Random Thoughts from Calabi Yau Space

The Need to Please

noreply@blogger.com (Ganesh Raghavan) — Thu, 27 Aug 2015 05:39:00 +0000

One of the things that I absolutely abhor at the workplace is the "need to please" or "need to market" syndrome. It may not be relevant just to the place where one works but extends beyond to our personal lives too as far as I am concerned. But for the sake of this post I will stick to the workplace.

While my dislike for people who do everything in their power to please the boss, stems from the fact that I do not consider myself as an ambitious individual, I still am unable to fathom as to why being a "yes man" to your boss is such a "in demand" skill these days to grow in ones career. I have lost count of the number of instances where promotions are given to people who are sometimes unfit for a certain job but are nevertheless given priority because of their ability to please the boss. It is often spun as the individual having shown "leadership" qualities (another corporate word I absolutely detest).

The fault also to a certain extent lies in the folks who are in roles of a "boss". Everyone has his or her own "inner circle" or "coterie" and I guess they get a sense of I don't know what "superiority" maybe when they see a band of willing to please yes men who would do anything they want them to do? I don't know and I guess I never will.

Cricket and Tree Tomatoes

noreply@blogger.com (Ganesh Raghavan) — Mon, 16 Feb 2015 12:00:00 +0000

Chose to write this post out of the blue after watching my daughter play cricket with her grandfather (my father in-law) earlier today. She was using one of those small plastic cricket bats and was trying to knock a rubber ball around the house. Reminded me of the first cricket bat I got back in 1985 or 1986 (don't remember the year exactly).

I was showing some kind of promise back then in cricket and although I was primarily a bowler, I somehow had greater excitement at the prospect of having my own cricket bat, one that could be used against real cricket balls and not the tennis ball variety. My father was one that never said no to anything I asked for and when he promised to get me a bat my excitement knew no bounds!

I still remember the feeling of getting my hands on my very own bat. It was a HRM brand bat made from Kashmir Willow. The feeling of joy that I had just wielding my own bat was indescribable. Something that you very rarely feel these days even with the more expensive toys we get ourselves these days.

My first couple of hits with the new bat was with raw tree tomatoes plucked from our garden. Those things could get pretty hard and it was the memory of hitting tree tomatoes that came to my mind this morning when I saw the little one play.

I probably used the HRM bat for 3-4 years before it broke, I guess. It was followed by a more expensive IDM cricket bat and I think that was really the last cricket bat that I owned. The IDM lasted me at least 7 or 8 years.

Ah! memories...such a precious gift for us humans!

December Memories

noreply@blogger.com (Ganesh Raghavan) — Tue, 23 Dec 2014 08:11:00 +0000

Nostalgia Warning!

Thanks to my in-laws, I am officially off baby sitting duties for the rest of the year which means 10 days of real vacation without having to worry about the little one too much! The first thing I've done is actually make use of my Sonos 1 system and listen to some good music all morning long.

Being able to just listen to your kind of music without having to worry about pesky neighbours, or complaints from the missus about the volume is indeed a wonderful thing. Total bliss!

Listening to music invariably makes me feel a little nostalgic and I get to remember so much more bits and pieces of the past. Listening to Clapton singing My Fathers Eyes brought me back to the good old days at Lovedale and all the fun we used to have during the winter holidays. Lunch at the lawns, playing under the brilliant blue sky of the Nilgiri hills, night time bon fires, keeping a vessel of water waiting for it to freeze the next morning, reading comics under the shade of a tree.....memories that live with us forever perhaps.

A scream from the little one brings me back to the present and I can only sigh at the fact that she cannot possibly enjoy some of things we used to living in this concrete jungle. I make a promise though to show her much more of the world I enjoyed when she grows up a little more.

Till then I promise to enjoy the next few days of freedom!

Seasons Greetings to all and may god bless all of us with happiness and joy in 2015!

Aum tat sat!

A Trip to Remember - Part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Ganesh Raghavan) — Fri, 20 Jun 2014 05:48:00 +0000

...Contd from the previous post

May 27th - Afternoon Safari

Well, I am trying to remember the sequence of events from the afternoon of the 27th to the 30th but my brain just wont cooperate. I will have to start looking at the time stamps from the photos and try and patch together what happened.

We had another shot at the Tala zone on the afternoon and this time we decided to take a different route in the hope of seeing the Kankatti tigress and her cubs. The tigress named Kankatti by the locals go her name, after a fight with another tigress left her with almost no vision in her left eye. Her last litter of cubs had grown past 1 year before being killed by a rival male tiger who hoped to propagate his genes.

Nevertheless, Kankatti has apparently given birth to a litter of 3 cubs who were about 203 months old according to the local guide. We were hoping for lady luck to be by our side as she had made a kill (or probably a bait was kept for her given her disabilities?) a few days back and most of the groups who had taken this route on earlier safaris had their share of luck in spotting her with the cubs.

We decided to stop at the location she was last seen and not take other detours like the other groups did. It was just a game of wait and watch for us. The afternoon sun was pretty merciless and the only sights I had for the first hour were of spotted deer feeding in the open meadows behind us.

I had just about given up hope of seeing anything when my friend Vallish, spotted the tigress descending from the woods to the thick grassland to the left of our jeep but a fair distance away (probably 150-200 meters). The next several minutes, are etched in my memory as she settled down in the grass and made a series of calls to her cubs. Through the 100-400 mm lens I could see the three little cubs make their way out from the thick cover of elephant grass to their mother. As a nature lover these are literally the sights you'd do anything to see and experience!

