The Knight Riders' Diwali 2009

*Foreword: The post is to be enriched by pictures. It can be done only when the virus on our group photographers' computer, will decide to migrate! Currently, the virus is enjoying the Diwali, but sending out 'Happy Valentine's day' to all.

17th Oct 2009... 23:00hrs... It was time to leave from 'Albela', a local Chinese outlet, when we observed that Ravi is blessed with a baby bike (Honda Unicorn - 150 cc - Jet Black color). My Pulsar and his Unicorn, both black, were going side by side, and the photographer (a.k.a. Aarti Iyer, in the real world) exclaimed - "It just seems like an excerpt from the Goa Trip".

My crazy head spun at this remark, and I said (while we are still on 45kmph speed - well thats what Ravi's bike limit is, for the first 1000km) - "You know what. This will be a crazy thing, that you'll remember we'd done together. Lets go to Juhu Beach". At this remark, the bike speed decreased exponentially to 0 mark. After convincing our Jerry (Chin2) [We missed you Tom] to join us, he needed 30minutes to do his needful - eat, after having Diwali snacks, sweets, a cola, and a soup!

30 minutes then, two bikers with plain shorts, two helmets head-on together, and a snap started our celebration. Here was the plan, that we came up with:

• Its 00:00hrs already, and we need to find a few fuljharis on the way.
  
• Lets get to Juhu Beach, and celebrate Diwali by lighting the fuljharis.
  
• On our way back, hit Anna's coffee (also known as 'tapri' coffee).

A simple, yet enjoyable plan it turned out to be indeed!

Hitting the highway, within a tolerable limit of 45kmph, we took snaps on the way with a snap that I'd rather delete! Chin2, I am going to kill you! We photographed Amitabh's two bungalows too, which was decorated quite well.

And at 01:00hrs, we found it! Just across the road, lied a fireworks shop. Of all the things that have been invented in the crackers world, we selected the good old fuljharis!

We reached Juhu beach @ around 01:05hrs, and were surprised to learn that it is indeed a crowded place! So, there we stood, in front of the waves, lighting fuljharis against the wind! (Chin2 was the matchbox man or the ignitor, and the matchbox was borrowed from some1, which we didn't return). I don't know whom more to thank, the camera, or the photographer, who made us look simply excellent. God bless them both. The fuljharis motion could be captured, and it will definitely look photoshopped, when I publish them. After several individual pics (one with Ravi's a** on fire), it was time for a group photo. And we were damn scared whom to hand over the precious camera to, and the situation worsened when I recalled an incident where in the street guy fled away with the camera! We finally got a person to do the job. Can you guess who could it be? The most trustworthy person - a lady cop! Yup! She had come us to shooo us away, when we politely handed over the camera, and snap! What a pic it was! Really memorable!

And on our way back, we hit Inorbit Mall at around 02:15hrs (Thank Chin2, the navigator), and we could find our best dinner place! Anna's cycle! Wanna know the menu items, that are sold on a cycle? Here it is:

• Idli Chutney
• Coffee, Tea, Boost
• (Boost + Coffee) --> Customized Menu, which we enjoyed --> We name it "Anna's Moccacino"

And believe me, it was the best food, that we had in months! Awesome taste!
We bade our good-byes, and were off to home..

Well, that's all folks, that was our Diwali 2009! A simple way of celebrating Diwali, in a special way!

Two fuljharis, friends, a nice place to celebrate, that's all we need, to celebrate the festival of light! Go ahead people, celebrate it!

P.S.:
Ajay, we missed you... rather... you missed it!

My trip to Bali!

Thanks, God!

I got to see Bali, and it was awesome!

I thought, I would roll out a blog on Bali.
So, I created many things:

1. Bali Travel Guide - Click Here to download it!
2. If you want to get to Bali, here is the Read me blog - http://culturalbaliblog.blogspot.com/2009/10/cultual-bali-readme-blog.html
3. Here are the pictures - http://picasaweb.google.com/reachmanav/TripToBaliOct200902#
4. Some very interesting things I came across are here - http://culturalbaliblog.blogspot.com/2009/10/interesting-things-at-bali.html

Its a paradise to be!

Luwak Coffee

Foreword:
This blog is dedicated to all those coffee lovers out there, who are just taking another sip of their favorite drink, while reading this blog. All the non-coffee lovers, do not read this blog, while eating/drinking; you might just puke on the screen.

So, where do you think the most expensive coffee comes from? Italian? French? Arabic? Kenyan? Nah... Actually, it comes from Indonesia! And it can cost you as high as $600 for a pound.
And yes, I did manage to buy, a small fraction, of it!

