The Cascades of my Life

Contradictions in Rhyme

2011-11-23T15:56:00.000-08:00

*This is a little piece about a very early morning/very late night walk that I took not too long ago*

The cold dawn was a delight,
The wincing dog a fright.

The emptiness of the land made it tranquil,
yet sudden bursts of noise proved it fragile.

The sharpness in the air was fresh and crisp,
the dewdrops on the leaf edge's looked they wanted to leap and take a risk.

The orange streetlights stood majestically tall,
But they knew that at sunrise, their reign would fall.

The newspaper boy with his bundles cycled hard,
as the white haired figure stretched himself quietly on the yard.

At the distance, the pinkish orange hue rears its gorgeous head,
the young woman rolled around playfully and went back to bed.

The few stars that one could see, slowly faded out,
the frail radio produced white noise, as if it were still in doubt.

Everything at this hour appeared to be aware of its impermanence,
The moments seemed unafraid of the future tense.

Endeavour

2011-11-21T05:31:00.001-08:00

*Caveat : Made this up in about 15 mins on a bus journey back from work*

Endeavour endeavour,
Give up never.

Closure and Completion
Success with determination.

Numerous are the snakes in the world,
Who will try to get your head in a twirl.

Ignore their hissing tongues,
For they are filled with venom.

Brush off those praises,
they come only in phases.

Don't mind those setbacks,
They are but small thorns in your tracks.

Make everything a memory,
for objects come with a date of expiry.

Be nice to people,
They will one day help you when you are feeble.

Believe in a cause,
Be steadfast in your thoughts.

Take one day at a time,
For the underprivileged, do spare a dime.

Let the world your actions behold,
And your legend for generations will be told.

Endeavour endeavour,
Give up never.

A Red Afternoon

2011-09-25T01:28:00.000-07:00

It was a hot afternoon in the middle of May. He hurriedly opened the window, for ventilation. It also diluted the smell inside the room. Wiping the few pearls of sweat from his brow, he looked calmly around at the mess. Blotches of red could be seen on the floor & the platform. It was dead silent. It was done. He would not think of the consequences.

He silently opened the tap and washed some stains from his hands. Slowly discarding his t-shirt, he rubbed the stains off it. He had had enough of the nagging, the complaints, the constant taunting. Today he decided to take matters into his own hands. He had spent all morning preparing himself, mentally more than anything else, while she had gone out for her regular Sunday morning walk and groceries.

The next thing he wanted to do was clean up the bloody damn mess that it was. He sprinkled some water around the room and started wiping away the stains of the event. A few objects in the room had been strewn about, even though he had gone about the whole thing in a meticulous manner. He set them straight and in their place. He looked and the knife while picking it up, breathing heavily. His mind was blank. He had almost inflicted some cuts on his fingers. He took the cleanest cloth he could find around and scrubbing the sides of the blade, he placed it into the rack from where he had taken it.

He did not feel any remorse or regret. He understood deep inside that this was the only way he could shut her up. He could not and would not discuss this with anyone he thought to himself. But it was a victory of sorts.

After the cleaning and removal of all traces, he stood there staring at his doing, like a gladiator who had slain his enemy after a tough battle. “My masterpiece”, he said to himself. He moved to allow himself a glass water, when he heard some footsteps coming in through the gate.
Suddenly the air of stillness was disturbed. He panicked. Gritting his teeth, he finally surveyed the room for any traces of anything that would implicate him. Then picking up his slightly damp t-shirt in one swift movement, he waltzed into the bedroom and closed the door behind him.

He sat on his bed. He sat on the edge of his bed, to be precise. Beneath the unflinching exterior, his heart was pounding. Slowly stroking his French beard, he was conjuring up a million scenarios in his head. He had promised himself to not worry about the consequences of the action, but he was now a little scared.

A few minutes had passed. The moments were unbearable. Then a sharp scream pierced the silence. It was his wife’s voice. The door opened, they stared at each other for a second. Then with a doubtful smile on her face she shouted, “ Aye, did you make that rasam ? ”.

The Bald and The Beautiful

2011-08-07T01:15:00.000-07:00

There was once a study that I read, it said that only 34 % of human males do not worry about how they look. This little blogpost is for a small percentage of the remaining 66 % who tend to fret about their receding hairlines, pimples and paunches.

Ok guys. I know how it feels, to wake up and realise that suddenly you are going to be one of those guys who will be referred to as “the baldie”, “takloo”, “abbe ganje”, “dei sottai” and all those nasty things. I will start getting such compliments in a few years. But do not feel bad or disheartened. It is just another way for society to make fun of people they can’t really comprehend like geeky Nobel laureates, business gurus with paunches or those selfless social workers with crooked teeth.

Have you noticed how most of the cleverest people you know around are bald ? Yes, do a little mental survey. The hair roots I am told tend to get loose because of the heat generated by the brain. So more the brain usage, more the balding. They will tell you its genetics. Nuh uh ! You’re just plain smarter than the rest of them with those hairy mops.

Also there is an advantage that most of the scientific minded will readily agree to. When designing automobiles, there is a concept that one has to keep in mind called Aerodynamics. As with the automobiles, the same concept can be applied to humans. Imagine the air resistance with all that hair on your head. So naturally, it is safe to assume that all bald men are more aerodynamic than their gelled hair counterparts.

Case in point, the Mahatma. By my calculations, if he did have a head full of curly hair by the time he did the Dandi march, he would have taken exactly 3 years and 2 months more to complete his march and would have been 23 % more tired after every long walk. Lesser load, more aerodynamics.

Do you really think Ronaldo would be able to get past all those defenders with such mercurial ease if he had a mop of hair disturbing his vision and adding to his load ? Nope. Never.

Let me stop giving examples of famous people and talk about normal people like you and me.

Example #1 : Man A has hair. Man B is bald. 2 mad dogs start chasing them. A and B start running. A’s hair starts falling from the sides of his head and he has to adjust them to achieve maximum speed, dog catches up. Cut to the climax , A is next seen screaming in the doctor’s office while getting a shot. B meanwhile just takes 6 seconds to achieve maximum speed, and effectively evades the pursuing mentally disturbed canine.

Example #2 : A & B live in a place where it rains a lot and don’t have the greatest of immune systems. It rains on A, his hair gets wet. He gets a cold, then a fever, then again visits the doctor. B meanwhile walks happily in the rain without any such consequences.

Example #3 : The Personal Care market is booming. Metrosexuality is now quite normal. The good shampoos/gels/oils cost anywhere between Rs.50 – 200 these days. A decent barber charges Rs.50 for a haircut. Combs can start at Rs.10 and go all the way upto 200 for the fancy hairbrushes. So who gets to save more, A or B. Simple isn’t it.

Example #4: Anyone who has studied high school physics will agree that shiny surfaces tend to reflect more heat than they absorb. So that makes bald people more immune to hot places such as our wonderful country.

So being bald makes you more athetically agile, literally cooler and life just gets more economical. Some more money to spend on the girlfriend/wife or yourself. And if you get bored of looking the same all the time, experiment with your facial hair.

Another point I would like to reiterate to the 66 % of the people who worry about their looks. Don’t let anyone tell you that you won’t look good if you go bald. Bruce Willis, Jeremy Piven, Jason Statham & Mark Strong immediately come to mind . Jason was also an Olympic swimmer, and Usain Bolt ran like a bolt of lightning, aerodynamics at work people !

So the next time anyone says something about the lack of hair on your head, you know what to say right !

Disclaimer : The contents of this entire post are meant to be taken in a lighten vein and the author means no offence to anyone famous mentioned in this post. Not like they care anyway.

Moments, Things and Times

2011-07-21T10:10:00.000-07:00

Middle income group, middle class values. Engineering. Post Grad after CAT. There was the heavy metal phase, there were the college fests. Those times when you just sat and pondered. My special place was the road going to Whisper Valley from Jubilee Hills from you could see a huge expanse of Tolichowki and beyond.

The eternal conflict between doing good for the world and being selfless, that 8 letter word, IDEALISM and doing what was needed REALISM.

The muses, the ones that made you feel like a better person, the ones that were there during those testing times. The need to express. The need to be heard. Making sense of all the scribbling. Imagining the future. Friends that you drifted away from. Friends that kept in touch. The long aimless walks, the sweaty t-shirts. The joy of the mountains. Discovering strangers on strange journeys.

Cold nights. Colder mornings. That favourite pair of shorts that ripped after football practice. Jazz. Aldous Huxley. King Arthur. Thiruvalluvar. Carnatic Music. MMTS Train rides to the last stop and back.

The dreams of meaningful work, of insouciant travels, of excitement, of adulthood. Wordly worries. The fragility of life. The futility of stress. The attachment to materialistic things and cities. The time-space continuum and all of us mortals. Also change/transformation. Although gradual, maybe.

After Hours

2011-07-07T13:20:00.000-07:00

If I have in love with nature, it has usually been during sunrise. If I have ever fallen in love with cities, it is after 1 am.

When the world sleeps (Like that lovely song in Tezaab), thats when those who have nothing step out. I do have a roof over my head and love my sleep, but well since I'm on leave for couple of days, thought I would catch a late night movie. Not half bad, that Transformers movie, I think the Special Effects guys did a terrific job.

We were getting back in my car, the roommate was driving for a change and I was taking in the scenery. Gorgeous it looked, almost like a painting. The orange shafts of light, the roads that shimmered because of the light drizzle, the streams of rain drops that looked spray lines doing a waltz with the wind as one looked up at the lights, it just took my breath away.

I remember late nights in Hyderabad when we would drive back after a long night during our college fest days. Damn ! What I would give to have those days back in my life.

Bombay ! Man, was she different at night or what ! Almost the exact opposite of what she was during the day. No crowds, silence, people walking fearlessly and the notorious face of its underbelly that one could see without any qualms. The young SoBo crowd hung around the posh setups of Colaba, while the taxiwallahs were there to make their bread and butter. You could often find the heavily made up women putting up their wares for display at the Churchgate and CST stations. I was especially fascinated by the "mobile teashop on a cycle concept".I even remember striking up a conversation with Tamil tea wallah while returning from Marine Drive one night.

Pune, is quite different. It hasn't the sensational architecture, but it has a subtle old world charm to it. The Old Poona-Bombay highway which is my lifeline to the city is wide and a speed demon's paradise. I have done this stretch a million times and it is truly like driving in heaven on this road at night. The food joints are few and far in between, and you start finding such places are being in the city for a while. But you learn to live with its laidback attitude.

Its 2 in the morning, I am headed to another favourite of mine, Madras by the afternoon flight, so I'd better get some sleep. But I'm still looking outside my window in awe of how this tranquil moment has filled me with such content.

I'm buzzing with so many thoughts inside my head, but can't find anything concrete enough to document. The mind needs to rest. It is excited. I know it.

Warped

2011-07-05T07:43:00.000-07:00

I can blame work or my lack of sustaining an inspired moment for not blogging for almost 45 days. Even now, I can't think of something concrete to write. So I decided to spit out a string of random thoughts that are running through my head right this moment. Might be absolutely uninteresting. You are warned.

Shrewsbury biscuits
Running against the cool wind stroking my face
La Dolce Vita
Sliding tackles on the football ground
The promise of an imminent holiday
Kalyana sapudu at authentic tambram wedding in T.Nagar
A late night walk on the roads of Ameerpet
Hot coffee (made by me)
The lasagna at Polka Dots, Aundh
The Dilbert comic strip pinned up at my desk and about how Scott Adams reads my mind
The Zorb Ball
The Jabulani football
My next list of to-buy books
My next 1 TB hard disk for that matter
Memories of Xin Tian Di and Shanghai

So much to do and so less time. Tsk Tsk.
Now Playing : Roger Sanchez - Another Chance

The Unambitious Man

2011-05-18T09:16:00.000-07:00

The sky was populated with puffs of grey crowded next to each other as far as the eye could see. In a crack between these thundering clouds, six or seven shafts of golden rays shone down, steadfast and shimmering.

To many people, it was the just the beginning of monsoon & the rains. To me, it means a whole lot more work. More mud mixed with cowdung, more dustbins filled with semi-solid content. I wish Patil Sahib would give me more than one pair of those nice rubber gloves per month. I should check Geeta Tai's tin box when I visit her this weekend, maybe if I have collected more than 100 rupees I can afford that raincoat. But yes I also enjoy the rain when I'm in my room having chai.

That tin box on top of Geeta Tai's steel cupboard has been my savings bank for many years now. I trust her like a mother, infact she has taken care of me like a mother ever since Aai succumbed to TB.

That is also when we came to this city, Poona. I love being here. Of course it is very strange compared to our village. In the village I was very popular, I was the smartest boy in school and helped my friends with their homework also. Bansode Master said that I should grow up and be an engineer and help people. In a way, I still help people, I keep these roads clean, no ?

I have made some good friends here also. Ganpat is the closest. He works with his father at the food stall in the Railway station. His father lets me have vada pav and chai for free sometimes, he is a hard working man. Ganpat is also hard working and kind, he lends me money sometimes. When both of us have some free time, which is rare, we walk to MG Road. There we see many girls, who look like Bollywood heroines. Maybe one day I will find a nice Maharashtrian girl like that, but she should not wear jeans.

I don't get to see many movies, but I regularly see advertisements and songs because some shops on the roads have these big televisions on their showcases. I also watch 20-20 cricket there. I saw World Cup also like this. But I couldn't see the last few overs because the shop had to be closed. But I knew we won because many boys outside my chawl were bursting crackers and shouting all night. I went outside and walked a little bit that night, everyone was happy. I also was happy. But I was also thinking about all the garbage from the crackers that would have to be picked the next day.

I live on the terrace of my chawl and often stare at the sky. When I was a boy, we could see many stars, but now because of the smoke of all these cars I can't count more than sixteen. My aim is to buy a cycle within one year, and cycles don't give out smoke, so I won't be adding to the smoke. Ganpat says that I should want more and pray for better things in life. Only then I will become rich and have a room of my own in the chawl.

I can't tell him this, but I don't want all those things. I'm happy like this. I have a job. That job gives me enough money to buy food everyday and put some money in the tin box. Sometimes people see me and move away, but some people appreciate the work I do, I feel happy when someone appreciates me. I give chanda for Ganpati every year. Once I saw a man trying to beg for money near the station, he wore torn clothes and looked very thin. He had come from Konkan region a few days ago, lost his bag and did not know what to do. I felt sad for him and asked to come and join me in my job, he reluctantly agreed. I somehow convinced Patil sahib saying that he was my relative, I know I lied but it will help someone so its ok. He now earns 83 rupees everyday, he thanks me everytime he meets me. I feel proud that I helped someone, I think I will get some punya because of this act. I think I will tell Ganpat that earning punya is more important than money. Maybe he won't laugh at my ambitions then.

Vada pav - Maharashtrian snack
Chai - Tea
Chawl - A mansion with many single rooms rented out to different families
Tai - sister
Aai - mother
Chanda - donation for festivals
Sahib - Sir, means of addressing someone respectfully
Punya - good deed
PS:This was not entirely a work of fiction

A Forgotten Home

2011-04-13T09:48:00.000-07:00

He had done stints in Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Pune for many years now. Marriage, a lovely daughter and strenuous projects had kept him wrapped in a tiny cocoon. His parents visited him often, he never let them stay more than a week. He had a funny explanation for that, he always said that he had become a creature of habit and that they didn't fit into the scheme of things. They didn't mind, they loved him to death, they were glad their son and his family were doing well.

He had setup his employer's Mumbai office. He was their star. He loved being in the spotlight for them, he defended them untiringly on many occasions in the face of dire litigations. He had given his weekdays to his work, and his weekend to his wife and child. It was always what he dreamt of, when he walked those cobbled, tree-lined roads of his business school.

But as in all stories, this one had its shady characters too. While he was busy giving it his all, there was this man, lets call him Mr.Shady . He plotted, with a few dim-witted colleagues to whom he offered key positions, to usurp the Mumbai office from our protagonist. A plot was hatched, large amounts of money were illegitimately transfered, and cutting a long story short, an honest man was framed. The top bosses naturally looked for scapegoat,and he was their easiest way out of a huge media debacle.

He felt quite disoriented at what had happened. Its like that feeling of moving on a fast boat and suddenly being jettisoned into the water. You don't quite know how to react, but your instincts atleast tell you to swim ashore, and thats what he tried to do, prove his innocence. His friends, who had vociferously tried to state his case in the board meeting had but one choice. To help the man that they admired, recuperate and maybe fight back.

The wife and daughter were on put on a flight to Chennai, a few days earlier. He left after that fateful day. He arrived in Chennai, to the chaos of the airport that he remembered distinctly from his flying visits to city for meetings in the last few years.

But this time it was to be different, he told himself. As the cabbie pulled closer to his ancestral home in Mylapore, he was quite surprised at how much the city had changed. Where was the Madras that he had left behind ? The political slogans on the walls now made way for wonder murals from the rural landscape and Tamil literature. All the roads were flanked by magnificent posters and hoardings. The buildings all bore smart signs of multinational and big local brands. The old British names of most roads still remained. He liked that. A huge number of new snazzy restaurants had popped up. It was almost a different city.

Secretly he wondered, what all he might have missed in his days out of Madras. He reached home in the wee hours of the morning. When most cities look at their gorgeous best, the orange splendour of the rising sun, the cool air that lingers and the few people that are scampering about doing their morning chores. That being said, Chennai was an early riser.

The ghosts of the last few weeks had taken their toll, he resembled a man who had come back from a war, a war that his side had lost. The wife and child were still asleep. He left his bags near the bed, and decided to head out to have filter kaapi (coffee) at one of the many stalls on the main road which were crooning Ilayaraja songs from the 80s, a sound that he could easily relate to. Now this seemed more familiar territory to him.

The grand Kapaleeshwarar temple that stood over the area of Mylapore unflinching and majestic for centuries now, still instilled in him the peace & calm that it did during his quick pitstops at the temple during his examination days. He decided to take a trip down memory lane, quite literally. He quickly went home, asked his neighbour if he could borrow his Hero Honda Splendor, which the neighbour, a family friend for many years obliged with a smile while warning him of the bad brakes. He nodded and in his excitement, zoomed off. He quickly made his way to what can be only be described as something that everyone who ever visited Chennai would relate to, the Marina beach. The Marina beach brought back a great many memories to him. This is where he had first discovered his talent as a batsman. This is where he had first brought the girl he had a liking towards for a walk and some cut maanga. The place had been through a major makeover, it was now a swanky promenade, and there were people old and young going about their morning walks.

He took a turn at the Ice House junction and headed for the bylanes of Triplicane. Triplicane was where his closest friend from his college days ,Ram lived. This is where most of the "combined studies" sessions happened. Triplicane, it seemed to him, had frozen in time. The bylanes were still narrow. The buildings were still cramped. The cows still took first right to stray along the roads. He felt a little disgust with himself not keeping in touch with Ram and wondered where he could be.

He drove past the Zam Bazaar market & the road took him to Bells Road and Chepauk. Ah ! Chepauk, how many test matches had he begged his father to take him to, before finally the dream came true on his 15th birthday. He remembered the entire match very vividly and made a mental note to himself to thank his father as soon as he reached home.

He quickly remembered that Ratna Cafe was also nearby, so turned out and headed there since he felt some hunger pangs setting in. He ordered some idlis, and looked around as everyone seemed to be busy conversing in hushed tones. As he sat there, waiting for his idlis to arrive, a flurry of thoughts rushed through his head.

His work had kept him occupied for so many years. Apart from that his wife and child were the only things he thought of. What he might have missed in over a decade he could not imagine. But the early morning trip down memory lane made him realise that things were not that bad. Yes, he was screwed by a company that he had given a good ten years to. Yes, he was unemployed and disgraced. But he was in familiar land, among familiar people. People who knew who he was and would support him through everything. He decided to start life afresh. The meeker side of him held him from fighting back against the big bad corporation, but the Forgotten Home seemed to give him strength.

And as history would have it, he fought back and successfully at that. But success had a whole new meaning to him now.

Mylapore - A locality in Chennai, known to be a cultural hub for many centuries.
Cut Maanga - Slices of Raw mango with some chilli powder sprinkled on them, a snack often sold on the beaches in Chennai

Today, is this how life will be ?

2011-03-21T09:49:00.000-07:00

Today, we have a million dreams
But not enough time, to chase after them.

