Simba's Day Out...

I can't generalize this very much... I hope it is the same way across the world... The word "relaxation" applies to any living thing... when we relax... we progress... we think... and stop worrying... There is a huge difference in anything we do when we relax!! This little word was acknowledged even by my buddy Simba (my Dog! in case you are reading for the first time!!) when I took him for a short trip to a farm house this past weekend...

Vivi and I planned adhoc(best way to do things!) that we needed a break from the city and hence we hit the road on sunday morning! and we took simba along with us as well... We already had kitty waiting for us at the farm house... He had a nightmare of a travel story to tell us how he got there because of traffic on the NH-04!!

When we reached the destination, simba was left alone to have fun... and fun he had...

After a sumptuous (exaggerate please... if you feel!!) breakfast, we walked around the farm to check out a new artificial fountain that was being built... very nice indeed...

Simba was too excited and had the expression like... "You are supposed to tie me up... aren't u??!!... are you sure..." all the time... We managed to even see what hunting instinct a dog has... The care-taker had left all the chickens out... when we asked him to put them all inside since simba was outside... thankfully he obliged... but then there was one chicken which was missing... Simba was playing around until we saw him crouching and slouching carefully and very close to the ground... waiting for an onslaught... and when it came... we were almost too late... The chicken was shrieking in fear... it was very funny in the end since simba didn't know what to do with it... may be even he was kinda taken aback at a thing which made strange noises when held... Apart from this one incident, he behaved himself through out... One other incident where he came searching for us while Vivek and I were exploring was very nice...

The best part about this farm is that people are so hospitable and they treat you like family... It shows in the way they take care of us... well... after another super lunch, we took simba to the nearby lake... hesitant at first, he then took on water and was doing underwater stunts before we leave... very nice indeed... We had time to visit kitty's farm where he grows ragi and beans... and take loads of pictures... The funniest pic being kitty and his farm's caretaker both smiling...

We came home by 7:30 PM with some funny incidents with strangers (can't state them here!) who were bugged by kitty on the way back... memorable day for simba indeed!!

My Quest for a better life... Thanks to Dr JP!

At the end of the Quest the major finding about the entire episode is that PEACE can be found from with in and no where else... we should just go ahead and find it... FAITH is something we need to have that we can find that peace from with in! Deep isn't it... but true

This past year I was suffering from various issues... firstly I had joined a company where I didn't wish to be in... with that I had started developing symptoms and eventually got gastroenteritis. I happened to try many ways to heal this but none successful...

I met Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan (shortly as Dr. JP) in march 2008 and mainly because I had lost hope in all other forms of medication and had lost hope that I would get better thanks to many people who said that the gastroenteritis problem was permanent... only Dr JP thought otherwise... He not only helped me get rid of my issues in a matter of very short time... he gave me counselling that has made me what I am today... Dr. JP told me that I had to reduce my weight and that is the major cause of all the issues I had... He is the start of the Quest that I was after... actually that I am still after... and the goals keep on increasing...

By then I had joined the company that I am in now... AOL... where I found some very nice people who shared the same feeling about fitness... My gym trainer Naveen in AOL is such a motivator who not only keeps fit himself but gave some nice advice... Good company really helped me to keep it going... and that was present in AOL where I found my friends (Vivi, G5, to some extent Vinance!! ) being fitness freaks!!

For any building... the foundation needs to be good... I guess I had read that somewhere so un-knowingly I started building the foundation!! I ran for 40 minutes everyday on a treadmill and did reps of smaller weights... crunches and elliptical... for 2 hrs everyday for 2 months... when I lost over 10 kgs... Big thanks to Naveen...

