Coffee & Mocha

I don't get most of the coffee shops littering the bylanes of the city.

Now, dont get me wrong. I get that bit about ripping-us-off for the Rs. 20 chocolate topping. But why create a mockery of the whole coffee experience? They shoo you out like cockroaches the moment you take the last sip. Their seating arrangement could resemble a funeral party and their music sounds like from one too. It's such a farce, but I understand that some mentally ill folk think that's the right direction to take.

But then, some guys out there are winning tonns of love for their efforts. Step into Brew-ha-ha and the owner would gladly join you for a game of Scrabble. Heck! he would even help you defeat that 'oh, so arrogant' guy sitting across you! Get you extra cushions and play your music.

Last night I went to Mocha, the coffee shop off 100ft road at Koramangala. It was quite late, 11 pm to be exact, but I felt I deserved some pampering and a better cup of coffee (I had just gotten out of CCD half an hour back). The barista could guess we were in for a long round of talk so he walks by and says "We are closing down in a few minutes but you can sit back and relax." Ain't that the sweetest thing ever? He even ran across the street to get us mosquito repellant coils close to mid-night. And the best, they give you their bill in a cup full of coffee beans. I told him I loved the beans. He got me back some as a return gift. I am carrying it around in my jeans pocket these days to get the heavy coffee odor in! :)

Earthhour

29th March. 8pm. Switch off for 1 hour!


Earthhour is happening. Switch off and indulge in a candle night dinner, take a evening walk, speak to your neighbours or just ramble in the darkness!

Swanthana

A couple of months ago we started working with Swanthana, an organization for street-abandoned children who are differently enabled. We started with going out in small groups of 3-4 to understand their needs. The children needed some physiotherapy equipment; we bought them some. Spend a day blowing up the physiotherapy balls in different sizes. Most of the credit goes to Raj for that! They also needed a children's park. We worked on a meager budget with a lot of contributions coming from our team itself. These are special kids and a normal kid's park is not suitable for them. We worked with a vendor to tweak the swings to suit their needs. The merry-go-round came with sit-in bucket seats to support their backs. The slide with a different plastic material so that they woudn't hurt themselves. Also a jungle gym for which the guys in our team dug 1 metre deep trenches in the torrid Indian sun.

Then, a few days ago we went to see how the kids were doing. We know most of them by name now. The biggest feat for most of us!! (there are 35 kids at Swanthana). Starting right from cudly little babies to 13 year olds who can beat you at a game of basket ball the moment you blink. My team is quite special in that way. They jump at opportunites to sacrifice their weekends, dig out stones weighing kilos with a chisel, paint parks (and their clothes!) and baby-sit kids at Swanthana. And yes, we also love going out of the city on weekends together. Our next trip is to Wayanad, Kerala, which we are trying to convert into an eco trip. Its nothing phenomenal. On the two days that we will be there trekking along the hills of Wayanad we plan to carry those big black garbage disposal bags and collect all the litter thrown away by tourists. I know its not something that is gonna have a lasting effect on the landscape. But the cleaner surrounding might just prevent that next tourist from swishing his cola can on the way.

If anyone has organized or been a part of an eco trip (not read as euro trip :0) ) do give us your suggestions.

Giant Spiders and more!

I love going to Ma and Papa's new place. I miss them loads when I am here at Bangalore. That and their new house is on the mountains and a quick 10 minutes drive from the sea! Yeah! I am the ungrateful devil. Spiked tail n' all.

The lazy brat that I am, this time round Dad actually measured my day time on the garden hammock. It stood at a good 80% of my holiday duration. Not bad, huh? Well, you can't blame me. It puts the La-Z-Boy to shame. The dense evergreen forest infront of our garden beckons you. And if you get up a bit early you can play with the clouds floating by. Thats not all! While on this trip, I got lost trekking on a mountain and fought giant spiders; slept on street bench in Singapore for a good 2 hours in the night, but more on that later.

Malaysia is a haven for any nature lover. Tioman, Langkawi, Pekan, KL are all awesome places to flirt by. If you want to fall in love with the country you have to go to the local's favourites: Chempadak beach, where you can fly the most beautiful giant kites and get the cheapest and best foot massage, Panching waterfall, which forms a natural water pool you could swim in all day, and Taman Negara, their 130 million year old tropical forest which takes 10 days to trek across when the weather is clear.

A couple of places in this world have enchanted me yet - State Street at Madison, Chempadak beach at Kuantan and Clark Quay at Singapore. This place is alive. Even at 4 o'clock in the night! You can stroll down the river front, take a boat ride (they even do dinner for 2) and sit on the bridge lining the dusky sky and drink beer with friends. The restaurants that line up the river deck would take a month to sample! If you more of a party person then they even have a Ministry of Sound, which has not 1 but 5 whole discs.

Do visit if you are in Singapore sometime!

