Awesome Year

Saw snippets of the BEST and Worst of the year in most websites so came up with this post about my year.
In 2005 I :

• Finished my post graduation and with that hopefully came to the end of the road of my academic career.
• Conned Wipro, Intel, MBT, Vistasoft, IBM, Covansys and I-Gate into giving me job offers. 7 offers to work (never knew I was so wanted)
• Started working and more importantly EARNING.
• Started taking a Bath everyday and a shave every two days (unwelcome change from IIT days when the periodic activity for the same was fortnightly and monthly respectively).
• Got my first Bonus.
• Bought my Mom a Really Nice Present.
• Learnt Cooking with successful results.
• Cut down on excesses due to a Bad Back aka Slip Disk (Now you can speculate about what excesses are :-D)
• Saw a VERY Close friend get married and put his life in order.
• Tried playing Cupid with mixed results
• Spent a year SINGLE and loved every moment of it. (i.e. Became a bigger Geela)
• Joined a GYM for an obscene amount and went there thrice ..to date.
• Invested in Mutual Funds and Insurance (Ahem…running out of things to write)
• Started BLOGGING

In Effect…grown up (both mentally and physically)
Hope the coming year will be as fruitful (AHEM) to you.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Awesome Blog

Do not want to sound as an advert for other blogs but this one is seriously awesome.
Especially the Mahabharata Series.

Merry Christmas

Well a whole lot of firsts for me this Christmas weekend.
Cooked for Mom.
Cooked for cousins.
Did not screw up.
Got compliments.
Could not finish a book on a weekend.
No plum cake and Wine.
No Mistletoe (Not a first but who cares anyway)
Well atleast it was not all misery but a whole lot of merry with family (Hope to see them in the nick of health even after my cooking).
PS. That’s my Christmas Wish.
And hope all of you had a fantastic Christmas.

Nice article

Well another great article from Gaurav.
Hardly surprising but this one interested me so cos i have a sustained interest in both named companies. I work in one and hope to work in another.
So read it .

Life

I have lost interest in blogging, again. Damn !!

Well I have a lot to share but most of it is under the blanket of what he/she will think. And the rest of my life is slowly becoming too routine and bland. I am bored at work, home and elsewhere. So there is nothing to write about. Comes from having no girlfriend for the past $ months, giving up smoking/drinking for the last 3 months, living like a monk, reading books like “The monk who sold his Ferrari” and not having a Ferrari.

Result : too much thinking and no Action.

Yeah, I still could watch movies and write reviews but honestly it’s boring for me(quality of movies) and frankly who can actually read all that crap. I could visit places and write about the journey but have neither the time nor the inclination to ask my boss for a vacation. I could take pictures and post them but my camera is not suited for still photography.

But I truly don't have anything else to say. Nothing new, nothing meaningful, nothing fun so I shall crib today and then go for a drive in the company of Pink Floyd. LIFE ROCKS

LOL

Gals Pls pass on this and try to forgive me, while the Guys can enjoi. Really Really funny!!!!

Conversation between a teacher and a student

Now if you are really busy, Please refrain from reading this as it may be a bit verbose.
But if you are truly VELA, Please do read it.

An atheist professor of philosophy speaks to his class on the problem science has with God, The Almighty. He asks one of his new students to stand and....
Prof: So you believe in God?
Student: Absolutely, sir.
Prof: Is God good?
Student: Sure.
Prof: Is God all-powerful?
Student: Yes.
Prof: My brother died of cancer even though he prayed to God to heal him. Most of us would attempt to help others who are ill. But God didn't. How is this God good then?

Hmm? (Student is silent.)
Prof: You can't answer, can you? Let's start again, young fella. Is God good?
Student :Yes.
Prof: Is Satan good?
Student : No.
Prof: Where does Satan come from?
Student : From...God...
Prof: That's right. Tell me son, is there evil in this world?
Student : Yes.
Prof: Evil is everywhere, isn't it? And God did make everything. Correct?
Student : Yes.
Prof: So who created evil?
(Student does not answer.)
Prof: Is there sickness? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness? All these terrible things exist in the world, don't they?
Student :Yes, sir.
Prof: So, who created them?
(Student has no answer.)
Prof: Science says you have 5 senses you use to identify and observe the world around you. Tell me, son...Have you ever seen God?
Student : No, sir.
Prof: Tell us if you have ever heard your God?
Student : No , sir.
Prof: Have you ever felt your God, tasted your God, smelled your god? Have you ever had any sensory perception of God for that matter?
Student : No, sir. I'm afraid I haven't.
Prof: Yet you still believe in Him?
Student : Yes.
Prof: According to empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol, science says your GOD doesn't exist. What do you say to that, son?
Student : Nothing. I only have my faith.
Prof: Yes. Faith. And that is the problem science has.
Student : Professor, is there such a thing as heat?
Prof: Yes.
Student : And is there such a thing as cold?
Prof: Yes.
Student : No sir. There isn't.
(The lecture theatre becomes very quiet with this turn of events.)
Student : Sir, you can have lots of heat, even more heat, superheat, mega heat, white heat, a little heat or no heat. But we don't have anything called cold. We can hit 458 degrees below zero which is no heat, but we can't go any further after that. There is no such thing as cold. Cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of heat. We cannot measure cold. Heat is energy.
Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir, just the absence of it. (There is pin-drop silence in the lecture theatre.)
Student : What about darkness, Professor? Is there such a thing as darkness?
Prof: Yes. What is night if there isn't darkness?
Student : You're wrong again, sir. Darkness is the absence of something. You can have low light, normal light, bright light, flashing light.... But if you have no light constantly, you have nothing and its called darkness, isn't it? In reality, darkness isn't. If it were, you would be able to make darkness darker, wouldn't you?
Prof: So what is the point you are making, young man?
Student : Sir, my point is your philosophical premise is flawed.
Prof: Flawed? Can you explain how?
Student : Sir, you are working on the premise of duality. You argue there is life and then there is death, a good God and a bad God. You are viewing the concept of God as something finite, something we can measure. Sir, science can't even explain a thought. It uses electricity and magnetism, but has never seen, much less fully understood either one. To view death as the opposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that
death cannot exist as a substantive thing. Death is not the opposite of life: just the absence of it. Now tell me, Professor. Do you teach your students that they evolved from a monkey?
Prof: If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, yes, of course, I do.
Student : Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir?
(The Professor shakes his head with a smile, beginning to realize where the argument is going.)
Student : Since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at work and cannot even prove that this process is an on-going endeavour, are you not teaching your opinion, sir? Are you not a scientist but a preacher?
(The class is in uproar.)
Student : Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen the Professor's brain?
(The class breaks out into laughter.)
Student : Is there anyone here who has ever heard the Professor's brain, felt it, touched or smelled it?.....No one appears to have done so. So, according to the established rules of empirical, stable, demonstrable protocol, science says that you have no brain, sir. With all due respect, sir, how do we then trust your lectures, sir?
(The room is silent. The professor stares at the student, his face unfathomable.)
Prof: I guess you'll have to take them on faith, son.
Student : That is it, sir.. The link between man & god is FAITH. That is all that keeps things moving & alive.
Do you know who the student is....?

That young man was ALBERT EINSTEIN.

