When I danced with Shivanna

For all you Shivarajkumar fans, here is one thing more you can be jealous of...I finally got to dance with my childhood hero on stage..

For my parents generation, Annavru was the hero, for our generation, we grew up watching Shivarajkumar and Ravi mama movies... My favorite movies include Anand, Rathasapthami, Janumada Jodi, Om to name a few..

Little did I know when I registered to Navika that I would be going on stage to dance with him.. I knew Shivarajkumar was coming to the event and I would get to see him.. My aunt and uncle were also organizers and this gave me easy access to the backstage and moreover, this was the US, and people sit in the seats without flocking the backstage.. In the backstage, I got to see Shivarajkumar up close, and was surprised by his calmness and patience. He didnt show any attitude of being a 'star' and my appreciation and respect did increase for him.

Then, when he came on stage, he sang a few songs and the song "Huttidare Kannada Nadalli huttabeku" set the mood for the crowd. Everyone started dancing and some fans went onstage.. 

Realizing I had the 5 MP powered, 4" display, Android based, Samsung Smartphone in my pocket, I immediately gave the phone to my friend, jumped up on stage, danced a few danka-naka steps and got him to click this posted snap.. Wow.. chance of a lifetime.. This was the highlight of the evening and definitely set my spirits high for the rest of the night.. 

I hope I have made a few jealous and if I have, this makes me even more happy....

Concentration

Am sure such things happen to others as well.. But today it happened so many times that I HAD to vent out!
It has been a while since I updated myself with English pop.. Was hunting online for latest songs and hit upon a song I liked..played it and got back to work..Maybe it was half hour or so I went back to the website playing and saw that it had already played 5-6 songs further and I hadnt realized the playlist advancing. (By mistake, I had heard 5-6 bad songs as well)

Played the first song again from the beginning of the playlist.. Maybe 20 mins later realize that I never enjoyed the song coz I didnt remember hearing it. Played again from the beginning of the playlist, got back to work and half hour later, same story.. Didnt remember any of the songs playing.. Seemed like I 'heard' something in the ear but never 'listened' to the song. Before long, I think it repeated about 5 times in a row.

Now that is what I call concentration! Very recently I heard a lecture about 'FLOW' and a state of enjoyment when a person is really liking what he is doing. It is his/her passion and is involved in it. It is said that he is in a state of FLOW. It could be a person playing a piano, work, climbing, sports, research or anything for that matter.. That is another topic for another day.

Anyway, I am always amazed about the brain and its capacity to isolate things. We should use it positively to put the past behind, plan for the future and worry about just the present. Live life to the fullest.. Hats off to the creator..

Calculated Risk!

To explain the role of calculated risk in my life, here is an incident that happened few days ago. I bought a bluetooth headset, brought it home and had to open the package.
There is a knife in the kitchen, there are scissors in the room. The kitchen is nearer and I head to the kitchen...I start cutting the plastic packing.. It is a bit risky using a knife..

As a recap, I once(2007) was opening a parcel with the knife and used a wrong angle which made me end up with a cut finger and the laziness to visit a doctor rendered me with a crooked(minor) finger permanently...

Anyway, I remembered this incident and thought I must be careful. So, without putting much pressure, and taking care of all the angles, I try to cut open the package... And yet, I eventually 'cut' my finger(I ended up with a scratch and the bleeding stopped in few mins).. But the fact is, I was 'aware' I was doing a stupid thing... I took all care to 'minimize' the risk... I had a choice of scissors.. But no, I had to use the knife..

The same thing applies to my other aspects of life. I have been asked a 100 times by my family, some relatives and some friends as to why I do the risky adventures (rock climbing, skydiving, etc).. It all comes down to Calculated risk.. where you calculate how safe it is, probability of failure, etc.. And to minimize the chances of injury or unsafe situations...