Food, Shopping and Rest

Last couple days I have been blessed with amazing home food - thanks to my sister who is here in my place for vacation. Being alone. most of the time I would feel bored to cook and now having a companion makes it interesting for her and me as well. We plan our food menu and prepare it with full interest. Sounds good doesnt it ? Yesterday we had vegetable gravy, rice and dal palak for lunch and dosa for dinner. I should work out regularly to avoid putting on weight.

Shopping - I am not buying anything but she is in a shooping spree and buys all girls stuff..I am feeling good as she is feeling better coming out of a trauma in her life and is now mentally and physically feeling much better.

The week starting today I am working from home for a couple of days doing some documentation work before going on vacation to India this weekend.

All Alone

After moving in to this new place which is very comfortable with all facilities, I find myself all alone with my laptop and TV to entertain or keep me busy. This feelign is kind of good and I have the house all for myself and I can do whatever I want. I feel like I have enough time to do something, be in my own world of thought and watch any TV programme that I like or jus sleep even in the living room :) My sister would be coming here tomorrow and I hope to have a great time with her :).

My Dinner over the weekend

Moving in Progress!

It is hard a couple of months and now I was forced to shift agaian. My current owner wants to sell his house so I found another house just closeby to when I am currently satying. Infact I am 90% moved to the new place except for the kitchen stuff. I still of 2 more days to complete it. Shifting is really a pain and even being a bachelor [:(] I am finding it difficult. Now I understand why maaried people ( with kids) dont like to shift jobs/places quite often.

I have a big story about the house owner (not the new one) . Though I spent just few weeks I had a very bad experience.

Busy Days!

After my trip to Rome couple of weeks back I was busy at work and also personally. I wasnt able to , rather didnt find time to blog. But today I found aciidentally the British Foreign Secrrtary Rt Hon David Miliband, MP for South Shields & Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairst. He is good orator and would like to follow his blogs and speech. I have book marked his blog :).

http://blogs.fco.gov.uk/blogs/david_miliband/

Cambridge Fireworks!

After the haloween it is now time for teh spectacular fireworks. The council of cambridge with some sponsors orgainses the spectacular firework after teh haloween day and most of the times it just coincides with Diwali - the festival of lights. May be because of strings historical reasons the fireworks show might have started here in the UK almost during the same time as diwali.

Last year I was there in the grouds quite early with couple of friends and witnessed the fireworks show from the right position. But I didnt have my camera at that time. This time with a SONY camera and a SONY Camcorder ( I didnt take my camcorder) I didnt get the correct position. My friend and I were late and before we reached the fireworks had started and so we jus stopped by in a bridge to see the show.

Though my SONY camera didnt cpature the amazing display, my eye captured it and it is in my heart :-)

Going Green!

It has been almost 15 days now, I am cycling to work everyday. Bought a new shockwave XT 675 7-geared mountain bike:-) to be honest I switched gears only for a couple of days and afte rthat I am drving in the same gear. The bike has a hi-tensile steel frame,front suspension and disc brakes.

I am enjoying riding a bike after a long time and as my home is just 1.4 miles away from work, it is not very tiring. As the roads here are good and most of the roads have a dedicated cycle lane, it is not that difficullt.

So.... I am contributing to preserve our environment by not emitting co2. Are you ?????

Free View

After a really long wait now I am viewing the Free view channels :) there are awesome lot of channels and I really wonder how many subscribe for these pay channels when there are more free channels.
Yesterday (saturday) I was at home for teh most of teh day doing some office work. In the evening went to the retail park to buy teh SCART lead for the TV, then to Sainsburys and from there to my friends place.

I watched "அழகி" movie. I have been wanting to watch that movie for a long time but me without prompting my friend brought the DVD and played the movie. Nandita Das is really awesome and a beautiful actress.I dont think anybody would disagree with me.

