The 100000th KM

THE 100000th KM

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That’s right – Chintu, our car has now completed 1 lakh kilometres. Oh ok – I know what you must be thinking, how can someone name a car? Well, having lived with us for so long has almost breathed a life into him and hence the idea of naming him didn’t sound too weird. In case you found the name to be funny, all credits to Sangz for having christened him that way. Anyways wouldn’t go into the details of that here.

Following is an excerpt of the coverage from The Planet Times (dated 9-Oct)
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CHINTU TURNS 1 LAKH
(Pune – 5th Oct 2008 )
In an exclusive interview to his “Master”, Chintu gets candid about all the trials he had to face in achieving this milestone and his appreciation for his “Master” without whose helping hands (and feet) this would never have been possible (obviously..). Here’s a first hand account of all that transpired.

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The date turned out to be 5th Oct 2008, when it was destined to “happen”. As I slipped into Chintu (hope am not sounding ‘horny’ here) I watched the kilometre reading display a proud 99998 and wondered how would that moment be when the last turn of the wheel would signal Chintu’s entry into the elite club of 1 lakh. Would the world stop and give a standing ovation to the man and his car for having achieved this? Would every car after that turn towards Chintu and bow in respect to acknowledge his great triumph?
I and Sangz had agreed before-hand that we would stop at that point in time and cut a cake in Chintu’s honour and needless to say, eat for him as well. We had gone shopping to Monginis the previous day to buy a strawberry cake which we felt and hoped that Chintu would approve of, needless to say to our eyes and tongue too. And we were all set to greet the day, the moment.
What follows here is a first hand conversation between Chintu and his “Master” –
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“So Chintu…it’s your big day today, eh? So how are you feeling?”
“Oh Master – haven’t slept all night, have been dreaming of this day, this moment in my life and cant believe I am alive to see this happen…and you know what Master, think I am doubly blessed…”
“And, why do you say that?”
“Oh – more than the 1 lakh thingy…I have always been hoping and praying that I should be in your arms when that happens”
“Yeah – thank god that Sangz here doesn’t know driving… (Master thinks) and that she doesn’t have such a wild imagination to be hearing our chat”
“So Chintu…what has it been like…your journey until now…anything exciting from the usual? And oh – by all means don’t be humble in your praises for me and your criticism for the other drivers, my bro included!!!”
“Oh Master – don’t think words would be enough to praise you – but then would make an attempt when it comes to that point…”
Chintu starts off…“You know I come from a small town called Kumbakonam in Tamil Nadu, my registration numbers says it all…don’t quite remember my first master as very soon after he purchased me I switched hands to the Randys’ (that’s short for the Ramachandrans’ – sounds cool, eh?)…do you remember Master it was you who actually came to Salem to pick me up along with two others and how you sat in the back seat thinking as to how you would be driving such a big car? (I used to be driving only an 800 until then)”
“Oh yeah yeah…sheesh, didn’t know that you had a spark of life in you then?”
“Oh – I always had a heart but it’s just that only you cared to hear it…and that’s why I have always called you ‘Master’”
“And hey Chintu…remember our first long distance drive to Guruvayoor from Mettur and that was the ultimate driving test for me complete with the night and the rains…and daddy was all so impressed when we reached Mettur that he gave me the certificate of “excellent driving”... and my bro is still craving for that?)…thanks to you Chintu”
“Oh Master – I always knew that there was a Schumacher in you…heh heh”
“Chintooo…Schumacher is now history…I would rather prefer a Raikonnen here”
“Oh sure – sure, that’s what I meant”
“Oh how I remember your daddy driving me over Mettur and Salem with your mommy sitting in the front seat, think you had gone away to Chennai to work and that used to drive me nuts, used to miss you so much”
“Hey Chintu…lets not talk about my daddy here, you know there are more chances of him reading this than my bro”
“Oops sure”
“Yeah – hey just 1km to go now…it might happen within the next minute or so”
“Cant believe it…anyways can’t forget the days in Bangalore when I used to be tormented under you bro’s careless and reckless driving, you know almost half of me has been replaced because of his “$%^& driving…I mean you can understand having an accident once or twice, but he was the limit”
“Yep – as they say an error committed more than once turns into a blunder”
“Yeah – sometimes with a bus, sometimes with a cyclist and once even when your daddy was around, he had my side mirror ripped off during an overtake and man that almost gave me the scare of my life, and you know what Master all those times I used to think where is my Master, where is my Master…but how did I know then that I would have to wait for a good two years for it to happen”
“And then the fateful day came – April 1st 2006 when you drove me from Bangalore to Chennai to make me a part of your life, I think I was around 60000 kms old then”
“Yeah – and that was the start of your good days”
“Master Master…I can feel it happening…I am changing…its like a new beginning of my life…its like having come to the end of the circle of life, or must I say beginning, a rebirth even…there it is for you to see…I am now 1000000 kms old”
Master stops Chintu by the side
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At this point both I and Sangz open up the cake decorated with the icing which read “Chintu 100000”, (the 10 had gone missing due to the road condition) and then time stood still as we cut the cake singing for Chintu. I didn’t know how to react and in that one fit of excitement I caught hold of the steering wheel and gave him a big hug.
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“So Chintu…that’s it, congratulations for having achieved the mark…its like a new start for you, how does it feel like?”
“Oh, thank you thank you (wiping the tears from his eyes)…I feel so new and energetic that I can live another 1 lakh kms, but then I know that may not happen”
“Hmm…its like we wishing for a second innings after having turned 100. (Master licks his hands smeared with cream) Umm…the cake is so yummy, wish you could join us in the feast buddy (all the time thinking otherwise)”
“So Chintu, any birthday wishes that you want me to fulfil - anything that you want as a gift?”
“Oh master – there is nothing that I wish or desire, you have given me everything that a car could wish for. You know all the other cars so damn wish that they belonged to you but I always quite them saying that I would never let that happen. You know that old Maruti 800 which is parked next to me in Golden Galaxy, man can you imagine that it is a 2001 make, a year younger to me and check out what it has become?”
“Thank you Chintu for all the nice words…don’t think I have the money to buy any more cars, not to talk of their maintenance –but is there something that you want?”
“Well Master, it’s not something big but then I really wish that you stop being such a nice guy and not overtake all those cars you fancy like CRV, Camerie, Volkswagen, etc”
(Master thinks “Man, what attitude? He is actually thinking that he is capable of overtaking all of them, they are way beyond our league”)
“Yeah Chintu, agree that I do have the hots for them, it just that I like seeing their backs rather than their fronts (oops hope that wasn’t cheesy again?)”
(Chintu sulks,” Guess that’s what the others must be thinking when I overtake them”)
“So Chintu, have you made any resolutions for the new life?”
“Oh yes, there is this one thing that I want to start doing. You know every time I overtake some car I have this bad habit of jeering and passing some comments, think that is an area that I would like to improve upon.”
“You mean to say improve or reduce it?”
“Well didn’t want to use the word increase.”
“Ahem, oh ok. So have you had any girlfriends? Any one for whom you have had the hots?”
“Not anyone really but then you know the SWIFT is kinda a rage amongst us. After all who else amongst the cars can boast of such a rounded back?”
“Ah, now I know why you always insist that I have you parked next to that SWIFT in the office, cheeky huh?”
“Oh that – it’s just that we are good friends and there is nothing more than that. Hope I am not sounding like a celebrity?”
“Well, you are one – at least for today and always for us”.
“So one last question, any tips for your fans on how they can achieve this important milestone in their own journeys?”
“Well let me see, regular visits to the service station for a health check every 5000 kms, intake of fuel at the right times and not at the reach of dehydration, coupled with daily workouts(even if it is for one km) and a bath every morning would be the perfect mantra to follow to reach where I am today.”
“Ahem - Chintu aren’t you forgetting something here?”
“And oh I almost forgot to mention - all the points that I mentioned are the steps to reach the goal. But what’s important is taking those steps which in my case would have been impossible without a Master like you…so it is also important to be gifted with good luck to have a Master like you”
“Oh, thank you Chintu for all the kind words. It has been a pleasure talking to you. You see we have just reached “Chokhi Dani” and so may need to park you here”
“Thank you Master for having gifted me this life and the pleasure has been mine”
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The LAST(ing) KM

