The common four ring, again!

Clicked this baby common four ring today morning in my garden. Quite small fellow, hardly two cm across.But he obliged to pose :)

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Hope you all liked it
Comments welcome :)

Have a great week ahead :)

Signs of life

First signs of life from Chennai !

On the turning away
      Like troops assigned to a tough assignment to faraway lands by fat generals, we arrived in Chennai Last Sunday to fight someone else's war. A waft of humid air hit us. Kinder than I had expected. The captain had announced that the temperature was 30 Deg C which I think is as low as it gets when it is bright. The company had booked a cab till M City, my place for stay for the next two weeks. It would be awesome and inconvenient. Awesome becaurse, my training when I joined Infy was in Mcity, I was really looking to go there, as some one said, its good to go back to old places where you have spent time, and see what has changed, you or the place. Inconvenient, as it is 50 Km from my work place, which means bye bye to 15 min commutes ferried by my bike ,to which I am accustomed. As I stepped out of the airport, I had a big smile on my face. It is really cool to see someone ready to receive you, with a placard which says 'Mr Chandan Karkera, Infosys' :) \m/

Back to M City
The journey to M City was nostalgic, as I retraced the path to the place where me and my friends spent 5 amazing,frightening, unforgettable, hectic and confused months, going through the rigors of Infy training. Posters on fly overs of women in various stages of undress and ecstacy greeted me. It was good to remember names like Tambaram, Marimalainagar, Kattangalattur and I racked my Brain to remember whatever broken Tamil I had picked up and survived :) A flood of memories inundated me , on seeing the house where we had stayed, as Infy had not yet built the hostels in Mcity. Situated right next to the highway, not even a minute from the bus stop and most importantly , contiguous with a Govt liquor outlet, it was proof that the higher power had smiled on us in tough times. All the good times in the house with tempo, chamundi, metre manja, gk and srinath came back. It is because of their awesome company that I survived. Upon reaching, I was a stranger in a strange land again. Building upon building had been spawned and nothing matched my memory. The guest house was extremely good and attended to, my first stay in Infy hostels. Everything, from carpets and towels , to shower caps and soap boxes n sugar sachets have the Infy logo on them :) I spent time roaming alone like a nomad on a cycle, doing a recon mission of campus without a wingman :|

Days of our lives?
   First day of work here, our cab arrived at 7. Breakfast was on the way and the prices were a jolt to reality here. For 60 bucks your stomach is still half empty. Onward travel time was ~2 hrs, and you can spend time staring outside the window. It is nice to listen to familiar Tamil songs on FM, to keep the devil out of your mind. Each song has particular memories associated wiit it. As i was jobless, i kept a record of travel times :

Day      Onward     Return
1          01:55        01:21
2          01:52        02:18
3          01:55        01:50
4          01:41        02:37
5          00:46        01:00

At any point of time, 3 senses are under brutal attack. It is a contest to hold your breath and not pass out, to fend off the smells of various levels of putridity. The smells change with the rains and location. The sun beats down on you as you plead for mercy. And it is visually repulsive at many of the places. You wonder if everyone forgot to include drainage systems in town planning.

The new workplace
Looks somewhat cramped. I do not care for the view outside the window. It is a big lake/ drainage surrounded by huts. I avoid looking out. The people look glum and mostly involved in work all the time. The coffee machine is superb. The 'South Indian filter coffee, light' is so perfect that you cant tell it is from a machine. For a week it is back to the training days. Lunch is in Andhra mess outside campus. Food is so good that it beats the cumulative tastes of all fc's in Mysore. The noons are spent in trying not to sleep, it takes a herculean effort. At many times I gave up and snatched a few winks of sleep. It is like intergalactic travel for a few seconds, really good :) Waves of sleep are generally held back by the fortress that the coffee builds. The coffee breaks are spent in scrambling to get paper cups from the security.

The Shared auto saga
Was fortunate to travel by a shared auto on Friday. Loved the experience. It is a normal auto, elongated and with innovative sliding seats. Normally 6-7 people can sit in it, although the number can go up to 10 or more depending on desperation levels. The main seat on sliding reveals a clever wooden plank which serves as a seat for additional people. It is like watching a movie, except that here, you are the movie. There is limited scope for moving your legs and you have to suppress all urges of stretching.

