Renjith Mohandas

BJJ!

2011-08-23T20:47:00.000-07:00

After a brief (well..around 8 month) sojour with Kalari and a similar break afterwards looking out for a suitable martial art to learn I have hit upon BJJ. I was looking for a martial art that reflected the following:-
1. I was sickening from lack of full contact bouts.
2. Groundfighting is a ey aspect of martial arts that I have never really trained in.
3. I wanted to severely limit the number of times I had to turn up in office with a blue eye as there seems to be limited appreciation for that in the corporate world.

Then I struck on BJJ- Brazilian Jiujitsu- I have taken a trial class and it seems to be the deal. The folks I am working with also have an MMA trainer and mebbe I can graduate to MMA a year or two from now or maybe that thinking too far.

The trip to Mookambika/ Udupi

2010-12-09T20:01:00.000-08:00

We left for Mookambika at 4.00 am in the morning last Satuday. While it was early to make headway down the Bangalore- Mangalore road being deserted this early, the speed slowed down to a crawl by the time we passed Sakleshpur to enter the Ghat section of the road. If you are planning such a trip, be warned....the roads are terrible. This back breaker of a section lasted around 2 hours before we rolled into Mangalore by around noon.

After picking up my parents from there, we left for Kollur, reaching there a little before 5 in the evening, having taken some long breaks for lunch and at the Udupi Srikrishna temple- a peculiarity of which is that the idol is facing towards the back of the sanctum santorum and to see the face of which one has to look through a peep hole at the back.

The temple trip was mainly for Unni's ezhuthiniruthu which happened well thanks to some help from a dude who helped us there called Shashi. He got a lot of the temple formalities done and gave some "Vip" darshans. If anyone is going there and needs some "help" with temple stuff, I recommend him. You can reach shashi at 9164946980.

On the way back we took the Hosanagara- Mandya road which was a lot better- but the travel time was practically the same as there was increased traffic.We also made a 20 minute stop-over at Nayak's fort which we chanced on the way back. The fort dates back around 400 years and is quite picturesque in its location on the hills.

Overall it was a satisfying trip, though the 12 hour drives on successive days was a little back-breaking

Going to mookambika this weekend

2010-11-29T05:47:00.001-08:00

Planning a trip to the famous mookambika temple this weekend with family. Between Saturday and Sunday i intend to be driving for 20 hours. Whew.... Thateeally sounds like a lot. Lets see how that works out. I Will blog updates once back.

Posted from android mobile device - pls excuse the typos

A trip to independent shootfighters

2010-11-29T01:33:00.001-08:00

Went over this week to independent shootfighters... an organisation run by Ashwin Mohan. I was looking aroumd for a place where i could go out and spar... While Ashwin had closed his 'fight club' hr agreed to have me go over to his gym.

The gym which i went to is the one over the uco bank building near Jayadeva hospital. The training being imparted seemed fairly modern in a sense with floor mats,mma approved gloves and a general inclination to be as correct as possible. Also commendable is the friendly environment in which the training is imparted.

I just lost twice in the ywo friendlies we had :-() which i Will put down to mu lack of background in grappling which these guys focus on.

I am planning to go ahead and take some jujitsu classes at the institute if the timings work out.

Location : Infosys Internal Rd, Electronics City, Bengaluru, Karnataka,

Blogging from android

2010-10-27T05:07:00.001-07:00

Planning to travel to thiruvananthapuram this weekend. Will update once I am back. Meanwhile swype seems to have made typing really easy.

Location : Infosys Internal Rd, Electronics City, Bengaluru, Karnataka,

As per a recent MC Kinsey study....

