Feint left, Run right

...

2011-01-05T09:36:00.000-08:00

wotevs.

Homage?

2009-06-07T08:22:00.000-07:00

Are war memorials places of homage? Or are they tourist spots? Are they built to remember the thousands of soldiers who died defending us while we were arguing American Idol? Or are they just spots for couples to hang out, children to eat cotton candy? Is a boat ride in front of India Gate justified? Is swimming in front of it justified? If you are in Delhi, go see India Gate in the late afternoon. You'll have a much better picture.

To the thousands slain in the line of fire - R.I.P.

Road rage

2009-05-12T02:47:00.000-07:00

They were staring at the monster of a car at the police impound.
It was the fastest car ever made.

"Isn't it awesome?" whispered Damien to his brother.
"It sure is", said Patrick. "If only it'd turned the corner a few seconds later, we'd still be alive."

And they drifted away in to the night.

22nd onwards..

2009-04-30T09:03:00.001-07:00

Wake up.
Message.
Call.
Clean up.
Message.
Work.
Message.
Work.
Message.
Call.
Drink.
Message.
Work.
Message.
Eat.
Call.
Message.
Message.
Message.
Err, work.
Call.
Drink.
Eat.
Call.
Sleep. Try to.
Message.
Drift off.

And the cycle just repeats itself. Every single day. My friend told me that my life was becoming very predictable & mundane. But if THIS life is mundane, I 'd take it with both arms extended wide open.

I am having the most awesome time living this life & enjoying every single second of it.

Life's good! Very good! Very VERY good!

PS : I have a Queen's b'day party to attend, so I'll continue with this post at a later time!

Is this for real?

2009-04-03T19:59:00.000-07:00

I don't really believe in fate or destiny. I think that they are for the weak-hearted. For people who can't handle the truth. But when destiny delivers a pile driver to your face, it's hard not to sit up and take note. What I do believe in is logic. Everything in life has a logic behind it. And when life seamlessly fits in all the bits & pieces together, it is a truly wonderful state to be in.

For someone who had a lot of trouble deciding what his move would be the next day, having the rest of my life decided over the past two weeks is nothing short of a miracle. What IS a fact though is that not one of those decisions was in haste. Nothing was on impulse.

I know what is in store for me next week. In July. In August. In December. 2010. 2011. 2012. And I know that in every single one of those plans there is something that will keep pushing me to strive for perfection, strive for a life planned so close to perfection that it's not even funny. Someday, they might just make a case study of the past two weeks.

So here's to a beautiful life. A life with so many unbelievably small details planned to perfection & a life that could not have been any better. And the best is yet to come.

March 22nd anyone?

Almost there.

2009-03-11T07:56:00.000-07:00

Almost there.
Hear the dogs howling out of key.
To a hymn called "Faith and Misery".
And bleed, 'cos they lost the war today.
I beg to dream and differ from the hollow lies.
This is the dawning of the rest of our lives.
And I am almost there.

Rest in peace

2009-02-25T07:31:00.000-08:00

On the 25th of February, 2009 at approximately 2100 hours local time, my PSP took a tumble from the balcony of my apartment & landed, rather unfortunately it must be said, on hard concrete. Well, concrete is generally hard. But this was harder than usual. Although credit must be given to the guys at Sony for building a rugged device that has survived many a fall, this one was a bit too much for it.

The screen cracked and along with it passed away the soul of a brilliant gaming machine that has accompanied me through times, good & bad, through journeys on State run buses to flight trips abroad, through butt-kicking in Castlevania to scoring that all important goal in the last minute on Pro Evolution soccer.

You will be deeply missed.

Peace anyone?

2009-02-24T06:08:00.000-08:00

I kinda like my apartment. I have been here for almost 4 years now & I like the place. Lots of trees, peace & ample room for Mom & Dad to walk around, or at least try to.

Well there's this new family that moved in below us about a year back & they brought along with them a big attitude that reeks for 8 miles. They are grumpy, loud & very very unpleasant. Also they have a daughter who looks at me as if I might kidnap her. Me?! Hmph!

I was returning back from work today & happened to notice a big argument between them & the treasurer of the apartment, who is a very nice man, and has a daughter who does not run to the police when she sees me. I came to know that the treasurer's grand kids had nicked the paint off Groucho's car. Elated as I was, it was so sad to see a scrape on the side of a fabulous Fabia. I felt for the car & not its owners. Anyway I could not keep myself from getting involved as I wanted to side with the treasurer notwithstanding the fact that his daughter was watching.

Groucho went about telling the audience that kids shouldn't be allowed to play in the parking area as it caused damage to vehicles and stuff. Agreed. BUT then he said that the racket did not allow him to sleep peacefully. Who sleeps at 6 in the evening anyway?? I mean come on!! If kids aren't allowed to play, then how will this world see any more Deepika Padukones, Sania Mirzas, Mahesh Bhupatis & Deepika Pallikals?? Ms. Padukuone was mentioned for her badminton skills by the way. I butted in and mentioned that the bucket chair in his apartment creaks and makes an almighty racket. I am not sure that the chains have seen an oil check since lubrication was discovered. He told me to buzz off. Well, 'buzz' is not the word he used. But you get the drift.

After uncle had agreed to pay the guy some money for getting the paint job done, I left & thought of the million ways in which I had been courteous to the family below. I moved furniture very slowly to make sure that they don't get disturbed. I keep volume levels down when I watch TV. I make sure that my air conditioner does not leak water on their clothes line etc etc. But hey, expecting the world to be nice to you just 'cos you are a nice guy is like expecting the bull not to charge you just 'cos you are a vegetarian. But I am not a vegetarian & I don't get run over by bulls, Only by random women on Scooties.

As I type this post, I am showering misery on the Groucho & company. Holy Diver by Killswitch Engage on THX certified speakers, blasting away incessantly. Justice has just been served.

PS : This reminds me that I am going to miss my sound system. My TV. My PS3. Damn!

Are we having fun yet?

2009-02-21T22:40:00.000-08:00

They had the jukebox rocking, the music turned up loud.
I thought I'd fit right back with my old party crowd, but now I can't remember what I came to find.
I've been here all night with just one question on my mind, but right now it's hard to tell.
My head doesn't feel that good & this heartache hurts like hell.
I think I might have made a big mistake & is this as good as the good times get?
I'm down to my last dime, it's closing time.
Are we having fun yet?

As the French would say..

2009-02-18T07:27:00.000-08:00

I am in the middle of negotiations over a contract that would see me live the rest of my life in France. Now, the problem is that I do not know French. I do know the basics when it comes to deciphering technical standards and phrases in drawings etc, but when it comes to conversing in French, I make as much sense as TR would make if he spoke in English. Or Tamil. Or any other language for that matter.

So I get a meeting request from a Profession-HR (if you are scratching your head wondering what that post means, you are not alone) to discuss monetary tidbits in my contract. Seeing as how this is the most important aspect for me, I called her immediately & set up an appointment. She asks me if I would be willing to discuss it right away (trying to catch me off-guard) & I agreed without any hesitancy. I had a whole truck load of Excel sheets to unload on her. If she thought she could cheat me over a few thousand Euros, then she really did not know who she was dealing with!

