All they seem to do is..

a few days ago, i spent about four and a half hours in two safari rides through the Nagarahole national park.
it was a refreshing break from the routine - more so because it was mid-week :-)

though i have been on some other safaris and also seen many wildlife movies, it is always very insighhtful when i go through the experience of observing nature more closely - though under the guidance of a trained naturalist.

it was an open jeep, so the perceived danger of being 'attacked' was at the back of the mind. nothing like that happened, but i heard that others have had closer encounters.

a saying in tamil goes that one grain of rice [a sample] is enough to determine if the whole vessel has been cooked.

so, if i extrapolate what i saw, it appears that each of the wildlife specied seem to do just one thing!

like, the deer are always very afraid and wary of everything around them. [if you can spot the spotted deer in this pipcture ,that is]

we were told that the elephants need to spend close to 18 hours eating every day! particularly in the dry months, to get adequate quantities of food.

and the langurs always playful and somewhat irritated at being interrupted in their fun by the tourists!

and the moon just shining.. on the river kabini..

The highlight of the trip was the sighting of a leapord, sitting on e tree branch, after a sumptuous meal, i assume.

picture credit to a fellow-tourist who could get this shot.

i wonder if i can say something like this about me - other that what some others say - that all i do is spend time at the computer!

what is that one thing that anyone might say that you only do!

A [Street] Light Post

i had written some time back about a slum that sprang up almost over a weekend, by illegally occupying some prime land that was under dispute.
the initial dwellings were very temporary, thatched units.
a few months after the initial 'invasion and occupation', a small fire broke out in one corner of this area.
this was probably an excuse for the residents to reconstruct more permanent structures.
now, one can see concrete, asbestos etc used for the small one- or two-room hutments.

thanks to the local politician / elected rep, this colony gets water supplied daily through tankers.

the latest development - that i noticed before the elections, and thought that it could be one of the election promises were electric poles along the narrow lanes.

you can see the line of these posts in the background - and the leaders pictures painted on the wall, representing the local 'association' affiliated to a party.
you can also see one of the water tanks, that is filled by the water tanker regularly.

i am watching this development which is now right next to a big hotel [multi-star, i assume] project.
that project had to reclaim some land that was used by another, smaller colony.
while most of those residents had taken some compensation and had vacated,a few stuck around, refusing to move and demanding a higher compensation.
a temple they had built acted as a shelter.

you can see the temple in the background.

another street light that had become a recent friend of mine is this:

this is a solar powered street light.
this picture may not be very impressive, but the shadow of the solar pane used to be my shade, while i waited for the company bus in the mornings.
the pickup spot did not have any other option for a shade and i would shift slowly with the sun - and if i waited for about 10 minutes, i would have moved a few feet at least, to keep the sun from my face, by 'hiding' under the shadow of the panel.

after the last serious post, hopefully this was a 'light' post!

writing with a 'holy' hand..

i am back with this post after a long gap.
the first couple of weeks, it was travel and a lot of backlogged work.
then, it was a forced abstinence, as part of the recuperation.
this was needed, as i had decided to get the two implants i had in my right forearm removed.

with that, there are no foreign bodies in my body [!] except the sutures that would dissolve in a few more days.

the original incident was about six years ago. an accidental fall while searching for some stuff in the loft meant that i had to have 2 steel rods - one each for radius and ulna.

at that time, the doctor had said that these foreign bodies may be removed once the healing is complete - and preferably within 2-3 years, though the material is rated for at least 15 years.

had been postponing this every year, with some excuse or the other. so, this time, decided that it had to be done.
the doctor warned me that while he would attempt to remove the implants, due to the delay, he might have to decide not to remove it, in case of complications.

the next big decision for me was at the operating table. whether to go for a GA or a local block. i wanted to leave it to the anesthetist and the doctor. they decided for a local block.
i was excited that i could watch all that would happen - but, as my head was turned the other side, i could only catch their conversations.

this was a different experience, as i could almost walk out of the operation theater, compared to the original surgery, when it took me a while to get over the GA.

back in the room, it was a very insightful experience to see and [not] feel one arm, that was completely numb and not feeling part of your body at all!
while, mentally, i could move my fingers, they would not move!

over the next few hours, i could feel the sensation and movement coming back and feel better.

it is now two weeks and some of the muscles, are, technically, recovering from the trauma.
i keep exercising, but am unable to 'connect' with some of the muscles, that seem to have either become stiff or taking their own time to get back the strength and movement, in coordination with the rest of the muscles.

during the procedure, i could hear some hammering and some hushed discussions, though i could not feel anything.
there were 2 screws that needed additional work, the doctor told me later.
one was a hole that had some bony overgrowth

and another screwhead that had become blunt.

luckily, both of them could be handled with some filing and hammering.

when i looked at the equipment used, hammers, screwdrivers, chisels etc, they look quite normal and low-tech. a disappointment, as i was expecting some automatic drills etc, like at a dentist's.

with this, my hand is now 'holy' - or should it be 'holey'?

p.s. thanks to all the well wishers, who had called, sent emails or SMSes.

