Too tired to give a name now...

3 days flew by in a wink.Before I cud realize I m here at my pod ...at work.

Friday was good ..with my own private party ...a party that dint leave me with a head ache.

Saturday ... was by myself ...lost all sense of time...I cant remember anything sensible I did.It was food , movies , music and sleep.

Two days was too much to go without any solid food..yeah I lived on cream crackers,yogurt, juices and junk food for 2.5 days.Now that I cud take it no more,Sunday, resorted to cooking a full course meal .A couple of frenz came over for lunch.Wanted to go to the park nearby...but like with life,not everything happens as planned in a day.So was home mostly.

Monday got me on my toes..lotsa cleaning,washing , vaccuming , dishes , ..and finally the nice big chunk of sleep I so deserved after the tiresome work.

I guess I m rattling-off all this junk in an effort to clear-off my clutter.I miss being the innocent, happy-go-lucky soul I used to be ...now,I m nothing but cribbing and whining !!

My hard drive needs formatting.

My Soliloquy

It has been quite a while since I have spoken to myself...despite the fact that it is very important to me.I ve been stuffing my baggage with keep-sakes...forgetting my survival kit.And now that I choke I ve come back to my living...my home and my asylum...my soliloquy.

I ve never been a person i would be happy to be.Its always been there ...something or the other... short-comings, dilemmas, identity crisis , rust , spooky corners , wilderness, cheap dirt, fear, darker elements.

There are times when i actually think if there is any sane reason i live, a purpose.Invariably every time I fail miserably to spot one.

And there is this other thing I go thru very often, with love and with people.Sometimes I m so full of love and compassion and then there are others when I m stone cold to the self-same people I love soo much.Sometimes I love people around and sometimes I dont.And then times when I m scared , lost and lonely...when I feel like curling up and sleeping into eternity.Sometimes I m a stranger to myself.

All that said therez just one thing I hang on to...my belief in the goodness of people.I believe people are good ...one time or other.That very same thought leads me to believe that may be I m good too!! Yeah I know I sound crazy...I know I m.Everyonez crazy...just in their own ways.

After a real long time I got into this pointless self-talk...I feel the pressure ease-off.I m breathing me...I m myself again ...not as much though:)

Looking forward to the long weekend ...where it will just be I , me and myself...we have so much to talk...for all the times that ve been missed.

Happy weekend folks !!!

My Denver Days - V - Royal Gorge

Itz been more than a month since I returned from my Denver trip and here I m still making time here and there to write my post on that. Work has never been more filling.

But this post is the most special of all :-)As it has been through-out the trip I was with a great bunch.That apart...

The Royal Gorge is one place where nature and human compete with each other in filling you with awe. Nature fills one with awe with its astounding gorge...you fall for its overwhelming depths.The view atop the peak makes one speechless.If you are a crazy nut like me...you are sure to fall on your knees.Believe me I was almost in tears...so overswhelming.

Just when one revels in the awe of the mighty nature ...the Golden Gate Bridge across the gorge , defying all structural impossibilities.Hanging 1,053 feet above Colorado’s wild Arkansas River, the Royal Gorge Bridge is the world's highest suspension bridge. Whether itz driving or walking across ...the experience is truly awesome.

THE BRIDGE


Oh ..if you thought this is about it...hang on ...I got my own share of freaking adventure to share with you :-)

I did this!!!


SkyRocketing poles...


Sky-rocketing poles ...a Close up


Yes...I did skyrocketing!!!Well ..I ve to say I survived sky-rocketing.A truly exhilarating experience....flying in and out of the deep gorge....up in the sky one moment and in the deep gorge the very next.

