Football Fever

Football Fever

Football has always had a special place in my life.  Appa and I share a love of football. We have watched many a game together. I am especially reminded of the 1994 world cup when we watched the matches in our new 21” BPL Emperor colour TV.  I stayed up late in the night to watch the opening ceremony. We also watched the final where Roberto baggio famously missed the penalty kick and Brazil was crowned the world champions.

I don’t support any team in particular, my loyalties shift every world cup. 1994 I was fascinated by Romario and his Brazilian team, 1998 my support was for Beckham’s England, 2002 It was Oliver kahn’s Germany (Was thoroughly disappointed when he sat near the goalpost crestfallen after  his team’s defeat), 2006 I sympathized with zindane’s france, 2010 I supported the tiki taka of Spain and enjoyed the “Waka Waka” of Shakira!, 2014 was following the controversies surrounding Brazil’s bankruptcy more than the game!!

Personally, whenever I played football, I was either the defender or the goalkeeper. Plainly because you don’t have to run!!  I did not play any major leagues or tournaments but was satisfied and had a sense of contentment every time I played.

This year appa and I would be watching a world cup together after almost 20 years. Have not decided our loyalties yet, may the best team win.

Bed Bugs!!

BED BUGS!!

I have travelled to many places in India and abroad, stayed in different types of hotels.  Though the hotels were comfortable, I nurse a grievance against the type of beds provided.  The beds were soft, slippery, noisy and uncomfortable.  In one of the hotels, I was told that bed would take the shape of your body but then I made the mistake of using a pillow and woke up with a pain in the neck (Literally!!).   When I travelled to Bangalore with my wife, we had very disturbed sleep, If I moved she jumped and when she moved I jumped. In fact , I almost fell off the bed when she woke up to drink water!!. 

In our recent trip to Kerala, the most satisfying sleep I had was on a sleeper class berth from Cochin to Coimbatore.

My problems with hotel beds, seems to have stemmed from the fact that i am used to sleeping on harder surfaces like mats made of bamboo, coir based mattresses, and stiffer beds.  I just wish hotels understand the needs of persons like me and make more “comfortable” beds.

Do write your comments if you have had a similar experience.

Nokia 5

NOKIA 5

This month I was planning to buy an android phone for my wife, as a replacement to her Nokia Lumia 925, having looked at a various brands we finally zeroed on Nokia and Samsung. This choice was influenced by her refusal to buy Chinese goods.

She wanted to buy the Samsung 8 edge, but at around Rs. 60000/- it is expensive. Moreover now-a-days we tend to change phones every 2-3 years. After a bit of analysis (Mostly by me!!) we decided on phones in the 15-20k range.

My wife always looks to be unique and likes to stand out from the crowd and being a die-hard Nokia fan she asked me to check the new Nokia series. After looking at different models we selected Nokia 5. This phone is a looker, and for the price (around Rs.12000/-) it is value for money.

Specifications:

• Design: The phone has a premium finish, with rounded edges. It is easy to hold and is suitable for one handed operation.
• Size: 5.2”, with full HD display
• Camera: Back 13MP, Front 8MP. It shoots good and crisp pictures.
• Operating System: The Android 7.1.1 Nougat is refined, with no bloatware. All necessary apps are available though.
• Processor: Snapdragon 430 Octa core processor.
• Battery: 3000 mAh. Lasts for a day.
• Memory: 2 GB RAM, 16GB internal memory expandable to 128GB.
• Colors: Tempered Blue, Silver, Matte Black, Copper. We found the Silver color the best looking; other colors tend to take out the premium look from the phone.

Cons: There is nothing negative about this phone, but one thing that I found lacking was the absence of a fast charger.

I would recommend this phone to anyone looking for a premium phone at budget prices. It is also a must buy for admirers of brand Nokia. One may also look at the Nokia 6 (Slightly higher specs than the Nokia 5, available online only) or the Nokia 8 (Bothie phone). The Nokia brand also adds an aura to the phones, I am happy that they have made a comeback.

