Dear Cochin,

We had a good run, and now the time has come for me to say good bye and move on. We both knew this day would come, unlike what they say in the movies, I deserve better.

I will always remember the sleepless bloody nights where you served me with the best of your mosquitoes. You never left me in the cold, you always made me warm, a bit too much, even in December. You played music with all those traffic on the streets, the honking and the rush, boy! you know what you are doing. You filled my heart with the fragrance of the streets, how could I ever forget you?

You gave me new friends, great friends. You introduced me to a whole other kind of friends too. Friends who robbed me out of my money and took advantage good will. We had our fights, we had our scars, but in the end everything heals on its own.

Bliss - Shot in Cochin

Dear Cochin, I never felt at home with you, but you made me more independent than I ever was, and that has made a lot of difference in me. I had my first home-away-from-home with you, my first bike, my first office and so many other firsts that we shared. I had the most fun filled days and the best year of my life with you.

I owe so much to you for what I am today, but I have to move on to better things. Until we meet again, take care of yourself pal, miss me!

With Love,

Arun.

A Farewell Letter to Cochin is a post from: The Kuttappi

I loved cycling since my school days, I used to go long distances right when I had my first bicycle, well at that time a 4 km trip around the town seemed long and there was the thrill of breaking the rule set by parents which stated that the town was off limits for me

When I was in high school I used to do 15 km spells now and then and last March I brought my bicycle to Cochin doing an awesome 38.7 kilometres in 2 hours. I wasn’t hoping to see me up and walking the next day, but surprisingly 39 kms didn’t touch me anywhere. I wanted more.

2011 was an awesome year for me, and I wanted to do something legendary to end the year and cycling challenge topped my list. So this 31st, me and my friend Tison Philip, we decided to go cycling to a city called Alleppey.

The idea was to do a minimum of 100 kms. We packed our bags the previous night:

• A bottle each of water with ORS dissolved to beat de-hydration
• Sunscreen lotion
• A bottle each of 330 ml Red Bull. I wanted to see if I could do this without Red Bull so we decided to keep it to a minimum. Last time, I couldn’t really see any effect of Red Bull.
• Camera and Phone with GPS

The plan was to start really early so as to do as much as we can before the sun gets a chance to burn our skin. We woke up at 4:30, did what we had to do, had Banana’s for breakfast and we were all set by 5:30. We got off exactly at 5:35 a.m.

Breakfast

It was drizzling when we started. It hadn’t rained for a long time, so we were not expecting rains at all and not prepared for it either. The roads were almost clear and we did the first 1.5 hours just riding, it was smooth and we were just warming up.

First Stop at around 25 kms (as per Google My Tracks on my phone) and at that point our Top speed was 24 kmph and average speed at 14.5 kmph.

Next stop, at 34 km for a quick breakfast of Eggs and Coffee. It was time to deviate from the National Highway 47 to a State Highway; we had plans to visit major tourist spots on the way and not just riding.

There was a historic church on the way, named Arthunkal Church at a place called Arthunkal. Its a beautiful church with beach sand in front of it and lots of open spaces. When we reached the church, we had covered 43 kms already. We spent about 30 minutes there and started from there at around 9:45. By the time we started again it was raining pretty heavily and we were all wet. Tison had come up with an ingenious idea to properly pack our backpacks in carry bags and still wear it on our shoulders.

First 43 Kms of the Ride.

Arthunkal Church

Me In Front of Arthunkal Church

(Google My Tracks started malfunctioning from there. The data showed that our maximum speed at 265 kmph. And GPS was sucking up the battery of my Galaxy S2. I checked the route we had to then take to our destination and it said 22 kms from there.)

Next 22 Kms

The rain made the trip even more exciting. We were wet all the time. And it was cloudy all day, so we never had to use the sunscreen. The only downside was we couldn’t take pictures. I managed to get some with my phone, but by the time we reached Alleppey it was raining so bad that the phone got wet and I stuck it up in my backpack. I had carried my DSLR too, which never got a chance to come out.

Our next destination was Mararikulam Beach. We bought Bananas on the way, and went all the way to the beach. Its a beautiful place to be. It was almost empty mostly because it was raining. There were fishermen working on the beach. We also found a great home stay nearby, the cost per night is just 1500 INR and the beach is so close by that it looks like a private beach. Awesome place to be in on a rainy day! Am going there again sometime.

