I turn 4 today....

Today, I complete 4 years of my life as a software professional. Starting my career at Siemens (now Nokia Siemens Networks) in June 2004, moving on to National Instruments (where I currently work) in November 2004, these 4 years have been a smooth sail along Bangalore's software tides...

Looking back, what have I been doing these 4 years? A quarter dozen product releases, a couple of initiatives at work, a couple of visits to our Head Quarters in the US, a couple of awards, half a dozen presentations, a couple of role changes/promotions...these pretty much sum up my work life.

What have I got in these 4 years? Well, almost everything that I had dreamt of in college.
"Financial Independence" is the biggest thing. Gone are the days when we used to shy away from expensive restaurants (we used to call it as the RHS-Right Hand Side rule on the restaurant menus). Also, it just seems like, we have been given a license to access those brands which were best relished when adorned by picture perfect models (be it the dress or shoes or shades). And no more necessity to do car pooling. (Although, I must say the recent oil price hike combined with the environmental concerns are forcing me to consider pooling again.)
"Travel the World" is the next big thing. Thanks to NI, a couple of visits to Austin allowed me to time my other trips and fulfill my travel dreams. So far it has been three days in New York, four days in France, two day trip to Las Vegas/Grand Canyons, a week in London and two weeks in Egypt. Well, add to that a few transit trips like a day in Germany and a day in Bahrain. And how can I forget the five days of North India (too small for the Incredible India! but I plan to go again) What more can I ask for. I just hope to keep this instinct alive and cover more places in the days to come.
In addition to these, the four years of work life has given me a few other things like "identity", "confidence" and a wonderful set of colleagues and friends whom I will cherish for life.

Is that all...what have I learnt/experienced in these 4 years..? Well, this one is definitely more valued than anything else.
"Taste of the real world" is something only those who have gone through it can understand. Life need not be as fast-paced/easy as we might have imagined in the college. I always used to think projects are just about floating a few ideas and taking them to reality. (Like most of our college projects). Only in these 4 years have I realized that a product/project has a lot more to it than just getting things to work. Now, whenever I see the same extreme enthusiasm in the freshers who join, when they talk about new ideas, when they ask - "why dont we do this" , "why dont we support this", "why dont we have a tool to do this", those initial days come back to me. Its defintely not wrong to have the enthusiasm, but its imperative to retain it after you realize the "relatively" slower pace of the real world. ("relatively" because in the real world things can happen slower relative to what me might expect). But as such in absolute terms, the real-world is indeed fast ( from a walkman to an ipod, the real-world has indeed been fast).
"Things dont happen" Barring a few exceptions which you can term as luck or fate or whatever, in most cases we have to work hard to make something happen. Specially, for someone like me, who has for a considerable part of the life (from school to college) followed the herd, it has been an eye opener that once I am thrown into the real world, I have to exercise my choices. Even today I am caught in the dilemma of whats the best choice. It was quite simple until here for I was never really put in a position to choose. But from now on, its only me. I seem to be still at that junction of the cross roads. A few of my friends have taken one road, a few others have taken the second and a few others the third. I still lay at that cross roads for once realizing that I and ONLY I have to make a choice and it better be right.

Looking forward, I hope the take-aways from these 4 years will serve as a very strong foundation and prove to be a launch pad for the rest of my career.

Taste of Sahara....

The Desert Safari was one of the major highlights of our Egypt trip. In fact the desert itself, was totally new. Before Egypt, I had visited tombs (if not the pyramids), rivers/cruises (if not NILE) but never had I been to a desert. Although I had seen a lot of it in television, its something to step on that undisturbed wavy dunes of sand and leave a FOOT PRINT which gives you an impression (although false) that you are the first one to be there.

