An Eventful Day

To start off the day, we were called by our major project guide Dr Subhash Yaragal to kick start our project which had been pending for like 4 months now. We just selected our topic last sem and we were to start work on that, but then due to some circumstances, we couldn't work on that topic. Hence, our prof decided to give us a topic something closer to what he had given for M.Tech batch working under him. He told us to cast 36 cubes as reference for the next 72 cubes that we would be preparing in the next 3-4 days, with varying compositions, depending on the cement and admixtures added. Since, there was no power in the morning, we had to shift the work to afternoon. After burning our ass for 2 hours, and getting all drenched in sweat and cement, we prepared 36 cubes and kept them in moulds, which were to be removed from there on the next day.

After doing some work, it was time to kick start our college's annual cultural festival INCIDENT '10 - The Golden Jubilee edition this time. It started off with the inauguration, which contained the normal boring speeches by chief guests, director, dean and Inci convenor Venu. This was followed by a performance by a group of mentally disabled children from Lion's Club Surathkal. After, this there a play of Aladin (this was just to keep the theme of this year's Inci - which was Arabian Nights). The play was brilliantly carried out, the casting was almost perfect, with Dave playing Aladin, Ridhi playing Jasmine, Kau playin Jaffar, Swati playin Jaffar's parrot, Taata playing Sultan, Bhowmik playing Genie(he was superb) and many others. There were these first year girls belle dancing, who were all way too hot. There were also many videos played during the inaugration, created by Media Committee convenors Poo and Prani, they've been uploaded in youtube.com/user/incident10. Do check them out, they deserve a special mention.

After the Inaug got over, there was an inaugural basket ball match between NITK A team and KMC Mangalore, which was won by NITK. Then, the eastern musicals Bandish started. There were 6 teams totally, 25 + 5 minutes for each team. The starting teams were bad. But, the competition picked up later. The first prize was won by Christ College and second went to NITK's own team. I had an awesome time, sitting right in front of speakers, and thumping along with them. So, this was the story of Inci Day 0. Got lots more to come, the next 4 days. Its Haute Couture - the Inci Fashion Show, but not so many teams coming this time - just 4 or 5 of them.

Btw, I forgot to mention that I'm in the Corporate Hospitality committee for INCI '10. We look after the corporate guests like Pro-nite performers, workshop guys and some judges.

When we were attending the Inaug, our director was the one who announced that Sachin scored 200 in the match against SA. I was totally surprised and shocked. My ears couldn't believe the news. I mean can a guy actually score a double century in ODI. But, if it had to come, it had to be from the maestro. He has all the records to his name now. Let's just wait and watch - Next is What!

Sringeri, Hanuman Gundi and Sirimane Waterfalls

This was like a mini class trip. I was asked if I am interested in coming to Hanuman Gundi falls and I, obviously never miss an opportunity to see new places, and Hanuman Gundi had been on my wishlist for quite sometime now, and what better way to go than with a group of 15 guys. They were me, Aslam, Varun, Mishra, Soumyajit, Sorabh, Pavan, Abhishek, Sethi, Nandu, Priyam, Bharath, Kamath, Sushant and Hemagiri. We started off early in the morning at around 7 o' clock, we hired a mini bus, which had capacity of 15. It was pretty good, had DVD and audio player, and the seats were pretty comfortable. The place is around 2 and a half hours from our college. It falls in Chikmaglore district, and is in the heart of Kudremukh National Park. We took the way from Padubidri, and then NH 17 via Karkala. We stopped just outside Karkala for breakfast. After having breakfast, we stopped to get a pass for entering Kudremukh National Park, which was valid till evening 6 o' clock. Just after around 10 kms from there, we reached our destination - Soothanabbi Falls or more famously known as Hanuman Gundi falls. It is named after Hindu god Hanuman, and Gundi means a deep descent, like a gorge or something. The water falls into this hole, from a height of 22m.

