London 2012 Olympics Opening Ceremony -Top 5 Dislikes

Having grown up as a son of an avid & committed sportsperson  catching live action sports had become part of my TV viewing. Events like Olympics, WC Football were quadrennial events and hence even more special.

Back from work at the usual time, I planned to finish the regular tasks and settle down to catch the event assuming the same will start at 11 pm only to realise a little later that its going to start only by 1am!!! Closer to time when the channels started beaming live images I was a bit upset that it was all dark and gloomy, raining and there were chances of the start getting delayed. But luckily it started in a few minutes. 

Have always associated opening ceremonies with great perfectly co-ordinated stellar performances, never seen before stunts, fireworks & of course the contingents walking in to join the fervor.

So I settled down wondering like almost the whole world what my first impression of London 2012 is going to be, especially after a mega-successful Beijing 2008.

A few minutes into the start I realised that while celebrity Hollywood director 

Danny Boyle had gone about recreating British history with some really breathtaking sets there were a few things which upset me a lot. Let me list them in the descending order:

5. The Danny Boyle Show

    The event was all over the place on TV thanks to some really poor sequencing, 

    editing and packaging work. Add to that the camera work & audio! While they 

    were creating some interesting imagery out there most of  them were lost thanks to 

    some poor camera work. Also the usual 'performance in sync' was completely missing.

 4. Engaging the TV audience 

    Coupled with the above, the engagement quotient was completely missing. With 

    the audio being bad, I was surprised that the visual medium was never used , 

    again the way they use in cricket. We all very well know how when a new match 

    commences, right from team composition to win loss record, to player stats, past 

    performances etc are well captured and showcased. Even in events like grand slam 

    tennis and F1 you see good use of this medium. But the same was completely 

    missing. I was so eager to know participating countries' geographic location, history, 

    past performance, team size, disciplines being participated in, flag bearer's claim to 

    fame etc and am sure am not alone!

3. Intrusive and irritating Advertising

    Well advertising being intrusive is not new, neither is irritating. But when both play in   
    tandem its bad scene. Given the event was a non stop 3 hour event and with the 
    channels having almost no clue of the sequence of events the breaks were random and  
    unannounced. Fine you need to make money but then you could have packaged it better 
    - and this is ESPN not Doordarshan!

    Add to that the fact that there were 4-5 advertisers so you end up watching the  same 
    ad every 5-7 minutes which was seriously irritating. I seriously believed advertising in 
    this case should have been best left to on screen banners etc. Again goes to show how 
    even media treats a non-cricketing event in India!

2. Representing India

    When every team was entering the stadium, they were cheered on by scores of 

    supporters from their country and also their premiers - PMs / Presidents / Royal 

    Families. I was eagerly waiting for India's turn. On one side I was dreading the great 

    Suresh Kalmadi showing up and on the other side I was hopeful of seeing our Rasta-

    potty Pranab da. Would have been a perfect stage for him to 'arrive' in the world 

    stage. And when the Indian team did walk in and the camera's panned towards a turban 

    clad sardar, no it was not Manmohan Singh, it was this guy who is from Indian Olympic 

    Association (who I checked on Google to get his name - Raja Randhir Singh) who gets to 

    take his wife along as well. Are you kidding me? For minnows like Bangladesh which 

    had what about 10 members, their premier Sheikh Hasina was there to cheer them on!

1. Indian Contingent Costume

    This has to take the cake by a mile! I have almost always wondered who decides     

    these things? While we boast of endless list of breakthrough, celebrity and legendary 

    designers who have an amazing body of work, when it comes to draping the Indian 

    sports teams for events like this, we miss the bus completely. Yesterday was outright 

    shoddy, the worst I have ever seen! Looked as if people completely forgot about it and 

    ended picking stuff on rent or something? The way the 'pagdis' (traditional north Indian 

    headgear) were made and the way they were worn...oh come on...And then the colour 

    Yellow!!! Are we Jamaica? Or else Brazil? Sweden???Can someone tell me where does it

   feature on either the Indian flag? Well yellow and India is not new...but a country where

    the cricket team's costume is so well taken care of, can't a wee bit of attention be 

    given to costume for the contingent representing world's second most populated nation 

    in arguably world's biggest sporting spectacle? And ya, who was that lady in red??? The 

    whole thing was nothing but a big joke!

Well all was not lost...

Coming up... My Top 5 Likes!

20 years and counting

It was the summer of '92-'93...at Kendriya Vidyalaya No. 1 Air Force Station Kalaikunda, Kharagpur, West Bengal, India. 

Last day of the batch. Think it was the Biology exam!

Back from a long vacation a bunch of students joined XI Std Science. Giving them a foothold in a field they always wanted to be in. Stakes were high, so were the ambitions. Some wanted to pass the sound barriers in their MIGs & MIRAGEs, some others took a nosedive into the world of Physics & Chemistry hoping to make it to the elite league. And there were some others like me 'Live life as it comes...' 