Weekend
Yesterday we went to the shoreline at night. The cool breeze and the moonless night did a lot of good to us troubled souls, as did the soft sand and the rolling of the waves. Watching sunrise from a beach on the East Coast has been a cherished dream of mine for eons, hope that happens this time. As it began to rain, we took a shared auto to hotel Aloft, a really classy place with uv light and sophisticated looking people. I think it was the first time in their history that they saw an auto come to their plush entrance and noone quite knew how to react :)

Those are the updates from me. I think all this will go into the blog too, for the benefits of future generations.
Tc, keep in touch ,people. Really miss you all! Please call me back :|:|:|

Regards,
'Mr Chandan Karkera, Infosys'

Shine on you crazy diamond (What im listening to,now)
(Published as sent out last Sunday, 28 Aug 2011)

The Common four ring butterfly / Until next time

                     Presenting to you the Common four ring butterfly. I know it has 5 rings on each wing, do not ask me why it is called a four ring butterfly. Sometimes in life, you must just allow some things to be. Here is a more detailed explanation about this butterfly. If you understand the language in which they have described it, you can let me know :D

Some background on this click: Tired, battered and bruised after our trek to the the Valley of flowers and Hemkund Sahib, we made a pit stop in Dehradun on the way back, for undisclosed reasons. After roaming around town (Shastradhaara, Tibetian temple, Sai temple, Tapkeshwar temple  - A lot of temples!), sampling street side Chow Mein and gawking at the cantonment area the previous day, the plan was to leave to Delhi early next morning. Early morning became early noon, in search of the elusive Idly Vada Sambar. Before you hurl abuses, please understand that we lived on maggi and alu paratha for the last 7 odd days, scaling treacherous cliffs in search of Nirvana. The craving was justified, and real. The plan was to head to the centre of town and attack the first Udupi restaurant we encountered. While we did find one, we were thwarted on learning that for some strange reason, restaurants in town do not open till 9!! Undeterred by the cruel trick on our stomachs, we headed to a tea stall. The friendly roadside tea stall owner gave me more information than I had ever processed in Engineering, and listed out our options. The most lucrative, even in those testing times was this - Go to Gandhi park (a few steps), click a few photos around. By that time the restaurants would have opened. Eat to your fill! We blessed him and did just that. The next hour was spent in clicking away. Suspicious glances were thrown at us by uncles and aunties, at the aberrations marring their weekend walks. Dazed, hungry and confused, this picture was My best attempt of the experience! Thanks to the head gardener, who pitied us I think, and granted us access to the centre of the garden, usually off limits to the public.

Ladies and Gents!!! :

Also, I have been asked to move to Chennai from Next Monday, 'permanently'. Somehow, and maybe rightly so, I get the feeling that today will be my Last working day in Mysore DC :| My professional life in Mysore seems to have ended. It feels like the cops came from nowhere and pulled the plug in a Maiden concert, when you were head banging away on a perfectly fine day. Truly. All logic seems to have been defied, all reason evaporated, I am not trying to go into the why's now. How does it feel? I have made a conscious effort until now not to 'feel' anything about this and have based my actions over the last few weeks on the same, to go with the flow. It is an overwhelming feeling to leave all of you and go elsewhere. Friends, family, well wishers, loved ones, Mysore, this beautiful work place. My bike, damn it! What will I miss most ? Everything. Times like these drive home the point that you cannot take anything for granted. 

All of you will be sorely missed. Some more than the others J J Keep in touch. I plan to be in town at least once in two weeks, so you might miraculously see me on the track on weekends J I'll make an honest effort to keep troubling you folks with my mails and clicks. You can always comment on my clicks/ abuse them, I will not mind. If you do not want to be a part of this list, do let me know.

