Accounts of The Lonely Traveller

The Will of The Lonely Traveller

2007-11-06T11:19:00.001Z

Hello friends.

Rosh here. I have just some time back found the Last Will of The Lonely Traveller. I thought I should post it here for all his other friends to read it.

Cheers.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
I, The Lonely Traveller, residing at Blogger.com, declare this to be my Will, and I revoke any and all wills and codicils I previously made.

I leave my all to my dear friend, Rosh. He has to fill in to my blogging shoes. I have registered a place for him @ Blogger as well as on Wordpress.

My dear Blog Pals, I have passed the baton over to Rosh and have appointed him as my successor. I humbly beseech you all to give the same love an affection to him as you have given me.
Please do keep visiting Rosh @
http://lifewithninu.blogspot.com/ or http://roshabraham.blogsome.com/.

And, Rosh, I implore you to write a Eulogy for me.

The attached will was signed by The Lonely Traveller, the testator named in the will, on the 6th day of October, 2007, at the law offices of BlogSopt, Blogsphere.

When he signed the will, The Lonely Traveller declared the instrument to be his last will.

The Lonely Traveller was, at the time of executing this will, over the age of fifteen months and, in our opinions, of sound mind, memory and understanding and not under any restraint or in any respect incompetent to make a will.

Signed: Witness 1 --------- Witness 2 --------- Testator

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Eulogy

2007-10-31T07:08:00.000Z

The Lonely Traveller(TLT), prominent blogger on BlogSpot, died on Sat, 6th of October '07 from complications of losing his 'Lonely' title. He was fifteen months old. Soft spoken, cheerful and friendly, TLT never looked the part of a hopeless romantic.
But in the final days of his life, he revealed an unknown side of his psyche.
This hidden quasi-Jungian persona, surfaced during the pursuit for his soul mate, a woman who he only spent a few precious hours, on the phone, with.... a woman who he had only seen through his webcam.
The protracted search ended Saturday afternoon in total success. There was not even a single minute during the one and a half hour long marriage ceremony, when TLT thought that his Lonely status was about to expire. Later that evening when he thought about his beloved blog, http://accounts-of-the-lonely-traveller.blogspot.com/, he realized that the time had come to let go.
Yet even in certain loss the courageous TLT secretly clung to the belief that life is not merely a series of meaningless accidents or coincidences. But rather, it is a tapestry of meaningful events that culminate an exquisite, sublime plan laid out by God.
Asked about the loss of his dear friend, Roshan Abraham, the executive editor of the blogs http://lifewithninu.wordpress.com/ & http://lifewithninu.blogspot.com/, described TLT as a changed man in the last days of his life.
"Things were clearer for him. He wanted to renounce his title." Roshan noted.

Ultimately, Roshan concluded that if we are to live life in harmony with the universe, we must all possess a powerful faith in what the ancients used to call "fatum," what we currently refer to as destiny. Each one of us are destined to <......something......> and this 'something' is set by God.

(Note ~ This eulogy is inspired by Serendipity)

And they said.....

2007-08-28T14:31:00.000Z

It's been really long since I last updated my blog.
As you all would be aware by now, TLT has found someone to dismiss his lonliness. The Lonely Traveller doesn't have to be lonely any more. He has found a companion so sweet, so caring, so loving, so beautiful, and so much of everything wonderful!!!
She has transformed his ordinary life into something so beautiful. Such beauty was never there before he met her. With her, he has found new meaning to his life.
He has found renewed joy in each moment that life now brings. He finds comfort and trust in their love and closeness. And he is ever thankful to Our Lord, Jesus Christ, to have blessed him with such a wonderful companion.

As a tribute to their love, I break my silence on my blog by posting what they had to say about each other.

He said.....

Something wonderful! :-)

She said.....

Something even more wonderful! :-)

Plz Note: The above content has been edited by 'You know who' :D
-----------------------------------

Finaly things have settled down and the dates have been decided. October 6th it is, when I wed Ninu.
Friends I shall post the invite soon. In case you are unable to make it to our wedding (which I hope is not the case), please do remember us in your prayers.

God bless us all.

Cheers
Not so lonely traveller! :-)

Updates!!!

2007-07-02T00:24:00.000Z

Phew! It's been over a month since my last post. Can you believe that?
So I guess it is time for updates. Here they are...

1> TLT's super parents have decided to get him hitched.
2> If this happens, and it might happen very soon, he is contemplating changing his nickname.
3> He thinks 'Mr. Traveller' would be cool!
4> Futher the blogname might change to Accounts of Mr. and Mrs. Traveller :-D
5> Work life is ok. Nothing too great!
6> He will hopefully will be back in India by August end.

That's all for now.

BTW, I forgot to mention that TLT had an splendid day today. He had this amazing 2 hr conversation with 'You know who' :-D. Later he spoke to couple of close buddies regarding the new happenings.

Then, in the evening, TLT visited the 'Lutheran Church of Hope' for worship in the evening.
It was a beautiful praise and worship service. Over 200 people sitting in front of the altar and singing praises to our loving Jesus was quite a sight.
During the course of announcements it was make public that the new worship arena will be completed rather soon and that it shall easily seat 2500 people.
Isn't that great?

Have a brilliant day friends!
And may God bless us all.

Cheers,
TLT

Work - FUN - Work

2007-05-30T02:29:00.000Z

Hello friends.
Back from Niagara and it's time to update my blog ;-)
So here it goes...

After 3 full days of FUN, we returned back from Niagara today early morning. It was an awesome trip. The weather was not on our side, with most part of the 3 days being threatened by rain.

Day 1:

Our first stop was Cleaveland which is a good 10 hours drive from Des Moines.
Try as it did, the gloomy atmostphere did not dampen our spitits.
We braved the thunderstorm and enjoyed the thunderous rides of Cedar Point, Cleaveland.

At 5 in the evening we left Cleaveland and drove for another 4 hours till we reached our hotel at Buffalo, New York. On the way, all I could think was the number of rides that I missed because of the lack of time. I sooooo wish the day were longer. Red carpet Inn was a small but a comfortable room, enough to give us all a sweet night's sleep.

Day 2:

Woke up in the morning and travelled another 30 miles till we reached Niagara State Park. The park was really beautiful and so were the falls. The place was swamped by Desis who were as usual looking for FUN ;-) (Just like us!!!)
At night the Falls were brilliantly lit up and then we were made spectators to an excellent display of fireworks.
You may want to check out the video that I uploaded to YouTube. :-D

Day 3:

On our way back to Des Moines, we stopped over at Presque Isle and had a ride on Captain Norman's speedboat. The bay was really beautiful.

The weekend was really awesome and I was lucky to have good friends for company. The FUN is over and now I am back to what I do usually..... WORK!

Stay happy you guys!
Have FUN.

Cheers,
TLT

Musafir hoon yaaron...

2007-05-25T03:55:00.000Z

Hi friends.

I would be visiting Niagara falls this weekend. We plan to drive from Des Moines to Buffalo Niagara. It's a 13 hour drive and we have one major pitstop; Cleaveland.
We are in a dilemma now. Some well-informed friends have adviced us to spend at least a day in Cleaveland. The problem is that we have only 3 days - Saturday through Monday. Subtract from that 26-30 hours, the time that we would be on road, and we are left with just about 2 days. Less 20 hours of sleep and we have just 24 hours worth of sight-seeing time.
:-(
Anyways, I hope that I enjoy this trip. I am really looking forward for the weekend.
Wish me luck.

Cheers,
TLT

P.S> My folks back home want me to get hitched ASAP. So I hope I can enjoy my bachelorhood while it lasts! God Bless Me :-)

You've got mail!

2007-05-15T01:41:00.000Z

I opened my hotmail account today only to find millions of dollars being awarded to me ...
If anyone wants a share of my fortunes, read further for more details :D

"YOUR E-MAIL ADDRESS WON THE LOTTERY AWARD 2007.
We wish to congratulate you over your email success in our computerballoting sweepstake held toady 10th APRIL 2007. This is a millennium scientific computer game in which email addresses were used. It is a promotional program aimed at encouraging internet users; therefore you do not need to buy ticket to enter for it.
Your email address attached to ticket star number (45407) with serial number 51622 drew the EUROMILLION lucky numbers 3-18-40-40-76 which consequently won the draw in the Second category. You have been approve for the star prize of $ 950,000.00 (Nine Hundred And Fifty Thousand dollars. Only) CONGRATULATIONS !!!
Your email adress has brougt to you this unexpected luck."

---- Ya Right! -----

" DRAWS NOTIFICATION !!!
Ref Number: NL/351/499
Batch Number: NM/207161/WOPDRAWS FOR CATEGORY "B"
Attn: Winner,Congratulations as we bring to your notice, the results of the second Category draws of the last quarter of EURO STAATLOTERIJ which you emerged as a winner under this Second Category, which is part of our promotional draws. The draws were officially released on the 4th of May, 2007."

---- Second here also!!! Can't seem to win even a fake lottery.-----

"DR ATIKU BELLO
The Manager of Audit & Accountancy Dept.
African Development Bank/A.D.B.
Ouagadougou,
Burkina-Faso.
TEL.+226 70 4032 85.

( READ CAREFULLY AND KEEP SECRET) Greeting, and how are you doing?I hope fine.Please let this my message donot be a surprise to you because i got your information and lay trust in youbefore i contacted you.I am the MANAGER OF AUDIT & ACCOUNTANCY DEPARTMENT ofour bank and i decided to contact you over this financial transaction worth the sum of TWENTY TWO MILLION,THREE HUNDRED THOUSAND UNITED STATES DOLLARS($22,300,000.00).This is an abandoned fund that belongs to the one of ourbank foreign customers who died along with his completely family on 25th oct,2002 in a plane crash disaster.

It is clearly stated in our BANKING FOREIGN POLICY and signed lawfully that if such fund remains unclaimed by the NEXT OF KIN till the period of SIX years starting fromthe date when the beneficiary died, the money will be transferred into the BANK TREASURY as an unclaimed fund. Besides,it is not authorized by the law guiding our bank for a citizen of BURKINA FASO to make the claim of the fund. So the request of you as a foreigner is necessary to apply for the claim andtransfer of the fund smoothly into your reliable bank account as the NEXT OF KIN to the deceased.
When the fund is transferred into your account,FOURTYPERCENT(40%) will be for you in an assistance and in provision of the bank account,while SIXTY PERCENT (60%) will be for me.
If you are really sure of your integerity, trustworthy and confidentiality, reply with your contact necessary for the transfer and call me as you so that i will let you knowthe steps to follow in order to finalize this transaction immediately.I will be waiting for your urgent reply."

----If I am sure of my integrity..wtf.. !!---------

"Salam Aleikum
I am pleased to introduce a business opportunity to transfer to your overseas account the sum of (10.5M USD)Ten million five hundred thousand United States Dollars from one of the Prime Banks here in Dakar Senegal.
I am Mr Desmond Koffi (Bsc,Msc) the Auditor General of one of the prime banks here in Dakar Senegal , during the course of our auditing , I discovered a floating funds in an account opened in our bank since 1982 and till date no body has operated on the account and after going through old files in the records, I discovered that the owner of the account died long ago in a plane crash along with his family without leaving a[Heir/WILL], hence the floating of the funds and if I do not remit this money out urgently it will be forfeited for nothing. The owner of the account was a foreigner , Engr.Sam .A. Taha, an estate consultant .
Therefore, with a personal conviction of trust and confidence, I wish to contact you as a foreigner, to stand as a relative, thus I can work out the release of the funds , No other person in the office knows about the account, please be assured of the risk free, I'm the one that will work it out , all I need is your cooperation.
At the conclusion of this project , I propose a joint investment of an equal partnership to you or we may share it in a ratio of 45% for you and 55% for me. One more thing please; I beg you don't consider this against moral justification , they are many other aspects of life we may contribute with this funds to help the less privileged and the needy in a society than having it shared as an unclaimed bill among Government PLEASE .
I look forward to your earliest response.
Yours Truly
Mr Desmond Koffi"

-----Ever wondered why these originate from Africa??-----

I wonder why they have sent me this crap? Do they think I am a fool?

Do people EVER fall for this? What do you guys say?

Cheers,
TLT

Rewind....

2007-05-03T00:47:00.000Z

These days Rai is inspiring a lot of my posts. I was going through her Orkut album and I was so happy to see her in those cute pics with her baba and maa.
That's when I started thinking about my childhood. I know had a happy childhood, but I can't recollect my experiences. It is as if my childhood never existed!!!!
I don't have many pics to boast of. Just a select few which are very dear to me. I know that, in those days, having a camera was considered 'ways of the rich'.
Not many people owned cameras of their own, at least not in the parts where I belong.
My roots take me to a small village, 'Bethanymala', atop a hill. It translates to Bethany Mountain. It is a very beautiful place which, in those days, hosted just a handful of residents. A beautiful stream.... An amazing waterfall..... Awesome views of the valley.... Rich green canopy.... what else would you want from a hometown.
But this is deviating from the topic. All these recollections of the grandeur of the place is primarily because of my more recent visits. To be frank, I don't remember my early childhood... I don't even remember most of my schooldays. I am really jealous of some of my friends who boast of having crystal clear memory of their childhood.

On later thoughts, I think that I have a selective memory. I remember few buddies from my 2nd and 3rd grade. I remember some of my teachers I very well remember my principal.
That's it!!!! It is as if someone has broken into my brain and erased a part of it. I want to get it back ... desperately!!!

HELP ME! Puhleez...

TLT

P.S> My project got extended for a week! So one more week in Des Moines ;-)

Birthday Wishes

2007-04-21T18:03:00.000Z

I was going through a blog post by Rai where she mentioned about catching up with a long lost friend through Orkut. Thats when it suddenly struck me that I haven't visited Orkut for more than 2-3 months.
So I opened orkut today and what do I find? Loads of birthday wishes!!!!
So here is the list of 'em all!!

"dude! belated Happy Birthday!"
"Many Many Happy Returns Of The Day. "
"I wanted to wait till the party was over and see if you are happy of sad...... Happy because you get to grow wiser and sad cos that inevitably gets you older ...... Actually thats a load of crap ..... You know I'm making excuses for not wishing you earlier !!! :P
All the same Happy Birthday bro ... hope you had a ball
Ciao"
"Miyaan... Janamdin ki bahut bahut shubhkaamnaayein :-)"
"Happy B'Day Roshan !!!"
"Many Many Happy returns of the day!!!!!!!!!!!"
"Janamdin mubaarak ho!"
"Happy Birthday Roshan. God bless you in the coming year with all your hearts desire. Have fun! =) "
"Hey Roshan..
Wish ya many happy returns of the day...
Kal office main party dena !!"
"Happy Birthday Sir.... "
"Many many happy returns of the day da.. enjoii "
"happy bday MAMU !!!!!!! "
"Hey, Wish U A Very Happy Birthday!!! Have a great day......."
"hey roshan many many happy returns of the day...have a blast... "
"many many happy returns of the day ? where r u ? when r u returning back to india ... "
"Many Many Happy returns Of The Day "
"Hello Roshan Mahanama
many many hapy returns of the day
may u have a successful yr ahead!!"
"janm din mubarak ho !! "
"Happy Birthday Roshan. Have a great day! "
"sir, seeing as you're in india and it's past twelve there, i wish thee a very happy birthday. so how goes it? "
"Happy Birthday Mate! "
"hey...nice pics dude, good touch of humour !! birthday wishes to u...have a better year than the last one :) "
"advance bday wishes bhai...:-) "
"Happy birthday man "
"happy birthday in advance!! "

Thank you friends for remembering my B'Day! Also thanks to Orkut too!

Cheers,
TLT

P.S> It's my first weekend in Des Moines. Guess what we did?
We played cricket!!!! Then had Hyderabadi Chicken Curry at an indian restuarant here. Ain't it awesome?

US of A

2007-04-18T01:57:00.000Z

Hi friends.
I will be away from blogsphere for a week or two. I am on a work assignment to Des Moines, Iowa. I am told by all that I may have reached here at the perfect time. The temperature ranges from a cold 5 degrees C early morings to a high of 20. It's almost perfect!

Also friends, please continue your support for ViDYA. We really need your support.
Thanks once again.

Cheers.
TLT

She has right to live too!

2007-04-11T03:33:00.000Z

Hi Friends.

On a serious note today:-

Did you know that one an average 14 out of every 1000 girls born in India are a victim of Female Infanticide or Foeticide?

In India girls are considered a burden to the family they are born into. And why you may ask! Blame it on the dowry system prevalent in India that requires the family to pay out a great deal of money when a female child is married.

For families leading a 'hand to mouth' existence, the birth of a girl child can signal the outset of extreme financial troubles. The ratio of girl children to boy children in India is decreasing at an alarming rate (almost at a rate of 3% each year).

However this anti-female bias is by no means limited to poor families. Much of the discrimination is to do with cultural beliefs and social norms. These norms themselves must be challenged if this practice is to stop.

To effect this change is the vision of ViDYA - an initiative taken up by few of my colleagues. Today I have pledged my allegiance to this group.
If we can help save one life, I would consider it to be an enormous achievement - both on the personal as well as the social front.

ViDYA is backed by United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) which aimed to run similar projects but was crippled due to lack of resources.
We are currently a 14 member team who have volunteered to work on this project. While we would be getting all the valuable information and guidance from UNFPA but we are still short on funds.

As for our action plan, we are targeting Mandya district as it has the highest proportion of female infanticides and foeticides. The latest studies shockingly reveal that, on an average, there are 18 girl children killed for every 1000 born.
This is 4% more than the national average. I know these figures might already give you goose bumps as they did to me, but what is more revolting is that of the 18 per 1000 killed, over 70% of it is infanticide. I don't know how people have the heart to strangle their own children to death.

The government is trying to protect a female foeticide by not allowing parents to determine sex of the foetus with the aid of modern technology.
Before this ban was imposed, the diagnostic clinics that boasted ultrasound scanners used to lure people with catchphrases such as 'Spend 600 rupees now and save 50,000 rupees later!'.
The ban has certainly reduced the volume, but some people still practice it under some pretext or the other.

Preeti Singh for The Tribune writes
"To be fair, there are stringent laws to protect the female child whether in the womb or after birth. But these laws remain on the statute books as there is no specific administrative machinery to oversee their implementation at the ground level. Ironically, some diagnostic clinics, having installed ultrasound machines, display a board warning their clients that tests meant to determine the sex of the foetus are against the law.
However, the business of detecting the sex of the child goes on inside the clinic under one pretext or the other, the most common being to detect Down’s Syndrome. This is permitted by the law."

I assume that we all understand the gravity of the situation.
Now, What is ViDYA going to do for this?

We plan to

Have seminars and road shows in select villages in Mandya district

Spread awareness by speaking to the teachers at various schools

Design and distribute pamphlets spreading the message

Promote our cause through media mention in local newspapers and local cable channels

Conduct multiple awareness camps in order to spread the message

Try to get some more volunteers (Maybe, even residents of Mandya)

Gather funds for this cause through multiple channels.

Provide sponsorship for 20-30 girl children (The number will depend on the funds/sponsors we get. The more the better!)

Once these steps are successfully completed at Mandya, we plan to spread this to Mysore and then to other parts of Karnataka.

Friends, if like me, you too feel strongly for this project I urge you all to participate. If you are in around Bangalore/Mysore you can join us.
If not, you can still help this cause by pledging some money for ViDYA.
Please speak to your family and friends and explain to them the seriousness of the situation. There have been reported incidents of a girl being married to more than 1 person in the states of Haryana and Punjab.
In some of the regions there are only less that 800 girls for every 1000 boys. This is quite an alarming statistic.

If you, or people you know, are willing to set aside some money for us; please mail to me at roshan_abraham@hotmail.co.uk with the subject line as ViDYA:Donate:Rupees
(if you want to pledge in INR) or ViDYA:Donate:Pounds(if in GBP).
I was unable to set up a paypal donate button on my blog-site due to some technical issues, so please bear with me and mail me your pledges.
We can then later discuss how to channel it to ViDYA.
If you are willing to volunteer, please mail at the same email address with the subject line as ViDYA:Donate:Weekends

Looking forward to a large participation.

Cheers,
TLT

Whose seat is it anyway?

2007-04-02T09:58:00.000Z

I was in Bangalore last weekend and I happened to travel on a K.S.R.T.C bus from Shivaji Nagar to Jalahalli West. The bus was jam-packed, but luckily(or unluckily) I managed to grab a seat - the one in the leftmost corner of the last row! You know the type that would make you do a "Saif", a la movie Dil CHahta Hai.
While I was struggling to hold on to the window rod and remain seated, I overheard some altercation going on couple of rows in front of me.

The Issue-> "A pretty young damsel had ventured into the unreserved area of the bus and had sinned by taking a seat there"

The Aggrieved Party-> "A mob of ,what I will hereon refer to as, grumpy old men"

The Complaint-> The girl had breached the code of conduct by venturing out to the non reserved are and had the audacity to sit when so many grumpy old men were fighting for a seat."

The Judge-> "The Conductor who did not seem to understand the Kanglish (A biased mix of Kannada and English) that the girl was uttering."

The Jury-> "The onlookers, which included me, who kept straining their necks to glance at the lass and then at the conductor and then at the aggrieved party as though watching a 3 way Table Tennis."

Case shuru kiya jaye!!!!
The grumpy old men kept on compaining to the conductor that the girl had encroached upon their right to rest their sorry asses on the cushionless seats to the 'ever so slow' moving bus.
The defendant pleaded 'Not Guilty!'. She said that there are only 2 types of reservation on the bus.

- Reservation for the Ladies
- Reservation for the Handicapped

She cried that there was nothing called as Men's Reservation on the bus and that anyone could be seated on the no reserved seats.

I nodded in consent, but quietly stopped when I saw the grumpy old me staring at me disapprovingly as though I had committed some loathsome crime.

The judge (Mr. Conductor) who did not understand even a single word what the defendant had to say, expanded his chest and announced the verdict. The defendant had been found guilty as charged! She was ordered to vacate the seat and move towards the front of the bus where her rightful place was!

I stared in silence as she rose up, a tiny drop of tear in her eyes. I hated myself for not having the courage to stand by what I felt was right. I could see the satisfaction on the grumpy old men's face. Everyone was beaming!

I rose up to beckon her and offer her my seat! By the time I could push my face out from the crowd to call her, she had somehow managed to move to the front of the bus. I turned back to return to my seat, but that was taken too.....

I am eager to hear your thoughts on this?

Whose seat is it anyway?

Cheers,

TLT

P.S> Based on a few comments that I received, I need to publish a slight clarification here before you pass any judments. The term Grumpy old men used in the above post is not a true indicative of the age. I consider myself, all of 26 years, quite old! The aggrieved party's age was not more than late 30s.

What's up Dog?