Happy to set the TV up and browse through chanels. I will not miss my favourite programs here on. Wish me happy watching ;)

புதிய தகவல்

கடந்த இரண்டு மூன்று நாட்களாக மற்ற வேலைகளில் கவனம் செலுத்த வேண்டிய கட்டாயம் வந்திருக்கிறது. ஆகையால் ப்ளோக் செய்ய முடியவில்லை. எனினும் இந்த தமிழ் மொழி பெயர்ப்பு கருவி என் கவனத்தை மிகவும் ஈர்த்துள்ளது.
இப்போது என் வீட்டில் ஒரு புதிய பொழுது போக்கை கண்டுகொண்டேன்.மிகவும் நல்ல விஷயம் - பல புத்தகங்கள் உள்ளன - நான் மிகவும் விரும்பி படிக்கும் புத்தகங்களும் உள்ளன.ஆகையால் வீட்டில் கணினி உபயோகப் படுத்துவதை குறைக்க வேண்டும் என முடிவு செய்துள்ளேன்.மீண்டும் பிறகு சந்திப்போம்.

http://www.google.com/transliterate/indic/Tamil

An extra mile of attention/care

I was was very much worried in the back ground although I was doing something at work. I was waiting for the clock to trike 3 PM so that I can call up the Italian embassy to check the status of my passport. I submitted my visa application last wednesday and I was not worried about the visa but about my passport. The visa officer asked me if I could come and collect it last friday when it would be ready or to to give them a special delivery envelope so that they could post to wherever I would like them to.
In earlier cases I have sent my passport using the special delivery but was a bit confused because of the Royal mail strike that was going on then. But after thinking for a while I decided to submit a special delivery envelope at the counter. I didnt remember to note the tracking Id - what a stupidity.
My assumption was that if my passport would have been ready by friday the consulate folks would be posting it either on friday or by Monday. I checked the mails on Monday and Tuesday and there wasnt any delivery for me :( I was a bit worried and then decided to call the consulate on Tuesday. The enquiry hours is between 3 PM and 5 PM.
Sharp when my laptop showed 15:00 I called up the embassy....
No Answer..
wait for 2 minutes...
call again....
no answer... hmm.. these Italian are not punctual - that was my thought..
15:10 - ring again..
the line was busy...ahhh atleast somebody is taking the calls...
kept trying and within a minute I got connected..
Me : Hello, I submitted my visa application last wednesday and would like to know if my passport is posted
The officer (Lady) : Can I have your reference number please ?
Me : uhh... I didnt receive any reference number..
Officer : I cant believe it..........but anyway give me ur surname
Me: R as in Roger ...a as in apple ....
Officer : Please wait let me check the computer...
searches sometime.......
Officer: I cant find your name ...???^^^^
Me: Huhhhhh...%%%% what..
Officer: Please repeat your surname..
Me: R as in ........
Officer: (after a 15-20 sec) yes you have been issued a visa on 18th Oct.. ohh have you given a delivery envelope..
Me: Yesssss...
Officer: Let me check the post
Checks for a minute or so...
Officer: Actually I am not able to find it..it is somebody else's work.. give me your number I'll check and get back to you..
Me: Ok..here is my number 079.....
Officer : (repeats the number)
Me: Yes..thats correct..
Officer: I will give you a call back as soon as I get some information...
Me: alright, thank you very much..
Hang up.....

Me --- a bit confused....
with in 2 minutes..my mobile rang...
Me: A... speaking
Officer: Mr. Ra.... I have found your envelope.. we are posting it today..
Me: ohh great thanks...
Officer: here is the address... and do you want to take the tracking number???
Me: yes.. thanks..
officer: (says teh tracking number)
Me: (noted down)..great!!! thanks a lot...
Me:Thanks

I was like relieved. The officer took an extra step of trying to locate my envelope and call me back and she made my day. I was then relaxed that my passport would arrive the next day.
The officer need not have made a note of my number..she might have also said I am busy try to contact me later..but instead her gesture was courteous and I was happy.

I think it would be good to take care of even smaller things.. for her/anybody else it might be a small incident ..but for me I was appreciating the officer who made me feel relaxed and concentrate on other things.

When u want it, it may fail !

Last weekend being the last day of the dusshera festival I was invited (infact I showed more interest) by my colleague to attend the Garba and Dandiya function. 2 years back I have just seen folks playing Dandiya and Garba in Sasken. I generally feel that the North Indians are more extroverts and the south Indians are generally introverts. I like north Indians only for this. They enjoy to the max, have fun and have a strong bonding to their community. Irrespective of their ages they dance,sing and enjoy life.

