Cant wait for the second edition of Storm.. The event was absolutely rocking and the arrangements were nothing like i had ever seen.. sniffer dogs, full body checks.. Woah.. Felt for a moment we were going to meet the queen

Cheerios,

me

Well got myself a superb birthday gift.. probably the best one so far. A lens for my cam that i so wanted to buy for a long time.. For all my buddies who understand fotography, am sure u’d know what it means to have a all in one multi zoom range  DSLR lens.. Got myself the Tamron 18-270mm pzd lens. Watch out for pics thats gonna be your way soon.

This ones for a start.

F11, Focal Length 270mm, iso 100, exp 1/125 sec

Cheerios,

me

I guess my weekends are gonna change from now on…. Loads of shopping n travelling to mangy. Watch out folks…. He’s gonna be one helluva pampered kid.  n am lovin the feel already.

Wowieee … Yippppiiieeee

Got a few Galleries created under the “PhotoBlog” section at the top right corner.

Please click the thumbnails to view a high res photo.

Do comment and let me know on what you think bout them.

Warm regards & Cheers,

me

Back in 2009, I was watching this movie called “Bed time Stories” Starring Adam Sandler.. In the movie were a couple of kids who owned a bug eyed guinea pig. It was named Bugsy.. Found it very cute and I decided that if ever I would own a pet, I would name it Bugsy but at that time I didn’t have the slightest hint that I would be picking up a dog. And when I did pick up one, I named her Bugsy.. Though not a guinea pig but a beautiful labmaraner.  Call me Obsessed

She just turned One last week. Got her a cake from Pet-Chef @ Shantinagar, Bengaluru. One of the most yummiest cakes I could have ever asked for Bugsy. It was a real treat.. The moment I stepped in to my house, she was all over me with her four paws n a wagging tail, tryin to sniff out the aroma from the still warm cake.

For all you readers, You can read a few articles on Pet Chef here : 1 , 2 , 3 , 4

You can connect on Facebook here.

Here’s a couple of pics.. sorry for not uploading a high res pic.. too busy to download from the cam. These were taken from my HTC Android.

@Pet Chef Bangalore: Thank you so much Kamini. You have no idea how much it meant.  Bugsy is more a family member to us than just a dog. Am sure you’d be hearing from me soon. Btw my folks n I also managed to sneak away quite a generous helping of the yummy apple walnut cake. And also a share for Hugsy who is Bugsys sister from another mother You are doing a fantastic job in making sure our pets are not deprived of yummy treats.

Cheerios,

me

Spaying: The process of surgically removing the uterus and the ovaries in a female dog

Neutering: The process of surgically removing the testicles in a male dog.

Why spay

There are several good reasons to spay your female Dog. Here they are:

• For the sake of your Dog’s health: When your female Dog is six months of age, you should take her to the vet and have her spayed. This is always chiefly done in the interests of her health. If left intact, she could easily develop mammary gland cancer, but if you spay her before she goes into heat the first time at age five or six months, she stands a much lower chance of developing breast tumors.
• Uterine cancer minimized: She also has a vastly reduced chance of developing uterine cancer or pyometra, in which the uterine area is vastly inflamed. It is a common occurrence among older, intact females and is often fatal.
• No heat cycles: Female Dogs tend to be better pets if they lose the ability of experiencing estrus (heat cycles) every six-to-nine months.
• Pregnancies leading to overpopulation: In addition, if your female Dog gets pregnant accidentally, this not only can pose a health risk to your dog, but will unnecessarily add to the vast and uncontrollable pet overpopulation problem.
• False pregnancies: Sometimes, females also experience false pregnancies that can lead to uterine infections that are potentially fatal.
• Dog population: As mentioned above, there already is an overpopulation problem. Just take a look at the many rescue shelters to see how many dogs there are waiting for a new home.

Why neuter

Neutering your male Dog is loaded with benefits. Here they are:

• Healthier pets: This eliminates the possibility of your dog ever developing testicular cancer—the second most common form of canine cancer. Male unaltered dogs above five years of age are known to suffer from enlarged prostates.
• Make better pets: Neutered dogs make for better pets.
• Well-adjusted to their environment: If unaltered, your Dog could be difficult to housebreak. But if you do have him neutered, he will also lose the desire to roam away from home or to fight with other dogs.
• He will also lose the zeal to mark his territory. Un-altered your dog may mark territory either inside your house or outside. But by neutering him, this habit of marking territory will cease, though it takes a maximum of 45 days after the surgery for his testosterone levels to drop.
• Safety: By not roaming out of your house and yard, he does not endanger his own life as he may just meet with an accident while out on the road.

