Existential questions..

I was overcome by curiosity to google the term existentialism and came across tons of information, that I neither could comprehend nor hope to.. what i would really like to know is that.. when does one start to think about such existential questions?? Is it when they are happy or when they are sad or when they are bored or ... ??
What I think (or I guess) is that most people are sad or bored when they start looking for happiness and start asking questions about life, universe, birth, death, the meaning of it all... so if this assumption is right.. then it must be true that when people are perfectly happy they never ask existential questions... and that people stop looking for the meaning of life when they are happy ... and all great philosophers became so great only becos they were sad, or bored beyond their wits that they did not know what else to do....
so if a perfectly happy man knows the real key to life and how attain salvation, can he stay happy forever?? would he not get bored because he has been happy for long time?
so isnt it all a paradox ?? If u r not happy , u look for happiness or meaning of life, and once u find it you become happy... once u r happy u r not going to stay at that state for too long and so u get bored out of it... then u become sad because of boredom... and complete the cycle...
or.....
is it that once u actually find the meaning of life... happiness, sadness, boredom etc.. means nothing at all??
ok.. now i am actually confused as what my whole point was... :-D) hehe... if someone does, please do point out... Underlying point is... Why are we as Humans so complicated when it comes to emotions ? ... We look at squirrel or rodent and think.. what a stupid animal.. wonder what the 'emotionless' robot might think about us humans.....
Ok.. thats enough non-sense for the night... got to wake up early to fly to Italia... dont want to miss my flight this time around, like last time... :)

Holy Gaucamole !

I dunno when i developed a love for Gaucamole.. maybe during my regular lnches at Freebirds in College station or perhaps of the Mexican restaurants... but its a love story that still continues... and guess what, now i can make my own Gaucamole.. and prettty good... its quite simple actually.... heres the recipe...

1 Big ripe Avacado (not Avagadro :D tee...hee..hee..)
1/8 - 1/4 of big Onion
1 or 2 cloves of Garlic
1/4 - 1/2 tomato
1/2 lemon or few drops of concentrate
Salt to taste

Chops onions, garlic and tomato in to fine pieces. cut the avacado and scoop out the avacado fruit from the skin and put them in a bowl and start mashing them with a fork. If its ripe enough then it becomes a pulp soon. Add the chopped onions, tomatoes and garlic. Mix them well with the fork. Add the lemon at the end and salt to taste. Lemon keeps the gaucamole greeen instead of becoming black soon (due to oxidation).
Viola !!! Gaucamole is ready !! You can eat with Taco, Fajitas or with chips as dip at parties....
You can add a spoon of sour cream to get a sour taste to it.

Enjoy the fruit of your efforts ;-)

Too cold..too cold...

After a few emotional outbursts as a concerned Indian who is away from his country, when it was being attacked by terrorists... its back to blogging about usual mundane stuff....
like how cold this place is... how badly i need some warmth... how i dress up like an eskimo everytime i walk out... how i almost killed myself by walking out in the cold with just a sweater for almost 15 mins (ok.. getting killed was too much of an exagerration :))...
how it felt great to take my snow board out for a ride at tryvann (ski slope near Oslo) after it was waxed.... how i am waiting for more snow so I can go again... how i am also gearing up to go Cross-country skiing.. how i am waiting to go to Ice skating and how my inertia(read as laziness :-) is preventing me to get there...
and again how cold it is .... bloody hell... its frikkin -9 now... forecast says its going to get back up to -1 or -2...

No end in sight...

