Europe Trip highlights

It was my second trip to Europe and this time I visited Italy and Germany. I landed at Malpensa international airport during last week of November and I was lucky to  be in 4-8 C. I was told that the temperature goes minus during this time of the winter.

It was a business trip and  I visited small towns  at the borders of Switzerland like Dormio, Telio.My guest took me to Switzerland as well for a ride.

The season for Christmas was already started with the decorations in most of the shops.I observed a church every 1 -2 km distance in this part of the world. But the young people usually do not go to church. In one church, I observed only white hair people for the mass and 3-4 were young.

I was in Dusserdolf, Germany for a conference for three days. I searched the places by myself to go around  and really liked by the information systems. It was visual displays.

Traffic systems were very much disciplined. On the same road, people cross,trams move and cars and buses move around.

Was thinking when we in india will have similar systems getting implemented…….

Few photos from Europe trip Nov 2012

My young days..at Kaikamba

Tulasi Bar.. The Bar and restaurant near Nitte was the first place where  I took a sip of wisky in my life. The year was 2001 and I  have just finished 5^th Semester exam, first in mechanical specialization. I used to drink beer at times before, but this party ended up drinking both and thereafter omitting fully on the road on my way to paid room by walk. There were a group of 10 including seniors helped to in this accomplishment..

I started with an odd incident, but sweet memories of my young life are still lingering now.

Playing sport was my hobby. Unlike my brother James who is very much focused on sports activities, I was playing for fun after learning the game. The dedication and focus to improve my game was not in my agenda.  The first game learnt was obviously Cricket being in a cricket loving country.

The two months holidays during high school tenure made my cricket fundamentals strong and I was a kind of valuable player in my team. I became famous in the Village cricket for my typical leg spin bowling. It was very hard for me to get control on the leg spin. I was following Shane Warne style of bowling. But when I was given to bowl, I never used to try leg spin in matches in the fear of uncontrolled release of the ball  from my hand  which end up in wides. This fear came to an end when I chose to bowl when opponent team was about to win. If I remember well, they were in need of less than 10 runs from 3 overs. On that day, I turned the game for my team, taking a fantastic hatrick and changing the game. The batsmen never faced a quality spin till then were in no clue when they were getting out.. Since then, I used to bowl leg spin quite consistently and successfully. But I could not keep the same consistency when I left to Dubai in 2003. As far as the batting was concerned, I was aggressive but inconsistent.

We had different locations of playing cricket throughout the year at Kaikamba and every location was meant to suit each season. The “ Abutam Stadium Salmara” was the first place where  our group of youth started playing in 1995-1996. This ground itself was split into two playing modes.  Fullground and halfground. The decision to play full ground or the half ground was done based on the number of people. Usually Manu used to take the lead in decision making. This ground was used between March to May till the monsoon arrives. We used to play at Church ground. There are total four different places we played cricket at church premises.

During Monsoons, the number of  guys will be less, specially during the week days. So, The cricket was played in front of the Church bell structure with a funny rules determined by Manu.Myself,James, Manu,Naveen, James Pinto, Ozzy, Goddy,Santhu, Roshan were among regular  players.

The second location was in front of the church itself. We used to play at this place usually on Sundays when number of people is more. Cemetary in front of the ground was termed boundary for Six.But the ball hits the roof  of the school at the right side, will be termed as out. If the ball lands in to garden in front of school, it was a 2- declared. Another six  point was PYC Rangmanch at the far right end. If the ball reaches Convent, it is termed out. And if the ball  falls onto the solar panel on the Convent, then it was out +permanent ban on playing.!!

PYC stage was another place to play when there were 5-6 people. Can you imagine a cricket match on a dais of 16 X 16 ft. It was lot of fun because of the peculiar rules again created by Manu. If  the ball does not get connected 3   times, then it is out. It will be termed out also when the ball hits on a particular painting on the wall. If the ball slides down the ground 3 times when you are playing, it is out. Some time, even one bounce catch will be given out…The rules were plenty and  they were funny as well. We had once requested Manu to note down all the rules for the younger boys to play in the future.

The same group of people had the chance enter to swimming pool at Kajila  at Richy mam house. In a particular monsoon season, we went to learn swimming and all learned the art of swimming in a matter of 2-4 days. Once we learnt, it was fun to  have competition and also  to have a shower at the  Kajila falls. Whenever there was an opportunity, even there were 2-3 people, we  used to go and swim.Naveen’s Hero Pook  two wheeler has served us for this short travel.

During Monsoons, we also kept a habit of playing cards inside the club’s room. The famous game “ Donkey” was getting played with full of fun. Most of the time, we used to fix the looser and arrange the play accordingly. Thevart of match fixing  was learnt!.

As I grew up,  my interest and involvement in  youth activities increased. I became a founder president of young Christian students of our  parish in 1997. I did not do much as a president due to the  new church building construction during my tenure. The activities were limited and the focus was for completion of new church building. Later Pompei Youngsters Club provided me the platform in terms of public speaking, writing, even organizing, Master of ceremony and in leadership.