2007-03-24T03:30:00.000Z

When I was in the UK, I made friends with this hefty 120 pound black dude, Devon Charles.
(Please note ~ I am not a racist! I call a spade a spade. I call the Brits white! But most often I refer to them as Pommies)
Don, as he likes himself called, is a very good buddy of mine. His towering stature and his magnanimous belly often puts you on the back foot.
Cricket followers would know what I am talking about. The ball comes at you at a brute pace and is directed to take your head off.
The best option for you is to step back and sway away from the line of the ball. Well, Don is 'THE BOUNCER' when you first meet him, but when he befriends you and speaks in his "YO" accent, the bouncer becomes 'A JUICY HALF VOLLEY' which you can just ease out of the stands.
I should stop talking about cricket. The minnows eating the sharks have gotten into my head. It's an amazing feeling, one of exotic intoxication, when I see the underdogs performing so well.
When everyone had written them off, they just came on to the field and gave a sterling performance.
It just set my tears rolling!
I am sad that India and Pakistan are out of the tournament, both teams studded with superlative cricketers!
(India is only virtually out as there is still one in a thousand chances of Bermuda defeating Bangladesh. And I bet that all of India would be praying for Bermuda's win. But I most sincerely wish that this should not happen. It would not be good for Cricket-more specifically Indian cricket. It was sad to see Dravid break down, as he did, after the team's loss to Sri Lanka. I don't think Indian fans have the heart to witness the team lose another match.)
But, I must say Bangladesh and Ireland played very well on the day that mattered the most.
Coming back to Don, he had called me up yesterday.
"Yo Dog! Wassup with you?" were the first words that he spoke to me after three months.
When you call some one a Dog in India you are sure to be reverted back with a barrage of the vilest abuses you might have ever heard.
Dharam paji during his peak times used to address every villain in his movie as Kutte! Kamine!
But when Don calls me Dog, he speaks so reverently and earnestly that I can only reply back with 'I am cool! Doggg' (with the added stress on the 'G')
I wonder why he adresses me as dog.

Ah! Maybe I know the answer.

Don is a Man.
Dog is man's best friend.
I am Don's best friend

So does that mean I am Dog?

:-)

Cheers Dogs!
TLT

P.S> Indians were Lankan'ed yesterday. I knew that we lost the game when Sachin got bowled through the gate. I switched off my TV after that. I read in today's newspaper that Dravid tried to achieve the impossible, fighting and struggling to save the team from embarrassment, till the very end. It is very sad to note that the stalwarts of modern Indian cricket (Sachin especially) will retire knowing that they could not bring home the glorious cup even after competing for 3 years.

A much sadder note this World Cup is the murder of Pak coach Bob Woolmer. Pakistan was literally annihilated by the nascent Irish team. It is not yet confirmed who were responsible for this shameful act or what were the motives behind this. The killers may be anyone - some lunatic cricket fans, some members from the Pak team, the underworld. Let's not point our fingers at anyone before they are convicted. But whatever happened was really sad....and shocking! The entire cricketing community should be ashamed. Malcolm Speed has announced that such tragedies happen, and that the quest for the cup has to go on. I don't seem to agree.

Cricket has just become a way to earn some quick bucks- be it the corporate houses that use Cricket to lure the public into buying some crap, be it the cricket stars who themselves unabashedly plunge into the world of advertisements, be it the underworld who thrive on the betting racket to fund their despicable acts. I am sadder to see the common man getting trapped into all of this. I hate to see the sensible and passionate cricket fans to be turned into some sort of raving frenzied monsters who burn effigies of cricketers, attack their houses, when they don’t perform well!!!! I shudder to think how far they might go on with this.

This world cup would be marked as the event when Cricket lost its glory. It has become a devil's paradise - betting, match fixing, drugs, assault and now MURDER!

God Save Cricket!

Tagged - Why I am the Way I am

2007-03-12T06:56:00.000Z

This is $$%%%$$ tough. Judging/Understanding oneself is really tough. Rai is the one who is making me do this.
'Dishum! Dishum! Pow! Kapow! Kaboom! Smack!' That was for you Rai ;-)

It's so easy to say "Alice is so pretty. She has a kind heart." Or, let's say "Ramesh is a brave boy. He fights everyday to overcome his own demons" .
Or, even easier would be to say "Shelly is such a mean person!" or probably "John doesnt even know how to dress smart!"

But, can I ever say something like this about myself? If I say good about myself people will think "Saala! Apne muh aap miyan mithu"
And bad about myself, I do not have the courage to say it out. I am afraid that it will ruin whatever I have currently. So this post would just be about my whites, or maybe something which is gray! But there won't be any black which will be revealed today.
I have tweaked the topic of the post more to my liking. This post contains 6 different characteristics of me and why I have those traits.

To make it interesting, let me try to write these in Haikus.

1. Emotional

Drops of rain
Tears gushing out
Mom scolded

(I cannot hide my emotions. You are at a disadvantage when people can fathom what really is going on inside your mind. I need to learn to mask my emotions.
Even watching some movies can induce tears in my eyes. This is definitely hereditary. My mom is as emotional as I am.
Note~ I don't cry when I chop onions)

2. Dual Personality

Under the hot moon
I saw it;
My mood swing

(One moment I am the happiest person on earth and in the next I am bitter. I don't understand why? Maybe its the way my DNA has intertwined.. :-)
Apart from this, compared to what I am otherwise, I am a totally different person when I am at office. This change is intended. I like to keep my work and home separate.
Note ~ My friends don't like this!!)

3. Tough

Scorching sun -
Dad's near fatal accident
Makes me sweat

(My dad's near death experience has changes our lives for ever. Each member in our family is now tougher than ever.)

4. Love My Comics

Sipping coffee reading;
In the balcony
Mandrake The Magician

(I love reading comics and graphic novels. Not that I don't read the normal novels. I do that too!
But I am not as passionate about it as I am for the comics. This I definitely know why. From childhood I was brought up on a regular doze of Indrajal comics featuring Phantom, Mandrake, Rip Kirby, Flash Gordon etc.)

5. Topophobic

Heartbeat rising
Stop; school stage
Morning speech

(I was always nervous when I was on stage.
I remember that once I had told my Mom that I could hear my heartbeats more than the speech that I delivered on stage. She immediately took me for a echo test to make sure my heart was fine. The doctor suggested that the symptom could be because of my nervousness ;-)
Again, I have not been able to find the root cause of this phobia. Maybe this is because I was always afraid of people judging me.

6. Funny Guy with lots of PJs :-)

Her smiling splashes
Recycled water
Really bad hairday

(I was watching Jiah Khan's lawn bath, from the movie "Nishabd", on Saturday. That was when I remembered that our company is very eco friendly an uses recycled water for watering our lawns.
I couldn't restrain myself from passing this comment "I wonder how Jiah's hair would look after a bath at My Company's lawns ;-)
And people did laugh at my pathetic joke!!!
I credit this trait my my friends. I was lucky( Read: Lucky me ... Unlucky You) to be in the company of friends who encouraged my stupid jokes... ;-)
Note~ Chandler Bing is my IDOL!

The bottom line is that we are moulded the way we are because of
1> Social Environment
2> Family
3> Friends
4> Adversities
5> Geographical Location
6> Faith
There are a lot more factors too that contribute to your appreciation or depreciation in some way or the other.
In the end what matters most is that what sort of clay you are made of? How resilient you are to bad influences and how accommodating you are to the good ones!

Cheers,
TLT

No Men's Day!!!

2007-03-08T03:02:00.000Z

Today is a special day! A day that is supposed to spread cheer and glad tidings among all the Venus dwellers. Yes! On 8th of March, year after year, International Women's Day is celebrated globally.
Reason quoted: "connecting all women around the world and inspiring them to achieve their full potential".
What about Men??? Don't men need to connect? Well I suppose we are already connected that's why there is no need of a celebration for us!
But lads! Don't be disheartened. You will get your share of a day soon. You may just have to wait for another 17 years and 20 days.
I understand that you are puzzled! How could some one predict future and that too stating such precise date?
Well, if Nostradamus could then why couldn't the street astrologer who beckoned me yesterday? He and his sidekick - The Parrot predicted that after 17 years and 21 days I would be appointed the Prime Minister of India.
He read the shock on my face and with a twinkle in his eye he repeated: "Yes! You will become the Prime Minister.. Probably the youngest!"
I have thought long and hard yesterday about this. The first things that I am gonna do is to revoke all reservations given to the galz! When the galz say they wanted to be treated as equal, it is our moral obligation that we agree to it.

- No "Aap Pehle"
- No opening the car door and waiting for you to walk "thumak - thumak" slowly and be seated.
- No separate ladies queue
- No bus or train seats for ladies separately!!

Some people might think this is foolish. It will only give rise to the number of eve teasing complaints against women. Don't worry ladies! I have a plan to stop this. Eve teasing will no longer be a minor offense. It will be treated as a non bailable offense with a maximum prison sentence to be 10 years of hard labour.
The only thing I am worried about is that we may have to lock up a quarter of India's male population.

March 28th, 2024 this bill will be passed and I shall declare it as Men's Day! Why shouldn't we have a day to celebrate our rights? We should and we will!

Yours sincerely,
Future Prime Minister.
TLT

;-)

The Revelation

2007-02-23T09:07:00.000Z

During my early childhood, I was regularly fed with a heavy dosage of desi movies; be it Malayalam or Hindi. It was good fun! But it had its banes too.
When the hero and heroine used to kiss, they used to show two flowers coming closer in the wind and then shaking right in front of my innocent eyes.
And the next thing I know is that hero heroine had a kid!!! It really made me wonder which flowers were responsible for me.

Some months after that our teacher was giving us some advice about not to harm butterflies.

Note ~ She had seen a few of us catch butterflies in the school garden and tie a thread to it to make it fly like a kite.

She started teaching us about pollination, and how butterflies help with that. I did not quite get her explanation and all I concluded after her sermon was that apart from butterflies producing (pollinating) baby-butterflies, they also pollinate flowers!!! And flowers pollinate us!!!

One day I asked my mom about a mark on her stomach and she replied that I had kicked her a lot of times when I was inside her.
Now I was utterly confused!

Flower pollinated me and Mom ate the flower. Ah!!! That's why I landed in her stomach. I thanked my stars that she didn't chew the flower properly when she ate it.
I did not quite like the idea of being chewed by someone, be it my own Mom!!

Later, after a few more months of ignorance, the TRUTH actually hit me. I don't remember the real dialogues, but it was pretty close to the ones mentioned below.

Deepak: "Do you know where babies come from?"
Me: "I know! From flowers!"
Deepak, Dev, Ram, Murthy all give me a "Are you insane??" look.
Ram (the wisest of us all): "You buffoon! What gave you the idea that you came from flowers? Children resemble their parents. And in your case it is correct. You resemble a FOOL"(Phool - Fool!!! Got the connection? ;-)
Dev: "My Mother told that she asked me from God. And that an angel came one night and handed me to her!"
Murthy: "Yes! My mom too!"
Me: "Then how come everyone becomes fat before having a child?"
Deepak: "Ah! That is easy. To produce milk they have to eat a lot."
Ram: "Ya! Once the God gifts the children to the mothers, God tells her to feed the baby milk. That’s why they grow fat."
Me (trying to hide my surprise at the startling revelation): "I was kidding! I wanted to test you guys if you knew it!"
Ram & Murthy (in unison): "Ya fool! We know!"

Now I was more confused than ever!

Why did my mom lie to me?

If it was not me then who kicked her stomach?

Why do they show such blatant lies in the movies?

Why! Why! Why! Who gives them right to screw around with such an innocent mind?

It was then I decided to go back to my movies ...
And after watching a few of them I came to the conclusion that my friends were right! “And why?” you would ask!
Because in most of the movies back then, the hero or the heroine would invariably say "Dekho! Bhagwan ne hamein chand sa pyara beta/beti diya hain na!”

And thus I discovered the truth!

Have Fun!
Stay Happy.
TLT

P.S> I don’t know what I am going to tell my (whenever it happens) kid in case he/she asks? I guess I will still go with "You are a gift from God!" ;-)

We are welcome...

2007-02-19T04:04:00.000Z

I was really tied down with so much work, that I did not get time to post anything new. But here it is! My new post. ;-)

You know what my favoutite verse from the bible is?
It is taken from the New Testament, Matthew, Chapter 7.

Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be
opened unto you:
For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh
findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
Or what man is there
of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?
Or if he ask a
fish, will he give him a serpent?
If ye then, being evil, know how to give
good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in
heaven give good things to them that ask him?

Ask and you shall receive..... Amazing! So that does not give me a licence to ask anything under the sun. Well actually, I may ask; but I might not receive it coz it is also said in the testament of John, Chapter 15, Verse 7

If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it
shall be done unto you.

So we are all welcome to ask for his blessings and mercy! And I believe that our merciful and most wonderful Lord would listen to all our prayers and answer them. The maybe what you may not have expected, but he sure will answer.
There have been so many events in my life where my Lord has stepped in for me and carried all my burden.

His door is always open for us sinners! And all of us are welcome.

Stay Happy.
And May God Bless Us All.

TLT

Twenty Five Minutes....

2007-02-11T10:11:00.000Z

My family and friends recognize that I was always a charmer. I had my way with people... looked at them with my goody-goody, toatally innocent looks and everyone used to fall over like nine pins. But that was the past. As I grew older; the charm seemed to drift away from me. I no longer seemed to have control over it. ;-(
When I was in the UK, I met a buddy of mine. He is a self proclaimed LoveGuru. He tried to impart his wisdom to me. All I did was laugh at the pick up lines that he taught me.
Last week, being bored out of my wits, I decided to use some of his tricks on an unknowing hapless victim. ;-) (wink wink..)
Location - Cafe Coffee Day
Me -> sipping Irish Coffee
She -> sitting all alone, messaging frantically on her mobile.
Note ~ She is a BOMBSHELL! The type that blows away the brains of any man who lay his eyes on her.
Me -> thinking aloud in a muffled voice "Ah!! So there's my test subject ;-)"
I wait for some time, intermittently glancing at her,making sure that she knows that I am aware of her presence. Then, I walk up to her and say "Twenty five minutes.."
She -> in a surprised tone "Excuse me?"
I repeated my words "Twenty five minutes.... That's the longest time that I ever taken to finish a cup of Coffee!!"
She -> Still in shock...but adds with a sweet smile "Do you want to take a seat?"
Me -> smiling back in return... "Sure!"
She -> "Do you want another Coffee?" she mutters out laughing.
Me -> straight faced and controlling my laughter... "No. Thank you. I wouldn't want to lose out on another twenty five minutes of my life."
She -> now laughing out aloud. "Do you use that on all the girls you meet?"
Me -> smiling.. "No. Only the ones whom I meet at Coffee Day!!"
Both of us share a laugh and some more coffee.

LoveGuru's trick does actually work.
;-)

I think I will ask LoveGuru to publish his works as "Twenty five minutes to a date."

Have fun. Stay happy!
TLT

Lo main aa gaya ;-)

2007-02-08T03:14:00.000Z

Hi friends,

By God's Grace, I have reached India safely and have resumed work from my Mysore office. It is really good to be back to India. The icing on the cake was my mini vacation in my hometown in Kerala.
I could not myself believe that I was setting foot in Kerala after a span of 7 years.
It was great to be in the company of my family and relatives.
Already missing them :-(

God Bless Us All.
TLT

Yaar main India chala!!!!

2007-01-23T13:58:00.000Z

Yaaron sun lo zara....Apna yeh kehna....
Going back to..... India mein
rehne...
Big Ben nahin na sahi na sahi
Westminister nahin na sahi na
sahi
Lords nahin na sahi na sahi
Sky Connection nahin na sahi na sahi
Inki humko kyon ho fikar
Jee lo jaise mast Indian!!!

;-)

Catch you guys soon!

Cheers,
TLT

Thank You All!

2007-01-19T23:04:00.000Z

Everything is decided! Finally I am heading back to India. I don't know what I feel? I always thought that I would be happy to go back to India. I don't feel that happiness. And I am not sad also! Actually I don't feel anything at all. I really don't know why!!

My colleagues gave me a farewell party today! Maybe it is a relief for them that I am leaving... Or maybe they can't let anyone go without a send-off? Or Maybe as they said they will geniunely miss me ( Duh! That was way over the top I know! ;-) Who is going to miss me??)

Ahem. All right, guys! It was a great evening! Thanks for the wonderful parting gift! I know that somewhere down the line I will remember each and everyone of you.

There are a few things that I will miss when I leave UK. The points enlisted below are not in any particulal order.

1> Cold wind blowing against my face
2> Evening rounds of TT with Sumeet
3> Guinness Irish Beer
4> Fish and Chips
5> Sky TV Subsciption
6> British Countryside
7> English Summer
8> Friends here! (But on the other hand, I will be going back to some!)
9> Lying all wrapped inside my 14 Tog Duvet ;-)

Also before signing off, I need to read out some thank you notes.

Thank you Amar/Debo for being good mentors.
Thank you Patro/Guru for trusting in my abilities.
Thank you Sumeet for being a good friend and an even better partner in TT.
Thank you Kanchan for being such a good stress-buster. I always feel good after our chat sessions.
Thank you Subba for being my Idol. I would love to be as technically sound as you some day.
Thank you Karan for being a such an irritating friend. I like the way you carry yourself, but simply hate the sarcasm in your voice sometimes. I will miss you.
Thank you Dimitre for being such a good analyst. You have been so approachable. Thank you again.
Thank you offshore team for staying so helpful and enthusiastic about everything. We owe the project success to you guys.
Thank you Gagan, Atul, Diptesh, Rachit for being good roommates.
Thank you Subharna/Sumeet and Nagu/Venky for being such wonderful hosts. I know it takes a lot of courage to endure me.
Thank you everyone whom I may have missed! I could have taken more names but being a lazy person as I am; I will ,with all my heart, thank "Everyone" with this one note.

Have a good day!
And thanks you again friends!

Cheers,
TLT

Someone to watch over me ;-)

2007-01-18T15:27:00.000Z

I guess some of you would remember my copyright (wink wink) PI factor.
Well the notorious PI factor has caught up with me again!
I had been worrying so much about my US Visa from the time I set my foot in the UK. First I booked an appointment in India. When I finally came to know I couldn't make the appointment in time, I cancelled it.
Then booked a new appointment in the UK. The harder I chased, the further it seemed to slip away.
I think this time I forced so hard, that I messed up the entire equilibrium. I spent so much time thinking about it, that I forgot to ENJOY my stay in the UK.
And to top it all my Visa appointment yesterday couldn't have gone any worse. The interviewer asked me no questions at all. He just told me point blank that since I haven't undergone any courses in the UK, he wouldn't be able to judge my educational qualifications, and that I should have this appointment rescheduled in India.
Poor me. ;(

On the other hand I think that everything will turn out to be just fine. The Lord is my shepherd and he keeps watch over all his flock. I will get my VISA when the right time comes. And I believe that the 'GKWIBFM' ,pronounced \kweeb-femme\ :-),theorem totally negates the 'PI' factor.

Have a great day and God bless us all.
Cheers,
TLT

P.S> If you are still wondering what 'GKWIBFM' stands for? It is 'God Knows What Is Best For Me'.

P.P.S> I got an update today that I will be moving back to India soon. Yipeeeee!

A Mushy Weekend....

2007-01-14T12:41:00.000Z

What would you do when you have loads of time in hand and a nice cold weather for company?

I decided to watch movies..Yes! Loads of it. And believe it or not all mushy ones.

Some on my faithful IBM Thinkpad, and others on TV. The list comprized of movies like Spanglish, Four Wedding and A Funeral, A Lot Like Love, The Last Kiss, DDLJ, and believe it or not Main Meri Patni Aur Woh!

You know there are some days when LOVE is all that you care about. And today was such a day.

The morning opened with me watching the beautiful sunrise over the Canary Wharf. It's funny how indulging a small treat like this can kickstart a beautiful day. It showered me with with so much of beauty, that everything else was sidelined.

The gloomy pessimistic shadows are now brightened by the optimistic shades of the sunlit skies.

I am happy! I am contended! I am in love with the beauty around me!

And I promise myself - "I am going to stay the same."

Some of the mushiest lines from my mush favs:

"I would rather have had one breath of her hair, one kiss from her mouth, one touch of her hand, than eternity without it. One"
Nicholas Cage in 'City of Angels'

"I love you. And not, not in a friendly way, although I think we're great friends. And not in a misplaced affection, puppy-dog way, although I'm sure that's what you'll call it. I love you. Very, very simple, very truly. You are the epitome of everything I have ever looked for in another human being. And I know that you think of me as just a friend, and crossing that line is the furthest thing from an option you would ever consider. But I had to say it. I just, I can't take this anymore. I can't stand next to you without wanting to hold you. I can't, I can't look into your eyes without feeling that, that longing you only read about in trashy romance novels. I can't talk to you without wanting to express my love for everything you are. And I know this will probably queer our friendship - no pun intended - but I had to say it, because I've never felt this way before, and I don't care. I like who I am because of it. And if bringing this to light means we can't hang out anymore, then that hurts me. But God, I just, I couldn't allow another day to go by without just getting it out there, regardless of the outcome, which by the look on your face is to be the inevitable shoot-down. And, you know, I'll accept that. But I know... I know that some part of you is hesitating for a moment, and if there is a moment of hesitation, then that means you feel something too. All I ask, please, is that you just, you just not dismiss that - and try to dwell in it for just ten seconds. Alyssa, there isn't another soul on this fucking planet who has ever made me half the person I am when I'm with you, and I would risk this friendship for the chance to take it to the next plateau. Because it is there between you and me. You can't deny that. Even if, you know, even if we never talk again after tonight, please know that I'm forever changed because of who you are and what you've meant to me, which - while I do appreciate it - I'd never need a painting of birds bought at a diner to remind me of. "
Ben Affleck in 'Chasing Amy'

"They should name a gender after you. Looking at you doesn't do it. Staring is the only way that makes any sense. And trying not to blink, so you don't miss anything. And all of that, and you're YOU. I mean...
Look, forgive me. It's just you are DROP DEAD, CRAZY GORGEOUS! So much so that I'm actually considering looking at you again before we finish up here"
Adam Sandler in 'Spanglish'

"I love that you get cold when it's 71 degrees out. I love that it takes you an hour and a half to order a sandwich. I love that you get a little crinkle above your nose when you're looking at me like I'm nuts. I love that after I spend the day with you, I can still smell your perfume on my clothes. And I love that you are the last person I want to talk to before I go to sleep at night. And it's not because I'm lonely, and it's not because it's New Year's Eve. I came here tonight because when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible"
Billy Crystal in 'When Harry Met Sally'

"Look, I guarantee there'll be tough times. I guarantee that at some point, one or both of us is gonna want to get out of this thing. But I also guarantee that if I don't ask you to be mine, I'll regret it for the rest of my life, because I know, in my heart, you're the only one for me."
Richard Gere in 'Runaway Bride'

Stay Happy,

TLT

P.S> I watched the entire Season 10 of Friends yesterday. It was awesome. I cannot believe that there is no more Friends. This was the one sitcom that redefined the benchmark in entertainment. A lot about love, friendship and caring; I owe to Friends.

