BSNL Bangalore 2007 marathon

My aunt who works in BSNL called me to ask me, if I would be interested in taking part in the marathon conducted by BSNL. Without a second thought, I said 'YES'. There were several races that day - 42 km full marathon, 21 km half marathon, 5 km marathon run for charity, run for senior citizens and for physically disabled. There was representation from many countries.
I roped in my colleague Manju and my cousin Nanda for the run. The race was expected to begin at 9.00 am for which the reporting time was 8.00 am. Me and Manju reached in time and even had break fast at the venue. Nanda was as usual late and reached when the race was about to begin. We all got T-shirts and caps from BSNL - thanks to my aunt who arranged it.
I was not sure if my fitness level was good enough to complete the 5 km stretch. But I was able to complete the entire stretch of 5 km in one go without stopping for rest (I took 10 seconds break twice waiting for my friend to catch up). I could complete the run in 25 min - thats 5 minutes per km. I was amazed at my own performance.
We waited for others to finish the race. My aunt finished her 5 km stretch 15 minutes after we had completed. My uncle took part in the race for senior citizens.
There was a senior couple (husband 80 yrs and wife 69 yrs) who completed the 5 km stretch as well. There were hundreds of kids from various schools as well. They finished the race with much more ease.

Gosai Ghat and ShivanaSamudra Trip

During the October holidays, my sister and nephew were at home and we decided to go out on a one day outing. I suggested ShivanaSamudra and everyone agreed. We started from Bangalore on my car on mysore road. There are 2 approaches to shivanasamudra - first via kanakapura and the other via mysore road. I was told that the Mysore road was better for driving. We started by 9.30 am and were quickly at Ramanagar. We stopped at my favorite breakfast place - Kamath Lokruchi. After relishing on different kinds of dosas for an hour we started again. It was quite a sunny day and everyone in the car started complaining about going to ShivanaSamudra as there was no shelter there and we would be baked in the sun. My sis suggested that we go to Gosai Ghat near Mandya. I quickly called up a couple of people to find out what was in Gosai Ghat. My friends suggested that I go to that place as there was a river(kaveri) flowing there. To reach Gosai Ghat, I had to take a left turn on mysore road at Sreerangapattana. We reached the place by noon. We could see a few people taking bath in the river. There was a lot of water in the river. The place was NOT very crowded. We all got in to water and spent more than an hour there. My 10 month old son was having a great time playing in water. This is a good place for one day outing from Bangalore. The only problem is that there is no place for the ladies to change clothes. One has to take the cover of some temple shrines.
We were very hungry when we started back from there. One place I prefer to have lunch on Bangalore mysore highway is Hotel Haripriya in Mandya. After having lunch we decided to go to ShivanaSamudra. One has to take a deviation in Maddur to reach ShivanaSamudra. This road is not all that great, but you can drive on that road. One particular stretch of 4 km is quite bad near Malavalli. We reached ShivanaSamudra by 5.30 p.m. There is a beautiful water fall here. It is called the 'Gagana Chukki' falls. Close by is another falls called 'Bhara chukki' falls. But as we reached the place quite late, we didn't have the time to go to the other falls. There was a lot of water in the falls. It was a treat to watch. The weather was also cool and the sun was just setting. We enjoyed the sunset over the falls. They have even started a hotel at this place. People can stay here for the night. It is a nice getaway from Bangalore. We started from there just after sunset. Driving in the dark in the Malavalli road (bad road) could have been avoided if we had reached the place earlier. But, once on mysore road, you can reach Bangalore in an hours time.

To reach Gosai Ghat from Bangalore
Bangalore - Ramanagar - Chennapattana - Maddur - Mandya - Sreeranga Pattana - Gosai Ghat - Roughly 120 KM from Bangalore

To reach Shivana Samudra
Bangalore - Ramanagar - Chennapattana - Maddur - Malavalli - ShivanaSamudra - Roughly 110 KM from Bangalore

Carelessness causes wastage of money

I recently realized that I had misplaced the copy of my car insurance. The insurance company was located in Delhi. Upon calling them up, they told me that I have to send a Demand Draft (DD) for Rs 50/- in order to get a new duplicate copy.
I quickly went to the bank close by to get a DD. I landed up paying Rs 56/- as the service charge, for a Rs 50/- DD. I was cursing myself for choosing a private bank over nationalized bank as the DD charges were high. Upon inquiring later, I found that the DD charges were only marginally lesser in Nationalized banks. A few years ago, I remember paying not more than Rs 10/- for DD of this amount.
After getting the DD, I payed another Rs 60/- for courier. A couple of days later, I was going through a pile of papers at home and found the misplaced insurance document.
I had unnecessarily spent Rs 166/- (excluding a few long STD phone call charges)for being careless. Had I sorted out my pile of papers earlier, I wouldn't have spent the money and time. I have learnt my lesson.

Indo-Pak match - Me on TV

Ask any Indian, what his/her fav sport is, and the answer you get is "CRICKET".
It is the sport the nation breathes. Well, today I got a 5 day pass for the India-Pakistan test match at Bangalore. Ind-Pak matches are always very exciting. How could I miss a chance to watch it.
Me and my cousin reached the stadium. There was a huge crowd waiting to get in. Some were busy looking for tickets. It is very difficult to get tickets for a test match in Bangalore on a weekend. In the past I have paid Rs 300/- for a Rs 50/- inspite of reaching the venue at 6.00 am to buy tickets. I have seen that sometimes the tickets are sold at the counter for 15 minutes when we see a "sold out" board. The rest of the tickets goes to black market. I stopped to get my face painted with the tri-colour. I also bought a flag outside the stadium.
I managed to sneak my camera in to the stadium. But the security snatched the stick that was with the Indian flag. They think that the mob will start a fight with the stick.
It was an exciting first day of cricket. Though India lost 4 quick wickets, Yuvaraj and Ganguly played a spectacular innings. Yuvi's score was the highest by any left handed batsman in Bangalore. Our statisticians collect some crazy statistics these days.


We were jumping and screaming at every shot. I was waving the Indian flag and having fun. Just then, one of my friend's called me to tell me that he saw me on TV. A few more friends and relatives called me and told me that they all saw me on TV during the match and during the highlights. I am going again tomorrow also. Hope Indian can post a big score - Amen