Anything Under The Sun

A couple of days before new year's eve, I got my invite.. It was supposed to be a formal sorta party. The invite specifically mentioned a dress code.. Man! I wasn't even gonna go some place where they want me to wear a suit.. I wasn't keen on this one, coz I dont like being decked up for a party, I like my casuals a lot more than you think I do. Hehe.

But somehow I got conned into confirming my presence. And so I got into my suit, all set to reach the venue. I was sure it was going to be a drab. What could you expect at a place which would probably be full of middle-aged men and women.

The schedule said the party begins at 9pm. We all know it doesnt mean anything, coz nobody follows whats printed on the invite, do we?

I reached the place fifteen minutes before 10 pm and I was surprised at the turnout by then. There were more than 200 people by that time. Wow, I never knew people turned up on time to parties. This was new to me. Once inside, I found it was rocking. The DJ was good, the music was kewl, and the atmosphere was just amazing. However, not many were on the dance floor. Once could hear the wine glasses clink, friends chatting up, and loads of laughter, but no one was dancing. I like to dance, but I didnt want to look like the lone ranger out there. So I waited.

Twenty minutes later, people began getting onto the floor. I guess the alcohol takes its time to work ;-) hehe.

By about half past 10, almost everyone was on the floor. Youngsters, middle aged people, men & women. A few songs later these guys were actually rocking. The suits were unbuttoned, the ties aside, coats off and shirts loosened. Everyone was dancing away to glory. (Of course, the definition of dance is a bit different with each age group, but by and large it was awesome).

Fifteen minutes to midnight, and each and every person was on the floor (Irrespective of their ability to shake their body or not). Not once have I seen a party where everyone's on the dance floor at the same time. At the stroke of new years, the fire crackers and the music on full blast made it a very lively way to invite the new year.

I had a great time at this 'different' kinda party.

Waat A Paah-tyy!! Man!!

Kowshik

The state-run buses in Karnataka take one step further in reducing vehicle emissions and reducing running costs. And how do they plan to do this? Simple.. For about 3 years now, they've been experimenting with alternative fuels.. And it looks like finally their experiments will be put into full-fledged action from the end of January 2006.

Here's the secret... The authorities have been testing a mixture of diesel and edible/non-edible oils for their buses. They mixed diesel with sunflower oil, groundnut oil and honge oil. Now the results show that honge oil is the best among the three. Honge oil costs Rs.28 per liter while diesel costs about Rs.35. The mixture uses 90% diesel and 10% honge oil.

Honge oil is obtained from the honge seeds of the honge tree. It is a wild tree seen commonly in Karnataka and the authorities see no problem getting their required quota every month. This tree grows with minimum water and doesnt need a lot of tending to. So we can expect more honge trees being planted in the future. This will also add to aforestation.

The state run buses in Karnataka consume about 12 crore liters of diesel annually. Using honge oil will reduce about 1.2 crore liters per year. At the current price different of Rs.7, this will mark savings of Rs 8.4 crores annually for the Govt.

Not only will this turn out to be economically feasible, it will also reduce emission levels by about 20%.

Just like buses in Gujarat are experimenting with CNG, buses in Karnataka are using bio-diesel.

It seems like the bio-fuels are beginning to make in-roads into the energy sector. Lets hope we see a day soon where we stop being completely dependent on petrol and diesel.

Saving the ecology is an act of greatness. And if you can save some money in the process, its even greater. A penny saved is a penny earned.

Kowshik

FLorida Lawyer

Early Monday morning while I was sitting with my friend, he got a call from a Florida lawyer. Whenever anyone hears 'Florida Lawyer', one gets a feeling not everything's right. And a serious of thoughts rushed through my mind. Why would a lawyer call my friend? And that too a lawyer from Florida? A brief 8 minute conversation later (considering lawyers and their ability to speak loonng, this was really brief), my friend slowly hung up the phone.

