Google Calender

I have become a fan of Google Calender, and have been using it non-stop to help me remember the list of things to do etc. I previously tried to use offline stuff like M$ outlook etc, but they are well - offline. So unless I am in office I cant use them.

Since I check my mail all too often, I realized that the Google calender is a very valuable resource for me. I added all stuff like people's birthdays, renewing my passport (about an year away) to weekly team meetings in office to getting my bike serviced or meeting an acquaintance.

Google calender is the next best thing after a blackberry kind of device for these alerts. Since I do not have anything close to a blackberry, I am relying on Google calender.

Hail Google! :)

Falling off the grid - An Experiment with my Life...

Off late I have become kinda addicted to email, browsing, social networking - basically to computers. So I am planning on doing a small experiment with my life, where I try to fall off the grid. I will try to see how much more productive I can be if I keep away from these computer related activities... I was planning on it for sometime, and now appears to be a good time.

In a way, I am partly off-the-grid already, since I do not have a television at home. It leaves so much spare time and I really loved it! I will try to blog about how long I can carry on this "experiment", and what all additional things I have done, and how there was an increase (or decrease) in the quality of my life :) Maybe I will do stuff like clean my room, visit places, go for a jog, read a book, wake up early and enjoy the finer things in life. I believe, for a start, a week should be enough.

So why am I doing this? Sometimes in life, we think some things are so indispensable that we cannot live without them. Once we start thinking that way, we inadvertently hand over control of our lives. This exercise will hopefully put things back in perspective. And when Judgement Day strikes, I would be better suited to fight SkyNet :P

Ofcourse, I will still be using a computer for office work and will be available at my office email id. Well, what did you think? I am trying to fall off the grid, not get my ass fired :D

Nights on Necklace Road

If you are bored at night in Hyderabad, and dont know what to do - here is a new destination, visit the Necklace road, which true to its name, is like an ornament on the Hussian Sagar Lake, in the center of the City. We live a couple of blocks from the necklace road, so whenever my friend and I feel bored at nights, we take our high-end bikes and jolly ride to the necklace road at late nights. But you need to be on the lookout for idiot bike/car racers. Racing is common, and so are accidents and deaths on this stretch.

There is a Heritage Parlour which sells milk products etc until 11PM, which is our regular hangout point. (Big names like Eat Street close by 10 or so, and are too crowded). Besides this there are a couple of the Ice Cream Bandis too.

There are cops prowling the place at late nights, and they are decent enough to leave you alone until about 12:30-1AM. But after that you better not park your bikes there. But cars are safer all throughout. Also, due to these regular patrols, the area turns out to be very safe.

Coming from the Destiny City - Vizag - I always loved the beach there, and missed it a lot after moving to Hyderabad. The Necklace road is the closest, one can get to such an experience in Hyderabad.

Virgin Cuba Libre - My Summer Special

Well to beat the Hyd heat over the weekends, I have devised my own mocktail which I call the - Virgin Cuba Libre. Well if you know the normal Mocktail naming conventions, you know what I am talking about - It is cola with Ice and Lime :) (Cuba Libre is Cola on Ice with white rum. A Virgin prefix for any cocktail indicates the alcohol part of it will be missing - just like a Virgin Mary is the mocktail equivalent of the Bloody Mary)

The recipe is simple, take a glass of Diet Pepsi, and add lots of icecubes. Then add a wedge of lime to it - and presto your new mocktail is ready for drinking.

WARNING: Using recipes created by the holy cow has been known to cause long lasting bouts of nausea, revulsion, headaches and suicidal tendencies in almost all people, other than the holy cow himself. So be forewarned! :D

JP wins from Kukkatpally

It is heartening to see that a leader who stands for development and progress has won the Kukkatpally seat. Call me pessimistic, but I thought that JP's chances of winning were pretty bleak given how easily voters get misled by false promises and alcohol/money supply. But the fact that the urban voters have come out against the traditional parties and voted for JP means that a definite change is happening although it is currently at a scale which will not affect the established polity. Also the lead of 15000+ votes is more or less substantial.

I believe JP now needs to develop a incorruptible second rung of leaders - who will also become equally famous as him. This will ensure the sustainability of the party in the state.

Lets see how JP develops his constituency over the next 5 years. And more than the constituency itself, people will be watching how he would approach various issues in the Legislative Assembly sitting in the Opposition. I strongly believe if he makes enough of a positive impact, Lok Satta can become a force to recon with in the future.

Pay your Electric Bill online (in AP)

Tired of going to the E-Seva center and waiting in Q for 30 mins or so to pay an electric bill? Well if you have a Citibank account, you can pay your electric bill without any additional charge. If not anyone can pay their bills at esevaonline. None of this requires you to leave the computer at all. I am mentioning this since many of my friends indicated that you need to register before you can pay your bills online, but that is NOT the case.

To actually pay the bill in Citibank, you need to enter the information given in the bill itself in the form presented in the Pay Utility bills online section. And Citibank transfers the amount to APCPDCL without any additional charge. The only problem with this is that there is no feedback indicating that the bill was successfully paid.

If you are out of city or country, then you can use the website esevaonline.com. Register yourself and create an entry for your electric bill. Then you can check the bill amount online, and pay it through that website itself, or you can login to citibank and pay the bill there. Although I haven't paid the amount using the esevaonline website, I believe it should be reliable.

Hyderabadi Weekends Suck

Hyderabad has very few weekend getaways for its denizens. For me, Its always going to the movies, malls or to Necklace road. Pubs and Restaurants are not my thing. So it becomes very hard to just go to some place over the weekend and freak out. Complete weekend enjoyment is seriously lacking here in hyderabad. I had been to Anantagiri Hills, NagarjunaSagar. The only nearby place which I did not visit yet is Srisailam, which I am planning in the near future. Once these are over, you are pretty much forced to visit other cities for nearby destinations.

Bangalore comes to my mind all the time. Located near to the Western Ghats and Nilgiris, Bangalore has tons of places where you can be closer to nature and cooler temperatures. I had visited Nandi Hills in Bangalore, and a 650 KM bike trip to Bandipur, Trekking and Whitewater kayaking in Mudigere. The next weekend I am again going to bangalore for a trek in Antaraganga, and later to pune for the Good Friday weekend.

Sigh! If all else fails will just have to go to some resorts - which suck the least...