Monday, May 1, 2017

Namma Bangalore and a little introduction


Previously Bangalore, and now officially known as Bengaluru, is the capital of Karnataka and silicon valley or IT City of India. It is located on the Deccan Plateau at a average height of around 900 meters from sea-level. It is famous for its pleasant climate throughout the year and that is because of its elevation i.e. highest among the large cities in the country. Though this is not entirely true now. Starting March its get hotter and remains hot till mid-May. Post that rainy season starts and once again it becomes pleasant. Nonetheless I love Namma Bengaluru :)


In late 1980s it was too evident that the growth of urbanization was spilling over the current broader and now the city is the second fastest-growing major metropolis in India. The spell and richness of Namma Bengaluru, and things people cherish about Bangalore are some of its collectibles, memorabilia and souvenirs.


The city has something for everyone – right from exclusive boutiques and international brands to street side sellers. Today there are so many exquisite Malls across the city and for bargain hunters there are arcades on K.G.Road, Malleshwaram, Chickpet, Basavanagudi, Jayanagar 4th Block, Shivajinagar, Basaveshwar Nagar, Rajajinagar, Marathahalli etc.


Paintings, Arts and Crafts

It has a rich tradition of Paintings, arts and Craft and these are famous to the tourists and collectors. Karnataka is famous for the Sandalwood Oil produced here but is pretty expensive. Besides this, Channapatna dolls, Rameshwaram paintings and other beautiful sculptures are also available here. Crafts like kalamkari, madhubani, dhokra items, Mangalgiri, hand block print clothes, Natural fiber items, furniture, organic foods, and home furnishers are few of the famous items in Bangalore.

One can easily go for bargaining and negotiation in these shops. It is better to decide beforehand what to buy.


Indian Sarees and other ethnic dress wear

A wide range of sarees, especially exclusive south Indian verities are extensively available in Bangalore. Among them is the most famous local version of Mysore Silk Saree. Other famous Saree varieties include Kanjeevaram Silk Sarees, Surat (Gujarat) Saree, Arani (Tamil Nadu) Sarees, Benares Sarees, VenkataGiri, Pochampally and many more varieties of ethnic dress wear.
Where to buy

Majestic / City Bus Stand area, Chickpet and MG Road are the famous for shops for Saree and craft materials. Residency Road is also famous for its exquisite handicraft shops. Alankar Plaza in KG Road, near the City Railway Station has shops that sell clothes at almost half the price of those sold in big retain malls. The whole area is always crowded and it seems something like a shopping carnival is going on. Stroll around during an evening and shop from everything from clothes to counterfeit watches and the latest electronics.

MG Road, Brigade Road and Commercial Street are located at the downtown streets and highly famous for shopping, restaurants and leisure activities. A number of big-brand stores and smaller chains can be found here easily from where tourists and travelers can have wide options based on their budget.
Electronic and electrical, and perfumes and watches



In Bangalore is considered as the IT capital of the country, and is famous for latest IT related devise and gadgets. Across the city there are many computer stores where one can buy computers and accessories. But the most famous area for electronics and computers is SP Road and SJP Road. These roads are near City Market (Russell Market) and are full of shops dealing with computer and electronic goods. They sell at almost 25% less than the market value. Here from numerous stores one can get an assembled desktop in a couple of hours. While SP Road houses mostly computer related shops, SJP Road is famous for a lot of electronics stores, hardware (nuts and bolts) and a horde of electrical accessories. Computer Warehouse in Barton Center, MG road is another shop selling assembled and branded computers at rates similar to those found on SP road.

In National Market complex at Gandhinagar (Near City Railway Station and Bus Stand) there are numerous shops where one can get everything from Rolex watches replicas to expensive imported perfumes, electronics, clothes and anything else for the fancy buying.

Other complexes similar to National Market include SukhSagar Mall, Bajaj Mall, Burma Bazaar, Hajee Janaas and Bngkok Plaza.


