weekend adventure

I landed in Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania state last week. This is a beautiful place. I am stationed at a small town with lots of greenery around. I was told that this place was all white few weeks ago due to lots of snow.
Last week I decided to go to Niagara falls. Niagara falls is around 4.5 hours drive from where I stay. I am still not very comfortable driving around in the US and was wondering how I would go. My friend suraj who was in NJ told me that he would also go with me to Niagara. So, I started towards NJ with my manager in my rented car. I too drove for some time to get more confidence. It wasn't all that difficult driving in the freeway. Its the city driving that is more scary for me.

My photo on Deccan herald

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http://deccanheraldepaper.com//svww_zoom.php?Artname=pdf/2008/05/13/20080513t_004100003&ileft=612&itop=781&zoomRatio=130&AN=20080513t_004100003&path=0

Click on the image to see the the same photo

Me and my nephew Samarth are in today's deccan herald paper

Things to carry for a YHA himalayan trek

Avoid carrying too much weight

Mandatory
Good pair of trekking shoe
Sweater
Jacket
monkey cap
Regular cap (you can't always wear a monkey cap. Sometimes it gets really warm during the

day)
Gloves (preferably leather, so that it doesn't get wet when you fall on the snow and put

your hands on the ground)
few pairs of thick socks
toilet paper/tissue papers - (mornings will be cold and you won't be able to touch water)
torch
hawai chappal
toothbrush
paste (small)
soap (small)
water bottles (preferably two 1ltr bottles)
sun screen lotion
sun glasses
rain coat (thin plastic ones)
Under garments
T shirts
Track pants (preferably water proof)
thin towel
Tumbler
Plate
spoon/fork
Tiffin box
Good rucksack
a few plastic covers (in case you need to put a few wet clothes)
some important medicines
thick Needle and thread (in case the bag gets torn)


optional
camera (extra film roles/memory card/battery)
cell phone (you generally get signal only up to base camp and sometimes higher up in the mountains)
very light weight radio
energy drinks (like glucose/electrol)
other eatables
paper/pen (in case you need to take notes)
air pillow
thermals (if you have)
shaving kit
water purifying tablets


sleeping bags, inners and blankets are given by YHA

Going green

Every year, Employees of Sun Microsystems dedicate a week for Global volunteering program. India Engineering Center (IEC) is also very active during this week. One of the events as a part of the Volunteer program, was to clean up the plastic waste at 'Sangama', a popular picnic spot at the intersection of rivers kaveri and Arkavati. Close by is a 'MekedaaTu', another famous getaway from Bangalore. Lot of tourists visit these places every year and leave a lot of plastic waste. Employees of Sun along with volunteers from 'Clean and Green' go on a cleaning program along the banks of river kaveri. Last year (2007), we all had been to Muttatthi and this year they had chosen 'Sangama'. Along with my family (mom, wife, sister and nephew) I joined the team of volunteers at Sangama. The place was a big mess with plastic covers, bottles, gutka packets etc. A group of 60 volunteers worked for 3 hours in the scorching heat to collect 220 KG of plastic waste. The plastic waste was handed to a plastic company in Kanakpura who use it for laying tar for road.
Last year we had collected 303 kgs of plastic at muttatti. You can read about it on April 14 2007 - Mega Acitivity @ Muttathi

The same day evening, I had to attend a wedding reception. I met a few friends at the wedding and told them about the clean and green activity and they appreciated our effort. In most of the South Indian weddings, the guests are given 'Tamboola' (coconut and beetle leaves) as a tradition. It is believed that the guests who attend the wedding should not be sent empty handed and hence there is a tradition of giving tamboola. The practice is to give the tamboola in a plastic cover. My friend told me that in the wedding, they had decided not to use plastic and hence they gave the tamboola in a paper bag, with a very nice note on it. The note requested people to reduce the usage of plastic. click on the image to read the note.
Read A letter to Reliance Industries

Google movies

Here is another interesting service from Google. Want to know, which movie is being showed in which theater at what time?

Just enter your city name. It lists everything.

http://www.google.co.in/movies

10,000 hits

Today, my blog completed 10,000 hits.

