http://www.ndtvblogs.com/views/viewcomments.asp?gl_guid=&q_blogid=7491&blogname=proudindia
Saw this link in my mailbox today morning. I was numb after reading through it.
Touching indeed.
Well….the new channels are all here to make money. Its all about TRP ratings. Covering Sanju baba’s news every single minute generates money for them because they get more ads every time they take a break. No commercial news channel is really concerned with what happens in the rest of the country as long as they have some happening news related to celebrities and have the viewers following it religiously (I bet they even had a sms campaign named ‘Kya Bhai hai sanju baba’ or some such crap. And the mobile service providers charged exorbitantly for each sms sent to them.. And then they pick a lucky winner who gets an all expenses paid trip to meet Sanju baba and his ak47). Its sad but it’s the reality and we as viewers are equally responsible
Salute to the major for his bravery, so that we can track minute to minute celebrity news in the comfort of our homes…
Thursday, December 07, 2006
Monday, November 27, 2006
nikon d50
I got one from my trip to Boston last month. Fortunately, both the lenses : a Nikkor AF 28-80 and a Nikkor 50mm, from my bro's nikon n60 fit just fine on it. The d50 is a nice piece of hardware to have, albeit a bit expensive. But the kind of results you get make it all worthwhile.
On my way back from Boston, my flight got delayed by 2 hours. That translated into a missed connection to Mumbai. So they put me on a Swissair flight to Mumbai via Zurich. Zurich airport felt pretty small compared to Schipol, Amsterdam (b.t.w did i mention that the North-west flight to Boston really sucks big time ! You are stuck at Schipol for 8 hours flat and they don't give visa on arrival to Indians. There is so much to do in downtown Amsterdam you know...;-) At the end of it you start feeling like Tom Hanks in The Terminal...).
But I was in for a big surprise after we took of from Zurich. The Swiss Alps ! It was about 9:00 in the morning and the weather was perfect for giving the d50 a good exercise. Eventually, I clicked a lot of snaps during the rest of the flight.
The end result was this.
On my way back from Boston, my flight got delayed by 2 hours. That translated into a missed connection to Mumbai. So they put me on a Swissair flight to Mumbai via Zurich. Zurich airport felt pretty small compared to Schipol, Amsterdam (b.t.w did i mention that the North-west flight to Boston really sucks big time ! You are stuck at Schipol for 8 hours flat and they don't give visa on arrival to Indians. There is so much to do in downtown Amsterdam you know...;-) At the end of it you start feeling like Tom Hanks in The Terminal...).
But I was in for a big surprise after we took of from Zurich. The Swiss Alps ! It was about 9:00 in the morning and the weather was perfect for giving the d50 a good exercise. Eventually, I clicked a lot of snaps during the rest of the flight.
The end result was this.
Thursday, November 23, 2006
Nothing much to write really
Nothing much to write really. This looks like the bad patch for my blogging. I don't feel motivated to write anything really.... A sort of laziness has crept in, but I will get out of it some day and start again...
Monday, August 07, 2006
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
almost a month
Its been a month almost since i wrote. Have been busy studying and interviewing with companies. Hopefully, I should be free by next month and start on with a new job by this August...
Monday, June 05, 2006
Have you tasted a piece of Heaven?
Weekend, we were in camp. After spending nearly an hour at fabindia we were hungry. After a kathi kabab at kapila, we dropped in at 'Just baked'. They serve some of the best sandwiches and pastries in Pune. We got a couple of muffins. Then I saw brownies at the counter. Got one. As we paid the bill and were about to go, the owner said ' You have a brownie there? You should eat it when its warm. Let me get it done for you'. After a couple of minutes, we had a nice warm brownie with an extra layer of chocolate, courtesy 'Just Baked'. It tastes amazing... especially when its cold and raining outside....
Can't wait to get my hands on more of that stuff...
Can't wait to get my hands on more of that stuff...
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
Raindrops keep falling...
Yeah ! monsoon's coming to Pune. It is raining heavily right now as I write this blog. Wonder how the excursion to Kamshet in mid-june is going to turn out.
Monday, May 22, 2006
Weekend in Harnai
This was a trip planned almost a month ago. Me and Shraddha decided to go Harnai, her native place. Her grandma has a house and mango plantations there.
Day 1
I left office early on Friday afternoon and we were all set on the road by 4:00 pm. We decided to go via Mulshi. We started from Chandni chowk and took the road to Pirangut.The small pirangut ghat offers a magnificent view of the plains down below. Fields are still green owing to the abundance of water in this area. We were in good speed until we came across a 'marriage procession' bang in the square in Paud village. Then were just sitting there sipping coffee from our netezza coffee flask and listening to music. Wasted a good 15 minutes till we came out crawling in first gear through the village. The bridegroom was sitting on a horse with two kids, one in the front and one behind him, enjoying the 4'o clock summer sun. God help him. We saw three more places hosting marriages after that. Thankfully, no procession and no road blocks. We were off to Mulshi.
The road to Mulshi is quite good now and we were doing 80's till we reached the end of Mulshi.
