Myriad ways in which your three year old can suprise you!

Episode#1, He is the doctor, he is the engineer, he is the chef

Me: Kittu (my 3 year old son), what are you doing?
Kittu: I am checking Nanamma (paternal grandmom)
Nanamma: How is my health Kittu
Kittu: Nanamma, you don't eat this fried mixture...it will give you stomach pain
Me: But why do you eat it?
Kittu: I play, you don't play
Me:Who is telling you all these?
Kittu: You stop talking. I am the doctor

Hampi - you blew me away, my second visit was even better

Stay close to the Virupaksha! I booked myself a room in the Ranjhana Guest house which is a stone's throw from the tallest and the oldest temple shrine that mesmerizes you with its beauty.

The Sun rise from the top of the Matunga hill.

 

View from the top of the Sun rise point - the Matunga hill. I trekked it at 5.30 AM (It was December 2016) and it was pretty dark. I was among the first 4-5 trekkers to reach the top. The scary experience though was trekking the hill in the dark- it was my first time trekking alone in the night. While the trek was short and simple, doing it alone without an idea about the route left me with an accomplished feeling. The sun however didn't decide to show up early. The brightest star had kept us waiting till 7 AM or longer, but the wait was totally worth it. It is beautiful to see him rise from the corner of the Earth, the deepest point you can only see from the highest vantages. He appears like an orange toffee, round, small and sweet :) Never saw a sun before that looked like moon, but only in different color!

The Lotus Palace for the queen which had an air conditioning system built inside. Aquaducts were used to run cool water round the rooms on the first floor and vents were available to suck out (not sure how) the hot air

The other side of the river is an entirely different setup reminiscing Goa like shacks minus the beaches. There is dried up Tungabhadra that runs behind these shacks but what stops your beat is the large lush green paddy fields, all the joints and cafes face. The streets offer a lot for shoppers - local musical instruments, brass memorabilia, t-shirts, Indo-ethnic-contemporary clothing and lot more for the 'high' seekers

Hanuman temple atop the Anjanadri hill. Hanuman is believed to have born on this hill and lived in the surrounding areas. The temple also has an idol of Anjana Devi, the mother of Hanuman who is also worshiped as a deity.

'Mango tree' near the Virupaksha temple market is one of the most popular eateries in the old Hampi area. It serves a vast variety of items across cuisines, and the taste is above average.

the pina colada song..

What a song!! and Pina colada is good to drink definitely!!

I was tired of my lady, we'd been together too long.
Like a worn-out recording, of a favorite song.
So while she lay there sleeping, I read the paper in bed.
And in the personals column, there was this letter I read:

"If you like Pina Coladas, and getting caught in the rain.
If you're not into yoga, if you have half-a-brain.
If you like making love at midnight, in the dunes of the cape.
I'm the lady you've looked for, write to me, and escape."

I didn't think about my lady, I know that sounds kind of mean.
But me and my old lady, had fallen into the same old dull routine.
So I wrote to the paper, took out a personal ad.
And though I'm nobody's poet, I thought it wasn't half-bad.

"Yes, I like Pina Coladas, and getting caught in the rain.
I'm not much into health food, I am into champagne.
I've got to meet you by tomorrow noon, and cut through all this red tape.
At a bar called O'Malley's, where we'll plan our escape."

So I waited with high hopes, then she walked in the place.
I knew her smile in an instant, I knew the curve of her face.
It was my own lovely lady, and she said, "Oh, it's you."
And we laughed for a moment, and I said, "I never knew"..

"That you liked Pina Coladas, and getting caught in the rain.
And the feel of the ocean, and the taste of champagne.
If you like making love at midnight, in the dunes of the cape.
You're the love that I've looked for, come with me, and escape."

"If you like Pina Coladas, and getting caught in the rain.
If you're not into yoga, if you have half-a-brain.
If you like making love at midnight, in the dunes of the cape.
You're the love that I've looked for, come with me, and escape!!

