An IndiBlogger Meet For Those Of My Kind

Cycling - The Western Ghats

I have never been to gym. I don’t believe in riding the stationary bike, because I love outdoors. This is not the first time I have attended Indiblogger meet, neither do I think this is going to be the last. 

But I am very sure that this is the blogger meet that was perfect entertainment for me.  

It had everything that I love, outdoor sports, adventure, creativity and gadgets which I often ogle online - to touch, feel and also use.

Since my childhood, I would always look forward to the long walks my Mom would take me out in the evenings. When my younger sister was born, it was funnier since I could tell her things which she did not know. She enjoyed listening and learning from me.

Later I started cycling, swimming, and having blast on the beach. 

Adventure on Someshwara Beach

 But life changed. Studies got heavier and then came the job. First the graveyard shift which stole my nights and days as well. Later I ventured in day job, easy and cool with a great project to work on, yet the outdoors activities came down drastically.

Apart from few cycling expeditions and visit to resorts, I was stuck with my laptop. This is when I got invite for the Indiblogger FlipkartOutdoor meet at Mango Mist. For once, my mother did not have to prompt me to join her for the meet. I had not been on any outdoor expeditions for past two months, and I was feeling rusted.

I was up and ready to start off early Sunday morning. We accompanied Pariknita, another blogger on her way to Mango Mist. Once there, we were banded to enjoy the day by Indiblogger.

 Following sumptuous breakfast we gathered again to kick start the meet. The bloggers were divided into 7 groups to enjoy the activities for the day.

First we started off checking out the gadgets. Flipkart introduced us to the gadgets like Garmin Smartbands and smart watches, Red Chief Outdoor shoes, amazing headphones, speakers and other music accessories from Altec, Samsung Gear2, Polaroid Cube, Coleman outdoor gears and Sony action cam. I prefer window shopping on Flipkart anytime since it was tough to resist the temptation to buy them all and walk away from the gadgets once you see and feel them.

We began the fun by putting up an outdoor tent. We had good time with the first group activity for the day. Coleman had lot many outdoor gears and kits which would be useful for camping and picnics including the tent.

The Red Chief footwear were something quite different from what I come across. They were not only attractive but quite sturdy for the outdoors activities.

 

The Altech water, dust, and shock-resistant speakers were eye catching. I think they would pair well with my Alienware Laptop, blaring out Linkin Park music as well as my LG G3 phone when I am on a cycling expedition.

This was something that went into my wishlist immediately. I am sure that these speakers can survive a fall which can happen considering the potholes that fill our roads.

The Samsung Gear2 classic smartwatch did not attract me much with its leather belt, but I was highly impressed with the smart watch with sporty sleek look and encased in a minimalistic design. 

 

The smartwatches can keep track of our activity throughout day and night. The 24 hrs Activity Tracker comes with Heart Rate Monitor, Exercise Tracker, Caffiene / Water Intake Tracker along with many other features. It also includes other convenient features like Messages, Schedule, Weather, Find My Phone, Voice Memo, Stopwatch and time to name just a few.

Garmin was ideal gadget for outdoor enthusiastic people with its various functions that not only kept tab on health and fitness but helps navigation as well.

As I went climbing up the Russian Ladder and Quake Walk, I got to record on Sony Action Camera, unfortunately, I do not have access to the video at present.

 It was to ring the bell by climbing up a vertical ladder made of rope and bamboo and to walk across a series of suspended wooden planks that hang from tree branches which made us feel quite unstable. They were much easier than they looked though.

Getting ready for paintball

Watch My Video

 
I enjoyed recording with the Slim and sleek Full HD Action Camcorder which was perfect to keep our hands free. I could easily capture the adventures without losing my balance. The video is highly stabilized even though I was shaking quite a bit while walking on the quake walk. Add water zorbing, tree surfing and rock climbing to the activity list. It was complete fun, but I had enough energy left to do everything all over again.

Our outdoor activities was followed by buffet lunch. I enjoyed a good vegetarian meal sitting among the natural trees which carried artificial mangoes on their branches.

Later the bloggers got together for returning the gadgets. There were prize distribution by Indibloggers and Flipkart. Later, we went ahead to enjoy paintball to wind up the adventurous day. I had to run and enjoy Land Zorbing before walking away from the resort.  

Thank you Indiblogger and Flipkart for the amazing Sunday. 

My Outdoor Life In General................

Swimming in Sea

Our Own Swimming Pool In My Village

Sand Castles

Climbing mountains

Foorball on a rainyday

Gearing up for Sunday Sports

Fun

Early morning walks on misty hills

In the lap of nature

Do What You Love and Love What You Do

My Demo Reel

I received my appointment letter from Digital Juices, Bangalore, after two rounds of interview. I will be taking up my dream job from Monday. Yay!!! The pay, the shift or any other negative aspects which some people point out, does not bother me at all. Because, this is what I want to do and this is what I love to do.