The proof of the Paneer..

a few days ago, i noticed, for the first time, that a chocolate comes with an instruction manual!
as part of my interest in usability, i advocate the creation of products that do not require a user manual.
as a poser to my audience, i would ask for suggestions for the best location / position to  keep a user manual for a soap!
but then, in this case, it seems to be part of the premium positioning of this chocolate.
the ad byline says 'you should earn it'!

this is part of the instructions that tell you how to open, how to smell, how to bite and enjoy the experience.

these instructions are printed on the inner side of the wrapper!

I realized yesterday - at the delhi airport - on my way back to bangalore that paneer [indian cottage cheese] is like pudding.

i had bought some cheese that is much fresher and tastier than what you get in bangalore in most places.

in the past, i used to keep it in my hand bag [a pull along] and invariably there would be a question about the contents.

this time, i thought that i would preempt the questions by keeping the packet separate to be scanned.

sure enough, this raised a suspicion and i was asked what it was.

the officer who would stamp the Tag was not sure if he should allow it and checked with his supervisor.

The supervisor thought for a very brief moment and said 'Khaake Dhikao' [eat it and show].

i had to prove that it was indeed paneer by eating a piece.

till then, i thought that eating was only proof of the pudding..

now i know that the proof of paneer is also in the eating!

the Leela experience

this is a semi nostalgic post.
nostalgic, because it is more about memories of what were..
semi - because, it is not all that old memories.

after about 5 years in this unique location - in the heart of bangalore - one of the busiest streets - the [old] airport road, i am moving to a new location.

this location had many pluses..

a roomy, naturally lit [with 2 large french style windows] - was my favourite. i have been lucky for the last 19 years - when i moved to bangalore, to have an office with a window.

my earlier office overlooked a park.
this one did not quite have a park outside - but a small balcony with some potted plants.
enough to attract some pigeons

or the blocked view of the old airport runway - but still an occasional flight taking off or landing - behind the buildings

one good thing was to do some spring cleaning of many old papers and other things that had accumulated over the years.

left the cobweb that was building in the sky - on the plants in the balcony on the 6th floor..

while i have a small window in my new office too, i will miss many visitors who would drop in to say Hi or to catchup, when they came for some event at leela.

Now, i can get on to google maps!

the last couple of weeks have been very significant in terms of my identify beign associated firmly with my address.

some time back, i mentioned that i had very little to prove my residential address.

through a series of actions, some that were very long pending, i now have multiple such proofs.

the first was the sriving license. the RTO was kind enough to accept the documents i had and was convinced to endorse my DL with the right address.

then, it was the passport office! while the passport was issued very painlessly, there was a typo in my father's name. the procedure to get it corrected was very simple. i had to fill up a form and submit it at the enquiry counter or send it by registered post - and, if it was their mistake - in this case, it was - they would send it in a couple of days.
the problem was that the particular form was not accessible online.
so, i had to take off from work for half a day, wait in line for a couple of hours for a 2 minute submission.

surely, the passport was ready and reached home in 3 days!

another offical record that now had the address is the BBMP issued land record.

with so many official records, i can put my address on the map!

there are still a few more records to be updated - like the voter id, PAN card etc that do not have the correct address still :-)

guess what? i've grown!

could not think of any other, more appropriate title for the post.

that was the feeling i got last week, when i was back home - home, where i grew up as a child.
this is the house my father built!
house where i grew up.
we moved upstairs when the first floor was built and since then, the ground floor was occupied by tenants.
now, after my sister moved in to the ground floor, i visited the place and spent the night there.
a flood of memories of my very early childhood made me realize that it has been many years since then.

it sounds illogical and impossible now - but one such clear memory was my crawling through the window.
i distinctly remember me going through one of the windows that had a slightly larger gap.
but now, looking at it, looked impossible.

another interesting development was that the door number had changed again. don't know how i missed it.
the original number was 4A. then it became 14. another round of renumbering, it became 17.
that is what i have been using as my permanent address in all official documents in the last few years.
but the number had changed again - to 14!

this was surely something that comes round a full circle.