This was the bunch which along with everything else enjoyed life and whatever it had to offer, to the fullest. Woh bhi kya din the!!! Soon everybody left in pursuit of their ambitions, their dreams, their aspirations... Days became months and soon years. 

Most of us being from defense background hand moved multiple schools & cities before Kalaikunda. And sadly at the end of that year it was my turn. Much against my wish I had to move...to a new city, a new school, a new bunch of classmates. 

Inland letters from a few close friends kept the connections going. I still cherish almost all of them. Soon it was the time of internet & e mails followed by facebook & chat. With the advent of mobile phones it should have become so convenient? Not really! Life took is in all different directions. Still pretty much chasing their own ambitions!

Inspite of all this I did keep track of a few friends of mine. Met Shalini first in Pune & then in Hyderabad, Nitin, Harvinder & Tushar in Bangalore. Soon thanks to DD got back in touch with Anu, Showmic & a few others. Thanks to facebook a few other busy souls do drop in an ocassional one liner!

Harvinder and couple of other friends did try to have a reunion meeting which thanks to distances and varied locations is yet to become a reality. It was a good decade back when yahoo was in vogue, I tried bringing the group together with a yahoo group titled kkdclan (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/kkdclan/?tab=s) only to fizzle out shortly.

I think it was a couple of weeks back when I suddenly realized that's its been 20 years...yes 2 decades since we all came together. From 50th birthday and 50 weeks of successful outing for movies to today's times where every year and everyday is celebrated 20 years is a really really long time! And the best part is some 8-10 of us are in good touch. As a part of celebrating this moment I was planning to create some memorabilia and put the word out. Response was muted & not encouraging. Expected that!

Moving on I thought the least I could do is capture the journey in my own way and celebrate it in my own way....

Happy 20 guys!!!! Happy to be in touch with a few of you. Happy to have known each & everyone of you.

Cheers!

Arrival of a bundle of joy!!!

Well for starters its been a while since I even logged onto my blog...If you are wondering what was the reason, let me tell you...there was action on both professional & personal fronts. Got promoted at both ends! While on the professional front I moved on from Idea Cellular to join AirAsia as Country Marketing Manager for India & Sri Lanka, the most amazing thing which happened over the last 3 months or so was on the personal front.

We (Reema & myself) became proud parents of a baby boy on 09.10.11!!! Its been hardly couple of weeks and its still sinking in. Friends and family all over have just two things to say- Congratulations & 'Welcome to parenthood & long nights'...Its already happening. While parenthood is a reason for celebration for everybody around the world, its even more special for us because we both have gone through a lot- both on the personal and professional front...living through the dream all these days!

And finally the D day arrived. Thanks to modern science we were able to select a date. While it was auspicious keeping our parents' wishes in mind, we stumbled upon a date which would be 'cool' to write / speak about! Well you are right- our baggage of being in advertising / marketing has a lot to do with it. Finally at 07:30 hrs or so Reema did come out of the operation theatre (you won't believe how many Hollywood / Bollywood moments have played out in my dreams over the last year or so waiting for this day) with a huge ear to ear smile proclaiming "It's a boy." This brought an extra wide smile on appa & amma's faces too given after a grand daughter (my brother had a baby girl in Jan this year) they were praying for one! Soon all three of us, appa, amma and myself pulled our mobile phones to make calls to close friends and releatives to share the good news.

Meeting my Son!

ALmost 3 hours after the delivery the doors of the operation theatre opened to anxiously waiting parents, grand parents & other relatives. The doctor came out with a baby proclaiming 'Carnic - Reema' to which I walked up with a broad smile as if I was getting on the podium of F1 championship! And there he was...cute, fair, tiny, soft, innocent and ofcourse wondering about the 'new' world around him! A few moments later we handed him back to the caring hospital staff and went back to Reema's room all smiles

Announcing to the world!

While on the family front almost all our close relatives knew, we really hadn't told any of our friends...call it superstition, call it anxiousness or call it a surprise! While calling them all had an expression of surprise and glee. SMSes followed the calls. And a couple of days later I posted the news followed by photographs. More wishes arrived!

What do we name him??

We both did the customary search on google.com and also asked our parents and a few relatives to do the search. The brief was simple...the name has to be unheard of in the real world and in the online space...A few options did come which were unique. But then given our background and cultures we had to put the added filter of ' the name should be understood by both families'...We did finalise a few names and put up for voting (yeah crazy right). Wondering what his name is? Well we have narrowed down but not finalized yet!!! Will let you all know soon...

Over the last 12 days life has settled down around taking care of 'him'.... After all he is the bundle of joy we have been eagerly waiting for!!!

I'm 12 today!!!

Well if you are wondering as to what am talking about, as of today I complete 12 years of work experience. To start with I didn’t realize it till noon when somebody mentioned that its 2nd of June, when it struck me!

