Gliba

Interview Skills

2007-11-26T11:19:00.000+05:30

Courtesy: http://www.dilbert.com

Power cut?

2007-10-02T09:32:00.000+05:30

An odd little political game is being played out in Karnataka these days. At the center of it all is the grand old farmer of Indian polity Mr Deve 'Son-of-the-soil' Gowda.

To lend you perspective, lets flash back to around two years from now. Back then the JD(S)-Cong coalition was trudging along in bursts, with Mr Gowda acting as both benevolent (seemingly) Godfather and irritating Spoke-in-the-wheel. Brand Bangalore sat in a corner licking its wounds, wondering what hit it, and with it sat Gowda Jr, Kumaraswamy with a dour expression on his face. People knew by then, that Mr K chiefly had ministerial ambitions, but no, Mr K actually had Chief Ministerial ambitions. But he knew that, with the old guard at the helm that dream would be hard to dream and possibly impossible to achieve, if things were to go the way they had till then. So what did he do? He rode on the development plank(as most 45 year young politicians tend to). We need some good solid development, he said ,and what better a start than me being CM, he whispered to himself. He convinced a majority of JD(S) MLAs that the 'S' in JD(S) doesn't stand for secular but for 'Satta'. He shepherded them into a luxury bus, got into talks with the oh-so-not-Secular BJP. And thus, did JD(S) stab the Cong in the back and form the current govt. Mr Gowda, at the outset was furious at this sudden volte-face in ideology, but then let time (and power) heals all wounds and thus he welcomed back his prodigal son into the fold. Mr Gowda after all loves being the king maker doesn't he?

As part of the 'arrangement' with the saffron brigade, Kumaraswamy was to rule for twenty months and after that one Mr Yediyurappa from the BJP was to rule for the second period of twenty months. Mr Kumaraswamy was totally okay with the pact with the BJP, saffron hues not withstanding. He said, anything for the betterment of the state.

It was a good start, Mr K seemed to bring youth and exuberance into governance and slowly won the people over. But twenty months don't last forever do they?

As the twenty month stint came to an end, Mr Gowda started making all kinds of noises, of why JD(S) shouldn't have joined hands with the saffron brigade, of how the BJP was trying to tarnish him and his family. Lots of confusion,conflicting statements ,and the Sriramulu (lets not go there) episode didn't help matters either.

And today we stand at a threshold. Today is the day when Mr K will choose whether to keep his promise or to break it. Today is the day he has to chose between being honest or being in power. Today is the Mahatma's birthday. No doubt Mr Kumaraswamy will make lots of speeches praising what the Mahatma stood for, truth and honesty, and how he values these virtues and how these should be the beacon that will show our nation the pathway to the future. But the burning question is whether MR K will choose to follow the path shown by the birthday boy or be a hypocrite.

After all what's at stake Mr K is not power, its not your popularity. It is something that is much much more valuable ( at least they should be to you). Its credibility. Please don't let us down Mr K.

This and that

2007-09-03T22:22:00.000+05:30

A long lazy weekend.

Watched The Departed and liked it! Our desi directors should learn a thing or two about how to remake a movie from Martin Scorsese.

September is a month full of treats and incidentally, birthdays. Last Sat was P's birthday and he gave a nice little treat. Tomorrow is Peanut's birthday.Hopefully he'll follow suit! ;-)

My brother is back from Aus! Its odd that I realise what was missing at home, some unspoken quality, when he was away, only now, when he is back. I still can't put my finger on it and say Oh yeah that was what was amiss!

Its amazing to see how brothers get along as well as Kol and his brother get along. I believe they share everything that happens in their lives with each other! I can't imagine telling my brother about how a day out with the gang was and other stuff. Both of us believe in keeping our out-of-the-home lives separate, although this doesn't stop him from asking all kinds of questions!

I kept mis-spelling believe all through the post. I've always done that when a word has i and e together.But I didn't do it in the last time I typed believe!! Not this time either!!

Back at the office I'll be joining my old team again. Its like a whiff of fresh air after the last two months!

That's about it for now I guess. Signing off!

Jaagte rahoo

2007-08-18T23:47:00.001+05:30

Work,work,work. Blah,grind,blah. To other interesting stuff....

Man, you gotta read the script of the Matrix series. I've just finished the script of Matrix reloaded and its awesome! I just can't believe the level of detail!! Every damn scene,every move is spelled out. Hail those script writers! I'll start reading Matrix Revolutions tomo. I would've read it today, but haven't slept properly through this week and I gotta get some shut-eye.

You can find the scripts here .

Chalo then chao! Hopefully I'll not dream up something related to work or witness my assasination.

Before I crash though here's something that you could chew on:

"Hope. It is the quintessential human delusion, simultaneously the source of your greatest strength, and your greatest weakness."
The Architect

Dark bodings

2007-08-04T13:00:00.000+05:30

He stood at the crossroads and turned back. He was confused already! He couldn't tell which path had brought him here, all four seemed identical. He stared at each in turn. Somehow he knew in his heart that one meant glory,one ignominy, one lead to pain and one happiness. As he started to wonder which was which and which one he should choose, a fog started setting in. He was astonished; it was sunny a moment ago! He looked up and inexplicably a dark sky bore down upon him. He pinched himself, certain that this was a dream. It hurt! He tried to remember if he had had a dream in which he had felt pain. There was no memory. Everything seemed fuzzy, the past, the present and as a result, the future.

The fog closed down upon him and it was dark all around. He closed his eyes (as though that would make a difference!). An idea!He tried to conjure light and hope in his own heart. But what was light? What was hope? He seemed to have forgotten what hope is! What light is.

What is hope? What is light?

One little clarification. The 'he' in this post is not me neccesarily! I was just thinking and voila!! I had thought this post out! Maybe the 'he' could be any of us.

Bungee brownie park

2007-07-07T14:46:00.000+05:30

Now there are three things in life that one should try at least once.* Of these three, you'll definitely want to do the first one again and again, the second one never again and the third one .... err that depends on your temperament and taste. So lets cut the chase and get down to the three things

1. Bungee Jumping!!

"Woohoo"

Yo people! After planning things out for a week (which means tons of mails spamming every which inbox and mail server), returning back home disappointed on the first day (Windy conditions spoiled the party) and waiting for 7 odd hours the next day, we finally got to bungee jump! Man was it awesome!! Just wish the instructor gave people more time up there. It was like you go up with him and as you look below (we were hoisted around 140 m in the air) and try to soak it in, he barks 'Hold your arms straight in front of you! Loosen your body and when I say 1 2 3 jump, jump! 123 jump!!''. And you are just standing there petrified. Its only after a moment or two that you gather enough gumption to actually jump. And when you do, oh boy, what a sensation you go through. The whole world around you goes bonkers. The ground seems to hurtle towards you at break neck speed and just when you come around to think that life insurance is not a bad idea after all, the rope goes taut and you go high up again! For a few seconds more elasticity and gravity have fun at your expense, and then its all over. The whole jump lasted all of ten seconds ( the first downward motion must have taken three seconds), but you go totally nuts in those ten seconds and trust me its worth every paisa you pay!

2. Eat 'Death by that-brown-thing-that-girls-like-to-eat'
If you can eat more than once cup of 'Death by that-brown-thing-that-dairymilk-is-a-brand-of' at Cornerhouse, all hail thy sweet tooth. I wasn't able to finish one cup of this blasted thing! And I feel sick when I hear that brown thing mentioned!! To top it all today is supposed to be 'that-brown-thingy's day!! I saw this pic in today's newspaper and was sick to the stomach.

"Yuck"

Added later : What I meant was you gotta try this once! After this, you'll either like chocs even better or stay away from it for a month or two at least. I am doing the latter right now! :P
3. Watch South Park

"Awesom-o"

South Park is an animated series about the lives of four fourth graders, Kyle, Kenny, Stan and Eric Cartman. These guys live in the small mountain town, South Park hence the name.
Try and get your hands on one of the episodes of this series, its hilarious (and totally over the top , totally politically incorrect , sometimes vulgar). These guys have parodied everything under the sun. I might just write a post about one of the episodes I watched.

Btw are you watching Wimbledon? This year has seen some amazing tennis. Did you catch the Bartolo-Jankovic match, or the Serena-Henin one? My money is on Bartoli for the women's title. (But wish Henin had faced Venus in the finals, what a match that would've been!! ) This lady(Bartoli) has loads of talent and if she could just get less chubby and improve her fitness she'll go a long way. Boy, didnt that Gasquet fellow play some awesome tennis against Roddick?

Ps: Call it irony or whatever, since I wrote the last post, work at office has become more hectic than ever!! But what are weekends for? :D

* If you'd expected something more.. erm.. sophisticated like maybe going around the world, or watching the sunset at the North Pole or something ,remember that I've had a 55+ hr week and that my world view is limited to the bugs that are waiting on me and what I will do over the next weekend right now! :P (You're thinking are ye post khatam kyu nahi ho raha? Me too! chalo chao! )

Mish mash post, Grooks, Jobs.

2007-06-23T20:19:00.000+05:30

Hmm long time isnt it? This is gonna be one cocktail-post.

At the work front, things have at last fallen back to the usual routine. Although, things have known to change rapidly and drastically every time I think this very thought. To moot, our manager now uses our team as an example in meetings and urges other teams to match our levels of 'commitment'. Quite a thing huh?

I've never been a poetry guy. I mean, I am not into poetry in english in a big way, although poetry in hindi has been a favourite. Well, who can forget Saroj Smriti by Nirala, Madhushala by Bachan Srmost ( Well if you haven't heard of Harivansh Ray Bachhan , thumbs down to you mate! :( ) , Satpuda Ke Ghane Jungle etc? Those were the days of Swati and Parag. Hmmm....good old days!

But recently, thanks to a friend of mine at office, I've been exposed to some real good English poetry. One of my personal favourites, among these are the works of Piet (which are referred to as grooks. Grook, wikipedia tells me stands for "GRin & sUK" ,"laugh & sigh" in Danish). Here's one for you to enjoy.

An ethical grook

I see
and I hear
and I speak no evil;
I carry
no malice
within my breast;
yet quite without
wishing
a man to the Devil
one may be
permitted
to hope for the best.

Liked it? Ok, here's another,

A psychological tip

Whenever you're called on to make up your mind,
and you're hampered by not having any,
the best way to solve the dilemma, you'll find,
is simply by spinning a penny.
No - not so that chance shall decide the affair
while you're passively standing there moping;
but the moment the penny is up in the air,
you suddenly know what you're hoping.

Real good ,eh? Thanks due to my friend!
If you want to read more, google Piet Hein.
(Its speaks a lot about the strength of a brand name, when it is used a verb doesn't it? Hail Google! )

One thing long work hours have brought in, is late night telly watching. After a long day at office, it feels good to round off the day with an episode of Sienfeld followed by one of Friends ( and of course, the now routine scoldings about working late by the folks at home).

The last book I read was iCon. A well researched ( I hope!) book about the life and times of Apple Inc's CEO Steve Jobs. It was a pretty good read. A lot harsh things have been said about Jobs, his (mis)management style, aggressive attitude and misdemeanor. But all said and done , at 22 (my age) Jobs had already found Apple (Jobs went on to found nEXT and Pixar too!). And here I am fixing bugs in a stupid tool! Well, the urge to 'make a dent in the Universe', as Jobs would put it, has grown stronger ( and with it the desperation of dealing with the work I am doing at off right now).

Aur ab aap bataiye, aap kaise ho?

