Thursday, December 06, 2007

Uncle!

I went to Care Banjara Hospital yesterday to submit some of my reports and met a doctor whom I hadn't met for the almost 1 year. Here is how the conversation went

Doctor: Hello
Me: Hello Sir
Doctor: Kya bhai! French beard. You have put on weight. No walking. No Diet-control.
Dad nahi hain....! Total change!
Me: (pissed off at the weight comment) Arey weight kuch hain.. I appear hefty just because of this jerkin!
Doctor: Acha.. par yeh to baahar nikal raha hain . ( he said that patting my tummy)

Huh! Not again! This is happening a bit too frequently now. It reminds me of the hair dye ad where a guy hears the word "Uncle" echoeing his ears. Just a couple of days ago, I happened to pose for my style photos in a marriage. I put one of the photos as my profile-pic in Orkut, ultra-pleased with it. ( Glam-boy dikh raha Main.. was my feeling). As expected there were a couple of scraps about the changed pic in orkut.

Hello, Abu Salem!
Hi...yeah Uncle photo kya hain! Since when did you start wearing those glasses?

I was shocked when I read those. I immediately changed the pic. Alas! I, in my best pic now look like an uncle. Uncle ! Uncle ! Uncle! The words still echo in my ears. Reflecting further on these lines, I now understand why Mom n Dad ask me if they should start searching for my better-half every other day. I do look to be in need of one. The french-beard is my only armour. It makes my chubby cheeks less obvious. Rishi Kapoor, the bollywood actor started sporting a French beard after he was 40. And I just turned 26.( By mistake, I happened to typed it as 46 a moment ago :( ). I believe that people put on French-beard when their face has nothing else to offer . There are some who put it on just to sport a "new" look. The later was my reason earlier but now the former seems to be a more appropriate reason.



Realization Aftermath: Abu Salem seems much better! He seems to occupy lesser space and didn't have the puffy face :(

Jog! Run! Yoga! Gym! What next? Ask me this question at 7:00 am in the morning and my answer would be "Arey, i'll get going from tomorrow!!"and Tomorrow has never happened till now :)

Abu Salem pic - Courtesy - www.tribuneindia.com/.../spectrum/main1.htm

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Bday eve Blues !

Pepe Jeans, Spykar and Brand factory. I spent a good 2 hours roaming around all these places. Par saaala Ek shirt nahi mila ! I just wanted a 'simple sa' collared short T-shirt for my birthday. But I couldn't find any to my liking. Of course I wanted to buy a trouser as well. But I had made up my mind that I would buy one only I found a good shirt and that never happened. Me wearing formals made things worse. For once, I agree with Kiran who hates freaking around on Wednesdays in those Tie-Full sleeves - leather shoes formal wear. Well, today I happened to wear a checks shirt , which when not tucked into my trousers is too big for for me.

Start-Flashback! Aah.. it all started around 15 years ago when Dad realizing that I was a Complan boy growing fast and rapid bought a T-shirt of a bigger size than mine. I looked good in it ( parents always think so and i didn't know that then ) and it lasted long. I was never comfortable wearing anything tight because that would not sync with my flexible body which at any given point of time was either in a bowling or a batting pose. Thus started the "Thoda bada size lele" funda. When I was in high school, wearing Dad's shirts for me was a cool option. It continued even while I was in college. Hmm.. in fact it never mattered in college although the short-shirt fashion had just begun. Then came the job. I now had my own money and shopping with friends was more than a one-off event. The usual comment from my friends as well as the salesman would be "Wait!! Isn't that too big for you?". A few shoppings later my heart started feeling the same and thus started the "Wear what seems to fits you " revolution. The word "seems " assumes significance because some of the shirts don't quite fit you, but you go ahead with them for that is the latest fashion. Just a few days, I found a shirt in my cup-board that I used to wear during my final year and I was like "God! It's sooooo big. How did I ever wear it?" ( And that was supposedly one of favorite party wears !). End-Flashback!

Since I have been working only for the last 3 years, I have quite a few extra large shirts and most of them happen to be formals. Today happened to be one such formal day. With the formal shirt on, none of the trousers looked good! The moment I wore the jeans my the loose shirt would divert my attention. And when I did finally remove the shirt, my paunch would grab my attention. Huh! So I needed a good shirt for the trouser to look good but that never happened.
Frustrated,I started home. On my way back, I came across a Kwality ice cream hawker. "Yummy! I need some ice cream", I thought and stopped. I wanted to have Chocobar but as luck would have it, that was missing. The hawker urged me to take a "Choco-feast" but I refused since I wanted to have something less sugary." Hmm.. Ok... Give me a Mango bar"I said . He had it and it was Rs 15 but neither of us had the change. I searched all my pockets and found Rs 4. I wanted a rupee more and continued searching, hoping that I would find one. Finally seeing disappointment written all over my face, the hawker let me have the Mango bar for Rs 14.

I came home and opened orkut. And this is what I saw:

Today's fortune: Your luck has been completely changed today

"Oh...how true", I thought shaking my head in disbelief!

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Citrix Matrix!