Gabbar Vs. Sambha

2007-01-09T22:03:00.000Z

Do you know what happens when idle brains clash? They remake Sholay, making Gabbar and Sambha as the lovable fiendly (spelling mistake intended!!! ;¬) duo.
Preeti, henceforth addressed as Gabbar, is a lovable nocturnal creature working at a TOI office in India.
Your's Truly, hereafter addressed as Sambha, is a (not so) lovable daytime beast working at a Client site in London.

One fine day.....

Gabbar:
Haan to sambha kya ho raha hai re???????

Sambha:
Kuch nahi gabbar pyare!
Bas kaam chal rahe they dher saare!
Tu suna tera kya haal hai..
Hum toi yahaan behaal hain.

Gabbar:
Sahi... itne nikkamme ho gaye.. ki shayari shuru kar di..
bura nahi hai.. likho.. hindi filmo mein kaam mil jayega..
isi tarah ke lyrics ko jazz music ke sath bajate hai..
woh suna hai na..

hai huku..hai huku.. hai hai
yeh ladki mere samne mera dil liye jai

so the idea was to say that girl took my heart away...
lyricist ko kuch sujha nahi to pehle line mein
hai huku..hai huku laga diya...
Saala junglee!!
Kuch dino mein naya gana aayega

jinga jinga... hum tum barsat mein bhinga...
hulu hulu... tera mai.. meri
tu.

Sambha:
Saaley! Gabbar!!
Mere shayari ko tumne hai huku se compare kiya.....
Is gustakhi ki saja milegi..
Zaroor milegi magar pyar se.... gandhigiri se!!!

Gabbar, tumhare jaisa dost ho to shukriya upar wale ka..
Hum jaiso ko raasta tumhi to dikhate ho..
Warna yaar- dost to saikdon hain jahaan mein
Magar har roz tumhi kyon yaad aate ho..

Gabbar:
Gabbar-Sambha ki jodi..
Jaise khate-pite ghar ke godha -godhi
Dono saat samundar ki doori hai..
Phir bhi nahi koi majboori hai..
Aish karte hai....karwate hain
Koi interfere kare to uski waat lagate hai..

Sambha:
Ispar humein bhi kuch kehna hai..

Ae dost, tumhe meri dosti ka hai waada...
Tang na kiya kar, humein itna zyada...
Jaag utha agar mere andar ka khoonkhaar janwar...
Bemaut mar jayega tu mere yaar...
Aur yeh na kehna hi kiya nahi tha tumhein khabardaar.
Gabbar ho ya Gobar.. Pitega mujhse tu baar-baar..
Lagatar.... Hoshiyaar!!!

Gabbar:
Agar tumhe janwar jagana aata hai..
To humein tumhara bhoot bhagana aata hai
Dosti ke naam per paan ki peek...
Itna maar khayega ki ho jayega thik..

Bemaut marne ki baari tumhari hai..
Jeet to kal bhi hamari thi aaj bhi hamari hai..
Chikta rahega khabardaar hoshiyaar....
Aur upar se padti rahegi tujhe maar

Itna nahi kafi... to hum karenge upkar
Gift mein denge tujhe juton ka haar....
Kyon darpok... tera josh kidhar gaya
Yaad rakhna-- gabbar ne kaha tha-- jo darr gaya woh marr gaya
ha ha ha !!!

Sambha:
Ab bhoot hi keh diya humein to yeh lo jawaab!!

Jaanwar to kabu me phir bhi aa jate hain
Shaitaan ko kaise kabu me kar paogi?
Abhi door hain to 'tang' kar leti ho mujhe..
India agar aaon to kya yeh continue kar paoge..

Jeet tumhari kabhi na thi...
Kabhi na hogi...
Gabbar ki jeet sirf khwabon mein..
Sirf khwabon mein hongi poori!

Kar le jatan..kar le koshish...
Ae Joonton ke haar ke sartaj !!
Gabbar ki batein humein yaad rahengi..
Itni maar ke baad Gabbar ko khood yaad ho, yeh maalom nahi!

Ye maan le dost, ki tang karne me mazaa aata hai
Jazbaato ke saagar mein lehrein uthti hain
Tumhara mann un lehro me gote lagata hai..
Kya karein dost, tu mere mann ko bahut bhata hai
Aur iske aage mujhe kuch nahi aata kai :)

Ab bol kambakth!!!

Gabbar:
Jaldi hi khud ko shaitaan man liya tumne
Hamare taquat ke samne
Hathiyar dal diya tumne
Khair isme hi tumhari bhalai thi..

Warna kya tumhari shamaat aayi thi..
Jo gabbar ke samne sir uthate
Idiotic shayri se mera mood jalate

Waise gabbar ko tumhari ek baat pasand aayi

Tang karne ka maaza hi kuch hai bhai
Dekho tang kare-karte hum shayar ho gaye
Sholay ki duniya se nikle to shayari ki duniya mein kho gaye.

Friendship ka yeh andaaz accha hai
Par maan le tu mere samne bacchha hai.

ha ha ha ha !!!

-------------------------------------------
Gabbar ki in baaton se Sambha bilkum darr gaya...
No reply for some time...

An ecstatic Gabbar replies:
Kaisa saathi hai tu gabbar ka jo darr gaya
Kya main samjhu tu marr gaya
Dena nahi aata jawab
Ab to teri halat hai kharab
Teri halat dekh kar taras aa raha hai
Jo kal tak sher bana phirta tha.. aaj ghas kha raha hai ha ha ha

---------------
Hope I didn't bug all with my stupid (as ME) post ;-)
Take care.
TLT

O SGM! Where ART thou ;-)

2007-01-06T20:45:00.000Z

SGM hates meetings!!! Most of the meetings serve no other purpose rather than to have an alibi for your presence for an hour or two.
Well today he was forced into attending one. SGM was the last person to enter the room. He sat there with a notepad and a pen placed neatly on the round table.
The other attendees had lots to debate and discuss. But all that SGM could hear was the ocean. The wide blue ocean symbolized freedom for him... freedom from work! freedom from relationships! freedom from thoughts! freedom from life itself!!

Note ~ SGM longs for such freedom...

His hands now shifted and cupped his ears in a different way! The boisterous waves crashed against the rocks. The magical rhythm of sea upped a beat.
As SGM breathed the moisture laden ocean-air into his nostrils and danced to the ocean beats, his pen moved unknowingly over his notebook scribbling something in a frenzy.
When the waves subsided, silence fell across the land! SGM put his pen down.
The scribe read the minutes of the meeting. It sounded all greek and latin! SGM was glad that there was no action item on his plate.
"Thank You", the leader called out.

SGM breathed a sigh of relief. The meeting was over! And there were positive results from this meeting. He had created a masterpiece! ;-)

Cheers,
TLT

Movie Maniac....

2007-01-04T21:30:00.000Z

I am a passionate follower of cinema, not just restricted to the likes of Bollywood and Hollywood, but cinema on a global scale! I just love watching movies day in and day out. And having watched so many movies, it's difficult to pick the best among them all. But daring as I am, I am going to take on the daunting task to name a few.
Note ~ This list was compiled almost an year back! I am just adding a couple of new names to the list.

The compiled list is not set in any particular order ;) And another thing to note is that this list excludes a lot of the cult classics like Golfather, Fight Club, Star Wars etc.

1>Good Will Hunting : Kudos to Gus Van Sant's amzing movie about a gifted math brainiac ( Matt damon ). The screenpay deservedly won an Oscar for Matt and Ben Affleck for the screenplay. I still do not believe the rumours that a major chunk of the screenplay was discussed an written over the phone. There are lot of really riveting dialogues in this movie...the best one being Matt's reply to why he doesn't want to join the NSA ;-) Don't remember? Read this.
"Why shouldn't I work for the N.S.A.? That's a tough one, but I'll give it a shot. Say I'm working at N.S.A. Somebody puts a code on my desk, something nobody else can break. So I take a shot at it and maybe I break it. And I'm real happy with myself, 'cause I did my job well. But maybe that code was the location of some rebel army in North Africa or the Middle East. Once they have that location, they bomb the village where the rebels were hiding and fifteen hundred people I never had a problem with get killed. Now the politicians are sayin', "Send in the marines to secure the area" 'cause they don't give a shit. It won't be their kid over there, gettin' shot. Just like it wasn't them when their number was called, 'cause they were pullin' a tour in the National Guard. It'll be some guy from Southie takin' shrapnel in the ass. And he comes home to find that the plant he used to work at got exported to the country he just got back from. And the guy who put the shrapnel in his ass got his old job, 'cause he'll work for fifteen cents a day and no bathroom breaks. Meanwhile my buddy from Southie realizes the only reason he was over there was so we could install a government that would sell us oil at a good price. And of course the oil companies used the skirmish to scare up oil prices so they could turn a quick buck. A cute little ancillary benefit for them but it ain't helping my buddy at two-fifty a gallon. And naturally they're takin' their sweet time bringin' the oil back, and maybe even took the liberty of hiring an alcoholic skipper who likes to drink martinis and play slalom with the icebergs, and it ain't too long 'til he hits one, spills the oil and kills all the sea life in the North Atlantic. So my buddy's out of work and he can't afford to drive, so he's got to walk to the job interviews, which sucks 'cause the shrapnel in his ass is givin' him chronic hemorrhoids. And meanwhile he's starvin' 'cause every time he tries to get a bite to eat the only blue plate special they're servin' is North Atlantic scrod with Quaker State. So what do I think? I'm holdin' out for somethin' better. Why not just shoot my buddy, take his job and give it to his sworn enemy, hike up gas prices, bomb a village, club a baby seal, hit the hash pipe and join the National Guard? I could be elected president."
Truly amazing!!!
Even Robin Williams and Ben Affleck were amazing in this movie. Read more amazing quotes from this movie @ IMDB

2>Shawshank Redemption : Shawshank Redemption is by far the best movie crafted out of Stephen King's novels(The Green Mile came really close). This film boasted of a stellar cast, with Tim Robins playing an inncoent man in prison accused of murdering his wife. This is one of the best survival stories ever. Watching this movie you realize that there is always hope...hope of some thing better...and it is this hope that can help you endure the worst of pains."Salvation lies within!!"...yes it truly does!!

3>Finding Neverland : Being a Johnny Depp, this movie had to appear in my list...I love almost all Depp movies. He knows how to get into the skin of any role he plays...for example, in The Brave...he plays a convict just out of prison being offered to star in a "snuff" movie to help his poor family. In Pirates of the Carribean..he plays captian Jack Sparrow with such sincerity that it made this chidlren's movie an adult's fav too...i can put a lot of his movies in my list but that wouldn't be fair to other actors, so I am sticking only to Finding Neverland..Another day I would have put "What's eating Gilbert Grape" or any other of his movies.. In Finding Neverland, Johhny plays J.M Barrie the author of Peter pan...His relationship with Kate Winslet and her kids is truly endearing....

4>Forest Gump : I bet this movie will be in my top list for years to come. This is Tom Hanks at his best..Who can forget the opening lines.."My name is Forrest, Forrest Gump. Do you want a chocolate?". This movie is not a fairy tale, but it is as beautiful as one...Forrest's love for Jenny, his fiends, his `momma`...I could watch this movie over and over again without getting bored.

5>Shrek : This was one of the foremost children's movie to appeal equally to adults. Shrek, the ogre voiced amazingly by the funny Mike Myers...his best pal "Donkey" voiced by the talented Eddie Murphy...Princess Fiona voiced by Cameron Diaz..and the King voiced by John Lithgow....All truly remarkable performances...
This fairy tale is full of surprises....The are a lot many brilliant scenes in this CGI movie but the best scene for me was the song "Halelujah" when Fiona and Shrek part ways... Shrek 2 came in later with a new character -- Pussy Cat, voiced by Antonio Banderas. This too was a great movie earning more that the original, but still the original remains closer to my heart.

6>Bull Durham : I personally know a lot many people who just hate Kevin Costner. They feel that he is very much overrated as an actor. Watch "Dances with Wolves", "The Untouchables", "Bull Durham" and I bet that you will feel otherwise. I had a tough time deciding between these three... And I choose Bull Durham, because it captures the essence of sports. It is one of the best movies on Baseball...
The movie takes you on a journey with Crash Davis, played by Costner who loves baseball more than anything in the world..Tim Robbins, plays a rookie, who is mentored by Crash. The best dialogue of the movie..
"You don't respect yourself. That's your problem. You don't respect the game. That's my problem." Wow!!!

7>A Beautiful Mind : I must say that I read the book by Sylvia Nassar after I watched the movie.. The movie did not show everything what the book said...but to hell with that....This is really a wonderful movie.. Crowe, plays a brilliant mathematician, John Nash who is affected by paranoid schizophrenia...The supporting cast was great, Jennifer Connely, Ed Harris. payed their parts really well.

8>Groundhog Day : This is a cute film. Just try to put yourself in Bill Murray's shoes...he is having is worst day of his life repeating over and over again.. Bill Murray is a fine actor and he has displayed that over and over, the latest being `Lost in Translation` and 'Broken Flowers'. If you don't like this movie at first, watch it again... This movie had truly left me amazed till date.

9>When Harry Met Sally : This is one of the best romantic movies ever made( Sleepless in Seatle is also a close competitor in this category)... Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal were brilliant in this movie. The question that this movie tries to answer is that, Can men and women be only friends? Even after watching the movie, I cannot make my mind. ;-) I can watch this movie again and again without even blinking an eye....the story moves so fast and you will not realize how soon one and a half hour passes by.

1O>About A Boy : Being in London, I really had to put a British film in my list...I thought long and hard..the only two movies that come to my mind were "Love Actually" and "About a boy"..Both are great movies..Hugh Grant revelled in both of them. Please read this book authored by Nick Hornby...It's a great read and the movie even better ;)

11>Fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain, Le (a.k.a Amelie) : The only foreign language on this list. The movie has best and the most colourful visuals that I have ever watched in a movie. Compared to most other films "Amelie", is just an ordinary story about a girl living in Paris seen through the lovely eyes of Audrey Tautou. She is extremely beautiful!!!
If you haven't already watched 'Dirty Pretty Things', please do watch it. Audrey looks fab in that too.
Hero (A Jet Li masterpiece) came very close to dislodging Amelie from this list. Maybe next time!!

Other movies that I love :- 'The Usual Suspects', 'American Beauty', 'Fight Club', 'Chasing Amy', 'Chupke Chupke', 'Kilukkam', 'Buono, il brutto, il cattivo, Il', 'Sin City', 'Roja', 'Musa', 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon', 'Agneepath', 'Ramji Rao Speaking', 'Green Street', 'Gladiator', 'The Sixth Sense', 'Serendipity', 'Munnabhai M.B.B.S.',and so on and so forth

So thats all for today!
Signing off.
TLT

2007: An Introductory Retrospection

2007-01-01T19:07:00.000Z

2006 has been a different year for me. I wouldn't classify it as good or bad, but I would just say different. It was exciting, challenging, interesting, lonely, difficult, lucky, happy all at the same time.
If I were to just scribble what 2006 meant to me in a couple of minutes it would be :

new place--new people---new work---time to establish oneself---struggle---work load--lots of bugs---trip to scotland---shifted residence---awesome apartment overlooking a canal---work load reduces---lots of treks and travels---misses family and friends back home---trip to india postponed---project released successfully---lots of initial hiccups---now stabilized---another Christmas in London---travel plans to india gets delayed again---new year---wiser

BTW, yesterday midnight, I was at the London Bridge to view the fireworks sponsored by the Mayor of London. The sight was simply awesome.

Please find below a video of the same.

Have a fun-filled New Year 2007.

God Bless,
TLT

Amazing grace...

2006-12-28T11:19:00.000Z

Hi.

Some of my friends met with an accident couple of days back while they were driving around Scotland during the Christmas holidays. I don't have the complete updates yet, but by God's grace all of them are safe.

Some of the folks suffered minor injuries whereas for the others, the wounds were more severe.

Note ~ I understand the trauma casued if someone from a family meets with an accident. I have been a part of one when my Dad met with a near fatal accident in 2003. God has given my family the strength to cope up with it.
Our loving Lord has miraculously healed my dad's wounds and has blessed him by returning back his memory. We are praying for further miracles each day.

I pray that our lord give strength to all the family and friends of the people involved in this accident and let them rejoice in God's magnanimous grace that preserved them all.

Please pray with me for my friends and their families.

God Bless,
TLT

Aisa bhi hota hai...

2006-12-27T23:55:00.000Z

Manager : Your India travel plans have been approved!
Me : Great!
Background : Tak dhina dhin... Tak dhina dhin...
Dhuchchik dhakchik...dhukchik dhakchik..dhum!!

Manager : You may book your tickets for this weekend!
Me : Ok.
Background : Yipeeeeeeeeeeee! Yaaron sun lo zara, Yaar main india chala... dhooom machale ... dhoom machale... dhoom!

Manager : Book a return flight for next week.
Me : What?
Background : WTF?????????????? Dil aisa kisi ne mera toda! Barbadi ki taraf aisa moda....

Joyeux Noel

2006-12-24T21:33:00.000Z

Hey Friends.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

★★　　 ★★～* *～★　 ★★
*°★ ★Merry X'mas　*°★
‧*°∴°°☆☆★　*°☆☆*°
     °°☆°∴★*°☆∴
      °∴°°☆★∴°
       °∴★☆∴
        ★　　☆∴
        *樂°∴°
        ☆☆*
         ☆
       ﹨/
         ▏
       \●

Note~ To learn how to wish Merry Christmas in various languages you may click here.

This is my second Christmas in London. And I am missing my family and friends back home... :(

Cheers,
TLT

Pssssst, I guess The Lonely Traveller is feeling very lonely this X'mas!
We should something to cheers him up. What say you? ;)

Crushed...

2006-12-22T20:59:00.000Z

I started watching 24, Season 4 last weekend. 16 episodes are over and I still can't get over the cute Leighton Meester who starred in the initial 3 episodes.
Just check out her smile...Amazing!!!!

P.S> I have lost count. I can only say that Leighton is my Umpteenth Crush!

Monkey Sense!

2006-12-21T11:33:00.000Z

This monkey has been feeling weird all day long! His monkey sense is telling him that something's gonna happen real soon!
Good or Bad, He doesn't know! All he knows is that Good things happen to Good people.
And he is sure that he ain't Bad.

Lord, We bow our hearts to You and pray.
We give You thanks for all You've done
Today... Tomorrow... And Evermore!

The Sp'Octa'cular Adventures of Soooper (GREEN) Man!

2006-12-14T11:34:00.000Z

Having been tagged by Life Lover, whose Eight Wonders were as brilliant as it were honest, this post deserves a lot effort.
And being slightly out of breath due to my current project crisis, so this most definitely will have to wait ;-(

*Banging my head against my laptop now.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Ouch! It hurts!

There have been so many Sp'Octa'cular events in my life, that I am not sure what to write and what not to. But, I promise myself that I will complete it by this weekend.

Take care folks! Have a good evening.

To be continued.....
----------------------------
Hello. I am back!
Yours Truly a.k.a the Sooooper(GREEN)Man (hereinafter called "SGM") would like to share some stuff from the past.
And continuing in the tradition of other super-hero/heroine friends, he will disclose eight Sp'Octa'cular events from his Sp'Octa'cular life.

One---> Chillies and Thrills

As there was a legend behind the Superman's cape, there is a powerful story behind his Green pants. Here it goes...
SGM hated Green in his chilhood days, from green leafy vegetables...to the green jumping peas....to the green "Kerala" canopy that prevented SGM from running to his Soooper parents.
Note ~ SGM's early childhood was spent under his grandparents tutelage, while his parents toiled in the land of the Tatas(Jamshedpur)

Now this chain of events triggered an OCD in SGM. Whenever he saw a "Padre", his demons used to force him to spit on them. He was cautious enough to hide this fact from his grandparents.
But, his Grandparents also being Sooooper Grandparents, caught him in the act. Granny rushed out into her garden and pulled out a bunch of Sooooper Green....Soooooper Hot chillies. She then came into the room, held SGM by his ears and laboriously proceeded to rub the chilies onto his palate.
He cried and cried... but Granny wouldn't stop!
SGM now loathed Green more than ever. Green had caused him enough hurt.

But, later when the fire was finally put out by lots of sugar and honey, and when SGM finally regained back his composure, he was happy!
He was CURED of his ailment! His tongue would never again curl to spit when he saw any Padre.
Years later, when the time came to choose the color of his Soooper pants.. Green was the only color that made sense!

Keep watching this space for more adventures.....

------------------------

Two---> Ball Thumbing

It was a dull evening @ Bari Maidan, Jamshedpur where Your's Truly was keeping goals for his soooper football team.
There was a stiff wind accompanied by a slight drizzle but the match had to go on. The visiting team from a colony nearby were actually quite good.. and to be frank everyone expected the home team to lose.
Note ~ SGM was 6 years old then.

Your superhero SGM had already let two goals slip through. And from the way the opponents were playing a third was certainly on the cards. SGM wiped the prespiration from his forehead, as he saw a charged up 4 footer, dribbling the ball smoothly, sprint across to him. As his huge frame entered the D, he swung a mighty kick at the ball.
The ball rushed at incredible speed to wards SGM, who charged forward to gather it.
The ball brushed his right thumb and got deflected away from the the brick that signified the goal post. Teammates gathered around and hugged him, as he had saved them from further embarassesment.
It was at that instant when SGM to his horror realized that his soooper thumb had bent the other way. He quit the game then and there. Then rushed to his soooper mom who held his thumb under cold water and gave it a jerk the other way round.
The thumb slipped back in it rightful place.
SGM presently can use his right thumb for all purposes. But there sometimes is a slight weird tickling sensation at the joint, which he thinks is a constant reminder to the fact that even soooperheroes are human!!!

------------------------

Three ---> First Crush

When SGM was 10 years old, that's when he first saw her. She was standing in another class's queue during the school assembly. She gave him the most beautiful smile that he had ever seen. All day long he thought about her. Even when the History teacher smothered him with barrage of questions, all he could think was her smile.
Two years later.... His first day in the 7th grade...
Note ~ He had not seen the smiling gal again for a couple of years.

He saw a beautiful damsel walk up to and sit next to him. He saw her smile. It was the same smile that he had fallen in love with.
Later they were to become the best of friends!

------------------------------

Four ---> The Reunion

SGM was not a very popular kid in his class. The reason was that he was a studious dork! He had a very limited set of friends. Few months back he met a friend from school thru Orkut. And to be frank, he never expected her to remember him but she scrapped him back. SGM was ecstatic. They chatted for days! But, then one fine day she said:
"Hey Rosh! You know, I don't remember anything about you. Can you upload some snaps of yours onto Orkut!"
And that was the day when SGM crashed back to reality! ;-(

--------------------------

Five ---> Sooper Sis saves the day

Note ~ SGM's Soooper Sis is 2 years younger to him.

SGM was once confronted by 5 bullies from the colony where they lived in Jamshedpur.
He had nowhere to run! Nowhere to hide!
That was when Soooper Sis jumped in. She said : "If anyone dare lay a finger on my Bro! I am gonna beat the hell out of you".
The dare being too much for them, all the goons fled that very minute.
That was the day when Soooper Sis saved her bro.