Lemme explain in detail...we were a group of three who ventured out to sky-rocket.We were drawn up across the 2 poles supporting the cord hooked to our vests.And on reaching the maximum height,(110 feet from ground...remember we are already atop a peak) we have to let ourselves go by pulling a tag in our vest.And I was the one with the tag and pulling that tag was one of the toughest things I have ever done in my life.I almost lost my breath! What followed was an eerie first swing up the sky and into the gorge.From the second swing on I was sort-of enjoying my flight...a bit nervous as well.The experience was sooo thrilling and revealing.I know I wud sound like trying to explain how does sweet taste.I m just trying here.

Now , I m walking in a trance ...bitten by the adventure bug.Truly exhilarating an experience!!

Other stuff I got to do was travel down the gorge in a winch( I dont know if I m spelling it right), spotting some mountain goats, Big-horns (Of which one was gracious enough to pose for me :-) ) and yaks.

THE BRIDGE from below


Looking up...


Looking down ...



The gracious one :-)


Yaks...shud ve been called yucks...they stink!!!


Guess this post is getting packed here.I stop here and will get back into my zombie world of coding.Looking forward to more adventure to share with you all.

A snap-shot of me...

If this title makes you wonder why...dont think hard.Way back, I started out with this title as a series and somewhere in the lane , lost count.Now, too lazy to do a look-up.

Just now ..I finished 6 fortune cookies ...and I need as much fortune as I can have.

Dont ask me why and I ll start-off with a whole new episode of whining and cribbing.
Well...things are nt all that bad!!!!

For the little seed of hope they sow..I love fortune cookies.

Are you in the club?

A snap-shot of me...

The way I feel now ... and one of my favourite lines..



Taking advantage of me is one thing I simply cannot stand.People who know me and know me well... dont do that.Itz just the people who simply cross my way.That is even more disgusting!!

I bend ...I dont stoop.

My Denver Days - IV Pikes Peak

Well ...this is where the tint of adventure begins to surround the picture ;-)
Pikes Peak , 14,110 feet above sea level , is one of the tallest peaks of Colardo mountains.
The most exciting thing about the drive up the peak is the number of hair-pin bends adding to thr thrill are the
curvy roads without any bunds.One slip can take us tumbling and that was one thing that was freaking me all thru,
despite the thrill.

One major fun that we had is at the snow fields half-way up the ascent.
I got a little lucky in our snow war...not as much hurt.Well luck apart..I was running from my attackers like crazy!!!

Up the Pikes peak , we had hot chocolate.Well, hot chocolate had never been this good
...warming me up against the biting cold winds.

We did spot some mountain goats and the special thing about them is that their hoofs
keep them firm on snow and rocks.Lets not get too technical here :-)

As the screen lowers ...the drive down was as much fun..and now its snap-time :-)

The Drive up..


Ute Pass


View atop


Snow war victim ...well thatz me !!


Can you believe ...we were standing up at an altitude higher than the clouds!!


Mountain goats


A souvenir to keep...

My Denver Days - III Aspen Mountains

Monday morning is such an odd time to be blogging!!But here I m doing just that thing...thanks to all the stuff we call dependency.God bless dependencies!!!

So , before I ve someone plays the peek-a-boo I ll quickly run you through the Aspen Mountains.Driving past Glenwood(known for itz hot-springs) took us to a pretty beautiful view of the Aspen, the snow-covered mass soaring into the sky is so much of a beautiful sight.

The hanging lake was were we waded thru the freezing water ...and my feet turned numb and my heart felt warm.Thanks to our tour guide Naatmai ...we got to see one of the less-known beautiful trails and a half done bridge.We enjoyed watching skiers as I had nt learnt skiing then :-p

The day we had been to Aspen was St.Patrick's day and there was quite a lot of merry-making and Irish fun happening in the town.Guess they had built the whole place up with just luxury and fun in mind.I spotted a lotof Harley-Davidsons and they got me pretty excited...the bikes and the bikers :-)

I tried Lasagne for dinner at a local eatery, which i dint like as much...too cheesy.
I liked the one Deepa had made a couple of weeks back.The walk down the streets of Aspen, after the dinner,with my bro was one thing I enjoyed the most.Everyone needs a brother :-)

I think I m getting pretty aweful in putting down stuff about the places I had been to.So, I m leaving you here with snaps which wud do the job better.

