Remembering SWAMI

Today marks the 150th birthday of Swami Vivekananda. It is an honor that this great personality belonged to India. His contributions to India have been immense.

Swami was the founder of Ramakrishna Math. Later, he went on to become the founder of Ramakrishna Mission.
The mission performs extensive work in health care, rural management, elementary education and culture.
It has provided education to many rural children who, otherwise would have been deprived of it.

Swami was true 

"Education is the manifestation of the perfection already in man"




                                                  

It was Swami Vivekananda who traveled the country on foot to understand the country and its people. His speech at Chicago unraveled India to the world. 
Swami wanted to blend the culture and spirituality of our country and the knowledge of science and technology from the west for the betterment of mankind.

As part of the society, it is important for each one of us to contribute to a better tomorrow.

Let us all get inspired by this divine personality by recollecting what he once said

"YOU HAVE TO GROW FROM THE INSIDE OUT. NONE CAN TEACH YOU, NONE CAN MAKE YOU SPIRITUAL. THERE IS NO OTHER TEACHER BUT YOUR OWN SOUL."

HYDERABAD- HOME AWAY FROM HOME

Hello friends, I returned to Bangalore only a couple of days back. I had an amazing time when I was at Hyderabad. It was almost a decade since I had visited this wonderful place. I felt it was worth waiting for such a long time. I enjoyed every minute I spent in THE CITY OF PEARLS!!!

It all happened sometime in my 4th semester. It was normal tea-time talk at home. I asked my father if we could give a visit to Hyderabad the forthcoming holidays and he agreed to it. The tickets were booked to Hyderabad. From this moment I was totally excited about this trip.
My 4th semester came to an end. I got very little time for myself after exams to get out of the exam mood.(This semester was very hectic!)
The day to board the train finally came. It was after almost 2 years since I had boarded a train.(Frankly don't know why I hadn't been in train for such a long time!! ) The next day we were in the Hi-tech city Hyderabad.
We got down at the Kacheguda railway station and caught a rickshaw. The city had changed far and wide.
There were fly-overs almost everywhere and even metro work. I could hardly recognize this very city I had seen a few years back. It had changed a lot!!!

City of Hyderabad

On the first day we had planned to meet my father's colleague ( a close friend). After around 45 minutes from the guest house we reached their place. My father and his friend went on and on with their talks. My mother had her share of talks with aunty. I started a conversation with uncle's son. After a while we played few matches of badminton (played after a long time). Then a game of chess. Then came the sumptuous Hyderabadi lunch!!! We almost got set to leave. It started drizzling. The rain only got heavier with time. There were no signs of it stopping. Amidst the rain, we decided to visit the locality in which we stayed during the time we stayed in Hyderabad. I was happy to recognize few places near my old home. I just got a glimpse of our home from outside. We couldn't go inside as it was raining and quite late. It however made me nostalgic. We visited a couple of my father's colleagues' homes in the neighborhood. My friend recognized me. We had a long chat. I wanted to meet other friends but it was almost 10 p.m. We had to leave. It was still raining. I was totally exhausted by the time I got back to the room. It left me with many more happy memories.

RAMOJI FILM CITY

It was still drizzling in the morning. We had planned to visit Ramoji Film City. On the way to Ramoji, we visited a couple of temples- Ashtalaxmi temple and Sanghi temple.
After we entered the film city, we went to the stunt show.

STUNT SHOW AT RAMOJI

Then "The Spirit of Ramoji" show which was quite excellent. The 3D ride was just awesome. It cannot be explained. It can only be felt. After lunch we went to movie making show. I learnt quite a lot in this. Then the train ride. After this a few fun games. The main part was still left. The ride in the special ramoji bus.
I got a seat for myself right in the front. We saw the brindavan gardens, japanese gardens, london street, Raj darbar and what not. We visited so many places in just few minutes. The guide explained how these places are put to best use in the movies. Soon after we got down from the bus it started drizzling. Some places couldn't be visited. I managed to get few snaps in the rain before leaving the place.

