...and a touch of life

Packing off ...

2009-05-23T19:10:00.004+05:30

Song for the mood: Times like these - Foo Fighters

I'm moving to a different place tomorrow. It's a few miles away from here, bit closer to my office. I won't be missing the current place much though; never really liked it. Multitude of reasons ... but am looking up as far as the new place is concerned! Of course, what problems characterize the new one, only the next 11 months can tell :)

I have packed my bags ... I think I have; the bags look filled ... but I can still see a lot of stuff lying around. Guess I'll just dump it in tomorrow morning. The one thing I really wanted to do was to have a huge sack; I just place it near my desk and slide all the stuff in it ... you see, most of my stuff is never in the cupboard, it just lies around on this teeny-weeny desk and a chair that's beside it. I sometimes wonder if all this stuff is alive because I'm pretty sure it organizes itself! In a messy way, of course, so that innocent humans like yours truly never suspect what's really going on ... but after dumping stuff for so long I'm really starting to see a pattern ... every time I thrust my arm in, into that being, to find something (something, anything) wallah! It just comes into my hand! It's like I pretend I'm reaching for it ... but actually 'it' reaches for me ... spooky! Brrrr ...

Well, I'll be packing off between 10:00 - 11:00 tomorrow morning. Leaving behind a lot of scraps of paper, non-disposed wrappers of biscuits and chocolates and a huge stack of plastic bags that I prefer to think I'm leaving as a welcome gift to the next occupant, whoever he or she maybe, I'm also letting go of a much more personally valuable item; this blog.

I've been scribbling for nearly 2 years; it's been fun! I've written a lot of personal experiences, some poetry, few jibes at friends along the way, criticisms, vented my anger out at times ... lotsa stuff ... it was all good. Somehow I just don't feel like adding to it anymore ... it's has become like one of the packed bags that I can see next to my desk right now. If I dump even one more item I'll have to sit on the bag so that the zip can be closed ... pretty much the same for this blog too ...

Not to say I won't be blogging/scribbling anymore. It will just be a different one, somewhere else. I just hope all the good friends I've made along the way who have taken the time to read this indescribable nonsense that I love to ramble on about will continue reading more indescribable nonsense somewhere else ... wherever it might be :)

Until next time ... adios!

Buses, rains ... leaks ...

2009-05-20T18:51:00.004+05:30

So, it's raining. In Bangalore. Heavy rains mind you. Not the kind where eager but cautious parents dress their kids in thick rain coats and an umbrella so the kids can splash in puddles and use the upturned umbrellas as boats in little gutters ... proper rains, there's even lightning.

So if it's raining this heavy, would you get drenched? Of course! Stupid question, moron. Ya, but what if you have a raincoat or an umbrella (or both, you might be the cautious kind) with you while it's raining? Then maybe you won't get drenched but you could still get a lil' wet, right? Strong winds could blow away your umbrella (that is always a funny sight, a complete cracker!) blah blah so there is a still a chance you could get wet. Hmmm ... what if you are traveling in a bus? Could you still get wet? No you can't get wet. You can, however, get drenched.

My office bus leaks! From all over the place; the window edges, the roof and the sunroof just point your finger to a part of the bus and it will be leaking. Guaranteed. It leaks so much I have to sit wearing my jerkin, no matter which seat!

I dunno if the BMTC (it is a BMTC bus) has given some serious thought to this, but this could be an amazing business idea. Don't fix the leak, just put bath fittings wherever there is a small/big hole. Sell the idea of a shower bus; tubs instead of seats and so on ... it might sell, who knows? Or even better, make sure the water only leaks in and doesn't get out of the bus. That way when it fills up it will looks like a traveling aquarium, what with all the passengers swimming around inside ... put a few dim lights and you're done! Put some plants in one corner and you're better! It will sell like hot idlis! A splendid tourist attraction, only one of its kind. Or maybe not ... I'm sure half the buses that BMTC has leak in the same way.

I spotted one of my colleagues when the bus left the office campus yesterday. He was standing under a small shed to escape the rain. I think he saw me too. It was raining, he didn't have an umbrella, but he was ok. I was in a bus and I was soaking wet!

50 cars < 1 bus?

2009-05-18T08:11:00.003+05:30

Song for the mood: Second Love - Pain of Salvation

A car on the road carries on an average 1.2 people. 50 cars worth of passengers can fit into ... wait for it ... 1 bus! A good bus leaves a carbon footprint equivalent to just 4 cars traveling over the same distance. Although these stats are true for Europe, where this awesome awesome video-ad has been made, I think a similar group of numbers would hold true for large Indian metros like Bangalore and Mumbai among others.

I have blogged on similar lines in the past. Maybe if enough of us mobilize in such a cause we can do something similar here. It wouldn't be trouble free but then there's no free lunch right? ;)

De-congesting the cities will go a long way in improving a lot of things. Money saved on just building larger and even larger roads can be directed towards need-of-the-hour issues like public sanitation, restoration of forests, effective waste management etc. Maybe I'm getting a lil' carried away here, but to me it seems very realistic.

Another little thing I'm pumped up about; I'm buying a bicycle! Yes, I'm gonna use it for my everyday commute to office. More on that once I get my bicycle, which should be very very soon!

Thanks to Copenhagenize.com for the video. By the way, if you are thinking about getting into bicycling and need a reason to convince you why it's great, do yourself a favor and check that blog :) What the heck! Check it anyway!

Fake? Really?

2009-04-21T17:40:00.001+05:30

The Pak probe team that investigated the horrendous episode of a girl, who goes by the name Chand Bibi, reportedly slogged by brutes in the SWAT valley, has termed the entire episode as fake. Yes, it never happened.

The investigating officer has termed the video evidence as a fake, saying he personally visited the place where the purpoted incident took place. While Chand Bibi and her husband have already denied this ever happening, even the people of the area have denied knowledge of any such incident. Read the story here

I'm just wondering as to why this 'officer' also did not claim that the Taliban does not exist in SWAT at all! It is all just imagination, phooey talk!

Borrowing some commonsense from an old joke, if somebody put a bomb in your mouth, what will explode first - your face or the bomb? But of course; your ass! Sabse pehle teri gaand fategi.

Does Mr. officer really expect people to believe him? Last I heard his 'government' has sold the land and the citizens of SWAT to the Taliban, who by the way have no intention of giving up their merry ways. How, pray tell me, does he even expect a witness to testify against the beasts who practically control his every breath? This, ignoring the fact, that the 'investigators' are part of the very democratic government (sic) that have sold him, not long ago.

Unless this Taliban is a new women-friendly organization that we haven't heard of, chances are there are already hundreds of Chand Bibis in that valley. It's a shame that the only thing her own country can afford her is to term her tribulations as fake on top of a spineless investigation. I wish the officer is right. I really hope this incident has never happened to any man or woman or child. But that is only wistful thinking.

Literacy vs Education

2009-03-16T21:15:00.004+05:30

Literacy is basically the ability to read and write, at least in one language. Literacy empowers you to be on the same pedestal as the society in which you live. In a world where information comes mostly through the written medium this is a rather crucial ability for anyone. Being literate is necessary. Being literate is indispensable. Being literate is literally just that.

Being literate is not the same as being educated. Education is more of a process than an ability. It's a loop: observe -> learn -> understand -> apply -> observe. Literacy is a tool in this process, at least it is if your choice of education is academic: science, literature, history etc

That last sentence is important! Literacy is not the only way to be 'educated'. Suppose you want to be a great fisherman? You can't just read about the different types of fish, you have to go and catch some. You have to know when and where to fish. Suppose you want to be an amazing cook? You have to burn your fingers, burn the food, burn a few utensils, know the difference between ginger and garlic and so on.

A politician, no matter how illiterate, is educated in the art of being a politician (manipulator, diplomat, shrewd). A painter, even if he doesn't know the names of colors, can be a great painter if he knows how to use them such that it appeals to observers.

They are not the same, literacy and education. The difference between them is much like the difference between a tool and a process. Literacy will give you the ability to read a book. Education is when you, at least, understand what the author is trying to convey. As an ending note I'll give an example of self-help books, something like 'Learn how to lose weight in 30 days'. What's wrong with the title? Nothing. You can learn how to lose weight in 30 days. You can 'learn' it. When you actually lose weight ... then you'll know it ...

Writer's block ... ?

2009-03-15T18:35:00.005+05:30

What the hell has happened to me? How the hell can I be unable to blog random nonsense anymore?

Does that make me a writer? Hooray ... sheesh ... bah!

Easing traffic on Ring Road

2009-03-09T22:42:00.004+05:30

The Outer Ring Road, for the uninitiated, is literally a ring shaped road that goes right around Bangalore. With the city ever expanding there are now plans to build an outer-outer ring road in addition to the current Outer Ring Road but that is where I'll leave that.

The Ring Road is definitely the most plied on road in Bangalore, especially by buses and trucks and their heavier cousins. Many large IT parks are also alongside the ring road. The amount of traffic is truly unbearable at times (most of the time) with section of a couple of kilometers taking up to half-n-hour, especially near those signals which are close to these IT parks.

There have been a lot of talks of making the ring road 'signal free' (a mini Autobahn?) by converting all current signal crossings into underpasses and so on. Certain work has even begun in this respect for e.g.: a new underpass opened just today morning just ahead of Banaswadi in the direction of Hebbal.

There is one more thing I observed today morning, which I personally found to be a neat little piece of work. It is the making of a small cut in the side of the road to accommodate a bus-stop, in such a way that when a bus stops it doesn't hold up traffic behind it.

As you can see from the awesome image above (it's a 2 min job in ms paint, so thanks) the part in gray shown the bus stop. This means that when the bus halts for public to get in and out, there is no traffic held up. This means there is no lane-cutting or spillover of traffic into adjoining lanes. Once the bus has to start moving again it can seamlessly join the main traffic. The bus stops are especially a concern on ring road since most of them are just ahead of traffic signals. I'm optimistic about this little design helping out in making the traffic a lot smoother.

Ludicrous!

2009-02-02T08:31:00.002+05:30

Pawan Shetty, the youth who tried defending women from the Wanar Sena attack in Mangalore, has been threatened. Here is the article.

With all the 27 angry monkeys released on bail there's no saying what they'll do. I hope Pawan doesn't have to pay a price for doing the only right thing in that entire fiasco.

Are you enjoying the ride yet?

2009-01-31T12:38:00.005+05:30

Ok, so this post was intended for lashing out at past week's Mangalore pub fiasco, in continuation of my question to mr. moral brigadier.

I'm not going to do so.

In one sentence, I believe it was all purely political and with the elections drawing close these incidents will happen more, peak during the elections, and dormancy will prevail for the next 4 years ... in the fifth year it will start again.

In the aftermath of the incident, mr. moral brigadier has downplayed the hooliganism of his monkeys, the NCW pointed fingers at irresponsibility of the girls who got beaten up (bummer?) then retracted and blamed it on the pub security even demanding cancellation of that pub's license, Ashok Gehlot has opined for an end to mall and pub culture saying that he is against boys-n-girls holding hands in malls (would you prefer boys-n-boys sir?), Yeddyurappa has ruled out action against Ram Sena saying he wants to wait and watch (???), Ramadoss has in all glory and authority stated that pubs are detrimental to Indian culture and society and an end should be brought to the nuisance ... let me stop here, the list is endless and meaningless.

Boy, are we being taken for a ride or what? Ram Sena, Maharastra Navnirman Sena, Shiv Sena, Hoysala Sena, Anand Sena, Saxena oops! sorry, no Saxena but ... its like a friggin' virus! I even have the unwanted privilege of knowing a guy back in Mumbai who proudly speaks about his MNS membership and how his 'ideals' are valued in this 'struggle'. There are thousands rather millions like him across our country; disillusioned with their state in life - due to unemployment, poverty, big list - and they are easy targets for these self-proclaimed leaders who use the anger of these millions to achieve whatever they want. These creeps can get them to do just about anything , why pubs, they could get them to even vandalize schools and colleges, breakdown hospitals, libraries, museums ... its not just their blind faith in their leader that makes them do these things. This vandalism makes them feel power-drunk, authoritative and dominant; for that brief period they feel important ... you can't reason with such a man. Any talk of morality, society, conscience, values is alien to him ... in his opinion he has gained nothing from those things, the society in question has rejected him long ago, whereas here he is suddenly a part of a peer-group that is willing to accept him for all his hooliganism. All he has to do is break and destroy more than the other guy ... I find all this extremely disturbing.

There are a large number of voices asking for a ban on these Senas. It won't work that way. It's like the phrase 'War on Terror'. You can't fight terror, you can only fight a person. Finishing him doesn't kill the ideology. We have to look beyond the who and come to the why in these cases. Why is it so easy to mislead them? You know the answer ...

In no way am I saying that those b******s should not be punished. They have to face the law and they should get the treatment that their crime deserves. We are not fuckin pushovers! We need to twist their arm before they can hear us speak. But let's speak to them ... let's not brush this issue under the mat like shoe dust.

We are far too quiet, and that we includes me. We are resilient, but maybe not by choice. We are resourceful, but maybe because we are forced to be so. We are far too quiet ...

One question for the Moral Brigadier

2009-01-29T21:22:00.003+05:30

Mr. Pramod 'Ram Sene' Muthalik, I have just one question for you ...

Have you not gotten paid or have you not gotten laid?

More on this over the weekend ...

Beating the traffic ... I think WE can

2009-01-10T12:48:00.007+05:30

I travel to and from office by the bus service that my company offers for its employees. Its a tie up that IBM has with the BMTC, so I travel in normal BMTC buses, no private A/C luxury bus and blah. The agonies of a more-than-six-feet-tall person in a BMTC bus seat are out of the scope of this post ... sadly ... but anyway, let's carry on.

I stay near the HAL Airport and my office is in Nagawara, near Hebbal. Via Outer Ring Road this is a distance of roughly 18 km. I usually board the 9:40am bus which is office rush hour on this route. It takes me an hour or more to reach office. It takes me pretty much an hour or more when returning back late in the evening. That means my travel speed is a little less than 18 kmph, very close to the average traffic speed in Bangalore and other major cities in India.

