Ramana's

Der Deutsch Kurs

2011-11-24T18:45:00.002+05:30

Wow. The Deutsch course finally has come to an end and it's a huge sigh of relief for me.

Eight months. 5 hours a day. 5 days a week. That is what it took to learn the acceptable level of Deutsch. That is just the class hours. After a couple of months into the course, i started reading. Well, the best way to learn a language is to speak but i barely have that chance here outside the class. With the eight hours of work, my life was almost confined to home and the classroom. Reading, my forgotten passion, was kindled with this language course. I started with the kids books. I would pick books that had large font and some pictures along. It sucks to get stuck on a page for a long time. This one on the right is my first one in Deutsch. I liked it so much that i have read it multiple times. Ofcourse, i also had to do that to understand the words, the grammar and the framing of the sentence. I would read them everywhere. From the journeys by trains to the times in the laundry. Fascinating and yet at the same time the most difficult thing about German is that every word that is a noun has gender and the grammar changes with it. The sun (Die Sonne) for example is feminine, the moon (Der Mond) is masculine and the book (Das Buch) is neutral. Every noun has to be learnt along with its gender.

On last Saturday, i have given my exam and done with the course. With the course behind, i am looking for ways to spend the so much time that is now available. Before i get back to my ways of spending hours on useless websites, i need to put it to some good use. For couple of days now, i am back to the gym that i have enrolled myself into in the beginning of this year. As much as i like working out in the gym, i hate walking back the slope the house. Adding to it, the bloddy winter has set in and it's freezing cold already. I wish i could convince my wife to join along.

Black Forest

2011-11-20T00:06:00.006+05:30

It was more than a month ago, in the beginning of October that we took a vacation to Black Forest, the vacation that i have awaited a little more than others. With the name itself suggesting how close one would get to the nature, i was eagerly looking for the trip after having toured cities that were too full of crowds. And the thought of being away from the little apartment into the wide woods was itself enthralling. Not to mention the stories over the origination of black forest cakes and the cuckoo clocks from the region.

With the arrival of Autumn, the leaves were just beginning to turn yellow. Another couple of weeks later would have been ideal but as usual it's a pain to get a day off. October 3rd being the national holiday here, the day the east and west germany were reunited in 1990, we planned our trip well in advance. By the way, i have been learning lot about German constitution and it's history. So, can't help quoting the dates.

Our flight was booked to Basel, a place near to Black forest but right on the borders of Germany, France and Switzerland. The directions in the airport itself were funny with the signboards directing the people to take one door to go to either France or Switzerland and another door to get to Germany. Our hotel in the territory of France was quite walkable from the airport. Taking rest in that cluttered hotel for the night, we checked out on early morning, and walked across the border to enter into Germany and took a train to Treiburg.

For the next couple of days, we were in the middle of Black Forest. Quite close to the nature and yet far away from it. With an unfortunate incident to a friend, the situation was tense for a day. Thanks to the good medical care here, he was immediately rushed to the hospital. After he got better by the next day, the couple had to return to Hamburg in the middle of trip.

Spring flowers

2011-09-03T21:11:00.001+05:30

When i came to hamburg in last December, it was painted in white. It was snow everywhere and there were no trees that bore leaves. That remained so till the winter passed. The gardens before the houses had the shrubs that were mostly stripped to the stems. The Spring with it's arrival bought the colors to Hamburg. Every garden is pleasing to watch with beautiful flowers. The rose plants before the apartments had many flowers blooming. Barely were they plucked. Many were just left like that till they dropped down.

The balconies are adorned with flower pots with the coming of Spring. We didn't have a balcony. To have the flower pots inside the apartment, it's a pain to watch them die slowly for lack of sunlight. Having endured a couple, we now started to place the flower pots on the window sill open to sunlight and air, adding a little more color to the city. But the poor flowers didn't know they were being nourished to be plucked for the pooja on Ganesh Chaturthi.

Vinayaka Chavithi

2011-09-03T20:00:00.000+05:30

29th Aug -Next to Diwali, Vinayaka Chavithi (Ganesh Chaturthi) is the festival that i looked forward to as a kid. Having fortunately grown up in a village, the festival day used to begin a little differently for us. Waking up before sunrise, we used to go out to collect the Pathri(the leaves using during pooja) from the surrounding areas. We used to be a big group of kids, at times with some elders coming along. Crossing the river by the village, we would go into the mango groves and pluck the leaves before we move on to the adjacent guava groves. I can not recollect the names of stuff that we used to gather but it was a large list. I remember plucking the lemon fruits by some barn. I pity the owner for the lone tree on the barn used to become bare by the time we left the place. By the sandy fields on the river side, we would pluck the little onion sprouts. On the way back after collecting everything, we would make a stop at the elephant apple (called velakkayya in Telugu) tree on the river bank. We used to hear that an elephant can eat the inside of that fruit without breaking the hard shell. The very few fruits that were on the tree used to be cherished prizes for us. The days that will never come back.

After those days, i think it was only this year that i am being part of the festival. All other years i was either in college or working in Bangalore. Last weekend, almost all Indians here in Hamburg met in a park. There were few fun events for kids, elders and couples and one of them was making the Vinayaka from clay. We were a little late for the event but looks like the event triggered my wife's right brain that she along with Anusha decided make their own idols for the coming festival. For that, they bought the color sticks that looked like colored chalk pieces but acted like clay. We had to travel far to buy clay and so we just stuck to these. From where they started worried about so many colors, they were much satisfied with result as the first Vinayaka shaped up. I tried by hand too but proved to be no good with it. Here are the two Vinayaka's that were prepared on the day.

Pisa

2011-08-29T01:30:00.001+05:30

5th June - I didn't want to spend a day visiting Pisa just for the sake of tower. We were in Pisa because we wanted to visit Cinque Terre in our Italy trip. We couldn't find accommodation in Cinque Terre and Pisa is just an hour away from those villages. But actually, even if it was just the tower, it gave a very pleasant feeling to be there.

We visited the Pisa tower in the evening after we were back from the Cinque Terre trek. It rained when we were on train from Cinque Terre to Pisa and the sunny day had a pleasant evening. Taking a bus to the tower, we got right in front of it. Located in a large walled area, the tower looked magnificent. We came to know that it is allowed to get to the top of tower but there was barely 20 minutes of time of closure. We were not sure if we should be spending 15 euros on each of us just to hurry up. On the spur of the moment, we bought the tickets and rushed up the tower. As we walked up the stairs, the leaning angle of the tower could be very well felt. It was slightly drizzling as we reached the top. Looking at the size of city, i wondered how my dear wife having been there before could describe it a small village having nothing but the Pisa tower.

We had our dinner at McDonalds just outside the Pisa tower compound. Surviving the night in the mosquito infested B&B type of accommodation in Pisa, we caught our flight to Hamburg on the next morning.

Cinque Terre

2011-08-29T01:02:00.000+05:30

5th June 2011 - Cinque Terre is a group of five villages on coastal Italy near to Pisa. It was initially not our plans to visit the place. But when someone told us of the place and its beauty, we wanted to do everything to accommodate it on the trip. Sravanthi took an extra day off.

