The Path not Taken

Summer in Europe has come to an end. This is the last time one (by one, it is implied that it is an Indian who is used to temperatures as hot as Arnab Goswami's temper) could take a long bike ride in the nice evening weather in Germany. Cycling through a forest is great. It provides one with fresh air, good exercise, great scenery and improves reflexes, since one has to be quite agile, lest a boar should run full on to the fahrad. In short, biking through the forest in the south-western region of Germany is fun and the end of August is the best time to undertake this journey.

Good cycle, good headlights, good taillights. Enthusiastic driver. Time to go home. Enter the forest. Then two roads diverged into the green wood and the driver cannot travel both.
She must choose and choose wisely. It is time to go home, but an enthusiastic driver. What to do.
She looked at the one road and looked as far as she could.
Far she could see, to where it bent in the undergrowth.
But nay, she is the enthusiastic biker and she took the other path, just as fair,
because it was grassy and wanted wear.

Little did she know that Robert Frost had mentioned an Autumn climate, rather than the sweet summer. She now has a lot to face in the dense canopy of the forest which is so thick that it came to be called the 'Blackforest.' She has boldly chosen one and has to go ahead. Cycle she does, coolly at first and quickens her pace in a moment. The only source of light is that tiny diode on the front of her bike and the occasional firefly that kept hitting her face. The canopy felt like the vast sky, just without the bright moon and the twinkling stars which were blanketed. Few minutes into the ride, came they. No one who ever traversed the path near the forest had gone without tasting one of them. The eyes were not spared either. Squinting her eyes, she wanted to reach the end as fast as possible. But the forest never seemed to end. The little diode was still the only source of light. She rode at maximum power since she got well nourished after swallowing a million of those insects.

And then came the end of the road. She hated road endings but not today. She cherished it and felt happy that the forest ended, only to enter the farmland which was infested with enough insects to fill a boeing cargo! But back came the moon light under which she looked at her body, covered with insects like in the movie, Mummy.

She shall be telling this with a sigh
that she took the road less traveled by
the reason for which she now knows why

A walk through the ages in Baden Karlsruhe, Germany

Statutory Warning: The writer has been dormant for quite sometime now. Hence, the blogpost is duly scrutinized and perused. However, do not mind if the post wanders away from the topic or if you find English, not being the language that humans generally speak. Thanks

Germany is a great place to work in, provided one knows German. Or provided one knows how to shut themselves off from everything but work. Any attempt in learning German language, heritage or culture will be welcomed by the locals warmly with a huge smile. To learn German, one could try the hard way out, that is by watching the television in Germany. It is ridiculously ridiculous to watch even 'The Simpsons' dubbed into German as 'Die Simpsons' and worst, to watch Nickelodeon channel in German. Well, that is the hard way. A much easier way would be of course to enroll for German classes. Apart from language, one way to learn the culture of the place would be to visit museums. The Badisches Landesmuseum in Karlsruhe is one place which teaches a lot of good history.

Nice view in the night!

The palace is centrally located in the town which is built in such a way that all roads lead to the palace. The palace which was built in 1715 does not at all seem so. Whether it is the German archaeology department or the engineers of the 18th century, one does not know. A quite costly ticket for the museum visit will however take one through the ages, from about 2000 BC mankind to Steffi Graf of the modern era. A walk through the ancient Cyclades, with their marble stone figurines, through Anatolia, Mesopotamia, Greece, Macedonia, Sicily, Rome, gives the perfect routemap for someone from Asia visiting the place. The Byzantine empire is obviously given a lot of importance in the early history. An entire section is devoted to explaining ancient funeral techniques. Great!

The renaissance period section greets one with a life size dolls of Jesus Christ and the 12 apostles (yeah, that's right!), how they were all murdered and stuff which moves on to silver and bronzeware of that age. The later part of the museum shows how rich the Barons, the Duchess and the Dukes grew in Europe. Lavish lifestyle, one must agree. And a safe one too, because one cannot find many weapons. Probably the Persians were too busy deciding who would invade India that they left Europe mostly in peace to fight among themselves (this obviously is a joke and please, no talking about the Crusades, because they fail to be mentioned in the museum). The lavish lifestyle included lots of games that were played which is seen from the variety of medallions and trophies on display. A pineapple featuring in the trophies has been in usage from times unknown, apparently.

That would bring us to the last section of museum, where there is a pleasant surprise in wait. A number of tennis balls used by Boris Becker and Steffi Graf are on display along with scientific inventions by great companies like Bosch. Interestingly, Adolf Hitler features no where in the museum even though a number of war boots and the Nazi arm strap are on display. That is very nice of the Germans(?).

The tower is a special one, climbing on the top of which gives one a good view (I don't I need to mention Karlsruhe. One cannot see Paris from this 90 foot tower.) The statue of the Baron of the palace features in the huge lawn present outside. The palace is marvelous and needs a full day to cover everything present inside. A visit to this place truly takes one through the Art and Culture of Karlsruhe Baden. Try visiting it in Germany. Karlsruhe is an hour's journey in the 257 kmph train from Franfurt. Do the math!

To Kill a Mocking Bird!

Every year, thousands of birds from the Siberia region come to nest in India, a land of ever increasing number of castes and sub castes among human beings even though historically, there has been discrimination based on caste! Probably the animal stock and bird population of the country have started having the differences too. The entire flock of the Indian birds, which earlier used to welcome the birds from Siberia with warmth, like a whole family treats visitors, now no longer do so.

