my riflekshuns

A cause to support

2011-03-26T12:41:00.000+05:30

It's election again in Channapatna!
Grr... it's the 3rd one in 3 years.
Thanks to operation "kamala" the candidates chosen in the past elections have changed their parties after being elected.
Left with no choice, I opted for section 49-O in the previous election. Alas! 49-O without the proposed amendments and lack of awareness is as good as a toothless tiger.
But, this time I'm going out to vote. I'm going out because I see a worthy candidate to root for - Jai Kissan. [yes! his name is Jai kissasn!]

Below is the election manifesto of independent candidate S R Jai Kissan

[Click on image for a larger view]

OMG! They blocked facebook!

2011-02-09T23:46:00.000+05:30

Recently the company where I work blocked access to facebook and social networking sites. So here's some dedication to all those affected by the workplace Facebook withdrawal symptoms

Since facebook is blocked in office…

…. I physically poke my neighbor now and then

…. I keep flashing my thumb in the middle of a conversation whenever I like something

…. I shout out loud my status and my friends would yell out the comments from another corner

…. I can’t throw virtual things at people…

so don’t piss me off coz I have to throw real crap at you

…. Whenever I bump into a pretty lady I will ask “Please add me as your friend”

…. I’ll buy one of these to stamp on your forehead :

…. I would go to that beautiful lady in another cubicle once every 30 mins. stand there doing nothing..

She: !!! What’s wrong?

Me: I used to visit your facebook profile to see your pretty face.. Alas! Now facebook is blocked

Next time you see too many guys at a cubicle, you know what’s happening J

OMG! What!!?

They even blocked twitter!!

Err… did I by any chance move into Egypt??

And some good news to end : Just heard accessing Facebook on Airtel is now free J

Work vs Fun

2011-01-09T12:51:00.000+05:30

I love playing with data.
Just give me lots of data and a plotter tool and I wouldn't bother you for days :)
Yesterday I Stumbled on Google ngram viewer and presto! I was like a kid with a new paint kit.
This tool plots the occurrence of words/phrases in books over years. Played with it for hours seeing various trends of word usage.
One particular graph was very interesting : Occurrence of words "work" and "fun"
Here it is:

The occurrence of word "fun" almost died out around the beginning of the 19th century! Those my friend are the years of industrial revolutions. Does that mean people stopped thinking about fun after industrial revolution ..... me wonders!?

Call of the Druk

2010-09-22T22:13:00.004+05:30

It's time again for the ride of the year.

This time it is the call of the Druk, to the land of the Thunder Dragon - Bhutan.
I will be riding with Vandit Kalia [An avid tourer, diver, founder of DiveIndia - http://www.diveindia.com ]

Tentative Itinerary :
[Entirely Vandit's hard work who has toured extensively across the land of Druk]

25th - Fly Bangalore-Kolkata-Bagdogra. Arrive in Phuentsholing by the evening.
26th - head to Thimpu, assemble bikes and go for a short afternoon ride;27th - explore Thimpu
28th - ride to Punakha
29th - spend a day exploring Punakha and the dzong
30th - head to Phobjikha
1st - explore Phobjikha
2nd - ride to Trongsa
3rd - ride to Jakar
4th - explore the Bumthang area; cycle to Ura in the evening
5th - (drive to Mongar?)
6th - Mongar to Trashiganj
7th - drive back to Paro
8th - explore Paro / Haa Valley
9th - explore around Paro (Tiger Hill Monastery?)
10th - head back to NJP
11th - fly out

Will keep tweeting [subject to network avilability]
Twitter handle : frnzi

Wish me good luck :)

Jogay - Let's go!

Of Mosquitoes, Tweets, Su-kam Inverters and Targeted Advertising

2010-03-09T20:11:00.004+05:30

Last Sunday I was at my hometown. Thanks to the power cut policies of Karnataka govt, Power went off at 11pm.. buzzzz came in swarm of mosquitoes... and I tweeted :

Aur ek khoon bhari raat. Power cut + mosquitoes

And here comes the reply from Su-Kam Inverters :

khoon bhari raat hi banate rahoge ya kucch aur option bhi dhundoge powercut ke liye

That's some real good use of social media for targeted advertising...
Impressed.