As it turned out, customary to any French colleague talking about India, she delved in to a scintillating story about Taj Mahal & how dirty India's Finance Capital Bombay is. I shot back saying a few complimentary things about the Eiffel tower & how Paris was similar to Bombay in terms of its filth-ridden streets. Now that the pleasant exchange was over, we got in to the more excruciating details of pay and allowances. I think it is safe to say that she hates Excel now :P

And the fun part is that in the middle of the conversation she was checking with a senior/colleague as to how to respond to my statistically correct questions. Thanks to my recently acquired BBC French Phrase glossary & Google Translate, I was happy to know that I was ruffling a few feathers a few thousand miles away.

Well, they did drive me out of the country last time citing labour laws and how they fear for my safety, but this time I intend to stay. Threatened or otherwise.

And as the French would say, Laissez le bon temps rouler!

Where is the ending?

2009-02-17T06:01:00.000-08:00

For the second time running, Grisham's standard has dropped! After delivering amazing books like 'The Firm' & 'The Runaway Jury', he lets all of his fans down with 'The Associate'. His last book 'The Appeal' did not set the world on fire with its ending, but having dragged the reader through 485 pages of a Law firm associate's daily life, it would have been nice to see a proper ENDING!!!

Okay, here's the short version.

*Law student Kyle messes up in college. You know, the usual booze, drugs, sex etc.
*Girl accuses Kyle+4 others of rape.
*All is forgotten until Kyle sets foot in the world's largest law firm.
*Bad guys blackmail Kyle in to revealing secrets about a particular case.
*Video of alleged rape surfaces. Kyle pisses in his pants.
*Kyle agrees to spy for the bad guys.
*Kyle's fellow rapist friends are contacted. One dude Baxter has 75 pages detailing his tryst with alcohol & his recovery at Alcoholics Anonymous!!! Only to get shot by the bad guys when he tries to apologise to the rape victim. Point is it could have easily been a drunk Baxter getting shot. Nobody really cares! Unless you want a gloomy account of what it is to be an alcoholic. What did he get for staiyng sober? A bullet to the back of his head.
*Kyle kisses ass, gets assigned to the case.
*Kyle sleeps with a colleague. Mandatory sex scene is described.
*Kyle drives his boss through town. For 12 long pages would you believe it?
*Kyle acquires balls of steel & confesses to a lawyer who hooks him up with the FBI.
*FBI hatches a plan to catch the bad guys.
*Bad guys give Kyle high tech gadgets to transfer sensitive data.
*Bad guys are supposedly waiting in a hotel room to collect the data. FBI shows up to find the room empty & goons missing.
*Kyle is taken in to protective custody. A month passes & his balls receive a buffing & he proclaims that the FBI wouldn't be able to catch the bad guy.
*Kyle proclaims that he is fearless & walks away in to the big bad world alone.
*Story over.

NOW, tell me, where the hell is the ENDING????!!!! Did I just go through 500 odd pages to find out that they don't catch the bad guys?? I know real life is like this, but who the hell wants Grisham to write about real life??? Oh I did learn lots of laws, rental rates in New York, cost of a properly stitched suit & the difference between Jimmy Choo & Prada shoes!!!

Maybe I've been watching too many action movies of late, but I am sure Vijayakanth would have thought of and executed at least 34 different ways of catching the bad guys!

Am off to read 'The Righteous Men' by Sam Bourne. Hope it is worth all the wait & effort.

Monk

2009-02-03T06:43:00.000-08:00

It's a jungle out there.
Disorder and confusion everywhere.
But no one seems to care.
Well I do.
Hey, who's in charge here?
Poison in the very air we breathe.
Do you know what's in the water that you drink?
Well I do, and it's amazing.
People think I'm crazy, 'cause I worry all the time.
If you paid attention, you'd be worried too.
You better pay attention.
Or this world we love so much might just kill you.
I could be wrong now, but I don't think so.
It's a jungle out there.

Pizza Ponderings

2009-02-02T07:55:00.000-08:00

Has recession hit Pizza joints as well?

Is it just me or has anyone noticed a difference in the size of the pizzas we get nowadays??! It sure seems smaller than the ones I used to buy 6 months back!

I checked the menu card & found out that the sizing mentioned is the same as it was last year, but I swear they look smaller now!! Next time, I'll make sure to measure before I eat!!

Or maybe the rum got to me! Hmmm..

Is there a bounty on my head?

2009-01-13T05:40:00.000-08:00

Just barely 13 days in to the new year & my annual encounter (although I did not have one in 2008) with a TVS Scooty has happened. I have a BIG history with that particular vehicle. In the past 4 years, I have been run over by women riding that wretched death-trap!! And just one of those 4 attempted murders can be attributed to my negligence.

I was just minding my own business standing on the corner of the street waiting for my friend to show up and out of nowhere this girl on a Scooty decides that I am good target practise for her crashing skills. She turned out to be a 7th standard student from KV Adyar. Wonder what school girls have against me? Why don't people on any vehicle other than a Scooty try & kill me?? Not that I want to be run over every time I step out, but I am just curious.

And with a swollen kneecap & a bruised ankle, I am off to Delhi to try & explain to some 'senior experts' the fact that Electricity generated through Nuclear Power & supplied to houselholds does not emit Nuclear radiation. Bozos!

Oh, Tasha ran me over in 2006 with her Scooty & we are pretty good friends now. She says it was destiny that I was supposed to be in front of her Scooty that day. I beg to differ. Vehicles aren't meant to be driven on sidewalks!! What a way to make friends though! :P

Dilemma

2009-01-02T02:52:00.000-08:00

I have always complained about the fact that my bosses set the targets for me. This year (albeit for 3 months), I get to set my objectives & I am completely clueless!! Irony really does bite you in the ass!!

Thoughts so far :
1. Travel to at least 4 countries.
2. Learn a bit more about Nuclear Engineering.
3. Be less superstitious.

Aparna is looking at this as I type & very helpfully points out that objective-setting is for Official purposes & not personal.
Damn!!

41Q

2008-12-31T02:17:00.000-08:00

Well I got this link from Ki's blog and thought I'd give it a go!!

My personality type:

Serious and quiet, interested in security and peaceful living. Extremely thorough, responsible and dependable. Well-developed powers of concentration. Usually interested in supporting and promoting traditions and establishments. Well-organized and hard working, they work steadily towards identified goals. They can usually accomplish any task once they have set their mind to it.

Careers that could fit me include:

Business executives, administrators and managers, accountants, police, detectives, judges, lawyers, medical doctors, dentists, computer programmers, systems analysts, computer specialists, auditors, electricians, math teachers, mechanical engineers, steelworkers, technicians.

Dentist? WTF? :D

Year in review..

2008-12-30T20:38:00.000-08:00

Well, it's been a funny kind of a year.

Started off absolutely brilliantly, spending New Year's eve & a good chunk of Jan 1st on a flight to Paris, one hell of a party in Milan, some unbelievably cold weather (I touched snow for the first time!!), frostbite, miles & miles of traveling and spending Pongal in Lyon! But then, I did get mugged in between, but the replacement wardrobe from Milan was worth it :P

A few uneventful months followed with me visiting every single inch of India, except for J&K.. Hmmm.. Need to get that sorted next year. I realize that I have practically lived out of a suitcase this year & sometimes I do not know if I am going or coming..

