GOING WILD

Back home!

Fri, 23 May 2008 05:50:21 GMT

Home is same as it was when I left it 10 months ago. Still love this city in spite of the traffic and in spite of the fact that I was in NYC for the last 10 months. Home is home and there's no city which can beat Bangalore city. The Bangalore airport is opening today and wish it could be named Kempegowda International Airport instead of the current name. Even if it's not, the current name is good enough, though the founders name would have added a more local touch to the airport. Apart from eating and speding time doing nothing, I am looking forward to watching an IPL match live at the Chinnaswamy stadium ( inspite of the fact that the Royal Challengers are royally getting trashed ). The Champions League final yesterday was a boring game (inspite of the papers saying something else). European teams lack charm and play a mechanical, predictable game. ManU is such a boring team to watch (adding to the fact that I hate Ronaldo). I might have appreciated the game if maybe Chelsea won it. I am sick of watching Alex and his red devis play the same boring game every season, and winning and winning again.

I thought Aamir Khan was one of the few actors with some sense and dignity left from among the Bollywood stars. Not until he made this amateurish statement on his blog about a dog named Sharukh licking his feet. Grow up man.

The press seems to have become more dumber, just reporting news, with not an iota of originality or independence. Be it the defence ministers statement about China or the cross-border firing by Pakis, the press just "reports" news. They sound worse than statements being read out on AIR. Congress has added another feather in it's cap by stating that Afzal should be exchanged with Sarbajeet. They are the Congress. They have a family tradition to keep up with and always try hard to appease minorities and play filthy politics. I just hope the BJP wins the Karnataka elections. Counting's on Sunday, we'll know !

God save my country.

Thu, 10 Apr 2008 06:35:13 GMT

I cannot believe the Supreme Court uplifted the 27% OBC quota. The congress has just succeeded in one of its many antics of slowly erasing the "Shining" from "India Shining". I just hate the fact that India, a global economic power distinguishes it's citizens based on caste and considers quota in education a solution to social and economic upliftment. God save my country from a disease which has been plaguing it for decades, a disease called Congress.

" The Centre's main plank was that OBCs, who have been oppressed for centuries, needed a helping hand by means of quota and that caste was an accepted form of determination of backwardness as it was the basis for oppression and resultant backwardness. "

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Supreme_Court_nod_to_27_OBC_quota/articleshow/2940232.cms

SHAME SHAME AUSSIES

Mon, 07 Jan 2008 10:50:08 GMT

The Indian team should just come back. Mike Proctor, Bucknor and party should be given the stick. It's India which is being racially abused (again by the ICC) not Andrew Symonds. What will Mr. Proctor do with Brad Hogg for calling Indian players bastards ?

It's time the BCCI stops thinking about money and pulls our team back home.

Euro Pots!

Sun, 02 Dec 2007 02:15:29 GMT

The pots are out, finally:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/internationals/7106753.stm

England out!

Thu, 22 Nov 2007 08:21:48 GMT

England lose to Croatia and are out of the Euros! It's hard to imagine Euro 2008 without the English team ( and their amazing fans)!

A quote from the Croat coach:

"I read in your papers that no Croatian player would start on your team...I mean,
seriously, wake up."

Papa namma Yediyurappa!

Mon, 19 Nov 2007 23:18:41 GMT

http://deccanherald.com/Content/Nov202007/state2007112036714.asp

JD(S) does a inky-pinky-ponky again! man! I am missing all the fun happening in Bengaluru!

England almost through qualifiers!

Mon, 19 Nov 2007 05:44:06 GMT

England save themselves from a exit from Euro 2008, thanks to Israel!
They still need to win the Croatia match!

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1195127536654&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

I'm just waiting for the Euros to start!

Dravid scores a double!

Tue, 06 Nov 2007 23:52:36 GMT

Way to go Dravid!

Dravid gives fitting reply to selectors with double hundred

The Great Escape!

Sun, 28 Oct 2007 01:47:21 GMT

This news article reminds me of the movie "The Great Escape"

"In a sensational case, Meerut jail officials on a routine inspection of barracks
number 17 and 18 uncovered a 40-foot long tunnel on Friday evening, built with
engineering precision -- purely by chance"

shocking photos!