The BAD BAD Boyzzzz...

They say that ‘EVIL glorifies good’ – how true? How vain would goodness be without the prevalence of EVIL? Good and BAD are like the parallel rail tracks which have to be always together to keep the journey alive but can and should possibly never meet.

Goodness could be termed as the absence of EVIL, just as day, the absence of night (all right, I twisted it a bit here). Just imagine a world without EVIL, man that would suck! All would be fine and so uneventful (call it boring even) and there would be no greater glory or spotlight on the concept of goodness, not to mention the endless queues outside the gates of heaven if stories are to be believed that good guys reach heaven and the BAD ones…well you know where?

To start with take our very own Gods of any faith, isn’t there at least one story or fable that we would have heard to describe their triumph over EVIL, in fact they say that EVIL was the prime motive and reason why we were gifted with incarnations (not to mention the countless wars in name of religion and caste that came with it as bonus).

Our very own Bollywood and Hollywood heroes would be nowhere without the 'BAD BOYS'. How else would they win the hoots and whistles of the audience for their class dialogues, kicks, punches – all aimed on our FRIENDS; and that too spot on (effortlessly) - and all that’s expected of the VILLIAN is to put up a smile, take a gracious bow and say a Thank you for all the blows and bruises– SHEESH and we are supposed to be staying in a world of equanimity?

I remember how me, my bro and dad would sit together and watch in awe as TOM and the WILE E COYOTE would go to world’s end and leave no stone unturned in trying to catch their adversaries (I feel ashamed to even mention their names here) – I mean the COYOTE must have had a lifetime contract with ACME in showcasing their products with each one being different and for all the efforts put in what would the result be? The Roadrunner with its irritating “Beep-Beep” would just go through all the hurdles and obstacles as if they never existed and when our friend tried the same, SNAP and you know the rest. I mean what a waste of creativity!!

But on the positive side of things, they are undisputedly the best teachers for accepting failures with grace – I mean what better testimony to the saying “Try and try and you will succeed”. Our BOYS never seem to need any backing. Every time we have seen them fall, all they do is get up, dust off their failures and then come back with an even better and meaner plot spiced up with loads of creativity and fireworks. What a contrast to the good guys who every time upon failure, need a girlfriend to smooch up their morale or someone like an Aunt Mary to cough up a lecture of pep-up words to get the man alive and kicking again (the audience would have fallen asleep by then listening to her).

