Finally... Bangalore....Here I come !

The wait is finally over ! Today, I leave for a month-long trip to India :-) Been waiting for this since long. Lets see if I can blog from India ...

Till then, take care.

ಭಾರತಕ್ಕೆ ಪಯಣ

ಭಾರತಕ್ಕೆ ಹೋಗುವ ದಿನ ಹತ್ತಿರ ಬರುತ್ತಿದ್ದಂತೆ, ಮನಸ್ಸು ಬಹಳ ಚಂಚಲಗೊಳ್ಳುತ್ತಿದೆ... ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಏನೂ ಕೆಲಸ ಮಾಡಲು ಆಸಕ್ತಿಯೇ ಇಲ್ಲ... ಮುಂದಿನ ಒಂದು ತಿಂಗಳು ಹೇಗೆ ಕಳೆದು ಹೊಗುತ್ತದೆಯೊ ಗೊತ್ತಿಲ್ಲ. ಆದರೆ ಅದು ನಾನು ಹೋಗುವ ಏರ್-ಫ್ರಾನ್ಸ್ ವಿಮಾನಕ್ಕಿಂತಲೂ ಬೇಗ ಚಲಿಸುವುದು :-(

ಶಾಪಿಂಗ್ ಮುಗಿದಿದೆ... ಆದರೆ ಪ್ಯಾಕಿಂಗ್ ಇನ್ನೂ ಆರಂಭವೇ ಆಗಿಲ್ಲ :-(

Can Ganguly stoop lower than this ?

After all the fireworks with Wright, now Ganguly has started pleading ! Huh... I'm willing to play at any position, perform any role: Ganguly Comon... now that Dravid led the team to a resounding victory over the Lankans, Ganguly has become frightened about his return to the team. And where are his 'chelas' now ? Obviously, the team think-tank wants to keep a status quo on the winning team combination. Any major change would be a blow on the morale on the junior team members. I mean how else would you convince a newcomer who delivers that he is going to be in the team if he performs well and they will not axe him on the whims and fancies of High highness Ganguly and the stupid honchos of the BCCI ?

Someone should probably tell Ganguly to go take a running jump :D

My blog is not a waste after all !

My blog is worth $2,258.16.
How much is your blog worth?

Atlanta Trip

One of the highlights of the latest trip to Atlanta was the visit to the Hindu Temple of Atlanta. I have been there once before but this was by far, a much better visit. Stayed at the temple for a long time, almost 2 1/2 hours. And the best part was that a Srinivasa Kalyanotsava was taking plae at the same time. Got to see that too. And the prasada was just too tasty...mmm

Sad that we dont have a temple in or close to Auburn :-(

Some pics of the temple here(courtesy: Internet):

Deepavali...away again...

This is the second year in succession I will be away from home during Deepavali. For the last 3-4 years, I had lost the significance of Deepavali in Bangalore. Too much of firecrackers, pollution, noise,etc... In fact, I had gotten bugged of bursting crackers when I was in 9th Standard... Gave it up totally in 10th...

But what I have really started to miss is the festive spirit that comes along with it...and not to mention the food :D (slurp...slurp)

It definitely is true that you only start recognizing the value of mundane things after being away from them for some time. I knew that I was pro-traditional values, but not till I came to the US. Now I understand what Indians have that is second to none - a superb culture. I used to eat out every other day in Bangalore - Dose camp, paani puris, gobi manchuris, paav bhajis, etc... but never gave them a second thought as I lived in Jayanagar within tripping distance(eDavi biddare anthaaralla haage) of 4th block shopping complex. Here in USA, everything is a delicacy... from anna saaru to all the delicacies...

And the countless times that my mother used to pester me to come and attend the weddings, naamakaranas, upnayanas and other functions in the family... and how I used to detest going there... Now I cant go even if I want to ...

I knew that I was a Kannadaabhimaani... had that love for kannada litt from a long time... but I didnt know how much I appreciate Kannada literature and poetry till I came here ...

Maybe, we all should spend some time away from our humdrum attachments to realize their true values.

Current Mood: Nostalgic
Current Music: Koi lauta de mere beethe huye din

Smart Doubt (which we never thought of!!!)

I still can't stop laughing at this one!!!

Back...

Been a little busy for sometime. Just stopping by to put up a post from my new Dell Inspiron 6000 laptop... Still playing around with it.
More updates in my next post. Kindly excuse.

Kannada books in America!

