VCET Alumni meet'14

"You meet people who forget you. You forget people you meet. But sometimes you meet those people you can't forget. Those are your 'friends'." - Martin Luther King Jr

It is always good to meet old friends after college life. When you meet them it reminds you those nostalgic moments and would definitely put up a smile on your face.

The Vidya Vardhaka Sanga had organized an Alumni meet of VCET college in Bangalore. Why Bangalore?, As many of the folks are likely to be in Silcon Valley rather in Puttur and also the stats of previous alumni meet in Puttur meant the same :). 

The Function was planned to start at 11am on Sunday 7th Decemeber. The expected crowd was 150-200 alumni. I reached at 10.50 am, trying to be bit early for the function. Then, it was the same routine  as before in college, we didn't start at 11am but was postponed by an hour. It happens, then too in Bangalore. Anyways, people were coming in and hence the time was utilized to chat asking more about each-others life.

Bangalore was the host - gathering around 100 VCETians, yes, it was less than expected, but still a good number for the first meet in Bangalore. Our Batch 2012 was the most represented  batch with ~30 VCETians.

CJ's along with HOD's 

The venue for the meet was Vijay Residency, Gandhinagar. 

About 15 Lectures had come to the meet and they were of full of energy.

We had VCET's new principal Dr, Linanagouda Kulkarni, Radhakrishna Bhatka from Management and retired IAS officer V.V Bhat as our Chief Guest for the day.

Intro by Aditya :)

Prinicipal's Talk

We started off with the Introduction of folks gathered. It was nice to see VCETians from the 1st batch ie 2005. At least 2 folks from each batch were present for the celebration.

As we started late, by the end of Introduction Lunch was served and it was delicious.

Afternoon, our Chief Guest's spoke about Vision and Mission of VCET for now and for coming years. It was good to know about the road map and also to understand our contribution for the same. We could see the energy that they are building up for the road-map.

Discussion Time!

Later we had a Branch-wise discussion on how things are and how we can improvise the system. There were lots of inputs from Alumni group and they were all taken in a supportive way. Hope the college will implement these ideas/suggestion.

There were folks who volunteered to spend some time involving discussion with students as students will benefit from these.

We wound-up around 5:30pm with Goli Bajje and Tea.

I was glad to meet my batch-mates, juniors ,seniors and also lectures. We all had good conversations and will hope to keep in touch. Also the road map for VCET was inspiring and we pledge that we as an Alumni group will contribute to the overall growth.It was a good day to be remembered.

Photo Courtesy : Angad Kandari

Smile :) 

DYC'14 - Ranipura

DYC: Diocese Youth Conference, Ranipura

This is a Conference held for young and energetic Catholic youths. The motto is to unite youths for a better society. The location was Ranipura. Ranipura is about 70 km from Puttur.

DYC Youth Camp :)

It was 3 Nights and 4 Days Camp. It was from 2nd October to 5th October. These dates were chosen as the holidays piled up and the participation from students as well as employees will be more.
Youth from different parish attended this Camp.




I could not attend the first day which had formal inauguration function followed by the rules and regulation for the rest of the camp.

I joined in for the second day, Oct 3rd.

Wonderful day, Thank you God!

The day started with Mass followed by a healthy breakfast. We were divided into teams. There was a total of 10 teams , where the participants were from different parish.

Dance Floor, Action turned Pop songs:P

In-order to cheer up, to make us more active in discussion or any activity, we had been  allocated some time for action songs. It made us feel like the old school children days where we dance freely with some melody songs. It was fun, first there was a negative response, but soon all were dancing will joy and excitement.

We had also had a Panel Discussion where we discussed about the Society, our contribution to society, Personal career growth, opportunities in Government sectors and a lot of important discussion that the youth should give importance to.

Group ♥

After the discussion, we had a group activity. It is always good to make new friends. First, only couple of folks used to take up the charge of the group for the activities, but going on all popped up and build the team-strength to see their respective team on the table topper position.

Yummy :)

Lunch was prepared by some volunteers along with some folks from the caterer, Non veg was common here as most of them prefer non-veg over veg here. Food was delicious after all the jumping and team activities.

Afternoon again the sequence followed action songs, youth cafe (discussions) and then by outdoor games for Team.

As a part of Outdoor event, we had Tug of War. We were 22 in one team. It was fun as both team would fight till the end to get the rope marker on their side.

Vailpule Mare :-D

Outdoor Game :) #FUN

After a gap of half an hour for freshening, we had Taize worship followed by dinner.

Taize Prayer Hall

We had a cultural program by each team, and this was the best part of the day. The interaction between the team members increased and the strive for the table toppers encourage each team to give their best effort.

Day off Officially.

The night was fun too. Boys and Girls had separate accommodation and we(Boys) had some other plans :P. We were talking/discussing until 4 am by then completing drinks. Finally, we slept around 4:30 am after all the laughs and crazy discussions.


October 4th Saturday:
The program was arranged in the same sequence so that there will no delay in getting used to the new timeline.

Prayer Time !

The day started by Mass thanking God for the wonderful day ad safe night, Breakfast, Action songs and the Panel discussions.
As a part of Team activity we had Antakshari which was fun, wait for the other team to answer, once there are able to do, sing with them :).

