Peek a Boo into Bangalore's Aeronautical Museum

Do you have interest in Aircraft?  I don’t have much, but as a Mom, I had to bring some forceful curiosity for it.

Though I go to HAL (Hindustan Aeronautics Limited) market to buy good fish, fresh vegetables, in the weekends, last weekend, I went to the HAL Aeronautical Museum. It’s just 2.5 km from my home. For long time, I kept planning to take my son there, but as people say, ‘nearest is the last-comer’, I had been postponing my trip to prove that right.

Situated in HAL premises in the old airport road, and just  8 km from MG road, this museum is India's first aerospace museum. Established in the year 2001, the museum showcases the development of Indian aviation industry and indigenous aircraft models designed by HAL for 6 decades. It’s just a must watch for those who keep interest in Aviation industry.

  

Most of the aircraft are displayed outside the main building, in the open space. The aircrafts are displayed in individual display zones and are properly fenced off with chains.

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There are two halls – Hall 1 and Hall 2. Hall 1 is a circular building, chronicling the history of aircraft manufacturing.  This hall houses seven galleries displaying photographs that chart the growth of aviation in each decade from inception till date, in India. Photographs of the visitors like Lord Mountbatten, King Zahir Shah of Afghanistan, the late King birendra of Nepal, while visiting the HAL premises to important milestones like the first flight of the HT-2, the HF-24 Marut etc are showcased here. Many of these pictures are rare. Pictures of Vultee Vengeance bombers under construction in the 40s, Dakotas being overhauled, Tempests, Devons, under overhaul in the 50s, Vampires, Gnats, Maruts under construction in the 60s etc are on the display in the galleries. Each gallery has metal models of the aircrafts. Several photo mosaics illustrating HAL's expertise in Trainer aircraft, Combat aircraft, Transport Aircraft are also showcased here.

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Hall 2 is smaller in size, but  displays motorized cross section of several models of aero engines, highlighting various functions of the engines. One can see some real engines here, such as Dornier, Jaguar and Kiran.

The most enjoyable experience in the hall 2 is the Air Traffic Control building. It hosts a couple of flight simulators running PC Flight sims to give the visitor a feel of what it is sitting in a cockpit. A charge of Rs. 10 is levied from the visitor to go to level 3, where a dummy ATC has been built. The ATC gives a clear view of the Bangalore Old airport. With aircraft taking off every hour, the ATC is a good experience.

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The Museum houses a small souvenir shop that sells mementos and beautifully maintained park.

The Museum can be a rich resource of knowledge as it houses a library on Aerospace and traces the development of the aviation industry’s exciting phases since 1940.

The Museum is open to public from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on all days.

Entry Fee: Rs 30 per person

Contact: +91-80-2231 8341

’Coz Life is short and Time runs fast…

Cring! Cring!

My phone was ringing…

My palms were shivering. Heart beats were increasing, ears were warming……

What would be the result??? 

Mind took me for a quick tour to a moment of decades ago. The day, the moment, when my matriculation result was out.  

Previous night, I could not sleep untill the wee hours. Since morning, I could not eat anything properly. I was restless for whole the day. 

I was eagerly waiting for the result. I was waiting for my brother’s call. But, when I could see his name in the display of my phone, I was unable to tap the ‘Yes’ button. After long rings, phone became silent. I picked up the piece on my hand. Wondered what would be the news!

In few minutes, the phone rang again. This time with all my courage, I picked up the call.

“It’s 4.3!”  My brother seemed to be quite happy.

I smiled….relaxed….as if suddenly some black clouds became white above my head….as if I heard some chirping of the bird….as if I felt that my belly started asking for some food, suddenly. I could feel few eye-drops of happiness on my cheeks. I went to the kitchen to grab something quickly.

Yes! It’s quite an improvement from 5.3 to 4.3.  Last week, the doctor said that if the creatinine level does not come down, he is very near to Dialysis.  Sometime back, probably a year back, we all got frightened, cried, when his creatinine level went to 2. But, now look at our happiness level…

Life’s truthfulness….No one can beat the truth, no one can stop the destiny! 

Hope, my dad’s creatinine level comes down more….. Hoping for the best….Prayers to God!

So,

Value your Time Past, Time Now, and Time Future!

This is your life, do whatever you love to do.

Live your Dream, wearing your Passion.

Open your mind, arms and heart to New Things…..

’Coz  Life is short! Time runs fast…

Fun and Offbeat Bloggers' Meet : totally outdoor!

Who does not like to get out of the monotonous daily routine and give those muscles a stretch on an adventure getaway? And when, above that, you are invited by some funky, trendy brands to experiment their products along with your like-minded friends, toh phir kiya kehna….isn't it icing on the cake, guys!!! :)

So, yes! Last weekend, it was my time! I was a part of #FlipkartOutdoors organized by Indiblogger. Quite unusual thing happened. Unlike other Saturdays, I got up early! Excitement to meet my Blogger friends, explore new products, and do adventurous activities, all these made –the lazy bum lively!

