colors

Finally my blog got it's new year gift - a new dress! pretty, i guess :)

Yes, there has been a change from ripples to colors. Though my profile boasts of my presence in Blogs ville from October 2005, ripples was born in 2008. The blog was aptly named ripples cos it reflected the emotional instability in me. My words let out my frustrations. Maybe those frustrations or emotional turbulence did not reach you, but definitely I was relieved. A year with you have taught me so many new lessons. A year with you have definitely made me a better person. A better person with better perspectives. And now, its time to move away from all those frustrations and tensions. Today I share my moments with you. Today I share my day with you. Today I talk to my friends through this page. This page has gifted me so many wonderful friends. It has advised me when needed, teased me and comforted me in pain. This page has seen all the shades of my life this year. And hence I name it - Colors!

You might be thinking that the name and the body of the blog doesn't match! I say, it does! Lets compare this blog with your life. Lets look back. How many incidents in the past do you remember when you laughed with all your heart thinking that was the best time in your life? How many incidents do you remember when you cried bitterly thinking it was better to be dead or insane or at least immune? I am sure you could count them. At least I could. These are the shades that reflect in our blog. Moments which we cherish or which had some kind of effect in us. Those are the colors of my page and the long dark portion of the page reflects the forgotten life!

And so here we are towards the end of another year. Let me wish all my friends out here a very very happy New Year. I love you all. Take care.

wrapped in a new skin soon

Soon this page would feature a new template. I so want to wrap the new skin by 1st jan, but doesnt seem like i could make it. So all that I could say is that I would be doing that soon :)

Merry Christmas to all my visitors

a day out at the film city

It was 7 in the morning when my fascinating trip to Ramoji Fim City began. How better could I spent a holiday? The roads where busy cos it was a Friday morning and cabs were zooming in and out on every corner of the road. People rushing to their office! What an irony, i was looking forward for a relaxed holiday and people around me thought of the tiring workplace!At 9 we reached our destination! Long 2 hours journey, but I already got a feel that it was going to be worth the journey. It was my second trip to the place.

There were different entry packages and we could already see crowd storming in. The parking lot was filled with designer buses built specially to attract tourists. There was a bus in the shape of worm, another the shape of a bug, another a bee, then there were buses which looked like steam engines, and lot more. e took tickets for a privileged trip which promised us of a A/C couch, an exclusive guided tour and lunch+snacks. I should say it more than worth for the 850 INR that we pay. The ticket counter was at Gate # 1 and our guided tour starts from Gate # 2 which is full 8 km away from the first gate!

i found this statue on way between gate #1 and gate #2. Seems like its getting ready for a movie!

The guided tour was not new to me since its not the first time I am visiting the place. Our guide explained about various spots and we stopped at the Sun Fountain, Angel's Fountain, Eureka, Princess Street, Maya, Railway Station, Central jail, Rainbow Temple, Airport, South Town, Japanese Garden, Hawa Mahal, Boasura, Filmi Duniya, Action Stunt Shows and more.

About 80% of the structures that we see in the Fim City [which spans over 2000 acres] is made of Plaster of Paris. Many of these are detachable for changing the sets. The fountains are all made of plaster of paris and shows the creativity of the sculptor!

Princess Street: Can you believe that all these buildings are made of cardboard and plaster of Paris? :)

You could experience the grandeur of the Mauryan empire in Eureka.




the front gate to Eureka

You could even wander of the dusty roads of the Wild Wild West and witness a stunt show!




shots from the Wild Wild West Stunt show.

Borasura is the first of its kind in Asia. Enter the sorcerer's den to find the hidden treasure. but mind you, it isnt easy. You have to encounter fiery dragons, crawl throgh a snake's belly, and cross molten lava. There are mine shafts, and spider webs hampering your path. Not to mention the Paper's ghost. Designed by international experts, this is one experience you cannot afford to miss.

the fountains [angel fountain:left]

Travel around the world in Filmi Duniya. Its a whole new world made completely of Plaster of Paris and we travel through this world in small wagons! Behold the romance of Paris. Get a taste of evergreen England. Experience the drama of imperial Rome. Contemplate the majesty of the Swiss Alps. Stare in wonder at the mystical palaces of Bhagdad. Get swept off your feet by pulsating New York. Its one ride that will stay with you for a very long time!

the trip was really beautiful, trust me!

