Weekend Trip-Manchibelle Dam Experience and photos

The best part of being in south India has always been the extensive range of places you could visit near around. I love to budge around and being located in Bangalore, I have lot of opportunities of photography and sight seeing in close vicinities of the “Garden City”.

With the weekend drawing closer, I started my pursuit for a place around Bangalore, and MANCHINBELLE DAM appeared top on my interest list. I shall include some important details about the trips and hopefully those should help the commuters making it a more comfortable journey for them.
Trip To: Manchinbelle Dam & visiting banyan tree & Naga Temple on the way.
Free Add-On: banyan tree, Naga Temple.
Distance: Almost 40 Kms from Bangalore City.
Trip directions: MG Road -> Take the Mysore road -> Look for Rajeshwari Dental College (which should come to your right side travelling from Blr)->Take exact right from there (there is a board also which shall confirm you are turning the correct road).

TIPS FOR REACHING:
The road next to the dental college, leads you straight to the Big Banyan Tree and then carries on to the Manchinbelle dam. About the road conditions, drive on the Mysore road is a pleasure as always, till the Rajeswari Dental College. As you turn, the road looks retraced, with a fine outlook, not posing any troubles. It’s a beauty till the Big Banyan tree and one can cruise through scanty traffic and scenic landscapes around. From the big banyan Tree, another few Kms are promising and then they fall apart, both the road and the promises it made. It’s a complete devastation and bumpy ride hereon. As one drives down to the dam, the road is a little slippery posing risk if driven without taking care.

EXPERIENCE
As the drive from the rajeshwari dental college starts, we started feeling alike of some place around Madikeri. The vegetation around the road changes and everything turns a lot greener, the lovely winter morning charmed us into the drive with the sun coming out and a beautiful aroma added to the air by flora around. The place smelt fresh and clean. We could not find much human movement in this area and the traffic on the road was reduced suddenly too, with few buses and trolleys passing by at times. These were excellent conditions for a metropolitan resident like me and I could recollect pleasure of driving at my native place in Punjab. After a good drive of 8 Kms from the Rajeshwari Dental college, we reached the Big Banyan tree which also known as Ramohalli and is a 400 years old, banyan tree. The tree trunk has already expired and the splits have been able to flourish with the little maintenance offered by this place. The span of this tree is huge and has the whole park built around it. The spot has got some attention from the authorities, with one of the nationalized, maintaining this park. There is a bus stand built over here a small market in front, catering the needs of locals and people visit this historical tree. After spending sometime and gulping some warm tea in the cold morning, we continued. The road continues from here in the same manner and the scenery starts to change fast. It’s a beautiful drive, extremely hush and green, and one more major crossing comes your way. WE took left and continued and didn’t get any further choices of roads, since it heads directly to the Dam. The road suddenly got worse and the speed never went beyond 10-15 Kms. Still nothing should dampen your spirits, as I could only hear birds’ sweet sounds and slow music wind. We were enjoying the drive, though it was quite bumpy now. There was this huge turn coming our way, and as we took that on, voila…this was it. The Manchinbelle Dam water bed, in front of our eyes, and we were spellbound. I just pulled over. If someone has ever driven to Goa from Bangalore, that’s the same surprise which shocks you as you discover Karwar coasts suddenly appearing. In this photo embedded below, you could also notice the Savandurga peak, which acts as a backdrop to the water bed.
Now we needed to find out the way for reaching the base and getting down to business. A couple of meters from this place, there was a muddy road, which leads towards the base. We took this right turn and carried on. The road is even friskier here and one needs to be extra conscious from here on. It’s hard to imagine such a place so up and close to Bangalore, and we just absorbed all the beauty around. It’s a Mecca for Birds and bird photography enthusiasts.
We had started from Bangalore at 6 am and by now it were 7.15, with birds already moving around the place and enjoying the morning sun.

