Fun with Notepad

This is something really nice and useful i read about Notepad..

You create a notepad .txt file. Give it any name u wish. At the start of the file, write .LOG
Thats it.. and save it and close it.
Next time u open it, it will open the file with the time stamp. You can see the time stamp appended at the end of the file with the cursur after the time stamps.
So now you can log events whose time you would like remember .. write notes and save them

Its cool.. its useful .. Try it out..

Alice in wonderland...

This is about my experience in USA. Hmm I will write this in parts... They are just my thoughts and are not in any order.. just as and when i feel it..

So here is part (I) :

As i finally landed in the USA after a journey of around 25 hours, I knew i was gonna be up to alot of surprises during my stay. And ya, USA has given me more of surprises till now than ever. From people: their dressings to their attitude. From infrastructure: facilities for everyone whether poor, rich or even disabled. Seasons: from the rains to the summer and now the fall. Their culture their thinking.. so different from what we see in India. I really felt like i was Alice in Wonderland.. so much to explore so much to learn and so much to appriciate...

Well, I am staying in my rented apartment. My apartment is in one of the posh localities of Pittsburgh with the main Shopping malls just around the corner. Very few of such apartments will you find here. Mostly people live with their family in houses: Small cottages/bungalows. Beautiful ones having the look of ancient houses made of stone and some even like castles.

These apartments are owned by a company and are given on rent. So mostly those who stay here are ones who don't own a house. Indians who work here, ya lots of them, stay in these apartments. Since they cannot afford to buy a house as soon as they arrive or like me they have come for a small assignment. For those who staying her for long, I am guessing after working for around 6-7 years they can think of buying a house.. again, if they are sure they want to settle here. So other than Indians, I think those who stay in these apartments are old couples. Those who have sold off their house and are ready to retire and no longer want to take care of a house. After all it is a Big job here..
Here is one thing that surprised me..Mowing the lawn after the grass in ur lawn grows to a certain height is mandatary and can be punishable by law if not taken care of.. I have never heard of smthing like that in India.. There during rains, the buildings would have a whole lot of wild plants, weeds growing and noone ever objected.

One So good thing is, Here an average old person lives for at least 80-85 and yes they are pretty strong and independent even at that age. Here facilities for old people amazes me. There are the automatic wheelchairs for those who cant walk. The roads, the apartments and even stations: they are so well maintained and kept for the disabled. The roads are not a bit close to Indian roads. So clean and so good. One can easily maneuver their way themselves even on the wheelchair. The stations have elevators and even escalators to help the old. The
apartments have special car parks for the disabled and elevators. You can Grannys and Grandpas zoom away in their car. They need'nt be dependent on anyone.. Coz driving is so easy and Yes so systematic. Old people at the age of 60-75 easily move out in car. Now how good is that. I feel so bad for our grannies who are so dependant on their sons and daughters. A life like this would have been so Good.

Talking about roads.. Its Fantastic here. No "khadda" like pune roads. No potholes and manholes. I haven't seen dust or mud ever since i came here. Along the roads there will be lawn or trees. No land is left as it is. There will be a lawn or sometimes the wood shavings or even flower plants. The path to my office through which the Tram goes is through forest like area. Full of trees and flowers. Lawn and plants.
In Fact, there are deer and rabbits roaming here freely. Ya this is something i was so excited to see. I have seen more deer and rabbits than cats and dogs. There are NO stray animals. But the number of pet dogs i have seen are less than the deer i have seen. In India, u see a deer and next minute he is shot.. :-D

Really feels like paradise. The infrastructure is so good. So well maintained roods, pavements, tunnels and bridges. Downtown is an area where there are intersections of 3 main highways.. there are double decker bridges and the way all the highways stand, its really amazing. So well studied and researched city for building up an infrastructure of this kind with wonderful roads and highways. The well maintained buses and trams. All automated to collect money from passengers and all with air conditioners. All so comfortable.

