Bharat's Personal Blog

It's Hot In Here...

2010-05-29T02:25:00.000-07:00

Here's two tales of how hot, sunny and bright it is in the Middle East which I'm experiencing for the first time..

1) Tale of the Faulty Tap:

My loo has got this amazing, sleek, beautiful Grohe Tap which mixes hot water and cold water to get that perfect temperature. Hot to the left and Cold to the right. I wanted totally cold water and I turned the knob to the right. The water started turning cold but then in

a few seconds it started getting hotter and hotter. At first I thought it was an aberration and continued to brush my teeth.. After some time the water became burning hot and I had to shut the tap. At first I thought there was some problem with the labeling on the tap and hot water might be to the right. Then while walking out I notice that the water heater was off... That made me realize how hot it is outside. Now you know why there are not many profit making water heater companies in the gulf :)

2) It's so bright let there be no light!

As a usual practice I wash my clothes on weekends and put them on the clothes line on the terrace. Whats amazing here is that it just takes 30 minutes for the clothes to dry off here:) (One thing I don't like in Namma Bangy.. It takes the whole day) So it's 30 min since I put the clothes up and I decide it's time. I go up, open the door and wham.. It's bright and hoooot..It's like I suddenly walked into the sun. I gather courage to walk out, take out the clothes and run back in and by this time my eyes have taken a field trip. I walk in and it's absolutely pitch dark. I'm sure you guys know about that small amount of time our eyes take to adjust to ambient lighting, Here it's on a totally new level. It was so dark as if there was a power cut at home. It was so dark, Erebos would be proud..

Hence I decided to do two things to avoid these unpleasant events..have a splendid lunch made by Ahmed Bhai.. Egg Curry, Aloo Muter & Dal Tadka and Cozy up into my bed and watch George Clooney in his critically acclaimed 'Up In the Air' both in the cool and calm environs of our home. Thank you god for letting man invent Central Air Conditioning.

Ps. Plus I was so jobless, I decided i'll write this :)

Hope...

2010-05-14T11:48:00.000-07:00

I've been quizzed heavily on what I've been hoping for and why I was propagating 'Hope' on all possible broadcast modes. Well.. the answer is this was the best word that described my thoughts over the past couple of weeks. This was the word that began and ended most of my conversations and statements. Here's the low-down.

I had taken a long walk today to think of what would be the best start to this piece of literature. Another reason for the walk was I had to go for a haircut as well but yeah, coming back to the topic. It struck me that a man's story had to be told as part of this conversation and it was apt to start with it. Mr. SZ, an acquaintance of mine had moved to Abu Dhabi 11 years back. He moved from a place we have heard about for all the wrong reasons.. Kashmir. He moved with his wife and their 2 year old daughter at the time of the Kargil Conflict, increasing instances of bomb blasts and violence. He shares over a cup of Sulaimani (Black Tea in the Gulf) that his initial plan was to stay for a couple of years till the war had ended and the violence reduced. He's currently well off, earns well as a store manager at Grand Stores (Famous in Abu Dhabi), daughter doing good in studies. The 'but' in his life now is that it is not home. He hopes that someday he will be able to go back to his home and enjoy the bliss that was Kashmir. He also hopes that Kashmir can once again become the heaven it was, with several Shammi Kapoors singing for Sharmila Tagores on the Dal Lake..

What got me thinking was how much in hope we humans live in.. We hope for everything to happen and also the way we want it to happen. Hope is what drives us to whatever we do. Hope makes us buy lottery tickets, hope makes us look at our exam results, hope makes us watch India play in an ICC tournament, hope makes us search for the love of our life, hope makes us take that extra step and achieve our goals and get what we want from life. Without hope there is no action.

A friend rightly said 'Hope never gives you results boss!!!'. I agree.. but I say without hope we don't even start working towards the result we want. Ernst Bloch said ''Hope' is the thing with feathers, that perches in the soul'. According to me that line describes hope the best. Eventually what you want may not happen, but that small bird has got us to where we are today and is putting us in the path where we want to reach tomorrow. Its up to us to work towards achieving that result.

Excerpt from Reggae artist Shaggy's song 'Hope':

In this life you could lead if you only believe
And in order to achieve what you need
You can never give up
You can never give up

And this hope, That keeps me holding on
On and on
And this hope, That makes me carry on
On and on

Respect!!!

Johann Hari's description of the Dark Side of Dubai shows the volatile and unreal world we are living in and how things can change from splendid and spectacular to disastrous and disgraceful within the blink of the eye. Let's make use if this hope inside us and live a fulfilling life. A life with no regrets, a life where we achieve and relish whatever we've hoped for. It may not happen, but it's worth the effort isn't it??

Oh is that a Ferrari F430 that whizzed past?? I 'hope' to drive that someday!!!

Welcome To Everything...

2010-03-27T07:36:00.000-07:00

The sheer massiveness of The Dubai Mall baffled my every sense of measurement. The numbers associated to this mall are mind boggling. Here's my brief travelogue on the first mall I became a fan of.

The ride in the jam packed metro and then by bus to the mall was an experience in itself. I still rate Singapore's public transit the best i've seen but more of that in person. I reached the mall at 1 expecting a 2 hour shopping bonanza (I'm not much of a shopper anyway) after which I was to get a ride back to sober and soft Abu Dhabi. Since I was short of cash, my priority was to make my purse a li'l heavier. I found a Digital Touch Screen Display Solution that was giving information to find the places of your choice. Being a technology freak I decided to give it a try. Who knew that this wonderful device was going to be a life saver and the best friend one could have in this mall.