Today, we have technology that makes the planet a smaller place
But where are the people that really matter.

Today, we don't need eighty days to go around the world
But where are the adventures and strange lands that once excited many explorers.

Today, we have the financial means
But where is a justifiable end.

Today, we have swanky big houses
But what has happened to the space in our hearts.

Today, we live lives of comfort and luxury
But still manage the ailmemts that our grandparents never even knew.

Today, we have those plasma screen televisions to watch sporting tournaments
But when was the last time you screamed your lungs off at a stadium.

Today, is this how life will be I ask
But obviously no answer will come.

And he declared War ... on mediocre cinema

2011-02-13T20:47:00.000-08:00

I have been seeing some very clever cinema in the last few months, but this one has forced me to come out of movie-critic retirement. It just forces one to stand up and take notice, both in terms of pure film making quality and in terms of what lies ahead for audiences to devour on the Indian screen.

Yudham Sei by Mysskin is an intense, gripping, irregular but relevant movie. It feels like an unputdownable book despite being quite slow paced in the first half. With a plotline about the enormous capacity of male perversion and stellar performances with no real superstars in the movie, it made for fantasy cinema, in my humble opinion of course.

There won't be any spoilers in this blog, I will more specifically talk about the movie watching experience. You will be thrilled if you are one of those people who relishes clever writing. The first half is quite haphazard and gives you only a few pieces of the puzzle and leaves you begging for the intermission to get over real fast. There are very few scenes which I would call over the top, except for the otherwise stoic Cheran flooring 8 rowdy-types with just a knife from a nail cutter.

The Neetu Chandra number is unnecessary but I guess it does fit into the script, and maybe Mysskin felt to just take his foot of the pedal just before the climax of the movie.

Acting is top notch. Cheran does his role to the T, I really cannot picture anyone else who could have pulled it off. On hindsight, maybe one really can't for any brilliantly portrayed roles. But in my opinion, it was Y. Gee Mahendran, Lakshmi & Jayaprakash (Dr.Judas) who really grab at your heart. The old couple tonsured heads and all make for a frightening last few minutes.

There are two particular sequences in the movie that I totally loved. The dying words of Dr.Judas, where he says to JK - " They came at us, a family with no inclination towards violence with their power, illegitimate, political and financial ; pushed us into a corner. They chased us till we could run. With their limited mental capacities if they can commit such crimes and get away with it, imagine what we with our intelligence are capable of. Now we will do the chasing. They can do the running."

The other clever reference to Mysskin's inpiration - "Rashomon" through Cheran is subtly hidden in the conversation, should make the Kurosawa fans smile.

My advice - Take your brain to this movie, enjoy the puzzle solving process with the protagonists of the movie and do not miss a minute of it.

Intelligent plotlines seem to be the flavour of the season after Aadukalam & Yeh Saali Zindagi. Maybe they will not fare as well as their blockbuster counterparts from the respective industries, but I'm sure that a Sudhir Mishra or a Mysskin will be remembered, or for the fanatics like me REVERED in the generations to come.

Just Another Victim

2011-01-06T21:49:00.000-08:00

He was lying there on the hard tar road. The hot sun dazed his blurred vision. He couldn't feel his legs, he thought. People were running past, but no one stopped to help him. He could figure out that the dark viscous fluid on his forehead was blood. His thoughts numbed as he tried to lift himself. He succeeded in dragging himself to the edge of the road. As he collapsed, along the footpath beneath the shade of a tree, he realised his senses slowly blacking out.

What is past is prologue !

He left his home on the outskirts of Warangal at the age of 17 to get a degree in Engineering. He had done well academically throughout his life and could speak decent English despite being educated in a Telugu medium school. His parents dreamt that he would one day be the pride of the family and his brother often teased that all the village ammailu would queue up to marry him.

He was ragged. He was befriended. He was an excellent batsman. He helped out his friends in those last ditch efforts to save the backlogs from accumulating. He discovered new things in the big city, but was never overwhelmed by them.

He fell in love. She was his classmate. It wasn't the kind of romance from the Telugu films he often told her. They wanted it to last.

It had been almost three years after leaving Warangal, he now felt at home in the single room that he shared with 2 others at Tarnaka. It was an exciting day. He was going to meet her parents. It was just the way he wanted to this to go forward. He adored her and she adored him back. He knew the urban parents would probably be easier to face than his parents back home.

His friends warned him of the dangers of going out that afternoon. He smiled and trotted off with a spring in his step. He realised that all was not normal & that maybe his friends were right. But life had to go on, he avoided the rioting crowds and walked towards the bus stop. Anxiously he hopped on a bus that was headed towards the station, because the bus to Begumpet was taking too long to come.

He hastily typed an sms on the Nokia that he had bought with the money from the paper presentation he had won, when *crash*. The glass of the window next to him splintered. The stone from the miscreants struck him on the head with a force that knocked him off his seat. An elderly gentleman behind him, held his hand and guided him off the bus which emptied in seconds. The old man was beaten, he felt helpless as he was pushed aside. He felt weak and dizzy. A White Sedan was speedily trying to escape the scene. It struck him as he wandered into its path. He remembered the feeling of being thrown many feet into the air. And then there was blackness.

The movement had knowingly or unknowingly taken another life.

2011-01-06T02:11:00.000-08:00

"Trust me, it's paradise. This is where the hungry come to feed. For mine is a generation that circles the globe in search of something you haven't tried before. So never refuse an invitation, never resist the unfamiliar, never fail to be polite and never outstay your welcome. Just keep your mind open and suck in the experience. And if it hurts...you know what? It's probably worth it." -Leonardo DiCaprio (The Beach, 2000)

If you loved the quote from Trainspotting. I'm sure this will also appeal to you on some level.

The Punekar

2011-01-04T04:04:00.000-08:00

The Punekar article about the Pune International Film Festival. Some awesome movies to look out for.

The Year That Was

2011-01-03T04:36:00.000-08:00

The train ride last night didn't give me enough sleep. So this can be what you would call a "sleep-deprived" post. But here are a few fond moments from the last year.

January - Madras with Chari, the restaurant on ECR & his house bang opposite the Parthasarathy Temple, Siva's place at Pondicherry diagonally opposite Bharathidasan's house & the ancient movie theatre.

February - First time in Pune, New home, New Workplace, Lots of Firsts.

March - More Pune exploring #PMPML & by foot.

April - Implemented first big project at Work.

May - Did NITIE for the last time as a student, said lots of goodbyes too.

June - Mad rains in Bombay. Sales stints in Raigad & Ahmedabad. Worst month of the year, with some real mentally disturbing stuff happening.

July - Miracles do happen,Sales stint was cut short ; came back to Pune. Started work on a super project

August - First party with NITIE junta at Elevate. Slowly discovered late night bike rides in the Pune rains.

September - Starting playing Football in the mornings, was super.

October - Played the Corporate 5s tournament, got screwed but enjoyed every bit of it. Explored Marathi Tamasha & Naatak.

November - Made my first big investment in life - A108. Visited Shanghai, Suzhou - loved every bit of the trip.

December - Susheela Raman's powerful performance at NH7 Weekender. Polka Dots, Aundh. A taste of the good old days at Hyderabad with some awesome friends.

Lets hope 2011 lives up to its predecessor.

Must find time

2010-12-28T08:23:00.000-08:00

I'm planning a super mega post on "THE YEAR THAT WAS" and don't seem to find. 2 days in December left to go. Must..find..time !!

A Modern version of the Orient

2010-11-29T21:23:00.000-08:00

One of the fringe benefits of working for a multinational is the fact that, there is the international trip that happens once in a while. Although it was purely for business purposes, it would have been unlikely of me if I didn't make an adventure of it.

So here I was all alone, as I nervously stepped out on foggy afternoon at Pudong International Airport braving an 18 degree chill. Got into one of the snazzy Volkswagen taxis which were to be my conveyance of choice for the next week & headed off to the Wyndham Grand. As the name suggests it was a grand place with all that came with any other standard 5 star hotel.

The week there involved shuttling between Shanghai & the city of Suzhou where our factory is located. Suzhou is exceptionally beautiful considering that it is what we call a Tier 2 city. Jinji Lake at night can be quite spectacular with a colour changing ferris wheel at the distance. I plan to visit the Lingering Garden on my next visit there

Shanghai is a walker's delight. I would like to thank Tony Luo, Lingling Gao & Takeshi Kitamura for hanging out with me on the first night out on the town. I did all that could be done on foot.

The magnificent Bund, on the Huangpu river with the skyline of the Liu Jia Zui Financial District that could give any skyline a run for its money. The brilliant imperial buildings now converted in headquarters of banks or showrooms for luxury brands. Keep an eye out for almost every luxury brand that you might have heard of to have a showroom in Shanghai.Other significant things more to my liking were the Peace Hotel, legend has it this hotel was used for espionage during the World War II era.

You will also find a single statue of Mao & a few hundred metres the financial bull that one can find on Wall Street and now even on Dalal Street. It truly is a place of contradictions where ideology does not necessarily impede growth. Then a short walk from there will take you to Nanjing Road, a pedestrian area mainly for shopping. The bright lights will dazzle your senses, but beware of the hawkers who peddle everything from fake iphones to "ladyfuck".

Xin Tian Di, an area exclusively for bars and restaurants, is also the site of the first ever congress of the Communist party of China. It has everything from outdoor coffee shops to German brewhouses to Italian pizzerias. A great place to walk around, and it also boasts of a great shopping experience in the neighbourhoods nearby. Other notable places for shopping are the AP plaza near the Science and Technology Museum & Huahui Road.

Another fantastic experience is the Maglev train. I had the chance to get on one of them to go to the airport. It touches speeds of over 300 kmph and gets you to the airport in 8 mins which is around 50 kms away.

Food is an issue if you're a strict vegetarian like me, but only good can come after eating a few meals with boiled vegetables and rice. Thankfully there are a few dishes that will come to one's rescue namely - OU(藕）、DOUMIAO(豆苗）、RUOBO(萝卜).
(Spelling & Pronounciation Courtesy - Lingling)

The honesty and the work ethic of the Chinese is clearly something that is commendable and that is responsible for their present position in the international business scene.The sights and sounds of a modern fast growing China will always be afresh in my memories for a long time to come.

My only regret is that I didn't get to experience much of the traditional China, but that will be dealt with on my next trip, I hope.

Will probably Phlog or Picasa most of the photographs. So ping me or leave a comment with your email id incase you are interested.

It happened one night

2010-11-19T19:05:00.000-08:00

One of them got back quite late from work. The other was waiting for the power to come back on. Both hadn't eaten. So they decided to go to one of those "late night- roadside-edible but hot food" places close to home.

So the piping hot pav bhaji came, and so did some not great but equally hot coffee. The rain had started off again meanwhile. Some pretty girls came and sat next to the table beside them. SD Burman, Manna Dey & Mohammad Rafi were putting on quite a show on the radio that night.

As the minutes passed by, the thrashing of the raindrops on the asbestos roof got stronger and sunk Rafi's voice into a minute moan. The empty tables on the roadside which were unoccupied rattled for a bit before flying away atleast a 100 metres. The raindrops were now hurtling towards us at a variety of angles.

One of them panicked a little bit, there was no power, trees were being pushed down by the strong hydraulic waves that came from the skies. The customers, the waiter and the cook were now huddled into a small room with a shutter now. The cigarette smoke & the coffee cups seemed to be the only source of warmth as the mercury dipped.

Flashes of lightning whips could be seen from the corner of one's eye. The Thunder claps were remnant of being next to the speakers in one of those rock concerts. Deafening.

The wind subsided. They ran back into the comfort of their concrete homes. It was an intense night. One that definitely deserved to be documented.

A smorgasbord of cultures

2010-10-26T06:03:00.000-07:00

So I've been exploring a lot of Marathi Culture in Pune which actually gives you a better oppurtunity of doing so, rather than its cosmopolitan big brother Bombay.But of course this post is not some sort of social commentary on either of the cities.

Its more about how things that we see as alien to one another are actually quite alike. I am what you would call a Madrasi . I probably fit the colloquial definition of a Madrasi as told to me by one of my Bombay-bred friends apart from the Lungi wearing part. A Madrasi is technically anyone south of Maharasthra, he may also be referred to as Anna. But most Telugus, Kannadigas & Malayalis are often quick to react upon the use of this term to correct the user that they are actually from a different state. But I for one am comfortable with the term, born in Mylapore, bred in Ameerpet (till I finished my Engineering), then spending early days of manhood in Powai, before finally moving to Nigdi to make something of myself, its been quite a ride.

But what it has done is, it has made me culturally sensitive. Having parents who were strictly grounded to their roots made sure that I was well versed with Tamil Culture. The friends I have from Hyderabad, made sure that a Telugu gentleman was also bred in me. The folks at Pune are now watching the Maratha in me bloom.

Proof of this is the fact that I have started listening to loads of Marathi music from the late 80s (I love that era fyi). I am in love with Misal Pav & I have added Archana Joglekar to the ideal partner list after - Shobana ,Revathi ,Gayatri Joshi & Amala.

So the next time you find me making racist jokes, you know its because of my love for the plethora of peoples in our country rather than my contempt for them. Maharashtra boasts of great theatre scene due to their tamasha traditions, apart from boasting of great singers like the Mangeshkar family and Suresh Wadkar. Of course, they could do without all the "armies" that they have, but if you looked at it from the eyes of an optimist, you could tell that some of them really think that their culture would get diluted and cease to exist, beats me, but I'd like to think that I'm a puritan in some ways too(I hated it that the IPL had better ratings than test cricket & I also hate that single screens are disappearing one per day). Despite my love for Bombay, I hate the crowds and the insanity of the inter city travel. Sometimes I like to imagine what it would have been to live in the Bombay of the 70s or 80s before the multitudes were here.

Now playing - Kevha Tari Pahate from Nivdung

October - Not my most favourite month

2010-10-05T23:14:00.000-07:00

October is here. Its not been my most favourite month in the last few years for a variety of reasons which I do not want to recollect. Unfortunately or Fortunately, I am one of those people who uses discretionary amnesia as a tool for happiness in life.

But thankfully I do not have too many complaints for this month. In a conversation with someone, the someone happened to remark about me dreaming too much. I said of course, remember The Designer Mug.

I often feel like the kid in the bench next to window. I know everyone says that they were last benchers for the coolness of it, but I was a strict window bench person. High School, Junior College, Engineering and whenever I had a chance during NITIE, I was always the occupant of the window seat. I guess childhood habits die hard, I still have a desk next to a huge window at work. Of course the view isn't too fancy, the vista has utilities and the never ending sky. But windows are windows all the same.

In other news, I picked up two books on a trip to find awesome Misal Pav in pune. Bought "The Immortals of Meluha" by Amish Tripathi & " A collection of Short stories " by Kipling. Reviews of that will follow in a while. I'm halfway through the Indian adventure book which is quite a pageturner actually.

Also started watching this awesome series called Spartacus: Blood & Sand, which is a 300 meets Gladiator concept made into series. R rated for sure, not for the weak-hearted. Good plotline, and plenty of grey shaded characters.

Now playing on loop : Idhu Enna Mayam - Oram Po. #Brilliant song

Will these Rains end ?

2010-09-08T04:49:00.000-07:00

I was cribbing about the endless rains to a friend. The friend asked me," But I thought you loved the rains? ". Yes I do, when I have a washing machine to wash and dry my clothes, hot coffee and good company to take a walk.

Recently,my complaints to the rain god have also been about one of my most favourite things in the world.
FOOTBALL
See I have this tournament coming up and finally convinced folks from the factory to come play football and a few of us are meeting up every morning before work. But then there is the little problem of the mud grounds that we have. Due to the rains, they become unruly and rugged. We need to legs with shock absorbers to play on those grounds.

On a tangential topic, recently read that Actor Murali passed away at the age of 46. My condolences to his family. But you the weird part, I was immediately reminded of the song "April Mayile" from his biggest hit Idhayam. To the non Tamil cinema follower let me explain the funny bit. Murali was an actor known to play soft romantic roles, case in point - the movie Idhayam.
The song I'm talking about is picturised on a couple of young Roadside Romeos in Madras (led by a young unrecognizable Prabhudeva) and talks about how all the pasumai (greenery referring to the young women) disappears in April May. Woo ! That went over most of your heads, Didn't it ?

Anyway, I need to get back to fantasizing about tomorrow's football session.

Football in the mornings = Getting back in shape = Sharp at work = Overall Good.

Same old Same old

2010-08-12T06:07:00.000-07:00

Yes thats something I've been saying too often to too many people. Five days of the week are good, the daytimes keep me occupied, the nights are majorly for entertaining myself & well earned sleep.

As I might be mentioning for the three hundred and forty seventh time, weekends are cool too. Major activities include laundry,napping,TV,reading,Pune exploring and eating out.So they keep me quite busy too. But this post is not about my schedule now, is it.

Its true what they say you know,about the Devil taking over when you are idle and making your head his workshop and all that. I'm sure this would have come up somewhere earlier in this blog incase you've ever had the patience to skim through the older posts or better yet, if you have been a regular in this space.

The commute from Factory to Home and back just scares me, its free time, thats where the Blackberry comes in handy to keep oneself busy. Someone on facebook recently said something very profound, but true, that the key to happiness is a bad memory. That is something I have not been blessed with, but the courage to move on is something that I have imbibed. Thats how life works, right.

It throws shit your away, you maneuver around, use a few counter measures, evade and survive, we move on. But this is something that puzzles me, if we move on, it does not mean that we leave all the happy memories behind. Case in point being,my alma mater. I had immense fun, met some great people, learned so much and even owe where I am in life today to that place. But strangely,I do not yearn of it like so many others do. There could be many reasons to it, and I obviously am not going to sit and analyse them. Purpose of this post - To let everyone know, whatever happens, Forward is the only way to go. The past may guide us, but only the the Future will define us.

*Wow ! Good Line that - guiding and defining. Pats self on back*

Fingerlickin' Good

2010-07-24T23:33:00.000-07:00

What more can you ask for on a lazy Sunday morning. Pedro and I braved the rain to go have the most yummmazing breakfast in a long time. A gorgeous dosa with sexy molagapodi(chilli powder) and hot filter kaapi. It doesn't get any better than this ladies and gents. I think I'm so much in love with my breakfast today,that I don't think I want to corrupt the lingering taste by having lunch. So today I shall fast, until I get hungry again that is.

Comic Strip Relief

2010-07-23T05:40:00.000-07:00

From NITIE to NIGDI, a new comic strip series from the inner cranium of blogger Aditya Narayanan recently took off on a Friday after some random incidents at his residence led him to the belief that his home is really fun place and that the little anecdotes from there that should be shared with the world.

The characters in the series are mainly based on the residents of the Nigdi Apartment, namely

Adi - The person creating this comic strip,often portrayed as a sarcastic, debonair yet bumbling personality.

Su - The dashing superhero character who is heavily influenced by Bollywood films but is supposedly innocent at heart.

Pedro - The funniest of the lot, naive and goodlooking, often ends up being the butt of the joke.

The Incredible Pulk - His burp is known to be scare the most majestic of lions, The Pulk is usually a friendly character and loves food.

Producers have revealed that other characters who are friends of the Nigdi quartet will also show up on special episodes. Shown below is Episode 2

You can find the series at :

http://www.stripcreator.com/comics/adityagn

Disclaimer: Those of you who do not know these characters might find the strip quite boring, so apologies. But someday, I will expand my horizons

Normal Service Resumed

2010-07-20T22:32:00.000-07:00

So I'm back ,after two whole months of web silence I thought it was high time I infused life in my dearly beloved blog. Also, I seem to have caught a break from the everyday workload. Today seems a little lighter.

The boat has been rocked severely in the past month, infact it came close to capsizing also, but God (read as Special Requirement for Resource)threw me a lifejacket. Excuse the metaphors, but I guess it was a much needed wake up call towards the harsh truth of life, since I was beginning to get quite complacent. So now, the shield is back and battle ready. I have since then, come back to Pune and life has probably come back to normal.

I'm working in a field that I'm passionate about, so no clash of heart and head happens. Having a day job saving the world's resources, on a very micro level albeit is quite a brownie point for the conscience. At work, I have a desk which is adjacent to a huge glass slab, so it makes for an energy efficient office and gives me a large scope to look out onto the premises and day dream. It would have been an ideal location for my last bench days during Engineering, which were spent day dreaming of the future. There are obviously many choices, many factors that have influenced my being at this point in time at this place, but I would contribute a major portion of the pie to my day dreams.

