Pankaj's Esoteric Blog

An expensive picnic

2011-11-05T09:00:00.006+05:30

Its been long … very long time since I seriously thought about coming back to this site and blog once more .... Not that exciting things didn’t happen in last few months but I think in someway, I got caught in rat race to catch up with the world. Good to be back here…..

The latest one in my life is F1. And this time it wasn’t watching it on TV … though I miss days when dixit’s and panjwani’s got together, either south or east of Bangalore, to watch the race. Fortunately or incidently the newest F1 track was very very close to my home.

What made me purchase the tickets

No one offered me passes so I had to purchase :)
Frankly, the left half of my brain did not allow buying tickets although right one finally won at the end with lot of support and push from Geeta. Adding to the cause was proximity of F1 track to my office. …. I can claim that its very natural for a person, in a situation like mine, to give into the pressure and purchase tickets.

How was the experience

Its rather difficult to explain everything in words. But first a little background. Formula 1 is not a sports, I completely agree with our sports minister on this.
It is indeed rocket science. It is working with constraints which are beyond imagination. The Formula 1 car is a master piece. Most of people assume it to be fastest car but not many people understand that it is one of the most fuel efficient car for the power it delivers. one of the fastest computer is used inside the car to monitor the performance and adjust parameters continuosly. For example during the race, type pressure, fuel mixture etc is adjusted many times depending on tyre condition, weight of the car and speed demands from driver.
Gear shifts at much higher revolutions than standard cars. Difficult to believe but its 3500 times that gears are changed during the race and using only 0.05sec for each gear shift … The steering wheel itself is a eye catcher. With loads of information on tiny screen and dozens of buttons … the simplest to understand button being “DRINK” to let driver have some fluids so he does not dehydrate. Imagine yourself driving the car at 200Km/Hr and operating these buttons. Aerodynamics are no less compared to fighter jets with only difference being that the exterior parts on Formula 1 are made to keep the car on ground… as much as possible. The ordeal that drivers go through is also one of most exhausting ....

Sure this is not sport but something else but definitely Sachin is interested in it.

Coming back to the event. there were 2 support races before Formula 1 race at 2.45. We missed first support race but managed to see JK racing which uses formula 1600 cars. These are much simpler cars but still carry 4-5 times power than standard cars. Aerodynamics are also very good on these cars. The best part is that if someone is a racing aspirant then these are the machines on which they will practice.

Sahil was quite excited by the sight of these cars. I choose a stand which had two little curves. I thought that drivers will have to break a little to negotiate these turns. Moreover, there will be possibility of some overtaking. Soon, I was proved completely wrong about these assumptions. The formula 1600 cars sped away from that point before we could realize … but before they all went out of sight, it left a lot of excitement for me and sahil to talk about. Soon the cars got spaced away and there were very few gaps where we did not see a racing car. This all made one thing very clear, formula 1 cars are going to disappear from this spot sooner than I thought.

Post support race there was enough time for both of us to hang out in recreational area and have a sandwich and couple of drinks. We also chatted about drivers, their standings and formula 1 cars. Now, it was time for vintage car rally …they came one by one seated in a vintage car in ramdom order. I wish i had a better binoculars on that day.

After a while F1 cars came out for lineup. We were located quite far from starting line but the engines sound was piercing and thunderous.

The warm-up lap was flagged off. Again one by one each driver passed our section but this time in an F1 enclosure and we all were amazed to see these machines as they passed. Cameras came out… each one pointing to other to check some specific feature of car. But what took most of the focus was the sheer intensity of sound it was producing. Gear shift and throttle release sounds were also very distinguishable. Before they again lined up for final start of race, most of the ppl ran back outside to buy ear plugs … I too was one of them because by that time it was clear that “F1 can cause damage” to the ears. Imagine .. the empty sun shade case was vibrating whenever a car passed by us.

Once the race started, we could keep track of positions for to 8-10 laps, after which the last car was one lap down. I think stat management is better on TV compared to being at the venue …. unless you are sitting in main grand or premium stand. Also, events happening at other sections are not felt (e.g Massa Hamilton tiff). The commentary was audible for the first few laps but then as the cars spaced out, every second there was a car going around our section and it was impossible to hear the commentary. Sahil was using his ear plugs but I was enjoying the experience without it. Finally we lost track of number of laps too and somewhere around 4.30pm we saw Sachin waving chequerred flag and vettel showing his thumb. We waited for vettel to pass by us hoping that he will be slower this time but again slow is relative. He must be around 150Km/h when he passed by us.

After that I and sahil rushed out and thus began the most adventurous part of the day. By the time I booked the F1 tickets, the parking tickets were sold out and we had to use “Park&Ride” shuttle. To reach to the PnR shuttle point, there was another inner shuttle. With almost half of 95000 ppl using the shuttle, the scene outside was not very different from post-independence era. People … and they were elite class …. sat on roof of busses to reach to their BMW’s and Mercs. they would stand in middle of the road to somehow stop the bus so that they could board. The people inside felt priviliged ... it was horrible and completely under-estimated.
Somehow we managed to hop on one of them and were on our way to parking lot …. Before we could think that we are lucky that we got into a bus … the driver made us realize that the jam we are stuck in is around kilometer long and don’t expect that we will get out soon.

“Soon” … I learnt the meaning of “soon” at that time. It was exactly 1hour30min before we were back on highway. Sahil on bonnet of the bus and me acting as navigator to driver (its good to know the shortcuts sometime). Finally we reached parking lot and again took some shortcuts to reach home faster than people who were struck on Noida-Delhi expressway.