I participated in the Dandiya and Garba. Though didnt follow the steps ;) (mind that I have two left legs) I enjoyed being there.

Now comes the point that when I wanted it, it failed. I thought of captuirng thr good moments..but my camera battery utterly failed.. no power and it got switched off automatically.

But good that my colleague captured a couple of pictures.

Marinated fish fry - My style

Tried my hand for the first time on a non-veg dish. But to my surprise it turned out to be delicious :)
I prepared this dish at my friend Prem's place for lunch.
Here is the recipe.

Ingredients :
Salmon fish
Yogurt - 3 tbsp
Garam Masala - 1 tbsp
red chilli powder - 1 1/4 tbsp
madras curry powder - 1/2 tbsp
salt - to taste
onions - 1/2 cut lengthwise
green chillies - 1
turmeric powder - 3/4 tbsp
ginger garlic paste - 1 tbsp
dhania powder - 1/2 tbsp
oil - to deep fry

Procedure :

Cut the Salmon in to reasonable small pieces (e.g like 6-7 cm pieces) after washing thoroughly.
Add turmeric powder,garam masala,red chilli powder,madras curry powder,dhania powder,salt,yogurt and ginger garlic paste to the fish. Mix it well with hands and keep it aside for 1.5 hrs ( cover it woth a foil if available).

Now after 1.5 hrs heat the tawa and pour oil liberally ( dont be too calorie conscious if you wanna tasty dish ;) ).
When the oil is heated put this marinated salmon with the masala on the tawa and fry it for 5 mins. After 5 mins turn the pieces to the other side and fry it well.
Now after 5 mins add the cut onions and chillies and after a minute take the tawa out of the heat and place the fried fish pieces and half fried onion and chillies in a bowl and it is ready to serve.

Unfortunately I didnt take a picture of what I prepared but believe me it was very tasty :).

Miles to go before I sleep....

These days I have a lot of work to do..but I am asusual a bit lazy. With my exams coming up in a copule of weeks I have to give my heart and soul and prepare for the exam. I dont know if everybody gets this lethargic attitude, that too in higher sudies. When you land up in a good job with good package you tend to become a bit lazy and all your dreams will just be dreams and you'll have to really push forward to fulfill those dreams.
I am now really scared about my driving test later this week. After driving for more than 5 years in worst kinds of traffic I am now a bit nervous to take my dirving test here in the U.K In the last two months the DSA has completely shattered my confidence in driving. But anyway I'll give my best again this time and rest lies in the hands of god or you call it fate.
Will try to post the experience of both the tests.

I really Liked this ....

If everyone cared and nobody cried
If everyone loved and nobody lied
If everyone shared and swallowed their pride
Then we'd see the day when nobody died

Lyrics from nickelback - To be very honest I heard about this name jus few minutes back ! :)

IT Returns made Easy!

"E-filing" has made my lfe easier. It was a nightmare for me to file the IT returns this year as I am here in the UK and I need to file my returns to get my Tax refunded to my account. I would have had to ask my colleagues/friends/relatives to do that. But today, being the last day for filing the returns,I took chances and computed my tax using my Form-16 and filed my returns online. The the tool available in the incometax india website is little buggy , if you Form-16 is clear and correct, it is now very easy to file your returns online. But my case is a bit complex, where my form-16 does not have any mention about my deductions under section 80C and I would have to be refunded the tax amount that was paid during the last financial year.

Govt. is trying to make some changes but still there are people who dont welcome these changes and there are certainly many drawbacks because of our population and carelessness of people.

My refund for the financial year 2004-2005 is still pending and I am waiting for the 30k to be refunded to my account.

But anyway I would say this e-filing is a good step forward and I am looking forward to more and more such initiatives and faster processing of tax returns and refunds.

Let me now wait for this next refund and I am not sure how many years this refund is going to take.

