the love for mangalore was not at first sight.. it was gradual.. the starting days at my old place at kottara chowki.. the sri ganesh shipping agency, which was my first home when corporate threw me to mangalore with no friend or batch mate to share a place with.. and then one day the polished bullshit guy, who was supposed to be the person who would get me out of mangalore by getting me a swap – smiled his way in from the food court queue.. by then gundu, my fellow dreamer reached mangalore after her corporate suppli exam.. and so with the only two people i know in mangalore, life started.. new faces and new characters kept on getting added… a new house near the beach at ashok nagar.. and life goes on well!!

jan 6th - the happiest day of my life.. when my sister gave birth to my niece – the first girl child in my family.. and i rushed home taking a day off from work to see and hold her for the first time.. it felt like something i’ve never felt before.. she’s 2 months old now and was named ayisha, my mother’s name.. leaving my job will mean i can spend a lot more time with her and manu..

jan 24th.. when 4 crazy dreamers set off on a weekend to explore.. the places did not matter much, but the feeling mattered.. the feeling of the wind on our hair when we cruised on our bikes.. the feeling of togetherness, when our footprints touched the sea… the feeling of freedom when we fell freely and just let go.. it was the best weekend in mangalore.. here’s the travelogue by my fellow dreamer…

loads of trips before and after that.. anandka falls, panambur, suratkal, jamalabad, sulthan bathery, calicut – mangalore drive.. all memories now.. i bought paathu (Bullet Electra) in december.. the sheer joy of riding it is out of the world.. then came the DSLR camera, which i wish to master in the near future.. the new year at chechi’s rooftop, late night drives, the walks, the train journeys, shubham.. everything happened when i was at mangalore.. everything is still fresh..

will i miss everything once i leave?.. i will certainly miss my office.. the people i meet only at office, the discussions, pulling everyone’s leg, breaking the silence, breaking the silence – gundu style, the journey to and from office, listening to my radio, birthday parties, chain mails, treats… other than that, everything will stay the same.. has to stay the same.. time flies… and it has gone by really fast.. i had blogged a few times after reaching mangalore.. and all those posts projected this deep-rooted desire to do crazy things!! and with time, being crazy has reached to such an extent that i’m quitting my steady job and breaking free.. will it make any difference?.. cant things be just the same even after i quit?.. i see all the answers in a future post.. and till then, i’m just letting time fly again…

i saw the movie ‘into the wild’ again yesterday. it’s one hell of a tempting movie. and it keeps tempting all over again. leaving everything behind and going into oblivion, going away from the noise, going away from it all, on you own, into the wild. a very very tempting idea. i’d thought i wouldnt read any book for a long time to come, but i am planning to get the book that inspired that movie

sitting in this train, i got a call from a friend saying that there has been some communal riots in mangalore. some violence here and there, but still no clear picture. its kind of like going into the wild, only this time its wild because of the uncertainty of what is going to happen out there in the roads of mangalore. leaving a few snaps of the awesome trip to Anandka Waterfalls in mangalore. adios..

yesterday we were at dilis brothers wedding reception at trichur. it was a lot of fun, something like a hostel re-union. nothing much has changed and i am very happy about it on the way to trichur in train with the maharashtra teams, we bought a li’l gift for our kid at Gurgaon. to the dangerous KID

someone told me few days back, that the anticipation of what is to come is the thing that keeps you going.. the anticipation of something better, something surprising.. i’ve been thinking of doing a lot of things lately, but in the end nothing happens.. i’m returning to mangalore from home, in a train now..

the only thing i wanna say now is that this blog is not dead.. there will be lots more travels, portraits and ramblings here.. keep all the comments coming till the next post, i’ll continue to be a being stranded, there on the cosmic panorama in the pic is shanthakumar – one of my new friends in mangalore..