Change of Girth

As far as I can remember, Mom and Dad were always concerned that I was too thin. In fact Mom’s favourite story is that Dad had asked the doctor who delivered me for a tonic/medicine/Magic portion which would make me one of those chubby cute babies. Now this was 2 hours after I graced the world with my presence. :D And I had stayed thin all my life, so it was with not a very pleasant surprise that I discovered I had moved to waist size 34. I fact till third year engineering, I was a bit less than 28 and used to ask hazard salesmen why size 27 was not stocked.

Well I guess HAL has been nice to me and I see it as a sign of prosperity. Joining the gym today never the less!!!!!

More on Manjunath

Well a lot of blogs have come up on this subject but I guess this mail from Akhil Krishna (Manju's Friend) sums up the issue perfectly.

The poor man and the stone

Manju was my close friend at IIM-Lucknow. I have a Graduation Day snap with him. When I joined the IIM, he'd just returned after a Research Associate-ship in IIM-Bangalore. His topic of research, and the topic that really caught his imagination, was 'Values'.

He often used to speak of values, looking at me deeply with those sincere-looking eyes. His favourite course in the MBA program was 'Leadership'. He spoke from the heart and hated any pretence in presenting himself anywhere – class discussion, interview anywhere.

He used to speak of making a difference to society. He was interested in meditation and mind control - primarily as a means to overcome the impulses that make one deviate from values.

He was a brilliant singer and the most popular guy in the batch. He always gave joy to people and brightened their lives through his singing, jokes, and his free spirit. He never spoke ill; in fact he seemed incapable of even thinking ill of anybody.

Knowing his love for upholding values, I think the highest ideal Manju would have conceived of, must have been to die for them. All of us are bound to die one day, and all of us can die only once. He became one with his highest ideal – and met a heart-rending (or should I call it glorious – a romantic idealist's glory) death. (Read)

Satyendra Dubey from IIT. Manjunath Shanmugham from IIM. How many bright and honest young men will we lose like this?

The Economist estimates that of every Rs. 100/- dispensed from the centre for the poor (such as through employment schemes), only Rs.27/- reaches the people it is meant for – the rest feeding the greed of the corrupt scum of our country. When will this Rs.27/- take the poor man to progress? And do we need to contribute Rs.73/- to the coffers of the corrupt mafia in the process?

Please remember that this Rs. 73/- is not getting wasted down the drain (that would have been better); it is actively contributing to the growth of the mafia and ever making them stronger, bigger. It's something like this – I am trying to throw a stone off my head, and every time I grow in strength by X, the stone grows in weight by 2.7X.

I am a poor man from a backward area of the country. On my head is this huge stone called corruption and goondaism - which rule my land. Will I ever be able to throw it off, or will I just get crushed under it?

Other countries – Russia, France - have had full-and-full revolutions, no less! Is our basic peace-loving nature as Indians making us soft, and consequently, impotent?

If you think that men who are destined to get crushed by stones should get crushed by stones, read no further. If you think Manju and Satyendra Dubey were impractical idealists who should rather have written the screenplay for Hindi films, read no further. Delete this mail, right now! Though I find it hard to believe, I guess impotency can be a natural choice too.

If, however, you are outraged, and feel like spitting at the rot in our country, then first understand that there will always be some die-hard men of principles like Manju who will never waver from their principles irrespective of what you and I choose. We have a choice here – either we stand by them, and join hands with them in adhering to values. Or we keep adding weight to the stone and shed crocodile tears when the poor man gets crushed.

But then, I have always believed that all of us are born with inbuilt human values – goodness, kindness, love, wishing well for others. I have always believed that honest people are in a majority in this world and even more so in India. It is the corrupt that are always in a minority. But because the honest people do not stand together and the corrupt ones do, they are seen as majorities & they have the power to influence everything around us through these unholy groups and links – the Politicians-Criminals link, the Criminals-Bollywood link, and the Purchasing Officer-Vendor link.

They can kill one Manju, one Satyendra Dubey, but can they kill all of us? We know they can't. And yet they kill. Most heinously, they do.

Why? Because we don't come together!!

Coming together does not stop with signing an internet petition, making some noise when a tragedy happens. It means coming together in spirit. In ideology. In the way we lead our lives. In small things. It means, taking a receipt of 100 Euros for the taxi ride that cost you 100 Euros. It means, not looking left or right while writing an exam. It means, not giving a PSU purchasing officer an expensive watch because he suddenly became your personal-friend-from-previous-birth when you went to submit your tender in his office. It means, having the guts to stand up and oppose corruption – like Satyendra and Manju did.

There is no dearth of inspiring stories – Narayaswamy, G.R.Khairnar and Alphons Kannamthanam and many many more. And Manju & Satyendra if you're looking for the younger ones (they died really young didn't they…). As I said, the basic good nature in humans is strong, and good people are in a majority.

My first foreign work-visit convinced me that Indians are one of the most intelligent beings on the planet. My subsequent visits only confirmed this. The IITs and IIMs – Satyendra and Manju's alma mater, together have an alumni that MIT, Standford and Harvard would together be hard-pressed to match. Lack of Intelligence is clearly not the reason for India's backwardness, it is something else – lack of inspiration, lack of initiative.

Should the intelligence we Indians are born with, come with a baggage of impotence? And how many guises this impotence takes – 'being practical', 'being tactful', 'being wiser than the hindi movie script'. At the same time our intelligence thinks of principles as 'impractical', 'the 'melodramatic hindi cinema plot', 'not for the modern day'. Being intelligent is quite alright, but can't we be Inspired, for heaven's sake?

If I wish to really honour the memory of Manju, Satyendra and many others who have lived by their values, I should stand by them and commit myself to values too. I can't mince the words on that. I realized this when he was shot and all the old discussions we had on values came back to my mind.

To commit yourself to values, and spit at the rot that took Manju's life, sign here – and see for yourself that there is no dearth of good people in India:

When I studied for IIT, I used the famous Physics Textbook written by Resnick, Halliday and Jearl Walker. Prof. Walker was a daredevil. He used to try out all the theories of physics in practice. The *Leidenfrost effect* is the phenomenon by which a liquid in near

Contact with a mass hotter than the liquid's "Leidenfrost point", produces an insulating vapor layer which keeps it from boiling rapidly. In short, it says that if you walk on hot coals, the vapour of your sweat will keep your feet from burning. Prof. Walker believed in the physics that he taught, so he walked on hot coals many times, dipped wet hot fingers in molten lead, poured liquid nitrogen in his mouth.(Read )

The great Richard Feynman, no less, has been known to have stuck his hand in water first and then into the benzene and lit it, to prove a point in physics to his friends. The first time, it worked fine, the second time though, it hurt like hell – he had grown hairs on the back of his hand. (Read)

Prof. Walker has often argued that physics degree granting programs should employ "fire walking" as a last exam. If the candidate's belief in physics is strong enough that the feet are left undamaged, the chairperson hands the candidate a graduation certificate. By a similar token, I as Manju's batchmate, believe that he was the truest of true leaders, because he really carried out in life the values of a true leader. The fact that I might have got a higher grade in the Leadership course might be one of the most insignificant facts inhabiting the synapses in my brain.