When will all this mayhem end?? 2 nights and 1 full day... and its still going on... 125 lives lost and many more injured... when will it end and where will this lead us?? Whats the government going to do?? Will the government actually do something or just sit and issue statements like the previous attacks?? has this situation make Indian security situation look like a big joke?? should the internal affairs miniter saty on?? or should he resign?? he hasnt done anything and there are reports that he has goofed up by revealing sensitive information on TV... these are the questions racing in my mind.... i dont have answers to any of these and neither do i expect anyone to give me ...
but what i do know is this... any government that has lifted a finger and not done anything to improve the security of its citizen, any government that is spineless to take tough decisions should not remain... the government is for its people.. not to rob the people of their tax money and do nothing in return... such a government should be removed.... I wonder who would win if elections were to happen in a week or so?? not hard to guess is it.. BJP would sweep the elections....
As to the Pakistani link, i think the officials and PM shouldnt have gone public blaming them without solid proof.. or atleast wait until its over and present some proof and then accuse... this is childishness... there was no diplomacy in it... it only makes us look like jokers... we always accuse and point finger across the border straight away w/o any solid prooof... has all these attacks been solved completely ?? I think theres a lot to ponder about that....

Short history of nearly everything

I ve just started to read this book by Bill Bryson - A short history of nearly everything and its just fabulous. Being a Science and Engineering student, this book is like going back to basics and also a revelation of many sorts.. things you didnt understand being presented to you in a basic layman's terms... He writes about everything... the title says it all... he talks about Cosmos, Universe, Big bang, life, evolution, civilization, how it all began... simply fascinating... safe to say its a book about Life, Universe and Everything... After reading this book, I ve got to revisit Douglas Adam's - Hitch Hiker's to get a new perspective on it... :) .. Maybe read it at sipping a coffee in the restaurant at the end of the universe... hehe... :) .. watch the end and then go back and watch the Big bang too... :) ... Bill Bryson also talks about the Scientists(Newton, Cavendish, Hooke et. al) of many eras, their works, and their eccentricities.. I would highly recommend this book as a text book for 1st year college student to really understand what they studied in High school physics and chemistry... this book will take you to a new level of understanding of all that you ve learnt so far... Because it is written by a non-scientist for a layman... so you can expect lot of simplicity and no scientific mumbo-jumbo and no complex equations... just illustrations..

Some of the interesting quotes I ve come across so far...

"The universe is not only queerer than we suppose, it is queerer than we can suppose" - JBS Haldane

"What would happen if you traveled to the edge of the universe and peek your head out of the curtains? what would you find beyond? where would your head be if it was not in the universe? "

Yoohoo ... I waxed my snow board for the 1st time and it wasn't all that difficult..

I thought it takes a lot to wax the snow board... apparently it isnt if u have all the right tools.. and ofcourse with a little help from friends who know how to do it.. and its a great feeling to have maintained your own stuff rather paying someone else to do for you... :) .. Now the wait is for a good snow fall and I will be off to the nearest ski slope to practise my snow board skills or more like learn how to snow board :-D)...

Gastronomic indulgence :)

Being a visitor to home once a year , one simply has to satisfy their taste buds at all costs.. esp. when you miss good food for a long period of time.. In Norway, only Indian food that is easily available is Punjabi tandoori cuisine.. and if you come from South India like I do, then you would miss good south Indian food a whole lot.. so my only chance is when I come home.. which is once a year.. so the days when i wasn't eating Mum's home made food... I went on a rampage in the city.. :).. Those idlis, dosas, vadas, appam, chaat and the list goes on...

some of the places that satisfied my appetite are...
1. Cream Corner @ RA Puram (just around the corner from my place)
2. Sin city @ Alwarpet (Choc and ice cream corner)
3. Sanjeevanam @ Adyar (Health food concept - Kerala Style)
4. South Indies @ Indire Nagar in Bangalore.. (Interesting mix of dishes from all 4 south Indian states)
5. Usuals like Saravanas, Sangeetha, Gangothri chat corner, Fruit shop...

Its always quite a thing to look forward to eating good food at home and in your favourite restaurants that you grew up with... and its always sad feeling when you have to go back and that you will miss it until the next trip.... umm.. this too shall pass.. !
Now I have to start thinking about how to get rid of all the calories gained... hehe... like thats going to happen :)

What happened to my Country ??

