Few clicks around Manyata

 That's ELM

Manyata @ Night 

 

 @ Fire drill

Mantaya @ Night 

2013... New Year Resolution

Its 30-Dec-2012, 10 am. Climate outside my room is moist as it is Rim-Zhim drizzling since yesterday afternoon, rather evening. This chillifies the room temperature as well. :) The combination makes it to be the best time to chalk down plans and resolutions for the coming year. Well, I was thinking about these since a while now, got some suggestions from family and friends about what's not & what's hot. And when it comes to me, what's on the hit-list is the following: (It's a huge list, so you may think of reading green headlines and then choose those that you like to read)

1. Stay as much as possible in India. Atleast during first half of the year. Passport has already been stamped with 5 (or 6) Schengen Visas and one Russian, so better the world take a back seat and India comes at the front. That means “No” to foreign assignments for time being. Stay in India and be Indian is the mantra.

2. Prepare for House warming and get it done in first weeks of February. This is for the new home @ Pune. Well, this is an apartment that I have bought an year & half back and keys are with me since 6 months now. Whenever I speak about House-warming, my mom claims that she wants to see me with a partner for that. But since nothing is at the horizon, better to take it up. I mean why to make the home wait..
   
   
3. Get Vaishnavi, Krunal and mom to Bangalore on a short trip, especially during IPL season. I remember our first experience at PWI vs KXIP then the second one at RR vs PWI. In fact the latter one was at Pune and we were only people supporting RR in the stand. Next one has to be on 20^th April, when RCB battles RR. Both teams are my favs.
   
   
4. Experience the Bangalore night life. Tango Callyspo is on the list. Got an invite from there so would probably consider. Well, I have never been to a disc or pub in Bangalore so this would be the first time.
   
   
5. Own a car for Bangalore. Chevrolet Beat, Indica Vista and VW Polo are on the list. For Bangalore, Chevrolet Beat is my favorite. It's sporty, sturdy and swift, hopefully a good fit for Bengaluru conditions. And, I would get to use something that I have worked on, a GM family of cars. There are too many other cars around but GM, Tata and VW are special to me as I have contributed to them in some very small ways.
   
   
6. If it's on cards and stars shine bright then get married. My mom and sis are after me. Mom has shown me tens of proposals so far. They are ready to run a matrimonial account by my name. For me, nothing is at the horizon at the moment. But to be honest, I have got enough of this single-lifestyle and want a change. But before that let me commit that I want to fall or rise in love. I want some one who would care for me and the one whom I would care for. Am I sounding like a Wannabe? Hey, come on, give me break!!
   
   
7. Look better, be healthy. Stay on improvement path. It was all running after career during past years. Now, I look back and think about have I cared for myself. If not, now its the time.
   
   
8. Previous GMAT score is void, so prepare for GMAT. It's better to have a valid score. The way that I have to climb, I know I will need a valid one.
   
   
9. Keep up the work going as it has been since past several years. Looking ahead for another high. My work responsibilities were at a peak during Nov-2011, thereafter 2012 was the year of change. When it comes to money, I have seen over about 350% rise in 5 years. So for 2013, 1.5 mio is within eye-sight.
   
   
10. Add one more trek experience. I have done this climbing some forts in Maharashtra during school & college days. I have also been in woods in Germany. And now the most recent one was Kodachadari. Though, I dont do it as professionals do. For me, trek is more about fun, waterfalls, scenic beauty, small peaks and a group outing. So looking for one more of its kind.
    
    
11. Attend a live music concert. Honestly speaking, I have never attended the one before. Only ones were local groups performing during college days. So wish to attend one. I wish MLTR or Taylor swift or George Michael walk on Bangalore streets this year.
    
    
12. Watch out for films. Dhoom 3, Top Gun 3D, Iron Man 3, Safe Heaven, The Wolverine and The Great Gatsby are on the list.
    
    
13. Go-karting at Patels Inn. Don't know, if its only for kids or I can get my hands on it. Not sure about this at the moment.
    
