My Dreamland!

From my childhood, Switzerland had been my dream country. Fuelled by lots of indian movies, I guess that is true for many indians. Once

the crown of India, Kashmir, became a risky place for shooting, indian film makers chose switzerland as their main foreign shooting spot.

From that time, lots and lots of song sequences have been shot in ice covered alps mountains. While the hero dancing in full suite, the

costume designer always falls short of cloth for heroines!

When my trip to Belgium got confirmed, one of the first things went in my mind was about visiting switzerland. But for some reasons (no

company, not good weather, etc, etc.), I couldn't visit their, though I have been here for the past 1.5yrs. Since my assignment completes

in the coming april, I thought I wouldn't have a chance for that much awaited trip.

All of a sudden, two of my friends over here decided to go there in december. When they asked me if I was interested, I got very

confused. December, one of the winter months, isn't the right time to visit such a place. That too this winter is predicted to be a lot worse

than the lost one. Even in Belgium, there was heavy snow fall in November end. I've not noticed such a one even in January last year.

Anyhow, after a short one-sided war, my desire to visit swiss won over the other odds. So, finally we set out to go on December 3rd for

a four day trip.

Though we've visited many places over there, three things blowed me away completely.
1. Goldenpass panoramic train journey:
This is a very famous train route from Geneva to Luzern. We took this trip from Interlaken, the city where we stayed to Luzern. It was an

amazing sight all the way through. Since it was winter almost all mountains on the way wore white cap. For people like me, who rarely get

a chance to see snow, it was a feast. There were a few beatiful valleys & landscapes too.

2. Mount Titlis:
One of the most famous peaks in switzerland. It won't be fair, if I don't appreciate the effort & money invested by the government in

building those cable cars till the peak. It was a nice experience watching the snow becoming thicker & thicker as we went higher &

higher. In the peak, the temperature was -15deg C (Shhhhh... don't tell anyone... it was only -11, we all decided to state increased cold

to increase the excitement of our listeners ;-) ). Before leaving, all weather forecasts sounded like they were ready to bet millions on

cloudy/shower. Damn them! Just like italy trip, this time also they were wrong completely. It was very bright sun throughout the day. We

were playing in snow for a long time. I'm sure those snow fights, walking in knee high snow heaps, sliding in ice slopes, etc. will remain

green in my memory for a long time.

3. Mürren:
The train route to Mürren was in mountain slopes covered with x-mas trees everywhere. When we were travelling, it was snowing heavily

& all the x-mas trees were covered with snow. It was just unbelievable view. We also travelled in sledge! It was fun.

Finally the question: Is it winter a bad time to visit Switzerland? Hmmm... I'm not sure. Though I've not been there during summer time, I believe, the winter experience will be a lot better for people, who are from hot regions. I have a feeling that during summer there won't be much snow in mountains except peaks & also murren won't be that impressive. So, it is upto you, what you want to see. If you are interested in nice landscapes & want to escape from hot sun, come during summer. If your aim is to enjoy snow & snow based views, may be winter is the best time.

Reviews of Sivakasi & Majaa - Very funny

I've come across a very funny review about Sivakasi & Majaa in teakada. I'm sure it is very biased, with the only aim of teasing those movies & everybody involved in those movies. But, still, it is hilarious.

Sivakasi : A film that must definitely be watched first day, first show, so that you can warn all your buddies at the earliest.

Majaa : One that had a director bold enough to make a movie without any story and fail.

The final joke is too good.

Baby mosquito : Mom I am going to the theater.
Mother mosquito : Take care dear. People will clap hands, its risky.
Baby mosquito : Don't worry mummy, am just going for Sivakasi.

26 million cases pending in India!

I was shocked to read the Deccan herald's report stating 26 million cases are pending in the country! That is a staggering number. If Indian government doesn't take any immediate action to dispose these cases, people will lose confidence in the judicial system completely, if at all they have some confidence left.

Hope they try out some of the suggestions put forward by Dr. Abdul Kalam to reduce this number.

Around Italy in 3 days!

