Tuesday, September 27, 2005
San's B’Day Out
It was supposed to be a day of utter serenity. All the more reason bcoz i was banished to an extremely worthless training (sounds familiar??) away from work. Though in vanvaas, I did receive greetings from the members of the gang in regular intervals. Lucky me the training got over ahead of the schedule. Then started the turning point. With a series of SMS and mails going around. the gang decided to have a regroup in the evening. The place of the regrouping was unanimously decided as Holborn station and the gang meeting would be at Alperton Saravana Bhavan. Surprisingly, we did regroup without much delay (The notorious gang member I think was bit punctual in starting from office). We traveled in the modern version of the bullock cart (Picadilly line) towards Alperton.






Luck did favor us again as the usually crowded restaurant was bit deserted. So we did not have to wait much to be seated. After the cerimonial cutting of cake (thanks to the hotel management who did not make any fuss about it...) ,we got to have the typical South Indian dishes like the Utthappam , Idly, Parotta etc. I did get to have the feel of being at home. The gang did made the valuable difference.



Hail the comrades…

Labels:

 
posted by Santosh Subramanian at 10:37 PM | Permalink | 1 comments
Happy B'day Google..
Yes..Its Google's 7th B'Day today..


So what interests me?? Well.. Its mine too ;-)

Labels:

 
posted by Santosh Subramanian at 11:32 AM | Permalink | 0 comments
Friday, September 23, 2005
When nature calls...
Find below the cheeky snap the reuters reporter took when Bush asked if he can answer the call of nature..



Have a nice weekend..

Labels:

 
posted by Santosh Subramanian at 4:51 PM | Permalink | 0 comments
Tuesday, September 20, 2005
Mid September weekend wandering - Part 2
Late crash to bed results in late waking up..Thats exactly what happened on Sunday. Got up late and realised that there were lots of more places yet to be explored as part of the london open house and there is this Thames festival to be covered too. Taking into consideration the fact of limited time and unlimited events to cover, broke my head over this and with lots of compromises, dicided that i would see the India office and the City Hall. The rest was decided to be devoted for Thames festival.



So off i started towards the India Office. For those of you who would have thought it is some indian missionary's office,Let me give a brief about the India Office. India Office was the office of the British Secretary of State for India. This was formed after the Sepoy mutiny in 1857 ('The Rising' thing...) after which the powers were transferred to the British Crown from the East India Company. The India Office was largely funded out of Indian revenues unlike the other departments.It was a miniature Government in itself.The Viceroy of india reports to the Secretary of State for India who in turn reports to the cabinet. Post Independence of India and Pakistan, it took the shape of Commonwealth Office. It is now called as the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO). True to expected lines, it portrayed the architecture existant during the time of the British Raj. A statue of a Gurkha (supposed to be belonging to the Gurkha Regiment) welcomes you. The building boasts of long stairways and big pathways. The DurbarHall is a huge open area with plenty of natural lightings.


The designs on the roof is truely facinating. I, in short, felt like taken through a time machine to the days of the British Raj. This talks why it has been classified as a Grade 1 building.


From the architecture of the British raj off i rush to the architecture of the present mordern Britainnia..The GLA City Hall.Well,GLA stands for Greater London Authority. The architecture is that of a Helmet and an out of shape egg. The Ground floor has an area which has the flooring depicting the arial view of the london city.I infact saw lot of people looking around to see if they can spot their neighbourhood. Another interesting architectural point of interest is the spiral stairs. The view of the city of london from the top floor was amazing. The gallery where the City Council and the Mayor conduct the proceedings was too good with the members having individual LCD monitors in front of them.

Labels:

 
posted by Santosh Subramanian at 4:31 PM | Permalink | 0 comments
Westminister..Yes Minister
The expedition around the westminster area started with the vist of a methodist church opposite to the Westmister Abbey. We could spend a lot of time inside let loose as there were no other visitors in the church. We could have a fabulous view of the top of Westminster abbey form the 3rd floor of this church.

Westminster Abbey was closed for public when we had gone. But we did not lose our sprits and found that a backway to the Westminster Abbey was open and we saw 3 people go in through it. We went behind them (not to be mistaken to tail-gate them...we did not breach any security..It was just that we discovered a new way..). This just gave us a trial version of the Abbey (a sneek preview). Plan to visit the westminister abbey later..along side of the westminster we saw the Big Ben from a close proximity (we've seen it from different locations in london..But this was the first time we went near the Big Ben and the Parliament).Another detailed visit to this is on the cards.


Tiered of the long walks we had..We decided to get back to our den and rest is the usual history with weekend movie and late crash to bed...

