Monday, December 31, 2012

Comfort

Seen at Ulavi Basaveshwara temple
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Wednesday, December 26, 2012

December evening sky

Cirrus Fibratus Clouds
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Thursday, December 20, 2012

Cloud Spiral

Seen some where between Nargund and Navalgund on September 16, 2012.



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Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

morality fading


Delhi: girl gang-raped in moving bus
.
.
.
Kerala: parents push teen daughter into flesh trade

What's happening to people?
Insaan has gone Insane?

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Thursday, December 13, 2012

Winter Morning Sky

This picture was shot Dec 3, 2007.
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Wednesday, December 12, 2012

12-12-12

In this millennium we have seen few unique dates starting with 01-01-01. A year, a month and a day later we had 02-02-02, then 03-03-03 and so on.. until last year 11-11-11. Needless to say this year its 12-12-12 , the last of the series


It will be a 88 year wait for the next 01-01-01.
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Wednesday, December 5, 2012

man face insect


This man face insect was brought to office by Veena R Bhat, her friend found it on a plant near our office. Colleagues at office were amazed to see this insect.. kind of stares back at you with a grim face, isn't it?

With little research on Internet, we discovered it's name; Samurai Beetle. Also learned there are few more man face insects. Here's an interesting post with pictures.

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Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Bina Prem Dhiraj Nahi

I'm in love with this Yesudas' song from the movie Swami Vivekananda.




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Monday, November 26, 2012

slip of the tongue

Where the tongue slips, it speaks the truth.
- An Irish proverb.

And when a near & dear one's tongue slips once too often, it hurts.
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Sunday, November 25, 2012

Hotels, Lodges, Khanawali & Restaurants in Dharwad

This post has been created to help those looking for lodging and boarding information at Dharwad. Hotels, Kanawalis and Restaurants have been listed in a order of location, North to South. Hotels with websites have been linked. This list will be updated as frequently as possible. Hope you find this info useful.


HOTELS & LODGES

Malaprabha Lodge
Saptapur
91-836-2772285

Ankita Residency
Poona-Bengaluru Road, near Kittur Chennamma Park
91-836-274833 and 2742333

Vaibhav Residency Lodge
Opposite District Court, near Jubilee Circle
91-836-2444662

Hotel Vaishali
near City Bus Terminus (CBT)

Guru Prakash Lodge
Regal Circle, Vijaya Road
91-836-2441512

Hotel Durga Nivas
Old Dalal Market
91-836-2741144

Hotel Hoysala
Poona-Bengaluru Road, opposite, ICICI Bank, near Court Circle
91-836-2445627

Central Park
PB Road, opposite Kittel College, near Court Circle

Karnataka Bhavan
PB Road, adjacent to court, near Court Circle

Mandar Regency
near Court Circle
91-836-2444420

Brinadavan Lodge
Station road, near Court Circle, opposite Horticulture office

Indraprastha Residency
Poona-Bengaluru Road, near Court Circle
91-836-2446744, 2446745 and 2446746

Seasons Residency
off Poona-Bengaluru Road, near NTTF

Sri Sai Residency
off Poona-Bengaluru Road, near NTTF

National Lodge
Line Bazar
91-836-2445626 and 2443626

Hotel Nataraj
Sangam Circle, Line Bazar

Jyothi Lodge
Sangam Circle, Line Bazar
91-836-2445864

Karishma Residency & Lodging
Toll Naka, Dharwad-Hubli Road

Palaksh Inn
near Toll Naka, Dharwad-Hubli Road

Hotel Manorama
near JSS College, Dharwad-Hubli Road

Kamat Yatri Nivas
adjacent to SDM Hospital, Dharwad-Hubli Road
91-836-2461161

Mayur Aaditya Resort
near Navalur village, Dharwad-Hubli Road
91-836-2461701

Travel Inn
Dharwad-Hubli Road, near SDM Dental Hospital
91-836-2464848


KHANAWALI

Khanawalis are places for home-like traditional North Karnataka jolada-rotti oota ~ jowar-roti khana. The tradition of Khanawali originated in Bijapur and spread to other districts of northern Karnataka. Khanawalis provide wholesome food at reasonable prices. Most Khanawalis have a common menu; jolada-rotti, two chatnis, green salad, vegetable bhaji, cereal bhaji, rice, curry, pickle and curds.