The next phase was interesting as it included loads of convincing myself!! I met a friend Vinay who told that he learnt swimming and had lost lot of weight... Hydrophobic that I was... it was really tough to convince myself that I could do this... Somehow I joined and completed the course of 21days in may this year... and I have been swimming ever since from 5 AM to 6 AM in the morning... regardless of the weather and conditions... The result is amazing... I lost the fear of water and lost lot of weight too... The whole routine that I have managed to keep alive has definitely given me rich dividends... I have not only lost close to 28 kgs... I have made some very nice friends along the way... The end result is the personality and positive attitude that I have developed in the past year is a byproduct of the efforts that have gone in towards it.

Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan:

I have to thank Dr. JP for his faith in me. There are many other things that make him a great man... His Ayurvedic treatment and counselling has solved many complex cases where the patients have been left to nothing by other medications... When I met him yesterday, I was talking to a person whose brother had an accident 3 months ago... Her brother, all of 26 yrs, had lost speech and couldn't walk... The orthopedic specialist who used to come to their home couldn't help him... and the case was almost closed when they came to Dr. JP. By and large most doctors usually give up or give reference for another specialist... but Dr. JP took this challenge and the results are there to see... This guy came walking to his clinic for a consultation and answered many questions that was asked.

Another case was of a central govt employee whose gross motor skills was solved... He had to literally convince the patient's family so that he can treat. Dr. JP has solved many cases which can be called miracles yet he is modest and has the humility to take GOD's name in whatever he does. He is the 4th generation of Ayurvedic specialists in his family and has practiced ayurveda for over 30 yrs now.

In the end all I have to say is that treatment can be given by any doctor but Peace, Faith that the issues can be resolved is given by some. Dr. JP is one such man! and I am happy to be his friend.

Made in Heaven!

Someone I know (with a colorful name!) once commented that "Pairs are made in heaven"... that made me think.... How does this person know that... or for that matter how does anyone know that pairs are made in heaven?
Its always WE who decide on what kind of person we want as our counterpart for life! isnt it?

Btw... yes, i do agree in some terms that pairs (read as marriages) are made in heaven in a more spiritual way (watever spirituality left in me!!) but then the effort should always be from our side in firstly recognizing and then seizing the oppurtunity to go ahead and express our feelings to them. They may not agree in the beginning because everyone is circumspect and that is human nature... but in time, they "may" accept that your feelings are true and will be with you for the rest of your life together!
There are many things in life which we cant explain... one of them is this... some are lucky enough to find love at their first attempt and some keep on trying till they settle down for something that can be considered as a compromise in life... and then there are some for whom all these dont matter... for them its a discovery... They love to find out what their partner is after they get married...
The next question that lies ahead of us is what makes a guy and a girl like each other and how they go about building their liking in to a relationship... well... may be the chemistry of the brain is such that we try to find out what we lack as a character... in the other person and get attracted to that part in most of the cases... this is very generic way of saying but i believe this is very much the way it goes...

Weekend bonanza - Trip to adventure camp!!

