180° OUT OF PHASE !!!

Ooru Neeru

2008-07-08T20:24:00.006+05:30

Ooru neeru event was organized by Bangalore City Project an NGO involved in raising awareness about the cultural infrastructure of Bangalore. This was the 4th such event organized by BCP. I didn’t know of the first two and I was late for the 3rd one (they accept limited number of participants for each event).

Ooru neeru event was also coordinated by Rainwater Club, an NGO working on water conservation. It was a guided tour of India’s first piped drinking water supply project. The main locations that we visited were Hessargatta lake, Turubanahalli and Soldevanahalli. Ooru neeru translates to city water.

Arkavathy River
Hessargatta Lake is one of the 178-180 lakes feed by the Arkavathi River. The river has its origins in the Nandi Hills range and eventually joins the Cauvery River. Until a few years back it used to flow for more than nine months in an year, filling up all the lakes on it path. The other prominent lake that also happens to be in its path is the Thipegondanhalli lake (T.G.Halli). Arkavathi River is now completely dried up.

Hessargatta Lake
Hessargatta Lake is a man made lake built in the year 1532. It was latter expanded in 1894 to supply water to Bangalore city. Two villages (one of them Hessargatta Village itself) was moved to a different location for expanding this lake – the remains of which can now be found in the lake bed. Hessargatta Lake along with two other small lakes Byatha Lake and Kakola Lake has a total water storage capacity of 1.1 TMC of water. The lake is around 4000 acers and surrounded by state and central government agencies – the main reason to have survived the land sharks. Unfortunately except for the water in a small 1000 sqft pond on the lake bed, there is not a single drop of water. This lake was completely filled for the last time in 1988 and it has been almost dry from 1994. Some of the older generation people who were there talked about the vast, grandeur, beauty of the lake when it was full of water. I am sure it would have been a sight to behold.
An interesting structure to watch out for in the lake is Saddle Siphon. As the water in the lake reached its maximum level, it used to flow into the siphon. Due to the structure of the siphon a vacuum was created inside it, as a result more water was sucked in and released downstream. The siphon pumped out water from the lake at a rate 5 times more than the normal flow of water. This effectively maintained the water lever in the lake and prevented the flooding of the surrounding areas.

Soldevanahalli and Turabanahalli
Soldevanahalli is India’s oldest pumping station. Bangalore apart from being the first city to be electrified was also the first city to get piped water. On 7th august 1986, water was pumped for the first time from Soldevanahalli to Bangalore (Malleshwaram water treatment plant). Water from Hessargatta Lake flowed to Soldevanahalli via Turubanahalli due to gravity. There are still remnants (90% of this has now been destroyed) of the Roman style water ducts that brought water from the Lake to Soldevanahalli. The water duct was latter replaced with a pipeline. From Sodevanahalli it was then pumped by steam powered pumps initially and then with electric pumps to Bengaluru. There were totally 4 pumps (3 active and 1 standby) that were used. Each of these pumps was a 250 HP pump with a 15 inch input pipes. The pumps and the pipes can still be seen in the station. Initially two pumps that were used to supply water to the military establishments and residences in Bengaluru. Latter on a third pump was added to cater to the industrial need (HMT and BHEL were the main consumers) of Bengaluru.

Water Conservation
Some of many reasons that lead to the drying up of Arkavathi River and then the Hessargatta Lake are - rapid urbanization, deforestation, granite quarrying, sand mining and over exploitation of ground water.
Urbanization and deforestation go hand in hand. As a result of urbanization, the forest cover around Dodaballapur and the Nandi Hills region drastically came down. This used to be the catchment area for the river and subsequently to the lakes in its path.
Sand mining (which is now finally banned in the whole of Kolar district) is another main reason for the rivers to dry up. The presence of sand in the river bed prevents the flow off (avoiding flash floods) of the water and helps in replenishment of ground water. The sand prevents the spreading out of water and effectively reduces losses due to vaporization. Almost all the river beds in Kolar district have been cleared of Sand. Even after the ban, illegal mining is still very rampant.
The drilling of bore wells has had a cascading effect on the drying up of the lake. Water table which was once as high as 70 feet is now more than 700 feet and in some areas more than 1000 feet with in the vicinity of the lake. Unscientific planning by the government has also added to it. When the water level in lake started reducing, around 32 borewells were drilled by BWSSB on the lake bed to pump out water. This was the final nail on the coffin.

Mahesh Bhatt a photo journalist and a localite along with other people in the region has been spearheading a movement to revive this lake. They are trying to clear up clogged water paths to help water flow into the lake. Initial steps have lead to some encouraging results. A couple of years back, after the silt was cleared from the water paths leading to the lake, water started collecting in the lake during the monsoon season.

Bhoomi Thayi Balaga (friends of mother land) had organized a small folk concert as part of this event to spread awareness about water conservation.

Location
Hessargatta Lake is around 30 KM from Bangalore. To reach Hessargatta Lake take NH-4,(via Yeshwanthpura), after Peenya take a right to Hessargatta road. You will first reach Soldevanahalli Station, proceeding further you will see the Water Ducts near Turbanahalli Village and still futher you will reach the Lake.

Praja Visit to Bengaluru International Airport

2008-04-06T20:21:00.003+05:30

bangalore.praja .in is forum for citizens from Bengaluru to participate online to bring together ideas to make this city a better palace. It is a relatively new forum. It was a collective effort of a group of people who were writing blogs related to nama Bengaluru to join and start a common blog/platform to exchange ideas and issues concerning Bengaluru. I have myself been participating in the discussions for quite sometime now.

Praja.in had an active discussion concerning the new Bengaluru international airport for quite sometime. This discussion was noticed by BIAL and they invited praja.in members to visit the new airport to clear some of the issues raised in the forum. The fact that the concerned authorities took notice of such activity and came forward to address the issues is a great achievement for praja.in. The members interacted with BIAL officials and raised many questions. Read this link to get more information on that.

People come up with a lot of unconventional/simple solutions to complex problems of Bengaluru here. I hope more and more civic authorities take note of such forums and work towards a better Bengaluru. From the discussions i had with the other members, i understand that we will be meeting the officials of these civic utilities to make them aware of the problems and also possible solutions. I hope this initiate does something good for Bengaluru.

A few pictures of the new Bengaluru International Airport

Talking Moments

2008-03-16T07:52:00.001+05:30

I started a new blog exclusively for photos - Talking Moments. I hope to post a few pictures every week if not daily. I have been updating this blog for quite sometime now.

It was Rajiv's suggestion to start a new blog only for pictures. I did look at a few exclusive photoblog sites like uber, flickr, etc. but finally settled for blogspot itself.

F1 2008 - my pre season analysis :)

2008-03-11T22:22:00.002+05:30

A few more days left for the first F1 GP of 2008. This year promises to be more exiting than ever (coz of the interesting new rules). Being a strong supporter of Alonso, for me personally it not the best of times. Renault has been developing the 2008 car from scratch from the starting of 2007 itself and they are no way close to Williams or BMW forget Ferrari or McLaren– probably they started the development from a bullock cart. So the official stand for me this year is “I am a supporter of the game – F1” :). This is the stand most F1 fans take when their teams/racers are not doing well – same is the case with me :P. I used to be a fan of McLaren but just can support them anymore after all the mess they created last year. I hope Ron retires sooner than latter.

Ferrari – I am great fan of the legendary Luca, but I equally hate that pig faced Jean. Probably because he was part of the Schumacher team (there were times when they won races because of their lawyers, money and cheap tricks rather than Schumacher’s racing skills). It was such a pleasure to see him loose to Alonso in 2006. And I hope Jean too retires soon.

I am hoping against hope that BMW or Williams will give a tough competition to both McLaren and Ferrari.

Anyways these are my views; everyone has the right to have theirs.

The main theme of this post is the new rules that FIA have brought in. Pretty interesting actually –

The most important rule. Almost all electronic driver assistance has been removed – that includes traction control and electronic braking systems. All team will be using the ECU (electronic control unit) developed by Microsoft!!!! Shit I hope the engineers and drivers don’t have to see the Microsoft copyrighted BSD (the dreaded Blue Screen of Death) during the races.
5.5% of the fuel used should be sourced from biological sources – basically ethanol. Green is the way to go but I don’t understand the logic behind this – don’t know in what way this will help the environment. Did someone mention Carbon Credits :P.
A new design requirement has been brought in to give additional protection to drivers’ head. A change introduced after the 2007 Australian GP accident involving Coulthard and Wurz. Coulthards car missed Wurz’s head by inches :o in that accident.
Same gearboxes should be used for 4 races. Teams like Super Aguri will be celebrating – they will have to worry about the gearbox costs only once in 4 races.
Qualifying has been changed to 20/15/10 minutes format. With 7 cars being eliminated in the first two segments.
This could be tricky – cars will not be allowed to refuel from the start of the last segment – Q3 till the start of the race. A tricky change, will be interesting to see how teams adapt to this in the first few races.
There are some restrictions on testing - 350KM i guess. – not very sure of this rule though.
Each team can have only 2 assembled cars at any time during the race weekend.
Also exact rules have been specified to verify fuel temperature.

