Srikanth Technologies

Looking Back At 2011

Here are the major events of 2011 that took place in my life.

Entered with a party

The start was the best possible. We had a party at home with kids dancing and elders watching, applauding and moving a leg or hand occasionally. Music was flowing from my newly purchased Sony HomeTheatre, which was installed in a hurry for the occasion. My friend’s family has come to Vizag just for this occasion, made it even more special. The best part of it was “Dumb-charades”. Especially kids were so anxious that other group might make out the movie. They were biting nails and arguing about time given to enact etc. It was real fun. We always enjoy watching those videos after the event - a way to rejuvenate ourselves.

A trip to Mahabaleshwar, Lonovala, Matheran and Mumbai

Our Pongal was spent in west part of India. This time our family was accompanied by my friend’s family. We were joined by them at Secunderabad and then we all went to Pune.

From Pune we went to Mahabaleshwar, which was nice. We went to near-by places and did a bit of speed boating in a lake. The best part was evening tea at an island.

Then we drove from Mahabaleshwar to Lonovala. From there we went to Matheran. A kind of place that we didn’t know would exist. Its a place where there is no motorized vehicle allowed. Everything is transported using Horses and Donkeys. We went to that place by a meter-gazed train. It was quite thrilling. We enjoyed every bit of it. Though we didn’t have a plan to stay there for a night, we fell in love with that place and spent a night there.

The best of all was the Horse ride where every member rode a horse for about 5 km. It was frightening for first one two kilometers and then we slowly got used to it and started enjoying it. It was more of a need than a desire. Because the entire sight-seeing should be done either by horse or by walk.

Then only our family went to Mumbai. We spent some time there. The experience of local train, 4D movie ( in which Pranav was screaming as water was sprinkled ) and a local trip to some important places in Mumbai are the things to remember. Well Mumbai never sleeps, it is always on run. The speed of the life is reflected by local trains and the way people move in stations.

With my family at Mahabaleshwar

On the way to Matheran

Visakhapatnam Steel Plant(VSP) Training on Java EE

I got opportunity to train employees of IT dept in VSP on Java EE. I had been there twice to teach .NET, but this time it was Java EE. I had to cover Java and Java EE in 12 days with each session of 3 hours. We could cover a lot of ground. I had good time again.

Check out my blog on this here .

Attended Microsoft Tech-Ed at Bangalore

Went to Bangalore to attend Microsoft Tech-Ed 2011. I couldn’t get much from that. A few things were interesting. But in general, it was boring. Somehow, didn’t find it very useful. Organizers found it difficult to fill halls as Cricket world cup 2011 was going on at that time. That too some crucial matches of India were on. So organizers had to play cheap tricks to make participants stay back.

One of the highlights of the Tech Ed is speech by Anil Kumble at the closing cermony.

In summary the event was not worth 10,000/- entry fee and gifts given (like water bottles) were useless.

Main hall on day one of Microsoft Tech-Ed

Main hall during the break

Anil Kumble in action at closing ceremony

A trip to Chitrakoot Waterfalls

We (my family and two other families) planned to go to Darjeeling and Gangtok in the month of October. Planning for that like booking tickets was done two months ahead. But unfortunately earthquake struck that area and made our tour impossible. All our efforts put into planning the itinerary were in vain. The trip was supposed to be during Dasara vacation.

We were disappointed. But wanted to go somewhere else that was within the reach so that we could go by cars. We planned to tour Chitrakoot waterfalls in Chhattisgarh. We were four families and started by two Cars.

The roads in Orrisa at certain points were horrible. I can say there was no road at all even though it was a National Highway. Somehow made it and had a good time. We had good time at two waterfalls – Chitrakoot and Tiratgarh.

We also visited Kanger valley national park and Kutumsar cave. I can’t say they were worth watching. National park road is full of speed breakers large enough to hit the bottom of my Honda City car. Well I must admit, Honda City is not meant for National parks.

Eventually bad roads took their toll on my vehicle. We were on the way to Dantewada (a highly naxals prone area). A sharp rock on the road hit my car damaging car's engine oil sump, which is beneath, causing the entire engine oil to leak. We had to pull my car with another car to main road and got it fixed and drove back to Vizag. The way the problem got fixed by us was no short of a miracle. We could fix the problem in few hours and drive back home without any further problem.

With family at Chitrakoot waterfalls

Watched One-day Cricket Match Live

Though not planned before, it was all of a sudden development. I had to go as kids were very much interested. I did watch India vs. Australia live last time. But Praneeth missed that event, so at least for his sake this time we wanted to go.

I always enjoy commentary by the likes of Ravi Shastri, Gavaskar, Harsha Bhogle etc. One thing you miss in the stadium is commentary. The other annoying thing is the amount of time it takes to get in and get out of your parking place. Well considering the number of people attending the match, these annoyances can’t be avoided. The amount of time spent was well worth as we all enjoyed the entire match.

During practice session

When match is in action

Started Android Course

Generally November is the period in which I want to spend time on something new. Last five years, I spent time on certification exams. This time no certification exam interested me.

I heard about mobile programming long back. Many talked about iphone programming. But it never interested me. But somehow I was drawn towards Android Programming. The fact that it is based on Java made me realize, it is a new area where students who know Java can excel. Wanted to find out whether a course is really beneficial to students. Talked to a few and finally decided to offer a course.

It’s a new platform. In fact, it is new to entire industry. Programming for mobile devices is fun. I am enjoying this new stuff. So my November and December was spent mostly on Android programming.

Sports

Badminton has become a part of my day. In the beginning days, we played from 5:00 to 6:00am. Then I had to change my slot to 6:00 to 7:00am for some time. Fortunately I am back to 5-6. Waking up at 4:30 am, being at court by 5 am is part of my day. I don’t want to spend more than 1 hour on this sport, so I return home at 6:00 am. Also from December I have been playing on a wooden court that was exclusively meant for Badminton. Moreover it is so near to my house, I can even go by walk.

Though I continue to play cricket league matches, there is nothing worth writing about it in this year. Still, love to be part of the action.

Praneeth has won a couple of titles in Tennis. Here are the titles he won in tournaments conducted by AITA ((All India Tennis Association).

Praneeth with his Trophies