Those were the days...

The power of words.....

2010-04-13T11:21:00.003+05:30

I recently watched a movie, called "The book of Eli". Its set in a post apocalyptic world, where resources are scarce, there are dead bodies strewn all over the world, and the new generation of people can't even read.. In a world like that, a gang lord, sends out his goons, day in and day out, trying to find a book,, a book that would give him the power to rule over everyone else... His subordinates do not understand, that how a book, could make happen, what so much muscle could not.. He then says, that the book has the words, the words that will hit people right in the heart, and make them come running to him, to worship him.. That book, will give him the words to use, the power to make them count!

The movie is set in Hollywood, so that book is the bible. It could as well have been the Bhagwad geeta or the Quran. The fact of the matter is, that though we say so much... How much really counts? How much would actually matter to you, how much would you remember say 1,2...maybe 5 yrs down the line?

This is where literature, and to a lesser extent, movies make their mark.. For example, i read a book some 4 years ago.. I barely remember any one thing that anyone said back then, but this dialogue from the book, just stuck!
"I shall have lived in vain, if i do not prove to you that the rapier of irony is stronger than the bludgeon of insolence."
-as spoken by Olivier Haddo, from The Magician, written by William Somerset Maugham.

Some movies just immortalize such stories, quotes, or poems.. They make you want to just stop and read all the great literature there is in the world..
There are few which do it with as much effect, as the movie Invictus... If you've seen the movie, you just cannot not be a fan of the poem! So here it is...

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

- William Ernest Henley (written in 1875)

Passing thought - If you want someone to be a really great writer,, ensure it by adding a "William" to their name! It seems like every other great writer in the world has the name!!

In the movie, they used this poem. But in real life, Nelson Mandela gave Francois Pienaar an excerpt from the speech, "The man in the arena", by Theodore Roosevelt.

Maybe someday, i'll be able to make every word count like these great people.. But until then, (I'm a maths student, i believe in probability),, So i'll use lots and lots of words, probability says, that atleast a few of them will be remembered!!

Movie review-
The book of eli - Slow, with brief stints of very gruesome action. Very cinematic. Every shot of this move could be made a wallpaper!! An entertaining watch, and a must watch for Denzel Washington Fans.

Invictus- One of those very feel good movies. Added to the fact that its based on a true story, just makes it that much better. Immortalizes Nelson Mandela, and what he did for South Africa. A very very good movie!

Ilyushin

2010-04-04T23:08:00.003+05:30

I was once a 10 yr old... back then we used to go ooh and aah at everything around .. when anything that looked cool and used big words to support it just made us fill up with joy and wonder!! When flash gordon , inspector gadget, mandrake and phantom seemed like the coolest people ever!! we used to dream of things like light speed jet planes, ultra-streamlined cars and bikes that were indestructible and could jump over anything, jet fitted roller skates, gravity defying shoes,, trans-dimensional flights, and argued about things like the coolest transformer, the best g.i.joe, knight rider vs street hawk ..etc etc (i could go on forever...)
Its like living a dream and being in the coolest place ever.. where everything is cool... ( who cares if its even fathomable with todays technology! if it isnt, we'll become the cool scientist-cum-ass-kicking-superhero who just invents a way to do it!!)

I'm sure every hot-blooded guy around has felt the feeling.. its the reason why supercars and superbikes are still bought today by true automobile lovers!! its just to appeal to that little 10 yr old still hiding deep within us! to satisfy that little kid inside, who is proud to own the fastest and most insane looking car/bike around!!

For some lucky people, they actually get to live the dream.. And don't even have to spend a bomb to get it.. Yes, i'm talking about the guys pretty much every kid at some point of time wanted to become when the got big... Air force pilots!! flying around ultra-cool jets, pulling off unimaginable manouvers in air, firing awesome missiles around, and kicking enemy ass and looking cool while doing it!! Every kids dream!!

For little people like us,, we have to settle with the smaller pleasures of life... just being able to be close to one of these,, is a once in a lifetime experience!

Dateline- sometime after 1987
Place - Undisclosed location
I went to my air force cousins/uncles place (we are very close, but its a long confusing relationship.. i don't exactly know which one he is) .. He's a pilot (previously a fighter pilot), and he got some special permission, allowed only for family members.. and took me down to the air force base!

There are a few sounds that get me as fired up as the sound of a jet engine firing up! (no pun intended).. So, from this point, till the end of the post (and maybe the next day too!) there was an unstoppable ear to ear smile across my face!

We were standing beside the runway, looking at fighters, and support jets taking off one after another for their practice sessions!

He showed us in the far off distance the "idli plane". This was a plane with a huge idli on top of it.. This apparently, was an AWACS. This is a flying radar, that once in air, can apparently detect any plane taking off anywhere in neighbouring countries.. Talk about cooooooooooool !!!

Our destination was the Ilyushin.. The IL-78 (Ilyushin 78).. This is an aerial refuelling plane, capable of refueling fighters, increasing their range almost 4-5 times!!! Talk about awesome! This is done by a pipe being let out ,, onto which the fighers hook on to, and take in fuel..

When we reached the parking lot (don't know what to call it!),, there was one that was about to leave.. The one we would see was behind it.. My impatience to go in lead to this conversation...
Me: "Why don't we go from behind, and look at the next plane"
Uncle: "This is the biggest plane around here. Its as big as a 747. Each engine generates around 12000 Kg's of thrust. So thats a total of around 50,000 kg's of thrust. If i even drive my car from behind it, it'll topple over and maybe fly away.."
Me(Thinking): coooooooooooooooooooooooooooooool !!!
Uncle: "And We have these guys with us!" (referring to my 2-6 yr old cousins who came along)
Point noted!!

Once the way was clear, we proceeded to inspect the IL at close range! The size dawned upon us as we got closer... This thing was HUGE!! The tyres were almost as tall as me, and they seemed miniscule compared to the size of the aircraft! This was one huge 210 tonne flying monster!! We walked in, to the cockpit, to approach the seats of the pilot, co-pilot, and 3 engineers.. There were about 5-600 switches and dials and meters in there distributed over the panels.. All the people in there, Each guy specializing in the panel where he/she sat... I sat in the pilots seat, and moved around the joystick a bit.. asked the meaning of many of the levers, sticks, buttons etc... The buttons/switches/toggles are colour coded. Red:Emergency use only/ very important controls.. Like i said, there were little kids with us,, and the moment they saw the red buttons, they left everything else and pressed all the red buttons!!!!!! Seeing the eminent danger of letting kids near the controls of the monster,, we left...

This was followed by the bloated bottom front of the plane, which housed another radar.. What is scarier, is that you can look down from there and see the ground.. Imagine a guy landing at 250km an hr,, seeing the floor a few feet away!!

This was followed by an external tour of the plane, and how many of the things work... including the refueling mechanism, and the paradrome used for it, and the machines behind it, the controller,, etc etc..

All in all,, it was every little boy's dream come true!!!
I leave you with an exhibition clipping of refuelling done over delhi...
My salutations to the great people of the IAF,, for keeping us safe, and looking so cool while doing it!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xw9XG7A29oo

and some photos

Intelligence prevails..

2010-01-27T01:26:00.003+05:30

They (the poor creatures who've realized they're not very intelligent) say..
"I was born intelligent,
Education ruined me."

For their sake, Lets assume they were 'intelligent' when they were born.
Compared to the other species, maybe they were.

Intelligent life forms the other hand.. We say...
"I was born intelligent,
Education just proved to me what i already knew" !

(My heart goes out to the great and witty soul who thought of the original saying, but far too many people plaster it on their shirts these days as a brazen excuse for stupidity and laziness for me to appreciate it anymore)

Foggy in delhi!

2010-01-07T05:00:00.008+05:30

(For all you bike enthusiasts out there,,,let me clarify,, Carl Fogarty a.k.a Foggy didnt come to Delhi,, This is about the actual fog! :) )

When people think of mist/fog, its usually something amazing, something we've seen in movies on mountains or the most beautiful and green hills, almost heavenly, like you're sitting on a cloud and everything is floating...Brings out all the natural beauty, and the poets and artists from within us..

I like winters, and i love fog mainly cos of the 'smoke' that comes out of your mouth on a cold misty day! But then,, sometimes,, even i believe that too much of a good things is BAD!! So here goes,,

Dateline - Jan 2010
Place - Gurgaon

It was about 12 or 1, and i was about to leave office. Just then i had this conversation with the electrician...

elec: "Sir-jee, kohra(fog) bahut zyaada ho raha hai."
Me: "Koi nehi yaar, dheere chala lenge, ghar to jaana hi hai"
elec: "Par sir, aaj to zyaada hai"
me: (Thinking the guy is exaggerating as usual) "theek hai, itna kitna ho sakta hai?"
elec: "Agar aap aur mein baahar khade hote,,,to main aapko nehi dikhta"
(He was abt 5 feet away from me!)

I still thought, it can't be thaaaat bad..So i went to the parking lot, but as i stepped out, i could make out it is a bad situation,, but i could still faintly see my bike which was about 30 feet away. I thought, if without a light, i can see this much, with a light, it should be no prob!

And moreover, i would be travelling 5 out of 7 km by one of the best lit roads in the country (the NH8), so it shouldn't be a problem.. Got out, drove about half a km, at a slow and steady 20Km. This is where it got reeeally bad... The visibility drastically dropped..Maybe near my office it seemed better cos of the heat from the office building.. I could barely see 10 feet ahead of me.. I actually realised the gravity of the situation, when the i was looking for my right turn,,but i passed by it without even seeing it!!!! I knew i could drive along that road blind-folded, but this was taking it a bit too literally!! I realised i had missed the right, when i saw the neon sign of an office up ahead! I changed from driver mode, to navigator mode, keeping the speed steady, pointing the bike based on the lights of the car ahead, or on some street light or shop sign i remembered (and could see!).. I really lost it, when i almost hit a couple of pedestrians, and cursed them for not wearing reflectors... So finally, when i got to the the NH8, i breathed a sigh of relief..

But nature it seems, wanted to go that one step further, to drive the point home.. The lights on the highway, seemed to be useful at times, and disruptive at others, cos the light the gave reflected off the fog, onto me!! (sounds weird,, i know,, but you have to see to believe).. I was driving blindly following the tail lights of any car ahead.. Where this failed, i was driving based on the knowledge of the road, and the arrows and lines on it!! To make matters worse, by this time, a layer of dew had formed on my glasses, and once every minute or so, it replenished itself.. To help the cause of my dwindling vision..

So when i finally reached home, i should've been glad that i made it, and slept a good nights sleep.. But then,, a night like this could not be wasted!! So i woke maurya up, out came the cameras, and we went on a photo shoot !!

Here's what we got!!

Let me answer a few questions here
1. The video's/photos were taken with an average mobile cam.
2. There is no color filter/blur effect applied, what you see is how it was!
3. NO, WE ARE NOT ON MARS!!

Here are a few videos we took!

A bigger and better one,,on you tube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZpl7SrVJDE

So ppl, the next time your flight gets delayed (especially to Delhi) cos of fog, thank your stars, that in conditions like these, the pilots didnt try flying!!

At the height the cockpit and seats are, you wouldn't even see the ground when you landed!!
:D

Life means...

2009-10-29T11:12:00.025+05:30

Life could have meant...

A winter evening,
Four friends,
mild rain,
four pegs of rum...

Life could've meant...

100 bucks for petrol,
A few rusty old bikes,,
An open road...

Life could've meant...

1 Maggi noodles,
A hostel room,,3:25 AM,,
lots of hungry people...

Life could've meant...

1 Preparation leave,
1 night, 1 book,
8 duffers...

Life could've meant....

1 girl, 1 number, 4 friends,,
& and fight..

Now life means....

Old friends,, separate cities,, separate lives...
endless sms's, phones or mails to stay in touch..

Life means... Friends forever...

The eye of the sun...

2009-10-20T23:44:00.016+05:30

Whats the common between archimedes, tintin and me?
.
.
(here's a hint...)

If you still didn't get it,,,then go ahead and read the story!

Dateline - Summer 2001
Place - Hyderabad (School 10th class)

In school we had something called a Geo-Map quiz, where we were given detailed maps and had to find things and answer some questions using the maps..An interesting (and famous) quiz, i enrolled.. Pre-requisites - A pencil, rubber, scale and a magnifying glass!
So,, i bought a small magnifying glass(wanted a big one, but didnt have enough money), wrote the test and came back.. But now i had a magnifying glass,, and nothing to do with it..After the general time pass with it (looking at peoples writing, window sills, dust particles, little insects, people's ears etc...).. I had nothing to do with it..

I wasn't willing to believe that my new toy had lived its life.. Then, I remembered that I read somewhere that we can burn things using the glass..Never seen it, so i obviously, i had to test the claim!!

During one lunch break, i sat in class trying to figure out how..Focusing the light to get a single spot, was the general idea.. To test if that was actually and good ,,i focused sunlight on my hand! If it makes me jump,,then thats the way to go! Needless to say, after a couple of attempts, i was jumping around class holding my hand... 5 minutes later, back to business...Tore a paper from the book, focused sunlight, and waited (me watching closely).. and waited..and waited (classmates getting curious as to what i was doing)... and waited(thinking what i'm doing wrong).. and waited( getting irritated)..and waited(started loosing focus, looking here and there..) ...A couple minutes later,, i just left it..Nothing seemed to happen!! The paper just seemed warm at the place that i was focussing on for the last 10 min..A few seconds later,,even that went back to normal... Lunch break over - Experiment failed....
Outcome

success - 10% - (would've been zero,, but i atleast burned my hand.)
interest of friends aroused..Ideas started coming in!

Next day, some class, teacher not come yet.. There was time to kill, so out came the glass.. Friends around me, who were bored too, now had something to do!! 5 (unsuccessful) minutes later, people lost interest... I knew i was doing something wrong... So, taking ideas from friends(gillu, makhi and sriram),, i changed the paper to an old newspaper, tried burning an edge instead of the center and kept my hand as still as i could... And just when i was about to lose hope,, a faint line of gray, seemed to appear in front of me for an instant.. I was doubtful of what i saw, but i tried again anyway.. This time,, i had a nice and clear line of smoke coming off the paper!! Mission Success!

The following lunch, a burning session was in order! papers were burned, benches were burned, water on the bench, caused bubbles to be created from inside the water! The following few days, my mark was created on the table i sat, and on my seat in the bus.. With my name engraved, eternally by the heavenly flames, no one could contest the seat!! :)
Whenever we had free time in class,, some talked, some read, some slept.. i burnt !!

Coming back to the question, what is common Archimedes and me? He used the sun to fight of romans,, i used the sun to fight of boredom!
(what i fought was the more eternal of the two!)

2nd question...
Whats common between tintin and me???
For this, we go back to 10th class,, to the class of the great teacher, who's the reason i got into the habit of sleeping in class...Satya maam, social studies (history, civics).. The slooooooow speed of talking, reinforced by the multiple repetitions and a few boring history chapters, was as strong as any sleeping pill you'll ever pop!!
With lots of time to kill in her class, magnifying glass came to the rescue again! I used to sit beside the window and burn stuff while she was teaching.. One class, i was playing around with the glass, focussing and things on the bench, and she calls my name.. I look up,,and keep a straight face,, she continues... No more burning for this class,, i thought..Just then,
makhi ( sitting to left) whispers : " abe, stop burning things !
me: "i'm not burning anything!!"
makhi(abt 10 seconds later): "Abe, stop burning things in class!! I have asthma, i can't breathe with it.."
me: "I'm not burning anything!!"
About 10 seconds after that,,i felt something piercing my leg,,startled,, i jumped.. After the giggles in class subsided, i tried to figure out what happened... There was a nice royal hole, straight through my pants!! What felt like a needle,, was actually the sunlight that burnt through my pant !!! Only then, did i realise that my hand was on the window-sil, and the magnifying glass was hanging in a way as to focus light on me!! Makhi was not wrong after all !! If only i had listened to him,, i would'nt have had to wear those air-conditioned pants for the rest of the year!!
The light made a clear hole, unlike any scissors or worn out stuff i've seen.. This was a very nice, clean and precise hole! I almost patted my back for it ! And then, for the rest of the year tried explaining people why i have a black colored hole, in my gray pant !

So whats the difference between Tintin and me ??
Tintin (in The prisoners of the sun) knew he might get burnt...But he escaped the power of the glass,,and lived to tell the tale...
Me : I didnt think i could,, but got burned by the sun,, and still live to tell the tale!!

Pointers for those who wanna try-
1. The bigger, the better! (magnifying glass,,i meant)
2. Use old newspapers/recycled paper..Burns much more easily
3. Burn paper at the edges
4. Burning ease : Rexine> unpolished wood > new paper > notebook paper
A steady hand ,,focusing on the same point for a min is enough in any conditions to burn some paper!!

Chess and Boxing...

2009-10-17T02:23:00.007+05:30

For a healthy life, Both the mind and body should be fit...So i've got my own way of doing this...

I've always liked chess, and been quiet a good player as far back as i can remember...Mind fitness, check!

Body fitness - Am not much of a gym person, i like to keep fit by playing sports.. But then, if you want the best of both styles, there's nothing better than boxing! There's something utlra cool about boxing, the raw aggression, a boxers gait, the ability to take infinite beating (call me weird, but i've always wanted to see how much beating i can take and still stand and manage a smile!).. I've always wanted to start boxing, but i never really got down to it..I will start soon(hopefully)..

Both are poles apart, one is the ultimate in brain, and the other ultimate in brawn!
But who said you can't have brains and brawn! And when i read this line somewhere,,,

"Have you been craving an athletic competition that combines the raw physical energy of a chess match and the strategic acumen of boxing? "

I've instantly knew, i've found the perfect sport for me!!

Its called ChessBoxing !!!

Yes, you read right, its chess boxing. And i suggest you follow the link and see the video!!
It involves 11 rounds of 2 min, alternating between chess and boxing!! A win , is a checkmate or a knockout, and if there's no result at the end of 11 rounds, the guy with the most points in boxing wins!!
I mean, just imagine this scenario...
X kills Y's Queen. Y is furious!! and then the round changes.. All i can say is,,
"Summbuddy's gonna getta hurt real bad.."
(praying "please be Y, please be Y", never really works u know :D)
And then Y is back in the game, cos X is too dazed to realise things!!

Its the perfect formula for an always exciting game!!
Can't wait to try it out!!
Anyone interested??

heaven's opening up...