Trip to Leeds Castle and Dover Port

Jus fresh in my mind, I have reached home from my one day trip to Leeds Castle and Dover with my parents and Sourav. We(my parents and I) were ready at 8.30 AM in the morning and were waiting for Sourav to pick us up from our home. He turned up at 9.15 and we started after filling fuel from Morrisons. As usual I had printed out the routes with enlarged images of teh junctions and intersections and after a long time (I think first time after reaching UK) I was not behind the wheels. I was navigating and Sourav drove the car. I enjoyed sitting and navigating and also enjoyed the nap which I cannot afford to do when I drive. The onward journey was a bit slow due to traffic and we reached Leeds Castle in kent county at around 1.30 PM. The castle was very beatiful with big lakes, lot sof ducks,swans and few peacocks (both male and female). The castle was built around 16th centurey by Normans. The queen's bedroom and other rooms were very beautiful with some rooms designed by french architects. The royal family those days must have had an enjoyable lifetime in these kind of palaces.
Thugh the ticket was a bit expensive atleast we had a nice time there and were also satisfied that we had shelled out money for seeing a good place.
Our lunch was puliyotharai and curd rice with karudam which mom had prepared this morning. I really like this practice of taking food from home and eating it when we go out.
From Leeds castle we headed towards Dover whcih was about 40 miles from there. The port was beautiful and cold with some white cliffs. We did not have wnough time and energy to climb up the hill and visit places.So we went for a long walk and started our way back to cambridge.

Paintballing

Well, I didnt have a clue of what paint balling was until last Thursday. I am a member of the 'social committee' at work and a month before we met to discuss the possible team activities. One of it was painitballing, suggested by one member. As an enthusiast for fun and team events I was looking forward for this activity. Last Thursday we went to a place call 'Apocalypse' near Royston in cambridge. Unlike earlier times, I decided to drive to this place with my colleagues. That morning I took the routes rather print outs of teh maps from google, had early lunch and was all set for fun. We started from office at around 12:15 PM and headed to the venue. The route was very easier (thanks to google maps) A14-> M11-> A1198-> A505. I had earlier checked in google that this place was quite close to where I live, so my return drive was easier. We reached the place and chaged to the "dirty" clothes that was given at Apocalypse. After seeing few small balls lying on the ground, I kind of understood what we are going to do. After wearing the socalled 'Laundry'd' clothes we were given the instructions of the game by the Marshall. There was a good response for this event which was an advantage.More the number of people more the fun. So the marshall first spilt our group in totwo teams. We were asked to wear the face mask at all times inside the play area.

We were given a pot of small plastic balls filled with paints. The outer layer of the ball was thin. These 'paint balls' are to be fed to the gas gun (looked like a small machine gun) and when triggered the paint balls are fired out. The marshall said that the paint ball when fired travels at a speed of 220 mph and hence the protective mask to cove the face.
The main aim of the game was to capture the enemy's flag from their fort and bring to our own fort without being shot by the enemy.If the player is shot by the enemy or by a friendly fire he is declareed dead and should move to the dead zone with both his hands on the air inorder to indicate to the other 'alive' players that he is dead and to avoid more shots.
There were 5-6 10 mins game shooting each others with the paint ball and declaring the person dead when he is shot and the paint splashes. When shot, because of the force, it hurts a little for few minutes (atleast for me).
The play area was like an unmaintained jungle with trees,ditches,wooden houses, old ambulance to resemble a war zone or a haunted place.
It was interesting and fun till last free fire round during which anybody can fire anybody.No teams here and the player can be in the field until he feels he had enough shots.So people just started firing even when the person is so near and when a person is shot by the paint ball at a shorter distance it hurts a lot because of the force. So it was fun after all and had a nice evening .
We had fun shooting at each other and were also delighted to have candies after every 10 minute game.

We then went for a company sponsored dinner at a chinese place and I should say teh food was great. I was back home at 9 PM after dropping my friends at a bus stop near my home.

Decision Making

Recently I got to know that I am not very good (infact poor) at decision making. Decision making is very important during certain times. Atleast if you stick to a decision and learn from an incorrect decision, I think it should be OK but sometimes I am struck without being able to take a decision. When analysing I found some reasons for that.