Dr. Thammu Achaya and The Origins of Idli

2010-02-04T08:53:00.012+05:30

While on the quest of the origins of Gobi Manchurian I hit upon this old "The Hindu" article which talks about the origins of Idli. Surprisingly, this - pride of South India - is not South Indian uhm well it is not even Indian!
The Gastronome scientist- Thammu Achaya digs out, your favourite Idli came to India all the way from Indonesia somewhere around 8th to 12th century AD.
Here is the verbatim extract of the Idli section of the article:

[ Image taken from wikimedia commons : http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Idli_Sambar.JPG ]

"In Box 19 of his Indian Food: A Historical Companion, on the snacks of the South, he first points out that while early Tamil Sangam literature talks of Dosai, reference to Idli comes only after 920 AD. Even as late as the 17th century, the Indian Idli missed three elements of its modern version — use of rice grits, fermentation overnight and steaming of the batter. Steaming is an ancient Chinese method and Xuan Zang, the Chinese traveller to India in the 7th century, says that India did not have a steaming vessel. Apparently, cooks who accompanied the Hindu kings of Indonesia during their visits home during the 8th to 12th centuries AD brought fermentation techniques with them, as also perhaps steaming methods and vessels."

Interesting, isn't it?!
More interesting to me was knowing about Dr. Thammu Achaya - The Food Scientist, Historian, Painter, Musician.. whew the renaissance man :)

More about Thammu saar:
Thammu Achaya — tribute to a gastronome scientist- The Hindu article
An obituary from Indian Academy of Sciences [PDF]
Food, his story - an Indian Express article

Where is the Rabbit?

2010-01-30T22:44:00.003+05:30

They always said there is a rabbit up there...
I see only craters there :(
Who took my rabbit?

Some info for the shutterbugs:
Camera : Lumix TZ-7
Mode : Manual, Infinite Burst, Center point light metering, Point Focus.
Focal Length (35mm eq): ~535mm (extended zoom) X 4x digi zoom

Postprocessing: Burn Shadows, Sepia filter
Software - Picasa

Rain on 31st Dec

2009-12-31T17:40:00.003+05:30

Never seen rain on Dec 31st...
Seems like mother earth wants to take a shower and start afresh...

Rain on 31st, originally uploaded by fslobo.

Location: Sony world Junction, Koranagala, Bangalore

ತೊಳೆಯಲು ವರುಷದ ಕೊಳೆ,

ಸುರಿಯುತಿದೆ ತುಂತುರು ಮಳೆ.

ಹೊಸ ವರುಷವ ಹೊಸ ಹರುಷದಿ ಸ್ವಾಗತಿಸಲು ಸಿದ್ಧಗೊಳ್ಳುತಿದೆ ಇಳೆ.

ಕಥೆಯು ಮುಗಿದೇ ಹೋದರೂ.......

2009-12-30T23:30:00.004+05:30

vishnuvardhan

ನೂರು ಜನರು ಬಂದರೂ ನೂರು ಜನರು ಹೋದರೂ ಬರನು ಮತ್ತೊಬ್ಬ ಈ ಪರಿ.
"ನನ್ನ್ ಕರಿಬೇಡಿ ಮೇಷ್ಟ್ರೇ. ನಾನ್ ಬರೋಲ್ಲಾ".... ಅಂಥ ಹೇಳಿ ಹೊರಟೆ ಹೊದ್ಯಲ್ಲೋ ರಾಮಾಚಾರಿ.......

ಕಥೆಯು ಮುಗಿದೇ ಹೋದರೂ.......
............ಮುಗಿಯದಿರಲಿ ಬಂಧನ

Ghost!

2009-12-28T22:19:00.001+05:30

Ghost!, originally uploaded by fslobo.

THIS PICTURE IS NOT MORPHED IN ANY WAY. IT IS COPIED AS IS FROM THE CAMERA.
The official BSA TFN Ghost spotted in the plantations of Coorg guest house. The official ghost was responsible for protecting the souls of TFNers during their tour. You must forward this ghost picture to atleast 5 TFNers to renew your soul protection plan. Failure to do so will terminate the plan and the Ghost Inc. is not responsible for the consequences.

Take your pick

2009-12-28T11:23:00.002+05:30

Take your pick, originally uploaded by fslobo.

A road side shop near KR Market.
Maacch, loongu, bladeoo, chakoo en beku?

Happy Birthday....

