Different Hues of My Mind

January 26, 2011 - JR Meadows, Anekal Taluk I had gone to attend "Gruhapravesham" (house warming) ceremony of my relative's home in JR Meadows. While clicking photos of the ceremony I noticed that these 2 construction workers were watching the proceedings from a nearby (under construction) house. I walked up to the window and aimed my camera at them, they gave the most charming smile I have seen in a while. I clicked and then extended the camera out of the grill for them to see the picture. They seemed happy, and I was too.

January 22, 2011 - Akshaya Nagar, Bangalore This girl was preoccupied playing on the slide in the play area of our apartment. As she was climbing up from the sliding end she noticed me taking photos in the car parking area. She paused momentarily and posed for a photograph. However, I clicked when she resumed playing.

January 1, 2011 - The Forum mall, Bangalore My friend bought the 50 mm f1.8 lens, and I was trying it out at the Forum mall. The Christmas decorations were kept intact for the New Year celebrations as well, and I got a good chance to test the bokeh produced by lens. A little while later a staff of the Forum mall approached us and politely asked us the purpose of taking photos and requested us not to take photographs as photography was only allowed with family and friends. We obliged and vacated the place after giving the staff some suggestions.

January 1, 2011 - Majestic, Bangalore I was walking around in the Majestic area on the first day of the year 2011, when I came across a street artist. He was drawing the picture of Lord Ganesh using a piece of charcoal. I normally don't take photos of people. However I was with my friend, and we clicked few photos of the art and the artist. He demanded 10 rupees from us, and threatened to hit us when we gave him a 5 rupee coin. Curious public gathered around as we paid another 10 rupees, took a couple of photos and moved on.

December 7, 2010 - Horse carts, Bangalore Palace The Bangalore Palace stands in contrast with the glitz and buzz of the silicon city, located in the sprawling Palace Grounds, the palace offers a peak into the history of Bangalore city. Entry to the palace costs Rs. 175, and you get an "audioguide" - a recorded narration of the significance of the different areas of the palace. If you pay Rs. 500 for the camera ticket, then you can take photographs inside and outside the palace. This photo is of the horse driven carts parked in front of the palace.

December 25, 2010 - Tunga River, Sringeri Sringeri is a holy town in the Malnad (Western Ghats) region of Karnataka. Here the temples of Goddess Sharadamba and Lord Vidyashankara are located on the banks of River Tunga. There is a bridge connecting the other side of the river where the Peetham is established. Meals are offered to all the devotees visiting the shrine. The atmosphere here is very relaxing and one feels rejuvenated after spending some time here in the evening.

October 31, 2010 - Ladies Seat, Yercaud A famous viewpoint in Yercaud, allows for beautiful view of plains in the day. When we visited this viewpoint in daylight, the entire place was completely covered in mist and there was no view available. An autorikshaw guy persuaded us to visit the place in the night (for his benefit), but in the end it evened out pretty well. We got a stunning night view of Salem City.

October 31, 2010 - near Omalur railway station On the way to Salem, the Bangalore - Ernakulam Intercity express stopped at Omalur railway station. I spotted this abandoned building by the railway track, just as the train was about to start. I quickly set the camera to Live View and changed Picture Style to my custom black and white mode, extended the camera out of the window and took a shot. As the train chugged out of the station, I realized that this photo was a keeper.

September 11, 2010 - Raj Bhavan, Kemmannugundi. This is the highest point in Kemmannugundi hills, famous for beautiful views of sunset. Since this is the highest point, you also get a fantastic view of surrounding hills and valleys. We visited this place on a gloomy day just after monsoons, and spent an hour here as clouds were floating past us at the edge of the mountain cliff. The best way to reach Kemmannugundi by your own vehicle as there is only one bus everyday connecting to Birur and Lingadahalli.

October 31, 2010 - Montfort School, Yercaud This photo was taken inside the Montfort school campus in Yercaud, Tamilnadu. This is one of the famous schools in the region, and apparently Tamil Cinema star Vikram studied here. The school is open for visitors on Sunday, and it is quite a worthwhile visit. For a round trip from bus stand autorikshaws will charge around Rs. 50.

A group of alumni, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old university lecturer. Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life. Offering his guests coffee, the lecturer went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups: porcelain, plastic, glass, some plain-looking and some expensive and exquisite, telling them to help themselves to hot coffee. When all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the lecturer said: "If you noticed, all the nice-looking, expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves; that is the source of your problems and stress. What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the better cups and are eyeing each other's cups." Now, if Life is coffee, then the jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contai...

Deviating a bit from the usual stuff I write about in my blog, this one has a more technical context (not to say I'm technically savvy) to it. Of late, I have been trying to use open-source software to see how it fares in meeting my requirements. So, out of interest, I read quite a bit about Linux. I search the internet for the different available options (distributions). So, a simple search on Google for "review+ name of the linux distribution " reveals a lot of results. Sadly, more often than not, the so called reviews are just poor expressions of one's (author's) opinion. I often find them a waste of time, misleading & biased. For e.g. I've read a so called review of an operating system, where the reviewer wrote off the operating system because he/she didn't like the default colour scheme (theme), and refused to review it!! We know that changing the colours or themes is just a matter of couple clicks on any operating system, but to say that I will ...

