the reflections of abis.

I got introduced to this song a few days ago… since then its echoing within me everyday, so sharing a part of the lyrics here… its Enrique Iglesias’ Escape for you!

If you feel like leaving
I’m not gonna make you stay
Soon you’ll be finding
You can run, you can hide
But you can’t escape my love

So if you go
You should know
It’s hard to just forget the past so fast
It was good, it was bad but it was real
And that’s all you get in the end of the matter

Here’s how it goes
All it takes is some trying
You can run, you can hide
But you can’t escape my love

Thursday, 9.8.2007

Why do i sleep so much during these training sessions! Dreams keep spiralling even as i try to focus… It’s 5pm, my assignment looks complex than the traditional chineese font. I get reminded of the poetry ‘After apple picking’ as i code my assignments through the black IBM keyboard… Finally its past midnight, I reach my hotel room early morning 2 a.m and bounced onto my bed…

Friday, 10.8.2007

Fridays are a ray of hope, a reason to continue living… I didn’t stay beyond 4 30 pm at the office. The evening was windy and the coolest i have experience till date at the big apple. I took a long stroll over the brooklyn bridge with a couple of friends, the bridge was a marvellous structure and such an addiction for walking… its supposed to be the oldest suspension bridge in the United States. Next we headed to Saravana Bhavan to meet more friends for dinner, Sambhar and Dosas were nectar @ Manhattan soil! Wanting more out of the Friday evening, we went to Coldstone where you get ice creams prepared merrily by singing, i tasted one of the richest and delicious chocolate icecream mixed with brownie and choco chips The AMC theatres, Timesquare was next destination, expecting the UnderDog to be a terror movie, we came out laughing heartily… Its past midnight, 1 30 a.m, and Timesquare looked even more electrifying…

Saturday, 11.8.2007

Weekends are for fun and we kept discovering more and more spots… By mid-day we reached central park, the most visited in United States… We went to the meuseum there, then walked past the lawns and ponds in the park.  Feeling the need for more adventure, we rode to Brighton beach, the cold waters shivered all my nerves but it was enjoyable every moment… we splashed on the waters untill late evening… Subway pizaa after sinking wet tasted great and the momentum induced us to plan more for the night as well… So its Atlantic city next! Atlantic city is a mini las vegas with its night life and grand casinos… We reached Ballys late night at 2 a.m… the casino was splendid and its a sight to witness people in large crowds loosing money at these odd hours! i gambled for one and half bucks and lost as default We left the place early morning 5 a.m to reach my hotel at 7 a.m…

Sunday, 12.8.2007

Hardly i slept for 3 hours, my moto razr screaming to wake me up… I dressed hurriedly to receive my sister at the la guardia. Excited to meet my 4 month old nephew and brother-in-law i rushed as fast as i can… It was happy hours to be with family again tasting the sweet milk pedas my sister made… We went to the Statue of Libery in the afternoon, which wasn’t as as spectacular as i expected… Dinner was at Bombay Garden where i had some spicy chicken, way better than many restaurants back in India… It was already late in the night as i walked back to my room… Its 10 p.m, Sunday… recollecting the moments of the week, i walked slowly in this new world… A busy week is ahead, more assignments, more trainings, more work… I set the alarm to 7 a.m and pulled my blanket… It’s very tiring… 

A year back i had struggled to get my passport, as i decided to apply directly without using an agent, i was one of the unfortunate guys to fall into all sorts of trouble in getting the passport. First of all, my application forms got lost in my local passport office, next the police verification was reported adverse (probably coz i din bribe the police dept.), next the DD got expired, so i had to go to chennai and spend an awful day at the chenna passport office to get things sorted out. Finally i was promised my passport will be issued in a weeeks time… But again they missed to process my application in chennai office, my dad had to visit again to dust back my application from the trashes and finally i got my passport 11 months later to the date i filled the forms  

