Don't Miss a Thing

Can you miss a thing if you never had the 'thing'?

How can I miss the 31st Dec 2009 today at 31st Dec 2010? Can I ever forget the horrible memory of 25th Dec 2009 and the following bleak days? Can I ever miss that? I wish I could forget those days.

Do I really have anything to miss, anything to long for, anything to look back?

I am profoundly happy now.

Culinary Achievement

Last weekend I tried to overcome my age old fear to prepare Dosa and Sambar. I was always afraid that once I’ll pour the batter on the frying pan, it won’t come out freely but will remain stuck on the frying-pan. But to my wonder, my dosa preparation experiment was a successful one. Thanks to my friends Sharatha and Sharanya for teaching me how to prepare it.

I didn’t want to prepare Dosa with readymade batter available in the market. I wanted to do it from the scratch. So I bought the Idli rice and Urad dal (kalai dal) from the shop (not to mention that the shop keeper was also very warm to help me when I told him that I was trying it out for the first time), took Urad dal and rice and soaked them in two different bowls. The next morning I grinded them separately and left them in two different bowls to ferment. In the evening I mixed the grinded rice and grinded dal, added some salt and got ready to prepare Dosa and face my fear.

I put oil in the frying pan (then only I realized that we didn’t have a non-stick frying pan!), spread it on the pan with the help of brinjal head and poured the batter, spread it on the pan and started to call all gods I could remember at that time. I could see it was taking some time to get cooked, so I went away from there. When I returned I found that the Dosa was ready to get turned. When I turned it, it did not show any tantrum and didn’t really stick on the frying pan! I couldn’t believe that my fear didn’t come true. I prepared another dosa as a trial and we all were still surprised while having it that I actually prepared it.

The next day our breakfast menu was Dosa-Sambar. I prepared sambar, which was easy and dosa for all. My breakfast menu was a hit as my brother said that this was the best food he had in last 2-3 years. So, I actually got the Culinary Achievement Award! :D

Epiplex 500 is an amazing tool

Just learned how to use the tool Epiplex 500.

It’s an amazing e-learning tool. We can do so much with it.

Generally, for creating a training for system application, we create simulation based training. Earlier I used Adobe Captivate4 as the authoring tool for this. But for the last project, we were facing some challenges. So, we opted for Epliplex 500. There may be another explanation to the situation that since I am not well aware of the pros and cons of what Adobe Captivate4 can do, we switched to this tool.

Anyway, the point is that I came to learn Epliplex 500 from a very senior colleague of mine who took care to teach me even the inner functionalities of the tool. Big thanks to him!

With Epiplex500 we can create one entire e-learning course including guided simulation and practice simulation for the course. We can also choose a template and have the logo we want at the top. Even more, we can go to every slide, open it in any image editor and edit it! Even more, it creates two sets of images so that we have the original image set always untouched for future requirement.

Another interesting thing about the tool is that we can generate the output in Flash, HTML, Word document, PowerPoint presentation, PDF document, and more.

So once you have captured one simulation, you can either create a WBT with Flash and HTML files or create one ILT with PowerPoint presentation and documentation in MS WORD.

Actually Epiplex500 is a training and process improvement tool. The e-learning output that it generates is just a part of the mammoth it offers. I am still to gauge the mammoth from its trunk to tail. For now, I am happy with the functionalities that I have learnt.