In a jiffy the map showed me the way to an Emirates NBD ATM. Something interesting I noticed was that almost every bank in the country was represented in the mall. Wow! A Dubai Mall guidebook was available too with a map and list of shops. I picked it up. So I was making way to the ATM which the Map showed was on the other end of the floor. What the map failed to convey was the distance. I walked for nearly 10 min and no sign of the ATM. Another 5 min and there was my first milestone. I must have already passed through 200 shops. Just at this time I started to even comprehend the size of this mall. More was in store.

The electronics stores took me 2 hours to complete. Books and Stationery (5 Stores only) took me another 2. A burrito n some nachos and I was recharged. Some more shopping for my loved ones and I manage to cover about 1/3rd of the mall. I might have taken about 12 hours to cover the number of apparel stores. During this time I might have used the help desk's services about 10 times and the way finders about 20 times just to make sure I was on the right track. I must have spent a couple of minutes in between optimizing my walking directions to reduce the distance and cut down on the time. By this time the ordeal had become a fun ride. The amazement on how this mall was possible was enough to drive me through.

The aquarium, the indoor theme parks and a 22-screen multiplex were a few of the several attractions in the mall.

Locating where the car was parked was an ordeal in itself. We should consider ourselves lucky to have found the car purely relying on intuition and absolutely no logic. Obviously my extreme specialization in using logic to arrive at conclusions and statements was of no use here as I didn't know where the car was anyway.

Finally we drive out of the mall at 6.30PM. I had never imagined I could survive more than 6 hours in a mall.. I did it!!! Kudos to The Dubai Mall which lives by its tagline 'Welcome to Everything!!!'

A Lot Can Happen Over Turkish Coffee Too!

2009-12-12T05:05:00.000-08:00

Sitting with one of my clients waiting for our engineer to complete his assessment, we were joined by this gorgeous lady who had her purse with her and by the look of it was ready to leave for the weekend.

We were talking about technology and how systems need to be constantly changed and Ms. gorgeous decided to join us. My client who was from Syria assumed that the conversation would go on for some time and asked me if he could interest me in some coffee or tea. I asked him to get me what's served best in his office. He immediately summoned the office boy and requested for 3 Turkish. I was still in doubt whether I would be having coffee or tea as my drink. While the 3 Turkish were on their way, Ms. Gorgeous decided to ask me about India, about its people and how India is managing to get into prominence. I conjured up some courage and asked her about her roots and was surprised to know she was a local. Yes from Abu Dhabi, UAE. I expressed my surprise as to how I've not met any Emirati until that day, which resulted in a bright smile.

Ms. Gorgeous who was of course burqa clad with her face visible shared the good things she had heard about the Taj Mahal and showed interest in visiting Bombay and Agra. Mr. Syria shared his knowledge on the Indo-Pak issues and how it is ruining some families at the border. Meanwhile our Turkish Coffee arrived and was probably the coarsest coffee i've ever had. Anyway moving on..

When I asked her about UAE and it's people, she gave me the insider view that baffled me. She has immense passion to explore, travel places and get the best out of life but protocol dictates her not to. I can't make public most of the things she shared but I guess my intelligent readers can figure out some of those. Our conversation revolved around Jeans, Dancing, Nightlife, USA and Switzerland. She shares that she has traveled only to Saudi Arabia, Egypt and frequent trips to Dubai and wishes to go to non Arabic countries as well.

I realized what people here meant by 'You can be filthy rich, have all that money can buy, but it doesn't result in satisfaction and true freedom' Now I get what 'Priceless' Means.

Freedom In UAE

2009-12-04T05:47:00.000-08:00

What happens when one who has been bound by rules beyond the realm of imagination experiences a day on which most of those rules are lifted for a brief period of time on a small stretch of land. I got a first hand experience of how people regardless of religion, color, nationality or sex congregated to watch Abu Dhabi's attempt to get into the record books on UAE's national day.

It is said that the worlds tallest, longest, fastest, widest and largest anything can be found in Dubai; the financial hub of the Middle East but with the recent economic conditions not favoring Dubai's insanely rapid growth, Abu Dhabi is emerging as the new hub of the Middle East, coming out of it's smaller in size counterpart's shadow.

The celebration on UAE day was testament to the changing trends with a spectacular fireworks display watched with awe by more than fifty thousand people from all walks of life. People threw caution to the wind by occupying the whole of Corniche Street, jaywalking right across the road (Which would otherwise attract a fine of AED 200), camping out on the lawns on the side of the road for the show and families coming out to celebrate the joy of a successful nation. I have never seen sunroofs on cars being used to this extent. Any car on the road that had a sunroof (Practically most of them had one) had people blaring their claxons and waving the national flag. I had also never seen such fervent paintings of National flags and leaders on cars. Taxis refused to take us to Corniche as they knew that they would get stuck in the mayhem. A one hour bus ride in probably the most advanced city bus I've seen got us 3 km short of the place. The bus couldn't move further due to the ridiculous jam in front. So we decided to take a hike to watch the display.

The show lived up to the expectations. 45 minutes of grand amazement. The variety and color that was on offer was out of this world. The look on the kids around me was something i'm not forgetting. The joy in their eyes can't be described in words.

Every possible rule was broken that day. The cops turning a blind eye to the defaulters was a norm. I won't be able to forget the scene where a caucasian lady was dancing on the lawn of the road divider listening to an arabic song in the car next to her which was stuck in the massive traffic snarl.

On the whole for me, it was an experience like never before where rules took a back foot and each and every individual on Corniche that day was out to celebrate the phenomenon that is UAE.