Yesterday was the day for my visa interview. Earlier i had filled online forms, took print outs, checked all documents and was perfectly ready to visit chennai again in pursuit of an US visa, This time I had my office to back me in getting a visa so it was clear the process was going to be relatively easier. Around 70 of us were traveling to chennai from bangalore seeking visa. The Kingfisher ATR aircraft was a medicore experience, unlike the other kingfisher airbuses, this tiny craft managed to transport us  shaken but not stirred. The ATR took 50 minutes to propel into chennai airport. Luxury is what u call while on office travel, we have airconditioned cabs to transport from airport to the hotel. Chennai was drizzling and cool, the sight of tamil banners and boards was quite refreshing. Next destination is the PARK. The entrance to the park hotel looked average, i was told that it was a 5 start hotel and expectations were quite high. Open the doors and the lobby wore a majestic look, the hotel was lavishly furnished, bamboo ambience with jasmine fragnence to arouse the nerves. My room was pampering as well, the bed would sink several inches and was the coziest cot i ever slept on. Internet, television, wardrobe, mini-bar everything was there. The buffet that night was held in a conference hall and was satisfactory. The night we strolled a bit, the disk was crowded so walked into chennai streets a bit only to find all shops closed as it was almost midnight… We returned to the 8th floor of the park, it had a good swiming pool and the best part was it had cots around the pool with curtains flying in the cool breeze. It was great experience, a bunch of friends chatting on a cot on the side of a pool, 8 floors high, looking down at chennai at mid night! 

Next day is the d-day… Had to wake up early, checked all the documents for the visa interview and I proceeded to the 601. Breakfast at 601 was stupendous, the entire range of cusine one could imagine was on the table… from vadas to non-pronouncable dishes… Rarely do star hotels have a restaurant where food tasted good, but the park was amazing. The US consolate is adjacent to the hotel, so we quickly moved in to the consolate. I passed the initial scrutiny and interview easily as the consolate were aware we are going to travel as a team. The reputation of our company ensured everyone was granted a visa with interviews lasting only less than a minute each. Finally i was granted my B1! 

Back to the hotel we were debating where to go out… finally we decided to go jacoussi! The spa was located at the 9th floor of the hotel. We din have much idea what a jacoussi is, however decided to try that out, we were given hillarious g-strings which made us laugh out heartily… the jacoussi was a turbulent helbal bath tub that heals the body and relieves stress… Apart from the jacoussi the spa was equipped with steam bath as well… jacoussi infused a great apetite into me that noon. I was overwhelmed by the lunch the 601 served… It was the most stupendous lunch i ever seen, shrimps, sea food, schezwan noodles and more than 20 varieties of dessert itself, i had more than i could… with swollen bellies i sank into my bed and slept untill evening. With a heavy heart we had to check out the park. It w as a great hotel, very expensive though, like a buffet costs 820 bucks, my friend had a dosa and coffee for 300 bucks! however we had a great trip, successful visa stamping n great stay as well… The return journey was better in the airbus A321, kingfisher hostess were as charming as ever! A memorable trip!

Helmets on, I have a long look at the winding track, looks very simple infact. I climbed into the centerish seat… The tiny front wet weather tyres have lost most of the grooves… but the track was watery, small pools of water lay at few sections… the helper started the 4-stroke 100 cc motor… VROOOOOOOOOOOM…