Nagappa Rotti Khanawali
Opposite Shravya Hospital, German hospital-Sadankeri Road

Shri Dharwad Basappa Khanawali
Corporation Circle

Basappa Khanawali
near Court Circle

Prabhu Khanawali
near Court Circle

Nataraj Khanavali
Sangam Circle, Line Bazar

Siddarooda Khanawali
near Hindi Prachar Sabha

Revana Siddeshwara Khanawali
near Saptapur Baavi

Shankar Kanawali
near Saptapur Baavi


RESTAURANTS

Sai Aranya
Multi Cuisine Restaurant for families
Poona-Bengaluru Road (NH4), near Narendra cross

Cafelicious
Fast food joint
opposite KC Park water tank, Haliyal Road
Mobile: 94828 48408

Brewberrys Cafe
Coffee joint
KCD Circle - Saptapur road

Ankita Restaurant
Vegetarian
Poona-Bengaluru Road, near KC Park

Madhura Palace
Vegetarian
Poona-Bengaluru Road, near KC Park

LEA Canteen
Vegetarian
adjacent to Town hall, near Corporation Circle

Amingad Cool Drinks House
Vegetarian, chat, snacks and cool drinks
Gandhi Chowk, Subash Road

Bombay Restaurant
Vegetarian
Dattatreya Gudi Road

Gurudatt Bhavan
Vegetarian
Dattatreya Gudi Road

Hotel Kamat
Vegetarian
Subash Road

Krishna Restaurant
Vegetarian
Subash Road

Megha Darshini
Vegetarian
Subash Road

Hotel Upavan
Vegetarian
Azad Park, Jubilee Circle

Hoysala Restaurant
Vegetarian
Poona-Bengaluru Road, opposite, ICICI Bank, near Court Circle

Central Park
Bar & Restaurant, veg and non-veg food
Poona-Bengaluru Road, opposite Kittel College, near Court Circle

Mandar Regency
Food Court and Bar & Restaurant, veg and non-veg food
near Court Circle

Krishna Bhavan
Vegetarian
PB Road, Court Circle

Brinadavan
Vegetarian
Station road, near Court Circle, opposite Horticulture office

Devi Refreshments
Vegetarian (popular for South Indian snacks)
Station road, opposite Sushrutha Nursing home

President Bar & Restaurant
Bar & Restaurant, veg and non-veg food
Station road, opposite Sushrutha Nursing home

Devi Refreshments
Vegetarian (popular for South Indian snacks)
Station road, near Karnataka Bank

Mayur Cafe
Vegetarian
near Hindi Prachar Sabha

Meals Corner
Vegetarian
near Hindi Prachar Sabha

Hotel Food Corner
Vegetarian
near Karnatak College rear entrance

Pearl Bar & Restaurant
Bar & Restaurant, veg and non-veg food
near Sangam Theatre

Saroj Veg Restaurant
Vegetarian
PB Road, near NTTF

Karishma Restaurant
Bar & Restaurant, veg and non-veg food
Toll Naka, Dharwad-Hubli Road

Sagar Restaurant
Veg and non-veg food
near Masur Travels, Saraswatpur, Kalghatgi road

Prithvi Garden Restaurant
Bar & Restaurant, veg and non-veg food
Kalghatgii Road, near SDM Engineering College

Shambhavi Restaurant
Vegetarian
Opposite HESCOM, Vidyagiri, Dharwad-Hubli Road

Maitri Palace
Vegetarian
near JSS College, Dharwad-Hubli Road

Manorama Restaurant
Vegetarian, good Chinese food
near JSS College, Dharwad-Hubli Road

Ozone
Bar & Restaurant, veg and non-veg food
Dharwad-Hubli Road

Mayur Aaditya Resort
Bar & Restaurant, veg and non-veg food
near Navalur village, Dharwad-Hubli Road

Red Fort
Bar & Restaurant, veg and non-veg food
Dharwad-Hubli Road, near SDM Dental Hospital

Travel Inn
Bar & Restaurant, veg and non-veg food
Dharwad-Hubli Road, near SDM Dental Hospital

..and, if you are new to Dharwad, then you must thinking of what to see in Dharwad or places of interest around Dharwad.


