Silver Cypher!!

Rolling Stones?

2009-12-25T21:12:00.002+05:30

A place (or is it just the name?) that always stirs up a few memories! :)

You know, yahan paav-bhaaji 200 rupay ki milti hai!

(late edit: Rs 250 actually!)

Quick update on reading..

2009-11-29T23:48:00.000+05:30

Currently reading 'Neither here Nor there' by Bill Bryson..

.. can't wait to get to Chapter 11 :-D

Google Translate

2009-11-29T22:46:00.000+05:30

Do you know what happens when you ask Google Translate to translate the word 'elevator' from English to Hindi?

The result is:

लिफ्ट

WTF! Google disappointed me this time! Btw, if any of you know the hindi word for elevator, do let me know! :)

Strangers from the past

2009-11-22T02:21:00.000+05:30

If any H7 guy is reading this, do you remember Raka's real name?

I think I saw him (or someone who looked a lot like him, a bit thinner version though) in a cafe today. But if it was really him, it would have been strange to ask him if he was from IIT Bombay, and if he was not Raka, it would have been even more weird if I had asked him if his name was Raka!

p.s. In case you are not from H7, and are curious, the name was apt. :p

Horror-scope

2009-11-20T10:59:00.000+05:30

"Deep conversation and the natural wisdom of those more advanced in years appeals right now."

Couldn't have been more true, especially after yesterday night's converation about TW and stuff. :D

p.s. Why's the title 'horrow'-scope, one might wonder? Because of the horrors I'll have to endure for calling you advanced in years! :P Lol! Just kidding! :-)

Notes to self

2009-11-19T10:40:00.000+05:30

1. Re-read, re-read, Edit, Re-read (as if it were an exam! - probably the exam example doesn't apply on me - I hated revising in exams :D)
2. Do not remove focus from grammar. Nobody likes grammatical mistakes.
3. Keep writing.

Ta-da!!

2009-11-16T18:15:00.001+05:30

Preparation? What? Why??

;-)

Kayko?! :-D

{evil laughter}

TW-max!

2009-11-16T18:13:00.000+05:30

I've created a separate blog exclusively for my lame attempts in travel writing here:

http://the-corny-travelers-chronicles.blogspot.com/

Do visit it once in a while! :-)

TW Lessons Learnt

2009-11-15T01:59:00.002+05:30

Thing I just realised about good quality travel writing:

1. Lot of details, lots of descriptions.
2. Avoid half or incomplete or vague sentences.
3. Give your personal touch to it. Don't describe it like just anyone else would.

A stroll down Bridge St

2009-11-14T20:45:00.009+05:30

We had talked about faint recollections from the novel about Newton's grave being there. But when we reached the place, the Abbey was already closed for tourists. Anyway, if you have a new camera, you never miss a chance to take a lot of pics. From every possible angle. Thinking that this might come out to be that wonderful photograph that would one day find a place in some famous magazine. When the truth is that, what we really want to capture is the mood of the moment - the touristy hustle-bustle, the evening cacophony of birds and the general sense of admiration with the Big Ben right in front of you.

We moved closer to the giant clock. Eager to take more pics. However, it's not an easy task to capture the complete monument along with an obstruction in front (you). Its just too tall and there is too less space to bring it all in a single frame. And don't forget the fact that you'll be almost swept away with the tide of crowds moving towards the banks.

(Oh, by the way, did I mention that 10 Downing Street was just down the road. But didn't look like they were interested in inviting tourists over for a jolly walk)

After completing the photo-shoot in front of Big Ben, we moved on down the street. And that's when we got a view of the river Thames. Calm and smooth in its flow, the magnificient river was lined with a string of bridges, a horde of cruise boats, and even an untrained eye would not miss the giant ferris wheel adorning the beautiful London skyline.

Aa dekhen zara

2009-11-13T10:11:00.003+05:30

It's not often that you meet Hindi-speaking bus conductors in Bangalore and the interaction is most often limited to as much as is necessary to buy a ticket. Seldom that it's pleasurable. For example, on the volvo bus music systems, mostly its some Kannada shit playing (no offense intended to Kannada music, but it really sucks. Either its crap or a rip-off from popular Bollywood tracks. Disclaimer: afaik. imo.)

Anyway, getting back to the point.

Its not often that the driver switches to hindi radio channel. No wonder I was almost shocked with surprise, that two days back, typical 90s track like 'Jaadoo teri nazar', 'Joote le lo, paise de do' and 'Kabootar jaa jaa' were being played, that too from a cassette. It was an interesting bus ride ;-)

So, when we reached the bus stop closest to my place, and I went and stood near the door, the driver remarked to me.. "Signal ke baad rokta hoon"
(which was pretty generous from him, both in terms of stopping it closer to my place and the amount of talking he did as compared to the absolute-I'll-ignore-you-silence that one mostly gets).
I asked him.. "Bhaiyya, aapki casette hai?"
He smiled as he replied.. "Haan"
Me : "Badhiya gaane hain. Maza aa gaya"

I got down from the bus and I could see him grinning ear to ear as the bus drove away.

A + B = A B

2009-11-07T11:34:00.004+05:30

Amid doubts about what to do in future, career opportunities and blah blah blah.. I had the following realizations:

1. I love to travel. (I haven't done a LOT of it, but the little that I have done - I feel that I have the right enthu to explore, gain knowledge from anywhere I travel)

2. I can write. Atleast so I think. I might not be too great at it, nor have I attended any courses on writing or english literature or similar such high-funda stuff. But I think I can do a decent job at making it amusing to read.

So, I've come to the brilliant conclusion (you couldn't have seen that coming!) that I could become a travel writer. But the thing is, that I now realize, I have hardly read any travel writings. Searching on the net, I find a lot of sites or books about how to write travel writing - which is not what am looking for. What I am looking for is - to get to read whatever the heck is 'travel writings'.

So, my request is - can you refer me to some good travel writings? I would love to read a book or two before I make a final life-changing career-decision! ;-)

Analytics 301

2009-11-05T01:28:00.002+05:30

The secret of analytics revealed:

Q: How to find something where there might be nothing?

Ans: Statistics, (Farzi) Validation and Qualitative adjustments.

What's in a name?

2009-11-04T09:17:00.002+05:30

Out of the blue (actually it was while watching a Simpu Singh video :P), I remembered a funny nickname I was once suggested..

'Sardar Silver Singh'

:-)

Enjoy the pain!

2009-10-30T10:15:00.003+05:30

Yeah, right.

Thoughts on the way back

2009-10-28T10:36:00.002+05:30

'Fat' aur 'Fit' mein ek vowel ka hi to antar hai!

Motivation to go to hell :)

2009-10-28T10:21:00.002+05:30

So, the trainer said.. 'Chal, 9-9 ke 5 set aur kar le'
Me : 'Nahi ho payega'
Trainer : 'Hmm.. bas 9 kar le aur'
Me : 'Okay ji'

Next round of push-ups begins..

- 1 -
'O teri to..'
- 2 -
'Maine kyun okay bola!'
- 3 -
'Kyun? kyun? kyun'
- 4 -
'Aaj to light warm-ups ka plan tha na?'
- 5 -
'Europe trip tak patlna hona hai'
- 6 -
'Europe trip ke khaatir 3 aur..'
.
.
.
- 9 -
'Europe trip itne mein to happy ho jaana chahiye!'

So, I have some strong motivating factors to keep going back to the gym. :)

Abhijit 101

2009-10-27T00:16:00.003+05:30

Inspired from the recent HIMYM episode called 'Robin 101', I am thinking of starting a series called 'Abhijit 101' which will be basically about, well.. me. This also derives motivation from a recent comment that I seem to be asking more questions than answering them. This is also a cheap way to get more comments on a blog which is fast losing its (whatever small amount of) touch.

Abhijit 101 : Fact 1:

I sometimes feel that my name shouldn't have been Abhijit. I don't know why. But when I try to fit some other name for myself, it doesn't feel right at all and Abhijit feels much better. So, in case, you can come up with a nice name of me that I happen to like too, please let me know. I might even give you the exclusive rights to call me by that name :P

Fact 2:

I am a very ispe-dil-aa-gaya-to-kharid-liya shopper. So, when shopping for self, mostly, I'll have a very hard time choosing, deciding, wasting time on that entire process of shopping. And if I spot something I like, it has a very very good chance of getting bought by me.
But I am very different when accompanying someone else for shopping. I suddenly become a very patient and considerate person (ladies, please note! :D). But yeah, don't ask me to choose. I am not the best at guessing what is there in the other person's mind :)

(To be continued..)

Teaser Fact:

Do I say 'tata' at end of conversation (mostly on chat though) with you regularly? That probably means - I feel that you are close to me, and that I like to talk to you. :)
(Note that the converse is not true)

p.s. About this post : How narcissistic can one be?

Stand up - part 1

2009-10-25T13:50:00.002+05:30

I went for a haircut the other day.
On the way, I was thinking about career choices and what is the best path to take in life. You know, thinking about what is destined for me, or do I choose my own destiny. And all that.

The barber, one Mr Sambar (trust me on this, I haven't cooked up that name) turned out to be bald. Now, that's an apt career choice. Life played a joke on him and he was getting his revenge on life by cutting hair of other people.

Imagine: At the end of the day, he would look at the mirror and remark to himself: "Haha. You take away my hair. You don't know who you are messing with. I take away everyone else's hair. Muhahaha!"

And then, with a pride that comes with respect for one's profession, he would comb his half-bald head with a swagger and then roll his palms over his oily shining crescent that his receding hairline had left in its wake.

The plan

2009-10-20T00:27:00.002+05:30

The plan was to sleep relatively early, wake up early and maybe go for a jog. Also, on the list were washing clothes and some other small little things. But a sudden bout of sleeplessness has resulted me in thinking laying awake and thinking of random stuff and finally putting down some (unrelated) thoughts that I've been meaning to for quiet a while, and yes, a few afterthoughts too.

First up, what does a stable decently happy couple (married/commited/whatever) talk about? Apart from the 'how was your day?', 'what did you do today?' kind of stuff. Don't people just run out of topics one day? I'd love to know if there are ways to keep conversations going without indulging into small talk (or boring talk, for that matter). This might be very useful to me, and I thank you in advance. Btw, if its not possible, please let me know in that case too.

Next, I've been thinking about how good it is to have a focus in any particular aspect of life. I figured that I had very good focus in a certain aspect, and this helped me keep distractions away full time. This also helped avoid any possible guilt or remorse. And most importantly, it simplified everything.
I wondered if I could bring such focus to other aspects of life, like say, work. (Don't tell me you were expecting the previous 'in focus' item to be work! Anyway, I digress). Does this focus really help us? Or will I end up realising that I had been disillusioned all this time, and what I was aiming for wasn't what I had thought it was. (In this particular case, I don't think am wrong though. I think it'll eventually turn out to be right).

What am I doing with my life? What is important to me? People quote the bucketlist as a way to re-think priorities. But I say, why go that far with scary stuff like death. Think of it this way. What if you lost something precious to you, like eyesight or a leg? (Clearly, the recent accident has inspired me to think more crap) What would you miss out on in life? Would life still pan out the way you have planned it? Just for example, what if, in a freak accident, I lose my eyesight irreparably. What would my next POA (plan of action) be? Frankly, I don't know.But thinking out loud, maybe the next thing I do is try to start learning Braille. Clearly, I won't be able to sustain the type of job I currently do. What else could I do which is not a completely-manual-skill but uses my brain a little? Just wondering out aloud.
Enough with the future about the hypothesized accident, what about the bucketlist. What would I want to do before I go blind? Tour Europe? Maybe. See a particular face atleast one last time. What else? What else would you want to do?
I know, a very depressing-looking-point. And its not like I am gonna radically change the course I am presently on. But sometimes, its good to rethink. (Mostly its not)

Coming back to more practical and real-life matters. Sibal wants to make 80% in boards as the minimum criterion for entering IIT. God knows why. I understand the need to do well in 12th and not ignore the basic studies. But then, why shouldn't people be left to make their own choices. What if they don't want to do well/prepare for non-IIT-related subjects like English? I understand the need for a complete all-round growth and all that crap. But clearly, umm, ditch.. whatever. I don't wanna discuss this topic anymore. I am bored.

Oh yeah, btw, its been proven again. I am totally not made for shopping (for self) (Ladies, please note, if its to assist, accompany someone else in shopping, I am known to be very patient and helpful). I went out to buy jacket, and other clothes. And finally came back home empty-handed except for two books I ended up buying. Not good.

Boring monologue over. You can give me all the gaalis you want over chat. Dhanyawaad.

Oh, btw, its lovely to have a Monday as a holiday! :)

For me, it said: Basel - Shipment in Transit

2009-10-10T00:39:00.002+05:30

XKCD got it spot on. As usual.

An eventful day

2009-10-05T00:36:00.002+05:30

Though this blog has very limited readership, and am sure this message won't reach them, a big big thanks to the couple who were in the Innova (KA-03 (or was it 04) MD-8743.

Not in much enthu to write, so that's the end of this post. Ciao.

p.s. Half the reason to write this post was to check if I am able to type or not, and if it would make sense to go to work tomorrow or not.

p.p.s Btw, lots of new books bought! Alas not for me, but nevertheless I'll borrow and read! :)

Story of my life

2009-09-26T11:31:00.001+05:30

Dream on

2009-09-24T09:18:00.003+05:30

Man! I had one of my weirdest dreams ever!

I have dreamed of things like being on a world tour, asking someone out, rewriting JEE (and failing miserably) and what not.. but my parents marrying me off with a Haryanvi girl I had never met before in a surprise wedding.. is what I'd have assumed till now as undreamable. When I woke up, I was feeling shocked. wtf is happening. this can't be happening to me.. and all that crap.