A mixed bag of emotions ran across his face. He was a bit anxious, a bit worried, a bit angry, and a bit hurt. The moment he glanced at me, I blurted out "Kya hua? Tere chehre ka rang kyon utar gaya?" He started to say something, but stopped instantly. I didn't wish to pursue further; and left it at that. I know if he wants to talk about this conversation with the 'florida lawyer', he will in due course of time.

A few days passed on and I'd completely forgotten about the whole lawyer thing. With such hectic schedules who wouldn't? Frankly I'm more worried about my deadlines and work responsibilities than think of some florida lawyer. In what way was I concerned? Yes, my friend was involved in something, that concerns me, but what can I do about it until my friend wishes to involve me in it?

One fine morning, the doorbell rang. When I answered the door, it was my friend. Mostly with moist eyes, like he was in tears. He stood there, at my doorway, staring, a blank stare actually. I took him inside and made him a hot cup of filtered coffee (a South Indian favorite). And I asked him what the matter was.

He began his story, explaining what had been going on in his life for the last 5 months. It was his wife, who'd wished to divorce him. She'd sent him notices through her florida lawyer and each time that particular florida lawyer called, he would go into a shell; feeling miserable. (That explains my friend's behaviour some time ago when he had a phone call). Citing each and every example of what caused this wonderful couple to end up in a soup. I don't think it would be wise to share what he said to me because I promised not to tell anyone. However, I will surely keep these instances in mind when I write a book on husband-wife relationships.

Coming back to my friend, I consoled him saying that if his wife wasn't happy with him, maybe it was time to move on. (It seemed like the best advice I could give him at such an advanced stage of his court proceedings). But he wasn't ready to give in. He wanted me to speak to his wife and convince her to stay with him. He had come to see me for this. Anything for a friend, I thought.

So I called his wife and setup a meeting with her that afternoon, over lunch at The Ritz. We reached bang on time (Something unlikely for my friend). She arrived a few minutes late; with her florida lawyers. We were surprised to see the lawyer, for this meant she wasn't keen on any informal arrangement. We requested her florida lawyer to stay out of this, only managing to gain time for 10 minutes alone. So this was it, without the lawyer, I had 10 minutes to convince her to stay with him.

A deep breath, a short prayer, and a lot of anticipation, I took out my photo album which had photos of the 3 of us ever since we knew each other. Luckily, I'd thought of carrying these photos. One by one, I showed her the photos and reminded her of the happy instances of our lives. With each photo, she seemed to mellow down bit by bit. In my mind, I wanted to hurry through, as I had a short time, but where emotions are concerned, nobody can rush through, can they?

We had barely finished half of them, when the florida lawyer guy turned with a frown. When he saw her face, he was apprehensive. Maybe he thought she'd change her mind. And this lawyer might lose his court fees. (These florida lawyer guys probably charge an arm and a leg). It seemed like all my efforts would go in vain, when thankfully, she stopped him and asked him to leave us alone for a while longer. That was a small 'win' for us. We went through all the photos and discussed the fun times we had. Slowly my friend and his wife began losing their tough stances and began talking, getting back the glimpses of the old times when they were at the peak of their relationships.

10 more minutes later, they were in each other's arms. Yes!!! That was such a happy sight. And you should have been there to see the face of the florida lawyer. Haha. He was shocked. But what could that lawyer guy do anyway. He accepted what he saw and left in a huff.

A short prayer to God and a heavy sigh of relief later, I wished my friend and his wife good luck and left the restaurant. A few steps after leaving the restaurant, the florida lawyer was in a state of non-acceptance. He probably hadn't seen such a thing in his life. When I crossed him, the florida lawyer called out to me. I stopped, and he came over. After a momentary silence, he said he was going through a bad phase with his wife and reluctantly asked me if I could do something to help him.Wow, now suddenly I'm a psycho-analyst; psychiatrist; marriage counsellor. And a perceived expert too. Hehe. With a sly grin, I said I'll try my best to help him though I'm not supposed to be an expert in this matter. That brought him cheer and we were off to see his wife. Perhaps that was the beginning of a brand new career, a psychologist, maybe.

