Shyam's Blog

Experimented with Diwali photography this time. It was a nice experience trying out new things. Few things I kept in mind - 1) Have slow shutter speed 2) Have aperture of f/10 or so. 3) No night mode or preset modes. Used Manual mode One thing I did wrong was the ISO - I used a higher ISO. I should have used 100 or lower. One more point I missed was a tripod. That would have been handy for shooting 2-3 second exposure shots.

Writing a typical blog... (How did we celebrate Diwali this year?) On the eve of of Diwali, we shopped new clothes for our son. Also, since it was our son's first Diwali, we wanted to show him some fireworks. My wife and I purchased a few flower-pots, 'bhoo-chakra-s and sparklers. We went to place where they were selling crackers. It was such a mad rush that we could hardly step in. Profit margin for crackers is so high that sellers just quota 60% discount for everything. If the total amount is X, they say, "ok sir... pay Y". No big calculations there. Just some random number approximately matching 60% discount. Diwali day was good. Morning oil shower (customary of Diwali) was a good relaxing one. Lunch was planned at my in-laws. In the evening, our son enjoyed the fireworks. Smoke coming out of flower-pots or bhoo-chakra-s is very intense. It was very hard to keep him away from that. Late in the evening, there was little bit of firecrackers on TV when RCB defeated De...

People keep asking me "how was life there in US?" or "how do you feel coming back to India?". It has been more than a year since we returned from the US and for me, answering such questions is neither easy nor short. One of my friends recently told me that he rejected an intra-company transfer to US as he thought that life there was not easy. Bad part is, he has never stayed in US for more than 2 weeks to decide that. Comparing India life and US life is completely based on one's priorities. If one dreams of leading a life in the US, then he/she has to overcome all the hassles. On the other side, if one thinks India is the dream place to be in, it shouldn't end up in -'kuupa mandUka' story (frog in the pond story) . Also, returning to India is not a good choice if children were born and brought up in the US. They will surely feel the change in lifestyle. Returning to India is the best option if one expects no growth in career and wants to spend more ...

Champions League T20 has been a great entertainment! Haven't missed any action live. Today, Bangalore take on Victorians at Bangalore. Should be a great match.

Every morning, journey from home to office is one experience I don't want, yet, have to bear that. Firstly, the cab (tempo traveler) is in such a poor condition that it resembles bullock cart with no shock absorbers. Secondly, the road in certain locations are so bad that I sometimes recollect Disneyland rides. Lastly, the road humps are so many that I counted them for my statistics! In all, 33 road humps. Picture of my writing that down in my dairy is shown above. Some of my markings are like legs of hen because I am marking right when the driver zooms on the road hump. It takes 1 hour to reach office. Going back, my statistics shows that there are 37 road humps; 4 more than morning because the return route is slightly different. Really, I got to utilize these 2 hours of my daily travel in a better way. Else, I will be wasting 10 hours a week and 40 hours per month and 480 hours per year!!! What else can I do than sit and wobble around??? Can't even read a sentence from the n...

I visited Mysore Zoo last weekend and was disappointed to see the maintenance of the zoo. Even though there are lots of species of birds and animals, the whole zoo didn't attract me at all. Things looked haphazard to me. For kids, I really wanted few attractions - like shows, games, and videos. Food and drinks inside are not adequate. Concept of 'zoo' is basically for kids to enjoy. But, this Mysore zoo doesn't seem to attract them. Just walking for 3 Kms and spending 2-3 hours in hot sun is all what kids experience. Zoo authorities must come up with better facilities to make it more kids-friendly. Just because people throng the place shelling out Rs.30 per adult doesn't mean that they shouldn't attract more. Hopefully, someday, authorities will improve the facilities inside.

View Larger Map Bangalore to Shimoga drive took us 9 hours with numerous stops and a visit to Amrutheshwara Temple near Tarikere. From Bangalore, reaching Nelamangala took us 2.5 hours due to traffic jam. After Tumkur, we took a deviation from NH4 to reach Mallasandra. We had our breakfast in front of Mallasandra Milk Dairy. Basic route was this: Bangalore -> Tumkur -> Gubbi -> Tiptur -> Arsikere -> Kadur -> Birur -> Tarikere -> Bhadravati -> Shimoga. Few Kilometers before Tarikere, we took a right turn to reach Amruthapura which is 7 Km inside. The temple of Amrutheshwara was built during Hoysala rule (10-13th Century). After visiting this place, we headed towards Shimoga to reach home at 3:30. A quick visit to Jog Falls was good. Route: Shimoga -> Anandapuram -> Sagara -> Talaguppa -> Jog Falls Talaguppa is the last rail stop. Till recently, narrow-gauge train was in service from Shimoga. Now, this track is getting converted to broad gauge.

Droplets I captured in Shimoga