The afternoon was cold, just then it had stopped raining… I decided to go karting, one of my longtime desires… I feared that am too heavy and old for an average kart… but wanting to try anything exciting I reached Kart Attack, some 15 kms from main Coimbatore. It cost me 100 bucks/5 min and I took 10 mins for my first outing. The helper warned me to easy as it was my first try and also coz the track was wet… Lap 1… I press the right foot pedal… the engine roars, sitting just 5-10 cms from ground the g-force seems higher, the non-differential steering was vague, but razor sharp and imprecise on the short wheels… I took a slow lap getting used to the machine, the track as well as the grip… Lap 2… I was throwing the kart all over the corner touching speeds more than 50 kmph… it felt as twice as fast sitting so low in the tight and twisty track… The vibrations were very harsh almost numbing my hands… but it was highly addictive as I entered consecutive laps… I started hitting the apex of corners trying to get the best racing line… as I drove over water pools I could feel loosing grip and drifting a bit… but it was great fun, I lapped another driver, a little girl who was practicing… I almost scared her as my kart touched hers at twice the speed, however both stayed in control despite a bit wobble… there was a smooth surface section on the exit of a corner designed to skit off drivers in case of excess speed… worse still it was watery today… every time I drove through that section, it was scary, the kart wobbling wildly, I was able to control it for many laps despite getting shaken wildly… at the end of five minutes I lapped one person thrice and once for another person who was a bit faster. Next I decided to test another kart which they suggested to be relatively better… This one accelerated very well, however there was much lesser grip… I forgot to lift my foot out of the smooth surfaced corner and it was a 180 degree spin as I hit the tyre walls… wow! I felt thrown out a bit… the helper rushed to push my kart back into the track… I was more cautions then onwards and tried to scorch as much as I could… at the end I was informed I was 4 seconds behind the lap record.. not very bad considering my first outing on a damp track… my heavy weight could also be a deterrent… however it was a good experience… hands were paining from the force feedback… but it was very addictive, the adrenaline rush… I could imagine how exciting it would be to race in the branded rotax karts!!! Or how good it should be to drive an mclaren f1 car!

Ok, to give some info about a go kart, the most exciting thing about the kart is lack of differential… that is even while turning both side wheels spin at the same speed making the kart understeer heavily… this coupled with the low c.g and seat height gives an amazing adrenaline experience!

the dawn was a bit different… woke up relatively early at 6:45hrs… it was already late… blaming my bad memory i wrote a to do list of a dozen items… it was my final project presentation… more importanltly the final day in my college… for past 5yrs i woke up on the belief of returning to the two towers of PSG Tech… flash back makes me 5 years younger… one could see me wearing colourful dresses, in typical college fresher geth… the college campus though small looked to be gigantic… the place that decides the future in me… rushing to class rooms… getting acquuainted with classmates… students union room chats… rush hour avinashi road traffic… canteen lunch amidst sightings… my first class room A117… the EEE department… placement cell and the best of all my class mate friends… what a blast it was… industral vsits… aryaas food… NMB.. Greenland… A Hall… Quadrangle… the ‘xenocratz your time starts now’ … and our farewell… finally the day has come… my project presentation was successfully over, i had to return my college id card… it was one of my proud possessions… but its validity is now over… as i finish all formalties for leaving college, the sun just sets litting up the sky with an yellowish tint… PSG Tech wore a heavenly look… silently standing in the cool evening breeze… the buldings have changed very little during our reign… remaining simlar to when i was a kid, and my dad introducing me to the college while passing by… he said ‘thambu, this is PSG Tech, one of the best colleges’… now i correct that sentence as ‘PSG Tech, the best place ever’

just felt like sharing this pic, great picturisation

Its been sometime I blogged, blame it on the project report submissions, anyways in terminator style ‘I am back!’ Today I like to share about zen stories. I have never heard about zen stories untill last week, my roomie kumar, a philosophical guy, introduced me to my first zen story. The intresting thing about zen stories are, you’ll never exactly understand what moral the story conveyed… You could interpret it as good as you could think and there are no real interpretations for the stories… However, the zen stories are supposed to convey ultimate universal truths… In typical zen story narration style, I wont continue this article beyond the story, you could google: “101 zen stories” for more… Here it goes…

Mokugen was never known to smile until his last day on earth. When his time came to pass away he said to his faithful ones: “You have studied under me for more than ten years. Show me your real interpretation of Zen. Whoever expresses this most clearly shall by my successor and receive my robe and bowl.”

Everyone watched Mokugen’s severe face, but no one answered.

Encho, a disciple who had been with his teacher for a long time, moved near the bedside. He pushed forward the medicine cup a few inches. This was his answer to the command.

The teacher’s face became even more severe. “Is that all you understand?” he asked.

Encho reached out and moved the cup back again.

A beautiful smile broke over the features of Mokugen. “You rascal,” he told Encho. “You worked with me ten years and have not yet seen my whole body. Take the robe and bowl. They belong to you.”

