Digitally Exploring the world

Lecture It really moved me ..especially this part.. ' Let me change the mood with a few sweet words that will, I hope, serve as well as that music. As you know, the question we writers are asked most often, the favourite question, is; why do you write? I write because I have an innate need to write! I write because I can't do normal work like other people. I write because I want to read books like the ones I write. I write because I am angry at all of you, angry at everyone. I write because I love sitting in a room all day writing. I write because I can only partake in real life by changing it. I write because I want others, all of us, the whole world, to know what sort of life we lived, and continue to live, in Istanbul, in Turkey. I write because I love the smell of paper, pen, and ink. I write because I believe in literature, in the art of the novel, more than I believe in anything else. I write because it is a habit, a passion. I write because I am afraid of b...

How John Wood Left Microsoft to change the world

An article by Rahul.Bose : Time and Headspace I feel the same. A good movie still transports me to a different world!!

Starting off learning to play. Check out these great beginner guitar videos Enjoy!

ToothPick Art

Just got back from a nice and relaxing trip to Pondicherry , what used to be known as the French Riviera of the east. Some Facts: Pondy has been recently rechristened into Puducherry , the original Tamil name which means "new village". Puducherry town is the headquarters of the Union Territory of Puducherry which comprises Puducherry, Karaikal, Yaman and Mahe - four widely separated towns. I was surprised to find that this small little coastal town tucked away in South East corner of India has had traders from across the world starting from the Romans who came here in the 1st century A.D. as the Excavations near Arikamedu reveal. It also had other Europeans (Portuguese, Danes and Dutch) come in for trade and to setup establishments. The French first came to Pondy in 1673, and started to transform the sleeping little fisherman's village into a profitable port-town. Around 1761, the town was totally destroyed by the English and French in their power struggl...

I really admire his writings . Here is a recent article in Hindu about him, expresses my thoughts on Iyer. Read on !! Another forward by Iyer himself : The Depths of the Curious by Pico Iyer

Some awesome snaps from RAX

Here's a shocking video showing the recent incident where Chinese soldiers gunned down Tibetan Refugees without any provocation :

Here's one of my favs from Coldplay-Fix You !! Coldplay speak:

Tourism is turning the world's highest peak into its biggest rubbish dump, claim conservationists, who are pressing for controls on climbing. But will this cost sherpas their livelihood? More..

Enjoy! Remember waiting for this every evening in the good old days of DD

Came across this amazing Video by a genius, who had his initial struggle growing up as an Autistic child. Have a peek, simply unbelievable ! ( ROME ) Another one ( TOKYO ) by the genius here:

Watch/listen to one of my favorite songs from Billy Joel, who shares my birthday (9th May). I have been his fan since school days and remember sending out a letter (those were days without internet and emails) mentioning that he we share a common birthday and how i like his music, and I was thrilled to receive an autographed photograph of his a few weeks later. I still treasure that !! Video Watch it here The lyrics goes something like this(best part).. "..... I know I'm searching for something Something so undefined That it can only be seen By the eyes of the blind" COMPLETE LYRICS In the middle of the night I go walking in my sleep From the mountains of faith To the river so deep I must be lookin' for something Something sacred I lost But the river is wide And it's too hard to cross even though I know the river is wide I walk down every evening and stand on the shore I try to cross to the opposite side So I can finally find what I've been looking for In the ...

Learning Guitar - Beginner Guitar Lesson :informative and great one for beginners. Started my first guitar lesson today !!

Checkout the music video.A wonderful movie and an inpsiring performance by Sidney Poitier .Watched it after aeons today!! The movie and the song brought back memories of the good old carefree school days, where one didn't have to run after daily todo lists/schedules/meetings. Those were the days my friend !! I have somehow come across several such messengers, in person and in other inspirational forms(biographies, films,other passionate achievers across various fields) when I needed them the most. They seem to popup at the right moment and influence lots of your thoughts and decisions for the better...Watching this movie reminded me of a teacher I had in school(Mr Joe D'gama) who came across in the crucial stage in my school life when I wasn't sure about a career to pursue .He was such a wonderful teacher and person that I ended up spending most of my time infront of the computer and decided to take it up as a career.

This weekend I volunteered for a medical camp at a village in the outskirts of Bangalore. Two schools were earmarked for the camp. Doctors from Bangalore volunteered to help with this camp. The camp had dental, eye and other checkups done for these kids. There was a huge turnout( approx. 1800 school kids) and to our suprise 80% of them were diagnosed with medical ailments. We need to go back in the coming weeks to do followup for these kids. I was surprised at the state of the schools, just in the outskirts of Bangalore. There was no washrooms, no drinking water, just bare room and a board and a bench !! I came across these cheerful children irrespective of the hardships(most didn't even have a pair of shoes) but all seemed to have a SMILE and were HAPPY !!Something we need to learn .. Another bunch of eager kids..I tried chatting with them in my broken Kannada :) Photos from the camp

