Peace Trip

With situation in certain parts of India not all that comfortable am still going ahead with my already planned trip to Kolkata and Sikkim. Am crossing few states in the middle of the country.
Giving final touches to the final preparation I need to tie India Flag to my Royal Enfield Bullet still.
Let there be peace all over.
Lets stop fighting among ourselves and be united.
Let there be “Unity in Diversity” for which we Indians are known for all over the world.

Wishing all a Merry Christmas and a Very Happy new Year 2010.

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Sikkim Alternate Route

With tension in Andhra Pradesh not reducing, am awaiting the decision of government on Telangana. As an alternate am planning to reach Sikkim from Bangalore via Solapur – Nanded – nagpur – Ranchi.
Is this a correct route. Any suggestions let know.

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Chess, Cheers & Beers

10years ago I was under a feeling that the game was the last game in a tournament I would ever be playing. With changed priorities & activities over years I almost stopped playing at any time.
A chance encounter about a month back where I was informed about the NIIT Corporate Chess Tournament revived my interest in the game which I had played for years and years. With luck I was able to get selected to the team from the selections held within the company.
26 corporate teams. 4 players per team. 45mins per player which means 1.5hrs per game.
17th morning when the event started and the game started things were not going my way. I was making mistakes which I would not have made before. 3 straight losses and things looked gloomy. My team was gaining points though I was losing and it was not a good indication. Finally I started winning and then it was a good feeling. End of the day I won the last game for the day and lost remaining three.
18th morning started off with a draw and followed by two wins. But the team members got my virus of earlier day. End of day, I had won two and drew one games. What should have been a third place finish alas did not happen and we finished 6th out of 26 other corporate teams.

160 participants. 30mins per player.
19th the winning streak continued for first 3 games and then started the string of losses. I was losing all the games. The hangover of the first loss on this day continued. I could see clearly what my opponent was going to move and had answer for that still I blundered. It took some time to get over this loss. But by then things had changed. Played 7 games, won 3, lost 4 on this day.
20th, last day of the tournament. Even winning all the games would not make it possible to play against Vishwanathan Anand. He was scheduled to play top 20 individuals simultaneously. I did win all the games on this day and was a clean slate of having won all the 3 games played. It did give a sense of satisfaction. I finished at 42nd place.

Even though its been so many years since I last played chess, I could still recollect most of it. Though my ability to think many moves ahead has weakened to a large extent. This is something that I should work on before future tournaments.

It was well organised event. Lot of sponsors. Good food. Volunteers from Indian Business Academy. All in all this was a wonderful experience and one where I was able to relieve the old memories.

For photos, click here.

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Maggie Delite

Cooking maggi (2 minute noodles) is one of the easiest things. The consumption is faster than 2minutes. Below is recipe for maggie delite.

Prepare scrambled egg first and keep it separately.
Required vegetables:
1. Potatoes
2. Onions
3. Tomatoes
4. Green chillies
5. Mushroom
6. Cauliflower

Do decide on how much quantity you want them. Cut them into small pieces.
Heat oil in a pan. When the oil is hot add little red chilli powder and little garam masala powder.
To this mixture add the cut vegetables and fry them.
Once fried, add a cup of water and boil the same.
When the water starts boiling, add maggie and the masala that comes with it.
Stir the contents in the pan.
Now add the scrambled egg to this.
Mix all contents and allow water to dry up.
Now the Maggie Delite is ready to be served hot and spicy and juicy and tasty.

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