I have always wanted to do Bungee jumping. Its just the thrill of jumping from height and still be safe ( if u r lucky ) and the idea of Freefall and flying like a bird.. Its just looks really coool... Finally I got a chance to bungee.. I managed to jump in a place called Sigulda, 1 hour outside of Riga in Latvia. It was a jump from a cable car that is used to cross a river. It was an awesome experience, except that I dont remember most of it.. Pretty funny huh.. I was strapped etc. and then off we go in the cable with other jumpers. Then I was the 1st one to jump. I step close to the edge and look below into the River and then adrenalin pumps up and I panic. I just keep looking down and almost decided I was going to quit. Then the guy said he was going to count from 1 to 3 and then I jump at 3. Ok.. Now i feel fine.. then he goes 1.... then 3... Push.. oops.. I was almost unprepared.. and then i was going down.. So in a momentary flash.. I was almost not thinking anything and just falling... I guess i was too scared to think about anything at all... next thing i saw was the rope tugged onto my legs and I knew I was still connected and not going to fall below. yoohoo... then I could see my reflection below in the stil water... It was Awesome... Perhaps next time, i would fully enjoy it from the beginning... So I am just waiting for the next time... :)
Disclaimer: This is not a photo of me jumping as there was noone to take photos of me.. So it was the next guy who jumped. :) ..
"Starry, starry night. Paint your palette blue and grey, Look out on a summer's day, With eyes that know the darkness in my soul. Shadows on the hills, Sketch the trees and the daffodils, Catch the breeze and the winter chills, In colors on the snowy linen land Starry, starry night, Flaming flowers that brightly blaze, Swirling clouds in violet haze, Reflect in Vincent's eyes of china blue. Colors changing hue, morning field of amber grain, Weathered faces lined in pain, Are soothed beneath the artist's loving hand" - Don Mclean
Somehow after listening to this beautiful song ages ago and some discussions with an old friend, I have always been curious about Van Gogh's Starry Night and why it is so famous... While I was in Amsterdam for the Easter, I went to the famous Van Gogh Musem and spent almost the entire day looking at some of his best works... We were also lucky that the Museum had a special exhibition " Colors of the night" and they had loaned the famous "Starry Night" from its home (NY Museum) to Amsterdam for display during Spring... What more could I have asked for... It was an amazing experience walking through thr exhibits and spending time on each of his painting to understand the psyche of the great artist (one who was not recognized while he was alive)... Starry Night especially was very interesting more so because it is not painted like how a night would be, but more of artist's imagination... I ve never been a great art lover.. but Van Gogh's themes were so simple yet complex that draws you towards his paintings... Apparently there are so many interpretations to this painting and what artist might have imagined (literally and symbolic), but it still remains a mystery.... "Now I think I know, what you tried to say to me, How you suffered for your sanity, How you tried to set them free, They would not listen, they're not listening still. Perhaps they never will... " Links: http://www.vangoghgallery.com/painting/starrynightlyrics.html
After so many years, I finally sat down and watched the entire movie Schindler's list.. For some reason I've never seen this before... probably bcos i thought i wouldnt be able to stomach the cruel scenes... I thought Ralph Fiennes was the pick of all..playing Amon Goeth, the cruel pshycopath with his cold blooded eyes and complete disdain for human life... Sorto like Kenneth Branagh in "Conspiracy" as Heydrich.... Also loved Liam Neeson playinng the charismatic Oskar Schindler and Ben Kingsley as the accountant... Having been to Krakow and seen the real location of the Ghetto,the labor camp at Plaslow, Schindler's enamel factory and also Auswitz & Birkenau concentration camp and heard from tour guide about the real Amon Goeth character and the sad history of Polish jews in Krakow, the movie appealed more to me... makes me wonder how humans could do this to each other... reminds me of a certain dialogue in the movie "Blood Diamond" = "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".. Will such acts of cruel genocides ever stop in Human history :-( ??
