(sh)It Happens

End of Line

2011-11-27T23:22:00.001+05:30

I am generally a very patient person. I like to let things take their own time. If the restaurant is particularly crowded and my order is taking time, then the reason is obvious. It's not like the waiter is making me wait for sadistic pleasure (at least I hope not, because I AM HAAANGRY). If the traffic is moving slowly and I'm in a hurry, no amount of honking will clear the road for me. The guy in front doesn't like to be stuck in the middle of the road either. When he has space to move, he will, and consequently, so will I. A watched pot never boils because no one has the required amount of patience to see it through. I don't either. After which comes a point where your mind just can't take it any more. That point is the real measure of one's patience. What it takes to drive a person beyond that point, over the edge, pushing him to take the unexpected course of action.

It might be only trivial at times, deeming it to be an over-reaction or an outburst. But in reality, it's like being pushed against the wall, slowly, being squished between the wall and the pressure that is pushing you down, like one of those traps Batman always used to find himself in. This pressure builds up over time and when it reaches the point of unbearable pain, you will scream in pain. It can start with as small a thing as a joke gone bad or an awkward moment, lead to a bad first impression and then snowball into you not being able to stand the sight of that person. Anything they do or say will just push you further against the wall, inching you closer to the threshold point.

The most difficult form of patience is practiced while dealing with loved ones. The process is much slower, much harder to bear and requires the most amount of self-restraint. You can pretend to not care about the little things and the small mistakes, but they too pile up like the dirty laundry. There's just no escaping it. Except perhaps if you wash it more often. Don't let it linger or pile up, make clear your problems and discontent with the other party as and when it happens and hope for a fresh start. No pressure, no pushing and no pain. Simple, right? Wrong. While I was happily washing your laundry, you have collected a whole pile of mine because of the constant nagging and complaining. So one way or another, it is going to happen. You can just hope the laundry bag is too big or try not to mess up your clothes too much.

	Daft Punk - End Of Line .mp3

	Found at bee mp3 search engine

P.S. - This post didn't turn out the way I had it in my head, which I don't remember now because I was lazy and dragged it on weeks.

It's only human

2011-11-21T03:12:00.000+05:30

We were not created to be the same. We are not meant to be the same. We were created differently. We are meant to be different. These differences are what makes us human. It is both a gift and a curse. It has given us some of the greatest artists and some of the greatest anarchists as well (and sometimes both are the #sameguy). But what it has given us the most is something so simple yet so difficult to understand - right and wrong, good and bad, black and white...so much so that everything is grey.

The more I think about it, the clearer it becomes. To me at least. And that's the whole point. What may seem as clear as a bright sunny day to me might seem like a foggy winter morning to someone else. Something that makes me jump out of my skin with horror may not even bother someone else enough to get a reaction out of them. What I may see as beautiful and elegant may look grotesque and ugly to another. Music to my ears, noise that makes his ears bleed. A combination of different flavors just the thought of which makes my mouth water, an abomination which makes someone else's stomach turn. You get the idea, I hope, because it's quite possible that you didn't.

So everyone is different, but some are more different than others. (Mostly) Everything is distributed normally, i.e. the maximum number of people agree with what can be termed as "common sense" and there is a decreasing variation on either side of this view. These cases range from the 'slightly different' to the 'poles apart' in their thinking. This variation is a result of who that person is and what he thinks. So, while you might encounter people who agree with you, the people who don't agree are not doing it intentionally. They are different, and they see, hear and understand things differently. Hence, they think and act differently.

I can't help but believe that this is why all conflicts occur. If only we could see the other person's point of view, we would understand the reason behind the friction. A little thing called empathy does go a long way to help you do that, but it isn't enough. Empathy is a tough not to crack, the hardest part of which is to be able to control your own emotions. Having someone disagree with you is not a pleasant thought for (almost) anybody. Instinct tells me to correct and defend rather than introspect and comprehend. And it is all downhill from there. So is my train of thought, dammit!

What I'm trying to get to is that common sense is uncommon not because people are idiots, but because they are different and it doesn't occur naturally to them. The same applies to you and me as well. Instead of trying to understand the reasons behind the conflict, understanding the people behind those reasons is important, according to me at least.

Source: Ads Of The World

P.S. - Somehow this pic made sense to me for this post. But I'm not sure if it will to other people. Just illustrating a point.

Away

2011-10-10T04:22:00.000+05:30

Home sweet home. There is no place like home. Home is where the heart is. The heart knows not what it wants. The head is messing with the heart, the heart is playing with the head. The head wants to know what it wants. The heart won't let it decide. Bottleneck. Conflict. Frustration. Despair. Detachment. Delusion. Lost.

Mental block. Heaviness. Burden. Careless. Carefree. There just aren't enough adjectives and adverbs. Just blank somethings and punctuation marks. Where is the heart? At home. Where is home? A place where you want to be. In somebody's arms, with not a care about the world. In the depths of someone's eyes, wanting to drown, deeper. Running though a field of dreams, with green grass and blue skies, holding someone's hand. Away from everything else, everyone else. Except that someone.

Talk without talking. Walk miles without tiring. Keep looking at her without thinking, about anything. Just be. And feel the magic. Of being together. Forever. Until the clock runs out. And you wake up. And the dream has been taken away. Bringing you even closer. To the heart.

Everything

2011-10-04T02:43:00.004+05:30

There is just so much to do in this world. So much to see, to look at and wonder, to witness the beauty of, to imagine. So much to listen, to hear the things people say, to understand the meaning of, to immerse yourself into. So much to feel, to touch someone's heart, to be touched by a thought, an image or just some words written somewhere. So much to think about, so much to do, so much to think about doing.

If you just pick something and run with it, you run the risk of missing out on the rest. If you choose something and pursue it, you choose not to pursue the the rest. If you let things run their course and wait for something to happen, you are always waiting for something to happen, missing out on something you don't know about or possibly everything that you do know about. There just doesn't seem to be a way to do everything. You just have something you did, and then there's the rest. That something can be your everything, or it can be your something out of everything without the rest. It is what you make of it, and that will make what you are.

So much to do, so little time.

Not much to do, too much time.

So much time, so much to do.

Does Time always win? Looks like it. Take it one moment at a time, add what you did to your everything, do something else and leave the rest. Pause, play, shuffle, repeat. Change the tone a bit, let your hair down, pick yourself up, slow things down, watch stuff happen, take a shot, loosen the grip, hold it back, go the distance, open the doors, see the light, take a look back, let it flow, on and on, again and again.

Back from the dead

2010-11-11T22:33:00.006+05:30

Nearly five months! That is how long it took me to come back to my senses and write another post. The reasons for my absence are few and far-fetched, made-up even (read laziness and a general lack of blood flow to the thinking centers of the brain), so I will not delve into the cobwebbed corners of my cranium and indulge you in 'my crap'. Now, seeing as we have dealt with the elephant in the room, I request you to forget that this five month long hiatus really happened. *poof*

Like I said in the post about the Battle of the Serpentonian Sea-Lions and the Baboon battalions from Bluebumberg, it's all about making the right choices. But how do you know what the right choice is before facing the consequences? Put simply, you don't. The only thing that you know is which choice makes you happier at that point of time. OK, before this turns into a monologue by the Oracle/Architect, what I'm trying to establish is a firm ground for justifying the choices that I've made in the recent times.

I rank my decision-making capabilities second to the dog that was sent into space by the Russians. I suppose he was a smart dog, probably one of the smartest dogs they ever had, and he was trained well too. But once you go out into the endless vacuum of space, what kind of choices are there to make? Especially if you are a canine. Pretty ordinary ones I should guess. I'm good with those, but anything above that level it just goes downhill for me. And for people affected by those decisions. I'm really sorry all, as you can see I have confessed my sins. Regret the inconvenience.

Enough with the emo-psycho babble. Not much has changed in the past five months, not even the labels of my posts. But things are looking up (x fingers crossed x). Hopefully this is one of many more posts to follow soon.

High: Getting out of Mysore soon.

Low: Where did everybody go?

Points: 1000 points to this super-cool dad! The music gets another 1000 too.

Mini-Deadmau5 from Michael Cobra on Vimeo.

Black

2010-06-15T00:26:00.004+05:30

Darkness. All around. As far as the eyes could see. And beyond. Total absence of light. Absolute. The only discernible things being the ground beneath your feet and the air you breathe. Heavy, invisible. Not even your own body. Total darkness. Like a conciousness floating in space. You know it's there, you can feel it, but you can't see it. Seeing is believing. You walk with, what you think are, your hands groping the emptiness, searching for boundaries, something other than yourself to touch. Nothing. You shout, your voice travelling ever so far without even a glimpse of a reflection. Nothing. You walk around in every direction looking for an end.

Nothing happens.

Time goes by, you don't know how much.

You decide to give up. You want to wake up from this nightmare. You decide to wait for the lights to turn back on. You want to stop being afraid.

Nothing happens.

Time goes by, you don't know how much.

Then suddenly, a sound. A ringing sound. Growing louder and more violent with each passing moment. And then, there was light. Lots of it. And sweat, all over your body. Your happiness, dwarfed only by relief. Your body, still the way you remember it, visible. The walls, tangible, visible and in every direction. Relief, almost tangible. You decide to get hold of your bearings. You want to shake it off, wait for it to sink in.

Time goes by, you don't care how much.

Nothing happens.

Everything remains. The relief still overwhelming. Everything seems wonderful. Even the smallest, simplest and othewise most insignificant. It just seems alive. You have a bounce in your step. Happiness starts to take over. Everything falls into place. The sky is blue. The grass is green. The leaves rustle in the wind. The people smile and laugh. The world is a better place.

Time goes by, you don't care how much.

Nothing happens.

Then suddenly, a sound. A ringing sound. Growing louder and more violent with each passing moment. Piercing through your ears. The people disappear, the winds change, the leaves fall, the grass withers, the sky darkens. The pain, too hard to bear. Your head, ready to explode.

And then, there was darkness. All around. As far as the eyes could see. And beyond.

Nothing happens.

Time goes by, you don't know how much.

That's it

2010-05-25T01:26:00.002+05:30

After a long long time, I felt like writing something down. And that's it. I actually don't have anything to write about right now. Part of the reason for my absence from this place, the other part being a total absence of interest. I even reached a point where I thought of deleting this damn thing! But unlike some people I just don't have the heart to do it. I mean I spent a lot of time on this thing and it holds a lot of memories, both good and bad, some even ugly.

What have I been up to lately? Nothing really. Sometimes work and that's about it. Bah! I didn't think it was possible but I'm actually bored of the telly. There's nothing of any interest whatsoever, just a bunch of TRP spinning crap. Music channels don't have any music, news channels don't have any news, movie channels are in a re-run cycle for the record books, sports has had an overdose of T20, the kind that kills you. The only solace is my laptop, a bunch of good movies and tv shows like HIMYM and 2 1/2 Men. Books? Is that what kids are calling it nowadays? No? Then i haven't heard of it. I gotta get me one of those.

My latest obsession is to do with spending money, a lot of it in a single transaction. Just bought a new phone for my brother and since then have been lusting after one for myself too. Have done extensive research on the subject and have it narrowed down to a couple of choices with the usual issues, one is available but a tad expensive and the one that falls within the bracket is not out yet. And I even know that as soon as I buy one, a better and cheaper one is gonna hit the stands. Boohoo!

The person to whom I was narrating this dilemma told me to do something nasty to myself, forget about getting a phone and buy something useful which I don't already have, like a camera. I remember how badly I wanted one and just the thought of it has made me flush the phone research down the drain. Back to the drawing board and I've already made pretty good progress. I hereby solemnly swear to buy a camera and only a camera for my next single high valued transaction instead of a shiny new phone or any other gadget like an iPod, which is totally awesome by the way and my preferred mode of writing blog posts these days, like this one right here. I prefer it over the normal keyboard because it's slower and gives me more time to think about what I want to write, sometimes even stretching over a period of days, and did I mention that it's awesome? You should buy one, and once you've used it to your heart's content, jailbreak it and then use it at a whole new level!

OK this post has been brewing in the notes of my pod for almost 4 days now, and within that time I've gone from being phone obsessed to camera crazy! Phones don't require even close to the same amount of research that a camera requires. It is literally a pain in the neck if you are on a fixed budget, even if you're not it's still pretty damn confusing!

OK well over 6 days now and I think enough is enough. BTW, bought the camera :D

Shot in the dark

2010-03-23T00:40:00.000+05:30

A sliver of light in the distance, illuminating the soul and the path to freedom. There is nothing but absolute darkness, the unknown, in between. Courage to step forward is brewing up inside, while fear trickles down, tightening its grip and weighing down the mind. The heart races, pumping blood to every inch of the body, egging it on. The eyes widen, searching for the way out, so eager to bask in the glory of the mysterious light. The hands curl up, sweaty from wiping the forehead, uncertain, fingers digging into the palms, trying to stop shaking. The darkness looms far and wide, the light ever so distant. The legs go numb, knees start to buckle under the weight, the head starts to bow down in resignation, the eyes shut close, holding back the teary floods, arms rise up in a cry for help, ready to concede defeat.

At that exact moment, a whisper echoes through the nothingness, a familiar voice resonating with words of encouragement, of hope. Words that seem to contain the wisdom of ages, the strength of the gods and the courage of a warrior. Fear begins to lose its hold, the darkness begins to lose its depth and the light begins to seem closer. As the body rises up again, the eyes looking down into the emptiness, head held high, the crack widens. Light filters through, piercing through the blackness, forcing its way into the heart, its warmth running through the veins now, waiting for the first step.

A single, small step forward, in the dark, and the path to illumination is lit, forever.

High: This post.

Low: Have to study :(

Points: To whoever they may concern.

Image source: dealing with vagaries

Comic Capers

2010-03-18T22:38:00.001+05:30

Who is the man with a brain faster than a computer?
If your answer to this question was Chacha Chaudhary, then you’re probably a fan and should be figuring out by now what this article is going to be about OR you’re just familiar with the most famous character of the Indian Comic industry. Either way, since you have come so far, we suggest that you read on further before we tell Sabu that you’re friends with Raka (we really don’t want any more volcanic eruptions on Jupiter).

“Sigh…those were the days.”
Did you just say that to yourself? Well, you are not alone then. Who doesn’t want to relive the good old days of childhood innocence when you could run around all day with not a worry to bother you and just 50p or Re1 for renting the new Nagraj or Super Commando Dhruv adventure or finding out how Suppandi is getting into trouble or what kind of mischief are Billoo and the gang up to. Indian comics have come a long way since then.

It began in the 60s when Phantom and Mandrake were introduced to Indian households by Indrajal Comics. In 1967, Anant Pai (known to Tinkle readers as simply Uncle Pai) came up with Amar Chitra Katha (ACK) which earned him the title of Father of Indian comics. As the name suggested, it was about timeless tales from Indian mythology (Ramayana, Mahabharata), folklore and other historical characters of prominence (Birbal, Panchatantra). Following closely were Chacha Chaudhary and other creations of Pran under the banner of Diamond Comics. Tinkle and Champak were more like educational magazines, carrying stories with morals, puzzles and reader contributions etc. In the 80s we got our very first brand of local superheroes, courtesy Raj Comics, in the form of Nagraj, Super Commando Dhruv, Bhokal and many others. Together these comics managed to capture the imagination of millions of kids and became household names.

The story behind Amar Chitra Katha is particularly poignant. The comic series was started by Anant Pai in an attempt to teach Indian children about their cultural heritage. He was shocked that Indian students could answer questions on Greek and Roman mythology but were ignorant of their own history, mythology and folklore. At the height of its popularity, in the mid-eighties, it had been translated into Bengali, Marathi, Assamese, Gujarati, Punjabi, Kannada, Telugu, Tamil, Sanskrit and Urdu and selling half a million copies a month. Some titles were also translated into French, Spanish, German, Swahili, Fijian, Indonesian, and Serbo-Croat! To an extent, these books, with their homogenized and unbiased character descriptions went a long way in promoting national integration.

The character of Nagraj is believed to be inspired by mythological Ichchhadhaari Naags (shape shifting snakes). His stories serve a rich blend of mythology, fantasy, magic and science fiction. Many of Nagraj's fans believe that over time Nagraj's comics have developed a Snake Mythology of its own which is unique to the popular Indian beliefs about snakes prevalent among the masses. Nagraj’s origins were quite humble as he was endowed with relatively ordinary powers and often faced human enemies. It is ironic that Nagraj has now been transformed into a mythical-magical creature facing fantastical creatures as his enemies, with elements of sorcery/magic and even time and space travel. Many cite this as a reason for the continuous, meteoric rise in popularity of Nagraj Comics, something purists scoff at!

Many of these comics have really made an attempt to change with the times. The original comics are now reprinted in sleeker and more durable editions, with thick cardstock covers and better colour separations. Raj Comics also seems to have taken a page out of DC and Marvel Comics’ stories with the creation of a Raj Universe for its super-heroes just like DC and Marvel Universes. It has also gone online and hosts a discussion forum for die hard fans, with a section completely devoted to Nagraj. ACK has also undergone some serious evolution. ACK-Media (its holding company) has recently partnered with iRemedi Corp to deliver ACK comics on the iPhone platform. Popular ACK Titles may be directly purchased from Apple's iTunes Appstore.

The comics industry, like most other things in the modern world, is mainly an American mainstay. Superman, Batman and the likes are household names all over the world. But they didn't become famous overnight, the process has spanned decades. Constantly reinventing themselves with the changing times they have managed to maintain a loyal fan base, age no bar. They have learnt to cater to the different needs, from the campy to the refined, from the colourful to the dark. Supported by big-screen adaptations and other forms of media, their popularity has only faltered to be taken to new heights every time. Comics have evolved into Graphic Novels, which has injected new life into the medium and given a whole new dimension to storytelling.

But that's all in the west. The Indian Comic industry hasn't really moved forward in the direction of creating a global appeal or maintaining their fan base or luring new readers. Granted that they are still very popular but are still a far distance away from what they can be. A dhoti-clad Spiderman wasn't enough so clearly it's not about Indianizing everything. What might work is taking the purely Indian appeal of the characters we have right now and giving them an international makeover.

There has been talk of an animated Nagraj adaptation for the big screen for a few years now and even a movie based on the character of Doga (to be directed by none other than Anurag Kashyap!), but we hope it is not a case of too little too late.

Note: This is an article I wrote for a monthly newsletter at work. Actually, co-wrote with Adeeb.

High: Nothing in particular.

Low: Need more sleep.

Points: To Viru and DD gang for great going in the IPL, excluding the last match. Buck up guys!

Funny stuff

2010-03-14T23:32:00.004+05:30

Somethings simply crack you up and you end up doubling up with laughter. A lot of "up"s for one sentence, but never mind. The last occasion I can recall took place just last weekend when everyone had come over to our place for the usual Friday night celebration. We ended up playing 'Teen Patti' until the wee hours of the morning (who came up with that term anyway? wee hours...) and man was it fun. A few of the guys aren't that familiar with the game and since we weren't playing for real money, one of them decided to go all-in, many times over, and losing almost every time. So now he owes three guys a lot of money. Surprisingly he manages to win a handsome amount in one hand and decides to pay people off. The guy he owes almost 750 bucks takes everything and starts paying off the other guys with the loot. You might not find it as funny but after distributing it among the other guys, he was only left with 5 bucks for himself. 5 out of 750 paid off! That just put everyone in a fit of laughter and how my stomach ached! Took me almost 5 minutes to stop laughing and even now I do the proverbial LOL when I think about it.

Another incident that sticks out in my memory is that from college. We were sitting near the flag post and somehow a discussion on VS Naipaul's true nationality sprung up and I don't think I've ever laughed harder in my life (the details for this section have been edited for public interest).

Then there are these really bad PJs that are so bad that they're awesome! Allow me to demonstrate (only people familiar with Hindi would get some of these jokes, am too lazy to translate so please ignore what you don't understand):

A couple is sitting on the stairs, staring into each other's eyes and suddenly they find themselves in the middle of a desert. How come? - "Aankhon hi aankhon mein ishara hogaya, baithe baithe jeene ka sahara hogaya". Get it? :P
Two sardars (forgive me if you're the racially sensitive kinds, but a sardar joke is a sardar joke) capture a Terrorist and give him a dice and say "If you roll a 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5, you are a dead man." The Terrorist asks "what if I get a 6?" to which the sardars smile and say "Aha! But of course you get to roll again!"
How do you differentiate between a Murga and a Murgi? - Hurl a stone at it, bhaga to murga, bhagi to murgi. :D
This is one of my ultimate favorites: There is an elephant couple, Dumpa and Dumpy. One fine day, Dumpa dumps Dumpy so he becomes very sad. Dumpy's friend Pumpy comes along and asks him "Why are you down in the dumps? Let's go and play in the park". So they go to the park and sit on opposite ends of the see-saw. But alas, it breaks and both of them fall down. What is the moral of the story? - "See-saw ho ya dil ho, aakhir toot jaata hai..." :D :P

UPDATE: Due to public interest and contributions, here are a few additions:

Manas says: Why are all the girls standing on the bridge madly in love?
Because "Jo hai albela, mrignaino wala, uski diwani BRIDGE ki har bala, woh kisna hai"
Vivek says: There was a pregnant lady carrying a miraculous baby girl inside her. The girl could see what was going on outside and even see the future. One day the girl saw a lady called Sapna driving a Tata Nano. Sapna was also pregnant with a baby boy. The girl could tell that this boy would become her boyfriend in the future. Now, what did the girl start singing? - (**brace yourself**) - "NANO mein Sapna, Sapna mein Sajna, Sajna pe dil aayega, O Sajna pe dil aayega" :P :P :P

Disclaimer: I can not be held responsible for any kind of brain damage. You came, you saw the words "really bad PJs" and still decided to read on.

