January wind up note!

The month of January coming to a close marks the birth[12 January, 1863] of a legend [Swami Vivekananda] and the death[30 January 1948] of a legend[Mahatma Gandhi].

Last week of December I was in Kanyakumari and here is the beauty of the town - it has a Vivekananda Memmorial and Gandhi Bhavan.Sheer co-incidence or was it right there only for this post?

Vivekananda Rock memmorial captured at night in the lights.


The world is the great gymnasium where we come to make ourselves strong. ~ Swami Vivekananda

Gandhi Bhavan with the symbolised charaka!
Anger and intolerance are the enemies of correct understanding. ~ Mahatma Gandhi


I am not a follower of either but thought of sharing some gyan!!

Floral Fantasy - Lal Bagh 2012!

The flower show at the Botanical garden in Bangalore[Lal Bagh] is an event that puts me into a world of imagination. I love the creations and the thoughts that are poured in every year. As a part of the Republic day celebrations this year the glass house is filled with various creative flower arrangements. This show happens to be the 100th exhibition event since Dept of Horticulture started the flower show.

On a pleasant saturday evening, I started off my stroll from the west gate and stopped at the lake which had floating floral boats. It was indeed an amazing view.

South Korean Buddha Stupa is the show stopper this year which is housed in the centre of the Glass house. Made of roses, carnations, Orchids and foliages - a total of over 4 Lakh flowers are used to build this massive 30 feet tall structure.
Alstromeria and Carnations are used to build yet another beautiful Floral flow structure - "Flower Pouring Out of a Pot". The concept in itself is a wow factor. I had only imagined the cartoonic floral fall, but here it stood in real, right in front of me. I was more than mersmerized by the beauty of flowers.
This show also hosted another beautiful concept : Nrityaanjali - Blend of Dance forms from the south and north of India, each depicted with a floral touch. I proudly can say I witnessed floral artistry at one of its best! Local folk dance forms that interests individuals of all kinds were arranged in a very attractive and artistic way. Included forms like Kathakalli, Yakshgana, Dandiya, Bangda, KeeLu Kudure, Manipuri, Karaga, Bharatanatyam,kuchipudi, Odissi, KamsaaLe, DoLLu KuNita,Bamboo dance and more. The flavours was very crisp, clear and apt.


After some clicks amidst the hustle and bustle I walked back towards the exit. Capturing the energy and excitement all around me - that evening is going to be remembered and cherished as an unforgettable journey.

Office chitter chatters!

The new team in office is getting crazy day by day. If you are a part of a team that keeps you smiling and happy, then I guess there is no room for any tension. The task gets done smoothly, with no chaos.

Each of them are unique in their behaviours and traits. However I would like to write about this one "GUY". This GUY falls short on his English vocabulary skills. Well this is not the same guy about whom I had posted last year, but yet another funny sportive fella.

Exactly speaking, his problem goes like this: While he talks in English, his mind frames sentences in Hindi and the final outcome - funny statements and of course roaring laughter. I am not sure if people call this syndrome a kind of dyslexia or some other complex name from the medical dictionary. However the best part of all this is that - he joins the smiles, giggles and innocently says "galti se hogaya yaar!!". Poor chap!

Rock and Roll over these incidents:

1) It was a hectic day at work and the clock was ticking 8 in the night.

Me: "Hey Can you please debug this code for me. I have plenty on my hand?"
GUY: "Mera dhimag hang hogaya hain. I can't do it now"

Dhimag Hang hogaya hain :/

2) It was a testing peer review session , where another team mate was reviewing the testing document created by this "Guy".

Reviewer: " Why is test case #8 not complete and not according to the requirement?"
GUY: "Hey I am rotating my mind for 3 hours on this test case but could not solve it".

Rotating his mind :/ ha ha ha:)

3) One fine day "EmployeeX" was trying to find a colleague "Employee Y" who sits in the cubicle adjacent to this Guy. When the friend approached him to inquire about the lady.

