this is it

no turning back from here. leaving for home today. off to a three week vacation then. zindagi aa raha hun men.

seven things : tagged by srini

Thought I'd complete it before I go off. maybe my list'll change when I return. we shell see, no?

Seven things I would like to do before I die
1. Visit angkor-vat in cambodia
2. start a firm
3. learn Arabic
4. ransack THE tour operator's office
5. learn to whistle the real loud finger in the mouth one
6. learn rock-n-roll
7. read or listen to Shrimad-Bhagwat.

Seven things I can do...
1. play guitar
2. play harmonium
3. listen to ANY kind of music
4. drink water. lots of it. really lots.
5. eat gulab-jamun with curd
6. read lord of the rings along with the hobbit.
7. watch DDLJ

Seven things I cannot do...
1. play cricket
2. play cards
3. listen without reasoning
4. drink pineapple juice and eat karela
5. calculate and keep accounts.
6. read poems.
7. tell jokes.

Seven things I say the most
1. why
2. holi mari kombs
3. burrrr
4. switch apok
5. bah
6. raat ki baat kabhi sach nahi hoti
7. I forgot

Seven things that attract you to the opposite sex..
1. smile
2. long hair
3. western clothes
4. intelligence
5. sense of humor
6. sense of dressing
7. frankness

Seven celebrity crushes
1. Ash
2. Sush
3. Zinta
4. Barrymore
5. Uma
6. elisha
7. spears

I am getting married in the morning

ding dong the bells are gonna chime ...

ok that's the song from my fair lady but I AM getting married. The feeling is not sinking in and I am freaking out these days. But I suppose once the rituals start and I am among family I'll feel better.

anyways Srini tagged me.... 'and rohan will answer.' well, that's LOTR's dialog. ob I'll answer.may be I'll discover something abt me while doing so.

Ganguly got selected. THE END IS NEAR.

we are so close to the tape out. THE END IS NEAR.

Federar lost. ha. there is no END there.

18th Nov 2005

here comes the day. Can't miss the premiere. Can't miss the train. Can't miss the call. So what to do??? we'll see. I am not even sure if it's releasing on the same day here.

ok 6-1

well we came pretty close to 7-0. I couldn't watch a single match though so far. but I'll sure watch tomorrow's match.

I love my bike. not a popular one. hero honda ambition. the old model with the crown. In three years I have had absolutely no problems at all. It's always ready to rock. after reading fountainhead I feel like a resident of the dana building.

yes!!!

7-0

roark rocks.
domnique is oht.
didn't realize when toohey crossed over to the other side or was it me?
pity peter. why that sounds like pity us all?
couldn't figure out how to pronounce wynand and why didn't he commit suicide afterall.

The Fountainhead this weekend!!!!!!!!!!!!

At last. Thanks a ton RA.

salaam namaste

DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY. this movie is, like Saif keeps saying all the time, CRAP. Why??, you can read a post by CC why-you-should-watch-salaam-namaste
only I didn't even like JJ. He just kept repeating himself. I was surprized to see Priety doing a Mallika in this movie. We sure are moving on. Happy Kissing dudes.

These days

I am calling and making new records all the time. Need to beat 4-1/2 hrs tonite.
I am homing every weekend. Had a 12 hrs bus journey last nite. first 4 in a typical 'khatara' bus and last in the last row in a deluxe bus. my neck pain is back.
I am hunting for new blogs to read. Anon lawyer's latest post table manners you should check out.
I am also hunting for a new house to rent. Anyone in NOIDA??
I am not sleeping. there are a thousand songs abt it.

ufff

gvim lesson learnt. don't use :se nopaste or you end up scratching your head why the paste is happening before the cursor.

movie on monday

iqbal is NOT a serious movie. it's quite funny. didn't feel bored for a second even though I watched it with fellow freescalers!!! great actors make great movies. and what a wonderful music. really builds on just like iqbal's game.

what's a bounty hunterI

Really I had no idea what it means but I made some assumptions that helped me understand the StarWars movies. Anyway I like this site wisegeek. simple clean and crisp answers. The layout is greenish very much like the fat lens site. Their search box shows results on the go!!! cool. Also the search results are shown with relavancy. Dunno how they calculate the % though. I mean how can a piece of software be 100% sure that the result he's giving is so relavant.

On the same site I found another interesting question.
what is a stapleless stapler

annother loong weeekend. This time I am staying home. No reading. Must kill Diabolo. Bahut time ho gaya. I started this time with a female character just to figure out will she be named Madam or Sir after she kills diabolo. well another reason was I wanted to play with bow and arrow. She can split a single arrow in multiple ones just like in the TV serials :-)

finally

never thought the day will come. the headless lady had way too much time on the front page.
the new look on yahoo mail front page

china daily

Thanks to Google News I landed at china daily's website. They claim to be one of the first online chinese news site. Anyway. I liked their news format. Unlike Japanese sites it wasn't overwhelmingly chinese. Just a lil here and there. Otherwise nice crisp news in english. With vocabulary of tough words in the end. Lovely idea . Also they put a news article about china-india relations on top of the big news of china-russia joint military excercise. funny.

Sharon weeps as distraught settlers leave Gaza

ah...aah

how did I miss this. no tamil albums in the planet M here. how do I get 'ah aah' now....

a new hope

"The crocodile has an immune system which attaches to bacteria and tears it apart and it explodes. It's like putting a gun to the head of the bacteria and pulling the trigger,"


Crocodile blood may yield powerful new antibiotics

they are learning:

I believe indians are insensitive. at least north indians. they quarrel so very often.
Recently on my trip to home I was waiting for the train at the station when a book cart walla started to fight with an ice cream vendor for not giving him way. I mean people just love to fight. His opening sentence itself was to curse the other fellow.
When I reached home I took an auto. on the way autowala almost hit a jeep coming from the sideway. on the next red light my autowala got down and hit the jeep wala. right there on the spot. no questions asked. no reasoning.
Then later in the day we went for a picnic lil outside the town. on the road you'll find tons of cattle roaming around, cows and buffalos mostly. in the nite when we were returning I see a big crowd, a smashed car and some poor folks holding hankies to their head and chin etc. apparently they hit a cow. again I am sure there is no talking done. I was thankful religion didn't come into picture there otherwise you know what could happen.
khair kya karen. yahaan ka mausam hi aisa hai. logon ka moood kharab rahta hai. said one of the fellows.
so I was saying that we don't value fellow beings. that the other person is also a good human being and he must have some reason for goofing up. no. pata nahi kahaan kahaan se aa jate hain. jaat hi kharaab hai. what not I hear. even it's blamed on the states as we all know. ye sab bihaar men chalta hoga yahaan nahi. you'll hear at times. instead of finding a reason we love to invent one. grow up yaar. yahaan sab aise hi chalta hai. aakhir dil hai hindustaani.

a month since....