Not taking a poke at the much discussed topic of the movie "Inception", I would urge everyone to dream. I know, I still dream. Honest advice though, don't dream while driving.I speak from personal experience.

Now playing - Maathey from Morning Raga

PS: Proud Moment, after 5 yrs, I finally have a new phone. A Blackberry at that.

The rush of one's own earnings !

2010-05-12T05:31:00.000-07:00

"How things have changed ?",I smile to myself these days. I've been on my own money for 4 months now. Its more than enough to sustain my expenses and do some spending.

I hang out with Abhijit, a good friend of mine from my engineering days almost every weekend in Pune City, exploring and eating out. He works at a PR firm. So he is doing pretty well too. We often reminisce of the way we were a few years ago. Those were the days when we were always doing monetary calculations.
Budgets for treats.
Sharing dishes when we realised the place was quite expensive.
Cost cutting at every step of the way.
But of course, these statements hold good only for the ones who felt guilty about spending their parents' money.

But now things are different, we have our own cash to burn. Abhijit & I are often spending on each other, occasionally we smile to ourselves and say - if this was back in college, this money would have gotten on the I Owe You list, but not now.

Its a rush to have one's own earnings to blow up. That being said, I still have a bad habit asking my folks for loose change.

- Good to know somethings don't change. -

Is it that easy ?

2010-05-09T22:54:00.000-07:00

You would think that you wake up one morning and feel an entire gamut of episodes in your head. You would think that it is easy to just compartmentalise each one of them, and well put pen to paper or literally speaking, put finger to keypad.

Is it that easy ?

To me writing has always been therapeutic, be it on a public forum and an awfully long mail that is, to put it subtly "saved as draft". I always wrote for myself, wrote pieces that made me ponder - either during those lonely travels or those boring afternoons. A wise man once told me that too much analysis always leads to paralysis. Yes, there could be a minor issue, analysing every little detail, every little action, wondering why that happened ? Painful, to the extent of physical pain on the upper left side of the brain. (Don't mind that, its just the overdose of medical sitcoms talking)

But I know I'm not spitting it all out. I don't need to. Things left riddles always keep me interested. Some experiences I just don't want to write about, because my words would never be able to do justice to the experience. Experiences are more often than not associated with people. Good people, each unique, each one more interesting than the other.
Its funny how people get associated with experiences - like the road trips, like the late night movies, like the rains, like those music concerts. Whats even funnier is the fact I get reminded of them each and every time I do that particular thing, albeit for a brief second.

Am I nostalgia freak ? Oui.
But in a good way. I don't sit around and sulk that those experiences won't be happening anymore. I'm like that travelling suitcase with stickers from every country it has ever been to. I don't know if I'll be there again, but I'll proudly wear that sticker.

Nostalgia is actually a far more stronger feeling for those like me, viz those cursed with boon of good memory. Talk about oxymorons. Here's another one - I have started to think that I'm simple in a very complicated kind of way. Well, I believe that should be enough for today. Someday you will find me bruised and plastered thanks to all those complications and I have a bad feeling that day is imminent.

The BAND Wagon

2010-04-28T21:24:00.000-07:00

I remember this song called Sadho Re which was often aired a few years ago. With that song, Agnee made a little bit of a statement, with a fresh new sound, not often heard in Indian rock circles.

A few years later, I had the pleasure of chancing upon a few more of their numbers. "Shaam Tanha" has a very sprightly feel to it and a nicely made animated video. "Ranjhana Yaar Di" is a brilliant song, which tells a whole story in a single video. But I think the best of lot, IMHO, has to be the wordless Theme for MTV Splitsvilla. Its a poignant song in which Mohan's enchanting voice & Koko's spectacular guitar work come to the fore.

With this I think I have found my quadruplet of Indian Bands I love made up of Avial, Pentagram, Parikrama & now Agnee

Weekends and Overcast skies

2010-04-22T03:32:00.000-07:00

What is it about Pune Summers and overcast skies ? Of course, I know I'm being too fast in judging this place. But for the last 2 fridays, the Pune skyline has been overcast and its the same this thursday evening also.

Of course, not like I'm complaining or anything, today being Earth day and all. The Scorched Mother Earth could do with a shower. The sensual smell of wet mud before the imminent, one of the most brilliant fragrances ever, followed closely by Petrol & Davidoff's Cool Waters(the female one). If someone can actually make a fragrance out of it, I might just be tempted to buy it maybe.

There are lots of movies in the pipeline for me this weekend, apart from the IPL matches.
How to train your dragon
The Bounty Hunter
Lalbaug Parel

Need to find time to visit a mall called Lifecycle, believe it or not, this is a place in Pune which is a mall dedicated entirely to bicycles and their accessories. Should be fun. Also I'm considering doing a "once-a-month-cycle-to-work" day. I'll just have to make sure I don't have any important meetings that day( knowing my tendency to sweat even in the dry environs of Hyderabad and Pune).

Watch this space for more boring tidbits about an average 23 year old's life.

Express Morning

2010-04-18T21:33:00.000-07:00

After Weird morning, it is now my turn to write about an express crazy morning.

After a bus ride from Hyderabad, I reached Pune's Mobus Court by 7.15 (45 mins later than scheduled time I might add). As I was getting out, the bus for Nigdi just passed and I was cursing my luck, I could have gotten home by 8 if I had caught that bus. The next bus came at 7.30.

I was nervously counting the minutes,the bus arrived at Nigdi at 8.05. It was pretty quick since it was early Monday morning, otherwise it usually takes around 45 mins. I sprinted for a kilometre, stopping to catch my breath three times while cursing my present fitness levels.

Got home at 8.12, brushed and bathed in record time. Then I put on the office clothing & then things got down to breathing pace again. Caught the bus on time at 8.30 and the rest as they say is History.

Weird Morning

2010-04-09T04:05:00.000-07:00

Woke up at 4am.
The sky was overcast.
Walked around the house.
Drank loads of water.
Contemplated reading.
Watched a movie on the Dell laptop instead.
Dell laptop konked off in 20 mins.
Switched on my work laptop.
Finished the movie.
Slept at 5.30 am.
Woke up a wee bit late.
Forgot to take my wallet to office.
But had a good day at work.
Now the weekend is almost upon me.
Making plans to buy a digicam and a bicycle.
Any suggestions ?

Along came April

2010-04-05T00:13:00.000-07:00

I started writing this post as soon as I realised I was stuck on the Nelson number. So like David Shepherd, feet off the ground, I shall write. March came and went like it had somewhere to go. But that is the funny thing about time.It just zooms past.

Along came April, with all its blazing heat. It doesn't sweat in Pune, like it does in Bombay. Its more the Hyderabad kind of heat. So I do what I do when I'm in Hyd. Stay indoors most of the day. But then, there are the weekly trips to the air conditioned multiplexes & binge drinking with Tropicana or Coconut water. But do I miss those hot summer afternoons at Worli or what ?

Thanks to my summer intern company's amazing location on Annie Besant Road which is 5 mins from Haji Ali & an all access bus pass, May 09 was SoBo (South Bombay) darshan at its very best. From the crazy electronic shopping lanes of Grant Road to the plush areas of Breach Candy & Malabar Hill to the single screen theatres at Tardeo & random walks near Opera house. All on foot and by bus. No taxi business.

This April, I guess I will be working on weekdays, doing the exploration on the weekends. So man hour wise, I think the amount of exploration will be similar. But soon, Pune will run out of things to see I'm afraid. But fear not, I tell myself. The Sahyadris beckon.

Storytellers

2010-03-24T23:23:00.000-07:00

I have often wondered why I have read such few books in my life. I started off reading quite a huge number when I was a kid. But somewhere down the Movies took over and well, the number of books read since then has dwindled. I'm on course to picking that up again of course, but I often wonder why I never get bored of Cinema.

I think I believe in the magic of the storyteller. Growing up, before I hit Primary school, I've been told gazillions of stories be it at bedtime by my mother and father, or at my grandmother's side. Episodes of the Mahabharata & the Ramayana were my constant favourites. I still remember how my father's stories were always about a bus, might have had something to do with him being in the Logistics industry. Ma spent a fortune on books. Walden, Pauline Book store & Gangarams must have profited hugely from my time there. Then it was the directors of films who started telling me their stories through a visual medium, and it has made an impact on my life. An impact and an affection that will always remain I suppose.

But yes, the books are making a comeback in my shelf, and now that I have started earning, a small little portion will go towards the book fund along with many other funds that I have setup. There are innumerable stories left to be told, innumberable yet to be discovered even. And my quest shall be of the "never ending" kind.

The Urban Explorer - Pune

2010-03-17T02:46:00.000-07:00

How do we better know a guy who wears Converse slippers & Fossil aviators and walks for insane distances in the scorching summer heat ?

Ans : Aditya Narayanan

This story unfolds on the day of Gudi Padwa/Ugadi. He has a holiday at work. His house seems stifling on a bright morning. Aditya gets out of bed at 8, gets done with breakfast by 0830 & surfs through the paper in another 10 minutes.

If you were there, you might have noticed that he spends a little extra time on the movies section. Then he plugs in his radio earphones, says bye to his flatmates and marches off to the Nigdi bus stop. Once there, he spots a bus to Hinjewadi and immediately leaps in, settling into a window seat which is on the shady side.

The bus heads out, slowly across Wakad phata, and there is acres of open space and the silhouette of IT parks at the distance. The bus snakes its way into areas which were once villages and are now part of the ever expanding Pune city limits. For your information, even Nigdi is not in Pune, its on the outskirts.

An hour later he hops off at the Infosys circle and starts walking. He embarks on what he calls his favourite thing to do which comes a close second to travelling aimlessly - Horizon Chasing. After walking for about 45 minutes in the dry 37 degree heat, better sense prevails and he hops onto another bus headed for Pune station.

After alighting, he settles down near the vendor selling coconut water. He downs two of those coconuts while grumbling about their price. With renewed vigour, he starts walking again, with music in his ears, sunglasses on his eyes, a few beads of sweat on his forehead and a smile on his face. He now reaches the Camp Cantonment area. After walking around the ISKCON temple, he now goes to Landmark at SGS Mall. Here he hunts, for books that have been evading him for many weeks now. After a while, he resigns to his fate and walks away to place an order with the Clerks. But his eyes fall upon a book called "Roads to Mussoorie" by Ruskin Bond. Immediately, he reminisces of the days he spent loitering on Mall Road & at Kasmanda Palace in Mussoorie. Promptly he gets it billed.

Aditya then meets Abhijit for lunch and a movie. Right ya Wrong. Sunny Deol is not one of his favourites, but he comes out of the theatre satisfied after having watched a well thought out movie. Now he has Abhijit's bike at his disposal, so they decide to head to Barista on Law College Road. En route he sees two places that he worships, one is the birthplace of many a Movie Messiah (notice how he thinks of them as Messiahs & not Gods) - FTII & the other - The National Film Archive of India, the resting place of almost every celluloid masterpiece both foreign and domestic.

He sips on his Iced Mocha, a happy man. For he had covered a large amount of the city in a few hours. He then takes a bus back home. He reaches his dwelling, Famished yet Thrilled.

A morning like any other

2010-03-08T20:05:00.000-08:00

I was awake by 0630 hrs. It was a chill morning, colder than usual. I got off the bed groggily, switched off the fan and promptly crept under my blanket again.

Woke up after fighting 2 snoozes at 0720, which has become a strict routine now. Went and switched on the TV, and the bugger didn't turn on. One month and already the bloody TV is acting up. Hopefully we'll get it fixed soon.

The regular morning activities keep happening, but the fun part every morning is the Music fight. Pulkit & I put on VH1 and leave the room, only to return and find some Akshay Kumar hit is playing. Courtesy - Our in house Bollywood chocolate boy - Himanshu Deshmukh aka SU. Then there is Dilip Anand aka Paedo (short for paedophile) , who is "AWESOMEY" if I could take the liberty of quoting him. His antics are material for another blogpost altoghether.

This explosive combo could give anyone a brisk start to every morning. Now its off to work and another day of saving the environment.

Sundays are hectic !

2010-02-22T01:25:00.000-08:00

Laundry. Sweeping. Swabbing. Food. Getting cable connection fixed. Watching cricket match. Dozing off in between. Getting dried clothes. Pressing them. Washing vessels after official tea maker "Pulkit" makes awesome tea and Maggi. Watching TV. Dinner with Himanshu's parents. Sleep.

If all sundays are going to be like this. I'd better tell everyone I work EVERYDAY.

Does a blog really do that ?

2010-02-17T04:30:00.000-08:00

Blogging has helped me on many a time. But what it did for Julie Powell was something different altogether.

Julie Powell was a normal everyday person working in the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation who takes on something she names the JULIE/JULIA Project in which she has to cook up 524 of Julia Child's French recipes in 365 days and this she blogs about. Her everyday problems, marriage, rejection, meltdown, lots of amazing food, lots of amazing non vegetarian food I should add, Mayonnaise,a book about her and finally even a movie by Nora Ephron and did I mention Mayonnaise.

So Julie, if you're reading this, good on you. I know many people feel it but have never expressed, THANK YOU ! OH ALL PERVADING BLOG-O-SPHERE. We shall be every grateful and in your service.

For those who haven't watched the movie or read the book yet, what are you waiting for ?

And so it begins...

2010-02-17T04:02:00.000-08:00

An oft quoted line, be it wars, movies or books. Definitely brings out the whole "EPIC" that is life itself.

Why am I quoting this ? Simple, because I leave behind a fun filled, carefree, insane and interesting student life to move onto become a responsible (yeah right!)& diligent(not quite)man living a routine(now this part is true) life.

Its sort of fun in a very disciplined kind of way, like a smooth oiled machine. You know when to wake up, when to dress, when to reach the bus stop, when to buy bananas for the elephant that passes by my house everyday,when to have dinner, when to sleep etc.

I have often criticised and made fun of people who have loved routines and have prided myself in making an attempt at walking a different path. I will never know how far I have gone, but as far as I am concerned, I think the effort and the amazing time I have on that path is all that matters to me. But here I am, following a regimen myself. Its all a process of growing up people tell me. Growing up ! Yup ! Scary.

Go Bald
Get Married
Get promoted at work with a pay hike (Is this that bad)
Have Kids
Buy Furniture
Buy Life Insurance
Go to family parties
Impress the in-laws

Bugger off ! That is tough work. Just writing about it scares the hell out of me. But watch this space, for I know a few years from now, this very same "shuddering" person, will be enjoying marital bliss. Manufacturing defect I guess,I seem to enjoy everything.

About home, well its a spacious 3 bedroom flat with 4 people in it. I have a bed by the window which I keep staring out. "People watching" has become a new found hobby.

I think I'm going to buy my garbage guy a pair of gloves. But he wears a gold chain, so I'm afraid he might get offended.

I also like the little girl who takes her dog for a walk every morning.

The old couple amaze me every evening, still very much in love, still making conversation and laughing.

The flatmates are fun. All NITIEans, we go out for dinner everyday choosing from the few restaurants in the area and exchange some stories about work. The night's sleep is fantastic I should say. After a hard day, sleep is the only thing that can get you back for the next day's running around, and believe you me, working at a factory does involve a lot of running around.

My window is east facing, so I even get to see the sun rise every morning. Mornings in Pune are chill and refreshing. The area we live is on the outskirts so has little traffic compared to the bustle of the city.

So far so good, I must say. Its been good, *touch wood*. Lets hope it remains this way.

Hey Ram : Revisited

2010-01-12T23:06:00.000-08:00

One thing leads to another. I have been reading the Great Indian Novel, by Shashi Tharoor. A fantastic "must recommend" type book. But this also lead me to suddenly have the craving to watch Hey Ram again.

I had watched Hey Ram as a teenager. Although I saw the entire movie, I just thought of it as another one of Kamal Haasan's rebellious additions to Tamil Cinema. I respect the man immensely, even to the extent that I sometimes quarrel with Rajnikanth fans over his supremacy of the Tamil Film Kingdom.

But this 1 - 4 am late night show, was a pleasant surprise. As the movie moved from scene to scene, it moved with such fluency that it was as simple as different chapters in a book. The acting is stellar, everyone is the parallel cinema world is present - Hema Malini,Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri, Girish Karnad, Saurabh Shukla, Atul Kulkarni, Vikram Gokhale to name a few. It has an unusual mix of Tamil actors including Raghavan, Delhi Ganesh, Sowcar Janaki, Vaali(a poet by profession) Y.G.Mahedra and a superb debut by Vasundhara Das, even Govardhan Rao from Telugu cinema makes an appearance. Yes it has those Bollywood folks also, Rani and Shah Rukh. A cameo by Tushar Gandhi is a nice finishing touch.

There are just so many layers that one needs to digest through the movie. It is intense as it is intelligent. The anti Gandhian who realises the folly of his way. The man in love. The educated middle class Iyengar. The man who resists falling in love with his wife by devoting himself to a cause.

The setting is superb, recreating everything, from Calcutta to Delhi. Every fine detail is taken care of. And the realism of it, is quite surreal. There is Bengali, Marathi, Tamil, British English and Hindi. All languages that I now easily understand due to variety of people I met at business school. So makes me appreciate the movie even more, but the part I found funny was that, most of the main characters including the Mahatma himself, spoke Tamil. Playing to the gallery I guess. But a fine movie. 4 star I should say.

Day 3 - Penn Masala

2010-01-11T09:18:00.001-08:00

What an end to the 3 day fun fair that I managed to find and be a part of.

Penn Masala, a capella group from the states came down to Hyderabad to perform. I had heard of them earlier, and sampled some of their stuff thanks to Soumya. It was thrilling to have them in Hyderabad.

Shifting gears easily between English renditions of U2, Coldplay and Timbaland coupled with popular numbers from Bollywood they had the crowd in awe. And everytime one of them started doing a swara, was a sight to behold.

To couple with the fabulous performance, the psychedelic laser show created a truly electric atmosphere. A huge thanks to the French Embassy and Alliance Francaise for bringing them down. Also, these guys are highly recommended, do attend their performances if you get a chance, otherwise there is always their website and youtube.

Day 2 - Girish Karnad's Nagamandala

2010-01-10T09:13:00.000-08:00

This was my first tryst with serious folk theatre and I was not disappointed. After being used to the gripping plays at Prithvi, Ravindra Bharati seemed a little different. Ravindra Bharati has so many memories associated with it, so many performances of my own and quizzes also.

Nishumbita Ballet & Theatre group has done a fantastic job in putting it across. Hats off to Veena who played the main protagonist and Ram Holagundi, the director.

One complaint was about the irritating crowd though. The theatre scene is plagued with the problem of Cellphones ringing and I don't know if we will ever deal with this. Also some folks in the crowd were talking and didn't seem interested. Why do they even come, when they are not interested ? Answer : To disturb easily irritable people like me.

But I'm mighty glad, the Hyderabad theatre scene is alive and kicking.

Day 1 : China Moses & the Raphael Lemonnier Quartet

2010-01-09T10:20:00.000-08:00

As soon as we entered, there were finger foods and drinks. A damn good setting for a jazz concert I thought.

The concert itself was fantastic. China Moses was nothing short of spectacular shifting modulations and tones reminiscent of Tina Turner. The whole show was dedicated to Dinah Washington, A famous R&B singer of the 50's. So there were a lot of interwoven stories to each song, which gave the show a real feel good factor.

Now allow me to tell you the story of about a boy from the South of France who grew upto be a pianist - Raphael Lemonnier, his french dimple and the magic that his fingers do when they touch the piano were easily the show stealers.

Then there was Fabien Marcoz on the cello with his brilliant solos and the drummer Jean Pierre Eroauard and his sense of humour.

A fabulous experience of listening to Jazz live in Hyderabad. Now how many people can boast of that.

PS: Random fact. Apparently the Jazz singer always makes best friends with the Cellist.

Home Sweet Hyd

2010-01-02T01:31:00.000-08:00

Its only fair that my 100th post had to be from Hyderabad. I still remember, the first time I decided to write, before my Electrical Engineering exam in my 2nd year at MGIT.