2010-07-11T21:07:00.000-07:00

The great rebalancing: The coming decade will be the first in 200 years whenemerging-market countries contribute more growth than the developed ones. This growth will not only create a wave of new middle-class consumers but also driveprofound innovations in product design, market infrastructure, and value chains.
The productivity imperative: Developed-world economies will need to generatepronounced gains in productivity to power continued economic growth. The mostdramatic innovations in the Western world are likely to be those that accelerateeconomic productivity.
The global grid: The global economy is growing ever more connected. Complexflows of capital, goods, information, and people are creating an interlinked networkthat spans geographies, social groups, and economies in ways that permit large-scaleinteractions at any moment. This expanding grid is seeding new business models andaccelerating the pace of innovation. It also makes destabilizing cycles of volatility more likely.
Pricing the planet: A collision is shaping up among the rising demand forresources, constrained supplies, and changing social attitudes toward environmentalprotection. The next decade will see an increased focus on resource productivity, the emergence of substantial clean-tech industries, and regulatory initiatives.
The market state: The often contradictory demands of driving economic growthand providing the necessary safety nets to maintain social stability have put governmentsunder extraordinary pressure. Globalization applies additional heat: how will distinctlynational entities govern in an increasingly globalized world?

Bannerghatta zoo

2010-05-29T21:13:00.000-07:00

A snap from a trip to Bannerhatta zoo. We enjoyed the day- the safari kept usoccupied and the zoo was nice(no comparison) to mysore zoo, though). Overall worth the trip, but dont travel to the city to see this stuff :). One more advice, please reach the place by 9.00 am- it really gets crowded later

Got Back to reading

2010-05-23T09:25:00.001-07:00

I did something amazing in the last couple of weeks.

Book1: Fooled by randomness

Amazing book ppl. I was actually inspired enough to look at the Monte Carlo simulation again. Also figured how to do it in excel. Want to look closely at an application of this in loyalty tracking in social media mareting. but thats tech talk.

Book2: The goal

Another amazing book- this time on the production line. I mean it taes some dope to start writing a novel on production in a factory. But this boo by Mr Goldratt is engaging to say the least. Worth a close read. Look for the definitions on throughput, inventory and operating expenses and the example of children in a line.

Got back to reading thanks to an outlet of this startup called just books, which opened next door to my house in HSR. Reading is again proving to be fun after a gap of 15 years

Life has moved on

2009-09-13T05:19:00.000-07:00

Neelakantan is celebrating his first birthday on the second of October, this year. We are home in trivandrum for the last week of septamebr, but 'the day' would be celebrated here

I am looking forward to the long drive home in the Dzire.... Have travelled very little recently with the baby around, but thats my sad excuse for not blogging... I always plan to restart and will do that now, for I feel there is more to be blogged about than just travels.

Heres a snap of Nelakantan and Sumi

Back after a hiatus

2008-06-16T07:08:00.000-07:00

I am back....after a gap of nearly 6 months I am back doing what is best left to others...blogging..... In the meantime I got married, quit my job, quit africa for gud(who knows), GOT MARRIED....and am well on my way to being a first time father

And theres lots of stuff to talk abt.....a nightmare of a trip back to India for my marriage, som beautiful snaps taken in Moz and lots of exotic stuff(snorkelling).

Just watch this space......

A factory destroyed in the civil war

2007-10-25T10:35:00.000-07:00

There were a number of factories in Moz wich were boombed/otherwise destroyed in the civil war..... Reference in the Luabo thingie... An idea of what they look like. This one was bombed. Doesnt it look pretty?

The great white returns

2007-10-25T10:27:00.000-07:00

The new guy is here....

Gorongosa

2007-08-13T07:09:00.000-07:00

Historically it is one of the first reserves to have been created in Africa and considered one of the conservation gems of the colonial days

But people who refer to it , refer to it in a forlone voice referring to glory days long gone. It was once a place where you could get out of your bungalow in the morning and watch the lions frolicking in forests nearby. The civil war days absolutely ruined this park and what remained at one time were just a few bulls and mebbe a few elephants.

I hope the above justifies the absolutely tanked levels of hope with which we approached our trip to this sanctuary. For fear of seeing absolutely nothing, we considered taking some dogs/goats with us so that we could get some pics to show our friends when we come back :))

The surprises started as soon as we passed the gate. We saw some warthogs and babbons on our way to the base camp itself. I now regret that I did not get a single shot of a babboon despite the multitudes that were present. However, that is not of any consequence as I intend to go back for a more organised visit soon.

