Avalanche

As planned started off for Avalanche on the weekend. Met few of the other campers and got into the bus at Shanti Nagar bus stop. It went round and round the city and went to Mysore road bus stop again. It was raining heavily outside and no air inside the bus. After sometime the bus started and we were stopped at Bandipur forest as they have closed the entry from 2am-6 am. Slept in bus till they started allowing it at 5:30 am. Reached Ooty by 9:30 after a delay of 4 hours.

Went to Emerald from there. Most of the people had breakfast there. Started to walk to the camp site. It was a long tiring walk. The guides kept telling it was 30 mins away initially and after they changed it to 15 mins. It took almost 5 hours for the entire trek is nearly 10 kms; 3 kms on good road and after that on a mud trail. Up and down the hills. It was raining on and off.

Reached camp around 3:30 and had lunch there. It was a hot and yummy lunch, after all the trek it tasted awesome, It really is. Finished the lunch and relaxed for sometime, roaming around the camp site to explore it.

In the evening went out for kayaking. I did it for the first time and it was pretty good. Initially was trying to figure out which was it was going and after few minutes was able to control it. The lake and its surroundings are very beautiful. The clear waters in the lake are warm compared to the rain and the cold wind outside. I played with water while other took their turns with the kayak and swimming. I jumped into the kayak again when the instructor said there is a free kayak for the last trip. This time I went in much deeper and I was able to manage it pretty good. I think now I can do it alone.

Came back relaxed for the rest of the day. It was continuously drizzling all the time. Had very nice dinner along with chicken barbeque. Tried to sleep in the tent but it was very cold, so went back and slept in the dorm.

Woke up at usual time 6. Explored the places around while others are still getting out of their beds. Was feeling lazy as it was drizzling again that day too. The trip to the water fall started, didn’t want to go out in the rain but joined in end with the umbrella and the jacket. It was a short walk of less than 5 mins and there stands a beautiful waterfall making huge noise and running cold water.

Seeing that couldn’t resist so left the umbrella and jacket and went into water and enjoyed it a lot. The water is very cold and was looking too good. Had a nice waterfall bath – natural shower. Came back packed the stuff and finished the lunch and started to walk back to Emerald. It was good this time, didn’t feel much tired, though it took around 4.5 hrs for the trek down.

From Emerald took a truck to Ooty, was fun trying to maintain the balance. Reached Ooty, roamed around for some time, did some shopping and had dinner and reached bus stand.

Booked a AC bus so that it will be relaxing as needed to go to work the next day. This bus is Ambari, looked well, but all the way I can feel every ditch in the road, I doubt if this bus had shock absorbers.

Over all it was a very good trip. Enjoyed a lot of rain all along.

Few pics from the trip in my album koppole.in.

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A day well spent

A day well spent to visit ‘A talent well spent’. That’s what had happened on this unplanned trip which came into the schedule. SMART Hospital, Periyamali, Kamagiri was the destination. Prince, Michael and I started at 5:30am searching for petrol on Hosur Road. Got it when the fuel was about to end. Took a good amount of time to reach the place. The early morning drive was very pleasant passing through the jungle enjoying the beauties of the nature. The road became bad when we are almost near the place; it is so bad you think twice before you drive.

We entered the campus where the hospital is located and the area is big and they have few constructions there. All of them built with the local material available. Was surprised to see the infrastructure they have built at such a remote place where there is no proper road. And this is the effort Dr. Jeyachandran uncle which he started in 1983 and did each and everything of it on his own.

We met Dr. Jeyachandran uncle and Rohan just coming out after their morning chores. Came to know they had a long night trying to save one critical patient battling with life. They were very happy when they came to know that the patient has progressed remarkably well. Then uncle said how the patient had got rejected in the so called sophisticated hospitals of Bangalore and was vexed with life. She was ready to die rather than to live like that. I can read from uncle’s face how critical it was and the relief he have for the success of it and how big and achievement it is. This is just one of the many that happened there.

'A talent well spent' – this is what I mentioned in the beginning, and hope you have got whom I am referring to. In case you are not clear about it, it is about Dr. Jeyachandran. Just a down to earth person. There are many good things which I noticed in him, but one thing worth mentioning is about the use of his talent for the community.

We use our talents for our professions, to live our lives. Earn, do well and get settled using them. But how many of us and how many times think of giving back to the community using the very same talents with the same zeal and commitment and make a difference in the lives of the less privileged?