Few birds stayed on a beautiful tree, as beautiful as a central university in the capital city of Hyderabad. The birds have had their differences and started various unions, but never failed to welcome the birds from Siberia. They are special. Special because, when they go back to Siberia, they should tell among themselves what a wonderful place they had been to and more importantly, they should feel like home and go back not wanting to. They should be happy. As happy and free as they had been always! That is the reason why, even if there had been differences among various unions of the hosts, they never let that affect the hospitality the guests received.

The visitors were never restricted to any limit. They wandered free, sang happily and played joyously. The hosts either played along or did not, but they never restricted them. They had to go back smiling, thinking of the wonderful reception. One day, one league of the hosts had a festival. Since it was a strong league and felt that they had a strong reason to celebrate, they filled the tree with their feathers, including the residing place of the visiting birds! How much ever beautiful the feathers are, they looked bad in such huge numbers. When few other birds questioned them, they reminded them of their previous mistakes. Two wrongs make a right!!
Some birds were even threatened in the middle of night. 'Save our wings,' a new revolution started among the rest of the birds. Every bird chirped its own voice. This would have been better without the threatening but such massive discussion and 'tweeting' would not have occurred otherwise!

Unfortunately, when a visitor bird quavered its opinion, it was pushed to a corner. The bird, which was used to moving freely, was confused at this and decided to discuss with one of the host birds. It was told to stay within its limits. Never wander beyond it. Then it was told all about how certain birds historically did not have certain privileges. It could not understand why when there was a possibility for each and every bird to "tweet" its opinion and know others opinions, there had to be such a large feather show!! None of the explanations by the host bird came close to answering any of the doubts the visitor had and they could not even explain what its limits were in the tree!
The bird will go back wondering why it was called a white racist just because it was from Siberia and would doubt what racism really is!!   

Re: Bloggers of the Campus, Unite!

Prof. Ramaswamy and our batch of Integrated Masters programme started off our journey together at the University of Hyderabad. We have not known any other vice chancellor. For four years that too. We would not have known any too. Not if he had not typed down on the keyboard from the vice chancellor's office, for the last time. 'The Last Post' came from the Vice Chancellor of our university who was the inspiration to me and many others to spread and write good thoughts(I write mostly about Rafael Nadal though). This would be his last article on a blog which like the author, constantly reminded us that the university always rocked!

HCU rocks!!

The words, 'blog' and 'university' together remind me of a post by Prof. Ramaswamy, "Bloggers of the Campus, Unite!." It did not happen as soon as he asked for it. Few bloggers on the list left the university too.I don't know who else on the list is left in the university to unite. But thanks to the world wide web, we all can always stay in the university group. We could still write to make a difference in the university. There are many issues to be addressed. Ones that the student's union cannot and will not think about. The duty of a student. As a group, we, students can question the wrong doings of the administration. But I am not sure if there is any group to check the walk and talk of us, the students!

Prof.Ramaswamy has been a keen supporter of student-run groups like the quizzing club and the Junior Science Club. I know that as a volunteer for JSC. I am quite sure the new vice chancellor does too. Because whichever talk or campus concert series, I go to, I see him, either listening to the songs with closed eyes or taking down notes. But it is upto us to make sure that all the nice student activities run well. VCs and students go and come but the groups must stay.The legacies must be passed on. Year after year, many students pass out of the university. Term after term, VCs go away. But the groups are immortal. What can be more wonderful than this?

Keeping the campus clean is upto us. By clean, I do not mean only dust or garbage. I meant clean from misuse. Clean from overuse and neglect. The workers in our mess complain that half of the students eating there are non university students. I heard that the same reason led to the downfall of Osmania university. We do not want that happening to our university, do we? We shall be united as a university and keep it to ourselves. Showing it off? Yes, we shall and we should but sheltering people is not necessary. That too at the cost of quality food and shelter.


The outgoing VC mentioned that he has so much unfinished work in his mind. I was told one of those works. He wanted to make the campus greener. Every student should adopt one plant in the university all through his/her term and take care of it. We can go ahead and do it. Find a plant, see that it is growing well. Keep an eye on it and let it flourish. Plain walls should be artistically painted, be it graffiti or showing off one's ideology! More than anything else, I feel the best we can do to our wonderful university is to not break beer bottles anywhere and everywhere in the campus. Keep the bottles in your rooms. Stack up your stock and sell them later. It could buy you another beer bottle.

Seriously, HCU rocks! and let us make sure it always does.
Thank you Prof. Ramakrishna Ramaswamy.

Science of Deduction!

Quizzing in its game form probably came into existence towards the end of the Eighteenth century. Quiz literally means "odd person." This is a word, which I think was not derived from Latin or Greek. There are some myths about how the word was invented but I did not hear any of them properly. So, no bother. Thanks to Neil O'Brien and family, Siddharth Basu and also Amitabh Bachchan, quizzing is quite popular in India. But unfortunately it is not that popular in Hyderabad. I hope I will be thankful to Akkineni Nagarjuna for making quizzing popular. A very Happy Birthday!

I have participated in a thousand quizzes and won some ten of them. I love quiz. I term it as, quest of knowledge. Quiz is the "Science of Deduction." In a quiz, the concentration should be more on the deciphering a question rather than on winning the quiz. There will be no fun otherwise. That is the reason why I do not look at general knowledge books or make points from the newspaper. That is the job of the quiz master or those preparing for the civil service examinations. Like the world's only consulting detective puts it, we have to observe everything, deduce things from what we observed and once the impossible is eliminated, whatever is left is the solution. This is how a question is to be deduced. That is fun. That is quiz. Thanks to the oldest quiz club of India, K-circle, it is possible for me to try and deduce answers for few questions on a weekly basis and the Society for QUizzers and Debaters in the University is to be thanked for frequent such quizzes.