Last year November, few of friends planned a short trip to Italy. But, due to bad weather, the flight got cancelled. Now we planned a 3 day trip to Italy. Coincidently we booked the flight exactly on the same date (Nov 12) as those people. Fortunately this time weather was very good while leaving Belgium & throughout the trip in Italy. All weather forecast stations were confident of showers both in Belgium & Italy during that period. Heck, it was bright sun everywhere. When we reached back, it was very foggy in Belgium. Still lady luck followed us & the flight landed without any trouble. The very next flight was redirected to another airport for landing. Escaped by a hair!

We've covered Rome, Pisa & Venice during this trip. Though the buildings in Rome were beautiful, IMO, Venice is the best part of the trip. It wasgorgeous and very soothing.

Overall, it was very much enjoyable. Still, since we tried to cover too many places in a short period, we ended up in spending half of the time in journey. Should avoid that in future trips.

Shopping!

Summer sale has started here last week! Shops are giving discounts upto 70%. So, the obvious, the whole of last weekend, we were shopping!!!

Our target was mainly dresses. Our group had equal representation from both the gendres. Hope you have guessed what would have happened. Yes, we ended up spending most of the time in ladies garment sections. I don't have any idea, from where those girls get so much of energy for shopping.

During the small amount of time we got for shopping, I could find enough stuff to buy. After everything was over, I calculated the total amount spent. Oh boy, this was the costliest shopping I've ever done! Before coming to belgium, I've bought twice the number of dresses in India for around half this rate. Guess, my next serious shopping will be only after I go back to India :(

Victory!

It was a long time pending desire to learn french. Since now a days, life is very relaxed & I've lots of time, I joined a french course 6 months ago.

It was real fun. When the course was started, I was the only one in the whole class without any prior knowledge in French. Most of the other students were from Europe & they had French in their acadamics or at least had some exposure to it. The course was supposed to be taught comletely in french. Learning a language in the same language? Quite strange. Of course, I used to wave my hand & say "Excuse me... I'm here..." to make my tutor translate things in English. Probably I was the most difficult student she had ever.

The final exam was conducted about a month ago & the results are out now. Can you guess the result? Well... you've under estimated Karthi very much... I've passed the exam with whopping 83.5% and very comfortable second rank in the class. Third rank was 71%. (Btw, don't ask about first rank holder. I won't tell you that she scored 91.5%. Disgusting! :( My prime goal was to beat her. But, I failed miserably!)

Anyhow, learning a new language is very much exciting. Comparing the features of one language to another makes us to think about the way languages are structured. It is a very nice experience. If possible, try learning a new language & have fun!

Au revoir!

Nice quote!

Came across a nice quote:
Do not blame yourself for past errors. You are no longer the same person who made them and you cannot blame a person who does not exist.

Cent percent correct! Learn from mistakes. Remember the learnings & not the incidents. Definitely the day ahead will be sweet & joyful.

Cycling - Diamond route!

Last year september, we went for cycling in a small town called Turnhout (images). It was a very nice trip. The route was around 21 kms long. It lead us along a nice canal, then into the woods followed by a hi-fi village & finally back to the starting position.

Since, it was fun, I convinced my new set of friends for cycling. This time we chose Diamond route in a town called Lier. This route is very famous in Belgium.

My campaign for cycling was running in full-swing till morning of the planned date & finally I succeeded in getting the majority. Because of that we started very late. By the time we reached the place, it was already evening. When we hired cycles, we were informed that only 3hrs remaining. The route goes for 30 kms. 10 kms/hr, hmmm... quite challenging. Still we all decided to give it a shot. (Bad project planning!)

The route was gorgious! Going through woods, fields and villages. Really amazing!

After covering around 10 kms, we realized we've eaten up half the time. Since it was very obvious that covering the route was next to impossible, we decided to turn back. Traversing the same route again? No way. Brave men don't step back! But they take some other route back!! So, we decided to take another shorter cycling route back. After 30 mins of useless search to find that route, finally we gave up & took a very dry freeway back.

I was the only one having a little energy left by that time. Since, the odds of getting late for returning the cycles were high, I thought I'd go first & inform the in-charge that others may get delayed a bit. I started pedaling fast. Competition brings best out of everyone, right? So, I was searching for someone whom I can race with, so that I can reach the destination faster. Right at that time one cycle also joined that path. But, bad luck. It was a very old lady at her late 60s. Racing with a old lady??? I must be crazy.

