BBCh 11, 2010 at RRI

BBCh stands for Bangalore Bicycle Championships. The 11th race of the year happened at the Raman Research Institute. No two circuits are alike. Some are pure concrete circuits, some are totally mud circuits, some are a mix. I was there to witness what a semi-professional cycling race looked like. As soon as I reached the venue, I took a lap around the circuit. The first thing I noticed about it was how narrow it was. Overtaking was going to be VERY difficult. There were a few other interesting parts of the circuit like a) a very very narrow part where people would almost be forced to ride in a single file b) a small mud stretch etc. It is a 1 hour long race and whoever does the most laps wins. The last few laps are supposedly very interesting. The way they keep track of track positions is also interesting. I expected people to start off slowly and slowly increase their pace towards the end like how they do it in a long distance running race. But what do I see? They are at their limits starting from the first lap! and they're comfortably doing an average of around 30 kmph on a very tight circuit! These guys are really good! After the first few laps about 4-5 emerged as the real contenders to win when an accident forced the organizers to abandon the race. The guy who fell had a bad injury on the face and he was taken to a nearby hospital (there was an ambulance ready too! nice). There were a few foreigners too. Last year's BBCh winner was a foreigner. Interestingly, there were many more girls than I expected - mostly spectators but a few raced too. There was a really pretty one (I assumed her to be European but it's impossible to tell. One of those foreigners' daughters I'm guessing. Please be there when I win!) among the spectators I totally fell for. As Keshav said, I really need to grow a pair. And finally, there was a kiddies' race (thats what they called it) which I thought was very cute.

Awesome experience overall!  I soooo wish I had taken a camera with me. RRI was so beautiful. The whole atmosphere was so cheerful. I'm definitely going to be there for the future races. Probably race too.

PS: Will post some pics as soon as they get posted.
Edit: Pics from the race. More. From the Kiddies' race.

Current Reading List

We recently had a meeting with a VP (who has also been a professor for about 15 years) where he talked about how he kept himself updated on the advances in the technical front. Apparently, he sleeps at 11 PM and wakes up at 4 AM and his day starts there. In connection with this, he was talking about what all books he reads, his recommendations and his current reading list. For a person at that level, the list was VERY extensive. The books covered topics from hardcore CS to management to fiction to philosophy. There is a "Recommended Reading" section on his website that I found interesting. The best thing I liked about him was his curiosity about things. Inspired by him, I wanted to put up a (modest) list of books I'm currently reading, have read and my recommendations. Will do that soon.

Edit: Updated Books (I'm very sure I missed a lot here), Movies, Music.

The magic of RSS!

Just started using RSS for my usual browsing and its just amazing! I can follow most of the websites with zero effort. I use Google Reader to read feeds. Can't believe I didn't start using this earlier!

Sooo much to learn

Very little time to. Have no one here who can help. On my own for some more time.

Govindaaa Gooovinda

One day Tirumala trip. 6 of us. Was fun.

About the actual darshanam, there were (as usual) a LOT of people. We managed to finish ours in about 3 hours because there was a separate route (a decently fast one) for people who walked up the hill. The amount of time you get to look at the idol of Lord Venkateswara is only about 15 secs. after all the pains people take. You can't help thinking about how royal the temple feels.

Tirumala is a nice place. It is essentially a town thats governed by the TTD. They raise their own money and spend it as they wish. The govt. of AP has very little say. Most things are free for pilgrims. Free transportation in TTD run buses. Free food. Free accommodation. Lots of "May I help you" booths.

Was a fun trip overall.

Some pics: http://picasaweb.google.com/abhirama/27NovTirupathiTrip

Bellandur Road

Discovered this recently. About a km from where I live. Very nice place. Next time I go I'll take a long walk along the track.

My new bicycle!

KHS Flite 220. Bought it a week back. Went on a couple of rides totally clocking about 60 km and a top speed of 50.8 kmph! Never thought one could touch such speeds on a cycle but you apparently can. Has been an amazing experience so far! Nandi Hills, here I come!

Some pics - http://picasaweb.google.com/abhirama/20Nov2010CyclePower

Edit: Went cycling again today. Loved it again. Amazing stuff. I'm totally doing it my (noob) style. One thing though - riding in the city won't be fun for very long.

Pandu at Bengaluru - Part 2

Oct 20th - Played some TT in the morning. Was a lot of fun (at least for me). Went bowling in the evening. Pandu item rocked, consistently getting strike after strike. I sucked as usual. Made me wonder about the technical apsects of bowling. Window shopped at the MG and Brigade roads. Checked out the sample Bengaluru metro compartment on display. Identical to the Delhi ones. Some Pics.