High: Danced my arse off after ages. Was so tired, couldn't even eat!

Low: Some people just don't get it.

Points: To me, if you laughed while reading this post.

Killing time

2010-03-06T23:53:00.006+05:30

So I got a new laptop from the office (Toshiba M900 Portege 13" Core i5 etc etc for those who care to know) recently. Have become so used to the 16 and 17 inchers at home that this is like a palmtop, but it gets the job done so I'm not really complaining. The real problem is when after working on this one for a while, you look at the big boys and it's like "Whoa!". Similarly for the other way round. OK, I just read the first few lines again and just for the record, I'm talking about screen sizes in case any of you start getting other ideas. You know who you are, give it a rest.

Watched London Dreams, Facing Ali and American Gangster over the past three days. All were good. London Dreams could have had a better ending though, too abrupt and happy. Facing Ali was educational and inspirational, especially liked the bit with George Chuvalo when he talks about his life, family and love. American Gangster was long, but good. An honest cop who turns in a million dollars in unmarked cash is still a little unbelievable though.

Other than that just wasted time over the weekend. Slept a LOT. Discovered twitter and why some people are addicted to it while watching the Filmfare awards. Other than that, wasted time in a variety of ways. Wait, I already wrote that. Guess I'm out of stuff to write.

High: New laptop.

Low: Can't tell.

Points: To Kritz for recommending this:

iRepeat

2010-03-01T01:14:00.000+05:30

I usually hate repetitive stuff. Especially when someone keeps saying the same thing over and over again to drive the point home or out of habit orjust having nothing better to do in the pathetic excuse of a life. "WE GET IT! We got it the first time! Jeez! Shut up already!" These are some of the things going through my head, the rest are censored for good measure (and to let you exercise your imagination, go crazy!).

Anyways, before I completely stray from the topic I intend to pursue, let's talk about the repetitions of the good kind. The things you never get tired of, or almost never at least. There are a few things in everyone's life which never get old, outdated or boring. No matter how many times you watch a particular movie, it still makes you laugh or cry or both. No matter how many times you listen to a song, read a book, look at a picture/painting, or even just think about something that had happened in the past, if still manages to bring a smile to your face and invoke the same ol' familiar feeling of aewesomeness which made you fall in love with that particular thing in the first place.

Keep as many of these things as you can hold on to because they come in handy in trying times and can be the key to your sanity.

(Note: I'm not in a happy mood these days, if you are implying that from the nature of the recent posts. I'm just bored of writing about being frustrated.)

High: Jailbroke my iPod. It's even more awesome now!

Low: Refer note above.

Points: To God, aka Sachin. Proud to be alive to see you work your magic.

Enough frustration

2010-02-22T01:39:00.001+05:30

Remember the last time you laughed so hard that it hurt. Remember the last time you couldn't stop smiling even in full public view because you just couldn't get your mind off that little something done by that special someone. Remember the days when you ran around the house, in the streets, just about anywhere because you felt like it and you could. Remember the time when you splashed muddy water from the puddles on the road after the rain which you had just showered in. Remember the time when you were excluded from all conversations which contained talk of bad and sad things. Remember the time when the only thing you wanted when you went somewhere was a balloon and a bar of candy. Remember the day when you rode a bicycle unassisted for the first time. Remember your first best friend. Remember the first time you felt your heart skip a beat on looking at a girl/boy. Remember the moment when your folks were so proud of you, they couldn't resist hugging and kissing you in public. Remember the first time you wrote a diary. Remember the moment you found out that you were good at something. Remember the first book you read and loved so much that you wanted to read another. Remember when you went to bed without a wrinkle of worry on forehead. Remember the day you realized you could pen your thoughts on paper. Remember your first blog post and how you felt after writing it.

Now take that smile on your face, look in the mirror and remember it. Have a good night/day.

High: If you smiled after reading this.

Low: If you didn't.

Points: To God, for the simple pleasures of life. And to Nandu for reminding (2nd para) me about them.

Image Source: Matt Anderson Photography (click image).

Love or Arranged?

2010-02-18T22:11:00.002+05:30

It is the wedding season once again, this time more than ever. Me and my peer group are now in the eligible bachelors and bachelorettes zone and there is always talk of someone you know or someone you know only through someone else getting married. It's not even surprising anymore, the first two came as shocks I'll admit, but now we're used to it.

Without getting into the age old debate of love vs arranged form of marriage, I want to move on to something else which is equally important - what you love doing vs what you have to do. Some people are lucky enough to be working where they want to and doing what they enjoy most. I say lucky because they got the opportunity and pounced on it, some had the guts to take the risk, while there are some who made it happen for themselves. I have only admiration and jealousy for these people, wish I was among you.

A big part of getting there depends on knowing what you really really want to do. That is the first and most important step, which, being completely honest, I have not been able to do till date. To borrow from an old cliche, I'm still searching for my true calling, but, being completely honest again, I haven't been doing that either. Does that suck or what!

I had realized that I'm not a hard working type long ago, unless it's something I like doing. I've been handed everything on a plate and I have become used to it. I haven't had to work hard for anything be it getting good grades in school or getting into a decent college and passing out in the stipulated time or even getting a job. Until now. Keeping the job requires a level of dedication and effort which I'm not averse to. Losing the job is an exaggeration, it's more like being left behind/confined to the lower rungs of the success ladder. The competition is way ahead of me and I'm not doing enough to stay in the race. It's not the same as it was in college where I didn't care about the race because I had better things to do than studying. It matters now, I feel bad when I'm left behind. And it's a pretty bad way to realise that you suck. Enough cribbing, I should get to work.

High: Not that bad a day at work.

Low: Sigh. I sigh a lot, don't I?

Points: Don't know, you decide.

Just another day

2010-02-14T23:05:00.001+05:30

No sign of chocolates or flowers or stuffed toys or pink or anything remotely close to reminding me about what today is supposed to be famous for. It was just another ordinary Sunday. No gifts to be bought, no lunch dates to attend, no women to please, just a bunch of single guys hanging out together. All in all, not that bad a day. (Kritz did ask me to be her valentine, which I gratefully accepted, but she was caught up in homework and midterms so I guess she didn't mind me not taking her out (I'll make it upto you darling, I promise). Technically, it counts as not being single :P)

Saw "My name is Khan" today and for the life of me can't fathom the reason, apart from big money, for people giving it such exceptionally high ratings. The first half was nothing short of torture to me. Karan Johar tries to make a grown-up flick but can't resist doing what he does best in the first half - corny, cheesy and mushy to the point of making me want to scream inside a packed cinema hall. The acting was good, I know the autism thing is a sensitive topic, but seriously it felt like SRK was a bit over the top in places. Nothing unusual about that now, is there. It picked up in the second half and thankfully did not dip throughout. I couldn't find anything to cry about though, I'd heard people have cried a lot (I do occasionally shed a tear or two while watching really good movies). My favorite part is when he goes to the mosque and stops the evil doctor from brainwashing innocent young minds. That was brilliant, how such a big misconception can be resolved by even the simplest of minds. In conclusion, it was the Bollywood version of Forrest Gump, could've been better though. And thank you KJo for not putting in any song and dance routines, must have been tough to control the urge with both SRK and Kajol in the same frame (can forgive you for the wedding one, force of habit we know). For the record, "My name is Sid, and I did not like MNIK that much".

Was supposed to post this last night but fell asleep. Just got off a bus to the office after my daily dose of (physio)therapy. 15 minute walk to my cabin in the scorching heat, soaked in sweat, tired and sleepy already. It's going to be a long day.

It was a long day. Didn't do much either. I think the medicine I'm taking is sleep inducing or it could just be the boring slides I was supposed to study or just the usual post-lunch drowsiness. On my way home now, in a bus which feels like it'll break into two halves on the next speedbreaker. It was rattling like a bird-cage and shaking so much that I couldn't even type.

Back home now, just as I was about to log on, guess what? Have to wait another hour or so now to just publish this! Hmph!

High: Dinner. Proper roadside van style noodles in the food court. Reminded me of home.

Low: The rest of the day, except for a 30 second phone conversation.

Points: XOXOX points to Kritz. Miss you!

Broken

2010-02-13T14:35:00.002+05:30

I've always been sort of destructive, not by choice but by chance. I have been responsible for more broken glass items than the number of pieces you would expect a broken glass to yield. My folks used to curse the stars (moon, planets etc) and tried to keep away from breakable stuff. They should have tried harder.

As I grew up, the ailment matured into something else. It got bored of breaking other stuff so it got to work on my own body. And man it hurts. There isn't a joint on my body that doesn't have a scar or chronic pain to show for it. Some accidents are not my fault, it was just being at the wrong place at the wrong time. Like when I was run over by a car from behind, have a bent vertebra in my backbone as proof. Then there were these pedestrians who stopped dead in the middle of the road while I was approaching on a bike. But the injuries that hurt most are the ones which are a result of stupidity. For the sake of avoiding public humiliation on multiple counts, I will recount only the most recent and stupidest incidents. I was taking off my pants, my foot got caught and I fell sideways. I used my left hand to break the fall, but the wall was a bit too far and it just buckled under all the weight and momentum. The pain!

So both my shoulders are partially out of service and are undergoing physiotherapy at the moment. Bloody 3k down the drain too. There's nothing else left to break now so I hope I don't.

High: Got NFS Most Wanted again. Love that game.

Low: Have to go the hospital everyday at 9am and do an hour of physiotherapy for 8 more days.

Points: -1000 points to me.

Bad, bad world?

2010-02-07T23:03:00.004+05:30

Is the world so bad? I mean, being a cynic, I would love to say that it is and, to a large extent, believe that it is too. But there are parts of me that want to believe that all is not bad and ugly, parts that want me to trust people, even complete strangers. I just want to be able to walk out of my house in the middle of the day or in the dead of the night to take a walk without having to worry about have I locked the door and closed all the windows properly or not. If I leave my vehicle unlocked or forget my keys, is it absolutely improbable that by the time I get back it would not be there? Small things like these are always playing at the back of my mind, I guess everyone's, and this makes life a little more difficult than it already is. I know it's impossible to be able to do that, but how wonderful it would be if it were possible. I'm drawing a blank again now. Sigh.

High: Not that bad a Sunday.

Low: High. Sigh. Also, have lost all interest in sports.

Points: To anyone who can suggest an awesome movie to watch, 1000 points.

Update: Felt like posting a pic, flickr gave this when I searched for New Zealand. Sigh. Droooool. Sigh. Will post link to original soon, blogging from iPod.

(click to enlarge, it's awesome)

Image source: /\ltus

Desperate measures

2010-02-06T00:46:00.001+05:30

I’m sick of this. I’m sick of not being able to write anything. I’m sick of not wanting to write when I actually decide to write. I’m sick of checking how many days since I last posted something and then going “Dammit! I need to write something!” and then deciding to write something and then not wanting to write after I actually decided to write and going “Sigh, I don’t have anything to write, will try again later”, and sulking about it later. I’m just sick of all of it. I even read my own blog and went “Man I could write!”. I didn’t need to have ‘something happen to me’ to want to write about it. I just wrote, without thinking about what I was going to write. And it turned out OK, even great on occasion (yes I’m vain, I love my own writing, that’s why I’m so depressed about not being able to write anything in the first place, so think of something else to comment on!). And here comes the block.

The last paragraph was written in a little under 5 minutes tops, I guess, and this sentence has taken 2 already! It’s not like I haven’t written anything at all, but what I did manage to write, I hated it. It was corporate crap about company growth, conducive learning environments, collaborative efforts to further knowledge acquisition and dissemination, corporate social responsibility, consistency in competency development activities, cultivating resources like centers of excellence, campus connect etc. to become a change agent for the future and help the continuing growth of the company to take it to an even higher pedestal of excellence. This is just a summary of the 1300 word story I wrote which contained more of the same crap (makes me cringe and want to crawl into a crevice inside a cave deep inside some lost canyon somewhere). The icing on the cake was that people actually liked it. For crying out loud, it could’ve been written by using a script that automatically inserted prepositions and punctuations between entries generated by a random bullshit generator! To put the cherry on top of the icing, I had to CC it to my boss along with the people who provided inputs, so that I could get review comments on grammar and punctuation. Well cut me balls off, chew me guts out, chastise me ass in public or strap me cranium to the chair, come what may, me shall not accept suggested corrections of said nature from the likes of thee (FYI punctuations are used to clearly indicate separate thoughts and ideas, not used to decorate sentences based on their length).

Wow! That felt so good! Let's do that again! Or not. So what else was I going to talk about? Oh yeah this newsletter thing at work for which I wrote all that corporate crap. After a long long time I actually enjoyed work. It was kinda like working on FreeRad but it just wasn't the same without the others. Still it was good fun, got to know Prachi a little better in the process as she helped me keep it all together, otherwise would've lost it completely because it's just too much work for one person. And both of us despise the senior authorities equally so we had something in common to have a laugh about too. Advise to people working in teams - being a part of the team is a big achievement in itself. There are some people who go to great lengths to show that they are better than the rest, they do more than others and think that they deserve extra credit. Actions speak louder than words, keep that in mind. You going about advertising how good you are is not even remotely as effective as someone else appreciating your efforts. These are the people from your team, who don't like you one bit right now. And you are not helping your case, it just gets worse everyday. Hope you learn a thing or two soon enough or you're going to hell, that too alone.

I was supposed to post this day before yesterday but somehow couldn't. Had so much more to say, hopefully will remember in time for the next post, provided there is one. Fingers crossed. Later.

High: Getting there, another round or two should do the trick.

Low: First para.

Points: 22k something points to me for providing an "EnRiching" experience to everyone in Infy. To Prachi and Santanu also. Cheers.

Hmph

2010-01-06T00:17:00.002+05:30

Seeing that all my efforts (?) at getting back to writing regularly have failed once again, this is another consolation post. I do have something to write about for a change but it probably isn't the right time to write it down as it might be mistaken for something else by certain people because of the current circumstances. For once I wish people could not read my blog. It would really help me to write it all down, takes the burden off me somewhat, helps me to see things more clearly and to think straight. That is something I desperately need to do, think straight. My head is just full of so much stuff that it feels like it's going to explode any second (actually sometimes I wish it did) and sometimes it's like it's so blank and light and I'm so happy that I wish I could never think again. I must have mentioned how thinking too much is bad for your health to a lot of people and I'm pretty sure I have written about it too. The thing is it's always easier said than done, because I keep telling myself that there's no point thinking about it because it'll just make matters worse, but the mind has a mind of it's own. You can only tell it to do so much. If it wants to wander off into unfriendly territory, it will. If it can make your life a living hell, it most definitely will. No matter what you do or how hard you try, it will not let you forget what you want to forget and will make you remember what you don't want to remember. The damned thing is supposed to help you out rather than make you want to kill yourself.

And I feel so sleepy all of a sudden. Good night.

Post x of y in 2009

2009-12-31T00:11:00.002+05:30

I'm in no mood to go over to my dashboard and find out exactly how many posts I have written this year. I'll guess it to be around 60, that's just over 1 post per week which isn't all that bad if you think about it. True I haven't been posting regularly off late; in my defense, it's my blog!

Another year has come to an end, big deal! Usually my new years start pathetically, so obviously I don't particularly enjoy the occasion. It's an excuse to party and I'm not complaining because I certainly hope that I will. And I just jinxed it, way to go Sid! Phbbbbt.

2010 looks promising. That's about all I have to say about it. No expectations, always makes things easy.

Jibber-jabber, what a sucky post to end a not so bad year.

Happy new year, see you in 2010.

Another attempt

2009-12-19T23:10:00.005+05:30

I'm trying to get into the habit again. I've completely lost touch with it. I'm having to think about the next sentence every time I finish one. Don't have anything to write after the last one, neither this one. Pause. Thinking................

Still got nothing. Watched Wipeout on AXN, can be really funny at times. Really wanted to watch Avatar today, couldn't go. Might go tomorrow, alone though. Rochak has an exam in Bangalore tomorrow and no one else is free/around to give me company. Heard it's too long so might even decide not to go at all. You'll find out when you find out I guess.

The terrace of my house is an amazing place. On cloudless nights I can see more stars than the total I can see in Delhi in a year maybe. On cloudy ones, it is just great to see the moon playing hide and seek with the thin veil of fast moving clouds. Full moon nights are just awesome. It's like a spotlight, even more so when there's a blackout (which is quite often). And there's a constant cool breeze to add to that. Sigh.

Champions League highlights on TV, thank God! Have lost all touch with the world of sports as well. Most of the fault lies with my cable operator, he just doesn't think anything other than Cricket is a sport! Been ages since I watched an entire football match, a set of tennis even, let alone 5 consecutive overs of cricket. I'm not even sure if India won the test series against SL and how much exactly did Veeru score in the series (heard he clobbered the living daylights out of them). Roomies watch WWE a lot, so that's the only sport I'm kinda in touch with. See what I mean!

OK I give up! Nothing meaningful is going to come out of my head even if I keep typing all night. Off to bed.

Felt like posting an image, googled full moon+cloudy, then switched to flickr. Found one I liked but can't seem to be able to paste it here so you will just have to check it out for yourself by clicking here.

Low: The boredom.

High: None that I can think of.

Points: -1000 points to whoever is looking over the programming on TV. It sucks!!

Time

2009-12-18T18:43:00.002+05:30

Sincere Apologies. Finally wrote this at work today:

It's been a long time since I wrote nothing. Actually it's been a loooong time since I wrote anything. Even my blog in the real world hasn't seen me type out a single new post, even out of frustration or boredom, in over a month and a half (a new low). I have tried, more than just a couple of times, to sit down and just write something down for the heck of it, but...but...but... you catchin' my drift?

It's not like I don't have anything to write about, that's just an excuse I make when people who follow my blog ask me the reason for my absence, it's lame but it works, not always though. If I think about it, I've never had anything to write about, except nothing. Everyone of my 204 posts is a nothing in itself, it's just that back then I didn't think of them as nothing. It used to be fun, it just feels like a burden now, one that I'm not exactly carrying forward, just weighing down on me. This is, in fact, the most I've written in the last two months in one go, and already I feel like it's crap and I should delete it and start over again, but I know I won't be able to so this one is just for the heck of it.

Why this post was titled Time escapes me now. Time, is a wicked wicked thing, not the good kinda wicked either. One would like to think that things get better with time, but more often than not, they just get worse. You think you will get used to it but you end up wishing it had never happened to begin with. The past seems perfect, the future can be ignorantly blissful and the present is tense. If I could go back in time, I'm not sure I would want the memories of the elapsed time to stick or fade away. You risk making the same mistakes again but then you also can't enjoy the right moments as much as you did the first time they happened. If you do make the same mistakes again, it's inevitable, because you are who you were. It's amazing how you have to actually sit down and think about the happier things in life, as in concentrate on them to be able to smile or laugh at the memory. But the unhappy bits just keep lingering on, engulf you entirely, you have to concentrate to not think about them. It's just not fair, life, happiness is but a punctuation, a pause, a spike, an anomaly. That's why it's so over-rated. Maybe, it is fair. There are so many things you want to do, see, say that would make the future better but sometimes you just can't and then it's in the past and the future isn't as you had hoped it would be. The present is the real criminal here. Regrets and expectations are equally fruitless.

Time for a nap.

High: This post.

Low: This post.

Points: None.

No excuses

2009-11-07T09:51:00.000+05:30

It's been close to a month now since I last wrote something. Have been thinking about posting something for over two weeks now but just don't seem to be able to put pen to paper (fingers to keyboard, whatever) these days. It isn't the first time this is happenning but I think it got stretched a bit more than usual this time. Maybe because I feel the need to be really honest when I write here and I don't think being honest right now is going to take me places, places I don't want to be at anyway.

What's been going on in my life? Same old shit. Some good, some bad and some ugly. I think I'm going to reach a point soon where I'll just stop caring altogether, if I haven't already. But what do I know? I can't seem to take a stand on anything. Even trivial issues like "what should I eat" require a thought process rather than "whatever looks edible/is there". And I've run out of things to say now. My train of thought keeps derailing now and again, with or without distractions. There is a general lack of interest, where general means everything. I don't know for how long this will go on but I don't like where it's headed. I don't where anything is headed. Need to develop a serious interest in something, fast! Thinking about picking up EPL again, it made life interesting and a lot more exciting anyway. As soon as the idea came, along came the words "what's the point? It's too much trouble, find something else" from the voice of the evil spirit residing (blissfully, if I might add) in my empty skull.

What am I gonna do with myself?! Nothing it seems, can't even sit down and write something.

Whatever. I'm bored. Later (hopefully).

