Yesterday, there was an announcement - a company wide mass mail. Since there was prediction of heavy rain in Bangalore, the company buses would leave early. 6 o'clock buses started at 4:30, and others, correspondingly early.
In fact throughout the day weather was so cool that nobody was in working mood. Ambling in the corridors and around lawns, having overly long lunch and coffee breaks, people were enjoying. Add to that, this announcement. It was very much like a paid holiday. Of course, I and a few others were working on till late in the night - I left for home at 11:45 pm.
That reminds me of a story one elderly friend of mine shared long back. Once while he was studying in a North Indian state, where there had been scanty rains over some years, there was heavy rain forecast - that people should be prepared. The news has stirred excitement and enthusiastic youth gathered and wanted to make preparations. They have certainly seen reports of floods in TV news, and they knew its effects. They wanted to protect their fellow beings from the flash floods that may attack their city. They went around all houses in their neighborhood and gave instructions - if there is heavy rain pack your belongings and go to terraces, wear light but warm clothes, hold children close to you - if your houses don't have terraces that protect from rain and flood, visit your friends' or relatives' places, especially those with roofed terraces. If still you face menacing water , just look around - we are arranging *boats* just in case! And it seems they actually brought a couple of boats from nearby lakes and kept them in street corners.
Towards the eventide, the sky grew dark and heavy with low-hovering clouds, the breeze turned into wind that raised dust on the roads, the roads quickly got cleared of people, children were huddled inside their homes - some of them peeping out of the windows, curious to see a storm filling their streets with water and the heroes undertaking rescue operations... Then it started.. large rain drops.. quickly wetting the roads, buildings and trees.. then it became louder.. forcefull gusts of wind.. hail-storm.. pebbles of ice pounding on the terraces and asbestos roofs.. fine smoke of dust that appeared with the initial showers is now absent.. ..the lovely rain-smell - especially the one that comes when it showers on parched clay - was soon forgotten ..potholes were getting filled with muddy water.. slender trees in houses and sides of the streets got bended because of wind and hail.. a sight hitherto unknown to most of the children.
Meanwhile the sun set unnoticed and darkness slowly engulfed the whole city (there was a precautionary power-cut).. the ponding sound of hail-storm, the chill of wind, the waving of trees looking like agitated wild beasts in darkness continued.. for a good half-an-hour.. then ending a long spell of hot and humid weather with a pleasant evening.
Yesterday in Bangalore also, the rain played 'phooey-phooey' to all our prepared-ness. Except some drizzles, there was no considerable rain till late in the night. After that, there was no rain at all!
Friday, October 28, 2005
Wednesday, October 26, 2005
Pondicherry
This beautiful town/city/state/Union Territory always manages to be in news. Like many other major cities of Tamilnadu, this place also is full of life and activity. Tea-kadais are seen everywhere, airing out aromas of tea and songs of Tamil Superstars. Temples old and new, colored and discolored, faces smeared with holy ash, chandanam and vermillion are as ubiquitous as in Tamilnadu.
Of course, a Pondy-ian may consider himself/herself 'different', but that is similar to people from Vijayawada considering thesmelves above the people of the rest of Andhra Pradesh.
The area around Aurobindo Ashram near the beach is very beautiful with straight clean roads, French style buildings. Rest of the place is just like the rest of Tamilnadu! Except a few French spellings at one or two places, what one can see are Tamil and English letters. A small caution, though: Spellings in Pondicherry can get really different. "Tiru Venkatachalapati" in rest of TN (India, for that matter) becomes "Tiru Vengadasselavady" - French influence, I was told.
In my numerous visits to Pondicherry, I could not hear any locals speak English or French - it is Tamil everywhere. In areas like Pillaichavady one can bump into French people. Of course, at these places other tourists who plan to go to Auroville (more on this in another post) can also be seen.
The recent news of Kanchi Seer's case being shifted "out of Tamilnadu" to Pondicherry has interested.