    
14. Look out for badminton activity near-by and join the group.I used to play Badminton during my school days with Anupam, Arvind, Suhas and others. And then occasionally. So I would love to continue that now.
    
    
15. Deliver 6 modules at toastmasters. I am new to this Toastmasters concept. Though so far I have delivered two speeches. First one was “Am I...? I am...” and the second one being Table-topics speech “HR career after Engineering”. So, I am looking ahead towards completing 6 speeches during the year 2013.
    
    
16. Keep control over the tongue and let it not free-flow. Well here I am. I was a very talkative school-kid and then a very silent youngster. But now, its like I have turned back to talkativeness and hence its very important for me now to think well and weigh my words before I deliver them.  
    
    
17. Join the guitar class. Ahh!! This has always been on the list and not yet realized  I like to hear to music. And when it comes to songs like “Hotel California by Eagles”, those are my favs. So I have some kind of elevated mind towards Guitar but never gave it a try thinking it would be very difficult. Can I do it in this year? Lets see..
    
    
18. Author a book. It first started with “Improving my English vocabulary” and then as “Means to explain my thoughts”. That is how I turned to blogging. Now I wish to take it to another level and come out with a book. I have started thinking of it since 3 months now, have a plot in my mind, but the story is stuck in-between, just not moving ahead. Need some more time to get it done.

That's a pretty good and big list. I am sure that I would need enough of motivation to score it. Looks like I was to do everything that is around. Shoes are on, laces are tied, my check-list is prepared and I am ready to hit the road. 2013, here I come...

I will keep on posting my experiences through blogs but as I said, it really needs lot of inspiration to scribble over pages and publish true life experiences. I have done this in the past, then dropped for a considerable time and now I am on it again. And hence I mean it. So I hope I stay inspired for the next blog and thanks to ones who inspire me to write. Till then, CYA...

Here is Hotel California for readers... Eagles playing Guitar at its best

Epic SOTY dialogues... read n njoy :)

I am at home during this weekend on long Christmas vacation. Saw SOTY 2-3 times with Vaishnavi and these epic dialogues came by when I and Vaishu tried to recall them :)

Check if you could get them as well ;)

Abhi2 Coach Shah - "Maangi hui cheez lautani padti hai Sir, main kamaana chahta hoon..”

ABC: Aamir Bache Plus unke Chamche

Sho - Thik lag rahi hoon naa main  ???

Ro - Mandir chaale :)

Shruti2Sho - Kya kar rahi ho Sho... Teri Jodi Rab ne nahi, Aamiroon ke club ne banayi... thoda waqt le, tera dil tujhe jawab de dega !!

Sho - Sab kuch thik hai na LIKE hum dono ke beech :XD

Abhi - No Shonaya, sab kuch thik nahi hai LIKE hum dono ke beech :P

Abhi2Ro - tu kiss toh nahi karega na ?? :|

Ro2Abhi - Saale gale bhi nahi lagunga!! :P :P

Jeet2Ro - Ab main DABANGG hu DABANGG, tera BODYGUARD nahi ! ;/

Abhi2Ro: Style me kabhi kabhi majbuti maar kha jaati hai. Right?

Ro2Abhi - "Akad ki bhi ek aukat hoti hai aur is college mein wo jagah meri hai" ;)

Jeet - Sab kitabe padh rahe hai, par main ek hi chhej padhna chahata hoon, aape ke charan. Help me Mata!!!

Jai Mata di A... Jai Mata di B

Kaizaad Soda bottle Openerwala: Oye teri mata kya exclusive hai, sirf tera hi sunegi

Ro2Abhi - Saale sochna bhi mat, Girlfriend hai meri ... 

Abhi2Ro - Biwi hai meri

Shruti2Sho - Sho2Shruti - Main tumhari jagah hoti naa to main bhi aaisa hi karti...

Ro - Kya kar rahi hoon tum ?

