Digitally Exploring the world

Empty-handed I entered the world Barefoot I leave it. My coming, my going -- Two simple happenings That got entangled. -Kozan Ichikyo

Heard this old classic after a very long time ....

Invictus : OUT of the night that covers me, Black as the Pit from pole to pole, I thank whatever gods may be For my unconquerable soul. In the fell clutch of circumstance I have not winced nor cried aloud. Under the bludgeonings of chance My head is bloody, but unbowed. Beyond this place of wrath and tears Looms but the Horror of the shade, And yet the menace of the years Finds and shall find me unafraid. It matters not how strait the gate, How charged with punishments the scroll I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my SOUL. - William Ernest Henley This poem inspired Mandela while at prison. A new movie by the same name ad directed by Client Eastwood is going to be out soon ,here is the trailer ..

I was sitting around at home this Saturday and feeling a bit low with the mind and its wandering and pushed myself to walk across to the college campus at IIMB to attend the monthly guest lectures, this time the talk was by Malathi Holla and came back in a very different spirit. One has to meet Malathi to even know what an indomitable spirit and positive spirit outlook can do to oneself and to people around you . Malathi was paralyzed neck down when she was a year old and after 2yrs of electric shock treatment that helped a little in improving her condition she was admitted into to a residential school for the differently abled in Chennai where she spent 15yrs of her life. She then came back to Bangalore to study further. Her father ran a small udupi hotel in Bangalore and she was one among the four. Being differntly abled in India is in itself one of the biggest challenge for such people , and how many times would someone like me even think of how tough it is for someone to cross

This is so very true, the lost art of letter writing.. I don't remember when I last picked up a pen and wrote a letter to someone and posted it .. I however, still do have some old letters that dad wrote those days when there was no email, yes there was such a time only a little while ago !!

Woke up at 4:45a.m on a perfect Sunday morning and headed(drove down ,didn't have the stamina to cyle it:)) to Tumkur Road , about 30kms from home for participating in my first cylothon race. I hadn't trained at all for this race and hadn't cycled long distances for more than a year but decided to sign up for the long 50kms race in the amauter category. The weather was just perfect for cycling after heavy showers the previous night and another positive was that the race distance had been reduced to 36kms because of traffic hold up issues. My aim was not to race but to just complete the distance. In all my previous long distance hauls, some of which were longer, was more at a leisurely pace and didn't really need to think of a completion time but this time around things were a little different ! I kept going at a steady pace and then stopped for a water break at the 18km rounadabout and thats when I felt my right leg cramp as I got back to cycling.Two of us (another

Here are some pics from the road trip to Goa last week, most of which was rained out... Some more pics here

Read about Patrick Swazye's demise today and that took me back to May 1991. Me and my sister were having summer vacation at school and had picked up the movie 'Dirty Dancing' from the rental shop and had enjoyed the movie and were also hooked to the music ,and ofcourse not to mention Patrick . The next morning (21st May) we heard about Rajiv Gandhi's assasination. That mean we were stuck at home for the next few days with only the movie and spent the days , watching it again and again :) Here's one of my favourite songs from the film and I also took out the dusty Audio CD from the rack to take me further back in time.. Here's a HD verson of the song

Here's my first attempt at creating a movie using Picasa Movie Maker from pics taken during my backpacking trip across Egypt and Turkey .

I traveled across turkey by bus from Istanbul to the Western ,Central and East-Central locations for 2 weeks. Turkey, with its population being 98% Islamic , has separated religion from the state and is quite westernized after the transformation started once the Ottoman rule ended. Istanbul , with its old mosques ,road side eats out, cobble stoned streets and cosmopolitan crowd was fun to just be part of and walk around. I spent a few days here and simply enjoyed walking around the old parts of Istanbul (Blue Mosque,Haphia Sophia ,Top Kapi Palace and walking around the narrow streets all the way to the Galata Bridge ) and on another day crossing over to Istanbul University all the way to Taksim and Eminou ferry dock . On the first day at Ramzan ,the area around the mosques had a different buzz with more food stalls , benches and as the sun set ,it slowly had a huge gathering of families seated together breaking their fast, travelers, passersby and live music at some places. Cana