When Geeta asked me how the day was, unexpectedly I did not remember a thing from race but only the shuttle journey back to parking lot. After straining myself a bit, I could tell her about the race too :)

That all said, I still find that it was an exciting and memorable experience. I hope that it will have a long term effect on people in india. I hope that a few mechanical engineers watching the race from one of stands, dedicate themselves to build a car and its engine.

For some, the event could be a life changer for others its an expensive picnic. Both ways it pays for itself. I also would like to appreciate mayavati’s governance; I can see a real turn around for UP if she continues for next 10 years. The focus on infra structure development is very evident and in my opinion, it is something which was hugely lacking in past. The next on radar is night safari and a full fledged sports city with cricket stadium and football grounds. The opportunities are going to be many … lets see how we are going to welcome them.

The pics this time are on facebook only :
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.266249050080226.60927.100000854005862&type=3&l=b76dc10558

Sahil's Assamese Song

2011-07-13T16:21:00.002+05:30

Yes, you read it right, its also about an "awesome song".

It started like a normal after school activity when kids don't stop telling me things about what happened at school on that day.

this is like our very own version of "panjwanis got talent" where both sahil and prisha compete and showcase themselves.

With no real intentions of turning it into "panjwanis comedy circus" , sahil started singing, a latest addition to his song bank: an assamese song. He is learning that at school for a special assembly.

An Assamese song !! , I asked him in disbelief .. but after he convinced me, I told him to keep his towel wrapped (and modified it to, what I believed, to look like an assamese dress).

The First try was difficult. I mean , we all could not hold ourselves ... and bursted with laughter ...... multiple times.

After that, it was more serious ... atleast I was .. even though Geeta and Prisha dug a hideout behind pillows to suppress their laughter and faces. I had no such choice ... and was serious all the while when he was singing. And he appreciated that ... huh

See the videos one by one.

Having Fun

The actual Song

(actually he was putting all his energy into this)

A long pending outing with kids

2011-07-01T11:10:00.000+05:30

Since long, we haven't been out. Most of kid's holidays were spent at home for a reason known to most of us. And "back to school" D-day was approaching on full speed. So, yesterday we took them out for a movie "Transformers 3 : Dark side of moon". . And cause they generally ask too many questions during the movie, i decided to take them for a hindi version. From kids point of view, they liked it a lot, it was a first transformer movie for them. For us, nothing new in the movie, it was all the same stuff about transformers and alien.
Huh .... so people who know them, next time when you meet Sahil and Prisha the talking will be around and about Sentinel Prime and Optimus. So why not I give you a 5 minute condensed version of this movie, so that you feel part of this world when they talk about transformers and stuff.

Optimus

Autobots are good transformers. Optimus, which is an "Autobot", is a very powerful transformer but is also sentimental about its relationship with humans. He would go to all extents to save human kind. The bad transformers "Decepticons" are on an everlasting mission to take over earth and convert it into their planet. "Megatron", a decepticon, makes a deal with another "Autobot" transformer called "Sentinel Prime" to convert earth into transformers planet called "Cybertron" . In the end, you can guess what happens. Optimus wins over Decepticons and Sentinel prime.

Simple... isn't it. Go through these lines around 12 times to clear any confusions.

Megatron

Some autobot names : Optimus, Bumble-bee, Sentinel prime

Some decepticons names : Megatron, Soundwave, Shockwave

So remember the names and dont confuse names of decepticons with Autobots. I am sure you will not like being scolded by a kid for that.

Guess the response

2010-02-09T13:24:00.000+05:30

For those who do not know, 26^th November 2009 was our 8^th marriage anniversary. Significant … because we are now out of 6^th, 7^th or 8^th year itch of marriage…………..which some people think is a big challenge for married couples.

We were away, on this day, from each other for the very first time in these 8 years.

So, on this occasion, I had an opportunity to wish Geeta via email ... a very happy anniversary.

Didn't plan a conventional one at all……so, I was definitely expecting a surprised-kind of response from her.

Read the snippet ...

“ok, so what does a person need. It is a tough question to answer. Why, I'll tell you in a while.

A simpler question would be what does a person want?

Although it may seem trivial but there is a big difference in what a person needs vs what a person wants.

Most of the time we run behind getting what we want and fortunately or unfortunately we do get it …. most of the times, if not everytime.

I, would want to have a person/partner for my life, who is smart, beautiful, agree to what I say, does what I tell, be what I want her to be and the list would never end.

It is easy for me to give in writing that I’d be very happy to be with such a person for my whole life and never complain about anything. Needless to say that this would give me immense freedom and satisfaction.

So here is “the” person I would want to be with, for my whole life.

Now, what kind of partner do I “really need”?

I think,

I need a person who is with me when I need someone to talk to. Agrees with me when I think I am doing something with all my passion and sincerity.

I need a person who strongly disagrees with me when I am overconfident and doing something with wrong intentions.

This person would confront with me so that I am more prepared to take on challenges of life, to bring out shortcomings in me so that I can improvise further.

I need a person who does something for me with same sincerity and spirit as if I were doing it. Give me complete confidence so that I can move on to take on new battles and completely rely on her for the existing ones.

I donot know whether you are the person I want, but I am more than confident that you are the person I “need” for myself. “

Unconventional ….. isn’t it.

