Scintillations

Happy Birthday !

2008-02-07T04:59:00.001+05:30

Many Happy Returns, C :-)

Love Struck? - Part I

2008-01-07T02:03:00.000+05:30

Disclaimer:

The below story is a figment of my imagination. A work of fiction. The places, events and the newspaper columns are all very specific to London. It's my take on, "What if ..." those situations , did occur. I for one, do not believe, that column has any success rate at all. For more information on Love Struck, check this.

Yes, all those questioning my 'committment' after reading this piece of work, will be subjected to 50 lashes, individually, or forced to watch 'Aap Ka Suroor' dubbed in Chinese and with Swahili subtitles. 100 times, back to back! :D.

End Disclaimer.

*********************************************************************************
It was 6 PM, when he wound the meeting at the client's office. It did not, go as well as he had expected. As he exited out of the building, the now, friendly, security guard, held the door open for him, with a smile. The same guard, who a few days back, had struggled to get, his name right. Huh! It was quite dark, already.

'The winters ....... ' he thought, as he walked along Fenchurch street.

'Good Evening Sir! Your copy of Londonpaper, Sir' , an earnest voice, of a newspaper delivery boy.

He ignored, the voice and walked along.

Twenty yards, ahead, another guy, wearing the trademark violet jacket, offerred thelondonpaper once again. This guy, met the same dismissive look. As he neared, Aldgate bus stop, he crossed a signal, that had the green man flickering. He ran across the zebra crossing, almost colliding with a guy standing on the other side. As he got up, he noticed, the other guy was ..... who else ... other than a londonpaper agent! It was as though they had taken over London! To make up for the collision, he decided to take a copy of thelondonpaper, from the guy. It was free anyway. As he cut along the road, crossing over to the Little Somerset street, he crossed the Duke of Somerset pub and headed to Mansell street, as he started to scan the paper. The newspaper, had hosts of articles that were typical. Madeline Mcann, Tories in lead, Increase in crime rate, unruly gang culture and a collapsing Northern rock. As he sifted through the pages, there was one column, that caught his attention. Lovestruck! Some samples .......

'To the brown-haired guy on the DLR on Saturday, 5 January. I smiled when I got on the Tube and you moved closer. You looked amazing but, instead of saying hi, I pretended to read. Drink? The Blonde"

"To Paula, the cute brunette living in Walthamstow. I’m the French guy too shy to ask for your number. We met between Seven Sisters and Tottenham on 28 December. Would love to see you. ANON"

"To the guy trying on the jacket in Zara on Oxford St on 6 January. I asked about it. Drink? ANON"

It was amusing, how people provided generic descriptions, and expected,the other to actually read that and respond and indeed meet up through that! :D. What could be the odds!! He reached his office on Mansell street, packed his stuff and boarded the bus 40, towards Dulwich Library. As he neared London bridge, he looked out of his window .......

Majestic, as ever was the Tower Bridge. It was a brilliant sight, a sight he was never bored off. Watching this architectural marvel over all the seasons, as he walked along the London Bridge, was always something he looked forward too. He got off at the London Bridge stop, and as he strolled down to the London Bridge station, crossing the Coleschurch house , and the Carphone Warehouse ..... his mobile Sony Erricson, w810i, belted out ......' Someone's callin you .... Baby .....Please pick up'. This ring tone, had got him into trouble in a team meeting, when he had forgotten, to change .... the profile to 'Meeting'. It was his offshore team, who had encountered an issue. After quite a while of haggling on the phone on a way to fix the issue, he decided , it could be speedend up, if he got back to his office. Anyway, his team was stretching far more and it was way past 11 PM in Bangalore.

He headed back to his office, walking along the London Bridge to the Monument Station. He was always amazed by the Underground network. An elegant set of 13 routes with interconnections at important junctions. Any place in London, was'nt far! It was expensive, but you got what you paid for! Yes, these tubes provided ample reasons, for people to get love struck he thought ...... ! As the display board, read, '*****Train Approaching, stand back***** ' and the tannoy system, warned people to 'Mind The Gap', indicating them to stay behind the yellow lines marked. He boarded the District line to get off at Aldgate East and head towards his office.

It was well beyond 11 30 PM when he solved the issue. As he made way to Aldgate station, to board the Circle line towards Monument. It was regulation journey of three minutes, from Aldgate to Monument .............. but not today .... that's when it happenned .......

To be continued ...... (Naaah, this is no influence from Soap Operas).

Picture Courtesy : Vyas Sreenivas. For more of Vyas's magic with a Nikon, check his flickr site .

English Humour.

2007-12-11T03:35:00.000+05:30

Steve, my project manager, as he was leaving home, on a friday, quips,
"Wish you luck on the implementation, this weekend".
Rob, Steve's team mate, who was close by remarks, "Luck perhaps, would do for Jay. I need a MIRACLE, for my implementation". :D

The train from Croydon to London Bridge, is delayed by ten minutes. The train driver, remarks on the Public Announcement system, "I apologise for the slow running of the train. This happenned due to a member of staff taking ill. They tried their best to find, a smart, young attrative male for the job ............unfortunately i was the only one available. We will be reaching London Bridge by 8 30" :D

The lift in my office, ceases to move with five of us, all in a hurry to attend a meeting. All the buttons are illuminated, yet, there is no effect. One of them quips, "Perhaps, its Monday Blues ...... " :D

A manager, asks Steve who is from the client team, in a meeting, "So, Steve you will circulate the notes to all of us?". Steve, retorts, "Oh No! I have a habit of writing notes to myself." :D

As we approach the cafetaria, we catch up with Mark, who seems to have a two day old stubble. Peter, one of Steve's colleagues, comments to Mark, 'So, buying yourself a razor, this Christmas?' :D. Mark, remarks, 'Nope, thought, i shall just get myself a beard'. :).

A moving tale ...

2007-11-24T22:47:00.000+05:30

So, the client I work for, is amidst moving to a new office, down the road. The building, they currently work out of, apparently does not meet the requirements. I agree. There has been hectic activity, in terms of professional movers (and shakers should have been their name) taking over the office from a week. So, as people kept shedding, stuffs, that they seldom required, there seemed to a solemn silence, in the background, which i seldom realized.