TGIT

2009-11-19T07:55:00.000-08:00

Well, so my first blog post from a phoren land. I am told quite a few of you have been waiting for this. I didn't know there were actually quite a few who would be reading this.

Ok so it's been nearly a week in Abu Dhabi. Hoppin within the Middle East with different time zones had made my sense of time a li'l weak. It's getting better as I speak. I'm getting adjusted to the weather which is pretty much like Hyderabad weather in this season. (Bangalore wins the weather war though.. hands down!!!) The food's been decent too due to exploits of Ahmed bhai and Pavan gaaru and our friends at Food City, the neighborhood restaurant. (Their PBM - Paneer Butter Masala exceeded my expectations)

The actual city is pretty small. It's about 10km breadth wise and 15 km lengthwise but is now expanding to become a major metropolis and a hub for tourism and trade. Traffic inside the city is heavy (almost as much as Bangalore) but it's smooth roads, and well-mannered drivers ensures the driving experience is not life-threatening and harrowing as in Namma Bengaluru.

Everything here is a little expensive than in India.. (Rate list in my next post) except Soda cans (1 Dirham only = 13 Indian Rupees) but everything gets compensated by the price of petrol.

Something real fun I wanted to share with everyone was how globalized if not Asianized this place is. I had Ragda Pattice yesterday, in the evening. It was delicious and almost close to the Ragda Pattice in Karthik's Mithai Shop, Indiranagar (Which reminds me I have promised some people that I would take them there) This was in a restaurant called Bhavana's on Hamdan Street. Costs 5 Dirhams (65 Indian Rupees). Its a Gujarati restaurant and hence was a little sweet. Just like most of Bangalore restaurants on weekends, the place was crowed and we had to share the table with a British and a Sikh. I went there with my colleague from Ahmedabad who's been here for a couple of months. As I'm not yet privileged to drive a car, we had to catch a taxi.
Our taxi driver while going was from Peshawar, Pakistan and while coming back was a Sri Lankan from Kandy. We had to ask an Egyptian for directions to the Gujarati restaurant who was more than willing to accompany us till the place. (I wonder why). The chaats were served by a Lebanese (Atleast he looked like one was what my colleague told me) while the cashier looked like was from Philipines. Surprisingly after people from the Indian Subcontinent, the next highest expats in the UAE are from Philippines. No wonder Etihad (Abu Dhabi), Emirates (Dubai) and Gulf Air (Bahrain) fly twice a day to Manila.

I have a trip planned to the Yas Island next week. Hope to see Ferrari World and the wonderful Yas Hotel (of course the Yas Marina Circuit). More soon..

PS. To give clarity on the Title.. TGI Friday's must be called TGI Thursday's in Abu Dhabi. Ask me why...

Dance Dance Revolution

2009-10-20T04:46:00.000-07:00

DDR
-Written by Abhinav Kashyap, Edited by Bharat Choragudi

Okay, before I forget, I think its best to give the credit due to the others who’ve had a major part to play in this one of a kind revolution. Yes unselfish as I am, I think it’s best to point out that there were two co-conspirators with me in the monumental movement that will needless to say sweep the nation maybe even the globe. Further I suspect when man perfects the warp drive and makes contact with the myriad of intelligent species that thrive in the many realms of the universe, the said revolution will conquer the new worlds seamlessly.
Ah there I go shooting off on a tangent right into space; I hope you understand I did not want to make the mistake of underemphasizing the importance of such a revolution. So before I get lost into the abyss of space again, I would give 50% credit to Bharat Choragudi. The remaining credit is shared between me, Vodka and tequila in ratios that I’m unable to discern with certainty.

Those of you that are familiar with the works of one Mr. R. Peters would by now having seen the title jump to the conclusion that the chinks’ve finally run amok with their obsessions and have now converted me into one of them. Don’t worry; yours truly does not have yellow fever.

I was recently on a very serious super official business meet. And if any of you have ever been on one of these, then you know that there generally is that pain in the ass dance party to be put up with; and unless you have the faithful companionship of Messrs Vodka and tequila you know that you don’t know what the hell you’re supposed to be doing there in the middle of people busy in the search of their marbles [ladies you’re exempt from this bit (not just because of the marbles metaphor)]. So what do you do in such situations? How do you come out of it looking respectable without being aloof and distant from the dance floor?

Well that’s what Bharat, Vodka, Tequila and I have solved. By translating a bunch of complex moves to easy actions followed by most in a normal workaday life, we can help you get on that dance floor and dazzle one and all. Well at least you won’t look like a complete clot. This really is a revolution I tell you, proof of this is the fact that Bharat and me ended up spending the whole evening not just dancing with girls (pretty to a degree), but even teaching them how to dance. Now all of my 2.5 avid readers know that on the dance floor I’m probably the most ungainly thing (except of course the fat, 40+, drunk lady); and in an exceptionally charitable mood I must say that Bharat would qualify just short of an eyesore. I realize as I write this that it probably isn’t the most positive way to qualify the founders of the DDR, so I’m going to rephrase that –

I am the second best of the ungainly things on an average dance floor (beaten by a whisker by the old, fat, drunk lady)

Bharat is the best thing on a dance floor that’s not an eyesore.

P.S. – charity is a good institution to be a part of, you apparently get tax relief

So as I was saying, there’s finally a way to score (or at least not humiliate yourself) on the dance floor, and we’re bringing it to you soon. As of now the members who are the brainchild of this revolution are working on getting some supermodels to take part in our video tutorials which would help you learn easily. So if you’re a supermodel and are reading this, what are you waiting for, send me a few of your profile pics and your phone number (on a more charitable note – get a life); this is your one chance to be part of something much larger then you could ever imagine. Please give us some time to get back to you as it takes us some time to sort through the mountains of applicants.