The response was even more unconventional ….. I wouldn’t let it out here………….keep guessing and updating the comments…….

Good things "do" come to an end

2009-10-11T21:30:00.002+05:30

Good things come to end and it is all the more true when there is recession on global economies around.

Geocities has decided to close down free hosting of webpages.
It affects me a lot because one of my first web page is going offline from 26th Oct. Although I dont like it, but sahil's very first "Birth Announcement" page will no more exist on world wide web after this.

I am determined to put the information on some other website's page, however i dont know when I'll do it. So, if you want, then have a look at the page for the last time before I make it available somewhere else in someother form.

http://www.geocities.com/panjwani_pankaj/sahil_home.html

Goa Day 1 and before

2008-10-16T22:37:00.005+05:30

Before I take you with me on our recent goa trip, let me tell you about the preparations we did for the trip.

As usual there was a document shared among the trip planners. The document was used to maintain the checklist of items to be picked along, checklist of items to be finished before commencing the trip, the route map and directions and above all what to do when we are in goa (thanks to inputs provided by Pooja).

With all these preparation done, we started our trip, as planned, on 7^th October after a ritual “kanjake” on 8^th day of Navratras.

The wheels were set in motion at 11.30 AM after the bags were packed, brought and strapped on to the car carrier. All was as planned.

Although we did meticulous planning for the journey, we still missed out picking some stuff. So, it was already known that we will have to make some stops before we hit the highway.

To reach the highway we had to travel ~30 Kms within the city, which took us around 2 hours (including the stopover we made to fill up gas, buy some medicines etc).

Finally at 1.15pm we were on NH4. Although this might look like "merely" getting on the highway, believe me it is an achievement in Bangalore.

Once we were out of Bangalore there were series of toll-roads which boosted over average speed per hour.......... From 15 to 45 Km/hr.

On the first toll road, we stopped over for lunch. It was a fantastic experience to get genuine dhaba style food in out skirts of Bangalore. Obviously, here I am comparing it with other dhaba’s around Bangalore only. The secret was revealed a little later that the owner and staff are from U.P. hmmmmm…….. Boost is the secret of Sachin’s energy……..U.P. is the secret of dhaba’s delicacies.

Post lunch it was awesome, not because the road was good, but because we innovated an indigenous way to keep kids busy.

Read this patent to understand the details.

“Playing Cartoons in Car: A method to keep your long trip more enjoyable”, Rajesh and Pankaj Panjwani, Presented At PGTW (Preparation for Goa Trip Workshop) 2008

The lap top was mounted on back seat and car inverter (to supply 220V to laptop) sent by papa was aptly used for the first time in three years. I can bet that our journey would not have been so less straining, if we did not have this arrangement.

The only drawback was that now there were two kinds of music being played in the car. The sound which was dulcet for us was not at all pleasing for kids and vice versa.

The batch of people sitting on the middle row seat had a tough time listening to songs. They had to filter out Perman’s and Ninja Hattori’s title songs once a while..............no one complained as everyone was happy that kids are enjoying (and we were too .......... for a change).

The next three hours went by without our notice and it started turning darker outside. Now we were looking for a place to stopover to get fresh and fill up gas again. Finally, we halted at a petrol bunk at Ranibennur .We noticed that the carrier needs adjustment and tightening. By the time, most of the people relieved themselves and were cursing us for stopping over at a filthy place.

Once we left Ranibennur ,we saw a gleaming BP petrol bunk with a very nice eatery attached to it. We all were a little uncertain whether to stop or proceed without dinner as at that point we were off by atleast 2 hours of our target and it was getting darker with every passing minute……so it was a war against time……...cool down...we decided to stop over and have dinner………….as wars cannot be fought with empty stomach.

If I did not tell earlier then let me tell you now. We decided to stop overnight at Sirsi, which is around 400Kms from Bangalore. Our target was to reach Sirsi by 8 PM.

At 8.30pm we’re having dinner and Sirsi was atleast 2 hours away….. and it was off the national highway …………. so we did not have any idea how the road condition would be.

We finally hit the road again at 9 pm and after about 1 hour we were off National highway to state highway. To our surprise the road condition was much better.

To add to our horror story, the milestones were in kannada……………… you must be thinking that ...….. it would have been really difficult for these poor chaps, already so late, dark night ahead and now no useful guidance ……….

As usual we’ve prepared for that too. Around 5 yrs back ketaki, popularly known as sona, was asked to learn kannada, so that she could help us in identifying the right routes when on state highways.

Finally finally and finally........ At around 11 pm we reached Sirsi, our destination of the day.

Next day was also going to be a long day, so a good night sleep was necessary.

On day2:

- we travelled another 250Kms to reach Goa,

- checked into the hotel

- enjoyed the sunset at beach

Hold on to read more on my next post.

Enjoy these photos, meanwhile...........

Sahil turns 5.

2008-08-28T08:25:00.008+05:30

As planned, we arranged a birthday celebration party for Sahil’s fifth birth anniversary. The theme chosen was consulted and approved by the birthday boy : Mickey and friends.

With the experience, we gained from Prisha’s birthday party, we managed to get everything ready in a shorter duration for Sahil’s function. Invitation were sent, r.s.v.p. received, menu decided, number of people finalized. Everything was well set for the grand day of 14^th August, which was chosen for party though his birthday is on 13^th August.

