Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Pongal Celebrations

Hey guys!!! Wishing all viewers a Happy Pongal

13th Jan 2009 - Started as a normal day where I woke up as usual at around 8.15 am, finished the morning duties and sat to read the paper. Was going through the news about Satyam frauds and what they are upto still and the other happenings when I hear a loud noise, "Cuckoo.. would you mind having a bath it is getting late to office" Courtesy Mom. Ok ok.. and got myself prepared for the days work.

I reached office at around 9.30 am signed in the register and the first thing which stuck in my eye when I entered was 4 sugarcanes lying on the floor and the office boys starting to tie the thin ropes at the corners of the walls to hang few decoration stuffs. Ohh.. then I realized that the pongal decorations are on in the office. This usually happens every year where the ladies take some time off there work schedule to sit together in preparing the rangoli.

The day started for me by getting myself busy in working out few reports which have to be submitted for the day and replying mails. This took about half the day for me and just when i thought I need a walk, I could see the office boys and the ladies of our office getting themselves ready to decorate. The ladies as usual started their chatting before starting up with the rangoli stuff and then got themselves busy in doing it. This is the only time where you could actually see the ladies putting in there full efforts and concentrating to make the rangoli look as beautiful as possible. The only work where there is a lot of involvement among them. ha ha ha..


This time there was some add ons in the decorations like fixing up serial lights around the reception area where the decorations were made. The rangoli was prepared with a mixture of salt and color powder this time. Last time it was fully prepared with flowers. The sugarcanes were placed around the pongal pot and the decorations went on well this time. At 5 pm the pooja started and after the formalities we wished everybody and then settled ourselves to take few snaps.

Monday, January 5, 2009

Trip to Kodai

Hi Guys!!! Wishing you all a Happy and a Wonderful New Year 2009.

Been a while since I had written something in my blog. Anyways I'm back to let you guys know as to how I had spent my vacation in Kodaikannal this time from 26th Dec 08 to 30th Dec 2008. Me & Dev(my school friend) had plans of driving down in his car to kodai on the last week of Dec after Christmas to spend few days in his house in Kodai. Plans were all up as Ramanathan (another school pal) had also told us that he would join, who was actually driving down his Tata Indigo from Mysore to Chennai.

As usual I had to rush up with my official work and make sure things are settled before I go for my vacation. I got an approval from my heads and my plans were all set and geared to visit kodai for the first time in my life. Rama calls me at 2.30 am sharp on 26th Dec early morning and asks "Dude, I am ready what abt you?", I said " I am ready bro, lets start". As Rama's house is quite close to mine he picked me up within 10 mins and we left to Dev's place where the great chap was cleaning his car (Premier 118 NE). After all the cleaning and chit chats we prepare to leave from Dev's place where I and Rama took the Indigo and Dev and his dog (Kruger) in his 118 NE.

We start at 3.30 am sharp and plan to leave chennai outskirts by 4. The planned route was to take NH45( Chennai – Tindivanam – Villupuram – Ulundurpet - Perambalur – Trichy – Dindigul – Vatlagundu - Kodaikanal). As I dint have much sleep the previous night and thankfully I wasn't driving this time, I managed to take a good nap in Rama's car. Peaceful roads had helped us to reach the outskirts of chennai by 4.00 am. We also had a problem. You know usually we always have when we ride... Dev's 118 NE doesn't go above 80 kmph. (Wow!! what a maintenance I say).. Nonsense !!! So we had no other option than following Dev's car.

As usual we had few stops for tea and nature's calls and managed to reach Villupuram by 8.30 am. The comedy begins out here. We managed to find out a place where we could stop for tea and also take the dog for a walk. The shop was managed by a local female out there and I said to here to give 4 cups of Milk (which Dev had actually told me to do so), and to my surprise the 4 cups for the dog it seemed. Then after a few exchange of words I had ordered 3 cups of tea and few biscuits. I do not know how the female took it as she had actually had asked another person to buy 4 packets of milk and come and we had tea already served for us. Me , Dev and Rama were puzzled as we had only asked for 4 cups of milk and why is she sending out a person for 4 packets of Milk !@#$. Anyways after a looong wait she gives a bowl of milk which is piping hot. We asked her to serve warm for the dog but she seemed to be a very brainy female in serving it piping hot. We waited for some time and the dog managed to take few sips and then we had to leave. This time I sat with Dev in his 118 NE and since he dint have a music set and I kept myself busy by taking few snaps and videos.