My take on 2010 movies - till now

Atithi Tum Kab Jaoge? - Very enjoyable! Though very predictive.
Badmaash Company - Very intelligent storyline....
Dabangg - Total enjoyment!
I Hate Luv Storys - Hilarious to the core! Imraan is even better than expectation.
Ishqiya - Wonderful!Wonderful!Wonderful! Vidya is too good!
Karthik Calling Karthik - Boring,predictive and same old Farhan
Khatta Meetha - Good but missed Priyadarshan
Kites - A real nice movie that left its impact on me for a long time.
My Name is Khan - Yaakkk!
Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai - Very good..better than i had expected.
Paathshaala - Confusing! It's the one with Genelia or Ayesha?
Raajneeti - The best pick of the year....can't get out its effect!!!
Raavan - Sadly bad!
Housefull - The worst pick of the year!
Aisha - A brainless, dumb chick flick! Abhay Deol is a total waste here.
Lafangey Parindey - Very average..but Neil is better than New York.
Rocket Singh - Nice and smart one. Ranveer has matured so much since Saawariya
Kam ka Plot - An offbeat movie like this is always my favourite. Though it was very predictive from the begining, but still it was a great experience to watch.
Before The Rains - After long and patient wait I have finally managed to see it..worth waiting! So beautifully photographed and crafted!
Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Se - Hats off to Asutosh Gowarikar for choosing such a project that had no commercial promise. He proved again that he is an artist and not a businessman.

Feels Like Heaven

Early morning when surajmama is still in polite mood, when the buses have not started their cacophonies, autos have not started nudging their nose in the badly jammed traffic, and you have not started your day actually, an extremely pleasant feeling catches your senses! You wonder what that is! And then you realize that it’s the heavenly fragrance of flowers coming from the flower vendor standing next to the temple. Nothing can match starting a day like this. It’s a heavenly start.

Fortunately, ever since I have come to Bangalore, my days start like that. Nowhere have I seen such variety of flowers like I have seen here. Any time you visit a flower vendor in the city, you will see at least 20 types of flower. Most of these flowers are fragrant ones like juhi, malli, chandramallika, sanna jaji, yerra jaji, and various types of roses. Interestingly I have not seen much marigold here, which is ubiquitous in Northern and Eastern part of this country.

One thread of juhi or sanna jaji in your hair and you will never feel like applying any perfume/deo-spray again!

My Way or Highway

Do people with this attitude gain in the long run?

I have come across some ladies with this attitude in my life. They might have gained some brownie points on me over some small and big issues, but I wonder that will they be able to win in life?

In the run to earn those points, can they see that they are actually losing out in the run for life; that they are actually losing out on some vital moralities and relations in life that someday they will realize that the life has just slipped out of their hands! May be then it will be too late to repent.

Some are already realizing that....some are yet to realize.

The Da Vinci Code

Last week I finished reading Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code. It was a breathless experience for me as I was reading it breathlessly all the time. I just LOVED it.

This novel has opened up so many avenues of interest to me!

Thanks to Ananya and Ayan for this wonderful gift! May God be always with you !

Bangalore Durga Puja 2010

I am late to post this. But today only I somehow managed to dodge all those technical glitches prohibiting me from posting on my own blog!

Anyway,...Durga Puja in Bangalore was nice. At least it was better than last year...though the memories of last year never stopped haunting me...

We came to know that there are actually more Bengalees in Bangalore than Delhi. All the famous pandals were crowded even on weekdays.....can't imagine what would have happened in the evenings in weekend!

My friend Simanti from Kolkata was saying that she preferred to stay at home than visiting pandals to avoid the overwhelming crowd that had gripped the city.

Tried to post the Durga puja images....but again...technical glitches!!!!!

An irony!

There was a time when I used to ask all my friends from South India to get me A R Rahman’s Tamil audio CDs as I was in Delhi or Kolkata. The scene changed slightly when I was in Mumbai where I used to get almost all language CDs from the Landmark store.

But the situation took complete 180 degrees turn when I came to Bangalore. Some days back when I went to a Planet M in a nearby mall, I thought to buy the audio CD of Robot, ARR’s latest release. But to my surprise, they said that they have only the Tamil version and not the Hindi version with them! Initially, I couldn’t believe what they were saying! I was surprized!

Then I realized the turn of events and accepted this irony of destiny with a small pinch of salt! :) It happens :)

Manoj-Monisha Murali Nair - A blessed treat

It was the 10 years completion celebration in E-TV bangla on 23rd March, 2010 and as usual I was not interested, was rather busy working on the computer, until I heard some male voice singing a Rabindra Sangeet...immediately I ran to see who it was. I found it was Manoj Nair so I could guess very well that the beautiful lady standing next to him was Manisha - they were the famous brother-sister duo Manoj-Manisha Nair. I had heard a lot about them from my mother and also from her narrations of the music concert reviews published in Desh...but it was the first time I was seeing them.

