tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-64585112010-05-13T19:44:00.824+05:30Chandra's Random Updates!Personal updates, cool links, technical notes... all in one place :)Chandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11809615797979046708noreply@blogger.comBlogger114125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6458511.post-10836557109923606532010-04-10T12:43:00.001+05:302010-05-13T19:44:00.918+05:302010-05-13T19:44:00.918+05:30Pallavi Seemantha Snaps<p>@ my Residence on 8th Apr 2010 and m-in-law’s place on 11th Apr.</p> <p><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://picasaweb.google.co.in/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf" width="600" height="400" flashvars="host=picasaweb.google.co.in&captions=1&hl=en_US&feat=flashalbum&RGB=0x000000&feed=http%3A%2F%2Fpicasaweb.google.co.in%2Fdata%2Ffeed%2Fapi%2Fuser%2Fbschandramohan%2Falbumid%2F5458021607367202545%3Falt%3Drss%26kind%3Dphoto%26hl%3Den_US" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer"></embed></p> <div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6458511-1083655710992360653?l=www.cmohan.info' alt='' /></div>Chandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11809615797979046708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6458511.post-14931572683747120432010-03-13T09:49:00.001+05:302010-03-13T09:52:03.440+05:302010-03-13T09:52:03.440+05:30Hitter’s Cricket – new form of cricket!<p>T20 is all about “Entertainment” especially with batsmen hitting sixes after sixes. There is a huge popularity on the batting front though occasionally a very good fast bowler or a spinner grabs attention. </p> <p>Here is a proposal to make the batting (reins of sixes) even more easier and popular - </p> <p>The major change is The Bowler would be from the same team as the batsman. Only the fielders will be from the opposite side and the captain can decide where to place his fielders . This will make the bowler bowl more hitting friendly deliveries and we would have more fours and sixes than ever in a match! Of course there should be some rule changes to minimize things that happened in matches like <a href="http://www.cricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/451716.html" target="_blank">this</a>.</p> <p>1. If a bowler bowls a wide or above head no-ball, instead of a run getting added, we will subtract one run. Byes won’t be counted.</p> <p>2. A bowler can bowl a maximum of 2 full tosses (as apposed to 1 bouncer now).</p> <p>3. Bowler should not intimate the batsman of where he is going to bowl either by words or eye signal :)</p> <p>4. Bowler is not a fielder anymore. So there will be 11 other fielders (from opposite team).</p> <p>5. Bowler should not distract any fielder (from opposite team) from fielding. </p> <p>I am somehow convinced this is going to happen :)…  Wouldn’t it be fun to see 500+ scores in a 20 over innings? </p> <div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6458511-1493157268374712043?l=www.cmohan.info' alt='' /></div>Chandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11809615797979046708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6458511.post-33983247498519773212010-02-25T12:08:00.003+05:302010-02-25T12:24:11.251+05:302010-02-25T12:24:11.251+05:30Office worker Ribbons for computer usersSurprised with the number of people fascinated by the ribbons they get on online social games on FaceBook like Farmville, zoowold, cafe world, etc., I was wondering why we couldn’t use the same and give ribbons for most effective users of the pc/laptop. <br />
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For a software engineering team, we could decide ribbons for people who spend more time on visual studio or eclipse or any other development tool they work on {Ribbon: Workaholic}. They get bonus ribbons for surfing websites like msdn/stackoverflow.com {You are a technical help seeker}, if they contribute articles on web {Techno sharer ribbon} etc.<br />
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Wouldn’t this be interesting to share not only colleagues but also to all your friends on the social networking site?<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6458511-3398324749851977321?l=www.cmohan.info' alt='' /></div>Chandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11809615797979046708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6458511.post-81366830212068289722010-02-02T10:08:00.002+05:302010-02-25T12:21:16.364+05:302010-02-25T12:21:16.364+05:30Business Idea: Outsourcing Farmville, café world e.t.c.,Read that the FaceBook app Farmville has more users than the “in-thing” twitter. It’s a good time-pass activity but I think it’s the competitive spirit that drives it rather than the interest on the art of farming – plowing/ buying seeds/harvesting. <br />
Even with the vehicles like Tractor, Seeder and Harvester, it’s really tedious to harvest plants, plow the land and again put seeds. There are lot of cheat sites, tricks for Farmville which suggest plant different kind of plants with different harvest times so that you won’t get bored :)… Same applies for the different dishes in café world.<br />
Well, one easy solution is to outsource it! I am sure there are tons of people who would be willing to pay a small amount for their farms to be harvested before they get withered, when they are having a good sound sleep. Read that one of my senior colleague was doing the farming as her son had to go on a school trip and he didn’t want his crops to be withered out. I am sure she or for that matter anyone who is going out on trip or busy for few days won’t mind shelling out bucks for this :)<br />
What do you guys think?<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6458511-8136683021206828972?l=www.cmohan.info' alt='' /></div>Chandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11809615797979046708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6458511.post-70164053984529371522010-02-01T12:15:00.002+05:302010-02-25T12:21:19.685+05:302010-02-25T12:21:19.685+05:30Bing homepage – Get info on the imageIf you have a habit of checking the homepage everyday and clicking on the 4 links on the homepage to get to know more info, then do check the copyright of the image.. It clearly mentions what it is about :)<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6458511-7016405398452937152?l=www.cmohan.info' alt='' /></div>Chandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11809615797979046708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6458511.post-28349532675083895212010-01-28T14:12:00.002+05:302010-02-25T12:20:46.921+05:302010-02-25T12:20:46.921+05:30DuckDuckGo!Yet another search engine but it sure looks different : <a href="http://duckduckgo.com/">http://duckduckgo.com/</a> <br />
search for apple to know what I mean :)<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6458511-2834953267508389521?l=www.cmohan.info' alt='' /></div>Chandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11809615797979046708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6458511.post-6490903576217696792010-01-20T13:28:00.002+05:302010-02-25T12:16:31.328+05:302010-02-25T12:16:31.328+05:30New domain blocked in office – going back to blogspot url<a href="http://www.cmohan.info/">www.cmohan.info</a> is blocked by web filtering tool used in our office after I added a Amazon widget. So going back to bschandramohan.blogspot.com. Hope to get it rectified soon.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6458511-649090357621769679?l=www.cmohan.info' alt='' /></div>Chandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11809615797979046708noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6458511.post-59839348102117574992010-01-18T23:32:00.002+05:302010-01-20T09:43:31.417+05:302010-01-20T09:43:31.417+05:30My new domain – www.cmohan.info<div style="text-align: left;">Registered domain – <a href="http://www.cmohan.info/">www.cmohan.info</a> from <a href="http://godaddy.com/">godaddy.com</a>. Got a offer right now for 1.07$.. Actual is 9.99$ per year. But it means next year onwards I have to pay 9.99$ if I have to keep it :(<span style="display: block; padding-left: 6em;"><span></span></span><br />
