Awaited Onam Vacation…

It’s a long time since I had vacation. Well there’s no point in wishing for that also. In school and college, we just had to go on a holiday or vacation and come back with a sick note. But now with work, it’s not so simple. Of course we can bunk, but not so often and long as we did in schools and colleges.

This time I have applied for three days leave to go to Kerala for Onam. Earlier I never had to do that. Of course Onam meant 10 long days of holidays. At SunTec also we had three to four days off. But here, there is nothing like that… :( I have to take three days off from my well counted and meager, so called Privilege Leave.

I’ll be starting on my journey within a few hours and am quite excited to be at home again. The thought of payasams, chips, and Onasadya has already made my mouth water. Onam was a celebration when I was in school. Ten long days of vacation just after the Onam exams. Onam vacation meant holidays, relatives and cousins, swings, and lots of food. And cousins meant Raji especially. This was the only day when we had our baths early in the morning. We have never put pookalams for Onam, but I enjoyed doing that in college. Payasam is another aspect that keeps my love for Onam still alive.

Now all are busy. Not all have time to get together during the festival. But still I look forward being at home and having my Onasadya on a plantain leaf with my family members (Mittu included :)). Happy Onam to all of you well in advance!!!

A long time wish

A moment gone, is gone forever. Sometimes we crave to be there once again. Memories take us there now and again. Like many, even I believe photographs are a treasure forever.

Even now, I take up the old albums and spend hours on it. I never get bored in this activity. I really appreciate my father who took all the pains to take snaps, get the prints, and set them out in albums. It was a tedious job then. But how simple has it become now – click, transfer, see/send.

Till my second year of graduation, I also used to take pains and photograph all occasions. But suddenly technology advanced, digital cams took over. Buying film rolls, going to the studios, getting the prints collected, setting it in albums, all seemed so out of fashion and naïve very soon. So our old camera was kept somewhere in the cupboards, never to be used again. But we didn’t have a digital camera either. Somehow, none of us took the pains to buy one. Afterall getting photos was not that difficult – someone who had a camera would upload the photos. So none missed any photos.

But on many occasions I had wished to have a cam. We were all very preoccupied that we didn’t realize that many a good moments had passed pretty soon. Finally we decided to buy one. And last weekend, my bro and me, we went to get one. We had two models in mind, the showroom had only one model available. We took some time and learned the functionalities and were happy with the snaps taken. Finally we made our minds to go for the available model. But the salesperson had one more bad news to tell us – only the silver model was available not black L I didn’t want to lose this opportunity and again prolong the buying for a long time. We finally bought the cam. And now, I hope we won’t be missing moments in life again ;)

Things I miss badly

I miss all these:

1. Trivandrum
2. My room at our home in Kerala
3. My cousin, Raji
4. Reading
5. School Days
6. My friend, Anupriya
7. SunTec
8. My hostel, MTTC
9. College days
10. And what else I don't know

What I feel I must actually do at this point of time - Keep those memories fresh and start building new ones.

A Robot on the Roads of Bangalore

Wondering who this robot is? Well, its me! And want to know why I call myself so? Because I look like one while travelling (don't know about the other times) :-P

I wear a green scarf around my hair, a dark blue helmet on top of it, and finally a greyish silver jacket. Can you imagine it? Well, its ridiculous. But I can't help it. The dust and wind compels me to make a foolish appearance of myself. Anyhow I reach office and home well protected from the polluted, dusty air. There was a time when I thought that I would never wear a helmet because I disliked it. So when there was a rule forcing two-wheeler riders to wear a helmet, I was totally against it. But now being in Bangalore, even if the government repeals the law, I am going to continue wearing the helmet. :-D

And as you all know its safe to wear the helmet also. The last time I fell, I was lucky to have been wearing the helmet because I fell face down on the road. And could hear the helmet banging hardly on the tarred surface. Just can't imagine what would have happened if I hadn't worn it that day!

So if you find a robot on the roads of Bangalore, don't wonder, its me!

Nothing can stop me from blogging

Today morning as usual, after logging into Google Account, I clicked on the Blogger link. But contrary to my expectation, a warning page popped up. I refreshed and tried opening it once again. But alas, blogger has been blocked at office! :-(

I was disappointed. I could only read through the blogs but could not make new posts or edit the existing ones. I really don't know what made them to block this site. Actually they are doing a mistake by blocking blogger. Whenever I have free time, I access my blogs and make new posts. By doing this, I made sure that I didn't waste my time playing games or being idle. I spent my time productively. But now that they are determined to stop me from blogging during office hours, I have no other option than to play solitaire, sudoku, cinco, and all other accessible games during office hours, spend my time idle, and just loaf around.

Do you feel that I am free during my office hours? In a way its true to an extent. My current project doesn't consume much time always. Sometimes I am free for days at a stretch. But when we have deliverables, its just the opposite. So now don't wonder if you don't see new posts coming up regularly! (Only intended for those who enjoy reading my blogs, if any. :-D)

As per the company policy, the sites irrelevant to the business are blocked. But there is one flaw in the whole process. We work on remote desktops of which the servers are located elsewhere. So there is no blockage for the sites on the remote desktop. So now that they have blocked blogger on my local desktop, I ll surely work from my remote desktop.. :-D In short, nothing can stop me from blogging. Even if doesn't interest the ones reading it, it interests me a lot... ;-)

Thank God!!!

Everyday when I reach home with my body parts intact, I thank God. Such is the traffic and transportation problems in the Garden City. I know most of them would agree when I make this point, but yet there would be a section whose sentimental feelings with the city would not allow them to agree to the statement. But infact, its true and its known to all.

Commuting is a very grave issue in Bangalore, be it a pedestrian or a person driving a vehicle. The number of hours caught up in the traffic is countless. Movement is actually a big problem. People actually try to avoid commuting during the peak hours of traffic, but those who have to take those hours have no other options left. The road works are another major issue. The biggest example is the section of the Hosur Road from Silk Board to the Electronics City. A flyover construction has been going on there since when, I don't know. But I am seeing it from the past six months. I don't say this doesn't happen in other parts of the country, but in such a populated city, I don't think so.

Digging the sub-roads on a frequent basis is another concern. Since the Hosur Road is not fit for quick transportation, I take a shortcut. For the past six months, there was not a day when there was no construction or maintenance work going on at segments of the road. Finally during the rainy season, something more wonderful is happening. Both the sides of the muddy road are being dug. I know not for what reason. I agree it might be for some developmental purpose but does it make sense to dump the mud onto the road? A lot of people depend on that road to reach the main road. But its all ruined in the rains, and the mud dumped which makes it all slippery and congested. People on two wheelers skid and fall down frequently. But nothing is done to solve this.

Pitfalls in the middle of the roads and irregular bumps are something common everywhere. I agree that these problems prevail in all parts of the country, but the number of lives affected must be considered. Thats why I say I thank God when I reach home with my body parts INTACT!!!