2 hrs before take off...

Jai and I went for a carnatic concert featuring the Ranjani-Gayathri combo. The queue outside the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan hall clearly showed thier fan following. The rasikas consisting mainly of 'mama-mamis' with thier trademark filter coffee flasks made the evening lively. The highlights of the concert were the 'Thodi' kirthanai ,the meera bhajan and the tukaram abhang in that order. I thought the crowd lacked discipline , quite few cell phones ringing and people leaving the concert before the mangalam piece. My dad told me about the mylapore 'mess'(mess= restaurant) culture. We went to Mylai mess that was opposite to the B.V.B hall for dinner. The place has hardly been renovated and maintains its old legacy even today. The menu card is also very typical of the Madras tiffin culture . I had Badam halwa , Kichadi and podi dosai for dinner. As usual I must elate... it was Yummm!!! Not the most cleanest place but yes i felt the place has preserved its soul :-).The...

I have finished 2 classes with my guru Shree Reji George . I am enjoying the experience, he is very friendly and a true master when it comes to enforcing rules. Guess what, he asked me a few puzzles before we started , caught me on the wrong foot ! His 7 yr old kid Eleena gave all the right answers to those puzzles . I have learnt a small kirthan in the raga Brindavani ( latest avatar of Brindavana Saranga) . I have been practicing the song all week. My grasping of music has come down a wee bit ,have to get that on track.The Chennai music season is in full swing ,I have to make it to some concerts this yr too. The trip to Hyderabad and Mumbai also need to be planned out.Work is happening at snails pace . The yearly trip to Sabarimala was super as usual! This year has been very eventful, i hope it ends well and leads to yet another great one for all!

Its that time of the year in this city that i really look forward to. The music season is underway in chennai .The november fest has some interesting programs this year. Lotsa fusion, hindustani and classical music being staged in the Music Academy . The plan to visit Sabarimala during the second week means i miss out on some of those programs. I definitely want to make it for Hariharan's session and Sikkil Gurucharan . Some planning to do if i have to make it to those 2. I have to appear before a potential carnatic music guru in the coming weeks. One examination i don't wanna screw up . Hope to get his tutorship and kickstart a new learning . This time its for something i really love !

India defeated Australia in the 20-20 semi final at Kingsmead,Durban. I have waited for ages to see this day , all i can say is I am happy :-) .Yuvraj's sixer mania continues and dhoni's amazing captaincy is sending all his critics scurrying for cover. Hope we give them a real whopping in the home series and the summer down under . Go India Go!! Its an Indo-Pak final Can it get any better than this ??

I finished off my first consulting project :secondary research and typing in MS office 2007 last week. Its time to take stock on what I have done after my B-School stint ended. Personal life has been super ,very interesting to say the least . I am yet to join a music class .I think this one will have to wait for a bit, lotsa travel coming up and I am busy getting my passport stamped with every god damn visa possible . I have become a netizen in every sense of the word ,hardly watch the TV . I finally realize what internet is doing to the other traditional forms of media.A lot has been written about Youtube , Orkut and the other avtars of thier kind , but when I actually feel thier impact on my lifestyle it makes me think. For good or bad...my mom thinks its the latter,she made no fuss on voicing her opinion when i visited coimby a few weeks back. The food up north is yumm. The Lassi is yummier :-) . I watched a few movies. 'Fracture' was quite gripping ,very well narrated with...

The Bourne series , i mean the movies are among my favourites. Managed to watch a pirated DVD of the 'The Bourne Ultimatum' . The screenplay and background score are 'Wow' ,i want to watch the movie again in a theatre. Matt Daemon plays Jason Bourne to perfection yet again.

It's been a month since i started working from home. I think i have addressed the biggest pain point of my official life in chennai. Staying indoors has its problems like claustrophobia, laziness and lack of appetite .The last one is serious .I have lost some 7 kgs since May 28'th . Gosh! Work has been quite interesting. I also managed my first night out last week,without much hassle. Missed a nice weekend trek thanks to work . I am not complaining ,coz the month before that was paid vacation (tax free ) . My running regimen has gone for a toss .The max i ran after eaching chennai was 6 kms a month ago.The marathon looks like a distant dream. I watched a few movies Sivaji-the last 10 mts were a treat for rajni fans, One crap mallu movie, Apocalypto -super movie esp the jaguar chasing the mayan was wow!! , Music and Lyrics -cute and Cheeni Kum -Illayaraja's BGM was surreal. I'll be stationed in chennai till the the end of August atleast. Like every city i have lived in C...

All right i just discovered that we don't meet new people in life ,make friends , get into relationships by sheer luck .The last few weeks have made me believe that we were destined to be so and in some way are already linked to these individuals either through a common friend or some wierd conection. Meeting with Roy , the i-banker and long lost friend was one such incident. The Madhu sir--> his wife-->Kathakali --> Dad was some connection. Roy bugger hasn't changed .We caught up with gossip, sob stories, high points in career and recollected old fun times at Residency on saturday. Phew time to head back to chennai and get back into the grind. I am looking forward to the next weekend :-) Its raining all over again Adios!

