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Below are the most recent 25 friends' journal entries.
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| Friday, May 16th, 2008 |
amoghavarsha
|
4:56p |
Travel and photography update Last couple of weeks have been quite exciting in terms of travel. A very fruitful trip to Bandipur where I got to see 2 tigers. And got my first and only shot of the south indian tiger  Then a quick trip to bhadra and teerthalli. Pictures of River terns, Pratin coles and more here: http://amoghavarsha.com/recent |
deponti
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4:19p |
Chitra the Spinach Seller When I wrote my entry about spinach , I mentioned the young woman who came to my door several times a week to sell it..... Here she is.
 She is unfailingly cheerful. She has two children to support, and has a tough life. But that never affects her smile. She asked me to take another photo of her when she would "dress up" and come! She's been coming to our apartment building for several years now. She says she sells all her vegetables in the complex and doesn't have to do the rounds of houses in this hot weather. All of us also give her something to eat or drink once in a while, or old clothes and books for her children. Current Mood:  contentCurrent Music: Boney M on some nice site |
kalyan
|
12:02p |
EVM
I voted last week.
It was an Electronic Voting Machine (EVM).
It does not have a paper trail.
Something smelled fishy.
I do not trust machines.
Shudder |
| Thursday, May 15th, 2008 |
deepsan
|
11:23p |
|
deponti
|
1:58p |
The Monkey Puzzle Tree While we are at Lalbagh for ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) kalyan's Digital Photography Workshop field trip, I took this picture of the leaf (if you can call it that) of the Monkey Puzzle Tree .
 Lalbagh has some majestic Monkey-Puzzle trees, and the name certainly puzzled THIS monkey, until I went and read the Wiki about it. Imagine, these trees being brought by Hyder and Tipu's emissaries from South America, and being planted in Lalbagh....what a beautiful scene that evokes in my mind! In the middle of all their wars with the British, Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan yet had time to encourage such horticultural initiatives.... Current Mood: impressedCurrent Music: nothing right now.... |
deponti
|
1:09p |
MMMMMMMMMangoes... KM cheerfully looks forward to putting on a couple of kilos. at least, during the mango season. In fact I call it the "man go crazy about Alphonso" (or Alfonso) season... So...here are a couple of them (they are always NOT cheap and I dither between eating them and locking them carefully in the safe)...
 And when I tried photographing them with the flash, the colours changed:
 The first two cartons were not very sweet, but now the taste is improving. Apparently, the unseasonal rains have caused a lot of damage and so the prices are high...or at least, that's the story THIS year! I am fond of mangoes, but wouldn't die for them or without them...but KM, he says he merely *exists* until mango season, when he starts to live! Current Mood: droolingCurrent Music: mAmbazhatthu vaNdu...(not really, just thought of that song for this post.) |
| Wednesday, May 14th, 2008 |
deponti
|
7:08p |
A sense of humour.... I had sent out a test mail on one of the egroups that I moderate and asked for responses from everyone. Those who responded (alas, 32 out of a possible 97!) said, "Hi" or, "I am getting the mail on this id" Except mamtanaidu who responded with, "I am not getting mail on this id!" and followed it up with an evil smiley. I enjoy every interaction with that crazy young woman! Current Mood: very amusedCurrent Music: more MGR songs |
deponti
|
7:05p |
What......? What would YOU consult with these consultants?
 And would you...er...intimate these consultants that you wanted to consult them? Current Mood: amusedCurrent Music: chandrOdayam oru peNNAnathO.... |
deponti
|
12:35a |
deponti   |
| Tuesday, May 13th, 2008 |
deponti
|
2:45p |
|
deponti
|
12:34p |
One of my very few political posts..... I do not like to post comments about politics or activist activities normally, even though I am involved with some of them and try to do the pitiful little that I can. But I did go to a political meeting for Citizen Matters, and came away disappointed (and why is *that* not a surprise?) Here's my view of what happened It was really sad to see an academician of Dr Manmohan Singh's stature spouting political figures, casting political aspersions, and making political promises (the kind that are normally written on the surface of a pond). Instead of bringing forth leaders whom we can look up to, our political system ensures that even people who are worthy of respect are brought down to the level where the average citizen scorns them.... Current Mood:  annoyedCurrent Music: Kenny G (yes, I like his music, so there!) |
| Monday, May 12th, 2008 |
deponti
|
11:29p |
Have you had a Shek? How conveniently placed this Devnarayan Badam Shek Ice Cream Center (note American spelling) is...
