First post from blogger app.

This is my first post from iPad and after several years. Assuming the posting itself is lot simpler, I probably hope to write more frequently now. I always want to write something, so that some day in future, I have beautiful memories to recall. I just want to write to look back at these small moments. 

I am hoping I will start writing more regularly. :)

The Oath

Thy shalt taketh a oath that I

1) Will go for a trip at least once a month

2) Will upload 2 pics at least, in flickr in a month

3) Will be more active in blog and write at least one post a month

4) Will start practicing guitar at least from now on.

5) Will lose at least 3 kgs of weight in next 2 months.

And shalt be working as hard as ever in office.

This decision is taken after a messed up love life(there is none - This statement was made to attract readers attention.)

Wish me all the very best. :)

By the Software Engineer, For the Software Engineer, Of the Software Engineer

A tired look as though a person has just returned from a battle field, very badly maintained physique, thinks everyday to do some physical activity but chucks it due to lack of time, hurrily looks at his alarm clock to see that he is late again for office. Yes - This is the story of a how a day starts of a common software engineer whom you might find anywhere in Bangalore.

A usual day begins with hurriedly getting ready, putting on his formal shirt which hasnt seen iron box for days, eating some unhealthy breakfast and running to catch a cab since he is already late. This reminds me of school days when a school kid runs listening to school bell ring to avoid punishment. We run now, not for avoid punishment, but to avoid travelling in public transport which is equivalent to getting punished.

Each software engineer carries a lunch box and a heavy backpack consisting of his old and cheap laptop given by company which is used and abused. Usually a software engineer who goes to drop his son or daughter who has similar kind of stuff ( a heavy bag consisting of books and a lunch box). Lunch box is almost unavoidable for a software engineer now since the food which is usually provided at office is almost equivalent to prison food.

Seeing so much adventure even before reaching office, our hero(software engineer) reaches office to look at his boss already waiting for him either with a huge list of to-do activities or waiting for his status updates of his previous days activities much like a teacher waiting to screw up a students happiness by asking his homework. After struggling to convince the non-technical guy, who thinks any technical issue is easier than working on excel and generating a graph, about the technical difficulties faced on the previous day's task. Somehow convinces the manager for more time and breathes a sigh of relief much like a soldier who wins the battle (Either people donot know that the win was temporary - the actual battle is far ahead - for software engineer atleast is the huge battlefield called "Appraisal meeting")

In Bangalore, you can find thousands of heavily pampered, highly paid with good cars driving alone, having no sense for physical fitness, roaming around the city late in the night with a formal wear(usually going back home), roaming around with a huge tag around their neck giving all the pampered dogs in the city a complex, dreaming about a dream job which is usually nothing to do with software of which 0.0001% actually go and fulfill, complaining about everything they can see, hear and feel. Thus is the state of a software engineer.

Coming to the types of software engineers, you can categorize software engineers to 3 types - A lazian, a butt-slogger and a smart boy. A butt-slogger as the name suggests, is a hardworker who thinks office is his home and work is the ultimate power to attain salvation. Usually he can be compared to top 5 rank holders who think there is no world apart from books there is no bliss compared to topping the school again and again. All the top management like people who belong to this category and pamper a lot which makes the people very loyal to the company. Then comes the lazian group which by default consists of most number of top officials. This category has the most number of "Up in the Air" talkers who never know what topic they are talking but still trying to make it sound as though they know everything about the topic. They know diverting the job very well and they know how to impress managers with their high fundoo talks. Usually this category can be compared to those people who are neither backbenchers nor toppers who usually spend their lives depending on others. Then comes the smart workers category who by default can be compared to back-benchers in school. The people in this category are the ones who take risks while doing a task, try innovative methods to finish a task since they dont prefer slogging. They fight with managers and usually not liked by many managers just because they question about the system a lot. And the people in this category are the ones who are usually not loyal and always find for a change which gives them enough satisfaction. But this category people are the ones who usually end up trying alternatives and donot mind taking risk to work on their dream job.