The tigress gently rolled on her back and began feeding the cubs and although I would not have close up photographs of the event to show, the experience was well and truly a magical one for me. The magic lasted for about 5 mins post which, she led her cubs back into the cover of the elephant grass and that was to be the last sighting I would have of her and the cubs during the trip. I cannot wait to get back to see the cubs next year!

Perhaps the only regret I had was not carrying my video camera with me. Lesson learned though!

We did not see much for the rest of the evening but I the sight I had witnessed was enough for me!

Photos: Kankatti and her cubs

Lens: Canon EF 100-400 USM IS

May 28th - Morning Safari

We found ourselves at the Tala gate once again at the crack of dawn on the 28th. We decided to take the same route as we did the previous evening in the hopes of seeing Kankatti and her cubs, hoping for a closer look this time. We rushed to the spot we saw her the last time around and waited for 10-15 mins when the driver received a call informing him about a sighting of a large male tiger in another part of the park. We decided to try our luck and were soon rushing to the spot which was a good 10 kms away from our present location.

The prospect of seeing a male tiger was excitement enough for me and when we reached the spot a good 20 mins later, we found several jeeps on the main road with camera shutters clicking away at a patch of grassland to the left of us. We drew up closer to the group and were blessed with the sight of the Bumera male, possibly the largest male in the park, sitting on the grass, relaxing after what appeared to be a big meal!

Sightings of Bumera were hugely popular with a lot of folks, I was told and there were photographers and film makers who who came to Bandhavgarh only to photograph him and no one else! Vallish did not like him too much as he was a "lazy" tiger who preferred to patrol the fringes of the park close to the outlying villages, in the hope of landing a easy kill in the form of a cow or a buffalo. He wasn't a real tiger in Vallish's books!

He was also responsible for chasing away the mighty B-2 male (Charger and Sita's cubs) from his territory when he was in his prime. B-2 I gathered was Vallish's favorite tiger and this only made Bamera the villain in Vallish's books!

There were several park officials barking orders at the jeeps to go back after 5 mins and I did not understand the reason behind this. Three hundred rupee notes were passed on to the official and this meant we could linger on for however long we wanted. The magic of money works even in the deepest of jungles I wondered.

I took several shots of the big guy but could only get his face as his body was camouflaged in the grass. He finally got up several minutes later and I was able to get some full shots of him. He was certainly a pretty "fat" cat! He walked up to a bamboo thicket and made himself comfortable for the next 10-15 mins before more jeeps came into the area and the noise was annoying enough for him to finally get up and move across to the other side of the road. He almost brushed our jeep in the process and I could feel the hair in my arms just shoot up at the sight of seeing fully gown male tiger walk past you with nothing protecting you! Just 4-5 feet of space..that's all!

We saw a couple of barking deer on the way back out.

Photos: Bumera Male

Lens: Canon EF 100-400 USM IS

....to be continued!

Happy Fathers Day

noreply@blogger.com (Ganesh Raghavan) — Sun, 15 Jun 2014 13:21:00 +0000

My Facebook timeline is inundated today with all kinds of Father's Day messages. Now, I am not a big fan of all this non-sense. Children will have to be ever grateful to their parents irrespective of whether it is Fathers day, Mothers day or even your dogs day.

That, however has not prevented me from thinking about my dear father after seeing all those posts and wishes splashed over my Facebook timeline. There is not a day where I do not think about the greatest man I ever knew (I may not think of him conciously but I am sure my think of him within my sub-concious being) and looking at the messages I sometimes long for his physical presence. Sometime it makes me sad but sometimes it gets me philosophical.

So despite my dislike for all these special days, here goes.....Happy Father's day dear Appa! I will continue to be forever in your debt in this life and the lives I may take in the future for there will never be such a kind, compassionate, loving and doting human being moulded by the hands of God as far as I am concerned.

Baby steps...to play school

noreply@blogger.com (Ganesh Raghavan) — Sun, 08 Jun 2014 14:42:00 +0000

9th June, 2014 is for most folks going to be just another manic Monday. Not for us. Our little one, will begin her little steps towards her educational life when she starts attending play school at Sarah Montessori just a stone's throw away from home.

I wonder where the two years have gone! Part of us wants her to stay back and play at home some more without any care but we also realize that it is important for her to begin interacting with children her own age to develop her social skills. She will not have a time table to follow or classes to attend and will spend two hours a day playing and learning rhymes and other little things. It'll be interesting to see how she adapts to her new routine.

God bless you my little one!

A Trip to Remember - Part 1

noreply@blogger.com (Ganesh Raghavan) — Sat, 31 May 2014 13:30:00 +0000

This is going to end up being a fairly long post on a wonderful trip I made to Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh from the May 26-29. I will therefore attempt to publish this in two separate parts.

The trip will go down as one of my most memorable trips and definitely the best wildlife experience I have had in all these years. I missed a chance to visit Bandhavgarh back in 2009 due to work commitments and when the opportunity to make this trip presented itself back in March this year, I did not want to miss the chance.

Vallish Vasuki, a wildlife conservationist whom I met on Facebook was running the trip and I highly recommend anyone wanting to experience wildlife in the Indian forest to participate in the tours he offers.

We were to be a group of 5 originally but had last minute drop outs and this meant only me and Vallish were to make the journey. The cost of this adventure had just jumped three fold but the excitement of being able to sport and photograph tigers laid to rest any apprehensions on the cost front.