 It's right in front of the Dheeksha Healthcare Centre, which presumably, will be required as the Shek makes its way down the consumer's system..... And in case you thought a Shek was a big fat-nosed genial anti hero of a recent animated hit movie, you have your spelings orl rong.... Current Mood: loffingCurrent Music: tv crapola music |
prashanthks
|
8:10p |
JP Nagar thrown in Chaos Our great minds have decided to build an underpass at 15th cross circle in JP Nagar. So, from today morning, normal traffic has been thrown in chaos. I will try to sum up the problems if I get a good map of the area. People in this area are advised to find alternate routes to take them where they want to go. I think the cops should chart out alternate routes to allow smooth traffic movement before they do nonsensical things like this.  LegendBlack - Road which is blocked Gray - Road which should be blocked(dunno since we couldn't enter that area) Red - Alternate flow of traffic. Roads are severely blocked and you might have to take longer detours to find less congestion. All areas around red are mentally congested of course. There is a cop in every nook and corner not knowing what to do of course. |
prashanthks
|
7:48p |
Times Now Rocks Breaking News at this moment (not verbatim) Every other channel: Earthquake in China. 5000 feared dead.... etc etc. Times Now: Charu breaks silence over Dravid's team selection. Bah!!!! Current Mood:  sympathetic |
deponti
|
6:27p |
The only thing I really miss... Had a somewhat hectic weekend, with the JLRNTP, an excellent photography workshop by kalyan and the monthly QuizFamilies meet (which this time was a lunch quiz)....I never missed being off the net, but one thing I do have to catch up on is...friends' posts on both LJ and Blogger...and there is so much of interesting stuff that I feel frustrated that I don't have the time to consider them and write commments. Me, I love to talk! So instead of my opinions or more words...here's a nice picture of Mr Bill and Ms Coo, on a balcony somewhere in my area....
 I read somewhere once, "How nice if we were oviparious instead of viviparous...if we wanted to, we could have children, if we didn't want to, we could have breakfast!" Current Mood: feeling hot and stickyCurrent Music: swimming music.... |
deepsan
|
5:15p |
Bidri Work  Etching the design : one of the steps in Bidri Work; Bidar, Karnataka. Bidri : Silver inlay work brought down by the Persians and localized here has become one of the unique arts of Bidar. ( read on with more photos... ) |
deponti
|
2:11p |
Conquest.... Someone I know has been agonizing over taking one particular professional exam for months now. She has worried about it, studied for it, taken a mock exam...and still continued to worry. I was wondering when she would stop thinking about how she would do on it, and take it,at last...because I was convinced that she would pass WFC...With Flying Colours. The trouble, and the psychological block of this exam is, that the pass mark is 85%! Also, if she passed it, the company for which she works would pay the exam fees, otherwise, she would have to do so... ....So she finally did take it last week. And passed. (She got 196/200 but that I think may not be very material to her, though it's the kind of performance that I thought she would achieve, all along.) The perception of a tough peak ahead is often more daunting to a mountaineer than the peak itself.... Very happy for shortindiangirl. "Climb every mountain Ford every stream Follow every rainbow Till you find your dream" (Sound of Music) Current Mood: happyCurrent Music: none |
deepsan
|
11:04a |
The long way to Bidar Bidar is farther than Chennai, Hyderabad, Goa and Kanyakumari from Bangalore: 735 kms, a long distance even though it is in Karnataka. ( read on... ) |
amoghavarsha
|
10:41a |
Polls
Its a pity that Bangalore has just 44% turnout at the polls and then we crib about bad roads, bad that and this.
I know the usual argument of there's no candidate righteous enough to vote, but I find this an excuse. Its better choose the lesser of the evils. Shame, real shame. I've heard of villages having 99% turnout. Wow! what an educated world.