2009-09-13T04:52:00.012+05:30

The whole rainy season, the weather department kept saying that it will rain...But the closest we got to rains here in delhi(barring 1 day) was 80-90% humidity everyday!!
Finally,season was over,, The weather dep pronounce a drought all over the country...
Then ... a couple of days later this happens!!

within 2-3 days,,north India is flooded with heavy rains lasting 3-4 days at a stretch!! The outcome was unprecedented!! This is not a sight you see everyday!

At this point, this little pool is home to 2 Buses,a car and a few bikes!! (dont ask me how!)

The Weather department's (mis)information lives up to its reputation again!!

Getting back to rains,,, this (lack of sense of adventure) isn't the only reason people hate rains.. Its the power cuts, the eternally wet clothes, and inability to move out are some of the other reasons and many more...

The great president of the hagga club (lord makhija),, stated he hated rains..On asking why,,this is what he said....
"Jab baarish hoti hai, to saala road pe pada hua 15 din puraana gobar bhi ZINDA ho jaata hai !! It comes back and hits you in the face with a vengeance!! "
This comment was one of the very few times, that i was left completely speechless! You can't really say anything at something so witty, so true, and so blankly put!

Frankly speaking, i should hate the rains too.... They're the reason my bike needs major repairs, and that i had to swim to work for a few days...

But then,, i remember this...

(I know most people won't recognize this picture,,, but hard as it may be to believe, its our college!!)
And ANYTHING that could turn our barren, sandy, and brown college into this....
Can be nothing short of AWESOME!!
That must be the actual reason behind the phrase.. "The heaven's opening up!"

"Where some see natures fury, others see nature's true splendor !!"

Blog Drought....

2009-09-05T05:53:00.005+05:30

I knew its been a while since i was here,, but it really hit me,,when i couldn't get the address to this place right the first couple of times!!! On one hand, i go around screaming at people that they don't read/leave comments,,and on the other,, i forget my own blog address!!! This maybe one of the few times i actually felt foolish about myself.... But then, shame is unnecessary feeling i shed a looong loong time ago... So this'll just be another one of those things i proudly , and i shall continue to enlighten/enliven peoples days from here!!

As to where i've been for soo long... I've just been busy...Apart from creating ground-breaking technologies and boosting the sagging economy of the world,,working 45 hr days and taking interviews,, had to make time for a few social gatherings, ranging from multi-national/multi-racial crowds to kids bday parties, right up to native andhra gatherings...Things like this have to be done from time to time to keep the fans happy you know... In the hours i saved in my life by sleeping those few hours less every night, i managed to squeeze in a couple of meets with international celebrities/authors, and catch a few movies and read a few books too.....Added to all of this were the cross-country bike trips and which included elaborate gastronomic menu's from every place we could find.....With all this, and the the semi-pro photography, gadgetry shopping , the Bike modifications and tuning and breaking land speed barriers....I've just not been able to pull up enough time to get down to writing... But finally here i am...

In my defence, there has been a general shortage of good writing of late online.. I'm referring to the blogs, more specifically about most of the blogs i read..,In the last 3-4 months, almost all of the blogs i read, either stopped, or decreased/shortened the size of the posts dramatically.. Its been,, what i would like to refer to as a blog drought.. Maybe it was the summer, the actual drought, pure laziness or just that people ran out of things to talk about... I mean,, i can't expect everyone to be going and doing cool things all the time!!

So with the actual drought clearing up, and rains flooding most cities in the country, i thought it might be a good time to clear out the blog drought too! So here i am, back to give meaning to the peoples lives (or atleast some humour)... This is the start,, i've got a lot of things to write about from the adventures of the last few months (stated above).. So i hope you guys will have fun reading, and getting scolded by me for not leaving comments! And hopefully, the other bloggers out there will come out to clear the blog drought too, (so that i have something to read when i get bored in office!)!!

So Till next time....Enjoooy !!!

Thanks Everyone!!

2009-05-13T13:04:00.009+05:30

Lots of people have been asking me whats with my status msg on gmail since the last few days.. Here's why...

Dateline-->Commemoration of the day of arrival of adi the great to this world! (2009)
Place--> Delhi

A few days back was my birthday.. Usually birthdays for me are a very big affair, with lots of people coming with big parties and lots of spending of time and money.. But this was my first bday away from home or hostel, and there weren't too many people around.. So I didnt expect too much,, was just planning to have a bit of fun with the few friends around..

So Lets see how it actually went....
->Number of people who came to wish me at 12--> Only 1
->Cake --> None (First bday in my life without a cake!!)
-> Grand Gifts/Personally made gifts --> none
-> gifts --> One
-> Big party with lots of people --> nope
-> Encouragement i got for the big plans i told people when they called and asked "What plans for the day??" --> Close to none...

Here are the 2 plans i told them-->
Plan 1: Go skydiving!
When asked how: Go to safdarganj airport. Enrol for flying classes (Not very expensive!). Get to be flown around in a 2 seater plane.. Once in air, jump off!! Take a couple of bedsheets in case can't find parachute!
Replies:
- - waaaat??? seriously??? - can you even do that??
- - do you want this to be your last birthday?
- - (From only 1 guy).. Go for it!! But Dont waste the bedsheet.. It'll be more fun without it!

Plan 2: Hire a bike, jump over a building
(Noone asked How)
Replies:
- - huuuuuuuuh????
- -Why ?? (Me: Generally! to make it a birthday worth remembering!)

So you can see,,,i got close to no encouragement for the big plans i made!! So basically,, most of the things you associate with a bday were a little more than ordinary day...

But then,, it was MY bday!! it can't be such a sad affair...So here are the cool parts of it..
->Got greeting cards from home (Though 3 weeks early,,its the thought that counts!).(awesomeness: 7/10)
->Spent most of the night attending phone calls (from 12 to 4!).. Many of these calls were from places halfway around the world!! (awesomeness: 9/10)
->I was a telephone operator,, barring a 1/2 hr break at around 2:30 at night when we went to drink chai at a thadi outside! (awesomness: 9/10)
->Woke up to the sound of bday wishes from home! (awesomeness: 8/10)
->Morning at relatives place. Special food made for me!! (awesomeness: 8/10)
->Met an old friend who unexpectedly ended up in delhi for the weekend!! (awesomeness: 10/10)
->with friend, had roadside kaala jaamun, stick waala ice cream and awesome delhi juice (which strangely is always of the same reddish/pinkish color, regardless of which juice u order! I drank my red pineapple juice without asking!) (awesomeness: 9/10)
->I love driving, and i roamed around most of the morning and afternoon on bike..
Conditions:
- - big bike in great condition
- -great south Delhi roads
- -No traffic
- -clouds that seemed to come out at the right times
- -And whats more,,, hot female on bike with me! (awesomeness: Do i even need to specify??)
(Queries in this regard shall not be entertained! You'll just have to take my word for it!! The people who need to know,,already do!)
->Spent hot afternoon with cousins playing board games.(awesomeness: +7/10
->Got msg and call from sis, in her own special ultra cool way!!!.(awesomeness: 8/10)
->Evening party with friends. Small group, great fun!.(awesomeness: 8/10)
->Finished the day, learning how to do a wheelie based on some great newfound gyaan given by a bike crazy friend! (Cant maintain it,,,but still,,its a start!)(awesomeness: +9.5/10

But the coolest part of the day was...
->Number of attempted calls to me in the whole day: More than 100 (awesomeness: 10/10)
->Number calls actually talked: around 30. (Average time> 10 Min)
The rest of the calls reached call waiting, or were ignored/rejected by me..You can call it "bhaav khaana" if you want..(On my bday i think i'm entitled to it!)..But it was mainly cos i was driving,, or when i was with the old friend/female! But most of the people did make multiple attempts.. Some did at different times of the day too!! After every call i got, i felt that much more important!

But the bottom line is that sooooooooooo many people remembered,,,and made major efforts in making my bday a great day..
(The awesomeness counter is off the scales!!)
The day turned out to be one of my best birthdays ever!!
And its all cos of all the cool people around me!!
So once again,,,

THANKS EVERYONE!!

Dont try this at home !!! (Contd)..

2009-05-08T15:20:00.004+05:30

(Continued from last post)

Place-> college
Timeline-> 8th sem

Started watching the telugu movie, was called Run, i think.. Wasnt as nonsense as i expected it to be, so it didnt really help.. Eyes drooping, but head splitting, i kept drinking water, hoping the effect would subside.. And as i kept drinking water, i wanted to drink even more of it... And my mouth was drying up very soon, so i kept drinking.. About 15 minutes, 2-3 trips to the loo and a 2 litre bottle of water later, i realised i had to go fill water again!! And in the time i took to reach the water cooler, my mouth got incredibly dry!! And so restarted the cycle! This might have been the vicious circle of bhaang... Abd quite frankly speaking, if it was for something this harmless,, i didnt really mind.. But that,,i would never know..

As I reached my room and started the movie again, there was knocking on the door.. I didnt make a sound, hoping that whoever it was, would just go away assuming im asleep.. But then came the real shocker,, it was gujjin and baba asking me to open the door!!! I thought those guys would've slept by now!! I wanted them to just go away, so i didnt make a sound.. But as time went by, their knocking (by now it was banging, kicking and screaming too!) the door only got louder! I felt like i was in one of those bad horror movies where the bad guy just keeps coming and coming and coming no matter what.. Amongst all the cries to open the door from outside,, i couldn't hear meena's voice.. And i couldn't stand the banging anymore.. So, hoping for the best, i opened the door..

In comes stumbling gujju.. Smelling of puke and Still screaming those funny words,,"help me man,, get me out of this conscience!!".. Lands straight on my bed and before i could say anything, was asleep and started drooling (with all the unwashed puke) on my bed.. Baba sat on the chair, and start frantically started moving the mouse around as if looking for something.. When asked, he said he was looking for some guy he knew on gtalk to ask what to do.. I opened it, and he couldnt see the name and was like "adi, dekh na. Mujhe pata nehi chal raha ki ye banda online hai ki nehi". I then told him that it was my gtalk account open, not his. Asked him to log in to his, which he somehow managed and started typing some gibberish to many people!! And whats funnier,, is that half the people he sent chat messages to even replied in gibberish!! Most of them were O.U.T!! Then suddenly, as if to stop the entertainment,, gujjin sits up, starts crying again and says he's having nightmares and that we should do something! It was as if these guys were making a cheezy horror movie of their own!!

Now it was time to pull all stops,, so i proceeded to try to wake the sleeping palem.. (A person noted for his deep sleeping abilities, among others..). By now, it had hit me hard, and my head was spinning bad.. It was as if i was in a dream, with the same things happening over and over and over again.. That combined with the relentless above mentioned people ... I think u get the idea.. Difficult as it would be, i had to try to wake palem.. He was our only hope!!

You must have heard the term "Ghode baech ke sona".. For this guy,,we used to call it "ghode, gaay, bhais,bakriya,,, poora tabela baech ke sona!!".. 3-4 of us used to open his room window and SCREAM in unison in (usually unsusccessful)attempts to wake him up.. But desperate times call for desperate measures... So this time,, i banged and screamed like a bad horror movie villain!
:)

I gave up after a while.. Consoling myself, that we usually can't wake him up even when we are all energetic in life... I was returning to the room to (thankfully) find gujjin asleep and baba "chatting" away to glory... But a min later, the great palem appeared outside our room,, our saviour,,, our knight in shinig armour to help us out.. This "knight" was groggy, wearing a yellow flowery shirt and red sakura pants,, but in the state we were, he was as good as a royal knight!!! The responsibility off me,, i completely gave in,, and all i remember after that was,,that palem, soon found emtpy rooms for each of us, and locked us in!!! But by this time,, all we had energy left to do was sleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep...

Got up finally at 11:30 at night.. Got palem to open the room. Saw gujjin and meena just waking up too.. We all had headaches and a general uneasy feeling, but were more or less normal.. Milk products are supposed to suppress the feeling, so we set out to saras to have lassi/chaach/milk shake etc etc.. All under the care of our very own palem..

The next morning, we saw baba coming for breakfast... So that accounted that we were all fine... But one person was missing since the start of the madness.. Yes,, that was pandu!!! He was last seen when we were having bhaang.. His phone not being picked up, noone seemed to have seen him after that.. We were almost starting to get worried,, when in the late afternoon he walks groggily into my room, asking me what the time is!!! The guy had been sleeping in his room ALL THIS WHILE!! FOR more than 24 hrs straight!!!

All of us safe and sound,, I started looking back at the events and the things we did wrong.. So heres the things u should keep in mind if u ever decide to try it...
1)Find out the proper amount to use .. In this case,, an overdose like the one we ignorantly had, is no fun (its only good for a story worth telling!)
2) There's a reason its drunk with thandai... Cos it generate an immense amount of heat inside. NEVER try drinking it with things like jaljeera!!
3) NEVER listen to a guy who's under that effect of bhaang about how to get rid of the effect.. Cold water which i brought to "save them" actually increases its effect!! (And because of point 2, we kept feeling more thirsty!)
4)DONT give a guy under the effect of bhaang any dangerous ideas.. They'll do it without even knowing!! (Eg: the puke!)
5) Have someone sane around, who can handle you!
And finally...once again...

DONT TRY THIS AT HOME!!!

People featured->
Palem -> Palem powaii, as his name first came up, is a master at giving fundas with arbit logics to follow them leaving most people baffled!! Another area of expertise is his ingenuity in torture mechanisms..Maybe cos He has had multiple fractures in pretty much every way possible.. More famously know cos he specializes in everything related to computer hardware.. All this with a permenant smile on the face, wearing flowery T-shirts and funny coloured pants!!
I can write a dedicated post only about the eccentricities and talents of this guy so i'll just leave it here!!

Don't try this at home!!

2009-04-27T09:50:00.008+05:30

Continuing from the previous post about high-ness...

Place->College (Hostel)
Dateline-> Holi 2008

The last(and first) holi i spent in college i had a great time...Played like mad, started by putting colors on each other, then on teachers, on teachers dogs and then came back to raid the rooms of those who tried to "escape" without playing, broke down their doors and made them unrecognizable too,,, used up all the color we could find, then moved on, and used up all the mud we could find, and then ended the show by tearing down peoples shirts..Basically,,,GREAT FUN!!

Came back, almost dead tired from the 4-5 hours of playing in the jaipur sun...An long time in the bathroom later, we managed to get our appearance to mildly recognizable, we were even more tired, ready to drop asleep.. (Its something strange that bathing does!).. But then, came the "udti hui khabar"..Baba bhaang laaye hain!!!

This was something that just had to be done,, the holi would be incomplete without it...So with energy regained, i reached baba's room. There were 5 of us, baba, pandu, meena(this is not a girl), gujjin and me. There lay in front of us, the 3 balls of brownish-greenish, odorless (and as we realized later, almost tasteless) stuff.. The "experienced" people, baba and pandu, started the procedure of making it.. They couldnt get any thandai, so they brought jaljeera instead..(mistake!!).. We brought the cold water for it..This was supposed to be some high quality special stuff which we got our hands on..Baba said that usually one ball is good for 2 people, playing safe, we mixed 2 balls for the 5 of us..(mistake!!).. Mixing properly taking out all the lumps took a bit of time,, reminding us that we were all damn tired.. We drank the 2 litre bottle of 'jaljeera', with gujjin and pandu taking the lumps from the bottom with a spoon too..(mistake!!).. There was no light-headed feeling, no madness, nothing! We almost felt ripped off and asked if that really was bhaang!! But, as we were doing everything based on what we heard from people, we let it be as people said it takes a bit of time to sink in..

I went back and started watching a movie (a bit dissapointed!)..But about 45 min later, i started getting a bit of a headache.. Thinking its cos im so tired, ignored it at first, but after a while it increased a bit more,, so i thought its cos of the bhaang, and decided to go to gujjins room to ask if thats the case with him also... But when i entered meena's room, i saw meena and gujjin all troubled and irritated.. They were glad to see me and kept asking whats going on.. A couple minutes into it, they start saying "adi, kya kare?? dimaag kharaab ho raha hai.."..So i went to find people who were experienced in this.. 10 min later i returned, cos i couldn't find anyone, everyone was either asleep or had bhaang and was out of their senses!!! I remembered that one of my friends who had bhaang a few days back asked me to get water to calm him down... So i went back to tell them them that i'll get water..(mistake!!). They were even more agitated by now..They were losing all control.. gujjin started pleading to me to help him.. I told him i'll go get water, and then they both got all happy (and almost senti) at the prospect that i can help!! I went and brought water from the water cooler for them.. By this time i was feeling a bit tipsy, so i thought i'll make the sleep and get back to my room...When i reached their rooms....They were GONE!! Disappeared, nowhere in sight!! The rooms doors wide ajar, wallets, laptops, phones all of them just waiting to be stolen!! Gujjin, a complete baniya would die at the mere thought of this!!! It was only then the gravity of the situation actually hit me...

I locked their rooms, and set out to find them... I thought i should check up on the others.. Reached baba's room, and as i entered, i was greeted with much fanfare!! There lay baba, gujjin and meena.. And as i handed them the bottle of water,, the were looking up to me like i was a saviour sent from heaven!! They gulped down the water.. 5 min later,, they were saying its having no effect and got back to pleading! Gujjin started crying,, screaming,,"adi, get me out of this conscience man!! I dont like this...Please get me out of this conscience!!".. I knew that lassi/chach is supposed to be good.. So i told them i'll go get some.. They shouted back, almost in tears,,"yaar, hume chodd ke mat jaa..". By this time, even i was losing stability of movement..I somehow got out and went to a nearby friends room, woke him up and asked him to get it from outside.. Then we remembered that it was holi so all the nearby shops would be closed at this time... So i returned helplessly, empty handed to baba's room...

This was not taken well by them,, and gujjin burst into tears, screaming repeatedly, "please man,,,get me out of this conscience.."..And the others screaming out things on the same lines.. Then gujjin said : "When we have daaru , if we puke, the effect goes..Does that work here too?"..
Me: "I dont know, maybe it does..."(mistake again!!)
Gujjin: "Maybe it does.."
And within about a second, there was a foutain of goo spewing out his mouth!! We were baffled (to say the least)!! He just thought he should puke, and he'd done it!!

There's something about the smell of puke..the moment someone pukes, everyone around feels like puking, causing a chain reaction!! Its like a plague, only it spreads much much faster!! I am particularly susceptible to it and puke very easily... But i somehow controlled it and held gujjins head while he was puking.. And next thing i know, baba's puking on one side and meena on the other!!! This was too much for me to take, so i just left them with the freedom to paint the floor with the food they ate an hour ago, and started walking away..My control over myself was now faltering,, and so i was stumbling back to my room.. I was halfway there, when i saw some of the goo sticking to my slipper,,and then the smell went to my head like a shot so i ran to the bathroom and finally even i puked...

