DEJA VU.. a point less ponder :) :)

Deja Vu .. I’m very vague as to what the word really means, but I do refer it every now and then whenever I encounter a really strange incident happening to me, so I guess I can consider my life as a synonym for deja vu :D .. but any ways I guess the word really means or relates to an
incident or instance that repeats again exactly in the same way or a you might have pictured a particular incident in your imagination and some time later you will observe that it just repeats that incident exactly in real life, much similar to a precognition. This has happened to me a number of times. All in all it could well be a illusion that you really experience.

So how do we differentiate between an illusion and a deja vu?? A confusing topic.. I guess an illusion being experienced can be a deja vu, but I am a little bit skeptic about it. I feel an illusion in other word is much simpler to address, for instance I believe fear of heights is rather a mere illusion whilst it is the fear of falling down that really plays the role there (And both do have a difference). End of the day it still remains a bit weird, rest apart the scientific definition for the same.

The reason for me to write this blog is very much related to my previous blog about my visit to Kerala. At the time I was at the beach I slipped and landed flat on the ground hitting my head while I was performing some crazy antics and it is at that time that I realised that either I have experienced this before or had an illusion about it ( there you go again confusing) and I realised DEJA VU !!! And has been at the back of my head since then. Or else I guess hitting my head was just showing its result as this blog :) :).. But as my frends say.. How much more can an already tossed up mind get screwed.. eh !!! :) . There are many more such instances that have happened to me. Some serious enough and others silly to the core, from meeting new people to seeing people injured..

..

Perhaps i was abducted by an alien in my early childhood...no wonder my bath toys were a toaster and a radio.. Just kidding :) :)

Do let me know if any you faced such a situation or is it only me ... :)

A visit to God's own country !! Kerala

A visit to God's own country !! Kerala

Last week I had the most memorable time of my life while I had been to my best Friend Varun's native, a place called Kotakal ( Beach Road ). I must say that the whole trip was filled with the best of my time and as told by my Friend Chandan, I really enjoyed the place rather than just liking it, (as both make a difference, enjoying a place is more of an experience while liking is just natural.). I had been planning to go to Kerala for quite sometime and every time varun called me I had something or the other in my way, but this time thanks to his continuous pestering and also as a part of my resolution to travel as much as possible I decided to go to kerala at any cost and i must say it was a worth while experience and realised what I had missed previously and wat I was gonna miss if I hadn't taken the trip. No wonder they call it the God's own country. The beauty is just impeccable.


The journey to the place was really great and the best i've ever had, we took the only bus to the place Vatakara the closest town to kotakal on KSRTC Bus ( its Kerala Road T.C), considering that its the only bus for the place the crowd was relatively less so we were able to occupy the last 2 rows for ourself :). I was cursing Varun as he suggested not to wear 3/4ths for the journey due to the hot sun, but once we hot Kasargod it started raining but lasted only for a few kms but wud resume again after a few kms again. it appeared as though the rain was playing hide n seek :). We finally hit the beeautiful terrains of Wayanad and thanks to the rain whihc added to the beauty of the place,we were just amazed at the pleasant scenery of the vayanad forest the lush growth of trees and bamboo shoots and the road neatly paved and washed by the rain was a wondrous sight. We were lucky enough to spot a herd of elephants amidst the forest and a couple of bears and of course monkeys through out the journey, but the driver was in no mood to stop for us and rushed passed the jungle and me and varun were performing circus antics in the bus to take a few snaps from the moving bus. And whilst we were in the Ghat sections, thanks to the rains the climate was damm cold and i realised wat my plight wud have been if i had opted for a 3/4th. We reached vadakara by 9.30 pm and were stranded in the heavy rain near the bus stand and found that there was no sight of any one in the roads nor any shops open that was a reality check that i am no longer in bangalore and i decied to make a last call to my home and then wud switch off the mobile. As i had decided to keep my self away from any tech for the entire week. We finally managed to get an auto and reached his native place Kotakkal Beach Road by 10 Pm.