Starting on the early morning from Pisa, in an hour we reached Monterosso, a village to one end of the Cinque Terre region. The beach there was totally empty. We took a stroll by the beach and whiled away our time on the huge rocks to one corner that were being hit by the waves. We had our breakfast in the small cafeteria overlooking the sea. When we started the trek, there were not many people along. The trek was never too demanding but kept us exciting all the way with either the vineyards or the view of the ocean all along. We encountered very old people, one who could probably be in her 70's doing her trek even as she see seemed to get exhausted. It took around 2 and a half hours to reach Vernazza. During the whole time we didn't encounter anyone doing the trek on Jeans. So stupid of us. Vernazza on the edge of the sea was a pleasing view as we trekked down the hill towards it. The sun was scorching towards the end of trek and we thanked ourselves for starting early.

Learning German

2011-08-28T22:52:00.000+05:30

I have never been good with learning a new language. Telugu being my mother tongue and English being the medium of my education, those are the only two languages that i am fluent in. Hindi, learnt as a third subject in school remained at quite a far distance from my other two languages. During the 5 years of my college, i have seen people pick up Tamil and becoming better with Hindi. Other than few negligible words, i haven't caught on anything. At one point of my college life, i even felt that new languages are not for me.

Coming to Germany threw me a situation that i couldn't escape from. Surrounded by people speaking German, the usually little speaking me became a non speaking person for good part of life outside the house. But anyway, with the culture of modernized showrooms and supermarkets, there is really very little necessity to interact with people for most of the needs. The real issue started when i started looking for a job here. Most of the companies expect the applicants to be fluent in German and haven't even taken a single step towards that. After 3 months of futile search, i enrolled myself into a German language teaching school.

I have heard and read several times that learning a new language is fun but have to get into learning one to believe it. It indeed is fun. It bought such a welcome change into routine life. It was like going back to school all again. Only this time, there is no fear of the teachers, no fear of unfinished homework and no push to get ahead of the class. Our instructors Teresa Duppmann and Antje Rehren made it fun and easy to learn. To learn together with people from so many different countries is an experience by itself. There are few who have been living in Germany for more than 10 years and now coming to school to learn the language. In the initial days, it took time to even pick the correct washroom with only 'Damen' (meaning Women)and 'Herren'(meaning Men) written on the doors without any signs. It however didn't take long to get a hang of the language. With German being one of the West Germanic languages along with English, the similarities helped a lot in learning. Once i got the hang of the language, i started reading newspapers, story books, and started watching German comics on YouTube. The dictionary app on the mobile has become indispensable and of great help me.

While i enrolled to German instruction to purely enhance my job opportunities here, once i got started, it's been a nice experience. Whether or not I make a job here, i am glad that i have taken a step to learn the language.

Lüneberg

2011-08-28T01:51:00.001+05:30

Any weekend that comes with a clear weather is a joy, an opportunity to step out of the house and explore the surroundings or to simply take in the good weather. Last Saturday was one such day with the sun shining bright throughout the day. Around 11 AM, we went to Harburg station and took the next available train to Lüneberg. Just 20 minutes away from Harburg, it is also in the Hamburg metropolitan region. For us, that meant kostenlos(free of cost) travel to it on weekends with the pass that Sravanthi holds.

With the station on the outskirts of the town, we took a bus to get into the town. With no prior idea of the town and no map in hand, we just got down at a stop that seemed to be well within the town. Walking from there, we reached the weekend market that had everything fresh from the farms. The farmers come here with the wagons full of their goods and station them in the market. After the sale, they just drive off. Anyway, adjacent to the market was the tourist information center where we could get hold of a map. The whole town seemed a walkable one. We ventured a little away into the residential lanes. The streets were all empty looking like a place that has been just deserted by the residents. To the end of the town was a hill, a small one from which the roofs of the houses in the town could barely be seen.

As we walked down into the town, we spotted an Indian restaurant around the corner. Wonderful taste of fish curry after a long time. After lunch we walked into the center of the town spotting crowds for the first time. The place was lively with people sitting outside the cafeterias enjoying the sun. Sipping on the Vanilla milkshake from McDonald's we made our way to the station and took a train to reach home.

Schwerin

2011-08-27T16:26:00.001+05:30

It was 3 weeks before this day that we went to Schwerin. Anusha and Kishore, Ezhil, Parvathi and us. With the summer coming to it's end, there's a sense of rush to the make the most of what is left. Having decided the place to visit on Friday evening, we started at leisure on Saturday morning after having had our breakfast. Just in time for the departure, we boarded the train in Hauptbahnhof, Hauptbahnhof meaning the central station. In around an hour and a half we reached Schwerin.

The place was an ideal one to either take a stroll in the lanes of the town or to even lazily sit by the lake in the middle of the town. The town itself is surrounded mostly by lakes. We took a long walk from the station to the Schwerin Castle on the other end. Along the path was this huge lake surrounded by the trees and houses beyond the trees making it a pleasing view. From one end of the lake started the main shopping street, also the way to the castle. Being crazy these days about learning German, i picked up a couple of children's books that were on offer.

Post lunch, we lazily walked from one lake to the other. Looking at the peddling boats there, none could contain the urge and hired a couple of boats for an hour. I had no option but to willingly get into one with Sravanthi's excitement having no bounds. As we peddled a little inside, the waves were heavy that everyone for a moment got scared of their lives. We even had to change our course while the others braved ahead. Apart from that, it was just a lazy stroll along the streets but well, the town was such a good setting for a nice walk and so was the weather that is very much cherished here.

The Apple Orchards And The Cherry Gardens

2011-07-19T03:55:00.001+05:30

The weather was perfect. Just above 20 degrees. A typical summer day here with little prediction of rain. After whiling our time in the morning, we had to hurry our lunch to make in time for the train. We were to catch at bus at 2:40 PM from Neugraben which is 10 minutes from the Harburg-Rathaus, the nearby station from where we all started. Parvathi, Anusha and Kishore, Ashwini and Abhilash, Sravanthi and me. The train arrived a few minutes late and we had to run to the bus stop outside Neugraben. We were late by a minute and the bus was already gone with none to our destination for the next couple of hours. Not an issue. We could be home in another 20 mins and do this trip on another weekend. But we decided to wait for an hour and take the next bus that goes half the way. After little roaming around the place and a visit to the ice cream shop, we took the bus and got down twenty minutes later.

We got down two stops ahead of where we were supposed to get down. With enough time for the connecting bus, we started making our way back. That walk on the elevated walking path beside the road was fabulous.There were beautiful houses on either sides of the road with huge lush green lawns and colorful flowers everywhere. The apple orchards beyond those houses stretched far into the distance. The black clouds were gathering on top of us showing signs of rain at any moment. The cherry trees were everywhere and the girls couldn't contain their excitement picking up the first catch for the day and relishing them even if they were sour. I truly couldn't understand that but was glad that they are enjoying the little things. It started raining a bit by the time we reached bus stop though not too heavy to get wet under the trees we stood. With in a while we were at our destination, an apple orchard in Jork, for which we took the prior appointment.