Hmmm.... most of the systems in my office have been subjected to this "Operation Citrix" which means that one would work on the Citrix server rather than on the system. And I believe there were security reasons because of which this change has been enforced. Anyway what does "Citrix" mean??? To me it seems to be exact opposite of Matrix! The matrix screensaver or wallpaper usually gives a cool look to the screen.It makes the system ambience more interesting and more appealing. Citrix server just does the reverse. It has been about 30 minutes since it has been installed on my system and I feel so archaic about the whole thing. My outlook looks so pale, like a malaria patient. My windows messenger seems to play hide and seek with me with the irritating RETRY message appearing time and again. Almost all the icons seem to have the deceased look. I realized this just as I did an ALT+TAB. The dull appearance of these icons reminds me of the fact this is office and that I am supposed to work. Huh!!! This is just not on. That's what I feel. But the truth is this is not all. My Computer now just has the basic windows installed on it. To open any kind of word or excel document, i need to connect to the server. The worst thing perhaps is there is no such thing known as a "desktop". One needs to connect the server and then go to the documents and settings folder and then save a file that would have otherwise been saved on the desktop. Finding the desktop folder is surely going to be a "treasure hunt" at least for the next few days. Although I haven't yet experienced it, I have heard that the contact list and the favourites list need to be updated each time the system is restarted. ( Another Fifty first dates effect ? Oh..no!!!). Each time I click an application there, I get a series of messages as if I am travelling to another era in a Time machine. And at the end of all those messages I discover that all that I have done is open a word doc. ( ah.. it's not the Time Machine that has taken off ). Office (Not the microsoft one but the place I work) has only become more boring and cliched.

PS: To get a bit of feel, I have been typing this thing on a notepad which opens on Default windows.. Ah..the native touch!without the wretched server :)

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

And it's Amenisia now !

Well... I am certainly getting a bit too cliched. Time and again, I don't have anything to write about apart from my computer. That's very surprising considering the kind of techno-callous person that I am. Techo-callous!! I mean I am a kind of person who would not get too excited by a new technology entering the market. Forget the market, I wouldn't even bother if someone in my family was using it. Worse, I still don't know how much memory my Motorazer, that I have been using for since the 2 years provides me. ( And yeah I have the usual sheepish grin on my face.)

Continuing the story of my comp, I bought a new key board and made sure that everything was working fine. The USB is still not ok but at least the mouse seems to working fine. ( Fine.. Did I say? The mouse is not its usual ambidextrous self. It doesn't right click now :)). The Tata Indicom guy took ages ( more than 15 days) to sync his server and my comp. "The last 5 days have been cool. Everything seems to be fine" I told myself yesterday. Touch-wood! I perhaps forgot to utter that word and found my comp behaving indifferently again today.

My comp seems to be suffering from some kind of memory loss or anterograde amenisia just like Drew Barrymore in Fifty first dates. One fine morning when I started my comp, I found that my darling Genelia was missing on my desktop and instead there was the windows default wallpaper. Since then, everytime I log on to the system the a fresh desktop ( the one with the sky n grass) appears as if I have installed windows for the first time. Anything that I save on the desktop is not saved. I try to open the Mozilla browser and each time I re-start it prompts me to transfer the history from Internet Explorer. Memory Loss? Huh! "Seems to be some kind of a virus" exclaimed Kiran and I lost no time in updating the Anti-Virus and scanning my computer. ( Rahul wanted me to do this looong back!!!) . Everything seems to be fine now but I definitely don't think this is THE END. What makes me think so? Well, some of the infected files that I had deleted were system files and I am afraid my system will soon discover that and go kaput again.

Wednesday, October 03, 2007

Crazy Huva re!!!

Naaah..No girlie effect! The reason for me getting crazy is not a girl. It's the computer. ( Reminds me of the old silly one where a girl starts talking about her crush saying that he is so fast , so sweet, so talkative etc etc and then say "Oh.. I was talking about my computer" with an irritatingly cliched smile). Well, coming back to my computer , I spent a couple of days trying to get it fixed. I even took it to Rahul's place and my good old friend almost did it. Everything seemed to work fine. But as soon as I came home, the keyboard went kaput. I thought I would buy a new one as soon as I got up this morning, but that didn't happen. I hope my computer gets all set in a couple of days.

There were other things happening in India that would drive a Cricket fan like me crazy. Yeah, I am talking about the Indian's team's performance in the second one day against Australia. After reaching the zenith in the 20-20 World Cup, a slump was expected . The only question was how deep the fall would be and the team pummelled as deep as it could . Yuvraj and Uthappa played as if they were still playing 20-20. Sachin hasn't played any 20-20 but the shot that he played makes one wonder if he was watching too much 20-20 on TV . The bowling also left much to be desired especially that of our spinners. Surprisingly ( rather I guess we are used to it now), the Aussie spinners including part-timer Micheal Clarke did a far better job.

Sunday, September 30, 2007

Tst Tst...

Self-pity is certainly not a great thing. But at the moment I really can't help that. My computer is all messed up and me possessing a degree of a Computer science engineer doesn't help. I can't really do much about it. I think I tried my best but nothing worked. Initially, windows refused to open up. When it finally did, the key-board wouldn't. I have been pestering my friends on the phone and as luck would have it that doesn't seem to help. Nor does the fact that they are very busy at the moment.