2009-12-11T00:09:00.009+05:30

After 27 years of existence, when I look back... It feels wonderful. Life has been beautiful.
But, suddenly today, a certain grief engulfs my mind. Hazy images of unknown people hover around.
27 years ago, many of us shared a small piece of history - We were born on this day.
But.... All couldn't make it to today.

Hunger, Infanticide, Diseases, Road accidents, Earthquakes, Human trafficking, Substance abuse, Terrorism, Wars, Famines, Floods, Depression, Suicide..... They took a toll on many of us.

Some were taken away,

Some lost their way,
Some couldn't take it
And some just couldn't make it.....

I dedicate this day to you all..... "Rest in Peace"
and Happy Birthday!

My smoke free diwali

2009-10-21T16:47:00.004+05:30

This is what happens when you mix insomnia, loneliness, Diwali eve, a Camera and a Torch :
Celebrating the festival of lights by playing with light

Light Play, originally uploaded by fslobo.

P1030019, originally uploaded by fslobo.

Light Scribe, originally uploaded by fslobo.

Light Attack!, originally uploaded by fslobo.

Where am I?

2009-09-15T10:39:00.007+05:30

Track me live [well almost]
My current trip - Call of the Druk
My blabberings on the current trip : twitter.com/frnzi

Through the Ghats - September ride plan

2009-09-01T09:07:00.001+05:30

Was planning for this for lonnng. The initial plan was riding from Kanyakumari to Goa along the coast. But, A recent ride on NH7 made me feel this would be totall madness in that traffic and humidity. So, switched to ghats. So here is the plan.

My big Solo ride in September :

Sep 15: Leave bangalore by bus
Sep 16 : reach Kanyakumari. Start riding [ok i am not watching the sunset here. I'll caome back again riding to see that :)]. Kanyakumari->Nagarcoil->Th

uckaly->Neyyar Dam [70 km]
Sep 17 : Neyyar->Thenmala[80km]->Pathnamtitta[55 km ] - 135 km
Sep 18 : Pathnamtitta -> somehwere near Mundayakkam - 100 km some climbs
Sep 19 : Mundayakkam -> Idukki dam - approx 70 km
Sep 20 : Idukki -> Devikollam (just before Munnar) 100 km
Sep 21 : Devikollam -> Marayoor -> Chinnar Scantuary (some 50km downhill) -> Udumalpet->Pollachi->Coimbatore - 150km
Sep 22 : Cmb -> Ooty via Coonoor - 70 km
Sep 23,24,25 : Join Devakishor and PremSagar and do some hiking, birding, cycling etc..
Sep 26 : Ooty->Devarshola estates->Sultanbattery-> Iruppu- 150 km [ Need more info on alternate routes here ]
Sep 27 : Iruppu to Madikeri - 100km
Sep 28 : Madikeri to Sakleshpur - 100km
Sep 29 : Saklehpur to Kuduremukha [probably stay at bhagavatti nature camp ] 120 km
Sep 30 : Kuduremukha to Agumbe 110 km
Oct 1 : Someshwara ghat descent -> Hebri-> Haladi ->Kundapur-> Movadi - There is no road plotted on google maps. I've heard of a route here.
Oct 2 : Stay at Grandma's house in Movadi
Oct 3 : back to bangalore

It would be great if someone has GPS tracks of Pathnamtitta->idukki->Munnar and Agumbe->Hebri->Haladi-Kundapur route

Interesting Day

2009-02-28T23:23:00.006+05:30

Last day of Saturday of the month. It's got to be interesting coz it is the "Critical Mass" day. It was much more interesting this Saturday, coz it was the Euro Asia Film Festa- A film festival organized by Bangalore University Dept. of Foreign Language.
The film festival was a whole day event and the Korean movie was the last one.. so had to shuttle between Festa-CM-Festa.
So, here's a brief report.

Movie#1
Grave of the Fireflies [ 火垂るの墓 ,Hotaru no Haka ]
Language : Japanese
Genre : Animation/Drama/War
Reached late, missed the begining. Cute Setsuko's character grabbed my attention instantly. A story of sibblings Seita and Setsuko in post war Japan. Amazing movie!! The eye for detail transcended in each frame. The cute voice of Setsuko is gonna haunt me for a loong loong time... Couldn't stop crying at the end. Go watch it.

