New Beginning (Yet Another)

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La vita è bella

This indeed is one of the best movies I've seen. Its a story about a father who uses his wits to save his son in a Nazi concentration camp and making the kid think the whole ordeal is a game. Its a touching take of humor, romance and fertile imagination. If you are expecting a review of this movie then I assure you you'd be disappointed reading further. If you are wondering then why the name as heading, let me tell you that’s how I feel about life right now. The Italian phrase in English means Life is beautiful. That’s what I keep telling myself nowadays. It gives me new energy... a fresh outlook towards everything I see and experience.

I felt my job was boring doing the same thing over and over again. Until I heard the cleaner boy (also my new Hindi speaking companion) tells his routine at work. He works 14 hrs a day almost 7 days a week. His job is to vacuum the floor before people come to work, refill the vending machine and make sure the washroom has enough tissue paper. He has been doing this for the last 2 years and yet I see him happily joke around with his fellow mates. The same is case with the restaurant boy who takes orders. He runs from table to table taking people's food orders and delivering them. He does this the whole day. I don’t see what excitement this job brings yet he does it with a smiling face. Life makes me realize its benevolence in form of these people.

Before I could sink myself in this thought I hear a voice from within asking "Why do you want to satisfy yourself with what you have? Why don't you want to put your potential to do something better?" I'm an insatiable person. I'm a victim of desire. I've grown up that way. To many this maybe a negative characteristic but to me this is driving force of life and the fuel to go the extra mile. I guess I'm too young to be satisfied with what I have. Theory of Karma in the thoughts of Dhirubai Ambani also reflects this. Everybody is born in a certain orbit. We may choose to live and die in the orbit we are born. But that would be a criminal waste of potential. It’s up to the self to push himself harder to next orbit. This would not only benefit us but everyone connected with us. Since the first time I read this I've started believing in these words unconditionally. As they say "A ship is safer on the shore but thats not whats its made for". Just like the ship, in life we too are made to encounter the roughness on our trail to reach the destination. Some sailors break away half way but some hold on and cash in on the right climatic condition. They pass the test of endurance.

Mind was caught between these two conflicting thoughts. When I was unable to find answers I decided to accept both. You need to strive hard to achieve more at the same time be thankful to life for what it has given me so far. I've been luckier than many people in getting a decent education. I wasn't the best of the lot in school or college. I think the purpose of education is to train the mind to think and I can safely say my education has given me that. Beauty of life is in the way we see it. Winners are those who are able to spot opportunities in adversities. It has been a wonderful journey from a kid playing on the streets to an engineer working for world famous brands. Looking at all those times gone by I realize how beautiful life has been and I believe theres much more life owes me!!

Marriage Invitation

I've always known it had to come some day and I guess it has come at the right time. It gives me great joy as I invite you to be a part of the biggest celebration of my life. I know it's a little sudden, but I think I've taken the right decision. I might not be able to invite you personally. This is straight from the heart, and I wish you come and grace the ceremony with your presence as I begin a new phase in life. We are giving a new name to the friendship we've shared. Shes the one I laugh with, dream with and live for. The invitation card and venue details are below.

Travelogue - Singapore

Last year I traveled to many places within Malaysia but none of it have been recorded. This year I'm making it a point to write down a memoir of the places I visit and would like to call it a Travelogue.

Singapore 25th, 26th, 27th Jan 08

This trip was purely a weekend break. I'm saying this because for many, a Singapore visit is most probably for attending an interview. It wasn't the case for me and I did this trip to break the monotony in life. Going to Singapore has been a plan that was missed many times. I decided to make this trip alone from KL this time.

On 25th morning 8:10 I boarded the train. The journey from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore took about 7hrs with rusty and not so clean coaches. The Malaysian Immigration Check happened at Johur Baru and the Singapore Immigration Check happened at New Woodlands. Both these places are separated by a river channel called the Strait of Johur which is about 20 min in train. During this time I met three people whom I would like to call my first Singaporean friends. They were single elderly Chinese people all in their 70s. It was nice to be around with them as they were friendly. They addressed me as "Son.."! It was only in fiction books have I read something like this. One of the ladies there was kind enough to travel with me and showed me the direction to the place I booked for stay. The place was called Inn Crowd.. a dorm for backpackers who were mostly traveling alone. I was the only one with brown skin there. I realized that the concept of backpacking is still not that popular in my part of the world as it is in the West. It was a mixed dorm with long rectangular room with layered beds. People from Australia, Germany, Netherlands, UK, Korea wake up in the same room. Friendly people greet you and ask about your day or share their travel ideas and tips in the evening. Karen Brown, who slept on the bed above mine, was from UK who was doing a trip around Asia. I found most of them there were doing round trips for months together at a stretch... I wonder where they get the time from! People become easily friendly at places like these. Late at night long conversations happens at the in house pub over pints of beer. Since I dont drink I didnt have the opportunity to know many of the inmates.