To go on with the story, we were absolutely surprised by the amount of wildlife we saw in the park. I dunno whether this is a script reflecting the success of conservation or the hardiness of mother nature, but it sure was a movie worth watching and we had tons of fun. And the way the staff handled that place was a revelation to me though maybe not so much for my South African friend. The place was managed tastefully and whats more, had a great after taste

The night we spend there totally tired and dipped into the pool was as much fun as anything else. And do check out the snap of the bush fire which I took just outside the reserve.

Oh...yes....I really had a hard time selecting these pics....I might have got it wrong....I mean as to the best ones

You can see more of these snaps at

http://s197.photobucket.com/albums/aa79/renjithmdas/African%20Safari/

I loved them....So you may....

To Gabbon with hope :))

2007-08-09T08:48:00.000-07:00

as
Recently( as in , last month) ....I was able to hop on a trip to Gabon to attend a conference out there. Like most African journeys, this one was also a looong winded one as I travelled first to Maputo, then to Johannesburg, from there to Ethiopia and from there on to Liberville(the capital of Gabon).

As the plane landed into Johannesburg one passes over a large number of fields. Now we all know our fields, but these were exotic multicouloured one and designed as if to look good from the air....I just cant imagine how else people could grow anything in circles.....it was quite good.... Johannesburg airport has a great duty free shopping area where I bought an all weather cap, a mp3 player and a head phone while returning....but thats cutting the story short

Well....after a painful transit time there....we flew to Adisababa.....Adis seemed a grand city....as one of my co-travellers told me, Ethiopia is one of the few countries in Africa which have never been colonised....it is a grand city.....with clean and big roads and very well mannered people....and some interesting mixed cuisines

And then it was off to Liberville(my destination)....it was a city smaller than Maputo by size and population....but clearly much more expensive and affluent. The modest hotel rooms came at 200$ a night..... Thats roughly double of what a five star room costs in India, just for comparison.

After the conference was over, I stayed back to see the wonderful rain forests of that region which Gabbon shares with congo.....and Boy was it rewarding! The country has 95% forest cover(or shoult I say that it has 5% clearance)....

The forests are so thick that you cannot walk through them without a chain saw and the canopy so thick that you really cannot see the sky....... and logs which come out of these forests are HUGE....I cant touch the top of some of them....see the snap....wow(not world of women...the other less usual wow)

Adding to the fun was staying in the town without power and water...... withmy leather shoes soaked in mud....ofcourse I had no other footwear but my formal eather shoes as I had no idea that we were going to the forest....

And going forward I saw some really HUGE saw mills....must have been built over 1-2 hectares...amazing things

Anyways....thats that....will add to it after Gorongosa....which is where I plan to go this week end....is a wild life reserve

The road to Luabo...

2007-06-07T07:11:00.000-07:00

Having got instruction to check out a sugar factory in the town of Luabo on the banks of Zambezi(doesnt that sount cool?), I sat down with my globetrotter maps to see the best way of reaching there.
And if you look long and hard, how far can the road be....so well, there it was....We had two possible routes....take the highway to Beira and turn off at Zero on to the bush road to Mopeia and from there to Zero. The last bit proved particularly treacherous for around 60 kms or so(My odometer and speedometer gave up their ghosts)....was a real back breaker....On the way I did search around for an old portugese fort which the map mentioned, but to no avail. The road was quite scenic and afforded views of some great scenery, some sarus cranes and a monkey which looked like a macaque from the distance. We also passed a large number of waterbodies before limping into Luabo.
Luabo was mostly a let down initially. For a town that had once played host to the second largest sugar factory in the world, there was really very little to see. The factory had been bombed somewhere in 1985 during the destructive civil war. The state of the factory(no walls and a lot of grand rusted machinery which was falling apart) seemed an accurate reflection and statement on the state of the town. Trees sprouted from the many dilapidated building while at other places, the old lans and gardens still retained their daintiness.
We took a drive around to see the old jetty/port on the river(Zambezi) which used to be the lifeline of the once prosperous city......and then turned back.

Snaps to the put up soon

On what meat does Caesar feed?

2007-05-20T13:14:00.000-07:00

Hey...havent mtaken names here before...but yes one of the best friends I have made here is Nicholas...a South African of greek origin settled in here doing timber business also....well, he isnt my subject....its his big Boer Boel Caesar....yup that is a type of dog, you are right......and yes, he is great....supposed to weigh abt 75 kgs....