Movie # 2
Lola rennt [ In English - Run Lola Run ]
Language : Germany
Genre : Thriller, Parallel Story Lines

The name said it all..... Runnnn...
Lola runs... to save Manni her boyfriend. She runs, runs and runs all she has is 20 minutes. She messes is up. So goes back and runs again and again until things get settled. Great movie. Wicked, Funny, Interesting.

Movie # 3
Aaghaata
Language : Kannada
Genre: Drama
Story of Usha, a village girl nad the men who enter her life. Director Sures Hebblikar tries to bring awareness about several issues like Dowry, suppression of girl child, Literacy campaigns, concern about environment etc. The problem with this movie - it tries to tell lot of things in a short time and looses. Definately not a movie to be shown after the slick and fast Run Lolita Run. They couls have done with a better Kannada movie.

Critical Mass
Time was already 2:30 so had to rush to reach Critical Mass. Gobbled up some food at Festa. Then again got some take-away from KFC and rushed home. Wasted some time after food and ended up late at Cubbon Park - CM start point. Luckily the mass had not moved :)
Started off around 5pm. Rode throughVidhana soudha, Infantry road, Minsk Square, Kumble Circle, MG Road, Trinity Circle, HAL Airport Rd, Domlur, 100 ft road, KFC.
It was fun riding with around 50 riders. Tried Corking for the first time, and it was fun ;)
Everyone dispersed at Indiranagar KFC. Started riding back with Satya, Arjun, Mayank, Yogun et al. Was good getting to know all these riders - Socializing on a bicycle :)
[Pic: My poster for CM]
Time was 18:30 so rushed back to festa. The Korean movie had to start by 1830. But, for some reason the french movie had just started when I reached.

Movie #4
Le Diner de Cons [ The Dinner of Idiots ]
Language : French
Genre : Comedy
Though I missed the begining, it took less than a minute to realize this was the "inspiration" for the Hindi movie Bheja Fry.
Jacques Villeret's portrayal of François Pignon was hilarious. This is played by Vinay Pathak in the Hindi version. Go watch it to lighten up your mood. Don't blame me if you fall off from the chair laughing :)

Movie#5
Welcome to Dongmakgol - 웰컴투 동막골
Language : Korean
Genre : War, Comedy
The last movie of the day and the movie I've been waiting for. It was worth waiting .
Set in the Korean war of 1950, it is a story of 3 North Korean, 2 South Korean and an American allied soldier who end up in an isolated village called Dongmakgol. The inhabitants of Dongmakgol are totally isolated from the modern world they don't have any clue about weapons, airplanes etc. Circumstances lead the soldiers to work in the village as farmers where these hostile soldiers bond to become best pals who eventually save the village from an army attack. Actress Kang Hye-jeong stole the show in the role of Yeo-il - a crazy village girl.

After a great feast of some really good movies, I rode back home at around 11pm.

Yaaaaawn \o/ that was a loong interesting day.
Good Night.

PS:
Movie I missed while on Critical Mass - Todo sobre mi madre [All About My Mother] - A Spanish drama dealing with AIDS, faith, transvestittism and existentialism.

When i conquered bangalore

2009-02-23T15:02:00.001+05:30

When i conquered bangalore, originally uploaded by fslobo.

Taken on a fine Sunday morning [22nd Feb] while heading to Metty's engagement.
Location : Nrupatunga Road [ where RBI/St. Martha's hospital are located]
The road was closed for motorists as some construction work was goin on..
I usually take this road while comin to office and it is always jampacked. Needles to say I enjoyed the riding on the empty road... was funn...

Flickr

2009-02-23T14:59:00.001+05:30

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Right food guidelines

2009-01-29T16:50:00.002+05:30

Found this while searching for some pic to match the quote "Burn carbohydrates, not Hydrocarbons"
usda_new_diet_guidelines_1.gif (GIF ಚಿತ್ರ, 400x301 ಪಿಕ್ಸೆಲ್‍ಗಳು)

Liseurely ride to Airport junction

2008-12-13T23:03:00.005+05:30

Saturday.... Came back from Korean classes. Had nothing better do. The withdrawal from TFN and postponement of Oslo travel was making me sad. Moreover it's been really looong time since I did a long ride on my cycle. My legs were itching to ride. Considered riding to Nandi. But, it was too late - around 3PM. Browsed a little on Google earth/Wikimapia, found no good place to ride. Finally made up my mind to go to Devanahalli. Started off at 4pm from Rajajnagar. There was no specific destination. Just thought of riding as long as possible before 6PM and return.