Aspen, here we come


Aspen ...standing tall




One ....two ....Skii


The bridge across...


P.S: Just when I thought I m done with this post ...I hit upon this thought ( during a conversation with a frend).

"With life , there are some searches , that even google does nt have answers for" :-p

An oft realisation

There is so much of it ...yet so little.
I see it smile thru my teary eyes.
I have soo much of it ...I remember I shud not hold.
To have and not to hold is tough I know.
But the more I hold , the more I ll let go.
It is what is making me smile,
the self-same thing that makes me weep.
The one thing that is my boon and my bane,
that gives me my sense and so also drives me insane.
When tall I stand ..it makes me bow.
Gives me wings , when I hardly know.
There has never been a greater pain;
there has never been a greater joy;
Nothing has ever made me so much a puppet ...a toy.
For all that it does to me and my life,
I love the love thatz breathing life to my life...

The funny thing about life ...or is it me ?

Off-late my life is sooo full...of people , love , experiences and adventure.At the self-same time I suffer a choking vacuum.I really dont know why? Can abundance can grief? I need to think.

Am I broke by love ...the abundance of it ...I dont know that either.Or may be itz the spatial separation that is. I m too trired to think.The only thing that comes to my mind is to get back home ...curl up and sleep.When I feel not-so-good , then i start feeling scared and cold.

I yearn for something I dont know.

An update from the weekend - skiing and more

If you are seeing too many posts in here ...you know ..I ve soo much to share!!!And speaking about the weekend is nothing but imperative!!!

Can you believe ...I did skiing for the first ever time!!! We set out to ski at 8.30 in the morning. Can there be any more valid reason to be up that early on a saturday ? :-)

Therez this place called Afton - state park 7 miles from where we live.And during the winters it open for skiing and during summers for golf.We managed to hit the place just on the last weekend of skiing.

Believe me ... if you want to take a revenge ...buy them a pair of ski- shoes and if you want to reward them...teach them to skii :-)Itz both such a pain and a pleasure.

Each of those boots were sooo heavy ( aprox 5 pounds approx) ...not including the skates.Our ski instructor Tim , with his 40+ yrs of experience , managed to get a bit of skiing into my head.I can stay upright with my skis on :-)

Knowing a bit of balancing and linking the turns took me to a hi. I wanted to move from the slopes to up where the lift takes us . Well that was a bad option ...despite the fact that I enjoyed it.

Down the hill , I was skiing in every other place other than the snow...the woods and the slush and into the barricades.My tumble down the hill wud put all stunt-men to shame. Tumbling is an under-statement ...I cud not come up with another word.The best part is I managed to survive the full episode as one whole piece ...no broken bones!!!

Just as if the skiing episode was not enough...we headed to tubing (2 hours of it) , with which I was pretty much at ease (well ...a 4 yr old kid was!!)

And then 2 games of snow-bowling ..I discovered I ve nt lost my bowling skills.If you are chuckling ...you better not!!I think anything over 100 is decent ...and for the couple of strikes and spares I made :-)

With a rocking saturday like this , you shud know my sunday just went by sober , moaning and limping.It was then I knew I had so many bones and sinew , that can actually hurt !!

But people ...I skiied!!!!

:-)

My Denver Days - II ...The Rockies - Colarado

This trip was the first ever time in my life I hit the roads for a reaaal long drive and I absolutely enjoyed evry minute of it.The Rockies of Colarado are such an amazing sight that they filled with me with sheer awe.

With the weather getting warmer , we spotted anglers here and there , some of them with their mutts.That is what I call ...a worthy chunk of life :-) The warm sun , cool waters , fishing and your best buddy beside...who could ask for anything more ??

Hoping to try my hand in fishing ... I can imagine what subtle pleasure it wud be...