It was today way back in 1999 on this very day when I kick started my career with entering the world of advertising. From India's no. 1 food brand, Britannia to Tanishq, India's largest jewellery brand; from Lux India's largest soap brand, to Godrej Securities, India's leading brand in safes and security systems. And this was done working with two of the country's leading advertising agencies - Lowe Worldwide and JWT. Over the 7 plus years I spent in advertising I was lucky to work with some of the best people in the business...creative directors, photographers, studios, production houses and most importantly some of the most memorable pieces of work!

After 7 1/2 years with advertising agencies, I decided to move on...from Mumbai back to Bangalore as I was newly married. And from advertising to marketing as I felt that its time for me to play a bigger role. Joining Air Deccan originally I was part of the historic merger with India's favourite airline, Kingfisher Airlines.

3 more years and after domestic, international & low fare businesses I moved to the ever dynamic telecom space with Idea Cellular in Tamil Nadu to help replicate its successes elsewhere in the most challenging marketplace in India today.

Today when I look back have some really mixed feelings. Memories of some great work, making some really good friends (most of them are busy in their own world) and most importantly learning and contributing to the success of the businesses I was part of.

And every year apart from other days June 2nd has become a day of celebration, reflection on the past, contemplating what next etc etc. Much to the amusement of my colleagues and friends right from the first year, I have celebrated this day like my second birthday!!!

As one of the wishes went and like everybody else I'll continue to work towards a successful and fulfilling career!

First Rains of the Season

With the first rains of the season hitting Chennai, penned a few lines....

First rains of the season

Have waited for long,
to get a relief from the sunny days.
Along with the farmer and the villagers,
for irrigation and drinking water.
Along with the plants, birds and animals,
to drench their thirst.

The clouds rumbled…
The birds chirped & danced…
The thunders roared…
And the lightnings flashed.
Finally it did come…
The first rains of the season.
Soaking the land,
gripping you with its aroma.
Everybody ran for cover,
while kids danced in joy.
Trees looked lush green…
And everything had a new sheen.

First rains of the season...

My Top 10 World Cup 2011 Magical Moments - India

Its been almost 4 days now...Thanks to the repeat telecasts, media frenzy, interviews and otherwise, the moment which has since been etched in the Indian cricket folklore is somehow still fresh in my mind. And heart too...Am sure same is the case with the Indian cricket fan! Having taken the following Monday off while watching TV I kept going back to the repeat telecasts and the interviews to soak up the achievement! And then unlike the 'live' telecast there was no anxiousness as I knew the outcome!!! As I recollected Team India's performance from match day 1 ten moments stood out. Ones which will stand out as My Top 10 World Cup 2011 Magical Moments - India.

1. Sachin Tendulkar 6th time lucky - Being carried around the field

As India won the World Cup if I recollect correctly Harsha Bhogle said 'His resume is complete!'. Sachin 'God' Tendulkar, the face of Indian cricket for over 2 decades with innumerable records to his name. Like every other fan of my generation have watched him right from his first series in Pakistan way back in 1989. His highs...his lows...His milestones...his match winning performances...Today 22 years later after finally making the summit he was full of emotions...joy & relief. But mind you he was not a bystander. Opening the innings in all the 9 matches he just missed out on being the highest scorer in this edition of the World Cup!

2. MSDhoni lifting the Cup (that counts)

If not for Sachin this of course would be topping my list. What a man, what a captain. There has been enough spoken and written about him already. For me its a great story of focus, performance and marshaling of your resources to achieve the ultimate objective.

3. MSDhoni's Six

11 balls left, 4 runs to win. A fullish delivery by Kulasekara and Dhoni smacked it over long on for a Six starting the celebrations across the World!

4. Yuvraj Singh - Man of the Tournament

Not one for a series of consistent performances leading to him receiving the coveted prize. He was there taking catches, getting wickets, saving runs, scoring runs...barring the semi final in almost every match. But for me the best was the 5 wicket haul against Ireland and his gesture celebrating the same.

5. Zaheer Khan - 3 maidens in a row: Finals

What made it even special is the fact that it was the same 'Zak' as he is popularly known who had bowled a string of wides and no balls to give 15 runs in his first over in the final of the 2003 edition. Though he went for a few runs later on the match he did take 2 wickets to take his tally to 21 scalps for the tournament - a joint first!

6. India vs Pakistan in World Cups 6-0

Each time they meet emotions run high. World Cup clashes are even worse. And then this was in the knock out stages at Mohali where Pakistan's record is much better than India's. Thanks to an overall performance India maintains a clean sheet!

7. Beating Australia in the QF

Well we have beaten a lot of times in the past in neutral venues, at home and in Australia. But this was sweet. In a way revenge of the 2003 loss. Billed as potentially the last match for two legends Sachin & Ponting at the World Cup stage, there was lot at stake. With half centuries from Sachin, Gambhir and Yuvi we did manage to win with 14 balls to spare!