Need not say it was a great ride. Thanks to the new Jersey and shorts picked up from Wheelsports. I must say it was worth every penny spent [3k for Jersey+Shorts].

Initially had some problems with breathing until I left the city. It was smooth after that. Man! how polluted our city is getting?

Took several small breaks all along for juice, bananas, to stretch..... Maintained a good pace ~21 kmph. Reached the airport junction @6pm. Decided to return as it was getting dark. Hit a roadside tea shop for some kaapi. Met some curious folks from Ananthpur who had stopped for a sip. God! needles to say I am tired of explaining to people why a cycle costs 26k. huh... Then the scary part - Test Rides. I was scared, but had to oblige. Laid out strict conditions - No riding on highway, no changing gears, not to use the front brakes [last thing I wanted to see was someone slamming the front disc brakes and crashing :) ] Thank God only 2guys took the test ride.

Left the airport junction at 6:15. There were very less climbs on return route, was mostly downhill but, traffic was sickening. Started feeling tired near Jakkur. Took a small break near Sahkarnagar. Gobbled up some biscuits and continued... Started Spinning for Cool off from Mekhri Circle.

Reached home at around 8:30...

Aaah! what more can one ask from life when you can just do what you love :)

Ride Stats

Total time : approx 4hrs

Time on wheels : 3:05:01

Distance : 68.84 km

Avg : 22.3 kmph

Max : 47.8 kmph

Calories : 1201

Odo reading - 329 km .... way to go.....

ಲಂಚ್ ಟೇಬಲ್ಲಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಸರ್ವಜ್ಞನೂ, Server-ಊ, ಸೈಕಲ್ಲೂ....

2008-11-18T18:01:00.010+05:30

ಲಂಚ್ ಟೇಬಲ್ಲಿನ ಮಾತುಕತೆಗಳು ಸ್ವಾರಸ್ಯಕರವಾಗಿರುತ್ತವೆ.
ಇವತ್ತು ಊಟದ ಸಮಯದಲ್ಲಿ ಹನಿಗವನಗಳು ಹರಿದು ಬರುತಿದ್ದವು.
ಕೆಲವು ಇಂತಿವೆ :

ಸರ್ವಕಾಲಿನ ಸತ್ಯ

ಸರ್ವರೂ ಸರ್ವಕಾಲದಲೂ ಸರ್ವರ್(Server) Access ಬೇಡಿದೊಡೆ,
ಸರ್ವರಿಗೂ ಸರ್ವರ್ ಸಿಗುವುದುಂಟೆ?!
ಇದೇ ಸರ್ವಕಾಲೀನ ಸತ್ಯ ಸರ್ವಜ್ಞ

ಮತ್ತೊಂದು...

ಸೈಕಲ್ಲು

ದಿನವೂ ತುಳಿದರೆ ಸೈಕಲ್ಲು,
ಗಟ್ಟಿಯಾಗುವವು ಕೈ-ಕಾಲು,
ಕಡೆಗಾಲದಲ್ಲಿ ನೀ ಹಿಡಿಯುವುದಿಲ್ಲ ಕೋಲು.

DISCLAIMER: I do not hold any copyright for this image. The usage of image is just for illustration. It shall be removed if there be any objection from the copyright holder.

ಮೊಸರನ್ನ

2008-11-08T18:29:00.007+05:30

ಸನ್ನಿವೇಶ : ಆಫೀಸ್ ಆನ್ಯೂವಲ್ ಡೇ ದಿನ ಊಟದ ಕೊನೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಮೊಸರನ್ನತಿನ್ನುತಿದ್ದ್ವಿ.