I had ordered a book through our University Inter-Library-Loan for S.L.Bhyrappa's Bhitti. This is the heart rending autobiography of the Kendra Sahitya Academy Award winner Dr.Bhyrappa. I had read half of this in India and badly missed reading the whole book.

Finally, I managed to get it a couple of days ago. It has been shipped from another library in the North. Cool...In fact, if we live in any part of India other than Karnataka, I guess it would be much more difficult to procure Kannada books than it is here! Kudos to the American University Library system! After a really hectic week, planning to relax this weekend with this book...

Next book to read : Parva (arguably his best book) by Dr.S.L.Bhyrappa

Guess what kind of people use livejournal !??!

Luckily I chose blogger! Never had to go through this anguish and end up in livejournal :D
( See here: Real Life Comics )

Spam on my blog

Damn.. why am I seeing so many spam comments on my blog ? Is this happening only on mine or are others deleting this/taking some action ???

CEO speak... Contd.

Because of public demand(ahem...), I am posting some thoughts of what the CEO of GE, Jeff Immelt, spoke when he was at Auburn.
(Disclaimer: These thoughts may have been modified by me and may not accurately portray the thoughts of Jeff Immelt. These are just from memory and should not be miscontrued as slander or malign).

Hmmm...There were some problems.. I went with a book and pen to take some notes... But there was not even enough standing space...The audi was jammed... packed to the brim.. people were sitting in the aisles, standin on their toes...so will just put out some things which I remember ...

Bureaucracy. Any huge organization will get bogged down by bureaucracy. GE is bigger than many many countries in the financial countries. If you really need to innovate, cut down the red-tapes. Allow a forum for all employees to put out their thoughts.

Innovation. As Rutherford said to a graduate student who said he worked day and night continuously -"then when do you think?!? " ...Devote some qualtiy time to think. Just the rigmarole of work will kill your creativity. Companies ought to give time to relax to all classes of employees - this will indirectly help it in getting dividends.

Management. When someone asked him if there was one company that *he* - as the CEO of GE admired, what would that be. The answer was no surprise. The one company that really is at the leading edge of innovation, quite unbureaucratic and SUPERBLY managed is Toyota. He said that Toyota is the blue chip amongst the Fortune 10-20 companies... Almost all of them look up to it.

Other than that, there was some mention about the Jack Welch Technology Centre in Bangalore(this is the biggest research center of GE outside USA). And the perpetual worry that US is producing lesser and lesser engineers and graduate students.

I am trying to find where they have posted the video of his speech. Will try to get that.

CEO speak...

Jeffrey Immelt, Chairman of the Board and CEO, General Electric, was at Auburn to give a talk on 'Leadership and Innovation' on Friday. It was inspiring to say the least.

More details about the talk later. I'll try to get a video of his talk.

Dur(Su)yodhana !??!

I have heard Duryodhana also being referred to as Suyodhana in some places... In fact, I had asked JRS when we were in Vijaya High School... for the non VHS guys, JRS was our initial class teacher(1994-97 batch) and the best Sanskrit teacher I've ever seen. He had given a complex explanation which I seem to have forgotten.

Can someone clarify ?

Mood: mai parachikoLLing

Reader's (In)Digest?!?

I have been a regular reader of Reader's Digest(RD) since a long time... But somehow the articles in the editions post 2000 dont look so good. I mean I still re-read the older editions... Thanks to Srinivas Prasad, who had an almost complete collection of RD from 1959-present, I read most of them during my B.E days in Bangalore.

I recently, chanced upon a book titled 'Fun Fare', a publication of RD(first edn 1949) which is a collection of humour and anecdotes in book form. Amongst its editors are the who's who of humour - Bennett Cerf(the maverick founder of Random House), J.P.Mc Evoy and the inimitable Groucho Marx. This book with humourous anecdotes dating back to 60-70 years still brings laughter and mirth when I read it. Same with the older editions of RD magazine. But somehow, I cant seem to associate with articles of my own generation(so anachronistic!) since it has started publishing a lot of gossip.

This has also been echoed by a couple of my friends who seem to think that the quality of material in RD has gone down drastically over the years. But wait a sec... RD is a collection of articles and bits and pieces that readers themselves send! So does this mean that the quality of readership has gone down?!?!?

Resurrection

After a long hiatus without a comp( but with lots of work), I am finally back! In fact, special thanks to Kishan for putting this 'Persons Missing' notice on his website and even mailing me about it !

It was heartening to see that there are a few people who read my blog and I need to get back and start typing.

