Games People Play - Book Review

Games People Play by Eric Berne.

What if every Human Interaction is a Game. 

What are the different games people play with us( and we play with people) 

This book talks about Ego , Complicated thinking, and much more and the root cause.

This may answer many Why's about why someone did something to us( or what we did to others) 

This book shall definitely help us lead a kinder and less complicated life. 

Hat-trick Success

A tale told thrice in three different Languages yields Hat-trick success. 

The State award winning Kannada version "Aa Karala Ratri" became famous for it's unexpected and heart touching climax and neat making. Very naturally made, minimal characters , different music being  highlights. 

With the Telugu and Tamil Versions, Anaganaga O Athithi and Kondraal Paavam the making just got grander and so also the heroine's dream in the movie. 

All 3 versions have extremely different music , actors act in a different style, the shooting locations are different , language is different, yet the emotion remains the same. The colours used in the scenes continue to depict certain emotions. Dialogues in Tamil sound chrisper and sharper than the other 2 versions. Scenes are optimised to be more effective. Songs are richer. 

Kannada version shall continue to hold the credit of being the first of it's kind with some innocence in every aspect. Since it is the first, it shall be that version where the climax hits you the most as against other versions where you are prepared for it (assuming you watch them in the order of release). 

Tamil version is an example for how art can just go on getting better and polished with experience.

Lanes of Childhood

 

Riding thru the lanes of childhood,the lanes where we played the world's most creative and innocent games as kids.Wishing to go back to the era again. The era of fresh air , stationery phones, memorised phone numbers, birthdates and much more...

What is your most fond childhood memory? 

Mera Trek Mera Peak - A happy hiking experience

While post pandemic has mostly been about missing the Himalayas, "Mera Trek Mera Peak" a beautiful book by Ram Narayanan took me to the Himalayas virtually. 

The author starts the acknowledgements section by thanking self for not giving up. This genuine line to begin the book with was a catalyst to finish reading the book in one go. 

While on a trek, it's very natural to remember older treks, and that's exactly how the book sails us thru. The book is about a less explored peak ' Mera Peak' . It's equally about Everest Base Camp , the trek about which the author gets nostalgic at various places thru his journey. 

What makes the book special is not about how difficult the trek was but, the fact that, it celebrates humans & humanity . Terrains are forgotten over the period of time. The people we meet during a trek stay with us forever. 

Ending my blog ,quoting my most favourite lines from the book 

"Nothing stalled on account of my unavailability - be it family or on my professional front. Often , we tend to give ourselves too much importance and assume that people and activities will not function without our presence or intervention - the truth is far from it."

- Charita Kallihal 

SBI Geleyara Balaga

SBI Geleyara Balaga celebrates it's silver Jubilee by silently helping the financially weak yet talented students achieve their goals. We should be a bridge between the Haves and Have nots is the thought behind the group. Many students who have been supported by the group have achieved great heights in life. They are Engineers , Army Men and much more today.

A small group of 6 friends at SBI Main branch Dharwad  Sri F Ramesh  ,Dr. Gururaj Kallihal, Sri Kishore Bhatkal , Sri Dinesh Khatavkar , Sri K Y Badgandi, Sri Laxman Desai started this group. They  contributed a small amount from their salaries every month so that it can be used for a good cause. Colleagues who got to know about this also joined hands in big numbers. Small amounts that would  earlier have been spent on birthday celebrations, cake cutting, buying Dharwad Pheda for special occasions started getting added to the Geleyara Balaga account so that the needy could be helped. 

Vidyaranya High School Dharwad was the school identified to sponsor kids education. Every year 10 - 20 high school kids are selected and their education is taken care of . This has been happening for the last 2 decades.They have been firm and clear not to take support from any external sources. They play a low key and prefer not to publicise their work much. 

Rastrothana School Garag, Kalkeri Sangeeta Vidyalaya were also choosen to be helped with their infrastructure in-terms of School benches and Steam cooking Kitchen facility.

SBI Geleyara Balaga believes that kids should not be deprived of education and colourful dresses and innocent childhood.

Something that started when we were kids is now a Big family and a Legacy. 

SBI Geleyara Balaga is an inspiration to many and an emotion that's really close to my heart. 

Kindness is infectious. Let it spread throughout the universe. 

- Charita Kallihal

Neel Kurinji - Chikmagalur 2022

Neel Kurinji ( Strobilanthes kunthianus)

A flower that blooms once in 12 years, endemic to western ghats. It blooms synchronously covering entire hillocks making them look blue in colour. 

Neel Kurinji bloom in Chikmagalur ( September 2022)

Chikmagalur district has been witnessing blooms in September 2022. This may last for 1- 1.5 months. Individual flowers as such stay for couple of days only.However, the overall bloom season should last for few months. 

Core areas

Blooms are mainly found in Seetaaleyanagiri, road towards Mullayangiri, road towards datta peetha/Bababudangiri and Attigundi.

There are 2 forest checkposts which shall also guide you towards the blooms.

More details

-Almost every hill is blue, please spot the ones that are trekkable.

-Also please spot the hills where you can climb up and not climb down towards the valley (as downward inclines may be risky) 

-Drones are prohibited and so is plucking of flowers.

-Photography is allowed. 

-The peaks may be covered with fog, you may have to wait for few minutes to an hour to get a clear view for photography. 

-Rain alert! Please equip yourselves with raincoat/ Umbrellas.

-Leech alert! Beware of leaches as it's rainy season and ward them off using dettol and turmeric powder.

Happy Trekking and Tourism :) 

ANAAMADHEYA - The Secret Hero

Vidyaranya High School , Dharwad.  Pre- Independence name Victoria High School. The school holds the pride and privilege of having legendary Da. Ra. Bendre , B. M. Shree and many others as alumni!

Current main building is built by the generous donations of Late Dr. D. Srinivas Dalal who willed half  his property in the name of his dear school. Happened to visit the school to witness a similar beautiful act of generosity .

 ANAAMADHEYA -THE SECRET HERO decided to make a hearty charity. School bag , books , pens and a Bhagavadgeeta donated to 20 female students of the school. Girls from humble backgrounds but shining bright in studies. In addition , a cute 5 yr old from a daily wage workers' family got sponsorship for her school education. SBI Geleyara Balaga, a 25 year old voluntary organisation by employees and retired staff of SBI Dharwad facilitated this. A slice of thousands of events conducted by the organisation. 25th year and the 25th time this particular event repeats as SBI Geleyara Balaga heads towards Silver jubilee .

In an era of selfies, self marketing, social media flaunting, THE SECRET HERO and SBI Geleyara Balaga choose to play low key. Name may have been under wraps. But, kind deeds cannot be hidden. For, kindness is contagious, it shall spread and flourish and inspire many many souls creating a generation of generous people. It shall continue to make world a better place day by day.