1. When there are some advantage to me in both the options.
2. When I feel insecure about both the decisions.
3. I dont think how other people are affected by my decision.

So i think I have to strongly develop the habit of taking a form decision but thinking of the consequences well ahead. Now I have realised my bad decision making skills in two such situations which I think will detriorate my reputation. So I must pay careful attention to even small things,think about the effects in others' perspective and make a wise decision. getting rid of someone or something shouldnt be done immediatly or even if it has to be done immediately I have to make sure that it is done smoothly.Also choose words correctly and communicate effectively and make sure that the other person get 100 per cent of what I am trying to say or I should try to ensure that I receive 100 per cent of what the other person is trying to say.

I have learnt these lessons in a hard way in recent days.

Think other persons as yourself even if they dont think like that and be true to you and give respect to others' feelings.

French - Lunch

Doesn't it sound rhythmic ? I am not gonna write about the french food that I had for Lunch(ofcourse I did not have). I dont know why French is preferred next to English to the International community- Am I assuming so ?. Is it because the french are 'Romantic' or is it a musical language ? I did a beginner's course in French in Alliance Francaise de Madras in 2003 and after that I never even touched a french book or spoke a french word.
One of my colleague joined recentlyand is from France. It seems many of our colleagues expressed interest in learning french (ofcourse for free) from a french person through a casual lucnch discussion. This afternoon was once such lunch session and accidently ( rather luckily) I was there on the next table having my lunch. So I jus jumped to refresh my french and I understood that my french was far beyond the beginner's level. I have to improve a lot.
And also she gave us a cake afte the session (may be a french cake prepared by her).
So I am planning to attend such french-lunch session regularly in the future.

Chinna Kuyil Chitra!

I can say I grew up listening to her songs! Her voice is just amazing and so sweet and soft. She has sung more than 15000 songs in all the south Indian languages. Her voice makes me so little and humble. I wish I could meet her one day and listen to her sweet voice. I remember a couple of years before I had an opportunity to watch her singing in one of the A R Rehman's musical eveing in chennai. Man how sweet her voice is. can keep listening to her songs through the day.Hats off to Raja sir for having introduced this kuyil to kollywood. Her voice and his music a good treat to music lovers.

Vazhga Chitra and lets bless her to get everything she wanted in her life.

Some of my favourite songs sung by chitra are :

1. engey enathu kavithai - Kandkonden kandukonden
2. muthamizh kaviye- dhrmathin thalaivan
3. Thenpandi Thamzihe -paasa paravaigal
4. All songs from sindhu bhairavi
5. yethaetho - punngai mannan

and I can keep listing.

Vintage Computers

Last friday was the last day for one of my colleagues here. He exhibited his old vintage computers and gave a small presentation on teh Commodore calculator/computers and game machines. here are some pics of those vintage computers.

Happy Pongal!

Here is the sweet pongal that I prepared today! Happy Pongal to everybody!

Sothapal Timings!

