MUA : Lakshadweep

We'd been trips of all kinds..
Bike trips..
Car trips..
Bus trips..
Train trips..
Plane trips !
But then, are we missing something ?!
Yes, a ship trip ! But why did we miss it ?
Probably 'coz Bangalore doesnt have a sea port.
And that, possibly is 'coz Bangalore doesnt have sea around it!
(wow.. interesting revelations!!)

Lakshadweep!
Land of clear sky and clear see.
Yes, this time around the MUA-ns went to L'deep.
Leaving the edge of India (visualize a map of the Indian subcontinent) for the first time !
Four of us -> Sand, Binoy, Shobin and me.
Diwali - The right time to go on an outing.

Now this is the plan:
Friday evening : Bus from Blr to Kochi
Saturday evening : Ship from Kochi to L'deep
Sunday full day : @ L'deep
Sunday evening : Ship from L'dep to Kochi
Monday evening : Bus from Kochi to Blr

Since all the bookings were done well in advance by Sand, there were no problems at all, at any stage of the trip.
Friday evening. I jumped out of a training session, reached home, packed and left home with Bin.
Reached majestic by 4.45PM. After being chased by a few 'bullets' at the bus stand, located Sand at the bus station. Bin had started photo session long before...
Now, the bus starts at 6PM, and there is no sign of Sho. No answer at his mobile too.. Finally he called us up, and said he has reached majestic. Spotted him from the crowd.

The Rajahamsa journey was good.. Nice cozy seat.. Blaupunkt speakers right above your head. (Those were just dummy pieces i guess) :-D
But there was one guy who sat on the other side of the walk-way.. He was talking non-stop over the phone - a fancy mobile set. Now, its time to sleep, and this guy is talking about the cultural apathy of the Egyptian tribes. Time to put an end to it... Just as we were looking for a point of intrusion, he started laughing at one of his own 'jokes'. In split second, he saw 4 more ppl joining him in his laugh.. The laugh was so loud and distinct that the fellow stopped the call abruptly. Hence forth, he was seen messaging, and no more talking :-))
Mission accomplished. Buhahaha.

Reached Angamali by around 7 in the morning. Sand's dad was waiting for us in their brand new Ford ikon. He knows all of us - except Bin. Thats probably 'coz Bin is first time into an MUA.
At home, freshened up, had yummy b'fast and left for Kochi.
Got the tickets from the counter, packed some goodies for eating from ship, and boarded the ship at 3PM. Ship is scheduled to leave only by 4.30PM.

If you are going in a ship, you will be told that you will get dizzy, and vomiting sensation during the journey. Even we were told.. Bin's bro is a homeopathy doc. We called him up and got some medicine prescribed - tabacum. That typical micro sized white golis. Tastes yummy :-)

The interior of the ship is like that of an airbus.. Similar pushback seats.. Nicely covered with a blue seat cover. A TV in the front. Now, before you think, there is a TV for each passenger, let me correct - the TV is also like in airbus. Its only one :-)
(did you ever mistake an airbus for a plane? No no.. its teh 6-wheeled thing which we call bus, and which 'supposedly' has air suspension) :-)

With an announcement from the captain "Amindivi is about to start. Wish you a happy journey" off we started. The sight of the shore leaving us behind, and the sea swallowing us into it was a nice sight. Soon we were surrounded by nothing but water !
For the magical lost in no-man's land, we climbed to the deck of the ship.
Phew !
Water Water everywhere...

Dinner was served in natural disposable palm leaf plates. Since it is biodegradable, post food, you can throw it into the sea. We had our dinner with a nice view of the horizon, from the side passage of the ship..

One forgettable thing in the ship was the movie which they played.
A stupid crappy comedy(??) movie - Bombay Circus.. Aarghh..
Notwithstanding the 'comedy' we slept..
ZZzzzz..

End of Part I

Rabert Mails

The see aint rough, its neither too deep..
And its 300 miles , to Lakshadweep!

>An adapted version of the original poem<
>Used with permission (from the govt of Uzbekhistan)<
>Wait for more info!<
>(no need to keep watching this space. it'll strain your eyes!)<

Diwali Bonanza!

1. Got my mobile recharged by a denomination of 100 Rupees. Thanks well wisher, err.. well charger :-P Thanks to technology, goof ups like this do happen..
In a similar incident, Sand's bro got 17K xfered to his bank account. He waited for a month waiting for the sender to contact him, and then went ahead and started spending it :-D

2. These days, I'm busy with ToI... So busy, that I dont get to go thru ToI at home.. The first ToI is Tranfer of Information, the 2nd one is Times of India !

