Ferronda

Guy who lives in the opposite house drives a black 2010 Honda City.

Maintains it well & had my respect because he had kept it so wonderfully stock .... that is, until this morning when I saw the yellow Scuderia Ferrari sticker under the right indicator. Why can't people stop being wannabes & just let things be?

Fantastic weather today. Blue skies with a hint of Cirrus & a wonderfully cool breeze. Bangalore weather at it's best.

The Monsoon arrives

Gulmohurs are in full bloom even as the Monsoon settles in over Bangalore.

Weather's faaan

It has been an unusually hot summer for Bangalore this year with temperatures touching the late 30s & the sun beating down harsh whenever one steps outside.

But there has been a change since the last week or so. It's pleasant during the day & a cool breeze blows during the evenings .... in short, the Bangy weather we all know & love. Maybe it's the coming of the monsoon .... hope it stays this way for sometime.

Whazzat?

O
MG
WTF
STFU
PWNED

Spotted the above eye chart at the Devi Eye Hospital on the way to work. An optician with a wicked sense of humour?

Ducati Multistrada

.... at the office parking lot!

Total Mall

... used to be my hangout during 2008 - early 2009. Being so close to the office, we'd drop in ever so often for a burger, shopping or just plain timepass. Then, the recession kicked in, the team was downsized & I had to leave the cosy confines of M4.

And before I realized it, it had been 10 months since I had last stepped into the place. Till today, that is, when Shanu came up with the idea of a visit to the nearest McDonald's. Reached there around 6:30 in the evening. And I was not prepared for the changes.

The roads & general infrastructure outside have improved from their previous state of perennial construction & reconstruction. Good. But inside, it's a different story. The luxury store from where I'd got my G-Shock has long gone. Replaced by three different discount readymade stores. All pretty downmarket. Huge contrast.

The ground floor MusicWorld is gone too. A horde of trinket & cheap jewellery stalls have taken it's place. Not very appealing. The CCD outlet still manages good business, but is crowded out from view by icecream parlours & ladies bag stalls. Plus, there's a stall advertising spoken English courses & another selling roach poison! The Reebok showroom lies empty & desolate. And no sign of the Levi's outlet which used to be there near the lifts.

There's a new John Players store ... but that's about the only positive. All in all, a pretty huge trade down for the mall's image. But I guess they've got to do what they've got to do. Footfalls were probably never enough to support those stores in the first place.

Had my Chicken Maharaja Mac & moved out. Things have changed pretty fast.

saved

Speeding down the back road near Silk Board junction. A kid, looking left, starts crossing the road .... from the left. About 5 metres ahead of where I am.

The guy standing near the tea stall understands the situation, whirls around to see what happens. Not that there's anything he can do. The kid is still oblivious.

The rear brake is pressed hard. The wheel locks .... the first screech ensues .... the kid whirls around, his eyes widen. The bike starts skidding to the right. I squeeze the front brake lever harder while upshifting quickly.

The kid has halted by now. I'm about a meter from him .... but I've managed to point the bike away from him. The kid stands frozen. I realize it's gonna be okay as I almost come to a standstill. He's saved by a couple of feet.

It all happens in a couple of seconds. I rev into 2nd & ride away.

Holi

YPR - TATA

Early morning. The 21st of December, 2009. The YPR-HWH is scheduled to arrive at KGP at 4:05 AM. Having slept till noon during the day, I keep tossing and turning on the upper berth till about 12:30 AM. I have a nagging suspicion that the train is running late. My connector to JSR, the Purushottam arrives at KGP at 4:40 AM. It will be touch and go.

Awake at around 2:30 AM. Am down & ready by 3:30 AM. There's 1 guy at the door of the 3rd AC already. The usual conjecturing about the platform number takes place. We pause for some time near the huge Loco Shed on the outskirts of KGP station. The air is nippy .... the I-am-near-home feeling arises .... I've spent the last 38 hours inside the stuffy compartment.