Sweets and sweetshops



Indian sweets are famous for its varieties of taste and look; it can please all kinds taste buds. Bangalore is no different than the other big cities of the country in having rich tradition of variety of sweets and sweetshops. These shops offer the most appetizing and delicious sweets at affordable prices. Some of the most famous sweets of the city are Badam Halwa / Almond Halwa Sweets, Manganem (goanchana dal sweet dish), Pineapple(annasipazham) kesari, Carrot apple muffins, Kharabhaath, Choco nutty bars (no bake and no egg), Malpua with sinful special rabdi, Gulabi Halwa, Dry Fruit Burfi, Kesar Burfi, Cadbury Roll, Kesar Roll, Kesariya Dollar, Mava Paan, Badam Bhog, Choco Mava Roll, Anjeer Mawa Burfi, Gulkand Roll, Ajmeri Kalakand, Santra Kalakand etc.
Here are a couple of places suggested to visit:

Anand Sweets and Savories is famous for its hand-crafted Indian sweets. It started in Commercial Street; Anand Sweets now has expanded to 5 specialty stores in the city. Bengali sweets such as Rajbhog, Sandesh, KheerKadam, Dry Fruit Srikhand, Mango Srikhand, Rasgulla, Malai Gulla, Rasmalai and more are made exclusively by their Moiras. It is premium Indian sweets and the first of its kind sweet shop. They offer a very wide range of products for every person.

Good quality of Almond, Pistachio, Cashewnut and Fig collection are also available here for gift purposes. Other equally famous stores are Sri Venkateshwara Sweetmeat Stall, Kanti Sweets, Sri Krishna Sweets, Adyar AnandaBhavan etc.


Books – new and old (Avenue Road)



Avenue Road is the den for bargain-hunters for book shopping in Bangalore. It is adjacent to KG road near the City central railway station and bus-stand. One can find from management to the latest fiction novels. Moreover, old books of all kinds are also available here. One can sell or exchange books in the shops here. Strand Book Stall‎ - Conducts bargain book fairs and sells second-hand books, Manipal Centre, Dickenson Road, Sapna Book House,Thunga Complex, Gandhi Nagar.

Shopping is categorized to the varied list of items that the consumers wishes to buy. From food and clothes to books, every place is famous for such type of shopping joint. Whenever you are in the city of Bangalore, be sure to check out the mentioned shops and streets to find out the things that you are looking for. These shops are simply a great experience to visit, regardless of whether you want to buy the stuffs or not. We, people are so hungry for new things that every day of our life can be easily spend in shopping without every getting bored from the concept.

Sunday, April 9, 2017

Never underestimate thyself

Life is not like a school where we will be taught first and examination follows. Its the opposite. Difficulties will come through and we will learn.

Now everyone is unique, different from others. Same problem could be solved numerous ways. And when it's a life related problem, there is not right way to solve it. We all handle it as per our capabilities, as per our skills. Bottom-line is get it solved.

Since everyone is different. Someone possess patience, someone else could be a quick learner. One could be blessed with a razor sharp brain. Other person could have a very good memory. Our leaning speeds could differ as well. But that does not mean one is better than other. Yes a person could be better than other at a specific skill-set.

I have seen in same class, one guy will understand and grasp things very first time. Whereas another kid need to go through same thing again and again for coming to same level of understanding. God has blessed first guy in this instance with sharp brain. And same GOD has blessed the other guy with preservance and Hard-working nature. But neither of the guys should get discouraged. I am a  firs hand witness that some of the brilliant guys in my class are nowhere and still struggling. Whereas some of mediocre students are doing very well in their lives and are so successful.

I am myself a example of same. I was a very bright student in my school days. blessed with a very sharp brain and a very good memory. But gone are those days. For learning a new topic now I take longer than some of my colleagues but that doesn't mean I am slower. I have my own speed and am quite happy with that. At times, I am not able to understand some things or complete some tasks and seeks my colleagues help. But same is the case with them. I am good at some and helps them achieve a particular thing.

We might approach same problem in different ways. And finally reach at same result. Other one might have taken lesser time. But I was no way slower. My approach might serve for a longer time.

So, we should not think much, get depressed or anything like that why I am not able to remember everything I read. Why I am unable to recall what I read yesterday only/ Why this guy is faster than me. The answer is GOD made us that way, and there must be a purpose. We might not realize that today.