As much I tried to capture the beauty of the Rockies ...I know tried in vain.The beauty is far too over-powering to fit in a frame.

I tried!!!

Rockies


More of Rockies


Colarado River ...frozen and flowing


A glimpse of the country-side


House on a hill-top


Free and wild ...

My Denver Days - I

Life works in strange and beautiful ways and one such road is what lead me to Denver.I headed to Denver for having as much fun and doing things i had only thought in my dreams.What awaited me was not just fun ...but a greater package ...9 loving hearts , with tonnes of warmth and 1 brother whom i had given to space and time and life thought i shud no longer miss.Things i had nt imagined ...not even in my dreams.

Well .. this post series is about my trip to Denver and Colarado Springs ...the places I visited , the things I tried , the adventures i put my self thru and best of all, the young men I met as strangers and parted as buddies.I shall refer to them by their pseudonames as our heroes dont like publicity as much [:p]

They are:

X - My sweet lil' brother .Oh the tiffs and the tussels ..I ll leave them to the past, coz thatz where they belong.I just dont have anything to say except that hez a brother I yearned for all along..and i found him back :-)

Alpha - A level headed guy ...small and smart.A gentleman in a kid's pack.A deep thinker and brilliant young chap.He likes to get just the feel of things ...just about anything under the sun and then stay putt.

Beta - A brainy guy ...also hard-working ( as much as I know !!!) , compassionate , studious guy ...you can call him a warm person...whose mission on earth is to increase global warming.Beta , the world needs your brain keep it working !!!

Raghavan - A versatile person and an ardent Kamal Haasan fan , whoz very keen on eye donation :p A percussion instrument player , palmist , musician and a humorist rolled into one.One who majorly gave me bouts of laughter..itz tough not to laugh when hez around.

Pulikutty (Alias) Ottaeri Nari - A very hard-working and responsible guy who bears on his shoulders more than his share of responsibilities...well experienced at many odd jobs and an excellent driving coach.He deserves more fun with life though.

Romeo - If we all need food , air and water to live ...he needs a mobile.A gentle and calm fella with enduring patience especially when it comes to posing for fotos .Well hez gotta charming smile :-)

Karappanpoochi - Dont ask me the root of his name ...the explanation does nt have a place here.I ve to say hes a very soft spoken , compassionate young man whoz best at lending a helping hand.Very subtle in expressing things.

A.C.P Anbuselvan Alias Sanjay Ramasamy - Well, you really have to cautious with this guy! He may look as lil' too meek and soft spoken ...thatz how well he disguises.A very enthusiatic , naughty , sharp young chap who might take the mollywood by storms.
Hez getting his portfolio done !!

Siddhu - A guy whom i dint get to know as much.One with a philosophical lights on , lost in his own world mostly (my guess is he was busy seeing ...sight seeing to be in specific) and the rest of the time went hi smelling wine [:p] and dozed.Food and sleep are his passion.

Naataamai - I saved up things about this guy till the end coz I ve a lil more than his share to tell.One with a level-head , exorbitant sense of humor ( he owes it to his home town-vaellampaalampatti(CBT) ..hope i got it right), adventure freak and with extra-ordinary people management skills.One brilliant person who awoke the rebel in me ...until i saw his sunshine personality.Truly a gem of a person.His adventures make me go whopping!!!

Now about the places I visited , I ll leave you with the listing now:

1)Aspen Mountains
2)Rockies
3)Pikes Peak
4)Cave of Winds
5)Royal Gorge
6)Garden of Gods.

More posts , pictures and details to follow...See you soon :-)

What would I do over this weekend ?

Well ..I m heading-off to Denver for some authentic fun.Hoping to make loads of them to share with you :-)
Let me tell you a secret ... you know ...this is my first ever flight ALONE. With just my wild imagination for company I already have butterflies in my tummy (not just there!!!) and the whole episode is giving me such a thrill!!! I m as much excited about it though :)
Hope to see you all back here soon( if I dont end up breaking my bones skiing ...dint I tell you thatz on my list ?).
Keeping my fingers crossed ...