ಆಗ ರಾಜೇಶ್.ಗೆ ಮೊಸರನ್ನದಲ್ಲಿ ದ್ರಾಕ್ಷಿ ಸಿಕ್ಕಿದ್ರೆ ನನಗೆ ಶುಂಠಿ ಸಿಕ್ಕಿತು.ಆಗ ರಾಜೇಶ್.ಗೆ ಹೇಳಿದ ಒಂದು ಚುಟುಕು:

ನೀವು ಪುಣ್ಯವಂತ್ರೂ ಅನ್ನೋದಕ್ಕೆ ಇದೇ ಸಾಕ್ಷಿ,
ಮೋಸ್ರನ್ನದಲ್ಲಿ ಸಿಗ್ತಿದೆ ನಿಮಗೆ ದ್ರಾಕ್ಷಿ.
ನಾವು ನೋಡ್ರೀ ಒಂಟಿ,
ಸಿಗ್ತಿದೆ ಬರೀ ಒಣ ಶುಂಠಿ.

ನಂತರ ಅದಕೆ ಮತ್ತಶ್ಟು ಪ್ರಾಸಗಳು ಸೇರಿದ್ವು... ಅವೆಲ್ಲ ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಬೇಡ ;-)

ಕನ್ಫ್ಯೂಷನ್..

2008-11-03T01:00:00.005+05:30

ರ್ರೀ....

ಯಾಕೋ ಗೊತ್ತಿಲ್ರೀ,
ಇತ್ತಿಚಿಗ್ ನೀವ್ ಕನ್ಸಾಗ್ ಭಾಳ ಬರ್ತೀದ್ದೀರ್ರೀ..
ಮನ್ಸಾಗೆಲ್ಲ ಭಾರಿ ಓಡಾಡ್ತೀರ್ರೀ.
ತಲಿಯಾಗ್ ಬರೀ ನಿಮ್ಮ್ ನಗೂನೇ ತುಂಬೈತಿ.
ಹಾಂ.. ಈಗ ನನ್ನ್ ಮೊಬೈಲ್ ವಾಲ್ಪೇಪರ್.ನಾಗೂ ನೀವೇ ಬಂದ್ ಕುಂತಿದ್ದೀರ್ರಿ!!

ನಿಮ್ ಕೂಡ ಮಾತಾಡ್ ಬೇಕು ಅಂತ ಬಹಳ ಆಶೆನ್ರೀ
ಬಹಾಳ ಬಾರಿ ನಿಮ್ ನುಂಬರ್ಗೆ ಫೋನ್ ಮಾಡೀನಿ.
ಆದ್ರೆ ಕನೆಕ್ಟ್ ಆಗೋ ಮುಂಚೆ ಕಟ್

ಮಾಡ್ ಬಿಡ್ತೀನ್ರೀ...
ಏನೋ ಒಂದ್ ಬಗೀ ಭಯಾನ್ರೀ.
ಅದ್ಕಾ ಈ ಚೀಟಿ ಬರ್ದೀನ್ರಿ.

ಇನ್ನೂ ಹೇಳ್ಲಿಕ್ಕೆ ಮಾತಿನ್ ದೊಡ್ಡ್ ಗಂಟೀ ಐತ್ರೀ
ಯಾವ್ ಕಡೀ ಶುರೂ ಮಾಡೊದೋ ತಿಳಿತಿಲ್ಲ್ರೀ..

ನಿಜಾ ಹೆಳ್ರೀ...
ಇದಾ ಪ್ರೀತಿಯೆನ್ರೀ?

-ವೃಕ

DISCLAIMER: I do not hold any copyright for this image. The usage of image is just for illustration. It shall be removed if there be any objection from the copyright holder.

ಮನವಿ..

2008-11-01T19:01:00.010+05:30

"ನನ್ನ ಮರ್ತ್ ಬಿಡೊ!" ಅಂತ ಹೇಳಿ ನೀನ್ ಹಾಗೇ ಹೊರ್ಟ್ ಬಿಟ್ಟೆ...

ತಿರುಗಿ ಸಹಾ ನೋಡ್ಲಿಲ್ಲ...

ನಂಗೊತ್ತು, ಆ ಸಣ್ಣ ಹನಿ ನಿನ್ನ್ ಕಣ್ಣಿಂದಾನೂ ಇಣುಕ್ತಿತ್ತು ಅಂತ...

ನಿನ್ ಹೇಳಿದೆಲ್ಲ ಸರಿ...

ಮುಂದೆ ಇಬ್ಬ್ರಿಗೂ ಕಷ್ಟ, ಇದು practical ಅಲ್ಲ ಅಂತಾ..

ಆದ್ರೂ.....

