Adrenalin rush

Sachin scored a double ton today. it was one of the most satisfying day of my life. I had never thought that a cricket match watched (or read to be more precise) on cric info would be so exciting...

well the most exciting part of any cricket match starts after the match officially ends and when you ask/discuss about the match with your (south african) friends.

Me in an excited tone of voice - "How was the Match today?"

when i threw this question to my friend, you could see his expression changing. The last time i saw this expression was that of myself. This was way back in 2005 when i had got typhoid and i had unavoidably "sharted" in my shorts. (^wet fart is called as a shart)

The most difficult part of this situation is taking a long walk back to the toilet with that weird feeling underneath.

"oh ... was there a match today?? i never knew it"

Well done my friend.. nice defense on the back foot.. now take a long walk ... but again, what could he have done. it was such a day that even god couldn't stop what was happening when Sachin was on crease.

admist the hectic work that we've been involved in, i guess this innings gave us the much needed adrinalin and brought a smile to our faces. I just hope that there would be more such little moments of joy that could make our day!!

... Aparthied days Part 1

I should have written a blog about this a long time back. Last month, i had a previlage of going to the Robin island (cape town). The island which is famously (or infamously rather) known for imprisoning Nelson Mandela for 27 frekkin years for fighting for liberty and equality for blacks.

I chose a state run tourism package which involved a ferry ride to Robben island, a bus ride, visit to the prisons and interaction with an ex political prisoner.

its 12.06AM now and i cant invest more time in writing about how i felt and what are my views regarding apartheid well, i am too sleepy now. but one should see the below picture that depicts the type and extent of aparthied that existed even in a prison having just the 'Blacks' and the 'Colored' (no offence meant)

Let me help you with what is written here -

Mealie = local name for corn

Puzamandla- a Porridge

B class - colored and indians

C Class - Blacks.

What if I “had” a girlfriend...

Bathing is the time when i get funny thoughts. Maybe that’s because I am not conscious enough to think sane things at 6.30 AM. The other day, this thought struck me – What if I “had” a girlfriend.

Well, the only thing that I “have” in the morning (say at 7.00AM) is breakfast. Now that includes either a sandwich, cereals or a Bun (roll as they call it in SA)

So technically speaking, I have just 3 choices that i can think of as my girlfriend – Sandwich, Bun and cereals :) . Sandwich sounds masculine so its ruled out instantly. “Cereals” sound like having multiple wives. Just like a Sheik of Saudi. Well, I am not thaaat “shaken” yet.

The only left with me is a “Bun”. Now that sounds a cute name for my girlfriend. If I marry a Bun, she would be a “house bunny” for the rest of my life

Now, consider that I’ve married a bun. How would my wife’s family be like?

Brother in law – “Bread” (as I told u, he is masculine so he qualifies for my brother in law)
Father in law – Rusk (a toasted bread that’s tough. So should be my Father in law)
Mother in law – Sauce (cuz sauce sounds like Saas in Hindi)
Sister in law – Sauce (kyon ki saas bhi kabhi bahu thi....)
my wife - a saucy house bunny

Insane isn’t it? just like me ..

Fuzzy toilet door signs

Signs on toilet doors are a interesting things to notice. I recently went to this restaurant for a nice little dinner. The rest rooms here had 2 doors - one with a picture of a screw and other with a picture of a Bolt. hmmm.. Given the fact that the restaurant had a bar attached, and people here at times get really drunk, don’t you think the hotel management is expecting customers with above average IQ? Someone who can be smart even while he/she is drunk :). You can expect a few drunk people would be "pissed" even without going to the toilet.

Yesterday's restaurant was even worse. it was a German restaurant at the waterfront. the toilet doors had similar pictures of....err.. Human beings.. i couldn’t recognize the freaking symbols even without having drinks..

The lady wore a long gown with her hair covered.. The man also wore some sort of gown - Well, i donno what that shit was. Something that only Germans after having a couple of pints of dark beer could recognize. It took me a while to decode this symbol..  I just hope that toilets in future don’t have ‘XX’ for female and ‘XY’  for male.. 

