Kartik's journal

Sunday, May 08, 2005

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Friday, December 03, 2004

Outta heeerre....

Aight I apologize for doing this to you guys again...but I think I'm all blogged out for tonight...
Still on the menu for the future:

Mysore zoo
Mysore Temple
My 20th Bday bash!!
My visit to Prashanthi, Puttaparthi
The last 2 weeks of my life which have caused these serious delays in blog updates

This is what I have been looking like for the past 2 weeks...including now. I think I'm off to bed.

Tomorrow night I head out of Chennai to Mysore, spend some more good times there...
12th December its off to Kolkata to visit my other uncle. Also Suraj decided he's gonna show up in Kolkata when I'm there! Looking forward to chillin with u bro.

In the midst of all this, I shall try my best to keep this blog up to date atleast till Today, Demember 3rd 2004.

Later guys.

Happy Diwali!!

Well for those of you who've read Rohit's blog, well he does a good job at explaining the background of Diwali and its significance to Hindus and to modern Indian culture. Since it is 1:30am and I've been blogging for the past hour non-stop, I'll skip the lecture and get straight to the pics.

This year I was fortunate enough to spend Diwali with close family..in India!! (my first Diwali in India since 1991...) Well Diwali in India basically means Lots of fireworks! Check it.

Kartik, his beloved grandma, and some fire crackers

Time to light em up....

And to stand back and watch....

I wish I could talk more but I think I'm all blogged out for tonight...

So until next time...enjoy.

The Mighty Elephants - Part II

Yes, the most awaited seqel of the term. It's elephant time again...

However unlike Part I elephants, these ones dont try to trample you to death and are in fact nice enough to let u ride them.

Eaaasy there big fella

And how did I get up there you ask? Well its quite the procedure. Here's the breakdown.

Kaancheepuram laws of elephant riding

Axioms:

No ladders or step stools
No saddle

Procedure:

Have the elephant lift up its frot right foot to form a stool
Place left foot on elephant's front right foot
Place right foot on body of elephant. Yea, you can dig in, it doesn't feel a damn thing.
Using right foot as leverage, move left leg to the other side of elephant's torso.
You better have a damn flexible groin to straddle that thing.

Of course, after riding it, it is customary to accept its 'blessings' (i.e, sweat, saliva, salt, snot, trunk hair)

Elephants rule.

I wish I could take one back to the loo and ride it around Ring Road.

And have it bless me during exam time.

November 7th - Kaancheepuram

Well November 7th, yes a month ago, I had a chance to visit India's "temple city". And today, a month later I'm here to tell you all about it.

Well Kaancheepuram is what the name says it is...a temple city. i.e lots of temples (duuh). Ahmed wasn't feeling to well this day so I headed out to Kaanch with my trusted buddy Raja. (yes the cockroach hunting legend, thats right, remember him?)

The outside of the bus to Kaancheepuram.

The inside of the bus to Kaancheepuram.

The bus ride there was quite the experience. We had to stand jam packed for 2 hours straight. Yes, I survived. I think my left arm was dying for some good blood circulation though...

Raja (left) with random auto driver (right)

Upon reaching Kaancheepuram, Raja was great at bargaining down a random auto driver.

After passing some fruit stalls...

Lunch time

Most delicious lunch I've ever had

Why? Well Eastern mystics say the natural life force in the banana leaf energizes the food with praana essential for spiritual health and well being. Thus making the food tastier and more nutritious.

Or it might have just been the sweaty palms of the dude who served me the rice with his hands....

After lunch it was time for some temples...

Complete with the standard ritual of kids playing cricket on temple backyards...some things never change...

Kaancheepuram cricket club: Captain Kartik with his boyz

After cricket, it was time for more temples...

For the unawares, pretty much ever temple in India will have atleast 15-20 stalls on the outside selling flowers...

And some enjoy having their picture taken...

The flower lady's kids...

The girl holding the baby called me UNCLE!! I FEEL SOO OLD!! I BEGGED her to call me "anna" (big brother in tamil) but she insisted on uncle. As usual, she had no idea what Canada was, so I had to retort to my not-so-favourite backup plan of telling ppl I'm from America. And after that she started calling me "AMERICA UNCLE".

Kill me now.

After shaking off the scarring effects of being called "America Uncle" it was time to recuperate with Dosas...

Twin towers...

Enjoyable stuff.

After that it was back to Chennai, back to routine. But of course, I am forgetting one "tiny" detail, which shall be elaborated upon in the next post...stay tuned folks.