I guess most of these rules were brought in to assist the poorer teams. The new ECU rule will have far reaching consequences. I was hoping that the slick tires too would come in this season itself, but I guess that will happen only in 2009.

There will be a good competition between Ferrari and Mclaren for the top slots and between Williams, BMW and Renault (i hope) for 3rd, 4th and 5th positions. Renault could come strong in the latter half of the season (when its too late). My predictions would be Kimi, Lewis (i hope this idiot too goes out of McLaren with Ron - dont know from whom he will copy the car setup this year) and Massa.

But everyone lives on hopes and I hope that Renault pulls of something spectacular this season to help Alonso win, if they don’t – I am supporting F1, not any specific team or driver ;)

Opps how could I forget to mention this – I hope our very own Force India F1 team with the support of 1 billion hearts makes atleast one podium finish.

What is so local about it!!!

2008-03-09T12:03:00.003+05:30

A lot has been said and written about this issue. It has been a while since I though I should put down my opinion on it.

Now the question – should locals be given preference in their native states for jobs. My answer both YES and NO.

Broadly I would like to divide the jobs into two sections. The first section – the professionals – IT, banking, management, consultants, etc, basically people with a professional degree. The second section – what you call the blue collar jobs, which includes manufacturing, construction, sales people in malls, security staff, house keeping staff, etc.

People who qualify for the first section of jobs are well educated and also the jobs in this section are very demanding. Competition should be the order of the day for these jobs. For this category there should absolutely be no preference given to the any category of people. As David Sarnoff (the founder of NBC) said “Competition brings out the best in products and the worst in people”. Only the fittest should survive. There should be no discrimination here.

The second section is the mass jobs sections. It is absolutely necessary to have some sort of reservation for the locals here. Taking a broader view – not doing this will lead to many social problems (Did someone mention about naxalism spreading rapidly in South India?). The jobs in this section do not require high degree of skills and even if they do need, it can be met with some basic training. The people who qualify for this section generally belong to the lower class of the society as CK Prahalad puts it – people from the “bottom of the pyramid”. They are the people who form the majority of any society. The welfare of these people should be the main concern of any government (obviously they also form the biggest vote bank).

Certain state governments have done better than others in attracting investments into their state. They have worked harder at providing facilities to companies than other states. They have acquired lands from people in their state to give it to these companies, in the hope that these companies generate large employment opportunities. They have provided water and electricity at subsidized rates (as a result the whole state pays extra to offset this) to these companies. They have invested large portion of the state revenues to develop infrastructure (though they are not sufficient). Having been part of all the sacrifices what is wrong when people from these progressive state demand some preference in jobs. These people should have the first right to the fruit of success of their states.

Why should the people of these progressive states pay for the mistakes of the governments of these non progressive states? Sprit of nationhood should exist but that not at the cost of the well fare of the local population. I am surprised to see the politicians from these non progressive states reading out rules from the constitution regarding equality (Opps I am just wondering if they ever had opened this book ever before!!!). Had they followed this very constitution properly in their states, their people would not have come to other states in search of livelihood. These politicians should get their priorities right before they do anything else. Rather than shouting their hearts out, they should look at emulating the progress of other states in their own states.

Is it a coincidence that a larger percentage of Biharis are getting the railway jobs? Is it a coincidence that more and more trains are being introduced to Bihar (from all over the country)? Bullshit – shamelessly they talk of the spirit of nationhood.

Having said all this, do I approve of the kind of tactics that Raj Thakre employ? – NO.

It was sad to see, the extents to which people go to promote ones own political ambitions. These people are more interesting in publicity rather than the welfare of their own people.

If regional parties like our very own KRV are really concerned about the local population then they should –

Lobby with the governments to open more ITIs (industrial training institutes). These are the institutes that impart training to people for manufacturing, construction, etc. They do wonders to the economy of any state. Provide a larger pool of skilled workers. This will attract more companies. It’s a vicious circle.
Stop opposing English as a medium of instruction. Kannada or the local language should be made compulsory, but there is no point in opposing English. It is this language that will finally decide if someone gets a job or not.
Open more finishing schools. These schools (similar to the ITIs) provide essential industry specific skills for people who wish to join the retails industry, call center jobs, etc. IIIT Bangalore opened recently opened one such school to help local IT graduates.
Lobby with the government to see to that companies that handle large infrastructure projects in the state hire people locally rather than people from outside. I have seen a few infrastructure companies from AP getting people from AP to do jobs here. For all government jobs, the companies should be forced to use local labors.
Instead of targeting IT companies for reservation in IT jobs, they should focus their energies on large retail and construction companies, house keeping companies, textile companies to hire local people.

But taking up these issues wont provide the regional parties with instant publicity and fame that they want, they wont get the TV coverage like what they get when they attack IT companies or outside people.

Mr Narayana Gowdar e its time to rethink your game plans, having a non violent stance will legitimize your demands and also help you win over more people. You cause seams to be good, but the way you want to achieve it does not.

It is the courage to fight that matters

2008-02-25T19:02:00.002+05:30

The following article was posted by E.R. RAMACHANDRAN on Churumuri. This is the unedited version of the original post. You can also read the original post here.

This is a story of a wonderful lady Suma. Marva Collins once said "Determination and perseverance move the world" and the proof for that -

As she ran along the pathway in the Glass House of Lalbagh, Suma was joy personified. Her eyes glistened as she chased the butterflies swirling in the morning sun. Sudhir and Sushila had taken their three-year-old daughter on a picnic before Sudhir, an officer in the merchant navy, would sail again.

That night, though, Suma fell ill. Probably the early-morning breeze, thought Sushila, but her temperature wouldn’t come down. Suma kept rubbing her eyes as she felt itchy.

The following morning they took her to the Agarwal Eye Hospital. Within an hour, the doctors diagnosed it as Retino Blastoma—cancer of the eye. Within minutes, the young couple heard the bad news: they would have to remove Suma’s left eye.

Is this really happening to us, wondered Sushila, as she saw her young daughter’s face swathed in bandage.

The doctors also suggested that if possible Suma should be taken abroad immediately for treatment so that the infection didn’t spread to the other eye. An ophthalmic research institute in Frankfurt was doing pioneering research on preventive aspects of infection. After hectic calls to Sushila’s cousin Vimala in Germany, the family boarded the flight to Frankfurt.

“Just in time,” was the reaction of doctors who made sure the infection wouldn’t spread. But a day prior to their departure to Bombay, tragedy struck again; Suma’s surviving eye became itchy and doctors asked Sudhir and Sushila to sign the papers to remove her right eye. They also removed the optical nerve to save the child’s life.

A gale had hit a small boat sailing in serene waters. In just two weeks, life had turned topsy-turvy for Sudhir and Sushila. The apple of their eye, born normal, had lost her sight in front of their eyes.

***

The initial years were hellish for Sushila. With Sudhir away for long periods, she had to combat the terrible fate that had befallen them on her own. A bright, chirpy Suma had turned into a lifeless object staring into dark vacant space.

Instead of indulging in self-pity, Sushila decided to face the world with all the courage she could muster. She was determined not to send Suma to a blind school. She got her admitted to a Mahila Seva Samaja. “We will bring up her up as normally as possible,” she would tell Sudhir who marveled at his wife’s fighting spirit.

Suma turned out to be a bright kid; she could grasp lessons quickly. Sushila would read her stories and made her repeat the same. Radio became her friend and later, a trusted ally. She listened avidly to the programmes on BBC for hours and learnt to differentiate the newsreaders through their voice.

It’s a nightmare for blind students taking public exams. Sushila had to go all over the town to get ‘writers’ who would write out the answer papers dictated by her visually challenged daughter. There were times when, with just couple of days to go for an exam, she was still frantically searching for writers.

Suma did her class X and got a first class in her BSc.