After a day trip to Alexandria from Cairo, the next morning we set out to the Bahariya oasis. It was a 5 hour journey and we were scheduled to meet our desert guide Waahid at 12 30PM. We took the Upper Egypt Bus service. As we eased ourselves out of CAIRO, the desert started to appear. Its customary to see a huge gigantic mountain or lush green thick forest in front of you and feel amazed, but to see a vast expanse of nothing(not even WATER) and still feel amazed is something that the desert offers you. There was a railway line that was running parallel to us for quite sometime. I was telling Ankita, how I wanted to see a train pass by in the backdrop of the desert and my wish was granted in a few minutes. It was an amazing view. A 5 hour journey into the desert can be quite dehydrating and also we were all starving towards the end.

After reaching the oasis, we met Waahid - the KING OF DESERT (as he fancies himself). Before I go further, a few words on Wahid. He is by far the most energetic person. A guide in the true spirit. In my opinion, I feel its more because, he genuinely loves the desert very much. So he is more of a passionate guide than one who is money minded. A family man at heart and a friend of all. (He had friends and acquaintances almost wherever we went.) And an amazing driver with a tad too much of youthful racing attitude. He was trying to overtake every other vehicle on the way and had his justifications for the ones he could not.

He took us to his house. A typical desert house. An amazing vegetarian lunch was waiting for us. The lunch consisted of bread, vegetable sides, salad (sliced cucumber/tomatoes) and the most amazing cheese. The food in Egypt has always been good. Then after resting for sometime we set out on the 4X4 to conquer the desert with Mr Desert (Wahid).

The drive in itself was quite an experience. Occasionally Wahid would just steer off the road into the desert to give us a taste of desert driving. On the way we visited a water spring. The journey into the desert happens in three phases. Initially we get the black desert - called so because its filled with the hills that were formed by volcanoes.
And then we get to the sand desert. This is the typical part which we all expect. And finally the place where we camped was filled with mushroom like limestone formations. This part would definitely intrigue the people who have a taste for modern art. I am sure this will look like a huge mental playground to them and they can add quite a set of creative perceptions. Let me leave the task to them and continue with our experience.

On the way, we met quite a few groups who were there for the same reason as ours. Then, we found a nice place and camped for the day. The camp was simple. The 4X4 would be used as one wall. We put the tent to form another wall. And then Wahid cooked the dinner for us. And we had the tea which was prepared on the camp fire itself.

After the food, we spent some time near the campfire. Wahid entertained us with some deserto-arabic songs which goes like - Yalla...yaala...yalla..., abu tareka..abu tareka... etc. We had a couple of visitors (fellow travelers looking for beer only to be disappointed and foxes). Mahesh's wildlife photography instinct sprang to life. And he ran after the foxes with the camera. Thats all I remember about the night for I slept off. I then woke up at 3:00 AM in the morning to find one of the most amazing views of the skies. The most clear sky showing the maximum number of stars that I have ever seen. Later in the morning we all got up and left the desert to head back to the Oasis. Again it was lunch at Wahid's house and then back to Cairo in a private transport.

One thing about the desert that you wont forget is the vast expanse of nothingness. This is best captured by the fact that the previous evening we watched the sunset by turning west. And in the morning, we had to turn east to find the sunrise. And both from the same spot, our camp. The picture on the left is sunset and the picture on the right is sunrise. I think you need more than a keen eye to spot the difference.

Finally before I close, one note about life in desert. Life in the desert can be quite a challenge. Hence, "HELP" is a key factor. During our journey, we used to occasionally find a vehicle that had had a break down. Its an unwritten constitution, that no matter what, you should go and try help them out (for the same thing can happen to you). And getting into trouble in the middle of the desert is the last thing on anyones' mind. We were observing Wahid make sudden maneuvers and go attend other vehicles. The next morning, on the way back we pulled another vehicle by a rope almost till Bahariya. Its an interesting coincidence that in hindi
Sahara means "HELP".

[Favorite Music] Flute by Pravin Godkhindi

For all those fans of melody out there, the Raagini series (Flute instrumental rendering by Pravin Godkhindi) is a must listen. For a start, the volume 1 is available on http://kannadaaudio.com at the following location - Raagini Volume 1

After having listened to the first volume, I went and bought all the three volumes of Raagini from Landmark in Forum. Each and every song is really good. I personally am an illiterate when it comes to classical music. So I enjoy these raagas in their very raw form and that is melodious sound, without actually being able to grasp the nuances of each one. The only factor that takes me near to these raagas are the wonderful old kannada film songs, in their flute form.