Anyway, now that I've recovered from the ghastly dream, I feel more confidence to put into action the plan that's been in my mind last few days. Don't know how possible it is, or how acceptable it'll be.. but I gotta try. :-)

Listening to: 'Tum ho toh' (from Rock on!) .. Tum ho toh lagta hai ki mil gayi har khushi.. Jo tum na ho to lagta hai ki har khushi mein hai kami..

Leave it to Psmith

2009-09-05T18:35:00.003+05:30

Finally, I got around to reading the P.G.Wodehouse I had borrowed from Chiku, and finished it. Wodehouse is a good writer, with a very distinctive style. Note that I am not a big fan, this is probably the first Wodehouse that I finished, and his writing becoming very very long and winded. Nevertheless, this book was very funny and the way he mixed up things was brilliant.

Anyway, getting back to the point, have you ever felt that a particular song or text says exactly what you want to say, but just in a much better or beautiful manner? I have had that feeling before too, this time Psmith hit the nail on the head! Here's a piece of conversation from the book (note: I am actually typing this all out, so, I must be really affected by it) that I found described my thoughts/actions perfectly. :-)

'After what has happened,' she said, 'I suppose I ought not to be surprised at finding you capable of anything, but - are you really chooing this moment to - to propose to me?'
'To employ a favourite word of your own - yes.'
'And you expect me to take you seriously?'
'Assuredly not. I look upon the present disclosure purely as a sighting shot. You may regard it, if you will, as a kinf of formal proclamation.I wish simply to go on record as an aspirant to your hand. I want you,if you will be so good, to make a note of my words and give them a thought from time to time. As Comrade Cootes - a young friend of mine whom you may not have yet met - would say, "Chew on them."'
'I...'

(more on page 234, Leave it to Psmith)

:-)

Vacation and more..

2009-08-31T10:30:00.003+05:30

I am back from vacation.. back to Bengaluru-land..

Anyway, apart from that news bulletin, a few more observations :-)

* I used to think Bangalore traffic was bad. Really bad. However, Indore didn't fail me to bring me back to senses. Bangalore traffic is comparatively pretty good. And I won't even start about the roads!

* I came across the funda of 'bottlenecks' long back in school, you know, about how the point of the slowest speed governs the overall speed, similarly for chemical reactions, I think. Do you know what is the bottleneck for traffic speed in Indore? No, its not the potholes. Its the speed with which the cow crosses the road.

* (Does this happen to you too?) The parents choose almost the last possible hour/half-hour before you leave home at the end of your vacation for education/career-talk?

* Ever heard of a fire brigade being used to fill up water tanks in the house? :D

* SMS are as costly as about 1 or 2 minute of phone calls. Then, why do people/we still prefer using sms? Because it rarely happens that one can finish a conversation in just one or two sms. So, rather use 5-10 minutes of actual phonecall. What do you think?

* Fantasy leagues are addictive. So are japanese comics (manga).

* People have no clue about H1N1 and they travel in public transport and yet prefer to wear masks, any random masks during half the travel time. Rest of the time, the virus knows that the person has a mask, though not wearing it, so should be given concession. Worse, more people on seeing another person wearing a mask, wear a handkerchief to 'protect' themselves. What crap!

* I wanna travel to vides! Preferably Europe :-)

* Arsenal is a funny team. They know exactly how to lose matches. But yeah, full credit to Diaby for his excellent header.

Unfair business

2009-08-26T17:52:00.003+05:30

I just came across this.. How unfair! Someone should have told me about this before I started learning drums!

Of strange stories and real-life occurences

2009-08-25T23:58:00.002+05:30

A little introduction: Another flight to home, via Bombay, with a few idle hours to pass away at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport.

Observation 1 : Its a strange feeling waiting at the Barista at the airport, watching a movie (it was 'The Godfather', so worth the watch anyway) and wondering if what one wrote in a fantasy story would come true with a girl walking up and asking which movie I was watching.

Observation 2 : Its a stranger feeling finishing the movie there with having no girl walking up to you during the entire duration of the movie and worse, with the author-of-this-post thinking - this might make an interesting blogpost - Suppose I had really met a girl here!

Observation 3 : It feels good to be able to blame the culture of the country in this way - "Khud ladki aake tumse baat kare.. ye india mein nahi hoga" Its lame, probably true, especially since I did notice one specimen of the fairer sex sitting alone at a table and eying my laptop curiously. Ofcourse, I might have mixed up here a little - that could have been me eying her curiously, and she being busy on her phone. I really don't remember exactly :P

Observation 4 : For once, in flight from Bombay to Indore, there was no middle-aged big-bellied uncleji with rings on all fingers, a superbly desi accent, and a shining black shirt on the adjacent seat. Because it had noone sitting on it. Actually, it did host a girl's handbag for the significant part of journey. With the aforementioned girl sitting in the seat next. No, this is a different one from the one mentioned in observation 3.

Observation 5 (the final one) : (And this is a rare event,) am sure this girl(mentioned in obs 4) was eying me curiously. Rather, now, finally, I know how girls look at you if they are interested. Anyway, obviously nothing came out of that anyway, since I decided to test observation 3 here about Indian girls approaching you if they are interested (This one didn't) I didn't either. Maybe because I had better priorities (read as: to focus on the chocolate mousse served in the flight) (lol, could it be that am already committed toward (Note how the meaning differs between using to and toward) someone else --raised eyebrows--) or felt too awkward/shy to say anything. Moral of the story : If you are someone I asked out or actually made serious effort in talking to, you must be really interesting and special. Go feel lucky! :D Lol!

Warm-ups

2009-08-16T00:24:00.002+05:30

And the demo guy plays this at 100 bpm quarter-notes!! :-o :-)

Feeling - more random stuff

2009-08-12T00:50:00.002+05:30

Do you feel happiness in small things and frustration in smaller things?

Do you feel disappointed by the fact that, if you were asked to count the number of things you are looking forward to in next 12 hours, it won't take more than the fingers on one hand?

Do you feel distance has smothered your friendships/relationships?

Do you feel distance has encouraged/reinvented your friendships/relationships?

Do you feel that you miss someone so much that just thinking about that person brings you both happiness and guilt?

Do you feel disappointed when someone rips off your idea knowingly/unknowingly?

Do you ever feel disgusted with yourself?

Do you feel confident that you know what you want in life?

Do you feel like someone loves you?

Do you feel that maybe life should simplify things for you, not make them so complicated?

Do you feel good about the fact that you learned something new today?

Do you feel confused?

RepeaTag

2009-08-08T11:21:00.003+05:30

Recently, I read somewhere how its an interesting idea to write a blog post, save it as a draft, and read it again a week later. You'd be surprised to see how much our thoughts changed within a week. So, well, I thought, why not try it out on the tag that I did recently. And the answer the same questions again with the newest updates.

----------

1. When you looked at yourself in the mirror today, what was the first thing you thought?
"Damn these retainers!!"

2. How much cash do you have in your wallet right now?
~Rs 100

3. What’s a word that rhymes with DOOR?
Chor. Shor. More (peacock). Bore.

4. Who is the 4th person on your missed call list on your cell phone?
GV.

5. What is your favorite ring tone on your phone?
I don't have a favourite ring tone as such. But I got very used to 'Sajna ve sajna'. Now, am used to 'Toss of feathers'.

6. What are you wearing right now?
Kurta-jeans. :-)

7. Do you label yourself?
I try to un-label myself. Kuchh chamka? :P
In simple words, answer is no, and i try to remove any labels that would have been given to me in past.

8. Name the brand of the shoes you currently own?
Red Tape, Woodlands, Lakhani :D

9.Bright or Dark Room?
Bright. Mostly.

10. What do you think about the person who took this survey before you?
He's a brilliant chap (I picked this tag from here) :D

11. What does your watch look like?
Timex Vista. Nice, silver, simple. :)

12. What were you doing at midnight last night?
Checking work email X-(

13. What did your last text message you received on your cell say?
No Clue :D
(Yes, that's what it said :P )

14. What’s a word that you say a lot?
'Max'. As in lol-max, scope-max, daya-max etc :)

15. Who told you he/she loved you last?(please exclude spouse , family, children)
The answer would have been very interesting had the question been ulta. If they had asked who did I say that to last. ;-)

16. Last furry thing you touched?
Don't remember. Maybe some rajai loooong back.

17. Favorite age you have been so far?
Right now! And this would be my answer every time you ask me. I feel I can do more and more to enjoy :)

18. What was the last thing you said to someone?
"Tu kahan gaya tha?" Boring life I know.
Again, answer would have been more interesting if the question was the last thing I said to someone on phone! ;-)

19.The last song you listened to?
"Always with me, always with you" by Satriani.

20. Where did you live in 1987?
Bombay.

21. Are you jealous of anyone?
Can't think of anybody in particular. Maybe.

22. Is anyone jealous of you?
Probably not. I don't know.

23. Name three things that you have on you at all times?
Phunwa, walletwa aur chaabiyaan

24. What’s your favorite town/city?
Bombay, Indore (only because its home), London, Bangalore in that order.
I think someday it'll be Berlin too in that list, but that's a long (and fictional) story :D

25. When was the last time you wrote a letter to someone on paper and mailed it?
Less than a month ago! :-)
The only regret is I didn't try writing it in Hindi. That would have been fun :D

26. Can you change the oil in a car?
No.

27. Your first love/big crush: what is the last thing you heard about him/her?
She's studying somewhere. And very surprisingly, am now in touch with her. Not that it matters anymore. Though haven't talked to her in a while.

28. Does anything hurt on your body right now?
Head, a little.

29.What is your current desktop picture?
An awesome Man U wallpaper with entire squad and the EPL'09 trophy!

30. Have you been burnt by love?
Not really.

I tag myself. Infinite loop. Go figure. :P

Puzzled!

2009-08-01T18:55:00.004+05:30

I wanna say it, but I feel afraid..
Not of the response, of which am confident..
But of the consequence, as a result of the response..
I wanna say it, but I feel afraid.

This was gonna be a one line post,
With just the first line from what it is now..
It is the fact that I've watched two romantic movies over the weekend,
That I wanna say it now what I have always wanted to.

If they say am intelligent, am also shy..
Foolishness is, going round and round (refer: Munnabhai quote),
and still I lay clues in the path,
For the smart one she is, she'll figure out the math.

p.s. My bad, I should have switched the comments off on this one.

p.p.s. Hint: I think the 'J' is silent like in Jana Novotna. I have been watching too much tennis on youtube these days, you know that.

Raay Paash

2009-07-24T10:42:00.002+05:30

So, now, everyone in my office knows that:

1. I blog.
2. I am the youngest person in our office.

The title? That's to do with point #1 obviously.

p.s. Happy Birthday, ydkw! Hope the rajma turn up great! :D

Sanketik Shabd

2009-07-21T09:59:00.003+05:30

It was a heated exchange...

He had said the word sorry quiet a few times by now. More number of times than the fingers one can count on one's hands. Include toes too.

His girlfriend was fuming. She had almost come to slapping him.

He: Sorry. Ab ghar chalo please.

She: Go to Hell!!

He: Shit. How did you guess that?

She: What???

He: How did you guess that???

She: What the hell did I guess?

He: The password.

She: What password?

He: My e-mail password.

She: (slowly, measuring each word) Your email password is 'go to hell'?

He: (in the most matter-of-fact manner) Yeah. Of course, without the spaces.

She burst out laughing.
No wonder she loved this guy.
He could make her smile in absolutely any situation.

Slow and steady

2009-07-19T10:48:00.004+05:30

"Ye ladka haai allah kaisa hai deewana..
Kitna mushkil hai tauba isko samjhaana!"

.. is what I think that she would be thinking/saying.

I wish I could reply with this..

"Ke dheere dheere dil bequaraar hota hai..
Hote hote hote, pyaar hota hai!!"

:-)

p.s. On an unrelated note, Bejan Daruwalla finally gets it dead accurate! Check out today's TOI.

Insti ka pehla video

2009-07-18T17:35:00.003+05:30

I was watching different videos on youtube, listening to some random music..

when suddenly I remembered the first video that anyone watches after he enters insti.

So, here's for you.. Alizee! :-)
(p.s. I didn't know the meanings of the lyrics of this song till today, but we all loved the song :D )

Anyway, here's another song, from a group I absolutely love. Maybe because of the irish/scottish 'masti' in their songs, or maybe coz of the lovely ladies in it ;-) Lol. Most probably the first one, actually. :-)
Enjoy:

Gyaan (of the day) #1

2009-07-15T10:42:00.002+05:30

Mail orders don't let you personalize them. Sad.

Koi na! :)

Tag-chor.

2009-07-10T23:55:00.004+05:30

1. When you looked at yourself in the mirror today, what was the first thing you thought?
"Arre.. baal banana to bhool hi gaya!!" :D

2. How much cash do you have in your wallet right now?
~Rs 100

3. What’s a word that rhymes with DOOR?
Four. Floor. Sour. Core. Pore. Lore. Whore. Bore. Explore. Need more?

4. Who is the 4th person on your missed call list on your cell phone?
Some unrecognized number.
Was probably some telemarketer selling me a credit card.

5. What is your favorite ring tone on your phone?
I don't have a favourite ring tone as such. But I got very used to 'Sajna ve sajna'. Now, am used to 'Toss of feathers'.

6. What are you wearing right now?
Track suit.

7. Do you label yourself?
I try to un-label myself. Kuchh chamka? :P

8. Name the brand of the shoes you currently own?
Red Tape, Woodlands, Lakhani :D

9.Bright or Dark Room?
Bright. Mostly.