Tirupathi was a very different experience. Felt peaceful ,something about the idol .Can't get the right word.It was divine. The place is very clean . I was watching Bob and Matha at the wedding. I could see the happiness of finally getting together , it was written all over thier smiles. God bless!

Its happening ... Its raining all over again... Its the smell of blossom...

The weekend was 'cool' , i mean it in every sense of the word. Coimbatore was like some holiday spot in winter wow! .The place was windy ,overcast and less cramped. I attended 2 weddings. Did the customary photographs and wishing .Been doing quite a bit of that off late . Met my high school teacher at Shyam's wedding.She was one of my favourites in school. I was really surprised when she recognized me by name.I have changed quite a bit ( read shed some flab)since i passed out in 1997,Hmm..teachers some are so special. It was such a pleasure meeting Kausalya madam,still the same warm hearted lady. and yes the second class train ride during the onward journey brought me back to earth. I had to clean my bunker thanks to some great indian traveller's eating spree. The ride back was much better, hari was in the same coupe as well.So lotsa guy talk and employer abuse happened in between some sane conversation around telecom strategy et.al. What else do you expect when 3 M.B.A...

Hola! Alright my work life has more commute than work . I got a place to sit after 2 weeks hahah... Don't ask me what we did during the time spent in office . Its time to get back to quizzing and dumb charades. The heat beats the crap outta me everyday. Thanks to the air conditioner at home i manage to stay sane. The besant nagar area is quite nice ,i got a DVD parlour at stone throwing distance from my studio.The plan is to get my laptop this weekend from coimby and start the movie mania. Met a lot of friends at the Satyam theatre on saturday. Looks like this is 'the only' hangout in chennai . Bad signs...Club hopping is happening ,the DJ at havana is super. My employer is a firm believer that blogging adds to employee productivity and I concur :-) Caught up with a few movies .The songs in 'Life ..in a Metro' are quite good. 'Pirates of ..' was a nice 3 hr sleep. Cheers

Its almost over , the 1 year hiatus from work. The coimby holiday wasn't too bad huh? I did eat lotsa masala dosas, worked out in patches and saw a few movies. Chennai i hear is facing some kinda heat wave .I seem to move to every city when it is at its hottest. Yesterday I saw how a lousy sales guy can screw up business.The sales person at the tile shop was so sloppy he lost a 50 K business . Man now i know why CRM and all the Customer jargon sells in b-schools and in the industry.

The Great Indian Road Trick: When you drive on Indian roads you see these individuals lurking by the sides eager to cross. Now the funny part is the way they signal to the driver.There are a few ways to do this. 1. Sprint like a looney almost saying hit me if you can.... 2. If its a highway then you do a few jumps to land on the divider...peek n do the same to cross over.This one need a triple jump specialist.Saw one in hyderabad a few months ago. 3. Take one step,the driver slows the vehicle,now you retaract ,the driver steps on the gas and then you sprint...This one is a prankster. Will need some ass whopping! I just did the second ,not on a highway but on a pretty busy road. I was quite good . The driver didnt honk !

The Mumbai trip was very different this time. Instead of running family errands I went restaraunt hopping in Colaba last week. Dipti almost did a Mumbai guide gig , took me to some non descipt places amidst a host of must visits food joints.The B-Skool network does help huh? Cafe Mondegar was pretty cool, it was good value for money in the heat.I loved the cartoons on the walls ,nice work. The Manglorean food at Mahesh Lunch Home is a must have if you like coconut loaded stuff. The effect of CNG were visible this time . The pollution in mumbai has come down by some measure.The cab rides from Bandra to borivali were choke free. The kids in the family have become quite a handful..there was one spiderman fan who kept jumping all over me screaming the spiderman song ...made me feel a couple of decades younger.There was one painter who taught me how to draw an flower vase. Talent and mischief its all there... And all this hoopla over wide roads and super freeways is no use in metros...the I...

Hogenekkal was so hot .Luckily the waterfall ride and swimming helped to cool off a bit. Yercaud was really beautiful and the weather was just perfect. I visited the Monfort school thanks to Ashok who is an alumni of the school. The facilities in the campus are state of the art. The emphasis on all round development of a student was evident ,no wonder my engineering classmates from Monfort were good sportsmen. The tea kada experience in Rasipuram was awesome too. I must say you do get good tea and bun in these small shops. The road from Salem to Erode esp till Perundurai is a driver's nightmare. I sincerely feel this stretch must be declared an adventure zone , its been well dug up and tweaked ( thanks to the 4 lane work) to give adrenalin rushes to passengers! The trip to mumbai is an all family affair...lets see what the manjeri clan is upto on the west coast

There were no sprinklers, no DJ's and no spirits yesterday but boy didn't I have fun. Some 10000 people dancing in the isles under simmering heat (90% humidity) would not qualify as a perfect party setting,but thats 'Thrissur(Thri-Shiva-Peroor) Pooram'.The best party I have had this year! The percussion quality of both 'melam' and 'panjavadhyam' was supreme,in fact kept me swaying and jumping in the air for 3 hrs this morning and yesterday night. The fireworks added to the entertainment in the wee hours of the day. The roads in kerala have improved .We hit 100+ kmph consistently, this was unimaginable a few years back.I got a big jack fruit packed from Mg'kavu.I pack off to yercaud with my engineering buddies tomorrow. Looks like the blog is goin to be a travelogue in the coming weeks.