Mararikulam Beach

Red Bull on the Beach

(Later when we were at Alleppey looking for a Toddy shop to have our lunch, one guy told us that we should have tried the Toddy shops at Mararikulam. He said they are awesome. We missed that.)

After about an hour of riding we finally reached Alleppey. 65kms! It was about 11:30 and we went to the beach first. Then when we got really hungry we decided to have lunch. We had Toddy, Tapioca and Fish curry. Awesomeness in a plate! cheap.

Alleppey Beach

Me on Alleppey Beach

Rain Proofing of Backpacks

Lunch called in for a rest and we found a place under a Banyan tree. It was still raining pretty good.

The way back was tedious; we chased back the exact same route. Honestly, there were times when one of us was so tired that we couldn’t move a bit but then the other one kept pushing. We were a great team.

I never really got to know the effect of Red Bull until this day. When I was so tired and couldn’t move a bit, half a bottle of Red Bull would boost everything. One shot would last for the next 30 to 45 minutes.

We did spells of 20 minutes of cycling and then a 5 minute break. My seat was so hard that my butt was seriously hurt. At the point of writing i.e. now, I still have little pain down there esp. when passing over a hump or a bump on my bike.

We were so exhausted that we could actually feel even small rising of the roads that otherwise we wouldn’t notice at all. While climbing up a bridge my leg would start burning up right from my feet up my thigh till my hips; sometimes I couldn’t make it to the top of the climb.

But we still made it, pushed ourselves over and over and had shots of Red Bull and with regular breaks. We got home at around 8:15 covering 130 kms and so much fun! Got rid of our sandy dirty clothes, bathed and fell into the bed. It was time for New Year Celebrations to begin!

We woke up the next day and on contrary to what all our friends said, we were perfectly okay. I am quite happy with myself considering that for the past 5 months I had been sitting on a desk all day long with very little physical activity. Yayy!

More Photos of the Ride

2011 was the Best Year Ever!

The midnight of 2010 December 31′st I was in the Tata Jagriti Yatra, in the train, travelling somewhere from the South to the North. I was sick and spent the night wearing a monkeys cap, watching others dance and occasionally coming over to squeeze the boob on my cap From there, the year went to the heights of awesomeness.

• 2011 started with a bang, the Tata Jagriti Yatra.
• Trip to Mysore with Aswin and Sajay in February.
• Cycling to Cochin, 38.7 kms in 2 hours.
• Weekend Getaway to Ooty on the first week of April with the @Ayruz team.
• Thenmala Trip with @TheAnand in April.
• Day out in Trivandrum, again with @TheAnand in April
• Being a CEO in May!
• BarCamp Bangalore 10 and spending the weekend at Bangalore as a tourist.
• The famous Indonesian Getaway in August!
• Road Trip to Bangalore again with @TheAnand and Tony in October!
• Ending the Year with a bang. Cycling till Ass Bleeds

Best Year ever! Hope I get to say that every year

Resolution Desk

Every year I make a huge list of New Year Resolutions and usually I never beat any. This year, I just had three and I beat them all!

• Learn Swimming: I did learn it. I am not beach or ocean ready yet, but I am not afraid of water anymore, and I can keep myself afloat for a while. That’s something.
• Take Passport and use it: The Indonesian Trip. When I took this resolution my choice of country was Malaysia, but life has its ways I guess.
• Set-up a passive income source: Well, when I wrote this down, I had a different set of ideas. But lately my Blog Million Clues has turned into a passive income source. Adsense and Affiliates are working well and the need for money made me figure out more ways to make money out of it. Necessity is definitely the  mother of all inventions.

Having done them all, I have made a slightly bigger and more challenging list for 2012:

• Learn a New Language.
• Learn Web Design from basics and perfect what I know.
• Sky Dive
• Use my DSLR to take one picture a day. Either upload a picture a day, or upload 7 pictures over the weekend!
• Move from Cochin, too bored of this city, its mosquitoes, dust and traffic.
• Read 5 Books

I wish you a very Happy New Year! Gingalala….