Traffic rules are followed so well by people. Even the roads are marked so well. Some lanes are there, only for those who wanna turn left at next crossings. You cant go there just beocoz there is noone on there and yet go straight. There are some emergency lanes which are used only by police or ambulance in case of emergencies. That lane has to be kept empty completely. I had never even heard of something like that before.
Pedestrians are given highest priority.There are fixed crossing where you should cross roads from. People drive very fast here. But at the crossings, they make sure they slow down and let the people walk. At some places there are buttons you press and vehicles are made to stop and then u cross. In India, If you cross the road and a vehicle comes, he definitely takes you to the other side.. way to far on the other side.. up in heaven :-) but here you will never see that.


Great isn't it !! That was only about the infrastructure and facilities. Living here is really like living is Paradise. All so goody goody. Life here is so much simpler. If i could get my family here and stay here forever.. i would def. not think twice of settling here. Or let me put it this way.. How i wish India was like this.. So clean, well planned...so systematic.. so easy for all... I wish i could take all the good things from here and go back to India and change India to be one like this..


.. to be continued..

Wikimapia your way through...

After coming to the USA, its become a habit to look into google map or google earth for any information required about the place. You wanna go to downtown by car, look into Google map, give the start address as your home and end address as downtown. Voila! all the details to get there is given. Even the exact distance is given, 0.1 mile means u have to go ONLY 0.1 mile.. 81feet means just that. not more not less :-D USA is vey well updated in Google earth or map. Every detail is given. I can even see my current house, Dorchester towers, Pittsburgh 15241 on it. I can even show u my flat there :-) Its that good.
However my actual home back in India is not found when i give the zip code or address to Google earth/map. I can see the building on google earth but that is by guesing. Hmm it might take some time for Pune to be updated on that with such minute details...

However, a friend of mine, Pradeep, today passed me the link to another site: http://www.wikimapia.org/ This one is a wiki. Some places are already shown. You search for yours and u can mark it. So now next time, someone else can see that marked on the map too. So i searched for my home in Pune and marked it :-) Here many places in Pune are mapped : Anandnagar, null stop, fergusson college etc.. Bhusari colony, Salunke vihar road is shown too.. Wow I loved it !

I guess its still new.. Not all places in USA is marked. I marked my home in Pittsburgh too..

You can have a look.. its cool..

Am Back

Yep m back.. after a long break..
Well I was busy with getting myself ready for my official trip... Am here in Pittsburgh.. landed here on 20th May... and then was busy setting up my home and making my empty house into a cozy-comfy home....


I am loving this life here.. Filing my kitchen with lotsa food stuffs for me to hog.. ya becoming a total foodie with all junk food.... taking care of my home ..
Cooking cleaning the house ya can be a pain at times, but after some hard work and my house becomes clean.. the smile on the face is priceless :-)
Enjoying the walk near the lovely gardens at downtown.. watching the sunset here .... Ohh !! its great here...


In a nutshell, Yes I am enjoying myself here.. work is
good.. and life is good except for the home sickness viral fever that keeps coming.. hmm but i am handling that well too.. u can check for snaps at http://shradhan.fotopic.net
enjoiii !!!

Will write about my experiencces here and the great friends i have made...
hmm later though..

Look Who's gonna make it to the IIM-AClassroom

Check out the following links to know more..

http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=Q0FQLzIwMDYvMDUvMDgjQXIwMzEwMQ==&Mode=HTML&Locale=english-skin-custom
http://www1.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1513266.cms

My Recent Trip to Udupi

This post is about my short trip to Udupi, my native place where i had been to, last weekend. Me needed a break from my work (hope my manager never gets this link) and also in general needed a break from the routine life i was living. My life was taking the shape of an erroneous program in C stuck in an infinite loop. void main()
{

for( ; ; )

{
wake_up();
get_ready();
travel_to_office();
work();
travel_back_home();
eat_sleep();
}
}

Ok here you will notice that my sentences are as if i were speaking. I tried to be formal and goody-goody in my previous posts but thats not what i can relate to. I wanna write just as i get words in my mind. Let it just flow ;-) So you will notice in this post and i guess in all my posts from now on that the sentences are very casual and i might not even bother to write 'I' in caps. I'll leave it for u to assume it is that way. I might not use "I" and use "me" for describing myself.. like me went for trip. me did this or me did that... I wont be able to tell u what all changes i might make in english grammar as of now. U will see it as u read...