We started moving around the base. The first stop was made, near a huge boulder near the water bed. I sighted a greater coucal on the rocks. It was far off, so I crouched and went near the rock. I could just get couple of shots, when it flew off. I was happy since I saw this bird for the first time, and the shot too was decent to start with. At the same boulder, there was couple of lizards which I shot and just spent couple of minutes, pondering on their agility and camouflage. I bet on a rainy day, it would be nearly impossible to spot them with their body changing color as exactly the surface they move on. A little further were a gang of laughing doves, magpie robins and lots of red vented bulbuls. Their movements were brisk since the place offers them homely comfort and capturing shots is not easy with the birds being quite shy. We moved ahead and there was huge resort, a dhabha, completely abandoned. I ventured through the complete area. It’s an excellent location to have a resort at, but for reason it was gone. There was an artistic tree across the road with a Green “OM” painted on it. Well, as they say, God is everywhere. I could also see some gray spotted owls on this tree tops. I was excited since never have shot an owl before. I spent some time waiting for the owl to pose for me, but they won’t come down. As for a moment I got lucky, one owl flew in to the tree and probably he didn’t notice me. The moment he saw below, I clicked and he left. It was as simple and quick. It’s just that this was my lucky day and the capture was spot on. Satisfied and even more energized, I spotted a white dot near the far end of the water bed. We drove towards it. After a little more, I could make out a large Grey heron bathing in sunshine. I parked on the road, and start moving through the fields, clicking on various distances. As I approached near I slowed down and crouched to give no signs of any interference to the bird. I got quite close to the bird and got this decent shot. I shot it from quite close by and the posted photo is an un-cropped version. After I started to move further from here, it probably noticed some movements and left me wanting for me. There are lots of maize fields around this whole area and is the same reason for lot of parakeets around. There were some red whiskered and white-browned bulbuls hiding and playing around these fields, not giving me a single chance to click them. But I soon got lucky with couple of Brahmin kits flying in to a tree nearby. I got busy with clicking them in their prideful posture and probably got some good eight to ten documentary shots. Also some more birds sighted around the place which I could not capture were Small Green Bee-eater, Tickell’s Flowerpecker, Magpie Robin, Hoopoe, and Small Blue Kingfisher. I got a click of pied bushcat but from an angle that could not expose its eyes.

The sun rose higher and birds started disappearing. We moved and before heading to Bangalore, we took a little diversion and decided to drive near the DAM for couple of shoots. Do not miss the place and a small village near the dam, heavenly place. As we moved from here, we stopped at the huge construction site with massive Dish setup and got to know the Space research institute coming up over there, which is one the finest investment goverment is making. I refrained from clicking any shots of this place, considering the security breach it may cause. On the way back, we also took a small road to the Naga Temple, which to us looked the most visited & famous place in the complete region. We didn’t see so many people during the whole journey, which we saw at this temple. The temple is small and beautiful and getting a revamp these days. A nice place to visit during your trip to this area. A memorable journey with lots of photos to share my experiences with you, and shall expect that you would comment back about how did you like it. Please write to me at quitefar@gmail.com for any information I can offer and also visit my flickr for more shots.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/quitefar/
I leave you with another panorama Shot, taken from near by the water bed and covering the complete backdrop.


TIPS
o Take eatables as per your need. The basic snacks are available in plenty near the Banyan tree but tough to find afterwards since least no of shops follow. Please do not litter for it’s sad to see people leaving their waste behind at such a spot.
o No petrol bunks on the complete route and in fact very few on Mysore road too, so folks leaving quite early should take care of fueling up.
o Extremely lone place early morning and during the day times too. One needs to be extra conscious.
o We saw a board near the Dam in front of few houses “BEWARE OF ROBBERS, PLEASE DO NOT GO INTO LONE AREAS”. As we ventured around photographing we realize the relevance. The place is lone and quite.
o Tough ride so make sure you pull up your socks for the bumpy journey.
o Excellent place for birding. Not seen any such place around Bangalore with so many birds around.

Writing with Citizen Matters

As i continue to look out for options to explore my writing capabilities and putting them to use, I have started to contribute my articles on a popular website from Bangalore, http://citizenmatters.in/ and here are some of my articles which have got published yet.

1, Visiting Hesarghatta Lake

2, Smoking out the Cigarette

Do share your comments with me, after you happen to read through those.

Memoir from Coorg Trip

"Collage of Some pictures from Madikeri covering Coffee plantations, famous Abbey falls, rajas tomb, Raja's Seat and a landscape from Madikeri"

"Collage of our personal jungle and pond...a stay at Cauvery Nisagadham Forest Resort including the cauvery bank, huge bamboo trees and the tree huts"
"Collection of photos from namdrolin monastery, an amazing experience"

Venturing into Street Photography, Madivala Market, bangalore

" A Vegetable Carrier-Madivala Market"

A couple of weeks back, I ventured out with couple of folks towards the old Madivala Vegetable and fish market. I wanted to explore the street life across these markets and had been hearing a lot from others.
It was quite an early morning start and we reached the market as the sun came out fully. The market still under a slosh of washed out cloudy ambience and a little drizzle was opening up to its prospects. Though it was quite lively with the amount of jostling happening but it was more of stalls, canopies and marts getting setup. Most of the people cleaning up their respective places and acting as interior decorators for their on road marts, though cleaning up is an individualistic affair. There were lot of tent houses which never needed to relocate and open into a new place as the place was taken up for almost ever. As the market saw more unloading of vegetable, fruits, fishes and every single thing which could be needed for a house hold, more and more noise rose into the atmosphere. The drizzle had already drained down and the clear weather was a welcome sign.