Manju's story should inspire in at least a thousand people at least a ten percent higher adherence to values. That is really the only way I can console myself over the loss of this friend, the truest of true leaders.

Please see how you can make your contribution to make the Manju case an occasion to strike a blow to the rot in our country. It could be anything from writing a letter on this case to the editor of a newspaper, to using any of your contacts in media, to, let's say, arrange a talk show where administrators are called in and nailed down to some firm action. It could be writing an article in sulekha.com or suniti.com. Or forwarding this mail to influential contacts with some executive power. Just about anything, everything helps.

We are also planning some protest marches, and setting up something concrete in Manju's name to recognize and encourage honest people who help deal a blow to corruption. If you can help on anything, please join in.

I hate chain mails and have deleted with particular glee all those chain mails that promise dire consequences if you don't forward them on ("If you don't forward this mail within 5 minutes of reading it, God will strike you down with lightening" etc). However, since this is for a poor man with a big stone on his head, please do forward this to like-minded people. Let us strike the iron when it is hot – and strike hard.

Akhil Krishna

IIM Lucknow -2003
IIT Madras – 2000
Comments, suggestions, ideas: akhilkrishna@yahoo.com

Back after a 4-day Haitus

Had been to Sarath's Marriage.
Here's wishing the happy couple "A Happy Married Life"
Photos Follow......

Beware Majaa

Most of the Tamil movies I see are what you call recommended. Well I always had an impression that if friends recommend a Tamil movie, it would be good. But Majaa was a major shocker. I mean I have seen some bad movies but a movie this bad would be really hard to find. After exactly 10 mins, I had the urge to leave the theatre but suffered for about 30 mins past the interval before making a run for it.

If you really want to know how we suffered in detail, please read Mad’s Blog.

Special mention of Vikram’s dress designer, who either is a complete nincompoop or a genius. He matches the lungi with a vest accompanied by the same coloured design on the equally flamboyant shirt. For more, watch the film but please watch out for your mental sanctity.

Too many Birthdays

A whole lot of birthdays in the last few days. Some I missed and some I remembered. So here’s wishing all of them a very great year ahead.

Bujji (Kalyan), Pallavi, Pavan and Divya.

May the lord shower you with happiness and wish you all a very happy Birthday.

Now where’s the treat??

Interesting Article in The Indian Express

"India empowered to me is when we are no longer called Muslim Indians but Indian Muslims" Maulana Dr Syed Kalbe Sadiq

This is an excerpt from an awesome article on Muslims in India in The Indian Express.Read the full article here.

Can justice prevail?

Manjunath Shanmugam, May god rest your soul.

By now all of you would have heard of Manjunath (IIM-Lucknow batch of 2003) who was shot dead two days back. Details of this ghastly murder have been put up only on the India express (Lucknow version) and are unavailable in Rediff and Indiatimes.

Well so much for the state on web-journalism. Also found wanting are Hindu and Times of India, who allocate reams and reams of paper to baseless Page 3 news and advertisements (recall this week’s page-long IIPM advertisement) but do not consider this a news worthy item.

I also did a Google search on this topic and came up with just one result. Most of the details are coming from his batch mates and friends. Some of the few posts on this subject.
Gaurav Sabnis
Sharad Patel
Dhammonia

But do not let this dilute the fact that Manjunath paid with his life by standing up for, what he believed was right. He was an honest person who did not believe in taking the easy way out and paid for his principles with his life.

Hopefully justice shall prevail and the culprits will pay for their crimes. But knowing the Indian judicial system and apathy of the Indian media, I have serious doubts.

One more newspaper catches up.

Harry Potter Review

I loved the Movie. But as every HP Fan would say, I would rather have a detailed mini-series about each year rather than have one jam-packed movie. Mike Newell (Four Weddings and a Funeral) who directs this instalment does a brilliant job but makes a few modifications which may not please Witches and Wizards watching. He has commented that he sees the novel as a suspense thriller and that the best/only way to adapt the 734-page novel would be to shed everything that doesn’t involve the main story line. Well all that is fine but why do the grindylows attack Harry after he has rescued everyone in the lake. Makes no sense and seems a bit forced doesn’t it? And some other issues with the movie are:

• Not one house elf makes an appearance in this movie.
• Malfoy’s ferret scene is a disappointment.
• Mad eye moddy does not have half his nose missing and does not look frightening
• The lovely ladies of Beauxbatons especially Fluer Delacour are not as mesmerising as they could have been.
• No one can understand what the Weasley twins are doing? The sale Weasley’s Wizarding Wheezes are not well shot.
• The Dursley’s do not even make an appearance and we lose a chance to see Ton-tongue toffee.

A major change was the introduction of Barty Crouch Jr in the first scene of the movie. Even though it eases things along for new viewers, it is something that will definitely rankle the chains of Harry Potter purists. The Quidditch World Cup is also skipped over along with the characters of Ludo Bagman and acts a set piece to introduce the character of Victor Krum and as a set-up to the frightening entrance of the Death Eaters.

However the movie has some spectacular special effects and some real good original dialogues. The Quidditch World Cup Stadium and the dragon sequence are stunning, but the maze does not have any obstacles except for some silly vines. But the overall visuals in the movie are amazing. Some of the dialogues, especially the one where Ron tries to tell Harry about the Dragons are a total hoot. The ball scene is also good (for all romantics) and the scene before where Professor McGonagall teaches the Ron Weasley how to dance is Paisa Wasool.

But the one thing that I shall remember about the movie is Emma Watson, who plays Hermione Granger. I remember a review which said she was too beautiful to be Hermione, but she will be the reason I shall see the movie again.

Weekend

Have tickets for Harry Potter and Goblet of Fire courtesy GRN. So I am off to Hogwarts for the day. Saturday and Sunday shall hopefully be alcohol-free and will involve a lot of cricket viewing. So here wishing all of you a very very VELA weekend.I shall let Calvin have the last say on VELAGIRI.Best of Luck to all CAT aspirants(including my bro, Deepthi, Bala, Trra, Sandeep and others). Crack Madhi!!!

Ganguly

For the past few months, Ganguly baiting has become a fashionable statement. Anyone and everyone who has or has not played/coached/commented/watched cricket has a view and here is mine. Let me say at the very beginning, that I was never a Ganguly Fan.

After seeing him score a century at lords on debut and then following it up with another in the same series, I remember the hula-hoop surrounding him when he came back to Calcutta. I remember vividly, the interview given by his brother to Sportstar, where he said that they were getting about 100 calls a day on their Home Phone from crazed girls and how they were changing their number. He had become One of the few Bongs who was made it B’time in the past decade and was given a Demigod status.

From about ’97 to 2000, he played in numerous tests and one-dayers and if people with a short memory cannot recall, this was the time of the infamous match-fixing controversy but Ganguly was quietly making a name for himself and in those days of individual-glory rather than team work, he was one of the stars of the Indian team. Now I wondered after the Azhar and Sachin Captaincy saga, why Jadeja was not chosen captain especially since he had started to play tests and was well liked by the Indian Media. Soon after Ganguly was given the captaincy, the match-fixing scandal broke through and all of us had the answer to the question.