Wings and Whacks - Heading to my new den...

Let me be quick about my travel from Atlanta to Minneapolis.This now was a small flight both in size and space ( as in distance).It must have been sub-zero then and I saw a pretty youg gurl walk in shorts , tee and slip ons , relishing her ice-cream!!
My god!!! I would have died of hypothermia.For me walking from the security check to the plane was so much of a challenge ..more so becoz of the winds.
The flight lasted over 2 hours and just whne I was grateful for
the hassle-free travel ( touch wood) ..my baggages were kinds lost and I got them the next noon.Thanks to all the expert advice , my hand luggage stuff helped me survive.
Seeing snow for the first time in my life, the what I felt about it...
thatz something I just cant put down in words.I was a little to excited ...that can
be an under-statement.
The drive from the airport to my apartment (after the sumptuous dinner at Maran's )was a white-carpetted one:)





I ll end this post with a pics of my apartment....well mine is one of these...and each of these is a rear-view(Is nt the view of the rear , a rear view ? :-))

When I looked down from the sky ...

Cotton candy factory



Fleece fields..



A river runs through...



When the clouds, land and ocean met...



View from my window seat :-)

Wings and Whacks - Bonjour Paris, je suis venu ...

French has always been a fascination to me...the language ( with the little I picked up schooling thru college) and the people , for their relaxed way of life and sensuous taste( as much as I ve read of them).

The trip from Delhi to Paris was one worthy of my detest.My self-talk helped me survive.My seat ...I was sandwiched between two french ladies , one of them I was getting higher than we were flying... drowned herself in drinks.The one time she was not drinking she managed to eat the sandwich with the wrapper on and got the yogurt spilt all-over.The best I could do was shut my eyes tight and sleep...

The lady on the other side dint wake up except to eat and I liked her better.She smiled.And when I tried to strike a conversation I knew the French I learnt aint any good . So , I chose to smile back again and that ended the conversation that never happened.

'Expansive'- the word just would not suffice to describe Charles de Gaulle airport. Our flight scheduled at 1.00 was delayed by an hour and we got to spend an hour at terminal E of CDG playing games ( learning ABCD :-) ) The other football game that was there ..I dint get a hang of it.And another game spoke lotsa French than I can take.

The slight thought of getting a bit to munch waned out as we saw them priced in Euros.We decided to stick to the in-flight food.

We alighted the flight to Atlanta and Randy who was sitting next to me was too kool that he offered me his window seat :-)The view of the day sky was simply awesome as we flew over the fleecy, cotton-candy clouds, especially where the clouds peak up life snowy moutains.The experience was very humbling...the thought about the big guy who keeps churning the cotton-candy out.

Randy was much surprised to know that I had nt touched meat anytime in my life and had picked up strange ideas on Hinduism ...that shaving the head and wearing a sheet was Hinduism.The little he knew of Hinduism and India , the more he spoke on , which I chose to ignore.When people donot know something, you can tell them.But when they think they know and that only what they know is right , then I hold my silence.

Through the entire 9 hour flight I kept myself occupied ...reading, drinking the skies , watching a movie ('Marie Antoinette') , updating my journal , reading a book ('How to speak Minnesotan') and filling myself with the food.

Around late in the noon our flight landed in Atlanta , U.S.A.

Well , this post is getting way loo long ..so here I ll say 'Chao!'

Rest in next...

Wings and Whacks - Capital city

On Feb 9 , I set out to the U.S of A.

For the first time flyer I m , my itinerary was fun ...more so because I was not alone :-)

More places, to me ,meant more travel ...what I dint realise that there was a flip-side to it ...I ll save it for the dessert.

My itinerary : Madras-> Delhi-> Paris-> Atlanta-> Minneapolis.

