Protest...

Bangalore is known as garden city. People around the World see it as an IT hub. They know it for IISc, ISRO, IIM and lot more. But these things hardly matter to those who are inside Bangalore. What is common to common people of bangalore? Two feet deep Pot-Holes, Traffic, Weird looking 3 wheeled motor and Protests? Yeah. These are things that are very common to people inside Bangalore. Pot-Holes and Traffic are primary topics of a Bangalore-related blog.

And i'll speak about protests here. People protest for everything here in Bangalore. Not that its wrong, but sometimes they are so pointless. There are organisations specialized in this. They know every kind of strikes. They are very good in making an issue 'protest-able'. Believe me, is your child crying because your neighbor's child snatched a toffee from him? call this organisation. They can make an issue out of it and you can be on papers tomorrow. ;)

A guy killed himself after being harassed by the hostel warden. Protest! Hostel Warden Down Down! Bla bla... Crowd and Chaos!

Its really interesting to see things around in a protest. Its like you're watching some movie like Sarkar or Yuva. I was there observing people (i mean, weird people) doing strange things.

Like always in a strike, there was one main person. Lead. He takes the lead shouting part. He shouts "HOSTEL WARDEN????". Thats his job. Then second group was the crowd. They shout "DOWN DOWN". Most of them might not know what is the matter but they think it doesn't matter.

The third group of people were the chief guests of the day. They visited. Spoke very carefully so that they shouldn't get caught anywhere in between. And they left on their vehicles just to be stopped by the people involved in strike. They don't make it easy, you see. They were the people who belong to the authority. They don't speak much.

Then there were some expert political organisations. I mean, Experts in protesting. They know, exactly, how it is to be done. They are good at speaking. Definitely! One lead of some 'famous' organisation was there telling " I will stay here in this strike until all the demands are fulfilled. I've come here for your help. We have helped people in other colleges. Last time there was a protest in @#$$ institution and it was our &@#*! organisation that was first to reach there for their help.....". It looked more like some advertisement to me. I guess thats how they make their organisation 'famous organisation'.

Fifth group of people is the innocent police. They stand here and there. Thats their job. But they do a good work in controlling the crowd.

Sixth group is the last and the funniest. Media reporters! There were reporters everywhere. They probably reached even before the strike had even started. They run around trying to get a snap of every single person. They keep shooting with some kind of 'hope' that something may go awry so that they get a good story to drag it whole day on TV. To say, a Reporter is like a spider-man. They are everywhere. There was this TV9 reporter standing right in front of some organisation's leader; shooting every single word of his speech. Speech ended and the leader moved just a little towards his car. This reporter was already near his vehicle's door waiting for the leader. Mysterious!

Anyway, protests just make things tough and nothing else. Institution will be closed for few days and students get a day off to write stupid posts like this. What else?

Lets just pray for peace restoration! :) Good bye!

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This happened to me just yesterday and thought its worth sharing with all ya.

I was searching for a house. I called my broker and he asked me to meet him near Big Bazaar and he'd guide me to show some houses from there. As said, I was there on my car and waiting for the broker. Soon, there came a person on his bike and peered in to ask "Neeve na?". A straight-forward answer to this question would be "Hu! Naave!". But that literally takes us nowhere. So I hesitantly asked "Mane thorsakke bandovru neeve na?" being a little more clearer than him. He smiled gesturing to follow him. I followed him on the Ring Road and all the way till he took right. I kept pace with him. And then he took a left into the residential streets. My eyes were fixed at him. There was no chance of losing him. The roads narrowed and the city feel faded away to a small-town feel. Bumpy road. Pot holes way too big to be called just holes. Some more lefts and some more rights. Some more bridges and some more pot-holes. We finally entered a road which greeted us with this "Dead-End" sign board. Felt relieved to see that. Because, bikes don't fly over houses and the bike that I was following had to stop somewhere before the Dead-End. As expected he halted at the Dead End. I got down the car and looked around for my new house. The person who brought us looked a little worried. I wondered why.

Then the ultimate thing happened. My cousin's phone rang. Guess who?

The real Broker. :P

It was an act of co-incidence. Both of us were waiting for some unknown person at the same time at the same place. Person who brought us here was a little embarrassed with the whole thing but he can't be blamed. Even he had no idea of whom he had to bring in. To err, is human. Though I felt a little sheepish.