Just like many such places on the way, this one too had a big shop by the road selling mainly the apples, cherries and the products from them. Behind the shop was the cold storage for the apples and beyond that is all apple orchards with cherry gardens at places. The entry to apple orchards was free because the apples were not yet ripe to eat but for the cherry gardens we were charged 2 euros per hand but that meant we could each as much as we want. With the shop about to close, we made our purchase of cherries and walked behind. The rain has gone, the clouds became clear and the weather turned pleasant. With the sight of cherry trees, we were all over them making most out of those two euros. It was almost the end of season, so there were only few but quite enough to satiate our stomachs. For a couple of hours we just stayed there enjoying the orchards. There was this apple orchard in the shape of heart that reportedly has 200+ types of apple trees. Wish there was a restaurant in the middle of those orchards.

By eight in the night, we were back home craving for a different taste after binging on those juicy cherries for hours. The left over egg fried rice from afternoon was a welcome change. A very satisfactory trip for the day.

Google+

2011-07-11T00:17:00.004+05:30

After coming to Hamburg, i have by myself drawn away from people. No more do i make calls to friends. There were friends whom i called so frequently but now in the last six months, i can probably count the number of calls i have made and even less would be the number of people i have talked to. Coming here, i seem to have gone into a shell. Why was that? Am i contended with what's going on in my life. I certainly am but that is no reason to go into hiding. I am not in touch with all those friends with whom i have shared lots of good moments. Not sure what explains this. Everyday i will say to myself that i am going call everyone but that does not happen. Is that how things change post wedding for the most? Will life never be same as the one before it. Why don't i pick up the phone and talk to people. I don't know.

Anyway, i wanted to write about the Google+ in this post but ended up writing the above. So, like all other eagerly awaiting users, i logged into Google+ today on an invitation. I was never too much into the networking sites and if am there, it is only to assure that i am not lost in the mad race. Otherwise, i feel no amount of updates from friends will fill the gap of not talking to them for long. Few days back when i heard of Google+, i just rubbished it with a sigh. Today as i logged in involuntarily but out of that little anxiousness for the Google product, it wasn't an instant fascination. The product very slowly charmed me. I even pulled in Sravanthi who doesn't care to be on these sites.

There will be certain comparisons of Google+ with couple of products. Orkut and Facebook. It beats Orkut hands down on any day with it's much cleaner UI. I always felt the name 'Orkut' was never closely associated with the Google brand like say the Google search because of the name never carrying the word 'Google'. Unlike that, Google+ comes with 'Google' written all over it and will enjoy more brand advantage. The product seemed to have been very closely integrated with Google products and it's presence is all over. When compared to Facebook, i don't think it's way better but the little new features and the small colorful buttons on the total white background will at least for now be more pleasing to the eye. Even if there is nothing that Google+ has and Facebook doesn't, Google+ i think will have it's way for one reason. Facebook is old and the Google+ is new. Is that probably why Orkut is not changed to be what Google+ is?. Whatever, after having gotten used to the Facebook UI, Google+ is going to attract the users. There of course are features like Circles that provide easy way to send ur posts only to the people you want. I haven't yet made a single post. So, i can't speak more for features. But just from the look of it, i think it is here to stay.

Rome

2011-07-10T22:20:00.001+05:30

3rd June - The journey from Venice to Rome was around four hours by fast train. Almost all the time, Sravanthi was sleeping besides me while i kept gazing at the landscapes as the train zipped through. There were plenty of tunnels and it kept buzzing in the ears as the trains went underneath. The landscape were mostly meadows on slightly hilly terrains. The houses here and there on the elevation of the hills were a pleasing view. As the train approached into Rome, the first sight of Rome was huge apartments in worn out colors and plenty of antennas installed on top of the buildings. If that gave a wrong impression of Rome, that was only for a while. The historical Rome is a real treat to the eye. By 5:30 in the evening, we were outside of Rome central station. While the owner of the B&B that we booked for our accommodation said that it's quite close to the station, it took a while to track it. Taking help from the tourist information center, we tracked it to an apartment on one of the main roads. The owner however saying that there's some repair work going on had booked us a hotel instead. It took another hour to track the hotel. We went a full circle looking for it to come back again to where we started and find the hotel right there. But the little walk gave us preview of what to expect in Rome. History.

Trevi Fountain

Once we refreshed and let go of our tiredness, we were out into the city. Luckily, our hotel though sucked on the facilities was located in the historic part of the city and with that almost every touristic place was walkable. After being in the over crowded Venice, Rome came as a relief. Because of it's sheer size and numerous places of interest, it didn't feel packed like Venice. Every place had it's own charm. Every path had it's story to tell. It doesn't take much time to fall in love with the place. It embraces the visitors to give them a wonderful feeling. The Pantheon, The Spanish Steps, Piazaa Navona and numerous other places. We roamed till it was midnight, till we were exhausted to even walk back to the hotel.

Roman Forum

On the morning of second day, we hurried to the Vatican. There were couple of hundreds of people standing in the queue at the Vatican Square for entering the St. Peter's Bascilla. Even then, we should say we were lucky as the queue never stopped growing. It took almost 40 minutes to beat that queue and enter into the Bascilla. The Angel's and Demons flashed into sight as we walked around. Irrespective of all the waiting, the place is worth a visit. It was hot by the time we were out and we hesitantly walked towards the Vatican Museum that had the works from the likes of Michelangelo. It was enticing on one hand but looking at the long queue and the shimmering sun overhead, we just dropped the idea and took a bus to the Colosseum. Here is where we made the mistake of joining the queue. Such was the crowd that it took couple of hours to enter the Colosseum. There was guided tour that provided instant access to the inside at an extra cost but we didn't expect the queue to take that long. Two hours of hell. The Colosseum with two accessible floors for visitors speaks for the grandeur of it's period. On the suggestion of a friend who was earlier on a trip to Rome, we went looking for a dosa serving restaurant near the railway station. This thought of having a dosa was tingling my taste buds from the time we entered Rome but well we never found the place. We instead had to settle down to tasteless dhal. After lunch we took a bus to the Roman Forum that was few steps from our hotel. Having no more energy to walk around, we just sat there till it was time to pack the bags and bide goodbye to the city.

To be in Rome is to live in history. If this reminds of the boring history books during the school, this is not such one. This is fascinating. I couldn't stop wondering how everything constructed so far in history could have remained for so long in time to marvel us today. With the whole region of historic Rome built to blend into that history, no wonder the city takes you on time travel into the amazing past of the Romans. The charm could have worn out had we stayed for longer walking the same paths again. We were there for enough time to treasure our times in Rome. At 6:30 in the evening, we took the train from Rome to Pisa.

Venice

2011-07-03T17:50:00.002+05:30

2nd June - Sravanthi had couple of days off around the same time as our wedding anniversary and it was perfect for a vacation. From the Indians we know here in Hamburg, Italy and Paris rank high among the list of places to visit. Being to these places gives a feeling of having toured the Europe. Switzerland is another beautiful place but that is a bit costlier. So, that has to wait. Having been to Paris, we planned our vacation to Italy this time. It started two months prior to the trip. First we booked our tickets to Venice since we found them to be cheap but then we were not finding any hotels within Venice. Venice can be reached within half an hour from 'Mestre', a place on the mainland Italy that has plenty of hotels but we wanted to stay a night within Venice. So, we waited. And one day, quite close to the vacation time, we luckily found one hotel that had a vacancy. In the meantime, we booked our tickets from Venice to Rome and from Rome to Pisa and back from there to Hamburg. With all the reservations done, we were set for the trip.