An utter display of time mismanagement and how my mind was reading things differently, was what happened yeaterday. I registered a month before to take my IELTS exam ( which I have to take to get my visa extended to be in the UK) for the 13th of January. The instruction read that the candidates have to be in the venue at 0900 hrs. The examnination centre ( Anglia Ruskin University) was about 12 miles from where I am living. I planned to take the bus as I would have to shell out a lot of pounds if I have to park in the council's parking space (roughly £10).But I did not plan well. Though I woke up a bit early , I was jus spending time , jus as usual, on orkut and chatting. When I was preparing Semiya upma only then I realised that I would need atleast 1 hr to reach the centre and from there it would take atleast 20 mins to walk or to wait and take a bus. But it was already quarter to eight (0745) and I still havent had a shower. Thanks to my car..so I was able to reach the venue by half past eight. So this was the first sothappals.
After the registration process we were given the time slots for our Speaking test which was scheduled for me at quarter past four in the evening (1615)..and I am really not very sure why my mind read it as 1635..so after my first session of exams I went to the free park and ride in Madingley road to park my car and took the bus to the citi centre. I dropped my cheque there at HSBC. Took away Mediterranean Vegetable soup and bread at an Italian shop (it was jus £2.45) and I should say the soup was yummy. I was jus roaming arund the shops in the lion yard. Had a cup of freshly squeezed orange juice and my mind was always telling me that I jus had the starters and did not have my main course for the lunch. I was planning to have a Burger at Burger king in the Grafton Centre but on the way to Grafton when I saw SUBWAY I entered there to have a veggie Delite with a chilli sauce and then I had a cream and caramel cake and a strawberry mik shake for dessert in a cafe shop in Grafton. As my mind was saying the my speaking test was at 1635 I thought of being there in the test centre atleats 30 mins earlier so satrted from Grafton to the universtity where my speaking test was to be held.
Now comes the tensed part. I am not sure why I saw the slip given to me (during the registration - schedule for my speaking test) and I panicked seeing the time. It was jus 10 mins and it was to be held at the Helmore building room no. 305. From the main entrance there were stairs to go to the 3rd floor but adding to my bad luck all the doors were closed.Knowing that they are closed I tried foolishly for 3 times and I didnt remember that the examiner during the morning session informed us that the room 305 was on the other side. I asked several ppl. ( about 3 of them) and everybody said the same way. I thought that was all I have to take the exam again..then atlast another dude helped me with all other ways to teh Helmore building. I was really panicking and wa spraying to God that I somehow have to be there. That dude , after trying the other two ways which I had already tried, told me that there is jus one other way that was on the other side. i have to exit the building and go through the other way. Only then I remembered what the examiner told us. So I rushed there literally and I was jus there at 1615 hrs..and the examiner told me "Just in time"..they did not allow me to have a sip of water and told me that "the examiner is waiting for you"..I was made to wait outside the room for the examiner to call..but the examiner jus called me in within 10 seconds.I was breathing deeply and my heart rate would have been some where around 160-170. Thank God, the examiner gave me a couple of minutes to relax and then teh test went on. Sweat was jus flowing around my forehead when I was inside the room.Obviously it was not because of fear but because of running around for the last 10 mins.
I have jus watched in cinemas about this exact on time appearances and now I really felt it. I wont forget this IELTS exam and this is a lesson to me. I should read and register things in my mind carefully especially the timings for the exams.
I should really thank God. I jus prayed when I didnt have another option or no other option came to my mind.
Thanks God for this.

Webshots!

Found these bugs in webshots :

1. My friend sent me a link to see his album and I was logged in to his account.
2. I am not able to save the pictures from his album.
3. Even if I try to download the pic it is getting saved in .wbz extension..no idea WTF it is..

I tried to do that to post the new year eve pics of fireworks in London.

Listening to a lot of Hindi songs these days and watched DDLJ ( after a long time but first time) and Fanaa. Kajol looks beautiful.

Happy New Year!

New year and a bright new beginning! Spend this new year eve in London and at midnight watched the spectacular fireworks in London when the Big Ben clock struck 12. These are the 10 things that I would like to do in this new year.

1. Take GMAT (highest priority) and score 700+
2. Visit a country and places that I havent visited so far.
3. Visit an orphanage/elderly home.
4. Make new friends and spend time with old buddies.
5. Bring parents to U.K and spend time with them here.
6. Read more books.
7. Keep myself physically fit by working out regularly.
8. Learn something new and exciting.
9. Get UK drivers license.
10. Buy a new house in India ( not in my hands but let me try my luck)

These action items would be reviewed periodically and updated as and when required.

Happy New Year!

New year and a bright new beginning! Spend this new year eve in London and at midnight watched the spectacular fireworks in London when the Big Ben clock struck 12. These are the 10 things that I would like to do in this new year.

1. Take GMAT (highest priority)
2. Visit a country and places that I havent visited so far.
3. Visit an orphanage/elderly home.
4. Make new friends and spend time with old buddies.
5. Bring parents to U.K and spend time with them here.
6. Read more books.
7. Keep myself physically fit by working out regularly.
8. Learn something new and exciting.
9. Get UK drivers license.
10. Buy a new house in India ( not in my hands but let me try my luck)

These action items would be reviewed periodically and updated as and when required.