After this came the Nagma Episode and with the Australians in Town, it lead to a lot of questions about Ganguly’s Character. But India won that series convincingly and even though Ganguly followed it up with other successes, they all came with a silver lining as every commentator believed that with the team India had, we had to perform better and India was not doing that because of Ganguly’s captaincy.

Now that’s where the HOG starts, if India did well in those days (Natwest series-World Cup-Australian Series-Pakistan Series). It was because Ganguly believed in an individual’s talent and went all out supporting him. This leads to self belief within a team and the confidence that if he went all out and if he failed, he would still have a place in the team. This lead to players like Sehwag, Yuvraj, Kaif, Harbajan, Zaheer, Nehra and Balaji emerging from the shadows and performing outstandingly well for India. The only downside of this was that Ganguly was playing favourites and this lead to ego-clashes with former players and discontent among emerging talent in the country that they were being ignored.

If you ask me, that can and must be done. Case in point Mike Hussey vs. Justin Langer and the Australian selectors got it right when they went for a seasoned performer and look at where they are now. As for the former players, they had always underachieved and could not bear to see a person who did not care a hoot about what they thought but merely looked after his team. Former players like Sunny Gavaskar (remember his 36 in 60 overs), Ravi Shastri (one of the most selfish players ever to represent India), Sidhu (Do I have to say anything?) and Manjerekar (On Ten Sports yesterday, he had the tenacity to say that Pakistanis in a Sharjah Final were like Lions and we could not do anything against them. What were you, Sanjay? A moron? Hmmmm For Once i agree)

Now I am sure that all of you would have read about Ganguly’s bad qualities in tons of articles. Let me see if I can mention a few good ones.
1. Ganguly, as we all know is a fabulous opener but when the situation demanded in the world cup, he made way for Sehwag and Sachin.
2. Never say die Attitude, I can recall many matches won just because of that.
3. Dealing with Superstars, both Sachin and Dravid gave some of their best performances with him as Captain.
4. Dealing with Youngsters, As I said before “He made the careers of Half the Current Indian Team”
5. Getting under the Skin of rival Captains and coaches. Anyone recall Steve Waugh and his infamous “Ganguly is not a friend”
6. Making his views on anything clear…..ahem crystal clear.
7. Removing you shirt at Lords. One of the few everlasting impressions in Indian Cricket. And yet people ridiculed him for doing that, calling him unsporting and Not acting like a Gentleman(Gavaskar). I would tell Gavaskar as a Cricket Lover, that i prefer a bare-chested victory Salute rather than an Insipid defeat.
8. Bouncing back from adversity. Remember Nagma, Injury, Suspension and now Politics.
I am sure he will be back. May not be as successful again but that’s not the point. He’s a fighter who taught India never to wilt under pressure and had a true Lion’s Heart, which he wore on his sleeve.
So here’s Saluting India’s greatest Ever Captain.

Abolutely Fabulous Essay

Amitav Ghosh writes about the aftermath of Indra-Gandhi’s assassination.

IBM to expand in India - Rumor or Reality???

Been hearing a lot about this.
Hope its true.
Have a great Weekend!!!

IITian according to Dilbert

Can anyone believe this crap!!!!

Your standards are falling Mr. Scott Adams

Seven

Seven Things I Want To Do Before I Die

1. Become a Millionaire
2. Take a World trip to places like Jamaica, Amsterdam, Lisbon, Venice, New Zealand, Burma, Congo, Brazil etc.
3. Adopt a Girl Child esp. if I do not have one biologically
4. Sky dive from a moving plane
5. Dance like Hrithik Roshan or Gene Kelly
6. Buy a Harley or a Ferrari or a Porsche
7. Start an NGO for spastic children

Most of these are dependent on Essential Wish number One. LOL

Seven Things I Want To Do in the Next Year

1. Bungee jump again, gives you a thrill which is unforgettable
2. Cook excellent food
3. Learn how to dance preferably Salsa
4. Get a Tattoo
5. Visit a Casino
6. Learn to play the guitar
7. Become a Hard-Core Romantic

Seven Things I Can Do NOW

1. Be a patient listener
2. Make anyone laugh
3. Love unconditionally
4. Go out of my way to help family/friends
5. Make fun of myself and take jokes about me in stride
6. Organize clutter
7. Write about any rubbish topic and make it sound sensible (ala my blogs)

Seven Things I Can't Do EVER

1. Sing
2. Exercise or Wake up early
3. Understand Women
4. Pretend to work when Absolutely VELA
5. Say 'NO' to someone in need
6. Control my anger
7. Forget people who deliberately try to hurt me or my family

Seven Things That Attract Me to the Opposite Sex:

1. Simple ,Elegant and Shy
2. Eyes Eyes Eyes Eyes – blue-green pleaseeee
3. Neat & intelligent sense of humour
4. Smile
5. Genuinely nice, understanding and caring
6. Slim & Cute
7. Fun loving Attitude

Seven Celebrity Crushes (in no particular order)

1. Laetitia Casta
2. Emmanuelle Chriqui
3. Aishwarya Rai
4. Daniela Hantuchova
5. Lisa Ray
6. Sridevi
7. Bhoomika

Since this is my blog, I take the liberty of adding Sonali Bendre to this list. Any issues!! Please do the unmentionable!!!!

Seven Things I Say Most :

1. Wokay or OK or okie
2. Strong or Interesting or Learning’s
3. IUSS – if you say so
4. Cool or Bindaas
5. Crap or $*&T or WTF or Damn
6. No issues or No problem or No worries
7. Oops or Hmmmmm

Most of which is GAP lingo and to learn more about GAP read DD’s blog.

Murugan Idly and Vengai Chutney

What do you say when a friend calls and says that she wants to have Dinner with you.
Natural reaction: YES
What if she says, she’s been on a fast for the past week and needs to break it with family and since her family is out of town, you are the only one she can think of.
Humane reaction: YES, YEs, Yes. No more Senti plzzz
What if she says I want to have dosa with Onion chutney?
Still Humane reaction: OK whatever.

Now starts the story. I start from office and wait for K to show up. Naturally since D is hungry and I am on time, hes about 10 mins late. Another delay after this is due to attitude of Autowala’s outside HAL office. None of them are ready to come to MG Road. After coaxing an auto guy to take me there for 10 bucks extra and getting there while answering numerous phone calls and sms’s from D (who was early for once, must be the hunger pangs). We are told that the only place to get Onion aka Vengai Chutney is in Kormangala which is really near my Office.

After a few curses and a 15 minute drive, we reach Kormangala just to realise that none of us have a clue about where the restaurant is located? After going round and round in search of Murugan’s Idly Shoppe amid conversations which run as follows;
B: HA Ha HO
D: I am hungry
Me: Ok
D: I am really hungry and you guys are mean!!
Me: ok ok ok
Me: Murugan Idly Yengeyy??
Watchman: #%$ &&^ *&*$$^ *&%$
D: The watchman said “Tamil Thereyada, I am new here”
B: HA Ha HO
Me: ok
D: Hungry!!!!
Me: What to do??
B: HA Ha HO
D: I really want Venagi chutney, I am hungry
Me: All this talk of food has made me hungry as well
B: HA Ha HO

And at last we found our shop, but alas it was closed!!
Maybe Murugan ran out of chutney yesterday but the damn shop was closed, so we went to Ponnuswamy’s and had Dosa. But alas no Vengai Chutney thr.
So next time a friend calls and asks for vengai chutney, you now know where not to take her.