The Mulshi backwaters are quite depleted now. Lot of rain is needed to fill them up. The road from Mulshi to Tamhini has almost no traffic but is quite bumpy so you can't go really fast. I realised this after a couple of world rally championship style jumps. We were almost in flight on the second one and landed real hard. Realising that I was driving a 2003 unmodified tata indica and not a wrc peugoet 206, I slowed down after that incident and was doing 50's till we were on good plain tarmac again. The road is really nice once the descent starts. It is a new road and is nicely painted on both the sides. You can really get up to speed here. One has to be careful since the tires can get overworked on the hairpin bends. A ocassional pump on the brakes in third gear can get you through these turns in 40's. We were down Tamhini and on the way to 'kolad'. Not planning the route correctly can result in a longer trip. There is a road from a village called 'Vile' that saves a good deal of distance (about 20kms). Instead we travelled towards Mumbai and merged on NH17 at kolad, wasting about half an hour in the process.
The sun had almost gone down by now. I was cruising at a comfortable 100 on NH17 now. It is one of the best roads I have seen. It was dark after sometime. Driving can be a pain on a highway with no dividers. High beams from trucks in the opposite lane can be blinding. There is a good trick to keep going in these conditions. You keep an eye on the left hand side of the road (ideally the left side painted strip), and ocassionally look at the vehicle in the opposite direction. The former helps you go in a straight line and make directional corrections and the latter keeps you from going too near the vehicle. And you don't get to experience the black out. My elder bro, Mahesh taught me this trick. It works like a charm.
We were in outskirts of Mahad in almost an hour and a half. It is called 'Vithal Kamat'. I needed a break, and so did the car. We decided to stop at 'Vithal Kamat' on NH17. It is a popular place amongst regular travellers on NH17. I have heard it is owned by the same guy who owns this snazzy 7 star place called 'Orchid' in Mumbai. We had misal and nice hot kiri vada (small medu vadas, with palak mixed in the batter).
After the stop we headed on NH17 and took a right towards Dapoli and reached Dapoli via Khed. There is a very nice eatery just opp. Khed ST stand. It is called the 'Pethe Hotel'. They serve some of the best snacks I have ever had. The special recos are for thalipith, uppit, idli and kanda bhaji. Our gang literally emptied this place last time, when we were on a trip to Karde. Everyone was eating like there is no tomorrow :-)
After crossing the town of Dapoli, we headed towards Harnai. It was almost 10:00 pm till we reached Harnai. It is a small village with traditional wooden construction. Shraddha's house is in the 'Brahman Aali', a typical phenomemon in all konkan villages. Her folks were waiting for us to arrive. We had a nice dinner and ate a good deal of home grown 'alphonso' mangoes. It was time to sleep after the long and tiring drive.
Day 2
Got up rather late today. Had a sumptous breakfast of 'tandul' bhakri (pan bread made of rice flour) and home made butter and coconut chatni. It was time to explore the house. It is a nice 50+ year old, two-storeyed structure with a courtyard in the front and a small garden in the back. There are some tall mango and coconut trees and offers a nice shade. The furniture is mostly teak wood ! Now teak wasn't a problem 50 years ago. Most of the other houses I saw in the village had the same treatment. I especially liked this big reclining chair where you can sit and read a book. Feels relaxing! You don't realise how easily you can doze off.
After breakfast it was time to take a stroll in the village. We first visited the 'Eknath mandir' in the same lane and then moved ahead. The temple hosts a festival called Eknath utsav every year for 4 days. A large population in and around Harnai gathers on this ocassion.
After the temple, we decided to go see a mango plantation that Shraddha's folks owned. There is a big hill called the 'Khem' (in Marathi, after a local deity called 'Khemaraaj'). This plantation was on footsteps of the khem. There were mango trees all over the compound. Some as old as 60 years. Some newly planted by these folks. It was a good 3-4 km walk in the sun before we returned back by lunch time. Had a good deal of 'aamras' for lunch and dozed off in that chair, I was talking about.
Evening was the time to take the car out and visit local places around Harnai. We visited the 'Kadya varcha' Ganpati near Anjarle. It is a about 9 kms from Harnai and situated on the top of a hill. It is a old temple, renovated recently. The best thing about this temple is that they let you go to the roof (called the 'kalas'.) of the main structure. This offers a magnificent view of the surrounding hills on one side and the sea on the other. After this we went to another temple called 'kelshi chi devi'. This was in the outskirts of the village 'Kelshi'. The road from Harnai to Kelshi is along the coastline and one can see the beach almost all the time. This makes an evening drive all the more enjoyable, due to the cool sea breeze. The Kelshi temple is more than 100 years old. It has been restored and rebuilt. The temple surrounding are pleasantly clean. There is a banyan tree in the courtyard. It had just started bearing leaves. The light green colored leaves are a delight to the eyes. We sat there silently for some time. It was a nice soothing experience.
Dinner consisted of the local konkani delicacy called 'Sandana' (Saan-the-na). It is a traditional konkani dish made of jackfruit kernel pulp and coarse rice flour. The ingredients are mixed into a batter like consistency and then steamed till it is fluffy enough like a cake.
Day 3
Today was time for a trip to the 'Khem'. This hill, I would guess is about 3 times taller than 'Parvati'. It takes about 15-20 minutes to go to the top. There is a dam behind the hill and a lot of mango plantations in the surroundings from the nearby villages. The top of the hill offers a breathtaking view of the whole area. The Harnai port, the light house, the vast expanse of the Arabian Sea, the water locked fort, the paddy plantations, everything looks nice. We were down the hill by lunch time. In the evening we went to the karde beach. It was Sunday evening and the beach was crowded as it always on the weekends. While coming back we stopped for 'misal pav' at this famous place called 'ambet cha pul'. I didn't like the misal too much. People somehow seem to like it very much. Probably sells more due to lack of options. After the snack, we went to Harnai Port's lighthouse. Too bad, we were not able to catch the sunset. The light house is located on a tiny hill in the outskirts of the village. Again magnificent view from the top.