So, the move,culminates with a small get together. Amidst wine in abundance, the unit head briefs, the team on the move and the moves implications. Perhaps the abundance, of wine led to the team members coming up with impromptu limmericks. Some of the them were really spontaneous! The members then lined up starting from the seniormost starting from the west end. Unbelievably the senior most manager had worked for the last thirty four years in that very office!

Thirty four years! Perhaps the solemn silence ....needs no explanation! Indeed, i feel kind of attached to this place, and i've just been about five months here, no doubt, the others felt a vaccum, at this change!

I am ......... am I ?

2007-11-18T05:51:00.000+05:30

I am religious.

I am, somone, who can't stand bribery.

I am insensitive.

I am scathing.

I am just being ME.

I am, somone, who can be quite cold and aloof.

I am, someone, who loves to be alone at times.

I am who, I am !!!

Strangely . ...... very strangely, sometimes those statements, in my mind play as 'Am I' !!!

Darkness .....?

2007-11-09T04:54:00.001+05:30

Light

Happy Diwali :).

Lost in Halloween?!

2007-11-04T03:53:00.000+05:30

The term, English winters , somehow do not have a zing as the term English summers ! Blame it on Wimbeldon? (Oh ... I've been watching Bjorn Borg's biography .. and hence .. ;-)). I somewhere firmly believe, Emily Bronte was subjected to too much of these winters ...... where the sun sets by 16 00 hours and time is wound backwards by an hour,that her mood throughout her 'Wuthering Heights' novel was sombre and gloomy! The female lead in that novel was 'Catherine Earnshaw' wasn't she? (I know ...... it's right!Can't you see its a rhetorical question? :p)

Anyway, this post after a break is not about why i took a break ....... but it's about a break - in that happenned in my place! Oh ....yeah a break in ... a burglary!

Yes, it was the Halloween. The city was acting all spooky with folks in the tubes dressed as Frankenstein and shades of crimson red oozing all over themselves. Some, I personally thought actually, didn't have to try too hard for that spooky look ...! Yeah .. yeah ... i am cynical at time :-). Nevertheless, I started home on a hitherto unimaginable time of 1700 hours as my project had moved into implementation. The walk between Monument and London Bridge is perhaps 9 minutes ... by when you would have been offerred a free tabloid newspaper atleast ten times. A forty minute ride and i was at house .. sweet house. (House, intentional usage).

Crossing the protocol of three secured entrances, i am at the main entrance, where a sticker claims,'Winner of the House of the Year' award. As i enter , i see all my room mates in a confused state. One of them blurts out ...... 'Burglary .....dude .....'. What followed, was just confusion! My flat is perhaps the most secure places. My first thoughts were my laptop, and above that all the data that was in it. (My pics and all my collection of prized possessions). Closely followed by that, i wondered if the camera was gone too. I rush into my room ...... and check my laptop and camera. They are intact!! Wondering, why the double exclamation? That's because, collectively my room mates had lost four laptops, eighteen watches (No, my room mate doesn't steal. He collects!), expensive perfumes, hard disc drives, suitcase, some money and along with it some miscellaneous stuff! To think, that my stuff was left untouched ....... was confusing and relieving at the same time! The burglar(s?) have struck sometime, when we were all off to work. He/They have broken in through the balcony door. (sadly, we are in the ground floor). They have taken all the stuff mentioned, moved into my room mates, room and took his suitcase as well! Worse, of two beers are missing from my refridgerator! Some, wicked sense of humour. After stealing a whole lot of stuff, he has partied at home .. with beer from the fridge!

Yeah, and amidst all the stuff that was stolen ... my stuff saw the light of the day. Yeah surprisingly! Anyone, at this point says, 'How come, then it has to be you' would be subjected to the same treatment my friends are being subjected to! 50 lashes! (Virtual to all of you all ... be happy!). Yes, indeed, thus, i call 999, the emergency number in UK to log in my complaint. However, thanks to Halloween keeping them busy, they could only come in a bit late to take in the descriptions!

Halloween and spooky? I guess we should make it Halloween and stealthy! But the guy ... whoever stole .... what a cheapskate .....he stole beer??! :O

Swizz Guard!

2007-10-04T02:47:00.000+05:30

'To go .. or not to go ...?'

Sounds like a corruption of Shakespeare's famous line?

Naaah .... those were my thoughts on whether to go on a trip to Switzerland.
Does it sound like a proposition, most would say, 'YES!!!', without batting an eyelid?

Possibly!

Luckily, that period of insanity passed and i booked my flight tickets and my accomodation at Interlaken, our base camp.

Additional to the same, i was also randomly chosen, to organise a project party, at my account level the same weekend i was flying towards Switzerland. So, amidst visiting Oxford Street to buy all the winter clothing i may need, I needed to book a cruise and arrange for a decent Indian caterer.

Did manage to pull off all the above and head to the trip towards .....a land many said .. is a paradise on earth ...! Being a firm believer that paradises are a figment of imagination of lesser mortals .... i decided to validate the veracity of that claim .... myself.

Jaya Haae!

2007-09-07T00:40:00.000+05:30

The week that was .....

2007-09-04T01:19:00.000+05:30

Yeah ..... i haven't been posting for a while ................ thanks to a bully called procastination,who stopped me from letting loose ....!

Now, that he has been taken care .....of .. I'm back for good !

As of last week .....

Monday - It's a Bank Holiday. Unwind. A visit to WGC. A gruelling trip to Nottingham. A thrilling ride on GNER from Stevenge. Oh .....what a trip it was .....!! Indeed!! [:)]. Folks, never miss this 'Tales of Robin Hood' when you all go to Nottingham.

[WHAT? My mobile number?
Oh ..i have changed that.
No .. i don't live in that place anymore. Don't tell me i did not warn you .....!]

Tuesday - R was leaving office, so made her a collage to walk her through all the nostalgic momens our gang had in office. Ah ..... it feels good to make people's stay memorable in office. Will miss all the candid talk and the awesome coffee breaks. We will miss you R. [:(].

Wednesday - S's birthday. Attempts in full swing to put her on air, as it was her birthday. Attempt ...remained an attempt. So, an attempt to 'mug' was unanimously decided. Ah .... its great to make people's day. It indeed is!

Thursday - Chase clients. Chased by my team. Chase the team. Chased by clients. Sandwiched.Review meetings. Mile stone reports. Delayed submission details. Yeah, the monday activity still runs in the background. SIGH!

