Something to think about...

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Camping in Tyler State park, TX

I am happy about this weekend for two reasons. First, I bought my second car (Well.. actually the first car is dead). Second, I went camping.

About my car, it's a 1995 Ford Probe and has about 130000 miles on it. The coolest part about the car is it is a manual transmission car and because of which I got it for a ridiculously cheap price of $1000! More car of the pics will soon follow. The car also complies with my policy of not accumulating too much wealth and buying first hand-stuff (some style stuff excluded).



About the camping trip, my boss happens to be bit strict (others would call that behavior *itchy) about taking time off. So I work saturdays (half day actually but more if I feel like it). This sat I worked from 11 to 3, and then came home, cut vegetables, ate a hurried lunch, packed my car and set off to Tyler, located about 110 miles away from Dallas. Remember that i just bought my $1000, 13-year old car about 20 hours ago. So part of the excitement was due to the uncertainty of my car stopping in the middle of the trip or crapping out entirely. The members on this camping trip were myself and P, for whom this was the first camping trip. The car ran fine and the first stop was El Rio Grande to buy the meat for grilling at the campsite. After loading the meat in the cooler and leaving the key on top of the stuff in the boot, I locked the boot to realize a split second later that I have locked up my only key in the boot. Fortunately for us, there was a huge american guy (trucker) who came to the rescue. He used a long metal rod to pry open the window to reach and release the lock lever. It took some time but finally it gave way and opened. I can solemnly swear that it was the best moment of relief - not even when I skipped lunch to complete the homework in my 6th grade for fear of caning by my history teacher :) Then we set out on the long 90 min journey to Tyler.

The Tyler state park is part of the 90+ state parks in Texas and has camping, fishing, hiking, biking, viking (made that up), swimming and boating areas. It has a small lake with a hiking trail around the lake and one in the periphery, 3 designated fishing piers, O/N, RV and equestrian campsites, boating area and swimming areas (though people were swimming everywhere). We pitched our tent when we got there at about 8 PM and started the grill. We went for a small hike around the place but couldnt do much as it was too damn dark. We came back and grilled food and ate and crashed for the day. Next morning, we went hiking around the lake and fished. There was a seasoned Aerican guy (a local from Tyler) who taught us to fish for Bass and Crappie. He also happened to be a antique trader who buys stuff from thieves for low prices and sells them high. He said he had loads of antiques (with Saraswati name on it and lotus shaped candle and incense holders) and wanted me to be his agent in selling them and share a good % of profit with him. His wife was an experienced fisherwoman (angler would have been better) but with a FEW extra pounds and has a tendency to float in the water as she fishes. After that we went to the campstore to buy some postcards and a lapel pin for myself (my usual - postcards sent to myself and P, and lapel pin goes on my cap) and a mug for P. We came back and started on the long trip back home to Dallas.


I look forward to another camping trip very soon. BTW Texas state parks have free fishing with no license required.

Jus finished reading - Ponniyin Selvan

I would say that this is the best book I have read in a very long time. My mom mentioned this book to me about 10 years ago and I got started with a 1990s copy of the book in Tamil, but never got beyond the first page, probably because I was more into English fiction and the idea of reading a romantic novel did not appeal to me. Now, almost 10 years after I put down that book, my interest got kindled again after I watched 'Dasavatharam' movie. The first 10 minutes of the movie portraying the religious intolerance of the Chola king Kulothungan the second made me think a lot about my history - I was always interested in world history and geography, but my own history? Well...this was a perfect excuse to educate myself.

Kindled in my quest, I started reading about the Cholas who ruled the Tamil country at various times during the last 2000 years in Wikipedia. It was amazing to see the extent of development of the Tamil country, the culture, civilization, art, administration and military during the medieval times. Since the invasion and establishment of the Mughal, Rajput and the British empire, the society has undergone radical changes and the once invincible, unconquered Chola empire that ruled from Lanka in the south to Bengal and beyond all the way to cambodia (Kamboja), Indonesia (SriVijaya) and Malaysia had crumbled to a small dot of land in south India. I have read about Tamil literature (I studied Tamil as my second language all the way upto high school) of the past 2000 years and I could say that it paints a stark contrast between the society of those days to today.