Lawlessness and Outrage - words that you have come to embrace and commonly associate with things happening in the World's largest Democracy i.e India...
The recent incident at Chennai Law College - Clash of two student groups led to violence in the college campus where one group beat up 4 students to near death (still admitted in critical condition).. all the while Police were standing right outside the gates watching the whole incident without lifting a finger.. and mediamen taping the whole violence and showing it explicity on prime time news...

I dunno what else to call outrage... the fact that 2 student groups clashed, or fact that police actually arrived and stand neatly in front of the gates even before it escalated and yet didnt no anything about it, media taping the whole incident and flashing it all over the news w/o any restriction of footage what so ever, the college officials not acting quickly to intervene, common bystander just watching the whole incident unfolding...

One begins to feel... Does anyone beleive in Police these days?? Does one really bother to go to Police to give a complaint?? It has ccome to stage where you could see a murder in broad daylight and yet not intervene or even to go police, because common man does not want to even associate himself with the police or the harassment thereafter...

My own experience in Bangalore sugguests that if you lose your mobile phone and want to file a lost report, you will be harassed and asked bribe for losing your phone and and to file a complaint form for lost mobile.. this is reality.. welcome to India..

Makes you question the meaning of Democracy, when common man on street is even afraid to discuss the political situation , law and order situation or the lack of it, simply because he might harassed or attacked by a political fanatic "rowdies"...

Is this the end of meaningful Democracy ?? Is it Gunda'cracy' or Rowdy'cracy' ?? Just like how Chennai has a Ganesha temple in every street corner, political parties have sprung up in every street corner and each one has a big band of rowdy members and each one wants a pie of Common man's tax money... Nobody cares about the issues to common people or even think about service to people... Its like Democracy has lost its meaning.... How will the common man still beleive in Democracy or the Law and Order system, if this state of affairs prevail and continue to prevail??

Maybe this is the decline of Democracy in India?? Maybe we need another Indira Gandhi to bring about an Emergency in India and weed out all the corrupt politicians to officials of lower order and throw out the gazillion parties that have sprung up and build a 2 party system like the US or a few party system (not more than 5 or so) and set strict rules for contesting elections so Convicts and Murderers like Shibu Soren does not even walk anywhere near the Parliament.. Or worst yet.. bring about a Military rule.. until things get better... Only Force seems to work in India.. Too much divide, too many factions, too many religious clashes, lack of internal affairs, scores of recent bomb blasts, outrageous prices, high inflation rates... and the list goes on...

WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO MY COUNTRY ?? We learnt "Mera Bharat Mahan", "Vande Mataram" in school?? Seems like it was only a dream of likes of Gandhi, Nehru, Patel, and the million freedom fighters who died for her ... I sincerely wonder if the common man even bothers to go to the polling booth and vote ... and even if u do.. your vote has probably been cast already and you are being questioned and challenged for the proof of Identity...

I weep for my country.. Hope I don't live to see the eventual demise of the dysfunctional democracy and hope it does not come to that...

Still weeping for her... helplessly... :(

My 1st Dolphin show at sea... :)

I ve seen Dolphin show at an aquarium before (or i think so.. not sure now..:) .. but seeing them in their natural habitat is quite a different thing...
Had been to Goa recently and did a Dolphin safari... they take you out on a small boat out into the sea far from the coast where Dolphins usually go for a swim... look for yourself.. Need I say more?? It was awesome... :) .. ofcourse Blog and photos of the trip to follow in due course of time :)

Farewell to thee O'Jumbo

Adieu Kumble.. One of the greatest cricketers India has ever produced.. totally out of spotlight until recently, highly respected and talented cricketer Anil Kumble was one of the genius India has produced ... How can we forget your 10 wickets in one innings or courageous jaw strapped spell nad finger strapped spell... we will miss you... you will be the inspiration to the future generation of spinners (wait a min.. you werent really a spinner !!) Hope India still survives the loss of a great cricketer...