Dinner today was made from the local catch, prawns masala and pompfret fry ! Had a good deal of that stuff... Though the catch was fresh the preparation could have been a much better.
Day 4
So there it was ! End of vacation. We were all packed and set to return back to Pune. Left the place at 6:30 in the morning and reached home by 11:30. Could have done a better timing, but we were hit by pre-monsoon rain in the Harnai-Dapoli patch and a very lazy petrol station attendant. He was hoping that I would go further on with an almost empty tank of fuel, not bothering him to wake up from his morning sleep. Tough luck !
So that was the weekend trip to Harnai. I plan to go again sometime in Diwali, when the fish is good and the weather is cooler ! Wish I could do this trip on a bike :-)
Day 1
I left office early on Friday afternoon and we were all set on the road by 4:00 pm. We decided to go via Mulshi. We started from Chandni chowk and took the road to Pirangut.The small pirangut ghat offers a magnificent view of the plains down below. Fields are still green owing to the abundance of water in this area. We were in good speed until we came across a 'marriage procession' bang in the square in Paud village. Then were just sitting there sipping coffee from our netezza coffee flask and listening to music. Wasted a good 15 minutes till we came out crawling in first gear through the village. The bridegroom was sitting on a horse with two kids, one in the front and one behind him, enjoying the 4'o clock summer sun. God help him. We saw three more places hosting marriages after that. Thankfully, no procession and no road blocks. We were off to Mulshi.
The road to Mulshi is quite good now and we were doing 80's till we reached the end of Mulshi.
The Mulshi backwaters are quite depleted now. Lot of rain is needed to fill them up. The road from Mulshi to Tamhini has almost no traffic but is quite bumpy so you can't go really fast. I realised this after a couple of world rally championship style jumps. We were almost in flight on the second one and landed real hard. Realising that I was driving a 2003 unmodified tata indica and not a wrc peugoet 206, I slowed down after that incident and was doing 50's till we were on good plain tarmac again. The road is really nice once the descent starts. It is a new road and is nicely painted on both the sides. You can really get up to speed here. One has to be careful since the tires can get overworked on the hairpin bends. A ocassional pump on the brakes in third gear can get you through these turns in 40's. We were down Tamhini and on the way to 'kolad'. Not planning the route correctly can result in a longer trip. There is a road from a village called 'Vile' that saves a good deal of distance (about 20kms). Instead we travelled towards Mumbai and merged on NH17 at kolad, wasting about half an hour in the process.
The sun had almost gone down by now. I was cruising at a comfortable 100 on NH17 now. It is one of the best roads I have seen. It was dark after sometime. Driving can be a pain on a highway with no dividers. High beams from trucks in the opposite lane can be blinding. There is a good trick to keep going in these conditions. You keep an eye on the left hand side of the road (ideally the left side painted strip), and ocassionally look at the vehicle in the opposite direction. The former helps you go in a straight line and make directional corrections and the latter keeps you from going too near the vehicle. And you don't get to experience the black out. My elder bro, Mahesh taught me this trick. It works like a charm.
We were in outskirts of Mahad in almost an hour and a half. It is called 'Vithal Kamat'. I needed a break, and so did the car. We decided to stop at 'Vithal Kamat' on NH17. It is a popular place amongst regular travellers on NH17. I have heard it is owned by the same guy who owns this snazzy 7 star place called 'Orchid' in Mumbai. We had misal and nice hot kiri vada (small medu vadas, with palak mixed in the batter).
After the stop we headed on NH17 and took a right towards Dapoli and reached Dapoli via Khed. There is a very nice eatery just opp. Khed ST stand. It is called the 'Pethe Hotel'. They serve some of the best snacks I have ever had. The special recos are for thalipith, uppit, idli and kanda bhaji. Our gang literally emptied this place last time, when we were on a trip to Karde. Everyone was eating like there is no tomorrow :-)
After crossing the town of Dapoli, we headed towards Harnai. It was almost 10:00 pm till we reached Harnai. It is a small village with traditional wooden construction. Shraddha's house is in the 'Brahman Aali', a typical phenomemon in all konkan villages. Her folks were waiting for us to arrive. We had a nice dinner and ate a good deal of home grown 'alphonso' mangoes. It was time to sleep after the long and tiring drive.
Day 2
Got up rather late today. Had a sumptous breakfast of 'tandul' bhakri (pan bread made of rice flour) and home made butter and coconut chatni. It was time to explore the house. It is a nice 50+ year old, two-storeyed structure with a courtyard in the front and a small garden in the back. There are some tall mango and coconut trees and offers a nice shade. The furniture is mostly teak wood ! Now teak wasn't a problem 50 years ago. Most of the other houses I saw in the village had the same treatment. I especially liked this big reclining chair where you can sit and read a book. Feels relaxing! You don't realise how easily you can doze off.
After breakfast it was time to take a stroll in the village. We first visited the 'Eknath mandir' in the same lane and then moved ahead. The temple hosts a festival called Eknath utsav every year for 4 days. A large population in and around Harnai gathers on this ocassion.
After the temple, we decided to go see a mango plantation that Shraddha's folks owned. There is a big hill called the 'Khem' (in Marathi, after a local deity called 'Khemaraaj'). This plantation was on footsteps of the khem. There were mango trees all over the compound. Some as old as 60 years. Some newly planted by these folks. It was a good 3-4 km walk in the sun before we returned back by lunch time. Had a good deal of 'aamras' for lunch and dozed off in that chair, I was talking about.