Moral of Story: Be less humane

Books

Was surfing for new blogs today and suddenly came across this very interesting blog about books and how she adores them. Well, I do too and hence decided to Copy Paste her Post and see how I compare!!! So here goes, BTW Please skip if bored or nor interested in books.

Number of Books owned:
About 100, not including my Management/Engineering books. But since I have started working@HAL, the number has been increasing steadily with the main benefactor being Crossword.

Books I recently brought:
Chetan Bhagat’s “One night at the Call Centre” and “War and Peace” by Leo Tolstoy

Last book I read:
Well...finished ON@TCC about 2 nights back.

Books on my Bed-stand as of now:
Star Wars Trilogy and Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton(I know this sounds extreme but stop reading if it bothers you). Another Michael Crichton Classic is Andromeda Strain.

One book that I couldn't finish:
Moby-Dick (The Whale) with due appologies to Herman Melville. I know it’s a classic and all but it starts so slow that I could never keep up and always fall asleep.

Five books I cherish:
This is an impossible one. So just putting down the ones that randomly come to my mind (in no particular order).
Pride and Prejudice: A non-detail text, I read even before classes started. One of the best from Jane Austin with amazingly etched characters. Have seen two versions of movies but cannot say that either does justice and the less I talk about Bride and Prejudice, the better.
Love Story: A must read for all romantics and a bad book to have if you like collecting books as this never gets returned when borrowed. And YES, I have cried the first time I read this book and one of the few books I can recite verbatim. Wanna Bet!!!
A Village by the Sea: One of the best books by an Indian author, this Anita Desai book is an another non-detail text I store till date.
The Thorn Birds: by Colleen McCullough is described as “A Coming of age story of a young Australian girl in a forbidden love affair” but I think it’s much more. It talks about family values, life in Australian farms and about the ultimate sacrifice, Man has ever known. A true classic and a must read.
PG Wodehouse’s Jeeves series: Every one of them is as good as the other. A great book to have on long train journeys (have you seen the look on your co-travellers face when you burst out laughing).
Books missing from this list Motorcycle Dairies, Three Musketeers, Harry Porter series, Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance, If tomorrow comes etc etc etc.

Authors I want to read but am too embarrassed to say so:
Georgette Heyer: Well I had read just one short story book by her and was impressed with the language and style coupled with the fact that the tall handsome hero with the soft curls always gets the Virgin Heroine who as you would expect is really beautiful, what if she’s just a kid. The situations were so ripe that they could be scripted into a bolly/tolly/kolly/hollywood movies with the minimum of effort. Wonder why this has not been done!!

Authors I Hate: Shobha De and Arundhati Roy. No reasoning here just a matter of personal choice.

Happy DIWALI !! and Vela-GIRI

Well since i will be offline for the next 4days,
Here's wishing all of you a Very Happy Diwali.
Shall be fielding Visits & calls for the rest of the Holiday Period.
So do feel free to drop in (and taste my mom's cooking) or call (and hear her blessing "GOd Bless you maa!!!" ).
Yup mom's on a visit and hence i shall be very very busy(UnVELA) for the holiday period, but that means a respite from my cooking for both me and my dear bro, who btw is counting hours for my mom's arrival.
So here's giving a total VELA-Call to everyone next week.
Yes, next week is a VELA-Week, check out the number of holidays!!!
So have a great time and do not let the weather affect dampen your SPirits!!!!

Best joke ever!!!!!

A chicken and an egg are lying in bed. The chicken is leaning against the headboard smoking a cigarette with a satisfied smile on its face. The egg, looking a bit ticked off, grabs the sheet, rolls over and says ... Well, I guess we finally answered "THAT question!"

Courtesy : Bracket@IIMB

Visa applications!!!

Whoever said VISA application interviews are the hardest thing before going to the States.
Have they tried filling the Application Forms. They are too Hilarious!! One section actually says:

Have you ever been arrested or convicted for any offense or crime, even though subject of a pardon, amnesty or other similar legal action? Ya Like i would Say "Yes"

Have you ever unlawfully distributed or sold a controlled substance (drug), or been a prostitute or procurer for prostitutes? Hmmm Interesting!!!!

Have you ever been refused admission to the U.S., or been the subject of a deportation hearing, or sought to obtain or assist others to obtain a visa, entry into the U.S., or any other U.S. immigration benefit by fraud or willful misrepresentation or other unlawful means? Blah Blah & Blah

Do you seek to enter the United States to engage in export control violations, subversive or terrorist activities, or any other unlawful purpose? Are you a member or representative of a terrorist organization as currently designated by the U.S. Secretary of State? Have you ever participated in persecutions directed by the Nazi government of Germany; or
have you ever participated in genocide? Dis is too much, Giving Ideas and all!!

Have you ever been afflicted with a communicable disease of public health significance or a dangerous physical or mental disorder, or ever been a drug abuser or addict? Yes, that’s why I am APPLYING for a Visa!!!

Am i a Cook?

I Know! I Know! Everytime I take a break, I give a crappy excuse for not blogging. And believe me, this time its not going to be any different.

So to begin my mom came visiting along with an aunt and a few cousins and they decided that we needed better looking after and bought all sorts of household items for cooking which set me back quite a few thousand.

After that I had to start cooking just to justify my investment and at this point I have a statement to make. Cooking is one of the easiest things in the world. Seriously if I can cook rasam, dal, chicken etc after limited (read extended) instructions on the phone (courtesy Airtel), then I think anyone can. I have reached such a proficiency level that I am inviting friends over this weekend.

So here’s wishing DD, Lamba and my bro all the luck in the world.

Also here are a few mesgs urging me to blog and this is just today and only from my workplace. Never knew my blogs had so much following.

S$$$$$$ $ R$$ - how come you have not blogged

T@@@ S@@@@- also what happnd to ur blog?

B##### N######### - No blogs for along time, what happened?

Phew, too much fan following I say..

PS.. Too boring i say!!!!
PPS.. Pic courtesy Blabberwocky

Resurrection

I have not blogged for almost a month now. After numerous people asked/ mailed/ called/ questioned/ badgered me to know the reason, I decided to come out with this blog.

Firstly

Who says Weekends are for relaxing?? Part TWO

Let me keep this short as it’s been quite a while and frankly you have read the more interesting part.

Sunday

Dropped girls home – Went to P’s promotion party – met aunty – went to airport – reached Delhi – no reservation at Radisson waited for 30 mins - called AMEX– Booked a Costlier room – Slept.

Monday

Woke up and had an awesome breakfast – went to STEW in Gurgoan – cheated by taxi guy (and that too, a sardar, too bad!!!) – was in class all day – yawn, yawn and yawn. Met Soo, Lamba and other Team Blue junta. And then more yawn- yawn and more Yawn. Had a Meeting with boss, which ran very very late. Started from office only at 8:30 for a 10:10 flight, went to the hotel and checked out. Got stuck in traffic – so missed my flight – took an early morning flight and since I had checked out of my club class deluxe suit in Radisson, I went Pubbing in NCR(National Capitol Region). After having lukewarm Beer and awesome Parathas(curtosy Tanku Maharaj, near IIFT) – Saw IIFT – saw lamba being treated like Royalty – Went to his house and slept.

