Sunday, October 2, 2011

Mission Peak- A mission accomplished

It was on my radar, or a bucket list as most would call it, to go on a hike. And it finally did come true on Oct 1, 2011. A hike to the summit of Mission Peak, Fremont, CA.
View of the Western side from the top of Mission Peak

When I was talking to my cousin a few months ago, I remember him mentioning that he went on a 10 mile hike with his colleagues to this place. And I distinctly remember him mentioning how beautiful the place was. Since then I always had in the back of my head that, if I came to CA, I would do this.
I came. And I did this. The feeling of an accomplishment. May be small, but worth it for me.  ;-)

Two of us, my colleague and roommate, TK, and I, started for Fremont at 0730 hrs, right on time as planned for 0630 hrs ( 1 hour is still within acceptable 'on time IST limits', right? ;)). After some misdirection by the GPS aunty, we reached the start of the hike trail at Stanford Avenue after about 40 minutes of driving.

I was all pumped up and enthusiastic, and why not? It was my first hike after all! We started off to hike at around 0830 hrs(I am deliberately following the military style timing ;-)). The initial few minutes did sap the energy off us. I don't know if this can in any way be related to IT or not. But then,things got normalized and we were at a steady pace up the mountain, moving towards the summit.

Our target standing in front of us
 With many other hikers(especially the beautiful ones of the opposite gender ;)) and cyclists giving company, the uphill hike started getting rewarding. With every foot elevation gained, the view of the valley was getting much beautiful and I was yearning to get the summit view with each step. However, I was not able to take much pictures on the way up the hill as it was way too dusty and difficult to take the camera on and off my backpack. After about an hour an fifteen minutes of hike uphill with a couple of short breather breaks, the summit was conquered. Whew! Mission Peak checked off my radar :).

It was windy and cool up there. At an elevation of 2517 feet, the peak gives a brilliant view of the city below. On one side it was the concrete patches and on the other, hills and valley surrounding the area. How I wished there were more clouds. It would have been a surreal sight I believe. So, I have planned for a sunrise view from the peak during the coming months ;).


Some pics below. Apologize for the bad quality of pics. This trip helped me realize what I had to have if I were to get good pics on a hike. And I promise to try and give better write-ups, and of course, better pics next time on. :)

TK Walking up the Trail


What better to do than meditate at the summit
North side view from the Peak

Hikers at the summit point. Hawks were higher though ;)

Mission Peak, 2517 FT

Pointing towards the summit- TK

Yours Truly ;-). yes, could have helped with a smile, but... :P

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

'Two feet under water'- A pic without a thousand words




They say, "A picture speaks a thousand words".
Some of them don't. But still, you have an untold attraction to them. This picture is one such - for me.

I clicked this picture around a month ago and it is loitering around all the empty spaces of my head(which is in plenty ;-)). There have been pictures which I have enjoyed clicking. They would be on top of my mind for a week or two. But this one, for some reason, has captivated me for nearly a month from the moment I clicked it! What makes this special
? I have no idea! No reasons. No words. No story. Yet powerful.
This has crept as my desktop background as well. I guess my colleague would have become as much frustrated with this pic as I am in love with it. Because, every now and then I minimize the apps, and show a glimpse of this to him. I guess the day is not far off when there will be a request sent to the manager to change my cubicle ;-).

I guess it may take a while before another picture comes by that can take the baton over from this one. But until then, I will remain '2-feet-under-water' :)

Saturday, July 16, 2011

Random rambling...

How often have you felt that things seem to fall in place by themselves. Very rarely. And how often do we notice those signs? Not always. In our hectic day to day life of making money, we tend to ignore those small signs which could very well lead us to happiness.

On some thoughts, I was thinking why we tend to lose these signs. For me, the answer was 'Money'. If we take money out of the picture for sometime, we tend to see things we would have normally not noticed. It is not that they are coming up out of the blue. They have always been there. But a storm cloud called money had blocked our vision. Once the storm is over, you can see clear skies. The sky was always there. In the same way, once the clout of money is removed from the priorities, you can see a clearer and better picture- a picture that you would love to see.

Alas, the world is not so simple. Peer pressure, family, friends- many of these aspects, sometimes all, tend to bring the dark cloud back into your life. Even though you are steadfast in your resolve not to let that happen, the winds dont help your cause. And then, you are there, again in the storm thinking about what a life you have got to live.