Finally we pull in. I step down on the platform .... it's exactly 4:05 AM! We are on platform 3 .... start walking toward the shaded part .... it's a relief I won't have to lug the unbelievably heavy VIP all the way to the waiting room like I had to in 2007 & 2008. Reach a tea shop & ask the vendor where the Purushottam comes in. He replies it comes in right on this platform. Cool. Ask him for a cup. It's good to hear Eastern Indian Hindi after a long time.

The announcements for various trains are on. No mention of my train. As I finish the tea, the YPR-HWH begins moving out. Even as it picks up speed, the voice over the PA system announces my train number .... it's on time & coming in within 10 minutes .... super!

I move over to the platform's edge & peer into the direction I think it will be coming in from. Obviously it should be the direction in which the YPR-HWH just went since, JSR is the other way. And suddenly, it's in .... coming in from the JSR side! I'm confused .... is this the other train, coming from Delhi? Anyway, let's check the reservation chart .... which turns out does not have my name on it. Hop on to the coach anyway.

# 55, a side lower is my reserved berth. And it's empty. Good. The caretaker appears .... I confirm with him .... yes, this train does go on to JSR. Sit down, make myself comfortable & pull out the Walkman. Daddy calls & confirms my position. And then the train lurches backward .... going back in the direction it entered the station .... no wonder the halt here is for 25 minutes .... the engine was changing ends.

All is well as we pick up speed. It's close to 5 in the morning but it's inky black outside. I let it sink in .... my last rail journey as a bachelor .... Belinda Carlisle sings 'Circle In The Sand' on the earphones. Time passes quickly. The train shoots past stations draped in darkness with the exception of the lone signalman holding up the signal lamp with it's blinking green LEDs.

And then I spy it, around an hour after the train left KGP, dawn is breaking over the horizon. I seem to be the only one awake on the train. And then it keeps on getting brighter. We cross the state border, Chakulia passes, Ghatshila too, it's overbridge clearly visible now. Govindpur appears, I pack up the Walkman. The journey home is always the sweetest. Stand at the door ..... the electric loco shed appears & soon we have halted at platform 3. JSR, good ol's JSR.

So everything worked out according to plan. The departure, the journey, the connection & the arrival. Daddy is there looking tired. We take the overbridge, Daddy pays 10 bucks to the coolie who asks for 20. I pay him off & sit in the car. I've come home for something big .... let's start it off on a good note.

The route home is dusty as usual. On arrival, Ratan uncle is on the driveway with Chhotu. Am meeting him after around 20 years. And Y Fi greets me inside. Her affection is real & touching .... unlike a lot of others in the family. I am home.

Uninor

Boards sporting the Uninor logo are popping up already. The company hasn't even launched!

It joins a slew of recent launches in the getting-crowded Indian telecom sector .... DoCoMo in July & MTS last month.

Now let's see, how many does that make here in Bangalore ....

1. Airtel
2. Vodafone
3. Reliance Communications
4. Reliance Mobile
5. BSNL
6. Aircel
   
7. Virgin
8. Tata Indicom
9. Tata DoCoMo
10. Spice
11. Idea
12. MTS
13. Uninor

.... holy .... telecoms! A dozen operators for mobiles alone! No wonder India has the cheapest call rates in the whole wide world.

Winter monsoon

Last Monday was when I posted about the seasonal cycle moving into Autumn.

Well Tuesday onwards, the depressing gray skies are back over Bangalore. There seems to be a depression over the sea near Chennai & it's given rise to the worst possible weather ..... where it never rains proper, just stays dark & gloomy with intermittent showers.

I hope the sun is out again soon.

Autumn

It's a much better sight through the helmet visor .... the rays of the early morning sun streaming through the roadside tree branches .... compared to the dull gray cloudy weather that predominates over Bangalore during July - September. The season of crisp morning sunshine is back again.

I seem to have developed a liking for Autumn over time .... it somehow reminds me of Durga Puja, Diwali & picnincs.

