I have been away from blogging for quite a long time… been busy 
.. anybody missed me..??
Many things has happened. Change.
Recession, more attacks, more movies, more (bizzare!) reality shows, more people into blogging, more movies, more F1- kimi is still the favorite, so much more to read, so much more .. more … more….
well shall get back to ranting my thoughts. Do come back.
Cheers
After much await, i finally made time to watch the Dark Knight. And i am glad i watched it on big screen. Its surely a movie which has to be seen on big screen. It was a pleasure to see it. Apart from the sound and visual effects its the story that will make you get involved in it deeply and make you get to the edge of the seat.
Movie begins with a few guys with joker masks robbing a bank. But only one of the jokers leaves the bank with all the money. And he is none other than JOKER superbly played by Heath Ledger. Scarred face, greasy makeup, long messy hair makes anyone remember him for a few days more after watching the movie. The best of nemesis ever seen. Batman comes up once again to save Gotham city, but Mr. Harvey Dent (or Two Face), nicely played by Aaron Eckhart, seems to save the city with out wearing a mask. But its Joker again who keeps Batman from retiring. The action continues until Batman along with his techy guy Louis Fox (Morgan Freeman) keeps up to his savior status and gets the clown.
There is plenty of noisy action, which can numb your ears, so be ready for those surprise sound effects. Apart from the Jokers face, few snippets are unforgettable, like the sequence in which Joker enters the gotham city mob meeting making a rather funny laugh, the sequence where Batman brings back the chinese guy, the Joker coming out of the hospital and blowing up the whole hospital building and the awesome plunge of Batman from the skyscraper… and may be many more of that .. Kudos to Heath Ledger for his academy award winning kind of performance and will be missed by many and hope to see Christian Bale in the bat suit again with a faster bat mobile.
Don’t miss this dark, quite complex and unforgettable movie, and do watch this on big screen, big screens are made for such movies….
Viewing the first rays of sun at about 2000m above sea level at the dawn of a new year was absolute bliss and I couldn’t ask for a better start of a new year.
With sudden plans for the New Year eve actually taking place we were all together on the move towards Skanda giri, which is about 70 km’s from Bangalore. Anil and his colleagues planned for this and sandeep and me joined them . My only reason for joining this trek was a thought to do something different and unusual for this New Year eve. A moon light trek was apt enough for my reason.
Everyone got together at malleshwaram at about 11 p.m. and within no time we all got along very well and we headed towards Chikkaballapur, from where the Skanda giri or kalavarahalli betta is about 7 km’s. Reaching the foot of the hill at about 12.30 a.m., I was surprised to see about 50 or more number of people there getting ready to do the trekking. A rocket was fired and there was this roar of sound in chorus welcoming the New Year. Every person there seemed to be full of josh and energy. Not wasting much time we started towards the hill immediately.
As we moved ahead the path seemed quite fine in the beginning but it worsened with every step. Thorny bushes, hissing sounds and the not so full moon light was all ignored by each one was and all we wanted to do was to reach the peak as soon as possible. But it was only after about an hour’s climb did we notice that there was no path ahead and we seemed lost. With much confusion we decided to get down and take the other path. So we did come back to almost where we started. By this time we were all quite tired. But still without taking a break we just started on the new path, which seemed a lot better than the earlier one. Or so it seemed. As we moved up, those thorny bushes and slippery path was not missed. The temperature dipped as we moved higher and the winter was felt by every one of us. Without wasting much time, we had almost reached the peak at about 3.35 a.m. Just below the peak point there was this flat place where most of the people were resting and so did we.
The view of the city lights from up there was fabulous. By that time all other groups were there and another surprise awaited us there. We had heard from others who had been to this place earlier that nothing would be available up there, but we were relieved to see someone preparing hot bajji’s and tea there which was totally unexpected. We missed the tea since we reached there after the other groups. But we were glad that we enjoyed those hot bajji’s. We were not the last ones to get there, as several more reached there after we did who missed even what we got.
At about 4.30 we started for the peak point, which was just about 5 mins ahead from where we rested. Having reached the peak we all settled down at an edge of the hill waiting for the sunrise. The pool of clouds seen from there seemed like ksheera saagara – sea of milk which was just amazing. The temperature there was freezing. But it was the view, which made us ignore everything and we all just enjoyed it.
At about 6 a.m. the much-awaited sunrise happened and along with me there were many who just seemed to be so overwhelmed with the joy of experiencing such thing. This joy and experience has to be felt by actually being there as it’s not easy to put it in words. Some people screamed, some just sat there in silence and watched the awesome view. Cameras clicked and moments captured.
We started the downhill at about 7 and reached the place where we started at about 9. Most of us were tired and sleepy. The cramps started to show up. But all I could think of on the way back was that it would be one of the most memorable treks of my entire life. And for those who have not been to this place, all I would say is you are missing it. Visit this place once and you will be tempted enough to go there again..
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Click on the images to enlarge..
pool of clouds
Dawn of 2008 !!
Guess wheres Sandy !?