Tuesday

Woke up at 4 and believe me after the exertions of Monday this was hell. After that spent about 45mins trying to explain the whereabouts of lamba’s house to the Hertz guy. Got to the airport and met P, Who was coming for his early morning flight. Reached Bangalore and back to velagiri.

Back to Blogging…. Yawn yawn…

Now, after the crappy narration above, I expect no one to continue reading but if you still are, let me narrate a crazy dialogue between me and HH35. Btw, I have renamed GD as HH35 [HH=Her Highness, What’s 35? Her age maybe] No clue what, So if you wanna know why-what-how, just remember that this is my blog and I have complete intellectual rights so if you do not like it you have two choices ala The rock in ‘Welcome to the Jungle’

Option A: Quit reading and get on with your boring life

Option B: Do the unmentionable and plzz spare me the details!!!

For those still reading, here goes the conversation

Me: Thinking of quitting blogging

HH35:What !!!!! Why?

ME : Cos I decided to write this

HH : what’s HH

ME : Her Highness

HH: clusssshhhssssshhhhhhhhhhh (try saying this and you know what I mean)

HH : slap slap slap slap

HH: that’s too much

Me: ya too much violence

HH : okiee

HH : (a remark I shall never agree to)

HH: Prasanth is the sweetest guy I have known, let me see if you type this down.

HH: aren’t you getting sick and tired of this

HH: you want me to leave

Me: (Grin)

HH: this is crazy!!!

Me: (Grin)

HH: This is sick!!!!

Me: (Grin)

HH: When are you stopping this?

Me: (Grin)

HH: Stop typing or else

Me: (Grin)

HH: Stop grinning and typing everything I say

Me: OK OK

Well I had to stop here, it was becoming too violent and I am human, contrary to what people think.

BTW, Reasons for not Blogging in such a Long time

Well I can say a lot of things and give a lot of crappy reasons.

1. I was very busy with work (Like you guys will believe that)

2. I had to go home(Visag) for personal reasons (Believable and true)

3. Was stuck in floods on the way back (True again but I guess not believable)

4. My house was flooded and I was building a dam (Hmmm!!)

5. Swam all the way here (You tell me if you believe it)

6. Was caught up in work after I came back (Well!!! What say?)

7. Was getting kicked out of my house and could not find a place to stay(Very much true)

8. Am homeless and living on the road and hence could not find time to blog (Ya rite!!)

9. Since I was homeless and had seen too many calamities in the past few days ie. Katrina, Rita, Mumbai Floods, Andhra Floods {No fancy names here, read DD on the topic}. So I decided to take Sanyas and pray for all humanity and world peace in the Himalayas and hence could not blog. (Ahem, enough for the day. Me thinks)

Condolences

My heartfelt condolences to Raju Bava, Sangeeta Akka, Atha and Family. A blog is such a poor format for this kind of message but I just wanted to express my condolences to you on such an unexpected and untimely loss. You are not alone in your feelings of sadness and loss. Bereavement often brings with it self-doubt and anxiety about one's own personal worth. But I sincerely hope that you find solace in his memories and find the strength to overcome your grief.
You are in my thoughts and prayers

High!!! and dry!!!!

I guess i write nothing when i am high!!!!
Something i read today. Got me thinking!! Well if i cant recall anything i said or did when i was high, So how can i write?

Kewal i say !!!

Also a quote i read in coffee world.

Work is the curse of the drinking classes.
- Oscar Wilde

So back to work...........

Who says Weekends are for relaxing?? Part One

The last two weekends have been more work than regular weekdays. Now here I do not mean that I have working for my company but merely stating the fact that they have been so much activity in the weekends that I think I need a break from weekends. But alas, all you get after a weekend is a Monday, and boy do they suck!!!!!

Now I have said that I am writing about just the weekends but last weekend actually goes on from Thursday nite till about Tuesday morning as Friday was a holiday and I was in Delhi on Monday. So here’s a block by block account for what happened, now all this is just a rambling of a work afflicted idiot so please do not be offended and if any of the below mentioned facts have been omitted or altered from what happened, it has been done so that anonymity can be retained. But if you still feel peeved, I can tell you that this remains my intellectual property and I have complete rights over this so you can do the unmentionable.

Thursday

Firstly I have to say “Sorry” to AR. Following is the true narrative and I will not pull any punches or try to give excuses. Thursday nite I was well and truly sloshed. I had a really bad day and was dead tired and all I remember is talking on the phone with DQ. I am really ashamed of what I did and I swear on anything and everything that I do not have any recollection of what happened. Well now in retrospect I think I should have accepted GD’s offer of going to Tiaka’s. Well if only!!!!!! Anyway, I very publicly and ashamedly offer AR, My heart-felt apologies. Really Really Sorry AR!!

Friday

I woke up at about 8 thinking that I had gotten really really drunk the previous night and had a huge hangover. But I had to go to office that day as I had yet to book my tickets for Sunday’s trip to Delhi and also had to get Bro’s CAT application. So left Su’s house at about 8:30 and did both these things and while I was in IIMB, caught up with a lot of friends. Ordered pizza with Prithvik and in the process dumped my luncheon plans with DQ but for all this I plead guilty with just an excuse – HANGOVER.

Came home and relaxed for about 2 hours before I called Su who told me of my behaviour the previous night. Was absolutely flabbergasted and spent the next 2 hours apologising to everyone involved till people began to swear at the very mention of the word ‘sorry’. Thought I shall go and apologise in person when Bala and some other guys from IITM called saying they were in town. So went to B-11 with them but did not drink at all. Had dinner at Nandhini and came home to LIMPY, Andaman and Kibm drinking at home.

Now this time I was as much a spectator as junta in Su’s house were the day before but Kibm and Limpy really went bonkers. It was Fun but I still had a bad hangover so went to bed early.

Saturday

Woke up and went to office. Spent an unproductive 2 hours before going to Su’s house as he was going back to Birmingham that day. Had lunch and then drove him to the airport while frantically copying Super, Island and Sarkar on to my TP. Had an enlightening conversation with R and A on the way. Avoided my gaze for about half the journey to the airport as there was yet another kind of movie running in the back seat. Before you get any ideas, it was a sob story not the kind you guys were eyeing for. Perverts!!! But then again who else would read my blog. Read on.

Dropped him in the airport and then had a sort of snack fest at the airport lounge where I hogged everything from a Hot-dog to a Khatta role. But that being my first meal of the day it was very satisfying. Went back to office with A and R and collected my tickets and hotel reservation slip. Then drove the back to Su’s house. The plan then was to drop everyone at Deep’s house and park the car. But I was invited to go to Tiaka’s and considering what happened last time I balked at that suggestion, I really wanted to go. So I dropped everyone at Deep’s place and proceeded to Taika’s where DQ and SR were waiting along with Scary. Well Scary’s husband was in a bar someplace close so she left us and joined us and left us again and joined us again. Ya I know it’s confusing but what do I do if she’s scary as well as confused.

