Lage Raho Munnabhai!

After that poor excuse for a movie sequel called Phir Hera Pheri, I was really not ready for this. But Lage Raho Munnabhai far exceeded my expectations being such a well executed movie. You never are bored for more than three minutes at a time during the whole time. It does not let you to even think of getting bored when Circuit and Munna are raining cats, dogs, frogs, bulls, professors, doctors and builders everywhere. And this with the messages lauding non-violence and truth - very subtly put in many of the sequence. Don't miss the way the teacher handles the government babu who is out there just to be bribed. Or the guy who says sorry to other tenant at whose door he tends to spit a lot. Or Jimmy Sheregil's moment with Parikshit Sahni. Or the way Boman Irani breaks down at the end. It does go a little over the top for a brief period, but luckily Hirani brings it back to close with panache.

I also liked it for the stand it takes on astrology and numerology. I am not the best advocate you will find to promote such things. So I really laughed out loud as if Lucky Singh uttered my own sentiments when he ridiculed multiple Ks and birthtime shtuff. Really, a cleverly written script can bring such joys to one's lone evenings.

One cannot say anything other than, "Lage raho Hirani, Sanjubaba, Arshad and Vinod Chopra!"

signing off,

Bizarre, Bizarre World

Mummy, can I send "her" a Valentine'’s Day card?

No babboo, they don't want you to get spoiled by the Western Culture.

Mummy, can I write about how I won today's race on my blog?

No babboo, they don't want you to write anything which might be used by the anti-national elements.

Mummy, can I climb on the top of our society's "dahi-handi"?

No babboo, they don't want you to fall down and hurt yourself.

Mummy, can I watch Seinfeld?

No babboo, they don't want you to watch adult serials on English channel. You can watch DD1.

Mummy, what in the frigging world is the frigging problem with them?

Watch your tongue babboo, they don't want you to speak like that.

signing off,

Bad Analogy?

I said, Bill Gates is very much like our very own Karan Johar. Everyone knows their product is the worst. Despite that, everyone seems to have a first hand/eye experience to tell so.

"Man, don't use/see it."

"Boss, I have to. How would I know?"

signing off,

Comic

My recent comment (and subsequent criticisms on it) set me into thinking why did I make that comment in the first place - "Sometimes things are so bad, that it is actually fun watching them. It is like reading Chacha Chowdhary comics." (the comment was made in response to why did I enjoy watching movie Insaniyat, a post in itself) :-)

I am sure it will invite the wrath of the die hard fans of Chacha Chaudhary and co. And invite it did. Pran, who is "heartthrob of millions of Indians", has apparently very large following. Growing up, his creations like Mr Chaudhary, Sabu, Rocket, Chachee, Raka, Paploo, Taploo and few other chappies were constant companions of our lives, too. As we read more of it though, the subtle fun (?) in these comics started becoming more apparent. Such as few state-of-the-artly crappy artwork including Chacha's fully-visible-moustache even in the side view, cubic houses with small black rectangles for doors/windows, patches of twigs, flowers, leaves etc lying in the corner to give appearance of greenery, hurriedly scribbled text (which, in some cases, even used to go out of the speech balloon). For Hindi versions, you could have stopped here. But for those who got their hands on the English ones, they could have easily fainted at the language usage, which was extremely funny. (And this, according to this wiki article, was probably intentionally done so as to make Indian children understand easily) I guess this only made it difficult. I crave to meet the genius translator who came up with such sentences. But I need not go far, for their next generation is still in the existence, who instead of writing dialogues in the comic books, write badly formatted emails. Moreover, the characters in the story, apart from Chacha Chaudhary / Sabu / Chachee / Rocket, could well be explained in a single word - buffoon. They existed on the barren lands just to get outsmarted by Chacha or to get thumped by Saboo. I wonder if Chacha really needed "the brain that is faster than the computer" to outsmart those lads. The mystery might be explained if one discovers the computer Pran had in mind when he wrote this masterpiece.

Maybe I am going too far. Maybe comic books are not supposed to be dissected by grown-ups like this. (I first wrote, grown-ups like me, then realized that was a oxymoron) Maybe Pran who had degree in Fine Arts, did not draw these things, but delegated it to a junior draftsman who was sulking, like our present day IT professional, because of less remuneration. Maybe the English translator kept dictionary in front of him/her and literally translated each word as it came. And maybe that was the best we had. Sigh!

But one look at the Calvin and Hobbes, my faith in comics is restored. So let me go back and read the adventures of the Spaceman Spiff. It is a myth, at least for me, that you don't enjoy comics after a certain age.

signing off,

Update: Read this blog to get few more insights on Chacha Chaudhary (with full stories!)

http://www.vishalpatel.com/features/chacha01/chacha01pg01.htm

Home Alone - IV

I am back to being alone at home for more than ten consecutive days for the fourth time. I am sure, I can beat Macaulay Culkin at least now.

I kinda like being alone. It is boring as hell, but it has its advantages. Mostly you can get up whenever you want to get in bathroom could have been the reason. But since we have two bath, I gotta come up with something else. Wait, wait. I can watch any channel on TV. Mostly it is TBS and that is what I watch when my roomie is here anyways. Yeah, I know, I can cook whatever I want. Man, this cannot be the reason - cooking takes almost all of my free minutes when I do it alone.

Damn, I hate being alone at home.

But I find solace in fact that this is much better than the two times I was alone in Bangalore for about two months each time. At least now I have the idiot box and my latest and probably most coveted DVD collection - Seinfeld. As it turns out now, I am not alone. I am with Jerry, Elaine, George and Kramer. :-)

signing off,

The Wizards

There was a comment from the commentator on ESPN which was showing now legendary France vs Brazil quarter final just few minutes before close of second half. "How many wizards are out there tonight?" he exclaimed. He was indeed referring to Zidane, Henry, Vieira and co. Considering the other side had lineup like Ronaldinho, Roberto Carols, Ronaldo, Cafu, Kaka and co, the comment could have looked overambitious on any other day. But not today sir.

It was like witnessing other aging wizard of our age - Tendulkar - marshalling the team for world cup victory not so far from today. Magic moments indeed. Hail Zidane! Hail France!

signing off,

वरण भात

ब~याच (maybe सगळ्याच) अमराठी लोकांना नुसता वरण भात म्हणजे काय चीज आहे हे कळत नाही. मी त्यांना समजावून थकलोय, seriously. तरी मी, जो थोडासा माझ्यात मराठी नावाचा बाणा उरला आहे, त्याला स्मरून जमेल तसं त्याला market करत असतो, जिथं जिथं chance मिळेल तिथे. पण त्यामुळेच की काय, "एवढंच? च्यायला! आळशी आहेस नुसता!" किंवा "फोडणी नाही दिली तर कसली ती आमटी??" किंवा "आता तुला कळलं असेलच की तू असला कडक्या का आहेस ते" असले टोमणे (of course, हिंदी किंवा इतर भाषेत) मला नवीन नाहीत.

