An evening well spent: Golconda Fort

“We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open.” – Jawaharial Nehru

 This post is more of a pictorial prose. 

Last to last week, my mother visited us, me and my wife, in Hyderabad. And it was a time to have some fun and explore new places. My mother is a teacher and this time, she was really interested to see some of the places she had been teaching to students from last 15 years. We had visited many places in Hyderabad like Salar Jung Musuem, Charminar, Golkonda fort, Shilparamam, Birla temple, Hussain Sagar lake. 

 All the places are beautiful and charming in their own way. In this post, I will cover majorly about the Golconda Fort. 

 We, all of three, reached the Golconda fort at around 4pm. We heard a lot about Sound and light show and were particularly interested to see it. 

 When we entered, we were amazed to see such a huge structure which is planned very

Top most point of the fort called Bala Hissar

meticulously  in architectural respect. The most impressive of all is its system of acoustics. When we entered the fort, everybody was clapping their hands which confused me for some way of prayer. But actually, little later, we came to know that any sound made at the entry gate can be clearly heard at the highest point of fort. 

 

There were no phones during that time so clapping is a way of informing that some guest had arrived. Or may be different no. of clapping were used to convey the different messages.

This is the beauty of that era. Whenever I visit historical places, I always wonder whether we are developing now as claimed by the large no. of population or deteriorating in terms of environment and many other respects. 

The weather was also very cloudy today and it constantly scared us that if it rain, then the sound and light show will be cancelled but thank god nothing like that happen. We roam for 2,3 hours in the fort, familiarizing ourselves with it, took rest in the large green park, enjoyed some home made papads and ice cream. 

View from where we are sitting

 Initially, we planned to watch the show in Hindi but it was after the English show and also seeing the weather, it appeared that rain can come anytime. So, we purchased the ticket for English sound and light show which was scheduled to start at 7:15 pm and run till 8.

Sitting and waiting for the Show to start

Finally, the show started on time. It was recorded in the voice of Amitabh Bachchan. The casting song was sung by Jagjit Singh. It was a very nice song. As soon as the show started, i was completely lost in listening to the history and it was so engrossing and mesmerizing that i was feeling that i had traveled back in time. Sound came only from that area which was being introduced. It was one of its kind. The short folk stories and music was very soothing to ears. Some of the songs were in Telegu which I don't understand but I can say that they were also very relaxing and soothing. The show ended also with a song sung by Jagjit. It is recommended for everyone. 

Show was about to start

Captured during the middle of show although using Camera was strictly not allowed

Captured when the show was ended

At the end, i would like to leave 1 statement by which the show was ended. I didn't remember it exactly but it was very touching. It sounds something like that today only the stones, walls, gateways, apartments, halls, mosques inside the fort are left that have witnessed the story of Golconda. May be It does not sound that impressive as  i am not able to express it but when you hear it, you will be touched.

Common Jargons used in IT Industry

Some of the Jargon have become so hackneyed with time but still nobody refrains from using them. It is believed that more jargons one will use, more knowledgeable he is.

Let me summarize some of the them i have encountered in my last 1 year in IT industry.

• Ballpark figure

This term was taken from sports and here it is referred to the Dollar number for the rough estimate of the project/requirement.

• Let's touch base 

This is again taken from the sports and used when we want to say that I want to meet you. let's touch base is a technical term to say let's meet. 

• Let's take it offline

When somebody is not sure about some topic and want to discuss it one to one instead of in the meeting, he uses this term. And also in some scenarios when somebody is asking the questions not aligned with the agenda of the meeting or distractions, the host uses this terms to indicate that we will discuss it one to one after the meeting.

• Pushing the envelope

 This is used to motivate as well as demotivate the employee. This is commonly said during appraisal period when your manager is asking you to push the envelope means he is asking you to think outside the box and to move beyond your limits of what has usually been accepted as a standard and come up with new ideas and initiatives.

• Asap

 Asap is abbreviated for as soon as possible. It means the same what is conveyed by as early as possible or at your earliest.

• Let's close it

 It sounds very obvious. It simply means to complete something.

• MOM

It is abbreviated for minutes of meeting and summarizes what is discussed in the meeting. It is generally prepared after the meeting and circulated among all the attendants. The purpose is to have the list of all the action items and agreed upon points in written.