Sat, 29 Sep 2007 19:10:29 GMT

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/wn_report/galleries/myanmar_protests/myanmar_protests.html
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/wn_report/galleries/myanmar_protests/myanmar_protests.html?c=1

These are shocking pictures of a renowned Japanese freelance videographer Kenji Nagai being shot
by a soldier in Myanmar. The events happening in Burma are just an example of how incapable the UNSC
is when it matters most.

New York Jackson Heights!

Mon, 17 Sep 2007 01:23:28 GMT

New York City has a far share of Indians from one end of Manhattan to another. But the "monthly shopping visit" to Jackson Heights made us feel we were shopping in Big Bazaar back home! So many Indians! Even the streets and the homes in this area had a desi look on them. It's amazing when one is far away from home, everything from Indians to Amul butter to MTR Puliyogare mix to coriander leaves makes one feel closer to home!

Football!

Sun, 09 Sep 2007 21:37:26 GMT

Got a chance to play little bit of football with two freshmen here in college! One was from Jamaica and the other from Italy! Felt really happy kicking the ball around and dribbling it for a while. The lush green lawn at the University is a treat to watch and just too good to play football on. The ball just skids through and comes around real nicely, like on a real grass football stadium. The last time I played was long back, in namma Bengalooru!

My first post after coming to the University, and it's about football :-) !

Into Thin Air

Sun, 15 Apr 2007 08:04:52 GMT

Thanks to Ashwin for suggesting this book! The book is fast paced and provides a thorough and chilling account of the ill fated climb of Mount Everest on 9th May 1996. A total of eight people from various expeditions lost their lives that day, and many more remained mentally crippled for life. The book explains how tough it is to climb the highest peak in the world, the physical and mental challenges posed by the great mountain to amateurs and expert climbers. The hallucinations that people experience while climbing the peak is chilling to read.

A few excerpts from the book worth mentioning :

"Harris who'd left the summit shortly after I did, soon pulled up behind me. Wanting to conserve whatever oxygen remained in my tank, I asked him to reach inside my backpack and turn off the valve on my regulator. Instead of turning my oxygen off, Harris in his hypoxically impaired state, had mistakenly cranked the valve open to full flow, draining the tank"

"Rob croaked, "Harold was with me last night, but he doesn't seem to be with me
now. He was very weak. "Then obviously befuddled he asked, "Was Harold with me?
Can you tell me that?"

This was said by Rob Hall, the chief of one of the expeditions when on top of the summit. Rob and Harold were stuck on the summit due to inclement weather, which had left Rob Hall without much oxygen, tired and very confused. Rob Hall and Andy Harris (Harold) were among those who died on Everest that day.

"As Schoening cradled the Sherpa in his arms, a second rock came down and smashed into the Sherpa. At that point says Beidleman, "Klev and I just stared at each other in disbelief. It was like, 'What's going on here? What have we done to make this mountain so angry?'"

This book has left me wanting to read more non-fiction, especially of expeditions. A must read this book.

Lord Of the Rings

Thu, 29 Mar 2007 05:31:47 GMT

Finished reading LOTR a few weeks back. This is an amazing book, the best fantasy I will ever read. A must must read for any LOTR fan.

"A Christian can almost be forgiven for not reading the Bible, but there's no salvation for a fantasy fan who hasn't read the gospel of the genre, J.R.R. Tolkien's definitive three-book epic, the Lord of the Rings (encompassing The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King), and its charming precursor, The Hobbit. That many (if not most) fantasy works are in some way derivative of Tolkien is understood, but the influence of the Lord of the Rings is so universal that everybody from George Lucas to Led Zeppelin has appropriated it for one purpose or another. Not just revolutionary because it was groundbreaking, the Lord of the Rings is timeless because it's the product of a truly top-shelf mind." - Amazon

I will read this book all over again....again and again and again!

Mon, 26 Mar 2007 06:32:13 GMT

The Skandagiri peak is about 50 km from Bangalore, off Chikkaballapur. The plan was to
arrive at the Mutt below the peak, park our vehicles there and start trekking. We were
to reach the top by midnight, pitch tents and wake up early to see the sun rise. Totally
twelve people in all, we left Bangalore at 8 PM, had dinner on the way and arrived at the Mutt at exactly 12 AM in the night. Awfully late, we started climbing the peak by 12:15 AM. Deciding not to take a guide with us, we were all by ourselves for the entire climb. Apart from a few places, the path up the mountain is quite clear and well made, thanks to the number of people who trekked before us. With absolutely no moon light, the torches we carried were the only source of light. At times we found ourselves struggling to find the right way.