 

Dialogue in the Dark

Dialogue in the Dark

We went to this unique restaurant called “Dialogue in the Dark” at the Inorbit mall last weekend. The restaurant is unique because you are served by waiters who are visually challenged and it is pitch dark inside.

The whole process starts at the reception where receptionist asks you about the type of meal that you want to eat        (they have starters, full meal, soft drinks and dessert).  Once we select the meal and pay for it, we were asked to hand over all our bags, watches, phones and any bright objects. These were kept in a locker and the key was handed over to us. We were asked to wait till a table was ready. After about 10 minutes we were ushered through a door, where our waiter received us. He led us to our table and made us sit one by one. The experience was surreal, we could listen to voices everywhere and it took time for us to find out who was where. We could only feel the table, chairs and plates in the dark.

The food took about 20 minutes to come, by which time we were accustomed to the environment. The waiter explained us that the plate had 4 compartments with different types of food and roti wrapped in aluminium. We were asked to keep our hands away while he was placing the food. It was a different kind of feeling to eat food without seeing and I had the misfortune of biting a chilly in my first bite!!! (Probably should develop my senses a bit more ;-)) . After the main course, we were given finger bowls to wash our hands followed by dessert. We were led out in a single file after completing dinner.

The whole experience is one of a kind and is best enjoyed when you go as a group. The food was tasty and decent. The restaurant also organises tours where you get to buy in the dark, play cricket and other activities.

School reunion - 2017

School reunion -2017

Just returned from my school reunion at Bhubaneswar, a place I called home for almost 16 years. My wife Neena accompanied me for the visit.  I wanted to show her all the places I remembered as a child.

A   lot of things have changed in Bhubaneswar. The city has got flyovers, sign boards, lots of new hotels, clean and wide roads.  Some of the old landmarks have been completely refurbished like the Unit 2 market complex which has been made as a walking zone. Kalpana theatre was demolished, I was told a new mall was coming up in the place. The number of shops and have increased a lot. We visited the houses where we lived when we were in Bhubaneswar. We went to temples, had pav bhaji at Kailash pav bhaji center,  Had food at Venus Inn, ITC shismo hotel (This was earlier konark hotel) and The trident (earlier oberoi). We also went to the usual tourist places, puri, konark, khandagiri, udayagiri and shanti stupa at dhauli.

BJEM School had changed a lot, there was this new primary block in the place where we used to park our cycles.

The reunion was a simple but joyful occasion. Got to see long lost friends, some of whom had grown out of proportions!! The 3-4 hours I was at the party, I forgot about everything else. It was as if I was back as a school kid once more. I was surprised that I could still fluently speak oriya after hardly speaking it for the past 20 years. Would like to thank Dwarika who contacted me for this reunion.

Given a chance, I would love to get back to bhubaneswar as the city still retains its old world charm and simplicity.

A few pictures:

Mukteshwar temple

View of Beach from marine drive

Konark temple

Konark wheel

Dhauli

@ the Mausima Temple.

Unit II Market

HELMETS & SEAT-BELTS!!!

HELMETS & SEAT-BELTS!!!

My father is an honest, sincere and a law abiding citizen. He is very particular about following the rule of law, but I cannot comprehend his childish predicament on the use or rather the disuse of helmets by giving the most frivolous of reasons.

The Idiosyncrasies of otherwise normal people against the usage of protective gear in vehicles is something that I am interested in. Their rationalization of this behavior has led to many funny quotes.

Popular quotes:

·         Helmets

o   My hair style will be spoiled

o   I will become bald.

o   I am going to the next lane only, the police will not catch me here

o   How will I see the traffic coming behind me, (What do you do with your rear view mirrors??)

o   The police here are not so strict

o   I have to go to 4-5 shops and I can’t keep removing my helmet.

·         Seat Belts

o   I feel suffocated by wearing a seat-belt

o   It irritates the skin on my neck

o   My dress will get spoiled by wearing a seat-belt.

o   Nobody tells me what to do in my car

o   I might get stuck in the car, in case of an accident

o   You are a good driver, I trust your driving!

o   I am too big to wear a seat belt, it doesn’t fit

I had a good friend of mine who was given a challan for not wearing a helmet even though he had it hanging on the rear view mirror. This chap had the nerve to ask the cop it the challan was valid for the entire day!! So that he didn’t have to wear the helmet. I didn’t know if I was amused or alarmed!!