Friday - Somone pings random, on Skype! I decide to speak to them! For a while. Never done that before!!

Saturday - Understand that the house i was suppossed to move in ...does exist only in imagination! The house is gone .....! To risk being homeless in London, need to start locate ..... a place .....!

Thanks H and V, you folks really came up when help was needed!

Sunday - Move into a bachelor pad!! Clothes strewn all over. The next best thing ...all across. Footwear mela at the place. Lids of bottles consumes time! [;)]. Freedom in some ways.

Sunday again - My life starts to be normal and 'bright' again ....!

Perhaps ...

2007-08-04T05:04:00.000+05:30

A snippet from the movie Big Fish:

Edward Bloom (Ewan Mcgregor) in conversation with Jenny (Hailey Anne Nelson), the kid ....

Jenny : How old are you?
Ed : 18
Jenny : I am 8 now ..... Quite some difference isn't it?
Ed : Yeah ...
Jenny : So by the time i am 18, you would be 28.
Ed : Indeed.
Jenny : By the time i am 28, you would be 38.
Ed : Good. You are great at arithmetic.......
Jenny : But when i am 38 ...... you would be 48 ......
Ed : yeah ......
Jenny : Now ...... that difference isn't big ... isn't it?

Perhaps .................. Jenny is right!

Thoughts speaketh .....

2007-08-02T00:53:00.000+05:30

Thoughts speaketh ....

'Hey .... I'm sorry!'

'Oh .....!!'

'Dood .... ?!!! She is just as old as your daughter'.

'Huh? Well, i thought that was your middle name!'

'Ofcourse, you wouldn't understand that! It's all business isn't it?'

'DAMN'!

'Yes, i do, any more questions?'

'Perhaps ...... i would do that ......'

'I really am!'

Yeah .... .I'm not responsible for the interpretations! Go figure!

Me.

2007-07-29T02:35:00.000+05:30

Offlate ..... depending on what, me have been thinking it has been ......

Me?

Me ???!

Me

ME.

me.

ME !!!

me.

ME.

The trouble of being me, can only be matched by me alone!

Is this a rant, that has gone tangential? Never mind ..

London Calling .....

2007-07-18T00:32:00.000+05:30

Speakers, warn the passengers 'Mind the Gap'.

Trains overcrowded, during peak hours ........ grappling with the evergrowing additions to this city.

Trains delayed, in the entire Northern line, as a passenger has taken ill ....... in the adjacent station.

Tabloids every morning and evening, free.

A summer temperature of 15 degrees.

Rains. All of a sudden.

Aachi Masala. Chennai Dosa.

Cooking.

Bright at 11 30 PM.

Hang on ...... lots more to come ....... in the coming posts.

Life is .....

2007-07-16T00:04:00.000+05:30

Life is beautiful .............,

but is short and can change suddenly too!!!

Live Life ...from today ...tomorrow may be late to begin!!

PS: R.I.P :(

Directions : Venusian Vs Martian

2007-05-28T14:43:00.000+05:30

Thanks to all of you all, who wished me, through emails and messages. Do find, a treat in your inboxes soon. :-)

So, a couple of friends had met up for a treat. Ofcourse, i was the host!

Barbeque Nation, the venue for the treat, is a place i would recommend to folks who would want to revel in ambience. The barbeques at ones' table with the sweet aroma wafting is all excellent, if its only at your table. The salivary glands were already in overdrive. However, the treat was only olfactory, till now, as we were waiting for another friend of mine to join in.Apparently, he was somewhere around, as he did not know, the exact location of this place. K, calls on him to check where he was ............ (In typical Venusian fashion,following is the conversation that ensued)

K: Hey .... where are you?
P: Somewhere around that place. Right now, near E.S.I hospital. How do i get to this restaurant?
K: Okie ..... you are near E.S.I now?
P: (wonders if its a paraphrasing class ....) Yeah!!
K: Okie... come straight ahead ..... you know Levi's Showroom?
P: Ok .......
K: Hm ... do you know the Lee Showroom?
P: Hm ......
K: You know, that other X showroom on that road ........
P: Hm ..... Okie, how do i come from here?
K: You come straight ahead ..... there used to be Nandini ..... now it is not there ....
P: Okie .....
K: This place ... is right opposite to that!
P: Huh ....! So ....
K: Okie ... wait .. let me give the phone to Jay.

So, i am roped in to this loop .....

Me: Dood ... from E.S.I , come straight ahead, to Khivraj Bajaj. Next to that is this place.
P: Cool dude, will be there in 2 min !

K, to all the rest............ : Hey, where is this Khivraj Bajaj?

:-).

Anyway .... nothing to take away from the fun i had that day. This blog was just to show the differences in approach taken by Venusians and Martians. :-).
The surprise birthday cake.(I loved that and for the first time, it was not splashed on my face). The nostalgic memories. The chat that lasted for quite a while. Ah .. it was all great!

Thanks to Ket, Pad, Laksh and Khushi, for reducing the impact of moving from 25 to 26.

I love you too ...

2007-05-21T10:42:00.000+05:30

Mobile Phone!

Quickly .... what came to your mind when you thought about that? Yes, yes, yes ...... i hear it. It's almost indispensable isn't it? One of the few technological inventions that have bridged gaps quite substantially. As i found out, sometimes not the way we exactly thought, it did :-).

A few days back, I was browsing through the "features" of Nokia 6030. A fairly simple mobile, that promises music to the ears with its FM receiver and of course value for the money invested. When it was launched it was a big success. One of the features, i came across were the impressive in-built templates. (Main Menu ---> Messages ---> Saved Items ----> Templates). Yes, before you crucify me, i understand these templates are means to save time. They are to help you in sending a response, as some of the default responses are stored in these in built templates.

Sample a few of these templates:

1) "I am late. I will be there at" - Yes, agreed. You are late and thus, you do not have the time to type the complete message and hence you edit that template, add a time and lo ....... your job is done.

2) "I am in a meeting. Call me later at" - True. A booming economy, means business is bustling with activity . Considering most of us are "agents of change", we would be busy with our meetings. Thus, we being unable to attend a phone call at that point of time, seems justified.

3) "I am busy right now. I'll call you later" - As explained above.

4) "I will be arriving at" - Yes, its a dynamic world out there and who knows ...... what eventuality may strike and thus, our schedule is subject to change. Thus, this template.