PS: I did vote! |
| Sunday, May 11th, 2008 | |
chandru_bv
|
6:30p |
Vast  |
| Saturday, May 10th, 2008 |
prashanthks
|
9:57p |
My first time ever  I am a voter. I have exercised my right to vote. I don't know why I have dressed up to vote in a kurta like neta. And... I look like *&#$%@(@) Frankenstein in this photo with that tube behind my head. EDIT: Been trying to post this since noon, but that stupid Shozu application is not sending the post to LJ, tho it says it has already done so twice. Stupid... |
prashanthks
|
2:53p |
Few Important Voting-related Sites http://www.bangalorevoterid.org/If you don't have your voters ID or don't know if your name is there in the voters list, then this is the place where you can check if you appear on the electoral roll. Keep your name(duh), your pincode and your sex(hmmm) handy. Based on these 3 fields it will show you if you are present on the roll. Try various spelling combinations of your name in case they have entered it wrongly, such as prasant, prasanth, prashant, prashanth in my case. Also, check if live in the border of some area/locality and keep the surrounding pincodes handy. For example, my wife is from BTM, but her ID is registered with madivala pincode. To narrow the queried results, you can give the name of your registered relative too. Anyway the results gives the voters ID card number as well if it has been alloted. Remember to check the AC No, Part No and Sino in Part and note these down before you go to vote. You have to go to the correct voting center based on AC No and Part No. Eg: Voters in Jayanagar will have AC No 173, so your name wont be there in Tumkur for example. In Jayanagar there might be many voting centers, so check if the Part No is accepted there. For example, Oxford school might take voters with part numbers between 115 and 126(say). Finally once you find your voting center, go to the room where your Sino in Part number is there. This is the room where you will cast your vote. To prevent long queues and waiting times, each room would cater to about 1000-2000 voters depending on the population density in that area. Quote your Sino in Part number and that is your number in the electoral list. http://www.karnatakaelections.inThis site gives the list of candidates standing for electing in your locality/constituency. As I wrote in the previous post, if you cant read Kannada fast enough that you don't want to make the people behind you wait, or simply can't read Kannada at all. then you can go here, and check who are all standing in from your constituency. They also have the list of papers and affidavits and other property/misc papers filed by each candidate, so that you can judge them from their background record. After seeing this, once you decide whom you want to vote for, you have to (unfortunately) google for the party's symbol and then go to cast your vote. While casting, remember the symbol of the party you support and cast your vote for that symbol. Of course, even the people who know to read Kannada should come here and look up the background of your candidate and also see who are the candidates standing in from that constituency. |
prashanthks
|
1:58p |
I voted Today I went to cast my first vote. I never have voted before and I was not really interested in voting. Even today there was no real emotion to vote either before or after voting, but then after voting I was satisfied that I have fulfilled my duty as a citizen. Of course, due credit to vidhya_m_82 pushing me to vote and my manager Rathna who was doing a propaganda to encourage people to vote and get their Voter ID cards. Without these 2 pushing me, I would never have even bothered to vote this time also. Thanks to Rathna, I could check if my name was on the voters list and even got the serial number which I needed to give out for verification/marking when I went to vote. Some observations:The Good:Voting is such an easy process. You just go there, stand in the fast moving queue(depending on the voter turn out, which depends on the time of the day and the constituency of course), and go and press the big button next to the candidate/party that you support. Once the machine beeps and the red light glows, you know your vote is registered. You then walk out and admire that indelible ink spot on your finger nail and wonder if you could start calling that your birth mark from now on - The mark that signifies your birth as a responsible citizen. The Bad:The voters list is in Kannada. Ok, no big deal, as the volunteers there are the one checking your name and matching it against the voter roll serial number and such. But then, the instructions outside the voting center were in Kannada. Of course there was some smaller version of instructions which was in English, which said how to cast votes using ballot paper. For heavens sake, the ones who can read English *know* how to use the voting machine dammit. But thats hardly irritating actually. Such small things never let me down. The nail in the coffin was that the names of the candidates was in Kannada. Now I know to read Kannada, but I am not that much an expert to read it on the fly and I cast my vote purely based on the party symbol of the party that I was supporting. Come on guys, at least have a bilingual chart with the names both in Kannada and English. In my opinions, all text should be trilingual - Kannada, Hindi and English. We have to give due respect to the fact that Hindi is our National language and English is India's International language. We should also show our support and recognize that there might be non-kannadiga Indians who are also living in Karnataka. I don't mind pro-kannada propaganda, but I hate it when it is done at the cost of ignorance of non-kannada people. Anywayz... we are far from such a state where all the people of the nation behave truly united in mind and soul and show respect to one another and their cultures. But, right now, the important thing is that its voting time and you'd better go out there and cast your vote. It's you chance to make a difference, its your right to participate in the change, and its your duty to vote as a citizen of free India. So, go on and cast your vote. Current Mood:  okay |
| Friday, May 9th, 2008 |
theju
|
10:05p |
Tulips Time Last weekend ( 3rd May ) i along with my room mate visited Holland, MI where the whole village was celebrating the Tulips Time Festival that started last Saturday ( 3rd ) and is celebrated for one week ( ends tomorrow - 10th May ). It was a short trip from Auburn Hills ( just 21/2 Hrs drive ) and hence could be easily covered in a single day. ( Behind the cut are the photos from the trip )You can find a few more photos in the album. Current Mood:  relaxed |
anitab
|
10:30p |
And he's gone... I’m in a state of despair. His cellphone doesn’t work and I have no idea where he might have gone. To give you some background, it’s been a long relationship. One of the longest I’ve had in Bangalore at least, apart from 2-3 other close friends. As you can imagine, it’s been a hearty blow to me. I called the landline number for him and they said he had left. They wouldn’t even tell me where he’s gone. I used to see him often. In fact, every time I felt in need of some cheer. I usually fall to pieces if I don’t. Sadly though, it’s been a rather imbalanced relationship – I need him much more than he needs me. I trusted him completely. Over 3 years only he could understand what I needed the most. I never had to say much to him. I would just sit there and let him work his magic. And he’s hardly ever let me down. I don’t have the energy to look for someone else considering it took me many years to find him. ( Read on ) Current Mood:  morose |
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