Mangalore is a place where not even one of our Batchmates or friends work or live.. And like an icing on the cake, on the day we got our posting, Divya’s father who is working in a bank in Mangalore got his Transfer!! Since we are a group of people who operate in a group, we tried a lot for a SWAP.. it is a procedure using which we can get into another location that we want, if some other person is ready to take our location.. but ours being a BIG class of around 45 people, we found out quite easily, that it was impossible so i had to join Mangalore and that was that

still makes me wonder why they dont give the posting of choice for everyone in the company.. according to me, it contributes a lot to a friendly work environment, but it seems the BIG management gurus tend to differ.. and in the end, policies will be followed.. but i enjoyed the days we tried for the SWAP especially something – the whole Bitch n Jimmy affair.. Even though life has given me lots of surprises, those days i was introduced to the Bitchiest female i’ve ever came across in life.. a person who needs Confidence to present her parents in front of others!! a person who is a lot of things, which i dont want to elaborate

so i moved to Mangalore on the 23rd.. Next day was my first day at office as an actual Software Engineer.. Mangalore is a happening place in terms of food!! i’ve been here only one day n whatever i have eaten was awesome.. maybe i’m exagerrating too much, but its really good when compared to the food at Mysore.. so it’ll be a lot difficult to have a CONTROLLLED diet here.. lets see, lets hope i liked the place and people i came across on my first day, though they were only 2 or 3.. n then i got leave for friday to go home!!

spend most of the days in calicut with Rahul and Thadiyan.. now i’m writing this on my return in the navayug express.. i know its a bit OVER to use the laptop in a train.. but the day has been so cruel to me that i wanted to jot this down.. another reason i’ve turned on the laptop is that, i’ve fallen in love with the song judaai from the movie jannat.. i Woke up today morning to find that my mobile was not working.. then had a BIG fight at home.. after that i found out from the railway station that my train is about 4 hours late.. so i sat there in the station at 2pm, and thought of listening to some music, but the iPod didnt have any charge.. after all this frustration the train came at 6.30pm and now here i am – still sitting here in the train, at Kannur Railway Station.. waiting for some stupid train to cross so that we can go.. another big thing that happened was i shaved my hair.. the metamorphosis.. adios amigos

after a few weeks of running away from the joining date and the sudden change in life after college, i hope it’ll be a welcome break.. before maybe, going into the fast life lead by most friends working in big companies now.. i always use the word ‘maybe’ when i’m talking about life ahead.. cos there’s still a lot of uncertainty about that.. hehe..

so i started from home on the morning of the 30th of august.. from calicut, i reached chennai at 10 o’clock.. the newly wed film star Narein and his wife were in the same flight.. nan mind aakkiyilla, but eventually talked to them from the chennai airport.. boarded the singapore flight from chennai n landed here at about 8.30 in the night.. my nephew ehan had come to pick me up.. said goodbye to a few fellow passengers and went home.. ehan had grown up a bit more n was very lively..

i had lots of doubts about what it’d feel like in some other country.. on a first note, it felt just like home – mainly because the climate at Singapore is very similar to that of kerala.. but when u start going out and visiting places, the feeling changes a lot, just cos the whole setup here is so advanced and sophisticated here.. believe me, this is an absolutely filthy rich country.. till u get used to it, ur mind keeps asking – “choodu vellathil kulikkamo??” [to those of u who understand wat i mean.. ]

singapore is so small that its smaller than calicut.. its just 45 kilometres from one end to the other.. bah!! for a regular guy like me, everything here is a new experience.. all the buses and trains are AC metro trains called MRTs are there connecting important places of singapore.. three routes in all – red line, blue line n the green line.. interlinked at many places and after a few days of travelling, i realized how easy it is to get around Singapore.. so i was out exploring the place the very next day.. went to a nearby park called Bishan Park.. a biiiiiiiig park – some 130 acres!! nice quiet place right in the centre of the busy traffic.. i ended up vaaya nokkaling the many young people who had come to skate..