Bungy Jumping - Photos

On the way

Braii area

Mossel Bay

Bagpackers - Living room

Bungy Jump

Many of my friends asked me as to how my experience of bungy jumping was. In the beginning, I used to answer this question with great spirit and enthusiasm but eventually I felt that I should write a blog explaining my whole experience.

Where should we go????

-------------------------

It was Friday the 27th when each of us were frustrated and wanted to do something out of the box. We thought of various things -

Going to Kalahari (well, none of us knew where Kalahari was and what we could do there),

Going to a resort (the boring old fashioned infy-istic and Bangalore style fun)

Going to a disc (resort sounds better now)

At around 1.30 at night, an idea popped up to Sharat that we should bungy jump and that we should go to Gouritz. Gouritz was a place situated 250 kms from where we stay. We decided that we will go to a city called Mossel Bay on Saturday, bungy jump on the same day, Stay in Mossel bay for a night and drive back home on Sunday.

Where do we stay??

--------------------

Planning does not work especially with us. The reason I am saying this is because, when we woke up on Saturday, it was already 11 in the morning. We got ready by 2 in the noon and almost stepped out of our houses before we realized that we had not booked a hotel in mossel bay. We had a modest budget in mind. So we decided to book for a bagpackers. A bagpackers is a place where one can hire a bed for a night. Most people here do that cuz it’s really cheap (not in terms of INR though). We spent R120 per person per night.

Which way should we go??

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oh.. and how can I forget to mention that both of us did not know the route to mossel bay. Well, we had to Google it. Frankly speaking, I am so bad at routes that I remember my first day at work .. I had to go to the restroom and when I was done, I had forgotten where my cubicle was :)

Gambling

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Things don’t end here. We found a casino on our way. none of us had been to a casino till date. So we went inside to try our luck. All I wanted was to know how the slot machine works. I had no intention of spending money cuz I always felt that whenever I had left my fate on "Luck", I suffered. To know the slot machines, I choose a relatively cheap slot machine - a 50 cents slot machine. Well, call it fate or destiny or a supernatural event. after some unsuccessful tries, eventually ended up getting a combination "777" which instantly gave me 1000 points. As it’s a 50 cent slot machine, the total money I earned was - 1000 * .5 = 500 rands.

I still refuse to believe in gambling as I feel that there is no definite way of successful gambling. it’s all about luck and hence the most illogical thing to do if u do it for earning money. All I can say is - Saturday was my day!

Mossel bay

-----------

Mossel bay is a nice vacation spot. we felt that we did not do justice to this place. as we reached at 11.30PM. we were expecting a crappy bagpackers as it was really cheap. To our surprise, when we reached the place (bagpackers) we found that it was really amazing. The entire place had wooden furnishings and looked like a 19th century bungalow. it had a living room with a TV and a dining table. The living room was furnished with African congo, masks and chandelier. there was a pretty kitchen attached with all necessary amenities. it had a beautiful garden with chairs and hammocks, and a Braai (south African name for barbeque) section if you wish to. Also attached was a small makeshift kitchen near the lawn which had an electric kettle, coffee, Tea, sugar, milk and a toaster. so that one need not go to kitchen to prepare tea. Optionally, they served breakfast (we had to inform them in advance for that).

The rooms had bunker beds (only 2 levels) and had a night lamp attached to each bed. a Basin was attached to the room and the whole bungalow had 1 bathroom with toilet and a bathtub attached (probably there were more. I just saw this one). Even the bathroom was furnished in a conservative 19th century British style. I had heard about such places in fairy tales. Today, I felt that I was really in one such place. Amazing experience.

Bloukrans

----------

During our breakfast at mossel bay, we happened to ask the caretaker of the bagpackers regarding the Gourtiz. She informed us that it is closed. Now, the option left with us was to go home like a looser and become a laughing stock amoung our friends or to go to bloukrans.

We chose the latter. Bloukrans was 350 kms away from Mossel bay and that meant it would take us around 4 hours to reach there. After some research over the internet (thankfully I had taken my laptop), we found a adventure club called face adrenalin which sponsored bungy jumps. We contacted them and came to know that it was still open.