Intersting questions

1. What programming language is GOOGLE developed in?
2. What is the expansion of YAHOO?
3. What is the expansion of ADIDAS?
4. Expansion of Star as in Star TV Network?
5. What is expansion of "ICICI?"
6. What does "baker's dozen" signify?
7. The 1984-85 season. 2nd ODI between India and Pakistan at Sialkot - India 210/3 with
Vengsarkar 94*. Match abandoned. Why?
8. Who is the only man to have written the National Anthems for two different countries?
9. >From what four word expression does the word `goodbye` derive?
10. How was Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu better known?
11. Name the only other country to have got independence on Aug 15th?
12. Why was James Bond Associated with the Number 007?
13. Who faced the first ball in the first ever One day match?
14. Which cricketer played for South Africa before it was banned from international
cricket and later represented Zimbabwe ?
15. The faces of which four Presidents are carved at Mt.Rushmore?
16. Which is the only country that is surrounded from all sides by only one country
(other than Vatican )?
17. Which is the only sport which is not allowed to play left handed?











Answers

1. Google is written in Asynchronous java-script and XML, or its acronym Ajax.
2. Yet Another Hierarchy of Officious Oracle
3. ADIDAS- All Day I Dream About Sports
4. Satellite Television Asian Region
5. Industrial credit and Investments Corporation of India
6. A baker’s dozen consists of 13 items - 1 more than the items in a normal dozen
7. That match was abandoned after ppl heard the news of indira gandhi being killed.
8. Rabindranath Tagore who wrote national anthem for two different countries one is our ’s National anthem and another one is for Bangladesh-(Amar Sonar Bangla)
9. Goodbye comes from the ex-pression: ‘god be with you’.
10. Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu is none other Mother Teresa.
11. South Korea.
12. Because 007 is the ISD code for Russia (or the USSR, as it was known during the cold war)
13. Geoffrey Boycott
14. John Traicos
15. George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln
16. Lesotho surrounded from all sides by South Africa.
17. Polo.

Accident movie review

I got this opportunity to watch the Kannada movie Accident starring Ramesh Aravind. Lovedale foundation - an organization which is running an orphanage, recently had a fund raising event. The event was screening of the movie 'Accident' at PVR Cinemas, Bangalore. Actor Ramesh who is one of the supporters of the organization, was present at the event. I took my family to watch the movie, the proceeds of which were given to Lovedale Foundation. There was a small ceremony before the movie began, where dignitaries like Actor Ramesh and the famous singer Kasturi Shankar spoke a few words. I took this opportunity to speak to these people and took their autograph and a few photographs with them.

The movie is Good - worth watching. The movie is about how Ramesh (who is also the director of the movie) goes about unearthing the mystery behind his wife's car accident. The movie is well paced and keeps unfolding the mysteries as the movie progresses. Ramesh has acted well. The person who in my view stole the limelight was the villain of the movie - the health minister. His dialogue delivery is very good with some rusty, blunt, local dialect of kannada.
Apart from these two actors, no one has any significant role. Actress Rekha has done her part well. Pooja Gandhi doesn't have much role to play and she has to improve on her acting skills. Ramesh should have extracted better acting performances from others in the movie.
Except for a couple of songs the music is just average.
Overall, a good job by ramesh and his team.

zyaada Akbar or Jodha Akbar.

The movie is all about how Jodha (Aishwarya) tortured Akbar (Hritik roshan) and avoided going to bed with him. The director takes over three and half hours to tell us how Akbar started his family life.
The movie should have been rightfully named zyaada Akbar, as it is a long movie. Sharukh Khan who was hosting the filmfare awards this year, asked

Q. what is the similarity between Deepika Padukone and Jodha Akbar?
A. Both are good, but a little long :)

Well, I guess he was just being a little nice on the stage when saying that the movie was good.

Hritik Roshan was a total misfit for the role. I think that the role deserved someone more commanding. No justice was done to the role of the great emperor Akbar. The seriousness was missing from the movie. Aishwarya is aging and that is very clear from the movie. She is also putting on weight and it is very evident from the second half of the movie (Abhishek Bachhan Effect). The story should have been more crisp. The movie moves at a very slow pace and at places very dragging.

I just hope that the director has not skewed with history much. I am not an expert on history, but at places I was forced to think if what was happening on the screen was true. - Like Jodha going to the battle field to witness the fight between Akbar and his brother in law ( I forget his name). Even the sword fight between Akbar and Jodha look very unrealistic.

Except for one song, there is not much to expect from the music.

I just feel that I wasted a few hours watching the movie.

how to remove dents on car with dry ice

Ponting singing 'Maa' after the loss

Some creative dude has re-written 'Maa' song from Taare Zameen Par to show Ponting's emotions. Indians have proved that Australians are no more the world champions.