10. What do you think about the person who took this survey before you?
Picked it up randomly while blog-hopping. Picked the tag up. Not the person.

11. What does your watch look like?
Timex Vista. Nice, silver, simple. :)

12. What were you doing at midnight last night?
Probably checking mails or sleeping.

13. What did your last text message you received on your cell say?
It states my Citibank account balance. I know, so boring!

14. What’s a word that you say a lot?
'Max'. As in lol-max, scope-max, daya-max etc :)

15. Who told you he/she loved you last?(please exclude spouse , family, children)
Hmmm.. sochna padega..

16. Last furry thing you touched?
Don't remember. Maybe some rajai loooong back.

17. Favorite age you have been so far?
Right now! And this would be my answer every time you ask me. I feel I can do more and more to enjoy :)

18. What was the last thing you said to someone?
"Tell me some word I say a lot"

19.The last song you listened to?
Ruby Tuesday.

20. Where did you live in 1987?
Bombay.

21. Are you jealous of anyone?
Yeah.. probably.

22. Is anyone jealous of you?
Maybe.. I dunno...

23. Name three things that you have on you at all times?
Phunwa, walletwa aur chaabiyaan

24. What’s your favorite town/city?
Bombay, Indore (only because its home), London, Bangalore in that order.

25. When was the last time you wrote a letter to someone on paper and mailed it?
A proper letter years ago. But I did mail hand-made greeting cards with lots of stuff written on it. Can count it as a letter? :)

26. Can you change the oil in a car?
No.

27. Your first love/big crush: what is the last thing you heard about him/her?
She's studying somewhere. And very surprisingly, am now in touch with her. Not that it matters anymore.

28. Does anything hurt on your body right now?
Head.

29.What is your current desktop picture?
An awesome Man U wallpaper with entire squad and the EPL'09 trophy!

30. Have you been burnt by love?
Not exactly. Hurt, a bit, yes. Not burnt. She still means a lot to me. A LOT. :)

p.s. Title is so coz I picked up the tag from some blog without being tagged.

p.p.s Regarding Q 15, still thinking, can't recall anything.. still thinking.. :)

Blaags

2009-07-06T00:36:00.002+05:30

It is with a lot of happiness that I want to make you aware of the fact (no, no point holding your breath, am not getting engaged or married.. yes, stop imagining me saying to my mom - "Ma, main aaj tumhe kisi se milwana chahta hoon") that one of my favourite blogs 'My dayz with myself' is no more restricted. It has always, and I mean always been a very entertaining and quiet a few times thought-provoking and I love reading it! If you have read it, be glad that its still there, and if you haven't, then it brings us to a quintessential 'PSPO nahi pata' moment. Not the dumb PSPO as that Mr. Dhoni acts in but the one that used to come years ago. Ah! Those ads! Maan gaye, aapki paarkhi nazar, aur nirma super, dono ko! :D

Though not all my favourite blogs are unrestricted for reading. And for one of those, I have tried hard to persuade and request, but to no avail. No blogging has happened there since almost a year. The writer of that blog, if you are reading this, you-know-who (or for that matter you-don't-know-who) am talking about. Please start blogging again! Publicly request kar raha hoon. And I know you told me your belief (superstition) on what happens when you write, but how about posting photos! That can't happen for photos, right? :)

And then, there's a long list of other blogs that I follow. I am not posting the list here, but I do like reading (and sometimes commenting) on these blogs. Keep writing, guys!

And yeah, I've also added xkcd, abstrusegoose and questionablecontent RSS feeds to my google reader as well. Good fun.

Cheers. Goodnight.

Catch your dreams before they slip away

2009-07-01T10:19:00.005+05:30

I woke up with a start. There was a power outage. The room was a bit humid, slightly too warm for my liking. I was almost sweating. But the fan was still moving. Meant, it hadn't been long since the power cut. That's when I realised. I wasn't sweating from the heat. I was excited from the dream I just saw. It felt so real. A few seconds back, I could see her right there. Right beside me in the car.

I got up for a glass of water. The generator had still not started. Bloody generator, I cursed it, I wanted to go online. I needed to check my mail. Maybe there was a clue there. Why, all of a sudden, after trying for months to forget her, losing all contact, had I dreamed of her. It didn't make sense. I had heard about hiccups, that when you get a hiccup when someone is thinking about you. Ah, the world makes such nice sayings to please lonely hearts. But did that theory apply to dreams as well? Probably not. There must be something. I checked my phone. No missed calls, no messages. Of all the possible people, why her? Again?

In a few minutes, power did come back. I tried to go back to sleep in the meanwhile. Hoping to continue that dream. We were driving towards a hill station. She was driving actually. She had been learning to drive when we had talked last. That was about four months back. It was a big Sumo-type vehicle. And she was driving it fast. Very fast. Her favourite chain of pearls was hanging from the rearview mirror. Oh, now I remember, how my sleep broke. I think it was a sharp turn when the sumo skid, and went off the road. But no, that wasn't when my sleep broke. I screamed, she turned to me, and said sorry. I replied - it was I who used to go too fast, this wasn't expected from you! She knew I was talking about our friendship. She smiled and held my hand. Thats when I woke up. Right then.

Okay, I realised, I will not be go back to sleep and continue that dream. So, I got up, switched on my laptop, hurried over to gmail. Maybe there was some email. Some email. But nope, no new mails either. I didn't understand this. All of this. Any of this.

Puzzled. I saw only one solution. I picked up my cellphone. Went throught the contact list. Arrived at her number. Options - Send a message. "Hi! Long time no see! Kaisi ho? :)" Send.
Within a few seconds, I got a notification - Message delivered.

And I went back to sleep. Owing to the timezone difference, it would still be a few hours before she wakes up and sees the message.

So much negativity!

2009-06-29T00:18:00.006+05:30

Things I hate right now:

* Stereotyping : (I think I do it a lot but) I absolutely hate it when it is done on me. Why should a guy who wears (slightly thick) glasses, has a non-stylish (read as: champu) hairstyle (okay, wears braces too!) have to be a muggu, sincere type of guy? Why can't he be a dopchi/half-drunk irresponsible guy who listens to loud music? This has happened to me too many times.. Tell me, seriously, does just looking at me once, tell you if I smoke or not? Not that I want to shift over to the other stereotype, but I feel am a dabbler and shouldn't be the guy who easily fits into a (geeky) stereotype. And if I do, I plan to surprise you big time! (Not that there is anything wrong with geeks :) )

* Stupidity : (I won't agree to this one as being the one doing it :D ) Stupidity, and then arguing/defending it.. is something that irritates me a lot. Okay, I should be more broad in my viewpoint, more understanding.. but still, sometimes it just gets on my nerves.

* Guilt card : I know, am not very good at relationships/dealing with people. And using such a powerful and evil weapon as the guilt card on me, sharam nahi aati?? I like it when people talk straight and frank to me. Okay, don't be too harsh. But still, no guilt trips for me. They don't work on me the way they are supposed to on most people.

* Lack of enthu/will to gain knowledge : I just don't get it. Why close yourself to gaining something which is never gonna do any harm? Why o why? Keep learning new things, keep trying new stuff!

* Farzipana : One of the all-time toppers in my hate-list. Worst thing is, it is so deeply engraved in the corporate culture. That includes and is not limited to, the managerial lingo. Holden Caulfield effect maybe, but I usually can't bear it at all.

But then, everything ain't bad. There are nice things in life too. Like tandoori chicken, chocolate mousse with cream and ice cream, 'calling swiss-miss', good football, new music.. :-)

High on music

2009-06-14T18:38:00.002+05:30

People around talk all the time about being high. I don't understand it very well. Getting drunk and then losing all worries - is that being high? Or just zoning out - is that being high? Not being aware of surroundings - is that called being high (and stupid)? I don't think there's any fixed definition of being high. Maybe, its a to-each-his-own thing. Maybe the feeling of high is all about being in a state of mind where one has a lot of enjoyment. I dunno.

Dope ka to pata nahi, daaru ka bhi kuchh khaas nahi pata, but I feel 'high' on some other more innocuous variety of things like:

1. 'Death By Chocolate' Icecream
2. Some other icecreams too :)
3. Walking in absolutely pouring rain
4. A great game of football, esp when playing in rain in muddy hostel grounds
5. Traveling (and reading a book while traveling)
6. Last but not the least, music.. atleast some varieties.

There might be others too that I might have missed, but for now, I want to focus on the last one. There are a few particular songs that always make me feel zoned out, and take me back to a different time. Esp when I am listening to them after a long time. And its not just a single time that these songs take me back to. Various different times, I'd say. A few days back, I heard on TV a song, which used to be part of the audio cassette that I used to play continuously and it took me straight back to my 12th/JEE preparation days. There was another lucky ali song like that. Just two days back, I heard 'Reason' by Hoobastank, after a very long time. I think I used to listen to this a lot during my 2nd year. It also reminded me of a girl who I used to like a lot and who also happened to like this song. ;-) Hehehe. And then there's an entire list of song including U2 songs, Yellow by Coldplay, Black Balloon, Iris by Goo goo dolls, etc etc which remind me of 3rd year, internship times. Good times.
Now, I am adding new songs to this list which will someday take me back to today.

Cheers.

Do you also have such (Non-dope/daaru/sutta) things that make u feel like you are high? Or atleast some favourite music? :)

I seek the seekh

2009-06-08T10:35:00.002+05:30

I am a dabbler. I try to try learn something new everyday. I don't do too great at it. But I like the fact that I try.

Aaj maine kya seekha:

I lost quiet a few games playing badminton today. When I took a few minutes break, I went over and asked a guy who I saw was playing very well on how to smash properly. He asked me to show how I held my racket. And it was not the correct grip. He showed me how to hold it correctly. I shadow-practised a little, and I felt a new energy in my shots. Its amazing how a slight change in grip can totally change the confidence and power in one's shots. Even though I didn't do much better in the remaining games, because I was trying to get accustomed to the new grip, I feel really good about what I learn today. :)

Yes, a boring post. :P

Random thoughts

2009-06-06T18:32:00.003+05:30

Just random..

* What is this self-exploration thing that people talk about so soon? When they go off to some nice beautiful place with good scenery and say they are taking 'a break from life'?
My basic doubt is: Aren't they just simply going on a holiday? How can one ever take a break from life??

* Whats wrong with being a loner? It is almost socially unacceptable to go off to watch a movie alone, or people find it one weird to go for dinner by oneself. But its considered very philosophical and exquisite when one says 'I need some personal space and time for myself'. Very stylish. Why this contradiction?
(I know you'll think .. who's stopping me from being a loner? But still, its called weird. People are supposed to 'socialize'. But maybe I am just searching for a different person to socialize with.)

* What's with sms forwards? I just don't get them. Esp on how am I supposed to reply to them. Also about missed calls actually, but that I have managed to reduce a lot in my life.

* Have you ever noticed that people who smoke/dope a lot always tend to blame their friends for it? For getting them started or even for keeping them of it. Its as if they would leave smoking any day, but their so-called good friends will force/encourage them into continuing smoking. How lame can one be?

* In a dog-eat-dog corporate world, it's very important to keep e-mailing, and growing the email conversation chains. Very important. Also, to make and present decks (presentations).

* How its difficult to get out of a schedule, a set-template type life to go out and do something totally different? Though sometimes a few taunts/scoldings can help change oneself. :)

* Its just a matter of time when we start forgetting those small little things we troubled/cheered ourselves with and then we go on trying to find new things to trouble/cheer ourselves up with.

Do I make sense? Some sense?

Numb

2009-06-03T20:53:00.002+05:30

(Yup, that's the most common and unimaginative title one can possibly use)

You know how, some songs just make complete sense at some times.
And also, this you may or may not know, how I go in phases of liking a song, and when I really like one, I like to hear lots of times (and even refer it to other people to try it).

Here is one such song, currently in infinite loop for me:

You can find the lyrics here

Before Take-off

2009-05-25T08:45:00.002+05:30

A few months back, I went home from Bangalore. It was a good trip. But both the times, I had to do a break-journey owing to the absence of the regular Kingfisher (actually Deccan :P) flight canceled owing to low flight volumes. So, when going from Bangalore to home, I dropped by insti (for the uninitiated, insti = my alma mater) and filled up my hard disk with movies and tv serials. Most of the usual stuff. It was a nice pleasant stay at home. A little bit of running around, but otherwise, home felt just the way it always does. The return journey had a few hours break, but not enough to motivate me to venture out in the hot sun outside. So, instead I decided to stay back at the airport. I had my trusted laptop, my external hard disk and last but not the least my laptop charger. Passing a few hours shouldn't be too tough, right?

As soon as I went to the Departures section, I went off to first get my boarding pass issued. That's one worry dealt with, done with, sooner the better. "Ab mujhe bangalore lautne se koi nahi rok sakta", I thought. After this, I had my target in mind. Barista. Looked very very empty. Straight off, I asked for a 3-pin plug point. And they gave me a very nice place, a very comfy looking sofa, right in a khopcha, with a very close electricity point. Awesome. And guess what I found in my hard disk to while away time! Jungle book episodes. The ones that used to come on Doordarshan on Sundays. I ordered a Mango Smoothie and proceeded to get down to serious business. In other words,watch Episode 1, using earphones. Even though the place was empty, I felt a little uncomfortable of watching it using speakers. Hence the earphones.