My Personal experience:

Bugsy was 11 months and a few days old when we got her spayed. The surgery is a definitely not a minor one, so we decided to make sure we understand the procedure first. After consulting a few of our friends who had pets and checked around for a good Vet. we found a few good vets in Indiranagar by the name of Dr.Ramesh and Dr.Pavan who run the Cessna Lifeline Veterinary Hospital. I fixed an appointment, checked the area where she would get operated. Ofcourse I would prefer an hygienic surrounding (Nothing but the best for my lil gurl). Once I was convinced with the details provided, I fixed an appointment for the following day. Though the surgery could pinch you a lil but its still a pittance considering long term health benefits for your lil one.

Make sure your dog is on an empty stomach for a full 8 hour before the surgery. Don’t even feed water. First the doc gave her sedatives to knock her out of conscious, and then they shaved off a patch of hair around the area where she would get operated. They also fed a tube through her mouth so she could breathe.

Post this, she was taken into the OT for the surgery. And in bout 30 min and after around 3 sutures (stitches), it was all done. The doc showed us how to do the post surgery dressing around the area operated. And after spending a hour, we were on our way back home. The Doc would suggest an Antibiotic, a few pain killers and a tablet to improve the digestion. The duration could vary between 3-5days.

My folks cleaned her den and had set up a nice warm cozy bed for her to sleep on.. Its very essential that your dogs stay in a clean environment post the surgery until they recover.  No jumping and spouts of over excitement. And keep her walks to a minimum. You can resume her regular walks and activities post the sutures removal.

Once home, do not immediately start feeding the dog, since they might face issues with gastric problems causing them to vomit whatever they have eaten. Wait atleast for a good 3-4 hours post surgery. Start with Water Only and if they retain the water, then feed a small portion of biscuits or bread, and if they retain that then move ahead with their normal diet. Personally I would recommend not to feed meat for a few days while they recover. We keep Bugsy on a strict Vegan diet.

In the case of Bugsy, she couldn’t retain anything she ate or drank the day of the surgery however the following day, she was getting back to normal. The Doc was available on-call during the entire time even for emergencies so we were lucky.  Day three wasn’t so great.. She developed fever, she was all lethargic, stopped eating and drinking. We took her back to the Vet and gave her some shots.. and once back home, she was back to her usual antics.

Day four we started to change her dressing around the operated area.. we cleaned the wound with water, then with Betadine solution, Applied Soframycin, Kept a Gauss cloth over it and covered it using surgical tape.  Well turst me its not as easy as its written here.. It took three of us to do this.. One of us held the neck up, the other held the hind legs so she wouldn’t start kicking around and the third to actually do the dressing.  But the following sessions of dressing, didn’t take much effort. We made her wear a tee shirt so she cant reach the wound. While the wound is healing, it can give a itchy feeling causing them to bite or scratch.  So we got her a Elizabethan collar. She looked like a lamp shade. As funny as she looked, it did keep her mouth as far away as possible from the wound. It did not cause any problems in her eating. Here’s a pic.

We changed the dressing every alternate day until Day 10.. She was all healed up.. a dear old fren of mine helped in removing the sutures. And she was all good. Its more than a fortnight since the surgery and Bugsy is a changed gurl. I dunno how to explain this but shes gotten a lot obedient now.. Not sure if it has anything to do with the surgery though. The hair around the operated area is growing back. Her diet is pretty normal. Shes still got the naughty sparkle in her eyes.

Though we had our lil apprehensions of putting our lil gurl under the knife.. a lot of stuff off the web helped clarify our doubts and moreover the docs were very helpful. I would definitely recommend Cessna Lifeline Veterinary Hospital to all around Bangalore.  Thank you Docs Appreciate all your help.

Cheerios,

Me

Happened to visit the Madhur temple.. Originally a Shiva temple but now famous as the Ganapathi temple… I try n visit this place whenever i find time. The place is absolutely beautiful except for one thing which is a big board outside which reads “Entry for Hindus only”… I absolutely object to the fact that how much ever we are developed, we have such discrimination taking place in the name of religion, caste, etc..  The temple ambience and surrounding itself are very beautiful and has a divine feel to it. Greenery everywhere.. i  guess Green is the new Blue to me.. (Blue of course always stands out as my fav color).. The temple is famous to the belief that the Ganesha idol here actually grows in size year on year.. Somewhere I get torn between the belief and reality.. I guess that’s the agnostic me doing the talking. The temple is on the banks of the Madhuvahini River. It’s not quite uncommon to find the river overflowing and entering the temple premises during heavy rains.