The book is set in the 10th century AD Chola empire which with Thanjavur as capital extends from Lanka in the south to the shores of the Tunghabadra river in the northwest (Present day Karnataka) and all the way to Penna river in the northeast (present day Andhra). The story starts with the protagonist Vallavarayan Vandiyadevan , a brave warrior sent by the crown prince Aditya karikalan to deliver his message to the Emperor and his sister Kundavai. The author Kalki takes us on a voyage through the medieval society, narrating the various festivals that take place, the sentiments and beliefs of the people, the architecture of the cities, temples, kings and much more as seen through the eyes of our hero. The story is a potpourri of political conspiracy, heroism, chivalry, romance, seduction, espionage and counter-espionage, sacrifice, trust and betrayal with humor interspersed throughout the book. The book came out in 5 volumes and once I took it up, I could not put it back. I still continue to read up about my ancestors and my land - Tamilnadu. I took a map of South India and tried to trace the places mentioned in the book. I have started to look at my country with a new fondness and pride. I will soon come up with a google earth listing of the places mentioned in the book (.kmg file).

I have a secret interest - the next time I go to India with a solid one month in my hands, I want to take a trip to the places mentioned in the book and try to enjoy the places (some I have already seen) in a new light.

P.S: I read the book online as a pdf file. I can send out the ".pdf" files to anyone interested. Instead you can locate the book here or here.

Oklahoma - Here I come! Camping trip in Robbers Cave state park, Wilburton, OK

The week had been extremely hectic, with work, helping Paula move around and xcessive partying. Vinodh mailed on Thursday inviting me and sk for a camping trip to Oklahoma...Been fixed in Dallas for almost 8 months now, and dying for a break to stretch ym legs, i agreed. The members on this rather incredible trip will be myself, Vinodh, Anirban and Mekala

We started out on a lazy saturday morning, finally at 11 am (we had agreed on 9 am, talk about punctuality!). We bought some beer and ice and headed out towards oklahoma via the Interstate Highway 35

We had talks abt various topics ranging from current politics, how India can become rich in the next century, a particular character called Boris in Anirban's lab and his antics, state of affairs in Dallas etc. The chat was mostly informative to me but dont know how far with the others ;)

Once we left the lone star state (Texas) the scenery completely changed..Oklahoma is native Indian country (not East indian, which I am...I am talking abt American Indian)...hill country and very beautiful...reminded me of Kodaikanal in India...

We reached the Robbers cave state park at 3 PM on Saturday evening...
http://www.oklahomaparks.com/detail.asp?id=1+5U+3607
After searching for a place to camp for abt 30 mins, we found a nice isolated spot by the lake with a small cascade upstream.



We wanted to explore the territory, so started to walk as far as the main lake - with me and Anirban jumping inside the main area of the dam (check out the pic). We then came back to the campsite and made some barbecued chicken and meat with asparagus..The food vanished before our eyes instantly...(Read as we were very hungry...)We then took some pictures, started a bonfire to warm our ass. We bought the worng type of coal so had an incredible adventure to make it burn...It was a full moon night (Gosh only if I were a werewolf or vampire :D) and we took some amazing pictures in the ambient moonlight and chatted for sometime. It was like returning to the wild. But in a more civilized way as restrooms were only a quarter mile away ;)

