How can I grow sandalwood tree in front of my house or backyard ?

This is a small effort by us to push people towards gardening and planting trees.

Instructions to plant the sandalwood seeds that you received.

1) Soak the seeds in water for 3 days.
2) Select an area with good sunlight, free without plants ( as much as possible)
3) Dig a pit, for a  10 cm deep. Clear the hard rocks which might obstruct the plant.
4) Get some wet mud and cover the pit.
5) Take your seeds and press them into the mud ( General rule: Your thumb depth would suffice)
6) Give it water or plant it during the monsoon
7) Enjoy

The packet also contain seeds to grow a small-space edible garden. Growing vegetables can bring out the farmer in you. You till the soil and tend the plants, then reap the rewards when the plants bear fruit. Even if you don't have much sunny ground, you can still experience the pleasure of harvesting your own vine-ripened tomatoes and other crops. We hope your experience will be positive and start a full fledge garden at your home.

Following are some links to get you started:

Info on Urban gardening:   
http://www.gardeners.com/how-to/urban-gardening-with-vegetables/5491.html

The Seven Easiest Vegetables to Grow for Beginner Gardeners:

http://lifehacker.com/the-seven-easiest-vegetables-to-grow-for-beginner-garde-1562176780

Better Sore then Sorry

Good things comes to those who sweat, literally and figuratively. After a brief stint in working out, told I felt like I should start working out again. Was going through some of images I took before starting a work out plan and after 3 months of intense work out. The transformation is phenomenal. Fitness is not about being better then someone else but being better then you used to be. And the best project that you will ever work on is YOU.

When I was young I was lean and was doing YOGA. Later included swimming every week. Some of things that I realized with experience is, Yoga is for flexibility and it is essential to build strength and stamina along with flexibility. Irrespective of what you select, it is essential to stick to your exercise plan no matter what. Its all about managing your time and not to blame others  for not sticking to your exercise regime. 30 minutes of intense work out is just 2% of your day or 10% of your facebook time.

It has been very long since I started updating my blog. There are many important life updates and was buzy managing multiple things at a time. I fell in love, got married. I'm looking forward to spending time with my daughter. I'm sure it will be hectic but realized I should be fit to match the energy levels of my baby. Together, there are lot of places to see, explorer and learn every thing all over again. It will be a very interesting phase of my life and  will try to make it count as much as possible.      

Just around the corner

Yesterday, just had my real taste of drifting while was I was heading back to Bangalore on Shiradi Ghats. In this case, the maneuver was not intentional. I had to come down a slope and had to take a hairpin left turn to proceed with a steep climb. I was on third gear and was confident that my car would make it on third gear, only to realize(no road sign) that it was not just a left turn with gentle slope but a hairpin bend with a steep up-hill incline. A Renault duster was tailgating my car and I felt it would not be safe to slow down to a manageable speed. I was over confident that my car would manage the climb on 3rd gear. I had to over-steer causing loss of traction in the rear wheel. The rear wheel started to drift right while I was in control from entry to exit of a corner. This are time when you realize how important a sedan is over SUVs. As my previous article was about the review of Honda Amaze, I just wanted to add this experience so people looking for firt hand experience about drivability can understand what an amaze is capable of. My car and the boot was loaded and with this load the car is capable of handling most of the curves on 2nd gear. Existing 165mm with stiff suspension is an excellent combination. I recommend a tire upgrade to Michelin Energy XM2. In summary, 120 kmph on highway should not be a problem. Touched 150 kmph for a brief 10 secs. But for a car without ABS, I strongly recommend 90 kmph for a good mileage and better control on highway. In city have the tire pressure set to 30 psi for better mileage. For hilly terrain from now on i'll reduce the pressure to 28 to 29psi. In rains, on highway, 60 kmph would be an ideal speed for a car without ABS.