Apart from the cost factor, the interesting part is the source of the coffee.
Non-coffee lovers, just back out right NOW.

Ok.. here's the deal.. just read the attached picture

To your left is the derivation description, the center shows the actual Luwak's coffee-xxxx, and the right shows the bottle, after processing!


And so, you surely have to be a coffee lover, to drink that sip!

Interesting ideas to encourage voting

The Maharashtra State Assembly Elections are round the corner... and memories from the elections, earlier this year crossed my mind; especially TATA's jaagore.com initiative. It seemed to be a major youth awareness in a long time. But inspite of their sincere efforts, only a few people turned up, and majority, enjoyed it as a holiday.

So, here's my version of as usual, stupid ideas to encourage voting:

• Give away 1kg of free sugar, to whoever comes to vote. This will surely encourage many you-know-who.
• Make all the theater shows tax-free on the E-day, only after you show your voting mark.
  
• Perform lucky draws on the candidates who come to vote, and give away free vouchers, from the sponsorers. You can do so much to promote our own governmental services. (Free IRCTC Bharat Darshan voucher for family of 4, Khadi Gram Udyog Vouchers, Taj Hotels Spa Voucher, Years supply of Amul products, Detergent supplies, 3 nights and 4 days stay @ wherever, Watches,...)
• Lucky draws and the family gets to meet the President/Prime-Minister, gets to see the navy dockyard, or a chance to meet the military.
• Organize elections in malls (or open grounds), as everyone's found here, on a holiday.
• Organize elections in open grounds and lets re-create and re-live, that mela like culture again. Giant Wheel, flavored ice, and Candy Floss...
• Show only Rakhi Sawant shows through out the day on the Television. This will encourage my next point.
  

All said and done, consider the paradox in my mind...
Now:
People voting - about 40% of the total population
People voting (without any candidate/party research) - 20% (aka Blind votes)
People voting (with minimum candidate/party research) - 10% (includes me)
People voting (who actually eye the correct vision of the candidate/party) - 5%
Also, Probability that the correct candidate is chosen AND he actually does what he's supposed to = 1% (excludes any environmental and econimical breakdowns, which worsens the process)
If:
We have 100% Voting, and if everyone comes to vote, I am quite sure that there will be more BLIND Votes, than the current ratio, which would influence wrong candidate/party coming into power, and... damn!!! I should definitely stop thinking, for a while!

[at] 25 !!!

Always wanted to do this... Just 25 min to go though ... so ppl please ignore errors, if any... There will be many...

Will be mostly like Rapid Fires:

BEGINning on a serious note...

NULL;

END; /* Just today wrote a PL/SQL block */

Birthdays After joining 'Nirvana':

• 24-Sep-2006 - In a party with Friends (Also, lost my Nokia 3300, first mobile phone)
  
• 24-Sep-2007 - Bday@Jakarta.
  
• 24-Sep-2008 - Bday@Vietnam.
  
• 24-Sep-2009 - Bday@Jakarta.

What after 25 more years?
Well, if everything goes well, a restaurant @ Mumbai, where I will prepare 'Chef's special' every evening.
Rest of the time, would like to have a small fan club and just blog!!!
That's retirement plan! World's best job, as it is rightly said...

What drives you?
IT humor, and the fact that I actually get paid for doing that.

Whom do I idealize?
Scott Adams (The Dilbert Guy). Follow him blindly. He's our GOD, if you are in IT industry. Read - THE DILBERT PRINCIPLE.

My best slogans: # All are copied from somewhere #

• No one knows what I do, until I stop doing it.
  
• Success means, never having to wear a shirt!
• IT PREAMBLE
  ===========
  "We the Unwilling, lead by the Unknowing, are doing the Impossible for the Ungrateful. We have done so much for so long, with so little knowledge that we will one day qualify to do anything with knowing Nothing."
• Water is good for you. Unless you're at the bottom of the ocean with an anchor tied to your ankle. Teamwork is like that.
• Home is where the .bashrc is
  

A birthday gift you always wanted:
Well, believe or not, I am trying to do this from a long time. Get 7 black plain t-shirts, and get the following printed, one note each:

• Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday & Saturday :P

But my MOM ain't gonna allow this :)
But I've more than 39 black T-shirts now in my closet!

Dream Sunday, may be 10 years from now?