We stopped at places were it would be good for the dog to take a stroll and have our breakfast and lunch with ease. After a good lunch I managed to take a nap in Rama's car and when I woke up there was confusion. Dev stops at places where he has been asking people for the route to Vatalagundu, and unfortunately we had taken the Palani route which leads us to 15 kms more in reaching the destination. So as we ride and with doubts in our mind as to which route are we going in we managed to figure out the correct route to Kodai and reached his House at 7.00 pm (26th Dec).

Climate was awesome, I would not say it was cool it was freezing when we got down from our cars. The first thing that came out of my mouth after seeing his house was WOW!! caman the fun I say. This house is built by Dev's great Grandfather Judge Devadoss. His family members after the dimissal of the Judge used to visit this house twice a year for retreats. The house was built at the top of a hill and the area was called as Observatory. The judge had actually owned the entire hill wherein after he expired his kids had sold out few pieces of land as there were in need of money. As the years went by the house was used to be visited by Dev's family once in 4 to 5 mnths and he used to spend few bucks in repairing things. I would say it is actually hard to maintain such a place.

Ok, we landed up and there was a care taker who has been living in the outdoors for about 50 yrs who had helped us to light up the fire at the fire place and set up the bed and quilts for us. Dev and Rama said that they would go down hill to grab some food and told me to stay up with the dog until they come. At the starting I dint feel scary at all as I was busy looking around the house. After say about 45 mins there gushed a silence, It was shit scary I would say. I tried sitting near the fire place and managed to gaze at the entrance waiting as to when these guys would arrive. As I got too scared I started calling Dev's mobile about 5 to 6 times asking as to where are you. And the answer was that " We are on the way". Time passed and it was close to about 2 hrs these guys dint turn up. I was stuck to one place without much of movements and finally they come. The moment I saw them , I started blasting them as to what the F@#$ where have you been you Idiots it is shit scary out here and the two laugh to their glory. Gulped few drinks and had a good dinner and with the amount of tiredness we just dozzed off.
The next day morning, Dev gets up before me and Rama and takes his dog for a walk and in order to wake us up he rolls on us. Amma.. Appa and with a lot of shouting we get up brush our teeth's and I managed to prepare few cups of tea and Dev's walks me up to the different places in and around the house. I personally wanted to spend a vacation peacefully after a lot of work and this was the right place I would say. No pollution, less noise and chill breeze passing by and the amount of silence is the one which would be expected by a person like me. Awesome place as this was my first visit to Kodai, I enjoyed each and every moment of it. The only problem which I had was that I dint take my creams to beat the chill which resulted in drieness of my lips. The only plan for that particular day was to roam around the house and ride down to the town and get some stuff for dinner and next days breakfast. As we started chatting all day long about the history of the house, we finally came to the end of the day were we sat next to the fire place with whiskey and wine with us. I had played some light music from my Mp3 player and we happily enjoyed the night by making fun of each other.

The next day Dev had to go to the town to pay the taxes for the house along with the caretaker .Me and Rama prepared breakfast and tea and had it. For lunch we went downhill to have some good Tibetian food. On the way back managed to take some snaps and pick up few drinks to settle for the night. 2 to 3 days just went on by visiting the reservoirs next to Dev's place and the other places like Coakers Walk, Pillar rocks, Guna Caves, Suicide point etc. We kept our nights busy by engaging ourselves with whiskeys and Wines. Good fun we had where Rama as usual trying some stunts of pouring the hot Tomato soup over himself and his usual fundas of scolding the dog (Kruger). All Fun and enjoyment 100%.
On 29th Night we had packed our bags to leave on 30th early morning. We had left at about 5.30 am on the 30th morning and reached chennai by 7.30 pm the same day. Great Ride and Great fun all the way. Waiting for the next trip.

Sunday, November 2, 2008

Hamilton World Champion 2008; Massa wins Brazilian grand prix


The most dramatic race of the season where in the 23 year old Lewis Hamilton needing only a 5th place finish to win his first ever world championship title. The drama continued till the last lap of the race, when Massa finished up first and Lewis was 6th until the last corner of the race when Timo Glock of the Toyota team who was placed at the 4th spot had an engine failure making him slow down right at the last corner of the race making Lewis clinch to his 5th place and taking up the title.

Lewis 23 years and 301 days old became the youngest driver to break the age record set by former McLaren team mate Fernando Alonso, the Spaniard who won the first of his two titles with Renault in Brazil at the age of 24, one month and 27 days.