130 Kms of Cycling: Perfect End for an Awesome Year! is a post from: The Kuttappi

The 11th edition of BarCamp was announced with just 20 days of notice, unlike other editions. Hence the registered sessions and attendees was lower than the norm. And this time it was at Indian Institute of Management, Calicut. I don’t know why, but people find travelling to the north a bit more hectic than travelling to Trivandrum.

The day started as early as 4 in the morning for me with @theAnand, @BinnyVA and @jluSujith travelling in Anand’s car, cruising at speeds close to 90 kmph, thanks to the empty early morning roads. We had breakfast on the way and reached the campus at 9:30. As expected, @praseed3point14 was already at the venue.

Its my second time at IIM-K for a barcamp. The campus is spread over around 265 acres (I think) and its awesome!

View From the Venue

The turn out was really low, and we were told that a train from Cochin reaches at 10:45, so we waited for them, but in the meantime the real essence of barcamp happened. We started discussing random things starting with career advice, dating advice, then went to technology and other interests.

I took a break and took the opportunity to explore the campus a bit with Binny and Sujith. When we returned, the hall was full. magic. Praseed Pai was already talking. His session titled “IITs & IIMs – Are they (still) Socially Relevant ?” spurred discussions. He pointed out that students who miss admission to IIT or IIM are also equally or even more capable than the ones that get it, but still the society gives undue importance to IIT and IIM passouts.

Praseed was followed by Hari K T, with his session on “Integrating FB”. He explained how to connect with FB using its Graph API.

I was the next in line. After fixing some technical issues with the projector and fixing a crashed presentation (thanks to my Technical team lead @BinnyVA) I started off with my Presentation – “How to Print Dollars with Your PC”. When I was in college I have spent so many hours trying to make a buck online but it took me 3 years to succeed. I wanted to give them some easy quick ways to make money online. I wasn’t teaching them fishing, I gave them some fishes.

The presentation went well, it was taken well too! Here are my slides:

After lunch, Shwetank from Opera took his session, “HTML 5 and Beyond”. What interested me was the beyond part of the presentation where he gave demo of stuffs that Opera is working on. Like using the device orientation and the gyroscope to control variables on screen. He gave a sneak peak into the future of what the internet experience will look like. Future is waiting!

Shwetank on Stage

Now it was time for extempore sessions. Binny gave a talk on his latest project MADapp. And Praseed recommened some of the books he have read.

When it was time, we took the group shot and said our good byes. In total it was an elegant clean event. Nothing was wrong.

My day was no where near over. On our way back to Cochin, we spotted a carnival (somewhere on the way) and went in. We went on rides and had a crazy evening before I slept off like a dead man in the car.

Next thing I know, I am home and dinner was there. I think Anand paid for it. Danks!

BarCamp Kerala 11 at IIM-K – A Memoir is a post from: The Kuttappi

The title might give you a sense that I am writing this from Indonesia, but no, its been a while (actually a long while, getting back to life after the vacation took much more than I thought) since I came back home. Now that gives you the idea that I have been to Indonesia.

Obvious Questions:

Why did you go?
Well, in Airport Customs Terms, Purpose of visit was a social visit. Meeting Friends and leisure. It was on my new year resolution this year to Get my Passport and to use it. I had been trying to get a Passport since I was 18, but each time I would give up since I had some complication in my address. But this time I did it!

Why Indonesia?
I don’t know if its me or them, but the friends I have from Indonesia seem to stick. I have made friends from various parts of the world, but most of them never stayed. Visiting Indonesia was in my Bucket List and hence it was my first choice. (Nah, you know I am lying

And how long did you stay?
12 days. Reached Jakarta on 11th August. Visited Jakarta, Bali and Bandung. Returned from Jakarta on 23rd August.

The Pre-Vacation

This was the first time I leave the country, and the second time getting on a plane, I was so excited right from the start. Here is the thing, I wanted to pay for the whole trip by myself, and that’s what happened. So the trip was a huge success even before it started.

As opposed to popular belief, being a CEO of a start-up is not high paying in financial terms. I had to make full use of my 24 hours aggressively going after freelance projects and other things I used to do when I was in college to meet the target. This was the first time I work for money. Oh, am not saying that I don’t otherwise work for money, I do! I love making money but this time I had a target in mind. And I well exceeded that!