To say that Vivek would have killed me if I had missed this trip would be an understatement... This particular trip had been planned and executed in perfection to think back on it now... kudos to the karate king... Btw the gang was 5 AOLites... Vivek, Sriram (G5), Vinay, Guru and urs truly along with Kitty and his friends Vinay and Vinay G!! We had three Vinays to begin with and worse part... 2 of them was Vinay G!! No confusion as our Vinay was already called as Vinance!! (Vinay from our Finance team!!) and the other two known as Vinay and G respectively!!
We started at 1 PM IST on 27th June Saturday... which is as all u guys know... 2 PM... on our bikes… we had 2 Victors, a pulsar 150 and my Bullet. We were hit by bad rains and bad roads for the latter part of the trip reaching the destination... and could only manage to reach the place called as Shrishti Adventure camp (This place is 45 acres of farm land and mountains - http://shristiadventures.com/) which is near Dabaspet, Shivagange by 5:30 PM
Firstly almost everyone was starving and kitty made sure there was some food arrangement done as soon as we reached... very thoughtful of him... After the light snacks, all of us trekked a short while for about 1 hr bare foot!! Not a very sane idea... but we feared that our shoes would get sunk in the mud which was way too thick... anyways... When we came back we readied ourselves for the night bonanza which included another round of snacks, drinks, bon fire and kitty special... dance programme!! G5 was at his best making fun of everyone including the localities’... the best part was greeting people wid wassup!! or How u doin!! People were making faces at him... like who is this guy acting crazy! But that didn’t stop him from wishing and greeting everyone in the true NRI fashion!! Vivek and myself were better off the smoke less end of the bon fire... :-) Vinay was busy boozing and having a dialogue here and there and Guru was busy explaining Nostradamus theory about 2012 when he is totally flushed! All this while we were having the time of our lives... We were having so much fun... we were laughing in our sleep! :-)
Sunday morning started for us at 7:30 AM and we went on another trek this time... shoes ON!! This was better and a bigger trek than the previous evening... We tried rope climbing and swings!!... We visited the cottages and other places which are pretty much high profile and not so cost effective for us... but of course better facilities... We also visited the temple in the farm house... and back for a sumptuous lunch and bread omlette just after that!! That takes some doing... lol... We had the ride of our life on our bikes as we took exactly an hour for the return journey! Kept an average of above 70 kmph!!
The facilities and the hospitality (food was fantastic!!) provided were more like what we do to our relatives rather than outsiders!! That was the respect which they gained from us. Kudos to all those people who work in shrishti adventure camp. It was a journey to remember for a long long time...!!

MJ - No more!!

Michael Joseph Jackson 29th August 1958 - 25th June 2009
To many people who are born in 70s and 80s... I think Michael Joseph Jackson will have a discreet and definite place in their hearts... The place given to the great entertainer and musician... For anyone who has the slightest knowledge of music... be it rhythm... technique in singing... like knowledge of octaves... etc... MJ is GOD!!
I have never heard a POP icon... who besides being a freak of nature!!... could influence so many people around the world by his music and lyrics... He could have been the face of UNICEF if he cud have kept his personal life in better shape...
I loved the album "BAD" since that was my first cassette that I got... I don’t even remember which class I was studying... but i remember the casette being almost worn out as it played in the music player so many times in a day!! I still love the song Speed Demon for the beats... I used to read the lyrics and tried syncing lips (difficult even now! :-p) for the songs! Then came the rest of songs and I had bought each and every cassette... Dangerous was having an absolute awesome front cover wid MJ's eyes and all kinds of animals and birds in it!! loved counting them!! :-p His latest and prob last album History had songs "Earth Song", Blood on the Dance Floor", "Stranger in Moscow" which is one video I love to see!!
The tribute to MJ:
All the news channels and all the portals (.com, .de, .uk) in the world had a setback after the world had the news that he is no more... that says! Twitter/BBC... etal... No one was able to handle the traffic... We had been trekking this past sunday and I was playing MJ all the way in the trip... that was my tribute to the great man!
His death while tragic when he was on the verge of a comeback tour... and writing new songs... referring to poems of Tagore (as told by Dr Deepak Chopra), is again mowed by controversy like so many icons... This happens to be a bigger tragedy... who's next!!

Conquer your fears...

When I was a kid my dad used to take me swimming... that would make u think that I knew swimming all along isnt it... negative... I used to just keep a watch on his clothes and wait for him to complete his laps!! :-p But I definetely had the great desire to learn swimming and learn it well so that I could let go of my fears... I was a hydrophobic to the core... although i used to enjoy beaches wid my friends whenever we were in goa or any such places... but primarily I was afraid of water... Similar to my fear to water was my fear of heights... so much so that I used to make all kinds of excuses to quit on my friends who used to plan trekking trips... It all had to end... and how...

