Inconsequential..

I saw History with my eyes today

2008-11-05T01:23:00.004-05:00

Late into the night of the 4th of November of 2008, America wrote history when John Mccain conceded the presidential race to Barack Obama.

After 220 years, 2 active wars and an economic meltdown, the message of hope for change, for unifying the nation with all its diversities for a better tomorrow awakened a new generation and was heard beyond the boundaries of race, gender, age, state geographies, wealth, politics, beliefs and ideologies.

Barack Obama will take over as the true 21st Century President, the 44th President of the United States of America in 77 days. As the world wakes up tomorrow, a new era has already begun.

No Such Thing as Magik

2008-09-14T20:35:00.001-05:00

With moderate expectations, i watched Rock on! during the opening weekend on Aug 30th.
The film kicks off with a great promise laid down by a racy number with zany electronic music and catchy camerawork. The energy quickly dissipates and the pace vanishes and what follows next though is a mediocre stretch of 2 and 1/2 hours with predictable and hokey scenes.

Surprisingly i found rave (really really rave) reviews of the movie over the internet. To be fair to Abhishek Kapoor, the movie looked better than its predecessor-hyped movie - Jane Tu Ya Jane Na. That apart, it's a movie of a music band re-union. I don't think that sounds original to anyone reading this post or watching the movie.

I think they made Farhan Akhtar's debut as an actor and singer bigger than the movie. He did good as an actor i would say, but his vocals, hmmm, more on that later.

Let me list down where the movie scores and where it falls.

1. Throughout the movie, all we hear is the band 'Magik' wants to be a rock band. Their haircuts, their dressing sense, their 'attitude' towards life, collectively speaks the language of a rock-star dream. And now look at the lead vocalist of the band. He does not, SO NOT, have the voice of a rock star. I can't imagine leading rock band of the country to have Farhan Akhtar's vocals. He can easily be and should be a country singer. Or a soft pop artist. Did anyone watch 'Americal Idol' this season? From the beginning it was a one on one between David Archuleta and David Cook. D A has a very soft and honeyed voice. He could have easily been the Idol but a big nay for a rock star. Idol is not a rock-band competition mind you. D C on the other hand has a very matured voice, perfect for a rock star. Hear a song he sung and you would know what is an upcoming rock artist should sound like. That's why i am comparing with him and not established rock vocalists. And if you don't want to go that far, just listen the 'Zahereelay' song of the same movie. You may not like the song (neither did i), you may or may not like the singer's voice, but that my friends is a rock star's voice. Farhan A's voice is too shallow, and he could not take any song to higher notes, or at least i never noticed.
The song they picked for the contest - 'Peechhale saat dinon mein' is way out of category for a rock song. They still manage to win the contest because they are our movie stars and not rock stars. They should have at least used the services of Luke Kenny who was right there on the sets playing Rob.
Our supposedly rock artists are purists, they live by principles, so they don't want a remix song in their album. But they have no objection towards 'Tum Ho To' song. I like this song, it's a soulful melody, but what about the rules they just set for themselves.

2. Arjun Rampal - This shouldn't come as a surprise. Someone should convince him he is way far from an actor. His cold demeanor and stone face is used quite cleverly i would say in the movie. Nice way to use someone's inabilities to act to project his character. Acting apart, if you want to see someone really uncomfortable with a guitar watch A R strumming strings on the concluding stage show. Even the extras could have done better.

3. Storyline - Is it only me or everyone thinks they have seen this before in movies, on TV ? You know what i read on internet, that this is Dil Chahta Hai part 2. The only apparent similarity is Farhan Akhtarand S E L.

4. Cliche's - There are so many of them, that it hardly keeps you guessing and mostly boring. It's full of sequences created to cramp into storyline.
Devika's goa acquaintance at her shop, the character of Aditya's boss, Prachi's leaving Aditya to her Mom's house and quickly coming back, to count a few.

1. I quickly became the fan of the music. To me that's the only non ordinary thing about the movie. All the songs put together, Shakar Ehsan Loy have done a superb job. Rock on! is catchy, Socha Hai is racy, Tum ho to is soft and romantic. I also liked Phir Dekhiye song, it's equally soft and melodious.
2. F A is ok as an actor. Can't expect too much from a debut artist. Prachi Desai is beautiful and looks easy in her character. Former DJs Purab Kohli and Luke Kenny have done their part well. Koel Purie on the other hand should have been given more footage. Her character itself looks artificial created only to make Prachi easy to compare her life with someone.
The movie is good on technical aspects like cinematography and camerawork.

Magik do well as a band. They are lovable as young and restless oozing with bouts of energy but their tale could have been told better. Their magic fails to mesmerize the audience and their spell falls short of the promise.

Olympics are over - what can we learn that we never learn

2008-08-27T20:18:00.001-05:00

Another olympics came to a scintillating close. China waived goodbye to the thousands of athletes, coaches, press and media and millions of eyes watching from around the world with a grand celebration and its head held high.

Apart from the obvious controversies of athlete's age, garbage judging in gymnastics, boxing and just a few doping incidents, the olympics was a phenomenal success for the communist nation.

This time i followed the olympics much closely than before. I kept up late nights watching games on NBC or the canadian CBET channel. So here are some observations.
1. It's a big pain in the butts to keep up late nights watching them and getting up early morning to be in office in time.
2. Great Britain won 7 out of 10 gold medals in indoor cycling. That's an incredibly high % of medals in any event and takes a huge chunk out of the 16 golds GB won overall.
3. China won 7 out of 8 gold medals up for grabs in diving. Except for the 'final dive' heroics by the Aussie Matthew Mitcham, China swept the golds in diving.
4. Ethiopia won 4 gold medals, all in long distance, won by 1 man and 1 woman. Two were men's 5000 m, 10000m and 2 were women's in exactly same categories.
5. US won 13 gold medals in swimming alone. That's more than 1/3rd of their total gold count.
6. Jamaica won 6 golds, 11 total medals. 100% of them in track and field. 100% of them in sprinting (100, 200, 100X 4).
7. There are 7 gold medals to grab in 'rowing' , 11 golds in 'kayaking/canoeing' , 6 golds in 'equestrian' events.
8. There are 14 golds to dig in gymnastics (China won 12 of these) and add 2 in rhythmic gymnastics.

Why i list these here, cos i felt a certain trend in these. For a medal deprived country like India, which spends exuberant amout of money, and excessive attention to the sport of cricket that is not part of the olympics at all and even if it is included in future can fetch only 1 (or 2) medals as a whole, look at the opportunities to grab medals !!
For the startes, we must put this on a notebook, how much of money, sponsorship which sports require. Look at Great Britain and their olympic program. They pay part of the tax money as salaries to athletes and they got excellent coaches who turned their cyclists (who also are great athletes) into world champions. If GB can do it, why can't we !
If Ethiopia can win long distance double gold, why can't we. Why can't we pick sports which have greater potential of giving results (and less fluff) and target them.
Jamaicans are known for sprinting. They have troubled the US athletes all the time. This time was their greatest trimuph.

One thing i've always heard is 'desi' ppl lack in strength and stamina to africa or western countries (no offense meant). But then what @ diving ? what @ gymnastics. If China sweeps men's gymnastics golds, and almost sweeps diving (you should have seen the Chinese divers, they are sleek, extremely lean and small compared to others. Being sleek and light is quite an advantage in diving. Their women's synchro pair looked like twins both in form and movements off the board.) there is no question of someone being bigger in size than you.
Our boxers have done well over time. Not that well may be to win multiple olympic medals but they have been noticeable from quite a while. But then that sport never got attention to pour money into it and develop the contemporary breed of young athletes into gold diggers. We have history of medal in weightlifting as well.

Abhinav Bindra won gold in 10m rifle - shooting. That doesn't require you to be big and heavy. And he won. There are so many ways to target certain sports and do good in them. Of course the first attempt may not fetch any gold medals but that would take you close to the podium. Even a bronze in a 'systematically targetted event' is a harbinger of future success to come. But we rely on individual athletes working their ass off w/o any financial support or security or little help in world class coaching and facilities. Somehow our folks manage to scrap a medal or two and whoa !! the whole country exults and then the politicians / sponsors start serenading them with rewards and long term contracts. We are always reactive, we can not for once think ahead and plan and support a system that can produce results.

May be we already know this, but are hesitant to take that first step. Why - cos obviously these sports are not 'popular' so there is little mass-awareness and media coverage for them. That means little sponsorship and hence little funds. Can our Govt take steps like GB to pay salaries ? Or ask BCCI to donate even 10% of its annual income to promoting and supporting other sports (that would be huge money !).

Age, myopic judges and Gymnastics

2008-08-15T00:16:00.002-05:00

Nastia Liukin won the all-round gold in gymnastics. Finally something other than the Chinese National anthem played at the medal ceremony in the National Indoor Arena.

She conquered the allegedly underaged Chinese, garbage scoring by horribly inconsistent judges and her good friend and reigning world champion Shawn Johnson to claim the top spot on the podium.

My heart goes out to Shawn. She got hammered in the uneven bars routine despite doing well (of course at a lesser difficulty level than Nastia) and she wasn't given her due on the balance beam in spite of an incredible performance. Her do-or-die floor routine was stunning too!.

My heartiest congratulations to the women's new all-round olympic champion. Way to go Nastia !!

Take your pick - Cooking or Wedding

2008-08-06T20:50:00.000-05:00

25 something bachelors staying away from home, beware. If you cringe that you hate cooking, even a casual line that you did not want to cook y'day night or you were too tired of work to cook or u want to go out for lunch on a weekday, you just got yourself into trouble.
A pervasive statement in it's many flavors would be hurled at you from all sides, "You should get married" or "Go get married" or "why don't you get married" or "it's time to get married" or "find yourself a girl to get married".
Now, what has cooking to do with wedding bells. Agreed, after marriage probably your wife would cook for you (and her) but shouldn't there be more reasons to get hooked up with someone for the rest of ur life than having to do away with the boring cooking chore. Besides, in world like today's, it's likely that you would be the one toying with skillet and pans for both of you than her. Or you might just get a maid to do the kitchen stuff. Or, and quite unlikely, you may just enjoy cooking yourself !!
hmphhhhh !

Salute the Knight

2008-07-28T22:27:00.013-05:00

What happens when you give the keys of a superhero franchise into the hands of an outstanding director who finds talented screenwriters either employing himself or his protege' brother and get the best actors to play his characters on screen. You get a movie where Amazing Happens (borrowed from the NBA) !
To me, the Batman really started with Batman Begins. Nothing against Tim Burton, but i didnt really enjoy the pre-Nolan Batman movies. They were good but they were like those recipes which taste delicious, yet you still feel there is something missing, mmm, may be cinnamon, may be salt, may be pepper, you can't narrow it down and still you know it could have been better.

Enough said already about the movie, so i will keep it short. I found a perfect handshake between developing the characters and keeping the pace of the movie in TDK. Just listen to the meticulously written dialogues and you would know how carefully they've written the script.

Finally a movie, where we get to see the full blown villain, Joker, the man behind the painted face with special love for anarchy and chaos. Agreed he doesn't tell any jokes but he makes you laugh with his wisecracks and plain insanity. The agent of chaos is written remarkably by the Nolans and portrayed perfectly by Heath Ledger far better than the Riddler of Jim Carrey. I especially loved his confrontations with Batman - "This is what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object.... You won't kill me out of some misplaced sense of self-righteousness, and I won't kill you because you are just too much fun !"
"Why do you want to kill me?" "Kill you ! What will i do without you. Go back to ripping off mob dealers? ..... You .. you complete me". Equally good were his arguement with the officer "Do you wanna know why I use a knife? Guns are too quick. You can't savor all the little emotions...... So in a way, I know your friends better than you ever did .. Do you want to know which of them are cowards? " or his "Why so serious?" tagline explanation of his scars. He's really got into the character of Joker and once again, credit also goes to the script.

If Batman Begins was written for Bruce Wayne and Christian Bale, then TDK without a doubt is written for Joker and Heath. To be fair to Bale, he's done a great job showcasing the Batman who wants to turn Gotham into the hands of the "White Knight" Harvey Dent, or turn himself in to stop Joker's innocent killing and give up his suit for the love of the city. He wants to see the picture of Gotham that doesn't need Batman, but it is still not there yet, so he remains a dark knight, who like a guardian angel protects the city, takes blame for someone else to keep the hope of the city alive, the shawdow the city needs and yet loves to hate. The movie also brings out technical wizzardry of Batman and also touches the point that a completely human superhero has his limits.

Aaron Eckhart couldn't have been better in his "You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain " portrayal of Harvey Dent.

The stunts are just brilliant and you get to see every penny's worth on the screen. An occasional shot of perky humor, outstanding action sequences and great chemistry between some of the greatest big screen performers keep the movie racing and the clock ticking for 2.5 hours without you noticing.

Lost and Delirious (2001)

2008-07-23T19:08:00.011-05:00

I was flipping through Youtube and stumbled over this movie. Surprisingly the whole movie is out there.

Lost and Delirious is a love story, set in a posh girls boarding school. Mary (Mischa Barton) is the 'new girl' who joins her senior roommates Paulie (Piper Perabo) and Tori (Jessica Pare'). As she is trying to get over the death of her mother and getting used to life in the new place, she discovers her roommates are actually lovers. Surprised at first, she silently approves of their love playing her tacit part. No one else knows about it and the love is blossoming through the lives of the adolescent and adorable young couple. Everything seems well when Tori's sister Allison accidentally finds her in bed with Paulie. Before she could relay this to their orthodox parents and hell cut loose, Tori decides to break up with Paulie lying to Allison that Paulie has a crush on her and she slipped into her bed and Tori has nothing to do with it. That she is attracted to guys and in very much in love with Jake, from neighboring school. Paulie on the other hand, never denies to be in love with Tori, and she begins to try win her back, fending off the constant taunts of her peers. Tori, though still in love with Paulie is in a constant denial of her feelings, just to look 'normal'. It gets worse when Paulie gets a mail stating they have found her Mom but she doesn't want to reveal her identity. Paulie's desperate ways to win the only person to love her, making a scene in the canteen, in the class, in the library then challenging Jake for duel reach their limit and the tragic end dawns.

It artfully captures the essence of falling in love at the adolescent age. Paulie's not giving up her love over Tori's denial, Paulie's insane actions over Tori's exaggerated praise of her boyfriend, and Mary's trying to snap Paulie out of it while discovering her coming of age are portrayed beautifully. The movie underlines you can't control when and with whom you fall in love and love is 'just is'. It captures all the hues of a love story, starting with the freshness of love at tender age, the holding hands and singing, the lying in each others' arms, the melancholy when your love walks out on you, the buckling of one of the lovers under family and social pressure, the sense of competition and determination to win your love back. All this has been brought through vibrant colors, great photography and outstanding performance by the lead characters. The movie is slow and sometimes predictable but it doesn't fail to touch a part of you.

Piper Perabo outright steals the show . Isn't she as gorgeous as she's a great actor ! Too bad she doesn't do much mainstream cinema. Equally stunning Jessica Pare' has done justice to her portrayal of the lover unable to pick between what she wants over what others would say. Mischa Barton has done well too.

The movie clearly goes beyond the lesbian undertones and what we get is the masterpiece of a marvelous and sad love story.

Wisdom through Scrubs

2008-07-18T00:42:00.000-05:00

In one of the past season episodes of Scrubs, Turk and Carla are planning to have a baby. Carla observes the tightrope walk Dr Cox and Jordan had to go thru due to their kid while she also discovers she can't manage kids by herself and they are just a big nuisance. Dr Cox observes her caught up between the two worlds of the desire to have baby and the fears of not being able to raise it. And comes this from Dr Cox - "When you have yours, you'll know you had the courage to be a parent all along".

Last weekend, i spoke with one of my friends who became mom 3 months back. And after the usual Qs about her 3 month old, i threw the question - how does it feel to have the kid, to completely focus all the attention to him, to think about the baby before yourself and your husband, to bend everything to fit the new part of you into your life. She instantly said "M, when you become a parent, it just happens. It takes nothing special beyond that".

So the point is, sitcoms can be worth something, despite being so unreal or plain fake !

Another point is, it's not only about welcoming a baby into your life. It can be applied to anything new coming to your life, even your wedding, or quitting your job in pursuit of your dream.
hmmm ...

No Pain for SPain this time !

2008-06-30T18:15:00.007-05:00

It was theirs to take even before the tournament began. They entered the tournament with a 16 game winning streak and they emerged as the only team of late to win every single match to lift the European Championship trophy (after France did that in 1984 or so).

From the very beginning they displayed their skills with the football. I always liked to watch them dribble and enjoy ball possession. They however lacked taking control in midfield especially against a strong defensive team like Italy. You don't see them making long passes across center line and their tiny framework against bigger-in-size European teams was not in best of their favor.
But they had speed, and Puyol and Marchena took care of business down their box intercepting almost everything that tried to sneak to Casillas. And Casillas had the safest pair of gloves on his recently insured hands. Xavi was impressive all along and David Villa became the hottest player in Europe.
Fernando Torres finally got the credit for such a great player that he is. Whoever saw his title clinching goal against Germany would agree, no body else could've done it. It was Torres and only Torres who went to the blind side of Lahm and outran him and flicked the ball just before Lehman could grab it.
Torres could have got one earlier but it hit the woodwork and added one more to his poor luck this tournament. But he kept running. kept fighting hard for the ball and he got his dew finally.
Torres and Fabregas almost never let anyone realize that they were missing their star striker and the leading goal scorer in Euro 2008 - David Villa. With a little more luck they could've got a couple more into the net. But in the end, they didn't need one. One of the surprising things was how Spain never let Germans into attacks in the dying minutes. They made it look like Germany had already given up. That was a stamp of how dominant Spain was.

They overcame quite a bit of history to win this. They first got better of Italy in quarterfinals and then broke the jinx of yellow jersey (??) against Russia in semis. The only doubt was if they can beat the 44 years of drought of a major title and Torres and Casillas and Co showed they meant Championship this time. Hail the Champions of Europe !

Boston TeaM Party

2008-06-18T17:44:00.008-05:00

The reaction of KG said it all. Oblivious to the delirious crowd and his team mates in wild frenzy of celebration, he rushed to the center of the parquet floor, knelt down, kissed the leprechaun and collapsed. He had finally answered his own demons, he could stand up to him for once and forever here on. He wanted to savor this moment. He couldn't hold his breath when someone put a mic in front of him. He finally let his emotions flow, unrestrained, he nearly collapsed on shoulders of Posey. There came the biggest moment when Bill Russell walked over to him and hugged him and then he could once in his life say those proud words "I've got my own". Yes, he got his own. He quickly got approval from Bill when he asked 'Hope we made you proud'. For all those years in Minnesotta, he was alone. In Boston he finally found his home, he found a place where he belongs. The city that has seen it all in 16 NBA titles, was long waiting for it's 17th, so long that they could have even quit on basketball. With KG in off-season trade, they got their hope back, they got the reason to believe in the C's. They worshiped him all season. They knew the 17th banner was in the making.
In Boston, like in war, there is no prize for the runner up. Their legacy is so rich, anything short of a title is flat ordinary. KG knew it, Paul Pierce knew it well through the last decade and Ray Allen knew it too. They gave the city the reward for every single moment of faith it has shown in their revived green team.

When the scoreline says 131-92, no ones need a telling it was a no contest. But it came against the best offensive team in the league. They could have won game 5 in LA on Sunday and made their fans and fathers proud. But it was a close contest, and more importantly, KG had a 'garbage' game in his own words. KG was the most consistent player on either side of the board throughout playoffs for Boston. He, most of all, was not going to let this chance slip. But he didn't have a great series against Lakers and game 5 was his worst. But come game 6 and it was a totally new KG, rather the same KG we knew before, the KG on a mission. He was aggressive than ever and with clinical precision of not giving away fouls in aggression. He was there to take shots and to get boards on defense. Celtics' celebrated defense is built around him and he showed why, once again.

Ray Allen shot with a magical touch, anything and everything sliding out from his fingers would find the basket. He is unarguably the unsung hero for C's. He had a crap first 2 rounds in playoffs. Nothing would work for him, and media and fans doubted him but he never changed anything. He believed in himself. Doc Rivers, KG and Paul did too. He came alive against Pistons, he was the biggest factor in that win. He was the most consistent player against Lakers. Game 6 was no different.
Pierce was charging into paint, and he had Kobe silenced and perplexed. He's sacrificed his offense to guard Kobe. He did that against a more physical Lebron of Cavaliers. He could have easily scored 50 more points in the playoffs, but it wasn't individual honors for Boston. Paul, Ray, KG have seen it all - all sorts of awards and all-star selections. What they didn't have was the ring. Their own rafter, their ultimate prize, the Larry O'Brien trophy.

The best thing to see was Rajon Rondo in action. I have nothing against him, he is too young, and to be a point guard for a such a high profile team, is a big weight on those young shoulders. He & Perkins give the opposition a chance to flank the floor and use free safety on their shooters. He would miss free throws, and often his extra energy would give away a turnover. But that didn't matter. Doc always had faith in him. He accepted Rondo is not getting few things right, but he never criticized him. He missed shots and FTs here again but he gave them all important 6 steals. That put them in dictating terms. Even notorious Phil Jackson admitted it was Rondo, who took it away from Lakers. It was a big moment for him, at the biggest stage of his budding career with the cloud of doubts hovering over his head and he came out the winner. Perkins though sloppy on the offense, gets crucial blocks and forces turnovers. He's still to go a long way, and he sure will. One should never undermine the contributions from Eddie House and James Posey. Doc turned to them in game 4 when C's were ailing under a huge deficit. House and Posey played a monumental role in bringing them to life again and to take it all the way. Powe got them game 2. PJ Brown and Sam Cassell had their share of contributions. NBA commercials say "There can only be one" but in Boston, it was the TEAM, it never was individual glory. It is with that in mind, they got Garnett, Pierce and also Posey, Brown and Cassell.

The playoffs didn't start well for C's and it was more of being themselves on the court than any opposition for them. They struggled against Hawks and people thoughts Cavs would get the better of them. They survived Cavs and people would mock the seasoned Pistons would burry them dead. All thru the playoffs in the post-game conference the C's would say only one thing - All we think of is the Championship. Nothing less. Nothing else. I am sure it sounded like daydreaming to some. But they believed in the dream, they walked the dream. The extra games gave them a chance to trust each other to complement each other, to get their bench in action and build the on court chemistry. They didn't have a superstar like Kobe or Jordan or Magic, they proved they don't need one. When Paul left injured in Game 1, Doc quickly gathered the team and announced that they were a better team, and reminded them that they were going to win this, even if Paul won't return. Now that was game 1 and everyone was predicting a Lakers triumph. But the sentiment on Celtics bench was they were better, from the very beginning. They never let media or Laker fans get between their belief in themselves and the prized Championship trophy. Before game 6, in the dressing room, Doc again reminded them 'no one in this team wants this championship more than anybody else'. They were a team, with identical hunger for that ring.

This win, at the Garden in Boston, in front of their vociferous fans with the Celtics Legends Russell and Havlicek in the stands, over their old nemesis by 39 points - their biggest win in Championship finals, at the greatest stage in basketball when all of their big 3 shined, when everything fell in place like a scripted drama, was the best culmination to a dream season which goes as the biggest single season turn around in NBA history. It was the most the city of Boston could have asked from their team for their faith and support and the best Ray, Paul and KG and Posey, Perkins, Rondo, House, Davis, Cassell, Tony Allen, and Doc Rivers as a coach could deliver. With this the big 3 finally got their chance to get immortalized.

Weighed down by the pressure of those 16 banners hanging from rafters all season, they now have one of their own. They are right up there, with the Celtics Legends, as the Celtics Legends.
(all images from http://sports.yahoo.com)

It's not a dream anymore !!

2008-06-02T19:47:00.007-05:00

Celtics v/s Lakers

Yes, it's true !

All the die-hard fans of NBA that soaked the Celtics Lakers rivalry in the 80s were praying for this dream to come true this year the moment they saw rejuvenated Celtics with the presence of KG and Ray Allen and they saw Kobe working it out with his teammates. But the Celtics didn't live up to their 66-16 record in the Playoffs. Minnows Atlanta stretched them to the limit, Cavs almost got the better of them, but Celtics survived. They hung in there, exhausted and old yet with a grit not to give up.

Personally, i never saw them going past the Pistons. For Pistons were well rested and Celtics had played 14 games in 28 days going into Game 1 against Pistons. Pistons are playoff seasoned, having made it to the East finals 6 years in a row. Pistons are smart, they know how to make adjustments playing on road, they have unarguably the best bench in the league, their leader Chauncey Billups is a supercool guy and a great 3-point shooter. Prince had found ominous touch against 6ers and Rip was looking as dependable as ever. But the Celtics despite blunders in giving away handful turnovers, missing easy shots, came over Pistons much better than against Hawks or Cavs. Hmm ......

I saw a different Celtics in game 6 v/s Pistons. They managed to bounce back in 4th Q on road which they hadn't done before. The most important thing i saw there was, that their big 3, all of them lived upto expectation in the clutch. In game 5 i saw Kevin Garnett passing the ball while wide open and well inside his normal shooting range. That wasn't acceptable, not from KG. Yes he had scored consistently in the first half, but that doesn't condone the no-shot in the 4th Q. What makes you 'big' is how you perform under pressure, how you put everything on line so your team can get home. You are the one who the teams looks up to. Game 6, KG was in foul trouble and he had made only 4 of his 13 shots. But in 4th, when it mattered, KG stood up and made 2 crucial baskets. Despite his poor shot%, he did not pass. Paul Pierce was firing with all the gun-power he had, very much similar to game 7 v/s Cavs. Ray Allen had found his smooth touch very early into the game. This is what everyone wanted from Celtics. Finally they looked like the 66-16 team. Rajon Rondo was playing his usual share of mistakes, giving away fouls on Chauncey, missing shots, KG and Paul also missed free throws but that was not enough to let down their undying spirit. They were running hard, they were forcing steals and turnovers. They wanted to win.
Winning East isn't a job done.

Lakers - are looking better than they ever looked beyond the Shaq-Kobe era. If i would like them to be the champions is for the one and only Kobe Bryant. I mean you just can't imagine them winning w/o Kobe. He can draw 2 or even 3 defenders and create easy basket for you. He can hit basket out of nowhere, irrespective of double teams. He is THE man to pass the ball to when the clock is dying and pressure is mounting. That's the difference between Pistons and Lakers. All 5 starters of Pistons could be all stars but none of them is a superstar. And does that matter? YES of course, how many times you've seen Kobe bailing out Lakers single handedly. The most recent being game 1 against Spurs and even the game 5.

What happens against Celtics. The historic rivalry is revived yet again. If not for the game 6 between Celtics and Pistons, i had no doubt that it's going to be Lakers. They wouldn't have home court advantage for the first time this Playoffs, against Celtics. But they know what it takes to win on road. They smashed Nuggets twice in Denver and they silenced the mighty Spurs in their backyard. Moreover, Pistons showed in game 2 that Celtics are beatable at home. And if they can't find an answer to tie up Kobe (remember how Utah kept rotating 3 players against Kobe?) , Celtics absolutely do not stand a chance. With Fisher playing great in crunch time and Odom and Sasha and Radmanovic all capable of scoring, Gasol getting offensive boards creating 2nd chances, they have better line up than Celtics. Their young players have come out big under the wing of Kobe and look ready to take on the biggest stage of their careers. Celtics on the other hand still heavily rely on their Big 3, none of which, if i daresay, is as good as Kobe. KG would be close but only as long as he takes enough shots in the clutch. I have great respect for him and i want Celtics to win so KG can get a ring. Paul Pierce is a great player and he will have to have be le game 7 vs Cavs or game 6 vs Pistons in every game. Ray Allen will have to continue his clean hits. It's not easy to take the pace off the game when playing against Lakers who consistently score in 3 digits. Their best in the league defense will have to prove it yet again. Perkins and KG will need to control boards and stop Lakers from taking 2nd shots. They will have to work 150% on their offense, cos you can't miss shots and fancy winning against Lakers only of defense. If that were possible, Celtics would be playing Spurs and not Lakers. Talk about road games, and winning in LA would be the biggest test for the green team. But do they have to win there if they have home court adv ? Well YES, cos you never know when Lakers can steal the game from inside your pockets at your own home.

One good thing now is Celtics have time to rest and regroup or as KG said, to sleep ! But not without the upcoming face off against the MVP Kobe and his young brigade of Lakers at the back of their mind.

I dont want to hear it

2008-02-04T11:27:00.000-05:00

The New England Patriots lost ! Lost to NY Giants 17-14.
I dont want to talk @ it or hear it or discuss it anymore.
Eli Manning got his first Superbowl MVP title and like everyone says the deserving team on the field (on that particular day) won.
The 1972 dolphins uncorked their champagne bottles one more time, never this late any season, but the champagne never tasted so sweet. I hate Mercury Morris.

Come on Guys, Give it to the Patriots

2008-02-02T00:33:00.001-05:00

I honestly don't think anyone deserves it more than the New England Patriots. No team riding on luck can be 18 against zilch in their record any season. They are the first ever team in NFL history to finish 16-0 in regular season. The 1972 Miami Dolphins "Perfectville" have 17-0 season including post season, 2 matches less than the Patriots.