Tanya - Rohan, tum bhi aawajee karo na

Ro - Kya ghanta aawajeen karu main ???

dimpy - gAlat Ghanta !!!

Ro2Abhi - "Dosti karne ki galti toh karli hai maine, toh ab dushmani karne ka mauka bhi nahi jaane doonga, Student of the Year main jeetunga!!" ;| 

Jeet2AirPortCounter - One cheap ticket to Dehradun. Actually very cheap ;)

ForRo: Admission to usne SaintT's me li thi magar degree Vellagiri me kar raha tha

Sho2Tanya: tumhe pata hai na wine ka daag kahi nahi jaata

ForAbhi: Aur phir hui entry Abhimanyu ki jisne tata ke stocks hila diye aur bata ke rates bada diye

Sudo2Abhi: Abe Rohan Nanda, Ashok Nanda uska baap hai, wo uske baap ka beta hai.Abhi2Sudo: Oye chup kar. Itna overacting kyu kar raha hoon. Tu apne baap ka beta nahi hai kya

AbhiAboutRo - Dont worry chachu, iska itna fayda uthaoonga na, bahut peeche chod doonga isseRoAboutAbhi - Abhi toh Blue chip investment hai, dekhna ek din crorepati banake chodega aapko...

Ro2Abhi - Thik hai ya phir se gale laagoo... :')

Ro2Abhi - Thappad aur Compliment ek saath, tere pind me thank you aaise kehte hai kya

Jeet2Abhi: Abe tu aadmi hai ya google

Jeet2Abhi: Aa jate hai khetoon se!!

Abhi2Ro: Ye le 5 saun, gadi saaf kara dena aur sun bach gaye to rakh lena.

Abhi - Tu shanaya se pyar karta hai

Ro - Confused hoon

Abhi - Shonaya ke bare main

Ro - Nahi pyar ke bare me

Abhi - gay Hai ???

Ro - Haan,,, aaja chal aa

Ashok Nanda: Not just one of the leading India's business tucoon, the only India's leading businees tycoon.

Ro2Jeet: Sale ko aapni jagah dikhani padegi

Jeet2Ro: Kyon aapni room me settle nahi hua kya?

Ro2Dimpy: Munni badnam hui par javan nahi, Sheela jawan hui par badnaam nahi, Dimpy, Aaisa kyu, aaisa kyu?

Jeet2Shruti: Tum date nahi late hoon .... What nahi hot... what you are not...

Kya karu hai, coach coach hota hai ;)

coach2Abhi: Ye harkat tumne ki ya kisi aur ka haath tha isme.

Dimpy: Khud ne hi ki hogi na sir, kisi aur ki kya jarurat hai isme

Ro2Abhi: Ae HALO Ae HALO, main tujhsu baat kar raha hu

Sho2Tanya: Hath me pom pom le ke ladkon ke liye chillana mera style nahi hai

Cha uuh ki matra, ta ee ki matra, ya aa ki matra ;)

Ro2Shruti: Shruti, tu aacha bhala ladka tha yaar, bhagwan ki aakh lag gai aur tu paida ho gayi

Dimpy: Pata nahi coach sir kya kya keh rahe the, sidha kah dete be PUNJABI...

Ro - jindagi me kuch banu ya na banu, aapse behetar Dad jarror banunga... DAD !!!

Sapnoon ka kai class nahi hota dad, koi class nahi hota

Ro - Ladki lag rahi hai

Shruti - Maa banane ka asar

Shruti - Tu bhi to kuch ban gaya hai zindagi me

Ro - Baap chodneka asar

Sho - Sab kuch thik hai na LIKE hum dono ke beech :XD

Abhi - No Shonaya, sab kuch thik nahi hai LIKE hum dono ke beech :P

Shruti2Sho - Kya kar rahi ho Sho... Teri Jodi Rab ne nahi, Aamiroon ke club ne banayi... thoda waqt le, tera dil tujhe jawab de dega !!