Pondicherry is as much out of Tamilnadu as Yanam is out of Andhra Pradesh. Population is fully Tamilian - at least 90%. Political parties are nearly same as in the "rest of Tamilnadu" - for example, in general elections, major Tamil political parties devise strategies that seem to suggest that they consider Pondicherry just as a part of Tamilnadu. There is a lot of exchange of people, goods, information etc. between Tamilnadu and Pondicherry. I have not seen any semblence of a border between the places.
I also read news reports that this shifting by SC is a setback to Jayalalitha. It may be a setback to Jayalalitha (which also is debatable), but it certainly is not a sign of victory for Sri Swamigal. Shifting the case to Karnataka or Kerala would have been better - it would have really meant shifing the case "out of Tamilnadu" - and might have ensured some bias is avoided in the trial. Shifting the case to Andhra Pradesh also might have been good. Best part would be to shift the case out of South India itself.
Of course, a Pondy-ian may consider himself/herself 'different', but that is similar to people from Vijayawada considering thesmelves above the people of the rest of Andhra Pradesh.
The area around Aurobindo Ashram near the beach is very beautiful with straight clean roads, French style buildings. Rest of the place is just like the rest of Tamilnadu! Except a few French spellings at one or two places, what one can see are Tamil and English letters. A small caution, though: Spellings in Pondicherry can get really different. "Tiru Venkatachalapati" in rest of TN (India, for that matter) becomes "Tiru Vengadasselavady" - French influence, I was told.
In my numerous visits to Pondicherry, I could not hear any locals speak English or French - it is Tamil everywhere. In areas like Pillaichavady one can bump into French people. Of course, at these places other tourists who plan to go to Auroville (more on this in another post) can also be seen.
The recent news of Kanchi Seer's case being shifted "out of Tamilnadu" to Pondicherry has interested.
Pondicherry is as much out of Tamilnadu as Yanam is out of Andhra Pradesh. Population is fully Tamilian - at least 90%. Political parties are nearly same as in the "rest of Tamilnadu" - for example, in general elections, major Tamil political parties devise strategies that seem to suggest that they consider Pondicherry just as a part of Tamilnadu. There is a lot of exchange of people, goods, information etc. between Tamilnadu and Pondicherry. I have not seen any semblence of a border between the places.
I also read news reports that this shifting by SC is a setback to Jayalalitha. It may be a setback to Jayalalitha (which also is debatable), but it certainly is not a sign of victory for Sri Swamigal. Shifting the case to Karnataka or Kerala would have been better - it would have really meant shifing the case "out of Tamilnadu" - and might have ensured some bias is avoided in the trial. Shifting the case to Andhra Pradesh also might have been good. Best part would be to shift the case out of South India itself.
Tuesday, October 18, 2005
My confession - a lie
I like one aspect of Christianity. Cofession.
A sin is cleared (at least partially) if the sinner confesses (am I right?). Of course, it is in Hinduism also and I am sure it is in all other religions in one form or another. "Prayaschittam" - repentence - is one form of atonement.
But one should not forget the subtle difference between crime and sin. Criminal should be punished and sinner should atone.
Lie can be both sin and crime.
Assuming that my lie is not a crime, I am confessing: I lied.
(Are you curious to know what the lie is? I wont tell.
If it is a sin, this partial confession would partially absolve me.. which is enough for me.
If it is a crime, confession is not enough, anyway.)
A sin is cleared (at least partially) if the sinner confesses (am I right?). Of course, it is in Hinduism also and I am sure it is in all other religions in one form or another. "Prayaschittam" - repentence - is one form of atonement.
But one should not forget the subtle difference between crime and sin. Criminal should be punished and sinner should atone.
Lie can be both sin and crime.
Assuming that my lie is not a crime, I am confessing: I lied.
(Are you curious to know what the lie is? I wont tell.
If it is a sin, this partial confession would partially absolve me.. which is enough for me.
If it is a crime, confession is not enough, anyway.)
Monday, October 17, 2005
Celebration of life
It is beyond descriptions, the overwhelmingly sweet feeling one gets when a little kid looks into one's eyes.