When she wanted to study management, Sudhir wanted her to join the Tata Institute of Social Sciences in Bombay and stay at his sister’s place. But Suma had secured admission to a school in Surrey, England. “Please spend the money on my studies which you would have otherwise incurred on my marriage,” she pleaded with her tearful parents.

Finally Suma went to England. For someone who had not stepped out of her house without an escort, she changed planes and landed at her college all by herself.

Her roommate was Maria, a West Indian. During weekend breaks, she went to Frankfurt to meet her aunt, alone.

She called BBC and reminisced about their earlier newscasters and mimicked their style of reading news. They were so delighted they called her over to Bush House for tea and asked her to participate in a talk show.

***

Sudhir, having retired from service, often worried about Suma’s future. In three months their daughter would be back. Then what? How would she find life here after studies are over, he wondered.

***

One day, when their TV went blank, Suma and Maria called the TV repair service. A bright young man came and found some components had conked out. He brought the parts and repaired the set. The girls thanked him and invited him to have their afternoon tea with them. Next day he came again and serviced their radio set free of charge.

John Beachcom ran a modest business of an electronic repair service in and around Surrey.

The girls once invited him for lunch at the canteen but decided to cook in their room itself. John joined them in cooking and it turned out he was a better cook than the girls!

The girls graduated with first class and celebrated with John joining them.

When John proposed to Suma that evening, she was speechless. Maria, to whom John had earlier confided his liking for Suma, urged her to consider his proposal. Suma wanted John to talk to Sushila and Sudhir and take their approval first.

Suma bade goodbye to Maria, John and England, and returned to Bangalore alone.

The marriage took place in Jayanagar. John’s mother Michelle, his aunt Clara, and Maria came with John sporting a Mysore peta at the brief wedding ceremony.

For sometime Suma worked in a management firm in Surrey with a guide dog, a golden retriever, accompanying her. Now Suma and John have two children, both boys, Shankar and Chris. Sudhir and Sushila visited them and spent some time in their new house. John has expanded his business into computers. The family came to Mysore for a brief visit last year.

As the kids created havoc at the childrens’ corner at Cheluvamba Park, I could see their mother smile through her eyes.

Sunrise - Bangalore More Pictures

2008-01-18T09:04:00.000+05:30

Another cold foggy morning in Bangalore and few more pictures. Photos taken near Hebbal kere (flyover), Outer ring road between KR Puram and Hebbal and at ITPB.

Hebbal Flyover

Service Lane (Outer Ring road)

Service Lane (Outer Ring road)

Lake between Benganahalli and KR Puram

ITPB

ITPB

Sunrise - Bangalore

2008-01-17T11:46:00.000+05:30

Took these photos today morning on my way to Hebbal. The twin towers picture (6th pictures) though a bit noisy is probably the best picture i have captured.

Agriculture University Campus (UAS)

Agriculture University Campus (UAS)

Agriculture University Campus (UAS)

Railway Line Near Hebbal

Hebbal Lake, Twin tower in the background

Twin towers

Badami

2008-01-15T10:00:00.000+05:30

Badami was the 2nd capital of the Chalukyas and is around 50km from Aihole. Also know as Vatapi (named after the demon of the Ramayana epic) it is located at the mouth of a ravine between two rocky hills and surrounds Agastya tirtha water reservoir on the three other sides. The town is pretty well developed with numerous hotels and lodges. If you are planning to visit Aihole, Badami and Pattadakallu, you can make this place as the base.

The place gets its name from the color of the rocks in the region. They are similar the color of the dry fruit – Badami and hence the name.

Badami has a number of temples built between the 5^th and 8^th century, the most famous among them are the cave temples. Due to time constraints and the fatigue of having traveled to Hampi, we decided only to visit these cave temples. There are 4 cave temples (plus one natural cave).

Chalukyas were predominantly followers of Lord Vishnu, however the latter kings were also followers of Lord Shiva. A few also embraced Jainism. This is evident from the 4 cave temples. The first one is dedicated to Lord Shiva, 2^nd and 3^rd dedicated to Lord Vishnu and the 4^th one to Jainism. In the 5^th (natural cave) there is a sculpture, though the exact identity of this carving is not know, it is though to resemble Lord Buddha.

The temples have been carved into the hills, except for the deities nothing in the temples is foreign. Everything has been carved into the finely grained horizontally stratified sandstone hills of Badami. Each of these temples are characterized by a pillared “mukha mutapa” (verandha), then a “maha mantapa” and then a small cell – the “garbha gudi” which houses the God.

The 3^rd cave (from below) dedicated to Lord Vishnu is the oldest among the 4 caves. It is also the most grandest and the biggest of all the 4 caves. The main idol is missing (same is the case with the other Vishnu cave temple) – it is believed to have been destroyed in the 16^th century during the muslim invasion. The sculptures and carvings here depict the various incarnations of Lord Vishnu including Bali Chakravarthi, Vijayanarasimha, Ranganatha among others.

According the inscriptions found, the 3rd cave was completed in 578 AD. The pillar brackets are finely decorated with male and female figures - with fertility being the main theme.

The 6th century paintings on the ceiling of these caves are still visible. The guide told us the main inspiration of these cave temples for the Chalukyas were the Anjantha caves.

The pillars of this cave temple like all vishnu temples are highly decorated.

The 2nd cave (from below) is the 2nd oldest temple and is also dedicated to Lord Vishnu. It is much smaller than the 3rd cave. However it is very much similar to it.

Again this temple consists of various incarnations of Lord Vishnu. The most brilliant carving here is that of Bali Chakravathi (right side picture below). A similar carving is also present in the 3rd cave and it is believed that both these carvings are a replica of carving found in the Durga temple in Aihole.

The sculptures on the ceiling in this temple is amazing. Most of the patterns and designs here are replicas of the ones found in the Aihole temples. If you observe the picture below (right side) closely, it can represent a fish wheel (Meena Chakra) or a lotus flower. The 2nd image is that of the scared Swasthik.

The 1st cave is dedicated to lord Shiva. It is smaller than the 3rd cave but bigger than the 2nd cave. The Shiva Linga is still present but it has been partly damaged. This cave consists of carvings of Shiva, Ganesha, Parvathi and Subramanya. Two very interesting carvings here are that of HariHara (a single carving with one half representing Lord Vishnu and the other half represently Lord Shiva) and that of Shiva Parvathi (again one half of the carving is that of Lord Shiva and the other half that of his wife Goddess Parvathi)

But the most fascinating carving of all is that of Nataraja. This carving depicts Nataraja with 18 hands, and depending on which two hands you consider, you can see a total of 81 dancing positions.

The 4th cave is dedicated to Jainism and consists of various Jain thirthankaras. Though not as big or as elaborate as the other 3 Hindu temples, the sculptures are very unique.

The carving of Lord Gomataeshwara is very similar to the statue found in Shravanabelagola.

Depending on your interests it could take 2-3 hours to view these cave temples. There are other temples in the vicinity, which we skipped. To cover all of them it could take a couple of hours more. The film Guru was also shot in this area.

Close to Badami there is Banashankari Temple and Mahakuta temples. Unless you are deeply religious you may want to skip Banashankari Temple, but the Mahakuta temple complex is worth a visit. Both these places are with in 20km from Badami. Mahakuta was also one of the capitals of the Chalukyas. There are lot of Shiva temples in this complex.

More pictures below:

Aihole

2008-01-07T22:40:00.000+05:30

Aihole, it is often called the cradle of “Hindu rock architecture”. This ancient town was once the capital of the early Chalukyan Empire (the capital was latter shifted to Badmi).
Situated on the banks of the holy river Malaprabha (one of the 3 rivers that join at Kudalasangama) this town has more than 125 temples – with no two temples similar to each other. Infact many of the other architecture marvels of Karnataka including the ones at Badami, Pattadakalu, Belur, Halebidu, Somnathpura are based on the temples found in this place.

There is an interesting legend behind the name “Aihole”. Parshurama (the 6th avatara of Lord Rama) after one of his battles, washes his axe in the river Malaprabha, the blood on his axe turns the entire river into red. A lady who happens to be at the river at this instance, is shocked and starts shouting “aiyoo nana hole” (roughly translates to: Oh my river). Hence this place came to be known as “Aihole”. (This was what my guide told me.)

Inscription found there, indicate that during the 7th century this place also used to be a university for stone architecture. Much like modern day universities, this university used to grant “scholarships” to its students. This practice has been documented in one of the 7th century inscriptions found in one of the temples in Aihole. As a pre-requisite to successfully graduate from there the students had to construct a temple – this explains the vast no of temple in this area. This was the early phase of temple architecture in South India. It was the time when rules were yet to be defined. Each temple was an experiment; none of them are even remotely similar to each other.