I lost a mobile phone for the first time in my life & THAT hurt! A whole bunch of pics & documents went along with it & nothing can bring those back.. So now, I have two memory cards with a backup done every 48 hours.. We revamped the entertainment system at home & I realized that my negotiation skills suck!! What was essentially supposed to be a Media-Room at home is now a store for luggage and stuff..

My sis & nephew came home for their 'annual trip' with scores of gifts from United's store in Manchester & the fact that United went on to win 2 major trophies this year (and ya, the bizarre Club World Cup too). Somehow, 'I told you so' just doesn't quite say it!! El Scouse lead the league on New Year's eve this time around. Not to worry, the last time it happened, they finished fourth! :P

I have been accident free this year!! Very surprising 'cos I normally have at least one close encounter with a TVS Scooty every year!! I have a magnetic effect when it comes to that bike. They normally end up running over me!! Maybe the fact that I haven't been at home that much this year has kept me safe! I convinced (Ya ya, big surprise!) my Dad that it was time for me to get a car & we ended up booking a Fabia in October. The bozos at work decided to 'donate' me to the parent firm in France & I am 3 months away from settling down in Lyon! We had to cancel the booking as it was a waste of money & my one good piece of negotiation went useless!!!

It's been a pretty good year otherwise & considering the fact that there hasn't been any major mishaps, I would rate this absolutely eneventful & boring 365 days as probably the best in a long long time!!

Time for some awards!!! :D

Song of the year : Viva la vida - Coldplay
Movie of the year : Transformers (well, I saw Munich on TV for the first time this year & thought it was awesome!!)
Phone of the year : SE X1
Website of the year : Engadget
Bloggers I stalk :P : Ketaki, Prabha & Retardoman

Well, that's it for 2008. Here's wishing the 4 good souls who visit this page regulalry a great year ahead!! :)

Molars & Fillings

2008-12-30T02:58:00.000-08:00

If you ever are in an argument with a dentist, please accept defeat & shut up, lest you find yourself in a situation where they can afflict serious pain on you!! Man, getting your teeth cleaned hurts!!!! The doc was sweet enough to coax me through an hour of cleaning, filling, grinding etc, but never has a woman inflicted so much pain & gotten away with a smile at the end of it!! The scores of stitches I have had seem so painless compared to what I endured today!

And to think I was in love with a Dentist!! :P

Squeaky bum time!

2008-12-26T07:27:00.000-08:00

Ah well, that's a phrase I've plagiarized from Sir Alex & football!

Well, it IS squeaky bum time, meaning, it's time for yearly reviews & unachievable target setting for the year ahead. Well, this will be the last review in India for a while now that I am running away to Lyon!!!!!!! (More on that later!)

What fun these reviews are! Perfect manipulation of words & circumstances to make you want to commit suicide for having decided to work there instead of serving beer somewhere! Man, that sounds so good! Pearls like,
"We believe in talent building"
"The bigger the bubble, the more sound it makes when it is burst!"
"The hike is PURELY based on your PERFORMANCE and has nothing to do with your lack of, err, 'assets?'"
"You are one for the future"
"We take care of our stars!"
and so on and so forth!

Now tell me, how does someone whose main job somewhere in Cochin was organizing memos & taking phone calls go from being an executive to a Senior Manager in Planning in 3 years? Is that even remotely possible? Even if your dad owns the f*!king company? People who tell you that gender bias does not exist in corporates are seriously nuts! It exists big time! And it helps if your boss is from the same state! I never really give a rat's ass about people climbing ladders through manipulating the system, but a dear friend of mine is getting a really raw deal because of someone else possessing the right 'assets?'... Bro', if you are reading this, which I highly doubt, Elephant one column, Cat one column :P

Back to what I do best!

2008-11-30T02:59:00.000-08:00

This was done quite sometime back, but somehow I did not find the time to upload it!

As always, the inspiration behind the sketch belongs to the brilliant artists at deviantArt.

Hit List

2008-10-24T08:51:00.000-07:00

People who have, at any point in time,

1. Jumped a traffic signal & almost killed me..
2. Sped like a rabbit on Meth & splashed water (rain water, to be more specific) on me..
3. Parked their vehicle in front of a public convenience point (steps, corridors, platforms)..
4. Driven on the sidewalk, honked at me & expected ME to make room for them..
5. Blared Himesh Reshammiya on their stereo systems & looked at me like they were hip..

... please be scared. Very very scared. I have lost my patience waiting on this world to change & expecting people to have good road-side manners!!

It's time for some vigilante justice.

Step 1 : Bumper stickers that say "I am an inconsiderate ass 'cos I block public access points"

Kangaroo Curry!!

2008-10-23T07:47:00.001-07:00

Nothing, I repeat, NOTHING is more satisfying to me than the following things,

1. United thrashing Arsenal/Chelsea/Liverpool.
2. India embarrassing the Aussies!

And even though El-Scouse inflicted a defeat on United this year, Dhoni's men humiliating Punter's troops was more than a tonic to make up for it!!!

Here are some pics from the Mauling at Mohali!

On a monday, yet again..

2008-08-26T05:24:00.000-07:00

Those of you who live in and around Adyar would know of Canara Bank's ATM near Ambika Appalam Depot for the following reasons,
1. It was the first ATM to open doors for other banks' cards to be used without any service charge.
2. There are invariably 5-6 customers in queue to use it at any given point in time.
3. It doesn't work 99% of the time.
4. When it does work, it refuses to dispense cash if the requested amount is greater than 2500 bucks.
5. It holds the record for "eating" the maximum number of credit/debit cards!

And on a fine Monday (!!!!) morning at around 7 in the morning, I decided to withdraw some cash & made my way to the ATM to find just one person ahead of me, waiting to use the machine. I was pleasantly surprised that there weren't many people around & gave myself a pat on my back for the timing! The female who went in ahead of me did not take much time to process her request, but, when she tried coming out of the ATM, the exit button did not work & she found herself stuck inside! She tried the button a few more times & finally, I used my card from the outside to open the door and let her out. A week or so back, the same thing had happened & the customers in the queue helped each other out, opening the door for each other. So, this time around, I asked the lady if she would wait outside for a couple of minutes so that she could let me out. She agreed & I went in to withdraw some cash.

The lady who was supposed to be outside was nowhere to be found when I wanted to get out & I was stuck in the ATM! I was so enraged that I started banging on the door trying to get the attention of any passer by! 5 minutes passed, 10 minutes passed, 15 minutes passed & not a soul was to be found! The bank normally opens at 9 in the morning & it was only close to half past seven at that time. I finally decided to call a friend of mine (Natasha aka Tasha) & asked her to come to the ATM and "rescue" me. She agreed & when she finally turned up, she made me agree to a deal that I'd take her home and introduce her to my nephew who had come down from the UK for his holidays. I told her it was a bit early to be barging in to my place and bonding with my nephew & agreed to take her to Sangeetha for breakfast instead.