After lunch we had Quiz and Debate. Both of these were of utmost important and lots of new things were learnt.
In Debate session, we debated on Increasing rates on Suicide and Rape in India and Karnataka.

Our Crazy Team :-D :-X

After the Team activity we had a new event called as "Pilgramage", where we learnt about 3 saints.
Also, we had created the Banners for the society to create awareness. We (As Team) created theme on Go Green for which we got 1st price :).

Sometimes, I wonder how these small things bring the huge happiness in life, I am glad that I came to this Camp taking back a lot of new friends and learning.

After these activities, we had Rosary followed by Dinner.
Then came to the most awaiting moment of the camp, CAMP FIRE :).

Camp Fire♥

Dance Dance!

Camp fire is definitely fun, but with friends and a lot of crazy dance makes it even better.
This is what happened, with lots of Baila and Pop music - we were alternately in ground and air.
Also,we had cracker busting which  was beautiful up in the sky.

Day ended with high node as we danced for almost an hour, yes this was again official.

The night continued as before, this time I can remember I slept at 5:30 am :-D .

Final Day, Oct 5th :

I had to leave early so I left around 8:30am. Even though I was here for 2 days and 2 nights, I knew I was about to miss a lot of fun of the final day in DYC. Btw, the sequence for day was same -
Prayer, Breakfast, Action songs, Session and then Valedictory function.

It was an Awesome experience. As I mentioned before, I am glad that I had made my mind to come to DYC-14,Ranipura - I am taking a lot of memories, new friends and lots of learning.

Special thanks to Organizers, Committee members and all the volunteers who helped to make this DYC Camp a huge success. I know they had a huge task ahead and the way they managed to run this event smoothly is really appreciated. Hats off to you guys :).

Committee Members! :)

Photo Courtesy: Roshan Suraj and Nellu Permannur (Via Facebook)

 -Prashanth M

Hubli :)

"When you are enjoying life, years pass and you don't seem to be bothered."

It has been 2 years and 2 months, that I have spent my first professional life here in Hubli. It is needless to say that it was an awesome experience. So, I am writing down the Hubli I have seen :).

As we know Hubli-Dharwad is the second largest city in Karnataka after Bangalore. They are also called as "Twin Cities". The distance between Hubli and Dharwad is just 18kms. The district is Dharwad .

When you visit Hubli, the first thing you observe is Chennama circle, It is the landmark of Hubli.
It has Kittur Queens Statue who died while fighting against English Rule. The Rani Chennamma sitting on the Big Horse with her sword raised, and the wonderful thing is the both front legs of Horse are raised reflecting horse in Jumping and Attacking position.

The best part of Hubli is the traffic is not that running high as compared to Bangalore. You can leave at 6.30pm for 7pm show in any theater that is at-least 10-15km far. You will also have time to buy snacks also.

The best attraction lies in Koppikar road. When I visited Hubli for the first time on Aug 2012, Koppikar road was one stop shop for all the requirements .

You have theaters, Shopping centers and good road side food and also few multi-cuisine restaurants .

Later in the next year, the competitors were born . Now we have Oasis mall in Gokul road which is also a good place to hang out .

The bus frequency is more , when you are travelling towards Dharwad. You will get a bus every 5mins .

So, if you are staying near by in Highway then you will not have any problem of travel .

But here within 2 years there are lot of development happening .

We have BVB campus who organizes many events and the fun was there .

I was also a part of Marathon which for “Vote for India” pledge and the distance was 14km and I am happy that I have completed .

Unlike big cities, here the choice are limited . If you want to go to swimming , then there is only 2 choice :D . Similarly gym with physical trainer here you will get is seldom in your area .

Here, the weekends were almost as busy as working days this is because every alternate week we used to go to some new place,falls,restaurants, dabba ..etc

Here we were Movie-holice, atleast one movie every week was in our routine . Once we had the Multiplex running, tuesday was our favorite day as the price was 100rs .

Other weekend activities involved cooking and having timepass in room.

Playing Cards,Uno,Mafia,Chess was time pass games.

We played Football tournament and emerged as winners by beating the Brazil team working for Marco Polo.

Places to Visit when you are in Hubli:
Nrupatunga Betta : Beautiful picnic spot. Also the view from the Hill is applaudable.
Unkal Lake : It is just 5km from Hubli Bus Stand, Hubli-Dharwad road. Unkal is a beautiful lake view point with sensational sunset view. We have also a Temple,Garden,Boating and recreational facilities nearby.
Sathodi and Mathodi Falls: A place for Trekking and to enjoy the nature gifted falls, 85kms on Hubli-Karwar Highway.
Glass House:
Glass House as the name itself says that it's a palace of glass.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dudhsagar_Falls
Amboli falls
Niyaz

Misra Pedha

Kannur High Way

St Mary Church

Railway station

All these will be missed :)

Thank you for your time - Hubli buddies, it was my pleasure spending time there .

-Prashanth M

Karnataka - Hampi

After last week's Amboli Trip, we planned to visit Hampi -' One of the finest heritage city in India'.
We thought of having a 2 day trip initially, but later dropped the plan as few of the members had some personal work on Sunday and then finalized for a one day trip. So, it was set - 20th September, 11 members.