But i don't say so, just because they are AFC Champions now and with a clean 18-0 slate. Just look at who they faced this season. Not all teams face so strong teams in a season and yet able to maintain a clean record.

Week 2 (home) : San Diego Chargers. What's so special about them, they reached AFC championship later after defeating Indianapolis Colts, unarguably 2nd best team in AFC. Chargers had also defeated Colts at home in a close shave earlier this season.

Week 6 (away) : Dallas Cowboys. No ones needs a telling on how tough it is to beat the NFC no. 1 ranked Cowboys at home. Both Patriots and Cowboys had 5-0 record entering the game. Tony Romo in prime form and a strong physical defense. Result : Pats won by a margin on 21.
I believe this must be the match where they really started chasing perfection.

Week 9 (away): Indianapolis Colts. The defending Superbowl Champions. Both teams 8-0 going into the game. With the AFC Championship loss last season to Colts not off his memory, Tom Brady overcame 10 point deficit against chamption Colts, Pats defense picked off Manning and they turned the game over. Victory never tasted better. One of the best matches of the season.

Week 14 (home): Pittsburgh Steelers. Now this year they were not playing really well, yet they were rank 4 at the end of the season. They were also ranked 1 in defense then. Expectations were they would shut off Brady. But what happened, Brady threw 399 yards, 4 TD passes no interception. The defense could not reach Brady even once, so well did their offensive line. Pats defense built wall to stop 4th and 1 twice, once at 1 yard line.

Week 17 (away): New York Giants. This was the dream of every Pat fan, a perfect regular season. With everything on line, Pats overcame 12 point deficit and won by margin of 3. Giants played exceptionally well, got their confidence back, carried the same momentum and performed exceptionally well in playoffs. But Pats, you have to give it to them. They fought it hard. They just did not want to lose their perfect record.

Pats had unexpectedly close matches against NY Jets, Philadelphia Eagles, Baltimore Ravens. If they are so great, how come 2nd rung teams like these can give them a run for their money. Well , that's the greatness of Pats. Sometimes, you don't get your game going. Sometimes, even weather hurts, someone may get injured, or on your 3rd downs the ball slips out of receiver's hands, or u give away a fumble. The 'one bad day' can frustrate you, compel you to give it away at crucial moments, make u rethink ur decision of calling a play. But they did not fall prey to it. They fought against it, so much so that they just did not know losing, no matter what. If their favorite passing game isnt working, switch to running game, long passes wont work, fine switch to bullets. Keep mixing. They outthought everyone. People would stand up to the task. No wonder they have the best record in 4th quarter in the league.

If you have knocked off AFC rank 2, rank 3, rank 4 teams, NFC rank 1, rank 5, rank 6 teams in regular season (and that gave you AFC rank 1) and yet maintain immaculate record, you know you are the best team in the league.

They have so many plays. No team can be 18-0 with weakness in some department, hoping every time their strong hold would bail them out. You can't win so many matches with just defense, with just running game, with just passing game. If Randy Moss is given double coverage by opposition defense, use Wes Welker, use Kevin Faulk, use Gaffney. Maroney can run when you need him. Their offensive line has been rock solid. Brady has thrown record 50 touchdown passes this season, 23 of them to Randy Moss, both new records. This 18-0 isn't just a dream run, there is lot of hard work, professionalism, never give up spirit into it. There is an icy coolness in the way they execute their work on the field in clinical fashion. They have mercilessly routed their opponents (including NFC rank 6 Washington Redskins : 52 vs 7), and they have also won over rivals in a calculated, textbook display of football.

Now what happened in Playoffs. Tom Brady wasn't the lead passer nor any Patriot was leading receiver in either of their games. That is quite unusual of Pats. They instead got running game going. Killed almost last 9 mins off clocks against Chargers to hive them off any chances of a comeback. That's patriots.

Giants, now tagged 'road warriors' are on a roll. Eli Manning found his touch against Pats in week 17 and looks to have still kept at it. The Last Manning Standing on field, is exhibiting flawless display in playoffs. Not a single interception, no turnover ! That's special. The way they silenced Cowboys at Dallas and froze Packers fans in their seats in Green Bay is highly commendable. Guess no one calls them underdogs now. They are going to go all out on Sunday trying to steal the glory from Pat's perfection dream, one more time.

Going back, I am not a super fan of Pats. But i still want them to win. A team that has come this far does not deserve to lose the biggest game of the season, their ticket to Perfectsville, the culmination of their quest for perfection, the finishing touch on the record which no one can better at most equal, the Superbowl.

Thoughts to rescue !

2007-11-02T19:17:00.000-05:00

Just too many thoughts breeze thru ur mind in a single day. Wish there was a way to transfer this 'thought energy' into something useful. Bet it would be far greater in magnitude than any solar or wind energy and like a special holiday discount, it would be everlasting.

Spiderman 3 - STRICTLY under PG-13 ... or.. wait a minute !

2007-05-05T01:00:00.000-05:00

The promos of the movie hovered around 'The greatest battle is the battle within', the 'dark side of the good' theme. The expectation was Spidey wud be shown fending off emotional battle between the power and morals, remember 'with greater power comes ... ' , between selfishness and righteousness. The movie did justice to this storyline, but only slightly, and i am rather disappointed.

This 3rd edition has far more action sequences (mostly digital than real) than its predecessors. The sandman is brilliantly made. All the actors have done well, photography is excellent. It also has perky humor sprinkled loosely causing occasional rounds of laughter. But the story or the lack of a contiguous storyline makes it a lackluster movie (IMO).

The first impession is they tried to squeeze too many movies into one. There could hv been a movie on Venom, one dedicated to sandman and one solely on the 'battle within'. That would give them a better option of concentrating on the theme, one at a time. Sandwiching everything has made a big mess made even worse by the transformations of Harry. Bad-good-bad-good wot !!!!!!!! Today morning i feel Harry should punish spidey for his father's death, but while i go to bed at night i feel.. nay .. Harry's a good boy, Peter's best friend, so i wud wipe out his 'short term memory' till the point of his father's death. But i get a dream in which a fairy tells me, oh then MJ might really start to like him, makes me sweat in my dreams so next morning, i borrow Mr Goblin from hell and scratch Harry's medulla oblongata (or wotever is required) and he's back as new Goblin. Then our hero in black beats him hands down, and i felt ok, one prong of the mess got eliminated. But no !!!! he isnt done yet, you hv to still see his brighter n better side. Come'on !! Are we showing battles-within of spiderman or Harry, give me a break !

The greatest battle shown is actually between the sandman and venom pact v/s our 'awakened' itsybitsy spidey. They are far superior as a team for our superhero and he wud hv been dead (yes, that's what is shown) had it not been for his last moment ally. Whereas he is able to conquer his 'inner battle' all by himself, although he becomes rude and hurts loved ones, matter is not totally out of hands like he going berserk punishing innocents or destroying public property. He did try to avenge his grandfather's death in the first part without needing any black suit to 'amplify' his darker side so it's ridiculous to say it's that black suit that triggered everything !!

He is even shown selfish, only concerned about his iconic image, kissing his chick classmate in front of a million flashing cameras without any 'black infection' and that too when his sweetheart MJ is in emotinal turmoil, desparately in need of moral support of her superhero boyfriend. He is also gotten into his public image so much that he's become shallow to notice her tears and provide her any sort of strong hand.

It does try to plug in some loop holes of its predecessors, but what about the plenty of cliche'd scenes in its own?
The news reporter in the final showdown describing the events and 'what might be the end of ...' are utter platitude. Peter losing the staff job to Eddie Brock at Daily Bugle was nonsensical. The hundreds of people flocking to see the 'showdown' between venom + sandman v/s spiderman and cheering for their hero lack any sort of originality, i felt like i am watching that scene 100th time on the big screen.
Imagine this.
The great Mr Peter Parker has invited his GF to a plush restaurant in NYC, which even his GF knows he can't afford. An exquisite dining place, with possibly a dress code, where they can play violin on demand for that special moment where Mr Hero wud propose Ms Beauty. And just before he cud take a step towards his 'all-movie-long-stretched-proposal', his chick classmate pops up on the screen out of nowhere spilling utterly unnecessary college-lab-practicals-her-Parker beans !! Assume she is utterly dumb (hang on .. she is shown to be brilliant answering some geeky question earlier), but what has she been doing in that restaurant ? She isnt shown to be with anyone. Not even her high ranked father or her jobseeking (&utterly boring) boyfriend. Was she just passing by and checked in the restaurant to answer nature's call and when she saw Peter n MJ she thought hang on let me spoil their relationship for a change? or was she hired by Harry for this cameo in restaurant? It's not a coffee joint or a snack bar where college buddies bump into each other. It's an upstate and elegent dining place.

The black entity from space needs a host to bond. It will amplify the host's powers, at the same time bring about their darker side. Fine. It makes the already powerful Spidey mightier but also brutal. Now this photographer Eddie Brock, is neither powerful nor geeky, kind of a 'normal human being' who thinks Peter as his adversary, indicating he has his dark side already turned on. But yet, after infected by the black tissue, he turns into venom, who can mirror all the super-human talents of our spidey w/o needing any spider. So this alien entity can turn anything into whatever it feels like. And you know what, it is allergic to the sound of church bell (remember Mars attacks :))))) ).

Good for kids to see their spidey kicking a** of bad guys again and sure they wont care whether he is in red-n-blue or jet black, good or evil as long as they see him punishing those villains nor if the storyline makes any sense. But they may not like to see him tied up helplessly needing someone to sacrifice their life to save him.
I won't give this any 8 out of 10. It's about 6.5 to 7 and i am being lenient.

Five Points something

2007-04-08T19:41:00.000-05:00

I start this post with no particular thought. Just to scribble whatever flows thru the pen (fingers). 'musings', random thoughts, week's summary etc could have suited more for title.

So here we go
1. Happy Easter to everyone. Many of my friends had a long weekend here but not me. Ironic as it may sound, our India facility was closed on Good Friday and Good Friday wasn't an official holiday here in the US, so we were working full day.

2. Got a hair cut on Saturday, i wanted to do it on Sunday but i sensed well in time that the barber shop wud be closed for Easter. This time i had to let my head in the hands of a new 'hair dresser' (i feel the word 'barber' doesnt suit on girls). As i try a new hairstyle everytime i step into the barber shop (oh there again), i asked for the catalogue/book and this lady was completely taken by surprise. Guess she might be expecting only preselected options like 'long/short/medium' and vrooooom runs the clipper and swoop swap sweep go the scissors. In the end, i did NOT end up getting a haircut to my desire. So that's about it.

3. I started this post on Easter but it cudn't proceed beyond a point and a half. So today trying to get to make it crawl further.

4. Take ur pick - Which is the most irritating form of work that you absolutely hate but at the same time can not do away with
a. Washing the soiled utensils and cleaning kitchen
b. Pressing (ironing) your clothes (on same day as washing, on Day 2, on Day 3.. )
c. Cleaning Bathroom, vacuuming the whole apartment
d. Sorting the heaps of flyers/pamphlets/so-called-deals that keep getting posted to ur mailbox

5. This week's been pretty busy and so will be whatever is still left of it. BTW, cooking-for-fun days are now over. These days i cook only when essential or when i m weary of maggi.

Citibank $100 Deal - Last 2 days

2007-03-30T08:37:00.000-05:00

Here is the offer (click image to enlarge)

Terms and Conditions (click image to enlarge)Offer home page

Additional Info
1. You must not have a citiback checking or savings account already.
2. The offer says you need to open both e-savings and EZ checking accounts 'together', which is what you do when you use the offer code CS2P.

Drawbacks
1. It requires you make initial deposite of $5000.
2. There is no 'minimum balance' requirement. BUT the fine print says 'your account must be in good standing'. So you should not withdraw everything and expect to get $100.
3. Citibank does a hard credit inquiry on you to check your credit worthiness, although they are not really offering you a credit account.

Workarounds
1. They dont need the $5000 rightaway. You just need to mention ur checking/savings account details. They would send you some documents within 7 business days. You need to sign one of them (authorization) and fax it over before 04/30/07. Only on receipt of the fax would they withdraw money from your bank account.
It gives you approx 30 days to arrange for funds.

2. There is no restriction on how you should split the $5000 between checking and savings account. The best deal is keep high amount in savings and only about $200-300 in checking.
You get 4.75% APY on savings, which is less than what Emigrant Direct offers, but 0.30% (the difference) of APY for 3 months won't earn you $100.
You can also keep about $1000 in this savings account after it becomes operative and that is still fair enough i believe (this is not confirmed, as no one can really quantify what is 'in good standing').
And keep you checking accout active, by doing minor transactions like pay for coffee, withdrawing $5-10 from ATM, depositing $5-10 and so on. (It was told that you need to keep it active, and there should be some transactions. It didnt sound like hard n fast rule but there isn't a documented way to confirm).

Credit Cards and Balance Transfers

2007-03-21T19:45:00.000-05:00

I've very recently acquired interest in this credit/finance line. Thanks mostly to two of my close friends, one being Golbguru and the other a colleague of mine.

Today for the first time i received a cheque(check) of the money that doesn't belong to me and i hv to pay it back in interest free monthly installments. It may sound weird to few but this is how the 'credit' thing works in US.
The cheque amt is meager $350, which by no parlance is something to brag about, but a start nevertheless.

I am strictly a novice in this, but let me tell you how it works.

0% APR on balance transfers - This is something you will never find in India. Normally the interest rates are 2-3% per month = 24-36% per annum (Annual Percentage Rate). In US you might get a credit card with absolutely NO interest on the money you transfer from you existing credit accounts. What a way to pull your competitors' customers.
But as the credit companies are no fools to loan you interest free money, they wud do a 'hard' credit-check on you before approving you a credit card (which happens for all credit cards that you apply for).
If you qualify you transfer your outstandings from other cred cards to this and enjoy interest-free minimum payments per month. Normally the offer would expire after 6-12-15 months and this is the time when you look for another such offer, from their competitors.
(caution : There might be a transaction charge for balance transfers, in that case, you just ignore that offer. Stay put and wait for next offer).

So now in all this, how can you make money ?
Simple - Transfer your non-existing outstandings from an earlier credit card to this card.
eg. You hold card A already without any outstanding amt and card B is the new card with 0% offer. Lets say your credit limit on card A = $5000 and on Card B you qualify for $3000 balance transfer credit.
So now transfer $3000 to your new card B from card A. The credit card company B will send a cheque of $3000 to credit card company A. Soon your acct A will show a 'credit' of $3000.
Then you call up company A and ask them to send a cheque of $3000 as on their records, you've paid excess money to this card. They would happily issue a cheque free of cost and you get the $3000 - cash (in 2-5 days) which you never owned.
Keep paying the minimum amt due every month on card B with 0% interest. This is a MUST else you lose your 0% interest luxury.

Invest $3000 into whatever options (FD/CD/stocks etc) you feel suitable, and enjoy the returns.

P.S. The colleague & friend i mentioned earlier enjoys about $20,000 credit in revolving balance at 0% APR. At 5% APY (annual percentage yield), he can make about $1000 in a year if he invests the money in fixed deposits.

Cell phones, sleep and Mr Murphy

2007-03-14T15:35:00.000-05:00

Adaptation of Murphy's law to sleep n cell phones, i never really found any so thought i may contribute myself, based on experience.

Law: Your cell phone will ring when you are right in the middle of the heavenly bliss of a weekend siesta, long and loud enough to wake you up completely.

Corollary : Your cell phone will be lying far enough to seize from you the privilege of swatting it by your left hand shutting it off, resulting into you having to get up and out of the bed, walking all the way to reach out for the phone only to find that the ringer turns off right at the moment you finally pick it up to answer.

Corollary 2: After you call names the person who'd called, you'd try to sleep again. The moment you feel you are in the crossover n sleep is about to smile, the (bloody) cell phone would ring again and .. ..

Corollary 3: If you sleep like a corpse, there will be someone else (parents/ spouse/ friend/ to-be-spouse/ to-be-parents) inside the house who would be up or would wake up and carry the dreadful instrument in as-ringing state to your bedroom and knock u out of ur sleep.

Updated (03/15/07 12.25 am)
Corollary 4: You will invariably forget to switch off your cell phone or put it into silent mode.

Due to the following Comments. Sort of 'not leaving anything to chance'

id it is said...

Interesting corollaries, but another option may be to change the setting to 'vibrate only', hehe, and then slumber prevails.

Golbguru said...

Yep, I have had that experience many times. I simple solution is to switch it off. :) If the person who is calling has something important to say, he/she will leave a message. Nobody has complained yet...so I guess that's how it will be always.

Finally onto the New Blogger

2007-03-11T20:38:00.000-05:00

At last !!
why - cos blogger didnt act a sport in letting me keep my old template, old settings, old customizations, carry forward old quirks and continue to use old link lists.

Huh - what's the problem in moving to a better set of things?
Absolutely none, the only slight concern is that it would mean i need to copy all my links (i wud rather move to Blogroll than adding each n every link), add chatterbox, disclaimers, remove the blogbar from top and wotever else it takes to bring it close to the one i had.

The most important of these are the links to your blogs, which r now missing, so join me in condemning blogger, if u will and at the same time, bear with me till i add them.

The old template was over worked up anyway, so i have chose a different one, although not really to my taste (two tiny columns in the centre, wasting 50% of the visible screen area, naah ! i cant really admire this. The template designers need to grow up, we are into 1024 + pixels era).

Now the point to mention is now i hv to keep swapping between 2 blogger identities.
When i moved to this new blogger, it asked 'use existing gmail acct' or 'create new'. I chose the latter n it asked for 'an existing mail id', i used my yahoo id 'altruist_m@yahoo.com' thinking it wud let me create another gmail acct, but it dint !! It rather added this yahoo acct to its 'google accts' including a google homepage and from then i use rather i hv to use this yahoo id to sign on to google services. Strange eh !!

So, all in all, my first step into the new world.

See you guys.

Addendum (03/12/2007, 11 am)
The harbor template is back and so are 'links to your blogs'.
*Sigh*

Addendum 2 (03/12/07, 7.45 pm)
I've cleansed the blog off all the unnecessary 'uppercase' lettering inherent to the harbor template.
Most of the links are back in the side bar, with different titles/vebiage/positions.

I miss..

2007-03-09T09:50:00.000-05:00

Me..
I miss those VBMs where (crazy) ppl all over the world would chip in with their keystrokes n static filled voices.
I miss singing Jana Gana Mana in VBMs, i miss singing B'day songs in VBMs. I miss singing any sort of songs. I miss antakshari. I miss those unknown faces singing in melodious voices.
I miss those silly games. I miss the introduction rounds. I miss pulling each others' legs. I miss the peppy talks. I miss ..........

This Blog..

I miss those b'day dedications
I miss those accounts of VBMs/blogger meets
I miss the influx of readers, i miss those myriad comments
I miss the humor, i miss the life.

x-----x-----x

It's been more than a year that i last attended a VBM. It's been a year that i last let out an unrestrained smile on this blog.
I did make a few attempts at restoring the life back on this blog but i cudnt really pull it off.

This is another such attempt.

in a nutshell ..

2006-10-04T20:58:00.000-05:00

1. Tasted alcohol (beer + wine + rum + scotch .. not necessarily in this order, not necessarily all in one go. Also had my first shot of tequila).

2. ~~Hoping to find a good car deal this week. I cudnt lay my hands on the ones i'd shortlisted earlier.~~

3. ~~I havent been to any strip club.~~

Expressions of Silence

2006-09-07T19:00:00.000-05:00

She's one of the most simple and amazingly talented bloggers. A great person with head firm on her shoulders, someone who has a distinct philosophy of life, someone who believes in taking things as they come, never flustered by the rollercoaster rides of life.

Friends form the pillars of her life and something she deeply treasures.
She's a big fan of Gulzar, i wonder why she needs another topic for her PhD :)

Many Happy Returns of the Day to Neelima of Expressions of Silence. Wish You a Very Happy Birthday Neelu. Just be the way you are (else Amir khan wd need to change his dialogue of DCH). :)

Rock On !

Linguistic Enrichments

2006-08-28T10:20:00.000-05:00

M (yours truly) & his roomie are eating curd rice (OK that's the dinner :) ). There is no pickle to go along with it.
R(oomie to M) suddenly remembers something : Hey M, you had some powder ?
M taken aback by this sudden question .. trying to put together what on earth face-powder has to do with curd rice: eh ??
R tries to explain with hand gestures, like he is putting a pinch of salt into his plate.
M (and it cliks): Oh !! you mean chutney ! Yes we have. It's in the fridge :)

What Ms X said : Hey park the car nearly (the visitor centre in Niagara) .
when she actually meant : Park the car close to the visitor centre in Niagara.

Mr X (in the driver's seat): The camera is in the middle.
when he actually meant: The camera is lying in the space between the front seats.
(i really didnt understand it first time i heard it.. i just looked around inside the car and then it clicked)

'Can not be able to' : This is with me for years. I see people around me using it quite frequently completely oblivious to any flaws it might have.
eg. I can not be able to complete the estimate in time if ..
eg. We can not be able to drive if the rain continues this way.
Now someone please confirm if this is correct form of grammar. As far as i know, 'can not' and 'not able to/unable to' should be mutually exclusive. I am open for suggestions. In fact really really open :)

'Curry'
Is there any other word for cooked vegetables, i mean shouldn't there be some distinction in the call names for 'dal, dry sabji, kadhi, sabji with gravy'.
Does anything in liquid or semi-fluid form, other than sambar or rasam that can be taken with rice or chapati, fall in a geralized class of 'curry'.
If 'chapati' is chapati and not tortila neither wheat-bread nor pancake, paratha (or parantha) is paratha, roti is roti then why the heck convert sabji, dal, kadhi (and the rest) into a unified common name of 'curry' :)
Please please please, i m close to desparation to get myself enlightened on this.

'Keep on'
This is another gem. I sincerely wish the 'on' be turned 'off'.
eg. The 'exits' keep on coming.
He keep on talking on the phone all day.
The rain keep on coming.
The exits keep coming, he keeps talking on the phone all day make at least a little more sense to me.

Just some random samples extracted out of my daily dealings. The point here is not to find 'whose is better english'. To be honest, i often fail to interprete what the other person is trying to put across when it's something of the kinds mentioned here.

Thru this post, i m just trying to fill in the communication gap :)

Your opinion?

Here i am

2006-08-20T14:52:00.000-05:00

It's always difficult to neatly time and precisely phrase your comeback.
So w/o giving much thought let me just type in a few words.

It's bright and sunny out here right now, though there were mild showers y'day night. Played cricket after a long long span of time on Friday. Got broadband set up. Went out with my friends y'day and bought some real thick and stuffed winterwear. Lazing out today at home. The only thing i did that can be counted is configuring the wireless router.

The good news is i can now work a few hrs from home everyday, which means i dont have to wake up at 6 to catch the 7.30 am bus. I can sleep a full extra hr and pool in with my colleague who stays next door (you guys just dont know how lucky i am !! He's quite helpful. Not having a car is a painful handicap) and also hop into his car to return home.

Hoping to find a good car deal this week. I cudnt lay my hands on the ones i'd shortlisted earlier. But anyways !
Plans for the coming weekend and the long weekend that follows have already been chalked out.

Hope you all are doing well, up n kicking :).

Where She Goes There is Light !

2006-06-12T02:10:00.000-05:00

This is for my special friend Dew, of Radiant-Dreamscapes.

Wish you Many Many Happy Returns Dear Dew.

More words n it wud be deemed juvenile :P
[The rest is already up on ur orkut page :)]

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tomorrow is the b'day of a Silly Girl.
All of 18 (to be 19), naughty, chirpy, funny, beautiful, smart, honest, candid [and quite nosy] :D

While once modifying my blogger template , i accidentally removed her link and dont ask how much that annoyed her. I've that saved chat transcript (and we voice-chatted else i wud've had the full coverage). Someday it wud be out :) I'd all the plans of making it her b'day gift, but ..
:)
Many Happy Returns (a day in advance), Dear Cheesy.

I recently read she misses Mumbai more than her own city Delhi. So here's something for her. I hope Dewdrop being a Mumbaiite would like them as well.
(image courtesy: mail forward)

To both of you
Have a wonderful day -> year -> years to come.

Keep Smiling (& blogging/YMing/MSNing/Gtalking/Orkutting/mailing/phoning)
:)

[Now, take my word both of you, I'd planned to make it big, for these 2 b'days , but my net connection at home acted up big time. Now Monday and back to the grind, the plan fell flat on its face. Time only would tell how much spare time is written in my fate this week. Have fun.. ]

An Year of Invincibility

2006-05-30T00:12:00.000-05:00

Let me cut short my oscar-style speech.

Thank you all !

Saturday Showers

2006-05-29T03:26:00.000-05:00

Many Happy Returns of the Day, Dear Tarun.
Wish you the best of everything all your life.

On Friday, Pune received its first dash of pre-monsoon showers. As it was well inside the evening, I couldnt do anything but watch the steady showers descend from the skiies and break into rhythmic cadence from inside the office walls. It couldnt go beyond half an hr.

The luck smiled on Saturday, as it rained again.
The evening was set nicely for the showdown as clouds had formed a thick lather overlooking the city's skyline. Overcast conditions built up in the afternoon, the Sun went on a hiding, the air was slightly moist, the hangover of the day before. Just before the first drop hit the ground, the birds were chirpying, the wind was in strength bristling thru the trees who swayed freely. Soon the drizzle metamorphosed into steady shower and that brought the kids in the neighborhood down to the grounds.
The petrichor was everywhere, the earth was breething profusely.

The opportunity wasnt to be missed. Kids had already started playing wild soaking up the rain. I jumped out of the house and joined the kids and i was drenched to every single cell of my skin in no time (albeit with clothes on :D ). The cold water showers giving a head massage and then trickling down the body was a blissful feeling. Taking the impending water droplets on, by looking up into the sky was fun. The water puddles were quick to form and jumping into them splashing water all around was fascinating.
The water was chilly, the wind accentuated its effect, it would send me into shivers occasionally, but it wasnt intimidating. Shelters were available to dodge the rain in form of tall trees and shades of buildings.
I was soon joined by S, who too had stayed back in the weekend.
We hopped around the puddles, sometimes quivering, we ran around the buildings. Plopping sloshing the slushy water was fun. A mini waterfall was formed near the opposite building with the terrace water gushing down 4 floors frantically, and standing beneath it took some courage.

As we went ahead into streets, they were flowing with muddy waters. The road was narrowed down and traffic was crawling along. There were stranded people, mostly desperate to get home, in the shelters of the apartments and shopping malls. Some of them watching us from the corner of their eye, seeing us hovering freely enjoying without a reservation. 'How lucky' they must have felt with pang of jealousy. We might even have been deemed stupid. We cared neither ! At the crossroad, was a traffic jam due to one foot high water. But as the road wasnt completely submerged, vehicles and we moved on.
The rain was washing down the dingy buildings, sliding down the glass windows of apartments, glistening the modern high-rise structures, wiping the parked vehicles clean.

We continued for a KM or so, the rain had abated into a mild drizzle, the soothing breeze was now in dominance. We turned back and on our way, were greeted by a similar group of freaks who too were soaking it up.

A hot cup of tea would have done wonders, but we cudnt afford carrying any cash in such a downpour. So we returned home sans the luxury of a hot sip, the last hour was the best in Pune so far.

The Exodus

2006-05-24T06:51:00.000-05:00

I've been sweeping thru this book for past 3 weeks. It's the longest it took me to tame a novel. Yes, there were plenty of prioritised work and need-to-be-done things which scored over it.

Nonetheless Exodus is an EPIC (all caps meant) !

It has so much to offer that i can blog for weeks on each of the chapters(6 books) of the novel.

It unfolds the fighting spirit of wretched ppl, exiled from their homeland scattered all over the globe, oppressed for centuries, denied their basic rites, hated in every place of the world, looked down upon by almost all religions.
How their strong desire to form a nation on their own can hold and motivate people against any belligerent army. How faith in God and the 'Promised Land' can awaken people who had accepted a life synonymous with torment, struggle and slavery for over 2 thousand years and how it gave birth to a sovereign nation against 50 million sworn enemies on all 8 sides.

No wonder this blockbuster of 1958 was translated into 50 languages.
Some drub this book as 'biased', if you fall into this category, i am all ears to know the truth.

Hats off to Leon Uris. This book came into being after reading nearly 300 books, traveling 12,000 miles and interviewing 1,200 people.

My Rating : A MUST read

If you are wondering what's the book all about, it's about The Birth of Israel. A fact-fiction novel, pretty much like Da Vinci Code, just that the fiction layer is pretty thin and is weaved over strong historical facts right from The debacle of Jews to Romans/Assyrians, the war between Crusaders and Arabs to the World War -I & II, Jewish massacre by the Germans, the DP camps in Cyprus, the War of Liberation).

Weekend summary

2006-05-05T09:50:00.000-05:00

Today happens to be the Birthday of one of my roomies, Upen.

It's been long since this blog wished someone for their coming to life on this planet, i had my reasons for doing so though. Let me break the jinx with this post and that too with someone who's a good friend for last 6 months that we know each other.