8. Virat' Kohli's gesture

Going back to the celebrations after MSD scored the winning runs. Not many were aware till it was shared on the news channels that Virat Kohli quietly picket up one of the wickets and handed over to Sachin! He also carried Sachin through the victory lap. When asked pat came the reply, '' He (Sachin) has been carrying nation's burden for over two decades. Now it was our turn to carry him." Sweet!

9. Opening Match Sehwag: 175, Kohli: 100*

First match in the World Cup. Opponent: Bangladesh. A team capable of springing surprises. Has been the reason for India getting eliminated in the first round of 2007 edition. But as the match progressed witness a swashbuckling 175 from Sehwag. Was threatening Sachin's record for highest ODI score. Sadly missed out. Keeping him company and scoring a century on World Cup debut was Virat Kohli. What a talent for the future of Team India's cause.

10. Yusuf Pathan's unassuming sixes

An unsung hero as far as am concerned. A pinch hitter, an all rounder, a committed fielder. Favoured till the quarter finals till he was surprisingly dropped what I'll always remember are his towering sixes which brought a sense of relief and joy on every Indian fan's face especially the 3 sixes he hit against Ireland. So this is it. These are my top 10 magical moments. Moments which will be etched in my memory for my lifetime. Thank you Team India.

Photos Courtesy: http://www.espncricinfo.com/

28 year wait for the Cricket World Cup is over...finally

Like every other kid I grew up playing gully cricket with my younger brother and friends in the neighbourhood. Appa being a sportsman we both took up a variety of sports & games from athletics to swimming to chess and carom but somehow cricket remained favourite pass time even after taking up Basketball seriously…

Though born in 1976, I was too young to witness the 1979 World Cup. Being the era where b/w TVs itself were luxury I had no idea till I was probably 8 or 9 that India led by Kapil Dev had already won the World Cup! It was much later that I got to see some pictures of that historic win and much much later to see some recordings.

First memory of a famous Indian Victory 1985 Benson & Hedges Cup and the popular car ride in the stadium by Ravi Sashtri! If am not mistaken it was the first time I watched a cricket match in a colour TV.

1987 – India This edition of the World Cup took place in India (& Pakistan). All I remember is India lost to England in the semi finals thanks to a century by Graham Gooch. England lost to Allan Border led Australia by 7 runs in the final.

1992 – Australia Called the Bensen & Hedges Cup this was the first one the living legend Sachin Tendulkar was part of. And the last one the dashing opener of 80s Kris Srikkanth participated in. I was in Xth std and Appa was based in Air Force Station Kalaikunda (Midnapore Dist, West Bengal, India). I still remember how he got out on the first ball of Deepak Patel of New Zealand on an oval pitch. Pakistan led by Imran Khan won. India didn’t even qualify for the semi- finals.

1996 – India The World Cup returned to India. Called the Wills World Cup it was played in India, Sri Lanka & Pakistan. India was supposed to be in serious contention. I was doing my graduation in Zoology from American College, Madurai. And I watched the matches with my elder cousin brother @ home. My memories of this edition were the semi final between India & Sri Lanka in the famous Eden Gardens. Chasing a target of 252 India were 120 for 8 (Sachin had scored 65 of those runs!!!) when rioting by the crowd stopped the match and it was awarded to Sri Lanka. Images of a crying Vinod Kambli walking off the field are still fresh in my mind. Sri Lanka went on to beat Australia in the finals at Lahore. I was so upset that I decided not to watch cricket for sometime!

1999 – England Memorable one for the fact that I had joined work @ Lintas and worked on a memorable promotion for my client Britannia. Called ‘Britannia Khao, World Cup Jao’ and basically a redemption offer it made the Indian consumer collect 100 runs (by collecting wrappers) and redeem for a chance to go witness the World Cup in England live! For the record it’s supposed to be the most successful marketing promotion in India till date. At the tournament, India had a poor run and was knocked out of the super six round! I was frustrated especially given the amount of work I had put in around the frenzy!!! My dream of witness an Indian world cup victory had to wait…

2003 – South Africa At work we launched another edition of Britannia Khao World Cup Jao. India was a star studded team. Led by Saurav Ganguly it reached the finals! Excited I personally organized screening of the match @ office on a giant screen. I still remember finally just myself and Nandu (my colleague & IT head @ Lintas, Bangalore at that time) ended up watching the match. Australia won the toss and elected to bat. What started as a cricket match soon looked like a football match with Ricky Ponting & Damien Martyn taking the bowlers to the cleaners. They set a target of 360!!! Hungry & frustrated I left office, had a snack and went home. While zapping channels I noticed that Sachin had struck a four in the very first over! Hopeful I started watching. He got out of the very next ball much to my anguish. India went on to lose badly. My wait to witness an Indian world cup victory continued…

2007 – West Indies I had since moved to JWT and from there to Air Deccan in Bangalore. I was also married. A star studded Indian team led by Rahul Dravid (along with most of the players of 2003) was shut out in the first round. They lost to Bangladesh & Sri Lanka and beat novice Bermuda as a consolation. I started to wonder (like Sachin Tendulkar) whether India will win another world cup???