Hampi has a lot of package that it gives to tourist, one day is definitely not sufficient to visit all the places in Hampi and understand the culture and their importance.

Given that we had only one day we planned to leave early at 6am on Saturday morning. Unlike the last time, we were ready at 6 am but it was a delay from driver's end as he managed to reach at 6:30 am. We left Hubli at 6.50 am.

We booked a traveler of 11 seats and it was comfortable. Because we were going to Hampi, we did a background reading on Hampi and its history. We also prioritized  the places which we wanted to visit and the schedule for the day.

With Music loaded in our system and lot of excitement in our heart, we set out to Hampi.

Hampi is 170km far from Hubli. Hampi is traditionally known as Pampa-kshetra, Kishinda-kshetra or Bhaskara-kshetra is derived from Pampa, which is the old name of the Tungabhadra River on whose southern banks the city is built. It is located within the ruins of Vijayanagara, the former capital of the Vijayanagara Empire.

As usual, we had breakfast on the way, this time we managed to have it in the Durga Vilas Hotel, Gadag. We then left Gadag around 8:30am.

We reached Hampi around 10.45am, the first stop in Hampi was Virupaksha Temple.

Virupaksha Temple!

Hampi was once a flourishing capital city, its rulers were known for great love towards art and literature.The glory of Hampu tragically ended when Mughals destroyed the city, its palaces, gateways and beautiful art temples.

Virupaksha temple is the oldest temple in Hampi, constructed in the 15th century, and is dominated by its 50metre tall gopuram. The sculptures on the tower, pillar reflect the local worship of the resident deity inside the temple contains the shrines of Shiva, Pampa, and Bhunvaneswari.

Destroyed Empire

There was also good turn out by tourists also. People from Germany, US also had come to see the rich art and literature of Hampi.
We were thankful for the weather as it was cloudy and most important the SUN was off. Hampi is one of the hottest place and it is very difficult to visit temples which are made of rock and that too you have to cover a good distance.

Nearby Virupaksha Temple

We spent almost 2 hours in the reckoning and praising the art of the Virupaksha temple.
We admired the beauty and creativity of Virupaksha temple and the inverted shadow of its huge gopura. We wondered about the artistic skills and architectural expertise of the artists who had built such beautiful art.

It was 1pm and we were very Hungry, we could not go for Mango-Tree restaurant as it would cost us more time. We searched for a nearby restaurant, but we understood that it was a village and can not expect to have lunch in restaurant. We found on Hotel nearby and the meal was delicious. We enjoyed the food and with tummies full, sleep was round the corner, but we knew the importance of time and did not waste time by setting to nearby place to view more and more art and literature.

We also visited these places: Kadle kalu Ganapati, Sasuve Kalu Ganaptu, Mahanavami Dibba, Hazaramma Temple, Lotus Temple, Elephat's stable and Ranga Temple.

It was about 4pm we decided to leave for the Vijaya Vittal temple.

Here we took help of the Guide, later we realized that it is important to have guides who will explain each and every bit of the history.
Earlier we denied of having a guide in the Virupaksha temple as he charged 700rs and understanding the scriptures would take at least 3-4 hours.

Stone Chariot: Vijaya Vittal Temple

The guide who we asked for explanation in Vittal temple had a good command in English, he spoke clearly and answered the questions asked with more details. We felt it was worth having a guide to understand the scriptures. Unless you don't have deep knowledge on art and literature you will see a pillar as a pillar with some art carved in it. But with guide you will be surprised to see that the each carved art has a story to tell and the story continues to other art in same pillar. Each pillar was a Novel with each art as  its chapters.
We really liked the art and even though after a hard day we were all enthusiastic to ask more question to understand things better.

Sculptures in Vittal Temple

One of the thing that fascinated me was the musical pillars. Pillars was build in such a way that each pillar gave a unique sound when it was hit by a stick with gold coating in the olden days.
The guide explained using his fingers against the pillar. We were really surprised to see the creativity of the Maharajas during those times.

Musical Pillar's

We had planned to visit Mathanga's hill to see Sun Set, but we cancelled it as it was already 5:30pm and we also needed to cover more distance. We also visited the Pancharanga Temple, which was sub merged with Tungabadra river.

Later we had a option to see "Tungabadra Dam", but we skipped as we planned to visit Rajastani Heritage house.

Areey Rajasthani

We were welcomed with Rajasthani beats , a guy used Horse doll to please us with his dance and yes it was impressive. We also put a dance with Rajasthani beats.

The entry would cost 400rs each person , since we had planned we decided will explore the heritage house we entered anxiously . We were welcomed again inside by a Rajasthani women with tirtha, and then by a melodious music and a welcome drink.

Camel Ride!

Horse Ride

In the Heritage house we had an option to try House's,Camel's and Bullock cart's ride. And yes, we tried all three and it was  fun. There was a Dance performance by 2 beautiful ladies which resembled the Rajasthani's folk dance. We tried the other options as well like Astrologer, Magic show.
It was fun and most important it was lifting our mood.