So the day came, on 9th of August, I flew to Mumbai. There were two intentions visiting Mumbai. First, my flight to Jakarta was from Mumbai. I was flying on Air Asia, and yes, they have service from Cochin. But when you book if you are flying from Cochin, it takes you Kaula Lumpur first and you have to book the next flight as a separate booking. But if you are flying from Mumbai, you have option to book it as a through flight. Flying from Cochin was much cheaper, but I choose Mumbai to be on the safer side.

So I reached Mumbai, took a rickshaw to the nearest railway station. I was in Mumbai last December for the Tata Jagriti Yatra, so I was quite familiar with their Metro Rail system (but I ended up travelling in the First Class of the metro on the cheaper ticket and didn’t realize that until later, luckily there was no checking that day ). I had to get the metro to Virar, thats where my friend Sumit lives. I would be spending my time in Mumbai with him. His parents are very guest-friendly and treated me so well. I really hope I get a chance to give them back someday.

Me and Sumit

Here is the second reason to visit Mumbai. Sumit had started a shop that sells Idli’s and I wanted to see it. They have about 12 different varieties of idli’s and I got to try one. I said, the girl who marries Sumit is so lucky, cuz he is such a good cook

Virar is quite far from Mumbai but just like Mumbai, its a mess. I went out the second morning to take print outs of my Boarding pass and I should say, once or twice I got terrified. I even felt like there were people following me, maybe I was being paranoid because I had cash with me as dollars in my pocket which I couldn’t afford to loose. I survived.

When it was the time for me to go to the Airport, Sumit dropped me at the station, then took the metro again and a rickshaw to the Airport. On the way I brought a pink rose, I wanted to buy something for that someone from India. The rickshaw wala charged me around Rs 200 for what appeared like a Rs 50 trip. I was a tourist there, I had little choice but to pay.

Up Above The Sky So High..

The Air Asia flight to  Kaula Lumpur took off at about 11 that night, the 10th of August. The view of Mumbai is awesome at night, too bad I left my camera in my bag.

I was in my seat and then this thing happens.. a cute girl sits right next to me. I was like, okay, this is interesting, you know.. I should say hi. Now then she says, Hi and I was like. .dood, today is your lucky day.

Twist in the story, she asks me, are you travelling alone? I said yes. Then, Could you please exchange seat with my bf? *play the dumb background music now*.

I slept off in my new seat, sitting right next to an old guy. I reached KL by around 5 in the morning next day. I walked down the flight and touched an international soil for the first time. After the formalities, and making sure that my luggage would be transported to the next flight, I was waiting near the gates and then it happens. When the time comes, you have to leave behind your everything and attend the call.. The Nature Call..

I wanted to be ready for something when I reach Jakarta, so I had carried necessary stuffs in my back pack. I went to the rest room (they have it really clean) and answered the call, brush and got ready and it was time for the next flight.

Two hours later I landed on the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, Jakarta, Indonesia.

Spot-Light On. Action

Here she comes.. Milana Ryan. Among the reasons for choosing Indonesia, I purposefully missed one and that is Milana Ryan. If you do not have a smile on your face by now, then you do not know yet. Will make you smile later

She was picking me up at the Airport. So here I was just outside at the arrival and here comes taxi drivers with their offers, its the same everyone. I told one guy that someone will come pick me up and then he offered me his phone, I knew that was a trap and said No. I was looking for a public phone and this guy wont leave me. He took me to a security guard and made the guard give me his phone. I took it and called Milana and she said she will be here in 30 mins. Now this guy wanted tip and I said I don’t have your money. He said dollars would do. I had no intention to pay him, so I said a NO right on his face and he was insulted. Tourists do have rights, you know?

Now I found a way to get rid of the Taxi wala’s. Stand still at one spot. The moment you start rolling your luggage they will come after you, but if you just stay, you are invisible to their preying eyes.

I waited and waited and texted and waited. She was stuck in traffic. I ran out of my credit on my phone and so I decided to look for a public phone. Went to the money changer and got some change, and made the call. She said she was at the airport and then it happened.

I came out of the public phone booth and there she was with a big smile! We met! (whoops!) Then she took me to my hotel.

Jakarta! Bali! Bandung!