The next entire week was the best time I had in my life. From the typical kerala cuisines to the life style of the people and of course the beaches.... could never forget these days ever. The major activity every day for the next week was eat , roam , sleep. Right from hunting for fresh mangoes and tender coconuts from trees to extracting cashews & catching crabs and oysters to pigeons and turtles etc etc I did all those things that I think I would have never done any where else. It happens that there is a Turtle conservation unit at this place and here I had a chance to get close with baby turtles and the rare star back turtles, it was 1 heck of an experience. the food there was my favourite giving a chance to relish on all coastal cuisines this was a part of my daily dosage of protein enriched food and of course the mangoes, thats the 1 thing I observed apart from the coconut trees is that every house has a minimum of at least 4-5 mango tress of different varities, so much so that mango trees grow in the road very much like the parthenium in bangalore :) and the same with pineapples and jack fruits tooo :) :).




Stranger more is that there are no street dogs in the place instead I could find mongooses running around streets and every house owning at least a family of cats :). At first it was like .. Wow ! there's a mongoose but by day three it was pretty common, unfortunately I couldn't get 1 of them on my camera,, feisty buggers !! :). The humidity there is horrifying, I couldn't stay fresh with out taking bath at least 5 times a day. I wud have just finished my bath and wiped myself clean and I would find sweat dripping from my forehead. by the end of the week I was so much so attached to the place and the people there that I extended my leave for another couple of days and reached Bangalore by Tuesday. Fortunate enough, i had a chance to witness the 1 of the Kerala form of art called the muthappa similar to our muneshwara..




Finally the entire trip was on of the best time I had in my life and would cherish the same for ever, these memories are the best souvenirs
I could have.
A few things in specific are
Tea is like bear here.. gr8 @ any time of the day and ppl have like a pint of it every time.
The beautiful back waters and its wild life where I got to see, rays, flying fishes, turtles, crabs etc..
The scenic beauty of the greenery surrounding all around you which is a combination of ghats on one side and sea coast on the other.
There is this one huge rock which ppl are breaking for construction since 15 years but still stands tall
The turtle conservation unit
and obviously the food !! :)




With heart felt nostalgic moments.. I definitely hope to visit the place again...

Do check out the album at : http://picasaweb.google.com/venugopalnv/AVisitToGodSOwnCountry#

Skandagiri Trek..... At last

Well the place needs no intro by this time.. with all the mail forwards and numerous blogs being written on it.. i guess this place is a definition in itself.. Type in skandagiri in google and hit the search you get n number photo blogs and travel blogs about the where abouts of this .. so am not gonna go about the details of how to get there.

Last week we guys finally had a chance to head to this place and must tell you people..it was a worthwhile n an awesome experience.. it what i call a FUNTERTAINING !!! Experience :) :) .. we had a good road trip except for the patches with the road construction, but still nice fun.. a pleasant drive thru and finally out the city and then a awesome moon light trek finally hitting the top and of course the divine sunlight.. Truly a unforgettable experience.. It seems the view is even more good during Sept and oct so definitely planning for a trek at that time.

some of the memorable instances were..
- it was venki's first time outing wid us.. welcome appa jappa.
- karthik aka mama's cribbing when we were half the way up the hill.. "sisya barbardagithu kano !!!.. naale oofice nalli bendu !! lol lol loland finally when we reached a top the hill, he said " magne next time inda trekking andre vodi thini.. !! :) :)
- Venki was a shock to every ones assumption, the way he was trotting up the path put every ones thot abt him to a pause.. fellow was like a mountain goat on a rocks !!:) nice to have him on side..
- the beautiful sunrise.. true testament to be in presence of divinity.. and the serene view of the hill range and greenery.
- my rift with mama.. which barely lasted for and hour thanks to the grapes we brought on our way back.
- Fines paid to the actual mama's (cops) and asking him for a copy of the pic he took..