We drove to Bloukrans. Standing on one side of the mountain, we could see people doing bungy jumps. It looked awesome. The only worry that I had was the weight limit. When I asked the instructor there, he informed that the weight limit was 160 kgs. I also asked him about any accidents that have happened in the past. He informed that there were no accidents from past 15 years. That was it! I had enough logical reason not to fear the jump and go for it whole heartedly.

I was the second person to jump from the bridge. For the first 4 seconds, its just a free fall. And that free fall makes u understand a lot of unknown mysteries that one always felt. One such mystery was

how does free fall feel like?

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We reach a speed of 120 kmph within 2 seconds when we jump off the bridge. The air rushes on to your face and it feels like someone has pulled the ground under your foot.

What is the maximum adrenalin you can achieve, what happens if u hang up side down for around 4 minutes..

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You actually feel weightless for some time. Well, that’s a great feeling as I am tired carrying my huge body for a long time now. However, the feeling is temporary. After 4 seconds that’s when the rope comes into action. Its 10 times more adrenalin than the “drop zone” ride in wonder la.

How do you come back on the bridge
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They have people who rescue us. No worries.

Wait for the next blog for photos ..................... :)

Reading the reviews/ratings before watching the movie

This is my first blog in 2009. There were a lot of things that i thought i would do on priority in 2009. Updating my blog was one of them.
But hey! Guess what, my first post comes on Feb 24 2009 - Just 2 months. now a days, even Indian government does things faster than this :)


For all the people who are wondering where i am, and what i am doing, here is your answer - i am in Cape town South Africa right now on an onsite
Assignment.


Reading the reviews before watching the movie
----------------------------------------------------------------------

i have this Unusual habit of looking into the review of a movie before watching it in a theater or... downloading it :).
I know that some people here don’t agree with me. (Well, when i say "some people" I mean almost 80 percent of the people i know).

Watching a movie in a multiplex in India costs u around 300 bucks (first day first show) and not all can afford to see all that the bollywood/hollywood has to offer.
Having said that, i try to optimize my selections by reading reviews on various websites. i refer to websites such as:


IBNLive.com - critic's opinion
movies.indiatimes.com
movies.yahoo.com

if the average of the ratings suggests that the movie is good, and if the ratings on all these websites are consistent, I watch the movie. Otherwise, i wait for such a movie.
The idea here seems to be logically correct and is a quantitative way to gauge a movie. However, my friends seem to feel that by doing so, I would miss out on some good movies.
i surely would miss some good ones. But don’t u think that the movies that i choose has a better probability of being good?

Secondly, watching a movie just because a "superstar" is acting is the stupidest thing to do. a movie should be a good mix of plot, acting, cinematography.. etc. I gave it a try for Delhi 6. And believe me, it was not a great movie to watch (leave apart the music) cuz it lacked a good story and a pretty average acting by Abhishek Bacchan. i made a mistake of watching this movie in spite of the fact that the ratings given to this movie were inconsistent on the review sites. I felt that at a time where i had a choice of watching Oscar nominated movies such as "Milk", "curious case of Benjamin Button" i choose to watch such a dumb movie.

Forest fire
--------------

Its summer time here in cape town. and believe me, the scotching heat and dry winds make it an ideal time for forest fires. The window in my room faces east and hence, i usually know when the sun rises. This monday though was a bit different. it was 6.35AM and it was still dark. i did not realize it until i left for office @ 7.45AM. This is what i saw:


The photo isn't that great though.. after all, i captured it using my mobile phone.

Chamraj pet charls - Yellow fever

Got this stuff on youtube.. just too cool.

Defining moments..

Scientific Dosa

India is on the right path of globalization... A conservative society which once refused to give up its way of thinking and traditions is now changing its ways..

It’s not that we are giving up our traditions and adopting the western culture… It’s just that the existing practices and culture is being packaged into a glittering box which could be adopted globally.