Dedicated to friends

Hi, just scribbled this quick post, dedicated to friends, while compiling Kodachadri trek photos. What an experience it was to go to climb such high peaks. And that was possible only because of the group of which I was a part. I mean I cant even think of going at such places all by my own. And even if I do, it wont be such a fun. What a journey yaar... Dhamal group, Songs, antakshari, Waterfall, trek, rock climbing, sunrise, sunset, strong winds, valleys and peaks, it had everything :) Once again thanks to those friends whom I accompanied. Without them it would have not been possible.

So, how many such friends do you have? Friends who can push you to climb a hard rock or those who pull your hand and help you get there at the top. Those who are there for you to hold you when you are about to fall. :) You have plenty of them, right? Yes, even I have those. I have friends on whom I can count upon. Wont name them here. But these friends have seen both my good and bad times. They have laughed with me at times and supported me when I was down. I have friends who are in touch though we have not met since 6 long years. To acknowledge a few, I have a friend who had helped me with my engineering exam fees, though amount was returned soon but the gesture to help was critical. I have group of friends who were there to help me stabilize me after my dad's death when I was 21. There are friends who have witnessed my journey from being no-one to being some-one. On the better half, I have friends with whom I have played, roamed around and have done hell lot. I have those friends who were getting married and I was attending their marriage functions. I have a friend, whom I had met during Pune-Bangalore transit and never before, thereafter I was invited by him for a movie. I have some friends, who are ready to search a job for me. I have a friend who had invited me Aachen / Vaals, one who had invited me to Paderborn, one who had invited me to Soest. And I have so many friends whom I met while work and we are still in touch as good friends even if we work at different places now. Trend continues at the current worklace as well. In India, I have friends with whom, I have done those shaitaniyan. I have friends with whom I have shared tipitipi-tip-top games, lagories, lapa-chupies, cricket matches, studies, assignments, exams, songs, movies, eat-outs, treks and much more.

What would I have been without you all? You all are so special to me... You all are those selected few who are as important as my family is to me.

And this is why, I tend to climb heights of craziness when it comes to making new friends. I have seen people who are extremely difficult at times and turn out to be most cheerful. Its like a watermelon or jack fruit. Just natural. Harder from outside and sweet beneath. And you never know, when a person starts getting counted within selected few named as Friends. After all, it said, friends are not made, they just get into your life :) I take this as an opportunity to thank all my friends for making my life better. I have enjoyed being with you. And for this, you deserve some beautiful snaps from Kodachadri, I would upload those in my next post. As said, I am still compiling those. Till then... CYA...Shekhar

Celebrating 12.12.12

People, today is 12-December-2012 and I felt so lucky, proud and astonished when I realized that I have witnessed all these days

01/01/01
01/02/03
02/02/02
02/03/04
03/03/03
03/04/05
04/04/04
04/05/06
05/05/05
05/06/07
06/06/06
06/07/08
07/07/07
07/08/09
08/08/08
08/09/10
09/09/09
09/10/11
10/10/10
10/11/12
11/11/11

and now...

12/12/12

12-December-2012

I have also selected this day for throwing a Bangalore - Joining party @ Amoeba near M G Road to celebrate this day. So that's gonna be interesting evening as I would be along with 20-25 known happy friends :) Wanna join, let me know (sms) by 1.00 pm on my mobile. ( ;) Not everyone has it, so indirectly invitation is for selected few who have my number 8123... )

See you there :)

Jayanagar - Glimpses

Quick snaps of Jayanagar. Though one can ride a bike or take a bus, its fun walking on these streets, which are full of shops. I could have walked almost for 5-6 km or even more than that covering Jayanagar 9th block, 4th block, 4T block and Jayanagar 3rd block. I was there for almost 8 hours (taking bus at intermediate intervals) on 09-Dec-2012.

This is a quiet and calm garden right in the heart of crowded Jayanagar 9th block, 18th Main Road

Try tasting guava (peru), which is red from within, at Jayanagar 4th Block

Liked the pedha from shop called Mishra Pedha — at Jayanagar 4th Block.