I had anyway much interest in them for obvious reasons that being Malayalee how they can sing Rabindra Sangeet so well...no 'so well' is not the correct expression...it should be 'so divine'....yes...divine it was their performance on the stage of E-TV Bangala which was waiting to be shaken on the foot thumps of the actors from Bengali film and television industry. Thanks to the channel that they decided to start their programme with them...and I could see the programme...

I don’t remember the first two songs...the first being a very known song by Manoj and second being a very uncommon by Manisha....they had some surprise for the third and fourth....After the secoind song was complete (which was by Manisha Nair), Manoj rendered a brief Karntic alaap and started Ei Akashe Amar Mukti Aloy Aloy. They performed it together and it became just mind-blowing as they inserted some very minute and subtle Karnatic mir.... it was something that I had never heard before and I forgot that I also know the song! It was such new and fresh and extraordinary!

Then Manoj started rendering some English lines tuned in proper English classical music...the lines were about 'Light'...and after 1-2 lines I could guess the song correctly...it was Alo Amar Alo Ago Aloy Bhubon Bhora....they picked the song from the second stanza and it was just marvellous....

I wish I could have the recording of that portion somewhere. I searched for it in the Youtube but I couldn’t find it :(

Thanks Manoj and Manisha...you are blessed by God and Rabindranath both....your blessing is boon for us.... :)

One Hundred Years of Solitude

What a novel it is by Gabriel Garcia Marquez! I just cant get over from the nostalgia of it. For last couple of days, the Buendias almost became my own family. Living the days with their days and nights.

But the most enchanting thing about the novel is how the the magical and unreal world mixes with the real world. And it mixes such a way that you do not really feel that that's something dosnt happen in our lives. For example when Jose Arcadio Buendia dies, yellow flowers shower continues and the entire Macondo gets covered or when Mauricio Babilonia comes, the yellow buterflies fly over his head and how Amaranta announces her own death time, or how Melquíadesdies twice and his perchments are read only after one hundred years....there are countless instances which when you come to know separately you feel these are unreal, but once you read the entire novel and most importantly read the minutest details, you feel Macondo to be a world where all these things really happaned over a period of one hundred years.

Thanks Tareq for giving me the book :) It was a real pleasure reading and living every word of this magnificant book. Now I feel lonely that no more Buendia is with me....I wish this book were never finished!

Shashi Tharoor - a sad story

Shashi Tharoor being forced to resign by the Congress heads seems to me a case where the big national decision is being influenced by yellow journalism. It became quite clear 1-2 days before what the meeting between Tharoor and congress heads would result.

In a country like India where we have been seeing criminals and illiterate MPs and MLAs and hence have been hating this profession more than anything, Shashi Tharoor had been a refreshing change to our look towards politics. But clearly he couldn't survive in the system being too many reasons for his 'different' approaches.

Whatever his involvement in Rendezvous consortium was, I don't understand a single point that after winning the bid, and after being aware of Lalit Modi's intention, why did he bring the entire episode under full media view? He being a minister of state and thus a powerful man, why didnt fight with the Chairman of IPL Modi, another powerful man, in a more private and subtle way? Why did he bring the matter under public view when it is quite understood that Indian media runs after only gossips and here when his beautiful friend Sunanda Pushkar is involved in the share, the media would just go mad with so much juice in story. Can anyone give reason to those mushroom like channels and news portals and their novice journalists that the concept of giving a share in the deal as the corporate payment is quite common or that a minister's interest in a deal may not be only for money? Only thing that they would be interested in obviously in the amount of deal and a beautiful lady who is involved while the minister is already twice married. So, that is going to be the only story!

So, lesson is learnt. No more tweeting even if you think you are honest, and Congress is loyal to none just like it was not loyal to Krishna Menon.