Its been a long time from then to now. But some things haven't changed. I'm back at home, thanks to NITIE, I have a messed up sleep pattern. So my day usually starts at around noon and goes upto 2-3 am.

News from Hyderabad. Well it is still awesome, despite the bloody T protests and all that nonsense. The roads were empty on the morning of Jan 1, so I had fun driving around. The biryani is still spicy, the mirchi bajjis still induce tears, the air in December is still chilly and not stopping for signals is still a trend that continues.

Friends still turn up late, Pavan's room is still a favourite place to hangout. loads of them are here in town in this period. So I'm doing a lot of catching up, turns out, I have classmates who are in places like Russia. Interesting.

A ticket for 3 IDIOTS cost me Rs.40, yes yes yes ! And whats more, I walked to the theater. In Bombay, even getting to the multiplex would have cost me more. I like the Economics here.

So wherever I may go, Hyderabad will always be home.

Its done. All over

2009-12-24T03:17:00.000-08:00

Its all over. Fuck. Double fuck. I'll probably never write another exam in my life. An end of an era. An end of a life lived at NITIE. With the smartest, funnest people I've known. I'm speechless. Words escape me.

We blasted bombs in front of the Dean. Pissed off people. Took pictures inside the exam hall. Applauded the the first guy to leave the exam hall. Beat the daylights out of the guy who came out last. These memories will last forever.

This is end of life at NITIE as I know it.

As the clock ticks

2009-12-12T00:02:00.000-08:00

As time flies, I have a few things to say today.

1. Happy Birthday Rajinikanth. The man who rose from being nothing to almost Divine heights. Despite what people have to say, he is certainly an idol. (Not to mention,his younger daughter is very pretty)

2. Telangana : What the hell is happening ? One man doesn't eat and holds a whole Govt to a ransom. Obviously I'm against the splitting of the state, but the violence and bringing the state to a standstill is just uncalled for.
The people in Telangana face a lot of misery, I agree, but the focus should be to bring development to one's own constituency. So the onus I believe lies on the MPs & MLAs of the Telangana region. Making a state for the profit of one party(one man) is stupidity in my opinion. We are not even as big and unmanageable like UP.
Anyway, not like one random blogger is going to make a difference in this world ? Or is he ?

3. We had the last farewell party last night given to us by our ISEM juniors. It was awesomely awesome as I expected. But the card that they made will probably be the toast of the night. This is what I looked in the card. Amazing design guys !

Just another day

2009-12-10T12:33:00.000-08:00

Woke up late
Did some crunches
Missed class
Washed clothes
Had a steaming hot bath
Had lunch
Read the Ian Rankin book that I picked up at the Bandra festival
Uploaded photos on Facebook
Looked at other people's photos
Debated about Telangana
Convinced people that it wasn't needed
Played catch with myself in the room
Watched a Telugu movie with a friend
Read some interesting articles

Now I'm wondering what to write about, and so, I'm implementing my formula for Amateur Writer's Block. It says - WRITE ABOUT MUNDANE EVERYDAY ACTIVITIES. Someone will find romance in them.

But I'm also afraid, that if I keep writing about my everyday activities, people will get real bore because most of the stuff is bound to repeat itself. Also they will start thinking that I do not have anything to do at all.

Speaking of something to do, I have exams in a week, 2 tests on Monday. But we all know what I'll do about that. NOTHING.

PS: I leave this place in a fortnight. Not the greatest feeling in the world. Leaving one home for another.

Unpredictability is Fun

2009-12-09T10:26:00.000-08:00

Someone just asked me," What will I be ten years from now ? ". Its cool to imagine, what you will be, where you will be, who you will be with and.

But what is this life, if you knew everything right. Its worth the suspense, Unpredictability is fun.

Like that famous song, "Que sera sera, whatever will be will be, Que sera sera".

As Copenhagen kicks off

2009-12-07T12:30:00.000-08:00

As the United Nations Climate Change Conference kicks off today, most of the world's populace has its eye fixed on Copenhagen.

This is a time for action,for emission cuts to be promised and in the future delivered. We don't need "token goodwill gestures". We can especially understand the plight of the nations closest to the polar ice caps. They will be the first hit. If the entire world doesn't curb their emissions now, we are all doomed.

Just because there is no "Enemy at the Gates" doesn't mean there is no "Clear and Present Danger".

There are some wise guys west of our nation who believe its China & India that need to really hold back on the polluting levels. Sources say China builds a one coal fired plant every week, and we are not far behind. But this is a question I always ask in all our heated debates in class, " What about what they did ?", and the US has the nerve not to ratify the Kyoto Protocol. Let me at 'em, let me at 'em.

Even at Copenhagen, I'm very sure, they will lobby for their profits, but thats how the cookie crumbles I suppose.
Due to a highly Consumerism driven society, we are consuming at a rate like never before without adequately replenishing nature. Our greed will be our downfall. If we don't do something soon, some species will one day dig out our fossils and study us, like we do the dinosaurs.

Watch this space for more updates as when the news comes along.

Contemporary Bollywood Music & 239 FM

2009-12-06T01:29:00.000-08:00

A few years ago, I would not have been quite into Bollywood music. But now thanks a radio station next door, and excessive dependence on the radio on my phone during the tiresome commutes in Bombay, I can brag about a decent amount of knowledge about Contemporary Bollywood Music.

A host of new music directors and changing musical sensibilities have given a fresh new face to the tunes on the air these days. The old ones will not bow that easily too.
Ilayaraja is truly a man blessed by Goddess Saraswathi herself. A.R.Rehman, Oscars and Awards are no measure of his genius. With a lot of free time, I have also found the time to refresh the songs of the 80s which I believe are the true melodies of life, Tamil Music of the 80s and Hindi music of the late 70s, early 80s.

This is a photo of the Radio Station - 239 F(or)M(usic) with RJ Ambu - (click on the pic to see a better resolution or ping me)

My mail to IMPACT 16, my junior committee members

2009-12-04T13:06:00.000-08:00

After a truly psychedelic and memorable party, this was a mail that I had sent to them.
________________________________________________________________________________
There are people, and then there are people. For all my lifetime that will follow, there will be a special bunch of 8( ie. Impact 15) and another special bunch of 12 (ie. you guys) that will forever remain stamped in the pages of my life.

I have been frustrated with you all many a time, but you have proved to me that you are a force to reckon with. The energy, the dedication with which you guys work is phenomenal.

Today's party will probably be the last times I will spend with most of you, I'm not much of the sentimental types, but I'd still give all you buggers a super huge hug from my side. It was wonderful for all you guys to come up with the quiz and gifts for all of us.

We will all move on in life, go to various parts of the world, but with us will remain our anecdotes, our memories and our friendships.

May you all go to happy places in life and high places if you choose to do so, happy places obviously are more important. And remember, let the fire within never die.

PS: I like Akshata's status message. It reads - TONIGHT WAS STRAIGHT OUT OF OUR DREAMS.
It really was.

Its Winter again

2009-12-02T20:47:00.000-08:00

I love the rains. Undeniably. But season wise, Winter will have to be the winner.

The chill in the air that makes you wanna stay tucked under the blanket for the extra half hour. The nightly walks with the windcheater on. The pleasure of having something warm to gulp. All Winter's delights.

I remember those drives to MGIT on Puppy's bike " Darth Vader". I remember the early morning walks to school before anyone got there and spoilt the silence. The problem with all us imaginative types is that, we have been spoilt rotten. Spoilt rotten by the poems of the British,the movies in New York & the books based in Europe.

This is my second Winter in Bombay and I'm not disappointed at all, it might not be as frigid as I have in other places, but its pleasant and chill enough to make me happy. I got to sit in a seaside cinema, watch theatre, walk by the Arabian Sea, even gulp down some piping hot chai on a early winter morning sitting in a lab while doing an assignment.
Travelling in winter is also a lot of fun, amidst layers of clothing. Atleast it justifies my love for jackets. I will probably get to travel this winter too. So I'm looking forward to that.

Looking to attend the Kutcheri season in Madras, The Annual Reunion in School & New Year's with old friends in Hyderabad, some amazing conversations with Paati in Mysore and roaming around in the AC buses of Bangalore.
There are people who are always associating winter with gray loneliness and misery. But for me, Winter will always be a cosy blanket, more sleep, hot chai, warm rasam rice and Hyderabad all lit up for Christmas and the New year.

Seasons Greetings to all of you !

From Stingy to Splurgy

2009-12-01T11:43:00.000-08:00

Well the title quite rightly sums up my spending attitude in the last one month.

Ever since revelation dawned upon me that these might be last few days of "freedom",I have decided to make the most of them.
Eating out at Tam restaurants to Italian Pizzerias.
Visits to the multiplex and theatre.
More frequent use of the rickshaw without thinking too much.

And today, I got me a 1 Terrabyte External HDD. So now, I'll never be lonely. Anyway a few days from now, I'll have my own money to splurge/invest.

The King of all Weekends

2009-11-30T08:00:00.000-08:00

Day 1 :
Woke up late as usual. Then went to pick Ma at the airport. Was super excited that she was visiting. Brought her to campus, called my friends over, started intros. Then took her on the Campus tour. Although she didn't complain, she came back and was damn tired.
Guilty as charged ! You can't take a 51 yr old on a mini trek without warning.
Took her to HN in the evening. And then called it a day.

Day 2 :
I hardly slept. Amidst meetings and assignments, I woke up at 330 am, and the both of us left for Dadar. Here it is in Timeline :
5 am -> Sealink
5.15 am -> Siddhivinayak Temple
5.30 am - 6 -> Aarti there
6.30 am -> Mahalaxmi Temple
7.15 am -> Marine Drive & Churchgate
7.30 am -> Fast Local to Andheri
8.30 am -> Chole Bhatura breakfast in the mess
Then we came back to my room and dozed off for a while. We were invited for lunch with some family friends in Santacruz. It was a walk down memory lane, as both familes recollected their stories young parents with little children and how we had all grown up. Awesome lunch followed.
Saturday was done.

Day 3 :
Even before I was awake, Ma had come back from the girls' hostel where she was put up, and started cleaning my room. Mothers will be mothers. Then I gave her a taste of mess food which she liked, like everyone does the first time.
Then we went to HN, where she and a friend of mine went and bought my sister one of those bags that the girls keep carrying around everyday, while I went and got my father a Tshirt.

Then evening came. I went for the Graffiti on T shirts thing that the juniors had planned to kick off the Farewell party, an hour later with my T shirt almost run out of real estate. I headed.
Then came the most difficult part of the day. Picked up her stuff and went to leave Ma at the airport. I had a whale of a time and I'm hoping she did too.

The fun hadn't ended though, came back to have an awesomely awesome farewell party. Tears (not mine), Crazy dancing (definitely me), Videos and lots of other things will remain etched in my memory for a long time to come.

PS: I'm going home soon.

Been here, seen that

2009-11-25T12:13:00.000-08:00

In my last one and a half years here in Bombay, I have been through the 26/11 terror attacks, Swine Flu, a near miss cyclone, a couple of horrible movies and the traffic that we hear so much about.

Experiences always educate you. Fear, Courage, Doubt, Trust, Stupidity , Shrewdness. All with fine lines between each other.
I have made great friends, I have also earned my share of criticism.
I have been tactful, I have also been very childish.
I have seen people come together to pray. I have seen people wait together to beat up someone.
I have embraced chaos during trying times. I have experienced serenity in the peace.
I have always tried to be encouraging. I make it a point to be straightforward.
I practise, thus I preach.

Like a friend of mine once told me, " It will always be good eventually. Always. "
Its all about living it up.

Love thy Neighbour

2009-11-23T11:34:00.001-08:00

Great news. My neighbour has converted his L'Oreal pre placement interview. So now we will heading to Pune together. Always good to have a known face in an unknown land.

Watched three good new releases -
1. State of Play
2. The Great Raid
3. 500 days of Summer
Now Summer is one movie that most of us will relate to.

Otherwise life is pretty much mundane. Eating out everyday, sleeping for 14 hrs a day. Not doing anything physical. Blogging(now there's something useful).

The weather here is getting super. The mist is really thick in the campus these days and my weird sleep timings help me take full pleasure of the early mornings.
Am I looking forward to moving to Pune ?
Dunno. I have to though. Obviously the purpose of life is to move forward. But there will be a part of me, that will be left behind here. No sadness though.

A Seaside Cinema

2009-11-21T11:27:00.000-08:00

After waking up at 3pm, one would think his day most of his day was wasted. But not for me, my day was just getting started.

So after having some biscuits, I caught a bus and made off to Bandra Reclamation to watch two documentaries on Climate Change that were being screened at an open air cinema next to the Arabian Sea. Since I wanted to save some money, I travelled by bus till the destination, resulting in a ten minute delay. So by the time I got there, the first documentary HOME had already started.

The Setting

The Screen on the Reclamation Promenade was chilly and beneath the stars, behind the screen was the Reclamation highway, to the audience's right was the sea and behind us was the spectacular Bandra-Worli Sealink.

The Movies

Home - A movie which shows some scintillating landscapes and scenes. The powerful narrative talks about we have raped our planet. Hats off to Yann Arthus Bertrand.

The Age of Stupid - One movie I thought will never be publicly screened in India. Jumped at the chance. A brilliant movie made by Franny Armstrong. Pete Posthlewaite plays the Archivist in 2050 who asks the all important question - " Why didn't we stop Climate Change when we had the chance ? ". It strings together 6 different stories including India's very own Jeh Wadia's GoAir.

If you get a chance to watch either movie, make sure you grab the oppurtunity.

Thanks to the Celebrate Bandra Festival for giving me this superb experience.

Designer Mug

2009-11-21T01:42:00.000-08:00

Close Shave

2009-11-19T12:29:00.001-08:00

It happened at around 7 pm this evening. 2 friends and I were travelling by the famed auto rickshaw on the Western Express Highway.

Out of nowhere, on the flyover that leads to Bandra, the front tyre breaks off leaving the metallic wheel to bounce and this sent the auto cartwheeling upwards. It seemed suspended like that for 2 seconds before it came back down, and the auto driver somehow managed to steer it to the side of the road. Luckily for all of us, there were no speeding vehicles behind us.

Now for the good news, none of us got hurt. I was sitting in front of the meter, so got a whack on the jaw, but nothing else. Close Shave for sure.

Funny Restaurant Business

2009-11-18T12:40:00.001-08:00

1.The guy who takes the order can never pronounce any of the European/Mediterranean dishes correctly.

2.The maitre'd almost always gives you a preference of the worst spot in the restaurant when he ushers you in, I always suggest to him, the empty table by the window.

3.When you ask the guy taking the order for suggestions, 9 out of 10 times, he will name a dish that is most expensive rather than something that you are looking for. Good salesmanship maybe.

4.It gets slightly irritating when they come and stand by the table waiting for you to finish up, so that they can clear the table.

5.Its even more funnier when the waiter comes and asks you if you are done, when the damn plate is empty. What does he think I'm gonna eat ?! The china !!

6.Also whats with the 10% tip culture ? Western Influence. Tsk Tsk

7.No matter how stupid you look, when you are with a girl, the waiter will place the bill before the male occupant of the table.

8.The Iced Tea everywhere is watered down. One of the ways of Cost cutting they tell me.

Feel free to add more in the Comments section if you have faced anything.

Disappointed

2009-11-17T13:46:00.000-08:00

Its been a disappointing evening. First the book fair at Bandra turned out to be a damp squib. Looked for some very rare stuff, but couldn't find anything.But the rockbottom prices were amazing though. Picked up something by Ian Rankin, just because I had gone that far

The second disappointment was the Leonids. Waited for the Meteor shower till around 3AM, but despite a sparkling clear sky couldn't see anything move. Spotted a few new constellations though.

It gets harder

2009-11-16T11:47:00.000-08:00

I know I'm getting old, but this in insane. I have been finding it increasing difficult to study for an exam. So I face an uphill task now. I have a mid term tomorrow. So you can probably understand my state of mind now.

I will be writing what will hopefully be the last exams of my life, so thats gonna be something I will be looking forward to see the end of. Funnily, most of my creative surges and urges come during those late hours spending mugging from books during the exams. So in a very weird way, they are not too bad for me also.

I think I might even miss the tension of the exams, not that I ever had too much tension, but nevertheless, the blithe of being a student will certainly be missed.

The weather here in Bombay is super by the way, cloudy and pleasant. The mist suspended over the pond makes me smile everytime I look at it. NITIE will be surely be missed. But I have a new city to look forward to, and miles to go before I sleep...

At long last

2009-11-15T11:57:00.000-08:00

Yes ! This is a shout out to all those horror movie lovers. Finally a movie called "Paranormal Activity" has just made me sit up and take notice. Thanks to Anirudh for suggesting, so now I'm going to suggest this to you.

Caveat : Do not watch it alone.

Screw IMdb. Screw what the reviews have to say. Watch it and you won't be disappointed.

What else did I do today ? Same old sunday routine. Wake up late. Disappointing Lunch. Two movies in a row. Laundry in between. I have actually discovered that doing my own laundry saves me around Rs.300 a month and whats more my clothes smell better. Went out for dinner with the Mad Scientist. Then it was HORROR MOVIE TIME.

Now its back to same old weekdays, not like they make a difference at NITIE, but nevertheless, they are weekdays. I have "some" classes to attend atleast.

PS: The fan is still possessed. Now I believe it is all the more true after watching PA

Sunday Morning 03:17 hrs

2009-11-14T13:16:00.000-08:00

So it is done I guess. Have 35 days left in Bombay, after which I will leave for Home, and when I return for my winter project, it will be with L'Oreal in Pune.

And thats where life is taking me for the next few years. So I plan to soak up as much of this amazing city as I can in the time I have left. Someone told me today that the texture of my writing is changing, that it feels older. I am getting older, not a good sign.

Do I just write or am I what you would call a "writer" ? Many years ago, people would relate to what I wrote, and tell me about how they were going through the same damn thing, and we would laugh about it. Good times.

Now I've become so thoroughly psychotic and weird, that hardly anyone I know would relate to me, but still I manage to hang on to a few friends that I have and fewer readers that are kind enough to visit my humble blog. By the way, for all those of you who feel like total screw ups and colossal failures in life, there is something I'd like to say. I recently read that " a man who has friends cannot be a failure ". I totally concur, obviously if he has even one single friend, he atleast has kindness in him and that will be his light at the end of the tunnel. Everything happens for a reason, that kindness also will help in some way or the other. You'll see. Anyway, I just wanted to say this, not that I'm feeling like a screw up or anything, for anyone who knows me and my narcisstic ways, you will know I don't operate like that.

I'm always conflicted, whether to believe if our path has been pre-written or whether it is a matter of choice and consequence. Cause and Effect as Men of Science would say. But I have no regrets, all the choices I've made, every mistake I've made have lead to the path I'm on right now. I'm sure everyone of you must think the same. Yes, now I have you dear reader, you relate to me now. And let me cast a little spell on you, everytime you think of pre written paths, cause and effect or no regrets, I , Aditya Narayanan will immediately come to your mind.

My fan has been possessed by some demonic spirit and is creaking way too much. I cleaned it a few days ago, cause and effect you think ?!

No, thats just me wondering how I'm ever going to fall asleep.

Anger Management

2009-10-24T00:49:00.000-07:00

There seems to be a lot of anger inside of me these days.
I'm angry with those people who are raping this planet, who are just taking and taking and taking without considering what it would mean for their children and grandchildren.
I'm angry that there are hardly any classes these days, my mind needs to be distracted.
I'm angry when weekends come, because its just a whole lot more time to sit and brood.
I'm angry that immaturity exists.
I'm enraged with the month of October, nothing good ever happens to me in this month.
I'm angry that Hypocrisy is becoming a way of life for the generations of today, too much Machiavellianess in them.
I'm angry that single screen theatres are slowly dying out.
I'm angry that I haven't found a Helix in Bombay, I miss those sunday afternoon conversastions.
The only good thing thus far has been my rediscovery of the radio, the best 200 rupees I've spent in the last few months.

Whatever happened to all the optimism !

"Aladin - You Maybe" is playing on the radio

Just Another day in Paradise

2009-09-16T10:02:00.000-07:00

Is paradise a physical place or a place in your head ?

I realised amidst the crisp clear of the lake, as an army of bright lights that were flashing past on JVLR as I was sitting on the pavement, that it definitely is a place in my head.