I, co-ordinating with Ami Bhat, Salma Godil, Rajiv Verma, reached Ulsoor lake in the early morning, around 7:15, to catch the Indi-Bus. Many known and unknown bloggers, Indiblogger- the organisers were already waiting there. At 7:30, buses left for Mango Mist, the resort, located on the Anekal–Bannerghatta Road in Harapanahalli, almost 12 km from Electronic city. Ankit Agarwal, who, probably loves to enjoy weekend mornings curling up in the blanket like me, was the last person to catch the bus, by the way!

At around, 8:45 am, we reached our destination. Set up amidst a mango orchard, Mango Mist revived my childhood memories. I can say it is a great place for a go-getter, nature lover, wildlife photographer, hopeless romantic, adventure seeker or eternal optimist. 

Indiblogger representatives briefed us, teamed us, and cheered us to participate in all the activities in the resort. Flipkart encouraged us to look at the products displayed at the venue and explore how these products are contributing towards our lifestyle, enrich our outdoor experience.

Anoop in instruction mood

Warming up!!

Flipkart in Action

Flipkart in Action

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Teamed-up!!!

Coleman Camping Gears, Action Cams from Sony & Polaroid, Bluetooth Speakers, Red Chief Shoes, Samsung Gear S2 Watches and Garmin fitness bands, all these smart products were on display. We took the demo of all the products and collected each of them and proceeded to indulge ourselves in some adrenalin pumping activities with a promise to be back at the venue by 2 pm.

So, our time started. Here you can see what we did…

Coleman:

Coleman was displaying couple of products like water coolers, water bottles, trendy tiffin boxes, portable toilet seats and cute and easy tents. We started our activities with Coleman tents. We were asked to assemble a tent and the team that would be the fastest would get some prizes. We were fast, but unfortunately not the fastest!  We did realise that it was very  easy to assemble and carry the tent. It was fun! Totally enjoyed the activity! The portable toilet seats were quite interesting too, which were light-weighted and comfortable.

Here is how we assemble our tent :

Polaroid Cameras:

The Polaroid cubes were cute and amazing! A must carry stuff if you are out for any trip!

It's a tiny adorable cube wi-fi enabled lifestyle camera with water-proof housing, which you can even hide inside your palm, can do so much actions. It can take still shots and video. It is just 35mm on a side and with magnets inside it sticks to any and all ferrous surfaces—even your dinner fork. It is quite maintenance-free and can be tossed around and taken out on the town and record all of life’s oh-so-precious moments.

Polaroid Cube

Polaroid Cube sticked on my helmet

Polaroid booth also displayed Instant Digital Camera. You just need to snap, print, and share instant photos or save and share your moments with the camera’s built-in memory. You can combine the magic of Polaroid Instant with the ability to crop, add borders, or apply filters too.

Instant Digi Cam

Didn't miss the chance

Sony Action Cameras:

Sony Action Camera records decent video in bright situations, has useful image stabilization, and works with a pair of well-specified apps. It is a lightweight mini camcorder with a wide-angle lens and ensconced inside  a tough waterproof housing. It is a confident entry into the sports camera market.

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Red Chief Shoes:

I won’t say much about this as the booth did not have any shoe for ladies. But, yes! Smart and dashing, lightweighted shoes were displayed, which are appropriate for trekking. Another interesting fact about the Red Chief shoes are bio-degradable, which disintegrate automatically if they are not used for three months. 

Only for Men.....

Samsung Gear S2 Watch:

The Gear S2 wowed me with it’s smart look, light-weight and comfort of wearing. It was impressive at first glance. It has an eye-catching design, a clever rotating bezel that's actually useful, beautiful display, solid health tracking and slightly better battery life than other high-end smart watches. Besides, it works with a variety of Android phones.

Smart Gadgets

Samsung says that  smartwatch is designed for those who prefer a more timeless design, and we think they’ve hit the mark wth editions,the standard Gear S2 & Gear S2 classic .  

Garmin fitness bands:

It tracks your activity and motivates you to keep moving, by recording your daily step count, distance and calories, and heart rate for over a month. It has a lot in common with other smart pedometer bracelets, but its customization and battery life make it stand out in a crowded field.

It is smart enough to learn your normal activity levels and sets goals for you within your range. So whether you're a regularly training athlete or terrified of the treadmill, the Vivofit tailors your activity goal to something within your reach.

The Altec Lansing BoomJacket:

The Altec Lansing BoomJacket is a rugged, outdoor-friendly Bluetooth speaker with a solid feature set but not much bass output. Its rugged shell and extra features like voice control help it carve out a unique niche in a crowded field of water-resistant portable speakers.