Merlion is a statue with the head of a lionand the body of a fish and is the icon of Singapore Tourism.. the Merlion near the fullerton hotel is one of the attractions.. but when i went there, i found out what a waste it was.. hihi.. its just a statue spitting water into the singapore river.. the night skyline on the other side of the singapore river looked exotic..

there is this building among them on the other side of the singapore river called the Esplanade.. it looks just like a biig CHAKKA!! jack fruit that is.. haha.. its some theatre sort of thing where arts performances n stuff occur.. also on the other side of the Fullerton Hotel, there are a few statues.. one of them with a few kids trying to jump to the river.. it looks absolutely fantastic.. the place is one of the busiest in Singapore with tourists flock in all the time..

another great place i liked very much is the East Coast Park.. its a very long park parallel to the calm sea.. people go there to ride bicycles along the beach or skate there.. its fun watching small kids skate wish i could skate too.. gotta learn.. hihi.. stayed in the ECP late that day.. food has never been a problem here.. sis in law is an expert cook and i’m eating away to glory.. there is a veg restaurant in the East Coast Park called the Komala Vilas.. de kidakkunnu nan pinnem flat..

took a break the next day.. and after that my cousin from Malaysia arrived.. he finished his MBA there n was gonna go back home the next week.. so he came to see few places.. i was his guide at first and i took him to few places that i had been to few days before.. after seeing the Merlion again.. we went to Sentosa, a small island just off the southern part of Singapore, connected to it by a biig bridge.. the Sentosa has so many attractions and shows inside it.. We went straight to the UnderWater World.. its a whole new world out there.. i’ve always been fascinated by fishes.. n inside it there is a big tunnel with sharks and other massive fishes swimming all around just above us..

We walked outside to the nearby beach.. its called the SILOSO beach.. wanted to stay there a bit longer.. but my cousin had to leave.. so we rushed in for the Dolphin Lagoon show.. i absolutely love dolphins!! they showed few dolphins doing acrobatics.. for a moment, i wanted to be the dolphin instructor there.. we couldnt stay longer.. n rushed back home.. hoping to go to sentosa once more..

the next few days were spent at home mostly.. and with shopping.. cos sis had to study for an exam.. only a few more places left to visit here.. so i’m taking it slow.. doing a bit of web designing.. and looking after ehan.. and a lot of time online.. bits and pieces of shopping going on in between too.. went to Mustafa Center – one of the largest shopping centres in Singapore.. if its something buyable that u are looking for, u’re sure to find it there.. Ramzan started in between.. so again, the going out reduced for except small walks and small shopping trips.. fasting going on strong.. also music.. i was thinking wat all to buy.. ororo aagrahangal!!

so after a few weeks of lazing around, we decided to go to East Coast Park one day to break fast and sit there in the beach.. it was great fun.. sat there on the beach in the breeze till it was night.. and i went to check out a skate shop in the park and ended up buying one!! right now i’ve no idea wat i’m gonna do with it.. gotta learn skating now.. hehe..

and once again it was time to go to Sentosa once more.. and this time, we went for the show called ‘Songs of the Sea’.. believe me, it was by far the best water, laser and what not show i’ve ever seen in my life!! i mean it had everything.. pyrotechnics, water jets, lasers, special computer imaging, fire bursts, captivating music and stunning flame bursts.. some 25 minutes of excitment.. after the show we went to the Siloso beach once again n sat there some time..

as of now, i’ve got an extension of visa till oct 10th.. and am planning to come bak on 9th.. but if i get extension once more, i’ll come only after eid.. around 20th most probably.. i’m going to malaysia tomorrow.. so thought this’d be the best time to blog about the previous days.. i’ve missed a lot of things.. which will come in the coming posts.. i’ve been listening to a lot of music lately and i’ve become a big fan of Yanni and Karunesh.. Yanni’s Nostalgia brings back the memories.. i dont wanna move on…. i dont wanna go to that busy life… hmmm..