My personal favorite list goes as follows.
1) Mishra Pahaadi - the song is 'terayeri ambaradaaga nesara nagutaane...'
2) Desh - ಯಾವ ಮೋಹನ ಮುರಳಿ ಕರೆಯಿತು ....
3) Pahadi - ದೋಣಿ ಸಾಗಲಿ ಮುಂದೆ ಹೋಗಲಿ ...
4) Jayant Malhar - ಪೂಜಿಸಲೆಂದೆ ಹೂಗಳ ತಂದೆ ....
5) Manj Khamaj - ಮೂಡಲ ಮನೆಯ ....

Ever since, I have laid my hand on these, they form my background while I work, drive etc.

[Favorite Films] The pursuit of happiness...

'This part of my life.....is called remembering my favorite film'........."The pursuit of happiness" is one of the best films I have seen. Its a truly inspiring one and the fact that it based on the real story only makes it more special. The film has plenty of dialogs that stick and also a lot of scenes which only make me think how blessed I am.

Before I go into those specific scenes /dialogs that I want to talk about, a brief summary about the whole film can be found in the wiki page here. Now let me get to the parts of it that I savored most...

Offer of the Job - My all time favorite scene. I am sure anybody who has endured the movie till the end is waiting for this scene. Chris is asked to come inside the room where he was interviewed. The dialogs were to this effect

Chris: I decided to wear a shirt today for it will be my last day. (History: he had not worn a shirt for his job interview.)
Partner: Well, why dont you wear one tomorrow for it will be your first day.

And bam... all the pain, suffering, comes back to Chris in that one moment and just passes out of him through his tears turning his eyes red. And after that comes my favorite part where he runs down to the street. He is not able to control his happiness and seen jumping. I like the way its been pictured with the normal life passing by him with poeple moving on, around him. And he wanting to share his happiness with anyone and everyone, finds no words to communicate. He doesnt have that anyone right near him. He has to run all the way to his child's school to share the news. I always contrast this with the ease in which I called my mother as soon as I was made the offer of my first job. It was as easy as dialing a few numbers on my cell.

Repairing the Bone-density scanner - From the time he recovered the stolen scanner to the time he sold it, it has been one hell of a time. He first unsuccessfully tries to sell it only to realize at the last moment, right in front of his customer that it has stopped working because of a fuse. Then with only a few dollars left, he buys a fuse. On the way back, his son out of a child's curiosity wants to take a look that. He neither wants to disappoint his child nor does he want to see anything happen to that fuse. I liked the way he hands it over and at the same time keeps a watchful eye on that fuse. Finally, inside the dorm when he fixed the machine, I love the scene when he switches the machine on. They show the whole dorm and the to his much relief the machine LIGHTS up. This is kind of symobical in a subtle way, because starting from that point, everything in his life seems to light up.

A night in a sub-way restroom - This again is an interesting scene for he wants to somehow spend the night at the sub-way. And at the same time he does not want to make it explicit to his son. He comes up with this whole time machine/caves etc etc story. This kind of reminded me of the famous "Life is beautiful" where the father made the whole stay at the concentration camp appear like a story to his son. However, the difference being, in this film the son is not so innocent to not realize whats happening. Specially, when somebody starts knocking at the door of the restroom, the desperation/insecurity is nicely portrayed by Will Smith.

The spirit of Chris Gardner - Another thing that amazed me about the story was the spirit of Chris. Under no circumstance would he give up. The confidence in himself is well portrayed in the interview. I do admit that desperation sometimes adds to your confidence. But the interview in itself, though a little unrealistic tries to convey the message. I still remember a few dialogs from that interview where he says - "Sir, I am the kind of a person, who, if I do not know the answer will tell 'I do not know the answer', but I bet you what, I know how to find one and I will find it no matter what" and towards the end when partner asks "What would you say to a person who hired someone who had not wore a shirt for the interview." this is one of my all time favorite reply that "I would say that he must have been wearing some damn good pants..." .
The same spirit is also seen when he is seen literally carrying his whole house along with him. Once in the lift when somebody asks him about so much of baggage, without a wink he replies saying he is going out of station on work. He never gives up and also we should notice that there is not an inkling of inferiority complex either.