I wont blabber more on how he is/who he is/how we met/what he likes n assortments. This is just to wish him. Simple.

Thanks for the wonderful treat, it's one of the most memorable b'day treats i've been part of.

God Bless and wish you nothing but success all your life. Many Many Happy Returns from all of us.

Now the weekend summary..

One good thing is this blog has limited readership now and I've been reciprocating comments on all the visitors' blog due to manageable number of readers. In short, KISS works.
Another advantage is if i stay away from this world, there wont be much furore over my absence.

Looks like it's the time again when i would sink my head into my knees and slump into endless self-appraisal and introspection. Then there are lots of things to be taken care of at home. There are things i've been procrastinating from long time, which now call for immediate attention. Some decisions await me eagerly, even some decisions to be undone. Few loved ones, who've been denied their share of time for some time now, deserve it at top priority.

Have a nice weekend guys, and a lively week ahead. Will see you soon, may be a week, may be fortnight. It's tough to stay away from this world of bits, bytes and faceless words.

cya ..

Around me

2006-05-03T04:42:00.000-05:00

scene 1

My work location :
The cube adjacent to the work-room (printer + copier + mail dispatch drop box) close to the travel-desk guys.

Advantages :
1. Privacy as its in inside bay from the central corridor
2. privacy ++ as i share my cuboid with no one.
3. privacy +++ as i and not my PC face the walkway, my PC/lappy is for my eyes only. No onlookers/gawkers/vela passers by/managers can peep into my PC/TP's black grey screen. What a relief !!

All the chicks sitting nearby are sure to drop by (OK pass by) ur cube at least once day for printouts/photo copying/claims dispatch. A smiling pretty face is all it takes to make ur day, isnt it :)

Thanks to the travel desk in the adjacent cube, chicks from even other parts of our wide sprawled office, fly by. Most of them dont know the 'exact' location of traveldesk and you r sure to help them with a broad smile. Another pt is, almost always they've to take printouts of some to-be filled forms or copies of some already filled ones. Sometimes God is too kind :).

Disadvantages
1. nuisance of the incessant phone conversations the travel guys are put into.
2. Repeated clink of work room door opening/closing (occasional thuds when the paper jams or copier cartridge is low n the victim bangs the door/kicks the traitor machine hard/slams the door-A/door-B of printer)
3. To be honest .. who cares :)

scene 2
outside shoppers stop, waiting for friends..

Advantages :
Look at those babes hanging around. Those bent-neck-cellphone-crazy gals, those low waist-high-heels-babes, those slim-body-tight-hips-babes, those overtly-fashion-conscious-with-multiple-make-up layers-n-highlighted-hair-girls, those eye-candy girls licking feast/chocobars/cornetos, those .. hmm .. girls.

Disadvantages:
1.
Huh !! how much more time, i hate waiting !

2. Out of nowhere someone pops up right in front of u with excessively smiling face and some hefty book in his hand.
"Here is a Disney Encyclopedia for children for just Rs 500/-. Special prelaunch offer from company (bla bla), soon it wd be launched at Rs 1350/- (something). "
*Damn, do i look like a kid* look
No response
"Sir, u can skim thru it, here, take it. "
*escape route* "How can i be sure its original and not smuggled copy"
*produces some papers* "Sir you would be given proper receipt of purchase on company's letterhead"
*damn !! ok *starts bristling thru the pages*
"its good, but i absolutely do not see a reason of buying it"
*the do i look like a kid look is prominent on the face now*
"Sir, u can buy it and gift someone. Most of the ppl do the same. The kids love it".
*Now wot !!* "i dont have anyone in close relation to gift it to"
"kids in colony/relatives' kids. Sir it's really good. With all the pictures n stories, the kids would love it"
*frustrated !! * "Listen, i dont need it. I am sorry" *Returns the book.
"Sir, its very cheap and really good for kids"
*Darn !! Thinks of snarling on his face, but calmly* "Look, i am really sorry, i am not going to buy it"
The guy gives up finally and is immediately on the lookout for another bakra, erasing me from his universe, as if no conversation took place in last 4.5 minutes *.
*sigh !! what a relief !!!! *

Words

2006-04-28T02:00:00.000-05:00

birth death genes family blood relation cast religion God karma faith reasoning education knowledge thinking innovation values liberalization struggle competition protection-price land-price education-price governance-price-of-freedom development pretense greater-common-good dams-temples of modern era(?) nature beauty peace language music patience persistence proofs postulates axioms reality eat sleep mate defend animals humans intelligence ignorance truth illusion facts assumptions authenticity equality casteism racism ability succeess achievement politics nation destiny genesis big bang theories testaments uncertainty origin eternity vacuum..

Met Her Again ..

2006-04-26T06:46:00.000-05:00

Friday Night. Age was showing upon her, but she had grace. She had oomph, she looked incredible for a 47 year old. Definitely not as charismatic as in Basic Instict, but Sharon Stone as Catherin Tramell should be your only reason to watch BI-2.

The movie starts on the same lines of BI-1, a murder. But for a change, we already know who's the murderer, n that too in the first 15 mins itself. The screen opens with a car accident death where Catherin T is in the driver's seat. She's quickly diagnosed by a certified psychiatrist of having 'The Risk-taking/omnipresent/fear-none' pyschological syndrome.

That takes the wind out of any mystery or suspense. What it leaves to the director and script-writer is how they present the way she manipulates 'objects' of her affection (yah, it's not just men), how she outsmarts the cops and the doctor and how she in turn weaves her web around the doctor, how the hunter (not really the shooter Nic, here it is the strong minded Michael.. well ok supposed be) himself get hunted by her seductive and aggressive demeanors, the supposed to be psychological thriller. But Michael Caton-Jones, Leora Barish & Henry Bean collectively fail to make any impression. Paul Verhoeven (director of BI), you were thoroughly missed.

David Morrissey as Michael Glass sucks. He is bland and not sober, he looks lost rather than shocked. Never does he look like he can take on the fearless, seductive Sharon Stone.

There is plenty of skin at show, thats the only semblance between the original and the sequel apart from S.S. At times it looks crass. S.S. does look old at times, i wont attribute it to her as a fault though. The eroticism and sensuality is nowhere to be found. They've tried hard to give the audience a feeling of existence of a plot, but it comes as a lame attempt. Only towards the end you feel there is an element of surprise and something's making sense but when the denouement finally dawns, you feel like laughing it loud. The ambiguity created at the end in BI is tried hard to be re-captured, but it looks pretty shallow.

In theaters they wud censor everything out, so if that's what titilates you to part your money, think again (This time it cost Rs 130/-, INOX).

Basic I(n)t-stink(s) period

Tribute to THE Master

2006-04-25T00:04:00.000-05:00

The master blaster turned 33 today [edited: It was yesterday. This post couldn't be published y'day due to erratic behaviour of Blogger]
So much already said and written on him, i do not wish to yap more.

Please read the article 'Don't Question the Genius' in today's Hindu (& Times of India) by Wasim Akram, the bowling legend, on the greatness of the maestro, the immortal Sachin Tendulkar.
I've nothing more to say.

We fell in love with you as a 16 yr old fearless and audacious little master and the love hasn't reduced a bit.

Long Live the Legend. Thanks for making us Proud.

Feels like Heaven !

2006-04-20T02:42:00.000-05:00

Please read part-1 below .

Today's newspapers
The quota lobby tightens it on the Govt.
Protests from Dalit organizations.
National Commission for Scheduled Castes chairman Suraj Bhan
“When reservation has not been implemented in government where it is subject to a law, how do you expect a hostile industry to do so on its own.”

What a way to justify !! I m sooooo impressed that i have no words left. Feels like i have attained Nirvana, i've found answers to all the questions mankind is facing ...

Azim Premji “We compete with global companies and are primarily in the services business, which is highly people dependent. We have no alternative but to hire the best talent available, within India or globally ”
He rightly joins the brigade of other business tycoons who rebuffed the govt for thinking about such an unjustifiable legislation. The language is clear, we are in global market, in service industry. We cant spoil the reputation, we cant compromise on quality.
Indian talent has carved a name for itself in the international arena over long years. Wouldn't the impending reservation bill crack the confidence the industry has in them. Would this tilt the balance in China's favour ?

What's happening in Blogworld/Orkut on the issue.

Bloggers are as always on forefront.
Technocrati Search gives
http://www.technorati.com/search/reservations%20india

There is an interesting blog supporting the reservation [this reminded me of those blogs which started just to show Rashmi Bansal down. ]
http://obc-reservation-and-sc-st.blogspot.com/

Orkut shows increasing number of communities formed and thousands of users diving in to voice protest.

I liked this particular community, just keep ur eyes open towards 'Events'. Do participate in the peaceful protests if you can.
http://www.orkut.com/Community.aspx?cmm=11344550

Dont forget the Youth did it in France just a few days back against the unjust CPE legislation.

I am so Happy today

2006-04-19T02:35:00.001-05:00

Today's Headlines

Prime Minister of India "We all need to ensure that no group feels excluded from enjoying the fruits of rapid economic growth. I urge the industry to seriously consider enhancing educational and employment opportunities for weaker sections in an affirmative manner".

When i took admission to an Engineering Institute in Mumbai (which incidentally happened to be 110 years old then, much older than the Independence or the Govt ruling the nation), the Govt of Maharashtra (under the purview of Central Govt) had imposed 52% reservation for backward/other backward/special backward/economically backward/scheduled tribes/scheduled casts in secular India.
I swallowed the lump. Thousand others did too.
There were no protests, no processions, nobody in the media (print/tv) cared a damn.

[The total reservation was later reduced to 50% in accordance with orders of Supreme Court which makes our batch highly unfortunate.]

My Parents used to work in a Govt of Maharashtra undertaking, and i used to overhear how the juniors were getting promoted just on the grounds of their birth.
I swallowed that too , but it used to cause occasional smlodering.

My Dad always wanted me to be an IAS officer (no exaggeration if u wud say, i m not so silly as i might look here). I cudnt take up the idea of working directly under the unruly/biased/corrupt politians, and i knew even there, some seats wud be fall in some kind of 'quota'.

Now i see the Govt is hell bent on imposing the same in pvt sectors after almost giving finishing touches to the bill of increased quota (yes, the quota is just increased, it did exist earlier) in the super specialty education fields.

Lets go thru PM's statements again.
"We all need to ensure that no group feels excluded from enjoying the fruits of rapid economic growth. "

If i say i feel excluded from the huge dividends someone (say my neighbour) is earning from their equity investments, would they share their profits with me ?
I feel thoroughly excluded from all the money the crappy politicians make. Would they make me shareholder in their wealth.

[[ I feel excluded from the opulance of wealth of the Sultan of Brunei. yeah, i m pretty broad minded, why distinguish humans based on geographical boundaries. Dont we all belong to 'human race'.
So if anyone is progressing anywhere, i should get a share of it. ]]

What are u doing for the ever-increasing gas prices if ur economy is growing?
What measures are taken to keep inflation rate in check? Dont you feel half of ur salary evaporates in paying the rent of the house, if u r staying in a decent house in a decent locality in Mumbai/Bangalore.
How much relaxation is given on income tax for those who are actually contributing to this rapid economic growth?
Isnt the reservation in Govt Jobs good enough for the 'groups'. Why doesnt the Govt think of creating more jobs for them in govt undertakings.

"I urge the industry to seriously consider enhancing educational and employment opportunities for weaker sections in an affirmative manner"

did i read educational ??? Isnt that the Govt's job to provide educatinal facilities to its generation-of-tomorrow?
On top of that we have many IT companies working hand in hand with NGOs, seriously contributing towards betterment of the less fortunate strata of society.
Weaker ? did u mean financially weak ? did u mean under-privileged/under-nourished/below poverty line people? What financial proofs are required for the 'quota' eligibility. The 'creamy layer' ceritificate reqmnt is only for OBC (& the limit is Rs 2 Lakh PA. It's not Rs 50,000/- or so)

Increase Tax liability of those who honestly pay huge sum of their hard earned money as tax.
Do nothing against the 99% of the population who evade tax.
Do nothing against those who frame tax statements.

Give free electricity to whoever you want and
Bludgeon others by thumping 'load shedding' upon them.

Increase sales tax, service tax and add a few 'cess' taxes.
Are we in a VAT era yet ?
Do nothing against the corruption.

Welcome to Independent & secular India of 21st Century.

I remember reading Vision 2020 of Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. Where are u Mr. President?

मायबोली

2006-04-18T04:02:00.000-05:00

हि माझी मराठीतून लिहिण्याची पहिलिच वेळ आहे. बघूया कसं काय वाटतंय. खूप दिवसांपासुन मनात होते कि आपल्या मातृभाषेत काही तरी लिहावे. पण प्रत्येक वेळी काही ना काही कारणांस्तव राहून गेलं. ह्या संकेतस्थळावर येणारे बहुतांषी लोक अमराठी आहेत, मान्य आहे. I apologize if you dont understand what's written. But starting a new blog only to scribble in मराठी didnt seem reasonable enough.

I intend to blog more in Marathi with absolutely no clue on what it's going to be.
यापुढे काय होणार तेही काळंच ठरवेल म्हणा. पहिल्या वेळेसाठी इतके खूप झाले :)

This one's dedicated to N Ku and the man who wrote.

Orkut | Or Cut

2006-04-14T16:35:00.000-05:00

Is that the new craze ? Agreed, it's been around from long time so much to qualify as a veteran in 'connecting ppl', but as once there was craze of getting urself an e-mail id, then an IM id was in buzz, then Blogs started flaunting the limelight and now i see OrKut as the latest talk of the town.

a. One of my roomies apprises me on how it comes handy to stay connected with ur friends.
As usual, i forget to register and the thought is off my mind for a fortnight.
Then all of a sudden
b. I get an invite from one of my Blogger Buddies (& a highly popular blogger)
c. I hear from my roomies that they too are now on orkut
d. My ex-classmates also talk about it and one of my best pals sends me an invite (he is just a couple days late in doing so :) )
e. Even my colleagues update me the benefits of being on orkut.

So, these days i m on Orkut for almost an hr a day. an hr a day isnt that long but it's fun.

I am taken more by the communities. You name it and there would be a community waiting for u.
Your college, ur class, ur dept, ur canteen, ur library, ur neighborhood, ur city, ur fav movies, ur fav authors, ur fav hangouts, ur past times, ur hobbies, there might be a community for absolutely anything and everything !!!!
Phew !!

It's definitely a better way to stay connected than Blog, if thats the only reason behind someone's blogging foray, plus thanks to the communities, it clearly outclasses hi5. Also you might even run into ur long lost buddy or ur childhood crush on Orkut. I would refrain from comparing it with YM; our beloved tool to stay in touch.

It's worth trying, all u need is a Gmail (oldies would have a diff orkut id, but as now Google has taken over it, ur Gmail id is all u need) but beware : it's additctive and it's a BIG BIG ocean.

Couple of Days Back

2006-04-12T05:12:00.000-05:00

someone told me Gtalk has revamped its avatar. Now u can add a pic (select from available pics or ur own) to be displayed against ur chat-name and even change ur chat window's appearance.

All u've to do is download the latest Gtalk client and install.

We love Google, and it loves to keep things simple. This new feature came as a slight surprise to me.

It's welcome change nevertheless. Happy Gtalking !

Ready To be Cyrus ?

2006-04-07T02:35:00.000-05:00

Everyday Prakruti on RadioMirchi (93.9 FM) goes gaga over it, every week at least twice Pune Times writes half a page on how it is luring the audience to empty their pockets over it.
My friend Mortein updated me that it pocketted Rs 3 Cr in first 3 days.
It keeps hitting ur ears n eyes that this flick has tipped Monsoon Wedding, Mr n Mrs Aiyer, Bend it Like Beckham in gross collection and is all set to be crowned as the most successful Hinglish movie.

Does this come as a recognition for the efforts gone into making this outstanding movie, or a sweet surprise or an utter disbelief !!!!!! Have you watched (survived) this movie? Did you find it so laudable, so rivetting, so edge-of-the-seat types, so entertaining, so engrossing, so involving, so enjoyable ?

I was in utter shock to see Being Cyrus getting rave reviews all over. We watched it on Day 4 (27th March) and not even 40% of the seats had any claimant.

Q. Do u understand Parsi ?
If no then half the humor of the movie, which is what it runs on is lost. Keep in mind the movie is just 90 minutes long. Only half of the remaining jokes would reach you and you wud wonder on ur response, just play suit to your (parsi) nebors (we had them in plenty, so at least we knew when to feign a laf) or try to understand it.
Q. Can you digest Saif Ali Khan trying to look 'serious' ?
*no discussion on this*

There are a few plus points, like a totally diff storyline (?), strong performances by all the lead characters. It's dark and quirky, no fluffy songs n sequences, so u r saved from shouting 'cut the crap' . Thankfully some of the humor is developed using english language, then there r dialogues like 'after the game, both the king and the pawn go back in the same box'. The cinemato/photography is excellent, and so is camerawork. The climax is sudden and the chain of events unfold into something really dumbfounding and totally unexpected. Though in the donuement, predictability sneaks in, the climax is worth a thumbs up.

That apart, for most of the time you wud b rolling ur eyes over what am i watching, does it have a theme, a story, a possible *conclusion*? And there is a near revulsive dream of Cyrus.

This post is not the movie review of being cyrus. It's too late for that. I honestly feel it doesnt deserve all the praise and money it is proclaimed to have accumulated (if thats true). I m not drubbing it to be a piece of crap, yea, it's ok n it's definitely 'different'. This is another attempt to sandwich mainstream cinema with art movies and it's not a complete disappointment.
Someone said 'Hitchcock types', Give me a break !!

Tell me something, if you've watched it once, would you watch it again? Can you fancy spending Rs 110/- for those 90 minutes (thats INOX for you)?

Blog Resistance !

2006-03-23T07:04:00.000-05:00

I would call it measles of Blogworld. You are sure to be bitten by it at least once in ur bloglife.
(one of my blog friend deemed 'anonymous bloggers puking on ur blog' as measles :) ).

So this is my state of mind lately. There is a lot to blog on, nothing like i m running short of ideas nor i m finding it difficult to keep the place alive nor am i running thru a rough patch like Viru Sehwag or Sachin Tendulkar (God save sachin).

The 'fire' is still in me, oops that was an overstatement. Tell you what, after watching RDB especially after listening to 'Roobaroo' song, i started introspecting whether i really have it in me?
or i m just another human being like a billion others who keep living their life just because they arent dead yet, whose life has become a routine rather than discovery, the pace of whose life forbids them from even turning back n looking at what they have been treading on forget taking a detour;

or just another IT professional like a million others who either want to be PLs/PMs/TLs, who think they deserve a few thousand $s more than their current remuneration, who aim to settle abroad, who want to live a luxurious hassle free life, who are always underrated in appraisals by their managers;

or just another bachelor like 50 million others who isnt serious about life, who has no clear objectives or targets set before him, whose parents are keen on getting him hooked with a suitable bride, who loves the fuzzyness of life, who is confused all the time on whether he falls in 'liberal or conservative' categories;

or .. .. i am really special ?
They say everyone of us is special, which inadvertantly makes every one of us ordinary:)

As you must have realised, the title of the post is 'blog resistance', and digression isnt always the best of the things so lets get back.

The point is, i dont feel like blogging these days. I hardly drop by other blogs. YMing/Gtalking is a passe'. Time isnt at premium, so i shudnt fake a cry that i am deeply involved in some extraordinary project to the tunes of designing a new nuclear reactor that i seldom get any time for myself. In fact, this is the slackest period at work and most of us kill time by meticulously planning extended lunch breaks, frequent coffee breaks, intermittent chit-chatting sessions, online games and wot not !!
My home connectivity and laptop are still intact (thanks to my manager), and my employer's network never goes down.

Like a freshly curated pitch, the conditions are ideal for playing blog-blog, but I am not game for it. Hopefully, the clouds of blog fatigue would be blown away and Sun would smile again on this blog.

There is time, there are ideas, there is infrastructure, but there is no zeal. Anyone with blog-MMR vaccine ? Please get in touch with me on 1-800-blog-mmr (ok, it's just a joke, please don't try this number, i take no responsiblity for the consequences :) ).

I must thank all the readers of this blog for staying with such a stupid and whimsical blogger as me. I m not even replying to comments these days, sorry guys, but always remember i do read ur comments. Your opinions do matter :)

Have a great time !

Along went a 'day'

2006-03-09T07:58:00.000-05:00

International Woman's Day came and went back into obscurity.

I was happy not to see any ostesible display of it across blogsphere. Yes, there were a few posts (in my reads) but none were of boastful nature or calling for women to unite or bragging that the world rests on their shoulder or that how a man's life is worth nothing in absence of women n blah blah.

Let me not exhibit chauvinism and brag in vain with a wicked smile that 'only 1 day belongs to the women n rest 364 to us men' . We r in a matured era. isnt it! we know of collaboration n cooperation :)

There was a small function yesterday evening, inside the office cafeteria exclusively for women. Most of the girls were in saris (thats normally a treat for guys :) ) with some dabs of makeup on some of the already pretty faces.
The interesting thing was, as they returned from the small party, looking at their faces, it was instantly clear that none of them enjoyed it :). To top it up, all of them were given free writing books with lots of photos of women employees taken at various events over the last year. So it proved to be an eyecandy for us rather than them :)
Some of them even quipped 'instead they shud have given us a photobook of film heros' :P, now how is that !!

Belated WD greetings to all the feminine fraternity fassing fy fhis flog.

I m taking a peep into 'blog everywhere', the latest offering of once-dynamo Sabeer Bhatia.
So far, i cudnt make out anything of it. Their site says they r running thru some issues. Let me give them some time before i take a full shot at it.

Thank you all for ur contributions towards the 'comment encyclopedia'.
It would be out soon. [I am yet to consolidate it.]

How Not to Read a Blog

2006-03-02T07:55:00.001-05:00

and still feign u've read it from A to Z :)

On an avg the Readers read hardly 50% of ur post. The best bet is to confine your post within a single screen, two at max. Readers wont appreciate using the scroll bar (or down arrow key for that matter a lot)
[exceptions apply though].

The general strategy
Copy a snippet from the first/last para (or better keep swapping ur choice every time u visit the same blog), and paste it in your comment, oblige the author by giving a 1 sentence opinion on it. That’s all u need to do!!
If you have time in ur hands, repeat the process once or twice.
To add, u can sprinkle in free expletives 'what a beautiful post, u write so well, this was so profoundly well written, i completely agree with you, you’ve got incredible style of writing'.
Some bloggers also prefer decorative accessories in the form of ‘muahs n hugz’, I would leave up to u to decide on them :)

If it's philosophical/based on world news/current affairs/issues faced by humankind then the reader’s modus operandi should be 'Read the first para, skip everything in the middle n jump to the last'.
Or may be just the first para else just the conclusion in the last para.

If it's a travelogue, 'wow, wot a beautiful PLACE (instead of 'post' .. see the changes reqd r really minimum), what a vivid description (in place of u write so well .. just written in a diff form), i so want to visit this .. looks like u had a great time.

Any adventure post e.g. sky diving/river crossing/ rappelling/ marathon/ cycling/ deep sea diving
I like ur spirit of adventure, wow, u make me J, it’s so refreshing. I’d done similar 1-2 years back/when I was a kid/next time I wud want to join you/i prefer xyz instead,

For all dedications, ‘what a wonderful gesture, you are such a sweetheart, such a lovely friend that you are’ and depending on the dedication (b’day/anniversary/father’s day-mother’s day) use appropriate ‘Happy X-day’.

Funny posts by n large are the easiest candidates to comment. ‘What a funny post, l fell off my chair laughing, this is so damn funny, rib tickling, i m grinning ear to ear, you got a weird sense of humor, I m loving it, u r my daily dose of stress busters ’. See even these comments wd make u chuckle :)

Poems of any kind – ‘wow, you got a definite way with words, I was left speechless, you put ur feelings into words so well, you weave ur thoughts into words quite meticulously’

Sad/contemplative posts including broken hearts/missing you
Some of the expletives used for poems can be readily applied here as well. To add, ‘it’s so hard to forget someone but one has to let it go, s/he was not worth you, life is too beautiful to rankle urself with such thoughts, you are such a brave person to come out of it'.

Now, if you are someone who is getting tempted to press the comments link to deny my disclosures, to assure 'no no no, thats not true, i read everything of what ppl write .......', then ........ then i wouldn't deny it, rather i wud simply smile at (on) you and pray for you :) :). God save your employer (or you, if you r a student) :D

** matter of factly i m one of this kind, so please pray for my employer**
:)

BTW, you can suggest/add on this. Together We Can build an encyclopedia of comments :P

You thought they 'read' ur post

2006-02-27T04:25:00.000-05:00

When i was a newbee, i knew for sure all my readers read every single post of mine from the very first word till the last period. You would immediately throw a How ? Cos i was the only one reading my blog then :) rather who used to give a damn to my blog.

Over time as my photo started appearing in the police stations in the most wanted list and posted n faxed to the locations worldwide, this blog started fetching more (?) readers.
And as if keyboard is my worst enemy, i started hammering it with the strength and persistence i have never mustered before, which used to result in long, longer, longest posts.(much like this one). and i continued to be under the false impression that all those who drop comments do really read the posts, why, cos i used to read it that way.

But it didnt take me long to realize how wrong i was !!
Here is produced some evidence to support my statement, else i fear people would hold me by collar n wring my neck.

1. 13th Aug 2005 - I put a post on Independence Day, with a special note of 'ID VBM' at bottom. I hosted another link in the sidebar as an eye-catcher. This post of mine received some 30 comments (OK, i had my comments .. oops .. moments of fame). But this is not the point. What caused me goose-bumps were the comments on my next post, which was the account [aankhon dekha n kaano suna haal] of the ID VBM. I was taken aback by ppl asking 'when was this VBM, what is it, who organized .. etc'. And I felt a sudden aphasia taking better of me !! I wanted to scream 'You #$%&, dint u put comment on my prev post. dint u see the announcement. dint u see the sidebar where it was hanging consicuously all this week. AND i thought you read my blog !! :).

2. My Name
There was some curiosity about what's the real name of this clown who calls himself invincible !. I liked it, fun-excitement-thrill, so i scribbled it on in a post (albeit cleverly, not like My name is Anthony Gonzalvis) and soon mentioned in another that my name is written on my blog itself. Now u tell me, is it possible if i have only 15-20 posts, and the readers who were with me for 10-15 of those 15-20 posts would miss it (the first 5-10 posts as a rule were rants n considering my penchant for anonymity, had no chance of bearing my name anywhere in them). It's my name, its not the name of place, where u have too many n dont know which one would it be. To add, the post with my name too received 50 comments :)
But then thats the way it is !

3. I am elder of 2 siblings.
It was posted in the 'fib quiz'. A week before this, i had put a characteristically long, irritating though funny n untraditional post '105 facts about me'. The third point says i m younger of 2. Still i got offliners from my readers they cudnt spot it. Now how is that !!

4. Just the penultimate post.
a. It talkes about BMW site trying to manipulate search results
b. It talkes about another site trying to do the same
and people ask me what's the connection .. lol !!

Then how do the readers scan your blogs, you would wonder. After an extensive research i've found the most widely used and the easiest strategies to finish reading posts in no time and still managing to put a witty comment which would make the author slide into the 'my readers really read my blog' syndrome.

As I leave behind the longest fortnight of my life and things yearn to return to normalcy, thought i would apologize for my absence and start afresh with this new post (courtesy - drafts :) )

Read n find out urself :)

2006-02-12T06:23:00.000-05:00

Pricess Diaries

Once upon a time, there was a cute princess. Caring, loving and sweet she was as much as smart & intelligent. In a party she made fun of a shy, reserved but equally handsome prince, whose sugary sweet words in turn left her deeply impressed. And then started the fairy-tale, which after years of closeness n love, after realizations of made-for-each-other, now stands at the Happily-Ever-After juncture.
Yes, she got married y’day, with the love of her life. If I wish that their journey continues to be the fairy tale for the newly wed couple and the heavens always shower the best upon them.
My Heartiest Congrats to Mr & Mrs Nupur :),

The Master turns ripe by one year.

He’s blessed with immense word power, creativity and story telling skills. If he worships anyone, it’s The Queen of Melody, Lata Mangeshkar. Take my word, he’s a walking guide about Lataji and can very well win any quiz on Hindi cinema. I’ve heard him singing in VBMs in a clear voice, and can assure you he is a damn well singer. He’s someone who’s gathered well-deserved respect in the blogsphere.
And now I feel I m falling short of words in putting him into words[in other words, i dont have anything else to say :p]. He is The Master Storyteller. A great person by nature, Deepak Jeswal, the DJ. [n he’s still bachelor :)]. Happy B'day Sirji. Let's raise a toast for DJ. *clink* Cheers :)

OK enough of this ga-ga. Let me also add, he has a fetish for pink salwaar kameez :p. He is a lazy procrastinator and some bold career decisions await him eagerly.
Sirji, wish you all the best and may this Valentine some miracle take place and this year opens up the correct avenues for ur life :).

