Shyam's Blog

Isn't it true that fast food in India is better than in the US? I feel that people in the US hate to go to fast food - still, they go there because of compulsion. I have seen lot of people here saying with grouse feeling, "I have to go to ... today for lunch". They know it doesn't taste good, nor, it is worth the money! In India, we are not compelled to go to a fast food place. Instead, people love to eat in those places because they are tasty. Also, it is worth the money!

ubuntu CD! I downloaded the ubuntu Linux to install it on my home pc. Just after burning a bootable CD for that, my eyes saw colorful details on the CD. This is how ubuntu CD looked. One specialty of this picture is, nothing has been done to enhance this image. I used a tripod and manual focus with high shutter speed. When I tried editing this snap by doing, enhance color or sharpen, nothing much worked. The image was already in good shape for the show! (Don't forget to verify your "VIBGYOR") Rainbow on a CD! Shooting star!

Didn't feel like getting up this morning. Felt like, "wish I had more time to sleep... - Put the alarm on snooze couple of times. Then, came a thought in my mind. Money and sleep are similar. Both are things which we always ask for more! Isn't it? Even though you are sufficient with whatever you had (sleep/money), you just want little more. ahaa! Money and sleep, on the other hand - both have dreams! Don't they? By this thought, it was time to wake up :)

Jamoon I made - just for YOU and ME, It was so yummy!

Team Google!

Endless Road - Logan Canyon, UT On a rainy day, it was fun to shoot this picture by placing my camera on the road! (Photo edited using GIMP)

Books: Bookcase :: Masalas: Masalacase.

Identify shadow of each leaf. These are leaves floating on a crystal clear water! This reminds me of Engineering Drawing II where we drew objects and their projections.

" hum hai rahi pyar ke"

Had been to Logan Canyon drive with friends. Here are the photos of the day. Leaf of the day Straw of the day Bowling accuracy! There were two pins left. One hit, one miss Just a Trivia - Bowling originated in India (courtesy - Wikipedia).

Houses burning in my apartment complex. Photo: Courtesy KSL news website. Above is the picture of one of the blocks of our apartment complex which came down under fire. 6 houses of that block were burnt to ashes by devastating fire caused by natural gas. The incident occured when a gas serviceman was on duty to check the leak which was occurring for the past few days. My block was couple of buildings away from this one. Firefigthers made sure that fire doesn't spread out. When I reached home from work in the evening, I was not allowed to enter the apartment complex. Everyone was stranded out for a few hours. For details see .. KSL link . Really a say day for all the residents of those burnt houses.

I didn't know that my photos were in the "Editor's pick" list on BetterPhotos.com. Here is the link of my album online. My Album . After a long time, I visited my profile to add more pictures to the contest on BetterPhotos.com. I found out that, 4 of my pictures have been "Editor's Pick", which is indeed great to know! I didn't know that till now because I had stopped accessing my profile! What does "Editor's Pick" mean? The "Editor's Picks" are simply contest entries that have moved on from round 1 of the contest judging. These images are found to be interesting, eye-catching or beautiful to the judges.

Visited Alpine Loop, UT. Pictures @ My webalbum This 20-mile drive is worth $3.00 (entry fee). Here is the map of the drive. To view complete driving directions, visit googlemaps

To take Red carpet Guard of Honour at Rastrapathi Bhavan.

Recently met a few entrants to the "land of opportunities" - US. Have to tell you about the "hype" they talk about. They feel, "America and all is just Hype".

Fall has come! Fall 2007 Visited Timpanogos Caves today. It is a nice place to visit - one can get both hiking and scenery. Hike is 1.5 miles up which is a bit tiring if you are not used to hiking. Tour inside the cave is really worth. To enter the caves, one needs to buy the ticket at the visitor center before starting the hike. Once you reach the start of the cave, you will join a tour guide who will take you inside the caves with full explanation and commentary. In our tour, there were 5-6 lovely kids who asked the guide questions all the time - questions ranging from, 'why is that lizard shaped?' to, 'will the rocks crack and fall on us now?'. Once, in the middle of the cave, tour guide wanted us to experience 'pitch dark' and announced that he would turn off the lights for a moment. It was just wonderful to experience it. Another trick he did was, he asked, 'does any of you ladies have a diamond ring?'. Actually, a real one! One lady turned up who w...

Bhavani Kangan Stores, Jayanagar, Bangalore. It is a three storeyed bangle store which my fiancee and I visited couple of weeks ago. The floor size of each floor is around 20 feet x 10 feet and each floor is filled with dozens of people in such a small area. Each floor is categoried into specific items. For example, one floor is full of bindhi-s, while the other, artificial jewels. We first went to the top most floor. I could hardly walk around and with much difficultly stayed with my fiancee. Once she got the item she wanted, she was given a token and told to go to ground floor to collect the item after payment. We then moved to the middle floor. By this time, I was sure not to get into the crowd and told my fiancee to get in alone and buy whatever she wanted. There too, she was given a token. Finally in the ground floor, we went to the counter and gave our tokens. Soon, our items were handed over. I just wondered who is that 'carrier' person who keeps going up and down to co...

India won the Twenty20 World Cup! I can't miss blogging this win. India scored 157 and Pakistan were all out for 152. It was a thriller and my heart was pumping in full speed when India were bowling the last over and Pakistan needed 12. Misbah was batting with 3 sixers under his belt. He scored a six in the second ball of the over. Pak needed one more six to win in 5 balls. 6 off 5! Very easy equation. One would have thought, atleast take singles and go near to the score and try for a two to sneak in. But, Misbah went for a six behind the keeper. Sreeshanth made no mistake to take the most important catch of the World Cup. What would it be IF he had missed it? Let me not ask that!!!!!!!! Congrats India. Match ended about 9:15pm India time. I am sure, all night, India will be awake and whole India will be in virtual bright day light all night. One thing still rules - India has never lost to Pakistan in the World Cup! It was overall a team effort by India. Many had good contributions...

Movies with Sports theme: It all started with Lagaan - a full cricket match in a movie. Now, there is Chak de India - Hockey team. There is also soccer - Don't forget - Bend it like Beckham. Oh! A smaller commercial movie - Iqbal, again cricketing dream of an young boy. Recent movies: I think, Bollywood is trying all new things and trying to stay away from same old romantic melodrama. Time has come to show stories much more realistic. There are couple of movies which show the rise and fall of politicians. Recently, there was a movie based on life story of a business tycoon. Gone are those days of simple romantic musicals of the Khans and Kapoors! But, some of those movies are always worth watching. Next, Bollywood will bring a movie of a Software engineer ;). I think some spice can always be added to that storyline.

Yashoda and Krishna Rama & Sita Above sketches were done by my fiance when she was in school! I captured them on my camera during my India visit.