Got a Nikon D80

Hmm, got a Nikon D80 with the 50mm 1.8 prime lens

Delicious

Its quite some time since I had blogged, didn't do anything useful either ;) Work has picked up sudden momentum, yeppie, good for me!!

How didn't I notice this delicious thing which was lying right in front of me for long time but didn't get my attention.

http://del.icio.us/sakthiyuvaraj

Basketball Tournament

The wonderful Infosys Mysore campus hosted an intra DC basketball tournament in the late August. There was 10 teams in two pools. Since Mysore is predominantly a Training center there was 7 trainee batch and 3 development center team. I was playing for one of the development center (black). It was nice to be part of the team. There was a 150+US batch being trained in Mysore. So most of the trainee batch was populated with US players. The trainee team was really strong. Our team played well. We managed 2 wins out of 4. One was with development center and another with a Trainee batch. We came third in the pool so were didn't go further in the tournament. But the great thing about the tournament, it helped in networking a lot of new friends. Had some good time during the games and was lot of fun. The only unfortunate thing that happend was that I twisted my left ankle :( Thankfully the injury wasn't worse.

When will I get hold anyone of these

I have been reading a lot about photography, cameras in particular. I'm looking for a DSLR.
A Nikon D50 Nikon D70s or the latest D80 is what I eye for. Though D50 would sit in my budget I have apprehension of spending on them right now. I have mixed feeling should I make a huge investment for hobby at this point of time. I have been spending an hour(s) reading about each camera, lens and comparing with the other models. My friend started feeling that I had gone mad about these cameras lately. When ever he peeps in to my cabin he always sees me reading some article about these wonderful equipment.

Let see what how things turn out and what/when I get hold of them :)

Weekend at Madras

Or Chennai rather, got used to call this happening place 'Madras', going to Madras was a big thing back at school, not now though.

Had a lot of fun over the weekend, met a dozen of friends and family members. Was happy to spend some quality time with them.

Had Lunch with my school mates , had a great time cherishing the funnier moments we had together and pulling each other legs.
Met few of my relatives and had a college get together at the Spencer. Had a great time at there with my college mates.

Trek to Tadiyandamol

A week before
The plan for Tadiyandamol came from Karthi who emailed a bunch of my friends containing pictures and information about the place. I wanted to go to the place as soon as I saw the pictures. Things didn’t go out well for the first few days since I couldn’t get enough details about my travel to the place. Karthi and other friends are going to start from Banglore and I have to start from Mysore. I got the information that there are buses from Mysore to Virajpet (On route to Tadiyandamol), so my travel plans got cleared though I didn’t have exact timing of the bus and bus routes.

Friday, 16th June 2006
The day came I confirmed with Karthi I will join them early next morning at Virajpet. I got my things packed. I picked up few extra plastic bags since karthi said that there is a high probability of rain (I had been on trek 7 – 8 years back in the Kullu Manali Valley of Himalayas. We got drenched in rain on the last day. The camp instructor told us plastic bags to save our things from getting wet! Also put plastic covers over socks prevent them getting wet and keep our feet dry). Mer my room partner was kind enough to drop me at bus stand.
I enquired about the buses to Virajpet, the people at the bus stand told that there are quite a few buses and all starts from Bangalore. I called up karthi to know about route the bus they are in is taking, he told they won’t be touching Mysore. So I waited for the bus which at 12.15, I thought I have to wait for 2 more hours. I regretted my decision on bringing the novel I was reading then. I roamed in the Mysore Bus stand and finally picked up a Magazine to keep me busy for the next couple of hours. I was skimming through the pages. I felt sleepy so was looking for some places to lie down on any raised platforms available. I found a good place; made myself comfortable and put an alarm just before 12.15 bus in case I overslept. I was quite tired after the days work so closed my eyes.

Saturday, 17th June 2006
Wee hours
I got just before 12.15AM bus and found myself comfortable in the middle of the bus. The travel was for 3 hours. I got down at Virajpet and was waiting for my friends from Bangalore. They arrived quite late than what I expected. There were 7 people Karthi, Sasi, Arvind, Maharaja, Siva and couple of Karthi’s friends. We booked up a room got some rest and got our breakfast done at Virajpet. We traveled by bus to Thadiyandamol. We reached the place after an hour. Karthi had already spoken to this person who drew a rough map and handed to us. He also gave some valuable instruction to Karthi. I was looking over the place and pulling Sasi kumars leg.