The shining limpid eyes, which the baby is still learning to fix on objects of interest, carry with them rays of pure love - the emotion that remains beyond all others. The freshness can only be described as being devine. The tender face, the little limbs, the sounds of the baby's breath and occassionally the voice, the whole aura of the baby... all these accompany the sweetest form of the celebration of life that God endows us with.
Yesterday and the day before, I grabbed a chance to revel in that celebration with Mahati - my daughter.
The shining limpid eyes, which the baby is still learning to fix on objects of interest, carry with them rays of pure love - the emotion that remains beyond all others. The freshness can only be described as being devine. The tender face, the little limbs, the sounds of the baby's breath and occassionally the voice, the whole aura of the baby... all these accompany the sweetest form of the celebration of life that God endows us with.
Yesterday and the day before, I grabbed a chance to revel in that celebration with Mahati - my daughter.
Thursday, October 13, 2005
An unusual morning and a usual day
Weather in Bangalore has been extremely lovely today. Early in the morning at 6:30 I woke up and found it to be too 'cool'. So I did the best thing one is supposed to do in such a weather.. muted all alarms and dozed off again (I generally employ an alarm clock, and my mobile phone's alarm and reminder - and regularly defeat all of them).
I forced myself out of the bed again at 9am and discovered it was raining.. the familiar pitter-patter.. The usual din of vehicles - most depressing of them being that of auto-rickshaws - was conspicuously absent. Once in a few minutes, only biggies - buses and lorries - were moving, giving the roads a look and feel of Bangalore ten years ago.
As I opened the front door, I saw the following things:
1. There was no Sun in the higher hemisphere of eastern sky - he was lost behind the clouds.
2. The clouds wore a pleasant light-peach color and didn't expose their contours - actually the rain drops obscured them.
3. The coconut tree in front of our house was wet throughout and the small tender coconuts were in their freshest looks.
4. A tall tree outside the opposte house was dripping and shivering in the breeze; my bike parked under it felt warm as its deep orange flowers fell on it - the color of the flowers earns the tree a sobriquet, "Flames of the forest"
5. Potholes on the road became little pools with numerous ripples created by rain drops.
6. What looked like tiny pearls studded on large emeralds were drops of mist on waxy leaves of a betel creeper safe from rain under the verandah roof.
7. One stem of a rose plant stooped into the rain from under the roof. Like an adventurous lass it was waving with joy - the newly opening yellow bud relflecting all its mirth, constantly patted by little rain drops.
8. Draped in warm woolens and a rain-coat, the toddler son of my landlord was being coaxed into his school cab.
What a pity - I have to go to work and slog throughout the day to prepare a couple of documents!!
I rushed through the inescapable rituals of brushing teeth, taking bath and finishing ablutions, prepared and gulped a light breakfast and washed it down with a cup of hot coffee.
Two kilometers from my home on the way to work, I got stuck in traffic jam.. and reached office two hours later..
Whatever mood you wake up, Hosur Road is a great equaliser!!
To reassign myself the role as spectator of nature's wonderful performance, I opened the window curtain near my corner office (yes, I do have a corner office - the south-east corner of a large floor) and... got lost in work.
Now, as I try to look out of the window, it is dark and nothing is visible - it is already 11 pm in the night!!
I forced myself out of the bed again at 9am and discovered it was raining.. the familiar pitter-patter.. The usual din of vehicles - most depressing of them being that of auto-rickshaws - was conspicuously absent. Once in a few minutes, only biggies - buses and lorries - were moving, giving the roads a look and feel of Bangalore ten years ago.
As I opened the front door, I saw the following things:
1. There was no Sun in the higher hemisphere of eastern sky - he was lost behind the clouds.
2. The clouds wore a pleasant light-peach color and didn't expose their contours - actually the rain drops obscured them.
