Vasanth Vaidyanathan's Blog

When I went to Goa last month to attend the STC India Conference, I stayed in a heritage hotel in Panjim. Heritage hotels are typically old, palatial houses that are renovated and maintained. These hotels have large rooms and winding wooden stairs. All the rooms have antique wooden furniture. These are polished and well cared for. It is a pleasure to stay in these hotels. The approach to these hotels too are through small streets dotted with innumnerable churches and houses.

Take a look at the antique furniture and renovated rooms here.

I wanted to break free today. I wanted to create and live in my own world. I wanted to make new friends. I went to "second life" and created an account for me. I downloaded and installed the second life client. I selected my "avatar". I even accepted the terms and conditions. I browsed through the second life guide. I wanted to make the most of my second life.

But, second life wouldn't start. It just crashed. I realized I was getting late to work in my first life :-) I will go back this evening to find out what happened.

1600

My blog had over 1600 hits yesterday (that is on a single day). That's my highest so far. A significant landmark for me. This screen was captured when the count hovered around 1540.

Come October, Dussehra or Navratri is celebrated with great fervour. One of the aspects of this festival is the neat arragement of dolls in 3, 5, 7, or 9 (odd numbered) steps or shelves - called "Golu" or "Kolu". These dolls are mostly idols of Gods. The clay dolls are removed once a year from the attic, cleaned, and then arranged in the shelves. They are a pleasure to look at. Special "pujas" are performed every evening, for nine days, during the festival in front of the golu.

Wish you all a very happy and fun-filled diwali. Diwali is not any ordinary festival.

It is a time for families and friends to get together. It is a time to reflect on life. But here is the fun part: unlimited sweets, crackers, and new clothes. The excitement of Diwali was so much in us when we were kids that we could not sleep the night before Diwali! Several movies are "released" on this day and there are non-stop TV programs for those who prefer to stay back home.

Movie release poster for "Vel"

It can be very costly to commute within Goa. The auto-rickshaws and cabs charge as they wish. But if you can drive a two-wheeler (as in motorcycle or scooter) or a four-wheeler (read car), then you don't have to worry. You can hire a scooter for about Rs. 200/- for 24 hours. Just fill in petrol and you are ready to zoom. You can explore Goa at your own pace. You can drive several miles along the coast. You can also drive through narrow lanes of old Goa. This is the most cost-effective option I can think of, unless you are ready to walk!

When you check into a hotel in Goa, remember to ask for the phone number of the person who gives bikes or cars for hire. 

Why low cost airlines are such a value for money?

1. Lot of airtime. You get to spend twice the time in the flight than what you paid for.
2. Good time at the airport. You get to spend a lot more time waiting. You get to wait in world-class, air-conditioned comfort.
3. If you have gold class or club credit cards, you also have access to the lounge (and probably free beer).
   
4. You get cheap or free wi-fi connection. So, you can catch up with your friends (and tell them you are at the airport).
   

I know my fan club is very disappointed :-)

I have not been blogging for the last 10 days. I was out of station most of these days. I was in Coimbatore for 3 days and then attended a conference in Goa. I hope to share my experiences in Goa with you all very soon! So, bookmark this page...

"Java" and "containers" are not just restricted to Sun. These "Java containers" are freely available in the market.

I want to capture the images of a small temple town that I visited last week (Shirdi). I was reminded of RK Narayan's Malgudi - narrow streets, shops lined up on either side, temple at the end of every street, small-time traders.

Enjoy the wildlife. Pictures taken in Bannerghatta National Park. 

I just created categories for my blog. I have been tagging my entries, but I have not really categorized them. I wasn't sure if I spent more time on blogging about general topics or blogging about product topics. So, I created these categories for my blog entries:

• Fun at work              
• Life
• Personal
• STC
• Sun/Product
• Technology        
• Open Source

I may add more categories. I also managed put 100+ entries (out of around 130) of my blog in to these categories. Categorizing my blog entries was a big learning experience for me by itself. Now I can really tell what areas I blog about. 

I know my fan club is disappointed since I did not blog for a week :-) But, there is a reason behind this.

I moved into another apartment last week. All our earthly belongings had to be shifted to the new apartment. Next, we had to set things up in the new place. This also included getting ourselves connected to the world - cable TV, broadband, and telephone. True to the spirit of a vibrant city life, I do not know who is living next door!

Today is teacher's day in India. A day to remember all the teachers who moulded us into what we are today. But why is it celebrated today? Today is the birthday of the great teacher and former President of India, Dr. S. Radhakrishnan.

Teacher's Day is celebrated differently in different schools. My school used to celebrate teacher's day in a particularly interesting way. On that day, teachers and students swap their roles. From each class, a few students are asked to don the role of teachers and teach students of junior classes. For example if you are student of Class XII, you may be asked to teach students of Class X.

More interesting is the fact that "real" teachers occupy the last benches and hear you lecture just as students would do. But this happens only once a year :-(

Once a proud possession that decorated only select shirt pockets, the fountain pen is now relegated to the background. No one uses the fountain pen any more. In the era of gels and refills, "Parkers" and "Heros" are just forgotten. The importance accorded to the most important writing tool has only declined in the last few years. These days, everyone just thinks the pen is a writing tool and nothing more. People just grab a pen to jot down or scribble something or sign a cheque. Of course, one gets to "use and throw" many pens, thanks to the culture of distributing scribbling pads and pens in almost all business meetings.

[Fountain pen image from Flickr, copyright acknowledged]

The humble pen was regarded very highly when I was in high school. We had to be in a certain "grade or class" to start experiencing the luxury of using a pen. We were just asked to use pencil for many years in high school. One had to be trained to use a fountain pen, and keen students used the preceding summer vacation to learn to use the pen. Filling the fountain pen with ink was itself an art, and I remember my grandfather having a dedicated cloth to handle the excess ink that would flow out of the pen if more ink is accidentally filled in. I still remember animated discussions at home regarding the quality of two competing ink brands - Bril and Camel. And of course, there were endless discussions on what colors were best for writing. Blue ink was recommended for the ordinary mortals, black ink for the business class. There was a certain other ink, called "blue-black" that was only meant for certain people. My grandfather was a fan of this particular variety of ink and the neighbourhood shopkeeper used to order this type of ink only for him for he was the only one who used this color of ink in the locality.

Did I forget the nibs? Iridium, it must be. Grandfather used to test the nibs offered at a certain dedicated "Pen and Ink" store in Madras, and complained to them about decreasing quality of nibs. Many a time, pens have been returned if the ink flow was not proper. Ink smudged in shirt pockets meant you were careless and did not know how to manage yourself.

Does anyone think about all this in the "cut and paste" culture of today?