Vikas Sharma

Take a break, go to Goa!

I did that. I took a break and went to Goa. Just ahead of launching my next portal, I thought I must unwind. Unwind to relax, recharge and put my spirits high to face the grind again. And one of the best places one can go, is to Goa.

I have been to Goa a couple of times before, but not in November. November is supposed to be the start of season time and weather is supposed to be cool. Unfortunately, this time the visitors have not yet started flocking in huge numbers and the weather is also not cooler than Bangalore! Bobby, the restaurant owner of Brendons Shack on the Palolem Beach attributes this to global warming and recession. I kind of agree with him.

I had stayed at Chalston Beach Resort, a good hotel nicely placed between Calangute and Baga beach. I found it good value for money and the ambiance of it’s restaurant; bang on the beach, awesome! It had a clean swimming pool, large garden area and reasonable room service. We were at good comfort and enjoyed our stay there. Taxi, two wheelers and four wheelers for rent were available just outside the hotel adding to the convenience factor. The staff was generally good and responsive. Of course, you may sometimes get the uncanny feeling that foreign tourists are being given more preference. Overall a recommended place to stay. We were in an AC room (which we hardly used) that costs about Rs. 2000/- per night including breakfast. During off season, the rates are about half of this!

On day three we decided to visit Arambol beach as we were told it was very beautiful and great by one of the friendlier staff at the hotel. We would have found it great had we not stumbled on a stretch of one on the best beaches I have ever been on! This spot is just about 5 kilometers before Arambol and after you cross the Mandrem beach. It was clear blue water and not more than 20 people on the whole stretch of the beach! There were a few shacks there which sold stuffs at a bit higher price when compared to others. But this was absolutely OK as they really do not have people there and it is pretty isolated. Stayed there for few hours and then headed back reluctantly. Check the map below to reach there.

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That night we went to TITOS. Big Mistake! It is no longer what it used to be. We were there from about 11 PM in the night till about 2 AM. Except 2 men who didn’t seem gay kept dancing alone! A few couples sat waiting for the crowd to come in which didn’t happen. The lack of crowd can probably be attributed to the ban on smoking but what couldn’t be understood was BAD music. Can you imagine Punjabi and sad Hindi numbers at TITOS! Our Bangalore DJs (aka DJ Neil)  get to play less but they can surely do a better job! There is Mambo next to it but we had no guts to enter the place and take another shock. We left cribbing about the unjustified entry fees and time wasted there.

These are about the few things worth mentioning broadly. There is more to the trip which I may pen down later. I was at peace, with nature and my best friend which makes this one of my many memorable travel experiences. And for the first time in the last 5 years of holidaying, I did not bother to check my email and did not answer any business call! Total peace of mind. Take a break, go to Goa! Let me know if you take my advice.

Wonder la – Here we come! And how!

Today has been one of the most memorable days of my life! And this was made possible by not one or two but over 200 special people! People who loved you though they didn’t know who you are. People without prejudice, open minds and with smiles that humbles and mellows you down.

“Wonder la, here we come!” was an initiative taken up by the BEC (Bangalore Expatriate Club). It was a trip today, to Wonder la with about 250 children from SRMAB, a school for blind kids and SUKRUPA, a school for underprivileged children. All the credit for this day goes mainly to Barbara (BEC), the lady of the day who planned, coordinated and made this event a big success! Of course, lots of credit to the volunteers and contributors too

We started by meeting at Wonder la by 10 in the morning. After brief introduction to the wonderful people and volunteers for the day we engaged ourselves in distributing t-shirts to the children, sponsored by ATKINS. They formed groups with whom we mingled for the rest of the day and had a crazy time! The kids just loved it! Their enthusiasm was unlike what I had expected. They knew a lot about the place and some of them had been there before. They wanted to go everywhere… to the elephant ride, to the rain dance, the merry-go-round and some rides whose names, I still fail to remember. We were all more then glad to take them there. Also, I know Kannada with which the kids were very comfortable and spoke to me freely. How I just wish the others could understand how thankful they were to us. Some of them hugged us or thanked us for literally every ride! Wow, what an experience the day was!

Introspect – is what I did many a times today.  I felt privileged to have myself being normal.  Just imagine yourself without any one part of your body. Any One Part. On my way to the changing room, I saw some children facing a wall and standing, holding each other. Surprised, I asked them why they were there only to realize that they had lost trail of their group and didn’t know which direction to go as they were visually challenged. How far can you go with your eyes closed? And how far will we go with our eyes closed?! We need to open up, accept the world as one and put in our 2 cents to make this world a better place for all to live in.