There was matki and plastic bag shop which was among the first one to open up and waited for its first early bird to come in as the day set it. The colours of the flowers shop were as bright as they were fresh and their amazing assortment of fragrances of Dalia, roses, and other flowers were just a free treat admist the casual Bangalore traffic. I was amazed to see the hustle bustle pick up extremely fast the time went by. We as a group also started moving around and started clicking the photos covering various subjects. It was my first experience of getting onto the street and clicking people and has been always quite sceptical about it. I had waited for sometime for a group shoot to get arranged and this was the time when I could too venture out for a new experience.
I have to say that people’s experience was mixed bag. Most of the people just took notice of this group of lens men and then carried on working with their chores and some of them shied away or gave a candid smile seeing them being shot. Some of the them were not very enthusiastic about some people just strolling around and clicking photos and were suspicious about our identity but as a group we were pretty comfortable to explain the cause for which we all were around. I went ahead and clicked a fruit seller when couple of people around the corner, came to me and started inquiring. It was my first trip and an encounter straight off with them. I explained a little about our interest and our photography and that we share pics among each other. This made them even more sceptical and then one of those dark eyed, bald person, in an attire of a security guard from a near-by building, told the other fellow in native Tamil that these guys take these photos and then showcase that India is a poor country. I was struck inside out and since I could understand and speak to them in Tamil, I explained them that we all are too from India and click these for the sake of the photography. Its not to make mockery of our resources but to capture the hard struck but beautiful faces on the street, who work hard for days and nights to meet both ends and still they never forget to laugh, still sharing a word with the fellow shopkeeper next to them, is a daily chore and the only religion which is followed here is Hardwork. Soon, they were happy to understand the motive behind and posed for me. This gave me the learning that it’s equally important to capture a candid shot as well as striking a chord with your subjects so that it builds a bond between you and them.

Soon we moved ahead and I came across Abdul Chacha. An old, lament person, sitting in a small tented canopy which sold beetel and Pan Leaves. He was enjoying his morning puff of Bidi and was not perturbed by the clicking happening around and had a beautiful lightening in his eyes. As I sat around and got my angle to capture a shot of him, he carried on with his puff and gave a little smile. I was quick to have a moment enclosed and then which reviewing the photo on my 3 inch LCD, went ahead and sat with him. He took a look at the pic and then as he smiled, he rumbled due to the cough, I am sure which would have been settling inside since years of smoking tobacco and traffic smoke. A display of image was more than enough for him to feel happy about the experience. I went on to speak to him and he shared some aspects of his life too. He used to be a driver at Calcutta, a taxi driver which he did for some years, before he moved into Delhi as a result of family crisis. After staying for sometime, he took up being a coolie at the railway station and then continued working there when the hardship of that profession took best out of his physical capabilities. He moved into the Bangalore, his native place to settle down and sell leaves and occasionally changing product lines to make his daily living. I was quite touched and even more by the spirit in which he told his story.


Here are these sweet kids with such an innocent smiles to their faces that shows the true face and spirit of the people. Also a amma, making its trade as others setup their shops for the day.

This is another photo of fish selling family where this kid was so happy when his uncle called him from inside for the photo. I was told that all the fishes come in from Mysore and specific varities from Kolkatta and he was too proud to show me his possessions and his shop.





As we moved on, we clicked and clicked and encompassed lot of emotions over the streets. I can conclude by saying that street life is a different ball game when looked from a photography point of view as the emotions and stories of people can move your soul and show you the struggle and larger than life, which may not be a clear inference while clicking birds and flowers. An experience worth it, I am sure and looking forward for the same soon again.

Keeping time

Recently I was scheduled for a meeting for 11:00 am at office. Mind you, this was one of those high precedence meetings, which have an imposing agenda and priorities of no less than saving a planet sort of list. This being one of my latest assignments, I sought after making a remarkable impression.