God, I am an internet addict. I confess. I need to check my gmail for any orkut messages once in a couple of hours. I need to keep checking cricinfo for the latest on cricket. Oh.. yeah and I need to do the Yahoo chat as well. On rare occasions like this, when I am all pumped up, I also need to blog. My computer not working makes me real restless.

Banjara Hills is real sick. Neither me nor my parents have come to terms living in this posh locality.( so called). My parents crib because they don't find vegetables and other daily commodities being sold on the roads. I mean for each and everything you need to go a Reliance Fresh or a City Center and that is something middle-class junta like us are not comfortable with.Not being able to find a single find junk-food tapri point (I really miss those mirchi/aaloo bajjis ) is a real stomach-break for a foodie like me. I don't feel like visiting McDonalds for a burger every time I am in a junkie mood. I was fine with all these things but I was really fed up when I couldn't find a single Internet cafe around. There is this Reliance thing around but you need a membership to use the net there. Huh!!! I looked around for a net center all along Road no-1 but in vain. Right now,I am at this place called "Lakdi ka pool" blogging my way to glory. Phew! What a relief!

Sunday, September 09, 2007

And all fell down!

This has not been the best of times for Hyderabad. After the twin blasts in the city on August 25th, the Punjagutta Flyover has collapsed today killing at least 15 people and injuring several others. I called some of my friends and sighed relief when I found none of them were near the flyover at that time. I feel sorry for the innocent victims who were near the flyover. I wonder how feeble the construction was! How could the fly-over collapse because of the rain? Aren't these basic things taken care of, when a masive fly-over at one of the busiest commercial centres in the city is being constructed. Luckily it was a weekend. There would have been greater damage inflicted if it was a week day.

The below picture was taken when the construction of the flyover had just started. I thought that I would share this picture with my friends once the flyover was ready , proclaiming myself to be the first guy who set foot on the Punjagutta flyover. Sadly, I was not only the first but also the last.


Sunday, August 12, 2007

Back :)

Huh.. Huh .. Huh!! I find time at last. For a change life has been more of action( however insignificant it might be) and less of food and sleep in the last 1 month. The company party was fun. It was exciting planning out all the details, marketing the entire stuff and finally executing it as well as we would have liked to . Think of it.. and I still feel the buzz and the excitement. After a looong looong time, an event gave me the high that I really needed. More importantly it was a hit and not just hype. Kido khush huva :)

Tres bien! Very good.. So I have managed learn some French in the last 1 month thanks to my French Madame. ( whether I clear the exam or not is a different matter altogether). I would have quit the course mid way had it not been for the girl with those beautiful eyes. Thanks a ton to Aishwarya. ( her nick name)

The trip to Pegasus was hectic but I enjoyed every moment of it to the hilt . Now that almost all the parties, outings have come to an end life threatens to get boring and dull from tomorrow. I have enough work to do in the next 3 months but will that inspire me? I hope it does :)

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Ragging Mana hain!

I happened to switch on the TV just in time to watch The Ragging debate on CNN-IBN yesterday. The news is that ragging is now considered a criminal offence and any junior who is not happy with his seniors can lodge a complaint against them. So the situation has now taken a complete 180 degree turn with the juniors doing the masti and the seniors walking around the campus keeping a safe distance from the juniors.

Rings & Hallucinations. It's flashback time now. Yours truly was in the first year of college. I remember it all. It was my first Sunday in college and I was having a very "healthy interaction" with my seniors. I wanted to make an impression ( what a wrong choice) and started asking the names of the seniors around me. I found quite a few seniors staring at me. Just then a senior whom I knew since school days walked in and I lost no time in greeting him "Hi Shankar, How are ya!!!". Awwwh... I didn't know that the as per college rules ( senior rules) a junior should address a senior only as "Sir" or "Madam" and not by their name. The seniors found a bakra in me. And the quizzing errr I mean healthy interaction went on till 12:45 in the night. As I was about to leave, one senior told me his room no and asked me to wake him up by 6:00 am. Huh! I thought. I went to my room and lied down on the bed. But I couldn't just sleep. till about 4:00 am. The alarm rang at 5:45 am and woke me up. I went to my senior's room ans woke him up. He didn't wake up instead he asked me leave. I came back to my room but couldn't sleep again. That day was just the beginning. In the next few days, we marched round the campus, measured distances using a 1 rupee coin, counted the number of steps at every place steppable place ( I mean a place with steps), gave impromptu dance/singing performances and what not. We also did a Fashion show, draped in bedsheets ( a saree replacement) posing like the sexy babes on FTV. And at the end of the event there was a Miss Boys hostel as well :) . All this lasted till the Freshers party where we had a DJ ( my first and the best) which lasted till early hours of the next day morning.


Although I do remember instances where I really got fed up, I thought the overall experience of ragging was fun. It made us know our seniors and more importantly helped us shed our inhibitions. Most of us there were shy, introverts ( who had cleared a tough entrance exam and hence had the "studious" image hanging around) who preferred staying in their own rooms. We could no longer do that once a senior had asked us to shake a leg or strain our vocal chords.