hemsedal is one of the biggest Ski resorts in Norway... A big group of people from work decides to go and I joined them hoping I could take some lessons and improve my snow boarding skills... well.. i thought wrong... back pains previous falls started surfacing making my downhill experience unbearable with backpain... and to add to the woes, i hit my head at the cottage entrace on a low ceiling, which required immediate medical attention and some stitches .. No wait.. Super Glue... which basically confined me to the cofe at the ski resort playing some sudoku with a friend and a cuppa hot tea ... so much for the ski weekend.. :( ... did you know that urban legend says that super glue was accidentally invented to find a replacement for stitches for body wounds during WWII ?? I didnt know this until today when someone mentioned it... It was relatively painless experience of getting glued in place of stitches... :)... wel.. it remains to be seen if the blow to my head has anything to do with my behavior in the coming days :-D) ... haha///
After my last attempt at chasing Aurora in Tromso turned out to be in vain, I decided to give it another go. This time we decided to go to Alta instead. Alta is a city in Norway at 70 Deg N. Very close to being the northern most point in Mainland Norway. Quite a nice place to go to if you want to chase the Aurora Borealis. "Chasing" is quite the apt term here because even on a clear night, it is difficult to predict where the lights will appear and when they will. You might be watching the sky for hours and then go inside to get a hot cuppa, and viola it might have appeared and gone by the time you come back out again. Ofcourse, if the activity is quiote strong then it does stay for longer period of time and does appear quite powerfully. Having spent a fortune on my last trip and possibly this time around too, we were quite cautious in choosing the correct timing for the trip and hoping for a good weather forecast and solar activity. Fortunately the weather turned out quite good and we had a clear sky, which means the temperature is really really low and it was mostly between -15 to -25 Deg C during the entire trip. So we thought it would be best to rent a cabin outside of the city so we can lose the city lights and also rented a car from Rent-a-Wreck so we can just hop in and keep driving out in the winderness until we have a "Sweet Spot" where we get a clear view of the horizon and far far away from the city lights... It was worth it... After having spent few thousand kroners on both trips for the Aurora, Dog Sledging, Reindeer Sledging + Sami culture and Snowmobiling, I would say this was one of my best experiences of Norway...
I feel a great deal of sadness reading the news about the demise of great comedian of yesteryear's - Thiru Nagesh. There is one thing about the likes of Goundamani, senthil, Vivek, Vadivelu... but I dont think I will ever like anyone better than Nagesh... Sometimes I feel comedy in today's Tamil movies is very crass and vulgar and completely meaningless... the level has declined... Its almost like the comical bits is completely off-track from the movie itself... they might as well have it as stand-up in between the actual story... Nagesh's movies were class apart... There was a sarcasm and also meaning in his routines... I will miss it... The movies like "Server Sundaram", "Kaadhalika Neramillai", "Ethirneechal"(Maadipadi Maadhu poi maadiveetu Maadhu ayi), "Thiruvilayaadal"... the list goes on... May the Force be with you even in death... We will miss you... !!!
So many raving reviews in the Indian and Foreign media about this one.. Had to watch it to see what it was all about.. yes.. it did portray the true reality.. from a different angle.. I really enjoyed the movie.. I didnt care much if it was made by an Indian or Foreigner. As a matter of fact, if it was made by an Indian, I am not sure if he would have portrayed the India as it is shown in this one and may be Danny Boyle had that advantage of not being attached to the theme as an Indian or nationalist and just purely as a filmmaker. Some people say that it is getting credit because of Danny Boyle.. maybe it is.. but it does bring the likes of ARR in the global arena, once again... and i will be rooting for him in the Oscarss... :)
I read AB's comments.. "if SM projects India as [a] third-world, dirty, underbelly developing nation and causes pain and disgust among nationalists and patriots, let it be known that a murky underbelly exists and thrives even in the most developed nations".. Well.. AB... maybe u should take a walk out in the the reality i.e India.. India is a land of contradictions and surprises... Yes.. we are great country.. we are proud and we are a developing country and at a fast rate at that one... But the true reality is that more than 80% of the 1.1 billion population (all these numbers might have changed by now.. :) is living in poverty... Face it.. Just becasue it is shown that way in the movie does not make it bad... As Indians, I have always felt that some of us are hyprocrits and also have an inferiority complex... Lemme explain what i mean by this..
I was once making a comment to a friend long time ago that lot of these tourist places are ridden with scoundrels and crooks who try to take advantage of the foreiners and this projects a bad image of India to them.. etc etc/... and also about beggars and how the government r the police never do anything about it... Interestingly my friend pointed out that it was a problem indeed and we should focus on solving it not because of improving our image in the international arena, but more so for the people themselves and how they should get a better life that they deserve... I thought how silly of me... How could I not think of it that way... although I had the right intentions... After a while I was chatting a different friend during a backpack tour and we came across a foreigner who was complaining about something and I had to agree with him based on the facts (dont exactly remember what the issue was)... My friend although agreed with me privately on the matter, but didnt like the fact that I was open about it in front of a foreigner and it projects a bad image of India.. I have come across many other situations with many other people, but the bottomline is always good/Bad image of the country... What I think is... Lets face it... we are a big county with many people, lot of poverty exists, we have many problems.. yet we would like to project a rosy picture of it... Why? who are we kidding ?? why live in a Denial?? Why not accept the fact that problems exist and try to find a solution rather than brushing the dirt under the carpet and make it look clean rather actually cleaning it out for the better??
so AB, I think this statement of yours such a hyprocricy... What the movie shows exists in real life.. I dont care if it portrays a bad image of India... and I dont think we should be ashamed of it either... Lets not live in a denial.. Lets accept it and try to do something about it... I dont think any movie can ever truly capture India as it is... India is so large and so complicated to be even covered completely in a movie.. Thats what makes India so interesting... If anything, I think this movie is not far from reality.. esp. the bit about blinding kids to beg in the streets was very sad to see... makes me wonder how can people do this to kids.. how can they be so cold hearted?