I was going to just leave the others be, considering i was loosing it, and couldn't control myself ...
I got to my room, started watching some new telugu movie i got recently, to get my mind off things and get rid off the (now-splitting) headache and maybe drop off to sleep... others would hopefully manage themselves...

but then,,,
whats the fun in life if problems in life were so simple to get rid off???

To be continued...

High-ness

2009-04-19T00:32:00.003+05:30

Being in college gives people a sort of license to be weird...Most of people do all kinds of funny stuff..Some people do funny stuff, some people do stupid stuff and other outright weird stuff, its all cool in college!! But then, its basic competitive human nature to want to go that one step further ,,And as few are born with the gift of being mad when they want to (ppl like this are mad most of the time though..),, the others fill the gap for the need to feel light-headed/mad by the means of sutta, daaru and ....and beyond....All for the high and,,well,, the license to be that much weirder!!

Lots of people get on a high and do stuff they would never think of..Loosing any traces of shame and sense that they had to begin with..Its not uncommon to see usually docile guys picking up fights, normally prim and proper girls swearing the world away at each other,, big, macho guys crying and serious/quite people laughing senseless and performing acts of daredevilry..Basically people tend to shed their self created boundaries to the world and do what they really want to (or at least try).. For those around, Once people reach this high, its either very painful, or very entertaining.. But more often than not, fun to watch...

So i thought i'll rate the funniest things i've seen people in college do when on a high...

3) Cause- Drunk
Effect- a guy, stripping down to his underwear, running around college screaming mummyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy.....

2)Cause - combination of all the things possible
Effect- Couple of guys, Driving around senselessly on bike, falling into a gutter, and having the bike fall on them!!! (Dont ask me how something like that happens!!)

1) Cause - bhaang
Effect - Laughing for 8 hours STRAIGHT !!! (Trust me, This is far more painful than the above!!)

And though number 3 and 2 make much better stories to tell, stories related to bhaang pretty much always leave you wondering....HOW ????
Stories of people laughing for hours together, eating despite being not hungry for hours together (simple process...eat-eat-eat-until you are about to explode..then toilet..then repeat!!), sleeping for around 30 hours straight and even taking bath uncountable number of times over and over again.... All these are things that actually happened...

It all made me wonder,,,whats with the stuff???? I have a simple funda in life, to try everything i can atleast once!!
I've tried daaru,,dont really like it,, doesn't seem to have effect on me..One of my friends, using all his "IITian dimaag" gave a very plausible reason for it...He said "People usually act mad when they are drunk...But you are like that all the time anyways, so it makes no difference to you.."..I can't say anyone's disagreed with his theory yet...
So come holi in final year,, i was in college...And no prizes for guessing what on top my "things to try out" list....

To be continued....

The perfect day!!

2009-04-01T12:02:00.002+05:30

I am not superstitious,, but i do believe in luck! (call that an oxymoron if you so please)..And i definitely believe, that when its your day,,it is YOUR day!!
So here goes abt perfect day i had recently...

Dateline-> March 2009
Place-> Gurgaon/delhi

Woke up saturday morning nice and fresh..I had surprisingly energizing sleep! Read the paper, got ready and realised it was a nice It was a nice pleasent day, so came to office taking my own sweet time..

As i reached office, i realised that i was late for some work i had to give in about an hour! It was about the training i had taken the day earlier, about which i was still on a high! Corrected the papers and gave them to the HR, who's a very punctual person.. Though i gave them a half hour late, she actually complimented me on the great job i had done! This day was getting better by the minute..

The mood was nice and cool in office..And after lunch i sat down to do some research for the next task i had to complete over the week.. Interesting new stuff, so it was nice learning things about it.. It tested the knowledge i already had at a conceptual level, so it made the work even more challenging and interesting! Finally after about 6 hrs of searching and almost at the point that i was starting to get bugged, i managed to get things working!!! The joy of getting something working after putting in a lot of effort and continuing even when you thought you can't, is something unparalleled!!

Was on a major high after the accomplishment, and told my senior that i'm done and am leaving for the day..He says, "Par aapko aaj LLD dena tha." . I asked back sadly,"aaj??" and made a sad face..And though i was leaving a bit early, i asked him if i could give it on monday...He smiled, and said "first half monday morning!"..And i was out of office in the next 10 seconds!

As i made my way to makhija's place(usually a painful trip changing 3 modes of transport, bus,then metro, then auto/bus), i got a bus surprisingly easily! And even got a seat! On the way it started drizzling, and i LOVE the rains!! The smell of mud and concrete when it rains is just something else!! Then i got into the metro and found a sat, and on both sides of me 2 good looking females came and sat! And then i even found an auto guy who i didnt have to scream at to charge a humanly payable amount to take me to my destination!! Nothing could go wrong that day!!

Once i reached, though it was 9:30 already, i wanted to go out cos i didnt want to eat at home.. Makhija initially refused, saying he hates rain..On asking why, he gave me one of the most concise and graphic descriptions ever! He said
"When it rains,, road pe pada hua 10 din puraana gobar ZINDA ho jaata hai!! zinda ho ke, it flies around onto everyone, and is more active than ever before!!"
It was a point i couldn't really argue with!! But still, after a little coaxing from me, he agreed and we set out! I got to drive an FZ16, while it was raining !!! Getting to enjoy, great rains, an awesome bike and overall a great day,, all in one!!!

When we reached the mall, i was on a high and in the mood to go to a fancy place..So when moved towards the fancy place there, and on the way makhija tells me, its a disco!!! I can't dance to save my life, and was drenched cos i was driving, and he was in slippers!! But on a day like that,,,we were invincible!! So we walked in hoping we won't be denied entry!

And as we hoped, When we reached the place,, the guys outside lead us inside, no questions asked!! Once inside, the place i was in was a cool place with a quadranlge in the centre, and a stage for a DJ/band, it was 2 levels with the centre open through, giving a balcony type view to the ppl on top..There was a fancy bar and all the disco lights and stuff!! Only one problem...
No of hot girls..........zero...
No of girls..............zero...
DJ playing cool songs....nope...
DJ.......................nope!!!
Songs....................nope!!!
The place was empty!!!! The only ppl there were the ppl working!! For some strange reason the whole place was empty!! No wonder they didnt even ask us when we were entering!! Not willing to be an "different" in this case, we walked out...
strike1...

Ended up eating something at the food court, which was, a bigger fraud than usual..
Strike 2...
Then we were looking for a movie, found a naseerudin shah movie running "baarah anaa"..It was a movie in which naseerudin shah doesnt talk for the whole first half!!! Overall, an OK movie...Expected more from a naseerudin shah movie...
Strike3!! (i could almost hear the sound in my head,,"you're out!!")

And so ended my perfect day!!
Will i still call it perfect? Definitely...Why?? Cos there's no such thing as PERFECT!! The day you think that perfection is absolute,, and that the day is perfect beyond anything else,,is the day you've stopped trying or enjoying!!
If you don't want to take my word for it,, try some other famous ppl!
"Have no fear of perfection
You'll never reach it."
-Salvador Dali

So,,,is today a perfect day?? Yes!!!
Why?? Its my sis's bday!!

Happy birthday akka!!
:D

The law of the garbage truck!

2009-03-21T20:13:00.003+05:30

Lots of people ask me how is it that i never get angry, some of them saying they would like to see me angry, one case in going to the extent of saying that they're trying hard to get me angry!!...I just smile back at them, and they get even more confused about the mystery that is Adi...

As a kid, i was this puny little thing who used to go red faced and charge into people (age, size, gender no bar) who said/did something to irritate me, for the tiniest reasons.. In school on numerous occasions i charged into people only to realise 5 seconds later, that i was faaaaaaaar too small/weak to make any difference to them, and on more than one occasion, i got thrown to the floor in a matter of seconds!!

I am a Taurean after all, and the raging bull is too much a part of me.. But over time, some sense dawned, and i've learnt how to control the anger to a great extent.. And despite being big now, and able to put up a fight if needed, i still find the old tactics i used to not get angry more effective!!.. I do have many touchy areas,,and i blow my top for the tiniest reason when anyone does those things.. And most of the people who've lived with me know this only too well.. But in my defense, if i let go of those touchy things too, i would be betraying the Taurean within me!
:D

The gyaan i gained which i use to combat the ragin bull? Simple ways..
(1) I'm in a crazy and talkative mood, in which case i divert my attention to something else or laugh it off before the anger gets to me.
(2) I'm making a conscious effort not to get angry at you.
(3) (The most common reason) I feel Superior and think it is below me to get angry at the things people around me are doing!!
Think about it, someone irritates me, and i come out feeling greater at the end of it! I even smile back half the times and get the person even more irritated than he already is!! Its a complete win-win situation!!!

For all of you who don't have a bloated ego like mine,, maybe this idea can act as a substitute.. Here's the story ...

”One day I hopped into a taxi and we took off for the airport. We were driving in the right lane when suddenly a car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us. My taxi driver slammed on his breaks, skidded, and missed the other car by just inches! The driver of the other car whipped his head around and started yelling at us. My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. And I mean he was really friendly. So I asked, "Why did you just do that? This guy almost ruined your car and sent us to the hospital." This is when my taxi driver taught me what I now call "The Law of the Garbage Truck".

He explained that many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger and full of disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it and sometimes they’ll dumps it on you. Don't take it personally. Just smile, wave, wish them well and move on. Don't take their garbage and spread it to other people at work, at home, or on the street

The bottom line is that successful people don't let garbage trucks take over their day.

Life's too short to wake up in the morning with regrets, so ……love the people who treat you right.
Forgive the ones who don't.“

Life is 10 percent what you make it and 90 percent how you take it!!

Love... continued....(all about the bike!)

2009-03-12T16:45:00.006+05:30

(Continued from last post)

Dateline--> 6th sem, college
Place--> college, jaipur

I was in the parking lot, and finally got the dream of bike to start...And i was revving it up to just enjoy the scream...Finally, i decided to let it loose,,and get down to business..Set it in gear and released the clutch..What happened next brought another smile on my face,,though this time,,a different type of smile..The bike stalled!!! I started to think that it has only a bark and no bite...So there was a repeat telecast the long episode of starting the bike again...This time, when it awoke from its slumber,,i didnt fool around, i got out of the lot, and took a few seconds to acquaint myself with the gear system, got pandu to sit and set it free...

It was only then i realised how much of a bite it had!! This bike was a dream, it had a roar like no other, and when let loose, it just took off!! There was no stopping it..(remember, it had loose brakes too!)..But then, while sitting on it, you would never want to stop it anyways!!! It had a life of its own,,a little touch to the accelerator and it was off,,,faster than anything i had ever experienced...before i knew it,,i was in top gear at around 80kmph!! This bike didnt need a speedometer, it just needed a binary switch of on or off,,which said stop(0 kmph) or speed!(80kmph)...Nothing in middle even exists!! The slightest touch of the accelerator and it zoom away! And once it reached around 80,,it peaked out!! It wouldn't go any faster..But being the city, there was nothing faster! whizzing past everything else on the road,, enjoying the wind in my face and the scream of the engine,, i was loving every moment of it.. And then, out of the blue,,it stalled!!! This was the first bike i had ever driven, which at high rev's, for no reason whatsoever, just stalled!! The engine died, and i went rolling upto the next red light (thanx to the speed)...And then, this bike just wouldnt start! It had fuel, it had already heated up, it didnt seem overheated, but it just stopped, and refused to start!! This bike was COMPLETELY MAAAAAAAD!!! Whatever we tried,,nothing worked..So finally, we used the oldest technique used to start a geared vehicle,,,to push it and once it gains speed, put it in gear..The only reason for this technique to fail is that its not fast enough, or the bike is plain dead! Sure enough, it started,,and the moment it came to life, we jumped on the runnning bike and we were off..Again before i could catch my breath,,we were at 80 again!! It again stalled after a while, and again we repeated the process.. Repeating the cycle a few times, we finished out work and came back..

But as strange as it may seem, even after all that hard work of pushing it so much, we still loved the bike,,and the only reason we came back was that the bike was needed by someone else in college...There was nothing logical in this bike,,it was just plain MAD!!
This bike was one head turner!! whether it was cos you had to be deaf not to hear it,,or cos u just had to see what just flew by you,,the fact still remains,,that you couldn't ignore it!!

To give you a better idea, i thought of an analogy, comparing bikes you might see in India to animals..
The Donkey::Splendor, CD100--> This is not the most glamorous of rides, nor the most comfortable or even powerful..This beast of burden will do what its made for, carry things/people around for years and years together. Its as cheap and practical as can get, no frills, no thrills,, just plain transport from A to B.
The horses::Pulsar, CBZ--> These are for people who want a few thrills in life, don't mind spending that little extra to look stylish and race past the beasts of burden,,but still being useful for the day to day usage..(To prove my point, my college dhobi had a pulsar)
The race horses::R15, FZ16, Karizma--> These are not mean to used for daily mundane tasks..They'll guzzle fuel and run very very fast when needed..Meant to enjoy the powerful drive while turning quite a few heads..
The Russian Stallions::Suzuki Hayabusa, Kawasaki Ninja etc-->These beasts have aaaaaall the power in the world, are the fastest things on land and will stop just short of flying but just need a rider daring enough to handle them.. They ride like a dream (only faster!!) and leave gaping jaws wherever they go because of the sheer class that they exude!!
The rhinoceros:: Harleys,Bullet--> You just can't miss one of these on the road. Each one of them is as close to a tank (on two wheels) as road laws allow..They are heavy, can be fast when needed, and are loud! Stay out of their way, cos they have enough momentum to break right through cars or even walls in middle!!

All the above is fine,,but something is missing here..An RX doesnt fit into any of these classes...No animal i can think of fits its charecteristics..The only animal i can think of is a cartoon character..the looney toons character..Tazz - THE TASMANIAN DEVIL!!

This fits perfectly...It is loud, faaaast, small and light weight, eats a lot, WILD!, it either stops or moves at full speed, dramatic (makes a scene wherever it goes!), will move a small distance and just stop for no reason!! and again starts again as if nothing happened!! in short,, MAAAD!!!

I've been going on and on about it, but those who've not ridden the bike wouldnt know...So
lets check out the specs..
1) Technology and power -> not very modern..has an old 2 stroke engine, with not too much BHp
2) Fuel efficieny-> this is a guzzler
3) Top speed-> not very impressive..
4) Style-> not very attractive as a bike standing on the side of the road..
5) Environmentally friendly-> not really...
6) Gadgets-> A speedometer! (thats abt it)
So what makes the bike soo cool??
7) sound -> To DIE FOR!!
8) acceleration-> So fast that it almost seems as if its a spring waiting to be released
9) Torque-> GOD level!! By the time you think of doing a wheelie, the tyre's already in the air!!
10) control -> It has a mind of its own, but when you learn all the eccentricities of the bike, it will do ANYTHING you want it to..

I've driven almost every bike in India, (except the superbikes)..But the feel of RX,,and the madness...is unmatchable..
The bike has been out of production for over 4 years..So when i wanted a bike, this was my first choice..One of my friends went to a second hand bike-dealer to find out how much i could get an RX for..He said
"aapko koi bhi bike la doonga, par RX nehi milegi..Jitne the, usme se bahut saare khatam ho gaye accident mein, baaki jo bacche hain, unko koi bechna nehi chahta!!"

So the love for an RX continues, and even today, when it passes by, you will see a faint smile dawning across all the bike enthusiasts faces.. They have all been in love...
If you haven't ridden one yet...I pity you,,you don't know what you're missing.....

Love!!

2009-03-02T22:40:00.006+05:30

(This post was meant to be around valentines day,,,but then, i've been tied up with work, so here it is...)

We've all been infinitely bombarded with romantic cliches in almost every kind of humanly known expression..So it gets you thinking, i mean,, whats the big deal after all?? And for the more philosophical types, "what is love?"..

"At the touch of love everyone becomes a poet."
Plato.

Now, who am i to questiong ancient greek philosophers? So i'll just go with the flow of what they said, and write some poetry of my own..

"When you're in love, even the most dreadful things seem ok,
come storm, drought or fire, just the thought of your love is enough to lighten your day!"
Aditya the great!!
(No! i'm not going to apologise for any irreparable mental trauma caused by the above lines!)

What brought out this side of me??... The thing is,,its always been there..It was just unleashed one cold winter day in 6th sem in college..Here's the story!

Dateline--> Jan 2007 (6th sem, college)
Place--> Jaipur

Our even semesters start in January. My 6th sem started out on a really rotten note. I was majorly pissed in life for lots of reasons. Added to that was the nail biting cold of winters in a desert (jaipur has proper desert weather). And when you're in hostel, having "air conditioned"(excessively ventilated, with the glass missing from most of the windows, and a huge open area in college allowing highly efficient flow of wind!!) bathrooms and even toilets, that sort of makes it even worse..Forget bathing, you can't even GO comfortably!!!! Apart from that, i was having problems with the teachers picking on me in the most unlucky ways....Basically, a crappy month it was with me all bugged with everything around..

Then one day pandu and i had to go somewhere...It was a bit far, so like always, we went around looking for people with bikes..We found it in an unlikely place, when the manipuri michael revealed to us, that his bike was actually working, though barely! He said it'll have problem starting, the horn doesnt work, brakes are slightly loose, it might stop once in a while in middle of the road, and it also guzzles fuel like mad..Now this sounded bad even by standards of college bikes!! But if there's anything guys in college know how to do,, then it is how to extract every last bit of life(and fuel) out of bikes.. So we were off, helmet and keys in hand looking forward to the challenge..

Its only after i reached the bike stand that i realised, that the bike was an old relic, one of those with 1 shift down and rest up,,a kind which i had never driven before...But then, with our sights set on our work, i went ahead anyways..After dusting off the layers of dust from it, we saw that this was actually an RX 135!! So we knew this bike would atleast move! After multiple kicks, acrobatics tilting the bike, and about 10 other jobless people giving advice about how to start the bike, the bike finally came to life!!

Now, everyone's have heard of love at first sight... But that moment, when the bike roared into being....That ......oh that feeling...than undescribable rush of joy...It was love at first sound!!!!!! It was the stuff every bike enthusiast dreams of! This my friends, was the stuff of legend, things we hitherto only heard of in stories from far-off lands.. its scream was coarse and unrefined, loud beyond compare, erratic, it was a roar of a mad beast, screaming out to be unleashed, but still under your control, with you still being able to aggravate its rage when you so wanted !! In one second, all the hard work that i put in to starting the bike seemed trivial...I sat there just revving up the engine..with a smile growing that kept on growing, the only limits to it being my tiny face!! i could do this aaaaaaaaaaalll day long!!!!!

or could i ???

to be continued.....