Wait a minute I think I am telling too much on my blog, I hope by the time sahil’s grows up, and gets his credit card, banks have better means of verifying a person’s identity. The birthdate does not seem to be a private information anymore, as parents of kids these days divulge that on their blog sites. Sahil, please don’t hate me, when you grow up.

Ok, back to the party. So all was set …. But I did not know that Sahil’s birthday celebration and rains have a tie up.

It was the worst rain of the season that evening. It rained continuously for more than five hours …..

All of us, waiting to welcome guests, were recollecting his last birthday celebrations since his “birth night” in 2003.

On almost all occasions it had rained, whether it was Delhi or Bangalore, the rains were precise in timing and 2008 was no exception either.

Though a little late, people starting coming in which brought life back into the party.

Pottery was something unique. It was something that people dont expect to see in a party. But I believe everyone would have wanted to give it a try if given a chance. So, here was a chance for them to try it out.

Overall, it was a good evening. Sahil enjoyed a lot while cutting the cake, playing with his friends and bursting balloons.

See who all were shot on that day ……(click).

Maiden Test

2008-08-22T16:46:00.006+05:30

This has been long pending, I wanted to write about it as soon as it happened but other things kept me occupied.

Sahil had to face the first test of his life at school. It was a dictation test of the small set of words he has mastered. In his life he will have to pass so many exams that it would be rare if he remembers this one. And I am not sure if this blog will exist when he has grown up.

I think anyone who faces an exam of any kind in life, is scared at first. Unless otherwise, it is a field where she has mastered her skills. Call it human nature, basic instinct or fear of unknown, it happens with almost everyone. And once we pass the test, we proudly tell that it was not that difficult.

Most of the time the scare builds up due to expectations ….. could be a self imposed also. However, when a person treats the learning more as fun rather than something to prove, the learning remains with him lifelong. Unfortunately in India, fun learning is not yet upto the mark. Otherwise with the second highest population we would excel in almost every sport and work.

Competing in areas, which interest a child less, could kill the creativity in areas where a child could excel. Most of us tend to compete in spaces where we are not comfortable, probably because it is not in child's control.

See how cutely calvin expresses his thoughts about this.

One of my friend recently sent me a speech by Chetan bhagat where he rightly points out that “Being sincere is more required than being serious when you are performing”. As long as you try sincerely it does not matter if you

Lines on forehead are not required to successfully finish a job, unless you are working for a theater or acting school.

Today's newspaper caries a Q&A with Sri Sri Ravishankar on education. He suggests that education should be more like fun.

He also points out that, even after going through schools and colleges, if a person cannot go back to home and fix basic things then there is something wrong in the education or learning system. There should be enough motivation for a kid to go to school.......

Which could be as simple as a bus ride he takes to go and come back to school. As my wife narrates me once a while about sahil's mischievs , i am sure Sahil is having a good time in the bus.

I remember when I was in school, till 10^th standard school was something I would not want to go. Surprise holidays were like the greatest gifts for me. The situation changed after 10^th standard. The subjects were more interesting for me, there were more of practical aspect to most of the subjects, atleast for me. And in college it was all the more interesting, I could relate to most of things which were being taught.

The conventional education system failed to motivate me in areas which I liked. Practical experiences with my father were more interesting for me as I could examine instant results in whatever he used to do. I could see that when you switch on a light bulb, with wires disconnected, the lamp would not glow, but when we connect these wires, the lamp would glow. It used to be magical and entertaining for me.

In school everything was in books….. same type of books for all subjects.

The education system in India has not changed much, so still there is a need for additional excitement and motivation for kids to learn.

I also plan to provide my kids another parallel school where they will learn about practical concepts of what is being taught

……..seeing is believing …………. That is what I believe in. I’ll try to make them see and learn from practical experiences.

I am also trying to blend religious practices and the science behind them so that if my kids are praying or performing a religious ritual then they know the why, what, how and when of those.

e.g as per ancient definition ghost is “something which can not be seen by naked eyes, is harmful, can kill us, can enter our body and can spread its influence using our body”.

The scientific explanation that I provide to him is that, it could be something like a bacteria or germs or virus ...... which fits the definition as per my understanding.

Don’t think the discussion ends here, he has thousand follow up questions ready to fire, as soon as my explanation gets over.

Well, I don’t mind giving him explanation as long as he is listening to me and not watching TV :)

So my boy, keep it up and as you grow vertical, find out your area of interest and do well.

Why I dont drink ....

2008-07-16T08:51:00.005+05:30

Many people ask me very often why i dont drink and act as if I am the most sober guy in the party or gathering. This picture blog is dedicated to answer all such queries. I am very hopeful that no one will ask me to even have a sip of liqour in future.
Enjoy the picture blog

No Drink Yet. Everythink looks ok. I am laughing and enjoying the evening.

First Sip of fine French Wine --- fun starts.

The second sip is even more nastier, god only knows what will happen once I take the third sip.

Third Sip and I am on cloud nine, ten and eleven. I even sang a poem at this time

Baba Black sheep

yes papa

eating eating twinkle stars

no papa

how I wonder so open your mouth

Ha ha ha

And this happens even before I finish the first glass.

So All you folks dont ever force me to drink in party. otherwise you know what you are calling for

Ranganathittu – Day out

2008-07-08T09:00:00.012+05:30

The yercaud trip could not be materialized in a short span, hence we decided to go out on a day trip. Ranganathittu was chosen as destination for 29th day of June 2008.

This is a bird sanctuary near Srirangapatna which is 15-20 kms before mysore when coming from Bangalore. Thousands of migratory birds come here during this season.