Dinner Time! :-D

So, now it was time for Dinner.
Yes we knew that Rajasthani will have sweet dishes and they will have ghee in each item. We were made to sit in a straight row and they used to serve us. But we were surprised to see that they don't put ghee on chapati but chapati on ghee. Few of the servers used to come and serve a lot of food,sweets even though we told them that we were done with food. They entertained us and made us feel comfortable. They enjoyed serving and we enjoyed eating. All dish were good and we were all set to return back to Hubli .


We reached Hubli at 12am which was as per the plan.
This was a much needed trip, it helped us to have a grasp and endover the beauty of the history.

Our culture and religion were surely rooted very deeply here.

Final words on this Trip: The cultural, architectural and sculptural excellence that embellished the heritage sites of Hampi enamored us and enlightened us about ancient Indian glories. We enjoyed this trip with lot of learning also.

Thanks to Sujit for contributing the Photos.

- Prashanth M

Amboli Trip!!

As the monsoon season get settled, there are many places one has to visit, especially the falls, greenery during the beautiful drizzle.
Having said the above, we (Sankalp Team) had been to Amboli Falls. We had a strength of 18members, all boys :).

Amboli falls is a hill station in Sindhudurg district of south Maharastra. Amboli is popular for the tourist destination. At an altitude of 690m, it is the last hill station before coastal highlands of Goa and lies in the Sahayadri Hills of Western India.
You can read more here:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amboli,_Sindhudurg

So, our journey starts here:
As per the plan we were supposed to meet at 6.15am, Navangar and leave Hubli around 6.45am, but as usual we delayed our start and left around 7.30am. And this was expected :D.

Breakfast

Since we were 18 members, we settled in 2 travelers, each of them has 11 seats where one could sit comfortably as we decided to board 9 members each.

We had already ordered our breakfast with the vendor previous night, who prepared delicious Iddle and Vada :-)  and delivered it by early morning around 6:30am. Since we had to travel for at-least 1 and half hours we thought of having breakfast and stopped in the highway of Hubli-Belgaum to have the breakfast just a few km from Kittur lake.

H-B Highway! 

Reaching Belgaum at 9.40am was a relief, even though we had delayed our early start.

Our first view point of the day was Tillari falls.

Tillari falls is the one of the unravelled falls, most of us did not know about this falls. Few folks from the team had been to this falls before. But Unfortunately, we could not find the falls as no one of us had taken or knew about  the 'new' route before. The usual route had broken down badly so we thought of taking another route. We had travelled around 20-25km into dense forest in search of Tillari falls, but we had to give up, Sad:(.

In Search of Tillari Falls!

But we ended up finding the new place ie.. Tillari Park/Resort. Tillari Park is a good place to relax, it is a hill station and the viewpoint from this park was amazing,  that would make you to forget each and every thing and embrace the beauty of the nature.

The next stop point was Swapnavel point.

Swapnavel point is a beautiful view point into the dense forest. It had a resort too.
The roaring falls created attention for both eyes and ears as we stood on the viewing platform.

Falls in Swapnavel point

As we took our eyes off these

thick waterfalls and looked at the surface of the hill in front of us, we could see many smaller falls coming down, a bit silently clinging to the surface of the hill.

"Mind-Refresh" - this is what we experienced here. We did not prefer having lunch here as we were looking for a Dabba on the highway to Amboli.

We had our lunch in a Dabba, the food was decent and with ravenous, we were satisfied with food. When we finished our lunch and decided the next destination ie Amboli it was already 2.45pm.

The next and final viewpoint was Amboli falls.

Amboli:

Near Amboli

Amboli combines the chilling weather of a hill station with the lingering smell of  the sea. The source of river Krishna lies at the heart of this village of Sindhudurg and owes its holy waters to the Shiva temple at the cave where the water originates.

The natural beauty of the forest covered hills, soaked in vivacious showers is a breathtaking sight. Mini waterfalls gushing down the slopes, heavy rains and mist covered horizons are the characteristic of Amboli. It is covered by a thick canopy of trees and dense forest cover.

Hindi and Marathi are the most popular languages spoken.

The road trip is also beautiful, that fog on the road, that chilly weather, rains showers and greenery all round.

You have the stairs to go up the falls, and the stairs will have water flowing with the constant current. It is challenging to small children to climb against the water current.
Falls was adored as we enjoyed every bit of it.

The Final Destination was: Niyaz, Belgaum.

Niyaz is famous for Biryani. As we had snacks at Amboli also, we were not that hungry but tired and sleepy. So we settled for Biryani only instead of Soup,Stater,Main-Course and Ice Cream :D .

We reached back to Hubli around 11pm,

Mass Mass Mass - Team

It was a Trip to Remember!.

- Prashanth M

Visit to High School

It is always important to keep on building the network and also having them in constant touch.

We, 2006 batch of St Philomena High School formed a group in Whats-app, and planned to visit High School. Reunion is always a fun activity, but the availability of members is crucial for such events. As, most of our friends are out of station; The expected participation was around 8-12 members.Considering this, we planned to have a reunion on 30^th August, as 29^th August was a holiday for Ganesh Chatturti Fest.