FILM CITY AFTER RAIN

FILM CITY

The third day had many things in store for me. The plan was to visit a temple and a mythological museum.
It started of as per the plan. After a 2 hour drive, we visited the Yadagirigutta temple. We got the darshan of Lord LaxmiNarasimha Swamy. Then visited other temples in the vicinity.
After lunch we went to Surendrapuri. The mythological museum here is just superb. No words can describe it. Ramayana, Mahabharata and many other mythological stories were depicted in the form of statues.( Hats off to the great work) The museum had more than around 370 scenes. I feel everyone should visit this awesome place atleast once.

MYTHOLOGICAL MUSEUM AT SURENDRAPURI

Then we drove back to the city. I wanted to visit the Lumbini Park which a famous tourist spot. As time permitted, we could give a visit. Then the boat ride to the center of Hussain Sagar which has a Buddha statue. It reminded me of the times I came to this park so often during my childhood.

CENTER OF HUSSAIN SAGAR, BUDDHA STATUE

I had asked my school friend Sudhanshu for a meetup. I had waited for this for a long time. I recognized him with his 2wheeler. After an eye contact, he recognized me. The long wait ended with a hug. We decided to have dinner together with few of my other old school friends. He did all the planning of calling the friends and arranging everything. I met my other friends. Everyone had changed so much. We had changed from little kids to mature teenagers. We spoke a lot. We had so many things to share with each other. The supper was just perfect.(Hyderabadi) The food was very tasty. It still makes my mouth watery. These people stay at different parts of the city. I would like to thank you guys for having made time to meet me- Sudhanshu, Anith, Jainesh. You guys have left such sweet memories in my life which will be cherished for time immemorial.

WITH MY HYDERABAD SCHOOL FRIENDS

 The 4th day started quietly. I was still thinking about the awesome time I had the previous day.
We had made plans of visiting the old city of Hyderabad and the most important Charminar. After a half hour ride we visited the old city. The roads here are quite small. Its a perfect place for shopping.(for the ladies)
My mother shopped a little before we finally reached Charminar. The public could go to the 1st floor which was closed during the time I stayed there. So it was wonderful experience. The view from this monument is too good. Then we went to Mecca Masjid and soon after left the old city.

VIEW OF THE CITY FROM CHARMINAR

VIEW OF CHARMINAR FROM MECCA MASJID

The time to leave the city was fast approaching. The packing was done. We reached the railway station in next few minutes. I got the news the results were out. I had done much better than i expected.

It was only a few minutes before the train left. I felt my dream of visiting Hyderabad was finally fulfilled. This trip was just perfect. I couldn't have asked for anything more. It left a whole lot of happy memories in my life. Hyderabad for me is HOME AWAY FROM HOME

Life in hyderabad!!!

Hyderabad has been one of the beautiful places I have seen in my life.
I still cannot believe I spent 3 years of my life there. I would like to bring out some of my experiences in Hyderabad through this post. (Not all because this happened almost 8-9 years back!!!)

My father was transferred to Hyderabad. Our whole family had to shift to Hyderabad.
We were still searching for a good house. We could not find one soon. Moreover, my school was about to start soon. So, we occupied a house close to my school. My grandmother joined us almost a month late after we shifted to a new house.
The thing that always amazed me about Hyderabad was the name given to its different streets- Narayanaguda, Kachiguda, Domalguda, Chikkadpally, Kukkadpally and many more funny names. When I first heard them I burst out laughing loudly.
Some of the places in Hyderabad are amazing- Tank bund, Ramoji Film City, Birla Mandir, Lumbini Park, N.T.R. Park and many more.

Our new house had a river flowing behind it(which didn't look like one though) which was named Musi river.
One morning, when I was deep asleep, my mother woke me up. I was astonished to see the Musi river flooded. This was the time when floods occurred in Hyderabad. The current in the river was very high. I still remember people on the other side of the river crying aloud as their houses were carried away by the river. The sight of a house falling and being carried away by the river is very much fresh and green in my mind. It was a very sad situation and a pitiable one. All schools and colleges were declared closed for 3 days.
It took quite a while for all of us to get out of the situation.