</div><br />
Just redirecting my blog (<a href="http://bschandramohan.blogspot.com/">http://bschandramohan.blogspot.com</a>) to this for now… Blogger allows custom domain. Details on how to do that can be found <a href="http://www.google.com/support/blogger/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=55373">here</a>. If you are stuck, just leave a comment and I can guide you :-)<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6458511-5983934810211757499?l=www.cmohan.info' alt='' /></div>Chandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11809615797979046708noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6458511.post-4797893443974296642009-11-27T16:43:00.001+05:302009-11-27T16:43:17.762+05:302009-11-27T16:43:17.762+05:30My 4th Patent application got approved for filing! <div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6458511-479789344397429664?l=www.cmohan.info' alt='' /></div>Chandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11809615797979046708noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6458511.post-69382830272178548542009-10-29T17:05:00.001+05:302009-10-29T17:05:03.974+05:302009-10-29T17:05:03.974+05:30Coorg - Team outing<p><a title="http://picasaweb.google.com/bschandramohan/CoorgTeamOuting#" href="http://picasaweb.google.com/bschandramohan/CoorgTeamOuting#">http://picasaweb.google.com/bschandramohan/CoorgTeamOuting#</a></p> <p><embed height="533" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" width="800" src="http://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf" flashvars="host=picasaweb.google.com&captions=1&hl=en_US&feat=flashalbum&RGB=0x000000&feed=http%3A%2F%2Fpicasaweb.google.com%2Fdata%2Ffeed%2Fapi%2Fuser%2Fbschandramohan%2Falbumid%2F5397950225013695825%3Falt%3Drss%26kind%3Dphoto%26hl%3Den_US" /></p> <div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6458511-6938283027217854854?l=www.cmohan.info' alt='' /></div>Chandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11809615797979046708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6458511.post-64588365499868122412009-10-07T15:15:00.001+05:302009-10-07T16:21:11.970+05:302009-10-07T16:21:11.970+05:30Mahabalipuram and Pondicherry<p>Date: Sep 18th to Sep 21st </p> <p>Places covered: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vellore" target="_blank">Vellore</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahabalipuram" target="_blank">Mahabalipuram</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pondicherry" target="_blank">Pondicherry</a>. </p> <p>Transport: 3 cars - My first trip outing in my Ritz.</p> <p>People: Pallavi (wife), Divi (younger sis), Mom in my car.... jeeju, hema (elder sis), nieces - Aditi and Bhoomika, Sis parents-in-law, Anand bhaiya, Jaya bhabhi and their daughters - Dimpi, Anjali.</p> <p>Stay: <a href="http://www.mamallaresort.com/" target="_blank">Mamalla Beach resort</a> in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahabalipuram" target="_blank">Mahabalipuram</a> and <a href="http://hotelsooryainternational.com/" target="_blank">Hotel Sooriya International</a> in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pondicherry" target="_blank">Pondicherry</a>.</p> <embed height="533" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" width="800" src="http://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf" flashvars="host=picasaweb.google.com&captions=1&hl=en_US&feat=flashalbum&RGB=0x000000&feed=http%3A%2F%2Fpicasaweb.google.com%2Fdata%2Ffeed%2Fapi%2Fuser%2Fbschandramohan%2Falbumid%2F5387587254510989041%3Falt%3Drss%26kind%3Dphoto%26hl%3Den_US" /> <p>Didn't cover <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gingee" target="_blank">Gingee</a> fort or the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiruvannamalai_district" target="_blank">Tiruvannamalai</a> temple as it was getting already very late. </p> <p>Took leaves on 18th (Fri) and 21st Sep (Mon). Since Friday was also Mahalaya Amavasya, we took head bath and planned to do Pooja in the morning itself. Pallavi and mom got up even earlier and finished up cooking too before 6. After finishing pooja, we did start at 6:30 in the morning. Jeeju was driving his Wagon R, Bhaiya his Alto and me the powerful Ritz :). Took NICE Road and hit NH4 road. The road was too good and for the first time in my life I crossed 100 km/hr while driving myself and did clock a speed of 160 Km/hr.... Hoo hooo.... !!!!</p> <p>Stopped only in Krishnagiri to fill up the tank. We continued and planned to stop at Vellore for breakfast, but didn't find any sign boards which said vellore and we continued further until I found sign board for Ratnagiri. So we took a U-Turn and went back 20 kms to hit a restaurant on the highway. After having masala dosa, we went to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vellore_fort" target="_blank">Vellore fort</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vellore#Jalakandeswarar_Temple" target="_blank">Jalakanteswara temple</a>. The temple is an old one and has good architecture. Fort around, we couldn't walk around as it was already very sunny and hot. After taking few snaps, we left for the <a href="http://www.sripuram.org/" target="_blank">Sripuram Golden temple</a>. It is an enormous temple with a golden mandap. yes the whole structure is made of pure gold and is said to have cost more than 6000 crore to be built. We had a nice view of the temple and then headed to Mahabalipuram. We had lunch in vellore itself and jeeju got an indigestion. So couldn't travel that fast. We stopped for some rest in Sriperambadur on the highway itself. Reached chennai at around 7 and we did 2 hours intercity route finding. Every damn person we asked on way to Mahabalipuram gave us different routes and with 3 cars in the heavy traffic, we did all kind of circles and finally found ECR at 9. Reached Mahabalipuram - Mamalla beach resort at around 10:45 PM. </p> <p>{Traveler's note: GRT and Sterling Resort were the choices jeeju initially suggested. With cost of around 5k/day for 5 rooms, it just didn't seem worth and hence I suggested - Mamalla beach resort or Silversands/Ideal beach resort. we checked some reviews and found silversands/Ideal beach resorts weren't upto the mark, but mamalla look to be good one. We spoke to one Rajeev, who is the manager I think and his gentle assurance made us decide on the place. our package was Rs 20K for 5 rooms for 2 days with breakfast and one bon-fire :). }</p> <p>Mamalla beach resort is a good picturesque resort. Well maintained and neatly done but rooms are okay and definitely not worth the 2k/room rates. Since the restaurant was already closed, we went to a nearby local restaurant and got some egg biriyani's parcelled. Had that and dozed off. Oh yeah, before dozing off, since it was my sis bday, gave some gifts to her at 12 sharp. Got up early in the morning with a call from Aditi and we headed to the beach which is just behind the resort. The beach here is little harsher and the black soil for some reason doesn't encourage getting wet :(. But with the joyous attitude of the kids - Aditi and Dimpi, we ventured into it and played nicely. After breakfast, headed to Crocodile park - This is really worth a visit. The sheer number of crocs grown here are mind-numbing. Some of us did experiment holding a baby crocodile, a baby python and a tortoise. It was fun. we also went to poison removal session and heard a nice lecture on snakes. After finishing this, we headed to Tiger's cave. Don't mistake it for another wildlife park. It's a hill carving of a tiger den and has good carvings. Lie down and enjoy a break here :).