Sleepless

2009-10-13T00:41:00.004+05:30

I was so exhausted today, I thought I would collapse as soon as I reached home. But as Murphy would have it, here I am more than 2 hours later, still trying to sleep. And I have to wake up early tomorrow! Listening to music, well not really listening, it's just ringing in my ears. If you ask me what song I just heard, I probably won't be able to tell you. Is it too much to ask for sound sleep after a hard day's work? Spent the entire day staring at the screen, pulling my hair out over a piece of code that just refuses to fall into place the way I want it to. Friggin database is so screwed up, simple queries just don't suffice, have to write entire procedures! Oh and don't even get me started about Microsoft. The software decides it's been open for too long and messes up the output without any changes in the code. After an hour, you give up and just close everything, start it again and voila! %#&@(@&^#%# with a lot of hair pulling and table beating.

Appraisal due next week, doesn't really matter because I haven't completed a year as an employee yet (not even by including training). That should be funny, especially since I'm up right after Mohit who is the "star performer" of our team and my roomie Rochak who is as good, if not better. Looking forward to it (not). There is this Infy-wide competition for Best Team (10 members or less) and my manager asked me to file our nomination, since I'm the unofficially official PR guy of the team (thanks to Rochak who exaggerated to no end how good I was so that his manager wouldn't mind me joining their team, exaggerated doesn't even cut it). It requires 1500 characters (not words, characters, including spaces) on 'My team is the best because' and 'The best team story we have so far'. I wrote such utter crap of supreme quality that I'm proud of it. You can check out something known as a Bullshit Generator, it's hilarious. But mine is better, it's so ridiculous it's awesome! Excerpt - "The senior members act as guiding beacons during any difficulties in matters professional and, if need be, personal. *more crap* The young blood is following suit, showcasing leadership capabilities, taking proactive measures in fulfilling the responsibilities along with sustaining the exponential growth of the development of the team into a highly potent force of academicians." Brilliant, ain't it? Pat on the back for myself. Felt a weird sense of pleasure and satisfaction as I completed this in the evening and sent it to the manager for review, who I'm hoping will love it to bits. That should bring an evil sinister grin to my face. Looking forward to that (really).

Went over to B/Anu's blog, found a cool widget, something that I was actually trying to do myself. But it just shows posts with images, some of the good ones don't have any. Will try and find a way around that. Till then, contend yourself with whatever it shows.

High: Made Pao Bhaji all by myself yesterday, and it was good. And the ridiculous writeup, cracks me up.

Low: Lack of sleep.

Points: 100 to me and 1000 to Rochak for successfully making Macroni on his own. His first real cooking endeavor.

Mysore-Delhi-Mysore - Part 2

2009-10-11T09:19:00.006+05:30

Sorry about the 20 day lapse. 10 of them were really awesome and I didn't have any time t0 sit down and blog about it. A lot of things have changed but almost everything else is the same, just the way I remember it and love it. I was moblogging on my way to the airport on 23rd night but then felt so sleepy after reaching the airport that I couldn't anymore and there's no use posting half of it, well I can't anymore because I deleted it. Met almost all my family and friends, some of them more than just once, which is great considering the amount of time I had. If I only I had a car all to myself, I could have made more trips. Watched movies in multiplexes according to my choice without standing in mile-long queues for getting the tickets. Ate the best food in the world, at home. Slept like a log on MY bed and did not feel like waking up at all, haven't slept so peacefully in a long time. It was just perfect.

Going back again in December for 5 days to attend Vishal's wedding and other related ceremonies. I'm so excited at the thought of going back again already, almost like I'm holding my breath. Also looking forward to some of you coming down here for Prerana's wedding. (Two down, who's next?)

Back in Mysore, the same old grind. Weekdays are just a big black blot on the calendar and the weekends are highlighted in gold and silver. The first few days after coming back were quite depressing but we got the hang of it pretty soon. Last weekend was....I actually can't recall what we did...must've been indoors all the time. This week was much better, there is a lot of work to do and it's not boring at all. Friday night was our first team dinner and that's about all am going to say about it. Went to the campus yesterday after a long time (on a weekend) and played TT. Felt great, although my shoulder did play spoilt-sport. Need physiotherapy for sure. Watched District 9, brilliant sci-fi flick. Going to watch Man On Wire today (check reviews on RottenTomatoes). Please suggest some great movies, which make you go WOW!

Read Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terri Pratchett, FUNNY!! Also read The Icon by Forsyth but I think I already told you that. Reading Dan's latest - The Lost Symbol. Same old plot, same old characters, buying it seems like a mistake right now. Can only hope it gets better. Next on the list - Three Men In A Boat, supposed to be funny too.

Check out Teach For India. They have a really good program for providing quality education to the less privileged. Second phase of registrations going on, hurry if you're interested.

I need new headphones too. Any suggestions?

High: Refer to para 1.

Low: Refer pic (file photo dated 26/06/2008, location Nandu's old house, Nish and Vishal not in picture). Peru, Vruni, Happy and KRITZ weren't there this time. Curses! Also, just realized, did not click a single pic while I was at home. Doh!!

Points: I'm feeling generous. 1000 points to everyone!

Another nothing

2009-09-21T15:57:00.002+05:30

Here are some blog stats:

200 Posts, last published on Sep 19, 2009.
Posts per week:1.4
Subscribers:31
18 followers.

It's probably the double ton that is making me write this post. I don't have anything worth writing about. Absolutely nothing. I think I'll moblog again tomorrow. It was fun actually. I can keep a tab on my thoughts, not necessarily a good thing but who cares. I am reading this called Good Omens by Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett, it's a "spoof" on the first Omen movie. Really funny. They have this thing called the Chattering Order of Saint Beryl. The members of the order are supposed to speak what's on their minds, at all times. So naturally they just can't shut up. Funny!

Oh I forgot! Was going to discuss the blog stats. We all know about the 200 posts. 1.4 posts per week is pretty decent again. 31 subscribers. Now that's a surprise! 18 of those must be the followers, who are the other 13? I subscribe to a lot of blogs too and usually read them at work through Google Reader because that is probably the only service of theirs (besides search of course) which is not blocked and works without any glitches. The problem with Google Reader is that you can't comment on the actual post, you can share the feed and comment on it, but not the actual post. I try and comment on the posts I like. I can even view the actual blogs from work but the comment option is again blocked. So, to the other 12, (just remembered I'm one of the subscribers to my own blog, that's how I know the stats) if you're reading this, drop by once in a while and take a potshot and let me know who you are, just so I know who in their right minds, apart from my friends (well most of them anyway), is reading my blog.

Have been indoors for the last three days, except for small breaks to go out to get something to eat. So they don't count. Who said extended weekends were fun! BORING! Nothing watchable on TV, I mean it. Not even a half decent movie you haven't seen before. Roch actually made me watch Dare2Date on [V]! Poisonous television, makes you want to kill yourself. There's something good on Travel&Living almost always but you just can't watch it for long durations. Bloody sinful channel. Half the time it's food-porn (Food Paradise, Nigella Bites, Kylie Kwong....aaaarrghh), the other half it's about people traveling around the world and getting paid for it.

Been a while since I posted an image. Let me look for something on flickr. Hmmm. What should I search for? Clouds? Nah. Scenery? Nope. Bored? Worth a shot. Hey good one. The guy doesn't have a share/blog this link so will have to ask for his permission to post it here. So obviously before moving on to the next image which I can post here, a little note about this one. Talk about coincidence, I was just talking about Nigella! Gary, you should definitely check it out. Time to make some more room on the bookshelf? ;)

Page 4 and still nothing. Next keyword - ummm....why not! Well what do you know, there's a whole bunch of pics for the word ummm. One search page contained pics of one self obsessed teenage girl showing off her hand at photography and the various expressions her facial muscles are capable of. And a lot of semi-nude pics amazingly. Even lesbian lip-locks. And here come the men. Moving on...

A little self-obsessing of my own - sid. Some shirtless guitarist dude, must be famous, have no clue who he is. There's this plastic/wooden keyboard thing and this red haired gothic guitarist doll too. Sid Vicious, have heard the name a lot, must be it. Is the share link disabled everywhere? Relaxing, chill, chillout, hangout. Last one is good. Been ages since I just hung out. Sad sad sad. OK no more images.

Hey this is a good way to spend an hour or so. Not that I'm going to do it again. It's just good to know that you can kill off an hour this way. Will just read my book now. Or watch a movie. Haven't decided. Hate decisions. OK, now there's a big blank. So time to go.

Low: Loooooong boring weekend.

High: Friday is getting closer.

Points: Hmmm. Incentives tend to work, so 1000 points to the subscribers who reveal themselves.

Oh damn! @Aastha - All the best!!!

200

2009-09-19T09:46:00.003+05:30

*Raises keyboard and takes a bow on completing a double century*

It has taken a while, two and half years almost (!). That's more than 6 posts a month, more than once a week, which is pretty decent I would say. This blog has seen many things, survived many a mood swings and been there................................blah blah blah! Who cares! There's a lot more to come. Moving on...

We had another dinner party at our place the other day. Very impromptu once again as it had been canceled the day before so next day everyone just showed up and demanded home cooked food. There were the usual suspects (refer Motorcycle Diaries) plus Vivek, who was supposed to do most of the cooking but ended up just making the dough and helping Kapil make the Chapatis. I had to make an entire pressure cooker-full (to the brim) of ant-free Pulao (somehow the rice packet was infested with ants and we realised it only after we saw them floating in the pan they were soaked in, another half hour of rinsing pursued, I got all of them, well most anyway), Anda Bhurji (scrambled eggs (a dozen)) and Aloo Matar under Kapil's supervision. Rochak and Sattu concocted a nice Cucumber Raita. It was a feast, everything was delicious. I just have to learn to make Chapatis now and I would be able to announce that I can cook an entire meal all by myself. Just a matter of time. Too lazy to write down the complete recipes, if you really need to know just contact me.

This time yesterday I could've said that this time next week I'll be on a plane heading home. Excited!! Probably explains why I was in a good mood most of the time yesterday (also I think I've lost a little weight!). It's going to be so wonderful to be home, been almost six months. I miss home. I remember the last time I was there, I had to go someplace and I was looking for an autorickshaw. One stopped and the person asked where I wanted to go, and I told him and we bargained over the fare and we were away. The whole conversation took place in Hindi, I didn't have to worry about having to explain to him anything in broken Kannada (shattered is more like it) or about whether I'd end up in the correct destination or not. Such a small thing, but it made me so happy! I don't even have to mention the food and the friends! Just imagine...

And driving! I'm almost scared that I've forgotten how to drive a car. Looking forward to that for sure. A drive on the Greater Noida expressway should make up for things. Nishtha hasn't been on one yet, poor girl. Next week baby! Her sister Nidhi (Bangalore wali :P) dedicated a song to the gang. It's from the movie Wake Up Sid! (talk about coincidence) and it's called Kya Karoon. Any one who's ever fun at college can relate to the video. I miss it, all of it.

Low: Workload!

High:

Points: 1 million points to Nidhi Didi. Consider this as an official thank you :)

MoBlog

2009-09-12T14:18:00.004+05:30

I don't have a keyboard attached to a comp right now so am typing this on my plain simple phone as a message. Will save it as a draft, connect it to the comp, copy and paste it on the blog in the morning. So if you're reading this, I've just done all that. It's close to 10pm and I'm in bed trying to sleep. Yeah 10! I've been sleeping early these days and waking up earlier than usual, that too voluntarily. It's worth it actually, better than staying awake doing nothing or just killing time by being online. I like to lie down with a book and read till I feel sleepy enough to switch off the light, or just pull up the sheets and hope that someone else will turn it off eventually. Sometimes I switch off the light and lie down listening to music like right now. I haven't been taking any headphones to work for more than a week now. Just trying to maintain a sense of novelty with listening to music, nothing else (play it on the loudspeaker once or twice daily though, can't help it). Sigh.

Ran out of space in via last message. Takes only 1k characters. Also got a phone call which killed the flow. Fell asleep while texting. In class right now, just roaming around looking for people making mistakes and helping them correct it. Class over, back to my cabin. Don't feel like doing anything today, which isn't something new anyway. When will this bloody phone be available in the market?! Hmph. Going for lunch now, it's bright and extremely sunny today. Had butter chicken, was great, but I'm still hungry. Mango shake with vanilla ice cream, yum! Don't feel like going back to class, most probably I won't. Let's see. Trying to think about something else to write, drawing a blank. Have to work on this article for this magazine thing I was selected for. Feels different being on the other side, as in I used to take the interviews and give out tasks to see if the people were good enough to be part of the team, most of the ones selected in the end were. Have until next Tuesday to work

on it, more than ample time. Message number 3 now. Will start from tomorrow. Have to work with this other guy, this part I'm not looking forward to. I hope it'll come out good and I'll get the final nod to be a part of the team. It's turning into another long post about nothing. Maybe I should make that label now, these posts must be numbering in double digits by now. Will check and update by the time of publishing this one. Feeling sooooo sleepy. Did go to class for an hour, head was aching so badly! Talked to grandparents today after long time, found out bro was staying with them since Tuesday and managed to catch the flu (not the pig variety) and then having Daddy (I call my grandpa Daddy, and my dad Papa) to drive him all the way to see the doc. The idiot had to have golguppe with a sore throat! Chatted with Kritz for a while about the forbidden fruit, was fun (right Kritz?). Anyways, finally got off work. Heading out for a typical Friday evening. Hope it's fun. Will let you know.

OK. Back on the comp now. Last night was fun until 10pm. Might have been fun after that too but I don't remember anything. Not feeling too good right now. Oh and there were only about half a dozen posts for the Nothing label which turned up in the search. Will look for more manually.

**Update - Felt like posting a photo but then started reading my blog again. Here's another old post for you to read.**

High: Duh!

Low: High.

Points: 100 points for seamless technology which made this mobile blog possible.

Motorcycle Diaries - Part 1 of not too many

2009-09-06T08:22:00.019+05:30

Dear Diary,

So finally some of us went ahead and did it. Had been planning to go on a road trip since forever but something or the other usually came up. This time we didn't leave any room for that to happen. Here is a list of the suspects:

Me: Always up for an outing
Rochak: Friend/Roommate/Experienced biker
Kapil: Flatmate/Super-Enthu Biker/Tour Planner/Guide
Mohit: Teammate/Always up for an outing
Sathya: Teammate/Photographer a.k.a. Sattu

And here are their loyal steeds:

From left to right:
Rochak's black Bajaj Pulsar 150 DTS-i, a few years old but still upto the task.
Mohit's magnificent Royal Enfield Thunderbird, the beast was acquired a few months ago.
Kapil's red Bajaj Pulsar 180 DTS-i, a month old and being put to the test.
(You can also see me in the background.)

The day began with being woken up around 0430. Couldn't have been sleepier but the excitement and the anticipation of the things to come tends to drive away sleep easily. Not the case with Mohit and Sattu who needed at least 10 calls each to finally wake up. All of us were up and about soon and by 0545 were ready to go. I rode with Mohit, Sattu with Rochak and Kapil with the big bag of stuff we thought would come in handy (snacks, towels, water).

The plan was to start early and reach the highway in time to catch the elusive sunrise. The cloud cover saw to it that it still eluded us despite the early start. Anyways the weather was pleasant as always and we were enjoying the slight chill. The sun came up and the roads went from good to bad to downright ugly. Real mood killer. There was about more than an hour's worth of bumpy roads with potholes followed by more potholes and speed breakers. Then just as we were about to hit the good stretch the first incident of the day happened.

The beast stuttered to a sudden stop. It had refused to start once or twice before also so we thought it was a battery problem. No amount of kick starting helped so we decided to look for a mechanic finally. Luckily there was one just 20 meters away(!). He was a little taken aback when he first saw the size of the bike, and for a little while it seemed that he was looking at alien technology but he finally figured it out and put it down to a blown fuse in the battery. Potential crisis averted and back on the road. It got better after a while and really great a little after that.

Cruise mode was awesome. The muffled purr of the engine gave way to the loud roar and the constant dhak-dhak-dhak followed as Mohit gunned it down the clear road. The surrounding greenery just made it better. It rained quite a few times but not too heavily. At 0730 we reached our first destination - Gopalaswamy Hill inside Bandipur (which is actually Tamil Nadu). We didn't know what we were supposed to expect, it was a hill and that's all we knew. It was raining continuously still as we made our way up. We stopped on the way to witness this:

It's not as amazing in the pic because of the mist and the smudged lens of the camera because of the rain, but it was awesome! After a few photographs we continued upwards and what was waiting at the top took our breath away, literally!
It wasn't raining, we were inside the freaking clouds! The wind was blowing at 40-50kmph (that's what it felt like when the bike is moving at the same speed, I did not measure it!) and it was hard to stand still against it. Absolutely brilliant! We'd spent quite a bit of time there when the chill got to us and so we had to leave. The way down was great too, the sky had cleared up and the bikes were just rolling down at close to 70kmph at places. Thus ends the first leg of our journey.

0900 hours. Time for a breather and some food. Idlis, vadas, dosas, pooris, tea and coffee. Then onto the next location. The sun was out and so were other people. We were back on the highway by 1000 and the ass-ache began a little while later. We (me and Sattu) even switched seats but it didn't help.

The journey was much longer than we had assumed and we were all quite bored of riding non-stop except for the occasional stop for fuel which lasted only a couple of minutes each.

The second stop was called BR Hills inside BRT Wildlife Sanctuary. After the first one, we were hoping for something awesome but it later turned out that it was just a 40 km ride through the woods, which was great nevertheless. We even stopped for tea and a short breather.

There was a peak, so to say, at the end of the trail which offered a great view. Not superbly awesome weather or anything, just a good view, nothing like what Sattu here would have you believe.

By now our asses had had more than we could take. There was still another stop to make before finally heading back and the drive was nothing less than painful. I mean really painful, the only thought in our minds was when will it end. I've even lost track of time by now so we're going to assume we reached our next stop, Shivanasamundra, at 1500.

Yep, there it was. Just the sight of it would've sent waves of relief down my spine on any other day, but since I knew I wasn't going to get to go into the water, my back slumped further at the thought of walking down these stone steps and then coming back up again.

They were like the steps Po climbed in KungFu Panda, but they were narrower, rockier, uneven and very scary. The other guys stripped down to their lowers and went into the water while I sat by the water bird-watching, listening to music and in general observing people. They came out sooner than expected but I wasn't complaining. There was this lady who was frying and selling pakoras. So we decided to have some. They were good. The funniest thing happened there, this dumb bimbo walked up with her friends, innocently pointed at one of the tray of pakoras and asked the lady in the politest way possible "How much is that?" Only me and Rochak know how we controlled ourselves from ROFLing. How I wish the lady had looked up and said "2 bucks you dumb bitch!"

The climb up the stairs was tiring but ended quicker than expected. A cucumber, coconut water and bhelpuri later we were back on the road yet again. We all had decided since we were going to be on the Bangalore-Mysore highway, we might as well go a little further back and grab a bite at McDonald's. It's been months since I saw the red and yellow sign and ate a burger there. Don't even remember the last time I went there.

Kapil guided us through the way and at one point we were pretty sure that we were going to end up in Bangalore. Rochak and I were already making plans of what we were going to do and where we were going to stay for the night. The road finally came to an end and we had the choice of taking the left and heading home or going right to McD. Kapil had assured us it was just a 15 minute ride. It wasn't or at least didn't feel like it. It wasn't or at least didn't feel like it. And boy Rochak can drive! Kapil had a hard time keeping up with him on his new 180. I saw him touch 110, twice, with me sitting behind! He was so fed up by now and just wanted to get it over with as soon as possible. Our butts were so sore that we didn't even enjoy the food as much as we had thought we would. For the record - Chicken McNuggets are an utter waste of money. The McVeggie is still good, so are the fries.

It was time to get on the bike for one last time and make the final dash for home. Rochak, me and Kapil covered the distance in 68 minutes flat, non-stop. Mohit came riding easy 15-20 minutes later. We promised ourselves never to do it again. All in all, it was a great learning experience. From now on all bike trips would be limited to 150kms, instead of the 400 we did yesterday. The first leg of the journey was the best and it was worth all the trouble we went through after that I guess. On second thought, it wasn't. I'm even tired of typing now. Later.

High:
Low: I really don't think I need to mention it again.

Points: Get a life! I can't even sit properly and you want me to give out points!

In Love?

2009-08-30T00:44:00.006+05:30

Life without love is like deep fried chicken without the flavour. Love is like the constant feeling of that flavour hitting your taste buds for the first time, of wanting to savour every single morsel, of hoping that the bucket will never empty no matter how much you eat, of realising that if this is what heaven has to offer to me, I would gladly die right this moment. It is like the drive-through where you don't have to stop for even one second, the restaurant where they serve what you are craving for most right now, whatever it may be, the hot coffee on a cold winter night, the cold coffee on a hot summer afternoon, the first mango of the season, the last piece of the chocolate cake in the fridge. It is better than getting the bigger share of the pie, the aroma which tells you that your favourite dish is being prepared, finding out that the person who used to make the dish you used to love and thought would never be able to taste again, except for in your childhood memories, is back. It is that and so much more.

Sounds too good to be true? Unfortunately that is the case. We are not equipped to handle this amount of happiness, the sheer bliss. We need preservatives, cold storage, calorie counts, insulin shots. We just aren't made that way. And that is what we have to realise, there is no such thing as a free lunch. You have to workout so that you can eat pancakes with maple syrup for breakfast, watch the weighing scale to be able to order extra cheese on your hamburger, skip lunch so that you can enjoy the buffet at night.