We were at the signal waiting to cross the road when from the other side a couple of "gentlemen" decided to let my friend know that they thought she looked like Lekha. They made couple of mistakes.
1. This was in full view of the traffic cop who was manning the infamous (a minimum of 10 accidents occur at this signal every week) signal. On second thought, this really did not matter.
2. Tasha hates Lekha Washington :P
She was enraged (:P) and decided to yell back, bellowing expletive after expletive at the guys! Fortunately for them, before she could stroll across and strangle them, the signal fell favourably for them & they escaped. She then walked across to the cop & asked him to register a case of eve teasing. He flatly refused saying that there wasn't enough identity/proof/evidence & we should get on with our lives! This enraged her even more & before she got herself in to further trouble, I pulled her away from the cop & calmed her down! He was right in a way because we had no clue about the identity of the guys! But there really must be a better way to put it across.

The day that followed was far more pleasant and memorable. We ended up seeing the new Batman movie. Heath Ledger is plain awesome! And we emptied half of the Adidas showroom in T. Nagar!

Two things to be learnt from that particular day,
1. No matter how good Madras is turning out to be, the problems of eve teasing still persists. Not just in colleges or when women are alone, but, in broad daylight in a crowded place like Adyar. The law is still not strict enough on eve teasing. When I told my Dad in the evening, he said that during his teenage days in Calcutta, the public would beat the crap out of any suspect. Vigilante justice might not be a bad idea, but, the change should come from within.
2. Always read the small signs stuck on the door of an ATM which says stuff like, "Door does not open from the inside. Please leave it open & process your request."

Cellular

2008-04-30T01:44:00.000-07:00

Ask my friends what my passion is & invariably they'll say it has something to do with electronics. True. But ask people who know me very very well what my true passion is & they'll say it is pissing away money on mobile phones! True again. I was given my first mobile phone when I joined college in 2001 & seven years down the line, it has become a favourite pass time of mine to keep changing mobile phones. Not that wasting money was/is a dream of mine, but somehow, the urge to explore new trends in telephony has gotten the better of me!

I was having a conversation with a friend of mine, when she asked me if I knew how many phones I have owned over the past 7 years. It was an interesting question & I decided to catalogue the entire list.

The phones are in order of ownership to the best of my knowledge. All those who kept advising me to get myself checked at a psychiatrist's, please do help if I have missed/misplaced something.

Here goes!!

01. Nokia 3310

02. Nokia 3315

03. Nokia 5210

04. Nokia 8250

05. Nokia 6510

06. Nokia 6100

07. Nokia 8910i

08. Nokia 6600

09. Nokia 6020

10. SE T310i

11. SE T610i

12. SE 6230i

13. SE K700i

14. Nokia 8800

15. Samsung D500i

16. Samsung D800i

17. Motorazr V3

18. SE J210i

19. SE K750i

20. SE W800i

21. SE W550i

22. SE W810i

23. N70

24. N73

25.SE K510i

26. SE W700i

27. SE K790i

28. SE W300i

29. SE Z710i

30. SE W710i

31. O2 Atom Exec

32. Samsung U600i

33. Moto SLVR L7

34. SE Z750i

35. Samsung D900i

36. SE W880i

37. SE W830i

38. SE K550i

39. SE P990i

40. SE W610i

41. SE W580i

42. SE K810i

43. SE T650i

44. Apple iPhone

45. SE P1i

46. SE K530i

47. HTC Touch

48. SE K850i

49. SE W910i

50. SE K660i

There!!! 50 phones!! And I did not realize that myself!! N73 was the last Nokia phone I owned. It crashed completely taking away with it a LOT of personal & official stuff & my hatred for Nokia has never decreased since then. If I have to choose a favourite, it has to be Sony Ericsson K750i. It was simply a revolution at the time it came to the market & blew away the competition. The fact that it still sells in abundance after almost 4 years of its introduction speaks volume about its performance. I own a K750i, P1i & a newly acquired K660i now.

So, if you think I am completely out of mind with this habit of mine, well, I don't really care :P

PS : Thanks to gsmarena.com for the pics! It's an absolutely reliable site when it comes to reviews of phones. So, if you ever need any guidance, I suggest you head there. Or better yet, ask me :P

Paisa!

2008-04-28T09:12:00.001-07:00

Do we as citizens of India have it in us to abolish corruption & bribery? Do we even stand a chance? If even 5% of India's population stands up for this cause, are we going to achieve anything? Or is this a lost cause? Will corruption and bribery be considered part & parcel of day-to-day activities? Or does it occur in every corner of the globe? Well, it most certainly does. And what can be done about it?

To the best of my knowledge, I have not taken part in any bribery or corruption. But, if you consider promising a certain someone's brother a bunch of chocolates if he would be kind enough to divulge his sister's mobile number, then I am guilty!! There have been a sudden surge of such incidents (not the chocolate bribing thing!!) in front of my eyes over the past few weeks, which prompted me to post this.

My passport is due for renewal pretty soon and with a valid visa in it, I was forced to go and apply for a fresh one in person. I was genuinely surprised that there was an online registration process for it & it quite neatly asked me to appear on a certain date with all the relevant documents at 11 am in the morning. So, armed with the necessary stuff, I found myself at the Regional Passport Office to find a queue much longer than I expected. I found myself a spot in the line after a lot of jostling & placed myself between an aged person who was appearing to submit documents on his daughter's behalf & a college student. I found out from both of them that they had appointments for 10.30 in the morning & it was way past 11 by then! The security person who is actually supposed to ensure that people don't jump lines or places was taking a bribe of 100 rupees for pushing you forward! I was quite irritated at this & voiced my opinion to the officers there & found myself pushed or rather shoved to the back of the line! So much for bravado!

It took me 3 hours to get my application processed & by that time I found myself a couple of good friends! Rebels with a similar cause, we started to have long , loud conversations about corruption & bribery and the modern marvel of mobile photography! It did get the attention of the officials there & if I am to believe the handful of agents there, my application would be put through intense scrutiny & rejected at least a couple of times! Good for me! At least I'll get to stay a few more weeks in India!!

Next stop, IIT. It has a reputation that precedes itself and produces some of the greatest minds in India. But little did I know it also had the most conniving bunch of professors & support staff who were quite adept at making a quick buck! My company has a joint venture with IIT for research & testing. We get to use their labs & they get to use our organization for projects & internships. So I recently took a product for testing & at the end of the whole jig, I was summoned to the professor's chambers and told that I was supposed to pay the support staff for their part in the testing. I was quite shocked at this & told that I was willing to pay as much as they wanted if they could provide me with a receipt for it. After 15 minutes of highly intense argument, I finally managed to wriggle myself out of there! And going out, I was stopped at the Security gate & asked to provide money for the invaluable security they provided to me and my company's asset during our stay there. I refused again & was informed that I wouldn't be allowed to take the equipment out through the gates! I quite politely informed the guards that I was quite willing & capable of sitting at the gate for as long as they wanted. They finally succumbed to my antics after a good 45 minutes and was allowed to pass through. Did I succeed in stopping an act of bribery? Yes. Bit at the cost of me being a marked man in the famous by lanes of IIT. I am not safe there anymore.

Next stop, Hyderabad. Central Power Research Institute of India is a Government owned research institute that has world wide recognition for the services they offer in the field of testing and certification of high voltage equipment. And the story was no different. I was asked to shell out close to 3000 rupees as "appreciation" money for the work the employees of CPRI. I refused again & am pretty sure I am a marked man there too. Wonder what their response will be the next time I go there.