We had last minute headache's getting train tickets and this pushed back our trip by a day. We finally managed to get tickets for the 24th of May and I was wondering how the hell I was going to spend 38 hours on the train. Luckily, technology was there to lend a helping hand and I had loaded a couple of movies on my Nexus 7 and also took 3 books to read and I ended reading none of them but that's a different story.

The train journey took us through the longest possible route in my opinion with stops at Chennai, Vijaywada, Warangal, Ramagundam, Nagpur, Itarsi and Jabalpur (and several other stations) before chugging into Katni Junction at 11:45 pm on the 25th of May. A full 38 hours after it left Bangalore City Junction. Food served by IRCTC was pleasant for a change and there were no upset stomach's, people running to bathrooms kind of episodes.

The alternative route to get to Bandhavgarh is to take a flight to Jabalpur but options are limited with only Spicejet flying out of Bangalore (via Bombay). Air India flies direct from Delhi. I had made arrangements to take the flight back to Bangalore.

We had a cab arranged by the resort at Katni and I found myself at the Tiger Inn at 2 am on the 26th after a 2 hour horror journey across non existent roads. We managed to spot the Indian Jackal on the way and also stopped by for some "chai" on the way at one of those dhabas that would have your better half shaking her head in disgust!

Contrary to the weather reports that forecast 45-47 degrees for the rest of the week, the weather was very pleasant.

Bandhavgarh apparently employs a system of advance bookings for safari's now that can be made on-line. Only 50 jeeps (mostly Maruti Gypsy) are allowed into the park for a safari. There are 3 major zones that people can opt forthe safari namely Tala, Magadi and Tittoli (not sure if I got the spelling right). Tala is by far the most visited zone with Magadi being the next. Titoli is not used by many as it is the largest zone with the least probability of spotting the big cat.

We had booked safari's to Magadi on the morning of the 26th and the rest of the trips were all to the Tala zone.

Side notes: I had rented a 100-400 mm Canon zoom lens from Toehold. The rental was Rs 800 a day. As usual I carried my Canon EOS 450D with an assortment of SD cards (54 GB in total storage capacity) and a spare battery (a lesson I learned the hard way when I made a trip to Agumbe in Sept 2013 and ran out of battery on the first day)

May 26 Morning Safari:

We were on the jeep headed to Magadi at 4:30 am. The gates are opened at 5:30 am and the morning safari lasts a whole 4 hours (much longer than what the parks in South India like Kabini, Bandipur offer) with the afternoon one lasting 3 hours (1530-1830 hrs).

There were about 12 Gypsy's that morning but we were first in the line and I was quite alarmed to see the driver dashing through the jungle once the gates were opened. It seemed that every driver wanted to out do the other by trying to get to sighting spot first. Speed rules be damned.

15 minutes into the drive we approached a bend and straight ahead of us was a sub adult female tigress sitting right in the middle of the tracks! An adrenaline rush swept by body and I pulled out the camera and began snapping away. A tinge of fear with all that excitement of seeing the apex predator of the Indian jungle just 10-15 feet way is one that I believe every wild life lover must experience at least once in their life time. I'll let the pictures do some talking for now

Subject: Sub-adult Female Tigress. She is one of three off springs (another female and an adult) of the Rajbhera Tigress. Age - approx a year and 4 months per the guide.

Spotted: 26 May at approx 5:45 am

Just as I was hoping to study this magnificent tigress for some more time, a Gypsy driver came beside our vehicle and literally stamped on his brakes making a noise that disturbed her and she quietly got up and walked away into the thicket's not to be seen again for the rest of my trip. She was of course spotted several times on other safari's but this was the last I saw of her. I wonder why people can be so stupid but such questions rarely give us the answers we need.

The rest of the morning safari was spent on trying to look out for the other cubs of the Rajbhera tigress. Vallish had seen these tigers when they were cubs back in 2013 and he knew the name of almost every tiger and their cubs which I found quite fascinating.

I did take some photos of the Indian Roller, Madhya Pradesh's state bird.

May 26 Afternoon Safari:

We headed to the Tala zone in the afternoon but had no luck with spotting anything significant. Towards the end of the safari we witnessed a strange spectacle that is worthy of mention. Vallish spotted a Rhesus macaque troubling a pea hen near by and on looking closer we were told by the guide that the peahen was protecting an egg she had just laid. The monkey sensed an easy meal and began to annoy the peahen. She finally gave up and left and the monkey quickly grabbed the egg and ran away with his prize. I did not know that monkeys ate eggs i.e until now.

May 27th Morning Safari

We found ourselves back at Tala gate at 5 am and I was a little desperate to spot a tiger after "disappointing" afternoon the previous day. We took the route to the territory of the Rajbhera tigress in the hope of spotting her and we saw pug marks all around but did not see anything. We heard several alarm calls from the langurs and sambhar but our wait ended in disappointment. We were about to head back when a Sambhar alarm call once again ran out through the forest and we stopped and were rewarded with the sighting of the Rajbhera female, making her way down from the forest, possibly to a water hole that was to the left side of the track.

She made her way down and sat down just about 6 feet from the vehicle and no amount of words in my limited vocabulary will be justice to the excitement I felt at spotting a fully grown female tigress sitting probably at striking distance from our jeep. She was too close at that point for me to get a full shot with my 100-400 mm lens but I managed to get quite a few closeup shots of the tigress and once again her stay was short lived when another idiot of a driver wanting to provide his guest with a better viewing angle raised the accelerator thereby disturbing the tigress. She ambled across the road and went off into the thickets, marking her territory on the way. She cross the road behind the gypsy but to my disappointment, I saw that the photos I took had been overexposed as I failed to adjust the focal length when she was crossing.