Action is part of Filmi Duniya where in they show us all techniques involved in making a movie! The magic of special effects, editing and dubbing with the help of chromo screens and the real "start-action-cut", everything is shown to us! They even select one among us and make a short movie on them! Its incredible, but I couldn't share the photographs! Cameras and Mobiles are strictly not allowed in here :(

sculpture of angels!










another mind blowing sculpture!










a replica of the famous jaipur hawa mahal!

this is the way to the hawa mahal. these lampshades are removable and once moved this road could be used as a highway [for movies]. Then they would replace the lamp posts with mile stones :)

another showpiece event happened at the Alampana Theatres. There were special performance by various artists and the program was named : " The spirit of Ramoji".

alright, last but not the least. food: we had lunch from the new restaurant. Its called the Superstar Restaurant. The walls over here are decorated with portraits of various super stars covering all regional languages. I found stars ranging from Mohanlal [malayalam] to Amithab Bachan [hindi]. The interiors were beautiful and food awesome! Next time you visit RFC, dnt forget to pay your visit to this place.

The snacks were served at another place named "DilSe". The food is average, but the interiors are good.

Finally a word about the games. There are a lot of games right from bungy jumping to many exciting rides. Anyone and everyone who is visiting Hyderabad and who has One Full Day to spare, do visit this place. You need a minimum of One day to see atleast a good portion of it. Thats it for now. Enjoy your day :)

For people who want to have a better view of the photographs, click on this link.

i, me, myself

After a series of serious and gyaan posts, i decided to write something about whats happening in my life these days! I am on Week off. For people who dont know - I work in shifts. I start my month with a night shift for a week [6 days]. This is followed by afternoon shift [5 days] and then morning shift for the third week [7 days]. The fourth week is off for me and this 7 days leave is named as "Week Off". 

Week off have always been boring for me. Yet I somehow look forward for this week every month. Maybe the lazybones in me gets too much aroused at the very thought of sleeping all day :-)

So how did I spent my days? 

Sunday I had a night shift. Obviously Monday I din see sunlight! Alright geeks, dnt ask me where the sun was when i returned home, the morning after a night shift could be called "late night" and not "early morning" :)

I saw the trailer of Transporter 3 from office and I was dying to see the movie. I thought that before I watch the movie I should refresh my memory and hence I downloaded Transporter 1. Since it was getting downloaded,my net became a lil slow, so din feel like sitting in front of the monitor. Went to a friends place, a friend who shares similar interests. Every time we sit together, politics would become one of the subjects of conversation and his wife hates it :P But then, she is too good a person cos she makes sure than I dont starve :-) When ever i am at home, I would get timely meals :-) thnx to sagu and sagu. I call my friend and his wife "sakhave" mallu for "comrade". "sakhave" later on became short : "sagu" :)so thats about them. I had dinner and went back to my place. The movie was still getting downloaded. I checked my mails and browsed through the blogs. Ah, Scrawler din comment on my comment :( 

Tuesday, I woke up early morning somewere around 12.30 pm.. Sun was too bright and there was no current :( Thankfully power was back as soon as I was done with my lunch. Transporter 1 has finally been saved. Watched the movie and started downloading Transporter 2. There was 1 mission to be completed this week: Cleaning the house ! Again the lazybones in me convinsed me to postpone the idea :-) Went for a small shopping. Came back, switched on my pc. Ah, i found some interesting mails.. ST, u guessed it right, its all about the hunt! :-) Spent the rest of the day at KM :-) Movie got downloaded by late evening. Watched it and then i switched over to blogs. In between I was online and chatted with few wonderful frenz.  I always wanted to create a profile in facebook! Finally I got it done. 

Wednesday, I put my alarm and woke up early. I was in the Cinema by 11 in the morning. There happen to be only two shows for Transporter 3. One at 11.30am and the other at 9.45 pm. Considering that its too cold at night, I thought 11.30 would be more reasonable! The movie was amazing as expected. The car, the chases, everything was mind blowing. Anyone who respects beautiful cars and amazing driving skills - go watch this movie. The feel that you get is beyond explanation. My bike sure went through the after effects. Some how I din see the gutters on my way back home :P Night was spent as usual - News, blogs, chat and mails. 