This place is the foundation stone of the Dravidian and Jaina temple culture. The earliest temples were built here in the 5th century. The “Meguthi” temple here is the oldest dated structural temple in India, it was completed in 634 A.D. The inscriptions at this temple also take of the legendary poet and dramatist Kalidasa.

Aihole is the oldest of the 3 Chalukyan places – Aihole, Badami and Patadakallu. The temples here are spread over a vast region, and only a few are protected. It would take a few days to cover most of this rocky area. I spent less than an hour here and covered only 5 temples.

The external architecture of the Indian Parliament was based on the Durga temple. One look at this temple and the first thing that comes to your mind is the Parliament building. This not a temple dedicated to Goddess Durga as the name suggests. The temple is close to the fort and another name for the fort in kannada is durga or durgi and hence it got its name as Durga temple. It is a temple dedicated to Lord Vishnu (early Chalukyans were followers of Lord Vishnu – hence the majority of the temples here are dedicated to Lord Vishnu).

The main tourist place in Aihole is the Durga temple complex. There are around 4 temples with in this fort. And there is another temple (Ambigera Temple Complex) just on the other side of the road.

The sculptures here are very intrinsic and some are very exotic. The sculptures give a deep insight into the social life of the people. Every minute detail from the jewelry to the fashionable dress they wore has been documented in these sculptures. From the sculptures you could guess that short (and even mini) skirts were very popular at that time. Also special attention has been given to the sexual life of the people at that time. Episodes from Ramayana and Mahabharata have also been given great importance in the carvings here.

Unfortunately my camera batteries were drained out and I could take only a few pictures of this wonderful place. There is a KSTDC hotel near by; the food at this place is pretty good. They also have rooms to stay, but the facilities are very basic – there is no power during the day.

"Advice, like youth, probably just wasted on the young"

2007-12-06T21:36:00.000+05:30

The video below is the musical version of "Advice, like youth, probably just wasted on the young" written by Mary Schmich, sung by Baz Luhrmann. I had first seen these wonderful video when i was in pre university college. Recently came across this, in one of my friend's orkut video list. It is amazing, worth a watch.

Mockery of Democracy

2007-11-30T21:44:00.000+05:30

A common phrase that people so proudly use when talking about

India

society is “The world’s largest democracy”. Yes, we do have elections, we select are representatives. But are we really a functioning democracy?

“Democracy”

1 a form of government in which the people have a voice in the exercise of power, typically through elected representatives. 2 a state governed in such a way. 3 control of a group by the majority of its members.

This is the oxford definition of the word of Greek origin. Of the three definitions, in the Indian context, only the 3^rd one makes some sense. Fine, we do elect our representatives, but do these representatives actually represent our voice? NO. I have a lot of issues concerning the type of democracy that we have in our country. But my concern for now is about the representation of voice.

Elections are around the corner in this part of the country (hmm.. who knows we could also have general elections soon). This is the time when political parties start making promises, and release manifestos. For most public, these promises and manifestoes form a significant factor that help them to decide whom to vote for. Obviously there are many other issues – caste, money, liquor, etc., that could have even more effect on certain sections of the society. When I say most public, I mean to refer to citizens for who development issues rather than other issues form the basis while selecting their representatives.

In most cases the public’s voice is what, which forms the part of the political promises and manifestos. Like poverty eradication, electricity, education, social security, infrastructure, etc. The parties promise many things in their public meetings and manifestos, depending on which people decide which party to vote for. But once these parties are in power, do they care to implement these promises? Forget implementing these promises, many times the governments do exactly the opposite.

Don’t we need a proper mechanism where political parties are penalized if their election promises are not implemented? Not implementing these policies certainly amounts to cheating the society. Is this not a criminal offense? A party wining an election and not honoring its promises is a breach of mutual agreement between the representatives and the society. There cannot be a greater crime that this in a democracy. There is an urgent need for some regulatory mechanism to over see this; this will not only deter the political parties from making false and opportunistic promises and duping the public.

Nandigram – this is the reason I am writing this. I would be surprised if any of the pro capitalist governments would even think of trying to do something that the communists did there. They did the exact opposite of what they were preaching for the last 30 years there. All of a sudden they woke up to development and decided that they had to give land to capitalists.

Karnataka – how can I forget this? As long as they had power it didn’t matter to them about any of the promises to the public. All they wanted was power. It was the dirtiest dance of democracy anybody could have witnessed. How a hand full of people played their games with the hopes of 50 million people of this state. Bond papers and ministries were more important to them, than the interest of the general public.

What ever democracy that we have at present is the worst form of democracy. People are displaced from the ancestral lands without proper compensations, women are striped and beaten brutally because someone does not like what she asks for, another lady is made to run from city to city because someone did like what she writes, natural resources are illegally mined and exported to other countries, the list goes on and on….

Do we have any hope? The only thing that can force a government to do its job rightfully is the civil society. But how strong is this society whose stake holders are me, you and every citizen? We are more concerned about our self well being, than about the collective good.

Do we have a solution? Is our system the worst form of democracy?

Turkeys in "Frying Pan Park"

2007-11-22T20:01:00.000+05:30

Thanksgiving day is celebrated on the 4th Thursday of November in US, is similar to the Sankranthi festival celebrated in India - thanking god for a good harvest.

For this day more than 50 million turkeys are slaughtered and processed to fed America. But there is one lucky turkey (hmm..). Every year the the National Turkey Federation presents the US president with a turkey (specially trained to interact with him and the other VIPs) as a thanksgiving gesture. As a show of kindness, this turkey is granted the presidential pardoned and sent to (oops!!!) "Frying Pan Park" or to (wow!!!) Disneyland to spend the rest of its life.

I guess the fate of this bird is much better than the people of Iraq and Afghanistan where every day his army kills countless number of innocent people.

Krishi Mela - 2007

2007-11-18T12:01:00.000+05:30

Krishi Mela, is an annual farmer fest organized at the sprawling 1400 acer GKVK campus on Bellary road. It is organized by GKVK itself. They showcase all the latest developments in agriculture field in this 4 day mela. Buses to his mela is arranged by the government from all over the state.

The students and faculty of GKVK did an excellent job explaining the new technologies to all the visitors. Expecting this fair to be like most dull government events, i was in for a pleasant surprise. The students at the stall were very warm and outreaching to everyone. I was happy to see them explain everything to the farmers with same intensity with which they talked to well dressed city people.

There were also private companies exhibiting their latest agriculture products - machinery, seeds, pesticides, etc. This years mela had special focus to organic farming. Looking at the numbers farmers who attended the mela, it was big success. They are expecting close to 200 thousand people to visit this year.

There are (i think) 7 agriculture colleges spread through out the state. Very few young people have the knowledge of these colleges or about the graduate programs they offer. With the advent of organized retailing (read contract farming) in this country, career opportunities are bound to grow for graduates of these colleges.

For a country like India to prosper, the real growth should come from the agriculture sector. Depending on the monsoons, the growth in this sector has been a dismal 2-4% (sometimes even -ve growth). The 9% growth in GDP that we have now is mainly because of the services sector (the contribution from the manufacturing sector is also not significant). No doubt that this is doing wonders, but this affects less than 15% of the population. For India to really grow,

the growth should come from sectors like agriculture (and manufacturing) on which more than 50% of our population depends. For this government should spend more on agriculture research rather than giving out power and fertilizer subsidies.

One aspect i hope the organizers realize, is that they should localize such melas. Instead of having a mela for the full state at Bangalore, they should organize them in different regions. By doing so they can also concentrate on the crops and techniques that are suite for that particular region. Like for example South-East Karnataka (Bangalore, Kolar, Chikballapur, Tumkur) is predominantly dry region, will less than adequate rainfall. Telling them how to grow rise is certainly of know use to them. Providing people with what they need specifically, will help the achieve better results.

You can find more pictures here.

Force India Pictures

2007-11-14T20:02:00.000+05:30

Pictures of "Force India" Formula One team (formerly Spyker) owned by Vijay Mallya.

A well designed crisp logo. I hope the government does not raise any objects for using the tri-color. Nice to see the Indian flag on a formula one car.