15th Feb marks 2nd anniversary of his Random Expressions. So let me club both the wishes together :). Happy B'day Random Expressions. Happy Blogging, and eagerly looking fwd for another sensational Story by DJ.

Another of my blogger buddies, Kaps, celebrated end of his first year in the US. Good going dude :). I am really glad to see you back in blogworld.

BMW.de No More on Google

2006-02-07T07:30:00.000-05:00

Google has removed BMW's German web-site from its web repository citing the reason that it tried manipulating the search results by using 'doorway pages'.
Read the CNN Report here.
(Note: bmw.com still shows up in the search results).

Remember the IIPM vs Bloggers saga ?
A blogger Puneet had discovered something on IIPM's website raising question whether IIPM is spamming search engines.
Read his step by step unravelling Here .

A passing thought - has RDB really awakened the generation ? If yes, then i so wish it had released about the time the IIPM controversy was hot.
(to my defence, i havent yet watched this movie). And by this post, i am NOT digging the dead out of their graves.

Tags : Google, IIPM, BMW, News

Back to kcaB

2006-02-06T06:01:00.000-05:00

Ok, the mirrors dont always give the perfect reflection, i apologize for the title.

What if you have a habbit of falling down from your bed in deep sleep. Would you dare confessing it in the public even making a fun of it (& u) saying 'poor floor' ! I know on such person at least.

She's the first girl from indian sub-continent to climb GAUSTA TOPPEN, the tallest mountain in Norway and sign the guest boook. She's sky-coasted twice and loves speeding her audi well beyond 100. A highly adored creature in this weird wired world, known for her innocence and warmth and yes did i say her beauty :P

She was sparingly seen in the virtual world lately and if u hop to her blog, an unceremonious 'good-bye' post would greet you with a solemn smile.

Many Happy Returns of the Day Dear Dear Strawy. Some of us are aware of what might be the reasons for ur withdrawal from virtual world and your demand of not contacting you.

Wish you Good Luck and God Bless.

Tag :Birthday

Another reason to celebrate

2006-02-05T11:41:00.000-05:00

Today another lost soul turned one year older.
Happy birthday Chatterbox :)
And what better way to celebrate the b'day eve than in company of the maestro Bryan Adams. Read it on her blog itself !

P.S. I know there are a few people have reasons to get annoyed on me. I don’t deny it entirely :P.

Tag: Birthday

KBC2 off air - So what !!

2006-02-02T02:04:00.000-05:00

KBC2 went off the air and India TV has a sensational story to tell you why it shouldn't bother you at all !!

Read it on Rashmi Bansal's blog.

Tags : News India

What Say ?

2006-01-31T10:55:00.000-05:00

Life moves on..
WE, have to move ahead.

Tag : Boring , Life

(edited Wed 01, 4.00pm)
I should be joking if i say it came as a shock that Paheli didn't make it in the last 5 in the oscars.

I wonder why TOI hosts columns from pakistani cricketers when BCCI has prevented indian team from voicing any opinion in the media. So we get Moin Khan asking blatantly 'is it the beginning of end of Sachin' and Shoaib Akhtar beating his chest over 'i have been given a clean chit over my bowling action' when ppl raised questions over his bent elbow when he tucks in a 150Kmph bouncer.

I wonder even more how the pitch changes to a bowlers track from batsmen's paradise when we are batting (and vice versa) :) .

Y'day i heard on zee news that Oscars are THE biggest of all movie awards in the world !! Now, should i say are u kidding me !! They even telecasted the history of oscars and how the jury is sealed from the outside world when they enter the closed room (etc etc). That was informative i should say.

Know More - This blog and blogger

2006-01-27T04:54:00.000-05:00

[The '8 tag' is howering all over blogdom. Before i play it myself, let me add to the world's knowledge about me.]

The author of this blog is a certified psychopath. His body is made of 100 funny bones, most of which are broken at least twice.

He is suffering from a chronic multiple personality syndrome and is a walking example of principle of uncertainty and duality theorem. Sometimes he thinks he should quit his job and go on a hop and sometimes he is too comfy in his current job where these ‘sometimes’ are just a few seconds apart. He wants to be a loner at one moment and the next he yearns to be amongst his friends. Today he would hate YMing and tomorrow he would be ‘available’ on YM day & night (in invisible mode :p). He desires to do everything in the world in one instance and in the next he is in complete peace with his mind. He may appear matured and kidding at the same time. He also wishes to lose and gain weight in a matter of a fraction.

He is known to be forgetful, especially when it comes to birthdates, deadlines and visiting other blogs. Words like weird and procrastination are way high in his dictionary. When he is in groove, you would think he’s lost it!! According to him the best part of Neal n Nikki was that it got over in one & a half hrs.

Once upon a time he was a popular blogger and was riding on the wave of fame for quite some time when he decided it’s enough and went on a blog-abstinence. He was nearly sick of the comment game (I comment, you comment, s/he/it comments, I reply, u re-reply, I re-re-reply, u re-re-re-reply..) which was one of the reasons of his withdrawal. But he does enjoy healthy argumentation and exchange of thoughts and also lighter moments.

He sees this blog as an experiment where he can play with his emotions thru words, peep into the world if not into his own mind and put it across. Being an extrovert, he loves others' company and learns from their wealth of knowledge and wisdom. He absolutely hates stereotyping. Sometimes he would make you laugh your bellies out and the next post would be a pathetically boring philosophical outburst. Sometimes the sense and sensibility would go for a toss and sometimes you would be tongue in cheek over his intriguing post. To add he is also allergic to all variants of casual e-muahs and e-hugs.
He is not averse to tags but by n large they arent welcome amicably. He already has a long list of uncatered tags to take.
The reasons behind blogging can be different for different individuals and he respects all of them.

He just doesn’t admire BLACK blog backgrounds (just realized these 3 words form a tongue twister, try to repeat 'black blog background' 30 times in next 1 minute.......... try at least!). He loves the calm n serene templates which have a soothing effect on the eyes but doesn’t hate the gaudy and flashy ones. Those who work in IT (by all means those who peep into the kamputer all day n night long) would know how precious our eyes are and how detrimental can the harmful radiations be to eyes. God save the rest. You can wake him up in the middle of night to vote for the ones which offer more readable area, not the ‘one/two column(s) in the centre’ types rendering almost 30% of the screen useless. He so wishes the template designers knew that we are in the era of 1024 X 768 and higher resolution.

As a precaution, always keep in mind, whatever conversation you have with him is a potential candidate to be printed on his blog, so please be careful while chatting with/talking to/meeting him (so that he is saved from those cliche'd 'warning/credits' notes).

Alrighty!! That’s it for the time being :D .

Jahaan mein aaj 'Chaand' Nikala

2006-01-24T13:30:00.000-05:00

Sometimes, a single word is all it takes to remind you of a person, which makes them special. Say chocolates and the first person that comes to my mind is her.

She's my kin since the early blogging days.
Her mesmerising eyes would sure leave you captivated.
She is such a sweet person (i know she doesnt like to be called 'sweet') that you would wonder it's her heart or her that is more beautiful.

Her blog is a true reflection of her candid self, visit it and you would know everything about her :p. Her 'goodbye' post caused a havoc in the blogshere and oceans of tears started flowing which brought her back to blogging.

She loves horse-riding, cooking and chatting, our version of Lara Croft, who loves mountains and adventure sports. At the same time she's a simple, humble and completely down to earth person.

Dear M000N-ie (musings), Wish you Many Many Many Happy Returns of the Day.

Have a rocking/dancing/partying time and may this and all the years of your life be blessed at every single moment.

Whenever i call her, i get to speak with everyone else in her house except her and she hates carrying a cell phone. So i have decided not to call her this time. Guess that would be mean, so ummm ... may be i would give her a ring :)

I would soon drop by for the Cake . .. ... .......... ............ and coffee, breakfast, lunch, dinner, desserts, and yes PIZZA :p :p

Here is a treat for the chocoholic.

P.S. : I will catch up with you guys on Monday if not tomorrow.

Happy 56th Anniversary of The Republic of India.

Kabaade waale raddi le jayenge

2006-01-20T02:21:00.000-05:00

This is a nearly uncut account of a chat between inci vinci and his blogger buddy cheeku who was inspired by a game on a popular 'paan' website where u collect spits of ppl to help keep mumbai clean.
[P.S. If you are here for the rappelling travelogue, please scroll down to the next post.]

[vinci ]: hi cheeku
[cheeku ]: hi
[cheeku ]: lets open a raddi ki shop
[cheeku ]: and create its Wesbite
[vinci ]: haha
[vinci ]: www.kabaadi.com
[cheeku ]: m not kidding..
[cheeku ]: huh
[cheeku ]: even the domain is up for grabs
[vinci ]: yes
[cheeku ]: wat say? :-?
[vinci ]: lets go
[vinci ]: ahead
[cheeku ]: cool
[vinci ]: we will advertise it on our blogs
[cheeku ]: u do the advertising/marketing
[cheeku ]: but
[vinci ]: and i will keep it in my mail signature
[cheeku ]: but
[cheeku ]: but
[vinci ]: no ifs n ‘butt’s
[cheeku ]: we wont accept all kabaad
[cheeku ]: only standard kabaad
[cheeku ]: we have some class
[vinci ]: But it shud be in Delhi or Pune
[cheeku ]: to start with
[vinci ]: lets start with Delhi first, later we will expand
[cheeku ]: later we ll expand
[cheeku ]: :)
[vinci ]: :)
[vinci ]: we will also go international
[cheeku ]: ok..i ll start looking for a place tomorrow
[cheeku ]: yes!!
[cheeku ]: and
[cheeku ]: and
[cheeku ]: customers who complete 1 year
[vinci ]: 'cheeku n vinci INC'
[cheeku ]: will be given 50 paise more
[cheeku ]: and we ll also have lucky draw schemes
[cheeku ]: ok?
[vinci ]: u said u r serious
[cheeku ]: think of creative names
[cheeku ]: like
[cheeku ]: i am serious!
[cheeku ]: wont u give offers to customers? huh
[vinci ]: kabaadi.com is cool enf isnt it
[cheeku ]: chinci
[cheeku ]: not just kabaadi
[cheeku ]: www.kabaadiwale.com
[vinci ]: we will have 'kabaadi no 1' annual award
[cheeku ]: yesss
[cheeku ]: ok..lets talk abt finance now
[cheeku ]: we need space
[cheeku ]: i ll find out
[vinci ]: yes
[cheeku ]: we need money
[cheeku ]: u find out
[vinci ]: yes
[cheeku ]: we need customers
[vinci ]: wot i shud find out
[cheeku ]: i ll manage
[cheeku ]: we will need to take personal loan
[cheeku ]: uff
[vinci ]: haha
[cheeku ]: find out the intt rate n all
[vinci ]: i have some $ from my US trip
[cheeku ]: umm
[vinci ]: which i have kept for some posterity
[cheeku ]: will that be enough?
[vinci ]: of course not
[cheeku ]: ya
[cheeku ]: so find out abt the loan
[cheeku ]: i have only 63 rupees to contribute as of today
[vinci ]: oh , but u have some fixed assets which can be liquidated
[vinci ]: or mortgaged
[cheeku ]: umm
[cheeku ]: car?
[cheeku ]: thats movable
[cheeku ]: not fixed
[cheeku ]: umm
[cheeku ]: no
[vinci ]: :p that apart u wud have something right
[vinci ]: house ?
[cheeku ]: my daddy's
[vinci ]: same here :(
[cheeku ]: :(
[cheeku ]: idea!
[vinci ]: bolo
[vinci ]: this idea can change our lives :)
[cheeku ]: lets become property dealers
[cheeku ]: first
[vinci ]: and ?
[cheeku ]: then we dupe money from ppl..
[cheeku ]: and open our business
[vinci ]: so we shud con ppl for this noble task
[cheeku ]: its not conning
[vinci ]: :( :(
[cheeku ]: its arranging for finance
[cheeku ]: okok
[cheeku ]: i see u r not with me on this
[cheeku ]: umm
[cheeku ]: lemme think
[vinci ]: u know how to sing?
[cheeku ]: yes!!!
[cheeku ]: i can sing like ila aroun
[vinci ]: how @playing harmonium
[cheeku ]: no :(
[vinci ]: hahahaha .. will do
[vinci ]: if himesh reshamaiya can chrun out his own album
[vinci ]: then anyone can
[cheeku ]: :)
[vinci ]: so u try to pursue
[vinci ]: singing
[cheeku ]: if iwill do everything wht will u do?????
[vinci ]: oye .. i m handling marketing
[cheeku ]: i want equal involvementy
[vinci ]: and loan finance
[vinci ]: and i have some $ too
[cheeku ]: so if we have ur $ and loan..why do i need to sing?
[cheeku ]: huh
[vinci ]: cos thats not enf
[cheeku ]: we only need abt 4 lakhs
[vinci ]: is it ?
[cheeku ]: yes
[vinci ]: how did u reach this figure
[cheeku ]: r u planning to open a kabaadi mall or what?
[cheeku ]: we only need a small shop to begin with
[vinci ]: yah.. right opposite shoppers stop
[cheeku ]: and shops are available on rent
[cheeku ]: we can buy when we have enough
[vinci ]: for only 100sq feet u need 5 lakh
[cheeku ]: in bombay
[cheeku ]: not in delhi
[vinci ]: in greater bombay its even more
[vinci ]: oh good !!
[cheeku ]: achha
[cheeku ]: one more thing
[cheeku ]: will we offer home delivery?
[vinci ]: i mean u just gonna dump the raddi there ?
[cheeku ]: i mean home pick up?
[vinci ]: so how do u plan to work
[vinci ]: or burn/chemical process ?
[vinci ]: or recycle
[cheeku ]: no, dump and then take it to a bigger raddi wala
[vinci ]: or throw into ocean
[cheeku ]: like adidas
[cheeku ]: and sell there
[cheeku ]: for profit
[vinci ]: not all litter is recyclable/reusable
[cheeku ]: thats not our headache
[vinci ]: arreeeyyyy
[vinci ]: they shud buy it from us
[vinci ]: else it wud be a dead inventory
[cheeku ]: ok..so what did i tell u
[vinci ]: tht we shud b selective
[vinci ]: @ litter
[cheeku ]: yes!
[vinci ]: we have CLASS
[cheeku ]: yes!!
[vinci ]: so wotever we are going to accept
[vinci ]: ppl anyway give to local raddiwala
[vinci ]: who also offers 'free home pickup'
[cheeku ]: X-(
[vinci ]: and instant cash payhment
[cheeku ]: wht kind of partner r u
[vinci ]: so wot new we r gonna do
[cheeku ]: ok
[cheeku ]: we will also offer coke
[vinci ]: i m just doing feasibility analysis on-the-run
[cheeku ]: for those who come to our shop
[vinci ]: haha
[vinci ]: it wud stink
[cheeku ]: wht haha
[vinci ]: :P
[cheeku ]: wht wd
[cheeku ]: shop?
[cheeku ]: no!
[vinci ]: u r gonna do the jhaadu pochha everyday
[cheeku ]: we ll use all ur deos to keepit fresh
[cheeku ]: i will only do jhadu
[cheeku ]: u do pocha
[vinci ]: rather davidoff cool water 'men' that u like
[cheeku ]: :)
[vinci ]: i m in Pune na :) so u will have to proxy me there

[cheeku ]: hayeeeeeeeee
[cheeku ]: kya yaad dila diyaaaaaaaaaa
[cheeku ]: uffffffff
[cheeku ]: u meanie
[vinci ]: :p
[cheeku ]: shit
[cheeku ]: now i cant think abt business
[cheeku ]: damn

[vinci ]: hum aisee cheej bilkul nahi bhoolte
[cheeku ]: **sigh**
[cheeku ]: how far is pune from goregaon
[vinci ]: by wot mode of conveyance
[cheeku ]: umm
[cheeku ]: taxi?
[vinci ]: then @ 30-35 hrs
[cheeku ]: and from ghatkopar?
[vinci ]: depending on driver's mood
[vinci ]: 3 hrs more
[cheeku ]: :(
[vinci ]: who is in ghatkopar ?
[vinci ]: that u know
[cheeku ]: a friend
[cheeku ]: many friends
[vinci ]: so he's gonna be another pardner ?
[cheeku ]: no
[vinci ]: wow so many partners
[vinci ]: get them na
[cheeku ]: i have many ventures in mind
[cheeku ]: different partners for all
[vinci ]: we will get more capital to start with
[vinci ]: so i m the chosen one for kabaadikhana
[cheeku ]: yes
[cheeku ]: lucky u
[vinci ]: yahhhhh, i m feeling like i m at 1200 feet above ground
[cheeku ]: :) i knew only u can appreciate my ideas
[vinci ]: oh wow, i m blushing
[cheeku ]: :)
[vinci ]: so shud i register now ?
[cheeku ]: register wht
[vinci ]: its $9.00 per annum
[vinci ]: domain
[cheeku ]: how much is that
[cheeku ]: 450
[cheeku ]: :(
[vinci ]: yes
[cheeku ]: u hv?
[vinci ]: my colleague sitting next has
[cheeku ]: X-(
[cheeku ]: did u share my idea with ur colleague
[vinci ]: nopes
[vinci ]: she is quite rich
[cheeku ]: shh
[vinci ]: wont ask WHY
[vinci ]: anyways
[vinci ]: my bank acct has so much money
[vinci ]: i can pay via paypal
[cheeku ]: ok register kar dofer
[cheeku ]: i ll pay u next month
[vinci ]: meanwhile start going for singign classes
[vinci ]: so tht u have money when we meet next time
[cheeku ]: i dont need classes
[cheeku ]: i can start right away
[cheeku ]: but
[cheeku ]: i need a harmonium player
[vinci ]: ok then start queuing outside recording studios
[vinci ]: tht is not reqd unless u wanna sing in a train
[cheeku ]: we wont sing on streets? with bowl in hand?
[vinci ]: i cant do that remotely
[cheeku ]: cellphone hei na
[cheeku ]: i ll put u on loudspeaker
[vinci ]: magar bowl kaun pakadega
[vinci ]: u?
[cheeku ]: pakadne ki kya zaroorat hei buddhu?
[cheeku ]: gardish nahi dekhi kya???
[vinci ]: sing with bowl in one hand and cell phone in other
[cheeku ]: anu kapoor
[vinci ]: arrey, aise ek jagah pe khadi rahogi to koi nahi aayega
[vinci ]: phir tumhe dance bhi karna padega khade khade
[cheeku ]: mall ke saamne beth jaungi
[vinci ]: theek se make up karke jana
[cheeku ]: not fair
[cheeku ]: u r putting all the difficult tasks on me
[vinci ]: i mean u shud look like a destitute
[cheeku ]: i dont need make up for that
[vinci ]: destitute .. else no one wud pay if u go in ur car etc
[vinci ]: wonderful !!!!!
[cheeku ]: thanks
[vinci ]: u r perfect fit for this job
[vinci ]: so with such a high profile, u dont even need harmonium
[cheeku ]: not job
[cheeku ]: business bolo
[vinci ]: wokay this 'bz' ness
[cheeku ]: achha one thing while u r at marketing
[cheeku ]: umm
[cheeku ]: do we want TV ads as well?
[cheeku ]: or just print ads?
[vinci ]: apna capital to ek do hafte mein hi 5 figures reach karega
[vinci ]: TV ads :( :( itna paisa kahan se aayega
[vinci ]: tumhe 2 shift mein gana padega
[vinci ]: sometimes even 3
[vinci ]: and even on weekends
[cheeku ]: agar sab main karungi toh tum kya karogey
[cheeku ]: huh
[cheeku ]: u r taking me for granted
[vinci ]: once u reach 4 lakh then i wud plunge in
[cheeku ]: wht if i fall sick with so much exertion
[vinci ]: and i wud b doing marketing etc right
[vinci ]: then ur parents hain na
[cheeku ]: aeeeee
[cheeku ]: parents matt lao beech mei
[cheeku ]: i dont likeit
[cheeku ]: its between u and me
[vinci ]: abhi tum ghar pe nahi rahogi kya
[cheeku ]: no third party
[vinci ]: baad mein bologi, mukhe naya ghar bhi chahiye
[cheeku ]: ofcourse
[vinci ]: duh
[cheeku ]: i wd like to buy a sea facing bungalow
[vinci ]: woh to baad mein
[cheeku ]: kyu
[vinci ]: when our bzness wud flourish then
[cheeku ]: so tellme
[cheeku ]: wht wd u do to ensure good marketing
[cheeku ]: and promotion
[vinci ]: abhi kya daat nikaalke leelam kar ke itna paisa aanewala hai
[vinci ]: i wud put in on my blog
[vinci ]: then wud put in on desipundit
[vinci ]: and instapundit
[vinci ]: then i wud put in on my company's intranet
[cheeku ]: only 10% population knows abt blogs...maybe even less
[vinci ]: also on my company's blog (which has 3.30 lakh employees worldwide)
[cheeku ]: u work for mumbai nagar nigam?
[vinci ]: mumbai's 10% population is more than 1 crore
[vinci ]: didnt i say 'worldwide'
[cheeku ]: yea
[cheeku ]: global mumbai nagar nigam
[vinci ]: then i will take print outs using my company's printer n papers
[vinci ]: and stick bills thruough out city
[cheeku ]: which city
[vinci ]: Pune
[cheeku ]: we need national exposure
[vinci ]: and Mumbai
[vinci ]: arrey pehle dukaan to kholo
[vinci ]: 100 sq feet mein kitne logon ka kabaada rakhogi
[cheeku ]: u r demotivating me
[vinci ]: NO NO NO
[cheeku ]: i dont want to do business with u
[vinci ]: i m just saying 'one step at a time'
[cheeku ]: i want to take 5steps a time
[vinci ]: its good to aim higher but the ladder to success has many rungs
[vinci ]: so u sing 2 shifts a day n also on weekend
[cheeku ]: but
[cheeku ]: if i am opening shop in delhi
[vinci ]: yes
[cheeku ]: why will u advertise in pune/mumbai
[vinci ]: then u need publicity in delhi
[cheeku ]: exactly
[vinci ]: so i will courier u the printouts
[vinci ]: and as u sing
[vinci ]: u also distribute the bills
[cheeku ]: X-(
[vinci ]: 'donate for a noble cause'
[vinci ]: PLEASE
[cheeku ]: ok
[vinci ]: so they wud also give generously
[cheeku ]: then all the money that i make - i ll keep
[cheeku ]: u get 10%
[cheeku ]: since i am doing everything
[vinci ]: i m giving u all the ideas
[vinci ]: u know how much is intellectual capital worth
[cheeku ]: u get 10% for ideas
[vinci ]: huh
[vinci ]: creative thinking is THE most impthing
[vinci ]: rest is just incidental
[vinci ]: i m starving here .. need to go for dinner
[vinci ]: jaldi bolo
[vinci ]: so r u ready to go ahead with this idea
[vinci ]: i can provide more fascinating ideas in due course
[cheeku ]: huh
[cheeku ]: i ll hire u if needed
[cheeku ]: for consultation
[vinci ]: i m out for dinner now
[cheeku ]: ok
[vinci ]: baad mein baat karenge
[cheeku ]: ok
[vinci ]: i m providing 50% capital
[vinci ]: also marketing
[vinci ]: also publicity
[cheeku ]: 50%
[vinci ]: worldwide
[cheeku ]: not enough
[vinci ]: also giving u ideas
[vinci ]: HOW MUCH MORE U WANT
[cheeku ]: no subsititute for all my hard work
[vinci ]: bacche ki jaan logi kya
[cheeku ]: arre kabaadi shop ka idea toh mera tha
[cheeku ]: and btw
[vinci ]: but us ke baad everything was given by me
[cheeku ]: u better not go sell this idea to someone else as ur own
[vinci ]: i m also taking care of our website
[cheeku ]: varna
[cheeku ]: X-(
[vinci ]: no i will use it as your :D
[vinci ]: aur kya karoon !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
[cheeku ]: kaam karo
[cheeku ]: dekh liya maine how dedicated a worker u r
[cheeku ]: chatting from work
[vinci ]: ok now u taking it at personal level :)
[cheeku ]: :p
[vinci ]: nyways i m dead hungry now
[vinci ]: abhi idhar hi gir jaoonga
[cheeku ]: ok
[vinci ]: bye
[cheeku ]: bye

And i had to sign off n rush for dinner. The idea is still for grabs. Any volunteers?
:)

Rappel me kNOT

2006-01-16T02:27:00.000-05:00

Haven’t you noticed when you want to get up early the next morning, you would never, never sleep in time. Same happened to most of us the other day.

We set out at around 4.30 am heading towards Duke’s Nose near Lonavla in the Sahyadris.
As we picked our group members all the way till Aundh, everyone’s eyes had signs of unfinished sleep. Some had slept for only 2-3 hrs (including yours truly), and some hadn’t slept at all!!

So there we were, 18 n rocking (sorry 18 and dozing: D).

Some facts about our 1 day adventure.

Base camp at 850 feet.
Dukes Nose 1200 feet.
Rappelling 350 feet (from dukes nose to the ledge).
Valley Crossing around 800 feet (from dukes nose to base camp).
The 15mm rope used for valley crossing has breaking strength of 4.5 tonnes (so u can even send elephants across the valley :D) and 12 mm rope for rappelling has strength of 2.5 tonnes. Everyone was also insured under accidental group health plan.

The Sun was still under oceans and was is no hurry to end its slumber, as our Tempo Traveller mini bus made way thru darkness and speed breakers. Radio Mirchi played suit with the Sun so we had to rely on 'jism' to keep our eyelids from dropping. The fresh rays of sun reached us only after we touched Lonavla where we enjoyed hot cup of tea/coffee amongst newspaper snatching and horoscope reading. Everyone wanted to ascertain it's not their last day :).

Refreshed and very much awake now, we reached the Kurwande village. Had to bid goodbye to our mini-bus there itself and we marched thru the cool breeze and long stretches of barren land towards Dukes nose, which wasn’t seen anywhere (Surprise !!). The trails became steeper and steeper as we went up the hill with Sun behind us. Soon we were in the base camp.

The view of the landscape was spellbinding with tremendous visibility. We could see Konkan, Rajmachi point, Mumbai-Pune Expressway, well and the Sahyadri crest line. Another group was already enjoying the breakfast as the organizers greeted us warm welcome.

There we had the first sight of the Dukes Nose which did send chills thru the spines of many in the already cold weather. The valley crossing rope was hanging ostensibly all the way from atop Dukes nose to the base camp. After the initial instructions on how to put on the harness, how rappelling is baayein haath ka khel (u do everything with left hand, right hand is just a guiding hand), how to release the rope, how to keep ur balance against the wall by spreading ur legs (for the better), how you should shout ‘control control’ if u feel u r sliding down the rope with high velocity so the controller standing beneath can pull the rope and in turn stop u from plummeting, we started the trek towards DN. The 350 feet climb wasn’t easy for some, causing bottle necks. So emerged some chivalrous gentlemen generously helping girl participants by lending their hands (:D) and pulling them up. There are rewards for early birds, always, take my word!!.

We were amongst the last few to reach the peak but as expected none had started Rappelling nor Valley Crossing yet, everyone was in ‘pehle tum, pehle tum’ (after you, after you) mode :D. Finally it started around 8.30 am and there was huge cheer for every daredevil soul who volunteered early for rappelling. I couldn’t find a suitable harness to lock myself in (again, early birds take the cake). The Sun was climbing high, higher than DN, the rays getting sharper, the mercury rising and no harness to start rappelling, it was damn frustrating. Same was true for a couple of my friends too.

My turn came when it was almost noon. The initial part of descent is the most crucial part they say, as the first few steps when you take a sudden 90 degree grade are the most difficult, which I enjoyed the most. This is where the instructions can be put to use to keep the body in balance and comfortable. Pulling the 350 feet rope with left hand and sliding it thru the descender isn’t that easy as it sounds but it’s enjoyable nevertheless. The enjoyment lasted only around 50 feet as soon there was an overhang and it means absolutely no contact with the facing mountain wall. The breeze suddenly made its presence felt as I whirled around at least twice. If this is ur first time with the rope (which was true for me and most of the others in the camp), then this is the time when u feel butterflies, rats and dinosaurs all dancing simultaneously inside ur stomach. Although u know you are not going to die there, and even though the full bird's eye view of the 1200 feet deep valley doesn’t rattle you, you feel lumps and lumps. After regaining my composure, I started pulling the rope further and the descent began again. To make it worse, the left body-suspender had slipped down and was obstructing the movement of my left arm (wow, more fun!!). The slide continued slowly with limited movement as I could release only a fraction of the rope at a time. Soon I could see the ‘controller’ below like a smudge of red ink, who was shouting instructions on how I should release the rope or should not release the rope which I was disobeying anyway as I wanted to do everything myself.

After a while I found a comfortable place to stand or rather where I could rest on my feet as I wanted to pull up the left body suspender, I wished someone would record this special moment. Hanging at about 1000 feet over the ground, suspended by a 12 mm rope, left hand bent back to keep the position locked and right hand fiddling with the body-suspender and putting it up the sleeve! [Note: The body suspender is entirely optional, you can very well rappel without it. But once on, you cant get rid of it]. Then on, it was very comfortable, although there were overhangs, the ‘controller’ shouted from beneath a trick to avoid whirling in those overhangs. It is simply to release the rope so you slide down and control your position with guiding hand and you are back to normal! I did obey him this time. Soon the whole nine yards of 350 feet got over and I was on the ledge at 850 feet. That was the end of rappelling, and the 5-10 minutes of liaison with the rope was utterly EXHILARATING. First times are always special.