We in Dakshina Kannada celebrate Ganesha habba very friendly and with full of zeal, so most of our friends would come to native.

This will be the first time we are visiting the high school as a group - officially after we passed out. It has been 8 long years .Our plan involved meeting teachers, hanging out to know each other better, also to inquire about our contribution to the existing Alumni association and our responsibility towards the organization.

Since 30^th Aug was Saturday , we have planned to meet on this day. Personally, I was excited about meeting all my friends.

So, here is the summary of Re-Union:

We visited St Philomena High School at around 10.30am. We met our Headmaster and Teachers , had a very long talk about our life activities as they were excited to know about their students.

Making faces with Students

Interaction with Kids:D

Fun

It was a friendly talk where we discussed about the punishments, scoldings,the warnings we had gotten from them due to our mischievousness behavior and also from there, where we had been till date .

We talked,laughed and had a great time with our teachers.They were really surprised to see us all over again , many could not recognize us at the beginning but later they got us and some faked :D  .We spend nearly 3 hours of quality time with them. It was indeed a cheerful moment.

With Head Master

We were 8 members totally - Sandesh, Krishna, Abhimanyu, Joswin , Pavan, Rithesh, Ashwin and myself joined the get together.

After the visit to High School we had been to Ashwini Hotel in Puttur, where we talked about each one of us in details . This is one of the finest hotel in Puttur, where we had been during our academics. Food was tasty :) and still it is one of the finest hotel .

In City Gudde

After this we had been to City Gudde, near Nehrunagar. With drizzle and full of greener , it was a treat to watch and hang out. It was about 5pm where we bid adieu to our friends.

It was indeed a great day to meet old friends and I believe we all had a lot of fun .
We will be planning one more get together activity soon.

If you have any suggestion/experience about re-union , please let me know in below comments .
Also, Please feel free to provide any suggestions.

Thank you,
Prashanth M

Staying away from Home!!

Hi there, I am writing this article to share my experience of staying away from Home.

To start with, I was a day-scholar for my entire educational life (BE as of now :D ) in Puttur, Karnataka. Being in native place makes us feel like a King. Talking to people who know us from our childhood, having delicious and healthy food and mainly being with family makes us happy.

Yes, it is a mixed feeling when you have to move from your home. We have to make few tough decisions for our own benefit .

There is a saying “Unless you are happy, you can't make others happy” . So, chasing your happiest life is important and that drives many to leave home and pursue the career outside native in many cases, and it stands true for me too.

So here it goes, it has been almost two years away from home, even though I visit native frequently.

And to be frank, I enjoyed away from home as I was able to learn many lessons of life.

Before coming to Hubli, I was pretty worried about the new place, food habits, people and many other things. Hubli is a bit dusty place but not as packed as Banglore or Manglore. You see very few buildings that stand tall, unlike in other cities.

During my initial days in Hubli, I was worried about the language. 

Even if Kannada is spoken throughout Karnataka, the accent is not the same. We  in south Karnataka speak slowly compared to the Hubli Kannada which is as bullet fast.But knowing Kannada holds an advantage for me to travel, as well as to interact with people.

Also, there are many words which were then new to me. Even though it was a bit difficult for a month, I got used to it gradually. I now can manage Hubli Kannada pretty well . 

Coming to food, here they serve Chapati/Jowar Roti and White rice for lunch , whereas in south Karnataka we prefer boiled rice. Chapati is more like for breakfast unlike in Hubli.

Here in Hubli, I met my to-be colleagues from far away places, excited as they had just completed Engineering, just like me . It has been a good thing that I got to spend time with people who have come from different place and a different culture.

I have seen that the thinking of people from different places do differ a lot. I enjoyed the company of friends here .

The main things I have learned being away from home are :

• You push yourself to be a better person .
• You will miss hometown badly
• You will be happy with what you have and try to spend wisely
• Learn to be on your own (Self care when one is ill , Giving strength to self when under stress)
• Travel, visit new places.
• You will understand a person in depth
• Give importance to friends .

And when you count backward from where you have commenced, you realize you have now -
grown up,matured.

Thanks,

Prashanth M

The Catholic Roce Ceremony

Hi All,

        This post is on Roce Function which is pre-marriage function in Christian Community . I am writing this post to avoid any repetitive explanation for Roce function as I have experienced :D :D .  I had to attend a Roce and Marriage function of my cousin brother, apart of my planing for the function, I was more worried about the question on the Roce function asked by friends and colleagues. Hope this blog will be helpful.

Roce is a pre-wedding ceremony. It will be a day ahead or couple of day ahead of wedding day . Both Bride and Groom will have this ceremony in their respective house (most likely). Now a days, due to compactness in the residence area , the function is also done in hall or open ground. Roce function will having oil and coconut milk applied over Groom and Bride. Roce function also signifies the love of Parents and close family members towards Bride/Groom .

On the day of the Roce, the families of the Groom/Bride offer a mass to the departed souls of their respective families, to respect the departed souls and their contribution for the family.

Arrangements : Neighbours/Relatives would come home for the help . Gentlemen will help to put up tents (Matav) and Ladies will help in Kitchen .