We’ve already received a couple of offers from people who wish to take a large chunk of credit for promoting the obviously self-sustaining revolution. We are yet to decide on whether we should hire them when we already have ‘we’ll work for no cost’ Samaritans.

As for the rest of you who would have to wait for the video tutorials to come out and take the globe over, I’ll leave you with a few suggestions of what do to if you find yourself on a dance floor without the slightest of where you’re supposed to look for your marbles –

1) Truck driver – this is one of the classics. Pretend to be a truck driver steering his huge steering. If you do it right, this is generally a safe move to stick to.

2) Chakki Piecing – a move immortalized by veeru in the movie sholay. Again this is a safe move that anybody with a little practice can pull off on a dance floor without looking like a klutz

3) Gooaalllll – pretend to be one of those footballers who has just scored a goal and is doing one of those celebrations where he pretends he’s flying. (actually you could just pretend to be a plane that’s flying). This move if done slow enough works well when typical Punjabi songs are playing. Actually if you pay attention to the antics displayed by footballers after having scored, you could easily load up your Arsenal with more moves.

4) Point to the stars – again one of the classic I’m a paralytic guy who cant dance moves. It’s the predecessor to the 5) fly the kite move.

There are like a gazillion more moves like that, I’m just a little too lazy to type all right now, I’ll furbish you with more moves from time to time. The video tutorials however might come on a insignificant monetary investment I’m afraid, depends on how hot our supermodel is.

Thoughts of the Solitary

2009-09-20T04:13:00.000-07:00

(This piece is not the exact turn of events but it's pretty much what happened!!)

Ok so this weekend was supposed to be fun. My parents were back from their trip and I was looking forward to spend a weekend with them after quite a while. Unfortunately my grand uncle passed away! As you all know getting leave is next to impossible these days, so I had to stay back while my parents went for the last rites.

As I'm the innovative thinker I thought I could put these two days to some use and decided to go for the World MBA Tour at Taj Residency even though I was not planning to apply anytime soon. As I didn't want to go alone I found a colleague who was interested in the same and I thought to myself 'Right, so I won't be alone this weekend!' Also a friend of mine asked me to meet up to discuss some investment opportunities. Since is was a topic that I was interested in as well, I readily agreed to meet up on Saturday evening. Well Saturday was packed, great going I said. Since I was to attend the session at the Taj on Sunday and meet a friend at the Planetarium the outlook for the weekend changed back to 'Fun'.

To my luck , or should I say the lack of it, my colleague got stuck in a meeting with the client (who's goes for meetings on Saturday?? Dude get a life!!) and thereby I had to go for the event alone. Again 5 hours of no company. I come back home and call my friend to find out where we were going to meet. Surprisingly his phone was switched off and multiple attempts spread over an hour went to no avail. So I slept at 8PM (Yes!!!! believe it.. 8PM on a Saturday evening.. You must be laughing your guts out..)

I wake up and look at the clock. I rechecked to see if the time was actually 4AM. I decided I can do something useful and washed clothes (Washing machine and dryer of course... ). Oh I forgot to add, A friend of mine called to say that she would be able to join me for the MBA sessions on Sunday last evening so I thought to myself 'Oh.. so I have some company for the session on Sunday'. So just when I was about to leave I message this lady asking whether she was running on time. She replies saying she was at a friend's place all night and wouldn't be able to make it for the sessions. 4th cancellation...

After the sessions, I was on my way to the planetarium when I get the dreaded message.. 'Stuck at some other place...Can't make it today...Some other time sorry' and I go 'Wow! This is not happening!'

So now I'm back home trying to watch something sensible on TV but failing miserably at it and thinking 'Well... there are some weekends that end up like this.. so make sure you have back up plans when you are all alone!" So here's Bharat's Guide on what to do when you are alone at home and such unforseen situations come up:

1) Always have some movies on your comp which you have never seen.
2) Keep your room dirty so that you can kill time cleaning a part of it if not the whole room.
3) Have enough balance on your phone so that you can call someone.
4) If you are a book person (unlike me), then you dont have a problem.
5) Open a facebook account. Do some 'Senseless Timepass'.
6) Sleep! Best way to kill boredom

I would like you guys to add to the list and tell me how you guys kill solitude.

Tomorrow is one of those few Mondays i'm actually looking forward to..

Btw Eid Mubarak!!

Who Isn't Weird...??

2009-07-28T09:22:00.000-07:00

Ok, let me ask you a simple question.. think about it and answer with utmost integrity.. if not to me, to yourself... of all the people whom you have met over the years, what's the percentage of people do you think are/were weird?

Before we proceed further...what is the exact definition of Weird?

Here are a few:
1. involving or suggesting the supernatural; unearthly or uncanny: e.g. a weird sound; weird lights.

Supernatural?? nah.. Unearthly?? sometimes...mostly uncanny right? Rahul Dravid top scoring for RCB in the IPL match against KKR, weird!! Iron Maiden's next album being POP.. outright weird..

2. fantastic; bizarre: e.g. a weird getup.

Fantastic can mean weird? Weird!! Bizarre? acceptable...
Is there a person in this world who doesn't have any of the aformentioned adjectives attached to them, isn't there anything uncanny about each one of us? Isn't there something bizarre about you and me? Each one of us is unique, having our own ideals, our own thought process, goals and aspirations, way of being, style and behavior. So essentially aren't each one of us weird to the other? In effect.. who isn't weird?