2011 – India By the time the 2011 edition commenced a lot had happened. India had seen a sea change under MS Dhoni & coaches Lalchand Rajput & later Gary Kirsten. They won the T20 World cup in 2007 and had climbed to No 1 in the ICC test rankings. All along little master Sachin Tendulkar continued to pile on runs in the process breaking many a records and creating some really unique ones – the best according to me is becoming the first batsman in the history of ODIs to score 200 in a match!!! IPL

had come around to make the 50 over version look pale!

The World Cup started with India beating Bangladesh hands down. A high scoring tied match against England, some close matches and a loss to South Africa led to India playing their quarter final against Australia. During the course of the league matches some stellar performances with the bat & the bowl by Sachin (now aged 38 but going strong), Sehwag, Virat, Yuvraj, Zaheer & Harbajan made me like the rest of India start dreaming of a World Cup victory at last. Helped by some good bowling performances and a string of half centuries India made it to the semi final.

Mother of All Clashes What else would you call a India-Pakistan World Cup semi final clash? Being a working day I had to witness first half of the match @ work. Though India started well what with some smashing boundaries by Sehwag and a controlled and ‘lucky’ innings by Sachin, we made 260. Pakistan, a team which hasn’t beaten us ever in a World Cup match, started well but wickets fell at regular intervals and they eventually folded out 29 runs short. And whoa!!! we were in the finals!!!

The Finals Sri Lanka had a couple of rather one sided clashes in the knock out stages to qualify for the finals. There were discussions galore while travelling, at work, on the internet, over phone calls…about the teams and their chances. I always thought that Sri Lankan batting was weak and we had a good chance to beat them. As the match time drew closer I did have a few palpitations and memories of the 2003 loss did flash by…Winning the toss Sri Lanka chose to bat. Though they lost wickets at crucial times, backed by a crucial century by Jayewardene Sri Lanka scored 274.

The Run Chase With in form Sehwag going for a duck in the first over and Sachin following shortly I was wondering if we were going to repeat our performance of 2003. Gautam Gambhir & young Virat Kohli started rebuilding the innings. When Kohli got out surprisingly Dhoni walked in. Though initially worried about his shuffling of the line up, I soon realized it was working as we scored at a steady clip….150, 200, 225 and there we were with a little over 50 to score when Gambhir got out. Worried that we may lose a couple more in a hurry I looked on with bated breath. But Yuvraj & MSD ensured there were no more tense moments…

The wait of a lifetime was over…Both for Sachin & me. Having seen the photographs & some old recordings of India winning the World Cup way back in 1983, like any other cricket crazy fan of my generation I wanted to witness India winning the World Cup. And it finally happened. Dhoni had done it again!!! Sachin, the little master finally has a World Cup win against his name! First thing tomorrow morning I will head to the neighbourhood shop to buy all the newspapers. Wonder why? To collect all the memorable photographs capturing India’s World Cup winning moments.

Weekend break with a bundle of joy - 2

As the first day was coming to an end we made our way to Pondicherry. We were staying at Som's cousin Namasya's (unique name!!! atleast I haven't heard it before) place. A few calls and we located her apartment and landed there. Namasya & her hubby Mr. Venkata Sashtry work for Kalinga Institute of Information Technology. She has a really adorable 8 yr old son Aniruddha who studies in SAICE (www.sriaurobindoashram.org/ashram/saice/index.php) a really interesting schooling concept. He is already learning a lot of languages. We counted Telugu (father), Oriya (mother), Hindi, English, Tamil (Pondicherry), French and many others. He's also learning skating, gymnastics, swimming, chess, cricket etc. Phew...that’s a lot!!!! We quickly settled down and dozed off for the night.