As the afternoon proceeded, the place got a little more hustle-bustle. It was still not crowded. And I moved on to the 2nd episode of Jungle Book. It was then that, waiting for my mango smoothie, I turned my head, that I saw this cool-looking chic looking intently at my laptop screen. She almost seemed engrossed watching jungle book, that she didn't notice that I was looking at her. It was when she raised her eyes, I smiled and asked her.. "Its not much fun without Sher Khan's booming voice." She giggled and said.. "True!". I offered her one earphone to come and watch it together. But she shrugged and shook her head. In the meanwhile, my mango smoothie arrived. And slightly deflated, I continued watching mowgli's antics. A minute or two passed, when she suddenly come over near my sofa, and said.. "I guess am just too bored. I'll also watch it. Turn up the volume. Nobody is here anyway. Hota bhi to kya farak padta hai." and grinned.

With utmost sincerity, the sort of which has never been seen before in doing my assignments, I thanked my stars. Also, finally catching the hint, I transferred the laptop from my lap to the table in front of the sofa. And she came over and sat on the sofa.

~~~~~

She had a very fresh fragrance about her. That was probably the first thing I noticed about her. Apart from her looks, of course. Hehe.

She looked fine. Just fine. You know, fair, medium-height with medium-length slightly curly hair.. Marathi? Maybe.. couldn't say for sure. I guess she deserves a little better description. Ummm.. she wore no lipstick. She wore a yellow armband, that Louis Armstrong type. She was wearing blue jeans, purple top and a pearl necklace. She looked like the girl who you would see wearing shades all the time, but then, I might be making one too many a generalization. But somehow, along with all this, she projected a very simple girl look too. Dunno really. Maybe I was just imagining too much.

Nevertheless, more important than all of the above, was that she was right beside, now intently watching the laptop screen. Or maybe not. Because when I asked who was her favourite character in jungle book, among the wolves.. she was kind of surprised and taken aback. She was definitely thinking about something else. Anyway, after a few seconds of stammering.. she said "Pappu". Pappu happens to be a red panda in the series. And then immediately corrected herself.. "Oh! I meant Pakdu"
Me (rolling my eyes): "Yeah.. yeah.. am sure you meant Pappu"
She (giggling): "Yeah.. But he is a very cute character. Did you know his original name in the Japanese version of the series is Kiki?"
Me: "Ohh, aisa kya! The series is Japanese??"
She: "Yeah! Its original name is Shounen Jungle Book"
Me: "Shonen! Thats also the name of the magazine in which japanese cartoons are published. They call them manga. Wow. Jungle book is japanese! Unbelievable"
She: "Yeahhh.. don't you remember, at the end of each episode, some japanese name like fugiyama or something used to be there as the writer"
Me: "Hmmm.. yeah.. There was something like that. Ekdum last mein, it was written in hindi, over a black screen, alongwith a still of Mowgli shayad.."
She: "Yup, righto!"

In the meanwhile, the episode got finished. And I asked her if she wanted to continue watching jungle book or wanted to see something else. She asked what else did I have. I told her, mostly movies, a few tv serials, maybe a little porn (I was joking). Her face changed a little. As if colour had drained out of her (glowing smiling) face.
She: "Ewww.. thats disgusting"
Me: "Well, I didn't think I would have to mention that I was just kidding. But am not such a great fan of porn anyway"
She: "No. Its guys. they are just crazy about porn. Disgusting"

Seeing such teekhe aarop being thrown around at guys, I couldn't resist.

Me: "Ok. Tell me. Honestly. Do girls watch porn?"
She: "I don't know. I can't say for all girls. Am sure they don't."
Me: "Thats very ambiguous. Tell me. Have you watched porn?"
She: "Ummm.. well.. ummm"
Me: "That means yes! Hai na? Right?"
She: "Yeah. It was a one-off thing. Not the most pleasant thing. And a few more times after that. Mostly grossed me out. Except a few cases, in which it was hilariously funny. But, lets change the topic."

She was blushing red. No fault of hers, so was I. Its not everyday that one discussed porn with girls.

Me: "Hilarous?"
She: "Yeah. You know the kind of settings in which they make things happen. Ridiculously silly. NOW, can we change the topic?"
Me: "Okay.. okay!"

I agreed. Though inside, I was almost smiling. Here was one girl who was willing to accept that she had seen porn. That too in front of a stranger. Or maybe it was in front of a stranger only, that she could say that. God knows. Maybe she had just underemphasized things. Maybe she watched it regularly. Maybe she really liked it. Somehow I managed to remind myself that I needed to concentrate on the job at hand. And push all these random ridiculous thoughts out of my mind. Concentrate. Focus.

Me (indicating towards the menu): "You gonna have something?"
She: "What were you having?"
Me: "Mango Smoothie."
She: "Is it good?"
Me: "Yeah. Its very refreshing. Thats the only thing I have at Barista. Not a big coffee fan."
She: "Okay. I'll have that too then."

I called the waiter (are guys at Barista called waiters? Not sure) over. And told him to get two Mango Smoothies.

She: "You are gonna have another one?"
Me: "Yeah. Ofcourse."
She: "Waah!"

And we both smiled. :)

Me: "By the way, am Abhijit. "
She (smiling): "Oh okay. Radha."
Me: "Wow. Thats a cute name." :)
She: "Hehe. Thanks."
Me: "Yeah. Is it any coincidence that Mowgli's crush later in the series is called Radha!?"

We both laughed as we awkwardly shook hands.

~~~~~

A quick round of introductions followed. I came to know that she was a bong girl (Radha Basu to be precise) who had spent most her life in Delhi, and was now on her way to Chennai for job. She was also stranded on the airport, returning from home, had to take a break in her flight. Also, it seemed that she hated to wait (just like me! yayy!) and seemed to get bored very soon in life (yikes!).

Thankfully, she liked the smoothie. :-) Nahi to usi waqt gaaliyaan padti.

I think it was at the time that I was taking out my ipod to look at other movies I had, that she spotted the copy of 'The Unaccustomed Earth' in my bag.

Radha: "You've read that?"
Me: "Yeah, completed it at home."
Radha: "I absolutely loved it. Jhumpa describes and portrays her characters very well. Especially female characters."
Me: "Yeah, I liked the 'Interpreter of Maladies' book too."
Radha (with a twinkle in her eye): "She's a bengali writer, you know.."
Me: "Yup. Who else would have such a funny name." .. I teased her.
Radha: "Thats just a pet name. You know she has two very beautiful real names - Nilanjana and Sudeshna."
Me: "Oh, didn't know that. Vaise, why would anyone have two real names?" .. I teased her again.
Radha: "Arrre, uski marzi!"
Me: "Okay.. okay.. Naaraaz mat ho"
Radha: "Nahi re.."
Me: "Speaking of bengali writers, I love Satyajit Ray's writings!"
Radha: "Oh, you've read his stories? You know Bengali??"
Me: "No re.. Read the english translations. I totally loved Feluda"
Radha: "Haha.. you say it just like the kulfi-falooda. Its supposed to be Felu da"
Me: "Okay. It was really good, I remember. Read it long long back. There was one very funny character in it too. Lal behari babu something. Oh haan, Lal mohan babu."
Radha: "Yup. And the kid was called Topshe"
Me: "Yeah, and it had such good descriptions of so many Indian places."
Radha: "I guess, you've read his sci-fi stories as well?"
Me: "He wrote sci-fi as well?! Wow!"
Radha: "Yeah.. Professor Shonku, the scientist."
Me: "Achha.. will try to search for it some day."
Radha: "Were you in CBSE?"
Me: "Yeah, why?"
Radha: "You might remember this one. There was a story on a kleptomaniac guy"
Me: "Arrre haan.. Yeah, I remember. Barin Bhowmick! It was called Barin Bhowmick's ailment"
Radha: "Yeah! I didn't remember the name. Yaad karke bada achha laga" :)
Me: "Yeah. I distinctly remember a few other stories from those days. There was one based in London in which a guy steals umbrellas. Umbrella Man."
Radha: "Yeah. Roald Dahl."
Me: "Yeah, then there was another one called 'The Last Leaf'. It was really good too."
Radha: "Can't recall that one. Who wrote it?"
Me: "O.Henry"
Radha: "Nope. Can't remember that one. But there was another in which a guy sees a face on the wall."
Me: "Arre haan.. Face on the wall! But I don't remember what happens it in the end"
Radha: "Hehehe.. In the end, the guy tells that he made up the story in last 5 minutes"
Me: "Yeah, mast buddhu banata hai wo!"
Radha: "Hehe.. fun times those. Achha lagta hai wo sab yaad karke. Good good"

We had finished our smoothies by this time.

Also, some sort of construction or drilling type work had started in one corner of the cafe. And it was making one hell of a noise. Radha even called a waiter over and requested him to postpone that drilling work to sometime later. But as I had warned her, he didn't have much of a say in that and nothing could be done to stop the noise.

We decided to pay the bill and leave. Fresh air might do us some good, we both agreed. Plus, we didn't look like we were gonna order anything more either. So, anyway, the Barista people would have asked us to leave after an hour or two. Would have been big time embarrasing. Not that we cared, Radha had said. I really liked this 'don't care' type attitude. Something I've always tried to adopt but never been able to get completely. Maybe I am too nice. Hehe.

Anyway, so, we packed our bags (for me, that was the laptop, the ipod, the books - a whole lot of stuff. Am sure Barista people must have sighed with relief to see me leaving. It might have looked ki main ghar basane wala hoon wahan) and came out of the airport.

It wasn't the fresh air that greeted us at the gate. It was the typical Bombay humid air. The smell that I had come to love and hate at the same time for last 4 years.

Well, as long as Miss Fresh Fragrance Radha was walking beside me, kya farak padta hai? ;-) She was smiling. Looked like she enjoyed the fresh air, the see breeze and the smell of the soil after fresh rains. This was turning out to be a really good evening. I was looking forward to more such interesting conversations ahead...