Oct 21st - Planned to go Karting in the morning. Went there and Pandu chickened out when he had to race vs me. Went to Maiya's for lunch. Was awesome as always. Pandu then took the airport shuttle to the airport.

Oct 22nd - Damn it. Back to office. Sucks.

Pandu at Bengaluru - Part 1

Oct 18th - Picked him up at the airport (Ate Benne Masala Dosa at CTR, Idly Wada at Veena Stores. Did some time pass at Sankey Tank.

Ok, Pandu was weeping since I didnt upload the second image. So here goes.

Oct 19th - Breakfast. Badminton. Screwed my back. Had to go to office on a day when I was on leave because of Pandu! Nap in the afternoon with Pandu insisting "Mujhe dopeher me sone ka aadat nahi hai" lol. Went to a Gurudwara, ate at Bobby Da Dhaba. Was fun. Plan to do some more time pass now.

Long time no see

Been a while.

Work's getting more and more pointless. Need to act soon. My biggest dilemma.

My big bad AoC addiction caught up with me again. Time to get rid of it yet again. Have to kill AoC by reading.

What else? Need to start TopCoder and some Java again. Haha. Also need to get back to exercising. Haha again.

The First Anniversary

Exactly one year back, on this very date, I had joined my job. One year. A long time. Yet it feels like it happened just a while ago. Time flew. I surely enjoyed some aspects of the one year - the being independent, the music through my great speakers (no taking away from the sound card though), the few small trips, the occasional gymming, the bike, all the food at the various restaurants, and a few others.

On the other hand, the first few months of work were the most chilled out. The thank-god-I-don't-know-anything-and-hence-I-cant-do-anything period. The trouble started when I actually knew something. Responsibilities kept growing. Much Pressure. Hated it. Still do.

Overall, an year of rotting, professionally. An year of reasonably good time, generally. And I hope there's no god damn second anniversary :P

Craziness ftw!

I want to

1. Quit my job. Stay home and play Badminton for 4 or so hours a day. 2 in the morning and 2 in the evening. Get fit in the process.
2. Quit my job. Get some experience in climbing. Start with simple treks. Go to Nehru Mountaineering Institute and get trained.
3. Quit my job. Join as a research assistant in the area of algorithms. Get some exposure to research in this field. Will help decide if I should do a PhD or not. Keep myself engaged in other activities like reading, trekking, playing badminton etc.
4. Quit my job. Work on my programming by training myself and become a yellow on TC. I could also do this part time while doing 3.

Can't think of much else right now.

Finally

I made my first attempt at quitting the software industry. Ended in failure. Disappointing.

There's one thing I know for sure. Probably the only thing. I DON'T WANT TO BE THE TYPICAL SOFTWARE ENGINEER. Why? Because I don't want to be part of the herd. Because it isn't really fun. Because I don't have all the freedom I need to have fun.

My definition of an ideal job (which is something that changes by the minute for me :P) should be something where you do something fun. Something that makes you as happy as when you solve a tough puzzle. Something that doesn't take all of your time. Something that makes you improve all the time. Something that's always challenging. Something that lets me take a (relatively) long break whenever I want. Whenever the mountains become irresistible.

Well, so what now? Should I continue to try to quit industry? What should I do once I quit? Or should I try this an year more? Well, whatever. Life's a mess!

Happy Friendship Day?

Today is Friendship day. Isn't it just another day? Is it necessary to make so much of it? Why even have such special days? Shouldn't everyday be a friendship day or a mother's day or a father's day etc.? Is it just a commercial gimmick?

Himalayas and me

Finally, something relevant to the URL of the blog! Yes, I'm mountain mad. I totally love that feeling when I'm on top of one. All the effort is totally worth it. No (serious) mountain lover can keep the thought of climbing in the Himalayas away for very long. Neither can I.

Yesterday, out of nowhere, it all suddenly came to me. The idea of taking up hiking in the Himalayas seriously. It had always been something I wanted to do. Never had been this feeling as strong as now. I suddenly know what I have to do before I can go off on a Himalayan hike. I have to train, achieve crazy fitness levels, do some research on hiking in the Himalayas, read experiences (there are lots of books out there), save enough money (oh yes. it's going to be really expensive), convince parents that it isn't stupid.

