The Alienware retail store has the gaming machines – M11x, M15x, M17x and the Aurora gaming desktop on display for users to come and experience the beast.

Location: Koramangala 4th Block, Opp Maharaja Hotel. (Click to view the map)
Price: 100/hour

Well, before I continue, Happy 1st Anniversary to BPW 

14 of us turned up for the photowalk that morning.  We had decided to take the Guntur Passenger train starting from Yeshwantpur Railway Station and get down at Hindupur and then take a bus/auto to Lepakshi. The train started at 8:10am and as it slowly increased its pace, our adventurous journey also started. Few of them put their fingers to work (started to click) while few opened their huge lenses (scaring people around them ) and few of our stomachs, started to grumble for breakfast. Including me

Beggers, chai wallahs, idly-wada wallahs, madur-wade wallahs, passed by, as we tried to ignore their uniquely weird tones each one was blessed with. Sheesh! I literally took my iPod out, raised the volume to MAX, yet those tones made it in to my ears. I couldn’t help it anymore. We reached Hindupur a 10:40am and decided to break our fast before we headed to Lepakshi. After a lot of searching, we finally found one small hotel. Masala Dosa, Idly and Vegetable Pulao (the raita was stale ) awaited us.

We were done with our breakfast and now, our next challenge was to travel 15kms to Lepakshi. It was a very hot, sunny Sunday and travelling in a crowded bus was merely impossible. SRK of our group, Natesh (check out his DP on Flickr to know why we call him SRK), blew a powerful whistle at a Matador asking the driver to stop it and the driver did stop it. After all it was SRK’s whistle The driver said that he would drop us to Lepaskshi by charging 6 bucks per person. Hell! We wouldn’t mind if we had paid 10 bucks also, coz it was thousand times better than boarding a bus. The ride was shaky, bumpy and best of all, fun

We reached Lepakshi in about 25mins. We left our footwear at the entrance and walked inside. The temple was huge and what we learned was the most interesting part of the temple – The pillars inside the temple were originally hanging before the British came over and filled it with cement as they thought the temple might collapse. Like, they had the most brilliant brains on earth
It is said that, a British engineer wanted to learn how the temple was supported by pillars and hence tried to move  one of the pillars. It caused some movement and hence you can notice a crack on the ceiling near that particular pillar. The temple had such brilliant architecture, that it could withstand even an earthquake. No wonder, that moron Britisher tried to move and explore it.

All of scattered inside and started clicking. After spending 2.5hrs inside the temple, we decided to take a group photo and a small break before we proceeded towards Nandi. Meantime, Arvind (who is now the official Director of BPW ) showed us some of his brilliant stop-motion skills. After the break, we walked out of the temple and boosted up our energies by having some yummy cucumbers and ice-cream, though it wasn’t sufficient enough.

We headed to Nandi which is just 200 meters away from the temple. Nandi is yet another master piece that is made out of a single granite stone. We were pretty tired and had absolutely no strength. So, after spending only a few minutes at Nandi, we walked back and decided to go back to the railway station by auto. We were told that there’s a train at 3:15pm, but we realized that we were misguided and the next train was only at 6pm when enquired at the station. Hence, we decided to board a bus and headed towards the bus stand in the same auto. We were lucky enough as we got a KSRTC bus heading to Bangalore immediately. Exhausted, we reached Majestic Bus Stand by 6pm and bidding adieu, all of us headed back home.

Overall, the photowalk was fun, exciting, not to forget the bumpy ride and a great experience. You can view our all our pics here – BPW Group Pool

Here are some points to note down if you’re going to Lepakshi:

• Train tickets – 16/head – Guntur Passenger train, scheduled at 8am from Yeshwantpur Station.
• Carry water bottles.
• Carry some eatables. Fruits recommended. You should be very lucky enough to find something to eat.
• Bargain with auto guys. They usually charge 10 bucks/head.

P.S. Group pic shot by Nishanth and Arvind.

Grass is the forgiveness of nature – her constant benediction. Forests decay, harvests perish, flowers vanish, but grass is immortal ~ Brian Ingalls

View On Black

Venue: Glass House, Lal Bagh

Date & Time: 6th June, 2010 at 10:30am

RSVP: Twtvite or Facebook

Click here to know what The Sapling Project is all about.

P.S. Please confirm your registration if you’re attending it.

Bharti Airtel is on its preternatural move on upgrading broadband speeds of its existing customers (on 64, 128, 256 Kbps) to a minimum of 512 Kbps by the end of June, 2010. Furthermore, customers currently on 512 Kbps plans and 1Mbps plans will have their speeds doubled to 1Mbps and 2Mbps respectively. These upgrades come at no extra cost to existing customers.

My 256 Kbps plan hasn’t got its kick yet, but one of my friend’s (256Kbps) plan has already got it. He received a mail from Airtel stating about the upgrades and is now experiencing an average download speed of 60 Kbps. (Previously it was 30 Kbps)

SpeedTest details conducted at his end (Wireless):

SpeedTest conducted from my side:

Additionally, Airtel also announced the ‘Impatience Plans’, by offering 4 Mbps speed plans starting at a path breaking Rs. 899/month. The Impatience Plans will be available in Delhi, Noida, Gurgaon, Mumbai, Chennai and Bangalore.

K Srinivas, Joint President-Telemedia Services, Bharti Airtel said,

We are delighted to provide superior internet browsing experience to our customers through these high speed plans. Massifying broadband experience in India has been the pivotal to Airtel’s strategy for Broadband. These initiatives bring in a new paradigm for broadband in India.

‘Impatience Plan’ Details:

All thanks to Hrish Thota (@dhempe) for directing Tenzin to me and sharing my number with her.

Quote from the paper

BCA student Joel Fernandes, co-founder of Darkwater Digital, a digital marketing company, tells us, “I have managed social media for two films, two novels and even a hotel. By creating pages and communities on social media, we create an online network for the brand.

P.S. A perfect news that lifted my mood when I reached home after finishing my Data Communications exam which was not-that-good.

The next #sapling project is happening on 6th June 2010 in Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Pune, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Thane and New Mumbai. You can be a part of this project by planting a #sapling, Sponsor a #sapling or both.

The Sapling Project Poster

Contribution & Sponsors

The #Sapling Project invites contributions/sponsorship from individuals & brands towards the next drive on June 6th, 2010. The minimum contribution is Rs 40 towards 2 saplings.

If you’re interested in contributing/sponsoring, then please leave a comment below or get in touch with:

Satish – satish@bombaylives.com

Ranjeetsinh – mayavi@gmail.com

Visit www.thesaplingproject.com for more details.

Past #Sapling Projects

Mumbai – Chennai – Bangalore (26 Jan 2010 Event) - Distribution Drive

Mumbai Chapter (19 Dec 2009 Event) - ShivajiPark