The journey was spectacular. On our way we halted at Kamat to have jawar roti meal (a traditional north karanataka style meal). As soon as it was known that we are heading towards mysore, everyone unanimously decided to break at kamat even though some of were not hungry at all. This time we tried mangalore style roti too. It was basically a rice roti (which to be frank I found it to be idly-like, so no USP for it).

After reaching Ranganathittu, we took a boat ride. A stream of Cauvery river flows through the sanctuary. Most of the birds make their temporary nest on small rocky islands. This way they safeguard themselves from snakes, crocodiles and above all humans who have farms around the sanctuary area.

The boat ride was interesting. The boat rower told some facts about various birds that fly into this area. We spent around 30 minutes on boat. Sahil, Rahul and Prisha also gave it a try to row the boat.
And once a while I would try to imbalance the boat to hear everyone scream.

After the boat ride, the plan was to get into the hedge maze, but sudden showers hampered the plan. We had to take shelter in a “tapri” style eat out.
4 in evening, lush green gardens around, rain pouring through the roof drop by drop, isn’t this a perfect time to have hot cup of tea and some fresh hot bhajji (pakoras). We could only manage to get hot tea there.

Anyway, the rain stopped for few minutes and we started our journey back. It was a very nice drive. Hardly in India you’ll find a 4 lane international standard road and rain gods joining you for the ride.
It was spectacular, particularly because I was not driving and enjoying the scenery around.

On way back we halted at CCD (café coffee day) with the primary purpose to use the restrooms. We ended up having some snacks and spending time together. Oh I think I did not tell who all were there on trip. In alphabetical order
Geeta, Papa, Mandar Jijaji, Neelam Didi, Sahil, Ketaki, Rahul, Prisha, Mummy, Rajesh, Pankaj

I am sorry I never went to school and learned to order.

Here is the link to slide show. Enjoy !!

The blog is posted here. Click Here to go to blog site

Mister … I am Three now

2008-07-03T10:17:00.012+05:30

Prisha turned Three and stepped into fourth year of her angelhood in June. On 21st of June we celebrated her birthday at the club house. The event was a success with good participation from friends and family members.
Thanks to all the pain staking effort made by Geeta in preparation for the event, everything happened flawlessly on that day. I must say it was one of the most successful events that we have arranged till date.

Meticulous preparation
To make it clear that it was not a mere chance, I would tell you here what all we did to achieve such good results …. So I am going to take you through a training class on “How to conduct parties” ……..
A month before the party, we prepared the guest list for invitation.
I used my tech skills to create an online document ………….. and I think it helped a lot.
To take further advantage of technology, I added information about number of kids and their age.

This proved very helpful to Geeta in concluding number of gifts for particular age groups and gender …. I’ll describe this later.
The best part of creating an online spreadsheet was that it is shareable and both I & Geeta could edit it on any computer in world and save it.
Another blessing in disguise with such a document is that we can use it for all future gatherings too. Just enter a little data and say “abra dabra” three times and you get a list of people whom you’ll see at party.

Whom does she like
Deciding on the cake shape (picture) was also not easy. We scanned through various shapes and sizes and finally agreed on a “Barbie” type doll or “Winnie-The pooh”.
Just as we were to finalize the order, another parent ordered a “Dora” cake. Eureka !, I and Geeta looked into each other and smiled as if we discovered something great.
So what next ………. we asked him to make similar “Dora” cake for us too.
The nightmare was about to begin, when the person at counter told us that he cannot take order for that day as he is already overbooked …………. He claimed that he already has orders for 50 cakes.
The next five minutes Geeta and I were discussing alternatives and repenting that we should have come few days earlier to place order.
A last attempt was made. We spoke to the manager about our need. He looked into our bambi eyes and agreed to take the order. Although we thanked him enough after that, but in all the excitement, we forgot to pay him for the two pastries we had there, while deciding the cake flavor.

Return Gifts
Believe me this is not an easy task, atleast when we are throwing a party. Geeta worked very hard to sort out things which can be given as return gifts. The problem was multidimensional as there were too many factors involved in arriving at “appropriate” return gift.
The first division was based on age group. We divided the kids in three age group categories; 0-2, 3-8 and 8+. To add to complexity, we further split up the lot into boys and girls. To top it all, there was no surety at the time of buying return gifts whether the family would turn up for party or not.
I think we spent maximum time on planning for this than any other item, however we don’t repent. I could see very happy faces when few kids decided to open their return gifts in the party hall itself.
Good Job Geeta … keep up the good work. Next time we’ll have one more classification “How many friends a kid has”

Offerings of the day
Since it was a children birthday party, Geeta and I wanted the event to be full of fun and masti.
We also wanted to have a stage/podium setup (read decoration) which Prisha could relate to. The decorator had something just like that one. See the pics.
In one of the Sahil’s previous Birthday party, I acted as anchor/party jockey in carrying out few kid’s game. Although it was a huge success that time too, this time however I wanted to spend significant clock ticks in greeting guests and making them feel comfortable.
So, the natural choice was hiring an event manger for evening. Must say he was good, he made sure that he involved kids of all age groups (3 yrs to 65 yrs), other than infants and to-be-born-babies, in the games
The dinner was North Indian style. We hired a lady who has done several parties for quite a few people in our friend circle. We went by word of mouth and she did not disappoint. In fact we were quite impressed and most of the people were also very much impressed by the food quality and genuineness of north Indian dishes she served. I am sure she will get many more contracts ……..