Kairi with masala - Never miss this if you are at 27th, 28th or 29th Cross of 9th Main road at Jayanagar 4th block. 

Try some lassi at Jayanagar 3rd block

Perfect evening destination at Jayanagar 9th block main road

Will share such more experiences... Till then... CYA

Good Morning Bangalore!!!

(Note to readers: Please do not get misled by the opening. You have to read the latter half to take a deep dive into it. :) )

Well! It has been close to 3 months now that I have been with you (Bangalore) and you (Bangalore) have kept me wondering about what have you given me. Is it the loneliness that you have gifted me with? Is it the instability that you have put forth across? Or is it the set of stubborn people, unknown faces, crowded walkways and busy streets that you have shown me? Here, I am with full of ambitious plans and hell lot of expectations from the city. But your unknown streets and dicey directions doesn't land me to the place where I can fulfill my dreams. Here, I am to establish a new base, a proper home away from home. But, all that you have given me is a close to 700 sq. ft. hideout that I consider temporary. Here, i am to make new friends and turnaround my life in to the next phase. But it is difficult to find right set of people and when I think that I just found someone then they call me “Psycho” and tend to move on. Don't you think I deserve a little better... ? Don't you think that you are little too harsh on me? Wasn't I far better at Pune? I was staying with my family, had an established base and enjoying my life. But still, I have a long way to go with you. I have lots and lots of ambitions. Expectations from you are much higher. And I am positive about setting up a better life with you, Bangalore. :)

Aahh!! That was all in nutshell about my current encounter with the city of Bangalore. After all, it was my decision to move out of stable Pune life, come to a new place and look upon for improvements from within. All that I had was a job, few old contacts and list of new people to interact with. Though I have massive plans but still I don't know roads those would lead me to my destinations. So I am searching for those. All that Bangalore has given me (as compared to Pune) is TIME. At Pune, I was so much into an established career path, and established social life, that I felt that it would rather lead me to a stagnant life. And I knew that there is hell lot to be done yet. It's not the time to enjoy stability. I'm not that old. I am young enough where I can take up challenges and conquer new heights. Hence, the transition. And Bangalore was just the right place to search for the right combination.

Now!!! Here, I am at Bangalore. Though, I have lot of time for myself. It is as if Bangalore has challenged me. It is saying - “ Look, now you have all the time that you always needed. You have plenty of resources. Now, it's upon you to find the right things to do for yourself.” And, I have decided to take up this challenge. I want to grow, individually, technically, professionally and socially. Individually, I want to get indulged into self grooming exercises. I wish to look better, feel better. I want to be a better human. Technically, maybe now I have all that time to take up those Linux and German language sessions, which I had always kept on lower priorities. Professionally, maybe my new job would further provide me the right platform to unleash my skills and would also get beneffitted from those. I have already started well with TechExpression, Toastmasters and Autosar. And most important, SOCIALLY... This is the place where I am struggling a bit. Though I could get in touch with my old friends over calls, Gtalks, FBs, etc, though Bangalore has gifted me with a good team at office, though I met a new person during Bangalore-Pune transit and now I call him a friend, BUT I am looking around for something more. I am searching for a class.

Today!!!! It's Sunday. Just the right day to explore the city further. Just the right time to find for new likings and visit places. My probable next destination is Bannergatta or Indira Nagar or somewhere in between. So Bangalore... it's game on...

Here is the song dedicated to myself and Bangalorians...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=IN&hl=en-GB&v=BdCpASsqPuk

(People: This was my first post after a long long time. Thanks to Bangalore that has given me enough time and reason to write. And thanks a ton to you for reading the post. I hope you enjoyed. I would keep posting few more of these with my experiences and inform you about them. If you know some good places around Bangalore or some interesting activities to do here, then please put them in comments. This is Shekhar signing out. Till then... CYA... )