What's happening right now in the universities of Delhi seems to be the exact opposite. Of course one can always say that "Ragging should not be taken to an extreme. It should be within limits". But guess we can only imagine or else at best blog about such things. Once the freedom is provided, there seems to be an equal chance of it being taken to the other undesired extrme . It is unfortunate that ragging has now become a criminal offence. Ragging mana hain aur students ko yeh maan na hain!

Huh! I can only hum the Pink Floyd anthem " We don't need no education ..!" shaking my head in disbelief.

Monday, July 16, 2007

A peek into the future

Another day, yet another party (khana, gaana aur peena). Proabably I have been partying too much of late. Hmm.. I need to think about the future as well. Yeah .. future reminds me of the fortune-teller we had met after the party at this place called "Celebrations". There were 5 of us and each one of us took turns and had the forturne teller to predict our future. 3 went before me and for each of them the guy had predicted something very good.


Booh..Hoo Hoo!!!! Alas the fortune teller seemed have something for everyone else except me. The parrot picked up the probably the weirdest of the fortune cards available. It had the picture of a butcher slaughtering a goat. According to the fortune-teller that meant that I would pay the price for other's mistakes. He warned me to be stay away from those seemingly harmless but possibly harmful folks. Huh.. I thought. In Hyderabadi lingo it meant "Bakra nahi ban ne ka !".


The optimist in me told me that there was something better coming up. But the fortune teller predicted just the opposite. He told me that I was going through a bad patch which would go on till 2009. He suggested that I should perform a ritual for the Shani God to avoid the same. " Awwww...forget the Shani!!!Say something good, You dud! " I said to myself. He proceeded to say some very generic stuff that I was very independent ( oh.. really ...from when did this start??) and that Sher ka bacha Sher hain. ( of course it can't be a Billi .. but what the heck did he mean??? Didn't get the drift? Huh! ). "What about his marriage? When will he get married rather will he get married at all" asked one of my very inquistitive friends. "I cannot really predict about marriages" the fortune-teller replied playing it safe.

"Ha ha ha !!! Bacha you will need to wait till 2009 for your girl!" I could hear the laughs and the voices echoing in my ears.

Future Funda: I need to stay away from parrots and people carrying parrots in that weird cage.

Present Funda: I really don't believe in fortune-tellers? Do I?

Bindaas! :)

Thursday, June 14, 2007

International Webloggers Day

Thousands of happenings! Hundreds of thoughts! But my blog count is in tens, as low as an Anemic's blood count. I want to write today but lack the thought. What's special anyway? Well, today happens to be "International Webloggers Day". A big thanks to my RJ friend for the info.

Given the lack of thought, here are some random happenings in my life. ( local, national and international)

  • Hyderabad weather continues to sizzle for the third day in succession.
  • I have done an interview (some kind of.. ) at last- with an IIM B chap. ( To be released soon :) )
  • India is still presidentless and coachless.
  • Rajani's Sivaji to hit the screens tomorrow.
  • Girls in my project are working late hours unlike boys. ( Do the Big guys know this?)
  • Roger Federder still hasn't gone French.
  • Ironically today also happens to be the "World Blood Donation Day".
  • Mom's Alu fry is the best curry in the world.
  • I have been trying to write something in this post and I have flunked miserably !!!

Thought of the day :"No food that is tasty is healthy for me, no food that is healthy for me can ever be tasty.


Work?

I am currently not enagaging myself in any of work that pleases my heart under the excuse of getting some "clarity" in my life. The kind of thing you normally get to hear in Art movies "Discovering your inner-self" or more popularly "Apni Aatma ki kojh". ( augh..did I get the gender right?). I have been blessed with all the free time in the world as I am undertaking this excercise. Now I fear if work( this is not the "work" that pleases the heart but "work" that scars the brain) will suddenly strike me exactly at the time I get the gyan and decide to act. Hmmm... I am pretty scared! The signs aren't too good with me being shifted to a new project this week.- A new project where people work and need to work. ( and yeah the work of the second kind-- brain wala).

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Next Bakra Kaun?

The whole nation now is eagerly waiting for these couple of posts to be filled. Pretty big posts these! "The President of India" & "The Coach of the Indian Cricket Team". The argument for the post of the President is simple. Most of the junta of the country seem to be in favour of a non-political person to taking up the post. In fact, a huge majority wants APJ Kalam to continue. The political parties have different ideas. Pranob Mukherjee till yesterday & Shivraj Patil today and of course there is Bhairon Singh Shekhwat.

And what who is going to be the next coach? Ford has left the entire nation stumped by turning down the offer. " Makes sense, boy. Indian coach's job is a high-pressure job. The guy has made a wise decision", my Dad said. Yeah.. I do agree with him. This is why I feel that the it's a "Bakra" kind of job. The coach is held responsible for things that are beyond his control. It doesn't matter how good the coach is if the players are not responsible enough. The BCCI seems to have made a mess of the entire issue. I would think twice before telling the world that I landed with a new job. ( no.. I havent). The BCCI babus seem to have taken it for granted that Ford would be quit his current job and come to India. He didn't and now BCCI has been made to look so foolish. "The Hunt begins again" announced the BCCI officials. But aren't we tired of it? Huh! And the News channels I guess would have flashed the name "Ford" a zillion times in the last 2 days with different messages. "Ford not for Sale" . "Ford snubs BCCI"! "Mein Coach nahi banna chata hoon" etc etc. I somehow found the headlines in the regional newspapers very funny compared to the English ones. I somehow feel that the Queen's language can never get as informal as the some of the reigional ones.