The tattoo artist was busy in creating vivid shapes, objects and creatures on children’s face, hands and cheeks. I recollect noticing dragon, football, snake, flowers and butterfly in bright red, golden, silver, bright blue colors.
Sahil sure was happy with a dragon on his arm. If I was there I would have got him a bright yellow-red sun ……… full of energy….

With all people around and her grandparents visiting from Delhi, it was a complete friends and family occasion. In fact, we could make out from Sahil’s comment that he would love to have a similar get-together for his birthday too.
The only not so good thing was ventilation in the room. Next time we will somehow plan for that too.

That’s all folks for the day. Enjoy the slide show.

Angels of My World

2008-05-26T22:17:00.008+05:30

This is title of my first video which captures the moments we have shared with our lovely kids. I am little late in posting this blog, the premier happened last saturday on 18th May.

How I conceived this idea
I always had the desire to create a video. When i bought a video camera (few months before sahil was born), I specifically bought a model from which I could download the video to a PC. Now it is very common however at that time, I had to pay a hefty price for such a feature. I remember people yelling at me for spending such an amount on a petty thing.
For some reason, I kept shooting since the day i bought camera, however i did not have a huge hard disk to download all those videos, so I kept buying cassettes just to ensure that i dont erase anything by mistake.
Very recently when I heard this song on radio while driving, I thought that each word of this song conveys the feeling that Geeta and I have for our kids and I cannot wait any longer to make this video, so here it is.
It has taken me a long time to convert the plan into action but today I can be proud that I have finally made this video. As far as I am concerned I have done my due diligence.

The Premier Party....

The party was grand as expected. All the guests arrived on time and so the party could begin on time. I was there to receive them at the entrance gate. You can see the photographs and make out how much we enjoyed at party. All people present at function appreciated the video. I got many emails telling me that I have done a wonderful job. I am sure that the praise was genuine.

Watch this 5 minute video and let me know what you think about it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfyFU3GBZmY
An advice for youtube guests. Let the video buffer fully before you play it.

Coming Soon …

2008-05-14T23:39:00.000+05:30

I am working on my very first video and am quite excited about releasing it soon. At present it is in finishing stages. Initially I thought, creating a video will be a very simple task, but now that I have gone through it once, I realize that it a mammoth task to create a good video. Hats off to bollywood who produce a 3 hour movie.

Finally I have decided the release date and time for this video. It is going to be released simultaneously on DVD (for people at home) and on youtube (for people around country and world). I have chosen 8:30 pm on Saturday 17th May for the premier at bangalore. There will be some very special guests at the premier.

Funty-twenty – IPL match at Bangalore

2008-05-09T08:59:00.004+05:30

Don’t know exactly what prompted me to convince five almost not-very-interested guys to accompany me for this match. It was royal challengers Bangalore versus Chennai Super Kings match. In case you don’t know then IPL is a new form of sponsored cricket being played in India for the first time. Like soccer in europe, here also teams and players are bought by business man/woman.

Royal challengers is team bought by Dr. Vijay Malaya (VM). He has an image of flamboyant businessman who tends to do everything in an extra ordinary way. He is also called as “liquor baron of India”. Not convinced that he is some guy who is not like other businessman …….. here are some facts ………… he has recently bought an F1 racing team and named it “Force India” ……….. it is very rare to see a country name attached to racing team……………… still not convinced …………….. he has already declared that his racing team will have podium finish in 2010 ………not convinced yet……… He started an airline in India wherein super models served the passengers for first few days…….. .got it now.

Royal challengers has been beaten several times before this match and we were expecting some miracles to happen in this game. Atleast we expected it initially.

I am not going to keep any surprises till end of this blog. Royal challengers miserably lost this match as usual.

With every match it appears that their strategy turns out to be a tragedy.

“Vijay Malaya’s Team”
This section is dedicated to entertainment of the match.
It was not very hard to realize that why VM bought a team which cannot perform. Infact it was good that we went to stadium to watch this match. We realized that by watching matches on the colorful idiot box we were refraining ourselves from real action of VM Cheerleaders team.

It was very evident that VM always had a back up plan in place just in case his cricket team does not accomplish. And it worked. Even though bangalore's team did not win matches the stadium was jam packed ............. i think this was because of success of cheerleaders-VIjay Malaya's Main team.

So the cheerleaders proved that they are worth the money that VM spent on them whereas the cricketers ………….. better not talk about them.

“Waqt ka takazaa” (Need of the hour)
As I mentioned we went to the stadium expecting some miracles to happen. We were all set to support the Bangalore team so that they could win this game. However the scene was very different in the stadium, most of the folks were there to support the visiting team (which happens to be the neighboring state’s team). We still thought that whatever people do let them do, we’ll strongly support Bangalore team as that is our karma and dharma.
With the strategy of royal challengers team failing with every ball being bowled our karma and dharma also started disappearing slowly. Before the last wicket was gone, we could see ourselves in a different avatar all together. We were also supporting the visiting team. I would attribute this to disappointment and frustration we were having. But atleast the team we were supporting won the match. Isn’t it…….

If you can't beat them --- join them.

