It’s been such an exciting year! So many things done and ticked on my list (and yet so many left pending). But that’s what the coming year is for, ay? A few difficult times to tide through and yet there were always the great times that made them pale in significance. And what would I have done without some of the special people who blessed my life? Sigh, let me not get into another speech here into how I couldn’t have done without all you folks!

I’ve got heaps of plans for the next year! Loads of things to do. Amongst them - I need to learn how to ride a cycle. And start “de-cluttering” my life (my new mantra). Be prepared to hear about this is posts to come. On second thoughts, I’ll see if I can achieve it first! Amongst the top 3 things I want to do this year is a) travel (surprise, surprise!) b) acquire a digital SLR and c) write more (and better, of course!).

Let me instead wish each one of you a rocking 2006! Be good, be naughty, be nice, be cool, be hot, be smart, be sweet, be adventurous, be cute – be whatever you want – but be something!!

I spent a really lovely morning with a few shutterbuggers clicking pictures. With the early morning light creating magic on the Ulsoor lake waters, it was but a great start to the last day of the year.

I hope you spend your New Year with your near and dear ones. I’m off to find mine and spend time ringing out the old and bringing out the new :) Cheerio folks and see you in the new year!

On a cool Saturday morning last weekend, we decided to do some shooting at the Lalbagh Botanical Gardens. Not to worry, folks. No criminal activities were indulged in here. And no insects were harmed in the process either.

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It’s my favourite season - winter! And it’s a lovely time to be in this city too. The tabubuia blossoms paint the town pink and purple, and there’s that slight nip in the air in the morning that makes you spend a few extra minutes in bed.

It’s also a time for one of my absolutely favourite things - corn! When the yummilicious smell of freshly roasted corn wafts in the air it’s hard to resist getting yourself a ‘butta’. And the vendors seem to magically appear in every street…

The cat is equally lazy these days and not inclined to get up at all. On Saturdays, usually the only day I can afford to sleep a little late, she’s only too happy to curl into her warm flannel lined basket and catch those extra winks. At the most, she opens her eyes slightly, stretches her graceful limbs for a minute, suns herself in the balcony. And then promptly curls up in a ball and goes back to sleep again.

You have to love this season!

I was determined to catch something of the Habba this time (since I’ve been doing so continuously for the last two, in 2003 when I was visiting and in 2004 as a resident). Unfortunately, with most of the events during the day, it wasn’t too convenient to attend the musical concerts or the plays, which would start at 6.30 pm. Is it possible to get from anywhere to anywhere by 6.30 on a weekday here in the city? Anyway.

Let me move on to this demonic show I witnessed over the weekend…

On Saturday evening, the Crusty Demons jumped, vroomed, somersaulted, made weird movements, did one hand stands, no hand stands, played truant – and all in mid-air! They turned out to be demons alright, scaring the crust out of us poor souls. Basically, they did everything short of cooking dinner up there. Bangalore’s weather played truant with a steady drizzle starting at about 6 pm.

After some testing of the track and the mounds they had created for their stunts, the demons decided to go ahead with their show. And quite a show it was! My jaw dropped to the muddy floor on several occasions, and I managed to pick it up just before it got trampled by my excited whistling and shouting neighbours.

Just one thing that I thought was a little strange, for 500 bucks, the least they (organizers: DNA Networks) could have done was to organize some kind of elevated standing arrangement around the area so as to enable folks to get a better of the area and the riders when they were racing up to the ramps and around it. And of course, I was really annoyed that my batteries were confiscated at the gate (I know they were doing their job!) but more so because there were about 15 digital cameras around me all going click click… Unfortunately, my bazooka looked too professional to pass the test. And after the show, it was about ½ hour to track down the DNA folks to get my batteries back.

…Thankfully, no such problems encountered at the Bangalore Habba grounds, where we headed next. We just missed Aman and Ayash Ali Bangash perform. But we were on time for Indian Ocean, who were really good. Followed by Strings who were getting the crowd on their feet, when moral police stepped in and said, it was time to go home. So this group comes all the way to perform and just manages 2 songs and then it’s time to go home. Looks like moral police are determined to make life as miserable as possible for everyone. I won’t be surprised if as a next measure MP put ‘swipe in, swipe out machines at every home to make sure we’re back before the clock strikes twelve.

Towards the end of last week, along with some nice company, watched Amit Heri and his group perform at Zero G. I haven’t been to this place much, but it is quite pleasant and chilled out. Since it’s on the terrace, it’s relatively cool up there. Definitely worth a visit, once in a while, though the cocktails are a little on the higher side (the height adding to the price, I guess). Anyway, pretty enjoyable music they churned out, including some folk numbers with jazz beats and a Turkish tune which had everyone applauding. A lady called Mathangi lent her voice to the proceedings. They started with a rather interesting rendition of “Maha Ganapati…” that I loved.