My trip was unplanned but did have some rough plan wanting to do the Nile Valley (Cairo-Luxor-Aswan-Abu Simbel) by road before I started . Cairo The vacation started with a bit of a twist with a missed connecting flight from Istanbul to Cairo and then desperately trying to get in touch with an ex-colleague Abed , who was suppose to meet me at Cairo and wasn't aware of the missed flight. The computer that I found at the airport lounge had a Turkish keyboard and Turkish windows installation and all my attempts to get my email account to work failed, finally after hours ,I just asked someone with a laptop to let me use it for just a few mins to drop an e-mail. I reached Cairo at 2a.m. in the morning and took a taxi to the hostel and was surprised to see quite a few shops open people moving around. Abed called the hostel early morning and with only 3hrs of sleep, we drove to the Ramses station to book the train tickets for the sleeping train to Aswan that Night. We then drove down to

One of my favourite poem's that I found on youtube .. Nothing more apt for the two great champs !!

I left home late Saturday evening with heavy rains coming down, picked up a few friends on the way and we headed to Fireflies, outskirts of Bangalore for an all night Guitar Concert by the GuitarGurus of India. Fireflies is about 30kms from the city and as heavy rain pounded , we headed out with good music playing in the car stereo and beautiful tree lined roads but poor visibility. Fireflies is located amongst lush green trees with a small open air amphitheater. The venue was totally dry when we reached there,it hadn't rained there !! The guitar gurus from India were already performing , we were a little late. The first few performances was of the pure sound of acoustic guitar. After a bit it started to pour and and we took out our umbrellas (we were prepared since it had been raining in the city) as we heard some incredible music under the cloudy skies, a different experience to cherish. The sound changed drastically from Acoustic to Electric as the night progressed . A won

Thought of the day as I look back and forward to this journey... To laugh often and much; To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; To appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.

Came across this beautiful and well made film about a successful and tough expedition to the top of the world . The team included Erik Weihenmayer , who became the first blind person to conquer Everest and makes one wonder whether the sighted have more fears to conquer.. <a href="http://www.joost.com/33l83kf/t/Farther-Than-the-Eye-Can-See">Farther Than the Eye Can See</a> This is the first HDTV footage of Mount Everest ..

Loved watching them speak to the college kids and also getting to know how down to earth and candid they still are.. 2nd part here

Its that time of the year when the exams are over and all the kids are enjoying their summer vacation. Wish we had the same at work :) Nevertheless, I had a great time with my niece last weekend when she was her for the long easter weekend , took me down the memory lane !! We had our usual sessions of watching all the animated stuff, working on puzzles and ofcourse pretending we had a band with each of us on the guitar or drums ... Current song that I am humming while i blog 'Summer holiday' We're all going on a summer holiday no more working for a week or two. Fun and laughter on our summer holiday, no more worries for me or you, for a week or two. We're going where the sun shines brightly we're going where the sea is blue. we've all seen it on the movies, now let's see if it's true. Everybody has a summer holiday doin' things they always wanted to So we're going on a summer holiday, to make our dreams come true for me and you. for me a

Photojournalist James Nachtwey speaking at the TED convention. TED Link here

Watched another great documentary today about a war photographer James Nachtwey , what drives him to these dangerous zones risking his life.

a must watch ..

One of my favourite Travis song... I want to see what people saw I want to feel like I felt before I want to see the kingdom come I want to feel forever young I want to sing To sing my song I want to live in a world where I belong I want to live I will survive And I believe that it won't be very long If we turn, turn, turn, turn, turn Then we might learn So where's the stars? Up in the sky And what's the moon? A big balloon We'll never know unless we grow There's so much world outside the door I want to sing To sing my song I want to live in a world where I'll be strong I want to live I will survive And I believe that it won't be very long If we turn, turn, turn, turn, turn And if we turn, turn, turn, turn Then we might learn Turn, turn, turn, turn Turn, turn, turn And if we turn, turn, turn, turn Then we might learn Learn to turn

a story of so many children living across the cities in India..