I thank the broker for calling at the right time. Or else, we might have gone in and had some biscuits and tea at this stranger's house. I wonder how that thing would have been. :P

Same lefts, same rights and same pot holes. Finally, we were back to where we were just an hour ago. Even the person who had taken us to his house was there. Now, Its a comedy or a tragedy. Its the way you see it. For me, it was comedic Tragedy!

That's it in this post. Have a good time :)

Don't follow anything just because you can. :P   

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Exams... Exams... Exams...

Oh god! Its driving me nuts!

Waking up from my bed I sit on my bench and start planning to start studying with something. Exams are back, third and the last internals are around the corner. Lot of assignments to write and thousand things to understand. VTU questions being the one on top in the list.

A new thing added up to my daily routine. Everyday I murmur to myself by looking at the syllabus list, Oh! I have so much in Maths to study. Hmmm... But what is this? 3 units pending in Graph theory? ok then! Let me do graph theory first. Oh no. I forgot C++. Hmmm.... Why not do Computer Organisation. But who'll do my assignments? I ll copy that in the night. And the lab records? I have lab internals, I guess. I guess? God! Its my exam. I should be at least knowing my exam dates. Wait! Let me get my exam time table first. hmmm...

Then I finally end up deciding to write a post on this. See my guts :P. Stupid, of course.

Now this is what that happens to me everyday. I curse myself later for all the stupid shows I attended. For all the stupid events that happened. Exams are just next month and I have almost all the things to study. Restless month ahead. Too much to study, but too little time. Education's really ruining me.

Anyway, I finally feel proud that I realized that I'm stupid. I finally get up and get one random book from my stash. Probability of the getting the least expected book is the around 0.9. And then I start with the page 3. Page 1 and 2 are content sheets. I have seen them hundred times. Anyway, I'm finally studying. I come to page 4. I hear my idiot TV shouting "What a game! Hyderabad have come from nowhere to reach 166/4 in 20 overs and beat Kolkata in an absolutely sensational finish." . I say to myself. "No! No! I have so little time to study. I can't go. I can't go."

I will be now sitting on the couch watching the award ceremony. I come back to my table and see my open book. Page 4. All alien scripts. I go back and start from Page 3. Anyway, match ended. I start it afresh. I finish some 10 pages. Then The most obvious happens. I get bored. I turn the pages to page1 and see how many pages are left in that particular chapter. If its a big number, I shut the book as apathy keeps me away. If its not, then now? i can do it anyday ;). Now I start again by selecting another random book from the shelf. I continue the same until my table gets messed up with lot of books. Lot of big big books which look so hungry to me. Hungry and craving for my brains. Now suppose we finish internals and complete assignments before time (its as true as cows can fly), then there will be no celebration or anything. What all we get is another month to study with hectic schedules( and IPL matches) for the exams. Anyway I'm almost ready for the exams. I have pencils, pens, erasers and everything. Just this studying thing is pending. I m happy saying that. I feel so complete, you see. :P

Anyway, there is always this VTU that I can blame on when my results are out. Oh god! I got to study maths. Hmmm... I guess I will study Graph theory first. Bye guys!

This post is to tell you all that I may not find time to post anything in next month. Exams, that and this! Busy time...But don't think I'm lost in African Jungles. I'll be alive. (if books don't really get wild on me and eat me up. I sometimes feel that they are really going to get me eater.)

I found this Comic quite funny. Have a look. Click if not visible. I wonder, if people like this really exist! My diet is independent of my exams :P

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Phew! Was quite busy in attending various shows and such stuff that i got no time to post on anything. But finally, i'm free and back here posting something on all the shows I attended. This post is also to tell all the people that "I'm still alive. and I'll be posting whenever I find time."

I had been to various college fests. As a pure spectator, of course. PESIT's AatmaTrisha(Go to aatmatrisha.pes.edu for any queries. Don't ask me what that name means, please). SJBIT's Varchasva (whatever that means and god knows how its spelled) and finally, our college fest, Samskruti.