Employee X: Hey do you know where Employee Y is ?
Guy: "Hey she is not in her berth from morning.I dont know where she has gone."

Not in her berth??? :/

4. Once it so happened that our hero had to take a long vacation and he had not planned for it. Another team member already had a planned vacation for the same working days. As a team leader I had to request one of them to compromise on their vacation so as to provide complete support and quality delivery of the assigned projects. This GUY thought for a while and after making some itenery checks on the net he came back to my desk and said "I will trim my leaves and come back in 5 days. not taking 10 days leave".

I was happy on two facts. First on the usage of "trim function"[computer associated terminology]even in his normal sentences and second for shortening his vacation:/

5.There was an audit scheduled of the projects our team delivered and I started randomly reviewing artifacts on the common documents repository. Guess what? The document that I had opened in front of me was created by this GUY. I needed a clarification on one of the artifacts and hence pinged him to stop by my desk for a minute.When he arrived I asked him to help me find a design for a particular business requirement.After a 10 minute search in the repository he says "Uska aur thoda look karna hain. Give me 5 minutes more, I will give you the document".

Look karna hain.. karo bhai look karo!! :/

This guy is very sportive and he has now improved his communication skills and is ever willing to correct his mistakes.

No offence to anyone. This is just for some smiles :) I have posted this after seeking permission from "the Hero".

@ the Mill

Last weekend I had to make a visit to the flour mill. Hmmm we at home have been following the tradition of sun drying the grains and pulses even to this day. Then have it taken to the mill in order to get a flour that is completely free from adulteration is followed.

It was a bright sunny afternoon.While me and mom wait for our turn, a lady (Oops! a Granny) dropped by with a box full of Ragi(a pulse). I was taken aback by her enthusiasm at her age. Mom and me were amazed to see her attire. She was plain and simple, yet charming. The following lines in kannada describes granny at the mill and the zest of her life.




ಹಿಟ್ಟಿನ ಗಿರಣಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಇಳಿ ವಯಸ ತರುಣಿ

ಗಟ್ಟಿತನದ ವರ್ಚಸ್ಸು ನೋಡಿರಿ
ವಯ್ಯಾರದಿ ನುಲಿಯುತಿಹ ಈ ಸುಂದರಿ
ರಾಗಿಯ ಬೀಸಿಕೊಂಡು ಹೋಗ ಬಂದಿಹಳು
ತನ್ನ ಸರದಿಗೆ ಕಾಯುತ ನಿಂತಿಹಳು

ವಯಸಿಗೆ ಮಿತಿಯಿಲ್ಲ
ಸಿ೦ಗಾರಕೆ ಕಮ್ಮಿ ಇಲ್ಲ
ಮುತ್ತೈದೆಯ ಭಾಗ್ಯವಿದೆ
ದೇಹದಲಿ ಶಕ್ತಿ ಇದೆ

ಮನದಲಿ ಸಂತಸ
ಮೊಗದಲಿ ಮಂದಹಾಸ
ಪುಟ್ಟದಾದ ತುಟಿಗಳರಳಿ
ನುಡಿಮುತ್ತುಗಳುರುಳಿ

"ಮಗಳೇ ,
ನಾ ಮೊದಲು ಹಾಕಲೇ " -
ಎಂದಾಗ ,
ಸಿಟ್ಟಿಗೆದ್ದಿದ್ದ ನನ್ನ ಮನ, ಕರಗಿತಾಗ


For the Non-Kannada Readers:)
The poem in short says:-
This old lady has the energy and enthusiasm to live a life to the fullest.No matter what come her way, she sets an example to a happy living and a cheerful life. My irritated soul over some conflicts with the fellow customers While I wait in the queue,could not help but let this old lady go ahead of me when she dearly asked "Hey little kid, can I pour the pulse into the machine first?" Her soft and tender voice let me smile away the irritation and I was happy to wait an extra 5 mintues in the queue.