</p> <p>We headed back to our resort and had lunch. It started raining, so we couldn't venture out, but went to the swimming pool and had nice fun. Evening, we played in the beach and then we arranged for a cake cutting and bon-fire. Sis cut the cake and had a nice view near the bon-fire. Had dinner outside and returned to hotel and slept off. </p> <p>Next day, again we spent some time in the beach and the swimming pool. We had our breakfast and left at around 9:30. Shore temple is a good magnificent old temple on the shores and we went around other places like Krishna mandapam, Arjuna's penance, Krishna's butterball etc. we came back to our hotel and refreshed. Left back at 2 and had lunch at Anand Bhavan. It was a chaotic experience with self-service and huge queue/rush. After spending nearly 2 hours there and with raising tempers, we left and went to Pancha ratha. it's again a marvelous place and must visit. Beautifully done. Had lot's of icecreams and coconuts there.</p> <p>We left for Pondicherry at 4:30 and reached the place around 7. we had not booked a room here as most of the beach resorts were very costly and we planned to stay at a decent hotel in the city itself. We took some time to hunt down a decent hotel and after that the crap people took 2 hours to ready the room and hand it over to us... (they had told rooms have to be cleaned up - it would take 30 mins)... </p> <p>Pondicherry is a decent place. we first went to the so called beach in the main town. This is full of big rocks and good to take snaps but you can't venture in the sea. So, we headed to Auroville beach around 10 kms from the city. This is a nice one and the beach here is calm too. Played well here. Didn't visit the Auroville town though. Went back to the hotel, got freshened up and headed to the Aurobindo Ashram. Has his samadhi and worth a visit. Had lunch on the way back (Anamalai International). </p> <p>We left Pondicherry around 4 PM. Since it was getting dark, we didn't cover <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gingee" target="_blank">Gingee</a> fort or the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiruvannamalai_district" target="_blank">Tiruvannamalai</a> temple but took coffee break there. Stopped in Krishnagiri for dinner and had nice roti's. The road from Pondicherry to Tiruvanamalai is a good state highway. Not much potholes but 2 lanes makes it difficult to overtake especially in the nights. We reached back Bangalore at about 12:30 AM on Tuesday.</p> <p>Overall a great trip. Main intention was to spend lot's of time in beaches and we accomplished that very well !!! :)</p> <div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6458511-6458836549986812241?l=www.cmohan.info' alt='' /></div>Chandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11809615797979046708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6458511.post-10604251824075325522009-09-17T12:37:00.003+05:302009-10-07T15:04:31.442+05:302009-10-07T15:04:31.442+05:30First Anniversary - Kerala Trip<p>Sep 11 (9/11) happens to be my marriage anniversary and thought about taking a day or two off and go to some place on our first anniversary. Initial choice was Lakshwadeep, but after speaking to "Raghu The Great", decided against going there in the rainy season. Goa and Kodaikanal were two other options we initially covered but thought would go for Goa in November timeframe and Kodaikanal wasn't worth if it's raining... <br />Since Rohit had been to Kerala last month and mentioned it was a memorable trip, thought will check it out. <a href="http://www.keralagreenery.org/" target="_blank">Kerala Greenery website</a>  had lot's of packages and we zero-ed in on <a href="http://www.keralagreenery.org/special-kerala-tour-packages.html" target="_blank">SP-05</a> which covered Alleppey to Kumarakom backwater, Munnar hill station and Cochin city. <br />We started here on 10<sup>th</sup> Sep 9:00 PM train from Yeshwanthpur - Kochuvelli Garibh Rath express.. It's a fairly new train with only 3AC and hence people are not aware about it... You can easily get tickets even 1 day before your travel….. Train started on time and we had our packed dinner even before the train left. We reached cochin at around 7:50 AM… <br /> <br /><embed height="533" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" width="800" src="http://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf" flashvars="host=picasaweb.google.com&captions=1&hl=en_US&feat=flashalbum&RGB=0x000000&feed=http%3A%2F%2Fpicasaweb.google.com%2Fdata%2Ffeed%2Fapi%2Fuser%2Fbschandramohan%2Falbumid%2F5382325127365501313%3Falt%3Drss%26kind%3Dphoto%26hl%3Den_US" />  <br /> <br />After the mandatory coffee break in the railway station, headed outside. Our cab driver was waiting with the placard. His name was "Joy" - a Christian and was friendly throughout the journey. It's about 2 hours journey from Cochin to Alleppey…..</p> <p>We reached Alleppey at around 10:00 AM….Had our breakfast in a small restaurant there. Since the check-in time for house boat was 12 PM …we had to wile away sometime, so went to <b>Alleppey beach</b> and spent nearly 1 and 1/2 hours there in the hot sun…. Didn't get into the water but just walked around the beach side. We checked into <b>houseboat</b> at 12PM…. Spending a day on the houseboat was an inviting experience and since Rohit warned us that it get's boring we made sure we got list of DVDs accompanying us. After a quick Lemon juice refreshment, we went over the boat and took some nice snaps. . The view was good... So quickly got ready and came to the front and sat down to catch all the surroundings. It was a nice experience… seeing all the other houseboats sailing across leisurely .. .in no hurry whatsoever.. the beautiful landscape. .. the greenish water .... (No I would never swim in that but for scenery it makes a good background :)).. After a nice lunch, Pallavi and I did try driving/steering the boat for some time. We docked at a place at around 6 PM and took a leisurely walk around the place. Watched Amrutha Dhaare (Kannada) movie and Geetanjali (Telugu) movie on the boat and went for sleep early. <br /></p> <p>Next day morning, we got up at 7 .. got ready and left for Kumarakom in the boat...  The Vembanad Lake looks great with all the birds flying around... We reached the shore at about 9:15 and then headed to Munnar. <br /></p> <p>From Kumarakom to <b>Munnar </b>is supposed to be 5 hours journey….. but we took more time than that. We stopped at Vaikom Shiva temple. Beautiful Shiva temple and we learnt few different principles they follow there thanks to a keralite who explained the significance of not doing complete round of Shiva linga. On the way to Munnar there are two waterfalls….<strong>Cheeyapara</strong> waterfalls and Vallara waterfalls….Vallara falls is just a  view and vehicles aren't allowed to stop. However we got down near Cheeyapara falls and took some good snaps. We started back and then reached Munnar  finally at around 3-30 PM….. As we started the final ascent into Munnar it started raining and we came to know from the restaurant that it had been raining since past few days especially in the evenings :( <br /></p> <p>We had our  room booked in <b><a href="http://www.mistymountainresort.in/" target="_blank">Misty mountain resort</a></b>… It's a beautiful resort which is about 7.5 Kms from Munnar (there is a sign board stating Munnar actually starts from this point on the road). We checked into our room… and rested for a couple of hours. Evening, our driver mentioned about some good Kerala massage center and that got Pallavi interested. We went there and Pallavi took one for Rs 900/-. Since it was about 1 and 1/2 hours, I spent the time loitering in the Munnar town. Pallavi mentioned the massage was okay and nothing great as I had expected. We went back to the resort and had dinner (which was okay).