Excellent !! Keep it up!!

2009-02-04T09:54:00.009+05:30

As far as i can remember, I've been always been drawn to sports and games. To this day, I never miss a chance to go out and play. Maybe its the love for outdoors, maybe its the feeling that i always want to be active, maybe its the love for the game, or maybe its plain instinctive competitiveness. Different reasons for different times. I've also won lots of prizes in sports, in fact, most of my prizes are sports related..But there's one that I'll always remember,,for the prize, for the aftermath, and for what it taught me....

Timeline--> Jan 1994
Place --> Talkatora Stadium, New Delhi
Event --> All Delhi roller skating championship

If you read carefully, you must be thinking that i got the date wrong... If i were you, maybe i would think so too.. But few people around me know, that one of the first things i learnt to do in life was skating. (The second thing was chess, which took me places!!).

I learnt to skate when i was 4-5 yrs old. It must have been a very funny sight, to see me walking around on skates way back then..I was stick thin, and used to walking around with those big skates on my legs everyday after school. I weighed a bit more than a feather,they must've been as heavy as me!! Soon i got pretty good at it.. The meek, puny little silent boy in school, used to turn into a rowdy with the skates on.. There were even incidents when i whacked a few people who irritated me while we were skating...The moment i put my skates on, i was ready to fly..Nothing could stop me, cos to stop me, they first had to catch me!!! My skating sir realised this, and soon i was going to skating competitions...

And so, we reached Talkatora stadium.. It is this huge place in Delhi where the National games (or maybe asian games) took place a few years ago..I'm not sure, but basically, it was this HUGE place with sports facilities of all kinds.. But those two days, it was all about roller skating..There was figure skating, couple skating, roller hockey, and the most anticipated event, speed skating!!

I was 6 yrs old (in 2nd class) and was taking part in the under-8 category. Most of the people who came there (including the kids of my age) came with coaches, and all fancy imported shoe skates, with flashy skating gear and helmets and elbow pads..It was all that a little kid could dream of! Though, inline skates weren't popular back then, so it was all normal flat skates...On the other hand, i was in my normal skates (the extendable types, into which you put in your shoe and tie it)...I went there with my grandfather, and was the only person who didnt have a coach around! It got me all nervous for the whole thing, thinking about all the fancy stuff they had!!

On the first day, were the heats. The qualifying rounds for the competition. In both the heats, i did very well, and qualified without any trouble. The next day, we went back, and the morning round was also not much of a problem. I had already reached the finals!!!

Between all this, were the other competitions of figure skating and stuff which were very nice to watch! But then, i was never really the graceful type, so i sucked at it..I still cant dance if my life depended on it!! Then came the roller hockey....That day, i saw this guy from my school break 6 hockey sticks in one game!!!!! This show of violence led to hockey being the only game I've never tried, and never wanted to try!!! The game is tooo bloody dangerous!! you have mad people wielding sticks and whacking the ball all over the place with nothing even close to any safety equipment! As if its not bad enough that you can get whacked by a ball,,people can even break a stick on your head!! After the violence, came the speed skating events of the 'big' kids. It was very exciting to watch, with the skaters zooming around the track, almost in formation(the competition was so close), and the screech of skates at every turn.. All you could see were flashes of fluorescent whizzing by!(Strangely, most of the skaters used to wear bright coloured slacks while skating!! maybe it is so that the shorts don't rub against each other slowing them down.)..In short, a treat to watch!

Then came the finals. My race started, it was 10 (or 15 laps, i don't remember exactly). I started of decently, with only 2 guys ahead of me. Over the next 2-3 laps, i overtook them. Soon, i was leading the pack and gaining! I was getting all happy that i might actually win this!! There were 1 left, and i almost had 3/4th lap lead. I was pretty sure i would win this and started enjoying the cheering of people around. But just then, my right skate opened up!! The nut which holds the skate in size had gotten loose, and the skate expanded. The front part of the skate came off my leg!! I was left there, dragging the skate on my strong leg, and pushing along on the one skate that i had...Halfway through the final lap, i was overtaken. When i was about 10 feet from the finish line, i was overtaken again...It took all my effort to get to the finish line before loosing even 3rd place...I finally came in 3rd..And there would never have been an unhappier kid who came 3rd in an all-Delhi championship..I couldn't believe i had lost..Despite clearly being the best, i lost, just because i didn't have the fancy shoe skates that the others had!!

After the race, my grandfather and my skating sir congratulated me and then tried to console me. During the prize distribution, i stood there, smiling cos of the attention i was getting, but sad cos i lost. But when the chief guest gave me the prize, he said "You'll win next time. Best of luck!". That made me feel much better, that even the chief guest thought i should've won. Looking back, I'm pretty sure he said it to everyone who didn't win! But then, thats the beauty of innocence of a kid!! I got this BIG medal!! This was an actual medal. It was very heavy, seemed like it was made of proper bronze. It had Delhi roller skating inscribed on it, and to date, it still looks as good as it did the day i got it.

But then,,,there is one thing, that made this day, a day that i will never ever forget....
On my way back home my grandfather bought something nice to eat for me. And I came home, proudly showing off my first big prize to everyone! Everyone was very excited about it. Then i went to and showed it to my dad. He was under heavy cancer treatment, he was very very weak, bedridden and couldn't even talk. But when i showed him the medal, his face lit up, he smiled, picked up a paper and pen that was beside him, and on it, he wrote in capitals, (in huge letters, filling up the whole page)

"EXCELLENT!! KEEP IT UP!!"

A few days after that day, he passed away. Its been 15 years, and this was pretty much the last thing i remember him saying to me. The memory of the great man saying those words to me, is still crystal clear in my mind....I try to live up to it, in whatever i do....
He will never be forgotten....

"Overcome your sorrow,
Never forget to follow your dream to gain the smile that comes with victory..."
- Seishi Kishimoto

Management..part 2..The interview!

2009-01-21T12:05:00.004+05:30

(Continued from last post...and sorry about the loong post, i didnt realise it got so big until i finished, but i couldn't think of what to delete..)
The MDI interview, is one i'll never forget. It wasn't too long, But every minute of it was worth talking about! So here's the story..

Dateline --> March 2008
Place --> MDI, Gurgaon

After asking for permission, i came in, greeted them with a smile and sat as straight as i could. The people conducting the interviews were the same as those conducting th GD's. A middle aged man, and a middle aged lady, both who had the 'professor look'..They seemed quite knowledgable, as expected from people taking these interviews..
In front of them, was the sheet we were made to fill up with all our details. Evidently, they had no interest in our resumes. Then they started..

Interviewers (Int) - "Hi Aditya. Tell us something about yourself".
Me - "I am pursuing my engineering from ..etc etc... I live in bangalore with my family consisting of...etc etc...".
Int - "So you are from Bangalore? Which school did you pass out from in bangalore?"
Me - "No, actually i did my 10th and 12th from Hyderabad".
Int - (looking into the sheet) " So you were born and brought up in Hyd, live in Bangalore, and study in Jaipur?"
Me - (smiling)"No sir, i was born in delhi, did my schooling there till 5th class, and then moved to Hyd."
Int - (Smiling)"So you're what i would call a true Indian. And now you're back in Delhi. Its a full circle!".

Int - "Ok, now lets talk about the GD. - "Who do you think spoke the best?"
me - (expected Q, i was ready for it.)"number 10."
Int - "Why?"
(This i did not expect. This was the part where i started making things up..From this point on, i was on my toes, making up answers as we went along)
me - " he said blah, blah and blah, which was against what i said, but he stated his points well blah blah blah..
Int - "Did he say that? I dont recall him saying this. Did you note down the points?"(they had given a paper for that purpose)
Me - (obviously paper was blank, a smile broke out on my face!! So i tried recalling a couple of things he said and told them)"yes sir, this , this and this were some of the things he said."
Int - "You said you support the presidential system, and talk of it like direct voting, but do you know that George Bush was elected in 2004 with less votes than al gore!"
Me - (baffled!!!! i didnt know what to say!!)"Sir, i was trying to support a pure presidential form, not necessarily like one in US".
Int - "But you did not say much."
Me - "Sir, i tried to make my point a few times early on, and got in a couple of points. But after that, it became chaos with 3-4 people talking at any time. I made a few attempts to interrupt and make my point, but kept getting interrupted by cross talk. I could also shout, but i felt that there no point adding to the noise by talking while someone else is talking. If you can't be a part of the solution, then you definitely should not add to the problem! And in that discussion, it was clear that there was no solution.."
(What a dialogue!, thought of at the spur of the moment! I saved my ass!)
Int - "But you didnt talk much. If it was chaos, then why didnt bang the table, stand up on the chair and make everyone listen to your point?"
Me - (Smiling away to glory)"But sir, thats not the point of a group discussion, that would just be a test of who can scream louder. Thats goes against the idea of a civilised discussion that a GD is supposed to be".

Int - (both were seemingly amused at all my answers)" Ok, so tell me a place where Aditya Bharadwaj showed bravery."
Me - (Thinking...do any of the mad things i've done count as bravery? I decided not to go there, cos though brave, they were'nt exactly stuff mentionable in an interview...So, i started making up stuff from scenarios i'd been in..adding up along the way..)"I was the college chess team captain (i even highlighted the achievement!), and we used to go to BITS pilani every year for the sports meet. There used to be 2 chess events, one of classic, and one of lightening chess. Towards the end of the first event, the fight for a position in the finals used to get pretty close, and we were running for a place in the finals. The people in 3rd place, required all 4 points to get by us and reach the finals, so they started bribing and scheming with their opposing team, saying that they should give them all the games in the classic event, and that they would return the favour in the lightening event. I protested against the practice, saying its unfair, and even threatened to leave if they continued with it".

Int - "But whats wrong in that? Its an agreement between the two."
Me - (Going with the gush of bravery i created, lots of reeeeally big words came out of my melodramatic head)"Because it goes against the spirit of the game, and the tournament. If i were to decide who gets the points in each game, what is the point of playing? I could pay-off a team or two and get the points and win the tournament, that would be no different. If you don't want to play, don't play, But don't kill the spirit of the sport just because of your weakness!".

Int - (Taken aback by the sudden flow of words)"But then, if you were stuck in the same position, what would you do? If you were in a position to make the deal, would you?".(Then a smile came across their faces!)
Me - (thinking...Damn these guys are good!!! If i say no, then i'm a fool, and not fit to be a manager. If i say yes, then i'm backtracking all the big words i just said!!! Finally, with a sheepish smile, i said) "I would leave that descision to my teammates".
Int - (bigger smile!)"But you were just talking about principles, and the spirit and things like that.."
Me - (Smiling back)"Sir, when i go as the captain of the team, i am answerable not only to the college, but also to my teammates. And a descision like that affects them as much as it affects me. Being equals, they should also have a say."

(I was feeling like a royal fool by now, knowing well, what an ass i made out of myself! I was laughing at myself, and so, by this point, it was quite a jolly interview, with everyone smiling, and me even showing my teeth once in a while!!)

Int - "Ok, Aditya, tell me about your reading habits."
(Reading........habits???????????? whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?? i've read about 5 books in my whole life!!!!!)
me - (trying to buy some time)"I read mainly fiction".
Int - "Ok, what were the last 3 books you read".
(after virtually scratching my brain to get past asterix and archies! Then i remembered the few books my sis bought for me and i read over the last yr or 2! Finally i thought of 3!!)
Me - "'The magician', by somerset maugham"(big author, small book, 200 pages)
Me - "'The death of ivan illyich', by leo tolstoy"(Bigger author, smalled book!! This book was about 100 pages or less! in big font!!)
Me - "'The prelude to foundation', by isaac asimov".
(if they asked me for 2 more, i would just say dan brown and then maybe Tinkle!!)
Int - "Ok, what magazines do you read?"
(Me smiling even more that i saved my ass and managed to remember 3 books!!)
Me - (Buying time, cos i didnt remember any names!)"I read mainly automobile magazines"

Int - "Ok, so whats the best car in india today according to you".
(I couldnt remember too many car names, cos i hadn't watched TV or read a car magazine since i came to college!)
Me - (buying more time, smiling even more, trying to sound as if i know stuff!) "In which segment?"
Int - "small or Mid range".
(I almost let out a squeel of joy, this guy knew nothing about cars!! But i still couldnt remember any names apart from Ford Ikon, which went out of production 2-3 years earlier! I kept thinking, what is that orange car that prof in college has...)
Me - (Finally, showing teeth while smiling by now)"Maruti Suzuki Swift"
Int - "Ok , so whats the most important thing in a car?".
Me - (trying to buy time)"Value for money!"
Int - "Yes, but name 5 the things u would looks for in a car".
Me - "Power, fuel efficiency, design, interiors and value for money"
Int - "Design and interiors, aren't they the same?"
Me - (All happy, cos i knew he would ask me the difference, as he knew nothing about cars, thats why i told him those two!) I explained it..

Int - Ok Aditya, Thank you!

As i was leaving, he stopped me and asked.
Int - What do you think is most responsible for car accidents?
Me - (didnt know what to say, so a tongue in cheek comment came out)"The driver!".
Int - (laughing) "yes, but what part of the car"
me - "sir, the tyres and the drivetrain"(I had no clue what that meant!! i just read it somewhere!)

Int - "Dont you think, its the steering?"
They had a nice laugh. and he said that last part wont count in my interview, it was just a joke.

I came home, knowing well how bad i screwed up the whole thing, amazed at how closely they scrutinized everyone and smiling away at the most jovial interview ever! Throughout the interview i was smiling, and so were they. I kept trying to make up answers as i went along, making mistakes along the way, but it was pretty obvious that they realised that..

But imagine my surprise, when i see my name on the waiting list !!!! On one of the top 10 management institutes of India!!
And in the second list, my name even got confirmed!!!! They must've seen something that i didnt, to actually select me!!
As i said before i started out, i still didnt join the place,,but this is one interview i shall never forget!!

Management...part 1

2009-01-14T23:16:00.008+05:30

Last week the results of CAT were out...For those of you are so very blissfully ignorant, CAT is the entrance test for all the IIM's. It is considered the worlds most difficult exam, but it still makes up only the first part of the two part selection process..But then,, no one ever said getting into an IIM is a walk in the park..Out of the 3 lakh odd people writing the exam,,about 7000 or so are eligible to get a call, but then, even amongst them there are different selection criteria for each of the IIM's, based on which this list is further shortlisted. So basically, you could get a 98 percentile, and still fall short of the expectations...May seem cruel, but then, the world is not all fun and games...

Cut to CAT 2007. I prepared decently well and took the exam. It went off decent. And in Jan 2008, i got my results. Now being in 8th sem, we were busy with DoTA (as usual), and i wasnt too bothered about checking the results. It was mainly cos of the mad rush that would be there on the sites and all, seen enough results to know that there was no point. So the 5 of us sitting in my room, were busy playing. Lots of people had expectations that i would 'crack the CAT' , so i started getting calls about my result, and i kept telling everyone that i didnt check. One of them finally asked me to tell him the details and that he would find out!! He tells me that i got a royal 98.64 percentile. To me, that was just still a number, so i didnt know whehter that meant a call, but then, i just got back to playing! I was already exhibiting managerial skills, making optimum use of my time and getting others to do my work!!

But as fate would have it, i didnt get any calls from any IIM's, seems like these days even a 98.6 isnt enough!! later i found out that the reason i didnt get calls, was cos i got 91.98 percentile in english,,whereas the cutoff was 92!!!! It was then, that i realised the value of 0.02%. But then someone reminded me that i filled up forms of MDI..Its another management institute, which comes in the top 10 in the country..I got a call from there..

Most people were very excited at the prospect, but i wasn't too keen.. Call it overconfidence or plain stupidity, i was pretty sure i wouldnt join the place even if i got through..But i still was going to give the interview..My interview was scheduled for mid march, and it was on the MDI campus in gurgaon. Between the cat results and the interview, i even got placed the second time, getting my job that i'm in now. This only decreased my interest in MDI more..But i still was going to give the interview...Here's what happened..

Dateline -> March 2008
Place-> MDI, gurgaon.

Reached gurgaon the nigth before the interview, stayed at rommates house. His parents always treat me like their own kid, so there was a royal dinner too. I read up a little on a few sites, checked my CV one last time, and went to sleep..

In the morning, the procedure was supposed to start at around 10AM.. But to be on the safe side, i got out of home by 8, and reached the place by 8:30..There were only a couple of people there till about 9, but they were all there for the same purpose, so i set my doubts aside and sit there in the class room type place where we were to wait. I have the knack of being able to sleep anywhere and any time, and i tend to feel more sleepy after having a bath. Like many other weird and very inappropriate times, i started feeling sleepy there!!! i put my head down cos i had nothing to do, and i ended up taking a little nap without my knowledge. When i next opened my eyes, it was almost 10 and the classroom was full !! went, washed my eyes and came back to find the guy who was telling us the instructions in class..We were divided into groups of 10 for the group discussion(GD)..

The GD was a a very sad affair. The topic was should india have a presidential or parlimentary form of government. We were all given slips to note down stuff and a number by which we would be assigned. i read an article on the same thing a few days before, so i had loads of points supporting why india should have a presidential form, and the people around me didnt seem like those ultra smart people who would steam roll everyone else. So i was all excited that this won't be too tough for me.

I expected the GD to be a structured affair, with people being civilised unlike the 'gavaar log' in college who just believed in screaming. After all, this was a prestigious management institute and all.. But my mistake again. Even here people were screaming their heads off, cutting off people's points in middle. I spoke once at the start, then in middle i tried to make a couple of points, but kept getting cut-off in middle. There was never a time when less than 3 ppl were shouting. A few more sterner interrupts from me all went to waste cos no one was in a mood to listen. Then they told us conclude!! i was like ,,whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?? already?? Then before the conclusion,,they pointed to me and 2 other people saying we hadnt spoke much!! imagine,,someone telling me that i dont talk much!!! Anyways, then i told them my points, which were not taken well by the guys opposing the idea, and again the screaming started. Another interrupt by the ppl coordinating later, it was concluding. I didnt know what to think of the whole thing. But anyways, we sat and waited outside because the GD wasnt an elimination round...