Labels:

 
posted by Santosh Subramanian at 9:49 AM | Permalink | 0 comments
Monday, September 19, 2005
Mid September weekend wandering..
It was a busy weekend with the london open house and the Thames festival. Though i would have loved to have a clone as both of these events were happening in parallel (Missed the thames boat race :-( ). Though of sharing across multiple blogs...Here we go... Our expedition started with us sitting at the underground station (not to be thought of in the likes of Underground hideouts :-), we are no gangsters though we have a strong gang) and charting out the plan for the day.. It was unonimously (i think it was..) decided that we first start with the Meadlands classroom of the future. Its located off the busy locations in Richmond. The school did look elegant. The classroom was located in a secluded location from the Main building (maybe they thought of giving it a special ambience). It did resemble a space ship when seen from the outside. The interiors were also done very well. White boards (magnetic too) covered all the walls of this room. The seating arraingements were also bit unconvensional. A notable thing was that the classroom was self sufficient in all ways (it has a provision of a wash area and rest room within the room). Mr.Meakin (not sure if i got the name correct), the head teacher, explained us how the project took shape and the future direction of this project. It seems that 2 schools in the borough of Richmond are involved in this project. See below the pictures of the same. Another worthy mention was about the borough of Richmond, it looks quite green for an area in London. Its got a nice Lake, which we could see when were on the bus (will be explored by the gang soon :-) )

Next place to be invaded was the Tanaka Business school, Imperial College. Well, it was my first entry into a Business School so apart from the interests of new architectures, i was also curious how a business school looks like from the inside. True to our expectations, the bulding was truely facinating. Had a chance to talk with a student persuing his doctorate in the business school. He provided a lot of insight into doing masters in the Business school. MBa is quite a costly affair in the UK :-).

We hit the Channel 4 studios next and the first thing we see is ... the long queue waiting to get inside. Since we are used to longer queues in most part of our life :-). we continued not losing our heart. Fortunately for us, the queue indeed moved fast. After the routine security checks, we were let inside the studio building. We were initially shown the conference room and the adjacent open discussion area. Later, we went to the studio waiting area called 'Tandoori', not sure why it is named so.I now feel i should have asked someone around...
By the time we finished with the Channel 4 expedition, it was already 5.30 PM. Since all other places listed in this initiative closes by 5 PM, we decided to spend the rest of the day seeing other places in Westminster area. More on this in the next blog....

Labels:

 
posted by Santosh Subramanian at 11:23 AM | Permalink | 0 comments
Wednesday, September 14, 2005
From the other side of the fence…
Got a forward with a recent column posted in The Nation – A Pakistan National Newspaper. The column titled ‘RAW victims’ talks about how India’s Intelligence RAW allegedly plays games with its neighbours. Though most of the things written were dubious, the height of it was connecting India with the London’s Bombing. Find below the snippet form the report:

According to CBC News released on July 25, latest investigation reports say that the police in Britain have identified two of the suspects in the last attempted bombings in London as Moktar Said Ibrahim and Yasin Hassan Omar. According to Peter Clark, head of Metropolitan Police Anti-Terrorist Branch, “Bombs were placed in a same type of plastic food containers and carried in backpacks. These containers were manufactured in India and then exported to UK.”

The author has taken cue from the above fact and summarizes that India had a hand in the August Bomb Blasts in London. I wouldn’t be surprised if the author goes on pulling in US if it was found that the bomber was wearing a Nike Shoe and Germany stating he travelled in a Volkswagen before boarding the train etc…

Labels:

 
posted by Santosh Subramanian at 10:01 AM | Permalink | 0 comments
Tuesday, September 13, 2005
Ganesh Chaturthi @ London

I heard an augur (not literally :-) ) that there is Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations to happen in the Maharashra Mandal (Dollis Hill Lane, London). So accompanied with a pack of devotees (I am not sarcastic here…If any one of them happens to read this blog), we started our journey towards Dollis Hill...


What was supposed to be a simple journey from Alperton to Dollis Hill Lane via a straight bus, too lot of dramatic turns and with all the comedy of errors we reached there with trumpets blowing (No..No.. Its not the reception we had... It was the sound from our belly). Yes, it sure was a good dharshan we had. They had done a good job considering the fact that it was London and not Mumbai.. There was some person reciting Shaayaris.. Well, My knowledge of Marathi is questionable.. But I could make out that people gathered were enjoying..Hats off to them.

The snaps were taken in the Mandal(The resolution might be a bit poor. Its taken in my Mobile camera).

Labels:

 
posted by Santosh Subramanian at 10:51 AM | Permalink | 0 comments
Thursday, September 08, 2005
Pillayar Chaturthi
Everyone would agree that Pillayar (Ganesh) Chaturthi can’t be more interesting than how it is celebrated back home. It starts with getting a ‘Mann Pillayar’ (Small idol of lord Ganesha made out of clay) home and decorating the house with ‘Thooranam’ (Hangings made of coconut leafs and mango leafs). After the pooja, we hang around the rest of the day to friends place or in worst cases get fixed in front of the idiot box watching some ‘India Tholaikatchikalil mudhal muraiyaga…’ (First time in Indian channels variety…) movies. With the channel wars getting very adverse, we get so much of choice of seeing programmes.

Yesterday being Pillayar Chathurthi (and working day here in London), got up a bit earlier and did some extra prayers for Lord Ganesha (after all it’s his birthday...). In the evening after getting back home, went to the nearby temple in wembley. By London standards, they had done a decent job of doing some alangaram. In the late evening, there were some satsang organised in my Landlord’s house (they are Gujarathis). Though I did miss the ‘kolakettais’ (South Indian sweet usually made on Pillayar Chaturthi), we were given delicious laddus.

