| Great New Year Bash |
[Jan. 8th, 2006|02:10 am] |
This is quite late to blog about my New Year but still. We all went to Mangalore to celebrate new Year this time. We were a 14 member gang and it was awesome. Though the travel was not very comfortable, we had a great time in the calm west coase beaches. We visited Penambur beach and the St. Mary's Island during this trip. The island's beaches had crystal clear water and there were some amazing rock formations.
Our new year celebrations though was a bit dampened by the sad party we went too, we made it up by getting out of it in time, and having a fun time at Cafe Coffee Day at 12 midnight.
The most memorable thing this New Year was the return to the beaches. The one thing I miss greatly in Bangalore are the beaches. Those last few monthns in college have made me yearn for them. Hope to get to some beach next time I am in Chennai. |
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| Wasted Weekend? |
[Dec. 25th, 2005|08:30 pm] |
| [ | Tags | | | delhi, recruitment | ] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  relaxed | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Flight announcement in the Delhi Airport Lounge | ] |
Last Thursday I was roped in to go for recruiting to IIT Kanpur. I was quite hesitant as nowadays weekdays are toofilled with work, so I prefer relaxing in the weekend. Also I had planned to spend my weekend just playing Civilization 4. But the interviewing was to be only on Saturday and it was an emergency, so agreed to go.
I was to leave by the Friday 10 PM flight to Delhi, then the next day morning catch the Lucknow flight and hit the road to Kanpur. Couple of my colleagues, Pranav and Sachin, who were the main interviewers came along with their wives. Everything seemed quite normal till two-thirds of the flight. Then the Captain announced that visibility in Delhi is 0, so we are going to turn back to Bangalore. I came to know that the fog problem had been there the previous day as well.
I had very little sleep the previous day, and had planned to catch some proper sleep in Delhi. This new development put everything out of order. Jet Airways, known to the best in service, was pathetic in crisis management and finally got us booked on the 7:45 AM flight. Sachin decided not to continue as he was too tired. With just a couple of hours to kill I went to Pranav’s house, which is just 20 mins from the airport. We were not sure whether we would be able to get the connecting flight to Lucknow. There was a flight in the afternoon and one in the evening, and I decided to try my luck. Pranav had interviews at IIT Delhi on Sunday, so he had to go anyway.
We spent the rest of the night watching, Chicken Little and some episodes of Seinfeld. We got back to the airport at 6:45 AM just to find that our flight was overbooked and we had been bumped to the 9:15 flight to Delhi, which was further delayed an hour. After spending a couple of hours in the lounge we were once again headed to Delhi. Finally got there at 1:30 PM. Now we had to figure out if we could get tickets for Lucknow. My gamble did not payoff and we did not get any tickets to Lucknow. Pranav is from Delhi so he left for his parents house. I was booked in "The Park" and I left for it.
So all I had to look for is a five start hotel stay, alone, till my retrun flight to Bangalore on Sunday evening. Well it was a pretty lonesome stay, with no one for company for even the meals. More so as it was Christmas weekend. But I had some really comfortable sleep and lots of time to play Civ 4, which is what I planned initially for the weekend.
So net-net, for my 12 hour ordeal to get to Delhi and some lonely meals, I got an all expense paid 1-day stay at the Park in Delhi. I think I can call it even. |
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| Bikes and me |
[Dec. 12th, 2005|12:10 am] |
| [ | Tags | | | bike, car, kinetic honda, me | ] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | thoughtful, nostalgic | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | மனம் உன்னை மரன்திட நினைகிரதெ (Manam unnai maranthida nina..) | ] |
After quite a while I rode a two-wheeler during this weekend. Used Suri’s (Bk’s anna) bike to go to nearby places. These short rides triggered my college day memories of my Kinetic Honda and me. Those days of racing once the signal changed to green, those days when I rode sitting on the rear seat of my scooter, those rare rainy days when going back home I would drench myself fully, those days whenever there was a free period we would shuttle between the classroom and the hostel, those days when we would hurry to the Xerox shop to get our assignments printed out.
Riding a bike/scooter (esp. an un-geared one) is so much fun. When the weather is cool and breezy, feeling the air whiz past you as you speed is just wonderful. Even the rides on really hot and sultry days when my bike seat becomes a boiling pan in 5 minutes are memorable, as once you start revving up you feel a lot better. Though bikes are so much fun, they are a thing of the past for me. I don’t know whether it should be called luck, or plain me lacking sense or talent, but I have met with so many accidents. It must be more than ten, I have lost track of the count. Though most have been minor ones, I had been in a couple of nasty ones, which has left me with marks till I die. Wearing a helmet had saved me from very serious injuries too. Also it started seeming dangerous for my fellow road users. These accidents made sure I no longer have the confidence to go at 60 km/h on even an empty road, any dust/sand on the road gives me the shivers.