It was indeed an emotional moment for the Brazilian Massa who gave in his best to clinch to the World Championship Title, but luck dint favor this time. Anyways the Ferrari team and fans were happy as they took the Constructors Championship from the Mclaren’s this year too.


Race Results
1 Felipe Massa Ferrari 71 1:34:11.435
2 Fernando Alonso Renault 71 +13.2 secs
3 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 71 +16.2 secs
4 Sebastian Vettel STR-Ferrari 71 +38.0 secs
5 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 71 +38.9 secs
6 Timo Glock Toyota 71 +44.3 secs
7 Heikki Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes 71 +55.0 secs
8 Jarno Trulli Toyota 71 +68.4 secs
9 Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 71 +79.6 secs
10 Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber 70 +1 Lap
11 Robert Kubica BMW Sauber 70 +1 Lap
12 Nico Rosberg Williams-Toyota 70 +1 Lap
13 Jenson Button Honda 70 +1 Lap
14 Sebastien Bourdais STR-Ferrari 70 +1 Lap
15 Rubens Barrichello Honda 70 +1 Lap
16 Adrian Sutil Force India-Ferrari 69 +2 Laps
17 Kazuki Nakajima Williams-Toyota 69 +2 Laps
18 Giancarlo Fisichella Force India-Ferrari 69 +2 Laps

Monday, September 29, 2008

The First Ever Night Race – Singapore


What do I say!! One of the most fantastic races I dever seen. The first ever night race, a circuit which is illuminated with 16000 lights, the humidity, the feel of racing under lights, drivers race for the championship points, tyre conditions, drivers fitness. Hats off to those who have made this circuit and the amount of hard work gone inside to set it up.

Alonso wouldn’t have even dreamt that he would be the first ever driver to win a formula one race under lights starting from 13th on the grid. His own team mate Nelson Piquet Jr. who had crashed on the 14th lap of the race bringing the safety car in had helped Alonso clinch to the first place. He built up a huge lead, lost it all when the second safety car deployment came on the 51st lap, then calmly opened it up again. He praised his car’s performance all evening, but the success owed as much to the man behind the wheel.

Hamilton had to struggle to regain his positions as he was stuck behind David Coulthard for a long time and then tried finding a way to finish 3rd. He was happy at one end since his rivals Ferrari dint manage to take any championship points this race. Bad race for Kimi as he had to push his Ferrari which was fully loaded with fuel at the start of the race, but unfortunately crashed out at the finishing stages.

But a royal treat for the viewers as I think many would have admired the circuits beauty rather than concentrating much on the race.


Race Results
1
Fernando Alonso Renault 61 1:57:16.304
2 Nico Rosberg Williams-Toyota 61 +2.9 secs
3
Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 61 +5.9 secs
4 Timo Glock Toyota 61 +8.1 secs
5 Sebastian Vettel STR-Ferrari 61 +10.2 secs
6 Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber 61 +11.1 secs
7 David Coulthard Red Bull-Renault 61 +16.3 secs
8 Kazuki Nakajima Williams-Toyota 61 +18.4 secs
9 Jenson Button Honda 61 +19.8 secs
10
Heikki Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes 61 +26.9 secs
11 Robert Kubica BMW Sauber 61 +27.9 secs
12 Sebastien Bourdais STR-Ferrari 61 +29.4 secs
13
Felipe Massa Ferrari 61 +35.1 secs
14 Giancarlo Fisichella Force India-Ferrari 61 +43.5 secs
15
Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 57 Accident 3

Sunday, September 14, 2008

Sebastian Vettel stuns Italy


The rookie stunned Formula One as the sport's youngest race winner at the age of 21 on Sunday with victory for tiny Toro Rosso at their home Italian Grand Prix.

It was a brilliant race for Sebastian Vittal who took pole position and made it all the way to finish the Italian grand prix under wet weather conditions. Toro Rosso's mechanics worked on a good strategy and brilliant pit work which made the team happy for their hero to win his first ever formula1 win at Monza.

Kimi set the fastest lap but could not better ninth place ahead of Renault’s Nelson Piquet, Toyota’s Timo Glock, Williams’ Kazuki Nakajima, Toyota’s Jarno Trulli, Williams’ Nico Rosberg, Honda’s Jenson Button, Red Bull’s David Coulthard, Honda’s Rubens Barrichello and Bourdais.