Another Note ~ SGM's Soooper Sis was 6 years old that time.

------------------------------

Six ---> Soooper Mom - Soooper Athelete

SGM's Mom was a amazing athlete during her teens. She had kept her Soooper Athletism a secret. It was only when SGM was in his late teens, he found way too many certificates confirm this fact! Throwball, Volleyball, Javelin, Shotput, Hurdles to name a few sports she excelled in.
Later that day, she confided that she owed her current job to her Sooper Athletism.
The only question that the company asked her during her job interview was "Would you play for us?"
Note ~ She worked in the same company for over 25 years without ever getting on the field!

----------------------------------

Seven ---> The Underdogs

From his childhood days, SGM was sympathetic towards the Underdogs in Cricket. He cheered for Zimbabwe, Bangladesh, Holland. He cheered when Lance Klussener smacked the ball all around the park when there was no hope for the South Africans. He cheered when Holland mocked the Indian batting lineup and bowled them out for a meagre 200. He cheered when Kenya beat the crap out of Indian attack. He cheered when Bangladesh sprinted to a Test victory over the Mighty Australians.
Note ~ SGM's dad hated when SGM cheered for any country who played against India. Even though SGM wanted India to win, he loved teasing his dad into thinking that he was cheering against India.
:-)

Eight ---> The Graduation Night!

Yours Truly hasn't mentioned this to anyone about this. So whoever is reading this, please be discreet! You know what was the first thing that we friends did when we graduated out of school.
One of us went into a bar, and bought few cans of beer. Afraid of being caught red-handed by friends or neighbours, we went to a park in the nearby colony. We gulped the booze in the dark of the night.
Note ~ SGM did not like the taste of the beer but it was the excitement of doing the forbidden that tasted much better!

--------------------
This was a rather long post but I totally enjoyed doing this.
I thank LL for tagging me, but I am sorry coz I won't be passing on the tag to anyone.
Sorry again! ;-0(

Cheers,
TLT

Thoda sa roomani ho jayein...

2006-12-07T22:27:00.000Z

Today I was going through some snaps taken during a party at a friend's few weeks back. I recalled a song that one of my mates had sung that night, in a bout of drunken frenzy, but with so much passion that all of us stared at him in awe.
"Raah mein unse mulaqat ho gayi... Jisse darte they wahi baat ho gayi" from a Ajay-tabu starrer Vijaypath.
Now talking about romantic songs, I too have some favourites.

1> "Everything I do, I do it for you." OST Robinhood: Prince of Thieves, concocted in a soul-stirring melody by Bryan Adams, a mastermind behind other romantic hits like "Please forgive me" so on and so forth..

2> "Kahe sataye..kahe rulaye...Raam kare tujhko neend na aaye" OST Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak. A young and vibrant, Juhi and a handsome charmer, Aamir .. sure recipie for success. I almost fell in love with Juhi when I watched this song on screen for the first time.

3> "Leaving on a jet plane" by John Denver. There was pain in this song... pain of leaving his girlfriend...pride(patriotism) of fighting for war for country.... and more than that... hope of returning back to his beloved. Everything was captured to perfection in this song.

4> "Jab kisi se dil" OST Pyar To Hona Hi Tha. There is something about Kajol and Ajay, a mysterious chemistry that never could be captured with the lenses. All of their movies tried it in vain, but it was this one song that won over my heart. Even though it's is cover of the Bryan Adams hit - "Really love a woman", I love it.
I loved the way Ajay tries to shy away from Kajol.. Really Sweet!
"Yeh pyar bhi badi ajeeb cheez hai, Sanjana. Jahaan iqrar ki ummeed ho wahin kehne se darta hai..aur yahaan to inqaar ka poora bharosa hai!"

5> "Na bole tum..na maine kuch kaha! Phir na jaane aisa kyon kaga?
Ke dhoop mein khila hai chand..Din mein raat ho gayi!
Pyar ke kahe suna bhi baat ho gayi". I don't remember the movie but it was the ordinary charm of the spec'tacular Amol Palekar and the charming Tina Munim. That's what an ordinary love song looks like. I loved it.

These are mentioned in no order. there is no way that I can pick up five favourites. These are just the five lovely songs that I remembered tonite.
Another new song also comes to mind... "Jiya dhadak jaye." OST Kalyug. Beatiful song. Earthly lyrics..Great music...Kunal Khemu and the director's sister.

P.S> Well, Who thought that he would ever play the lead actor in a movie? And Boy oh boy! He sure knows how to act?

Later,
TLT

Bas yun hi...

2006-12-06T16:52:00.000Z

I love my customized Google Homepage. I have my calendar on it. I also subscribe to various news feeds... local weather... quotes of the day... so on and so forth.
And BTW today's quote was not too bad!

There are two ways to slide easily through life; to believe everything or to doubt everything. Both ways save us from thinking. - Alfred Korzybski

P.S> Meri (project wali) jung abhi bhi jaari hai! And we are not holding back.
Jeetne ke ab kaafi aasaar nazar aa rahe hain...
Bhai log, koi nazar mat lagana. ;-)

A Prayer.

2006-12-01T22:57:00.000Z

Hello dear friends.
You know how sometimes a little prayer can make you feel at peace with the world around you! It's magical. Ain't it?
Nothing short of a miracle!

The prayer quoted below has always been a favourite of mine.

When I pray this, I repent.
When I repent, I am forgiven.
And when I am forgiven, I am at peace... with the world... with myself.... with everything!

All that we ought to have thought and have not thought;
All that we ought to have Spoken and have not spoken;
All that we ought to have done and have not done;
All that we ought not to have thought and yet have thought;
All that we ought not to have spoken and yet have spoken;
All that we ought not to have done and yet have done;
For all that has been wrong, 0 God, we pray for forgiveness.

May this prayer help and guide you too.

Praise the Lord!
TLT

I need thy SUPPORT!!!!

2006-11-30T22:24:00.001Z

This beautiful photograph has been captured by a friend of mine, Abinash.
Dude, I am using it here without your permission. I trust that you will forgive me ;)

Well, As you would all be knowing by now. My project has gone LIVE! Now it's SUPPORT Time!!!
Stuff not happening...Analysts complaining....Users complaining....Business being affected....And it's a miserable time... ;(

Lord, I need you SUPPORT to make the project support go smoothly. As you have guided us throught our life, please guide us through this phase too!
And my Lord replies,

I know that faith is easy when everything is going well
But can you still
believe in Me when your life's a living hell?
And when all the things around
you seem to quickly fade away
There's just one thing I really want to know

Will you let go? (I'll trust you, Lord)
Will you stand on My word?
(I'll trust you, Lord)
Against all odds will you believe what I have said?
(I'll trust You, Lord)
What seems impossible ... (I'll trust You, Lord)
Will you believe? (I'll trust You, Lord)
Every promise that I made will
you receive? (Yes, I will trust You, Lord)

Thanks you Lord!
TLT

Victory at Last!!!

2006-11-26T23:29:00.000Z

Yipeee!!!! The project I was working on went LIVE!! A massive morale booster for all of us!
Today, I am reminded of a beautiful poem by Emily Dickinson named "Success".
I will just quote the first verse. If you are interested to read the complete poem please click here

Success is counted sweetest
By those who ne'er succeed.
To comprehend a nectar
Requires sorest need.

You know; when you are a software engineer, and that too a passionate one, you tend to treat your project as your kid. And you would certainly want the best to happen to him/her. I have had the traumatizing experience of losing one of my kids, so this SUCCESS sure tasted much sweeter..

But as all roads to Success are, this one was not without it's fair share of fights and challenges!!
But we overcame them all!
CHEERS to all of us who made this happen!!
I am thankful that I was blessed with exceptionally brilliant colleagues who challenged and overcame all obstacles that came our way. Thank you friends!

And May GOD Bless Us All.

Your pal,
TLT

P.S> I thank you Lord for helping us overcome our challenges. Please keep your watch over us, your most humble sheeps.

This life is most jolly!!!

2006-11-24T22:53:00.000Z

"Blow, blow, thou winter wind,
Thou art not so unkind
As man's ingratitude;
Thy tooth is not so keen
Because thou art not seen,
Although thy breath be rude.
Heigh-ho! sing heigh-ho! unto the green holly:
Most friendship is feigning, most loving mere folly:
Then, heigh-ho! the holly!
This life is most jolly.

Freeze, freeze, thou bitter sky,
Thou dost not bite so nigh
As benefits forgot:
Though thou the waters warp,
Thy sting is not so sharp
As friend remember'd not.
Heigh-ho! sing heigh-ho! unto the green holly:
Most friendship is feigning, most loving mere folly:
Then, heigh-ho! the holly!
This life is most jolly."

This is an amazingly simple poetry by William Shakespeare.
When I read this there is only one thing that comes to mind -
LIVE! For you have just one earthly life...
LIVE! For there may be no tomorrow...
LIVE! For LIFE is most jolly...

This poem inspires us all to look in the face of adversity and still have the strength to urge oneself to put a brave face... and to stay happy!

Stay HAPPY! God Bless!

Cheers,
TLT

The Lone Ranger

2006-11-23T23:23:00.000Z

For how long has Tendulkar stood out like The Lone Ranger amidsts the other indian batsmen who heave and puff whenever there a decent opposition bowling attack?
Na I didn't mean for you to answer that!!
It was supposed to be a rhetorical question ;-) (*Wink...Wink).
Just take the Durban ODI (played y'day 22nd Nov 06) for instance. India getting bowled out for a meagre 99 runs and Tendulkar scoring a third of them.
My fav news channed ISTARRR News had rightly called the match " Durban ka Darr!!!"

But it's not an Old Western any more; where a Lone Ranger could demolish a pack of tobacco chewing, gun slinging Outlaws!!! He calls for support....

Is there anyone who can hear???
Dravid...Dhoni...Sehwag...Anyone???

P.S> Same has been the case with Brian Charles Lara.... But slowly the WI team is learning to share responsiblities! Hope this rubs onto us Indians too.

Cheers,
TLT

Counting days!!!

2006-11-22T15:19:00.000Z

Got a MAJOR project release coming up this weekend!!! I hope everything goes well!!!
My travel plans to India, so much depends on its success!!!

Dear Friends, Please pray for this deeply troubled soul!!!

Ur pal,
TLT

P.S> A friend commented that my nick (The Lonely Traveller) was too long... I agree.
TLT sounds much cooler ;)

P.P.S> I am counting days.. 2 more to go for the release!!

P.P.P.S> On top of everything else, I have put my faith in my Lord! And as usual, I believe that he'll never disappoint me ;-)

Tales from Down Under...

2006-11-20T20:51:00.000Z

The battle for the ashes is one of the most eagerly awaited sporting events of this year. As the battle is edging nearer, there is so much of buzz around.
"Jones surprise recall!!"
"Marcus Trescothic's sad departure from Australia, probably even from cricket!!"
"Monty Panesar being called a stupid Indian by some weird spectator, who probably left his brains back home!!"

This seems to be the only challenge that the English Cricket Team fights to WIN. I personally don't think that the English team can create an impact during the World Cup, but this Ashes series they might be able to dent the Aussie psyche....

Maybe enough that allows the other teams a chance for the Glorious World Cup.

I sincerely hope that Flintoff and his gang beat the crap out of the haughty Aussies!
And that's my heart speaking... My mind, for obvious reason, doesn't think that the Aussies cannot be beaten in their backyard.

P.S> A sampler of how mighty the Kangaroos think they are:
"We've got Stuart MacGill sitting in the dressing-room, so if all else fails we just bring him and Warnie out and I'm sure the Pommies ... they'll all be going home with depression."
Tact and sympathy from Jeff Thomson

To News or Not To News.....

2006-11-17T10:35:00.000Z

If you have been following ISHTARRR News for some time you would be aware of their main area of expertice.
You guessed right. It's MASALA!!!
I think ISHTARRR News is fighting a batle against IshTimes Of Bharath.
The winner takes it all!!! "Who is more Masaledaar?"

Note: The last time I read it maybe an year back it was full of the same MASALA
...just a tad milder!

And its not that I dont like MASALA, I love it provided it's within my digestible range ;-)

I can quote examples from the last couple of weeks that would make you pull out all the hair from ur head....
Disclaimer: "The author has no intention of creating a bald readership. Any case of balness, total or partial, arising from reading this article cannot be blamed on the author!!!"

1> Ramu ki Sholay--> "Sirf Esha ban sakti hai Basanti!!!"
Interviewer speaking to Hema Malini: "Aapko pata hai Ramuji Sholay ki remake karne wale hain!"
Hema: "Yes"
ISTHM: "If you has a choice, whom would you cast in your role of Basanti?"
Hema: "Ji, Agar mujhe poocha jaye, to obviously mein apni beti Esha ko hi recommend karoongi."
NewsReader: "App logon ne sahi suna! Hema ji ka kehna hai ki Basanti ka koi kirdaar nibha sake to bas unki beti Esha hai!!"

My Expression at this stage: "What The F***!!! Hema never said that???

2> Indian Cricket Team--> "Cricket -- Yeh Dil Mange Money Money !!"
Some wierd guy: "Indian Team ka kehna hai ki woh tayyari nahi karenge Africa ke daure se pehle"
"Tendulkar team ke liye bahut hi kharab role model sabit ho rahe hain!"

My Expression at this stage: Disbelief!!! Most of the youngsters want to be Tendulkar...
What's wrong with the Media?? Even Sehwag joined the team a Tendulkar clone!!!

SWG, continuing his monologue: "Tendulkar ne abhi ek advertisement shoot kane ke liye ek poora din bitaya.
Unse inspired hokar, Dhoni aur Pathan ne bhi ADIDAS ke liye ramp par chad gaye. Kya yehi sikha rahe hain Tendulkar apne juniors ko??"

My Expression at this stage: "WTF!!!" And I change the channel.

3> Rahul Dravid's Captaincy: "Captaincy Zaroori, Ballebazi nahi!!"
NewsReader: "Rahul Dravid ka kehna hai ki unke liye sirf captaincy zaroori hai ballebazi nahi.
Aaj kar nets par bhi woh practice nahi kar rahe hain Dravid"

Now they show a clip from press conference with Dravid.
Dravid: "Ya I am batting well these past few months, but the team is not been able to acheive much success.

My Expression at this stage: Shocked.. as the clipping has no relation to the Headlines!!!

4> Ravi Chopra: "Phir banegi Mahabharat---Rani banegi Draupadi!!"
Interviewer speaking to Ravi Chopra: "Aapki Mahabharat mein, draupadi ka role to Rani Mukherjee nibha rahai hai"
Ravi: "Nahi aisa nahi hai... Abhi to script bhi finalize nahi hui hai. Casting to hum script ke baad hi start karenge"
NewsReader: "Ravi Chopra ki 100 Crore ki Mahabharat mein Rani Banegi Drapadi!!"

Same news continued:
Interviewer speaking to Mukesh Khanna: "Aapke Bhishm Pitamah ka kirdaar, Amitabh Bachachan nibhane wale hain! Kya kehna hai aapko iske bare mein?"
Mukesh Khanna: " Mahabharat phir se banana bahut mushkil hai."
NewsReader: " To dekhiye, Mukesh Khanna ka kehna hai ki unka kirdaar nibhana Amitabh ji ko bahut mushkil ho sakta hai.."

My Expression at this stage: I throw the remote at my roommate, who take a diving single handed catch.
And then I issue a waring: "Is ghar mein aur kisi ne ISHTARRR News lagaya to uski khair nahi..."

Have a good day!

Ur pal,
The Lonely Traveller

Gazzag mujhe gussa na dila!!!!!!

2006-11-12T21:42:00.000Z

I was shocked when I opened my gmail account yesterday! 90% of my mails were from friends who were sucked into the Gazzag Trap...
From an acquaintance who was dumb enough to sign up for Gazzag, I understand that as part of the signup, they offer to import all friends from Orkut. Gazzag then took it upon themselves to email all people in his friends list.... And, that included me too ;-(

I am really shocked to know that so many of my friends are interested in social networking that so many of them have signed up for it. And there have even been instances when people have actually mailed back and told me that it was not done intentionally ;-P

Ha ha...

Anyways, I hope this issue subsides soon!

And for heaven's sake
PLEASE DO NOT SIGN UP ON GAZZAG!!!!

P.S> I am really bitter today. I don't know why. I even shouted back at a poor li'l gal..... I guess it was because I had so litle sleep in the past 2 days...
I think I should apologize. Sorry dear!!!

Life on Earth...

2006-11-08T06:14:00.000Z

I haven't written a short story for very long time. The last one I remember writing one was "Addiction".

So when this theme came to me, I couldn't resist.
So here it goes...

Alan Goodman was a very lonely man.
He had recently broken up with his wife after 10 years of marriage, 8 of which were near blissful!!
Well, I guess, you are intelligent enough to guess what happened with the other two.
The court had punished him further by granting custody of their only child, the cherubic little Wendy, to the mother.
Dissapointed with life after the divorce, he chose to move to a smaller town. He assumed that life would be simpler if no one knew him.

The packing was almost done, barring a few pictures of his family. He did not want to keep the pictures. Every glance at those pictures... those wonderful times... those beautiful memories.... gave him jitters. The pain was too much to bear. For one last time he thought....for one last time I shall cry!! And tears rolled over like the thunderous rains.
O Lord! Why have you forsaken me!!! He dropped on his knees and kept sobbing.

He got back on his feet, gathered his luggage, and locked the doors one by one behind him. One last glimpse at the beautiful house, which once was his home! He pulled the gate shut and did not look back.

He thought he was safe now. Safe from all the pain and anguish... safe from the world... away from the life that had caused him enough grief.
He walked slowly to the railway station. He looked up at the clock tower outside the station. It read 14:10.
Another twenty minutes for the train he said to himself.

Entering the station, his caught sight of a beautiful girl. She was wearing the most beautiful dress that he had ever seen... an emerald green scarf that accentuated the light green color of her eyes.
She looked back at him and smiled. He did not know what do so he looked away.

She walked towards him and said : "Alan! Is that you? Remember me? Cathy! We met at the Christmas luncheon last year."
He remembered her very well. They had met at a party and had hit off instantly. But, today he was in no mood for unnecessary banter.
So he looked into her beautiful green eyes and rudely replied :"Sorry! I don't!".
And he glanced down for a moment and then stared back at her.

He could see her expression change. It was like the bright blue sky was being covered up with a gloomy cascade of dark clouds.
Tears welled up in her eyes. "I am so sorry.", she barely managed to mutter and walked off.

He turned to look at her, but she was gone in an instant! It was at that moment that he realized what a fool he had been.
LIFE had given him a second chance, and he had even let that slip by.

His train had arrived at the platform. He stepped in and sat down at a window seat. there was no one around. His whole life revolved around his eyes.
He reflected at the mistakes he had committed... his decisions... and he realized that it was he who had designed his life.
He could not blame anyone else. He was responsible for his own life.

He broke the promise... and cried again!!! There was no one to hear.. no one to console... Just then, he remembered he had the work revolver with him.
He pulled out his bag, and took out the revolver. He felf the cold metal against his skin. The chill gave him shivers.
14 years of service and he had never got an opportunity to use it. Maybe he had saved it all for today!

He raised the barrel to his forehead. He remembered Wendy's face. He remembered the look on his wife's face when she first saw Wendy.
He smiled and cried at same time. His fingers slowly pressed the trigger.

"Tring! Tring!" It was his mobile phone.

He kept the gun aside, and received the call. It was his daughter on the line. "Papa! I already miss you. Mom said that you can pick me up this Sunday".

Tears and prespiration rolled down his cheeks.

"I will Wendy! I will." He cried with joy.

LIFE had give him another chance and he wasn't a fool to miss it this time.

Chasing colors

2006-11-07T21:09:00.000Z

Hi Dudes and Dudettes,
I had heard a lot about the beautiful autumn colors from a lot of friends, so decided to give Winkworth Arboretum a visit.
The head arboretor told us that the best time to visit the place would be the first week of November.
So off I went....chasing colors.

And trust me! It was worth a visit. Don't believe me? Look at the pics again!!!

P.S> The colors are going to stay at least a week. So, if you get time you know where to go!

Cheers,
The Lonely Traveller

I am back!!!

2006-10-28T15:36:00.000Z

Hey Dear Blog,

I am sorry that I was away for a long time. I have been busy lately. Busy doing shopping. ;-)
Look what all I have bought...watches, toys, media players, ipod!! Cool na ;-)
And I cannot write much today coz I am looking for a good IPOD Video converter.
Lets see if I find one today.

Take care and see you later!

P.S> Why are people criticizing DON and Shahrukh so much!!! It was an awesome remake. Hats off to you farhan for making such a brilliant picture.
A lot of moments have been inspired by Hollywood... like MI, Usual Suspects etc.
And believe me when I use the word INSPIRED!!!

P.P.S> I hate when people blatantly copy some Hollywood movie scene by scene and call it inspiration. Watch, The Killer for instance. Its a Z Grade rip off of Collateral starring Tom Cruise and Jamie Fox!!! Irrfan Khan let me down this one time by signing this movie.

Main hoon DON!!!

2006-10-20T01:04:00.000Z

Yipeeeeeeeee! Don is releasing tomorrow, and I an overtly devoted Amitabh fan, am going to watch the remake. Even though Shahrukh plays the title role, and Kareena plays Helen's part, Even though "Khaike Paan Banaras Wala" Remix is the worst insult to the magical tune of Kalyanji Anandji, I still have promised myself that I am going to watch it. And why?
Is it just because Farhan, The "Dil Chahta Hai" Akhthar is directing the movie? Initially I thought it was just that, but its only today I realized that this is not the entire story.
Somewhere in me lies, A Priyanka Chopra fan. Hate me or Love me, but I am as devoted a Priyanka fan as I were a Kajol fan during her "Wonder Years".
I have watched and admired Priyanka grow as an actress. She knows her boundaries, and she sticks to that. She is way better than all the model turned acresses that we have in the industry now. And her being in Don's remake give me enough reason not to miss the movie.
Priyanka!!!! Main aa raha hoon!

P.S> I like the way Shan croons, "Mujhko pehchan lo .. Main hooon DON!!!"

Thirty One - Answers

2006-10-12T20:24:00.000Z

I had promised myself that I would wait for 31 replies before answering this. But, 15 seems like a good number. Thanks to all my friends who took time off from their hectic schedule to reply to a weird questionaire set up by a crazy friend of theirs ;-)...
Well, it is 31 minus 1 divided by 2... So 15 it is!!! And here are the answers and the justifications.

1. YES! I am scared of Roaches.. Well, these creatures have been there from the time of dinosaurs... Wow!! And if you have watched "Mimic", "Creepshow" and other B-Grade counterparts you have more reasons to hate 'em!!!!
Did you know: The world's largest cockroach is the Australian giant burrowing cockroach, which can grow to 9 cm in length and weigh more than 30 grams.

2. NO I don't! To tell the truth, I don't remember anything from my childhood! I din't even remember my friend from 10th class initially... and think about remembering the first sip of alcohol!!!