5) "Meeting is cancelled". "See you in". "See you at" - Yes, yes. A combination of factors above.

6) "I love you too" - Believe me or not, that is indeed a template, that is default available with this mobile. The argument, that templates are developed after some amount of research done, it clearly goes to show how wonderfully, we have been understood. The research should have clearly shown them, that the most common exchanges couples would have had is the utterance of these words. Like, we following some of the customs without understanding, these words are reduced to a ritual.

A customary exchange of pleasentries.

A mere expected response.

A template.

:-)

Name Game.

2007-04-30T10:41:00.000+05:30

"Why, did you choose someone whose name starts with the same letter as yours?" asked a friend of mine, as i had been a unintended recipient of an SMS, from her, actually meant to be delivered to "someone".

Well, only after i answered that question of hers' i pondered ...... on some associations i have/ had ..... purely on account of my name, beginning with the alphabet, in the vicinity of the alphabet their names began with. Quite a few of them. Some of these folks, i would have never mingled with otherwise. Some of these folks i may have missed if not for that stroke of luck.

In Pre Univ, i met some elements who changed my perspective on certain issues quite drastically. They tried their best to narrow down my view. I am happy they lost in their excercise. These folks whom i had to share two years of my life taught me a lesson or two in tolerance (They tested almost how long i could withstand them!). I felt like being subjugated to an array of experiments on testing the limits of personality destruction!

In college, i guess no one would have hated me as much as roll no 64, simply because according to him, in jest, " i destroyed his otherwise brilliant academic record". Actually, i sympathise with him! :-). Maybe, he was right to a certain degree. I was an average student (Naaaaaaah! I am humble! ;-)) in college. I had one nasty habit that started off in school. A dude who copied an answer from my paper, flunked a paper and had to leave school. Probably, that's when i decided i should be the recipient of the accolades or brickbats and that i wouldn't want to put in someone else's results in jeopardy. Thus, it was always that way. Poor, 64, had to face the brunt of it in our engineering days!

My training days in my corporate life was a splendid experience too! Quite a few of us ..... were in a group forced, by the company policy of linking a few folks alphabetically. Ah ...... what a stroke of luck. :-). That was by far one of the most enjoyable group i have had to "work" with! :-). I even got paid for that! :-). Life can be unfair at times .......... to others! :-).

Indeed, sometimes we are forced into a group on account of our names. Sometimes its good ..... because ... even you couldn't have chosen a better group yourself! :-)

It takes one .....

2007-04-09T17:06:00.000+05:30

Happiness comes in all shapes and sizes .........

But seldom, did that statement ring a 'bell'. Perhaps,wedding bells are exceptions. :-).

As, goes the saying, It takes one to know one. :-).

Congratulations!! Wish you lots of you ahead :-).

Clairvoyance.(?! )

2007-03-27T10:02:00.000+05:30

55 words, bug hits me too. :-). Below is my attempt.

A dark room. Mobiles ringing ceaselessly. Blinking computer monitors. Cigarette smoke wafting. HQ of clandestine "Operation Victory". A few hustled voices. His view was fixated at the television.

"How much have we made?"

"800 Crores".

"Reverse- Swing it", he said, with a sinister grin.

The next day morning newspaper's headlines screamed ........

"MILLIONS OF DREAMS SHATTERRED".

Performance Appraisal : Explained

2007-03-09T13:59:00.000+05:30

Many a times, we encounter this queer excercise called Performance Appraisal. Ever wondered, what are the meanings of some of the expressions used in that meeting?

Goal-Oriented (n): One needs to work towards a goal. Well, the goal here ... is to impress your manager!! Silly, not by your work, though!
Usage : X, you need to be more goal-oriented! We haven't completed the 20 man day's work, yet! Didn't we agree, we would finish it in 4 man days?

Focussed (n): To be the SPOC (single point of contact). Many folks, mistake this word to mean, to concentrate on their job! That's not true. I t means, you must be so effective that you make your manager *redundant* !! (Hint : Remember Focal point in Physics? Here, you must be that focal point as far as your project is concerned).
Usage: Y, is a focussed resource, he has seldom left office early. Wonder, why he keeps screaming, "SIX" and "four" now and then!

Learning (n) : The act, process, or experience of gaining knowledge or skill. In this case, it means your ability to cope with the fact that you have a bad rating. It means, extraordinary courage and grit, to accept the unfair!
Usage: You need to take this rating as a learning!

Proactive (adj): Acting in advance to deal with an expected difficulty; anticipatory. In this case, this word goes closely with clarivoyance. One needs to know, how to have conducted three more sessions on a topic, that never existed prior to two day before appraisal. Unfortunately, this would be communicated to you only when in the meeting! Tough luck folks, that's indeed a tough nut to crack!
Usage: You could have been proactive and have conducted a session on "Team Selection for 2011 World Cup". See, we are one spinner short already!

Visibility (n): The fact, state, or degree of being visible. Well, this should'nt be taken literally! Think of your self as a flight needing to take off when engulfed by a thick fog! Assume all your appraisers to be having an eye sight of -4. Now, do you see the picture? Good! If that's the case, assume what all pyro techniques you need to get their attention. Yeah .. Yeah .. thats the way!
Usage: WHOA! This guys spams my mailbox so many times! It sure is improving his visibility.

Key resource(n) : Well, you hold the key to the project. Remember, thats the only reason you are even valued. Give them an oppurtunity to duplicate you and that's the day you are sold! See, focussed above.
Usage: Ask, y, where he has placed the start button, to my computer! Oh it's at the bottom left side? Good! What would i do without you? You are my key resource!

Potential (adj) : Capable of being but not yet in existence; latent. Yeah, that clearly means ... you are around, but havent yet arrived. Keep tapping, wood pecker.
Usage: You have the potential to be the President of the India. Oh ..... you are just twenty five? Tsk. Tsk. You are too young for that post.

Responsibility (n): The state, quality, or fact of being responsible. Again, do not make the mistake of assuming this holds true for just your job! The scope of that word is more than that. It means to be responsible for your manager's job!!! Yeah, read focussed again!
Usage: He has handled multiple responsibilities. He can substitute four others!