A lil while spent at the temple and then we were on our way to Bekal Fort… Its bout 15 km from Kasaragod and bout roughly 70 kms from the coastal city of Mangalore. There’s a lot to the history of the fort… Used to be the military station of the Islamic ruler Tipu Sultan once upon a time and it is famous for the various hidden tunnels inside the fort… Quite many of them are buried under rocks and the areas have been locked for visitors. I have visited the fort several times in the past but this visit was a pleasant surprise. The entire fort area is now marked a heritage site and comes under the Archaeological Survey of India. Quite a few restoration activities have been undertaken and several others are still in progress. The sight from the various watch towers in the fort gives you breathtaking views of the Arabian sea on one side.. The sunset is breathtakingly beautiful. Too bad we couldn’t stay until then. The best time to visit the fort is during the monsoon when the green cover is at its peak. However would caution you to tread carefully since the rock surface can be quite slippery.

Trivia: Tipu Sultan had once tried to plunder the Madhur temple and then turned back without damaging the temple.. However to satisfy his soldiers and Islamic scholars he made a cut with his sword symbolizing the attack. The mark is still visible on the building that is built around the temple well.

Trivia: The “Uyire” song from the B/Tollywood movie “Bombay” was shot at Bekal Fort.

Cheerios,

me

Cheerios,

me

Am kinda almost on track keeping up with my bucket list.. Things i wanna accomplish before i start to regret bout all the past happenings in my life. MBAs in progress, Bugsy is keepin me on my toes while i am home, Weekends with my best buddies from college, movies, etc.

I gotta thank my wonderful family who have been with me through the thick n thin. They have indeed been the greatest strength for me. I sometimes used to wonder did i do right by coming back home to them. Sometimes  the feeling of losing your freedom can bog you down but in my case, the pros have been much higher than the cons of being back home n staying with family. Something i guess i missed out for almost a decade. I thank God for making me more spiritual, and blessing our home.

I have learnt a lot in the past few years, some of these learnings could seem as if it were right out of Osho or Baba Ramdevs ashram but these have been true in my case.

• Shit Happens to everyone.. While only few are open to speak bout it few try to cover it up.. a covered up shit raises more stink which drives people to probe more into it than one which is found in the open. Only You can clear the mess.
• You got just one short life.. quit worrying bout moments where you gave up too soon too easy.. Take multiple vacations, Take a break, make all the moments count.
• Follow your aspirations.. Don’t let the idiots talk you out of it. You will find more people pessimistic than optimistic. If you don’t know where you are going, you will wind up somewhere else.
• Build a home around folks you love and you won’t have a sorry place to return to ever.
• Get a dog, i got ma dahlin’ Bugsy.. May be the only one in the whole world who knows to love unconditionally. We are in a world where we need it the most.
• Remember, it aint over until it’s over. Be Passionate bout your work.
• People change, priorities change over time.. no use brooding over em.
• Laugh n Smile a Lot … Did ya know it takes 43 muscles to frown while only 17 to smile
• Be Thankful for today, Pray for a brighter tomorrow.

Read this Latin proverb on the web, “Dum vita est, spes est”… It means “While there is Life, There is Hope”… It made a lot of sense. Considering it to  be my next tattoo

Cheerios,

me

Bout an hour and half drive from the capital city, Nestled in the Chorla Ghats where the borders of Maharashtra, Goa and Karnataka meet.. Wildernest  felt as if it were a piece of heaven on earth. Stayed here for bout 4 days, completely cut away from technology except for the occasional surprise texts you receive on the phone while the network bars on the phone tell a different tale.

The place is an eco hotspot with a view to kill for. You can see the beautiful Chorla falls and the Sakla-Vajra falls from the cottages while various exotic creepy crawlies keep you company. A dip in the Infinity pool and several friendly green vine snakes around the resort could give you shivers (literally… i mean it ).. We also happened to trek though one of the various trekking routes within the resort which leads to the highest points in the Ghats from where you could see all the three states.. And also another to the falls where i got bitten by bout 8 leeches .. Well i was so excited with the thought of going trekking in the wild, that i forgot to carry salt.. so if you do plan a trip to this place in the monsoons, make sure you carry salt. The suckers tend to hold on as if my blood were sweet elixir The food is the traditional goan-maharastrian buffet which surely excited me for the first couple of days soon after which i started missing the good ol’ junk foods. The entire region is a plastic free zone.. Each of the cottages is named after the flora and fauna in the region. Thanks to Namdev Gaonkar and Krishna in helping me understand few of the names. They were amazing. Though there were few qualms but when you look at the brighter side, each day spent at the resort was worth it. Oooooohhhh How could i miss the bathrooms with the view… they overlooked the valley.. If not for the full glass window, it could give you a feel of having bath outdoors. Far away from the hustle, bustle n pollution, the clean air in your lungs could actually take a lil getting used to

By the time you decide to leave, one thing is certain, you would either completely fall in love with the color green or would despise it Ofcourse which the latter will not happen.. You gotta see the place to believe it. Managed to capture a few pics despite the non-stop drizzle and rain. Kudos to the team at Wildernest for preserving a jewel in all its green glory.

Cheerios