By the way, one piece of advice: When stranded on Bombay airport, don't come out of the airport looking for fresh air. Never ever trust rains in Bombay.

~~~~~

So, haathon mein bag dhoye hum chal pade, khule aasmaan ke neeche, ek nayi baithne ki jagah ki khoj main. Its funny, you know, how whenever we go out, the first thing we end up looking for is a place to sit. Its as if walking is a boring thing to do. Though I don't agree with that. If you walk fast enough, you cross enough things not to get bored, but are observational enough, you'll watch so many things, that it'll be way better than sipping coffee at a random place.

Anyway, back to the main story. So, we decided to walk around a bit before trying to locate a CCD/Barista/one of those coffee places I'm not very fond of. So, as we walked down towards the main road, which I think is a highway, we saw that between the airport and the main road (which has a lot of posh hotels where chillad people went from iit to eat midnight buffets and ate desserts and starters (mostly in that order) in amounts which would make other people think that malnutrition is a common problem in IIT.. but that's another story), there are slums adjoining the connecting road. There we saw two-three kids laughing and running rolling a cycle tyre with a thin stick. I almost paused there mesmerized. Radha turned back and looked at me just standing there watching those kids and smiled. She said that those kids playing with cycle tyre reminded her of how she used to play with a tyre swinging on a tree branch. They reminded me of how, when I was small, I also probably used to play like this and couldn't do it well and used to envy those kids for their ability to roll the tyre for long distances. She laughed at that. What I didn't tell her was that even right now, I was envious of the happiness, the laughter that these kids were enjoying. There's so much tension that we build up in our own lives, that we don't really take much time out to just enjoy, just laugh. The only laughter that we have in our lives is when we are making fun of others. Not when we are enjoying ourselves. Even seeing those kids made me feel a bit happier. That's the sort of richness in happiness I want. That those poor slumkids have, but I can only strive to achieve.

As soon as we reached the main road, the aforementioned highway, there were so many vehicles, crawling at miserly speed. So much smoke. I am kinda sensitive to dust and smoke, all those allergies, that I coughed as soon as we reached the main road. Radha noticed that and said she hated this pollution too. Her eyes start watering with pollution, she told. She mentioned that Delhi used to be in a really bad shape, but after CNG, it has improved a lot. I almost wished that it'd rain, atleast some dust would settle. I mentioned to her that I used to very conscious about pollution and related issues in school days. But now, all that concern had been lost somewhere in the hustle-bustle of life. All I did was shout silent abuses at vehicles emitting thick black smoke, and making sure I threw any wrappers or empty bottles in waste baskets only. And comforting myself with thinking that I atleast did my part. Well, in rare moments, I did go object to and throw really bad looks at people throwing stuff on roadsides and make sure that undid that. She smiled as she listened to this tirade and commented that I wasn't doing too bad. Then, she told me how she had started a program on harvesting rain water and use it for gardening and construction purpose in her hostel, during her college days. I felt like saying 'Wow'. Though I didn't say this to her.. but I felt proud of her, as a friend, or actually more just as a person. Its possible to drive change at the ground level too. All one has to do is get off one's lazy ass, and do it. Maybe some day I will too.

Meanwhile, walking down the road, the sky started darkening rapidly. And without more than a minute's notice, it started raining. Just small drops at first, it soon started raining heavily. Loaded with our heavy bags, we rushed towards a nearby shop, but by the time, we reached dry land, we were already half wet. I don't know exactly what happened, but somehow those fresh raindrops had some weird effect on me. I felt a sort of cool inside that I dropped my bags with her just outside that grocery store and came out into the heavy rain. I got totally drenched with heavy rain. But I felt fresher than I had felt in months. I just stood there, standing in the rain, waving my arms around, feeling like a kid. People were rushing towards shops and stores, hiding from the rain, probably staring at me, but I just didn't care. I just felt good. At that moment, I felt like I was high. I mean, I haven't really had too many drinks to know what 'high' feels like. But for me, I just felt good. I didn't care about my clothes getting wet, and since my glasses were already wet, I couldn't see anybody, so 'loga ki aankhenge' (what will people think) wali tension bhi nahi thi. After a few minutes in the rain, I got back under the chhatrachhaya of that shop, and tried to wipe my glasses with my shirt. The shirt itself didn't had a single dry spot. So, in a manner very shy and embarrassed, I had to ask Radha to lend me a handkerchief to wipe my glasses. Then, I noticed that she was grinning at me and looking at me in a way, I've never seen girls look at me before. At that moment, I was just feeling too happy (and slightly embarrased) to enquire. When the rain finally stopped after twenty or so minutes, we had dried ourselves off, checked that our tickets were still dry, and that my laptop hadn't got wet at all (in the opposite order ofcourse!). We grabbed a cup of tea each, from a chaywaala in a nearby khopcha, and the warmth from the tea felt great. I think, bheegne ke baad, garam chaay ka alag hi maza hai. :)

After this mini-adventure, we decided to go back to the airport, maybe change clothes, such that there was still some tim before Radha's flight. We got back to the airport. Looking like absolutelyy insane. Got some shady looks from the security guys, but what could we do about it. Bombay mein randomly baarish hoti hai to humari kya galti. Then she went off to change clothes, while I did 'nigraani' of her bags, then I went and changed, while she kept watch. We were both feeling a bill chilly with the airport AC doing a really good job. I offered her my Adidas jacket that my mom had insisted on taking with myself to Bangalore. She initially hesitated. But on more insistence, she finally took it, because she was actually feeling very cold. There was just one hour left before her take-off, so just maybe half an hour or so left before her boarding. The conversation had turned to more glum topics like online friends and keeping in touch and that sort of stuff. The sort of stuff that rarely works. Long-distance friendships, relationships, blah blah. It was almost like the 'Before Sunrise' movie situation in which Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy decide not to exchange contact information but to meet each other in same place after 6 months. "Even that had not worked", Radha remarked. Yeah, even in movies, it did not work. How would it work in real life, that too in India. Nope, no chance.

So, we decided that we won't exchange contact information. Nor shall we promise each other to meet each other in some particular place after a few months/years. What I did tell her was that I had absolutely enjoyed the day, might even rank in one of the best days of my life. What she told me was that she had expected an extremely boring day when the day had begun, but it was a day she wouldn't forget for long. She also told me (and she put a disclaimer that this was a thing she had never done before) that the moment I stepped out in the rain and enjoyed the freshness of letting all the social restraints go, the though that we were perfect for each other had crossed her mind. (Its a different thing that such a though had crossed my mind when she said she watched Jungle Book as a kid, hehehe.. just kidding!) It just felt good that she thought about me like that. I told her that I liked her a lot, and I would try, not too hard though, to not search for her on orkut or facebook. She giggled and said.. "Jaisi tumhari marzi. Vaise bhi I don't add random strangers on Orkut!" We both laughed at that, thinking how true that statement was, picturing the day's events. And away she went, as her flight's boarding announcement came. I was still smiling as I watched her walk away in that too-big-for-her blue jacket. I was still smiling. I am still smiling. :)

Good stuff!

2009-05-06T22:17:00.002+05:30

Lagta hai dil se sunai hai bande ne.. :)

This one too.. ;-) Hehehe..
(The 'Chaar lainaan' starts around 35-40 sec mark. Also, the continuation parts of this one, you can find in related videos on youtube)

Enjoy!
Keep smiling!! :)

Man U ne Arsenal ko kahin ka bhi nahi chhoda

2009-05-06T10:14:00.002+05:30

It was a thumping victory for the Red Devils last night in the second leg of the semifinals of the Champions League.

With a very strong midfield lineup, which held Arsenal's Fabregas, Nasri and Van Persie with ease, Man U was not only able to defend its 1-0 win in the first leg, but also with swift breaks and accurate passing by Ronaldo, Rooney and Park et al, Man U removed Arsenal from the game after just 11 minutes, having scored two quick goals.

The only sad part was the red card shown to Fletcher which was not deserved. Fletcher had got the ball, and pushed it away, so, it shouln't have been a foul at all. The penalty didn't matter to the result anyway. But its sad to see Fletcher missing the final, which I guess is a dream for every young footballer, having worked so hard for it. An appeal against the red card isn't allowed. Sad.

Anyway, final score 1-3 in favour of Man United. A deserving victory.

Glory glory Man United. :-)

"Pieces of eight! pieces of eight! pieces of eight!"

2009-05-02T19:39:00.002+05:30

Follow these steps:

Go to facebook -> Settings -> Language -> Choose English (pirate)

Its ROFL-level funny.. :D

For example:

'ave fun, mate! :-)

Enjoy maadi..

2009-05-01T19:08:00.002+05:30

A few select picks..

:)

Quiz - 2

2009-04-26T23:21:00.002+05:30

This post wasn't really gonna be there. But well, not that its there, you might as well answer the question:

Q: How 'okay' is to express your feelings towards a person? In the sense that, there can be various different situations ranging from .. one sees a beautiful girl or a handsome guy on the road and goes up to her/him to appreciate her/his beauty .. to .. expressing candid feelings of hate or jealousy to a person .. to .. telling a person about liking him/her .. to .. telling a person about loving him/her etc. You know what I mean. (As much as I would want to do it, I would strictly advise against doing the first one, esp if you are a guy).

Follow-up Q: For any situation for which your answer is okay, does it account for it being okay with the other person as well?
This is in the context that say, you love a girl. Ofcourse, you gotta tell it to her. Thats okay. But what if she's just ready for u liking and not love? Or similarly, if you tell her that you like her, but she isn't expecting it. Is it okay then as well?

Am looking for some great insights. :-)

Its pop-quiz time!

2009-04-21T10:20:00.004+05:30

This thought came to my mind when I was sleeping/dreaming. Anyway..

Question: What is the hardest time in a relationship?

What's your answer?

(My guess about your answers are the time when people become used to their relationship and things get boring, or time to meet parents, or when breakup happens etc)

However, I am split between these three answers..

1. Finding a person who you think is right for a possible future relationship.
2. If somehow point 1 is achieved, the trying to impress/wooing/courting part is damn tough too, I'd say.
3. Another hard time would be, in my view, when the two people concerned are trying to act like they are still good friends long after breakup happens.

Funny, all the three points that I pointed are not during the actual relationship but before or after it.

Aapke kya vichaar hain? :-)

Tales of the travels - part 3

2009-04-20T09:18:00.004+05:30

My first Sainsbury's shopping expedition :)

No N2O for you

2009-04-18T21:34:00.006+05:30

It was a monthly ritual for him.

Once a month, on a Saturday, with a resigned look on his face, he left his home. He was determined not to turn back. Unafraid, unscathed, he set out for what had to be done.

He didn't feel bad for himself, because he had brought this upon himself. Well, not in entirely, but to a pretty significant extent.

The usual bickering with the auto driver didn't bother him anymore. Almost. For much bigger things were in store for him around the corner. In that office, where not much is said. And transactions are done quietly.

He entered the quiet place. And went straight to the chair. He knew his place there. And relaxed.

The AC was on. The shades were drawn. And he felt like he belonged there.

Unlike probably every person on the planet, he felt comfortable and relaxed and sleepy in the dentist's chair.

He wasn't just used to pain.

He was addicted to pain.

Wanted!

2009-04-17T23:03:00.000+05:30

quick-silver-surfer.blogspot.com

WANTED FOR THE COLD-BLOODED LOVE of a YUMMY MICROWAVE DINNER

$3200

What's Your Blog Wanted For?
Created by OnePlusYou
Picked it up from here

Hmmm.. ye to hona hi tha..

Help me with this..

2009-04-15T10:31:00.003+05:30

If there are one or two particular things, say X and Y, which are totally dominating the attention that my mind is giving and are not really that consequential (you know that kind, don't you?), and there are more important things like A, B, C etc that are waiting, how do I take my mind off these X and Y?

I am big-time distracted.
I need real serious suggestions/experiences that you might have gone through in your own life.

Thanks.

Bisi bele bath

2009-04-13T09:12:00.003+05:30

* Do you ever have a dream at the end of which when you wake up, all you can say is 'wow'? Maybe its the person you see there.. or something.. that makes you think, wow, i was having this nice a dream. And you even start thinking if something nice like that is going to happen in your real life as well.. Or if the dream was some sort of predictor or a mirror showing you things and emotions that are hidden from you.

----

* We played home-cricket this weekend, with that smiley stress ball in place of the usual tennis ball thats used for indoor cricket. We had to use a mithai dibba cover for the bat. :D But it was a lots of fun! Yaadein taaza ho gayi! It also reminded me of the book-cricket we used to play a lot during classes in schooldays and how it was so much fun. Opening a random page, heartbreak if it the pagenumber ended with a zero.. hehe.. Do any of you remember if the page number ending with 8 was counted as 8 runs or a 'not-applicable' case?

----

* A big puzzle in life - When does one know that he/she is in love?

A bigger puzzle in life - Well, above one still has its signs, but what about.. When does one know that he/she is out of love or 'gotten over it'?

----

* A few days back, I was thinking about going for bungee jumping event being organised in bangalore. Look what happened. I feel stunned and shocked.

----

* About the title, well, I wasn't able to come up with anything. So, wanted to put a random and amusing word. This one, I've heard a lot ever since I came down to bengaluru-land. And now, I feel hungry :)

Adios.

Public display of affection?

2009-04-11T11:29:00.003+05:30

Robert and Angela were out shopping. It was their second wedding anniversary in a few weeks and Angela wanted new clothes.

"Ah, women! And their love for clothes".. sighed Robert but he loved Angela a lot. She had brought the kind of stability in life that he was looking for. A feeling of contentedness that he had never felt before.

Emerging from his deep thoughts, he cast a glance towards the ladies section. And there she was, standing still, wearing a loose white shirt with a frilly blue skirt. She looked beautiful.

He headed off towards her. He wanted more of her. To touch her.