I was very close to my grand mother(father's mother). She never ever scolded me in my entire life. She always told me nice and interesting stories. She always came to my rescue whenever my mother scolded me. My mid term exams of class 3 were nearing. One morning, my grand mother was hospitalized because of vomiting. The same afternoon she was struck by paralysis and she slipped into coma and passed away peacefully that evening.
All my relatives stormed into our house at Hyderabad. I was crying the whole day. I felt as though my life had come to an end. The last rites were performed. All my relatives left to their homes.
I was sad and plain for many more months to follow. No one in this world understood what big a hole was created in my life. My parents always consolidated me.(Tears are pouring down my eyes as I write this)

Life went on. My final exams of class 3 neared and finished in a hurry. I was still in grief. But I was becoming better day by day. My holidays came. My parents took me to Bangalore where I met my relatives. Then I went to my mother's birth place which is near Sringeri. I stayed there for a few days and then returned to Hyderabad. The incident was almost forgotten by now.
Class 4 began. Since I was not that good in Hindi as compared to my classmates, my mother forced me to join Hindi tuition and I had to. During my stay at Hyderabad I went to 5 different tuition centers.
In the mean time, I had made quite a lot of friends. I would play cricket and sometimes football almost everyday. I would always gaze at the clock waiting for it to turn 5.p.m as fast as possible as my mother would allow me to go and play.
Time passed on. Sankranti festival arrived. It is celebrated very grandly in this part of India. Varieties of kites add color to the sky through their presence. My parents also took me to a kite competition where kite fliers from different parts of India as well as from abroad came and took part in the competition.
Holi was the next festival to arrive. As all of you know, it is the festival of color. I thoroughly enjoyed it by getting myself totally coloured and also throwing coloured water at my friends. This is one of the best holi festivals I have had in my life.
By now I had moved into class 5. There was new subject(3rd language) which was to be taken this year. I chose Sanskrit as my 3rd language. It was a new subject which I really liked. I would like to mention my teacher's name - Shashi pandey as I scored a centum in my final exam in a totally foreign like subject.

CRICKET WC
The cricket fever was everywhere. It was the 2003 World Cup. I and my friends watched almost every match. If the match featured Indian team playing in it, then me and my friends would watch it together and support for team India.
It was then the final match. Team India had performed really well to reach the finals. All of us had made big posters showing our support. But it was a major setback to all of us as Team India suffered a heavy defeat in the last match.
Meanwhile my father was transferred back to Bangalore.
I had to leave my friends, my school and go. It was very tough. But it is all a part and parcel of life.

The fact that always hurts me is that we went to Hyderabad as a family of 4 and left Hyderabad as a family of 3.
I have not visited Hyderabad for the last 8 years. I hope to visit it at-least during this break.

I have put in my best effort to include all the incidents that happened in my  life during my stay in Hyderabad which was more like a dream!!!

rvce first year

One year has already gone by in rvce. I feel it was only yesterday that I joined rv. 
 The first few days of rv are still fresh and green in my mind.
It all started of with the inaugural function which had around 4000-5000 people. Then came the orientation program where I made a few friends. I came to know more about rv.

I still remember the first day at rv. The class was almost filled when I entered. I managed to get a seat for myself in the first row(as no other place was empty). I got to know my classmates better.
The first few days at rv went on smoothly. Then came the quizzes and the tests. These were a little different from normal ones. We were a little tensed to begin with as these would add to our final marks.(Now we have got adjusted to it)
The first semester flew by without much colour(except for the kannada sangha program).
Then came the final exam which was the first of its kind in rv. It was followed by the holidays which spanned almost a month which gave all of us enough space for a breather away from our busy schedule.

Second semester
The second semester was more fun filled. There were more fests and more fun.
We all got a first hand experience when we organised science fest Genesis-11.
I was part of the paper presentation event which was one of the main events of the fest. It went on well with a few hiccups here and there. But the fest was a huge success. The rain was like icing on the cake which poured heavily on that day.
One week later was the EC, TC, IS and IT fests. The fests were very well organized.
I took part in mock CAT event to get an idea of it. But it turned out to be much better as I made it to the top 6.
Even second semester came to an end with the semester end exam.

The last one year has been really nice. I have made a lot of friends. To name a few Sunil, Ranjan, Karthik, Reshma, Sushma, Raksha, Nair, Rohit and many more. (very sorry not to mention all of you)

I hope my holidays go on well. I will post one on that soon.