Nowadays I have to be content driving a car. Not that it’s any less fun. Driving a car is great fun as well. Except in Bangalore that is, you can loose interest in commuting in any way, because of the potholes here (Check this out). But riding a bike is always special, but my short stay with them has ended. The good thing is that cars are as fun, and a lot safer, and of course a lot faster ;-).
So happy driving everyone.
PS: Tried to type some Tamil, but please excuse my spelling mistakes :-). ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) mewpsych your song is addictive. |
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| What kinda Gamer am I? |
[Dec. 11th, 2005|02:49 am] |
| [ | Tags | | | gaming, me | ] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  sleepy | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Sound of the fan on a cool night | ] |
This seemed pretty near the kind of gamer I am. I loveee gaming.
From greywolf_ntel
| You scored as Storyteller. You're more inclined toward the role playing side of the equation and less interested in numbers or experience points. You're quick to compromise if you can help move the story forward, and get bored when the game slows down for a long planning session. You want to play out a story that moves like it's orchestrated by a skilled novelist or film director.
Storyteller | | 83% | Specialist | | 83% | Method Actor | | 75% | Power Gamer | | 58% | Butt-Kicker | | 58% | Tactician | | 50% | Casual Gamer | | 50% | </td>
Law's Game Style
created with QuizFarm.com |
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| What is most important to me in my life? |
[Dec. 5th, 2005|01:05 am] |
| [ | Tags | | | fun, me, work | ] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | content | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | manam unai marandhida ninaikkiradhey | ] |
<td align="center">Fun is most important in your life.
Having a high focus on fun indicates that you value your own enjoyment over anything else. And there is nothing wrong with that. Your motto is we're here for a good time - not a long time.
Take this quiz at QuizGalaxy.com</td> |
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| Delhi Trip - Photos |
[Dec. 5th, 2005|12:12 am] |
There are lots of these photos, so for now hand picking a few good ones.
Sachin's marriage procession
Jaipur
Hawa Mahal
( See more... )
-Palani |
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| My travel log – The Golden Triangle |
[Dec. 4th, 2005|01:55 am] |
This is very long post, more an account of my trip to the Golden triangle, than a normal blog entry. So if you have the patience, time and interest, go ahead.
Last week, 23rd to 27th, I along with a couple of my friends, Deepak and Arun, had gone to Delhi and places around. We had gone there to attend two of our colleagues’ marriage. One was Sachin and the other Ratish, our TU batch mate. I had never attended North Indian weddings before, so it was an exciting time.
Sachin’s marriage
On Wednesday was Sachin’s marriage. The functions started around 6:30 PM in the evening. Poor Sachin had to ride a horse for quite sometime. After the initial dancing, procession and mandir visit, we were to go to the marriage hall, i.e. a club which was some 35 km away. It was very tiresome and long journey in the traffic. It took almost 2 hours to reach there. But we stopped a couple kilometers before the place, and again the dancing procession started. There were some great displays of fireworks. Then once the groom bribed, some 5k I guess, the bride’s cousin, we could get inside the club. The place was huge and more importantly open. It was about midnight when we got in here, and we hadn’t even seen the bride. The cold was starting to make me feel quite numb for which I couldn’t do much. The wedding was really grand, and the food was amazing. We actually thought the snacks section was for dinner, and had our dinner with it itself :). The marriage ceremony happened around 12:30 AM. We still are wondering what their marriage date will be counted as. Is it 23rd or 24th? My friends and myself left the place around 2 in the night, but there were still lots of ceremonies to go on.
IITF (Indian International Trade Fair)
On Thursday morning we checked out IITF in Pragati Maidan. I had heard a lot about this place in news, etc., so thought we will check out. Also Anupam’s (another friend of ours) mother and sister joined us. When we got to the fair the huge crowds waiting in the queues amazed us. Especially the young guys and girls were all around. In Chennai, trade fairs were a family outing, here it seemed like a youth hangout. The fair was HUGE. To roam the entire place would have taken us atleast a couple of days. After some roaming around, I relaxed sitting under a nice shade, playing Prince of Persia, Sands of Time, in my mobile. We left the place around 6 to get to Ratish’s place.
( Read more... )
Bye,
Palani. |
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| Cleanliness is obviously next to Godliness |
[Nov. 20th, 2005|08:02 pm] |
| [ | Tags | | | me, my car | ] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  energetic | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Metallica - Nothing else matters(the most amazing song ever) | ] |
Well I am not a strong believer in "Cleanliness is next to Godliness". Well I am guessing many bachelors would be of the same belief. I clean my room, quite rarely, only when it becomes unliveable. Worse still my car had not been cleaned for months. But last Sunday, when my dad had come in I had to make my place liveable so in a herculean effort cleaned the hall, my room and the bathroom.
This energy seems to have stuck on. Today, I spent 2 hours cleaning my car. For people who have seen my car recently the below could be a huge shocker :).