After reaching the falls, we bought entrance ticket of Rs 20, and then we had to go down the steps (around 380 of them). The steps had recently been made, otherwise people had to trek down to see the falls. It was a beautiful sight when we reached down - waterfalls right in middle of the forest. I had read few blogs about this place, some days back, they scared me a lot. They said that the place is infested with honey bees, crabs and snakes. But, none of us found anything close to them. Guess, the developments made way for their extinction from the place. But, nonetheless, it was a really good hangout spot. We had come all prepared - we had towels, extra pair of clothes and inner wears. After taking some snaps of the falls, it was time to get wet. So, I changed into my shorts and jumped into water (not exactly jumped, I exaggerate sometimes). Viewer discretion is advised in some photos, they contain unintentional partial nudity. :D

The water was freezing cold. After shivering in the water for first 5 minutes, I got adjusted to it. The rocks were very slippery, we had to be careful while walking inside the water. We then decided to go near the falls, right under where the water was falling. As we went close, the splashing of water made it even colder. But, standing right under water falling from a height of around 70 ft is something unexplainable. It was an amazing experience. After Sita Falls, this was the second place where I took bath directly under the water falls. We stayed there for sometime, and then relaxed just around the falls sitting on some non-slippery rocks and posing for some photos. After that, some guys discovered a pond on a little lower level of the falls, and decided to swim there. The water was pretty deep over there, and it was uneven too, and since I did not know swimming, I decided to stay out of it. Then, climbing back to top was a pain, it was exhausting. While coming down, I never felt that there were so many steps, but while going up, they were just never ending. Somehow, we made it to top, and then had Puliyogere, a traditional rice made with tamarind. After all the hard work, the food looked too delicious. We didn't care about plates and spoons, had it directly with our hands right from the container. Pavan had got it from his home, and we thanked him for saving our day. Since, it was just 12 o' clock, some of us suggested visiting Sringeri which was just 30 km from there. When asked the gate man of the falls about places to see in Sringeri, he suggested a temple and Sirimane waterfalls.

On the way, we stopped at a place which overlooked a valley and had many shades of mountains visible from it. We took many photos over there, and then headed to Sringeri.

We also found many monkeys on the way, and some of them were funny and candid.

We continued the same NH 13 and reached Sringeri, it is a famous place for Sharadamba Temple, which, they say, is more than a thousand years old. The temple was beautiful, and there were some expansions done to it on the inside and outside. It was very hot and walking bare foot inside was very uncomfortable, there were mats put on some places, which did help a little. All other guys took prasad and applied teeka(kumkum) on their foreheads. Then, we had lunch in the temple itself. The food was very simple - white rice, daal and sambar. Later, we went to a pond which was connected to the temple premises. It was a relief keeping your foot on the water, after walking bare foot in the scorching heat. The pond had insane number of fishes, all of the same kind and almost same sizes. Everyone was feeding them something like roasted rice(murmure/bhel) and some fruits. We didn't have anything, since we never knew something like this existed. One guy who was feeding banana was gracious enough to give us one, which we divided amongst ourselves. He also showed us how to feed it to the fish. I held a small piece of it on the edge of four fingers of my palm, kept it stationary for sometime, and then woah, I get a sudden shock, a sweet one though. A fish just came and grabbed it out of my hand. It didn't have teeth, so it didn't bite, but I got a shock when it clutched my fingers. We thought camera would not be allowed in the temple, so we didn't take one. Although, we realised later that the camera was restricted only inside the temple where the gods were kept. We did take some photos from mobile camera.

Then, we headed off to Sirimane Falls, which is like 13 km from Sringeri on the way back. We had to take a deviation on right on NH 13. The road was very narrow and bumpy too. We paid the entrance fee of Rs 5 and entered the falls. It was just a few steps down. There were too many sounds of people screaming and shouting, and only after reaching down, did we come to know the reason as to why they were so excited. There were these 4 foreigners - 2 guys and 2 girls, who were also present over there. Just to attract them, these guys were over-excited. Okay, lets not deviate from the falls. Sirimane waterfalls was pretty ok, nothing too extra-ordinary. But, the good thing about this falls was that the rocks were not slippery, so some of us found a place under the falls, where we wouldn't get wet. Since, we didn't have much time left, we decided not to take bath and just took some snaps over there, and decided to head off. On the way back climbing the steps, we struck a conversation with the foreigners, they said they were from UK and Australia. They had come in Enfields all the way from Goa. In fact, they bought the bikes in Goa, and rode from there to Karwar, Jog Falls, Sringeri (I remember seeing the same bikes outside the temple) and were here now. There were 3 bikes, which meant that a girl was also riding a bike, well not just a bike, but a 500cc Enfield. I was like WOW.