But yes if we are slower and need more efforts. We should not shy away from working hard. If we are not able to remember what we read. We should read it again and again. We should practice it, write it.

Never compare ourselves to someone else. We have no idea, what is their life about. The guy could be a superman in office but he might be bad at relationships. Believe that we our blessed on our own ways.

Luck plays a factor but there is not shortcut for hard-work.


Do not wait for Perfect Time ...


Do not aim for Perfection.
Never wait for Perfect Time.
If so, we will keep waiting forever and a perfect time might never arrive.

Quest of making things perfect requires huge resources, dedication and time. And still we might not be perfect. Remember 80-20 Pareto principle. 80% of work can be completed with just 20% effort but for rest 20%, 80% efforts will be needed

I does not mean we should never go for perfection or making things 100% perfect. But I mean to aim for perfection in things which are utmost important and not every small task. Do not seek perfection in tasks such as our day to day things. Nevertheless, we might want to improve ourselves daily bit by bit.

Buddha's middle path is the one we should aim for (I might have understood it wrong). But Balance in life is very important and thus comes the Middle Path.

From where I see a biggest chunk of our efforts should go in our main work. For example I am a software engineer. So a very big chunk should be going therem in my office work. As this is where we are earning our bread and butter. We should always do our works very honestly. Doesn't matter if we are getting required results or not. Promotions and recognition is a different field altogether. As is the gist of Geeta, Karma (of course Karma doesn't only include this). Our efforts should only increase. And if we are not getting desired results we should circumspect, why this is not happening? Why I am not getting desired results? Where am I lacking? What more can I do to get promoted? There are high chances, we should be able to find out where exactly are we lacking. We should mend our ways not the efforts.And in case we are unable to, seek outside help. Consult colleagues or whoever we think can help us. Could be our Managers.

Then comes Health, Happiness, Family, Friends and contentment (in the exact sequence, think over it)

But Balance and Patience are keys leading to a successful life.

My IPL 2017 XIs

My XIs would be in the batting order :

Mumbai Indians
1 Jos Buttler, 2 Parthiv Patel (wk) 3 Rohit Sharma (capt)  4 Krunal Pandya 5 Kieron Pollard 6 Hardik Pandya, 7 6 Nitish Rana/Indian Batsman/Ambati Rayudu 8 Harbhajan Singh, 9 Jasprit Bumrah, 10 Mitchell McClenaghan 11 Lasith Malinga


Kolkata Knight Riders:
1 Gautam Gambhir (capt), 2 Chris Lynn, 3 Robin Uthappa (wk), 4 Manish Pandey, 5 Yusuf Pathan, 6 Suryakumar Yadav, 7 Shakib 8 Sunil Narine 9 Kuldeep YadavPiyush Chawla 10 Indian Seamer/Ankit Rajpoot, 11 Trent Boult/Chris Woakes

RCB
1 Gayle 2 Vishnu Vinod 3 Kohli 4 De Villiers 5 Jadhav 6 Watson 7 Negi/Binny 8 S Arvid/Indian Seamer 9 Indian Seamer 10 Badree 11 Chahal

DD
1 Pant 2 Billings 3 Nair 4 Samson 5 Solid Indian Batsman 6 Braithwaite 7 Nadeem 8 Rabada 9 Mishra 10 Shami 11 Zaheer

KXIP
1 Vohra 2 Guptill 3 Saha 4 Maxwell 5 Miller 6 Stonis 7 Axar 8 Mohit 9 Sandeep 10 Natarjan 11 Indian Spinner

Pune
1 Mayank 2 Rahane 3 Smith 4 Dhoni 5 Stokes 6 Tiwary 7 Christian 8 Bhatia 9 Indian Spinner/ Rahul Tewatia 10 Dinda 11 Tahir

Gujarat
1 McCullum 2 Smith/Finch 3 Raina 4 Karthik 5 Kishan 6 Faulkner 7 Tye (Bravo when fit) 8 Kulkarni 9 Praveen 10 Basil Thampi/Jakati/Indian Spinner/Indian Seamer 11 Shivil Kaushik