We left for the place by 11 pm from our regular adda "thindi beedhi" and hit the place by 1:00 am started the trek with full josh until we hit a place which led no where, finally with teh help of a few fellow trekkers we managed to find the way and resumed trekking and finally reached the summit by 3 am, broke open the wine and had a gala time.. Mr Surya finally logged in at around 5:45 am (sunrise) and there started our clickety clicks and lasted for an hour .. we did perform a few antics with the cam and thanks to SRI’s good photography n a lil bit o mine J , we managed to take some good snaps.. The beautiful view of the mountain range was gorgeous.. we finally decided tread down by 8.30 am so we decided to take a different route, vini here was reluctant to take this path at first but then mama's courage was enought to boost him and finally started out trek down.. it took us almost an hour to get down. and a small walk until we reached the parking lot and head back. we were back home by 1 pm fully exhausted and but still filled with a lot of sweet memories that we would never forget all our life..

1 thing reminded me tho that the place was becoming crowded as it was getting popular..cos we could see troops of people flocking at top the hill as it was getting close to the sunrise.. i guess that what we ppl are good at , not leaving us out.. After all every one wants have the best and therz nothing wrong with it but I guess this eventually steals the very essence of the place being the best ( be it in any aspect ).. But the more pitying part is that we could see plastic bottles and camp fire wastes being scattered at the place.
I believe we need to realise that we can Mark our presence at the palce in pleasant ways rather than leaving the waste ..So people please preserve nature.. "Nurture nature for the furture"..

Do check out all the snaps at: http://picasaweb.google.com/venugopalnv/Skandagiri_Calling_08_03_09

Well I am lookin forward my trek again to this wonderful place during its best time. Until then there will be many more memorable experiences and I will definitely share them here..

Seven Pounds (Will Smith) .. A Jist

Seven Pounds.. [ Will Smith ]..

This weekend i had a chance to download and watch seven pounds and i must tell that its one heck of a movie.. Will Smith's acting really rocks.. the first thing that made me wanna watch this movie is the reason that it was made by the same team who made "The Pursuit of Happiness" and that is really a humdinger !! What a movie .. and Will is really awesome portraying Chris Gradner a desperate man trying to cope up with all the failures shot at his face with a positive attitude .no body could have done the role as good as Smith did- the vulnerability , the realism , the tears and the smiles, all genuine artistry. Specially the scenes where he even has to sleep in public rest rooms and asylums and obviously the interview he gives at the stock brokers office dressed in shabby clothes with wall paint splattered on him. ( Just love the dialogue where he says "He must have had on some really nice pants" when asked what would he do if another person came in for an interview with out a shirt and paint smeared on ). I guess everybody has a Chris in himself some where deep down be it in any aspects. a fantastic movie really a MUST WATCH !!.. Definitely will change the outlook towards life 9 even a lil bit) well.. it did at least to me :)


Now coming back to our movie Seven pounds..





The movie depicts a fate of a man who has lost his lover in a car accident that takes place due his carelessness also killing 7 other people.. This makes him realise the loss of his life and then decide to change the lives of seven different people.

So a year after the crash, and having quit his job as an aeronautical engineer, TIM ( Will SMith) donates a lung to his brother who is an IRS official. Later he donates part of his liver to a child services worker and a kidney to a junior hockey coach, and bone marrow to a young boy. He then searches for more people to receive donations and then speaks to Ezra a blind call centre meat seller. This part is really movin, he first abuses this blind guy to check if he really deserves the donation, so the blind guy tolerates all these abuses and then simply cuts the line will smith realises that he is worthy and decides to donate his eyes to him. Finally he fakes as a IRS employee using his bro's credentials contacts Emily ( Rosario Dawson ) who has a heart weakness condition and is a part time greeting card maker. He helps her fix her machine , take care of her dog, and all other stuffs finally both end up falling in love with each other. He then realises that her condition is worsening and decides to donate his heart to her.

He fills the bathtub with ice water to preserve his vital organs, climbs in, and then commits suicide by pulling his extremely poisonous jellyfish into the water with him ( he had this fear since his childhood, when his dead used to take him to aquarium and tell him about the Box jelly fish) . All this time he has his trusty friend Dan as his executor to ensure that his organs are donated to the right people.

After all this Emily realises his sacrifice and weeps, she then goes to a shool function where the blind Guy is playin .. He is no more blind. Emily meets Ezra at a concert. They have a moment thinking / realising Tim’s selfless deeds and begin talking .. the movie ends..