3. The coconut tree in front of our house was wet throughout and the small tender coconuts were in their freshest looks.
4. A tall tree outside the opposte house was dripping and shivering in the breeze; my bike parked under it felt warm as its deep orange flowers fell on it - the color of the flowers earns the tree a sobriquet, "Flames of the forest"
5. Potholes on the road became little pools with numerous ripples created by rain drops.
6. What looked like tiny pearls studded on large emeralds were drops of mist on waxy leaves of a betel creeper safe from rain under the verandah roof.
7. One stem of a rose plant stooped into the rain from under the roof. Like an adventurous lass it was waving with joy - the newly opening yellow bud relflecting all its mirth, constantly patted by little rain drops.
8. Draped in warm woolens and a rain-coat, the toddler son of my landlord was being coaxed into his school cab.
What a pity - I have to go to work and slog throughout the day to prepare a couple of documents!!
I rushed through the inescapable rituals of brushing teeth, taking bath and finishing ablutions, prepared and gulped a light breakfast and washed it down with a cup of hot coffee.
Two kilometers from my home on the way to work, I got stuck in traffic jam.. and reached office two hours later..
Whatever mood you wake up, Hosur Road is a great equaliser!!
To reassign myself the role as spectator of nature's wonderful performance, I opened the window curtain near my corner office (yes, I do have a corner office - the south-east corner of a large floor) and... got lost in work.
Now, as I try to look out of the window, it is dark and nothing is visible - it is already 11 pm in the night!!
Tuesday, October 11, 2005
Tough question
An enterprising student - a final year undergraduate of Electrical and Electronics Engineering in a well known college of Andhra Pradesh - has just presented me with a tough question.
I would have been very happy had she asked me some interesting problem on power electronics like equivalent circuit modelling. I would have been happier had she posed me a question or two from semiconductor electronics. Happiest would I have been, had she bombarded me with questions on electical and electronic communications..
Of ocurse to all these questions my reply would have been not much different from the one I gave when an imposing elderly professor asked me in a non-exam setting in a premier institute during a demo we made on wireless applications, "what are the dependencies between the mobile mini-browser's capabilities and carrier/bearer technologies, if any?". I was glad that I replied the professor with complete confidence. And my reply was 'I don't know.'
But this girl shot a query from the most dreaded quiver - the one enterprising students start carrying towards the end of their undergraduate courses - the one on career planning!!
She asked, "Which way shall I go? Masters (MTech), or job?"
She is facing the same dilemma as I faced 7 years ago. In both our cases, the genesis of the problem is the job offer from Satyam Computer Services Ltd.
Less ambitious than Infosys, which is announcing plans of adding 20200 (you read it right) heads to their staff in the coming year, Satyam is also apparently staking its claims on the produce of numerous engineering colleges across the country.
In my case, the answer was obvious and clear - I didn't have the interest and stamina for crossing the GATE for MTech. That I nurtured dreams of belling the CAT for MBA but could not make it is a different story.
Ther is no ready answer for this girl. Not only eligible to think of MTech, she has already proved her merit in BE third year itself. She got a good percentile already in her first *trial* attempt at GATE - 98.9~ and a decent All India Rank of 256.
If you jump to the conclusion that answering this girl was also easy and that I told her to go ahead with MTech plans, you are wrong. It was not easy.
Assuming that the girl gets a better percentile in this years attempt at GATE, unless she joins a premier course in institutes like IITs and IISc, as she readies for graduating, she will again end up facing the same Wipro, Infosys, TCS, HCL, Satyam (may be, even in the same order) offering similar jobs with probably a better salary, which, considering inflation, works out to be nearly same. Add to that the "opportunity cost" of losing the salary for two years. It is a loss.
I would have considered the fact that MTech leaves a candidate with in-depth knowledge of a specialized subject and hence the candidate has a better chance of getting a job which is close to that subject and her heart. But the case of a dear friend of mine who studied Electronic Communications in the one and only IISc, presently working in J2EE technologies discouraged me from discussing in those lines.
While I was busy with these thoughts the girl put forth some more discussion points - obviously naive and typical of students who are enterprising but uninitiated to the vagaries of life.