In the evening I roamed around Little India. This place has some lovely Indian restaurants, Indian temples and Indian shops. The famous Mustafa Shopping complex is situated here. If you plan to buy cheap souvenirs this is the place. There are a lot of sign boards that say 3 for S$10. I got my Merlion fitted with a watch at one of the shops there. Later in the evening met up with an old friend Praveen and had a sumptuous dinner. At 11:00 pm I went back to my dorm. It was quite common to see 4 legs in one bed in the night. The funniest part was that on the first night there, on a bed across me, I saw 2 legs but as I woke up in the morning I saw it multiplied to 4. The guy tells me that it was his girl friend.. whatever!!

The morning breakfast consisted of slices of bread and egg. In the kitchen we were to make our own breakfast. I enjoyed frying the eggs and toasting the bread. My friend called me and we decided to go to Sentosa Islands.

This is the only spot I know of in Singapore that can be called an entertainment spot. It's an Island that has beaches and many other attractions like underwater aquarium and colorful dancing fountains. Getting there was through a cable car.

It was a nice ride that gives an ariel view of the city and the harbour. Spent almost the entire day there listlessly walking around. It was very hot.

The best attraction according to me was the dolphin show. We couldnt make it to the dancing fountains which I heard later from an inmate that it shouldn't have been missed. In the night we had Chappathi, dal and Kabab for dinner at a hawker place to save money. It was a very hot day and I was completly drained out of my energy. Took a shower and went to the lobby to access the free internet fitted time sharing PCs. Went back to my room at 2 am after reading some travel magazines.

Next morning after breakfast I called my friend to take me around the city. We went to the Orchard road, spent time window shopping at a few popular malls. Then we took the tube to Esplanade and walked along the road around the riverside and Supreme Court. In the afternoon we went to the museum. There was a special display of Buddha's relics and artifacts found in his age. As I was hard pressed for time I had to leave the place within an hour. But there was much more to be seen there. We later went to the riverside and took some snaps of the city skyline. After that I had to head back to my Inn and collect my bag. I finally found an hours time to squeeze in to visit Chinatown. Chinese New Year is round the corner and I was sure the place would be colorful. The guard in the MRT station told me that it wasn't a good idea to do this as the the place would be jam packed when I asked him for directions. Nevertheless I decided to take the risk. I was quite certain that I wouldnt spend more than an hour there. Just as expected I found a human traffic jam there. People had to squeeze each other to move ahead. It was no different from the Chinatown in Kuala Lumpur.

I somehow managed to come out within an hour but had a tough time locating the bus stop to catch a bus to the railway station. By now I was starting to become tired and the bag on my back was slowly becoming a pain. It was now I met an interesting person named Priya. Priya was a Singaporean (roots back in Kerala, India) in her mid 20s with a boy-cut, glasses and an Economics book in her hand waiting for the same bus number as I did. I asked for directions to the railway station and a conversation quickly developed. We started talking about various topics from Singapore Law to Indian Economy and later started having a friendly banter on the kind of profession we were in. It turned out to be quite interesting as we found both of us were of the same wavelength when it came to humour. Her mannerism was something I liked as it reminded me of friend I had in Chennai. While I was about to get down.. she said "it was great to meet you" and the expressions on her face truly meant it. I thought to myself "well.. she just stole the words from my mouth". All this happened within a span of 20min. As I got off the bus and crossed the road I realized we hadn't exchanged our contact details. As I turned around and saw I could see her waving back by the window of the moving bus. Well somethings in life are meant to be like this.

Now for the final words on Singapore. Its a very small country (city) but very well planned. Infrastructure is very well organised and only a few countries in the world have been able to achieve this. There is a central system that controls everything and that makes it easier to manage without having too many cooks to spoil the broth. Their rule is democratic (British style). Its more like Kuala Lumpur except that it is more orderly there. Both places are concrete jungles except that in that part of the jungle there is law and that is strictly followed. Tall buildings are common here and this is to make up for the less ground space in the country.
My friend was asking if I didnt find any difference between KL and Singapore and my answer was NO! It would have probably been an YES if I had come to visit from India and things like these would have been new. The city lacks entertainment facilities. There are no natural resources like mountain ranges, forest or a river. Ofcourse there is a beach and a harbour. Most (not all) people are very friendly and helpful. Public transport can be a menace at times as more than 60% of the population is dependent on it. There is now an inflow of immigrants into that country and in my opinion it can spoil the existing law and order. It will also lead to deficit of resources. The prices of property and cost of living has sky rocketed recently. The place looks OK to live in now but if there is no check on the people entering the country then it will loose it glamour.

Singapore - Day One

At last I'm in the city which is claimed to be in one of the cleanest cities in the world. Eventually this happens to be the second county I've set foot on. Three elderly Chinese people (two women and one man) whom I met on the train would be my first Singaporean friends. One lady (aged 71) helped me get to the hostel as she thought I'd find it hard to look for it being new to their country. One thing I found here are that people are very friendly and helpful. There are lots I'd like to talk about my first day experience but I'm currently using a free time-sharing PC. But I'll make sure I'll fill my travel experience when I reach Kuala Lumpur.

Being here gives me a great feel as I was in love with the city long before I even saw it. After seeing I'm definitly not disappointed. I've lots more to see so will comment on it after that.

Looking Back..

Too many memories but too dont have the right words to articulate...