Random Pictures

2007-11-11T14:23:00.000+05:30

An ad somewhere along the ring road :) I guess he was jumping over crocodile infested tank :P

The Shining

2007-11-11T14:06:00.000+05:30

Of late I have been seeing a lot of old movies. “The Shining” has been one of the finest movie I have seen to date. The movie is an adaptation on Stephen King’s novel. Though I have not seen all the movies of Jack Nicholson, but I guess this should be one of his best performances.

The plot: Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) agrees to take care of a remote hotel over the winter months, when it is completely closed to visitors. It is virtually cut off from the rest of the world of 5 months. Jack looking for solitude to write his new book, thinks this is the most suitable places and decides to move in with his family. The hotel is haunted by the family of the previous caretaker. The movie revolves around the breakdown of Jack in this environment.

It is a horror movie, released in 1980, in the pre animation/pre special effects era. The movie starts off with a long drive to the remote hotel. The images are truly breathtaking. This movie is considered to be one of the scariest movies ever to be made and what makes it so scary – not gory images or special effects. It’s the surrounding, the cold and dark winter, the loneliness of the place, the amazing cinematography, the settings, and the sheer acting skills of Jack Nicholson, Danny Lloyd (his son) and Shelley Duvall (his wife). The music of the film is like the icing on the cake – truly brilliant. The claustrophobic nature of the movie gave me goose bumps more than ones.. may be more than 10 times. The set is flawless – those huge hotel rooms, kitchens, the maze everything is perfect – just amazing.

Danny’s tricycle rides around the hotel and his run in the Maze are the best parts of the movie. Jacks facial expression and the depth in his role impresses at lot.

I would rate this movie 10/10 and if you haven’t seen the movie yet – rush to you DVD rental guy and get one today, or else download it like me :) .

But I wouldn’t say that this is the scariest movie. My choice is “Exorcist”. I used to stay in hostel when I watched this movie. For weeks after I saw that movie, I wouldn’t walk in the hostel corridors without lights and used to sleep with my room lights on :( .

Deepavalli Celebrations!!!

2007-11-11T11:51:00.000+05:30

From Deepavali

The ultimate survival tips for a software coolie :)

2007-11-06T20:04:00.000+05:30

Found his very interesting slide show... created by someone at iim Kolkata..

India’s Biggest Gambling Industry!!!!

2007-11-04T17:57:00.000+05:30

It was November 1^st, a public holiday in this part of the country. After much research – spent a couple of hours reading about the company, recommendations from various traders, blogs, I decided to invest in the public offer of a company.

Not having the form I decided to go to a near by stock trader – Geojit. I was there by 9:45. It was not a national holiday, so the stock markets were open. As I sit there filling up that form (filling those ipo forms are really a nightmare), people started to coming. By around 9:50 there were around 20-25 people in the office. People of all ages were there. A young guy – undoubtedly a software coolie, a middle aged woman, an old man – well past his retirement age, all of them. Each one of them glued to one of the 4 huge TFT monitors (trading terminals).

As the clock turns 9:55 (opening bells!!) each one starts making notes, shouting to get to know the prices of the stocks and deeply following those blue and red blocks on the black screen. Each one, ordering the guy operating the computer, to buy some stock or the other. By then a few more people had started coming to add to the chaos. It was nothing short of a fish market. A few were shouting, about the killer they made from a stock and I could see a few dejected faces.

If you were to visit the Bangalore Turf club, trust me you will find a similar behavior, but each one shouting the horses name instead of the stock names. I was told that since it was holiday, there were more men than women. On a normal trading day, there would be more women (all middle aged house wives) than men (which would mainly consist of retired men).

I am sure none of them would have done much research on the stocks they trade in, relying excessively on the stock tips by their stock traders or on the news flashes on the plasma TV in the room. In my view it is nothing more than gambling. Luckily the markets are doing well for the last 2-3 years, and most of them would have made some good profit. Also 2/3^rd of this would be day trading. You never know when you will be in for a big shock.

With the advent of online/phone trading, more and more of these software coolies are getting involved in the markets. I know a few people who spend more time on this during their work hours than on their work.

After seeing people around me (and some out of my own experience), I would suggest a few trading tips J :

Stock markets are highly addictive, just like gambling, the more the profits you start making, the more you start to bet, and then on the D day, you will have it.
Never ever get involved in day trading, unless of course you have some reliable information that by the end of the day India’s economy is going to double.
If you want to trade in stocks, maintain a small but diversified portfolio, and track your companies in detail. Another golden rule – don’t take the “buy” advice/tips, but always consider the “sell” advice/tip from your agent.
Entering the markets via the primary market (IPO) is a good option (again get to know about the company before you actually invest).
Exit from non performing stocks. A very common mistake done my most investors is, holding on to underperforming stocks in the hope of them doing well. If you have invested in such stocks you have already made a mistake, exit it from them at the earliest and invest else where.
Don’t invest too much of your wealth into stocks. Have a fine balance. Even if you were to loose it, it shouldn’t affect you much.
Don’t get emotionally attached to the gains and losses.
Invest in Mutual Funds (this too is tricky, will write in detail about this soon). Any day a better option.

Prof. Randy Pauch’s “Last” Speech – “How To Live Your Childhood Dreams”

2007-10-09T23:16:00.000+05:30

This is a must watch video – 1hr 44mins of pure inspiration.

Dr Randy Pauch is a Computer Science professor at the Carnegie Mellon University. Everything about this 46 year professor, father of 3 kids look absolutely fine, except that he has pancreatic cancer and he is going to live, just for a few more months.

Wall street journal called it the “THE LECTURE OF A LIFETIME”. The talk filled with humor and enthusiasm lets you doubt, if this man is really going to die in a few days.

In the lecture he talks about his life journey, from his love for stuffed animals, to his passion to work for Disney.

He tells why teaching is the best profession, for him it was a way to “enable the childhood dreams of others” – his students.

If you don’t see this video you will certainly miss something very precious in life, take my word for that. He starts of showing his CT scans, but ends up teaching you how to live your life.

Some of his quotes:

“But remember, the brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want it badly enough. They’re there to stop the other people.”

“And I think that that’s one of the best things you can give somebody – the chance to show them what it feels like to make other people get excited and happy. I mean that’s a tremendous gift.”

“When you’ve had something for ten years that you hold so precious, it’s the toughest thing in the world to hand it over. And the only advice I can give you is, find somebody better than you to hand it to.”

“The best way to teach somebody something is to have them think they’re learning something else.”

“I, like Moses, get to see the promised land, but I won’t get to set foot in it.” – about one of his pet program Alice’s next version which will be released probably a bit too late for him.

“I mean I don’t know how to not have fun. I’m dying and I’m having fun. And I’m going to keep having fun every day I have left. Because there’s no other way to play it.” – this thing brought tears in my eyes.

“How do you get people to help you? You can’t get there alone. People have to help you and I do believe in karma. I believe in paybacks. You get people to help you by telling the truth. Being earnest. I’ll take an earnest person over a hip person every day, because hip is short term. Earnest is long term. Apologize when you screw up and focus on other people, not on yourself.” – this was like god talking to me.

“Remember brick walls let us show our dedication. They are there to separate us from the people who don’t really want to achieve their childhood dreams. Don’t bail. The best of the gold’s at the bottom of barrels of crap.” – as my boss say ‘persistence man persistence, that makes all the difference.’

“When people give you feedback, cherish it and use it. Show gratitude. When I got tenure I took all of my research team down to Disneyworld for a week. And one of the other professors at Virginia said, how can you do that? I said these people just busted their ass and got me the best job in the world for life. How could I not do that?”

“Be good at something, it makes you valuable.”

“Find the best in everybody. One of the things that Jon Snoddy as I said told me, is that you might have to wait a long time, sometimes years, but people will show you their good side. Just keep waiting no matter how long it takes. No one is all evil. Everybody has a good side, just keep waiting, it will come out.”

“It’s not about how to achieve your dreams. It’s about how to lead your life. If you lead your life the right way, the karma will take care of itself. The dreams will come to you.”- this is THE quote.

If you don’t get tears after you see this video I recommend you visit an eye specialist, coz you might be suffering from Keratoconjunctivitis sicca.When I watch something like this I try to analysis my own life. It’s a bad feeling I a getting, I might have just wasted 23 years of my life (my age - 23).

Srirangapatna and Chamundi Betta

2007-10-03T21:15:00.000+05:30

Pictures from my recent visit to Srirangapatna and Chamundi Betta.

Rangaswamy Betta

2007-10-02T16:55:00.000+05:30

Below are the pictures taken during my recent visit to Ranganathaswamy Temple on the Rangaswamy betta(Hill). The temple was supposedly built during the Ganga Dynasty rule, sometime between 8th century AD to 12th century AD.