पण, imagine this. कोणतेतरी मस्त तांदूळ (बासमती सोडून), गुरगुट्टया का काय म्हणतात तसे शिजवलेले. तूरडाळ, थोडीशी हळद घालून तीन शिट्टया देउन, थोडंसं मीठ मिसळून आणि अगदी हलक्या हाताने रवीने घूसळून एकसारखी केलेली. एक ताजं लिंबू. आणि तूप, preferably, घरीच लोणी कढवून (आईने - तुम्ही किंवा बाबांनी नाही) केलेलं. साजूक, रवाळ - त्याला तुम्ही काहीही म्हणा. हे सगळे ingredients एकत्र करा, जेवढं तुम्हाला आवडतं तितकं लिंबू पिळा, हातानेच (चमच्याने किंवा forkने नाही) मिसळा. आणि खा. (Duh! अजून काय?)

आहाहा!! ती चव मी कितीही चांगलं लिहून तुम्हाला कळणार नाही, unless तुम्ही मराठी आहात आणि तुमचे preferences सारखं burger, pizza, Chinese वगैरे खाउन आंग्लाळलेले (अबब! कसला शब्द आहे हा!) नसले तर.

signing off,

The Number of the Beast

Don't presume by the title that I am too been taken over by all this 666 phenomena. As a matter of fact, I don't believe in the numerology stuff either. But again, this song is awesome. Check it out on youtube.com.

signing off,

Let There Be Light

The lamp that lighteth the corner, enlightenth the whole room.

signing off,

Zaroor Suniye Saahab

"There is no essential difference between classical and popular music. Music is music. I want to communicate with the listener who finds Indian classical music remote." - Amjad Ali Khan. Source http://www.sarod.com.

You know, before today, I had never listened to Amjad Ali Khan Saheb bar a few minutes here and there - like in one of my all time classic comedy movies - Chashm-E-Baddoor. Remember when our man Siddharth (Farooque Shaikh) goes the shopping spree after getting the money order, and is going through the assorted LPs and requests to the unidentified shopowner "Zara ye sunaiyega, Amjad Ali Khan Saheb". And he obliges, "Zaroor suniye saahab". Then Siddharth continues shopping and the music continues to play in background. I like that situation in that movie, as so many other situations, very much. More so for the music. So I always tried to listen to his work. But so stuck I am between Pancham and Pink Floyd, it has really never worked out.

And after so many years, it was today when I listened to one of his CD 'Moksha'. And I am glad I did, even though I didn't understand any technicality like the raaga name. I even recommended it to my team-mate here and he recognized it as 'the music they usually play in the restaurants'. He is American, you see. :-) Btw, he liked it too. We then had some discussion on Indian music. Yeah, I am aware that I don't know much about it, but at least I knew more than him. :-) That was one "cross-cultural-exchange" objective I scored.

Btw, a question to my three readers (including me). Does anyone have that song I mentioned? I'd be happy to listen to it once again.

signing off,

Integrity? Hmm.

Let's say you go to 7-11, purchase some snickers worth of $7.99 and give a $10 bill. The store assistant gives you $1.01 back. I can bet a quarter that you are prompt in making him realize he owes you a dollar more. But what if he gives you $3.01 back? Do you keep it or do you give the extra dollar back? Does your hand falter even for a moment before giving it back? Or does it falter while slipping that extra dollar in your wallet?

Integrity, as my friend used to say, is something like wearing a helmet while you are riding a bike. If you are just on the way to the neighborhood bakery for a quick snack which is at most quarter of a mile away, you usually dismiss wearing helmet, as, "What the heck", you think, "you will not be gone that far."

But, how far it does have to be before you wear your helmet?

signing off,

Ode to the Queen

Check this out! Found on youtube.com -

I am reminded of my last post on her. You are missed lady. Very much.

signing off,

Love at First Sight

Buying clothes, is like love at first sight. You go to the shop. Look at all available options. You keep on rejecting the lot because a color does not match your taste, a size does not fit you, or you already have this pattern in the same color and you name the reason. You are a tad disappointed when your friends keep on getting the stuff they like and when even it fits them.

But then there it is, lying on the last aisle, the lone shirt/trouser catches your glimpse. First you dismiss it thinking it is too good to be true (to avoid further heartbreak). But then you gather courage and try it on. And when it fits you just perfect, you cannot help but grin. Your acquaintances confirm the blush on your cheeks too.

It is then you know you are in love. Again.

signing off,

The Nevada Song

I am listening to the remixed version of the song "Ye Wada Raha" performed by Vaishali Samant (rememberd more for it's video featuring three scantily clad women in pink (*drools for a moment before typing anything further) during the good old days when the music videos had not fully lost their sanctity). My boss is kinda curious to know what the heck do I listen to all day. So he demands to hand over the earphones.

For few moments he tries hard to make out anything of those hindi words. Then he exclaims suddenly, "Ooh, ooh! (He likes to say this a lot. Other favorite being yada yada yada) I think I just recognized one word. Do you know Nevada is also a state in US?"

I am perplexed. "Nevada?!"

Then it dawns on me - the chorus is, "Ye wada, ye wada, ye wada ..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Btw, the second most difficult thing to do when you are at client's place would be to attend the vendor meeting. Each one of your team-mates is blasting the vendors for not meeting targets. You think you can be little more demanding too. But then you realize you yourself are a vendor for the client. :-) So suddenly you find yourself sympathizing with the vendor for these unreliastic targets you are asking them. It's a delicate act, I recommend you to at least experience it sometime.

The most difficult thing has to be wake up and reach office at 8:00. In all these months I am here, I must have come to office at 8 not more than four times, three incidents out of which were during my first week in US, when I was under a strong jet-lag. In my next appraisal, I am definitely getting at least a Needs Improvement on timeliness.

signing off,

अनुभव

काही लोक मला म्हणाले, की मी बराच समजदार झालोय.

मी म्हणालो, Naturally. Seattleमधे आल्यापासून मी बरेच पावसाळे बघितले आहेत.

Now I will admit that no one has told me this, but I just created that joke. Which proves my second point!

signing off,

Of Purrs and Bah!s

The author of this blog is a huge fan of humor. And if it is sarcastic, it adds to the fun. Sadism works too, only if it ain't directed to him.

So it does not take more than four engineers to figure out that he is also a fan of Scott Adams. Yes, that Scott Adams. And naturally he recommends you following titles for must read/must see (in that order) -

• Dilbert the Complete Collection (DVD)
• The Dilbert Principle
• It's Not Funny If I Have to Explain It
• Dilbert Blog

Heck, go and read anything you place your paws on.

signing off,

Rollo Tomassi

Doesn't he give you a creep? He commits a crime, and then he escapes because he has all the right connections. Btw, many are benefited because he escapes and no one is really happy to see Rollo punished. Not Sid, not Patchett nor anyone else. Well, except maybe Jack or Ed or Bud. And not that they are taintless fellows themselves. They have had their own interests in doing so. The only people who really affected are those guys in Night Owl who just got shot because they were at wrong place at wrong time.