By 10:30 PM I was tired and felt sleepy (as I mentioned, I had an extremely hectic week before) and crashed. The climate became very cool and rained, but thankfully the tents were good enough and did not get wet. Byt morning I woke up at 7 AM and the rest of the gang were already out - apparent Anirban and Mekala did not have a good sleep as the water leaked inside and Vinodh was early too....I woke up to the smell of good tea, courtesy of Vinodh - wildstyle. Nevertheless after drinking the tea we went to hke along the robbers cave trail, hiking to the top of the mountain through the torturous caves the robbers had used for hiding. It was kind of funny that there were no witnesses to robbers having stayed there - only that some travelers were robbed and a woman murdered around that area, that made ppl think that te outlaws would have hid here. Robbers or not, the area was one hell of a place for bandits to stay. The trail included places like the stone corral, devil's rock and names of similar nature to create a missense of adventure. The view of the lake and surrounding plains from the top of the mountain was very nive and we also had a glimpse of what looked like a barricaded area with dish antenna at the top of the mountain, which made me wonder if it was the headquarters of "Men in Black" :D

After that we drove bac in search of food to eat ad ended up in a secluded place by the lake, with no human presence for half a mile...It cud have been a good place to take a dip...Maybe skinny dip ;) but my company was not so enthusiastic abt it, and so the mission was aborted. Its hard to find a bunch of crazy people who share my same sense of misadventure. We returned from the place to the entrance of the park and then left the park to te nearby city of Wilburton to have food at a Mexican restaurant. After that we decided it was getting late and set out on the return journey back to Dallas. This time around we decided to take a scenic longer route via Oklahoma backcountry, instead of the highway, which is more monotonous.

On the whole it was an interesting trip esp to me as it was my first camping experience - returning the call of the wild.

The NBA game: Dallas Mavericks are..well Mavericks!!!

Posin in the Mavericks dressing room -

Wanted to see for the heck of it how the basketball games go in the US...So packed off from the lab at 6:30 with Hector and Zhuo to the American Airlines center in Downtown Dallas to see the Dallas Mavericks vs. Memphis Grizzlies basketball game...


Well to be frank this is my first presence at a live game in a stadium in my whole life (not counting those eventless Sports days in India :D)...And the defending champions Dallas Mavericks playing in their home city...


What to say the MAVS where too good and they won. Period. End of story? No! This is where my reliving the moment starts. I did not know what to expect and entered the center. Most people where wearing 'Nowitzki' T-shirts (Something analogous to a cricket fan wearing "99 Tendulkar" Tshirt. First guy - I thot his name was nowitzki...but when I saw about 50 more ppl in 5 mins, i thot...well heck there cannot be too many Nowitzki's :D Pardon my ignorance...


We toured the complex enjoying the sights (cheerleaders!), sounds (the game and commentary) and smell (ya...food..baby!). We got some nice freebies - a basketball replica key chain, a poster of mavericks cheerleading girls personally autographed by 2 of them...and wow...they were sooooooooooooooo pretty...Boyathey! as Hector wud call'em...
Cheerleaders -


We then bought some food ($1 out = $3 inside policy :( and entered the arena...our ticket was the cheapest and the one situated at the very end (shd i say top? check out the pix i took with my phone cam)...The game was amazing and we had a great time. Obviously i did not know who to cheer for. I am no fan of Dallas Mavericks cuz i did not even know who or wat they are before the game and I have been in Dallas for only 5 months to develop a bond with the place...Anyways i pretended to cheer and shout when Mavs scored and 'boo-ed' when the opponents scored to keep the people around me happy... :-/


Finally the game ended...along with my blog entry :)) Check out the pics...

Google trends - Sex, technology and India

Came to know that google has this feature called 'google trends' that shows you the most used keywords from a particular location - jus type the word and it tells you the city, country and language that most searches were from.

The pervert that I being am, I typed 'sex' in the field and the results were surprising - 3 out of the top 4 cities were from India. That's not the end - the most number of searches were from my language - tamil...and my city - chennai...Now I understand why our population is unshakeable :))

Certainly I dont mean it in the negative sense but thinking about it, the population will have the most number of 'working' people in the future. When the world abstains from procreating, we shall awake for active replication and prosperity!!!

Now, comes the interesting part...I type technology, economy and most of the top cities are from India. Especially 'technology' retrieved top 4 cities and were all from India.

Hmmm certainly something to be proud about!