Hotel, Lodge, Khanawali and Restaurant owners: feel free to contact me to have your business listed here.
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Thursday, November 22, 2012

Happiness

Quote received by SMS
If everyone is happy with you.. then surely you have made many compromises in your life. If you are happy with everyone.. surely you have ignored many faults of others.

I felt, thoughts on the other side could be;
If everyone is happy with you.. then surely they have ignored many faults of yours. If you are happy with everyone.. surely they have made many compromises for you.
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Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Peepul Leaf Skeleton

Aaladagida Yeli

This leaf skeleton was found by Arati U Yaligar
Shilpa scanned it and provided the image.
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Saturday, November 17, 2012

Brrrr its cold in Dharwad

Last three days, cold weather is taking over Dharwad. Especially this evening, is really cold. Heard the temperature is around 13 degrees.

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Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Deepawali Rangoli

Deepawali at office was different this year; the team made a colorful freehand floral Rangoli.

A part of the team is drawing the core, in the background another part of the team is mixing rangoli powder and colors.


Outer section being drawn around the core. Lines were drawn, erased and redrawn, over and again to get the right shapes.


Initial stages of color filling.


Coloring was done with lot of care, no such thing called 'undo' in this work.


Even a tea-strainer was used for sieving colored powder :)


Outlines around the colored sections.


Oil lamps join the Rangoli. Part of the team creating Kannada text "Deepawali Subhashayagalu"


The five-flame Deepa at the center.


Aaro Dalada Rangoli
Mean time, another team had drawn Rangoli at the entrance and also the stairway to ground floor.


That's our team!


Shivana-Butti creates it's own shadow rangoli.


Good team work!! A memorable Deepawali.

Here's the link to the video- Deepawali Rangoli.

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Sunday, November 11, 2012

Alive is Awesome

About a month ago, the Cinthol: Alive is Awesome campaign kicked off. People, mostly youngsters passionate about travel and adventure expressed their sense of fun in water. Being a part of the campaign was a matter of doing something for my brand of soap- Cinthol, the red wrapper one. To be honest, I'm loyal to my brands. If Alive is Awesome was some other brand's idea, I wouldn't be a part of it.

I'm a Cinthol user for almost three decades now.. from childhood right till present day. I did use Mysore Sandal in between, its a good soap but somehow it dd not go well with my respiratory system. I guess the scent was a bit too strong for me, especially when throat was sore. Cinthol was back in my bathroom and in my travel kit.

Cinthol hamper contained four variations- Cool, Deo, Strong and Original. However, Lime was missing.
Alive is Awesome gift hamper
I haven't tried the new Cinthol soaps yet but I'm sure they'll go well with me. Strong or Deo can be for morning bath while Original can be for the evening wash. Cool and Lime might suit warm weathers..

The most popular video in Alive is Awesome campaign-


I liked the Geyser Bath idea.


Long Live Cinthol.

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Thursday, November 8, 2012

Typo in Advert

Lime Bazaar instead of Line Bazar?
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Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Regional Science Centre, Dharwad

June 9, 2012

During my visits to Karnatak University's Botanical Garden I'd seen construction activities but did not know it would be a science center. Dharwad Regional Science Centre was inaugurated by Shri. Mallikarjuna Kharge, Honorable Union Minister of Labor & Employment on February 27, 2012.