Late Morning
We started on our trek. The view of the mountain made every one us to gape. We have to trek for around 5 KM to reach the peak of the hill. Everyone was so happy that they were here after being reluctant about the trip since there was very less detail about the place. We followed karthi who took us through a small mud road using the map as guide. It was green just green every where except the 5 feet wide road which had less grass because of the movement of people and bullock’s .Every one was full of energy and we traveled a mud road for 1 kilometer. Then it the road became thinner and steeper. All picked up a stick to help them in their walk. Except Sasi who told he doesn’t need one and started off walking quickly. Every one was surprised by the speed in which he was walking.
We climbed up and where at a good height to look around. There weren’t lot of trees around but it every thing was green. The hillocks looked like they were covered with green carpet.

We stopped at a place to have some snacks before we reach the peak. We had breads with jam and the biscuits which I packed. I was sitting next to Arvind and sharing bread. I felt some thing moving behind me. I thought it must be sasi who has gone nearby to pickup the bag which we have left under the tree. Heard some barking from dogs... And then had some strange sound which I hear too often… God damn shit it was alarm on my mobile. I woke up from sleep I found myself in between two people on the raised platform I slept. I did hell a lot of dream for 1 hour. The other sound was from the stray dogs in the bus stand. I stopped the buzz from my mobile before it could wake the strangers sleeping next to me. I rushed to the enquiry to get info about the bus. The bus came in 5 min. To my disappointment I found the bus to be full. I waited for the next bus which will be there in another 30 min. It wasn’t my day; I found the next bus to be also full. I waited till 1o clock and told myself I won’t make it. Caught an auto to my home and slept soon after I lied down. I do not remember of any more dreams about the trek.

Couple of days later
I heard from the Bangalore guys that they had a good time. They also went to couple of new places. They didn’t say a lot of details feeling that it will sadden me. Sasi told some tale about their trek. They told they missed the path and didn’t reach the peak. I was happy inside my heart ;) They told it was an enjoyable trip and we should go again to reach the peak. Looking for the day to come to trek at Tadiyandamol.

Adding pounds :(

I have been eating quite a lot these days, with very less physical work done added couple of kilo's around my waist.
Should workout atleast 4 times a week.

All work and no play

Work has been keeping me busy for the last few months. Since I was new to the work place I was also not able to manage time properly. I wish I would be able to manage time more properly and spend some time outdoors on weekdays. The only happy thing is that I read few pages before I go to sleep.

Learning new things

My interest always inclines towards learning new technical things. I would like to break my head, hours together to find a solution for the problem at hand. Few days back I had a real challenge. I had to debug a .NET Web Application on a remote machine. Thinking on how to solve the problem with a little knowledge on how it work was real pain and fun. I learnt a lot of information on the topics related to remote debugging and Windows platform the hard way.

A beautiful tamil poem

This is a beautiful poem I got via foward emails. It says how a beautiful college friendship, some times turns sour in the current world.

Google Mania

Lot has been written on this internet giant to an extent any new articles would be redundant; even then I want to write about it.

Although search on the internet has been in for a long time, Google has redefined search to an extent that the dictionaries have coined Google (Googling) as a new word which means searching for data over the internet.

The interesting thing about Google is that they had entered the market with a very strong technology. They had built the business over their technology. And they move forward in business through innovation.

The interesting thing about the Google is that the enter market where big players are there and sneak in with some new concepts which move the crowd towards them. For example when hotmail was giving 2MB of mail storage, gmail introduced 100 times bigger storage space. Similarly the Google Talk has making it’s presence in the Messenger community.

Google stress on simplicity loaded with features. Accomplish the core things properly. Google Talk for instance has a superb voice quality. Few think that as the users increase the quality might come down.
Google is making its presence everywhere; Microsoft, Yahoo and other internet giants are feeling the noose tightening around the neck. Microsoft has for instance has invested a lot of money recently to come up a new search engine to compete with Google.

Another notable thing about Google is that they load their products with features for all segments of users. A novice/non technical can start using the tools with out any trouble, an experience/technical can explore more to find the various features that are been provided.
These are few points that came across Google; you can enumerate hundreds of good points for all its product.