Paris, je t'aime

There is something magical about this city. well thats such a cliche!! But it really is... I have been there 4 times so far and only on 2 occasions did I have had anytime to go and see the city properly... and I still havent seen the Museum at Louvre or Orsay and also Versailles. One thing I love to do there os to walk the streets of Paris during the evening, when all the buildings and bridges are lit up... My favourite walking route so far is to start from St. Michel and walk all the way to Notredame and continue along the river Seine to go to Louvre and then walk along Avenue Champs Elysees and end up in Tour de Eiffel.. You can see most of paris landmarks lit up and it is a magical and romantic experience... especially when there is full moon... I took many photos of Paris at night and I ve shared some of the good ones... check it out... This one on the right here is my favourite photo of all... the tower and moon.. two symbols of romance in total harmony...

Booze cruise to Copenhagen :)

Really.. thats the word for it.. Booze cruise for the ferry between Oslo to Copenhagen. It is like the fun cruise most people take and sometimes also refered as dutyfree ferry as everything is dutyfree prices once the ferry leave Oslo and starts sailign towards Copenhagen.. Its rather a huge cruise ship with 13 levels with great food, entertainment and drinks.. The booze cruise term comes in bcos booze sells at duty free prices .. :) .. Some of us friends decided to take a break and visit Copenhagen for the weekend and took this cruise... To follow the journey, follow this link...

Polish travels...

Ok.. finally i have written about my travel to Warsaw and Krakow... Mostly known for cheap travel, cheap food and drinks... what i find is that it is not so much cheaper than any other place... and prices may soon be on a upward trend just as any other place... I really enjoyed the city of Krakow with all the old castle and history preserved as opposed to Warsaw which was completely flattened in WW2 and rebuilt from ashes... Warsaw in my opinion is not that great compared to Krakow... Guess for each his own... I also got a taste of Polish food ... yum..yum... loved those pierogis (dumplings)... anyhoo.. check it out... on my travel blog.
My photos from trip: Warsaw , Krakow

Rabbit food...:-o)

Being a vegetarian in a country like Norway is sometimes difficult if you expect to go out and find plenty of veggie options on the menu, although sometims chef's can always make something for you... During my travels I ve always found that there are some nice vegetarian places to go and eat authentic food (or fake authentic) if you look for it and know how to find it... Like when I was in Paris, I googled for a good veggie place and ended up in "Le Grenier de Notre Dame". I really enjoyed the vareity of food for a reasonable price on the menu.. food from different cuisines, but very much veggie friendly... Sometimes it can be hard in Paris to find a place to eat veggie version of French cuisine... This place was very good for that purpose and I highly recommend it...
When I was in Krakow (Poland), little did I expect that they would have a fully veggie/vegan place in Poland.. Eastern Europe known for its meat'ful' cuisine had something to offer for veggies too... Apparently vegetarianism and healthy organic food is gaining momentum here... I visited a Vegetarian placed called "Bar Vega". Food was so cheap here that I almost had all my meals here during my stay. They served some tasty Polish and Russian dumplings with cheese, sour onion, potato etc. Compare that to the steamed Kozhukattai.. :)... These dumplings a.k.a Pierogi were very tasty... I also tried out the Soy version of Hungarian Goulash (usually has beef) and traditional Polish soups.

In prague, there are plenty of options to choose from for a vegetarian.. There are lots of ISKCON places that offer Vegan/Indian food. I found a place called Country Life that offered organic and fresh vegetarian/vegan food option. prices were a bit high compared to other restaurants in Prague, but it was worth the money.. Very tasty and healthy...

I ve learn one thing to do before my travel.. check out the such veggie places in Happy cow :).. They always come in handy... Its always more fun to eat traditional food in a new country.. and such veggie places offer great options... Bon Apetit !!

Lazy...Lazy...

This blog has been very dormant for a while.. Please check back when it is updated... :) ... So many trips to write about... just not enough time to sit down and write about all of them... hopefully i find time soon enough...

3 cups of tea !