SRH
1 Warner 2 Dhawan 3 Henriques 4 Yuvi 5 Ojha 6 Hooda/Solid Indian Batsman 7 Tambe 8 Bhuvi 9 Nehra 10 Rashid 11 Mustafizur

My India XI for Champions Trophy 2017

This may be just the start of IPL but as there is a Hindi saying ...
होनहार वीरवान के होत चिकने पात 
Rishabh Pant, Dinesh Karthik, Yuvraj Singh, Kedar Jadhav and Shahbaaz Nadeem should walk into Indian XV if not XI and similarly Chris Lynn should walk into Australian T20 and ODI XI

No matter who need to be thrown out of XI ...

Indian Team for Champions Trophy

1 Pant
2 Karthik
3 Kohli
4 Yuvi
5 Dhoni
6 Jadhav
7 Jadeja
8 Bhuvi
9 Shami
10 Nadeem
11 Bumrah

12 Ashwin
13 Rohit
14 Umesh Yadav
15 Pandya

I have taken one batsman, one fast bowler, one spinner and one seam bowling allrounder as back-ups. And there are already 3 wicketkeepers in starting XI :)

Closely missed out players = Rahul, Chahal, Nehra

No places for inconsistent Raina, Rahane, Ishant, Mishra,
And Players like Dhawan, Pandey, Axar, Mohit, Binny, Karun, Mandeep, Jayant, Negi are not even considered right now
Far Fetched names = Rayudu, Gambhir, Kuldeep Yadav

Dhoni's batting is of biggest concern

Tuesday, January 31, 2017

Exhaustive list to lead a peaceful and successful life

Since I have mentioned two opposite kinda keywords together, so there could b chances that I white to complete opposite things, but will try to pin point where applicable or not applicable.

This would b an ongoing process and might not finalize even after my death. Whatever I learn will keep adding here.

I do not claim these all are my own ideas or learnings. But I learnt them myself.

None can read all points at a single go. Take your time. Read in installments.

Beauty of this list is you can stop anywhere and list is complete. If you think, let's read next point, it's never gonna end

1. Very first. Never ever give free suggestions to nobody. Not even your spouse, parents, siblings or even closest friend.

One could argue what I m doing here .... Suggesting. No buddy. I m writing this list for myself. As could not remember all of these always.

Many famous blogs started this way. People started for themselves. May be for note-making or as a journal. Others found it useful and rest is history.
Peaceful √

2. Do not aim for perfection.
Successful √
Peaceful √

Always aim for your aim. Ignore the side effects.
Successful √
Peaceful ×

3. Hire people to work for you.
Nerdy ones than skilled ones.
Successful √
Peaceful ×

4. When you have time, complete your task.
Successful √
Peaceful √

5. Life is all about priorities.
Successful √
Peaceful √

6. You always have to take time out for things. Otherwise you will never get time.
Successful √
Peaceful √

7. Depend upon yourself solely.

8. Everyone thinks he/she is best person or most correct person including you.

9. Life moves on.

10. Decision making = Will it matter in 5 years?

11. Always remember The Almighty has blessed us with two eyes and two ears but only one mouth.

Listen & read more. Speak less.
Open minded. No deaf ears to any suggestions.

10. Do not deal in money matters with anyone and everyone whom you value.
Money is root of all evils, comforts and greediness.

11. Others (persons/events) doesn't matter. What matters is our reaction to them.


11. Choose life. Choose happiness.

11. Share only what is needed.
Never let anyone know what's going on your mind.

- keep secrets
- Be brave. Even if you are not, pretend to be. None can tell the difference.
- Don't do anything for credit.
- Avoid sarcastic comments
12. Life is about ups and down.
Don't get overwhelmed with happiness. Don't get too sad with adversaries. Whatever today it is, tongue it's gonna change.
- forgive. For your own sake
- don't expect life to b fair
- Attitude matters
- never talk negative. Better keep mum

12. Treasure people who love you. They are rare.

13. Life is too short to commit so mistakes ourselves and learn from them. Learn from others mistakes.


12. Control is an illusion

10.
Proper sleep.
Meditate.
Exercise.
Eat correct.

11. If in a fight, hit first, hit hard.