Subject: Rajbhera Female (approx 10 yrs old)

Spotted: 27 May at approx 8:30 am

Other Subjects:

Sambhar, Spotted Deer sparring, Indian Roller bird

...to be continued

..and finally..Hope!

noreply@blogger.com (Ganesh Raghavan) — Mon, 19 May 2014 09:42:00 +0000

While the Congress party is busy trying to figure out where exactly they fucked up (and this should be easy for them to see, look no further than your leadership fellas) after their disastrous performance in the general elections, I find myself, like so many million Indians full of expectation from the new NaMo led BJP government. I also admit that these expectations are quite high and I sense that while we have voted for change, we are perhaps too eager to see the changes come thick and fast.

Is this going to happen? Are our expectations realistic I wonder. Yes, the central government has for the first time in many years gotten a clear majority in the Lok Sabha but will this translate into quicker decision making and more efficiency within government machinery and bureaucracy? I confess that I am no expert in the working of the government but the hope all around is that things will get better. The real question remains, how soon is the change going to come.

There is also the question of where the focus needs to be. Will it be on ushering big bang economic reforms (like 1991)? Will be be greater emphasis on building up our defence? Welfare schemes for the poor? Sanitation and health care? Education? Environment and conservation? Foreign Policy?

Let's make no mistake, the hurdles and challenges before the new PM are massive but there is the hope amongst a lot of us that we at least have the right man to tackle these challenges head on after being mis-ruled by a party that I hope is at the end of its shelf life.

Mr. Modi, like crores of other citizens of this country, I hope and I pray for a better India. Please do not make us hope for longer.

The feeling!

noreply@blogger.com (Ganesh Raghavan) — Mon, 19 May 2014 09:16:00 +0000

A moment of epic proportions occurred today when I went into a meeting at office today and realized, that perhaps for the first time in my working life (all 14 years of it and counting), I was in a room full of people that were all younger than me!

Makes one wonder how times have changed and how fast time has flown! Helps put a lot of things in perspective!

Habits

noreply@blogger.com (Ganesh Raghavan) — Wed, 14 May 2014 06:39:00 +0000

Earlier this morning, I had a sudden urge to visit the barber shop around the corner to have a haircut. I had one just about 4 weeks back but then humidity in Bangalore warranted another round of having the locks chopped. While I was getting my haircut (and an insanely good head massage with Navratan oil), I suddenly began to think about my habits.

habitˈhabɪt/

noun1.

a settled or regular tendency or practice, especially one that is hard to give up.

"he has an annoying habit of interrupting me"

Was I a man of habits? I wondered. There seemed to be no binary answer to the question. I was confused but after coming back home and thinking about it, I can safely say that I am not a man of habit. Rather, looking back at my life, I don't seem to have formed any habit that has lasted for more than a couple of months or 4-5 years at the maximum and that was the habit I developed of devoting 2-3 hours of my day to playing tennis back between 1990-1995. Most "habits" developed later had a span of maybe a few months at tops. Note that I have used the term in quotes to signify that my definition of habit doesn't even fit into the standard definition because I don't have a regular settled tendency by any stretch of the imagination and the only habit I have seems to be procrastination.

Most people would say not having a habit is bad. Is it? I don't think so. Would be good to have healthy habits? Yes of course. Is my life worse off because of my lack of developing habits? No. Could it be better off? Yes, I think so.

Which brings me to the battle that I keep fighting with my mental lethargy. I have to figure out some way to win this battle before I lose the war.

Highway to Hell!

noreply@blogger.com (Ganesh Raghavan) — Sat, 26 Apr 2014 13:56:00 +0000

I have been consumed by a raging hatred over the last few weeks for people who govern this country right from the folks at the city's municipal authority, the electric utilities, the government but in the deepest darkest parts of my mind my rage for the scoundrels of this country, the real estate baron's is perhaps the most. As someone who considers himself religious and spiritual, I fail to understand how the law of karma does not seem to apply for all these third rate bastards most of them who are un-educated and are making crores of money duping hard working middle class citizens. Where is the almighty's justice system for such people? Are fools like me the and perhaps crores of people like me the only one's that need to be in fear of our actions and the effect it has on our karma?

Why do sons of bitches like the one who built my apartment complex allowed to get richer and enjoy the good life when they have cheated us out of basic things like out right to water (by diverting the bore well water meant for our complex for his commercial complex)? Why aren't we able to take him on? Is it the power of his money? The fact that he can hire goons and instil fear in people who dare take him on? Why O God Why?

Or is all this ranting only frustration on my part to see this city crumbling before my eyes. Or is the blazing summer of 2014 taking it's toll?

The only certainty in my mind is that this great nation has no future left and I worry for my child and every other little one who's future is being put into question by the bastards that run this country. Is there a light at the end of the tunnel? For those with plenty of money, maybe. But for the middle class man like myself, I think not.

Elections, We the people and something else..

noreply@blogger.com (Ganesh Raghavan) — Tue, 15 Apr 2014 06:56:00 +0000

With each passing day, my fear of where we are heading as a nation only keeps growing. We live in a world of information deluge. Information is everywhere around us, in our phones, splashed across all news papers, TV channels, billboards, hoardings, water cooler talk. Call me senile but I get the feeling that 99% of what we hear, see, read is all information that I call "noise". Information that is either biased, worthless for us to use in any positive manner. Agendas of corporations, people, political parties, friends, relatives, everyone who is anyone just waiting to down you...Am I making sense? Probably only to myself.