"The first time you share tea with a Balti, you are a stranger. The second time, you are an honored guest. The third time you become family" -- Balti proverb

It's such a wonderful book to read. Its about an American, Greg Mortensen, and his failed mission to climb K2 that led him to a remote village in Pakistan and his fight to build a school for the entire region with one school at a time. It is such an inspiration effort to promote peace by educating the children of small villages in the backward regions of Pakistan and Taliban occupied Afganisthan, who otherwise have no opportunity whatsoever to be educated. His efforts are remarkable especially in the times of war when this whole region in Pakistan and Afganisthan is considered a haven for terrorists and jehadis. If you are looking for inspiration to something worthwhile, start by reading this book.

There is a website that gives more information. www.threecupsoftea.com

If you order the book through this website, 7% of the money goes to the trust building schools to educate the children in central asia. It is the least one can do help out the children in these areas who otherwise have no hope.

Merci Zizou, El Maestro!!!

2 years gone by.... and the world of football and French football still misses Zidane.. the one who played football like it was art... he played football like it was some sort of orchestra.. grace at large, simple and soft touches like it shouldnt hurt the football, control the pace well and fooled all the defenders like it was some treasure hunt... God... we bow to theee... we miss thee... Any possibility that you might come out of retirement?? miss watching El Maestro in action... the genius who can never be replaced... Been watching Euro2008 and its just not the same as watching Zidane in 2006 WC or Euro 2000 or WC98... I guess it will take another decade to get another genius like that...

Those who win by penalties, die by it...

Distinctively remember this caption on Hindu newspaper when Argentina lost to W.Germany in 1990 WC...

Finally justice is done.. Italy lose in penalties... again... I am not sad for them..
They beat France( w/o Zizou) in the WC, but now they are knocked out in penaties...
A test of 2 world class keepers to prove who is the best in the tournament.. Van der saar is already out.. and now Buffon bows out too... so Casillas seems to be the winner so far.. unless Lehmann comes out in the top... interesting to see how it plays out... Germany seem to have an edge.. solid defense, good attack and motivating captain in Ballack... Spain, if they play like today, dont even stand a chance against Russia... Russian attack will expose them...

Malta... Yalta...

Malta.. Beautiful island in the middle of mediterenean !! Fusion of different cultures and languages, steeped in history, clear blue and sandy beaches, heaven for tourists, good spot for scuba diving and water sports and a big harbour... Smack in the center of Mediterenean it has always been a strategic location for all the powers of Europe, Africa and Persia in olden times.
Since I had very litle time, I explored the historic places of Malta, old chappels, factories from the last century fully preserved, catacombs from the Roman times etc. I went and checked out the night life in St. John's bay and St. Julian's bay which are known for the trendy bars and night clubs. These places thrive with huge crowd of college crowd hitting the bars late at night. Wish I had more time to explore this beautiful island..

Check my travelog for my stop over at Malta...

Crossing the Suez

I was so excited when I got to know that we will be joining the boat at Port Suez and crossing the canal with the boat and not join the boat at Port Said(located after the canal) as originally planned. I just thought it would be such a cool idea to cross the Suez canal and I wasn't wrong at all....

It was such a narrow canal, that the captain and the officers have to be very careful navigating the boat through the canal along with an pilot from the Suez authorities. There was so much to crossing the canal that I was not aware of until that day. Apparently ships go in columns or what is called "convoys" when they cross the narrow canal. The canal itself is made of 2 parts, south part between the Red sea and Great bitter lake and North canal between the Great bitter lake and Mediterenean sea. Usually there is only one convoy at a time, meaning only one in a particular direction. There are also preferences in which convoy gets to go first. The oil and chemicals tankers almost always go through straight from the Red sea all the way to the Mediterenean sea. The others have to break their journey in the great lake and wait for their turn to do the second convoy. It was all fascinating for me to learn about it and to be on the Bridge to see how the officers and Pilot function to navigate the ship through the narrow channel.