I do believe a lot in team work and not at all in solo work. After all, this is no board exam or a Golf match. Deducing is quite boring if it is done alone (yeah, well, even Sherlock has Watson and I am "Sherlocked", hence I need a Watson too!) Having a team mate should not be to answer well or come first. The purpose of a team is to enjoy the quiz. Enjoy the bond of team mates. I could have answered several of the questions which we answered and did not answer as a team. But that would have been devastating for me. If the "resonance" of team mates match, what I found then is that even guess work is enjoyable. I learnt that team work is not only about individual performance alone. In fact, it is not at all about individual performance. It is all about group cooperation. If one comes up with an answer, others should analyse why it would be right or even wrong. One need not necessarily answer. Hem can be able to justify the answers given by others in the team. Then the team will be one.

It is never about winning. It should not be. It is all about learning and learning is fun when it is done together, by like minded people. Especially during quizzes like the K-Circle's Quizcast, those like me with not so knowledge or in short, unprofessional quizzers like me have to guess answers at times and if the partner is the right one, beautiful answers come out of even guesses!!  

New Year 2015

Late by a week or so, but its okay. I had a lot to think about what and how special 2014 was for me. Not so great year academically, but found new friends, grabbed new achievements, a girl friend and lessons learned left my 2014 with mixed feelings. It was like any other year, a great one and a wasted one obviously. I have become desperate to go out into the world and do something for the society, country and mother Earth. But the education system is pulling me back apart the society itself.

I am a physics graduate and I doubt if I hardly learned any physics. Let me see. I have written more exams than my blog posts. As a result, all of them went bad. I have not seen any movies this year. In fact, I saw only two movies in the entire year. Yes, two! And I am twenty! Yuck!! I will not repeat the mistake this year. But there were not many great movies too. Let's see. The best thing that happened to me in 2014 was that I got a chance to present my research work at an international conference. Looking at the 'best' thing, one might wonder what the worst thing would have been. Don't!! That is all about me.

Many good things happened around me though. The country moving towards acche din, Mangalyaan and the Mark III success, the Nobel prize coming to work in the field of optics are examples. Though sad things in the field of air travel did happen, I am sure those do not deter people from using it. Terrorist attacks, natural calamities, border conflicts did take place, these are expected from human beings. But as a science student and as a intern in the field of materials science, I am extremely happy that 2014 was the International Year of Crystallography. It is brilliant field of research.

On the whole, I would say, the year could be dedicated to dedicated Doctors! Great job people. Be it the Amytrophic Lateral Schlerosis or the Ebola virus, the doctors around the world have been doing a wonderful job. I raise toast to the doctors across the globe.

Ride Parallel to the Bay of Bengal

The best time to visit Tamil Nadu is now. Winter time. Especially those with dry skin can spend their expenses on moisturisers on a simple trip of three days to Chennai-Mahabalipuram-Puducherry. There will be not many hitches, at least I did not experience any when I went for the trip with my friends. The only criterion is that one should be patient, energetic and cool. A budget tour with lots of fun is surely possible.

Day 1: Chennai
One thing, don't ask about accommodation in Chennai. I do not know. I have got a friend there so accommodation problem never occurred to me. Okay, starting the day at around 8 AM, there are more than enough places to see in Chennai for one day. We went to the Mylapore tank and the 17th century temple adjacent to it. This Shiva temple was built long ago but was demolished by the Portugese 500 years ago. It is as old as Ptolemy times and finds mention in the great Greek's scriptures for his world map, probably. We then went to the Egmore museum and went back in time with all the excavated sculptures of Hindu, Jain and Buddhist gods and goddesses from different periods in and around Andhra Pradesh-Karnataka-Tamil Nadu. The tour of the entire museum comprising of these stone and bronze sculptures, coins, stamps and the biology section (some stuffed animals!) will not allow you to walk away from the museum so easily.
We had lunch from a nearby restaurant and went to the Marina beach.  Yes, we went at about four in the evening and it was not hot. San Thome Church was next. It is one of the three Basilicas to be built on the tomb of an apostle (is what is written there). His relics are here, apparently. A stone sculpture of the gilder he used to move a tree is here in the museum attached to the church.
We had enough for the day though there was a lot of time left.

The beautiful Marina beach..don't worry about the persons in the photo

Day 2: Pondicherry
Early in the morning (that's 10 for me). From the Koyembedu mossufil bus stand in Chennai, there are quite a lot of buses to Pondicherry and the travel time is about four hours. The ride is quite on the ECR route which runs parallel to the beach and over the many lagoons formed into the mainland. In Pondicherry, importantly, don't be bothered by the heat, if any, have lunch in Pondicherry and go to the "White town". With some persuasion, if you are young men, and with many assurances, accommodation at the Aurobindo Ashram guest house can be obtained. The lady there was a very nice person. We did not let you down momma!!

The "Life of Pi" bridge in Pondicherry

The beach road is exquisite. A fifteen minute trip to and in the Aurobindo Ashram was what we managed before we spent the whole evening roaming on the streets in the French section of Pondicherry. Well, I do not know if I might go to Mumbai, forget France. So we saw Paris in Pondicherry. We could have rented cycles to see more of the place but missed the timings. Beware!

Day 3: Mahabalipuram

The "Old" Mahabalipuram temple

Mahabalipuram is an old sea port for the Pallavas and Cholas. It enroute Chennai-Pondicherry. So while returning to Chennai, we stopped by for sometime. Seriously, half a day is not at all enough to see this place as is a paragraph not enough to describe it. I heard that one more town was excavated nearby after the 2004 Tsunami. We did not get the chance to visit that place. Forget that place, we did not completely see the town of Mahabalipuram. Even though I visited it earlier, I felt it new. Great job by the Archealogical Survey of India in protecting the UNESCO Heritage sites really well, especially with the strong currents and salty winds threatening the remaining structures which did not sink into the sea.
Also, it was here that I had banana bajji after one and a half year of wait!