That brings me to the Indian elections. We are truly at the cross-roads of our democracy and yes people are frustrated. Frustrated at just about everything that the life has to offer in this great nation of ours, right from the lack of a hygienic environment for our kids to grow, the water that we are forced to drink, the lack of electricity, lack of motor-able roads right to the absolute apathy towards the well being of the common man by those in power.

If we put aside all the bull-shit that main stream media (right from the 24x7 news channels to the newsprint media) wants us to believe, the facts remain simple. What have we gained from the rule of the current government? Nothing much. Do people like Modi deserve a chance to show us what he us capable of doing? Absolutely Yes.

But giving a Modi a clear mandate will alone not suffice. We need an underlying change in the way we view our freedom and not just take things for granted. We are the most hypocrite society in the world and the people with the least civic sense at least within the borders of our great land. Why is that? Because we take everything for granted in the name of freedom. We do not have the least sense of pride in being truly Indian. We desperately cling on to our heritage, out culture when we cannot even obey basic traffic rules or show some caring for the man we meet across the street. We will redeem ourselves and this great nation of ours only if we bring about an fundamental change in our attitude towards everything. Is that going to change? I sincerely hope so but the signs I see everyday only keeps crushing that hope but I will still cling on while I can.

Meanwhile I hope and pray that we give a chance to someone who wants to make a difference.

The grandeur of Yosemite!

noreply@blogger.com (Ganesh Raghavan) — Sun, 13 Apr 2014 11:54:00 +0000

I had the chance, thanks to the infinite blessings of the almighty (blessings that never cease to stop) to visit Yosemite National Park in California and the place just blew me away. I will just let the pictures below speak for themselves!

An exciting May beckons!

noreply@blogger.com (Ganesh Raghavan) — Sun, 13 Apr 2014 11:51:00 +0000

In keeping with a promise to do a little more photography, I get a fantastic opportunity in May when I visit Bandhavgarh National Park in Madhya Pradesh for a 4 day trip. I spoke with the coordinator of the trip, a gentleman who has dedicated his life to wildlife conservation, Mr. Vallish Vasuki. Such men are indeed a rare breed and I have nothing but respect for such people. People who dare to dream and follow their dreams.

We may get a whole day trip into the national park if things workout and that's really gotten my excitement going.

Bring it on mother nature!

Back to the drawing board

noreply@blogger.com (Ganesh Raghavan) — Mon, 07 Apr 2014 10:53:00 +0000

Another attempt at getting the body into shape by beginning to walk. I have to do this, I need to do this for myself above all else. And this time my mind, you are going to end up on the losing side! This I promise!

A weekend well spent!

noreply@blogger.com (Ganesh Raghavan) — Mon, 24 Feb 2014 05:56:00 +0000

A very productive Sunday spent in my opinion at Kokkarebellur and Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary with the family and with friends. It also presented me with a chance to take out the Vento for a real highway spin (if you could call the Bangalore-Mysore road a highway that is..).

The Kokkarebellur trip was long coming. Given that my lens gear really isn't the best for typical bird photography, Kokkarebellur presented the best chance for me to get up close to some birds and take a few close-ups with my 75-250 mm lens.

We started from home at about 5:20 and reached Kokkarebellur by about 7:30 or so. The place is really just a small village that has become famous with Bangaloreans who head out in search for some good birding place. The evidence was there to see with boards/signs showing the distance to the village every 1 KM after we take the left from the Mysore highway just before Maddur.

We were mobbed by several kids at the village asking us for money or notebooks and paying a few bucks got us directions to some of the nesting sites. We were told that there weren't too many birds this year. The majority of the trees were taken by the Painted Stork and we had a chance to get some good snaps and observe these wonderful birds up close. I managed to spot a few Pelicans as well.

We then headed out to Ranganathittu as there wasn't much left to see at Kokkarebellur after we spent about 45 mins at the place. Due to the exam season the sanctuary wasn't too crowded although our boat has a big family of irritating local folks who made such a din when seeing the birds. Aadrika was also beginning to get cranky so I couldn't take as many snaps I would have liked to. Paying Rs 1000 gets you a boat to yourself and a 45 min ride into some of the deeper parts of the sanctuary but today wansn't going to be the day.

What I need, I realize is a good telephoto lens but it doesn't look like I will be able to afford one soon given the expenses and cash outgo that I am witnessing these days. Sigh!

We headed back to Bangalore at 11:30 and I was left to complain again about the highway. There were a gazillion speed breakers along the way with the usual idiots on the road. The Vento was totally stunning to drive on the highway. An absolute beauty he is! I did not feel the usual stiffness and tiredness even though we drove close to 350 kms. We've already done 520 odd kms in the new car with hopefully more such weekends to come!

Here comes Bagheera!

noreply@blogger.com (Ganesh Raghavan) — Tue, 18 Feb 2014 05:55:00 +0000

The new Vento is finally here! We took delivery of the car on Sunday, Feb 16th and boy was I thrilled. I could hardly sleep the previous night (Aadrika was also troubling me) and we were at the showroom at about 10:40 in the morning and the keys were handed over finally at about 11:15!

The car is an absolute joy to drive and after the stiff suspension setup of the Swift that makes your bones feel every pothole, the Vento's ride quality is totally out of the world! Aadrika was a little cranky and drove the missus up the wall the whole time we were in the showroom but all of that vanished away after we found ourselves gorging on some sumptuous food at Toscano. The buffet was heaven and I stuffed myself and had a good hearty buffet after ages!