3. That's again true! I really haven't seen the Taj ;-( Just on movies! But, I will surely next year. Its a promise to myself!

4. NO, I bat right handed and also bowl with the same hand. But there was a time when I used to TRY to bat and bowl left handed ;-)

5. YES! I was an ardent follower of "Popular mechanics for Kids" and I really loved Elisha ;-) Ain't she CUTE?

6. NO (and YES)! Well, I did not bunk school, rather I bunked my English tuitions!! Deepak, you remembered that!! Cheers ;-)

7. YES I am scared to ride two wheelers. I think I don't have it in me! ;-(

8. NO, It was NOT!!!! Chemistry and Biology were the subjects I hated the MOST!!

9. YES! I flunked in mathematics in 8th Class. I scored 24 out of 100 ;-(
Note: 8 out of 80 and 16 out of 20 ;-) Well, You are thinking right! I cheated in my class test

10. NO! My teacher used to scold me for not putting those lines above all the letters..
Note: I forgot the script. ;-(

11. YES! Always! My friend and more than all, My Dad used to fight with me for that!! I remember last WorldCup's match between India and Holland! I was the only person in the College Common Room, cheering for Holland! I did receive a bashing for all my efforts ;-)

12. NO! No way...... (Psssst just once, not multiple times!!!)

13. Yes! I still don't believe it, but I really did! Vineeth, you missed it dude! It was Brajesh who pushed me into taking such a rash step! I looked ugly!!! You know my Mom did not let me in when she saw me that way. I had to remove my earring and put on a cap before she let me in.

14. Yes I do. They are the easiest Non-Veg food to cook!! ( Some vegetarians eat eggs!!! And...Hello!!!! Eggs are NOT Vegetarian!!!

15. No, I never did that! I actually had a friend who did that ;-)
I am always in an amazing company of friends!!

16. No!!! Yuck!! Gutkha... I might even puke at the tought of being an addict.

17. No. It was not! My first cycle was a ladie's cycle ;-( Forgot the brand though!

18. Yes, and don't laugh Puhleeez!!! . I have tried a lot to push myself into learning to type properly but in vain.

19. No! I never did actually learn to swim. Well, technically speaking..I did try a couple of times. But that hasn't served the purpose! I still can't swim.

20. Yes. That is true. I am really bad at remembering numbers. My History teacher will vouch for that ;-)

21. Yes. I am really scared of speaking in public. As a matter of fact, when I am speaking in front of a crowd, I can hear my hearbeats more than my speech. ;-(
P.S> By the way, some of my friends say that I am really good at it.

22. Yes. This is really true. I flicked the O. Henry story and converted it to Hindi... LOL!!!
And I won... ha ha..

23. No yaar! I would never have the audacity to do that... ;-)

24. Ha Ha...Its still brings smile to my face. Part of this is actually true... ;-) I had a major crush on her and I did confess it to her. Patient as she was, she explained me for one whole month why it was impossible for us to be together ;-)
P.S> She is now happily married in CANADA.

25. Yes. Saldy I was caught once. They found a ticket for a night show in my pocket. I never did watch another such movie after that!!!
Pssst! Now that's a blatant lie!!!

26. NO!!! This is another example of a plain lie... Jithin, I know you would have been the happiest person in the world if this happened to you.

27. My folks tell me that this is true. I am as usual oblivious of this.

28. Yes. This was in 9th class. She baked me potato chips. And she showed me her finger, which she injured while slicing potatoes.

29. Yes I do. I hate MONSOON.... P.S> There's a movie by that name, that featured Helen Brody, which I like though ;-)

30. If 4 times can be called multiple times, then I sure graced the newspapers lot of times, the best among them was "The Asian Age" ;-)

31. No I don't! I would love to learn to play the guitar. But there was a time, when I told my folks that I want to learn tabla when there was an opportunity for me.

So, there you are. So, my dearest blog and friends, you have learnt more about me today than any other day!! ;-)

Have a good evening.

Sky full of Hope....

2006-10-11T17:34:00.000Z

Beautiful photograph! Ain't it? I took this one when I was in Derbyshire.

My dear Blog,
I want to share something important with you today. A message that may help you overcome all the pressure that falls on you...
A message that may help you spring back to your usual happy self....
There are lot of times when we feel depraved of hope... we feel there is nothing we can do... just look at the sky for some time. (Well, at least that's what I do!) It fills my otherwise gloomy life with so much happiness that I cannot explain.
I have never seen God, and I can never visualize how he may look like... But, I can for sure see his creations... the sky... the stars.. the sun...
It gives me the strengh to fight and resist the demons that try to persecute me... the demons that terrify me... demons that drain me of happiness....
But, God rejuvenates me....And, I am filled with hope...in ABUNDANCE...like a sky full of hope
Stay happy!!
God Bless.

Your friend and composer,
The Lonely Traveller.

A Lazy Kinda Day.....

2006-10-08T19:43:00.000Z

You know, even though the weather was perfect for an outing...A lazy dude as I am.... chose to lie down warm and cozy in my bed..... Woke up nice and slow at noon.
NOON!! the realization was like a kick in the nuts. What the $$$$ you dumb MORON!!! You nincompoop... You wasted half a day!! Do something!!!
Have some FUN!
But, with the Laziness factor looming large, I decided to watch back to back movies ...first CRANK and then SIN SITY!
One hell of a lazy day.... just slept and ate ... and slept ...and watched movies... and slept.

Cheers!

Thirty One - Truth, Lies and Stuff

2006-10-05T10:44:00.000Z

I know you think that I am CRAZY. I can prove that I am. Why the hell would I be publishing this post?
My thoughts are blocked.... there is nothing to blog about. So what does an insane mind like mine do? Well, it suggests me to follow the bandwagon of fellow bloggers who some time or the other have published "Stuff you know about me!!".
Some are perfect truths, others blatant lies and there are some that are sorta truthful recollections.
So here it goes!

1. I am scared of cockroarches.
2. I remember my first sip of Whiskey. I was in the 6th class that time.
3. I have not visited Taj Mahal.
4. I am a right hander, but I bowl and bat left handed.
5. I had a crush on "Elisha Cuthbert" when she anchored Popular Mechanics for Kids on Discovery channel.
6. The first movie that I bunked school for was "Bandit Queen".
7. I am afraid of driving two wheelers.
8. Chemistry was my favourite subject in school.
9. I flunked in Mathematics just once in my school life.
10.I got appreciation for my Hindi handwriting in school.
11.I always support the team that is playing against india in cricket.
12. I have gone commando at multiple occasions.
13. Once during my college days, I shaved my head and wore an earring.
14. I love eggs.
15. To complete a challenge posed by a friend, I have pissed in the dustbin in the classroom.
16. I was a gutkha addict before I joined Infosys.
17. My first cycle was an Atlas Ranger
18. I need to watch the keyboard while typing.
19. I am one of the best swimmers in Jamshedpur. I was in the school swimming team.
20. I am not good at remembering numbers and other statistics.
21. I am scared of speaking in public.
22. I plagiarized "After Twenty Years" by O. Henry for a creative writing contest and won the first prize.
23. I fell in love with one of my best pal's girlfriend.
24. I dated my Computer lecturer.
25. I was reprimanded by my parents for watching an Adult Certified movie.
26. I was mugged in West Ham once, and the guy who called for help was Shaka Hislop, the West Ham goalie.
27. I nearly died at the age of 6 due to a reaction to Penicilin.
28. A girl once baked potato chips for me coz I told her that I love chips.
29. I hate Monsoon.
30. I have been on the newspapers multiple times.
31. I prefer to learn the Tabla, than Guitar.

The answers and explanations will follow shortly!

Cheers!

Total CRAP!!!

2006-10-04T22:12:00.000Z

Just came across this article while reading today's Metro (a free newspaper circulated in UK and Ireland) :
'I have been called shallow on a number of occasions and I suppose my critics are right,' says Freja Kensington, owner of Belle Baise, a swinging club based in Nottingham. 'I am prejudiced against ugly people but I have to be.'

Well she might have some reason to be biased! But, why the hell should I? You know how you instantly like someone... you just seem to hit it off... connect instantly;
Similarly you meet people whom you take a disliking to immidiately. You don't know why they turn you off, but they do.
Same thing happens to me a lot of times. There's this person who sometmes comes to play Table Tennis. And, to be frank, I just hate the sight of him. You may feel that I am cheap and shallow and stuff like that. Maybe, I might later find out that he is a very nice person, but the way he carries himself currently, he is totally filled with CRAP....
Or am I?

Few things that I don't understand...

2006-10-03T21:34:00.000Z

I took this photograph during the `Fun Quay Beach Weekend` during the summer. The carnival was zimbly awesome! There was this couple that performed some circus tricks that really left all spectators spellbound.

Did you note something peculiar about the pics? See how the roles have interchanged between the images! Well it reminds me of the currents times when both the sexes are thought of as EQUALS. All this is perfect!!! But.....

As they say : "There is always a BUT!!"

I don't understand the following:

Women say they should be treated as equals, however they fight to secure a reservation wherever they can!!!

If "Ladies first" doesn't apply anymore, why is it that they stare at you if you get in the lift before them?

Nobody has any problems if the so called "weaker sex" stares at us!!

Ladies, If you have read this, please don't be offended!

P.S>
Being ignorant as I am , there is a lot of stuff that I dont understand, and one of them is WOMAN.I cannot understand what goes thru their minds.. Why can't their thoughts be a simple as ours? I cannot understand their tantrums (Pssst : I am also accused of being Moody!!)..

Hasta La Vista, Baby!!!! T2 is Back!!!

2006-10-02T21:50:00.000Z

Now, puhleeez don't confuse T2 to be Terminator... It's Titanic, Baby!!! A friend of mine, who really thought that this was the trailer of a sequel to Titanic, forwarded this to me.
I did not know what to expect! I could never visualize a part 2 of Titanic.. But when he mentioned that Leornado looked brilliant in the trailers, I wanted to have a look at this.
It was a brilliant trailer!!! The creator has taken clipping from various movies and made this gripping preview. I just loved how he used the "warm goo phase" ;-)

Bells!!!! Remember Austin Powers ?

At least after viewing this, no one will ever think of ruining the masterpiece called Titanic ;-).

P.S> The following movies have been used for making this clip.
1. Catch Me If You Can
2. Shawshank Redemption
3. Iceman
4. Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery
5. The Hulk
6. The Beach
7. Ghostship
8. Con Air

Can you spot more????

Achcha Ullu banaya na?

2006-10-01T08:20:00.000Z

I dunno why, but today I am reminded of a prank that couple of my friends and I played on some unsuspecting friends from college. It was the time of Cricket World '03, with peoples daily routine being watching, speaking and thinking about the outcome of each and every match.
At the stroke of midnite, we used to call unsuspecting friends from a newly acquired mobile connection, by the name of "Midnite Raffles!!". Asking them random and often wierd questions that crossed our mind, finally promising them a World Cup ticket in return.
Many fell to this trick, the most notable among them being "J" Boss(a.k.a. The Mastermind). We I heard a rumour that he even visited the website we had suggested to claim his prize. We did make an "Ullu" out of him.
On the similar lines, we tried to play the same prank on another friend from Bangalore. And unluckily it turned out that his sister who had come to visit them from Singapore was using the phone. We woke her up at midnite, asked her wierd questions like "Did mobile phones come first or did Sim cards?" ;-0
It was only late in the call that I realized that it was not a "Dude" but a "Dudette"!!!
Lucky for us that she didn't call the cops on us!!

Divine justice, I would say. I think I got what I deserved!!

Maine us din Zindagi ko door khade muskurate hua dekha!!
Maine poocha ki aise kya ghoor rahi hai? And sarcastically, she smiled and replied : "Achcha Ullu banaya na? "

The Good and the Bad that happened to me lately...

2006-09-26T18:21:00.000Z

Note: These are some of the events that come to my mind when I think of the good and the bad that has happened to me recently. And these are not in any specific order!!.

Bad:

1> One of my colleagues, with whom I was in regular contact over phone, thought that I was a gal!!! Later, she thought that I was a old guy (in mid thirties!!!)
Do you believe that??
And her reason, I had taken a sick leave!!
Are only oldies eligible for sick leave? :-(

2> Bought an IPOD on ebay from a powerseller!!!! The IPOD doesn't work ;-(

3> Got into a restuarant and ordered food !! Realized later that I had left the wallet back home ;-(

4> Warney came to Canary Wharf. The queue was so big that I did not get chance to meet him. ;-(

Good:

1> Shifted my residence to a beautiful apartment in Canary Wharf

2> Played Indoor Cricket @ PlayOnSports along with some colleagues. Though i was in the losing team, it was awesome!!

3> My trip to the Scottish Highlands. ;-)

4> The number and the seriousness of the defects in my project has drastically reduced!! Yipeeeee!!

The Walk - Part Two

2006-09-25T20:11:00.000Z

I had promised myself that I would record my complete trek details for future reference. It's been a long time since I wrote the first part, so most of the details are rather blur.

My map read -

Terrain: Hilly in places, but mostly easy walking. A section of the climb up to Shacklow Wood can be difficult under foot in wet weather.

And as the weather was just perfect - perfectly wet!!! ;-(

Our route:
1. Walk across the field guided by the marker post to the far right hand corner and go over a stile onto a farm track.

2. Go to the left up the track until it enters a field, when you immediately turn left up a slope, keeping close to the wall on your left.

3. After crossing the stile in the top corner of the field, turn sharp right keeping close to the stone wall and go through the next stile onto another farm track.

4. Continue along the well signed track, shortly to follow the edge of the steeply sided valley round to the right, to climb a short flight of steps to Monsal Head.

5. From here take the signed path down a flight of steps to Monsal Dale and the viaduct, turning left at a gate by the end of some farm buildings.

6. Cross a footbridge and turn left to follow the path close to the River Wye for just over a mile to reach the busy A6.

7. Walk across the road to the far side of White Lodge Car Park, and take the surfaced path across the field heading for the trees high up on the left.

8. On reaching a waymarker bear to the left to enter a narrow limestone valley. In about 50 yards cross a stile on the left and follow the winding path to another waymarker taking the route signed ‘Ashford and Sheldon’ leading up the hillside to the left.

9. Go through a stile into Shacklow Wood heading for Ashford. Continue along the path as it gently descends to follow the riverbank to the Sheldon Road where you turn left.

10. After a short distance turn right along the A6 and then left at Sheepwash Bridge into Ashford. Carry straight on up Fennel Street, turning to the right at the top back to the start of the walk.

Amazing trek!!!! And we had our map to guide us.

The only problem was point 6 : `follow the path close to the River Wye for just over a mile to reach the busy A6`.

We walked and walked and walked......for more than a mile... more than 2-3 miles but no sign of A6...
Either that, or our definition of a mile was way off target!!! :-0

P.S> We completed this trail in 5-6 hrs at quite a steady gait!!! And I still do have nightmares about the almost 45 degree climb in Shacklow Wood, under very slippery conditions and inadequate shoes and nothing to stop my fall before the valley hundreds of feet below!!!!

Life is beautiful...

2006-09-24T22:25:00.000Z

On a gloomy day while travelling through the highlands of Scotland, the rain decided to give us a break. The sun came out beautifully through the clouds. And thats when I saw this most beautiful rainbow that spanned from one village to the next. This was a sight that would have brought cheer on many faces that day....

And I couldn't help singing to myself : "It's a beautiful day!!"

While travelling on the bus on my way to office i saw this mom of two smartly dressed kids, and a toddler, dropping her kids to the stop nearest to their school. The brothers took their turns to kiss their mother and kissed the youngest sibling goodbye."Cross the road safely!" reminded the mother.

The mom stood looking from the back window of the bus till her children were out of sight.

At "Heights of Abraham", a theme park, said a father to his 2-3 yr old son : "You know this was the place where Mommy and Daddy decided that we wanted to make you. Now after these 3 years all three of us are here".

The mom continued hugging her hubby and kept smiling!

While climbing dowm a very tricky 500 spiral steps of a watch tower, I saw a saw a couple of kids ahead of me all alone. Since I could not overtake them I chose to observe them carefully. The elder gal had a firm hold on her younger sis. When at last we reached the ground, I saw a guy running towards them shouting "Where have you gals been? Why did you climb the tower without telling us?". "Your mother and I were worried!"

The younger of the two gals replied: " Don't worry Dad. Sis was holding my hand all the time."

It' when you see instances like this, you realize that life is so beautiful.... If only we open our eyes and look around!!!

Munnabhai's Chemical Locha...

2006-09-18T21:45:00.000Z

Well if you felt Munnabhai MBBS was the best movie that the Dutt-Warsi-Hirani could pull off, you definitely need to watch the 2nd installment.
You will be left spellbound diring the entire course of the movie and in some cases even days after.

"Lage Raho Munnabhai", is about our 'sweet as Halwa' Gangster Munnabhai, played by Sanjay Dutt, who recreates magic once again in the awesome company of the the 'crunchy as Popcorn' sidekick Sarkeswar (a.k.a. Circuit) played to perfection by Arshad Warsi.

One request. Please for God's sake don't call this a SEQUEL!!! This is an entirely new chapter in Munnabhai's life. A chapter thats is entirely new and refreshing but still retaining the essence of their first outing.

This time, Munna's love interest is a cute RJ Jhanavi, played by the beautiful Vidya Balan of Parineeta fame. Her "Good Morning Mumbai" really seemed like a good show and her voice was near perfect for a RJ. I say near perfect because the last time someone played an RJ was so horrible.(Remember RJ (S)ambhar of Salaam Namaste :-0).

In this instalment too, we have the talented Boman Irani, playing a punjabi contracter. What he likes to do best apart from usurping other peoples houses and lands, is to pose for photograph which he morphs later with Aiswarya, Bush, The Queen, and so on and so forth. He shows us why he is considered one of the finest comedians in indian cinema.

Also it was nice to see Parikshit Sahni on screen after a long time.
Jimmy Shergill is refreshing as ever and Dia looked beautiful.

But the best part of the movie was Munna's interactions with Mahatma. Those scenes were truly endearing. Hirani really managed to teach us all a bit of Gandhian principles... principles that we had long forgotten. For once, there is a sane director who doesn't shove 'Gandhigiri' down our unwilling throats; Instead he lets these feelings sink in rather smoothly.

Warning: SpoilerAhead!!!

Abhishekh seems to be the only choice for all directors for a special appearance. He is totally wasted in this movie.

This movie was one of my best cinema experiences. Hirani really shows us that the exotic locales, grand sets, superstars need not necessarily make a good movie. There is more to it.

There is a thing called HEART!!!!

The inS(h)ane Way...

2006-09-14T19:48:00.000Z

Guess what! It was my lucky day today. I had the good fortune to being within couple of metres reach from my favourite cricketer.
Warney had come to Canary Wharf for the launch of his new book "Shane Warne - My Illustrated Career". Unluckily for us, there was such a long queue for his autograrh that we had to returned empty-handed. ;-(
I just love Warney .....for his for his wildly beautiful legbreaks and the perfectly pitched flippers(..or zooters or whatever you care to call it),... his intense concentration interspersed with the broadest of smiles, ....his sporting nature(I just love the way he applauds the batsman who has thrashed him all over the park), ....for his ability to stage a comeback when almost everyone had lost hope(remember the diuretic drama).
And the list goes on.... and on... and on..... Like the energizer bunny they show in the advertisement. ;-)
His life is nothing short of a fairytale crafted in the most inS(h)anely way possible!
If only everyone had a little bit of Shane in 'em... Life wouldn't have been this Ordinary!!

P.S>While we were standing in queue for buying the book, we noticed a much bigger queue for shane's autograph. So we decided to split and one woul buy the book and other block place in the autograph queue. But, Your's Truly noticed that no one in the queue were buying the "Shane Warne" book.
Me: Arey yaar!! yeh book to koi nahi khareed raha hai... There is no point in splitting up and me standing in the autograph queue. Jisko bhi wahan jana hai, woh yahin so to jayega!"
Atul: "Yaar. Woh aagey wali ke haath mein hain na, Dekh
Me: "Kahaan yaar!!"
That aage waali (in the most Britishest of indian accent): "Main hindi janti hoon!!"
Me(dumbfounded): "Sheeesh!" ;-(

A place called HOME...

2006-09-11T20:21:00.000Z

John Denver is one of my favourite singers. Whenever I feel like relaxing, I just put on some tracks of his. They take me to a different universe altogether... where everything's beautiful. If you haven't heard "Country Roads" then please do listen to it.
I am quoting couple of stanzas from it:

"Almost heaven, west virginia
Blue ridge mountains, shenandoah river
Life is old there, older than the trees
Younger than the mountains, blowing like a breeze

Country roads, take me home
To the place, I be-long
West virginia, mountain momma
Take me home, country roads"

Take me home ... to the place I belong... Beautiful! Ain't it?

And talking about HOME, my home is where my family is. Dad, Mom, Sis and our Loving Lord. A small happy home. It wasn't always happy, but we reached there finally.
All thanks to our wonderful God.

O Lord, today I pray that you stay in our home and our hearts for ever. My family needs you.. My friends need you.. And more than all I need you in my life for ever.

2 Corinthians 12:9 - "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." I just saw part of this quote on one of my friend's msn, and I couldn't refrain from quoting it here today.

This is one of my favourite verses from the Bible. Whenever I am in trouble of any kind. I just think of this verse. It calms me.... for I know that I can face the vilest of demons because My Lord is with me and his grace is sufficient for me.

I wish.....

2006-09-10T18:58:00.000Z

Note: This picture was taken during the fun beach carnival last month at West India Quay. England is trying hard to promote cricket, so URBAN CRICKET was distributing free softball bats. I too picked up one. ;-)

Cricket being my favourite subject, is the topic for today's post too. Here it goes...

After being hit all over the park on my bowling today, I have only ONE wish.
I wish, I could bat against my own bowling......

Among the bubbles....

2006-09-10T00:35:00.000Z

After a very tiring day out at the beach (We went there as a group of 17 people. Also I haven't been at a beach in a very long time.) at Bournemouth, I came back home and had the most amazing bubble-bath ever..and I mean EVER!
I don't have the patience to take bubble-bath daily, so most often than not, it falls on a Sunday.
I could feeld my pains just vapourize and float away leaving me with the most intense feeling of peaceful calm within.
And that's the time I reflected on my past. I wasn't the two shaded soul, I thought I was. I had lot's of different shades to me.
Only that it too ages for me to realize this...

Warm bath with muscle soak bath salts and lots of bath creme to get the required fragrant bubbles.... And just lie down in it for an hour... It's a beautiful experience. Now, I know it sounds kinda girly stuff.
But, if Chandler Bing can love bubble-baths (Remember the Friends episode?), so can I.

Cheers.

P.S> I am trying hard to finish off my "Ashford in the Water" trek details( i.e. the Walk - Part 2). I have almost written it twice and deleted, soz I am not able to capture the beauty of out trail in words.

Addiction....