Life is when there is too much salt in your food, you find a squashed bug in your burger, the milk in the fridge that went bad, the burnt steak at the barbecue, waking up in the middle of the night feeling hungry and finding absolutely nothing to eat. It's not fair, but that's life. Can't do anything about it, except take it in your stride and deal with it. So if you want love in your life, just remember that love doesn't come without the life factor either.

High: Slept a lot.

Low: The four hours I spent alone in the hot sunny afternoon. Not that I wanted company, it just gave me time to think. I don't like to think these days.

Points: To Nandu, for suggesting the movie City Of Angels. Beautiful movie, do watch. Oh, that's 1000 points.

बोरियत की इन्तहा

2009-08-29T21:07:00.003+05:30

क्या लिखूं यार? कुछ है ही नही लिखने को. दिमाग का दही होगया है यहाँ पड़े पड़े. आज तीन-चार घंटे के लिए अकेला भटक रहा था मैसूर में। बाई गोड कहाँ फँस गया मैं! कोई दिल्ली में नौकरी दिलवा दो यार प्लीज़। मन नही लग रहा यहाँ पर अब। एक महिना है अभी घर जाने में, जल्दी से ख़तम हो बस। एक हफ्ता ही सही, घर तो घर है।

Note: If you can't read this then don't worry. Nothing worth reading anyway. Later.

Always works

2009-08-27T00:46:00.006+05:30

Maggi with boiled eggs. Perfect comfort food. Always works. Well almost always. Day before yesterday just wasn't one of those days.

#end

P.S. - Photo is bad, Maggi was great.

I can't think of one

2009-08-19T00:23:00.005+05:30

Why do I feel obliged to write something on my blog? I mean if I don't have anything to write about I shouldn't feel the need to do so, right? But I do! Haven't written for quite a while now, there were some contributing factors which were out of my hand (the keyboard wasn't working, wasn't physically able to, laziness etc) and the other one being lack of content or flow of thoughts or whatever. When I wasn't able to blog, I wanted to write down so many things but I can't remember even a single one right now. Poof! Disappeared. Just like that. My typing is so rusty, or maybe it's just because I can't use my left hand properly still. Or it's just bad luck. Got the outer body on my phone replaced finally, the keypad is so flimsy, the guy said it would improve with use, hasn't yet, too lazy to go and have it looked into again. Great, power cut! I posted so much last month, what's wrong with this one. I happen to like July more but that's just a coincidence. I should buy myself a notebook, but then I'm going to get one from the office soon. How soon is soon enough! I was supposed to get it a month and half ago, now they say wait till October, you will get one then, most probably. Most probably?! Decide dammit! I make so many plans in my head everyday about what I want to do, what I should do and what I must do, but all I end up doing is planning and telling myself to start working on them. Dumbass! Didn't go to work today, just wasn't feeling upto it. Will have to go.....I mean will definitely go tomorrow and put in a good 8 hours of work, been quite a while since I did that too. Hey my typing is getting better already, that too in the dark, nice! Hadn't listened to a single song since yesterday. I can't believe it either. Current track - Iris, it's pretty good, don't know why I didn't appreciate it much when I first heard it. Note to self - have to watch City of Angels. Need some new music, please suggest nice, soft numbers, don't feel like headbanging these days. Power's back, phew, these mosquitoes were starting to get on my nerves, the fan helps a bit. Just sprayed HIT, that should take care of them, pesky little buggers. I type better without the light? Stranger things have happened. Watched August Rush last night, was good, not wow. The musical prodigy bit could've been more exciting somehow. Watched Koyaanisqatsi today, was interesting, worth a try, requires a certain amount of patience though, the soundtrack got a bit irritating a few times. This is where I found out about it. Very nice article that, again needs a bit of patience, in terms of the time needed to read all of it, pretty long. Also watched Sita Sings The Blues a few days ago in office(!), Rindo was kind enough to tell me about it and then share it too. It's a pretty cool movie, animation (of 3 different kinds used in the same movie and it works too), Ramayana told by 3 wisecracking shadowy figures (very funny!) and some nice music (Anette Hanshaw's crooning is a refreshing change somehow). Worth a watch. These kind of obscure movies (not talked about a lot I mean) are fun, do suggest some more if you know of any. Pretty long rant this has turned into, better hit the sack, 2 am already, office in the morning. Will read myself to sleep hopefully, not very sleepy actually, afternoon naps, however blissful (especially in the office...sshhh)., just keep me awake at night. Whatever.

Low: Don't want to get into that now.

High: Hardly any. Can use a good one this weekend though. There's going to be a birthday party I think, hurray!

Points: 4 Gazillion points to 4 wheeled vehicles. -2 Gazillion to 2 wheeled ones. Hmph.

P.S. - This wasn't too bad, disliked writing like this, not anymore.
P.P.S. - Paragraphs help readability don't they?

Been a while

2009-08-09T21:40:00.003+05:30

It's been almost two weeks since I last posted something I think. Most of that is due to the fact that I didn't have a computer with a functioning keyboard during all that time and a small part is due to the laziness and lack of things to write about.

I'm trying to recap what all happened in this time but am drawing a blank. Apart from some memorable culinary experiments there is nothing of note. While on the subject, I just made chicken for the first time ever. It was okay, Rochak and Anshika liked it so I won't complain too much. All I'll say is it could've been much better. I didn't like handling the raw chicken bit, very messy and disgusting, but it takes some getting used to it I think.

Moving on. Finally watched Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. It was awesome! Couldn't have made it any better. The duration was also spot on. I hope the remaining two movies are even longer.

Other than that nothing more than the usual stuff - bored at work, bored at home, nothing to do, tired, homesick, hate work sometimes.

Check out urbandictionary.com. Cool place to pass time.

High: Ummm...vacation this weekend. Hopefully.

Low: Monday tomorrow.

Points: 100 points to whoever wants them.

Another TAG

2009-07-29T23:30:00.002+05:30

This one is self-inflicted since I don't feel like writing anything down. Picked it up from Anu.
Here are the rules:

a) Link the person who tagged you.
b) Post the rules on your blog.
c) Share the ABCs of you.
d) Tag 3 people at the end of your post by linking to them.
e) Let the 3 people know of the tag by leaving them comments.
f) Do not tag the original ‘tagger’

My ABCs:

A – Available/Single? - Both

B – Best friend? - If there was only one, I would have named.

C – Cake or Pie? - Haven't had enough pies, so Cake.

D – Drink of choice? - Anything with lemon in it.

E – Essential item you use every day? - Music player on my phone.

F – Favorite colour? - Blue for clothes, Green landscapes, Electric Purple for material things.

G – Gummy Bears Or Worms? - None.

H – Hometown? - Dilli, my favourite place in the world.

I – Indulgence? - Food.

J – January or February? - Jan, has birthdays and holidays.

K – Kids & their names? - Depends on the wife :P

L – Life is incomplete without? - F for friends.

M – Marriage date? - A Saturday in early December.

N – Number of siblings? - 1 Kid brother, more than enough.

O – Oranges or Apples? - Tough one. Can't choose. Though you don't need to peel Apples, but it's hard to find good ones.

P – Phobias/Fears? - Heights.

Q – Quote for today? - "Life! Sigh..."

R – Reason to smile? - Vacation plans in place.

S – Season? - Spring.

T – Tag 3 People? - Nandu, Aabha, Happy.

U – Unknown fact about me? - I can fly, but only when no one is looking.

V – Vegetables you don't like? - Tinday, don't know what they're called in English.

W – Worst habit? - Over-eating.

X – X-rays you've had? - Multiple. The last one I had showed a fracture in my spinal cord. True story, was run over by a car.

Z – Zodiac sign? - Cancer. Extremely Moody.

Yawn. Such a boring tag, didn't even feel like having fun with it. Later.

Glow in the dark house?

2009-07-25T17:38:00.002+05:30

I was about to type a title for this post, when the auto-complete feature gave me this along with few of my previous post titles. I've definitely never used it for any of my posts. Weird. But I didn't have to think about writing one either, so thanks.

Thursday was boring as usual. Nothing much happened and didn't feel like writing down the same useless crap over and over again. Friday was better. Finished off what I was supposed to do and then didn't do anything else for the rest of the day. Any work that is. Just remembered, on Thursday evening went a friend's place for dinner, her boyfriend cooked. Stuffed capsicum was good, baked potatoes with cream were kinda raw (the guy insisted that they were supposed to be that way so technically they were good too) and chicken something (they didn't give me a name for it) was great. Somehow home-made food makes me want to eat much more than I actually can.

Had received an email from Microsoft about Bill Gates addressing a conference in Delhi with some high level politicians like Kapil Sibal etc. and there was a link to where we could watch it live. So I thought why not, maybe there'll be something interesting. At least it'll help me kill another hour off the clock. So I followed the link and it tells me that I need Silverlight to be able to view the video. I had heard about it a lot and seen a demo in class once. This thing is totally awesome. I recommend you try it today. I had to raise a request to the tech guys for getting it installed and they gave me a link for their own server where it was available. It worked. So since I was on the MS site I decided to check out Windows 7. It looks really cool, hopefully it won't disappoint like Vista. So I took the tour, watched all the videos and then installed IE8 from the same server and a whole lot of other stuff which they don't normally allow you to have (like flash plugin for the browsers, that's just stupid). Since everything was built using Silverlight, the videos didn't take anytime to load at all. Then I started googling for sites that use Silverlight and found some really cool stuff. Do check it out. Had to attend a boring and annoyingly long meeting in the evening which just killed the mood.

Rochak had to leave early as he was going to Hyderabad for the weekend. Reached home and did nothing for 2-3 hours, just sat in a chair switching channels. Watched The Longest Yard again, fun movie. Kapil felt like cooking so he did (dal and rice), but I didn't feel like eating, so I didn't. Drank Fanta and munched on Kurkure. Got hungry by 11 so made soupy Maggi (with actual tomato soup powder, wasn't much of a difference). Kept channel surfing till 2.30 am (which came to me as a surprise really) and then decided to call it a night.

Woke up really late. Did nothing since morning. Have downloaded the first (actually fourth) episode of MST3K, will watch it today, the concept is just too funny. Decided to make Rajma so called up mom and asked her what all I'm going to need. Turns out have almost everything except the Rajma, so finally got out of bed, had a bath and went shopping. Got everything plus replenished the Lays and Kurkure stock. Had a glass of milk after coming back and have been online since. Another power cut, dammit! Will tell you how the Rajma turned out. Stay tuned.

High: The possibility of going on a vacation this weekend.

Low: Plan didn't materialize.

Points: 150 points for Sandeep (the boyfriend) for a great meal. Thanks.

Zzzzzzzz

2009-07-22T21:30:00.002+05:30

I have never felt the need to sleep so much, ever. Just don't want to wake up in the morning, no matter when I sleep. Did exactly that today. Rochak had to leave super early so I decided not even to make an effort to wake up. Woke up two hours later than usual thanks to a phone call reminding me about a team meeting. Dammit! Grudging and cursing, dragged myself out of bed, to hell with bathing, pull myself away from the TV because of another phone call, Meg Ryan was about to make a run for the Empire State Building in probably the only part of the movie Sleepless in Seattle that I've managed to watch properly till date.

I reach the office, 15 minutes late for the meeting (thank God for saving me from at least that time) and thinking why did I even bother while yawning. Step out of the room, head straight to lunch. The rest of the day was pretty much frustrating as work kept piling up. Blew my top at around half past six and dropped everyting to listen to some music. I had updated the collection on my phone and removed all the hard rock/heavy metal numbers. Big mistake! There were a few of them left here and there which I had left for emergency purposes. Good call, needed that so badly. Hate work.

High: The extra two hours of sleep in the morning.

Low: The rest of the day, work, life.

Points: -10000 points to whoever it is who is handing out more work everyday.

Two more days

2009-07-21T21:44:00.003+05:30

Yesterday was pretty uneventful. Went to work. Sat around wasting time during the first half. Had lunch, something called Chicken Istoo (they just change the names, it’s tastes the same) which didn’t really agree with me. Tried to find something for the paper I’m supposed to write and submit by the end of the week but couldn’t so gave up. Went to Rochak’s cabin and slept like a log for a good one and a half hours, pure bliss. Decided to go home earlier than usual and make dinner ourselves, instead of eating in the food court in campus. Prachi also joined us. And so we made Pao Bhaji. It’s easier than some people might think. Just boil the veggies, chop up a lot of tomatoes and onions (don’t boil them), mix and mash everything, put in the readymade Pao Bhaji Masala and salt to taste, top it with a big dollop of butter and you’re done. Needless to say it was great.

Slept earlier than usual but still woke up late. I never used to sleep so much. Today was fun. Forwarded a mail to everyone which turned into a chat session. Wasted a good three hours or so. We should keep doing that now and again. After lunch, I had this project evaluation to do. Since I had no idea about what I should mark them on, I just asked them to explain what they had done and in some cases checked the output. There hasn’t been a more generous project evaluator ever, 14 out of the 16 people got a perfect score. Wish we had evaluators like that. Some of them actually knew everything, Rochak taught them a little too well! Dozed off for an hour in the office again after writing this.

High: The nap in office.

Low: Couldn't be at Kritika's farewell party. Gonna miss you so much! :(

Points: 30 points to me for being too generous at the evaluation.

Half good Sunday

2009-07-19T21:20:00.007+05:30

After a long time had a pretty good day. You know about the first quarter. The second quarter was pretty dormant of you know what I mean. Woke up around 3 pm, had a leftover lunch of Chowmein. There was a power cut again so we decided to venture out for a change. The weather as usual was exquisite. It was a long ride to the place called Planet X, and the view on the way was just brilliant. There is this place called Chamundi Hill on top of which is the Chamundi Temple. It was in full view from the road and it felt like we were in a hill station. The place was much better than I expected of this small city.

They have a full-fledged Karting circuit which is pretty awesome by the looks of it, but there was sort of queue and we weren't really in the mood for it. So we decided to head to Ground Zero, which is equipped with PS3s, pretty large LCD screens and bean-bags! At Rs. 50/hour, it's pretty good, considering the ambiance and the range of games they have on offer. We played NFS Carbon which quite literally sucks compared to Most Wanted. Got bored of it in 10 minutes and switched to FIFA 08. They didn't have PES or Tekken. FIFA was still better, too bad the TVs were not HD compatible. Time flies when you're having fun, and as soon as we decided to wrestle each other in Smack Down vs Raw, our time was up. I had half a mind to pay for another hour but the thought of the bike-ride with the hill-view convinced me otherwise.

We stopped by a place called Lemon Tree to grab a Shawarma, but they aren't even close to as good as Al Bake in NFC back home. A welcome snack nonetheless. Another visit to the departmental store to pick up an air-tight container for biscuits and stuff that get damp or become ant-food when kept out for even a day. The fact that we also picked up a load of ice-cream just compliments the way departmental stores are built. They want you to buy stuff and they make you do it eventually.

Back home and instead of making Chowmein again, I decided to go for the easier and the more non-healthier alternative, Chopsuey with Schezwan. Just heat some oil and deep fry the hell out of the boiled noodles until they turn a golden red. The Schezwan is again packaged powder stuff, it's just more tomatoey than the Manchurian. Rochak chopped up the vegetables this time (cabbage, carrot, capsicum and onion) and added green peas. Saute the vegetables, add water and the Schezwan mixture. Heat to boil, pour over the Chopsuey and enjoy:

The only thing left to do today is iron clothes for tomorrow morning, spend (waste) some time on facebook and then try to go to sleep early. Bye for now.

High: The bike ride :)
Plus I'm happy about blogging again.

Low: Surprisingly none. Oh yeah, have to wake up early tomorrow. Counts today.

Points: 1000 points to Jim for making a wonderful hill in the middle of this boring city.

One-liner: I'm a little overweight because my favorite dish is called seconds :P

Of Klingons and sleeping disorders

2009-07-19T07:05:00.003+05:30

I have not slept in the last 20 hours and I don't feel like going to bed even now. I have been awake all night mostly doing nothing and then watching the new Star Trek movie for the last two hours. It was very late night when I started and it's early morning as it finished. I was actually taken aback for a second as I looked away from the screen and saw natural light coming through the window panes.

It's been ages since I did this sort of a thing. Last instance I can remember was during training when one of our friends had got one of those USB modem internet connections. It had barely been two months and we hadn't used internet properly for that duration of time. So me and Rochak (who had just bought a new iPod Touch) sat through the night doing I don't remember what on the internet. I'm sure I must've blogged that day. OK there isn't any post which mentions that day but I guess that was the time when I used to write on InfyBlogs and then mail the post to myself and then post it here. So that night I must've scheduled a weeks worth of posts to be published one day at a time.

Oh there's another time I remember. Me, Rochak, Rachit and Atul had gone to Ooty and spent the night playing cards and playing pranks and what not. Got tired and went out for hot tea as soon as the first rays of light hit the surface. It was very chilly outside, which made the tea/coffee even more enjoyable. Good times.

The movie was great. I'm sure there is a whole new generation of Star Trek fans waiting in the ranks for something like this to make them come out in support. Hope they make sequels. Rating: 4.5 stars

I think I overestimated myself about the sleep, it suddenly started to kick in. Guess it's the music. Should I brush my teeth right now or when I wake up in the evening?

Definitely need to sleep. Later.

How to make Chowmein

2009-07-18T16:48:00.011+05:30

I slept late last night, wasting time on facebook like everyone. So woke up pretty late, around noon. Kapil had already left to get his new bike serviced, and hasn't returned yet. That left me and Rochak, and as we pondered over what to eat for a late brunch we realised that we had bought a pack of noodles about two weeks ago and it was time to use it.

A quick check of the fridge and a phone call home later, we decided to go shopping for all the ingredients. Half an hour later, armed with everything that was needed and much more, we (mostly me) set about our first attempt at making Chowmein. Here's a step by step guide for novices like us, rather like we used to be:

1. Put the noodles in a large pot and boil them. Be careful, you don't want to overcook them or they'll get too sticky to handle. Drain the remaining water and leave them out to cool. There was some problem with the kind of utensils we had, mostly because of their size. So after another phone call to mom, I thoroughly cleaned the slab of the kitchen and laid out the boiled noodles as shown.

Be ready to use your hands because this can't be done any other way. Take some oil and rub some on all of the spread out noodles so that they don't form lumps and are easier to cook.

2. The vegetable. I used half a cabbage, one onion, one carrot and one capsicum.

Before

After half an hour of tedious chopping and slicing, we are ready to start cooking (Rochak helped, perfectly peeled the carrot).

After

3. Heat some oil in the large pan which you plan to use. Put all the vegetables and saute till the onions look like they're done.

The other pan contains Manchurian, regular packaged stuff easily available in the market (mostly done by Rochak). Just put the powder in the packet in some water and boil till ready. I prefer heating a little water and then mixing the powder while stirring in a small bowl. Then transfer this into the pan with the rest of the water. This way you don't get any lumps.

4. Pick up the noodles and put them in too. I used only about half of what was laid out ob the slab. Use your hands again and try to untangle them as you put them instead of dumping it all at once. Mix it up.

5. The other ingredients required are soya sauce, chilli sauce, white vinegar and salt. Yep, that's about it.

Put 2-3 spoons of soya sauce, chilli sauce and salt according to taste (sprinkle the salt with your hands as the stuff in the pan is dry and won't mix properly if you just put it all with a spoon). Stir and mix until the color of the noodles changes to the brown you know it is. Put in 2 spoons of vinegar and stir. It's a pretty tiring job because it is so dry and stirring isn't as easy.

6. Voila! It's done.

Served hot with a gracious amount of Manchurian on top.

Needless to say it was delicious. Coupled with a glass of mix-fruit juice on the rocks, it was heavenly (especially after working so hard).

Testimonials:
Rochak - "Kya baaaaat hai! Maza aa gaya aaj to. Well done Ginny."

P.S. - If anyone decides to follow these instructions and finds them useful, please drop a comment. I'd just like to know :)
Thinking about posting the recipe for my slowly-becoming-famous Vegetable Pulao too.

High: But obvious.

Low: We thought there was a power cut since morning. Turns out we had a short circuit. Just got fixed.

Points: 200 points to me for a successful first attempt at making Chowmein.
100 points to mom for helpful instructions and letting me hang around in the kitchen when she used to make this stuff at home and I just couldn't wait to get my hands on it.
100 points to the guy who fixed the power.

Hmmmmmm

2009-07-18T00:47:00.005+05:30

Was just reading the previous post, and realised the first para was pretty stupid. Oh well, I'm not complaining, that's probably the most inspired writing I've done since Obama became President! Not exactly inspired, flowy is more like it. By the way, the title of the last post was because of this app on Facebook where people put up quizzes about themselves and have their friends answer it. I had put up an absurd quiz just for fun and obviously people didn't do very well in that one. Then I put up the real quiz, and still they didn't do well. Some of them even did worse! I thought you read my blog, they were all right out of these pages. Whatever. Enough about that now.

Listening to Jagjit Singh ghazals. There's a certain serenity associated with them which just soothes me. I remember gifting my dad a best of collection for his birthday. He loved it, still does. There would be some quiet evenings, where none of us had anything to do (mostly weekends) after having lazed about the whole day, dad would put both the cassettes in the music player and it would just keep playing over and over in the background, and having nothing better to do, I listened to them. The lyrics are just beautiful, there's no other way of describing them, and his voice is oh my god! The use of language is just mind-blowing (pretty difficult to decipher in some cases, hardcore urdu, but beautiful nonetheless), especially the metaphors and the irony. You should really try them sometime. If you do decide to, I would recommend the compilation titled 'A Journey', has some of his best.

