Author: anandnataraj

Entrepreneur, Blogger, Traveller, Pet Lover, Networker, Social Drinker, Party Animal, Movie Addict, Startup Enthusiast, Organic Gardner, Avid Reader....

I’m a Wills LifeStyle BOY!!!


Yesterday there was a conversation with a friend & an acquintance about diwali shopping…. When my friend insisted to shop in mega mart which is a multi brand discount store… Their contension is that we can get good brands, for a better deal & save time by going to a store located near by…

But I was adament to goto Wills LifeStyle which was far from where we were & expensive… Until that point I knew I was a brand loyal guy; but didnt know I became an evangelist WLS….

I started evangelizing Wills LifeStyle and started explaining its style, enegma, customer servoce, customer engagement etc…

It was here my friends became desperate to change my brand loyalty by

  • offering to sponsor my diwali wardrobe…
  • offered to take care of my entire diwali expense…

Still I couldn’t get convinced for those offers and I feel proud to be a Wills LifeStyle BOY…

Dalai Lama’s surprise about humanity


The Dalai Lama, when asked what surprised him most about humanity, he answered”

“Man. Because he sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in the present or the future; he lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived.”

Trip to Masinakudi & Wayanad – Part II


We started driving to Wayanad amidst the lust green forests covering Tamil Nadu & Karnataka… We crossed lots of small hamlets in Karnataka and I was the interpreter to ask for the route to Sultan Badri using my butler Kannada…

We crossed over to Kerala and it was immediately visible with the lust green cover, big houses, good & clean roads… I adamantly demanded for toddy & 1st being a dry day in Kerala we had to hunt for toddy in black… I must really thank Rooban bro for taking pains for getting toddy….

Then we had lunch at Sultan Badri but unfortunately 1st & 2nd being dry day in Kerala we were asked to travel 20 KM to Tamil Nadu… We promptly stocked things for next 2 days… En route we found a little puppy on the roads… We took it along with us as it was wandering on the highways… We named him Kunnu…

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From there we drove straight to Coffee Aroma Resort in Wayanad… This place has only added my attraction and fondness towards Kerala… Wonderful place for retreat and to burn the stress… Cottages were that clean and the atmosphere and nature view made me feel very much relaxed… Behind the resort there was a water falls and a small stream… All these were well utilised by the resort folks…

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We didn’t take bath that day as it became that dark… We sat in a hall played with our Kunnu, had some discussions with friends, had my dinner and I went to car to watch some movie… Again I slept in the car though the cottage was good because of space constrains…

Next day went for a walk in the small lane along with Karthi… Then went to the falls to take bath and we spent couple of hours… Then we came back had our lunch, left our Kunnu in the resort and we started back to Chennai…

En route we came thru Nagar Hole forest reserve in Karnataka… After crossing 90% of the forest cars were attacked by elephants and we were diverted thru another route which is 30KM long and had very bad roads…

We reached Mysore by 10 PM on 2nd… W had our dinner there and we started driving to Chennai… Karthick took over driving from here and I navigated him till HP petrol bunk in Soolagiri which has Cafe Coffee Day… I refreshed myself and had some coffee and I crashed immediately…

Finally we reached home by 7 AM on 3rd Oct… Over all in all three days we were only driving half the time… But over all it was a nice experience and a much needed break from routine…

Here are some memories….

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Trip to Masinakudi & Wayanad – Part I


After a lot of broken promise to Rooban… I was finally caught hold by and was unable to give any reasons… It was a trip planned by Rooban along with Prakash, Imanuel, Karthick & myself between 29/09/2011 to 03/10/2011 to Masinakudi & Wayanad…

It was Thursday and being a working day I had to wrap all my work on time as I was travelling during next 2 working days… I was asked. To be ready by 11 PM and until 10 I was busy with my work… Finally I wrapped everything and rushed to my house by 10.30 and packed everything in next 10 min…

Since my iPad & Samsung was about to be drained I kept them on charge… But our friends Rooban, Prakash& Imanueal were late and they came by 1 AM… After getting settled we all get ourself seated and I was awake till vellore where we had a pit stop… It was here I crashed to sleep and I woke up the next morning near Sathyamangalam… This picture taken using lighting from the car near vellore…

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Then it was hectic drive crossing some towns & hamlets in Karnataka and finally we reached Masinakudi by 1pm… After checking into the resort we asked the resort maid to prepare our lunch & folks crashed to sleep… I used that time to catch up with emails and with folks in office… I thought getting a bat and ball will help if we get bored in the resort and I went out to Masinakudi town which was 6 KM from resort…

Finally lunch was ready by 4.30 PM and folks were ready after good lunch and sleep… I motivated them to stay in resort to play cricket… But Rooban wanted to explore places immediately… Then we started our drive to Theppakadu by 5 PM and we didn’t see any wild animal… We went to Moyyar Dam and we took some snaps out there…

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The time we returned it was half past seven and it was too dark… There was a Scorpio which warned us of an elephant attack… We marched ahead in spite of warning and we took some snaps of the elephant which even more irritated Tusker… It immediately started chasing us… This is my second experience in the same place… Only difference was last time we were out of the vehicle and this time we were inside… The driver of the vehicle was prompt enough to press the accelerator and we escaped once again…

On our return of the resort we befriended a bunch of civil service students who were on a field trip and we had a party time with them in the night… We understood the benefits, challenges about a civil servant…

Then I crashed inside the vehicle as the resort was not neat… Then finally we got up by 8 in the morning we all refreshed, took bath and packed our bags to Wayanad…

Revival of 1997


Day before yesterday was one of the landmark days in my life… It was the reunion of 1997 batch mates of AV Meiyappan Matriculation HR Sec School… I’d like to thank JB Vinodh for initiating the idea and Srinivasan for executing the plan…

Though there were only 10 folks who turned up it was a great while to rewind 14 years back… In fact I met most of them after 14 years… We couldn’t accept that we were all grown and thine has passed this passed…

The fact is no one has changed in character and almost everyone was spontaneous in pulling down each other… Recollecting old memories, punishments, quarrels, ex-love (infatuation), teachers etc…

We have forgot the names of almost many girls and everyone explained situations to recollect names and personalities… One good thing was no one talked about profession or success stories…

We have planned to have a big reunion during November as most of the folks living abroad are planning a visit… Hope it should be more fun and am waiting for that day…

These photos will last in my memories forever..