Google is a phenomenon today.

The Sherlock Holmes

Everyone know it's a detective story, so do I :) I had very faint I idea about this book. I picked up while I was browsing for a book to read in leisure.
Unfortunately I lent this book to a neighbor few months back and got it back recently. I started reading yesterday the few pages I read earlier. I could recollect the story partially, but to kept reading from where I started to keep the flow.
The good thing about this book would be the uncanny methods sherlock would employ to solve the mystery and the rich use of vocabulary. Frequent visit to the dictionary was unavoidable

Created a separate blog for Photo's

I felt its a better not to mix up my thought's (actually blabber) and my photo's so I had created a separate blog for posting my pictures.

A casual shot

This was a casual shot i took last a week back at my office campus at Mysore. The picture was pretty good :D

A picture through the window

This picture was taken through my bedroom window 

Super Star

An intersting picture got via email. You dont often find this guy attending functions. If he does you dont find him what's he is doing on the picture 

Sun set

This was a shot I took infront of Lalitha Mahal Palace Hotel, Mysore.
This was my first sun set photo. The ISO 800 has some grains. If you note you could see a lot of grains in them

Shiny new digital camera

Finally got hold of a decent digital camera, Canon PowerShot A700.
I'm a novice user, still I was able to take some good pictures. My comment about the camera is it has all the features for someone who wanted to learn photography.

Kalyan Varma

I happened to come across kalyans' website couple of days back and had been speaking a lot about photography and wildlife.
Kalyan is wildlife photographer. I spent hours on his site browsing the great pictures he had shot. His site was filled with pictures of exotic birds, lizards insects apart from pictures of Tigers, elephants and deers.
My best wishes to Kalyan.

Digital Camera

I'm had plans of buying a digital camera. So I was doing some reading on what to look for in the cameras. With new models coming out every other day, I posted my needs in bulletin board so that folks having knowledge about cameras would help me in finding one which suits me. I got quick replies and there a guy named visu who explain the different things that I should look in the digital cameras and some of my queries. Another guy suggested Cannon Powershot A540 as a good pick. Still searching for models in Cannon/Olympus which will fit in my budget and needs

My best shot

I feel this is is the best photo, i had shot. I'm don’t know much on the details of the camera I used. It’s an 35-105 mm Pentax zoom camera.Shot this picture in the Bandipur wildlife sanctuary in the moth of April 2006. A bunch of college guys went on a short trip here on a mauruti zen. It was a bad choice for us to take a city vehicle for an off road ride. The road clearance was pretty bad and we had to get down in lot of places where the water was stagnated to check if we could probably get moving or we have to get back home

A good article on patriotism of our bollywood stars.... -Shame

Got this article through email which is an extract from indiatimes.com

It was shocking that the Indian government spent Rs. 40 crores on the Bollywood stars for an eleven-minute show at the recently concluded Commonwealth games in Melbourne. If the government had spent even a fraction of that amount on the athletes who participated in the event then we would have had some more medals in our Kitty. It is really shameful that the government gives step motherly treatment to the sports and sportsmen and spends crores on Bollywood actors that has no connection with sports world at all.

I have seen our national hockey players bathing in a railway yard and being stashed in a second-class railway compartment when they were traveling for a hockey tournament. The sportspersons participating in Olympics and Common wealth games are paid peanuts and the sport facilities are pathetic. Even the medal winners at the Commonwealth games will not receive even one percent of what Bollywood stars like Priyanka Chopra and Lara Dutt got (one crore each) for simply waving to the crowds. And the so-called face of Indian cinema Aishwarya Rai’s fake patriotism was exposed when she boasted of performing at the ceremony just for patriotic reasons. And what was the cost of this patriotism – a cool Rs.3 Crore. Bollywood actors do not even represent India but the sportspersons do and they are the ones who are more eligible for receiving large amount and not some dumb actresses like Aishwarya Rai, whose only qualification is her good face. Now there is every reason to believe that Aishwarya Rai might also be charging hefty fees for indulging in other social causes.

Can’t our Bollywood stars perform free of charge for India even for eleven minutes? The government would have definitely spent on their stay and travel expenses and it was not even the case where the Bollywood stars had to incur a loss by rejecting a movie offer for performing at the event. The Government should get their priorities right and instead of wasting money on Bollywood stars they should spend money on improving the sports infrastructure, the training facilities for sportspersons and increasing their fees.