I complete a month today in NOIDA.

in noida you still have lift men. you still have people who get inside when the lift is going the other way. you still have ppl who look extremely pleased just to be inside the lift.
in noida you still have a register at the gate where you need to sign before entering a company.
in noida you still have manual rikshaws and theli wala and stray cows on the sleek 6 lane roads.
in noida shopkeepers still prefer cash. actually that's an understatement. almost none have the credit card billing m/c.
in noida police-wala-gunda will stop you for questioning when you are coming home on a friday nite from the nite show of a long hindi movie.

done....

Spoiler warning : don't read if you haven't finished the sixth book
ok now what do I say. Why do we think 'Hero' needs to do it on his own? In LOTR Tolkien sets off Frodo and Sam alone after a while ridding them the comfort of Gandalf-Aragorn and party. Even in the prequel the Hobbit it gets interesting only when Gandalf disappears and Bilbo and the dwarfs face it all by themselves. So Dumbledore had to die.So Sirius had to die. Hero is hero afterall and only if he can do it alone. But I felt disappointed by the way the greatest wizard, the wise old man died pleading to Snape. it wasn't convincing. What more, I can't see where the half blood prince fits in the complete story line. Sure enough Harry learnt a trick or two to save the day on a couple of occasions thanks to the teachings of the prince but still it wasn't the main theme of the book. Search of the Horocrux or many lives of the Voldemort is the only thing you can get from this book. Anyway now ofcourse we must wait for the final one. I hope Harry is the chosen one and Rowlings makes the confrontation palatable. Oh btw another thing I didn't like was how none of the trusted ones believe Harry this time. Poor guy. Stand alone it's a fantastic book to read but overall book three still remains my favorite :)

I am reading it

yes. I have it. First chapter is sooo good. just started. can't put a nite out. movers moving in my stuff in the new house tomorrow morning. then training whole day. man can't keep myself away. ob I am talking abt the sixth book.

americans!!!

only two questions allowed per side during the 'joint press conference' of bush and singh and what do they ask? One question from the American side was about Karl Rove, the other about the likely Supreme Court justice nominee.

four days since...

I joined the new job. after that hell of a friday I had hell of a friday nite when some sleep walker took off with my laptop bag which had more imp stuff like my relieving and joining letter and cheque books. Lucky, he left his own bag behind and more lucky as it had his number so I got it all back. phew. must say that for those few hours I was tensed. my mom almost cried seeing my 'expose it all' face.

back home in Jaipur it's life as usual. Folks from Jaipur always remind me of hobbits and shire :) totally in love with Jaipur and barely aware of what goes on in the wider world.
company acco at noida turned out to be a big let down. Realized why TI is called the best company to work for. While there we always used to stay in hotels like Taj West End and Leela Palace, here I saw myself cramping in a ghetto called Bali Residency. Well I made the choice to move closer to home so u know. u don't get everything afterall.

work is more or less the same. only instead of being my 'khandu knows it all so beware' self, here I'll be tested every now and then.

Hindi is overused everywhere. I was stunned (really) when during the telephonic HR folks started talking in Hindi! That way Bangalore ppl are more professional I suppose.
Still a lot of things to sort out. My stuff is still in travel. House hunt is yet to take off. got my new number :D means good bye to a lot of folks.

and I am going home this weekend. that's why I came here afterall. home where I'll be safe and warm :)

YES!

last post from Bangalore... well I have almost done it :) packers did a marvelous job of finishing it all in 3 hours straight. With 18 big boxes I realized how much junk I have gathered over past few years :) and I'll certainly miss the over efficient HR team of TI. LOVE YOU FOLKS AND THANKS A LOT for doing all the work and relieving me in time. So here I am typing from my cube of old for the last time (tears flowing.. ok not really but I am kinda psenti) Leaving my name plate behind. That's that. no harm done. C u cats in noida then. cheers and lots of love.

friday is gonna be fun

man it's all coming to friday. Packers will start at 9 in the morning and hopefully finish before 3 or I'm done. Since my bike will be wrapped up I'll be immobile, also coz my mobile connection would have gone as well. Since I need to eat,friday only will be the day when I return the gas cylinder after mum finishes cooking breaker-lunch-dinner all at the same time! worst of all friday is my last day at work. meaning all the bye byes and most imp of all the relieving letter bhi tabhi milega. and my flight is at 6:30 PM. since it's Air Deccan I'll have to checkin before 5 or I am assured of being offloaded. moon and back...

next in line

give me one reason why not. oh btw Happy B'Day USA. wish you don't go hillary'ous when you run out of bush.

I just hope he gets bored or something : Roddick

I really thought it was a bore match. but poor Roddick it seems was helpless. as he said
'I don't know many people in history who would beat him'
'There's only so much you can do. I'm out there giving it my all. That's all you can do'
'You just have to sit back and say 'too good' sometimes. '

http://in.rediff.com/sports/2005/jul/04wimb.htm

no cat makes rats chat

hehe something in latin afterall. though I really wanted to put the matrix quote but then thought this one was good for sometime. hopefully I'll get a good connection at home in noida. posting from work place was never a good idea coz here I am either working or listening to songs or both. never a good thought to post hence.