We left from there by around 4.15 pm and crossed the limits of Kudremukh National Park at

around 5.30 pm (which was well before 6pm). Then, at a place called Bajegoli, we

stopped to prepare Maggi, which we had kept delaying. There was a Jain temple, from where

we could get water. We prepared it just before the sunset and it was just enough to satisfy

the 15 of us. Got tea and coffee from the nearby canteen. Then, we headed back and reached

college by 8'o clock.

The best thing about this trip, for me was that, it was the cheapest one I've

had till now and one of the best day trips. I just spent 300 Rs for the whole trip.

Isn't that awesome! Just 300 bucks for a day full of fun and adventure.

10 Albums to watch out for in 2010

Hey, I just found this article on one of the forums that I visit. Thought, I would share it here. I have lots of expectations from Vishal-Shekhar's and A R Rahman's albums. V-S didn't have much in 2009, just with Aladin, and A R Rahman, after has been quiet after Delhi 6 with just Couples Retreat, Blue and the recent Tamil album Vinaayathandi Varuvaaya. All three of them had some decent compositions, but I'm still not so satisfied with them. Probably because he has raised the bar so much that, we expect a lot from him. Among the other ones, its interesting to see Sanjay Leela Bhansali himself composing the music for Guzaarish. He's been good in the selection of music composers till now, lets see how he selects his tunes this time. Rajesh Roshan hasn't been that good last time, at least with films like Krazzy 4, in which he was alleged for plagiarizing. But, this time its for a Hrithik starrer, so it must be good. Pritam gives a pleasant surprise most of the times, just like how he came up with a complete romantic ballad album in Tum Mile, it definitely counts in his best, with the likes of Life in a Metro. Even Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani had some nice compositions, so lets see how his albums would be.

This article is by Joginder Tuteja,

Whatever be the fate of Bollywood films year after year, there is always something consistent about the world of films and that happens to be it's music. 2009 saw quite a few good soundtracks hitting the stands and 2010 should be no exception with number of diverse films spread across genres. While 2009 was dominated by Pritam, 2010 is pretty much setting the stage for number of top line composers with Vishal-Shekhar and Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy also joining in. A.R. Rahman is expected to continue his good work; Rajesh Roshan would be back as well while Himesh Reshammiya is expected to churn out his yearly hit. Meanwhile, expect a few surprises from the likes of Salim-Sulaiman as well as new finds Sachin & Jigar. Joginder Tuteja brings to you 10 most anticipated albums of 2010 (in alphabetical order) that should see an all around popularity in months to come.

Action Replayy (Pritam)

Pritam is expected to carry forward the great run that he has been enjoying during last 3-4 years. Action Replayy is also special because it brings together the hit team of Vipul Shah, Akshay Kumar and Pritam together after Singh Is Kinng. Vipul has been known for roping in different composers for each of his films, whether it was Aankhen (Jatin-Lalit, Aadesh Srivastava), Waqt - Race Against Time (Anu Malik) or Namastey London (Himesh Reshammiya). However, after London Dreams (Shankar Ehsaan Loy), he has gone back to Pritam and in the process repeated a composer for the first time ever.

Anjaana Anjaani (Vishal Shekhar)

Vishal and Shekhar were quiet all through 2009 with Aladin (for which they composed a couple of years back) being their sole release of the year. However, it was for a reason since they were getting bigger things in place for entire 2010. The year should begin with Anjaana Anjaani and it has all the right reasons to be mighty successful. Reason being that in Siddharth Anand's Bachna Ae Haseeno and Salaam Namaste, they gave some real good melodies even though Ta Ra Rum Pum was a step behind. Now with Ranbir Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra forming the film's cast, it is but obvious that the composer duo would push themselves further for this Sajid Nadiadwala production.

Guzaarish (Sanjay Leela Bhansali)

He didn't quite make history with the music of Saawariya. However, the reputation that Sanjay Leela Bhansali carries ever since the days of Khamoshi, Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam and Devdas means that the man is expected to deliver goods in a big way with Guzaarish. Since he has himself decided to hold the baton for the music of this Hrithik Roshan - Aishwarya Rai starrer as the composer, the excitement is palpable. Expect the man with a vision of his own to surprise and reinvent filmmaking as well as music all over again with Guzaarish.