2007-06-01T20:48:00.000+05:30

And when they reached the Black Gate, Strider said,"Brothers of Blogger! Of Blogspot! My brothers! I see in your eyes the same strain that would take the heart of me. A day may come when the wrethcedness of work ceases; when we forsake our servitude and break all bonds of stupid God-forsaken work... but it is not this day! An hour of joy and uninhibited laughter, when the Age of the Manager comes crashing down! But it is not this day! A day when one can send off one's brother (the only one at that) on a three month trip,without getting a call asking one to return to office as soon as possible! A day that doesnt seem like monday. But it is not this day! This day I work!".

And then he unsheathed his id and walked into his office.

The end of Voldemort!

2007-04-29T12:35:00.000+05:30

Heeya! I've read the deathly hallows!!

Now before you jump the gun, let me clarify.

The version I read has not been penned by Rowling but by one of her fans Melinda Leo.
For all its mushiness , it was still a good read! You can find the book here.
Have a great time.

I am still waiting for the official version though!

what's wrong abt 300; south park

2007-04-22T22:00:00.000+05:30

300 was a good movie. In terms of production and other frills few movies I've watched come close to it. And given the fact that I'd wanted to see the phalanx in action for a long time, Abhi's description not withstanding, 300 was a good dekko.

But what's wrong with it?

Here's what!

300 depicts Spartans as flag bearers in the first ever war for freedom. To quote Leonidas, "This is the dawn of a new age. An age of freedom!!" (or something like that)
But what pulls the (Persian) rug under the collective feet of the Spartans is the hypocrisy of it all. Spartan society depended heavily on slaves. How do you think Spartan free men were able to train so hard and for so long? Infact Spartans had a special force to supress slave uprisings down. Now you see the irony of it , when Leonidas talks of freedom.

Now chuck that.

I discovered South Park, this crazy show about four 4th grade kids thanks to Su a friend at off.

Here's a small two minute clip from South Park.
I must warn you South Park is not for the faint hearted or the prim and propah among you. (So Di you better skip this)

Did ya like it?
What? Oh! You won't be hanging around here any longer?!
:-/

Refuse the offer,Mr Murthy

2007-04-11T10:21:00.000+05:30

I do not want Mr Murthy to be the President of our nation. No, it has got nothing to do with the brouhaha about the national anthem incident. I believe that anthems, symbols and flags are for just that- symbols - and the dignity of even a single man holds more value than all the symbols of the world put together!

My reason is that the office of the President has no power to bring about change. All Mr Kalam has done (leaving aside the exemplary example he himself is) in the last four(or is it five ?) years has been to set roadmaps, set visions and talk about what we , the youth of this nation should do - in short preach. To be fair that is the most one can do as President anyways. ( I must confess that I am unaware of any positive change that Mr Kalam has brought about, do correct me if I am wrong!).

Wouldnt it be futile to waste four years of such a personality as Mr Murthy? Mr Murthy has much to offer. Let us ask more of him; let us not allow him to be a powerless rubberstamp.

Yenjoy madi

2007-04-05T12:40:00.000+05:30

I want to whine about the fact that I've not been able to watch 300 although I was the first among my friends to learn that such and such a movie exists, and have, on last count attempted to watch it on 5 different occasions. So here goes,

WHINE!

Now that thats done, here's something much happier. Six of us are leaving for Oooty tomorrow night and hopefully we'll have a whale of a time out there!!

Adios amigos and amigas!

Cia at the other end of this long weekend. Have fun! :-)

P.S: Whine jhine jaye bhad me!! Watched it today!! :D

Two thoughts and a sight to behold

2007-03-24T12:52:00.000+05:30

Imagine India, the person(not Mr India for God's sake!) living in a small shack somewhere in the country. Everyday India is rudely woken up by the shrill ring of his/her (India may not be Mother India after all) telephone and when he (ok! lets assume he means he/she from now on) picks up, someone says "Jaago India Jaago" in that jingly tone. India slams the phone down but he can't go back to sleep now. He looks outside his window and sees a whole crowd camped out there. This lousy bunch has the idiotic habit of chanting "Indiiiia India" although sometimes India has heard them chant "Sachiiiin Sachin" too. India has no clue who Sachin is and is immensly irritated by the crowd's chanting his (India's ) name. All through the day, some or the other chap knocks at India's door and when India opens it, the other guy shouts "Come on INDIIIA DIKHADO". India slams the door on his face. He turns on the TV and lo someone's singin "East or West India is the best" (remember the song from Judwa? ). This brings a smile on India's face. India takes a walk every evening through the streets of the town nearby and occasionally he hears someone say "India ka kuch nahi hone wala. Yaha ka system hi kharab hai". India doesnt know the guy who said this butdoesnt care, having listened to this kind of crap all his life. But what bugs him is the crowd outside his shack. Last I heard India was planning a vacation with Ms Bahama. Enjoy madi India!

****
On the way to office yesterday I read this

"Delhi Chalo"

"Haq maango"

"Musalmano ke liye alag quota maango"

on a poster.

This set me thinking about reservation in the education sector and how it sucks. Then I had an idea. What if we could have an engg and a medical college (and a mgmt school) for every two or three districts that cater only to students with reservation? We could get the best teaching talent and provide the best infrastructure possible in these colleges. We may leave the politicians to fight over how much % of quota each sub group should get in these colleges. All the other colleges will admit students only on the basis of merit.

But will such a solution be acceptable to the lobby that's 'For' reservation? One reservation the lobby may have with this solution is that having a seperate college for reserved candidates will be a neo-discrimation against them, but wouldnt the best teaching talent and the best infrastructure make up for that?

What do you think?

****

On the way to office I stopped at this signal today. The signal after the left at Nandidurga road to be precise. At this signal I noticed a group of eagles scooping down to pick up some piece of meat that lay strewn on the road. There were vehicles plying on this road!! The eagles would time their dive perfectly (Avoiding the traffic of course!) .I managed to witness two or three succesfully executed scoops! It was an amazing sight.

Aisa bhi hota hai? Part 3 Or I dont need a shrink! Period.

2007-03-21T16:55:00.000+05:30

What makes us dream the dreams we dream? Is it the thoughts we take to bed? Or is it something else? I just cant understand why I had this dream the night before last. I'll not use the past tense but will try to take you through the dream as if you were there.

I am Salman Khan.Or you could say my spirit is in Salman's body. Tabu is my wife and we have a kid. The kind of kid who is adorably sweet and naughty but has a uncanny ability to escape harm,like the Baby's Day Out kid. I knew the dream was all about how our kid lands in trouble, Tabu and I go hysterical and then everything falls in place, a happy ending.
We live on the topmost floor of an apartment, but there's some construction going on in the roof. Some small room or something. The person who is building the room or whatever is Ajay Devgan. He is a bad-good extremist. You know there are two kinds of extremists in movies (and in my wierd dreams). One of them is the bad-bad extremist. He is evil all the way and his part in the movie is usually inversally proportional to how evil he his. He is usually played by some side actor. The good-bad extremist is however played by some prominent actor and has a major part to play. There's usually a scene where he loses his family, his property or something to a bomb blast or a riot and then the screen fades and in the next screen we see him moving with feline grace (donning sunglasses) walking away from a building (preferably an evil govt building) and as he walks away there's an explosion. Now that's the kind of extremist Ajay Devgan is. Good but misunderstood.Ajay is a good friend of ours. Infact we are the only friends he has in all of the city.
Inexplicably Tabu and I start singing a family song. Tabu, the kid and I start singing the song and eventually we go to the roof and Ajay joins in. In between our happy song, Ajay sings some sad lines remembering his lost young brother (Arbaaz Khan. He fades in and fades out) . The song stops as quickly as it started and then we (Tabu and I) walk down the stairs into the apartment forgetting all about the baby.
We see the baby is on some make-shift roof and as we are watching the baby falls through the thatch roof. We see the baby falling but don't quite see it hit the floor or anything.
Next thing we see is a frantic search for the baby.Tabu, Ajay , a police inspector (don't ask me why he didnt apprehend Ajay), my twin brother (yes I have a twin brother) and I look for the baby everywhere but are unable to find it. All of us ,except Tabu gather infront of our apartment, tense and tired.The inspector looks at the floor and notices the remains of an egg. Tabu runs out of the apartment and screams "Mera baccha!! Ab tak hatch nahi hua tha!!!". (Don't ask me why in the whole world she's so mad!!). Everybody starts picking up the remains of the egg (the remains of the egg, I remember, are not liquidy but solid and crumbly).
Everything fades into darkness and the next thing we see is Tabu and Paris Hilton (or Anna Kournikova. not sure) sitting in a jeep. I am my twin brother now (you got that? I am not Tabu's husband now, I am Paris/Anna's boyfriend!! ;-) ). I walk upto them and tell them that Tabu's husband has already left (to where ? don't ask me! ) and we'll need to leave shortly. And then Paris/Anna kisses me!! Its a nice enjoyable kiss. After the kiss she explains that the kid's safe and the egg crumbles were not of the kid (I know it doesnt make any sense but hang on!). We ride into the sunset or something (this wasnt very clear :-P).

And then that's it. That's when I woke up. As I woke up from the dream all that hogwash about the extemist and the baby, and the baby turns into the egg funda did not seem to matter. What seemed to matter was the kiss! :D

Not the usual crap

2007-03-03T21:54:00.000+05:30

A hectic week! No time for the usual music-blog hopping-occasional orkutting (is that a word or did I just invent it?) - stumbling routine and I would not have it any other way!! :-) Hopefully the next few weeks will be as busy as the last week was. And yeah, we've been promised some developement at last; something to look forward to!

Now amidst all of the work, I read "The God of Small Things" (TGOST) thanks to the long commute I take to work.

TGOST is easily one of the best books I've read. What makes it special is the way it speaks so much by saying so little.

The book is about Ammu and her twin children Estha and Rahel. One of the most moving stories I've heard. It speaks of the immense, selfless love a mother has. Of the indescribably beautiful love kids have for their mother. Of the inexplicable twain that binds twins. Of the hypocrisy of human behaviour. The small things that matter so much (but are not given the attention that's due to them) and the supposedly big things that shouldn't matter. Of how inspite of how badly you want to press that reset button ,go back and undo something, you just can't do that!! At the end of the book you feel just that! You want to go and stop Ammu, or stop Estha and Rahel from walking down the paths they are. But you just can't.

Its a beautifully woven story that touches base on so many things. Read it if you can.

Good things come in threes

2007-02-08T15:53:00.000+05:30

Another V day has come and gone ;a big thenga and :-P to all of you people out there who say "change is inevitable,change is the only constant, blah blah blah". The one thing that refuses to change is my singular single status. Not that I am complaining but still.

I don't know why but I would like to thank all the wonderful friends I have, from school, from coll, from office, from blogistan, from anywhere for being friends with me and bearing with all the little quirks of mine, the many OHNO* moments and all the stupid jokes! Thanks a lot guys!

Life Lover had tagged me a long time ago and here's the post at last!