I have also realised that you are respected when you window shop for deep philosophical books even if you are wearing shorts and slippers at Crossword.

I realised that lack of facial hair makes me look like I'm 16. Thankfully, the receding hairline will counter act that soon.

I realised that having a radio station next door is too much fun. Dedications are cool too. Corny but cool.

I have realised for the umpteenth time that movies of the yesteryear are so much more meaningful than the ones they make these days.

Too many realisations for one evening. I realise its time to shut up.

And I'm back...

2009-07-20T15:58:00.000-07:00

Woke up.
Had breakfast.
Hopped off to Project Management Class.
Wrote a test.
Screwed the test.
Tried to sneak out of class after giving attendance.
Got caught.
Sat for the next 80 minutes regretting it.
Came back to the room.
Spent some time with a close friend.
Met an injured friend.
Changed into formal clothing.
Went to meet another friend.
Slipped on the stairs near the mess.
Hurt my bottom, shoulder and my left thumb.
Went to get some work done anyway.
Came back.
Slept.
Had dinner.
Went for a meeting.
Sat listening intently.
Got bored.
Came back.
Got shouted at for having bad manners.
Made the people who shouted at me smile anyway.
Got on gtalk.
Had a long "feel good" conversation.
Complained about lack of inspiration.
Realised that blogging makes me feel happy.
Felt hungry.
Ate yummy "digestive" biscuits.
Watched part of a movie.
Blogged.
Happy.
Now 5am : Sleepy.
PS: I'm back

Flawed

2009-03-26T12:54:00.000-07:00

I'm not perfect, although I think I am. Let me write this from the point of a realist rather than the idealist that I am.

There are certain qualities about me that some people like, some people hate, I obviously do not have any problem with them. But sometimes when I behave in what has come to be known as "typical adi" over the years, I wonder if it is a good thing or a bad thing.

I can be pigheaded and arrogant and say I'm perfect the way I am and not give a hoot about what people which in most cases is the way to go. But what if there are somethings that really need to be fine tuned. What do you think should I do ? For now I'll go with the flow since I'm at peace with myself.
Here's some more food for thought - Is going with the flow a good policy to follow ?

Is this really March ?

2009-03-14T13:26:00.000-07:00

An assignment done, A meeting over, quite some work done.

My wing is almost empty now, the light in the corridor hardly ever works. It adds to the mood in a way. The lights in my room are switched off most of the time.

Arvind loaned me his speakers for the night. Floyd, Metallica, Coldplay are playing at just the right Loud volume. I'm considering including Indipop from the 90s and Ilayaraja in the playlist.

An unusual cool breeze is sweeping across the pond to reach my room, the leaves outside rustle and make a harmony of their own. The moon is peeking through the gap between the leaves. At the distance I can see the Hiranandani skyline beyond Powai Lake. A conversation on Gtalk makes me think and smile.

Not many nights can be spent better than this.

The Midnight's Road

2009-02-28T12:05:00.000-08:00

I have often felt midnights. Many at home, and a few on my travels across the country. Now midnights are routine at NITIE. And when things become routine, that is when their beauty is lost.

Notice how I said "felt" midnights in the first line. Yes you actually do more than see things, you feel or experience them. I try to soak in everything and make an experience out of them so that they remain etched in my memory forever. Also I am blessed/cursed with a good memory. Midnights in Hyderabad used to be brilliant, since I stayed a predominantly residential area, you would never hear any noise (except this one prick IT professional who would keep honking to wake his watchman around 1am every night), the roads glistened in the orange haze of the streetlights and there was always a pleasant smell in the air owing to the trees around methinks.

It is the same almost everywhere in India. Midnights or late nights or mornings before the sunrise are truly the best times to actually discover any place in. Bombay after 1am, a brightly lit metropolis with very few cars on the road, the occasional policeman keeping vigil, the chai waala on his cycle and lots of unknown faces tucked under their blankets would sum it up.

NITIE or atleast the area between the hostels always has activity upto 2-3 am atleast, so I think those times have become too routine for me to experience anything serene, but sunrise is usually awesome. 6am and everyone will be asleep, the sun will throw its reflection on the waters of the scanty NITIE pond and air is moist and chilly. The Tea stall outside the Outer Gate is open early and always happy to see a NITIEan up that early. So here's hoping to soak in a few more of those early mornings in NITIE or Hyderabad or wherever life takes me henceforth.

Football, Cafes and a Movie

2009-02-06T12:44:00.000-08:00

It started with a small mention of Mumbai FC to Ambujesh. This led to a series of events that has become the most memorable that I will have in a long time.

Two football players - Ambu and Me and Two Basketball players - Chetan and Anirudh left for Cooperage by the 25(bus) after getting done with classes. After a drowsy bus ride, we arrived at the ground 20 minutes into the game between Mumbai FC and Mahindra United. Got decent seats on flimsy stands that seemed like they would crash anytime. But the game was fun in its own way considering it was the first LIVE football match that I watching.

Although it ended in a draw, the game was pretty exciting, Mahindra United hitting the framework with some excellent play from Steven Dias on the right wing. Mumbai FC had a disappointing day although Abel Hammond showed sparks of brilliance time and again.It was fun yelling, clapping and discussing football with strangers.

Then we trotted along to grab a bite at the illustrious Leopold Cafe. After filling our tummies there, we went and sat on Marine Drive and just soaked in the sea breeze. Then it was off for dinner at Sundance.

Anirudh had to get back to college, so we put him on a bus and headed for watching Dev D. Its been long since I reviewed a movie, so here I break the trend. Dev D is old wine served in a spanking, stylised, good looking bottle. Kudos to Anurag Kashyap and his team for serving us with a visually stunning and bold movie. He has ushered in the Bold New Face of Indian Cinema.

From tomorrow its back to work, we are organizing B Cube, an event for MBA aspirants on Sunday. So if you want some gyaan about the various verticals of management, GD/PIs or you just want to win some prizes at the business quiz, come down to NITIE campus.

PS:Things I forgot to mention (which Ani's comment reminded me) - The many cute girls that we saw throughout the day, the tear-jerkingly spicy Hakka Babycorn at Leopold, Ambu's friend Karthik who joined us after work and Anirudh's encounter of the different kind ;) I also ran into a guy from school Prithviraj during the movie

Time has flown by

2009-01-29T00:54:00.000-08:00

A good friend sent me a mail which made me smile. So thought, it was a good thing to start my 2009 posts with. So here I am.

A year has flown by since this -
http://adityagn.blogspot.com/2008/01/holiday-to-remember.html

We will hardly remember things we did exactly a year from today, but I think my blog will be a brilliant reminder of where I have been and in a way its a sort of reflection of where I am going.

I'm glad I started this, like the way I'm glad about 99% of the things that have happened to me in my life. Forgive the optimism :)

So January 2009 I have been doing a few events, playing football, quizzing, watching loads of movies, still travelling a wee bit and trying to grasp managerial concepts along the way. But to all those who have made this journey memorable thus far I say, Cheers !

Reckless Hate

2008-12-01T05:42:00.000-08:00

"What can one do against reckless hate ?", says King Theoden as the Uruk Hai break into the fortress at Helmsdeep.

These words echoed in my head as a bunch were huddled in front of the TV on Wednesday night as the events unfolded along one of my favourite places in Bombay. As innocent lives were taken, vigilant cops killed and hotel residents taken hostage, a sense of helplessness engulfed the residents of this city.

Who is to blame ?
The system ?
The politicians ?
The late reaction of the otherwise swift Military forces ?

I leave that to your judgement. I'm just filled with anger. An anger that comes from realization that I'm in a position where I can do nothing, but vociferously express my feelings. I'm a common man and I echo the voices of a hundred more people who I have spoken to atleast.

TV channels always raved about the "resilient spirit" of the Mumbaikar, but now that I'm here I realise it is not resilience, but numbness that has taken over this city. People are getting used to this and the Government just sits there, fires a few people, plays the blame game, promises meagre amounts for lost lives etc etc etc.

Light candles, Voice your opinions, but make sure there is action, it is high time for something positive to happen. We can't be held hostage by ones that we elect. We have the money & the resources, it just needs to be put to good use. Awaken yourself. Do something, do anything. Don't ask me, I'm clueless as you are. But let the fire within never die.

A Mundane Train Ride and An Early Midlife Crisis

2008-11-06T11:33:00.000-08:00

Leaving home is always difficult, especially when you are treated like royalty by your parents. So as I boarded the 2nd AC compartment of the Hussainsagar Express I realised the royal treatment was continuing.

Usually I always have some kid in the seats near mine, but this time it was all old men with snow white hair. So I just jumped up onto my berth, pulled out my Outlook magazine and started reading. About two hours later, I realised that there was a plugpoint adjacent to my berth. My eyes lit up. I immediately pulled out my laptop, put the charger on and started my impromptu movie marathon. After having dinner at around 19:30, I started with one of Jim Carrey's best movies thus far, The Number 23. Then LOTR, Return of the King - Rashomon - The Fountain and half of a Tamil movie called Unnale Unnale. It was around 2:30 am when I put the laptop in my bag hoping I would sleep for an hour atleast before getting off at Kalyan Jn.

But plans never work out too well for me at such unearthly hours. There was this 60+ gentleman who was snoring so loud, he made one of the girls in the adjacent cubicle cry. It was like sleeping close to a caged tiger, a caged angry tiger might I add.

After that debacle, it was back to college and Economics and Work System Analysis and Event management. Bunked a class to catch up on some sleep. Now after finishing up with some work, was discussing some crazy things with Manisha. Then more thoughts were running around in my head, which I vented out to my neighbour and good friend Sambit.
Attending classes that don't mean a thing,
Writing exams that don't anything,
Living life like a robot made of flesh and blood.
Is there a point to all this I wonder ?

Maybe its just that I'm missing home, or slightly disoriented with things. But nevertheless, I'm bored and letting my mind wander. Sambit calls this an Early Midlife Crisis. Why me ?!

Massive Attack - Angel is filling my room. Awesome trance.

A slice of heaven called Home

2008-11-02T06:05:00.000-08:00

Most of the people who read this blog will know how much I love Hyderabad. For the ignorant rest, I'm one of those who proclaimed that he would never leave this city no matter what.

So after an eventful 4 months at NITIE, I left for Hyderabad after an equally eventful post-Prerana (annual business fest) party at Rodas. Felt like I was leaving my new home and heading back to my old one. But I had been long awaiting the trip to Hyd.

First it started off with a surprise at home, the folks thought I was coming down on the 27th, but there I was on the 26th itself. Was good to see smiles all around. After a day of resting and Diwali shopping, it was a visit to meet the extended family. Diwalis in our household mean lots of good food, the special programmes on TV and more family time. No bursting crackers and polluting the environment, and I'm proud of that.

After Diwali , the floodgates opened, I met lots and lots of my friends. It was awesome catching up. Most of them thought that my receding hairline was becoming evident, a few thought I had become less talkative, one even thought I had become "uncle" like. "Darn ! I'm still 21," I retorted.

I went for a movie called Chintakayala Ravi starring Venkatesh in one of those old Hyderabadi theatres for a ticket that cost only Rs.30. Yes such places still exist, they might not have the comfort of multiplexes, but they certainly feel good. That evening I visited the University of Hyderabad, which I must say has one of the most beautiful campuses I have seen. There was a chill in the air which is typical of a Hyderabadi winter which unfortunately I will miss this year. Lets hope the Mumbai winter can be some consolation atleast.

I also had the oppurtunity to watch "Unspoken Dialogues", a theatre production directed and performed by Alyque Padamsee and his team. A good mix of sensible, funny and thought provoking theatre is exactly what the Hyderabadis need.

I'll be heading back to NITIE soon. But with a heavy heart, I say to the city that will be closest to my heart, " I will be back."

Varanam Aayiram is playing on Winamp. Check out the album.

Dusting Cobwebs in my head !

2008-10-06T12:15:00.000-07:00

My blog is going to hate me. 10 posts this year. Shameful. Of course I'd been travelling a lot in the first half of the year, and now I'm in business school.

Ah that part has become an amazing excuse for everything these days.
Forgot Arun's birthday - was busy with business school.
Didn't call some person about something - sorry busy with assignments.
Didn't eat dinner for 3 days in a row, Mom is pissed - had too much work.

Yeah ! Apart from all the work here, all I do is play football, watch movies or sleep. I belong to that rare breed of b school students who fit in atleast 8-9 hours of sleep into everyday. NITIE is an amazing place to be that way, always 3-4 degrees lesser than the sticky Mumbai heat in the city.

I've always been a fan of amazing speeches at graduation ceremonies and such events, especially ones that bring out the true meaning of life atleast to those who want to believe so. This is a small excerpt from Bill Watterson's speech at a graduation ceremony.

"You will find your own ethical dilemmas in all parts of your lives, both personal and professional. We all have different desires and needs, but if we don't discover what we want from ourselves and what we stand for, we will live passively and unfulfilled. Sooner or later, we are all asked to compromise ourselves and the things we care about. We define ourselves by our actions. With each decision, we tell ourselves and the world who we are. Think about what you want out of this life, and recognize that there are many kinds of success. Many of you will be going on to law school, business school, medical school, or other graduate work, and you can expect the kind of starting salary that, with luck, will allow you to pay off your own tuition debts within your own lifetime.

But having an enviable career is one thing, and being a happy person is another.

Creating a life that reflects your values and satisfies your soul is a rare achievement. In a culture that relentlessly promotes avarice and excess as the good life, a person happy doing his own work is usually considered an eccentric, if not a subversive. Ambition is only understood if it's to rise to the top of some imaginary ladder of success. Someone who takes an undemanding job because it affords him the time to pursue other interests and activities is considered a flake. A person who abandons a career in order to stay home and raise children is considered not to be living up to his potential-as if a job title and salary are the sole measure of human worth.

You'll be told in a hundred ways, some subtle and some not, to keep climbing, and never be satisfied with where you are, who you are, and what you're doing. There are a million ways to sell yourself out, and I guarantee you'll hear about them.

To invent your own life's meaning is not easy, but it's still allowed, and I think you'll be happier for the trouble."
Courtesy - Phalgun's status message

How true. After 16+ years of educations, numerous competitive examinations and a few interviews later, here I am on the crossroads of what could turn out to be life altering years at India's equivalent of the City of Dreams.

A special shout out to all my friends who I think of often, but am short on balance to call or short on time to ping.

The Verve - Bittersweet Symphony is playing on Winamp

What do you wanna be when you grow up ?

2008-08-14T01:32:00.000-07:00

It was just another ride in the Bombay Local for me. But little did I know that at the end, I would be in self-discovery mode.

Well this is how the story begins. I got off the train and was walking along the platform when I came across this father and daughter. The daughter was being quizzed by her father about her performance in school. There are always these uncles ie. your dads friends who want to cuddle you and they get real happy when you say something cute. So the "uncle" in question was asking the little girl, " Beta, what do you want to be when you grow up ?".

I didn't wait for her to finish. I kept walking while a flurry of thoughts just came running into my head. What did I want to be when I grew up ?

When I was 10, I wanted to be an explorer and lead teams into Africa and the Antarctic .
When I was 13, I wanted to be a nuclear physicist because I liked the whole idea of creating energy.
When I was 16, I wanted to become an officer with the IPS to serve my motherland (and still want to).
When I was in engineering, I wanted to be an advertising professional.
When I was in the himalayas, I wanted to stay there forever and become a Mountaineer with an unquenchable thirst for scaling peaks.
And in between I have wanted to be involved in Tiger conservation, Politics, Journalism and the latest on the list was movie making.
I have actually taken steps towards all these things, but somehow they have just gone into my never ending list of passions without materialising into something big.

I'm a Mechatronics engineer and an MBA to be. I'm 21 years old and have no clue where I will end up. The thought of the future doesn't really scare me. I know that wherever I go, whatever I do, I will do it with immense enthusiasm and have a lot of fun. These are a few advantages of being an optimist I'm afraid.

But I will take comfort in the fact that in article I once read, it said that the most interesting people did not know what they wanted even when they were 40. I guess I will end up being one of those "interesting" people.

For now I will focus on Saving the world from Environmental Hazards as I'm being trained to do.

So until I want to be something else in life, Au revoir and remember Que Sera Sera, whatever will be will be, the future's not ours to see, Que sera sera.

BullDOZER

2008-06-30T21:22:00.000-07:00

It is a well known fact that I used to sleep for an average of 12-13 hours during the holidays between engineering and b school. I hardly ever left my room and my bed was HEAVEN ON EARTH. That is primarily the reason that I have become chubbier in the last few months. Sleep is a very important part of the day, especially for the people who are hyperactive during the day. We need to rest our body and mind.

Now here at NITIE, life is falling into a routine. I sleep late, but have to wake up by 7:30 to get to class in time after bathing and breakfast. I've been managing to do accomplish that myself, otherwise my roomie comes to the rescue and wakes me up. So I'm managing. But to compensate, i'm sleeping in the classes also. So much so that, I'm automatically attracted to the seats near the window. The only colours we can see on campus are Grey and Green. The grey of the clouds and the incessant rains which never seem to stop and the green of the flora on campus.

Amidst all the work, the movies, the latenights and some sleep, I hit upon an idea which might come into implementation someday when we are dead and gone. The idea shall be explained as follows.

Have you heard of Carbon Offsets, Carbon Trading etc ? For those who haven't, let me elucidate. Essentially, companies which have high amounts of carbon emissions pay other companies to cut down on their carbon emissions so as to offset their high amounts to maintain a constant amount in the atmosphere. This is used to reduce pollution considerably.

So my idea is to have Sleep offsets, we should have assistants or people who we can pay to work for us, just the way we would, when we sleep. This would result in the same amount of productivity while we enjoyed our beauty sleep. It would be even better if someone could develop robots with similar mental frameworks for specific individuals. The best alternative would be to have clones.

Maybe someday, when I'm in my eternal slumber, someone who has read this blog would develop something amazing such as this. With that optimistic message, I shall go sleep now.

Of Bschools and sleeplessness

2008-06-22T11:24:00.000-07:00

I have moved from the laidback city of Hyderabad to the absolute chaos of Bombay. I'm a NITIEan now. Yeah its hitting me slowly. The amazing greenery is keeping me happy, but the humidity is maddening.
I arrived on the morning of the 19th. Ever since its been an amazing four days. I've met some amazing people, made loads of friends, played football, made presentations and business plans, shopped for pillows, slept for not more than 6 hours put together in 4 days and finally danced like crazy around a bonfire.
We had loads of events where we got to know each other and the seniors too. But the highlight of the whole thing was the inter floor football tournament. Our team was the "FOURTH FLOOR DESTROYERS". We lost to a beatable fifth floor team after they scored early. But this loss meant that we had to try harder as a unit and this way earned each others respect. I think us fourth floor buggers are the closest bunch of wingies among the juniors. The atmosphere in the Lounge (thats what we call it atleast, has three beds which are dirty) where we watch Euro 08 matches is always electric during the midnight.
Apart from this I'm also a member of the Tam and Gult gangs in college, its good to be multicultural I say. Guess what , after a finance case study that I did, I now know what mutual funds are, how stocks are priced and all that abracadabra stuff.
I'm told its going to be real hectic this module, so I won't exactly be able to blog too often. But I promise to keep blogging often. I'm now off to the Lounge to watch Spain v Italy.
PS: Two bits of gyaan that all potential b schoolers should know -
1. We're working on it
2. We'll get back to you
More later folks. Till then Cheerio

I belong to the Mountains

2008-05-29T22:42:00.000-07:00

Yes, I believe I belong to the mountains. The 10 days I spent exploring the Himalayas were the toughest and most eventful days in last few years. It has been exhilarating from the word go. The animal encounters, the sub zero temparatures, the physical and mental exertion and not to forget the near death experiences. An adventurer's lifestyle I must say. I've been to ten different cities in the last five months and this mega himalayan trek. Its time for a little peace and serenity in my life now.