Housefull (Shankar Ehsaan Loy)

This is one 'houseful' affair waiting to happen. Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy may not have created a blockbuster score in 2009 but they did deliver good quality music all through the year. Sajid Khan directed Housefull is touted to be that BIG project for the composer trio where they are expected to go all out in getting a huge commercial soundtrack in place. With a huge star cast to boast of and Sajid's eye for mass appeal to vouch for, Housefull is expected to be the first musical success for Akshay Kumar in 2010.

I Hate Luv Stories (Vishal Shekhar)

Sheer volume of albums being churned out by Vishal-Shekhar in 2010 indicates that this could well be their year after a rather dull 2009. Not restricted to working in any fixed camps, the composer duo is smartly balancing work across different filmmakers. For this Karan Johar production, they are expected to create a peppy rom-com outing (going with the genre of the film). Coming together of Imran Khan and Sonam Kapoor is enticing enough and icing on the cake would be music by Vishal and Shekhar that should keep the flag high for them all through the year.

Kajraare (Himesh Reshammiya)

His Radio may have sunk at the box office but it's music was much appreciated right till it's release. As a composer he has not let down even once and there is no reason why Kajraare should be any different. Moreover, since he joins hands with Bhatts (who have a rather impressive track record as far as their musical outings are concerned), Himesh is expected to put in double the effort for Kajraare. This time around though, Himesh would certainly be hoping that his good luck with music rubs on his foray into acting as well.

Kites (Rajesh Roshan)

Hrithik Roshan. Rakesh Roshan. Rajesh Roshan. Need one say more about this combination? Their soundtrack for Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai may stay on to be their best while Krrish wasn't exactly the kind of outing that met sky high expectations of their fans and followers. Still, Roshans are a brand together and that should get wheels moving for Kites as well. Also, a fact that cannot be ignored is the involvement of director Anurag Basu whose taste in music won't raise any doubts. Remember Life In A Metro, Gangster and Murder?

Ra. 1 (Vishal Shekhar)

Ra. 1 may or may not release in 2010 but if it indeed does then this could well be a film to watch out for. Vishal and Shekhar have been known for their consistency and their penchant for doing limited but quality projects is helping them build a unique branding for themselves. With Shah Rukh Khan, they have made Om Shanti Om while with director Anubhav Sinha they have made some rocking tracks in Dus and much ignored Cash. Ra. 1 is just the kind of assignment that could redefine the musical scene as the first decade of the new millennium comes to an end.

Raavan (A. R. Rahman)

From a techno Ra 1, it's time to jump on to mythical Raavan with A.R. Rahman promising a lot for this Mani Ratnam directed modern day tale. From Dil Se to Yuva to Guru, Rahman has always delivered the best for Ratnam and expectations are gargantuan from this Abhishek Bachchan-Aishwarya Rai Bachchan starrer. The soundtrack is expected to be attached to the roots and set in a characteristic Indian backdrop. From the Oscar award composer, Raavan would be one of the biggest efforts to watch out for in 2010.

Tees Maar Khan (Vishal Shekhar & Pritam)

Tees Maar Khan is all set to arrive by the end of this year. With Farah Khan joining hands with Vishal-Shekhar once again after Om Shanti Om and Akshay Kumar bringing on his star quotient and a strong music sense intact, Tees Maar Khan is a big project waiting to explode. Expect a 100% masala outing sans any pretence in the music of Tees Maar Khan that should keep the lovers of mass commercial Bollywood soundtracks happy.

A Day of Firsts

Yesterday was a day of firsts for me. For the first time, after failing in so many aptitude tests, I got through an apti for interview. It was my first interview, and I was so nervous, and the worst part , I didn't know what to say. I hadn't prepared for it, although I wanted to. The company was L&T ECC Division, they said that they would take 4 or 5 candidates for sure now, while among the remaining, they'll inform the ones they want later, after they do an all-India level selection. So, that means I still have a chance, but my interview was very bad. Since, it was a core company, they asked everything technical, there wasn't a single HR related question. My interview was the shortest. Every other guy they took interview for around 15 minutes, but mine was only for 5-10 minutes. For some reason, everyone's interview was bad, one guy was just sitting their and screwing our case. After all this, finally 4 guys from civil - Aslam(the topper), Varun(another topper), Fayas(smart fuck) and AK(another smart fuck), and 1 from mechanical were selected.