And that is how sounds the story of late Ms Jessica Lall. Let her soul rest in peace. I am rather dejected by the sound of submission of her sister's comments. Now should she join IAS? Police force? Politics? Whatever she does, Rollo goes on and on.

signing off,

Beauty and the Beast

signing off,

तो ना? अगदी झंप्या आहे!

मला नाही वाटत, आपण gossip करताना जास्त डोक्याला टेन्शन देतो. "तो ना? अगदी झंप्या आहे!", "ती ना? कसल्याच उपयोगाची नाहीये." आपण सगळेच असं कधीतरी म्हणलो असू, कोणाला तरी, कोणाबद्दल तरी. (the actual adjectives people are most likely to use are replaced for PG-13 ratings) आणि mostly, त्या बोलण्याला "खरं" म्हणणं म्हणजे, थोडंसं, "अतिशयोक्ती अलंकाराचे एक उदाहरण द्या", या प्रश्नाला अजून एक उत्तर देण्यापैकीच असतं. मग, असं तद्दन खोटं बोलताना आपण असा विचार का नाही करत, की याचे repercussions काय होतील?

"मूँह खोलनेसे पेहले" एक क्षण थांबणं, "जर अशी माझ्याबद्दल कोणी बकबक केली, तर मला कसं वाटेल?", असं स्वतःला विचारणं, खरंच, एवढं कठीण आहे काय?

signing off,

Move On

"Before we start the meeting, let's wish Nikhil a very happy birthday.", said my team member.

"So finally have you turned eighteen?", chirped another.

Damn. I don't look so kiddish, do I? As it is, I am concerned about moving into the late twenties starting today. Actually it should have been just another year added to the age column. Why has it got me in so much thinking, then? I've been trying to figure that out since January. And these guys. Gaaah!

But yeah. If last year was twenty five and generous, this year has to be 'twenty six and anxious' or 'twenty six and already too old' or 'twenty six and ..' Yeah, yeah. I know.

signing off,

Visiting Oxford

Having already been to two of the major cities in the US, namely Seattle (Hear, hear!) and Los Angeles, I have at least something to answer the question - "Where did I go in the US?" if my assignment were to get over in last year. Anywhere I go to next is like a bonus for me. And when that bonus happens to be Philadelphia, Washington DC and New York over a three day weekend in mid-Jan, I could not have asked for more. And add a chance to meet your friends after nearly 4 years, make it my most memorable weekend in the US so far.

At this point, I can write a long post to explain the trip. But I resist that. For my readers, here is curtailed version of my visit (all sentences converted from first person past tense to something which contemporary English language may not completely identify with) --

Leave for Seattle airport on Friday the 13th. Now the day lives upto it's reputation and my flight gets delayed by an hour and half. My heart is racing fast as I have a connecting flight to catch in Chicago. Meanwhile, get some gifts for my friends (yeah, I can sometime show some sense in life. But not always, I remember I had not carried anything for Rji). Watch five kids just laughing, running, playing all over the terminal. Get into the flight at around 12:00. Sleep very awkwardly in flight. Arrive in the windy city at about 5:00 AM local time and find that I did not make any mistake in carrying the thickest jackets I have. (Btw, I was looking like an idiot in that jacket at Seattle airport where temperature on that night was in mid forties) Switch to Philly flight, and complete remaining sleep.

Wake up at around 9 AM local time only to find the clouds all over airport. (for a moment I wonder whether I came back to Seattle) Curse those clouds and come out. Find AB waiting near baggage claim. He has changed quite a bit since I last saw his photos. Meet AJ in his car waiting outside. He is quite the same, except the weight. Go to their house. Freshen up, talk, eat, talk, drink, talk. Meet N. Leave for Washington. Phenomenon is also on the way to DC. Talk with Mittal on phone. Reach DC and find yourself in a windy chilly and rainy evening. A walk of three-four blocks proves that we cannot venture outdoors anymore and we take shelter in the Air and Space Museum. After hour and half in there and quick bite, set out towards Capitol, Washington Monument and White House in that order. Because of some confusion in one ways, by the time we are through with all three, it is already dinner time. So move to an Indian restaurant in George Town, have dinner and start return journey to Philly. Btw, phenomenon has not made to DC because of a broken car.

After reaching Philly, plan for next day's possible NY visit. Because of very bad weather observed in DC and similar prediction for rest of the weekend, there is a clear division of opinions on the continuation of the original plans. So meanwhile, decide to play a cool card game called Take It Easy. Seattle, as usual, loses to Philly being so outnumbered by 0.5 to 3. Sleep at around 4.

Wake up late next morning. Get ready and have a good lunch prepared by NE. Continue discussions on general topics. Later in afternoon, decide suddenly to go to NY despite bad weather. Book the hotel, pack the bags and off we go. After around two hours of relentless drive on NJTP, locating the hotel, dumping the bags and getting ready for the "16^oF, Strong winds SW, and intermittent rains" night and parking the car in one the "$20 for 24 hours" garages, march towards the Times Square. A little walk, again, proves that we can no longer do any outdoor adventures, and go for a pizza in a nearby restaurant. Decide to go for some movie and go to a screening of Munich in the nearby theater. It is a good movie. After the movie, have a coffee at Starbucks while discussing over the history. The coffee brings us some courage. So go out on to take photographs of empty streets and buildings. After we are satisfied, go to a subway station and reach the hotel at around 4.

Wake up at 9 next morning. Get ready by 11. Have breakfast in Starbucks. Decide that I cannot catch the 6 o'clock flight from Philly in the evening and try to reschedule it. After a couple of calls, reschedule it successfully for next day morning. Set out for Statue of Liberty. Wander for around 3 hrs there. Purchase some mementos and have a little lunch at cafeteria. Then start return journey towards Manhattan island. Visit "the Bull" near Wall Street. Go to the Empire State Building. Get awed by the NY city from up above. Go to the Rockefeller Tower. Enjoy little skating (watching skaters, not doing it). Again have a coffee at Starbucks (Let me admit it, I am addicted to Starbucks coffee. It's quite like Idlipur's coffee) nearby and catch a subway back to parking lot. Get the car, circle around few more roads to get glimpse of UN building and leave NY city. Get a ticket on NJTP for speeding.

Catch the flight back to Seattle early next morning from Philly airport. Lose checked-in luggage at Sea-Tac. Find it after half an hour. Miss your roommate who has come to receive you and take a cab instead to home. Reach office at 1:00.

So this was it. My brief summary of what I did on the long weekend in January. And now you know why it has taken me such a long time to write this post.

PS - The title should be evident to those who know my friends AB and AJ. For others, it is a derived nick name for these two fine gentlemen.

PS2 - And btw, I am quite sad that the Seahawks lost to the Steelars. They had so many chances to win it. But alas!

signing off,

Ratings

Well well well well well.