Thus concludes my thesis on a software engineer. Any engineer who reads this will definitely co-relate himself with atleast one point which i am very sure of.

FIFAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!

The day has finally come for the world's best entertaining sport. People had actually started preparing themselves with the gadgets to see their best team running through the tournament. With big names playing this world cup and with the number of fans supporting a country to be almost equal, this tournament will definitely be worth the wait. Many sports bars are already thronged by huge number of fans, and the LCD TV sales going high up, the fans are prepared well enough for the excitement. We can see many kids playing football instead of the usual staple sport(cricket). People at office already started sledging one another in defense of their favorite football teams. All due to one major event - FIFA WORLD CUP 2010.

Even though not being a hard-core fan of football, I actually am very excited about this event. I never used to follow any major leagues or not even had heard of many names in football. But now due to the much created hype about this tournament, I have started collecting information about major football teams and football sport personalities. In this process, I watched few clips of the "footballer of the year" holder Lionel Messi and instantly became a fan of his skills. And thus I became a supporter of Argentinian football team. Even though the dates are clashing with the equally exciting Wimbledon, I dont think Wimbledon stands a chance to minimize the viewership from the major event. World cup is the talk of the town and even the people who have never played any games in their lifetime are excited enough to know about the proceedings. Such is the power of this game.

Will this event live upto the expectation and the hype which is buzzing around everywhere? Yes, I think so. Dont you?!!!

Ananda Yenanda

This term has been irritating me for ages till now. After watching the above word as alias name of my blog in one of my friends blog, thought of writing a blog on the same. Totally irrelevent and totally uncalled for. Whoever invented this great saying which is totally meaningless is the greatest innovator i have seen i guess. Since this slang has been there for ages and i think it will stay as long as Kannada language stays or till my name stays. There are lot of better alternatives for the same beginning but people always chose the bad ones as usual
Some of the alternatives what i can suggest is
1. Ananda yenanda, naane maharaaja anda
2. Ananda yenanda, neene guru Nityananda.
3. Ananda yenanda, gulab jamoon paramaananda
4. Ananda yenanda, mitai na kodu anda.
5. Ananda yenanda, muttidare muni anda.
6. Ananda yenanda, kunidu kunidu baa anda
7. Ananda yenanda, dum iddre gellu anda
....

See, within no time i could think of so many options, but people had to choose the worst option.
Hopefully by looking at the blog, a creative good line comes up which could make people forget the one which they are using now.

MY INTERESTS

After being sick and tired of having welcome back posts, I am currently wondering if I should call this a "Welcome back post". I stopped promising myself (which I never keep up) of regularly updating my blog. I will accept the fact that I am going to do only once in a blue moon (which is almost never).



Well, let me list what all I have been doing all these days when I was not blogging.


Here is the first one among them.

1) Playing volleyball - I had regained my interest in this game after a gap of 4 years. The last I played was during the school days. But apart from that, a few matches here and there during college. I became a mediocre volleyball player again. The interest was lost after playing for few days. I stopped playing this game and switched to my next interest.

2) Reading - This was one hobby which I never would have dreamt of having. Although I started off with small novels of Chetan Bhagat, somehow managed to develop interest in reading huge books(almost the size of a fully grown reference book during college days). But then... this hobby too died down like my previous interest. But then I managed to develop interest in my next hobby

3) Playing Guitar - Hearing songs of Pink Floyd and Eagles, I always dreamt of playing an instrument (probably a guitar, but mostly wanted to play drums). Now to fulfil that dream, joined a guitar class. Initially started off with full pace, attended classes for the whole month without taking a break (quite an achievement). But then later missed a class due to too much work at office, the rhythm was lost. And the interest died down. Now after having my SoundBox at home, staring at the 3k investment, makes me feel sick. That made me move to my next interest. An interest which I always liked to do.