The Science Center broadly has two parts-
1. Center House (indoor)
2.Science Park. (outdoor)

The Center House has subject wise sections-
1. Indian Science & Technology Heritage
2. Taramandala
3. Fun Science
4. Biomachines
5. 3D Theater

The Science Park is spread out in the well planned garden. It has several exhibits pertaining to physics but the main attraction is the pre-historic animal park.

I started my tour at around 3-30PM, ticket cost was Rs.15. I started at the Center House. The ground floor is mostly occupied by Indian Science & Technology Heritage section. A scale model of Qutb Minar, Konark Sun temple, Konark Wheel, and many more monuments.


I went clock-wise around the ground floor starting with the Time Line of Indian Science and Technology followed by Technology Traditions of Indus valley, Harappans the first town planners, Glimpses of Harappan technology, Shell bangle making, Origins of Textiles, and many more exhibits related to fields of science, mathematics, medicines, music and arts.

Scenes of ancient civilization.

ancient civilization

Indus vallet civilization

ancient civilization

Capsules on various aspects of ancient Indian society.

weights and measures
Yarghu - The Portable Cannon Cleaner
Yarghu
Yarghu is a portable cannon barrel cleaning device designed for the Mughal army by the 16th century Iranian engineer Fathullah Shirazi. The device which was way ahead of its time in terms of technology could be run by just one ox. Fathullah Shirazi a native of Iran migrated to India on invitation from Sultan Ali Adil Shah of Bijapur. Later on Emperor Akbar's invitation moved to Agra. Besides Yarghu, Fathullah Shirazi designed other utilitarian devices such as; a portable cannon, a seventeen-barreled cannon fired with a matchlock, and a portable flour mill.

Fathullah Shirazi's Yarghu

A mural depicting ancient Indian doctors performing surgery.

Ayurveda

Capsules on metallurgy; smelting and foundries.


This is part of the Center House connects the ground floor to the first floor. The first floor of consists of 3 sections- Fun Science, Biomachines and 3-D theater.

Center House

Fun Science gallery is a collection of interactive exhibits which make physics entertaining and interesting. You can operate & observe the exhibits and understand the laws of physics easily.



physics, maths

Regional Science Centre, Dharwad

This gallery, as the name indicates, gives an overview of the world of amazing biomachines.


Regional Science Centre

Regional Science Center Dharwad

The Science Park is a collection of models of various mechanical devices and prehistoric animals.



Path from the Science Center entrance to the Center House flanked by busts of Indian scientists..


Timings & Entry Fees

10AM – 6PM through the week. Note ticket counter closes at 5-15 PM.

Entry Fees to Science Center
Public: Rs.15
Child/Student:  Rs.5 & Rs. 3 per head for organized school/college students group

Entry Fees to 3D Theatre
Public: Rs.10
Child/Student:  Rs.5 & Rs. 3 per head for organized school/college students group

Entry Fees to Taramandala
Public: Rs.5
Child/Student:  Rs.1

Website: Dharwad Regional Science Centre

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Thursday, October 25, 2012

Phir Tumhari Yaad Aayi Ae Sanam

A sweet melodious song from Rustam aur Sohrab.



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Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Saturday, October 13, 2012

'87 vacations

Back to '87 again, this time few months before 25 years ago. We had a long break after PUC II exams until the next stage of education which would either be BSc. or BE. Results would be out some time June or July. Oh, CET was looming around but I wasn't really worried, not that was prepared well, actually I din't care. I was totally free from books and classes - that's what mattered.

Back then climate was quite different; rains would be on time. When the skies opened up it kept pouring for hours. I always enjoyed rains, not just watch but getting drenched was my sense of fun. Dad had told rain water is the purest form of water. However, rain water is at its best after the first 30 minutes because airborne dust would have cleared.