Anyway ever since I got rid of the cat or the cats life has been good. until recently. But wait the cat didn't make a third reappearance. So the rat did! really now there are rats running around the house. Not those filthy big ones you see on new delhi railway station. really lil ones who make your eyes work really hard to be spotted. Ears do a better job coz they dance in the kitchen making all kind of sound, mind you, in the night. Infact actually thought I heard 'ghoonghroo' last nite. thinking of some old 'lady' ghost with the candle in the hand I woke up to more 'ghoonghroo' sound coming from kitchen. absolutely scared I PULLED the sheet on the face and pillow over it and kept crashing. Only in the morning after careful inspection by mom did we realize that rats have arrived.

but I'll leave them as a token of luck for the next inhabitates of the house. ab hum to bhaye pardeshi.

once upon a time my blog was named on this song

Artist: A-ha Lyrics
Song: Crying In The Rain Lyrics

I'll never let you see
The way my broken heart is hurting me
I've got my pride and I know how to hide
All the sorrow and pain
I'll do my crying in the rain

If I wait for cloudy skies
You won't know the rain from the tears in my eyes
You'll never know that I still love you
So though the heartaches remain
I'll do my crying in the rain

Raindrops falling from heaven
Will never wash away my misery
But since we're not together
I'll wait for stormy weather
To hide these tears I hope you'll never see

Someday when my crying's done
I'm gonna wear a smile and walk in the sun
I may be a fool
But till then, darling, you'll never see me complain
I'll do my crying in the rain
I'll do my crying in the rain

8 days to go

bank ... credit cards ... telephone ... gas connection ...moverNpackers ...no dues ... house .. tickets ... nostalgia .. rains ... heat. oh god.

the one

Sometime random playlists surprise you! there are so many of us who have an absolute hindi background :) My entire schooling was in Hindi Medium. When I went to BITS,first time I got attracted to music other than the hindi movie songs. I remember how I hated rock that time but this song moon and back from savage garden became probably my first non hindi favorite and then I guess the appreciation for others began :) Darren sounds soooooo genuine in this song. I had almost forgotten this song but for the random list playing today.

I would fly you to the moon and back
If you'll be if you'll be my baby
Got a ticket for a world where
we belong So would you be my baby

This one is for TI

Back home when ppl ask me which company I work for, after getting the answer they most often suggest I switch to Infy or Wipro. not blaming them as after all they are the biggest indian brand name these days. But I thought I can do some promotion myself :) Some bullets from TI's 75 year old history

:: TI is the world’s most admired semiconductor company, according to Fortune magazine.
:: TI has shipped more than 20M graphing calculators.
:: More than 50% of 3G phones sold worldwide use TI technology.
:: TI DSPs are so fast they’re in the Guinness Book of Records. TI DSPs let you download in five seconds what took an hour in 1980. TI produces half of the world’s DSPs.
:: Before TI invented the handheld calculator, a typical calculator was as big as a typewriter and cost as much as a car.
:: TI has shipped more than 120B semiconductor chips.
:: TI’s Educational & Productivity Solutions business has trained more than 100,000 educators in innovative methods of teaching math.
:: TI provides support to some of the world’s most prestigious engineering universities including Carleton University, Georgia Institute of Technology, MIT, Rice University, Seoul National University, Stanford University, Tel Aviv University, and Texas A&M University.
:: TI has enabled the creation of more than 1300 real-time digital signal processing labs in universities worldwide.
:: Senior female business leaders at TI have formed the Women of TI Fund to develop and foster programs to keep girls interested in math.
:: Every week day, TIers across the United States are serving as mentors to elementary, middle and high school students to help them achieve their learning goals.

discovery

well I never liked Bangalore but this post from Vikram it-feels-great-to-be-back-in-bangalore made me wonder if I ever knew bangalore. Funny you always realize the value when you loose it. sigh.

and the party begins

had the first of the 'bye bye' parties in IndiJoe this weekend. Didn't know the place is so big from inside :) good food, great atm. and the blogger pic upload works!!! sizzlers sure delighted the animal haters :) Sarba's antique phone is the pic of the day. CHANGE IT YAAR.

quickies suck

watched a 20-20 game for the first time. asia IX v/s rest of the world.
Dunno why no paki in the asian team. but anyway didn't quite like the
concept. the match somehow seemed like watching one day highlights. I
mean ppl hitting fours and sixes and you expect them to hit fours and
sixes hence it becomes quite a bore. In one day it's different. I think
they should change some laws first. may be remove LBW, no ball for
height, wide ball etc. more runs for consequent sixes :) the idea of
allowing the 12th an active participation is good. that is something
which should be there for one dayers as well. yes. that's right. capital
capital capital. some tea will do fine.

shy guy

hey did I mention that thanks to nitesh I found "don't be shy". Apparently it's from a girl band called rouge (I always read it rogue somehow ) but don't think they have released any album. this one features in 'friction'. Stupid Raghav's foto is on the CD. I don't understand why is he suddenly all over the place. With a voice which sounds like sonu nigam under 220 v shock and a creepy yet another remix of 'kabhi aar kabhi paar' how can he be on every chart show on tv. money money money..

original is after all original

Those who listen to tamil music know that 'sakhi re' came ages before 'saathiya'. I used to love the tamil version while in BITS to the extent that I had the tamil lyrics byheart. Today for the first time I saw the video on SS channel. What a beautiful one. Matches the rythem to a perfaction. Loved the way Madhawan and co appear from the bottom of the screen jumping in slow motion when 'sakhi re' plays. and the autum background. phew. lovely.

no pipe dream this

pipe dream here and pipe dream there. Though I knew what the phrase is all about I wanted to know from where it comes. it's my nature. I had once seen a movie on TV with this name where a plumber plays the role of the director. very good movie. tells us how we ignore these lil ppl like plumbers who work for us. In our context I guess security guards will be more apropriate. Here and there you will find one going abt his job and I am sure we never give them a second look. anyway so I was behind pipe dream.of course I did a google search on it and bang came a site phrases.org.uk or something like that. never knew such site exists which lets you know all about the origins and meanings of phrases! to ab raaz khulega sabka. lekin google nahi hota to hamara kya hota?

brother justin! where is the kid?

hey I am moving to NOIDA in a couple of weeks. so close to home. Hopefully I will be able to visit the good ol sleepy town every month. next couple of weeks are gonna be hectic. making sure I visit all the near and dear ones here. treats to all the unlucky souls still stuck here :) hopefully my departure will ease the congestion.

and this one for g/d p. life is such a rat race.