The flight tickets we booked were for Ryanair, the airlines famous for their extra charges while the fare is very cheap. For instance, boarding passes are sent online and everyone must carry a printout of the boarding pass with them to check-in counter. Failing to do so, a sum of 40 euros will be charged per person. When the ticket can at times cost less than that, that's too much of money and i really pity those who had to shell out that extra bucks. Anyway, this airlines has also it's very strict specifications for the size of cabin bag 55*20*40 cms. Any thing extra meant that the bag will have to be checked in at an extra charge. That kept me at unrest. It was not much the money but the fact that we seem to carry a bigger one even when we know we are not allowed. But Sravanthi was very confident that it didn't matter. It actually didn't for us. There were few of her colleagues who were traveling on the same flight and they had to check in.

The ride across the main canal in Venice

The flight was on the early morning of June 2nd and the airport is in Lubeck, about an hour and a half journey from hamburg. So, we had to catch a bus at 3 am in the morning from Hamburg central station and that meant we had very little sleep. After 2 and half hours of flight journey, we landed in Venice Marco Polo airport. There, we took our travel pass for the time we were staying in Venice and that was a good thing. The queues for those tickets were long within Venice. From airport, it was about 20 minutes by bus to the entrance of Venice. Being the holiday season, the tourists were in plenty. The weather was cloudy with a very light drizzle. We bought a map of the city and got across the bridge to enter into Venice. From there on, the bridges are a common sight and the transport is all by boats. There are still roads that reach almost every part of Venice, connected by bridges to get across the canals. We looked up the map and figured out the route that goes to our hotel. When we inquired about the boat to taken for confirmation, we learnt that the place is very much walkable. Well, it was. It could have been a 10 minute walk from the station had we known the correct route. But finding out the hotel from the given address took a while for us as we tried to figure it out from the street names and house numbers written on every corner building of the road. We were a couple of hours ahead of check-in time. So, we dropped our luggage there and walked back.

A typical street in Burano

Very near to the city of Venice, there are two islands of interest to the tourists. Murano and Burano. Murano for it's glass factories and their manufactured items on sale and the Burano for it's lacework. We first went to Murano taking a public boat from near the hotel. Murano was probably a 20 minute away from Venice. There was one not so wide canal running across it with boats parked on both sides of it all along the way that seem to serve as the local's private transport. On either sides of the canal were either restaurants or shops selling the artifacts made of glass. It was a pleasing sight. The place wasn't crowded like Venice and was quite peaceful. We had our lunch in one of the restaurants there. While Sravanthi played safe with pasta, i went for sea food. I love sea food and what i ordered wasn't to my liking. A slice of fish that ripped me off by15 euros. I had to share pasta from Sravanthi's plate. After lunch we strolled around the place and went to one of the glass factories before we took the boat to Burano. One very noticeable thing on this island is the color of houses. Each house in the row is painted in a different color giving a unique feel to the island. By this time the clouds were gone and the sun had come out. It was almost evening and we were exhausted.

Going back to the hotel where we left our luggage, we collected them and walked towards our apartment. Looks like the hotel guy was managing more than one hotel but with only one showing up on the website. It was another 10 minute walk from there but we were exhausted to point of cursing to even cross the small bridges across the canals. Good that we at least preferred to stay for the night here. Alternate plan was to travel to Rome by night train so that we could reach there by early morning. That would have killed us, waiting for those trains in the night without lack of sleep on the previous night. Once we refreshed, it got better. There was McDonalds very near to the place we stayed. It was quite a surprise to spot that among the generally very traditional restaurants seen in Venice. Overjoyed, we ordered more than what we could eat.

Sravanthi made a beautiful album with photos from the last one year of our marriage as a memory of our first anniversary. A beautiful thought. I was totally bowled over. None of the digital photos on laptops would match the charm of photos in albums with personal touch to them. Like the emails that can never have the charm of good old hand written letters. I was buoyed by her idea and her act. After dinner, we went for a little walk in Venice. Even at late in the night, the streets were very much alive.

On the second day, we went to the Rialto bridge after waiting for a long while for the boat. It is one huge bridge across the main canal. When we reached the bridge, we realized that it was actually quite close to the place we stayed. We could have walked to it. I would have loved to have been there in the night. After little shopping there, we went to San Marco and the tourists there were like an ocean. Little wonder that it is extremely hard to find affordable hotels within Venice. By noon, we started towards the hotel, checked out and reached the railway station in hurry to catch the train to Rome.

Venus was actually not what i imagined. It was good but was not as beautiful as i thought it would be. Unlike other cities like Paris or New York, Venice is a city that can form amazing pictures within the mind from what we hear of it. It really is not easy to match those in truth. And seeing the city among the ocean of tourists with a sense of rush doesn't help either. That is why i say it was not as beautiful. But as the time passed, the city again has grown with in my mind and it is now more beautiful than it was before. I think there is much to see than what we have seen. The thought of how such a city could have been constructed out of lands within the waters that were considered good for nothing will remain a wonder. Did you know that Venice is called Venezia in Italy? Almost every city there has a different name than what we hear. Rome is Roma. I didn't know the names of cities could change with languages.

Biking In Füssen

2011-06-23T01:08:00.001+05:30

24th April - Having mostly been to the surroundings on the previous days (Day1, Day2), we wanted to spend some time in Füssen on the third day. Füssen is a town that can be best explored by bikes. After having woken up late and lazily finishing our breakfast, we started towards the town that was within a walking distance. It was cloudy and was slightly drizzling. Walking through the fields behind the house and crossing the river Lech, we were into the town and taking little help from the tourist information center, we spotted the bike renting place. We were fortunate enough to go there in time as he had only last few bikes left to rent out.

River Lech

While Füssen is famous with the tourists for the castles close to it, the town itself has plenty to offer with the river Lech flowing through it and the mountains surrounding the town acting as beautiful backdrop. Along the river lies a cycling path that touches a few lakes on it's way. Taking our bikes, we rode out of town center and the six of us starting cycling up the path along the river. The last time i was on bike was in college while doing my engineering. That was a long time ago and to be back on it was thrilling. It took few minutes to get set on a real bike after getting used to the immovable ones in gym. The uphill task was daunting at times but the thought of beautiful lakes ahead kept us going forward. We would stop every few minutes to take a break. The path at times treads a little away from the river into the woods. By noon, we were at the AlatSee, a small lake. The green pastures that went up the hill to one side of the lake added amazing beauty to the lake. We had our lunch in the restaurant by the lake. Quite expensive but atleast the food tasted good.