“150 sit ups”
We never wanted to exercise on that evening otherwise we would have taken our Gym wears. Watching match in a stadium and that too a 20:20 match is like practicing sit-ups for a punishment in class. Everytime there was some excitement on field, which could range from a player waving to crowd to umpires talking about their kids education, people in front of us would stand up to watch the action. Inexperienced, as I would call ourselves, we would also stand up to watch the petty event.
In all we counted that we did 150 sit ups during this match probably because it was a low scoring match. The number could go as high as 200 if it was a high scoring match.

So that was the experience on our first 20:20 match live from stadium. Overall I would say it was worth witnessing the event from stadium, though we felt we should have bought a higher price ticket to enjoy more.

Oh man, What did I do ............

2008-04-30T17:15:00.006+05:30

Today was special day with all possible wonderful events.
Never did I think that I'll be visting places which i have never visited in my life.

The day started normally, everything was fine except that I was bit late to leave for office. Almost everyday while going and coming from office to home I would speak on my mobile phone. For some reason I was not doing that today.

While I was overtaking another vehicle (a big and expensive one), I looked into the rear view mirror and realized that something is not correct. The other driver was changing the lane before my vehicle cleared the space for him. And thud …. was the sound. Fine I said.. I will be cool and not get into argument.
Finally I got down to inspect the damages, and same did the other driver (lets call him Mr. Tom for simplicity).

His car was damaged more than mine, we exchanged contact numbers and names and continued with our ride. So do you think it is over …………

The real fun starts now. After an hour I get a call from police station that I have hit someone and I need to be available in police station. Ok cant help but I was frustrated.
So I asked Avinash who works in finance deptt and is a localite to accompany me to police station as it would help in dealing. So this time Mr Tom told me that he would take the claim from insurance company but the balance amount needs to be borne by you. In India the insurance company depreciates the fittings/assets/cost of car based on its market value. Hence the insurer has to shell out money from his pocket every time he claims insurance cover. Police incharge also suggested that you settle it amicably and don’t get into all the lengthy process.

Giving money even though I was not at fault was something that I would have never agreed, but looking at the damages I convinced myself that I would pay say 2K to help him.
So do you think it got over here .............Nah

It turned out that Mr Tom was hell bent on extracting atleast 50% of cost of damages and was willing to lodge a formal complaint with police. Avinash suggested me to accompany him to workshop and first get an estimate for repairs and then negotiate. I agreed.
Now the next meeting with Mr Tom was in a workshop. I choose the best people for negotiation and tactics for this part. Sandeep and Vikram (a localite) were with me this time with all the adrenaline required to fight this case.

After the assessment it turned out that the insurance company would not pay for 8K of damages to few parts and the insurer has to bear this. At that point Vikram revealed told them that “boss we are going to pay you 2K only and that to just to oblige because the damage to your car is more”. It seems Mr Tom’s team had different plans; they still wanted half of that amount as compensation.
Sandeep pushed us out of negotiation and told them to meet in police station or do whatever you want. So the next meeting place was police station.

By this time we were hungry and halted at office to have lunch and do some pending work. Coming weekend was a long weekend and everyone had lot of work to be completed.
Sandeep suggested that we need not go to police station also. But I insisted that we shall go and finish it off, however all unanimously agreed that now we will not pay them a single penny, whatever happens.
So after half an hour I got a call from police station again. I told him that I am stuck in traffic and will be late. So after an hour we reached police station, by that time Mr tom and his team has left.
We told the incharge that we offered them money and they did not like the idea. He told us that he’ll convince Mr Tom to accept the money and settle it ……..”you can give money to me” ……………..interesting we all thought.
Vikram told him that we have 1K at present and someone will come and drop rest of the money. Incharge was fine with that J, we were also fine with 1K.
So do you think its over. Atleast we think so …………..

The stories in olden books were true I think. I remember the story of one monkey who negotiated for two cats who were quarrelling for a piece of Bread. In the end monkey was winner. Probably in this case too, you can make out who gained maximum and who lost with nothing in his hand.

Interesting incidents are waiting to happen ……….. watch out.

Disclaimer : Some incidents may not be based on facts.

Lovely Eyes

2008-04-27T00:28:00.005+05:30

Chubby cheeks, dimple chin
rosy lips, teeth within,
Curly hair, very fair,
eyes are blue, lovely too,
Teacher's pet, is that you??
Yes, Yes, Yes

Sahil was two years old when he used to rhyme this poem. Deep within me, I would know that the “lovely eyes” he is singing about would be covered with spectacles one day.

The only thing Geeta could do was to delay it by giving nutritious food to him.

Finally, the latest eye check up for Sahil revealed that he would need spectacles so that he does not strain himself.

Even though I always knew that this would happen one day, it was difficult to digest this news. For me, it was like experiencing my childhood pains again as the same happened to me when I was 7 .

In the coming few months, we are going to try out few natural techniques which are supposed to check further degradation of his eye sight.

French Connection

2008-04-15T23:04:00.006+05:30

Beginning of March I visited Grenoble, a small city in France. Although it was an official visit, I could manage to go around and see some places in Grenoble and Paris.

Grenoble is a valley city with lots of beautiful snow tipped mountains around it. From Paris we took a TGV (France’s super speed trains) to Lyon and then a regular train to Grenoble.

“The Eternal wait of Taxi”
Unfortunately, we were booked in a hotel away from city. Other than being away from the city, the worst part every morning was waiting for taxi to pick us up for office. It could range anywhere between 15 minutes to 1 hour. This very regularly gave us time to share thoughts about times to come in our professional lives.
The funny part was that sometimes the taxi driver would arrive and then wait for us for 30 minutes and later tell us that he has come for us only. Thanks to the language barrier that we started those chosen days with frustration.