It all started when I went for a lunch at nearby place called Sandvika to see the frozen fjords .. Snowfall was expected, but didnt know it was going to be a blizzard... More than 12 hours of snow and still going strong upto now.... The whole of Oslo and Asker (Place where I work - suburb of Oslo) looks like a winter wonderland... 1/2m of snow so far... all the snow men/women factory will jump start into production... you can see plenty of snow angels everywhere.. All of a sudden the whole place looks so beautiful... and my balcony is almost half filled with Snow now... Fresh snow... Fresh powder.. I have to hit the slopes to snowboard ... yipeee... :)
I've been watching this TV series called "The Big Bang Theory" lately and I must say it is quite funny. All the physics mumbo jumbo and intellectual crap in every dialogue is really funny... I love the Sheldon character. He is the ultimate intellectual human robot(watever that means :D). One of the episodes where Leanard tries to ask his labmate Leslie out on a date... It goes something like this... pardon me if I didnt get it completely correct ... (Leonard is going to ask Leslie out on a date...)
Leonard: I was thinking more of a Bio-social exploration with a Neuro chemical overlay Leslie: Wait.. Are you asking me out? Leonard: I was going to characterize it as a modification of our colleague/friendship paradigm with the addition of a date like component.. but.. we dont need to quibble over terminology Leslie: what sort of a experiement would you propose? Leonard: There is a generally accepted pattern in this area. I would pick you up, take you to a restaurant.. then we would see a movie... probably a romantic comedy featuring the talents of Hugh Grant and Sandra Bullock. Leslie: Interesting... Would you agree that the primary way we would evaluate either the sucess or failure of the date would be based on bio-chemical reaction during the good night kiss? Leonard: Alright... Leslie: So... Why dont we stipulate that the date goes well and move to the key variables? Leonard: You mean kissing now? Leslie: Yes Leonard: Can you define the parameters of the Kiss ? Leslie: Closed mouth, but romantic.... Mint ?? Leonard: Thank you... Leonard: Shall I count down from three? Leslie: No. I think it needs to be spontaneous ** Kiss ** Leslie: Soo.. what do you think? Leonard: You proposed the experiment. So I think you should present your findings first. Leslie: Fair Enough. On the Plus side it was a good kiss, reasonable technique.. on the other hand no arousal. Leonard: None. Leslie: None Leonard: Ah... Well.. Thank you for your time Leslie: Thank you.
Cmon.. How can you not like this show? Its brilliant. I wonder how someone hadn't thought about it before. Check it out on IMDB. :-)
If you have a early flight out of Roma Fiumicino airport (a.k.a Leanardo Da Vinci airport) and do not want to spend a big chunk of money on taxi, then take a look at this post.. I recently had to do the same and there is very little information available about these buses (very cheap compared to Taxi) and noone really knows much about when and where these buses come. So I just put up some info .. Bon Voyage !!
Whenever I travel in Europe, I always like to stay in hostels instead of hotels.. althought its mostly for students and youths... :) .. Lot of people dont particularly like staying in hostels and consider it very noisy, not very private accomodation etc.. but I like it for the fact that you get to meet fellow tourists from all over the world and sometimes u also get company to travel for a day or two.. i agree .. it could be noisy, sharing a dorm room with so many strangers can be a bit overwhelming for some, and if u r not so lucky then it could be very unclean and messy.. but it has it advantages... i ve gotten some real good travel tips, maps, someone planning out your itinerary, tips about transportation etc.. really priceless... i ve always been lucky to have stayed in some good hostels , clean and freindly service, some with free internet and also tv room... and i highly recommend them.. cheap accomodation when you are on tight budget, possibility to meet fellow travelers and get some good tips and also share stories... i havent traveled so much outside of Europe. so i dunno about the hostels elsewhere, but this is mostly my opinion on the hostels inside Europe...
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... :)
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.
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...
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....
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? "
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)...
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 :)
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...
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 :)
I have always wanted to do Bungee jumping. Its just the thrill of jumping from height and still be safe ( if u r lucky ) and the idea of Freefall and flying like a bird.. Its just looks really coool...
"Starry, starry night.