Show me the meaning of being lonely
Is this the feeling I need to walk with
Tell me why I can’t be there where you are
There’s something missing in my heart

So many words for the broken heart
It’s hard to see in a crimson love
So hard to breathe
Walk with me, and maybe
Nights of light so soon become
Wild and free I could feel the sun
Your every wish will be done
They tell me

Life goes on as it never ends
Eyes of stone observe the trends
They never say forever gaze
Guilty roads to an endless love
There’s no control
Are you with me now
Your every wish will be done
They tell me

There’s nowhere to run
I have no place to go
Surrender my heart, body and soul
How can it be you’re asking me to feel the things you never show

The Garuda Mall

This one is just like the ones in the US in all the ways. Big malls in Bangalore be it the Forum or the Bangalore Central don't give you that feeling. Now of course my exp is limited to malls I've seen in and around Houston. The one distinctive feature of those malls is the 'Indian Thadi'. Small corner shops near elevators mostly run by folks from this sub continent. Another is the corner food joints. Designer shops are the other attraction. Even Shopper's stop which has shifted to this mall wears a different look. There is a very good shoe store with all the brands under one roof :) Mittal Saab's immediately declared upon entering the shop 'agar yahaan nahi mila to bhool ja'. Apparently I found out sometimes back that I am very very choosy abt my shoes. The last time I bought them was a year ago and I hunted for them for nearly 3-4 months looking into every shop everywhere. This time though since I was aware of my 'state' I inadvertantly started to like almost every shoe I saw and in the end bought a pair of adidas which looked very similar to the skechers that I have. Ever since I heard their new punch line 'impossible is nothing' I wanted to buy an adidas pair. So now that I have the right gear I should start sailing for something better than impossible. hmmm. how abt Kim Possible :)

The Sunidhi Chauhan show.

mast, sajana ve sajna(chameli), aisa jadoo daala re(khakee), tauba tauba ishk(kaal), tere ishk ki deewangi(ab tak, I guess), dhoom machale dhoom. every one of these songs can get your feet tapping in no time and it's just a small set of all the great songs she has sung in her lil career so far. I have been following it from the very beginning. from meri aawaj suno's tearful final, from her 'era gera natthu khaira' days till today. So there was no doubt in my mind when I saw the hoarding announcing her show on 4th June in Palace grounds that I'll be there no matter what. Anticipating a lot of crowd and rains I wanted to go with 'safe' partners ;) but my flatmate who's an equally ardent fan of her backed off siting the interview for MS on monday. Then I called gaga in the middle of the nite which is the only good time if you need a favor and surprizingly I got two instead of one partner :) Three years in Bangalore and this was the first live show I was going to attend in the palace grounds. In the end there were four of us and we reached the venue dot on time to find it empty :( one hour of waiting and chatting and 'pata'oing security guards to allow us into the better segment since there were so few people only to find that these private guards are the most honest ppl in India. of course in the end we managed to get in there with just a lil over 3000 ppl in my estimate. the organizers didn't obviously advertise the event properly or bangaloreans are too 'angrez' or they hate rains, whatever, we had a blast. I still have a sour throat due to all the shouting I did and I love it when people in front don't turn your necks but instead take it from there :) I was really thankful to the organizers since such a lil crowd made it my type of show with all the fun and no hastle. and believe it or not the moment she went off the stage it started to rain! but we sped ahead of the clouds and were able to come home quite dry!!!

cable and wireless

Finally my cablewalla became meherbaan on us and resumed our cable connection. yeah for the last couple of weeks we have been living cableless. not even the good ol DD1 to watch. by the way during my recent stay at home back in Rajashthan I watched DD1 a lot and realized how down to earth their programs still are. Actually many of them are the old shows they are retelecasting but they are wonderful to watch.
So being cablefull on a federer-nadal semi day was really fortunate. But I watched the game for the first two sets only thinking federer is back aur ab nadal ko dhool chata hi dega only to be surprized today by the news of a Nadal win!
Also was able to watch remix after a long time. star one is so cool to watch. Though I must complain that devil's own without the cream and the beans is just another cold coffee.well said.
Above all my fav shows from the disney are all available. Must go back home early to watch KP in action and Lizzy-miranda-gordo in another mix up :)

Please no rains tonite. plz plz plz.

smith

when I could not think of a sane title I said to myself this could only be me. whenever I hear me me and me with after a gap me too agent smith comes to the mind hence the title. but there is more to only me which I find difficult to explain. one day, some day it'll occure to me and then it will no longer be only me but everyone else. Only problem is what if even then it becomes only me.

americanized eyes

Almost a month spent at home with mostly no work caused me to notice and wonder at our habits as Indians in general. Must say that effect of how people in the US behave is a driving factor as otherwise all this seem pretty natural and obvious.

we love to form queue. whenever there is a chance. purpose no bar.

whenever there is a queue there is always a parallel smaller queue formed by more intelligent and busy people.

I formed this theory while waiting to board my connecting flight from frankfurt to delhi. Almost everyone already had the boarding pass. But still as soon as the LH ppl arrived everyone formed a queue just to get into another waiting room.

oblivion

These days at times
interesting how life
looks the same from other eyes

metallica - fade to black.

Life it seems, will fade away
Drifting further every day
Getting lost within myself
Nothing matters no one else
I have lost the will to live
Simply nothing more to give
There is nothing more for me
Need the end to set me free

Things are not what they used to be
Missing one inside of me
Deathly lost, this can’t be real
Cannot stand this hell I feel
Emptiness is filling me
To the point of agony
Growing darkness taking dawn
I was me, but now he’s gone

No one but me can save myself, but it’s too late
Now I can’t think, think why I should even try

Yesterday seems as though it never existed
Death greets me warm, now I will just say good-bye

star wars after all

yippppeeee! I saw it finally. yesterday. was able to convince gaga to watch it with me. Had to give a crash course on the star wars history first! Right now I am feeling just too happy to be able to review it :) Yoda rox in this movie. Though he fails in the end as expected. There is some humor in this movie unlike the last two. it was sooooo good to see darth vadar and the wookies on big screen. Must say that the transition of anakin was done convincingly. making sure to show that he had some good left in him :) samual as windu got his share by being the one who defaced the sith lord! anyway. I guess that's it. the saga ends. may the force be (strong (that's a new from this movie :) ) ) with you all.

KNP

DSCN0404
Originally uploaded by fd97103.

Some pics from my trip to KNP.

DSCN0405

DSCN0405
Originally uploaded by fd97103.

DSCN0408

DSCN0408
Originally uploaded by fd97103.

DSCN0410

DSCN0410
Originally uploaded by fd97103.

DSCN0416

DSCN0416
Originally uploaded by fd97103.

keoladev national park or ghana bird sanctuary bharatpur is not a place to visit in the may heat but I had no choice. From this pic it looks more like a 'gau-shaala' though.