The
Mclarens were all set to race and planned to get their first 2 places ahead of Vettel but unscheduled pit stops by the Mclaren team due to weather conditions made them shuffle in their positions. Kovalainen’s expected challenge, but was finally settled in 2nd place ahead of Kubica who was on a single pit stop strategy.

Race Results
1 Sebastian Vettel STR-Ferrari 53 1:26:47.494
2
Heikki Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes 53 +12.5 secs
3 Robert Kubica BMW Sauber 53 +20.4 secs
4
Fernando Alonso Renault 53 +23.9 secs
5 Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber 53 +27.7 secs
6
Felipe Massa Ferrari 53 +28.8 secs
7
Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 53 +29.9 secs
8 Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 53 +32.0 secs
9
Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 53 +39.4 secs
10 Nelsinho Piquet Renault 53 +54.4 secs
11 Timo Glock Toyota 53 +58.8 secs
12 Kazuki Nakajima Williams-Toyota 53 +62.0 secs
13 Jarno Trulli Toyota 53 +65.9 secs
14 Nico Rosberg Williams-Toyota 53 +68.6 secs
15 Jenson Button Honda 53 +73.3 secs
16 David Coulthard Red Bull-Renault 52 +1 Lap
17 Rubens Barrichello Honda 52 +1 Lap
18 Sebastien Bourdais STR-Ferrari 52 +1 Lap
19
Adrian Sutil Force India-Ferrari 51 +2 Laps

Monday, August 25, 2008

One Paragraph that explains Life !!!


Arthur Ashe, the legendary Wimbledon player was dying of AIDS which he got due to infected blood he received during a heart surgery in 1983.From world over, he received letters from his fans, one of which conveyed: "Why does GOD have to select you for such a bad disease"?To this Arthur Ashe replied:"The world over -- 50 million children start playing tennis, 5 million learn to play tennis,500,000 learn professional tennis, 50,000 come to the circuit, 5000 reach the grand slam,50 reach Wimbledon, 4 to semi final, 2 to the finals,when I was holding a cup I never asked GOD 'Why me?'.And today in pain I should not be asking GOD 'Why me?' "
"Happiness keeps you Sweet,Trials keep you Strong,Sorrow keeps you Human,Failure keeps you humble and Success keeps you glowing, but only Faith & Attitude Keeps you going...

Sunday, August 24, 2008

Massa celebrates his 100th Grand Prix win in Valencia


Valencia proved to be a lucky race for Felipe Massa as he had made up for his last-race disappointment in Hungary by dominating Sunday’s European Grand Prix from start to finish. He had managed to finish ahead of F1 championship leader Lewis Hamilton and BMW Sauber’s Robert Kubica.

A fine of 10,000 euros was put on the
Brazilian when the stewards found that he had been released unsafely in the path of Force India's Adrian Sutil from the pit lane. It was tough race for Lewis as he had made up his mind that he would not be able to catch up with Massa which had a lead of about 5.67 secs, but managed to hold Robert Kubica for his 2nd position in the race.

Dramas for
Kimi. On the 43rd lap when Kimi Raikkonen was released from his pit stop before the refueling hose had been detached from his F2008. A mechanic was struck by the red car’s rear wing in the melee, and as he was being stretchered to the medical centre, the second incident occurred when Raikkonen’s engine apparently exploded as he went into his 46th lap.

Race Results
1
Felipe Massa Ferrari 57 1:35:32.339
2
Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 57 +5.6 secs
3 Robert Kubica BMW Sauber 57 +37.3 secs
4 Heikki Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes 57 +39.7 secs
5 Jarno Trulli Toyota 57 +50.6 secs
6 Sebastian Vettel STR-Ferrari 57 +52.6 secs
7 Timo Glock Toyota 57 +67.9 secs
8 Nico Rosberg Williams-Toyota 57 +71.4 secs
9 Nick Heidfeld BMW Sauber 57 +82.1 secs
10 Sebastien Bourdais STR-Ferrari 57 +89.7 secs
11 Nelsinho Piquet Renault 57 +92.7 secs
12 Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 56 +1 Lap
13 Jenson Button Honda 56 +1 Lap
14
Giancarlo Fisichella Force India-Ferrari 56 +1 Lap
15 Kazuki Nakajima Williams-Toyota 56 +1 Lap
16 Rubens Barrichello Honda 56 +1 Lap
17 David Coulthard Red Bull-Renault 56 +1 Lap