KK

I lost my voice last Thursday. It had been a pretty normal day - a rushed up morning, sprint to the bus stop, hurried gobling of breakfast on the way and then Rashi called. I tried to speak but in my frustration the best I could manage was a feeble whisper. I was rushed to a doctor who diagnosed the condition with a severe case of Pharyngitis. "__ no ice-creams, no ice cold water, avoid dust and don't speak for 3 days __". Phooey!!!

Since then it has progressed from a barely audible whisper to a squeak to a course thunder to pretty much human now. I took a 3 day hiatus from work. Switched off my cell phone. Read C & H all day. Drank hot chocolate. And some more. Pondered on some Van Gogh's impressionist paintings. Could not find one that I love more than the cafe terrace on the place du forum. Wondered why do super heros wear costumes so that no one knows their identity. And even if they do, why do their have such boring names? I mean look you can fly, wring under-taker flat, get a girl who looks like a cross between Kidman and Monroe and you call yourself super man and bat man! Whatever happened to hamster huey and the gooey kablooie !?!!

A few days later, at the GE Technology Banquet I had the opportunity to meet KK. I adore him to pieces and I never imagines I would get a chance to speak to him and tell him he rocks! I wish I could Pal on my guitar with him on the vocals one day.

Merry Xmas

Dear Santa,

I have not seen you around since I was all of ten years old. Been busy, huh? Did you get my chistmas list this year? I am awefully tired of assuming that my gifts get lost on your long journey or that you callously ignore them and bring me practical things I don't want at all. What's the deal? Was I not a good person or did you catch hold of the word 'atheist' under my religion on Orkut? Heck no! Getting loads of loot is a very spiritual experience for me. (Psst... besides, that site is evil. It forces perfectly normal people to convert into 'will you make friendship with me' maniacs. So just steer clear of it, okay?)

Woosh! Sure am glad we have that cleared up now. Let's move onto the loot for this year, shall we? I left my doggy at home when I started with college. It's been a terrible six years. I miss my best friends loads, tonns actually. I miss him everyday of not telling me how much he missed me when I came back home. You know, he could even untie my shoelaces in 2 seconds snap! That they required replacement every other month is okay. Could you fly him up with Rudolf and down my chimney this Christmas night? It would be awefully hard for him to find the way on his own, you know. Take care not to get the chimney soot on this white coat. He does not like that a bit. Just so that its easier for you here is a pic of him.

Second, I would also like the Fender highway one Stratocaster. I know, I have just started tinkering with my music, but one of these would be the best thing since hot chocolate and ice cream! Pick up the coolest looking one. The one with the built in tuner and just the perfect top string. Don't send in the pink one. Or the gray one either.

Let's get on with these two then Santa. I will be a good person. Honest. I will even switch off my laptop when I go to bed tonight - just so that your home in Greenland stays safe.

THUMP! THUMP! "Is that you Santa?" Doggonit!! Am switching it off, switching it off....

Resolutions ?!&*#!

A new year is coming up. Yeah, big deal!
Where are the cheap pay-and-go space rides? Where are the gravity defying cars that can wizzz around in dark tunnels?
Where are the mars colonies? Where are the personal robots and houses that adjust to your whims and fancies?
You call this the future???! HA !
And what about the floating cities? What about the chips that can cram up a billion years of information in your brain?
I mean, think about it! We still have to tie our own shoe laces?!&$#! Give me a break!

It is good to know that we are still around. That we have not managed, quite yet, to blow it up with our boosted fission nuclear bombs. That the Greenland ice mass still rests peacefully. We can't visit the rugged expanse of Mars yet. We can take a dip in the blue expanse of the Pacific. Today, we can jot down the 10 things to do and look at it every other day but sooner we have to understand the relationship between us and what is happening to our surroundings.

A friend said to me, "Don't tell me that not switching down my PC when I leave work the would actually cause the Greenland ice mass to melt and flood my home town. You can't be so big a nincompoop to believe this."

I know it won't tonight. It will a few years later. The Larsen ice shelf in Antartica melted due to global warming. But we were lucky back then - this ice shelf rested primarily on water so it's melting did not cause a significant rise in water levels round the globe. The Greenland ice is capable of raising water levels by 20 feet or more. That would give us enough impetus to re-write our geography books. Also, Santa will come from a land with no ice. Bums you out, dosn't it ? But then what would you say to the drowing of Indian coastal cities, Californian coast, Manhatten, Netherland and many of the British Isles ?

I was reading Calvin the other day and this is what he has to say regarding new year resolutions:
"Resolutions ? Me ?? Just what are you implying? That I need to change?? Well, buddy as far as I'm concerned, I'm perfect the way I am! For your information, I'm staying like this, and everyone else can get used to it! If people don't like me the way I am, well, tough beans! It's a free country! I don't need anyone's permission to be the way I am! This is how I am - take it or leave it! By golly, life's too short to waste time trying to please every meddlesome moron who's got an idea how I ought to be! I don't need advice! Everyone can just stay out of my face!"

Well, Calvin, maybe just a spiff bit!