The next round was the personal interview. One by one, people started going in. When they came out, there was usually a mad rush to find out what they were asked. Most people were cagey in telling the others, cos they had no clue themselves. The only thing i got to know from the first couple of people who came out was that they detested wikipedia, and that they were asking everyone who spoke the best in the GD. After finding this out, i didnt bother finding out more and went an sat aaraam se without a care in the world...Then, after a loooooooong time, my turn for the interview came..

It kept running in the back of mind that these interviews are usually "stress" interviews,,where they have people sitting on your head and keep firing away questions left, right and center!! So i prepared myself, straightened out my tie and shirt and walked in.....

To be continued...

New year...

2009-01-04T21:02:00.006+05:30

First of all, wish you a very HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
hope you have a great 2009!! Looking forward to hearing some crazy new years eve stories from everyone!

Though my new years eve wasn't the wildest or the best, I ended the last year, with another experiment, of the gastronomic sorts..More on that later..But i started the year by meeting lots of my relatives, mostly people from Delhi, who had all seen me when i was about half their height, this time around,,many of them were half mine! and many of them, with kids who were born around when i was leaving Delhi..I soon realized, that (though i don't look it) i was among the eldest amongst the whole group of cousins!! One of them who'd never seen me even asked her mom in which class i was!!!! I overheard it,,and contrary to what people might think,,i quite liked it and felt all smug inside!!

That evening i took many of them to watch a movie, and all the elders left everyone as my responsibility...It was one of the first times i really felt that i'm one big fellow at home! I had to wait for almost an hour to get tickets for the movie, and it was a multiplex,not a very famous one at that, it was just another one of the zillion that Delhi has!! And i ended up spending a 4 digit sum for the movie and snacks and all..Not that i mind it,, but the crowd and the cost it got me thinking, as to how we used to spend new years when i was little...cos i never remember anyone spending even 1/10 as much on new years,, or on a movie!!

Those were the days, way back in the 90's...We were kids with not a care in the world!! We didnt care about brands or fashion, didnt care about traveling in buses, autos or even rickshaws, never a rupee in our pockets, eveready to go out and play and TV with a couple of channels used to be a special treat !! Cut to new years eve, there used to be few people going or coming, meeting everyone and wishing them a happy new years.. Phones were costly, so noone used to talk for hours together,, a 3-4 minute talk was something reserved for those special people, close to us who we couldnt meet.. No irritating cell phones ringing/beeping/screaming at unwanted times to pull people out of the group conversation/activity..

New years usually used to be a quite and nice family affair, with everyone crowding in front of the television to look back upon the year gone by.. In the few channels available, there was not much choice of what to watch,, and though it may seem strange,, the quality of programs and even ads back then used to be so much better.. In the 2-3 channels running, each program had the power to keep you hooked as long as it ran..Since mahabharat,ramayan, chitrahar, jungle book that used to be shown on sunday mornings on DD, no show to date has had the power to grasp soooooo much attention from people..They almost used to be like an event in themselves!! The 100's of channels, millions of shows, and remote controls to help have all but killed the joy of watching TV..Whats the use of having million channels, if u can rarely ever watch something decent!! Back then, people used to wait for ad breaks, so that any work/natures calls could be attended to..Everyone used to be back by the time the ads ended... everything fit well into the whole mood keeping everyone satisfied!!

Talking of ads, the way the guy on doordarshan announced about 30 sponsors per second was a treat to hear in itself! no one seems to be able to pull off that even now! and most of the really memorable ads i remember, are all almost 10 yrs or more old..Seems like people are making lots of mediocre ads these days, but not any memorable ones.. I mean, who can ever forget the 'Jaleebi' ad, or the 'doodh doodh' ad, or the 'sunday ho ya monday, roz khao anday' slogan, the dairy milk ad in which the girl comes dancing onto the ground or even the first ericsson ad that showed the great new invention called a mobile. For each of these ads,,almost everyone still remember the exact words/lyrics in each of them even now!! Those were some great ads,, and being among a lot of lousy ads,, that made their greatness even more!! My salutations to all those great people behind the ads..

The single new years program running right up to the stroke of midnight, usually had a concert or two, a few songs here and there, but mainly a look back at all the happenings of the past, with the top 10, movies, songs, shows, ads, sportsmen, etc etc..No sensational masala stuff..A Plain and simple lookback..A little comedy, and a few performances here and there,, All this leading up to the final countdown to midnight when everyone wished each other,, ate a few sweets made by my grandmother and went to sleep all happy about the occasion..

Seems like those days are never coming back..But it sure was great while it lasted!! I think technology has killed the art of conversation and the joy of big meetings of family and friends.. It actually seems like the main thing it has done is kill patience of people,, and everything else just happened on its own,, leaving laziness as by-product..Whatever it is,, it is here to stay for good or for bad, so we look at all its good sides and live with it!!

New years eve has come and gone, marking another year passing by..So many years have gone by, and so much has changed over the years..The puny little boy with a girly voice is now one big fellow who's working and supposed to be responsible, and has become much more talkative is telling people abt those great days in his blog!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Finally!! Certified a B.Tech...

2008-12-28T22:51:00.003+05:30

Quite a few people have been asking me about this status msg of mine on gtalk for the past few days...Wondering what the topic is about?? and whats with the strange timing?? Then obviously you are not from my college..No doubt, i loved college, and it was a great place and i had loads of fun.. But here's the education we got there..No, not abt the academics(which are anyway scarce in an engineering college), i'm talking abt the real-world training we got there about how sarkari procedures work..or do they?? Here's an example, that would be like a drop in the ocean of incidents...But i suppose they'll give you the message...

To all sarkari officers, at least in our college , certain conditions apply.. They would be
Sarkari officer Condition1-> If person not at seat, ask all the ppl from the administration you can find to find that person. He may be sleeping at home, sipping tea in the garden, basking in the sun clearing out ear-wax, or just plain invisible.
Sarkari officer Condition 2-> Everywhere, where a correct person is located, a queue shall be formed..Once a queue is formed, you cannot get to the head of the queue to find out what it is for. You just stand based on what ppl in front of you say. And like all other places, the information may slightly change every time it is passed from one person to the next..So in a line usually of more than 50 ppl, you have no way to confirm what the line is for..
Sarkari officer Condition 3-> The fact that the officer was sitting in one office on one day, in no way suggests that he'll be sitting there on next, (assuming he's sitting somewhere)..He could've changed because of some rearrangement of tables, or rearrangement of offices, maybe shifted places cos of the cooler/sunlight, or maybe even shifted cos the vaastu/feng shui in that room was not positive..
Sarkari Officer Condition 4->Any time can be declared as tea time/lunch time regardless of any prior events or their timings.
Cardinal Rule of All Sarkari Officers-> You can never argue with them and never question any statement they have made even by crosschecking them with previous statements by the same person. If you do, your work shall NEVER, EEEEVER get done until that officer retires or changes post..You just persistently have to persuade them. If u seem like u dont absolutely need them, they wont even bother remembering your face..

Dateline-> Once every 6 months in college(2004-2008). once in jan and once in jun.
Place->College(NIT, Jaipur)
Event->Registration

Before every semester, we had to get ourselves registered for that particular semester, specifying which courses we would be taking. A fairly standard procedure in most places. You could have a counter to fill up the fees with the particulars where a person who has a list of everyone's arrears sits, a form to write the course names and get over with it. To increase efficiency,,just increase the number of counters, and its done..Rocket science, is it? Apparently,,yes...
This seemingly simple and mundane procedure was divided into several steps carefully chosen to make sure we take a few rounds of our HUGE campus to ensure exercise for all the students. You know, after coming from home they all gain weight, so this procedure is a step in the direction of fitness. Basically the procedure is divided into a few steps..To all these steps,
Step1-> Go get the basic forms. One for academics(course selection, etc..), one for hostel allotment, and one for fees..All may or may not be at the same place, even if they are supposed to be at the same place, they are usually short of supply of one form or the other. Waiting for college to provide more?? BAAAD idea.. Walking half a km to outside college and getting a xerox of the forms from outside is the only surefire way to get them..
Step2-> Go find out how much of a mess bill you have. For this, a big line waiting(initially at the dean office) for the one and only all powerful fat sarkari guy in his office who has the records of the mess bills. This fat sarkari guy could be a person from the dean office, or from the hostel office(abt 1 km away from the dean office). If the guy is not there in his office, you even get to solve a mystery of where he is, refer to the conditions stated above for this purpose..If u finally do find him, maaaaaybe he can be asked to grace the students by providing the info...But then,,there's no fun in that, you've just started the day,, so now the next step would be to find out if this fat sarkari guy can give the information or not..If he's not, then he'll just spout out some other name and point in some random direction saying that person will give the details..And then 'mystery' repeats itself...If by any chance u do find the right guy, soon, in around 5 min, the word spreads like wildfire, and a looooooooooooong queue forms outside his office..
Step3-> After getting the required information about the mess bill, this person has to make a bill for how much money you have to deposit in the mess account. If you have no dues(which somehow, NEVER happened), then you're lucky and you just need to get a signature from him over a few forms about it.. If there are mess dues, then pay them in the bank and come back and stand in the looooooong queue to the fat sarkari guy, to get him to sign the forms..
Step 3-a-> This is for those who have to pay the mess bills, which inevitably includes everyone..Go to the chom bank!(The Bank of Rajasthan)..keeping fitness in mind, this is another half km away from dean office..Fight to get the forms for deposit, if ur reeeeeeally unlucky, then they wont have them, and then go ask 20 ppl in the bank who are not listening to you where you'll get more, you may actually get em a few hr s later..If u do get the form, then get to the back of the line thats pouring out of the tiny bank gate..Try to find someone you know to cut the line and get to stand where they are..About an hour later most probably you will reach the counter and pay the mess bill. This assuming the counter does not close for lunch or the guy disappearing for some unknown reason..After completing this sucessfully, go to step3 again.
Step 4-> Run to your department, (walking distance anywhere between 100mtr to 1/2 km.) Find the list of your courses and so called 'electives' which can almost never be elected for. Write the course codes, course names etc etc and then run around to find the course coordinator, who's usually some faculty. If they happen to be in office, get in and get the course form signed. Assuming the faculty is not in mood of having fun with you, they'll do it immediately. Now one strange thing here is, on this form, your father, mother, your name has to be written EVEN IN HINDI !! This would be the easiest step of them all.
Step5->Get the form to fill the fees. This is really tiny form, basically a bank slip of 3 inches by 10 inches. Your details and the fees details have to be written on this with a sign and amount in words etc etc..There's another fitness measure here..This is to ensure that once you have returned from home, you get the habit of writing back, since you haven't done any in the hols..Sooooooo, this form has to be filled out upto 6 times!!!!! repeating the exact same info over and over again on each one...
Step6->Hopefully all the other formalities are done properly, and you have to get into the final lines to go pay the fees.. If u dont have a DD, a process in the bank similar to paying mess bills again. Only this time, the wait is almost half a day...So in this monstrous line which extends abt 100 mts with abt a person fitting in every couple of inches almost stuck together by the pressure..This lie may be split into 2-3 lines of similar types for parallel processing if more than 1 set of officers feels like working at a time..At the end of the line are a few ppl, each of whom collects one of the numerous forms you have, may put a stamp on one of them, or maybe sign on some form..Basically here is the place where u keep doing what the person in front of you has done no questions asked..
If u dont have the DD of the correct name or some other small problem, or maybe at the end of the final line if someone says some X's signature is missing from some corner of some form, you're in luck, u get to repeat any/all of the procedure again!!!!

At the end of this adventure, you are finally (hopefully properly) registered for the semester!! YAY!

This was the procedure in the first year..Over the years, this procedure was tweaked in many ways. Pretty much every time the locations of each of the offices/queues was changed. Sometimes this was done during the day, just for kicks, to add to the chaos!! Some times the number of leaflets to be filled was changed from 4-5-6-7 etc etc..The only proper change in the whole system, was brought abt by the students, thanks to a group headed by one of the most fundoo guys of our batch, who we used to fondly call kix. For our department, he made the course selection automated..This saved us loads of time and the whole step 4, cutting about an hr from the total registration time.. Apart from this, well,,no change was for the positive.. And strangely, despite introducing a system of automatically deducting the money for the mess from the bank account, at the start of every sem, mysteriously, there were always mess dues of the last sem to be paid!!!

After all this, started the running around to get hostel rooms...Another seemingly simple task............

Lots of incidents like that all through the years..
Getting out of college was no easier, with a slightly longer procedure stretching out over 3-4 days with even more intense mystery solving to find people!!

Finally, after it was all done, there was a sigh of relief from everyone that we wont have to do all this ever again...But then came the convocation date.. Strategically picked out to be the day before CAT, which they selected for many purposes(i wont go there now..)..So lots of people (including me) decided not to go, and get their degrees just mailed to them.. But no, this cant be that simple..Even for this there was a procedure, which was graciously done for me by jobin, a batchmate of mine who's in archi, which is a 5 yr course..
Even after all this, for more than a month after my convocation, i didnt get my degree...I started having nightmares about how i might have to run around the college administration to get the sole proof that i got a degree from there...But at the end,,and to my surprise,,last week, i finally got my degree at home..It presently lies put up for display in the drawing room within the safety of my home...

So now,,Finally,,,i can say it with pride and joy,,
I'm Certified a B.Tech!!!!!!!!
(i've definitely earned it)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Characters->
Kix-> Originally KillerX from The clan The Ghosts(TG), now a fellow member of the prestiged gAp. A guy with passion for what he does, and a trendsetter in college, he will be one wherever he goes. He's one of the most fundoo guys i've ever met. Mark my words, this guy will do great things.

Jobin-> This mallu's been with me since the first yr in college. Has some slightly strange tastes for a guy, but a great guy all the same, and one of the best artists i know. Another guy with passion for what he does..Also famous as thunder thighs and the mallu porn star. He even has a dance in his name, the jobba-bobba dance, and his very own creation, the kattar-kattar dance.(it is said that even some hi-tech dvd writers work on the theory behind dance!!)

Adventures of .....Goa!!

2008-12-20T12:25:00.007+05:30

With christmas around the corner, i thought i might as well right a post about the best place in India to be for Christmas,,,,yes,,,it is obviously,,Goa...Now everyone will talk lengths about how nice the place is, and the awesome beaches, and the natural beauty ( and of other types too... :D)..The ultra-bindaas atmosphere, adventure sports and cheap daaru make it one of the best places in India for a holiday. Christmas time makes it better, cos Goa celebrates Christmas on quite a large scale. And if not anything else, the place acts as an escape from the chills of North Indian Winters...

As you would've made out,,even i love the place.. But everyone knows how awesome a place for a Vacation Goa is and all. So i wont go there. This post about the adventures we had, when i went to Goa as a kid..Here's the story...

Dateline--> December 95 (Christmas/New Year time)
Place--> Goa

We made a family trip(Mom, sis and me) to Goa from Delhi. We had relatives there, so we planned to spend the week or so at their place. We were very excited, cos we ended up in Goa for christmas, and we would get to see some full scale christmas celebrations. Not the way they were in Delhi where in some place there would be a lone santa standing in the middle of some store. This time, there would be proper celebrations!!

The vacation was going like any other goa trip that you would expect, (keep in mind, we were kids, so no big adventure sports or daru). But still,,being Goa,, it was loads of fun. Christmas in Goa is an event i still remember! The vacation was coming to an end. We were to leave from Goa on 2nd January, by the train which left at around 6 in the evening. At this point, my mom got a great idea. She had a old friend of hers in Karwar. Karwar is place in Karnataka near the Karnataka-Goa border. After some quick verification, we found out that the place is about 3-4 hrs by bus. So the plan was made, and we decided that we'll all go visit this old friend. It would be easy, take abus from Goa at 6, reach karwar by 9 or 10, spend 2-3 hrs, and take the bus back, to reach back to the Goa station easily by 4-4:30 leaving an hr in hand as buffer. It was the perfect plan for optimum utilisation of time!! If only the world was so perfect......

Come Jan 2nd, we were all packed and ready before time, and caught the 6:30AM bus. Off we went across the western ghats, enjoying the great view along the way. The bus was nice, the journey was good, wether was pleasant, in short, everything was perfect. We reached Karwar a bit late, around 10:30. No problem, we would spend a bit less time there,,we thought. But to our surprise, my mom's friend, was waiting at the bus stand! After we got off, she found out what our plan for the day was, and when we were to return. When she got to know of our train from 'Londa'(place in goa, where our train was departing from), she got all worried, and said we might not make it back to the train in time!!!!

A rough knowledge of Goan geography is required here to understand the scenario here. Goa lies between the western ghats and the sea, and has a bunch of islands formed by many rivers flowing there, like Zuari and Mandovi. Because of the geography, the reach of railways is very limited, and even the capital(Panjim) has no railway station. Even the capital, Panjim, the capital, is an island. The place where we started, Panjim(West Goa), was not anywhere near where we had to board the train. Londa(Railway station) is at the East end of Goa. Refer to the Map.

Coming back, when we set out, we thought, that the station must be close to panaji somewhere, so we calculated the same amount of time to return. Little did we know that they'll be at different ends of the state!! And whats more, if u noticed in the map, unlike the Panjim-Karwar stretch, which is a National Highway, there is no direct road from Karwar to Londa!! This valuable knowledge,,like in most cases with me, we learnt the hard way!!

Puzzled at the whole scenario, we asked a few people around to confirm, all of them looked at us like mad ppl when we said we needed to be at Londa by the evening!! Then we asked around for the next bus to Londa,,THERE WAS NONE!!! We didnt even leave the Bus stand, we bade goodbye to mom's friend and hurriedly got on to the next bus which was going in the general direction of Londa.

After the bus ride in the rickety bus, we got off at this small town.It was already 3PM. This place didn't seem to have a decent bus stand, atleast, there werent more than 2-3 buses standing there, none of them in a hurry to move..With 3 hrs left for the train, we weren't gonna sit around waiting anywhere..We set out to look for other means of transport.

Some distance away, we came across someone shouting out that they're going to Londa. Slightly relieved, we went along with him. He took us some distnace, and pointed out to a bus. As we were getting in, he said, that that wasnt it,,it was the vehicle beside. But at first sight we saw none! When we went around the bus, we realised this royal means of transport was an old Tempo!!! The kinds they used to show in movies, IN THE 70's!!!

So we got in, only to see that the tempo was almost full, and only the front seat was empty. There was a lot of stinking fish in the last seat, and a few people sitting in the middle one. " Beggars can't be choosers", as the saying goes, and so we decided to go anyways! Soon after, i was sitting on an elevated block between the driver and the front seat. Soon after, i realised, that it was just above the radiator, with only a one of something layer seperating me from it!!!