Mood: Exhilarated.
Music: Baa Baaro baaro baaro saadhanakerige...

Error 404: Host not found.

Not been able to do anything since the last 4 days. The department network admin has confiscated my computer along with 2 others' for illegally installing Linux dual boot which is supposedly forbidden by the College of Engg policies :-(( ... Don't know what is gonna happen to the comps, data and when we are gonna get them back :-((

I can't understand why they have an aversion to Linux... I had to use it once for a simulator which runs only on Linux... So now I am getting used to working in the normal workstation labs instead of my PC.

And all the sites and blogs that I used to visit were bookmarked in my PC... Now all that is gonna go I suppose... :-(

Mood : Terribly Outcasted.


[P.S: Error 404 is the message you see on the net when there is a problem with the client machine(The server is saying that you've done something wrong, such as misspell the URL or request a page which is no longer there). The origin (supposedlygiven by Tim Berners Lee who invented the web and the first browser) is that 404 was the room number in CERN(Geneva) with webservers where the Internet first started working. The first 4 refers to a client error and the 0 refers to a syntax error. However, there are contentions to this interesting myth with people saying that room 404 in CERN was used for other purposes! ]

Live Life King-size!

Saw Anand for the ... ummm... I have lost count. There has never been a movie like that and probably never will be. Makes me so emotional every time I watch it. I keep silently praying that the voice on the tape at the end is not that of a tape, but that of the the live Anand.


Poem in The Evergreen Classic Hindi Movie ANAND. Recited by Amitabh Bacchan

Maut tuu ek kaviitaa hai
mujhse ek kavita ka waada hai milegi mujhko

doobti nabzon mein jab dard ko neend aane lage
zard sa chehra lekar jab chaand ufaq tak pahunche
din abhi paani mein ho, raat kinaare ke kareeb
na andhera na ujaala ho, na abhi raat na din

jism jab khatm ho aur rooh ko jab saans aaye
mujhse ek kavita ka waada hai milegi mujhko

And those immortal lines spoken by Rajesh Khanna at the end (that makes me cry every time I see the movie) :


Zindagi aur Maut Upar wale ke haath hai Jahan Panah ...
Hum Sab to rang Manch ki Katputliyan hai...
Kaun Kab Kaise Uthega... Yeh Koi nahin Jaanta.. Ha HA HA HA...

So many things to learn in life from that one character...

Current Mood: Zindagi Kaisi Hai Paheli...

Book log.

I just finished reading 'Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science' by Atul Gawande. Really amazing book. Takes a peep into the minds of the doctors and what really happnes behind the scenes of the cool and impervious face of the doctor.

I honestly think that the author (he is incidentally an American, born to parents of Indian origin) has escaped from coming under serious attack from other doctors because of his strong academic background - a graduate degree from the Harvard medical School and the Harvard School of Public Health.

Here is one paragraph that makes you re-read it many times.

"Surgeons as a group, adhere to a curious egalitarianism. They believe in practice, not talent. People often assume t hat you have to have great hands to become a surgeon, but it's not true.When I interviewed to get into surgery programs, no one made me sew or take a dexterity test or checked if my hands were steady. You do not even need all ten fingers to be accepted. ....... what's most important to them is finding people who are conscientious, industrious and boneheaded enough to stick at practising this one difficult thing day and night for years on end. ........ Skill, surgeons believe, can be taught; tenacity cannot. "

This is not just about surgeons... Makes me think that pretty much everything is achievable with perseverance, hardwork and dedication.

Current Mood: Inspired

Self-reliance or kanjoos !??!

I don't know if I was being miserly or self-reliant ! I hope you can help me clear it ...

Here in USA, spares are extremely expensive and 3-4 small spare parts together add up to more than the original cost itself! And no need to talk about manpower cost... It is lost somewhere amongst the skyscrapers :-(

What happened was this. My cycle had a puncture. Here at the local bike shop, they dont mend punctures; they replace it with a new tube! And all spares carry with them instructions about how to replace the item. And the replacement cost is $10 with the cost of the tube being $3(for cycle for which I paid $49!!!) ! So I decided to do it myself...

But the argument I had with someone was this: Was I an example of self-reliance or miserliness ? I agree that one one hand I was forced to do it to save about $10(which does mean something to me on a student stipend!) but then most things you buy in the USA have instructions which means that you should be able to fix almost anything yourself. Thats why Home Depot and such stores make a huge business (ppl build homes also themselves!).








