And finally the day has come…I’m getting married to my sweet heart… It had been a 9 month long journey filled with loads of emotions…loads of love…ocassional fights…and that journey is over now…now it’s time to start off with yet another phase of life…the married life!

It was destiny that brought us together and we thank that destiny to bring us together to share the rest of the life with each other. We promise each other that together we stand for everything…together we share our happiness…together we share our sorrows…

dunno why, but i’m badly running out of words to pen down my emotions…i think it’s almost impossible for me to explain the feelings that i have now about the happiest moment of my life…

dear friends, you all were there for whatever, be it good or bad, happened to me so far…so i wish you all would be there for my wedding too, and continue to shower your love and care in future….

love you all, gireesh…

It’s a dream come true for me, I bought my first car. I bought a brand new Maruti Swift Vxi Red color.

Will update with more photos soon…

Last day,  I happened to overhear a colleague talking to his friend over phone. His friend has just returned from US (I guess) and wants to get some dollars converted to rupee and was seeking advice from my colleague on where he can get it done.

My colleague briefed him the possible ways like [...]in our office there is one, then there are some reputed agencies, banks etc.  and ya, there is one in __ place in the city where you’ll get some extra rupees…but it’s illegal[...]

I don’t know which option he took, but I hope he wouldn’t have chosen the last.

O.K, now the point is, do we ever bother to think where do these extra rupees come from? Where do those dollars go? It’s still pardonable if some poor chap is making his living with it… after all this is India. But, there is a darker side of it. What if the money is going to some criminals? some drug rackets/terrorist groups?

After every 26/11 or 7/11, we blame the government, politicians, intelligence failure etc. etc…cry that there was local help…and what not…and then a zillion conspiracy theories…after a month, all fumes will settle down and we will come back to our same old routine and be proud of being resilient!

We assume that our responsibilities are over just by paying taxes and casting votes, and rest all is government’s duty to make things right. Is it possible always? That too for a country like ours where the population is taking such a steep upward curve?

Hmm, let’s start making things right from ourselves first. The extra benefit we get for promoting something illegal will eventually fire back to us. So we need to make sure that we won’t deal with anything that is illegal.

Indeed, we will not fund someone if we are aware of what he’s gonna do with it. But there are certain things which may seem O.K, but which may not be that O.K always. At least just give a thought that where do these terrorists or criminals get money from. It’s hard to believe that the entire fund comes from outside the country. For sure, there are elements inside the country as well, to fund these people and certainly that money comes from illegal means. Be it counterfeiting, hawala, or what ever, knowingly or unknowingly sometimes we may also contribute to it, right?

Joseph Sibie Davis, a.k.a Majo….

Majo, my room-mate, famous in our group for his mandatharams, is moving from Bangalore back to his hometown Kochi…

Though we graduated from the same college, stayed together in the same hostel, but didn’t get enough chance to interact with each other much…then a few years down the line, destiny brought us together again… alongwith Jojy and Ragesh, we shared some of the best moments in our life…

A typical day starts here…and Joseph shouting at his contractor (he’s renovating his house at kochi)…this is something which resembles us a scene from the Malayalam movie Arabikatha…

“hello Vargheseettanalle?”

“athe”

“ithu vidyanagar’l ninnum joseppettanane, namukku front door veedinte front’l vaykkano atho back’l vaykkano?”

and all of us explodes with laughter…keeping an innocent smile on his face, he yells out “idiots, just shut up and don’t manipulate okie…”

another day, our LPG exhausted and we asked him to book another cylinder…and the conversation went like this…

“hello… ____gas agency?”

“haanji boliye”

“mein pariwar pride se bol raha hun”

“haan ji”

“mera gas khatam ho gaya, jaldi kuch kijiye….”

honestly, this is not a manipulated one…this happened last saturday…

and that’s Jospeh, our dear Majo…did you guess majo? it’s nothing but Mandan Joseph

Joseph, we really miss you…miss you very badly!!!

Last evening,  while I was busy with a client call, my cellphone started ringing…some local land line number on display, I rejected the call. The very next moment it ringed again displaying a cell number. Again I declined…it ringed again… I sought excuse from my client and picked the call…

“hello, am i talking to Mr. Gireesh Kumar?”

“yes”

“Myself _____ calling from ____ consultancy”

“yes”

“Gireesh, we have an opening with our client ____ … are you looking for a job change?”

“No, as of now I’m not”

“Then why did you update your profile in the job portal?”

“No, I just wanted to keep my profile there…i think they might delete my profile if don’t update in 6 months”

“Listen, if you don’t want to change your job, please don’t update your profile. You know, it’s very difficult for consultant people if you do so”

“Hello, is that my headache?”

“NO, IT’S NOT YOUR HEADACHE, BUT IT’S DIFFICULT FOR US….IF YOU DON’T WANT TO CHANGE THE JOB, DON’T UPDATE YOUR PROFILE”

cut the crap..i disconnected the call….