</p> <p> <br />Next day we started at 9:30 AM……Visited <b>photo point</b>( nice view of tea estate)…next went to <b>Elephant riding</b> place…. great place and though costly (Rs 700 for 30 mins ride for couple), the ride was electric. The elephant trekked over a forest area which was damp and slippery. The ascent and the descent were really scary on it and it felt great to be back on the camp :)... Next visited <b>mattupetty reservoir and dam</b>…it has a great view…Speed boating option was also there .. but we just landed in front of the boating office at 12:30 which was lunch time and they closed the gate in front of us. So we continued on and went to <strong>Kundala Dam and lake</strong>. This is again very very picturesque and has breathtaking scenery. We didn't want to do Pedal boat, so waited 30 mins for rowing boat and took one (with a rower ofcourse :))... He was nice chap and explained us all about the place and even thought us both on how to row properly :)... It started raining heavily as we reached the shores and then headed to the <strong>Echo point</strong>. As the name says…if you shout at this place …u can hear the echo…. but since it was raining heavily we couldn't get that. We did some shopping and then headed to Munnar. </p> <p> <br />Came to Munnar town and had our late lunch in some hotel just outside the Munnar town…. Headed back to hotel and reached hotel at 5:30 PM… It was raining still... so went to room and took rest… Did a short walk after that but couldn't venture very far as it was quite dark without any street lights. <br />Our last day of the trip, so we got up early and did a 1 hour walk around the tea estates. The place was as green as it can get and very very beautiful. As per the package plan…there was not much to see… so we asked our tour co-ordinator if we could go "<strong></strong><a href="http://www.keralagreenery.org/athirapally-vazhachal-waterfalls.html" target="_blank">Athirapally waterfalls</a>" which was a deviation on the way back. It is around 92 KM from cochin about 1 and 1/2 to 2 hours drive….Since they agreed, we set for it and reached the place around 2. Went to the sea pearl aquarium and then headed to the waterfalls. It was a nice one though I would rate Jog falls and Shivanasamudra much much higher :)... This is the place where the famous "Punnagai Mannan" Tamil movie was shot majorly... And is quite famous.. Supposed to the best in Kerala. We left back at 4 PM and reached cochin around 6.. Went straight to the <strong>Cochin marine drive</strong> and did a cruise ship tour of the backwaters there (covering harbor and marine drive). Driver dropped us to the railway station and after saying bye to him, we headed to MG Road to have a walk. Did some window shopping and then after dinner headed back to the railway station. Train was delayed by 15 minutes so it arrived at 12:20 AM. We were dead tired and dozed off as soon as we got into the train. Morning got up late and got down the train at 11:45 AM. And we were back in our apna Bangalore ! </p> <p>@ 07th Oct - Update from himateja was that we could have done trekking and gone to the base of the athirapally waterfalls which was simply great experience. Missed that part :( </p> <div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6458511-1060425182407532552?l=www.cmohan.info' alt='' /></div>Chandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11809615797979046708noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6458511.post-22267376657110174792009-09-04T14:35:00.001+05:302009-09-04T14:35:07.244+05:302009-09-04T14:35:07.244+05:30Royal Enfield - Thunderbird !<p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_OE09tgEjzyc/SqDYPLxJOuI/AAAAAAAAD5o/QbcLZnTXGTE/DSCN0003%5B4%5D.jpg" target="_blank"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" border="0" alt="DSCN0003" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_OE09tgEjzyc/SqDYQVIvQzI/AAAAAAAAD5w/QkaSbc0rn5k/DSCN0003_thumb%5B2%5D.jpg" width="644" height="484" /></a></p> <p> </p> <p>The macho man on the <a href="http://www.royalenfield.com/" target="_blank">Royal Enfield</a> <a href="http://www.royalenfield.com/Motorcycles/thunderbirdtwinspark.aspx" target="_blank">Thunderbird</a> !!! :)</p> <p>Test riding my brother-in-law's bike ..... My good old but special splendor (the rear wheel is visible) in the background ! </p> <div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6458511-2226737665711017479?l=www.cmohan.info' alt='' /></div>Chandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11809615797979046708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6458511.post-17938618277090545132009-08-19T15:37:00.001+05:302009-09-30T16:51:31.441+05:302009-09-30T16:51:31.441+05:30Magadheera - Telugu movie review<p> </p> <p>Captivating story line with good acting and impressive visuals. </p> <p>Different movie compared to the run of the mill love stories currently - This has Ramcharan and Kajal playing lovers in 2 different eras. When I heard initially that it would be a rebirth story, I felt nostalgic about how it would shape up but seeing the movie made me completely reverse my opinions. </p> <p><img src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/5e/Magadheera-10.jpg" width="638" height="480" /> </p> <p>The story starts impressively with Ramcharan (as Kaala Bhairava) and Kajal the princess talking in their dying moments. They are reborn as Harsha and Indhu. Read many comments that the next 30 mins to 1 hour in the new world is boring, but the pair's bubbliness makes that enjoyable too. I would have loved Chiranjeevi to have done something different though. I always enjoyed the spontaneousness and effortless dance of Chiranjeevi and hence seeing Ramcharan dance was little bit anticlimax. The steps were great and he is a fabulous dancer, but you get a feeling that he is trying too hard to get the tough steps correctly which shouldn't be how dances are picturised :). The villain does great job of his part and deserves the brickbats he receives :). Rebirth - Special effects on Ramcharan touching Kajal's fingers can be termed as cinematic liberty though some of the sequences like jumping off the rooftop to reach helicopter and the final sumo bouncing to reach the helicopter are definitely aberrations that could have been avoided. </p> <p>Two scenes that highlight the entire movie are with Ramcharan as the warrior getting saved by his horse and the other one where he fights 100 Sher khan's soldier's single-handedly (reminiscent of the movie 300 with narrow passage and the fights that take place). Sheer brilliance !!! </p> <p><img src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/6/6d/Magadheera-wallpapers9_(1).jpg/600px-Magadheera-wallpapers9_(1).jpg" /> </p> <p>There seems to be various inspirations for the movie - Warrior safeguarding the princess as in The Myth, Fort resembling the one in Arundathi, Battle scenes as in 300 etc</p> <p>The movies visuals is great compared to their lousy official site: <a href="http://magadheera.com/. ">http://magadheera.com/. </a>Music is good. Songs gel with the movie and hence are better viewed than listened, atleast for the first few times. Overall a great movie that is thoroughly enjoyable even for viewing multiple times. And by the way, you can view it even if you don't understand Telugu and still be able to grasp the movie fully so do give it a try :)</p> <div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6458511-1793861827709054513?l=www.cmohan.info' alt='' /></div>Chandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11809615797979046708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6458511.post-29502984921341371102009-07-22T09:57:00.001+05:302009-07-22T10:20:45.111+05:302009-07-22T10:20:45.111+05:30Angel's Landing in Zion National Park - Homepage of Bing today !