The guests who come for the function are warmly welcomed by the hosts "Yezman" and "Yezmani| at the main entrance of Matav greeting with 'paan-pod udak ailem' (meaning - 'receive this plate of Areca nut , betal leaves , etc., and a  pot of water'). The guest acknowledge the welcome with reply : 'Dev Borem Korun, yezmanya" (May God bless you) and take the paan-pod .

The Groom is accompanied by the best man (Dhedo) and similarly the Bride will be accompanied by bridesmaid. The best man and bridesmaid are younger brothers/sisters , in case of no brothers/sisters, young cousins can accompany .

Roce function will start with "Vojem", here the Society (Wado people and Relatives) will bring the things for Roce dinner like Goat, Pig, Vegetables and all . This was followed, that is Vojem was cooked and served for dinner but nowadays this custom is seldom .

Oil and Coconut Milk

Roce function will have anointing of oil and application of pure coconut milk on Bride and Groom . The bath after the roce symbolized his/her last bath that the bride or the groom will be taking in their bachelorhood/spinsterhood . Roce function will be usually held in the evening.

Yezmani appling Roce on Groom

First the Father and Mother (Yezman and Yezmani), will dip thumb in the oil and make a sign of the cross on the forehead of Groom, followed by each of the dhedo sitting beside him. These actions will be commenced with the singing of  'VOVIYOS' . Voiyos are expressed with sentiments and gave vent to the feelings of the people about the marriage partners and their families , primarily invoking blessing of God . Voviyos are songs sung by women mainly . The procedure is that one of the women will sing 'vove' and then rest will repeat the vove. It will be fun to listen :D.

Coconut milk on Roce Ceremony

The Yezman/Yezmani will dip and take the oil in the spoon and drops oil in each of his ears and then apply the oil  on his head and rubs oil into his hair. After this, they scoop roce from the bowl and pours roce on his face, hands and even legs and rub it gently. This culture will be done to the dhedos as well. This will be continued by close relatives and later by guests present.After the roce ceremony, the best man take the Groom by hand and lead to the bathing place.

After all the Prayers, the stage is replaced by Big Dance floor, DJ/Country Band and Open bar.

During old days, Food was offered in Banana leaves with Rice, mutton curry cooked with coconut milk. Today's scenario is no where near to the old ceremony . Now, there will be two counters with smartly dressed waiters serving PCM (Pork,Chicken and Mutton) .

As the trend is changing in few families :D , now along with Oil and Coconut milk (Culture) we have Eggs, Rotten tomatoes, Chilled milk, curd and beer which will be applied on Bride and Groom . This fancy is entertained by only few. Hope at-least Oil and Coconut milk will be followed till the end :) . Note: As per culture only Oil and Coconut milk has to be applied .

According to the Tradition, the couple is not allowed to sit together and even meet each other after the Roce. They are supposed to meet only at the nuptials.

Once the groom and best man have returned, a short prayer is said for the grrom , his family, and for the food which is to be served etc., and then the dinner is served .

To conclude the ceremony, usually the traditional Latin song 'Laudate' is sung.

Acknowledgement :
Please comment , if any thing I have missed or added wrong content as per culture of Roce .
Since, I have attended few Roce ceremony, I will not have all the knowledge of Roce followed from older days. Please enlighten me on this, if any .
Thanks for Reading :) .

Reference :

http://www.daijiworld.com/chan/exclusive_arch.asp?ex_id=1123

http://www.mangalorewedding.com/roce.php

Dog's and Cat's Myth

I had watched this Video : Cat Steals Dog's Bed, very funny video in fact. But, I remember that 'Cats and Dogs' were told as rivals when I was young. Then I started a small research.

 Below are the important points from the research:
* Cats and Dogs, If introduced at a early stage, can get along relatively well.
* Ancestor of these species are arch rivals like Tiger and Hyenas.
* The rivalry between Dogs and Cats, is because of the different Species . Dog consider themselves as stronger than cat and try to chase the cat.
* When Cat shows strength, Dogs get confused and does not harm cat.
You might have observed the above behaviors .
Source: Why are cats and dogs considered as rivals? 

It is a strange truth that we follow these myths , What I learnt from the above action is that :
* We assume things (myths) and share the false news.
* TIME is an important factor. TIME changes everything *.
* In older days, there was either a Dog or Cat pet in a house ,and people believed this myth. They were afraid of keeping both pets.
* When they were bought up together, the truth was realized. Dogs and Cats are not rivals from congenital , but can be good friends if bought up under good environment.

Finally, I was happy to realize the Truth and more knowledge on the subject.
------------------------
Coming to our responsibility :

Now is the season of election , we have around us all the stories (Truth,False, Minute Made :D ).
It is our responsibility that whether we want to know the myth or the real fact.

So, Peps understand the fact , and also the impact it has on today's world. Because Past is gone,but we can have a control over present and future. If Past makes us to suffer more, then it is better to let go.



Let us make a better place for all ♥

Please Vote for India!!

Vote for the right candidate!

Jai Hind!!