Thursday, I went to take some prints of my photographs. Seems like my dad got only a set of passport size photographs of mine, that too taken when I was doing my graduation! He din have any snaps to be shown to my prospective future in-laws :) My friend, mentioned earlier :"sagu & sagu" picked me up from the studio and we went to some of his realtive's house. Long day, but met a few other fellow mallu families settles in Hyderabad. Came back at late evening and slept hard. We had a plan for friday :-)

Friday, woke up at 6 in the morning. We planned to go to Ramoji Film City. A small intro for people who havnt heard about it. Ramoji Film City (RFC) is the world’s largest integrated film studio complex at over 2,000 acres (8.1 km2) of land. It is also a popular tourism and recreation centre, containing both natural and artificial attractions. It is situated near Hayathnagar on Hyderabad - Vijayawada, NH9 highway, about 25 km from Hyderabad. Guinness World Records certifies Ramoji Film City as the World's largest Film Studio Complex. Ramoji Film City offers pre-production, production, and post-production resources. It offers over 500 set locations. There are many gardens, authentic sets, about 50 studio floors, a digital film facility, the support systems, outdoor locations, high-tech laboratories, etc. The Film City's infrastructure includes custom-designed locations & mock-ups, set construction, properties & costumes, shooting stages, cameras and equipment, audio post-production, digital-post-production/SFX as well as film processing. Twenty international films and forty Indian films can be produced simultaneously in the complex. 

Thats for an introduction. I would talk more about the trip in my next post. Its gona be more of a photo post cos I have loadz of photos to be uploaded. Till then, take care. Have fun :)

mumbai, i stand with you

...

hatred souls, angels of terror,

balance insanity and brilliance,

oath takers, protectors, gaurdians,

dictates, whines then pleads!

unfortunate souls, the comon men,

wanders through the corridor of life

struggles, survives, dreams,

only to be killed by the unknown!

...

its time to react. its time to crush them. lets show the terrorists the real meaning of terror.

This is my contribution to this week's 3WW (Three Word Wednesday).

use your Right to NOT vote

I was listening to one of the common debates these days - should we blame the government?

Its we who elect them, then why on earth should we blame them? Valid point!

Now, what could be done? Choose your rulers wisely! sigh, the problem is right there! We chose someone from the lil lot we have! What if we dont like anyone who is competing? What if we consider every candidate a looser? What if all major political parties give us their worst people?

All these questions where running through my mind when I visited my friend. The answer was right there in his post.

So what is it?

As per the Conduct of Elections Rules, 1969 Act, in Section 49-O, a person can go to the polling booth, confirm his identity, get his finger marked, and convey to the presiding election officer that he/she doesn’t want to vote for anyone! 

As seen on a government site: 

ELECTORS DECIDING NOT TO VOTE

41. If an elector, after his electoral roll number has been duly entered in the Register of Voters (Form 17A) and he has put his signature/thumb impression on that register, decides not to record his vote, he shall not be forced or compelled to record his vote. A remark to the effect that he has decided not to record his vote shall be made in the remarks column against the entry relating to 116 him in the Register of Voters by the Presiding Officer and the signature or thumb impression of the elector shall be obtained against such remark under rule 49-O. It shall, however, not be necessary to make any change in the serial number of the elector or of the succeeding electors column 1 of the Register of Voters.

If you think none of the candidates at the ward / constituency are able enough to lead the community, you can always opt not to vote. If you will use this right of yours you may start a new trend in our electoral process, which will further strengthen our democracy.

How does it help?

In a ward or constituency, if a candidate wins, say by ’xyz’ votes, and that particular ward has received "49-O" votes more than 'xyz', then that polling will be cancelled and will have to be re-polled.Not only that, the candidature of the contestants will be removed and they cannot contest the re-polling, since people have already expressed their decision on them. This would bring fear into parties and hence look for genuine candidates for their parties for election.