Evening was the time to take the car out and visit local places around Harnai. We visited the 'Kadya varcha' Ganpati near Anjarle. It is a about 9 kms from Harnai and situated on the top of a hill. It is a old temple, renovated recently. The best thing about this temple is that they let you go to the roof (called the 'kalas'.) of the main structure. This offers a magnificent view of the surrounding hills on one side and the sea on the other. After this we went to another temple called 'kelshi chi devi'. This was in the outskirts of the village 'Kelshi'. The road from Harnai to Kelshi is along the coastline and one can see the beach almost all the time. This makes an evening drive all the more enjoyable, due to the cool sea breeze. The Kelshi temple is more than 100 years old. It has been restored and rebuilt. The temple surrounding are pleasantly clean. There is a banyan tree in the courtyard. It had just started bearing leaves. The light green colored leaves are a delight to the eyes. We sat there silently for some time. It was a nice soothing experience.
Dinner consisted of the local konkani delicacy called 'Sandana' (Saan-the-na). It is a traditional konkani dish made of jackfruit kernel pulp and coarse rice flour. The ingredients are mixed into a batter like consistency and then steamed till it is fluffy enough like a cake.
Day 3
Today was time for a trip to the 'Khem'. This hill, I would guess is about 3 times taller than 'Parvati'. It takes about 15-20 minutes to go to the top. There is a dam behind the hill and a lot of mango plantations in the surroundings from the nearby villages. The top of the hill offers a breathtaking view of the whole area. The Harnai port, the light house, the vast expanse of the Arabian Sea, the water locked fort, the paddy plantations, everything looks nice. We were down the hill by lunch time. In the evening we went to the karde beach. It was Sunday evening and the beach was crowded as it always on the weekends. While coming back we stopped for 'misal pav' at this famous place called 'ambet cha pul'. I didn't like the misal too much. People somehow seem to like it very much. Probably sells more due to lack of options. After the snack, we went to Harnai Port's lighthouse. Too bad, we were not able to catch the sunset. The light house is located on a tiny hill in the outskirts of the village. Again magnificent view from the top.
Dinner today was made from the local catch, prawns masala and pompfret fry ! Had a good deal of that stuff... Though the catch was fresh the preparation could have been a much better.
Day 4
So there it was ! End of vacation. We were all packed and set to return back to Pune. Left the place at 6:30 in the morning and reached home by 11:30. Could have done a better timing, but we were hit by pre-monsoon rain in the Harnai-Dapoli patch and a very lazy petrol station attendant. He was hoping that I would go further on with an almost empty tank of fuel, not bothering him to wake up from his morning sleep. Tough luck !
So that was the weekend trip to Harnai. I plan to go again sometime in Diwali, when the fish is good and the weather is cooler ! Wish I could do this trip on a bike :-)
Monday, May 15, 2006
Ma'am is no more
It was a lazy saturday morning as usual. The phone rang at about 8:30. It was Anand. He told me the news. Ma'am had expired on Thursday 11th May 2006. It came as a big shock to all of us. It had been a long time since I left college and ma'am's class, but I was in regular contact with her.
After Anand's call, a stream of thoughts went by me. Just a couple of weeks back I had talked to ma'am about lunch on the weekend so that we all could meet. She wanted to meet Shraddha. She had been to my wedding reception in February and I had been to her place personally before that to give her the wedding invitation. She was so happy for me. And then it was 2 weeks back that I talked to her. Who would have thought that this would be my last conversation with her.
Both me and Shraddha were sitting there in shock, not believing what we had just heard. Ma'am was no more.
She excelled at teaching. Math and Computers being her best. Me and many others are lucky to have studied with her. She taught us the database and the operating systems course and most importantly C in second year.
Still can't believe she is no more. She was just in her early forties and had so much to see.
May her soul rest in peace.
After Anand's call, a stream of thoughts went by me. Just a couple of weeks back I had talked to ma'am about lunch on the weekend so that we all could meet. She wanted to meet Shraddha. She had been to my wedding reception in February and I had been to her place personally before that to give her the wedding invitation. She was so happy for me. And then it was 2 weeks back that I talked to her. Who would have thought that this would be my last conversation with her.
Both me and Shraddha were sitting there in shock, not believing what we had just heard. Ma'am was no more.
She excelled at teaching. Math and Computers being her best. Me and many others are lucky to have studied with her. She taught us the database and the operating systems course and most importantly C in second year.
Still can't believe she is no more. She was just in her early forties and had so much to see.
May her soul rest in peace.
Thursday, May 11, 2006
I see the light...
After a week of breaking my head of over the math to figure out how to handle positive and negative timestamps... I finally see the light. I was heading the wrong and painful way of implementing it. Today a very simple way of calculating it struck me. I am happy...
phew ! Now I can go and actually enjoy a cup of coffee.
phew ! Now I can go and actually enjoy a cup of coffee.
Friday, April 14, 2006
Deer Park 1.5.0.1
Built the firefox 1.5.0.1 'Deer Park' on my linux box today. The thing built and works like a charm. The ui is cool and so are the plugins. The best features are the tabbed browsing, live bookmarks and search bar.
tabbed browing has in around in mozilla for a long time.
