Six Flags,Catalina and SSN Alumni Meet

* It has been a while since I blogged and I think it is a good sign because Oracle is keeping me relatively busy . Let me begin with our visit to Six Flags sometime in May. After the experience, I can’t help thinking that the sole aim of the person who designed this crazy park is to push people to their limits of fear and endurance. As if the rides like Medusa, etc are not crazy enough,if you need respite from the rides, you have to deal with live killer whales, lions, tigers, cheetahs, elephants, snakes, crocodiles etc along the way, the only solace being that most of them are caged “The Roar” was a thrill a minute ride in which we had an almost 10 storey high sudden drop and the speeds almost touched 50 mph. If this shook you up horizontally, the next one was a beast called “Medusa” – the most thrilling roller coaster on the west coast. The theme for it is “Look at fear straight in the eye”, and boy, it was “thrillingly” imposing. After a few silent prayers, we were ready to go. The ascent to the top was ever so slow, increasing the nervous anxiety. Suddenly, we found ourselves confronted head first with a vertical drop of almost 150 feet, and this was a floorless roller coaster which meant your legs could not have any support. U turns, O turns, you name it and Medusa had it. Being suspended upside down during an O-turn, at almost 50 feet and the coaster travelling at 60 mph is one of the most thrilling moments one can ever experience ! By this time, we knew what to expect at six flags and were prepared for anything now. Another thrilling ride was “Kong” ; here we had a two inversion roll over, a 90 degree inversion and a 360 roll, all at a maximum height of 100 feet and speeds touching 50 mph ! The best thing about all these rides were that you felt so safe, thanks to the safety belts. Then came the decision I was going to regret for the rest of the day. No, it was not about any rides but the french fries that we had for a quick snack. They were completely drenched in oil and our next ride was Hammerhead Shark. As if the “drench” fries were not enough, this was another 360 ride, similar to Ranger in MGM, the one difference being there was no overhead roof !. Upside down, this also gave a sufficient pause for about 30 seconds for us to enjoy the world upside down mid air. To make matters worse, I could feel my safety belt loosening when I was mid air !My only concern was whether I could hold back from puking at the person who was right below I had to take a break for a couple of hours, thanks to the drench fries. The next ride was called “Tazmanian Devil”, and it indeed was a devil. This was a pendulum which took us back to our geometry class;remember all those angles like 90,135,180,270 etc which we can draw with just a compass and ruler and without a protractor ? This ride made us revisit all those angles at mind blowing speeds. We also witnessed a killer whale show and a white tiger show in the evening. The majestic white tiger going under water to grab a slice of meat was a sight to behold ! On the way, the tigers, lions, cheetahs and aligators made sure their presence was felt. It was a thrill a minute experience, and I would strongly recommend Six Flags for all those in the US for once in a lifetime experience. However, a word of caution, it is not for the weak hearted

* We spent the long weekend on Catalina Island.. a beautiful place, serene green trees, clear blue water, sun beating down your back, golden sand and lots of fun activities.. although I would say it was more of a honeymoon spot, and not the exact place for a bunch of guys to roam around .. we spent a couple of days on the island, the ferry ride from the shore to the island was pretty relaxing and parasailing and jet skiing was awesome.. we stopped on the way back at LA and there was a street which resembled typical marwadi streets to the core..sweet stalls, saree shops, bangle shops and people in colorful Gujarat costumes crossing the streets and we are not in India !

* We had the SSN Alumni meet a couple of weeks back and it was great to have Shiv Nadar amongst us. Mrs Kala highlighted the achievements of SSN and it was heartening to note the scholarships and other good will being extended to the rural students and the financially challenged people. If only the Center brought out reservations along these lines and not on the “so called nobility” of birth (or the lack of it which is the basis of reservation). Mr Nadar once again re iterated the fact that although it would be very easy to settle down in the Bay Area, he would be really happy if at least few of us went back to India. Count me in Sir, I cant wait to settle down in our own country in the very near future

* Watched a few movies this month..watched Paiyya, and did not like the movie much, it was pretty ok – not too good and not too bad, had great expectations about Taimannah , but she was disappointing in the movie and did not look great too..it was more like Run + Sandaozhi rehashed in a bad taste.. then I watched Singam as people suggested it was light hearted masala movie where one can have fun at the theatre, but somehow that too was disappointing ; our masala movies too are getting boring these days.. then I watched Sura ; pathetic to say the least, feel sorry for Vijay;looks like no one can save him from his bloated ego now ; then watched Raavanan, the best of lot. Though the story was wafer thin and the screen play was slow and spineless, I loved the way the characters were portrayed; I was aghast at the harsh negative reviews for the movie; is it that we always want heroes to be portrayed as self sacrificing demi-gods and villains as serial rapists and murderers ? Why can’t we accept the blur between good and bad ? Are not we all guilty of at least one negative deed and proud of at least one positive act? Nobody is good forever and nobody is bad forever. Don’t we all love to think we are altruists yet secretly despise ourselves for one silent guilt or the other all through our lives ? Should we still falsely convince ourselves that we are eternal do-gooders, attempt to hide “the grey” and silently let it transform into a beast in secrecy ? Or would be ready to be self critical and accept “the grey”, our shortcomings openly ( or at least to ourselves) and try to overcome them ? Some food for thought