More photos will be added soon..
(In case you are planning to go to this place don’t forget to take water and food, warm clothing and a good torch while a night trek.)
Taare Zameen Par, a very sensible movie at the end of the year. Amir Khan making his directorial debut has proved that now not only does he act well but can also direct a movie with utmost perfection even with a sensitive story giving out a important message to everyone, especially to ‘parents’.
The movie is about the eight year kid Ishaan, the main protagonist in the movie, who is put through the ‘ be ahead of others ‘ kinda stress, very much like every other child in this country. Even after been repeatedly correcting his mistakes by his mother, ishaan keeps doing the same mistakes. Getting frustrated for not been able to discipline him, he is packed off to a boarding school by his father. Things worsen for ishaan there. With no known faces around, but just scary teachers, he just puts himself into a nutshell without showing any improvements with his studies and also almost stops doing painting which used to be his most favorite thing. To his rescue comes his new art teacher, Ram Shankar Nikumbh, very well portrayed by the perfectionist actor Amir Khan. It is he who takes a closer look at ishaan and finds out that its dyslexia which is keeping ishaan from coping up with his studies. And with able help from his new art teacher, ishaan does improve making his parents proud.
There are many moments which stays for a long time even after the movie ends like the one in which Ishaan does a moon walk in the school corridor while being sent out from class, the one in which Amir visits ishaans parents and makes them understand their childs problem and another in which ishaan is surprised to see his art teacher to have done a painting his smiling face.
The movie is upto the expectations it had created. With no stylish fashion, no fancy camera effects, Amir has directed a fabulous film with just a solid script backed with apt lyrics by Prasoon Joshi and unconventional music by the Shankar-Eshaan-Loy trio. And its Darsheel Safary who plays ishaan who steals the show with his fabulous acting. And interestingly, never in the movie do you see Amir overshadowing the ishaans character. All other actors including Tisca Chopra and Vipin sharma who play ishaans parents have put in fair share of acting. No wonder that its been highly rated by most of the critics.
All in all a wonderful movie which is not to be missed by anyone..
There are very less people who would be fortunate enough to have had good teachers in their lifetime. I consider myself one of them. There were 2 teachers whose teachings still stay with me. It was in Beasant English School,Mangalore where I happened to be a student of Prabha Kudva madam and Sudha madam. Definitely the best teachers i have ever had till now and may be forever. I did my primary schooling from 2nd grade till 4th in Beasant School. Three years of unforgattble learning experience. Though it was in the very early statges of my schooling, their teaching is the only ones which is like engraved in my memory. Apart from studies, they both encouraged us all a lot for many other activities like sports and cultural activites. Infact such activites were done more than anything else. If at all theres any creativeness in me then its just because of they both. Along with teaching the text books, they made us write stories, read encyclopedias, even let us watch movies (quite unbelievable, but true).
Now when I look back into my student life, I feel that i was a true student only in these three years with these two teachers. For the rest of my education i guess i was just a student preaparing to do well in the annual exams.
I thank them both again for everything they have given not just to me but to all their students.
Happy Teachers Day
Sincerely,
Vinay
I know i am pathetic at writing anything… but still, long back sometime i had tried at putting words together to write up something which would seem like a poem in some way.. now going ahead and taking one more risk of letting you all read it… so here it is ..
One evening ….
Woke up on a pleasant evening,
Felt like the whole day i had been sleeping…
There was no one to wake me up,
No one to call my name…
Moved out of the home with strange feeling,
I felt i was still dreaming….
Visited all the known places
Looking for those familiar faces…
Soon i was left with a very few choices
Where i could hear the known voices…
Confused with the words i heard,
Refused to go near the yard…
But somehow could’nt keep myself,
Legs had started moving by themselves…
As I reached the place near,
Eyes looked arround in great fear..
Found all those faces i had been searching,
Could’nt understand for whom they were mourning….
Thought of looking at that resting face,
Heart was beating with great pace…
As the face uncovered at the count of nine,
With great disbelief i saw it was mine…
The strange feeling had by now vanished,
I now realised that my terms here had finished…
To keep up my words honestly i had tried,
Could see a few hearts which for me had cried…
Even after years, I roam arround the same old places,
Treasuring those joyous expressions on those known faces…
Wish even I had moved through all those phases…
– VS
Today was the first day of my first job. I had never thought i would get such a good job so soon. EDS (RelQ) Global Testing Organisation is the company I have joined. Have been taken into the Games Testing domain. Yes Games Testing. That wil be letting me meddle with all kinda cool gaming consoles, most of them which i wouldnt even have dreamt of having one for myself.
Since i got in there without any preconceived thoughts or expectations regarding the team, team lead and all such things i can say that i have got into quite a good team and people around me seem to be very friendly too.
Looking forward to have a great time enjoying as well as learning many new things..
So as of now its gonna be GAMING all the way….
Cheers.. !!
“ Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish.” This is how a speech of Steve Jobs concludes.