Bump!

I have to hit ~ 26 speed bumps & face 4 traffic signals on the 10 km commute to work everyday. One way.

Working @ Ahmed Plaza

Having been placed on the 'free pool' in these now deadly dangerous recessionary times, while IT companies are laying people off using whichever excuse possible .... the opening (& subsequent call up) from Infotech came like a huge relief.

It meant that I'd have to work at Ahmed Plaza - a small company facility that I'd never paid much attention to on the way to the EC campus. Reported there on 6th July probably. Jayamohan came across as the professional boss .... somebody for whom work came first .... fair enough. I liked his introductory talk though.

Then there were the colleagues .... Mantuno, Prashant and Rahul. Though Rahul wasn't on our project, he would always accompany us on our tea/coffee breaks. These 3 were some of the nicest guys I've ever met. I won't forget the numerous chat sessions we had while having coffee outside the office and often under the Bangalore Elevated Tollway flyover between pillar nos 196 and 197!

The work was mostly forgettable ..... calling up Deepak who was in Delhi & forever reluctant to take our calls, alongside Puneet, whom I somehow never got around to liking. Apart from this there was work on the prototype and .... that was about it.

The memories that stand out are those of the food .... it was horrible. I lost a few kilos in the 2 months I was there. And of course, the announcement of the technology change .... 'the client has decided not to go ahead with xxx platform since they don't want to spend on the licenses' .... effectively placing those of us who had just transferred in from Technologies & didn't want to relocate to Gurgaon/Hyderabad exposed to the vagaries of the free pool once again.

Anyway, all that's over now ..... Sarjapur is a far better place - food-wise; traffic-wise; facility-wise and 'greenery'-wise.

But there's one thing about A.P. that I'll miss .... the fantastic views just across the boundary walls. After all, how often does one get to see stuff like this ....



.... yup, a yard full of spanking new Beemers belonging to the adjacent BMW dealer.

The Swine Flu hype

With a number of people succumbing to the disease over the last few days, this sight is becoming common across most Indian cities.

Swine Flu ...

..... is the biggest thing on the news since the past few days.

Something tells me India's gonna remain unaffected .... just like it was the last time they had that whole ballyhoo about Bird flu.

The Google logo today, on the occasion of Samuel Morse's birthday. Superb!

Much Music

Came home this evening at the end of a tedious week & ahead of a long weekend (tomorrow, Friday, is Good Friday). Had thought of watching the cam print of Fast and Furious I'd downloaded, but couldn't get myself to (blame aXXo for having spoiled me).

Checked up on IndiaFMS on a lark. Since the tussle between Bollywood producers & multiplex wallahs began about a month back, new OST releases have ground to a halt. Today was no different. So checked up on the HipHop section .... and found Bohemia's latest release. Initial impressions are positive.

Had dinner.

Continued surfing around while running the Smokin' Aces climax scene in the background to hear the OST. Then thought of searching for that particular track cause it really stood out. Torrents weren't in plenty & the 1 torrent available had just 1 Canadian seeder (bless him/her) with the track that I wanted .... missing! Anyhow, kept searching, serendipity ensued & esnips came to the rescue. Finally found it. Much respect to Clint Mansell for his compositions.

It wasn't the end of finding cool stuff though. One of the links related to Clint that I looked up also had mention this film. And so I decided to check it out ..... and it turns out to be Johnny the Depp's upcoming release! Directed by Michael the Mann, no less! Must watch is a foregone conlusion for this movie.

The trailer has a cool background track towards the end with a very catchy Banjo track. It turned out to be Otis Taylor's 'Ten Million Slaves'. A new artist was thus discovered. I had to rip the track off off youtube though. And I'm not complaining.

So .... much music ..... what would my life be without it?

Google Suggest

Google has made the 'suggest' feature available as default on its home page since yesterday. I don't know if it's only for India or worldwide. Quite nifty.