There are different kinds of people isn't it? Some of them are happy.. all the time, some are just sad and wonder where their life is going; some dynamic, ready to accept any responsibility, any work they are given, some are resigned and have no zeal, no enthusiasm; some who think life's a gift and make the most of it; some who think they're a victim of circumstance and finally there are some who are really not bothered, have never thought about it cuz they are too busy living life in the present. So who's weird and who isn't? Who decides this? How can one say that this is the way one should live life and that is 'not weird'?

So here's the bottomline... We're all weird in our very special way, let's accept people with the weirdness wired in them.

Life Is Roller Coaster....

2009-07-12T11:09:00.000-07:00

Ok, before you start jumping.. due credit goes to Ronan Keating for the title. So can I start now?

I just love Roller Coasters! The thrill, fear, anxiety and adrenaline is unmatched. The anticipation with which I wait in the queue in the hot sun get in and once I'm in my seat, I wonder why I got into this in the first place. Totally justified isn't it?

The buzzer sounds and off we go..

The Climb:

The toughest part. The trolleys need that extra support to get to the top.. Analogous to the time we get to our feet, studying hard to get our degrees, getting that extra push from friends and family and getting ready to face the unknown future which you could see was right there after that bend.

The silence on the top is mind numbing, you can hear the birds chirping, the faint music from the ground and then its a rush.. rush of sound, the screams, the vibrations, the speed, its chaotic all through.. just like life..

The Journey:

I was climbing up to the top, gathering all the energy I can and storing it to expend it right throughout the journey. If you got to maintain the intensity of the journey, there have to be ups and downs, rise and falls. A ride can't be static and sedate. These are things a roller coaster ride promises, bucket loads of 'em. And this brings me to the crux of the matter.

I've always wanted a life that would be smooth and peaceful, who doesn't? A life without hiccups, But my 1 year of life on the non-ascending part of the roller coaster has made me realise that although a smooth ride is possible, I wouldn't enjoy it.

I want my life to be the scariest roller coaster ride ever. The ride that can teach me courage and excitement, that can teach me how to tackle fear, that can give me determination to hang on and above all get ready for the next big bump cuz after the bump is bliss, satisfaction and the sense of accomplishment.

You can say I've passed the point of no return. I can't just raise my hands and say 'Guys I've had enough, I want to get off', There is no STOP button. All I can do is sit back, relax, tighten my seat belt and make the best of the amazing ride I'm gonna have. It's only at the end of the ride that you can say 'What a ride I've had!'. It's then when you look back and wonder how you could get through such an awesome ride.

Life is a roller coaster... We just gotta ride it!!!

Andhra Unseen!!

2009-04-18T09:25:00.000-07:00

Here I am watching Royal Challengers Bangalore battle it out against the Chennai Super Kings. The story is pretty much the same as last year. Hoping RCB reaches a 100. Murali's stamping his authority all over. He's a genius. So to kill boredom I summed up some energy to blog on my recent trip to coastal Andhra Prdesh to attend the engagement ceremony of my colleague from office and how amazed I was with the scene there. So here goes...

After my short 1 week trip to Gurgaon on official duty, I took an Air India flight to Hyderabad. I knew this flight had inflight entertainment so I decided to test it our and compare with the other IFEs I had experienced. I found the system pretty average with 1 English & 1 Hindi Movie (Yuvvraaj) option and the Helen Hunt starer "Mad About You" and the classic "I Dream Of Jeanie" (Wow I get to see this after a decade) in the TV section. Even the music selection was just above par. Breakfast was decent, and landed in Hyderabad right on time at 8.40AM.

Recently I read that the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, Hyderbad was voted the 2nd best airport in the world. I agree that the terminal looks great, loads of space but to catch a connecting flight to Rajahmundry I need to go out of the Airport all the way till the Taxi stand and back up to the departures. For an airport to be ranked that high, I atleast expect a transit corridor. C'mon our Bangalore Airport has it.

Yes, you read it right, Rajahmundry has an airport. Jet & Kingfisher fly to Rajahmundry daily in their ATR-72 turbo props. So I checked in, passes through the security check and reached the waiting area. Something that amazed me was the sheer number of foreigners waiting to catch the flight. Of the 40 odd passengers, more than 20 of them were from another nation. I was extremely inquizitive to find out why.

I boarded the flight and by the wonder of probability the guy sitting next to me was not Indian.
We were served Idli's coated with a layer of Chutney Pudi with a choice of either Veg Stew or Chicken Stew as the accompaniment. My neighbour asked the Steward if the food was going to be spicy. He was unsure and said "A li'l!". Our man tries a bite and immediately as if he just bit into a mexican chili of a million on the Scoville Hotness Scale, throws the cutlery into the tray and gives up.

So I thought it would be a nice time to start up a conversation and I exclaim "So, you found it spicy eh?". A vigourous nod is what I got. He asked me if I was from Rajahmundry and I was glad he knew Bangalore. When asked where he was from. He replied "Georgia, Not the one in the US". I guess he would have got a lot of "Aaah, Atlanta-Georgia" or "Aaah, Coke-Georgia". I promptly displayed my expertise in geography and said "Eastern Europe-Georgia" and "Euro Football-Georgia". He was impressed (He ought to be :)) and our conversation touched several topics including the sorry state of Indian Football, Rules of Cricket, Hollywood, Aishwarya Rai, Chennai and finally the question I was waiting for.. "What brings you to Rajahmundry?" Ok the answer a li'l later.