We took the car out for the mandatory pooja in the evening and had a harrowing drive when I decided to go show the new car to a friend who stays at Imadahalli. You had people walking all over the road without a care in the world. Proof yet again that we are the most in-disciplined, civic sense lacking society in the world. All our culture and history by damned.

I asked the missus to pick a name for the car and ended up deciding a name myself. I went with a masculine name after one of my favorite cartoon characters "Bhageera". Seemed apt given the fact that the car is black and looks as beautiful as black panther.

I took the car out to the 3M care garage at Marathahalli yesterday and below 15 grand on getting new 3M floor mats, a UV protection film on the front windshield, scratch proof coats for the mirrors and door handles and door sides and a wax job. The results were totally worth it! Judge for yourself!

Looking forward to many memorable rides with Bagheera! Welcome to the family dude!

Adieu dear Swift! Hello VW!

noreply@blogger.com (Ganesh Raghavan) — Sat, 15 Feb 2014 12:10:00 +0000

I still remember the feeling when I got the keys to my first car, a Grey Maruti Swift VXI back in 2008. It was a feeling of elation, a feeling of accomplishment after having dreamt of owning my own four wheeler for well most of my adult life. My parents weren't there when I got the car since appa was fighting what seemed like a losing battle with cancer, but when I took delivery of the car, I knew that my father would have been super proud of me and I couldn't wait to drive it down from Bangalore to Coimbatore to let him have a look it. But life and fate has other things in store and when I finally managed to get my car to Coimbatore, I could only take his ashes to the banks of the Bhavani river in the new car. It will remain a memory that is etched in my mind forever.

Between 2008 and 2014, I have driven over 63000 KM's in my faithful Swift and we have had wonderful journeys together from the wind ghat roads of the Nilgiris to the pot holed filled roads of Bangalore. From the forests of Bandipur and Nagarhole to temple towns surrounding Tanjore.

I started off driving the car alone and a bachelor with mom to accompany me on some of my trips to then making trips with my dear wife since 2010 and then graduating to have an extra addition to the family in 2012. There is so many memories everyone has with their automobile and it is perhaps the biggest reason why, owning a car continues to be on the wishlist of every dreamer in this world.

As I headed out of home this morning, the wife and I couldn't help but feel a bit of nostalgia given the fact that we had finally decided to bid adieu to our beloved car. I was taking it to the dealer fully realizing the fact that it was the last ride I would take on her. I decided to finally bite the bullet and go in for a new vehicle and got an offer from the Volkswagen dealer in Whitefield that was too good to pass. I finally decided to go in for a proper sedan this time and thanks to my brother-in-laws contacts I got a decent deal on a Volkswagen Vento. I went in for the top of the line Diesel version and although it will mean a bigger EMI, I don't care! I am as happy as a kid at the zoo or at the circus at the thought of getting a big car for myself.

We will be taking delivery on the 16th and this is again a new chapter in our lives for me and I only wish and hope that the new car gives us memories to cherish for life just like my favorite Swift did. I will really miss her and she will always be" the special car" for me.

Thank you God and thank you my dear Swift for the wonderful memories! Bring on the Vento! :-)

The highways beckon!

noreply@blogger.com (Ganesh Raghavan) — Thu, 30 Jan 2014 05:57:00 +0000

When I look back at all the stuff that I've bought over the years almost 90% of the stuff has either been bought on impluse without any planning whatsoever or has been bought as a result of my brain constantly thinking about getting the object of my desire leaving me no other option but to buy it, just to get rid of the thought of having it run inside my head all day long.

The biggest purchase belonging to the latter category was made this month when I drove my brother-in-law's Volkswagen Vento diesel. After I got off the car my mind was only thinking about buying the car to replace the Maruti Swift that I have had for the last six years. A couple of days after my visit to my sister in Coimbatore, I went to the Volkswagen Whitefield showroom and after about 45 mins found myself writing a cheque for down payment for a Vento Highline Diesel. A few days later, I added a car loan to my existing list of EMI payments (Ok..I just have an EMI on the house and now on the car..so that ain't so bad).

The timing of the purchase was good as I got a pretty good deal on my swift and before the Sensex lost about 700 points last week I was able to sell a few shares that has given me decent returns and with that I made a down payment for about a lakh and took a loan for the rest.

Given that my brother-in-law's wedding is around the corner it appears that I will have to take delivery of the car only in mid Feb. I am looking forward to some long exciting drives with the family soon!

Some folks may argue that the timing of the purchase was not right given that the car loan EMI would add another 13K to the monthly outgo from my salary but I am at a point in life where I realize that saving up for the future whilst a good idea really does not allow you to live your present life to the fullest. There has to be some kind of balance and my mind finally said to hell with all the planning! I still think I am in a reasonably comfortable position with regard to the finances. I may not be the best off when I compare my self to peers and other friends but then at the end of the day its all about perspective and how comfortable you are with what you have in life and on that note I have no complaints whatsoever.

I may not live in a gated community, I may not be able to take vacations abroad, but the one thing I know is that god has given me much more than what I deserve and for that I am thankful.

Next up on the shopping list...is my camera ...but that's probably going to be a long wait :)

The random thought highway..

noreply@blogger.com (Ganesh Raghavan) — Mon, 13 Jan 2014 04:26:00 +0000

January is usually the time of the year for doing performance appraisals if you are a manager and after having been an individual contributor for much of my career (I did manage people in most of my projects but never actually had to do their appraisals), I find myself having to go through the whole process of assessing my teams performance. I actually did not have to do much as I took over the team only in October so the previous manager provided the feedback and we generally agreed on the final ratings and I was done with all of this in a day.