I'll put it simply - I hate losing so much time per day crammed in a bus, which as I have said before are not the least comfortable for me or even for many others. My friends have suggested that I should buy a bike, which means I can leave at my own time in the morning, beating the rush hour. The other plus is also that I can zip through the city's inner roads and lanes without having to make the longer journey via Outer Ring Road, which as the name suggests is actually a road that runs 'outside' they city in a big circle. I am actually going to buy a bike (as soon as I learn to drive it, I confess I can't drive a bike, shame on me!) because presently it makes a lot of sense to me to do so, for a lot of reasons including (but not limited to) the traffic woes I have just illustrated :)

Having said that, I came across this presentation a few days ago. Check it out it's totally worth the time. I have to say I agree with what the author has said in that presentation: 'Efficient Public Transport' is the best way to curb 'our' traffic woes. Its really very simple.

The bus that I travel in accomodates roughly 40-45 people. Buses on other routes carry upto even 60-65 and all this where you definitely have a seat, no standing journey, no shoving no pushing no nothing.
9 times out of 10 any car/bike I see on the road is carrying, yes you are right, ONE person. There is very little carpooling. Imagine taking all those people from their cars and putting them in one bus ... 40 cars off the road for the price of 1 brand new bus!

BUS 1 CARS-N-BIKES 0

Buses give a mileage of ... 4-5? km per litre of diesel. Multiply that with 50, which is the average number of passengers and you get 250 person-kmpl.
Even a really efficient car will give you a mileage of 14-15 kmpl in the city, tops. Even with carpooling you have 4 * 15 = 60 person-kmpl. Bikes are trickier! A mileage of 40-45 kmpl will go down drastically if you have a constant pillion rider. So it roughly comes to the same for bikes also, is my guess.

BUS 2 CARS-N-BIKES 0

There are so many added advantages of a well developed public transport system. Fuel emissions will go down by tonnes! No choc-a-bloc traffic, so no rush hour (for all ladies, you will never miss your favorite TV serial). Buses are also much safer to travel in. A well developed system of this kind will save you time and reduce frustration caused by traffic.

Okay okay, there are some flipsydes to it, not the least being that you can't travel as comfortably as you can in a car. Another is your time-table will be run by the BMTC and not you. Having your own transportation also means that you are more flexible with your travel route ... dinner on the way back from work ... drop in for a beer someplace ... movie with girlfriend :) ... just go for a drive! ... blah blah

But the way I see it, there is no style or comfort left when you are stuck for an hour in traffic going from 0-10 on the speedometer. You lose time, get frustrated and seriously bored! Sure, maybe travelling in a bus reorganizes your time-table and weekend plans but if you save more than an hour everyday it might not be a bad idea to come home first on a Friday evening (early! since the roads were ... clear ... imagine) then set out on your cars n bikes. No one hangs out every night! I could personally do with saving an hour everyday ... I could practice my guitar, maybe read more or maybe even hunt for a girlfriend ;) ... lol!

We can't just keep crying about the traffic and finally blaming the government (culprits!) for everything, because that won't change anything. Its a small adjustment that will go a long way in making cities like Bangalore, Mumbai, Delhi and others congestion free, greener and quieter. Its our city, our country ... not the government's.

I conclude with the following: I can't beat the traffic ... but WE can ... cheesy but true :)

Addition: Sunday Jan 11
Check out this really cool cycling initiative in Bangalore. We need more of these ... we need to adapt, there is just no other solution ... and there is no harm in adapting, frankly :)

Edenbee

2008-12-29T11:54:00.005+05:30

Found this website just random surfing http://www.edenbee.com/

It's a good concept, a social network with an environmental theme. As a profile you are asked to complete a Lifestyle questionnaire which then outputs how 'Environment Friendly' you are :) You can even calculate your Carbon Footprint by taking into account your usage/consumption of various resources and so on.

There are some really active threads on various topics. A stark difference from other social networking sites and this one, IMO, is that though the number of users on edenbee is just a few thousand, it is a big bunch of similar thinking people so there is a lot of synergy.

If you join in, send me a shout out! My profile is http://www.edenbee.com/users/bigfoot

Ciao!

Political crap

2008-12-02T10:47:00.003+05:30

A politician giving condolences: "If it had not been Sandeep's house, not even a dog would have glanced that way"

A politician respecting a martyr's family: "It is Sandeep's family and that is why we went. A soldier's father should have had the sense to understand that"

For anyone not already aware of this, PLEASE read this. In fact he has further said that he won't apologize.

This 'politician' is a Chief Minister ...

For the record, I feel Mr. Unnikrishnan is a proud father and he was not ready to take any crap from Mr. Kerala CM. Way to go Sir! We are proud of your son and we are proud of you!

The Fourth Estate?

2008-11-29T22:21:00.009+05:30

"To get latest updates on Mumbai Terror attack, SMS ... " is for me the one line that sums up the state of the Fourth Estate; the media, newspapers ... our 'messengers from around the world'. A broad (make that extremely broad) perspective of looking at the media's handling of whatever has happened in the past 60 hours might seem like they were just doing their job; in the face of severe competition amongst themselves and blah. But, personally I think, there is line that just shouldn't be crossed.

"We have just heard a loud explosion! We have just heard an explosion! On second thought it was maybe just a loud gun-shot ... there was a gun-shot ... yes there was a gun-shot!" Next - running with the cameraman ... reaching the police barricade ... grabbing hold of a policeman ... "Sir what was that? Was it an explosion?" Policeman doesn't say a word ... pester him ... pester him more ... "Please move back". Moving back ... refocusing the camera ... "As you can see we have confirmed that there was indeed ... something! And as you can see we have been alerted to expect more!" There was something? Bird-crap maybe? Not that it will matter or make a difference, but I have lost any ounce of respect that I had for Barkha Dutt. What are you, a sooth-sayer?

"As you can see there is a big building behind me with fire at the top. These pictures exclusively on channel ... to know more of what is going to happen stay with us!" So now they know beforehand what is 'going to' happen? Of course they do! They have the experts don't they? "Sir if you could stop chewing the cap off that pen and talk some bullshit. Goddamit, we are paying you for that! W are out of sensational pics of buildings on fire at the moment. No no, stop cleaning your nose, the camera is on you now ..."

"Just a moment sir! Just a moment! We will continue our discussion but first I am going to immediately go back to our reporter xyz who has some breaking news! xyz can you hear me? Can you hear me? Speak to me man!" Half the screen shows the expert still shuffling papers, the other half is now with the 'ground-zero' reporter. "What just happened xyz?" ... static ... "Yes! Yes! As you can see (we can?) something major seems to have happened here! Some people are coming this way, some are going that way so clearly ... there are a lot of people. We don't want to speculate but ... something is going on ... or someone is going somewhere ... back to you!"

"Yes indeed a ground breaking revelation from our on-field reporter there! Bringing you all the latest happenings from the zone!"

Why does the media treat us as fools? Why is it that every news channel seems like an Ekta Kapoor serial instead of giving serious hard news? Major Sandip Unnikrishnan, a 31 year old, laid down his life trying to protect his comrade at the Nariman House while leading from the front. A person who, when he could have saved his own life, chose to go back in the face of terrorist fire to save his comrade. "Are you surprised that he chose to lead from the front?" is definitely not something to be questioned about him when interviewing his friends and family! Its' shameful!

Every single channel was reporting its own fake figures before and after the entire operation was completed. For example upwards of 60 young men entered Mumbai in small inflatable boats on Wednesday night was a popular figure at many places. Even before the security forces allowed Mr Ratan Tata to survey the damage at the Taj Hotel, all channels were already reporting the number of dead bodies at that place along with the amount that 'will' be required to restore the entire hotel.

Nothing will change. Tomorrow the media will cash in on another incident. Everyone of us will watch ... some will believe, some will debate, some will mock and ridicule, others like me will choose to write and vent out their ire. But nothing will bring any change to the Fourth Estate.

Addition (30 Nov '08):
News channels have been harping all day long calling this tragedy as India's 9/11. Firstly, I am not a really big fan of reducing such tragedies to catchy dates like 7/7 and 9/11 and blah. But now I feel ashamed of the media. Don't you guys know the proper date? And even that totally leaves out the relevant fact, that this attack on India was fundamentally different than the 9/11 tragedy that happened in the US. Is it a sin to recognize this as an Indian tragedy? What are the chances they even start calling this 'India's equivalent of Pakistan's J W Marriot tragedy' some time later? Aren't there any morals left in you? Why don't you pick some action movie thriller and sensationalize that???

Addition (3 Dec '08):
Putting up a few links of blogs/petitions sharing my view that I have expressed here.

Twin horrors strike Mumbai: Terrorists and TV journalists
... thanks Manjunath

Small Change - a petition to the High Court against the insensitive and irresponsible portrayal done by the media
... thanks Srinidhi

We are not pushovers ...

2008-11-27T18:10:00.005+05:30

Some time back I read a post by Jayanth on his blog, which I found very intriguing, not just for the reality that he has very well pointed out but for the theme/jist of what he has written. I just didn't have enough clarity to write something that I too felt about these issues, all this while. However, today's attack on Mumbai somehow prompts me to write this: We Indians are not pushovers ... you'll have to do way more than that to scare us you bastards!

Ok, this post might in the end turn out to be a condemnation of whatever has happened. It might turn out to be a gut-wrenching terrorism abuse session. Maybe a salutory message to the martyrs, maybe condolences for the deceased, maybe all of this or none at all ... what I do intend to write is about the pride I feel about our security forces not letting those fools kick our ass around and dictate terms to us. As I am writing this, a large part of the threat has been negated.

Our security forces don't get enough credit, in my honest opinion. One of our country's immediate neighbours in the north (you know which one) has bomb attacks in the numbers in which we burst crackers in diwali; that doesn't happen here. Sure, there is gonna be endless criticism of the kind of 'how come they weren't patrolling the Gateway? The terrorists came in through there so easily' ... we have 7517 km coastline ... yes, maybe they were caught napping but with that big an attack region we are always vulnerable. 11 places were taken hostage at the same time, as of now, only two are left one of which is undergoing a clean-up operation.

Its a thing of pride that we didn't rollover and let them bone us for fun. With the number of foreign nationals involved this could have spiralled into an international issue with peace keeping forces in the end having to supply food packets to the hostages and the terrorists for God only knows how long ...

For the extreme critic, my friend, shit happens. It's a part of life. It has happened in US, it has happened in UK, it happened here. Ok. Lets move on.

I am still not clear enough on what to write. So I'll end by saying this, "Celebrate the martyr! Honor his honor and be proud of his sacrifice!"

Jai Hind!

too soon?

2008-11-04T16:56:00.003+05:30

Song for the mood: Where do fallen angels go? - Aerosmith

I needed one word
just one ... alone
missing piece for a puzzle
lost note in a tune

Searched high searched low
morning to high noon
left it when the sun set, maybe
I gave up too soon?

... its not yet complete ... although I can't or couldn't think of much else. Will try to finish it some other time :)

Leave your comments anyways ...

Our new television

2008-11-02T21:52:00.006+05:30

Song for the mood: Heartbreaker - Led Zeppelin

Gooth bought a new TV. I am not gonna say anything more except, have a look at the pics ...

Topical Anchors - User participation experiment

2008-10-28T10:24:00.002+05:30

An acquaintance of mine, Aditya, from college, is conducting a very cool experiment on Topical Anchors. You can check out an extended post on the same on Mandar's blog.

For those of you who would wanna go straight to the experiment page and participate, here's that link.

I would urge you to go ahead and take part, it is a very cool experiment and would give Aditya a fine set of answers on which to base his further studies on the same topic. It is only till the end of this month I suppose. On a off note, I went for the 100 questions long review! Hee haw!

Its electric!

2008-10-26T00:40:00.002+05:30

Song for the mood: Coming Back To Life - Pink Floyd

I finally bought what I wanted to for a very long time! An electric guitar! \m/

Its a Samick AV3 Greg Bennett Avion. You can read a few reviews here

Eric Clapton, here I come!

A Wednesday

2008-10-12T19:05:00.003+05:30

Song for the mood: I am Awake - Qi Mono

"I am just the stupid common man ..."

cannot be said in a more poignant way than Naseeruddin Shah's character says in the movie 'A Wednesday'. However a common man must the character have been in the story, Naseeruddin Shah is no common actor, and this is no run-of-the-mill fantasy drama. This is brutal honesty which is just too rare on celluloid.

To summarize the movie, it portrays a day in the life of a city being held at ransom by a man, Naseeruddin Shah, wanting the handover of four terrorists. Oblivious to the populace, the man claims to the police to have planted 4 bombs in busy locations of the city which he will blow up killing thousands of innocent people, if those four terrorists are not handed over to him by the end of the day. To prove to the commissioner, played by Anupam Kher, that he is not kidding he leads them to a bomb planted right under their noses, in the police station itself. The day then unfolds with the police trying to trace this 'mastermind' in vain but finally having to succumb to his demands and handover the four terrorists. What happens after the terrorists are handed over is something worth spending the 2 hours that the movie spans.

"What do you do when a cockroach enters your home? You kill it. That is exactly what I am doing. These cockroaches have entered my house and made it dirty. I am just cleaning my house today ..."

If the idea of a common man out to get revenge for his friends and family does not make you even blink, watch 'A Wednesday'. Its not gonna make your eyes pop out because that is not what the movie is about. This movie will make you think and that is hard to expect and much harder to deliver.

"My wife calls me every one hour to ask if I have eaten, if I am feeling well, if the travel has been all right ... she is infact calling to check if I am alive"

Not all that fantastic really. Its quite true, quite honest. How many bomb blasts have we seen in recent times? How many innocent people have died in those dastardly acts committed by misled morons, be it Mumbai or Delhi or Bangalore or any city of India? How many times have we had to just pick up our lives and get on with it? Imagine for a moment what would happen if one of us decides "enough is enough" and you have the premise of this movie.

Watch it. That's all I am going to say.

My picks from the movie:

Naseeruddin Shah. What an actor! I have new respect for you sir. He is no doubt our finest.
The story. Very realistically set even if the main thread is a bit fantastic. Someone please make Johars and Ekta Kapoors watch this movie and then ask them to stop making whatever trash it is that they are.
The conversation between Anupam Kher and Naseeruddin Shah in the climax of the movie. The common man explains his side to the commissioner of the police. Anupam Kher turns in a really fine role himself.

Will end with an excerpt from the same conversation.

"I am not able to understand you or your demands. They are strange."