We were moving at a decent rate, so for a while i was to adjust with my ass burning..The journey home was at stake. At a time like this, we passed through the "Dandeli wildlife sancutary". I dont really understand how, but we were getting all enthu seeing monkeys and deer on the sides of the road!!! We started looking and pointing out other animals we saw...We forgot all about the train and fact that we were in a rickety old Tempo, with stinking fish in the back!!

The tempo reached its destination, everyone got off. We got off too, only to realise that we still weren't at the station! And it was already 4:30. We found out soon enough that the station was 4-5 Km away, on top of the next hill. With no auto's around, this was another problem. We somehow managed to find a jeep guy willing to go in that direction and got on.

Finally, at around 5:15, we reached!!! We made it in time!! We even had time to go have something to eat at the station. It was only now that we realised we hadn't eaten all day!! We got on the train and returned to Delhi remembering all the madness,,all on a single day!

All in all,,one of the wildest and most unplanned trips ever! Maybe ignorance IS bliss, and because we were kids we enjoyed it.. Had we been a bunch of adults, being stuck in that situation, i'm sure there would be tempers flaring all around, not helping the situation at all!!

Singing...

2008-12-14T15:54:00.012+05:30

There's a load of singing shows in every language flooding the channels on TV. There are few or none actual singing shows left.Now all of them have changed to "reality shows"..I wont even go into what happens in these 'reality shows', but as for the actual singing shows,,even they are overloaded with terms like 'sur', 'taal', 'laya' and less classically 'antra', 'mukhda' etc etc etc.... Which brings me to the point, Why do people sing? In all the heavy bass and unimaginably complex and loud instruments, in the attempt to make every song sound like a dancing track with scantily clad(ok,,i'll admit,,often HOT) females, the soul of singing seems lost. But all is not lost, for there is one refuge of singing that can never be lost.. It iiiiiiis ,,
,,
,the BATHROOM!!!!

Every house, or atleast every apartments has atleast one distinguished soul from who the singer erupts in the bathroom. There must be something strangely liberating in the bathroom , that everyone just forgets about the rest of the world and starts singing. I think that it is because in a closed surrounding, they dont have to look at anyone's disapproving face when they start singing(If what they are screaming resembles a song)..There's no embarrassment factor there..All said and done,,Bathroom singing,Its just one of those mysteries of life that are better left as mysteries...So lets get to some famous singer stories...

Loo Singer
Timeline-->Early 90's(Summer Holidays)
Place-->Cousins house, Delhi
The day dawns, as little kids we were expected to get up in the morning, perform the daily ablutions early and get to breakfast. Now usually all that would take was getting rid of a bit of laziness, looking forward to all the fun that we would have in the day. But there was one problem. My cousin,,abt 4-5 at that time, had a habit. He used to sing when he was on the pot, lighten-ing his load. (samajh mein nehi aaya?? Wo HAGGA maar raha tha...). Even this wasnt much a thing to talk about. But what made it spectacular was the fact that this fellow didnt always have a perfect digestive system. He used to sit in there for a loooooooooong time everyday, sometimes even for half an hour!! So, every time he was in, there was some adult used to be waiting for him outside, just in case there was a problem. So daily in the morning, it was an event at home! Over time, people stopped waiting outside, and went about with their work as long as they could hear him singing. It became a signal!!! Soon, on the days when he didnt sing, people lined up outside the bathroom interrupting him time and again asking if everything was alright!! For adults to wait around everyday was not easy , so the big(ger) kids, my sis and i, used to patrol outside the bathroom, laughing away to glory at the weirdness of the whole idea,,and at the singing!! This was a major source of entertainment for all of us about which we used to laugh around for quite some time,, which usually used to get us late for breakfast.and sometimes even scolded for it..But who cared,,,it was the holidays,,and we were jobless, fun loving little kids!!

Duet singers
Timeline--> 2003-2004 (11th, 12th class)
Place-> Dattasai Apts, Hyderabad
Our house was very well ventilated, and we loved the light and wind, so all the windows were permanently open. A new family recently moved in to the house beside ours. With this family came along another bathroom singer. And as it happened, there was a window in our drawing room which was pretty close to the bathroom of the house beside. This person was one of the types who didnt really think much of the concept of decibels, so yes, in short,,every day our house used to be filled with the singing at some point in the day or the other..A bit irritating initially,,but got used to it, and used to laugh abt it every once in a while with friends.
Hols came by, leaving ppl in school , jobless as ever. So there was more time to sing in the bathroom! And normal singing became too boring. So what happens next,, a new dimension is added to it. How,,you ask?? Simple, one line of the song sung from inside, and the next filled up by her mom who were outside the bathroom! I almost fell off my chair the first time i heard this "family performance!"..I couldn't believe it, "These ppl have LOST IT", i thought..This duet was a performance of "It's the time to disco" from the movie kal ho na ho..And this became a regular affair, so much so, that i still think of bathroom singers every time i hear the song!!
As it turned out, later i became quite good friends with this female, and went on to realise that she was this great singer and all winning in almost every contest she sang in. Though most of the time when she ran bathroom concerts, i used to find it irritating cos of the volume, and the singing wasnt great either, but it used to be nice to hear such enthu singing!!

This behaviour is shown a lot lot more in hostel, where cross bathroom singing is a norm rather than an exception (sometimes even joined in by people walking by)!! And the shamelessness in college reaches levels where people dont care about who's listening or how bad they sound, they get together and sing all kinds of songs as loud as they can, regardless of where they are!!..Its basically the essence of bathroom singing without a bathroom! But that the whole point!!, The reason most people sing is because of they want to!! Not cos it sounds nice, not cos somebody asked them to, it just cos they feel great while singing!! The only thing stopping them is stupid things like shame or embarrassment!!

When we were kids, some of the most fun times i remember when my sis and i were on the sunny with my mom(yes that powerless little thing) and singing along like mad ppl on the road..This extended to the car where (thankfully) we didnt have a radio. The omnipresence of MP3 players and electronics in general has killed such small pleasures of life, which ppl these days shall never experience..

This video is a disney cartoon adaptation of a song called "I Love to Singa" from a movie called "the singing Kid" made way back in 1936..If you dont feel like singing after watching this ,you need psychological help!!
(If you're short on time, just watch the last 1-2 min of it!)

"I love to sing-a
About the moon-a and the June-a and the spring-a,
I love to sing-a,
About a sky of blue-a, or a tea for two-a,
Anything-a with a swing-a to an "I love you-a,"
I love to, I love to sing!"
If you're interested in the original,,it is here

A special mention here abt two (not-so-)famous singers in college. One being our very own sean paul, Makhija, who's unfulfilled dream in college was to sing 'get busy' by sean paul on stage. Cos of all of us, he was spared the extra shoes he would get flying at him on stage...Secondly, Gujjin. This guy is pretty much the worst singer ever heard. But that didnt stop him from learning a few bryan adams and nirvana songs and singing them aloud every once in a while. Hail the spirit of the guy for singing despite everyone making threats at his life when he starts!!

Needless to say, i love to singa every once in a while, and when im in a really good mood with a great song stuck in my head, i even hop and step and jump along!! Lots of my friends have heard me singing this song very often, and im sure most of them make faces whenever i start singing..(cos singing is usually where i start when i start acting totally mad...)..Many ppl say i sing bearably(or better), many more say i should stop singing...But i dont really care,,,cos i love to sing-a!!

Characters-->
Gujjin->Being a unique mixture of baniya-gujju that he is, he started showing these traits from the first day, taking a treat(for no reason) from the first person he knew in college....ME!!! Once he came,,he never left, and spent a major part of time in college in my room, to the extent ppl thought of him as one of my roommates!! On the good side, one of the determined ppl i know, who surprisingly was pretty smart too!! He's even a fellow gAp member!!

Makhija->Despite hailing from the land of bhujia itself (Bikaner), he doesnt show any traits of being a chom!! He's a 4 yr old in the shell of a 6-footer, completely lacking the the place in the brain where common sense is kept..But thats what makes him FUN!! Bubbling with enthu, and ever ready to do anything new, despite some of his ideas being plain BAD..(read sean paul part above for example..)

I should leave the post here,,,but i couldn't leave without a note for all those people who get sticks and stones for singing...I would say,,sing when you're winning,or even if ur just happy!,,and if any of your friends plead with you to stop,, you could sing out these lines..
"What would you think if I sang out of tune,
Would you stand up and walk out on me?
Lend me your ears and I'll sing you a song
And I'll try not to sing out of key...."
Oh, I get by with a little help from my friends...'
-From the beatles song ,"With a little help from my friends"

Sleep(Less-ness)

2008-12-07T00:36:00.005+05:30

I've never really considered sleep very important..To me, its just something i do when i have nothing better to do,,like in a boring class or bus/train..I only sleep when i'm very tired or i know that i might get tired the next day if i dont sleep..I dont really understand what joy people derive from sleeping their lives away..I think its just another bodily function, like going to toilet..(Now i know a few people who derive great pleasure from going to toilet, to the point of appointing presidents and a secretary for the (apparently)prestigious "hagga" and "tagga" clubs,,but lets not go there now)..So i think its just something thats gotto be done once in a while...

From the last 3-4 days, i've been spending most of the day and night in office trying to finish some work which has to go the client in a couple of days now. My has been something like this...
Wake up (around 10),get ready,office, lunch, office, dinner, office office office office ..(till abt 5-6AM) then get back and sleep. and repeat the next day since the last 3-4 days...As you can see, I'm manging a royal 3-4 hrs of sleep a day (taking out the cases when i got phone calls from home during this time on a couple of the mornings,which cut some more sleep)...Its 3AM,,and I think i need sleeeeep....But then, i wasn't always this smart so as to realise the fact..Like always,,there's a story to it...

Place -> Hyderabad
Timeline->Feb-March 2003 (Inter 1st year)
If your confused as to what inter 1st yr is,,its basically 11th class(state board) in with board exams.. I was in an IIT coaching center cum college in 11th and 12th which never really bothered much about college subjects and classes. We had a few classes which ended in november or december. This was the time just before the board exams, the preparatory hols of about 10 days. Though the stuff in coaching covered most of the topics , we had to start doing things in the way the texts books told, and not by fundoo coaching methods to get marks..

I was supposed to be damn good at Maths, but In my 10th, i got a measly 84 in maths,,much below what i expected..(But it was fate at work, which caused my total to be an awesome number..420!!)
..So keeping that in mind i wanted to get full this time and thought i'll finish the whole textbook in abt 5-6 days..For this purpose i decided to sleep as little as required.. There were a few things i used to do so as not to sleep..In ascending order of efficacy..
1. Solve problems!! There's an awesome high i get if i solve a difficult problem..Stuff like calculus and trigonometry are like puzzles if you enjoy it..
2.Loud music while studying..Linkin park or Metallica..perfect to keep you awake and drive away all your sleep..
3.Watch parts of gladiator...again!!
4.Coffee..Not the way normal ppl drink it..That takes too much time to make,,The time lost would defeat the purpose of sleeping less..So have a Coffee shot!! dont know what a coffee shot is?? Simple recipe..2-3 spoons of coffee, 2-3 spoons of sugar, abt half a glass of water. Mix and drink as it is!! It takes abt 15 seconds to make,,and i swear,,it gives a much better kick than coffee..The trade-off obviously being that it tastes HORRIBLE..But taste is too small a price for the greater goal...
4.Play UNREAL TOURNAMENT !! The only thing that'll definitely give u bigger kick than a fast death match of this would be a defribliator..(game also called 'vladivostok' by certain great people..god knows why..)

I believe the human body is a work of art and can take much more than what normal people think its limitations are. So if the idea appeals to me enough,, i stretch my limits as far as i can, which is usually much much more than thought normal.. That time,,I've was never really willing to accept the fact that little things like sleep can bog you down..I feel its more a fight of will than your body actually not being able to do things..

All set and planned to finish the maths textbooks..I began the solving..
Day1->Strategically taking short breaks in middle to keep efficiency highest, one day went off fast.
Night1->The night passed easily with the high of seeing sooooo many problems being solved..Not a sleepy wink or a yawn.
Day2->Continuing without a sign of slowing down.
Night2->Completed looooooads of syllabus..On a major high cos of speed. But then sleep made an attempt to claim what it though was rightfully its own..the night! With the high of solving not enough to keep me awake,,,Music played the substitute to ensure it not sleeping..Job well done..
Day3->Effects of weariness start showing. ..Thinking was slowing down..An irritation started to develop..But it wasnt the sort that made me want to sleep,,it was just irritation..By the evening, the effects of Music and Gladiator seemed to be fading..Maybe i need sleep,,But, i was so close, and the thought of me finishing in half the time kept me going..
Night3->Brain working sloooooooooowly...Coffee shots seemed useless too..Unreal tournament was played with that much more frequency to stay awake..With only a couple of chapters left at the end,,Sleep reared its ugly,(and heavy) head..By this time,,for me,,it was more of an ego fight than anything else,,i refused to give up despite knowing that sleeping was the right thing to do...
Day4->The day dawned..I could barely read now..The sun rose, my head seemed to be floating. I could barely even walk straight, but with a pen in my hand i tried to continue..I was getting delirious...But surprisingly,,i didn't feel sleepy..Its just that my brain had shut off..Even the most basic activities of talking seemed hampered..My mom came around and asked me something, it took me a couple of seconds to figure out what she was saying...i just replied with a "huh???"..She asked me again,,this time i understood,,but i couldnt think of an answer, and by the time i decided on what to say, i forgot the question again!! So,,i finally gave up and though i should to go try sleeping...I mumbled some gibberish and went and fell on the bed...But i couldn't sleep for a while,,it was like,,the eyes wouldn't remain shut..As if they were used to staying open..Finally,,after what seemed like an eternity,,i dropped off to sleep...
Slept through that day,,and got up at around 3Am at night..still a bit shaky,,but almost normal...

So came to end,,another bout of madness from my side..3 nights without sleep..I now know that sleep deprivation is used as a torture mechanism..But then,,like many other things,,i learnt this the hard way!! After this,,i did have lots of night outs,,for exams,,for movies,anime and Dota and sometimes just for the heck of troubling people around,,but i never stretched it past 2 days in a row...

If you've been reading carefully,,you would've wondered,,that when i'm short sleep,,why'd i spend an hour writing this blog?? I figured that another hour of staying awake after so many wouldn't really matter..And If you haven't realised by now,,,i'm a little bit weak with the obscure idea of common sense,,which would tell me to stop this and sleep!! And its a sunday tomorrow,,so im not gonna waste it sleeeeeeeeeping...I have plans to go out and meet friends and watch movies and have fun!!!sleep can wait....
:D

But an interesting thing is that the day i got placed in the company that i am,,was also after a night out!! Seems like the capability was something they were looking for!! So maybe its all for good!! And if you find any glaring mistakes or typo's,,keep in mind,,that i've only slept for abt 15 hrs in the last 4 days!!

Agra

2008-11-30T06:19:00.011+05:30

I usually have something to about most of the cities i've visited or stayed in for a certain period of time. (Sometimes even about cities i haven't visited, but thats a different story)
I've just returned from Agra, with a fresh set of experiences from the city..So this is one in the line of those continuing rants!
Indian or not,,,every person who can call himself educated has heard of the Taj Mahal, and consequently most will know the name Agra. Here are some of the specialties of Agra.

The Taj Mahal
One of the most beautiful building in the world, A sign of undying love and all..I'll leave the description to the professionals and the poets..I'm sure you've heard a lot about this glorified tomb which got everyone in the world to notice Agra. I'll tell you some which you might not have heard..
Legend has it that shahjahan got the thumbs cut off all the builders so that they never build something as great or exquisite as this again.
Rumour has it that The Taj mahal was actually a shiva temple! The rumour has been circulating via email since a long long time..If you didnt receive this fwd yet and are actually interested, contact me, i'll send it to you.

Petha
Another Agra speciality, one which has gotten Agra even more famous amongst Indians. This is a unique sweet that almost has a texture like jelly. If you've not tried it,,,you are missing something!

Guns
Being 'bhayyan' land that it is, weapons are quite common here. Lots of people end up carrying country made weapons. Someone i know once told me, that in a weddings in their family in UP, pretty much every guy 15 and above has some or the other type of gun in their hand!! And they go around wildly firing them into the sky during the celebrations. Considering that its UP, i didnt think his claims were too far fetched!

Sirens
Another trait of bhayyan land. Any car can be equipped with a siren! If it is bolero/sumo/qualis etc belonging to UP, then it comes factory fitted with them special for UP. Some people go that extra step and even fit one of those red flashing bulbs on the car. Basically,,,whether you have registered or not, you have to get a siren, and every time u want to go fast or zip through traffic, you turn it on. Because there are soooo many sirens blaring all around, not many people care, but then, it gets you more noticed than a horn, right! And more so, if you have a siren on the car, the cop won't stop you even if u run over 25 people.. So its all good!!

Traffic
There's something interesting and sometimes even unique about the roads/traffic in every place. But this place is just awesome. This wasnt in Agra, but close to it on the way on NH2.
There was a bridge. On one side it got damaged. Normal people would repair the bridge and continue with life. Lazy people would close that side of the bridge and only use the other side for both ways of traffic. Now the people here are special. So what they do, they put a bloody red light in the middle of the bridge!! So we have 18-wheeler trucks coming in and waiting on the upslope! The driver says, THIS red light is not for stopping, but it means that we have to slow down while we shift to the other side of the bridge! A new definition, but we're no one to question it. Now as if this nonsense wasn't enough, the day we went, there was a baraat coming in on the wrong side!! They were walking/dancing in the lane that was so generously gifted to us on the other side of the road! A baraat going on a bridge/flyover is unheard of anyways, but one on the NH in a place like that!! The only thing we could say is,,this can happen only in UP!!

Siddha
This is the most enjoyable thing about Agra. Let me explain. I had to get to some place in Agra.
The conversation with every person i asked for directions was something like
Me-->"bhai saahab, ye kheria mod kis taraf padega?"
person telling way-->"Aap aise jao"(showing some gestures similar to the above shown gestures or sometimes no gesture at all)
Me-->"phir"
person--> " bas, wahaa se aap siddha nikal jao", (followed by a similar gesture)
Me-->"phir wahaa se seedha kitni dur??"
person-->"bas ji seedha nikal jao, yehi koi X kms hai". (X ranging from 0.5 to 10!!)
When the first couple of ppl told me this i thought that Agra is a small place so the road must actually be going that way. But the destination was nowhere in sight! Finally, after asking about 15 ppl and 1 hr of travel i reached. Each person gave me directions in the exact same way!!! Not one of them every used the words "left","right","daaya" or "baaya". (For all you ppl who are weak in hindi. "daaya"-right turn. "baaya"-left turn, and "siddha"-> go straight, the way it is said in agra.)