After more than the required rests and unnecessary stops on the way we reached the top at exactly 3 AM. The view from the top was awesome. The countless lights in the city below us glittered and made impossible for a good view of a clear starry sky. The winds were really strong, and all of us sat right where the wind blowed very strong, not wanting to get up or even talk. We enjoyed every bit of the wind blowing and hitting us real hard.

We started pitching tents at around 3:45 AM and were done by 4:30 AM. The plan was to pitch three tents to equally accommodate twelve people. Tired and restless, we pitched just two tents with five people in one and seven in another! The seven people tent actually meant to hold four people was cramped, with every inch of space being occupied. All of us had to sleep the same posture till morning, with no place to even budge or change sleeping position.

Though I did not wake up on time for the sun rise as if the full dose of sun rises and sets on the Gokarna trek were not enough, most of the group was up and already talking about the wonderful sunrise, and shouting at me to wake up and look at the sun coming up. I slept, ignoring them until the tent where I slept was itself opened up leaving me cold, struggling for some more sleep. We started climbing down at 7:15 AM and reached the bottom of the peak at 9 AM.

Takes from the trek: Awesome view from the top. Felt nice climbing to the
top all by ourselves. Sleeping inside a tent was fun (even though we were seven souls
in a four man tent)

Give aways: Should have started the trek early, reached the top by 11 PM. We
were very late after reaching the top at 3 AM.

Gokarna To Honnavara trek

Fri, 09 Mar 2007 07:26:25 GMT

We met around 8:45 at the Kempegowda bus stand (KBS). Except manja, everybody else was a stranger to me. It would turn out that we would get to know each other very well during the course of an exciting and adventurous trek. The group included ten people in total: Myself, Manja, Amin, Pramod, Nishant, Ayush, Harit, Mahadev, Manish and Nihit.

The bus departed KBS around 21:15 hours. The route to Gokarna is one of the most scenic routes I have traveled. Reaching Shimogha, the bus travels through Jog falls, the Gersoppa Ghat section, Honnavara, Kumta and finally our destination, Gokarna. All the passengers in the bus might have guessed from our backpacks if not from our long, never ending conversations that we were on some sort of a trek. It did turn out to be some trek in the end, something that I’ll remember for a long time.

Gokarna is famous for its temple, which has a Shiva lingam. The story of how the lingam got there is itself interesting. We visited the temple thinking of a quick darshana of the lord. It turned out that the poojari would force us into offering a full course pooja. After the pooja, we were even offered temple lunch, which we calmly turned down since we were already late on the trek and the afternoon sun was turning on the heat. We finished a quick breakfast at Pai hotel. This would be our last scrumptious escapade. The next two days would be filled with extreme conditions, a blazing hot sun, very little or no water, dry food and of course a refreshing breeze from the sea carrying droplets of sea water which kept us going till the end.

The trek started off on Gokarna beach. All of us were thrilled at the sight of the sea and the hot sand, which was difficult to walk on, never seemed a hurdle. Once close to the wet sand, walking got easier. Given a chance all us were ready to take off our clothes and jump into the water. But we had to wait, till we camped on a beach that evening. Till then it was satisfying to just watch the shoreline from a distance, and from the mountains around the beach. The shoreline of Gokarna beach extended beyond what our naked eyes could see.

Crossing the Gokarna beach was easy. We had to climb a mountain, and walk across a flat dry piece of land to get to our next destination: kudle beach. The only trekkers we found on the way were foreigners, who kept wishing and saying namasthe, in a par-desi accent. Kudle beach has a nice, scenic approach. The path leading down to the beach from the mountain is covered on both sides by thick vegetation. The path looked like an arcade with huge lush green trees on both sides. Kudle is a small beach and easy to walk on. By this time, we started enjoying the walk, staring at the beach and also at the chicks, well at times…The second mountain we crossed stood between Kudle and Om beach. Almost all the water except for the last bottle was gone and we were to learn a tough lesson on preserving it. Water is one of the most important commodities on a trek. Learn to preserve it, the easier and refreshing the trek gets. Some of us were so thirsty that we almost stood gaping at a group of people guzzling beer! Seems that beer was not available on Kudle beach and the group had brought their own stock. We started climbing the mountain to get to Om beach. A foreigner was kind enough to show us the right way to cross the mountain, nevertheless we got Lost. Following the wrong path, we had to backtrack until we found the right way down the mountain. This was the first on our lost list. There were few more to come...