Before the interview, we found an owl on the way. I don't know how it ended up there, but it was beautiful. I think this was the first time I saw an owl, from this close and that too, uncaged. It was a real cute creature, and it didn't even do anything when I touched it. It was a beauty. While returning from the interview later, I tried to look for it, but I couldn't find it. Managed to take some photos of it, here they are:

January Track-list

Ok, this is how its gonna be - every month I'll release a list of the songs played most by me, during that particular time. I shall do it, by the end of that month, or max by the first week of next month. The playlist will include songs from everywhere, that I come across and get addicted to. I'm pretty late for this. But, I still want to keep a list of the best songs that I've heard in a particular month, and since, the year's just started, I wanna include a list for Jan too. Here, goes the Jan list (in no particular order):

1. Kesha - Tik Tok:

I started listening to this in December, but this was that perfect New Years' Eve song. This was the first single from her debut album Animal, which otherwise has not so good compositions.

2. Owl City - Fireflies, Vanilla Twilight and Hello Seattle(Remix):

Owl City is one artist that I got completely hooked onto after watching Fireflies video, and then discovering some other songs of his. Fireflies has everything perfect - lyrics, the syntho-pop music and the video. Vanilla Twilight is a beautiful composition - yearning for the one who isn't with you, and still putting it so beautifully in a happy way. Hello Seattle (remix) has nice beats, and catches pace as it progresses.

3. My Name is Khan - Tere Naina, Noor-e-Khuda:

The problem with MNIK soundtrack is that, most of the songs sound similar, in terms of music and even lyrics. But, Tere Naina and Noor-e-Khuda, still stand out, to certain extent. Tere Naina's is crooned by Shafqat Amanat Alis' vocals. Noor-e-Khuda is pleasant, again because of the trio of Shankar-Adnan-Shreya.

4. Striker - Cham Cham, Bombay Bombay:

This is one album, with which I'd no expectations at all, and never even knew about this film, but after seeing names like Amit Trivedi, Yuvan Shankar and Vishal Bhardwaj on the credits list, I was compelled to listen. Cham Cham has Sonu Niigaam at his best, after so many days, the lyrics are equally pleasing. Bombay bombay has a catchy tune, and the tapori one-liners about Bombay just make it more worth to listen to.

5. Karthik Calling Karthik - Hey Ya, Uff Teri Ada:

Hey Ya starts off really well, with vocals by Clinton Cerejo, in English, and then holds on to it till the end. Uff Teri Ada works wonders because of Shankar's and Alyssa Mendosa's vocals, it gets you in trance mood.

6. Toh Baat Pakki - Phir Se:

The only song that I liked from this film. The first version is by Sonu Niigaam, but the second one, by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, is much better.

7. 3OH3! - Starstrukk (feat Katy Perry):

The song isn't that great, but there is still something, that keeps me hooked on to it. Its probably the lyrics or the video. Just something, I still can't figure out well.

8. Edwar Maya - Stereo Love Extended (feat Alicia):

This song is definitely one addiction. I've heard it like a zillion times already. Some guys have actually started hating it, because it was played so many times. And they hold me responsible for making it popular among some other friends who are hooked onto it. The tune is just magical, especially the part when the saxophone kind of instrument comes into action.

9. Jay Z feat Alicia Keys - Empire State of Mind:

I started liking this song, after seeing its video so many times on VH1. The tunes catchy, and Alicia Keys makes it special.

10. Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya(Tamil) - Omana Penne:

I can't believe I just liked one song from an A R Rahman album. But, seriously, the others didn't appeal that much to me. Benny Dayal sounds sweet here.

11. Kedi(Telugu) - Short and Sweet:

Sandeep Chowta himself gives vocals, and yeah the song is not so short, but definitely sweet.

12. Michael Buble - Whatever It Takes and Haven't Met You Yet:

Michael Buble chooses the right words to express the right feelings. And he's so good in executing them. Both of the songs are pretty good.