Show Stopper (n): Yeah, quite literally. You need to stop the show, if you did not solve the same. Ah .. if you have resolved a few of those, during your last cycle, a recognition (?) maybe on your way! If you were the one who induced it .... "High five! Join the club of the Rest".
Usage: Resolve that quickly, thats indeed a show stopper! All the show i have put on till now .. will be dead and gone if that's not resolved!

Resource (n): Another shrimp in the sea. Read key resource and focussed, to get a life! Another dispensable element in your area of work!
Usage: He has the potential, a good resource.

Opputunity(n) : Chance. In this case, a reward. If its not the one you want, then you have wasted a gifted oppurtunity!
Usage: You want an assigment away from your country? You already had an oppurtunity to work on outdated technology here! Oh .. you think thats not good .... you have wasted a golden oppurtunity!

Maturity (n) : The state or quality of being fully grown or developed. Well, in this case, its consoling you! You have a bad rating because, you have nt yet matured in your role!
Usage: B, do not take this serioulsy. You have to mature in that rolel. Take this as a learning.

Well, there you are! Your guide to excellence in your organisation has been explained. Make the best use of the tips above and get successful.

Is Venus Brighter today?

2007-03-07T11:46:00.000+05:30

Whether it is ......

Or .......

Or .......

Or .....

As a planet Venus, is the brightest. Did it just seem a tad brighter today? ;-).

So, keeping my shout out simpler, Wish all you venusians a great day!

You folks make this world a better place to live in. :-).

21.6.23 !!

2007-03-05T11:10:00.000+05:30

The Summer of '97. ICSE exams. The examination, on "English Language", had a section on compositions, where, we had a brief series of events, that were provided to us, and we were expected to extrapolate the same and come up with our composition. Well, back then, if i had the topic as, " 10 years - A few friends -Meet at - A coffee shop", i am not sure, what i would have written ....... But i am indeed happy .... last Saturday, i was'nt writing any composition. This was reality ...... :-).

Contrary, to the saying, "Reality continues to ruin my life", the meet, that was arranged as a surprise, indeed took me on a journey to Nostalgia ville, with the pathway being adorned with trees called memories! 10 years .... yes that feels old. Although, tracing the path once again din't seem all that difficult at all.

A lot can happen over coffee ... :-)

Eight of us, ,met at Inch(9.14.3.8). Inch, a coffee hub, at hundred feet road is not "any other" coffee joint. The ambience is good. From swings to bean bags, they have it all. Above all, the folks who run the place, have loads of patience. How else, do i explain, that we were one of the noisiest crowds in that place and we hung on for about four hours and did'nt get thrown out? :D. Hey folks at Inch, thanks for being so kind, we will definitely be back again soon ;-).

In these ten years, after school, we folks had diversified to multiple disciplines. V, had struck gold down- under , and now works as a team lead with e four e. L, has ofcourse, followed the mahatma, to experiment with truth, unfortunately, this truth belongs to Ramalinga Raju :D. K, has moved on to reduce the market capitilzation of some Business machines. P, ensures risks are mistigated and keeps a close tab on, JP and Morgan's chases . ;-). H, seems to be keeping pace with E without questioning Y. M, was the soft spoken management graduate from a premier institute of this nation. Vi and me , however are powered by intellect and driven by values. However, i never denied that the others weren't powered or driven ;-). (Man..... one needs a disclaimer everywhere! :D).

Slowly, the time gap seemed to fade away and we were all transported back in time. Incidents, which had then given us sleepless nights, were all stuff we could laugh about now ......! CE ,aka , the Principal,well it would a take a couple of blogs to even explain who that individual was.He was an enigma. Maxi and Maggi duly took their positions as joint second as we had so many anecdotes to share about them. Those wedding ring impressions, that indeed wiped your smile off your face. Science, was indeed never this interesting. :D. However the litmus test for "basic" compounds could have been done near the assembly hall itself. Bunsen burners, which i think were made to order and the shape was customized specifically to my school. The "Library-detention hall- lunch room" was a feature of civil engineering brilliance, that had exploited the "overloading" phenomenon completly! The teachers. The crushes. Marathon. Relay competitions. Badminton. Marching and Display. A few dudes, who get the top slot in MAX X (thanks to I & B, AXN is back :D). The dudes include, Altaf and Michael, Sod Twins and alike........ The rented Grounds. Concerts. Ballet dances. The Slaps that landed from nowhere. The Canes, that landed everywhere. Boxing. SUPW. Crowd. Elocution. Inter School Events. Natasha Rodrigues (Ah ...). The Mathematics debacle. (SIGH :-/).................

WHOA! Each of them, if explained would take another post ......... :-).

Ah, having to discuss all this under one roof, was like winding back and running, "My life" at around 5000 X. It was awesome to recollect all those incidents and laugh at them. They say, hindsight is 20/20. How true. When we iterating through those incidents ( Yes, i am geeky ;-)), I pondered over a few things, and how they would have been different if i had reacted differently in that situation. But, life would have never been interesting, had it been any different!! :-). Anything can happen over coffee, says the punch line of a popular cafe chain. I agree. :-).

Yeah, for those who haven't yet figured out what the title for this post means ..... well they are the positions of letters in the English Alphabets, which translate to UFW .... (Unforgettable Weekend :-)). Thanks for all those who made it happen ....... and a special thanks to the "organisers" :-).

'Unarmed yet dangerous' Kids .....

2007-02-26T10:03:00.000+05:30

Just a second...... before you start judging me that i hate children, for no good reason, hold on!! I am not anything like that .....! What put's me off , are these bunch of over-pampered kids, whose parents think, that their kids swishing and swashing a kitchen knife, dangerously close to you, is actually "cute" !! CUTE??? Damn ...... Guys .. you got to be kidding me ....! (No puns ...!)

You folks do not find that convincing enough? Okie, here goes ....

A family function. Well, those are events where, these brats get the license to kill. You need to curb your instincts to resist from reacting to their provocation. No! No, i am not somone who advocates domestic violence in any form ....! But listen to this .... I was browsing the net for some attractive (read cheap ;-)) air fares , for a cousin of mine who had to travel. A harmless(?!) brat, comes close and flashes a harmless smile. I smile back. He then enquires, very calmly, about air fares for a round trip, to a location in India, where his mom works. The kid, was missing his mother and i could see that ...... I key in the details and tell him the fare ... and carry on with my work. The kid left the scene and in a brief while ..... i can hear a lot of howls ..... ! Surprised ... i get out to see .. and there i see this same harmless kid ...... fallen on the floor and wailing .... big time. All my relatives had assembled around him and instead of resisting him from putting on a show, they were sympathising with him .... ! The entire fuss was because his dad had apparently dismissed his idea, of wanting to travel, as his mom would be coming down in a week. If you are wondering, why, i *hated* the kid for this, when i need to be sympathising .... huh? Well, the entire family turned against me .....as they felt i *was* the reason ...... he was so frantic! They felt i had incited him by giving him all the details .....! Damn! You decide ........