So getting back to my Udupi Trip... Let me start off .. ahem...i mean let me continue by telling you how my excitement was building. I decided to meet my relatives one fine day when realized that i wanted to get out of Pune for a much required break. I was to go alone to Karnataka since my folks were busy. I was not bothered. I was all excited to travel alone. I haven't done that before so twas all the more exciting or me. The journey to Udupi used to be a very long one before where it would take 22 odd hours to reach Pune. With the introduction to luxury buses, the time reduced to 18 odd hours and soon with the High tech buses the time reduced to some 14 odd hours. Today the time is 11 hours in the Volvo bus. Awesome!!! The bus is so smooth that you feel you flying. Journey is faster and better with no back ache, neck aches and leg sprains. And all i had to do was get in the bus here, sleep as i have to take avomin. Its my savior since i have a bad motion sickness. The night passes like a second and early morning u r there. I have my maternal uncle waiting for me at the bus stop. So i dint have to do anything much other than sleeping. Ohh the movie they played in bus was Titanic. Ohhh Dint wanna watch it again so preferred sleepin !!!

So friday evening i hurry back from office after finishing all the pending work. My dear mom has packed my bag and kept them ready for me. I must tell you i went with just 2 bags. One for my clothes and one with some food, my purse etc. So its just 2 bags.. u'll realize why am stressing on the number later. I take the bus at 6.45pm Its supposed to leave at 7.00. But this is KSRTC (Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation) bus. A Government bus, so u can guess that punctuality/time management and government buses do not go hand in hand. The bus was delayed by 1/2hr. But hey! i had no reasons to complain. After all i had to meeting to attend next day. Cmon, I was on a vacation.. i was to enjoy every moment. and more since the bus was so comfortable. Soon the avomin showed its effect so i dozed off. Saturday Morning, at around 8.00 I found my uncle waiting for me at Udupi Stop.

It was great to be with my relatives. I used to stay there for months when i was in school. It used to be our summer camp for so many years together. But as i grew up the duration of stay decreased. Hmm anyway Here i was in Udupi and all excited to meet all the relatives. Before that, lemme give u all a li'l general knowledge about Udupi. Udupi - then a small town and now a district is famous for being the abode for Lord Krishna. This place is famous for the Krishna Mutt. The kananakindi which is the window through which Kanaka das, a lower caste citizen gazed with eyes brimming with faith at the back of Lord Krishna's statue. he was not allowed in and so he worshiped Lord through this window. They say, Lord Krishna's heart melted seeing his faith and one day the statue turned to give blessings to Kanaka Das. From that day on, this window got the name Kanaka Kindi which means Kanaka Window in Kanada. Hmmm For more details you can check the links below:

http://www.ourkarnataka.com/states/udupi/udupitemple.htm
http://www.karnatakatourism.com/coastal/udupi/udupi.htm
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tudorache/119135861/
http://www.dvaita.org/madhva/udupi/index.shtml

And here in this very town, my parents grew up. My Mom is from hard-core town of Udupi while my dad from a town close by, at a distance of 40Kms or so, called Koteshwar. Koteshwar however is famous for the "Kotilinga Devasthan" which means the temple where there are Crore Linga of Lord Shiva. The main temple here is the temple having a crore linga of Lord Shiva. For now lets take a U-Turn back to Udupi. Ohh!! Udupi has changed so much. Earlier it were a small town with shops and bungalows. Today it has expanded so much. It has shopping malls, Tall buildings and many other amenities you would find in Pune. Maybe not a Shopper's Stop or Westside but ya the shops are good enough and sell good stuff. I was really surprised to see the change. One interesting thing here are the bus facilities. Pune being so big and populated has one of the worst bus services. Udupi however has a great advantage on this front. The buses there are private. And so many. One after the other you'll find buses to various locations. The drivers however are rash in order to reach their destinations early. Thats their slogan.. "to take their customers home early" but ya at the cost of their lives :-) You can find express buses that stops only at big towns while regular one stops at every 5 meters think.