The President! The Coach! and now The Boss! Tamil Superstar Rajnikanth's "Sivaji- The Boss" is all set to hit the screens in 3 days and media is going ga-ga about it considering that fact it is the costliest movie ( 80 crore) ever made. The fans in Chennai seem to alle excited to watch their Star on the big screen. I wish I was in Chennai on June 15th just to see how crazy the fans can get. Work, health and my "Kabhi haan-Kabhi naa" mood have made it impossible :(

Thursday, May 31, 2007

Food, sleep & action



Life is usually a lull. I only think and dream of doing various things. I seldom achieve them. I am usually in a state of Nirvana where there is no activity in my life, except the sleep and food ( thanks to my Mom and the fact that I stay at home). Suddenly, I plan to do something. I expect that I will fully involve myself in the task planned. But I usually don't. The actual act ends up being a mere shade of what was expected to be done. So you see... Food, Sleep & action. The above graph explains it better. I felt that this title was much more meaningful and suggestive of what I am than the earlier one-- "Lemme get going". "Lemme get going", is my usual quip when my friends and colleagues urge me not be lazy and to do something objective. But "Food, Sleep & action" is what my life is all about.

Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Feel it? Huh!

It was Hike time in the office yesterday. After a mail came at around 5:30 pm yesterday, each of the employee's emotion was a reflection of that mail and the increment offered. There was one of my friends who was extremely disppointed thinking that she shouldn't be staying in the company any longer. "The hike is an insult to my capabilities", she sulked. There was one girl who had tears in her eyes as she spoke " We work day and night here and this is all we get ". One more voice in that direction and she would surely break. There was a girl who seemed to be happy for she had got the hike long due. Her next task was to ask each colleague present there his/her hike. A question that fetched mixed responses. There was this girl who had got the perfect hike. But she wasn't happy. She never wanted the responsibility. She just wants the minimum responsibility that she is adept at handling with someone monitoring her work and taking the full responsibility. She was least bothered about the hike and was more concerned about the review comments that she had received from her supervisor. There was one guy who left the office before the mail arrived. " What the heck mate! I knew about the increment when I got the promotion. But the current work doesn't really inspire me!!" he replied when I called him later in the evening.

All of them seemed to evince some kind of emotion. But I couldn't feel anything. Neither joy neither pain. Neither exaltation nor displeasure. Weird! I thought. We, humans always seem to crib. Everyone seemed to find some reason to crib while I having found nothing was searching for a reason to find out why I wasn't feeling anything. Silly! Isnt't it?

Tuesday, May 29, 2007

The Static and The fleeting




Ha ha Hasini! I finally managed to watch the telugu movie "Dhee" today. I wanted to watch this movie since a long time, ever since I saw the pics of the lead lady "Genelia" on one of the idle filmy sites. I have gazed at her photos a hazaar times since then. How couldn't I when she was on every wall of my life- in my room, on my computer and on my cell-phone. And then she would appear on the TV screeen every now and then. I couldn't just wait to watch her on the 70mm screen. So when one of friends called me at 5:45 pm asking me if i could join him for a 6 pm show, life seemed to ooze of out the dead Mainframe screen. 2 mins later - Log off, Shut down. 4 mins later- I started my bike.15 minutes later , I was at the theatre and in front of me on the big screen stood the beauty.

Two and half hours later, I wasn't exactly mesmerized. Naah... the quality of the film had nothing to do with it neither was the fact my dream girl lacked the brains and fell for that dumbo hero. I remembered that I had seen her films earlier. But it wasn't then that my Dil went mmmmmm... it was only when I saw the pics. After some amount of R & D ( office mein zyada kaam kar ne ka effect) , I have come to the conclusion that Genelia is a static beauty. Hee hee.. Let me explain. These static beauties are very photogenic and make maximum impact in the pictures and when one keeps on gazing at them in a single pose. Although they are beautiful and look cute even otherwise, they wouldn't quite make the same impact when set in motion. ( yeah, I studied some Physics at the +2 stage). So a fan like me would end up wondering why the female who looked like an angel on his wallpaper, teasing and mesmerizing him appeared just like another heroine in the movie. Well, remember the "Static beauty theory".