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The walk on Om beach proved to be bigger than the previous two. Some of us had a sip of cold lemon drink and some went for bhel puri and got started again. Some of us stopped and got on to the rocks, which were very close to the lashing waves. We had to get back on the trek as it was already mid noon, and the sun was hot, scorchy and bearing down on us without mercy. The football we carried along proved handy. We kept kicking it, passing it amongst us while walking. It took us around 45 minutes to get past Om beach and cross over to the next: Half moon beach. The shape of the beach is quite obvious from its name. It took us another 20 odd minutes to cross this beach. We reached a small shack turned shop on our way to the next point, Paradise beach. We gulped down a cool drink at the shop and got back to walking. Paradise beach was quite close at this point, but separated by another steep, quite treacherous rocky shore. Crossing steep rocks and jumping from one to another was quite scary. The awesome sight of the sea and the loud but continuous sound of waves kept us going.

Paradise beach mostly had foreigners. This is a small but wonderfully clean beach. The water looked sparkling and enticing. It was time for lunch and we needed a nice cool place to have the first lunch since we started the trek. A nice big rock on the beach, served us good shade, and we unwound and ate. It is amazing how, when hunger strikes, even the meager of food seems like a full course meal. We hogged on the rotis and chutney as if that was our last meal. The next destination was Barka beach. Thanks to manja, we had maps and journal entries of previous trekkers. The decision was to cross over the mountain adjoining Paradise beach, reach a village called Belikan. and from there get to Barka beach through boat. Just after another tough and steep climb we saw a huge mountain in front of us and no village no-where. We were lucky enough to meet a kind villager called Mahesh, who told us that he had a shop (or call it a small house) on Barka beach and offered to take us there through boat. Without hesitating we accepted the boat ride and had to get down the mountain again. We were back on Paradise beach. Back to a Paradise full of nice curves and glowing sand. After a few minutes and a few refreshing sip of a mango drink we found a boatman calling at us. It's very difficult to control a boat along the shores because of the continuous pounding by waves. The boat was 'parked' just beside the shore, and we jumped into it one by one, throwing in our heavy backpacks first. Our boat ride started…

We were 14 on the boat. Including Mahesh, his friend who drove the propeller and two guys in the front. None of us had life jackets on and only a few knew swimming. We had the worst scare when the boat, far away from the shore almost toppled, letting some water in from one side. The boatman was skilled enough and brought back his steed under control. But honestly, without life jackets, even the best swimmer would find it difficult to swim against that sea. I kept looking at a shoal of rock close to where we were traveling as the only hope if the boat ever toppled. If it did, a swim to the rocks was possible if not difficult. Thankfully, the pooja we offered to lord Shiva at Gokarna proved handy and the boat did not topple, and all of us were still alive. The tide was greater at Barka beach and the boat had to stop on a beach adjacent to it. Manish was injured slightly in the leg after stepping on a sharp piece of rock while jumping off the boat. Mahesh showed us the way across the shore, crossing rocks, again quite slippery and steep. We finally reached Barka beach. This is where we would call it quits and stop for the day. Our own private beach for a mere 350 rupees!

An hour or so passed and all ten of us were in the water. This was what we had been waiting for, all along the trek. Its amazing the force with which waves lash the shore. Some even threw us a few steps away from where we were. There was fresh water available, and we freshened up, getting ready to cook some dinner and sleep over a bonfire. Dinner was done, courtesy manja again. To start we had some delicious soup and Puliyogare rice. We stoked some fire and sat around it for some time. Our plans of sleeping on the beach were washed away by the full moon and with the high tide it brought along. We had to sleep inside the house.

Mahesh turned up early morning and we were ready to start off. Another steep climb and we were on top of another mountain. Mahesh bid adieu and we were off, on our own again. The next beach was Long beach, the longest and toughest beach we would trek. After having a bite at a local fruit, we headed towards Long beach, climbing down the mountain. We had absolutely no water, except for the fresh water stock we took from Braka beach. Honestly I doubted how ‘fresh’ this water was, as no one knew where it came from. Most of us were skeptical to drinking the water. We were finally on Long beach and a fisherman family there offered us some water from their well. This water was sweet, tasting good and really refreshing. After having our heart fill of aqua, and filling up our bottles, we started off again. Long beach has no foreigners or people apart from the fishermen dwelling there. The entire beach loomed large in front of us, almost disappearing from our sight, whenever we tried to see where the beach ended. We trekked half the way and took a detour into a small village, called Gudeangadi. After hogging on bondas and drinking a cool refreshing raagi drink, we came back to the beach, and started walking. I remember manja saying “Sabhi salo, Johnny Walkers ban Jao…keep walking guys”. Manish was unable to walk anymore, with his wound getting worse and called it quits. Nihit and Manish woefully bid adieu and started walking towards the village, with the hope of reaching Kumta and catching a bus from there to Bangalore. We were down to eight souls.