Angela didn't even notice him heading towards her. Her mind was on the long shopping list that she had been making since last 2 months. Finally after resisting so much, she came to the fashion store. To fulfill her wishes. And fortunately or unfortunately, his too.

Robert touched her on the back. Angela didn't notice.

Then, he moved closer to her, and in a deft but barely noticeable movement, unbuttoned the top button of her shirt.

Of course, she noticed now.. "Not now, Robert, not now!" .. she hissed.

But Robert was in a completely different world. Not that it mattered to him. He didn't feel anything wrong about it. His mind was just fixed on her, and his growing fixation to touch her right then.

And that he did.

Angela turned, distracted from the clothes she was looking at, and slapped him. Embarrassed and furious, she yelled at him.. "I am sick of you! You perverted bastard! Enough with your disgusting obsession of touching female mannequins!!"

In plain sight - part 2

2009-04-10T21:02:00.002+05:30

..

And a little time passed..

Obviously, it didn't help. She missed him. She had loved him for who he was. But now she also hated him. For being who he was.

Fortunately for her, hate is a powerful emotion. It can be used to suppress the feeling of 'missing' a person very effectively. And with very few side effects. Unfortunately for her, she wasn't completely sure why she hated him, and why she had almost blocked him out of her life, which he had grudgingly accepted. But it was in moments of great hurry, urgency or when very busy in work, that she missed him. This was in contrast to what is there in movies, she felt. But then, nothing in her love life had been similar to movies anyway.

..

This was one of the days, when she was again scrolling over his name, that her little sister Disha managed to sneak a look at her computer screen. Disha blurted.. "Hey! I have seen him somewhere! Maybe on TV! Who is he??"
"Nobody that you could have seen on TV"
"Am sure I have seen him somewhere.. apart from when you keep looking at his pic" teased Disha.
Anita was enraged.. "Go away! And don't you dare look at my comp screen again"
"Let me google him.. " Disha kept pestering.
"GO AWAY" bellowed a furious Anita.

Disha ran away. She had never seen her always-so-calm elder sis that angry.

It took a few minutes for Anita to cool down.
By then, she was curious.

Him on TV? No chance.

In a minute or two, she found herself typing his full name on google search.

The first few results were news articles about some mountaineering expeditions. Curious, she opened the first link.

And there he was. The same smile, that was etched in her mind.

Standing tall.

With prosthetic legs. Supporting himself on crutches, but with the same confident expression on his face that she had imagined hundreds of times, smiling at her.

Despite her hatred, she felt sorry for him. Exactly the thing he would have wanted to avoid.

No wonder, he didn't want to share that damn picture.

In plain sight

2009-04-10T12:20:00.003+05:30

It was love at first display pic. Every few seconds, Anita scrolled up to the top of her chat list, where his name was. She stared intently at the photo, his blue t-shirt, and the smile. His glasses, which gave him his special intellectual look, his medium-length but messed up hair. He had told her, the pic was taken from a trekking trip, when his group had reached the top.

But curiosity, as Anita might not have known, killed the cat.

She wanted to know how he looked like. In full. She pictured him standing tall, what sort of jeans he might be wearing, how hot he might be looking, if only she could get to see the full pic.

She requested him to let her see the pic. But he refused.
She begged. But he did not agree.
She threatened to not talk to him anymore. She knew he also liked her. It was a good threat. But he didn't break down. Said something on the lines of.. 'Not again. I don't want to feel that way again'.

She didn't understand him. Why such a fixation about not sharing a pic? Whats the big deal? Or was she not good enough for him? What the hell did he think of her?

He talked to her nicely. But there was something missing, Anita felt. There was a void, something left unsaid, that was troubling her. She felt alone. More and more, everyday. The more she talked to him, the more she felt alone.

She decided. This must end. She needed a break.

Time heals, or so she thought..

...

(to be contd..)

Number Theory

2009-04-05T08:37:00.001+05:30

You are a genius, Dick Feynman!

----

There are 10^11 stars in the galaxy. That used to be a huge number. But it's only a hundred billion. It's less than the national deficit! We used to call them astronomical numbers. Now we should call them economical numbers.

- Richard Feynman

Tales of the travels - part 2

2009-04-04T22:07:00.002+05:30

You have been warned! :)

Tales of the travels - part 1

2009-03-31T13:59:00.003+05:30

The Monk who Bought a Cellphone

koi sujhaav?

2009-03-28T12:42:00.002+05:30

I am thinking of buying a 2-wheeler.. preferably automatic gear-changing one.. (I am a lazy driver.. hehehe)..

Any suggestions? (No scootys please)

Till now, the names I've heard are Active and Kinetic Nova.. Any others? Any reviews about these two?

Bechaare nice guys!

2009-03-23T21:41:00.002+05:30

A very written-about topic. I know.

But while blog-hopping I read this on Esh Dec In 's blog The Apathetic Files and couldn't resist quoting : "But nice guys aren’t nice enough for the people they are nice to even though being nice is not them."

Brilliantly written!

Any views, ladies? :P

Btw, needless to mention : I consider myself a very nice guy! :D

p.s. On a different note, whats the opposite of Nice Guys? Bad Girls! Listen to this song from Westlife.. fun song it is. :)

wow!

2009-03-23T09:50:00.001+05:30

I am feeling surprisingly fresh and alive this Monday morning! :-)

I have no idea why.. Or maybe I do, but I won't discuss it here ;-)

Adios!
Have a good day!

Lost in translation

2009-03-21T15:54:00.003+05:30

My dentist was discussing about this with another parent whose kid also goes to same school and class as his son...

It was probably a Hindi essay in exam, which perplexed his son.. The topic was 'chidiyaghar'. The little fellow promptly went ahead and wrote a few lines on a 'nest' :-) and later came home and told his mom how strange the essay topic was!

aaj ki discussion ka vishay

2009-03-21T00:08:00.001+05:30

A friend said.. "Girls are waste of time and money".

Discuss.

:)

Personality type!

2009-03-14T13:21:00.004+05:30

ISTJs are responsible, loyal and hard working. They have an acute sense of right and wrong and work hard at preserving established norms and traditions. Because of their deep sense of duty they are dedicated to everything they do and are very dependable. ISTJs care deeply for those closest to them.

Details

Preferences

Introverted

Sensing

Thinking

Judging

Temperament
SJ (Protector)

ISTJ Population
Total: 12%
Male: 15.5%
Female: 8.5%

More:

"ISTJs are very loyal, faithful, and dependable. They place great importance on honesty and integrity. They are "good citizens" who can be depended on to do the right thing for their families and communities. While they generally take things very seriously, they also usually have an offbeat sense of humor and can be a lot of fun - especially at family or work-related gatherings."
- The Personality Page

You can take the test too. Consider yourself TAGGED.

Still looking for it.. my wonderwall.

2009-03-10T21:01:00.002+05:30

I am the kind of guy who listens to a song recommended by someone, if I like it, I listen to it hundreds and hundreds of times (and recommend it to lots of people too) and then finally when I get bored, listen to some other recommendation.. and repeat the process.

So, today on my old home pc, I was looking for some music, when I found a few old favourites.. 'I still haven't found what I'm looking for' by U2, 'Yellow' by Coldplay, 'Wonderwall' by Oasis, '3 AM' by matchbox 20 etc..
And to quote one of my friends - "Amazing how one song can take you back in time so strongly you almost wished you were there again. Especially when you have not heard it in a really long time."
I used to listen to these in IIT a lot! Esp. in my 6th semester and during my internship in Bath. These bring back all those memories in flash - making a separate playlist, the-copy-paste-ing of lyrics, listening on deezer in library at Bath, and listening to this same set of songs again and again and again.

I am not feeling very nostlagic or anything, but some things and people, you wish you would never lose touch with. :)

Hypochondriacs Anonymous

2009-03-09T21:46:00.002+05:30

Welcome to the monthly meeting of HA (or for someone who thinks he stutters.. its HAHAHA),

in the latest update..

I am having trouble deciding if I have Plantar Fascitis or Tarsal Tunnel syndrome. Koi mujhe bachao! I mean, koi mujhe batao! :D

Aapka,
Abhi.

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

p.s. in other news, being at home is fun :)

Free advice follows..

2009-02-25T00:50:00.000+05:30

Here is some honest advice..

If you are at home,away from work/college, because you aren't well or have fever, to be specific, it might not be the best idea to watch House MD.

You might freak out if you are even slightly hypochondriac. :P

My room (U/A)

2009-02-23T15:43:00.005+05:30

Yes, get ready for some very graphic visuals of my infamously messed-up (with clothes strewn around everywhere) room.

Get ready to be shocked.

Shocked?

Sparkling clean, innit? :D

And I claim - thats how it looks the year round. ;-)

Edit: p.s. In case you have some sarcastic jokes about the curtains, I want to let you know.. these weren't my choice and were left there by the owner. :|

IIT Bombay pukaare..

2009-02-21T15:16:00.003+05:30

Finally nostalgia hits!

Just like*, when trying to scare away a lizard, and you are armed with a notebook, instead of going at it with full force, you choose to hit with paper balls ;-)

(This joke might not make sense to all, but then, just couldn't resist it :D )

Mujhe aisa prateet hota ki mera alma mater, mujhe kone-kone se pukaar raha hai, mujhe apne existence ki yaad dilane ki koshish kar raha hai.. kuchh udaharan..

Within a space of three days,
1. I meet a wingie, who's a dual degree student, so, still in IIT Bombay.
2. I meet an EE senior who had done his BTP under the same prof as I did.
3. I shall be going out for some ghoomna-firna with, guess who, again IITB friends.
4. Last, but definitely not the least, and probably the most strongest reason, I finally watch my valfi-video, which brings with itself a flood of memories.

So, its not like that I am missing IIT or anything, but there's a lot of memories, which I am generally not reminded of in the hustle-bustle of job life (read as rozi-roti kamana). Lots of friends. Lots of memories.

Hmmm..

Umm..

--Awkward silence--

Hmmm.

Okay, that's all of nostalgia. Done with it! So, back to usual life: V-day bashing continues:
Here's a news article.. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Couple-oblige-Bajrang-Dal-tie-knot/articleshow/4128963.cms
Now, these guys, I call smart. Well done, Vijay and Kriti, am so proud of you! :D

----

*The use of 'Just like.. blah blah..' comes from a dedicated week of watching Whose Line is it Anyway, and is a part of the tag-line Drew Carey says regularly. Btw, Ryan Stiles, you are too good! :)

The traditional V-day post

2009-02-14T20:06:00.005+05:30

Just so that you know, and are able to place anything I write in this post in the right context, let me first notify you: I am feeling high. Nasha. Something that I've never experienced before whenever I had alcohol.

Yeah, I had DBC ;-) :D
(Edit: DBC = Death By Chocolate)

Okay, so, what next?
V-day ki hansi udana? Pink chaddi campaign pe comment karna? Or writing a stupid post on all the (farzi, hand-holding ka no better bahana) couples I saw?
Nahh. All these are too usual and ummm.. well-documented.

Well, whats unusual is how my room looks today.
When I got back from corner house, my head was already spinning, and saw my room.. I could not recognize it! It was shining. And looking so empty :D

Arre haan, ek aur cheez.. some people have a habit (more like what in hindi is called shauk) of wishing others 'Happy Valentine's Day' even if the person-being-wished has absolutely no relation to the speaker, leave alone being the speaker's Valentine. In my case, I am never the Valentine, and once-in-a-while, the person-being-wished. And it feels weird.
(Edit: If a single guy, most likely an IITian wishes me, then, its a joke, a pretty good one at that, and its well-received and well-reciprocated :D )*

Now, finally I thought up a logic to convince these people why its ridiculous to wish that to someone who is not really their Valentine.

Consider this scenario: Its father's day. You are my friend. Then, you wouldn't wish me 'Happy Father's Day' even if it is the father's day, right?

----
* About a smiley just before a closing bracket, I feel exactly the same way as here.. http://www.xkcd.com/541/

Non-newtonian fluids!

2009-02-07T21:45:00.003+05:30

The title sounds very very boring, I know.. but these are truly exciting things. Fluids which do not behave according to the usual laws of fluids, the newtonian laws.

For example, a mixture of cornstarch and water, behaves funny. When stress is applied to it, it behaves like a solid!

A few youtube videos to elucidate my point..

This one's unnecessarily long.. so, no need to watch all of it, but walking on the fluid part is pretty interesting!

Fascinating stuff..

Go explore! Have fun! :)

feb 7 wala weekend - post 1

2009-02-07T20:08:00.003+05:30

This is hopefully one of the few posts that are gonna happen this weekend. Though this one, I promise, will be the saddest one. The others will be more cheerful :)

So, there are a few things I particularly want to rant about.. here I go..

1. The auto-rickshaw walas in bangalore - They are whatever abuses can come to your mind, all of that, plus add a few choicest ones to top up. Today, when I was on time for my dentist appointment, the bloody sob took the auto by a longer route and then stopped his auto very far away from where he was supposed to take me, and then, kept me waiting for change, and I had to finally run to my dentist's office, and still got a few minutes late.

When I was returning back, the guy was okay with the destination (airport road) and after starting the auto, said, ten rupees extra. I said.. auto abhi roko, main utarta hoon. Then, he said, okay, okay, meter se. Fucking cheat, assuming he's smart, king of autowalas, as if we wont survive without his auto.

2. The people walking on footpaths - People walk as if they have no purpose in life. As if they are being paid to walk slowly and idly. And block and slow down those who have a life, and walk fast. I have to walk on the road, despite the traffic just to be able to overtake these people. If they ever go to Bombay, they'll probably get runover by pedestrians.

3. (This one's just on the fly) Laptop mouse cursor which keeps running away here and there, and I end up typing somewhere else. Its very very irritating. For two very obvious reasons - where it got typed accidentally, that has to be corrected back, and where it didnt get typed, it has to be typed back.

4. Relationships - Screw them! :) They're beyond me. They're good only if its perfect, otherwise, its a lot of pain and hurt. And yeah, V-day? Screw it too! :)

5. Nostalgia - I ask.. why o why? Its not like you are dying. Whats the point of feeling nostlagic. And if you have such happy memories, better try reliving them by coming back to the place again, than feeling all sad and teary about it. Anyway, I don't understand it. If you do, and are able to convince yourself that feeling nostlagic is not senseless, your wish.

For now, that's all.
I think, all this ranting and moaning is because of the dentist visit. Argh. Teeth ache.
And the way, the dentist visit happens once a month, almost at regular intervals, but not exact, and I keep cribbing and ranting after it, with bouts of bad mood, its almost like my own pms! lol.. hehehe..

Return of moti-gupta

2009-01-30T23:00:00.005+05:30

Toh baat ye hui ki.. mera man kiya.. chalo aaj se ek alag tarike se blog likha jayega.. dekhte hain..

Why return of moti-gupta?

