A weekend with Bangalore's canines

This week has been a disastrous week for India. 200 precious lives lost and many more injured in yet another terrorist strike on India's metros- this time it was Mumbai. Innocent people who were busy with their own lives and duties, butchered for no fault of theirs, how gruesome can these guys get. Right from wednesday, I have been watching nothing else on TV but the news channels and the same old reporters covering this entire terrorist-flushing event in the Taj Hotel. Kudos to our NSG commandos for braving it out for 62 hours and taking out the extremist elements but I seriously think our authorities need to step up their security measures if we are to avoid another such mishap. We should concentrate on building a superbly equipped and extremely skilled counter-terrorism force like the British SAS, the French GIGN or the American SEALs.

This weekend my parents and I decided to check out the latest Dog show organized by the Bangalore Canine Club at Palace Grounds, Mekhri Circle. As a member of the Kennel Club of India, I was initially supposed to participate in this event with my dog Ginger. Sadly, the awful careless idiot that I am, I forgot to fill the application form in time. So for this time I was only an observer and a photographer :(

Around 400 dogs belonging to 40 different breeds participated in this massive event. Around 2000 spectators for this event ensured that we had to search for a vacant car parking space for around half an hour in Palace grounds. Finally after finding a vacant parking space and parking the vehicle, we got down from the car only to realize that we were standing in some kind of quicksand-like muddy-slush (due to the week-long depression-inflicted, incessant rains in Bangalore). After trudging our way through 100 metres of this slushy terrain we managed to reach the entrance of the dog show. Once inside, time flew by and I never seemed to realize. At the entrance were various stalls by some popular kennels in Bangalore, presumably trying to sell their pups on the spot and make quick bucks. Some visitors were happy to just stand alongside these or cuddle them and pose for a photo.

Also near the show entrance were various pet-store stalls, selling dog food at buy-1, get-1-free offers, collars and leashes and dog shampoos and perfumes at 50% off. Making our way through all this, we managed to reach the main show ring where they were actually exhibiting and judging the dogs. Different categories of shows were being held- Mixed breed, Best-of-breed, breed speciality, etc. I somehow managed to get hold of a front row seat so I could catch all the action without any interference and could photograph things.

During the evaluation, batches of dogs are judged alongside one another on a number of criteria. When your batch starts, you enter the show ring with your dog beside you all the while. There are 6-7 other dogs/owners as well. You are expected to have the dog trained before-hand to avoid reacting to distractions and avoid interfering with the other dogs/owners in your batch. Misbehaviour on the part of your dog (or even you!!) could lead to disqualification. One by one, the judge calls each of the dog/owner pairs; He/She will inspect the dog for a few minutes. The judge will then ask you to run around the ring for a full circle and come back. You then have to "stack" your dog- this is a kind of position when you exhibit the dog by stretching him/her and kneel down next to your dog. The judges evaluate the dogs based on health, character, behaviour, maintenance and the bloodline (the parentage of the dog). Of course, when you run with the dog they are actually testing whether it is a healthy specimen and whether there are any defects. Also they check the level of co-ordination and the mutual love and understanding between you and your dog.

I got to view 6-7 batches of such evaluations. One was a batch of Afghan hounds. The long-haired canines seemed to have the audience spell-bound. This round invoked the maximum whistles and applause from the crowds. I also got to view a speciality round of Golden Retrievers, the breed which I myself own. I noticed that not all dog handlers were adults; many were children as young as 5 or 6 years old. In fact there was an instance when a 4 year old boy won a round with a German Shepherd that was twice as big as him. He would have looked more like a miniature horse race jockey had he mounted on the dog!


I managed to capture on camera a magnificent Irish Setter, a bunch of cute pugs and a handsome German shepherd in action in the show ring.




Here's a picture of the pug speciality round.

A gorgeous grey colored Afghan Hound

A magnificent Irish Setter

A Black Pug

A German Shepherd in action

A golden English Cocker Spaniel awaits its turn outside the ring

After spending a few hours watching the spectacular canines in the show ring, we decided to leave. And how could I just leave without shopping for my beloved Ginger in the stalls. I ended up picking up a doggie T-shirt for Ginger! (I didn't even know earlier that such a thing existed!) I also saw another stall that advertised the list of vacation places that you could take your pet to, mainly resorts who allow customers to take their pets with them. The next time I go on a vacation (if ever I could afford one) this is the list I will choose from :)

Please do visit the Mysore Kennel Club dog show on December 28th, '08. I will be participating with Ginger in 3 categories- the 'Best Adolescent 9-15 months age' category, the 'All-breeds championship' category and the 'Golden Retriever Best-of-Breed championship' category. Your sheer presence in the audience will lift my spirits and confidence ;)


