A meeting of UVCEians seperated by dates

First of all, I wish to tell you all " Meeting planned by Mr. KNC in UVCE made my day ".
Let me recount the minutes before I start my Work @ Office because I don't wish anyone to be deprived of those moments just because you couldn't make it .

Srini & I had planned to come college together. He picked me up from my home sharply at 8.20 am . We reached college at 8.50 , gave a ring to Mr. KNC and stepped in UVCE college quadrangle .

Just 2 min later, Mr. KNC arrived . Along with him, his friends Mr. M L Ashok 1975 EEE UVCE and Mr. RSN Murthy 1974 Civl UVCE joined us and I was overwhelmed to find three esteemed alumni than expected one.

A stroll across campus quickly transported them to their college days and memories of their pranks, classmates , lecturers and identifying classrooms,benches , library, labs and nicknames too :) Apart from some cosmetic changes, the heritage is still carried over through years and decades .

Mr. KNC took his cam and took the snaps of the college nook and corner.He also pointed me out the current seminar hall which was the place where he won the BU Chess ChampionShip and a UVCE Boys hostel alumni just like me . Mr. Ashok recalled about his good old days at TT games,labs and classes . Defintely, I agree KNC Sir's comment - "We were among studious guys during those days." :) Mr. RSN Murthy added his points about his '74 batch reunion and shared the in and out of all the events happened nearby. Why not ? He is been close to college working in KPC and will be Special Point of Contact for spreading message and sharing tips like event venue and other event nuances along with KNC Sir.

After a quick photo session in college, we went to Kamat Cafe and continue discussion over a cup of coffee and ofcourse tea. Varied tastes as expected but it was a confluence of like minds having a dream of making MegaReunion a splashing event and make UVCE get it's deserved staus of IIT or a Deemed University atleast.

The discussion included the Rotary Club events to which KNC Sir and Ashok Sir are active members doing credible and noble work in Govt. schools . Progession of life in terms of technology like, hearing live cricket commentary thru radio , emergence of Tvs and DD , mobiles and lot of jokes over it . And in all these stuff, it finally zeroed always on UVCE recalling the people who have made a mark in their own fields.On a lighter note ,introduction class of google docs used for collaboration by KNC Sir to Srini can't be missed here.
All out there who said, our seniors may not be much tech-savvy, they are way ahead of us !

Two names which I can recall are R.Chakrapani, Radio presenter in Melbourne and , Pradeep Padukone, brother of Prakash Padukone among many stalwarts.Do share us their contacts too .Mano Murthy, music director and retired Software entrepreneur and Ramesh Aravind , actor-cum-director , Kannada movies.

We came back to college . I introduced Prof. V SatyanagaKumar( VSNK ) , Chairman , EEE to all the alumni . It was just a co-incident that he arrived while we were departing . Srini was happy to meet his teacher who taught him EEE subjects during his college days . Prof. VSNK also shared his vision of having a reunion of EEE alumni, although it didnt took off , the mega-reunion movement is infact merged his plan to achieve the larger vision of alumni . Definitely, this is going to be a real booster as he offered us complete support from whatever he can.
Although this was the first time I interacted him , with the discussion we had , I am excited to take it forward. Lomesh , Satish and Harsha already in touch with him will help us leverage the support .
They also checked out the UVCE map placed at the entrance, It was a pleasant surprise to them when they learnt that it is entirely created by Students . :-)

Finally , a very warm see-off with the promise that MegaReunion will bring back the the memories of all the good old days to everyone just as it did to KNC, Ashok, RSN Murthy , Srini . Overall, the happiness they got has inspired to really meet and if possible, surpass their expectations.To achieve that, everyone of UVCE alumni must come together .

Megareunion tasks focus :

1..I promised to add all three of them gathered that I will share the existing Batch Coordinators google docs . I already added ur mail ids and granted you access. KNC Sir has promised that he will liase with anyone and spread the word in full zeal as he is doing now .

2. A free event management site which will help us track the volunteers, tasks, meeting timings, updates .
The idea by KNC Sir which he found it very useful when he planned for an event last year .

3. Budget preparations : Although chalked out at the facevalue , Murthy Sir's input really helped me realise that we can infact reduce all the costs if we contact the right person . He is already aware of few UVCE alumni who can help us book the Kanteerava Stadium at a reasonable rate.
@Satish and others : What you say about this ? Do go ahead with your budget planning work but doors are always open to streamline such costs.

4. KNC Sir and Murthy Sir have promised to share their collection of photos for our SAMPADA and then , we can use them to our MR photo exhibition event . @SAMPADA editors : How does it sounds ? :-)

All have promised to attend the event along with their family, infact , Ashok Sir's father is 1949 UVCE passout . Sounds amazing right !
Note : All attendees were coming after their college graduation for first time . It means 35 years for KNC, Ashok and RSN Murthy Sir .
And 9 years for Srini.

Gosh ! I finished it finally .And still have a weird sense of feeling that " Hope I have not missed any minutes !" If so, I request the meeting attendees to please fill the gaps with comments here.

My blog also was left orphan for months waiting for a refreshing post but I have found one today ! :) [The dates in the title refers to the different years when all of us graduated ]

KNC Sir uploaded all the snaps on picassa the next day. I hope the it can be viewed publicly. Do check the photos .