Just missed accidents

1.       I think year 1998: Myself  and Naveen Lobo went to attend the school day at Rosa Mystica, kaikamba. We went by Local bus from Kaikamba and got down at Rosa Mystica bus stand.I was excited to get in and started crossing the road blindly. There was a Ambassador car coming at high speed from Mangalore was at little distance from me. Since it was night, headlights of the car were on and i could not gauge the speed of the car.I crossed 30% of the road more or less and realised that the car was coming at high speed and decided to run. But... at that moment Naveen realised that i will end up trouble  pulled me back to the same end by holding my hand  swiftly. I realised only seconds after that i missed an major accident.

2.       Coimbatore: It was 2006 and i had TVS star city motor bike. As a young lad, there was always a passion to ride the bike at high speed.But this case happened when  i was moving slowly otherwise, i think this blog would not have been created for you to read.

The express buses in Coimbatore are a disatster. They  drive so recklessly and one has to be very cautious  while driving on highways. I was riding perfectly on the left side of the road which is my lane and  now saw a bus overtaking another bus in front of me. I switvhec on he  the lights but it never made any impact on the  bus driver. He was rushing to overtake the bus and i was almost right in front. There was lot of grass to the left of the road and i had no other option but to suddenly move the bike  towards the grass. Luckily  it was not drainage and  was a flat area. This averted another major tragedy.

My mom at 60

After 42 years of long teaching career, my mom retires from the work as she turns 60 today. She is satisfied today for the work done and teaching the fundamentals to the kids in Pompeii Higher Primary school Gurpura- kaikamba for 32 years and last 10 years at Parochial Higher primary schools at Bajpe.

We are joyful and proud today for having you as our mother and pay our sincere gratitude for growing us up with great values, providing education and career.

We wish you peace, happiness and good health in your retired life. Be happy and cheerful.

With Warm wishes,

Pimmu, Jesu and James

Nature photos taken by me-2

Nature Photos taken by me-1

Terrible Journeys-1

1.       Diwali 2007 in general class trip from Coimbatore to Mangalore:

I was working in Coimbatore and my usual practice during holidays to go to Mangalore. But this Diwali was never planned. I was thinking to stay back in Coimbatore. But 3 days of holidays gave me a temptation to go to Mangalore. But it was too late to get a berth in the train. Train was an easy option to reach home. I took risk and decided to go by general class and prepared myself for a terrible journey.

First of all, there was no place to get into the train for almost 3 minutes after the train stopped in Coimbatore Junction. I had a bag behind me and overall i was finding it difficult to fight against the crowds pushing and pulling me. I succeeded to put my one foot on the step and made enough fight to land second one too just in time and the train started moving.

Now i was sure that i will reach Mangalore and i was sure that no seat will be available throughout my 9 hours journey. Palakkad is about one hour from Coimbatore. I was standing somehow and hoping that many people will get out the train at the pallakkad junction. My hope was true, there were 5-8 people got out of train. But my relief was there only for 2 seconds as i saw a small mob of 10 people are trying to get into the train at the same time. I was still in the passage, standing with great difficulty, now decided to push myself in the main passage hoping for a better situation. I was prepared to stand till the morning, but wanted to stand without any difficulty.

The train moved from Palakkad junction towards Calicut. I saw number of people sitting on the floor obstructing the main passage.I was thinking ‘ why i cannot also follow the same thing’. I searched for the place to land myself, removed my small towel spreading across the place where i am going to sit and slowly sat.

A great relief. My rest of the journey was with seeing people around and with breaking sleeps. The train arrived on time at 04:30 to Mangalore.

At the end i was happy reach Mangalore ‘somehow’

Since i was coming to Mangalore more often, sometimes every week if necessary, i chose this option as i was spending half of the money from sleeper class and learned some techniques to manage to get a seat.

2.       Bus trip from Coimbatore to Mangalore Via Mysore

It was in  2010 and i got bored going by train to Mangalore. I decided one day to go by bus Via Mysore. I went couple of times before but i had good planning  then. In this case  the decision to go to Mangalore took place around 4 PM in the  evening.I don’t remember exactly why i have decided.

I took bus from Gandipuram bus stand in Coimbatore at 7 PM and moved towards Mysore. Let me tell you one thing here. Travelling through the satyamangalam Ghat sections with steep curves and hair pin bends is a great experience

The bus takes 6 hours to reach Mysore and the time was 1 AM in the morning. There were no deluxe and premium buses available at this time. I had to make one more cut journey. I got a  bus  moving towards Madikeri and had no other option but to get into. The bus was full even though it  was just after midnight. I stood for 3 hours for my journey to Madikeri.When i was getting down, i came to know that the same bus is going up to Sullya. I took additional ticket and the bus moved through the Ghat sections.

Now my stomach started working and  i started omitting. I stopped the bus for 2 times  for completing the omission properly. I was relaxed by the time i reached Sullya. There was another government bus ready at Sullya bus stand to go to Puttur and  again no choice to but to get into yet another cut journey ( cut journey is my terminology ).