<p> </p> <p>Very happy to see <a href="http://www.zionnational-park.com/zion-angels-landing-trail.htm" target="_blank">Angel's Landing</a> in <a href="http://www.zionnational-park.com/" target="_blank">Zion National Park</a> as home page for <a href="http://www.bing.com/" target="_blank">Bing</a> today. One of the best places I have visited in my life.... and what a hike it was ! :).. Still amazed seeing the videos if I really did it :-).</p> <p>Comment on why the monolith was named as Angel's Landing is worth reading: <em>"While exploring Zion in 1916, Frederick Fisher exclaimed, "only an angel could land on it," and thus the monolith was named Angels Landing"</em><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_OE09tgEjzyc/SmaankxeaVI/AAAAAAAAD1Y/YTYz0C54o_k/clip_image001%5B20%5D.gif">.</a></p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_OE09tgEjzyc/SmaankxeaVI/AAAAAAAAD1c/82g-1gZthsE/clip_image001%5B15%5D.gif" target="_blank"><img style="border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px" border="0" alt="clip_image001" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_OE09tgEjzyc/SmaYkLO-GEI/AAAAAAAAD1M/2ZJZdSI8-2M/clip_image001_thumb%5B17%5D.gif" width="644" height="346" /></a></p> <p> </p> <p>Some more cool images and text @ <a href="http://www.naturalbornhikers.com/AngelsLanding/angelslanding.htm">http://www.naturalbornhikers.com/AngelsLanding/angelslanding.htm</a></p> <p>A video from Youtube: <Not mine :)></p> <embed height="344" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/C8ygjEUFI1E&hl=en&fs=1&" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" /> <div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6458511-2950298492134137110?l=www.cmohan.info' alt='' /></div>Chandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11809615797979046708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6458511.post-69435349426780556092009-07-14T12:07:00.001+05:302009-07-14T12:07:21.396+05:302009-07-14T12:07:21.396+05:30Weekend Visits - In and Around Dodballapur<p>So, past few weekends I am travelling to my "athe mane" in <a href="http://www.bangalorerural.nic.in/doddaballapur.htm" target="_blank">Dodballapur</a> regularly as my wife is there :) and visited lot's of places there- </p> <p>July 4th - had been to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nandi_Hills,_India" target="_blank">Nandi Hills</a> - a beautiful small hillock about 70 kms from Bangalore. Not many "view" points to see as in hill stations but the whole place is great to laze around especially during the cool drizzling climate we had. Did a half round of the hill top after visiting the temple and then played some games - <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shuttlecock" target="_blank">shuttlecock</a>, <a href="http://inventors.about.com/library/weekly/aa980218.htm" target="_blank">Frisbee</a>, volley ball etc. .. :)</p> <embed height="533" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" width="800" src="http://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf" flashvars="host=picasaweb.google.com&captions=1&hl=en_US&feat=flashalbum&RGB=0x000000&feed=http%3A%2F%2Fpicasaweb.google.com%2Fdata%2Ffeed%2Fapi%2Fuser%2Fbschandramohan%2Falbumid%2F5358186717271974785%3Falt%3Drss%26kind%3Dphoto%26hl%3Den_US" /> <p>Last weekend - Saturday - had been to Sai baba temple and Nandi temple on Dodballapur - Chikballapur road. Not to be confused with the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nandi_Temple" target="_blank">Bull temple</a> in basavangudi. It's in the <a href="http://wikimapia.org/624562/ಭೋಗ-ನಂದಿಶ್ವರ-ದೇವಸ್ಥಾನ-Bhoga-Nandishwara-Temple-Nandi-Temple" target="_blank">Nandi village</a> right below the more famous Nandi Hills we had been to last to last weekend. It's now called <a href="http://hillstations.acgil.com/south-india-hillstation/nandi-hill-station.html" target="_blank">Bhoga Nandishwara temple</a>, and has idols of Bhoga Nandishwara, Ugra Narasimha and Arunachaleshwara. An ancient and very beautiful temple - you can definitely feel the calm presence of god in such places :)... I really would like people visit it more often than the other newly architected modern malls kind of temple. We also visited Vrudhashrama - with Sai Baba temple and a basavanna temple on the way back.</p> <p>Sunday was more adventurous - we planned to goto Nelamangala - Vishwaroopa darshana temple. Since it was only around 36 kms from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doddaballapura" target="_blank">dodballapur</a>, we thought we should be able to get back in around 3 hours and hence left around 3:30 PM. This was one of the nightmarish road that I had ever travelled on - a road which didn't exist infact. After doing all circus on my bike on the muddy road, we reached madure, another small village which has this famous shani temple. We thought we will take a break and visited it. we spotted a small temple on a hillock as we continued our journey - Guddada AdiShakti temple. Climbed upon the hill and visited that too. Found that there was a drivable path to the top after reaching the top. Another temple we covered on the way was Jai Santoshi ma temple - recent one with some north indians settled there perhaps.  Anyway, after lot's of tussles we finally managed to reach <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nelamangala" target="_blank">Nelamangala</a> around 5:45. We had dosa in a small restaurant near the bus stand and set for <a href="http://www.godakshin.com/travel-guides/vishwa-shanti-ashram-bangalore-109.html" target="_blank">Vishwa roopa darshini</a> in <a href="http://www.vishwashantiashram.org/" target="_blank">Vishwa Shanti Ashram</a> which is around 6 kms from the town on the Bangalore highway. we spent little more than an hour there - visiting various temples - rama, anjaneya, all avataras of lakshmi temples, <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/fotocrate/3176466454/" target="_blank">Vittala Statue</a>, Arjuna - Krishna chariot and finally the large idol of Krishna's vishwaroopa. Wasn't as well maintained as expected - could see cobwebs all over the roof of the building which has the main statue. But it's good place to spend an hour or more there.</p> <p>We started back at 7 PM - just as it got dark. I initially thought can take the bangalore highway reach outer ring road junction and then head to hebbal. However since it would be almost double the distance, thought will manage the humpty dumpty road we had taken earlier. Since we saw some buses going from Nelamangala to Dodballapur - we thought we will have some company. But as it turned out, not only was the way pitch dark - except for the street light, there was absolutely no vehicle movement :(.. With hardly any houses too, it was a real scary scenario... As we reached dodballapur, it was  a collective sign of "Thank god, we have some light now :)".  Different experience but might be worth to do that once in a lifetime :)</p> <div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6458511-6943534942678055609?l=www.cmohan.info' alt='' /></div>Chandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11809615797979046708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6458511.post-76236080256673028702009-06-05T11:17:00.004+05:302009-07-16T14:09:58.039+05:302009-07-16T14:09:58.039+05:30Booked my first car!<p> </p> <p>16th jul Update: Looks like the registration for the car will be delayed as it's not left from Gurgoan and might be another couple of weeks :(.. . was eagerly waiting for it early next week :(.. ..</p><p><br /></p><p><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" border="0" alt="clip_image002" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_OE09tgEjzyc/Siixgv03huI/AAAAAAAAC4w/cz9fPmCqmSw/clip_image002%5B6%5D.jpg" width="561" height="347" /></p> <p> </p> <p><a href="http://www.marutisuzukiritz.com/" target="_blank">Maruti Suzuki Ritz</a>... ZXI - Baker's Chocolate color (same as above).