The exact opposite of this is Piper Perabo, the girl who plays "Violet Sanford" in the hollywood movie "Coyote Ugly". I happened to catch the movie around 2 weeks back on Star movies and when I stopped swapping the channels once I saw Piper Perabo on screen. She seemed to have the perfect smile, the most natural smile that I had ever seen. Post-movie, I found some images of Piper Perabo on the net ( I didnt even know the name till then), and much to my disapppointment the spark was missing in her pics. The reason was simple. Any picture in the world would be able to capture only a particular instant of that lovely smile while the smile would continue for the next few seconds. And one can appreciate that only if one sees the complete smile from the moment when her lips start widening to the moment she flashes her teeth. The effect is not about a single moment. It lasts a few seconds and hence no photo can capture that. A fleeting beauty you see :)

Special thanks to:

Google Picassa for the collage
Genelia pics: www.idlebrain.com, www.raagalahari.com
Piper Perabo: http://www.wallpaperbase.com

Thursday, May 03, 2007

Hee hee

I was just cribbing yesterday about how bad life was for me without a cell phone and net. I saw the newspaper today and realized the entire generation feels the same. I couldn't agree more with the survey in Economic times . As for the timing, it was telepathy at its best.

Damn time

Naa...you heard it right. I was not meant to be "down-time". There are certain phases in life when everything goes against you no matter how hard you try. I went through one such phase a couple of weeks before I finally got a job. Now after 3 years the time seems to have come again. The "damn time"!!!

My net connection has gone kaput for the past 20 days thanks to the network-card which refuses to work. I bought a new one yesterday but that didn't help. Now the LAN icon has disappeared from the control panel altogether. My phone-battery went dead ( well.. quite apparently) last week. I bought a new one but after 2 hours it refused to work. I took it back to the dealer only to hear the "Goods once sold will not be taken back " funda from him. Nope I wasn't willing to buy his argument. Thanks to one of my friends aiding me in the verbal Dhoom-Dhaam I managed to get back the Rs 750. Irritated and frustrated ( err.. both mean the same .. right? ) I gave my phone to my Dad who promised me that he would get it right that very day. He did it and how easily? He just switched it on and started charging it and lo... it started working!!! "You lack the patience, my boy", dad said for the "Hazaar" th time in my life. My reaction was a helpless shrug indicating that there was nothing that I didnt try to make it work. Lesson learnt: My mobile can get as moody as I can get.

Not having the net and phone was like being deprived of food and shelter. Thankfully I had my clothes on. Touch Wood! Perhaps I didn't bother to say that and the next day I lost my valet when I went to a night show. It was weird for I realized that I lost it within 3-4 minutes. I had opened it to pay the money for the cool drinks and I guess it feel down when I removed the note. It struck me just a couple of minutes later but guess some lucky ass had already picked it up. Gone with my valet were my debit card, driving license and some cash( a good 500-600 :( ). My immediate concern was to get the card blocked. I finally did it yesterday afternoon and thankfully there were no transactions . ( Oh.. I am still worried. Let me call the customer care and check once again!!!). What about my driving license? I am not too sure if I have a xerox copy of that. Boooh....hoooo!!! If by any chance you happen to be reading this post and you happen the guy who found my purse, please return it to me. ( well... I am an optimist of the nth degree ). I promise to let you have the cash. I just want my card and driving license back.

All the above events have been interspersed with minor irritating events like me pushing Dad's Activa up the hill for 1 km after the engine refused to start. I seem to be hit pretty hard on the ideological front as well. I have been reading "Atlas Shrugged" for the past few days and I have come to the conclusion that I am neither a Hank-Rearden nor a James Taggart? Worse still I am neither a Devdas nor a Romeo. Gals no longer bring the same amount of excitement nor do they cause any pain as was the case not too long ago. My job doesnt excite me neither does it cause the threshold amount of frustration. Argh.. Huh.. Hmmm... there is nothing much to do I guess. I am just waiting for the fairy to come along!

Thursday, March 29, 2007

Aur Shaadi Kar Liya!

And what else? Aur Shaadi Kar liya!

Marriage is something that you do in two situations, one when life seems to be perfect in every other way and the other when nothing else in the world seems to be working for you.

The above statement holds true only for folks who are not in "love" with someone. When you love someone, the odds are marriage ( or for that matter "anything else" ) can happen anytime despite all the kinds of odds it is stacked against it.

Hmmm.. why am I saying all these now? Well, one after another the bachelors group among my friends is getting diminished and so every now and then I keep getting the question " Tera number kab hain? ". Me ?? And marriage?? I don't know how to manage myself. I cannot imagine me managing anyone else. I tried explaining the same to Dad. He wasn't totally convinced but yeah I was successful in putting off his immediate plans. Amen! Let us live in peace.

Sunday, March 18, 2007

Bob Woolmer Dies

Bob Woolmer, the Pakistan has died at the University Hospital in Jamaica. He was found unconscious in his hotel room hours after the defeat against Ireland.

Like any other cricket fan in the world, I am shell-shocked after hearing this news. The circumstances of his death aren't exactly known at this stage. The news guys on the TV are already dicussing the impact that his high pressure job might have had on his health. Well, coaching any sub-continent team especially Pakistan and India is a very tough job and at the moment with India on the brink of elimination, I can't help saying " Ab tera kya Hoga, Chappel??".

Saturday, March 17, 2007

Shockers!

Awe- Ah! It has happened! The Indian fan's dreaded nightmare has come true. Bangladesh has defeated India and now India needs to win both the remaining matches ( convincingly) to make it to the Super-8 stage. The Group-B pool was called the "Group of Death" after all.