Last Saturday, me and Sangz were watching “The Dark Knight” (Sangz hated me for that) – the scene where the JOKER comes into the room filled with Dons with his proposal to kill the Batman much to their boo’s. He wins their curiosity by banging a stump of pencil onto the table promising them to make it vanish and he does it in style by banging one of the guys head onto it. And then with all evil gory when he proclaims “POOF – its gone” we all know that he is here to stay. Wow – what an entry. He won over me that moment and my Orkut profile now shows that I am a proud member of his community.

But then the battle is not lost yet – goodness now seems to be losing its charm by seeing a couple of its prized members deserting camp and joining hands with The Bad – with the emergence of characters such as ARYAN and LANGDA TYAGEE the focus and attention seems to be slowly shifting. Evil rocks and in style. 'AAG' may have been a disaster but AB finally had his longtime dream fulfilled of walking the shoes of the legendary Gabbar Singh…and we thought that people always wanted to tread the path of goodness. J.K.Rowling definetly needed a VOLDEMORT as a motivation to write seven parts of the famed series.

Lets look at our lives for a moment – don’t we glorify ourselves in front of others by spinning out endless episodes from our daily work lives to describe the trials and tortures gifted by our ‘MAN IN THE CABIN’ and how we braved them et al (without a scratch) – I mean don’t we use the ‘BAD GUY’ for becoming the centre of a gathering in winning their awe (and sometimes even sympathy)?

So lets all hear it for them – for their endless motivation, for their creativity, wit, sarcasm, style, selflessness (in gifting all the fame to the heroes), and everything else that I might possibly think of after having published this post. When I first hit upon this subject, I didn’t think that I would get to writing about it - I mean if the Ramayana required paper measuring to the seven lands and the ink of the seven oceans how much more would stories of the evil require?

THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING…

{Kerala} П {Sri Lanka} П {Pondicherry} = GOA

Goa – the land of beaches, the land of undying fun, and the list goes on. But the thing which stood out to my eyes in Goa which I guess was beyond the obvious as am yet to find it in any of the write-ups on Goa (or probably because it just appealed to me – but then what the heck this is my space and I deserve the applaud) is the disciplined roads. When I say disciplined, I mean that they are well laid without any pot holes (at least on the stretches that we covered) and fun to drive on. But then more about that later…

Let me cut the usual story on why we decided on Goa (guess, it’s become a trademark way to begin all my writings and its time for some change) – so lets just assume that it had to be Goa and get going. We had decided to put tent at the Club Mahindra resort (some class, eh?) at Varca beach in South Goa. We had decided to get ourselves a re-tyre by forgetting our present boring lives for exactly 4 nights and 5 days.

The resort was a class of its own – the room that we were put up in was kinda old and didn’t match or expectation, but then it didn’t spoil our holiday mood or plans. We checked into the resort on a Friday morning and without wasting any precious moments hit the breakfast counter and then decided to explore the beach. The beach being a private one prevents the glare of the locals and hence attracted only the classy guys from the resort. We had a great time lapping & playing in the water; partially due to Sangz’s prodding and persuasion (as frankly I don’t fancy the water so much). We were in Goa during the monsoon season which is quite a lean period and free from the usual family crowd measuring hubby, biwi, bacha and bachi (and sometimes even granny and grandpa) – the perfect setting for the young couples such as us (young – underlined). The monsoon is quite funny in Goa where you get rains for about ten minutes and then its all bright and sunny for the next hour or so. Also the rains when they begin, feel soft and nice but after a point they turn into sharp needles trying to open up every skin pore available, especially if you are next to the beach. Thankfully on that day we were blessed with the first kind (guess, because of low winds) but then as the days progressed we were never blessed with that privilege.

We decided to chill at the resort on the first day – frankly the resort has lots to offer in terms of recreation. There’s a kids zone to start with where the highlight is the giant chess pawns and which promises to take care of your kids while you chill (frankly I think it’s a nice way to make you realise the pleasures of life minus kids), then there’s a colour factory (my favourite) where you can learn pottery and painting on ceramic stuff – tried my hand in designing a clock on a ceramic plate with my community logo and must say did a decent job (won the accolades from Sangz and that is testimony enough). Then there’s the usual stuff for indoor playing (like TT, carom, billiards, etc) but the highlight of the resort is the twin swimming pools and the gym cum spa, all of which I failed to try because (a) I don’t know how to swim, (b) the spa was expensive, and (c) who hits the gym when you are on a holiday?

Ok – enough of the resort, day 2 was dedicated to some exploring. We hitched a taxi for a day long sight seeing of some places that we had checked out on the web prior to leaving for Goa. One thing to highlight here is that the taxis are quite expensive (especially the ones outside the resort and this isin’t true only of Club Mahindra resort), partially due to some consensus reached by the driver’s union (which seems to be quite an influential one in Goa). The private taxis usually charge anything up to 1600 rupees for the first 6 hours and then an additional 100 rupees for every hour after that. Also in case of a night travel (after 7pm) they tend to charge extra. The cheap ones are the pre-paid taxis (the usual black and yellow ones) but then they don’t seem that functional in Goa except for transfers from airport or railway station. We also had the option to take the day long tour buses from Margaon (priced between 200 to 300 rupees per head) but then we had some problems in making advance reservations on them.