“I prefer you to make mistakes in kindness than work miracles in unkindness”

– i’ll get back to the quote at the end!

I believe sunday is the ‘odd man out’ of the entire week. During my school days this is how sundays pass… I normally wake up at 8 30 am those days… ‘The Hindu’ newspaper would have colourful attachments then and lot of advertisements, without even brushing i will be going through the newspaper (pictures only!). Then its a special breakfast at sunday, usually chappattis with channa or puri & masala, I always eat to my fullest on sundays. Then moma wants me to go and get chicken for lunch… Sundays are also notable for watching TV, some of my fav childhood tv shows in DD channel are Shaktimaan, Captain Vyom, Chandrakanta, Om Namasivaya, Small Wonder and so… how i used to run home to watch these! Then the evening usually goes playing cricket in our ground which we fondly named as the Shit-ney pitch… We used to play matches against different area teams, bet matches, team splits, rain spoilt matches and so on! we also used to play hide and seek, lagori, happit in pambaram.Also, frequently we used to visit train track nearby, which has a forest appearance with a small hill and a deep well on the way. Other time-passes were fishing in valamkulam, cycling races, flying kite, playing with pups etc…

Next phase is sundays from my tenths standards… this is when tution classes start… so most entertainment cut as time passes studying for tests and writing them… Then after school its college time… During these years every sunday i used to meet my school time friends, somedays we go for movies, somedays we played cricket on my friends appartment terrace, we also got addicted to roadside chat shops and visited them every sunday evening… Dinner was mostly outside home, ranging from petty shops to grand buffets.

Next phase in sundays is when i started my internship… the location changes to bangalore. mostly we used to visit some pace here like forum, mg road, and do any shopping or atleast window shopping… also a lot of money gets spent on food by trying out different restaurants. Some wekends i visit my home, during these days its very hectic, meeting friends, spending time with family and so… Sunday nights have been similar throughout, gloomy, recalling whats the work to be done on monday, so with a heavy heard i tuck myself under my bedsheet, awaiting for the next sunday!

Well, this is how this Sunday (25.3.2007) went… I went to my hometown cbe, but since parents out of station i had to stay alone… I thought of making it a different day, so surprisingly went to dhanvanthri temple, dhanvathri is the diety for health, then i went to a charity home for the orphans, i have never been to this place by myself. I remember my mom taking me there once when i was a kid. I was welcomed there by an old lady as “come son!” and another little girl came running to switch on the fan, she told “please sit here brother”… I saw photos of Mother Teresa and Jesus Christ all over… i din have a look at all the children there… I told the sister there “I’ll come again” and left the place… it was a different experience… I like to share a Mother Teresa quote on this occassion,

“I prefer you to make mistakes in kindness than work miracles in unkindness”

Yesterday night before sleeping i wished to hear some story, its has become an old practice these days to induce sleep by story telling. So, my room mate Gokul started the story…

Once a sage saw a scorpion falling into water, in the process of helping this scorpion to get out of water, the sage had to endured a sting. But, the scorpion again and again kept falling into water and every time it was rescued, it stung the sage. An onlooker was surprised and asked the sage why he was showing mercy to the cruel scorpion. The sage replied “To sting, is the scorpions character, to show mercy is my character”
“Which fool will do like this”! we broke out into laughter on hearing the story. Gokul reasoned out that one should help others without putting oneself into pain. I thought for a while what i would have done, I would have rescued the scorpion but once it shows its true colour I would have killed it on the spot itself! Other questions… why dont we rescue the scorpion using a stick and put some where away from the water… With all this pointless talks, the bed time story continued untill midnight diverting into diverse topics!

Well, there are some intresting facts about the scorpion itself…

The speciality of the scorpion species is its tail… some scorpions are born with two tails

The scientific term for the sting is telson and produces the venom

Scorpion venom are not poisoness to humans, except swelling and slight pain

Scorpions can live b/w 4 to 25 years!

They cannot digest solid food

There are no scorpions in Newzealand

Some scorpions grow upto 9.75 feet!