2006-09-06T20:59:00.000Z

Bob Coorgy and his family lived in a small crack in the wall in Mr. Sharma's house. Papa Bob...Mama Sue...The triplets Peggy, Megan, Rea ... and young Randy! A perfect family!!

Mr. Sharma was a very religious man who worshipped with so much rigour that it used to shake the entire Coorgy household. Apart from his pooja hours, Mr. Sharma was as gentle as a lamb.

Mrs. Sharma on the other hand was an Amazon. She was very beautiful but could look menacing when she needed to be. One glare of her's could make you wet your pants.
The Coorgy household had learnt by experience, never to cross Mrs. Sharma.

One morning, the entire Coorgy family woke up to the hysterical screams of Mrs. Sharma. Bob, looked through the crack and saw Mrs. Sharma weeping, holding a saree to her bosom. Mr. Sharma sat beside his wife and tried had to console her. Someone had dared to venture into Mrs. Sharma's closet and bitten her favourite saree to shreds.

That was the day when all hell was set loose. Mrs. Sharma wanted "those darn rats" to be exterminated.
She went to the Tuesday market and bought a rat trap and a big packet of cheese. Bob and his family were totally oblivious of this happening.

That day Mrs. Sharma put some cheese in a small bowl and left it overnight. Bob and his family had a feast,the same night, not knowing what the future had in hold for them.

Now this became a practice. Mrs. Sharma would place some left over cheese and the Coory family would wipe it clean. Cheese was the best food that the family had ever fed on. Slowly, they were so addicted that could not live without cheese.

The following week, the mouse trap was set and cheese was placed on it. It was the little Megan who first saw it. She looked back if any of her family was in sight. Seeing no one, she breathed a sigh of relief. Now she had the whole cheese slice to herself. She steathily crawled towards it.

SNAP!
Mrs. Sharma knew what had happened. She rushed towards the trap. She was victorious. She asked her husband to get rid of the mess and set up the trap again.

From the crack in the wall Bob and his family witnessed the aftermath. They knew that something bad had happened to Megan. Bob and Sue, explained to their kids what Mrs. Sharma had done. They prohibited their kids not to eat cheese out of the trap again.

That same evening, a trap was set again. A beautiful round piece of cheese lay within. Peggy and Rea both saw it. They had witnessed what had happened to Megan. But, they loved their cheese.

Peggy tried hard to look away from the dazzing white cheese ball. She could not resist any longer and leapt for it, even before her sister could.

SNAP!
This time the cheese ball fell out of the trap. Rea ran after it, not even bothering to look what happened to Peggy.
Randy, playing behind the chairs, saw the cheese ball roll towards him.

He had never seen such a beautiful sight in his life. He wanted it. He wanted the cheese real BAD!
He sprinted out of his hiding towards the cheese only to find Rea take a huge bite of it. How could she take something that belonged to him? His own sister had tricked him. Without any further thought, Randy attacked her.

Rea, small as she was, could not protect herself from the sudden attack and lay bleeding nearby. Randy fed on the leftover cheese. He took the largest bite possible, so that no one else would take his share. He tried to chew it but the chunk was too large for his small throat.

His face turned pale as he chocked to death!

Bob and Sue, not finding their children at home, came out only to find the the blood soaked body of Rea..and a motionless Randy, lying next to a half eaten piece of Cheese. A metre ahead, lay the trap with Peggy in it.

Tears flowed like streams.... But there was nothing Bob or Sue could do. Their life were changed for ever!

The Walk - Part One

2006-09-03T15:08:00.000Z

Aug 27th 2006

7:35 a.m:
I woke up to the buzzzzz of the big radio clock on the nightstand. What a wonderful day!
Yes. That's the first thing that I said to myself.
Got out of my bed... walked over to the window... pulled the drapes away... and witnessed the most beautiful morning in a very long time.

7:40 a.m:
"Hey buddy, We are getting late for breakfast!", I shouted at "X" who still sleeping. He jumped up at once, as if he had seen a nightmare. "Chalo. Get ready." I said.

7:45 a.m:
Took my toothbrush and walked over to bathroom. It was one of the best bathrooms I have been to. I don't know how to compare it.
Let's see. For the benefit of all my female audience. It was equivalent to the best dress that you have seen at Harrods.
Or, for the guys this was more pleasing than witnessing the best game of Football or Cricket.
I bolted the door, and looked at the beauty of the place for some time, before I £$$$$%^&*(($%^& It's all CENSORED %&*(("£$%"£$%% :-0

8:03 a.m:
Fresh as a daisy, I stepped out of the bathroom. As soon as I came out, "X" sprinted towards the bathroom, beating the elderly next door neighbour, by almost a metre. When he bolted the door from inside, I saw the poor old man frown, disapprovingly shaking his head, and then walk back into his room.
"Y" had got ready much before me. "Chalo let's start for breakfast. X will join us later", Y told me.

8:10 a.m:
"Good morning Martha. Hi Paul!", I greeted my hosts before moving towards the dining table.
"How are you boys doing today? Please help yourself with the cereals." said Martha.

8:18 a.m:
After a huge round of cereal hogging, we were served hash browns and vegetarian sausages, we had requested, without any peas, beans, roast mushrooms or tomatoes.

8:20 a.m:
"X" joined us. After our breakfast, we rushed back to our room and carried all our luggage out.
We thanked Paul and Martha for their hospitality.

8:30 a.m:
Your's Truly plays the guide. We had downloaded a walk map online, that promised to show us the entire township of Buxton.
Our first bus to our final pitstop, "Ashford-In The Water", was supposed to leave at 9:55 from Buxton.

9:56 a.m:
And due to our lousy estimate of time, we had to run at the last moment to catch it. I think the Peak District is only meant for the retired,
coz I did not see any young gun there. Even, the bus we boarded was packed with people over 50.

10:13 a.m:
"That's our stop" said I. Y, looked at the old quiet village, and asked if we wanted to change our plans?
"Do you want to get down here? Or we can go further to Bakewell.".
Fatty got excited at the thought of Bakewell tart/Pie/Pudding and tried to convince myself and others that its better we skip our Ashford trip for Bakewell.
But, Yours Truly, rose to the occasion, wore his backpack and moved towards the exit.

10:14 a.m:
"This village looks deserted!" said Y. "I think we should have gone to Bakewell instead".
Fatty gave us that, "You did not listen to me" look.
"Guys, lets give this a try. We have this 6 mile walk trail. Let's see if this is any interesting and then we will decide on further plans.
said I.

To be continued...... ;-)

Teesri Ankh - Cheap thriller at its best!!!

2006-09-02T22:04:00.000Z

Have you ever watched a movie completely and then wondered why the hell did you watch the movie at the first place itself?
I did today! I watched "Teesri Ankh" on DVD ;-)
I wouldn't say that the experience was bad. But it might not, for obvious reasons, suit everyone's palate.
The following sections may contain spoilers. But, I am certain that no one will mind. Coz I trust that none of my readers are crazy enough to rent out a Sunny Deol DVD.
It was extremely supportive of one of my roomies, Mr X, to watch the movie with me. Thank you Sir.
;-)
I had a wonderful time listening to your expert comments than the movie itself.

Coming back to the movie, I am going to tell you the story of "Teesri Ankh - The Hidden Camera".
"Villians" have become more technology oriented. They use hidden cameras to capture innocent people in compromising positions on video.
Good Cop, Sunny pra ji is engaged to voluptous Neha "Julie" Dhupia.
Neha wants to do something BIG so that Sunny ji can be proud of her. So she goes to "Videsh" for a beauty contest.
The Villians take some nude pics of her while she is in the changing room. She is blackmailed and not allowed to leave "Videsh". Our Good Cop, starts an investigation in Videsh to expose the crimes of our Villians.

The Villians split, have a fight, and our poor gal Neha dies in the process. This death is witnessed by our mute herione Amisha Patel. By the way, Mr. Black wants me to tell you that it was good that Amisha did not have any lines. "She cannot act!!!" Well that's what he said.

Now our mute herione is the only witness to the crime, and finally meets our Good Cop.
Good Cop fights all goons. He kills them one by one.... ;) with the typical Sunny Bhais "Dhai pound da mukka" ke dhishum ... dhishum .. dhishum. Add to it amazing super power kicks too which he uses to kick away villians and cars alike....And icing on the cake Sunny can even stop and pull apart motorbikes with his bare hands.
;-) I am telling the truth. You have to watch it to believe it!!
And thats where the story ends.

It is a Humpty-Dumpty movie. You definitely know that they are going to fall, but still wait it ;-). Very very predictable with some really out of place item numbers. A Jazzy B track!!! LOL. Who hears Jazzy B anyways?

The movie will bore you to death if you do not enjoy some desi action. If you have seen as many B grade thrillers as I have; you might actually end up enjoying it.
Make sure that you have people around you who are ready to whistle and dance at every fight and cliche'd sunny bhai's monologue.
Mr. X hats off to you for making this movie viewing so interesting. We were laughing and whistling more at the cheap action stunts then anything else.

Hurray!!! Sunny pra ji is the MAN!!

Cheers.

Shades of me..

2006-09-01T23:02:00.000Z

Have you ever played this game where you are given a word and you need to tell the first 5 things that come to your mind.
I tried my hand at this on the two colours that I like the most.

BLACK : sarcastic, wicked, sad, liar, rash, lazy, daring, rude, shameless

WHITE : happy, emotional, honest, hard-working, witty, scared, courteous, thoughtful

Why I don't smile more often?

Mr Black:

1> I hate smiles.
2> What should I be happy about? I hate myself?
3> People just kick me around... I am a nobody!!!

Mr White:

1> I am happy but maybe I don't express my happiness enough.
2> I am so much charred within, that even if I smile, it will only increase my pain.
3> I am scared of relationships.

What do I like/hate about my Job?

Mr Black:

1> I don't like being pressurized by someone.
2> I want to start something of my own. But,at present, I cannot afford to lose this job. I am angry at myself for not having the guts to take this step.

Mr White:

1> I am good at what I do. My work satisfies me.
2> Money is a key driving factor. I earn good money. Happiness can be almost bought by money.

Just two questions and I have already have multiple answers ready. And moreover all totally diverse.

Why is my life so two dimensional? Why is that I am always at the extremes? Why is it that I don't have the varied array of emotions that I can see in most of my friends. Why can't I be just a normal guy?

My life is only in Black and White..I wish I could change.....
I wish there were more shades of me!

God and I

2006-08-30T19:31:00.000Z

And I am a staunch believer of the latter..

God has been a constant factor throughout my life. He has been my friend and guide during good times and bad. Whenever I needed his love, he was there for me.
I believe that our God is a loving God.... A God who listens to the righteous and the sinners alike.
He does not ask me to change before I come to his refuge. He loves me and it is his love that changes me... reforms me.

The Holy Bible says:

"For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life"(John 3:16).

"I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." (Luke 5:32).

Romans 6:23 says "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."

Lord, I take time, today, to repent for all my sins. I believe that whoever comes to you and believes in you will be bestowed by your wonderful love and grace.
O Lord, I pray to you for all my friends and family. Keep a close watch over all of us. We are the sheep and you are our shepherd.
We trust you with our life.

Today and Evermore...

Litter-ati

2006-08-22T12:10:00.000Z

Please note that all the actors in the picture attached alongside are in their right senses.
Read: None of them are high on weed!!!)
This picture is just a dramatic representation of an act of illegal littering at Regent's Park in London.
During the filming of this there was no actual litter involved.

This amazing picture has been marred by your's truly because he could not control a sudden surge of laughter.
Other wise this picture would have come off even better.
As you must have aready noted, the person on my left, Mr X, is giving an intense performance. Now, that's what I call method acting. From the looks of it, either he is preparing to shoot or he is completed his hit and is putting the gun back in the holster.
Bachche ne poori jaan lagaa di hai is photo mein!! :-)
Here all of us try to play vile indian loafers/taporis for whom there is no sulabh shauchala/ public toilets. Whatever they find nearby is their shauchala.

On the other end of the photograph is Mr Y, trying hard to match the skills of Mr X. Again from the looks of it, it seems that this fellow is oblivious of his surroundings and is busy shooting...Bang bang bang.... ;-) ( You know what I mean ! )
So much talent around me that I had to burst out laughing.....
To tell the truth, this photo session was fun. I mean real FUN!

Now coming to the more serious truth, it is this visual imagery that has held back India's progress for a very long time. The entire World once thought that India was a land where people pissed and littered on the roads. It was supposed to be the land where people had no respect for others.
A land where they emptied their dustbins in the neighbour's yard, or maybe a construction site.

Facts say that India has progressed leaps and bounds. Facts say that the attitude of the world towards India has changed...Has it, Really?

Moreover, the real question is that has our mantality changed? Do we still throw litter on the roads? Think hard!!
May be a chewing gum....maybe a coke can....may be a chocolate wrapper..anything.
We are so many of us that even if each one threw 2 empty coke cans in Mumbai, it would be enough to fill up the entire Mahanagar in 40 days.
Phwew! Do you believe that?

I know that you will all ask me how I have come up to this number?
So, here's the answer:

The population of India is 1,095,351,995 people, excluding Azad Kashmir and Aksai Chin, disputed territories.
Wow!!!

Area of Mumbai = 437.71 km²

Now assuming that

1> all the coke cans are placed upright.
2> the radius is 4 cm.
3> cans are accumulated ( and not removed by the cleaning corps )

Area covered by one can =

22 * 4 * 4 SQ KM
---------------------
7 * 100000 * 100000

Area covered in 1 day if each indian throws 2 cans = Area covered by one can * 2 * 1095351995
= 11.06 SQ KM

No of days required to cover Mumbai =

Area of Mumbai
------------------
Area covered in 1 day

= 40 days approx.

Shocking ain't it?

And with India's polulation increaing sharply (Read more about India's population threat @ BBCNews), keeping india clean is a very BIG challenge.

When I first came to London, I looked around for places that have Indian restaurants. People recommended EastHam and Southall.
So I took couple of friends, who had just landed to London, to EastHam . The place is literally jam-packed with Indians, Sri Lankans, Bangladeshis, and Pakistanis.
You can see restaurants that have their name boards in Tamil and Hindi. But my friends did not notice all this. They just saw the litter that was spread everywhere.
One of them remarked that "It looks like Chennai, with AC turned on. And it's really - really dirty! Very similar to India. Litter everywhere!"
While the other, (as if in a trance... First day onsite and looks like he is back to India!!!) commented with a frown of disgust on his face... "Typical Desis!"

What do we do to change this opinion about ourselves? If we have this opinion about ourselves, I shudder to think what others think about us.
It's a huge effort and all of us have to take part in it!

P.S> I have to start from my room. There is so much litter around. Polythene bags, food stuff, aluminium foils, tissues..and what not!!! I will start NOW!

Yun hota to kya hota?

2006-08-20T19:58:00.000Z

Note :
Dear readers.
I am not a pundit in Hindi. And I apologize my readers if this poetry comes across as cheesy and corny.
It's just a thought that came across my mind and I just put it on paper.

Yun hota to kya hota... Kya hota 'gar yun hota to..
Aisa hota...waisa hota...Kya mere paas paisa hota?
Bangla hota...Gaadi hoti?
Yun hota to kya hota?

Zindagi se maine yeh sawaal kai baar kiye
ki, yun hota to kya hota?
Zindagi muskurayi, aur yeh jawaab diya...
Main hi na hoti to kya hota?

Isn't it true that we often ask ourselves "What if this had happened?".
"Wouldn't our life have been better?"

Will thinking about this be of any help? It would just aggravate the pain. Nothing else.
The only useful thing that you can do at this time is to look back and reflect how better you could have handled the situation.

We need to learn from our mistakes..or better from others..
Don't overplan or underplan life. Take it as it comes.

And remember... "Jo hota hai...woh, achche ke liye hota hai!"

Your travel mate.

Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna... The Review

2006-08-19T21:08:00.000Z

Note: The title of my post has been inspired by the tonnes of Bollywood movie titles, which reads like for e.g.

Daag - The Fire (Yaar is aag mein mujhe bhi jala de!!!)
Mudda - The Issue (Spare me please! Get me a tissue)
Kyon ki - It's fate (What the FCUK? mate!!!)

And loads like these.

Now lets get back to the review. I have Mr. Black and Mr.White with us to give us company today.

Me : Dudes, the movie really sucked bigtime. Ain't it?

Mr Black: $ucked??? I thought "Kal Ho Na Ho" sucked. This one is nowhere in the same league!

Mr White: Arey nahi yaar...It was a cool movie. Not as good as Karan's other masterpieces, but still quite viewable.

Me : Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Hold on. Do you know I wasted 8£ on this movie. There was not even a part of the movie which I thought did justice my expenses.
Oh wait. There was a 15 second guest appearance by Kajol (my fav actress!!! I wish my wife be a Kajol Part2)

Mr. Black: Don't bank on Part2's. They are never hits!

Mr. White: I got you on this one Dude. What say about Shrek2 & Spiderman2?

Mr. Black: $crew you. They are animations!

Mr. White: I beg to differ. Spiderman is not an animation!

Me : Hey! Stop your banter. We are here to discuss KANK.

Mr. White: Okay. Sorry mate.

Mr. Black: Whatever!!!

Me : One good thing about the movie that it played Dhoom2 trailer( Not DOOM2 puhleeeeeeez!!! )

Mr Black (wicked smile) : Another part2 movie? Shouldn't we be talking about KANK.

Mr White : They showed Dhoom2 trailor while KANK screening so it can be cosidered a part of the movie experience.

Me : India sure is progressing. Extra marital affairs are now being openly portrayed on tv and films. Even in KANK extra marital affair is shown... but was it justifed?
Mr Black : This is the saddest take on the subject, ever!! If you want to watch sensible movies on the subject then you should watch Arth or Silsila.

Mr White : No. Not at all! The movie has helped cine goers realize that such affairs are not bad.
It might help people some people who are still unable to make a choice between spouse and lover. Why ruin your spouse's life, if you dont love him/her.
Its an honest attempt at filmmaking.

Me : Spare me the rant! Whats so honest about the movie? Karan has just made the movie to earn some NRI bucks.
This movie has been packaged only for NRI audiences. the lavish costumes... extravagant sets... party numbers...strong cast with NRI fav Shah(halkata hua)Rukh Khan leading the pack.

Mr Black (turning to Mr White): There is no logic employed in the movie. Tell me
1> Why is Shahrukh always irritable throughout the movie?
2> Why is Rani so obsessed with cleanliness?
3> What has Abhishek done( or NOT done ;-}) to be classified as a Kid?
4> Why does Rani hate Abhishekh? Is he as bad as me in creating a mess in a room?
5> Why does respectable Amitabh ji( playing the not so respectable Sexy Sam), have a new gal daily and yet have the audacity to give a speech saying that he loves his late wife?

Me : I know the answer to the 5th question. A friend told me that Sexy Sam sleeps with women so that he may forget his wife's demise.

Mr Black: What friend? Mr. White kya? What the FCUK? Hasn't Sam heard of the good ol' way of drinking to death?
Now I know why Sam's sexy... He can screw himself to death!!! ha ha ha..

Mr White (a disapproving frown on his face): But the music is great, you know!
Me : Ya, I think I can somewhat to agree to that. The "Mitwaa" song was sure melodious and fresh.

Mr Black : But the songs are never in sync with the situation. And the first song.. (Glad that i don't remember it!!)It was so horrible that I could not resist from going out to grab a popcorn.

Mr White: All actors played their parts brilliantly.

Mr Black (in a subdued tone..): to make the movie worse.

Me : Yes. Shahrukh was in good form and scored a century. Abhishekh scored a quickfire 50. Rani was also in brilliant nick. Apart from a few moments of anxiety, while approaching the well compiled century. It was a very good innings, very closed to what she pulled off in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Black. Preeti had nothing much to do than to be her bubbly self and play some exquisite cover drives. And our experienced middle order batsman, played really well but was out to a horribly conceived carricature( read: Sexy Sam!). Kirron, as magnificient as ever, played a sweet little innings.

Wonderful as they batted, they were let down when they came on to bowl. Karan lacked pace in his bowling. And as a captian, Karan did not set his field right. Lot many missed chances. Unlike his previous encounters, this time around, his captaincy was flawed and this cost the team the match.

Mr.White : Ok. I agree that he did not get it perfect this time, but I am sure that his next will be good.

Mr. Black : That's just a Purr-fect ending. My advice to your readers would be "Kabhi...Karan Johar ki picture na dekhna....."

Me : I sure will remember it.

P.S> Some researchers belive that Karan was inspired by the hollywood film Closer (If you haven't watched it, please do so. It's definitely worth a dekho).
But, the main difference between Closed and KANK is that :

In Closer, Extramarital Affairs is wrong and it RIGHTFULLY punished but in KANK,
it is considered acceptable and is RIGHTFULLY forgiven.
Now I am confused.. Which one is more Right ;-)

Cheers. Have a great day.

Happy Independance Day!!!

2006-08-15T07:55:00.000Z

We Indians celebrate our 60th year of Independence today (15th August '06).
And we at 61, Abbots Wharf had our own small flag hoisting ceremony! ;-)
Today I choose to look back.....
Look back and remember the sacrifices made by millions of people to bring us where we are today.
We have fought long and hard for our Independence.
All these sacrifices have not gone waste...and India, our motherland is now free.

But, now what?
What do we do, now that we are independent?
We always crib that India is this....India is that....
What do we do to make India a better place?
I very well accept the fact that I am happy that I am not anyone's slave. But I am still a slave to my passions... We are still very much in balls and chains....bound tightly to our religious beliefs...castism and racism...
Then, what are we happy about?
If we read the newspapers, all the headlines today indicate that India is on an high alert. The PM, in his address to the nation, asks Pakistan to stop cross-border terrorism. Pakistan responds immidiately asking India for proof for the same.
The PM's address can be read here.

I remember Tagore's beautiful poem, which I learned in the 7th Grade.

"WHERE the mind is without fear and the head is held high
Where knowledge is free
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments
By narrow domestic walls
Where words come out from the depth of truth
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way
Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit
Where the mind is led forward by thee
Into ever-widening thought and action
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake."

That is perfect freedom. And in order to attain it, each of us need to play our part.
This Independence Day, India beckons you to do your part!

I wish you all a wonderful Independence...today and evermore.

Cheers.

Sum, Sub and lots of "Love"thmatic

2006-08-14T22:26:00.000Z

When two people meet, do they instantly fall in Love?
Or, do they slowly grow into each other?
Bachelors may have a different perspective on this topic, so let me check with a married friend of mine.
You would definitely remember him...
The guy who mentioned once that : "If it doesnt work your way, try it your wife's way".
So let's ask him, what he thinks of love? Also lets check what his counterpart has to say.

Me : This is going to be an interview full of personal questions. Please feel free to "No comments" any of them if you feel awkward answering. ;-)

Me : Sub, What does Love mean to you?

Sum : Well I've come across this question many a times in my Life and always believe that "It's not the DEFINITION of love ,but the PRESENCE of Love which matters.
Love is a complicated machinery for some ,but at times all you need is a good screw to fix it .