3. On top of that, I'm on a 3-day training. Today was day2. Y'day was 'Ethnic Day' at office. Missed all the fun due to training :(

4. Out of town during this Diwali Weekend.. Where am I going ?????? ;-)

5. Added a new link to my google page :-)

6. Added new pics to my orkut album !

7. Thats all youbr owner !

A Happening Day

Today was as if longer by an extra 24 hours.. Did many things (or did things, which i usually dont do).
> Cooked breakfast
> Went to bank on behalf of my bro
> did laundry
> cooked lunch
> picked up S from office for lunch
> Went for a looooong walk with Den, Gas, Sand, Soo, Bin (walked for a kool 1 hour)
> Went for a circus show (dint manage to get in , though :-s )
(is that all? i thot the list is gonna fill up the screen!)
Anyways, the long walk has done its part to lead me to the nearest 'horizontal-to-ground-rest-area' aka bed. So, good night and keep sleeping.

Tail:
1. A good signature i saw "Sleep 8 hours ... Work 8 hours ... and make sure, these are not the same 8 hours"
:)
2. This is a goal. I'd been getting mis calls from a number. Got it again when we were all seated around a table for dinner.
I said 'who is this miserable fella..'
Soo replied 'y dont you call back?'
I said 'My dog will call back'
Soo 'Gimme the number'
It was so spontaneous that she took another good 3 seconds to put it all together, and to burst out laughing :-P
3. Dennis, while resting at home, post lunch... plugged the mobile to the power supply to fill up some energy. Was heard murmuring "Phone is not getting charged. Ivide reliance inu range ille?" :-SS

Classmates - A Review

Long time since I went for a Malayalam movie..
Which was the last good movie I saw on big screen ?
Probably , this traces back to a year back .. Perumazhakkaalam ?
(okay, if you kick out the keyword 'good' from the statement, there are plenty to list)

The theme is interesting. You may say, its a campus movie. But more than a mere campus-movie, its a get-together movie.. A campus get-together after a long 15 years. The kind of life the characters in the movie had, the get-together makes a lot of sense. And there is a 'cause' behind the get-together, over and above just a meet...

I wonder, if such a get-together will ever happen in my life..
Two reasons:
1. Till my engineering, I dint have a 'life' at school/college.. These places were just 10 to 4 study machineries.
2. A get-together of this sort is out of question, at least now. Coz all my friends are with/around me itself :-) .... Of course, the scenario after 15 years is totally unpredictable. Cant really tell, what kind of growth these guyz would have gone thru - financially, career-wise, family-wise, and sideways :-D

But trying a time machine , let me map some of these ppl..

Dipu -> Happily married, have got a flat in Sarjapur Road. Is a project manager. Handles 3 projects. Is 39 yrs old.. Interestingly, no grey hair. in fact.. very little hair :-P
Enjoying life with his wife and a smart lil girl. She is in 3rd grade.

Sand -> Again, happily married. to whom, is very clear. They have a flat too in Bangalore. Sand has jumped company twice, and is now at a senior manager post. Had rejected 2 onsite offers, coz of family pressure. Jr Sandy is in 4th grade. Sand owns a Hyundai Accent !

Geo -> US-returned and got married in quick time, somtime in June 2k7. She is working in an IT firm in Chennai. Post marriage, she got xfered to Blore. Geo is still in rented house. No plans to get a flat. Of course, he now owns his favorite Tata Safari.

Sho -> He had the chance to celebrate his honeymoon on company expense in the US. Returned with a bunch of kids.

Gasper -> He is in Kingfisher Airlines. Asst Manager. This guy is 40 yyrs old, and has put on a lot of weight. Has specs too.. Not sure, if he is married or not :-S

KK -> Not a black hair on head. But no stopping to his authoritative style of talking or style of living. Lives life kingfisher style :-S Drinks like a pig , even post wedding. This guy, btw is settled in his home town, kochi. KK jr is studying with his mallu friends in his hometown. Lucky chap!

Finally, Rat -> 15 years from now, he is sitting in front of a dumb PC, typing a fresh blog
LOL

2.29AM is printed on right bottom corner of the screen..
Head is spinning ?!
Head drooping ?
Is it chicken guniya ? (thats a different blog topic, altogether)
Oh, Its coz i'm sleepy :-P

Tails:
Song of the day -> Ente Khalbile...
Face of the day -> Raziya
Scene of the day -> Raziya running towards the auditorium when Murali sings 'Ente Khalbile'. She is draped in a parda, but the uncovered part of her face tells a thousand and twenty three stories.
Act of the day -> Love letter exchange technique of Murali and Raziya. Keep the letter in a book in the library with the yellow book mark peeping out.
Style mannan of the day -> Pazhamthuni. His formal attire. A major part of his body way beyond his reach, but still manages to tuck into a green full sleeve shirt.

2.35AM!
Gud Nite (Gud Morning?!)

OH. forgot to add this.
Sho : did you check out the site photothing.com ? It lets you store full resolution pictures.
Rat : Check out new.photos.yahoo.com. It allows unlimited true resolution storage. Downloadable at the full size/resolution !
Alex : Oh , is it ? can i use my existing yahoo id to access it ?
Gasper : No, you have to use your neighbours id.
:-S

2.37
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz