Mostly Harmless

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2010-09-20T00:06:00.000-07:00

The king is dead, long live the king!!

2009-06-26T01:13:00.000-07:00

I’m still trying to come to terms with Michael’s sudden demise. I’ve been reading all the obituaries and tributes published in his memory; but I’m not able to digest the fact that he is gone.

Thriller was the first English album I ever heard. When I was growing up he was the best dancer showman ever. I remember I once bought a pair of North Star shoes because it made my moonwalk look better (didn’t help much though :)). All of us wanted his shiny jackets, ankle length shoes and tried standing on our toes, knees bent clutching our imaginary hats. None of us could, at least not with His grace and panache. Even mum loved “Beat it” on that album; and that was big considering mum never really liked English stuff. It would play incessantly in our run down car stereo.

We would rent the Thriller videotape and watch his videos over and over again. His Smooth Criminal is my all time favourite. Then followed all his concert videos we could lay our hands on. How many afternoons were spent watching these!!

Then, came Dangerous. I remember a bunch of us kids sitting in our retired landlord’s house waiting for the premiere for His “Remember the time” (the poor old grandpa was forced to watch an hour of MTV because he was the only one with cable at that time). It was the first video that absolutely blew my mind away. The grandeur and the effects! I remember all of us watched with our mouths open and left the landlord’s house quietly once the video was done.

I remember when he came to Mumbai, we obviously couldn’t go for it (we were kids in Bangalore). But we would tune in to the news just to catch those 15 seconds of his moonwalk.

MJ then just faded away from my music collection, only for occasional revisits to a few of his songs (Beat it, smooth criminal, who is it, jam, bad, in the closet, dirty Diana to name a few). With all the scandals that surrounded him, he became the stand-up comics favourite and eventually MJ became a cuss word. But I still secretly loved him, his music, presence, his aura were such a huge influence on me, and was impossible not to.

For me, there will no bigger performer that MJ. In my book, he is untouchable.

I hope he rests in peace; he couldn’t when he was alive!

Whats up!

2009-01-04T09:10:00.000-08:00

Disclaimer: Posting after a long, long time. The post is very rusty. Anyhoo, read on.

Phew! Long time huh!

So whats changed in the last one year:

The biggest thing is that I got married. Thank you very much! How is married life you ask? Not bad, I say. Actually, my uncle says that the first one year of marriage is always a breeze. He says after that is when the fun starts; he wants to know how “married life” is after a year and 10 days. I’ll keep you posted. Honest!

The wedding was a blast. All my buddies from all over the world came down. It was mad; lots and lots of parties, booze and fun. Good shite I say! I had a bachelor’s party too; thanks too Nirav and Madhur. I am supposed to be tight lipped about it; so no details there. Sorry!

Biggest revelation during the wedding: To all going to be weds, the wedding is not about you. If you think it is, you are going to be really disheartened. The other one, are the aunts. Aunts are like the necessary evil of the wedding – some of them are necessary, the rest are all evil!

The next big thing has been moving to Pune. Pune has not been as happening as Bangalore is; I’m giving it some more time; lets see how that goes. Not many friends here, so getting a little bored. Mim tries to entertain herself though. For example, she wanted to put me in the food processor to see if it could mince bones. I talked myself out of it, may not be that lucky the next time.

That’s about it from my side. Apart from these 2 things, 2008 has been rather dull. I hope 2009 picks up for me. Could do with a good year!

Peace out. See you guys soon. I promise!

Fall of man - Redux

2007-09-15T21:45:00.001-07:00

At the beginning of time, there was Adam and Eve.

The Lord God took them and put them in the Garden of Eden to till it and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, ‘You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die.’

But the evil serpent seduced Eve into eating an apple from the garden of knowledge. And thus man was banished from the garden forever.

This evil serpent later evolved - got limbs, a neck, a pair of arms, hair and an opposable thumb.

The descendants of this evil serpent became the auto drivers of Bangalore.

Vicious Bastards!!

Fair - Unfair

2007-05-03T00:05:00.000-07:00

The Baliga men are born liars and become compulsive liars as they hit adolescence. Not really harmful, their lies are little, just for the heck of it I guess. They are also grand exaggerators. When they narrate a story to you, you should know what to filter out and what not to. I've learnt that the hard way. One more thing about the Baliga men is that they are fair-skinned. One of the family traditions, I could not carry forward. "The black sheep of the family" as the cliche stands.

The Baligas' pride themselves on how fair they are (actually it is a very South Canara Konkani thing). Well, the pride stops with one glance at me. My darkness has been an area of concern for my grandparents almost since the second I was born. Large amounts of "Fair & Lovely" were applied on my countenance by my grandmom. Getting permission from her to play cricket against the neighbouring building team in the afternoons used to be a major ordeal. Some of my relatives also slyly mention the new "Fair & handsome" in their conversations, not leaving much to be deciphered.

She was not the only one on "Mission Whitewash Adi". My babysitting ayaah found it quite unbelievable that my dad and mum were so fair and I wasn't. She had ideas of bathing me in milk. Thankfully, I left the creche before her fantasies materialised.

I have also been a victim of constant racial abuse. "Nigga", "Charcoal", "Kaliga". One of my cousin wouldn't talk to me because I was dark! Well, I obviously wasn't a favourite with my grandparents. Few of the girls have also mentioned how disappointing it was that I am dark, considering my gene pool is rather rich in this aspect.

Well, this is funny because I'm a guy. Prospective brides of some of my uncles and cousins have been straight away rejected because they were a shade or two darker. With the fairness cream one of the major drivers of the cosmetics industry, it doesn't seem soon that people are going to get rid of their prejudices.

Restaurant Tag

2007-04-29T18:41:00.000-07:00

I was tagged by Meghna to post about 5 restaurants I like in Bombay... well, since I've explored more of Bangalore than Bombay, I'll be talking about restaurants in Bangalore.

I must start of by telling you that for me a restaurant is more about the feel rather than the cuisine. Oh yeah .. and they have to be easy on the pocket. :)

Pecos: A rather non- descript building off Brigade road, Pecos is more of a music paradiso if you love the blues. Its been a hangout for "The Gang" since college. Pecos serves only beer (and mostly flat at that). The food is brilliant there, do try the chilli beef or the chicken curry and dosa. The place is mostly attached with memories of college days when we used to get drunk in the middle of the day and pull out every coin we could from our pockets to pay up. (Actually, Pecos deserves a longer post .. some other day).

Pecos has a younger sibling called Mojos, off Residency road. Its not quite good enough for the faithful but its plush (only comparatively).

Fanoo's: Mim is going to hate me for this mostly because they were accused of stuffing their beef rolls with dog meat, but they just serve the best rolls. Simply brilliant. They have their rolls in jumbo, mumbo and rambo sizes in that order. The rolls are filling and bloody cheap.

CTR: I'm not quite sure what it stands for (some Tiffin Room). They serve the most amzing and butterilicious butter dosas. The dosas will leave you licking your fingers. The rest of their menu is damn good as well. You just can't leave Bangalore without having your evening kaapi here.

Oh yeah.. and the coffee here .. make that a double coffee .. It is the best SOUTH INDIAN FILTER COFFEE ever. Period! Countless hours were spent here fattening ourselves and dousing caffeine discussing the vagarities of life.

Infinitea: This place is a tea lover's delight. Teas from Darjeeling, Sri Lanka, Assam all at your service though I still prefer my pot of Masala Chai. The desserts here are yumm, do try the Italian truffle when you are here .. it just melts in your mouth. Oh yeah .. very friendly waiters and according to the girls .. cute too!!

Casa del Sol: I went to this place last time I was in Bangalore. Amazing ambience, lovely food. Its a roof top restaurant so the breeze of Bangalore makes this a rather romantic experience. This place is not as inexpensive as the rest ... but then Mim paid when we went there .. so what the heck!! :)

Lot more little hangouts in Bangalore ... may be another post beckons .. some other time ...

Ok ... so this is the fun part ... my turn to tag ...

I tag Nitish (Hyderabad), Siddhu (Delhi/Chennai/Bangalore), Lokesh (Mumbai).

2007-04-29T14:14:00.000-07:00

There is no sicker feeling
than
being alone.

Holier than thou ... yeah right!!!

2007-04-19T12:50:00.000-07:00

Check out the home page of ibnlive.

Do I need to say anymore ... bloody eediots I say!!! What do these guys take us for??!!

Of not much acclaim

2007-04-15T14:15:00.000-07:00

Motion

I look back and see what was there,
Probably what was not.
What has become and what is becoming
Into what is being ventured and what is being left behind
Moving ahead sometimes seems like moving behind
Sideways seems the way to go
A vague horizontal and not much of a vertical
Oblique, skewed
Distances become immaterial
Direction seems indifferent
No vectors for me
Scaled may be, scarred and bruised too
Fuck it, my life has a come a full circle
What was ahead is what is behind
What is ahead has passed me by

We didn't start the fire ... we just weren't there

2007-04-14T10:38:00.000-07:00

On this year's edition of the annual Goa trip, we landed up in this place called "Lounge Fly, (thanks to 3 always drunk, late 30s, masti Bangalore guys we bumped in to at our shack, it is at Baga, near Tito's and a must go-to), Mim and me had this very interesting conversation with the DJ there.

It was about old music v/s new music. We were just casually discussing the music he was playing there, which was basically lounge and world music types, I must admit the music was realy good there. He asked me what kind of music do I listen to and "rrrreeeetttrrrrrrroo" was the quick reply, bands like The Beatles, The Doors, The Who, etc. He asked me why I listened to older stuff and not the newer stuff like the ones he was playing. I said "I said I donno ... I guess I don't like the music today's industry comes out with.. ". The conversation went on from there, he drew corollaries from there about how he thought people who listened to older stuff were people who were caught in the past and could not appreciate what was happening today, may be didn't want to accept the revolution that was probably was happening today.

It still gets me thinking sometimes, are we too scared to may be make a choice about today's stuff and are happy accepting what has already been declared to be "God-level"? Or are we just disgusted by the media and the over-exposure it gives to the shitty music of today gets rather than the good music that is churned out which is probably played on the radio at 3 in the morning or stacked away in some dark corner of the music store?

I guess, I probably just can't relate to today's stuff... to the commercialisation of it, thanks to the media. I'm sure the music of the yester years was also made with a grave commercial interest but I am not exposed to that aspect of it. I just see the music for what it is. We do hate hyped up things .. we want to read the "Da Vinci code" after the hype has died down ... we don't want to go to the INXS concert because it is too hyped (though they might have made some good music in the 90s).

Actually, its paradoxical I have been using "we" in the previous paras. "We" comprises of the smaller percentage of the (the retro-liking) population. Most guys as the "we" percieve are sell-outs. Sold to the circus the media is running. This takes me back to one helluva drinking session I had with Sid and Nitish at TC, Gurgaon. We were discussing about how it was so hard to find people who had the same interests as we did. The movies that we watched, the music we listened, the books we read, the sports we watched. The 3 of us are the retro types (Nitish, I'm taking the liberty of classifying you here!). We were kidding about how it would be easier to find friends if we were the Bollywood types :-).

It is each one to his own. I guess I like old stuff and most of the others don't. I am in the small minority that would have loved to be a part of the 60s, be there at Woodstock, be there when Beatles ruled the world (they still do ;) ), be a part of the revolution. Today's revolution??!!! We all are a part of ... but in a little more cosy manner ... in our armchairs.

P.S: The picture is of "Lounge Fly"... super place!

P.P.S: Finally .. TC in my post :-)

P.P.P.S: Sorry bout the long posts... just bored in life .. lot of time to think of junk

Love, solitude, a little more love, a little less solitude

2007-04-10T07:34:00.000-07:00

I read two books by Gabriel Garcia Marquez recently and if you haven’t read any of him so far, well you should period!

Marquez invites you in to his world with open arms, shows the world through his eyes and in the end leaves you totally distraught. Mostly because you can’t believe the book is over and the second because of the simplicity and the beauty he explores. In both the books I read I knew the ending, but it ain’t gonna matter buddy. Marquez’s storytelling doesn’t let you drop the book. The story grows on you, in you, around you (like beer :)). Sometimes I caught myself smiling the whole day after reading a few pages of Marquez, when the books ended I had a lump in my throat.

In a hundred years, the way he brings out the “magical realism” is nothing short of, well, magic. He paints such an amazing picture of Macondo that you can actually see the children grow, smell the banana plantations and party with the gypsies. The way he brings out irony and cyclicity in his books is nothing short of stupendous. There is this story of these twins who are exchanged at birth, grow up to be identical in every which way you can think of, then go in opposite directions, then get back to being similar in every way when they are old and are finally, exchanged in their graves. It is just very beautiful.

Love in the time of Cholera, is like an encyclopedia of love. Love is all its forms, at all ages, under all circumstances, defying time, society. Marquez becomes very cunning here, his protagonist Florentina Ariza sleeps with around 622 women with widows, with underage girls, with pretty much anyone he can find but you never judge him for it. You just are mesmerized by the love he has for all these women that there is no space in your heart or your head to think of anything else but of love. In fact in the end, he ends with the love of his life and he tells her he remained a virgin for her and you don’t hit your head but you just smile, because even his love knows he is lying but she appreciates his thought (mostly because it just sounds romantic J)

In both books, the central characters are women, strong, independent women. For me, a hundred years is about Ursula her struggles to keep pace with her husband, then her sons, grandsons and so on so forth, her sacrifices to keep the family together and sane. You are in awe of her character by the time she passes away. In love in the time of Cholera, it’s the head strong, strong willed Fermina Daza who casts her spell on you (Dominique Francon can kiss Fermina’s ass).

Another common thing about both the books is the way he plays around with the time and the way he presents time to you. In a 100 years, events keep repeating and you will be hit by the déjà vu effect at least a dozen times. In love in the time of Cholera, he keeps moving back and forth in time that you have to be very careful or you might land up very very confused.

There is actually quiet a huge debate about which is the better book, a hundred years or love in the time of cholera. My take, I don’t give a rat’s ass. They are both brilliant, both magical and the both blow the hell out of you. They are books which gave me different perspective. A 100 years made me a little less wary of time and love in the time of cholera made me a romantic.

If anyone ever meets Garcia Marquez, thank him profusely from my side.

Dhoom : 2 (Read Dhoom colon 2)

2006-11-27T08:15:00.000-08:00

Imagine the most mindless piece of crap you have ever heard or seen ... triple that and you will approximately figure out how it feels like after watch this latest movie from the famed Yashraj films.

Cast
Bipasha "I'm a bimbo in this movie" Basu
Uday "what was my role again/ ha ha .. my jaw is broader than your left thigh" Chopra
Ash "stiff ass/ desperate to show my cleavage" Rai
Abhishek "need a shave" Bachchan
Hrithik "the new shirtless hero" Roshan

Genre : Mindless bullshit

Trust me, the movie is loyal to its genre from pretty much the first few scenes. Hrithik Roshan steals the Queen's crown disguised as her... better still Abhishek jumps out from underwater on a water scooter to rescue Uday from a bunch of goons who look no better than a bunch of clowns from Jumbo Circus ( the guys from Jumbo I'm sorry for the disrespect).

There is a intro song for all the cast. Ash's entry is special though it marks a total lack of comic timing and takes hamming to its abyss. Someone should tell her that wearing short skirts, showing cleavage and smooching on-screen will not the movie worth my 135 bucks.

The plot is a a cop-thief chase across two countries (India and Brazil) with some extras (Uday, Bips, oh yeah.. forgot to mention the ever so useless role of Rimii Sen) who are stuffed in to the movie needlessly. Ash, whose role is as predictable as the result of India's next cricket match, is a petty criminal who turns out to be working with the cops. And her misplaced likes ... oh God!!! you could shot her, I'm not kidding.. there would have been blood on my hands if she was in the hall.

If you came looking for style quotient, you'd be looking in the wrong place. Its just a lot of crass .. Abhishek with his shirts with floral designs, Ash with her wannabe Rakhee Sawant dresses and Uday ... he is just anti-establishment ... he is moving in the opposite direction of cool. Hrithik does look cool, I must admit. As Guru rightly put it "you can see midriffs all through the movie ... either Ash's, Bips' or Hrithik's". Bipasha's hotness .. drool ... drool ... has been, I can't think of a better word, vulgarly utilised ... there are sly shots of her breasts everytime the camera is trying to pan the shot.

Ladies and Gentlemen, the press has been bought... 4 stars from TOI, 3 stars from IBN ... utter rubbish ... if you ask me they shouldn't be given stars, instead they should be giving us stuff ... stuff like an AK 47 to each of us poor students, who fel for the promos, and shelled out 135 bucks to watch a story that even kids would not take seriously as a bed time story ...

P.S : why the colon in the title you ask? thats because you'd rather have your colon pulled out and torn in to 2 pieces and etched with the words "You dumfuck ... this is for watching Dhoom : 2" than watching the saddest ever excuse for a movie

Any given Saturday

2006-11-24T23:14:00.000-08:00

8.30 a.m : Guys from the two classes assemble at Ram Mandir (near Rajajinagar entrance). Practise some catching and fielding and if the bully in you was having a good day you might even get a chance to bat.

9 a.m : After collecting Re 1 to the local goonda (paid as protection ... I donno why the fuck we paid him ... shyte we were a bunch of scared kids) and another rupee to Nara ( he got the ball and in the process ripped us off)

10 a.m : After much deliberation, it would be decided that the toss would be a best of five. The toss always crucial.. you had to bat first ... you just had to. The fights over the toss were customary almost our equivalent of the Hakka ... it touched you before hitting the ground... you didn't flip the coin well .... the excuses given to re toss ranged from trivial to deranged.

11 a.m : The match finally starts amid much rowdy like yelling and sledging which would put sailors to shame..

1 p.m : The first innings done ... we would move towards the closest Iyengar bakery to suck on an ice lolly (Re 0.50) while discussing how the first innings had gone and the strategy for the next innings would be built ... its not like we stuck to strategies ... but you just had to discuss them ... smart asses that we were

4 p.m : The match done ... celebrations .. more abuses ... lot more abuses ... treat our selves to a sugar cane juice .. and head to Madhur's house, which was a 2 minute walk from Ram Mandir ...

6 p.m : Reach home .. get yelled at by mom ... for wasting another day ...

Those were the days ... they really were .. carefree .. they were the absolute epitome of carefree ... not a bloody fucking care in the world .. just pure unadulterated cricket ... pure fun ... in fact, they were not at all wasted days ... they are days I cherish ... cricket ... friends ... masti .. abusing ... can't ask for a lot more ..

I can't help smiling everytime I pass by Ram Mandir ... it reminds of me a sort of innocence ...even though we saw some quite ugly incidences there .. I once saw a man getting kicked repeatedly there .. I remember cycling back home like crazy that day ... I was shit scared ...

It also reminds me that almost everyday a little bit of my innocence is lost and how someday I will look back on today and think about how "those were the days" ...

The grass is always greener on your side.

Where do we go now ... where do we go ..

2006-09-08T14:00:00.000-07:00

Mumbai is one fucked up city man.

Today, we were taking an auto from the airport to Juhu. On the way, this random guy (with a kid) was fighting with another auto guy. Our auto guy tried to break up the fight so the traffic could move. I donno what was exchanged between our auto guy and the guy, but the two landed exchanging abuses. Our auto guy got in and started moving. Suddenly, I saw this guy hanging on to the top rod of the rickshaw hanging with one hand (and the kid in the other) trying to kick our auto guy. The guy lost control fell down with the kid and the auto ran over his leg . Our auto guy just fled. I just remember screaming "paagal hain kya tu" (are you crazy??) when the guy was hanging with one hand and after the whole episode turning back and seeing the guy fallen down on the road and the kid was in tears.

What must have the kid gone through? I still can't get that picture out of my mind... Why did the guy do it?? To satiate his ego??? Revenge?? But why?? And why at the cost of the kid's life??? What the fuck was wrong with the guy??? What the fuck was he thinking?? And why the hell did he risk the kid's life???

Later, that evening I went to classmate's birthday party at a plush louge bar. People drinking, dancing.. tyring to chill out!!!

Which one of this is life??? The one were people have three fucking hundred bucks a drink to blow up on an intoxicant that gets you to the place you want to be OR the people you see in slums that you and me can never imagine living in while on your way from Panvel to Dadar??? Are all of these people trying to figure out life or have they accepted it as it is???

I think we get very used to the suffering we see around us and start giving excuses for it. Thats life isn't it, we say. They deserve it look at the way they behave, is another popular one.

Look deep inside. Is this true?? How can we live with ourselves, when we see people living like this?? There are movie stars in this city, businessmen who can buy half the city just by snapping their fingers.. how can they live with themselves when so many people barely have clothes to wear and food to eat??

I guess I'm just drunk ... in a fit of a rage on what that guy did to the kid and I'm blowing up ... probably tomorrow I'll be one of those fucking phoneys sipping on my scotch in a high end place ... but I hope I never forget today and I hope I remember that life is not what you show but life is what you give and take from others in terms of the intangibles .. in terms of love and happiness. I read in Shantaram that life is an illusion and all we see is not reality and today I understand the statement in totality. I don't want to figure out life ... I want to live it ... but with honesty ... with integrity ... in a manner that on my death bed when my whole life is flashing in front of me I realise that I have made a difference to a few lives in a positive way ... and these dried up tears are vindicated.

Hostel California ... the rebuttal

2006-09-08T06:02:00.000-07:00

Its amazing how you are put with some 35 guys pulled out of all different corners of the country, are asked to live together and before you know it you start living like family. You are into each others rooms, spaces and bathrooms (as yucky as that sounds).

People become your friends, your fellow philosophers and your guides. You eat together, drink together (and you do a lot of that) and try hard not to sleep together. You make fun of each others quirks and adjust with each others idiosyncrasies. You party, laugh, smile, cry, crib, fight with those guys and at the end of the day you know that in a new place they are all you have.

During the birthdays it is my self assigned responsibility to pour water on the sad soul who was born on that day and when I look down amidst all that chaos, screaming, running for your life, violence I smile and think to myself for the next one year they are family!

Hostel Theory 1
At any given point, there is atleast one guy who is sleeping in the hostel.

Hostel Theory 2
At any given point, atleast one guy is singing in the hostel.
Corollary
At any given point, you want to punch atleast one guy in the hostel. ;).

Hostel California .. well actually Bombay

2006-07-26T10:59:00.000-07:00

Its been 2 months (almost) since I've joined the hostel. Its been a great learning experience so far, and when I say learning, its more in terms of learning about myself (I know thats a lot of gyaan, but thats one of the things b-schools teach you :) ).

The hostel is a wierd environment. The concept of "space" is a mirage. There are people all around you ... sometimes in your face (which can be fucking pissing off), sometimes uninvited into your tiny little world and it can make you feel claustrophobic to the extent of feeling asphyxiated.

On the other hand, you could be amidst 13 people and feel lonely. And trust me its one of the worst feelings. You have so many people around you and still you are looking for that one person who can let you in and make you feel ok.

I have been pampered. I always chose the people around me. I always spoke my mind, and the girls and the guys, took my shit. This "trait" has already got me into the bad books of a couple of guys. I'm not going to change simply because I think this way my life is simpler. But I have to adapt and this is hard, especially when you have been in your comfort zone for so long (thanks to those sweet people who bear with your idiosyncrasies).

P.S : I'm doing ok ... don't read too deep into this :)

These were a few of my favourite things...*

2006-07-03T03:52:00.000-07:00

Mom's food
Beer with dad
Fighting for the remote with sis
Coffee/chai with Mim
Jayamahal with the girls
Kinara with the boys
Pecos with the gang
Rainy days in Bangalore
My winter clothes
My bike
Weekends
Lazy Sunday mornings
Sunday afternoon naps
My bathroom
The morning after rains in Bangalore
Ending my sentences with maadi
Coffee breaks at work
Benne dosa and coffee at CTR
Payslips

* in no particular order

I miss Bangalore.

The vada-pav diaries

2006-06-11T12:28:00.000-07:00

Its been little more than 10 days in Moombhai now. For the uninformed, I'm in SPJIMR (supposedly it impresses women here ahem... ahem) doing my MBA in systems.

Its my first time in a hostel, first time away from home, first time away from Bangalore, friends and family. My room is quite small (and for Sid.. no it doesn't have wooden flooring). We have an appartment system. Each appartment has 5 rooms attached to it. It even has a washing machine ... fancy eh? My roomie is from Lucknow, we've hardly interacted but he seems promising. The one hour we chatted was about religion and considering he is Muslim it was rather enlightening. We have some really interesting people in our appartment too. We have a Major (yes the army one), who has worked in the army for 7 years and he sings the national anthem while having his bath. I have my issues with it, but don't expect me to pick up a fight with a guy who can operate a gun.

The last ten days have been more about interacting with the seniors. I got ragged.. nothing serious, it was fun actually. We had a lot of presentations to make, we made a b-plan, one about an IT company in India and lodza other stuff. We had lot of quizes too, and apparently I'm the quiz stud in my class... I know its not saying much, nevertheless heartening. The sad part though there are just couple of rock lovers in my class... most of them are Hindi types. My Hindi is improving by the day (I once caught myself thinking in Hindi), esp. my Hindi swears and I'm bloody proud of it.

The course is bloody hectic, sleeping for more than 4 hours is a luxury. But so far, its been good fun. I've been working hard (thats another first) and hope to continue it. And I'm missing most of the football world cup which is a total bummer.

We had our freshers party yesterday and it was a total blast. We danced till 11 (thats another first, I danced without getting drunk for the first time), went back to the hostel drank till 3 (had whiskey ... another first) and then left for the Versova beach. Got back to my room at 6 :D. KICKBUTT!!!

The course so far has been an "out of my comfort zone" experience. In like 12 days, I've already learnt a lot and more importantly I've learnt a lot about myself.

P.S : Thats a snap from our freshers' party. I'm on the far left.

P.P.S: I miss the girls, never thought I would.

Oh my GOD!!!!

2006-05-02T00:25:00.000-07:00

You keep seeing these car stickers saying "Jesus will save you", "Jesus heals", etc. Today I saw a really "cool" one saying "Jesus Rules", somehow I wonder such stickers don't come up for Hindu Gods.

A few suggestions from my side
Dhootpaapeshwar will get you down and groovy.
Dattatreya will rock your world.
Vishnu blows your mind away.
Life is a bummer, Ganesha kicks butt.
Nataraj can samba.
Yama keeps me alive.

Disclaimer : Do not intend to hurt anyone's religious sentiments. My apologies in case I did.

4528 hours of not knowing whats happening!!!!

2006-04-17T22:55:00.000-07:00

I was just going through my highly unimpressive marks cards from my BE (electronics and communication) and as hep as that sounds I had no clue of more than half of what my subjects were. I probably know as much electronics as I did in my 10th ( thats a huge zilch). The only electronics I work on right now is switching on the television or working the microwave.

There are subjects I can't even explain the titles of let alone what was taught in them. Subjects like Transducers & Instrumentation and Telecommunication & switching I still can't figure out the title let alone what could have possibly been taught for 16 weeks/ 4 hours per week. Then there are the Linear ICs & Applications and Digital ICs & Applications. What is the difference you ask... well, your guess is as good as mine. There are subjects called VHDL and VLSI design, I still don't know what they stand for.

Then there are the more romantic soundings subjects like Fields & Waves, which when the exam paper is presented to you reads more like Killing Fields & Tsunami Waves. Somehow I feel I would have done much better with the latter.

The teachers were no better. There was this subject called Antenna & wave Propogation which was taught by a shrivelled grape called Rukumani (shaadi ke baad kya hua ... (thats the song if you don't remember) you ask ... I'll tell you .. her husband came out shrieking for help). I will not delve any more in the teachers aspect of the course, that could complete a book on why not to do engineering.

There is a feather in my cap though for those four years of trying very hard to not work hard. I got a gold medal. A gold medal??!!! How ??!! I'll tell you for us back benchers (read academic super loosers) a gold medal was when you just managed to scrape through the ignominy of repeating the subject the next semester. Yes, I got myself one of those in System Programming - 35/100 ... couldn't get closer than that... Phew!!!. I got myself a bronze too.. 52/125 in Power Electronics .. not too proud of that could have done better.

Finally my advice to people who are taking Engineering ... well don't do it.

Been dazed and confused for so long, it's not true... Wanted a woman, never bargained for you.

2006-02-02T20:47:00.000-08:00

> For those of you bored, lost, confused, frustrated (feel free to add on to the list) souls, the Prophet's message hath arrived. Check out this link-- What should I do with my life?

A few excerpts from the article

The previous era of business was defined by the question, Where's the opportunity? I'm convinced that business success in the future starts with the question, What should I do with my life? Yes, that's right. The most obvious and universal question on our plates as human beings is the most urgent and pragmatic approach to sustainable success in our organizations.

Well, there is hope now, isn't it??? woo hoo to that!!!!

Those who are lit by that passion are the object of envy among their peers and the subject of intense curiosity. They are the source of good ideas. They make the extra effort. They demonstrate the commitment. They are the ones who, day by day, will rescue this drifting ship. And they will be rewarded. With money, sure, and responsibility, undoubtedly. But with something even better too: the kind of satisfaction that comes with knowing your place in the world. We are sitting on a huge potential boom in productivity -- if we could just get the square pegs out of the round holes.

I feel ya brotha!!!

Anyway, if you are lost at your workplace, I think the article should be read in its entirety. Its super long but I think its worth the time.

> Have been meeting lots of school friends lately. And everyone seems to have only one question for me "So ... when are you going to get married???" with a stupid bloody grin on their face ..... the next person who asks me that question is going to need some serious cosmetic surgery to make their face look human again ..... aaaaaaaaarrrrrrgh!!! For crying out loud, I'm just 23. I know Mim and me have been together for the last 6 odd years.... but guys please stop asking me that question. You will get a mail... I will let you know somehow, anyhow... I appreciate your concern but just quit it buddy.

Current music : Blue Train - John Coltrane .... abso- diddly-lutely love the song.

Sarva Dharma Samabhava

2006-01-18T02:03:00.000-08:00

Freedom at Midnight by Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre was a life altering book for me. It speaks about the partition of India and the ensuing Hindu-Muslim riots which left millions dead, homeless. I had a new found respect for the Muslims who stayed back in India braving the riots, risking their lives.

Argumentative Indian by Amartya Sen was another book I really enjoyed. The basic premise of the first few essays is how the Indian, over the years, has been accomadating the people who visited India through the years be it Portugese, Persian, Chinese, etc and how this feeling is being tampered with by the VHP and Bajrang Dal like organisations who want to make India a Hindu state. He also talks about how the average Indian has always been argumentative which laid the foundation for the Indian democracy after independence.

These two books have made me very conscious of who I am as an Indian, about our diversity and our history. It has made me immensely proud of this country. I love the diversity and our(normally) peaceful nature.

The current book I am reading is called Communal Rage in Secular India by Rafiq Zakaria, (whose The Man who divided India -about Jinnah, I thoroughly enjoyed) is about the Godhra riots. I have just finished the first 2 chapters in which he details accounts of journalists and their witnesses during the riots. Its gut-wrenching to say the least. Some of the victims' accounts are horrifying and you can't help closing your eyes and saying a little prayer for them.

India is a largely peaceful nation, or so I would like to believe, considering the large amount of diversities that exist here. Sometimes, we fail to respect this. We have divided ourselves, according to caste, religion, region or any shitty reason we could give ourselves. Once these divisions are made we love to draw lines and act George-Bushesquely "you are with us or against us". Hindus hate Muslims, Muslims despise Hindus and there is always a rift between people on either side of the Vindhyas.

Another thing Indians seem to enjoy is typecasting people. Brahmins are elitists, Muslims are violent, Tamilians are tight-fisted, Delhites are show-offs, Bongs have egos. We like to castigate all the other communities except ours. We can't stand anyone else except ourselves and our types. A Hindu will think twice before befriending a Muslim but somehow when an Irfan Pathan takes a wicket the whole country celebrates, when Shahrukh Khan is in a movie people throng the theatres to watch him. Are these two guys beyond judgement and their religion? Why is that? Is it because they are famous? Does that change a person? Or is it just that he grows out of his stereotypes once he is famous?

What worries me the most is that we, the educated class, also have such notions. I think being unbiased in next to impossible, but I think it is possible to free of prejudice. Thanks to these few books I have gotten rid a lot of my demons and pre-concieved notions. I am not saying I'm totally unprejudiced, but I know I'm trying.

Hold me, kiss me, thrill me

2006-01-02T02:25:00.000-08:00

First of all, a super new year to all of you. I had a super new years' ... spent it in Hyderabad. Thanks to Nitish " the perfect host " Khadiya ( I hope I got the spelling right) we had a super- duper time.

After all the long sessions of drinking and the intense leg-cricket matches, all of us sat down to watch the movie Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi. What a brilliant movie.

There are lot underlying themes and ideas running throughout the plot but the one that hit me the most were the love stories in the movie. Geeta loves Siddarth, who is a revolutionary, and wants Geeta to become one too. Siddarth leaves for the villages to propogate the revolution and ideas. Vikram is a small town guy who just wants to make it big and loves Geeta too. Geeta eventually follows Siddarth and falls into a lot of shit in the village and but continues to love him, instead of taking the easier option out and just marrying Vikram who loves her as much.

This is where my point comes in, is love really this blind that you get so selfless and are willing to forgive anything your partner does. Even in the Unbearable lightness of being by Milan Kundera, Teresa could have easily left Tomas for all his unfaithfulness but she hung on. These kind of stories are not just in fiction even in life I've seen lots of couples just ignore their partners' outright flaws and just going on .

I would never expect my partner to forgive my unfaithfulness, or give up her life and tag along with me because I believe in something or if I ever were to humiliate her or do anything that were to hurt her very bad. Is love really blind?? So blind that we are able to overlook things that we would normally find detestable. So if common sense were to prevail then, love should not be blind. It should be open to each others faults, to correct each other and also so that your partner doesn't land up taking advantage of your ignorance or "blindness" and to preserve one's own self worth. But common sense doesn't have a place in the land of love... if it did we would not have Romeo and Juliet would we???

I am confused (I know I sound it). I guess there is a thin line between being loving and forgiving and being used as a door mat. But I guess like other things in life, nobody knows where the line is... nobody knows when to stop... nobody knows when to stop feeling insecure or begging for the attention we love from our partners.

Love is to be felt and experienced. Everyone wants to be loved, I think that is one of man's biggest weaknesses, whether we want to admit or not. And everyone loves to be loved. I guess its best to just try and explore for oneself and remember that there does exist a line in love, too, that is not to be crossed, a line that keeps love nice and simple the way its meant to be.

Well, show me the way to the next whiskey bar ... oh don't ask why

2005-12-20T20:22:00.000-08:00

My room!!! My room !!!! ... sob .... sob ... sob ... I lost it . Its being renovated and I had to clear it up. Will be getting a swanky new one (being built on the terrace) but I lost my own room.. Everything is cleared from in there. It fucking echoes in there like its a bloody graveyard. I can hear my room's soul calling out to me "Don't leave me!!!".

Lots of memories there. I never thought I would be sentimental about it. Its just 10 by 10 God damn place surrounded by blue walls ... but it was mine. My space ... my retreat ... and now its like a pile of debris like war-torn Baghdad. I asked my girl friend out in that very room and we've been going out for 6 years now. I remember playing cricket, football, wrestling, hand tennis... (pretty much any sport that you can think of) with my cousins in that room. I remember looking out the window in the dark reminiscing ... contemplating the future... feeling lonely... I never knew that room meant so much to me and now that its gone I miss it soooooooooooo much.

I remember coming back from a 2 week trip in Europe and the thing I missed most is my loo and my room. My loo was like my ultimate sanctuary. Read many a book on the pot... relaxed that weary body after a good swim or basketball under the shower ... that shower just kicked butt.

All I can say now is RIP to my room. I miss you .... I always will

P.S : Sorry about the girly post.... but its just .... MY ROOM ... MY ROOM... sob .... sob ... sob...

Sing a song of six pence...

2005-12-05T22:01:00.001-08:00

I love the fact that our culture is so deeply into music. Every occasion has a song associated to with it and every region has their own style of music. I really love this about Indians... but what I don't get is the fact that Indians are obsessed with making other people sing.

Everytime you are on the radio, in a party, in any kind of spotlight people want you to sing...
"Sir, one song sir"
"Sir, please sir"
"Sir, one stanza sir"
"Sir, come on, sir"
"Sir, one line, sir"
"Sir sir please"
"Sir one note .... you start and we'll all join you"

How many Indians haven't faced this kind of predicament before??!!! I mean, come on, some people don't want to sing people ( and most can't... yours truly heads that list ;)). I couldn't sing to save my life... and I wouldn't sing to save the little bit of self-respect I still enjoy.

If I fall along the way, pick me up and dust me off...

2005-11-22T23:25:00.000-08:00

Its amazing what failure does to you. It makes you feel defeated and gloomy on a nice sunny Sunday morning. It makes you feel vulnerable. Its like you are put in the spotlight and people are walking past you pointing fingers at you ... with that evil smirk on their face.

But life goes on... you lift yourself up and move on. And trust me, I've done it a lot of times (tells you how many times I've failed ;)). The eternal optimist that I am, I've learned to convince (or lie - as you like it) myself that it'll all be fine and there is something for me around that corner. But the corner never seems to come around. I guess I'm moving around in circles.

When I was a kid, I played a lot of sport. And everytime I started a sport I used to think "This is it... this is my sport and I'm going to be the next big thing in the sport". Alas... it never was to be. And I am still here waiting for my turn ... for that corner... when I will actually be that next big thing... mera number kab aayega

That'll be a 34 B for me

2005-10-19T22:14:00.000-07:00

College days were fun we were a gang of six - three guys, three gals. Unfortunately for me, the two guys left Bangalore. Nirav is pursuing his masters in the US and Siddhu working in Chennai. That leaves me and the three girls- Mim, Shash and Antara.

Now that its just us, I have the unfortunate honour of being their unpaid chauffeur (they affectionately call me Raju when I am driving them around). When we hang out, I'm sure there are guys going - "Oh! what a lucky guy. He is hanging out with three pretty chics". Well not!!!! They are great fun and we laugh a lot I must admit... but when the conversation drifts into intricate discussions of the beautiful kaatha work on their sarees, the amazing jewellery they bought or other girly problems. I just have to go looking for my .22 caliber pistol but alas, where are things when you really need them. Surrounded by so much girl talk I sometimes wonder if I'll wake up with boobs one day and worry about getting my legs done.

I do not get why women love shopping so much. They are just crazy about it. I mean when they enter a sale or a shop... its like they are in a trance. They can just block the rest of the world as if nothing really matters. Its like Neo in the last scene of Matrix... when he starts seeing everything as characters rolling down the screen and only he can make sense of it. I mean come on, how can looking at the same thing in different shades and patterns be interesting. Oh please... I need some help here. For me, women shopping is like guys watching TV. We know we want to be there but once we get there we don't know what we want. Thats why we go channel surfing and women go pattern/shades surfing.

Oh man!! I got my iPod nano yesterday. Man is she beautful or what !!! You cannot possibly comprehend the tininess of the thing till you've seen it. The sound quality is brilliant. And click wheel ... baby... baby.. drool.. drool... I'm loving it!!!

I'm alright, Jack, keep your hands off of my stack

2005-10-06T21:44:00.000-07:00

Once you start working, you get these fucking senti mails explaining how people think things have changed since college.... and how its been one year since we wrote exams and bunked and what ever... Oh for fuck's sake stop it!!!! Things change and they always will so get up and move on buster.

But there is one thing that'll change drastically after you start working.. and thats MONEY. Yeah baby !!! the moolah ... its brilliant isn't it??? The smell of the crisp bank statement that rolls off the ATM and tells you you are a little richer at the end of each month... and for what ... for pretty much sitting on your ass all day. I know I sometimes think I was a lot happier without it... but who the fuck am I kiddin.

Money is a brilliant concept... I mean its so beautiful... its powerful ... yet its dark and plays its little games on us. Money is mostly about the power. The power of independence and a little stability. And thats where the concept of "value for money kicks in".

The concept is very dicey. For me.... the value for money is more about how much a person needs money that defines the concept. When one of my friends asks me for money ... I ask myself only one question - Does he/she need the more money more than I do?

Shakespere rightly put it "the greed for money is the root of all evil"..... I hate it when ppl switch jobs for money... I hate calculative, money minded people... Look at the labourer who toils all day and hardly gets anything at the end of it.... We comparitively lead luxurious lives. And yet, when we hear of a money making opportunity at the cost of someone else we will jump at it. All our morals lost and only the extra dough becomes our motivation. Money is amazing no doubt... but its not the be all and end all of life...

Albeit its arbit....

2005-10-05T03:12:00.000-07:00

My apologies for saying the Colplay album sucks on Nitish's blog. Its not a "great" for sure. But some of the songs are quite beautiful. Speed of sound, fix you...... swallowed by the sea is really amazing. I'm in love with the song.

This Ganguly and Chappell thing man... I can't get over it. I know the "cricket is going to be the loser " is the cliche doing the rounds. But consider the three scenarios :

1. Ganguly thrown out - The team is going to be divided. Team spirit fractured.

2. Chappell thrown out - Same as above.

3. A truce - Come on who are we kidding.

Am I glad Seinfeld is back or what.... The guy and Larry David are geniuses. I can't relate to any of the characters but there is just something about the show. How would have thought that a show about "nothing" could be so brilliant.

My girlfriend had a niece last week. Her nick name is Rai ( which means Radha.. I love the name). She is prettiest thing .... she has beautiful big eyes, long arty-types fingers and tiny little toes. Man its amazing .... how such a small thing can bring you so much happiness. I now know what they mean by your bundle of joy. She reminds me of my sis.. when she was a baby.

Allah ke naam pe de de baba

2005-09-27T02:12:00.000-07:00

The sign of any city growing up is the corporatization of all the sectors in the city. Big cities like Mumbai and New York are known to have a well organised underworld and mafia organisations.

I am not too sure about Bangalore's underworld but the begging scene in Bangalore is witnessing a radical change. The beggars have gotten a lot more organised. They are well dispersed at the traffic signal and try not to interfere in each others business (And obviously, the huge traffice jams at these signals help their cause). They choose their clients a lot more carefully and a lot more study. They pick their victim's weakness a lot better. If you are well dressed they start touching you because most of these people don't like it.

There has been a drastic improvement in the presentation aspect of it, too. There are shows put up (acrobatics), there is costume and colour (kids dressed as Hanuman). The beggars are a lot more persuasive nowadays. They don't let go of their clients that easily.

Ironically, begging seems have to become a capitalist venture. And like a lot of other capitalistis ventures, they are getting ugly too. The kids doing the acrobatics are surely beaten up when they are "trained". Infants are given on rent for a day to gather that extra sympathy. And the way these corporatized beggars hound you, the unorganized sector of the beggars definitely loose out. Its like your grocer round the corner shutting down because of the super market on the main road.

All out ... all lost

2005-09-23T01:13:00.000-07:00

"I can tell you that before this match I was asked to step down as captain," Ganguly told reporters. "So it was an extra determination that I found."

Yeah right!!!! A 100 against a second string Zimbabwean side ( like they were not bad enough already) on a batsmen friendly track in 263 balls... do you really need determination for this esp. if you are a batsmen with 5000 runs in test cricket. I mean come on... what is the dude thinking or is he thinking at all. Get over that goddamn ego of yours and move on. The team and the sport is bigger than you.

I had the utmost respect for Ganguly, the things he has done for this team is unbelievable. We have gone from a team who would just bend over to a better opponent to going out there and showing them what we got. But things change and people got to move on. Mark Taylor did and so did Steve Waugh.

Chappell ... hats off to you dude. You said something this cricket-crazy nation has been dying to hear. And all the veterans backing Ganguly - go shove it. First Ganguly doesn't perform... then he makes a private discussion public ( I think to gather sympathy) . God it sickens me.

And don't even get me started about the board. What happened to the good old days, when cricket was about the sport and not cheap politics. How many times and these going to raise objsections ... get stay orders.... its pitiful.

Give the people what they want.

Hope lies in the proles.

Freak a what???!!!!

2005-09-15T03:30:00.000-07:00

Read this book called "Freakanomics". Its basically 2 economists gone crazy. They investigate absolutely anything under the sun. They play with numbers like it were child's play and make"conventional wisdom" look like Ganguly playing a short ball ( for the lesser mortals that was a metaphor for FOOLISH).

Their research is brilliant. The chapter comparing school teachers and sumo wrestlers is very interesting. They go on to compare McDonalds and drug runners, how both of them have a similar corporate structure. The most intereseting is how they compare the birth of nylon and crack cocaine.

Its a quick read, very interesting and quite funny. For idiots like me who thought economics and economists were boring the book is a definite eye opener. I wanted to become an economist after I read the book. Not quite actually.

Anyway, you could check out the author's blog at http://www.freakonomics.com/blog.php

Time's website had this top 100 sites some time back. I stumbled upon this blog by Heather Armstrong.... too funny man. Check it out at http://dooce.com/

IS "Kiss my ass" CON !!!!!!

2005-09-12T03:05:00.000-07:00

Every year on my dad's birthday we go to ISCKON (yes yes!!! the Krishna conciousness shit). Each year that I go there I hate the place all the more. By the way, let me clear my stand before I continue- I do believe in God.

What is my idea of God? God is an abstract idea of hope. He/She is a different kind of hope of everyone for some its about the hope for money, for some about health, for some about knowledge and so on and so forth. Thats probably why we Indians have so many Gods - a different personification for a different hope.

What is my idea of a temple? The idea of a temple is basically a haven for spiritualism. Its a place where like minded can open up their minds and discuss life, love, God and the other life's wonderous things that mystify them. Do you see this in any temple??? Now its just some place where you keep freakin idols and break coconuts.I mean people since the 13th century have been saying that this was f***** up and these dumasses still don't get it. Tragically for me, I feel like I'm in a temple only when I am in a bar/pub when I'm blown out of my mind and a random comment by one of my friends sparks off debates and discussions. I know it sounds pathetic, the whole sanctity of a temple and spirituality are lost but.....

Why do I hate ISCKON? First, the damn place does not encompass my idea of a temple.... actually it doesn't even come close. Its just a corrupt place out to propogate its fucked up ideas and fleece all the fools who are willing to pay up. I don't get how a temple can segregate "devotees" based on how much donation they pay. And I am not saying this because I didn't get to see the freakin idol. My family always get to stand on the first row and get a beautiful view of the freak show those guys put on for us. Secondly, I don't get the propaganda that these guys are always putting up. For me, propoganda is only for wannabes and celebrities... someone who is insecure. Thirdly, I don't get the principle of their freakin cult. After thousands of years of stories and mythology being passed on for generations, this dude comes along and turns the whole thing around. And the worst of all, people go crazy about it. Pissin off man.

Shantaram - man of peace

2005-08-08T22:02:00.000-07:00

Just finished reading this book called Shantaram. Its a fictionalised account of an Aussie convict who breaks out of prison and comes to India. He starts a new life in India, gets new friends, a new job. He lives in the slums of Bombay for a while and starts a clinic to help people out there. He falls in love with a German woman called Karla. And in the process of helping her lands up in prison.... gets into the mafia after that and even goes to Afghanistan to fight the war with the mujhahideens.

The characters are beautifully painted. His friend Prabhakar is one such and you fall instantly in love with him. He gives the protoganist his Indianised name - LinBaba. He goes onto live in Prabhakar's village for 6 months and is adopted by Prabhu's mother; who gives him the name "Shantaram" which means man of peace.

Karla is his love interest whose witty one liners and comments are thought provoking. Abdullah is also one of his friends who is painted as one of those cool dude gangsters. Abdul Khader Khan is like his mentor and his father figure. Didier is another guy I found really interesting. He is French, Jewish, gay "not necessarily in that order"... but the guy is too wierd and funny.

The book has a very philosophical angle to it every time Lin thinks about his past or the discussions he has with Abdul Khader Khan. Although I didn;t agree with all the theories put out in the book, it definitely gets you thinking about life its purpose, where we are from and why we are here, so on and so forth.

One of the best things I liked about the book is the outsider's view of India. Karla says something like the only you can know the real India is when you surrender to it. I just found it so true. I mean you can be an observer of India and everything looks so chaotic. The way we lead our lives, the relationships we enjoy, the way we construct our buildings even. But India is not about that. Its not about sitting in the stands and wonder whats happening. Its about getting down in the ballpark and playing along. Thats the only way you can ever know what India is about, why we are so emotional or attached, understand our culture, history, problems.

All in all, I loved the book. Definitely worth a read.

VH1

2005-07-12T01:28:00.000-07:00

I love this VH1 channel. They play some really good stuff. Their Classic programme is really good. And their other programmes like the fabulous life makes a good viewing esp. for gossip hungry ppl like me ;).

I saw some real good videos this weekend they were playing. The Killers song Mr. Brightside is brilliant. It somehow feels like pure good ol' rock and roll. And the Ben Affleck look-alike lead singer has the "it" factor. I just love the song.

I saw this video by this group called the Magic Numbers called foerever lost. It is an animated video. Really good music. Very pleasant kindda like Fleetwood Mac.

The new UB40 song is also really cool. Its called Reasons. Its obviously reggae stuff but has Punjabi beats in the middle. Its sounds fresh and good. I dont think its been done before- reggae and bhangra.

P.S:I still can't get over the Zeher song . I have to listen to everyday. I never thought I would like a remixed song so much.

The offset theory

2005-07-10T21:47:00.000-07:00

Theorem : Women can afford to have larger paunches than men before it getting noticed.

Proof : Women get this undue advantage because of their breasts which gives them a certain "offset". Due to this offset, you will not notice a woman's paunch as long as, it is not protruding out more than her breasts. Thus, women can have larger paunches than men before they get noticed.

Hence, proved.

Corollary 1: Women with bigger breasts can afford to have bigger paunches.

Corollary 2: Women with smaller breasts .... tough luck.

Personal Note : Unfair.

Bekaari ki samasya

2005-07-07T01:30:00.000-07:00

Its going to be a year this month end since I started "working". Actually, if you ask me personally, I dont what the fuck I'm doing here. I've been pretty much idling since my training ended in October. I dont know if I started on the wrong foot, but I don't see myself doing this for the rest of my life(Obviously, no one wants to sit idle for the rest of their lives). But now that I have been sitting jobless for so long... I hate my job all the more and it sometimes scares me that I may not be able to work anymore with the kind of zeal I once enjoyed or fulfil my potential (atleast I think I have some).

I want to do something else with my life. I think I know what I want to do. I have started working towards it... but will it actually happen??? will I like it when I get there??? only time will tell. I guess its worth the shot.

On the other hand, the things that I have gained from this last year are mostly in terms of the people I've gotten to know. I've made some great friends. Met people from different backgrounds, different problems and when they share their problems and anxieties with me, it makes me look at life differently. I guess this has given me a broader perspective to life and I think has made me a better person. I can only hope for the best for them.

I saw God this Sunday

2005-07-06T01:19:00.000-07:00

What makes sportsmen Gods?? There are great sportsmen and there are champions and then there are the Gods .... who pretty much every kid, who ran around in the park, aspires to be.

Anyone who saw Roger Federer's demolition of Andy Roddick this Sunday, will probably have a better idea of what I am trying to say. According to me, what makes sportsmen Gods is the fact that they can make look their sport look easy and their opponents a joke. I mean you look at Federer play and he makes tennis look so easy, you then pick up a racquet; for starters, try to put your serve in the other side of the court, only to realise how very difficult it is. You watch Ronaldinho curve the ball in to the back of the net ( The one against Chelsea at Stamford bridge in this years Champions league quarters is one of my all time favourites) and you try to mimic him and after hours of failure, you would be grateful to God if you could even put the ball at the back of the net, let alone curving the ball. Or for that matter try a Sachin six ( like the one he hit against Pak in the world cup'03).

Everyone loves competition and a good exciting game, but then someone like Federer comes along, makes minced meat of his opponents in no time but you still want to watch him inspite of the match being lop sided just because of his grace and his command over the game. I mean when these guys get on the field they capture your imagination, genuinely make you happy when you watch them play and you wouldn't mind skipping a lunch to pay for your ticket to watch these guys.

Shits man!!!!

2005-07-05T01:12:00.000-07:00

Why is that the act of excretion (or "taking a dump" as it is more affectionately called) so repulsive?

For me the act of excretion is the single largest failure of evolution. The whole act is so disgusting ... taking off your pants, the stench, the loos, and all the other paraphernalia. I mean why couldn't all the metabolic wastes in your body just vapourise to emit a fragrance so as to attract one's mate.

The words attached to "the act" are not spared either... crap, shit, piss, etc.,etc. I mean whats wrong with "pee" its such a sweet sounding word but its usage rather detestable.

Why couldn't we just shed our skin once in 6 months in order to "excrete". That would be cool wouldn't it??!!! Imagine a new skin twice every year. That would surely turn heads if you announced in a crowded room "I'm going to excrete"!!!!!!!!!

Everyone is a George

2005-06-12T22:23:00.001-07:00

George scared... of George
Guilt seems to be have become a constant companion of George
George hate George
George want me to become the George he want me to become ...
will he become the George I want him to become
This George love that George .... a lot
George has lots of friends .... but George very lonely
George confused
George want to cry
George want to go to jungle

The Mahatma

2005-06-08T02:49:00.000-07:00

In the latter part of 1910s a frail looking Indian returned to India from South Africa with a will to fight for his people and beliefs. A will strong enough to make the strongest monarch in the world tremble and finally succumb.

Gandhi, for me, was the greatest and the most true leader India has seen (I'll try to explain my conviction as we move along). I can't remember anyone bringing the crowds of India, rich or poor, Hindu or Muslim, North Indian or South Indian, higher caste or an untouchable, together. He amalgamated the masses to one strong force called India (tragically, it was probably the last time the whole nation felt that way). He was the prophet who was going to lead India to their Promised land. India's very own Moses. He saw the power of Indian people, their diversity, their culture.

Gandhi had a dream bigger the country and its cause. Gandhi wanted to change the world. In a world caught in strife, violence, torn down by two massive wars heading for a nuclear war, Gandhi was the world's apostle. His message simple : truth and non-violence. Non-violence???!!! Why would someone do that? How can you try and deter the mother of all empires by non-violence ??? Ridiculous as it seems, it was India's best answer. Lets and try analyze for a little bit. Most countries who have got their independence through violent means continue to be rooted in violence. Most countries who have resorted to violence have either been thoroughly devastated, ruled by a dictator after independence or have plunged into civil war. India's condition around the time of independence was very precarious. There were riots breaking out in villages all over the country almost everyday. Hindus and Muslims slayed each other for no apparent house ( once in Punjab a Muslim's buffalo wandered into a Hindu's farm, and the resulting fight left hundreds in the village dead), women were raped, houses gutted, children orphaned. Civil war seemed inevitable. I'm quite sure India would have plunged into civil war and squandered the 90 years struggle if it wasn't for the message of peace from the Mahatma(great soul). Of course, there were riots inspite of Gandhi's message. He went from village to village trying to bring peace among the religious leaders of the village, he went on fasts unto death until the riots had stopped. Gandhi was probably the first person in modern history who sincerely wanted to make the world a better place to live in.

Gandhi had a vision beyond the freedom struggle. He wanted India to be self sufficient and its people to live in dignity. Gandhi knew that India's power lies in its villages. This is quite obvious considering around 70% of India's population lived in villages. But somehow, no one seemed to recognise it. They were just the abused lot of India and even today are. He fought for the untouchables. He gave them the title Harijan (God's children). He wanted to improve the sanitation habits and conditions of India. Its a pity that even after 57 years of his death the sanitation conditions and habits of Indians is appalling. He starting spinning his own cotton and insisted that his followers to do it too. He wanted to promote Indianness and self reliance. On the other hand, he wanted India to become an industrialist power house but in an Indian way and not by aping the west. It was the Nehru's socialist and Marxist outlook and Indira Gandhi's license Raj that hindered his vision.

The one thing that I don't agree with Gandhi was that with all his time and energy spent on the cause of the country he neglected his family and tried to impose his ideals on them. His eldest son turned into a drunk and was only close to his youngest son. When his wife was on her deathbed and could be saved by an injection, he did not give the doctor permission to inject his wife with the life saver as he thought it was an act of violence.

Its a pity that in the land of the man that gave the world hope and direction, he is looked upon and remembered with scorn by some of the youth. Gandhi has been the greatest leader the Indian motherland has seen since probably Akbar and God knows how long she will have to wait for another son of hers to show the disillusioned masses the way to glory and righteousness. Gandhi was truly a MAHATMA.

Whats in a name

2005-03-01T01:24:00.000-08:00

The other day I was just thinking of the Beckhams naming their kid Paris because the kid was conceived there. I doubt if such a thing would ever happen in India. I mean can you imagine naming your kid "Gangtok" because you decided your sperm finally needed to contribute to the noble cause of procreation in place some 2000 metres above sea level or "Gulbarga" because you got all horny in the plus 40 degree C temperatures of north Karnataka. I mean such a kid would have a childhood tormented enough to grow up and write a best selling auto-biography.

Talking of names of places and sexual activity, I think there is a reason for a boom in the sex industry in Thailand. What else could you imagine would be the occupation of people living in Bangkok ( bang cock) or Phuket ( ideally pronounced f*** it).