Life can become a cakewalk when you smile a lot, attend meetings in time, stick to deadlines, follow your work like religion, keep high energy levels, love your coffee vending machine at office . So, bearing this in wits, the prime concern was to get to the meeting and be the torch bearer.
One of the things on my agenda was to dress well, pick up keywords and address the issues in a right and straight way. Peter Drucker says "Efficiency is doing better what is already being done." and I was straight away going for that. I was bingo, at the meeting room ten minutes before the meeting, at the door of the Meeting room and tried to get inside, only to figure out that there was another meeting was in progress there and I have to wait. Not baffled by that, and sticking to my plan, I waited for this meeting to get over and shared the room with my meeting partners.
After the meeting got over, one of the managers coming out gave me a amusing smile which told me "come on, you can pull it on as ever" and while I got into the room, I took a deep breath and reflected at my watch just to keep a tab, which pointed me towards 2 mins before striking that 11 am when all come in. Wondering why no one had turned up, I settled into the chair, a nice cushioned one.
It was a while as I was sitting into the room alone waiting for these two folks to join in, and checking out the room and its decor. I was beginning to get aggravated with the delay and I missing out on my coffee for the sake of this meeting, but then you lose some, you win some... it was this 11:15 when I lost it and left the room, only to discover that the folks who were supposed to be joining in for the meeting were stuck in the traffic driving to the office and they had completely forgotten to check their calendars and this meeting details. Nodding my head, moving towards the cafeteria, realizing that all management talks and trains people about keeping their time but fails to instill this habit and probably everyone ends up keeping a watch, instead of keeping time.

Confusions & CrossRoads

It’s been over a week I wrote something. The reason behind that was an hodgepodge of bad health due to the never ending throat infection, thanks to "Namma Bangalore traffic", oodles of work at the office and also some bewilderment which has started its dingdong once again.
It’s not a recent confusion but one which has been lingering since last probably 7-8 years. Now don’t apprehend me for trying to quote that I have been into the corporate world since donkeys years, but that 7-8 years mean that during my graduation I was game for starting something on my own, started too, moved on and then while I was into my computer majors from Madurai, always back of my mind was whether this would be a technical De-tour to my own fantasy land of starting some business. As I plunged into my job, the only thought to spend sometime and then run out for my MBA and start out. But soon I realized that I should be spending some quality time in the corporate sector before seeking out for a eminent college in the country. Accepting the fact, I moved on but always boiled seeing the business models and team integrations and wondered if that was what I was built for. I never felt that I would want to fix code or provide any technical support, when the only support I could provide was to me and that too morally. I was thoroughly inclined towards a business orientation and so did the job give me an option to move on.
To sum up my confusions in a single go, I have been an avid reader, and love to write too. I started writing a book during my sabbatical out of my graduation, finished some 200 odd pages and then things got pushed due to my entrance tests clouding in. I started some couple of websites, did some freelancing for almost 3 years, earned some quick bucks and quite an amount of publicity, and could not mature the idea of going entrepreneur and making it big. Still the idea of starting a web dev company haunts me and I appreciate the fact that now I can club thinking about business models to top any such ideas. Then its just thousands of potential ideas which strike in and out and get confused with. I was pretty amazed by the speech of my director here at my Red organization, where he stressed the point stating his own examples that one should try to find that one thing which one love and should go for it. He even quoted that he spent 20 years moving around, hoping jobs and trying to explore himself and see exactly where his interest and happiness lied.
At times my mind gives me great ideas about developing a small food chain and growing it big, then a company which specializes into web development, and trades on supporting business ideas do throng in. At times since I have edited some articles and even started a small journal kind of stuff back at my colleges haunts me and gives me confidence that I can start up a magazine and if I can run it and make it big, this would be something of my utmost love. I am already going ahead for a management journal, just out of my sheer love.

And then the ground reality strikes where the decision to quit and chase something like this without having a reasonable investment backing up hits hard. I am sure anyone who starts or plans something of this sort, would or may be going through the same confusion, but I would really like to get inputs on how do people plan such decisions and if any suggestions can get the ball rolling.

Serenity

“The serenity of mind, gentleness, silence, self-restraint, and the purity of mind are called the austerity of thought.”

"Nothing is worth more than this day."

Goethe
"Set peace of mind as your highest goal, and organize your life around it."

Brian Tracy

"There is no greatness where there is not simplicity."