Anyway we then went in (cover charge of 600 bucks per couple, free entry for girls) and went directly to the dance floor. Well it was supposed to be the dance floor but it was anything but that with people sitting around on a gallery sort of stands and nobody dancing even though the music was awesome. Well we ordered drinks (I had just one considering the exertions of Thursday and also the fact that I had to drive back). After some time the place really started to groove and turned into one of the best hip-hop joints I had ever been into. The pace of the music was electrifying as was the crowd and DJ played to the crowd to perfection. When all this was going on Angelina and SR kept disappearing at regular intervals just so that I and DQ had space (ironically, it was too crowded on the floor) to ourselves or else they thought.

After some dancing and then some more dancing during which I got a lot of filmy dialogues from DQ (aka Drama Queen) who said things like “I am soo hungry, but I shall not eat anything”. I can bet all the money in the world that none of you would guess why? Well she claimed she had no money so created a major drama which would have put Shakespeare to shame. Once I got the reason, being the chivalrous guy that I am (no less than two people have told me this, so pls let me have my say), I ordered food for her and force fed her while she dramatised saying things like I shall definitely pay you back etc.

But the dramatization had just yet begun on what turned out into a total adventure of a night. We had had enough of the dance floor so we went and sat in the lounge. This was when DQ and SR said that it was too late for them to go home and hence were homeless for the night. I (being the chivalrous chap as stated before) offered to lend them my house at the expense of Limpy and co (I had the only key to the house).

But I hit an unexpected barrier as DQ being the drama queen immediately said “I shall sit up all night”. Now I do not have any pretensions about being suave and handsome, some kind soul might put me as being reasonably presentable but by no means am I thinking of myself as Don Juan so I put on my inadequate conservative thinking cap and came to the conclusion that she misunderstood my helping nature as something which frankly did not occur to me.

So I suggested we take the car and drive all night (third time chivalrous) when SR said she has a place to stay and I only needed to entertain DQ. By this time DQ realised that I was apprehensive and mistook it as reluctance to admit her into my house. So being the DQ she was made an awesome statement “I am homeless, I have no where to go, no body cares for me”. Well if this was after 2 vodka’s I would like to hear her talk after 5 or 6 strong ones.

Anyway to cut the long story short, we got into the car and started to drive around when RP (who was at deep’s place) called and said she wanted to go home. So I was stuck between two unique problems, so I dropped DQ at my place and picked up AS and company and dropped them home. Now I can only imagine what they thought of the gal in the car but at this point in time I was too tired, wet and totally confused to do anything about it, so I just shut up and asked them to take the situation at face value.

Then I had to drop SR at her friends place but the roads were so flooded and at one point of time we were driving through waist high water (I forgot to mention it was raining buckets by now). So we abandoned the idea and went back to my flat where SR really started enjoying herself by pulling up DQ and her manifestations. She used well known phrases which included words like “lie down”, “molest”, “irresistable”etc.

After watching “Sarkar” for some time, we called it a nite. And what a night it was, Phew!!!!!

Sunday

Sunday will always be remembered as the day my Landlords decided to kick to me out. Imagine scores of drunken parties, late nite music, fatty’s antics but still all it required for them to give us the nod (or the kick) was two girls leaving the house at about 8 in the morning. Well does not say much for tenant-landlord relationships right?

Anyway woke up and after DQ being as inquisitive as she is, unearthed some crazy stuff (for which I claim total innocence and blame Limpy) in our house, left the house in full view of all tenants and the landlords. Went had breakfast at Adiga’s and dropped both the girls at their respective adobes, but not before DQ put in that morning’s quota of dialogues. “Please drop me here, I shall catch a auto” and “I fell so guilty that your Landlords saw us”, Well the actual dialogues were much more dramatic but lets leave it there as I cannot recall so much prose in one go.
Came back home and packed and started to Delhi.
But that’s in Part Two.

Appreciate

Why does love have to become something like a barter?I never quite understood it but my dad provided me with an insight. He said Love is doing something for someone close and not thinking about it ever again. This is precisely why relationships fail. And here I am not thinking of anything romantic. Just think of anything you have done for another human being and see if you have not asked for a favour in return. Well I tried yesterday after coming across this thought and I found that I could not think of a single instance. That apparently sums up the mood for this blog!

Now I was thinking of things I miss and things I yearn for and decided that I came to know the true value of things only after I started to miss them. So I decided to appreciate good things in my life instead of trying to attain the impossible or the improbable.

Do not think of what you do not have but think of what you have and appreciate that.

This is what gives you complete happiness!! (Boy, I would be amazed if I achieved that!)

Now I may not be Tolstoy or Marx who have given people food for thought and can influence thinking but I know one thing if you do not appreciate good things in your life you will never experience happiness.

PS… Me totally sloshed…so excuse the content.

And read more crap on Life written by some other blogger…..

Life is full of hypocrisy and contradictions. In a world of extreme competition everything is fair as long as one does not challenge the norms of the established society and camouflages an alternative perspective within the realms of power and affluence. The only other possibility is living under the diktat of what has been approved and pre-judged by the society.

I come from such a society and life where it ain’t possible to survive without hypocrisy and contradictions. It puts me at great unease searching for answers to questions that have for long haunted my imagination. And yet I am faced with the same contradictory positions and hypocritical postures in my quest.

In this journey with other bloggers I intend to pick up some relevant social issues and seek answers. I hope we all will make an endeavour in at least discussing these issues….its not up to us to transform the society. It requires a revolution to do that….but may be it’s the start of one!

Too much work I say, chill madi and stay VELA.

Kwaheri !!!!

Just in case any of you got that, Let me please repeat that in english.

Goodbye!!!!

Going home today after about 4 months, bought a gift for mom , everyone else can take a hike. But more importantly and even more hopefully, Pray she likes it.

Writing all this with a slight hangover due to a pub called "Legends of rock" where Karan, Hoosh and i tried to get wasted yesterday. Had a long conversation with a ST after that and covered so many topics that i felt i cannot talk to her any more. But being the chatterbox that i am, started off today morning again.

Well going to miss Bangalore weather and my friends!!
But shall be back on thursday. until then,

Tog, Adios and Jaaw!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank You

To say "Thank You" is one of the most natural things, a cultured person learns by principle or by practice. Well I say cultured but yesterday someone actually said that I do not thank people enough, so I decided to be thankful to that useful bit of information and thank them in the best possible manner.

Now I have said best possible manner but let me tell you this is just my point of view and others who do not like this can be thankful to the fact that I do not tell them to take a hike.

So here’s “Thank You” in over 465 languages.

Thank you for reading this crap, BTW.

Why do i Blog?

Because of the fact that I claim to be a Blog addict and am most certainly not, added to the fact that I am hopelessly lazy, I could not post a proper blog last week. But today I started writing this and as usual, I had no clue about what to write. So I thought I shall blog for the Blog of it and if anyone reads this, well!! not my problem.

Well blogging for me is a stress reliever and after talking to my boss for about 3 hours, I guess I have the right to torture other people with musings like this. Now let’s get to the 4 stages of browsing as it’s popularly known.