"My reasons and my demands are strange, are they? Why? If they kill two hundred like me its ok but if I kill just four of them it's strange for you? But it isn't your mistake. It is after all what you are taught to expect from us isn't it? Live like a common man, bear it all like a common man ... and die like a common man"

This is no common movie ... period.

One of those days

2008-09-24T16:51:00.001+05:30

Ever felt too bored, like on a sleepless summer night?
Can't think clear, just don't feel right?
The hands of the clock have caught your gaze?
This, today, is like one of those days...

You're sitting idle, but you got a lot to do
but you're fed up of the work, and work hates you too?
Your coffee's gone cold, it was the tenth? anyways,
This, today, is like one of those days...

Its time for lunch, but even eating's a pain
Is that rice or some uncooked grain?
for company all you have is the spoon on your tray
This, today, is like one of those days...

There's still a lot to do, and not much time!
But who gives a damn when you're losing your mind?
Every hour now feels like a hundred Mondays
This, today, is like one of those days...

Now you start to talk! But only let out a sigh
Every other sound is like the buzzing of a fly
your sanity and you have just parted ways...
This, today, is like one of those days...

Long walk home

2008-09-21T08:53:00.005+05:30

Walked from Brigade Road to HAL Airport yesterday night after dinner. Yahoo Maps says that's a bit more than 8 km.

We hadn't planned it really, just got bored of waiting for the bus. Speaking of which, 'tis pretty difficult to get transportation after 9:30pm in Bengaluru, or at least in some parts of the city, if I have to sound logical :P

Good Morning!

RIP Richard Wright

2008-09-16T11:10:00.007+05:30

Richard Wright, founder, keyboardist and pianist for Pink Floyd passed away on 15th September, 2008 of cancer.

Richard Wright was an influential musician. His richly textured keyboard playing was a big part of the psychedelic/progressive sound of Pink Floyd. Not one to hog all the limelight, he was the pivotal rhythm man among the fab four.

It's just shocking. Here I was hoping for a Pink Floyd reunion.

God knows, maybe the heavens need to be psyched up!

Rest in Peace Richard. You'll be missed.

Quoting from 'Us and Them' from the album 'Dark Side of the Moon', one of his compositions.

Down and out
It can't be helped but there's a lot of it about.
With, without.
And who'll deny its what the fighting's all about?
Out of the way, its a busy day
I've got things on my mind.
For the want of the price of tea and a slice
The old man died

The most of this month ...

2008-09-01T15:47:00.004+05:30

Song for the mood: Avengi Ja Nahin - Rabbi

What have I heard most in the past month, stuff, from people, in general ...
1. Such a short hair-cut! Tirupati?
2. Bangalore roads suck!
3. Dude, you've lost weight ... enough ... how much do you want to lose?
4. Tirupati?
5. No work in office ...
5. Dude, you've put on a bit. Join a gym or something ...
6. Bangalore traffic sucks!
7. Are you following Amir Khan style? (in reference to Amir's Ghajini style)
8. Too much work in office ...
9. We should go somewhere on the weekend :-P

Yes, such is life ...

Lady drivers

2008-08-31T08:42:00.004+05:30

Song for the mood: Livin' lovin' maid - Led Zeppelin

So, there's this lady driving a Qualis. When she's about to join the main road from the service lane, she takes her hand off the wheel, looks up (to God) and joins both her hands to mutter a small prayer. All this while the car is cruising along a busy Outer Ring Road at past 6:00 in the evening.

Lady, I only hope you were praying for everyone else on the road at that time.

That's why we eat paan ... oh Newtonwa ...

2008-08-13T11:35:00.003+05:30

Song for the mood: Khaike Paan Banaraswala - Kishore Kumar

Overheard in the elevator, yesterday.

"You know Newton right?"

"Of course!"

"Ok ok, so you would be knowing about his First Law ..."

"What?"

"Newton's First Law. You know, the one about ... "

"Ya ya, so what about it?"

" ... bodies in rest or motion. A body that is in motion continues to be in motion ... and etc etc"

"Huh ... hmmm ... err ... "

"Sooo, when we eat we are technically in motion. Our body is moving, internally"

"... ok ..."

"And that is why after lunch we have to slowly bring it to rest"

"Is that so?"

"And that is why we eat paan ... to slowly bring the body to rest"

Bet you didn't know that! Did you?

A day at a time

2008-08-12T11:14:00.001+05:30

Song for the mood: Neele Gagan Ke Talein - Mohd. Rafi

Picture this - its early in the morning, about 6:30 or 7:00 am. You are looking out into the morning sun as he too breaks his sleep, stretching out his rays one at a time. A light breeze has wrapped you within itself. You can hear the sweet gurgling sound of water in the stream. You feel calm. Composed. Still drowsy. The breeze gets stronger, you shiver a bit but its enjoyable, especially with the hot tea that you are sipping peacefully. Aah, the sweet melodies of the stream water ... the sweet smell of the wet earth! The breeze is getting stronger and stronger now. Maybe you need to brace yourself. What's this? The sound of the river has ... gone. Vanished! And what's that strange sound? Clang! Clang! What is happening? More sounds ... humans? Animals? There's that clanging again! And then suddenly, the sun goes out ...

Before you scratch your head, lets give you the real deal:
- It is 6:30 or 7:00 in the morning. The only reason you are up at such an hour is so that you can take a warm water bath before the power cut comes along, which can come at anytime "between 6:00 to 10:00am for public convenience"
- You are sipping a cup of tea. How peacefully you sip it depends on how well did you make it.
- You are standing in the balcony of your first floor apartment block which is so well packed on all sides by other buildings that it is always very calm.
- It is cold at such a time in the morning here in Bengaluru. So cold that the hair oil has become a hair gel. Light breeze my ass!
- Wet earth is the nice little muddy path in front of the building. Yes, muddy which is originally sandy. Then, with the extremely large amounts of washing water thrown out by ladies in the nearby places and overnight rainfall (sometimes) it becomes ... muddy.
- There is a drainage pipe that runs on the side of your building it happens to pass along side the balcony. So anytime, anyone in the entire building flushes his *cough* toilet *cough* you can hear the sweet sound of the water gurgling ...
- There are a lot of bhajiwallas that brave the muddy streets everyday morning. Animals? Read as 'dogs'
- Someone in the nearby vicinity performs puja in the morning. During the same he bangs plates together. Yes, he takes two steel plates and bangs them together ... repeatedly!
- Finally our rising sun. It is the toilet light of the first floor apartment across the wet earth path. No wonder the sun goes out many times in the morning ... ;)

A day at a time. A single day at a time. And every day begins like ... this ... :)

Welcome oh life! We missed you ...

Ever bought a soap?

2008-07-29T13:44:00.004+05:30

Song for the mood: Money for Nothing - Dire Straits

Have you ever bought a bar of washing soap? Specifically the one used to wash utensils; plates, spoons etc., have you?

I have moved in into a new place, am no longer at Electronics City. I stay at Airport Road. The one thing for sure after a month now at the new place is, I miss my mom a lot!

So anyways, almost everyday I realize that something is needed and that I have to go and get it. One of the earliest such realizations was concerning a soap for washing dishes. Yeah! Fruits, snacks, smelly plates, stinking kitchen --- you can do the math there.

I ended up at a general store and told the shopkeeper to give me a washing soap. He dutifully handed me a Cinthol bar. I told him I need a utensils washing soap, or the way I said it, in hindi

"bartan ghisne ka sabun"

Somewhere between the parallels of my Hindi and his Kannada, this caused some severe disturbance which prompted him to make a long face, the kind which is usually seen at condolence meetings. Please note that at this point, I wasn't able to recollect names of any washing soap brands. So what I did do was, a small enactment of how we wash dishes...

First I enacted how a plate is washed, he handed me a Harpic toilet cleaner. So, now I enacted how a spoon is washed, upon which the lady standing next to me in the store gave me a very stern look, while the shopkeeper managed a muffled laugh. Why did they laugh? Try enacting how you'll wash a spoon, and you'll get the point. Yeah, you got it now?

Somehow, the other guy in the shop caught hold of the words 'spoon', 'plate' and to my relief he finally handed me a bar of VIM soap. The upside of the episode, embarassing ore otherwise, was that I ended up with all kinds of washing soaps which were all required.

So, ever bought a soap?

Kya aap panchvi paas hain?

2008-06-29T12:38:00.002+05:30

Song for the mood: Teacher's Pet - School of Rock

Disclaimer: This has absolutely nothing to do with the television game show of the same name.

"You don't need more than standard 5 maths to solve this puzzle."

This Friday, me and Vijay were chatting for a very long time with Mandar. Anyways, so Mandar recently put up a really cool puzzle on his blog, which, during our long conversation he posed to us. Check out the puzzle first.

Ok, so me and Vijay were Harry and Draco and Mandar naturally became the great wizard (don't say anything). So we started. Below are the excerpts of what Harry and Draco said, while the Great Wizard left speechless owing to our abilities ...

"Mandar, I think this is an infinite series"

No it isn't ...

"See, the same term can't appear on the board twice, so at some point of time you'll exhaust all possible numbers"

Some semblance of hope for Mandar, or was it?

"I got it! I got it! The larger number should progress to the smaller number in steps of the size of the smaller number ... no wait ... but there is a number on the board smaller than the smaller number ... so is that ... smaller?"

Yes. How good are we! 5th standard maths is such a piece of cake!

"I am confused"

Ya.

So Mandar finally had to step in. Patiently, he took a few examples and solved it out for us. It worked out that you need to find the smallest number that is 'somehow' yes somehow related to both of the original numbers and then divide the larger number by that somehow-number to figure out how many turns can be played in total. Accordingly you can decide whether you should play first or your opponent should be made to. So what is this somehow-number?

"Hey it's called a co-prime! Yes, co-prime ... right?"

Wrong.

"Arre moron! Smallest possible number related to both ... its common sense ... it is their LCM"

Wrong again, especially since LCM or Least Common Multiple is larger than or equal to the larger of the two numbers.

"If it is not LCM then it has to be that other common thing yaar. Ummm ... ya! GCD!"

Yes, the somehow-number is the GCD of the two. The whole process of computing the GCD and then dividing the largest number etc etc is called Euclid's Algorithm, which according to Mandar we have studied in Standard 5.

So, kya ham panchvi paas hain?

Hello. Hellooooo ...

2008-06-25T21:24:00.003+05:30

Song for the mood: Hello I Love You - Doors

One of the most irritating experiences is when you get a call, you attend it saying "Hello" but no one responds from the other end. Yes, it has happened with everyone ... yesterday, a week ago, maybe a few months ago, once upon a time ... but yes, once in your life you were left saying repeated "Hellooooo"(s) on the phone. At such times it is, although, better to keep down the phone after the first "Hellooooo" so that they don't turn into the choicest of nice and nicer words.

Hello. Hellooooo! Arre Hellooooo!

After having to Hellooooo for about 5-6 times in a single day, it is quite natural to lose your cool.

(Click) I dunno who the f*** is calling ...

Moreover, the prankster at the other end doesn't wait on the line for long. A few seconds that's all. So by the time you are through with the 'Hellooooo' and have begun to user nicer language, the person is no longer on the line.

Hel ... (Click) ... I'll get this f****r next time! Let him call again!

The important thing to remember is, always receive the call by saying, "Hello"

You asshole! You wasted f**k! Can't you mind your own business ... stop wasting my time you piece of s**t! Hello ... Hellooooo ...

Yes, very important. The word 'Hello' ... remember ... lightning doesn't strike the same place too many times.

For the last time ... f**k off! Go get a life man! Don't waste my goddamn time! Get that straight you bloody asshole! Got that, ASSHOLE! ... Hello ... He ... ? ... ! ... :O ... (shit) ... good evening sir ...

The above narration is about a true incident that happened about 6 years ago, and contrary to popular opinion after reading the article, it did not happen to the author. Further, all this is strictly in the context of land line phones ... so please do not put your detective hats on and think of caller IDs. Hello. Hello. Hellooooo ...

Holiday

2008-06-20T23:47:00.005+05:30

Song for the mood: Echoes --- Pink Floyd

I woke up a bit late today morning. I didn't give much thought to brushing my teeth and taking a bath and all those 'worldly things'. When I finally did brush me teeth I was watching TV at the same time ... hadn't done that in quite a while. I had my tea leisurely, sipped it so slowly that it had gone cold by the time I finished it. Then out of sheer habit I checked my mail.

Till 9:00 today morning I was starting to get into vacation mode. You know vacation, the time when you actually have enough time to feel bored after wasting enough time in the first place ... yes precisely. Then I read the joining date on my offer letter, 1st July, and realized this is my last vacation ... and it is not starting, it is almost done ...

Now let me interject here before any purist starts to point me to any dictionary meanings. A vacation for me, this far in life, was something that came twice a year, lasting at least a month anytime. There was always enough time for me to begin the vacation as, "I need a long break ... " and end it as, "... but not this long."

Shit!

There is this scene in some movie that I can recall where a woman is panicking just a couple days before her marriage is about to take place and one of the things she says is, "Is he gonna be the last man I ever sleep with?". Well,

"is this the last time I have been 'given' time for the sole purpose of wasting it?"

What I wouldn't do now for those summer vacations again! 2 months of blissful ignorance of everything that is beyond cricket, bicycles and mangoes! The next time if and when a vacation comes it won't be given ... I'll actually be taking it ... sounds so ridiculous that I should kick myself!

Oh, but tis true!

Maybe if I pinch myself hard enough I'll wake up in standard 4th and realize that all this was just a big bad dream I had when I dozed off in math class. Sure, maybe I'll get punished; stand on the bench with your arms in the air ... write 'I won't sleep in class a hundred times on the board' ... get your calendar signed by your parents ... blah blah ... but soon then summer vacations will come around ... 2 months of blissful ignorance of everything that is beyond cricket, bicycles and mangoes ...

Friday the 13th

2008-06-16T10:54:00.004+05:30

Song for the mood: On a day like Today --- Bryan Adams

There is a weird notion of 'bad-luck' associated with this date, Friday the 13th. A small read of the wikipedia article will tell you that the day is not feared for any associated history with it apart from the fact that the day 'Friday' and the number '13' are both considered unlucky. Talk about adding up fears! The fear of this day is also called paraskavedekatriaphobia ... I bit my own tongue trying to pronounce it. It is a version (yeah, version) of the fear associated with the number 13 which is known as triskaidekaphobia. I didn't even try to pronounce that one ...