Have a subscription to this site which sends you comics everyday via email. Got a nice one today, it's called Rabbits Against Magic:

Two rabbits are sitting in a bar having a drink.
Loser Rabbit: "If you want to look on the positive side, you could say that disappointments are a way for making more room for hope."
Both of them take another swig of their drink.
Other Rabbit: "You might wanna consider renting out some of yours."

I want to watch Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince! The last movie rocked despite the average literature they had to work with. This one wasn't much better, so I have my expectations. I stopped looking for the bookish elements in the movies a long time back, since it only leads to disappointment. I would rather enjoy the movie for what it is and cherish whatever is left of the legacy (just one more movie to go, what after that!! Please someone make a crappy TV series or something). It's got a pretty good rating on RT, so I have my fingers crossed.

Feel like posting an image but can't think of anything to search for. Couldn't find anything on Flickr under 'bored'. Here's what I think I'll do. I'm going to post a link to one of my older posts which I think is worth reading again, and in case you had missed it earlier, it's your lucky day.

This is a nice one: Till the end of food.., enjoy!

P.S. - I had always wanted to keep my blog strictly for proper writing. You know, complete sentences, no SMS lingo (which I still don't use), proper punctuations, oh hell it's the OCD OK! If you have noticed (of course you haven't), that I used to follow those rules till a while back. Then I said to myself that there's no point in doing all that. I got rid of the complete sentences thingy, and a few others too (can't list them), but just don't like untidy stuff. Yes, I know, OCD is a medical condition, thank you very much.

High: Didn't get drenched while coming back from the office. And the comic maybe.

**Update**: Don't know how I forgot about this. Just watched "Up", the latest animation flick from Pixar. Really nice, heartwarming and obviously funny. 4 stars.

Low: Ordered the wrong chicken (Kadai instead of Tikka Masala) for dinner.

Points: -100 to lazy roomie who didn't want to go out to this nice resto bar we heard about. It's been ages since I ate at properly (ahem) at a nice place.

+1 to Nandu to shut her up about the points. There, happy now? >:D

How well do I know me?

2009-07-17T01:28:00.001+05:30

There are parts of me which scream out that I do and there are some which say who the hell are you? I'll be honest here and say that I prefer the latter because the ones that do know me don't like me very much. Can't really blame them, there isn't much to like anyway. Beneath the good, sensitive, compassionate, caring and loving nice guy hides a vile and horrifyingly disgusting monster who is eating away from the inside, biding his time, waiting for something, a sign maybe, or just the right moment to burst out and unleash his wrath. I don't want to be that guy. I know his deepest, darkest secrets and they give me nightmares. Living with that kind of burden inside you, who wouldn't become a monster. I can listen to his thoughts, picture his delusional fantasies in my head, even feel him shaking my bones trying to break free sometimes. I have been tempted on quite a few occasions to let go, give in to the pain and put an end to this living hell by embracing the horror, but I have survived somehow, barely.

It feeds on my anger and hate, sometimes even managing to pull his ugly head through the cracking walls and show a glimpse of what is on its way sooner rather than later. I will regret those moments of weakness for as long as the walls can hold out, there have been some repairs, although not complete, because forgiveness isn't quite the same as forgetting. It's just a matter of time before he starts using these moments to widen the cracks and make me forget to regret. But I don't want to forget, these cracks remind me of who I really am, or was. I just want to be him, want him to be stronger, want him to keep fighting so that I can keep being that guy. I have to help him reinforce the walls, find some way to get rid of the frustration, the hatred, make it less painful to remember, to forgive him. There must be a way to make things better, he must find it before it's too late. So help me God.

Sounds good na? Doesn't make a lot of sense though, but well written none the less wouldn't you say? Had started out with nothing in mind, well maybe intended it to be a bit funny, but my god how things end up sometimes! That's the magic of keeping a flow, it just happens on it's own.

P.S. - For some of my friends, don't worry! I'm perfectly all right, not sad or depressed or on the edge of insanity (maybe a little bit). It just came out this way, wasn't thinking about anything or anyone. Wasn't thinking at all for that matter!

High: This post! :)

Low: The monotony.

Points: 100 points to Nandu for finally posting something, though I have a feeling she did it just for the points :P

-1000 points to whoever is responsible for the power cut. I want to post this on my blog and go to sleep asap! My roomie is going to kill me, or worse leave without me to go to office, if I make him late for his class in the morning.

It's raining

2009-07-15T23:52:00.005+05:30

Today as I was coming home, riding on the pillion seat of a bike and getting drenched in the continuous downpour since the maid washed our clothes and was about to hang them up to dry (it was Monday I think, they still haven't dried), with my friend and teammate Prachi riding her newly acquired Honda scooty slowly and steadily behind us, I was reminded about how I used to ride Aastha's scooty in college. I crashed it only once, that too in the college parking itself, twisted my ankle in the process, had a limp for about a week. Also used Nandita's scooty a lot, one day I remember especially well, when I took it all the way to DCE! Man that was a fun day! We ended up in Feroz Shah Kotla of all places and walked around the ground (it's freakishly small), even went close to the pitch, went to all the best stands to enjoy the view of the lush green outfield and that too just like that! No entry passes, special permissions or using known contacts, we just strolled in. Happy days, sigh.

Riding a bike in the rain is no fun at all. You get too wet and there is the constant scare of a fast car just splashing you with all the muddy water in the puddles on the road. Driving a car in the rain, on the other hand is much more fun. I even blogged about it once, will read it. It must be one of the few posts under the label happy. Just checked, there are actually quite a lot of posts there, and there is another one called Rain Dance, and another long one about a night none of us will ever forget.

High: Actually got some work done, and it was well appreciated. Oh and it just stopped raining, super cool breeze, clear sky, just brilliant!

Low: Got more work because of the good work.

Points: 100 points to me for starting this again. -100 points to everyone whose blog I follow and who have not been blogging.

Image Courtesy: aninditasengupta

Another week gone

2009-07-12T22:42:00.007+05:30

It's almost like I'm counting down the days to the time I get the option to go home for good. It's only been just over a month since my year long stay in this place far away from home began. The first month was sort of fun, but the past week has been more than just difficult. Homesickness in it's purest form. Had an excuse to go home for only a day, one of my oldest friends Vishal was getting engaged, in a hurry if I might add, and to be honest I almost went even though he had given me only a day's notice. I even checked out tickets and stuff but it was just too short notice. And my family was holidaying in Shimla at the time. So whatever chances I did have (1 in a million also counts), it just wasn't supposed to happen. Oh before I forget, congratulations to Vishal and Shradha, all the best to you both, promise to be there for the wedding!

Anyways, so now I have to wait till September end to go home. It's so far away! The initial euphoria(?) of owning a new house, setting it up and enjoying it has worn off I guess. I still like where I live, but that's about it. There's nothing to do here. Either stay home or go to work. All the friends I made during the past 6 months or so have disappeared save one or two. Had become so used to that way of life. I've rambled about this before so no point repeating it. What hasn't changed is that I still miss my friends back home, even more so now. Have mentioned that too. I'm running out of things to crib about?! Impossible!!

Then there's work. The burden, the pain, the agony of it all. There's so much to do in so little time that I waste half the time worrying about it. I can't even get myself to sit down and read the next Forsyth (also finished The Negotiator) because I keep saying to myself I should be studying instead. Then, there's other important stuff I should be devoting time to but I won't even mention it because I haven't given it any time at all for almost a month now.

Since the three of us have only laptop between us, we have to give everyone there share of the time to use it. Some days, when the others are busy somewhere else and it's completely idle, you just don't know what to do with it. Wait online for a while for someone to show up and chat with, but for how long. And I can't spend hours on Facebook taking stupid quizzes or playing worthless games (except Scrabble, though I am in need of a good amount of practice). Even tired of listening to the same old music on my phone. One of these days I'm going to delete it all in a fit of frustration and then cry later. Or maybe I won't. My ears will certainly enjoy it (I think I'm going deaf in the left ear due to over-exposure).

My phone bill is going through the roof too. Can't seem to sit idle for even half an hour (the TV is no good either these days, something is really going wrong with this world), tend to call up random people sometimes. I hope I don't stall unnecessarily when the other person wants to hang up, I don't mean to (gulp, the BILL). Could that be a reason why I lot of people don't even attend my calls? Nah, now I'm just being silly. It's 2 a.m. already, have to get up early but don't feel like sleeping. Hate going to work in the morning. Guess that's enough babbling for now.

Slow

2009-07-10T00:01:00.003+05:30

Being stuck behind a slow truck overtaking an even slower truck is what made me think about blogging today. This is what life has come to. There is absolutely nothing that would make me want to write something down. I did think about blogging how we spent our last weekend but just didn't. Lack of interest or just plain laziness? Wish i knew.

We did have some fun on saturday. Played round-toss like crazy in the hall for about an hour, then sat outside enjoying the lightest of showers (it almost feels like the clouds are sneezing, it's like a spray), then we decided to crack open the coconuts that keep falling from our trees. That took a good hour too, for just one coconut! They are so dry it's like cutting through wood. I hurt my hand pretty badly trying to muscle through it, the index finger was swollen like a fat cucumber for three days. Then we cooked our dinner! It was great considering a first attempt at cooking. There were no leftovers either.

Sunday was ok. Didn't do much. Watched Terminator Salvation in the evening, was ok. Oh that reminds me, we also watched Transfomers on saturday, was unneccesarily long. Then we made a make-shift dinner of sweetened deep fried bread with butterscotch ice-cream. Excellent once again.

The rest of the week has been pretty routine and boring. Went to a class as tech associate for the first time (help out during practical sessions) without studying what I was supposed to help them with and got embarrassed badly. Which reminds me I haven't checked my feedback for the same. Gulp!

Later.

Note: Don't mind the typos, blogging from an iPod Touch.

Still more nothing

2009-06-25T14:12:00.004+05:30

Time has come to standstill. The days have become longer and the week just doesn’t seem to end. Go to bed every night sulking about the next morning and the thought of going to work and wake up to the prospect of sitting in front of your computer the whole day doing nothing, waiting for the clock to show that I’ve done enough hours so that I can punch out and go home. While away what’s left of the day in front of the TV waiting to fall asleep. Copy. Paste into an infinite loop.

Kritika is finally moving to the U.S. for higher studies. She is worried that we’ll forget her somehow. Yeah right, like that’s possible! It’s been 8 months since I moved away and I’ll be damned if any of you forgot me. Granted you won’t come back to the motherland for more than once a year, but I’ve also just been home once in 8 months. And you hardly know where a person is when you’re talking on the phone or chatting online (though we might be aware of your location when we call you, so don’t expect loooong conversations where people patiently listen to your stories). But rest assured, we will call.

Someone mentioned a birthday party the other day. The thing about this one was that there were around 17 invitees and the birthday girl had decided to take them all out to the best restaurant in town. That’s one brave/rich or stupid girl. Anyways, I was reminded of the parties we used to have. Nandita, Kritika and Garima’s parties stand out in my memory right now. The first two were at Aastha’s place and the third was at Nandita’s. It was just the 8 of us having unadulterated fun for the entire day. And most of the times we didn’t even need a reason to party, we would all just reach someone’s place and spend the entire day there, even cooking the food sometimes (remember the Pao Bhaji people?). Those were most definitely the best days of college. Sigh…….

There was one more thing I had wanted to write about but it escapes me at the moment. Had thought about 4 things to write about last night when I was sitting outside the house at midnight because there was a blackout (they’re becoming too frequent these days, and it’s not like the temperature’s soaring or anything so you have load shedding, there is hardly any load! What’s there to shed?) for an hour or so. The one day I sleep early, I have to wake up in the middle of the night and squat mosquitoes while waiting for the fan to turn back on.

Happy Days

2009-06-17T23:45:00.004+05:30

Those were the days. I'm referring to the extended-training period at Infy. I've never had so much unadulterated unrestricted fun in my life! We would somehow wake up in the morning (at least me, if at all) and rush to class to catch the morning attendance. Then sleep through the rest of the day waiting for the clock to show 5 o clock. That was when the real fun began, the normal fun being chatting on messengers and playing games which were strictly prohibited. We used to go for a swim on some days, which were more popularly known as Swimming classes by Coach Sid (apparently I was the only one among the group who could swim well enough to show others how it's done). It continued for a while but eventually gave way to the pursuit of excellence in a game called NFS Most Wanted. We went crazy over that game. Especially me, Saurabh and Rachit. The three of us used to play it all day long. And thus began the Hostel Nights. Long hours of driving high-end cars running away from cops ending in lavish meals and late night movies and gambling through a fun game called flash and Bournvita and Jagjit Singh Ghazals at 2 a.m. in the amazingly awesome weather and what not. The 2009 edition of IPL only helped this cause further as the evenings bacame shorter and the nights longer. There were times when we used to try to study for the re-tests on the next day (all of us flunked in the actual tests :D as this part of the training was not evaluated, i.e. didn't matter if you failed or passed) but we usually ended up playing cards or NFSMW after 15-20 mins max of looking through boring slides.

After training came the postings and Saurabh and Rachit were posted to Pune before anyone else in our group. They were given just one day notice for packing up and leaving. We weren't complaining too much as this was supposed to happen sooner or later. They left the following evening, and the rest is history.

This post is dedicated to one of my dearest friends Rachit to whom I didn't even say goodbye thinking that I'll be seeing him in the near future anyway.

Miss you brother.

R.I.P.

Cheers! :)

My New Home

2009-06-14T17:14:00.034+05:30

At long last, I am back to this blog. Will talk about other stuff (?) later, but right now, as promised, I'm going to take everyone on a tour of my new home in Mysore.

Welcome!

This is what it looks like from the outside.

This is our driveway/cricket pitch.

Needless to say this is the wicket.

These are our coconut trees. One of them has fresh green ones and the other one has dead yellow ones. The latter is the only one that yields any, of course when it is least expected. We're thinking about putting a heads-up sign.

This is the main door. We have two sets of keys, the third one is with the neighbour in case we get locked out by mistake (has happened twice, luckily someone was inside on both occasions).

This is the lobby (?) where we keep our shoes and other junk that we bring in.

No shoes allowed beyond this point.

This is the door to Kapil's room. Since people are asleep inside, I didn't think I should disturb them for taking a pic. It's a nice room all the same.

Moving on......

This is the door to our room.

Open says-me.

This is the bed which is placed for optimal air circulation from the fan. Notice the ledge which comes in very handy.

The laundry bags are courtesy the habit we picked up from the Infy rooms. They are convenient. The door at the corner leads to an attached bathroom as below.

OK, it's more of a loo than a bathroom. The ad said attached bathroom. What the hell, we are not complaining.

The cupboard. Oh and I forgot to mention the ummm green board with light fixtures and the mirror in the middle. Nice touch, we just added the mirror.

Moving out into the hall etc.....

This is our living room, dining hall. That is Rochak on our 'sofa'. Bean bags coming soon.

This is the TV as is evident.

This is the corridor a little down the hall to the right, which leads to the bathroom and the other loo.

The Bathroom.

The other loo.

This is the shelf in the wall (a bit messy at the moment) which has food at the top (coincidence?), then the shaving kits, deos etc, then the mini-library, the extended library containing study material (mostly untouched), then sports stuff and junk at the bottom.

Makeshift safe on the opposite wall. Mostly contains documents and stuff. The door leads to the kitchen.

Make that a well-equipped kitchen (it was empty when we first stepped in).

Make that a very well-equipped kitchen.

And roomy!

That is the last bit of indoors there is to show. Let's step outside again.

The stairs leading to the terrace.

The first part of the terrace.

The better half.

Our coconut trees, you can see the green ones.

Going back down to the other side of the house.

The garden (OK now I'm pushing it, but what else do you call it?) and the narrow corridor leading to the old-style washing area.

An aerial view of the same.

Phew! That's about it. This brings us to the end of our tour of My New Home in Mysore.

I leave you with a great view of the (almost) 22 yards of pure fun we're having these days. We also have lights outside for day-night matches (much to the dismay of our neighbours).

P.S. - This is also an open invitation to all readers to visit and stay in our humble abode for as long as they like.

The Month That Was

2009-04-25T19:51:00.002+05:30

Sorry Blog. It's been a month and 3 days since I last posted something. Jeez! That's a very long time now that I think about it. I have not been writing anything for the simple reason that I don't have aything to write about. Life is at a standstill. Nothing happens these days. You get up, drag your sorry arse over to class, doze through the day, carry your drained and sleepy butt back to your room and laze about till it's time to go back to sleep and dread the next morning. Sigh.

The entire month wasn't all that bad. I went home for about a week and believe me when I tell you I that needed it. Home-cooked meals, my big old bed, my ancient PC with a slow broadband connection, the sagging couch and bean bag, driving a car through the streets of Delhi and Noida, visiting college trying to figure out what has changed and realizing nothing has, meeting relatives and cousins, hanging out with friends, eating home-cooked food etc etc etc. It was great, but it could've been better if my friends were on holiday too. Well you can't have everything.

Oh and just after POST we had gone to Ooty for the weekend. The weather was awesome! It was great fun. Planning to go there again some weekend. At the moment the next stop is Kodaikanal (excuse spelling if wrong) for the long weekend coming up at the end of the month. Fingers crossed.

Extended training is a BIG BORE. Into my second week (technically third, was on leave for a good part of the first week, and luckily because the guys here tell me that it was hell!) and already find it unbearable. Modules finish today, project from tomorrow, hopefully will be better than classes.

Looking forward to getting posting in Chandigarh (hoping and praying) and watching the IPL (Go Daredevils!). Other than that hoping to get my phone back today from the Nokia Care centre. Have gone without music for two days now, can't take it anymore.

Finally finished reading 'The Day Of The Jackal', was great. Also read 'Kite Runner' when I went home, was different and good. Now reading 'The Negotitor', again by Forsyth, and as usual am stuck.

Can't promise regular posts because I don't think I can write anymore. There isn't a single stream of thought in my head which is worth pursuing for more than a minute of brain-time. And the general frame of mind these days is blank.

:|

Whoosh

2009-03-16T13:43:00.003+05:30

It's amazing how a simple thing like a cool breeze can cheer you up. I remember going back to my room thoroughly exhausted late one night last week and fortunately I got hold of a bicycle from someone. The downhill roads are everyone's favorite (but of course) but the stretch from GEC, via Reception towards ECC and beyond is by far the best. It's like a runway and that night it felt like I took off. I did a Leonardo (a la Titanic) with my arms outstretched (hope no security folks are reading, nothing could've happened, I had a helmet and knee pads, the works) and had this huge Grinch-like grin by the end of it that I didn't need to shout the words 'I'm the king of the world!'. Two days ago I sat at Gazebo for like a good half hour (before being dragged away by two pesky females who just wouldn't let me enjoy it) with my eyes closed and just feeling the gusty breeze hitting my face with a sort of violent calmness (?? I know oxymoron but there's no better way of describing it). Heaven I tell you. Yesterday we were in the swimming pool and the clouds were out of this world. It was like watching an hour long episode of 'The Best of National Geographic' on clouds and the evening sky. You had to be there, I can't even begin to describe the colors and the hues and the filtered sunlight and the silver linings and what not. I was sitting outside my block with my still unfinished Forsyth at midnight just to enjoy the weather (damn mosquitoes had me running back up in less than half an hour). And the cherry on top - it rained today! If you're reading this right now, STOP AND GO OUTSIDE RIGHT NOW! Thank me later :D

Oh by the way, News!

:)

:))

:)))

I'm coming home! Finally! Oh what a relief! Two more weeks to go though :( At the risk of jinxing it, hope the weather remains as it has been for the past week. Then these two weeks will just pass like a cool breeze, which is exactly what I'm going to go out and enjoy right now.
Good night!