First things first.  PESIT's Aatmatrisha. Basically their theme this year was "Carnival". Nothing more to say about this fest. I was there for only one day. What all I saw there was People playing holi (they were actually people playing Treasure hunt :P, but their faces were marked with Holi colors to keep them identified), a guy who wanted me to pose in front of someone wearing a bindiya on ma forehead (He was playing for the event Roadies! Roadies making people wear bindiya? God!), then there were people in open air theatre breaking mike stands and mike holders. (The event Air Band. A mock band. just act crazy to the rock music as if you're performing. Craziest act wins). Smashing of mike holders were just some desperate efforts to sound crazy.

Then there were professional skilled artists to perform with Dhols. All these to make everything look as a Carnival. They were skilled, no doubt! Performing for around ten minutes isn't that easy job. Then i also saw a tiger which was quite overwhelmed with the cheering crowd. Don't worry. The tiger was held tight by two other people with ropes. Tiger gave a nice performance. It showed how to burst a lemon using forehead. No no no... Don't get confused.. Its the Show given by some Huli vesha team(Kannadigas will understand this term. A show performed by people wearing tiger like suits to make tiger like performances). That was all about Aatmatrisha.

SJBIT's varchasva. The only thing for which i had been there was to attend Raghu dixit show. It was awesome. Not just because I found my way in without any tickets, but for the show was real fun. Sitting with the lecturers of SJBIT was not actually a good idea... Just when I started feeling like a 80 year oldie, I moved fore to the standing area just in front of the stage. Rejuvenated with new enthusiasm. This place was a playground to all the talented "Dabbapucchi" dancers. There were people being tossed over. There were people running around in train formation. I stretched my leg and they pathetically fell to ground. (shh... don't tell :P) Before I can feel pity, they were back on their legs. And dancing. There were human pyramids and the guy on top was pulling the tent above. Totally it was fun. To see the collective stupidity! I saw one guy hanging on to the tent(yeh hai youngistan mere yaar ;) ). I was gaping at him. He was shouting with joy. I guess thats the Joy of being a proud son of a father who had once told him " Come up in life ! ".

Oh sorry! I guess, I was supposed to speak about Raghu Dixit. Raghu Dixit had an extreme energy level all through the show. His band's seamless music which is an amalgamation of Indian classical with modern touch suited very well with their ethnic outfits. Felt lucky to be there for that particular show. Its really rare that you see a person in Dhoti and Kurta head-banging with a guitar... Now tell. Am i not lucky?  ;)

Raghu Dixit kept the whole crowd entertained all the time. Crowd sang. Danced. Jumped. Enjoyed. Mobile phones crushed. And some spectacles broke under the senseless steps of thousand very talented Dabbapucchi dancers :P! That is it about the Raghu Dixit show.

Then lastly, we had our college fest. "Samskruti 09". So its obvious from the fest name to see Rangoli competition and Mehendi competition. but Rock shows? And Fashion shows? Ewww! That's quite contrasting with the name. Ain't it? Anyway, there were various shows by so many people. most were western dances. Then there was a stupid RJ doing some stupid PJs. DJ kept everyone entertained with some weird sounds and music to keep the crowd entertained. :) All in all, it was a good fest.

Thats it in the post. Will be back when I have something to write.

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The omkara betta as it is known is a place in the center of the city of Bangalore and around 5kms off the Mysore road. One can never doubt such a place in Bangalore. Not that its very good or anything, but a place calm and isolated from the city.

We got a let-off for the day and we just decided to go to this place Omkar hills. Day was quite sunny and humid. But we had so much of time to kill. We reached Kengeri from where we have to take one right turn near the petrol bunk to the Uttarhalli Road. After walking for around 3kms we reached the college of JSS. Just behind this college is this Omkar Hills. To be honest, there was nothing worth seeing there. And it is nowhere near to be called a 'HILL'. The first glimpses make you feel as if the whole place is tied with ropes. But you will soon realize that they are electric lines. The first funny thing that you see when you reach the hills is the Big Clock tower. Was impressive until we read the first line written in the description. That was like this 'World's Largest Clock and Biggest in Bangalore'. Now God knows if there is any Bangalore on Mars. Then there was a temple which was unfortunately closed at that time. To say, God was locked :P. The Clock tower was constructed by the HMT-Hindustan Machine Tools in 2002. Don't know who wrote that line, though! The other side of the hill gives a picturesque view of South Bangalore. Lot of buildings and Towers. The Giant clock strikes every hour with one Shankanadha followed by five 'Aums' (Oms - Omkara). It doesn't work on solar or anything. Runs solely on Electricity.