Leo Tolstoy

A life saver-less engaging

Its a blood donation camp operating at my company's recreation room today and we have been receiving mails for reminding people about coming forward and registering for the same. After i went and donated my share of units of blood, little did i realize how worthwhile the effort can be, especially when you see someone suffer and die without blood.
Mine was a first experience and i saw only 15 folks enrolled for 40 mins time slot. No wonder few minutes back there was another note sent out to the global mailer, requesting all to come and donate blood and also a photo from the mornings donation being pasted into the mail, which makes it more convincing. I was a feeling well but i could see lot of people tensed out, being regular donars too. Probably the sight of blood and needles around make people skip few beats. As i filled up my forms and got my blood group confirmed with a medical test, was amazed by the smooth conduct of the officials from the Rotary blood bank and the way whole thing was getting together. After my Blood pressure check, was waiting for my turn when i got to meet one of the colleagues who was also a first timer and was a bit tensed out. We shared few small talks, and then i was called for.
I was smiling and as the lab assistant got the blood bag ready and took out a new needle, he asked me if i was feeling fine and gave me a smile. I was already glaring and seeing across the room where few people after donating, were sitting and sipping some juice and some volunteers were collecting details of others. It pained a little as he pricked the needle into my vein, but then it was OK afterwards. I was enjoying my blood go off, when i was given a stress buster type ball, so that i could keep pressing it for continuing the blood flow. Meanwhile, as this process went on, one of the older volunteers, from Rotary TTK blood club, came across and stood by me. We exchanged smiles and she asked if i was a first timer. Upon a positive nod, we started discussing about blood banks and their roles. I never miss a chance to gather such information & discuss and it was a great opportunity to hear from this lady who had been working with the blood bank as a volunteer for the past 29 years. As she started telling about her experience, and especially the functioning of the blood banks, i realized that blood banking is a noble but a very serious cause. They are really choosy about from who they draw blood. She also shared this piece of information, that normally during any emergency, they do not recommend people taking blood from their relatives, as that is a circle of influence where people are not transparent fully. There is a severe chance that one of the relatives of yours, has been suffering from some ailment which may not let them donate blood, but just seeing the emergency they gulp the truth down and it can be risky for both the parties at the end.
As the talk went on, i could not resist asking her about how much response they get of people while they conduct such camps. I could see the statistics myself though, out of our whole organisation, almost 100 had only registered which is just a meager number. She also explained the similar situation, where they have visited any and every IT company, colleges and factories at Bangalore but they observe that normally 10-15% people only turn up. Considering that any point in time, 15-20% would be suffering from something or the other which would not let them donate, but then out of the remaining 80-85%, the turnout is quite less. But she was quite optimistic and that's what i liked about the whole group. She emphasised that they need to have more volunteers and spread the word so that more no of people could be roped in to satisfy the requirements.
Also after i donated my share, thanked this volunteer and relaxed for sometime, sipping apple juice, another volunteer explained about their operations in Bangalore and also about Stem cells from blood beign collect by Apharasis, which is a technology geared way of acquiring Blood steam cells which can be further divided into its classifications and donated to people suffering from severe dieseases. That discussion was really an eye opener and i could feel that how much more volunteering is needed to set the record straight.
As i left the room, commit ed myself to donate blood after regular interval and wish this post gets few more to come in and volunteer and helps spread a word.

Some basic details which i learnt from them, are shared here for your reference.
The amount of blood drawn and the methods vary, but a typical donation is 500 milliliters of whole blood.
Donors are typically required to give consent for the process.
Normally at a given time, a person has 5-6 ltrs of blood in the body.
Components of whole blood-usually red blood cells and plasma.

for more information, please visit Rotary Blood Bank Website

A trip to Hesarghatta and NtriyaGram

As the weekend approached, we had been long planning for an outing. As the last planned outing was washed with one of my previous post. We had dreaded over the fully planned trip to Mysore where the rain had played spoil sport. The weather looked good on Friday evening as I left my office with the printout of a map of place called Hesarghatta.
Early morning as the alarm rung at 5 am we got up and took to our journey to Hesarghatta. The intention was to have a good day out and capture some scenic photo and quite a few birds too. It was an quite early start and the road was empty. We hit the outer ring road as the clock struck 5:30. After some time; as we crossed Hebbal flyover, we hardly knew that it was going to be a never ending journey. The Goggle map helped little as the road started going through lot of villages and we had to take directions from lot of people. In the middle of the journey; we started feeling if we were going to the right place or not? Finally, somehow after driving of one hour and thousands of route changes; we reached a small village called Hesarghatta. It looked that our journey had come to an end and we were in for a surprise.

This was the place where we could also see the same road leading towards Narityagraam which is a dance village. After few minutes drive; through the cloudy weather, we reached this huge junction which you will normally have at the bank of a river or a canal. Few of the villagers were standing there going for their nature’s call, were a bit taken aback of surprise by their early morning visitors. We parked the vehicle and rushed upstairs. As we reached at the top of the bank there was another surprise waiting for us; An awful one . It was a huge river bed without a river or a lake in it. We could hardly believe our eyes and took a round of this whole place to discover nothing more than few birds. The place indeed was very green and scenic but hardly close to anything we expected. After spending few minutes and a couple of shot; we decided to move along the same road and check out the Narityagraam. we went past a poultry form and turkey center, and we came across a film training institute. After a few minutes drive from there we reached the famous Narityagraam and a very beautiful Taj Kutiraam. The place was a treat to eyes and satisfying. But disappointing too as Narityagraam showed up a sad board of being closed due to vacations till 1st Oct. We checked with the manager at Taj Kutiraam about the famous Hesarghatta lake. To our surprise; He told us that the lake has already gone off since last 10 years. Before that Yes it was famous for River rafting and birding. We spend some time and captured few birds and started back home. It was indeed a disappointing drive and I was wondering How the websites have been supporting photos and details of Hesarghatta.

