Posts

The Repatriation Ordeal In Corona Times

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The ordeal While we all are in forced lockdown without being able to travel and this can be frustrating, however believe me when I say traveling at these times is even more frustrating.  (photo for representation only) While I was happy to secure a flight home through "Vande Bharat Mission" repatriation flight after loosing my job in Dubai I was not really ready for the ordeal that was to come. The AirIndia Express flight to Chennai was at 1150hrs on 1st July. I have been one of the lucky few to get a ticket home in the 4th phase of Vande Bharat mission from Dubai to Chennai. In normal times a 2hrs or 3hrs pre arrival at airport would have been sufficient.  However these are different times and we came 5hrs before expecting too many formalities. The arrangement at Dubai terminal 2 was adequate. Social distancing well maintained with chairs spaced for seating, An initial rapid test conducted and a sticker on passport mentioning “FIT TO FLY” After this we were directed to c...

A Year to forget

Year 2020 came in silently into our life like a serial killer, no one would ever suspected what it had to offer. If you survive this medically, mentally or monetarily you should be happy. 2020 has hit everyone like a tsunami, and only a few will make it alive to remember this.   It has been only 6 months of 2020 yet the causality are very high. Like any other year it started with a New year well celebrated across the world, however the happiness was destined to last only a few days when the first few cases of corona were recorded in the Far East. It did not take long for this to spread across. Even those who thought this would be yet another flu that will be eventually cured and will not affect them had to change their mind when it gradually spread in Italy, Europe and the US. All the initial theories that it will slow down when the temperature soars also fell flat when the fatalities and people affected kept growing in numbers.   To a generation who are used to the mad rush a...

Addicted to Apple

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Am I being the Adam who ate the forbidden apple when I say I am addicted to Apple.  Being a staunch android user I have always believed apple was overhyped and kept on my love for android devices until I accidentally dropped my precious Huawei phone cracking its screen. Left with no choice had to borrow my wife’s iPhone 7+ which I though was a few days affair. However blame my laziness which prevented me from having my Huawei repaired and eventually led to me using the iPhone and gradually upgraded ito to a iPhone X and then a XS, in between these transitions I had to subconsciously move on to a Apple Watch and a MacBook Pro.  Things still seemed as if it was under control but not addicted and may not require any de-addiction or medication. However things got changed when I bought the iPad Pro 2020 recently for which I had to buy a magic keyboard and a Apple Pencil 2.  This is when I slowly realized how I was falling into the rabbit hole even without knowing it. So am I a...

Perseid Meteor Shower 2018 [Dubai]

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With Very high expectations and equal enthusiasm booked my Perseid meteor shower and stargazing along with my friend through the Mleiha Archaeological Center. I have always wanted to shoot start trails, Milky way and was hoping to get some nice shots. Being the first time ever to be shooting night skies did some hurried google searches to get tips on how to enable this shoot. As per the expert suggestions I packed my Tripod, Wide angle lens, intervelometer , extra batteries and storage card. The Mleiha archaeological center had arranged this stargazing with the beautiful backdrop of Mleiha fossil rock site which was an hours drive from our home to the Archaeological center reception and thereafter a bus would take us to the prearranged spot where there will be a presentation about the event and then we could have a look at some of the planets (Mercury, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn) through the telescopes they had setup and finally enjoy the meteor showers later on the night. The ke...

When Ego is a Good thing

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I am sure every one have heard about "ego" and it is the one three lettered dreaded word which no one wants to be associated with. "EGO" me...? Nah... But only a few might have actually heard about "ego search" and its not a path of self enlightenment where you search for your inner ego. It is not as bad as it might sound. Wikipedia actually  defines ego search as " Ego-surfing is the practice of  searching  for one's own name, or pseudonym on a popular  search  engine in order to review the results."   or put in simple words "Googling yourself" In fact its a good thing to search your name/nickname in Google and to analyze the first page results. Its indeed a proud moment to have google return pages related to you unless it is "content not suitable for all viewers". It is a great source of information about you. My search results usually is my personal homepage or a link to my LinkedIn profile or some post that sh...

When TGGT, TTGG

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Sorry for the riddle in the title however what it meant was "When the  going gets tough , the  tough get going" This is a very apt statement that portrays the current scenario in India. The past couple of years have been tumultuous for the people in India. Demonetization, GST, Beef Ban and what not. We were promised a " Achhe Din " (Good days ahead) not this. Political parties and their underlying politicians have plundered the country of what was left of the British and Moghuls invasion. Not pointing fingers any particular party but the fact remains that there have been greedy individuals who in the expense of the rest of the country had profited and accumulated wealth to last generations. While a very few shrewd ones grew irrespective of who was in power the poor where kept poor. Steering a vast country like India is a humongous task.  This can be related to a huge ship(like Titanic) which has been put in autopilot mode , the new captain a...

To Jallikattu or not

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Are age old traditions always a social evil or do they carry some hidden message ? Born in a country with vivid cultures and 23 constitutionally recognized languages you will find a different tradition every 50 mile you travel. But one intriguing question is whether these traditions were merely introduced for fun or do they have some deeper message. During the early 1800 there have been multiple peoples movement that aimed at abolishing few of these traditions as it was more considered as blind beliefs. Mostly fueled by western influence that knew that our culture is our identity and in order to defeat us these traditions have to be demolished. This continued into 1900 as it united people against the then British government. Post independence people realized that these traditions were part of their culture and their identity and it was not a good thing to forget. One such tradition being "Jallikattu" or eru thazhuvuthal or manju virattu practiced in the Indian state of Ta...