We spend close to 2 crores every year on testing and certification & a good chunk of this money goes to Government owned institutions. Take into account that at least 3 of my company's competitors test on a regular basis, there is plenty of money that these institutions get. Where does it go? If the employees are paid on a good scale, will they resort to asking for bribes? Maybe, but as long as the money is not invested in the right places, we will get innovative usage of available equipment. For example, see the pic below :D

Life on Shuffle!

2008-04-22T22:54:00.000-07:00

I was tagged by Ketaki

And this is the story.

Here's how it goes-

1. Put your iPod (or other source of music) on shuffle mode.

2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.

3. You must write the name of the song no matter what. No cheating!

1. “If someone says ‘Is this okay?’, you say?”

That don' impress me much - Shania Twain

2. “What would best describe your personality?”

Last resort - Papa Roach

3. “What do you like in a guy/girl?”

Maneater - Nelly Furtado (lol)

4. “How do you feel today?”

Rockstar - Nickelback

5. “What is your life’s purpose?”

Long road to ruin - Foo fighters

6. “What is your motto?”

I disappear - Metallica

7. “What do your friends think of you?”

Party starter - Will Smith (So not true!!!)

8. “What do you think of your parents?”

Right here, right now - Fatboy slim

9. “What do you think about very often?”

Semi charmed life - Third eye blind

10. “What is 2+2?”

So sick - NeYo

11. “What do you think of your best friend?”

Girlfriend - Avril Lavigne (lol, ya rite :P)

12. “What do you think of the person you like?”

No leaf clover - Metallica

13. “What is your life story?”

First we take Manhattan - Leonard Cohen (Thanks Ketaki!!)

14. “What do you want to be when you grow up?”

Clint Eastwood - Gorillaz (Hell yeah!)

15. “What do you think when you see the person you like?”

The dolphin's cry - Live

16. “What do your parents think of you?”

Black or white - Michael Jackson

17. “What will you dance to at your wedding?”

Ain't no other man - Christina Aguilera (hope so :P)

18. “What will they play at your funeral?”

Get the party started - Pink (Hmph!)

19. “What is your hobby/interest?”

Clarity - John Mayer

20. “What is your biggest secret?”

American idiot - Greenday

21. “What do you think of your friends?”

Galvanise - The chemical brothers

22. “What should you post this as?”

Aicha - Outlandish

To keep the chain flowing Bhavi, TAG YOU'RE IT

Just for laughs!

2008-04-02T07:59:00.000-07:00

US Politics always cracks me up. Here are some classics.

Here's the point - The US is looking at affirmative action, and they're looking at marijuana. You legalize marijuana, no need for quotas, because really, who's gonna wanna work?

A lot of controversy over this invasion of Iraq. In fact, Nelson Mandela was so upset, he called Bush's dad. How embarrassing, when world leaders start calling your father.

Dick Cheney told reports that he has a new outlook on life. He says the best part of waking up is... waking up! I guess the doctors don't even put stitches in Cheney's chest anymore - they now just use Velcro.

War continues in Iraq. They're calling it Operation Iraqi Freedom. They were going to call it Operation Iraqi Liberation until they realized that spells 'OIL'.

Today Arnold Schwarzenegger made another major announcement. He said his lieutenant governor will be Xena, Warrior Princess.

More coming out about Saddam Hussein. We now know he takes Viagra and he has as many as six mistresses. No wonder Congress is reluctant to take action against this guy - he's one of their own.

George W. Bush says he spends sixty to ninety minutes a day working out. He says he works out because it clears his mind. Sometimes just a little too much.

Some Democrats say the estimated $60 billion dollar cost of a war with Iraq could be better spent at home. When he heard that, President Bush agreed and announced plans to bomb Ohio.

The military said we'll be able to confirm Saddam is dead with DNA testing. Apparently we have a sample of his DNA. So Monica Lewinsky is working for the CIA?

Saddam Hussein also challenged President Bush to a debate. The Butcher of Baghdad vs. the Butcher of the English language.

Pimp my ride!!

2008-03-22T04:04:00.000-07:00

I have been constantly bugging my boss to get his car decked with a music system. I travel a lot with him & find it incredibly ridiculous that someone who forked out 10 lakhs on a Civic did not think of a music system .So after 6 months of constant harassment, he finally agreed to get one installed. He chose an absolutely low-end system which made me hit him on the back of his head. Well, almost.

So, I convinced him to lend me the money & the responsibility of "pimping" his ride. I actually used that word & ended up getting a "look", which, I am pretty sure said, "I am the one doing your appraisals. Please remember that." :D

Budget : 50k
Time : 1 week
Restrictions : No flashy neon stuff

Pimping has just begun. Will be back with updates soon :P

So Sick

2008-03-20T23:31:00.000-07:00

Got to change my answering machine.
Now that I'm alone.
'cos right now it says that WE can't come to the phone.
And I know it makes no sense.
'cos you walked out the door.
But it's the only way I hear your voice anymore.
It's ridiculous.
It's been months and for some reason I just can't get over us.
And I'm stronger than this.
Enough is enough.
No more walking around with my head down.
I'm so over being blue.
Crying over you.
And I'm so sick of love songs.
So tired of tears.
So done with wishing you were still here.
Said I'm so sick of love songs so sad and slow.
So why can't I turn off the radio?

Sometimes, you just happen to stumble upon music that you can relate to in totality. The above lyrics are from a song by Ne-Yo called "So Sick". Jus' something that I happened to stumble upon. Great song.

Mondays

2008-02-26T07:18:00.000-08:00

My mom tells me that I always had an aversion to Mondays when I was in school. I used to refuse to get ready on Monday mornings & feign stomach cramps or something till the rickshaw fellow came & left. Then, I'd become okay within a few minutes and run to "Cat Videos" near my place & rent GI-Joe Videos and watch all day long. Habits die hard & this one has stuck to me. I hate Monday mornings & of late Mondays in its entirety. Here's why,

* I always feel like a water-soaked log on Monday mornings. My eyelids feel sewn to my face & refuse to pop open even after repeated knocks on my room's door & ONLY after my dad threatens to break open the door, I manage to get up.

* The toothpaste tastes like crap only on Monday mornings & leave a sour taste right at the beginning of a fresh week.

* The shower malfunctions on Monday mornings. ALWAYS.

* My socks never match.

* The iron-wala always creases my flat front pants.

* Breakfast tastes like Tar+Salt+Soya, thanks to the toothpaste-taste in my mouth.

* I always search for my access card & watch on Monday mornings 'cos I throw them astray when I get home on Saturday. Mmm, maybe this is my fault. But, I blame Mondays!!!!

* The cute girl in the apartment at the end of the street always leaves early on Monday mornings.

* My bus is bang on time on Mondays. Never a minute late. Never a minute early. I always miss it, and end up paying 80 rupees to a auto fellow who does not pity my situation, but expects my sympathy on the issue of growing petrol prices.

* My boss is always at the gate, coming out for a smoke & notices that I am 15 minutes late. Only on Mondays.

* My Lotus notes takes 10 minutes to load 'cos the server is overloaded on Mondays.

* I get to know from my colleague that my boss had called on the office intercom 3 times in the past 15 minutes. Only on Mondays.