A king fisher captured our attention and then as we moved around the lake, here is one of the birds which i caught at hesarghatta lake. Few birds were around there and most of the crows and brahmin kites were making rounds of this place. Unforntunately i could not get hold of any of those.

As we had come out of the NrityaGram, Outside the compund wall, could see these few birds and could not resist capturing them. I am sure these resorts, like the one besides Nrityagram, TAJ KUTERAM make lot of contribution to the nature in a way to lure guests and in return nature comes back visiting them with full bloom and makes the spot worth paying for it.

And this one was a beauty. I spent sometime running behind these, as they wont stick to anything for long. tried spot metering these brids and if you could observe the beauty, the bird at first looks like it has its mouth opened up in a howl posture but actually its the crown in its head. I am still not sure about their names. So any comments about the same would be appreciated. I am planning to visit this place again, but for nrityagram and probably would check in at the TAJ KUTERAM as it is an awesome place to spend time at the outskirts of bangalore.

Need Inputs-A new change, a new name

Its been ages since i started using my blog for writing out my feelings and talking to the world outside. I still have those memoirs of the website and the excitement it created for sometime among my friends at college, and around the town getting huge hits and lot of emails of congratulations and Kudos. I took to publicising the website, used that odd friends cyber cafe and posting a note there to put small advertisements across the local free ads.
but now, as this is a different genre and lot has changed, this is the time when i am getting back to writing to my blog and preparing to commit that i write daily.

Also this is the time when learning out of my management studies and corporate boardrooms, I am planning to launch a monthly journal on business management and wide spectrums to it. I am not sure how much readership i currently have and how many inputs do i get for this, but i am looking for name for my Journal. Any suggestions. Please feel free to suggest a name also write to me what according to you would be an ideal read in a business management journal, if i could call it so.

Season of Wait

Jack Canfield once said "Everything you want is out there waiting for you to ask. Everything you want also wants you. But you have to take action to get it. "

"The quieter you become the more you can hear."

That was the same we experience when we a gang of Five, planned to go to Mysore on bikes. We planned, packed, stuffed and drove but to no escape as rain caught us at lot of spots and made us to reconsider our decision of not yet driven 140 Kms. We choose to return back to the comfort of home made food and Hot cup of teas.
But the post is dedicated to one of the co-trippers who was left high & dry with the change in plan, and was caught on my camera sighing. Check out my flickr link for more.

My Management Collection-Defining the Supply Chain Management?

What is Supply Chain Management?
As per the Institute of Supply chain management Inc, US, SCM can be defined as design, and management of a huge, value added process across organizational boundaries to meet the real needs of the end customers. Personally from my observation, supply chain management is finding the most optimized way to delivery
value to customers and the organization as well.
Continuing with more of would explain that when you put together the technological resources which would include the most sophisticated tools available(from forcasting to inventory management), to the hardware side of the ever changing hardware with the people working with them, thats is termed as Supply Chain integration. Ain't no rocket science yet.
There was no substantial need felt for any of these, until the business started going above bounds and the aspects which were covered by the business house themselves, was let off to be a responsibility of the vendor/supplier itself and this fusion led to more management joints and nut bolts needed to get the system working. These days, for a huge business to run successfully, most of the collaboration is fused from the outside entities to the business like, suppliers, distributors etc. Such an arrangement of lesser control and more integration gave all the supply chain concepts and Logisitics handling, inventory management, distribution and stock handling took as much of concentration as forcasting the trends took the industry share.
Supply Chain Major Focus Areas:
Some of the major areas of concentration, in todays business are:

• Distrubution Network Configuration.
• Distribution Strategy
• Information
• Inventory Management

1,Distribution network configuration: The words can sound too techie but in real terms its a very common sense phenomenon but unrealistic to come to terms with. DNC takes into account of Number of location of suppliers, production facilities, distribution centres, Warehouses and customers. Well, if some one could find a perfect resoution, life would be a better one but it one of the tough bets to conlude upon. The real analogy would include, having a store and then find all the permutations and combinations of cost involved in different no of suppliers, no of carriers, their no of shifts of work and then the conclusion telling us the optimal figure good for the business.
2, Distribution Strategy: I shall try and write another writeup on different distribution strategies to explain more in details, but for the completeness, the strategy to be choosen could from either Centralized Vs Decentralized, Cross docking or Shipment directly, Pull or Push Strategies, Third party logistics etc. Its again basically a variable to choose how you want to distribute your stuff.
3, Information:Integrate systems and processes through the supply chain to share valuable information, including demand signals , forecasts, inventory and transportation.Its as simple and tough as that.
4, Inventory Management:Quantity and location of inventory including raw material, work-in-process and finished goods service providers and customers.
I shall be writing on different aspects of supply chain management and shall try to write another one on forcasting as that is one of my favs.