Finally, after having gone through the entire film, my train of thoughts...("arjun express") comes to a halt, but is still able to hear the echo.."This part of my life......this small part..is called happiness"

Woodstock Villa...where the truth lies

It was hard for me to recall the name of this film even to fill the Title of this post. That should sum up in a nut-shell my opinion about this film I just saw. Before I start with what it was actually, let me begin with what was supposed to be.

I googled for the review and got this as one of the top search results - REVIEW FROM NOW RUNNING.COM . According to this,

"In the tradition of film noir, that is guaranteed to shock, thrill and surprise. A compelling film from director Hansal Mehta about swiftly changing moralities in today's world.
After a successful businessman's stunning wife disappears, hostile and taunting ransom demands follow. As the true nature of stakes for the captor and his captives unfold, Woodstock Villa lithely transforms from a precision neo noir into a chilling and shocking thriller, and ultimately into a vivid, invigorating, icy masterpiece of murder, mystery and suspense.
Neither pleading eyes nor bound wrists nor a shallow grave are what they seem, as a moment of relief is suddenly transformed into a web of deceit, and a moment of truth is followed by a sudden web of lies. Unsettling, thrilling, hallucinatory, suspenseful and erotic, Woodstock Villa is contemporary entertainment that breaks new ground with every twist".

I am surprised with amount of positive perspective , the reviewer has seen this film (if he has seen it at all). In any case people are entitled to their individual opinions and tastes. So I shall let the matter rest there.

For me however, this film is a disaster in all aspects. To name a few obvious ones - lack of a proper story, the sequence of events (which seems to kill the suspense/thrill that you would expect in a thriller) and the untimely songs. I personally did not like the photography also, for I felt the photographer was trying to focus from all possible weird angles. However, this is very subjective and a little benefit of doubt could be given to the photographer. Amidst all this, to test our patience, there are some totally mushy dialogs which would have been best placed in the 1970s. And before I forget, I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the person who came up with the TITLE for this film (sarcastic ofcourse). The person has successfully captured the essence of the film in these two words which comprehensively covers the whole plot. Well on a serious note, the house figures only a couple of times in this film and I would say is one of the most insignificant things out there. As insignificant as the role of Mr Gulshan Grover and his buddies. A title which stands for deception/cheat would have been more apt, for everybody seems to be cheating everybody here.

Overall, it was 2 hours well-wasted (actually 12 man hours of productivity) and not just that it was a whopping 960 bucks from 6 of us. All in all a forgettable time. I am pretty sure, none of us were shocked, thrilled or even slightly surprised about any twist in this film (if there was any).

Hoping to make up for the loss by soon catching up with a nice movie...

[Favorite Songs] ಹಕ್ಕಿಯ ಹಾಡಿಗೆ ...

My all time favorite poem/song.... This is also a song of the movie "Mysore Mallige" (by K S Narasimhaswamy)

ಹಕ್ಕಿಯ ಹಾಡಿಗೆ ತಲೆದೂಗುವ ಹೂವು ನಾನಾಗುವ ಆಸೆ
ಹಸುವಿನ ಕೊರಳಿನ ಗೆಜ್ಜೆಯ ದನಿಯು ನಾನಾಗುವ ಆಸೆ

ಹತ್ತಿದ ಕಾಮನ ಬಿಲ್ಲಿನ ಮೇಲಿನ ಮುಗಿಲಾಗುವ ಆಸೆ
ಚಿನ್ನದ ಬಣ್ಣದ ಜಿಂಕೆಯ ಕಣ್ಣಿನ ಮಿಂಚಾಗುವ ಆಸೆ

ತೋಟದ ಕಂಪಿನ ಉಸಿರಲಿ ತೇಲುವ ಜೇನಾಗುವ ಆಸೆ
ಕಡಲಿನ ನೀಲಿಯ ನೀರಲಿ ಬಳುಕುವ ಮೀನಾಗುವ ಆಸೆ

ಸಿಡಿಲನು ಕಾರುವ ಬಿರುಮಳೆಗಂಜದೆ ಮುನ್ನಡೆಯುವ ಆಸೆ
ನಾಳೆಯ ಬದುಕಿನ ಇರುಳಿನ ತಿರುವಿಗೆ ದೀಪವನಿಡುವಾಸೆ