Mahabalipuram relics, maintained well..Now!

The three days went on coolly and hastle-free. A week trip in and around Chennai in the Kancheepuram district might be ideal to properly see everything there. The public transport is quite good.

Up in the Air...my first Journey alone on an airplane

"Just two thousand?!!?" It costs me almost the same amount for an AC class train ticket to Delhi. I will go by flight I thought, not realising that it would the first time I would be traveling alone on an airplane. I traveled once before but that was when I could comfortably stretch my legs in my seat without the occupant of the seat in the front warning me not to hit his legs! This time it was different. Because, all I knew about catching a plane was that it was no train journey where you could do the 'a minute before departure' arrival and jump into the train!

All I knew was to watch a flying airplane open mouthed. On my first journey when I was a kid, my mother took all the necessary steps for a flight journey and I only remember watching through the window, the vast green, brown and black blocks below. But as I sat inside the plane for the second time in my life, I realised how beautiful and worse a flight journey can be. But one thing always drives me crazy. The fact that at six in the morning, I am in Hyderabad and by eight, I am in Kochi or Delhi. It took me sometime on both the occasions to realise that I was hundreds of kilometers away from Hyderabad by the time I was fully awake. One fact that equally scares me is that if I get used to traveling by air in future, I might find train journey strenuous! I love both modes of transport and I haven't yet traveled in a ship!

Since this is my first time on a flight alone, I was in the airport by 3:30 AM to catch a 6:05 AM plane. As the 'metal bird' carrying me accelerated, my whole body warmed. As it took off, I felt nothing. But as I saw the things I felt huge on the ground gradually become small, I realised I was high in the air. I felt I belonged to the air. 'What a take off!! Maybe everyone felt the same.' I thought and looked around only to see that half of the passengers deep asleep and the other half reading the newspaper or waiting impatiently for the coffee trolley. My neighbour was angry about the sudden and hard take off!

The sunrise was spectacular. I did not care to close the window flap to watch it. It was not like the one at Kanyakumari but it was new and nice! I started taking pictures of whatever I never saw from the top. Hills, forests, clouds, reflection of the rising sun in water bodies and airplanes! The air hostesses were performing their routines trying their best not show their bored faces, hiding them behind smiles! The pilot was detailing us about our journey, turbulences and the time of landing and announced that we were just few minutes away from Delhi and would landing soon. Wow! So fast! It felt nice. What a journey!! I guess I belong to the air!

No. It did not feel nice. It started just then and it felt like hours. Ear pain! I have never experienced pain in my ears to such extent. Then I remembered that my mother stuffed cotton in my ears last time and gave me chocolates to chew. My thoughts were again interrupted by stinging pain in my ears! This vehicle does not even have a chain to pull in emergency!! I occupied the window seat and could not even move into the aile because the two persons beside me were happily sleeping. How!!? People were still were drinking coffee happily and chatting. How!?

We descended over Delhi, my ear throbbing at its maximum. The morning Delhi was already on the move on the ground. And none among them have ear pain. I could hear nothing through my right ear and I was sure it would remain so for atleast a day. It did too. Maybe I belonged to the ground. Then we landed which I thought was the hardest thing for me that day!!
'Now, that's a smooth landing,' said my neighbour. 

Sunrise amidst the clouds

Reflection- water bodies

A Non-Stick University

The university has engrossed itself in a trendy flavour of pink for the past three days preparing for a massive event organised in it by the government of the newly formed Telangana. I was promised some fifty varieties of food unique to the state. But all I got is chicken, that too badly cleaned one. But it is not about the okay-ish food or the excellent cultural shows that I got to experience but it is about that pinkishness that the university, its walls and roads had to embrace, through posters and flags! Thanks to one of my very good friend, I realised the relevance of 'where-to-stick-the-posters!'

Its a door, not a notice board!!

After a talk about waste management, my friend, throwing her and another abandoned tea cup in the dustbin, commented on the poor state of the walls in the university. "I don't like posters to be stuck on walls." I asked, what was wrong in conveying message through a poster? A plain wall could be decorated with posters. She was not happy because,
1. Her undergraduate college had a better way to publicise posters. Apparently, they were never stuck on walls and were kept by the windows. Students later used them for rough work
2. The boards meant for sticking posters are not used properly and walls are used improperly.
3. The walls get really dirty

Looking at how every inch of the university walls are now covered with posters, I cannot agree less with her! I think there are other ways, much better ways to communicate with the "wall-media."-- Graffiti I don't think there is anything wrong in graffiti. Famous quotes should be written on walls but properly. Art students must be given a chance to put to use the stacked up colours for beautiful graffiti. They generally pass their time on flyovers. Go ahead. Fill the university walls. But keep it colourful and beautiful.  When our prime minister went to Kyoto as part of his Japan trip, a main point of discussion was Kyoto turning into a 'poster-free city.' Surprisingly but seemingly obvious, he was told that the Japanese values of cleanliness came from Buddhism. The PM then rightly pointed out that Indians might have conveniently forgotten the values of Buddhism.

When Buddhism offered solutions for cleanliness elsewhere in the world, why not in India, its birthplace!! Almost everybody is active on some social networking site. Posters can be posted on the sites and any communication through hard copy can be done with the help of pamphlets. Yet, there is a dire necessity of voluntary service. Service by both those who stick the posters and read them. For those who stick the posters to stick them in the prescribed areas, the notice boards and by those who read to say firmly that they only read those posters put up in the proper notice boards!
Or maybe, as a last resort use plaster to stick posters instead of gum!
As Kyoto pulls down the last two of its posters, let us pull down our first two and strive for a 'poster-free' university.