Three things that scare me:
1. Barking dogs springing up from nowhere.
2. Of being the last one to go among my loved ones.
3. Myself.
Three people who make me laugh:
1. The office crowd.
2. My friend K.
3. Chanlder Bing.
Three things I love:
1. Books.
2. Honesty
3. Spending time with friends.
Three things I hate:
1. The awful noise that's made when people bite anything crunchy.
2. Hypocrisy.
3. Hatred?
Three things I don’t understand:
1. Ladki junta. Self explainatory. ;-)
2. The defintion of girly-sweet. Sometimes I say something random that elicits a "So sweet" and sometimes when I say something really heartfelt all I can garner is "Jaa" or "GTH". hmmmm....
3. Why Abhishek chose Aishwarya or vice versa.
Three things on my desk:
1. This beautiful art piece that N made. Its amazing; maybe I'll post a photu here sometime.
2. My bag
3. The calendar that my company gave us all.
Three things I’m doing right now:
1. Listening to nasha hi nasha hai by Sukhwinder Singh
2. Trying to read a dry work related document
3. Trying not to fall asleep
Three things I want to do before I die:
1. Master the guitar (Are yar bahut dino se practice nahi ki... ab tak ek song nahi bajta mujhse :( )
2. Learn dancing.
3. Fly.
Three things I can do:
1. Make up songs for any situation.
2. Code. (Lekin karne ko nahi mil raha off me :( )
3. Crack absolutely wierd jokes.
Three things you should listen to:
1. The songs of Aandhi, Abhiman and Anand. I had a casette with exactly this combo. Kho gaya! :(
2. Pink Floyd.
3. Advice from ur loved ones.
Three things you should never listen to:
1. People who constantly say "you can't do that"
2. 92.7 FM
3. 93.5 SFM.
Three things I’d like to learn:
1. Salsa
2. Mountaneering
3. Flying ( a plane or parasailing anything)
Three favourite foods:
1. Chapathi/roti wid aloo muter
2. Theeka pani poori
3. Mirchi ki bajji
Three beverages I drink regularly:
1. Coffee
2. Tea
3. Water
Three TV shows/Books I watched/read as a kid:
1. Shreeman Shreemati
One of the best comedy shows I've watched. DD2 was amazing back then, with shows like All the best, Tu tu main main, Superhit muqabla etc etc....
2. Tehquikat
I remember one particular episode where the detective is called in to investigate paranormal activity in a house. I couldn't watch the end. Not that I was afraid or something. (Afraid aur me? HAHA ;-) ).I just fell asleep :-P. I used to doze off at 8 30 - 9 when I was a kid! :-P
3. Hardy Boys. Frank and Joe Hardy were the 'boys' if I am not wrong. Nancy Drew was a big no-no for us tough guys.

I tag Assaulted Peanut, Morpheus , Isha and Zoltan

* An OHNO moment is the moment right after you realise you've done something stupid or said something you didn't mean or mean to.Publish

Life's grey at the moment

2007-02-08T13:22:00.000+05:30

This post was written yesterday at around 11 in the night or so.

I have been Mr Grumpy today at office. Although I didnt let it show I was believe me.
Am I pissed at life?? I have this one question that I must find an answer for. I cannot share this question with anybody. Its pretty confusing. Add to that the fact that I have not been assigned any work. I am a person who's happiest when busy. If I am busy I'll not find time to ruminate and questions like the one I am facing will not come to the fore. But I am not busy now. This idleness is taking its toll. Add to that the fact that I have not been sleeping well for the past few days and you have Mr Grumpy fresh out of the oven.

Have I told you I am an angry young man? Not one of those who are perpetually angry, but those who explode once in a while and God save you if you are close by. I have mastered the art of controlling this rage so if you ask my friends about this they'll probably laugh at you. But ask my dad who calls me Durvasa muni from time to time. The most recent outburst was about an hour ago. There was a bit of shouting and I lost it for a minute. The amazing part is the duration of such outbursts is inversly proportional to the intensity. I was my normal self moments later. I hate it when I lose it.

*Shuts the comp down and fades into darkness*

Me, a movie person?

2007-02-04T13:35:00.000+05:30

Its nice to be back in the blogging circuit!

Do you know what happens when you pour hot coffee into a porcelain cup throw it out and then put some ice cubes into the cup?? It cracks up due to the extreme change in temperature!! I've had two weeks that were chockablock with esoteric technical training and two weeks in which I was more or less free. See the similarity?

If you have read this blog diligently you will remember that a friend of my bro had gifted him a slew of Salman Khan movies. Did I hear you gasp?
But as if in atonement the very same friend gifted my brother with a host of other infinitely more sensible movies!!
So the last three weekends were spent watching all of these movies!

Here are some of the movies I've watched and a one line review (Non-spoilery of course) of each of them:

Memento
the "inspiration" for the tamil movie Ghajini (wonder what Ghajini means). Well made but confusing. Good one.
The Incredibles
Very good! Much more than the usual superhero fare you expect. Incredibly funny.
The Shawshank Redemption
One of the best ones I have watched till now. Must watch!!
Final Destination
Final Destination 2
Final Destination 3
Part 1 was great, part 2 was good, but after part 3 impaled torsos, heads stuck in the lift and such supposedly grewsome things induce a protracted I've-seen-it-all yawn. Don't ever watch all three together like I did.
The Exorcism of Emily Rose
Nice one. Somehow I've grown immune to horror flicks. But this one seemed good.
Pulp Fiction
One of the handful of Quentin Tarantino movies. (I knw you knw but this guy was the one who made Reservoir Dogs the "inspiration" for our desi Kaante and Kill Bill)
Seemed mad, totally mad. But when the movie gets over somehow u come to like it.
Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind
Assaulted Peanuts (nice name na?) had written about this some time back. Read it here. I must warn you it has spoilers. The whole idea is about something that enables one to erase a person completely from one's memory and the kinda consequences/confusion it brings in its wake. Must watch.
Batman Begins
Nice one. Liked this quote "And why do we fall, Bruce? So we can learn to pick ourselves up".
A Scanner Darkly
total crap.
Rocky Balboa
Uff this guy just can't go away can he? The underdog story yet again

Eternal.... deseveres a special mention. I was fascinated by the idea of removing a person totally from one's memory. You could remove a person from your person completely and the next time you met, the other person will be a total stranger to you. But I was left wondering whether such a thing is actually worth it. One of the pros is all the pain that a person caused or is causing you could be forgottten in an instant but the con that goes with this is that all the good times will be gone too!! I think its not worth it at all! If all we had were good memories life wouldn't be life would it?

What do you think? If given a chance would you erase somebody entirely from your memory?

And yeah!! Did I tell you?
ANTHONY WON ROADIES!

PS :
This post is dedicated to a person (let's call her Anjali) who does this:
Gang of friends: "Hey put-in-a-movie's-name chale?"
Anjali: *puts on a pained i-wud-have-come-if-i-could expression*
"I am not a movie person! :-( ..... Aaap jao aur enjoy karo! :-) "

Next day:
Sorority:""Hey put-in-the-same-movie's-name ke bare me suna hai? achha hai it seems"
Anjali: *jumping around* "When are we going? When are we going?"

:-/

PPS :
@Assaulted Peanut :
If Anjali kills me after this, take care of this blog man!

Chow Chow Post

2007-01-12T18:36:00.000+05:30

Here's what I found in one of the forwards that a friend sent:

**********************************************************************************
Dear Friends,

i promise i will follow my new year resolution with all trust and all pains.........
This is my resolution for the year 2007 ..... (Scroll down and have a look )

is

is

is

My Resolution for this Year 1024 by 768 pixels!!!!!!Whats yours ??

If you can't see the bright side of life, polish the dull side, like me....

**********************************************************************************

Now I have a 100% track record when it comes to resolutions! :-)
Because of the simple reason that I have never had any resolution in the first place!! :-P

K .. bad joke! But here's what I may or may not do this year. But at the end of this year if I find that I had put my best effort into doing these, I'll be more than happy.

1. Eat properly and at the correct time. And dont be the last one to finish lunch!
2. Write good posts . (Ahem ... k this one's a goner! )
3. Exercise everyday. OR Play football as often as possible.

As you can see I dont put much pressure on myself.

The new year has brought a lot of changes in its wake. In the first week of the year I learnt that I have been moved to a new team yet again! In the short five month career I have had till now, this is my third team. It goes something like this:

Join team.
Break ice with new team mates. Go on team outing. :-)
Attend training sessions. Do a lot of study.
Attend a breaking news meeting where I get to know I'll be joining a new team. :-/

Sab study ka satyanash!! I hate these breaking news meetings!!! Hrmp! :-/

The past week has been very hectic. I've been attending five-six hour long sessions everyday. And I can't even pretend that I am listening , because firstly, the work involved is pretty complex and I have to have some basic knowledge just to go about my work in the new team and secondly we have quizzes (apparently the results will be made public :-( ). Hence the break from the tradition that started four years ago in college. To be fair the sessions are interesting, but I am actually paying attention to lectures after a long time. Hence the grumpiness.

K enough of my ranting (and yeah I have a bus to catch too)!

Happy Sankranthi/Pongal to all of you! :-)

Have a great week end!

A newbie's guide to soaps

2007-01-04T21:46:00.000+05:30

Over many lunches (during the hols) and dinners (everyday :( ) I've been forced to watch soaps (kannada all of them, and thankfully no KSBKBT). Actually one could look away but then the sound bytes get to you and so does the hilarity of it all.

Here are some things I learnt the hard way.

1. Title.
The title is invariably a female's name or something that relates to suhaag,kumkum, family and such. In the first case the lead female does all the crying but in the second anybody and everybody can cry.
In the second case the title and the soap have no correlation.(Actually yeah the title may get used in one or two dialogues in a span of three years or so.) Or you could say the title could be used for any of the zillion soaps around.
2. How to identify the vamp
Sleeveless blouse + more make up than other heavily "made-up" characters + garish background music (+ last minute evil look when the episode is about to end) == your friendly vamp next door.
3.Nobody dies in a soap
Yeah nobody does! Everyone takes one fortnight to die (see pt 4) and some 40 episodes later you realise the character is not dead after all. He/she is lying is in a coma/in a mental asylum/ in some random stranger's place having suffered memory loss.
The real reason a character dies (or rather correctly goes into a dead-for-forty-episodes state) is that he/she found a better soap (ahem a better paying soap I should say) to act in or he/she needs to be comitted (sometimes they go mad too!) or they have a fallout wid the big shot (heard of Kekta?).
4.Soaps warp the time-space continuum
Soaps can make time slow down to a crawl. It takes one hour (two episodes) to answer a door bell, an accident to take place, for the doctor to announce whether its a boy or a girl or whether someone's dead or alive.
Soaps can have the opposite effect as well. In a blink of an eye uncles become grandpas , aunties become grandmas (theu don't look a day older mind you; the only difference is that one streak of white hair and less than usual make up).
5.Everybody is born rich.
The clothes they wear for daily use, abe kisi shaadi mai bhi aise kapde kam dekhne ko milte hai!
6. Reinforcement of emotion.
When the director needs to emphasise on a particular emotion all he does is to show the same character's face from different angels.
UP DHANG.DOWN DHANG.LEFT DHANG .RIGHT DHANG.DIAGONALLY DHANG. DHANG.DHANG.DHANG.
you get the point don't you?
7.It all boils down to Saas-Bahu ki kahani
The current dinner soap started off as a love triangle. Two friends love the same guy.
Eventually (After a hundred episodes full of love-triangle drama) one of them meets with an accident and dies and the other female elopes with the guy and marries him.
The not-dead friend then goes to her sasural and guess who she meets there?
Her dead dost! The dead dost is alive (Aila!) and has married the guy's father (double aila!!) !!
8. Baa is actually Yoda reincarnated!

Her age is 200 I've heard!

9..

Oh crap forget it! A post about soaps! This blog is going to the dogs!

22 not out

2007-01-02T17:17:00.000+05:30

Yeay! Its my birthday today!!

Yeay!

Red pill or the blue pill?

2006-12-28T15:25:00.000+05:30

What Matrix Persona Are You?