Get up @ 8.45 am in the morning... Call up 2 of my best friends... Find out the matinee movie being played in the nearby theater; while cursing 'em for being Kumbhkarans... Complete daily chores (includes 'bath'), and walk out of my house, tricking my mom to NOT know that I did not have that glass of milk, wearing shorts (may be the best brand) and a simple T-shirt... riding that lovely bike of mine... may be doing a Swades...

After the movie, discussing the movie, as we used to, a few years back, in the PG, playing Table Tennis...

One Samosa Pav and then the amazing AAREY Lassi (whose taste is the same from last 10 years) ...

And then running back home for lunch... Yeah... You cannot miss this!

A nice Vietnamese Coffee in the evening should conclude it!

Well, did someone exclaim that we would be married?
The trick is to sacrifice our cars for 'em, and ask 'em to what women do best... Shopping!!!


P.S.:

• Retirement job (Chef's special and blogging) does not mean the IT industry bores me. I just love the IT world.
  
• Nearby theater means the one having lowest fare, with lowest crowd; where you can actually by pop corn, @ pop corn rates.
  
• Asking them to shop implies that they'll bargain (some peace for our soul).
• For all the enthusiasts ( I know there would be none), here's my current contact: +62-87886078609.

There's a surprise waiting for me, back @ home in Mumbai... but no one would tell me, what it would be...

When I look back at any point of my life, I will definitely remember these 25 wonderful years... A toddler just born... who cut his birthday cake with friends, when he was 1... who required help from mom and dad both for oil, tie and shoes... who looked more into the clock than his books for the clock to strike 4:30pm, to play until 7... who then went ahead to use a fountain pen... went to the college, using Mumbai Local trains... who bunked lectures for canteen... loved Mithibai College... who made decision to take up Computer Engineering, just because he may have a computer... to the engineer Don Bosco shaped... learned from DUCS (DBIT Union of Computer Scoiety) ... to an IT fresher... to understand the business processes... who then stepped first time on the plane... who grew into who people call a IT professional... to what I am, commenting on everything the life showed me...

Ten Travels of my professional self

How ever, one (read 'I' ) may blame one's workplace, I am what I am, and what I am is because of my first and current work place.

Well, I have to confess that I am a lucky lad! While possessing no special *skills* whatsoever, it seems I was the chosen one. Customer Travels, formed an integral part to shape my personality that exists today. I have had the opportunity to travel 10 times (of which 9 were international), the log of which I constantly update and share with Ajay and Nirav (very few {only} of the real names that you'll ever find in my posts. Thanks mates!)

Cities visited (in ASC order of where first visited):
- Jakarta, Indonesia. [Count=3]
- Singapore [only a few hours...]
- Larnaca, Cyprus. [Count=1]
- Hanoi, Vietnam. [Count=2]
- Malaysia [only a few hours...]
- Hyderabad [Count=1] ... Well, I consider this to be international :)
- Dublin, Ireland. [Count=2]
- Pune. [Final_Count=1] ... Local onsite < style="font-style: italic;">Nirvanas (codenamed of course)? How to behave, and whom to talk, were his biggest problems then... he even confused the domestic airport with the international one, for God's sake!

Well, I have just loved every place I have been to. However, Indonesia remains a special one, being my first travel, and Vietnam, the most adventurous of all...

Immense confidence is what I have gained...
Have opened up my mind in real sense...
Have unlearned to learn...
Changed my definition of good and bad...
Adapted... Restructured...Revised...

If you met me three years ago, then hey... its time for a new introduction! From you waiting for an introduction from someone, to you introducing your peers... From a Yes Sir... No Sir... kind to a fundae philospher... From just a plain listener to a strategic dictator (too many exaggerated adjectives, ahem!)... its been an amazing journey!

And why am I writing all this? Coz, a lot of memories are springing back to life... my tenth coincides with my first ... as I am currently *back* to Jakarta!

P.S.:
Next Post - My first travel!

A must read - God's Debris

Everytime, I find something interesting, I end up promoting it so blindly, that people think I work on commission!

So, in relation to some conversation, I suggested the book - God's Debris, by author Scott Adams (of Dilbert fame), to two people whom I happen to know. Of which, he finished reading 80-pages (the book is just 131 pages), and could read no further.

The preface of the book is most important:
1. This is not a Dilbert book.
2. Might Hurt religious sentiments and understandings.

Its a nice read, which questions God's existence, his omnipotence! One indeed, needs to keep an open mind while reading this book. It took me one flight, and two lazy Saturday afternoons to finish this 135-paged book for the 3rd time.

After all, there is only one Avatar at a time!