Following my previous post about the so called "dog menace", I can't help but write this blog after my recent visit to a place called Valparai, in Tamilnadu. This is a very typical small town, with a few small restaurants, boarding and lodging places, a main street and hills dotted with houses. The only difference is that, the weather is typical hill-station like, town is unspoilt by visitors, and it is very less commercialized. We were told by the locals that there is not much to see. However, when we started exploring the place on bike, we soon found a clean little stream flowing between the tea plantations. It was breathtaking place. We spent quite some time here. We were also told that there is a waterfall named "Chinnakallar". The water falls are named after the place; but it is the dam that holds the significance. We parked our bikes, and enquired about the falls at a tea-shop on the way. We were told that water is less at this time of the year. Regardle...

Recent news about stray (street) dogs fatally attacking 2 children in separate incidents has suddenly caused the government officials to sit up and start doing something about the "menace". We have stray animals to tackle on our roads today to add to the woes of road conditions & traffic. Stray dogs chasing 2 wheeler riders in the night & attacking pedestrians is very common. Isn't "Dog is a man's best friend?" We take pride in the development, with cities outgrowing themselves, people trying hard to acquire land & property and have all the creature comforts. However, we also take the land & space for granted. We claim stake to land where animals lived amicably, and then blame them as nuisance. Would we appreciate it if somebody were to intrude into our space and call us a nuisance? Certainly not! So, the next time you pick up a stone or stick to hit a dog, or curse a stray animal on the road, remember, these animals may not have come your wa...

So much has been said about the condition of roads in India. On a recent visit to Nagarhole (pronounced Naagar-ho-lay), I ran into some of the worst roads that I have ever come across in my life. We drove down from Bangalore in a Wagon R via Mysore & Hunsur. The road till Mysore is absolutely fantastic and the drive is very pleasing and enjoyable. Sadly, the same can't be said about the 30 km stretch of road inside the Nagarhole forest. Nagarhole is a natural forest inhabited by several species of animals, vegetation & fauna. Most common ones are tuskers, tigers, deers, sambars and peacocks. It is also reported that wild animals can be sighted during the drive through the forest. The forest department also offers a safari (in a van) inside the forest where the chances of sightings are higher. I have observed that the roads that belong to the forest department are normally better maintained than other roads. The drive between Mysore and Hunsur was also good, save some patc...

Ok... I have to admit, I have nothing to write about, and it's been a long time since I posted anything on my blog. So, now that I'm back in Bangalore.. oops "Bengalooru" after 2 odd years, I was wondering what happened to Bangalore that was 3 years back. The change of name has nothing to do with it, but the use of these names helps us understand the divide that has set in. Since I've been away for a long time, and that I've experienced another city, I think I can analyze and put down some things that have changed in Bengalooru. Bangalore was a nice & clean city with great weather all round the year. Not that there were no shortcomings but that they were far outweighted by the advantages of the city. Bangalore had nice parks & gardens everywhere and had a more relaxed appeal. I'd heard so many comments that Bangalore is a pensioners paradise. Enough about Bangalore, let's speak of Bengalooru. Bangalore was renamed as Bengalooru on Karnataka Raj...

On a recent (of numerous) visit to Ooty with Sudhakar (His Highness) - a close friend and Jai - a close cousin, we encountered some unique experiences! We started out from Coimbatore on two bikes, with three people "on-board", there was a vacant seat. Sudhakar (Sudhi), and I were on the Splendor. Sudhi was riding, wearing his trademark "red" jacket, while Jai was on his Libero. Within 5 minutes from Jai's home, we were stopped at a police checkpost for some enquiry. After some explanation the policemen finally let us go. According to Jai, it was the first time in his life that police had caught anybody at that check post! Furthermore, what was more surprising is that, the Police was not as interested in the driving license or other documents, as the purpose of visit. Stumbling! We proceeded agreeing that it was to do with the red jacket and Fast Track shades worn by Sudhi. We asked Sudhi to remove his red jacket and ride to avoid further problems. The rest of ...

Kalpakkam, a township for the residents of the Nuclear power plant here, is roughly 60 kms south of Chennai. Last weekend we decided to visit one of our relatives in this small town. As we approached this town by bus, I was wonderstruck with the proximity of the town from the sea. The sea itself is a stone’s throw away from the road. The Kalpakkam Township itself is a sprawling area with its own backwaters, beaches and trees that dominate the houses. The entry to Kalpakkam greets visitors with the backwaters first and then the Tsunami Park , aptly named after the Tsunami that wreaked havoc here in December ‘04. Simply said, this place is very charming, calm and makes for a good living. Now a wall (about 10 feet tall) is being built along the beach to protect the township from a future Tsunami! The wall they are building must be some 15-20 feet from the sea line itself. I doubt at the utility of this wall. The massive cost for the wall might not be worth the purpose it is going to serv...

Just back from Tirupati, with a bad headache, I still sit glued to my computer, writing this blog about the whole experience of getting a Darshan of Lord Venkateswara. It is astonishing to see and experience a huge deluge of humanity rushing, gasping, and crushing each other to just catch a glimpse of the Lord (lasting no more than 10 seconds). We waited with uncertainty for 6 hours in a crowded & locked room where a big TV was playing Ramayan. The Temple although located on the top of the Hills gets too warm due to the sheer number of people visiting the place. The gates of the "Waiting Room" finally opened, being excited at being let free, we ran with all our might towards the temple. We soon ran into a very long queue of people waiting to get "Laddu" tokens. This queue took us another hour and a half to get to the Deity. Having weathered the hassles of the queue, we looked forward to a Darshan of the Lord. Instead, we were greeted by some burly men & ster...

This is my first web blog! Something I have never done before. So, now I have got a Blog title I didn't really want. Still trying to figure out how to change it. On second thoughts, it's not a bad title. I'll leave it just the way it is.