Current Mood : Confused

My Tag resume

I got tagged by Namratha and have already been questioned about my lackadaisical attitude in completing the tag and passing it on... So here we go...


Three names I go by:

• Pratapa
• PP
• Sims
  

Three screen names I would like to have:

• pps
• I_know_what_I'll_do_next_summer
• bengalooru_huduga

Three physical things I like about myself:

Hmmm...I'm not exactly a clone of Hrithik...So ditch it.


Three physical things I don't like about myself:

I don't actually care ...but ah well.. we are all so human :D
Could have done with a shorter nose, longer legs (I think Brahma got it reversed there :-) ) and definitely more greyness up there(I mean in my brain, not on my scalp!)


Three parts of your heritage:

• The awesome 'sahitya' of the diggajas of Kannada literature ( Kuvempu, G.K.Adiga, Bendre, D.V.G, V.Seetharamiah, G.S.Shivarudrappa, N.S.Lakshminarayana Bhatta, K.S.Nissar Ahmad, B.M.Sri, etc ).
• Chanting Rudra and subhashitas and sanskrit shlokas.
• The Hindu way of life (including awesome food!Any self respecting Brahmana cannot give up gooooooood food :D ).
  

Three things that scare me:

• My complex thought process(which people mistake for conceit sometimes :-( )
• Separation from my family (which I am already experiencing)
• An idling mind.

Three of my everyday essentials:

• Seista
• Outlook - The best email client God ever helped man invent!(I hate all the other clients)
• Kannada Music

Three things I badly want to do before I die:

• Go for a trek in the Grand Canyon.
• Climb the Kanchanaganga.
• Run a mile in under 4 minutes.

Three careers I'm considering:

• Wildlife Photography
• War Correspondent (journalism)
• Wireless Communications research.

Three places I want to go:

• Manasa Sarovara(in the Himalayas)
• A cruise on the Amazon (seen Anaconda?!?!)
• The Great Pyramids

Two truths and a lie (in no particular order):

• I can cook awesomely well :D
• My research is currently going great :D
• IT was probably a good thing to happend to Bangalore
  

Passing the tag to Kishan , Dileepa and Ajax.

Look at the means, not the end!

कर्मण्यॆवाधिकारस्तॆ मा फलेषु कदाचन |
मा कर्मफलहेतुर्भूर्मा ते संगोस्त्वकर्मणि ॥

Hmmm...
Been thinking and thinking and thinking about this. I have read this shloka and heard it said a hundred times... Sri Krishna himself couldn't have packed more into these two lines of Bhagavad Gita(2nd Adhyaya, 47th shloka)!

How often do we just enjoy what we are doing without thinking about the end ? When will we actually realize that the end is not just everything ?

Sri Krishna says that our business is to act; the action is our business not the result. HE does not say there is no result. There is bound to be a result. Every action will have a result. But it is not our business to look for the result.

What a profound thought.

Current Mood: Contemplative
Current Music: Something is playing. I am just hearing it, not 'listening'.

NQ! Thats the Nerd Quotient.

Wanna know if you are a nerd ?
Try this test!
My Nerd Score is 93! I was really surprised! Dont know whether to be happy or sad :(
That itself makes you call me a nerd isn't it ?!!?! :D

The Mile under X minutes .

Sir Roger Bannister created history in 1954 by becoming the first man to run a mile in under 4 minutes representing Oxford(Note that he was not knighted for that! His contribution also in the field of Neurology as a outstanding and world famous surgeon fetched him that award).

But I can run 2 miles in just 13 minutes! Thats my record. However, there seems to be a rider to that! I can run this distance in a better time only on a treadmill where I set the speed of the treadmill and decide not to change it. It gets tough but I can manage to complete the distance successfully within the time. However, if I run on the athletic track, I need to run 8 rounds of the 400m track which takes close to 14-15 minutes :-( .

Question of weak will power ? Am I just another brick in the wall ?

Current mood: Deflated :-(

July 4th celebrations.

Many friends here were telling me not to miss the July 4th celebrations that the town of Auburn sponsors every year. So went to see it with Anil and dose(a.k.a Pradeep! ) ...

The fireworks display was amazing. But what I was thinking was about the Deepavali celebrations that we have back in India. Is it really necessary to pollute the environment so much that 3 days of Deepavali accounts for almost the same as 1 year's pollution by the vehicles ? Why cant we also have a celebration and pooja kind of a ceremony with really glittering fireworks(not the ear splitting hydrogen bombs) for all to see and enjoy ?

Click here for some pics

I am finally mobile...