Anyways, bad luck or good luck or something else, Friday the 13th of this month, proved to be good in the end for a lot of us in college. Me and 5 others got selection news for IBM. 3 others got Oracle offers and 1 person got an awesome offer for Texas Instruments. Congratulations to all you guys! (and me too of course ... )

For some interesting reading check out this article on the fear of 13 on mathworld. The most interesting snippet from the article says, in a study conducted by the British Medical Journal which analyzed the relation between health, behavior, and superstition surrounding Friday 13th in the United Kingdom by comparing the ratio of traffic volume to traffic accidents on Friday the 6th and Friday the 13th over a period of years found that,

The risk of hospital admission as a result of a transport accident may be increased by as much as 52%. Staying at home is recommended

Talk about a free holiday ....

Life is a masala dosa

2008-06-10T11:17:00.004+05:30

Song for the mood: Pukarata Chala Hoon Main - Mohd. Rafi

Masala Dosa: A masala dosa is made by stuffing a dosa with a lightly cooked filling of potatoes, fried onions and spices. It wraps the dosa around a onion and potato curry. (courtesy wikipedia)

Masala Dosas have become a regular in the diet these days, it's only fair that this unassuming food variety gets a blog. The closest Andhra Mess (there are 3 big ones in electronics city, never counted the smaller ones) serves decent dosas (strictly decent that too on a good day)alongwith coconut chatni. With a plate of dosa you get unlimited portions of chatni and alu sabji although the smart waiter takes away the chatni container when he sees you've eaten too much. No sambar is served, which doesn't bother me much, but prompts my good friend Gooth to start philosophical conversations of how dosas should really be eaten. A trick to eating in Masala Dosas in Andhra Mess is to order plain dosa instead. They serve some masala along with dosas which is same as the masala in the dosa ... I still dunno why it is semi-liquid ...

Masala Dosas are served, a lot crispier, at Pavithra Darshini which is a 5 minutes walk from college. You can watch your Dosa being made - its an open kitchen like many other small eateries in Bangalore - and it comes pretty fast. The masala inside the dosa used to be a lot better, now it just looks like a lump of potato smeared with salt. You can eat as much chatni and sambar as you want, though I doubt you'll want to. Although ever since I saw the serving guy mix extremely clean water, used for washing vessels, into the chatni I stay away from it. Oh, did I miss something here? Yes, the water is mixed 'after' the vessels are washed in it ... maybe their secret recipe, who knows?

Masala Dosas, with two varities of chatni (coconut and coconut with tomato-ginger I believe) and a larger bowl of sambar are served at Salem Kitchen in Transit, a food joint in Forum Mall at Koramangala. Given the 'largeness' of the place it tends to be a bit heavier on the pocket. Nevertheless the dosas are tasty, no chance to complain. You can also get rava dosas instead of the rice-batter dosas here and they taste pretty good.

Masala Dosas which I really liked a lot are served at Jaynagar, at a place aptly called Dosa Centre. The size of the dosa not withstanding these are the heaviest dosas I have eaten in Bangalore so far. The masala too is the best of all the places I have eaten masala dosas at; the potato is properly cut and the amount of chilly is enough to make your tongue tingle.

Masala Dosas at Pongal, a small outlet in J B Nagar are, hands down, the best damn dosas you or your friend or his friend's friend or his third cousins twice removed will ever eat in Bangalore. Period. The masala itself changes substantially when you order among the following Masala Dosas -- Chettinad Masala, Podi Masala, Tanjavore Masala, Malli Masala etc etc. I have been going here with fraandzz every week for about 4 months now, but I still can't identify which is which, but they all taste different, that I can assure you. You can get a rava masala too ... rockin place!

Masala Dosas can be eater with multiple chatnis and an endless stream of sambar at Krishna Kafe (yes with a K not a C) in Koramangala. This place is famous for its Paper Masala Dosa, a megamoth which covers the entire table and could feed the whole of Ethiopia (sorry Vijay), but on a given day is only enough for me and VKRN with a few bites for a couple others. Don't complain you 'others'. If you do, won't even get that much next time around ...

Masala Dosas, closer to where I was interning for 5 months, are served at another Darshini, much larger than the one near my college. This place serves really large portions, comparable to any other place I have mentioned so far, very clean, very tasty. I was also having daily lunch here for 5 months ... internship is over now so I dunno if I'll go there again. Someday if I pass that place, maybe the waft of the pungent chatni and spicy potato masala will prompt me to stop and have a bite ...

In a good masala dosa, the masala is always well tucked inside the dosa. You have to get through the crust to get to the masala. There is always some sambar or chatni alongside, to spice up things a bit, and sometimes the crust changes, in size or kind, but it is still the masala that makes or breaks the dosa ...

Cheerios!

Cheers ol' chums!

2008-05-30T17:17:00.002+05:30

Here's to my friends Nishant and Aniruddha. Both secured admissions for a masters degree at IIT; Nishant for an MTech at IIT-KGP and Aniruddha for Masters in Design at IIT-G.

2 good news in 2 days ...

Congratulations buddies. Rock on!

Price of Peace

2008-05-27T15:47:00.002+05:30

Song for the mood: Peace Sells ... but who's buying? --- Megadeth

"Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising up every time we
fail." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

What exactly is the price of peace? What is that you pay with, for the cause of peace? What is the biggest argument, the biggest factor, in favor of peace? Is it love? Is it brotherhood? Is it freedom? Or is it even relevant to any of these?

I have a minor fascination towards the topic of wars, especially World War II, albeit recently developed. I read about it from an unbiased, neutral perspective. It is intriguing to read about it; the social dynamics prevalent during that time, the manner in which the politics exploited these social dynamics, the promising beginning of a man seemed destined to be a long lasting leader for millions of eager people, the lust of power that drove men over the edge and so many other things.

The topic of World War II is too vast. It is a daily-dinner-discussion topic for us and we never get tired of it. However, the above question rankles much deeper that anything else, for that is at the very heart of it all. For a moment ask yourself the same thing; what is the price of peace? In a strange way - call it demented if you want - it is war. At least in my opinion.

"I have never advocated war except as a means of peace." - Ulysses S. Grant

Before you misinterpret me, allow me to clarify my stance. For this I ask you another question. Can we feel peace?

I will diverge from the topic a little now, but that is only to elaborate my view further. My grandfather once told me about the times that were when he was born, when he was growing up and when he started earning a living for the family. It was pre-Independence time. He personally had to struggle a lot to just live on, had to get into the navy to start earning at an early age to sustain for the family - he started working when he was still not out of his teens - and had to see a lot of turmoil during the Independence struggle years. During that same conversation he said to me, "You take too much for granted". It hit me then but maybe because I took it the wrong way. Now when I think of it I see two things: One, yes compared to my grandfather or even my father, maybe I do take a lot of things for 'granted'. Two, I don't know what taking for granted really means.

I - this will hold for most of us - have never been deprived of anything. Let me put it this way rather; when I needed something it was there for me, so again, I wouldn't know what it means to be deprived of something. It is the way things have been.

Now taking this same perspective, I return back to my answer, 'War'.

"The soldier above all others prays for peace, for it is the soldier who must
suffer and bear the deepest wounds and scars of war." - General Douglas MacArthur

It is during war that the greatest tragedies are felt, loss of unity, loss of kindness, of love, of goodwill, of trust, of faith ... of life. It is in these times that man becomes the way the creator sent him on this planet, all alone. It is in these times when out of anger and frustration people do vile, inhumane acts towards others, who if they stop a moment and think are just like themselves. Nobody is a victor in war. Everyone only loses, some lose more than others. It is in the aftermath of wars that people realize what they have brought unto themselves.

"War does not determine who is right - only who is left." - Bertrand Russell

The horrors of such times call for peace. You can only experience it, that too, if you know in your mind why it is so important. It is through the efforts of a million survivors that a billion today are living in a world that we have come to know for how it is. But what about the future? What is it that will stop us, this generation, from starting new wars for whatever reasons? We have heard of peace but do we really know what it is? In the words of Albert Einstein, "So long as there are men there will be wars"... it is the circle of life.

"Never think that war, no matter how necessary, nor how justified, is not a
crime." - Ernest Hemingway

Till next time...

(All quotes courtesy the game Call of Duty Vol. 2. A list of quotes can be found here)

PS: I do not advocate violence. I do not advocate wars. I am sane enough to figure out that war will definitely not improve things, least of all allow me the freedom to write such long posts :-)

A marathon and a cheese toast

2008-05-20T14:27:00.001+05:30

Song for the mood: Painkiller - Judas Priest

Painkillers, yes, that is what was missing Sunday evening. You see, me and my pal Santosh Kulkarni were at the Sunfeast Marathon past Sunday morning at 8:30am. Yes, morning ... for which I got up at 6:00am on a Sunday, and saw that the sun is up, thus disproving the Urban Legend that the sun doesn't rise on a Sunday morning ...

So, we the ran the marathon. By the way, it was the Sunfeast Marathon, at Kanteerva Stadium, featuring the world's richest 10km run. We ran the 5.7 km majja run, figuring, who's gonna run 10km? The highlights of the event were - the Kingfisher girls standing every 1km at water booths to serve water. Now I know I can drink a lot of water even when I'm not thirsty. Damn! If I had known this before the event started I would have run 10km. Why the Kingfisher girls at a Sunfeast marathon? Well, firstly you are not supposed to be questioning good things, and secondly, the event was in Bangalore! So, Mallya and his girls have to be there! Period.

After the event, we both headed out, after grabbing our refreshments and taking our own snaps; a proof that we were there! It was about 10:40am at that time. I took about 30 mins to run 5.7 km, beat that! Or, don't ... thanks. Anyways, so we headed out, thought, let's get a bite to eat. So we walked another km to a joint called 'Lake view Milk Bar' (sic) popular for good sandwiches, pizzas and burgers. Once seated in, we were told that there was a power cut, which was fine up until the point where Santosh wanted a cheese toast ...

"I'll take french toast, one fried omlette and a cheese toast"

"Sir, no cheese toast, no power. Can't make toast"

"But you said yes for french toast"

"Yes, french toast is fried sir"

"Then fry this also!"

Believe me when I tell you this; the waiter walked away!

"Dude, just order something else ... he can't toast it"

"He can!"

"Only the french toast! You know how it is made right? Smear eggs on the bread ... and then ..."

"Well then let him use cheese instead of the egg ..."

End of conversation.

Well, he finally was settled by the waiter for a cheese sandwich. How? Well, he just brought and placed it in front of him ... and walked away again! Now, top this!

A painkiller would've been nice a few hours later ...

Anyone can be smart...

2008-05-16T19:53:00.003+05:30

Song for the mood: Shake that thing - Sean Paul

Here's an example of what bad English can do to a really meaningful sentence.

"Anyone can be smart in hindsight"
meaning you can always be smart when thinking about what could've been done in the past, instead of what eventually got done. The fact is, you can't change it.

Hmmm ... I like the fractured version of the above more, which although doesn't make much sense, sounds a lot nicer :)

"Anyone can become smart when looking at their hind"
not really, right! Fact is I can't get a view of my hind, neither can most. Their own I mean ... snap out of it you pervert! See, even if I am tall I am not a giraffe! And I think it would take a very weird giraffe for it to stare at his own hind.

However ... there is a modification to the above :) You might sometimes 'feel' smart when looking at particular hinds, right? Spot example: Scarlett Johansson's in the opening credits of Lost in Translation. Oh, so now you agree! Hmmm ... good ...
.
.
.
.
.
Enough! Stop dreaming! She's not there!

Displaying this smartness in public could be termed not so smart...

Don't talk about Rajnikanth

2008-05-01T16:19:00.002+05:30

Song for the mood: If you want blood (you've got it) - AC/DC

A conversation that borders on Rajnikanth, always ends with Rajnikanth. Following are some excerpts of my conversation with a 'Rajni' fan. No clues as to figuring out what part of the following was said by the fan.

"Rajnikanth has style, I agree. But the guy is short."

"Shut up! Another word you say about the thalai (head) and your thalai will fly off from your body".

Honarary silence. There is nothing you can say in reply to this ...

"Rajnikanth is tall. If you say that a height of 6ft is tall, then he is 6ft tall. If you say 5ft is tall then he is 5ft tall. The tape will adjust itself when his height is measured."

"Ok"

"You will never understand the superstar. The one and only."

"I don't know what he did to become a superstar"

"Mind your language. Rajnikanth never became a superstar, because he was born a superstar."

"Ya he will always be a superstar and then die also a ... aaah my neck!"

"Shooo rascal! He won't die a superstar! Because he won't die!"

"Leave my neck fool!"

"No more arguments about Rajnikanth."

"Aaah. Who wants to argue about him? It could get me killed around fanbois like you!"

More silence followed by another round of neck grabbing and ear twisting.

"Look, the plain fact is I think it is great that he can do so much just with his screen presence and style, else with such plain looks a man can't get anywhere"

"Rajnikanth ... is handsome ... ohhkay ... you are stupid and blind. Curse you"

"C'mon..."

"Shut up! Anything more you say I am going to take it personally"

Moral of the story: Never ask a man his salary and a woman her age. (And don't talk about Rajnikanth)

Best food in Electronics City

2008-04-25T19:11:00.005+05:30

Song for the mood: Chala jaata hoon kisi ki dhun mein - Kishore Da

As a contrast to how much I crib about food in Electronics City, here is something definitely worth hogging. Near Entrance II of Phase I of Electronics City, a lady makes and sells mirchi bhajji with pudina-tamarind chatni. It is easily the best food available in Electronics City.

Let me give you an idea of how good it is. I wanted to eat 2 pieces, I ended up eating 11 and actually wanted to eat 25. I'll do that next time around.

If you want more testimonials about the place, ask Gooth. He doesn't turn that corner of the road without eating there. Thanks to him, we got a bhajji extra per plate that we ordered. :D

What are you waiting for?

PS: Timings are 5:30 to 7 in the evening. Off on weekends.