Regards,
Prashanth M

Go Goa!! Will Go Again :)

On Friday 21^st Feb 2014, we had planned to go to Goa for a Bike Trip, but due to unavailability of Bikes we had to skip the plan (Many Bikes were not in Proper condition for Long Bike Trip), we thought of visiting other places nearby Hubli, but fortunately none were good for the season. Fortunately?, Because I wanted to go to Goa :) . Later, we had made our mind that we will be going to Goa at any cost either by Vehicle or by any Public Transport (Bus/Train).

1.Waiting for the Train in Hubli Railway Station

Finally, we decided to leave Hubli the same night by Train, so we (13 members from Sankalp) were energized to travel to Goa.  For me, it was the first time in Goa so I was super excited J . For Train , we had less time to book sleeper as it was a quick plan,so we made mental preparation for General seat. As usual, Train was delayed by 10 mins and General Bogie was crowded. Fortunately, with our Train traveler Experts like Rakesh TR and Dayanand Sagar we managed to get seats.

2.Sleep Tight in General Seat :D

But it was difficult to be comfortable as there was suffocation due to the large crowd and we had few strange guests who wore bad perfume of Alcohol and Urine in their body and Pant. Then , our rescue boy  ‘Vishwas’ who was sleeping with safe and sound in the upper seat of a train suddenly jumped and behaved as a policemen to get rid of the bad Perfume guy and undoubtedly he was successful.

3.Goa :) 

We arrived in Goa around 6.30am , the place of arrival was Madgaon. But the Destination in Goa was Calangute , Baga Beach. So, we hired a Winger Vehicle through a broker. As we were waiting for the Winger to show up, Broker disappointed us as there were no Winger ready at that time. In Goa, as soon as you arrive you will be surrounded by 3 or more Brokers who will manage to get you all sorts of Vehicle from Activa to Imported Vehicles. As, we were waiting for the bus, the other broker came and promised as the first one. We agreed and we were waiting for the second broker's Vehicle . Here comes the twist, now the first vehicle guy showed up with Winger and there was no sight of second vehicle also. So here we are, with first Vehicle who denied initially and with a Broker who promised a vehicle in 15mins. Here, we became selfish and wanted to reach destination as soon as possible so we choose the first vehicle . Ha-ha ,then the drama started , there was initial war of words between two brokers and then the second broker was trying to get us out of  the first vehicle. Shrinivas our hero of the trip, who had just come after relaxing :)  missed the initial drama , he was the one who had made the agreement with second broker . As he was not present he did not know about the first/second vehicle . As he sat in the vehicle in which we were seated already ,to our surprise the second broker got serious and he pulled Shrinivas out of the car and started behaving aggressively. This was the time for our entry, we came for his rescue and also had heated discussion with the second broker . Finally, Boss of second vehicle came and calmed the broker and we left the railway station in the first vehicle.

The Journey from Madgaon to Calangute was about 90mins, Sushanth (Lover boy) had been to Goa multiple times and he knew a Home for rent in Calangute. So we reached to Calangute around 9:15am and the Guest house was named “Kanta”, not sure why. Thanks to Sushanth we did not wander more places for Room. Since we were 13 members we bought 4 rooms for 1,100 rs each (3+3+3+4 members/room). Rooms were decent with TV ,Fridge and Spacious.

4.Bike Trip

We freshened up quickly and set to roam Goa . We left room at 10.30am and had breakfast in nearby Hotels. The cost for Food is high in Goa compared to Manglore/Hubli. We all had a decent breakfast. The next task was to get a Vehicle for our travel  in the city. We bought 5 Activa for 600rs each and 2 FZ bike for 800rs each for 2 days and 1 night .  I was riding FZ alone as we were an odd numbered gang.

5.Dona Paul 

8.Panjim Church

Our first destination was Dona Paula,Panjim and our bike trip started. to this destination. The distance was about 25 Km from Calangute to  Dona Paul. Dona Paula is a former village and tourist destination . It is the beautiful and calm place to visit, lots of Tourist were also present. We stayed here for about 30mins and headed towards Miramar which was at a short distance of about 4Km from Dona Paul. Unlike other beach in Goa, Miramar attracted only few tourists and beach was almost empty . Next we visited Panjim church “Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception Church” , which was so beautiful structure. And it is one of the oldest churches in Goa, existing from the year 1540. Here we concluded the first half of the day.

6.Miramar Beach

7.Sand Sculpt near Miramar Beach

 Lunch Time!!! J We were exhausted and divided our 13 member Team to 2 Teams . That was Veg and Non-Veg. Veg Team was having higher strength of about 8 members. This is because, couple of our members don’t eat non veg on Saturday’s. As there were no Non Veg hotels apart from Lounge, so we all decided to go to Veg Restaurant . We found Kamath Hotel nearby Panjim church. We had a good lunch and took a few minutes of rest with fresh breeze in front of the church, which had bench sitting.

Next, was Vagatar Beach J, This would make all boys happy. Yes, finally we found the beach where a lot of expected tourist were present. Ahh J we enjoyed this a lot. Few of our members (Praveen,Dayanand,Swapneel) got down onto the beach. Others enjoyed sight seeing. Overall it was lot of fun. Goa follows different culture compared to India and it was all new to me to see live J . Since we didn’t prepare to get into beach earlier , most of us thought of going to Baga beach and getting wet there, I mean getting down onto beach. So, after spending 1 hour on this beach, we gave our eyes rest. I and Vishwass had a beer here. J Since we had to ride , we kept our temptation for the night.