But I find myself always questioning the way we do the appraisals in the company I work for. It's not that the process by itself in bad but there seems to be no quantitative input into the rating system at all. People across the company, especially for folks in a delivery role as always assessed purely on subjective/qualitative parameters which I find alarming as there almost always tends to be bias in the ratings.

I agree that it is sometimes difficult to come up with quantitative parameters to judge the performance of those in delivery but I am deeply concerned that no attempt is being made by anyone to actually try and do something about it. I am planning to look through the Internet and see if I can get some insight and apply this for the team I manage this year. We'll see how that goes.

In other matters that seem to be occupying my mind space, the current car I have is into its sixth year and with the family growing I am looking at finally making a jump and buy a sedan but the mind is caught between whether to go for a diesel or a petrol engine and being spoilt for choice as we are, it looks like its going to either be the new Honda City or the VW Vento. The exchange bonus and what the dealer offers for my existing Swift is going to be the clincher and I suspect I can expect nothing from Honda given that the new City has just launched and is seeing huge booking numbers. So I may just end up getting a VW Vento but either way there is going to be a big hole in the pocket.

Funny how we just keep wanting more and more from life when we keep getting financially better off! My list of things that I really cringe for and want include a complete set of lenses and the all new Canon EOS 70D SLR camera, a Macbook, Bose sound system, one of the new fitness tracker gadgets, a new iPad and I calculated that all of this costs almost 3 lakhs....Talk about never being satiated by what we already have!

All the things we read about in the books on being content in life etc etc always seem to be just that...printed material in a book. Maybe I am just no mentally mature to find a point where I look at life and say "Thank you life for giving me everything. I am content!"..How many more countless books and readings is it going to take me to realize I wonder..

Watching Aadrika grow is the best thing in my life right now. Such a pleasure to see your own flesh and blood slowly start talking, make sense out of things. Just an absolute delight.

My 2014 financial plan has some money being allocated for wild life trips and hopefully I will have some money in the bank to make a few trips this year.

My exercise spree to date has lasted just 2 days and a grand total of 60 mins and my plans of doing Sandhi daily were actually executed for about 4 days. Moral of the story? Resolutions always come back to bite me in the ass! I am hopeless at it. Gotta figure out some other way to keep doing some things in life in a consistent manner other than procrastination!

Happy New Year!

noreply@blogger.com (Ganesh Raghavan) — Thu, 02 Jan 2014 14:56:00 +0000

We welcomed the new year pretty unspectacular fashion by watching Vicki Donor on TV. Aadrika was fast asleep at 9PM and it was just me and the missus. We saw some fireworks light up the cold Bangalore sky and also heard drunken howls from folks on the street at midnight and we were off to bed after wishing each other a happy new year. Nevertheless it was an evening for me to remember.

It's now back to the grind at work. One of my last big book purchases was Valmik Thapar's - Tiger Fire. It's mighty expensive at about 2000 bucks but is absolutely worth it. It will be one of the books I will treasure for the rest of my life along with another book on the Tiger that I got from my father back in 1990.

So lots of reading and lots to look forward to at work and with life this year!

Welcoming another new year

noreply@blogger.com (Ganesh Raghavan) — Tue, 31 Dec 2013 08:34:00 +0000

The last post on the blog welcomed 2013 and here I am writing the next one exactly a year later which is a great shame. I have wasted lots of hours doing nothing and always feel a tad uncomfortable when I look at my blog and see the absence of any kind of activity from my end. Am I going to break this trend and vow to blog more as part of my resolutions list for 2014? I have done this in the past and failed miserably so I am not going to make any commitment, even if it is to myself anymore especially on a new years eve. My track record of keeping my word on new year resolutions has been nothing short of pathetic. In fact I don't think I've ever stuck to a resolution.

Looking back, 2013 has been immensely lucky for me and the family. I got a couple of promotions at work that I did not expect, we finally moved into our new home in December, I've gotten to spend a lot of time with Aadrika watching her grow. All in all it's been a year which I can look back on without any regrets and if 2013 has taught me anything, its being grateful for everything that come my way and none of this is possible without the grace of the almighty, my dear father, my wife, mother, in-laws, sister and family and friends.

As I look forward to the new year, I keep asking myself what do I want to do different in 2014 to make my life more enriching? I really haven't figured it out or made a definitive list but I nevertheless want to jot down what comes to my mind on this blog primarily because I want this to serve as some kind of a memo/reminder for me to push myself and overcome the mental inertia that has kept be bogged down for over 5 years now. So here goes (in no particular order):

Save more, invest more -> Cut down on impulse purchases (the fact that I have spent over 12K just on books in December is proving to be a wake up call)
Let the photographer in me blossom, which means spending more time on the only hobby I think I have. This will call for balancing the needs of the family and pursuing my passion but 2014 should be the year where I put a stake on the ground and allow myself to pursue things that I am truly passionate about
Get the mental inertia out of the workplace and get things done. Too often I have just sat on things only because I knew I could get stuff done before the deadlines.
Keep a journal (whether its on this blog, or a dairy doesn't matter)
Spend quality time with Aadrika and missus
Perform the Sandhyavandanam and tarpanams regularly
Read more. Finish the books that are lying unread before I buy any new book.
Learn to be clam (inner peace)
Curse less
Keep being grateful for everything in life.