Now I'm back to the heat of Hyderabad and the mundane city life again. I leave this city for Bombay in another 20 days. So a wee bit of nostalgia is creeping. I'm saying bye to all my friends, who I will obviously keep in touch with. I'm doing some shopping. New blazer, new sandals, new pillow and bed covers and all that jazz. Ah yes, a new Blue Inspiron laptop is worth mentioning.So all this stuff is keeping me busy.
For those expecting a mega blog about the Himalayas, I'm sorry to disappoint, such beauty and splendor can hardly be expressed in words by an amateur like me. For those who insist get in touch with me, I have loads of pictures and videos and of course lots of stories to tell. So until next time.
Cheerio and Farewell

The IPL Phenomenon

2008-04-28T23:25:00.000-07:00

The IPL has taken over the average Indian household. I'm so relieved that I don't get to hear them sidey serial soundtracks. I hear its making good money and has everyone young and old rivetted to their seats. It has created a whole new audience for itself and they are certainly getting their monies worth.

I support the Chennai Superkings and the Deccan Chargers for obvious reasons. One team has been doing well, the other is just getting into the groove. The Aussies are ruling over proceedings here - Hayden, Gilly, Symonds and my personal favourite, Mike Hussey. All of them have put in atleast one blitzkrieg performance so far. I used to love to watch Michael Bevan play in the death overs for the Aussies and Huss has taken over that slot. Stud players both of them and whats more both are left handed batsmen just like me.

Good Entertainment all around. Go IPL !!

PS: I have Deccan Chargers sticker on my bike . Woohoo !! Gilly is God ! :)

Tidbits of the last few days

2008-04-16T06:16:00.000-07:00

Its getting real close the finishing lap. I have my last two semester exams on the 28th and 30th. Project Viva will be anytime this weekend. So its been real hectic, running up and down to college (which is 23 kms from home),last minute editing of the report etc. < April 14th was Tamil New years day. So PUTHANDHU NALVAZHTUKKAL to all the tams, WISHU HAPPY VISHU to all the mallus. It also happened to be my bike's 5th birthday. Boy do they get old on you !! LOL

I'm making a yearbook for my class. Most of the work is done and should be ready by the end of April. So thats something that lots of people are looking forward to. After all memories and each other are the only good things that we will take back from MGIT.

For all those people who believe black and white movies rule, this next piece should reassure them. Sun TV is showing Classic movies at 10.30 every night. So I got to see some amazing movies starring Sivaji, MGR, Muthuraman, Savitri, Gemini Ganesan, Padmini etc. It was certainly a feast for me. Movies like Thillana Mohanambal, Galatta Kalyanam, Deva Magan, Navaratri(Sivaji plays 9 roles) and a host of other movies totally kept me occupied through the nights.
K. Balachander's super hit THILLU MULLU starring Rajinikanth is one of the funniest movies of the 80s. It was even remade in Hindi into Golmaal with Amol Palekar

Apart from watching movies, I'm also writing scripts for a few shows that I have in mind and maybe something that can be made into a full length film if I get enough time to finish it. Other than this, nothing exciting happening in life I must say. Porkalam Angae from Thenali is playing on Winamp these days.

Thoughts running around in my head !

2008-04-01T05:45:00.000-07:00

Tho Chalun from Border has become my latest favourite song. Leaving MGIT, Leaving Hyderabad. I'm going to miss my room the most I think inclusive of my bed, my Nirvana posters, my computer. I have the softest mattress in my circle, most of my friends will vouch for that. Two months from now, god knows which spongeless mattress I'll be forced to rest my body upon.

Had an amazing Farewell party at Bottles and Chimneys, danced for 3 hours straight, on boots. Ankles hurt so much that I could not perform to my best in the football tournament the next day. Lesson learnt, I'll dance only in sneakers from now on. The DJ was one painful fellow, playing few decent songs and loads of crap with the "dichik dichik" beat. But we danced nevertheless. Clicked about a gazillion photographs. At the end, I was given the title of Mr.Attitude. Is that a good thing or a hidden insult? Well, I got a clock for free so I guess its ok.

Wrote the last internal of my engineering life. Almost done with my project. So all good on the academic front, except I have no bloody clue what is there in the subjects that I have this sem. Entrepreneurship is manageable, but Industrial Electronics ? <Feels a shiver crawl down his spine> I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.
Musings has two of my articles, thats a good thing.
I missed Nirvana, thats a bad thing.
But I was walking through the 7 star Taj Mahal Hotel in Mumbai in shorts and a Mood Indigo shirt that I flicked from an IITian friend at that very time. Some consolation atleast. Did I mention, I've been to six cities in the last 3 months ! Nice no. And at every single place that I went, I was so well taken care of that I didn't feel like coming back. Thanks Vindhya, Shekhar (Madras), Padmini Aunty (Pondicherry), Thatha, Paati & family (Bangalore, Mysore), Venkatraman mama, Shashank and Rajat (Bombay), Ram, Akshay and Phalgun (Ahmedabad).

New things that have caught my fancy-
Saturday trips to The Fresh store .
The Outlook magazine.
Carnatic Music.
Lazing around in my room and not going out unless absolutely required.
Watching bad telugu movies in theatres in the RTC X roads area with Pavan and Arun.
A.R.Rahman's not so famous songs.

Played holi after 3 years. Got hit by eggs. Blech !! Looked very Pink Pantherish for 2 -3 days. Its been raining(read drizzling heavily) in Hyderabad. So good weather, though it gets a little humid when it doesn't rain. But the heat approaches with wrath and fury. To escape this I'm making plans for May and June. Kolkata, Assam, and Himachal on the itinerary. I'm going alone as it stands now, let me know if you want to tag along. Will consider ;)

And for those who I haven't personally told, lets make it official. Aditya Narayanan has been admitted into NITIE and will be leaving for Bombay/Mumbai on the 18th of June.

So these are most of the thoughts that are running through my head at this moment, and Tho Chalun is still playing on Winamp. LOL

Tiger Tiger, Burning Bright

2008-02-29T07:18:00.000-08:00

The title is taken from a poem by William Blake. Ironically, the situation that the Tigers face in India today is far from bright. These majestic beasts are usually said to be powerful and magnificent. The panthera tigris is the National Animal of India.

I was on 10 day trip to Bangalore - Mysore. I decided to visit Nagarhole National Park. It is said to have a decent tiger population along with the Bandipur and Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuaries. We got to Nagarhole at around 9 in the morning. We were told that we would not get to see too many of the animals, since most of them were moved to Bandipur. So we decided to look around the place in our Maruti 800 itself. Obviously, we had to stick to the road only ;) .

Meanwhile, we met a forest officer who was pretty passionate about Project Tiger. He explained to us how the tiger population in India had dwindled from 3400 to around 1400 in the last 6 years. A sad state for the majestic beast indeed. Tigers are very territorial animals and are said to control over 20-30 square kilometres of land. Although poaching is still rampant in many parts of the country, coupled with mismanagement and badly trained patrols, I think Project Tiger which was started by Indira Gandhi way back in 1972 is now going to have some new zeal as more and more people are becoming passionate and vociferous about this cause. Afterall it would be a bloody pity if my children or grandchildren could see the Tiger only in documentaries.

In the Budget session, I was quite happy to notice that P.Chidambaram has actually allotted Rs.50 crore to the National Tiger Conservation Scheme. A Tiger Protection Force is also going to be setup. I believe that this world is big enough for all species of animals and pray that the tigers move away from being dangerously close to exctinction and it is upto people to help it survive and repopulate. Stop Buying anything that has anything to do with wild animals. When the buying stops, slowly the killing will too.

A Holiday To Remember

2008-01-31T05:20:00.000-08:00

I firmly believe that a city is like a person’s mother. No matter how she is, we will always love her. In my case I’m blessed to have two such loving cities, Madras was the city where I was born and spent most of my summer holidays during childhood and Hyderabad was the city that brought me up and made me the man I am today. So both these cities hold an equally important place in my life. My trip to Madras and Pondicherry was my first trip out of Hyderabad in over a year and a half, so it was obviously a much awaited one for me. So let me in detail, take you through the six days of what I call A HOLIDAY TO REMEMBER.

Jan 23 –
After a no incidents train ride, I caught a bus and went to my Uncle’s place which is about 45 minutes from the Central station. I decided to not do too much on that day, so didn’t make any plans. But didn’t want to be stuck at home all day either, so I visited the famous Kabaleeshwara temple in Mylapore passing through most of the busy roads in Chennai or Madras as I will be referring to it throughout the rest of the post. The temple is vast, has many shrines but mainly that of Shiva. Like any other South Indian temple complex it has a huge Gopuram and a lake inside the premises. It was a peaceful place and I went at a time when it isn’t particularly crowded. En route I saw the Akkineni Nageshwara Rao Park and the Andhra Mahila Sabha school where my mother had started off her career as a teacher before coming to Hyderabad. After this I headed back home, again local bus + shared auto formula, the cheapest way to get around after the famed Madras Electric Train. Madras is particularly balmy in the mornings, so are most of the coastal places in the winters I’d like to think. So I totally loved the weather for a change. Rest of the day I spent bonding with cousins Vishak and Ashok.

Jan 24 –
It was Vindhya’s birthday. For those of you who haven’t been introduced to Vindhya, she is doing her 3rd yr Biotech at IIT Madras. So I took a bus from the Vadapalani bus stand to IIT – M. It was one of those local deluxe buses, there is a lot of variety in the buses that ply in Madras, like in Bangalore. We have the rickety old ones to the new air conditioned ones with digital signboards.
Madras like any other Indian city suffers from the curse of excessive honking, processions, crazy autorickshaw drivers and the occasional jay walking cattle. So it was a while before I got to IIT-M. There I met up with Vindy, who had arranged for a bike. Met a few other friends who had come from Hyderabad. Meanwhile Vindy had made plans to go to an orphanage for HIV positive children called CHES. The place where they stayed was called ANANDA ILLAM (House of Joy). It certainly lived up to its name. As soon as we got there after a grueling bike trip, the kids came and clung to us like they had known us all along. It was a moving experience, most of these kids may not live to celebrate their 21st birthdays. The House Manager Mrs.Chitra and Father Samuel, the teacher explained to us how they learnt the essential education needed, and also played around for a while in the evenings.

It isn’t a walk in the park managing kids, they can be so absolutely unpredictable, some kids meddled with my shades, some played cricket with me, some of the younger ones pulled my hair, some begged to taken for piggy back rides, but I realized that in the end, all they needed was to be loved. Affection was one of the key factors that kept these kids from going into depression. I’d like to think, that I did my part and brought a few smiles to these children. Thanks Vindhya, firstly for the orphanage trip, secondly because, I got the chance to pass by the place where I lived as a kid. That house still remained as it had been so many years ago.
Meanwhile, we totally forgot our hunger, and in Madras no restaurants are open after 3. So after a lot of searching, we finally found a Pizza Hut in Adyar. After a quick lunch, we headed back to IIT. After this I met up with Deepthi, one of my seniors who was now working at Cognizant in Madras. We met at this place called Planet Yumm at Ascendas, a software complex on the Old Mamallapuram Road in the IT corridor. It was a super place and had most of the major food outlets, I tried some green tea for the first time and didn’t quite like. There was a lot of catching up that we did. Feels good to know that distance only makes people like you more. Went back to the IIT campus at about 8 in the night, spent some time with my classmates who were staying there and then headed for home. Unusually at 10.30, Madras had become a quite place, owing to its majority of early sleepers I presume. Next day it was off to Auroville.

Jan 25 –
Took an early bus out to Auroville via the East Coast Road, one of the most scenic highways in the country. It took me three hours to get to get there. After getting off at Periya Mudaliar Chavadi, I saw a signpost which said that Auroville was a further 8 kms inside. I had just had two glasses of milk in the morning. So mustering up all my strength, I started walking. I was about 5 kms into the township, when an auto stopped a few metres ahead of me, a smiling old gora asked me I needed a lift. I nodded and got in. He introduced himself as Alain. He was a frenchman working on a bio organic farm there. We spoke for the next 15-20 minutes as the auto made its way to the visitors centre. He explained to me how he had a carefree life in France and that he was busy here in Auroville, I told him the contrary, that Hyderabad was busy for me and that I had come to Auroville to slow things down. After saying bye to him, I went to the visitors centre where Eva , the receptionist there told me that it was peak season and that everything was full. So I trudged back the beach, 8 kms , stopping for a few idlis at Dinesh Tea and Snacks. After getting the beach, I looked around and finally found a lovely place to stay in. It was owned by a German couple. The lady was of Malaysian Tamil ethnicity, so she could speak Tamil. Her husband was German. Padmini Aunty showed me up to the cottage which was supported by 8 stone pillars and was made of bamboo sticks and dried coconut leaves. I loved the place immediately, it had place for 3-4 people and a table fan, a bulb and a mosquito net.
I must have slept for 3-4 hours after that 15 km walk. Aunty came and woke me up and we spoke for a long time. I loved the hammock in front of her house. Throughout the trip, I spent many hours in that hammock. As the heat receded, I went and explored the beach, from the pier down south to the fishing village in the north. Here I ran into a very heart warming site, a Tibetan single father and his daughter. He was teaching her to swim on the beach, and everytime she successfully completed a stroke she would come running back to her father and kiss him.
My alone time was going to come to an end. Harsha and Sneha said they would be joining me in the night. Sneha’s uncle was at the Aurobindo Ashram. So she would be going there, and Harsha would stay with me. They arrived three hours later at around 8 in the night, we came back to the cottage, put their luggage. Then we made our way to THE BEACH CAFÉ for dinner. (Remember the Indica V2 advertisement, that place only). This was a place where people of all nationalities ate and socialized together. Knowing Tamil made things easier for me, but the Europeans were pretty happy speaking in Francais and Deustche too, of course I managed with the limited knowledge of these languages that I had. We strolled around on the beach after that. The stars, the sea and us, along with a few dark silhouetted people in the distance. The night was breathtaking. It was off to sleep after an eventful day.

Jan 26 –
Republic Day. We woke up to a few local numbers being played out after the traditional National Anthem. Some events were being held in the local village on this occasion and the loudspeakers were on full volume, much to the amusement of the Europeans residing in the area. The three of us decided to head to the beach that morning. We loafed around, I even did a Daniel Craig imitation on the beach and kept getting battered around by the waves. Then we went back, showered and headed to Pondicherry. Here with Sneha’s uncle assistance we hired a bike and explored most of French town and the Indian quarter. We also saw the Samadhi of Shri Aurobindo and the Mother.

Since booze sells at half the price in Pondicherry, compared to other states, my friend wanted to make optimum use of this. So we went to the seaside Ajantha. I had a Virgin Mary. He had his fill. We returned to Auroville and headed towards the Matrimandir, the main meditation hall in Auroville. It is a golden sphere which signifies the divine power. Inside it is a meditation chamber entirely in white marble with a single ray of light passing through. There was also a placed called the Lotus bud which has the soil of 124 nations in it, placed during the foundation of Auroville. It was a pleasant evening and as we made our way to the cafeteria, we saw posters saying that the Auroville Theatre Group would be staging an adaptation of Hamlet. So we hastily made our way back to the Beach café, had some coffee and garlic bread, went to the cottage, had a cold shower and went to the Town Hall Plaza where it was being staged. As we were leaving, Aunty warned me to wear pants during the night because there would be too many mosquitoes and it would get cold. But I didn’t listen and went ahead.
The play was captivating. Probably one of the few occasions where one would find Indians, French, German and Tibetan actors on the same stage. I faced the wrath of the cold on our way back. We did all sorts of crazy things en route, there were hardly any vehicles on the road, so we went a few seconds switching off our headlights. Crazy and Scary simultaneously. After dinner, a few hours of silence followed and then we went off to sleep.

Jan 27 –
My last day in Pondicherry, I woke up and headed to see the sunrise alone. It was spectacular. I headed back to the cottage and had coffee with Padmini Aunty and her daughter as Harsha was still asleep. It was more roaming around French town. We checked out most of the places, went to the Puducheri museum, The Manakula Vinayakar Temple and a French restaurant called La Maree.

Contrary to what you all might think, every cuisine offers decent vegetarian fare and I feasted on the food at hand. It was very nicely done, tres francais to be precise. Then we sat on the rocks at the beach and shopped for some handmade products. After this, my friend Puppy dropped me at the bus stand and I made for Chennai.It was Sunday evening and getting a ticket was a pain, the junta in my bus were packed in like a can of sardines. But the trip was fun anyway, the highways in Tamilnadu have improved a lot over the years. On the way, I saw the Panchavati Hanuman temple, the idol here is really huge. After getting to Madras, I ate and slept.

Jan 28 –
Last day of my holiday. Didn’t have too many plans. Went to Landmark, Nungambakkam. Bought a few books for my cousins. Went to the coffee day nearby, sipped Ethiopian Coffee and caught a bus back home.

I packed and arrived at the station long before anyone else. They were all running late. A few of them were a little too late and one guy pulled the chain, I was the tamil translator and we were let off the hook with a fine. I stayed up late talking to friends in the train. It had certainly been a HOLIDAY TO REMEMBER.

PS: For a week no one spoke of b schools, college and there was no gossip. So it was all the more peaceful.

The Unsung Hero

2008-01-17T08:57:00.000-08:00

A writer friend of mine once said that the best writing comes from an author who is on an empty stomach. I’m guessing that this entry into my diary should be my best then. I haven’t eaten in 3 days. Eating snow isn’t exactly like Ice cream.

My name is Karna. Whoever finds this diary should realize I might already be dead. If all this is unfolding too fast for you, let me bring you upto speed with the occurrences of the past few days, and since I haven’t entered my anything into my diary for a long time, it will make Mr.Diary happy too.

On January 2nd, 2010 after a wild new year party, a bunch of us i.e. Harsh, Sneha, Pavan, Isaac and me decided that we should do something memorable since we still had a few days left to get back to our mundane routines. A few suggested Goa, but the majority were in favour of going to the Himalayas. The mountains always fascinated us city slickers, so we jumped at the idea and preparations were underway by that evening.

We reserved tickets to Gorakhpur, and decided to make our way eastwards towards Nepal thereafter. We lodged at a place called HOTAL ROYAL PALASE. Despite the horrible spelling, it was a quite a comfy place to crash in and the owner Shiv Bahadur was an amazing conversationalist. He hooked us up with a local guide called Sarvesh Singh aka Captain, a strapping six footer who had worked with the Border Roads Organization, but had a premature retirement for reasons no one knew. Shiv told us that Captain never spoke much. So we never asked him too many questions, went along and did whatever he asked of us. I’d like to think that I am a good judge of people so from what I saw of him it was obvious that he was an adventurer but something from his past had extinguished the fire in him.

No one has the power to predict the future, but the superstitious few always know when something is going to go wrong. This is exactly what happened on January the 9th. Pavan woke up with a start, sweating like he’d been working out in his sleep. Pavan was the kind of guy who wouldn’t invest in stocks, if he saw a black cat that morning or if someone sneezed when he left home that day. He had had some nightmare and tried desperately to convince us to limit ourselves to bead shopping and temple visits that day. Though we were a close bunch of people, Sneha was closer to Pavan than the rest of us and reluctantly agreed to stay behind . So all suited up, Harsh, Isaac and I made our way to Mountain View Restaurant, where Captain usually picked us up in his rickety old Willy. He informed us that today’s trek would take long and was the most dangerous yet. We were pretty kicked about it, since we had done very exciting stuff in the last 2 days, so were waiting to push the envelope this time around. But time to time, I kept remembering Pavan and his nightmare. I marched forth nevertheless.

Four hours into the mountains and we had passed probably the most beautiful terrain that we had ever laid eyes on, the light mist floating above the mountains, the small stream gushing with a force like it had to get to work on time and the sheer majesty of the mountains themselves, standing tall like grand old men. Isaac started complaining that his wife Irene should have come along and that being stuck with two guys in such a beautiful environment was frustrating. I felt the same and I’m sure it was the same with Harsh, we looked at each other and tugged Isaac’s backpack to make sure we didn’t lose pace with Captain who was leading the way, unaffected by all breathtaking beauty around him. Was it because he was indifferent or was it because he had seen these places before? I will probably never know.

It was almost 4 in the afternoon, we were famished. Captain suggested we go a little further and make camp. But we insisted since we our legs would not carry us anymore, even though we knew that the base of a mountain wasn’t the best place to make camp. Harsh was a chef at one of the better hotels back home in Hyderabad. So he started working on our mini feast. Isaac & I went to gather some wood while Captain sat a few metres away on a rock eating the single paratha that was his standard meal on all our treks.

