Holiday Season!

So things have become very hectic of late. What with Christmas events, New Years parties and lots of people on holiday who need to be fed HungryBangalore has been off the hook! It's my first such experience with the company and I hope there'll be many more. Right now our focus is on the New Years parties such as

• XTASY 2009 at the Lalit Grand with DJ Clitus and Rohit Barker @ Rs 4000/couple
  
• Magical Starry Nyt produced by Eventspace at Ruppi's resort with RJ Prithvi


• Fusion ghazals and music in the soothing atmosphere at Gufha


• Guhantara, one of a kind cave resort, presents DJ Andy rocking the underground resort all night!

You can log on to the hungrybangalore website for all the details and even to book them. That's what's making things so hectic as we are doing online ticketing for many parties and so we have to shuffle queries for numerous completely different types!

It can get confusing to remember who has unlimited drinks, who has which DJ, who is having fireworks and so on! However one thing is that we had expected things would be a little quieter this year due to recent events, but the good news is that people are not so easily disheartened and there are just as many, and if not more, places to party and bring in 2009!

To round it off, if the enthusiastic response from people to our New Years listings is anything to judge by, I have a great feeling about the way 2009 is going to shape up!! :)

Ambulance drivers

We complain soo much about Bangalore traffic. How tiring, frustrating, etc it is. Now, lets imagine all of this from the point of view of the ambulance driver. In our case, we lose some time, some energy, and add some frustration. In the case of the ambulance driver, its a life at stake. If for no other reason, all those crazies out there breaking lights, and taking u-turns which end up blocking the entire road, should at least think twice.

Many times I've been stuck in a jam and somewhere behind me I can hear an ambulance. I start freaking out, I really can't stand the thought of an ambulance stuck somewhere. The problem is that the jam extends pretty far to a signal somewhere ahead. And those people can't hear the ambulance. I think we need some kind of a signal. For example a relay of 3 beeps and 1 flashing light or something. That way if I hear the ambulance I can pass on the message to the car in front of me and so forth, until it reaches the front of the jam, and then we can start making way for the ambulance.

I understand this requires a certain amount of education for the drivers (including trucks,buses, etc) but if we give it a shot, and even one person has a better chance, isn't it worth it? And I'm sure theres tons of finetuning that can be considered. Maybe I have no idea of already existing methods in place - for example radioing the police - but obviously, based on simple observations, this isn't working.

I must commend the latest government initiative for round-the-clock ambulance services. All you have to do is call 108. toll-free. All the ambulances have state of the art GPS and GIS systems to help locate the scene of the accident/issue easily. At this stage, 66 ambulances covering 5 districts have been launched, and many more are promised to be on the way.

It's good to know that, however late in the day, there's at least a beginning..

Off and On

I think I've already mentioned that I'm one of those people who in my personal life has trouble following through with extra-curricular activites. Either I allow work to invade my free time, or I just get lazy because my free time becomes very limited.


Fitness is one of the things I've tried the most number of times off and on. I've joined numerous gyms, gone jogging in the park, and even a dance class. Unfortunately none of these manages to last more than a few months...!


However, I don't give up easily either! I'm now embarking on yet another gym, although this one is of a different nature then normal. It's called Contours International and is a womens only gym. You can't do the normal routine here, in fact they have a very specialized circuit. There are about 10 machines spread out in a circle with bouncy mats between each.


The bouncy mats are for different aerobics routines. Each station is meant to be done for only 45 seconds, and then you "Change Station", as the lovely women in the music says.



When I first was doubtful about this, the trainer told me that, aside from the fact that your body needs a good mix of aerobic acivity along with the machines, the main thing is that since you do one exercise only for 45 seconds, your focus and intensity is very high.


Before and after the circuit of course, its important to stretch and do some warm-ups and cool downs. But generally, I'm quite excited by the concept. The time really flies when you're doing the circuit, and my currently sore muscles are telling me that it must be atleast somewhat effective! This is my extra add-on for the week and I'm hoping I manage to make this a routine. In the meantime I'll try to research a little on the benefits of this kind of routine vs the normal gym workout, or just running in the park!

High School Diploma

My father is in the foreign service which means that my family moves country every three years. Most people generally react by saying how cool it must be, etc. I have to agree that for the most part it really is. It's amazing to see so many places, and to become immersed in so many different cultures at a very young age. The exposure is immense. However a lot of these sentiments are expressed in hindsight, because at a young age, the feeling of constantly leaving your home and all your good friends is gut-wrenching. Nowadays my friends all know people from when they were in kindergarten and I think thats just amazing.

I finished high school from the Damascus Community School (DCS) in Syria. Syria is an amazing place. Damascus is the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world, and the monuments and history is astounding. The charm of the old city is beautiful and can really transport you back to another world. However, it was also an extremely closed country, which refused any western influences. For example there was only one movie theatre in town and it would never show any western movies. There were none of the typical fast food joints or imported soft drinks. We didn't have Coca-Cola, rather it was Mandarin Cola! Not Kentucky Fried Chicken, but Kuwaiti Fried Chicken!! Any time one needed a change, we could go across the border to Lebanon which was in direct contrast. Many consider Beirut to be a mini-Paris, although unfortunately there are continous political problems.

Needless to say most of our activities in high school centered around the school itself. There were not many exciting places to go, although we loved our usual haunts, and so we were all very involved in extra-curricular activities at school ranging from fine arts to academic games to soccer. DCS really was a second home, if not first!, to many of us. The teachers were mostly young and therefore it was easy to be very comfortable around them and with none of the hierarchy witnessed in Indian schools.

I graduated from DCS in 2003 with castles worth of memories and why I'm writing this is as a tribute to the those memories. The school closed down one month ago, although I'm hoping not permanently. Tensions between Syrians and Americans had escalated and as DCS was american run, due to safety concerns it became necessary to evacuate the school and move everyone elsewhere. When we were studying there, we often had evacuation drills wherein we would all line up and leave the premises to the nearest shelter in the case of increased hostility or any bombing, but I don't think anyone expected it to reach this stage. This is just another example of how in a world where communication is becoming so much easier and understanding of cultures can be found at a few clicks of Google search, people are creating larger and larger distances.
One would expect that the breaking of so many physical barriers would help us to become one and to understand each other better, regardless of religion, culture or geographic location. However it seems that we are creating new issues for each barrier that is broken by technology and innovation. Unfortunately I cannot see the solution to this, except that we must find ways to unite. Tragedies like what happened last week in Mumbai show us exactly what terror can be on a large scale. Every region in the world is facing problems, whether it be signified by the fact that my high school diploma is from a school that no longer exists, or that even the best 5 star hotels in India are not invulnerable.

This is a time to build strength and networks, and not to blame specific factions or countries who may be involved, otherwise tomorrow truly may never come. Let's look towards the future and a world where faith in each other will one day be enough.