Jogging down Avenita Marginale the other day we were agreeing on how bang on my 9th grade english teacher was when she said that Shakespeare's work reflected life....remember Cassius saying" On what meat doth this our Caesar feed that he has grown so great"

GK: In Portugese, a 'cow' means a dog
And what do you then say for a cow....well, a boy

Desh mere...Desh Mere

2007-03-02T06:54:00.000-08:00

The reach of Bollywood is just plain amazing!...I mean, I never expected the top 5 towns in mozambique, all seem to have theatres filming only Bollywood movies. Unbelieveably the only theatre in my town shows only Hindi movies.....I dont complain just because they run here 6 months after their release in India

Des mere, Des Mere meri jaan hai thu.........

Vandee mataram

In the dangerous world of frog eat frog

2007-03-02T06:47:00.000-08:00

Talk abt competition...as the waters receded(they did that pretty fast actually)....there magically sprung approximately a billion frogs...sometimes it was really hard to avoid stepping on them.....and guess what these guys are so hungry that they gobble up each other given the chance...I snapped up an amazing moment.

When the waters ran up...

2007-02-14T08:00:00.000-08:00

Quelimane had a flood of sorts in January second week...the waters were waist high on many roads. The lower areas are still under some water

Spider and man

2007-01-18T07:00:00.000-08:00

This dude showed up in my office a couple of days back....coulourful chap...isnt he colourful...unfortunately, the fellow was assassinated with a stick by a darkskinned your in fading evening light

Another shot

2007-01-05T07:45:00.000-08:00

Had to add a front snap to put the thing in right perspective...this guy is not the full version...but a shortened version with just four setas and a 2.5 litre engine(Diesel)...supposedly better for bush roads because of the lightness but does not have the same balance as the full version

The new guy is here

2007-01-05T07:35:00.000-08:00

Good bye to the Nissan...the pajero is here...the new chap in the block is a smallish Pajero...featured in this snap, we see him all muddy and battle hungry enroute the mudroads from Nampula to Quelimane

Hair cut in Quelimane

2007-01-05T07:25:00.000-08:00

Had my first hair cut in Quelimane...boyy, these guys mean business....he went over my hair with 3 different machines...two break downs...leaving it as shown in the pic...and there were snaps in shop of handsome men and women which proveds the Quelimane saying " If God has made you to look good, there is nothing in the world that a barber can do about it!!"

A typical hut

2006-12-17T10:19:00.000-08:00

Took a snap of this hut in nante village, Zambezia.....just to give an idea actually...not reflective of the typical construction. This one as you see and I later noticed is made of cement blocks. The more common method is to use bamboo as the base and cover it with mud to give solidity.......you will often see people sleeping outside the huts...The hay thatching is very common..as you see here..there also the framework is of bamboo as far as I know...In some cases there is timber pieces are used...this particular village is close to a good collection of Pauferro which ahs been used. pauferro is commercially traded species of premium wood

Sunset in Quelimane

2006-12-17T08:57:00.002-08:00

Had to put up this amazing snap...sun setting over the airport in Qulimane...its also one of the best places in the town to sit around and sip a coke...it is right next to our log yard...

isnt it a beauty??

2006-12-17T08:57:00.001-08:00

A snap of the bush

2006-12-17T08:40:00.000-08:00

Featured is a snap of the typical bush...Ok, lets face it, this is how the typical african forest liooks...atleast as far as it goes in Mozambique...ofcourse there is a terrible lot of this stuff...where I went there was no special fauna...I mean other than a few African bull elephants and the odd Black mamba :))...joking ofcourse, but not about the back Mambas...havent see one though...they are supposed to be around

!!!!!

Church in the bush

2006-12-17T05:59:00.000-08:00

Featured in the snap is a tiny church in nante, Zambezia. Just makes you think...the same God is worshipped here as in all grand temples and splendid churches...Amazing isnt it?

...just a lill bit of philosophy thrown in :))

Snaps with kids

2006-12-17T05:48:00.000-08:00

I Looooovvveee this snap...I bought all those smiles with a pack of biscuits and some chocolates...isnt that wonderrful...This is one snap I will always cherish...I am sure!!!!