We ventured further into the woods, the trees on the border of the woods were soggy and unsuitable for making a fire. We were still searching, when we noticed something in the distance. A musk deer I think it was. There was an abundance of the beautiful beasts on the Indo Nepal border areas. But I remember Shiv had told us that poaching was a big problem in these areas. And surely enough, we noticed a few hundred metres away, behind a foliage, two burly men taking position like snipers with a rifle. I took out my SLR, and zoomed in to get a better view of things. The guns were armed with tranquilisers with yellow feathered tails. We didn’t want these guys to succeed. So we decided to scare the animal away from danger. So I started yelling and Isaac hurled a few rocks at the deer. It immediately noticed us and darted into the bushes. Mission accomplished we thought, but little did we know that these poachers would now turn their attention to us. Captain came running towards us and pushed us to the ground. As we hit the ground, we heard shots fired and bullets whizzed past us. The sound echoed. This was bad news. We were in avalanche country.

We were grounded in our positions, and the poachers reckless fire had triggered huge echoes. Soon enough, we could hear the rumbling snow. Something had to be done and fast. Captain had informed us that as soon as heard me yelling he had asked Harsh to ring up the Mountain Rescue team through his satellite phone. But it would be impossible a helicopter to land in these circumstances. Captain crawled closer to us, informed us of what he was going to do. We hesitated furiously. He slapped me back to my senses and asked me to make a run for it. What happened after this was like a movie is fast forward.

Captain sprang up, ran towards the gunfire as fast as he could, and hurled himselves at the shooters on the ground. “Run”, he yelled. Isaac and I dashed back towards camp, we could see Harsh at a distance signaling us to pick up speed as the snow was rushing towards the base of the mountain. I turned around to see what was going on. Before I could realize, one of them got shooters got a shot away and it hit my leg. It felt like something sprang up from the ground and bit me real hard. I collapsed in the pain. Isaac turned around, I yelled at him to keep running. He came back, put me his shoulder and trudged along. This would get us nowhere I thought, I wriggled out of his grip and warned him to save himself. Tears welled up in his eyes, he threw his back pack at me and made a run for it.

The snow came crashing down. I managed to make half a tent in the next few seconds and crawled into it. Meanwhile my eyes scourged the place, but there was no sign of the Captain or the poachers. The tent collapsed under the weight of the snow, but I had room enough to move around. I assumed that the snow wasn’t too deep since I could hear the groan of the helicopter. I grabbed a torch and checked the provisions I had, minimal food, this diary, a pen, 2 torches, 2 sleeping bags and a long rope.

As the day turned into night and loneliness engulfed me. My thoughts started wandering. I thought of my family back home, my cubicle at work, all the laughs that my I had shared with my friends, the memorable trip that this had been. I was glad that Harsh and Isaac were safe, or atleast I can assume so. I’m glad Pavan and Sneha never came along. The fat bugger could hardly run. Finally I thought about Captain. I had to remain sane, so I picked up my pen and I’m writing this. I wish someone would save me.

___________________________________________________________________

I must have blacked out sometime while writing that. I woke up in a cozy room to see Harsh, Isaac, Pavan and Sneha around me along with some strange men. My arm was bandaged; I felt a stinging pain in the right leg where I was shot. It was January 14. The authorities had found me as I was on the edge of the avalanche. I still had a pulse and so they shifted me to the best hospital in the area. After a few long distance telephone calls, a few forced smiles. They left me to rest.

I still think about Captain Sarvesh Singh to this day. He was a Hero. Heroes aren’t born, heroes aren’t nurtured, heroes don’t beat up 15 goons with their bare hands, and heroes certainly don’t dance around trees. A hero is an ordinary man who conjures up the courage to place himself before others in extraordinary circumstances. Had it not been for the Captain, three of us would have never lived to see the sunrise again. I read those pages in my diary once in a while to remind myself of the rebirth that I had been granted at the cost of another’s man sacrifice.

The High Times

2007-10-28T07:18:00.000-07:00

What does it mean to get high on alcohol ? I don't know. Maybe I will in the future, maybe I won't. But in the last few days, I have been high on life.

I have been away from all the things that I would usually have done for the last few months only to realise the futility behind what I was trying to do. Neglecting blogs, short films,films and most importanly people.

Who says Hyderabad is boring ? If you do, come spend a day with me, I'll show you a whole new city you never even knew existed. I'll tell you some of the things I did in a span of few days, you decide if that was fun or not.

Theatre - Hyderabad has been a latent place for theatre, but that all ended with the Metroplus Theatre Fest which brought to our city, theatre groups from Chennai, Mumbai and Bangalore. I went and watched Five Point Someone and loved it. It was an amazing experience considering I had never been to a play before and also considering that I hadn't read the book. It even had a french kiss. Who says Hyderabadis are narrow minded ? ;)

Music Concerts - This have been happening on and off for a while, but there are hardly any quality performances doing the rounds. But that all changed with Shankar Ehsaan and Loy turning up on one mildly chilly saturday night. I went with a couple of friends, one of whom was totally high after he shook hands with Shankar Mahadevan. The show was scintillating, they belted their usual repertoire of soulful yet youthful music. But you what the best part was - I GOT TO SEE IT ALL FOR FREE. Of course "Karma" had made me spend a hundred bucks to replace my broken clutch wire a few minutes before I could reach the concert. A small price to pay for some amazing music

Also I hear there are a lot of classical/fusion concerts that happen on and off. I have fallen in love with a song called Raghuvamsa Sudha, thus the sudden interest in classical music. Heard of it ?

KBR Park has been an oft visited place in the last few years. There is something absolutely serene about this green island in the midst of the hustle bustle of Jubilee Hills. Go there at 5am in the morning, sit on the rocks and stare at the world around you. You might just bump into a few celebrities, or better yet you'll find peacocks flying by.

Career Launcher, Ameerpet - Its more like another home to me these days, I not only go there to study but also to chill out, to have intellectual conversation (yeah !! right) and to get high on Ice Cream.

Watch Happy Days. Not because its shot it MGIT/CBIT, but because its a very touching movie especially for those who are in their final year of college. That movie talks of friends, and that brings me to the conclusion of this post.

Friends/People in general.

There was this article that I read recently about Tribes in the Modern World. The author tells us that in the evolving society, tribes of friends will start becoming like parallel families. I totally agree with him, friends are like family to me. I have always valued the people around me, especially those who stick around when you're not doing too good. Respect to all you guys.

I had this whole recluse phase for a few months, now I have become crazier as those who have seen me recently will agree. I shaved my three month old beard and chopped my unruly locks, replacing them with a short crop and a handlebar moustache. The cop look, I brag. Many actually agree, after a little pondering.

Exam season is around the corner and my schedule is packed, but I'm glad I took this time to get back to Blogging. Many thanks if you took some to read this.

Looking for a Meaning

2007-07-19T04:31:00.000-07:00

He wakes up in the morning, still tucked under his blanket, he thinks what the day has in store for him. The Sun is just growing out of a nascent orange and has plans to brighten the day for all the world (his world atleast) . He showers, parades around in his towel and smelling of a mixture of lemon flavoured soap and menthol shampoo. Breakfast is decent, he doesn't ever stuff himself.

He walks out and a gust of breeze hits him, displacing his neatly combed locks. He picks up his bag which is lying on the marble floored porch adjacent to the huge swing that reminded one of the swings of in a huge mansion in the villages of South India. " Grandmother's gift ! ", he would beamingly exclaim when his friends asked him about the swing. After adjusting the bag on his back, he turns toward his bike. He doesn't like cars, for reasons which only his closest friends from college knew apart from himelf. He owns a snazzy Royal Enfield Bullet Electra. I remember how he would religiously spend a litre of water and shine it every evening. It was something that was almost like a part of him. Bag on back, aviators on eyes, helmet on head... he chugs away from home on his ride. This was what I would see of him almost everyday.

He was away for most of the day, once or twice I remember him coming home during the afternoon. In the evenings, he was always sporting shorts and a t- shirt. There was something about these t-shirts, they were always those freebies that you got when you attended an event organised by some big organisation/institution. That seemed funny, because he was only dressed in crisp shirts and matching trousers every morning. So much for alter egos. He was liked for his calm, easy going and friendly nature. He would always let those devilish 7 yr olds play cricket on his lawn, he would even join them sometimes bowling underarm and trying to be as slow as he possibly so the kids could actually score off him.

He never spoke much to anyone. An occasional smile from him would be all that we would get. He loved his TV and you could hear the constant groan of the Idiot box throughout the night. He had one of those amazing flat screen televisions with extra dimensions which made one feel like one was in a mini cinema theatre. A few hazards of living by oneself are that inanimate objects like the television, the cellphone and the internet become family. He had friends, a group of 5 if memory serves right, they had dinners at his place often. They were always the silent intimate kind of dinners. No loud music for him.

Never could he be seen reading a book, but you could know that he was a deeply insightful person. No one ever knew what he did. Some said, he worked for one of them Software Giants, a few others said he was a journalist, a few others thought his attire was that of a financial analyst, one person who had seen with a famous actor once even went around telling people that he was a famour director. But no one ever knew what he did or for that matter anything about his past or present.

I will always remember that day, January the 13th. This day was the first time, he wasn't doing the usual routine that I had seen him do day after day, he was dressed in a smart white striped collared T shirt and blue jeans. He was walking towards my gate. I sat up with coffee mug in hand, wondering whether he had noticed me observing him and was getting annoyed, and that he was coming this way to give me a piece of his mind. "Ah ! Well, atleast I would hear him talk", I thought. But he didn't seem like the type who would care for nosey neighbours.

He came up to my gate, looked me straight in the eye and smiled. I signalled him to come on in. He kept the stare going as he strode towards me and fidgeted with his pocket. He shook hands and sat himself down. The first words escaped his mouth, he said, " Hi, I know we haven't spoken much." I smiled. He went on, " I'll be going away for a while, and I'd really like it if you would take care of my Bullet, wash it once in a while, and in return you can drive her around for a bit." I was delighted, that was a like a dream come true. I assured him that I would love to and promised to be careful. He nodded a thanks and started to leave. I interrupted, " Where are you going and when will you be back ?". Decreasing the pace of his step, he turned around and said - " I'm going in search of the meaning of life and I will be a while. " I did not quite understand his cryptic talk then, but I smiled and waved goodbye.

A month later, I heard his gate creaking open. I ran outside. I saw his friends driving into the driveway. I could sense, that things weren't in order. A girl, probably in her late 20's saw me and signalled me to come and join them. I went as quickly as I could. She enquired in a low voice, "You're Aditya right ?". I nodded. She forced a smile onto her pale face and said - "He wanted you to have the bike. ". I did not quite understand and stared back at her perplexed. She ushered me into the porch and we sat on the swing as the other four friends went into the house. She explained to me that my neighbour was one of India's foremost writers. He had travelled to the war stricken areas of the Rajasthan border to write about the life of people who lived there. He had planned to name the book, THE MEANING OF LIFE. One night as he was on one of his walks on the sand dunes, he was fired upon by a few militants. The villagers who he was studying for his book, found his unconscious body 3 hours later. He was on his deathbed when his friends went to see him at the hospital in Jaisalmer. She told me that he looked like someone else and that they were inconsolable, but he still smiled and spoke to them for half an hour before he suddenly rested into his eternal slumber.

She said that what he said during those thirty odd minutes were profound. "He never had family and he always was close to us. But he loved the kids in his neighbourhood and especially the boy who unknowingly waved goodbye to him with his eyes every morning", she quivered, almost in tears. I felt a shiver crawl down my spine, and lump in my throat. I stood up and froze. The girl put her arm around me and said "Thanks". For what, I did not know and did not care to ask. I just looked back at her walked out of the house and headed straight for my room.

He went in search of The Meaning of Life,but went so far away from Life that he could never return. Sometimes bonds are formed without even saying a word.

My first fictional work. Do comment

A Public Service Message :)

2007-06-15T22:25:00.000-07:00

Frustration leads to anger leads to creative surges. Hours of waiting in the traffic and daredevil auto drivers have lead to this.

Cheers

The Tortured Artist

PS: Art and Concept by Aditya G Narayanan :P

Infinite Fun ... and some learning too

2007-06-11T00:31:00.000-07:00

When I'm happy I'd like to multiply my joys and that is why I'm probably writing this blog. Its a been a long while since something worth mentioning happened in my life, Nirvana being the last.
The last week has been pretty eventful and this is how it unfolded.

Monday: Cognizant came calling and I answered their call. Got placed, with the right kinda preparation and some effort.

Tuesday: Went to Kashish's house for lunch. Feasted on yummy parathas with makhan and mouth watering biryani. This was the first time, I had to suck the pulp out of mangoes and well let me just say, I made a fool of myself :P :P. This was when a friend of mine called saying my results had come. I was little anxious, but not too bothered since my CTS would have neutralised any threats that the results posted. I always think that things in life can only get better, and proving this fact, Puppy called me saying I had cleared all subjects with 72 %. Was damn relieved.

Wednesday: Spent most of my day at Career Launcher since they were organising a residential workshop called Infinity 2007 and I was helping co-ordinate. Dinner with family in the evening was a rare occurence and thoroughly enjoyable.

Thursday: Three of my friends came home and my father dropped us at the Rendezvous Point ie. CL Parklane. Most of my friends boarded Bus # 1 and I was the Captain of the Bus. We reached the destination - Sreenidhi Resorts in about an hour. We were then shown to our rooms. The guys in the first bus, got rooms with cockroaches and spiders for company with rickety old fans and spongeless mattresses. But we weren't the ones to complain since there was lots of fun to be had.
We were divided into 3 teams :- Thunderbolts, Castalia and Intrepid. My friends and I ended up in Thunderbolts so it was gonna be a ball for sure. We had a GD session first and then a few games which tested group dynamics and strategy.
The evening was set aside for planning the cultural events and deciding what was to be done. As Radio Mixing was my area of expertise, I got into that and we made a funny script. The night was totally ours, we hung out with people, got to know them better and made some amazing friends.

Friday: Bah !! The worst way to wake up, have a bunch of girls break down your door. Well it didn't deter us too much because once we shooed them away, we went right back to sleep. We had another game called Liar Liar which was a lot of fun and this game our team won by 20 pts and we were leading the pack. Then we had interview sessions. Here we were divided into groups of 3 and had to interview each other. During our exercise my friend and I tortured the eternal bakra Nitin, who I must mention had mustered quite a fan following after a random rendition of Tanha Dil for the CL faculty. The evening and night were a lot of fun. We had a disco, and for the first time ever, I danced for three and a half hours straight. Boy !! It was a lot of fun and every muscle in body hurt after that. Late into the night, our gang hit the merry go round and we spoke till around 3 in the morning.

Saturday: Gyaan sessions by junta who were headed to the IIMs made me realise that the CAT wasn't that big a deal and with the right frame of mind, anyone can crack it. Then after brunch, off to the Culturals. After 2 hrs of performances, Thunderbolts and Castalia were declared joint winners. We had a photo session around the resort for a while and then headed back home, wishing that we could turn back time.

Thanks to all those guys who i got to befriend, the friends I got to know better and everyone at Infinity 2007. The memories will last forever.
Contact CL soon for the videos and pics

A scapegoat of Dynasty Politics

2007-05-15T04:05:00.000-07:00

This is the story a man named Dayanidhi Maran. A Saggitarian, a tech savvy and smartly dressed politician who has been made the scapegoat in the ruckus of dynasty politics of Tamilnadu.

The History :
In November 2004, Mr.Murasoli Maran, Dr.Karunanidhi's nephew passed away leaving the constituency of Central Chennai without a candidate for the 2004 Lok Sabha Elections. The DMK leadership chose the then 28 year old Dayanidhi, shy younger son of Mr.Maran as a replacement. Dayanidhi was new to politics but he had a resounding victory in the constituency that was previously's his father's bastion and a DMK stronghold.
He was sworn in as Minister for IT and Telecom which is one of India's growing sectors. This did not sit well with other DMK contenders for they did not quite appreciate a rookie being given a ministry on his first trip to Delhi.

The Flash point :
Dinakaran, a Tamil Daily published an opinion poll about who would be the successor of the Octogenarian Leader of Tamilnadu. M.K.Stalin was shown as the obvious choice of the Tamil junta. This did not go down too well with M.K.Azhagiri, elder son of the leader and Don of Madurai. His infuriated supporters set the Dinakaran office in Madurai ablaze in the presence of 44 Police Personnel. A typical tamil movie scene, my fellow tamil movie goers would agree. Reel life isn't that far fetched from Real life after all.

The Aftermath : The party blames Dayanidhi Maran for indulging in anti-party activities and asks for his head. The senior leadership gets what it wants and Mr.Dayanidhi Maran leaves his position much to the discontent of many industry experts as he was one of the more industry friendly ministers.
Well !! What can I say. NICE GUYS FINISH LAST .

The Bright Yellow

2007-05-04T08:18:00.000-07:00

When I was in Class 6, I religiously played cricket in the hope that I would become a cricketer someday. The coach did not pick me in the school team and chose some kids who were obviously less deserved of their positions than me. The perplexed 11 yr old that I was , I walked away from the world of cricket other than the occasional game with friends.

The Australians stormed home to yet another World Cup victory last week and this prompted me to blog about cricket which I thought I'd never do. Their dominance of World Cricket is very similar to the way the Brazilian team reigns supreme in the world of Football. The way these teams dominate the game and decimate their opponents is a sight to relish.

But does their performance depend solely skill, talent and the way the sports administration works in the country ? Of course these are very evident reasons of their respective teams' success. I observed a sort of pattern in both these teams and plan to write to Mr.Sharad Pawar one of these days suggesting to him to change the kit of the Indian Cricket team to YELLOW.

Yes Yellow !!! When people say they've got the blues, it means they are not doing so well,then how on earth can we expect the Men who've got the Blues to do well in a sport. Of course the Italians are an exception to this fact. Yellow is the colour of the Sunflower(which can be placed on the caps as the logo for the cricket team) .It is also Martin Scorsese's third cousin's favourite colour. Bands like The Beatles sang about the Yellow Submarine and not a Blue Submarine and even Coldplay has made a song on the colour. So whats not to like about yellow.

Its simple logic ->
When we need some service, we look in the Yellow Pages
When we need victory, we look to the Men in Yellow
PS:MY FAVOURITE COLOUR IS BLUE

The Grind

2007-04-16T20:20:00.000-07:00

It is that time of the year again which all engineers-to-be love to hate. Its Exam Season.
Borrowing records from friends, hours of waiting in the photocopying place, nightouts with the gang, extensive planning, hardly any execution. This is my way of life during these tough and testing times. Apart from this, to increase my blood pressure in this sweltering heat I have Nirvana Audit work which is like a real pain, since most people don't want to give bills for evading taxes.
My computer crashed yesterday, I had to sit and re-install windows and all the other softwares. So its all going wrong as of now, but still I smile. I read somewhere that life gives us two choices -
The path we should take
The path we eventually do
So which I will take and whether I successfully accomplish all of the above mentioned tasks and go into the month of May peacefully is yet to be soon. Multitasking has always been one of my strengths, so I should be able to manage.
I'd like to take this opportunity to apologise to someone very special. My dear BLOG !! I have been neglecting you for a long time I know. But I have been busy with lots of stuff outside of cyber space, so please forgive. I know you will :-) :-)
I'm putting up here, my fave pic from Nirvana 2007 which has probably been the best thing to happen to me this year, thus far, hopefully other important things will follow suit.