Goa (as you must have read quite often) is divided into two parts – north and south. While Panaji (or Panjim) is the centre for north, it is Margaon (40 kms from Panaji) for the south. Most of the trains towards Panaji pass through Margaon (believe its an important station on the Konkan Railways route) and the state airport is also mid way between Panaji and Margaon , thereby benefiting both sides. While North Goa is famous for its beaches, its in the south where most of the inland tourist attractions lie. Our itinerary was a potpourri of temples, churches, river cruise, forts and we managed to cover all of them during the day to our satisfaction.

We started out from Varca around 10am – the first stop was at Margaon (about 20 mins) famous for its Church of Holy Spirit (found this to be closed due to some strike). One would also hit upon the Nehru International cricket stadium and the Pepsi Bottling Company (how dumb!!) at Fatorda, about 10mins away from Margaon on the road to Panjim.

On the way from Margaon, we stopped by three temples, the Santha Durga temple at Ponde (so named as Durga is said to have mediated in a dispute between her hubby Shiva and Lord Vishnu, having established peace between the two she acquired this somewhat paradoxical title), the Sri Mangesh temple (temple of Lord Shiva – also famous as it resides in the native place of the Mangeskar sisters and the temple land is supposed to be donated by their daddy, the late Sri Deenanath Mangeshkar) and finally the Sri Mahalsa temple at Mandol (which is famous for the 35 feet deepdan). To be quite honest, we didn’t find any difference between the three – the temple layout comprising of the usual temple tank, a tower outside the temple entrance (much like the Leaning tower) and identical interiors. The only difference apart from the presiding deities was the colour schema chosen to paint the temples – they appeared quite funky for a temple.

Our next halt was at Old Goa (the state capital prior to Panjim) which houses the famous Basilica of Born Jesus which has been declared as a world heritage monument as the church houses the sacred relics of St. Francis Xavier of Assisi (the body still appears to be free of decay and this miraculous phenomenon continues to attract Lakhs of pilgrims). The church looks quite old (but impressive though) and think it’s high time that the government look at doing a renovation, given its title of world heritage monument.

All the above sites fall on the 40 km stretch between Margaon and Panjim with minimal deviation. We next entered the state capital which if I may describe in one word is simply “picturesque”. The city (which is the smallest capital city in India) is situated on the banks of the Mandovi temple offers a breath-taking view of the river-side activities upon your entry. There are these two huge bridges connecting the city to the Mumbai highway which have been built over the Mandovi and offer the visitor a sneak peep into what the city has to offer. On one side (which is the opposite to Panjim) of the Mandovi is situated the fishermen colony characterised by their neatly docked fishing boats and on the other (happening) side is where all the city buzz is. Besides the river side restaurants (Noah’s Ark is supposed to be famous made on a boat), the cruise liners and the privately owned speed boats, the main attraction is the river cruise which opens up after 6:15 in the evening and priced at 150 rupees per head. This comprises of an hour river tour all the way to the mouth of the sea offering a river bank view of the city. The cruise is on a triple decker boat complete with snack stalls, an in house DJ to keep the crowd on their feet with loads of local music mixed with foot tapping bollywood numbers and an open area to experience the sights and smells of the city, uninterrupted (also ideal for some photo shoots). As darkness sets in the city lights come on and it’s quite a treat for the eye.

The city by itself is quite disciplined in its layout spread into square blocks similar to what you would find either in Pondicherry or more significantly at Kandy in Sri Lanka (now you know the relevance of the title). On the eat-out front we found a Dominoes (sorry, no Pizza Hut or Corner), a Kamath (exclusive for the strict veggies and this is where we incidentally ate) in the central square besides the others. The roads leading to the central block is also adequately populated with shops selling authentic Goa stuff – but then we didn’t find anything that could be christened as authentic Goan for us to take back home. Found the usual shell jewellery (characteristic of any coastal town), show pieces, etc but then there is this option for the daring few to splurge into buying the traditional Goan shirt rich with the vibrancy of Goa with flowery designs, splashed with bright shades of fluorescent orange cum green and with the words GOA smitten in blazing gold - I however decided to play it safe. But then shouldn’t forget to mention that dry fruits are very famous here. Almost every third shop that we ran into was filled with displays of cashews, almonds, dates, etc and seemed quite popular even amongst the locals.

We found a couple of uniquely designed carts serving cold drinks in a special manner – with ice and chat powder on the road side. Also we ran into this building or mall called Akbarally’s which had its corner doused with a mixture of bright colours blending with the colours of Goa – both of which won my fascination and prized “clicks”.

Post lunch & some shopping and prior to taking the river cruise, decided to visit one last spot which is about 12 kms from Panjim. Fort Aguada (portugese word for Water filler) which was built in 1612 to serve as a water refill stop for the ships in those days is situated near Candolim beach. The fort is also famous for its old light house which offers a breath taking view of the sea and which is open for public visits between 4 and 5:30 pm. The fort which is mostly made of black stone (I think) has also increased its popularity with the tourists as this is where some of the scenes of the all time hit movie Dil Chahta Hain were shot.