Hide-n-Seek

2008-04-06T19:58:00.002+05:30

Song for the mood: Shoot the moon – Norah Jones

The minutes turn to hours
time is lost in the earthly frays
On the hill top I sit alone
offer the skies an eager gaze

I sense the sun's frenzy
While the stars hide away
A game of hide-n-seek it seems
is what the heavens play

Peeking from beneath the clouds
The winter moon; a quiet spy.
A silent smile for the sun's panic
who's soaring ahead in the sky

The sun seeks in all that he sees
with all his fire and all his glow
not a star in sight since the break of dawn
and soon now he shall have to go

The colors of dusk betray his emotions
Hide them, he cannot, his anger or pain
When the evening comes, to take him home
he leaves in silence, red with shame

The rising chill beckons the night
the skies turn a shade too bleak
the silver moon breaks his silence
and the stars gather to hear him speak

As the moon tells, of the sun's attempts
the stars laugh with shameless glow
The heavens shine, with starry smiles
that fall on the earth as the winter snow

The night will soon turn to day
The sun will come and the stars will go
Oh! but where do they all hide?
Will the sun ever know?

Just another post...

2008-03-30T21:28:00.001+05:30

Song for the mood: Wake Up! - Rage Against the Machine

"Shawshank Redemption ... is not a great movie ... only the last 20 minutes are good ... "

If you watch movies, you are by now either laughing at the misery of the above sentence or wondering at how foolish it is. I did the the latter when I heard it. Aside from the fact that you would have to either be a liar or a complete idiot to say something like this, about possibly the greatest movie ever made ... well ... you are - either a liar or a complete idiot.

It's a Sunday, last weekend of March, too. Like it matters? No.

For no particular reason, I am gonna make a list of a few things I heard over the past week - some funny, some poignant, some that was food for thought, some downright ridiculous, some new, some fictional, some very real, some contemplative, some worth a frown, some not worth a reaction ... you can figure out what the first line of the post belongs to.

"Its all very logical, but logic is not always right ... and nothing on God's earth can make it right" - from the movie Judgement at Nuremberg. It's a wonderful movie, watch it!

"If you say related, then even unrelated is zero 'related'. So, does the relation matter?" - Professor in a class on Web IR.

"Ya, it is like proving your own existence and apparently no one's gonna take your word for it" - One of my seniors at the work place, while framing a 'useful' problem for a thesis. You can't just say it is useful, you have to prove it.

"It is all right while you're 23. I'll probably get married any day now" - a friend, who needless to say was freaking out.

"We didn't copy it. We just re-used it" - Contestant in CodeButter when questioned for plagiarism.

"Silence is a sign of approval" - Probably the stupidest thing I've heard, ever. In addition, it is the saddest way to 'win' an argument, since you caused the opponent to go silent by bombarding him with absolute bull-crap.

"Yawn..." - me

Well, I am just wasting whatever is left of this Sunday. So ... good night!

Kannada illla

2008-03-16T17:33:00.004+05:30

Song for the mood: C-A-T Cat, Cat maane Billi - Kishore Kumar

illa means nothing, in Kannada ... I mean it does mean something ... it means "nothing". Whatever.

My knowledge of Kannada doesn't go beyond 15-20 words and a few sentences, which is quite evident here. So when I was at the receiving end of a harsh abuse, in Kannada, I did the only logical thing to do. I made a dumb face.

The story starts after the Megadeth concert on 14th March. I made my way back to Majestic bus stop, at around 10:30pm, since there was no direct bus from Palace Grounds to Electronics City. There's an unwritten rule that I was made aware of some days back, and that is, "When in doubt ... go to Majestic". Well, I finally got a bus that comes to Electronics City, only after running around for half an hour around this huge bus stand with no people around.

Ok, I am tall. Tall enough to not stand in a bus for the fear of putting my head through the roof when the driver hits a bump. To my utter delight, this bus had a much shorter roof, nice! So I stood in the doorway, a couple of steps lower than the floor of the bus passage way. Someone had a problem getting in, and he didn't spare a heated dialog in Kannada for me. I was too tired to even tell him that I don't understand Kannada. Then Mr. half-drunk got in, couple of stops later, that is where the fun started. It was due to him that few people couldn't get down, but no, according to him it was due to me. I was way too disinterested to pay attention, but Mr. I-had-a-problem-earlier decided to cash in and, well, he pressed Mr. half-drunk to carry on the scolding.

So, now I was being scolded, in Kannada, by two somebodies who in spite of the retarded look that I gave them, couldn't figure out that I wasn't understanding a single word of what they were saying. But, Mr. half-drunk was more resourceful (I guess he had one drink less than what I thought) and, lo and behold! His took off again, this time in English.

"Where ... (burp) ... where do u want to go Haaan?"
"Electronics City"
"blah blah ... then ... ermmm ... go inside! Don't trouble us" (trouble? us?)
"I can't. It's not tall enough for me to stand there..."
"No ... go inside! ... something in Kannada"
"I don't understand Kannada"

If you are new to Bangalore, well, never say the sentence above, trust me. Because, three more people jumped in at this, so now I was being lectured, for nothing, by 5 people. The fact that I can't speak Kannada, could cause this, was ... appalling. I was disgusted, frankly. When I couldn't take it anymore I gave a really cold stare to one of them ... he immediately kept quiet. I felt then that I should've done that much earlier.

Thankfully the conductor intervened, on my behalf. Mr. half-drunk didn't stop at all, however. His lecture continued till he got off, 20 minutes later. He shouted at me, in Kannada again, and what I gathered from a hindi speaking bystander later, it was some bad abuse. I still don't understand the point of him exercising his lungs, shouting at me, for over 30 mins, when I didn't understand one single word of it. Well, ignorance is bliss, as they say, it made no difference to me!

The stuff continued till I got off at Electronics City, it was public ragging. Mr. half-drunk left, Mr. I-can-talk-better-nonsense took his place. It made no sense to them, whatsoever, that I couldn't understand anything coming out of their mouths. I don't know if that is ridiculous, funny or just sad :-)

I preferred keeping my mouth shut (not completely true, but close enough!) Well, what would you have done?

Out of order ... courtesy Megadeth

2008-03-15T13:41:00.006+05:30

Song for the mood: Wake up dead - Megadeth

At the time of writing this post, I have: a back ache, shoulder ache, my neck ain't turning left, my left leg is sprained, my right hand is slightly sore. It is all worth it; all worth seeing MegadetH in action, live, not more than 20 feet away from the stage \m/.

I went alone for the concert, and now I seriously feel bad for all those who didn't attend. 9 bands in one day! MachineHead and MegadetH only came on stage after 7:00pm and by that time I was already dizzy with all the headbanging. Prestorika, Junkyard Groove, Mother Jane, Thermal and a Quarter, Millenium, Pentagram were all build-up acts, can you believe it! Anyways, one thing is for sure now, at least in my opinion: we got some cool rock acts in India. Hell, some of their original stuff was right up there with the best.

Heavy metal concerts are fun! Even with all the pulling and pushing and moshing (moshing is sick) that happens around, even with people blacking out and passing out; it is such a rush! The thumping beats, the fast guitars, the charged vocals anything and everything about a metal concert is loud! Some stupid things are, of course, people smoke like factories everywhere around and that leaves others out of breath. But the concert still rocks-out! I headbanged for over 5 hours yesterday, was standing in such a small place that I couldn't move a muscle and I still somehow jumped to every beat, got people stomping on my foot, falling over me, pushed a drunk away (he and his friends didn't take that well, whatever) but it was fun! There was some guy standing next to me, I was discussing MegadetH's discography with him the whole time, we sang all the songs while they were being played, took turns stomping on each others foot (he he!) but I didn't catch his name till the very end. Well, that just proves how much music can connect people.

I am sure, yesterday's concert was meant to be special. When MachineHead took the stage, and started playing their loud, wicked music, there was lightning all around in the sky. The sky was heavily clouded and for a while I was sure 'twas gonna rain. It was an electrifying experience. No need for special effects and flashy lights when Thor himself joins the party! The lightning show continued for MegadetH it was great!

Take my advice, whether you like metal music or not, doesn't matter whether you are claustrophobic, doesn't matter whether loud music is to your liking or not ... go to a metal concert! The feel is electric!

Back to school... not quite ...

2008-03-11T21:34:00.014+05:30

Song for the mood: Jaane Kahaan Gaye Woh Din - Mukesh

"Well, you were the reason..."

Today when talking to Gooth I was for some reason reminded of a certain little conversation that happened about 5 years ago, a conversation about an even earlier incident that happened in school. Aah ... school! I loved school, no doubt about it. We all tend to have fond memories of school, and so do I. All the same I am sure, everyone from my school who was ever in my class will have a little something to say to me, "You were such a bore!".

You know that little voice inside us, which tells us what to do when things seem wrong? Well, in my case it was a public announcement system and it had an announcer living on a severe overdose of righteous consciousness. I was the little kid in the moral science textbook who can see no wrong ... hear no wrong ... do no wrong. I was every teacher's 'ideal' student - the value education teacher's for sure, damn! I came first in that subject every time! - and for these great reasons I was the class monitor, 4 damn years in a row! I must have gotten every other kid punished for some reason ... to me things always seemed wrong.

"Do you by any chance remember standard 8th year report collection day?"
"No ... not really ..."
"You should dude. You were the class monitor ... as usual ... and I was the kid crying in the corner of the classroom with his mother and the teacher towering over him, discussing the kids potentially bleak future ..."

I was the kid you loved to hate, in school. When I think about how I was in school, I prefer lying down and telling myself, words like, "Life is very long ... let the past be the past ... things change ... we all go through difficult times ... control yourselves ..." I was a prick! You know those things that teachers say because they have to: "All of you sit quiet! Hands folded and a finger on you lips!" ... "Stand in a straight line! Everybody ... stand quietly!" ... as far as I was concerned they were life commandments. I had to do everything the way it seemed right. Probably the teachers realized they could exploit my over-eagerness to become the Poster Boy so they thought 'let this fool do all this for me' so I was always entrusted the prestigious responsibility of class monitor.

"Oh! Was it that bad? I am sorry ..."
"You should bloody well be!"
"Huh?"
"Well, you were the reason ... that I got screwed that day! You were such a bore! Teacher's pet ... 'look at Sagar! Such a nice boy, such values, such discipline, learn something from him ...' (add a nasal tinge and a possible mockery of your school teacher to this last sentence)."

This was the conversation that I had with an ex-schoolmate over a cup of tea, 3 years after school was over and done with. And he remembered every single detail. Such episodes you don't forget easily, do you? Well I apologized to him, and to myself ... I still do sometimes. My popularity among my school friends can be judged from the fact that the last time I sent a social networking invite to one of them, he rejected it.

Then I guess, I was just meant to be that way. When I say this I am reminded of these golden words I read somewhere - No matter how bad you are, you are not totally useless ... you can always be used as a bad example.

Good night. And before I sign off, if anyone from my school ever happens to read this ... the f*** I'm sorry! You had a lot of fun in school because of me ... whether you admit it or not! :-)

Where's my treat?

2008-03-08T15:12:00.006+05:30

Song for the mood: Buddha Bar album VI

Venue: The Punjab
Occasion: Pranav's treat
"Hey Gooth ... check out the girl sitting on the last table ... "

Since the start of this semester I have been eating out very often - out as in treats - courtesy, my earning friends (I still have to get my stipend ... woe is me!) and I probably have been to a treat every single week this year. Sometimes its even two treats a week. I still have to give one ... to my good luck I've been able to defer that for whenever I get my stipend, but then I guess my electric guitar will have to wait ... there can not be a worse Catch 22 ...

"Eh! Order first fool! This lady made me roam half of bangalore on the bike today ... I am damn hungry ... " "I didn't! You don't know any roads ... I will kick you flat and break your bones! Rascal!"

The treats have been great! Every single one of them. I have now checked out quite a few places in Bengaluru and a few have been excellent. One observation, I am still to eat at a North Indian restaurant here in 'lore where they have not gone out of their way to create a Punjabi Dhaba - the lighting, the tables, the cutlery, the menu cards even the waiter uniforms are extremely styled to look like it - and this is after seeing three such places.

"... Who ordered this radioactive stuff for a starter?" ... "It is supposed to be cauliflower" ... "Rascal! Did you look at her? ... hey, that is my drink!"

Food aside, I guess all the treats have been great because of the amount of antics and noise we make at every single place. You've ever cursed the noisy bunch of youngsters in a restaurant when you're having dinner with you're girlfriend or your family or alone? We are that noisy bunch. Order late, talk loud, laugh obnoxiously, ask the waiters to click pictures for us (Seema gives them a crash course in lens-focusing every time) ... aah! It can't get any better!

"Now now ... look she is going out now ... you can have a look at her ..." "She is not that good raaa ..." "Shut up! Gooth, you decide ... ". Gooth looks at the girl. Girl is looking at Gooth ... what happened next was, "Aiyyo, thooo! Aiyyo aiyyo " + slap forehead * zillion times ... I guess he didn't like her all that much.

PS: For those of you haven't heard Buddha Bar yet, do it soon! I personally recommend vol. VI. The trance beats are overwhelming.
PS2: If you are planning to watch the movie Michael Clayton, burn the money instead.

Leave your ... impressions ...

2008-03-05T17:36:00.004+05:30

Song for the mood: Jugband Blues - Pink Floyd

Is this cool or what? My friend sent me this link MyLiveSignature, using which I can create my signature. I think I'm gonna start using it ... outta my way ... or I'll stomp you!

Carry on...

2008-02-23T14:09:00.002+05:30

Song for the mood: Yeh Shaam Mastaani - Kishore Kumar

Yet another day have I soldiered on
Across another bend have I passed
but the horizon is forever away; and still
the road seems to end there atlast

The dusk sets, as it does always
hurrying away from the sun
Such times when the day elopes, I wonder
does it too have a loved one?

A million eyes of a shade of silver
seek to enchant and to mesmerise
with the sparkle of a fine diamond;
when I shy a look at the night skies.

Must not I give into their sparkles
It is only deceitful appearance
It is not the shelter I seek, to rest
I need warmth, not the fireplace

My eyes still seek the shining glow,
a solace; far from the night shadows.
What's but in this weary path?
Why tread over these million stones?

Oh! the life I seek, is but a long walk
It is not a stop on these plains.
Where truth is learnt and dreams are fulfilled
Is on the journey; wait is in vain.

I must carry on! For the night hides
the truth; and the road that lies ahead.
The world won't stop, it will carry on
with me or without me instead.

We need an office boy?