So next time its election, do visit the polling booth. India's future is in out hands.. Show the political parties that its WE, THE COMMON PEOPLE, who elect them and put them to power. Their strength is OUR faith in them and will power. Its time WE take a decision, for our own good, for the good of the nation. Use your rights.

out of words...

i am out of words.. let the pic speak for itself..

pic courtesy : Serenegurl's blog

...

all in the name of democracy

Bridge blast kills 5 Indian police officers

Suspected communist rebels blew up a bridge in India's restive east Tuesday, killing five police officers who were escorting election officials. Officials from India's Election Commission are in the region to hold polls for the state legislature. The rebels, who claim to be inspired by Chinese revolutionary Mao Zedong, have been fighting for more than two decades in several eastern Indian states.

Plan to cut fuel prices sparks row

Bowing to in-house political pressure, the government is set to reduce motor fuel prices by Rs 5 a litre for petrol and Rs 3 for diesel after the current round of assembly polls are concluded. The announcement immediately led to howls of protest from BJP and UPA's former ally, the Left, who said this was a form of "appeasement'' when state elections were still in progress. BJP threatened to move the Election Commission on the matter. 

Grenade blast kills 1,injures 40 in Indian Kashmir

Suspected Islamic rebels attacked a pro-India party candidate with a hand grenade on Tuesday in the Indian portion of Kashmir, killing one of his supporters and wounding three others.The attack occurred while Ganaie was campaigning for elections in the Indian portion of Kashmir.This was the first attack by suspected rebels on a candidate after staggered voting for the state legislature began Nov. 17.

Violence rocks key India election

The beginning of a crucial round of state elections in India has been marred by outbreaks of violence. Maoist rebels have snatched voting machines, kidnapped polling officials and set off a landmine in the central Chattisgarh state.The police say that they have had gun battles with rebels in at least six places in the state. The election is the first in a series of votes that may determine whether the government calls an early general poll. 

solitude hurts? are you a loner?

The world today is running away from what is known as loneliness. They are scared of being alone. They complain that no one's listening. They put the good old words "Man came to this world alone, they go back alone" in banner. They contradict themselves many a times. Somehow I got a feel that many are confused about how they feel. 

So my questions are:

 

1.] Are you scared of Solitude?

2.] Have you felt or feel loneliness?

Keep the answer in mind before reading further. You don't have to publish those answers, its just for clarity of thought before the lecture :-) So now that you have asked yourself these questions and have got the answer, lets see what I have to say. Before I start let me confess : many words stated below [or the idea] are taken from publications, reference journals, and philosophical or medical websites. 

If you thought whats the difference between Solitude and Loneliness, these words are for you. The two terms are often used interchangeably. Externally, solitude and loneliness look a lot alike. Both are characterized by solitariness. But all resemblance ends at the surface. Loneliness is a negative state, marked by a sense of isolation. Solitude is the state of being alone without being lonely. It is a positive and constructive state of engagement with oneself. Solitude is something you choose. Loneliness is imposed on you by others. Solitude restores body and mind. Loneliness depletes them.

Lets look at both the terms from a wider angle.

Solitude is a state of seclusion or isolation, i.e. lack of contact with people or love. People may seek physical seclusion to remove distractions and make it easier to concentrate, reflect, or meditate.Emotional isolation is a term used to describe a state of isolation where the individual is emotionally isolated, but may have a well functioning social network.

Loneliness is a feeling where people experience a powerful surge of emptiness and Solitude. In their growth as individuals, humans start a separation process at birth, which continues with growing independence towards adulthood. To experience loneliness, however, can be to feel overwhelmed by an unbearable feeling of separateness at a profound level. This could give birth to feelings of abandonment, rejection, depression, insecurity, anxiety, hopelessness, unworthiness, meaninglessness, and resentment. If these feelings are prolonged they may  prevent the affected individual from developing healthy relationships and lifestyles. Loneliness in many a times a temporary consequence of divorce or the breakup or loss of any important long-term relationship. 

Loneliness can be summarized as falling into these categories:

Situational / circumstantial - loss of a relationship, move to a new city

Developmental - a need for intimacy balanced by a need for individualism

Internal - often including feelings of low self-esteem and vulnerability

Loneliness can evoke feelings of that 'everyone else' has friends, or that one is socially inadequate and socially unskilled. A lonely person may become convinced there is something wrong with him, or that no one understands his situation. Such a person may feel reluctant to attempt to change or to try new things. In extreme cases, a person may feel a sense of emptiness, which may become a state of clinical depression.