Thank you all for making me feel the way I did today. Again my special thanks and warm regards to Barbara, Roberts, Sreejita, Jenny, Niel, the children, others whose names I don’t remember (please forgive me) and of course Gunar, a great musician and an even greater chess player, through whom I got to know such wonderful people. For any corrections or additions, please feel free to add it in the comments.

Bangalore Bomb Blasts

It was bound to happen. With light security, poor enforcement of law and laid back attitude of the Bangalore police, Bangalore would surely be targeted sooner or later. I started writing this post when I heard of one bomb blast near Madiwala, by now the count has gone up to six! I hope this is not the signs of things to come… God forbid.

I have just passed Mysore road a few minutes back and am happy to be in front of my PC in the office, but still unsure if there could be bomb nearby…

Wonder why some people engage in such mindless activities? As of now one woman has died and more than 20 injured.  What will anybody achieve? Reason for the blasts – people are running their imagination wild. I am getting calls every 5 minutes from one or the other concerned person. Some say its the terrorists at work and some say it is anti BJP sentiments being projected. In any case why violence? Lives of innocent people at stake, who actually won’t be able to solve anything.

I have been searching on Google and other sites. Not much news about the blasts. Shops and establishments nearby are closing. I will remain in my Office for any place is just as insecure as any other place in Bangalore…

AAA Presents The Play – Bidee Naanu Devaragiraballey

This one has forced me to blog! Not by paying me loads of money or strong requests but due to my association with AAA (ASSOCIATED AMATEUR ARTISTES) and the personal touch which I have with the organisers, whom I admire a lot. A few months back I had joined this play and took part in many practice sessions. I was under the impression that the play would be released by December 2007 after which I had my German Classes to be attended. Due to this I could not be a part of the play which is releasing now. I still have my German classes going on the A2 level, after which I will head straight for the play on the 14th of this month. The play is a fantastic story of God who comes down to earth to get first hand feel of his creation. What happens during his visit is what you have to see!

I got to learn one thing thing from my short practice stint with AAA. A lot of guys like me are spending a ‘Digital life’ – everything timed, precision oriented, planned time-bound activities, action-reaction defined and a lot of monotonous stuff to add. Whereas, Art is like Nature, very ‘Analogue’ by definition – not time bound, slow but perfect, smooth, unpredictable and something which demands a lot of patience. I have seen Hiriannaiah uncle making us repeat a scene to perfection so many times without loosing 1% of his temper. I go bonkers if my staff does a silly mistake! He enacts anybodys role with such zeal and feel that one can’t help but admire his love for drama. Long Live AAA!

The details of the play are as below:

Play: BIDEE NAANU DEVARAGIRABALLEY
Date: 14T & 15TH OF JUNE at 6.45 PM
Venue: H N Kalakshetra (National College, Jayanagar)
Play write: Mr. N C Mahesh (lecturer, National college Basavanagudi)
This play won the first prize in Prof B C Memorial play write competition organised by Suchitra Kalalendra
Language: Kannada
Director: Sri. Hiriannaiah Haranahalli (Well known artiste in Kannada industry)
Music: Mr. SHASHIDHAR KOTE (Well known musician)
Dance Choreographed by: Mrs Deepa Narayan (well known TV Artiste)
Tickets: Rs 50.00

Next Production Late TP Kailasam’s ‘Soolay’.

AAA is also looking for theater enthusiasts. If you are interested in Acting, Direction, Backstage, Lighting Makeup or Anything to do with theater please contact:

Ms. Akhila H : 9880277470
Mr. Arun Rao: 9900107090

German Language

One fine day, I thought of improving my profile by doing a foreign language course. Out of the many options that I had – French, German, Japanese etc I settled for German Language. After a few visits to some language training institutes, I ventured into Max Muller Bhavan, Bangalore. Even before I had spoken to the person in charge, Ms. Jayanthi, I had decided to join there! Just by looking at the place you could swear about their professionalism. It has a well stocked library of books, German magazines, newspapers and not to forget, movies and videos in VCDs and DVDs. Neat classrooms with well furnished equipments, well trained teaching staff, a German cafe (Café Max) and loads of recommendations left me with little choice! The course fees for the weekend batch that I have joined is Rs. 8500/- (About 145 Euro) for the A1 level.

Good and positive vibes, from people and places draws you towards them. Germany, as I know is very open to Ayurveda and Indian culture. It respects both modern technology and the ancient knowledge of civilizations. We have reasonably good business and some very loyal and fantastic customers from Germany. I hope this course helps me to interact with them better and maybe lead me to do business there.

More on Max Muller Bhavan after I have attended a few classes! Wish me luck – its been a long time since I studied!