New Gate Jaipur

New Gate Jaipur
Originally uploaded by fd97103.

This is a pic of the new gate which is not so new though. Must say that things look much better in the pics :) Girls in the centre please don't sue me.

bits-pilani clock tower

bits-pilani clock tower
Originally uploaded by fd97103.

(This post may be OHT for non bitsians)
During my stay at home I visited bits pilani, the college I graduated from. It was great to see the good ol clock tower again with all the four clocks ticking correctly :) Saw some profs too. Raghurama still spots a beard. Guru still looks the same and SPG hasn't grown an inch and still wears the white dhoti!!! COuldn't find AKS or Sahoo :( The new (for me) library complex is totally out of place. colored in pink instead of the tm yellow. There were more cars and bikes then in my time some six years ago. but one thing that did change, no pigs around munna :) and one thing that didn't change THANK GOD, chofo is still the best chock drink in the world and it still takes less than a min to prepare. how else will bluemoon survive.

here and there

returning home from the USA is always some experience. Jaipur always amazes me. When I was young I used to wonder at the wide long clean roads. Now I wonder at the same roads, so crowded and dirty and slow. Tangas and rickshaws with here and there theli wallas gracing the road. Anyway that's home sweet home after all. People still so innocent and religious. Blaming god and stars for everything and anything.
While in the US most imp worry for people was abortion rights and same sex marriage. Here in Rajasthan it's child marriage. the heads of village panchayats arguing in favor of it coz kids elope if they grow older without marriage.

It's raining in the desert! A pic of a lake in Jaiselmer overflowing with water in the summer was amazing.

view from top

view from top
Originally uploaded by fd97103.

Hi Folks! this weekend we went to visit San Antonio, a cool tourist spot close to Houston. Here is a pic I clicked from the tower of americas. If you want to check out more goto
San Antonio 1
and
San Antonio 2

SDIPA Summer Funk 2005.

SDIPA Summer Funk Begins. Dance on.

mod

I don't understand what this song means but good poetry nevertheless.

=========================
is mod se jaate hain kuchh sust kadam raste kuchh tez kadam raahen
patthar ki haweli ho sheeshe ke gharondon men tinkon ke nashe man tak is mod se jaate hain
is mode se jaate hain..

aandhin ki tarah udkar ik raah gujarti hai
sharmati huyee koi kadmon se utarti hai
in reshmi raahon men ik raah to vo hogi
tumtak jo pahunchti hai is mod se jaati hai
is mod se jaate hain..

ik door se aati hai paas aake palati hai
ik raah akeli see rukti hai na chalati hai
ye soch ke baithee hun ik raah to vo hogi
tum tak jo pahunchti hai is mod se jaati hai
is mod se jaate hain kuchh sust kadam raste
kuchh tez kadam raahen
patthar ki haweli ho sheeshen ke gharondon men tinko ke nashe man tak
is mod se jaate hain
is mod se jaate hain.

idle time thoughts

hear to 'i'll kill you' from Enigma. Gupt music is not original. So disheartening...

have you ever known a person a lot and then forgotten him completely? some people have this amazing out of sight out of life policy. not saying I am not one of them. but then3 sometimes those memories haunt you....

It's been about three weeks since I landed in Houston. Same old place. few more outlets here and there. but that's about it. Moved to an apartment this time for a change. Used to stay in a hotel earlier. On the holi/good friday weekend went to New-Orleans for site seeing. Lovely place on the bank of missisipi river with the longest bridge in the world.

Found this mustard pouch the other day on which it was written as a precaution
'Can not be used as a floating device'. :)

Had the first cooking disaster of my life when tried to make 'poha' or 'poya' whatever you like to call it. poha banate banate halwa ban gaya. Had to throw it altogether but now I can cook noodles and rice in microwave!!!

oh and btw you know why one should have coke? I'll tell you why

On my second day of arrival in this place I headed for walmart brought some veggies and canned peas and corns. Love them. They make fried rice so tasty without any effort. but the next day I found that the peas were smelling badly and corn was a mess. well this happens I thought and threw them. then we went for new orleans trip. so three days later when I returned I found that all the veggies were all watery and junk and stuff. had to throw all of them. (poor spinach..). Next day evening I opened first coke can and then and then and then (ok really this is the very first time I am using three "and then"s. Now while three "but then"s make your doubt so very effective, three "and then"s don't seem to make any difference. anyway.) so then was when I realized that the refrigerator was not working as the coke was not cold at all. damn damn damn. seven days and so many veggies and peas and corn later I find out that the damn fridge is not working.
so this tells two things. How we take it for granted that fridge is something you buy and forget all about it. It just works day and nite, winter and summer, morning and evening. ok you got the idea.
the other is some one " PLEASE WAKE ME UP".

where there is a eight there is a nine

sometimes I wonder what I find funny in a particular quote yet I keep laughing. This happened when I read the quote on Rohit's blog
'if fate doesn't make you laugh then you just don't get the joke'
anyway... I'll be writing my next post from Houston traveling this weekend. Until then you guys can ponder this
1. do you think heavy metal fans are immune to noise pollution?
2. do you think smokers being immune to air pollution will be a similar case?
3. cockroaches stuck back to back are fighting or having sex?
4. do you have any idea what's the deal with Taiwan?
5. you know what's 'sarod'?

okio tata bbye cu take care have fun njoy rockNroll. good knuckle crack (It replaces HMC)

stealing beauty

boss I want a bose!!!! must say that first time in my life I wanted to steal! If you really want to know why and what, visit a 'bose' showroom. there is one on the church street here in Blore. Boy it's so cool and so amazing and so damn costly. After an hour long (yes) drooling I finally asked the guy that can't they do something about the price? and we had a hearty laughter. Just the noise canceling headphone costs Rs27000. Of course they give a sony cdman free with it! So you see. There is no other option. Well there is one more. A trip to Las-Vegas. yes yes. I must. But we wants it, my precious....

but then

oh boy. it's not even a week and I'm already missing the dance classes. you can always argue that nothing stops me from dancing on my own but then but then but then ( ok I'll give you a refresher on 'but then'. You say the first one in the ordinary boring american way dragging the 'then' like but theeeeeen. then you speak the second and the third one quickly. so it's like but theeeeen, but thn but thn. and voila you got a lovely but then which will always remind you of me just like it reminds me of someone else..) the thing is the learning curve is really flat unlike in a class where every turn you learn five-six or more totally disjoint steps. Then again some people are really sharp in picking a sequence by watching a video etc. unfortunately I am not. It took me more than an hour to figure out the starting sequence of 'bardasht nahi kar saktaa' remember :( but next batch only starts in May.. wuhaaahaahaa..