Jakarta is beautiful with big wide roads and huge sky scrapers and cross roads. They have something at every junction, statues, waterfalls and beautiful structures. We met our mutual friends, @TengkuDewi, @DevyPrameswari and Amal, @JustDiii, @Agnes_Novi and @TheoNatalie over the next three days before leaving to Bali.

Bali is a tourist hot spot. You see tourists everywhere, babes in bikinis, guys with surfing boards, young and old. Bali has a lot of Hindu architecture though out and mostly everywhere feels like the ocean.

Bandung is a cold city. Its the capital of Java Island and is just 3 hours away from Jakarta.

The events of the story where intentionally truncated to protect the privacy of its actors. Here is some trivia:

• Before the trip, everyone told me that things would be really cheap over there. Guys, Indians are the cheapest. Nothing is cheap in Indonesia, except for Petrol (INR 22) and Diesel (INR 15). Maybe I didn’t look where I should be looking. But if you got bucks, then they got stuffs that you will love to take back home.
• Jakarta is the Capital of Indonesia, Bandung, the capital of Java Island and Bali is a tourist hot spot. The country looks clean and developed.
• People in Indonesia looked happy to me, in the malls and on the streets. And they have a sense of respect for each other. Like, when I was in Jakarta in a mall, I found some people gently giving me a bow when we made eye contact. And when in Bandung, the drivers slow down the cars for me to pass by. Things like that rarely happens in Cochin.
• They talk too much. I went to the Bank with Milana in Jakarta and she was talking to the clerk and they talked for like 2-3 minutes. All they said was fill up this form No one talks in Banks here in India, its like everything is understood.
• They have a common language called Bahasa throughout Indonesia. They do have different languages in different islands, like Balinese in Bali, but everyone knows Bahasa. So if you learn Bahasa, you can survive everywhere.
• Taxi is expensive in Indonesia. A 10km ride can cost you INR 500 in Bali (this is an approximate). They have metered taxi’s so at least you can know that you are not being cheated.
• Mercedes Benz is taxi there, of course its more expensive. Toyota Camry is the more popular cheaper one.
• I tried some of their dishes. One thing in common, unlike south Indian dishes where each item is served separately in different bowls, they have everything in a single bowl. They sure know how to cook!
• If you don’t wake up early enough, you will miss the complimentary morning Breakfast at the hotel

Starbucks!

I do have a bucket list and this trip cleared off many from it. Visiting friends in Indonesia was one of them.

We met Devy at a Starbucks in a mall in Jakarta and I wanted to try something original, this being my first time at Starbucks. I ordered the Strongest coffee they had and I got it served in a tinie tiny test-tube It sucked big time, tasted like I dont know.. who would drink that?

On the last day of the trip, I had something else from Bandung and that tasted more like coffee. Check!

Chickkkkenn at KFC!

I had my first KFC in Bali. Well, there is KFC in Cochin but I never got  a chance to have one. It had to come from Bali, who would have thought that? Chicken tastes the same everywhere, just awesome! Interestingly KFC costs the same as in India.

In Bahasa, Chicken is Ayam. There was a lot of KFC involved in the trip and one lady was kind enough to give me a whole sheet of KFC stickers!