Superb performance by Will and Rosario.. People who like TPH will definitely love this as well i guess.
Seeing this made me realise that we do have a lot to owe this world so we've gotta love our life.


Let me know what do you feel ppl..

Bengalooru today

Picking up from my previous blogging spree. I had chance to stumble upon quite few blogs over the net as it led me from 1 page to another and i was getting really stuck to it... no wonder they call it he web (Like a bug stuck on a web lol !! ) and finally stumbled upon a blog written by shivani on namma bengalooru (http://shivaniii.blogspot.com/).


SO comin to NAMMA BENGALOORU now.. !!!

Well what can i say .. my city have seen it grow along with me and always expect the unexpected from this city , a terminal point for many cultures ... but over the times i guess bengalooru has hit a crunch point getting crowded by the day. The green face of Bangalore is turning to pale now :(

lookin over the of time all these IT booms and bangs off lately that have now changed the face of bangalore today, leaves me in a spaced out situation whether to crib abt the detoriating state of bengalooroo or to be amazed at the growth !!!!.. on one side u see these flashy glass buildings reflecting all mans egos , standing tall with pride and also abt the somewhat improving infrastructure, flashy new Red volvo busses and the new AC bus stands, malls, etc..
But at the same time any old resident of banagalore would know the feeling of driving past MG road or airport road or basavangudi where all you wud get to see is a lush of green trees spreading their hood of branches over the road giving cool shade ( much like a mother protecting her child from the sun ).. i still remember the walks i would have with my grandpa from kensington swimming pool across ulsoor lake where you would see an occasional amasidoor passing by .. really great memories.. the occasional treats at vidhyarthi bhavan, weekend trips to cubbon park or lalbagh for whihc we would be in full enthu.. planning the entire week before the trip :) :).. the regular hang outs at lalbagh during college days and followed by a trip to thindi beedhi .. Really awesome !! .

But off lately.. i was driving from Majestic towards my place and had to pass by the road along SJP college (from Anand Rao circle) and also via MG road and it really pissed me off to see the spate of these roads that once stood a monument of banaglore's greenery. I mean it is no more the lush green self instead it juts looks like some barren land where all these mining activities take place , the same is the condition with the road from silk borad to Marathalli. i did know that this was happening at a large scale but to see it live kinda really pricks your eyes to see it. My question here is “ Do we really need such a change ? “ ( well I know it is mandatory for the city’s growth .. but at what cost ???)

Isn’t there another option for this ???

This just reminded me that back in the eighties/ nineties every time a movie was shot in bangalore, the first thing to be shown was MG road , an aerial view of the city where only green trees were seen with the utility building standing tall amongst it... i guess now its no more that way. The weather too these days are at the extremities, its no more the cool type anymore.

Given a chance to turn back time.. i wud definitely love to turn back time to these times..

But whatever... good or bad , ups or downs.. you ve gotta love this city !!! namma bengalooru


Lemme know wat do u pl have a say abt thisw ??

Yours,
An adarent bangalorean .. venu

Well Hello there to 1 n all, — My first Blog :) :) :)

As part of my first bloggin fiesca, i wud like to say that i am really impressed the way blogging has taken over the internet these days. There were time when a serach in google wud either link you to wikipedia or someother relevant link or the home page of the respective search criteria, but now it seems that there is always a blog ready for every search you do on google giving you a complete result including views and reports or relativities for the same stuff, so much so that the exact questions you were searching for would have already been asked and also answer found for it.. kinda like DEJAWOO !!!! . You’ll thereby end up having all the info you need and probably an apt solution for the query ..

Living in a system that is driven by fame , fashion, passion and prejudice, i guess the blog fever is fast catchin up be it top celebs, bussiness big shots and also the common man ( Thnx to R.K. Laxman sir)Well.. take myself .(it makes you feel special when u treat ur self as common …) . I do feel that its a great way to catchup with ppl and let the world know of your views and rationally put out your ideas. So Go BLOGGING !!!!.

Deep down i do feel that It may be that your sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others via blogs .. LOL !! :) :) ;)

so lets see where else this leads us to … longway to go many things to come.. !!!–
After all “There must be more to life than having everything.”