Well it all started in april... when one of my colleague introduced me to his friend, who had started going to a summer swimming camp near RPC layout... I was kinda interested as I thought that swimming camp is mainly for kids... I was so wrong... I took the dive on this matter and the moment i kept my toes in water I was thinking the same old thing again... "Did I commit another mistake in my life... " Apparently not... after about 30 minutes inside water the instructor finally had my attention and I started obeying him... and letting go of my fears...

It took Ramesh (our instructor) just 3 days to teach us how to control our breath and float and our group of 20 odd people were enthu enough to take the dive in 12ft in just under that very week... that was amazing... So what if the classes cost us 2300 Rs, I got so many contacts and made so many friends in a space of those 21 days that I did not even bother thinking about the amount even though its rough!!

Meantime after the classes got over I have been swimming early in the morning from 4:45 AM till 6 AM every single day since... and made new friends as the group I was primarily involved had their own reasons to quit... except for Manju...

We now have a group of 8 to 10 people (depending on their punctuality ofcourse!!) and are being taught the key techniques in swimming to go the distance and not be tired... our coach is a person named Nagaraj sir who is a business man who is one of the finest swimmer and diver I have ever seen!! So much for my swimming now that I can hit about 10 laps (1 km) an average each time i step in... Thats something to improve upon!!

This new found strength and determination in me has made me climb new heights... well... I was never a go getter when it comes to heights... used to make me real nervous wreck... but ever since I have joined this group, my strenght has increased but my stamina has gained by leaps and bounds and for the very first time in my 3 or 4 attempts I was able to conquer Shivagange mountain which is near Tumkur...

Thanks to my swimming group I am, what I am today!!... In these three months I have not only conquered my fears but also have found a new personality in me!!

Buddy for life!!

Have you ever wondered how pet owners feel about their friends for life... I always used to wonder and longed for that feeling...

After waiting for more than 20 years for that time, I eventually got the perfect occasion... my dad's retirement... for which I had planned for more than couple of years as mentioned in my earlier post... well this was one amongst that....

This friend of mine was born on 31st March 2009... irony is that one year back I had quit my previous company for a better life and this year I have better company!! if you understand what I mean... Well "Simba", my Golden retriever came to our home on a saturday afternoon... I fell in love with this ball of fur the moment I saw him and my pal Vivek helped me get him home...

I have waited so long to post regarding him because I had to get my thoughts together... but apparently I dont have time to pen down any thoughts because of him!! He constantly demands time and attention!

There are many things I got to know about my own family... like how complimentary my parents are... for example when I got the pup, I had expected dad to blow the roof but he was calm and accepted it but mom blew the roof which was never the expected and guess who came to the rescue! Dad... he had the experience of raising a dog when he was a kid which was no surprise in the way he is handling simba now... And after a week, when dad turns a little impatient guess who calms him down... mom... who used to have her hands at her ears and scream her lungs out when simba used to wander near her is the one who feeds him everyday in the morning and night and is also the one who calms my dad when simba is too playful (which is actually all the time!!)

I must say that I under-estimated my family's commitment to my buddy... actually they are doing amazing!! He keeps my dad occupied pretty much entire day he is around home and my aunt is totally fond of him... My sister who was so afraid of dogs... now pets him and he listens to her command!! (well... not always!!) The time I was giving to my family has increased ever since my buddy has come home and he demands everybody to talk to him and play with him!! He responds to the sound of my bike and expect to cuddle him everytime I am around him... He even understands that he should not go near my mother because she is afraid of him... but and my mother somehow forget that part during his breakfast and dinner!! Ani... who used to run a mile from dogs... now feeds him with her hand... has gone to such an extent of loving him that she prepared cake when he barked for the first time!! lolz... amazing!!

It has enlightened me in many ways that having pet is a good thing but accepting its responsibility is so huge a task... Its not that simple... you have to be more patient and develop that 6th sense which makes you understand a being that doesn't understand your language!

Overall amazing feeling and I better not forget to thank Dr Manjunath Shinde, Vivek, Sriram(G5) , Kitty and my family for their support...