(This is the ledge where rappelling ends)

A friend who started rappelling from the adjacent rope after me soon got there and we were exchanging our experiences after a sip of water and a few moments of compulsory rest. Believe me, it takes time to come back to the real world from the world hanging over.

The traverse along the ridge from this ledge to the base camp was THE most adventurous part. There were instructors every 20-30 feet to guide the participants the way shepherds guide the sheep. The view was fantastic, you could see the deep gorge below, no ropes now to hold u should u slip, and u have to advance thru the inclined grade, sometimes crawl underneath the rocks, sometimes jump over them, with a narrow trail of hardly 1.5-2 feet to tread. Well, I again wished someone did a shoot.

I gulped down 2-3 glasses of nimbu paani (lemon juice) as soon as I reached the base camp. The sun acts as a great dehydrator and so does rappelling. After a few minutes of rest, three of us headed back to the Dukes Nose, for the second leg, which was Valley Crossing. The same trek that seemed innocuous in the morning was now proving really tough thanks to the tired legs and sweat thanks again to Mr Sun.

Valley Crossing was a sitter in comparison. You are suspended with a rope again, but this time you don’t have any control over your fate and which direction you would move (down or up :D). So just relax and enjoy the 800 odd feet ride. You can swerve and see the full valley beneath, u can even trace your shadow as you progress. It was quite relaxing, as u don’t have to cling to the rope ur arms are free. The intimidating breeze now acts as a great soother. Waving at the crowd on either side, inside a couple of minutes from the take off, I was in the base camp.

We had lunch, cribbed that shrikhand was served scantily, shared few lighter moments and clicked a few snaps. Soon we were heading back towards our mini bus.

We had been through shrieks and screams, there were moments of trembling feet, pumping adrenalines and pounding hearts. But all this had no room left as we were savoring the sheer delight of the exciting experience we had been through in the last few hrs soaked with adventure. Everyone’s face had signs of fatigue but there was a smile of satisfaction and the eyes were glinting ‘yes I did it’ .

Choice

2006-01-08T09:46:00.000-05:00

(Jan 10, 10.35 AM IST)
The Floodgates are now OpEn. in other words, the comments are now enabled :)

Sometimes u feel being given a choice is a bane rather than a blessings.
Why things just dont happen the way they want to, without dangling in front of you willing to be chosen, making mockery of ur confused face n stressed out torso.

I would rather prefer to take them the way they happen, treating it as my destiny, rather than this awkward position of deciding wot you want to happen, risking ur goals/targets and in the end finding no one to put the blame on !

(only sometimes .. )

When was the last time

2006-01-02T13:07:00.000-05:00

I was particularly impressed by this commercial occassionally beamed on the TV

'When was the last time you did something for the first time'
Doesnt it say a lot in just 12 words !!
The first time i watched it, made me sink into introspection at once.

I tried to remember a few 'firsts' but then resorted to 'the latests'. So here r a few.

1. When was the last time u won a competition
A. 21st Dec. I won the duck walk competition in our office at the year end get-together of our dept where it was 1 min competition played between 2 (now u know why i won :D). My thighs n calf musles were in deep anguish soon and it rendered taking two steps of the staircase at a time almost impossible. Forget even light stretching excercise. [a month back another colleague of me n myself were 2nd in our dept KBC competition].

2. When was the last time u heard ur parents say 'I/We are proud of You'
A. Sat 24th Dec (reason withheld)

3. When was the last time you fell in love
A. If that is not the stereotypical, sleazy and overmilked love, then i fell in love with Akruti's blog aft just a few visits. Mind u this is the 'latest' as the question demands.

4. When was the last time you fell your negligance caused you a fortune
My negligance towards the muscle pain which eventually turned out to be straightening of cervical vertibrae due to muscle spasm.

5. When was the last time you laughed out from the bottom of ur heart
A fortnight back, we roomies, watching India vs Sri Lanka highlights whacked nasty comments on Sri Lanka's fast bowler Malinga's bizarre bowling style (& many other things, laughing out the TV programs is our favorite chore on our way to slowly resigning into the quilts).

6. When was the last time you missed someone badly/felt lonely
I needed someone to open my heart to, not to offload per se, but someone who wd understand the feelings behind the words. It was a month back.

7. When was the last time you learnt someting new (and this is wot the aforesaid add is all about ! )
This is humiliating. I cant trace !! I so wanna do so many things, but may be the cocoon of everything around me is snug so tightly around me that i just dont manage to break free !!

8. When was the last time you felt completely satisfied with urself.
Must be the day i got my 12th result. 1997.

9. When was the last time you did something on this blog for the first time
This category brings some satisfaction as you can certainly count a handful of things here.
a. first book review
b. first movie review
c. first b'day dedication
d. first poem
e. first blogger meet
f. first VBM
g. first hiatus from blogging !!
h. those 'Me first' comments :p (not on this blog though)

(the dates arent disclosed as they r already embossed on this blog)
(Common sense would tell you that this being my first blog, it isnt uncommon to find 'firsts' :) )

10. When was the last time you had a peaceful sleep and felt really upbeat when u woke up?
Yesterday :) thanks to the sleeping pills (thanks to the doc who prescribed them, thanks to my involutary disclosure that i sleep for hardly 6 hrs a day)

Not a bad start to the new year, i wud say.

Have a _ , _ , _ , _ _ new year !!
(Fill in the blanks with your favorite adjectives/expletives. This is to sound less platitudinous)

aLL tHAT yOU cANT lEAVE bEHIND

2005-12-26T13:45:00.000-05:00

A return to blogging was always on the cards, not as evident that it would be this early. But i cudnt completely abstain from visiting this vacuous yet so real space. May be I m not stubborn enough to restrain myself or lack the necessary will power. The irony is the will to speak thru these silent words has outwitted the desire to withdraw from blogging. So i wud keep scribbling something and this time as i just want to put it across, the comment box would remain concealed at least for some time.

Last week had been the most entertaining and eventful of all i had in pune.

Friday : Department outing at TDS (i missed for better reason). Free liquor + dinner
Saturday : Entire Pune facility, outing to Ganga Retreat (reaching this place at night is more horrible than exploring unknown caves at night), Leslie Lewis spinning it out with 6 hot bimbettes whose nimble bodies twirled flawlessly (they even did pole dance). Free liquor + dinner
Sunday : Project outing to Alibagh/Nagaon. This was absolutely exhilarating, so wot if we'd slept only for an hr the other night (thanks more to the 6 babes than L L). We enjoyed antakshari in the bus dancing wildly occasionally, the non-existent roads did help in this. Then we soaked up the Nagaon sun floating on the ocean playing some stupid games with football, which we enjoyed beyond expectations. Free kurkure to munch on in the bus + breakfast + lunch + tea + dinner + a cold drink + lots of sea water to act as fill in the blanks.
Wednesday: evening :snacks in office cafeteria along with games n laughter
night : Leather Lounge - Disc, dinner
Friday: Send off party to one of our (now ex-) colleagues
Saturday : Bluffmaster + small party in Pizza Hut (i missed cos i had to travel back home)
Sunday : I had a marriage to attend (where obviously you are immediately noticed as an eligible bachelor and extra enthusiasts are ready to act as ur matchmakers. I sometimes feel, it's far better to fall in love than to stifle these restless characters).
Monday : Back to office, in training again, but thanks to my manager that i can leave early at 7.30 pm from office and later at night work from home, which is precisely what i am doing at this moment of the night.

A couple of weeks ago, the entire centrefold of TOI was sold to IIPM and a trailor of the recent iipm v/s bloggers saga whizzed past across my eyes in a flash.

When i see the google page rank of this blog, it shows a thick zero(0/10), which used to be 4/10 just a fortnight ago :) . Guess Google was quick to know about my plans of a hiatus and is quick to show it off.
That's it for the time being.

It was heartening to know people were missing this blog, thank you all !!
I do miss you a lot :)

Wish you all again, Happy Holidays and an awesome New Year.

Invincible was here ..

2005-12-14T15:50:00.000-05:00

Edited (20th December 11.15 am IST)

I went thru all the comments, thanks for ur wishes. This is just a break and there would be a resurrection someday. As i said, i wud be back soon to poke u with more gibberish, to revisit the old ties, to claim the same space in ur hearts :p.

[I m missing you guys even as i type this :( ].

All of you have a great holiday season, and a Rocking New Year !

This blog goes into hibernation from today.

The original post [15th Dec 2.20 am IST] follows..

(Note: This post has nothing to do with someone else calling it quits, this decision was already taken n this was the post due to go y'day but had to be deprioritized for the apology.)

It's coming as a next logical step....

.... after contemplating 'what am i blogging here' ,
after resolving to spend only 1 hr per day for blogging n chatting together in 'Rest of Me',
after learning how the whole universe conspires to help you achieve ur destiny,
after giving serious thoughts to how a millionaire could sell everthing he had for a pittance in search of self realization,
after spraining my muscles n tearing my ligaments

looks like it's the time to take a break (you think these reasons were completely out of place, disconnected n made no sense ?, i cant disagree with you but .. ) .

62 post in 6.5 months (while working full time .. now dont show this to my boss),
blog reads soaring over 60,
over 20 bloggers in YM buddy list/address book,
2 blogger meets in a matter of a month

is good enf indication of a strongly infused addiction more than inclination, attraction & dedication.

Yes, i m no Bilbo Baggins celebrating eleventy-first b'day making a retirement announcement cos vials of the blogaddiction are still running thru my veins (& arteries). But i m borrowing a month (or two or ?) from it and i request a reprieve for this.

As a matter of fact, of late the posts on this blog have dried out (after the 5 in a row) and i've been into introspective/ranting mood or into exploring different facets, different dimensions, different keys-combinations of my keyboard. A lot is still untouched (& i have a lot to scribble) but it doesnt entice me at this moment.

"A BIG THANK YOU to all the readers of this blog and my blogger buddies (well, this also includes rediffblog/blogdrive/MSN/livejournal buddies shud u think it's only 'blogger' buddies :p) for sustaining my whims n rants (in Nupur's words 'jhelofying' me for so long :D :D ) for making blogging an addiction :p, for the bonds of friendship shaped up unknowingly, for making my day more than often, for making virtual life & real life o so enjoyable, for the moral boost, for the thought provoking discussions, arguements, for unfolding a plethora of knowledge through your blogs and comments, for the words of wisdom, for encouragement, for positive criticism at times, for guidance, for appreciation, for the innumerable moments of fun, for your love, for EVERYTHING.

And my (sincere) apologies for not replying to ur comments on time, not visiting ur blogs in days, not visiting ur blogs at all (you know this especially if u are a new reader of this blog), acting smug at times, my cribs about workload, for whinning about personal problems, harassing you with my gibberish, boring you with my comments, and for whatever follies (i committed but) not included in this list.
"

[doubt: if i m not calling it quits, then why such extra elastic oscar like Thank You note. Cos it's always better to say Thank You before it makes u feel Sorry in regret.]

I could have vanished with a one line good-bye but i just dint want to lose this last (for the time being) opportunity to torment you :p.

I am gonna miss you all [am already feeling it :( sob :( sob :( ... . hahaha kidding .. but i am gonna miss you for sure]

Invincible was here .. and would be back to nag you again with something new but equally ineffectual and inconsequential .. at the same server, same link on your favorite(?) blog (ok, this sentence hasnt come along, but then which one had :) ).

Bubye ! Have a peaceful Blogging Life sans me :)
So starts my Blog-Chat sabbatical .. may be till i feel homesick (yes, i used to stay in blogworld, eat-sleep-drink)

Sorry for the interruption !

2005-12-13T16:20:00.000-05:00

Why sorry n wot interruption?
cos i had another post ready and it was going to be seen at this place.

And we thought u were into trouble with ur injured arm.
After some time u get used to the pain.

So then, why this post ?
cos someone owes an apology from me.

why apology?
cos i am guilty of something

Guilty of wot ?
Guilty of forgetting a friend

Is that something new for you?
well not really for me, but yes it is something that cant be condoned.

Can you stop playing with words n give me the details?
Remember reading @ blogger meet in my prev edited post ?

Yes
Didnt u find someone missing from the list?

How do I know ?You got over 50 blog friends.
Someone who was there in the first meet but absent from this one.

mmm.. i dont remember
Someone who footed the bill in the first meet, rings any bell ?

Oh !!!!! u mean m000nie !!
Yes, you got it right !! (talk of bill n it hits the right buttons :)

Why was she missing? was she out of station/busy/personal pblm?
Then why would i be begging an apology?

OK she was missing cos u wanted her to foot the bill even this time?
No no !!!! damn, how dare u think this !

Damn ! wud you stop this puzzle now?
OK. Here it is. When i got a call from Kiran, about the meet n i said 'no' due to XYZ reasons, i dint think of m000nie.

Is that the only reason?
Hold on, lemme finish. Then i got a call from uttara n she was hell bent and I got nod from my guests in the house n then i started, i did thought of m000nie. Is she coming ? But then i really forgot to ask Uttara or z000nie @ it. I assumed someone must have given her a ring.

Then when i reached, i saw no m000nie and it appalled on me n z000nie that we just committed a heinous crime. How no one told her? It all did happen in a quick time but someone shud have called her up too. Darn !! Guess both him n me realised it then, but as i reached late and the meeting place was far from where she stays, n she wd have screamed on us, we dint call her from there.

How mean of you !!!!
Yes, now you know :(

So who told her finally @ it ?
She read it on my blog.

Didnt you know she would read it ? then y u wrote @ it?
Cos she wd know anyhow. Isnt it meaner not to tell her at all !!

Hahaha, so she was all red n blue ?
Yes, more than for not inviting her, she was furious for not telling her @ it. I shud have called her n told her, but no way i cud gather courage to tell her 6 of us met n we dint even bother to invite you !!

You are screwed mr inci vinci, u know that ?
Yes, why else you think is this interruption. I know i got a few accomplice in the crime (z000nie, you r reading this ?) but i m guilty nevertheless. So here i am begging an apology from musings(m000nie). m0000nie pls, it wsnt intentional. It just hppnd in quick time n when we realised it it was already late.

And that wd do u think?
I donno. She is one of the sweetest blogpals i have (or shud i now say i had :(( ). If i have a kin in this blogworld, it has to be her. I can easily pass this blame on the meeting co-ordinator (haha) but i know i m at fault. Main apne aap ko idhar maaf nahi kar pa raha hoon.

Maska eh?
Grrrrr ... seriously. OK, i wont talk more. I just wanted to apologize. m000nie, i deserve the blame, i m guilty, and i from the bottom of my heart apologize for it !! Rest is upto you.

Gotcha !!

2005-12-08T12:30:00.000-05:00

Beneath the Royal Gorge Bridge on the Arkansas shore.

This is another product of Colorado. Nature doesnt ooze out of this though, nor do i know who are the 3 and 1/2 actors. it's just an invincible art :)

Free words of wisdom (which may not be applicable to anyone :) ): When u dont want to scribble anything new, dont want to take tags, dont want to take blog-tests, yet dont want to remain behind the scenes for long, Dig into ur Drafts :)

Edited : I am feeling acute pain in my left arm. I have been overlooking it since a fortnight and now it's wrecking the hell out of me. Looks like i have managed to damage the lower ligaments of my left tricep near elbow join and the doc has advised complete rest to the arm :) with me under medication. It's not serious (according to the doc) and rest + medicines + my body's natural healing power together shud erase this pain in due course of time. And yes it has nothing to do with my joining the gym as the pain precedes the day i joined gym.

I wudnt be dropping comments on ur blogs n no YMing :). Hoping to be back by Monday (yes, i m optimistic). (i can still type wth 5 fingers so dont b surprised :p)

Have a great weekend.

Edited 2 (Dec 10): I am just back from my 2nd Blogger Meet. It wasn't as emphatic as the first one, but we still had fun. I wasnt upbeat as the pain and my fast (yah i m fasting this week cos i m reading ShriGurucharitra) , had its toll. It was nice meeting Puneet, Divya & KC for the first time & z000nie n Uttara again.

As a matter of fact, the pain has just grown worse and i think i wud take at least a week to recuperate.

Happy Blogging all of you.

Edited 3 (Dec 11): Thank you all for your wishes. I am taking due care not to inflict more injuries on the reeling arm.

Have a great week :)

Hold on !!

2005-12-02T01:28:00.000-05:00

First things first.

Out of the wish list last week, the wheels r set into motion for
16. I have come to realize that I spend lots and lots of time in blogging & even YMing, so from this week, it is going to be just 1 hr per day max.
I have found a way to abstain from blogging n blogworld. To be honest, i havnt isolated myself completely. I m loosely visiting your blogs, but not dropping comments as they eat away lot of time n it causes mixed reactions when u drop comments on some blogs n not on some. So this way, i look fair n impartial (although slightly rude):p.

17. I am going to start gym from this week. I am contemplating and procrastinating this from last 4 weeks.
I finally started it this week. The office gym itself, which is hardly worth calling a gymnasium, but i m hardly worth calling an athelete anyway.

18. Time has dawned that I should take some serious career decisions.
This is put off for some time now, n believe me there are valid reasons.

22. I would probably be taking the blog-tests next week (those blog things) as I haven’t taken any so far. Else there wouldnt be any new post next week.
No blog-things, so no new post.

My YM is jealous of me, i am damn certain, how else would you explain

1. When i log in i get all the offline messages (sent mostly by gorgeous girls) n within a flash i am logged off and all the offliners are swept off. I am left in awe trying to swallow what happned right in front of my eyes in a matter of milliseconds.

2. While chatting with some beautiful girls (yah, it's always plural), after a while you realise they have stopped sending u msg n u r left chatting wth urself although they are very much 'active/online' . Damn !! u buzz them but they dont respond, how rude !! But then u'd wonder why blaming YM for this !! So the truth is, they are responding but their msgs arent reaching me !! or they arent getting my msgs at all !! So completely flustered i have to log off n logon again.
a. And voila !! I get all their msgs as offliners :). (continued as pt 3)
b. I dont get any offliners and I ping them again (continued as pt 3)
c. refer pt 1.

3. So now I see their msgs or you ping them again after loggin back in. And they yell on me, 'where the hell had u disappeared/damn you/Mr. Busy/You meanie/bla bla'. Now can someone tell me how to put my case in front of such cute but now furious and all red n yellow faces.
Ok, so some contrived lines and a few 'hugs' later, i begin to think 'all is well' now. And just about then, the YM intercepts the thought waves radiating from my mind and the history repeats itself way too early in the form of pt 2. I am again left chatting wth myself and my friends are left wondering where the hell i am. And the merry-goes-round again.

Now, i have cried my this sorry tale to most of them and they do understand but after the recurrence of the same scenario again n again n again, wont i lose my credibility n wudn't it look like i m using YM as a scapegoat? Wouldnt they just ignore me henceforth fearing my YM wud start acting up any moment? Would i be penalised for no fault of mine? Life is pretty unfair isnt it.

On another note, taking inspiration from the monk who sold his ferrari for a pittance (damn, he had a ferrari !!) , There are no mistakes, only lessons ... Everything happens for a reason. Is my YM trying to teach me to refrain from chattting, and make better use my time for some productive work? has it also read my pt. 16 of last post? Is he (i m sure it's 'he' and not 'it') really worried about me like a true caring friend or NO he is stark jealous of me again like a friend but not so true?

Have a great weekend !!

The Rest of Me

2005-11-24T02:41:00.000-05:00

This one is for the Cave Girl and an inspirational blogger Jithu.
It was tough to find 20 new facts about me after penning 105 long things and having played the 7 tag .

1. I am a simple living and unassuming guy.
2. I am tall, moderately good looking and fair to some extent (this is just FYI). I was never 'the most handsome guy' in my friend circle.
3. I have some sense of humor and I can also take it in good spirit.
4. I can qualify as a flirt and only a flirt, i m not into any serious relationship hunting.
5. I can sing in a YM conference ;) only if my company firewall lets my voice pass.
6. I like traveling but haven’t been to lot of places.
7. I was greatly disappointed to see the Czech Republic lose to Greece in the Euro 2004.
8. I am quite honest & i also respect others' privacy.
9. I am spiritually inclined.
10. Once I was a sucker for management books and used to read Tom Peters/Peter Drucker and many more. I gave it up after I found none of those who should be reading these books (read the management) have any interest in them.
11. I stopped reading Dale Carnegie when I learnt he committed suicide. If you know better, please let me know.
12. In my 6 months in the US, I have consumed more rice than in my entire life. I love chapatis :p
13. I have stayed in Chennai for 4 months, Bangalore for 1.5 years and now in Pune from September 2005.
14. I love reading books but not to a great extent. At least at this point, it’s on the least priority. I wud stop my current reading foray after i finish 'The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari' .
15. I am working for last 4 years+ but haven’t come across a single manager who can command respect from subordinates.
16. I have come to realize that I spend lots and lots of time in blogging & even YMing, so from this week, it is going to be just 1 hr per day max.
17. I am going to start gym from this week. I am contemplating and procrastinating this from last 4 weeks.
18. Time has dawned that I should take some serious career decisions.
19. I don’t believe the number of comments on the blog have anything to do with the blog. The number is by n large an indication of how many friends you have in the blogworld and how you respond to the comments.
20. I don’t admire playing chat-chat on blog comments. Shoutbox serves that better I guess.
21. Most of the posts (except informational and personality tests) on this blog are original. If I start putting jokes or quotes from mails as blog then I can publish 1 post a day for a month at least.
22. I would probably be taking the blog-tests next week (those blog things) as I haven’t taken any so far. Else there wouldnt be any new post next week.

The last 2 are bonus. May be a special offer - 10% extra for the same money.

Two in the First

2005-11-21T05:35:00.000-05:00

She is from the God’s Own country and works in TEL. We met when she was facing double-trouble. Eve-teasing from the road-ride Romeos and the Irritating Match-making at the hands of the elders during family functions. I could suggest her something for the latter and then started this acquaintance.

We went on to discuss each other’s favorite books, we exchanged thoughts over anonymity in blogging. I used to be regular on her blog and she was on mine, for quite some time. She’s written about her campus selections, her aversion towards excessively chivalrous men, her getting bored in the office being jobless at work. She’s penned her fear from the thieves, her trauma due to the spammers, her being 1 yr 3 months in office and her unwelcome guests in the form of kitten. She’s even written on some girls-special-things like nail tattoos, Guns (read girls) and Roses, her travails of drapping a saree and what contains a girl’s bag.

From something peculiar in her writing style I guessed she is from Kerala and I had a hard time explaining how did I deduce that (now, pls don’t ask me anyone). A few days later she was AWOL, and she’s done this as regularly. She’s promised not to run away now, and I am not of those who forget promises. Her 55 story was impressive, and so was her small poem.
Needless to say she writes well and she writes love. This is something that keeps me visiting her blog regularly.

She has strong opinions about virginity and hates the rotten-carrot-like politician who is fighting election from her constituency. Her favorite hunk I guess is Milind Soman and favorite actress Kajol.

Last week she’s been noticeably euphoric, looking forward for the grand celebrations of the 23rd anniversary of her stepping into this world. She’s going to be in temple, inside the caves, with her relatives, grandparents. I am sure she is enjoying it !

As a person I don’t know much about her as we never mailed/YMed. Just hoping what I’ve assembled from her tryst in blogoworld and my crossing this virtual road with her would make sense :).

So here I am wishing ~*. D E E P A .*~ a Very Happy Birthday.

** Have a great one dear and wish you everything and even more of what the expensive birthday cards are so full of :D. **

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************

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Now is the time for some belated greetings.

On 17 November another very good blogger friend of mine turned 23. A lot has been written on her already, and she’s quite an icon in the blog world. We celebrated her b’day yesterday with a VBM and it was great fun. As Ricky said in the VBM, her blog is a place where u'd always feel presence positive energy, can't agree less !

Although it's been weeks that she’s visited this blog, and I m uncertain when next she’d drop by, let me offer my special belated greetings to her, as the first poem I’ve ever published on my blog. No artistic squibs, just plain n simple, more like her :) .
[ I’ve written some on the fly lines for quite a few :p but those are of diff genre :) ]

Blogger friends I have many
She’s one of the best w/o doubt any
Meet her, she’s Nupur, my friend
who’s such a lovely dame

Staying in the land down under
Five years that she’s an aussie
But pleasant and simple in her manner
In her heart she is pure desi

She’s the sweetest I’ve ever come to meet
& her blog’s always been a treat
The petals of her life have many takers
Everyone collects ‘em without any scruples

For bachelor kinds she goes in the kitchen
her recipes wd sure leave you smitten

Her journey so far hasn’t been easy
She’s been sick for times many
Yet She’s strong to be ruffled by any
Each time she comes out winners
cos she’s not like those whiners

Wish you greetings of the earth’s size
and joy n mirth all your life
Be your journey blessed all the way
Let there not be a moment of dismay
Many (belated) Happy Returns of the Day
With this I close my say

- inci vinci

(As suggests the title, this is my first post to celebrate someone's birthday)

Garam Masala but Cold Curry

2005-11-18T04:50:00.000-05:00

Let me quickly prepare a hot n simmering recipe for you, one of my favorites.

The essential ingredient is Humor and i have my barn full of ripe humor.
Next i need is Paresh Rawal. I grab him but i keep him aside so that i can pour it just when the oil turns red.
I need bare skin, plenty of it, else how do i make it hot, didnt you hear 'Garam'. So i take three damsels whose only duty is to sizzle on the screen and act essentailly dumb.

Now, to mix well with Paresh Rawal i take Akshay Kumar. Why him, because it worked wonders in Hera Pheri and my recipe is for the entire family, so i cant disappoint my female fans and who else can chew on three hot chillies at the same time without blurps and has at least one more emotion than laughter on his cheeks. His hot looks serve as flavor too.

I also need someone good looking who can play second fiddle without much fuss. This is just for garnishing so that my dish looks attractive and i can also do some touch up, so John Abraham is perfect as without any acting skills he cant demand for more meat. I sprinkle Rajpal Yadav as salt so that it tastes delicious overall. Rimi Sen and Asarani are only given the stewards' jobs.

I choose Mauritius as the exotic beaches provide a perfect backdrop. To make your dinner more enjoyable i ask Pritam to play salsa while you devour on the sizzling item. I also arrange for scantily clad beach babes in case you like-it-extra-hot.

Then I scramble all the ingredients on my beachside grill, add them in at the right time, stir well and here is the mouth watering Garam Masala.

Acting 8/10: Akshay n Paresh Rawal come out clear winners. Rajpal Yadav is dependable as ever. John Abraham and acting is like Iraq having WMDs. We suspect they have it, but no matter how much you try to trace, it just doesn't show up ! But he too knows how to act dumb for sure. Rimi Sen and Asrani hardly have anything to call as a role.

Story 3/10. If Masti and No Entry weren't enough, we have the third entry to squeeze the remaining paste out of the tube. The new mantra for success seems to be Humor, skin, music (&SRK) sell. If you watch the trailers of this movie carefully a few times, then you dont have much left in it. I wouldnt write about the story much, to cut it short.

Dialogues 6/10: humor, humor n humor. Sometimes it becomes even predictable, but it does make you roll your stomachs at times. Part of the credit also goes to the cast. There are some really funny lines and sequences and you would see the entire theatre guffawing loudly.

Music 7/10: It's imperssive and it's not extra loud.

Overall 6/10. If you want to laugh without bothering for it to make any sense, and if you have no better way of doing it, and if you are hell bent on watching a movie and you know shaadi no.1 is a boo boo, then Garam Masala would be just perfect.

Author's Notes : This post marks the end of my Rapid FIVEr. Something that i thought i can do someday, a post a day for a week. As i have decided against blogging on weekends, it would be just these 5 posts. Thanks a lot to all of you for checking on this blog so regularly and taking part in this 5-day fest (or feast :) ) .
The blog hop would be back in full swing from coming week :) .

Have a Great Weekend All of You.

The Lost Imprints..

2005-11-17T05:35:00.000-05:00

Win Some Lose Some, Such is Life !!

Of late I have lost my blogger buddies :( and this post is dedicated to some of them.

Kaps

He was the first to vanish. The reason being 'it just doesnt appeal to him anymore' !.

We met during the Independence Day VBM, and used to meet occassionally on YM. He too has enormous appetite for humor and is a man of many talents. You would know what i mean if you havent missed the VBM.

Kaps, if you ever change ur mind, dont u dare not let me know about it and I am furious on you for not keeping in touch of late.

Nupur, do u know of his whereabouts?

Zombie

She carries the blame :) of tagging me once, and that too making me lie in public :) . But the offense wasnt so dreadful, as to make her stop blogging :).

She writes on her blog that she 'd continue hopping blogs although she isnt putting new posts. The goodbye post is like a mini shakespearean sonnet.

Her posts have always been insightful, and she has a definite way with words.

Since a few days she is dropping comments on some blogs (including this), so she is now in 'lost n found' category, but her blog is still behind the closed doors.

