aJCfreak - Dan's Blog

When I created my first email ID back in 2000, dan_hercules@yahoo.com, I did not have much use for it. A few years later, tired of all the spam I was receiving, I switched to eihdee@rediffmail.com. That ID was put to much more frequent and meaningful use, as I was in college and away from the life I'd known till then. When Google launched their Gmail service in 2004, and I received the requisite invite, I signed up for ajcfreak@gmail.com. Since then, aJCfreak has been my online presence. The ID stems from a dc Talk song, Jesus Freak . I wanted to be a Jesus freak, and it kind of epitomised everything that I desired to be. So it was perfect. Almost. Over the past 8-9 years, my online presence has grown to several locations and multiple avatars and IDs and such. It's something that I've become tied to. Who's ajcfreak? Yeah, that's me. In tying myself to this online ID, I seem to have tied my creative outputs to myself as well. For example, the scores of songs I...

Our Hero Honda Passion's 'cockpit' After my time aboard the Science Express , I've been trying to get Smitha to ride the bike. The bike is a Hero Honda Passion, with a 100 cc engine - what folks generally term a 'commuter'. I've ridden it over vales and hills, near rocks and lagoons and about 40,000 km in the two-and-a-half years that I've owned it. What I really would love to see, is my darling wife riding it. Confidently. Comfortably. And of course, joyously. As far as the last one is concerned - joy - I am sure she'll find that it comes with the phenomenon of bike-riding. As for the first two, confidence and comfort - I decided to begin building it. One night, I gently coaxed Smitha to ride the bike for about 4.5 km, inside Mysore city. This coaxing took several persuasive words from my part, plus my hands controlling the handlebars from the pillion position behind her. I also acted as her right rearview mirror, and at times, helped her ...

From 5th June 2012 till 9th November 2012 I was a Science Communicator aboard the Science Express Biodiversity Special. The journey across various parts of our country was a superb experience which I doubt I'll ever see the equal of, for the rest of my life. I have stayed in some of the worst and best hotels, eaten some of the best and worst food found in this country, interacted with a wide variety of people ranging from the uncouth to the top brass of the scientific community of our country. I've interacted with bright-eyed, interested children and with youth who just wanted to pass their time in an air-conditioned space. I have been left wondering, at times, at the magnitude of the task that we were trying to undertake - to educate a people that did not want to be educated, nor did they care - while at times, the understanding smiles from a class of eager young children have left a lasting, glowing memory in me. With this mix of memories, when I look back on my time...

Me, during my years in Bangalore (from L to R): August 2007, May 2009, August 2011 When, like me, one works in a large MNC for 5 years and 9 months, and then decides to move on, the onlookers raise questions. The first question, "Where did you get a job?", is also the most unnecessary question. I haven't got a job elsewhere. And I'm not looking. The second question, "What about money? Survival?" has a pretty unconventional answer ("unconventional" by the standards of this fast-paced, rat-raced world). It is an answer that some have scoffed at, others have considered as part of "Dan's craziness" while still others have been left stunned at hearing it. Nevertheless, the answer is simple: "God will provide." Let me try to explain things a bit more clearly. On 22nd January 2012, during the regular Sunday worship service at my church, Adonai , the Australian worship band, Shalom, was ministering to us when God spoke to me. ...

Bacon Breakfast Sausages à la Dan, with sparkling Cranberry juice - my Valentine's Day breakfast I've been married to my wife, Smitha, for more than two years now. Our "love" relationship preceded our marriage by more than three years. If I search my heart, within its innermost reaches, I find that I'm still deeply in love with my wife. True, life has its ups and downs, and marriage requires focus and dedication. The recent Valentine's Day "celebration" has made me think about couples and how we show our love. I had long-planned a surprise day filled with many acts  of love; with a mysterious line accompanying each act  with the day ending with my "line" for Valentine's Day 2012. A couple of days before Valentine's Day, and all my acts  were lined up. I had bought what was needed to be bought, I had prepared what was needed to be cooked, and (thankfully, in hindsight!) I didn't book tickets that need to be booked (I wante...

Image:F5 tornado Elie Manitoba 2007, taken from  Wikimedia Commons Many things in life are indubitable. Look at the image above - it's a tornado. If you know what a tornado is, no one needs to tell you that this is a photo of a tornado. It's an established fact, and it wouldn't surprise you at all to see the photo and to hear someone say "That's a tornado". You know it's a tornado, and you would be unperturbed by learning that this is a photo of a tornado - it doesn't challenge your thinking and so does not get you all hyper and excited. This is the one thing lacking when it comes to our awesome God who listens to our every sneeze and answers our every prayer (some prayers receive a "No", but an answer nevertheless). As believers, as people who believe in God, we seem to be amazed and stupefied at times when a miracle occurs or when a prayer is answered. Just visit any prayer meeting, and you'll know what I'm talking about. This irk...

My wife and I joined the Gym in the first week of June. I don't see the need for someone who looks like my wife to go to the Gym, but she wanted to have 1 month of working out before that trekking trip to the Himalayas (which is currently on). Me, I just wanted to see if I could lose this tummy that my five-year stint at HP in Bangalore had given me. So I joined up - and made sure that I was performing exercises for reducing my tummy only - none to increase arm/chest muscles as such. The first day we went was a Saturday. It was kinda hard - I've never been to the Gym before in my life. By sheer will and determination, I pulled through the required quota of 1 hour. My body was aching in all places through Sunday (we didn't go on Sunday) and Monday. I missed the Gym on Tuesday due to Men's Fellowship at church. When I returned to the Gym on Wednesday, my body hadn't been aching at all. I spent the whole day trying to find out what happened to all that pain in my arms ...