Most of the journey for me when i go from Udupi to Koteshwar is really very relaxing. You will see a very traditional south india there. Small houses, Coconut tress all around, rivers flowing below the bridge you cross. Fishermen walking, ladies with the traditional flowers on their head. Well combed hair. Men in "Lungis" :-) Of course not all :-) a few... Women with Gold and ya lots of them. Temples with people over flowing. Infact whenever you see many ladies hanging out together you can guess there is some temple near by. Thats the best station where ladies "Network" there.

Koteshwar is a small town when compared to Udupi. My paternal relatives stay there. This place was the same as before. Not much change in the place nor in the peoples mentality. Let me not get to that for now. Sometimes its a pain to put up the smile when u meet so many people whom you might not even recognize and when they ask u.. " Did u recognize me? You were so small when i saw you!" Exactly.. if it were so long that i saw u last, then how am i to recognize ???!!!??? Then some go "Do you know who i am.. am your dads aunts sisters nephews sons wife" and i am staring at them wondering why dont they just leave me alone! Phew! No wonder i was glad to get out of there...

Back at my head-quaters, Udupi, I was busy convincing my cousins to go to then beach next day. After convincing my cousins a li'l they agreed for goin to the beach. When i was small I used to go to the beach very often with my grandad. After he passed away it had come down to zero. This time i made up my mind to go to the beach. And it was such a great experience i must tell you. Clean beach absolutely. Whitish sand. You'll find so many people in the water. Every age. Kids to grown-ups to Oldies. It was awesome. The beach we went was Malpe Beach.

So i did go to Krishna Mutt as well. The latest trend there is to give a rupee to the elephant there and Thud !! you get blessings by the elephant's trunk on your head ! Oh its kinda cute. I got it three times. One would wonder what i was in so much need of that i required so many blessings. But the scene was such everyone around it had it 2-3 times too. Surprisingly lots of people giving elephant bananas dont get the blessings. The mahut has cleverly taught the elephant to give he "thud" when one gives him money. Hmmm smart mahout i must say. I wonder how he managed it. I heard before this elephant, there was another one whom the mahout hurt by putting something in his nose in order to punish. The poor elephant too in fear and rage ran helter skelter and damaged few shops and homes around the temple. Many people were injured too. The mahout then ran for his life and never returned. For no fault of the elephant was punished and then taken away. I just hope not all elephant see this. Rest all the days were full of visiting relatives and going shopping with cousins and soon i was coming back. Though the few days i stayed was hectic, I had a great admiring the town growing to become a city soon. The scene, the warm people, the beautiful temples. It was then time to come back. My granny sent me so many things with me. Like i mentioned i went with 2 Bags but i was back with 7. Yes 5 boxes added to my list. But just as how excited i was to go to Udupi, thats how sad i was to leave it. I had a great time. Will always have fond memories as i leave to come back next in another years time.

Here are few of the snaps with my folks in Udupi. And while i was staying with my artist brother, i learnt photography from him too. So here are a few pics from my gallery :-)

Reservation... Re-visited !!!

I received a forward from a friend this morning and I thought I must share it with all...
Its a good one :-)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ET has opened a debate on "Is Premji right to go against job quotas in Wipro?"

As expected most of the posts agree with him...
Here is someone who put his pt in a very diff way.. :))

I think we should have job reservations in all the fields. I completely support the PM and all the politicians for promoting this. Let's start the reservation with our cricket team. We should have 10 percent reservation for Muslims. 30 percent for OBC, SC/ST like that. Cricket rules should be modified accordingly. The boundary circle should be reduced for an SC/ST player. The four hit by an OBC player should be considered as a six and a six hit by a OBC player should be counted as 8 runs. An OBC player scoring 60 runs should be declared as a century.

We should influence ICC and make rules so that the pace bowlers like Shoaib Akhtar should not bowl fast balls to our OBC player. Bowlers should bowl maximum speed of 80 kilometer per hour to an OBC player. Any delivery above this speed should be made illegal.

Also we should have reservation in Olympics. In the 100 meters race, an OBC player should be given a gold medal if he runs 80 meters.

There can be reservation in Government jobs also. Let's recruit SC/ST and OBC pilots for aircrafts which are carrying the ministers and politicians (that can really help the country...)