13. Karl Wolf - Carrera and Yalla habibi (feat Rime and Kaz Money):

Both are catchy hip-hop/ RnB numbers by the Canadian Lebanese artist. Yalla Habi has a video shot in Dubai.

14. Sona - Pass Aao:

This song is yet to release, but I loved it the first time I heard it on Close-up ad, and then later on when Sona performed it on MTV Desi Beats Rock On! I just love the vocals of Sona.

15. Rihanna - Russian Roulette:

This is not the same hip-hop Rihanna. Her vocals are deep and touching. The video is equally compelling.

16. Ronald Jenkees - Throwing Fire, Outer Space:

This guy is really talented, I have already posted an article on him.

17. Just Maat Maathalli(Kannada) - Baanina Haniyu, Ee Kannali:

Raghu Dixit is just awesome in this album. I've loved most of the tracks that he has made till now, including his album Antaragni and some other Kannada tracks. This is one addition to them. He sings both of them, and does good job.

My Name is Khan - Beautifully Crafted, SRK at his best!

The one mistake that I did, for this movie, was that I went with high expectations. Well, I don't say it was bad, but if I had gone blank, I'd have been more satisfied. The movie kicks off with SRK being detained in the airport, for chanting and acting weird by Security officials. After being released, SRK looks back at his life, and writes his whole journey in a diary, addressing Mandira (Kajol), his wife. He then begins his journey to meet the President of US, to say that he is a Muslim and, he is not a terrorist. Since, he suffers from Asperger's Syndrome, he finds difficulty in interacting with people, can't tolerate noisy environment and is scared of yellow color. In the first half, when Khan works for his brother Zakir, in selling beauty products, he was so sweet and honest, that I came up with the tagline - Rizwan Khan - Salesman of the Year. Well, I won't go much into the whole story in here. But, it basically deals with the condition of Muslims pre-9/11 and post-9/11, as is mentioned in the movie, just like how B.C. and A.D. were made. The subject is dealt with maturity, and is really heart-touching at many places. Karan Johar finally gets out of the lovey-dovey cinema into sensible one. And, what a way to begin. He has kept in mind with many finer details, considering the verses from Holy Qura'an, even Hadith, for that matter. I do wonder, if non-Muslims will understand them, but they've been dealt keeping everyone in mind. One friend of mine asked me, as to why SRK carries stones all the time with him, which I replied him, was for chanting verses from Quran, called Tazbih. The second half gets a bit draggy, but its not boring at any instance, though.

The thing which I really liked was the casting - Zarina Wahab, Sonya Jehan, Jimmy Shergill, Tanay Chedda - all perfectly suited in their roles. Kajol is always so natural, she delivers it with so much ease. Its such a pleasure watching her after so many days. Shah Rukh delivers one of the best performances of his career, the one with the likes of his Chak De and Swades performance. No one else would've been able to do this, other than him. With the collections rising everywhere throughout the world, this movie is gonna go real big, and very far. FOX Pictures, Karan Johar and Red Chillies have definitely got it right this time. I'd give it a rating of 3.75/5. I hope no one minds .25 denominations. :)

MNIK/SRK Triumphs

After the heated dispute between Bal Thackerey and SRK, that too for no reason, finally MNIK releases today. Ok, now lets look at what actually happened. SRK just expressed his view that Pakistani players should be allowed to play IPL Season 3, which sounds pretty normal to me, as it happened in the season 1 too. I mean its not like we are asking the terrorists to come and play, its just cricket players after all, just like everyone from other nationalities and faiths. But I don't know what Mr. Thackerey interpret it to, that he demanded an apology from SRK, which clearly he is not interested in. So, all Shiv Sena supporters went on a rampage against SRK, MNIK, Karan and anything vaguely related with the film. But, amongst all these controversies, the film was released today. And, the film opened to full house everywhere in India. Well, not just in India, it got a spectacular response even in Berlin Festival. Everyone loved the film, and the way it was dealt with the subject. Personally, I haven't seen the film yet (which I plan to do this week Inshaallah), and nor am I such a big fan of SRK or KJo, but I'd want the film to do well, just to prove a point to the freaks over here in states like Maharashtra, Karnataka and alike, that India is a democratic place and everyone has freedom to express what they like. They can't just disrupt peace by their amateur thinking and actions. I was happy to hear that most of the multiplexes were screening MNIK in Mumbai, and to the surprise of Shiv Sena, they were running packed, with advance bookings also going full. Way to go, SRK. We all are with you. And just for the record, I want to close the post with this "My name is Mohammed, and I'm not a terrorist".