This being a 10 day festival, I hope to make it to East Ham, for a South Indian feel of the festival....

Labels:

 
posted by Santosh Subramanian at 1:22 PM | Permalink | 0 comments
Post Blast London
After the serial blasts that took Londoners by storm, there is a noticeable difference in the security. We can see more cops on the roads and on the tube stations. I am sure many of those CCTVs that weren’t working for long (performing the work similar to a scare crow) would have been looked into by now.

Anyone causing a slight suspicion is interrogated and bags checked. Though it at times caused discomfort for many, I somehow feel, I am much safer now than before. I noticed something very interesting couple of weeks after the blast (Pretty late to realise the change).

I had finished a can of coke while rushing to catch my tube in the morning (hmmph those early morning rush almost everyday) and when I was searching for a trash can to dump the can.. This is what I found….





So, you would have imagined what would have happened next…
I had to carry that empty can till I reached office where finally I could dump it in the bin next to my workspace. For those who thought otherwise, well I am quite civilized… :-)

Labels:

 
posted by Santosh Subramanian at 11:42 AM | Permalink | 0 comments
Wednesday, September 07, 2005
Old London Bus…Vroom

Yesterday with the tube service I usually commute to office (Piccadilly) temporarily suspended for the whole day, I had to resort to another route which involves a bus travel in addition to a train travel. Since the Piccadilly service was partially suspended (it goes till 3 stations prior to mine) the London Underground had arranged for train replacement services. On my way back home there were 2 replacement buses that would cater to my station. One amongst them was the old model London bus which I got into.

It was quite a nostalgic feeling to be traveling in it. It did not have the hitech driver controlled doors or the power brakes that the current London Buses have. The seating capacity was also lesser in comparison. It looked very similar to our Pallavan Bus and BEST Buses (Actually resembles BEST buses more due to the colour).

I wanted to take a picture of the bus but could not quite make it. So I have managed to get hold of another picture of the same.

Labels:

 
posted by Santosh Subramanian at 9:48 AM | Permalink | 0 comments
Friday, September 02, 2005
India's Anti Hijacking policy...
Read this piece of article in the Indian Express today.. Makes mockery of our civil aviation..

What does the government’s new, ultra-tough policy on hijacking really mean? A look at a ‘breaking-news’ item on TV that we might expect soon...

(0915 hrs): Indian Airlines plane may have been hijacked! According to sources, flight IC-911 with 196 passengers on board took off from Patna for Delhi at 0900 hrs. Air Traffic Control lost contact with plane thereafter. The plane’s transponder appears disabled,” says an ATC official in Delhi.

(0930 hrs): IC-911 located by IAF! A Home Ministry spokesman confirms that the IAF located IC-911 within minutes of its reported disappearance. Two MiG-29s are escorting the plane as per procedure. So far there have been no demands by hijackers. Two members of Crisis Management Group are in Geneva, three in Adelaide; they will hold a tele-conference at 1100 hrs.

(1030 hrs): Anger grows at government apathy. Hundreds of anxious relatives of passengers throng Delhi and Patna airports. “My bhatija’s second cousin’s nephew Tuntun is on it. Why hasn’t the government talked to the hijackers yet? Why shouldn’t they release a few terrorists in exchange for Tuntun?” snarls H.L. Raunak, a Patna businessman. “Are terrorists more important than Auntie Kichkich?” asks socialite Poonam Loneckwali.

(1200 hrs): Protestors lathi-charged! Police use ‘mild force’ to disperse a 2,000-strong crowd gathered outside the PM’s residence to protest against government ‘inaction’ over crisis. Some protesters injured. The PM has appealed for calm. CMG says a tough and proactive strategy will be followed.

(1230 hrs): Hijackers foiled! Acting on the CMG’s recommendations, the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House, 15 malls, and the residence of the Opposition leader have been blown up. “The hijackers will be left with no targets; we will demolish other vital installations shortly,” says official.

(1345 hrs): Hijack crisis over! IC-911 landed safely at Srinagar airport at 1315 hrs. Turns out that the plane was never hijacked. Sources reveal that the plane’s transponder did not work because of incessant use of cellphones by passengers. Significantly, 185 of the 196 passengers are related to a Union minister, currently lodged in Beur jail and awaiting bail in 37 criminal cases. “We would have landed in Delhi, but found that all runways had been blown up by the government,” explains Capt Joe De Mentia, pilot of IC-911.

(Flash) Capt Joe De Mentia has been arrested for violating air traffic laws. The government has set up an inquiry commission.

The source of the article can be seen here

Labels:

 
posted by Santosh Subramanian at 10:16 AM | Permalink | 0 comments
Thursday, September 01, 2005
Google goes skyward

For the people who are already fascinated with the concept of Google Earth google has yet another to get you off your feet… Google Moon.

Labels:

 
posted by Santosh Subramanian at 9:39 AM | Permalink | 0 comments