Digitally Exploring the world

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...

"We all live with the objective of being happy; our lives are all different and yet the same." -Anne Frank