If you think that sign language is always there to save people like us then even the sign language would lead us into problem. Asking him how much money he makes using sign language may lead the taxi to the nearest ATM because the driver thought that you want to encash money.

“The Power Shower”
Out of curiosity if you happen to fully turn the hand shower knob to check the flow then you can enjoy a snake dance in bath tub. The water gushes out with full speed and the hand shower would go out of control and dance like snake in bath tub. It is only co-incidental that you and the bathroom gets wet with this.

If that is not enough then read this. The shower in bath room was mounted on a one-of-its kind angle. The water would typically fall on the wall on which it was mounted. So if you desire to take bath with shower mounted on its hook then you need to have spider man like wall climbing and sticking features. You literally have to embrace yourself to wall to enjoy shower.

“The Food”
Not many people would say that but I liked eating at company’s cafeteria. The food was French and there were options, Chinese, Mexican et all. To us all appeared as French as the names were written in French on the menu display.
So why did I like the French food, because it was bland. It did not have any taste of its own. Once I added lots of salt, black pepper, Tabasco and other spices, I could easily Indianize it and eat.

"The Paris Expedition – Day 1”
Finally the work was over and we had a chance to go to Paris. Lots of expectation from this weekend as we were visiting the city of fashion, glitters and monuments.
On way back too, we took train from grenoble to lyon and then TGV to Paris. Ok, here I must tell you that don’t rely on restrooms of the platform. We figured out that people tend to use it more often than toilets at home. Susmit, Jayanth and Gurudatta tried in vain to relieve themselves.
Finally we reached Paris. All excited as if we have achieved our final goal of this trip.

The hotel was located inside the paris airport and I had a view of concorde from my room. The sight was awesome and room was excellent. Though the hotel was away from city we never regretted staying far from city.

The two days that we spent in paris were the most adventurous days of our visit.
We had some great discussions on which car is better on road and Gurudatta giving his explanation that truck driver cannot force Scorpios off the tarred road while maruti 800’s are easier picks, hence he next car would be a Scorpio. We successfully attempted to keep professional talks away from these last two days.

“Bir hakim”
This is one of the numerous metro station names which we till date cannot pronounce properly. It is actually called “Bir Hakeim”, for convenience sake Shiv transformed or indianized it. But this station has more than just indianization, this is the very station where we saw a person promoting an Indian restaurant. Jayanth somehow got hypnotized by this person and would not agree to dine anywhere else. From a distant corner of paris we came back hunting for this restaurant and to make things worse rain gods also joined us in expedition. Finally we managed to dehypnotize Jayanth and come back to hotel where we ate ……will tell you later.

Coming back to names, we could make out after 24 hrs that Champs-Elysées is pronounced as “shahn-zay-lee-ZAY”. Someone verbally told that you must visit shahn-zay-lee-ZAY . While I was reading a road sign, a lighting struck my head and I realized that I am already standing on so called road. How in this world do French expect us to pronounce it like that?

“I am Monalisa”

Finally, we met Monalisa on a beautiful Sunday afternoon. However we were more impressed by other paintings in museum .
In Louvre's gallery, a single “s” to make “painting” plural is not sufficient. There are hundreds of paintings in Louvre Museum. And I bet you can not see all in your life time.
Ok ... , one analogy we noticed while appreciating the paintings and sculptures. We defined a theorem based on this analogy.
You can never ever, ever never, never ever ever ……whatever, become a French artist till your subject is wearing clothes.

“Tyre Technology Metro”
One of the greatest technological innovation, though we found it funny, was a metro train running on rubber tyres. No not joking, it was real, infact we were so much surprised and disapproved what we saw that we waited for two more trains to pass before boarding, just to make sure that it was actually running on rubber tyres and not on any other metal tyre which is not visible externally.

“Freestyle French market”

Five of us split into two groups. Susmit and jayanth went back to bangalore on Sunday morning and myself, gurudatta and shiv planned to stay back to enjoy paris. On Sunday we visited a freestyle market lane of france after de-boarding at chatelet (nick named: cutlet by me). It has lots of freestyles eateries, bars and pubs.
An unusual contest - Two pubs were contesting with each other in an unusual way. For evey customer which enters the pub they would break a bone china plate at entrance. Whoever has more broken pieces of plates would take pride and swell his chest. More broken plates also means that people like his pub more than next door pub.
May be we should have tried fooling them by going in and coming out within few seconds without eating or drinking. Hmmm ........ then probably we might have seen some broken bones too.

“Paris ka Taj Mahal”

How can someone write a blog and not write about Tour Eiffel (Eiffel Tower). It was magnificent and even more marvelous at night.
We almost would have missed the sparkles if I and Gurudatta did not wait for clicking few more pictures of tower. I don’t think that the magnificence of this tower can be described in words, it is worth a visit even though there are more taller structures than this one.

The last section is dedicated to our all time companion. Whenever we were in trouble we relied on it.

“Cup-o-Noodle: The Savior”
People who have not traveled to Europe (minus UK) and Far East can never imagine what the power of this magic container is. Without this our trip would not have been worth this blog. I would be criticizing company’s management for sending me to the alien land. Moreover apart from saving us from starvation at night it had a dual effect of saving cost.

Griha Pravesh

2007-07-16T16:55:00.000+05:30

We reently had a griha parvesh pooja (House warming ceremony) at our place.