2008-02-20T09:58:00.003+05:30

Song for the mood: Brain Damage – Pink Floyd

“We need an office boy around here…”

A conversation I witnessed in office yesterday. So, my office (I’m an intern) is a small place, people wise. We are 15 of us, roughly, and all of us sit in one big room. The place is newly bought, and quite a few renovations and additions to the office place are going on. About 3 days back we had a security system installed and so now we need access cards to get in. Owing to the new system, a few people were left knocking the door to get in, since they didn’t have the access cards (the cards came yesterday morning).

“Wasn’t some office boy going to join? What happened with him?”

“No, he didn’t turn up even the first day …”

15 people … 1 room … what is the office boy going to do here? Ok, so now go figure: when there are a set of access cards for the security system, and you don’t have an access card, what do you do? Simple, you go and get yourself one of the access cards …

“I am going to remain stuck outside … (casual laugh) … We need someone to answer that door …”

Still clueless … anyways … me and few others felt later that we can get the office boy a laptop and teach him some stuff, simply because there is nothing else he can do here (we feel so). The risk is getting a mail from the office boy in the morning saying, ‘WFH today’ (WFH --> Work From Home)

“Hmmm … we can get a door bell installed …”

“… Oh yeah, doorbell would be cheaper…”

Sorry Mr. Office boy. Better luck next time ...

... eyes of the Beholder ... ears of the Listener

2008-02-13T14:40:00.009+05:30

Song for the mood: Yeh hain Mumbai meri jaan - Mohammed Rafi Saahab

Yesterday evening I witnessed an interesting conversation between two people on a bus while on the way back from work. The 'guy who was doing most of the talking' was sitting next to me and was chatting away with the 'guy who was doing most of the listening' who was in the seat just in front (he was looking back ... now read on).

For the most part, I could not understand what they were talking about, because they were talking in Kannada. I can't make sense of more than 10-15 words of Kannada; my vocabulary is limited to oota, maadi, yenoo, beku, beda, illa, yeshtu, channagideya and some simple questions like yenoo helaitidiya? and yenoo madtaidiya? alongwith some counting: wundu, yerdu, mooru STOP. Whew! I need some water now ...

Anyways, so the conversation the way I understood it was a comparison between Bengalooru and other prime cities of India, moreover the references to Mumbai were dominant ... "Mumbai blah blah samudra beda" and "local train beda" (beda means I don't want ... wonder who gifted him the sea). In the very little that I could garner or grasp from his talk was that Bangalore ... sorry, Bengalooru has people from so many different linguistic backgrounds like Malayalam, Telugu, Tamil apart from Kannadigas and people here speak English also. Meanwhile, Mumbai has people who speak Marathi and Hindi only and English is a rarity. Marathi yenoo helaitidiya? Numbers simple ... ek, do, teen, char (these are in Hindi mister, and not Marathi)... three-hundred illa (illa means nothing) ... I guess he was saying that he doesn't know how to say three-hundred in Marathi and not that Marathi doesn't have a word for the number three-hundred :-). Yes, and there was an interesting comment Idli beda, Bengalooru best ... Mumbai idli bad ...

The comparisons continued ... Mumbai yeshtu sweat (yeshtu means how much... I think). He also ... ahem ... mentioned more stuff, words which I will refrain from using here forget elaborating. A sore point, since he sounded angry at it, was about the police in Mumbai ... his hand actions when he spoke about them suggested the following: catch by collar -> handcuff -> kick -> beat with danda -> throw in jail -> lock and then ... beat.

Well, one thing is clear, the person is very happy to be in his own home-town which is good for him. His views about other cities ... well, he would've probably seen a small part of Mumbai city whenever he was there and judging by all that he said, he found traveling, communicating and eating to be a problem ... which is the case with any one going to a new city. I doubt he went anywhere outside Kurla (a place in Mumbai, and something he constantly mentioned when speaking) and hence his ideas about Mumbai are pertaining to that place alone.
Any Mumbaikar will tell you that these views are lopsided, but the fact remains that to a newcomer who probably got beaten up or witnessed someone getting beaten up by the Mumbai Police, all this would've caused little comfort :-P

Not too different is what happened to me when I came to Bangalore nearly 18 months ago ... food, language and travel were a pain. But thankfully for me, I was and am still living in a comfortable hostel with like minded students around me many of them from Bangalore, courteous enough to give short guided tours of the city along with adding 10-15 Kannada words to my vocabulary (hee hee!). The guy on the bus probably had not such a great experience ... and I never go beaten up by the Police.

Everything around us can be understood in so many ways at so many different levels ... it depends on what level of understanding prevails in the end. I can say with great confidence that his views on Mumbai idli would've changed had he eaten in some Udipi restaurants of Churchgate or for that matter tasted a wada-paav ... but that was beyond the experience that he had. Just for the record, in Mumbai you get superb South-Indian food, again, looking at it the way I look at it.

The title ... in its completion is ... Observing lies in the eyes of the Beholder and Understanding lies in the ears of the listener. Given my limited understanding of Kannada, who knows, maybe I interpreted whatever he was saying in the not so correct way ... or did I?

Any other day...

2008-02-10T17:22:00.001+05:30

Song for the mood: Running to Stand Still - U2

Over a month into the internship now, awaiting my first paycheck. Have quite many plans what to do with that monneey at least whatever remains in hand after treating friends - the way the mathematics works out I have to give 4 parties atleast - then something for my parents and sis (I have no idea what to buy) and then yours truly. I feel it would be a better idea to wait for the second paycheck and then buy for me an electric guitar, yes that is what I am gonna buy. First paycheck ... wow ... didn't think I would be wondering about that anytime soon, but I am eagerly awaiting it; especially since everyone else has already gotten their cut. Whew!

Lot has happened in the week; Ravikanth and Durga (friends and classmates here at IIIT-B) started taking guitar lessons from me this friday. I hope they stick to it, especially since the first 2 months tend to be the difficult ones when you are finding your touch on the fretboard. Speaking of guitaring, my own hopes of playing everyday seem to be going nowhere. Fact am hoping the two of them continue coming for guitar lessons so that I too can play along...

Today I played cricket for Rakesh's team in the ongoing intra-college sports event SPANDAN; I was the substitute for the team, and with Ranga away for the day I was drafted (ahem) into the side - no fancy show, Mr. Santosh knocked my door half an hour before the match and told me, "Get ready you are playing today" - and it turned out to be a good match. I bowled an over, thankfully not bowling too many wides (which I am famous for) but our batsmen had earlier done enough by belting the opposition for 104 runs in 8 overs. We won by a convincing 48 runs. In the afternoon as a last minute entry me and Ravikanth decided to try our hand at Doubles Carrom. We actually won the first board and pocketed 6 points but finally lost 22-13 to Durga and Reddy in a marathon 6 boards session. (Ravikanth was considering a forfeit at the end of the 6 match, irrespective of the result, citing "I am getting bored" as an explanation) Well, alls well that ends well.

Weekends and work don't match ... all my efforts (snore) to do some weekend work are buried Friday afternoon and are reborn not before Monday afternoon. Sigh ... will see how that goes ...

Here's to just another day ... cheers!

Signing off ...

My experiences with ... arguments ...

2008-01-18T21:24:00.000+05:30

Song for the mood: Paranoid - Megadeth

Yes ... paranoid. That's what my friends call me sometimes ... which is not true. I just happen to - think more ... :-)

Ok! Coming to the topic, well the point is I like to have small 'verbal jousts' i.e. debates or discussions albeit in a sporting way with a touch of good natured humor in between. I think it is a great and refreshing way to pass time. The recent most debate I had was with Vijay and Santosh a few days back - the debate aside, they were quite sporting.

It is fun to argue, sometimes for another reason too; to observe how other people argue. Yup! It's great fun!

For instance there are the conservatives , "... well I agree with you fully but you see ... blah blah I am so boring blah blah... but I still agree to your first point ... ".

Their opposites are the ones who go like, "... fk u dude, whatever! I just don't give a shit! ... I know we are speaking the same shit but fk u anyways! ... ".

The truly most boring are the pausers, "... So I think its better to ... ummm ... hmmm what was it that I was thinking? ... ? ... ? ... (on hold) ... (I just took a bathroom break I hope you don't mind) ... (still thinking) ... yes! better to do it this way than ... (snore snore ... eh! ... sorry, what?) ... " Dude, first you put a guy to sleep then you rudely bring him to his (non)senses!

Some people I absolutely refrain from arguing with, after the first showdown, "... Oh you think I am wrong is it? ... Hmpff! ... now you did it! ... see my cheeks are puffed which means I am angry ... now my arms are crossed and I'm not looking at you ... so you better apologize and say I am the king of the world! ... I'm waiting ... I'm waiting ... ". I am affirmatively scared of these species ... the repercussions are ... nevermind :-)

Backseat drivers are just as annoying in this context; the one's who will interject a perfectly good argument and then insist to one, or sometimes both, of the people involved as to what they should say next. Well, and if you happen to ignore this gentleman it only encourages him further ... check it for yourself. Try out the following: set a trap for one such guy if you know any, and then when he starts giving the ideas, you and your partner in crime turn on him! You will get the laugh of your life on seeing his reactions!

There are others ... the spectators, the clowns, the Einsteins etc but they can more or less be traced to one of these elaborated here (he he!). And although I steer clear of the cry-babies, sometimes for the sake of a good argument I just don't give a damn!

All in all, all of these perfectly blend into this great confused world of ours. So ... what do you think? Am I right about this or am I wrong? Want to argue about it? :-)

New year resolutions? What's that?

2008-01-05T21:23:00.001+05:30

Song for the mood: Same old song and dance - Aerosmith

It's the first weekend of 2008, am back in college after half a December worth of vacation (wanted more ... badly) and things look ... well ... the same :-). Which is good, coz there was nothing wrong with anything in the first place :-P

This is about the time of the year, any year, when funny things come to view. The foremost of those happens to be, "Hey, I made a New Year Resolution!" (Let's call it NYR for the rest of the post). Now, I like the concept of 'New Year', if nothing else for a chance to spend good time with friends, have a nice dinner, and getting to see TV shows showing people do amazing(ly stupid) things to catch the first rays of light of the year. Wow ... go my species, go!

Ok! Coming back to NYRs. So, a couple days back I heard a 'foodie' friend of mine refusing to go to the best ice-cream joint in town, saying he has made an NYR to not eat ice-cream ... because he is on a diet ... and ice-cream is his biggest weakness as far as food is concerned. So, he won't have ice-cream anymore. Knowing this guy and his liking for ice-cream it is not a mere resolution it is a revolution, however, I personally am gonna be on a spy-watch to see how long his resolution lasts!

NYRs don't last. I think they are just extended hangovers of New Year party mania ... a lingering thought carried on for a week into the next year of something that you wanted to do long ago but couldn't or didn't do then. Point is, why wait till the New Year's eve to do something? It's not like the earth flips on its axis on this day!
"Hmmm ... if I am on the right spot on the planet on this New Year's eve, maybe 20 kilos will just fly off my body into space!"

The following are a list of NYRs I have seen friends make ... and needless to say none of them lasted!
1. Not to swear at people any more - I remember this one clearly because my friend made it in the following way, "F**k dude! I will not bl***y swear at anyone anymore!" Didn't help ... he got into a quarrel with someone a few days later at the railway station and came back to life ...
2. Lose weight - The most popular of all! If you want to lose weight, it would help not eating at the new year party like it's your last day on earth ...
3. Quit a habit (munching, drinking, smoking ... some 'ing') - My question is how? Abstaining only makes it worse for even those 12 hours that the NYR lasts!
4. Start exercising - my personal favorite non-lasting NYR. The advent of the TV remote killed the last bit of exercising that you could get by at least getting up to change the channel. And, if you know how irritating it is to call someone for a jog, morning or evening, you'll know what I mean.
5. Become a vegetarian - If you know someone who has done this, try the following; at dinner in some restaurant say the following sentence three times aloud for everyone, "Wow! This chicken is tasty, right?" If becoming a vegetarian is an NYR for that person then he will be ... angry ... criticize you for mocking his steely resolve ... and the next time you meet to eat, will dig into a nice juicy kebab ... "What? You wanna say something?" ... no I was admiring your table manners ...
6. Start an activity (reading, music, chess etc) - if you never did this activity before, what's gonna prompt you to start?

... so on and so forth. NYRs are just another irony of being an 'intelligent creation'. But I sincerely hope the trend continues, which in all probability will ... we need NYRs and NYRers to show us the funny side of being a human ... Happy New Year again!

(All right, all right! I am going to do a few things myself but not as an NYR - I wanna get my hands on some Opeth albums coz I think they are amazing, I wanna read more books - I just finished an Arthur Hailey book last night and it was splendid, and I want to spend some more time on my guitaring skills which sadly to say I suck at ... :-) )

Happy New Year

2008-01-03T12:38:00.000+05:30

Here's wishing everyone a Happy New Year. A new article will be up soon ...

The Mirandastics

2007-12-08T18:46:00.002+05:30

Song for the mood: Kishore Kumar and Manna Dey - Yeh Dosti ham nahin todenge

Once upon a time there were a bunch of guys, friends for a long long time, who went to Tirupati and keeping in mind the temple traditions got their heads 'tonsured' (this is for Vijay). They always ate, played and moved together so they were quite a sight - 4 or 5 clean shaven heads walking together in a single file ... just fantastic! If you remember the old Mirinda ads you can guess by now why they were named the 'Mirandastics'.

Ok, before I proceed further, let me set the mood for this post. The Mirandastics are great friends of mine. They are quite a bunch; there is a lot of camaraderie amongst them. They are all very warm and helpful by nature. Although they speak in Telugu all the time, one of them speaks Telugu even with me (if you know them you can easily guess who it might be), and I don't understand a single word of it ... I never feel like an outsider whenever I am with them. In fact just a couple days days back I was out for a treat hosted by a Mirandastic, it was great ... :-)

Now lets get down to the bashing :-D

The Mirandastics are the most feared gang in college, yes like a true gang they always move together. They all stay on the top floor of my hostel building and you should see how scared people, especially juniors, are to go to that floor. Heck, I was scared to go to their part of the hostel before I got friendly with them.