4) Badminton - Met couple of friends whose friends used to play in one of the classic court in Bangalore. That is how I started this interest. Till this time, it was always outdoor or occasional indoor games which I used to play with my mom in her club, but this time, it was with proper professionals, I was playing my favorite game. Bought a new racket and a shoe on the first day itself and went out to play with the eagerness which is needed to continue a sport. First day was huffing and puffing while running around the court. The stamina required to play indoors is much higher compared to the stamina required to play outdoors. Somehow managed to gather stamina in next few days of play. Now have improved a lot. This is the only hobby I possess till now. Coming to the next few interests which I developed while I played shuttle badminton are as follows.

5) Gymming - As usual, tried 4-5 times but never succeeded. The only thing which I cannot do in my life is developing a good physique i guess. Because somehow there is a mental block whenever I go to gym that I get bored after few days doing the same stuff which become monotonous after a while. Thus this has always been there in my "Try and try again till you succeed" list.

6) Jogging - One more hobby which I never felt happy when I was doing. And whenever someone doesnt feel happy doing something, you got to have guessed what could be the end result.

7) Cycling - This I developed after coming back from "The Netherlands". I somehow liked to cycle in that country since it was peaceful over there. No traffic jams, a separate lane, very well maintained too, for cycling. And as people say, if you dont own a cycle in The Netherlands, then you are not Dutch. Thus the interest developed. I almost felt that I will be continuing this good habit back home in India, and also bought a cycle for doing the same. But again, never thought how difficult it could be to cycle a few kms in the huge traffic jams in Bangalore. Although I continued it for a long time by cycling for almost 5 kms every weekend to reach the badminton courts, play shuttle for 2 hours and back cycling home to cover back the 5 kms. Hopefully will start cycling again soon after summer ends since it is pain to cycle during summer heat.



8) Photography - In all these sport biased interest, I also fell in love with nature and capturing them for good. Thus started off another hobby into my cap which was photography. Bought a new SLR and after getting royal bashings at home from parents for spending so much, I started off my interest clicking photos, posting them at various websites majorly for personal use, and not for any competition. Currently the camera is given a long break due to summer since I am not finding enough time to take it out during early mornings. Hopefully will regain the lost interest soon.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/anandscollection

9) Trekking - This has always been a major interest for me. The only problem of continuing this is the huge pain of convincing parents for allowing me to go for the trek. And any middle-class brahmin guy/ girl would know how hard it is to convince parents of the expenditure being incurred. Thus the trek part is also not very regular.


10) Swimming - Somehow the fear of water crept into me always whenever I went out to any trek. I always had the fear of drowning whenever i was playing in water. This made me join a swimming class. Well the actual reason was that somebody told me that swimming is the best form of exercise and it tones the body and burns a lot of calories. Imagining myself having a sleek body, made me continue for almost 15 days, then again I lost interest in this. But then, I managed to learn a bit atleast to the level of saving myself given the situation that I am thrown into water. Now that has given me confidence which I lacked before while entering into water.

11) Acting - Third of the few interests I have which doesnot involve sports. Acted in few documentaries and movie clips (Read - One each, so totally two), directed by my colleague who is really talented. Actually, my work got such a commendable appreciation which was all due to his highly skilled direction, editing, song sequence etc. etc. etc. Hopefully will get to work more in many such movies.

http://picasaweb.google.com/anand.kr84/Photos#5405369630428200706
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BuwQq3tEcqQ

12) Foosball - A game which I discovered after joining Philips, developed a keen interest towards that game since it is really fast paced. Played like mad during the initial days of the company. Almost was addicted to this game. Now lost interest in this game. I do play sometimes but very rarely.

13) Snooker/Pool - Played it quite a few times, got addicted to this game also after joining Philips, but good that it never continued for a long time or else I would have been bankrupt by now due to the cost of the game.