Despite the complexity of the question, I spelt out the answer as a crisp and clear discourse. Summarised, the discourse reads: "You are poised to get a good percentile in your next attempt at GATE. Join the best institute in the best specialization available, for MTech. Concentrate on getting the best out of student life, especially from one of those hoary institutes where you will spend your two valuable years in. Have the aim of increasing your knowledge. Higher education will always be more satisfying."
I ended the speech with this famous line of RW Sockman, "The larger the island of knowledge, the longer the shoreline of wonder."
If one of the same Big 5 Indian companies find her at the end of two years, I am not to be blamed.
I would have been very happy had she asked me some interesting problem on power electronics like equivalent circuit modelling. I would have been happier had she posed me a question or two from semiconductor electronics. Happiest would I have been, had she bombarded me with questions on electical and electronic communications..
Of ocurse to all these questions my reply would have been not much different from the one I gave when an imposing elderly professor asked me in a non-exam setting in a premier institute during a demo we made on wireless applications, "what are the dependencies between the mobile mini-browser's capabilities and carrier/bearer technologies, if any?". I was glad that I replied the professor with complete confidence. And my reply was 'I don't know.'
But this girl shot a query from the most dreaded quiver - the one enterprising students start carrying towards the end of their undergraduate courses - the one on career planning!!
She asked, "Which way shall I go? Masters (MTech), or job?"
She is facing the same dilemma as I faced 7 years ago. In both our cases, the genesis of the problem is the job offer from Satyam Computer Services Ltd.
Less ambitious than Infosys, which is announcing plans of adding 20200 (you read it right) heads to their staff in the coming year, Satyam is also apparently staking its claims on the produce of numerous engineering colleges across the country.
In my case, the answer was obvious and clear - I didn't have the interest and stamina for crossing the GATE for MTech. That I nurtured dreams of belling the CAT for MBA but could not make it is a different story.
Ther is no ready answer for this girl. Not only eligible to think of MTech, she has already proved her merit in BE third year itself. She got a good percentile already in her first *trial* attempt at GATE - 98.9~ and a decent All India Rank of 256.
If you jump to the conclusion that answering this girl was also easy and that I told her to go ahead with MTech plans, you are wrong. It was not easy.
Assuming that the girl gets a better percentile in this years attempt at GATE, unless she joins a premier course in institutes like IITs and IISc, as she readies for graduating, she will again end up facing the same Wipro, Infosys, TCS, HCL, Satyam (may be, even in the same order) offering similar jobs with probably a better salary, which, considering inflation, works out to be nearly same. Add to that the "opportunity cost" of losing the salary for two years. It is a loss.
I would have considered the fact that MTech leaves a candidate with in-depth knowledge of a specialized subject and hence the candidate has a better chance of getting a job which is close to that subject and her heart. But the case of a dear friend of mine who studied Electronic Communications in the one and only IISc, presently working in J2EE technologies discouraged me from discussing in those lines.
While I was busy with these thoughts the girl put forth some more discussion points - obviously naive and typical of students who are enterprising but uninitiated to the vagaries of life.
Despite the complexity of the question, I spelt out the answer as a crisp and clear discourse. Summarised, the discourse reads: "You are poised to get a good percentile in your next attempt at GATE. Join the best institute in the best specialization available, for MTech. Concentrate on getting the best out of student life, especially from one of those hoary institutes where you will spend your two valuable years in. Have the aim of increasing your knowledge. Higher education will always be more satisfying."
I ended the speech with this famous line of RW Sockman, "The larger the island of knowledge, the longer the shoreline of wonder."
If one of the same Big 5 Indian companies find her at the end of two years, I am not to be blamed.
Monday, October 10, 2005
Venture of a Sunday afternoon..
Late in the afternoon on Sunday (Oct 9, 2005), four of us gathered - Kanth, Pavan, Ravi (Kanth's colleague) and I. While having lunch we decided to go out somewhere.
Makalidurga is too far to start at 3:15 pm. Cubban Park and Lalbagh didn't enthuse Ravi. He wouldn't be satisfied with anything less than climbing up and down an at-least-a-100-meter hill.