My Management Collection-Consumer Behaviour and purchasing

Consumer:It would refer to an individual or household which would use goods and/or services, and dictate and emulate their production.

Consumer Behaviour:
Consumers make purchases in order to satisfy needs. Some of these needs are basic and must be filled by everyone on the planet (e.g., food, shelter) while others are not required for basic survival and vary depending on the person. It probably makes more sense to classify needs that are not a necessity as wants or desires. In fact, in many countries where the standard of living is very high, a large portion of the population’s income is spent on wants and desires rather than on basic needs.
Over here, when I mention the consumer i am referring to the actual buyer, the person spending the money. But it should also be pointed out that the one who does the buying is not necessarily the user of what is bought and that others may be involved in the buying decision in addition to the actual buyer. While the purchasing process in the consumer market is not as complex as the business market, having multiple people involved in a purchase decision is not unusual. For example, in planning for a family vacation the mother may make the hotel reservations but others in the family may have input on the hotel choice. Similarly, a father may purchase snacks at the grocery store but his young child may be the one who selected it from the store shelf.
So understanding consumer purchase behavior involves not only understanding how decisions are made but also understanding the dynamics that influence purchases.

What Influences Purchasing

The decision-making process for consumers is anything but straight forward. There are many factors that can affect this process as a person works through the purchase decision. The number of potential influences on consumer behavior is limitless. However, marketers are well served to understand the KEY influences. By doing so they may be in a position to tailor their marketing efforts to take advantage of these influences in a way that will satisfy the consumer and the marketer (remember this is a key part of the definition of marketing).we will break these influences down into three main categories: Internal, External and Marketing. However, those interested in learning more about customer buying activity may want to consult one or more consumer behavior books where they will find additional methods for explaining consumer buying behavior.
For the most part the influences are not mutually exclusive. Instead, they are all interconnected and, as we will see, work together to form who we are and how we behave.
For each of the influences that are discussed we will provide a basic description and also suggest its implication to marketers. Bear in mind we only provide a few marketing implications for each influence; clearly there are many more.

Internal influence shall cover:

1, Perceptual Filter which shall cover Exposure, attention, awareness and retention.
2, Knowledge.
3, Attitude.
4, Personality.
5,lifestyle.
6,Roles and Involvements.

External Factors shall include:

1, Culture.
2, Group.
3, Situation.

How Consumers Buy

This process is presented in a sequence of 5 steps as shown below. However, whether a consumer will actually carryout each step depends on the type of purchase decision that is faced. For instance, for minor re-purchases the consumer may be quite loyal to the same brand, thus the decision is a routine one (i.e., buy the same product) and little effort is involved in making a purchase decision. In cases of routine, brand loyal purchases consumers may skip several steps in the purchasing process since they know exactly what they want allowing the consumer to move quickly through the steps. But for more complex decisions, such as Major New Purchases, the purchasing process can extend for days, weeks, months or longer. So in presenting these steps marketers should realize that, depending on the circumstances surrounding the purchase, the importance of each step may vary.

Weekend Getaways- Nandi Hills

Voila, so finally here i am to write a review on Nandi hills to cover and uncover all the details about the place, and everything related to this place. For any of the information which i have not been able to put in, you can always mail me

Journalist inside::Diwali Special::Significance Of Festival of Lights

Significance Of Festival of Lights
‘The festival of lights’ is celebrated with much enthusiasm and zeal in all of north India. In fact the festival of Diwali is regarded to bring the supernatural joy and brightness in a person’s life with the hope of discovering light amidst darkness, achieving happiness in place of ignorance and spreading love amidst hatred and violence. The tradition of lighting the diyas on Diwali holds much importance as in Hindu mythology the light signifies goodness and vitality. In cities candles and classy neon lights often substitute these diyas.

The word "Diwali" is the corruption of the Sanskrit word "Deepavali" - Deepa meaning light and Avali, meaning a row. It means a row of lights and indeed illumination forms its main attraction. Every home, the hut of the poor or the mansion of the rich is lit with the orange glow of twinkling diyas-small earthen lamps to welcome Lakshmi, Goddess of wealth and prosperity. Multi-colored Rangoli designs, floral decorations and fireworks lend grandeur to this festival which heralds joy, mirth and happiness in the ensuring year.