Live bookmarks is a nice feature to have. It gives me live feed of news articles coming from bbc in my bookmarks menu.
search bar is another useful feature. It lets me have direct access to search engines like google, yahoo. Sites like amazon, ebay and dictionaries like merriam webster. I can search on all these using the same browser window, with just a click.
So far I have already used the search bar at numerous instances and find it pretty useful.
Additionally, the browser is skinnable using themes. I am currently ifox theme based on ipod. Nice to see.
Any one reading this blog, is recommended to try out the latest firefox. I am sure the M$ browser doesn't even come closer.
tabbed browing has in around in mozilla for a long time.
Live bookmarks is a nice feature to have. It gives me live feed of news articles coming from bbc in my bookmarks menu.
search bar is another useful feature. It lets me have direct access to search engines like google, yahoo. Sites like amazon, ebay and dictionaries like merriam webster. I can search on all these using the same browser window, with just a click.
So far I have already used the search bar at numerous instances and find it pretty useful.
Additionally, the browser is skinnable using themes. I am currently ifox theme based on ipod. Nice to see.
Any one reading this blog, is recommended to try out the latest firefox. I am sure the M$ browser doesn't even come closer.
Wednesday, April 12, 2006
Victory atlast...
Yes! Victory at last! Today me and bachache defeated ganu and deshmukh in carrom... The spell has been broken. After almost a month of frustrating defeats, we have turned the tables. Now there is no looking back. The road to success is clearly visible...
Friday, April 07, 2006
Lazy summer days....
Its April Now. Summer's here in Pune with all its intensity. Mornings and evening are cool, but afternoons are unbearably hot. I feel like doing nothing but laze around reading a book, sipping some cool drink and then dozing off due to the heat...
For now, i doze off in my cube in the afternoons. The ac is quite good i must say :-). The music scene in our cube is happening nowadays. Sumit got himself a snazzy pair of earphones. So 3 of use it in timesharing. Excellent quality stuff. The thing reproduces low frequencies real good. Its a joy to hear Rehman. You can distinguish every single instrument that he uses and still enjoy the orchestration as a whole. I ought to get a pair of those myself.
For now, i doze off in my cube in the afternoons. The ac is quite good i must say :-). The music scene in our cube is happening nowadays. Sumit got himself a snazzy pair of earphones. So 3 of use it in timesharing. Excellent quality stuff. The thing reproduces low frequencies real good. Its a joy to hear Rehman. You can distinguish every single instrument that he uses and still enjoy the orchestration as a whole. I ought to get a pair of those myself.
Wednesday, April 05, 2006
A frustrating wednesday afternoon
After a series of attempts at reproducing this bug on solaris, my backend box is suddenly refusing to exec any damn sql ! I am starting to think that i some how managed to mess around with the branches and env and totaled this build. May be a hot cup of coffee for me and a clean build for the box should do the trick....
keep on fighting...
keep on fighting...
Monday, April 03, 2006
One wrong move and it was all over....
Was in Mumbai over the weekend. Amit called up and said we shud go to this new resto-bar in Chembur. So it was a typical Saturday evening every married man loves to have once in a while. Go out with your buddies, have a drink or two (now that's just the way to say that. nobody really stops at a drink or two do they?). Shraddha had gone to her mum's place. I called up AD and he was taking the 3:15 train to Mumbai. All three landed up at Acres, Chembur by 9:00. Had a few rounds of the stuff an left the place at about 12:15 something. I knew I was on a high but was still sober enough to drive back home. AD was flying a mig21 this time around. We left chembur and crossed the first flyover and there it was.
A red ford mondeo under an rear axle of a 6 wheeled dumper. The car came down the flyover and had banged the backend of a truck a bit too fast. It seemed the accident had happened just moments before we came down the flyover. The driver was still in the car... It was a horrifying scene. The car was totalled from the front end and the hazard lights were still blinking in the rear.
So there I was on an accident scene. My three and a half large smirnoff's suddenly seemed to have no effect. Suddenly I was alert, but still had this numbness. I decided to park the car a few metres up ahead and see if I could help out. It had probably just been a couple of minutes. Medical help was yet to arrive.
I went near the car. A bunch of people were trying to free the driver from the front seat. But it was almost impossble. The car's bonet was under the rear axle and the winshield and the dash were under the rear end of the dumper storage. I could see his leg hanging outside the car window... He had probably passed out by the knock of the air bag or had died an instant death. To add to the horror, the dumper contained concrete blocks meant to be laid the dividing pavements on the highway. Each must be weighing atleast 200kgs.
Then some of us suddenly realized that there was a long queue of vehicles just behind the accident scene. 2 lanes were virtually blocked due to the accident and there was only 1 lane to getdown from the flyover. Everyone was stopping by to catch of glimpse of what had happened. We decided to mind the traffic and started directing the vehicles to go away so as to avoid a jam. Soon a firetender, an ambulance and a bunch of traffic police cars came and took control of the scene.
I went back to the car and sat for a couple of seconds. All this time Amit had been calling to see if were back home safe. AD was hardly able to grasp anything that had just happened. He was just sitting in the car with his head resting back. Called up Amit and told him about the whole incident. Then started back home. The effect of vodka suddenly felt like it was back. But this time I was extra careful, not driving beyond 70 and crawling across intersections. We were home in about 20 minutes.
It was all over.... I was thinking about the person who was in the accident. One wrong move and it was all over. Only if he was not drunk, only if he were coming down the flyover at normal speed...
And then I thought about the other side. Someone at his home getting a call about this horrific accident. Probably his wife; or even worse: probably his mother or father...