Ending on a very positive note , catch you soon again !

Weekend trip @ Jog Falls

When it pours, it pours and pours to make the place I visited last weekend a heaven , and thats what has happened with monsoons playing spoilsport in few places like my native Gulbarga , and floods in malnad, the home for JOG FALLS .

Let me start my saga -

What can you expect from a lazy software engineer on a weekend ? Yes, you are right-on the spot, I was sleeping nicely when the sun had already come over the head and half the day was over. But for me , it was a still happy hours :) A sudden call from my friend Nings as we all address him woke me up from my sweet dreams.
"Are you coming to Jog Falls tomorrow with us or not ? If yes, board the train at 1.50pm from Blore city else sleep again !" - Bossy voice woke me up completely from my dreams by now, and checked my watch . It was 12 noon already . I suddenly gushed to bath room , finished my chores and was ready to reach railway station by 1pm. As expected, traffic jam in Bangalore never allows a lazy guy to enjoy the Bus journey peacefully. It was already 1.45 and bus was still in Mysore Bank Circle. I ran for life when it reached Majestic, then underground in station. The moment I stepped , train came. Thanks to Indian Railways for their punctuality. It was right this time i.e as usual 10 min late, not like, last time, when I missed train to Salem during Yercaud trip. If you are wondring ,what I am saying, read my previous post .
Back to my train journey, well. I had already booked a seat throwing my bag on a seat with a old handsome man assuring to take care of it. But by the time , I boarded and reached my seat, bag was somewhere and seat owner was displaced uncontroversially. Yes, a Patien aunty had occupied my much-guarded seat. :( What can I do apart from standing dumb-faced and searching for a seat. Luckily, old man who was guarding my seat got down at Yeshwantpur and I got a seat . Bliss started now. I enjoyed the whole journey glancing here and there to check out the girls sitting in front and back and even sideways. Fun apart, the moment I crossed Biruru, the nature welcomed me with rains and amazing views , long coconut trees, green grass, also paddy sprouting up lavishly and sunflowers struggling to find sun who was lost among clouds. I reached Shimogga at 7.30 pm, papi alias Papu ,its his pet name received me at station. We went straight to his home. finished our dinner after meeting his parents and watched TV, discussed few matters together and slept at 12 . Let me remind you we have nt booked any vehicle, there was a gang waiting to be joined next morning along with us . But we just slept after sharing the reminescences right from last day of college till date.

I woke up at 5.30, yes, I know you are surprised after reading above that I woke up at 12 the day before. Even I wanted to sleep still but all had to be ready and catch bus at 7.15 on a rainy sunday morning. We assembled at 7.10, took bus and started shimogga from 7.30 am . Reached Sagara by 9 or 9.30. The whole lot was hungry , we had our breakfast, as usual, Idly-vada to be at a safer side. Started at 9.45 an reached JogFalls at 11 am . We roared, watched a Kannada movie Meravanige in Bus and were too excited , after all we were going to see the splendour blessed in this part of the world.
We were dumb-struck seeing the majestic falls laced with clouds . The sunday crowd was unbearable on a rainy morning at a splendid spot by tourist authorities, yet none dithered our zeal to trek down. Last year, we had come here. Steps were being constructed but this time , entire 1388 steps were ready ! Shouted , screamed, captured pictured of this blissful spot , nothing less than a real treat to eyes. As we moved down, clouds disappeared and the view was more clear , with falls sprinkling water like heavy rain on us. We were drenched completely, still we marched until we reached the goondi or the bottom of the falls where falls dipped the earth making horrendous voice. The milk-like river water was gushing and the boys were on top of the world screaming and dancing taking the crowd along with us and engaging them in our excitement . It was tota l gala time over there. The view which we watched, I feel that we were blessed enough to have such a view and return safely with no single accident on the way, considering how far we had gone into the waters . It was 2 pm and there were no signs of Sun god appearing . We realised even he is having a nice time sleeping on a lazy sunday except rain god and us ! :) We returned to the top by 3. Rats were fighting in our stomachs and a just before soccer game was about to start, Hotel Mayura , KSTDC saved us .
What we plan, and what happened ! Yes, you were wondering how the script is going so smoothly ! Story is not yet over , my friend :) The famous SRK dialogue from OSO translated to all my brethrens across globe. We took tickets back to Shimogga at 3.15 . And take my words, the bus moved only 100 m in 2 hours. The crowd and traffic jam sprang up . And if we would have compared it to Blore traffic jams, it would beat by 20 - 1 difference. Finally, the jam was softened and after such a hue and cry, banging on top of the bus and a near riot, we reached Shimoga at 9.30. I bid bye to all my friends accompanied throughout with such a memorable trip . I quickly finished my dinner, and had to rush back to Bangalore, to start earning my bread and butter. Boarded a bus and reached in time by 4 am and room by 5. I checked my mails early morning and jumped to my bed without disturbing my roommates. When I woke up it, it was 11.35 am and office ! ? !
What happened next ? We will catch up for coffee and discuss about that !
But the trip came to close and I was relieved ! Yes, my dream of witnessing Jog Falls in full glory is fulfilled ! I can assist you in your next Jog Falls trip anytime , before check out the amazing pictures of my friends and Jog Falls , and do comment, how was my journey and blogpost :)