"Bengalooru- We close regularly"

Living in Bangalore means that you're milieu is pretty much at the mercy of thugs. Unemployed, illiterate, lumpish men who are only looking for a chance to vent their frustrations. And there are the politicians who always around to wreak havoc with nomal life.

Twice in the past 3 weeks...violence has broken out in the city. And on the 22nd of Jan 2007 curfew was clamped in many parts of east Bangalore including Bharati Nagar, Frazer town and Commercial Street.

This after the idiocy by the cops who allowed 2 groups to meet...and clash:
One, a rally protesting the unjust killing of the 'great martyr' Saddam Hussein lead by the most excellent C.K. Jaffer Sharief....held three weeks after Saddam’s execution.
And a rally organized by the Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh which was as previously planned celebrating the birth centenary of its leader M.S. Golwalkar.

Stupidity!

Technorati Tags: riots, bangalore

Sania Mirza at 1130pm, ha!

The Sony Ericsson International Tennis Open is currently going on in the city. Serena Williams was due to play...but she isn't well (Delhi-belly, i think) and so won't be playing. The only player of note, and i'm cringing while i say this, is Sania Mirza... Who' as i type this blog, has cleared the opening round of the Doubles tourney.

A few of my classmates went to see her first-round match....at the

Karnataka Lawn Tennis Association's stadium in Cubbon Park...the

opening match was held at 1130pm. That's right...1130pm, at night.





Apart from 4 women on the tennis court, the ENTIRE stadium was filled

with guys....most of them holding up cell phones, to show their friends

back in college, like me, every gravity defying bounce of Sania's

funbags. I saw the clips on my friends phone, and whoa...she's toned

and stacked. Good combo. And her sister is pretty hot too!

Sania at the Bangalore Open in 2006

She's currently WTF Rank 40 (Singles)...

...and WTF Rank 37 (Doubles).

Highest ever ranking 31 (Singles), 37 (Doubles)

Thank god she's stopped wearing those bloody retardo T-Shirts!!!!

AeroIndia 2007

(Suryakiran's paint the tricolor in the sky)

AeroIndia - India's only international Air Show, held at Air Force Station Yelahanka just got over (on the 11th). And this year was perhaps the biggest and best air-show till date.

The growth of the Indian aerospace industry, the Indian Airforce's thrust towards modernization, and the diplomatic 'fair weather' that India has been enjoying of late...all these put together brought some of the biggest and best aircraft-makers in the world to Bangalore.....foreign sellers who queued up to showcase their products.

(SKAT: SuryaKiran Aeronautical Team in action)

I'm sure a lot of good came from AeroIndia - whose prominence is growing steadily in the international circuit...and i'm sure a lot of business was done. However, as far as most of us were concerned... it was all about the aircraft on display.... which were...'da frikking bomb'!

(The lineup. What can you spot?)

The menu was absolutely mouth-watering.... the F-16 Fighting Falcon, the F/A-18F Super Hornet, both here for the first time. The new thrust-vectoring Mig 29OVT (Mig-35) over from Russia. Our very own Sukhoi's...both Su-27 and Su-30MKI. The IAF's Aerobatic Team- The Suryakiran's. The Advanced Light Helicopter- Dhruv, the SAAB Gripen, the Light Combat Aircraft- Tejas, and the Chinook, the P3C Orion, C130 Hercules amongst others.

....the IL-76 wasn't the biggest guy on the block this time- it was the USAF's monstrous C-17 Globemaster.



I actually thought i'd outgrown the days when i used to slobber over pixellated wallpapers of military-aircraft on my desktop...but when i these pics, i started slobbering all over again, hehehe...

...and so for your slobbering-pleasure, i present, the aircraft of AeroIndia 2007. Yenjai!!!

(My Favourite - Mig-29OVT, what a sexy peice of machinery)

(Watch a video of this very same fighter, the Mig-35 (Mig-29OVT), doing aerial acrobatics at the Farborough Air Show in UK)

(Refuelling over snow covered Russia)




(Skywards Mig-29)




(Mig-29's in close formation flight)

(Some actual pics from AeroIndia '07)

(The Mig-35 strutting its stuff...pulling a manouver known as a 'Tailslide')

(Same flight..moments before popping a 'Cobra'...damn! Those Ruskies know about thrust vectoring!)