Confessions of a workaholic

Did you ever find yourself wanting to do more work but there is nothing on your plate? You are the kind of person who likes to be occupied at work but there is nothing substantial that requires your time and energy. I wonder how such people manage to spend minimum working hours in their offices. If the readers have any innovative ideas to fill up the idle office time, they are requested to post the same in their comments, because here is a person who is damn bored just because there is not enough work to keep him busy in his office hours. Seriously, it sucks big time when you just have to sit through the office hours without any work!! Or when you are so efficient that you always have plenty of free time very much during your office hours.. i think later is the case with me.. Anyways, are there any alternate money making opportunities that can be picked up leveraging the free time that you get in office? As i write this post, the clock has stuck 5.15PM and i decide to leave for the day..yes, probably two hours before my old colleagues here do...but i finished all the work allotted to me and i ran out of all options to pass free time in the office...

the thinker and the achiever

thinker :

always meditating,

serious,

now or later? will happen or not happen? right or wrong?

ambiguous,

have to do it, but, how to do it ? can i do it?

time flies by

ohh, common!! cut this bullshit!!

another year passes by

hairline recedes and tummy bulges out

promotion is waiting,

no, no way now i can get out,

but this is not just happening

this is not me, but who am I?

always aiming for the sky,

i keep on thinking on the chair so high,

but time is so mean, it just flies by!!!

achiever :

i want it,

hell with the world and what it thinks,

i will get it,

by hook or crook, will connect all the links

am glad i found out what i love,

let me give a try,

who knows what's in the store,

someday, i may just fly high

parents say that they told you so,

peers are glad that they left u alone,

now you start thinking what should i do,

i started it, i will turn every stone

may be this is how i should have done,

atleast i didn't stop just at thinking,

pushed myself out of my comfort zone,

now it is not too late before fruits start growing

Hyderabad meri jaan v2.0 ..the fall of a rising star!!

The city's growth has been hitting new highs even until death of Mr.Rajasekhar Reddy. Mr. Reddy's leadership is unquestionable and there was no one who could turn his/her back against him. With an iron fist, he has confined the rebels and separatists to their righteous turfs and ensured that the normal day to day life activities of the people of the state remain unperturbed. But the unfortunate turn of events lead to one failure after the other and now both the city and the state fail to pose a strong leader. Now my beloved city's image is being battered to death due to lack of vision and the political turmoil the region of Telangana is going through.

Road blockades, protests, violence, disruption have been rampant in the name of Telangana agitation severely denting the image of Hyderabad in the eyes of corporate and foreign investors.
State government officials are involved in complete pen down, new projects are being indefinitely postponed, work in progress became nothing in progress and the existing infrastructure is in desperate need of repair and maintenance.

Both the fixed and floating populations of the city are facing the ill consequences of the recklessness and insincerity on part of the elected representatives. People are frustrated and are seeking change..a change that can take this city out of the shambles that it is in to its past glory, a change that will portray Hyderabad once again as the most lovable city, a change that will make each and every resident of it say proudly that he/she is a Hyderabadi..

Hoping for such change to happen and happen as soon as it can!!!!

Godspeed...

Hyderabad meri jaan!! v1.0

The best part about being in Hyderabad is the warmth of this city. People here are very nice and helpful. In their own Hurdu slang, they amuse you with their easy going attitude towards life. It definitely has a mix of old and new traditions and has a place for everyone.

Whether it is the cantonment area with jawans and officers from all over the country, or the marwadis in the abids and kachegudas of the city, or the guzzus in begum bazaaar markets or the tamils in the padmaraonagar n secunderabad areas, it has people representing every corner of this country in good proportions. They have found a place in the city, embraced its culture, evolved with it and now proudly call themselves Hyderabadis. Hyderabad aka Bhagyanagaram has attained this cosmopolitan image much before than everyone outside thought it has. It has been a multicultural city right from late 80s with scores of National level research institutes, DRDO and its labs and ofcourse defence establishments.

However, it was only during Mr.Naidus regime, this city has attained its long due share of limelight. Ofcourse, it needed a totally different identity this time, the 'IT Hub' with govt. encouraging billion dollar IT investments. The growth has been steep in the late 90s and early part of the last decade with the boundaries of the city growing much faster than expected. There were around 500 odd IT companies setup creating around 1lakh jobs inviting the techies from various parts of the country.

Madhapur, Kondapur, Banjara and Jubilee hills and the KPHBs have now become the hip and happening areas. Younger crouds with healthy disposal incomes and ubercool attitudes have started a new episode in the history of this city. Pubs and discs have mushroomed with people thronging them on weekends partying till the whee hours of the night, the night life has finally set in!!

Those long drives to the new airport, street races around the KBR park, mid nite biryani, late night haleem and irani chai and early morning Kheema Dosas have made indelible entries to the organizers of city's gen X and gen Y. Parents also started to accept their kids new found way of living in the Bob Dylan's 'Times are Changing' style..They found new avenues to have fun with the shopping malls, multiplexes, fitness centres and ofcourse the not to be forgotten neighbourhood parks. Yoga and workouts have become their daily routine and fitness has become a new mantra!!

It just took a decade and the city has changed completely, and for better we hope!!