Zombie, u listening? I wanna rhyme with you :) . Remember ?

Pithaly

He is one of the guys whose blog has undergone distinct metamorphosis. He has been in and out a few times. He admitted that he started blogging for philosophy which turned into outright flirting and then into lust :). He went behind the curtains for quite some time and after the revival, he used his blog to study blog software and even re-create portals. He returned with all different colors n tones and his blog has been a source of wealth of knowledge to me.

He is a music freak and if it's rock/metal, it's sure to ring the bells in his head.

The diversity in his posts stands out with posts of Karva Chauth, the importance of silver in medicine, blog-feeds, music, opera browsers and so forth.

Where are you man? Where is ur comment-bot ?

(( Wish you Many Happy Returns of the Day, Nupur ))

Surely You are Joking Mr..

2005-11-16T04:15:00.000-05:00

.. Chetan Bhagat and you are venerated for your knack of those brilliant one liners, but when did you start preaching or talking about moral values? Is it because today's youth need them?

The prologue of One Night at the Call Centre (ON@TCC) is the most publicized part of the book where the author, all alone in the railway compartment, struck by providence, meets a beautiful girl who narrates him a story on condition that he would make it his second novel.

The author has clearly decided on his audience before hand and tries to emphasis that ‘call center is where the youth of today is’ by the brilliantly laid out conversation between the author and the train fairy. The message sent out is if you write about call centres, you address ‘the youths’ of the country. Taking inspiration, if corruption is the issue nagging the entire nation and if I paint 2 politicians with fat bellies on a canvass, does it mean I address the whole nation.

Again, you are told that the story is distinct because the call centre got a call from God. Yes, the God. Well, as none of us is a sworn atheist, the idea easily sails and even creates interest. What disappoints is the call comes after 220 pages of 290. Remember watching Murder where the murder takes place in the dying moments of the movie and in the denouement you find there wasn’t a murder at all!! But you still watch it for other reasons. Similarly ON@TCC has plenty of things to keep you glued.

The author has mastered the act of dark humor and it’s planted everywhere in the book. The free flowing text can give complex to even Captain Cook namak. The informal tone and the way the personalities of the characters are brought about keeps your spirits high. The tyrannical boss, who keeps giving management lessons has been created outstandingly. His piquant habit of drawing diagrams for simplest of things, consistent blurting of irrelevant jargon and incapability of taking decisions takes him close to the boss we all hate.

Multiply everything by 2 and you expect a mathematical equation would yield a result twice as good. But the theme becomes twice as complicated to deal with too and sometimes the plot wanders a little. FPS had 3 characters whereas ON@TCC has 6. There are two to-be-or-not-to-be couples, two males cheating on their wives. Now, FPS spanned 300 pages with 4 years of the IIT and the college life whereas ON@TCC is just one night stretched with maximum elasticity into 290 pages. Naturally there isn’t enough in one night to size the book, so we have the author taking us out into various locations in and around Gurgaon on dates.

Like Hari in FPS, ON@TCC is seen thru the eyes of Shyam (who is also a similar semi-loser). It is a story about 6 persons working in the call centre, their own sad stories (obviously) and how a night changes the lives of some of them and of many others. It starts with a distinct impression of FPS (forward reference) and Angels and Demons (nightmare). The climax reminded me of Notting Hill. I would say this Shyam is highly sensitive, for whenever a butterfly flaps its wings, he remembers his corresponding past date with his ex-girlfriend, as many as 5 times, in less than 5 hours!!

Nevertheless, it’s a perfect story for a bollywood movie. FPS is under way to hit the big screen and ON@TCC has even greater potential to make to bollywood. There hasn’t been a movie on call centre before, is there one?

So we have a typical Indian male, who is too defensive and scared to take bold carrier decisions, we have a daughter with high self esteem and clear ambitions whose mother is suffering with neurosis. We have an aspiring model who can go that extra step if need be as she is 3 inches shorter than what’s required. We have a reckless adventurous boy with highly creative brains whose parents are divorced. We have en elder whose son has expelled him from their life and we have a housewife who can knit a scarf for her geriatric mother in law.

We have relationships blooming, blossoming, bursting, even re-births. We have a sex scene of titanic class. We get to know how call centre people are used to the pizza/pub/coke/girlfriends-boyfriends/sex/cozy culture, (as if we already dint know). And then to balance the remaining equations, we have Mr. God himself teaching the struggling souls moral lessons and the golden mantra of success. Not to mention the confessions of dark secrets. It’s a near perfect blend of all the elements necessary to make it ‘entertaining’. It has everything that a hilarious book can offer plotted through the author’s wits, research work, and impeccable sense of humor, if you take out the philosophical part.

I am sure CB doesn’t want any American to read his story. As a surprise, you would find no call centre ‘agent’ is happy! At least none of the 6. They grump over the idiot work they are doing, there is even a distinct pang of detestation over american consumers, there is 35=10 and there is Microsoft Word (well, let me not spill this). Yet, 100% of them are worried about the impending lay-off and can leap a few hurdles of braviety to save their endangered jobs. Despite the apparent smoldering hatred, the word 'centre' is spelled as 'center' everywhere, the american way :) .

Overall the book is entertaining but it’s not entrancing. It’s interesting but not mesmerizing. If FPS was a masterpiece, this one is a very good piece of art. It’s sure worth its money, sure to tickle the ribs. The sales are soaring higher n higher and it's already topping the charts in best seller category.

So if you don't want to think too much, just Go Grab It, suck up the humor & dont worry about the inner voice !!

et cetra part 2

2005-11-15T04:30:00.000-05:00

-- continued from the prev post. It's another dose of desultory thoughts.

E. While travelling @ midnight in the train this thought occured to me
Why Santa singh can go on a cruise and not Banta Singh ?
Ans: cos there is Santacruz (this is where the train had paused when the thought flashed), but there is no Bantacruz. [No Sandals or rotten tomatoes pls :) ]

F. Those who blog on blogger are better than those who blog elsewhere. Why?
Blog -> Blogger -> Bloggest .
Blogger blogs have already reached the 2nd stage.
(Now, i m sure i cant stop those impending objects from hitting me).

G. First accept my apologies. Not for scratching ur brains in the wrong place by those mean jokes. Of late, there has been a spike in the number of new bloggers. And if you are a new visitor to this blog, PLEASE ACCEPT MY APOLOGIES.I have stopped hopping to new blog spaces. I would definiely love to drop by, but as an ordinary human being of limited means, I can't read more than 50 blogs. I am evaluating Feed Burners and Demons to syndicate other blogs so that i can increase my reading and also sorting out my current reads.

But please forgive me for the time being, if i m not able to put comments on your wonderful blogs. There is no vanity in this comment and by no means i am claiming or hinting that this blog is any better than the rest or even as good as them. I am sure you understand.

My Greetings to all for the Guru Nanak Jayanti

"One night at the call centre"

~~ prologue ~~

Last 6 months of my b'lore tenure, just a few feet was all it used to separate me from a buzzing call centre. The distance shud b measured vertically upwards. I used to spend days n nights right on the roof of the call centre. Unfortunately there were no holes in the ceiling to peep as our project was on 2nd floor of a 7 storied edifice and the call centre used to manage its customers from the 1st floor.

It used to start its day at around 3.00 pm and so would the small cafeteria/pantry on their floor. Often we used to walk down to the pantry to graze on the finest of pastries n some hot samosas. Though sometimes, the samosas used to turn ice-cold when the hot chicks used to saunter to the pantry.

As a religious night owl, i had spent long nights in the office. I have seen girls smoking with guys at night, i have seen them hugging guys, dint see them crying though. This they must have reserved only for 'privileged few'.

There was an article in Bangalore Times @ the greatest problem the call centre companies face apart from the high attrition rate. It was about the toilet drains getting jammed with used condomes (no kidding, u can verify wth BT editor for the exact article). They said the drainage pipes were not meant to carry so much volume of 'rubber' nor were the flush pumps and every now n then the stuffed pipes would block.

So to my credit, I did have some first hand exposure to call centres before reading the novel.
Now, i wud review what Chetan Bhagat has to say @ Call Centres..

et cetra

2005-11-14T07:30:00.000-05:00

Nothing specific @ this post, just a few observations/opinions.

A. Types of Comments in Blogger blogs.

1. You click the 'comment' link (or wotever fancy name per the author's fantasy) and they open in a new window. You can post ur views in the comment box. This is exactly what happens on this blog. You can easily do cut-paste from or referbacks to original post in case you want to highlight the author's views in ur comment, pretty common thing. This doesnt reload your post and the comment box pops up real quickly as it opens in a new window. You can also maximize the comment window and read comments in user-friendly way. The entire blog is still intact in its original window for you to read even prior posts.

2. You click the comment link and then only the existing comments open in the same window with a 'Show original post' link on the left top of the page. It does mean reloading ur post though. The comment box is at right hand side top and you are ready to cast your vote. Again, copy-paste/referback is easy after you click 'Show original post' link. What if you want to go back to the blog and read previous posts?

3. You click it and then only this post opens in the same window, but this time supplemented with comments. There is a tiny 'post your comment' message right at the bottom. You have to click again on this link and it loads another page, all of the comments in the same window, now with a comment box, where in you can finally put your comment. 'Show original post' link is again there to help. I am sure you would never want to read prior posts on these types of blogs once u clicked on the comment box, as commenting on a prior post would be rewinding this entire story and playing it again.
A slight veriation in this is, after u scroll down to honor the 'post your comment' link, it opens the comment box in new window. Which at this stage hardly makes a difference.

Note, the size of the comment box is the same, in all of these. And I am not considering Haloscan. On RediffBlogs, it is same as pt 1.

So which one would you prefer for your blog?

B. Kill that right click !
The bloggers do exhibit some Software talent, at least as much as knowing how to search using Google and how to add the HTML into the blogger template. Disabling the mouse right-click has become a new hot trend and of late it has spread like a craze !!

So when you (dare) want to right click n copy snippets from their post to paste in the comment box on the same post, you would be sneered by some snooty words like 'no way peep/ dont u do that/ copyright- dont u steal anything' n so on.
Now lemme tell you something. The right click doesnt work, but the Ctrl+C still does (atleast on the blogs i've seen) . So on the face of it, the trick falls flat.
And, if the commentor doesnt find this out and still as loyal reader of your blog wants to review ur points, he has to type the snippet him/herself, and then his views; which i assume no one would long to do.
Another pt is, one can simply add a copyright notice to prevent illegal copying of the contents w/o author's consent from your blog. But then u wud say, ppl care a damn about such notice. So i wud say, ppl can still do Ctrl+C n Ctrl+V despite ur narci brags, so overall ppl really care damn even about ur extra smartness.

So what have u achieved by disabling right click ? Fun ?

C. There are some things money can't buy. For everything else, there's master card.
Clearly master card can get you only those things, which money can easily buy for you. They have admitted it themselves !! So can you really justify why i shud get master card, and on top of that something which itself requires your money to buy in the first place? (i know they give u free cred cards nowadays, but it is mostly only for IT people).
So is mastercard a substitute for money and if you have it, you dont need any money?
Wait until you get ur cred card monthly statement.

There is something else, if you are staying in the US (other countries, i dont know of) , your money can't buy for you. And that is ur credit history. Your credit card helps build ur cred hist. But at least in Des, there is no concept of cred history !! So go back to the justification of buying a master card.

D. Nomadic Waves
What's your new blog URL ? Your profile doesn't show the blog name. Anyone else can help me in this?

P.S. I finished 'One night at the call centre' by Chetan Bhagat y'day. There is a desire to turn the reading into a review post.
P.S. 2 I am treating this week a little dfiferently. You will soon know what i mean :)

Necropolis – The City of the Dead

2005-11-10T23:30:00.000-05:00

Disclaimer : Explicit and Graphic material ahead. Advised only for the Readers with 18 years and above. It is a work of fiction and should you really have to go thru anything mentioned below, it would be a pure conincidence.

They lie there dead, motionless, emotionless. Some of them had flaunted the limelight in their heydays, some of them had donned the tongue tips of everyone when their sun was smiling. Some of them had held high echelons and had ruled for years. Some of them had died young; some had fought long battles for their survival. They had different origins, they had different playgrounds, and they spoke different languages. But now they were all buried together. There are no ranks amongst them now. Their vaults aren’t embellished with the glory they were once married to. They are buried together, yet they are shrouded with a thick envelope of stark loneliness.

Some of them still have imprints in the most sacred and popular literatures. But their days are over and no one pays them homage now. They had been sentenced on this endless journey with a one way ticket. As they lie, prepared for this torturous episode past their lives, they are besmirched in submission, the fond memories of the wealth they had flossed, have almost failed to bring a smile on their comatose faces now.

Day after day n years after years, new companions are added into the pit, this being their only consolation. They hear them crying in anguish as they are rammed into their graves, they hear them grouching over their trauma, they hear them yelling for help, but no one cares, all they do is remember their own admission into the abysmal sarcophagus and a glint of false smile glows on their ossified cheeks, only for an instance. The fresh incurs realize it soon, the resurgence ends and the journey begins.

Hope!! It doesn’t even spare the dead. It flows like waves and often the tempest sweeps with it the pain they are sustaining for years for a moment. Making them howl in the eerie darkness, hoping someone would hear their shrieking screams. Their tired eyes squint with the hope for acquittal. But the cyclone doesnt exhume any tomb. Their sentence remains eternal and their pain endless.

Time, it just grins sardonically over them, without even shooting a glance.
The dead words are never reborn nor are they absolved from the crime they never committed. Obsolete, as they are called, they are never recalled back to the real world.

They lie in the Necropolis, the city of dead (words), forever.

My First Blogger Meet

2005-11-06T16:12:00.000-05:00

Disclaimer : It's an account of a blogger meet, so if you stay in a cocoon of rationality, sanity, logical thinking, analytical thinking then PLEASE accept my apologies and read no further. Everyone else is welcome to read.

Saturday 5/11, around 12.30 pm, YM conference

After an elaborate discussion on YM with m000nie n arz000n, which digresses to anything n everything on earth except the venue n time for the meet, finally the only sane soul in the chat (which is m000nie) makes the other 2 crazy minds aware that we are conferencing to decide the venue n time for the rendezvous. After nearly half an hr, we decide to get together at the Big Bazar in Parel, which was already thought upon even before the chat. arz000n has some other 'commitments' hence the time to meet is fixed at 3.00 pm and i m given concession to join half an hr late, considering the hoops i will have to go thru to reach the destination. Oh yes, we were chatting to decide the 'time'. Scorching sun smiling proudly in the sky is shown cold shoulders in the chit-chatting.

In the middle of the chat, we get mail from a prospective attendant that she is not joining, with no explanation just an apology :( . So that leaves just 3 of us to meet, and on top of that z000n is gonna take our leave at 4.00pm to show off how busy he is. We also decide on 'code word' as i havent met either of them before, so the code word wud serve the purpose of identifying v000nie to z000nie. Filmy ishhtyle :D (anyone with even iota of wits would say just cell phone# wud be enf, but then sanity doesnt snoop within 1 mile radius of me n zoonie. So, rational minds, pls dont crib).

As it's my first blogger meet, i m excited, so i say Yes (again, no one was asking me, i was supposed to come, taken for granted) and then i had to meet zooon n m000nie anyway someday and i wanted to meet mooonie from long time (and she too wanted, ok).

The clock ticks 10 more mins.
I read the apology mail of the 'prospective candidate' again, n write a stinker pretending meticulously that i m infuriated by her sudden withdrawal n it wud be 'katti' etc :) . After a couple of mails, and half an hr into the time-space sphere, i get a confirmation mail that she is joining. :) . I carefully decide not to reply as God knows when her opinion may change.

So now we are 4, Dan Brown readers would immediately notice the 'symmetry' part.
m000nie,
z0000nie,
v0000nie (thats me) and
Uttara (she is the girl in 'duwidha' who finally vouched in our favor) and if you wonder why her name isnt 000ning, then lemme tell u, it's so funny that u wud burst into laughter here itself n wudnt care reading further :) (so it is held secret 4 the time being).

3.30 pm, under the scorching Sun

I get down at Parel, search for a cab, board the cab n finally reach the half-open-half-work-in-progress mall. Looking at the entrance, i wonder what lies inside n wot was the reason this venue was chosen, while the cab driver reminds me of the bill.

As decided i call up z000nie but no code words are exchanged :) . I meet him, my ex-collegemate, whome i havent seen even once or dont remember seeing, in the 4 long years that we spent together in the same college in diff departments though. Even vice versa is true :)
And within 5 mins i m seated across 2 000nie girls, inside the Domino's. i havent met any blogger before this except zoonie, who i met just 5 mins before :D. With the customary shake of hands, i reveal my real name :).

And then, for the next 2 hrs, a laughter riot is all anyone within 100 sq feet areas of Domino's could possibly hear.

Love Story by eric segal is the first thing i notice on the table. So the discussion starts from there. Then i give broad smile on how i made Uttara finally join the meet.

The hardcore bloggers within me n zooon relate everything to blogging n comments on blog. M000nie enlightens us on how z000nie bought the 'whisky' perfume from Pantaloons the last time they met, just because the salesman was loooking so 'bechara'. We demand a blog post with his snap :). Z000nie reminds us of his stinking shoes n we yukk it aloud. We discuss about the ever growing 000nie club, the funny and bizarre ooonie names, how this 000nie club came into existence. I silently slide into the mood that i might soon quit ooonie club, as it's excrutiatingly difficult to read soooo many ooonie blogs whose strenght just keeps growing like the followers of Catholic Church, over 100 billion worldwide :). I wonder wherez zombie gone, if mooonie had any word with her off late on indiatimes/mail. We (=me n zoon) chuckle over the IT (as in india times) chatters, damn how these ppl get so much free time, n mourn how we poor people in software have to work for hrs n hrs n hardly get any dough for our efforts. m000nie is upset on me for not bringing her the Ferreros. Now to be fair i read 'dont bring ferreros in the YM conf, so i dint. But then i am told, that msg was for zooon n not me !! goodness me !!

Like a religious late commer signing attendance sheet in the class, i rummage thru the photo albums m000nie has brought, one of her Mahabaleshwar trip n one of Rajasthan. Uttara and myself wonder, in m000nie's absence, how big is mooonies family, looking at a group photo of about 10 members.

We order pizzas lashing out on domino's n praising pizza hut right at the self service counter :D. Oh, lemme tell u, the only fruitful thing that came out of our earlier YM conference was that m000nie was going to foot the bill. After learning Uttara has to cook her dinner by herself, i also suggest her to take home a pizza from there itself (Eventhough it is just 4.30, u can microwave it later). You must be knowing how shameless ppl become to munch on pizzas, rest is for you to imagine.

We discuss about the rest in the shop, how only we r talking n others are getting free entertainment. How the TV should be switched off etc. We tap our toes sitting in the chairs on the music, wondering where the speakers r located, although they were right in front, on top of the walls. We fancy taking interviews of others inside the shop n publish it on blog. z000nie, looking behind him warns of his dangerous nebors. I also try to spot the mexican herbs the pizza was supposed to contain as all i see is capsicum rings, tomato pieces n fat onion slices. I am elightened by Uttara that they are inside the topping, you wont see them as isolated pieces. mooonie, like a true health conscious girl grumps over the extra cheese in her pizza, while zooonie like a devout pizza freak, pounces on wotever he can.

After knowing each other's employers, the 3 of us broadly n unanimously frown on how we have to work and m000nie is so blessed that all the wealth in the world and luxuries known to mankind, come to her feet thru her husband's business. We also discuss @ IIPM saga and IBM. How Uttara bursts into laughter once too often inside her cube in the office, and how it leaves others puzzled (and revealing the truth that she is insane too). Zoon devices a plan to visit 'uttuswami' in her office someday wearing saffron and announce the world about her blogging and how she is the inspiration behind our blogging.

By n large, we wonder how insane a community is this blogging and how rationality and logic have forgotten to smile on them. We discuss about zooon's b'day celebrated in his blogmates' company (this was the time when m000nie n he met). We also suggest zoon to adopt the 'bechara' salesman like 'in the holy name of the God, i adopt you as my child' etc) n again a blog post is fancied. The sprite bottles have labels of 'win khara sona every hour' contest. So i m the chosen bakra to SMS but we decide to share wotever Gold we win out of it (no one offers to share the SMS charges). After 2 SMSs I realise (thru the return SMS of acknowledgement) that the offer was open only till 1st of November and i just made fun of myself sending 2 SMSs.

Riding on the same laughter wave, and discovering new waves, we keep blabbering n laughing, the latter dominating the former. Even shotting glance at the crowd, who have come to Domino's with the sole purpose of devouring the pizzas, borrowing logic from the Devgan family 'aadmi dominos jata hai, pizza khane ke liye'n wonder how silent it becomes when none of us 4 is chatting/laughing. Then a firang lady visits Domino's with her escort n zooon drools :). She leaves, oh did she see him or wot. Surprisingly they return, and zooon is blushing :) n now proudly with a broad chest bragging she did see him :).

Before the shopkeepers would throw us out, or take help from some rehabilitation centre, we volunteer to step out even showing mannerisms in dumping the empty pizza covers into the trash bin. Next we march into the Pantaloon's to have a glimpse of the most discussed character of our meet. Unfortunately he isnt there, may be someone adopted him before zooon eventually could :D. Uttara shows some serious signs of being interested in shopping and the two tall and handsome males leave the (i have to say gorgeous and cute, and yes no exaggeration) ladies there to shop n discuss about their college, their jobs, moving up thru the elevator into the Gents section (well, i m not talking about loo .. gents section as in 2nd floor where Gents clothes r for display n sell). Neither of us wants to buy anything and surprisingly within just a few minutes Uttara lets zooon know that wotever shopping she was going to do is over, n she comes up. We quickly realise she hasnt done any shopping either. So we all descend down n i win 'Spot the m000nie' contest :).

As we emerge out of the mall, n some relatives of m000nie w/o any formal announcement decide to participate in the same contest. Lucky for her, she doesnt tell them she is with her blogger friends :).

All 4 of us dash into a cab, i m the luckiest to get the front seat, and reach Elphinston. We discuss about next meet n prospects of birthdays as occasions to meet. We drop z000n on our way, one pagal less now in the cab. As if something was still to come, a last piece of entertainment, there is some drama even while purchasing tickets. We (= me n uttara) bid goodbye to m000nie and walk across to Parel station. And after 5 more minutes, and few more rounds of chuckles n sniggers, i say goodbye to Uttara and wait for my train.

Late into the night, the YM conf begins where it left earlier, everyone of the 3, grinning ear to ear, churning the time spent in the evening. v000nie is granted the approval by his senior bloggers to blog on the meet and what you read here is a result of the same.

Note: I have enabled 'comment moderation' on this blog, after zooonie discovered it. Google just never fails to impress, after 'word verification' comes this. !!
Kindly bear with me if your comment doesnt appear immediately on this blog. It would, immediately after i approve, which i wud do for sure :D

What am I Blogging Here

2005-10-28T23:30:00.000-05:00

A devastating fortnight of monumental proportions of work ends today finally giving way to the festive mood. Too tired to write something new, just bringing to life one draft lying in the blogger womb for 2 months.

Note: This post dates back to Aug 20th. I finished it but just didnt publish.
It's one of the soul searching types, high on rants. Some statements might look like anachronisms as things have changed in the past month or so. Readers' discretion is highly advised.

Incidentally this is my 50th post and 30th October marks the close of 5th month of blogging.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Blogging !!

Why i started blogging ?
So that i can write any damn thing i want to, like a daily diary. Whatever moments in time i feel precious, i could capture and treasure. And whatever philosophy i believe in, i could print it in the words of my mind. The typical urge to vent out the turbulence from within and to arrest the moments I find worth adoring, forever. It did NOT come as the next logical step to chatting/orkut/hi 5.

Another motivation was drawn from the corporate world. I read a post on Jonathan Schwartz's blog @ how blogs have achieved the status of free n fearless journalism. How the first hand info published by bloggers during Tsunami outclassed the supposedly 'first to report' news channels. How people believe in bloggers than worlds best news channels (as the bloggers being ordinary people, the readers entrust them to publish untailored and as-is info). The increasing importance of blogs in the fast moving world, in bringing the world together, exchanging thoughts etc.
It had huge influence on me.

Did i know then that there are even 'readers' of blog ?
I really didnt want anyone to read my blog then, at least in its infancy. Does anyone want their personal diary to be snooped in by someone ? But yes, a slight desire of exchanging thoughts with the world had sprouted somewhere.

Y blogging to the world ?
May be bcos i dont have a webpage. May be cos i thought i can convey wot i feel / observe to whoever interested. Of course this whoever wud be someone i know. And those whose opinions matter. May be sothat i can sometime in future look back at wot was the state of my mind that time, looking at my posts. And as an IT professional i hate writing. I just didnt want any publicity. My blog used to look quite different than now.

How did the world know I blog?
Hmm.. there is always a desire to know what's happening around you. I used to hop to a few undiscovered islands to see how the blogsphere looks. n it always offered new ideas/thoughts/beauty. Thru my comments some souls traced me to here. Some also traced the way here the way i used to trace the outside world. Some might have just lost their way n hit this ground.

So wot's the problem ????
There was a time, I used to chat a lot on rediff/YM/MSN.
This was to satiate my desire to discover new friends/identify your-like minded people/ chat all the nonsense out/ make fun of anyone / etc etc and that too with a greater audience and community than i can personally relate to.
To put succinctly, meet people, chuckle, snuggle, mimic, laugh, flirt, ponder, console, cry.

I had a million friends and i was a member of many chat families. There were so many beautiful souls in the chat world. The Mumbai Room used to rock !!

Sometime later, i stopped all this. May be i had enough. May be it became too monotonous, and lost its charm. I do chat now n i wud continue to. But i aint an avid chatter now and i try to keep it to minimum. It doesnt run into hrs as it used to be once. Guess that happens with everyone ?

Now i see my blog, and i find my blog is about to go on the same lines as chatting. Somewhere in the time line, the die rolled, the tables turned and not just tables may be the whole game !!
I m making friends, a lot of them, i m making them laugh, i m making more friends, i m making them laugh too. Even other emotions are popping up on the scene. I'd started flirting here as well !! and i am also about to become a part of multiple families.

I find there are equal/more number of wonderful ppl even here.

Wow, i m so lucky, i am blessed to be in company of such lovely personnel?

The post on 'Friendship' was born as a droplet of this smouldering thought.

1. Isnt all this a deja vu ?

2. Or am i by nature like this. and I should always meet people, chuckle, snuggle, mimic, laugh, flirt, ponder, console, cry, bore, tease, ? Now i know the flirting (whatever of it) is just for the fun of it and to maintain a healthy n lively ambience. I aint playing a suitor !! no way !! Off late i have even put a check on flirting too.

3. Is that what Blogging is all about? And so there isnt anything wrong if i am doing this. Afterall one gets satisfaction when others like their posts.

You also get an ear to your thoughts, you provide shoulder to others, share their experiences and you get to learn a lot too . Even others learn from your wealth of knowledge and wisdom. So it's more of win-win situation or a symbiotic relationship woven with all the threads of happiness.

Also, if someone acclaims it with a token 'you made my day, you pulled me out of the blues, you are such a sweet person, you made a difference in my life', doesnt it motivate to continue the apparently good work.

So am i unnecessarily digging out the dead by grinding over this frivolous issue ? And i should take the transformation as just an evolution in the life of a blogger?

It's running riots in my head since a few weeks (edited : it was and it did clobber my thoughts for weeks) , and yes, i am spewing it out here, isnt this what i should be doing on my blog !!

Have you looked at your blog thru the glass of retrospection?

Wish you all a very happy Diwali

and Eid Mubarak

Lust, Gluttony, Greed,.... and Tag

2005-10-22T12:55:00.000-05:00

Taggie fever is back on the prowl in blogsville n i couldnt hide.
I was tagged by Teenage Brat and Rock Fan .

So I m doing the honors of 7 in 7 minutes.

Seven things i plan/want to do:

Higher Studies in Management
Learn to play my guitar and keyboard
Learn how to say 'No' politely
Bungi jumping, Parasailing n Scuba Diving
Drive at 120Mph+
Learn to stay quiet and stop my verbose bantering (man of few words)
Relinquish everything and resort to spirituality someday

Seven things I can do:

Make one smile
Stay calm even in trying times
Laugh out loud on the face of anyone, even at the expense of his ego in public
Cook (only the essential things required for survival, no exotic dishes)
Bore people to death
Understand how foolish it is to keep doing what i am doing and still continue doing
Move my ears (only a little) without touching them.

Seven things i can't do:

Lie successfully
Hurt someone intentionally
Butter the boss
I cant stand hypocrisy
Chat n chat n chat for hours
Stay away from blogworld for long
Live without friends

Seven things I say most often:

Hi/Hey
thanks
shuckkss !!
crap
oops
maaaaan !
barbaad

There is a selfishness in not passing this tag on. It is as simple as expecting the same gesture in return :D
(by n large i m still in hibernation for the blogosphere, missing all of you, just sneaked in
to take this tag as promised to someone to take it within 7 days).