I'm not in total agreement to accept someone who has rated Style (2) at 1/5, Devdas (2) at 1.5/5, Dil Chahta Hai (4.5) at 2/5, Asoka (1.5) at 2.5/5, Lagaan (4.5) at 3/5, Garam Masala (2.5) and Rok Sako to Rok Lo (1.5) at 3/5, Kaal (1.5) and Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham (2) at 4/5 and Veer Zaara (3) at 5/5. (Ratings in bracket mine) For the records, I don't agree with even James Berardinelli for some of his reviews. But this guy is too much for me. His ratings just don't match with mine, barring a few obvious.

Ok, let's assume that, this Mr Adarsh is just looking at the possible box office returns.

Naaaay! I'd not bet on his ratings, even if someone bribes me with a box of Snickers.

Btw, this issue came up - whether we should accept his ratings of 2.5/5 for Rang De Basanti. I guess, I should watch movie myself and make the decision on how good/bad the movie really is. I have not yet watched it, but Mr Adarsh is not going to hold me from it.

Now that would be a real shocker for my friend dis, who knows me as the one who rejected watching movies like One Dollar Curry because of very bad reviews. But dear dis, we all have our prejudices.

signing off,

Socha Na Tha

Have you watched a mushy love story recently which despite threatening to be made into another KJ movie having all such required ingredients, leaves you a satisfaction of watching a well made movie with especially good dialogues and hummable music? If no, then I'd recommend you to watch Socha Na Tha. And no, I am not being sarcastic. Though inexplicable at moments, it gives you a nice close-to-life account of the situation, though some might argue that such situation in itself is quite an unreality.

And btw, I'd recommend you even Tarzan the Wonder Car, being such an ardent admirer of Ayesha Takia. :-) Man that lady is damn cute!

It's a weird coincidence that I watched a movie on similar theme just last week. The Family Stone is based on the guy with a long time girlfriend who eventually does not end up marrying her. Am I trying to hint something? Well, heck no!

signing off,

मेतकूट भात

आज खूप वर्षांनी मेतकूट भात खाल्ला. चव विसरलोच होतो त्याची अगदी.

signing off,

It Doesn't Get Better Than This

Pulp Fiction on Thursday.

Lord of the Rings - The Two Towers on Friday.

The Shawshank Redemption on Saturday.

And Hammer of the Gods to read in between.

Update on 12/11: When Harry Met Sally on Sunday. (Unbelievable week, this truly has been for the movie-lover in me.)

signing off,

Cute

She's cute. Very bery cute, has a soft voice and the most expressive eyes. In fact, she's a clear winner for the category - "The cutest woman I've met till now."

And possibly, the one I'll ever meet for the rest of my life.

Happy birthday dear! May all the happiness in the world be yours!

signing off,

Thanks!

A day prior to Thanksgiving, I was confused on the whole Thanksgiving stuff. "Man, when in Rome, you must be like the Romans," my friend declared, "You have been in the US for more than 3 months now and you don't know anything about their festivals? What kind of visitor are you? Ever paid attention to the cultural exchanges that cross-cultural program you took back in the office at Bangalore, spoke about? Would you like someone coming to your home and telling you that they are confused about Christmas? Leave everything aside, yes even keeping up with match scores, google it now and find it out. And once you do it, let me know as well."

The point is misunderstood. Let me rephrase. A day prior to Thanksgiving, I was confused on the whole Thanksgiving shopping stuff. Should I buy anything or not? Let me find out what I need now and what I'd like to have.

I definitely need a camera. I have been drooling over the Canon Digital Rebel XT ever since I received my first salary here. But it is quite expensive and I need some time and some more guts to go for it, especially when "I have arrived in the US just at the right age to save for my home, my marriage, my wife, my car, my kid, my kid's education, my parents' retirement, my own retirement and all seasons of Duck Tales on a DVD collection."

So the camera is out, for now. Next I'd like to have a laptop. But what the hell I'm going to use my laptop for? Blogging, playing music, playing games, reading newsgator, contributing on my employer's intranet forums, free porn, cricket, chatting, tagging music, Yahoo finance and moneycontrol, Outlook web access, downloading music, Imagestation. Is it worth spending my time? Not completely. In case you have not observed in the right hand section on "What I am reading", I have not completed a book that I started reading in September till today. (And because it was due, I had to return it too) I need to devote some more time for reading. And no, by reading, I don't mean just erotic stories. And with a laptop around, it is simply not possible.

So laptop is out, for now, too. Then I definitely need some stuff which I can give as gift to my friends, relatives, if I can get it cheaper in bulk. But what kind of useful stuff I can get at CompUSA or BestBuy or Circuit City where my friends are planning to go to? Would someone like a wireless earphone? What about 1 GB flashdrive? Or a camera maybe? Yeah let's see.

So I was thinking about this stuff on Thursday evening. I had prepared dal rice for me (in case you don't know, my roommate - A - is on three weeks' vacation to India and I am all alone to experiment in my kitchen!) and was just finishing my starters (chips and ketchup), when I received a call from S announcing that they have invited me for the dinner. I hate this. I struggle for an hour for this dal (again the time taken was because it was not my recipe I was trying, but A's) and this idiot calls me after all the hard work is over? I am very much tempted to swear at him and kick his you_know_what. But I am equally tempted by his offer to order Palak Paneer Pizza from Pan-Am and finally accept his suggestion to finish the rice on Friday. And while we are ordering pizza over the phone, we decide to leave for the Tacoma mall very early at 4:30 AM to get in the queue not to miss any good deal. So I am dressed very casually in a capri and sandals. Some last minute wisdom and I wear socks because it is quite cold outside. Then we go out and get the pizzas, go to S's (not the one who called me, the other one) place and devour it. Then, with contented stomach and mind, we start thinking about the next day's shopping list. My wristwatch shows 10:30 PM PST.

We search the sites like bf2005.com and blackfriday.gotadeal.com and come up with our wish list. We divide ourselves in three groups and assign each aforementioned shop to each group. Then our self-proclaimed leader S (the one who called me) addresses us with all the vehemence he can muster after a sumptuous meal about the meaning of being a thanksgiving shopper. The point of picking-anything-we-see-as-a-good-deal-and-dropping-it-in-the-shopping-cart is repeatedly stressed upon us. It is more important, according to S, to do this, as we just have a single cellphone between us. That cellphone at that hour reads 11:15 PM.

Now as we are ready to head for home for a short nap till 4:30 AM when we are decided to leave, I notice that CompUSA opens at 12:00 AM and not at 5:00 AM according to a popular belief that holds in the bedroom. In a sudden found passion, S calls to leave for Tacoma mall whatever state we are currently in. A little bit of arguments over how reliable my information is and a couple of unanswered phone calls to CompUSA later, we are all set to leave. And S assures us that we should be back by around 1, so no need to go to everyone's house to get ready. I wear R's 30" jeans and S wears M's 34". I have a jacket and am wearing socks, so am good for any reasonably cold night out, but S is in his bedroom sleepers. Despite of that, he refuses to wear any shoes. With a bottle of water and few monkey caps, we are all set to go. The car radio shines with bright green letter of 11:45.