Only if he was not too drunk and was driving at a sensible speed that day...
A red ford mondeo under an rear axle of a 6 wheeled dumper. The car came down the flyover and had banged the backend of a truck a bit too fast. It seemed the accident had happened just moments before we came down the flyover. The driver was still in the car... It was a horrifying scene. The car was totalled from the front end and the hazard lights were still blinking in the rear.
So there I was on an accident scene. My three and a half large smirnoff's suddenly seemed to have no effect. Suddenly I was alert, but still had this numbness. I decided to park the car a few metres up ahead and see if I could help out. It had probably just been a couple of minutes. Medical help was yet to arrive.
I went near the car. A bunch of people were trying to free the driver from the front seat. But it was almost impossble. The car's bonet was under the rear axle and the winshield and the dash were under the rear end of the dumper storage. I could see his leg hanging outside the car window... He had probably passed out by the knock of the air bag or had died an instant death. To add to the horror, the dumper contained concrete blocks meant to be laid the dividing pavements on the highway. Each must be weighing atleast 200kgs.
Then some of us suddenly realized that there was a long queue of vehicles just behind the accident scene. 2 lanes were virtually blocked due to the accident and there was only 1 lane to getdown from the flyover. Everyone was stopping by to catch of glimpse of what had happened. We decided to mind the traffic and started directing the vehicles to go away so as to avoid a jam. Soon a firetender, an ambulance and a bunch of traffic police cars came and took control of the scene.
I went back to the car and sat for a couple of seconds. All this time Amit had been calling to see if were back home safe. AD was hardly able to grasp anything that had just happened. He was just sitting in the car with his head resting back. Called up Amit and told him about the whole incident. Then started back home. The effect of vodka suddenly felt like it was back. But this time I was extra careful, not driving beyond 70 and crawling across intersections. We were home in about 20 minutes.
It was all over.... I was thinking about the person who was in the accident. One wrong move and it was all over. Only if he was not drunk, only if he were coming down the flyover at normal speed...
And then I thought about the other side. Someone at his home getting a call about this horrific accident. Probably his wife; or even worse: probably his mother or father...
Only if he was not too drunk and was driving at a sensible speed that day...
Thursday, March 30, 2006
Fri Mar 31 13:41:59 IST 2006
Yup today's the day. The d-day. Everybody out here gets the final salary slip of this fy, bonuses and all. The atmosphere at work today is not what it really looks like... ppl pretending to work, when at the back of their minds all they are thinking is the dreaded slip. That html page is going to leave smiles on somebody's face and sorrow on somebody else's... dreams and plans are going to be realized today for some. shattered for some.
Then to add to the drama, the new offer letter for the next year will follow soon...
5 more hours to go. don't let go my friend... u hv held on for so long...
Then to add to the drama, the new offer letter for the next year will follow soon...
5 more hours to go. don't let go my friend... u hv held on for so long...
Wednesday, March 08, 2006
After the 19th
Got married to Shraddha in Dombivli on the 19th of February 2006.
After that the trip down to lakshadweep and Goa. An enjoyable affair indeed. We sailed on the superstar Libra. Its a 10 storeyed cruiser with all the stuff you can imagine. A couple of entertainment lounges, swimming pool, 2 big jacuzzi tubs, golf, basketball,table tennis, a pub, a video game arcade, 4 restaurants and even a casino. And there was the food part... managed by taj. A buffet restaurant called 'Taj by the Bay'. Amazing variety of salads, fruit and dessert. And the best quality chicken, mutton and fish I have ever had (taste wise my mom still makes the best of the above 3 :-)). Then there was a continential place called Four seasons. Set menu served on the table. Appetizers were pathetic.soup, main course and dessert was nice. The best I had was chicken breast filled with wild mexican rice.
Kadmat is a small island in lakshadweep's set of islands. There is a govt. run resort there and water sports. Had a chance to scuba-dive in 3 meters. Kadmat has a beautiful lagoon. coral, shellfish, sea cucumbers and colorful fish.
Then me and Shraddha tried the banana boat.In our 20 minute ride, we splashed in the water 5 times, after which we got fed up and told the guy to tack us back to the shore.
Left lakshadweep in the afternoon that day.
We reached goa late in the morning. Saw the bom jejus and the other church in front of it (don't remember its name though). Both are architectural masterpieces. The high arches, the intricate carving in teak and gold, the paintings.
Saw Mr. Francis resting in a box in the bom jejus. The guide was telling all about him.
The mughals and other muslims converted with the use of the sword. No food, No help either.
Christian Missionaries did it with food and help.
neways, enough of the religion talk before I get carried away...
After the churches, we went to Calangute to spend the evening on the beach. I switched to the recommended liquid diet... Fosters. My fav. Prices are ridiculously low in Goa. Rested in a shack. After Fosters, tried the local goan beer called 'Arlem'. I told Shraddha that the beer had a hint of coconut. To date she thinks I was drunk when I said that... :-). I swear it had a hint of coconut.
That evening, the ship had a barbecue on the pool deck. The best of the lot was barcecued tiger prawns and chicken sausage.
The next day we landed in Mumbai and came back home. The trip is expensive but worth it.