Now that you know the difference between Solitude and Loneliness, the cause of the emotion and the effect, ask those two questions again. I just wish your answer for the first and the second is NO. If its Yes, just realize the fact that your smile and your tears are a reflection of your strength and your fears! Know yourself and you would be happy.

Keshi, if you read this, know that I miss you. This blogger world miss you. Dont take too much time. Come back soon.

stolen tag!

alright guys.. ive never done a tag in my life. however, i managed to steal a tag from mads. So here it is.

Rule: You people have to fill this questionnaire in the comments section.

1. Who are you?
2. Are we friends?
3. Something I have and YOU want?
4. Give me a nickname and explain why you picked it.
5. Describe me in one word.
6. What was your first impression of me?
7. Do you still think that way about me now?
8. What reminds you of me?
9. If you could give me anything what would it be?
10. How well do you know me?
11. How do you see me in the future?
12. Ever wanted to tell me something but couldn’t?
13. Are you going to post this in your blog and see what I say about you?

For my answers to mads:

1. Who are you?

destiny to many who dared to include me in their life :-)

2. Are we friends?

not yet. but we sure are no enemies! 

3. Something I have and YOU want?

yet to find

4. Give me a nickname and explain why you picked it.

chulbuli! i dnt know, thts what came to my mind when i thought of a nickname!

5. Describe me in one word.

ill take two words : familiar stranger

6. What was your first impression of me?

Smart and Beautiful. Thats a merge of "Smart and Sexy" & "Bold and Beautiful" :-) 

7. Do you still think that way about me now?

of course 'cos i am still at the door step!

8. What reminds you of me?

it better be who! When ever i read Nidhi, I visit you and Peter :-)

9. If you could give me anything what would it be?

time

10. How well do you know me?

i dont even know your name! :-) 

11. How do you see me in the future?

you'd be laughing at me refering to this comment! nidhi, her family, peter, his family, other friends and family would join you along with your hubby and kids. My kids too would join the laugh and my wife would be jealous of me for the friends i made on this very blogsville! dream indeed :-)

12. Ever wanted to tell me something but couldn’t?

maybe a lot of things

13. Are you going to post this in your blog and see what I say about you?

i guess yes

you guys could post this on your blog [follow template] and I would comment my thoughts on you there :-)

not tagging anyone by name cos I really dont know who would have time for this :-) time is sure a luxury these days!

Troubleshoot your McAfee Security Centre

Caution: This is gona be a technical post. I thought of writing this cos I wasted close to 5 hours fixing this issue and I din find any docs online to help me with the steps.

Today my desktop greeted me with a warning msg. My McAfee icon was blinking red. It says "the detection signature is old" and when i try to fix it, it says " Update error. please re-install McAfee Virus Scan Plus". I took close to five hours to fix the issue. So this post helps people out there who has a McAfee account to fix their problem in minutes.

this post assumes that the date and time of your computer is correct

Nature of the problem:

Error Msg: the detection signature is old.

You try to "fix" the issue, but the button "fix" refuses to obey you.

You forcefully download updates, but you are greeted with more error msgs.

Remedy:

1.] Try fixing the issue with McAfee Virtual Technician. You could download it here.

if it does not work:

1.] Right click on the M icon near your system clock and select updates. 

If it throws another error msg as follows:

1.] Make sure you have registered yourself with McAfee online. This happens during first installation.

2.] Restart your computer. Ths makes sure no program sessions are running in the background.

3.] Go to "Add/Remove Programs" in your Control Panel and remove McAfee.

4.] Restart your computer.

5.] Download MCPR.exe from here. MCPR is McAfee Consumer Product Removal tool.

6.] Run MCPR and restart your computer.

7.] Login to your McAfee account and download DMSetup.

8.] Run DMSetup and update your detection files.

if the download pages throws you an error msg "page cannot be displayed" or "unresolved dns" or "broken link", it means that you need to edit your driver file.

1.] open command prompt [start->run->cmd]

2.] type in "drivers". hit enter

3.] open the folder named "etc"

4.] open the file named "hosts" using notepad.

5.] it would have lot of commented lines and "127.0.0.1       localhost" towards the end of the file.

6.] Below "127.0.0.1       localhost" add the following =>

128.241.218.66  download.mcafee.com

128.241.218.75  download.mcafee.com

7.] save and close the file.