Day 2
Up in the morning we got ready, planned the day and set out. First stop was the very popular Adyar Ananda Bhavan (http://www.aabsweets.in/). While we all ordered our Pongal (http://www.pongalfestival.org/rice-pongal.html) -Vadas, wasn’t surprised that Anu ordered Onion-Rava-Masala Dosa. Recollected that this was her favourite dish during her stay in Bangalore way back in 2001. Once done with breakfast we proceeded to the Sri Manakula Vinayagar Temple (http://manakulavinayagartemple.com/) and like any traditional Hindu temple in southern India especially Tamil Nadu we were greeted by the temple elephant, Lakshmi. As is the custom people visiting the temple make offerings / take blessings from the elephant thought to be a reincarnation of Lord Ganesha himself. With the idea of showing an elephant from close quarters I took Srishti along and made her give some offerings to Lakshmi. But as she brought her trunk over Srishti’s head scared she started crying. I quickly moved away and we entered the temple. Once done and out Srishti clearly told me not to go near the elephant. From there we walked a few steps to visit the Sri Aurobindo Ashram. It’s really a great experience visiting two different ‘shrines’ situated so close to each other. Looking at people around her Srishti, the good girl she is kept quiet during the entire time that we were inside. As we moved out Namasya rejoined us. While deciding what next Srishti kept herself busy playing with Reema on a bicycle and running up & down the steps in front of a gate. A few minutes later we went into the nearby Auroshika (www.auroshikha.com/) outlet. Colourful that it is, it did kept Srishti busy while Som & Anu shopped for stuff. Done with the place we left to meet one of Som’s aunt. She really stays is a beautiful apartment. Walking with her towards a place for lunch she told us a bit about the modern Pondicherry and the French attachment. Little did I realize that we were entering Rendezvous (http://www.tripadvisor.in/Restaurant_Review-g659792-d1116100-Reviews-Rendezvous-Pondicherry_Union_Territory_of_Pondicherry.html) a very famous restaurant where me & Reema enjoyed a great lunch when we went to Pondicherry! While everybody was busy chatting and ordering me & Srishti went about exploring the place and having a bit of fun…running up & down the steps, checking out different types of fish etc etc. Finally the food arrived followed by desserts which we all enjoyed. Soon we left to get back home. Needed to recharge ourselves a bit…

Evening
In the evening we all set out to go to the beach front where Srishti again enjoyed seeing the waves and lot of people around. With no vehicles on the road she was free to roam a bit too. While Namasya, Reema, Anu & Srishti left on the bike (quite a sight to watch!!!) Som & me roamed a bit. He was really enthralled by the architecture around, taking a lot of nice pictures before it was time for dinner and we headed to Don Giovanni (http://www.hindu.com/mp/2010/02/27/stories/2010022750060100.htm) on the rooftop of Hotel Corbelli on Mission Street, recommended by Namasya of course. Run by a true-blue Italian chef, Massimiliano ‘Murali' Morsiani from Bologna it’s a quaint little place and already has its owns set of loyal customers. As we entered we noticed Max was asking the guests what they would be interested in having. After a lot of discussions we did order our dishes while Som was busy trying to capture a lizard on the wall!!! It was also the day when India was playing England in the World Cup…cricket of course. We were wondering there was no way to keep a tab on the match in an Italian restaurant. Sigh…but much to our delight there was a small TV on which the employees of the restaurant were watching the match. Me, Anu & Reema stayed back after dinner to watch the final overs. Relieved to witness a tied match we walked down the street to catch an auto to get back home…

Another day in Pondicherry well spent. Close friends, a darling of a kid around and a lovely place…what more can you ask for. Thus ends Day 2 of my trip…Hoping that the penultimate day is as exciting I go to bed…

Concluding part coming up...

Everybody dreams

Well its been a long time that I've been away from my blog. Well no excuses...a bit of inertia, got caught up in the routine of work and life in general.
As I was surfing on the net, I came across this beautiful poem on dreams which resonated my feelings almost completely...

Everybody dreams

Children dream,
Adults dream,
Old people dream.

I dream, too.
I dream about the friends with whom I'll grow old,
I dream about the person whose hands I'll hold,
I dream about being young and in love,
I dream about loved ones, looking down from above.

I dream of the places I'll one day see,
I dream of being wild and free,
I dream of my house, high on the rocks,
I dream of the sand underneath my socks.

I dream of the people I'd love to greet,
I dream of the things I'll say when we meet,
I dream of hearing their voices sing,
I dream of being happy with everything.

I dream of travelling with a map in my hand,
I dream of never coming back to this land,
I dream of finding myself - in sense
I dream of jumping far off this fence.

I dream of any things that one day I'll know,
I dream of the freedom: a dream I won't let go,
I dream of my future and marvel at my pride
As my heart is flying and singing inside.

Twilight Whispers

4 years and going strong!

Well am talking about my marriage! Yup it was on 27th of August, 2006 that I got married. Time is flying at a swift pace too. As yet another anniversary was round the corner it was time of the year to pay special attention to wifey. This time round I had to make up for not doing much for the past 2 years. Given Reema has not explored much of Tamil Nadu I was keen on travelling to Pondicherry and finally we settled for the same. Though Gingerly at first she agreed to a 2 night -3 day trip to The French Dream with the stay @ Ginger.

Having made recent trips to Pondicherry I was keen to explore a lot of those places which I have not seen besides taking Reema to the usual suspects of Beach, Le Cafe, Aurobindo Ashram (http://tourism.pondicherry.gov.in/) etc.