Things I Learnt About Flying Abroad

• Flying to Mumbai (from Cochin) and then to Jakarta was a bad idea. First it cost you to fly to Mumbai. Then the distance to Jakarta from Mumbai is more than the distance from Cochin, so the flight charges are more. I could have saved about 15,000 rupees if I had flown to Kaula Lumpur (all Air Asia flights fly to Kaula Lumpur first) and then if I had booked a connection flight separately to Jakarta.
• Air Travel is cheap within India if you book well in advance, thanks to the Cheap Flights. I flew to Mumbai in Spice Jet (about Spice Jet, they are cheap and they are cheap. I am told that its better than many other cheap flights, but I should try Kingfisher next time). It costs be INR 4800 for flight from Cochin to Mumbai and back. thats just 2400 one side and the total flight including the time spent at airport is about 2.5 hours. Travelling by 2nd class A/C train takes 36 hours and costs 1600-1800 bucks. When you consider the time saved, plus you are flying, plus you arrive fresh, plus you don’t have to use those smelly toilets, flying is a better option.
• Air Asia is cheaper than most other flights, but they are actually really good. Okay, now my frame of reference is obviously Spice Jet since I haven’t tried any other airlines. Still, you know when something is good right? I would really recommend Air Asia. I am told that if you are planning a vacation, keep checking their website for offers at least 6 months in advance and sometimes they give you terrific deals. I have heard the story of a guy who paid a little over INR 5,000 for flight up and down to Australia from Cochin.
• Flights can be really cold at night, and Air Asia charges you pretty well for Blankets and neck support. It’s good if you can bring your own Blanket and that inflatable Neck support. I had wondered why Flights advertised Flat Beds in their Business class so much, c’mon its a flight. But once you are up in the air, it can get pretty un-comfortable.
• There is nothing to be worried about the formalities at the airport. You need your ticket and Passport to get past the guard at the entrance. Next walk to the counter for your specific flight and they will guide you from there. No big deal, just go with the flow.
• Tourist Visa for Indonesia was Visa-On-Arrival. Pay the amount (it was $25 for 30 days) and you get the visa. Again, No big deal.
• When you fill in the Arrival Form, there is a Departure From with it too. You will get it sealed from the Emigration. KEEP IT SAFE. You will need it while you leave the country. And no one will tell you to keep it till you leave. I was collecting everything including boarding passes, and hence I had it with me. On my way back from Jakarta the officer asked me for it and I couldn’t find it at first. So I asked him is it that important? and he replied, You cannot leave this airport without that!
• Telephone charges are the lowest in India I think. Even local calls are expensive ( as compared to Indian rates) in Indonesia. A call from Indonesia to India would cost INR 120 from mobile. (If you call Indonesia mobile from Airtel in Kerala, its INR 6.40 or 10 depending on your SIM). Airtel has roaming in Indonesia, its INR 100 per minute for incoming. Good thing is, SMS incoming is free. SMS outgoing costs INR 25 to India or Indonesia.
• When you buy dollars, get some change, as in 5$ bills. I had 1$ and I exchanged them at the airport for-ex to make local calls.
• Do not use the Money Changer at the airport. Their conversion rates are always lower than the outside rates. Go to a local bank or you could find Money Changers in the malls and other public places. They give better conversion rates.

Photos

The Indonesian Trip was an experience of a lifetime. If I say anything more, It would be an understatement.

From Indonesia with Love is a post from: The Kuttappi

Today, its the completion of an year of leaving college. Looking back, I had a great year!

The greatest of all would be living away from home. I never had to stay away from home for a considerably long time during school or college days, but soon after college I moved to Cochin. Stayed at two places so far, so far so good.

Among the stuffs I got involved with: SSH was a big failure, sitting at home and working is not for me. Then I got involved with Smiley Card which was my attempt to get offline, but I ended up being a failure. But it was worth it, made me realize I was not an offline guy which contradicted what I thought about myself before. And taught me a lot of Life Lessons.

Following which, I went to start a venture with which I am right now. So far so good, its a Get Rich or Go Broke plan! Thats the fun part

Being free from college routine let me travel a lot, of which the Tata Jagriti Yatra was the greatest of all! Btw, registration for TJY 2011 are open, this way -> jagritiyatra.com

Now busy writing the story for next year!

Looking back! is a post from: The Kuttappi

When I was in school, I rarely went for the field trips. I hated it those days. One of the locations of choice during those days was Trivandrum, the capital city of my state (kerala).

Somehow, I wanted to see the city. I have had many chances to go there, but it never happened, so when I had to go there for some paper-work for my start-up, I made it a point to go out and see the city.

It happened on last 27th, the month of April, with @theAnand.

We set off in an early morning passenger train to Trivandrum, reached by around 10. The official stuffs was done in an hour and we were off to see the city.

Rickshaw Wala!

Kerala Legislative Assembly

At the Zoo

At the Zoo Again

We spent most of the day at the zoo, and later when it was dark, we went to eat. Had awesome chicken from a place called ‘Zam Zam’. More pics..

Later, we missed our trains back home, slept in the Waiting room and came back to Cochin in a early early morning train.

p.s: Later this week, I went to Trivandrum again

Day out in Trivandrum! is a post from: The Kuttappi

Okay, I had promised to take a session on “How to make your first Dollar with a PC”, but due to a pretty much filled-up TODO, all I could do was to attend the camp. I could have pulled off the session if I had skipped sleep the previous night of the camp, but decided to skip the session instead. A sleep-less night would call for drooping at the camp, which would suck!