Playlist

2009-03-13T10:43:00.002+05:30

Woke up late. Actually woke up really early (0615 hours!) but then went back to sleep. Came to class at 1035. Have been listening to music since. Got new headphones from Bangalore, nothing special, normal Philips 150 bucks stuff available anywhere, sound's great though. My Panasonics are too big and too noticeable (red and silver remember?). They are very comfortable though, this new one is a little uncomfortable because I'm not used to the in-ear variety now. Here's my playlist for the day (on shuffle):

Led Zeppelin - Whole Lotta Love (*****)
Dev D - Saali Khushi (*****)
Delhi 6 - Masakali (****)
Bluffmaster - Parde Ke Peeche (****)
Led Zeppelin - The Battle Of Evermore (****)
Guns N' Roses - Sweet Child O' Mine (*****)
System Of A Down - Chop Suey (***)
Led Zeppelin - Immigrant Song (*****)
Outlandish - Aicha (***)
Nickelback ft. Santana - Into The Night (***)
Dev D - Duniya (***)
The Rolling Stones - I Can't Get No Satisfaction (****)
Richie Valens - La Bamba (***)
Velvet Revolver - Set Me Free (****)
bodhiTree - XL Ki Kudiyan (****)
Norah Jones - Sunrise (****)
Gorillaz - Dirty Harry (***)
Coldplay - Fix you (****)
Dil Se - Satrangi Re (*****) ((One of Sonu Nigam's finest))
Let's Enjoy - Mundeya De Dil Hil Gaye (***)
Nelly - Hot 'n Here
Led Zeppelin - Kashmir (****)
Led Zeppelin - Communication Breakdown (****)
U2 - Where The Streets Have No Name (***)
Coldplay - Speed Of Sound (****)
Will Smith - Party Starter (***)
Iron Maiden - Fear Of The Dark (Live) (*****)
Rang De Basanti - Rang De Basanti (****)
David Bowie - The Man Who Sold The World (****)
Propellorheads - Spy Break (***)
Taal - Kariye Na (****)
Bohemia - Kali Denali (***)
Black Eyed Peas - Pump It (***)
Coldplay - Death And All His Friends (***)
Led Zeppelin - Heartbreaker (****)
System Of A Down - Toxicity (****)
Johnny Cash - Personal Jesus (****)
School Of Rock - School Of Rock (*****)
Coldplay - Brothers & Sisters (****)
Rage Against The Machine - Killing In The Name Of (****)
Delhi 6 - Genda Phool (***)
Black Eyed Peas - Bebot (***)
P.O.D. - Sleeping Awake (****)
Coldplay - The Scientist (****)
Kelly Clarkson - Walk Away (****)
Bob Dylan - Mr. Tambourine Man (***)
Guns N' Roses - Welcome To The Jungle (****) ((I was just thinking about this song!))
Modjo - Lady (***)
3 Doors Down - Krytonite (*****)
Coldplay - The Escapist (***)
Kailash Kher - Allah Ke Bande (****)
David Gray - Sail Away (****)
Rammstein - Feuer Frei (****)
ACDC - Back In Black (****)
Amy Winehouse - Rehab (***)
Scorpions - Rock You Like A Hurricane (****)
Arctic Monkeys - Fake Tales Of San Fransisco (****)
Audioslave - Original Fire (****)
Javed Jaffery - Mumbhai (****)
Rock On - Zehreelay (*****)
Lucky Ali - Tere Mere Saath (*****)
Eagles - Hotel California (Hell Freezes Over version) (*****)
Coldplay - Politik (****)
Rock On - Tum Ho To (***)
INXS - Need You Tonight (****)
Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na - Pappu Can't Dance (****) ((This song is much more fun when you have a friend named Pappu :P))
Rock On - Ye Tumhari Meri Baatein (****)
Rage Against The Machine - Calm Like A Bomb (****)
Bally Sagoo - Roop Tera Mastana (*****)
Radiohead - Punchup At A Wedding (*****)
Coldplay - Strawberry Swing (***)
Dil Chahta Hai - Tanhayee (*****) ((Another one of Sonu Nigam's finest))
Limp Bizkit - Behind Blue Eyes (****)
Coldplay - Viva La Vida (****)
Lenny Kravitz - American Woman (****)
James Brown - I Feel Good (****)
The Verve Pipe - Bittersweet Symphony (*****) ((I was asked to name my favorite song. I couldn't. She could and this was it.))
Apocalyptica - Life Burns! (****)
Taal - Taal Se Taal (Western) (****)
The Zeest - Sutta (***)
Panic At The Disco - I Write Sins Not Tragedies (****)

Phew! That's it for today. I'm tired. Last Count - 75+ :D

Peace

2009-03-11T14:02:00.002+05:30

Dated: March 2nd, 2009

Four and half months of torturous training filled with sleepless nights, bad food and homesickness has finally come to an end (POST is supposed to be easy, that's what I was told, so it has been excluded. It is super boring though, yawn). The feeling can be best described with the expression 'sigh of relief'. There is a sense of inner peace.

The next three months or so are going to be fun (*kneels down, hopes and prays to God*). Planning to buy a PS2 this weekend and maybe an (gulps) iPhone soon after (camera plans delayed even further, but they still exist on paper.) We're already planning weekend getaways to Goa and making plans to go home for a week, spending most of our time in the ECC etc etc etc. Sounds like a retirement plan, doesn't it? The scene from Dil Chahta Hai with the guys in an open top Merc heading to Goa has been playing in our heads on repeat ever since. Even if we don't manage a Merc, we'll get our hands on a Contessa Classic Convertible, but that scene has to be relived at any cost :D

Shit happens

2009-03-10T22:53:00.001+05:30

Highly sleep deprived. Have been going back to my room "early" at night (OK earlIER than usual) thinking it's the only way to catch up on some much needed sleep. But as is the case with everything I do, whenever I want to do something it suddenly becomes the hardest thing to do. When I WANT to study (very very rare occasions I assure you) there is something completely different going on which I MUST do. When I want to sleep, I have these bouts of insomnia which are impossible to cure. I reach my room at 1 and end up watching TV till 4, and NO it's not because of the TV that I'm awake Mr./Ms. Smartypants, it's because I can't sleep that I have to turn it on hoping that something completely and utterly boring would put me to sleep but it usually gets interesting after a while. Sigh. I hate sleeping during the day because it just keeps me awake at night. Like yesterday, I went to sleep at 5.30, slept like a baby till 8.30, felt great, was on my way to the Gecko when I passed by Shilpi and she wished me all the best for my exam today with the kind of smile that just lights up your face. Studied for a while, went back at 1.30 and voila, no sleep! Tossed and turned till 4.30 and finally managed to fall asleep. Woke up at 6.30 feeling sleep deprived again. The handson couldn't have been better so I won't complain too much (don't think there's scope for any more anyway). Came back to class to sleep (the AC is on here and it's burning up out there. Who turned up that Sun?!) and surprise surprise no sleep. I thought I wouldn't even have to try to sleep in this place but now I know better. Sleeping pills here I come.

P.S. - Shilpi met with a terrible accident just after we met last night. She's still unconscious in the hospital :.(
Here's praying for a speedy recovery. Get well soon.
Please leave your wishes here.

**Update**

Shilpi was in the hospital for 4 days and has recovered fully now.

I.D.C.

2009-02-22T17:03:00.002+05:30

It's that time of the training again. One module to go, one week to go. But this time it's different. I'm not as concerned or worried about it. I have stopped caring, hopefully not enough to not even pass. Old habits die hard. Stopped paying attention in class after the first few modules, thanks to boring teachers, and haven't been able to go back since, even when there are pretty good teachers (you can also blame it on the fact that we have a PC at our disposal which makes it pretty hard to pay attention; that is why some teachers make you switch off the monitors and concentrate, but then they become the bad teachers). Stopped doing assignments don't even remember when. Stopped studying for tests more than a day before just after.....actually haven't been able to do that since eternity. Lost my train of thought, dammit! Bah! Chuck it. Later. Can't wait for this Friday to get on with it. Even the weekend is supposed to be utilized to study for Compre. It just gets better and better! Sigh.

Have been browsing through the SLRBB and found some really amazing shots. Sharing a few with everyone. Hope the photographer community doesn't mind. (*Cannot display pic right now. Will post it sometime later*)

P.S. - I.D.C. = I Don't Care
P.P.S. to self - "We knew it would become worse before it gets better." - Alfred to Bruce/Batman, The Dark Knight.

NOTE: If you can't see the image, it's because I shut down my computer whenever am not using it. In case anyone knows of a server location where I can store images, please do let me know. And switch off your PC when you're not using it. (You can’t upload images here, you have to host them on your own server. But the server is active only when you’re logged on.)

Lost

2009-02-21T16:55:00.002+05:30

There were a lot of things I used to do on a regular basis which have now completely disappeared from my schedule of activities. Reading is something I miss the most. I had started reading 'The Day of the Jackal' by Frederick Forsyth barely a week before coming here and I'm still stuck at page 175 (I was at 154 when I left!). Part of the reason for that is my inability to sit in my room for long durations of time. I'm still using my room just as a place to keep my stuff and for performing activities related to maintaining basic hygiene. I sometimes sneak in a few hours of sleep as well. It is never occupied for more than 6 hours in a day (8 hours tops) on weekdays. Even when I'm there I prefer to channel surf or listen to music because by the time I reach the place the brain has usually given up and reading has become a highly complex task. I also miss reading the newspaper first thing in the morning. The first thing I do in the morning these days is curse myself for being late again.

I also miss following all my favorite sports. Cricket is a default favorite, we grew up on it (also I think that it is the only game I know inside out that's why following it is much easier). I don't even know when the matches are scheduled these days. But I don't miss it as much as Football. I haven't watched a single match from start to finish in the past three months. Oh the horror, the shame! Used to follow Tennis, Formula1, NBA and had just started following Golf (yes that's right, GOLF). The only thing I've been able to watch from start to (almost)finish is the final of the Australian Open, but I would rather not talk about it.

I used to have stuff to write about. I would just start typing a post in the middle of a very boring day or just a pick a piece of paper and start writing something. Nothing cheers me up more than writing down a few random paragraphs. I miss my old blog.

I miss my computer. It was ancient and in dire need of upgrades, but my dad thought I would just waste more time with it and my brother would not be able to concentrate on his studies (he was right). But I still loved spending hours on it doing maintenance work, organizing my Music Library (in excess of 2000 songs) and surfing the net at will. I miss limitless access to the web a lot.

I miss the weekends at home the most. Not that the weekends here are bad, but they were something else.

Gems from class

2009-02-15T22:36:00.000+05:30

T: "(explains something). Did you understand?"
(Silence)
T: (looks about helplessly) "Are you...."
YES!
(snigger snigger)

T: "What do you mean by (something)?"
(Silence)
T: Think and answer.
(Silence)
T: Who will think?
(Controlled laughter)

T: "What is J2EE?"
(Someone shouts "Java2 Enterprise Edition" amidst the mumbling. DUH!!)
T: "Good. What is Enterprise?"
(Loud mumbling. Same person answers again. Something about a company..)
T: (smiles) "It's a Big Company?"
(Eruption of laughter)

*T=Teacher

Searching....

2009-02-13T22:36:00.000+05:30

You must've heard a lot about Dev D the movie. I can't wait to watch it either. What you might not have heard is that the music is simply brilliant. I'm literally hooked to the song Nayan Tarse for the past 3-4 days. Wish it was a bit longer(deserves to be 6 minutes at least). Discovered another gem today:

Jalte jalte raakh jaisi hui hai saari
Khaak jaisi bewajah si umr saaari
Kahan chali gayi hai saali khushi
aiya aiya…
Kahan chali gayi hai saali khushi
aiya aiya…

Jalti aanhein hai saaans bhi
Jali hui jali hui
Dhoondu kaise hai aas bhi
Jali hui jali hui

Saanp jaisi kaali raatein hain
Hai zeher si ye zindagi

Kahan chali gayi hai saali khushi
aiya aiya…
Kahan chali gayi hai saali khushi
Kahan Kahan chali gayi hai saali khushi

Perfect reflection of my current state of mind.
Amit Trivedi is my new favourite composer.

Blank

2009-02-12T23:41:00.000+05:30

Sometimes it just jumps out and hits you in the face when you least expect it. I mean, here I am sitting, trying to study for a test tomorrow and my lovely brain suddenly decides to ask myself about Life, The Universe and Everything. Thanks ol' buddy ol' pal!!

I'm not sure what the question is today, but it's something related to life. "Is this it? Is this what I'll be doing for the rest of my life?" Something on those lines, but not quite that. I've had a lot of moments like these, but something's different today. It's this empty, hollow. vaccuumish, sickening feeling inside me which is traveling it's way up to my head and making it spin in a way that is making me want to throw up. Is it the music I'm listening to? OK, my brain just went numb. Drawing a blank. And the worst part is I'm not even exaggearting! What the @#$% is going on!

Recapturing The Dream - Part 2

2009-02-08T00:01:00.000+05:30

So I managed to save up a considerable amount of money last month, without the use of any special tools, and now comes the hard part. Which camera is the One for me?

I have gone through the InfyWiki SLR Club, browsed through several sites, shortlisted a few models, checked out the prices et al. The only problem is that what I thought would be good enough for me to start with isn't actually so. Since I want to take it up as a serious hobby, I have to go in for an advanced point and shoot, which unfortunately overshoots my budget by almost 150%. I could take the loan from Infy (12k@0.00%p.a.) and along with another month's worth of savings actually go in for the one I should. But the problem is that I'm not sure I want to spend THAT much on my first camera (worst nightmare - what if I'm no good!) and it's really hard to save that kinda money and even harder to just spend it all in one go. I haven't become a miser or anything (even though I'm a baniya, in fact I'm a really bad baniya), it's just that who doesn't like to have a hefty bank balance!

I'm really confused, to say the least. The budding artiste in me wants to wait it out and go for it. The little trigger-happy kid inside me can't wait and just wants something to hold, aim with and shoot!

Add to that, I'm really depressed. Super-tragic-sunday. First Federer, then Chelsea. Couldn't get worse.
@Nadal, Liverpool (or any other club) supporters: Keep your comments to yourself please. PLEASE.

For the record: I had decided on buying a Canon Powershot 590 IS. It had great features, now they're just decent. My friend Jerome suggested a Canon S5 IS (he has one of these, lucky bugger) or something on those lines. I hate to wait. This time it's my decision that's causing the hold-up. I hate decisions!

The ORACLE

2009-02-07T23:41:00.002+05:30

Oracle: "Hey kid. You look different."
Me: "It's the tie, and maybe the haircut and the facial hair."
Oracle: "Come sit down, have a candy."
Me: "I'm OK."

*pauses, sits down and takes the candy*

Me: "You knew that didn't you?"
Oracle: "Sure did."
Me: "You also knew I was going to flunk?"
Oracle: "Yup."
Me: "Then why the hell didn't you tell me?! I would've studied harder. Is dropping a mail or just an SMS asking too much!"
Oracle: "You had already made the choice of not studying."
Me: "RIGHT! What about the next module?"
Oracle: "You haven't made that choice yet."
Me: "OK. I'm going to study really hard from now on. Is that good enough a choice for you?"
Oracle: "Yes it is."
Me: "So now I'm going to pass?"
Oracle: "No. Sorry kiddo."
Me: "WTF!! Then what is it going to take?"
Oracle: "Bingo! That is the right question."

*pulling his hair out in frsutration*

Me: "Why you little @#$@#$%#%^&#$$%........."

*pulls out the monitor a la Sunny Deol and hurls it at her, turns around and flies away*

P.S. - For those who are confused about why I posted something like this, well let's just say the current module going on is called ORACLE and I hate it to death. It's so boring I can't even zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

More Nothing

2009-01-30T00:01:00.001+05:30

Date: Jan 22, 2009

I was wondering why I haven't posted anything in a long while(including the last post which amounts to nothing) and the answer is simple, I have nothing to write about. Life is monotonous to say the least. I can write about the monotony but that is just too boring. And it's not just me who's getting bored either, my last "post" fetched more comments than any of my previous 400+ worders.

Java is vast, full of lengthy assignments, takes time to find space to fit in my brain and not to mention Boring. The teacher is great but before she's able to generate enough interest to keep me glued she's able to induce sleep with her super-slow-mo typing and slide transition. From my room to my class(if and when I can get up) to the food courts to my class to my friends' class to my room is my usual route these days. I haven't set foot(literally) in the ECC for over a week now and doesn't look like I'm going to either before the weekend.

Another 3 day weekend approaching and I'm as enthusiastic about it as a cat about to be bathed. Just want to sleep it away. My friends want to go to Bangalore or any other place which is atleast two hours away from here but the idea of sitting in a bus for more than 10 kms just puts me to sleep(which I can't seem to be able to do when actually on the bus). So if you're reading this people, I think(I'm quite sure actually) I'll pass.

I thought knowing C++ would make my life easy in Java. It has just made me more impatient and ignorant to the subtleties of the language. This is not my idea of learning another language. I should've stuck to Learning French because this stuff sure as hell isn't far away from German to me right now. Au revoir.

P.S. - I hate to be a cynic, but as much as I like Obama I think the hype is getting to everybody. He isn't Superman and he still has to work with other people who are, well, OTHER PEOPLE. So I won't be surprised if he doesn't go down in history as a great leader of our times, but he sure as hell knows how to inspire hope. Therefore, here is to the hope of seeing miracles happen and at least some CHANGE for the better.

Something

2009-01-29T00:16:00.001+05:30

Date: Jan 23, 2008

After a very long time I had the pleasure of enjoying a nice quite evening all by myself. I went back early yesterday afternoon and caught a much needed nap. Woke up to re-re-re-runs of Friends, had a decent dinner along with Manas, picked up a few supplies from the store and was tucked into my bed with a CR by 9pm. In 2 hours I was able to study more than I have been able to through the entire week and there isn't a more satisfying feeling. Which calls for a celebration, but naturally.

So I put some music on my phone and decided to freshen up. Switched on the TV to watch Donnie Brasco (finally), made a piping hot cup of Rich Tomato Soup, some sweet bread covered in butter and a packet of namkeen I was given by my friend (along with a lot of other stuff) from back home whom I met last week in Bangalore. Now this is what I call having a good time, just sit back, relax, enjoy a movie with some nice snacks. Just the thought of it makes you want to run back to your room right now! Doesn't it?

P.S. - There's always a catch. I forgot to swipe out again yesterday, you know, out of sight out of mind. Sigh. What is the point of having an entire system to approve single swipes, if the requests are just ignored? Hmph.

Embarrassed

2009-01-28T00:01:00.000+05:30

I stayed up till 5 am for an exam! ME!! What has the world come to!?!
This is one of my lowest moments.

Also, got JAVA for stream.
Most people in different classrooms, and some more in different buildings :(
Coffee breaks won't be the same again.
This was our last night together *winks* :P

P.S. - In my defense, I didn't study or anything, was here for err... moral support. You know, I'll be there for youuuu.....

Incomprehensible

2009-01-27T00:01:00.000+05:30

I, for the life of me, can not comprehend the reasons for compromising on the effort that should complement the time I spend in the classroom in front of the computer doing nothing when I should be completely engrossed in compiling a compendium of all that has been done till date. Maybe it's complacency, but since I can compare the efforts of my compatriots to mine and come to the conclusion that instead of complaining so much I should rekindle my competitive spirit and in compliance to the general concensus and the constant compunction, get down to actually studying. I have to compress the compulsion of whiling away precious time and showcase my competence. The only complication I'm facing is that old habits decompose very slowly. After years of performing under pressure (completing the entire syllabus in one night), preparing for an exam which is more than a day away seems like a waste of time. But what seems like a waste of time right now is me composing this post and trying to turn all of your brains into compost! Before anyone loses their composure, I think it's time to complete this entry with a *wicked grin*.

Get Set Go

2009-01-26T00:01:00.000+05:30

Great start to the new year:

1 - Studied till 3 last night and forgot to swipe out. One more EL(Earned Leave) wasted
2 - Flunked today's exam.

The new year seems promising.

Post 1 0f 365

2009-01-25T00:01:00.001+05:30

Welcome to the same old new year.
Nothing much has changed apart from the calendars.
Nothing much is expected to change either. Sigh.

Have made absolutely no use of any facility in the ECC for the past two weeks. Maybe that's why I'm so lazy, or vice versa. Vicious circle, bah!

Resolutions: What's the point?

Great end to the year by the way - met my family after almost 2 months. Hadn't been away from them for more than 2 days ever. Tasted home-cooked food (read HEAVEN)! Missed all my friends back home a lot though. Oh and I finally got my hands on the 6th Edition of Free Radical (more on this some other time) and it looks great.

Have you ever noticed that you tend to notice stuff which you normally wouldn't when your getting bored in class? For instance, you're suddenly very interested in the mannerisms of your teacher and other people in your class or you suddenly find out the answer to the question "what does this button do?". I just found out that Hrithik Roshan has autographed my mouse!

Is it just me or is there is a major shortage of holidays at this time of the year? Need a few more 4 day weekends. Sigh.

Another week gone by

2009-01-24T00:01:00.000+05:30

Mon-Wed: SDM, UID, Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Thu-Fri: Road trip to Wayanad, Trekking, Waterfall, bad food, loads of pics, sightseeing, bad food, loads of pics. Managed to do some photography of my own, will share the decent ones soon.

Sat: Zzzzzzzzz

Sun: Transporter 3, Laundry, Zzzzzzzzzz

That about sums it up.

Family arriving tomorrow, YAY!!

Happy New Year!

P.S.: I don't know what's wrong with me. I had thought about writing a mammoth post about the holidays but just don't feel like it now. Sorry blog.

The week that was

2009-01-23T00:01:00.000+05:30

Note: 3 days after last post.

I'm having a hard time recalling what happened in the last week now. Hmmm let me see, RDBMS test, AOA module, SDM, snore snore zzzzzzzzzzz.

Other than that, I hit the gym and swimming pool on a regular basis (happy happy), ate a lot (happy sad), had an upset stomach (sad sad), went to Bangalore (happy tired) and was in high spirits (hic happy hic happy). The friday night thing was so much fun, we took an oath that come what may every friday night we're going to do this. Classes were so boring that even the Slumber Gods abandoned us (not exaggerating). Time actually flew by. Have another test tomorrow, will start studying soon. Bangalore was fun, but need more than half a day to enjoy it (nightlife et al).

Did you know: Everytime I'm on my way to the hostel late at night, the Hell Freezes Over version of Hotel California always, ALWAYS, plays!

Question: What is the procedure to change the room? :(

P.S.: I just went through the post. Doesn't sound like much but it was a lot of fun.