There was a time in my life, when I almost gave up what I wanted to do and settled down with what I should do. I went with the flow and some pressure to land in Diploma for Computer Sciences. Even though I like working with computers, software engineering was not for me. After three years of strenuous travel which took up nearly 3-4 hours of my time every day, and after struggling with the syllabus I did not enjoy, I was left with two options. Continue to work in a field which you do not like for whole of your life, or take up something you desire and love, even if it means coming out of your comfort zone.

Animation, movie making and art has always been my passion. I wanted to take up animation immediately after my SSLC. Unfortunately there were no good animation centers around Byndoor and also everyone other than my Mom, told me it was a wrong career choice. Finally both I and my mom gave in to the pressure and I landed with something that I did not like.

With encouragement and support from my Mom, I decided to take up animation and pursue my dream job. It was not easy because we both had to face a lot of objections from every corner. It was much tougher on my Mom because she was blamed for not guiding me properly and pampering me to spoil my future. But she took the bold step and supported me, in fact I feel she loved the animation career for her son as well.

With the decision made, I entered Arena Animation, Jayanagar for my DAE course to #StartANewLife. I stayed in PG for the initial period and missed my mom and sister quite a lot. But my passion for animation kept me going. In just a little more than a year, my family shifted to Bangalore and I was back with them.

I completed all the assignments given to me with great effort, much more than what I ever had put in school or college. There was a huge change in the way I worked. From struggling just before deadlines to catch up missed work, I was ready with my projects ahead of time. The first semester I came up with a comic, second semester a 2D movie for which I won a 2ndprize and finally for the 3^rd year my project of Ad making won mefirst prize. We always do well when we do things we love.

I started my own YouTube channel with a friend, called SpikyEye where I upload short movie clips. It has a long way to go yet. 

I am glad I chose to move away from a struggle with a career I did not like and took up something I love with passion, because this is what I will be doing for a long time to come. I started over once again and I started anew with new zest, forgetting my struggles in Diploma. I hope to do well and see success with my career as well. Wish me good luck folks!

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Running Up Rocky Steps

“Going in one more round when you don’t think you can – that’s what makes all the difference in your life.”

I and my mom share a lot of interests and hobbies, which makes life interesting for us. We enjoyed competing with each other in video games like Mortal Combat, Most Wanted or Test Drive. There are certain games I win hands down and some Mom does, but often we do have good competition between us as well. The same goes with our love for beach, organizing game parties, watching TV serials and many other activities we enjoy together.

Mom used to download some movies she had enjoyed before I was born so that she could share the experience once again with me. We loved watching some movies, but few were so bad that mom wondered how she had enjoyed watching them so much in the first place.

We loved Indiana Jones, Back to the Future, Rambo, Rush Hour, ET, and many other movies. When mom told me about Rocky, I was hesitant to watch the movie because I am no great fan of boxing or any other violent sports. I don’t understand what is entertaining about people hitting people. Mom has her way of convincing me and she did. We watched Rocky not just once but few times over and over again, because the movie won over Maa once again like it did before, and I too fell for its charm. 

There was more to the movie than just boxing. It worked like an inspiration for me, where determination gets you what you want. I feel the fight where Rocky is not declared winner in the end, makes it so close to your heart. The movie itself, made by a struggling Sylvester Stallone was motivational enough.

After watching the movie for the 4^th time, I told Maa that I wanted to run the steps of Philadelphia Art Museum someday, like Rocky did. She said OK, as though we were going to do it in few years. How was it possible for a teen boy from a tiny village of Byndoor to run up the steps of an art museum half way across the globe? We come from middle class Indian family, where travelling abroad is not a luxury we cannot afford. So far I hadn't stepped outside my home state as well. That is when Maa asked, “So you actually did not learn that anything is possible with determination, did you?”

True to her words, in 2 years I had my chance of running up the Rocky Steps. Standing atop the steps, I felt motivation and optimism surging through my heart. 

It was kind of an impossible dream that came true so quickly. Moreover, nothing was planned. It all happened by chance. My mom wanted to visit her friends in USA who were cancer survivors like her. They had a support group and most of them got together for meets quite often. Being in India, Maa could not attend their get together. So in 2008, she decided to visit USA and meet as many of them as possible. We spent 4 months with Mr. Jay and Mrs. Paula in Florida which was an amazing period in our lives.

By luck, one of mom’s friends Miss Judy lived just opposite of Philadelphia art museum and she invited us to spend few days with her. This is how I could run up the Rocky steps. We also celebrated 4^th of July with the Americans, watching the fireworks from the best view we could have. Me and Maa stood below the statue of Rocky #together and wondered, how this did happen in real. Sometimes, things go wrong but often things go right for us as well. Life shows us many moments to be optimists and motivated, but we tend to sideline them and concentrate on things that go wrong. That is the reason why we feel that many things go wrong. We only have to learn to look at the positive side of our lives where miracles happen every day.

Some Pictures from Philadelphia