(In case, you are REALLY new to knowing me, my nick in college (and to a lot of people now as well) was (is) moti.. read with a soft t .. like in tarbooz or tadka daal .. soch ke bhook lagne lagi hai :D.. anyway, I digress. The point being what the title of the post means - return of me..)

Well, because I suddenly feel free. (Please don't ask why!). Mujhe ek aazaadi ki feeling mehsoos ho rahi hai .. ewww.. this sounds like some stayfree advertisement.. but I am NOT going to make any comment on such a girly thing ( for two reasons - 1. mahila mukti morcha se panga lena khatre se khali nahi. 2. haay rabba, mujhe sharam aati hai. ) And the question of why? Well, its because of variety of reasons, the primary being a change in attitude, towards a few things that well, needed a change in attitude. :-)

Btw, watched the Nadal vs Verdasco match in office today. Verdasco ne kamaal kar diya! What a match it was.. the only sad thing is he lost it on a double fault despite recovering from two match points. But the guy played well. My guess is, Federer couldn't be more thankful to him. Kya bhagaya Nadal ko! Though hats off to Nadal too! Wo bhi bahut bhaga! Vamos Rafa! Wahan baithi junta se poochha gaya, ye 'Vamos Rafa' ka warcry karte ho.. arth maloom hai? Obviously, no one knew. So, take a guess at the verb that followed the So at the beginning of this sentence. Yes, right, Googled. The second search result was 'Whats the maning of Vamos Rafael Nafal' as if Vamos word fevicol ki tarah Nadal ke naam se chipak gaya ho! Anyway, the link said the word Vamos meant 'Lets go..'. But yours truly, the googler (and wiki-er for that matter for every other thing), wasn't convinced and read out the answer from another search result. Vamos = to depart quickly. I wonder why Nadal fans would say that.. Nadal fans out there.. any answers?

The point on googling reminds me of the section in google analytics of my blog. Arthaat, hindi bhasha mein kahein to, ki koi reader google ke though mere blog pe kaise phuchta hai. So, that search query is provided there. And its really really interesting sometime.. For the next post.. :)

Khudahaafis.

more updates. ideas. recos.

2009-01-26T23:48:00.006+05:30

(I know ppl hate this type of posts with random updates and zero literary skill. Well, your luck :P )

* I wanna learn dancing. Someday. Though before that should come jogging and tond reduction. But then, whats the harm in dreaming :-)

* After a long time, saw 3 movies in a day.. ghajini, slumdog millionaire and music&lyrics (this one for the nth time) .. had a bit of gum that saw ghajini on comp, rather than in theatre. But it turned out to be good, in a way, because when I went for lunch later, the restaurant's tv was playing that, in a crappier print, and with songs and dialogues skipped. So, atleast it didn't ruin the movie. Slumdog was pretty good, great acting by the streetchildren, a proper masala movie, but very very well presented. Music and lyrics was brilliant as usual. Love Hugh Grant's style of humour, the sarcasm, the British style, and well, Drew Barrymore's lovely as usual :)

* Getting to know some people better, a better understanding and comfort level. With friends old and new. It feels good. Gives a boost to my confidence in my fraaand-ship abilities. Plus, knowing somewhen when they are vulnerable, or letting someone else know when you are vulnerable, is an entirely different and sensitive way to know people better. Something, I am not too good at, but trying to improve :)

* Tonight is Man U's match again. Though very late at night.. :( But Man U is gonna have fun with the bottom-of-the-leage-team WBA and show Liverpool, why the defending champions (Man U) won't be defeated in the EPL by a team who has never won the league (Liverpool) :D

* Reading : Liar's poker, The enchantress of florence, jefferey archer, three men in a boat, and a few more books in parallel.. Koi na! Ek na ek din will finish them :) Btw, this reminds me, I've gotta start 'Teach yourself Urdu' as well :D

* Music recommendation : Aye Masakali song from Delhi 6. Emosanal atyachar from Dev D. Brilliant songs, both of them!

* Fun recommendation : With fast approaching V-day, one good way to have fun is go on a date or something, that is if you can find one. On a serious note, paintball is a lot of fun! try it out some day with a large group of people! Its really good!

* Restaurant recommendation : Queens (Churchstreet), Taste of Rampur (Koramangla) both were really good. Queens, as they call it with its strategic pricing, has really really really good north indian food! Taste of Rampur was quality as well! Foooood, I love. I have a new-found craze of Chinese food, lets see how long that lasts :-)

A not-so-common conversation

2009-01-25T10:59:00.002+05:30

This is how a guy (here Y) says the most dangerous, fateful and interesting three and a half words in his life..

X, Y are talking..

X : Oh, you mentioned you had some news to tell..

Y: News?

X : You mentioned no? The special news? some big news?

Y : Oh that! Yeah.. Life has changed yaar.. in ways more than one.

X : Don't be cryptic. Tell me..

Y : There's a girl.....

More random updates..

2009-01-11T11:16:00.002+05:30

* Another dentist visit, yields another story worth writing.. which am not going to write this time though :-) I prefer writing fiction ;-)

* Am still addicted to buying books. Lots of them. Earlier, I was happily claiming I have books in double-digits at the new home, but now the number has risen to the unread books reaching double-digits. Including borrowed ones. (Yes, Chiku, I'll return your Wodehouse some day)

* Smaller phone bills on the horizon :-)

* There's school for deaf near the place I live. I was crossing that place yesterday, and a few kids were playing cricket. They were not shouting or talking, but their expressions sad everything. The guy threw/bowled the ball with full confidence. The batsman girl, hit it and lobbed it into the air towards a simple catch to the bowler. The bowler, supremely confident, tries to take the catch with one hand, and behind his back. And drops it. And grins a sheepish grin. I could visualize him saying sorry, if he were able to speak. And a fielder girl thumps her head with her hand. As if saying.. "Abbe hero mat ban!Dhang se khel na please!". It was beautiful to watch.

* Am having weird weird dreams again. There was one on me petting a dog. :-o Me getting married :-o :-o

* New year resolutions? Lol! Never taken one. No plans to take one or follow one either. :-)

* The pleasure of finding things out!

What women want!

2009-01-05T00:05:00.002+05:30

Straight and honest answer : I have absolutely no clue! :D

The complex, much-debated-upon and unresolved answer :

1. They want you to listen. Listen means active listening, where you also keep saying a few yes's, (mind you : NO hmmm's), and other supporting, or sometime slightly disagreeing, but eventually agreeing statements. Btw, seriously, they want you to listen. :)

2. They don't expect you to remember. But if you do, on what they said, or for example something they mentioned they liked, and you remember that, that works.

3. They will probably not remember the everytime you put an effort in pleasing them, or the usual things you do for them to make them happy, but something out of the ordinary, a surprise, something they bet you wouldn't do for them, that's what they'll remember about you.

4. Unless specifically requested, please don't talk to them about sports or things that they don't really care about. If they want to be bored, they can easily log on and read my blog. Or switch on the television and watch GTalk on MTV.

5. They don't want attention all the time. This is very very important. Attention is good. Fixation/stalking is bad.

6. Give them their space, their time. Think of it this way : you are giving them time to miss you. ;-)

7. Occassional flowers/chocolates/diamonds :P aren't too bad either ;-)

They don't ask for much, do they? Simple, innit? :-)

Just too Brilliant! :D

2009-01-04T13:39:00.001+05:30

and

Jab we met.

2009-01-01T22:52:00.003+05:30

And no, I couldn't choose a cheesier cornier title! :)

Travel tips! :D

2008-12-30T18:53:00.003+05:30

Okay, so a few travel tips (straight from the experiences from Pondicherry trip) :-)

1. Always always keep a towel (No wonder hitchhiker's guide also prescribes this). Apart from its usual uses, it also serves as protection from heat/dust when on bikes, from cold when its, well, cold.

2. If you have a hoodie, keep it. Its pretty useful, also esp when its cold and you haven't kep at extra towel (see point #1)

3. Roaming around on bikes is fun :)

4. Better to know about the tourist spot you're going to before you actually reach there, with the sole information of the name of the spot and the fact that it is a tourist spot. :D

5. Prefer to travel in bigger vehicles.. hence, (not ocunting air travel for now), preference order would be Train > Bus > Qualis > Small car.
(And I couldn't be more earnest about this, esp. after the Pondy trip)

6. Keep cards with you. They are fun to play. Esp in train. Also, if possible, keep poker chip ;-)

7. Do not try to get your favourite cuisine (which might be very alien to the place you are visiting) in some so-called multi-cuisine restaurant. Try the local dishes, atleast for experience.

8. Keep extra cash for your journeys, you might get stranded on the road in the middle of the night. :P

9. Take a photograph for anything adventurous/interesting, if it turns out okay in the end, it'll be worth the effort :D

On my plate

2008-12-25T11:17:00.003+05:30

I don't have any very convincing and blog-worthy ideas to write about, but I have a few chhotu-motu ideas.. So, I'll list them and write about them, please do tell if you have any preferences..

1. Bookstore review : Log books ke reviews likhte hain, main bookstores ke reviews likhoonga. :-)

2. Photoooos : Some post displaying so-very-amazing photugraphy skills :P

3. Fiction : Another one of those fiction posts. You know the kind.

4. The lovestory : The one on my teammate and the love of his life. ;-)

5. What women want : Well, this one will be a toughie, coz I don't understand it too well. But a few observations nevertheless.

6. Guest post : Anyone interested?

7. Anything else?

Thats all for now, would love to see your suggestions and choice! :D
Merry xmas!

Hum ek hi naav mein hai!

2008-12-13T01:12:00.003+05:30

You know how, it feels so clear, so bright, when suddenly all the dark clouds disperse and sun emerges.
Though I didn't intend it to be that poetic, I am feeling relief. Absolute relief.
Something I was stuck at, for months, a knot I was unable to solve, has become undone. I can look at it, and can see it from a view, that I am not the one stuck in that knot, but simply free from it.

Didn't know it was so simple.

I am glad I had that conversation. :-)

p.s. On a completely different note, if in case u r a bit depressed or feeling down, listen to 'Lakdi ki kaathi, kaathi pe goda, ghode ki dum pe jo maara hathoda, dauda dauda dauda ghoda, dum utha ke dauda' song. It can totally cheer you up. :)

pic tag! (email inbox zindabad)

2008-12-07T18:32:00.004+05:30

So, here's a new idea for a tag that I am hereby presenting.. :)

1. Go to your email (in my case gmail) inbox.. and do a search for .jpg or .jpeg
2. I am pretty sure we all send and receive lots of random unrelated pics (if you look at the big picture, they are unrelated! unless ofcourse they are all of your girlfriend/boyfriend/etc, in which case they have some correlation :D )
3. Take a few of these pics (ones which hopefully noone would have an objection to) and post them on your blog. Also, try giving the subject of the mail/image name/any other interesting caption which help in achieveing point #4.
4. See how much this exercise takes you down the memory lane. :)

---

Here I go..

Tales of Mere Existence

And we took a pic of our shadows as well

Golf course. Sun and shadows.

College.jpg

And I tag Chiku, Gauri and anybody else who might be slightly interested!

Booked!

2008-12-04T09:07:00.004+05:30

The protagonist of the story (lets call him A) is hungry for books. He just loves to read books. And more than that, loves to buy books. But one thing is clear. He isn't one of those fancy people who spend time going to a fancy bookstores and reading a book there. Our guy is much better than that. He does his research beforehand. He knows what he wants to buy, he asks people, searches on the net, bounces ideas around, and with a definite list in mind (or on cellphone or a piece of paper), he goes out to buy the books.
Also, now that you know so much about A, you should know this.. he detests those people, reading in a not-so-comfortable-chair in a dark-khopcha-in-a-fancy-bookstore who stare at him when he's browsing for books, as if he's disturbed them. Another thing, he hates those cheap-low-quality-print books available on roadside. They are no fun to read. Also, he loves discounts while buying books.

Coming back to the story, just one of those days, when A had already filled up his quota of books for the month, he was feeling restless. Even though, he had not finished reading a few of the books he had bought, he was feeling restless. A bit ruffled by the office incident, a bit unnerved by the big tv news, and in general, always in search of the masterpiece. The hypothetical object that he loved to refer to as the-masterpiece-he-found-in-a-bookstore.

Anyway, I digress. So, that day, A just went over to the bookstore close to his home, to browse through a few books. As usual, looking through random books was never his thing. So, he remembered, he had been looking for a book by Feynman. Not the lecture series. A was in love with Feynman's 'Surely you're joking, Mr Feynman'. This was one book that he had felt was close to being the masterpiece. A had recently been made known that there was another book by Feynman called 'The pleasure of finding things out' which was written on similar lines.

So, A went over to the bookstore assistant at the counter for help. The assistant, was already busy making bills and accepting payments from a long line of 3-4 people. But A, as we know, is a patient guy, when it comes to books. So, he waited. The assistant, knew he was waiting, and that too for 10 minutes, was frequently apologizing for being busy. She probably said.. 'I'll be with you in a minute' about 3 times before she actually got the chance to talk to A.

So, A asked about his book. The bookstore assistant entered the title in her computer, adjusted her glasses, tied back her hair, and muttered with a sigh.. "Busy day! And some people buy such crappy books!" I knew she was referring to the last customer's purchase of the entire set of Chetan Bhagat books. Well, I just smiled.

The search results finally came up. And there was no copies of that book in stock. A was dejected. He had already had a feeling he was close to his masterpiece (he actually was pretty close, as he came to know later). When the assistant saw A's sad face, she said.. "Why don't you read Feynman's other book called 'What do you care what other think?' . I personally recommend it, and if you've read Surely, you're joking, you'll love this one".

And that's how A found the masterpiece he was looking for.

And her name was Swati (or that's what said the name tag pinned to her shirt).

Holmes to the rescue.

2008-11-27T20:04:00.005+05:30

It was a flummoxing problem, a puzzle which could puzzle the likes of Holmes, Poirot and Feluda.

One of my friend's gmail id is williamair1 . Instead of a very usual firstname.lastname or an idiotic-but-common firstname_iitk, he chose, of all things, williamair1.

I asked him about it the first time we talked in detail. We were supposed to have, what we call a meet-and-greet but the best question I can come up with is.. Why is your email id 'williamair1'?

And he never answered.

Again and again, I raised the question, at times expected and unexpected, but the elusive answer never came forth.

This was a mystery that needed to be solved.

So, I set upon the task of working on this mystery. The secret to why my friend is the way he is! Maybe this will tell me something about him, that is unknown to all.

Step 1 : Look up on google.