On 27th morning we took a bus to Pondichery reaching there by 2 pm. After relaxing for a few hours, we took a bike on rent and went around town. The exploration started on a rather spiritual note visiting the Sacred Heart Church (http://www.sacredheartpondy.org/) followed by the St. Andrew's Church in a suburb called Reddiar Palayam. From there we went to the Aurobindo Ashram and the famous Manakula Vinayagar Temple nearby! Were amused by the temple elephant Lakshmi and her anklets! This temple is also very famous for poojas for new vehicles.

Are you looking for more spirituality in a single day?

Rounded off the day with a midnight dinner at the famous 24/7 cafe by the beach - Le Cafe.

Day 2 and the spirituality continued. We took a rather brand new Hero Honday CBZ Extreme bike on rent and started with a trip to the Panchamukha Anjaneyar Temple at Panchavati, in the Tindivanam-Pondicherry Road. The idol of Panchamukha Anjaneyar here is 36-feet tall! Interestingly the work inside the temple lookd very similar to the glass work in Churches! We were lucky to see the pooja and also a special pooja where in the entire Ram- Sita swayamvaram was being enacted through shlokas and music!

From there we went to the Chunambar Boat House, located at a distance of about 8 kms on the Cuddalore road. We did a round of speed boating much to the happiness of Reema and then went boating to the Paradise Beach. Oh man....its a place to visit, especially after those crowded beaches in Chennai and even Mahabalipuram and Pondicherry. Given then only way to access this beach was through a boat ride! Its the most pristine beach I have ever seen!!! Clean white sand, nice waves and just 10-20 people around. We spent a good 2 hours enjoying the place and clicking a few pictures. Though we didn't want to but we left and headed to the hotel to take some much needed rest. The evening was spent at Hotel Ajantha Sea View (http://www.ajanthaseaviewhotel.com/) having a relaxed dinner.

On Sunday, 29th August morning, we had breakfast and set out exploring Goubert Avenue and the Beach Road culminating in a visit to the immensely popular Rendez-vous Restaurant. There I came across a rare painting of Ravana. After filling my tank with some really yummy fish while Reema slurped on Oysters, we went back to the bike rental shop, handed over the vehicle and left for the Pondicherry bus stand on our way back home.

By the time we reached home in Chennai it was around 10pm and we realised we have done a lot of travelling and had a lot of fun in lest than 3 days!!!

Pondicherry. Memories. Pondicherry. Recommended.

The French Dream called Pondicherry

The minute somebody utter the word Pondy (as its fondly called) memories of my first trip to Pondicherry get refreshed or rather from the days when I first thought of visiting Pondicherry. Its also the ending point of my planned bike ride from Rameshwaram on the east coast of India!

It was way back in 1995 (gosh its a good decade and a half back!!!) while doing my graduation that me and my friends planned to visit Pondy. Well studying in Madurai for us Pondy was Goa of South India! But then it was not until 1998 during my MBA days and as a part of a team representing my institute for a management meet did I finally land in Pondy. Before leaving I did manage to do some basic research of places to visit etc but given our schedule and the fact that we were going to spend most of our time at the Pondicherry University (http://www.pondiuni.edu.in/) which is slightly away from the centre of Pondy. We did spend a li'l while the next day visiting the Aurobindo Ashram (www.sriaurobindoashram.org/) at the Beach Road (http://wikitravel.org/en/Pondicherry). Left in the evening wondering when I'll be back next.

It was early 2000...I was working in Bangalore. Got an opportunity to meet up with my friends and travel to Pondicherry! This time I didn't miss the opportunity to see other important parts of the French colony, was absolutely amazed at the symmetry of the architecture, the overall layout, straight roads...

Over the last decade or so work took me from Bangalore to Mumbai and it was not until I moved to Chennai that Pondicherry came on my travel radar. Over the past year or so I have managed to travel 2-3 times. And every time I went I felt recharged. Especially the last time round I did get some time to travel to the market, Aurobindo Ashram and Beach Road where in I got to see the WW I Memorial, Gandhi Statue, sipped a coffee @ Le Cafe in the Goubert Avenue. Regretted that I didn't carry my camera along but did manage to capture some pictures with my Nokia E 75 (http://www.nokia.co.in/)...

With really affordable places to stay like Ginger (http://www.gingerhotels.com/), great cuisine to chose from and some amazing places to spend time in Pondicherry is a place to be. With my marriage anniversary round the corner am cajoling my wife to make a trip back to Pondicherry!!!

Sights & Sounds of Marina (Beach, Chennai)

Appa & amma are currently visiting us in Chennai. The weekdays fly in attending to the pressures at work. Sometimes it gets so hectic that am left with just enough energy to come home have my dinner and crash. And just about recover in the morning to rush back to work. As a result weekends are ‘recovery time’. This leaves amma at home through the day mostly bored.
So we decided to go out for a ride and stroll. With Chennai offering very limited options we headed to the largest and most popular of places during the weekend – The Marina Beach! Over the last year or so have visited several times. As soon as we reached amma recollected her days in Chennai over 3 decades back! Looking at the harbor she recollected the times when appa-amma came back from the Andamans by ship. Being a Sunday the beach was extra-crowded.