The people in Agra have solved all problems of travel !! Noone needs any GPS or SatNav or even a map. Everything is "siddha".. Wherever you want to go, its just one twisted hand and straight all the way!! "All roads lead to Rome",it was once said. Agra is much greater, cos even in Agra, all roads lead siddha to wherever you want to go!!

Some of the ppl in my office recollect with great fervour, the time when they were in Agra, and reached a dead end and asked for directions. The guy says, "aap bas seeddha nikal jao" pointing his hand towards the dead end gradually making the hand take a U-Turn and then some other turn. But who cared,,it was all siddha!!!

It is said that most females are bad at directions and at maps.(Some of them i know are pretty good at them though). Apparently most guys don't stop to ask for directions.(Another generalization which i don't totally agree with). But Maybe this idea of simplified travel is another tribute in honour of "shah jahan's eternal monument of love", the tribute of the people of Agra to lovers, by stopping fights between the guys who dont ask for directions and the females who can't follow them!! Everything is just siddha!!

Death By chocolate..concluded

2008-11-22T12:00:00.006+05:30

(I'll be continuing from where i left off in the last post,, so if you have'nt read that,,read it first before reading this one...otherwise u wont understand anything)

Dateline->5th sem, college
Venue-> Bake Hut, Jaipur

Will get back to the story...But first a tribute to the great place..
Bake Hut--> Its a bakery in mall conveniently placed right outside our college!! This is THE place to get pastries/cakes in Jaipur. Very thoughtfully, the whole bakery is seperated from the outside crowd only big a completely see through glass. So basically everyone can look in and (inevitably) have their mouth watering as they walk by...At this outward facing glass, is also a table where ppl sit and eat, confirming to those out side the delectable offerings were not only for show...

So, on that fateful evening,,
Pandu and I entered bake hut, to be enthusiastically(almost evil) welcomed by nano who had made all the prior arrangements. We were asked to sit while the "cakes" where being brought forth..The cake was actually 8 pieces of DBC neatly arranged in a circle..(For DBC description read prev post..again!)..Now what was brought out was not one,,but two cakes!!! One per person!!I was thinking it would be one between the two of us..Now that would be, a peice of cake!! But 16 peices of DBC!! Thats like more than aaaaall the females in our college would eat,,combined!!
(a national level engg college,so you can understand the scarcity)

Though the pressure of upholding our reputation was bearing upon us, the sight of soooooo much GR8 fooooood brought out a faint smile on our faces, and so we began! Spoon after spoon was dissapearing in our mouths. Meanwhile, everyone walking by slowed down to watch. I could almost feel all of them cursing our selfishness under their breath.A few others walking by thinking how MAD we were.. A few ppl even stopped to click pics with their mobiles. Shameless as we were, we didnt really mind them looking,,and maybe it even motivated us to eat more! A couple of little kids even stopped and refused to move for a while, watching us with dreeeeeamy eyes,,probably thinking,,that we were in heaven,,only to be pulled away by their moms soon who seemed like she was muttering even more abuse to us..

Amidst all this, we were running through peices...one, two,,three,,three,,three,,three,,three and a half....err..four..Then it was tooooo much chocolate!!! I went and had a glass of water just to clear the taste..Pandu followed suit.. Refreshed, we started off again..By this time,,around 5-6 friends of ours came along and were watching us..After this we were supposed to go for a treat..By the time i reached 5 i had another 2-3 glasses of water..Stupid chocolate taste,,doesnt leave ur mouth easily..Then someone had a coke,,i thought,,maybe the gas would help,,and kept sipping after every bite..By the time i finished 6, the 500 ml bottle was over..Meanwhile pandu continued with only a couple of glasses of water, albeit at a reduced pace..

Of the friends there, cheering and irking us to continue on were kanta, gujjin and nano,,booing and jeering were kedappan, murmur, kix and makhija(yes,,all these are names of the ppl),,though everyone ultra-excited by the prospect of the madness!! The cheering was for obvious reasons,the booing was because,,if we left anything,,they would get it..Like hyenas waiting for lions to have their fill and leave,,poking the lions every once in a while..

With Mcdonalds right above us,,there was never a time in my life when i wanted a McD burger more(actually,,it must be the only time i Wanted a Mcd burger),,or maybe even a packet full of mirchi!!But eating other stuff in middle was against the rules.. By this time,,every spoon was becoming painful..I was feeling like puking cos it was tooooooo much bloody chocolate!! I somehow trudged through another half peice over the next 5 min and couple of glasses of water more..And at 6 and a half peices,,i felt,,a bite more and i would throw up..(That would help me finish,,but i didnt want to win that way..)..And so,,for the first time in college history,,,i said,,"I cant eat anymore!!"..Within about 2 seconds,,there were a few lunges and the rest of the cake disappeared...The only traces left were bits of chocolate around the mouths of the ppl around..

Pandu was continuing steadily,,though he was behind me,,he showed (not many) signs of slowing down..My respect for the person increased many-fold in this time..He continued with the same pace and a smile on his face. I was cheering him on..I thought he'll finish it for sure..But then,abt 10 min later,he just finished the 7th pastry,,and even he fell..His remaining pastry too had the same fate as mine..Disappeared in a flash...

Our heads hung in shame, we forked out the cash. The bake hut owner was more than pleased, for getting soooo much publicity and sale! He had a smile on his face since we walked in,,maybe even he was interested in the outcome!!

Immediately after this, we went on a treat with real food(courtesy kix and gujjin)! and needless to say,,pandu and i were the first to start and last to finish even there...So we figured, it was out chocolate limit that was at the test,,not the food limit..Then pandu told me,,he stopped eating earlier,cos we had another treat waiting..True or false,,nobody knows yet...But i think he's capable of it..

The aftermath-->
Now that i look back,,maybe the name "death by chocolate" signifies something..The death of the appetite for it..I used to loooooooove sweets and chocolate and all..After that day, i think twice when offered.. Sweets dont seem half as enticing as they used to..I am usually satisfied by a piece or two..And the same with chocolate,,i've never eaten chocolate ice-cream since..And i keep my distance from pure chocolate the likes of dairy milk..Its been 2 yrs,,and still i eat them only in small quantities... never know,,maybe that one day ensured a life long freedom from diabetes for me...Maybe i've found the cure to it,,sort of like a vaccination!!
:D

The challenge was attempted by another strange soul called soumi, who said he knew no limits of eating chocolate..Sadly,,even he failed..Though he went on to accomplish much rarer (and maaaaaaaybe even greater) feats in life,,which few people can replicate...

Characters-->
Pandu- volumes can be written about him..The rare goan in an engineering college, with lots of eccentricites and lots of specialities. He enjoys the honour of being the most teased person in college by me..

Nano-(college) Yes,,his name stems from his size..One of the thinnest characters u'll ever see..The epitome of weight loss even!! I would say he's on of the characters who resembles me in most ways possible! Most of our interests are the same..

Death by Chocolate...part 1

2008-11-20T11:11:00.008+05:30

Dateline:-around Septemer 06..(5th sem,college)
Place:- Jaipur

I love food! The more i get, the better!! The reputation for my enormous appetite had spread far and wide. There were few who could match my eating prowess. "I can't eat anymore",,Never had i uttered these blasphemous words.Wherever we went, i was one of the elite class of people who were the 'dustbins' in college. We were the people who could always finish the food that was there. Make no mistake, it was a great honour and people looked upon us in awe, for it was because of noble souls like us, that food NEVER got wasted, and everyone went home with a clear conscience. The general attitude whenever we went out was, "order as much as you want, adi is here, nothing will go waste!"..

One of the few people who had a seemingly endless void in them like me was 'pandu'..Yes, one of my best friends in college who has many many other distinctions, the most famous being "Pandit ho ke meat khaata hai!!"..He was another dustbin, and the two of us, together made sure no mountain of food was too high for us!

Death By chocolate-(DBC, as its popularly known)
One of the most mouth watering delicacies every made. Though it as many forms, Its usually a big pastry smothered with chococlate. If you dont know what it is, i'll give you and idea. Take a big dairy milk bar. melt it on to a chocolate pastry and then add more chocolate sauce on top and then add chocolate+sugar to taste. That would give you an average piece of something resembling a pastry and aptly named-'Death by chocolate'.

There was this awesome bakery near college called Bake hut. The best pastries/cakes i've ever eaten. Needless to say, they had the most amazing death by chocolate too! 2-3 females sharing one piece of it was a normal sight. We used to have one per person on days when we felt rich! It wasnt meant to be filling but it was gooooooooooooooooooooood....

It is basic human nature to try to do something that unique, tread ground never tread on before..So nano(another friend, more on him later) got this wild idea, he keeps getting these with alarming frequency. So he says with a glint in his eye, " I have a challenge for you", "you and pandu have to eat one cake of DBC"."Challenge",the one word i can't resist! I asked him what i would get if i did. He says " If you finish it, i'll pay the bill, otherwise you have to". Simple, i thought. Someone is willing to pay for my eating!! A challenge where i get all i can eat!! What could be better than that!! On the same lines, pandu agreed too!

A few days later nano calls me up one morning asking me if its fine for the evening. my reaction "For food,,always!!". So the stage was set. Two un-vanquish-able dustbins Vs LOTS and LOTS of chocolate! yes,,it would be a piece of cake..

To be concluded in the next action packed post.....Keep checking!!

5th of november

2008-11-05T11:13:00.003+05:30

"Remember, remember, The 5th of November,
the gunpowder treason and plot.
I see of no reason, why the gunpowder treason,
should ever be forgot."

For those who haven't heard this rhyme, go watch 'V for Vendetta'!!Its a damn cool movie!
Though the rhyme is not originally from the movie, you'll love it once you watch the movie!

Rocket science..

2008-11-02T18:33:00.004+05:30

Everyone loves to fly..Everyone loves the way of rockets fly..Its an event in itself..Though,,i'm not gonna write abt chandrayan-1 or something like that..People are going all ga-ga over the mission and are raving about the rocket science used in it and all.. But I am not rocket scientist in the true meaning,,so i'd rather talk about the other, more contemporary type of rocket science most Indians know abt!

Yes, i'm talking abt the 'rockets'(firecrackers) that pretty much every Indian is aware of..You'll get them in flashy boxes usually with a pic of some actress/sportsman with some fancy/deadly name and sky filled with explosions or colors above their heads...Make no mistake,,the pictures are in no way related what the rocket actually is..I dont even know how many types they are called now,,but i like to keep it simple and i classify them as - rocket bomb, the light-walla rocket, the siren rocket and the (lesser known,but super cool) parachute bomb!

Snippet from history-->
Rockets were not always used for diwali..They used to be used in India during street-fights/gang fights!! The rockets used to be made in a way so as to fly horizontally above the ground and go and explode at a certain distance!!
Source:- My grandfather!! He's seen these fights first hand and His elder brother apparently was an expert at making these rockets!!

Despite how wild this claim may sound,,there is a funda behind the motion of these rockets..This info comes straight from my grandfather, after the above stated point, there's no way u can dispute it!
Funda-> Place the rocket horizontally on your finger, in such a way that the head (the explosive part) lies on one side and the stick on the other side of the finger. Sort of like a scale. If it balances, then the rocket is supposed to go straight ! simple!

But coming to the actual fun of diwali rockets..They tend to be very temperamental..You never really know what they'll do..Usually, a whole box of rockets behaves in a similar way..Its more fun to talk of rockets based on the way they fly (or not)..I suppose i could divide them into a few types,,like->
1. The zoomers-> Go straight up, very fast and do whatever they are supposed to (siren,light,bomb etc..).Safe, not very interesting or eventful,,unless fired in a direction other than up!
2.The fizzers-> They dont rise, they'll just fizz out all of their stuff in the bottle,,not moving an inch..Its more like opening a cold drink bottle than firing a rocket..
3.The Turners-> they come out at hyper speed, and with the same speed turn towards some side and zoom away until they hit something (or someone)..Run and hide when u get a batch of these..Will scare the living daylights out of unsuspecting junta around..
4.The twisters->They'll go up a little,,and start going round and round in really tiny circles..And most of them keep ascending while doing this!! They are the most puzzling of the lot,,and also the most fun to watch!!
5.The U-turns-> They use power to go up, they use power to come down..And they land less than 20 feet away still spewing out sparks..All in a nice little shape of an upside-down U..
6.The thinkers-> These are the most interesting of the lot,,they'll slowly rise a couple of feet high,,maybe even float in air for a couple more seconds,,and at once choose one of the above behaviours, gain a high speed and zoom away!!
7. The fat-asses-> Nothing can get these guys to move out of the bottle..No amount of fire will propel them upwards, their asses will be firmly planted in the bottle..An even worse case of this is when they dont even send out any fire,,they just explode knowing that its no use trying!!
8.Tussssssssss->This is one category that applies to almost every cracker..They're stubborn and wont fire up even if u light them..They'll just eat up the wick and sit there doing nothing..They are the most dissapointing..

The maddest rockets ever!!
place-> hyderabad - Duttasai apts
dateline->1998-99(diwali)..
Karthik's and his brother left some crackers over from the earlier diwali..This contained a few boxes of rockets too..As they are the most fun to watch, with great anticipation the rockets were brought forth..Now, noone reailsed that they had gone soggy in the time and noone dried them in the sun..The rockets,,as they seemed weren't too happy abt it..They were at their moody best..Every rocket was more innovative than the last..They each tried to outdo the madness spread by the earlier rocket..After every rocket,,ppl used to run and hide,,cos noone was safe from the ire of the rockets.Some went along the ground, some into the postbox, some into karthik's house (which was right above),some just went tuss or died, the best and most faithful ones performed a hyper-speed U turn and landed in the 'kanjoos marwadi's' house(The house beside our apartments where they never used to return the ball if it fell in..They must've been the most hated characters in the colony, thus the name..), much to the pleasure of everyone there, who even applauded the rockets for expressing our dissent..Eventually,,every rocket became an adventure with the anticipation reaching phenomenal levels and the reflexes of every person their being tested as they performed daredevil acts escaping the rogue rockets!! Never was, or never will be a box rockets as much mad and as fun as that !!

Come to think of it, is it even right to call it rocket 'science'..Cos even after so many launches and billions of dollars and years of calculation, if even NASA can't properly launch rockets,,Then maybe it is more of a probability function or a game of luck than an actual science..

Characters-->
Karthik-> One of my oldest friends..Was the first person i met in my apartments..When i was in school,,I think i spent more time in his house than mine!!The only person who ALL of my friends in hyd know regardless of how i know them.. He loves the phrase "lite le " and shows the same attitude in pretty much everthing he does! Though I wont go into the nicknames here for his sake...
:D

I come from...........

2008-10-23T10:37:00.005+05:30

Generally, when you talk to someone the first time and if the conversation is more than just a hi or hello, There are certain things that inevitably come into the topic conversation. The ones i'm referring to here are about the place..It could be about the place where we are or the place where they come from..Now, decorum of the conversation (or an uncomfortable pause, waiting for an reciprocation from my side in that topic) states that i tell them where i come from...Or, if the person is more direct, they'll just ask you where you are from ..Though i have to agree that for most, the answer would be fairly simple..They would just say one place..In my case,,That, is usually not such a simple affair...

The question that is framed wrong actually...What do you mean by "where are you from?" or "what is your native place". I don't think they realise what you are asking..According to the dictionary
Native or native land-->
1. Originating, growing, or produced in a certain place or region.
2. Of, belonging to, or characteristic of such inhabitants.
3.Archaic Closely related, as by birth or race.
This question has too many answers...
Place of originating ->In humans, i presume that would be birth.
Place of growing->Does it mean childhood?If so, what are the limits of childhood? Does it mean where you went to school? Where you went to junior college(intermediate/11th and 12th) or college? Because i think we keep growing atleast until we are in college. What if, these were all in different places, worse still, if half of schooling done in one place and half in another...and so on...
Closely related by birth to certain inhabitants-> So even if i wasn't born in a particular place and never even went there,, by virtue of my forefathers i become native to that place?
As you can see, It is a very vague question. I personally feel, "Home(town) is where the heart is"..

Coming to all the above questions..
Place of originating-->I was born in delhi.. Legend has it, that my excitement to come into this world was so great that i was out by the time my parents reached the hospital gate! But more on that later....
Place of growing--> Delhi, till 5th class, with an years stay outside India in middle...Then rest of schooling in Hyderabad..Keeping matters simple, i did EVEN my intermediate in Hyderabad..Then the college in Jaipur..
Closely Related by birth--> Another difficult question to answer..As the norm usually states in the Indian society, I am a part of my father's family..So that way, i would say i'm from a small town in Telangana (Andhra Pradesh) called Mahabubnagar..But i never went there till i was 6..I've always been around my mother's side of the family.. My mother facing the same (family history) dilemma with her parents who were from different places in Coastal Andhra..I never asked further,,but maybe the cycle continues..

So,,Coming back to the initial question,,Its not an easy to answer..But, to save the people who are asking some confusion, I say that i'm from hyderabad(That is where my heart is.)..And if (god forbid) they ask for further details about it the long story begins..Now another problem comes if they ask me when/how i'm going home..Because if the answer was simple there wouldn't be any fun..So, to top off all the confusion, my family lives in bangalore now...

I don't remember even one interview in which i reached the HR round and they didnt ask me where i was from..And so followed the long story..Now if even that wasn't enough, i did my internships in college in Goa(YES,,supposed to be work,,in goa!!) and in Bombay (Sorry,,Mumbai, for i may get beaten up for this by some political parties..)..In each of these places i lived for a couple of months..And, my second favourite city after Hyderabad would be Bombay..The place just WORKS!!! Everything moves like clockwork! and the people are helpful, and the place is safe! Not to mention, that i like the sound of marathi...

Well, now i work in gurgaon, which is pretty much Delhi..So life has come sort of full circle! And you might be thinking that this is nothing compared to military people's kids..This whole process is much simpler for military people, they just say, "i'm from a military background" and noone asks anymore questions!!

To sum it all up, i couldn't put it better than what an interviewer said at the end of the long explanation about "where i come from?", He said,with a smile,,that i am,, A TRUE INDIAN!!

Lenses

2008-10-18T23:55:00.005+05:30

Continuing the vision stories from the last post..For those of you out there who used to identify me by my glasses,,I'm sorry to say, you won't recognise me anymore!!! Sorry to disappoint you guys, but i switched to contact lenses..As with pretty much everything around me, there's a story behind this too..