We had to decide fast and we did. On two bikes we started zooming off on the Hosur Road. The weather was excellent and the traffic was bearable. In less than one hour, we reached Anekal.
Kanth and I were on my bike and, as usual we started our endless discussions. The presence of 'residential layouts' on either side of the road leading to Anekal disturbed us. The place is beautiful with lush greenery, and the undulating meadows with trees and fields makes a great sight; and here we have people selling pieces of that paradise and people buying them - only to change the whole of it into concrete jungle in an unduely fast course of time.
Anekal is supposed to mean, "Village of Elephant" in Kannada. With man on rampage, occupying every bit of land, whither go the elephants?
Six years ago, once in a while, I remember reading news snippets like: "leopard hurts a village boy", "elephants destroy sugar-cane crop", etc. from these areas.. some time later there were news reports of leopards being caught and elephants being electrocuted.. now there is no such news.
Villagers had their families safe, and their crops completely to themselves.. and now they are aspiring for "greener pastures" - selling their agricultural lands for residential townships! They have a ready market in middlemen that tap the Bangalore techies (and their colleagues) growing in numbers by hundreds everyday.
We crossed Anekal and reached the road that leads to Muthyala Maduvu alias Pearl Valley. There was a family of monkeys, probably on their routine rounds. They were completely lost in their world and didn't even care to attack a gourd vendor at the corner. Well, we bought a deliciuos snack of keeras.
The weather was getting better by the minute.. On the way to Pearl Valley, as we cross the tiny village after Anekal, suddenly the world around turns serene, green, windy.. the plains develop more pronounced undulations.. and turn into ravines that were once homes of elephants and leopards!! Of course, at least part of that land has already been sold as farm resorts - man need not fear any beast now.
Towards the west Ravi spotted a spectacle of sun and clouds. From beyond the clouds, the Sun was reaching the mountains and meadows with his golden rays. The rain-washed emerald plains and lush trees frolicked in added glory and extra beauty as the God of thousand rays caressed them. A lamb or two from a flock in the ravines bleated to the shepherd's call.
The photographer in Ravi lept out and captured the scenery through his Fuji lens.
We proceeded to the Pearl Valley. What happened there?? Read in the next post on this (Adventure of a Sunday afternoon)
Makalidurga is too far to start at 3:15 pm. Cubban Park and Lalbagh didn't enthuse Ravi. He wouldn't be satisfied with anything less than climbing up and down an at-least-a-100-meter hill.
We had to decide fast and we did. On two bikes we started zooming off on the Hosur Road. The weather was excellent and the traffic was bearable. In less than one hour, we reached Anekal.
Kanth and I were on my bike and, as usual we started our endless discussions. The presence of 'residential layouts' on either side of the road leading to Anekal disturbed us. The place is beautiful with lush greenery, and the undulating meadows with trees and fields makes a great sight; and here we have people selling pieces of that paradise and people buying them - only to change the whole of it into concrete jungle in an unduely fast course of time.
Anekal is supposed to mean, "Village of Elephant" in Kannada. With man on rampage, occupying every bit of land, whither go the elephants?
Six years ago, once in a while, I remember reading news snippets like: "leopard hurts a village boy", "elephants destroy sugar-cane crop", etc. from these areas.. some time later there were news reports of leopards being caught and elephants being electrocuted.. now there is no such news.
Villagers had their families safe, and their crops completely to themselves.. and now they are aspiring for "greener pastures" - selling their agricultural lands for residential townships! They have a ready market in middlemen that tap the Bangalore techies (and their colleagues) growing in numbers by hundreds everyday.
We crossed Anekal and reached the road that leads to Muthyala Maduvu alias Pearl Valley. There was a family of monkeys, probably on their routine rounds. They were completely lost in their world and didn't even care to attack a gourd vendor at the corner. Well, we bought a deliciuos snack of keeras.