Hello all

Hello dear FAITHFUL blog readers,

Yes, you are indeed faithful. You should be proud of yourselves. To all of you who still take time out of your busy lives to check out this poor blog, thank you for sticking with me through the thick and thin (literally). So here's giving ya'll the customary WHAT UP!
Oh dear lord its been ages since we caught up! Well there have been several reasons contributing to my hiatus, but fear not! To quote some song I cant remember the artist to now "i'm back and i'm better than ever!"

So sit back and enjoy the Life of Kartik during the month of November, 2004. It's unfortunate that I have to share a months worth of stories and pics in one night of massive blogging, but I hope you enjoy the brief albeit eventful entries coming up....

Enjoy November stories....

Friday, November 19, 2004

Off to Prashanthi...

Friday evening.
In less than an hour I'll be off on my 4 day vacation/pilgrimage/break/exile to Prashanthi Nilayam (Abode of Highest Peace), Puttaparthi, Andhra Pradesh.
I know this blog is seriously behind, still trying to catch up with November 7th's visit to Kaancheepuram and my 5 day Diwali weekend. Hopefully will be able to fill in with some MASSIVE updates when I get back on Wednesday ;)

Until then, enjoy.

Wednesday, November 17, 2004

A thrilling trailer...

Dear Lord, my blog is SOOOOOO behind.

Haha, I started this blog so I have somewhere to make a note of happening events, etc during this unique work term experience in India...just so I can keep my sporadic memories intact. Now it seems like I'll need to use the blog as a scratch pad so I won't forget what to talk about in future blog posts! haha, talk about bloggers karma. Anyways, this also helps ya'll salivate over whats coming round the corner...

So on the menu for future blog posts are:

Visit to Kancheepuram, India's oldest and largest Dravidian Temples
A visit to hand woven saree factory
A bareback elephant ride!
My 5 day Diwali weekend at Mysore
Mysore zoo
My 20th Bday bash!

You know I guess this kills a little bit of the surprise factor, but I had to say something...just to show that yea I'm still alive and kicking in this ghetto of T-Nad.

Until then,

Try to enjoy. haha

Wednesday, November 10, 2004

It's Diwali eve...

It’s Diwali.

The festival of lights.

Somehow I’m not in the most festive of moods. Lately, I’ve been having quite the roller-coaster of moods. And no, it has nothing to do with India’s miserable series loss…hehe. On a side note, they actually managed to pull out a win in the last Test so we can give those boys some (albeit undeserving) credit.
On a personal level, I feel Chennai has really worn out its welcome on me. Every last remaining spark of that initial “I’M IN CHENNAI!!” excitement has fizzled to oblivion. A lot of things about this city have been frustrating, some which I have mentioned in previous posts, others which I’d rather not discuss.
Recent happenings have done nothing to cheer me up either. Honestly, as funny as it sounds, I’ve been extremely disappointed at the election results. So great, we can all enjoy 4 more years of a nazi cowboy ruling the world with the world’s most powerful military as his personal toy gun. Well tried Kerry, big props for standing up for all of us. But sometimes things just don’t go our way.
On a brighter note I did get a chance to go to Kaancheepuram this past weekend. That has been a sole shining bright spot in my otherwise dull recent past. It was a beautiful experience to say the least. And instead of this down and dull blog post, you guys would be enjoying pictures of India’s most famous temples (and their elephants) right now. If not for what happened last night.
I got home late from work (work pressures) at 11pm…after a bite to eat I grab my camera and walk off to the local inet café…well to share my pictures with all of you! And the regular inet café with the USB ports is closed. (It has a sign which says “24 hour internet” in bold letters and “closed” in fine print). No, that normally funny sign did not cheer me up. I went to the other internet café next door…which too had USB ports for my cam…but then the desk dude tells me I’m not allowed to connect my camera for ‘security reasons’. However, there are no security firewalls to regulate internet traffic. You South Indians amuse me yet again, this time for the wrong reasons.
Anyways, I’ll be sure to share Kaancheepuram stories and other recent POSITIVE happenings at a later date…when I can grab a hold of that elusive USB port by the throat.
My moods have been scaring me as of late. Today I snapped at a poor auto driver. Ahmed and myself missed the morning bus yet again for the umpteenth time. We caught an auto to work. Before getting into the auto, the driver and I had come up with a 150 rs deal. Which is still over paying for the distance we were traveling, but really, I was in no mood for diplomacy. Upon arriving in Ambattur at the office, I handed the auto driver a 100, so did Ahmed. The auto driver promptly returns 30 rupees in change. He gives me a sheepish smile and says ‘Sir, it was a long distance. That’s why’. I FLIPPED. I gave him more than a peace of my mind, in the least polite tamil I could muster. I think I scared the dude, who was half my size (despite me not having been to the gym in a month). He meekly hands me 10 rs more and drives off. I think I called him a thief as he drove off. I felt justified at the time…I mean if he did really want 170 rs in the first place, he shouldn’t be agreeing to 150! I absolutely HATE IT when auto drivers don’t tell you how much they want initially, and then bitch about wanting 50 rupees more after they drop you off. And this time, there was no whining on his part, just blatant robbery. Sorry auto dude, but you picked the wrong morning to mess with the wrong guy.
Upon reflection, I really felt scared and confused. Scared at how I could have lost so much control. And especially over a few rupees with a poor auto guy. I wish I see him again sometime, I’d be the first to apologize and treat him to a dosa and a cup of filter coffee.
All in all I don’t mean to sound like I’m complaining about India or me being here. India is beautiful. Chennai is not.