'87 I was a part of a gang of youngsters crazy about wheels; BMX, bikes, gocarts and stuff like that. The group consisted of Deepak's friends; Vijay, Suresh, Lodde and few more guys. We experimented a bit, join two bikes to make a inline three wheel contraption. The 3-wheeler could be ridden by two, but it was tricky, especially at turns for the rider in the rear. Few of us rode it expertly; double pedal-power and double-stopping power too. Big achievement! Once we went for a movie, we had a long argument with the parking lot attendant he wanted 2 bikes' fee for the three-wheeler, we argued just for the heck of it :) We had a two BMXs in our gang. We would watch BMX movies and tried imitated the stunts but none of us could do a decent wheelie. We would ride on the spectators' step-platform and jump down steps as we rode. Someone came up with robbers and cop game; we chased around and did movie style crashes. One of the days few boys were playing cricket, their bicycles park close by. Our robber-cop game got a bit wild, someone crashed into the bicycles and the rest of the gang ran over the fallen bicycles! We managed to get away from the yelling cricketers. We needed constant changes, a new game was discovered: bike football. Rules allowed tackling the ball either with the front wheels or feet. It was rough game and we did play it. It was an afternoon in August, bike football in progress and the skies opened up, it poured like crazy. The football field was holding water fast and the ball started floating, that was wonderful for us because the ball rolled much slower. Splashing water became a part of the game. The game went on  ...falls wouldn't hurt. It was one of the best games I ever played. I guess the game stopped because we were hungry. Still pouring hard, we rode home, it was as good as taking a bath while on the move. Hunger drove us and rain gave us the energy. This reminds me of a punch line seen recently- alive is awesome. My jeans and tee were washed and clean. Amma gave us a tongue lashing while Appaji was cool about our antics, as usual. I  dried, changed and spun dry my wet clothes in the twin-tub.Can't remember what mom served us for lunch.

I don't remember playing bike football again. Also I spent less and less time with the gang. Time to get back to academics. Mom decided I would be joining engineering though I wasn't for it. Anyway, I got a seat in BSMCE, course would commence October 5th.

25 year later... I miss those rains and those games. Well, life goes on and scenes keep changing...

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Thursday, October 11, 2012

aAnNtT

ಇರುವೆ, ಎಲ್ಲೆಲ್ಲೂ ಇರುವೆ

Few weeks ago I noticed a new variety of black ant had been attacking stuff in my kitchen. These ants attacked cooked food, peeled/chopped vegetables and kitchen waste. Dry items like rava or dhal din't attract these ants. I call them an impatient variety because even while I'm chopping onion and chilly they are already crawling over the chopped pieces. Other types of ants wait and attack when no human is around but these new ants are just waiting for activity in the kitchen. Mad creatures! Just outside the house, on the dirt strip between the storm water drain and the road is an underground nest. The nest belonged to the small angry red ants which attack viciously at a slightest provocation. Now the same nest is now occupied by these impatient black ants. Wonder if these black ants invaded the nest and drove the red ants away. Or did the red ants migrate and the black ants moved into the vacant tunnels?

These ants made me think of the types of ants I've seen until now. Basically they can be divided as red/black and small/medium/large. The types-
* small red - love sweet stuff, bites badly, live in cracks/carnies in walls or subterranean nests
* medium red - similar to the small red variety
* large red - can be found in trees and jungles, build nests with leaves and glue like saliva
* small black - looks delicate, not known to bite, live below stones on dirt
* medium black - described above, the impatient types, live in subterranean nests
* large black - giants of the ant world, known as Godda in Kannada, a hard bite from their mandibles can draw blood, live in subterranean nests


All ants types are duty bound, hardworking, disciplined, and united. Their building ability is awe-inspiring.

And they discovered something very interesting: when it comes to walking, most of the ant's thinking and decision-making is not in its brain at all. It's distributed. It's in its legs - Kevin Kelly

A bunch of ant quotes.

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Friday, October 5, 2012

25 years ago, this day..

October 5th 1987 was my first day at BMSCE. I remember it was raining that morning; seniors had gathered in corridors to grab freshers like me. Our class room was in the ground floor of the block next to library. Some how I had managed to evade getting ragged and got into the classroom. However, seniors caught me later; ragging was alright, nothing like what we see in movies or hear in news. Inside the classroom, all the faces were new. Sudhin was the first person I spoke to, then it was Naveen, Raghu followed by Saurabh, Anand... our class of 83 students was a mix of localites and outsiders. Few days later I came across familiar faces from high school; YSS Kumar, Anil Prasad, Shankarnarayan, Sudhindra, and Prakash; Ravi and Prasanna from PU colleges.