The temple is pretty small, and architecturally not really significant. It is located around 70Km from Bangalore on the Bangalore - Gowribidanur road, around 20Km from Doddaballapur. We have to travel a further 6-7Km from the main road. The drive is pretty unpleasant because of the road repair works going on, on the Bangalore Gowribidanur state highway.

After the right turn from the main road, the narrow road is surrounded by lush green fields. The ride gets further bumpy with only traces of tarred roads. As you near the foothill, all you you get is a narrow mud road. Due to the heavy rains overnight, the road was practically washed off and we had to park the vehicle 2Km away from the foothill.

This was my third visit to this place, first one was around 21 years back.

The hill is part of the mountainous range which also includes Nandi betta and Kalavarahalli betta.

There is no clear cut route to the top. Occasionally you will find some directions written on the stones. It will take around 45 mins to reach the top. The lush green fields and the surrounding hills give a wonderful view as you climb up. The view of the Nandi Betta and the Kalavarahalli betta with the hat shaped fog cover over them was a breath taking view.

On the top you will find the Ranganatha Swamy Temple. Recently some some miscreants had dug up the inside of the temple when rumors of some hidden treasure beneath the temple spread. It was latter restored and also a standing version of Ranganatha Swamy idol was installed. The masonry work was extremely bad though. Apart from the temple you will find a well and ruins of some old stone structures. These ruins, which are on the other side of the hill indicate, an old stoned pathway to the temple.

The temple is normally closed during the week days. The temple is maintained by the Muzrai department of Govt of Karnataka. The priest resides in one of the villages at the foothills. People throng the temple on the Saturdays of Sravana massa.

Sorry… which company did you say?

2007-09-12T21:24:00.000+05:30

Last week was my cousin sister’s wedding. Oooph it was an experience. I generally like to stay off from marriages/functions unless it involves someone close to me. Else I will end up sitting somewhere giving smiles to unknown people :).

I had a few interesting conversations with people, I think they are worth being put here. I am sure most of us would have come across these conversations - except the last one.

Some aunty/uncle.. especially the aunties (that too a bit aged ones) suddenly pop up from no where and ask me..

“Hey do you know who I am?”

In most cases I put on an embarrassing face indicating I have no idea who they are, but in some case I vaguely guess the place they are from trying to save my face.

I am amazed at how so many people tend to ask to same question to so many people. I think probably, they (atleast a few of them) who ask this question, might also not be sure of who the other person is, to cover this up they ask it.

This one is more funnier:

Again, aunties that too the aged ones love to start a conversation this way –

I had last seen you when you were so small / 10 years back. See how tall you have become now.

Ok that’s a nice way to start a conversation, but come on did they expect me to stay that way itself. Even more funnier was this person, whom I am sure I had meet at some function may be an year back, came and told me the same thing, I though of reminding that person that she/he had told me the same thing when we meet previously.

Also some people say that you have become taller than when I had seen you last. Haha, I haven’t grown an inch in the past 3 years. I can accept if they say i have become fat or thin, but not tall.

This one - is an assault on me :(

After all the initial talk they ask me what I am doing now. The conversation some what continues like this:

I heard you completed your studies, so where are you working now?

To which I reply:

I work with a company called Ty fone:

The first reaction to this is “Sorry.. which company did you say?”

Then I try to explain to them that it’s a small startup located at ITPL.

What the hell, I doubt if some of these people know that people also work at places apart from Infosys, Wipro, Satyam….. Their reaction is as if that, I haven’t got a job in any of these companies and so I am working with this small unknown company. How I wish I could have told them on their face that I rejected a few good offers from these companies and joined here. And if I had actually said that, I wouldn’t be surprised if they would have though that I am mentally instable. The fact that it is located at ITPL, makes them feel that may be it’s a good company (thank god we shifted to ITPL from Marathahalli).

How wonderful it would have been if marriages truly happened in heaven :).

Gratitude redefined

2007-09-08T20:33:00.000+05:30

A lion thanking its rescuer :)

A wonderful video i stumbled upon.

Somanathapura

2007-08-18T22:44:00.000+05:30

From Somnathapura

Somanathapura around 40 KM from Mysore houses the temple dedicated to the Lord Keshava. Built by the Hyosalas in the 12^th century AD is one of the three main architectural marvels built by them, the other two being Beluru and Halebidu. It was commissioned by Somanatha Dandanayaka, an illustrious general of Hoysala King Narasimha III, and the place is named after him.

This fine example of Hoysala architecture is dedicated to Lord Keshava. It also houses sanctums of Lord Venugopala and Janardhana.

Like most Hoysala monuments Somanathpura temple is star shaped – this design is followed by most Hoysala temples to increase the surface area of the temple.

The three shines or the sanctums (Thrikuta design) are identical in design and is built on an elevated platform. The pillars inside the temple are in itself a marvel.

Another feature that this temple shares with the other 2 temples is the bands of intricately carved figures running all around the outer walls. The lowest band contains images of elephants in different postures. The elephant signifies strength and they are supposed to support the temple on them. The next band contains images of horses, again in various postures. Other bands contained various animals and idols and complex patterns, telling us the stories form Ramayana, Mahabharata and other Puranas.

The Father of Hoysala architecture was Amarashilpi Jakanacharya. Jakanacharya was the chief architect of both Belur and Halebidu both of which were built in early 11^th century. However the temple at Somanathpura was built only in mid 12^th century using most of his ideas.

The temple like the other two temples is carved out of soap stone (technical name - dark grey green chloritic schist). This stone when freshly quarried is soft and easy to work on, however with time they become hard.

I was surprised to see that pooja was not performed in this temple. Same is the case with the temple at Halebidu. The idol at Halebidu and the temple was damaged by a Muslim ruler Malik Kafur. The original idol of Lord Kesava of Somanathpura is currently in a british museum. Only a replica of the original idol is present here. Also the idols in the 64 cells

around the main temple were either taken away by the british or have been damaged. According to Hindu mythology once the main idol of the temple is damaged, no longer is the pooja offered at the temple. I am not sure if the poojas still take place at the Belu temple. It’s a pity that we have lost such precious souvenir of ancient India. I hope that one day this idol comes back to where it actually belonged.

Another wonder to watch in the temple are the ceilings. It’s truly marvelous. I tried my best to capture it on my cam, but being an amateur photographer didn’t help.

One can also observer that the ceilings were painted, I am not sure if these are the original paintings or done latter. My guess is they are the original paintings. However the rain water seeping in through the ceiling has damaged these paintings. I am surprised the ASI hasn’t done anything to stop this. But over all ASI is doing a pretty good job in

maintaining the temple. Absence of the poojas and an entry fee to the temple has certainly help.

I would consider this temple the grandest and the best among the 3 main Hoysala temples. This temple stands testimony to the fact that Karnataka is the cradle of stone architecture in India.

Images That Changed The World

2007-08-09T21:24:00.000+05:30

An amazing collection of photographs. I am shocked at the intensity of these pictures.

Why do startups survive the bigger fishes?

2007-08-05T08:45:00.000+05:30

Another interesting discussion and another interesting outcome! My company is working with a large financial services company, on a particular service. They have been involved with us for quite sometime, and I am sure they would have got a pretty good idea of our product. Now the question I got was “What stops them putting up their own team and start work on a similar idea? Why do they have to come to us?”

My though process was, since they being a large company, they would have had enough resources, both in terms of man power and money, they could just take away our idea and start implementing it all by themselves. They could easily bypass us.

But it seams that it was not so. These big companies are too much involved in what they are doing. They don’t have time to think about new ideas or implementing them. Their current work keeps them preoccupied to try anything new (certainly there are a few exceptions). That’s why they turn to startups for new ideas. They would prefer to invest some money to buy this new idea, rather than implement it on their own. The effort involved in starting something new in these large companies (it seams) is nothing short of an experience of getting a building plan approved at your municipality. So the best way out for them is work with small startups, see if their ideas actually work in the market, and if so latter buy them at an extra premium or pay heftily for their services.

Do we have a defined process?

2007-07-28T14:35:00.000+05:30

A few days back, I was at a lunch with my team, discussing day to day activities at the company. My company is a products company involved in developing mobile banking applications.

Mobile applications development is an interesting and complex one, considering the variety of platforms (operating systems), form factors and companies involved. Optimizing user interface experience for the user is a critical factor deciding the success of the product.

Now we as developers we expecting a well defined set of process for certain things like security, user interface and blah blah… That started of an interesting discussion.