* There is something wrong in the shop floor, at three different places, at the SAME time. Only on Mondays.

* My team gives me the good news that we made a blunder last week. Key is that enough stress is made on "WE". So, Monday mornings are reserved for blitz-meetings & frantic running around the office.

* My project presentation that was a big hit at the meeting last Friday does not make any sense to my boss on Monday morning. He wants me to redo the presentation & beam it to three countries. In three different languages. The meeting is scheduled for 7 in the evening so that my peers in France, Germany or Switzerland can relax in their leather recliners during THEIR office hours and listen to me.

* Canteen food tastes like Jail food. NO, I have not been to Prison! I just assume that food there is bad and stale.

* I ALWAYS get stuck in traffic on Mondays while getting back home. My bosses did not think it through building a Nuclear Engineering firm on an IT corridor. Morons.

* The cute girl at the end of the street ALWAYS notices my disheveled state returning home.

* There are guests at Home on Monday evenings. Sigh.

* I always lose playing God of War on PlayStation on Mondays.

* By the time I go to sleep, I have a stirring awakening that my weekend was completely wasted, Monday turned out to be hopeless and I should go bury myself somewhere!!

There you go. This is just a brief list that came to my mind. Apart from this, there are a million incidents that occur on Mondays. But the ones above are the most frequent. I favor a motion banning Mondays. Don't know if it makes any sense. But this is a rant, ain't it? So, I get to make my wish :P

Stars & Stripes

2008-02-24T03:43:00.000-08:00

I love Politics. Not the crap that goes on here at home though. Fools from one generation spoiling the country & laying the foundation for their descendants to come in to power & spoil it even more. I love the elections that happen in the United States of America. It is a complicated & long election. One that is totally entertaining. And worth following!! Okay, I admit it! Canal+ in France does not show any English programme. So, I was stuck with CNN & was hooked to this "Super Tuesday" blockbuster unfolding in front of me.

Here's a gist of the Electoral process.

The first part is called the primary. That is the part which is in progress right now. During this part each party (Democrats and Republicans) will choose a candidate. They choose by holding an election among registered party members in each U.S. State. Based on each state's results, candidates get "delegates". For instance, in New Hampshire, Clinton and Obama each got 39% of the vote, so each got 9 delegates. Edwards got 17% of the vote, so he got 4 delegates.

The primary ends at the party's National Convention. At the convention each delegate is represented by an actual person appointed by the party. Most people/delegates must vote based on the state elections. However about 20% of them are "Super Delegates". These are party leaders and people currently serving in political offices. They can vote for whomever they want. Based on the vote at the National Convention, the party chooses its candidate.

In the general election, the Republican and Democratic candidate face each other. Often, other independent candidates also run, but only rarely do they become significant in the election.

The general election is held on a single day (Nov 4, 2008). On that day, all registered voters can vote for anyone they want but typically vote for either the Republican or Democratic candidate.

Rather than just comparing the total vote counts, there is a system for determining the winner called the "Electoral College". Each state is worth a certain number of "electors". For example, New Hampshire is worth 4 electors. Whatever candidate gets the most votes in a state gets ALL the electors for that state.

There are a total of 538 electors. The number of electors in each state is based on that state's population. A candidate needs to win the majority of electors (270) to win the presidency.

Whoever wins the election on Nov 4, 2008 becomes the President on January 20, 2009.

What's interesting is that for a huge period, Senator Hillary Clinton had this race in the kitty. But a hugely unknown candidate, Barrack Obama threw his hat in to the race & things are really really interesting now. That shows you what a great country it is — when an African-American with a Kansas mother and a Kenyan father, who spent time growing up in Indonesia and is running for President. Truly awesome. And the best part is, he is kicking Hillary's butt, county after county.

Hillary Clinton has all the experience she needs. A great campaign manager with a good team that knows how to win. Fair or dirty. She has Bill Clinton (they are still married :P) with her to give her the much needed support when it comes to the grueling campaigns. She has a huge majority of the female vote. BUT, she hasn't been smart from time to time. Here's the biggest one. Mrs. Clinton, trying to make a point about presidential leadership and Obama’s constant references to Dr. King, the civil rights icon, said: “Dr. King’s dream began to be realised when President Lyndon Johnson passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It took a president to get it done.” I said "Mrs. Clinton" instead of Hillary because the entire speech just reeks of Bill Clinton's smug attitude. And by the way, Mrs. Clinton, BIG mistake. Undermining Martin Luther King when your major opponent is rallying for the African-American vote is a BIG mistake. Obama has never looked back after that. He has grown from strength to strength. Winning county after county. 10 in a row. Even at places where he had no hope 2 months back.

But the fun part is when the news channels take this in to their hands & make good viewing out of it. And who better than Jimmy Kimmel & Jay Leno :D

Here are few classics.

“Bill Clinton lashed out at Barack Obama yesterday, he accused him of running a fairy tale campaign. It’s a fairy tale in which a horny king tries to get his queen elected to the White House so he can go out and fornicate with maidens, and then a handsome black prince comes along and screws the whole thing up for him. So, you can see why he’s very upset.” –Jimmy Kimmel

“Well, congratulations to Barack Obama, the big winner of the Democratic caucus. Stunning victory. He got 57% of the youth vote, 35% of the female vote, and 100% of Iowa’s black vote, a guy named Larry.” –Jay Leno

“Senator Barack Obama was in Los Angeles last night for a huge campaign fundraiser. That shows you what a great country this is — when an African-American with a Kansas mother and a Kenyan father, who spent time growing up in Indonesia and is running for president, spending time in a state where Spanish-speaking people have elected an Austrian governor.” –Jay Leno

“Senator Hillary Clinton is back from her fact-finding trip to Iraq. She had to cut the trip short because she had to address a growing threat here at home — Barack Obama.” –Jay Leno

" Hillary Clinton is still doing very well in one state - the state of denial, ladies and gentlemen. Well, after winning 10 in a row, political experts say there's a very good chance that Barack Obama could end up as our next president. See, that shows you the progress we've made in this country. We can have a black man in the White House. I remember when we couldn't get a black man in the cast of 'Friends.'" --Jay Leno

Now, Hillary Clinton is left to throwing tantrums and handbags at Obama. Frustration is clearly visible. The dream is slipping away. True, Obama could end up losing this election & Mrs. Clinton could become the President. But, what this election has shown is that people's votes actually do count. Well, maybe not in Florida :P

* Thanks to answerbag.com for all the insight on the electoral process.
* And thanks to Jay Leno, Jimmy Kimmel, David Letterman & Jon Stewart for making this an entertaining election.

Love Actually

2008-02-13T07:49:00.000-08:00

Love actually, is just one simple little word. Chocolates, flowers, pretty sparkling diamonds are weapons used to express undying love and adoration. There is a day of the year even set aside for love! And quite frankly, I don’t see what the big deal is. I mean, people don’t get all mushy and lovey-dovey about hate or disgust or sarcasm. Those feelings have simple meanings, too. And aren’t all feelings important?

In Greek mythology, there is this dude Eros, who is commonly known as Cupid. Everyone knows who Cupid is! He’s that slick little guy with wings, a diaper, and heart shaped arrows, which he shoots at people’s backsides (so they don’t see it coming). He makes them fall helplessly in love with the first person they lay eyes on. Sigh. How romantic! Yeah right!! Real cool getting shot in the ass with an arrow from some little fruitcake with wings and an adult diaper.