We taped-out finally. Had a boring lunch in the northern-gate as the tape-out party. So you might jump to the conclusion that I'll be free now for some time. well the thing is my real work starts now as I am a verification guy. but sure enough life will be cooler... so I'll be visiting your blogs every now and then. and then all your links and so on..... walk like an egyptian.

by the way do you think there is a song called 'don't be shy'????

return of the cat!

No I didn't mean me. I meant the cat who blessed my house sometimes back (remember ZOO ) Last nite when I landed in my home I found it a lil messier than usual. I mean what on earth was the roti-roller ('belan' I mean. Yeah I have a full fledged kitchen though I hardly ever cook.) doing on the floor. (Apparently my house is so dirty that this was the only indication that there was some other soul present ( NO I am not proud of it, house being dirty I mean. It's just a matter of priority. If I could clean my bike this weekend (It had attained a totally different black color) I am sure house is next... unless .. well... at least I hope it is)) yeah I do keep track of the open and closed parentheses. any programmer will do :) Anyway now I have to decide whether to block the royal entry (the exhaust fan) or let life blossom yet again in the graveyard that my house is.......

by the way (oh it looks so good. better than BTW ) blogs must have become a headache for search engines. I mean ppl came to my blog looking for these...

coed skin movies
sample hindi songs on mouthorgan
swadesh songs playback singers
blog coed
notching hair

diary talk

frankly speaking I am drained right now, with emotions, with energy. But it's really been the most fantastic birthday so far.
I won't lie. We didn't do so well in the dance presentation. I goofed up right in the beginning forgetting the call. For the song 'beat it' we were divided in two groups and I played leader of the first one and in the beginning I go meet the other leader, do some acts and call the rest of the group and I forgot to call them:( anyway did pretty well rest of the time and ours being the smallest group I guess it was quite good. Shiamak came and we had a blast. Danced for almost more than an hour like crazy. so guys here's a lil advice, sell everything if you must but go join SDIPA. They are very professional (that's also a bad thing in a certain way...) and they know there
work. Most important of all I didn't know how this month came and went. I will sure miss the rocking. next batch only starts in May :(
From the presentation I straight away landed at the corner house for a colleague's farewell, more a friend though. But I din't know that it'd turn into a surprize b'day party. so that's why I said right now I am drained with emotions and energy. A new day starts tomorrow.

another quick one...

hiyyya all. just had to post this one. Was reading bangalore times today when I saw the photo of Sania and Preity alongside on page 3. On a second look I realized both were preity's pics only but in different hairdo.. :) Ever since she won the Hyd Open there hasn't been a day when Sania's photo is missing from the papers. We are a crazy and success hungry nation man.

Anyway here's a good song for you
Crawling by LP
--
crawling in my skin
these wounds they will not heal
fear is how I fall
confusing what is real

there's something inside me that pulls beneath the surface
consuming/confusing
this lack of self-control I fear is never ending
controlling/I can't seem

to find myself again
my walls are closing in
(without a sense of confidence and I'm convinced that there's just too much pressure to take)
I've felt this way before
so insecure

discomfort, endlessly has pulled itself upon me
distracting/reacting
against my will I stand beside my own reflection
it's haunting how I can't seem...

to find myself again
my walls are closing in
(without a sense of confidence and I'm convinced that there's just too much pressure to take)
I've felt this way before
so insecure

quick one

aa bb cc! how ya'll been. thought I better post something before you forget this blog. I've been terribly busy these days. terrible because I have a terrible cold n cough n what not. busy coz it's the part of the year when we have 'tape out' and those who know what it means know what it means. combine it with my dance class season finale coming up right on my birthday. in a batch of seven when there are just two boys you have to put in that extra and boy it's tiring but wonderful to dance. Too bad that friends and families are not allowed for the final presentation which is gonna happen in the Baldwin (or something) boys school on the 25th. Hopefully we'll tapeout as well by then. SO I"LL C U CATS ON THE FLIP_FLOP LATER>>> keep up the good work. avoid cold. give rest to your ankles and shoe-racks, wear jeans in and out, forget yourself, horn horn horn everytime you see a cute girl in black and sing.

ASHing letterman

Just read this article
http://in.rediff.com/movies/2005/feb/09ash.htm
on rediff. Ash finally seems to be making it big in the US. Hope she takes on Jay pretty soon. Then no more Hollywood or Bollywood, just Allywood :))

Hingis is making a comeback!!!

Sania won the first round...

BEAT-IT steps are looking GREAT. SDIPA ROX.

Thanks to Tess, I am able to moonwalk, somewhat slow but good enough. why did I wait so long to join a dance class...

My todo list on the white-board is down to 2 from 7.

I watched SHABD and even liked it :) I guess it's a good time to watch BLACK too.

I have a terrible cold. no one minds the pile of coffee cups in my dustbin anymore.

decision!!!!!

BEAT IT. now must put some attitude. yeah.

suggest a song

Hi Folks! We need to pick a song for a dance performance. remember dance. So please plase please suggest a good but recent ENGLISH dance number. No old ones.No hindi, punjabi etc. And quick. need to start pretty soon. Thanks a lot. May Natraaz bless you.

Lest we forget

oneNonly
Originally uploaded by fd97103.