Yeah, that was one of them. Dismissing, the above as an one off case, i carried on with my life.That was until yesterday. At my place, we have rented out one of the portions in the first floor. The family living in that is of the quiet kinds and i am not somone who goes out of my way to make friends. Thus, i know, they exist and they are a family of three ,including a kid, aged about four. Yesterday happenned to be this kid's birthday. His parents have invested in a Digital Camera, a new Canon S2 IS. They had some issues, with the same, as it wasn't booting. Since, I am a proud owner of S2 IS myself, and i had encountered a similar issue, when i had purchased mine ... (Vasanth, stop smirking ;-)), my dad had recommended my name to them, as somone who could help them with their problem. I am not somone who offers help unsolicited . This was different, here the parents wanted to capture, their son's 5 birthday celebrations, so i decided to go out and help them. At their place, there was frantic activity, in inviting me as i had never been to their place, and then i saw this brat, winking at me! He came running into me and in order to avoid, a possible collision, i elevated him. (Huff ..) . I went, in putting on my "debugger hat", to resolve any Canon IS related issue ...... , the parents went in to bring, their brand new camera. As they placed the camera at the table, the pressure cooker shrieked..... getting them onto panic mode as they rushed into the kitchen. The grandparents were in the other room ... now that seems like a setting, where i could work in peace right? No ....! There was this brat, watching me closely. That's when it happenned. He came rushing to the table, forced himself, to open that camera from its pack, and in a split second, as he attempted to click ........ dropped it ............. down .....................!!!! :O :O :O :O !! I mean .. there i was .... shell shocked ... i mean ....there we no witnesses to what happenned here .... and as i took the camera, i tried to boot it and ..... splashed the error message, on the LCD scree, "Error - Unable to retract lens". His parents came rushing out and they saw the camera in my hands .... and as i tried to say, that the kid had dropped it ... the kid started tp claim that he was not even close to me ... and starts crying and they start cuddling him ...........! Then, they look at me and say ... "These kind of things happen .. "! I mean ... what is that? I did'nt do it! I am not trying to defend by saying the kid should be punished ....... but what's with the ... "my-kid-is-an-angel" thing ....??! Huh!

These are just two episodes .... there have been many such ........! Huh! Kids ... may look unarmed ..... but if you thought .. that they aren't dangerous .......... do so at your own risk ...... :D

A world without .....

2007-02-20T18:40:00.000+05:30

I see ..........

A world without any prejudices.

A world without any boundaries.

A world without any discrimination.

A world without any fascism.

A world without any bias.

*Splash*

*Splash*

Ah ... that's right .....! I am asleep !

Thanks ... for waking me up ... reality .........

Intelligence ..... ?

2007-02-09T14:56:00.000+05:30

Stumbled across, an article by Isaac Asimov, on intelligence.

We, always associate academic brilliance as an absolute measure of intelligence. Well, tasks that are seemingly, simple, sometimes manage, to fuss us. Intelligence itself, should be evaluated in perspective. Cricketing Intelligence, driving intelligence, academic intelligence, Verbal intelligence ..... and so on. The list can just go on .......

Link availed from : Thomas Kyte's Blog.

'Light' year ahead ........

2007-02-07T23:59:00.000+05:30

Light, is an electromagnetic radiation of any wavelength, is a pretty insipid definition, i would say. The term light, in itself triggers a multitude of emotions, in us. Like .......

Hope.

Vibrant.

Happiness.

Solemn.

Celebration.

Simplicity.

Excitement.

Brilliance.

Light, when incident on a prism, reveals it's true colours ;-).

Just how true, is that? ;-).

Many Happy returns to the light in my life :-).

Have a bright year ahead.

Let's Rock Hampi - Part III

2006-11-07T13:00:00.000+05:30

Ever heard of a saying, too much of a good thing is good?
No? That's bad ...... !
For those who answered yes.........you guys watched the promos .. of Garfielf 2, isn't it? Cool .....! ;-)

Anyway, that was exactly, what was happenning to us ....!

The night's accomodation was at Malligi .... ! No, No that's not a spelling mistake! We were all raring to go the next day. Ofcourse, after (an awesome) breakfast, ....! :-). Our next stop was at Kamalapur, where we joined the fellow caravaners and off we headed, to Hampi.

The first stop was at Virupaksha Temple. We were joined by a middle aged gentleman named Keshav. He was the, ASI director (South) and curator of four museums around that place and had been involved in excavations in Hampi from about 30 years! :O. He was an individual filled with energy,enthusiam and opinions. His witty comments, just ended up making the trip-o-trivia far more interesting! Apart from a few architectural marvels, in Krishnadevaraya's signature style (all puns intended), we witness a few frescos on the ceiling!

Fresco painting of Manmatha ..... (a.k.a Ananga, lest, someone questions me about Calvin or Mickey Mouse! For the sake of argument, i don't know an alias of Mickey Mouse ... :D)

This fresco above depicts, Manmatha, yes the manipulative dude, who can't keep his arrows to himself. As, mythology has it .... Manmatha, who uses sugarcane as bow, flowers as arrows, crocodiles as earings and parrots as mode of transport, disturbs Lord Shiva (who sports a French Beard ...! This fresco dates to 16 Century ,....!! Huh! Then maybe French copied it from us ......! ), who obviously retorts by killing Manmatha. Well, brilliance of Keshav was evident, when, he explained the details embedded in the picture, by the iconographer. The sugarcane .. indicates, the sweetness that should exist in the relationship, the flowers indicate the tenderness and fragrance, the crocodiles indicate, the nature of attachment that should prevail amongst couples .......... ... Cool? Eh? ;-). He went on to add, that there are remedies to most ailments in this world, except for love, resulting in thunderous applause and laughter amongst the victims in the group ......Oops .. did i say victims? They are realists ... :-)

Sasvikal Ganesha .... A monolithic sculpture of Lord Ganesha.