Leave application

2005-10-20T14:09:00.000-05:00

Hi,

I am off from blogging for a week. This also includes my visits to your wonderful blogs.

So lemme usher in my share of Season's Greetings.
Have a Cracking n Colorful Diwali and Id Mubarak.

Have a great time. I will b back soon.

Regards,
inci vinci

Catching up ..

2005-10-15T22:30:00.000-05:00

Things have been shifting gear once too often and life continues to play cryptic games.

A quick glance at the last fortnight ..

1. I claimed my reimbursements !!

The money wud take its own time to find my bank account, but at least i am relieved that my part of the job is done, especially if the stakes are of 55K, thanks to the warm hospitality of Sun n Sand, Pune, i shouldnt resort to sloth.

2. Work eruption
It wud be ridiculous if i crib about work for the nth time, but i m yet to find a fix for it nevertheless. I am learning 'how to say NO and still remain polite'. All suggestions wud be accepted with wide hands and broad smile.

3. Quake shatters
I was devastated !! believe it or not. The initial figure of 300 suddenly blew up to 30000 and my spine. my nerves, my mind were frozen in the tremors of the disaster, for quite some time. Another such seemingly heinous act of nature to remind of its supremacy over the manpower. My condolences to the families and relatives of ill-fated. I was putting words to rhyme on Dewdy's blog and my thoughts, my creativity shook under the aftereffect of tremors. I quit rhyming after a few nonsensical attempts of getting myself back on track.

4. IIPM imbroglio
It was another shock n i was appalled !! Although losing job because of blog isnt new (click here for my earlier acct of one such incidence), but this saga rises way beyond someone losing job. It's about your freedom of speech, freedom of expression, about the credentials of an icon, about the loopholes in the education system, in the veracity of data submitted for assesssment, about the blind faith of people falling to the tall claims by someone spread all over the media. Reminded me of one of my professors 'We always think whatever is in the printed form is correct'. It's also about the awakening of bloggers in India, about the solidarity of blogsphere. It's also an eye opener for some. Megha churned up a hilarious story on this.

Bloggers have gone way ahead and read and analysed Indian Penal Codes to help Gaurav and Varna, some even sought legal advice, some are digging out more info about the degrees IIPM and affiliated institues offer, their parent universities. Some are reading the fine prints in the legal notice mails, some are scanning the disclaimers on IIPM site.

Never knew being a blogger makes one a part of such a caring family !! It can do wonders, i have no second thoughts ! Hats off to you guys !!

To all those interested, please keep checking on Desipundit.
(FYI : IIPM releases official statement. Warns of legal action).

On lighter vein, i am thinking of putting a BROAD disclaimer on this blog. Something like

"The views expressed in this blog belong to the author and the author only. They have nothing to do with anyone/anything else living/dead/yet to be borne/non living creatures/objects/both on this/other planet/gallaxy/universe. The author has no 'deliberate' and 'fraudulent' intentions of trying to defame anyone/anything living/dead.".

On another lighter but frigid note: On reading the Indian penal code pages, i reached to a conclusion that the 'anonymous creeps' lurking around the blogs and passing profane n obscene comments, CAN ACTUALLY be caught under the wraps of law. As theirs is always 'deliberate attempt to defame' someone. Read more here, where Aishwarya Rao meticulously analyses the clauses and the legal terms in defence of Gaurav and Varna.

5. House cleaning
Our Pune house is all set for a makeover. 50% of it is already done. Dasara (dashehra) was the day when we wiped out the ghosts of filthiness from our house and eventually tidiness usherd its blessings. Well, 50% wasnt a walkover, the battle wasnt one-sided. But the number also suggests some work is still pending and by coming weekend, all the evils would be shoed away.

6. Dandiya Raas
It was fun on Oct 8th, when it was celebrated in our office premises. For crazy minds, although some pretty faces flaunted ethnic attires, there were no backless cholies.

7. I finally took the Mumbai-Pune monthly pass (Railway season ticket), although it took me a month to decide (would i be really travelling every weekend, would i not go for Volvo, would i be able to work from home for a week/fortnight). With the season ticket, i can now travel thru Deccan Queen/Intercity.

8. I have stopped blog-hopping.

Yes, i have had enough. I read almost 50 blogs and the number just keeps swelling. So i have decided to 'politely say NO' to any 'new' spaces in the blogislands. Please dont take me wrong, but it makes the situation really sketchy for me. now back in india, w/o a laptop n broadband, i cant devote enough time to blogging (Nupur, u were correct :) ). The known blog territorries would be haunted as usual, with a slight delay.

There is an exception though, due to the IIPM v/s Bloggers saga, i have stumbled over some really really interesting, thought provoking, informative blogs and i hope to continue visiting them. Again, dont take me wrong, in no parlance it means, the current blogs i read arent as good as them.

9. I am in training

for whole of next week, 10am-6pm. Sounds good if that absolves you of the office work. Sadly though, it isnt the case, and things are going to be worse when it comes to time n work management.

Have a great weekend, and a fantastic week ahead. The Festive Season is going great guns ..

IIPM JAMed

2005-10-13T14:21:00.000-05:00

Thanks a million N KU for pointing this to me !!

All of us must have heard @ IIPM, an institute run by so called management guru Arindam Chaudhury. JAM, a popular youth magazine carried out a sting operation to verify the tall claims IIPM's full length advertisements make. The results published in JAM, shook the foundations of their tall claims and (supposedly) multistoried buildings. Then started a slurry of profane and obscene comments (similar to the anonymous bloggers' you see lurking arnd) on Rashmi Bansal, JAM editor's blog by so-called IIPM alumni or the current students. Argueing with them was like dipping ur hand in a gutter full of crap.

Gaurav Sabnis, a popular blogger (200,000 hits on his blog !!!) who supported Rashmi on his perosnal blog and questioned the credentials of the so called GURU, was summoned a legal notice for defamation by 'mail' and a threat of 125 crore lawsuit. His employer IBM was threatened by IIPM management that the students will burn IBM laptops in public in protest against their employee's support for the facts unearthed by JAM, on his personal blog (wow thats a new management lesson). Else Gaurav shud delete everything related to IIPM from his blog and express an apology. Gaurav didnt want his employer's image to be tarnished, nor he wanted to retreat from his comments, hence he quit his job voluntarily, but stuck firm to his words on his blog.
I sincerely feel he shudnt have. Had their laptops being burnt, the matter wud have reached a court of law for sure and the truth wudnt have been behind the curtains for so long as it still hangs in abeyance now. It's no easy to cross with the BLUE GIANT, which harbors immense legal infrastructure. I am DAMN sure, this threat wud have proved to be as vacuuous as their 'legal notice mail'.

But i still Salute Gaurav Sabnis for his mettle and his decision to fight the rains on his own without any shelter of his employer.

A step by step report with pointers is on Nku's This post

Desi pundit has jumped in to stay firmly behind Rashmi n Gaurav and the story has reached new proportions, with 100s of bloggers expressing open support to them. Even international bloggers have joined the fray. Another blogger Varna has been issued legal notice (similar to Gaurav) and she too hasnt budged an inch to the 175 crore suit. Mr. A Sandeep, Dean of IIPM India, denies any knowledge of such notice(s) ????.

Click Here to get authentic details about the antecedants of the GREAT Indian Management Guru by IIML professor who was Gaurav's faculty and truth about IIPM by it's ex-student.

Now i dont hate IIPM, nor am i neighbor of Gaurav and Rashmi. But look at the techniques employeed by IIPM to suppress the agitation. Instead of openly clarifying the issue, they are residing to such unprofessional and wicked ways. To add more fudge to pounce on, how wud it be to know "IIPM was suspended from Outlook’s B-school survey for allegedly fudging data provided to the survey firm Cfore. ", the survey which they always boast in their pompous ads.
Or a statement from IIPM itself that "We have never believed in rankings". Or when someone calls up IIPM's Toronto office, he is answered by someone with no affiliation to IIPM.

All this increases my respect for Gaurav and Rashmi and my faith in the solidarity of blog kingdom. It also questions the freedom of expression.

Herez my call.
Why not visit IIPM facilities, and find out the 'state of the art' infrastructure and the records of the lectures carried out by so called foreign faculties from Yale n Harvard. This isnt possible without official help from IIPM as i m sure their doors wud now be closed for everyone. Those who support IIPM, n the institute itself, should welcome this decision as it would conveniently end the cat n mouse fight going on for weeks and all the doubts wd be put to rest. Will they open their minds rather than the doors and answer to this call?

And once verified and convinced that IIPM 'does' provide everything that it claims, we can all put report of how IIPM deserves the image it paints in media with all the eulogies !! How do their Guru's not sense the weight behind this idea. Wouldnt it be Free Publicity worldwide by one of the strogest forces in open journalism, the blogger community.

People are even suggesting using Wikipedia to list 'facts' about IIPM, although i myself wont advocate this idea. On brighter note, How great it wud be for IIPM, if all the bloggers paint an untarnished, immaculate image of IIPM on wikipedia instead of the one prevailing in blogsphere, i.e. a despicable n shameful one.

Update (edited ) : NDTV tried to visit IIPM Delhi facility and were shown cold shoulders. NDTV did air their coverage of the issue at 8.00 pm and 9.00 pm. Even i missed it due to some confusion on whethere it was today or later. But do keep tapping on Desipundit, as hopefully, a link wud be soon up to get us the recorded version.
Here's a small politically correct article by NDTV.

Update 2: A million things have happened over last week. Desipundit provides excellent coverage of the entire issue.

Wake up Vinci

2005-10-09T04:18:00.000-05:00

Scene -1
Indiranagar, Bangalore
vinci is staying in a grandiose 3 Bedroom flat with a patio, on the 1st floor of a rowhouse with 4 others. The house cud accommodate 4 more comfortably if need be. vinci n his roomies had TV, beds, cots, audio system, VCD player, table, chairs.

Scene -2
Domlur, Bangalore
vinci is staying in a spacious and elegant 2 Bedroom house, again on 1st floor of a row house with 2 others. The same set of furniture shifted its base along with the 3 masters.

Scene -3.
This requires detailed report.

Paradise society, 1st Floor.
Follow me and i would familiarize you with all the features.

Press the doorbell and no one would answer. After a few rounds of strenuous exercise of index finger, you wud know that the bell isnt working. So start knocking or rather beating the door in frustration.
Assume someone took pity on you and the door flung open. Before u cud notice anything, a huge mass of luggage covered with bedsheet welcomes you, giving the impression that the tenants are either moving out a little too sooner than u'd expected and are in their final steps of packing or they have moved in a little late than u'd assumed and are yet to rummage thru their belongings.
The fact is, the tonnes of load which resembles a truckload of cargo freshly offloaded from a ship, belongs to your neighbour staying upstairs and it is just temporarily dumped into your house at the paltry cost of few good words and few plastic smiles to make way for the painting work in their house.

A line of good looking chairs placed neatly along the longest wall would convince u to misinterpret that they belong to you. Wisdom would tell you that they too are a result of some similar adjustment cum favors, may be someone bought new furniture and is temporarily waiting for a right customer for the old one. The chairs would provide respite to the office bags, and weekend travel bags. Shoes and socks would hog the remaining space, not to mention old newspapers filling in the blanks.
This should give a fair idea of how the drawing room looks like. There is a small balcony for the hall. But it is sentenced to remain closed (reasons later, if reqd) .

Kitchen:
Decently large. The kitchen sink is converted into a wash basin and the kitchen platform is a book shelf cum shaving kits and toothbrush/paste stand. The window sill is the mirror stand. Shoddily spread newspapers have encroached over the shelves which rightfully belong to utensils (atleast supposed to).

Bedrooms:
One of the two bedrooms is conveniently renamed as store room. Naturally everyone's luggage is scattered all over it. The gallery of this bedroom is the drying room so much as to dry towels after bath.
If you think drying is for the freshly washed clothes, then let me add a bite of knowledge, No one normally washes clothes inside this house.

The master bedroom is literally bed-room. It has 3 beds (no cots, only mattresses) tightly packed within the 3 walls so that their all degrees of freedom except one are confiscated. The remaining wall supports 4th bed perpendicular to the pact of other 3 and blocks their remaining freedom. As you step into the room your best foot would stamp onto this bed. If you cross it over, then would come another gallery which shares some load off the other one in drying the clothes. But wait a min, it's doing multitasking. Heaps of water bottles strewn all over this space wouldnt fail to admire you. They are accrued by the occupants bringing a-bottle-a-day from office. The 4 beds together span the entire floor space and walking in the room is synonymous to walking over the beds.

Closet:
There isnt any !! almirah, no place for thee. Yes, the clothes are then suspended with hangers thru the curtain tubes. And you must have rightly guessed, there arent any curtains.
There is no table either, this is one of the reasons why books are kept on the kitchen platform.
The windows normally arent opened. A quick glance at their outlook would reveal that in no time.

Bathroom:
Only one of the 2 bathrooms hosts a geyser. The tiny geyser's 1.5 litre visceral cavity fails to give you a continuous stream of hot water. The flow has to be really meek to give enough time for the coil to thermodynamically infuse heat into it. There are no fixtures to hold soaps n other tolietories. Window sill is the only ray of soap (oops, read hope).

Wash basin:
This is the cleanest object in the entire 800 odd sq feat land, it even shines. Open the tap and you would know why, cos it doesnt spout water. Why the hell ! simple, the stopper regulating the flow of fluid up to the tap leaks generously. So more water is smeared thru the stopper than that can rise up and jet out thru the tap.

Miscellaneous:

24 hrs, 7 days a week
There are only 2 types of taps in the house.
One which leak profusely and hence silenced by tight custody of torn pieces of rag, but still drip.
Two which leak but they just drip so havent reached the 'level 5 code red' and hence still enjoy their freedom to sing.
The water flows incessantly all 24 hrs from the tiny holes.

Illuminate me not !!
Each room has a tube light fixture with a tube light (wow). But that is another illusion cos as if they emanate the aura of heaven which is so priceless that it would never be radiated irrespective of your tinkering the switch.
So instead resort to the yellow lamps, whose glitter matches the color of the walls. Atleast it wouldnt keep u in 'dark'.

The lonely couple
The broom and the dust collector form a couple which no one pays attention to. They are a divinely blessed 'made for each other' pair in true sense. In fact you would be astonished to see their presence in the first place.

Transverse section
TS, as we had studied in botany (remember TS and LS ?). Someone has over inquisitively taken a TS of the pin of the iron-box and hence u can see the metal wires that the insulated chord ends into. This pin is cemented into the plug with cellophene tape to avoid any accidental physical contact with the exposed live wire.

Dust has spread its wings all over the floor space, left unoccupied by beds, scattered newspapers, freely tossed shoes, indiscriminately thrown socks, even on the kitchen platform's unclaimed areas. Itsy bitsy spiders have announced their supremacy over almost all the windows and the balcony grills by weaving their traps. The filthy and clumsyness havent spared any corner.

Newspapers
They need a special mention. They are playing surrogate for door mat, even outside bathrooms. They also delineate the drawing room from the kitchen, the bedrooms from the narrow connecting passage. Contributions by daily ToI and Eco Times.

Enter(de)tainment
There is no place for a TV, nor a music system. Havent yet spotted any walkman or diskman.
to cut it out, there isnt any means of entertainment inside the house. But it's location is prime and one can hang out without getting bored. (for more plausible reasons see the trivia).

A Couple words of caution !
1. At night you must have a cell phone to enter the house(can u guess why).
2. Newton's First Law is strictly observed inside the house : ( every body continue to be in their state of rest or uniform motion .. ) Do not plug out any chords which carry electricity not even at ur own risk cos you are risking everyone else too. Nor should you touch any taps wrapped with rugs although they r dripping.

A couple of Trivia and Logical Reasoning

1. How are you staying in such a place !! doesnt it strike anyone to do something about the place you're staying in.
We stay here only 5 days in a week. Everyone travels on weekends, so only for 5 days of which most of the part is spent in office, why should we bother too much. It's just a shelter to spend nights and get ready in the morning. Also, who has time to do anything !! weekdays - office. weekend - home !!!!
(but then 5/7 is 70%!!, isnt it worth paying attention to the place you are staying !!)

2. Why isnt there any maid. Bachelors perenially lack the enthu to clean their residence but a maid is all it takes (with a few bucks a month) to fix the issue.
5 days a week office - morning to evening- weeknds in mumbai - What time will the maid come? .

3. Why not buy a TV?
ditto 2, except the last node shud b read as 'What time will you watch the TV'

"Welcome to the REAL world inci vinci"

My (partial) Take on Friendship

2005-09-28T16:30:00.000-05:00

Friendship ..

It starts with the Childhood Friends, the kids in the kindergarten, nursery, in the neighborhood, the offsprings of relatives, family friends. Then come School Friends, then College Friends (undergrad, graduation, PG, PhD .. ). Once you step into the professional world, then come your Colleagues - your friends in the workplace.
Part of these friends also offer the roles of ur mail friends, ur coffee-lunch-dinner friends, even as accomplice in the naughty and snoopy demeanors.

It's one relation we ourselves choose rather being defaulted at our birth and without having to wait long years for any legal cerificate of age. It just happens.. we are drawn into the camaraderie, we fall into emotional attachment.

Friends being an integral part of everyone's life, an influence on everyone's life. Some say 'a friend in need is a ..' . So we need friends sothat we can call upon their unselfish services when in tantrums. Or seek their wide shoulders to cry our hearts out or their broad chests to give us moral support should a situation may demand.

Those who sell greeting cards have glorified the friendship as blessed, God's-gift-to-sail-our-lives thru the ocean of uncertainties of life n assortemets. Also friends are elevated to the status of angels sent by God to help us travel thru the terrain of life.
The best part is 'it sells' and thats what matters to them :) .

The modern world offers even more opportunities for friendship thirsty minds in the form of Virtual Friends. They may be your Chat Friends, hi5/orkut friends, Blogger buddies(?). Sometimes you find the people in virtual world more dependable and reliable !!

Here are some mutually exclusive (in the sense they can be answered independent of each other) questions that should give me your take on friendship.

1. How many friends does one really need?

2. How many people one can really befriend and continue to be in touch?

3. Meeting someone, knowing someone, chatting with someone, exchanging mails with someone, liking someone (in both real/virtual worlds) = Friendship ?

4. Is meeting new persons, making new friends = losing old pals, breaking the old bonds of companionship?

5. Do we really need to look for friends everywhere? They make life easier and of course more enjoyable. But is the relationship borrowed merely for this purpose?

How to Read a story in 65 words

2005-09-15T17:19:00.000-05:00

The idea to squeeze a story in 55 words came from Nupur's post . You can trace the origin on her blog. I took an exemption and scribbled one in 65 words instead of 55.

Bird, words and the world

A feldgeling stumbled over an unknown territorry. Lost but blessed, lonely but uninhibited, to do any random n wildest wierd thing. No-one discovered it. Soon it learnt to fly n flapped its wings. The flutter attracted many of same/diff feathers, colors. It went with the flow/(ck), making them chuckle, giggle, grin, whim. It became popular and everyone was happy. Soon it realised it was mere delusion, a hallucination. Freedom was lost, wings clipped, face distorted n vision blinded.

X-----------------X--------------------X

Now Some Updates from my part of the world :

I am in Pune now, and my office is very close to the backwaters of beyond outside the city. The office hrs stretch till midnight, i dont have a laptop, nor do i have any connectivity outside this office resembling a slice of football stadium.

My workplace exposes my monitor to everyone who walks thru the central corridor. Blogging/chatting from office can be compared to the actors in film industry who do their work despite receiving array of threat calls from the underworld.

I m dropping by your blogs whenever i steal time from the peeping eyes, but skipping the comment part (my comments are hardly of any value anyway). And i have also read all the valuable imprints you left on this blog. Thanks a ton !!

Virtual 000nie Meet (v000m sans v000nie) - All the best to all the 000nies. Have fun !!!!! I wud be travelling this Sunday to my home. Saturday wud dissipate in search of a new accommodation. I know m000nie wud wring my neck if i meet her someday :) .

TTYL ..

3 countries, 26 hrs & lonely bird

2005-09-06T13:20:00.000-05:00

My journey back .. i kept hammering the keys of the laptop throughout the 26 odd hr journey.
Thank you all for ur wishes and also for checking on this blog. I am still on vacation, would be back to work (&blog) next week. But do expect some surprise visits :)

This is it ... .. ..
Date 2nd Sep.
Here i am at the MCI International airport. It's 8.43 am and i m trying to kill the boredom induced in the last 30 mins. Getting up at 5.30 was tough, especially for the tired eyes, strained legs and stiff back. Around 7.00 i turned the key, the engine roared and the tires rolled. L, S, me and of course the 170 lbs of luggage headed for MCI.Lucky us that traffic god was linient and the rain god marked its presence with just a tiny sprinkle of mild drizzle. My last drive in the US (well for the time being) lasted for about 35 mins.
Shaking cold hands with L & S didnt feel heavy. I quickly dialed the number that i had dialed the most in last 6 months. 1-866-3-Reliance. Mom's voice was affluent with the eagerness of seeing her younger son the next day. Dad was counting the hours between 8.00 am CST today and 10.00 pm IST tomorow. After purging the emotions for last couple of days, my eyes were damp again and I was smiling !!
I called a couple of friends, one went to voicemail :). That makes it a perfectly normal day.
Now thinking of a coffee and will catch with ya soon.
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It's 9.50 am and i just had my breakfast in the expedia cafe. The aftermath of the deluege in New Orleans is all one sees nowadays and my eyes were no exception while the tounge was hogging on the hot caffeine. Sometime in between I also learnt that Lysol kills 99.9 % of the jerms in 2 minutes :)Mumbai floods are still alive in the memory lane and this hurricane Caterina now, keep reminding about the powers of nature that we can never conquer. It's sad that looting and robbery has taken charge in the hurricane affected areas and even rescue helicopters were being shot at ! Man !
The best part of this Expedia Cafe is my laptop is plugged in and the battery is getting its due too :) . So i m gulping down shots n shots of caffeine just to give her company. I m good at excuses you wud say. It also makes me realise that the waitress in the cafe is really cute :D . May be not as much as the one in Frozen Custard the other night :D

A quick bite of Knowledge: I m out of Kansas in a few minutes from now, and i learnt why Kansas City International Airport is MCI instead of KCI !!The reason is "KCI was originally called Mid-Continent International Airport, or MCI, and the International Air Transportation Association (IATA) adopted it as the airport's designator code. For many years, MCI served as the landing strip for the TWA overhaul base and as an alternate airport for the old Kansas City Downtown Airport. When the Downtown Airport was deemed too small and unable to grow, terminals and additional runways were built at what is now KCI." Do I sound stupid, pasting this otiose piece of info, but then i've never declined that either.
My battery shows 100% and that means enough of this cafe for me and the clock is going towards 10.30.
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As I stepped out, i noticed a cute lil girl, giving ride to her even younger sis in her prom. The kid in the pram was just toooo cute n chubby chubby :), both were having fun, giggling, dancing and wot not.

Security Check was pure fun to say the least. Something inside my carry on bag was too much for the X-ray scanner to understand. The lady sent it thru twice, there were no beeps or honks but rather something un-identifiable for her. I was pretty calm and let them do it again. But the mystery wasnt unveiled. Then they opened it and as the light went inside,it brought everyone's tongues out. The crest was of Doritos, and as they start digging the mountain, all they saw was Ferreros, Hershey's, Minies and the foundation laid by a huge box of Lambertz. Everyone was smiles o lovely. Some of them peeped into the bag and coyly walked away to control their watering mouths. They pretended to even confiscate a few of the chocos, and i was game too and generously approved.
"I havent seen the kisses so big as these"
"I got them from Sams/Costco. you been there? "
"hmmm ... "
"OK, Why dont you try a few and decide yourself"
"Oh.. yum yum " .. giggle.
After scanning a couple more times, they confirmed that neither the chocolate companies not me were in any smuggling business. All of them were taking it lightly though, but, still doing it sincerely, 'part of the job' one should say. I was soon given the title of 'chocolate man' by a pretty lady.

I was in the aisle seat, an elderly Finnish lady was in the Window towards my left. We exchanged a few words over how do you find the States. The idea behind taking aisle seat was to avoid looking thru the vitreous hole in the cabin. The clouds are the same everywhere. I wanted to observe people this time. It did help,believe me. The three seats towards my right were 3 beautiful ladies. The cute duo of the lil sisters that i spotted in the airport and their equally beautiful Mom. The kids are a fun to watch, and these 2 were no exceptions. The younger one had a baby doll. She was flaunting it, playing with it like her own baby. I wondered do girls inherit this desire of motherhood in the womb itself !! a random thought. Believe me, a zillion thoughts were running in my mind, 2 countries, 2 cultures, 2 currencies.. oh .. mind just rambles, endlessly. Will i ever win over it, control it, restrict it. Oh even this rang up inside of me!!

We touched Dallas 25 minutes ahead of schedule, oh were we in a supersonic jet or what !! Now being early doesnt always help. Cos the airport crew wasnt prepared for us. And there wasnt any hanger/terminal to station the plane. We had to wait for @ 20 minutes for the same. That gave more scope for discussions. Soon I learnt one of the kids is 3 yr old and the other is around 5. I clicked a couple of snaps thru my cell phone too. The army men on board got down first, and everyone was cheering them as the walked thru the aisle.

So finally we were out on the ground, rather the airbridge (airodrome) and inside the airport now. I found the gate to board my next flight to Zurich. Naturally i started searching for a phone. All i cud see was Verizon phones. They wudnt accept even the toll-free numbers. I tried calling the reliance number from cell phone, but that didnt work either. I thought of purchasing the verizon card, but the phones didnt say anything @ international calls. I didnt want to waste my savoured pennys for nothing. Meanwhile i was feeling hungry so i opened the Doritos and snacked on a few. A starbucks caught my attention and i was sipping a coffee with Vanilla shortly, thinking about my parents and how they would be expecting my call.

Soon I was in the Zurich bound flight and i noticed AT&T satellite phone right there in front of me. Involutarily i pulled out the receiver and tried using it, swiped my credit card atleast 5 times, but it didnt work. A steward approached me and metioned, a gentleman wants to have a few words with me. For a second i thought they somehow noticed my problems with using the in-flight phone and someone wants to brief me on that. I followed him and there came the biggest surprise of my life. A security officer was waiting for me, wanting to know the reason behind me taking snaps in my Kansas-Dallas aircraft. I was standstill for a moment. But i wasnt scared. Without any hesitation i explained to him, how we were doomed for 20 minutes inside the aircraft and i even admitted of doing a silly thing like this. "Is it illegal to take snaps""No, but it makes people nervous""OK u want me to delete the snaps""Well, sure"I deleted the snaps in front of him. He looked satisfied, but he wanted to see my ID. I produced my D/L and he took the number. God only knows whats happening with it. Will my social security be tarnished by a folly as this. Will i be denied the entry into united states the next time. God knows that i had no bad intention of doing it, so i am not worried. But the thought kept haunting me for an hr or so even in my quick nap. I woke up afresh and the thought and the fear had withered away. But if you r reading this, read it as a lesson from my mistakes and wise up urself. Life is learning every single minute.It's 6.20 pm CST and i had a sumptuous meal a few minutes back, watching 'everyone hates chris' and David Litterman. A movie is running now, but i aint watching. The battery is @ 70% and i have nothing more to scribble.
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Now, I am at Zurich and it's 9.00 am of 3rd Sep. A quick look back tells me that watching Shrek 2 was fun and I soon succumbed to another siesta which was broken by the aroma of refreshments. Shortly we reached Zurich and fortunately i dint have to change any terminal. I purchased a Swatch (gents) from the duty free shop. Thinking of a few Doritos and the boarding is just 5 mins from now.
So, see you at Mumbai then, as i dont wanna trouble my laptop in the final leg. I wud be home before anymore black drops on this white backdrop.
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I am now one day older than when i landed on the Indian soil the second time. The Zurich Mumbai was the most homely part of the journey. As the passengers started boarding, it became clear that the flight was dominated by desis. I cud hear hindi and marathi in the boarding queue itself. Around my chair, the climate was all gujju. Felt like Home !!

I was in the company of a group of diamond merchants. Most of them from Surat. I learnt that they buy raw diamond stones in Belgium which are sent via air cargo. The merchants just choose the 'maal' and fly back home. Surat is the place where the rocks turn into diamonds, midas touch of the thousands of proficient workers, should we say. I was also informed about the current conversion rate between the rupees and euros, the minimum per hr wages in Belgium to say the least. It was also revealed how my US trip, although short, can get me a better wife(?). Courtesy the movies, aired on in-flight movie channels, i learnt about Karachi, mount K2, The Golden Temple in Amritsar, boat-houses in Kashmir, Simla. Swadesh was a perfect icing on the cake. Our descent to Mumbai began on the tunes of "Yeh jo Des hai .. Swades hai .. Tujhe hai pukaara ..'. Customs was a walkover as i had hardly amassed any money to buy extravagent electronic toys, which the blue/khakhi uniforms love to play with.

I could spot my Dad and my brother before i cud see the exit gate. The lastest scoop of the journey on the wheels was the sweetest to home ever....

Paraphernalia

2005-08-31T20:50:00.000-05:00

Here are a few things that I gathered, either learnt or observed, in my 6 months sojourn in the United States.