Weißensee

By Weißensee

By Alatsee

From there, we started to Weißensee, another lake down the road. With the bikes gathering the speed on the downward slope, it scared me when the brakes failed to work instantly. Sravanthi ahead of me was enjoying the momentum oblivious to this and only when prompted to slow down with the car coming in the other direction did she realize how dangerous it could get. The lake beneath was a bigger one but wasn't as much pleasing to the eye like the previous one. When we decided to head back after relaxing there for a while, the thought of going back in the same direction was draining. But luckily, we could find an alternate route that didn't have any ups and downs to deal with. On the way was this field to one side of the cycling path. Left our bikes aside and spent a while there..

The town approached quickly and it took a while to get to the center. The cycling paths were well laid out through out the town making it easy for the bikers. We went straight to home. Even as it pained to sit right on the bikes, we headed out again after a while. It was almost dusk. The supposed to be straight ride to the lake turned into a hunt as we struggled to find it. And when we found the lake it started drizzling a bit and soon turned into rain. We cycled back taking shelter beside the nearby barn.

Once the rain subsided, we went to the town again to return one of the bikes and were back home totally tired. On the way back, Sravanthi's bike slipped and she fell but luckily there were no injuries. Next morning around 10, we took the train to Munich and from there to Hamburg. End of first long trip within Germany.. :)

To Zugspitze And To Innsbruck

2011-06-20T00:09:00.000+05:30

23rd April - Getting a good night's sleep after our trip to the castle, we were all charged up for the day ahead. Zugspitze and Innsbruck was what on the day's plan and we have prebooked a vehicle for that. For the breakfast, we had bread, eggs and coffee. The vehicle arrived sharply at 8:30 and the driver acted as the guide as well. She seemed to know plenty as she kept on telling us about the place and the history all through the journey. Good that she spoke good English.

Füssen being in the southern most part of Germany is also very closer to Austria. Within less than 5 minutes of starting from home, we were into Austria. On either sides of the road were green pastures with multitude of little yellow flowers close to the ground. We were seeing these flowers right from starting our journey in hamburg and thought of them to be cultivated since the summer has arrived. The guide has to dispel our thoughts saying that they were just wild flowers called dandelions. Whatever they were, they have very beautifully adorned the fields and the foot paths. Every other minute we wished we could get down. I wished i was driving there. A good way to explore the place will be with own transport and plenty of time at hand. We had neither of them. Our guide was in a kind of hurry to take us to Zugspitze in time for the elevator. The only place we stopped en route to Zugspitze was beside a restaurant when Anusha felt nauseous because of the winding roads. To the other side of that highway we stood was this small lake with few steps leading down to it. Small but beautiful with pristine blue water.

With in less than an hour, we were at the foot of Zugspitze, one of the peaks of the Alps and the highest peak within Germany. We were just in time to catch the elevator to the top. Most of the people on it were with the skiing gear. We could spot very few tourists. Before we got on to the elevator we were said that the peak of Zugspitze used to have the land divided into two, with one side belonging to Germany and the other belonging to Austria and that people were not allowed to crisscross before a point of time in history. Reaching the top, we were surprised to think that could have happened because the place on the peak itself wasn't too huge enough to have borders there. History is history. Below are snaps taken from the peak during an hour we were there.

Our next destination was Innsbruck in Austria. Just outside this little town is the Swarovski's crystal theme park located at the place where the first Swarovski factory was established but we did not go there. We rather preferred to spend some time in Innsbruck than running around. From what we saw, it looked like a very small town. The guide after briefly explaining us the place left us to ourselves. Carrying the hungry stomachs, we started looking out for lunch. It seem to be very common here in Europe for the restaurants to extend the diners area onto the wider footpaths in summer. With the summer lasting for very less time, they make the most of it celebrating it every possible way. Summer fests are very common here moving from town and town. Even the arrival of summer is celebrated. Well, coming back to our lunch we picked a restaurant that was in the lane that lead to the golden roof. I enjoyed my sea food pasta.

After lunch we went to this museum of which i don't remember any detail. We went in just because it was part of the package. We just brushed through it wanting to spend time in the town. Just beside the museum was one of the oldest restaurants that is famous for it's beer serving for more than a century. Being the time of Easter as well as the weekend, the town was in the mood of celebration. The streets were bustling with people and there were performers showing their might on the streets as the people gathered around them. For the whole part of the time we spent there, we just strolled through the historic part of the city that laid by the river Inn. Some of inner streets of this town were very narrow. It was said that they are just wide enough to let people carry a coffin through them. The town itself is very famous for winter sports. Our guide mentioned that in winters, most of the people here take an extended lunch break shutting down their businesses to go skiing.

From Innsbruck, it took a good couple of hours to reach Füssen. We prepared our dinner at home, spent a while in the lawn playing chaincut(funny games.. funny names), took a walk around the place and played cards before the day ended.

Neuschwanstein Castle

2011-06-18T18:13:00.002+05:30

22nd April - It took 5 months for the Paris trip to come on this blog. This post comes comparatively soon, just about a couple of months after the trip. This time it is to Bavarian region, the part of Germany very famous with the tourists. For us residing in north Germany, our destination Füssen, in the Bavarian region in the southern most germany is about a distance of around 700 km from Hamburg. We weren't alone this time. We traveled along with our friends. Ashwini and Abhilash. Anusha and Kishore.

Waking up early on the 22nd of April, we were at the train station by 6:30 AM. Being the holiday season, the platform was filled with people packed to set off for the vacation. Thanks to the arrival of summer, it was finally time to leave the winter coats aside. Otherwise, it would have been a pain to carry them around. It was still cold enough to get us shivering in T-shirts so we had to carry our summer jackets. It took 6 hours by train to reach Füssen with a changeover at Nuremberg where we had just enough time to have our breakfast.

After we reached Füssen, we called up the owner and she was at the accommodation to show us around. She came back again only on the third day when we were vacating the house. The whole place was left totally to us for the entire time we stayed. It was 2:00 PM by the time we reached there, an independent house just outside the town of Füssen but that brought us a little closer to the Neuschwanstein castle, the one main attraction of the place. For the very cheap price that it was offered, it was pretty good. The interesting part of the accomodation was it coming with a fully equipped kitchen. The fridge was packed with everything necessary for three days of breakfast. That gave us the option of having the breakfast and dinner there just like at home.

On the way to the castle

In the evening, we set out to the Neuschwanstein Castle. Like all others, this was well perched on the top of a hill. From the house we stayed, it was a 40 minute walk to the foot of the hill. The number was far off from the one mentioned by the owner which was 10 minutes but that didn't matter much. Initially we wondered if we were off the route, so we had to confirm with the natives. The people seem to be very helpful not leaving us till they provided us all the information they could. The entry into the castle was timed with a guide showing around it. After taking our tickets at the foot of the hill, we took the horse ridden carriage to reach the castle.With some time to spare before our entry into the castle, we walked to the other side of the castle where there was a long bridge high across the river flowing between the mountains. Quite windy, it was a welcome relief after the quick walk and the view down from there was amazing. It is also from this bridge that all the prominent photos of the castle are taken with the castle offering it's most majestic view. The snap below is one such that we clicked. Wish we had a little more time to hang out there in the breeze. We had to hurry back to keep up with the strict German times.