Well for me it started as it does for most guys/gals during graduation years when you have time and money to kill along with a small problem called a hormonal overgrowth (people might smirk saying this is too late but what we Indians lack in one aspect, we make up in another. Look at the population growth for Crying out loud). After discovering the joys of internet back during pre graduation and discovering things which frankly are still the most educating courses of any person’s lives. For convenience sake (and the lack of a proper sex education in India) I call this stage “The Enlightenment”.

People move into the next stage to see if they could actually get to do all that they have seen. This stage is known as the chatting stage where people try their hand in communicating the fact that they are cool. Most people tend to find nameless, faceless people more interesting and scintillating than people right in front of you. Thankfully I was young enough to be scared so as not to actually getting around towards meeting the fellow chatters, else I am sure that opinion I had on them to be scintillating would also rapidly change.

Google helped me when I was above the Communication stage so lets call this stage simply “Google”. Well if you ever reach a stage in your life and you don’t know what to do, try searching the answer on Google as it always helps. If not directly atleast it gives you a distraction and keeps you occupied. The irrelevant can turn out to be very very relevant and vice versa which actually distresses you.

Finally Blogging, well who else will even listen to my continuos cribs/complaints except jobless morons like you. So for your benefit (and mine lest I become crazy) I write these crappy monologues which are defined for literary sense as Blogs or Live journals. So for your Sake and mine BLOG, BLOG, BLOG.

Who's voice in the MoRe Room is CUTE?

I learnt a new thing today.
K's voice, whatever he says is supposed to be cute!!(according to people in Mo Re Ro)
How i wish i never hear things like that for the rest of my life.
I mean i am called by my nickname for a certain reason.

So Sheeets, say it once more so that i can say 12. or 13...?
Dunno, i lost count.

The Best Hostel in the world

For old times sake..........

Mandakini Hostel

Awesome sites

If you think you have seen it all on the net.

Think again!!!

A German company is making wallpaper for people who live alone. The wallpaper has a photo of a "flatmate"

hmmm Maybe Su can try this!!!

Spoken too soon!!!

Yesterday while i was talking to Casio, i mentioned that i had nothing to do and i was bored.

Violaaaa.

Within minutes i had work to do and ended the day making 5 calls and working till 7:30 in the evening.

So here's to staying Vela and not saying anything about it. CHEERS!!!!

All’s well that ends well @Shivasamudra Falls

After months of planning, deliberation, postponement, rescheduling and more planning. We finally got to go for the outing. Now I consider this initial tirade about planning essential as we as a gang were planning this trip since about a year and when it finally materialised it did live upto its expectations.

So we got together on Friday evening to celebrate R’s birthday and during dinner & drinks at Inchara, made the final arrangements. Then the plan actually got into action as K and I went to get booze (about 48 cans of KF strong and an Australian wine did the trick). Came back and hogged like crazy before Su dropped me home with plans to go to some sanctuary and saying that he would pick me up at 6 in the morning.

Well the plan was still tentative and I got a reality shock in the morning after I had taken a bath at 6 (the whole narration is non-fiction, so hold your breath) and came to know that the venue had been shifted to Shivasamudra Falls and also that people had just woken up and the whole program had been revamped as A was flying down from Hyderabad for this event.

Now knowing our gang I knew it was highly improbable that they stick to even this altered plan or for that matter any plan. So proceeded to wash my clothes and do Sudoku before I got a call saying I should come up to Su’s place instead of they picking me up. Since Su’s car does not have an audio system I also had to take my TP along with me and the fact that autos are extremely difficult to obtain near my place, I had to walk lugging my hand-all for a considerable distance and two phone calls, before I actually found one auto.

Once I reached Su’s place (at about 8:30) I realised that I was the last one these and we started at once after a round of vulgar obscenities. After that it was a nice drive where I and Su changed hands on the driving wheels and generally took the new Maruti for a ride. Had breakfast at Kamat, which was a bloody awesome place and then went on to a Reliance Bunk in a certain City/Town/Municipality/Taluk (as claimed by our very own R) but the city (read village) was so advanced that it did not even have credit card access in the filling station.

We reached Mandhya at about 12 and from there it was a 30 minute drive along which they are quite a few beer cans scaterred amid chaotic shouts as one of the beer cases was done with. Reached the falls at about 1:30 and soon Su was commenting that this was not the place he came initially. So all of us were a bit apprehensive and thinking whether we made a mistake coming here, but our confused and confounded host had hit the jackpot as the first view of the falls themselves were awesome. As perplexed and baffled he might have been, Su was soon beaming with pleasure and forgot to lock the car in a hurry to get to the water.

From the next two hours, we had fun unlimited as we tried to compete with the furious tirade of the water by consuming as much beer as humanly possible and disrupting the flora and fauna with wave upon wave of subhuman noises. You would be surprised to know how difficult it is to open a beer can once you are drunk enough to break the seal opener with which it is manufactured.

And then began another round of antakshari with R signing yet another Dig song that no one understand but all of us got thoroughly wet with continuos splashing and generally behaving like a bunch of behemoths. Anyway at this point A got totally smashed and fell into the muck(later, he would claim that he did not remember changing his clothes or where he kept his watch).

After some more frolicking on the water shore, we changed and made our way back to the vehicles in a haphazard manner while trying to see that we did not leave anything except empty beer cans behind (all you environmentalist, please excuse us). Once we reached the vehicles and were deciding where to eat lunch, we heard a scream saying that Sa way injured. Apparently Su had tried his hand at throwing the ball and Sa was playing fetch when he fell into a ditch and injured himself severely. He could not even get up and the screams we heard were only partly due to his severely intoxicated, injured state.

We quickly went down to the place he was lying and saw that he had cut his knee really badly. Someone got the First aid kit from the car and I tried patching him up as well as I could. We then carried him over to one of the cars and put him beside another of that days victims ‘A’. ‘A’ had absolutely gone over the edge and was seen puking his guts out quite a few times.

Then started a series of arguments which generally had only one purpose which was to scream at the top of your voice while trying to appear sober. Firstly the colonial cousins P and Su had a go and after that I and Su had a shouting binge. After unanimously deciding that we would all start back only after all of us sobered and that would take atleast one hour, we started at once and drove to the nearest cliff edge.

Friends, Romans (whoever) and countrymen who are reading this. Please do not panic as the gist of what I am about to say is that we just went to the edge of the cliff not to commit mass suicide but to enjoy nature and view the scenery which was truly breathtaking.

After downing a couple of sodas and having a refreshing talk where the words “Sorry” figured prominently. We decided to get Sa back as soon as possible and so decided to drive back. The drive back was uneventful except that we came back via kanakpura and saved about 50 kms worth of distance, petrol and effort.

Lesson learnt: You tend to drive effectively when drunk.

Anyway 5 of us had dinner at a dhabha while the others took Sa to the hospital. He had about 4 stiches on his leg while. K on the other hand had taken a bus to gultland to meet his better half. A recovered completely to even give us insights about the weather and how India fares in cricket matches. I must say I liked him better when he was wasted.

Anyway a not so glorious end to an awesome triip but as Shakespeare once said and wrote “All’s well that ends well”. So for the people who missed you can make lots of Oinks, grunts and guffaws because that’s what you can do. Sayonara.

PS.. I would have uploaded photos along with this narrative if it had not been for a certain Lazybones who goes around showing his new CASIO watch.