Helmets and seat-belts in vehicles are protective gear that saves the body from harm during accidents.  Studies have proved that wearing a helmet or a seat-belt significantly reduces the chances of a fatal injury.  I really wish people wear protective gear, at least for the sake of their loved ones.

Do share your experiences/quotes on the topic.

Visit to Sphoorti Foundation (An orphanage)

 I wrote this piece way back in 2008 when we went to an orphanage in Hyderabad. I still vividly remember that day. It was one of the most memorable days in my life.

Visit to Sphoorti Foundation

We in zen have been looking for avenues to channel our energies towards something fulfilling and out of the ordinary for quite some time which would be a change from the monotony of work and personal life. So when Mr. Naidu suggested that we go and spend time with someone in need of money, care, support and love, we all jumped at it.

After a bit of research we chose the Sphoorti Foundation (www.sphoorti.org), it is an orphanage in Cherlapally, Hyderabad which accommodates about 53 boys and girls. The orphanage provides them food, clothing, shelter, education, medical care and recreation. Now that we had decided on going to the orphanage we were a bit confused on what is to be given, the kind the of activities that we would be having at sphoorti and were also kind of apprehensive about the kind of welcome that the kids at sphoorti would give us. Nonetheless we started collecting money from interested people and what started as a trickle soon became a flood with zenists along with family and friends contributing for the cause. At the last count, we had a handsome sum of Rs.35000, A portion of which was used to buy some books, biscuits, chocolates, skipping ropes, casios and the rest of it was to be given as cash.

On the second Sunday of june we all assembled at the ECIL bus stop at around 9 AM. It was wonderful to see zenists eagerly volunteering on a dull Sunday morning for the cause. We then left in an armada of vehicles to the orphanage. Though we did not do an iota of planning we were somehow confident of pulling it through with the kids and we were not disappointed.

We were given a joyous welcome by the kids, they showed us around the place It was very well maintained, the rules and regulation were prominently displayed on black boards. There were 7 living rooms, a kitchen a common room a big veranda and common bathroom and toilets. Each room could accommodate 8 kids with the eldest child being the room leader. The drawings of the children were displayed at many places; they also had a couple of computers for the children to learn. Each room was neat and places were demarcated for various items like shoes, soap cases, books, clothes etc (It was a far cry from most of our utterly disorganised and chaotic rooms!!)

Once we settled down the kids showed us their drawings, they sang and danced for us while a few of us played cricket with them. After a while we played antakshari by dividing ourselves into boys team and girls team. Initially the girls had a distinctive advantage (the boys team being severely affected by their star singers devoting their time to the noble sport of cricket J) but once the boys got the necessary reinforcements they were on equal grounds. The memory of the kids was incredible; they could sing a song starting with any alphabet while we zenists could draw only blank faces. After some time we took the kids to the parking lot and they danced to the tune of popular telugu songs played from our car stereos. Groups of children were trained to dance to certain songs and they danced beautifully. While we youngsters were enjoying with the kids, the wise men from our group discussed with the caretakers about the future plans for sphoorti and how we could contribute to the well being of the children.

After about 3 hours of fun and frolic it was time to go. We gave away the money and other items that we had bought with us. The kids then gave us a sad and in some case a tearful farewell. From sphoorthi we went to a place where zen has installed an aircraft simulator. We tinkered around a bit with the simulator and went back home with the feeling of achieving some thing and complete satisfaction.

Looking back at the sphoorthi visit, I feel that the everyone of us have this urge to contribute to the society it is only that we need to be motivated and shown the right direction. I hope zenists continue to participate in such endeavors that not only help the society but also build the team spirit amongst us. We would emerge as better and satisfied individuals in the end.

 

V Srinivasa Iyer

Team Leader

Software Quality Assurance.

Assembly point!!

With the children

With the children

Antakshari - Boys Team

Antakshari - Girls Team

Antakshari

Neat Rooms- Should learn from the kids!!!

Dance