A big woof-woof to all dog lovers :)
KK

My experience with working life

It has been 4 months since I started working in Symbian, a market leader in Mobile Phone Operating Systems, and almost every handset manufacturer in the world uses our OS for their smartphones- be it Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Motorola, LG, Samsung, Panasonic, etc. I must say I have enjoyed the journey so far- mostly since I haven't had terrifying work schedules (yet). We work on Symbian C++, yes the dreaded language which people talked about- so efficient in managing resources on embedded systems such as mobiles but one hell of a time for programmers working on it. I used to wonder about why i would find it difficult- after all I had programmed earlier in C++ and was quite comfortable with it, I thought. But the horror unfolded when I actually tried writing a simple 'hello world' program back in August, in Symbian C++ - I couldn't. The concepts were entirely different and in fact, I struggle even now! Having worked on Java for the past 1 year (where programming was pure bliss) and not having to worry about those wretched pointers and managing memory allocation/deallocation, going back to C++ and its accompanying pointers was a little irritating in the beginning but I doubt if i can help it.

I have been working on User Interface frameworks in Symbian and I must say the entire subject is nothing short of fascinating. Having developed UI in Java Swing and developing dynamic web content with CGI and PHP, Mobile UI was a welcome change. In fact, I have started liking mobile application development so much that I am embarking on the development of 2 to 3 applications for S60 and UIQ platforms which I plan to complete in the next few weeks in the hope that it would sharpen my programming skills in Symbian C++ and give me a deeper sense of achievement as an independent third party developer of Symbian OS applications.

On the personal front, the dramatic change between college life and work life was beginning to show, I have never remembered any kind of fixed timings in college, since we were never attending many classes and were more interested in watching the latest films, visting malls and eateries, or just sitting with friends in the college parking lot and gossiping for hours together. Here, sitting in front of the computer for 8 hours was seriously tiring, even with frequent breaks. There were times when I used to almost doze off to sleep by around 2.30pm sitting straight up in my chair! And what about the time I came home? well it was around 6.30pm and by the time I could say "Jack Robinson" it was time to go to bed. Now I know what it feels like on a friday afternoon when you know you have 2 whole holidays ahead of you- hey that's a lot of time- after all who gets 48 hours of free time!

The entire travelling experience to Whitefield has been awful at times and enjoyable at times. Awful in the cab- cramped seats with little leg-room to stretch out, especially because of my height. And then there was this 'FM' factor- you get to listen to what the cab driver wants- not what you want! Sitting in the cab and watching the driver shifting lanes every 2 mins and having just-misses with almost every vehicle in every turning made me sometimes feel as though I was playing the game 'Midtown Madness' on my computer.

Travelling to office was great whenever I took my bike/car to office since that meant I could ride/drive the way I wanted to- quickly yet safely- enjoying every moment of the 24km stretch. But one thing is for sure- the traffic on this road is terrible. I still remember being stuck in a traffic jam near Marathalli bridge at 7.40am and reaching ofice at 9am one day! And not to mention, when it rains, the travelling time gets multiplied by 2. Irritatingly, the traffic also gets multiplied by 2.

The worst part of going by cab is that I am forced to get ready by 7am. Although I am usually an early bird and waking up early has never been a problem, I found this routine to be quite disgusting- eating breakfast at 6.30am wasn't exactly my idea of a nice morning. Earlier I used to wake up by 5.45am, go for a nice, long 1 hour walk with my dog and read the newspaper for another half an hour. After beginning to work, I have had to cut short my walk to 20 mins, and about the newspaper, all I can do is see the newspaper guy pass me on his bicycle when I wait at my pickup point at 7am.

I was proud about earning my first few months of salary- quite fat amounts by my college-days' standards, but by the first 5 days, the bank balance had come down to 3 digits- ending my pride and joy instantly! I spent many sleepless nights planning how I should manage my salary with a fixed amount of savings, investments and LIC policy premiums but temptation got the better of me during the first 2 months and I ended up with 3 digits in the bank balance yet again. And not to mention- the infamous 'First Salary Treat' ruined my financial status completely. Finally after coming down to the earth after 2 months, expenses have come under control and everything seems to be going according to plan.

After 4 months of working, I fulfilled my ambition- a lifetime achievement for me- my very own car! I decided to trade my trusty, good looking pulsar 200 bike for a 3-year old Hyundai Accent GLS and pay the balance amount in EMIs. The EMI meant that I would have to sacrifice on some fun and miscellaneous expenses but I made up my mind. This was a used, second-hand car but my happiness knew no bounds. Although this was not our first car at home (my dad had bought a maruti 800 way back in 2002 and we then exchanged it for a Maruti Swift in 2006), I somehow felt more excited at the prospect of owning and driving 'My Car' rather than 'My Father's car', even if it meant having to park it on the road everyday.

So much for my experience over the last 4 months

KK