luxury or love to see poverty and gandgi.But I just want to explore.

All this was keeping me away from travelling to and around Kolkata.But yday,I felt this sudden crazy idea to take a 71 alone and go to Howrah.Some Bengali songs was being played in the FM radio the bus had.Nice tunes some had,and since I usually listen to the music without noticing much of the lyrics (habit),it was interesting.Got down at Howrah station.Moved around a bit,went across the bridge,stayed in its midway pondering at Hoogly and the occational boats (small and big) moving along and whatever I could see at the banks(which was not much lighted cuz it was Sunday which is a pakka holiday here).Yep,a breeze was there.And could see vehicles moving along Vidyasagar Sethu.Went down the bridge at its begining where there is the "gandgi" market.Ohh.They were selling under candle light.What dirty smell.And not much surprised to see that they were smelling flowers over there.The mix of dirt and flowers.Not much of an irony for the City of Joy.

But my visit of course brought the comment "kya aadmi hein.." from my clean friends who hate gandgi Kolkata.Crazy,me.

Esplanade.But this wasnt the Esplanade I expected.The Esplanade/Nariman Point/Connaught place relation that I heard in some Mallu film dialog.Well,it wasnt that crowded.

Yes,metro rocks.Especially to learn that it has been there for over twenty years.A feeling like..."Do we Indians deserve such luxury?" was in my mind then.Well,it was quite crowded and still thats luxury by Indian standards.Hope they will build a metro to Salt Lake.

Hmm.Hope I will find out more of Kolkata.And some day I'll go to Sundarbans.Darjeeling and Gangtok are also in the (distant) dreams.But how,after this 6 day a week training?

And there is also a probability that I'll be moving from Kolkata to somewhere closer home before I get to do what I want to.Not that I dont want to move away,but...

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