Every time I step out I wonder if I should carry my camera along and mostly decide against. This time I did the same too…soon to regret it. The sights and sounds of the Marina Beach were simply eye-catching – horse-riding, nomads performing rope tricks, traditional parakeet-aided future tellers, kids flying kites, rifle shooting, vendors selling sweet meats and finally scores of people taking a dip as the waves of the Bay of Bengal hit the shore. I look around as Reema asks me to estimate the crowd around which I estimate to be around 5-7000. Luckily I had my Nokia E75 camera coming to the rescue to capture these vivid images.

After a bit of strolling we settled down on the edge of the waves to soak in the gentle breeze…Sun god was kind enough to play hide and seek with the clouds. I wished we had a backpack with us…would have pulled out the rug and had a quick nap!
Couple of hours passed by…It was getting dark and skies had signs of rainfall. While I would have loved to stay longer, we left to get back home. With hours left for the weekend to end I was already thinking of another week ahead…Wondering that ‘Life has become part of work rather than the other way round’!

Food!

Ha ha...Wondering whats so unique or interesting about it? Well in this blog post am sharing about my second love. Yup it is. Well after adventure (which includes travel and photography) its food which has been my passion. People who know me will have funny expressions on their face as I don't look like your typical foodie.

The Beginnings

Born and brought up in 5-6 different geographies thanks to Appa being in the Indian Air Force (http://indianairforce.nic.in/) which also included travelling to see lots n lots of new places and then classmates and neighbours helped me get exposed to a cuisines from far and near at a very early age. From the quick n easy idlis and upmas to the chicken biriyanis and the aloo parathas! Today when I look back I feel so lucky to have got such exposure!

School

Kendriya Vidyalaya (http://kvsangathan.nic.in/) ....fond memories! I remember being the only south Indian in my gang my lunch pack was always in demand. And what do I get in return? Yummy parathas and vegetable dishes!

Summer Vacations

The very words remind me of my aatha (appa's mom, grandmother) and her fish fries (recipe: http://bit.ly/9pl4Fw) and chicken curry (recipe: http://bit.ly/ceb4Y1) among other dishes. And of course the vegetarian delights like the sambhar and rasam. Given I belonged to a family of farmers, milk and curds were always in abundance.

College

For graduation and post-graduation I moved to Madurai (http://bit.ly/9NIG34). Like any other part of the country, Tamil Nadu can be divided into gastronomic zones and Madurai is one big zone in it. Over the 5 years that I spent there I was introduced to some really mouth-watering dishes. The one which I will always remember will be the Chicken Kothu Parotta (recipe: http://bit.ly/a311VD)

In Bangalore @ work

Joined Lowe Worldwide (http://bit.ly/bzgikk) in June, 1999. Over the next 6-7 years, work, late nights, parties and weekends introduced me to some dishes which have become part of my life. From the Seeshmahal Masala Dosa (recipe: http://bit.ly/bCJhAv) to the legendary Empire's (review: http://bit.ly/dltCgK) Kerala Parotta n Butter Chicken Masala (recipe: http://bit.ly/cBnyMA) and Mango Milkshakes (recipe: http://bit.ly/aPXx5n) to Angeethi's (review: http://bit.ly/aEhhQY) Chicken Biriyani (recipe: http://bit.ly/87Lzbw) to Coconut Groveand over the weekends it was time for the Lakeview's (http://lakeviewmilkbar.com/) Chicken Club Sandwich (http://bit.ly/9j2MkB) and many many more places. I can just go on and on... With office situated on the MG Road, Museum Road, Church Street intersection there were over a 100 places where one could go have lunch and come back to work within an hour's time!

Upma @ Reema's place!

Every Monday religiously I would have Upma (recipe: http://bit.ly/bVdNP2) for dinner at Reema's place. ( a colleague then, she happens t be my wife now) One dish I have not been able to handle all these years but to convince her would visualise it as a sweet dish and polish it off. Leaving her place late in the night I would go searching for some Coke to help digest the Upma!

Over the next 3-4 years I shuttled between Bangalore and Mumbai. During my stay in Mumbai my food habits got a bit compromised. After some time like the rest of the Mumbai-kars I got hooked to the Vada Pavs (recipe: http://bit.ly/9Nrn2w) .

Marriage brought some stability to my food habits. Given Reema comes from a Bihar / Orissa background she brought with her knowledge of some lovely cuisines from that part of the country thanks to my mother-in-law...

Today when I sit down watch all those programmes on cuisines on Discovery Travel & Living (http://bit.ly/dtdOVc), NDTV Good Times (http://goodtimes.ndtv.com) I fondly remember my own gastronomic journey which ofcourse is still going very strong!

PS: The links are references top the recipes of dishes mentioned and not necessarily of the way they are made in the respective places!