Home Sweat Home

No, its not a typo. I am in Chennai right now for my annual vacation. It is not only home sweet home, but also "home sweat home". The difference in humidity between here and cyprus is huge and it really shows on the t-shirt! But, it feels good.
Vacationing in india is the only time i get to play badminton, because there are no badminton courts in Cyprus, at least not in Limassol. I played for couple of hours today morning and came back home with my tshirt dripping in sweat. Was forced by my mom to remove my tshirt and deposit it in a separate bin, as though as an outcast!
Being in chennai means a lot more, trying hard to keep up the cycle of sleeping and eating and listening (not accepting) to the incessant requests of Vidhya to go out shopping.
But, it is difficult to totally ignore work. Somehow, have the urge to logon to my office mails every time I have some free time. Staying totally away from work and issues would make it very difficult to settle down back to the routine, when i get back to cyprus.
Okay, gotta eat mini-dosas now ...

Fun with Adobe Photoshop

After a long time, I am expanding my website. I am introducing a new section called "Photoshopped". This section is the result of my countless hours of playing with Adobe Photoshop. Adobe photoshop is pure magic, or at least at the hands of those who know a little about it. It is undoubtedly the leader amongst all the digital editing softwares.

This section would showcase all my photoshop works and eventually contain a step-by-step guide of how i created these images. If you are an adobe photoshop pro/guru, then this is not for you. This section is not for the professional image editing expert, but for a digital camera user, who wants more from his/her photos. I usually create images for fun or for use in greeting emails and also as personalised gifts.

Creating collages of a person's photos and presenting a framed image of the same would be a cherished gift. Rather than give the usual gift item, I have gifted framed collages to few of my friends and they loved it.

Enjoy the wonders of photoshop and if time permits, I can even create an image for you!

Behind Enemy Lines

It was 4.30 in the evening and the sun was blazing down upon us. I was on my knees crouched behind 4 empty metallic oil barrels. Bullets were whizzing past me in all directions. One small peek to the side of the barrel was enough provocation for the enemy to fire a volley bullets. Phat, Phat, Phat , the sound of bullet against the metal barrels. The enemies were on the other side of the bus and getting into the bus was our only hope of capturing their base. I was hoping that the barrels would withstand the fire and not topple over.

Few metres to my right, behind a badly damaged car was my comrade trying to cover me. I shouted out to him, "I will keep him busy on the left, you try to get him from the right". But, he had other plans. He wanted me to entice the enemy to peek out and fire at me. I was shocked. I told him that we were not on a suicide mission. He then clarified that, through a small hole in the window of the car, he had a clear view of the enemy. This, the enemy didn't know.

There started my hide and seek game. My comrade had only one chance and if he failed, the enemy would know of his presence and call for backup. I pointed the end of my gun's barrel to the left of the oil barrels such that it was clearly visible to the enemy. No response. Had the enemy somehow caught on to our game ?

Far to the right, I could see my captain and his cover trying hard to make it to the bus. We had to somehow disable the right flank of the enemy for them to proceed. The right flank of the enemy has two guys (we assumed), one of them was firing at me and the other somewhere close to him! I had to do something.

Then, i did the unthinkable. I put out my head for a split second over the barrel. This was enough invitation for the enemy. I just managed to crouch back to avoid few dozen bullets whizzing past my head. Then, I heard one shot from the right, my comrade's gun went off. Then, he turned and look at me. A tense second passed by.

He showed me the thumbs-up sign. The enemy was down. One more to go.We conveyed this to the captain and then I said to my comrade to cover me while to i try to run ahead. 3..2..1, off i went recollecting all the athletic skills i learnt back in school and skidded to a halt behind another burnt-down car. There, I saw something, anyone with a gun in the hand and in a fight would love. The enemy had not seen me.

He was in my line of sight , but i was not in his, as he was busy firing at my captain and his cover. I had to get him in one shot, lest he realise my presence.

Phat, one shot, on his right chest, he was down. Our captain immediately ran for the bus and started firing indiscriminately at the enemy.

"Run for the flag, Run for the flag" shouted my captain. I ran, again. This time, straight for the enemy base. I went inside and grabbed the flag and came running outside. Phat, Phat, I didn't hear the shots, I felt them , on my back. Two shots right on my spine.

I had been shot by the enemy.

But, who cares, the shots don't count. All we had to do was to get the flag. We had won the scenario.

Welcome to Paintball in Cyprus ! The game, that gets you as close as possible to a real battle. The guns not only look real, but also feel real. They are heavy and the sound of a bullet going out of the gun is the real thrill. The bullets, small plastic balls filled with paint, explode on contact and leave a sticky spot of paint on you. Of course, we are given masks and goggles to protect our face and an overall is optional for the rest of the body.