You are Morpheus, from "The Matrix." You have strong faith in yourself and those around you. A true leader, you are relentless in your persuit.
Take this quiz!

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Chrysallis

2006-12-25T21:07:00.000+05:30

This post was supposed to be published last monday. But it lurked in the drafts folder all through last week.
When I say last saturday I mean 16th december.

Last saturday I was part of something special. Something that left a lasting smile on my face and hopefully on hundreds of others as well.
Sometime back we , at our company, heard about this group called Chrysallis. Chrysallis organises , as part of the Christmas season , a party for the disadvantaged and has Santa give away gifts to those lovely little people. We could contribute gifts .We could also volunteer to help organise this party. Due to some stupid reasons (read laziness and forgetfulness) we couldn't contribute gifts.
Late on friday eve we, four of us from my company, decided to do our bit despite the fact that we weren't able to attend the meeting where the volunteers were briefed. We were required to be at the venue Mount Carmel at 7 in the morn on saturday. I somehow got my lazy self to the venue at 7 but had no idea what to expect. No idea about what exactly was going to happen and who will be involved.

P and Di had already reached there and were asked to decorate the Chritmas tree and stuff. Di also did lots of face painting and had a rocking time while at it! Read more about it here. I registered myself as a voulnteer and was put unto the group responsible for food. N arrived last and he worked with the food dep (crap! being a techie had its downside, you start using words like departments even in a post like this one) at first and then went on to help the MC.

The venue

All four of us worked our asses off and it was only at around 12 that we realised tht we had had no breakfast! But we kept at our work, such was the spirit among the volunteers.

Lets move the spotlight from the volunteers to the crowd and the goings on.
We had around 3000 people (approx) at the event.
And every one of these was honoured with a crown and the choice of getting their face painted!

Princes and princesses galore :D

(a tip there: if you want to get pieces of cello tape over to somebody and you happen to be a guy your forearm isnt the best choice buddy! )

Now kids have their favourites when it comes to face painting. The boys of course wanted to be men and asked for big moustaches ala Veerappan and big sideburns! Another favourite was the name of thier fav wrestler (DX presumaly) and oh yeah, the initials of their loved one was a rage too ;-)(Did you say men will be men?). Among the girls , it was the heart tht won hearts I guess and ofcourse the flower and other girly things!!

The Men

The lady

And oh yeah did I mention the elderly crowd we had at the event?

These guys rock man!!

The enthu they have for life could easily shame one of us youths!
One of the many tales we had, involved this gentleman who wanted his moustache (white with age and wisdom) painted black! :-)

Now we had to make the kids sit in an orderly manner so that space would be utilised in the best possible way! Easier said than done!!! There's a little vacant space where one or two kids can sit. But little Chintu wants to sit with Little Munna. Little Babli is throwing a tantrum and is adamant as well. Its only when a teacher tells Babli that she can get whatever she wants painted on her face does she agree to sit in the vacant place!! Sab khush!!:-)
I muttered a silent thanks to the millions of primary teachers all over the day who deal with such high drama situations.

And yeah!The patience that the teachers especially of the visually and mentally impaired children showed was amazing. They seemed to know exactly how to care for every kid. And to think of it, they do this day in day out!

Little Babli?

And now that we everybody had settled down the show began!

The MC had the kids attention by teaching some new styles of claps. Sunshine clap involved raising one's hand and shaking your fingers, rocket clap invloved clapping and then moving your hand all over the place with sounds of whoosh etc. She used these at regular intervals, I guess to get the kids attention back.

We distributed the snack packs to everybody present and let the kids enjoy the show munching on a piece of yummy cake and stuff. We had a magic show, a mimic's act, a ventiloquist and oh yeah we had many santas too!

Itne sare santa?

Now we had performances from the kids.
And every school gave a performance. It was really nice.

Radhe Shyam

Summer of 69 - Carol version

It was almost 2 by the time the last school had performed and now it was time for lunch!!
After every kid had been provided lunch and every school had been given gift packs, the stage (read dance floor) was thrown open to anyone and everyone and did we have some amazingly mad dancing on the stage?!!

Having a blast!

Wrapping things up

We might or might not have made a big difference in their lives but if we had helped them have a nice time and forget their insecurities, I'll live with that!
And oh yeah, thanks to everybody there for making this thing so memorable!

Cheers to chrysallis and everybody invlolved!!

Merry christmas and a very happy new year to all of you out there!!
And believe me when I say this, a day like this can do a world of good to you! :)

Roadies anyone?

2006-12-17T21:39:00.000+05:30

Hmm so people are gung ho about Big Boss aren't they?
Well lemme talk about the reality show I prefer watching ....THE ROADIES!!
Not for me all the sob stories about lost careers , all the bitching about co stars...

I prefer young people doing some stupidly idiotic things and just laughing at them...
Lemme tell you how Roadies works.

Twelve people started the journey from Kerala. Through out this journey (or say each period of the journey that makes up an episode) the Roadies face some tasks and at the end of these tasks there's a vote out. The person who gets voted gets the boot. And the winner of the tasks usually gets immunity from the vote out. The roadies win handsome cash in some tasks. The roadie that survives till the end gets all the money.Pretty simple huh? Not quite! There's lot of drama (pretty funny sometimes) whenever a vote out is impending. People change like... hmmm like the fortunes of the Indian cricket team (yeah they played really well today did'nt they?)
And throw in some PYTs viz Roopali, Sonam, Bani and you can't ask for more!!

Among the current roadies (at the beginning of today's episode) are :

Bani (this one doesnt care a fig for others , I am betting on her!)
Roopali (very pretty. laughs at the most conniving-ish part of the episode! )
Sonam (My fav. Beautiful)
Swati
Poonam (The way she talks is funny. Like some small kid. Imagine a kid saying "wo poooora bheeg gaya" with movements of the hand etc)
Raj (God! How did this guy get through the auditions??? Speaks crap all the time!!)
Sahil (Looks bewildered by the politics essayed by others)
Anthony (Looks innocent but is not! Lambi race ka ghoda hai)

Its been some thirty minutes since the latest episode of Roadies season 4 got over and it was the most hilarious episode I've watched!!

The task this time was to present a dance in groups of two and the group that is judged the best would go on to win immunity. The dances were the most hilarious ones I have ever watched! It was amazing.

Raj was disgusting (Poonam was his partner. Poor P) . Bani was totally funny (She did dance well, but it was funny alright!! Danced to the tune of Chamma chamma Sahil screwed things up though!) Sonam screwed up though Swati her partner danced pretty well. The best dance was that of Anthony and Roopali. They danced to Garam Masala and it was awesome. Chemistry was there, synchronisation too!

And guess who the judge was??

Raakhi Sawant!!
And it wasnt normal Rakhi Sawant! It was the version that had poore clothes on!

And when all the dances were over and done with, the Roadies were asked to stand on the dias and Vj Ranvijay asked Raakhi Saawant,"Inme sabse kharab dance kiska tha?" and fiercely frank Raakhi points a stabbing finger at Poonam and Raj and says "Inka worst tha!". Talk of in the face dances , she is in the face in everything! Hilarious! Eventually Anthony and Roopali won immunity.

And then at last after a vicious circle of dirty lobbying vote-out time arrived. And this time, to the surprise of the Roadies, they had to vote out two people out!!

At the end of the voting process , Swati, Sonam and Bani had four votes against them and to break this tie there was another vote out.After some nerve-wracking moments (unke liye bhai , mere liye nahi!) Sonam and Swati got voted out!!
Sonam!
Shit man! Roadies without Sonam! Poor Roopali was in tears!

Ok ok zyada hogaya ab mai post end kartha hu.

mai kat letha hu ... aap khayal rakhna!
Good night!

Ps: Oh yeah! Look forward to a post about last saturday and about how slogging hard can be fun and extremely fulfilling too!

Teen quotein

2006-12-08T11:35:00.000+05:30

I watched Troy yesterday night. Not till the end what with Dad calling out "Malkolo!! Bellage begyelbeku" ( SLEEP!! You've to get up early!!)
I watched it till the part where Achilles kills Hector.

Now there are three dialogues I like in this movie, of three different characters, Hector , Achilles and Ullysses . Here they are:

[The greek ships are about to land on the Trojan beach and Hector musters a cavalry force to defend the beach. Here's what he tells his men before he leads them to the beach]

All of my life I have lived by a code and the code is simple: honor the gods, love your woman - and defend your country. Troy is mother to us all. Fight for her!

[Here's what Achilles tells his Myrmidons just before they land on the beach]

Myrmidons! My brothers of the sword! I would rather fight beside you than any army of thousands! Let no man forget how menacing we are, we are lions! Do you know what's waiting beyond that beach? Immortality! Take it! It's yours!

[The greeks go on to win the battle and King Agamemnon calls for Achilles. When Achilles goes to Agamenon's tent, other thralls are about to leave. Ullyses whispers this (have put only a part here) into Achilles's ears as he passes by.]

War is young men dying and old men talking.

{Source : http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Troy}

Three men. Three perspectives.
The first quote is all about the duty aspect of war. How soldiers take pride in defending their homeland. The second symbolises the valour aspect of war. The bravery and the honour in war.

Its only Ullyses who putsforth war for what it truly is, dirty and evil. The other two are hogwash.

Chain reaction

2006-12-07T16:03:00.000+05:30

How many times have you recieved a mail or an sms that is similar in spirit to this :

"some crap about friendship or some photo of some idol goes here
An officer has received 2 million dollars after sending it. Robert lost more than 2.1 millions for not sending and breaking this chain letter. Please send 20 copies and see what happens in 4 days.This chain letter comes from SIRDI !! "

What rot!! (This mail comes from Sirdi, does it?? crap!!)

I have recieved such mails and such sms so many times and its time to do something about this crappy thing! Why does one forward this kind of crap to others anyway??

I remember back in Jan (or was it Feb?? ) of this year I had recieved an sms one night saying

"If you want good results in the exam fwd this to 20 people. Dont send it back to me! If you dont then you will fail" (sic)

And I KNEW that our seventh semester results were to be out the next day!! The worst part of such smss is that if one of friends in ur contacts gets it,you are sure to get more than once copy of this same crap. (Ignoramii all) The same shit over and over again!!! Man!!!! I deleted that sms only after sending it back to each sender... Was I pissed!!

And by some quirk of fate I got the worst results of my life that sem. No , it wasnt that stupid sms, it was my effort (lack there of ) that seemed to fetch the kind of results I got.

Its time to make the guy/gal that sends such an sms see the stupity of all this!

Subah savere

2006-11-30T14:52:00.000+05:30

7 55 in the morning and I was walking towards my cab ka stop. Thats when I saw him
His back was bent,every step was as if in pain. It was a surprise how he was walking at the pace he was.
And the load was obviously too much for someone his age.
I could somehow discern that neccesity was'nt the reason why he was doing this; his family was probably forcing him into this, I thought.
I wanted to help him out but was in a dillema. You know some people would consider it an affront, if a stranger offered help.

He was almost passing me now and I decided to help him anyway.
That's when the school bell rang and the little guy called on all of his energies into a final dash towards the school gate.

Rag tag

2006-11-24T19:35:00.000+05:30

I found this here
Tagged myself and so here we are.
Have done the ones with a "X" mark.