Diwali Decorations

Every house glitters like a jewel in the dark night sky during Diwali. People go out of their way to ornament their houses, streets, market places, schools and even slums with glittering decorations. It all starts a few weeks before Diwali when the frantic spring-cleaning gets underway. Every member of the household is expected to play a role in this ritual cleaning affair. Floors are scrubbed, thee walls whitewashed and the kitchen immaculately dusted. Every man, rich or poor, young or old, follows this custom. Since Diwali marks the beginning of the Hindu New Year, it is considered auspicious to make a good start by cleaning all the rubbish of the last year. It symbolizes not only the cleaning of the house but spiritual cleaning as well. It is also said that Goddess Lakshmi, Goddess of wealth and prosperity does not visit houses that haven’t been spotlessly cleaned. Once the cleaning and whitewashing has been done, it is time for the beautiful decorations to be bought out.

Diyas

Diyas are small oil lamps made out of clay. Diwali is Sanskrit for row of lamps, therefore it is but obvious that Diyas are an integral part of Diwali celebrations. They come in different shapes and sizes and patterns ranging from the intricate Rajasthani varieties to the poor man’s Diya made out of simple clay. Rows of Diyas line the entrance to the house and the areas surrounding it. This is done to guide the Goddess Lakshmi when she makes a visit to everyone’s humble abode to bless them with success.

Rangolis

Rangolis are one of the oldest and most beautiful Indian art forms. They are patterns, usually depicting Nature, drawn on a floor or wall with powdered color mad e out of natural vegetable dyes. These Rangolis are drawn at the entrance of the house, again to welcome Goddess Lakshmi.

Idols Of Gods and Goddesses
On this auspicious day, the idols of Lord Ganesha and Goddess Lakshmi are worshipped. They are first thoroughly cleaned, then ornamented in jewels, many a times the jewels are real gold and pearls and at other times they are garish cosmetic jewelry. These idols then occupy the pride of the place in the family mandir (temple).

Diwali Lights and Lamps
Many people decorate their houses with rows and rows of electric lights in different colors. These lights cascade from balconies, are coiled around a tree or strung along electrical wires in the market place. They create a mesmerizing atmosphere with their shimmering glow.

Origin Of Diwali Rangolis
According to the Chitralakshana, the earliest Indian treatise on painting, when the son of a King’s high priest died, the king was most distressed. Brahma, lord of the universe decided to help the king and asked him to paint a likeness of the boy on the wall so that Brahma could breathe life into him again. That was believed to be the first Rangoli. Another legend has it that God, in one of his creative moods, extracted the juice of a mango and painted with it the figure of a woman so beautiful that the painting put all the maidens in heaven at shame!

The Indian Kings and royal families to gave impetus to this art form which it was believed that only the very skilled could attempt. The Chola rulers are notable in their propagation of the art of Rangolis. Like Hindu and Buddhist Mandalas, the reason for using powder or sand as a medium for creating Rangoli (and its resulting fragility) is sometimes thought to be a metaphor for the impermanence of life and Maya.

Diwali Fireworks Do and Don’ts

• An adult should always supervise the use of fireworks by children.
• Check the area before igniting fireworks to ensure that all inflammable and combustible materials are removed.
• Follow all safety precautions issued with the fireworks.
• Ensure that your children don't engage in dangerous pranks such as throwing lighted crackers or sparklers at others, or try to make fireworks themselves.
• Never use fireworks inside a vehicle
• Never ignite fireworks while holding them. Put them down, then ignite them and walk away.
• Wear close-fitting clothes of thick material instead of loose or flowing garments.
• Flying fireworks - rockets, missiles, etc. - should always be lighted in open grounds pointing straight up.
• Firecrackers, bombs and flowerpots should not be lighted holding them. It is always safer to light them from the side without bending over them.
• Keep a fire extinguisher or bucket of water nearby to extinguish any incipient fire.
• Keep burn ointments handy
• Use a candle or an agarbathi to ignite fireworks. They burn without an open flame and provide a greater and safer distance between your hands and the fireworks.

Diwali calendar:

Here’s a Diwali Calendar which will keep you well informed over the next couple of years. However, the dates are subject to change depending on the lunar activity.

YEAR	DATE, MONTH AND DAY
2006	21 October, Saturday
2007	09 November, Friday
2008	28 October, Tuesday
2009	17 October, Saturday
2010	05 November, Friday
2011	26 October, Wednesday
2012	13 November, Tuesday
2013	03 November, Sunday
2014	23 October, Thursday
2015	11 November, Wednesday
2016	30 October, Sunday
2017	19 October, Thursday
2018	07 November, Wednesday
2019	27 October, Sunday