Since we are developing a new product, there is no benchmark for what we need to do and how we need to achieve it. The product keeps evolving; I myself know how much we have evolved in the past 1 year when we started off to where we are now. There is no defined path/process in a startup. Different people will come up with different ideas on different things. For some things like security, things will get clear, but for some other things like UI and various functionalities we as developers, have completely no control. Some things could be solved by consulting domain experts but ultimately the user will decide the things. The out come of this discussion was, don’t expect things to be defined. The development is a continuous process – a regenerative one. Probably the real development could actually start when the customer gets his hands on the product.

A recent article published by a mobile development expert stated that – “To develop a simple mobile application in 5 languages for 50 different phones, it would require around 7500 builds, averaging around $ 2500 per build”. A scary scenario indeed.

Speak Up!!!

2007-07-27T22:10:00.000+05:30

“First they came for the Communists,
and I didn’t speak up,
because I wasn’t a Communist.
Then they came for the Social Democrats,
and I didn’t speak up,
because I wasn’t a Social Democrat.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists,
and I didn’t speak up,
because I wasn’t a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak up,
because I wasn't a Jew,
Then they came for me,
and by that time there was no one
left to speak up for me.”

Pastor Martin Neimoller's – on why we should speak up against injustice even when it don’t really affect us and on the importance of free speech. Neimoller was a Protestant German Christian who had supported Nazis initially but eventually ended up in one of their concentrations camps. He was fortunate enough to have been freed.

Pseudo Women Empowerment

2007-07-25T22:45:00.000+05:30

"This is a victory for the principles which our Indian people uphold" – President Prathiba Patil.

I am a bit worried about what principles she is actually talking off. Now that she is the President, all we can hope is she keeps up the values that our outgoing President Dr APJ Kalam had brought to this office.

Political parties specially the UPA alliance has been talking about this as a victory for women’s right. I am indeed very happy to have a lady President. But if a lady President was selected on the basis of principles, contributions to the society, rather than loyalty to some person or family, I would have been happier.

All this apart two other incidents concerning women in India, happened this week

Discovery of more than 30 female fetuses dumped in wells

Kiran Bedi not being offered the post of Delhi’s commissioner

More than 30 female fetuses each packed in polythene bags were found in Orissa. A reminder of how female infanticide is still so persistent in India, even after having so many laws against the same. I am really shocked to write anything about this. Probably dowry is the single most import cause for this epidemic (if I can say so). Will we ever see an end to this horrific practice? I am certainly not prepared to read one more article by some council in UK about 20 million girl children being killed by Indian parents.

Kiran Bedi, India’s first IPS office, a person with impeccable character and background, recognized and honored internationally, an excellent reformer, was denied the post of the Commissioner of Delhi Police. Another example of male domination or just that other “babus” believed that they couldn’t handle her. Mrs Bedi was over looked though she was the senior most person for the post. Certain newspapers even reported statements by the people in the government stating that she was too radical and out spoken for the post.

On one side UPA talks of women empowerment by electing females to ceremonial posts and steps back when actual empowerment is considered. Female infanticide can lead to a lot of social problems; a skewed sex ratio will lead to a lot of social unrest and increase atrocities and crime against women. The issue of 33% reservation for women has also had a silent death.

Trek to Kalavara Betta

2007-07-23T21:55:00.000+05:30

Its been a few weeks since I had been to this place. I am writing this so that if you happen to read it and plan to go there don’t make the mistake we did.

I had read a lot about this place. This place is so strategically placed that, if you reach the top, you will just be above the cloud level, and you get to see the clouds/fog form the top. I had seen wonderful pictures, and was expecting a similar experience. To my disappointment I didn’t get to see any of this. The blunder we made was, we started climbing late, at around 8:30 in the morning. Also this is was not the ideal time to visit this place. However you could still get a good experience if you start your trek the previous night and reach the top before sunrise.

As we were climbing, we meet a lot of people getting down. Probably a few would have been laughing at us for starting so late. A few of them whom we talked told us about the wonderful sunrise they had seen. Most of them had gone there the previous night itself and spent the night on the top. I am sure it would have been a great experience.

6 of us, packed into one car, left Bangalore at 7:00AM and reached there around 8:30 (we could have reached there much earlier if Mr Nag had handed the wheel to someone else). At around 8:40 we started climbing. The sun was kind on us. The first 20-25 minutes everyone where just trying to race each other. After that we climbed for 5 minutes and rested for 10 minutes. I will take around 1:45 to 2 hours to reach to the top.

The fort

As we reach the top we cross an old fort. One of my uncles (grandmother’s younger brother) latter told me that the construction of this fort was started by Hyder Ali and completed by Tipu Sultan. My uncle during his childhood days, it seams used to go grazing cattle all the way up to this fort when they had holidays. The fort is pretty impressive and strategically placed. The stone walls are quite impressive considering the height at which they are built.

The temple

At the top you will also find an old temple. It’s the temple of Lord Ganesh. Its very simple, with just a single room and the Lord placed at one end. You will find a Nandi opposite the temple. Interesting because, you generally find a Nandi in front of a Shiva Temple.

The scenery and the winds

At the top the winds are extremely powerful. If you jump, probably you could be pushed off a bit. On the southern side you get a wonderful view of the Nandi hills and the steep “Tipu drop”. On the eastern side you get to see the whole of Chikballapur town and National Highway 7. To the northern and western side we can see a lot of other hills and forests between them.

Mistake you shouldn’t make if you plan to visit this place

The best time of the year to go here would in the winter season between Nov to Feb. You will get a wonderful view of the fog/clouds from the top. It would be ideal to climb at night. A full moon night would be perfect but then expect a huge crowd – which actually is better considering security. Start your climb around 12:00 AM. You will need a lot of water and a few packets of snacks will certainly help you. You won’t find any of them once you start your climb. Carry lots of lighter/match sticks and collect a few dry wood as you trek. However I doubt how successful you will be in starting a bonfire considering the heavy winds. It could get a bit cold on the top, so you may want to carry a jersey.

Beer bottles

You will be appalled to see the number of empty beer bottles and plastics thrown around. Do take care not to add to this. It’s a wonderful place.

Other Details

Location:

Kalavara Betta, Chikballapur

How to get there:

Take NH7 from Bangalore and proceed towards Chikaballapur(58 Km from Hebbal). Once you reach the town, at the Sir M Vishveshvaraiah Cricle take a left. Proceed in this narrow lane leading you outside the town to reach the Omkareshwara Ashrama – around 6-7 KM from the town. You will have walk from this point on.

Best time to visit:

Nov to Feb

"Favor Bank!!!"

2007-05-31T23:21:00.000+05:30

Ok I finally decided to start my blog again. Not that I had a regular habit of writing blogs, but I had made an attempt and like the 80% of the people who started writing blogs I too stopped. I promise myself this time to be more regular. But then are promises made to break?

Sometime back I was reading “The Zeher” by Paulo Coelho. The book by itself is pretty mundane and a bit boring too. Nothing compared to “The Alchemist”. But he explains this concept of “Favor Bank”. An amazing concept I felt. The following is an extract from that novel

‘I start making deposits in your accounts – not cash deposits, you understand, but contacts. I introduce you to such and such a person; I arrange a few deals, as long as they’re legal. You know that you owe me something, but I never ask you for anything.’

‘And then one day....’

‘Exactly. One day, I’ll ask you for a favor and you could, of course say “No”, but you’re conscious of being in my debt. You do what I ask, I continue to help you, and other people see that you’re decent, loyal sort of person and so they too make deposits in your account – always in the form of contacts and nothing else. They too one day will ask you for a favor and you will respect and help the people who have helped you, and, in time you’ll spread your net worldwide, you’ll know everyone you need to know and your influence will keep on growing.’

‘I could refuse to do what you ask me to do.’

‘You could. The favor bank is a risky investment, just like any other bank. You refuse to grant the favor I asked you, in the belief that I helped you because you deserved to be helped, because you’re the best and everyone should automatically recognize your talent. Fine, I say thank you very much and ask someone else into whose account I’ve also made various deposits; but from then on, everyone know, without me having to say a word, that you are not to be trusted.’

I work with a startup company in its early growth stages. I have seen from the people who have started it, as to how important is such an account.

Each of us should consciously make an effort to help and promote friends and people we know. It’s very important to help as many people as possible when you are in a situation to do so. You never know when you will need their help. I have know people who think twice before helping their know ones, just because they feel that they may become more successful than themselves. (You may call me rude but I conciously make an effort never to help them. I hate such people.)But that’s not the case, that’s not reality, by helping out people we grow and succeed, more than they do, and also the sense of satisfaction you get by doing so is just amazing.