All Time 15's!!!

"If a snake is not poisonous, it should pretend to be venomous" said Acharya Chanakya. I did not read a lot of books and most of the famous and important books which one must read. However, since the time has come for me to tell everyone what I read and which are my favourites, I pretend to have read a lot of books.
I had no internet for one week and a lot changed since. I now realise that sensations can spread in a very short time. The #ALSicebucketchallenge way of nominating people has spread to various crazy things. One of them, this favourite book nomination and as I, with a mask of a 'venomous snake' am putting forth my ten favourite books. I only started reading very recently and of course read only fiction and not much beyond. Anyway, I give a shot.

I do not include my favourite epics like Ramayana and Mahabharata and other similar ones related to different mythologies; Fascinating books like the Arthasastra, Indica, Lilavati and Mathematica and most importantly The Fountain Head  especially, Fundamentals of Physics by Haliday, Resnick and Walker only because I half read and half listened to these books.

Other than these, my best ten include (no order),

7. Trinetrudu, by Suryadevara Ramamohana Rao .... brilliant and inspiring two books. Narrates an inspiring story while giving live examples.

13. Kanyasulkam, by Gurajada Apparao ... for it being one of the best among the telugu literature and is very thought provoking.

9. The Harry Potter series ... of course it will be there on the list. Just one thing about this.. a must read for any body.

12. An Anthropologist among the Marxists, by Ramachandra Guha ... For telling through examples how a true patriot should be, would be and had been!! Though it is too Gandhian, well, after all it is Ramachandra Guha on the line.

4. Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less and A Prisoner of Birth, by Jeffrey Archer ... What an amazing story teller. The stories show the royalty of the British and they are so neat and perfect. In these two books, the plots are very beautiful.

11. Night Without End, by Alistair Maclean ... Believe me. On a 40-42 degree hot morning, as I was travelling in a packed compartment of a train to Guntur from Hyderabad, I read this book which is based in Greenland and I literally shivered as the author never cared to drop me back in the hot, crowdy train!!

5. Salvation of a Saint, by Keigo Higashino ... What a brilliant plot. If I felt I enjoyed reading his 'Devotion of Suspect X', I enjoyed this book ten times as much. Such a simple yet brilliant plot and especially when a Physicist is the one who cracks the case, it gets more interesting!!

10. Worshipping False Gods, by Arun Shourie ... for being the only book which dared to question B.R.Ambedkar's role in the Indian independence. Though I firmly believe in the only mission Dr.Ambedkar took up, I really think there are certain priorities and the country comes first!!

6. How I taught my Grandmother to Read and Write, by Sudha Murthy ... one of the first books I read. I did not know who Sudha Murthy was back then and like this list, I did not read the book in an order and it came quite as a surprise when I came to know who her husband is. Such a great, yet simple lady!!

15. Lilavati's Daughters, by Rohini Godbole,Ramakrishna Ramaswamy ... just for one reason. For introducing to me, one of the fantastic scientists I have ever seen, Dr.Rama Govindarajan. She is full of knowledge but none of unnecessary pride!

1. The Guide, by R K Narayan ... I could write many other books of his, but all are reflected in this one masterpiece

14. Kite Runner, by Khaled Hossaini ... I have read this sheer brilliant book, for A thousand times over

3. The Shiva Triology, by Amish Tripathi Such fantastic research and very good narration in keeping par with scientific explanations

8. Why are Things the Way they Are, by G Venkataraman Just for it being a 100 and odd page book with simple explanations.

2. Rafa, My Story, by Rafael Nadal with John Carlin Purely for my love for Rafael Nadal. He however gives such a fantastic insight into his life, so much as telling about his arrangement of bottles during matches that it took me steps closer to him.

I am very sad for leaving out "The Monk who Sold its Ferrari," by Robin Sharma; "The Percy Jackson series," by Rick Riordan. That is it and I am trying to read more. Seriously!! :)

   

Namma City...Bengaluru!!

I never wanted this to happen. I never thought that this place would feature on my favourites as much as my birthplace or the place I grew up in or the place I badly want to visit. Its not a tourist destination like Mussorie or Manali. Its not a better place for business than Mumbai, nor is it a piligrim center like Madura or Madurai. I don't know why but it caught my attention and imagination. I was sure I would just finish of my two month work there and leave until I set my feet on the Bengalurian soil three months ago. But the Garden city proved otherwise. Whether it is because it is a multi cultured city with non-Kannadigas more than the native Kannada speakers, or because it is green, or because it was the wonderful two months I spent for a project there, I am happy I went to the 'silicon valley' of India.

I did and do feel that Bangalore is nothing like Hyderabad. For one thing, it is very costly. Secondly, I did not find in Bangalore, as much variety of eatables and cuisine at desired rates as I did in Hyderabad. But the most important thing in complete contrast to Hyderabad is, Bangalore sleeps too early, by ten in the night. I was almost struck in one end of the city at 9:40 PM when I saw that the roads were deserted and the transport facility was minimal. And I wanted to go to the Majestic, the central railway station! However, the chief minister of Karnataka kindly allowed pubs to be open as long as one in the midnight. But in Hyderabad, you get buses even at 11:30 in the night.
The climate is nothing like Hyderabads. It is supposed to rain in the rainy season. Be cold in the winter and summers should be hot! But if the temperature does not touch 40 degrees in mid summer, it is a condemnable act!! How do we enjoy the first rain if the summer is not hot?!!?