May 2014 be a year of happiness, joy and prosperity for all!

Aum tat sat!

Welcome 2013!

noreply@blogger.com (Ganesh Raghavan) — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 10:28:00 +0000

Now that Dec 21, 2012 is well past us, apart from a few sullen faced doomsday fanatics, humanity is back to the daily grind.

In many ways 2012 was a year to cherish and remember. We welcomed the brightest light in our lives, our lovely daughter on March 8 (on Women's day), I finally managed to complete the biggest project in my career (to date) successfully on Oct 27th and oh yes finally got that promotion at work that seemed to be due forever. So thank you almighty for the infinite love and blessings that you have bestowed upon me and the family.

Of course 2012 had its fair share of darkness as well. There was the death of a family member, the horrible raping of a young medical student in Delhi that has the country up in arms, the ever growing menace of corruption, red-tape and absolute lack of governance in this great nation.

Despite all the negativity that seems to surround our lives, I am still hoping and praying that 2013 holds maybe just a small hint, a spark of much bigger positive changes to come.

Where is this country heading?

noreply@blogger.com (Ganesh Raghavan) — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 14:54:00 +0000

There was a time, a couple of years ago when I really felt that Indian economy's growth story was here to stay and that we were to be the golden generation in India reaping the benefits of this growth. Make no mistake, we have grown, our incomes have grown considerably as well and we are enjoying a life style that our parents could only dream about. On the other hand, prices are rising all the time and I jokingly mention to family and friends that I probably need an additional 0 added to my income every 2 or 3 years just to cope with the cost of living.

But is our growth story here to stay? I would have said yes if someone asked me this question two or three years ago but now, but not anymore. The government, bureaucracy, the civic bodies and just about any sort of government machinery in this country is in bad need of reforms and the worst part is that the babus ruling this nation just don't want to admit that we have a problem. We are growing at 7% when most countries are struggling to register 3 or 4 % growth says the government and this is an insane argument. Our growth rates are high because of the base effect. We are growing from a small base and this amplifies our growth.

There is a total paralysis of policy making and no single person in this government has the balls to put the country before himself or herself. The opposition is no better and I fear that maybe a decade down the line, India will be talked as just a huge country that wasted a once in a lifetime opportunity. I hope I am wrong.

We as the people of this country are so much stuck with this concept of Jugaad, that we have lost the ability to straighten things out the right way. Our civic sense is perhaps the worst among the developing world. We just don't seem to care about the other mans plight as long as our needs are taken care of. Right from driving our cars or two wheelers to getting admissions in schools, we all only seek the short cut path to achieving things.

Well for anyone reading this, I am probably stating the obvious but where do we go from here? What kind of India are we going to leave our children? I have no answers right now, just a deepening sense of gloom on where our great nation is heading.

My Rant about Android and Samsung

noreply@blogger.com (Ganesh Raghavan) — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 06:58:00 +0000

I admit that I am a total gadget freak and a technology addict and this means every year when the wrappings of the latest smartphone come off or some other hi-tech gizmo hits the market, I of course begin to drool and also instantly check my bank balance to see if I can even think of affording a new gizmo and more often than not a paltry bank balance leaves me depressed.

But this has not deterred me (thanks to my totally selfless wife that is ready to gift me anything I ask for...what more can a man ask for..) from making some purchases over the last year that are, lets face it both expensive and no where near being necessities for ones life. The first one was the Samsung Galaxy S2 which I brought last year (through Flipkart) and I followed it up by getting my wife to buy me a pair of Bose noise canceling head phones for my birthday.

Now aimless as this post is going to be, the biggest complaint I have with moving from an iPhone to an Android powered device, apart from the crappy battery life is the absolute agony that one has to go through to get an Android upgrade going. Of course folks can look at me and tell me that if I were a tech freak, I should have already 'rooted' by Galaxy S2 and got the upgrade to the latest version of Android (4.0.4 aka Ice-cream Sandwich), but I prefer to not to dig around too much with my phones and prefer the upgrade to come through the normal channels. Having said that, ICS was released months ago and Samsung promised that its flagship Galaxy S2 smartphone would get the upgrade by Q1, 2012 and we are well into Q2 and there is still no update from Samsung on when poor old Indian users like me would get the upgrade.

I tried to complain on Twitter to @Samsungmobile and also tried Facebook but no one seems to bother. At this stage I am seriously thinking of jumping back to the iOS bandwagon the next time I buy a new phone.

All this, again brings me to the question: Where is Android heading? Given that its a free license product, it has resulted in severe de-fragmentation of the Android market with hundreds of manufacturers rolling out Android phones at different price points, and with different versions of the Android OS. All this makes the process of upgrading users to newer versions on Android that much more painful and I guess that pain is not going to go away anytime soon. That may be one of the main reasons why it is rumoured that Google may be opting to build out its own walled garden through Google Play just to get out of this mess that Android seems to have created.

Samsung have built a kick ass phone in the Galaxy S2 but I feel they have screwed up big time with a bloated peice of junk called Samsung Kies (similar to iTunes) to allow users to sync data from their computers to the phone and to manage upgrades. I have had several hair tearing experiences with Kies and dread using it every time there is a new firmware upgrade available.

This is where Apple scores over everyone else. With iOS everything you do, be it using the phone, buying apps or upgrading is totally simple so much so that even a kid these days knows how to run an iOS upgrade. There is a lot to be learned for companies like Sammy from the master. With that I guess I will stop my rant on Samsung and Android until I have new stories to tell about how my ICS upgrade went (whenever that happens!)