Write ! Right?

There are around 70-80 posts that I have written so far. It has been almost an year since I have written anything in this blog. Ever since I have been in Mumbai, I have been randomly giving vent to my thoughts on the Mumbai blog. The vela that I was today, I started going through all the comments in my previous posts. There must have been hardly 10-15 of them. ( thanks to those who did comment). I really felt good going through all of them. I was like wondering why I stopped writing. There was a random mail in my inbox that reminded me of my blog. Thanks to the person who bothered to mail me. I don't even whether the mail was for me or someone else since I was born in November and this person wishes me now. Anyway the bottom line is I want to write. Do anything in life but write. Come what may but write. And I think that's right. Right ???

A universal Donor :)

Right now, I am wearing a red and white shirt. Well, nothing too romantic about it, but then this is a shirt which I bought during the 'Friends to support' run. 'Friends to support' is a social group that helps the society by providing information about blood donors and organizing blood donation camps.

Coming back to my shirt, the message on it reads ' I am proud donor' which is ironical because of the fact that I being a diabetic, can never donate blood to anyone :(. But I still think that I am a proud donor. And what makes me think so? Well, listen to me now. I happen to fall in love ( that's what I think it is ) every other day and end up giving so much that makes me feel that I am the universal donor. Just as Aarya points out, I guess I have so much love embedded in me that a single gal would never to able to take it all. And hence I need to spread the love around to all the gals around me :)



So in order to sync the message with my 'Dil se' and 'Dil de' thoughts I turned the friends2support logo upside down and tweaked the turned version a little bit. And lo! you can see my heart there, right on my shirt proclaiming that it is the proud donor. The logo on Kumar's shirt ( to the right) is the original one. Cool!!! Isn't it? :)

Sarkozy kaun hain?

I was just glancing through the newspapers and come across this name 'Sarkozy'.
The news read 'Sarkozy weds Carla Burni'.

'Sarkozy? 'Hmm... heard the name earlier, must be some Hollywood actor' I thought. Nevertheless I started reading the article and realized that Sarkozy err 'Nicolas Sarkozy' to be precise is the French President. 'Oh.. French presidents are quite young' I said to myself but to my suprise I found that the French President was 53. Hmm.. more suprises were on the way as I realized that the bride was around 40 years old and is a singer and a former model. And what next? Both of them have been married and divorced. I couldn't help wondering what hell would break loose if an Indian President did this. First of all, all the news channels and newspapers would have a month long story with the 'Breaking News'/ 'Flash News' thing appearing on every other channel on the TV. Hehe.. guess I am imagining too many things, that are too improbable.

My reaction to things like these makes me feel that I am 'A frog in the well'.( The 'well' being Hyderabad in my case). France of course is far away but I was taken aback by things that happened in the not too distant Pune. Last week, when I was there for the SIMC thing, I was offered a fag by two gals. That was 'Awwwww' for me . I refused and promptly got the 'He is a decent guy' comment for it. I knew about these things but then I lacked the first hand experience and hence the mild shock. We sat in a resturant to have lunch and start talking about the 'booz' habits.

1st gal- So, what do you drink?
Me( not too comfortable) - Well, I don't quite enjoy driking. I don't like beer
2nd gal - Oh.. we hate beer too. But what do you drink?
Me- I just drink some Jimlet, the gin with some lime.
2nd gal- Yeh to baccha hain yaar.We are way ahead of him. We drink Vodka and stuff

After I came back to Hyderabad, I narrated this incident to my fairer-sex colleagues and they haven't stopped laughing since then. Huh! Grow up Kiddo. :) Will you?

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

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!

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 :)

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.

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.

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!

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.

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 :)

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.

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! :)

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).

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 :(

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.

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?

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

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.