Chilling

2009-01-22T00:52:00.001+05:30

AOA, SDM, UID etc. What a waste of time! Therefore me chilling :)

Will post something new when I feel like sitting in front of the comp screen for a longer duration of time (or I have to).

Note: Sorry for the prolonged absence. Things don't fall in place according to plan sometimes. This was posted 5 days after my last post.

Moonshine

2008-12-24T00:01:00.000+05:30

Did you see it? Did you?! Oh you missed it. It was brilliant!

I'm talking about the moon. After having a very very disappointing meal (the second of it's kind today) after what had been a very good day, I came out of FC2 and stopped short in my tracks as soon as I laid my eyes on the moon. The last two days saw the moon shining at its brightest this year (this is a fact, you must've noticed) and today it must've been at its quietest and prettiest. Words fail to describe what I saw but for the sake of public interest I'm going to try anyway. So bear with me on this one people.

OK, so the extra-bright white luminescence was gone and it was replaced by a dullish-bright (?) creamy sort of whiteness. There were clouds all around it, thick and thin, light and dark, big and small. The first time I saw it tonight there were two streaks of thin grey clouds stretching in opposite directions, one near the top and the other near the bottom. The moonlight shone through these four sections and there was a diffused glow among the surrounding cluster of clouds. Then the game of hide and seek began, the beauty sometimes hidden by a thin veil of smoke and sometimes eclipsed by a dark cape of fluffy cotton (fluffy cotton?! that didn't come out exactly the way I wanted to, told you words fail me today). How I wish I had a camera!!!!! Sob sob....

Complemented with the right music to suit the mood (Oasis - Wonderwall, Sonu Nigam - Muskura (Dasvidaniya), Coldplay - Spies, Strings (not sure) - Sabse Peeche Hum Khade) I felt like I had died and gone to heaven. I actually sat down on the grass (take that you whistling party-poopers!) for the duration of this playlist and just kept looking at it. Believe me, it WAS that beautiful! I am high on moonshine, literally :P

If anyone was fortunate enough to have clicked this setting, please please please please share it with the world. And send me a copy too!

P.S. - For the uninititated, check out the meaning of moonshine on wiki.
P.P.S. - Does anyone have a spare camera? :(

Blogger's block

2008-12-23T01:27:00.000+05:30

I find it really difficult to find topics to blog about. Posting about nothing has its limitations too, there's only so much you can write about nothing without it amounting to something. I read other people's blogs and I see one-two line entries which are just questions or maybe a joke but I for the life of me can't make myself do that. Maybe it's the OCD kicking in or because I feel that I owe it to my blog to write at least 200 words in every post before I can even call it a post.

Why do I feel the need to write something when I don't have anything to write about? Again it's like an obligation towards my blog, I owe it a post every two days at least, maybe because it doesn't complain no matter how much I crib, cry and complain about everything under the sun. It has reached such an extent that i tend to look for instances and incidents during the course of 'normal' life that I can write about here. But by the time I actually get to the 'New Entry' option it's all gone and I have to write about something totally different from what I had originally thought of.

For eg., I have been trying to think of something to write about since 2 pm. And this is what I came up with in the end.

P.S. - 241 words including this line. Done for the day. Here you go blog :)

Recapturing the dream

2008-12-20T00:01:00.000+05:30

For as long as I can remember I've wanted to own a camera and capture the images of the world around me. There are so many things to see in this world, the small and simple things, each with its own element of beauty. Most of these things go unnoticed and photographs can provide a new perspective of looking at things to people.

After coming here I found people taking up Guitar/Drums/Salsa/Tennis lessons and what not. Drums and Lawn Tennis are probably the only two things I could consider joining classes for because I would love to be able to play those things. But I'm not much of a routine person, I don't like prior appointments during my free time, it just isn't free time then. I want to be able to do what I like whenever and wherever I feel like it. That's why no classes for me.

This place is beautiful you have to admit. I have never such a clear night sky and so many beautiful clouds during the day. Therefore I have decided to shelve the plan for buying an iPhone/iPod Touch and going for a proper camera. Now there is something that meets my criteria of doing something new (refer above). I was going through Sandy's blog (do check it out, very very NICE pics) and it only strengthened my resolve to go ahead with it.

Bye bye iPod (sniff sniff). Hello Camera (click click).

Nice Guy Syndrome

2008-12-19T00:01:00.001+05:30

"Nice guys finish last". I completely disagree.

This post comes as a combination of a midnight screening of the movie 'Shallow Hal' (Jack Black rules!) and an old post I came across on Rindo's Blog. There is also a very famous article about the same which I'm unable to access right now due to the office hours but will definitely post the link as soon as I get access.

According to the general perception, nice guys are supposed to do everything for you without expecting anything in return, they don't mind when you step on them to move ahead, they don't get angry and get into fights over anything, they don't have bad habits, they are caring and sensitive and will listen to you crying and console you even at 3 in the night, they will stand up for you even when you're facing an angry mob alone, they will go out of their way to help you and make you feel better. In short, they do not belong to a species known as Homo Sapiens. We are talking about super-human abilities even Superman would have a tough time handling. But Superman is Superman and since he does not have any problems (can the Kryptonite for now), we can conclude that these abilities just do not exist. Some people can give the appearance of being in possession of these unthinkable powers but actually these people are just too dumb and naive for their own good.

I used to pretend to have these powers as well, until I found my senses and am now enjoying the best of both worlds. I can go as far as to say that I'm breaking the stereotype and I'm not the only one (though we are a very rare species, ask any woman). The primary key (RDBMS module going on) of achieving this state of nirvana is TACT. Humour is the main weapon in your artillery (CounterStrike fever is back) and man it pierces through heavily armoured ego-trucks better than any Tomahawk. Making friends is not exactly a task for the likes of us, but again the key is maintaining the relation over a period of time. A certain level of detachment is like a .5 Magnum with a silencer, big hole no sound. You work on it for sometime, make plans, hang out etc etc and then you wait for the reciprocation (while you spend time with your other friends, I hope you can see the cycle I'm pointing to). Some people tend to compare it to the Sniper, all the mystery and the disappearing acts and stuff but that gives you an idea of the level of attachment they with you. This is WAR my friend and anything goes.

Now coming to the problem which has been sympathised to death, nice guys falling in love. What is the big deal! You like someone you frigging tell them! They start going out with someone else, you start looking elsewhere (or TRY if and when they become available again). Don't become the best-friend-who-loves-you-but-can't-tell-you and be there for them when they have a problem with their love-life and still be in love with them. Get a life! Also, before going for someone use the scope on your Rifle and make sure there's no one else in the vicinity already. Then you can happily swing down from the trees like Tarzan and take your Jane (the chest-thumping and hollering is strictly optional, not advised if you ask me). No point in going after something that isn't there for the taking is it?

See it's simple, all you need is TACT and plain simple logic. Dare you give me the "love knows no logic or boundaries" crap. I will personally come and wipe the entire first floor of the Gecko with that silly grin of resignation which says "I can't help it dude" on your face.

P.S. - No offence to Rindo. Peace (V)

Lunchtime

2008-12-18T00:01:00.000+05:30

This is probably the laziest period of the day (excluding the three hours that follow). You wake up late and are suffering from lack of sleep because of the time spent in the Gecko "studying" late nights. You arrive just in time for the learning sessions and are drifting off to the land of dreams in about 7 and a half minutes after the first attendance. You manage to keep yourself awake somehow (not necessarily) and are engulfed with relief when the educator says break for lunch. Now, you just want to resume your journey back into the stream of unconciousness but your tummy will start grumbling as soon as it hears the word Lunch (you should've fed it something known as breakfast in the morning!). Getting your arse out of the classroom, into the sweltering heat and dragging it all the way to the FC seems like nothing remotely close to what you would want to do with the 100 minute break. You hear some people talking about going to their rooms to sleep and coming back later(!!) and it acts as the motivation to at least silence the grumbling stomach.

More queues, more waiting, more not-so-bad food (today was an exception though, Butter Chicken at FC2 was something which seemed straight out of Bunty Da Dhaba from Amritsar) and the sleep begins to set in again. Food courts are noisy and the chairs aren't that comfortable or you would just fall down there. By the time you get back to class it's too late to do anything about it and the moaning and droning and slipping in and out of conciousness continues.

For better understanding, replace you with I above.

P.S. - I came back to class 40 minutes early today and man are these chairs comfortable or what! Take out the one next to you, put your feet up tilt your head back and pick up Angelina Jolie and Monica Belucci in your Lamborghini to go to an Iron Maiden concert. :)

Music on my mind

2008-12-17T00:01:00.000+05:30

I'm so used to blogger (which doesn't work here!!) saving my posts while I'm multitasking and writing 300 word posts in just under three hours. What I'm not used to is the Auto-Refresh feature InfyBlogs has. I was almost done with my post when I was distracted by something online followed by a phone call and by the time I got back to my post it was gone!

@#$%^*(&^!@#!@#$%@

It is so difficult to replicate the words which you already vomited once. Being the diligent blogger I am, here goes another try.

One of my friends told me that she has become so used to seeing me with my headphones that she has forgotten what I look like without them. Oh Come On! They're not on during class, well OK most of the time, before lunch at least, when the educator is blabbering and I am seated in the first row. It's very difficult for them to go unnoticed. She also went on to say that pretty soon she'll be so used to them that if she saw me without them it'll look I had ripped off a part of my face. Surely you're exaggerating now!

There is some truth in this though. Ever since I've bought the Panasonic RP-HS47 on-ear headphones (which are great by the way), I have never went anywhere without them. And when I say never, I mean NEVER. Either they are tucked in my pocket or my bag when I have to pretend to pay attention in class or hanging around my neck for the rest of the time. If you see someone in the campus with red and silver headphones (I thought they were black when I bought them but red is cool too) headbanging, air-guitaring and air-drumming (if there is such a thing) away to glory, you know who he is. He can be found in and around the Gecko during working hours, around the ECC before 9pm and again at the Gecko until the wee hours of the morning. Rest of the time he is in his room (no he doesn't wear them when he is in his room, not always) or at the Gazebo. Special appearances at the Laundromat once a week too.

Am I in danger of going deaf? I don't have it on full blast unless I'm in the gym because the music there just gives me a headache. And my super-modest collection of 220 songs does not entirely consist of Heavy Metal amd Gothic music so I guess (read hope) I'm safe.

I need more songs!! I have heard each one of those 220 songs at least that many times and I'm on the verge of figuring out the Shuffle algorithm which my phone uses! I use up a fully charged Nokia battery everyday. And the only other thing I do is SMS. I'm guessing atleast 10 hours of music playback each day, at least.

But I can't help it. There's nothing better to occupy my mind with.

Keep the cool

2008-12-16T00:01:00.000+05:30

Back at the Gecko yet again (where else would I blog from?). We've been working on our project for the PnT module since yesterday now (we=everyone-me, me:started today). I think I got off easy with one of the shortest and probably the easiest part of the project (thanks Jim). Me and a couple of my friends went to Gazebo for a breather a little while ago and were discussing how ill-equipped we are for this training. 4 years of college couldn't make us engineers in our respective fields but these people here are going to make us Software Engineers in what feels like 4 weeks. In college, things were cool. You didn't come to class, didn't study, didn't give exams, didn't do a thing: you still passed (some even with flying colours). That was the life!

Talking about cool, I really wish they had given us mini-refrigiraors for our rooms. Life would have been much much much easier. Like right now, it's something past 3 am. I would reach "home" by 4 am and before going to bed what would be better than opening the fridge and taking out something to eat/drink. Or for that matter at any time of the day. A fridge is the most important electronic device in a house, for me it signifies food and comfort (two of the most important things in my life). You are craving for something but are full to the brim, so you just buy it and store it in the 'MagicBox' for later. You had too much of what you are eating but don't want to throw it away because it would be unfair and insulting. What do you do? Well, keep it in the fridge ofcourse! You hurt your hand after someone bumps into you with their bicycle and it hurts like hell. "Put ice on it", people would advise. But where do you find this miracle cure? Yes! You guys are smarter than I thought.

The reason I miss the Box so much is becuase of milk. It's been two weeks since my last proper glass of milk (even I'm wondering where the time goes!). Buy a pack, have a glass, put it inside without fear of being spoilt when you get back.

There were two of these things in my house! That should give you an idea of what I'm going through.

That wonderful feeling

2008-12-15T00:01:00.001+05:30

Waiting to give the four-finger salute. The educator seems busy elsewhere. Ah well, they say time is money and since blogging is free, here I am again (confused? :P).

Have you ever looked far into the horizon and wondered how far is the spot you're looking at? I personally prefer the night sky for gazing out into the far reaches of the universe. And for the last two days I have been blessed with one of my favourite sights in the world, clear skies with loads of stars shining bright, so much so that you can actually make out the different constellations and clusters that are supposed to be really really far away. I missed the "smiley in the sky yesterday" and I'm going to have to wait another five years to see it with my own eyes. Then wait I shall.

The thing about the night sky that appeals the most to me is the enormity with which it imposes itself on you. If you can find a spot from where you can see ONLY the sky, preferably the roof/terrace of a building, then you might be able to experience that wonderful feeling of insignificance. Yes you read that right! Insignificance. The universe is big, it is so mind-bogglingly gigantically enormous that you can't imagine how colossally huge it is. You can try, but you can't. When you're looking into the night sky, you're actually looking out into the nothingness of everything. The Earth is like a nanoscopic flea residing on the body of some sort of a multi-cellular lobe living on the speck of dust which is only visible in a beam of light coming through the window of a dark room. No wait, that's too big. I hope you get the idea.

Now, YOU are like that speck of dust (or is it the flea?) in relation to the Earth. Therefore, henceforth, this implies......... This is the point where I think you would be either saying "Ooooh!" or "Damn!" with an upward gaze towards the ceiling or a sinking feeling in the gut coupled with "Yikes!", or a resounding "COOOL!" from the bravehearts.

Now that you're feeling insignificant enough, you can try and put things into perspective. How do you figure into the equation of Life, the Universe and Everything? Do you even matter? Do you even exist?

Have a nice day! :)

Swipe-stakes

2008-12-14T00:01:00.001+05:30

I can't believe I'm at the Gecko at midnight after the kind of day I had. I've already explained about my out-standing performance in class today. I was so sleepy while doing the assignment today that I had to go and almost bathe myself to stay awake, twice. The drowsiness carried over till the end of "working hours" and for the first time since coming here I was in my room for more than two hours between 5 and 11 pm. Slept like an overgrown baby.

I was woken up by a flurry of worried messages due to my unexplained absence. It was pretty hard to go back to sleep after that, but I managed. Finally i had to get up to the calls of a dear friend from back home and my stomach. I felt rejuvenated to say the least. Went to my friend's room next door, told him we're going out to get dinner, called the dhaba and placed an extravagant order and then we were off. Since we were battling the 9.30 pm deadline we took an auto to and fro and were back at the room armed with a two plate dinner set and food which takes me back to my roots.

We ordered too much, I ate too much and there's still some of it left over. After that wholesome dinner I was reminded of the awful truth about me missing my "swipe-out". Now, living as I am in another timezone (block 87, most of you must have never heard of it, let alone seen it, but I can prove that it exists!), the task of hauling my overfed arse seemed like a job fit for none other than Hercules himself. But thanks to my most prized possession at this moment, a pair of Panasonic headphones, and the food that was refusing to budge from my oesophagus and move to the far reaches of my stomach, otherwise known as the "bottomless pit", I decided to take on the long journey anyway (as if I had a choice).

And here I am now, falling asleep again. Strong sense of Deja Vu. I have been in this position before, the class, the computer screen and my drooping eyelids....

Late to wait

2008-12-13T00:01:00.000+05:30

Just gave the four-finger salute. Feels weird.

Exactly like last Monday after the test, I wasn't allowed to come inside the class because I was a minute too late. The difference being that last time atleast half of the class was with me. This time I was probably the only guy in all of the classes who didn't make it in time.

It's not like I had gone to my room after the test, I was standing in front of a different classroom with my friends and could see that people were standing outside my class too. But then I checked my phone only to realize that I was late (read the teacher was way early) yet again. You should always try so I went in and was politely told to "come after the break". No hard feelings because I rather enjoyed the break.

The thing I'm worried about now is this becoming a ritual. In college, my 'thing' was coming to class late, huffing and puffing and panting and sweating (if I was late I ran to the class, how naive). People would actually be surprised if I walked in breathnig normally and on time. So here, I'm in danger of being known for missing the first session after every test. Let's hope not, third time's a charm.

Test-ify

2008-12-12T00:01:00.000+05:30

Pun intended. I have this test on PF tomorrow and no matter how much I prepare (read scrolling through the slides while pulling out what's left of my hair and peeking at the answers of the code snippet questions and going "ooooooo now I get it"), I still can't convince myself that I'm going to get an 'A' (this would be the valid syntax for assigning a character...sheesh..see what I mean!).

I so wish that our physics teacher from school was incharge of making the papers. His MCQs would be something like this (or this is how they would seem to me from the distances of the back benches):

Q: A question which you can't make head or tail of.

A:
1) Something that you have never seen
2) Something else
3) Blah blah blah
4) After reading this option you're sure you can't even guess the answer

After writing this down on the board, he would give us the following options:

5) I.D.K. (I don't know)
6) I.D.C. (I don't care)

No points for guessing which was my favourite option.

Sigh....wishful thinking. Wish myself all the best.

exit();
}

Hours after midnight

2008-12-11T00:01:00.001+05:30

Recap: Refer to previous post.

In today's episode we are going to talk about nothing. Yes folks! You heard that right, Nothing! It is a wonderful thing, to talk about nothing that is, and you should try it once in a while. It is easy too, all you need is nothing and some free time while you're at it (which actually does not require a mention because nothing gives you more free time than doing nothing).

So now that we are all set to talk about nothing, let's get to it (why waste time doing nothing). Here goes nothing:

I'm back at the Gecko at 0200 hours and I don't feel like doing anything I'm supposed to (you know, the S word...do I have to spell everything out? Sigh. S-t-u-d-y...) . Wait a minute, am I not supposed to blog? Hmmm maybe, but since it is something I'm supposedly not supposed to do I'm going to go right ahead and do it!

What else can we talk about when we're engaged in an engaging conversation about nothing? The answer my friend is blowing in the wind, and it is quite obviously nothing, and it is somewhat rhyming, which is kind of surprising. Anyways, coming back to our original discussion let's try and put nothing into perspective.

..

That was easy!

My new "home"

2008-12-10T00:44:00.006+05:30

I hope the pic is not blurred. This is where I spend the maximum time in my room (sleeping).

This is right in front of the bed and you can pretty much see what goes on here. Notice the SAMSUNG LCD TV on the wall.

This is the front door and the cupboard and the mirror. Towards the right is the door to the bathroom.

This is the only pic of the bathroom I could manage. The other important apparatus is to the left behind the door.

Will upload more pics of the campus and other places pretty soon. I really hope the pics aren't blurred, if they are please inform me asap.

Minutes After Midnight

2008-12-10T00:01:00.000+05:30

Yawn.

I'm sitting in the GEC (I like to call it the Gecko, GEC takes much more time to pronounce), the clock shows 01:40 am and I don't feel like studying any more. I have some company here so I don't feel like going back to my room. I actually hate my room. I hate calling it "room". It is supposed to be home, but it feels weird calling it home. I would call it home, but most of my friends have lived in hostels and they call it room and so it just follows. I am usually the last person to go home, I mean to my room, every night and it's not just because my block is on the far end of the campus, I just don't like to stay awake inside my room with nothing to do. The beautiful LCD TV is useless to me because I hardly watch anything on it. My aim everyday is to reach the damn place so late and so tired that all I can do is sleep (or occasionally watch the late night edition of Seinfeld and then sleep). In the morning, I get up late which is good in a way since I spend less awake time in my room.

I find it suffocating, no offence to the ventilation department, it's a psychological thing. If there is even one more person in the room, it is a completely different place to be in. Then it feels like you are on a vacation and staying in a nice hotel room. Like right now, the two of us are the only people left in this huge hall of a classroom but it doesn't feel weird (just a little bit, I'm supposed to be studying).

Enough about the room now, it is pretty depressing. I miss home. I've spent my entire life at home (i.e. never stayed away from family during any phase of my education ever, thank god for that!) and this is pretty unbearable for me now. It's just been about three weeks and I felt like going back by the end of the first week itself. Everytime I sit down to have a meal, I miss home the most. My mom is the best cook in the world and she has spoilt me to such an extent with great food throughout my life that nothing else seems to live upto my expectations. I have never eaten non-veg food so regularly ever in my life and had never thought that I would come to the point of hating it.

It's about 02.30 am now so in classic soap opera style:

To be continued.............

Corruption?

2008-12-09T00:04:00.004+05:30

NOTE: This post was written following the horrible events in Mumbai. There was a discussion in the forums here which prompted me to post this.

The term “corruption” is always decorated as being associated with only politicians, police and other such people in positions of authority. It is not something that comes with the job or just a result of money and power being in the wrong hands. Corruption, like everything else, is human nature and goes with the flow.

Standing in the unending queue at the multiplex or at the food courts, you allow your friends to cut in line. To you that is not corruption, after all it’s just a movie ticket/food coupon! A trivial example but similarly, for the people whom we are blaming for incompetence and being “corrupt”, it is “just a job”, “just a transfer”, “just a bomb blast” or “just a few 100 human lives”.