• Action items

It refers to things to do and generally prepared after any meeting. 

• EOD

It is abbreviated for end of day and refers to the end of your working hours in a day.

Celebrating my 100th blog post

This is the 100^th blog post so it deserves to be different. It will sort of summarize my journey on this platform. Let me divide this post in several sections and organize them in a Minutes of Meeting(MOM) fashion like we do in our IT Industry.The agenda for this post is as follows:

Courtesy: Google images/framefanatic.blogspot.com

1. History
2. Big thanks to my readers
3. Thanks to Google for providing this platform
4. What I write generally?
5. What this blog means for me?
6. Top posts
7. Going forward

1. History

   This section is needed as the vision and nature of this blog underwent a massive change. Previously, its name was “Rants and Raves” and the posts were more of a venting out of emotions close to what the title suggests. But as the time passed and I started travelling more, most of the posts were kind of Travelogue in nature. It becomes more of a microcosm of my dreams, lessons, fantasies and thoughts. Eventually, the final name comes out to be “Zindagi Express” which was very much related to the theme of this blog and also I was able to connect to this name more. 

   
   

   The first post of this blog was published on 15^th May, 2011, some 2years and 1 month back.

   
   

   2 years back, when I started this blog out of boredom of my summer training in Kolkata, I wasn’t sure if I will be able to continue for so long. But now, I must say that I enjoy blogging so much that I really wished to continue it for the rest of my life. It is an amazing ways to store your memories and when you come to your posts written 2 years back, it surprises me every time how much I and my thought process has changed.
    

2. Big thanks to my readers

   I would like to say thanks to all those who constantly read my blogs and encouraged me. If today I have completed 2years and publishing my 100^th post, then my readers/motivators also have some role. Some of the names I would like to mention are as follows: 

   
   

   1. Divenita/ Nivedata who used to encourage me and point out the mistakes in my writing and commented on most of my posts
   2. Anil ingle for his strong criticism and pointing out my grammatical mistakes and actually playing the role of the follower i.e. by reading all the posts
   3. College juniors taking help from my blog to plan their travelogues/weekends around the college
   4. CA, my wife, who closely follows my every post, whom I have to convince many times about my real life stories that they are fictional. Hehe….
   5. Sunny tonk for his encouragement

   And to all others who have been there once.

    

3. Thanks to Google for providing this platform

   I think this post will be incomplete without giving the credit to Google for providing this beautiful platform to express our ourselves. Although, many times, i have faced the issue with the blogger while uploading pics and related to formatting and all but still, Google deserves a big thanks. 

    

4. What I write generally?

   This is something which is not new for you guys but let me again make some efforts and value your precious time. This blog is about fictional autobiographical stories, dreams, fantasies, unspoken things, lessons learned both from life and books, things unsaid blended with sarcasm and mockery. The word 'Express' in the title expresses my love for my traveling particularly in Indian Railways and covers another dimension of this blog i.e. Travelogues.

    

5. What this blog means for me?

   This blog means a lot to me. It helps me in introspecting myself better. I have no intention of stopping this blog ever and would like to continue it till my life. In this way, it will provide me a storehouse for my memories and at the same time, helps my coming generation to know me better and to see things which perhaps will be vanish by then in this era of gadgets and technology in this fast changing world.

    

6. Top posts

   The following list of posts is not based on the no. of hits which one can already see at my homepage under Bestsellers list but actually it is based on the comments and my perception and feelings.(not in any order)

   1. The joy of living in small cities
      
      
   2. The healing Power of Surgery - 1 
      
      
   3. Husband and Wife arguing about smoking: Quite emotional
       
      
   4. Type of people one encounter generally in the typical local bar 
      
      
   5. Tribute to MY Grandfather Part-1
       
   6. Exams time 
      
      
   7. Do you think boasting about your alcohol capacity is cool??
      
      
   8. Comfortably Numb

       

7. Going forward 

    Like any other venture or hobby, i want this blog to grow and reach out to many more people. This blog will be continued like this only provided i get the ideas and opportunities to travel across the world. This blog does not focuses on any particular area but instead it is very generic in nature. I hope this blog will be able to woo you in future and give you a good content for reading in future and by respecting your precious time. 

   Thanks for your visit. 

   Please don't disappear this time without leaving your comment which is my dose for writing more.