The florida lawyer will vouch for me, I'm sure.

Kowshik

My friend - The Florida Lawyer!!

This is in continuation to my article on 'Florida Lawyer' I'd written early last week. If you've forgotten or haven't read it, it's there below this article. Do spare your precious time and go through my work.

A couple of months into my psycho-analysis, I kept getting people who wanted to see me and talk to me about their lives. And I wondered who these people were; and how did they get to know about me. So I asked each of them how they heard of me.. and their reply was always the same.. Thanks to the 'Florida Lawyer' (By now, I think everyone started referring to my friend as the Florida Lawyer). I guess he is only trying to re-pay the favor. Nice man, the lawyer!!

Last weekend, he visited my work place and was pleased to see me write articles. He was surprised that I'd named an article after him, The Florida Lawyer. His surprise went deeper when I told him that I'd probably write about his visit to my work place. Hehe. (That's exactly what I'm doing right now).

Coming back to him, I enquired about his wife and how things were at the moment? The sparkle in his eyes, and the ray of confidence on his face said everything. He didn't have to utter a single word. (For a lawyer, he speaks a tad bit too less, I thought). A brief conversation and a couple of coffees later, abruptly, he asked me if I could work with him. It was too weird too sudden to figure. I frowned with confusion, and with a blank face, asked him to repeat himself. And the 'Florida Lawyer' repeated. He asked me if I could work with him?

Hey.. wait a min.. I'm not into law.. In fact I wasnt into psycho-analysis either, but this was different. Once he'd got me into a field, but getting me to change my field just when I was getting a hang of things was not possible. But the persistent man he was, he put it across as a simple few tasks and somewhere down the line, I got coaxed into agreeing to him. Whatever does he say to get me to say yes. Maybe he was a direct descendant of Dale Carnegie. Hehe.

My friend, The Florida Lawyer. Imagine me, going to work with him. Hehe. Sounded weird, it still does. I haven't really decided when I'd join him, but knowing him, it'd be soon.

Next article: My work with the Florida Lawyer.

Kowshik
Read more about my blogs on http://anythingunderthesun.blogspirit.com

1. It is impossible to lick your elbow.
2. A crocodile can’t stick it’s tongue out.
3. A shrimp’s heart is in their head.
4. A pregnant goldfish is called a twit.
5. On average, a human being will have sex more than 3,000 times and spend two weeks kissing in their lifetime.
6. Rats and horses can’t vomit.
7. If you sneeze too hard, you can fracture a rib. If you try to suppress a sneeze, you can rupture a blood vessel in your head or neck and die. If you keep your eyes open by force, they can pop out.
8. Rats multiply so quickly that in 18 months, two rats could have over million descendants.
9. Wearing headphones for just an hour will increase the bacteria in your ear by 700 times.
10. If the government has no knowledge of aliens, then why does Title 14, Section 1211 of the Code of Federal Regulations, implemented on July 16, 1969, make it illegal for U.S. citizens to have any contact with extraterrestrials or their vehicles?
11. The cigarette lighter was invented before the match.
12. Thirty-five percent of the people who use personal ads for dating are already married.
13. A duck’s quack doesn’t echo, and no one knows why.
14. Most lipstick contains fish scales.
15. Cat’s urine glows under a black-light.
16. Like fingerprints, everyone’s tongue print is different.

Hope you had fun reading them.

Kowshik

Save Water!

I know it sounds like a cliche. Every other activist is shouting his/her lungs out trying to get "people like us" to save water. I know we should save water, because it is becoming scarce.

Here are some facts I've read in different articles at different times: (There arent too many, but I'm sure this will be enough to get us thinking).