BMS College of Engineering campus was a garden; huge trees of different kinds like Rain tree, Gulmohar, etc. covered most parts of the campus. Many of the buildings were antique- the workshop, physics lab, chemistry lab ...they had asbestos sheet roofs. The electrical lab was even older, it was a tiled roof structure. The canteen was in the middle of the sports complex; football field, basketball, volleyball and tennis courts and an indoor shuttle court. Canteen wasn't great but the coffee was fine, it was more like a smoking den. I tasted the first cigarette  For snacks we would all head to SLV, a five minute walk. Across the football field was the hostel complex; the International hostel, Main hostel and the mess. The buildings were ahead of the times- red brick and stone finished buildings were designed to provide ventilation for every room.

Initially most of us were present for theory classes. As we got familiar with the faculty, we gave more importance to practicals and less to theory classes. Few months down the academic year, we would spend more time below the trees or in the canteen than inside classrooms. Couple of times soon after the workshop, still in khaki uniforms, we went to Nandi Hills on bikes with beer bottles. Not that we only having fun, we did study too... we had drawing assignments to work on, submit lab reports, etc. Sudhin, Raghu and I spent lot of time together during first year. During vacations for supplementary exams Feb '88 I traveled with Raghu to Vishakapatnam and spent 15 days at his home. Wonderful trip it was.

BMSCE Utsav was something everyone looked forward to, even other college students. The 3 day event was basically a inter-college cultural fest- singing, fashion shows, skits, et al. Students could bid for stalls and set up shop- fun games like shoot and win, food, snacks, soft-drinks and gambling. Our gang, like the rest of the crowd had a great time. Most of us would be drunk and yelling rubbish, yeah that was fun. After Utsav, everybody's broke ...no money even for cigarettes.

Those days we had annual exams which means we take all 10+exams in a matter of 30 days. First would be the practical exams, then came the theory. We all knew seven subjects were allowed to be carried over. Many of my friends did not even bother study tough subjects like electrical engineering or maths. Exams got over, we got the results. I had flunked in three- physics, maths and... must be be civil engineering. Some flunked up to seven!

Second year we had couple of more subjects plus our backlogs. With freshers coming in, we did rag few guys and chicks. Kavi the hostelite, did a bit of ragging and got himself in a fix. Sudhin and I went to his rescue. I was feeling the heat and had started doubting if I'll ever complete the course. Anyway, worries did not dampen our spirits during Utsav 89, we had a wild time. It was a year of fights for Sudhin, he had trouble with couple of rough characters. By then Sudhin had a reputation; he had thrashed a variety of people- students, hostel warden, auto-rickshaw drivers, bus drivers/conductors, college lecturers, lawyers, and even a policeman. We loved the way he studied- he would sleep off sitting, with a book in his hand. I just wanted to get over with II year exams. Vacations after exams was tension filled time for me. However one good thing happened- I quit smoking for good. Results announced; I had seven backlogs! Luckily I cleared two in revaluation, now its 5 more to go. Few of my friends were not so lucky. I had asked Sunil to apply for revaluation but he did not for some reason ...and lost a year :(

It was only in III year our Head of the Department Dr. K G Chandrappa took classes for us. I was determined to make Third year a all clear year. I got serious with college, spent time in library, Ravi was an inspiration. Also around the same time, I met Anish in our apartments, he was a '88 batch Computer Science student in Bangalore Institute of Technology. Anish inspired me big time, he helped me with I year and II year Maths and few other common subjects. I took special tuition for some tough subjects. This was the year I spent less time with Sudhin or Raghu. Mid III year my parents got me a Kinetic Honda. It was a great help- no need to rush, or miss buses. Industrial Tour was a part of the III year curriculum and I was a  member of the motley crew who organized the tour. One helluva a trip it was! Some where around this time, Kavi's friend Satish from Tiptur entered the scene and remained with us as though he was our classmate. He was hooked by one of our classmates :) I remained focused on studies, the efforts did pay off- I cleared all III year subjects plus the backlogs except for I year Physics.