Watch the video

why blame IT for traffic

Today, being Shivarathri, most of the Central Govt,State Govt offices along with a few other private offices are closed. Even Education institutes are closed. So, the working people in Bangalore today include the IT professionals and employees of other private firms. Today the traffic during the peak hour was minimal. It was lesser than the day when we had Auto strike in Bangalore.
People blame the IT industry which employs a lot of people to cause traffic jam. But thats not true. As seen today, the traffic was nearly 1/3rd of what it is every day. The only place where I saw traffic today was the Koramangala Inner ring where there are atleast 2 dozen software companies. In other places, traffic was very smooth. What I am trying to say is that the bulk of the traffic comes from Non-IT companies.

Beggars make Rs 500 a day in Bangalore

This morning, I read (In Indian Express) that beggars earn(??) Rs 500 a day in a city like Bangalore. Beggars in Bangalore make the highest money in India. Rs. 500 a day, sums up to Rs 15,000 a month and that is a huge Rs. 1.8 lakhs (tax free) a year.

I read another article which said that beggars in mumbai earn as much as Rs 180 crore annually.
Read the article on http://www.indianexpress.com/story/9154.html

Another article on rediff says that 1 out of 5 Indians can't spend Rs 12 a day!
Read more : http://in.rediff.com/news/2008/mar/10poor.htm

India is truly a land of diversity

Kirchoff's law

I have been receiving this mail for quite a few years. I thought of posting it on my blog as well.

Click on the image to enlarge

Save the Tiger

Less than 1500 tigers are left in india now and at the current rate of deforestation and poaching the day is not too far when the beautiful cat and all other wildlife will be extinct.
Please add your name and email to the "SAVE THE TIGER" Campaign started by NDTV-Sanctuary and do your bit for the tiger and the forests of india.
The tiger needs all the support it can get..Please forward it to all your friends for support.

Here's the link to support the campaign.
http://sanctuaryasia.com/save_the_tiger_campaign.php


For more details

http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/savetiger/sthome.aspx

Buying mobile phone in Bangalore

Buying a mobile in Bangalore

In the last one week, I went out with friends and family to buy 2 different handsets. This is what I realized ...
The major players selling mobiles in Bangalore are Nokia priority dealer, ezone, Univercell, sangeetha, Mobile store etc. The guys at ezone are careless. They just don't pay attention to customers. I didn't like their attitude. I have had such expereince in two different ezone stores in Bangalore. On the contrary, you get very good experience at Univercell. Each customer is taken to a separate table, where a a reperesentative displays all the mobile phones from all the companies, and, explains and compares the features of each phone. If you are trying to decide on which model to buy, you can go to Univercell and they will help you identify the phone that fits your budget.

There are some places where all these different stores are located walkable distance from each other. So, what I did was to go to each of these shops and enquire the price of a particular model. What I did to get the best deal was get the quote from one guy, then go to the next one and say that the first guy was offering the same handset at Rs 100 or 200 less. Then this guy would quote the best deal he can offer. Take this price and go the third guy and get a further discount. What I realized was, by doing this, the price of a basic phone (under Rs 2500), the price could be reduced by Rs 200 and for a phone in the range of Rs 6000 to Rs. 10,000, the price could be brought down by Rs 400 - Rs. 500. One of the handset, we bought was Nokia 6300, which was quoted at Rs 7800 in the first shop, was finally purchased at Rs 7450.
Just 2 days after buying the phone, out of curiosity, I walked in to a Subhiksha store and en quire the prices. Subhiksha is a chain of retail stores, which advertises on TV that they give the best deal in the market. When I started enquiring the prices of the phones I had purchased, I realized that the price these guys quoted were less than the best deal that the other stores could offer (and that too without bargaining). The price of the basic phone was less by Rs 50/- and higher models had bigger discount. Nokia 6300 was costing Rs 7350/- which was Rs 100 less than the best deal we could get in the market (for which we had spent 2.5 hours for running from store to store for comparing and bargaining the rates).

From Subhiksha website
----
Call "60607777" for enquiries in Delhi & NCR, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Chandigarh, Baroda, Ludiana, Surrat, Jullundur Patlala, Ambala, Merut and many other towns.
----
Atleast till now, I feel that Subhiksha gives the best deal in Bangalore for buying a mobile. Checkout their price before you buy your handset. Use the price quoted by Subhiksha to get further discounts at the stores mentioned above.