May his soul Rest in Peace

Its the worst thing to happen right when you wake up and come to know that someone has passed away. Just after I woke up today, I came to know that DD's and Dinesh's dad expired due to a cardiac arrest, even though he didn't have any history of it. Both the brothers are among my best buddies in the college. Its a sad demise, indeed. His age was somewhere around 60-65. Both the brothers left to Bombay, where there elder brother stays. I couldn't even meet them before going. This is probably their worst time and I just hope that it passes as soon as it can. May God give them the strength to carry on. Some of our friends have gone for the funeral from college to Palakkad. The body is yet to be brought from Dubai to India. Sometimes, I just don't get it. Even in the worst time, you have to be patient to clear all the formalities, even for a person's death. All I can hope for is that, it reaches here in time and, may his soul Rest in Peace.

A trip to Munnar - One of the wonders of God's Own Country

Before reading the post, keep these points in mind:

Some things about the post:

- its written in a very informal language, so please don't mind, if you come across some grammatical errors.

- I've tried to include most of the things which occurred, in case I've missed some, do excuse me for that.

- Sorry for the photos scattered here and there, too lazy to sit and edit them.

Some things to know about Kerala:

- always go with a friend who is a Keralite or at least knows Malayalam, because its very difficult to make conversation otherwise, as most of them know nothing other than Malayalam.

- look out for some beautiful mosques and churches, as they keep coming, at a distance of every kilometer or so.

- you'll find ads only of gold jewelers and sarees on the way.

The main motive of this semester for me was to visit as many new places as possible. So, when I heard that Rotaract Club was going on a trip to Munnar, I requested them to put my name also in the list. And that was an awesome decision. All the arrangements, regarding the transportation, stay and the local sight seeing, were done by the Presi Sourabh. And there were totally around 30 guys and 10 girls. I didn't many guys from the club, except for my juniors and few other batch mates. But, by end of the trip, I was befriend with most of the them. There was so much in the trip, its hard to recapitulate the fine details. But, I will still go through the whole journey, whatever I remember.

We boarded the Mangalore-Thiruvananthapuram Express at 1840 from Mangalore Junction. The train journey was fun. Me and Poo slept for an hour or so, in the start, but after that we were fresh, and we went to meet our juniors and other guys. We found them playing cards and joined them. We played poker, UNO, trumps, etc. Then, we had dinner and, just when we started playing cards again, the TTE told us to stop, since it was already past midnight, and we had to go back to our seats(which were all scattered here and there). We reached Aluwa at around 0350 hours, after a delay of an hour or so. On the way, we saw Cochin Int'l Airport from the train. Our bus was ready, and we boarded it to Munnar at around 0410 hours. It was a pretty decent bus, with 2 and 3 seaters. Guys in the back starting rolling. Some started dancing to Sexy Bitch, which was in turn declared as the Roto Anthem, as it played most of the time, and we were so sick and tired of it. Anyways, the journey was pretty good. On the way, I saw some beautiful mosques and churches. We stopped at a place at around 0600 hours for tea. I had black tea, it was decent(for 3 Rs). As the sun rose, the road turned out to be really beautiful, there were awesome valleys, tea plantations and waterfalls on the way. And yeah, the hoardings, how can I forget about them, every other hoarding would be either of gold jeweler or a Saree shop. If not them, then a poster of Mohan Lal or Mammooty would turn up. We reached Munnar at around 0900 hours, and our hotel's name was SN Annex. The rooms were pretty decent, but it was freaking cold over there. We had to remove our jackets and sweaters, to cover ourselves up. We got refreshed in the hotel, and were then on our way to explore Munnar. I'd started liking the place there itself, because of its weather and the scenic beauty.