On the field, Bangladesh could do no wrong. They fielded like tigers and their bowlers stuck to wicket to wicket line. What baffles me is that the experienced Indian batting line-up did nothing to upset their rhythm. They didn't rotate the strike as much as they shoud have given the fact that Bangladesh set pretty defensive fields after the Power-plays.

When they batted, the Bagladeshi youngsters came to the fore. India faced a unrelatively unknown bunch of rookies who handled their bowling with aplomb. As it alway happens in situations like this, I was left wondering if it was the same pitch that the Indians batted on when 17-year old Tamim Iqbal was batting. Finally it was a very well deserved win for the Bangladeshis.

If there is any other team that has greater "baffling" capability than the Indians , it has got to be Pakistan. They managed to lose to an even less fancied opponent Ireland. It was fatal since Pakistan had to win the match to stay in the World Cup. Ireland was clearly a team to watch out for since they had the mighty South-Africans on the mat ( in the warm-ups ) and then tied the match against Zimababwe. Well, they were clearly the hungrier side of the two and deserved to win. Pakistan was lazy and paid the price.

I guess the whole of Dhaka didn't sleep last night. From celebrations that I caught on TV, I guess the whole nation in a state of frenzy. And why not? It's the time to party and rock.

And now what about the Great Indian Cricket fan? Most of them are irritated, disgusted and disappointed. Some die-hard optimists like me will be hoping that India will still pull it off ( not just the next match but the World Cup :) ). For the moment, let's live in that hope.


Thought of the Day: . Cricket is not just a game. Cricket is a religion. Cricket is a passion. Cricket is an obsession. Cricket is a way of life!!! Huh .. Forget all this now! Cricket is just time-pass, baaki sab Bakwas.

Huh!

"Huh! It is unforunate that they still count us as Minnows. We have beaten top teams like Australia and India in the past but still ..." Thus spake the Bangladeshi coach Dav Whatmore. Half way through the match with India bundled out for a paltry 191, Whatmore would surely be grinning.

Huh! Some Record Trivia now. I guess this was the first time ever that I celebrated for almost each and every Indian boundary along with the jumping Tiger on the Sony Max channel. ( The boundaries were so few and rare. )

Huh! India guess now have one more neighbour to envy when it comes to fast bowling resources. Mashrafe Mortaza consistently bowled over 140kmph in today's match vs Indiaa and India still doesn't have one ripper in its ranks.

Huh! This one is an ode to the Die-hard Indian fan. India has been bundled out for 191 but most of the specatators interviewed on TV still seem to believe that India will pull it off. ( even I am going to watch the first 15 overs for that matter :) )

Huh!
Experience seems to count to zilch on some occasions. It's just the Josh factor on a particular day that does the trick sometimes. The Bangladesh team which doesn't have the combined experience of the Saurav-Sachin duo has the Indian team on a mat today. Latest News: Tanim Iqbal. 17 year old rookie has hit a hurricane 50 which consisted of a few disdainful hits off Zaheer and Munaf.


Tail-peice Huh! Till today, I was belwildered everytime I watched "The Blue Billion Pepsi ad" where some road side ruffians grab a Pepsi bottle from the India cricket team and then mock at them. A big crowd joins the act. Quite dumb! I thought since for the Indian fans, the cricketers are Gods. Watching the ad during the India-Bangladesh match, I came to the conclusion that the crowd playing fool with Indian cricketers was from Bangladesh! Huh!

Thursday, March 15, 2007

Unconditional love?

Love, the most confusing and only abstract 4-letter word is getting on my nerves again. Sometimes, I wonder if Love can ever be unconditional? A mother loves her child because it is her child. A son does so much for his parents because they are his parents and they would have sacrificed a lot for him. So far so good. A wife loves her husband because he is her man and takes care of her. What about her poor boy friend ? What about his unconditional love for her ? The boy feels foolish now. The boy has only himself to blame because he had loved a girl who was never going to be his. Perhaps a boy should first enquire whether the girl would marry him and then fall in love with her. Huh... what crap!!! . Considering all this, the arranged marriage funda where the boy and girl decide to fall in love after getting married ( huh.. is there any option left?) doesn't seem a bad idea. Is there option left? Well, the bottle in his hand seems to be the answer for now. Gulp!

Monday, March 12, 2007

New!!!

It's very natural that one looks for something new, something fresh, something with that bit of energy once in a while. I am no different and was looking at other templates in blogspot. The color Black rocks any day! But I would get too passionate about the color and worry less about the content. Black , I am afraid will always make me feel good about my writings irrespective of what I write. So perhaps it would be limit the color Black to my T-shirts. ( although Mom gets crazy about it).

I like the current template, the creamish green-blue thing. But then I need to find a new one to keep myself going. The Whitish-Maroon one? That actually seems to be good option. White comes like a whiff of fresh air. The only problem with this one being that I have already used it for some of my "Melbourne Posts".

There is one greenish template which is full of life. Hmmm.. but may be it would just suit a wild life photographer more :). I find the baby-pink template a bit too effeminte. I guess it should be used only when I am in the complete romantic/glossy mood which I guess will be very rare. Tic-tac blue and tic-tac green are a bit too dull for my liking.