Ensure that only SC/ST and OBC doctors do the operations for the ministers and other politicians. (Another way of saving the country...)

Let's be creative and think of ways and means to guide INDIA forward...
Let's show the world that INDIA is a GREAT country. Let's be proud of being an INDIAN..

May the good breed of politicians like ARJUN SINGH long live...

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Caste-based Quota in IIT/IIM: Is it indeed for giving equal opportunities to all?

Well, You all might be knowing the latest news that has sent shock waves around the nation. Ya, the announcement made on On April 8 by our own Human Resources Minister Arjun Singh about the government's intention to reserve 49.5 per cent seats in all government-regulated education institutions like the IITs and IIMs.

This decision has become a boon to many Indians and to some, it has shattered their dream. Its gonna be tough dream for many who wanted to study in the prestigious colleges like IIT and IIM.
Even after toiling hard enough and scoring eminently, they might have to give away their seats to the ones who have not scored as high as them but are under the reserved category. How unfair is that!

Its true this might help the backward classes to get good education. But what about the well deserved. Is it fair to compromise on the standard of the scholars educated from these institutes ?

I totally disagree with the decision of have 49% reservation. I believe everyone should have an equal opportunity just like anyone else. Being backward does not entitle one to get this privileges. I believe, the government has been pretty lenient to the backward class till they graduate.

On one had they scream out loud they are equal, and on the other they are given privileges on being from the backward class. Why this discrimination? They are no longer underprivileged. What privileges do we as Open category citizens avail?

Higher education cannot not be ruled on basis of caste. It like a dream shattered for those "Open category" students who wish to fulfill their ambitions while the so-called-backward class smoothly get their way. Why should our nation compromise on the intellectuals the institution nurtures?


Many citizens who are from the backward class don't agree to this intended decision. You can check out:
http://cities.expressindia.com/archivefullstory.php?newsid=178098&creation_date=2006-04-15

Its been 50+ years since we have attained independence. A responsible citizen should be well equipped to make his way after a certain point. I feel, we must concentrate on other issues of the country like irradiating poverty and giving the underprivileged people like poor/illiterate/slum to get benefits like education than giving benefits on basis of caste to the richer society.

With the soaring fees, studying in an IIM is definitely an achievable dream of the higher middle class people. Let them earn those benefits on the basis of their intelligence and not caste.
The government should infact, boycott the concept of sub-caste like Open/OBC etc. Let there be no privileges on basis of caste. They should provide good infrastructure to all so that all get educated or at least primary education. Make rules to let the poor gain some benefits for good education. Provide good means of education to all classes of people who then on basis of their hard earned marks, get scholarships to get admissions into IITs and IIMs. Another alternative is that the government should start with the concept of providing "aid" to the students. Those who get higher marks can get benefits of aid and those with not so good marks can bear the cost. They could make slabs for how much to aid.

Why don't they try and empower India by irradicating poverty and making everyone literate than making rules which is not in the true interest of the country's gain ???

Why this casteism ???
Or Is this just another way to attract votes from the minorities ???

On a shopping spree ???

Shopping these days becomes more exciting when you shop in a Mall. You enter and the cool breeze of the AC makes you sigh with relief after coming from the Hot sun. I must say, Its getting so Hot these days... The cool temperature of the Malls are a definite welcome. Of course, Once you enter the Mall, you dont know from where to start. The various stalls display their branded collection making you wanna buy at least from one brand. The large space allows you to just wander about looking at the stuff displayed. If yYou dont like something from one stall go to next. From accessories to bags, shoes to clothes, kitchen items to decor items they have got them all. A small counter for fast-food is a must to have the customers hang in there for a while. Here in Pune, you'll find many malls like Shopper's Stop, Pune Central, Pyramids and many more..

I remember earlier if i had to go buy some good Tops, i had to have a look at most of the shops on MG Raod. Go to one shop, try out a few, don't like it.. no problem, there is another shop close by. You walk around, till you find the kinda top you've bin looking for. In doing this, I would have to spend some 3-4 hours in the Hot sun. Yet we were all very enthu to go and shop. U kept a whole day free for shopping. It would be have to be an event for the whole day.