There was so much dirt which came of you wouldn't believe. I should have taken a before pic, then you would know the effort that went in ;).
The one thing about cleaning is that, once you accomplish it you feel really good. Especially, with my car, I just loved cleaning it. Maybe I should start doing it often. It might be back breaking, but it was worth it.
Am going to watch Harry Potter, Goblet of Fire, today at 10 PM. Lots of expectations.
Cya,
Palani. |
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| A Different Sunday |
[Nov. 13th, 2005|11:15 pm] |
| [ | Tags | | | me | ] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | relaxed | ] |
One week after returning back from the Diwali vacation, I thought my weekends would still be going on in the same routine lazy way. But this Sunday was quite different. My dad was to come to Bangalore for attending his JD’s (Joint Director, I guess) daughter’s engagement.
He and one of his colleagues (Karthikeyan Uncle) arrived in the Brindavan Express around 1:30 PM. To make the house presentable I woke up a bit early (that’s 10:30 AM, :) ) and cleaned the house. Not thoroughly though enough to make it look presentable.
I picked them up, and on our way home we had food. Rested for some while at the home and then I took them to show around Bangalore. I took them first to Lalbagh, then to MTR for some coffee, and then we headed to Matikere for the engagement. On the way we checked out Vidhan Soudha, pretty cool piece of architecture. Our way to Matikere was tiresome, though not much traffic, the roads we bad. After some fight, to figure out the address, we finally got to the place around 6:20 PM, just in time for the function.
Lots of my dad’s colleagues were here, and I knew some of them, so wasn’t that bad. Also yesterday I had enabled GPRS on my mobile, so that too kept me busy :). Though gmail was pretty slow through it, I managed to send a mail with an attachment through it.
Then once the function was over, we had some good food and started back to the railway station. After some wrong turns we finally reached the station. Dropped them off and headed back home.
My usual Sunday is a lot different from the above. I usually read some book, or go watch a movie in theatre or in my laptop, or play some game in the laptop. But today though tiring was good. Especially sitting in the park was quite peaceful. Having less traffic and good roads would have made today great, but in Bangalore to ask for that is too much. But all in all a good day.
On a side note Bk’s anna, Surender, was saying a real estate guru is predicting that the Blore real estate bubble is going to burst in a year’s time. The prices are going to fall by 30 to 50%. Well if the infrastructure does not improve it is bound to happen.
Now that I am net enabled on weekends, hope to blog more often :).
Signing off,
Palani. |
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| Nostalgia Strike |
[Nov. 4th, 2005|06:47 pm] |
| [ | Tags | | | me | ] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  nostalgic | ] |
I am spending the 9 day vacation/holiday during the Diwali/Ramzan in Chennai. A week into my 9 day vacation, the time seems to have flied. I got a new Nokia 6630 cellphone. Also had been going around the city checking out car showrooms. I am looking for a mid-sized car and it is really tough to decide which one. I have to test drive a few more cars before I can make a decision.
Today is Ramzan, and every Ramzan we go to one of our ex-neighbour, Ayesha akka's house for lunch. She had called to invite us and thats when nostalgia hit me. We lived in a small house in Egmore during most of my early schooling, till 7th or 8th Standard. Now that I look back those were really memorable days. Let me remember some moments from the past.
Our house then was one among the 7 houses in the building. The place is sort of complexly build as the owners built it in stages. We lived in the first house. Just thinking of those days brings so much memories to me, those weekends watching rented movies, those diwalis, those card games... I will never be able to capture all them in writing, but it is not to be written it is to be felt.
The home next to ours was occupied by my uncle and aunt. I usually played with their kid, Deepak, before I left for school. The other houses in the groundfloor were occupied by Shiny akka and Ayesha akka. Just above our house was our owner's house. Some of the most memorable afternoons as a school kid was spent on the balcony of their house. I used to play cards and Business (Monopoly) with Prema akka, Venkatesh anna (owner's children, and much older than me :)) and many others from their house. I drag them on to play with me. I was (am?) such a stubborn kid and once I got 4 As, 4 Kings and 4 Queens and still wanted them to play the same game of Ace (Donkey).
I had a few my age group friends as well. Kamesh lived in the opposite house, Gnanasekhar also in another opposite house and Vicky in the house next door. I also played with Ganesh anna, who lived next door as well. During Diwali crackers were so much fun then. I used to be very calculative in using the extra cracker allowance given to me and plan to get crackers which would give us the most amount of time bursting them to the once which cause the biggest noise. Omar, my classmate, will join us during Diwali and he, Vicky, me spend a lot of time enjoying those great sounds.
Well the memories seem to be countless, let me drown in them. I will find another time to give another sample. Looking back I see how active, life filled my life has been, though now it is only filled with work and slumber. Hope I can counter it and have a more lively life soon :).
Bye,
Palani. |
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