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I’m BACK


Dear Friends, Itz been 2 months I blogged last… Though I evangelise and force other to blog I had to take this forced decision…

So, Why did I stop blogging for 2 months?

  • What started as a time filler eventually became hobby & finally addicted me into it… I couldn’t sleep if I didn’t blog in a particular day… I didn’t want to be addicted for something…
  • It took a tool on my sleep… Many times I corp ides on my sleep to blog which seriously affected my productivity…
  • Wanted to change my working pattern where in I wanted to sleep in nights and work in the morning… It took 2 Months to get to this routine…
  • Was too frank in my writings… Frankly exposed my personal life which didn’t go well with relatives… Was immensely preserved by my parents to control my writing… I was not comfortable someone (including my parents) influence my writing…
  • Reduction in comments also played a minor part…

Considering all the reasons I wanted to consciously take a sabbatical from blogging and wanted to see how it felt… There were moments where I was pulled automatically pulled to blog… But I resisted it and after a while I got used to it…

Not I’m fresh with new thoughts, new mindset, new work hours etc.. From now on I’d be consistent in posting a blog a day…

Some facts about Indian Flag


The national flag of India is a horizontal rectangular tricolour of deep saffron, white and India green; with the Ashoka Chakra, a 24-spoke wheel, in navy blue at its centre.

It was adopted in its present form during a meeting of the Constituent Assembly held on 22 July 1947, when it became the official flag of the Dominion of India.

The flag, by law, is to be made of khadi, a special type of hand-spun cloth of cotton or silk made popular by Mahatma Gandhi.

The manufacturing process and specifications for the flag are laid out by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS).

The right to manufacture the flag is held by the Khadi Development and Village Industries Commission, who allocate it to the regional groups.

As of 2009, the Karnataka Khadi Gramodyoga Samyukta Sangha was the sole manufacturer of the flag.

Usage of the flag is governed by the Flag Code of India and other laws relating to the national emblems.

The original code prohibited use of the flag by private citizens except on national days such as the Independence day and the Republic Day. In 2002, on hearing an appeal from a private citizen, Naveen Jindal, the Supreme Court of India directed the Government of India to amend the code to allow flag usage by private citizens. Subsequently, the Union Cabinet of India amended the code to allow limited usage.

The code was amended once more in 2005 to allow some additional use including adaptations on certain forms of clothing.

The flag code also governs the protocol of flying the flag and its use in conjunction with other national and non-national flags.

ABBREVIATIONS Which Are Not Known To Many Of Us


CHESS: Chariot, Horse, Elephant, Soldiers..
COLD: Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease..
JOKE: Joy Of Kids Entertainment..
AIM: Ambition In Mind..
DATE: Day And Time Evolution..
EAT: Energy And Taste..
TEA: Taste And Energy Admitted..
PEN: Power Enriched In Nib..
SMILE: Sweet Memories In Lip Expression..
BYE: Be With You Everytime..

STOP Advising Folks!!!!


Yesterday went for weekend bash to my friends house… Right from the first go it was ADVISE!!! ADVISE!!! ADVISE!!! from a very close friend of mine… Am sorry to make a post complaining about my own close buddy…

I know you care for me my friend… But you don’t care if others are comfortable, how yow are putting the person you care into situation & how you are intruding their happiness…

  • You are always pessimistic & complaining… You can’t spoil the mood if you are not enjoying…
  • You advice for once in a blue moon acts of ours… You get angry if we advise on your genuine things which spoil your health & reputation…

We love you and many situations we never bothered your acts… But I was upset that you screed the weekend which I badly waited for to clear my mind…

I take your advise seriously & wish you reciprocate…

BSNL Wake-up


I was told BSNL has one of the cheapest 3G plan in the Market & that prompted me to go with BSNL… So, I went to BSNL shoppe day before yesterday only to know iPad related connections were done only at Greems Road office…

Yesterday went to Greems Road office to get a 3G micro sim… Went there by 2.30 PM…

  • Had to wait on a Queue only to know I’m standing postpaid section… There were no mode to convey prepaid & postpaid zones…
  • On the prepaid area when I asked for a 3G prepaid microsim card for iPad… I was asked to take & fill prepaid form…
  • There were 2 boxes which read “Prepaid Form” & “Postpaid Form”… But to my surprise both forms were same… Then I confirmed both were same…
  • I was asked to affix a photo & I rushed out and with difficulty found a digital studio… I returned back only to find registration closes by 4 & I was there by 4.30 :(…
  • Then I went back in the morning to get it done at any cost… Had the forms filled, had all proof documents… All I had to do was to sign the form & my pen was not writing for some reason and I couldn’t source a pen from BSNL folks it was a typical government staff attitude…
  • Then it took 40 min for the person concerned to document things and give me the SIM…

Normally it takes 15 – 20 min for a private telecom player… It took 6 hours for me to get a connection… Also on waiting I found people chit-chatting about new born White tiger cub in zoo while customers were made to wait… Though I got what I want by investing valuable time I was worried to see the pathetic working culture & employee behaviour of our public sector…