Rajahmundry airport is a fairy tale, an image that cannot be forgotten. The airport consisted of this really small runway confined in a dense forest with a small 10' X 10' room where the luggage could be collected. Yeah there was 1 guard from the CISF as well. FYI the temperature was about 36 deg C.

There were exactly 2 auto-rickshaws and about 10 Toyota Innovas for all the foreigners. So i get the first rickshaw and proceed to Kotipalli Bus Stand, the Majestic of Rajahmundry. On the way I started conversing with Jaggaiah, the driver and he shared his intent of purchasing the Tata Nano. Discussions on whether we should vote for Prajarajyam Party (Chiranjeevi's Political Party) and the revolution that are ATMs were the highlight. I was totally awed by the respect and humility of the people in the city. The respect one gives you; age no bar, not just in the words but also in their deeds was heart-touching. The rickshaw driver took special care to help me out with my luggage, find an ATM, and locate my friends was worth the money paid for the rick.

After a sumptous meal at an Udipi Hotel (Yes.. Udipi!!!) we went to the Cotton Barrage which was the first Dam on river Godavari built by Sir Arthur Cotton. A visit to the museum follwed and we explored how the dam was made at those times.

On our way back we spent some time on a sand carrier boat in the river touching upon a lot of topics in conversation with the boat's lead labourman. Another cruise on the river, back to the room, a light dinner and we awaited our drive to the Engagement venue, a small town called Samarlakota. The joy of a traffic free, calm and quiet day is pretty rare for a Bangalorean but in Rajahmundry, all this is available...and in bucket loads.

A very early wake up call and we were on our 1 hour drive to Samarlakota. The engagement was extreme fun, I got to see how a Coastal Andhra (Godavari Distt. style) engagement was. (I had seen them in the movies till now) and awesome food to top it all. We were so involved with the festivities and the lunch that we realized that our train back to Bangalore was in 5 min. With the railway station 2 min away, we gathered our bags and sprinted down the road to reach the platform seconds before the train arrived.. Phew!!!

The Howrah-Yeswantapur Express truly is the lifeline of coastal Andhra. It traverses through every major town on the coast right down until Nellore and then to the holy Tirupati eventually winding up at Yeshwantapur. The sights and sounds one gets to see throughout the train especially for a telugite like me and that too after a 8 years was a trip down memory lane. The streets of Bejawada (Vijayawada now), Prakasam Barrage, the Tenali railway station, Eluru's College streets, Basara, the beautiful Nellore, the whole journey was remeniscent of the 15yr old Bharat Choragudi travelling exploring the streets of coastal andhra.

Well back in KR Puram the next day and you are swarmed with Rickshaw guys commanding a premium of 30 bucks citing traffic as the reason at 7AM in the morning. I missed Jaggaiah!!!

Ps. I'm sure you guys are waiting for the answer to the "What brings you to Rajahmundry?" question. Well they are employees of ONGC. They're doing research and exploration in the Godavari Delta and thus the rush!!! Interesting isn't it?

College Website: First View Reactions

2009-03-25T11:55:00.000-07:00

Here is Junta reaction I captured when they saw the new and improved college website. The names have been changed to protect their identity :)

1) Speedracer:

Me: www.collegewebsite.ac.in
k looks wise
saw? how it is?
Speedracer: impressive
Me: k now see www.purdue.edu
Speedracer: dont u compare
i have seen that b4!
Me: see da
again
Speedracer: oh oh!
MF!
waaw!

2) Badges:

Badges: yeah
who designed it
any idea?
Me: u liked it?
Badges: well u want to know the answer for that?
i didn't like it da.. looks decent.. but too much he has used
is that you?
Me: www.purdue.edu
Badges: :P
Me: no man
check purdue's website
Badges: thuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu
noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
i can't tolerate thissssss
!!!!!!!!!!

3) Dark Artist:

Me: u saw the site?
liked it?
Dark Artist: nothing great if u ask me
Me: k.. now see www.purdue.edu
Dark Artist: HOLY SHIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
they cant even do a good copy job... the title selection is off.
damn it dude.. what a cheap copy...

4) GyaanGuru:

GyaanGuru: now that is ripping

5) SuperSinger:

SuperSinger: yeah yeah.. that was in a pathetic condition..
this seems to be modified in an altogether newer way..
its cool..
me: yes
finalllly
:)
SuperSinger: :)
but the girls on the web page are for sure not from bms..
ther's the error..
also some typo errors here and there..
Me: now see www.purdue.edu
SuperSinger: by the way, who's maintaining it? i mean which team?
oh my god..
exactly the same design..
how did u know that dude?
Me: heheh

Hope you had fun reading through this one.

Ps. No offence intended.

The Closest I Got To Flying The Real Thing

2009-03-21T07:32:00.000-07:00

Human Flight has been a fascination for me right since childhood. To say 'I love aviation' would be an understatement. It's a technological marvel that these Iron Birds pierce through the skies with such panache, flying at speeds that defy sound and carry more than 5 Million passengers each day. Yes, military aircraft do amaze me; the cutting-edge technology, the fortune spent by corporations in developing them and by countries in buying them and the stuff these things can do in the sky is truly a miracle, but my concentration lies in civil aviation. The very fact that this is why the airplane was invented justifies my preference for civil aviation.