Me : Well! Let's hope that I find my screw soon. ;¬) Sub, What are your thoughts on this?

Sub : Love cannot be described in words , it can only be felt. I believe love makes a person better coz when you love somebody you learn how to care and share.

Me (Scratching my head) : I know how to care and share? Does that mean I am in Love?
Still confused! ;¬(
How long did you take for you to realize that you were in Love with Sub?

Sum : Almost 3 months
Me : What about you , Sub?
Sub : Hmmm.. 2-3 months.
Me : I am glad both of you realized at the same time. It took me over an year to convince someone to be friends with me!!

Me : Did you propose to Sub, or did she propose to you? How did it happen?
Sum : There was nothing like ' Do you love me ?' or 'Will you marry me?' . The foundation was Friendship; "aur dosti kab rishteydaari mein badal gayi pata hi nahin chala".
Me : That's a cliche!

Me : Do you really think that the common notion "Opposites attract" is true? Are you and Sub opposites?
Sum : "Opposites attract' is undoubtedly true but that wasnt exactly the reason to bring us close. Our hobbies,interests , passions , likings , disliking were and are still almost same.

Me : Any comments, Sub?
Sub : Its not quite true in our case. Because we are similar in most things. But on the things we differ, we are poles apart.

Me : I understand that there was a time during your courtship that both of you were countries apart.Is it true that "Distance increases fondness and liking" ?

Sum : Wont completely agree with this because there is another saying called 'Out of Sight Out of Mind'. We were countries apart after around 2 years of our courtship and were already engaged , moreover we knew that its gonna last just for few months.
It really was one of the difficult days of our lives and decided that we WONT let that happen again . To hell with the fact that "Distance increases fondness and liking"
Sub : Somehow these sayings do not hold for both of us . Fondness and Liking was already there; Distance or no distance . We couldn't give time to each other , we were not there for each other when we needed . So all in all we are happy together and try to forget that phase as a bad dream.

Me : Is it true that you have to be the best of friends before you can be the best of lovers?
Sum : True in our case but i personally wont completely agree to this.
Sub : Oh Yes , 100 %.

Me : Does Love really mean to accept a person as is? Or, to try to change someone if you think that's better? Is there something that you would like to change about Sub?
Sum : At first Love really means to accept a person as is , but as they say 'Nobody is perfect' and hence love can make one a better person.
One thing I wud like to change is her 'Fear Factor'. No Roller Coaster rides , no ghost movies . She doesnt like taking risks and is content with her play safe mentality. I want her to become more strong both physically and emotionally.

Me :And how about you Sub? Is there anything that you want to change about Sum?
Sub :Hmmm..his 'who gives a damn' attitude.

Me : What would you present Sub, if you won a 10,000£ lottery?
Sum : Pheeww!!! 10,000 Pounds which means around around 8.7 lakh...Hmmm ..Cheverolet Optra wud be fine.
There are other things too but that i can buy now also without those 10000 Pounds! :-).
Me : Desi to desi hi rahega ;-) Pound se INR conversion koi aur nahi karta! What would you have done, Sub?

Sub: BOSE music system.

Me : Thanks for your time. It has been a pleasure knowing you guys. You have always seemed a happy couple. Stay the same.
Hope my readers now have a better insight to Love.

Note : To get more info about Sum and Sub, please visit their website (This is going to expire on 18th Aug, so please make it fast!!): "A Tale of Love"
And I am trying to convince them to move all the contents on blogspot. If successful in his attempt, Your's Truly will update the link!

P.S> Comments from the couple about Your's Truly.
Thank u to u too for considering us on your Noble Blog.

P.P.S> Noble Blog!! ha ha ha

Rain!Rain! Go Away! Li'l Rosh wants to play..

2006-08-13T13:33:00.000Z

I hate the British Weather!!!! ;¬(
A very strong statement to make..... But its true!
The only good season in Britain is the "Summer", but sadly it lasts only a couple of months... and now it is soon fading.
Your's Truly and his gang went out to play cricket today.
They also carried football with them in case the weather played tricks and it started drizzling as the Weather Experts had forewarned.
But to their dismay, only after a over and a half were bowled, and one wicket down,
the rains came pouring down... So hard that it was impossible even to play football!!

They waited under the protection of the trees for 5 minutes before rushing back to the comfort of their homes.

And so a day wasted!! All because of the stupid rains...

"I really don't understand the rains. It doesn't rain where it is required and it magnanimously pours its hearts contents where people don't require it... It kills people by not raining...it kills people by excess raining...."

Why does it not rain when people desperately long for it? The rain shies away...killing the crops and the vegetation around.... and also crushing the hopes of the poor farmers..

I was listening to the news, and was really upset to know that the rain was playing havoc in Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh.
People are ,even as I write, losing their lives to excess rain and flash flood.

I hope that soon someone invents something to prevent such mishaps. A far-fetched idea, but hope its comes true.

I am looking out of window, and I can see the sun playing "hide and seek" behind the clouds. Its gives me a glimmer of hope that soon it will stop raining.
Hope is that keeps us all alive..... You, Me, Our families, Our friends , Our neighbours... and ALL others we don't know yet.

Keep Living....Keep Hoping!
God Bless All!

Kyonki .. Adults bhi kabhi Kids thay

2006-08-12T11:17:00.000Z

-----------------------

Talking about kids, have you ever noticed how kids sometimes, knowingly/unknowingly, react to the situation around them? If you hurt them, their immidiate reaction would be to get back at you...
If all around them are happy, they would definitely express their own happiness with the broadest and cutest smiles that you would ever see.
As adults we have been taught to think twice before we speak. But, kids don't act or behave that way. Kids do not think what the results of their actions might be.
They are free.. A freedom, we somtimes wish that we had! (At least I do sometimes!!)
Not caring what the world has to say.... and enjoy life with gay abandon!!!

I wish that once in a while, I could let out the kid in me.

Thought I should narrate some "Funny" some "Not So Funny" encounters with kids that come to my mind now.
I will keep updating the post as and when I remember any other incidents.

Incident 1:
------------
Some years back, there was a small mishap that happened in JamPot.
Note : People from Jamshedpur, loving call their city JamPot
A schoolbus carrying kids from LKG to 2nd Grade had overturned somehow.
Thankfully no one was seriously injured.
There was one kid, who I think was luckiest among the lot. She did not even have a minor bruise.
My aunt(again), a staff nurse was co-ordinating with the other staffs to give some tetanus shots to the injured kids.
This gal, was seeing all her friends getting some shots or medicines.
Do you know what she did next?
She started crying aloud. When the doctors turned her attension to her, she told them that her stomach was aching and that she would require a shot to cure her.
The Doctors knew that she was bluffing and again continued to igrore her, but to their dismay, the weeping only increased.
Finally they has no choice but to give her a shot of "saline" .
One shot and she was perfectly ok!

Incident 2:
------------
I remember another incident when I declined to go out to play with my niece.
Note : She was 5.5 yrs old at that time.

I was expecting an important phone call.
The call was to notify if I were lucky to be assigned a project at very famous company.
After waiting for a hour or so, I got bored and started watching television.

Into 5 minutes of watching tv, I heard my niece talk to some one that I was not currently available.And that he should call me later. That's when I realized what she had just done.

She had vent out her anger at me by making me wait further for the results.
Never again was I to anger her!!!

Incident 3:
------------
We were watching "Allan Quatermain and the Lost City of Gold" at her house. My Aunt (again!!!) had invited some of her friends to her house, that same evening.
Before they were to come, my aunt adviced my niece to take bath and get dressed.
But, you know how kids loathe taking bath!!!
Even I hate it sometimes ;¬) More so in freezing winter!

My nice decided to give her mom a tough time. Finally forcibly she was made to take bath!
Moms always WIN!!

The guests arrived and I was glad that even my niece was on her best of behaviours.
It was at that particular moment that "Richard Chamberlain" decided to kiss "Sharon Stone".... Why did it have to happen
this very instant?

My niece giggled aloud!
All attension was now focussed on her.
"That's what Dad does to Mom during the night!!"

I spoke to myself: "What the F***!!! That's a low blow!!! Definite a low blow!!! But it may be an unintentional one!! "
My aunt, being a typical desi wife, blushed... then recomposed herself and gave my niece a nice "twack!!!"

Incident 4:
------------
While on a trip to Scotland, I stayed at one of my friend's place.
It was there that we made friends with his nephew "Cal", an awesome dude.
To know his age you have to click the link on his name ;-)
I remember, how initailly he was too shy to come near us, but then later we became good friends.
And when we were leaving their house, the moment we got into the cab, he started crying?
How did he know we were leaving?
No one told him???
----------------------

Somewhere within us there is a kid still hidden... A kid who is instinctive ... rash ... stubborn ... free!!!
Maybe some people would say that they have left their childishness long back!!!
but, I totally disagree because of my personal experiences!
Kyonki .. Hum sabhi bhi kabhi bachche thay!!
Have a great day!

P.S>
Even though there is a kid inside all of us we need to remember to tame that kid! Please note : Do not cage it altogether...
But have him on a leash... We don't want the kid to take control! ;¬)

The Perfect Imbalance

2006-08-11T07:22:00.000Z

An oxymoron, you would think!!! Just put in order to gain that extra hype and attention.
The same trick that the Cinema makers follow; be it the extra hype about the shower scene in the movie.. or, be it the unwanted Item Numbers with dancers showing more of cleavage rather than the actual dance itself.

But, the fact is that this term holds true to a lot of us.

I classify "Perfect Imbalance" (or, the PI factor) as a situation wherein you have a choice between the "good" or the "bad"... the "joys" or the "sorrows"... the "light" or the "darkness"... and you keep enjoying/wanting to enjoy the good/bright side and hence upsetting the equilibrium of life.
The end is definitely not pretty... Once you disturb the imbalance, you gradually lean sideways towards your chosen "good" side, till one day you fall.

Many people(this incluses me) fail to understand the precariousness of the PI situation.
Fot most of us, PI is all we crave for because we think that we will be happy if we stay in the perfect position. This is all a fallacy. No one can stay happy all his life; Or, stay sad all his life!

We tend to forget that life is all about balance... And by striving for the Perfect Imbalance, we ruin the whole meaning of Life itself.
Life is meant to be enjoyed one step at a time... whatever happens... It is Life!
As they (read: Wise Men) always say, "Change is the only constant thing in Life". And without change we are as good as dead.

My life has never been the straight kind... And I have to admit that I've, somewhere along the lines, longed for the "Perfect Imbalance"...

But i was to realize later, that it's not the right place to be. Life, really loses its meaning if ALL things go your way.
You may still breathe... But, for Life, you don't seem to exist anymore.
Slowly and gradually you lose out on those wonderful feelings that you may have encountered had you been alive.

With time, I have evolved! And I have just one advice to give:

Stay ALIVE!!! Stay BALANCED!!!

And remember, To enjoy Life; you don't need the PI factor in your life!!!

P.S> Anything in excess is bad... I will quote Shakespeare here..
"Play on you musisians. Give me excess of it..that surfeiting the apetite may
die and hence sicken."

Of Uncles and Aunties......and a Sanskaari Me ;)

2006-08-10T20:39:00.000Z

Have we ever pondered that, by now, each one of us would have addressed 1000s of people as uncles and aunties?

Before we continute with this post, do you know that Jackie Shroff is acting in a new movie for children called Bhoot Uncle?
Not very long ago, he did another film called King Uncle which was a disaster.
I sincerely hope that this one is better.

Note : "I absolutely love childrens movies ;P"

Coming back to our main question for today,

What do you call your "Chacha" & 'Chachi'? Uncle & Aunty!
What do you call your "Mama" & 'Mami'? Uncle & Aunty
What do you call your "Mr.& Mrs. Next Door Neighbour"? Uncle & Aunty
What do you call your "Mr.& Mrs. Shopkeeper @ The Local grocery Store"? Uncle & Aunty
What do you call your "Dad's colleague"? Uncle or Aunty

My parents have always instilled in me a sense of respect towards others, so whenever i am unsure of the relationship, I manage to easily get out of the situation by addressing them as Uncle and Aunty.

My "Sanskaar" is so strong that once I managed to call a girl (3 years younger to me as Aunty)
Wow! I still remembered the flustered look on her face... and when she politely requested me to call her by her first name... that was the perfect Kodak Moment!
I smiled shyly... scratched my head for a while... let the information sink-in...
Trust me, it was so difficult to call her by her firstname (because of the amount of sanskaar put into me by my parents) that I stammered and stuttered before uttering "XXX" in a low voice.
It took so much of effort and cause me so much mental trauma (Don't know if I can exactly classify it as mental trauma..Ha ha ha...), that from then onwards, I never addressed her before speaking. ;¬)

But, this too wasn't without shortcomings....

I remember that once when I asked her something at the dinner table, I almost got three simultaneous responses.

Life is really tough for a Sanskaari Desi ;¬)

Tak taka tak! Tak taka tak!!

2006-08-10T06:36:00.000Z

Yipeeeeeeee!!!! Sayesha commented on my post!!!!!
I am so happy that I am on the verge of being ecstatic.
I had first stumbled across Sayesha's World, when I was going thru one of my friends blogs
where she had mentioned about Namkeen doing a "Kaavya Viswanathan" (i.e Namkeen was blatantly copying Sayesha's posts and calling it her own).
How can people stoop so low as to narrate someone elses story as if it were their own?
A little bit of "Spice"( read: lie) here and there is certainly justifiable....
But if the entire curry is made only of spices, then certainly, the results wont be pleasant.

But, let bygones be bygones.

After my first visit to Sayeshaz, I could not resist going back for more....
As I said it's so tempting that "No one can read just one!!!" ;¬)
She has immense talent....
I would be the happiest person on earth if I were half as talented with the pen as she were.
Her writings are pure and chaste... not in the conventional sense though...
(She proclaims to be a Bhai ;¬)
But, when you read her posts, you know that they are for real.
She puts the smallest of incidents on her blog with so much ease and elan that even the mighty
Sachin with his most elegant of cover drives may be left behind.
(Sachin fans..Please dont kill me!!! I was just flattering Sayesha." ;¬)

I am glad that I got a chance to visit Sayeshaz.....
It's now my favourite spot in the entire Blogsphere.

Note : Your's truly has not yest explored the entire Blogsphere...
He may find more prettier places,but as they say :
"First love is first love. Nothing can compare to it!"

I watched an old episode of the "Great Indian Laughter Challenge" today, and I came to know
that when you are filled with joy...your heart goes.."Tak taka tak!! Tak taka tak!!!"
Background Music : "Tak taka tak!! Tak taka tak!!!" ....
Music catching pace now : "Tak taka tak!! Tak taka tak!!!"
Reached its peak at 200 bpm : "Tak taka tak!! Tak taka tak!!!"
Now getting lower : "Tak taka tak!! Tak taka tak!!!"

Next day morning : The silent hum of "Tak taka tak!! Tak taka tak!!!" still can be heard!

Cheers and God Bless All.

The Black Trouser Killing!!!

2006-08-09T12:52:00.000Z

My running nose destroyed my favourite black trousers!
Sounds weird, I know.
But, it's true.

I had a bloody cold and a running nose...
So i took a paper towel and put in my trouser's poke'...
But, the need never arose..
So the towel stayed me in my poke'!

But, when I put my trouser for wash...
I forgot to search it for coins and cash..
So, in my trouser's pocket, the towel stayed..
and stayed there till it had it (my fav black trouser) destroyed...

Ultimate crappy poetry that has ever been composed....
(Not even worth being called a poetry! But, still ;¬) I will continue calling it one.)

Analysis : Never allow paper tissues/towels to mix with your black clothes.
It's a certain demise for all your beloved black clothing ;¬)

P.S> My bloody cold had been found guilty as charged. It has been sentenced to death by shots of Lemsip!

The Joys and Sorrows of a Desi living in a Shared Accomodation in London

2006-08-08T20:33:00.000Z

When I first came to London, I was really unsure about my life here.... I was not sure if I would be able to withstand the winter.... and more than that my lonliness...
I was not certain about anything in my life at that moment.... Would I be able to make new friends here? Will there be anything bright and beautiful in the almost gloomy life of mine?
Well, by the grace of God, Life has been just perfect...
Have met some great people.... made a lot of friends... have managed to land up with amazing roommates...
No one can ask for more.....
We have rented out a beautiful apartment in one of the residential complexes. It's really a beautiful accomodation. But sharing a flat with other people comes with its own set of boons and banes.. Let me list down a few of them.

Pros :
1. You just have to cut the onions and tomatoes and wait at the dining table. Rest everything is completed by your benevolent flatmates!
2. When you go out for groceries, you have many hands to carry the stuff to home.
3. When you feel lonely, you can just barge into other's room and talk to your heart's content. (Whether they actually listen is another matter altogether!)
4. Need to play Cricket or Football, all you need to do is to whistle ... and lo!!! you have a team of 4-5 ready!
5. When you buy a new TV or a satellite receiver, you have 3-4 other people to share the expenses.

Cons :
1. When you have a personal call to make... (A REALLY personal call), the only place that you are left undisturbed is the restroom ;¬(
2. You want to watch Friends, but your roomies veto it out and watch "Big Brother" instead!!
3. More people More mess!!! More shoppers so more unnecessary stuff at home !!
4. When you URGENTLY have to go( you know where ), there will already be someone else inside.
5. When someone buys and new gadget, that you very rarely use or (Do not absolutely need), you still have to share the expenses.

Have a great day!!

Fart-i-Fact

2006-08-07T21:01:00.000Z

Watching Jackass:The Movie, I know, is very weird way to spend your Saturday Nights..
And having nothing else to do, Your's Truly and his Gang 'o Four, decided to spend the precious 2 hrs of their evening watching Johnny Knoxville and his band(read: Jackasses) perform idiotic stunts and getting themselves hurt in the process..
Well, one things for sure. Either you will be totally grossed out, or you will enjoy it till your bones rattle.
I have to tell you folks about one particular stunt, which triggered a array of thoughts in my mind. Have you ever thought of firing a rocket cracker from you A$$?
Well, The Jackasses have! It was one of the weirdest stunts that I have seen.
And it only question that came to my mind was "Can you burn fart?"
What if the actor had really farted during this act?
Can fart be ignited? Would there have been an explosion had he farted at that moment?
Mathematically speaking, the probability of farting at that specific moment would be very low.
These quesions made me devote some time on Sunday to surf the net and explore more about fart.
I now understand that some of parameters that lead to fart may be
a> The amount of beans+eggs+meat+cauliflower eaten the upto 24 hours.
b> Number of fizzy drinks had within 6 hours of the feat.
c> Number of chewing gums chewed within past 8 hours.
and many more on the same lines..
And as for the question whether you can ignite farts :
Research says that fart can be ignited because they contain methane and hydrogen, both of which are inflamable. If the fart constitutes of more percentage of methane, it will burn with blue flame.(Note : Methane burns with a blue flame. 10th Grade Chemistry)
Also if it contains higher than normal content of Oxygen, there is a very good change of an explosion, if you were to try to burn it.
I visited the local bookstore yesterday along with "Sarkari" who had planned to buy a good book.
While he was doing his rounds, in the cricketing books section, I wandered across to the weird and miscellaneous collection.
After browsing through a few rather weird books, I came across a title that really took me by surprise.
"Why Do Men Have Nipples?" by Mark Leyner and Billy Goldberg
And the tagline read :"Hundreds of questions you'd only ask your doctor after your third martini!"....
Well that's true. You wouldn't dare asking these questions to a doctor if you are sober ;¬)
So, I thought definitely someone would have the same query in mind as me. "Can you really really REALLY ignite fart".
Well this book answers this and a lot more such weird questions!
Definitely a good read!!!!

Happy reading......
Cheers!

Six Whacko Men....

2006-08-06T23:15:00.000Z

Been a pretty long time since my last post... Was running on a tight schedule...
Will try to spare some solid time this week.

This picture, that you see alongside, was taken when few friends got together for a fun weekend!!!
FUN translates to (sports + booze + movies + awesome food)
I will now introduce you to the gang..(names are read out from the left...Your left).

Whacko 1 :Vishu,
-----------------
aka The Chicken Killer : named so because of his insatiable hunger for chicken!!
aka The Rebel : named so because of the fight that he put forward to get here(read: Onsite)
Note: Onsite is the most cherished place that a SE loves to be in.

Whacko 2 :Gagan,
------------------
aka The Artist : named so because of his undeniable talent with arts....and also his intermittent bursts of wierd reneditions of famous songs.
aka GBP : named so because of the uncanny similarity between his initials and Great British Pound

Whacko 3 :Sunil,
------------------
aka The WhizKid : named so because of he is the only one among us who in the Cambridge University
(more specifically, On a scholarship)
aka KappaJi : It's all in the name....Kappa is the first syllable of his surname, Ji is added out of honour.

Whacko 4 :Yours Truly,
-----------------------
aka The Genius : named so because of his ability to come up with geniunely weird ideas
aka Mamu : Dont know why???

Whacko 5 :Kanth,
------------------
aka The SportBoy : He once told me that he likes Sports, in all its various sizes and formats....A very enthusiastic Sport watcher.
aka Megastar Kanth : named so because of his passion for telegu movies!!

Whacko 6 :Atul,
----------------
aka The Saviour : named so by his colleagues for saving their A$$es during his many projects
aka Sarkari : again named by his colleagues for his routine departure from office at 6:00 in the evening sharp, very commonly associated with the Sarkari babus (Public Office Bearers).

Signing off....

Breakfast Tips for Bachelors..

2006-07-27T22:00:00.000Z

You will find below some of the tricks that I use to prepare a decent breakfast.(I am not sure if others may classify this as a good breafast)
Most of it is healthy..but maybe not as heathy as an apple ;¬)
Your's truly shall not be held responsible if these recipies does not suit your palate.

1> Corn Flakes : This is the easiest, healthiest, and the most delicious way to start a day.
Type : Hot
Procedure : Take a bowl of Corn Flakes and pour a cup of milk in it. Add sugar to taste.
Place the contents in a microwaveable bowl and set it in the oven for 3.5 minutes on full power.
Expert Tip : Sprinkle some finely chopped nuts and a few raisins for additional flavour. Also a dash of
chocolate sypup will not go un-noticed.

Type : Cold
Procedure : Take a bowl of Corn Flakes and pour a chilled cup of milk to it. Add sugar to taste.
Add a some small slices of your local fruits for additional flavour.
Expert Tip : Finely sliced bananas go really well with this.

2> Scramble on Toast : Scrambled Eggs with Toast is another easy option for a healthy start to the day.
Type : Hot
Procedure : Pre-heat a non-stick frying pan. Put half a teaspoon of oil/butter to it.
Break 2 free range/caged hen eggs according to your preference and put in the pan.
Gently keeps stirring it. Add a pinch of red chilli powder and salt to taste.
Expert Tip : A generous spread of mayonaise will give the toast an awesone flavour. Goes really well
with the scrambled eggs.

