A Quick Look Back: 2K10

Although year 2010 was something that I would like forget but I have listed few pics from the good times I had throughout the year. 

During the Bike ride to Papi-Kondalu. Pic by Nagaraj.

There were crazy bike rides to the places I never visited before, 

From the North East trip, from left Me, Vignesh, Lovell, Joshua, John and Mukhi

and trips to the places I always wanted to visit. 

At Indo-China border, played cricket with Indian Army in -5 C.

We played in extreme conditions, 

Pic taken by Joshua

and we still won. 

During Matheran trip. 

Some unplanned trips,

Raghav and Subhav in Matheran's official Dress :) 

that turned to be out be super fun. :) 

Some memories to forget,

One random day of work, we decided to thone-strowing. Pic by Lovell

Some to remember. 

10 Points for guessing this place. 

Few things can never change!

Dussehra celebration in Hyderabad. Uncle with a record book that lists name of the people who attended Dussehra festival that year. 

but few legacies are never meant to change.

Diwali decoration at home. 

India is about festivals, 

A ritual during Diwali. 

rituals,

Uncle's family in Hyderabad after pooja.

and culture. 

More Diwali decoration. 

View from my office in SFO

I love my job,

Bellagio fountain in Las Vegas

and I love to travel.

A Casino in Las Vegas

Travelling is fun :). 

Golden Gate bridge San Francisco

Hope you had a better 2010, wish you a super awesome 2011.

Remember 2012 is not too far, have fun :). 

Ganesh Immersion in Hyderabad: A Photo Set

Its all starts with Ganesha Chaturthi, a Hindu festival, when Ganesha's idols are brought in and decorated pandals are made for 7/9 days.

People worship these idols for next 7/9 days until Ganesha Visarjan. Visarjan begins with various rituals. One of them includes whispering a wish in Ganesha's ear, people believe that doing so will make it come true before the next visarjan.

The fun part is Utulu, it refers to an object that is tied to a height. People try to break it with a stick while other people around try to distract by throwing water. Seems like a combination of Janmasthami in Mumbai, and Holi in Mathura 

The idols are then taken through the streets in a procession accompanied with dancing and singing.

And then the part that I don't understand and dislike the most. These idols are then immersed in the river/sea. Well these are the same idols people have been worshiping from last few days, how can they just throw them away into filthy water. 

Well I guess in the end, its all about belief. 

Ice Skating @ Union Square SFO : A photo Set

This is from my recent trip to San Francisco. There was a huge skating ring at the Union Square, couldn't try skating because of the long queue but I managed to click some pics.

Let me know if you like this set, I am gonna add few more photo-stories to this blog very soon.

Opportunity

December 8, 2010:

Destiny

Destiny: Its something you will never believe in, until it happens to you.  

Time Changes Everything.

Kid to father:

Kid: Dad, I met with a small accident on the way back from school.
Dad: WTF? must be your mistake, what the hell did you do to my car?
Kid: .....

In few years, the kid finished his college, started working and moved out of his parents house. He visited his parents house for vacation, and one fine day:

Son: Dad, I met with a small accident on the way back from friends house.
Dad: WTF? Are you okay? Morons here dont know how to drive, you should take care.
Son: .....

Well, time changes everything.

Height of Googlism

The Best April Fool Prank: Topeka by Google.

On 1st April when Google' blog mentioned that they have officially changed the company's name from Google to Topeka, I couldn't believe it but then I realized the date, it was the April Fool day. It was indeed one of the best April fool prank I came across so far. Google homepage looked like this: 

The post on Google's official blog mentioned that they have changed the name as a return favor to the Topeka town in Kansas, whose mayor renamed the city as 'Google Kansas' for the month of March to grab the attention of search giant for its 'Free High Speed Internet Connection' program. As per the Google's official blog:

Early last month the mayor of Topeka, Kansas stunned the world by announcing that his city was changing its name to Google. We’ve been wondering ever since how best to honor that moving gesture. Today we are pleased to announce that as of 1AM (Central Daylight Time) April 1st, Google has officially changed our name to Topeka.

Continue reading at Google's official blog. 

UPDATE: Google had 12 April fool pranks, full list can be found at Suhel's blog.

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Saurav Ganguly: The Night Rider

Saurav Ganguly, India's most successful captain, one of the best opening batsman ever and blah blah blah. There are no questions about his contribution to the Indian Cricket team however this post is more about his 3rd inning in twenty-twenty version of Cricket, IPL.

As I said he played well, but the reality is that he SUCKS in the shortest format of cricket, twenty-twenty. He was single handedly responsible for Kolkata Knight Rider's defeat in last two matches (IPL) . He was just not able to hit and looks like he is scared to even face the ball. 

Well everything in this world comes with an expiry date and its about time he should realize that his cricket career is over, otherwise few more failures will override his golden days from history books.

And I know I will never write a post like this for Sachin Tendulkar, because he will retire the day when he start becoming a reason for the team's defeat. 

A Random Quote:

"Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadows."  (Keller, Helen)

Delhi Daredevils

Photo by Lovell

During IPL season 1 at Rajiv Ghandi stadium in Hyderabad, when Virendar Sehwag single handedly thrashed the Hyderabad team. Look at the Hyderabadi supporters around :)