After a lot of thought, discussion and debates, I finally decided to take the plunge. I finally got a mobile (for good or bad, its too early to say). Just got it by FedEx. It is a Samsung E715.

This is how my new phone looks!

The Indian Dynasty

The other day, I was reading something about the Kennedy clan. They are virtually thought of as the princely family of America. So many influential people right from Joseph Kennedy(JFK's father ) to JFK himself, Robert Kennedy, Ted Kennedy and to Maria Shriver. Moreover, it is not the number of people that I am trying to talk about but the amount of influence they weilded over the course of history.

On the same lines, I started thinking about a family in India that could rival the Kennedys in fame, national service and unblemished reputation. I dont know if there is anyone even to compete with the TATAs. The name itself evokes respect. From the stalwart J.N.Tata who went on to pioneer the industrial revolution in India to Sir.J.R.D.Tata who at the helm of the Tata Sons steered the fledgling company to diversify into numerous fields to the current chairman of the board Ratan Tata who with his vision has provided assurance that the Tatas are at the forefront of any kind of industry in the new milleium.

This would have been just another industrial success story like many others. But the Tatas have distinguished themselves by returning to the society and performing that social service which most others chose to neglect.

When J.N.Tata was refused entry into a leading hotel in Bombay in the late 1800s, he decided to build a hotel himself that would rival the pomp and spledour of the British. The result was the Taj Mahal Hotel, Bombay. With his vision, he kick-started the industrial revolition. But the starting of the Tata Inst., (now IISc) with his personal purse was probably his biggest contribution to the society.

J.R.D.Tata, with a flying license with license number #1(he was the first person from India to qualify to fly in 1929) , he flew the first airmail plane, founded the Tata Airlines(which was later nationalized to Air India) and became the chairman of IATA.

And not to be left behind, Ratan Tata has vowed to make the dream of a car in ever Indian home come true. For this, he has bet the entire Tata group that they will come out with a passenger car for just about $1000!!!

Who needs princely families when true princes have been ruling India!

(More later about an Indian family that has done more damage to India than anyone can ever do in dozen lifetimes!)

Pretty hard landing.

I set out for Indianapolis on friday with such high expectations. I wouldnt have been so dissappointed even if Kimi Raikkonen had lost. Or even if Schumacher had competitively won it! But what was so disappointing was the fact that 14 drivers boycotted the race and we had to sit like stupid idiots in the stand and see the same 6 cars going round and round.

Who wants to see a race where the Ferraris 'compete' with the Jordans and the Minardis ?!?!?

Anyway, other than this depressing episode, I really enjoyed the visit to the Motor Museum and the stunning display of cars and not to mention the screaming and revving sounds of 19000 r.p.m of that technological marvels and the thunderous sound produced by the traction control at the turns.

By the way, it is so annoying to find that hardly any people eat vegetarian in the US in spite of hearing the contrary about Americans turning not just Vegetarians , but Vegans ! I had to struggle to find some decent morsel of Veggie food all along the trip. Subway became my saviour and had to survive on cakes, apples and what not...

Some pisc of the trip can be found here: Indianapolis Trip Pics.

Current Mood: Depressed.

Is this a shopping experience ?

After coming to the US, I have somewhat missed that amazing shopping experience that I used to experience in Bangalore. It is not that I was a shopping freak or something. It was that superb window shopping experience in Jayanagar 4th Block that is irreplaceable here in the USA.

All that I see in the US are chains ! There is Subway, Mc Donalds , Arby's , Wendys, ... huh the list goes on. You see one... you have seen them all ! The malls look the same wherever you go! They are omnipresent ! They look the same wherever you go. Even the towns and small cities look the same. They are structured in exactly the same way. Exits off Interstates and a couple of miles drive and lo and behold... you see a town with all the above chains, a walmart and a Best Western hostel !

So what is unique to a town that distinguishes a town here ?

And the one pleasure that I miss is walking in crowds ! Here people don't jostle, don't rush and to top it all, they stop and say Thank You and Sorry to Everything !!!

I have a new blog....yet again !

Hi Netizens!

After having 2-3 blogs and forgetting my usernames and passwords, I think I have found one that seems alright. I honestly dont want to go through the rigmarole of setting up a new one again.

Let me talk a little bit more about myself in the subsequent blogs. My exams are fast approaching and if ppl around me see that I am actually sitting and writing blogs, their doubts that I am jobless will be confirmed!(You didn't hear that from me!).

Ciao then amigos...
Talk to you later then.

P