Into the land of Tipu Sultan…

During the first week of my job, my company arranged a trip for all the trainees to Mysore. It was my second trip to the place but we went to more places this time as one of us knew the place very well. The best sight is Mysore is Tipu’s palace which gets lit up at night. It is an amazing sight to watch. But since we had to return to Bangalore early, we had to give that sight a miss…

St. Philomina’s Church

Tipu’s Palace

Mysore Zoo

Chamundi Hills

Good Ole Mumbai…

I had a dream yesterday night that I was back in Mumbai… Traveling on the Mumbai locals, listening to the peppy Malishka on RedFM. I have many good memories of the 6 weeks that I’d spent there… And staying at the posh Cuffe Parade was an experience indeed… the 10^th floor apartment at Maker Towers offered stunning views of the city; from the grand sunrise in the morning to the lit up marine drive in the night….

and I didn’t even havta get up from my bed to enjoy all this ;)

More of Agra...

After the Taj visit, we also went for a short visit to Akbar's fort...



One of the many windows from which the Taj can be seen in the distance...

Wah Taj!

Sometime back, I was posted in Agra for a month. And towards the end of my stint, I finally found the time and more importantly the right mood to take a trip to he Taj...

I entered through the large gateway and caught the first glimpse of the famed monument; expecting to be thrilled and awed.. but I felt nothing...


the whole trip was a big disappointment and the only thing that made me sit up and take notice was the workmanship and the amazing dexterity with which the carvings were made with a great degree of perfection and similarity...

and so, a weary me came back to my dingy hotel room and uploaded the snaps. and lo! the awe and wonder suddenly appeared out of nowhere... the snaps were great and the Taj looked awesome in the pics...

I the underdog...

The feeling is there... I can't ignore it... Of late I’ve really begun to feel like I am the underdog… my best friend's voice rings loud and clear... "you are a loser Rakesh!! you are just a loser" of course, he was just kidding then… now all of a sudden, it all seems so true; so real...

Well, can it really be true... What could be the reason??

Depression… running out of steam... or is it just Monday morning blues… I do not know… and I do not wanna know… coz I am scared… really really scared… of what the real reason could be………………………………………………………………..!!

Creativity!!

a lil old but hilarious nonetheless. More such creative pieces here.


pic courtesy: hummerlimousine

backwasss timepassss

If you have nothing better to do and are bored to the core.. u might as well do this…. Have fun guessing ppl’s age….

ageproject

A rat in the rate race....

Of late, this quote keeps coming to my mind... you might win the rat race, but you are still a rat..

and I've just started the race... or have I?? when do we exactly join the rat race.. while we start work? or did it start from the moment we entered school and struggled to get those marks and win all those competitions....

pic courtesy: too much coffee man

Bihar Blues...

A couple of months back, I stepped into the big bad corporate world. I joined one of the leading FMCG companies in the country.. Now one thing about the sales & marketing profession is that you get to travel a lot...

From being a person who has hardly stepped out of his home state (save for a coupla visits to Bangalore and TamilNadu), I got to travel to a whole lot of places... have been literally living out of the suitcase (well, a backpack & a duffel bag in my case) for the past few months... My current project has taken me to Haryana, Rajathan, UP and finally Bihar... (I've some beautiful pics of the Taj and some forts in Rajasthan which I'll upload soon)

And so that's how I ended up in Bihar.. The beginning was pretty bad, with my train arriving a good 7.5 hrs late... and due to flooding, I had to switch cabs twice before finally reaching my hotel... But things were not as bad as I had thought them to be... My work has taken me to interior regions of the state... It is very beautiful.. acres and acres of lush green paddy fields meet the eye... reminded me a lot about Kerala (except that there were no Coconut trees here)...

It was my first time visiting a flood affected area.. Felt really bad for the people... Crops were destroyed, they homes ruined and livestock gone astray... the only place that was not water logged were the roads and so one could find, people living on the roadside on temporary tents and their cattle tied to the nearby trees... Hope the situtation improves soon...

Despite a few mishaps.. such as the cow that charged at me while I was in Arrah (Bhojpur) or the one at the wholesale market in Gaya where my foot got stuck in a foot deep trench of slush and cow dung and vegetable waste... (and quite a few more) it was a good trip... I got loads of info for my proj... professionally, it was a good learning experience and above all I got an idea about how the other side of India lives... they are not concerned about the Sensex touching 17K.. or about whether India will win the next match.. it is a fight for survival for them.. when will I get my next square meal... how will I rebuild my home... how will I find grass for my cattle...

Amid all the rejoicing about India Shining, the booming economy and the India@60 charade.. spare a thought for these poor souls...

Now what makes this worse for me personally is that I myself will not do anything about it... A blog or two and a nagging feeling for a few days.. But then its back to busy life in Bangalore going on to my next proj and an endless effort to meet those all important KRAs and rake in the moolah... yeah! I'm indeed a rat in the rat race...

that knotted feeling in my stomach...

I'm really feeling strange.. of late, I've been travelling alone from one place to the next, everyday.. I guess this lonliness can do all sorts of things to you...

I really don't know what to do.. its just work work and more work... from one unknown place to the next... I guess, the wanderlust spark that I had in me has died down... All I can think of these days is settling down in one place for good...

[I want to write more on this... get it out of my system... but the freak sitting near to me in the cafe can't stop peeping... gosh, I feel violated.. lol ;) ]

things going good... things going baaaaddd.....

a day of mixed emotions actually.. anyway, its been ages since I've posted anything.. thought I'd do something about it.. and as usual, I hope to be more regular this time round as well....

went back to college after a while... its been a while since I've seen a good round of quizzing.. felt good to see the old folks... walking along those familiar paths, once again with ma old buddies...

Went to see a movie today.. its been almost a year since I've been to the movies with Anas... quite a contrast to 3 years ago when a movie a week was the norm... this time we went to an old theatre near his native place... no a/c, no balcony, no dolby and the works... but the simplicity of it all was a welcome change... the movie was kaiyoppu... a good friend tells me it is partly based on director Renjith's life story... the star-cast was refreshing... felt good to see Neena Kurup after a long gap... the first half of the movie is awesome... Renjith creates an atmosphere filled with literature and mature romance... but the second half is quite the anti-thesis... felt really strange after coming out... am seeing another movie Anyar just get out of the kaiyoppu mode...

*pic credits- nowrunning, indiaglitz