( ) smoked a cigarette
( ) done some form of dope
( ) crashed a friend's car
( ) stolen a car
(X) been in love
(X) been dumped
(X) shoplifted
( ) been fired
(X) been in a fist fight -Long ago in school
( ) snuck out of your parent's house
(X) had feelings for someone who didn't have them back
( )gone on a blind date
(X) lied to a friend
(X) skipped school
( ) seen someone die
( ) had a crush on one of your Internet friends
( ) been to Canada
( ) been to Mexico
( ) been on a plane
( ) eaten sushi
( ) been skiing-snow or water
( ) met someone from the Internet
(X) been at a concert
( ) taken painkillers
(X) love someone or miss someone right now
(X) laid on your back and watched cloud shapes go by
( ) made a snow angel
( ) had a tea party
(X) flown a kite -loooong ago!! :) bachpan me
(X) built a sand castle
( ) gone puddle jumping
(X) played dress up - fancy dress competion me
( ) jumped into a pile of leaves
( ) gone sledding
(X) cheated while playing a game -he he he
(X) been lonely
( ) fallen asleep at work/school - wish I had
(X) used a fake ID - yeah and dint get caught!
(X) watched the sun set who hasnt?
( ) watched someone sleep -must do this some time
(X) felt an earthquake - yeah .. were in the midst of a chem class .. the teacher was the first to rush for the door!!!
(X ) slept beneath the stars - roof top
(X) been tickled - many many times .... kaka ki yaad aati hai :)
(X) been robbed -
(X) been misunderstood - the latest involved the word "poor".I said "let the poor guy go". The guy took it literally :X!!!!
( ) pet a reindeer/goat/kangaroo -
(X) won a contest
( ) run a red light/stop sign
( ) been suspended from school - bahut baar dhamki zaroor mili hai ;-)
(X) been in a car crash a minor one ..
( ) had braces -
(X) felt like an outcast/third person - yeah kabhi kabhi .
( ) eaten a whole pint of ice cream in one night -
(X) had deja vu - many many times
( ) danced in the moonlight
(X) liked the way you looked
( ) witnessed a crime
(X) questioned your heart - are bhai kitne bar hua hai ye :-P
( ) been obsessed with post-it notes -what?
( ) squished mud through your bare feet
(X) been lost -
( ) been on the opposite side of the country - nahi :-( ek din apne desh ka har hissa dekhunga
(X) swam in the ocean - yeah during our class trip to cochin .. floated must be more like it
( ) felt like dying
( ) cried yourself to sleep - I am too cold a person to cry over trifles
(X) played cops and robbers
( ) recently colored with crayons
( ) sang karaoke -
( ) paid for a meal with only coins -
(X) done something you told yourself you wouldn't - bahut bar
(X) made prank phone calls - Di was at the receiving end! :-D
(X) laughed until some kind of beverage came out of your nose
( ) caught a snowflake on your tongue
( ) danced in the rain -
( ) a letter to Santa Claus
( ) been kissed under the mistletoe
( ) watched the sun rise with someone you care about -
(X) blown bubbles //oddly i cant blow a bubble out of a chewing gum!
( ) made a bonfire on the beach
( ) crashed a party
( ) gone roller skating
( ) had a wish come true -
( ) jumped off a bridge
( ) ate dog/cat food
( ) told a complete stranger you loved them
( ) kissed a mirror
(X ) sang in the shower
(X) had a dream that you married someone
(X) glued your hand to something // the iron box qualifies?
( ) kissed a photo
( ) climbed a water tower
(X) screamed at the top of your lungs -
( ) done a one-handed cartwheel
( ) talked on the phone for more than 5 hours
( ) picked and ate an apple right off the tree
(X) climbed a tree - climbed a sixty feet tree and jumped off it... ha sab safety measures the!
( ) had a tree house
( ) been too scared to watch a scary movie alone
( ) believe in ghosts
( ) have more than 30 pairs of shoes
( ) worn a really ugly outfit to school
( ) gone streaking
( ) gone doorbell ditching
( ) been pushed into a pool/hot tub with all your clothes on
( ) told you're hot by a complete stranger
( ) broken a bone - kabhi nahi.... :-)
(X) been easily amused
( ) caught a fish then ate it
( ) caught a butterfly
(X) laughed so hard you cried
( ) cried so hard you laughed
(X) cheated on a test -
(X) forgotten someone's name - I display a new-found curiosity about the layout of their visiting cards or ids!
( ) French braided someone's hair
( ) gone skinny dipping in a pool/hot tub/river
( ) been threatened to be kicked out of your house or been kicked out of your house
(X) loved someone so much you would gladly die for THEM
( ) cheated on someone -
(X) talk to yourself when noones around -
( ) hate someone you once loved - Not possible!
( ) love someone you once hated
( ) kissed the phone for the person on the other side - what?

Who do I tag??

I tag you! Take this tag up if you liked it.

Googlism for: strider

2006-11-17T23:06:00.000+05:30

Check this out.
Go to Googlism and enter your name.
This is what I got:

strider is included on a separate disc when you buy the sequel
strider is dead
strider is a powerful fighter
strider is interesting to describe
strider is a skilled hunter and tracker and continues to learn and improve thanks to his mother's influence
strider is the same height as mousse
strider is the 6th producing male in the futurity/maturity tabulations
strider is automatically moved from one scene to the next
strider is producing his finest qualities in his get
strider is versatile and easy to use
strider is a six
strider is a blur of action
strider is always apparent
strider is the one game i had never played
strider is forever
strider is definetly a class act
strider is very maneuverable
strider is confident that the odds are not three on one
strider is the macho sort who'll always sacrifice a crewmember to save the ship
strider is one of my favorite genesis games
strider is still talking
strider is a love story wrapped in a
strider is already running
strider is well drawn and basically resembles the strider found in marvel vs
strider is a athasian halg
strider is as full of references to mother russia as 1943 is to the land of the rising sun
strider is as intuitive as it gets for an arcade slasher
strider is taller than eight
strider is one
strider is pannucci's contribution to a water sculpture project which she has developed to travel around the world
strider is seen leading a pony into the countryside
strider is by far the most promising wrestler in the midwest
strider is on team 1
strider is happy that they are being more cautious than they were downstairs
strider is concerned
strider is an athletics
strider is pretty good
strider is nearly arcade perfect with all the levels and bosses intact
strider is rough and weather beaten
strider is an agent of an espionage organization called striders
strider is also not responsible for information that may be found on other sites
strider is a unique icon in the surfing world
strider is a race game simulating middle
strider is a fun game but not as good as it's arcade counterpart
strider is submerged in water it carries with it a large bubble of gas entangled in the hair
strider is a chance to play a landmark game
strider is a sure thing
strider is about 21 cm “tall”
strider is an accounting professional with more than 20 years of experience
strider is malaysia
strider is married
strider is great game for genesis that was a port of the arcade game
strider is willing to try if they will let him
strider is to breath under water
strider is the first ch basenji to earn the na and oa
strider is pretty cool
strider is a contemporary suspense
strider is
strider is an all time classic video game
strider is one i haven't heard before
strider is now
strider is able to walk on water is because of surface tension
strider is a walking war machine
strider is the mobile version of atlas speaks
strider is a ways off
strider is a very cool animal

Kuch sunehri yadein v2.0

2006-11-16T15:55:00.000+05:30

If you have read "Swami and Friends" you would probably remember how Swami felt when he had to join Board High after being dismissed from Albert Mission.
That was how I felt when I was moved from the main office(MO) of my company to a satellite office (SO,if you will).
At MO I had my own Rajams and Manis (no Pea though) . At SO I knew nobody.

But as days went by, I made friends at SO too, the closet among which are AT,Bhav-Bhav and Beegee. Now AT is from Madhya Pradesh, Beege from Tamil Nadu and Bhav-Bhav is a Kannadiga like me.

Considering this one might expect a lot of "bhashaon ka adaan pradaan". Yes there was, but it started in a very wierd fashion.

Here I was sitting at my cube looking at some code and Beegee calls up. Now Beegee is a typical good girl quiet and reticent and so I was more than just surprised when she said "Eh tapori lunch?".

At lunch that day I was to know that AT had told her that "tapori" meant good guy in hindi.

And to add to that AT showed this not-so-unobvious derision to southie culture!!

Bhav-Bhav and me decided to give it back to AT (Incidentally Bhav-Bhav calls me her "Mubola Bhai" :-) )

Here's a list of things in kannada we taught poor AT.

What we taught: Barole

What we said it meant: Yaha aaiye. (Please come here)

What it means: Idhar aa be!

What we taught: Nanage kannada baralla. Nanna hitkondu tadki!

What we said it meant: Mujhe kannada nahi aati. Please adjust kar lijiye.

What it means: Mujhe kannada nahi aati. Mujhe peeto!

/* we thought of teaching him this but refrained from it. Putting it here anyways */

What we taught: Odihogona Baa.
What we said it meant: How are you?

What it means: Lets elope!

/*There were many more. Just can't recall any right now. Will ask Bhav-Bhav.*/

By the end of this session AT had seen through our ploy for we couldn't help doubling up with laughter!

Another trick we used to employ was that Bhav-Bhav or me would just say to the other:

"Sumne sumne nagu" (Aise hi haso)

and both us would laugh like mad at AT, leaving him perplexed as to what we were laughing at.

Those were the days my friend.

Just when I was starting to feel at home at SO, they moved me back to MO again.

Here are a few pics of SO.

A typical cube. (Not mine though! :( )

Ye tha gali ka road. Ek aur corridor ko ham main road bulate the,AT ne uska pic nahi liya!

Our cafe! Achha tha!

Cafe ka ek aur pic! That guy looks drunk but isnt!

One of the best things about SO was that the airport was very close by. We could actually see planes take off and land. During the first few days would rush to the nearest balcony to see it land or take off. Oddly enough before this I had never seen a commercial plane land , though I had seen Airforce jets land.

SO ke terrace ka view! Ek hasin shaam as AT put it.

Good bye SO!

2006-11-10T16:41:00.000+05:30

To seek happiness in what others say or what others do is a futile act.

Such happiness is at best ephemeral.

When Priya met Diya

2006-11-08T12:50:00.000+05:30

WARNING: This post contains toxic PJs and if at any point of time you feel like killing yourself or me,press the little button with "X" on it on the top right corner of this page in less than 1.3 seconds .....

I have a friend. Let’s call her Priya. During the long weekend that we had last week, Priya had been to her home town. And it took just three days for the huge transformation from Priya to Priya Auntie. (A friend of Priya's , lets call her Diya brought little Chotu into our world! :-) )

I don't know what ensued when Priya met Diya and Chotu. It must be a "so sweet" moment of course. And I must admit that this does deserve the much abused annotation "so sweet". And a little weird too, because you've always seen your friend as this bubbly girl or natkhat guy and suddenly she/he is a parent and has somehow crossed some invisible threshold which just cant be defined. (Did that make sense??)

Now here's my (highly remixed and PJfied) version of what happened when Priya met Diya::

Our tale begins some six months back ,when Priya put down the following entry in her To-do list wala book

Oct XX 2006 10:47 to 11:53 : “Meet Diya and little Chotu/Choti (And give them a surprise !) :-) :-) Sooo Sweet!! “

D day Oct XX 10:46 (You see Priya is never late,NEVER!!):
Priya goes to the hospital where Diya is put up, enquires for the ward no whatever and then proceeds to the same…
She stands in front of the door calms her nerves puts on her best nasal twang , her most morose expression and then enters the room singing ::

“Auntie banaaya….
Auntie banayaa…
Auntie banaaaya aapne”

Diya (After having recovered from this frightful intrusion) says,” Sooo Sweet of you”.
After the hugs and how are yous , Priya proceeds to have a look at a blissfully sleeping Chotu.

Priya bends over the cradle and sings:

"Jhalak dikhlaja..
Jhalak dikhlaja ...."