To All Wanna Be Marketing And Financial Gurus

2006-04-02T15:52:00.000+05:30

Valuebased Management
12manage

The Ball Theory

2006-04-02T15:31:00.000+05:30

Imagine life as a game in which you are juggling five balls in the air. You name them - work, family, health, friends, and spirit - and you're keeping all of these in the air. You will soon understand that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. But the other four balls - family, health, friends, and spirit are made of glass. If you drop one of these, they will be irrevocably scuffed, marked, nicked, damaged, or even shattered. They will never be the same. You must understand that and strive for balance in your life.

-Brian Dyson (CEO of Coca Cola Enterprises from 1959-1994)

Who is better? - India or China

2006-03-05T02:26:00.000+05:30

Continuing from my previous post I start off with the nuclear issue. After the landmark INDIA – US nuclear deal, a very funny (at least I felt so) thing happened. China called on INDIA to completely disarm its Nuclear arsenal and sign the NPT. To which Indian government gave a pleasant and fitting reply “Aap pehele” – “you first”.

I am sure anyone of you would agree what China asked for was completely hilarious. On one can oppose the fact that China is a superpower. But here I try to compare INDIA and China. Both will be the 2 most happening countries of this century. By 2050 China is expected to be the largest economy (much larger that US) and INDIA is expected to be the 3rd largest. Together India and China will account for more than a third of the world’s economy.

On the defense too China spends almost 3.5 times what the INDIA government spends (China around 70 Billion $ compared to India’s 20 Billion $ budget – US spends around 320 Billion, much larger that India’s and China’s annual budget).

Both INDIA and China face the major problem for corruption. But with the open and free media which we have, we are in a better position to get rid of this problem. China has a very highly regulated media, much of it is state controlled. You don’t obviously expect the state to write against the state itself. We should be proud of channels like Aaj Tak and Tehelka. The greatest gift that we people in INDIA is the political freedom. We still have the confidence that we can oppose things, and these oppositions will be heard by the government. We also have a free judiciary – independent of government control.

Much of the capital that’s driving the Indian economy is generated internally. The FDI into INDIA this year was around 4b$ compared to 60b$ that China got. Inspite of this we were showing a tremendous growth. This will in turn encourage more FDI and hence more growth. We have a very strong banking industry - banks like ICICI, SBI, HDFC are among the best managed ones in the Asia region. Chinese banks on the other hand are in dismal state with more that 200b$ for NPAs – much of it caused due to lending to state owned companies

Also the Chinese population is expected to grow older faster than any other country in the world, thanks to its one family one child policy. This cycle of growing old will be much slower for India. By 2020 INDIA would have reached the peak of her youth, when a significant percentage of the population will be in the working force.

The single most major problem that INDIA faces today is Red tapism and infrastructure. China has been investing heavily on infrastructure projects. A fact – the Shangai city in China has 7 outer ring roads, we here in Bangalore have just 1 ring road that was completes only 2 years back, after it was conceived more that 30 years ago. It has an excellent road infrastructure. We here in INDIA wait for the problem and then look for the solution. We just don’t want to see the problem coming.

INDIA with the right people to lead her should easily be able to outpace China’s growth rate. For this we need a political system that is much younger. The old should make for the new. People like Lalu Prasad, Deve Gowda should resign from politics and give way for the young blood. We as learned individuals should take up responsibilities. If everyone keeps complaining who will solve the problem. This would certainly make INDIA way better than any other country.

Nuclear INDIA

2006-03-04T03:13:00.000+05:30

On the 2^nd of March at 12 noon, a major agreement took place between INDIA and the US that could have long lasting effects on the world politics. The deal is a de facto recognition of INDIA as Nuclear power.

Let me start off with some facts, INDIA at present produces much of its nuclear power from Uranium. And unfortunately INDIA has less than .5% percent of the total known reserves of uranium. This means that it has to fetch much of this element from the outside world. To get access to this material INDIA should have signed the NPT (INDIA along with Pakistan and Israel are the only 3 countries who are outside this treaty). Now what this deal will ensure that INDIA will get access to his element without much problems, except that it will have to send back the spent fuel (which is otherwise used to produce weapons) back to the source country.

INDIA generates about 3% of its total energy from nuclear power stations – that’s around 3300MW. By 2050, it is planned to generate 25-30% of its power from nuclear power that’s around 100000-150000MW. It would certainly be an almost impossible task for INDIA to do this all on her own.

INDIA due to its lack of Uranium resources had started working on a new technology called Fast Breeder Reactors (FBR). INDIA has 1/3^rd of the world Thorium resources. Though this material can not be used directly to generate energy, it can be used after it is processed in the breeder reactors. INDIA is way ahead of the world in the Breeder Reactors and expectedly it has not been made a part of the deal. Also the amount of plutonium that can be generated by FBR is much larger.

INDIA is way behind the world in other nuclear technologies. It still does not have the capabilities to built 1000MW reactors (only the 5 countries have this knowledge). What this deal will ensure is that INDIA will get access to these technologies.

We cant be dependent on Oil for all our energy deals. Ours is a rapidly growing economy. Oil will only get costly from here and we can’t always trust the countries who supply them. Iran is one such example. Though the previous regime had reached an agreement on selling the oil, the present one is sitting idle on the deal. Annually around 25-30 billion dollars is spent by Indians to import oil. And this bill is growing rapidly.

Also if this deal really comes through, its not mandatory for INDIA to buy the technology or the fuel only from US, it can do so from France, UK or Russia.

INDIA has been a responsible nuclear state. It has developed much of its technologies independently, with little or no help from others. It has an impeccable record of non proliferation. Pakistan has been the source of most of nuclear proliferation supplying the technology to countries from N Korea to Iran. Israel too has been secretly helping South Africa in their nuclear quest.

Non of the world powers are opposing this deal (except for China which is very cautiously looking at the deal for obvious reasons). It just shows the confidence the world has in the INDIA System. IAEA too has welcomed the deal.

The deal I feel will certainly change the status quo of INDIA in the international arena. It will help her produce clean power for her giant economy. It is a recognition of her clean records. Certainly there will be people in INDIA who will make noises about the deal, the left parties ( when have they not made noise anyways), the SP ( Mulayam after attending the anti Bush and anti deal rallies quietly went for the dinner hosted for Mr Bush ), etc, for some short term political gains and to tell the nation that they are still alive. It should also be noted that it was the BJP ( especially Brijesh Mishra) which actually started negotiations on the deal and like a mature party have welcomed the deal and supported the government on the issue.

Who Owns What

2006-02-05T15:54:00.000+05:30

The last few years (and the next few years ... at least till 2008) has been the most dreaded years for the american automobile companies. This phase could well see Toyota taking over from GM as the largest automobile company. I was looking into the reasons on why the US companies in general (GM and Ford) and the western auto companies (including Fiat, DC) in general are doing so badly, while the Japanees and Korean companies are doing so well. I came up with some interesting facts on who owns the auto companies --

-----------------------------------------------
Fiat owns:
Ferrari
Fiat
Alfa Romeo
Lancia
Maserati
-----------------------------------------------

Ford owns:
Aston Martin
Land Rover
Ford
Jaguar
Mazda -- it controls 33%
Volvo cars
Lincoln
-----------------------------------------------

Hyundai owns:
Hyundai
Kia -- u would have see this name in the Australian Open
-----------------------------------------------

BMW owns:
BMW
Rolls Royce
-----------------------------------------------

Daimler Chrysler owns:
Chrysler
Mercedes-Benz
Maybach
Dodge
Hyundai -- Minority holder(10%) controlled by Hyundai Group of S.Korea
Jeep
Smart
-----------------------------------------------

General Motors owns:
Buick
Cadillac
Chevrolet
Daewoo -- resently brought 44% stake
Holden
Hummer
Isuzu -- minority holder
Opel
Suzuki -- again a minority holder
-----------------------------------------------

Volkswagen owns:
Volkswagen
Lamborghini
Audi
Bentley
Bugatti
SEAT
Skoda
Porche holds 20% of Volkswagen
-----------------------------------------------

Toyota owns:
Toyota
Daihatsu -- 51%, the worlds largest small car maker
Lexus
Subaru -- 20%
Scion
-----------------------------------------------

My First Post

2005-12-12T11:40:00.000+05:30

Rithesh