There were also a couple of other places that we wanted to visit which included the Dudh Sagar water falls situated near the Goa – Karnataka border as well as have a taste of the famous hinterland which is supposed to offer an unrestricted view of the forests and mountains at their best to a traveller. Fortunately we were able to see these during the return rail ride from Goa. The hinterland is simply awesome and one would always wish that the vast expanse of unspoilt and untouched nature never ends. I would like to strongly recommend to all to make a travel to Goa (at least one way) by rail (2nd Sleeper – non a/c) as this is a must see. One would also get a brief glance of the Dudh Sagar waterfalls and which goes away as soon as it comes. So all you fellow nature lovers, do ensure that you have your cameras ready for clicking during the 45 minutes stretch of the Braghanza ghat section between Kulem and Castle Rock.

All in all had a fun time despite the monsoon and by the time we got up upon our arrival at Pune after the overnight train ride from Goa, we had already marked this as a “must do it once more” holiday destination. Wish the same for you as well.

SAVE Lanka - Part 2

(I know that the time between my first post in this series and this one would be more than the time for the slowest ant in its journey from Colombo to Kandy itself – hats off to my laziness. But then am all pepped up now to complete my travelogue on Sri Lanka, so here goes…New Readers, please read the first part of this series titled SAVE LANKA written sometime in May this year to make sense of the above confession).

“One veggie combo please which includes two portions of garlic bread, one medium pizza with corn and pineapple topping and the ice cream dessert, and oh of course don’t forget to bring along the drinks as well”. Does this make your mouth water? Well ours did and that too after a day long ordeal in the hot summer sun filled with trekking, scouting, jumbo rides and most importantly sweat (lots of it). As we waited for our food to be served while we peacefully sipped the chilled fizz drink at the Pizza Hut in Kandy, my mind raced back 24 hours when it all started.

Welcome to Kandy – sped past a sign board as we looked out of our 6 seater car (or jeep). It was a Nissan mini truck converted into a family car. As Sang continued her siesta well through the four hours ride, my eyes frantically and curiously darted this way and that enjoying the first scenes of this foreign land. We could easily have mistaken this to be somewhere between Kerala and TamilNadu had it not been for those multi coloured Bajaj auto rickshaws (they are called tucks-tucks there). Yes, they came in multi colours alright – red, cream, green, blue, black even but never yellow (that is the trademark of India), I realised later from our cab driver that the colours dictated the travel fare that one would need to pay – don’t know if I got this correct but think the red ones are the most expensive. Oh and how can I forget our very own gaddis from Ashok Leyland – only that they were baptised as Lanka Ashok Leyland (what a shame – thank God the TATAs were spared of that prefix) and also the Indian Oil petrol bunks were advertised as Lanka Petroleum (man – so much for originality). I then and there decided that I would title my post as “Lanka – The Borrowed Land” but then as always Sang had the upper voice. Everything here appeared borrowed.

We finally arrived at Kandy tired and sleepy and hungry and all that we wanted was some good hot food. The food in the flight had been “so-so” and didn’t suffice in filling us up. After an hour long search for our guest house, partially due to the incomplete address that had been provided on the internet we finally arrived at the gates of “Sharon Inn” (www.hotelsharoninn.com). We had selected this lodging because it was more of a house than a guest house (its got a very residential atmosphere – I think its an old bungalow converted into a guesthouse) and it was located at the right distance from the town, but the main attraction which had won our decision was the fact that it was located on a hilltop and it provided a bird’s eye view of the town.

(View from our room window - the distant lights are from the Tooth temple)

The owner of this guesthouse (one Mr Faiesz Samad) turned out to be an elderly native who had completed his education and initial work life in Germany (incidentally his wife is also a German) and was in all hatred for India and its booming economy. At every instance when we would bump into him he would remind us how Sri Lanka was still a developing country and how everything was so expensive here and that we shouldn’t be hesitant to shell out a few extra rupees when required. Also much to our frustration the Cricket World cup 2007 was on and much to our disappointment we had been ousted even before reaching the Super 8 by a petty country such as Bangladesh, and he didn’t hesitate in reminding us of this every time. But then he was helpful in providing us with directions around Kandy and for our arrangements on the next day.

We checked into a room which I must say was awesome. The view from the window was just as we had been looking forward to. We could see the lake which is at the heart of Kandy and the adjoining Tooth Temple which houses the holy tooth relic of the Lord Buddha.

Without wasting much time, we quickly showered, changed and ordered for a butter toast (which was priced at a freaking 120 SLR) sitting in the common dining room of the guesthouse. We decided that we would walk down to the town and buy some bread, flavoured milk and biscuits to complete our breakfast for the next day (the rates are really quite exorbitant in the guesthouse and we didn’t feel justified in spending so much). After our light snack we walked down the hill and along the lake to reach the town.

We found a departmental store (much like our Food World) and shopped for all that we wanted for the next day. To be quite honest we found that although the currency exchange rate is twice that of our home currency we found that every item was priced almost four times than what it would be in India (this we found out is mainly due to the fact that most of the packed branded food items are imported), to give you an example - a medium loaf of white bread which would cost us about 11 INR back home costs here about 40 SLR, similarly a 300ml bottle of coke which would cost us about 15 INR costs here 70 SLR.