Paintball is an expensive game though. For the 2.5 hours we played yesterday, the cost was around 2000 Indian rupees, too expensive to frequent, but it is fun, much more than i expected.What about bruises, yes, I have 2 red spots on my back. But they don't cause pain, they are just scars of the battle which i can proudly show off for the next 2 weeks until they disappear.

Two general quizzes

Recently, I had posted two quizzes on some quizzing groups like quiznet, qfi, quizkreig, ibq and greycells. Below are the questions and answers from them. The answers can be found out by hovering the mouse over the "Ans" at the end.

• If you logged on to circuitcity, bestbuy, frys, compusa ..you would see the acronym MIR being used ..what does it stand for ? Ans
• If you were eating a 'musa sapientum' which fruit would you be eating? Clue: A "Musa Sapientum" has also appeared on the cover of a Penthouse magazine. Ans
• _____ is a Hebrew word which means "tradition". It is derived from the root word qibel, meaning "to receive". This refers to the ancient custom of handing down knowledge orally from generation to generation. Ans
• Every single match ball used at EURO 2004 was inscribed with the name of the teams, the date, the name of the stadium and something very specific to the stadium. What ? Ans
• The drug MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine) is a synthetic drug with both psychedelic and stimulant effects. It was first developed in 1912 as an appetite suppressant by the German pharmaceutical company Merck. It comes as a tablet, capsule or in powder form and is usually taken orally. This is one of the most popular illegal drugs available. What is it ? Ans
• What are these statements part of
  "If your balls be found anywhere touching one another you are to lift the first ball till you play the last."
  "The weight of the ball must not be greater than 1.62oz., and the size not less than 1.68 inches in diameter"
  "He who whose ball lies farthest from the hole is obliged to play first". Ans
• Which famous phrase (clue: linked to creativity) originated from a puzzle where one has to connect 9 dots arranged in a square grid with 4 straight lines drawn continuously, without your pen leaving the paper? Ans
• What do the two olive branches on the flag of Cyprus represent? Ans
• The Architecture of the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Dubai is unique in a way, i.e the structure/layout of the building represents something. What ? Ans
• Irene Esther from Venezuela came third, Basetsana Julia from South Africa came second. Who was the first? Ans
• If it happens, who will be the youngest ever to undergo a Dope Test (related to Athletics) ? Ans
• In Dubai, a new residential city is being planned. It consists of 32 blocks painted in white and 32 painted in black. What is the name of the city ? Ans
• In Dubai, an underwater hotel is being constructed. What is its planned name ? Ans
• What is the claim to fame of the line below (along with many other dialogues)
  "Bridget is my age and lives across the street. For the first twelve years of my life, these qualifications were all I needed in a best friend. But that was before Bridget's braces came off and her boyfriend Burke got on, before Hope and I met in our seventh grade Honors classes" Ans
  

Google Searches

It is funny sometimes to see the words/phrases people search for, on google, and land up on my site. Of late, most of them have been related to Dubai because many of my recent posts have been on Dubai and its malls, attractions etc.

Some of the interesting searches

• "Tomato or Brinjal" leading to http://www.srajaram.com/2006/02/one-flu-over-birds-nest.html
• "aamir falling down song" leading to http://www.srajaram.com/2006/02/rang-de-basanti-review.html
• "rajaram sethuraman" . But, why would someone search for "rajaram sethuraman"..strange!
• "ponnusamy dubai" leading to http://www.srajaram.com/2006/04/deja-vu-in-dubai.html
• "new year party 2006" in google images leading to the photo of the Belly Dancer in the amdocs new year party -> http://www.srajaram.com/2006/01/new-year-party-2006_25.html
• "ceaser box" leading to the hunt at http://www.srajaram.com/thehunt/hunt.php. Ironically, the spelling of ceaser should have been caeser box, but i didn't change it because i was getting some hits because of this wrong spelling!
• "tamil" on www.youtube.com leads to the video "Titanic In Tamil" on one of my pages
• "Mallu Dubai" leading to http://www.srajaram.com/2006/04/deja-vu-in-dubai.html

Perhaps, the best search to land up on my site was for "saloon in Dubai" !!

Amdocs Project Event 2006

This year, for a change, we headed away from the coast towards the mountains. We went to pelendri village high up in the troodos mountains. This "resort" was as remote as it could be, with the final 1 km stretch of road being just a cut in the hills. We(around 45 of us) had the privilege of being the only occupants of the resort on this weekend.

There were few party games organised (with me doing two of them). Like last year, I organised three sessions of Bingo, where everyone other than Vidhya won many prizes ! Vidhya won stuff like an ugly green handbag, a miniscule keychain and few other things too small to mention.