Gufa restaurant

On the eve of Valentine's, I was wondering, where I should take my wife out. Then one of my friends told me about Gufa in Jayanagar, Bangalore. I decided to try it out.
I called them up and reserved the table. They were not ready to hold the table beyond 7.45 p.m. So I reserved it for that time and arrived at the place in time. I was wondering who would go for dinner that early, but I later realized that the hotel was full by 8.30pm and the reason - It was an awesome place.
Gufa means cave and that the is the concept for this restaurant. The interiors looks like a cave. The place is softly lit and gives you an impression that you have come to a different era. The ceiling is low and the AC ducts in the ceiling also gels with the theme. The people who serve the food are dressed like 'Shikari Shambu' (people who read Tinkle know him - for others, he they are dressed like forest officers). There are people around who look like (are dressed like) cavemen. If you observe the walls closely you will notice some creatures like bats, snakes etc (ofcourse not real) on the walls. You will also see the roots of some trees. Occasionally, you will hear some strange animal noise in the background. It is just like being in a jungle.
We were assigned a table in one of the corners, where there was a single beam of soft light on the table. The food is also pretty good, but a little expensive.
A meal for 2 comprising of one drink, followed by 2 starters, main course and the dessert costs close to Rs 1000 (as of 2008). Non-veg might be a little more expensive. But it is worth going there once in a while for celebrating some special occasion like birthday, anniversary etc.
I tried to search for their phone number on the web and was unable to find it. So, I called Just Dial and got their number (call just dial at 080-23333333 to get any phone number)

Guffa Restaurant,
Jaynagar 3rd Block,
Bangalore
Ph: 080 - 41808777

Sachin's Records!!