I am not telling money is not important. After all, we all work for that very reason. What I say is money is important to the extent it deserves respect. That's all. Not more.Not less. For eg: I dont want to be working in a job which pays me a brilliant 6 figure salary, but doesnt give me the space to spend time with my friends, family and myself. What is the use of getting a 6 figure salary? Am I able to use it to do what I want to do? No. Rather, I will be happy with a lower paying job, which gives me time and space for myself. That will obviously provide me with satisfaction. Agreed, there is nothing called 100% satisfaction. But I will surely be more satisfied than that high paying job.

The world would laugh at you if you said the last statement above. That is the sad truth. But think about this. If money becomes the primary objective, then whatever work you do will not bring you happiness. There will always be another person in another job who gets a higher salary than you. And you are back in the storm again. There is no limit to the greed of money. The more you have, the more you want.

The satisfaction that you get when you can enjoy the small things in life, like a cup of coffee with friends, time with family, an hour all alone with nature, cannot be quantified. And all these become a possibility when money is moved away from top priority. i.e when the cloud starts to convert itself from a storm cloud to the one that provides shade from the sun.

Sunday, July 10, 2011

The Search...

Some random thoughts were going on in my mind. Tried to put down the thoughts I had..Don't know why, but it seems like a hornet's nest has been ruffled within me since a couple of weeks.What could the reason be? I am still searching

The Search..

Walking into the darkness,
With no sign of help.
The search began,
A search, for myself.

The search went on,
Frantically, in all its haste.
Alas, there were no signs,
It all went a waste.

I circled all the places
I had been in the past.
But find myself, I could not
For I knew not, where I was lost.

Tired, I came back,
Sleep dawned upon in no time.
And there I was, in a different world
A world which wasn't mine.

I found staring at me,
A pair of gleaming eyes.
With no thoughts,I looked deep into them,
Only to find a surprise.

Woke up, all of a sudden.
With the clock in its early fives.
A Smile- for I had found myself,
In those beautiful eyes.

-KNR(7/10/2011)

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Awesome pic man..which camera?

"Awesome pics man..which cam?"

Do you see anything weird in that statement? No? Ok, how about this..

"Awesome food man..which stove?"

Now?
I bet for sure! ;-)


How often have you come across good photos with atleast one such comment? In this age where there is a deluge of photos being posted on the internet by almost everyone, I guess it is taken for granted that photography is a 'See-Point-Click' phenomenon. And that, any good looking photo is due to the camera that is used. Yes, camera is one of them. But it plays an small part in the equation.

The pains a photographer takes to make a picture is much more than just pointing and clicking. It is the photographer's point of view and effort that brings out the picture. Take 2 people to the same place at the same time and ask them to click a photo. The place might be the same. But the pictures could very well be different. Same is the case with the a picture of a place clicked on different days by the same person. How different they would be depends on factors like light, weather, angle, photographer's mood etc. When all these factors come together in the right amounts, one sees a picture on the screen.

And after all that, nothing gets as annoying when somebody makes that statement and asks that question, in the same breath. Not because it is a wrong question. But because it undermines the effort put in. Think of this. You may have the same stove as your friend's. But will the food taste the same? ;-)

Saturday, May 21, 2011

Appa, Walking?

'Ting Ting.Ting Ting'.

"Amma! appa is coming." shouted the little boy.

3 minutes later.

"Appa, Walking?" The boy asked excitedly even before he could park the cycle.

"5 o clock".

The boy looked at the clock. The little hand was between 4 and 5. The big hand had crossed 7. He couldn't read time. But he knew the little hand should come to 5. And it would take some time.


Time passed by. 21 minutes.

"Amma tata" said the boy and started with his father, holding his hand firmly. Excited.

The walk through the knee tall grass, accompanied by talk about foxes,tigers and other wild animals leading to the vastness, was fun. After 20 minutes they reach the edge of the hillock.

Far far away, the Western ghats stood majestically. Chirping Birds in the sky. Down below, a small village with its fields and cows and bullocks.

"Can we go there, Appa?"

The walk continued.

Time passed by. 21 years.

All alone, thousands of miles away, an evening walk.
A flood of memories from childhood. A Smile.

I asked - "Appa, Walking?"

Smile, Again. :-)