Some details about the party games which happened:

• Blindfold Game: All the members of a team were blindfolded and a number was given to each of them. The number was also pasted to their backs for the benefit of others. Without talking to each other, they had to arrange themselves in the ascending order of the numbers they had been told. The catch was that, we were taken to different parts of the room initially and so, it took quite some time to reach the place where we planned to form the line!
• Building Castles: Each team had to form a tower with plastic tumblers and plates with a combination of plate and a tumbler being considered as one floor. When this construction was being done, the other teams , from a distance, had to try to topple this tower by throwing plastic balls on them. Few members of the "constructing" team formed the first line of defence, defending the balls thrown at the tower. This was fun, but it turned into chaos soon. Also, the tiny tots in the room were rudely awakened by the noise and so, the ones with kids abandoned the games and went back to their rooms. But, this was a fun game.
• A "who wants to be a millionaire" kind of quiz, including some questions about Cyprus and our projects. The helplines available were : Bribe the quizmaster to remove 2 wrong answers, sing a song to remove 2 wrong answers, phone a friend (anyone outside the resort), Choose any team other than yours and conduct a poll and the usual straightforward 50:50.
• A small puzzle with a hidden message which was cracked by all teams within a few minutes.

We also played cricket on the artifical turf of a mini-football ground, which was actually fun, with many restrictions on batting. Overall, the weekend was great.

Its been a week ..

since i posted. Been busy in writing up the Dubai Travelogue. It is still not over and hence I have not yet uploaded it. Also, been busy with some stuff related to our project event this weekend. Here, in amdocs, every team goes out for a project event every year. This year, we are going to Pelendri Village in the troodos mountains. We have rented around 20 cottages for 2 days. We have the usual dose of party games and the like. Like last year, I will be organising Bingo/Tambola and I have been busy trying to contact my contacts in Cyprus to sponsor prizes for Bingo. Until now, the going has been good. Managed to get around 110 Cyprus Pounds worth of gifts. Three more days to go, have to see how much more I can manage.

Dubai Trip Photos Uploaded

The Dubai Trip Photos have been uploaded in the gallery section. In the ten days I spent in Dubai, I took around 1700 photos (God Bless the Digital Camera). Of this huge number, I managed to select 45 photos, which i felt showed the various aspects of the city and also my trip and uploaded them in the Dubai Gallery. On the whole, I wasn't "photographically" satisfied with this trip because for most of the time, the sun was beating down strong resulting in harsh shadows and burnt-out photos. The late evenings were pretty ok for photography, but unfortunately, most of the evenings were spent on satisfying the gastronomic needs !

Sheikh Rajaram bin Sethuraman al Nil

I recently acquired an oil well while on my trip to Dubai. I also got this spice shop free along with the oil well. So, I thought it would be good have a photo taken in my shop. Part of the contract of the acquisition required me to change my name and also my attire. Henceforth, while in Dubai, I shall be known as Sheikh Rajaram bin Sethuraman al Nil.

• Sheikh => I have converted
• Rajaram => That's my name
• bin => Son of
• Sethuraman => My Dad's Name
• al => Strictly meaning "The", here used to represent the family I belong to
• Nil => Alas, I don't have a family name!

More photos and tales of my Dubai conquests will be available soon.

Do Buy in Dubai

Dubai is not only the city of dreams, but also a shopper's paradise. Any brand, any make, from anywhere on the planet has an outlet here. The city meets the needs of all kinds of shoppers, from the "not-bothered-about-the-price" kind to the "bargaining-guru" kind and even the ones who specialise in window-shopping. There are the malls like the super-expensive Mall of Emirates and the Jumeirah Mall, where you find only the clothes which are "made in India for 1 dollar and sold outside for 50 dollars". Then, there are the "souks" where the price you pay solely depends on your bargaining skills.

If you are an European reading this, please don't attempt to bargain at the various shops in Dubai. It is because of you, Europeans, that the markets around the world are surviving. Otherwise, who would pay dozens of dollars for a jean made in India or thailand for 1 dollar and 22 cents, just because it has the name Ralph Lauren or Hugo Boss stitched right on the butt!

The Malls in Dubai have been designed in a way that they attract window shoppers too, for the malls themselves are tourist attractions. The Jumeirah Mall has all the shops designed in an arabian flavour and the whole place is awesome to see in the night lights. The Ibn Battuta Mall, themed around the travels of an Arabian explorer, Ibn Battuta has six sections reflecting the architecture of the places he had been to. The even better part is that the roof is designed like a blue sky and so, you don't feel that you are "inside" a mall, rather you feel that you are travelling and visiting different destinations as you walk around the mall. The Mall of Emirates has an indoor Ski resort!! This "resort" has a snow park for kids and 8 slopes of varying difficulty for people to ski on. Imagine, going on a skiing to holiday to Dubai! The Galleria Shopping Mall has an indoor ice-skating rink. I can proudly say that the first time i attempted ice-skating was in the desert city of Dubai. Almost all the malls have a huge play area of kids(Encounter Zone in Wafi Mall, Magic Planet in Deira City Centre). I guess, a complete vacation comprising only of mall visits can easily be planned.

So, if you visit Dubai, Do Buy in Dubai.