We hit I-5 and within 20-25 minutes are in a reach of Tacoma mall exit with emotions ranging from total skepticism to complete optimism. When we enter into the CompUSA premise, we see a not-so-long line outside the store and we are quite happy at our intelligent decision making. Sharp at 12, we are let inside the store and we start raiding whichever rack we see fit attacking. Soon our shopping carts are full to their brims. But while we are enjoying our loot, we don't pay attention to a queue being formed for billing around the store. This is longer than the one outside and we curse ourselves for not getting into it, when we had a chance. But there is no point in cribbing now, so one of us gets in the queue and others continue shopping. After we have picked some more missed items, two of us get in the line and other three go in the car for rest. We keep shuffling the resting population and finally when we are done with the shopping and are out in the car, it is around 2:45 AM.

As per the original plan, we are thinking now to go home, get refreshed a bit, and get the map and driving directions to the South Center mall where Circuit City, Best Buy, Sears and JCPenny are located in one campus. But some of the sane one's argue that they can see Circuit City, Sears and JCPenny at Tacoma mall, sitting right in the car and start debate over whether we should travel 40 mi more to go to South Center mall just for an additional Best Buy. But the tiredness (and lust for few things in Best Buy) is taking over the majority and we decide to listen to it. So we get out of the mall area, start towards I-5. But suddenly S remembers that there is another entry for I-5, which is less congested (For those who are wondering about why we are worried about congestion at 3:00 AM, let me see you in your elements at that hour). So we take a U-turn and head towards the other one. And next thing we see is Best Buy. Now the sane ones take over the tired ones and we confirm on staying the Tacoma mall till 5:00 AM.

Now there are two shops opening at the same time. So we split ourselves in two groups, me, S and S for BestBuy and M and R for Circuit City. We have a single most important advantage over the other group. The car. So we get in the long queue in the freezing night one by one, while other two relax. To add to the shivering temperature, just when S is thanking someone for a clear weather, it starts raining. But luckily, S (the other one) has bought an umbrella (!) at CompUSA (!!) and we make a full use of it. God bless his instincts. We are also served with the Krispy Kreme doughnuts and Starbucks coffee by the BestBuy employees. God bless them too. A few hours roll by and at last all the cheap stuff is unleashed before us. At least I feel like a kid in the free candy stores, looking at the sheer volume. We quickly set for the stuff we need and within 10 minutes we have finished filling up the shopping cart. Now as we are wiser with our experience in CompUSA, one of us quickly gets in the line and other continue wandering about in the wonderland. It does not take much and at 5:45 AM, we are out of it.

The other commando unit of R and M has attacked Circuit City well, with a caveat. When we reach, they are awaiting us with a bad news. The thing is that we have purchased 8 Panasonic cordless phones from BestBuy and it was available in Circuit City for $10 less! And before anyone can ask, M worsens the scene with the information that they are sold out and are not taking special orders. But still we venture into Circuit City and leech out whatever we deem fit for ourselves. The Circuit City billing counter is the worst we have seen in last 6 hrs, and it is almost 7 AM when we are finished with everything and head back to the car.

We are really hungry, tired and smelling bad (what would you expect if you don't sleep whole night and don't brush?) by now. So while some of us are thinking of going home and hitting their respective beds, S (the leader) and R think it'd be the best to stay here for 2 more hours, and finish Sears and JCPenny once for all and then go home with the satisfaction of I_got_everything_and_all_you_got_is_sleep. To fuel our further excavation, we purchase 2 dozen of Krispy Kreme doughnuts and after finishing 15 of them, enter Sears while it showers heavily outside.

The shopping at Sears is quite unhappening, at least for me, as I don't usually find the right sized clothes in Men's section and I am ashamed to check out the Boy's section. So I just purchase a Tee and refill my inventory of socks and undergarments. After that me and S are no longer interested in further shopping and we back out to catch up with remaining sleep in the car. R and M join us soon (at about 9:00 AM). After an hour of sleep or so, first R and then I start wondering why the hell hasn't S come back to drive us home. I take up the job to conduct a search for him at Sears and JCPenny. I don't have to trot too much, and find him at Anna's shopping for things like pillows and towels. I too join him for it and after 10 minutes we are back to the car.

Everybody is too eager, at this point to reach home and sleep. But as we reach home, S (the leader) thinks it would be in everybody's best interest to finish off the accounts till it is fresh. The interests are his too many, I guess, since he has paid for the most of the things! But still it is a valid point when we have spent around $1,500 and we crawl our way out of the unromantic numbers by 1:00 PM. After a quick meal of rice-dal, we are all set to part and put an end to the wonderful experience at the Thanksgiving shopping.

signing off,

Update I: After coming home at 3:00 PM on Friday afternoon, I got in the bed and woke up at 11:00 AM next morning. That's 20 hrs straight, barring an hour when I woke up at 1:00 AM to answer a phone from S, drink water and start writing this blog. Should I call guys at Guinness Book of World Records, do you reckon?

Update II: I have not brushed my teeth yet after I brushed on the Thursday morning at the moment of starting this blog. Yuck!

Update III: I have brushed my teeth thrice on Saturday.

सहजच

काही तरी मराठीत लिहावसं वाटलं म्हणून हा सर्व खटाटोप! तर झालं काय, एका मराठी email groupला एक mail लिहील्यानंतर मला आतल्या आत थोडं विचित्र वाटलं.

"रात्री जास्त खाल्ल्यामुळे असेल." माझं खडूस मन, अजून कोण?

"नाही रे बाबा. हा mail वाच."

असंच surf करता करता एक site सापडली. खूप जूनी आणी छान गाणी आहेत इथे. निवांत वेळेत अवश्य़ visit करा.

http://www.aathavanitli-gani.com/

"तुला काहीच चुकीचं वाटत नाही?" – मी.

"तु येडा झालायंस, एवढंच वाटतंय!"

"अबे खजूर ‘तू’ मधला ऊकार दीर्घ आहे, एवढं पण आठवत नाही? तसंच मी पण जूनी आणि आणी हे दोन शब्द चुकवले होते."

"मग?"

"अरे, मग म्हणून काय विचारतोस तोंड वर करून? आपली भाषा आपण नाही नीट लिहीली, तर कोण लिहीणार? तुला काहीच वा़टत नाही?"

"भाऊ, अचानक तुला मराठीचा एवढा पुळका कसा काय?"

अजून तरी याचं उत्तर मला मिळालं नाही.

signing off,

Some Things Never Change

This is my least favorite cliché. People use this phrase anywhere, like their favorite food joints, their favorite newspaper, their favorite bath soaps, their favorite manager (umm, I guess this is a far-fetched one for the most, but imagine yourself being your favorite manager) and so on.

But today I want to use this. About my height, waist and weight. I would be surprised if I grow beyond 5'6" in length or 28" in diameter and 55 kg in specific gravity. It has been same almost 5 years now at these dials. Some things never change. You can take my word for it.

signing off,

Exciting Times Are Ahead!