So, the activities were on high.....

Bloggers in action

Team member touching the highest point

We were back to the venue by 2 pm for playing Paint Ball. Amazing game it was!

We dressed up like soldiers, fought to save the jokers!!! Highly recommended game!!!

Our Paint Ball Team

Day was over by 5 pm…..It was tiring, but great time I had with all wonderful bloggers! Thanks to Flipkart and Indiblogger for giving us such amazing time!!!

Promise of Love

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We lived under the same roof. It’s been one and half year now. I cared for him, but probably as a roomie. Did I love him truly? Probably I tried. Emotional bonding with him? Naah, No longer.  

It’s not that I had not tried. I did, to create a co-ordial relationship with him, love him, care for him. But, all my efforts went in-vain. Now, I folded, wrapped and packed all my emotions and feelings and have thrown somewhere deep inside the heart so that they never come out easily.

It was an arrange marriage. Infact, it was an : “Arrange cum Love”. We talked at least for six months before marriage. I still remember the day, my mom told me his name. I searched in Facebook to see his profile, flipped all the years on his FB wall to explore about his style, likings, keeping in mind to find out how he mingled with girls. In the evening of the same day, he called me up to talk more, and I liked talking to him…We started talking almost everyday. We found our likings were matching, somehow we were compatible. And we got married in a jazzy, happy way to live happily ever after.

But what! All through the year, he has been just a room partner of mine. I was just living with him, with gradually decreasing attachment. Ofcourse, he was sharing his home with me, buying the stuff for me whenever I needed, took me out if I wanted. Initially, I tried to impress him all possible way. But he preferred ‘Me’ time. The expectation of me time and sleeping time increased gradually.

“Anassya! Both of you spend time together as much as possible, first few years. This time will never come back to your life again.” All married couples, I knew, kept giving me advice.

When I went to him to talk after dinner, he would be tired. In the morning, he would sleep till late and rush to office after that. In the night, he would come late because of work pressure. And on week days? He would like to have ‘Me Time’. Initial days, he used to call me up from office, to inquire if I had my lunch or so, but gradually, he stopped calling up. Hardly he shared anything of his life, nor he had time to listen to me. It was becoming tough and tougher gradually to stretch.  To the world, to our families, we were leading a beautiful life, where the truth was we are a lovely couple only outside the house and inside the house, we are strangers, yes! Complete strangers.

He was tensed for couple of weeks now, for something. I asked him so many times. He gave me vague answer. He would just come home, eat dinner and sleep, not even bother to ask me how was my day.

Two days back, we had a fight. And I declared, if all these go like this, better we should be apart. He didn’t say anything….I shouted a lot…..cried a lot too. Thank God! The doors and windows were closed during that time.  

“Anassya”, I just came out of my thoughts with Rahul’s voice. I turned to him. He was holding a file in his hands. He came near to me, put the file in my hands and said, “Here is the most awaited file by you. Just look into it and sign it….I too want to close this chapter.” and then he rushed to his office.

I understood what it was, even without opening the file. I didn’t dare to open it. I just kept the file on the console table, and moved from there. The whole day, I tried my level best to keep myself busy and away from it so that my mind would be diverted from the file which actually didn’t work.

I was restless throughout the day. My thoughts were flowing and my mind was badly disturbed.

I didn’t know why I was thinking all these soo much. Afterall, this is what I wanted, end of the day. But, really I wanted that? I was confused. What would be my answer to family, friends, relatives. My parent’s happy and disturbed faces kept floating in the air. I didn’t know when I had fallen asleep sitting on the couch. When I got up it was 6 pm already.

Rahul came at 8 pm. I offered a cup of coffee.

“Did you sign the paper?”

“No, whole day, I did not get enough time to look into it.” Yes, I lied.

We had dinner like silent pigs. I went to the bed and took out the half read novel to complete. He was sitting on the couch to watch a cricket match - India Glorious series.

It was already 11:45 pm.

“Hey Anassya! Did you sign the paper? Please do. It’s urgent, I need it immediately. I will leave for office early tomorrow….So, please.”

So, now no way. I would have to sign. Gathering lots of courage, I took the file in my hand. My hands were trembling. I opened it.

The first page, it’s written clear and big – “You want Divorce, right?”.....My eyedrops started disturbing me. All letters became vague and unclear……

I turned the paper, it was written – “But, will you be mine forever?”

Rahul was looking at me probably, he climbed on the bed. He held my hand and looked into my eyes.

He whispered, “Will you be my mine, forever?” His voice was gentle. His intent look seemed to plead me to say, yes. I gazed back into his dark chocolate eyes, what was shining there? A promise? A promise of love forever?

He took out a small ring box and wished me “Happy Valentine Day, my Love.”  Suddenly, I realized it was Valentine Day. Clock was striking 12 that moment.

Happy Valentine Day!