</p> <p>You can click on <a href="http://www.marutisuzukiritz.com/Ritz_Features.aspx" target="_blank">Features</a>, <a href="http://www.marutisuzukiritz.com/Ritz_Specs.aspx" target="_blank">specs</a>, <a href="http://www.marutisuzukiritz.com/Ritz_Colors.aspx" target="_blank">colors</a> to get more details about the car. </p><p>Total Cost: 5.66 Lakhs. Booked in Bimal showroom, Bannergatta Road.</p> <p>One of the most time taking decision of my life... . Story of my choice o-></p> <p>Initial thoughts were to go for a mid-segment car. .. just to meet the space criteria. Thought about Fiat Linea, Ford Fiesta, Hyundai Verna. Didn't like Swift Dezire based on it's looks, Accent because it's a very old engine and rumors that it's production will be stopped soon... Honda City and Civic were way above my initial budget thoughts... </p> <p>Linea being a fiat, issues with services were prominent; Fiesta got bad reviews about petrol car mileage and maintenance, I almost decided upon Verna until everyone in my family gave me a big lecture on not going for big loans (basically ಹಾಸಿಗೆ ಇಧಸ್ತು ಕಾಲು ಚಾಚು )... so went for Smaller cars... I still feel bad whenever I see the verna on road... might be I should have gone for that only.. :( </p><p>Anyway I wanted something comfortable for 5 people to sit. . so spark, zen estillo, Wagon R, i10 were all out. i10 is touted to be a 5 passenger car, but not for people of my size :)... width is about 12cm lesser than swift which makes a huge difference for 3 people sitting backside.</p> <p>Getz, Fabia and i20 were costlier for the same features as Swift. Didn't check out Uva or Palio... So decided on Swift, until the day before going for booking read about Ritz in the newspaper and sister/friends started suggesting that.. After test driving Ritz, felt the 2 BHP difference between swift shouldn't matter and Ritz having some good features I liked, I finally settled with Ritz :)... </p><p>Every person I have spoken to has been saying bad design - backside of the car is worst etc... until I say I have booked the car and then they backtrack and say - no .. no it's a good car or atleast no comments then :P... But hopefully the looks will start getting better in people's perspective as they more of the car on the road :)</p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6458511-7623608025667302870?l=www.cmohan.info' alt='' /></div>Chandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11809615797979046708noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6458511.post-5505072288535076322009-05-24T23:57:00.002+05:302009-07-14T12:20:50.747+05:302009-07-14T12:20:50.747+05:30BITians get-together<p>Raghu was back from Boston for a 2 week vacation and we finally met today in Gopalan mall (closer to Raghu's house... as the USian has lost touch with driving in India and doesn't want to touch his bike/car :) )... So raghu, his wife hema and son agasthya, Rohit and his wife shubha, Pramoda, Myself and Pallavi met around 3:30. Just went to the Food Court and chatted and chatted non-stop for more than a couple of hours. It was great to meet raghu after nearly 1 and 1/2 years and others after a long gap. Forgot to get a camera but shot some snaps from mobile: </p> <embed height="533" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" width="800" src="http://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf" flashvars="host=picasaweb.google.com&captions=1&hl=en_US&feat=flashalbum&RGB=0x000000&feed=http%3A%2F%2Fpicasaweb.google.com%2Fdata%2Ffeed%2Fapi%2Fuser%2Fbschandramohan%2Falbumid%2F5339455348126030849%3Falt%3Drss%26kind%3Dphoto%26hl%3Den_US"></embed><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6458511-550507228853507632?l=www.cmohan.info' alt='' /></div>Chandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11809615797979046708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6458511.post-45120369589606579592009-05-24T23:32:00.001+05:302009-05-24T23:32:27.908+05:302009-05-24T23:32:27.908+05:30RCB - what a turnaround !<p>Would have been great to see them lift the DLF IPL cup... but to be the runner's up from a position mid way through the tournament where they were thought to be below or equal to last year's position is a great turnaround. </p> <p>Congats RCB.. We are proud of your performance ! </p> <div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6458511-4512036958960657959?l=www.cmohan.info' alt='' /></div>Chandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11809615797979046708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6458511.post-79618385024196052902009-05-13T16:46:00.001+05:302009-05-13T16:52:06.519+05:302009-05-13T16:52:06.519+05:30Treat to UTM-IDC Team @ Jalsa<p> </p> <p>Finally after all the hectic work in the last 2 months, UTM team reached code complete. To celebrate it, I thought as a team we could go out for lunch. After discussing on various restaurants like - civet, bhagini, lemon grass, village, aadi, we finally chose Jalsa (recommended by Amit). So the whole UTM team - Mayur, Ramesh, pasha, Guru, Amar, Pratyash, Saravanan, Rajendra & I (excluding Nikhat) and Amit & Anand set off around 12:50 in Amit and Anand's cars. Vishnu joined us for desserts. None of us had taken a camera, so attaching the snaps from mobile below:</p> <p><embed height="533" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" width="800" src="http://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf" flashvars="host=picasaweb.google.com&captions=1&hl=en_US&feat=flashalbum&RGB=0x000000&feed=http%3A%2F%2Fpicasaweb.google.com%2Fdata%2Ffeed%2Fapi%2Fuser%2Fbschandramohan%2Falbumid%2F5335256328216568801%3Falt%3Drss%26kind%3Dphoto%26hl%3Den_US" /></p> <p>Jalsa in on Outer ring road between Marathalli and KR Puram. Nice place with good ambience. Food was tasty too with good quantity per item. Nice place to go out on weekends but little on the costlier side. </p> <div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6458511-7961838502419605290?l=www.cmohan.info' alt='' /></div>Chandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11809615797979046708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6458511.post-59340067088915317042009-05-13T15:44:00.001+05:302009-05-13T15:44:17.706+05:302009-05-13T15:44:17.706+05:30Harry's marriage<p>Had been to Pallavi's cousin's marriage on May 2nd (reception in the evening) - 3rd morning (marriage) in dodballapur... Some snaps of the same:</p> <p><embed height="400" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" width="600" src="http://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf" flashvars="host=picasaweb.google.com&captions=1&hl=en_US&feat=flashalbum&RGB=0x000000&feed=http%3A%2F%2Fpicasaweb.google.com%2Fdata%2Ffeed%2Fapi%2Fuser%2Fbschandramohan%2Falbumid%2F5335176419092985137%3Falt%3Drss%26kind%3Dphoto%26hl%3Den_US" /></p> <div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6458511-5934006708891531704?l=www.cmohan.info' alt='' /></div>Chandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11809615797979046708noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6458511.post-63263858935008158442009-03-21T22:53:00.001+05:302009-04-12T12:57:28.294+05:302009-04-12T12:57:28.294+05:30Hair makeover - trial<p>Found this link in digg.com : <a href="http://www.instyle.com/instyle/makeover/">http://www.instyle.com/instyle/makeover/</a> & my wife was keen to try out various hair styles :-)</p> <blockquote> <p></a></a></a></a><a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/cbs/Application%20Data/Windows%20Live%20Writer/PostSupportingFiles/7f54ac53-9e4a-4d05-9cbf-382a8119051c/pallavi102.jpg"></a><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_OE09tgEjzyc/SeGXjTvoniI/AAAAAAAACn0/U0nDoREshug/pallavi5_thumb%5B2%5D.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" border="0" alt="pallavi5_thumb" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_OE09tgEjzyc/SeGXkNIKr_I/AAAAAAAACn4/T59wDpGT5BY/pallavi5_thumb_thumb.jpg" width="244" height="187" /></a><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_OE09tgEjzyc/SeGXlwbZ4ZI/AAAAAAAACn8/27GpIuqb51M/pallavi10_thumb%5B2%5D.