The view from the bridge behind

The castle built in the 19th century didn't look too huge from the outside but from inside it looked very big to be fitting into the structure. There were parts of the castle that were left unfinished. The guide inside kept on going like a radio taking a pause when required and giving the instructions as needed. It must be one of the most boring jobs to describe the same place again and again on every day. But well, it is only when someone takes up these jobs that things get interesting for the rest. Photos weren't allowed inside the palace. That was just an instruction. There was no restriction on carrying cams inside. Everyone just complied. It took probably an hour to tour the castle that housed the king's throne, the hall of singers, his private bedroom, reading room, meeting room, servant rooms and a very modern kitchen to those times. Below are the views from the castle late in the evening.

The view down from the castle

We walked down the hill on the way back as the sun set. It was almost dark by the time we reached down. Otherwise, we could have just walked back home. With no buses in sight, there were too many people waiting for taxis. Interesting that we could spot many Indians among them. Once we got a taxi, we went to town looking for an Indian restaurant but failing to find the restaurant that we earlier dialed up, we returned home. Tired by the end of day, we had our dinner in the Chinese restaurant near our stay before we retired for the day having to wake up early for the next days tour.

The day ended with a sweet surprise to me from my wife on my birthday. No amount of words would explain the joy i felt reading her love letter for me. That was probably the first time my eyes went wet with joy. Before that, i didn't believe that it really happens.

To Blog Or Not To Blog

2011-06-17T16:39:00.000+05:30

I have gone to couple of long trips in the last couple of months. Every time i think of blogging about them with a resolve, there is something pulling me back. The time of course is never the factor. It's the fear of repeating "been there, seen that" type of blogs that i have already posted in plenty. To post multiple times on the same topic is not easy for at least me. That's probably what happened with the movies. At one time i was blogging about every movie i had been to and then after a period of time, the interest subsided. Repletion sucks. The same thing seem to happen with travel blogs now. Every time i want to blog the trip that i had been to, the count of the travel blogs that i have already posted deters me from doing that.

But from today, i will. I was just looking into my picasa albums to clear up some space and when i see some trips that i had been to and had not blogged about, it does not feel good. I wished i had blogged about them. A little record of these would probably make a good read for me in the future. I will be blogging all my trips even if it is "been there, seen that"..

Paris in December

2011-05-05T15:21:00.019+05:30

Dec 25th 2010 - Yeh.. We have been to Paris. :) Never even in my dreams had I thought that i would ever be there but we did. It’s been more than 5 months since we have been to Paris and I totally fell in love with the place. But thanks to my wafer thin memory, the place is somehow getting erased off my memory. So here i am brushing aside the laziness to write this down.

It was on Dec 12th that I came to Hamburg. Even before we could settle ourseleves comfortably, we planned a trip to Paris for the Christmas vacation. For my wife who works on an on site assignement here, it's very difficult to get a day off. So when the vacations come, we wouldn't want to bide time sitting at home. Paris was what on the minds and it wasn't any difficult to find the flights or book the hotels.

Paris is approximately an hour and a half flight from Hamburg. Starting on the morning of Dec 25th, we reached there around noon. Soon as we landed, we went for a five day travel pass in Paris. Even if it meant waiting in the queue for a while, that was the best thing to have done relieving us of the pain of buying tickets everytime we get into a bus or train. With a little map in place and a ticket to everything, getting around the city was pretty easy. After getting into the train at the airport, i confined to a window drawn to the outside as the train proceeded while my wife fought for my attention. Well, from then on i would not be let to sit beside the window. (See.. i cleverly avoided mentioning the person who avoided me to sit beside the window.. Dont ask me who..)

Getting into the hotel and dumping down the luggages, we quickly walked out to catch a train to Eiffel Tower. Yes.. Straight to the Eiffel tower before it was dusk. Walking up the steps out of the metro, we emerged into this side lane with road traffic on one side and the Seine river on the other. With hardened ice on the way, it was slippery all along but the inviting view of the Eifel tower would not let us slow down. It being the holiday season, the crowd there was festive. There was a such long queue for the elevators that reach the top of the eifel tower that we just quit the idea looking at it. That was a disappointment. Hoping the queue to diminish we just roamed the place for a while. When that never seemed to happen, we took stairs to the first level of the Eifel tower. From what we imagined from the bottom, the height of the first floor seem to just shoot up as we gasped for breath walking up the stairs. To get the idea of the first level's size, there's enough place there for a restaurant, a mini theater and an ice skating rink. Looking at all the little kids skating there, i thought it must be pretty easy but has to get out of it soon as i entered. There was another floor that we could walk to but then the feet didn't seem to agree with the brains and we walked down. By this time, it was dark and the the tower was lit up. It looked dazzling in the lights than in the daytime when it stood tall in the rusty red.

From there, we took a train to the Notre Dame church, just the next stop where the Christmas rituals were going on. It was magnificent both inside and out. The place outside was fully lighted up with the shining little lamps hung on to the trees. I wondered how the tourists were allowed inside even on that busiest day with no concern for security. While the architecture inside stood out, it was the christmas proceddings that gathered our attention. We hung there for a while along with the magnitude of people watching keenly and in absolute silence even as we had no clue as to what was happening. As instructed, with no flash on, people just kept on clilking the cams. It was thrilling to be there on that day.

We stayed close to the central station and just beside that is the La Chappel street that is home to all indian restaurants. Spotting the saravana bhavan, we walked in to feast ourselves to the yummy dosas. I didn't expect the taste to be that indian. It was very fulfilling. Yet to find a place here in Hamburg that serves either dosa or idli. When i ask my wife about it, she tells stories of how her friends used to travel to bremen (120 km from here) on weekends just to eat dosa in the one restaurant that used to exist. It is now closed.

After a stumptous buffe breakfast on the second day, we started to the Louvre Museum in the cloudy weather. The roads were clear but the foot paths were wet with flakes of ice sparsely spread along the way. Being winter, the trees were bare without a hint of greenery. It was chilling but yet better by a few degrees when compared to the Hamburg weather. There was this very slight drizzle that seemed to be very inviting. Walking the little distance to the bus stop, we went to central station and caught a train to the Louvre. The Louvre Museum apparently is very famous for its collection. Going by facts, it is infact the most visited museum in the world housing the most famous painting 'Mona Lisa'. For the museum of this size, it would take many days if you stop at every painting and artifact. We had to rush through it in half a day. Needless to say, 'Mona Lisa' is the main attraction here pulling the crowd towards it. Tired after few hours we walked out of it to have our lunch in a restaurant housed in the same palace trying out the french food and french wine. I almost hated the wine.

From the museum, we took a long walk to the Arc de Triomphe a monument at the centre of the old Paris. The walk on that stretch is a memorable one. To a certain distance from the museum, everything was open until we hit the main road. Just before the road was this huge gaint wheel from which we couldn't resist ourselves. The road from there was adorned by make shift shops on either sides of it as part of christmas and new year celebrations. It was very lively. These shops lasted to a point from where the commercial stores stood on either sides of the wide road with the footpaths being as wide as the road. With the trees lightned up, it was spectacular. We probably walked more than a mile from the museum and adding all the walking in the museum to it, we were dead tired. From the same foot path, we took down the steps connecting to the metro and were back to the hotel in no time.