If you feel that the above description is cryptic, Take a look at the below photograph…

I visited Kamat restaurant (Infosys Bangalore campus) a few days back and could not stop myself staring at this menu. “Neer Dosa” as we call it in kannada is a kind of delicacy which is very popular in Karnataka… the term “Neer” means water. As the vendors realized that it would be awkward mentioning “Water Dosa” for the benefit of non kannadigas, ended up coining a new word for the delicacy – H2O Dosa :)



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My experience of capturing a moon photograph..

It took me a lot of effort and a fair bit of embarrassment to capture the photo... A lot of effort because i had forgotten to take my tripod stand to the terrace... Embarrassment because half the population on the other buildings was staring at me as if I was a maniac starring at the empty sky...

I could see the kids calling their sari clad moms and sisters/brothers and point at me as if they have never seen a person shooting the moon :)

Cant blame them after all.. i was shooting the moon at around 12:30 PM :)
Camera: Canon powershot S5 IS

Well Timed!

posting this pic after a long long time..
ISO 80, 5 Sec Shutter speed

Sky with a golden tint

I hate rains... I don’t have a specific reason for that. Maybe because I hail from a costal belt which receives ample amount of rains, or maybe because my friends have created enough prejudice about it. The evening of March 24 was gloomy. You might have guessed it by now- Yes! It was raining...

As I came out of my building, i noticed something very special... something so mesmerizing… sky with a golden tint.


Well, I was wrong about the evening. It was not that bad after all!

Delicious Dhokla

Well, like all delicious dishes, the life of this dhokla was shortlived!

Born: 23-03-2008, 4.30 PM

Expired: 23-03-2008 4.45PM

can u smell it????

Solving a Rubik's cube in 2 simple steps!

rubik's cube is a nice thing to solve especially if u r as jobless as i was last week. well.. seemingly simple, one needs to put in a lot of hard work to solve! After a week of trial and error, i was finally able to solve it..

All u have to do is to remove the ****in screws out from the center pieces, align the other pieces correctly and fix the screws back!!!!! now hz that for "solve a rubik's cube in 2 simple steps"?

AAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh!

Installing UBUNTU 7.10 on a system with BIOSTAR GF7050-M7 motherboard

For long, I had a desire to install windows vista on my PC… my dream came true last month as I brought a new comp! Out of sheer excitement, I went on searching for a Linux flavor which could stand a chance to compete with vista graphics.. Especially the aero view.. Guess what, I found UBUNTU!!!!!
Do you want to know my real inspiration? check this video... :

What is ubuntu?

Ubuntu is an African word which means 'Humanity to others'. Technically speaking, Ubuntu is a free, Debian derived Linux-based operating system. one can either request for UBUNTU Free CD or download the ISO. refer to this link: http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu for more info.

Unlike other operating systems, we dont need to install the OS to enjoy it. just burn the ISO on to a disk and boot through that CD. thats it!. u have the OS. if you feel that the OS is good enough and u need to install it on ur hard disk, click on the 'install' icon on the desktop and go thru the install process.

UBUNTU 7.10 on a system with BIOSTAR GF7050-M7 motherboard

Processor : Core 2 Duo 2.2 E4500
Video Card: Nvidia GeForce 7050 / Nvidia nForce 610i
Sound Card: Realtek ALC662 6-Channel HD Audio

i had a tough time installing ubuntu on my system as there was very less info available (drivers for soundcard, video card etc etc) over the net for my motherboard. i could boot thru the ubuntu CD and get a look and feel of the OS.. but ubuntu was unable to get the right driver for my soundcard or my graphics card. so here is what i did to fix the same:

1. Install ubuntu using the ubuntu CD. you will notice that when u boot, u will get a error message saying 'Ubuntu was unable to detect your graphics card' and 'ubuntu will now login with safe graphics mode'. Boot with 'safe graphics mode'

2. go to synaptic package manager (System > Administration > Synaptic Package Manager). synaptic package manager is like "add or remove windows components" in windows XP. uncheck the "nvida-glx" which is the default Nvidia driver shipped with ubuntu. and click on "apply".

3. in synaptic package manager, search for libc6-dev and install it.

4. download the latest nivida drivers. you can download it from this site: http://www.nvidia.com/object/linux_display_amd64_169.12.html. keep it on your desktop.