1. Did you know that 23% of the world's potable water is available in Brazil. Wow.

2. Do you know how much water we flush down the toilet everyday? Based on a research, on an average, each person flushes 4 times a day. In 365 days, it is 1460 times. COnsidering that flush tanks these days are small and use about 8 to 8.5 liters of water each time. That adds upto 11680 liters of water down the drain. Just one person. Now imagine the number of people in this world who flush down such precious water each day.

Next time you use water, think about it. Are you using too much? Can you reduce your usage a bit everyday?

Kowshik

Read more about ecological solutions on www.kopeinitiatives.com/bags

Sundays are usually relaxed and pleasant with no worries about getting late to work, traffic and those innumerable things we're worried about on weekdays.

Last Sunday I visited Nimhans, or National Institue of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences. A sprawling campus spread over vast area of land. Colorful and loaded with greenery; this place would have a soothing effect on anyone. I entered the psychiatry section of the sampus and entered one of the huge buildings.

It was amazing; lots of children, aged between 4 to 10 years. Aparently "suffering"! They looked hale and hearty, but not everything was ok with them. But come on, how could such wonderful children of god not be ok.

A closer look into their lives speaks volumes. I dont want to discuss anything more about these children because it may (in someway) be an infringement of their privacies. However, I will share a couple of instances which occurred. There was a young boy of 6 years who was admitted here because he could not speak. Test after test, they were surprised as to why this child could not speak when technically everything was alright. No speech, but on the other hand, this kid was a genius. He solved mathematical equations at the snap o the fingers. (Another Shakuntala Devi, I presume). But whats surprising is that he has had no education, yet solves MSc question papers easily.

This is just one of those few geniuses who come to Nimhans to get treatment. Each child who comes there is a genius in his or her own terms. I had a good time interacting with the kids there. I didnt really feel them to be different.

You must visit this place once in your life time. I'm sure you'll thank me for it.

Kowshik

Lalbagh - A botanical garden?

When I was in Ahmedabad, I liked going to ATIRA for a walk. Those who've been in Ahmedabad would know about this place and its popularity amongst walkers. It seemed like a nice big green place amongst the 'concrete jungles'. Having said this, let me talk about my experience this morning.

I visited Lalbagh in Bangalore. Its a famous botanical garden situated in the heart of the city, spread over acres and acres of land. I couldn't even try and figure its area. Yes, its that huge!! The place is a heritage site today, and it hosts a vareity of rare plants and birds. The famous botanical research centre is known world over for its work in seed research and rare plantations.

Ok, technical information over, let me take you through this place. The moment I entered the magnamimous gates of the garden, it was like entering another world. Of course, for one, the environment changes all of a sudden. No traffic (phew, Bangalore has lots & lots & lots of vehicles moving constantly every single minute endlessly). Every path is lined with tall trees branching all over covering the path like an avenue. Tree after tree, each one is a specimen, 'they' say is not very commonly seen otherwise. (However, they all looked like normal trees to me though).

Like over a few hundred people, my intention was to walk/stroll for leisure/relaxation. But with all those people it wasnt crowded at all. If you cross by someone once, the chances of meeting the same person again during your next round is quite low. I'm not saying people take only one round, I'm trying to emphasize on the many pathways, lanes which lead to different places all over the garden.

There are stone lined paths, there are mud paths, tar-roads, everything. I've heard of friends telling me at ATRIA that its not good to walk on tar roads. The reason they gave me was that walking for years together on tar roads had a bad effect on our knees. Guys, this place has pathways for everyone.

After walking a while, I came across a huge boulder, which seemed to form a small hillock inside. The board next to it said it was formed over 3000 years ago, and that made it a heritage site as well. We can walk up to the top of the hillock to find a small tower. This tower called the Kempe Gowda Tower was constructed in the mid 1500s by the famous ruler, Kempe Gowda of Magadi. This tower was supposed to mark the southern end of the 'then' small town, Bangalore. The king had visualized that the city would grow only to this point in time to come. Today, Lalbagh is almost at the centre of the city.