After a brief shopping spree we next started thinking of dinner plans, one option would be to manage with biscuits and chips but then surely it wouldn’t suffice or we could order from the guest house but that would get expensive. We were really not sure if we should be trying out any restaurants as everywhere the sign boards displayed ‘non-veg’ only. We tried looking out for a Pizza Hut sign but in vain. Finally when we had almost given up and had decided to start walking back we noticed a mini-van in the middle of a street with a lot of people crowded around it. We walked closer and much to our delight found that it was a mobile dosa outlet where an elderly gentleman was selling hot home made dosas and idlies. This person recognized our origin and started speaking in Tamil to us and mentioned that he opened his shop everyday at 7 in the evening and that we should come back the next day as well. We immediately delighted his cash box by supplementing his earnings with 150 SLR for about 4 dosas and 4 idlies along with sambhar and chutney. With our dinner secured, we decided to wander around the lake for some time, took a couple of snaps and when the sky lights started to dim decided to make a hasty retreat to our room (the path to the guesthouse is quite spooky and dark).

Before we retired for the day I made a quick dash downstairs to the caretaker and requested him to arrange for a car for the next day’s travel. We planned to visit Dambulla, Sigiriya and Habarana and return back to Kandy by the evening. He agreed to make the arrangements for 5000 SLR. We wolfed down our dinner and after a quick wash I kissed Sangz “good night” and peeped outside into the distant eerie starry night with the temple bells lending a haunting effect dreaming of what to expect the next day.

(Complete address and contact numbers of Sharon Inn – Sharon Inn, c/o Mr Faiesz Samad, 59 – Saranankara Road, Kandy, Sri Lanka. Landmark – Around Kandy Lake, road adjoining Malwatta Temple.
Contact nos – 081 2222416/446, 081 2201400/401, 0777 804900/806690)

OOF...My Thoughts !!!

I am so lost and confused – don’t know why? There are a million things that are running through my mind now. As I sit here on the banks of the river Thames watching ferry boats scuttle by, I can’t help but let my thoughts race with them and perhaps outdo them.

I don’t know why I am writing all this? I just feel like doing so. The page 1 of this notepad has already got my thoughts sprayed on them – thoughts about what I would like to do for a career. I wonder what is stopping me from going ahead and achieving them et al.

I am convinced that you only have one life to live (human life that is) and definitely one must get around doing all that one likes and wants to do, not specifically to only a career though.

But upon introspection I realise that I am a loser without the guts or the stamina to venture out from my dreamland. I used to reason out this way – what happens on the financial security front? Pursuing all this would definitely imply a time stop to my current job and end my ridiculous career as a Business Analyst. I would feel dead guilty of having to see Sangz slog it out while I just blow up all our (her) hard earned money, what a shame?

Sometimes I am tempted to say that I should have married after having pursued all this and proving a successful career graph with my dream games. But then I believe, I couldn’t have lived without possessing Sangz and besides marriage is not a burden but an enrichment process to one’s journey of evolution. – As they say "The more, the merrier". So why blame it on my marriage? Sangz has already given me the "GO Ahead" in my venture, but then what is stopping me?

Am I lazy? Am I scared? Am I only fit to be a dreamer? What a puzzle? I always keep telling myself that I want to break free, wonder from what? One must savour his dreams, no doubt but then wake up and decide to make his dreams come true – only if he wants to? I feel I am still asleep (or atleast am pretending to be) and dreaming and that I am scared to wake up, scared that I would have to make them come true.

Every time there is an intensity such as this I firm up saying that "I want to" and that "I am going to" but then it doesn’t last and I love to push and postpone my thoughts away. I think I am contradicting the idea that "one must not dream if he doesn’t have the will to make them come true". As they say, one must "dare to dream", but what is wrong if one dreams for the heck of dreaming. Everyone does it, well atleast I do and am still doing it.

I want someone to wake me up and kick me awake with the idea of working towards the transformation, like the alchemist who could transform plain metal to gold, like Midas whose touch could transform (disastrously!) anything to gold, but then who could that someone be? I sometimes think and dream that that someone is ME. If that is true then voila! I just made one dream of mine come true, the first step towards the process of the transformation.

"I still want to" and still think "I am going to" – atleast I hope so…

SAVE Lanka

Sangz came up with this unique title. Originally I had "Sri Lanka - the Borrowed Land" or "Go-Lanka" or some such heading inorder to ensure that bloggers succeed in finding this post while running a search, but these titles were turned down by my better half saying that they were either too bland or maybe flicked from some other website heading. The heading is supposed to be interpreted as either "Save the tourism of Lanka" or "Sangeetha (SA) & Venkat (VE) in Lanka" - Quite a bore I know but nonetheless.

It all started in January 2007. I had just returned from London after a 2 weeks system training session. The only plus point out of that travel was that I got to travel by Lufthansa, not that I am a big fan of that airline. There was a different underlying reason behind it – I had enrolled into the Frequent Flier program of Jet Airways (called Jet Privilege). You get to earn points out of every travel done either on Jet Airways directly or through some partner airline – Lufthansa being one of them. My onward and return trip via Frankfurt saw me earn a good 14000 points into my kitty bag.