Tank: Goddamn, I...I gotta tell you, I'm fairly excited to see what you're capable of, if Morpheus is right and all...We're not supposed to talk about this, but if you are...Damn, it's a very exciting time. We got a lot to do, lets get to it..

And so am I excited. For the next office release, whenever it might happen. Just stumbled upon this blog today and boy, it does look good! :-) Especially, "sort by, group by, filter by color" options! I have spent some of my billable time coding for that. Thank god, they realized that it can be someone's need!

Btw, it is not too difficult you see. Like a makeshift code that I wrote, you could insert a dummy column besides the one you want to sort, populate respective cell's colors in the dummy column, sort the dummy column and delete it! I know it is not a very efficient way of coding, but what the heck, it works and I don't have to spend a penny to purchase any add-in!

signing off,

These Days

Imagine the look on the face of a cat that just has devoured a full can of cream all by herself. Add 9 to it and multiply by 29. That might give you faint idea of the kind of look on my face right now.

That is because I just have acquired this - - beauty. I think I am in love! :-) (Photo taken by my friend with his Olympus C765)

And the title is tribute to a wonderful album by Bon Jovi, which has some gems like These Days, My Guitar Lies Bleeding in My Arm, Bitter Wine, All I Want Is Everything, Hey God, Something for the Pain and Damned. An album for solitude, I call it. And I am lucky that I found this album after so long! Damn, How I miss my cassette collection in Bangalore! :-(

signing off,

The Wait ...

On some days, someone has to wait.

They have no choice, but to wait.

But if one has willfully selected that option to wait,

And despite knowing that, if that someone cannot wait,

Then that someone should have chosen premium shipping option to avoid wait.

:-) Can't just wait till Friday.

signing off,

The Technology and My Imaginations

Imagine this. You have gone places, have taken a lots of beautiful photos with your flashy digital cameras and have come back home gleaming. Isn't it fun? :-)

That unfortunately, my friend, is where the fun ends. You'd agree to this, especially if you have tried to sort out all those photos in your 256 MB card. The digital camera is a useful tool for the ease of use and cost per photo stats. But when it comes to sorting out those humongous pile of photos, you are left really helpless.

You know what I'd like to want? I'd like to have a camera, to which, after taking this picture-

- , I tell, "The Wizard Island" and it will store that picture with that name. Similarly for following pictures.

Crater Lake:

Lake - from Lodge place

A mountain and it's reflection in the Diamond Lake

On the road

A peak from the boat in Diamond lake

The lemon rice, which I did not prepare.

And to avoid overwriting, it can append these names with a number, which keeps auto-incrementing. And to recognize my voice, it can have some sort of voice recognition software installed on the PC, the training data of which can be transferred to the camera through USB.

Now what is the phone number of Canon's R&D dept?

signing off,

How Not to Make Aloo Paratha

I learned it the hard way today. Even though we did manage to finish 3 parathas each, and my roommate did say, "ok", I got to admit they were pathetic. Here are some pointers that all you bachelor boys can pick from me and avoid the obvious embarassment. You got to make sure that -

1. You drain out the boiled potatos completely before smashing them. Don't let the batter be wet. If it is loose, you could add rice flour/corn flour to it. I did not have any of these, so I added wheat flour. The result was not too bad, but it was not too good too. Ever heard of prevention being better than cure?

2. You don't put too much garlic or too much onion in the batter. If it is too much, then you'll have to add bit more potato. If you do that, you'll have to keep the batter for the next day to make aloo wada. :-)

3. While rolling, don't use excessive flour on the dough. If you do, please wipe the extra flour off it before putting the paratha on the pan. But use a bit more oil. That way it would become soft and not papad-like.

But here are few good things I did -

1. Grate your onion and garlic in a mixer, instead of chopping with a knife. That way it would become a smooth mixture and the sharp edges of cut onions will not cut through your paratha while rolling. And just the right quantity of onion does make parathas delicious, unlike my sister's thinking who screamed through the phone - "Who puts onion in aloo paratha?"

That's it? Just one good thing? Yeah I told you it was pathetic. I'll try to be good next time. That is if next time my roomie allows me to do it :-)

signing off,

A Death Prediction

This is amusing.

So this man predicts his own death. And these leading news channels believe it. And they air him for straight 7 hrs.

Tch. Tch. Tch. I keep missing these comedy shows.

Btw, if you don't know, I have predicted my own death long ago. I am going to die in the first half of this century. Now should I contact ABC or CNN?

signing off,

Tired

I am tired. That is mainly because of lack of proper sleep on weekends. Now if you don't know what proper sleep is, try to call me on weekends at 12 in noon. If I answer in first 3 rings, please conclude that I am not getting proper sleep. :-)

But last two weekends have been quite hectic. We drove to Crater Lake for the weekend of 9th. Then I went to LA to meet my friend on next weekend (of 16th). And if you want to crunch most of the things like I did in those two days, you'd be tired no doubt. Unless you happen to be sleeping in your cubicle in weekdays. I could have done that, but my manager sits very close to me and he might come investigating if he hears me snoring.

signing off,

Revolution

To my naive mind, it seemed, a revolution was at hand. But suddenly something happened ...

[...]

I learnt something that day. What, I am still to decipher.

-Siddharth in Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi. [don't recollect the entire/exact dialogue. Will be glad if someone has it]

That is how I am feeling right now after, well, 10/10. Are we really making our opinions quite prematurely too?

Talking of revolution, we did take a revolution last weekend around the Crater Lake in OR. That was a ultimate experience! Some writeup on that soon. Till then, have a look at this pic. And no, it is not a wallpaper downloaded from national geographic. It is the snap one of us has taken :-)

signing off,

Rok Sako to Rok Lo or What?

Some happenings close to home:

1. There is a management institute called IIPM
2. JAM magazine does a fact research about the IIPM's tall claims: jammag.com
3. A blogger, Gaurav Sabnis, backs it: fraud-that-is-iipm.html
4. Gaurav gets a legal notice from the IIPM: im-disconnecting-my-cable-connection.html
5. JAM mag editor, Rashmi Bansal, defends: lies-damned-lies-and-fake-blogs.html and she is spammed with, rather uncivilized, comments from so called IIPM students and alumni.
6. Because of some very bizarre threats to Gaurav's employer, IBM, from IIPM, he calls it quit by his own choice: update.html
7. Desipundit and another bloggers condemn the act: lies-damned-lies-and-fake-blogs/

It might seem to some, that money can buy you everything. But it cannot ever buy you self esteem. Not definitely after what those guys have resorted to with the fake bloggers and ridiculous acts. Even if IIPM were at par with other institutes as they have claimed, in this situation it looks like they will have to try real hard to get back the credibility, if at all there was one.