The Indian Airways flight from MAA-DEL took off at around 6.30. The vessel was packed with weary frequent flyers ... I cud see it from their weary eyes and the haste with which they pulled their blinders on.The gentle-men on either side of me belonged to that genre.

The first ever time in my life I remained silent for a little over 2 hrs!!!Boy ...I simply cud nt continue ...I started rattling off ( much to the misery of Mr.Arindosh ... thatz what I heard his name as, who was devouring every business magazine as if his life depended on them..may be it did..I donno!!) .

He was the one who helped me put in and pull up my hand baggage from the storage compartment.I owe him a thank-you .

The 2.5 hr flight got extended by 45 minutes due to the heavy fog in Delhi.

After quite an arduous effort , we ( prasaaana ,dana and myself ) , along with baggages as big as us , headed to the Indira Gandhi International Airport. On our way I struck a conversation with the cab-guy and he understood the battered hindi I spoke ... I feel elated!!!

My flight to Paris , scheduled at 1 am took off at around 2.00 .We embarked the flight after the successful security check .Boy that was the longest ever queue I had fallen in!!!

Oh I shud tell about the NRI guy who stood just ahead of us in the queue.His rambling was so much that it put me to shame!!Well ...he knew sooo much...and he whined as much!!!

And here comes the dessert I saved ... more travel meant more security- checks!!!And every check simply puts a smile on my face ...which eventually breaks-out into a giggle.I knew I would be annoying them with my giggles ...but I cud not help...I felt tickled!!

I was riding on first-timer high and that helped me through the series of rip-offs we were put thru...they frisked everything ...jackets , shoes, cameras, passport -pouches.Another thing that I m really fond of are the trolleys...they remind me of the 'nadaivandi' ( a toddler's toy to teach walking).They cheered me up between the check-ins and check-outs.

A bird's view of the capital from night sky is what I would call ...simply awesome !!

Gayu , I can hear you say , "I told you so!!!!" :-)

What follows is my first French rendezvous ...

Stay tuned...

From the other side of the globe ...

If you are reading this post and if you dint just hit upon here by accident ...thank you ...you sure have loads of vitamin H ...Hope :-)

Now that what you ve hoped has happened...go ahead I ve loads of storied to share ...

Lemme start of with how started off with my first ever flight ... that happened on
Feb 09 , 2007.

As I headed to the other side of the globe , the getting ready and setting-out was as much fun as the travel itself.I had the whole bunch of my folks come over to see me off.I sure I m filthy lucky when it comes to people ..I simply get the best !!!

Having put the peg in place , lemme sign off this post here.

"Wings and Whacks" , my not-so-travelogue ,

Coming up next ...

Can't-think-of-one syndrome - VII

I have nt kept count of the number of times I typed out a post on my notepad and then ... let it go unsaved.The last one I did that to was a post mentioning Ramesh's 300th post.Well, that got me inquisitive to know about when I started blogging and the day is 05,Oct,2004.

A surprise awaited me there at my first post.Someone had actually taken the time to hit my archives, read my older posts and leave comments ...some of which are more than one-liners!!

Thank you Nullity for your time and comments , especially for going with them , when the prospect of me seeing them was limited !! I am happy :-)

I remember the many times I sneak into blogs , enjoy the posts but leave the place without a trail even when I had something to say.I really cannot rationalize as to why I do that.

This year on I ll make an effort to leave 2 cents if I have them :-)

Btw , this year ...no resolutions in my kitty ...lots of dreams though !!

A new beginning ...

This world, where every canine barks its day,
where the feline so busily pry,
where the populus so run the rat-race,
sans an end, a destiny,
into an absolution that is ever-far,
God gives us a reason to live,
a new hope, as an answer to all our mumbled-prayers,
the cure for the world's pain and strife,
a new cry, a new ray ... so pure -
a babe is born.

Wish you all a very happy New year!!!
May the year be filled with lots of love, light and laughter :-)