I need to start meditating again. Where have I lost myself?

Anyways I really don’t want to bore you with my sob stories. I am EAGERLY looking forward to my upcoming 5 day Diwali weekend. I leave tonight, Wednesday to beautiful Mysore and I’m back in this sorry excuse of a city Tuesday morning. Should be a great break from the Chennai woes.
So to all my family, friends, friends of friends, 40 cent fans and random readers who found me on a google search have a VERY HAPPY DIWALI.

Spread the peace and love to all. Smile always.

Enjoy.

Wednesday, November 03, 2004

Midweek thoughts...

First off, my previous post, MOTIVATING the Indian team did jack squat. India lost miserably by some 10 billion runs…
So that's it boyz in blue, you guys don’t get any more well wishes from me! And to protest your atrocious form, I am NOT going to purchase any of the DVDs I’m holding in that pic (until my next stipend arrives…:P)
On brighter notes, I just spent the last weekend at Mysore. Visiting Bhaskar Mama, Vasanthi Mami, Vidya and Vivek after so long was simply AWESOME. And I got to ride Vidya’s scooter all over town all weekend! Yes, I was slightly rash, yes I did almost crash into a van in the train station parking lot, yes I did get pulled over by a cop who was highly impressed with my ALBERTA license (surprise surprise), but despite all that it was an absolute blast! Thanks a lot Vidya! Looking forward to some more Mysore road rash on Diwali weekend…
So Sunday night, I left Mysore on the “Chennai Express”. The ‘express’ lived up to its name with its ‘punctual’ arrival in Chennai on Monday morning. Btw, ‘punctual’ in India means 2 hours late. So I ended up getting into work at noon. O well, I did enjoy the extra sleep on the train…I’m really starting to love those sleeper trains.
By the way, Happy Belated Bday Ahmed! Yea, yesterday, Nov 2nd was his birthday…and he tells me at 8:30 pm last night. O well, we’ll be doing some celebrating this weekend…it seems like a visit to the amusement park (Chennai’s Wonderland?), buffet dinner at a 5 star and watching the latest NRI flick “Flavors” is on the card for Friday and Saturday. Sunday, it’s off to Kaancheepuram for some temple visitin, elephant watching and saree shopping.
And SPEAKING of Nov 2nd…how could I forget…HAPPY 25TH ANNA! Yes, it has been confirmed, The Great Galati is now officially a cougar (when was it ever ‘unofficial’?). Heh, no worries Anna, I’ll catch up soon. In fact, I shouldn’t be talking, it’s only a matter of a couple of weeks before Kartik enters his TWENTIES? Dear Lord, I feel so old even typing this…
Heh, I was gonna write something sentimental looking back at my glorious teenage memory lane and have ya’ll fantasize cheesy, inspirational music playing the background, but I guess I’ll save that for after my Birthday.

Still proudly a teenager,

40.

Later guys.

Friday, October 29, 2004

Aaj Jeetna Hai

India is in trouble.
Well, the nation is too. But more specifically, the beloved and overhyped cricket team.
As I type this, India have conceeded a lead of over 500 runs and are teetering after dropping 5 quick wickets. Decorated names like Tendulkar, Laxman and Dravid are back indoors after proving that they are nothing more than just that. Decoration. Fluff. No substance.

Here's sending out some much needed well wishes and inspiration to India's cricket team. Remember, regardless of what the critics say, regardless of the fact that even if your entire nation of 1 billion turn their back on you...rest assured...That this one lonely Canadian tourist shown in the pic below always has your back.

Aaj jeetna hai. Aaj.

Best of luck guys. May the (rain) gods be with you.