14) Bowling - This had almost become a weekly schedule when I joined Philips. But somehow the interest died down among friends. Thus saving a major chunk of money which was being thrown away for this game. A costly sport mind you.


16) FootBall - Last of the least football which is the most recent of the habit which I am trying to develop along with a few friends of mine from college. We have started to make this possible every weekend in the morning. This has continued from past 3 weeks and hoping it will for a long time. Bought a new shoe for the same. Hopefully I will make the money spent worth it.

Thus ending the huge list of "Promisingly-started-but-couldnt-continue" list. I hope I can do atleast continue 5 of them in the next few months. Not just by spending money but also being part and actively participating in each of them.

WELCOME BACK POST

Welcome Back, Anand.I said to myself, to the blogging world. After a year long wait, I finally am back to blogging business. I hope this time, I'll continue writing more regularly. I know that this is a shocker to myself. Also to the people whoever who have subscribed to my post(if at all, any).
Where was I all these days?Well. All these days, I had been very busy and never ever got a chance to sit infront of my computer. Whenever I sat, I either to chat with my friends, or watch movie, or for some processing job for the photos. Hey, forgot to mention. I added a new hobby now to the "Already-so-many-things-but-never-continue" list. I somehow managed to convince my parents for allowing me to buy a DSLR and now I got interested in photography. Coming back to the question - To speak the truth, I really dint have any mood to sit infront of the computer, and keep typing(Read - I had a lazy butt). Hopefully, I shed this off and dedicate more time to the already dust-ridden blog.

Since this is a comeback post, I am sure I cannot make it interesting since I am already feeling rusty due to a very long gap.

For a comeback post, let me write something simple - a small critic post on movie 3 Idiots, which I watched very recently.

1) Kareena/Aamir Khan/Madhavan/Sharmaan Joshi, never looked like a college kids!!!! You shud be blind to call them college kids. Although, Madhavan tried to pull it off by somehow trying to act dumb and not-so-caring about the future. I feel that the casting was pretty sad.
2) I never understood, how in Chatur's room, he was the lone person to stay, but in Aamir's room, there were 3 people. Nobody governs this is it?
3) As usual, the hero of the film gets the last entry but a noticeable entry. (In this case Aamir).
4) We all came to know that Kareena Kapoor was a medical student when Aamir Khan first met her in her sister's wedding reception. Assuming she was of Aamir's age only(in the movie), she knew so much about various diseases(paralysis in the first year itself and about pregnancy in her fourth year). Super cool for a medical student. What say?!!! I think I'll make 3 Idiots part 2 with Kareena Kapoor in the lead.
5) And also, we got to know that she was also engaged before that night. I dint understand the reason why someone waited for 10 years to get married? (Remember, she was about to get married to the same person in the end of the movie).
6) Also dint understand how she could wait for 10 years without getting married. We live in India madam.
7) Vacuum cleaner scene was a disaster. If someone found that to be true, then it would save thousands of rupees in most of the family.

I think, I'll restrict myself to only so many for the comeback post. Hopefully, I would find more time to continue blogging.

DUTCH

I lived in a city called Eindhoven for a month. After living here, I observed quite few things about Dutch people and Dutch culture.
1) Dutch people are very friendly. Say 'Hi' to a stranger, you get the same greeting back. Everyone one here wishes each other, even though they dont know each other. I loved that part a lot. That is according to me is the highlight of Dutch people.
2) Dutch are fitness freaks. I found lot of them jogging/cycling around the city at all times. No matter what the climatic condition is. Infact, almost everyone has a bicycle and most of them travel through that. I too tried to be a Dutchman for a week. Well, then realised, that cycling in the cold weather is not so easy.
3) Dutch people are all charged up when they are excited. Ask any question which they have something to tell, like their recent travel / picnic or about some football game or about their son. You feel really happy when they start explaining. They get charged up easily. But when they are charged up, they dont stop easily. So, be careful :-)
There are some more things to be added. But since there was a post due from a long time, i had to write something :-)

To be continued