The food is not as varied as in Hyderabad. Those people know only to add onion and tomato in almost everything. Every possible food item. I ate so much tomato that I got bored of tomatoes now. But I loved the native Thatte Idli. It is very good. One has to eat it in bangalore. The Dharwad peda and Mysore Dosa are quite famous. But Thatte Idli is to be eaten. So is Bisse bela baath. In the end, it is the native food items that are very good. And coffee. Speaking of natives, all the "natives" I met are people who migrated from Andhra Pradesh and long settled in Bangalore. This Kempegowda-built city is full of telugu people and gardens! Every one kilometer or so, you find a garden. Especially the feeling one experiences while walking along the side paths of Indiranagar and through its gardens at six in the morning is wonderful. Every road is lined with trees on either side. And there are footpaths too. And you don't find encroachment of the footpaths by the hawkers and vendors.

Though I do not belong to the field and do not appreciate it, I could do nothing but marvel at the size of population that was involved in the IT field and the separate section of the city devoted for it. But Bengaluru is not only an IT hub. I felt it is the science hub of the country too. The Indian Institute of Science and the Raman Research Institute still give me the goosebumps. They are grand. One appreciates research as soon as he steps into this wonderful institute. I used to just go and sit under that tree of C.V.Ramans at RRI. It is a beautiful institute. I need not mention the science museum or the planetarium. And Bangalore is the aerospace hub of the country. ISRO, NAL, HAL all are based in this city. So, it is wrong to call it just the IT hub of the country. Or silicon valley of India to that matter.
It is Bangalore. Bengaluru! Namma Bengaluru

True, my stay in this city was only for two months and I have seen so less of it to either say good or bad about it. But fifty days is good enough to get nostalgic about this simple, yet a five hundred year, grand old city. I did not like the food and climate here, though every 99999/100000th person does. But I did like the city.
Maybe because of Dr.Kirit Yajnik, the guide I worked with in those two months at National Aerospace laboratories, maybe it is because of F.R.I.E.N.D.S, old and newly made. Or maybe because it is due to the wonderful sense of music the city has. The art galleries I visited. The brilliant music concerts I attended. I enjoyed listening to music, be it Carnatic or western classical or rock. Maybe it is the magic of the city. It accepts everything and everybody and does not ask you where you are from!

Namma team...RCB!!

Blotting out Boundaries...Raagas everywhere!!

"His father was in the foreign service. They used to move places. Hence he got to see various countries, their cultures, history, monuments, music. Well, one thing which bothered him the most was that where ever he went, he was asked the same question!! "Where are you from?" He never knew or cared.
" Does it really matter??, he always pondered!

It was on one occasion when they moved to that wonderful city which he instantly felt that welcomed him. It was in this beautiful Bangalore city that he met her. He met her in a rock concert. He observed that she was a trained classical singer which shocked him. He did not expect a classical singer to appreciate rock and definitely did not expect her to be humming the tunes of Joachim Andersen! The thing which attracted him the most to her was that she did not ask him where he was from! She didn't mind.
"Does it really matter??", she asked!

Soon, they were spending time together discussing music, she singing and explaining, him listening and trying to understand. His interest and enthusiasm appealed her. She used to ask him to meet her at dawn. The sunrise of the rainy season was a bliss with a canopy of green above the street and a carpet of the fallen golden flowers on the street. "What raaga better than lalit at dawn?," said she," 

A song in the raaga lalit is what the soul craves for at this point of time as the narrator sets us in the middle of a golden Bangalore street lit by the orangish glow of the early morning sun with the sky filled and not so filled by clouds! This was how the narration went on during a lovely concert I attended in this nice city (honestly, this concert changed my attitude towards Bangalore, believe me!) Vidushi Chaitra Sontakke and company...enthralled a packed auditorium with an equal number of people sitting and standing. The Mohana Veena was instrumental in that musical journey.

The thing I liked the most about the concert, "Raagas everywhere" organised by the Bangalore International Center( an initiative by The Energy Resources Institute) was that not only did it have a blend of Hindustani, folk, Sufi and western classical, but the narration, the raagas which were sung accordingly, to match the situation, only to make the imagination that came with it very memorable. One more thing I liked about the concert is the way the lead singer moved her head in an inclination, with a faint smile on her face, raising her head by a small angle upwards in a swift action, in a nodding sense to her colleague on Tabla signalling him to start dancing his fingers on those thin membranes.

There was western classical too. The Italian Opera. "He moved to Italy. "Wow, the birth place of the Violin and the Piano!!,"she said. Music has no boundaries. It is all about learning, loving and leaving." The song went to Shud Kalyan raag(I guess) in India and some Opera song in Italy. They were the same(yeah, cool!) So, they did a bit of fusion. But when both of them were mixed, I did not like it much. I feel the song of a Nightingale is beautiful on its own as is the trumpeting of an Elephant on its own. But I am not sure if one can mix them both. However, the sounds of a nightingale and a squirrel might make a good combination (spring evenings!) One should know what to fuse together. I guess they did a good job!

The concert ended with the raag Madhuvanti, the raag of love. Oh! did it end? I guess it marked a new beginning. It broke apart boundaries and brought down Kilometers by a factor of ten raised to five!!

"You know what I liked the most about you?" He asked her. "The fact that you never asked me where I am from!" He told her on that sound instrument which keeps distances close by.
Yes, it doesn't really matter! 

Nandi Hills...Trekkers Joy!

Nandi Hills

Location: 30 Kms from Bengaluru on the Hyderabad highway

Conveyance: Unfortunately, own vehicle, I haven't seen any public transport on the way. There are buses till one point and from there, auto rickshaws I guess! Cycling enthusiasts can cycle till there(but can't trek!!)