If all this eventually happens and if I'm finally out there, how soon before I miss home? urban life? Would it all get monotonous after a while? Will I enjoy climbing as much as I think I would? Would the whole thing reach my expectations? Too many unanswered questions.

To do all this stuff, you need some company of course. I hope at least a few of my friends are crazy enough to even think of doing it! Leave my friends aside. I wonder, how many people would actually give up their careers and comfortable lives in the cities for something like this. How many are passionate enough about Himalayas?

So, when will I do it? I'm thinking I'll start in the summer of 2011. I have a little less than a year. I can get fit. That's enough time to get reasonably fit.

I'm probably going to read this post after a while and think about how stupid I should have been to write such crap! :P

Good luck me!

Types of Music

There are lots of types of Music. Everyone has their own categorization. But for me, there's music that

1. can go on forever in the background, thoroughly entertain me and yet not disturb me at all and even help me do whatever I'm doing
2. I have to concentrate on to really enjoy it
3. goes on in the background while having random conversations with friends. I find myself swearing now and then in the middle of these conversations in appreciation of the brilliant music
4. I use to show off my speakers and my sound card
5. I use to motivate my friends to listen to some real rock
6. etc.

Quite expectedly, a type of music keeps jumping across the categories which sometimes makes me appreciate it in a different way which in turn, weirdly, gives me a sense of satisfaction.

Why me?

Why do I fall for girls so easily? And, at the same time, why do I have such rigid criteria to like someone more than just as a normal friend? Is it the greed for better? Or is it just the feeling that a relationship is a huge thing and I'm just not ready for it? Oh, the last statement just made me laugh. Saying big filmy things like these are not the sort of things I do normally. Trying to understand my own feelings points me at one possibility - I want to get to know her and see if it is possible to have a relationship with each of the girls I fall for...makes me feel quite stupid (nothing new to me of course :P)

A few music concerts around the corner

A month long Carnatic music festival - http://sreeramasevamandali.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=71&Itemid=75

April 4th, 5th, 7th and 8th - Victor Wooten + Guitar Prasanna and co.. should be amazing. - http://www.indianstage.in/events/victor-wooten.html

Going to attend about 5-8 Carnatic concerts and the Wooten-Prasanna concert.

The lost little beauties (almost)

I find it very sad that in this mad urban world, there's almost no chance to enjoy the beautiful little things nature has (had?) given us. Mostly because there's nothing natural around anymore! Greenery? Hardly. The sweet sounds of birds chirping away? Not within a 100 KM radius of any city. How many of us bother to notice how beautiful sunrises and sunsets are? And how romantic and pleasant moonlight is? And surely there are a million other things we've forgotten to appreciate.

My latest little desires

Decided a couple of days or so ago that I would:

1. get back to topcoder. Improve my coding and algorithmic skills
2. get good at Java. It's a programming language that I've loved for quite some time. Yet, I am terrible at it. Time to improve. My first real attempt at it. Hope it works out.
3. get good at eclipse plug-in development. Eclipse is another thing I've loved ever since I started using it. Getting good at plug-in development will help point 2.

They aren't exactly little desires. Not one of them. Let's see how little I succeed.

Damn two hour meetings

I sincerely prefer working out at the gym to attending two hour meetings.

Afraid of being judged?

Aren't most of us? Don't most people pretend to be something different from what they actually are? at least, sometimes? Me too. It was hard to accept it. Now the tougher part. Am I going to do something about it? I'll probably consciously try never to pretend to be someone I'm not.

What happened to all those aspirations?

When I joined IISc, I wanted to do things that would change the world. I'd seen myself receiving the Turing award for all the brilliant things I would have done. Seminal, classic papers I wanted to write. Papers that people would read and say - "Damn. Wish I had written this!" (I'm not sure if even I would say that for the paper I was a part of!). Realized that it wasn't possible without giving up a lot of other things I wanted to do. I guess I probably was never passionate enough about research to give up the other things. I wanted to balance out professional life and the other stuff. I had to become less ambitious professionally. My Turing award dreams slowly changed to just dreams of good quality work that would be fun. "Who cares if it is revolutionary as long as it is fun and keeps you happy?" was what I told myself then. I was supposed to couple the downgrade in ambition with lots of other activities which I really wanted to do. They just never happened. I still want to do them. They are just not happening. And now, after joining a "much sought after job" in the software industry, I have just one question - What the fuck am I doing here? I am far from enjoying work. Neither am I doing the things I wanted to do. Where the fuck is this going? gg gb no re IT? Most likely.