Jesus and Mahaveer(left pic). Temple under construction (right pic)

Something that impressed me the most here is the Religious harmony emphasized by the 'Dhodda Aalada Mara'(Big Banyan Tree) and the shrines around it. Dhodda Aalada mara is another thing people would not miss here. It encovers the top like an umbrella. Tree seemed really old. The Sri Shivpuri Mahaswamiji made this his abode only because of that tree. He got 8 shrines constructed around the tree facing tree. All eight belong to eight different religions. They together proclaims "Ekam sat, vipra bahudha vadanthi – truth is one; sages proclaim it differently". The eight shrines are Ramanujacharya's, Shankaracharya's, Madhwacharya's, Jesus Christ, Prophet Mohommed(No Idol), Gurugranth Sahib's (A book in the shrine) and Lord Mahaveera. Pardon my memory power, I forgot the eighth one. :P .The apex of the shrines are built just as they are built in their religions. You can see the difference in their architecture. The whole ideology of this 'Vishwa Bhratutva'- Universal brotherhood appealed to me.

Dhodda Aalada mara and Tower Clock

I didn't like anything else here. It was a mere waste going there. But the religious harmony thing is something to think of. I rate this place 1 of 5. Learn the fact of living your religion with respect to other religions. Sarva dharma Samanvaya.

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Elections Elections and elections! Its the month of elections around here... Elections are everywhere. On my phone. In my Orkut account. On the doors. On my building. Then why not on my blog?

High posters invading the road, banners coating the buildings, loudspeakers' annoying noise and the party workers' 'knock-knock' on the door. This was what we used to see when there were elections around. But the common man evolved and no more opened doors for such campaigns. Corneas   evolved to see only good things and not the banners and posters. Loudspeakers no more vibrated the bones of ears and their promises were no more believed.

But, I guess, they've taken oath that they will not let people sleep in peace. I was busy sleeping when I got a call. Just chucked it. And the phone went off. But in a minute... it was again there... Tring tring... Lazing around for a while I got up to receive it. And there was one lady asking me to vote for BJP. Now what can I say? No I wil not? I just said yes to save myself and to go sleep back :). Then I got the call again. I received and before I could scold them, she said it was by mistake and sound went off. I didn't sleep back again.

The other thing is by SMS. SmS was never a bane before today. I was subscribed to some Messaging services like Google SMS Channels. Now the admins of some of those channels have gone mad and are sending such stupid Voting Campaign slogans. In the sports channel, i get messages like 'VOTE FOR ME' and stuff.

And now, its on Internet too. God! I can see LK Advani or Rahul Gandhi with thumbs up and a grin of satisfaction on their face. Satisfaction for having people disturbed :P. They are spending millions on such campaigns. Its somewhat around 300 million all together that they are spending. We have lot of poverty in India. And these politicians who are supposed to be the next leaders are spending money for just advertising. Just to get their seats. I agree that campaigning is necessary but people praise the good work done rather than the false promises they make. I guess it all started with the US presidential election campaign. Barrack Obama had started this. But following the same in India is an extreme stupid job.

Now lets keep the election Campaign apart. Just have a look at the way they are acting right now. Passing comments from one party to the other and other to another. Varun Gandhi went to Jail for his irresponsible statements. Prime Ministerial candidate Advani found Manmohan Singh an ineffective PM. Sonia Gandhi, to reply back to this, started off with all the old things like the Kandahar attack and all. And she later said that Advani will be an ineffective PM. God! Whats exactly going on here? Child's play with the 100 crore population??? Politicians are bribing people for votes. Nanga naach and alcohol supply is a not a raw fact anymore. All these used to happen with secrecy. Now its a matter of pride, I guess. Totally.. what's happening? Elections are back and where are the real Leaders? Chuck it! India has a long way to go.

But the most happiest thing is that people are getting aware. People now know that its necessary to vote. I have seen the election offices here flooded with people to get their voting cards. I hope they are not doing it just for the purpose of getting an Address proof to replace their gas bills.

Whatever it is. People are so aware that they are even making others aware. Various campaigns are being conducted. Of all, there are websites now to make those lazy goons get application forms online and submit it. jaagore.com is one to name. Don't try now. The last date's over.