And in case someone is reading this, these views are entirely my own and nothing to do with my employer, girl-friend, parents, goldfish, laptop or bicycle.

signing off,

Time Machine

There are different theories on what a time machine is and what would it look like if incepted. If you ask me, the time machine just looks like a small, circular and translucent plastic disk which you can play on either a CD player or your computer. For there is nothing like a song that takes me back in memory lanes.

Just the other day something made me rethink on this. I was listening to Kannathil Muthamittal's title song performed by Chinmayee. For those who don't know, it is one of the brilliant albums by A R Rahman for a very sensitive movie by Mani sir. This song always takes me back to a seat no 7 of the II AC compartment of Bangalore-Chennai Madras mail. It has been almost 3½ years to that journey, now that I think about it, but still it is as vivid as if I had been sitting on that window seat restlessly at 1 AM listening to this song again and again and again just yesterday night. And I did not stop until my third set of batteries were drained out of charge.

And who can forget Dil Deewana from movie Maine Pyar Kiya? I guess I should have been fifth standard when that song was a rage. And when I used to return from school, almost without fail our murphy radio used to play this song. Just as 7:05 Marathi news was an indicator for us to start for the school (and 7:15 news would mean we are too late!), this Lata Mangeshkar classic turned out to be my personal benchmark for something breezy, not just because of it's warming lyrics, but more so because of it's association with the closure of those excruciating school hours.

Then there is Bin Tere Sanam by Udit Narayan and Kavita Krishnamoorthy. It takes me to my cubicle in Bangalore office where I spent days searching for that song online (trying different loopholes in the system which did not allow downloading songs) just because I needed it for someone. But those efforts were all worth it considering that lovely song. That did teach me a thing or two about bending the rules! :-)

Another song is a Marathi song. It goes like "Hiravya hiravya rangachee jhade ghanadaT, Sang _____ (not sure what this word is) disto kasa khandyaLyacho ghaat!" I dunno which movie is that one from, but whenever I think about it, even though that song, as far as I remember, is picturized in a train, a premier 118 NE rushing madly on winding downhill roads comes to my mind. Now I think, this transformation in transports might have been because when our tv's speakers were not working, we used to watch the movies while playing cassettes our new Sony 2 in 1 and this might have one of those unfortunate fusion moments.

Of course, another worth mentioning item (pun not intended) is, Thanda Thanda Panee by Baba Sehgal, which was my first stage appearance (as a part of chorus, mind you) in my school days. Yeah, yeah, I know, don't give me that look. Things do happen at that age!

signing off,

Tools

Ability to use a tool is so important these days. Even gorillas are feeling the heat. :-)

Their manager would be happy with this month's metrics.

Link courtesy Amit Varma.

signing off,

Gladiator

They are showing Gladiator on tbs this Friday. Now tbs network is famous for comedies. Like Friends, Everybody Loves Raymond, Sex and the City, Seinfeld and the list goes on. But Gladiator is not a comedy movie, you'd argue. No sir, it ain't so even for tbs. But the way they are showing the promos is quite funny! They initially show some gladiators fighting soldiers and animals and then camera zooms on Russel Crowe while narrator says, "If your parents named you Maximus Decimus Meridius, you'd be a little ticked off too!" Then da da da da and finally Maximus says "I'll have my vengeance!"

Considering your situation, had Crowe been wearing Elvis dress it would have been very funny, but still it is pretty darn funny. Go, nku, have yourself a laugh. Not that loud though!

signing off,

J-Tagged

My friend the man himself, has tagged me recently. Surrounded by various asset management teams these days, I mistook that for a J-Tag. Now for those who don't know a J-Tag, you can drop me a mail for an elaborate answer. I don't want to waste my blog space in work related stuff.

So coming back to the tagging business. I have been blogging for a year now so I know quite many things about tags. I also know that I should not blurt out the truth while responding to tags. But for my dear readers which include many respectable names, I resist that temptation and here are the answers, in all random order (but if you do intermittently feel some tensile force on your lower appendages, I am pulling your leg):

5 bands I know all the words to: Blame my ears. They cannot even decipher Bappi Lahiri's clearly uttered words. How can you expect them to know anything else? But after using googleing with some of the randomly heard words and patching other missing sentences, I can say I know quite many words of Backstreet's Boys and Britney Spears. If only I knew that they were bad singers before investing so much time in this ... tch tch tch

5 places I'd run away to: Kitchen, Bathroom, Bedroom, Balcony and Terrace. In short home. On more serious note, given a choice I'd run to Goa (with all vj people), Munnar, Mumbai, any riverbank to walk upon and any seashore.

5 favorite tv shows: Man, now you are asking good questions. I love Takeshi's Castle with Javed Jafferey's commentary on Pogo tv. Also it's grandpa version which used to air on DD metro in Fun Time (I forgot its name!). Malgudi Days to copy from the tagger. Giant Robot was quite cool. Everybody Loves Raymond is nice too. For Debra especially :-) And Shaanti. The original soap opera the episodes of which, I still remember, we used to discuss in school!

5 years ago: I was on a high. Don't misunderstand. Not on high heels. But you know that time in third year engineering when everything till now has gone your way, you have good grades, good rapport, good job in hand (though job in software was something nagging me - which I have now settled in :-)). And probably I could not have expected the shocks which just came in few months after. But overall, good times.

5 snacks: I am not a food buff, I have realized these days. If you eat samosa with gajar sabji as filling and panipuri with peanuts, you'd not blame me for not being so. But old habits die hard. I truly like kanda pohe with good tea, idli (preferably from Krishna Cafe) with good coffee (from same place), Parle G with good tea, vada pav with mirchi & with good tea. For those who don't understand kanda pohe, it is avalakki bath for Bangalore and poha for northies. Dunno about other regions too well. And vada pav is aloo bonda + bun (with pun).

5 favorite toys: My mobile phone was closest to me. It was Nokia 8210 model, with no frills attached. But man I used to love it. Right now it is with my friend thousands of miles away. I miss you buddy. Next in line is tv remote. I love switching channels and trying to figure out the program/advertisement/song or whatever the idiot box is showing in 1.38 s interval in between. Next I used to like my walkman while I used to listen to my cassettes. I still remember I used to go everywhere with my walkman on and people used to laugh at me. But I never cared, or in fact I could not have cared while listening to music. Then I like my earphones. I cannot imagine myself without them any time of day. Even now I have them on! Last but not the least, I like rolling pin and knives. To make rotis that is.

5 things I'd never wear in public: My birthday suit. Orange trousers. Fluorescent green shirts. Kilt. Poncho. Why was that question asked? I'd never know.

One year ago: Everything was 5 till now. Suddenly it has come down to one. My mind wonders why. But you should not ask why here. So one year ago. I guess I was preparing for two upcoming birthdays, first and ninth. I remember, on first birthday the birthday boy treated us in Amoeba bowling alley and then lunch at Angeethi's. Also it was kind of a year ago that I started out this blog. So I'd have been busy writing, deleting, adding, correcting, typing, erasing, improvising, clipping and stuff.