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" border="0" alt="pallavi10_thumb" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_OE09tgEjzyc/SeGXmiE28yI/AAAAAAAACoA/RW53rkPXumI/pallavi10_thumb_thumb.jpg" width="244" height="203" /></a></a> <a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_OE09tgEjzyc/SeGXnTqBoyI/AAAAAAAACoE/wmyC62dBub4/pallavi7_thumb%5B2%5D.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" border="0" alt="pallavi7_thumb" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_OE09tgEjzyc/SeGXoDdUXwI/AAAAAAAACoI/KHviMp4Cug8/pallavi7_thumb_thumb.jpg" width="244" height="214" /></a> <a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_OE09tgEjzyc/SeGXo3jYfbI/AAAAAAAACoM/8djM2DtriM0/Pallavi8_thumb%5B2%5D.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" border="0" alt="Pallavi8_thumb" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_OE09tgEjzyc/SeGXpRkAq7I/AAAAAAAACoQ/NjdVGpAjkfo/Pallavi8_thumb_thumb.jpg" width="244" height="214" /></a>  <a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_OE09tgEjzyc/SeGXqPZR66I/AAAAAAAACoU/_V8es1QpDN4/pallavi9_thumb%5B2%5D.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" border="0" alt="pallavi9_thumb" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_OE09tgEjzyc/SeGXq8R5S_I/AAAAAAAACoY/EzJkT4kU6GY/pallavi9_thumb_thumb.jpg" width="244" height="240" /></a><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_OE09tgEjzyc/SeGXrtord5I/AAAAAAAACoc/4YeK0zA5nwc/pallavi6_thumb%5B2%5D.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" border="0" alt="pallavi6_thumb" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_OE09tgEjzyc/SeGXsrnYSKI/AAAAAAAACog/Bk0jUrwM2Ws/pallavi6_thumb_thumb.jpg" width="218" height="244" /></a> </p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_OE09tgEjzyc/SeGXtJR0dLI/AAAAAAAACok/xAEywp_gUko/pallavi4_thumb%5B2%5D.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" border="0" alt="pallavi4_thumb" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_OE09tgEjzyc/SeGXt4WANhI/AAAAAAAACoo/zUVt9Bo9KyI/pallavi4_thumb_thumb.jpg" width="224" height="244" /></a> <a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_OE09tgEjzyc/SeGXuvWSWsI/AAAAAAAACos/T4upzMR4z6g/Pallavi1_thumb%5B2%5D.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" border="0" alt="Pallavi1_thumb" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_OE09tgEjzyc/SeGXvWz_MII/AAAAAAAACow/BFaFHGuV_J0/Pallavi1_thumb_thumb.jpg" width="244" height="244" /></a> <a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_OE09tgEjzyc/SeGXwRlerPI/AAAAAAAACo0/KyAcl7MVZcA/Pallavi2_thumb%5B2%5D.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" border="0" alt="Pallavi2_thumb" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_OE09tgEjzyc/SeGXxeDZ4fI/AAAAAAAACo4/smpO92cYSro/Pallavi2_thumb_thumb.jpg" width="232" height="244" /></a> <a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_OE09tgEjzyc/SeGXx34kh4I/AAAAAAAACo8/GXXaGBCvEbk/pallavi3_thumb%5B2%5D.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" border="0" alt="pallavi3_thumb" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_OE09tgEjzyc/SeGXyjB8yxI/AAAAAAAACpA/f5h5NOCbVgM/pallavi3_thumb_thumb.jpg" width="224" height="244" /></a> </p> </blockquote> <p>and experimentation on me:</p> <p><a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/cbs/Application%20Data/Windows%20Live%20Writer/PostSupportingFiles/7f54ac53-9e4a-4d05-9cbf-382a8119051c/Mohan25.jpg"></a><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_OE09tgEjzyc/SeGXzGp9nLI/AAAAAAAACpE/UtJMMC7wn2w/Mohan5_thumb1%5B2%5D.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" border="0" alt="Mohan5_thumb1" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_OE09tgEjzyc/SeGXz3m6L_I/AAAAAAAACpI/WtY5bdDNk8w/Mohan5_thumb1_thumb.jpg" width="244" height="176" /></a><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_OE09tgEjzyc/SeGX0fxG4qI/AAAAAAAACpM/6hVlPZrAFZE/Mohan2_thumb1%5B2%5D.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" border="0" alt="Mohan2_thumb1" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_OE09tgEjzyc/SeGX0yXWjPI/AAAAAAAACpQ/G9rUkvPGFdY/Mohan2_thumb1_thumb.jpg" width="244" height="187" /></a></a> </p> <p> <a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_OE09tgEjzyc/SeGX12JIJUI/AAAAAAAACpU/ANbxbnuRfvA/Mohan4_thumb1%5B2%5D.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" border="0" alt="Mohan4_thumb1" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_OE09tgEjzyc/SeGX2dMc62I/AAAAAAAACpY/5K0Kmwv_9tg/Mohan4_thumb1_thumb.jpg" width="244" height="189" /></a>   <img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" border="0" alt="Mohan3_thumb1" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_OE09tgEjzyc/SeGX21ErdpI/AAAAAAAACpc/PyxISPkl5wE/Mohan3_thumb1%5B3%5D.jpg" width="244" height="182" /></p> <p><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" border="0" alt="1_thumb1" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_OE09tgEjzyc/SeGX3lzP-3I/AAAAAAAACpg/35waAXfdjcc/1_thumb1%5B3%5D.jpg" width="244" height="226" /></p> <p></a></a></a></p> <div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6458511-6326385893500815844?l=www.cmohan.info' alt='' /></div>Chandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11809615797979046708noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6458511.post-36267998745141467972009-03-21T16:54:00.002+05:302009-03-21T17:07:06.144+05:302009-03-21T17:07:06.144+05:30Thiruvanamalai<p> </p> <p>Mom had prayed that she will get me and Pallavi to <a href="http://www.omsakthi.com/history.htm" target="_blank">MelMarvathur</a> (Om Shakthi) temple after marriage. Again, I wasn't too keen, but had to... initial plan was to goto chennai and then visit this and spend remaining of the weekend in Chennai. But as we enquired about details, we came to know that going via Thiruvanamalai is better and we can visit Vellore while coming back. </p> <p>So we left early at 5:30 on 7th March, and then headed to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thiruvannamalai" target="_blank">Thiruvanamalai</a>. Stopped over at Krishnagiri to have breakfast. Reached Thiruvanamalai at 9:45. Booked a room in Hotel Arunachala which was supposed to be the best hotel there. MelMarvathur was about 100kms from thiruvanamalai but the route was supposed to be good. So we left immediately after having breakfast and we reached around 11:50. saw the temple, prayed for sometime and headed back to Thiruvanamalai. Reached at 3:00 - had lunch, and then went to Girivalam (the route with temples all around the base of the hill). After visiting few temples around the hill, (we missed most thinking we will find bigger ones).. we went to the <a href="http://www.arunachaleswarar.com/" target="_blank">main temple</a> - since I misjudged the queue, didn't take the special darshan tickets and hence had to spend considerable time in the queue. But we had a good darshan and came out at 8 PM. did some shopping, had dinner and slept off. </p> <p>Got up in the morning, visited the temple again - visited girivalam again and more temples this time. We also met a famous sadhu who predicts and gives blessings. Then left 4 Vellore. </p> <p>Visited the <a href="http://www.sripuram.org/" target="_blank">golden temple</a> there (in sripuram). All splendor - the interesting part is the way they have explained why spending so many crores (6000 crores) on temple makes more sense than removing the poverty of so many places. We took special entry tickets of rs 100 each to avoid the queue. There were interesting slogans all the way to the park. Pallavi was disappointed that we didn't take a special pooja ticket, but I somehow don't get a feeling of god in such grandeur temples. Temple was beautifully done and the god's statue was good. The swami (though male, called as Amma) was with the god everywhere. After darshan of god and a Puttu in front of this temple, we headed back to vellore. Visited the Vellore fort and temple inside. </p> <p>Then we headed to an interesting place called "<a href="http://murugan.org/temples/ratnagir.htm" target="_blank">ratnagiri</a>", a small village about 15 kms from Vellore which has child Subramanya temple. we have to climb around 300 steps (or has a road to goto the top). Temple was excellent. Prayed for some time and then headed home. We reached back at 9:30 but had already finished dinner at Krishnagiri... </p> <p>Ph0t0s below: <<a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/bschandramohan/Thiruvanamalai">http://picasaweb.google.com/bschandramohan/Thiruvanamalai</a>>.