Another 10 minutes down the pathway takes you to a lake. The 'green' lake is full of fishes, ducks and some other birds is a soothing sight to see. I never imagined this place to be so amazing. I could probably spend hours staring into the water or observing the movements of the fishes, but we don't have all day, do we? Maybe I'll do it some other day. I will.

Oh yes, how could I forget the other small patches of stagnant water which had lotuses growing on them. Lovely visual, if you dont mind the swampy look. It's not everyday one can get to see such beauty. (I hope I can take a walk inside Lalbagh each day that I'm in Bangalore). Waking up early is difficult, but Lalbagh is well worth it.

All over, there's dew on the grass growing on the sides. A green necklace with star studded diamonds! Thats how Mom described it to me. And how apt it was!! I wish I could capture these sights on camera. Next time I'm taking mine.

And then there have been many more such observations which I haven't penned down. I will little by little. With each day's walk, I might make newer observations of natural sights. Its true, God's creations amaze me. This is one of them.

More after tomorrow's walk. :-)
Kowshik

Lunch at 6:45 am.

Bangalore is a city of surprises! Of course, that extends to any place in India. Ours is a country of surprises which doesnt fail to leave an impression. But this is one amazing event in the lives of Bangalore-ites (Or Bangalorians, whatever they prefer to be called).

I was up at 5:40 am on a Sunday. Wow! Considering I find it difficult to open my eyes before half past seven on any day, this was a feat in itself. By the next half an hour, Mom, Dad & I were all ready and set to leave for Mavalli. This is a small area near Lalbagh towards the south central part of Bangalore.

It was drizzling; and seemed like the skies had been showering throughout the night. The road was quite empty with little vehicular movement. When we reached Mavalli, it was drastically different. A huge crowd had gathered around this dingy little old building housing Mavalli Tiffin Room. Dad said, "This, my son, is where MTR began its journey of success".  MTR is a leading brand in spices and processed foods. And I stood right where it had all begun probably half a century ago.

The building was very old, but it seemed sturdy. The place wasnt too brightly lit, but it was clean. The waiters (almost 30 of them) were all dressed in a typically 'South Indian' attire. A tradition, I believe, which continues. A clean, well ironed shirt and a dhoti (which of course, was tied up to the knees).

It took us another 20 minutes to find ourselves a table. Once we'd 'grabbed' our table, getting hold of a waiter to place our order was another task. Not that they werent willing to, it was just too much work for them. There's no printed menu displayed anywhere. It seemed like every customer knew what MTR had to offer. Idlis, Masala Dosa, Khara Baat & Special Filtered Coffee. "Yes, thats all they offer", said Dad. "They find it difficult to manage even with just this". So we ordered idlis and masala dosas and coffee. Within a few minutes, the idlis arrived, huge in size, with a generous supply of chutney and sambhar. I admit, they tasted great. The idlis over, the masala dosas came by one after the other (yes, Dad & I had two each). And we finished it off with a cuppa coffee. If you really want to taste South Indian food, then this is the place. I dont have the right words to describe what my sense of taste had experienced.

'Amazing' is all I can manage. By 7, my 'lunch' was done. (This is normally what I'd have had for lunch on a Sunday). And the funny part is, if you arrive at 7:30 or 7:45 am, you might not get anything. Their entire stock for the day would have been over by then. Which explains why I (like most of the other 350 people) had to wake up before 6 to be here. Imagine they serve about 350 people in about 75 minutes!!

MTR has a set of loyal clients who make it a point to visit them at least once a week. You'll mostly find people above the age of 35, who've been coming here for so many years. And, not many youngsters seem to be making a beeline for it. Maybe they find it too 'strenous' to put in such efforts. I dont really blame them though.

All-in-all, this has been a great experience. I might not do this every Sunday, but once in a way, it is worth it.

You'll get to read more experiences of mine as and when I get to pen them down.
Kowshik
http://anythingunderthesun.blogspirit.com