Today the scenario has changed drastically. If i wanna shop now, I'd rather go to Shopper's Stop or some other Mall. Go from one wing to another. Mind you Its all AC so u find noone complaining. You try out all you wanna try and pick up the best. In the meanwhile you wanna buy something for you boy friend, just go to the next floor and voila, a whole floor dedicated for the guys. You can choose whatever you want. Then you wanna buy shoes for yourself just go to the shoes section. Oh you just remembered you wanna buy some groceries for home.. Dont worry there is a departmental store right here mam says the Shop attendant immidietly.The Food Bazar as they call it. You are all smiles again. So at one stop, you have done loads of shopping. You might spend the same time you would have spent walking to all the shopes as earlier. but this time you have shopped for more items and you are not sweating for God's sake !!! Ya, Thats the greatest relief.

I have noticed another thing.. Its the fashion every shop follows today. To display all the that the shop has for all. The customers take a look and pick up whatever they wanna buy. But this is pretty addictive as you tend to buy more than you really need or have come to buy. Let me explain.. I needed to buy a folder for managing some loads of official documents. I went to this stationary shop.. Big shop of 2 floors having all stationary items one requires. I not only found some good folders just like i required but found many more things. Some good pens, saw some colorful writting pads so picked up some of those for mom. Picked up a diary for mom and some files/folders for dad too! Hmm so i had bought things that i really dint need. A nice way to hyptonize customers to buy more ;-)

I must not forget to mention the not so pleasent incidents i have experienced.. Just yesterday, me went to this new shopping mall opened here in Pune. Its good as it as variety of items that they have for sale. The attendants were not there even after being there.. I mean, noone was there to actually attend to a customer. You had to search for one to ask them where are so n so kept or where is the trial room. The attendeants were not so helpful at all. After looking around for some time, I picked up some 3-4 tops which i liked after trying out some 5-6. I go to the cash counter to pay. I see a Big line there. The whole floor has just 2 cach counters. One for the men's section and one for women's section. Each couner has around 3 cmputers for attending to 3 customers at a time. But only one was functional. Why ?? Noone knows. They say the person was absent.. but can they not find a replacement for a day ?? :-
Anyway i stood in the line hoping my turn would come soon as there were just 2 more before me. But it was not so unfortunately. Some more people joined in the line from either directions and i was soon 6th and not 3rd as i thought. There was soon confusion among whose turn it was to pay next. In between all this, my li'l neice, a 4month baby was uncomfortable and all set to cry. She was hngry i gues but I did not wanna make her cry and so handed the tops i had selected to be kept back in its place.
Suggested the attendant that they should make some good arrangements for people soon than harassing them this way by making them stand in a line which would practically not shorten. Some systamatic way should be followed. I assumed she agreed to me from the look she gave.
So finally i was home without buying anything after spending some 2 hours. The mall definitely had some great stuffs but had very Poor management..

The rise in sale does not increase with just good items you have for sale. Customer service and their comfort plays a very important role.

Hmm A lesson for them to learn.. Maybe i can point them to this blog :-) I will earn some readers too!! what say ? :-)

My First Post..

Writing Blog has become more of a fashion today. Almost Everyone has a Blog. Everywhere u see, "You wanna know more about me, my likes, dislikes, my views... Check my blog at www.xyz.com". So I thought i must try my hands on it too. As a child i always wrote my views, feelings and my thoughts in a diary. But that was only for me. Today i plan to take my liking for writing to the next step. Writing for all to read! Since this is my first attempt, lemme start off with giving a brief introduction of myself.Myself, Shradha Nayak currently working as a Systems software engg. with IBM.

I did have a desire to write but reading all the wonderful blogs around, I felt mine would be the least interesting one. But then i had an alternative thought: why should i let it be the least interesting one around. I can work a li'l harder and make mine a good one too. For that All I need to do is approach the problem with an unbaised mind, read more about it, understand it and think from different perspectives and project my views. This will also force me to read regularly and also start thinking about whats happening around. Will help me get a platform to give my views. Will force me to be aware of all things happening around.

My friends keep writing and i was always impressed by there blogs. Being inspired by some of my great blogger friends, here i start on of my own...

So keep watching for more right here..