ಮರೆಯೋದು ಅಷ್ಟು ಸುಲಭಾನಾ ಹುಡುಗಿ?

ಸುಲಭ ಆಗಿದ್ರೆ ಎಷ್ಟೋ ಜನ ಬದುಕಿಬಿಡ್ತಿದ್ರು ಕಣೇ!

ನೆನಪಿದ್ಯಾ? 'ಪ್ರತಿ ಉಸ್ರಲ್ಲೂ ನೀನಿದ್ಯ' ಅಂತ ನಾನ್ ಹೆಳ್ತಿದ್ದೆ.

ಈಗ, ಉಸ್ರಾಡ್.ದೇ ಬದ್ಕು ಅಂತಿದ್ಯಾ!?

ಮನಸಲ್ಲಿ ಕಟ್ಟಿರೋ ಅರಮನೆಯ ಪ್ರತಿ ಇಟ್ಟಿಗೆ ಮೇಲೂ ನಿನ್ ಹೆಸ್ರಿದೆ ಕಣೇ...

ಅದನ್ನ ಒಡೆದು ಬಿಡು ಅಂತಿಯ?!

ಇದು ಸಾಧ್ಯ ಇಲ್ಲ ಅಂತ ಗೊತ್ತು.

ಆದ್ರೂ ಒಂದು ಸಾರಿ ಕೈ ಮುಗಿದು ಕೆಳ್ಕೊಳ್ತಿನೇ....

ಮತ್ತೆ ವಾಪಸ್ ಬಂದ್ ಬಿಡೇ......

-ವೃಕ

DISCLAIMER: I do not hold any copyright for this image. The usage of image is just for illustration. It shall be removed if there be any objection from the copyright holder.

ಧೈರ್ಯ vs ಬುದ್ಧಿವಂತಿಕೆ

2008-10-30T22:39:00.015+05:30

ಹಾಗೆ ಬರೆದ ಒಂದು ಕಥೆ...

2007 ಮಾರ್ಚ್, ಯಾವುದೋ ಒಂದು ಜಲಪಾತ
ಆ ಜಲಪಾತದ ಭೋರ್ಗೋರೆಯೋ ಸದ್ಡನ್ನು ಮೀರೋ ಹಾಗೆ ಅವ್ಳು ಹೆಳಿದ್ದು ನೆನಪು...
"ಲೊ! ಈ ಜಲಪಾತದ ಈ ಕಡೆ ಇಂದ ಆ ಕಡೆ ತನಕ ಹಗ್ಗ ಕಟ್ಟಿ ದಾಟೊದನ್ನ ಧೈರ್ಯ ಅಂತಾರೆ ..... ಆ ತರ್ಹ ಮಾಡದೇಇರೋದನ್ನ.. ಬುದ್ಧಿವಂತಿಕೆ ಅಂತಾರೆ"
"ಇದನ್ನ ಈಗ್ಯಾಕೇ ಹೆಳ್ತಿದ್ಯ?"
"ಅಲ್ಲಾ, ನಮ್ಮಪ್ಪನ್ನ ಎದುರು ಹಾಕಿಕೊಂಡು ನನ್ನ ಮದುವೆ ಆಗ್ತೀನಿ ಅಂತ ನೀಹೆಳಿದ್ಯಲ್ಲ ಅದು ನಿನ್ ಧೈರ್ಯ; ಆದ್ರೆಇನ್ನ್ಮುಂದೆ ಫ್ರೆಂಡ್ಸ್ ಆಗಿ ಇರೋಣಅಂದೆನಲ್ಲ ಅದು ನನ್ನ ಬುದ್ಧಿವಂತಿಕೆ :P"

"...."

ಆದ್ರೂ ಯಾಕೋ ತನ್ನ ಬುದ್ಧಿವಂತಿಕೆನ ಮೀರಿ ಅವ್ನ ಧೈರ್ಯಾನೆ ಇವ್ಳು ನಂಬಿದ್ಳು....

2008 ಮಾರ್ಚ್, ಯಾವುದೋ ಒಂದು ಜಲಪಾತ
ಇದಕ್ಕೆ ಮೂಕ ಸಾಕ್ಷಿಯಾಗಿದ್ರು ಆಲ್ಲಿ ತೇಲುತಿದ್ದ ಆ ಎರಡು ಹೆಣಗಳ್ನ ನೋಡ್ತಿದ್ದ ಜನ...