TimeLine-->August 2008
Place-->Gurgaon
After i started working, within about a month, it seemed like my power was increasing again, after 3 years of remaining constant! !(By now i didn't need either star sports or the boring game of cricket to figure this out...Any channel on TV would do! :D)..The primary suspects being that i'm staring too much at the computer and not blinking enough and not taking breaks and blah blah blah...The normal reasons everyone gives in a similar scenario..So, i made a conscious effort to take breaks, and look at things far away, blink more etc etc..But still it didn't help...Then came the advice from my sis to change to lenses, on the pretext that the power doesn't increase if i wear them..Being a guy,, i dream of a time with more power for EVERYTHING, the power of my eyes is the one thing i DONT want to increase!!So, i decided to make the big switch...Soon I'd started taking of my glasses from time to time and looking in the mirror,,thinking how different i look!!(And NO,,,that wasnt cos i couldnt see well without my glasses!!!)

I just got my first (spendable) salary..Orders from higher athaurity said "first give to god,,then spend on everyone else". (Such Orders from higher athorities are non debatable, non questionable issues,,failing which ......NO,,,dont think about it...there is not question of failure.....)..So, the immediate saturday i got up early, took bath and went to a temple and made a sizeable contribution to the hundi..
Then, i proceeded to the next noble task..To get myself my new contacts!!!

Walking into the store, trying to look like a cool,fashionable contact lens user,spewing out the best english i could,,i said to the optician.."I want to get contacts. First, i'd like to get my eyes checked"..With the similar amount of style he goes and does a long range, 'shahi thuuk' of the guthka/pan he was chewing and says "wahaa pe baitho"...So i sat there feeling like a big goof thinking how times have changed..

Eye-checkup for change in power turned negative results..My power hadn't changed!!
Apparently my spects were too old and scratched,,and THATS why i couldn't see too well !! But once the descision was made, i decided to go ahead..To get lenses as precaution..

The next step was to learn how to wear them..I thought,,"How difficult can it be??,,my sis wears em in less than a minute everyday". So the optician told me the procedure..Pretty simple..What followed, was a series of attempts to put them in..(in approx order and numbering)
attempt 1-->Then he(optician) said he'll do the honours, and takes the lens, holds my eye open and starts poking his bloody finger in my eye!!!! My eyelid was stronger than his finger and instantly shut! Noone's going to poke my eye while i look at it..Its like watching a knife coming into your stomach and you just sitting there letting it happen...NO WAY!!!

attempt 2-->After some persuasion, i decided to hold my eyelid open and set my mind on not closing the eyelid..Then came the finger...closer..closer... now at the distance of the Tome cruise MI knife scene..but my eye knew that i'm no secret agent!!! eyelid SHUT!! lens fell on my cheek..

attempt 6 -->Lens touch eye for the first time!!! Smile of joy erupted ! in abt 3 nanoseconds it the solution on the lens burned my eye..eye close again, out goes the lens..

attempt 7-10-->Eye touching...Eye burning..Eye closing...water problem solving..Optician getting irritated..
attempt 10-15-->My finger poking lens in my eye...Eye thinking,,"homemade knife or outsiders,,doesnt matter!!".. Eye shut..lens fall...

attempt 15-20-->optician poking finger..assistant jacking my eye open..DAMN! My eye lid is even stronger than the assistant!!!

and so on...

After some zillion attempts (by the optician and me) and abt 1 hr,,and about me being about 2 litres of tears lighter from one eye...It goes in !! After that eye watering for about 5 min more.. i could finally see ! oh,,such clarity!! i could barely feel anything in my eyes!! The jubilation at seeing my face from 20 feet away in a mirror,,without glasses!!in one word.. AWESOME!!
The optician was happy at the result of his hard work and was packing all the stuff..Then i reminded him..He put it in ONLY ONE EYE!!!

At max possible speed and brutality, with all the force the assistant could muster,,they put in the other lens in only 10 min !! They gave me numerous looks of disgust and said that girls get it done faster!!!
I'm sorry,,but girls are used to putting and poking weird things around their face and eyes..Its called MAKE-UP!!
So i walked out, with eyes still burning but a clear view of the world..Waiting to hear people comments on the change!!

Over the next few days, me putting and taking off lenses became sort of a spectacle for my friends..And some took great pleasure in seeing me teary eyed..It arose from the fact that i had irritated them forever and they couldnt do anything,,but now they could see me cry!!

Since, i have become pretty good at wearing em..It doesnt burn while i'm wearing em and 'no more tears' while wearing or taking em off..Some stunts were done some stunts here too!...i have worn them in a moving car and ,,
and...
...
in an INTERVIEW!!!! Yes,,in a running interview(btw,,I was one of the ppl taking the interview!),,,while i was sitting there,,i rubbed my eye and out came the lens in my hand!!!! before anyone noticed,,i put it back in and continued as if nothing happened!!!

Note-->People!!!Stop asking if a person wearing spects has sight..Obviously they do!! Ask them if they need the spects to see better or for headaches,,presuming thats what you want to ask..(though i never really understood what difference it makes why the person is wearing em!)

Tales of spects..

2008-10-18T00:52:00.005+05:30

To most people, my spects have been my identity as far back as they can remember me. I'm sorry to break it to you, it wasn't always so. Right up till 7th class, i had 20/20 vision..
When we used to play cricket in the apartments, and the ball used to land in the under construction apartments beside ours frequently. I used to take great pride in the fact that my "Eagle Eyes" used to be able to spot the ball in night or day, at any distance, in any tiny hidden place. The irony is that soon after i called myself that, while watching cricket on TV and i wasnt able to clearly read the 'Star Sports' sign. Maybe it was the world's way of telling me the eagles weren't ready to give away the title of their famed eyes so easily!! Well, i then had to swallow my words when i realised that my vision wasnt perfect, I had to get spects, and soon people might start reffering to me with names the likes of "chashmish" and "soda-buddi","four eyes" etc etc..But all the same, i was excited at the prospect of seeing everyone's surprised faces when i went back to school after the holidays!

My first pair of glasses, were inherited from my sis. She got a new pair, and i got her old brown rectangular spects. Though, at that time, I was looking forward to going to school with them too much to mind it! The first few weeks of 8th class, everyone used to comment only on my glasses and most conversations revolved around how i 'realised' that i needed them! The old frame soon gave way cos i used to play around with my new 'toy' too much..
Then came the "Gandhi spectacles". Yes, i chose them! No, i didnt think they were so big that my face was barely visible behind them! The 'actual' reason i bought them was that i wanted a silver frame, but my mom flatly refused to spend much on the glasses, so i got the cheapest silver frame there!! The general reaction of everyone around was on the lines of "What is that?? Gandhi spects or what? Who chose them?" and i had to come up with some or the other lame excuse to cover up for the whimsical choice!!

The first thing i did when i was about to enter junior college, was to get the spects changed.(the fact that my power was increasing and i had to change the glass every year helped!)..So i proudly entered my coaching cum college with my new glasses, and well,dozed off in the first class and got picked up for it too! Talk about publicity for me in my new avatar!!!!
(Though i got famous for sleeping, not my spects..But a little Fame is never bad!! And more sleeping in class episodes later..)

Somewhere in the start of 11th, i met one of my school friends(Sharan). He saw me and just passed by without stopping. When i called out, he looks back and says "bharre??its you or what?? i didnt recognise u be!"..
"MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!", i thought and smiled to myself, knowing that i left behind the tag of the "gandhi spects"!

Well,,the new spects lasted me through intermediate, in college through the tough times of ragging, and lot more times while playing, with footballs whacked straight at my face close range quite a few times(me being the goalkeeper)..

Though halfway through college(2nd year),,i shifted to a more dignified half-framed spects, which i'm still wearing till today!
Though, these glasses are not without their own story, and give me the look of "you displease me and i will smite u in a flash!!" in all passport size photos..Some cant believe that a person like me who's smiling most of the time can actually get angry,,and after seeing that pic,,noone wants to even try getting on my nerves!!
:D

The passport pic...

To be continued,, with more vision aids....

Characters-->
Sharan-->"abe joker" being his favourite dialogue..In one word, Sharan can be summarized as mad!!
There will be specific blog posts describing his madness..with us being parts of it quite a few times...so no more here...

10 Movie Marathon!!

2008-10-16T20:25:00.002+05:30

As everyone knows,, I'M A MOVIE BUFF..and i love being one..
I can watch pretty much any movie, over and over again..If there is any resistance to watch it, it would be one of the following reasons...
1. Cash --> yes, i would watch pretty much any movie,, but i won't spend money on it.. A waste of time is fine,,but a waste of money AND time, is a total nonsense!!
2. Much more interesting things to do..Eg-> playing either comp games or sports, BUGGING people, watching other stuff(anime, series etc), watching a good movie,,(even its for the 100th time)...
3.The sky falling on our heads..though in such a scenario,,i could still watch the movie till the sky fell on my head...I mean,,if you're gonna die anyways,,why worry? you might as well die doing something you love!
And NO!
the fact that the movie is plain BAD only sends it down the priority of things to do..it never has taken it out of things to do!! I can safely say that after sitting through unquestionably the worst movie ever
Mr. ya Miss..(for more on this and the worst movies of all time,,refer to trivia below..)
The only exception to this rule is sadistic movies...i may watch them eventually,,but as it stands i cant stand the idea of showing brutality just for the bloody heck of showing fountains of blood and people relishing fondling bloody entrails of others living beings,,(whats left of em or what used to resemble one before the sadist started)...This is the reason i've never got down to watching movies like 'Saw' or 'Hostel' and their sequels..Though i liked the idea behind Saw, the sadism put me off..
(Give me a nonsense, stupidly funny movie without any logic any day,.Hail Adam Sandler!!!)
Coming back to the point...

The 10 Movie Marathon
Timeline-->11th and 12th October 2008 (Weekend)
Place-->Gurgaon
What started out as an overly lazy saturday, with me getting up at around 11 and not brushing till 2, the day where i had many plans ,,among many,,one was going to my cousins at Faridabad ( which is in NCR itself, which is usually a pretty adventerous one way trip of 2-3 hrs in numerous modes of transport of all kinds).A pre-condtition to this was me gettin a haircut for obvious reasons...So i finally kicked myself out of the lazyness,,cos i was damn hungry,,and proceeded to the other guest house for lunch...As luck would have it, lunch was served only in office that day..So came to office,,in shorts and a shirt,,,barely presentable....But what the heck,,its an informal place,,so i didnt care...

Once in office,,after lunch,,the lure of the unseen movies wanting to be seen and unchecked mail was too much to handle..As usual,,not many mails..Not to be outdone,,i sat down to start what shall go down in history as another nonsensical achievement i'll proudly wear on my sleeve...

At the back of my head since a few days,, was the movie,'A Wednesday', which lots of ppl recommended, some who i never thought will be up to date with movies had also told me to watch it..This movie had to be watched...Little things like hygiene, haircut etc could wait for later..From start to end, it was a fast no-nonsense movie...Got me into a nice movie mood watching..

And by then,, it was 5:30..Was thinking whether to go to the barber or not...Now came the part where i had to get a haircut...What better time to remember your grandmother's words..
"You shouldn't get your hair cut on saturdays or tuesdays"..
Also the other rule--
"You should not cut your hair or shave at night"..
Now i had facing me not one,,but two rules laid down by a higher athaurity!!

No (Conveniently timed)good boy like me could oppose that much order! So down the drain went the plan to get a hair cut..
Off i headed to Maurya's house to salvage the day on my new not-so-mean machine..its a bike alright, which runs on the power of the likes of Hercules himself,,and whats more its got front and back shockers and 18 gears too!! beat that u filthy smoke spewing, earth wrecking, fossil fuel guzzling 'auto'mobiles!!!
:D
For the people who don't know who maurya is,,(obviously you are not from my college),,a further intro shall be given below..

Though i didnt go to his house to watch movies,, there lay the movie “Speed racer”,,just begging to be watched..So out went other plans,,the moods was set in an instant..”Go Speed Racer” was all i could say!!The movie wasn't as nice as i wanted it to be,,but it was speed racer,,it cannot not be nice!!!
Then,in such a nice mood, after watching 2 good movies, there i lay amongst a glorious collection of unseen movies...And thus arose the unstoppable juggernaut within me, from the ashes that were left behind way back in college...I had to watch more movies,,,MORE!! And so,, i came upon,,the next movie that i graced by watching....It had a name no man had ever heard of,, it was christened,,”The Onion Movie”!!!
One nonsense spoof that was!!
A brief intermission was made to perform one of the most important tasks given to man, “Eating”!!
Living up to my reputation even there,,i finished everything left (which could easily have fed a person or 2 more..) ..

The last show of the night then began...after complete nonsense,,so absolute no-nonsense gang movie about the Russian syndicate in London,,called “Eastern promises”..As it is known,,the day ends early in the east,,and so as a sign of respect,,i too slept !

Then next day echoed the same mood..no eating,,no brushing...it was just Movie after movie after movie...”Rendition”(serious), “Wanted”(could give rajnikanth a complex),”YPF”(young people fucking!!!),”what happens in Vegas, stays in vegas”(general timepass)..Came home unsuspectingly,,to see “Mumbai meri jaan”, had just started...Oh well,,,after 8 movies,,it doesnt really matter if i watch one more...so i sat there watching..The same sentiment continued when “Enemy of the State” started at 10:30..

And the best part was,,,that only 'Enemy of the state' was a movie i had watched before...the rest were all new...(I mean,,i could watch 'gladiator' 10 times in a row any time..but then,,lets not bring the awesomest movies of all times to into the picture...They'll just belittle these movies more..)

Thus ended the legendary 10 movie marathon!!
and another one of those days that i'll remember and talk about for a long time to come!

Characters i referred to-->
Maurya--> This gentle giant, is another famous character from college..The only person in college who managed to have an account with the canteen guy..Sometimes irritating, always asking for money, not doing much work, but then,,good at heart..
He's never refused me any help,,EVER! Another claim to fame was that his weight is only 3,,less than hundred..
:D

Short review of the movies if u ever decide to watch em-->
1.A wednesday--> Must watch. One of the best actors in India, Nazeerudin Shah, in a great movie and great role. About what a normal citizen is capable of in this bomb-laden country...
2.Speed Racer-->Go speed racer,,Gooooooooooooo!!
Cartoon feel,,interestingly made,,though quite disorienting..If you're not a fan,,,(if u were a kid who watched cartoons in the 1990's,and still not a fan,why are u still alive??),,then u most probably wont like it..
3.The onion movie--> Spoof ,,spoof spoof spoof spoof...The central theme being the news industry in US, not the it matters in a spoof...Watch ½ hr,,then chuck out of window..
4.Eastern Promises--> nice movie..Great performance by Viggo Mortenson(Aragon in lord of the rings). All about how russian gangs families operate in London.
5.Rendition-->About a how muslim american is jailed and tortured just beacause there was a bomb blast in egypt in which an american was killed and he was a suspect. The law is Sort of like the PoTA was in India.
6.Wanted-->watch if you're an anjelina jolie fan..Else its only if u want to see stunts that even rajnikanth would not think of..Though i must add,,,they are done in awesome style..AVOID IF POSSIBLE..
7.YPF-->Young ppl fucking...As the name suggests, its an american pie type movie, all about the “stages” of sex...General timepass..
8.What happens in Vegas, stays in vegas--> Not exactly a traditional love story..A no brainer,,very light movie..can watch for fun even a few scenes here and there..
9.Mumbai meri jaan--> nicely made movie about bomb blasts in bombay..The people perspective.
10.Enemy of the state--> Think you control your life,,that you have privacy?? Think again!! Will Smith Movie..nothing else to say...

Movie Trivia-->
Mr. ya Miss- A Factory product..Probably their worst ever..Dont even know why it was called a factory product..RGV didnt even direct it..Written,directed,screenplay etc etc etc..all had one name..Antara Mali..By the end of the titles,,we were scared..Not to mention the fact that first day 6'o'clock show there were 7 ppl in the theatre..5 of us friends and a couple in the corner!!

Worst movie of all time according to me!!
View at your own risk....

So it begins.....

2008-10-14T00:39:00.003+05:30

My Funda in life is to try everything once(atleast)...And if i like it, or its mad enough, i'll do it many more times..Looking back, i feel most of the things i remember are all stories worth telling, worth talking and laughing about,,and that are usually surprising or even to raise an eye of disbelief among listeners...So, here is an attempt to chronicle some of 'Those great incidents, on those great days'!!

Talking , doing mad things,cracking stupid jokes,having weird/stupid accomplishments,telling stories etc etc are some things people see me doing more often than not...So many many people have been telling me to start writing a blog, to keep track of all the weird achievements and mad things that keep happening around me..And so that they can read about them in detail..After one of the most intelligent friends of mine told me to,,and even suggested a name,,I finally decided to give it a shot..

I know the Title of the blog makes me sound like a grandfather,,but i like talking in retrospect,,and thus the name..The idea is to write lots of stories here..Any story has a central theme, or sometimes many!
In the same way, each story here is an actual incident, when i was in them or the way i saw them or was told by sometimes reliable, sometimes unreliable sources..
Though showered with liberal doses of sarcasm and exaggeration and fantastical ideas, no matter how far-fetched, weird or made-up they might seem, i assure you, the general idea is completely true..

And unlike what you might be thinking by this point,, this blog is not for 'adi the great' to blow his horn so that it can be heard from all the way from the moon...(Although with such a great personality,it can't be helped if it does happen...)..I don't mind making fun of myself..And though i won't be using too many common names here(nicknames are much more FUN),,those of you who are scared that some old stories will be kicked up again to make fun of you,,RUN AND HIDE FOR COVER...

This is actually for all my friends..telling/recollecting some of the great,and usually funny stories or happenings in life..As all of you are now scattered around the globe, i cant keep calling you guys and talking nonsense for hours together,, and telling you all kinds of stories.. Also, writing separate mails to AAAAAAAAAAALLL the people is sort of a pain..I don't really mind it, but its really sad when there's no reply to them..So this is the alternative..

The timeline of the stories is random..I might jump from the now to the time i was 4 back to college and then to school and back...so pick any story and read whenever you feel like...and comments or additions, more details are more than welcome!! If you remember any interesting event,,then drop in a mail...i'll write about it when i feel the time and the mood are right !!

IF THIS ATTEMPT TURNS OUT HALF AS GOOD AS I THINK IT WILL BE,,,THIS SHOULD BE LOADS OF FUN!!