This monolithic Ganesha, is at an elevated platform. The sculptor, of this structure, was pathetic in his estimation! He began, creating the structure with such finesse, that he forgot, he had used up most of the stone. Thus, the dorsal side has not much intricate work, just a thin line .....! Huh! So much for not following the process .... ! There are granaries, that can be viewed from this elevated platfrom, proving that there was definitive trade relations with other countries .........!

The Lotus Mahal ... in the Queen's Palace ...

The Queens', had a time of their lives!! Apart from having plush palaces, these folks had the treasury by their side! The had a water trough within and the place boasted of gardens and such facilities. The picture above, is the Hawa Mahal. The contrbution of Satavahanas to architecture. One can clearly see the influence of the Islamic style of construction. The arches. This place, looks like an inverted lotus. Nope, the place is not as inclined as it looks above........ ;-) . Keshav, aggressively, defended, the reason, kings had so many queens, was because, the queen's were attracted, to the king's who had power. Well, not many agreed to that ..... , though!

The Bold and the Beautiful ..... The Bold and intimidating Narasimha, with Lakshmi. Who says, manicuring was not an in thing then?

Ugra Narasimha, was a brilliant sculpture. The image of Narasimha, is intimidating to say the least. Goddess Lakshmi, is seated on Narasimha's lap. This was completly destroyed, when the kingdom was attacked. ASI has brought back and done up a lot of work on this sculpture. Keshav, then went on to narrate the story of the sculptor. When, the sculptor, was summoned to take up this assignment, he agreed, on one condition, that no one should disturb him when he worked. There were gaurds posted, and work went on for quite sometime. The gates were locked and the sculptor, worked in isolation. After, many days, the sound of chisles stopped. The alarmed gaurds communicated the same to the king, and when they came down .... to see, the sculpture was complete ........... but the sculptor, lay dead prostrated at his own creation. He paid the ultimate tribute to this timless work of art! Indeed, the sculptors' passion .........can evoke goosebumps .... even today ....!

The Stepped Tank,also known as ... Pushkarni

The citadel area of the palace, boasts of remnants of the KrishnaDevaRaya kingdom. It's majestic. One can just imagine, the way this place would have been in its days of glory....! There is a darbar hall, that contained a hundred pillars, with its pillars (at that point) being covered in ornate gems and stones. There are hosts of security points and it had seven layers of security before one can enter the royal citadel area. There are secret passges where the king could get messages from his ministers and the passages are sound proof! What impressed me, most was this tank shown above. ASI found aquaducts and on excavating found, this Stepped tank. Every stone, in this tank was pre fabricated and numbered in the quary itself!! Each stone contains the marking as to which part it would fit into! Brilliant .......! The aquaducts brought in water from Kamalapur, which is about thirty kilometers away!! The principles of gravity were used to design ..... these ducts such that once, the tanks filled it would fill the other and so on. In case, the duct clogged, there were folks who were employed, who filled the ducts back, thus ensuring, supply of water to citadel area was always intact. One can see ... the barracks where gaurds lived too ......... Its amazing ....!

A work of Art .......

A Granite pillar at Hazarama ....

The Hazarama, is another architectural marvel. It boasts of excellence in all its pillars. Granite was used in pillars and some of them have tales of Ramayana emblazoned on them ....

Tales of Ramayana .....

'Kishkinda', the kingdom of monkeys, which is mentioned in Ramayana, is believed to be closer to Hampi. There is a peak, that is supposed to be the birthplace of Hanuman.

A visit to Hampi, and all these places, bring out a mixed bag of feelings. The beauty and marvel of these constructions, on one end give you a sense of pride, that you belong to a culture that *ruled*! In every sense of the word. On the other, we just have to satiate ourselves with only these remains. We are just left to *imagine*, how this kingdom may have been in its days of glory. We walk along the left overs, that serve as a stark reminder of man's greed. The greed of power, can be that strong ....... that constructions that were meant to be timeless ........ were destroyed abruptly.

Each pillar, stone in this place has a tale to narrate. A tale of how it had witnessed, the best of the craftsmen, who shaped it ...... the best of the kingdoms, it was a part of ......... the best of the times, it has been in .........and the greed of a few men, that destroyed it.

Hampi, used to be the venue for Dasara. Mahanavami Dibba, is a platform, where .....the commoners, used to be seated to watch the Dasara celebrations conducted before them.

Seated, on that platform ............ what one can see now ...... is just a celebration of man's greed ........ and the fruits of it, which has rendered marvels as rubbles ......! The contrast couldn't have been any more stark ....!

Indeed ........it was an U ......F......W!

Legend : UFW, UnForgettable Weekends, initiative of Karnataka Tourism.

Let's Rock Hampi - Part II

2006-11-07T09:42:00.000+05:30

An early morning drive to Vidhana Soudha.........
The seat of power in the state's capital, could not have been any more, majestic. The towering stucture, indeed looks splendid against the sun rays, early morning. It was an apt location to begin our journey to the ancient ruins. Arun Pai of BangaloreWalks, neatly summarised the journey, as a visit to the then seat of power of Vijayanagar Empire, Hampi, from today's seat of power. I couldn't agree more. The band's rendition of "Apara Keerthiye ......" was splendid. It was backed up with the theme song .... "Let's Rock Hampi ....." . Cameras, media, the who-is-who of culture and tourism of Karnataka, were in to make the event a grand success. We even got tips to visit certain individuals .......ah ..... :-). We were flagged off by the minister for culture and tourism.

The pride of Bengalooru

Suresh, our driver seemed more of a test driver for Chevrolet. Yeah, they may not be a big team in motorsports, but fear not, Suresh is around to prove how good their test drivers are....! As he floored the accelerator pedal we were transported from Zero to Fun in no time. The roads to ruins were definitely not in ruins ... which made the entire experience awesome!! The next stop was Dabbaspet, near Tumkur, where a sumptous breakfast was awaiting us. The officials did a damn neat job of organising the entire event. Their eye for detail and the shots at perfection did not go unnoticed. The roads from Tumkur, was a pleasure to drive on.

Windmill Farm, along the way.