Surprizing, no article, no news. what's wrong with this country.

page3

page3 is all about 'samarath ka nahi dosh gousaain'. that the powerful ones can do anything they like. even commit as heinous a crime as child abuse and get away with it though caught red handed. I mean are you kidding me? I see the head of the largest religion in the country under police remand, I see Bharat Shah in Jail. I see case against LK Advani reopening. Situation is not as bad as portrayed in this movie. and even if it is what's the point in just showing the problem without giving any solution. no attempt at that what so ever. All the movie tells you is move on, that's the way life is. Then why should I waste my 100 bucks watching it. So lil advice, don't waste your money on this movie.

the Federer Express

We all knew it'd happen but I was just hoping Agassi'd pull some miracle. but dreams are just dreams. In the end Federer crushed him 6-3,6-4,6-4. Another champion fading away. Sports is such a cruel thing. Dunno if at that moment Federer realised that may be 5 or 10 years down the line he'll face the same situation. No one wins them all. may be he did. This is his time and he should make the most out of it. coz in sports you burn out so quickly. I still can't figure out what went wrong with Martina Hingis? One fine day she just lost her touch. I fear at times if that'll happen to me someday. When I no longer want to sit in front of the computer and debug. May be. May be that'd be good. May be then I'll get serious with music and start composing :) meanwhile I enjoy watching agassi v/s pete. Their matches were no less musical. I haven't yet seen a single federer match curse my cablewala and my laziness.

oh by the way, a very happy Republic Day to you all. So uneventful it has become these days. no more than a mere holiday. During school days I use to actively participate in the cultural festivals thanks to my good voice (that time!). Only time when we used to wear dhoti-kurta. occasionally used to sport moustache as well specially when performing some folk dance. and I used to make speech in English written in Hindi :) madhur yaad bachpan teri!!!

OUT OF BLUE : Yes. never thought out of blue could mean this but my blog is out of blue! I don't think I'd like this yahoo template for too long but a good change for now.

my world

my world
Originally uploaded by fd97103.


Got this mail from Nitesh, thought better put it on my blog.. comes handi ;)

Cool insults for immediate use:::
1. Any similarity between you and a human is purely coincidental!
2. Are you always so stupid or is today a special occasion?
3. As an outsider, what do you think of the human race?
4. I'd like to kick you in the teeth, but why should I improve your
looks?
5. At least there's one thing good about your body. It isn't as ugly as
your face!
6. Brains aren't everything. In fact, in your case they're nothing
7. Careful now, don't let your brains go to your head!
8. I like you. People say I've no taste, but I like you.
9. Did your parents ever ask you to run away from home?
10. If I had a face like yours. I'd sue my parents!
11. Don't feel bad. A lot of people have no talent!
12. Don't get insulted, but is your job devoted to spreading ignorance?
13. Keep talking; someday you'll say something intelligent!
14. Don't you love nature, despite what it did to you?
15. Don't think, it may sprain your brain!
16. Fellows like you don't grow from trees; they swing from them.
17. He has a mechanical mind. Too bad he forgot to wind it up this
morning.
18. He has a mind like a steel trap-always closed!
19. You are a man of the world-and you know what sad shape the world is
in.
20. He is always lost in thought-it's unfamiliar territory.
21. He is dark and handsome. When it's dark, he's handsome.
22. He is known as a miracle comic. if he's funny, it's a miracle!
23. He is listed in Who's Who as What's That?
24. He is living proof that man can live without a brain!
25. He is so short, when it rains he is always the last one to know.
26. He is the kind of a man that you would use as a blueprint to build
an idiot.
27. How come you're here? I thought the zoo is closed at night!

kisna

kisna kisna bol pyare
mad masti men dol pyare
maan le mera kehna
dum pe dum maare ja.

ok, that was a song and I think I am missing one line of it's mukhda, khairrr...
happened to see 'kisna' on friday nite. I said happened because we didn't plan it in advance but when we were driving to dinner on friday nite we noticed unusually low traffic on the b'lore roads which reminded me of the bundh called by various organisations to protest against the healer. ha b'lorians darpok hain. anyway we got
tickets easily as well and since we still had a dinner and one and half hours to take care of we headed for 'golkunda chimeny'. my first time there. what a delicious place. same old menu but what a great taste. wah wah wah. but apparently this was where our good luck ended. because the movie was such a drag. what has happened to Subhash Ghai? The only good thing about the movie is the song I don't have to name and the acting by everyone. but the script and the direction is junk. The rope dance was good but then, but then but then showing it again and again as if lakshmi had nothing else to do? Modern revolvers in 1947? The mob deciding to set fire to Kisna rather than stab him. Ismail Darbaar's music is painful. Om Puri was superb in a
small role and brings some relief. but in the end I have decided never to watch a Hindi movie without proper feedback from friends....

bread n butter

bread n butter
Originally uploaded by fd97103.

I complete three years in my present job which is also my first job. three years.. what a number. one or two sound too less while five or six too much. but three is right there. not too bad not too good. anyway we'll talk about three sometimes later for now it's certainly a time to lookback. Three years ago when I had set foot in Bangalore it was a do or die situation for me. I had already failed in a couple of very good companies though not entirely because of my fault but a failure indeed and after being unemployed for six months after a dream acedamic career, frustrating would be an understatement for my state of mind. anyway I landed a job here afterall. For that I'll etrnally be thankful to Pala, a hobbit by nature living the statement by Gandalf that you can learn everything about him in less than two months yet after six years he can still surprize you. So here I was in my first job more by luck than talent. I mean I am good I know but six months of grounding can ground your confidence and then you are nothing and working in a company which is best in it's field at that time was really an experience. anyhow I survived and man three years was a long time. I saw so many leave in between and so many more join. just the way things work here. dear friends left, mostly to the states. I don't know why people follow this out of site-out of life funda... anyway... There were ups and downs in the job. I falterd at times. did wonderfully some othertimes... Must say that learning curve bends once you join a job but comfort and 'ash-o-aaram' increases. Though after engineering I was fed up with exams and acedamics I think now I've started to miss them. Specially the excitement of cracking a tough test or exam. I wish work here was graded the same way. well may be they do grade it but all I get to hear is 'we appreciate. good job. excellent work. thanks for all the hard work.' it's so boring. guess I should make this suggestion of saying it differently...

weekend is here. I have to finish the agony and the ecstasy. clean the house, it's a dustbin right now. plan to go carting tomorrow :) yes yes yes. watch LOTR once again. probably wakeup an old friend. might be risky. get a treat from Ashu for cracking three out of three job interviews. Nahi Bachega Bachchooo.

headstrong

DD broadcasted an animated series long back whose title track went something like this.

hawa meethee tu aaja poorab se
toofan tu aaja re pashchim se
jor se door tak tum seetee bajao
chali aao jhananana bhananana dhartee pe
aankhon ke saamane meri jhanjhananan
hun chhota men ladka dragon ka...

even today whenever there is a good wind blowing this song comes back to my mind

cheers!!!