The organizer of the event, Mr. Viraf Sarkar of Wizcraft says that Bollywood stars were showcasing our country. He should know that Bollywood is not India. And if he wanted to showcase our country then he should have had people from different fields and not just from Bollywood. And if the government is thinking that they can attract spectators by displaying Bollywood actors in the ceremony then they are seriously undermining the sports lovers in India. A sport lover would always go for Commonwealth games whether Bollywood endorses it or not. There is nothing wrong if Bollywood actors are used for publicity but there could be no justification for spending 40 crores on them when the sportspersons are being poorly paid and leading a pathetic life.

Such poor sports administration has been the bane for our sports culture for decades. I hope that the Indian government and the sports minister look into the matter and ensure that this kind of money wastage does not recur. It is high time that the politicians and officials are thrown out from sports bodies and are replaced by retired, outstanding sportspersons and able administrators who know something about sports. Why have politicians like Suresh Kalmadi at the helm when he has done nothing good for the sports all these years?

Finally, Bollywood stars like Aishwarya Rai, Rani Mukherjee, Saif Ali Khan, etc should stop talking about patriotism and their love for India when all they do is sell their soul and patriotism for money. They are nothing but mercenaries and the sports administrators are nothing but idiots.


AMJAD K. MARUF

Busy holiday

Holidays weren't a big deal back in college. Actually I used to feel bored being at home than in college.
Things has changed now.. Weekends are so important, you have to do all the chores like washing cloths, meet friends, do shopping even consulting doctor etc over the weekend.
Got a Tuesday as holiday on the eve of a Muslim festival. Started of with Sons of Fortune by Jeffrey archer when I went to the laundry this morning. I always liked JA books.
Went to play brillards which I picked up recently after coming here to Mysore with couple of friends after which we went to Bowling :)
And after a gap of almost 2 weeks started of with my Gym.

Memories to Cherish

A small collage of pictures shot on the final day of my under graduation. Thanks to Arvy who had made this.
These still pictures, brings back the beautiful days of the college life. No sooner I finished graduation and started working I'm feeling the gap in communication with my buddies. I do keep in touch with my friends over phone and email I still feel the vacuum.
Everyone has to take a different path and our roads hardly cross each other. It's the hard truth of life I have to accept.
I really miss the places I hang out with my friend, eating out at Indian Punjabi hotel and the junior Kuppanna.

A weekend at Madras

With the backpack stuffed with thinnest cloths to beat the summer heat of Madras, and thoughts of how I'm going to Madras without any reservation. I along with few friends boarded the Train to Bangalore hopping that we will get a bus ticket to Madras. Little did we know
that, even the petty normal bus to Madras has been reserved?
We took a bus to Vellore and from there to Madras. Finally I got down in the outskirts of the city with lot of body ache and joy of meeting my school day friends.
One could easily feel the summer, early morning. I started sweating soon after my shower.
Saturday went on fine, meeting relatives and spending some quality time with a friend who is preparing for the newly scheduled Entrance exam.
The lunch at the Minerava hotel (Velachery) served my gluttonous appetite. They severed good food at a nominal price.
Met my hostel mate at the Spencers had some delicious browny ice cream and dhahi Poori.
It was time to say good bye, it will be months to meet the dear ones
again. But I'm really happy about the short visit I made...

Graduation day

It was really great to see all my friends who came along with me in the beautiful part of my life :)

It was graduation day, every one is busy with work and its hard for us to keep in touch. Though email has reduced the gap still there is some vacuum between us. The Graduation day was really fun.
Thougth the time was short to meet everyone. I and all my friends
really cherish our time we had on the Graduation Day.

Blog via email

It's really a good option provided to blog via email. I sit behind a
firewall and get few hours a day of internet usage.
This being the case, its really good for users like me to blog via
email. It atleast keep you interested in blogging.

Started using Bloggers.com

I was using http://sakthiyuvaraj.livejournal.com earlier. But I foudn bloggers.com much more attractive and the interface is pertty good too. And also blogspot alows you blog photos which add a lot of meaning to blogs.. Started using bloggers.com from April 1, 2006. I will be able to remember easily when I started :)