5. logout from ubuntu and press Ctrl+Alt+F1

• you may be prompted to enter your login name. just do it
• type "sudo killall gdm". This will kill any process w.r.t the GUI running in background
• Type "cd Desktop" to go to the desktop folder (if u r not already in)
• Type "sudo sh [driver name]". replace with the name of the driver that you have downloaded from the nvidia site.
• Type "sudo gdm" to start the graphical user interface. you will notice a nvidia pic when GUI starts.

Installing Sound card drivers

you can refer to this website: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/HdaIntelSoundHowto for steps. its a bit complicated. But its worth the effort.

Floral Divinity

Hi,

I am an ameture photographer however waiting to become a pro. Here are a few fotos that i captured during my date with the lalbagh on 27th of January..

Here is something that you need to know about the lal bagh. The garden has over 1,000 species of flora. The Glass House, modeled on London's Crystal Palace (now re-modelled with a different layout), is the center of attraction. Hyder Ali laid out these famous botanical gardens and his son added horticultural wealth to them by importing trees and plants from several countries. The Lalbagh Gardens were commissioned by the 18th century and over the years it acquired India's first lawn-clock and the subcontinent's largest collection of rare plants. The garden also has trees that are over 100 years old.

A Poem, a Prayer, a Sunflower...
Nature knows no conflict, no contradiction, no waste.

The religious or spritual life begins therefore not

with any dogma or belief, but rather with the deeply held

intention to live a life without conflict,

Contradiction or waste.....
(c) Picture-poems.com

The world’s like a flower

Either fallen or grownThe leaves cover secretsAnd the pedals are shown
We're like a flower

a flower for a flower

the flower that will never wither or sour

Flower

Pluck this little flower and take it, delay not! I fear lest it droop and drop into the dust. I may not find a place in thy garland, but honour it with a touch of pain from thy hand and pluck it. I fear lest the day end before I am aware, and the time of offering go by.

Though its colour be not deep and its smell be faint, use this flower in thy service and pluck it while there is time.

Rabindranath Tagore

Do not go to the garden of flowers!
Do not go to the garden of flowers! O Friend ! go not there; In your body is the garden of flowers.
Take your seat on the thousand petals of the lotus, and there gaze on the Infinite Beauty.

- Kabir

Flowers are the sweetest things God ever made, and forgot to put a soul into.

~Henry Beecher, Life Thoughts, 1858

CONFIGURING HUTCH GPRS ON SONY ERICSSON w810i

I had a tough time configuring GPRS on my SONY ERICSSON w810i phone. so i thought shairing this useful information

Step 1. Go to Menu -> Settings and select the connectivity tab. Now, select the Data Comm.
Tab and select Data accounts option

Step 2. choose the New Account-> GPRS data option and name the account as Hutch_GPRS

Step 3. Then fill up the fields below:

APN: portalnmms

User Name: do not enter anything

Password: do not enter anything

Login Request: OFF
Allow Calls: Automatic
IP Address:

DNS Address:

Authentication: Select (None, PAP and CHAP options)

Data Compression: OFF

Header Compr.: OFF

Once done, save the settings.

Step 4: Go back to the connectivity TAB and select Internet Settings-> Internet Profiles ->

New profile. Name the profile as Hutch_GPRS. Now choose the Connect Using

option. We can see Hutch_GPRS (the account we created in step 3). select the account.

and save the settings.

Step 5: Now under Hutch_GPRS, select More-> Settings and enter the following details:

Connect Using: Hutch_GPRS
Use Proxy : Yes
Proxy Address: 10.10.1.100

Port Number: 9401

User Name: do not enter anything

Password: do not enter anything

Save the settings.

Step 6: Now go to advance settings from the more options again

Name: Hutch_GPRS

Home Page:

Save the settings, Go back to Internet Profiles and select Hutch_GPRS

Step 7: Enjoy!!!

For best browzing experience, use Opera Mini (or Opera Mobile). Opera Mini can be

downloaded from the following location: http://www.operamini.com/download/

Do NOT use the default browser as its very slow and incompatable with many websites.