Soon it we were in the Final year, the year of project work and electives. We were allowed to choose two subjects out of eight. I was one of the handful to choose Plant Layout & Material Handling. The other elective was Value Engineering, taught by our HoD Dr.Chandrappa. Like III year, I remained focused on academics, I spent a great deal of time with Ravi, Shivakumar, Shankara and few other guys. And Anish too, we did all-night studies with a break around midnight to get Pepsi. The cola was new to India but for Anish- having brought up in Qatar -was his favorite drink. I managed to clear Physics during the supplementary exams. My project mates were Kavi, Rajesh and Vijaysimha. In my opinion, our project was a disaster. Though different branches, Anish and I studied together. his company really helped me push through. I did well in most exams except my elective PLMH. The exam paper was too theoretical. I made sure to flunk it rather than clear it with 35 marks.

Now, officially we are ex-BMSCE. However we still had ties with Bangalore University. Soon after the exams Deepak, Anish and I went off on road trip to Kemmangundi. With the results out, I had cleared all papers, PLMH excluded. I met few of my classmates when I'd been to BMSCE to check results ...that's it! Our class- Industrial & Production Engineering 1987 to 1991 -did not say bye formally before getting scattered all over the world. Early '92 I rewrote PLMH, I was the only student on the entire II floor. Yeah, this time the paper was practical type, I cleared it and with that I got a first class in final year. Looking back, I felt, if we had been little disciplined, we would have got all clears and first classes all years. Intelligence was not an issue, laziness and indiscipline was the problem. Well, few of our close friends were still in BMSCE.. There was a quip which came out of two mathematical series by the names 'Fourier Series' and 'Infinite Series'. You might have guessed what comes next. When one cleared the course in four years it's a Four-year series and the unfortunate ones who do not clear at all are 'Infinite Series'. I've not heard of any series for the ones in-between.

Thanks to Facebook and Linkedin, many of us have reconnected and some of us are in touch on and off: Ravi, Shiva, Sesa, Raman, Vishnuchittan, Shankara, Shankarnarayan, Vijaysimha, Chandra, Anil, Sudhin, Raghu, Sunil, Anand, Kavi, Hari and Shetty. Most of us are working, married and parents  ...there are exceptions. Sudhin was the last to get married. One of us would send an email to the group, couple of days later it would be a long thread filled with all kinds of explicit content. We had few get-together, I think two at BMSCE itself and two more at restaurants. Few characters like Abdulwahab never showed up for any of the events. Somehow the enthusiasm has waned during the past six months... even when an email is sent, hardly anyone responds. Professional and family commitments take priority.

Each one of us wonder how 25 years flew away ...Ippataid Varsha Aiteno!?


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Saturday, September 29, 2012

Hiptage Benghalensis Malpighiaceae


I had seen this vine during most of my visits to Botanical Garden. Some how I paid attention to this climber today.
Hiptage (Hiptage benghalensis) is a climbing vine or vine-like shrub that bears clusters of fringed white and yellow flowers. Its leathery leaves occur in pairs (opposite each other on the stem), and it produces winged fruits which are spread by wind. Hiptage grows in dense thickets, smothering other plants. Hiptage benghalensis is native to India, south China, Malaysia, and the Philippines.
Text source: http://www.hear.org/species/hiptage_benghalensis/

Some of the curves and loops reminds me of Lissajous diagrams I learnt in III year engineering..

A study states that this plant has insecticidal and repellent properties. To read about it visit this site- http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22565399

A closer look at the vines.

 
These woody vines can climb to 30 m. More info at http://herbarium.lsa.umich.edu/malpigh//CarClade/Hiptage/Hip1.html

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