Take these along: Biscuits, water and dry fruits. There is nothing around!

The Nandi Hills!

For those from Bengaluru and surrounding places, who are going for trekking in the Himalayas, there is this wonderful place called Nandi hills which can be used for practice. The hill looks like a bull it seems. Good enough! Those, serious about trekking, do not take the usual routine route which everyone follows. There is one hill called, Skandagiri(source:unknown) which once had a small size fort. The normal route is simple and might take an hour to reach the peak. The different and difficult path takes longer and is quite enjoyable. At one point, you get struck with no rock offering proper grip to hold. At one point, the path is extremely thin and full of thorns. You cannot escape but get pricked by these thorns a multiple places. Then there are rocks as smooth as, I don't know, but they are smooth and the thing is, once you start climbing there is no going back the same way except there might be rolling down the same way. Not something we want to happen!

Will look gorgeous when its green!!

As steep as it seems to be!!

Then there is this merger with the routine route. Here, one can find the remains of an old, small fort, if you want to call it one. There are people selling nice buttermilk. Some more easy trekking, you will reach the peak. All throughout the journey upwards and even from the top, it is very scenic. Especially just before the harvest time, when there is this green carpet down. It's beautiful. The wind is very strong here. Probably because there are few hills which are slightly apart! Two old structures are on the top. There is a temple and a big Nandi outside and a small Nandi inside the temple!! Can spend half an hour or so until you get bored of the continuous strong wind and return. Its very important that one takes the routine route to go down. 

Beautiful & the pond has 'Doctor Fish!!'

Then, two Kms in the return journey, there are places to see. Famous civil engineer and Bharatratna, Sir.M.Viswesvarayya's birth place is here and there is a bea..utiful temple of Bhoganandiswara. Especially the Kalyani is superb. One can, apart from the peace in a rush-less temple, get this "Fish Pedicure" by Doctor Fish in the pool of the temple!! I can bet that after the long trek, one gets very very hungry and the temple offers free Prasad(food) to all. It's delicious. And hot too, plus, you will be definitely hungry. All this finishes by the afternoon. By around three or four, one can reach the heart of Bengaluru. This is recommended for a one-day entertainment!

Caution: Go, only if you are fit for and will enjoy trekking. Start in Bengaluru by around six am. Eat a heavy breakfast and go. If you feel you should not eat before trekking, be prepared to get nothing to eat after the trek as well (you could take food packets if you wish!). Most importantly, wear proper shoes and never sandals. Do not hesitate to remove shoes at some places.

Venkatappa Art Gallery, a steal for nice history!!

With the Cubbon park, the Viswesvarayya Science Museum, the Chinnaswamy Stadium, Planetarium around, the Venkatappa Art Gallery might not feature on 'must-visit' list of those who plan to go around the city of Bengaluru. But, this museum and art gallery are definitely worth going and taking a look! Definitely it is a steal for nice sculptures, paintings and antiquities at four rupees an entry ticket.

First, in the ground floor, it is excavation findings like pottery, stones and iron tools from Mohenjodaro and also surrounding areas. Items from the Mauryan age, Chalukya age, Satavahana dynasty and the Mayura Sharma, the first kannada king of Coorg. Of course, like any other museum in India, there are the swords, knives, blades, shields and cannon shells. I wonder, why do we not find things like a yarn spinning machine, or a printing machine. There were pot making things and others but, somehow I feel that Indians spent time mostly fighting. Even if we see our Puranas too, they are all full of wars! Of course, we were quite developed in that field(not anymore!!)

Then, in the first floor, one can see various music instruments like Coorg drum, Kinara Veena, Makhara Veena, bagpipe, Nagaswaras, flute etc.. of those times (which time? Don't ask!) Then, there are good paintings of Rama Pattabhisheka (swearing-in ceremony of Ram as king), Gajendra Moksh and an extraordinary set of paintings which describe the entire Ramayana. There are paintings from various times like the Mughal, Mysore, Amer, Kaushambhi, Vijayanagar etc..
There are sculptures of Buddha, Siva, Ganesha, Dhanvantari, Surya, Durga etc.. from various dynasties especially the Vijayanagar dynasty.

Then, since it is a government museum, you get archaeological publications to buy. Then, there is a nice cafeteria offering snacks and meals at reasonable rates. There is McDonald's opposite the art gallery. So, one can plan to go here during lunch time. There is nice tree cover too.
By the way, entry is not allowed into the museum when there is a power cut!!

To Sachin, with love

Dear Sachin,

I remember that evening in 2010 when I was nervously strolling around, listening to the commentary on the radio about probably my favourite innings of yours in Hyderabad against Australia. I clearly remember that the highest score by teammates after your mammoth 175 was just 63. Similarly, I remember a match against Pakistan in 2004 in which the second highest scorer after your 141 was a mere 36!! This is the problem with you Sachin. When you play well, when you are on song, everybody including the non-striker just wants to watch you do that. To see you hit those unbelievably mesmerising cover drives, leg glances and pull shots.

My parents tell me that when I was a kid, I used to ask if I ate, walked, talked or even dressed up like you!! We grew up like that. Playing only one sport and praying to only one person, Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar. If our previous generations had the pleasure of watching your Old Trafford, Sydney, Perth and Sharjah performances, we had the privilege of enjoying your 'Nataraja Dance' against Pakistan in the 2003 world cup, your century vs England in Chennai and your extraordinary innings to help India win the Commonwealth Bank series in 2008.