The disneyland located on the outskirts of Paris is also a famous tourist attraction but the thought of giving a full day to it kept us away from it and so on the thrid day, we fastended to the Eiffel tower hoping to avoid huge lines by reaching there early. There was already a long line but we had no choice this time. After 30 minutes in the queue, we were at the counter and in no time at the top of the Eiffel tower. Well how did it feel.. to be on top of one of the wonders of the world.. It felt gooddamn cold. That explained why people were allowed to stay long as you would want on the top, i mean on the same day.There is an enclosure on the top with a small restaurant and an antiques shop providing relief from the cold. Surrounding that enclosure is enough space for the tourists to get a view of the city with a grilled wall on the outerside for protection. In the little time that we would bear the cold, we spent gazing at the city that was coming out of the fog. We were there on the top for not more than 20 minutes before we took the escaltors to come down.

From there we took the train to the Opera House. Emerging out of the subway, we were totally bowled by the beauty of the roads that surrounded that place. It looked very pleasing. The Opera stood grandly on one side while the roads, extremely attractive, spread out from there in different directions. We just took a long walk along the roads. That's probably the thing much recommended than going through the tourist attractions. We even got lost on the roads that seemed pretty easy to understand. We kept walking on the roads like we know where we were headed but after a point we had to declare ourselves lost in the little lanes that connected the main ones. I found the french people very friendly always carrying a smile on their face. Taking help, we reached the Opera. By this time, we were dead hungry and tired to even look for a restaurant. Finding a small joint, we just filled ourselves with sandwich and came back to the opera to find it being closed just then.

Our next stop was at "Arc de Triomphe". Taking the steep curling stairs to the top of it was worth the effort. Sravanthi felt dizzy walking up the stairs but once on the top she couldn't stop admiring the beauty of the city. The eight roads that converged away from the arc provided a breathtaking view, not even the view from Eiffel tower matched to it. The planning of the city just blew off my mind. Just felt glad that all these survived the world wars.

Coming to the final day, all that we planned to see is the Opera before we headed to the airport. So, waking up a little late we enjoyed the breakfast in leisure. For the hotel that is modestly priced, the options provided for the breakfast were too many. Checking out of the hotel, we headed to Opera House. It's like a palace inside. Apart from being an architectural marvel it showcased the dresses used by the performers over the years. The actual performance hall remained closed for spectators. For a little while though, an entrance to one of the many private seatings in the balcony got opened up and that's when we had a glance at the hall.

A flight to Hamburg and end of trip to Paris. The disappointing thing about the trip were the snaps we took. When we clicked, they looked fine on the small display screen but when we came home and uploaded them, most of them were blurred. We found it difficult to find one photograph for framing and am sure it's gonna be hell for me to find snaps for this post. I am now resolved to buy a good cam before our next big trip.

The best thing about being in Europe is it's many beautiful places and one VISA that will work for most of the countries. Summer is the best time to go around the places and with the arrival of it, we are looking forward to tour the continent. All excited.. :)

A New Beginning

2011-01-24T18:23:00.002+05:30

After being in Bangalore for almost 6 years, i have established a connection with the place. I was ready to settle down there. Sravanthi, after being on the onsite assignments for couple of years prior wedding, she never wanted to get out of the country again, away from her family, all alone. So, post wedding, we rented a good house in Bangalore, we furnished the house and thus began our life together. While we both had our jobs, we had plenty of time for each other. I would at times pick her up in the evenings and i remember all those beautiful drives on the 10km long elevated highway from the electronic city as the sun looked to set. While it was the music on the way to office, on he way back it was just her presence that filled me up with a feeling of goodness, of peace. We cooked together, we went to movies, we dined out, friends were all around and we were happy.

Until few months back, we never thought we would end up together here in an alien land leaving Bangalore behind. But well, it was all a well laid plan once we decided to be here. So, we are here in a new place beginning a new life. For more than a month now, i have been a mute spectator of all the drama enfloding before me everywhere i go. Recently, we went to a shop to buy some eggs on our way home. So, while i stand behind (ofcourse as a mute spectator), my wife glances around the little kiosk (small shop) and not finding them anywhere around, she asks the shop keeper who replied with a blank face. Feeling ittle embarrassed, little awkward and more out of place, we walked out of the shop laughing at ourselves. That's how life's been in Hamburg.

Anyway, such incidents are sparingly less since am just staying at home looking for a job. Doing the dishes and cooking have become a mandatory part of life. While i really do enjoy the cooking part, i can't help remembering the luxuries back home as i do the dishes. Oh well, there's also the occasional vaccum cleaning of the house. I now know what it means to not being noticed for all the chores done at home. My wife would gape at me reading this but there's some truth to this.

Sitting at home all the time ain't an easy job. Also, i have never been this long without a televsion. To get me off the couch, i enrolled myslef into a gym. Been there thrice in the last two weeks. The first time out of my interest and the other two times because of my wife's coersion reaching the breaking point. After that point, i know am safer in the gym. I think she has given up now. I however wish to be more regular beating the 20 minute walk to the gym in the freezing cold. By the time am placed in a job, i wish to learn some German too. It also is mandatory for most of the jobs here, even in IT.

As for the reason to be here, it all started with this dream of owning up a house. I always dreamt of living in my own house in Bangalore but never had i put it to work. When the time came up to look for the house, the almost zero savings did not help me. The thought of long tenure monthly payments instilled a fear in me as with the rising prices of the houses. So, after some discussions, we ended up here with the onsite offer still being open for Sravanthi. Vacating the fully furnished house would have been a pain if not for friends.

So, a couple of years in europe is the thinking. I guess that's enough time to tour around this continent.

Ok. It's 30th

2010-04-30T22:51:00.005+05:30

It is only when am sick that i think of the thousand things that i can do when the health is fine. I have been almost down for the last couple of weeks and with little energy to do anything i just kept thinking of all the things that i could have done. Now that i am fine, i just lay here in front of television watching the music on television. Well, speaking of the music, it's just pleasing me so much this day. It's been long time i have listened to rock. Now as i turn to VH1, the classical rock being played sounds too awesome.

So, why do i write this.. Just because i don't like seeing my blog without a post for this month. That sucks...

Too Good To Believe

2010-03-27T01:35:00.005+05:30

Ok. It's been a long time since i have written anything here. Every time i sit down to write something, it sounds so mundane and i give it up. We watched a couple of movies over a weekend and i thought of blogging about them.. I opened the notepad and i couldn't get a word out. When there is much more than movies going on in my life, i could not bring myself to blog about them.. In fact, i walked out of a couple of movies this year.. While everyone seem to going gaga over the female lead in 'Em Maaya Chesaave', we were the one who walked out of the theater in the second half. The other weekend we had a good gathering in our house with pleasantly unexpected visits from few friends. Sitting on the top of the terrace and drinking, we had a splendid time. I thought of penning it down and again, nothing came out. Yesterday, when swats pinged me about my absence from this space, i decided to write this down.