Chotu wakes up and gives Priya one tight slap!

If you meet a girl with a little flowery red mark on her left cheek that's Priya! Don't forget to say "Sooo sweet Priya aunty!!"

Should I be happy or should I be sad?

2006-10-23T16:47:00.000+05:30

In a Past Life...

You Were: A Kind Philosopher.
Where You Lived: Alaska.
How You Died: Buried alive.

Who Were You In a Past Life?

Since the last post

2006-10-23T16:00:00.000+05:30

Finished a two week long induction training course( It sounds like some outdoor obstacle course doesn’t it?). The course involved day long lectures ( euphemistically called presentations). Had lots of fun. So did four of my friends who shared the last bench with me! ;-)

Been to an outbound session near the banks of Kaveri with 33 other freshers. Had loads of fun. Made lots of new friends. Among other things jumped from a 65 feet high branch, constructed a rope bridge between two trees and actually crossed it too. And did I mention a game we played ,which invited (incited??) a three hour long heated and insightful discussion from the facilitator?. If you ever play a game where X and Ys are involved, choose Y,all the time. Guess this calls for a separate post…..

Ajji (granny) got her cataract operation done (while I was away at the outbound :-( ) and struts around in her new shades. ;-)
She says she cant see clearly , doc says it takes time.

The very first project of my life as a software engineer got stalled(or “put to a logical end at the design phase” as the management would have it). My colleagues here started talking of layoffs and how I was much better off than them because I am a fresher… Amidst all the uncertainties , our fears were at last laid to rest last Thursday. There will be no layoffs ,atleast in my team ,although the future of other teams working on the same project seems uncertain. :-( I really feel sorry for these guys. The amount of effort and the passion with which they put it, surely makes this very hard to bear.

The last event will have three consequences. Firstly all of the study and rampup I put in , in the last two months ,not to speak of the trainings I undertook for this project, adds up to zilch. Secondly, I may be moved back to the old office where my pals work. :-) Thirdly, till I am assigned another project, I am totally free (well almost, my company expects me to acquire new skills in this period of lull. Aint blogging an art form and hence a skill too??). :-)

Diwali this year was a low key affair. But it sure brought back lots of memories.. Like the time when bro got hurt while trying to light a flowerpot and fifteen minutes later our neighbour’s son lit the same flower pot (and got hurt needless to say).
Nice memories …..

Which famous movie are you?

2006-10-11T18:08:00.000+05:30

I have to run ... I'll probably miss my cab ... But then thought i'll let you know which famous movie I am supposed to be...

What Classic Movie Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com

Added later:

I didn't miss my cab! :)
And if you have watched Schindler's list do let me know if its good....
Check out the comments for some interesting fare...

Operation Chubbyface

2006-10-04T20:47:00.000+05:30

I eat at my own pace (read slow, real slow). And my friends are happy. Why? Here’s why:

After the prodigious task of deciding where to eat and what to order in order to satisfy the eclectic appetites and yearnings of the diverse juntha, that I refer to as friends, we settle down to lunch/break fast (and on rare occasions dine) together. Now my friends eat at an insanely quick pace (or that’s what I think) ,and before I can say “gliba”, are done with their food.

Now comes the best part. While I battle my food bravely(did I hear somebody say patiently?), these guys get to do what they do best. P gets to use his razor sharp wit and has us in spits, Anju gets to take retake no 3 (man this will get me into trouble) of the-exciting-story-in-office, Su keeps count of the retake count and points it out rather politely (punctuated with a polite laugh that is so characteristic of him) ,T laughs at almost everything, Aragorn swings between alphenlibeying* and occasional sabotage of other people’s food and Di takes in all of this like a sponge and laughs randomly at a joke cracked at the other end of the table!! Now if that isn’t quality time what is?? So now you know why these guys are happy.

The situation at office is different. No, I haven’t started eating like all of you do.( The times they are changing my friend, but yours truly remains the same vintage self he was.) I still eat slow. But I am concerned about my office-lunch-mates.

While I battle my food (literally if I happen to have the cafeteria’s food) these guys finish their lunch, sit back and talk. And sooner or later somebody brings up office talk which figures around the no of bugs X’s been allocated, the enormous work and the looming deadline that Y’s battling and so on. And I am concerned for these guys, for office talk if taken in large doses has been known to affect humour, health and personality. So I look at the state of these guys’ plates and when they are about to finish, I remark at the enormous amount of food my dear mom has put in my dabba and wind up.

What this means is that I end up half hungry half the time and everybody from my chahcha’s mom-in-law’s second cousin to my very own brother remarks at the un-chubbiness of my state of being.

What’s the solution?
Operation Chubbyface

Now they are two reasons to embark on operation chubbyface. The first is apparent from the above. The second is due to the realization after much research that female juntha has this annoying habit of choosing chubby jokes over skinny blokes.

Here’s the details.

Its pretty simple actually. All I have to do is use the panacea that my Ajji (granny) keeps recommending; which is EAT EAT and EAT!
So I plan to eat my fill at every alternate hour and stuff apples and juices and chocolates and bondas and pani puri and ….. into my apparently lean tummy. So what if I am hungry half an hour after lunch? The next snack break is just half an hour away,,,,

Can I hear somebody laughing all the way to the bank??
Phalo phoolo café wale bhai sahab!

* What's alphenlibeying?? You better ask Aragorn

Random ramblings of a lost soul

2006-10-04T20:41:00.000+05:30

Overheard at office: ”I have twenty boyfriends but only two girlfriends”. Bhai Casanova ka koi connection hai tere saath??

Got to watch “Who lamhe”, the tagline’s very alluring.

My dear old Salman-fan brother just got a gift from his friend. Six DVDs full of Salman movies and songs.

The best plan of action to keep Belgaum inside our side of Bharath is to close down Bangalore city for a day. And to air only kannada fare on a day when you cant step out.And to make people work on a Saturday in compensation. To hell with Vatal Nagaraj!!

Heard of a band called Goo Goo Dolls? No? Join the club because I hadn’t either. But these guys have written this wonderful song called Iris. Just listen to it if you can. (Drop in your mail id I’ll mail it to you.)

Why do people write songs with the words “tere bin” , “judai” , “tanhayee” and "yaadein”?? Can’t these people stick with “tu cheez badi hai mast mast” ???

“But for misery there would be no humour”, said Mark Twain. How true.

Have to go to office tomo! :(

Ajji ka solution

2006-09-27T12:21:00.000+05:30

Sometimes I sit in the balcony or next to the window and start trying to think something heavy, like the meaning of life or something.My granny comes along , ruffles my hair and says "Yenniko hing kutidya? Biscuit tinnu ella sarihogathe. (Aise kyu baithe ho? Biskut kha le ,sab thik hojayega!)" .

Ps: Ajji is at my chacha's place. :(

Yours truly ke bare me

2006-09-20T10:34:00.000+05:30

This blog is wierd!
It started out as Backbencher's Inc and is called "Gliba" now.
It starts with some backbenching stuff , some forwards and only then does the usual blogger ki kahani start...
But there isnt a post where I have talked aboout myself.

So this post is dedicated to all those screaming, swooning females dying to know about me and the occasional guy reader too.
Naa just kidding, this one's just for you. Yeah I meant YOU!

My mind doesnt function in the normal way minds function...(thats not to say I am this weird jacko who runs around with a pin in a crowded bus, pricking people and laughing hysterically)

I believe in multiverses (ie that there are more than one universe). Each universe with its own God. And when our God (the creator of our universe) was putting in the nuts and bolts into my brain , along came Polly, the Goddess of Universe 337. Now Polly could give Ms Jolie a run for her money and so naturally our God got distracted and put a nut where a bolt must go, and then he said "sorry boss, ab tera kuch nahi hoga." before I knew what was happenin I was born.
What this means is I can remember the name of your aunt's greatuncle's third daughter's first husband's dog, that you mentioned six months ago, but seem to forget that my atm wala pin is xxyz instead of xyyz.

My idea of fun is anything that makes me lose track of time.

Here's some of those things
dumb charades :
We had eons of fun playing dumb charades .. And no prizes for guessing who the "dumb" guy was... Our team (P, A and me) was the best in the coll..won many times in our coll... and we even managed to get through the first round at iota RVCE only to be done in by sheer bad luck ... we got among other things "Rapunzel" to enact..Can guess what or who Rapunzel is??
football:
Man, they dont call football the beautiful game for nothing.. Had loads of fun playing football in coll... Miss those carefree days now
Books:
I wud probably had been a librarian if I didnt have to support my ten kids and their andhi maaLove fiction especially fantasy.
Dosto ke sang latakna
Hanging out wid friends. The times I spent in coll wid friends doign nothing will be among the most cherished memories from coll. Once in a blue moon, the (now famous) chemical locha in my brain would make me feel like a total stranger among these guys and then this latking business wud be a real pain... But I reiterate my friends in coll are the best!
School ke dosto ke sang bhatakna ..
Having studied in the same school for 12 years I have a great many (pretty old) friends from school. When we meet up we just have a blast!! And to top it all , my school friends think I amthe most bhola bhala, seedha saadha ladka in the gang!! ;=)
coding
Yeah I like coding. The sheer fun of solving some problem makes me enjoy this nerdish activity. (S%^t ... half of those screaming females ran away!!)

This list is incomplete (are bhai U certificate hai is blog ka)

Things I don't like:
Hypocrisy
Extreme caprice
That crunchy sound that people make when they bite into chips, papad ...

Well that's me

And btw if you know who Rapunzel is , bravo mate!!
Do you remember the story of a princess locked up in a tall tower? The one that grew her hair loooong so that her prince charming could climb up to her window grabbing her hair??
Rapunzel was the name of that princess..Wonder which hair oil she uses...

Kissa badal gaya

2006-09-04T18:25:00.000+05:30

It has been almost two weeks at this new office. Yes I admit I was totally pissed off at being "moved " here cos among other things I missed my buddies and this new office is way too far from my place than the old one. So it didn't come as a surprise then that the first two days here were a real pain.

In fact the first day here was a first half-day. I was happily idling my time away at the old office assuming I'll be moved at the end of the month or even later. I should have continued doing the same I guess. But the teeny weeny conscience I have forced, me to call my manager of my own accord. He told me he'd been trying to contact me all the time (and that's probably why he wasnt there at his office when I went looking for him that day. Imagine him yellin hindi-movie-style strider kaha ho tum!!) Che I shouldn't have called him cos he then went on to inform me that I'll have to leave the old office right then, period!! I put off going to the new place till I had lunch (which usually means ,for me , a delay of an hour) and after the rona dhona of judai, (naaa just kidding) was off to the new office.

The auto guy I picked for this noble duty of ferrying a newly joined maasoom fresher to his sasural, if you will, had no idea where my new office was. It was after an hour of suttyfying (roaming without sense of direction that's kanglish maga!) we (yeah auto-guy and I were a team now) that we ended up at towers. Uff at last here it is I thought. But the towers housed no office of my esteemed company. I called up mu buddies back at the old office and asked them the address of this place (yes I was dumb enough not to note the address when I left) and found that the off is at supreme!!! back to the auto and after half an hour's suttyfying we at last found our destination. Guess I will be the customer of the year for that auto wala...I paid him a whole day's collection in one go!!
Any hopes of moving back to the old office were dashed ,when I asked my manager (who works here) about this small "issue" of mine. She looked at me as if I had just killed three people by biting them on the leg (if that isnt wierd enoughfor you you better go for audition for pysco 3) and said "NO".