ಮಣ್ಣಿನ ಕೊಡುಗೆಗೆ ನೋವಿಗೆ ನಲಿವಿಗೆ ಕನ್ನಡಿ ಹಿಡಿವಾಸೆ
ಮಾನವ ಹೃದಯದ ಕರುಣೆಗೆ ಒಲವಿಗೆ ದನಿಗೂಡಿಸುವಾಸೆ

Owing to my lack of poetic skills, I am unable give you a translation of the poem and do justice to the spirit of the poem/poet. And hence, for those of you who do not know kannada, I am really sorry.

A raw dry prosaic summary goes here.
"ಆಸೆ" means desire/wish. This poem is about what the poet wishes to be. He wishes to be the flowers which nod approvingly to the songs of the bird. He wishes to be sound of the bell around a cow's neck. He wishes to be the sky which spreads over the rainbow. He wishes to be the sparkle in the eyes of a deer. He wants to be a bee that floats in the fragrance of a garden. He wants to be a fish in the blue waters. Having said all this, the poet then moves into a different mode saying he wants to MOVE AHEAD undaunted by the thunders that cause heavy rains. He wants to LIGHT UP his tomorrow. To the earth's bounty, to pain and pleasure, he yearns to hold a mirror. Finally he wants to RESONATE/ECHO with the love and compassion of the human heart.
Well, as some of you experts might have already noted, I am miserable at translation. And I might have not done full justice. Kindly correct me wherever I have gone wrong.

The love for this poem is not only because of its meaning. I like the tune of the song also. And not to mention, the actress on whom it is pictured in the film. The initial days of Sudha Rani who plays the role of this innocent village girl.

....Indiana.....Junior....... Dr Henry Jones...

"Indiana Jones and the kingdom of the crystal skull" is here after a long wait. 15 years back, when I was in 5th grade, my mother took us (5 cousins) to the Plaza theatre on the MG Road, which was showing "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusades". That was my first Indiana Jones movie. Ever since, I have been a great fan of this series. Although I had my own reservations about "The temple of doom". Finally, this weekend I took my parents to this new sequel. Thanks to "Mr Traffic" and "Mr Rain", we missed the first 20 minutes, although we left for the theatre a good 1.5 hours before the show. I hope to catch those first 20 minutes as soon as possible.

Just as we left the house, I was telling my brother how I was looking forward for the predictable scene, where after the first adventure, Professor Jones is shown to write something on the white board in his classroom, addressing his students. Unfortunately we missed the start and I do not know if that scene was there at all this time.

However, the film did not fail in evoking the nostalgia. The captivating Indiana Jones background music, the same energetic, inquisitive and relentless archaeologist is still very much alive in Henry. The film has its own way of evoking subtle sentiments, like when they show the photo of Dr Henry Jones Sr (Sean Connery), or when Mr Jones finds out that his son is totally not what like he expects him to be. (This is similar to how Jones Sr percieved Jones Jr at times). Also, the setting is very much like 1950s or 1960s. This takes the film even closer to its predecessors. One good thing is Harisson Ford is aged even in the story and no attempt has been made whatsoever to hide his white hair or aged/wrinkled face. But after all its Harrison Ford and its no big deal for him to carry off these traits. The sense of humor / timely jokes are in plenty.

Overall, we enjoyed the film very much. Steven Spielberg has blended his extra-terrestrial passion very well into the storyline of Indiana Jones. I think more than comparing it to the previous films, the spirit of Dr Henry Jones is what we need to look for. And that has not been compromised at all.