(Lucky bastard...does this for a living!)

(The Tejas taxing before taking off)

(TD-2; Technology Demonstrator - 2 on Tarmac)

(Advaned Light Helicpoter - Dhruv, the Air Force version)

(Wow, near miss? Su-30MKI and Dhruv)

(IL-78MKI, Airborne refuelling tanker, based on the old IL-76)

(Good old Jaguar DARIN-II)

(The IAF's pride... the Su-30MKI goes airborne)

(Top Guns of the IAF - Squadron insignia - 28Sq "Lightnings" and 30Sq "Rhinos")

(This little bitch blew a tire while landing after a practice session)

(The Yanks' arrive: USAF F/A18C Hornet trying to patao us)

(This guy bought Corus..aand then... got invited to fly in the F-16!

Thats being fuck lucky!)

[And this is what he flew in, the Fighting Falcon...paki's have them :( ]

(The US Army Chinook chopper and the C-17 Globemaster)

(The BIG motha!..and Bangalore crowds)

(Lastly, the Swedish SAAB Gripen...contender v/s the Hornet for India's Medium Range fighter requirement)

(the usual IAF aircraft, were, obviously on display...the Mi-26, Mi-8, the Chetak, the Cheetah, the An-32, the monstrous Tu-142, the new Embraer-135 business jets for the President, the IL-76, the IL-78 tanker, the Jaguar JS-210 DARIN-II, the Mirage 2000H...so i'm not posting them)

(notable other mentions: the BAE Hawk, HAL's wierd reverse-prop driven Saras, the Dassault Falcon business jet...which are pretty sloppy to look at, ergo, no pics of these either)

Technorati Tags: bangalore, IAF, airforce, jets, sukhoi

The Kiss Of Life

I recently attended a CDE-workshop on Dental Emergencies and First Aid.


Almost all the interns from college signed up for the course, which was conducted by the Bangalore-based Nightingales Lifesaving Services...it was a 2 day course held over the weekend, and all of us were initially cribbing that we'ed have to give up our precious weekend to attend the workshop.


However, the workshop was so good and the speakers so engergetic that none of us really missed our Sunday-afternoon nap or Saturday-movie... We all sat ramrod straight, listening aptly to the Instructors explain what we should and shouldn't do in a variety of emergency situations. All this in our college's very own, A/C'fied, darkened Audio-Visual Room....in conditions where i myself have dozed off many a time.


The course was really well balanced...a bit of theory since we already had background knowledge, and an emphasis on the practicals. On the 1st day we were lectured about First Aid in varied situations...Drowning, Choking, Bites, Fractures, Falls, Burns..you-name-it.


The 2nd day focused on CarioPulmonaryResuscitation..or CPR, with each of us getting to practice on a male dummy..which funnily enough, was named Annie! We had to keep at it till we could perform CPR to the Instructor's satisfaction, both on an Adult as well Child-dummy, following which we were certified as qualified to perform CPR.


Interestingly, CPR guidelines change from country to country (European Resuscitation Council, American Heart Assoc etc...) and also undergo major technique-revisions almost every year. What that meant was that, we'ed have to get ourselves re-certified after a year.


I've always felt that it was a major lacunae in the Syllabus that neither a dental nor a medical student in India learns CPR, both as an under-graduate...and even at a Post-Graduate level! It's kinda nice to know that i now, if the need should ever arise, will be in a position to, perhaps, save someones life.


It's a nervy kind of feeling to know you can do CPR...once you are certified, you never want to be in a situation where you will have to do CPR. But at the same time, it re-assuring to know that if you are...you'll know what to do. Hopefully...

Technorati Tags: CPR, medical, heath

The AoL experience

(Retrospective Post)

(adjunct post to "Back from THINK INDIA)

VVMP...Ved Vigyan Mahavidya Peeth is the actual name of the AoL ashram where i spent 3 days. It's not too far from the city to be inconvenient... just remote enough to get lose the urban feel we all arrive with.