Just have look at the records held by Sachin Tendulkar. No wonder why British Prime Minister is suggesting him for the honor of Sir ........
Records Held by Sachin Tendulkar
1. Highest Run scorer in the ODI
2. Most number of hundreds in the ODI 41
3. Most number of nineties in the ODI
4. Most number of man of the matches(56) in the ODI's
5. Most number of man of the series(14) in ODI's
6. Best average for man of the matches in ODI's
7. First Cricketer to pass 10000 run in the ODI
8. First Cricketer to pass 15000 run in the ODI
9. He is the highest run scorer in the world cup (1,796 at an average of 59.87 as on 20 March 2007)
10. Most number of the man of the matches in the world cup
11. Most number of runs 1996 world cup 523 runs in the 1996 Cricket World Cup at an average of 87.16
12. Most number of runs in the 2003 world cup 673 runs in 2003 Cricket World Cup, highest by any player in a single Cricket World Cup
13. He was Player of the World Cup Tournament in the 2003 Cricket World Cup.
14. Most number of Fifties in ODI's 87
15. Appeared in Most Number of ODI's 407
16. He is the only player to be in top 10 ICC ranking for 10 years.
17. Most number of 100's in test's 39
18. He is one of the three batsmen to surpass 11,000 runs in Test cricket, and the first Indian to do so
19. He is thus far the only cricketer to receive the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, India's highest sporting honor
20. In 2003, Wisden rated Tendulkar as d No. 1 and Richards at No. 2 in all time Greatest ODI player
21. In 2002, Wisden rated him as the second greatest Test batsman after Sir Donald Bradman.
22. he was involved in unbroken 664-run partnership in a Harris Shield game in 1988 with friend and team mate Vinod Kambli,
23. Tendulkar is the only player to score a century in all three of his Ranji Trophy, Duleep Trophy and Irani Trophy debuts
24. In 1992, at the age of 19, Tendulkar became the first overseas born player to represent Yorkshire
25. Tendulkar has been granted the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, Arjuna Award , Padma Shri and Padma Vibhusan by Indian government. He is the only Indian cricketer to get all of them.
26. Tendulkar has scored over 1000 runs in a calendar year in ODI's 7 times
27. Tendulkar has scored 1894 runs in calendar year in ODI's most by any batsman
28. He is the highest earning cricketer in the world
29. He has the least percentage of the man of the matches awards won when team looses a match. Out of his 56 man of the match awards only 5 times India has lost.
30. Tendulkar most number man of match awards(10) against Australia
31. In August of 2003, Sachin Tendulkar was voted as the "Greatest Sportsman" of the country in the sport personalities category in the Best of India poll conducted by Zee News.
32. In November 2006, Time magazine named Tendulkar as one of the Asian Heroes.
33. In December 2006, he was named "Sports person of the Year
34. The current India Poised campaign run by The Times of India has nominated him as the Face of New India next to the likes of Amartya Sen and Mahatma Gandhi among others.
35. Tendulkar was the first batsman in history to score over 50 centuries in international cricket
36. Tendulkar was the first batsman in history to score over 75 centuries in international cricket:79 centuries
37. Has the most overall runs in cricket, (ODIs+Tests+Twenty20s), as of 30 June 2007 he had accumulated almost 26,000 runs overall.
38. Is second on the most number of runs in test cricket just after Brian Lara
39. Sachin Tendulkar with Sourav Ganguly hold the world record for the maximum number of runs scored by the opening partnership. They have put together 6,271 runs in 128 matches
40. The 20 century partnerships for opening pair with Sourav Ganguly is a world record
41. Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid hold the world record for the highest partnership in ODI matches when they scored 331 runs against New Zealand in 1999
42. Sachin Tendulkar has been involved in six 200 run partnerships in ODI matches - a record that he shares with Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid
43. Most Centuries in a calendar year: 9 ODI centuries in 1998
44. Only player to have over 100 innings of 50+ runs (41 Centuries and 87 Fifties)(as of 18th Nov, 2007)
45. the only player ever to cross the 13,000-14,000 and 15,000 run marks IN ODI.
46. Highest individual score among Indian batsmen (186* against New Zealand at Hyderabad in 1999).
47. The score of 186* is listed the fifth highest score recorded in ODI matches
48. Tendulkar has scored over 1000 ODI runs against all major Cricketing nations.
49. Sachin was the fastest to reach 10,000 runs taking 259 innings and has the highest batting average among batsmen with over 10,000 ODI runs
50. Most number of Stadium Appearances: 90 different Grounds
51. Consecutive ODI Appearances: 185
52. On his debut, Sachin Tendulkar was the second youngest debutant in the world
53. When Tendulkar scored his maiden century in 1990, he was the second youngest to score a century
54. Tendulkar's record of five test centuries before he turned 20 is a current world record
55. Tendulkar holds the current record (217 against NZ in 1999/00 Season) for the highest score in Test cricket by an Indian when captaining the side
56. Tendulkar has scored centuries against all test playing nations.[7] He was the third batman to achieve the distinction after Steve Waugh and Gary Kirsten
57. Tendulkar has 4 seasons in test cricket with 1000 or more runs - 2002 (1392 runs), 1999 (1088 runs), 2001 (1003 runs) and 1997 (1000 runs).[6] Gavaskar is the only other Indian with four seasons of 1000+ runs
58. He is second most number of seasons with over 1000 runs in world.
59. On 3 January 2007 Sachin Tendulkar (5751) edged past Brian Lara's (5736) world record of runs scored in Tests away from home
60. Tendulkar and Brian Lara are the fastest to score 10,000 runs in Test cricket history. Both of them achieved this in 195 innings
61. Second Indian after Sunil Gavaskar to make over 10,000 runs in Test matches
62. Became the first Indian to surpass the 11,000 Test run mark and the third International player behind Allan Border and Brian Lara.
63. Tendulkar is fourth on the list of players with most Test caps. Steve Waugh (168 Tests), Allan Border (158 Tests), Shane Warne (145 Tests) have appeared in more games than Tendulkar
64. Tendulkar has played the most number of Test Matches(144) for India (Kapil Dev is second with 131 Test appearances).
65. First to 25,000 international runs
66. Tendulkar's 25,016 runs in international cricket include 14,537 runs in ODI's, 10,469 Tests runs and 10 runs in the lone Twenty20 that India has played.
67. On December 10, 2005, Tendulkar made his 35th century in Tests at Delhi against Sri Lanka. He surpassed Sunil Gavaskar's record of 34 centuries to become the man with the most number of hundreds in Test cricket.
68. Tendulkar is the only player who has 150 wkts and more than 15000 runs in ODI
69. Tendulkar is the only player who has 40 wkts and more than 11000 runs in Tests
70. Only batsman to have 100 hundreds in the first class cricket

Anarthaa Shashthra

Click on image to enlarge

Shivaji - The Boss or The crap

Seriously, how did Rajani Kant even think of acting in such a badly directed movie. I think it is just a movie for Rajani fans and nothing else. Screen play is pathetic. This is the costliest Indian movie made till date and I wonder how the producer decide to put his money on a film which has no substance. The director has tried to bring a good message about fighting corruption (by targeting those having black money), but the narration is extremely poor.
I had to tickle myself to laugh at the comedy scenes. It is better that I don't talk about the sequences involving Rajani proposing to the heroin and trying to convince her parents for the wedding. I would expect Rajani to come out with movies with class. People have a lot of expectation from his movies. Also, I am just wondering if the heroin had any role to play in the whole movie.
After all the hype that the movie got, I am out of words to say how disappointed I am after watching the movie.
My advice to those who are planning to watch the movie is - "Leave your brain behind before watching the movie"