1. To be courteous while walking, talking.
2. To wait patiently for my chance.
3. To buy only in deals.
4. To buy mostly online.
5. That people like me look really undernourished here.
6. To enjoy life without caring for absolutely anything.
7. That work-hours are only 8 hrs a day which conveniently get transformed into 5-6 hrs on Friday.
8. That Weekends are meant only for rest/enjoyment and so I also understood the value of weekends/vacations (especially Long weekends).
9. To Yield on Green.
10. That Traffic can be very disciplined even w/o honking.
11. Parallel Parking.
12. There is no life in US without a car and laptop.
13. a lot of things about other religions and even of my own .
14. To smile when u pass by someone, even a stranger.
15. Blogging.
16. To respect pedestrians and to get respect as one .
17. Even in US they have families, and children do stay with their parents.
18. That 'Excuse me' is clearly the most widely used phrase. 'Thank you' should be the next.
19. That Money is not the only thing that one should see here.
20. To live in Today.
21. How so very pleasant it feels when you trade words only in your mothertounge for a complete day after a quarter.
22. That I used to retire to bed way early (i.e. before midnight) when I was sans the laptop (given by client).
23. It's no fun crossing the street in winter without a jacket and handgloves and that too within a week of landing here.
24. One can enjoy life here even without visiting strip clubs or the like (with them it wud always be better . But ..)
25. that while adding images to ur blog(thru blogger) always use 'Large size' or it wud crumple ur photo n no one can see it to original size.
26. How precious it is to have a separate cubicle so that no one peeps while you blog.
27. That tickets to Swiss from India are now available for as low as 15K/person one way. (A Swiss honeymoon anyone? )
28. A Checking account is different from a Savings account.
29. There can be an annual interest rate of as low as 0.25% on your money in savings account and the sales persons still persuade people to open one.
30. With laptop, I became really lazy n nearly stopped going out on weekends.
31. The overhead bins in aircrafts are as or even densly packed here than in India.
32. That one can reach his destination even without inquiring about directions.
33. Janitors/Plumbers can be as respected as white collared workers.
34. To cook rasam n sambar (albeit with MTR mix, but it still calls for lots of skills .. dont laf on me.. ok).

There must be more, but this is it for the time being.

I am starting back on 2nd Sep. The work and the packing n stuff is keeping me busy these days n hence wasnt able to put more time reading other blogs. I still have things lined up for tomorrow viz change of address, closure of internet connection, credit card :) .
I would be checking on the blogsphere till morning.

They say the time flies like anything. Never realized 6 months were over so quickly. Now, looking forward to touch the homeland, be back with my family, enjoy some moments of togetherness with my beloved ones and forget anything resembling office n work for a while.

Leaving a place that accommodated you for 6 months calls for emotions, but i have tweaked them before writing this post. So it's not a tearful goodbye, rather a cheerful one. Thank you United States for being a wonderful host. I know i wasnt a careless guest either.

Here is the outline of my travel.
Kansas City -> Dallas Fortworth -> Zurich -> Mumbai.

I am thinking of blogging while travelling. Such a nut i am n infected by the blog-virus. Not sure how it would work out, but there is a desire to do so.
Once i reach home, it wud be a hiatus unless the jet lag provocates me to switch on the PC the very day of arrival. It should be a sabbath for a week at least. I would rather call it self-restraint :) .

Would Miss Your Blogs n Your Thoughts n You All of course.. (the names are in the sidebar & a few more in the comment boxes of prior posts).

Would be in touch with you all soon. It's NOT a long goodbye :) . And dont miss me. There are so many beautiful things to see and wonderful people to relish the time with, and not to mention, the fantastic blogworld.

Happy Blog Day !!
Happy Blogging and Keep Smiling :)

Birthday No. 5233

2005-08-30T13:38:00.000-05:00

Morning
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The batteries of the camera are charged on not.
The evening depicts a Festival. Lots of opportunities to take snaps and upload on yahoo/Blog.

Evening
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Already late (so, everything's fine so far). Back home from office. Quick dash of snacks n shots of tea.

8.30 pm
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Tyres roll, the car wallows thru the mild drizzle and the wings of sprawling night.
[tee teeing in the car : Which deals are hot now, Camcorder/LCD monitor/Sony/Canon. ]

8.45 pm
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[Chanting 'snaps' 'celebrations' in my mind, i step in .. ] ..The ISKCON Temple in Kansas City. It is modest and bears no distinction from the several other houses in the neighbourhood. Originally a Church, now a Krishna Temple and a Vedic university.
The Chief Devotee Daanweer Maharaj dressed in safron (all the devotees are called 'prabhu') telling the stories of Lord Krishna's past times. I find a chair, sitting, listening, a quick glance around tells me a lot. My 2 friends have found chairs too. Almost all of the students (disciples) of the vedic college have tonsured heads firmly humbled on their shoulders. Around 100 devotees from around Kansas City are gathered to commemorate the 5233rd Birth Anniversary of the makhan chor (butter thief). Everyone's listening to stories of Krishna Janma which most of us have read or heard from the elderly creed as a kid or watched on television. Krishna is born, taken to Gokul, Pootna is killed. I am beginning to sink into the chastity of that place. I m taken by the profound sanctity. The Krishna-Balaram idols in the centre are dancing in Vrindavan.

Now is the time for Kirtan (devotional songs). A disciple takes charge.
Uncertain about the approval to take photographs, L inquires and returns with smiles on his cheeks. I am hesitating to take snaps. But still the nikon coolpix's of both of us start clicking. The devotees, the speaker (kirtankaar) are captured.

Time for abhishek (devotees get chance to pour water over the baby Idols of Lord Krishna and Radha through a large sea shell, which too are dancing in the Vrindavan). The kirtan is still going on.
Devotees form a queue on one side and the abhishek starts amongst the holy mantra (which has 2 shodashakshari (16 lettered) mantras) . We are part of the queue, not together though. I can hear people discussing all sorts of things standing in the queue, listening to the kirtan, moving with the queue.

My moment of bliss comes, as I get my chance to hold the shell and pour water over Radha Krishna idols. L gets his turn a few mins back.

L -> M :set the dial in night mode
M -> L : oh great.

L -> M :The Deity idols are not clearly visible from this distance.
M -> L : ..
M -> L : OK, let's take their snaps in the end. We are gonna be here till the end right.
L ..
We are feeling hot n slighly suffocated, as there is no A.C. and the fans are sparsely placed and obviously other people have discovered that before us.

Few more snaps are clicked. I am retreating from taking any further snaps. I detest myself for my original idea behind the snaps. I wanted snaps to decorate my blog !! to add to my yahoo album !!

I take a chair again. The gentleman next to me spots the tiny camera on my shoulder.
Gentleman -> M : You have digital camera, so will you be taking snaps. Come lets meet the maharaj. I was about to be elevated as the official photographer.
i still follow silently * Damn, snaps snaps !!!!!!! i m no different. everyone wants snaps .. is that why we have gathered here* .
I m intoduced to the Maharaj, and swallowing a few, i confess 'i am really not sure how many snaps i will take', no eye contact.
Maharaj says with compassion, to me -> do ur best !
I slug it down.

I ran back but change the place now. Kirtan is still on. The idols of the lord are now behind the curtains. The speaker is chanting. Everyone's following. The mridangam and veena and a few else are trying to catch up with the devotees. The rhythm reaches a resonance. The decible level shoots up. But no one's complaining. No one's index fingures are itching to reach the eardrums. The noise is instead melifluous.

Now, the time to do the Jap. To enchant the holy mantra 108 times.
(anyone knows why 108 times? .. the answer is also revealed).
Everyone is given a tulasi mala (beans of tulasi) . Together we start, and all that is heard for next few minutes is only Ram and Krishna.

I am entranced by the holy vibrations. I m gasping for air. My eyes are moist. The idols in the centre are still behind the curtains.
Stories about Krishna's past times start. I dont care about the watch on my wrist anymore. They start flowing thru my blood, i feel like a lost child, or i feel like someon's found me, or i think i m captivated .. after a while, i dont even follow the stories. The moisure has expansed into tiny droplets. The emotions surging frm my heart are trying to break free thru my eyes. I dont search for a hanky.

The kirtan starts again. Time is around 11.30, i look at the watch after a long time. The Veena and mridangam have caught up well with the devotees. Everyone is chanting the holy mantra.
I m surprised by ppl staring at a corner. An elderly person has stood up and started swaying freely to the rhythm. People are staring at him. The recitation continues. Still everyone is glued to the wooden floor. The hands approach 12. The solitary devotee isnt so anymore. Everyone stands up and most start swinging to the tunes of mantra. The curtains drop. The soaring shankha (sea shells) and sudden uproar of the beats announce the Birth of Krishna. Everyone is celebrating, but not everyone is twirling freely. I m just stood up tall and still. My legs are stiff. The camera on my shoulder wont let me shake. Legs are still heavy. I see people jumping, i see some people like me too. I hear the wild strokes on the drum, well people have their own ways of turning anything into a musical instrument. I think of all this, i see the person next to me trying to capture the events in his cam. I pity him. I pity myself. After a while I too lose myself in the trance. But i lack the agility. I know i lag. I dont care. No one's bothered about whats happening, except a few who, like journalists, are trying to capture every single moment into the lense. I dont care even to pity them. It continues .. legs dont feel tired, but then it still ends. Everyone's back on the floor. They have different neighbours now.

Time for Prasadam

-----------------------

How many servings today?
A disciple (named Bibhishandaas) has made 123 varieties of food items for all the devotees. I am appalled. How can one do so. I inadvertantly compare it with our daily dealings in the kitchen.
Quickly everyone's seated in parallel lines, on the floor, like lunch halls. I am feeling terribly hungry. The prasad is served. The items keep coming. You name it and it is there. I decide not to say no. It is Prasad. L n me are nebors now.
Puri, sabji, chutney, kheer, juice, barfi, they keep coming.

L -> M : this has more ghee in it !!
I dont care. I pity L. So many rounds of serving.. Gulabjamoon, rasagulla, rice, sheera. I am still devouring it. takes me back to the indian restaurant, buffet. Do they serve so many items and we feel blessed after the lunch there!! I keep staring at the idols. I dont see the God, but am sure he is right there !! I see people modestly saying no to any further serving. But they keep coming. Just when i think i had enough, i see two three more coming. I am subdued.

L-> M: i am done. I cant eat more. I have to find a trash can now. M -> L : The God is giving.
After a few minutes, i am stuffed to the brim. I am tired, but the sevaks arent. They keep approaching with a smile on their face, and a part of the cullinary pallete in their hands. It doesnt get over. 25 years and i havent had enough !!

Almost everyone has resigned by now. Some have discovered family gatherings out of the prasad while seated. Some have convenietly started flossing over their sons and daughters in law, businesses and college, Sprint and Canada.

Almost everyone is retired (except those still enjoying the family gatherings), the sevaks now take the prasad. I wonder how could they hold their hunger for so long.

There is no glow on my face, nor am i seeing any divine light. But i am feeling something different apart from the heavy stomach. Having drenched in the shower of the divine bliss, albeit for a few hrs, i m feeling humble. I m feeling like a meek chocked for words. Am i purified ?
Well it's not new for me, it's happnd a few times at different temples. But everytime i exit a temple, i drop it right there before leaving. I keep staring at the Idols. But i cant find any strings of association with the Lord. i still keep staring for a while, trying to capture the image with my own lenses. There is an urge to surrender to the divine form, but the material self is trying to jibe the sailing boat of thoughts. The eyes are focussed, but the mind isnt.

Again, we are feeling suffocated inside the hall. L & me take seats on the stairs. The Dark blue sky is embellished with twinkling silver.

L -> M : We can see moons of Mars (or something similar) M -> L : Why should we bother.

The Daanveer Maharaj is doing Jap, closeby. He enlightens, looking at the sky : Everyone is celebrating the Birth of Krishna. We are lucky that He appeared in our universe rather than theirs.

Sometime later, L & myself compare the sq feet areas of the plot with those in Bangalore.

We start back after a few minutes. The engine vrooms. We carry from where we left. Deals, followed by few words of praise over dinner, I-470, I-435, the gentleman boring us over his sons, we discuss it all. No one talks about God/Krishna. Deja vu for the nth time.

Within 15 minutes we are home. It's around 3 am. With the alacrity of a child running home after wining a medal, I call home. Trying to weave my feelings into words thru the approaching webs of sleep. After a few minutes we discuss about my brother, my dad, the pooja the next day, icici and citibank, etc.

I start my laptop, still no urge for sleepping, chat with a couple of my new found friends for a few mins. Soon half asleep, try to run through the moments of heavenly bliss, i cant revive them, i do remember everything though. Trying to see the Idol of Lord thru my closed eyes, its blurred, hazy, oh i dont see it at all .. am i in dreams .. i remember no more.

Next day i loosly mention about my experience to my friend and tht i wanted to Blog over it, but now i have given up. She tells me to still go ahead, may be it wud be useful for others. I argue, i know what happens, no one learns anything. 2 mins and end of blog, end of story. I know cos i am no different.

I still decided to go ahead. Not for others, but for myself. Even thought of disabling the comments, just didnt want anyone to make fun of it, but let it go. I do remember everything, but i remember so many things. So before i forget what i should be remembering, i am framing it here, so that i will be humbled everytime i drop in to this space.

Bye Bye Bots

2005-08-27T20:49:00.000-05:00

Problem with Bots spamming your comment Box ?
Google's there to help !
Go to Settings -> Comments -> Show word verification -> Click Yes.

I found the comment box with word verification on Gangadhar's blog and was really impressed.
The flip side is that it's also an overhead for readers and the author too as one has to key in the displayed word for every single comment. The popular blogs with comments reaching three figures may not really welcome this.

I havent really been bruised by the bots so far. But trying this new feature myself with this post. Please let me know your take.

'Every' Then and Now

2005-08-25T01:40:00.000-05:00

over 5000 years ago
people used to remember scriptures worth thousands of verses on their tongue tips.
now
i dont even remember a handful of phone numbers.

a 1000-400 years back
men all over the world used to die fighting wars for the land they dont belong
now
--' ' - -

200 years ago
people used to get rewarded and revered for their wealth of knowledge, their wisdom, intellignence, skill, temerity, austerity.
now
people get admired and acknowledged for making fun of themselves or others, for their ignorance, lack of knowledge, tinkering, timidity, lavishness.

5 years back
i used to kill time by typing-till-my-fingres-bled on different chat windows.
now
i do the same on different blog pages including this.

3 years ago
i used to think the best performers get the best rewards
now
i blame it on the fate

until the last year
My kid cousin sister used to tie me rakhi
This year
i was gazing at my desolate wrist

8 years back
I used to get my clothes tailored
now
I wear only 'branded' clothes

5 years down the memory lane
my parents used to earn moderate money and were able to fulfill our wants n still content
now
I earn manyfolds but still thirsty

15 years ago
people would have ridiculed had someone said 'A day would come when even water would be sold'
now
People would smirk from their belly if someone asks 'What is bislery' (dont mistake it to PSPO)

10 years ago
Talking over phone was such a fun.
now
It's more of a pain to the ears (cellphones anyone) yours/neighbors

2000-100 years ago
Guests used to be God
now
they are just a touch better than intruders.

50 years ago
people used to stay together in harmony
now
everyone has an insatiable urge for privacy

Before 8 years
i used to do multiplications/divisions orally, to a great degree
even now
i do them without a pencil/paper. Just that i use 'calc', even for 239.14 - 39.46

2 months back without a laptop
i used to sleep early (i.e. before midnight) and weekends used to be fun
now
i am glued to the laptop and even weekends are spent in the keystrokes' cadence

before 2 years
Breakfast used to be upma/pohe/(n other variants)
till 6 months
Idli/dosa/vada
now
bread butter-jam/cereals/fruits (oh .. dinner is changed too!!)

3 months in the past
i was a novice in blogging and used to consider myself as the only lost n blessed soul
now
I know i m still lost but i've got plenty of company

6 years back
i used to ink letters to my close relatives
1 year back
i used to send mails
now
I dont get time to do even that

Note: Some desultory thoughts evicted by observations/experience... they dont try to make a point.
The years are approximate or might even be wrong if you know better, when they are not of my own past.

Your valuable thoughts and observations are welcome .. ..

Late additions (Aug 26, 12.15 am)

60 million year ago
Dinosaurs ruled the earth as if they were the unchallenged emperors
now
Humans have pervaded the earth and think we are the rulers

5 years back
I was insistent on correct spellings and grammar
now
i rite sch tht it svs time bt kills everything else and sometimes takes even more time to read.

5 years ago
Hi, how are you.
Fantastic. Extraordinary. Incredible. Brilliant.
Good bye. Have a great evening. Take care.
now
hieee howdy. hiaaa howz u.
kewl. amazin. wooooow.
GN. muaah. hugz. tc.

-- IV

From Dewdy's comment.
10 years ago
open windows and fans were good in summers.
now
its hard to feel comfortable without an AC.

From Z000nie's comment.
4 years back
I knew some of my relatives
now
I dont know who all fall under that catergory and whether they exist on this planet or not.

And the winner is ..

2005-08-22T10:25:00.000-05:00

First of all, Thanks to all those who participated for their enthu and to all those who contolled their titilating fingures and didnt participate due to the fact that they know me in person.

1. Here are 11 statements mostly about me of which 9 are facts & 2 are fibs.
- Yes this does have 9 facts and 2 fibs.

2. This blog has my name concealed somewhere amidst the 36 posts.
- Yes, those who know my name wouldnt have to read the 36 posts :) . Wasn't it selfish to put a statement like this, that atleast for this sake, people would scan thru my gibberish.

3. One of the 105 facts in 'Cornered on a round table' is false, apart from the tricked ones.
- Yes, the one which says
"57 _ have completed 31 posts on the blog in @ 2 months and this is 32nd".
And it is even verifiable if one can do simple mathematical addition/subtraction :). It was actually 33rd post.

4. I am the elder of two siblings.
- This one's the fib. Go back to the facts post. It's right there !! and that too in top 3. So should i infer all those who claimed to have read "Cornered on a Round Table" post were acting up? :) well ..
"3 _ am younger of the two sons."

5. I dont appreciate summers.
- Yes. I hate the sticky n itching sensation caused by sweating. So i dont really appreciate them. My only summer in Chennai .. Damn .. keeps me haunting !!

6. I wear specs.
- Yes i do. But the good news is the power is less than the first whole number.

7. I have a brother.
- Read the third fact carefully.
"3 _ am younger of the two sons."

8. There is just one lie in all these 11 statements.
- No actually there are 2 fibs. No.4 and this one.
Let me elaborate. No. 1 and No.8 are introduced to make it interesting and different.
It's obvious that both can't be true (Zombie, you got it right) . So if No. 8 is a fact then No. 1 has to be false, and that would be the only fib.
Now, if No. 1 is a fact which says there are 2 fibs, then No. 8 has to be one of them and there has to be one more fib in the remaining 9 statements.
The last possibility is both are false. But then none is directly about me and the fib should be about me, else i would be playing a spoilsport. And it would be a logic test rather than something about me.
There is another frill to this post. It doesnt say how many are fibs and how many are facts. So all could have been fibs. But then again it wud be even greater spoilsport. And i would certainly avoid it. I guess this worked well with Keshi who made me the biggest liar known to Blogkind :) .
9. I dont appreciate chatting.
- Yes, seemingly deceiving. But this is absolutely true.

10. My birthdate coincides with one of the greatest cricketers of all time.
- Yes. Let me not brag about it, as this doesn't have any contribution of me whatsoever. I wont lie of something you cant really verify.

11. I havent been to any strip club.
- Sad but true. Now dont grin :)

So the winner is Nupur !! She is the very first to participate and a clear winner too !! Honestly, i was for a moment astonished at how she got it right :).

Congrats MissNupur !!

Apart from her only Strawy got it right. (But the prize goes to only Nupur :D :D) .

Congrats Strawy !!

And most of you got the No. 8 right. Congrats !!

As promised, the winner is given choice to ask anything of her choice and the prize would be duly awarded.

De Facto

2005-08-19T00:27:00.000-05:00

Dont go by the title friends. Blogworld is highly insane, irrational, and full of absurdity. So never try to co-relate the title wth the post.

One soul lost in this blogworld tagged me with something. Now i have to be game n carry the flame. In fact i enjoyed it :D. Thanks Zombie !!

But due to something peculiar in me, i took a deviation from the normal '9 facts n 1 lie or 4 facts n 1 fib' form to make it simple.

Get me the correct answer(s) and you wud win something. And needless to say this contest is not open to those who know me in person and to their current/future relatives :D .

1. Here are 11 statements mostly about me of which 9 are facts & 2 are fibs.
2. This blog has my name concealed somewhere amidst the 36 posts.
3. One of the 105 facts in 'Cornered on a round table' is false, apart from the tricked ones.
4. I am the elder of two siblings.
5. I dont appreciate summers.
6. I wear specs.
7. I have a brother.
8. There is just one lie in all these 11 statements.
9. I dont appreciate chatting.
10. My birthdate coincides with one of the greatest cricketers of all time.
11. I havent been to any strip club.

If you think it is way too simple or i have messed up, then i wud go back to the conventional style.

Happy Raksha Bandhan to all the Brothers n Sisters :) :)
(how i forgot to put it here in the first place)

Have a great weekend !!
And anyone can play the tag on him/herself :)

40 Bloggers and 14 Hrs

2005-08-15T21:00:00.000-05:00

The aankon-dekha, haathon-likha aur kaanon-suna haal of The Independence Day Special VBM.

Date : 13th Aug 2005,

Time: 11.04 pm CST to 6.27 am CST (thats the time i was in the VBM) [check local times]
Venue : Yahoo Messenger Conference Voice/Text Chat
Host(s): Nupur and Ricky

Participants : Desi Bloggers across 7 countries.

((sorry tht i cudnt include everyone's name in the report. Please visit Nupur's blog for details))

circa 11.00 pm CST

Restless enthusiasts, Nupur late, grrrr, ok at last started, hi-hellos, intros, alphabetical order, blog-ids not same as yahoo ids, kanfuzion, who's who, invinci-yahoo id-altruist, numero uno (scapegoat), name-location-blog, fewer girls more guys(guess thts obvious), Ricky-Kaps-Nupur talking, invinci-neha fillers, people with only text chat support, some with speakers but no mic, some with speaker & mic but both not working(Fun_da_mental), ppl behind firewalls, chaos, text chatting ppl out of sync wth talking ppl, quick solution, people from Oz, India, US, Canada, Dubai, 1st round intro over, Nupur still invisible on YM, to-be participants frustoooo, mistake rectified, more ppl joining, another round of intro, alphabetical again, invinci-altruist again, blog id-yahoo id look up table, confusedkannadiga, scientist brain, elks and lion kings also in participants, even God in his Ferrari (prabhu), flirting, mumbai, kanpur, delhi, hyderabad, bangalore, chennai, melbourne, Bunti aur Babli, lukhnow, Mallika Sherawat, ppl studying-working-welaaing, ppl hungry, food talks, culineray blogs, dum aloo-curd rice, kendriya vidyalaya, mere Desh ki Dharati, Ricky-Special independence day song, hand pump, 5 nehas or 10 nehas, neetie != neha, tezaab, 'complex' n girls, antakshari, 'Hume Tumse Pyar', india vs abroad, songs and hands free, 50-50, more songs, claps n appreciations, dumb-charads for ppl w/o speaker, bloggerati, anubha, jury, again intro on demand, pixel, story-teller, brake?, ice cream, mulberry, national anthem, new faces = confusion, new faces w/o speaker & mic = God knows wot's going on, 3rd time intro, again invinci-altruist 1st, wot's in a name, gulshan grover, bloggerati-outsourcing, ppl under parental guidance, live commentary, type as u talk, 4th round = "wot you like about india n wot needs improvement", culture, diversity, culinery pallete, girls, 17 tomatoes, fun_da_mental rights, ppl fishing-baiting-dating, Ashutosh Gowarikar, script writer, singer, dancer, movie, Da inVinci Code, Blogwale Fish Le Jayenge, laloo-mayavati-mulayam-rabri assets of the country, saas-bahoo serials, family values, touching-elders' feet, ricky n shaadi, helping each other when in trouble, india losing in cricket,

circa 1.00 am CST

Item number, mallika sherawat again, bread-and-butter, divas suggesting "when in doubt shut your mouth", desh ki mitti, butter chicken, Spirituality, Vedic Mathematics, Sanskrit and Germany, brilliant ancestors, steno typist, antakshari again, deaf and left outs club, "Kabhi kabhi", new singer on the block, people with acting experience, 'home production', deadbody in school, ragging n mumbai girl, munnabhai, Delhi n Mumbai, aati kya mumbai, cotton buds, 4th round = which is the best place to visit, aggggggggggggain invinci-altruist first .. grrrrr, chennai in summers, bangalore, kerala, mumbai, kochin, delhi, antaryaami, sarvagyaani, lion with Vande Mataram, claps for Nupur, oscar style speech, 14th Aug noon != 14th Aug midnight, Jana Gana Mana, boondi ke laddoo, Kaps - chhakoo na hok-chhakoo-bhi-na-hok (read kuchh na kaho .. kuchh bhi na kaho), pizza, age = 32 or 33, 5th episode, bread poha, veer-zara, nepal, 'Kaisi sarhadein, kaisi majbooriyaan', 'Hothon se chhulo tum', 'kal ho na ho', public demands, nanha moonha raahi-dhakdhak-kajrare-taal se taal, ding dong, ppl with amazing voice, Quote of the day - "VBM fills what the Blog can't - Voice" , ricky and chhole, ricky and Lakshya, DJ and once more, colors, 'Hum toh bhai jaise hain, waise rahenge', Nupur signs off, people cheering 'dil abhi bhara nahin', bhains wala gaana, more ppl dropping off, Kaps with mimicry: a-z of bollywood, talent n ROFLs, lake shore drive-chicago, India is BEST, Urmila Meera and chicago, samosa, SRK rules, AB rules, Dorothy n Kansas, exams and summers, engineers and readers, UP accent, VBCM - chess meet, Harry Potter, Naraina Vihar - Sarita Vihar- A block - G block, many ppl dropping, both the hosts are gone, only 7 left, and only 4 talking, Fundoo n heeled sandles, Bloggerati n Jury again, darna mana hai, sarkar, dus, DVDs, desi torrents, abhishek bachhan n talent, bloggerati and jury again n again, DJ n lunch, invinci & IBM, DJ & Thinkpad, mentals gone, elks gone, lions still roaring,

circa 3.50 am CST

+1 blogger-female, this time no alphabetical order for intros, guys shoot a/s/l n blog address, ppl appreciating +1's template too !!, Blogger v/s Rediff, B-templates vs R-templates, B-comment box v/s R-comment box, lion leaves, people with voice on or off, Anubha back after lunch, Kaps and maggi, invinci and the art of chapati making, anubha & paratha, DJ & his maid, maid & Ishq Vishq, Shahid Kapoor, SRK, monkey, donkey, dhak dhak, invinci and mandAr, +2 female blogger, this time only +2's intro, antakshari, Kaps and invinci half zzZZzz, Delhi girls and aAttitude, anubhA & her blog template, 800 pixels vs 1024 pixels, HR and diplomacy, Delhi and the effect of poilitics on Delhi ppl, Amit n Neha(+2) in office - Manager screaming, Anubha's template is back to the Best, antakshari continues, more time in deciding the next letter and who's next than singing the song, although only 6 ppl, DJ and wrong number, Anubha in red, DJ with Chandani, vinci-neha on Eechak dana, Hothon pe aise baat, DJ n shaadi ka khayal, Anubha and chai, people on Neele neele Ambar, Gori tera gaon, khoya khoya chand, Anubha and b'dates-sunsigns, invinci and janam kundali, Kaps off, invinci and his nazar on the girls in the room(?), Neha's manager with a million questions, people hard(ly) working in dubai, impact of dubai on indian bloggers, plane to dubai via mumbai, DJ at the wings, India Gate, 3 talkers and 2 typers, DJ to siesta, now only 2 talkers 2 typers, Anubha n roll call, Anubha jumps party, now 1 talker n 3 typers, invinci grinning, invinci's the best(no one to oppose), neha and astute observation, invinci's feeling lonely at top, one v/s many, blogging and chatting, blogging and friendship, blogging for yourself, blogging for readers, blogging with honesty, blogging for fun, blogging and boredom, blogging to change someone's day, smiles n endorphins, smile and face value, laughter club and batteesi, invinci n philosophy, neha and dentist, US to mumbai via delhi, Amit and baroda, Anubha and airlines promo, invinci signs off with GNs n sweet dreamz 6.27.24 am.

Anubha, Amit and Neha kept the flame on and as per the latest news from DJ, who plunged back into VBM after nap, the VBM continued till 11.40 pm IST (i.e. 1.10 pm CST .. 14+ hrs !!!!!).

No wonder why 'vela' (also wela, v/weli) is a respected word in Blogsphere.

And here are my personal thanks to Nupur for organizing a rocking VBM .. thank000 ji :-) :-)

Now it is for Anubha and DJ to enlighten on what hppened after 6.27.24 am ..