Also I noticed few young people travelled from the neighboring villages who volunteered to help during their camp.

Had nice food and roamed around for some time in the evening. Had snacks and started on ourjourney back.

While coming back have heard some elephant sounds, but the locals asked us not to stop as they are in good number and it will be a danger if they come. So continued the journey and wanted to make use of the time and hence started to write this blog entry.

"If I can ease one life in aching,

Or cool one pain,

Or help one fainting robin

Unto his nest again,

I shall not live in vain."

So let us make some difference in whatever capacity we can, with which ever talent that God has given and make our lives - A life well spent.

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What you need to impress Amrita Rao

I was reading some article on rediff and came across this video. So was just checking out what it is. At the end of that I just couldn't stop laughing. You too watch it before you continue to read this.

What you need to impress Amrita Rao

All for self and he shouldn't ask her to change but she have a huge list of things for him :). Hmmm.. thats how things are. If wishes were horses ...... would ride.

Well this reminds me of an exercise that we recently did @ HAH programme @ KMC. We were asked to write a set of 5 things that we look for in a spouse. Immediately every one went work and I finished my top 5 priorities.

Now was wondering what will be the next thing asked to do. The the facilitator asked "Are you going to be what ever you have listed for your spouse".

Well a huge blank face. 4 of them there was no problem doing it and one I doubt.

And there are many such small things which will make you realise some big things we miss. Not only the exercise I mentioned there are many like this we do and each of it helped in its own way.

These are conducted by Ashley, a very good professional trainer. You can read his contributions in his blogs.

http://yesilearn.wordpress.com
http://Yesiwrite.blogspot.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/jpashley
http://twitter.com/Ashleyvinil
http://facebook.com/ashley.vinil

I have learnt few things from him and still learning.

If interested you can attend his programme on every Saturday of every month @ Koramangala Methodist Church. Open to general public too and entry is free :)

Come and be blessed.

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How our life will be run by mobiles

It is called the Spark Room and it takes pride of place in the shiny new offices of Logica, the technology firm in King’s Cross, north London. On computer screens, what looks to the untrained eye like a series of dots and squiggles, graphs and web pages are downloading at great speed. Each one represents people: you and me. They move, like us. They talk, like us. They are us.

The images are the building blocks of the biggest revolution in IT since the advent of the internet — and one that will eventually have a direct impact on the lives of almost everyone.
“We’re not talking about something that we’ve always known would be good but could not work out how to make happen,” explained Elaine Doherty, Logica’s head of media innovation. “What we’re doing is something that was unimaginable even five years ago.”
Doherty is talking about “collective intelligence”, or “the network”. It is the latest buzzword to leak out of California’s Silicon Valley.
For a big idea it is remarkably simple. It means a world in which people are permanently connected to anything and everything: to our friends and families, to our employer, to our home, doctor, bank, even to our past, present and future. The squiggles and dots on Doherty’s screens represent those links, produced by a complex algorithm that runs using Logica’s new Interaction software.
How does it work? It is all down to the mobile phone. Thanks to hardware advances and super-fast 3G network connections, phones have become handheld mini-PCs capable of running any program. As we use them, our phones record the details of our lives. Global positioning technology in our handsets reveal where we are, when we get home and where we like to go at weekends. Thanks to our online search history, phones know what food, music, sports, authors, and holiday destinations we like.

John Arlidge

SUNDAY TIMES LONDON

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Susan Boyle

One more rags to riches over night story, that is what it looks like. Well she impressed me too when I watched the video of she singing for the Britan's got talent 2009 show. What also pulled my thoughts were the before and after interaction she did at the show.

She has been singing from the age on 12 and she is now 47. Trying to be a professional singer for these many years?? Not giving up. Well I may not have that kind of patience. Before start of the show she mentioned that it was her dream to perform before large number of audience. How long do you think that she was dreaming of this? And still she does :)  Her next statement, "And now I am going to make the audience…" shows the confidence she had. 

Some one who couldn't get an opportunity for 47 years, haven't performed any where before, says that today she is going to make the audience......, doing it for the first time. Awesome! The realization of the talent she has. She knows and understands what she is capable of.

Opportunity didn't come till now, and she didn't waste the one and only one that came.

Congrats Susan. Keep it going. All the best

You can watch it on YouTube.

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¨°º¤ø„¸ GO Susan !!¸„ø¤º°¨

¸„ø¤º°¨Ur Awesome!!! `°º¤ø„¸

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