I graduated recently. Ya guys, i finally did it 
. No celebration, no graduation parties, nothing of that sort. They werent even expected. (Atleast i dint). But there was this commencement speech of Steve Jobs for the graduating students of Stanford that i had read about 2 years ago in 2005, which i had liked a lot that flashed back into my head and having liked it a lot, I thought it would be great to make a mention of it here.
For those who dont know, Steve Jobs (or Mr.Macintosh as they call him.. ) is the founder of two big comapnies, Apple and Pixar. Apple is considered as the most innovative company to be bringing out products like the ipod and lately the iphone, where as Pixar was the company to make the first ever computer animated movie called The Toy Story and since then has brought out many more of such good animated movies.
Coming back to about his speech, when i read the complete text of his address to the students, i just felt, that speech would be perfect for any student across the globe who graduates or even for those who do not graduate. Why.. ? Well you better know it yourself by reading it or watching the video at your free time.
The speech is great and i would suggest that you read it and let me know of your interpretations.
Find the complete text of the speech here.
And as far as i am concerned, this is what i thought was the message that he happened to give out:
* Always do what you want or would love to do and nothing else matters and if you dont know what to do, dont stop looking for it until you find it.
*Failure is not the end of anything. With proper approach, it can be the beginning for everything else.
*Have the courage to follow your heart and intuitions.
And yeah – stay hungry… stay foolish…
It had been a long time since i had been out of bangalore with friends. We (ravi vishu anil and me) planed for a getaway for Sunday, 8th of july. As planned we started off at about 7 in the morn from my place to Muthathi which is about 120 kms from bangalore .
Muthathi is about 33 kms further from Kanakpura, about 90 minutes drive from bangalore. On reaching Kanakpura, move towards Sathnur and from there its just a 30 min drive to muthathi, a small village on the shore of river Cauvery. This was the first time i was on this route and was quite excited to see the new place.
Once we were onto the Kanakpura road, national highway, the bikes were put to top speed. The highway was great and so it was a very smooth ride. After sathnur the environment gets more beautiful, green and silent and the bike noise is all you can hear.
Reached the place by about 9 and could see that Muthathi was not so crowded place. May be because it does not have much place on the shore of the river for people to stroll or to even just sit and relax. But it was quite peaceful with just the river making all the sound apart from the birds chirping. Though the river seemed shallow the placards could be seen at many places warning not to get into the water due to many whirlpools.
Taken at Muthathi..
After having spent a while at muthathi we moved on to mekedaatu, which was nearby. And that was a more interesting and nice place to chill out. This is a place where you can see the Cauvery, running wide and wild. It is at this place where the Arkavathi river joins cauvery. This place being quite popular had enough crowd.
Once we reached there we decided to move to the other side of the river. For that we had to take a ride on a ‘theppa’ (a small circular, plate shaped row boat) which would be steered by a boat man and believe me his task of rafting dint seem any easy to me even though the river wasn’t flowing in full force. Once we were on the other side of the river we spent a lot of time there. Water was cool and tempting enough for us to get into it.
The return journey was good too. It rained for a while on our way back and getting drenched was refreshing. Though we were all very hungry we had decided to lunch once we reach bangalore. Stopped at Adigas upahaar on kanakpura road and being late we had missed the lunchtime and so just enjoyed a masala dosa and ice cream.
All in all it was a great weekend. Enjoyed the ride, the serenity of nature all the way and the silence peace.
We were all back to my place by about 6 and the Wimbledon finals had just begun. Federer v/s Nadal. And I just relaxed watching the match. The cramps started to pop up later for being on the back seat of the bike for nearly 300 kms, but all i could think of was that it was worth it ..
Looking forward for the next ride now…
Puzzles are sometimes the best thing to keep yourself from getting bored at times when you don’t have much work. Though i was not looking around for any such puzzle, it did put itself right in front of me. Rubik’s Cube. When you see this cube studded with multi colours you can hardly keep your hands off it. Its just like a magnet and you most of the time pick it up with all determination to solve it. Probably its simplicity is what attracts people to it, though the solution is not that simple. This is really something that i have been trying to solve and still not been able to completely solve it as yet. Though the cube is more than 25 years old, it still remains as one of the most popular puzzle even now. And for me, it’s been quite a while since i have been meddling with it, and, no still not bored with it. I have been able to put together 1 side very easily in almost no time, 2 sides with taking some time, 3 sides still only once. The best time for a beginner (like me..) to rejoice is the moment one side is done for the first time. Beginners tend to try to finish the cube taking one side at a time and they will soon realise that the complexity just got double folded when they are to start with the second side. Care has to be taken not to break up the side, which was just done, and there actually lies the challenge. And there after it doesn’t take much time to realise that this is not something that can be done with taking one side at a time unless you would want to just do that one side. It can be infuriating for not being able to do it but still you cant put it down that easily. And I guess its quite a pleasure to solve it completely.
Well in case anyone is looking for a solution for this, there are plenty of web sites giving it out.
And for others, lets just keep the cubing going on until we are cubed…
Enjoy !!
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