5 things I'd do with $100 million: I'd get myself a home in good enough locality, get myself a tv, computer, broadband internet, good cable connection, dvd player, some hollywood+bollywood movies, good snacks (which I mentioned above), a couch. And then I'd go out for a stroll.

Yesterday: I started writing this blog.

5 greatest joys: Sleeping is quite a joy. Not many people admire it. But even better joy, to copy from some forward, is waking up at some insane hour at 7:00 AM and finding out that you can sleep for 15 more minutes! Bliss! I love walking too. Without any destination, just set out for some direction and keep walking. Especially with friends. Being with friend has brought some of the happiest moments for me. Then as I have realized recently, I love giving surprises. To myself. And then I love watching people smile. That's a recent development.

Ten years ago: I guess I was in 11th standard. Being a nerd. Trying to figure out how the hell can I understand those JEE problems.

What is this blog about? May be you will be able to tell me better. Especially after reading all this.

I refuse to pass on the tag. Because of my policy on forwards. :-) Didn't you read word Nerd somewhere?

signing off,

Nightmare for a Data Anlayst

When you want to write a macro to combine all the data in 105 different Excel spreadsheet, you name it Sub MergeData(). What if it behaves like its fiendish friend Submerge Data()?

I need some sleep :-)

signing off,

Why Limit Yourself?

They say I have got to finish the story in 55 words. By the way, how many lines can you write in 55 words? 4? 5? How can I write a story in just 4 lines? I need more space. Why should I stop at 55? Are they going to... HEY!! Don’t snatch my pen! (55 words)

Come to think of it, I can try.

She sensed it first. Today he was not the person she remembered so well. Outspoken. Jovial. “What’s the matter?” she asked him kindly, thinking excitedly, “Don’t I really know that?”
“Listen, I’ve got to tell you something.”
“Go on.”
“You sure?”
“Hmm.” Mummy, here it comes!
“Tanu, there’s a cockroach on your dress.”
“Ye… Noooooooo!!!!” (55 words)

signing off,

Let the Game Win

Though I am saying this, I don't want the game to win. Let it rain for one more day and we would have a new Ashes champions. If Australia manage to get past 450 in first innings and they have three-four sessions to have a go at English batting line, I predict they're going to win. But just for the way England have played this whole summer, I want them to win. And don't forget they are without Jones, who I daresay would not have allowed Australia to reach so far. Let me clear that I am not against Aussies. They have deserved to win on so many occasions. But this time they remind me of the Indian side which hosted Aussies sometime in 2003. Both India then and Aussies today have underestimated their opponents. And almost all software professionals today will vouch for their disastrous lives after underestimation.

Just a half day of drizzle would be sufficient, God. In case you are wondering where to get the water from, just cut down on some showers in Mumbai. Now, wouldn't that be a win-win situation? :-)

signing off,

Dreams

Ever since I became a programmer (don't fret, it ain't nothing bad!), I had a small dream, of visiting Microsoft, some way or other. Thanks to my friend in Redmond who is working for MS, it came true this long weekend. It was indeed memorable, not exactly as I'd have liked, but for our visits to the two floors in a building - fifth and fourth.

For a moment when C, my friend, after exiting 405 (or it might have been 520, as it is, I am bad at road names, so don't expect anything better in road numbers) drove me towards some deserted streets I thought he was taking me his home. Then he crossed a signal and took right turn and said, this is Microsoft. I was not obviously prepared for this! Man I was at Microsoft office! Then he drove me to his office, showed things around and we went home. Nothing memorable in this, if you are thinking what bakwaas nku is writing.

Then we went to an Indian restaurant - Kanishka, to have some good food. C's friend V, who was with us for dinner, offered us invitation to play. I agreed and we decided to meet at the office again. Me n C left for office after some more loitering. It was a clear night for playing too, I thought. We entered the building and realized C did not know where to go. He took a gamble and set for fifth floor remembering someone had mentioned number 5 sometime. The fifth floor was obviously the wrong one. The first look told us that. But he said let me show you around. And while we roamed there, the big brother somewhere had noticed us. Because suddenly a security guard sprang from nowhere and asked us our IDs. I did not have any of course. So he took down my name from my debit card. And ordered us to leave. While leaving it occurred to C that all the security was because their biggest boss must sit on the fifth floor!! To think of it, I was so close to catch just a glimpse of his office! I cursed my luck for ruining the chance. But at least his floor, nonetheless, I consoled myself!

Now we go to the fourth floor which is our destined place. And here it is. The second dream (for a gaming addict like me) come true in a single night. The XBox! Too much I say! It has a big 42" screen TV attached to it and I can actually play with joysticks, which I have not done since we broke our Nintendo after playing games like Tournament Fighter and Aladin and Nemo during school days. We don't play as much here, because we have to go out tomorrow morning at 10 and it is already 11:30 PM. We just have a dash at Halo 2 and leave the place.

For the 3 days leave I had, I could have gone anywhere in US if I had planned a little bit more. But only for these two hours or so, I am happy I chose Redmond!

signing off,

A True Man

I don't always boast about my memory, but usually I remember almost all birthdays. My boisterous and sarcastic self is prompt in making me realize that I usually remember birthdays if the person happens to be a girl. Ignore that taunt. But today I almost forgot a birthday. So here is my message to the birthday boy.

It was exactly a year ago when sitting cosily in my office chair wondering about my future project (I had just finished then current assignment - or someone else had taken over, I don't exactly remember), I suddenly remembered about my blog. It is a fact that I had started blogging much before than that, on rediffblogs (I don't even remember the url!), but without any considerable progress. Then I had tried blurty too. But I didn't like it too much. Trying to give up on blogs, life was dull, somber and totally un-happening. Then I tried blogger and I kinda liked it. So I continued with it. And here we are after a year together, when my blog says, "Well, we haven't fared that bad, have we?" and my sarcastic self does not agree.

Coming back to the title, it is not me who I am portraying as a true man for forgetting a birthday, but it is my blog, for kicking my south end and telling me that it is his birthday. No woman can do that, believe me. And I am not likely to forget this again. Why did it have to be ghatotkatch?

signing off,

My Latest Crush ...

.. is Debra. Man, isn't she gorgeous! Everybody might be loving Raymond, but I sure hate him.

signing off,

What Did I Do?

Damn that fate. It's second year in running that I will not be home for Ganesh Chaturthi. What did I do to deserve this Ganapati bappa?

Looks like I am not the only one away from home this year though. Not counting that lucky #$%$#& Invinci. My sis will not be home for the first year for Ganesh Chaturthi, when she's enjoying in London with her hubby. My sis-in-law is out to her parent's place for some time now too, for some special reasons this time. Looks like my uncle, aunt, elder uncle, elder aunt, dada, didi n of course mom dad are the only one out there for the puja. Not exactly the full house I'd say!

I said this last year, I am saying it again. I am missing all the fun out there. I'll definitely try to be there next year. Let me be there next year. (nku falls on his already paining knees and says) Plueeezzz!!

signing off,