Huh! Hmmm.. Arghh.. After a lot of this and that I finally seem to like the White-Maroon one. Will I get going with that soon given that there seems to be fair amount of josh. Well, let's see but I usually don't bet on myself.

Saturday, March 03, 2007

Titanic & Teen Mar!

It was about 5'0 clock in the evening and I was in the borest of the bore moods. Half-asleep, dodgy, restless, irritated. I happened to see this attachment from one of my friends which read "Fw: Titanic" . I opened it to find the mp3 version of the itle song of Titanic. Hmmmm.. "Not bad!' I thought and decided to play the evergreen romantic. I was in for a suprise as I heard the rustic Teen Mar beat along with the Titanic song. Cool idea! I was amused, entertained and more importantly got back some Josh :) Teen Mar rocks any day!

Friday, January 19, 2007

Grrrrr ... Grow up Kiddo!

Huh !!! The Blush. Will I ever grow up? Will I ever stop getting passionate and emotional about the fairer sex?

Time : 6:00 am
What I was supposed to do : Sleep like a log on my cozy bed
What I did: Got up suddenly and was searching if someone was online
Mom's expression: Ah.. My kid ... He has got up so early .. He is becoming responsible. Work in the office.. work at home. Ah .. my kid!!
After 5 mins : The heart is quite disturbed that "she" is not online. A message is passed to the brain to shut down the comp and give some respite to the weary eyes. The body pulls the rug and goes back to sleep.
Mom's expression now : Oh.. he has slept again. Wonder why he got up at all?

I am not too concerned about what Mom thinks but I am about how passionate I get about some silly girl . ( This concern is very relevant because I silly girl doesnt have any idea about this nor is she passionate about me) . I usually have a sound sleep and it requires someone to put quite a bit of effort to wake me up. But the moment I get this thought of meeting this gal, the heart seems to take over. It makes sure that the brain is activated and wakes up in time. Wish I could do this before the bloody Computer Networks exam in the 7th sem. It wouldn't have flunked and would have freaked out in the 8th sem without repeating the course.

Others guys seem to have matured quite a bit after college. They are either steady with someone or are busy with their work. I still seem to be the same confused soul . Flash back ... My thoughts when I was in the 3rd year ( Titled "In Love with love")

It was my first day of my long summer vacation. I was just out of school. I saw this girl moving into our opposite house and in a la "dil to pagal hai" style I was mesmerized as the lines "Somewhere, someone is made for you" came to my mind.It was love at first sight.(or second I don't exactly remember). I found that she was younger than me and so to befriend I used my "senior" tag. I started helpimg her academically and in whatever other way I could. Her interests started becoming my priorities and her birthday became the most auspicious day for my resolutions.This continued for one year. However she was as hard as kitply and did'nt respond.

I was now in my second year. I started to like a girl in our college who was of the traditional bholi type girl. (So what happened to the first???) After some time I felt that this girl was made for me. (First girl overwritten). Even the girl started liking me. But once after entrance exams were over we got ranks wide enough to separate us.(yeh u guessed it !!!she got a huge rank.Don't forget I am in a premier Engineering college ). As days passed by I got the feeling that this girl did'nt deserve me.

In the engineering college it started again!!! What?? what else?? The same "Somewhere someone..." feeling. This time around it was a case of "I came here ,I saw her and she conquered me". It was'nt love at first sight this time though.It was only after many sights at many sites (places) that I felt the need to sight (look for) her. ( I was more experienced ) But then life is not a bed of roses. This girl was like diamond not only in apperance but also at heart(hardness). She completely ignored me. Unlike what most of you would expect I did'nt turn Devadas with a bottle in hand. Rather I turned Kalidas with a pen in hand and began to write whenever I felt sad and depressed. Although I should confess that as a incurable Romantic and eternal lover I always keep waiting for a dramatic turn or an unexpected twist.

Now don't dare to say that you have heard this somewhere before. Believe me ,it is not a plagiarised version of "mera naam joker". It is my own story,(I mean life).These girls taught me quite a few things . (I learnt many the hard way). The first time around I realised that it is mistake to expect too much out of anyone how much ever you might love them. The next experience taught me that hasty decisions only make you regret later. The last girl(will she be the final one????) brought out the writer in me and made me tougher in life. The greatest and perhaps the most important thing that all these girls made me realise is that I was "In love with love".(and not with any of them). Any listeners???


Listeners!!! Forget it . I don't even listen to myself. If I were to re-write this again now , it wouldn't change much except that the number of girls would be 8 or 10 instead of 3 . ( And each one of them would teach me some lesson but the final lesson remains the same. (In all of these cases it would be pretty one-sided with me playing the "one".) But I don't learn I just write). "It takes much more sense to be passionate about an "idea" or a "thought" rather than a person". This I believe is conventional wisdom. For me the idea still seems that of the "silly gal". Grrrr ...Grow up Kiddo for this idea will never change your life.


After-thought: The Bollywood remake syndrome seems to have effected me too. I never imagined that I would use something that I wrote 5 years ago.