They are what they are because we are what we are. We give them the power, the authority and the money to do what they do. We are as much part of the cesspool as anyone else, including the terrorists wreaking havoc across the world.

We have decided to keep going with the flow and they decided to do something about it. There isn’t a lot of difference between these approaches because they’re means to the same end.

I’m not trying to glorify their “efforts”, this is just another perspective.

Easier said than done, I know. That’s why I too condemn these attacks like everyone else. I go with the flow.

May the souls of the departed rest in peace.

Backlog

2008-12-08T23:31:00.003+05:30

Hey blog ol' pal, long time no post. And hi to everyone who stumbles onto this page again and again. You're all aware of the internet situation here. Nitin has managed to get hold of a data card and we try our best to spend some time online but time is something that we don't manage to find.

Anyways, we have this blog thing going on here too. It's called InfyBlogs and I've been at it for more than a week now. It's on the intranet so you can't access it. So I'm just going to post all my posts here too. There are quite a few of them so I'll post one everyday from today onwards. Should be able to come up to speed by the end of next week.

Stay tuned. It's good to be back :)

Infosys - The awesome, the good, the bad and the ugly

2008-11-12T15:27:00.007+05:30

After a tiring 6 hour journey (air+road) I finally reached my destination. I don't like air travel at all. But this place is so beautifully amazing, you have got to see it to believe it. There isn't a speck of dust even on the roads maybe because of the huge workforce that sweeps the entire place for every single particle. We (the guys) have been allotted single rooms of which the highlight is the Samsung LCD TV (all the girls are jealous of us, they have ancient flatrons). Its like a one bedroom flat without a refrigirator. Then there is the ECC (Employee Care Center) which is the best part of the campus. It has got TT, Badminton, Swimming Pool, Tennis Courts, Squash Courts, Pool & Snooker, Gym, Aerobics, Yoga, a Music room, Carrom, Basketball, Volleyball, Departmental Store, Bookstore, Saloon, Bank, Clinic and a few more things I can't recall right now. It is located adjacent to a four screen multiplex with a seating capacity of around 1500 people. And there is this place known as the Gazebo which I absolutely love. It's on a hill with bamboo plantations and a CCD outlet (wish smoking wasn't allowed). This was the awesome bit. And I'm getting paid to live here! Jealous already?

The good part includes the food courts and the room service. Anything wrong with anything in your room, just give them a call and it will be fixed immediately. The food courts serve a variety of stuff throughout the week, but everything has a South Indian touch to it. Don't get me wrong, the food is good and they make sure they serve you enough the first time so that you don't have to think about a second helping. Plus, we have 'home' delivery by Domino's and CCD's strewn all over the campus (and they are subsidised!). Also, the campus is huge and getting around means long walks or cycling (I like both). There are cycles everywhere, just pick one up and you're off.

The bad part is when you're competely exhausted and you have to cycle uphill. It isn't as easy as it looks, knocks the wind out of you. The next thing could be included in the ugly bit but that would just mean whining too much according to some people (Garima!). I have been allotted a newly consrtucted hostel in the extreme corner of the campus and it feels as if we are away from civilization. We don't have landline phones or air-conditioning for at least another month. Sometimes the water supply is stopped or the cable connection is not working. And it's uphill! There isn't a patch of greenery anywhere nearby and the french window in my room is always curtained because it overlooks the boundary wall. What a waste! And this is after I had specifically asked for a room in a different block (read pleaded). Guess what, shit happens! And I also don't like to go to faraway buildings for swiping in and out with our ID cards.

The ugly part is the queues. There are so many people here (thousands) that all I do somedays is stand in queue awaiting my turn to sign for attendance or get a recharge. We travel in queues and chunks of populace, from point A to point B, to do C or get our hands on D. And all that is left of my identity now is the pink card hung around my neck at all times (ALL THE TIME! except when I'm in my room) which carries my name.....errr sorry...my number. I have become a number now just like everyone else here. I guess that is how you manage a huge number of people. I absolutely hate having this thing hanging around my neck. It feels heavier than a 2kg gold chain with a peace symbol.

This week was spent in the multiplex but the screen was occupied with boring presentations about Infosys and everything in it, by evrything I mean everything. There were just on or two good sessions where we all got to shout and laugh but other than that we slept or listened to music or exchanged PJ's through messages. Old habits die hard! :P

Note: The frequency of my posts will further dip because using the Internet anywhere else except in your rooms (I don't have a laptop) or in the cyber cafe where I am right now is a punishable offence! Yes, the Internet!! I had started writing this post on Wednesday I guess and am completing it today, so you can understand how it is.

And I miss everyone at home and all my friends already, especially today. It's the weekend and I don't feel like going to the ECC (surprised?) but since there is nothing else to do will have to go there only. I also have to do my laundry today.

Will try and get photos somehow for the next post. I'm out of here. Later.

So long and thanks for all the fish

2008-11-08T21:00:00.005+05:30

It's time. Tomorrow morning I'll be on my way to a new chapter in life. Hope it's good. My folks have been planning so much that it is bordering on unnatural behaviour. I have two toothbrushes packed in my bag!! My dad knows my luggage inside out and I'm not even sure about what all is inside. It's scary!

All my friends came over to wish me goodbye today. As Nandu would say, High point of the week! Thank you (in order of appearance) Yash, Nishtha, Varuni, Vishal, Vaishnavi, Piyush, Prerana, Saurabh, Garima, Aastha, Kritika and Nandita. I'll miss everyone and everything.

It hasn't quite sunk in yetOh well, time to sleep. Will be woken before 4 am in the morning so I think I should get the sleep. And wouldn't you believe it! My flight has just been preponed by 15 minutes. PREPONED! Does shit happen or what! I think it's a good omen, it's me after all, this kinda stuff is supposed to happen.

3

2008-11-06T14:53:00.006+05:30

I was tagged by Aastha. Here you go:

3 names I go by:
# Sid
# Ginny
# Superduperhyperawesomeincredibleman

3 things that scare me:
# Poverty
# Height
# Amnesia

3 people who make me laugh:
# Me
# Garima (most of the jokes are on me)
# Comedians

3 things I love:
# Food
# Music
# Day-dreaming

3 things I hate:
# People who don't care about the Pollution Problem even after knowing about it
# Religious fanatics
# Bad food

3 things I don't understand:
# Why me?
# Why fight over God?
# Why is the iPhone so expensive in India?

3 things on my desk:
# The book I'm currently reading
# The thing I was carrying when I last entered the house
# My spects

3 things I'm doing right now:
# Waiting for lunch
# Picking my nose
# Waiting for someone to call or message

3 things I want to do before I die:
# Fly
# Get eight-pack abs
# Own a Mustang/really expensive sports car

3 things I can't do:
# Dieting
# Skim and scan while reading
# Think of number 3 for this one

3 things I think you should listen to:
# Stairway To Heaven
# Your conscience
# Your stomach

3 shows I watched as a kid:
# Small Wonder
# Crystal Maze (wish they would restart it somehow)
# G.I.Joe

3 things I want in a relationship:
# That wonderful feeling
# Read my mind
# No tears

3 physical things about the opposite sex that appeal to me:
# Hair
# Eyes
# Smile

3 of my favourite hobbies :
# Reading
# Music
# Writing

3 beverages I drink regularly :
# Iced Tea
# Lemonade
# Milk

3 things I like about myself:
# Patience
# Empathy
# Lack of inflated ego

3 things I hate about myself:
# Weight
# Limited singing capabilities
# Shouting

3 of my everyday essentials:
# TV
# Craving for 'something nice' to eat
# Killing time

3 things I am wearing right now:
# A New T-shirt
# An old and supercomfy pyjama
# My spects

2 truths and a lie:
# I'm a trained gymnast
# Sridhar can't sing to save his life
# I'm perfect

3 people I want to tag:
# Barack Obama
# Anil Kumble
# Garima

Back from the bed

2008-11-05T21:13:00.002+05:30

It turns out I had Dengue! Bad thing to have when you're planning to go away from home for God knows how many months. I lost 10 good days to this freaking fever and the last three of them were spent in the hospital. I even missed Nandu's birthday party today (sorry! I couldn't help it you know). Now I'm left with three days to go to make all the preparations and say all my goodbyes (sob sob sniff sniff). Thanks Jim!

I have a pending tag to complete. Will do it tomorrow. Right now it's time for some reading.

I'm sick

2008-10-28T22:19:00.006+05:30

And I hate it. I've got high fever, nausea, cold, cough, stomach ache, acidity, insomnia and just about everything else you can think of. Simultaneously. And regular vomiting too. Although I have to admit that I feel much better after throwing up.

The worst part is that I can't eat. I don't feel like eating anything but I have to because of the medication. I regret it as soon as it goes down my food pipe because no matter what I eat it leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. And the stuff my stomach can handle, or I want it to handle anyway, is forbidden (sweets and stuff).

My Mom is the best part about this phase. She takes care of me and never refuses any of my requests. My Dad on the other hand walks around the house with a thermometer in hand and insists on checking my temperature every five minutes (and he also insists on stuffing the thermometer in my mouth himself, he thinks I can't do it on my own). My brother is mildly helpful in the sense that he is not his usual obnoxious self.

This is the longest I've sat in front of my computer for about four days now. And now I think I'll go and throw up again.

Oh and Happy Diwali to all of you. Don't burst crackers, there's no point in it, just noise and smoke.

The Answer

2008-10-21T22:20:00.004+05:30

Having said that (previous post), I actually feel like writing something down.

For long I've engaged all the cells in my brain in trying to solve the problems of the world and I mean ALL the problems including the imminent threat to our existence. The root cause of all problems are Ego and Greed. They are intertwined to a major extent, the difference being that in case of greed you want it all for yourself but in case of ego, if you can't have it no one can.

An ego leads to superiority/inferiority complex which leads to pride/envy which leads to conflict. How the hell is one man superior to another on the basis of skin colour or the geographical location they hail from! WTF?! How can someone sell plots on the Moon when it belongs to me as much as to any other person on this planet (what kind of an idiot buys that stuff anyway)!! Was there a tender put out by God which I'm not aware of?!

Civilisation went the wrong way when some egoistic alpha male declared himself the king and the surrounding area his kingdom and others followed suit. So we had kings and kingdoms and they fought with each other for the same . Then someone won, the kingdom expanded and soon it became too big to handle. People revolted and came up with Democracy, i.e. we will choose our own rulers! Then the new rulers started screwing with the people's lives because people are friggin idiots! Okay, I lost my train of thought, is it still making sense?

Anyway, getting back to the solution. The answer is to SHARE. Forget all borders, states, countries, continents etc (in a manner that would still leave scope for an India vs Pakistan cricket match and a Chelsea vs Liverpool football match). This is just one big world and everyone is human (technically). You remove all the borders and discrimination and stuff and things would be a lot better. For eg., look at the size-population ratio of USA and India, let's balance it out. Pick up a huge chunk of the Indian population and ship their asses to America. They have enough space and we have way more than enough people over here. An even spread! Brilliant isn't it?

Think about others. Don't just think about yourself. If everyone starts thinking and caring about everyone else, then things would become a lot easier. Don't stop your car in the middle of the road to drop the fellow passenger right in front of his destination, when there is a mile long queue of cars behind you honking and hollering at you to get your ass off the road. You could be in that queue too and you won't like it. Why do something to someone that you wouldn't like to be done to you? The others are just like you too.

Then take all the weapons in the world and get rid of them! ALL OF THEM! If the bad guys don't have anything, what do the guys need them for. There are loopholes I agree but this is the general idea. I guess this needs some more brain-cell time to figure out the perfect way to have a world without war.

That's about all I can think of right now. I'm sure there are a few more. Will add as soon as they come to mind.

Peace out.

Drifting

2008-10-21T20:31:00.003+05:30

Days are passing by without anything actually happening but I have nothing to complain about. I'm not getting bored or frustrated sitting idle at home. Maybe it's the telly, have been watching it lately although nothing much of interest on it except for the match. There isn't a lot going through my mind either. No thoughts, anecdotes or stories worth sharing. Just drifting along. Weird.

Music for Him

2008-10-19T17:28:00.003+05:30

Yet another trip to Vrindavana. Somehow my parents are never tired of going to that place. I hate having to go there because it means getting up at 5 in the morning on a weekend! I slept through the first half of the journey. Then I drove my dad's car for the first time in 5 years(!) for the rest of the way.

We went to the Banke Bihari temple first as that is what we had come to do. It was surprisingly empty, usually it is full of people trying to step on each other to get a better view of Lord Krishna. The most comfortable viewing we've had in quite a while now. We hung around for a while, I don't know why. Then we moved out and had our glass of lassi at the same shop we go to every single time we visit the temple. It was great as usual.

Then we drove down to the place I like more, the ISKCON Temple. This place is more of a temple than the previous one. There are no 'priests' giving special treatment to the 'devotees' who 'donate' more than usual, there is no money changing hands, there are no touts trying to sell 'prasad' or offering to get you special treatment etc etc. There is just Lord Krishna and the sound of music resonating throughout the temple. The lyrics are pretty simple too:

The tune can be whatever you want it to as is the case with the 'band' that sings throughout the day. The rhythm keeps changing from time to time depending upon the involvement of the gathering I think. Yesterday's was amazing. There was with white guy who could pass for an Indian playing the mridangam and he was on fire. The soft melody grew into a full time festive tune with loud singing and a hell of a ruckus with people clapping and dancing along. They took turns to sing and play the instruments and kept passing them around. I managed to get hold of this wooden thing with rows of small cymbals on both sides and happily shaked it all over the place, in sync, and contributed to the loud and delightful celebration. There was a sense of euphoria and it was the loudest I'd ever heard them play in all my visits over the years. And I loved it. It was a celebration of God.

The drive back wasn't interesting. I decided never to drive my dad's car again with him in it. Switched with him halfway through and slept blissfully for the rest of the way.

Telemarketers

2008-10-15T21:03:00.006+05:30

Way to go Tom! Mike (if that's his real name) must have peed his pants! Just brilliant.
Beats selling something to the guy instead by a mile and a half.

P.S. - I have nothing to write about today. So enjoy this as I did.

Whoa!

2008-10-13T23:19:00.007+05:30

That came out of nowhere! I wasn't expecting it at all and had given up all hope. But it just walked into my inbox. I was caught totally unaware and off guard.

This is what it said:

Dear Siddharth,
.
.
The location of your initial reporting and training will be Mysore, India. The date of your joining would be November 10, 2008. The location of posting would be communicated to you upon successful completion of training.
.
.
.
With warm regards,
HRD
Infosys Technologies Ltd.

(Yeah yeah it might be confidential information but I ain't afraid of you!)

This just freaked me out. I mean I wasn't ready for this, AT ALL! Leaving all this behind and moving to the other end of the country is depressing. I wasn't happy at all, in fact I was kinda depressed. All my life I have been here and I love it, no matter how much I whine or complain. This is HOME. Family, friends, familiar faces, known places and everything else that makes it home. It's all here and I don't want to let go.

But a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do. I'm quite out of options right now and can't let this go as of now. This certainly has brought some excitement into my life all of a sudden. Living on my own isn't something I have done before and should be a good experience. New place, new job, new atmosphere and loads of things to learn. Plus I'll be employed and earning.

But there are pros and cons to everything. All this doesn't change the fact that I would still prefer to stay here. So it's not decided yet. Something just might come up here.

Week-end

2008-10-12T19:58:00.004+05:30

The end of an entire week. I can't tell if it is a weekend or weekday anymore. They all seem the same to me. Feels like summer hoildays during college all over again. You can do a lot of stuff but you don't want to. You just prefer to wait till college re-opens. Just sat around, did some phone-hunting, organised my music library some more, watched portions of the match, channel surfed, went for a short walk (had to get a recharge) and now back to where I am pretty much spending my entire life these days.

I'm waiting to buy a new phone. Actually I'm dying to buy it. I have all but finalised what I'm looking for and it has been a long process. I have found just what I'm looking for and at the right price too. I even spent a good hour downloading stuff for it today! Just waiting for the money to be deposited in my account so I can spend it.

What else? Hmmm....Nothing! Yawn....

No Heading

2008-10-11T21:05:00.010+05:30

Listening to Coldplay. Spies came out of the water.... (haunting tune, absolutely love it!).

Finally went out of the house today after an entire week of idling at home. Shouldn't have left the job after all, but still don't feel like going back except that sitting at home is not something I want to do right now. I don't know how my mom does it! Anyway, it was fun as usual. There were lot of jokes and loads of food. I feel much better now. Relaxed and calm in a way. Although, it might not be possible to hang out tomorrow as we were planning while saying goodbyes.

I said I'm gonna buy this place and burn it down.... (A Rush of Blood to the Head, awesome.)

I was thinking about the future today. How life would change and how it shouldn't. I wish these hang out sessions continue in any form whatsoever. Right now every weekend is booked in advance and it is the only thing to look forward to during the weekdays (work or no work). I know that as time passes by people will have other things to look forward to but I think I can never not look forward to meeting this set of people. (Yeah, it's true people. I've already made it clear to most people but just to make sure, yes Sri you are one of them. I hope we can have more one and a half hour chats on the roadside in the future too.)

When you get what you want but not what you need.... (Fix You, no description required.)

I read Rupali's blog early in the morning and felt great. She can put into words what you can't even think of describing. Wonderful start to the day. It's amazing how a small thing like a few well written thoughts can affect your mood sometimes. And it is so difficult to do just that when so many people keep bothering you on GTalk when you're trying to put a few thoughts together. This post should've taken 20 minutes, it's been over two hours now.

Tell me your secrets, And ask me your questions..... (The Scientist, subtle enough?)

Where was I? I don't remember. Anyway, I had told myself that I would never say this out loud for fear of people taking offence, but after spending sleepless nights and tearing my hair out (whatever is left of them anyway) and reaching a point where I think I can say things to people as they seem to me, be it good, bad or even ugly, I think people will understand me. I've been told by certain people that I should consider Counseling as a career option. Considering the current state of affairs I might actually think about it! Not really.

In my place, In my place, Were lines that I could've changed..... (In My Place, beautiful.)

Almost all my friends have started blogging and I take full credit for it. OK partial, Rupali was the first one to start blogging. But I brought it to the fore. Sri even managed to make a lot of money out of it. It's a great way to find out stuff about people you thought you knew.

I can go on and on like this. Music really makes life easier, doesn't it?

P.S. - Random image search on google yielded this as a first result. I had blogged this pic from Flickr on my photo blog a long time ago. It feels great to see your choices appreciated

P.P.S. - Truly random post. Started out with 'No Heading' and ended up writing so much!

Blank in a blink

2008-10-08T19:04:00.005+05:30

I actually have absolutely nothing to write about today. Because nothing happened during the day. Nothing has been happening for quite a few days now, since I left my "job". Now I'm sitting idle at home waiting for things to fall into place and get life back on track.

Some people have told me that it was a bad idea at this time to quit the job without having anything else in hand. Actually, if you look at it practically they're probably right. But when I made that decision I thought I had something in hand and it's just a matter of time before I get there. I was looking forward to some time off to re-orient myself and relax a bit. Sadly that time period has been delayed without any notice and now I'm kinda stuck in the middle of nowhere. I still don't feel like going back to my earlier job because it was mentally exhausting and suffocating. It had reached a point where I didn't want to go on. Even the thought of it weighs heavily on the mind now. So that option is out of the question.

Now I just have to wait it out. Patience.

In the meanwhile I'm going to try and occupy my mind with something. It is pretty hard to do and becomes downright depressing after a while. But I have to try. Sitting idle isn't exactly going to help me in any way.

I've been doing a bit of reading lately. Newspapers, online articles and yesterday I picked up The Afghan by Frederick Forsyth. I'm reading Forsyth after quite a while now. This one is more present day than any of the others I've read. It revolves around Al-Qaeda and their unimaginable plot to cause destruction of unforseen proportions. There are vivid descriptions of the recent wars and going by what is given in the book, war is a really nasty business. There are many battles which comprise a war, each more barbaric and deathly than the other. Chilling.

The thing with Islamic terrorism is a misguided and very well-organised approach towards vengeance by a group of fanatical maniacal assholes who consider themselves to be the messengers of the Almighty and protectors of the faith. It is just this small group of people which are controlling the minds of millions of clueless and innocent lives and leading them onto the path of misery and destrution. Islam has many sections, some are liberal and some the extreme opposite for eg. Taliban. It is these extremist sections that are over-running the image of Islam to be a fanatical belief system according to which all other religions are blasphemic. The book has cleared up a lot of misconceptions I had and I'm looking forward to the rest of it.

That's about all I'm looking forward to right now. The horizon is blank for now.

Bucket List

2008-10-05T21:41:00.006+05:30

Five things I want to do before this world comes to an end or I bump into the Grim Reaper.

I want to experience zero gravity. It would be super cool to float around.
I want to write a book and get it published.
Own or at least drive a Shelby Mustang GT. For reasons unknown to me, I have been in love with that car for as long as I can remember.
Go to an English Premier League game and experience the awesome atmosphere and sing along with the crowd as I cheer my favourite team on.
Go for a week long (or longer) trip with my friends to Goa and/or New Zealand. Don't be surprised by the difference in choices. We have it planned out. Right guys?

So I guess this involves a lot of travelling and earning a lot of money. Better get started then. The book seems to be the closest right now.