After I returned we decided to use those points straightaway in redeeming them for free air tickets. After browsing through their website, came to the conclusion that a trip to SL would be affordable, of course we arrived at that conclusion after comparing prices on other airlines as well. Would like to recommend here that if you are looking for the cheapest air travel to SL then you ought to take Air Sahara – it costs approximately 8000 INR inclusive of taxes for one person both ways. The only flip side to it is that the flight starts and lands (both ways) somewhere around midnight. Although we were successful in getting air tickets out of those points earned we still had to spend around 15000 INR to pay out the air tax as the points are only helpful in substituting for the basic air fare payment.

Once that was settled we next decided to do a bit of homework around SL as we were traveling to a foreign land. Although we had heard that it was like a second Tamil Nadu there was the underlying fear from the LTTE. Incidentally there were news reports of the LTTE having bombed one of the air stations situated close to the International airport in Colombo. This naturally alerted us including our immediate kith and kin, meaning our parents. After a strong undying battle we succeeded in convincing them that nothing would happen (which we sincerely hoped) to us whilst there. Sangz decided to use her net browsing capabilities (I must say she is very good at this) to find out all the information required about SL – places to visit, list of economical hotels, travel, food, etc. After a one month long debate, argument and discussions we finally decided to shake hands and agree on the following itinerary –

Apr 2nd – Arrive at Colombo and proceed to Kandy.
Apr 3rd – Visit Sigiriya, Dambulla and Habarana and return to Kandy.
Apr 4th – Proceed to Dalhousie from Kandy.
Apr 5th – Trek to Adam’s peak and return to base. Then proceed to Nuwara Elliya.
Apr 6th – Sight seeing in Nuwara Elliya.
Apr 7th – Some more sight seeing in Nuwara Elliya.
Apr 8th – Proceed to Colombo.
Apr 9th – Departure from Colombo.

One look at the plan and I am sure that you must be thinking that we are more of the inland type. None of the places mentioned are next to the coastline along a beach. Not that we don’t like the beach but then we have been to so many beaches (including our very own Marina and Eliot’s beach) that we decided to skip the pleasantries of staying next to some sand, surf and sea (I would also have mentioned swimsuits but then my wife is reading).

Well the plan was laid out and the next steps were to finalize on the accommodation and other arrangements like transport. One of the travel experiences that we had in mind was to travel by the SL Railway service on our return journey to Colombo from Nuwara Elliya. The highlight of the rail journey is that it takes a mountainous path through bridges and tunnels enabling one to see the landscape and virgin beauty of SL, through a first class observatory car attached at the end of the train which is more like a compartment with glass walls which enables you to see the entire scenery without any interruptions from the back of the train. The added advantage of traveling by a train in SL is that it is dead cheap when compared to other modes of transport there. But then all good things come with a price, at least this one did. The bookings weren’t open until ten days before the travel date and you really had to use your influence in getting those coveted seats. We understood later that most of the railway officials used their influence in getting seats as a treat for their families and despite our efforts in using some inside help we couldn’t get the tickets. But then we were thankful that it didn’t come through for reasons stated later.

Finally the D-Day arrived. April 2nd (incidentally my bro’s birthday) saw us all excited. Imagine Sangz getting up at 6am – that should explain everything. We had to arrive at the airport at 9:30am exact (3 hours before departure time). Meeting that time did reap us rich rewards. By a stroke of luck our seats were upgraded from Economy (hey don’t think we are poor, just that Jet Airways didn’t have any Business Class seats to offer under that scheme) to Business Class. I nearly did a back flip excited at the experience awaiting us. But as they say – “Pleasure is only an interval between two pains”, our pleasure was only to be short lived. I mean the Business Class travel was superb (but it got over very soon – the flight takes only around 1.5 hrs to reach Colombo) but what was in store for us at Colombo was something that we could have never imagined.

We were carrying with us currency notes in INR expecting to have them changed for LKR (Lanka Rupees). The Thomas & Cook Exchange counterman at Chennai airport said that we could exchange our money at Colombo but then when we arrived at Colombo we realized that INR was simply not the accepted currency anywhere in SL. What a disaster! They only accepted premium currencies like GBP, USD, EUR, CHF, etc for exchange. We almost fell over. We were left penniless in that instant and that too in a foreign land.

We then made hasty inquiries at the exchange counter for any place where they would accept INR. One of the guys seeing our helpless situation said that he knew someone in Colombo who illegally accepted INR. He was in fact even kind enough to write down the address and also gave us directions to reach that place. By stroke of luck I had exactly 19USD with me. Incidentally my Dad who had just returned from his project in Mauritius (another factor which proves that we are not poor) had some USD notes for which he had no use. He had given them to me for my use. Well it did come in use and we happily pocketed the equivalent LKR 1900.00 (the exchange rate then was IUSD = 100LKR) which would help us in affording a bus ride to Colombo and then trying to find for the particular place which at that time appeared as the last hope for our survival in SL for the next 8 days.

We started walking out of the airport and we had to go through a corridor lined up with shops advertising for taxi and hotel service. We decided to make one last frantic attempt and entered the last shop down the corridor. We were greeted by an old man whose face was consoling enough for us to pour out our grievances. He heard us out and his face brightened. He asked us to sit down and walked out of his shop. In a minute he was back with another man by his side. He explained that this man was a business man who used to travel to India and who was in use of INR. God bless him. The businessman asked us how much INR we had and said that he would gladly exchange for twice that sum of LKR (the exchange rate then was 1INR = 2LKR). And that was it – it was rags to riches all in a matter of five minutes, the quickest story ever. What a relief!