My dream of becoming a pilot still exists, maybe someday I will fly a plane but I got pretty close to it recently when I flew a Boeing 737 Full Flight Level-D Simulator. (The Closest One To Real Flying, this is used by already-experienced pilots to train from one type of aircraft to another with similar characteristics. A pilot can train on this type of simulator and fly the real aircraft with people in the plane) Here's the Captain's log:

Chatrapati Shivaji International Airport, Mumbai, India (That's the location map loaded in the simulator's computer. Yes it simulates the airports accurately as well)

4:00PM: At the Airport gate for ATC (Air Traffic Control) Clearance. The plane can't move out of the gate without the ATC's permission. 4:05PM: Asked to taxi to Runway for takeoff. Did a few turns and then was placed directly at the runway 27. (That's the advantage of Simulators.. You can skip the boring parts of the flight) 27 indicates the direction of take off (270 deg./West)
4:10PM: The Take-off: It was an awesome experience. Pushed the throttle all in and the plane started rolling, (atleast I felt so) the sound, the visuals, the displays all responding exactly the way it happens in the actual airplane. It was the work of 4 hydraulic pumps which produced the feeling of motion.
4:15PM: The Sight: Mumbai couldn't be more realistic, the skyscrappers, the roads, the beaches, all visible at a glance. My trainer paused the flight for us to take a good look at Mumbai by day and then with the flick of a button by night, the traffic, the lights, a breathtaking view.
4:25PM: We bank to the left and start flying south and after a few minutes another left and thus fly east for a sortie. Meanwhile we decide to test the TCAS (Traffic Collision Avoidance System) which informs the pilot (That's me) of any plane that's approaching us and alerts the pilot to take evasive action. (Yes, we just missed a Jet Airways airplane by a whisker)
4:45PM: Escaping the other boring part of the flight - the Cruise - we align ourselves to land back at Mumbai. My trainer decided to use Auto Pilot for the first landing. We intercepted the Localiser and the plane decided to land the plane on its own. All I had to do was sit back and enjoy the view as the plane as if it came alive landed at Mumbai with pin point precision while I applied the brakes to bring the plane to a halt.
5:00PM: My trainer then decides, I was ready for a manual landing. I was confident I would be able to land the plane in one piece, but wasn't sure if i would be able land it on the runway. It turns out all I had to do was give small variations to the direction and i'm all set to land. Adjusting the glide slope to control the rate of descent, and ensuring the heading was maintained were the two main things I had to do. My first landing although with in a loud THUD (My passengers would have skipped a heartbeat) during touchdown, was on the runway and I managed to stop the plane on the runway safely. It was time for round 2
5:10PM: Rounds 2 & 3 were with Thuds but not as scary as the first one, again managing to land it on the runway and stopping it too.
5:30PM: Night landings they say can be tricky but with 3 successful landings, I was confident I could pull it off. Surprisingly with no thuds, I managed a decent landing which the likes of Vijay Mallya & Naresh Goyal would be happy with.
5:45PM: "Last attempt!" said my trainer as we were running short of time and I give it all. This time, A 10 Point landing and my trainer in awe. He was so impressed with my efforts that he said I was ready to land the real thing. Well that's a start eh?
6:00PM: I walk out of the Simulation Center with a sense of accomplishment that I not only managed to fly the plane, I also land it with ease (After 2 tries ofcourse), a sense of achievement that I flew a Level-D simulator and the trainer was impressed.

I walked out delighted and hopeful guy that some day, I'll be able to fly a plane and a confident person that i'll do a good job at it too.

So the next time you're flying with me and in the event that something happens to the pilots, you know who can bring the plane back to the ground... safely!

This is Capt. Bharat Choragudi signing off. Over & Out!

Satyameva Jayate!

2009-01-07T20:11:00.001-08:00

I'm confident everyone was waiting for this one!

The word "Satyam" which is embedded in Indian culture from time immemorial; through the epics, scriptures, movies (Yes, Satyam, Shivam...) and what not has recently got tarnished with the now very widely known "Satyam Scandal".

The way we look at the word has changed now. When I said "Satyam", what was the first thought that came into your mind? Yes, its the same for the most of us; Mr. Raju, thank you for that.

The first point to ponder on: Is land that important an entity that one could stoop to such levels and play with the livelihoods of 53,000 people. (Ok, I correct myself - 40,000, Happy!!) All the money siphoned (well, most of it) went into buying land and thus the rise of Maytas (Smart, I Say!!). Then why name it Maytas, dufus, why be in the board of Maytas too and give proof to the world that there's something wrong? His logic fails to impress me (Ofcourse, I ain't as smart as Mr. Ramu)

Maytas - another "Wow" organization, promised the world and more, Pays money to the Govt. Of Andhra Pradesh to let it build the Metro, now what? They're building a part of Namma Bengaluru's metro as well. (There you go, 5+ years of pain, misery and bad roads)

Probably the only point we can give Mr. Ramu is for his confession (Making it public!!! Way to go)

Was there a good side of Mr. Ramu? Probably the thought of reviving Satyam by pulling in funds from Maytas once the Metros start functioning itself could be the Pashchatap for his sins. Would he have done that is a question I don't think even Mr. Ramu would be in a position to answer.

Initially I felt this is the perfect case of an Indian Enron. (For details on the Enron Scandal: wiki Enron) I was wrong. Mr. Skilling still denies any involvement in the Enron Scandal (There goes the veracity of the "I'm f#@$ing smart" statement) whereas Mr. Ramu writes a confession. I liked the 'Riding the tiger' humor though. (The Letter in PDF) Very Apt!

Enron is defunct and 'Enron Creditors Recovery Corporation' as it exists now is selling all assets and returning the creditors money. Satyam will live another day, well a lot more actually, may be back to its glory days if all goes well but it doesn't seem a likely possibility with the gloomy economy. No one seems to have any money.