The trip back home was even more horrendous, cos yours smart truly got down at a stop that was around 10 kms from the stop yours smart truly had to get down. Are bhai mai kya karu, sab flyoverek hi kok ke hi to aulad hai!!
I wont bore you with the traivails of the second day. You may conclude safely that I was totally pissed off and consideredthe whole episode extremely unfair.(More unfair than this guy's plight who fights a whole series of WWe survivor series matches, wins and then gets a ticket to "Himesh Reshamiya-Live in concert")

What brought the turnabout in my attitude and perception was a story a friend of mine related (and a bit of soul searchingif i may add).
Here goes the story:
" A gentleman with enough wealth to make Azim Premji feel like ,umm lets see.. me, once threw a party at his huge mansion and iinvited everybody on the city's who's who list. Every body on that list as well as the who's he list turned up that evening...And more than a few college going guys too (free me khana aur coll wale na jaye to??) ... As the evening unfolded, our rich guy called for everyone's attentiontowards his huge swimming pool... The whole pool was filled with all kinds of reptiles and lizards (add whatever makes you squirm here..)This rich guy valued courage over everything else. And so he announced a grand prixe for any man or woman who dared cross the pool.The grand prize would be one among the rich guy's money, his mansion and his beautiful daughter."
" For two mins there was utter silence and then...SPLASH .. some guy had just thrown his hat in. After making Sunny Doel's machoishm look sissy like, the guy emerged from the other side of the pool.The rich guy was elated and then asked our hero "Young man, you've made me proud... What do you want? My money, my estate or my daughter?" The guy went on to reply "Just tell me who pushed me in!!" "

Now that you've clapped (or booed in case you'd heard this before), let me tell you my friend's take on this story and how it applies to my predicament...

She told me that my condition was similar to the guy who was pushed in.. It was'nt that guy;s choice was it?? But eventually it boils down to survival and coming on top,,,So whatever may be the circumstances , just give your best and you'll cross the pool, she said.

Hmmm nice thinking na..(I know you never figured that out from the story.. did you?)
So I am a new man ... The same office doesn't seem so forbidding and I have started enjoying my stint here as well :-)

I still miss my buddies but then I have a job to do..

Birthday Blues

2006-08-17T11:58:00.000+05:30

The day I had the privilege of visiting RGIT was S’s birthday.( S is a class mate of mine from school). And I got to know it was her birthday, when she called me in the morning and asked me to be at her place for the treat. Later in the day RGIT left a lasting impression on D and me, and I was back at my home by 5. I wasn’t too keen on S’s treat cos firstly I never knew it was her bday before she told me, secondly we have renewed our acquaintance only a few days ago in that reunion and I thought it wouldn’t be that great barging onto her treat, thirdly I had no gift for her.
Just when I thought she would have forgotten that she invited me (believe me I have been ‘forgotten’ quite a few times :-P), she calls me and insists that I be present (aint that sweet of her). I though I might as well take Kirik along but he was busy so I am off to her place alone. Chungi (who knows S better) was stuck at office and told us that he’ll be able to make it only by 9.
Believe me it isn’t easy striking up a conversation even with your old class mates after six long years (unless you are a female). I must have repeated the words “Motorola August 9” at least a hundred times. So I sit there smiling, laughing at all the jokes and leg pulling going on around me (lots of it goes on I was to learn) trying to be as inconspicuous as possible.
One great thing was that I found a person who could eat more slowly than yours truly! That’s D folks. Just when I thought I wouldn’t be the last one again, S’s mother forced me into a second helping and I was the last one again (Duh!). By this time I’d exhausted all points of conversation and was a lame duck all ears.
Just when I thought things couldn’t get any weirder, I found that I was the only one who hadn’t a gift to give and these guys have this weird idea of calling out the names of the people who contributed to the gift-for-the-bday-girl fund!! I sunk deeper into my chair wishing for the evening to end right there!! That was embarrassing moment 2309.
At last it was over and I guess only a person as stupid as I am would write such a post …..
Hmmm whatever….
And history repeats. It was M’s birthday on Aug 15 of all days! And again I confess I didn’t know it was his bday till he called me up and asked me to be there for the treat. And again I’ve renewed M’s acquaintance only a few days back.
Hmmm something’s wrong ( or is it?).. I am getting treats free me!!!
Chal yaar… Never look a gifted treat in its mouth.. (Duh!!)

What do I do?

2006-08-17T11:54:00.000+05:30

What do I do?
The first day at the Compnay ended with a bang. Mr. V met me at CVR and told me that I was going on a team bonding/building session for two days the next morning. I didn’t know what to say, and so had to go through with it.
The next morning had to get up at 5 30, (such a pain!!) and had to go all the way to CVR campus. Then we were off to Angsana, this spa resort not five kms from home.
The team( CDMA) is great. Met all kinds of people, the sweet ones, the career oriented ones, all kinds. This was the second time I have had to spend more than a day with complete strangers, the first being the SSB interview at Mysore. I am not a natural conversationalist and it took a lot of time to really get to know my team.
Over these two days we were made to play all kinds of games. A nice way of getting the bonhomie going was to divide us into groups of three and making us share such things as our most cherished childhood memories, one or more dilemmas that we may have faced, our achievements (mine was zilch in this case) etc. Other things like synchronized dancing, a lunar version of Lost etc added a dash of excitement.
The second day involved lots of introspection. We were made to depict by way of a “dramatic” skit, the undercurrents of the company. I thought it was just for fun, but was rather astonished by the way our ‘take’ was interpreted by the HR and the Managers. Hmmm why were we asked to make it ‘dramatic’ and then made to listen about we deviated from that utopian ideal??
Later we had a postmortem session where each side (the two being the developers and the managers) were asked to list out what they would do and what they expected of the other to achieve that ideal.
Meanwhile met my sub team called AS. The up side is that it’s a great team and I’ll work with C/C++. The downside is that I’ll probably have to move to Marathahalli which will mean I’ll have to travel over 30kms just to get to work. Man maybe if the place had a name that sounds better, things would be a tad better; whoever thought of ‘Marathahalli’?
I have to talk to my manager and sort out issue out.
If I have to move to Marathahalli, then we may be forced to move out of dear old Yelahanka after all. Having spent all my life here , that wouldn’t be a walk in the park would it?

2006-08-17T11:51:00.000+05:30

It was a gruesome experience for Patty. She sat there crying and her head hurt while the paramedics did their job on her. The tears wouldn’t stop, even with Daddy trying his best to console her. Patty a pretty six year old had just been on the receiving end of a botched up kidnap attempt. The kidnapper wearing a baseball bat, had apparently timed his move pretty well, just when Mr. Jose had left Patty alone, to get her a cone of her favourite vanilla ice cream, but had failed miserably in the execution. All he got away with was a fistful of poor Patty’s hair, leaving behind a badly shaken six year old whose head hurt like hell.
Detectives Steve and Laura were upon the scene in ten minutes. And it was Laura who finally managed to stop the flood of tears.
Luckily a Samaritan had noted the no of the SUV in which the kidnappers, apparently there were two of them, had fled.
In two days the kidnappers were caught. And Patty made a positive id of the Baseball cap guy. The interrogation that followed, threw up a few surprises. The kidnappers claimed that were private detectives hired by one Mrs. Michelle. The kidnappers/detectives claimed they specialized in restoring lost/kidnapped children to their parents. Steve on checking up the State Private Eye’s office found that indeed the two kidnappers were private hires. Steve and Laura promptly turned up at Michelle’s place. To their surprise, Michelle was expecting them. Michelle went on to claim that Patty was her child. She claimed Anna (that was what Michelle called her girl) had lost her way when she was a year old. Michelle was arrested on charges of aiding/abetting kidnap.
Upon preliminary trial, the kidnappers and Michelle were granted bail, on the condition that they must not be present within 500 yards from Patty’s house, school or play ground. Later in the day, Michelle was found violating the order and was promptly arrested again.
When Steve checked the database of unsolved lost/found cases, he was astonished to find that there indeed was an Anna who matched Michelle’s description but she was presumed dead in a road accident. But her body had never been found.
So, Steve and Laura came to the conclusion that Michelle was suffering from a psychological disorder, having been under severe trauma, losing both husband and child in a single accident. There were in for a surprise.
DNA tests on the handful of hair that Baseball-cap had grabbed on to, revealed that Patty was indeed Michelle’s child!
Now the onus was on Mr. and Mrs. Jose to prove that Patty was their child. And prove they did, in a convincing fashion. They produced a valid birth certificate; moreover they had recorded the birth of their only child on tape.
How could Patty be both Michelle’s and Mrs. Jose’s child??
Laura had a hunch, which was to be proved correct.
Guess what?
Wait till the next post! ;-)

2006-07-30T20:49:00.000+05:30

On sleepy afternoons and idle evenings I close my eyes and look inside. As I get lost in those
whirlpools of mist and thoughts I land in a beautiful meadow ,bright and redolent. The sunshine evokes memories of happy times, when if I could I would have stopped time and captured those few moments that make a whole lifetime worth living.
I see all that makes me smile here, books lots of books , of carefree times on the field , of idle hours of chit chat, of thosefew moments of untold happiness.....
I walk past smiling faces, to find myself in a suddenly dark and gloomy corner. Here there is no sunshine but gloom, all pervading gloom. Sombre and impassive faces stare back at me , speaking through their silences; those eyes, those deep eyes , tell tales of untold sadness,of losses yet to be forgotten and scars yet to heal.
At last I am out of those depths to find myself in front a throne, high and majestic. I climb up the steps sit on throne and look down. And
it seems from this hieght all you can do is look down on people. The throne, in spite of all those illusions of splendour,I find is hard to sit upon. This high you are alone, with none but your own bloated ego;no mirth,no happiness. I find I can't sit here for long, although I see I visit this place often. I realise the need to be bring myself back down to earth. Sense prevails and I am on solid ground again.
As I move past the throne, a solid door, barred by chains confronts me. This is where the animal resides. The animal as they say,if let loose will wreak havoc and bring about untold misery upon us all. They say each one of us has one of this kind within us. But I have my own take. The animal can be tamed but not the cold,calculating, shrewd ironically inhuman human mind ,which if left untamed can cause such havoc the animal can't even envisage.
Better leave that door alone for now.
As I walk past the door, I start hearing a soft tune. 'Haven't I heard this somewhere?', I wonder. The tune grows louder and louder until everything is being blown apart by the sheer force of the din. I wake up with a start only to find my mobile ringing, the tune of 'California..California'. Its kirika. The adda beckons. ;-)

2006-07-28T13:55:00.000+05:30

Blogs blocked(And here I was cursing my inept self again)
and if you are one of the babus who came up with this gem of an idea read this :
Di takes on the establishment

Just when all this hullaballo about seurity measures were being bandied about two females (can I hear somebody crimp? well chod yaar 'female' is k) and a male drive right through the security cordon of our dear Mr M Singh. The two females in quesiton were babes if you ask me... (Good to see some news story can also be eye candy sometimes)

Kya ho raha hai is desh me??
Chal yaar ghar jana hai .. ma ka khana pukar rahi hai....

Strategic investment and me

2006-07-11T19:07:00.000+05:30

Over the past fortnight, we (Chungi , koli and me ) have been hanging out on most evenings..We meet at dairy cross and usually have an ice cream (chocolate wala) or some fruit juice ...or go out to the auto guy and have some roti shoti...Every time its pay back time ( ;-) ) I reach for my purse but these guys wont let me pay!!(In Stark constrast to people back at coll... man the coll ke log have a lot to learn! ;-) )
Usually thats a good thing but these guys have their own reason (which they have been making clear right through the hols). Apparently, I am their passport to a bindas life after I join the Company...I am a 'strategic investment with high returns'!! (their words not mine)

Well so much for all the treats ....I know the guys are joking, of course.