9.Arpora Market

Baga Beach was more like a Puttur Jatre (Puttur is my place and Jatre means market), It was filled with Tourist and Localities for about 3 Km wide. We finally got into the water, it was a good feeling. We also played volleyball with strangers which involved fun from both sides. We all  enjoyed by jumping against the wave in beach, felt like freedom jump :P . Finally before the sun would set, we decided to freshen up for the night. The Night was Beautiful , which is what we had heard about Goa J. And Night is Young too :P.

After a Quick shower in the room , we all set to go to Arpora Market. As other places, Arpora was filled with crowd. There were lot of shops which mainly had Handmade Garments and Idols. There were few shops owned by Foreigners also. I believe there was collaboration between Foreigners and Localities. Crowded Market with concert was not a bad place to spend the evening/night, but we had different plans. We roamed the entire  market, and decided to have a dinner together before getting split, as members had different plans.

We had dinner at Local hotel, and thank to God, the hotel service was good and fast. Here we had two team here, unlike during lunch. We had good dinner here and as expected the cost for the dinner was very high.

10.Discussion in Baga Beach

After dinner, few of us went to market again, few went to beach and others went to Pub. And yes, I was in the team who went  for Pub. Pub was local and lower than expectation. Along with me , Sushanth, Dayanand,Vishwass and Swapneel were there. But Swapneel left early due to some reason. I don’t remember. We four danced and drank Vodka (I and Vishwass) with the beat. We were dancing in the Pub from 10pm to 1am J. It was good experience. I didn't enjoy Pub environment much but with friends any place would be the wonders of the world. Here we were , done with Pub .

The other teams continued to be in there respective places, i.e. Beach and Market. We four planned to go to the Beach with full bottle of Green Apple Vodka. Vodka was chosen as majority voted it . In beach , there were many shacks which were playing good music. We were dancing in Beach for that same beat. We met other  Sankalp team - ISD ,they had been to be Goa also for their Team Outing. We had a little fun together and departed for respective departments. With dance and talk in the beach, the Vodka got over with four members. We all were full high, when we reached room at 3.30am. Had a quick tight sleep .

11.Aguada Fort

 Next Day, Sunday J I woke up at 9.30am. We checked out our room and kept all the luggage's in the Owners shop. We had to cover few more places. Actually ,we did not have a correct plan of when to go back to Hubli. Initial plan was to leave Goa before 4pm, but later it didn’t happen. We had our breakfast in Sagar Hotel,Calangute.Breakfast was delicious .

12.Calangute Beach

Our first destination for the last day in Goa was Aguada Fort. Aguada Fort was constructed in 1613 to guard against Dutch and the Marathas. Aguada Fort is huge and the construction needs applause. I personally enjoyed the Fort. Next we had been to Calangute beach adjacent to Baga beach. Had some relaxation for the body but not the eyeJ.  After spending almost an hour we left to Calangute to have lunch in Sagar Hotel. In the mean time, I , Avinash and Swapneel bought 2 Liquor , as Liquor cost was cheap here. I bought Teachers and Black Dog. After having lunch , we re-collected the Luggage’s and gave back the rented bike .

We planned of going to Madgaon for Kart racing, which was about 1hour journey from Calangute. We hired Qualis and set to go to Madgaon. After an Hour we reached Go-Karting club. As time was 4.30pm,we had to do this quickly and get back to hubli via bus/train. Train choice was eliminated as we did not have sleeper  tickets and we didn’t wanted to travel in general seat as before.

 A go-kart is a small four-wheeled vehicle, we had to pay 250rs for 10laps. And one Lap was around 700meters.We all enjoyed it very much. It was a good experience. Vishwas was star player of the evening as he tried to jump his Kart of the road but fortunately he was not successful J. We finished Go-Karting at 6.30pm and headed towards the Madgaon bus stop with the same Qaulis.

We were lucky to catch the bus ,which was from Madgaon to Hubli at 7.30pm. It would reach Hubli around 1am. And we did not have any other choice, so we choose to go with this bus. We had to cross Goa – Karnataka check post where the checking was done. Since we had Permit, we informed Police about taking liquor legally, but the officer charged 100rs per person. And we preached anti-corruption as we did not want to give bribe. We had a heated argument with Police, finally we gave up by giving 100rs each else they would take the bottle which would cost 1000rs each. But later, we got to know that it was Orissa permit and there is no legal permission to get Liquor from Goa to Karnataka. We also had debate on this internally and we got to know that it was mistake from both the sides. Getting liquor was our mistake and asking for bribe was their mistake.

Finally we had a stop in Ankola, where we set to have dinner. I am not sure , whether we were so Hungry or what, but the Non-Veg items were so tasty. We had lot of food and with our tummy fully loaded we went back to bus.

And finally we reached our Home Hubli at 1am.

It was an Amazing Trip, I enjoyed each and every moment of it. There is lot of learning you get when you travel to new place . Thanks to all 12 awesome friends for making this trip memorable J

Love to all J

Prashanth M