Nirvana 2007 - A job well done

2007-03-14T08:39:00.000-07:00

Its over. I cannot believe its over, just like that. What do I do now ? Classes ? College ? Nooooo, Nirvana I want you back, please don't go away.
This is how I'm feeling now. But I have an epic to tell you guys, let me start with October 14. This was the day Nirvana 2007 work was officially kicked off, I gave a small presentation. A few hours after this, I met with an accident. This was probably a sign of things to come, the difficulties that I was to face during the months of January, February and March.
PROLOGUE
We started having our meetings in the month of January and decided initially that it would be Shaan or Colonial Cousins. Now the hurdles started being hurtled at us. We had our first official meeting with our respected Director. He was totally against the idea of us having celebrities from outside come and perform. Around 15 of us kept rallying against this and were finally able to convince that this and only this would be the best entertainment package. He agreed.
We got our permission letter on January 18, ten days after the set deadline, but we still had lots of time. By then, it had been decided that I would be made Student Convenor and there would be a Core Committee to back me up. But due to a few unforeseen situations and for the evident betterment of the fest, I scrapped the Core.
Now things had been set in motion, money was top priority. I had been reading a lot about Laloo Prasad turning an institution like the Railways into a profitable organisation, so I resolved that I would do the same about Nirvana which was always short of money. So I kept telling everyone that Mission SHOW ME THE MONEY was top priority. A team of 10-12 people who were really dedicated started doing the rounds of a few companies, and I was taking care of other things.
Many important activities were not on schedule. I was getting a wee bit worked up and making people work harder. February came, the supplementary holidays began and lethargy set in. Half the team went to sleep and I was powerless to do anything. Our deadline of Feb 20 was fast approaching and I did not have enough finances to show for the team's hardwork.
Then the worst blow of all. I was told that Mr.Hariharan would not be available for the 10th of March. This had a chain reaction. A few big companies who were to give big amounts backed out, we lost almost 3.5 lakhs, and the whole brain racking of finding a new performer began. Due to our financial constraints we were forced to go low budget.
We decided to first sign Hemachandra, finalist from Saregamapa and upcoming singer. Sona, Leslie Lewis and Kartik were other names that were suggested. The money kept trickling in, but my stress levels were reaching break point. My team and I just kept at it, Money money money. Something had to give way. Saturday Feb 27 was easily the toughest day for me. People from all sides were putting too much pressure on me. People who I thought cared about me a lot did not even bother to call. I was on the edge. Something had to be done and fast. So along with my closest confidants, I trudged into Sterling Cinema and watched Blood Diamond. Solid relief it was. Slept well after a long time that night.
Next day it was back to work. Then suddenly something out of the blue. One person was interested in being main sponsor, a ray of hope maybe. We tried but that did not work out too. Just as I was coming to terms with the fact that my fest would be just another mediocre event, a heaven sent miracle. Akshay Rao, a brother to me called me on the March 3rd and told me about this band called Prayag. I loved the name. I googled them, I loved their music and I loved the idea of bringing them to MGIT. We needed another 70k to pull this off. So the sponsorship run never stopped, but big amounts were just not coming. But we kept at it with a dogged determination.
The last 3-4 days before were hectic. It was like I was going downhill without brakes. Once we convinced the management about having Prayag also, things had been set in motion that could not be undone. So it was upto us to pull things together and give it a 100%. I designed the posters overnight and gave them away for printing. They were looking good. It was going to be good. I was very close to being disowned by my family for my crazy work timings. Then Nirvana came -
DAY 1: This was the day of the techies. There was a decent response and the events happened without any speedbreakers. Team Nirvana still had to pool up 30k. We were lying down on the lawns in college and wondering what the hell to do. We had our last meeting for the day where I emphatically said – “Sir, we have come 90% of the way, we will do what it takes to go the remaining 10%”.
DAY 2: Things began smoothly, I was still on the edge since the financial situation had improved by 10k only. So I went and sat down with the faculty incharge to do another round of accounts. This was one of the most defining moments of Nirvana 2007 for me. Magically an extra 20k had been miscalculated before, we needed only a thousand rupees more to break even. This happened in the next few hours and I was just so thrilled. I had accomplished what I had set out to do, without compromising the quality of the fest.
But happiness never lasts long when one is doing something of this magnitude. After the sound and stage had been setup, the backdrop gave way. Due to some ingenuity from one of the workers, we managed that. Next problem that sprung up was that our man had brought a 60 hz generator where the whole of India used only 50hz. But somehow we dealt with that too.
My close friend Nitin’s band REVE from JBIET was to perform first. It was an amazing performance considering that it was their first major gig. Their drummer, Venky who was a visually impaired 14 year old was the toast of the evening. Trust me guys, this kid is has a bright future ahead of him. Then a beautiful fusion ensemble by the 2nd year guys kept the show going. Due to a small delay our main performer Mr.Nagraj was delayed. But luckily Mr.Ravi Varma , a playback singer was in the audience and he graced the show with a few of his numbers. Then Mr.Nagraj arrived and put on a stellar show despite a few members of the audience leaving early.
DAY 3: With all the confidence in the world, I woke up at 6.45 am and left for the airport where I was to pick up the members of Prayag. The flight was on time and the guys were eager to get to the hotel and get some sleep. They were the most down to earth bunch of rockstars I had met. It felt like they were one of us . We were more than pleased that we had chosen Golkonda Resorts and Spa as our hospitality sponsor because it had an amazing ambience to it. After a five star breakfast, they went to sleep and I left to conduct the quiz prelims.
Most events went on decently except the ones that I was incharge of, and I’m still feeling guilty that I could not hold a JAM. But nevertheless, once the quiz was done, I had to prepare my vote of thanks, change into my kurta and get ready to receive the guests of honour.
Things went on well in the auditorium while sound check was going on in the ground. So once things were done inside the auditorium, we were ready to start. Hemachandra was to perform first. I was to be the emcee for the evening. He started off with an A.R.Rahman number and his playlist was well received. He also had a great interaction with the crowd and kept them in awe. Once his performance was done, I announced Prayag onto stage with their tagline THE STORM TROOPERS OF HINDI ROCK. They stood true to the name and took the show by storm. Great numbers like Where the streets have no name, Kashmakash, Duur were making the audience of 1500 Come Alive. Just when I thought things could not get any better, they dedicated the song Roobaroo to me and called me on stage to sing along. It was an awesome experience and I think I got a little stage high also, but once I realized my amateur singing talent I took a bow and got off stage. Prayag ended with their flagship number – RAASTE. It was an amazing show, an amazing turnout and I’m glad everything turned out alright.
LESSONS LEARNT
Being at the helm for Nirvana 2007 was like being the Captain of a fire fighting unit. One fire here would be extinguished and another elsewhere would start. I think the entire team stuck together and pulled off a great show. There were no fights, there were a few wrong decisions, lots of juniors earned my respect and I found myself a band of brothers who would give their all for me, not to mention one great friend who helped me through most scarily stressful nights. I have also realized that I’m a more resilient person than I thought I was and that working under pressure turns me on.
I would like to thank every fireman, I mean ever member of Team Nirvana for making this happen. I would like all those who showed up and enjoyed the fest. I would like to thank Mr. Venkatramana for patiently bearing with us through everything. I would also like to thank my parents for allowing me all liberties. This would be incomplete without a special thanks to all my paduans and my brothers and the new friends who stood by my side through trying times. May the tradition of Nirvana bring joy to all of you like it has done for me.
Cheers

Lost in the sands of Time

2007-02-13T05:28:00.000-08:00

Shangri La, Atlantis, El-Dorado. These are the names of 3 cities which have captured the imagination of explorers,archaeologists and adventurers over the last few centuries.
But did these cities really exist ?
This is an answer which will probably never be answered in our lifetime, although I wish it could be.Proof of these cities can be found in ancient texts and this has led people to believe that these formerly flourishing cities are potential treasure chests.
Allow me tell you about my favourite of the three - Shangri La. Several possible places in the Buddhist Himalayan region between northern India and Tibet have claimed to be the basis for this legend.The legendary Kun Lun Mountains in Tibet offer other possible Shangri-La valleys.A popularly believed inspiration for Shangri-la is the Hunza Valley in northern Pakistan, close to the Chinese border,being an isolated green valley surrounded by mountains, enclosed on the western end of the Himalayas, it closely matches the description of the city.
This city is supposed to home to Immortal people, flying Lamas, architectural wonders and is a lush valley untouched by the insufficiencies of modern civilisation. Only those who are pure of heart have the power to see the city. So that rules me out !!
What makes it so damn difficult for modern explorers to find is that Tibet ie. The Roof of the World is home to the world's most inhospitable terrain. After watching most documentaries Tibet, which was once a forest many centuries ago, brings to my mind the picture of vertical cliffs and dry barren plains. Hopefully if my show airs someday, I shall go where no man has gone before,with my team and explore Tibet,which as a friend of mine once told me is truly THE LAST FRONTIER.
Talking about Tibet,it is impossible to ignore the role that China has played in shaping modern Tibet. According to the Govt. in exile, Tibetan culture is diminishing in Mainland Tibet and the Dalai Lama and his disciples are trying their best to keep their traditions alive at Dharamsala. Its a sad state of affairs considering the fact that the Tibetans are being forced to adopt a foreign culture.
Its a pity that something this beautiful is being scarred by politics and foreign exploitation. But still,as some famous Tibetan said - "Wherever you feel at home, you are at home. If your surroundings are pleasant, you are at home.”

An "INTER"mission

2007-01-25T10:55:00.000-08:00

People have always applauded my choice of titles especially after HAMARI AZZURRI KAHANI. So it is only fair that I explain what this one means. Well for most people Intermediate ie. +1,+2 life is hell, but for us at Kakatiya it was quite the opposite. It was almost like a pleasant break from the ratrace of life that people used to experience at that point of time, thus the title.
This is a very(*thrice*) brief account of the five of us and our two years together. Alphabetically:
Mr.Abdul Rehman BBA
Mr.Achyuth Reddy B.Tech
Mr.Aditya G Narayanan B.Tech
Mr.Nitin Prahlad B.Tech
Dr.Vishwajit Reddy MBBS
We have known each other for five years and have seen each other going major metamorphoses. It has been an awesome experience getting to know each one of them, each damn special in their own way. Rehman,Achyuth and Me started out as being the only sensible people in an otherwise dumb class. Nitin and Vishwajit joined us the next year,Vizzy being the only non Math guy. It was the best combination of acads and fun that one could ask for, though I still feel I could have done better,had it not been for the complications that I brought upon myself.
We had the most iconic lecturers around like -
Mr.Ramarao used to call Rehman - REHMIN and me - ADICHA
Mr.Subramanyam taught the periodic table like a slokam(thats why I can remember it well probably)
Mr.Raghavulu and his voice which was nicknamed SONIC BOOM due to its loudness
Mrs. Neeraja for her sheer sweetness and mass
Mr.Sudhir and his antics
Mr.Venugoal with his "EM RA !!!"
the SLIMY MR.NAIDU (need I say more). All people that we shall never forget in our lives.
We are still remembered in junior college as the TERRORIST batch because of all the mischief we were upto. But we were all spared since we managed good scores, thanks to me who all the above mentioned buggers copied from. There was also this specimen of a guy in class called Naveen. He was like a 7 yr old kid in a big exhibition for whom all the lecturers were toys, the way he annoyed them is now legend in Kakatiya circles.
We loved college so much so that we would come back to study(read DO RANDOM TIMEPASS) at college in the evenings. We knew everyone and everyone knew us. We hardly ever bunked college since college was so much fun. More frequently than class, we were at Roheed Bakery, Kakatiya's equivalent of Pop Tate's. Then there was this ritual we had, which we called THE WORLD TOUR. Since we always ended up finishing our lunch in the period prior to lunch, we were free for a whole half hour. This is when all of us used to visit every boys' toilet in the building. The boys' loos were on the 1st,3rd and 5th floors and we loved 'em. We used to steal tubelight starters and we(one of us) even lit a laddi in the loo with the help of a mosquito coil acting as a timer.Now thats home grown technology for you!
Whenever I meet these guys its always a riot, we're always laughing our tummies into an ache. Since Rehman is in Melbourne,we usually do our laughing online with those smileys. Thanks to Yahoo for that, We're Smiley people. He had recently come down for a holiday and one day we met at Sarovar and drove the people there mad. It had been sometime since I had laughed that hard. That night I was so bloody high on WACKINESS QUOTIENT that I wrote a few funny stories which a few of my friends totally loved.
I had been in quite a fix over a few things over the last few days. Thankfullu,this day has been a good day - spent quality time with people who genuinely cared about me , got to know a few encouraging things and experienced an excruciatingly exciting(these things are called Alliterations :)) drive courtesy of Achyuth's psychotically in-control driving.
Next on the agenda for my next fun outing(which will be after Nirvana) is Paintball. Recently saw an ad saying it has been launched in Hyderabad at Jalavihar. Anyone Game ??

Discover Yourself

2006-12-04T05:12:00.000-08:00

Everyday is an adventure, a celebration and I really needed to experience this after a boring semester at college. I went to Bangalore - Mysore for the sem break.I have kin in both places, so it meant a lazy week in the Western Ghats for me. Watching lots of movies, long chats with my PAATI(granny), feasting on some yummy food courtesy of my aunt and bullying my cousin Anand was all part of my daily routine. But one night, my uncle S.R.Ravichandran decided to do a little self-development programme at home. Having attended lots of workshops and management programs at IIM-A, XLRI etc.,he was probably the best person around to do some soul searching with.
He placed a white board on the bed & armed with a blue marker and a few white papers we embarked on a most marvellous journey. He drew a a few diagrams representing how the human psyche was made of both masculine(Purush) & feminine(Prakruti) shades and that there were a lot of factors which affected the personalities we ended up becoming. It was the first time I ever heard of something like this and it gave me a new way of perceiving things. He said that it was important to grow psychologically and emotionally along with the physical growth. He asked me what I thought about Marriage - " Co-existense" came the reply. He laughed heartily and told me that I should save such opinions for later. He asked me what I thought of success, Power and Financial Freedom I said. It was probably the sort of answer that an average 20 year old would give. We spoke about lots of other things, how much IQ played a role in success and how much his diligence did.
Dinner was served and we concluded. He still left me in a state of ambiguity about "success". A sound sleep in the cold Mysore weather followed. I was to leave the following day for Bangalore. I was woken up by a phone call. It was Ravi,we said our goodbyes. Then he muttered,"Think about this SUCCESS IS CONQUERING EVERY WAVE OF OPPORTUNITY THAT COMES YOUR WAY." Food for thought indeed. I immediately felt like a surfer trying to conquer those high waves which crashed onto the shores of California. This is how I shall remain.
We all face little challenges and big challenges around every corner of the street called Life. Each one of us is unique and is armed with a special arsenal to tackle such issues. There will always be ebbs and tides. Our surfboard and our character will be our only friends in times like these.
I shall conclude with the immortal lines of Robert Frost which I read in my 8th class English text book.
The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

The most famous LEFT FOOT is dead

2006-11-21T06:41:00.000-08:00

Ferenc Puskas
For the uninitiated Ferenc Puskas was part of the Mighty Magyars during the 50s. This Hungarian team that was the first ever foreign team to beat England at Wembley.He was a very unusual striker, stockily built and had the most respected left foot in the world at that time.The goal that Puskas scored is probably one of the most famous goals of all time,his pull back with the left foot that many including me are disciples of, and the shot with a sharp angle that went into the bottom right corner stands out in History. He was fondly called the Galloping Major. He is probably the only footballer the world has seen to have a near 99% strike rate. He scored 83 goals in the 84 matches that he played for Hungary. His partnership with Alfredo di Stefano for Real Madrid will be remembered for aeons to come as probably one of the most deadliest strike pairs ever. He was part of the Real team that mauled Eintracht Frankfurt 7-3 in the European Cup. Gee !! How I wish I belonged to that era, goals used to flow. Now all the bloody defenses are stingy. A stadium in Budapest has been named after this legend.
MAY HIS SOUL REST IN PEACE, MAJOR THERE WILL NEVER BE ANOTHER LIKE YOU

Le Premier Anniversaire

2006-11-09T05:15:00.000-08:00

Its been a year since I entered the blogging world. Boy ! It has been one helluva ride. From the front page of Hyderabad Chronicle to Blogcamp at Tidel Park,Chennai. It has given me a window to express those creative juices & I have made quite a few friends who I think share the same frequency of thinking.
Thanks to all those who have been regular visitors to the page,your comments and criticism are appreciated.
The Blogging Juggernaut shall continue on its journey in search of truth and salvation
Cheers

Who am I kidding ?!

2006-10-29T23:07:00.000-08:00

Another semester ends. Exams are around the corner. Friends say, "Mama lets start studying !!". I concur, if we don't study for the 10 days before the semester exams, whats the point of wasting so much money & travelling 50+ kms to and fro everyday. But unlike a few others who keep saying - OUT OF ORKUT FOR A MONTH, NOT BLOGGING FOR A MONTH, I won't make such bold statements. Though I will surround myself with the almanacs of electronics and mechanical engineering. My thoughts will be about the television series I plan to host in the not so distant future (if I find a friendly producer). Its a travel show,the first instalment will be me running around in Europe. I intend to make it by road from Dushanbe to Reykjavik, making friends along the way, learning the local dialects and I especially look forward to drinking milk of the mountain goats from the Hindukush. They say it is naturally sweet. Naturally sweet like this girl who once told me that some photo of mine reminded her of Colin Farrell in The Recruit. Colin Farrell,Oil Barrel who is she kidding ?!!
These exams seem to be another topic of debate for my seniors and good friends who are doing their post-grad/working. They ask me, "Adi,whaddup !?". I say, "Ejjams ra!!". Pat comes the reply - JNTU exams ke liye you study aa !! Duhh ! These are very same chaps who have 70+ engg percentages. Seniors who have been in my position me always advice me to study and improve my scores while I still can. Now they are certainly not kidding.
So getting back to my travel show, the plan is perfect, the only flaw is that I have to rely on me to execute it. The second instalment as suggested by a dear friend of mine shall include Somalia(Africa). The poorest country in the world and the place where Black Hawk Down was shot. Oh yes !! Lets go blow the horn of Africa. Then probably go Mummy hunting in Egypt or rather go get stung by those Tse-tse flies in Zaire or maybe an amazing safari in Namibia. So if there any buyers for the show, do ping me. Of course, I have lots of other plans in my head. Only Mr.SAMAY will tell if they materialise or not. I hope I'm not kidding.
Now this is certainly worth mentioning, I have finished a book called The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. This is the first novel I have read after 7 years. The ever novel that I read was The Sixth Man by Roland Perry which was about KGB conspiracies. This is a book that no one has heard of. But I'm sure its lying in some corner of the HPS senior school library. Next on the list Leo Tolstoy - War and Peace. Leo Tolstoy eh ?! Mr.Narayanan, who are you kidding ?! :P :P

For all those who are still worried about the foot, thanks for the concern guys !! Its shown a drastic improvement, since I have been doing nothing but sitting on my arse and ordering my mother & sister to bring me everything from the morning newspaper to the pills I take after dinner. Talk about royal treatment. Sometimes methinks I was a prince or a king in my last birth, just love getting things done by other people. But then who doesn't like it.
Foot says - Enough time on the chair,sir. Time to get back to the horizontal comfort of the bed.
Me - Yes sir !! Just don't hurt too much today.
Gotta run...err I mean limp. Until next time - Cheers

Frustrating Temporary Handicaps

2006-10-22T04:30:00.000-07:00

Well, I was going uphill and suddenly out of a blind turn, a cyclist came downhill at a high speed. He did not have brakes, so he came and rammed into me. His pedal was missing the rubber padding and that pierced my foot. Nothing serious,thank you for the concern.
This is what the recording on my cellphone tells people,whenever they see my bandaged foot & ask me "dude,what happened ?!". Its been eight days,but still there has been hardly any improvement. The Doc says that the tiny bones on my metatarsals have cracked. So its gonna be a while before I'm up and running. Due to this injury I have come to understand the hardships of the physically challenged. I can't use my left foot nad this makes it really difficult to walk. I'm forced to walk on my left heel and the majority of the weight is on my right leg. Which means every night,my right leg curses me !! I'm asked to take rest, BEDREST !
Think about it, lying down all day doing nothing is the most FRUSTRATING thing ever. I like to keep myself aware of the ongoings in the world, so the TV and Newspaper come to rescue often. I have also started reading my first novel after 7 years. Oscar Wilde is just too damn compelling. The Internet does give me immense relief, since I can catch up with all my friends in Cyberspace.
But one can never keep a person like me tied down. I started going to college 2 days after the accident. Limping around and being carried around by a few heavyweights in college. The pain is unforgiving, any fast movements and it stings. Sleep in the wrong position and it stings. Missing a round a medicines and it stings. This is what they call stinging pain I suppose. I have to lament about October 21st. It was the festival of light for many. But for me,it was the festival of sitting around on my backside doing nothing. Finally I got out of the house at night,unable to take the onslaught of boredom. The purpose of this post is purely to write away the pain, distract my mind from the pain or even the thought of the injury. I have learnt that to deal with things like this, one not only needs Physical Strength,but also Mental Strength.