Corporate connection

2006-07-11T18:56:00.001+05:30

We have this custom where in you go to some Swami ji and get branded with the blessed marks of chakra and shanka.Yes I said 'branded'. A long rod with a stamp of the blessed symbols is heated to red hot temp and then the Swami gets to brand us all. And to top it all, it is on the day of ekadasi, a day of fasting.
Does it hurt ? Yes it does but only for a minute or two, and a day or two of irritation lingers on. But the version my friends have heard involves searing skin and burns that hurt for a whole month or two. ;-)
Any way today was the celebrated branding day and I promptly missed it. :) Mom and Dad left early to the matha to get it done ( they've stopped expecting me to go along with this).
As usual(at least for the hols) ,got up late.
Weren't we all meeting today at coll??So I dropped off messages to B and Ab. Ab called me up and told me no one was coming ecxept him and so I dropped the idea too.But then as I hung up, B calls me and tells me that we are supposed to meet up at around 10 30 and go watch 'Corporate'. "Sharp 1030 man",he insists. As usual I got late reading the paper and rushed through breakfast (much to the expected chagrin of granny) and left around 9 45 riding dad's activa.
Along the way near Hebbal, the much hated Mama was on a spree booking hapless offenders and I realised my LL had expired a week back and 'renew LL' has been on my todo list for quite some time now. So I kept a steady pace and was about to rush past the mama when he smelt the offender in me and promptly pulled me over. I put on a 'you caught poor law abing yours truly??!' look and when he told me my LL had expired appeared to be shocked; asked him to let me go .. of course it doesnt work unless you are a girl,,,and so the mama asked me to pay up 200 bucks and after much persuasion settled for 100 ( shit 100 hard earned freshly out of the ATM bucks!!).
Bad day?? Wait there's more. Reached coll at about 10 45 and found that I was the only one stupid enough to be there .. Msgs wnt flying to B and Ab again. Ab calls me and finds the whole situation totally funny and he hasnt heard of any plans of watching a movie; banda promises to be in coll in twenty mins.Fortunately, minchu's open. I login into my gmail a/c and voila! Wonder of wonders guess who's online ?? B!! And apparently most of the gang's cooling their heels at home..Su's online too, and tells me he convinced people to stay at home!!
Are yaar!!
Forty minutes later , B and Aks arrive.They collect their Course completion cert..We are off to GP to have lunch... Mean while Ab insists he wont come ...So four of us Aks,P,B and me are off to Vaibhav to watch 'Corporate'.
Well the theatre was fine but what a movie!!
Going by the promos you expect Bipasha to head a small company and take on the big behemoths and come out trumps..Turns out this one's a rip off of the cola wars with the pesticide issue and a PSU thrown in .. and as the cliche goes the abala and bholi nari (read Bips) bears the brunt; only Bips isnt as bholi as she seems.
After sitting/sleeping/yawning thru the movie we are off to coll again..Drop B and head back home ... Hungry like hell
At home mom and dad have come back with the mudres(the branding ka result) .. Mom teaches me the nuances of makingmaggi .. which I master :) .. I must say I am better at eating though..
Having eaten it like an ogre go out wid Chungi and Koli ...C and K seem to view me as a strategic investment .. More on that later..Koli takes us around in his car... Stayed at his place till 9 30 ... came home, watched OC in spite of granny shouting herself hoarse "SLEEP!!SLEEP!!" and slept...
Whew man ..
PS: Actually the branding does hurt.

Oh Brother Where Art thou??

2006-07-11T18:48:00.000+05:30

Pavana's two years elder to me. And thus we have always been close. In fact people used to wonder if we are twins (how could they??). As is with all brothers , his friends are his and mine mine and as far as possible we avoid interacting with each other's friends in each other's presence. But that doesnt stop him from asking questions;lots and lots of them. His usual one in the vernacular is "enandru ninn friendsella?".
Of course it is another issue that I manage to steer clear of most of these but just. And yet another that he wontanswer any of my questions. He's a Salman Khan fan and God help me if a Salman movie is on air... Right from 'Har dil jo pyaar karega' ,'Lucky', 'kahi pyar na ho jaye' to 'love' no movie of Salman can ever be missed... so if one of these bland movies is on air have to sit through it all...
Having said all this he is the best bro in the world!! just dont tell him this...
Pavana moved to a room near his office a week or so back on a temporary basis and was set to drop in day before. I must,say, this past week has been quite bland without the constant 'tale tinnodu' of my brother. Just when I was about to miss him, here he comes back and spoils all the missing part..
He has brought his laptop along .. which I found rather handy and cool ...Watched fanaa on it ...Bro was watching 'Ghajini' in the meantime.. don know where he caught this tam movie bug ...must be from Pradeep.
Bro will move to his room again tomorrow .. A few weeks of shanti can be expected ..But too much shanti's not good either...

Last day of coll

2006-07-06T15:11:00.000+05:30

The last day of our college life had finally arrived when we sat down to write our DM exam. Till then I had'nt realised that, that day would probably be the last time I'll meet many of our class mates. The exam went bad , and there I was guage how I felt about the whole thing.
I dint feel sad , more like hollow. As if I had lost something . as if something were left undone. And before I could mull over it all, we were on our way to Sudarshan , back to our bickering, wandering ways and everything was normal again.

Happy days were here again!!

2006-05-12T18:57:00.000+05:30

Well if you are wondering why it's 'were' and not 'are' here's the explaination ... I was in really high spirits (no pun there) and was supposed to write this back then ...
But you know there's something called procrastination and here we are.

Sorry for the digression .... Back to happiness....

Well after that really morose last update , here's the key to happiness.

"Happy is he who choses to be"

and i must add

"Happy is she who choses me"

He he

Jokes apart ( sigh) , that's the key!!
The moment you start searching for happiness Its no longer with you ... Its like a puppy chasing its own tail...

So stop harping on things past , present and to be ....start living your life !!

That's it for now ... keep looking for more.....

Me myself and misanthropy

2006-03-31T18:12:00.000+05:30

Well have you ever felt like the whole world's breathing down your neck??
I haven't either but it was close...
It seems strange when you dont have one single person in this whole wide world, who knows n understands you... The one person who you can always take for granted.
And in moments of despair what do you think is better confiding in people who dont care or using inanimate things as prop..
Well I think its better getting addicted to inanimate things and being passionate about them rather than having attachements towards fellow supposedly "human" beings.
Attachment's too bad... The happiest person on this earth is the one that has no attachments..
On the other end of the spectrum stands misanthropy.
Is misanthropy good??

Back for good!

2006-02-03T16:10:00.001+05:30

I am back!!
After this long period of lull,here I am. A better person? Who cares??
Anyway let's make this thing work now....If you want anything published here , just send it across.
Have a blast!!

Romance anyone?

2005-05-26T18:48:00.000+05:30

Check these out:

I thought that I could love no other
Until, that is, I met your brother.

Roses are red, violets are blue, sugar is sweet, and so are you.
But the roses are wilting, the violets are dead, the sugar bowl's empty and so is your head.

Of loving beauty you float with grace
If only you could hide your face

Kind, intelligent, loving and hot;
This describes everything you are not

I want to feel your sweet embrace
But don't take that paper bag off your face

I love your smile, your face, and your eyes -
Damn, I'm good at telling lies!

My darling, my lover, my beautiful wife:
Marrying you screwed up my life

I see your face when I am dreaming.
That's why I always wake up screaming

My love, you take my breath away.
What have you stepped in to smell this way

My feelings for you no words can tell,
Except for maybe "go to hell"

What inspired this amorous rhyme?
Two parts vodka, one part lime

Deft definitions

2005-02-22T20:21:00.000+05:30

1) Cigarette :
A pinch of tobacco rolled in paper with fire at one end& a fool on the other.

2) Divorce : Future tense of marriage.

3) Lecture : An art of transferring information from the notes of theLecturer to the notes of the students without passing through "theminds of either"

4) Conference : The confusion of one man multiplied by the number present.

5) Compromise : The art of dividing a cake in such a way thateverybody believes he got the biggest piece.

6) Tears : The hydraulic force by which masculine will-power isdefeated by feminine water power...

7) Dictionary : A place where divorce comes before marriage.

8) Conference Room : A place where everybody talks, nobody listens andeverybody disagrees later on.

9) Classic : A book which people praise, but do not read.

10) Smile : A curve that can set a lot of things straight.

11) Office : A place where you can relax after your strenuous home life.

12) Yawn : The only time some married men ever get to open their mouth.

13) Etc. : A sign to make others believe that you know more than youactually do.

14) Committee : Individuals who can do nothing individually and sit todecide that nothing can be done together.

15) Experience : The name men give to their mistakes.

16) Atom Bomb : An invention to end all inventions.

17) Philosopher : A fool who torments himself during life, to bespoken of when dead.

18) Diplomat : A person who tells you to go to hell in such a way thatyou actually look forward to the trip.

19) Opportunist : A person who starts taking bath if he accidentallyfalls into a river.

20) Optimist : A person who while falling from Eiffel tower says inmidway "See I am not injured yet."

21) Pessimist : A person who says that O is the last letter in RO,Instead 0f the first letter in word OPPORTUNITY .

22) Miser : A person who lives poor so that he can die rich.

23) Father : A banker provided by nature.

24) Criminal : A guy no different from the rest....except that he got caught.

25) Boss : Someone who is early when you are late and late when you are early.

26) Politician : One who shakes your hand before elections and yourConfidence after

courtesy: forward from anand

Back with a Vengeance

2004-05-31T13:28:00.000+05:30

Sometimes even we backbenchers have to sit up and listen to the breed of people nobody has understood as yet. No I’m not talking about girls (who happen to head that list) but the person who you call the “lecturer” next class(door).
Well, to be true I found it very hard to understand what he/she was saying and that’s what led to the following dictionary . Hope you’ll find it useful.

Lecturer speak:::: What they meant to mean

Lassht:::: Last

Satify:::: Satisfy

If that will be satify:::: Got it?

Cobaal:::: COBOL

Moarks:::: Marks

Pyaara:::: Para!

Vyaluu:::: Value

Whenever you accepting marks!

Akkars:::: Occurs

Moos/Mose:::: Moves

Farmat:::: Format

Thoard:::: Third

Cont:::: Can’t

Eggzaaamples:::: Examples

Alsa:::: Also

It don’t takes tha:::: Understood?

Vomit:::: Omit!!

Shtoandard:::: Standard

AA…….oo……..fter:::: After

Mainly used for to!?!?::::

I have tomorrow sautorday::::

Not me next to me:::: Not you next to you (In reply to “Me sir?” when you get caught courtesy your fellow bb)!!

Next posting:
"Backbenching FAQs" and "How to join the group"

Welcome to backbencher's haven

2004-05-27T13:53:00.000+05:30

During all these years of backbenching we felt the need of a forum in which to exchange news ,trivia and all kind of useless info.
At last we have a place where we can hang out and do our thing( and teach the right way of backbenching).

So, guys and gals this is for you fine people.

Look out for further postings and chillax.

Till then , enjoy backbenching.

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In case you are wondering where this backbenching stuff fits in ,let me explain. This blog started out as "Backbencher's Inc". But like a typical backbencher I was lazy and left this blog uncared for. Somewhere down the line "backbencher's Inc" became "Gliba". I promise "Gliba "will be doted upon! Sachhi!!

Thanks for reading the archives!!
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