While waiting outside the Sabarimalai shrine I was part of a human clone of the famous Hi-Tech concept .In moments of religious fervor humans do forget the need to maintain etiquette and respect for one another.

Like every campus stint I left the ISB with a truckload of goodies like networks (read friends) , memories, crushes, frameworks etc . The walk upto the seating area on the day of the convocation was awesome. Photographers from the media clicking and the standing ovation from friends ,family and invitees were highlights. I have started working on my action items for the month. Eat one masala dosa a day at Annapoorna. ( bang on here!) Learn to drive in India (getting there) Watch as many movies as I can ( 2 down here) Find a place to work out( no progress) Tomorrow i am off to sabarimala with dad. I have to check out the barista in race course this week.Hoping to explore the new face of Coimby in the coming month!

What started as a damn painful day ended quite well. I drove some 25 odd kms to practice for the music show on the 24'th . The Krishnamurthy's were a great host. When you spend 5 hrs doing what comes naturally to you its peace,yeah it is! I recorded my first mallu song on the comp tonight, took me a while to get the pronunciations right. The SV 2 party is on , rocking as usual and I am in my room listening to good old Illayaraja. Doing what you like the do the most when you want to is a rarity in life ,this is one such moment. PS:The Kawasaki caliber is an awful bike , good that i did'nt buy one in 1998

I have sent out e-mails and yelled over phone announcing yet another career move.The reactions have been mixed to say the least. General complaint has been why technology again,why not finance or consulting? I have only one answer to counter such questions. You need a lot of focus and intellectual horsepower to make these dream jobs. To generate that effort you need to really love such careers. Sadly i never liked finance and consulting was more of an accident.I never gave a 100% towards my consulting or finance preps at the ISB.I chose Chennai and this job with a reason in mind. Most it has to do with my interest in music and wanting to stay close to my family. If you really know what you love in life then such decisions come easy.My job was never my first love it was just a means to an end.Hence I found it very easy to ditch one international offer too. A job or a career is not something you wish to flaunt, it should be something that comes naturally to you,something that makes you f...

This place was a total surprise. They gave me drums to play at a pub yesterday. I tried to use all my 'melam' and 'panjavadhyam' fundaes to create some rythm. People who have a sense for music and don't mind sipping spirits must try this place in Kormangala. I want to go to a Karaoke bar next ,thinking of opening one in coimby someday. KK and rama have planned something for friday. The day before I parked at Forum and watched 2 movies back to back. Guru didn't live upto the hype.I thought the screenplay and narration was missing the genius of the 'man-i-rathnam' who is known for his unique style. Cameron Diaz looks as pretty as ever!!

I have never blogged about my ISB academics and school work before.It sucks when you sit for a consulting interview all day, sign the letter of intent and then get dinged ! Damn .Can't get over it. Am planning to take a few days off to hit bangalore. Still my goal to do stay close to coimbatore and music is very much alive. Lets see how Chennai treats me after ISB. I am signing out of the placement process tomorrow!

For a change I had some company on my b'day. I got dunked and had a spiked up hair ( read cake and cream gelled hair) .It was fun. Its been a long time since i had people around me for my birthday.I think in the midst of all the flight hopping and late nights over the last 5 years I missed those moments of belonging and friendship that a b'day brings.After all there are things in life that money can't buy! for everything else there is ... http://www.flickr.com/photos/docrahul/sets/72157594512530295/

Hola! The last 5 days were quite memorable.Sometimes last minute plans turn out to be great , atleast my experience says so. Chennai 'Marghazi'(Winter) music festival was a super affair.I got to hear P.Unnikrishnan and K.J Yesudas. Unnikrishnan was in some form, his kutcheri was more of a demonstration , I was clueless for most of the concert ..(maybe this shows my level of undestanding of carnatic music). Still he did create a few 'Aaha' moments for novices like me.Food was quite fantastic ,how can I not get goood food ?? touchwood! Yesudas' performance was very standard initially.He started with 'Pavanaguru' ,'Telisi Rama' and then the god just took off... Some of his improvisations on alapanais left the ISB gang spellbound. It was sad that I had to leave mid way..heard the rest of the concert was better. Coimby had no surprises this time . New yrs eve was spent at The Residency with mom and dad..had a peaceful dinner sans any spirits:-) . The new ...