Btw, a note to my readers, if you do happen to notice (and recognize) me in any nook or corner of Bangalore, please do come and say hello! It’s quite a nice feeling when strangers come up to me and ask me if I am who I am. And I am known to be relatively friendly :) For example, I got a mail today from Kiran, who thought he saw me at Infinitea earlier the same evening and sent me a mail later about it. Btw, if you haven’t been to Infinitea, it’s quite a cool place on Cunningham Road and serves relatively good momos. And also nice chai. Though Suman, who was there for the first time, was not at all impressed by the spearmint tea we ordered. If you don’t like experimenting, stick to normal tea.

A few months ago, I had Arun walk up to me in the gym and say hello. I never bumped into him again, but that’s because I’ve abandoned the gym for a while :)

And not to fall back on the food front, went and ate Bengali food yet again last week. Couldn’t resist it. I do realise the full extent of my gluttony, especially since it was just a few days earlier that I had gone there. But never the less, there was nothing to stop me once I got the urge for fish. This time, for some variation, we ordered Anglo Indian style chicken (which reminded me very much of chicken cooked back home!), baked potatoes, and fish, fish and more fish. Thankfully, my dinner companions were equally willing and hungry!

And lastly, a reminder before I go and get lost in work - the Indibloggies 2005 - is now on. I’ve volunteered to give a prize but have yet to figure out what I should give. So folks do go check it out. Vote. Do whatever is needed. Just do it!

I had a long and informative talk with Sujatha last weekend. Sujatha’s a blogger and radio jockey who’s involved with volunteer activity for Akshara, a foundation that works with children. I am posting the information about what needs to be done, but do also go over and check out her post and leave comments there if you want to be involved.

This is from Sujatha:

The work that needs to be completed over the next 3 and 1/2 months can be divided into two discrete steps:

1. Data Collection: There are three kinds of data that need to be collected - School data, Teacher data and Student data. To begin with, the Karnataka State Department of Education will provide Teacher and Student data to Akshara which Akshara is accepting for the time-being.

School data, on the other hand, will be primarily collected by Akshara. This is where we, the voluteers, come in. Starting December 15, 2005, Akshara will need voluteers to go to each of the schools (addresses and directions will be provided by Akshara), stand there at the location with a GPS receiver (which will also be provided by Akshara) and figure out the exact GPS location (latitudes and longitudes) of that school so the location of every single school under the project can be pin-pointed on a map.

The city is divided into 9 education blocks (with 77 clusters), so it would be possible for voluteers to pick an area and go to all the schools in a couple of clusters, for example, rather than criss-crossing the city and going all over the place.

All this work can be done on weekends and holidays (the schools need not be open for this purpose). The deadline for this step of the project is January 31, 2006.

2. Data Entry: All the data that comes in (School, Teacher and Student) will need to be keyed into computers. A couple of you had asked me if data entry can be done at home on personal computers and I confirmed today that that is possible. Data entry can be done at home and the spreadsheets can be e-mailed to Akshara. Alternatively, data entry can also be done at any of the 9 block offices of Akshara where they have dedicated computers for this purpose.

Akshara anticipates that this phase of the project will begin February 1, 2006 and the deadline is 31, March 2006.

What we need to do now is to let Akshara know which of these two phases each of the voluteers is interested in. Please leave a comment on this post with your preferance and I’ll tabulate it so Akshara has a clear idea of where they have help and where they need more.

Read Sujatha’s complete post here.

October 27th, 2005: Early morning we set out on a walk from the Youth Hostel where we were staying in Glasgow. We looked at the map and the University area looked like a walk able distance. The route took us through the beautiful Kelvingrove Park adjacent to the University of Glasgow.

Kelvingrove Park is one of the most popular parks in the city of Glasgow. It is located in the west end of the city and sits on both banks of the River Kelvin. Covering 85 acres, it was created as the West End Park in 1852 by Sir Joseph Paxton. (Source: Wikipedia)

With autumn in the air, the foliage in all its glorious colours – different shades of green, red, yellow – was a feast to the eyes. We roamed around enjoying the early morning chill in the air.

We came across an interesting sight - many healthy, but slow moving squirrels in the park. Are they drugged, pondered my sister, when one of them came right up to us, put his nose up in the air, looking a little like a suspicious but curious all the same. Squirrels usually run away at the sight of any movement, especially when the source is a human!

A lady passed by and dropped a few pieces of something in front of the squirrel. On closer inspection, it turned out to be chocolate. No wonder, the squirrels that inhabit Kelvingrove are not only healthy, they’re also very friendly since they now equate humans with chocolates and food. Smart (and lucky) squirrels!

Sigh, it’s difficult being a foodie, I say. Firstly, there’s just so much waiting there beckoning to you saying “eat me” and secondly, you’re always fighting a losing battle with the weighing scales. I have completely lost mine, especially since I realized (much to my dismay, might I add) that I will never come close to looking like Ms Natalie Gleb-drop-everything-dead-Gova, the current Miss Universe and decided to go ahead and just enjoy being a food junkie instead.

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