</p> <div class="wlWriterSmartContent" id="scid:5737277B-5D6D-4f48-ABFC-DD9C333F4C5D:5b834fd6-b282-41f9-b2de-1dada78eb2d3" style="padding-right: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; float: none; padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-top: 0px"><div><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf" width="800" height="533" flashvars="host=picasaweb.google.com&captions=1&RGB=0x000000&feed=http%3A%2F%2Fpicasaweb.google.com%2Fdata%2Ffeed%2Fapi%2Fuser%2Fbschandramohan%2Falbumid%2F5315582349230415665%3Fkind%3Dphoto%26alt%3Drss" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer"></embed></div><label style="font-size:.8em;">Thiruvanamalai</label></div> <div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6458511-3626799874514146797?l=www.cmohan.info' alt='' /></div>Chandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11809615797979046708noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6458511.post-14465919138446753862009-03-21T16:14:00.001+05:302009-03-21T16:33:20.182+05:302009-03-21T16:33:20.182+05:30Visit to Tirupathi after more than 15 years<img style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-bottom: 0px" height="772" alt="DSCN0870" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_OE09tgEjzyc/ScTJCSny4xI/AAAAAAAACjk/lQ64U-5f9yI/DSCN0870%5B1%5D.jpg" width="580" align="right" border="0" /> <p align="left">Last time I went to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tirumala_-_Tirupati" target="_blank">TIRUPATHI</a> was with my family - grandma, dad, mom, lathakka, kavi and a small small divi :).. </p> <p align="left">Wasn't too keen to go there again, but it so turned out that Pallavi had prayed that she will get her husband there and that too to climb the seven hills barefoot and visit the god :(... </p> <p align="left">I reluctantly had to agree and decided on a Saturday and Sunday with Pallavi's parents and brothers. </p> <p align="left">We left on friday night by <a href="http://ksrtc.in/" target="_blank">KSRTC</a> Airavath -11:30 bus and it reached at sharp 4:30. We checked into a hotel in Tirupathi and got ready and headed to Ticket counter to get the tickets. We were able to get the Archanananthara darshanam tickets for next day morning at 4 Am. Booked a Innova and saw few temples around: <a href="http://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.kanipakamvinayaka.org/home.html&ei=acjESb6ECZD67AO2qfi4Bw&sa=X&oi=spellmeleon_result&resnum=2&ct=result&cd=1&usg=AFQjCNHsqtcy_MAaWEDB0QMd-R2LkoVgww" target="_blank">Kanipakam</a> (Lord Ganesha's temple), Srinivasa mangapuram and Alamelu Mangapuram. Food was okayish in tirupathi. After visiting the temples, we decided to start the climb to the top of Tirumala where the world famous Lord Venkateshwara resides. The seven peaks are called Seshadri, Neeladri, Garudadri, Anjanadri, Vrishabhadri, Narayanadri and Venkatadri.</p> <p align="left"> </p> <p align="left">So we started around 6PM, so it was chill and we won't be sweating much. Pallavi's bro Bharath had climbed previously in 2.5 hours and Pallavi was saying she had climbed it in 3.5 hours. For record, this was bharath's 6th, Pallavi's 3rd, Pallavi Mom's 5th I think :)... I was thinking I could ape their speeds and we should be done in 3 hours time. </p> <p align="left">The initial climb is difficult with steep steps and the first 1700 steps are continuous. It was a hard task and I was drained out before I could complete that. Took a long break - had juices, hot bajji (they tasted so yummy after the tiring climb), took a long breather and then started. </p> <p align="left"><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_OE09tgEjzyc/ScTEYm8aROI/AAAAAAAAChg/dJVG4QgA-n0/DSCN0870%5B5%5D.jpg"> </a> <img style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-bottom: 0px" height="484" alt="DSCN0877" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_OE09tgEjzyc/ScTEsdUj-AI/AAAAAAAACjo/cjKsRsScFUc/DSCN0877%5B1%5D.jpg" width="644" border="0" /></p> <p align="left">The climb after that was less tiring in that number of steps were less, but the walking part too was draining out the feet. Luckily there were places to wash our face and legs, the cool water hitting the burning feet was like drinking amrutha ... okay bad analogy but that was really refreshing :). There was some deer park in-between where we fed some carrots and food items. </p> <p align="left"><img style="border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-bottom: 0px" height="772" alt="DSCN0880" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_OE09tgEjzyc/ScTE_VX78dI/AAAAAAAACjw/xFbobqrljhk/DSCN0880%5B1%5D.jpg" width="1028" border="0" /></p> <p align="left"> </p> <p align="left">We finally managed to reach the top around 10:15.. 4 hours.. not too bad...  We had to hunt for food to eat and place to sleep and finally we thought no point in sleeping and spent an hour chatting and then started getting ready. By 4:30, we were at the entrance of the queue. It took about 1:30 hours to get the 30 seconds darshanam and we came out tiring to find our slippers stolen!.. And the worst part is since it's a holy hill, people don't sell slippers. We had to walk barefoot from then on until we came down to Tirupathi and bought some cheap roadside slippers .. something to wear.. we then dozed off after having a quick breakfast. Got up in the afternoon, went to govindaraajpattinam temple and then headed to a sick telugu movie. Supposed to be a comedy but it was just passable. After the movie, we had dinner and headed to <a href="http://ksrtc.in/" target="_blank">KSRTC</a> bus stand and returned by Airavatha, </p> <div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6458511-1446591913844675386?l=www.cmohan.info' alt='' /></div>Chandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11809615797979046708noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6458511.post-42182785048882441332009-03-21T14:31:00.001+05:302009-03-21T14:31:12.215+05:302009-03-21T14:31:12.215+05:30Voter Registration by Jaago Re! One Billion Votes<p> </p> <p>Registered and got a mailer with forms and a request to share this below message: </p> <p>Hey, </p> <p>I've been awakened and I want you to be awake too. I realized how important it is to stop complaining but start voting to make a difference. And now, it's simpler than ever before! </p> <p>Jaago re! One Billion Votes - a nationwide movement on voter registration - has made it possible to fill a voter registration form online and that too in just 5 minutes! </p> <p>Go to <a href="http://www.jaagore.com/"><strong>www.jaagore.com</strong></a> to learn more and register to vote right now.. </p> <p>If you have already registered to vote, you can still register with Jaago re! One Billion Votes movement and get periodic confirmation of your voter status, and election related news and reminders. Believe it or not, even registered voters sometimes do not figure in voter lists! </p> <p>Go to <strong><a href="http://www.jaagore.com/"><strong>www.jaagore.com</strong></a></strong> for more information, and to learn about voting related rules and procedures. </p> <p>Thanks,</p> <div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6458511-4218278504888244133?l=www.cmohan.info' alt='' /></div>Chandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11809615797979046708noreply@blogger.com1