Anyhow, just for the fun of it, I tried to beat her. My goodness, she was damn fast. The drama of I beating her in downhills & she comfortably overtaking me in uphills continued for quite some time. Finally with my tongue out, I had to accept my defeat after covering around 6 kms. Damn... Even european oldies are strong. MORAL: Never ever challenge an european on physical contests (a lesson I already learnt in my squash sessions :( ).

Anyhow, finally we all reached the destination on-time. (Agile methodology works!)

Kayaking!

Last year summer, we went for kayaking in Lesse, the most famous kayaking route in Belgium. Few snaps are available here. We've covered around 21kms in 5 hours.

For all of us, that was the first experience with kayak & so it was just fun. One pair couldn't control the kayak even a bit. After a short struggle, they decided not to fight against nature. Meaning, if their kayak turns against the stream, they started rowing backwards instead of trying to straighten it! In first 30mins, they couldn't cross even 100 mtrs. Ultimately we had to separate them & form new pairs for continuing with the trip.

In some places, the water was very rough & few kayaks even toppled. My mobile phone was totally wet. After drying that, it started working perfectly (except one keypad bulb, which glows always). East or west, Nokia the best!

Why all of a sudden this story? Because, we went for another kayaking trip. This time to a hill station called Coo. Last year also we went to the same place, but for different reason: fun park, cable car, etc..

This time we had female participation also! So, we've chosen more easier & shorter route. This one was about 9kms long. Guess what? We've taken almost the same time, 5hrs, for covering this too!

Even with almost no flow of water, few people managed to topple their kayak! Within 20mins of starting, one guy fell into water & lost his paddle. So, all of us had to wait till he went back & got a new one. Very bad start :(

In some places, it was very shallow. So, we had to get down & pull the boat till we reach place with enough depth. Water was at freezing cold, around 5deg. So, we couldn't stand long in the water too.

This time also one guy's cell phone got wet. He asked another guy to keep it safe & threw that towards him, since getting down from kayak is not that easy! You know what happened? Yes, you've guessed it right. It fell down into the water. We had to search for around 10mins to find that (remember, the water temperature was around 5 :( ). One more stress testing for Nokia handset. After drying, everything was working perfectly. Including all bulbs in the keypad! But, alas, only two things were not working! 1. Antenna: Phone was not identifying any network, 2. Speaker: No sound! So, ultimately that phone deserves a place nothing better than a garbage bin. Very bad nokia!

After everything was over, we came back to the starting place & were about to catch train in 20 mins. On the way to station, we realized one very minor thing. The bag containing all the valuable things (4 wallets, 3 mobile phones, few belgium residence cards, etc.) is missing!!! By that time the kayaking office was also closed. So, we searched for the guy in the counter & found him in a nearby restaurant. Ironically, he didn't know english. Thankfully one more guy understood our english & explained that to him. Then we rushed to the kayaking office with him & found the bag there. Again running all the way back to the station & reached there just 2mins before train arrival time. So, we thought the trip ended with a nail biting finish. But, you know what, the train came 30mins late :(

Anyhow, the trip was very nice. It was a relief from a regular monotonous life. Planning to have more such trips in this summer.

Vacation

After a long time, I had a big vacation from Dec 24 to Jan 3... i was missing India a lot during those days... india is more lively & i never wondered what to do on holidays... but here i had to break my head to find a way to kill a day.. visiting the same shopping complexes & roaming in the bazaars are not so interesting... (of course, my friend's wife seems to njoy it very much... more obviously, my friend doesn't like shopping, in particular shopping by his wife ;-) )

fortunately i got those two as my company during those days... somehow, we've spent the vacation in a not so bad manner... it was a nice break to come back to work with all the energy...

on dec 26, the next day to x-mas, there was a nice snowing here... i went to a park with my friend & his wife during that time & it was very nice... finally the whole purpose of my birth is fulfilled ;-)

for me, the last year was very interesting, educative & nice in many senses... hope the new year also will be a good year... wish you all a very happy, healthy & fun filled new year.... let us welcome the new year with heart full of love, hope & joy...