Sankranti 2012

I had a post on this festival last year : Sankranti 2011

So I thought I would not post anything about the significance of the festival. But then why do we have another post with the title Sankranti? Somethings cooking!! yeah really....

Yes Indeed.

Sankranti Special this year at home - Rice flour sukha roti and
3 layered kaju katli/Barfi.

Rice flour sukha roti:
Ayyo! the recipie is not as complicated as the name goes.It is plain and simple. A dough made from rice flour mixed in boiling water with a pinch of salt. Make small ball of them by smearing a few drops of oil on your palms.Roll them softly and gently after a tap on rice flour. Put the roti on the tawa kept on a medium flame for about a minute on one side . Turn it on the other side.Using a spatula hold the roti right over the flame without the tawa so that the roti pops out nice and fluffy.
3 layered Kaju Katli/Barfi:
For those of you who had watched the Masterchef India episodes of season 2 the name
of the dish may sound familiar. Yeah we made them at home. 3 rich layers of strawberry-kaju, kesar-kaju and badam-kaju - Yummy and more than that. I had never thought it would be so easy to make them. Thank you Ajay Chopra and Vikas Khanna for this wonderful recipie.
How do I forget the Ellu-Bella[Til-Gud/Sesame seeds-Jaggery] that we make here in south India, to mark the harvest season. There is one beautiful click of the mix.
[Picture Courtesy: My sis. She clicks awesome stuff and here is one example]

Cattle gets all attention during this festival. Their horns get some bright paints after a full fresh wash early in the morning. Oil massaged body leaves a beautiful shine on them.The morning that followed Sankranti , as I travel in the usual congested traffic, this pair of cows is what I found on the road waiting for the signal to turn green - all back in business after a fun filled weekend.
Hope you all had a wonderful weekend and an exuberant Sankranti.

ಕಡಲರವಿ!

ಕನ್ಯಾಕುಮಾರಿ! ಭಾರತ ದೇಶದ ತುತ್ತ ತುದಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ನಿಂತು ಸೂರ್ಯಾಸ್ತ ಅಥವಾ ಸೂರ್ಯೋದಯವನ್ನು ನೋಡುವುದು ಒಂದು ಅನರ್ಘ್ಯ ಅನುಭವ. ಈ ಅವಕಾಶ ೨೦೧೧ ರ ಕಡೆಯ ವಾರ ನನಗೆ ದೊರೆಯಿತು. ಆ ಕಡಲ ತೀರದಲಿ ನಿಂತು ನನ್ನ ನಾ ಮರೆತಿದ್ದಾಗ ಮನದಲಿ ಮೂಡಿದ ನಾಲ್ಕು ಸಾಲುಗಳು ನಿಮ್ಮೊಂದಿಗೆ ಹಂಚಿಕೊಳ್ಳುತ್ತಿದ್ದೇನೆ.


ಕೆಂಪಾದ ಆಗಸದಿ ತಕದಿಮಿ ಕೇಳುತಿರಲು
ಕಲ್ಲು-ನೀರ ಸ್ಪರ್ಶದಿ, ಸಂಗೀತ ಸ್ವರವು ಮೂಡಿ
ಕಡಲ ಅಲೆಯ ನಾದಕೆ ಸಂಜೆಯ ರವಿ ನಲಿಯುತಿರಲು
ಬಲು ಚೆಂದ ನೋಡಲು ಮುತ್ತಿಟ್ಟ ಆ ಕಡಲರವಿಯ ಜೋಡಿ


- ಅಶ್ವಿನಿ
Note: I have described the lines that lingered in my mind as I stood watching the sunset at Kanyakumari.

Jan 2012 - Calendar shot

Welcome 2012! The sun rise depicts a new start and so this picture captures the serenity behind the fresh year start. Happy new year all. Hope all of you had a wonderful time.
This time I thought I will let the forum open to write in the unique information of the month January. So what do you know about January. Please do share ..


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