As I said, the Mirandastics are very warm and friendly ... you can always feel their friendship. In their punches when they say 'HI'. In the punches again, when they say 'See You'. As I said, you can feel it. On these cold winter days when a Mirandastic greets me, my first reaction is a defensive stance that protects my face and stomach followed by a foot long back leap. I do say Hi, of course I do! But that's after the slight Muhammad Ali impression. Not that it helps, I still get punched. Their love especially pours out on birthdays. Birthdays bumps are served lavishly. I get kicked for just about anything. I once got kicked for getting good grades in the exam ... I was ambushed by a Mirandastic in the canteen and he along with Pranav twisted me around like merry-go-round while kicking me, at the end of which I was too dazed to realize that I had gotten close to 50 kicks! Yes, they counted. Another recent kicking was when my internship was confirmed. Very touching indeed ... :-)

The Mirandastics, apart from being a gang, are great individuals. There's Ravindra, the self-proclaimed "busiest lazy guy in the world". You always know when Ravindra is around, trust me. Plus he is a good photographer. Shashank is the quiet guy, as cool as ice. Always calm and collected no matter what the situation. Ravikanth is known as the 'Director'. He can make great videos, he has already made a few for the college. Nareen, and I have told him this, is the most mischievious guy ... and he does it so discreetly you'll never know. Rakesh looks quiet, but then he'll pull a joke on you when you least expect it. Rajashekar sleeps the whole day, wakes up at strange hours and goes to work when everyone's in neverland ... I meet him for breakfast in the morning many times ... difference being it is breakfast for me and for him it is a bedtime snack. Vikrant is the foodie. Plus he has a bike that no one except he can drive ... in fact only he can start it.

Whew! I can't write enough about these guys. The innumerable occasions playing marathon 12+ hour sessions of Call Of Duty multiplayer in the college lab would've been very dull without them. Here's a piece of advice, never put more than 3 Mirandastics in a single team when playing COD ... you'll lose. Forget the game for a bit ... the amount of antics and the edge-of-a-cliff rush that they bring to the game is fun! You can't stand in the room if you're not playing. I am not saying someone will chase you away. You'll go mad with the amount of noise! The celebrations that follow after a victory are nothing short of a battle march...

Do you know any such Mirandastics? If you don't then you are losing out on something. College life is fun when you have such folks around. They are a big part of whatever memories I carry with me when leaving this place ... if you ever get kicked so much, you won't forget either :-)

Terror Tuesdays

2007-12-04T21:29:00.000+05:30

Song for the mood: Lynyrd Skynyrd - Tuesday's gone

Posting after a long time... actually the exams are over. The semester has ended, and with it most of what is known as college :-). Many have left for the winter to sunnier abodes (home) while some like me are still trundling to reach the exit ... translation, I got some project work left, so I can't leave for another week at the least! Woe is me...

Well, today is Tuesday. Which is one day before Wednesday - the day we live for. Okay okay, cutting out the crap, Wednesday happens to be our project meeting day ... the project for which I am staying back. Being the engineers that we are, Tuesday hence becomes the proverbial trial-by-fire, you see.

Tuesdays are sleepless ... Monday morning blues are nothing compared to Tuesday midnight terrors! Wednesday afternoon happens to be the project demo time, which naturally implies that 12 hours before the bell sounds we will be sitting in the lab integrating a piece of code into the huge software spaghetti.And as Murphy's Laws suggest, nothing will work at such a time.

Tuesdays are a test of language, personal and programming ... When a piece of code doesn't work, our nice language becomes even nicer. By the time the code (finally) starts working, like a car on bad oil, we would have exhausted the entire vocabulary. I think it is the constant shouting that makes us more tired than the code ... sleeping at 3:00 or 4:00am is a lot more satisfying than a normal sleep, I can vouch for that now...

By the time the Wednesday demos are done (worth a blog by itself) we are pissed enough to NOT work for the rest of the week. So, by the time the fire turns to a blazing inferno by Tuesday midnight the following week, the fire-fighting is ready to begin ... again ... we never manage to "go down in a blaze of glory" ... translation ... we always save our asses in the end ... :-)

As the late Ronnie Van Zandt wrote it, perfectly well ... "Tuesday's gone ... with the wind" ... see you around!

Not such a bad day after all...

2007-11-19T00:05:00.000+05:30

Song for the mood: Dido – Thank You

The most enjoyable moments in life are impulsive. A moment is, after all, an impulse.

I’m not a big fan of Sundays, here at IIIT-B. Today was different though. We - me, Pranav and Seema - left to have dinner at Andhra Mess, at around 7:45pm. We were finished with dinner by around 8:50pm. As always we decided to walk back by the longer route to college, to have juice or milkshakes near the Infosys campus which is along the way. When we turned the corner near Andhra Mess we saw the 356C Volvo bus which goes from Electronics City to Majestic Bus Station here in Bangalore.

Pranav, and I must thank him for this, had a sudden though … “lets get on this bus and go to Forum to have ice-cream”. I said yes … so basically Seema had no choice but to come along :-D. Now, this being a Sunday, we were dressed in our best clothes; pyjamas and loose fit T-Shirts, unshaved, ruffled hair … Seema was the female equivalent of all that … top of it she was wearing rubber chappals which she felt ashamed about. I wonder why she felt people will stare at her footwear. Anyways, so we got on the bus and in 15 minutes time we were at Forum mall (on a weekdays the same route takes over one hour. I guess today was meant to be this way). We walked into this big mall, wearing something that resembles a night dress at best … so we did the right thing; we went and got a picture clicked!

It was one of those auto picture taking machines, which clicks three pictures back to back, you select the one you like best and then you can get special effects like pencil shading or charcoal shading done on it. I liked the first one, where all three of us were looking ‘not’ at the camera; but it couldn’t be captured on paper coz the machine trims the borders and that would’ve erased our faces half. So we reluctantly took the next one.

Next, was Corner House ice-cream. Then we walked back to the bus-stop, got a bus immediately, and were back in college by 11:00pm. All the while on this small escapade, Seema kept seeing at the picture every 5 minutes. Well, actually we all did … it is a special picture, that captured a special moment … the outcome of an impulse on an otherwise ordinary day.

We keep searching for moments of joy. We go to great extents to do something that will make us feel good. It is these small moments that we miss out on. A mad lil’ idea, a bunch of friends and some time on your hands … all in all a perfect end to the day … with a lot of smiles, a great picture for the record … and a sweet memory … good night!

A tale of two Diwalis

2007-11-10T16:50:00.000+05:30

Song for the mood: Aaj Mausam Bada Beimaan Hain - Mohd. Rafi Saahab

Yesterday, November 9 was Diwali. Big festival. Yippee.

When I was in school, diwali used to be fun! I would get up bright and early, without mum or dad having to force me out of bed. That would be followed by morning puja (I just stood quietly for the sweets), new clothes and crackers! It was also on the day of diwali, me and my pals would bunch up and visit all the houses in the society to wish them all "Happy Diwali". The motive behind doing so was to get chocolates ... yes of course. Why else would we? You see, all the folks new that kids would be coming on this particular day, so most of them would be kind and considerate enough to greet the gang with a plate of chocolates. Yes, we never really thanked anyone for the chocolates afterwards. We were always too busy trying to grab as many chocolates from the plate as we could and stuff them in our pockets. Some folks were smart, they would hand us one chocolate, individually. Some were innovative - they got sweets instead of chocolates - which we hated - becozz the whole point of this strenuous wishing exercise was to collect enough chocolates to fill up a jar atleast! What were we going to do with, sweets! Some folks would get a whole plate of snacks and wonder why none of us would even touch it ... god! Couldn't they understand the difference between chocolates and snacks? I remember the one house we would all visit the last in line, coz the lady of the house would give us bananas. Not chocolates. Not sweets. Bananas. What was she expecting us to do? Jump in the air, scratch our armpits and ape our ancestors? Whew! Anyways, I always managed to gather atleast 45-50 pieces of candy by the end of it all. Needless to say, it would last only 5 days at the most after that ... :-P

Well, this year, I, for one had the most uneventful diwali possible.

I woke up at 10:00am. Had a fever the whole previous night, couldn't sleep a wink. Got up, went out for breakfast with Pranav. By the time we got back from breakfast it was almost 12:00pm. Hardly the time to have breakfast! By 1:30pm we again headed out, this time for lunch. We had to go out, since the college caterer was on leave ... and our food-committee didn't bother informing us ... so we had to go out. You can imagine what I am about to write ... yes, every restaurant, every joint was closed. Luckily for us one small joint was open where I ate some tomato-rice, with nariyal chatni. Trust me, not a good combo. We walked back to the college, then decided to go to the nearest bakery to purchase some biscuits - for the fear that joints might be closed again. There we realized that the food-joint atop the bakery, is open. So we had lunch again ... courtesy our very good friends, the 'mirandastics'. I came back to my hostel room at around 3:00pm ... and slept. I slept like a log! Must have been the lack of sleep in the past 2-3 days. Anyways, I got up around 7:00 or 7:30pm ... and then headed for dinner ... to the trusty food joint open on a diwali day. Back to room ... watched a movie ... 'Legend of Drunken Master' - Jackie Chan special. It was pretty good. And that was how diwali ended.

Maybe next year, diwali will be ... diwali. If not then I'll get something more to blog about ... either ways ... Happy Diwali!

You've got Mail ... Hate Mail...

2007-11-03T14:08:00.000+05:30

Song for the mood: Carl Douglas - KungFu Fighting

No I can't do any kungfu. I can't even make the right kind of noise, you know the kind of, ''eeyaaaah!" or "whuaaan" sound that kungfu fighters make. I think it is the sound that confuses the opponent ... as soon as the guy makes that noise the opponent goes, "...where is that sound coming from... maan, u must have an upset tummy!" :-P The next thing he knows, *BAM*, he has a fist in his face... off to la la land... seeing stars am seeing stars!

Well, I actually want to share an extremely funny incident that happened with me about 2 months back. I had promised myself I would not make fun of this one ... but it is too damn freakin' funny! Plus I was kind of pushed to do this... ;-D I am in the senior year of the MTech course, at IIIT Bangalore. As a senior I could've opted for a teaching assistantship, but chose not to having seen the plight of my own seniors... he he. But, being an 'enthusiastic' chap (sheesh), I would generally help out the other TAs in their work. So one fine day I ended up assessing a certain Database Design assignment for a few of the groups from my junior batch.

In one of those groups was this certain Mr. A (A for ass, though I would prefer to call him R for retarded or D for dumb), the protagonist of this story. I'll be honest, Mr. A and his group did not such a great job of their assignment - and after spending more than an hour explaining them the little mistakes and faults in their analysis, design, approach, assumptions etc etc, Mr. A said, "This can't be wrong! I can't be wrong!" Ahem, buddy, it wasn't the time to be the king ... I asked him for his objections, and I'll be honest here, I answered every single one of his questions ... but ... Mr. A was kinda pissed off, I don't know at what though! Was he mad at me or was it the fact that he hadn't taken a piss for over 3-4 hours ... not kiddin', whenever I spot him in college he has the same retarded, piss-urgent look on his face! I was sure he wasn't gonna let this one go, but what he did after the next 2-3 days, was ... legendary!!

I gave him a borderline 4.0 outta 10.0 for his work; he had scored only 2.5; I kinda upped it. Some other groups that I assessed did pretty well: 4.5, 5.5 and 7.5 ... pretty good scores, considering many of them were from non computing backgrounds in their under grad engineering. After the TA revealed the grades in class ... I got a hate-mail the very next day ... The following are the contents of the 'great' mail ... and though I was kinda taken aback and sort of confused when I read it ... the first time I fell of my chair ... the reason being the splendid english. Read it yourself :-)

hi ....

Actually last night i have got my marks of DBMS test, when i saw my marks that was not "unusual"....but it becomes unusual when i saw other groups marked by you ...specially when i saw the highest marks given by you. You have just given them apprx 2 times that my group is having....which makes me below the average.

If u are a intellectual person ..then i think i m having freedom to ask that WHETHER THAT GROUP WORK WAS SO GOOD THAT YOU JUST GIVE THEM DOUBLE THE MARKS THAT U HAVE GIVEN TO MY GROUP.

There are no groups which is having this much of variance as group assesed by you are having..between the heighest and lowest marks.

As i m the looser one (as i m below the average) so now i m requesting u to send me a ER-DIAGRAM of library management system...so that i can make me satisfy that i have been judged in right way. Bcoz i have taken reference to a standarad book for making that ER...ofcourse this was not satisfying your view

Again for some minutes i do not think to mail you ....but thinking if marks has been disclosed ..that is for the reson that if u are having complain u can put with your assesmenter...thats why i m mailing you.

One more thing this mail be annoying for you ...but thinking this also, i m sending this mail to you simply to give me satisfaction whether i was really that much WORST on that day.

I m in wait for ur ER Diagram of library management system.....to assess this time to myself by of my own. One thing i m saying u very frankely that i will see to which % it satifies my view and practical view and how far was my ER Diagram

thks
- Mr. A

Wow ... finally I had a hate mail! I replied to this, indecipherable mail, assuming that he was pissed off about his marks. I told him to get his assignment, the 'reference' book (he kept talking about some unnamed reference book the whole time during his assessment, as if it was some Database Bhagvad Gita) and we'll solve the whole sum again. Then he can compare for himself. Ok, for the benifit of all, this is the mail I wrote to him, in reply ...

Can you come and meet me? I am in room 133 in college.

If you want some help, or you have some doubts, you can come and ask face to face. Mailing doesn't solve anything. Get the reference book and whatever else you want to ... and get your own ER diagram also.

I can understand your concern, it was not such an easy test. I was only trying to help, but I guess you don't think so. Plus, your comment about the grades that other groups have gotten is being unfair to them, most of them put in a lot of effort and got in a lot of functionality.

PS: Your mail has not really pissed me off, even with all the underlines and bold letterings so you'll have to try harder than that

But, Mr. A chose to mail back! This is the reply I got ... again ... an example of excellent english ... read on!

ok...

I got the thing of which i was in need of.

Now i m having no doubt ..and as per the matter of your help is concerned ... ....all sentence told by you and all suggetions given by u are totally in my mind ....so...i do not think on my side there is anything like that........

I will meet you..but not at this time ....if u do not have any problem... you just give me a time when i can find you on your room.

Now i m thinking i do not have to write those all.....nd i m assuring you ....i will not be having need to try harder than that......because there are very few situations when any things happens unexpected for me.......b'coz...I know my limits nd weakness and i do not expect any thing beyond my limit.