Thank You for being there Sachin. Every good innings of yours must have inspired lakhs of people. There is a M.S.Dhoni, a Virat Kohli and a Bhuvanesh Kumar in them. Why, your presence in the dressing room is enough for young team mates to enter the ground confidently. Your presence in the team is enough for 120 crore people to watch the match. Your presence in 'Cricket Cards' game is enough for a confirmed win!!

I need not talk about the records you set in Cricket. I am sure they will not be broken any time soon. But yes. They maybe broken in the coming years. For you have shown how to bat well. All the way from a bowler dominated era few years back to a batsmen dominated time now-a-days. But, I daresay that one can only try to break your records but cannot even think of setting new ones. They have to remain envious of you!!

Finally, I want to say that you have not just entertained us with your bat but you have taught us a lot. To be humble, to be ethical and successful(I remember you rejecting a huge campaign offer only because it was a liquor ad) You have taught us to bounce back. To reply, not in words but in actions. Your recovery from the tennis elbow injury is a motivating story. Even now, when you are bidding good bye, you are teaching us to end things in elegance.

Wankhede will be worried. Sydney will be sad. Sharjah will shun away all matches. Lord's will be lost for words for not being able to witness your run flow. Thank you by the way for making your retirement step wise. We can now be in a feel that you got injured and are not playing for sometime. Otherwise, we would be shocked, for who will show us those beautiful cover drives, upper cuts, googlies, flippers and that glowing face. "Whadddaplayer you are!!"

Truly,
One of your devotees in the religion of cricket.

P.S: Please do not come back as a commentator. We cannot bear to see you as anybody except SACHIN-The CRICKETER!!

This letter is published in The Hindu on 15 November 2013(http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/letters/the-little-master/article5351948.ece). Since this is my first letter that made to the papers and since it is about Sachin, now awarded BHARATRATNA, I am advertising a lot about it!!

My Top Authors

I love reading. Coming to stories, I love the Ramayana and the Mahabharata and some other such fantastic stories but in the present century writings, I am an avid reader of novels, most of them fiction. I have read many good books and here are few comments about my best ten authors.

10. Charles Dickens

Author of my first novel, "Great Expectations." That is all. I still remember from this book that one should not put the knife but fork in mouth while eating. Apart from that I haven't been much into his novels. But I love his "Christmas Carol" too. 

9. Arthur Hailey

I read his book called "Flight into Danger" when I was bedridden due to Jaundice. A small but really beautiful book. Then I ended up reading two more books, "Detective" and "Strong Medicine" of the same author which were intriguing in their own way!

8. Allistair Maclean

I read his "Night without End" while travelling in a crowded train on a hot May morning. Believe me or not, I was shivering. The book is based on incidents that take place in Greenland. His style of writing is not something out of ordinary but he just makes us look through the hero's eyes and doesn't bring out of the scenes.

7. Alfred Hitchcock

I do not remember how many times I read his "Three Investigators- Secret of the Silver Spider" book at once. Such was the brilliance of the book. The "simple but dangerous" adventures of the juvenile detectives were just amazing.

6. Jeffrey Archer

Not a KANE more, not an ABEL less is necessary to describe about this author. But my favourite part of his writings is that he knows where to be humorous, sarcastic and serious. His books are almost always smooth flowing and cool to read.

5. Sidney Sheldon

The protagonist is always the scapegoat...we feel sorry for him..sorry it is mostly 'her' right!! But this man is too deep. Everything is too intense. From executing violence to expressing love, he does a lot of research I guess. Sometimes the suspense in his novels is so out of imagination.

4. Dan Brown

The scientist, professor, doctor, federal agent what not. He seriously does his research. More than the novel, the information about various things ranging from Monalisa painting to fluorescent bacteria to Dante Alighieri, I learned more history and science than I did in some of my classes!!

3. Amish Tripathi

He is the "Indian Rick Riordan." Like Dan Brown, he does his research. Excellent research. The way he mixed fiction with Indian Mythology, History and Geography is just mind blowing. He answered many questions about the system in India. I would suggest people to read his "Shiva Trilogy". Just brilliant it is!!

2. J.K Rowling

Yes. The waiting is over. She is on the list. She should be on top. No doubt about that. Forget her other books. The Harry Potter series is worth a thousand other novels. What's not in that new world? Humour?Adventures? Values? I have to give atleast seven pages to write about those seven brilliant books!! One of the best books I have read. This series is for everyone. All must read this series. That's it. No more discussions!!

1. Suryadevara Ramamohana Rao

I put at the first place the man who wrote about what I wanted to become. How to succeed with simple common sense. What it is to be an entrepreneur. Stories about people who have come to the best position from the worst possible position. I am so inspired by his book, "Trinetrudu" that I started eating less salt after reading his book. This is probably the best fiction book I have ever read!!

These are the top ten. There are many other good writers who I encountered. each with a style of their own. A super style that too!!  

A Storm's Coming!!!

Hi everyone,

yesss
I have entered.... and for the first time that too!

I will post about various things ranging from Cricket to Cleopatra, from Physics to Philadelphia, from Quantum Mechanics to Qutub Minar, from Religion to Rowling, from Battle of Panipat to Boundary conflicts, from crumbling Economy to clint Eastwood, from Ecological balance to Engineering science, from dashing Indian Companies to melting Icecaps,and from the universe of Music to Milkyway Galaxy...... woah a long list!!!!
In an appreciable sense, I blog about "anything and everything".... anyway that's what blogging's meant for isn't it?

If my posts are knowingly/unknowingly directed towards anybody/anything in particular...it is meant to be!!

Any comments, corrections, debates are happily encouraged and hopefully I will frequently and periodically keep updating my blog.

Overall, I guarantee you total entertainment and true information!!   :) :)