Is there something obvious? But all I can come up with is some "William Air Conditioning" and "William Air-Mattresses". What crap!

So, the serial hypothesizer (is that even a word? Atleast I don't see any red dotted line in my browser) that I am, I need to come up with a few theories then.

Theory 1 : The F1 Theory.
He is a big F1 fan. Maybe it has something to do with the Williams team. But from what I know, he is a Ferrari fan(atic). Williams looks doubtful. What has air got to do with it?

Theory 2 : The random-email-id theory.
Maybe he just couldn't find his firstname.lastname and came up with a random name. But I know this guy. Like any good investigator, I must take into account the surrounding factors. This guy is an analyst. Good one at that. A very logical person. Nah, this email-id must have some reason behind it.

Finding no success this way, I decided to go to Step 2.

Step 2 : Confront.
Out of the blue, I ask him. "Tell me the reason! Give me some hint! I am working hard at it. I've tried breaking it up into parts, I've tried anagramming, I've searched on google. I need some hint"

Obviously, he didn't help me much. He just told me that it should be broken up into 3 parts. And that includes the '1'.

Hmmm..

The scientific approach I am bound to take. So, what do I do next?

I propose more random theories!

Random Theory 1 : The My-Humps theory.
One of the guys in the band Pussycat dolls, goes by the name of 'Will.I.Am'. (Please don't ask me why anyone would keep such a weird name though). So, maybe my friend was a fan of the guy/band. So, I look further. Any clues linking to the word air? Will.I.Am had a song called 'In the Air'. Maybe this was the answer? It didn't fit in too well. But who cares! Hot on a trail, I needed to check for how close I was (referred to as hot/cold in the treasure hunt we used to play in childhood :) ).

(Temporary setback : I came to know that this email id was created 10 years back, and at that time this Will.I.Am guy wasn't even popular)

Random Theory 2 : The Air-force One Movie theory.
Next I tried concentrating on the non-william part. Air, 1. What was common? The movie! Harrison-ford movie! Air Force One. I checked. Released in 1998. Fits the 10 yr gap. Must be at top of its popularity when he created the email id. I was almost hoping that Ford's character was called William in the movie, but that wasn't to be. Only William I found was some minor character who was some military general in the movie. Not strong enough evidence to crack this one.

Another remote possibility was that the Bill (William) Clinton was president at the time, when Air Force One was released. But this would be too random even for me.

So, I keep looking, for more clues. In search of the answer, to the question, that remains unanswered..

Ek aur tag,

2008-11-22T19:04:00.004+05:30

Boredom and absence of any useful ideas to make a blogpost on; result : me doing a tag post. Well, since nobody tagged me and am too vella anyway, I picked up a tag post from some blog i read.

So, here it goes..

1. What have you realized recently?
That spread your affection/care to only those you really care for and/or who deserve it. Also, bowling and Go-karting are fun! :D

2. Have you given your first kiss away?
Nope.
A better question would have been have you given your first hug away? :P

3. If you were to be stranded on a deserted island, who are the 11 blog buddies you would take?
Those who (want to) leave a comment on my blog :)

4. Where is the place you want to go the most?
Europe.

5. If you have one dream to come true, what would it be?
Stopped dreaming some time back. But yeah, from the existing collection, one would be to go to Manchester and watch Man U play at Old Trafford.

6. Do you believe in seeing the rainbow after the rain?
Oink?

7. What are you afraid of losing the most now?
Losing people.

8. If you win $1 million, what would you do?
Refer to answer to Question 5. Also Question 4. Schengen Visa! So many countries to visit :)

9. If you meet someone that you love, would you confess to him/her?
Definitely.

10. List out 3 good points about the person who tagged you.
NA.

11. What are the requirements that you wish from your other half?
A good sense of humour. :D
An understanding of total honestly and belief in the two of us.

12. What type of people do you hate the most?
Show-offs and phony people. (Holden Caulfield zindabad!)

13. What is the one thing you can't live without?
The internet probably :)
On serious and senti side, the need to feel happy on a regular basis.

14. If you have faults, would you rather the people around you point them out to you or would you rather they keep quiet?
Point them out, mate.

15. 404…question not found!!!
To question hatane ka na.

16. Are you a shop-a-holic or not?
Not.

17. Find a word to describe the person who tagged you.
NA.

18. If you have a chance, which part of your character you would like to change?
Confidence levels. And am going to change it, fikar naat. :)

19. What’s the last shocking thing you've seen or heard?
That I saw a blog written by a 15-year old who was telling that she took drugs, but it wasn't as bad as her friends boozing and 'doing it' with a lot of guys. And a comment on that blog that 15 was the age to be, and not to worry, and enjoy as she was enjoying.

20. Would you rather have love but no money or money but no love?
I haven't had much of either yet. So, lets wait and watch, then I'll choose my answer :D

I tag Chiku, GP, RT and anyone else who might want to take it up.
p.s. Why, at the end of this tag, do I feel that I have already done this one before?
Anyway, am sure quiet a few answers have changed a lot. So, chalta hai! :)

Return of THE story.. continued.. part 3

2008-11-16T04:25:00.003+05:30

continued from previous post..

And I went back to sleep. Bliss.

And when I woke up, my phone was acting up. So, I tried the Windows way. I switched it off. Took out the battery. Put in the battery again. Switched it back on. And it worked. Good news, so I could get back on with life! How about some breakfast? :D

Except for one small thing.

The process of battery removal, removed all the numbers from my call logs as well. Damn that old phone.

And now that I was thinking about it, trying to remember that number, I remembered something. She had mentioned changing cities. Right? Was that just about me or her too?
I tried calling the old number of hers, that I had kept myself from deleting. But the call didn't get through. It said, this number has been disconnected. And ofcourse, there was no point calling her old hostel's landline.

What next? what next?

Orkut! Ofcourse!

I logged in immediately. Went over to her profile. Nope, no information there. And even the scrapbook looked untouched since last few months or so. Except for all those corny scraps by random guys.
Disappointed, I clicked home. Then, clicked on my own pic. Coz there was nothing else left to click maybe. That took me to my own boring profile. Something, I hadn't even looked at since I arrived in Bangalore.

Wait a second.

That'd mean my own phone number wouldn't be updated there.
Checked that.
Yup, the old Bombay phone number was still there.

Then, how did she know my new phone number? And wait a second, wasn't the number she called from had a 080 for Bangalore in the beginning? That was the reason why I had initially thought it was a telemarketer call!

What was happening?

Did she make this call, just before boarding her flight, from a landline number, to a number which I don't know how she got, intentionally?

Was this her way of saying the final goodbye?

Was this the time to get over it?

Time to let go?

As much as I feel tempted to write here the classic, "I would never know", at that point of blitzkrieg through a 5-minute phone-battery-phone-city-number-remembering-the-phonecall-nostalgia-denial-depression-acceptance, unfortunately, I knew.

Btw, I don't think this one's going to be a 'to be continued'.

Return of THE story - continuted.. part 2

2008-11-15T17:06:00.004+05:30

continued from previous post..

Susie : Abbe, fir se so gaye kya?
Me : Ohh, no no.. I was just surprised.
Susie : Yeah, that was the intention.
Me : Hmmm..
Susie, Me (at the same time) : So..
Susie : ok, tum bolo..
Me : Well, first up, good morning, hehehe.. and how are you? and even more importantly, where are you?
Susie : Thamba. Thamba. Ek-ek kar ke boss. First, good morning sir! I am fine. And am in Bangalore.
Me (all excited) : Bangalore!!! Since when? where? How come?
Susie : Hehe. Don't get all excited about it since am leaving in a few minutes.
Me : Leaving Bangalore? Kyun?
Susie : Kyun ka kya matlab. Ab jaana hai to jaana hai.
Me : Arrrrre!! I meant itni late call kiya nahi mil-wil lete. Long time no see ho gaya hai.
Susie : Haan, wo to hai.
Me : Hmmm..
Susie : Hmmm...
Me : By the way, where did you get my number from?
Susie : Dude, we changed cities, jobs, life, everything.. but you see, we are still friends on orkut.
Me : Oh haan, hehehehe..
Susie : Okay then, I called up just to say hi..
Me : Huhh. Bas itni si der hi baat ho payi.
Susie : Ohhho, bechaaraaaa... Abbe stop acting and save my number. Khush ho jao baalak.
Me : Oh cool.
Susie : And ab mujhe jaana hoga, plane mein mobile switch off karte hain. Hehehe..
Me : Haan, haan, suna do funde.. hehe..
Susie : Chalo, ab band karo phone, bahut jhel liya tumhe.
Me : The feeling is mutual.
Susie : Hehehe..
Me : Chalo, bbye.
Susie : Yeah. Bye.

And suddenly, on a dull Saturday morning, after a long work week, awful food, tiring monotonous life, I found myself smiling again.

to be continued..

Return of THE story

2008-11-13T00:45:00.003+05:30

Badal pe paon hain.. ting tiding tiding.. so went my ringtone, on a Saturday morning, sometime around 10 AM..

"Must be another telemarketer".. I muttered as I reached for my phone.. "Damn those airtel and citibank guys".
"Ummm, hello?" I said.
A split-second silence followed.
Not the one which could be called an uncomfortable pause but it was definitely a pause.
Then, a female voice said, "Hello."

Me : Yeahhh?
Female voice (probably telemarketer) : Am I speaking to Abhijit Gupta?
Me : Yeah.
Female voice (probably telemarketer) : Okay. So..
Me (already impatient) : Yeah?
Female voice (probably telemarketer) : Hey! Recognise me?
Me (thinking - this is no telemarketer. This is someone with a very bad sense of humour waking me up on a Saturday morning) : Nope.
Female voice (with bad sense of humour) : Ohho. Socho!
Me (even more irritated) : Nope, no idea. I am especially bad at recognising people's voices when am woken up in middle of my beauty sleep.
Female voice : Abbe, kumbhkaran! Ab tak so rahe the! Mujhe laga tha job join karne ke baad to sudhar gaye hoge.

Now, I was silent for a moment. Rather, for more than a moment.
Because I knew perfectly well who was calling.

Me : ...
Susie : Abbe, fir se so gaye kya?

Any answers?

2008-11-06T23:41:00.002+05:30

I just felt like making a blogpost, but didn't have anything thought out, so putting up a post which I had posted in my old blog, long time back. The questions asked, most of them, still baffle me :D

So, here you go..

----

A few things I fail to understand about women:

* Why they think Rafael Nadal is cute?

* Why are they afraid of commitment? Trust me, lots of guys arent that bad, or unstable or cheats. Mostly, they actually love you.

* Why so much makeup?? Natural beauty, in my opinion, is the best.

* Why so afraid to share photos on the internet? :P

* Why pink? Why not blue? Light blue, for that matter, I think, looks lovely.

* How do such a large majority of women love Shah Rukh Khan?? Doesnt he simply look GAY?? :-o

* Why do they ever say "Don't worry, you're a nice guy… the right girl will come along one day."

* Do women watch porn? Or have watched porn atleast once? ever?

* Stuffed toys??!! Why the obsession with a pink teddy bear made of wool and cotton and with stupid buttons as eyes?

* How they put us in so much agony, and still happen to be the coolest, loveliest people around? :-)

random moments 3 : corny stuff

2008-11-02T00:09:00.003+05:30

This one's about my love for sweetcorn.

Reminded coz of the mid-week visit to TI (Treasure Island mall for non-Indori junta) where mom and I had sweetcorn - plain and salted. I love it. The masala-flavoured ones are sometime too masala'ed. Plain and salted absolutely works for me.

Also the times when we went to watch a movie (that was very very few times) in Bombay, and had sweetcorn, regardless of how expensive it seemed (it was).

Also the time when we bought cans of sweetcorn in uk. A good can-opener, a plastic bowl, microwave, and some namak-kalimirch later, a proper tasty bowl of sweetcorn!

Also the time when I had something very special called 'Corn Bhel'. Have had it just once in my life. And it was fabulous. It was fun to have it and also share it. It was there right at the end of that famous road, I think. Right? Or the intersection of the two famous roads? Something like that. It was fun.

Read is an anagram of dear.

2008-10-25T21:12:00.004+05:30

So, as I was returning from the dentist's last weekend, I stopped at a bookshop called The Bookworm. Though I buy books at a much faster pace than I can read, I just couldn't resist the temptation to browse through books and possible (and inevitably) buy one. (note: though I have started this blogpost with same old dentist thing, this one isn't fiction).

I wasn't sure of what I was looking for, but slightly bored with usual fiction, I was looking for something that wouldn't be just reading but also give some fresh fodder for my underutilized brain. So, I had thought of looking at some science-maths-observations type books and psychology books. I ended up buying Fooled by Randomness which is turning out to be a very good read. Also bought The Elements of Style for english writing. And looked at Interpretation of Dreams by Freud. Was earlier thinking of buying that, but its such a thick book, small print, wondered.. what use would it be anyway? Nor do I have any very mysterious dreams etc. Browsed through a few more psychology and other books and reached home in good spirits! :)

I should have bought that book on dreams.

How would I have known that the next night, out of the blue, I would dream about her.

Just a different way to look at it.

2008-10-09T14:00:00.003+05:30

Alright, so I have sore throat. And a really bad one at that. Am not coughing a lot, or its paining a lot, but my voice has become, you know, changed, different. Rough, throaty voice.

I was talking to a friend, on phone, after a long time, and what comment did I get?

"You sound like Farhan Akhtar"

:D

Told ya! Just a different way to look at it. :-)

Arre, updates wala post!

2008-10-04T20:26:00.002+05:30

New phone!
New digicam!!
New home!!!

I sure have reasons to be super-glad. :-)

Apart from the shopping, had a great trip to bombay, to iit.. my home away from home for last 4 years.. relived a looot of memories, including eating in the mess (H7 mess is finally back! and in its usual form :P ) and going to parathas, and the hostel canteen. Ummm, why is reliving memories all about food? Hehe. Well, I wasn't able to play footer coz of the ankle, but did see one footer session in which the new sophies were scampering for the ball, and late were coached by the great 'maraldo'. Couldn't get myself to visit deptt and lab. Probably same reason why I didn't go there during 4th year and BTP. ;-) Met a lot of friends, some old, some new. Some closeby, some who had come from faraway. It was an interesting trip altogether.

Other updates:

Books: Just finished The Namesake, by Jhumpa Lahiri. I love her style, its melancholy tone, but find it more appealing in short stories. But still, the book is very well-written, worth a read. Will try to get its movie version as well.
Next up is A Thousand Splendid Suns. And maybe some other light reading. Possibly H2G2. Lets see. My aim is a book a week, but can be relaxed to 2-3 books a month. :-)

Movies: Went to watch A Wednesday with GV and Rojo in Bombay. A good fast-paced movie. Naseeruddin Shah is good as usual. Thankfully, no songs. Worth an hour and a half.

Also watched Khuda ke Liye on laptop. The movie, as such isn't too great, but its message, and place of origin, make it definitely watchable. Good movie, overall.