The entire Long beach walk took us three hours and was tough. We finally reached the end of the beach and crashed on a cool, grassy patch with lots of shade. We would sleep well here for 45 minutes or so. We started again and reached the next beach, Semi Circular beach. This was the second best beach after Paradise beach. Not for the refreshing curves, but for how clean the beach and the water were. Reaching end of this beach we were stuck, with the beach hitting hilly terrain. We were forced to climb up the hill and get down again to reach Honnali beach.

Honnali beach is a purely Muslim inhabited beach. The next beach, called Kumta beach is purely Hindu. It is amazing how a thin strip of rock and sand could divide two communities altogether. Nevertheless they seemed to like it as it was, and were in peace. We spent about 20 minutes atop a hill adjacent to Kumta beach, eating, talking, and cracking jokes. After filling up our water stock at Kumta beach we hit a small river joining the sea splitting the beach right into half. With some kind help from locals, we crossed the river and continued walking.

It was evening and the sun set view was astounding. It would take a stone hearted person to walk right across the sun set without even standing to look at one of natures most amazing sight. Spellbound we were, till the Sun God took a dip somewhere below the horizon.

We camped right in the middle of Kumta beach. The plan was to cook dinner there and head for a moonlight walk across the beach. After painfully collecting some firewood, we sat to ready ourselves for the toughest test, cooking dinner out of nothing in the middle of nowhere. With teamwork at its best, we succeeded in stoking enough fire to light the beach for about three hours. The soup came out really well, but the maggi turned a disaster. Hungry and tired, we hogged on the food, without leaving a morsel to spare. The place where we stopped had a deathly look of it. The shore was far away, and we could see the wind blowing sand all across the beach. The darkness added some more mystery and suspicion to that place. We walked again for 25 minutes and decided that was that. Camping at a place far away from the tides, we unpacked our sleeping bags, removed our stinking shoes and sneakers and crashed on the ground.

It was somewhere around 3 AM in the night when I heard Harit shouting and panting. He was seeing a lunar eclipse. This was icing on the cake. If sleeping on the beach was in itself a dream come true, we got to see a full blown eclipse, and the millions of stars the shrouded moon had to show us. The moon was red in half, as if revolving and at the same time burning with fire in a world of its own. The sight was scintillating.

It was 7 AM in the morning and after relieving ourselves, off we went again. Getting some water from kind folk on the beach, we were to cross the last big mountain of our trek. This was our last test and test it was. We had to decide between skipping the next beach and taking a bus to Honnavar from Kumta beach. We decided on climbing the peak, as it looked no-big-deal at the first sight. We fought our way across this mountain, and almost when it beat us to a pulp, we found a clear path leading down the mountain to the next beach, called Ramanagundi beach. The song "Eye of the Tiger" from Survivor could have been dedicated to us at that point, after the brave climb down the mountain.

This is where our trek would end. We walked off the beach towards the highway and caught a bus to Udupi. It was around 15:30 hours when we reached Udupi, and we had enough time to freshen up before catching our bus back to Bangalore at 20:30 hours. Back to civilization we headed, which all of us hated, which we planned to get away from.

Our footprints anyway would have been washed away, slate clean. We left no trace of our trek, apart from sweet memories and loads of friendship.

Trek Pictures are here: http://picasaweb.google.com/amogh.r/GokarnaToHonnavaraTrek

rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!

Sat, 10 Feb 2007 14:17:39 GMT

That's how the jet engines sounded the whole day at the Air Show in Bangalore!! This is my second air show, and far better than the last one!