8.] flush your dns addresses and renew your ip.

9.] you are good to go!

hope these would help all those who uses McAfee Security Centre.

were are you?

i tried to sleep. i felt all alone. darkness all around me.

How I wish I had some one near, who would kiss my forehead and heal all my pains. Some one who would hold my hands and show me the world. Some one whose smile would take away my worries. Some one whose warmth would make me sweat. A kid, a friend, a philosopher, a lover, a cook, a financial adviser - all in one. A support which I really need. Some one who make me realize my inner self. The one who would prove that I was incomplete all this while. My inspiration, my support. I wish you were here today. I need your warm hug!

i tried to sleep. i felt all alone. darkness all around me.

her comment brought grace to my words. thnx Sen.your words are beautiful :

It is darkest before the dawn,

This is known to every doe and fawn,

Hang in there, for god has a plan

For the whole universe and above all for man!

This I believe in for his love is true...

My wish is, may all your dreams come true!!!

- sen

..

transformations

Disclaimer: The images used are obtained from google images. If any of the image used breaches any copyrights, kindly let me know and the image would be promptly changed.

Big wide eyes. We see this world with curiosity. Vibrant colors, fun and excitement around us. Strangers fight for our attention. Dad's day long tensions are relieved on a glimpse of our smile. At times he make faces! He is definitely jealous 'cos mom gives more attention to us. Days were short and nights were long. Everyone were at our disposal They would do anything just to see us smile!

We got a new home called school. Our day starts with a fight over breakfast and milk. Mom transforms to a superwoman with eight arms and legs => she cooks, cleans, helps us with our bathe, uniforms, lunch boxes, homeworks, helps dad with the same other than homeworks :) helps herself, all in no time! Morning bells, inspections, prayers - God knows if I really meant what I prayed! "Oh God, father of mankind..." oops I forgot the prayer! Wait for the intervals always seemed long! Moral Science class was the best 'cos our teacher used to tell us stories. Highly skilled games like "book cricket", "name-place-animal-thing", "pen fight"made us busy all day. During intervals we ran and ran and ran until our white shirts became either brown with all the mud in the ground or red with our own blood! The best days in our life - energy was at its fullest and we din meet ego - not then!

 

Career - One word which screwed our happiness. Life became more or less mechanical. We woke up early morning, went to tuition, went to school/college, studied and slept. We were surrounded with books - text books, note books, guides, model test papers, answer keys and what not. Dad and mom had nothing else to talk. Suddenly they were interested in the first rank holder of the class. Comparisons were done with the girl next door.Saddest part => our neighbour always has more marks than us! How we long to go back to our childhood, to play in the rain, to fight for a coffee bite, to just be a child!

Definition of friendship changes. Our childhood friend with whom we used to roll on mud, who shared our laughter, who was one in the family, suddenly looks "gorgeous", "handsome" or simply put "hot"! Infatuation plays her magic on us. "Love" is the keyword. Status "Single" is considered as sin. Love is often interpreted as lust and romance as sex. Imaginations and creativity finds new heights. A kiss or a hug becomes status of pride. Oh you thought its childish? We call it generation gap! You still live in 16th century, we are old enough to talk about sex!

Love is born. The world seems to be a better place to be in. You love the raindrops, the rainbow, slow music tracks and even humming of birds. You blush when he gives you a compliment. Suddenly you feel there is someone in this world for you. All these days you were alone, waiting for this very one! Why din he/she meet me earlier? Possessiveness and love are twin sisters. Ego and possessiveness are best friends. Ego admires fight and their relationship gives birth to pain. Maybe that's why love and pain have more or less same market share! Even if love brings in pain at times, trust me, love is magical. The very thought of having someone whom you could hug in both smiles and tears is magical. Silence shared is pure. The very touch of your love could heal your pain. Don't believe me? Experience it. One word of caution for all those who are expecting to experience love soon => if you start hating someone you love, your worst enemy would seem more friendly! its the risk attached with love. Ask me, its worth taking the risk. If you succeed, there is nothing like it. If you fail, you learn a lot. Its a win-win situation. You either become a lover or a philosopher :-)

Alright guys, i lived till here. You and I grow together. Pay regular visits. Maybe after ten years I would consider writing about family, children and responsibilities under the header "transformations -2"