After that the trip down to lakshadweep and Goa. An enjoyable affair indeed. We sailed on the superstar Libra. Its a 10 storeyed cruiser with all the stuff you can imagine. A couple of entertainment lounges, swimming pool, 2 big jacuzzi tubs, golf, basketball,table tennis, a pub, a video game arcade, 4 restaurants and even a casino. And there was the food part... managed by taj. A buffet restaurant called 'Taj by the Bay'. Amazing variety of salads, fruit and dessert. And the best quality chicken, mutton and fish I have ever had (taste wise my mom still makes the best of the above 3 :-)). Then there was a continential place called Four seasons. Set menu served on the table. Appetizers were pathetic.soup, main course and dessert was nice. The best I had was chicken breast filled with wild mexican rice.
Kadmat is a small island in lakshadweep's set of islands. There is a govt. run resort there and water sports. Had a chance to scuba-dive in 3 meters. Kadmat has a beautiful lagoon. coral, shellfish, sea cucumbers and colorful fish.
Then me and Shraddha tried the banana boat.In our 20 minute ride, we splashed in the water 5 times, after which we got fed up and told the guy to tack us back to the shore.
Left lakshadweep in the afternoon that day.
We reached goa late in the morning. Saw the bom jejus and the other church in front of it (don't remember its name though). Both are architectural masterpieces. The high arches, the intricate carving in teak and gold, the paintings.
Saw Mr. Francis resting in a box in the bom jejus. The guide was telling all about him.
The mughals and other muslims converted with the use of the sword. No food, No help either.
Christian Missionaries did it with food and help.
neways, enough of the religion talk before I get carried away...
After the churches, we went to Calangute to spend the evening on the beach. I switched to the recommended liquid diet... Fosters. My fav. Prices are ridiculously low in Goa. Rested in a shack. After Fosters, tried the local goan beer called 'Arlem'. I told Shraddha that the beer had a hint of coconut. To date she thinks I was drunk when I said that... :-). I swear it had a hint of coconut.
That evening, the ship had a barbecue on the pool deck. The best of the lot was barcecued tiger prawns and chicken sausage.
The next day we landed in Mumbai and came back home. The trip is expensive but worth it.
Monday, January 23, 2006
Yayana Reunited
Yayana reunited or should I say Yayanaa reunited. Nulkar's in town after almost 3 years. Yayanaa met last weekend and did a hike to Sinhagad. I regret not having been able to make it...
Life is SSDD right now. Same Shit Different Day. And i am dead bored of the same routine...
I need a relaxing change. Hope this weekend has better in store...
cling on man cling on....
Life is SSDD right now. Same Shit Different Day. And i am dead bored of the same routine...
I need a relaxing change. Hope this weekend has better in store...
cling on man cling on....
Montag : Drei und Zwanzig Januar
Met up khindi and dhaniya last week. khindi after a long time. Had a good chat about what we have been doing for the last 3 years. He's left his old company and joined a anti-virus company. (Now don't mind me sayin that khindi ... ;-)). Talked about me being engaged and all that, about dhaniya's endeavours in kpp (Kanda Pohe Program). Talked about nk and nulkar (aka goti aka dada nulkar).
Khindi told me to go read his blog, so I did. Now he says if i don't answer those stupid
questions in the name of being a good sport, yamaha will be called ahamay and we all will have to be men in black next year.
So here it goes...
Four Jobs I've Had (I still have some of them)
1) code monkey
2) test monkey (thankfully a brief stint at that...)
3) chauffeur. (ya ya I am the chosen one to drive the car in the stupid traffic in Pune).
4) Just had lunch, blood supply to my brain is at its lowest now, so buzz off. I can't remember...
Four Movies To Watch Repeatedly
Actually there are many... I list some 4 here...
1) Andaz Apna Apna
2) GolMaal
3) Ace Ventura : When Nature Calls. Shikaka...
4) Matrix
Four Cities of Residence (And I thank my dad for being in the Reserve Bank)
1. Pune, India
2. Thane, India
3. Bhopal, India
4. Hyderabad, India
Four Favorite TV Shows
1. Sa Re Ga Ma
2. Mission Udaan
3. Seinfeld
4. Tactical to Practical.
Four Vacation Destinations:
1) Home sweet Home ("sleep"."eat food that aii makes")+
2) A warm cottage in the rain (fireplace.(vodka)+.music) ;-) and the fragrance of wet soil outside.
3) A season ticket to Six Flags, Springfield MA. Ride the superman till you start feeling dizzy.
4) Dune bashing in Dubai.
Did you see regular expressions up there? Please don't get bothered. It's just the code monkey in me trying to snatch control. It happens. It will happen to you too...
Four Web Sites I Visit Daily
1) www.google.co.in. google baba ki jai ho. kisi bhi jaankaari ki soy ho...
1) www.moneycontrol.com (i don't have much money under my control right now tho)
2) mail.yahoo.com
3) hotmail.com
Four Favorite Foods:
1) Varan, Bhaat, tup, meeth, limbu.. :-)
2) Dahi Bhaat with Saandgi mirchi.
3) Tambda Rassa, Pandhra Rassa, Mutton/Chicken ani Bhaakri.
4) Honey Apricot in a warm, crisp waffle cone.
Well, these are my likes for now, but time changes everything. Dunno what i'll be writing if I answer the same set of question after a couple of years.
On the subject of yams...
Check out fjr 1300A. (http://www.yamaha-motor.com/sport/products/modelimage/180/1/0/image.aspx).
1,298cc, liquid-cooled, 16-valve, DOHC, in-line four-cylinder.
You can cruise or you can kick some serious butt with it.
Khindi told me to go read his blog, so I did. Now he says if i don't answer those stupid
questions in the name of being a good sport, yamaha will be called ahamay and we all will have to be men in black next year.