The Su-30 is an amazing fighter plane. Strong, sturdy and Russian made!! No wonder the IAF is so proud to show off these fighters. There were two Sukhoi's on show and both were taken out for a spin...a thrilling spin it was!!! The cobra stunt (Pugachev's cobra) was the most abused stunt this time. With almost all fighters trying it. Nobody got it better than the Sukhoi's. The US for the first time participated in the show and showed off two of it's fighters, the F-16 and the F-18 Hornet. The F-16 is Super fast!! The fastest fighter in this years air show. Almost cut the sky into two during it's amazing fly-past. The fighter goes so fast that one blink, and you will miss it fly wide in front of you!!! Looks like a silver arrow, traveling like light, leaving a puff of white smoke behind it, that fast!!! The F-18 Hornet, same as F-16, in terms of acrobatics, but looks more sturdy and heavy. The US also had one of it's transport planes on show. The C-17 its called. A huge plane, weighs around 300,000 kg, can take off at a 45 degree angle, and needs just 500 meters for a clean take off. The plane looks like a huge...huge blue whale..with wings. If you'd seen the movie 'The Aviator', the plane is the size of the 'Hercules' which Howard Hughes flies in it's climax, so huge, but beautiful at the same time. The C-17 was parked right in front of us. This plane has four huge engines, and it was thrilling to see the propeller blades turning on one by one. There was so much breeze getting pulled towards these powerful rotating blades that at one moment we forgot the hot afternoon sun!!

'Gripen' another fighter plane from Sweden, was stylish, and probably the smartest fighter aircraft I saw today!! No big deal about the looks but flies like a fighter plane that means business. Clean as that. The most awaited fighter was the Mig-35. I was lucky enough to attend the Air Show last sunday (yes, I saw it twice). The Air Show was screened only for Air Force families and one of my teammates has an officer uncle in the IAF. Cannot get better than this. The uncle is a wing-commander, and explained us how sophisticated the Mig-35 was. Incidentally, Russia is unveiling the plane in Aero India, for the first time. The fighter was flown by Pavel Vlasov, supposedly one of the best fighter pilot in the world. Apparently this guy flew the Mig-35 from Moscow to Bangalore in flat 3 hours. Yes 3 hours!!!! The Mig-35 was the best in acrobatics. The pilot does almost everything we could imagine in our wildest dreams. I just cannot find the right words to write about this plane. An engineering marvel. I hope the IAF buy out a huge squadron of Mig-35's. They are AWESOME!!

The Indian LCA (Light Combat Aircraft) too was in the show. Felt really proud to see an indigenous fighter roar in the sky. Last but not the least, the IAF's acrobatic team, the 'Suryakiran's' finished off the days show in great style. Imagine 9 planes flying in synchrony letting out National colors in their wake, looked amazing!!

Burn the Tribunal Report

Tue, 06 Feb 2007 06:54:28 GMT

Sixteen long years after the V.P Singh Government set up a useless tribunal, a 1000 page farce is what they could come out with. Awarding 192 tmc water to Tamil Nadu, leaving thousands of farmers and thousands of hectares of land around the Mysore-Mandya belt high and dry. The Congress government is dirty, licks its coalition partners all over to ensure their support. It's a prostitute, a thorn, a bane, a curse we have to live with until next elections. They have proved it before and have proved it again, and prove it loudly. It was expected that the center would play yes-yes to the Tamil Nadu government, another farce which takes pride in blackmailing the centre every now and then, playing power politics and wringing out rewards by force. The Union Water Minister, another Congress joker, was saying that the tribunal's decision is equal to a Supreme court decision, and that the states have no other option but to obey it. The fool.

The Karnataka government should not leave any stone unturned in 'fighting' this decision. Let the tribunal report burn and be gone. How much tmc is the tribunal willing to spare to quell the fire which will burn Karnataka in the next few days?

Wed, 27 Dec 2006 10:30:58 GMT

Managed to read these two books over the last month.

Tolkien's "The Hobbit" is an amazing book. A must read if you have not yet read LOTR or even read the book fully. The story is interesting, simple and frank. The characters are adorable. A must read this one.

The Michel Schumacher book would put even the most ardent Schumi fan to sleep. Some parts of the book that explain the logistics and engineering behind Formula 1 racing and parts that explain the bitter rivalry between Ferrari and the McLaren Mercedes team are worth reading. The last three World Championship critical races (Germany, Italy and Japan) are gripping and are written very well. Apart from that, James Allen repeats stuff over and over again, as if he's got nothing else to write. Overall an OK book.