Finished reading this memoir by the same name that mum left back on her last visit and watched the film made on it .. and it took me back to the past and lot of old memories.. The last time I saw my father was more than a decade back when he was brought wrapped in the Indian tricolour to the cremation grounds and had the end he would probably have wanted himself, with the 21 gun salutes and all the honour.. The movie is well directed and has jim broadbent and colin firth do a fabulous job . The memoir talks about Morrison, the author trying to understand his father and their relationship and that takes me back to my relationship with my dad whom I never understood. While growing up as a kid , he was away most of the time at the toughest of postings except for 2 family postings he had. I always found him geared towards his soldiers and regiment more than us and was willing to die for them. He never spoke about himself or his childhood but all I learnt was from my mum and his brother

Here's a wonderful little video and real story about Christian and his friends, sent to me by another good friend . Some of us might be lucky enough to have found such friends as we tread the uncharted path called life !

For the likes of us for whom childhood meant playing with friends , reading books, listening to music on vinyl records and later cassettes or an odd movie at club once a month , seems so far fetched for today's generation . The other day my mum was speaking to my 4.5yrs niece Anya, and was talking about all our fun times while me and my sister were growing up and the only word she had to describe our times was there was 'NOTHING!' :) .. Yes, in today's 24hrs connected world and instant gratification our golden days seems unimaginable

When the child was a child It walked with its arms swinging, wanted the brook to be a river, the river to be a torrent, and this puddle to be the sea. When the child was a child, it didn’t know that it was a child, everything was soulful, and all souls were one. When the child was a child, it had no opinion about anything, had no habits, it often sat cross-legged, took off running, had a cowlick in its hair, and made no faces when photographed. When the child was a child, It was the time for these questions: Why am I me, and why not you? Why am I here, and why not there? When did time begin, and where does space end? Is life under the sun not just a dream? Is what I see and hear and smell not just an illusion of a world before the world? Given the facts of evil and people. does evil really exist?

I hadn't heard much about the young Spaniard or followed his progress till this week when he beat the inform Murray . I packed up from work early on Friday to catch the Semi-Final Clash between Nadal and Verdasco and boy I was in for one of the best matches I have ever watched. They battled it out for 5hr 14 mins and ran like a mad hatter for every point and not an inch of court was left untouched. I am a big Nadal fan but for this match I was surely supporting the underdog Verdasco. He matched Nadal ball for ball and for every angled shot he had another better one but then I am not sure I will call it lack of experience or some supreme intervention when Verdasco double faulted at match point !! I don't remember watching any tennis match that was played for 5+ hours with the kind of precision, power and touch . No player faltered, no player had a bad patch even the epic Wimbledon Finals between Federer and Nadal last year seemed so far apart. Nadal just won the game by winn

A video on Somdev , too early to say how his career spans out but he looks like a good find for India.

I just got back having spent an extended weekend with my niece Anya. It's always fun to be around a child , with their numerous questions and sometimes great insights into simple things. Time seems to just fly away doing all the fun things from solving puzzles, to painting, watching animated films and introducing her to my favorite films , singing the same old songs we would sing as kids and also teaching her a bit of tennis (my favorite game) since I got her a kids racquet. Now I am back to being a grownup :(

I finally watched the Chennai open in its 14th edition last week and thoroughly enjoyed the atmosphere. These matches took me back to my teenage years spent in Calcutta learning to play the game and participating in tournaments and also watching good Davis Cup ties with Ramesh Krishnan, Leander Paes etc.. Growing up watching junior world champion Leander play was wonderful and it was like a dream even for a late beginner like me to play in the same tournaments in the girls category. (Pics from the semis) This time around there was a new Indian tennis star Somdev, who seemed like a panther on the prowl just like Leander, chasing every possible ball around the court. The crowd was also very supportive and it felt good to cheer for an Indian tennis star after such a long time. I hope his good form continues for a long time to come. A good beginning for Indian tennis this year.

The first Monday of the new year, I started a long and beautiful drive to River Tern Lodge with mum and good music for company as dawn broke over. The entire route is quite scenic and as one speeds on the highway even the bumpy ride with the roads in bad state after the monsoon doesn't seem to bother one. We could have stopped at Belur and Halebid that's about 50kms detour but decided to speed away to the Jungle Lodge. River Tern Lodge is situated on a hillock tucked away and each of the cottages and log huts have a view of the Bhadra River. As you enter the cottage , you have an awesome view of the blue river and the hills far away from the balcony or as you laze around in bed. River Tern Lodge, is a place run by Jungle Lodges and just like their other places , its run efficiently with friendly staff and proves a govt run organization can be world class . One loses oneself in the serene and green surroundings and the water all around. One can just read a book or bask in t