So here it goes...
Four Jobs I've Had (I still have some of them)
1) code monkey
2) test monkey (thankfully a brief stint at that...)
3) chauffeur. (ya ya I am the chosen one to drive the car in the stupid traffic in Pune).
4) Just had lunch, blood supply to my brain is at its lowest now, so buzz off. I can't remember...
Four Movies To Watch Repeatedly
Actually there are many... I list some 4 here...
1) Andaz Apna Apna
2) GolMaal
3) Ace Ventura : When Nature Calls. Shikaka...
4) Matrix
Four Cities of Residence (And I thank my dad for being in the Reserve Bank)
1. Pune, India
2. Thane, India
3. Bhopal, India
4. Hyderabad, India
Four Favorite TV Shows
1. Sa Re Ga Ma
2. Mission Udaan
3. Seinfeld
4. Tactical to Practical.
Four Vacation Destinations:
1) Home sweet Home ("sleep"."eat food that aii makes")+
2) A warm cottage in the rain (fireplace.(vodka)+.music) ;-) and the fragrance of wet soil outside.
3) A season ticket to Six Flags, Springfield MA. Ride the superman till you start feeling dizzy.
4) Dune bashing in Dubai.
Did you see regular expressions up there? Please don't get bothered. It's just the code monkey in me trying to snatch control. It happens. It will happen to you too...
Four Web Sites I Visit Daily
1) www.google.co.in. google baba ki jai ho. kisi bhi jaankaari ki soy ho...
1) www.moneycontrol.com (i don't have much money under my control right now tho)
2) mail.yahoo.com
3) hotmail.com
Four Favorite Foods:
1) Varan, Bhaat, tup, meeth, limbu.. :-)
2) Dahi Bhaat with Saandgi mirchi.
3) Tambda Rassa, Pandhra Rassa, Mutton/Chicken ani Bhaakri.
4) Honey Apricot in a warm, crisp waffle cone.
Well, these are my likes for now, but time changes everything. Dunno what i'll be writing if I answer the same set of question after a couple of years.
On the subject of yams...
Check out fjr 1300A. (http://www.yamaha-motor.com/sport/products/modelimage/180/1/0/image.aspx).
1,298cc, liquid-cooled, 16-valve, DOHC, in-line four-cylinder.
You can cruise or you can kick some serious butt with it.
Monday, January 09, 2006
Jan is here
Hmmm long time since I wrote. Last couple of weeks were hectic.
Shraddha was here for new year. Had a good time at Manas. The DJ was not that great. Neither was the food. But had a good time... Would have been a better thing to go to Jazz by the Bay. Saw Bluff Master. Good one by Abhishek. I am not a big fan of his though.
So new year is here. Resolutions and all. I am gonna be watching my weight all of 06. Have to go down 5-6 kgs still... Going to be damn tough. Especially with all the 'kelvans' (A typical custom in Maharashtrian tradition. When you get engaged, folks and relatives give you a lunch/dinner treat. Now you know what I mean ;-)) I am attending lately. I attended one at my sister's place on the 25th last month. They had 5 types of sweets (called 'panchapakvaan'). phew ! and the persuasion... Telling me that I lost weight. I mean I have to :-)
Dada Nulkar's going to be in town next weekend. Should be good fun. Hope Yogesh can make it to Pune some time. Haven't got a chance to unwind with friends for a long time. Did that last in earlier this year. Went to H'bad to Yogesh for the weekend. It was good fun. H'bad has changed a lot though. Pretty different from what I saw as a child going to primary school. Buddha's back in the middle of tank bund. Great statue. There's this new food court along the banks of tank bund. Great place to spend the evening in the cool breeze. Saw H'bad central. Huge Mall. Pune's got one of those now. It's called Pune central.
Took part in a programming contest on thurday. 2 more partners: Aniket and Samir. 5 problems in 2.45 minutes approx. Took the first prize. Expecting to get a prize from Mr. CEO himself. Should be a good thing to write on the resume...
Shraddha was here for new year. Had a good time at Manas. The DJ was not that great. Neither was the food. But had a good time... Would have been a better thing to go to Jazz by the Bay. Saw Bluff Master. Good one by Abhishek. I am not a big fan of his though.
So new year is here. Resolutions and all. I am gonna be watching my weight all of 06. Have to go down 5-6 kgs still... Going to be damn tough. Especially with all the 'kelvans' (A typical custom in Maharashtrian tradition. When you get engaged, folks and relatives give you a lunch/dinner treat. Now you know what I mean ;-)) I am attending lately. I attended one at my sister's place on the 25th last month. They had 5 types of sweets (called 'panchapakvaan'). phew ! and the persuasion... Telling me that I lost weight. I mean I have to :-)
Dada Nulkar's going to be in town next weekend. Should be good fun. Hope Yogesh can make it to Pune some time. Haven't got a chance to unwind with friends for a long time. Did that last in earlier this year. Went to H'bad to Yogesh for the weekend. It was good fun. H'bad has changed a lot though. Pretty different from what I saw as a child going to primary school. Buddha's back in the middle of tank bund. Great statue. There's this new food court along the banks of tank bund. Great place to spend the evening in the cool breeze. Saw H'bad central. Huge Mall. Pune's got one of those now. It's called Pune central.
Took part in a programming contest on thurday. 2 more partners: Aniket and Samir. 5 problems in 2.45 minutes approx. Took the first prize. Expecting to get a prize from Mr. CEO himself. Should be a good thing to write on the resume...
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