Though i was not mean to make u off...but if it makes u so...sry for that ....just plz give me the time when i can meet u at your room.........i am not meeting you in college again as i know my limits ..nd weakness..

I swear, I still haven't understood a single word of what he really wanted to say! Mr. A didn't stop at this ... he came over to my room in the evening and ... fought again. For the sake of communicating, I was speaking to him in Hindi, but, being the scholarly English orator that he is, he was replying all the while in English ... and I was trying my level best not to laugh in his face while he was talking. C'mon! I'm not a sicko!

By later that night, Mr. A had already spread some rumors about me, and the possible reasons as to why I gave 'more' marks to another group. I had a terrible time in college the next few days, with obscure looks from people and all sorts of weird questions. I don't give a damn about all that, but it was pretty irritating at the time ... of course it was!

Well, Mr. A got a warning of sorts from the TAs ... of every subject ... I must thank my classmates and friends for this ... they rallied behind me and got the mess cleared. The mails that he sent me very nearly made it to the principal, but I didn't do that. Didn't want to spoil the entire class' image for one dickhead.

Mr. A (lets make that A for asshole now) is pissed even now... and his face has gone from piss-urgent to constipated in the past two months... :-D He and his equally dumbass pals smile and mutter under their breath every time they spot me in college. It happened a couple hours back when I was coming back from lunch. Whew ... some never learn ...

Hmmm ... thats it ... :-)

The Big Journey...

2007-10-27T14:38:00.001+05:30

Song for the mood: Musafir Hoon Yaaron - Kishore Da

The third semester of MTech, here at IIIT Bangalore, is nearing its end with less than a month to go. The way the curriculum goes, this is the unofficial end of MTech college life; next semester most of us 125 will head for 6 month internships in companies, some of us will choose to undergo a short 6 month thesis in the college itself. So no more lectures, no assignments, no boring classrooms etc etc although that's not what I want to write about at this time.

I am opting for a thesis ... seems the better option of the two ... experimental, crazier whatever more you could call it :-) Jokes apart, a master's course, I feel, is a complete course only when you attempt some work of your own. Given all the skepticism that goes along with this option - well the final outcome of it is not the point of contention. It's about making a choice and living up to your word, stickin' with it! Over the past semester, I have spent a lot of time, thinking about, what next? ... where is life going? ... What is it that I really want to do in life? And the answer has always been different, a different 'no answer'. Is it because I don't really know, or is it because I want to do too many things ... I have no clue. I have never felt at home doing anything, even the few things that I am good at ... I wonder if there is a way to find out, what am I made for?

Yes, I want to do a lot of things, different things. I am scared of the feeling of getting stuck at a place in my life doing a single thing over and over. A couple of friends with whom I have shared this, back in undergrad engg days, felt I was being paranoid. Maybe paranoia is what I am good at then! Sheesh!

I really do want to do many things; c'mon! there is so much to know, so much that we don't understand, so much that affects us but we hardly acknowledge it so. There is so much to see in this world - different things, distant places, diverse cultures - the melting pot, that is this world, with its million flavors and the great big cook in the sky churning it slowly - seems so appetizing ... ermmm ... ok, exciting :-D How can we afford to miss out?

And then there are my own dreams. A big set! And I keep adding to it everyday. Just yesterday, I felt that no matter what, I should study music. I really like music, so why not? Some other want-to-do things are like:

An expedition to mount everest - the top of the world!
One cross country cycling escapade, through forests, streams, hills, valleys
A rock show - not attending - performing!
Write a book - god knows what about - just want to...
.
.
.
.
.
Get six-pack abs ... given my laziness that seems a bit of a problem ... but will see what can be done ;-D

Can't say where life is taking me. Sometimes feel I think too much. Sometimes feel I think none at all; I should be more decisive. Sometimes feel I should stop thinking. Maybe I'll always remain this confused - maybe someday life will sort itself out and I'll find the one thing that I am made for; but maybe then life will become very boring. If the traveler finds the destination, the journey's gonna halt. I don't know if I'm ready to stop ... hell, I haven't even started.

From the song I believe, by Joe Satriani:

I've been out walking for hours. I've got something on my mind.
How did we get here? where are we going? And why is life so hard?

I read the stories, see the photographs. Worlds in a crazy space.
I've got to hold on to my dreams; Theres just no other place.

I believe We can change anything.
I believe We can rise above this.
I believe Theres a reason for everything.
I believe In my dreams...

Sunday Bloody Sunday

2007-10-21T09:53:00.001+05:30

Song for the mood: Sunday Bloody Sunday - U2

Ya, I know this politically charged, rebel song by the best band in the world (although that's not the topic here) is not the message or topic of discussion here, but it conveys what I want to say in one line - why oh why, do we have Sundays???

My condition on a typical weekday is like a train-wreck. I get out of bed on Monday mornings thinking, "How should I avoid getting screwed in college this week?" I'm serious! It is like a single day from Monday morning 8:00am to Saturday evening 5:00pm - and then comes along Sunday to gimme false hopes of peace and serenity.

Take the example of last week; I was on the top of the world on Tuesday morning when I could complete an assigned coding job in perfect time! But come Wednesday the first question prof asked was, "Have you finished integrating it with the script of the other group?" Waaaaaaaah? I didn't even know they were writing a script! And this happens every single day! I, spent 2 days, 2 damn freakin days, trying to understand a non-documented piece of software, wrote an extension to it (ya, I admit, it wasn't really a big deal, but gimme some space) and what do I get in exchange? ...

The entire week is a civil war - remnants of a bombed city ... broken buildings, blood-stained streets, a stench of gunpowder in the air ... an eerie silence runs across the landscape. In a corner, near a wreckage of a house that once was, under broken concrete and steel hides a person, fear in his eyes, praying for his mortal life to last one more day ... just one more day he pushes his hopes ahead ... soon the war would end. But he is about to be disappointed ... for he has been spotted! They've found him ... no no no!!! The powers that be shall put another one to the trial ... a trial by fire! There is no escape! It is a Sunday again, today, and I am making all the efforts in the world ... to not feel too good. The battle begins tomorrow ... so as they say ...

"How long, how long must we sing this song... how long, how long .... "

Rock ain't dead

2007-10-06T11:36:00.001+05:30

Song for the mood: For those about to rock (We salute you) - AC/DC

I remember my first listen into real rock . It was the song Elevation by U2. Although I must say at the time I was more impressed by the video and by Angelina Jolie … I am still a big fan of both :-)

Yeah, I am all for rock music. The rock n' roll, the edgy hard rock, psychedelic, progressive etc you name it. If it has a groove and it feels good to the ears then I will like it. Rock wasn't always the same to me though.

When I was in school, Backstreet Boys were the biggest stars in the world, as far as I was concerned. They were the only band. It was the time when I held the garbage dished out, by Britney and Christina, in very high regard. Theirs were the only songs on TV. For those few years, even Enrique was a rock-star. I sincerely believe, now, it was destiny's way of telling me, "Here boy, listen carefully. This is the kind of music you shouldn't be hearing".

Then one summer, Summer of 69 fell on ears. Bryan Adams became the man! I still think he is good. But that was a different time, about 8 years back. It was my first taste of music that resembles rock in some form. Bryan Adams' soft rock tunes were a big relief from all the nonsense N Sync with their stupid hair-cuts was dishing out on TV.

The day came, when 'Elevation' finally happened. I saw these 4 guys, with instruments, in a video! Playing instruments? Only one guy singing? Impossible! Plus I could actually feel myself headbanging every time I heard the singer go, "Eh... lah... va… tionn!". Mind blowing! My whole world of music came crashing down that very moment! U2, my gods, finally had come to my rescue.

I heard the album Joshua Tree not too long after that. The first song: Where The Streets Have No Name, the moment The Edge started playing the riff which I personally believe is the greatest riff in rock history… I felt a punch… like somebody put his fist in my stomach. When Bono started singing over Larry's drums it was like getting my face smashed on a brick wall. I couldn't believe there was music of this sort! Rebellious. Chaotic. Powerful. It was an instant connection!

"I wanna run… I want to hide
I wanna tear down the walls that hold me inside
I wanna reach out, and touch the flame
Where the streets have no name…"

God! And compare that to the stuff I was listening to! Take the case of a standard video/song; "I wanna do thisssss, I wanna do thaaaaat" every last word was pulled for no reason. The singer would be standing with face in the camera, to show how clean his or her nose is, and then trying to add facial expressions – lowered eyes, slowly nodding neck, curling up the lips etc Every time they didn't know what to sing, they would add a 'Yeah!' or 'Oooh!' as a filler. With all their efforts, the most they managed to look was constipated. And the song would be about nothing most of the time...

And here was this song! I didn't care what the singer looked like. It wasn't their song, it was everybody's song. It didn't matter who you were, you heard the song and you knew this was about you. It was what you wanted to shout out for so long. You could be standing with you hands in your pocket, you could be just nodding your head to the tune, maybe doing a little jig, even throwing your hands wildly in the air every time the song tempo changed, it didn't matter! It didn't matter if anyone was watching you when you were dancing to the powerful beat. In your mind you were running fiercely, chasing the wind, pulling the clouds down, grabbing a storm by its tail, breaking a mountain with your bare feet … it was all that and yet very real.

Soon other rockers followed. Everyone has their own style. Pink Floyd does it with rich big-band music – Gilmour's guitar and Water's lyrics can make you feel nauseas and crazily happy at the same time. Aerosmith is all out wild! AC/DC keep it so simple that you just can't comprehend it. But you'll dance to that music till you drop on the floor, and still be waving your hands and feet. Led Zeppelin is mystical – they aren't playing in a studio or on stage – it is a forest with demons and ghosts, and they are all dancing to Led Zeppelin's songs. Red Hot Chili Peppers are an enigma; you never know what they are trying to tell you in a song. Radiohead and Coldplay make me go dizzy! The Police are the strangest; you listen to the same song three times in a row and you'll understand three different things. Deep Purple, The Who, The Eagles … I can go on and on. There are so many more!

But there is one thing common to all; they are not singing for you and me, but it is still our song. It's been four or five years since I got pulled into this world or rock. And I am only enjoying it more and more everyday. Rock is not dead. It is still alive in all of us … it is not about the song it never was. It is about the passion … the rebellion … the happiness within you. It just needs a song to make us feel all that…

Rain

2007-09-04T15:50:00.003+05:30

Song(s) for the mood: U2 - Electrical Storm / Billie Myers - Kiss the Rain

A lil poem of my own, an ode to the rains...

I stare through the window
At the clear blue sky
A lonely cloud smiles at me
A lonely ranger passing by

My eyes see the shining sun
But my sight is lost in time
The lone traveler of the heavens
Reminds of a forgotten rhyme

The voice of a lonely mind
The words of a different season
The beat of a laughing heart
For a soul asking for a reason

The heavens sensed my feelings
The gods arose with a thunder
The onset of my gospel
Greeted with a drop of wonder

The song had just begun
Nature gave me a stage
Millions more poured in attendance
From the skies now dark with rage

The wind carried my words away
across the fields swaying in glee
to the mountains wrapped in silken mists
wrapped them around every tree

They danced in the rivers
on the song of a lost love
Poured from the eye, of the storm,
of the angel crying above

Her tears fell on my mortal being
Dousing my flaming anger
She flew down from the heavens
To Join me witnessing nature's wonder

As we watched the earth in a rapture
I shivered in her spiritual bliss
She put her arms around me
And held me in an undying kiss

I wished to hold on that moment
I hoped it would stay undone
When the heavens conspired
To give me a reason

The song was over in that moment
Gone were the millions
The storm faded with a silent scream
Left a collage of brilliance

Then I watched the last moments
of nature's artistic splendour
She waved from the top of the rainbow
Then left with the lonely ranger

This is what happens if you talk bad about google...

2007-08-21T21:46:00.000+05:30

Song for the mood: Yeh Kya Hua - Kishore Da

Sunday, August 18, the fateful day.

I was chatting with a few friends till about 12:00pm ... on GTalk. After that I went out for lunch. At lunch I was finding faults with google - this and that - some petty things ... :-P

The following are the series of events that took place after that:

1:30pm - back from lunch
1:45pm - I realize I can't sign into GTalk
1:50pm - I can't even sign into my gmail account
1:55pm - My friends can't seem to mail anything on my google ID
2:00pm - Conclusion - the ID is gone :-O ...
2:30pm - I get the feeling I have a cold
5:00pm - My nose and throat is blocked completely due to the cold
6:00pm - Friend tells me over the phone, "ur voice sounds like a frog is stuck in ur windpipe"
9:00pm - High fever

So, if u talk bad about google ... this is what can happen to you too. I dunno how they did it? Ok, maybe they picked up my voice with some freakish new satellite they might have launched in space, secretly, when I was talking bad about google. But ... how did they gimme a cold and a fever ... how?

If you disbelieve this then you'll go bald, a dog will piss on your foot, and you'll have a frog the size of Yokozuna challenge you to a sumo match.

Moral of the story: Don't talk bad about google

(Well, someone deleted my google account. I dunno who and why. The series of events described above is, however, completely true and not imaginary crap ... the reasons, however, well that depends on your perspective ... :-) ...)

Mysterious events... and the first post

2007-08-20T12:11:00.000+05:30

Song for the mood: Comfortably Numb - Pink Floyd

Hello,

This wasn't meant to be my first post. But some sad life creature deleted my old google account yesterday when I was away for lunch. Doesn't bother me much ... I made myself a new one :D

So, this is my blog now ... threechordsoflife ... some of the best guitarists ever, could twist just them shitty little three chords around and make magic! Ya, I play a bit of the guitar ... I prefer to think I am a lot better than I really am :P ... and life as of know revolves around these three chords - music, madness and friends ... :)

I am a student, staying away from home. Life is good here in the hostel. I got a group of equally insane friends ... and lotsa lil' things make a great day - jokes, noise, dances (expect Johnny Lever not Michael Jackson), LAN games, drowsy lecture halls, great professors (role models), boring food, overdue assignments, excuses for work (or the lack of it) etc etc ...

I miss Ghar Ka Khaana, my parents and my sis ... something I realized after moving to the hostel more than a year back ... different city too ... so am always eager looking for a trip back home. Another thing: Mumbai rulzz ... Wada Paav rocks! Better not argue with me about this one. Period. :-)

So, this is the first post ... looking forward to posting regularly ... seeya around!!