-ವೃಕ

Did you come on car today?

2008-03-31T18:32:00.009+05:30

Did you come to office on your car today?
Did you come alone?

If you have answered YES for the above you might also answer YES for my next question.

Did you curse the traffic?

If YES, then curse yourself for causing that.

Naah.. you won't agree with me. Won't you?
They say pictures speak louder than words.. So, I will explain it to you through pictures.
These are from an advertising campaign in the city of Munster, Germany which has a very high percentage of bicycle commuters.
The campaign compared road space required to transport 72 people.

1) What happens when all these people use bicycles to commute?

Road space = 90 sq.m

2) Now what if they take a bus instead?

Road space = 30 sq.m.
Plus, no parking space required. The bus will go back to the bus depot.

Pretty neat haan...

3) Now let all of them have the luxury of a car as you have.

With 1.2 person per car on an avg, 72 people in 60 cars.
Space required = 1000 sq.m.

So, you know whom to curse in tomorrows traffic jam.
Have a safe drive.
[Now don't run your SUV on my bicycle ;) ]

ಅವಳು

2008-03-24T20:30:00.009+05:30

ಸ್ನಾನದ ಮನೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಮೂಡಿದ ಹನಿಗವನ...

ಕಾರ್ಗತ್ತಲ ರಾತ್ರಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಜೀವ ತುಂಬಲು ಬಂದಿತು ಬೆಳದಿಂಗಳು...
ಬರುಡಾದ ಈ ಎದೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಚಿಗುರು ಮೂಡಿಸ ಬಂದಳು ಅವಳು...

-ವೃಕ

avaLu (ಅವಳು) by vrka (ವೃಕ) is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.

Watch out...

2008-03-13T21:04:00.013+05:30

Was about to leave office... and I just stumbled on this.

A very good video to create awareness about cyclists on road. This was produced as a part of Cycle Safety Campaign by Transport For London [TFL].

Watch it...

Original video site : http://www.dothetest.co.uk/

The clip tries to educate the motorists and cyclists about "Inattentional blindness" - a word coined by Arien Mack and Irvin Rock in 1992. It is based on the experiments of renowned psychologist Daniel Simons and Christopher Chabri to demonstrate Inattentional blindness.

[Watch the video before reading further]
Inattentional Blindness is defined as - failure to notice a fully-visible, but unexpected object because attention was engaged on another task, event, or object.
In the experiments carried out by Daniel Simons and Christopher Chabri nearly 50% of the subjects did not report seeing the Gorilla [In some cases a women carrying an umbrella]. This demonstrates that there is a difference between what is there in our visual field and what we perceive. What we perceive depends on our attention on the objects in the scene.
I too failed to recognize the Gorilla. The initial condition [to count only passes by white team] programmed my brain to reject everything in black. I suppose I would have noticed the random object [i.e, the gorilla] if I was counting passes made by the black team :) .
Magicians [or rather Illusionists] call this misdirection. They use this to trick the audience by turning their focus on a distractive element while the he/she manipulates some other element on the stage without catching audience's attention.
This reminds of a small trick my friend Kissan showed me long ago. He held a paper in his left hand and a pen in the right. With his left side facing me he started striking the paper with the pen and instructed me to concentrate on the paper. While striking he swung the pen cutting a arc joining his right ear and the paper in left hand [ I hope you can visualize that :) ]. After 4-5 strikes he hid the pen behind the right ear but I didn't take notice for 2 more strikes!!
Now what does all this have to do with cyclist safety? I would simply say expect the unexpected on road... If you are not expecting a cyclist then you might fail to see him.

Hmm.. I started to write this blog entry to share the video clip but I ended up doing a small research on Inattentional blindness!! It is surprising how internet has changed the way of acquiring knowledge :)

For further details on Inattentional Blindness you can check:

- The Wikipedia article on Inattentional Blindness >>here
- The Scholarpedia article on Inattentional Blindness >>here
- The book Inattentional Blindness - By Arien Mack, Irvin Rock

Women's Day

2008-03-06T20:19:00.007+05:30

As a loving mother,
As a caring sister,
As a teacher,
As a friend for lifetime,

You were always there for me in every step of my life.

Woman - I salute you today.
Happy women's day.

Woman- by
frNZi is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.