Let’s take a look at some famous quotes,
“The only way to speak the truth is to speak lovingly.” - Henry David Thoreau.
“A loving heart is the truest wisdom.” – Charles Dickens
To them, I say, “Bite me!” Love is just a four-letter word that horny teens use to get their girlfriends in bed and old people use to describe how much they enjoy bingo. And those in-between? Love is easier to say and pretty less confusing.

The whole marketing charade on Valentine’s Day is taking things a bit too far. But big ol’ hearts on boxers is just taking it way too far. As is having stuffed gorillas that sing ‘Wild Thing’ and giant corny cards chock full of glitter and sap. It is a statistical fact (one that was confirmed with a few phone calls to a few of my college mates) that more women are proposed to on St. Valentine’s Day than on any other day of the year. “How sweet! How original! How romantic!” people say. Please. I’d much rather propose on Deepavali. If the shit hits the fan, you can throw a thousand-wala on the girl & blaze a few dozen rockets on the guy/s (who, trust me, inavariably want to break you into pieces) who feel hard done by.

Love really isn’t as easy and tender as it is portrayed. It is a hard game with confusing rules and lots of twists and turns and dead ends. There will be breaks and bruises in the tough game of love-love plays dirty. And it’s really a crying shame that so many people fall for love’s tricks. Hell, when you think about it, it’s really much easier to be grumpy and hate…well, everything. No heartbreaks, no let downs, and no spending hundreds of rupees on overpriced flowers (which will wither and die in a day) and fancy jewelry (that have to be real or else it is happy hands land for you for a really really long time).

You know, I think hate and it’s affiliates and sponsors should get a holiday like love does. We should have a Devil’s Day or Enemy Day. Believe it or not, there is a National Hugging Day, Jan 21^st. Sigh! I am going to demand equal rights for people with bad attitudes, sour outlooks, and grumpy dispositions. And I am going to request that a law be made about public displays of affection and any other love-esque outbursts.

It will be as follows:
“Any person seen in public, touching or fondling in such a way to annoy a person with a bad disposition or who is having a grumpy moment, will be taken into custody by the Hate Protectors. They will then be sentenced to the following: Forced to eat five million heart shaped candies, they will then be painted red and dressed like Cupid, diaper and all, and forced to sing several songs of love. Aren’t laws great? I simply love the concept of rules and regulations, judgments and freedom of opinion. I tell you, some of these lovey-dovey, mushy, “I wuv you!” “No! I WUV you, snookie ookie bear!” sweethearts just piss me off. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t hate love or anything. I totally love my family and friends. But a line has got to be drawn sometime, somewhere. And that’s what I am doing. Drawing the line.
Freedom for the crabasses and sour-pusses alike!

PS : FYI, this IS a public rant. If anyone finds this offensive, please go take a hike :P

PPS : To all the truly lucky few, who are actually in love and don’t need a public day to profess your love to each other, I wish you the very best in life!

National Treasure vs. Chidhambara Ragasiyam

2008-02-08T08:31:00.000-08:00

It is almost close to a year since I have been to a theatre to watch a movie. Ok, I did watch Sivaji in Frankfurt; but watching a Rajini movie with drunk Germans, struggling to follow the plot line AND translate at the same time took away all the fun. So, when my friends surprised me by calling me for the new Nicholas Cage movie "National Treasure : Book of secrets", I was damn excited,
(a) 'cos I was meeting ALL my friends together after a long time
(b) IMDB gave the movie a 6.8/10 (which is pretty good)

So, after beating the ever-increasing OMR traffic & flying over Gemini Bridge like Superman (:P), we landed at Sathyam theatres 15 minutes late & the punk at the door refused to let us in!! What an insult :D After a LOT of shouting & threatening bad publicity, we were let in!! Anyway, let's get to the movie.

The movie is passable. It is not anything great! The plotline is very predictable & downright easy at times. Here's the plot synopsis from IMDB (I don't have the patience to review the movie)

While Ben is presenting new information about John Wilkes Booth and the 18 pages missing from Booth's diary, one man stands up and presents a missing page of John Wilkes Booth's diary. Thomas Gates, Ben's great-grandfather, is mentioned in the page. It shows that Ben's great-grandfather could have been involved with Abraham Lincoln's murder. When doing more research, the conspiracy takes Ben, Abigail, and Riley to Buckingham Palace (which they break into). It takes them to a book in the White House (which they break into also) and they even steal a page from the book. But in order to see more from the book, their choice is either get elected president or kidnap the President of the United States. Which do they choose? It's obvious. The conspiracy then crosses to Mount Rushmore and they even mention the JFK conspiracy. Can Ben clear his family's name? Or will his family be linked to the murder of Abraham Lincoln?

Sounds exciting? Well, its on the same wavelength as some of our Tamil movies or serials!!! It is that boring! So, in the intermission, we decided to create a story of our own. "Chidambara Ragasiyam" starring our very own Captain Vijayakanth! :D

Here 's the plot synopsis!

While Captain is presenting new information about a well known criminal and the 18 pages missing from the evening edition of Mangayar Malar released when the criminal killed our President, one man stands up and presents a missing page of Mangayar Malar. Our Captain's great-grandfather, is mentioned in the page. It shows that Captain's great-grandfather could have been involved with the President's murder. When doing more research, the conspiracy takes Captain, Mumtaz, and Jimmy (Captain's dog) to Buckingham Canal (also known as Cooum in chennai). It takes them to a book in the Rippon's building and they even steal a page from Kungumam Deepavali Special edition. But in order to see more from the book, their choice is either get elected president or kidnap the President of India, namma Vadivelu Sir. Which do they choose? It's obvious. They kidnap Vadivelu who leads them to Nayar's tea shop on Ranganathan street & they find the missing pages of Mangayar Malar!! Jimmy leads them on a hunt through Pondy Bazaar and they finally find the hidden treasure in Kumaran Silks!!! And Captain clears the name of his ancestor :P

Our story made a lot more sense. It had emotion, a top cast, Jimmy the mutt and 6 songs. T Rajendhar also makes a special appearance as Captain's father. What more could you ask for?? Chidambara Ragasiyam to the Oscar's I say!!

Woof Woof!

2008-02-07T07:57:00.000-08:00

I have always wanted a pet. But my parents refused to get me a dog when I was young 'cos they felt that it was too much of a responsibility to feed it & keep it clean. And who could blame them? It was quite an achievement to feed me in the first place :P

So, now that I am all grown up & capable of taking care of something (or someone :P), I decided to invest in a new pet. The best pet I found was the i-Dog from Hasbro Interactive.

Ok ok! It was jus' a lame reason to justify the purchase of this uber cool gadget!! It simply rocks!! Jus' connect it to any music device & it reacts to the music! Depending upon the type of music and the amount of attention the i-Dog receives, it will develop a particular personality, moods, and music taste. 7 color changing LEDs shine though the white plastic on the i-Dog's broad face, and its ears and head are both motorized. When happy, the i-Dog will cycle its LEDs though rapid patterns in different colors while it shakes its head and flips its ears. Sometimes it barks, or if sad, whimpers. To keep an i-Dog happy, the manual recommends 5 minutes of musical nourishment every hour, as well as a fair amount of love, which one extends an i-Dog though a tap on the head or giving its nose button a poke. Love my foot!!