The weather was getting better by the minute.. On the way to Pearl Valley, as we cross the tiny village after Anekal, suddenly the world around turns serene, green, windy.. the plains develop more pronounced undulations.. and turn into ravines that were once homes of elephants and leopards!! Of course, at least part of that land has already been sold as farm resorts - man need not fear any beast now.
Towards the west Ravi spotted a spectacle of sun and clouds. From beyond the clouds, the Sun was reaching the mountains and meadows with his golden rays. The rain-washed emerald plains and lush trees frolicked in added glory and extra beauty as the God of thousand rays caressed them. A lamb or two from a flock in the ravines bleated to the shepherd's call.
The photographer in Ravi lept out and captured the scenery through his Fuji lens.
We proceeded to the Pearl Valley. What happened there?? Read in the next post on this (Adventure of a Sunday afternoon)
Saturday, October 08, 2005
Good day
I had a good day with my team members showing a lot of promise. They have increased my confidence.
Good omens (as described in The Alchemist)? I would certainly like to think so.
Catching up with work was never so happy as today.
Constantly running through my mind has been the thought of Mahati - I am away and have been longing to kill this 800 km distance. This morning I heard her voice over phone.
It is as if I am living someone else's life. Heart has hardened and it is not feeling any emotions... I have a lot of work to do, a lot to study. I need to start NOW to finish things on time.
Good omens (as described in The Alchemist)? I would certainly like to think so.
Catching up with work was never so happy as today.
Constantly running through my mind has been the thought of Mahati - I am away and have been longing to kill this 800 km distance. This morning I heard her voice over phone.
It is as if I am living someone else's life. Heart has hardened and it is not feeling any emotions... I have a lot of work to do, a lot to study. I need to start NOW to finish things on time.
Friday, October 07, 2005
Mysore
It was called Krounchapattanam and Mahishmatipuram in the epics.
The City of Palaces exudes a great charm. Everybody knows that. I became a fan of the city when I saw it the first time in December, 1996. I had a dream of making the city my home. Of course meanwhile I developed a deep emotional liking with Vizag also..
The last two sundays, I went to Mysore in the early mornings. Starting at 3 am in Bangalore, I reached Mysore by sun-rise. As one nears Mysore, the scenery around (especially in this rainy season) is the first thing that grabs attention. As one enters the city, the smells, sounds and scenes catch up.
In my case, the beautiful world around slowly revealing itself out of the night into early morning light, a lark fluttering and chirping away the mist-filled sky's night-long slumber, green fields and meadows with rain washed trees, fragrance of fresh air.. all these started filling my eyes and occupying my thoughts.
While I was in Mysore, I was spell-bound by the city's charm so much that I felt a nostalgic longing when I had to return in the evening. Everytime I return from Mysore, I get this feeling.
My destination was close to Chamundi Hill - in fact right 'behind' it - on the Nanjangud/Ooty road.
The air was chill and my auto was lumbering through the tree-lined roads. Soon it passed an over-pass. The road under was hosting what looked like a sunday market. I was surprized to see the market place buzzing with so many people. They all had woken up so early in the morning and are so actively trading in that lovely weather. I would be usually sleeping in such a time and such a weather, and even if I were awake, I would be enjoying, lazing in the bed or couch.
Through the trees, I could see the majestic Chamundi Hill easing itself out of the mist. Distant lights on the hill were still on. The far end of the hill was not visible, because of mist. The hill looked as if it was re-appearing out of a divine heavenly overnight disappearacne. I kept watching at the Hill, seat of one of the 18 (Ashtadasa) Shakthi Peethams (seats of the divine Goddess).
I went up the hill, more than 3 years ago. From atop the hill, one can see Mysore in its full beauty. A beautiful city, indeed. One can see the royal palaces, the race-course, temples, rows of houses, all in their eternal glory from a height and distance. The whole city looks as if a little princess arranged her toys - of houses, lakes and palaces - for playing.