We then left the airport and walked towards the coach station to take a bus to Colombo from where we were to change buses to proceed to Kandy. Colombo is around a 45minutes bus ride from the airport and Kandy is around 4hrs from Colombo. This was the route that had been recommended to us but then it was later that we realized that the bus road from Colombo to Kandy passes through the airport which would mean traveling to Colombo was only a waste of time. We did not realize this until our cab driver mentioned it to us. When we reached the coach station, we were the first ones to board the minibus. The minibus wouldn’t start until filled to capacity which would mean another half hour to start. We then decided to splurge and take a taxi.

We returned back to the airport entrance and got ourselves booked into a cab for around 3500LKR. And then in the next 5 minutes we were both neatly tucked in the backseat of a cozy air conditioned cab zooming towards our first destination – Kandy. And before I could put my thoughts together at all that had transpired in the last one hour, I looked sideways only to realize that Sangz had fallen into a deep slumber with her head falling on my shoulders (well Sangz wanted me to mention here that it was I who slept in the car and not she but we all know better !!!). I gladly offered her my shoulder with my thoughts filled with anticipation and excitement about what Kandy had in store for us.

(…to be continued)

CODE FREEZE

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Updated 21st November: Global End-Year Change Freeze Calendar
Date
07 Nov 2006, 12:52 CET Category

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Department
IT
Location
Global
Services IT Global Change & Configuration Management
End-Year Change Freeze Calendar
This communication is to give awareness to the End-Year Change Freeze periods that will be in place in the Bank throughout the regions around the end of this calendar year.
The Annual IT End-Year Change Freeze period will be effective for all IT production infrastructure and/or applications, except in emergency situations. All changes to software, hardware, communications and networks regardless of platform, are prohibited during the periods detailed below.
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Does this ring a bell in your ears?

Come December and the worst awaits you. Am mighty sure that all of us (techies especially) would have heard abt this period – simply put, it is that period of the year during which no any changes should be implemented be it hardware or software related. This is primarily to ensure that none of the company's year end reportings get impacted due to any changes.

It’s also that time of the year when one faces the ultimate test of his/her endurance and patience. It is that time of the year when you are sworn into a period of forced rumination. It is that time of the year to display your prowess of being a fine actor, to pretend and display your extraordinary talent of being busy and stressed up – not that you were less busy or stressed during the remaining months.

You suddenly develop an eye for detail and begin to notice those little things. How you realize that the chair that you been parking yourself into for the last 11 months suddenly appears to be uncomfortable. How you wish that the back rest was a bit higher to enable you to have that after lunch snooze. It’s amazing how you now think that the walls of your office could have been painted a bit brighter, not that it would add any brightness to your work. I could go on endlessly but would stop at that.

That sense of being useless suddenly dawns upon you. You begin to think and ruminate as to what you are doing sitting here when something else is waiting beyond those swanky glass panes and walls. You have this instant pump to just break free and rush out into the wide wide world and do something worthwhile. You begin to scratch and introspect on the real purpose of your existence, you get the feeling that you are here for a purpose and that you need to fulfill it.

It was sometime during this period last year when I moved into this team called Change Management after having completed a spell of two long years in Operations. People familiar with an operational role would know that it is one power packed role, where you suddenly realize all the hidden energy and capacity within you to stretch into inhuman working conditions. My role within Change Management was a more toned down one. After the maddening rush rush of operations this was more of a project related role. You work when you have projects, else you know the story. Unfortunately I was greeted with Code Freeze well within a month of my joining the new role to add to my vexation.

Desperate times lead to desperate measures. I remember that one afternoon when I could stand it no more. My boss’s absence that day added to my encouragement to do something that once upon a time I couldn’t dare imagine. Readers of the popular fiction “Swami and Friends” would recollect that incident when Swami was being whipped mercilessly and in a sudden urge of rebellion decided to take control. He stomped out of the class much to the horror of everyone. Unfortunately in my case there was no one to cheer and laude my heroic attempt to do the same. I decided to call it quits (only for that day) and decided to give my job a hike.

But then on a positive front, it is that period of the year when the best flows out of you. It is an opportune period to sit down and list all the things that you would have wanted to do but couldn’t because of your work toll. Starting from regaining contact with your friends and family to learning how to strum a guitar to attending art workshops to pursue your interests in Bharatnatyam or to even starting a theatre group (remember our Bardy). Unfortunately the mad monkey mind decides to take the other route and helps us cozily settle into a mood of solemn and self pity, so much so it becomes nearly impossible to come out of it. No amount of counseling helps and sometimes your friends begin to look at you as a burden to handle.

I didn’t have any intentions to end in on a philosophical note because to tell you the truth I was never motivated to take that opportunity. But then things look different this year, maybe because I am now married, maybe because I have now matured to handle the situation (I still have my doubts on the same) and maybe because I have my blog spot to pen all my thoughts into and most importantly I have you guys and gals to read this and to feel associated and keep me going with our exchange of comments.

So what are you waiting for??? Go ahead and take a splurge!!!