http://www.ship-wrecks.co.uk/images/SuezCanalMap.jpg

I was chatting to a native Egyptian on-board and learnt a lot about the history of Suez canal which I was not aware of and how strategic Suez is to Egypt and how much money is made each day in the canal. I wikipedead and found tons of info on this. I invite you to look through it if you are interested.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suez_Canal

My date with Ancient Egypt :)

Egyptian civilization, as they say, is one of the most ancient civilizations in the history of human beings and is well recorded too through heiroglyphics and no trip to Egypt is complete without a trip the great pyramids and sphinx. I had a day in Cairo and I went to Giza to see the great pyramids and Sphinx and then to the National museum in Cairo to see the ancient Egyptian artifacts. It was truly an amazing adventure to visually experience the ancient Egyptian architecture and their glory... I was so thrilled just to be there and experience all of it... Maybe some day.. I will get more time to travel all around Egypt, travel along the Nile and visit all historic places...

Check out the complete travelog on my trip to Cairo and also the photo album.

TIA

TIA - This is Africa..
Finally I sat down and saw the movie BLOOD DIAMOND after hearing so much about it... I was so rivetted to the tv while watching this movie... making you think about the atrocities brought upon in many African countries by any kind of wealth, the corrupt governments, civil wars and lack of peace.... I couldn't help but shed a tear or two for all those people who die in such civil wars throughout the ages in Africa due to power struggle and civil wars and when you see those refugee camps and the children carrying guns, you really want to scream and shout.. somebody please help them... but what can you do.. send a cheque or cry for them... one can only hope that sanity prevails and these people find their peace.. and you realise that at the back of your mind that you are very lucky not to be there in their situations and you proably never want to go there and witness such a scene...

Makes you wonder... Are diamonds really worth so many people's lives and their freedom.. and so does oil or drugs or any other thing that makes people so greedy that gets them to kill their fellow beings ??

Quite a poignant movie.. If nothing atleast an eye opener... Do watch if you haven't watched it before...

Some quotes that stuck to my head:

Sometimes I wonder... will God ever forgive us for what we've done to each other? Then I look around and I realize... God left this place a long time ago

You come here with your laptop computers, your malaria medicine and you little bottles of hand sanitizer and think you can change the outcome, huh? ..

My new board...

With my new born craze for snow boarding antics, i started looking to buy a snow board pack and found it quite expensive 500-600 $ and more... so i started looking out for used boards on the internet and look what i found... A nice K2 snow board and bindings (almost my size) fully intact with my size of boots... all for 600 NOKs ~ 120$... Its a deal.. Its a steal.. Although the seller said hes used it few years, it still looks quite neat and needs just a little bit of touch-up... Guess i would take her out for a spin hopefully next weekend if theres more snow... expect a few falls, few bruises... I am ok with that as long as i can confidently go down the slope properly turning both ways... just waiting for more snow now.. :)

boarding on snow...

It is such a great feeling to be able to go down the hill on a snowboard... the rush you get when you go down the hill fast enough to feel the speed.. its just amazing.. ... It looks so cool when you see an expert do it on tv .. and it feels cooler when you actually try it yourself.. 2 years back when i tried for the first time, i fell down so many times and had a few horrible falls which made me think i will never try this again in my life... i took a lesson this year and it made so much difference that I got the courage to try it again and this time i managed to go down the hill 7 times in a day and i was so proud of myself.. just the feeling of acheiving something which you thought you were never going to succeed.. its just a great feeling... and the fact that if you continue doing this you can actually be good in something is also great... anyway... long story short... it just feels amazing. to be able to spray the snow all over and sometimes even get it all over your face when you fall down... i should thank my friend for letting me borrow his board... maybe thats my next target.. buy a good board and wait for more snow and give it a go again... better to try it on fresh snow which cushions your falls than hard compacted snow which is too fast when you have little control over the board... :)

Happeee new year

This blog has bcome a very dormant one in the last few months and needs lot of updating. Have lot of stuff to write about, my trip to Lisbon, my trip to India and other weekend activities in between... Until then... I wish you all a very happy new year...