At puttur, there was a bus to go to Mangalore, but i opted for B C road as i can reach Kaikamba from B C road. Getting down at B C road, i  made a big mistake in my decision to go to Kaikamba via Kuppepadav. This was indirect way to go to Kaikamba. The usual bus travel time is 40 minutes where as this Bus took 1.5 hours from B C road to reach Kaikamba.i was not aware about this also never asked  the conductor.

 At last i got down at 09 35 Am at Kaikamba and my brother came to pick me up.

My house construction

With the cost going up day by day, we( me and my wife) decided to build a house in  our native place Gurpura kaikamba.  I never had any knowledge about the house construction process, but there were lot of decisions i  needed to take for the progress of the house. I have bulleted the process of my house construction and various thoughts towards my decisions on designs and selection of materials.

I hope the process and factors i have mentioned below will be helpful to you in the event you come up with building a house.

1. NECESSITY TO BUILD A HOUSE: Since there was already a plan to build house, i thought better make it sooner than later. Please make a decision based on your requirements.

2.PLAN: This is the most important step of decision making. I am sure everybody will have some idea how own house should appear. I made a draft plan and discussed with a  civil engineer consultant  and fine tuned it to my requirements.

I have a tip here inform. Listen to everybody’s ideas. See some houses for more ideas.But decide what you would like to have

1. Levelling:  make the plot  flat and clean. Since there were trees before the house, i have ensured that there are no roots on the area where the house will be constructed.

2.Marking: This is the most important step. Marking will be done as per the blue print.

3.Foundation work base work: The foundation will be made by digging the marking. Below picture will give an idea.

The depth depends on the height of the building. For a normal 2 floor building  the depth should be 3 ft. I had rock at 1.5 ft and after it was chipped using compressor.

3.Foundation stone construction:  The stones will be built sideways  as per below picture.

               

4.Filling the mud: The height of the foundation was around 3ft above the ground. The mud was filled as shown in photo. We had to ensure about the mud without any plastic, roots and other foreign materials.

I did this work in July during masons and hence there was no need for me to put water. I allowed the foundation to settle for 20 days.

5.Construction up to Lintals: Now the stones will be build along the length of the line. If you look close on the below photo, you will understand.

6.Lintel work: Lintel work will start after reaching 7ft height. Wooden planks will be prepared for concreting the windows side ways protector, sit out, work area, stair case.

7. Reinforcement rods for concrete: Beams will be made out of concrete. Size if the rods will be higher (16mm ) for beams and less around 8mm for  the other area.The rods intersections were tiled  with the wire for uniformity and tightness.

8. Lintels concrete filling: This was the photo of the stair case once the concrete mixture was put in.

We waited for one week before taking up the construction.

9.Built up to the terrace: The stones construction will go further up by 3 ft making it total 10 ft from the ground. I do not have pictures to show this.

10. Terace concrete preparation: This is another important milestone. Below pictures will speak better about  this.

11. Terace:The concrete  mix was made and terrace was built.below photo just after the terrace. The entire work of the concretisation has to happen on the same day. The terrace concrete work was completed around 1 PM and immediately plastering was done on the terrace.We kept the terrace with water for one month for curing.

12.Stair case room construction: Since i had  decided to have the staircase inside, it costed me additional 1.5 lakhs in 2011. The stair case room was constructed.

12. Electrical work and plumbing work: Before the plastering, the chipping work for the electrical work started.The electrical chipping work can start after 20 days from the  concrete day at the terrace.

I had to make a lot of thinking to keep the electrical appliances and make arrangement for the electrical points. I decided  the location of the refrigerator,washing machine,oven, electrical cooker, fans and lights, switch board near to the bed, the light positions outside and upstairs.

I also decided the toilets and bathrooms, the position of commode,shower, washing basins and so on.

13. Plastering: Soon after the chipping work, the plastering started. In order to save time and speed up theprogress of construction, the electrical contractor finished the chipping room by room so that the plastering can be started paralely.

Plastering of the entire house took about 40 days. This could have been reduced to 30 days, but there was a delay in work from masons.

13 a: An important matter is to fit  all the windows before the plastering.Masons will complete one wall on the same day.Another point is that plastering will commence from sealing and then on the walls.If you see the below photo, we can identify that the windows have been fit  at the time of plastering.Also we have to fit the  wooden shutter for the door.

14. Flooring: I decided to put granites  in the living room hall and stair case steps and bedrooms and the kitchen area will have the tiles. Selection of tiles was based on the color combination keeping in mind  of the color of the house, cost and the quality. I took one day off from the office for tiles and granite selections.

At this point of time, we had the temporary electrical power connection given to the house in order to carry out the tiling and graniting work.

15. Once coat of paint: One coat of white coat was painted in the mean time.

16. Electrical work: Complete wiring for the house was done after one round of coating was completed. Plumbing work was 90% completed. You can see the water connection pipes in the below picture.

17.Painting: I had chosen  redwine white color in side and creamish white outside.There were 7 people for painting and the painting work for the entire house including the doors and windows was over within one week.

18.Finshing work:This includes

·         Fitting of electrical lights and switch boards

·         Bathroom fittings

·         Show case readiness

·         Furnishing  according to your intentions.

Some of my house photos are below