I felt that my dog needed to be one badass mutt! So, i fed it Metallica's S&M masterpiece & boy oh boy, it just came to life! But half way thro' the album, the bugger went to sleep! Obviously, this would not do. I yelled at him and rubbed his nose in the prime of a Limp Bizkit album to teach him a lesson, then started up a steady diet of satanism, namely System of A Down. Glowing fire crept back into the pup's eyes, and he switched up his music excretions to a moody rock groove. Personality established, I cut the music and just let him chill.

The pup is resting now :)

Milan

2008-02-03T05:15:00.001-08:00

To pee or not to pee

2008-02-03T04:22:00.000-08:00

I was damn excited about travelling to Italy. Milan has been on the top of my "Places to visit before I die" list & to go there at such a young age (I know that one wiseass is probably making a note to remind me of my age when she speaks to me next) was a dream come true. So, with my pulse racing, I reached Paris, having spent New Year's on an Air France plane with the only person in my age group being a 12 year old boy who was going to Disneyland. Sigh.

Having caught a shuttle flight from Paris CDG to Milan, I set foot into the place of my dreams. Women, Fashion, Pizza, Wine & Ferrari!!! What I did get was a wait of approximately 5 hours 'cos my luggage got misplaced. I did get my stuff back, but had to field a lot of questions about its contents.

It was snowing heavily. I had never experienced snowfall before & it was a pleasant feeling. The downside was that everyone (read as women) was wrapped up in layer after layer of clothing & the rich folk decided to keep their million dollar Ferraris in the garage. Sigh again.

2 weeks later, I had to move to Lyon, to start a new chapter of my life. I had no idea of what was waiting for me in Lyon. Totally anxious, I reached Milan Centrale, to catch my TGV superfast train to Lyon. The train was slated to start from Platform 1 on my ticket, but the listing showed a train to Paris at that platform. Little did I know that the train to Lyon would eventually go to Paris. So after running back and forth between the platforms and the inquiry offices, struggling to find someone who understood English & my queries, I became queasy & wanted to go to the rest-room. Here's where the real fun starts.

The rest-room or "WC" as it is known in Italy was on the other end of the station. Dragging my luggage along with me, I made the expedition to the other end. The entry to the rest-room was restricted & I had to pay 0.7 Euro to gain "entrance". Not 1 Euro or 0.5 Euro. 0.7 Euro. When a man has to pee, his greatest enemy is such ridiculous pay systems. The damn machine refused to accept anything other that 0.5Euro+0.2Euro combination. It refused to accept a higher denomination!!! So, cursing GE systems (which is one of my company's biggest competitors in Europe) for hatching a devious plan to kill me, I looked around to find somebody else to help me out with some change. And then, the following happend.

A well dressed gentleman, on the other side of the automatic doors was letting people through by pressing the Exit button from the inside & collecting a token of appreciation in small change from their end. He beckoned towards me to come through the gates. But, being an Indian, and one with high moral integrity *cough cough* (Shut up, vandy :) ), and majorly influenced by the fact that there was a CCTV camera monitoring the entrance, I refused to accept the stranger's offer.

I managed to go to the nearest shop that was selling cigarettes, and asked for some change. The nice shopkeeper refused to lend me some change unless I bought something from her. I bought a pack of cigarettes (I don't smoke btw), got the magical amount of money, ran to the WC, paid the ass-of-a-machine, and went inside.

I was just about to, you know, do my thing, when I noticed the gentleman move towards me with intent. Obviously I had pissed him off. Pun not intended. I had deprived him a chance to earn that vital extra few cents that would enable him to finally fulfil his dreams of a Harvard education!! AND, I also noticed a camera INSIDE the rest-room. What kind of a sick country wants to watch people relieve themselves?? Sick!! So, under extreme pressure, I finished what I had come in to do, grabbed my luggage & ran to the platform nearby. And then, something else happened.

Little did I know that a train from Naples had just arrived at that platform. The train was full of football fans who had come to "enjoy" a football game between Naples FC & AC Milan. They were shouting at the top of their voices & whatever they were saying did not go well with the volatile Italian Police. They felt obliged to release tear-gas on the hapless supporters & I got mixed in the madness and lost one piece of my luggage. My sis had warned me about pickpockets in Milan, but not about luggage-thieves. After lodging a complaint to the Police & informing my insurance agents about the loss, I made the trip to Lyon the next day. In one piece & with a brand new wardrobe :)

Milan did not turn out to be the way I expected it to be. The fashionable women were decked out in full length coats. Sigh. The Ferraris were in their garages (I did manage to see Kimi's car though & a Lambhorgini). And Pizza wasn't that great. And oh, if anyone goes "Oh my God!!! You went to Milan!!!!!! That is so damn cool!! I seriously envy you!!", please go take a look yourselves. You might fare better than me.

Freckles!

2007-12-21T08:33:00.000-08:00

Err!?

2007-12-07T08:03:00.001-08:00

Started off sketching Cameron Diaz. Turned out to be someone else. But, I like the end product :P

A lot happened over coffee :P

2007-12-07T07:56:00.000-08:00

DB train station. Frankfurt Main. The best place to spend on a Sunday morning :P
Especially if you like watching trains zip by.

Eyes Eyes Baby :P

2007-12-03T06:45:00.001-08:00

I am really pleased with how the eyes have turned out :D

Mona!

2007-11-23T07:26:00.000-08:00

The Mona Lisa. Behind two layers of glass, far far away & totally uninspiring. Don't know what the fuss is all about :P

Christmas

2007-11-19T09:17:00.001-08:00

Awesome photoshop work!

Sir Alex Ferguson

2007-11-19T06:45:00.001-08:00

The greatest manager this world has ever seen.

Yellow, blue & green

2007-11-19T06:40:00.001-08:00

Abstract

Summer of '69

2007-11-16T07:27:00.000-08:00

Summer of 2006. When all things in life were sweet & memorable. And a testimony to the fact that a song CAN bring people together.

Those were good days..

2007-11-15T04:47:00.001-08:00

Probably my best sketch ever. Made for the best friend ever.

And ya, this was drawn with my right hand :P

The United States of Homer J. Simpson

2007-11-15T04:44:00.001-08:00

Methinks Homer would do a far better job than GWB :D

Vroom!

2007-11-14T06:07:00.000-08:00

The streets of Milan have some awesome cars!

Now, Come on!!! :P

2007-11-09T04:13:00.001-08:00

I guess the pic says it all :P

There's only one Solskjaer

2007-11-09T04:10:00.001-08:00

20LEGEND

Metallica

2007-11-09T03:54:00.001-08:00

The boys from Metallica!

Deviantart has some awesome talent.

Alone

2007-11-09T03:50:00.000-08:00

My first attempt at sketching with my left hand.

The year of the Reds

2007-10-26T03:23:00.000-07:00

Having watched Ferrari snatch victory from seemingly unlikely circumstances & Boston Red Sox winning the playoffs, I am convinced that this is the Season of the Reds. F1, Baseball, Football & otherwise

All hail Manchester United :D