SANIA IS THROUGH TO THE THIRD ROUND!! Will play Serena.All the best Mirza!!!

delhi notes

I had gone to Delhi for some official work and to Jaipur from there last week.
while waiting for the flight to Delhi I realized that 'comb over' has really become popular and it does make a difference to the looks.

since the trip was sponsored by my company I had a chauffeur driven car to take me to the hotel. I generally asked the driver about car's model which I could not clearly see while getting in due to the lack of light outside the Airport, he replied 'Sir, apni hi company ki car hai, TATA ki.' I was like 'wow, TATAs make even a driver feel like part of the company.'

Once inside my room in the Hotel, the Butler asks me 'How will you be paying?'. I was like 'mere chehre pe phakkad likha hai kya?' Later he told me that the question was more of a information to make sure that I knew I was suppose to pay.

India Today published a cover story on Sonia Gandhi recently. One interesting comment by Prabhu Chawla '...retains the essential innocence of a foreigner, one reason why she continues to be moved by the sight of poverty and deprivation...' Last year I spent just three months in the US. But when I returned, for the first time I noticed how dirty the streets were in Jaipur. First time I seemed to feel the pity of the roadside vendors.. I think the effect stayed for a week or so and now of course I know that's how things are here but still interesting phrase 'innocence of a foreigner'.

Delhi was unusually warm for January, thankfully no doubt. Once my official work was done I straight away headed for Bikaner House to board the next available bus to Jaipur. Around India Gate it seems preparations for the Republic Day parade has already started...

vo kaata

If mysore is for Dashahara, Cal for Durga Pooza, Mumbai for Ganapathi then Jaipur sure is the place to be in during Makar Sankranti. And though I have known this always, this was however my first Sankranti in Jaipur. It was so good to finally see the sky littered with kites of all shapes and colors, every one on their roof tops busy in flying or looting kites, music systems playing heart thumping songs as if the whole city was one big discotheque, the sound of 'vo kaata' and of course the welcome break of til-ke-laddoo and garmagaram chai. The weather was also lovely this time though the wind was not that good lekin chalta hai. Being a beginner in this world I was taught how to 'lapet' two kites using your own by my JijaJi. quite a science I'll say. Only skilled ones can figure out and be prepared to loot the 'kati patang'. To me all of them appeared to be the same 'sky is no limit' kind of entities flying ever higher and higher. By sheer dumb luck I 'kato' 4 and 'lapeto' one when I was 'samet'ing my kite. Guess I have some talent after all.

HSH

Hi folks! I am off to Jaipur this week to attend my cousin's marriage returning only next monday. Sweet Jaipuri Winter, Here I come.

dance on

Have you seen the song 'Bardasht nahi kar sakta' from humraaz?
I had watched it a lot of times being one of my favorite dance numbers and I always thought that the steps in the song were really easy. So when I decided to stop jumping around in the name of dance and start really dancing I picked this one to learn my first steps. by the way this was when I gave up after two dance schools insisting to teach only silly things like salsa and tango and whatever. I mean guys I just want plain simple party dance but no they will teach only these. so I decided to learn it on my own. YES. I am a tagore fan :)
So I started. Decided to follow Akshay's steps. And that's when I realized what lie lies in our eyes. There is such a world's difference in what you see as simple and what it really is. This guy just seemed to go from left to right, legs up and down, hands up and down. that's it. 1-2-3-4. I watched the four steps for more than half an hour and still couldn't figure out how to do it.
well after hard work I succeeded of course but now I have a whole new view of things. dance to someone else's steps!!!
besides I am reading the agony and the ecstasy by irving stone and that's lending another view as well. I mean I never gave marble so much thought. it's everywhere back home but no more than a decoration. and here michelangelo thinks it has a life of it's own. interesting.

love you father

according to gregorian calendar it's already one year while in Vikram Samvat there are still two days and half a month for one year.one year since my father left the material world. I was so devastated at that time that I didn't know if I'll last another day. but friends and family helped me get through this tough time. and so did my colleagues and managers who gave me as many leaves as I asked and even when I returned gave me ample time to recover. thanks folks.
though they say time is a great healer but this loss is still as fresh in my mind as it ever was. I miss my father so much and I know so does so many others. most his students and followers. he used to teach Hindi,Sanskrit, Political Sc, Philosophy, Sociology, music and what not to class XIIth to BA,MA,PhD and whatever and he was an encyclopedia of information about our scriptures, culture, traditions, rituals, myths. Main reason I could get through this period was due to his teachings and love. When I was kid and used to cry to get things done in my favor he'd often tell me that every drop of tears is a pearl, don't waste it, singing 'bade bade moti se aansoon jai maala pahnate the' from a poem by Subhadra Kumari Chauhaan. The words used to come ringing in my ears whenever I missed him. My strong belief in my religion is because he could clarify every doubt I had and mind you I used to have a lot of questions.Then he was also a social activist holding many positions in various organizations. and by the way only 16% of his body was functional due to a polio attack when he was just four.
He didn't make too much money. This was something he could never explain to me. I always used to think that he was an underachiever here. He used to say that he love his job of teaching because it's 'Hari ka bhajan aur pet ka dhandha.' I never got the funda. He was so intelligent he could have been IAS or something. I never got it. Not until that day when I saw people flocking for the last rituals and later. People who I'd never met before who'll come sit next to me tears in eyes and tell me how my father shaped their life. I understood that day how right his priorities were.

The past is gone.

New year is here. Do we celebrate? After all the destruction and devastation the tsunamis did in this part of the world? After so many thousands or lakhs died and many more left with nothing? Do we celebrate?

I don't know but I'll quote something from the matrix :

'believe me when I say we have a difficult time ahead of us. but if we are to be prepared for it we must first shed our fear of it.I stand here before you now truthfully unafraid.why? because I believe in something you do not? no. I stand here without fear because I remember. I remember that I am here not because of the path that lies before me but because of the path thet lies behind me.I remember that for one hundred years we have fought these machines. I remember that for 100 years they have sent their armies to destroy us. and after a century of war I remember that which matters most, we are still here. tonight let us send a message to that army. tonight let us shake this cave. tonight let us tremble these halls of earth, steel and rock. tonight let us be heard from the red core to the black sky. tonight let us make them remember that this is zion and we are not afraid.'

The show must go on. Happy New Year friends.