Yes. As the title says, this year has has been too good for me to even believe. Am living a dream. A beautiful one. It all started with a phone call on Dec 25th when i went to dine out with friends. Those were my first moments with Sravanthi. After that 40 minute call, i was left with a good feeling. A day after, i was in one of the Minerva's in Hyd sitting opposite to her. More than the excitement of meeting a girl, there was this excitement of being at Minerva for the first time. I love coffee and i was eager to get a taste of Minerva. Ok, i lied. The truth is, when i saw the girl walking into the coffee shop, i became nervous, a bit and then a bit more. If not for that angel sitting in front of me, i would have been biting my nails. I was tense but as i looked into her face, there was that pleasant feeling that calmed me down. She broke the ice, she cracked me up and after an hour and a half, we parted our ways to let the things fall in place. Thanks a ton to my friend Sunil, his better half Pramukha and his in-laws without whom nothing of this would have happened and that now is an unimaginable thought.

Life has changed. And to be true, most of the changes began with the use of my cell phone. For the first time ever, i have to lock my cell to protect it from my eager friends and for the first time i have a ring tone assigned to a contact. As i hear it ringing, life springs back to me even when my spirits are lying low. Not to mention that sometimes, the slightest sound in the room sounds like that tune prompting me to look for it all around. I will just leave it as a wonder instead of trying to decipher.

Living in Bangalore, i am reliving the childhood days when we used to sleep in the open under the star light sky. From the full moon nights to the days when the moon goes crescent, am enjoying each day strolling on the terrace and sometimes rolling. When we were four of us living together, i used to find some space for myself. With two more friends moving in, we are crammed for space and i forced to the terrace for all the late night calls with my girl. I have got used to the cold bites of the mosquitoes on the dark nights.

What would explain my pleasure when i saw a bunch of roses with that little note at my desk as i walked into the office. That was for the valentine's. So sweet and light is the feeling that i was flying.. . Little did she know about the painting and a hand written letter that i have sent to her. And her delight on reading the letter, those are the moments that make the life worth living.

Am living every moment and am cherishing everything that's happening. I was never this happier. I am seeing the joy in the little things and the fun the frivolous talks. Life is just too good... :)

Coorg

2010-03-01T08:27:00.005+05:30

21st Feb - 5'O clock on the morning of Sunday, we were seven of us all set to start on a trip to Coorg. The previous morning, Kranthi and Vicky flew in from Mumbai and Gan arrived form Hyd. Rambabu coming from Chennai was a little ahead here. From here, it was Subba, Rajesh & me. With them over here, the whole day was spent playing cards and by the fall of night, the gathering was around carroms keeping the striker running to the wee hours of the morning.

By 2 P.M we were at wild cat ranch, the place we booked for our stay . The trip was planned in the last minute and it was only on the previous night that we made our reservations. Being off season, there was plenty of availability. We just stuck to what we were recommended. Around 9 km from the town of Madikeri, it was located in the middle of coffee plantations. The best part was the whole place left for us with none to guard. With the summer just around the corner, it was hot. Except Subba and me who took a small nap, none has slept the previous night leaving us totally tired as we reached there. After resting for a couple of hours we were energized to take a little walk among the plantations. It cooled up a bit by evening and by night it was cool enough to have bonfire in front of the house. Drinks and dumb-C's, food and fun.

On the way to Coorg, we got down at a couple of places apart from the 'Cafe Coorg' that looked like a replica of the Coffee Day but offering breakfast and filter coffee. Golden Temple, a Tibetan monastery was the first place we stopped soon after our breakfast. With Rambabu, Kranthi and Vicky reluctant to even open their eyes, we just took a quick stroll around. Our second halt was at the banks of the Cauvery river. Here, everyone was dragged out of their sleep for a while into the waters.

This certainly is not the time to visit Coorg for sightseeing but if you are looking to spend time with friends or family in an isolated place, this one is a good option.

Hi

2010-01-26T11:16:00.000+05:30

It's been long time since i have posted anything here.. I hope you are all doing well in the new year..

Wishing a very happy birthday to my dear friend Suman and to my dear one.. Sravanthi..

Farewell

2009-12-31T13:50:00.007+05:30

The second half of December is always the time for total slack out in most of the offices. While some offices even force a vacation on the employees, we never had that luxury.. But the deliverables are always wrapped up in the first half of December leaving us plenty of time in the name of planning or discussions.. These two weeks, working is a taboo.. Infact, one who works is frowned upon for the total inconsideration towards the unspoken agreement that runs through the office space.

So, with not much work to do (none say it loud though), a small party was planned in the office to bid a farewell to the year that happened and to welcome the new year. One part of it was 'Follow the Artist'. Taking a reference from Milind Mulick's (He is a fantastic artist) 'WaterColor' book, few of us ( for lack of watercolor sheets in nearby stores) painted as others gathered around with their cock tails mixed by our in house expert. Well, it was fun and everyone was a winner. With no cam around, the following few have been captured on cell phone..

Bushan's splendour, Sonia's masterpiece

Ashish's victorious smile, Sreeni and me

Good bye 2009. :)

A Day In Central, A Dent Into my pockets

2009-12-18T12:51:00.009+05:30

I have several times walked into these glass doors that meticulously showcase the clothes. In spite of the fact that everything's over priced and an obvious rip off, i have always bought what i wanted and sometimes, things that never were on the list. But there's this certain section of wear that never caught my attention. The suits and the accompaniment. Probably because i would never find an occasion to wear one and more because of the extravagant price tags that they come with. I guess almost everyone has this shopping syndrome unless you are one of those never bitten by the brand bug. Once bitten, it's never easy to accept anything else. Blame it on the industry that totally overpays the so called software engineers. The fact that i make this post sitting in the comfort of the office, watching the one day between India and Srilanka speaks for it.

It was Karthik's wedding in the last month. Every wedding triggers a discussion about the gift but this one more prominently bought a discussion about the wear. Owe it to the whims of the married ones who have their suits hanging in their closets for years after their marriage, they wanted us to wear a coat for the wedding, all of our friends who were to attend it. The mere suggestion sounded ridiculous and their insistence led me to revolt. Really, who would care how one attends a wedding. As for the ones who insisted, it was just to add a jing factor to the wedding. But i would never fall for this. Or so i thought..

After hoards of emails, pained fingers, heated heads and bruised egos, I was there in Hyderabad Central looking for an informal coat on the morning of Karthik's wedding taking little inspiration from Barney's ubiquitous quote "Suit Up". Accompanied by Sunil and Pramukha and soon joined by Rajesh and Swapna, it took a good couple of hours to decide on the one after trials and retrials. I was almost exhausted by the end of it but i should admit that it was fun if not for the huge dent into my pockets. I hope it all ended there, but not until i picked up the right shoes and the shirt for it. And then came Ganesh who had go through the same ordeal in a quick motion.

Dressed up for the event, i was there at the wedding on the evening. And Mr.Chandu promptly had a compliment to make "It looks like an old man's winter coat". Whatever, i loved it. And for the sake of it, i got to search for occasions and find friends to walk them into these glass doors.