Keep rocking \m/

(Published as sent out yesterday)

Swaratma in SDM college of Management, Mysuru, Jan 2011

Imagine songs which have become your favourites recently.
You ponder on what is it that made you like them so much.
Then you give up.
Imagine that the band  which wrote those songs plays in a gig in town.
You get to be in the front row!!
They play your favourite songs.
Imagine you sing along, swaying with the crowd.
You almost get knocked down courtesy the bass player being at arms reach.
You scream your lungs out, along with the band.
The urge to headband overcomes the anxiety of having your new camera slung around your neck.
Now you know all this actually happened.

Let there be more.
Swaratma in SDM college of Management, Mysuru, Jan 2011

Some moments from the fest:

Sanjeev on Violin

Vasu Dixit (L), Vocals and Rhythm guitar, and Varun (R), Lead guitar and Backing vocals

Pavan on percussion and backing vocals

Jishnu (L) , bass guitar and backing vocals, and Vasu (R)

Montry on drums

A section of the crowd

Biking to Belur, Halebidu, Chikamagaluru , Jul 2010

The best trips are those, made without plans. Impromptu. Said a wise man (Me).

Brain damaged by planning and scrapping close to a million outings, 450 and me thought we would go biking. 'Thinking of going biking to Belur- Halebidu-Chikamagaluru. Joining me? ' was the message. Immediately leaves were applied and the deal was sealed.


Come Monday morning, and we were off on our bikes (oh, those awesome bikes). We left Mysore at 08:30 Hrs and took the Hunsur highway. It is a treat to ride on such roads, it really is. A short distance from the deviation off Hunsur road, we saw a quaint little temple by the banks of the River Laxmana Thirtha. 'Let's go and check it out' was the call. So we did. Unfortunately the temple was closed.

Pit stop 1: Arkeshwara Swamy temple

A few clicks and stretches later, we were on our way. Clement weather and sparse traffic on the road foretold of a good day for biking.

Crash course in tobacco curing/ syrupy tea
Just when we were about to reach Hole Narsipura, it began to pour. We quickly parked our bikes and rushed to the nearest shelter which we saw. It turned out to be a tobacco leaf curing unit.

Curing tobacco leaves

 We met some very hospitable and friendly folks there, who arranged for a round of piping hot and sweet tea for everyone, and explained the process of tobacco curing. After the leaves are plucked, they are dried for around four days in huge kilns made of mud, with steel pipes running through them.Firewood is burnt outside and the heat carried inside dries the leaves, after which it is sold in the local markets. The warmth of the cinders was a welcome relief to us, soaked in the rains.

Mavinakere
We set out from here and made our way to our next stop, Mavinakere temple, along the highway. A paved road and a flight of steps take one to the top of the peak, where the temple is situated. It provides a good view of the surroundings. A row of windmills far far away made for some pleasant viewing, it foretold us of what was to come.

A huge boulder at Mavinakatte

As we resumed our journey we were greeted by more interesting sights on the way. We came across ISRO's master control facility, from where our satellites are monitored and controlled. Nestled in a location surrounded by fields of spices and flowers, the facility looks alike an anachronism, with all its huge dishes and watchtowers.

Deja Vu
From here we made our way to Dwarasamudra (Halebeedu). It used to be the capital of the erstwhile Hoysala kingdom. As me and 450 were bad in history, we decided to employ the services of a guide. From then on, it was Deja vu.

Even though you might not have visited Belur and Halebeedi, to go there is a trip down memory lane. It is to go back to your childhood and swell in nostalgia. It is to revisit with warmth and fondness, the stories from your mom, listening to which you grew up, so that you could plunge headlong into the future, armed with the same. It is to nod vigorously (not head bang), when the guide speaks of govardhana giri Krisnha and other stories. The place defines what poetry in stone means.

Halebeedu

We were told that the temple was built over a period of around 800 years. The carvings on the stone are of an amazing level of complexity, and Never had I seen such great detail on stone. It is the pinnacle of utmost devotion and dedication over generations of sculptors, art of unimaginable beauty. My jaw had to be forced shut on coming back to reality. It was equally painful to see many of these sculptures plundered and ravaged by many an invasion, the latest of these heinous acts being attributed to the British.