My humour sense

2006-12-17T05:21:00.000-08:00

Hey! This for those stern critics of my humour sense...it works and it works like magic amigos.....I had these tough bushmen(They are that) going gaga over my jokes...Dont be deceived by their modernish dresses....the snaps were taken 8 kms from the closest bush road and over 150kms from the closest tar road...fairly deep in the bush forests of Zambezia province...and yup, as you might have guessed we dont speak any common language....so what made them burst out in this fashion...sorry...professional secret :)))

Work ethic

2006-12-12T15:04:00.000-08:00

People her have a relaxed work ethic when compared to Indians...while the ship was loading we went out for food and when we came back , we saw this...ofcourse the incident was NOT one off...just reflective...pardon the quality, this one is a snap from the mobile

Beira

2006-12-12T14:49:00.000-08:00

I have spend a few days in Beira now(abt 10) . Beira is a beautiful city on the eastern coat of Mozambique. Well desined with beautiful circles, a golf course and constructions, it is said be remisnicent of European cities..ifcourse I have never been there..Has a fair bit of white population also...second biggest city in Mozambique after Maputo...nice place

Land ahoy!!!

2006-11-30T13:52:00.000-08:00

I was seriously busy in the port what with the ship landing and all related super hectic activities. That ship has now moved to Beira and I have followed it here. I am taking a lot of snaps here, but will be putting selected ones up only when I reach Quelimane next as it is in my friends camera and we have not taken the connection cord ":))

In the pic is a lumber shipin the Quelimane port.The car the is there only to show relative size. The ship is just midsized as large ships cannot enter the port

Something abt the people

2006-11-27T13:02:00.000-08:00

The first thing that surprised me on reaching africa is the size of the people...I landed in Africa expecting to find huge 7 footers strutting around...But i discovered that in Mozambique , I still was easily above average height and bulk

When asked around I was told that it is the west africans who are bigger etc etc and all that. I havent gone there yet.

As for Quelimane it is a shanty town almost entirely sustained by the timber business...It has very little of anything, The landmark being an airport which is about the only access to the town. It is however also connected to Beira by road and has a river port which basically caters to the bulk freight vessels which come for the timber..I will soon put up some snaps of the port(amazingly dusty) etc etc.

For its size and literacy, the city has a surprisingly westernised populace. I was surprised to find 3 FM stations and a good pizzeteria in a town this size. It is the capital of the fertile state of Zambezia. The port is situated on River Bon Sinale(which is portugese for River of good signal)...in all portugese words, I am not sure of the spelling....

Life is rolling by at a fairly hectic pace as we are loading a lumber ship which is in the port as of now. Only small/medium sized vessels can visit this port due to the low draft

Snap of my car

2006-11-20T05:49:00.000-08:00

A snap of Nsissan hardbody...this one supposed to be king of bad road

Log park and log truck

2006-11-20T05:37:00.000-08:00

Am putting up a snap of the log park of Olam. Also in pic are the giant trucks which move logs around

Africa- The beginning

2006-11-20T05:22:00.000-08:00

I have now been in Africa for a week.

Well, for one, africa has more facilities that we give it credit for. To prove this alone, I am putting up a snap of the hotel where I stayed. It could hold a light to any 3 star hotel in india.

Also am putting up snaps of my car and a few snaps of my log park and snaps of the trucks that move the logs(they are giants)

Going to Africa

2006-10-09T06:49:00.000-07:00

Well, guess what! A year after I started this Blog, I am finally abt to do something happening..I am going to Africa...Will be putting up details of all that I see and hear there

Travelling in Bangalore

2005-10-19T23:22:00.000-07:00

Travelling in Bangalore continues to be a pain.......oh my God! the traffic is plain pathetic. But honestly speaking the issue is very difficult to solve. The city's condition is like that of a child who is suddenly asked to maintain a family ....too much growing up to do all of a sudden.

Best Regards,

Renjith M Das

Hi this is Renjith

2005-10-19T01:16:00.000-07:00

you can see my page at http://360.yahoo.com/renjithmdas