We are in a democratic country and its our choice. Democracy is power. Its the 'Of the people, by the people and for the people' nation.  We made some wrong decisions in the past. But elections are back and our voting is required. So do vote for this election. Election this time will be conducted in 5 phases starting in April. Its expected to be the biggest voting ever in India. Every vote counts. Vote and elect the right leader. Not just for you, for the whole. Be a responsible Indian.

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This post is about three crazy stupid guys who happen to be very good friends of mine and its about their trip to Bangalore. What makes me so inspired for this post is the mode of transport they chose to reach Bangalore from Mysore. Bicycle! Yes, it was a bicycle trip. Ain't that interesting? And another thing that amazed me is the way people think, the way they imagine and the way they behave when they see something very rare. Like, three people on bicycle on a highway.

The whole post is a collection of comicality which they saw in course of a Cycle trip. It is also a collection of some conversations that show how imaginative people are in concluding things. People unknowingly make situations funny either with their funny questions or with the conclusions. I got to understand the public better after the whole narration by my friend. Let me first introduce you people to these three crazy people who started with this insane Cycle Trip. Manu, Amar and Krishna. All three live in the city of Mysore(Mysuru) where they started with their cycles at 5 in the morning. Not sure of the accomplishment, they paddled their way towards Bangalore.

All three of them gained lot of public attention on their way. Thats so obvious! After all, How many people get to see three people on cycle with backpacks and wearing shorts and sleeveless stuff on a National Highway? Their outfit was more than enough for people to know that they are moving from cities to cities.

They were questioned by people in almost every city or village. There was one old woman who came to Krishna and asked, "Yenrappa? Bus-su Train-u strike-a?". That wasn't sarcastic but, indeed, an innocent one. Funniest thing was when they met this guy on scooter. The conversation went somewhat like this,

Scooter guy : Yellinda? (where are you coming from?)

Krishna : Mysuru

Scooter guy (With this OMG expression) : How Many days? (Supposed to mean "how many days has it been since U started?")

Krishna : *Dumb-struck!*

Firstly, they were still in Maddur. Thats some 55 kms from Mysore. Secondly, OMG what was he imagining? three people with their cycles on a national highway, in scorching sun, paddling for days and nights and sleeping in the road-sides ??? Wow! Creative Imagination!

And I still wonder what made him speak in English all of a sudden!

People are really good at assuming things. Conversation with yet another guy with interesting questions.

Yet another guy : Yenu? Race-aa? (what? playing race? )

Krishna : il.. (interrupted)

Yet another guy : Hindgade inda car bartidiya? (Is there any car coming from behind? )

Ha ha... That was funny. People leave no opportunities in showing their knowledge of whatever it is. He probably meant that car as the car which is seen in Racing Sports for the sake of first-aid and safety. People are so imaginative. :)

It was Ramanavami. Panaka was available near every temple. They had lunch in some temple. And they were given a esteemed service at the temple. They served everything possible with one new question every time.

There were so many more people like this. Asking questions to kill their curiosity. Some people praised their venturing spirit and some people thought it as unnecessary stupid act. But the sense of thrill in such trips is known only by the people who experience. Apart from the strenuousness and tiresomeness, there was much more that they learnt from this trip. I think there is no better way than this to study people's reaction.

People assume lot of things. What we wear and how we act matters so much, and enough for people to conclude things. And people who come from Villages think that Bangaloreans are all English speaking goons and know no Kannada.

I was once standing near my house when two people suddenly came from nowhere... and...

First guy: Abhaya naidu studio yelli baratthe gottha? (Where's Abhaya Naidu Studio?)

( i didn't hear properly)

Me: Yenu? (What?)

First guy: Abhaya Naidu Studio?

Me: Address heli nodana... (tell me the address. let me see)

First guy (to the second guy) : Le address thagiyo bag inda... (hey take out the address from the bag)

Second guy: Aiyyo! avrige kannada yella odak baralla banni hogana... (they can't read kannada. Come lets go.)

I stood gaping at that person. Is this what people think of a Bangalore person only because he's wearing jeans??? :-P

Anyway, Congratulations to Amar, Krishna and Manu for their successful accomplishment of cycle trip. 140kms of paddling in scorching sun was a great deal of work. And thanks for narrating me the most of what happened on their way.

Comment your views.

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