Day 1:

Then we went to this huge dam (I forgot the name) which was in a place called Mattupatty. There was an elephant camp there, but none of us were interested in an elephant ride, so we just stopped there, took photos and left to our next destination. Our next stop was at a boating park. There was speedboating over there for a group of 5 in each, apart from a platoon ride for 10 people. We guys selected our group of 5 and went for speedboating. It was a fun ride, the valleys and the tea gardens looked beautiful, and the boat driver would occasionally surprise with a tilt and splash of water. It was for 10-15 minutes. After that, we guys just chilled out for sometime over there, since other guys were still getting there boat rides. In that time, some guys came up with an imaginary subdivision of Roto Club, called PMR (perverted members of roto), by looking at the chics at that place and rating them out of 10. Then we guys left for another dam called Kundla Dam, where, yet again there was boating, but pedal boating and Kashmiri Shikkaras, this time. We just took some photos over there, and had lunch. The bread omelette in that place was awesome. We also tried passion fruit, and I absolutely loved it, I had like 4 or 5 of them for myself. Then, we bought some home-made chocolates and marsh-mellows from there, which were pretty good. After that, we left to a place called Echo-point, and there was pedal-boating over there too. Some of us did boating here, whereas rest of us just sat in the bus. Later, we left back to hotel, relaxed for sometime, before we were served dinner, courtesy - the hotel where we were staying. Then, we had camp-fire at supposedly a park(which wasn't at all like one) planned for the night. At around 2100 hours, we took multiple trips in auto and left for that place. It was freezing cold by then. It was totally not like a camp-fire, but we still enjoyed whatever it was. The music wasn't that great, and there was another group (who were supposed to be after us) which was just staring at us dance. We stayed there till like 2230 hours, and then we had Innova arranged for our return to hotel. That night, I had an awesome sleep. It was cold, cozy and comfortable, because we had the necessary supply of blankets(thankfully). Me, Poo, Shaun and Andrew all slept on the bed.

Day 2:

It was difficult waking up in the morning, with the conditions we're under. It was too cold to leave the bed, and we hadn't slept for the past two nights, and we were tired. But we still managed to wake up by around 0830 hours, freshened up and had breakfast. Then, we vacated our rooms in an hour, and left for a trek to tea gardens in the nearby valley. It was situated beside a dam, and the location was beautiful. We guys started our trek over there, and after reaching like quarter of the hill, we decided that we have to reach the summit. We didn't take the easier path, but we took the harder way of climbing through the tea plantations, it wasn't that difficult, since you always had strong branches of the tea plants to catch, in case you slipped or something. The trek was tiring, but reaching the top and just resting for sometime over there made us fresh again. We took lots of photos over there. And there was just one girl, who made it till the top with us - Snehal, hats off to her. And thank god, she came, because, she was the only one who had camera amongst us. And she didn't mind taking photos of us, some of partial nudity too. Then, we took the easier way back down. Then, we guys thought of skipping the lunch, since most of us were interested in having a sumptuous meal, as we were going to Cochin, and what better than something finger lickin' good - yeah KFC is what I'm talking about. We reached Cochin and headed off straight to KFC, whereas some veggies from the group decided to go to Marine Drive, instead of joining us. We had two buckets over there of 20 pieces, shared by four guys. After that, some guys wanted to do sheesha, so we found a place for it, where we could even watch a very important football match between Chelsea and Arsenal. We watched till the first half and then headed for the station, since we had to catch our train back. Train journey this time was not so great, we just had to go back and sleep, since it was already pretty late and we had our seats scattered all over, and most of them were either in upper or middle berth. We reached back to Mangalore at 0900 hours.

Some things which I might have forgotten:

- Sexy Bitch (by David Guetta feat Akon) was officially declared as the anthem of Roto, since it played so many times in the bus. And, Ranjhani, my civil junior, was given the title of the song, since she would dance to it for all the times it was being played.

- Whole bus journey, we had just one audio cd (with around 18 tracks) which kept repeating all the time.

- By the end of the trip, there were number of groups formed amongst us - Team A was headed by the presi Sourabh himself, which included all the north Indians, Team B included some of us, and Team C were the remaining random ones.

- I made so many new friends during the trip, and I got close to many of my juniors, and so many of them were so much of fun, like Bhowmik, Ramsel, Jeeva and all.

- Overall, this was one of the best trips I have had in my college.