PWC says its audits were rendered inaccurate and unreliable because of Mr. Raju's disclosures. Duh! Guys, grow up! you were supposed to discover those misappropriations while they were happening. What a statement. It's like sending Paheli for the Oscars!

Yes, Satyam and it's employees have hope, they will be adopted, live a good life again. I expect them loosing a few clients and the competition grabbing the riches. You, I (and Obama) know it: The outsourcing industry in India is here to stay. The TCSes, Infys, Wipros & Cognizants will battle it out in the darkest of times. Who's going to win the battle? Well... Satyameva Jayate!! Lesson learnt!

The Reds

2009-01-04T08:49:00.000-08:00

We won comprehensively against The Tigers in their first round match at the Adugodi Police Grounds.

After winning the toss and electing to bat we got off to a flyer with some massive hits by the top order batsmen. The reds lost 3 wickets in quick succession in the first 2 overs due some aggressive stroke making by the batsmen. Since they managed to maintain an above average run rate for the ground, they could afford to slow things down and consolidate the innings in the middle overs.

A steady partnership between Vijay & Shekhar with Vijay attacking the bowlers at every opportunity and succeeding; and Shekhar playing the sheet anchor's role helped the reds get through the middle overs without loosing a wicket. In the final few overs the batsmen stepped on the gas pedal and the runs started flowing even more freely than before with Vijay scoring boundaries at will; almost every ball disappearing into the woods on all sides of the field, in the process completing his 50.

The team went ecstatic with the batting display and was forced to reduce their decibel levels by the cops nearby. Eventually the reds mustered up a massive 143 without any further loss in wickets. This score is currently the second highest score in tournament after a 160+ performance by Airtel.

The Tigers in response had a placid start due to effective bowling by the our captain Surender and some express bowling by Malik. Wickets falling at regular intervals, combined with a slow run rate in the first half of their innings made it almost impossible for the Tigers to come back into the match.

Most of the runs scored by the tigers came in the form of extras conceded by some wayward bowling by all the bowlers of the reds and some poor fielding display in bits by our team. Apart from a good low catch taken by Kamlesh, the fielding was nothing to write home about.

One batsman from the tigers showed some resistance hitting two sixes in one over but was not of any threat as the match was out of their hand with about 90 runs being required from 2 overs. A little more of wayward bowling couldn't change the eventual result with our team winning handsomely by more than 70 runs to register their first victory of the tournament. They enter the Round of 18 with a good run-rate which could benefit them in the future. No prizes for guessing the Man Of The Match as Vijay walked away with the award with a certificate being awarded by the organizers.

We must ensure they are more disciplined when it comes to their bowling as this could proove a crucial factor in close matches in the future. Combined with a breathtaking batting performance and a good bowling performance barring the extras, their performance was excellent and are definitely a team to watch out for in the tournament.

[Player names have been changed]

Rise Of The Phoenix

2008-11-29T10:57:00.000-08:00

Well... everyone is venting out their anguish and disgust on the Mumbai attacks in their blogs, articles, status messages and every possible avenue of information dissipation. Well the actions are totally justifiable. It is a devastating incident and deserves the outrage from not just Indians but the whole world.

I acknowledge their emotions; most of the other sources of information convey my sentiments too. I'm proud of the commandos, the army and the police and utterly disgusted with the actions of the politicians (well..a lack of it)

A very interesting observation was the coverage and the amount of interest shown by the world media (BBC, CNN, FOX News, ABC, AFP yada yada yada). I'm not sure if it's because of the demography of the casualties in the attack or the sheer strategic developments and decisions which will have to be taken after this event.

If we limit our awareness to our newspapers and national news channels (Referred to as Home Media hereon), I'm afraid we're not looking at the big picture. We are all aware of the sensationalization of our home media (I'm not saying they're not allowed to esp. in this scenario) and the way they want to climb over their competitors to proclaim the fastest or most exclusive news channels around.

Spending 10 Min watching CNN World News (Not CNN-IBN) and BBC confirmed to me what journalism is all about. It's not how close you are to the action, it's not about how fast you can get the action. It's about how well you can get the information, how well you can enroll the viewers into whats happening out there and why is it happening.

Most of the Home media had special guests like Mr. Harsha Bhogle on NDTV or Mr. Arjun Rampal, Ms. Shefali Shah & Mr. Mahesh Bhat on Times NOW which in my opinion covered only the emotional outlook of the tragic incidents on 26/11. In contrast CNN (Not CNN-IBN) & FOX News had guests from the FBI, NYU, Northwestern & other renowned institutions who could give us a non-emotional, purely factual description of the events and its repercussions.

Based on the discussion above, I have two statements to make, one is the limited spectrum of coverage by the Home media. I would have appreciated a complete analytical coverage of the incident and not just the attractive and sensational aspects of the events that took place and the second one is the amount of interest the international media has shown in these developments which surely signals the importance of the region. If the western media has covered the events for 48 hrs at a stretch, trust me THE WORLD IS TAKING NOTICE!!!

Yes! Finally....

2008-03-23T12:09:00.000-07:00

Well, the wait is over, The force has arrived. Yes... Not just in F1 but on the blogging scene too. With me around you guys can be assured of some great "funtainment".

Why the name, you wonder? Simple... Since my name is synonymous with India and with the belief that India will be a force to reckon with in the near future if not right now (Plus the F1 team, Kudos Dr. Mallya for that) I felt Ii had to have my blog name which included the words FORCE & INDIA. Force because I believe each one of us has the ability and the power to make a difference. The power to cause a shift in the system, the process, the way things work. Each one of us is a Force & I am Force India!!! (Ps. The title forceindia was already taken too!!)