Belur
With dusk approaching, we moved on to Belur, when rains greeted us on the way. We decided to ride in the rain, and in the confusion, we overshot our destination. Hungry, wet and tired on reaching Belur, we indulged in snacks and tea. The rain subsided and we made our way to the temples. Basking in the afterglow of twilight and drenched in the rain, it was another sight to behold. It is bigger and more grand than Halebeedu. We hitched along with a group who were looking around, with a guide. There is only so much that one can grasp, so much beauty than one can admire in a day. This was a brutal attack , an overdose. Sections of pillars made of stone, which can rotate (!!), filigree on maidens carved in stone, an impossibly detailed ceiling. I questioned reality, conjured theories of advanced alien civilizations, whose handiwork the temples might have been so that we could get puzzled to no end, and got out of there before my fabric of reality would be crumpled beyond repair.

Belur

Chikamagaluru
We reached Chikamagaluru, where 450's uncle pulled a few strings and got a place to stay at the p.w.d guest house. After dinner at planters court, we called it a day. The next day we would ride up Karnataka's highest peak, Mulayangiri. As we approached the base, the imposing sight of the range presaged what was to be. Clouds lay claim over the top. They hid the grandeur of the hills and accentuated its beauty at the same time. We made our way up the snaking path, our awesome bikes making easy work of the gradient. Riding in the fog, an experience to have. It was hard to keep my eyes on the road, with the pepper white clouds beckoning a potentially fatal gaze towards them. The roads got narrower and the winds, stronger. Visibility had dropped to a few metres. This was the high point, euphoria. To know that you cannot see beyond a point, flirting with danger stealing glances at natures bounty, the wind threatening to nudge you off the cliff. The moment is lived. It was to float in a dream.

We reached the top cautiously. At the peak we parked our bikes against the wind, which was so strong that we really feared that it would flip our bikes over, into the chasm below! We clicked a few pictures and headed to Kemmanagundi.

Crusaders in the mist

Kemmanagundi
This 20-odd km stretch took a hour and a half to cover. The road was almost non existent. In its place was loose rocks and slush mixed in a dangerous recipe thanks to the incessant rains. In many places,gushing rivulets had lay claim on the roads. We treaded carefully and made it to the destination in one piece. Cold, battered and tired, a couple of piping hot bread omlettes and syrupy tea infused warmth and life into us.

Home
The next morning we set out back to Mysuru. We came across the wind turbines along the way and made our way up the hill where they were situated. It provided a nice view of the surrounding regions. Standing below the mighty turbines was scary, with the strong winds whipping the three long blades into motion. It was reassuring that here clean energy was being produced, in a world threatened by rising amounts of Carbon di oxide.

Me and my investment

Overall it was a great feel good trip. It is always amazing to be on the road with your bike, to travel to different lands, to know our wonderful culture and rich history, at the same time to take detours according to your whims. Who knows what you will find :)

Jan Lokpal Bill and Anna Hazare support march, Mysuru

The revolution is not an apple that falls when it is ripe. You have to make it fall.
-Che Guevara


We wanted to show our support to this movement which had spread like wild fire throughout the country. To the man who went on a hunger strike to ensure that the country gets what is deserved. It was nice to see people of all ages come together in solidarity. The march was organised by Dr. R. Balasubrahmaniam, founder of Swami Vivekananda Youth Movement. It began at Crawford hall at 10:00 A.M, holding out placards and shouting slogans. We went past Marimallappa's school, towards the exhibition grounds and the march culminated at Gandhi Square, where we took an oath to not give or take bribes and be an example of honesty for others. 




It was a satisfying Sunday, to be a part of this movement :) Not to mention the priority you get when you have a camera slung around your neck:) (a couple of people asked if I am from the press, well) .Hoping that the bill will be passed and things work out as planned. Imagine, if the country is posting a growth rate of 8% per annum with such rampant corruption, how would things be if we rooted out all the corruption and made sure that the money which me and you pay as taxes reaches where it ought to? Its a giddy thought, is it not?!


Hasta la Victoria Siempre/ Until victory always!


Some moments from the march:

Our Flag flies high

One of the placards

A section of the crowd

Snake enthusiast / Wildlife conversationalist / activist / the hugely popular Mr Snake Shyam

Gandhi Square