(Okay, that’s my explanation for not doing the session )

This time, it was at SCMS B-School, Kalamassery. I got a lift in @KenneyJacob‘s car and reached venue really early, to be received by two security guards who said its holiday and Get the F out of there. Seriously.

Still we got in. People Came in. Sessions Started. About the Sessions read from Praseed’s Blog. #LazyMe

Photos

The Good

• New Faces. Fresh crowd.
• A Fresh atmosphere. Maybe since its been a while since the last camp.
• Awesome sessions. Not even a single session was boring. And when the sessions got boring, a hot debate would somehow rise.
• Delicious South-Indian Lunch!
• Great Venue, nice A/C and High-Speed Wifi.
• Lots of Sessions and great speakers.
• Lots of Debates and Fun.
• Lots of student participation.
• Arun Basil Lal attended!

The Bad

• Lunch wasn’t free (but me and @CyberGanga managed to rob the cashier
• Twitter and Facebook was blocked. Thanks to TweetDeck for making it possible.
• No Tweet Wall. Missed the fun of Live Tweeting.
• Missed out the Self-Introduction part. We had lots of fresh faces, so this would have been interesting.

The Ugly

• Pretty much nothing.
• Okay, there was not Banners or stuffs and the security guards weren’t informed.

So?

so, am gonna take a session next time. Be there!

p.s: It was a surprise to see @ManiKarthik there. Its been a long time since we met. And the best part, I got to talk to him in person just before lunch! Mani, if you happen to read this, it was a great honour that you took the time to meet me. I was out of breath!

BarCamp Kerala Season 10 – The Good, The Bad and The Ugly is a post from: The Kuttappi

Too many things were happening around me last month. April was a time to travel. And Travel meant taking pics. Taking pics is the easy part. Post Processing it and uploading them takes time. I think I have pics for the rest of the year

April Fooled in Ooty

Ayruz was founded on April 1st 2009, which mean it was the second Happy Birthday. To make it special we all went to Ooty. I was invited cuz I am friends with the founders and since I was a refuge in their office

So we went. 3 bikes and a Lancer. Ride Ride Ride.. Butt breaks, Red Bull and switching drivers in between (forgetting Police checkings and police raids). JK had arranged rooms for us at Coonor.

We spent the time there eating food, partying, watching cricket world cup final (in which India won) and discussing random things, fighting and sightseeing.

Riding back home was hectic. I had a butt of Iron by the time I reached back in cochin.

The Best Part of the Trip is Yet to come..

On the second night, while we were back in hotel from JK’s home (after having a heavy chicken Biriyani fron Rani), Anand said, lets go get a coffee.

I was driving. I didnt have my license with me, bikes documents were also in our hotel room. And murphy’s laws proved itself again. It was just a 3km ride and there they were … COPS!

An officer waves his hand, I stopped. He asked for the docs, I said we left it at hotel. He said, pay the fine and get the f*** out of there.

Anand took over and guess what? we just listened to the last part. The rest was filmy!

We created a road block, dodged a couple of cars, got through a narrow passage and came back to our hotel at top speed. That was crazy!

Chriss Pfeiffer In Cochin

This is the first time I ever go for a live show. And Live is nothing like Youtube for one reason – its LIVE. He is too good with his bike.

The Thenmala Trip

Day Out. Packed bags, Me and Anand in his car. Awesome ride, awesome place, not so awesome food, and lots of monkeyish monkeys. Man, the view of the dam is awesome. And if you are crazy enough climb up the bridge like I did.

Drove to Trivandrum that day. But didnt spend time there. It was raining on the way back home. Great day!

Cochin Tweetup 23

Tweetup happens, you know! Life is like that

p.s: I went to Trivandrum for a second time this month, more on that later. Enjoy the pics.

April Meant Travel is a post from: The Kuttappi

Mission: Ride from Perumbavoor to Cochin on my Bicycle. 38.7 kms as per Google Maps.