Like most other cities of India, Mysore is also getting spoiled. People take things for granted whatever they have been given, even precious gifts of God. They way greenery is getting lost in Bangalore is a clear sign of this. The clay in Bangalore is fertile, even if one doesn't take special care plants flower and trees grow to large sizes. But people don't make use of it. Nobody seems to be interested in greenery. What more than a cluttered concrete house can a 30X40 plot accommodate? Mysore is getting spoiled in the lines of Bangalore. The city's skyline is one of the first casualties.
More on greenery, in another post.
The City of Palaces exudes a great charm. Everybody knows that. I became a fan of the city when I saw it the first time in December, 1996. I had a dream of making the city my home. Of course meanwhile I developed a deep emotional liking with Vizag also..
The last two sundays, I went to Mysore in the early mornings. Starting at 3 am in Bangalore, I reached Mysore by sun-rise. As one nears Mysore, the scenery around (especially in this rainy season) is the first thing that grabs attention. As one enters the city, the smells, sounds and scenes catch up.
In my case, the beautiful world around slowly revealing itself out of the night into early morning light, a lark fluttering and chirping away the mist-filled sky's night-long slumber, green fields and meadows with rain washed trees, fragrance of fresh air.. all these started filling my eyes and occupying my thoughts.
While I was in Mysore, I was spell-bound by the city's charm so much that I felt a nostalgic longing when I had to return in the evening. Everytime I return from Mysore, I get this feeling.
My destination was close to Chamundi Hill - in fact right 'behind' it - on the Nanjangud/Ooty road.
The air was chill and my auto was lumbering through the tree-lined roads. Soon it passed an over-pass. The road under was hosting what looked like a sunday market. I was surprized to see the market place buzzing with so many people. They all had woken up so early in the morning and are so actively trading in that lovely weather. I would be usually sleeping in such a time and such a weather, and even if I were awake, I would be enjoying, lazing in the bed or couch.
Through the trees, I could see the majestic Chamundi Hill easing itself out of the mist. Distant lights on the hill were still on. The far end of the hill was not visible, because of mist. The hill looked as if it was re-appearing out of a divine heavenly overnight disappearacne. I kept watching at the Hill, seat of one of the 18 (Ashtadasa) Shakthi Peethams (seats of the divine Goddess).
I went up the hill, more than 3 years ago. From atop the hill, one can see Mysore in its full beauty. A beautiful city, indeed. One can see the royal palaces, the race-course, temples, rows of houses, all in their eternal glory from a height and distance. The whole city looks as if a little princess arranged her toys - of houses, lakes and palaces - for playing.
Like most other cities of India, Mysore is also getting spoiled. People take things for granted whatever they have been given, even precious gifts of God. They way greenery is getting lost in Bangalore is a clear sign of this. The clay in Bangalore is fertile, even if one doesn't take special care plants flower and trees grow to large sizes. But people don't make use of it. Nobody seems to be interested in greenery. What more than a cluttered concrete house can a 30X40 plot accommodate? Mysore is getting spoiled in the lines of Bangalore. The city's skyline is one of the first casualties.
More on greenery, in another post.
Thursday, October 06, 2005
No work and no play
I was busy for two weeks. Working 24 hours a day.
Now I am back to usual 16-hour-a-day routine.
It feels as if I am having no work and no play.
No work because I am not really able to figure out how to do all that I am having. I am feeling as if I am a honey bee in a blooming garden. A closer comparison would be: "like a mosquito in a nudist colony." I know what to do, but don't know where to begin.
No play because with so much work, I cannot think of recreation.
Now I am back to usual 16-hour-a-day routine.
It feels as if I am having no work and no play.
No work because I am not really able to figure out how to do all that I am having. I am feeling as if I am a honey bee in a blooming garden. A closer comparison would be: "like a mosquito in a nudist colony." I know what to do, but don't know where to begin.
No play because with so much work, I cannot think of recreation.
Wednesday, October 05, 2005
Mahati
Hi...
This is the first time I am blogging. I signed up earlier, but never posted any stuff.
What is Mahati? I would like to know what YOU know about the word first.
This is the first time I am blogging. I signed up earlier, but never posted any stuff.
What is Mahati? I would like to know what YOU know about the word first.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