Oh My God! It has been almost a year since I updated my blog…

Reason? Well, I can blame the hectic work schedule…or no special happenings…or shear laziness…whatever!!!

But that’s history! A lot of updates from my side and I wanna share ‘em all with you!

Moto ROKR Z6 – My new cell phone.

Last week I upgraded my mobile handset from Nokia 3220 to Moto ROKR Z6. The old 3220 had been flawlessly serving me for more than two and a half years; however, it’s almost worn out now. The major issues were, like, wrong keystroke detection, low battery life, and a broken case. Apart from these, it was a perfect phone.

Coming to the new one, the key parameters I was looking for were camera, style, multimedia, and obviously, price. Reading through online reviews and references from friends, I had short listed some of the models out in the market, namely, Nokia N70 ME, Sony Ericsson W810i, Samsung Metal Series and a couple of LG phones. What I felt about ‘em were N70 ME – bulky; W810i – a bit outdated; metal series – expensive; and LG phones were not available in the shops where I had searched. So finally, I opted for Z6 which had all the features I was looking for, a 2MP camera, good mp3 player, and a sleek look, all with an affordable price of Rs. 11000.

Albeit it’s a brilliant phone, it has a notable draw back of low battery life! It lasts for hardly a day if you generously use the multimedia features.

Technorati Profile

I was supposed to post this travelogue a week before, but, due to time constraints, I couldn’t. 

On Sunday (9th Sep 07) we had a one-day trip to Shivanasamudra, a water fall nearby Bangalore. It has been quite a long since we started planning for a trip, but due to the work load and things like that, that didn’t workout. Anyway, this time it happened and it was an unforgettable experience.

We started from our apartment at BTM Layout by 6 AM (though we planned 5AM). The 8 seat Toyota Qualis comfortably accommodated 7 of us and all of us were in a joyous mood. As we started early morning, none of us thought of having breakfast and by the time hunger started knocking, we’ve reached the countryside and there were no good restaurants. Somehow, we managed to adjust with the Idli and Sambar from a road side joint.

Moving on to the destination, we got a chance to see the real beauty of Karnataka. It was a nice drive through the marigold and sugar cane fields.

By 9.30 we reached the waterfalls. Took some snaps and quickly we moved to the top of the falls where we planned to have bath. Looking at the stream, we were confused whether to jump in or not…the force of the stream was very high…

Fortunately, due to rocks and weeds, we found a place where the flow is not much. Most of us, including me, jumped in; while some still scared of the stream, stood behind. We spent hours in the stream and the experience was rejuvenating.

We then moved on to our next destination, river Cauvery, and it was lunch time. Again, there were no good restaurants. We had to adjust with small lunch home ran by an old man and his daughter. They served rice, sambhar, and some pickles. Since our hunger was in such a state like we may start eating each other, the food tasted superb.

Straight after the lunch, we moved on to the banks of river Cauvery. But, this time we were not welcomed well. The crowd was too much in the river and that made it sooo muddy. I was hesitant to jump into the river but my friends pulled me in. Another bath and all my orifices were full of water. Started sneezing and I really feared that I’ll get cold.

Enough water play and it was time to go, we quickly boarded the cab. All of us were really tired and slept till we enter bangalore city. As soon as we crossed the sign post “Welcome to Bangalore, The garden City of India”, traffic became worse and we caught up in the Sunday evening traffic.

After messing with the traffic for an hour, we reached home…slept…

Log on to http://picasaweb.google.com/gireesh.mnair/Shivanasamudra for more pictures.

Onam! The most important and the most colorful festival of Kerala. The nostalgia of every Malayali (esp. Non-Resident Malayali ), the reminiscence of a prosperous culture and tradition. This is the season when sun shines bright after the heavy mansoon, the shrubs and plants blossom and it’s all green everywhere. The pleasant nature is a real tranquilizer.

Sadly, this is the third time on a row, I’m missing Onam with my family. Last two years, I celebrated it in Ahmedabad with my Gujarati friends, now in Bangalore. Working in the software industry is lucrative but you gotta miss some precious things as well. No pain no gain!, ain’t it?

Wish you all a very happy Onam!

Friends, I hope everyone must’ve seen this picture. This is Alleppey, one of the most sought tourist destination in Kerala.  And it’s my hometown too

After a month and a half of hectic work, I’m gonna have a break. This weekend I’ll be at Alleppey, my sweet, green, and rainy home town!

If you love rain, enjoy it at it’s best here. If you’re sick of it, never ever dare to visit here in mansoon. Literally, it’ll wash you away!

Rainy…it’s my favourite season. It’s really soothing to walk in the rain with out any rain gear (care yourself from cold, though ). I used to ride my bike in the rain…slowly…humming a nice song….Ah..I can’t help myself!