This weekend I was in the outskirts of Bangalore and captured some of these shots walking around. These are pics of a lady in a pensive mood, waiting outside a Village School in the morning for her first customer... These pics are from the street Bhuta(Corn) seller Links: More pics

"Ekla chalo re.." - Rabindranath Tagore ---------------------------------------------------- Jodi Tor Dak Soone Keu Na Asse Tobe Ekla Chalo re Ekla Chalo Ekla Chalo Ekla Chalore Jodi Keu Katha Na Kai Ore Ore O Abhaga Jodi Sabai Thake Mukh Firae Sabai Kare Bhay Tabe Paran Khule O Tui Mukh Fute Tor Maner Katha Ekla Balo re Jodi Sabai Fire Jai Ore Ore O Abhaga Jodi Gahan Pathe Jabar Kale Keu Feere Na Chay Tobe Pather Kanta O Tui Rakta Makha Charan Tale Ekla Dalo re Jodi Alo Na Dhare Ore Ore O Abhaga Jodi Jharr Badale Andhar Rate Duar Deay Ghare Tobe Bajranale Apaan Buker Panjar Jaliey Nieye Ekla Jalo re "Ekla chalo re.." meaning just walk alone... So here you go with the english translation: If they answer not to thy call walk alone, If they are afraid and cower mutely facing the wall, O thou of evil luck, open thy mind and speak out alone. If they turn away, and desert you when crossing the wilderness, O thou of evil luck, trample the thorns under thy tread, an...

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another nice one from http://www.boltcity.com/copper/copper_006_ruins.htm

Nice Post @ http://www.boltcity.com/copper/copper_030_goodlife.htm

Here's the 2nd post on the trip. The week ahead turned out to be tons of fun and lots of camping at sub-zero temperature. We headed to Pangong Tso(lake) , a 5 hours drive from Leh via the third highest pass in the world, the Changla pass. Pangong Lake is the world's highest brackish lake at 14,256 feet above sea level. It is 134 km long and extends from India to Tibet. Two thirds of the length of this lake falls in China. It is only 8 km wide at its broadest point. You need special permit to visit this lake. The placid, salty and calm water takes up various shades of blue,green, purple at differnt times of the day. We had plans of c amping at the lake side but wasn't granted permission by the authorithy and hence headed a few kms back and pitched our tents there. I was amazed at the super luxury camping that evening .We had a cook and helper traveling along with us and had access to mouth watering, piping hot food and also a hot desert that night.Simply awesome at such a d...

Ladakh gave me a silence that I had being waiting/longing for in awhile. It is far from the 24 hrs connectivity we are used to these days , there was no acccess to telephone, internet, tv, newspaper, since we are camping in the wilderness most of the days except the occasional pit stops at Leh. I was away from the happenings around the world/media for 15days and didn't miss it a bit !! As you travel through ladakh the long long journey and the silence and the huge empty spaces between towering mountains and the sky above, expands your own mind and you are part of that environment and your mind turns silent and becomes part of the landscape. Its an high altitude desert surrounded by mountains.The entire region is frozen for 8 months in a year, where the temperature could go as low as -40 C. Its the extremest of climates and rain is rare. It has 4 months of scorching summer sun during the day and freezing evenings. Everything in Ladakh reflects its relegious heritage. The landscape ...

Ladakh comes from the word la-tags , in tibetan the land of the la , the land of the high mountain passes..Its the northern most part of India. Week 1 As I packed my bags to embark into a 2 weeks adventure that I have been waiting and dreaming about the last few years , nothing had prepared me for the splendour and the majesty of the mountains and the people, and the indelible mark the place would leave on me. I had readup whatever info. I could find on the internet, browsed a few books at bookshops, I thought I was all prepared for the beautiful mountains, gompas and ofcourse high altitude sickness.We were a bunch of strangers who had signed up for this adventure into the unknown which was being organised by Santosh from http://getoffurass.com/ Boarded the Sat. morning(12th Aug) spicejet flight from Bangalore to Delhi, that I very nearly missed because of believing the SMS sent out by Spicejet folks that the flight was delayed by an hour and half. I guess the trip was all destined ,...

Click on the picture for a larger version. It says: "A 6-year-old orphan from Austria ecstatically embraces a brand-new pair of shoes just given to him by the Red Cross."

New York(Big Apple) Back after a great vacation this month! I took off to the East Coast after an hectic schedule at Work(California), it was a much needed break from the rigours of work. Flying to East Coast, from the west is reasonably cheap if you book the late night JETBLUE Flight a little in advance.I flew out of San Jose and reached JFK Airport, NY early Saturday morning. My cousin picked me up at JFK airport. Met him after a decade and somehow it didn't seem that it was such a long time !! Geographically, New York is a city with 5 boroughs :The Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn,Manhattan, The Staten Island I packed up my ruck sack and hit the road by bus after a day's rest at NY. My first stop was NY City .The view from the 102nd floor of the Empire State Building was spectacular. The building was constructed in record time in May 1931 and was celebrating its 75th anniversary. Went across to Wall Street , and was at the steps of the NYSE !! Caught a glimpse of the Statue of Libe...