Champion Racists

Tue, 07 Nov 2006 05:21:02 GMT

No doubt the kangaroo pack are a champion side. They also sledge, loath and are known to make racist remarks against teams, specially those from the sub continent . In the Champions trophy awards ceremony, Ponting and his pack showed everybody how lowly and rude they can get. Ricky Ponting is an arrogant leader, and his entire team are a bunch of sledgers, starting from the genius-acting-bowler Glen Mc Grath to the lowly Damien Martyn. The kangaroo pack will no doubt get away without even apologizing for the whole Sharad Pawar episode. [Click here for the video]

I do not understand why there is no strong response from the BCCI. BCCI has the power to control and direct what the ICC do. They are acting meek, as they always do. BCCI must make the kangaroo pack, especially the rascal Damien Martyn, apologize in person for what they did on Sunday night.

I consider this act nothing but racism. The entire kangaroo pack smell of racism and took it to another level on Sunday. They are not champion players but champion racists.

Thu, 13 Apr 2006 14:06:18 GMT

It's a sad evening for all of us. Dr.Rajkumar was buried with full state honors at the Kanteerava Studios at 5 PM this evening. Though Dr.Rajkumar's work in the form of his movies would stay on for ever, we would never get to see another glimpse of the great man. I have read lots of articles today about how much one could learn from Dr.Rajkumar's movies. I believe, there was much more to learn from his real life, than his reel life.

It's also a sad day today because of the way few sections of the crowd behaved all through the morning in the Kanteerava stadium, where Dr.Rajkumar's body had been kept and during the funeral. These people who resorted to injuring policemen and destroying public property were not fans but anti social elements. They shamed all kannadigas living in Bangalore.

I do not think anybody can emulate or come close to doing what Dr.Rajkumar's did for Kannada and the Kannada cinema for many years to come.

Wed, 12 Apr 2006 09:42:10 GMT

Dr. Rajkumar is no more. I am the among the scores of kannadigas who grew up watching his movies. The fact that Dr. Rajkumar is etched so deep in all our hearts, does make him immortal, even long after he is gone.

A Drumming God

Mon, 06 Feb 2006 05:26:48 GMT

I got to see probably my most memorable musical performance ever last saturday evening. I had watched Pink Floyd perform live here a few years back, and thought I would never ever be able to watch a better live show again. Sivamani's performance at IIMB's UNMAAD is probably something I will not forget for many years to come. The show started with a performance by the Pakistani rock group Jal. Their guitarist and drummer are extremely good, while their songs especially are ordinary. They do not come even close to the other Pakistani band, Strings. Jal performed for about one and a half hours to be followed by a performance from Sivamani. I had heard a lot about this drumming maestro, but got to watch him perform live only this saturday. This man started drumming at the age of 7! That clearly showed in his control at the drums, not only drums but the wide array of musical instruments he could handle. The drum set itself covered a wide enough area, that Sivamani had to move around from one instrument to another while performing!!

Sivamani's performance started off with a light musical from Osho played in the background. He was just warming up! The music to follow was nothing ordinary, but extraordinary and out of this world.The show ended with a combined performance from Jal and Sivamani. Jal's guitarists and the drummer just couldn't keep up with Sivamani's pace at the drums and seemed tired and willing to give up.

If Jimi Hendrix was a guitar God, I watched a drumming God perform on saturday...

Fri, 03 Feb 2006 06:05:28 GMT

Watched the movie Rang De Basanti last Friday. Lot of people have rated this movie ten on ten and almost all newspapers have given it five stars. The movie is just a hype and does not give out the strong message that everybody thinks it does. Five friends go ahead and kill the defence minister whom they think is responsible for their friends death, and when the minister is declared a martyr, they decide to go on AIR and take responsibility for the ministers murder, and also get themselves killed in the end. And finally a bunch of college going kids are interviewed in the end, who say they want corruption to be rooted out from this country and that the five heroes death would not go unpaid for! WHAT CRAP! The movie makes use of some great music from AR Rehman and powerful scenes from India's independence struggle to carry forward the audience in believing that there is a message, when there is none. A movie like Lagaan which I feel had a strong message, put across in a plain, simple and innocent way.

All this hype and hula-hu about doing something for the country is momentary and would vanish after a few weeks after people go in watch another movie with another strong message

Sending back the Clémenceau!

Tue, 24 Jan 2006 05:39:05 GMT

If you think this would help:

https://ctk.greenpeace.org/gp-en/ctk-letters/get-info?letter_id=2007657