–[Log]–

31st March 2010 – 7: 14 am: Leaving home on my old cycle

Backpack contains 3 Apples, 1 can of Red Bull, two bottles of Water mixed with ORS and chilled.

Stop 1. ATM 2 kms away, took out 200 bucks.

Stop 2. Aluva, 55 minutes after start. Calls back home, saying am alright Had the Redbull, and an Apple. 10 minutes.

Stop 3. At Panambilly Nagar (Destination). Time Elapsed: 2 hours 19 secs.

–[End of Log]–

Mission Status: Accomplished! YAY.

I used to cycle a lot when I was in school. Had lost the flavour till I saw this video sometime this month:

My bicycle, an old Hercules AXN was in ruins. Did a major repair last week for 800 bucks. New Tires, New Tubes, New Handle Bar, New Pedals, New Brakes, New Bell even.

Route Map

Photos

RedBull and Apple

Lol. Dad left it on my cycle, his number. Just in case I fainted

Me on My ride @ Ayruz Office. Click to enlarge

My Ride, Parked Inside Ayruz

Having done this, I feel awesome. I am up for another challenge!

p.s: That was my first time with Red Bull today. Tasted like Appy-Fizz gone bad

Cycling to Cochin – Riding on 3 Apples and a RedBull is a post from: The Kuttappi

The boarding point of Tata Jagriti Yatra was Bombay. My mom’s sister lives in Bombay, so the plan was to come here a day early and spend a day in Bombay.

I got on the train on 21st, Tuesday. Too bad, my uncles dad passed away the very same day and mom’s sister was coming back home to Kerala. But she had made arrangements for my stay in one of her neighbours’ home, Alice aunty and family, they are also my relatives by too distant ones.

Trip to Bombay was long and boring. The train was late an hour or so, and reached Aluva by 5 in the evening. I got on the train and got the seat that I hate the most, the bottom seat of the two seat section of three tier sleeper. After all, an Adventure without Challenges is not an adventure at all.

My seat mate was one Mr. Joseph, an ex-Army officer, so I had a false sense of security. My compartment was full of old people, I had to listen to a bunch of boring conversations, shaking my head and agreeing to everything they say.

My only salvation came when Caroline, and old friend of mine from school gave me a call in between. She was in UK and we hadn’t talked for the past 4 years or so.

I had the dinner that my mom packed me with, secured my bags with chain (to which the old people started laughing to) and got into the sleeping mode. The next thing I knew was when Joseph woke up at 5 in the morning to get down at Goa. Then again I got into the sleeping mode and slept all the way till lunch.

Had lunch, made some phone calls to make arrangements for my reception in Bombay (:P). Spent a couple of hours more, there was nothing more to see other than barren lands and isolated homes.

The train reached Thane right on time, I have no idea where they made up for the delays. The station clock read 16:03 and the time on schedule for arrival was 16:05. I am told that Netravati usually arrives at Platform 7, but this time I was on 6th.

My host, Sanal took about 15 minutes to find me, we went to the Bus Depot and took a bus to Meera Road.

After some casual chit-chat with Alice Auntie and a bath, we went out to see the city had something they call the Dahi Kachori. I kept clicking. Came home, had dinner and slept.

The next day the plan was to go to see the Gateway of India. Me and Sanal got out by about 10 in the morning.

In Bombay, Train is the preferred mode of travel. Here they get to buy Train passes in advance. When you decide to take a train, you punch the passes with the right amount and get on the train. No standing in queue for the ticket.

Also I found that the people are very cooperative, compared to Cochin. I was in an inter city train and we were about to reach a station, the people inside asked us to get to one side so that the people outside could get in easily. That was so thoughtful of them.

We got on a train to Church Gate. We had Punjabi Thali from a local restaurant and went in search of an LIC office; Sanal had some work there. Afterwards we got on a taxi and went to see the Gateway of India. The TAJ Hotel (where the terrorists attacked) is just opposite to the Gateway of India.

Then we went to Marine Drive, had Ragda Pattice clicked some awesome snaps. We had to catch train before the city rush begin, so we rushed to the station.

Got a train and got down at Meera Road and went to see Vardhaman Fantasy Park. They have all the seven wonders of the world setup there, looks good. Lots of work is remaining though.

So lets call it a day, was awesome!

Day Out in Mumbai is a post from: The Kuttappi