I confess i haven't been to many ashram's... The only ashram i actually have spent any meaningful time in is the Aurobindo ashram in Pondicherry and in Auroville. Auroville, of course, sets a pretty high standard, and i found that VVMP matches up quite well...


The ashram is spread over 70 acres, and the adjoining lands are mostly fields, some of which are tilled by the Ashramites themselves, as part of their ashram work schedule. There are also a sprinkling of Health Resorts and private farmhouses near the campus, many of which function is quasi-spa's, offering Massages and Ayurvedic treatments, keeping with the 'mind-body-soul' theme of the place.


The ashram itself is built on a set of 5 small hills, with a lake close by. The are the usual kiosks for internet, essentials, spiritual literature, souveniers, laundry, mail, ATM, visitors-desk etc... A massive accomodation facility is located at the base of the hill, consisiting of around 250~300 single rooms, where most of the attendees stay, including some of the International participants. On the ridge of the hill itself, looking down towards the lake are various bungalows where most of the foreign participants stay, in 'ashram-luxury'. At the highest point is the guru's abode... where SriSri stays, looking across the amphitheare carved out of the slope of the hill, to the jewel of the ashram- the Vishalakshi Mantap.

(The Campus the hilltop...our room's at exteme right)

It is a breathtaking sight to see at dusk, when lit up, with its dome pulsing myriad colours. It consists of 6 levels, 2 of which are accessible to the public.... me and a senior managed passed off as Ashramites and managed to make it to the 4th level....and let me tell you, the view is just fabulous. You get unparalleled views in all directions, and as darkness falls you can see the glow Bangalore's lights light up a section of the sky. Incidentally, we got caught by some Bihari guards who spotted us from down below and came up just as we were coming down...we almost got reported- fast-walked our way out, mumbling in Kannada since we knew the guards wouldn't know any!

(An evening with the Guru..."Satsang")

One of the evenings we attended was spent with the Sri Sri himself, who interacted with his followers in a question-answer session. It was a forum for people to ask questions to the Guru himself, on philosophical and metaphysical topics, and to hear his wisdom. Needless to say, everyone in the audience was quite eager to listen to the pearls of thought that Sri Sri would have to offer. The actual experience, however, was quite lacklustre... and i thought, showed the Guru to be nothing more than a wily orator. A few examples...


Example1:

(hands raised in the crowd...mike is passed to one person..)

"Pranam Guruji, i want to ask you, how one should live one's life to attain perfect peace?"

".....well....(smiles)....(pauses)....you know....if someone tells you this thing...then he does not really know....(pauses).......aaaaand....if you ask such a question to someone who really knows....he will not tell you....(smiles again)"

(laughter in the crowd...mike is passed on quickly to the next person)


Example2:

(many hands raised...one person stands up)

"Jai Gurudev! Guruji, i have come here to see you all the way from Varanasi, and i just wanted to know, if there was any point where you realized your destiny...any turning point?"

(mild laughter from the crowd)

" Well, for that i can only refer you to the many books that are available in our Spiritual Library. You read and you will come to know...(smiles)"


Example3:

(following a meditation session, Sri Sri asks the crowd if anyone was unable to meditate, man stands up...)

"Guruji, i tried to meditate but i was unable toe...because of severe back pain that i have had for many years"

"How much do you have?...100%?" (stretches hands apart)

(Man pauses..bit confused)

".....30% pain, Guruji"

"Okay, now take a deeeeep breath."

(man breathes in deeply)

"Now relax"

(man exhales)

"Now is your pain decreased?"

(man pauses....then nods)

"Now do you have pain?"

(man still nods....laughter in crowd)

"Okay how much percent pain do you have now?"

"10%"

"Only 10%!!!...and you want to keep that also!!!!"

(laughs loudly....crowd picks up on his laughter and laughs loudly)

(mike is passed on)




Seriously, dude....Whatta Sham!!!!

Technorati Tags: AoL, art of living, spirituality