3> Pancakes
Type : Hot
Procedure : Buy a ready made pack of pancakes. Place 2 in a microwaveable plate and heat for 40 seconds.
Ensure that the pancakes are piping hot beforre you eat.
Expert tip: A generous amount of Maple Syrup or ButterScotch Syrup makes these pancakes even tastier.

4> Ros'sandwitch and Tea
Type : Warm
Procedure : Toast 3 slices of bread until it is crisp and brown.
Spread a coat of peanut Butter on one slice. On another slice spread a good amount of bitter orange marmalade.
Join both the slices with the coated faces together. Now spead another coat of marmalade on
one side of the already coated toast. On the third toast apply any chocolate-vanilla spread and
join with the existing set.
Heat a cup of milk in a sauce pan. Add a small portion of ginger to it. Then add a teabag or two to it.
Bring it to boil. Now filter this into a large cup.
You are all set to have a great breakfast.
Expert Tip: Placing 3-4 mint leaves within the chocolate portion of your toast brings out a great taste.

Hope that this information is of help!

Have a great breakfast.
Cheers.

A shoulder to cry on...

2006-07-27T10:51:00.000Z

"I know that this is over...
Now that we are through!
Nothing seems to make sense..
No matter what I do.
But, I try to pick these pieces..
And mend my broken heart.
All that comes to mind is..
Why did all this start?

I don't know...
I know not what to do?
Love ain't easy...
Oh can someone...
Stop this bleeding..
In this heart of mine? "
This is a melodious composition by a telegu music director, Ramana Gokula.

These two stanzas so beautifully captures my lonliness...

Why does it hurt when you lose someone/something you love?
Even though the loss could be partly credited to your insensitivity..and partly to your foolishness... You still feel the pain.
You can feel the pain slowing buildng up like a volcano; ready to erupt any moment.
Slowly and gradually your fingers feel numb....
Then all of a sudden you feel the touch of cold metal on your skin..
You cannot resist...you cannot move...
The blunt edge of the cold metal rests on your chest now...
You stop breathing, as if waiting for the metal to plunge through you and relieve you of your misery..
of your suffering...your loneliness...
The eerie silence hammers againsts your brain like clashing cymbals... the silence keeps building and so does your agony...
All of a sudden, the metals pierces its way through your skin... not enough to kill you...
but enough to make you bleed and aggravate your pain.

I close my eyes and try to think of the most pleasing moments in my life... fun times with family...
time with friends... Drop by drop, the wound is taking aways my strength. My mind goes blank!!
It feels as if the source that charges me is cut off.
I can hear the blood drops falling agains the tiled floor... as if dancing an rejoicing in my misery..

It is at moments like these that you miss your family and friends...
All we need at these moments, is a shoulder to cry on!!!

Suddenly, I am reminded of how beautiful it was to hear the raindrops beat across the windows..
Through the blurred window, I see my family.... happy!!! My friends... celebrating .
Colours return back to my eyes... The surroundings are not grim and dark anymore...

There is happiness everywhere... My pain is gone... the wound vanished!!!
I feel a hand on my shoulders.. and a gentle voice says : "Don't worry. Everything is OK.
There's a lot to celebrate in your Life. I will be there for you whenever you need me"

I look around and I see no one... but I shout with joy... "That's my guardian Angel!"
I am ALIVE & I need to CELEBRATE!!!

Heaven in your eyes..

2006-07-27T00:01:00.000Z

One of my friends, Jeevan, mentioned in his blog about using Pandora to listen to music.
And believe it or not, I am now in love with Pandora’s Music Box.
It allows users to create a radio station that is almost 85% to their liking.(Don't ask me how I reached at this number ;¬)
You can add a station by adding one or more songs/artists you like.(Tip: Adding by songs will get you a better result)
These generous people at the music genome project add songs to your radio playlist according to the song/artist you chose to create the station.
You can then keep rating the playlist, and finally create the perfect radio station that you dreamed for ;¬)
You may find more details @ Jeevan's Alterlife
BTW, today, I tried to look for one of my favourite songs "No frontiers" on Pandora.
It's one of the sweetest songs ever; so beautifuuly sung by one of my favourite bands, The Corrs.
Well actually this is a cover version of an old song by the same name. ( I don't remember the artist though)
Another trivia about this song is that this song is not sung by the lead singer of the band, Andrea.
Instead this is sung by Sharon and Caroline Corr.
(Note: Andrea is the most beautiful of the three sisters. I have had a crush on Andrea too.... ;¬) It probably lasted a week)
Now back to our story, I could not find this song listed on Pandora.
So, I mailed the helpdesk about this and requested them to add this song their already amazing database.
I was not expecting a reply. But, to my surprise, I got a personal mail back from a guy in the Pandora support team, asking me to send the name of the album to which the reqested song belongs.
That's when, like a bolt of lightening, it crossed my mind that this song was also named as "Heaven Knows". I finally found my favourite song.
If you get time, then please do listen to this song. It will really soothe you, however hectic your day may be.
Here it goes:

"If life is a river and your heart is a boat
And just like a water baby baby born to float
And if life is a wild wind that blows way on high
And your heart is Amelia dying to fly

Heaven knows no frontiers
And I've seen heaven in your eyes

And if life is a bar room in which we must wait
'Round the man with his fingers on the ivory gates
Where we sing until dawn of our fears and our fates
And we stack all the dead men in self addressed crates

In your eyes faint as the singing of a lark
That somehow this black night
Feels warmer for the spark
Warmer for the spark
To hold us 'til the day
When fear will lose it's grip
And heaven has its way

Heaven knows no frontiers
And I've seen heaven in your eyes

If your life is a rough bed of brambles and nails
And your spirit's a slave to man's whips and man's jails
Where you thirst and you hunger for justice and right
And your heart is the pure flame of man's constant night

In your eyes faint as the singing of a lark
That somehow this black night
Feels warmer for the spark
Warmer for the spark
To hold us 'til the day
When fear will lose it's grip
And heaven has its way
And heaven has its way
When all will harmonise
And know what's in our hearts
The dream will realise

Heaven knows no frontiers
And I've seen heaven in your eyes
Heaven knows no frontiers
And I've seen heaven in your eyes"

I wish I could see heaven in someone's eyes.....
Sigh!

Have a great day.

Cricket Shiket Haye Rabba...

2006-07-25T22:27:00.000Z

After coming to London, I have developed a greater passion of the Gentleman’s Game, “Cricket”.
Maybe the proximity to Lords, the Mecca of Cricket, is influencing me.
One of my close friends, a superb cricketer, once remarked that I had the mind of a cricketer and not the body… I still can’t get over it. ;¬(
But anyways, last Sunday we played a lot of cricket… (Basically a toned down British version of our very own desi gully cricket).

Talking of Cricket, reminds me of some of the now world famous Siddhuisms…

• “The ball went soooooo high up in the air that it kissed an air-hostess on its way back.”

• “He will fight a rattlesnake and give him the first two bites!”

• "Statistics are like miniskirts, they reveal more than what they hide."

• “In London they drive on the left, in India we drive on what is left!”

• “You got to choose between tightening your belt or losing your pants.”

• “Nobody travels on the road to success without a puncture or two.”

• “The Indian team without Sachin is like giving a kiss without a squeeze.”

• “The Only Thing You Get in Life without Trying is dandruff.”

• “You cannot make Omelettes without breaking the eggs.”

You may find more of these if you just run a search for “Siddhuism” on Google Search.

This morning, during breakfast, I was going through some articles in CricInfo.com and I came across another Siddhuism:

“If One Day Internationals are "Pyjama" Cricket the 20-20 competitions is "Chaddi" cricket…”

I shudder to think what Siddhu ji would say about our version of Gully Cricket.???
(I may be giving some great ideas to the Playboys and the Hustlers…. Or, maybe they have done this already.)

PJ, I know...

Cheers!!

The Anchor, the Sailor, and the Ship

2006-07-23T20:16:00.000Z

"In the thunderous tempest called LIFE,
When only the dark rolling clouds are in sight...
When the sharp needles of raindrops pierces through my skin...
I feel no agony..no sadness...no pain..
'Coz I know that you are My Anchor, Sailor and my Ship."

I am not a poet...nor I pretend to be one...It's just one from the list of random awakenings that oft awake me from my slumber...

Isn't it true that our Lord is our saviour in all these precarious and tricky situations that we are stuck in?
Lord, You are the anchor, that holds our family together when the storm strikes.
When the current challenges and tries to engulf us and set apart our family, you are the sailor who rows the boat to safety.
You are the Ship, the safe house of our family...
We praise you today and evermore....

God Bless.

The Story of the Bens.....

2006-07-22T20:21:00.000Z

There was nothing new today apart from the fact my room mates bought home "A bottle of Single Malt Whiskey".
It came along with a certificate of authentcity..That stated that it has been put in cask for 12 years and that it has the flavours of Speyside, the place where it was distilled.
It also stated that the water that has been used was from the springs from Ben Bracken.
Ben is to Mountain as Loch is to lake.
I am reminded of an incident that happened during our tour to the Scottish Highlands.
Our tour had a group of chinese people and I was unfortunate enough to be seated near them. They are by nature, very good people...The only thing thats bad about them apart from their poor english, is their eagerness with their cameras. They are really keen to capture everything that they see.
And by the way they ask a looooooooot of questions!!!!
The incident follows:

Nagging Chinese Hag(Not used in general context. I love the Orient.) : "Which mountain is that one?"
Me: "That's Ben Nevis! the highest mountain range in Scotland."
NCH: "Okay."
And she captures the ben in her high end megapixel camera.
NCH, pointing to the mountain next to the previous one: "Which mountain is that one?"
Me:"That's also Ben Nevis! Ben Nevis is an entire mountain range.". I replied with a smile, disguising the irritation that was slowly builing up.
NCH:"Okay."
She again points to the mountain and clicks.
NCH, poking me with her fingers:"What mountain is that one?"
A really irritable Me:" That's Ben Affleck!!!".
Unable to bear the torture any further I turn away from her and start gazing outside from the window and pretend to doze off.

;¬) Cheers!

Need For Speed - Underground

2006-07-20T21:37:00.000Z

Past few weeks have been really FUN... My roomie Chippa a.k.a. The Chicken Killer,
introduced me to NFS - Underground....And boy, I am hooked onto it.
Superb Game...Really.
Note: I will introduce him to you folks shortly.
I remember my college days, when NFS-Porshe was a craze in the GVIT Boys Hostel.
Those late night chai and maggie noodles...God!I miss it.
And everyone in the room trying to outplay others in NFS.
Talking about NFS, I definitely need to mention something about this pal of mine, Jallu a.k.a JBC a.k.a. The MasterMind.
This guy would challenge to beat any record on NFS. Only thing that people had to do was let him alone in the room with the computer.
God only knows what he did in the room alone...But he would most often than not come out with a smile and "Ja dekh le. Tera record beat kar diya hai maine." dialog.
There is so much to write about this guy that I think I should dedicate this post to him.
This guy is one of the most brilliant guys I have met. He is an out and out flirt too .... very popular with the gals I must say ;¬)
Intelligent as he was, he was involved in many masterminded plots. It's a different story that most of them did not culminate to his satisfaction.

Now back to NFS - Underground, After having explored so much of it my next target is the newer version of NFS called Most Wanted.

See you at the finish line, Mate!
Cheers.

The Winds Of Change.......

2006-07-19T20:56:00.000Z

I have been saving this post as a draft from a very long time...25 days to be precise..... :¬)
Today I decided to publish it and close the chapter..

When I first landed in London, I was under an impression that I too would be working in, say the 30th or 40th floor of a skyscraper.
But, when I reached my office in Liverpool Street, after having lost my way for 30 minutes, my dreams were totally shattered.
I walked into a 5 storey building which seemed to shout out loudly, it's 100 years of existence in my ears..

Well, to be frank I love changes..
"Change is the only constant thing in our life."
Having worked in India prior to this, this trip was a welcome change for me. Even though the office did not appeal to me, the work sure did.

Now last month, when the company decided to move its operation base to Canary Wharf, I was among the happier lot. Canary Wharf, unlike Liverpool Street, is one of the newly constructed areas.
The offices here are very similar to what I have dreamed about..

I have always loved the winds of change gushing against my face. I know and believe that it always bring me good tidings... And this time, the gift was that I rented out a beautiful apartment alongside a canal. ;¬)
And the icing on the cake is that I walk to my office!!!
"A little walk will definitely not hurt me." (Mr Fatty disagrees though..)

I have again waged a war against Fatty..Lets see who wins!!!

Have Fun!!!

House by the Lake...

2006-07-17T23:13:00.000Z

Like a lot many people I know, even I have a dreamer in me. When things go rough, it's the beautiful carpet of pleasant and wonderous thoughts that Mr. Dreamer weaves, that soothes my nerves.
I am 25 now, a software engineer by profession, currently loving what I am doing. But, 15 year down the line, Mr. Dreamer doesn't see me continue doing the same.

He suggests that I rather buy a large ranch... raise livestock .. or maybe grow apples, strawberries, and other fruits in my farm....

Whenever Mr.Dreamer shares this dream with me....I am drawn to it like a moth to the light.... Oh! How much I love the dream of owning a house by the lake.... .a large farm .... and a ranch...
But this is all in Mr.Dreamer's dreams.

In reality will Your's Truly be able to do that? Well! He doesn't know.
There is always a thought that nags him..
Will his loved ones approve of this?

And that's when it strikes me that I have a very long period of time in hand to realize my dreams...but before that I have responsiblilties to shoulder...and promises to fulfil.

In Robert Frost's words:
"The woods are lovely, dark, and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep. "

Have a great day! And may God fulfill all your desires.

Mumbai....(City of .......)

2006-07-16T12:38:00.000Z

The following are my personal views, and the contents are not meant to hurt anyone's sentiments.

Wikkepedia says :

"Mumbai , also known in English (now unofficially) as Bombay,
is the capital of the state of Maharashtra,
and the most populous city of India,
Mumbai is the commercial and entertainment capital of India,
and houses important financial institutions,
such as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE),
the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) and the corporate headquarters
of many Indian companies.with an estimated population of about 13 million (as of 2006)."

Because of all this, Mumbai has been on the targest list for most terrorists ( read cowards who kill innocent people in the name of freedom fight, religion )
Little do they know, that these intermittent acts of cowardice cannot shake the faith of a nation as large as India.

Mumbai Blasts: We did it: Lashkar-e-Qahhar
PTI / New Delhi July 16, 2006

Is Pakistan really behind all these incidents? Should India actually close down all ties from Pakistan? can Pakistan survive alone, without a helping hand from India?
These questions and a lot others have always come to our mind, whenever we see an incident like the recent Mumbai blasts.

I am not the right person to answer these..But i do have my own views. I feel that Pakistan is really behind all these...they may not be masterminding it, but i am definite that they sure are lending a helping hand to these terrorist organizations..
India should stop importing stuff from pakistan...Let's us see how Pakistan's economy thrives if India lets go of it.

I am sharing a mail from one of my friends from Mumbai (a day after the recent blasts), Ajju:

What happened yesterday was horrific.. The death toll is sure to reach 200 (unofficial more than 500 dead and 800 injured)... It could have been one of us.. We are back to our own offices hoping everyone around us is safe.... We carry on with our regular lives just a day after our " nervous system " the mumbai metros are bombed.. We carried on with our regular lives just a day after our houses are flooded with water... We carried on with our lives just a day after some SENA ppl burnt buses and other thing just to prove a point... And we still carry on as though nothing happened. I am fed up of b'bay now guys. I dont think this can be a city where i would want any of my loved ones to ever visit, leave alone stay here.

Travelling in a local at 6 pm is an experience which is very hard to describe.200+ people are cramped in space designed to accomodate 75.... And an explosion to happen there, i shudder to think what people would have gone through.
Such cruelty and hatred against humanity. All the blasts happened within 11 min and in first class compartments which is packed with regular train travellers. People who were on sideboards were thrown off the train on to the tracks and were crushed by other trains and those who were inside were blown to pieces.

Where do u go what do u do? Life ki koi value hi nahi hai. I am sick to my stomach of these cowardly acts. Nothing else.

Thanks Ajju for sharing you agony and thougts with us.

Stay safe..

The Magic of Three!!!

2006-07-14T23:35:00.000Z

This beautiful photograph is taken by Ann, a Taiwanese friend of mine, during her visit to the beach.
I was strangely attracted to the uncanny symmetry in the picture.
Wise Men say that an idle brain is devil's workshop. And idle as I am on a Sunday, I start my random and weird musings... I start picturing the same image with 4 gorgeous legs....Nah!! The allignment is not proper...
There is something really magical and strange about the number three...
"Three" for me symbolizes Stablilty..
When you want to keep your camera steady what does one use? Well, of course; A tripod...Not a quadrupod...not a pentapod....but a tripod.
What do you need to draw a star...You need two triangles.
There are a lot of references in the Bible of the number three..e.g. 3 temptations of Jesus Christ, The Holy Trinity, On the third day Jesus rose again...

Some historians say that the number three indicates completeness and is superlative—a thing is entirely what it is said to be. Like say, a person dead three days is definitely dead. Someone who is worshipped as thrice holy is perfectly holy.

And its not that three is always associated with the good always....You would already know that "Two is company...Three is crowd"...

I don't what I have jotted down...I am pretty much sure that this is not going to make a good read...

Have a great week ahead folks...
Cheers.

P.S> There is also the nursery rhyme "Three Blind Mice".... ~_~
"Three blind mice, three blind mice,
See how they run, see how they run,
They all ran after the farmer's wife,
Who cut off their tails with a carving knife,
Did you ever see such a thing in your life,
As three blind mice? "

The Genius..

2006-07-14T06:26:00.000Z

It is really funny how the dumbest guy in the class would inevitably be labelled as the "Genius".
BTW, Yours truly has never been the "Dumbest Guy".... But people have addressed him as "The Genuis".
Well, the saying goes that Genuis is what Genius does!!
So the question that arises now is "What the $$$$ did I do to get labelled as a genius"?
Let me think!!! ( I am scratching my head now. )
Well I don't remember!!
Yours truly has been called by other names too. "Mamu", being the silliest of them all.
For the ignorant:
"Mamu" is slang for an indian constable(generally imagined to be in a half pants). Another relation of the word "mamu", is to "Shakuni Mama". The most cunning and shrewdest guy in the whole of Hindu Mythology.
This is a perfect example of sheer misunderstanding. I have never had a liking to half pants, nor was I half as cunning as "Shakuni".
Fact~ Keralites are assumed to be cunning.

But guys you need to understand that I am a fraud Mallu. I have never stayed in Kerala. I do not understand perfect Malayalam. I speak in a language which I classify as "Something like Malayalam". Maybe the guys who gave me this weird nickname need to enlighten me.

Now coming back to the nick that I like the most - "The Genius"
After 10 minuts of scratching my head...and another 15 minutes of sulking, I am now resigned to the fact that it was the case of " Apne muh aap miya mithu ".
Oh My God! I am a Self Proclaimed Genius ;¬(

Cheers.

P.S> The photo is of a cool dude named "Caliq", son of one of my friends bro. Sorry dude, I should have taken your consent before publishing your photo. But I guess you don't mind. All the gals who go thru my blog will definitely drool over you.

Sky is not the limit!!

2006-07-10T23:22:00.000Z

During my 10th grade, one of friends had written the following quotes in a card.
I don't remember the occasion, but I do remember the quotes (Well! Sort of ;¬).. Here it goes..

It is in hoping that we dream....
In dreaming that we seek...
In seeking that we find...
Our life's desires...

So don't ever be afraid to reach for the skies.
Always believe that sky is not the limit...

Don't ever curb your imagination.... Whatever we see in today's world were once imagined.

Someone very wisely said, "If you can imagine it you can create it. If you can dream it, you can become it.".

Have a great day! God Bless.

P.S> Don't daydream ;¬)

Ma - The strongest woman in the world

2006-07-10T00:44:00.000Z

My mom is my Life ... my Inspiration ... my All!!!
She has mentored me throughout my life and will continue to do so evermore.
Well, truly speaking she is the strongest woman I have ever set my eyes upon, in the whole wide world.
I can still recall the morning of 24th September '03, the day that turned the life of my family upside down.
That was the day when I was supposed to leave back to Bangalore after having spent over a week with my parents.

Onam, the harvest festival of the Keralites, fell on the 24th of Sep '03.
Well there was no celebration for us, coz dad met with an accident the day before.

None of the Hospital staff... Doctors... Friends... Relatives, none of them had any hope that my dad would survive.
To tell the truth, after witnessing the condition of my dad even my mind was clouded with fearful thoughts... The only hope that I could see was in my Mom's eyes.
She believed that my dad would survive.

Such was the seriousness of the injury that even the doctors refused to operate on my dad unless we sign a paper that stated that if anything bad happens during the surgery they would not be held responsible.
I overheard people talking to my Mom and telling her that I should be made aware of the situation.
All of them believed that if my dad were operated on, he would never come out of the O.T. alive.
And my Mom, brave as she is, shielded me from all there painful words that I was just a kid.
A kid!!!! I was $$$**££ 23 years old, but I never bore the responsibility that I should have.
During that phase, and even now, my mom shouldered all the responsibilities.

She took command of our family and never lost her faith. She sometimes cried alone but almost never when we were near her. Even her faith must have been challenged at times, but she never lost hope.
She tended my dad, day and night!!
After being on an artificial respiration machine for over a month, my dad finally breathed by himself.
Even the doctors admitted that the recovery was nothing short of a miracle… and that it was due to the constant care administered by my Mom.

Our God, who works wonders, gathered our broken family together and gave us all a new lease of life.
By God's grace, my dad is well. Even though he is not physically and mentally a 100%, but we still thank God for whatever blessings he has bestowed upon us.

When others try to imagine how God would look like, I close my eyes and imagine my Mom. She is the closest to God that I can get.

I still feel sometimes that I never thanked my Mom as much as I should have done...
Thank you Mom, for being the backbone of our family. Thanks for giving me courage and strength when I needed it most.

To the best Ma in the world...I Love You.

The Luncheon...(The La Tasca Story)

2006-07-08T21:38:00.000Z

Couple of weeks back I went to a Mexican resturant called Chillies and that brought back some memories of my luncheon at La Tasca ...

I could have named this post as "Close encounter with the snails and mussels!!!" but that sounded like a cheap Z-grade movie title.
So what are we waiting for? Let's start with "The Luncheon".

I have always been a fan of Mexican food...The food looks so delicious and appealing...
I am especially fond of fajitas...

But, that Sunday, I opted for the more exotic "Paella Valenciana", a Seafood plus Chicken Paellas. Little did I know that seafood need not necessarily mean fish.
We were served a large bowl of paellas with a combination prawns, squid, mussels, snails, monkfish & tuna...Mussels & Snails !!!
Oh My God!! What did I get myself into?

Couple of guys who had opted for a more common Vegetarian option were laughing at my plight. Having waited for over an hour for our food, we hogged on whatever was served.
With a fake enthusiasm, I tried to gather as many chicken pieces as possible from the wierd mix of sea food.
But on second thought, the food was not that bad. ;¬) And it was FUN.

Have a great meal folks!!!
Cheers.