It was a spectacular sight. The windmill farm extended for kilometres ... together. If one was amazed at how, the power of wind was harnessed, to divert it to other purposes......... i had a far more intriguing concept to digest. There were folks around, who tried to convince me that a windmill had to be pictured from the front ..... :O. (;-)) Yes, this is stuff straight out of Jay's believe it or not! ;-).

A peak ... Let's call it Jay Rayara Betta ..... :-)

What, you say, that it resembles my name? Huh? It's all in the eyes of the mouse holder .. i tell ya .... :-).

Chitradurga, was our next pit stop. We had small briefings by the Commissoner of Chitradurga, and a performance by the Bangalore Walks, which explained the legend of Obavva, the woman who had stood fort and beat the invaders to pulp, with her Onake. ( A cylindrical household tool, used to gnash chillies) .

We were then escorted to the fort by the police in our caravan. The welcome, that Chitradurga citizens gave had us all, spellbound to say the least. Garlands, media, crowd ..... oh! It was all happenning and faster than what one could take it in. The Chitradurga fort, stood majestic. It was apparently self sufficient in its days of yore and had withstood many attacks. We were also visually treated, to the acts of a dare devil, who went by the nick, Kothiraja. His exploits on embarking tall pillars and rocks, without any rig or support were commendable!!

Chitradurga Mint. On a rainy day, it is said even now people find gold here. Ah ... is this called, raining gold? ;-)

Ouch, The Obavva Kindi! The modern Obavva's manage pretty much with water bottles!!

A lunch, served by the townsfolk, dressed ethnically, by the lake side at Chandravali, was a welcome surprise. Rajasthani and Gujurati food ..... Awesome .....!

Our (test?) driver, continued his mindless assault on the roads, as we were sprinting way ahead of our convoy. Suddenly, the vehicle switched off ... on the move ....! It was the vehicle's way of resisiting any assault on it!! Neverthless, we were stranded and with us we brought the whole convoy to halt. The organisers had other plans already. We were split and asked to board vehicles which had vacant seats and we were resuming our journey towards ...... ThungaBadra dam. The plan was to witness sunset at that Vaykunta, the guesthouse that overlooks the TB dam. Fate, had other plans in mind and we were denied the same.

Sunset Point. Ah you fell for it? This is no sunset point and all ... ;-).

The next landmark in our landscape was Vittala Temple. The place was a marvel. The Archeological Survey of India, is doing a brilliant job of restoring the remains of the once marvellous empire. The illuminated pathway, was a brilliant contrast to the darkness that engulfed us. This temple, was very famous for its musical pillars. The pillars carved in stones, emnate the building blocks of Carnatic music, the jhal tarang, the ghattam , the bell and et all ........ The same material was used in all the pillars and it just goes about to show, the brilliance of the architects. The only difference was the space between pillars, the way they were cut and the distance to the main pillar .......! Brilliance ...... pillarified ...!

The Stone Chariot, Vitthala

The temple was being illuminated, specially! It was a sight to watch! Watch this ........

The Vitthala .. in its glory .....

Are you all done with admiring the picture above? No? Okie ... I ' ll give you some more time .....! :-)

The temple, in its days of yore had diamond stalls on the outside!! Also, outside there is a King's Balance. These folks always, traded in the name of the King and God. All the measurements were done in the King's balance, with God as witness, thereby ensuring no one cheated! Wow ........! In short they believed, " In god we trust, for all the rest, we use the King's Balance".

One more .. visual treat ....

You could get more about Hampi, from our prinicpal correspondant! Right ,, sush ......? ;-)

It was a wonderful experience. As we headed back, to Kamalapur, we already had a cultural programme awaiting us. This was followed by some rip roaring mimicry. Dinner was served and that was doubled with music for us as well .....! What more can we have asked for? The songs were just getting better. Before, Na .. could go on with her debut, "pehla nasha..." ,We were informed that the 11 30 curfew did not exist and just before we could savour it ... we had to leave........ as our accomodation was at a different location!! It was a pretty eventful day and every ounce (there are lots ...) of me could do with even some more .......:-) Oh .. what a day it was ..... :-)

Let's Rock Hampi - Part I

2006-11-06T14:53:00.000+05:30

It was a dull Tuesday morning, when I heard the question popped in the air. (Quite literally) . On any other day i would have switched channels and moved on .....! There was something about this contest...... that appealed to me. Something, that prompted me to go for it.

Was it because, i wanted a *break*? Was it because i knew i would make it? Was it because i had nothing much to do on a Tuesday morning? Huh? I guess ....... it was a combination of all these. Anyway, i gave it a shot.

Lo, in just a few minutes, i was on air and i won myself a pass for the 'Let's Rock Hampi' campaign. Little did i realize what was in store for me ..... then. I was just excited about this entire ...... trip!

Let’s crawl on Hosur road ......

2006-11-03T12:14:00.000+05:30

Leaving Ecity, a place we almost call home,
We head to Hosur road, ours to fume,
Steeped in jams, water clogs and time,
A cursed road ….. in its PRIME!!!

We’re crawling on the Highway,
We’re the IT caravan,
Mundhe nuggi saar,
We’re the IT caravan,
From aaga to eega,

Like a never ending saga,
Let’s crawl on Hosur road,
We’re the IT caravan,
We’re ……. The………….. IT……… caravan,

Silkboardu, the flyover stands tall,
Watch buses try in vain to scale and fall,
Jams wind like a snake,
And in its days of yore,
It has seen some sakkath,
Water clogging, jam and BORE!!!

“Comone everybody ……..*

We’re crawling on the Highway,
We’re the IT caravan,
Mundhe nuggi saar,
We’re the IT caravan,
From aaga to eega,
Like a never ending saga,
Let’s crawl on Hosur road,
We’re the IT caravan,
We’re ……. The………….. IT……… caravan

Hey, guys, on my trip to Hampi, i heard a song called, ‘Let’s Rock Hampi. On the same style and beat, I ve made this song. Apologies to Bangalore Walks band, Kini, Mani and Roopa /Arun Pai. I ve just shared the turmoil of a software Engineer on Hosur Road.

Everyone's Free .....

2006-10-17T09:06:00.000+05:30

Chanced upon a track by Baz Luhrmann, called "Everyone's Free - To Wear Sunscreen".

Ladies and Gentlemen of the class of '99.....Wear Sunscreen

If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience...

I will dispense this advice now.

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth;
Oh never mind; you will not understand the power of beauty of your youth until they have faded. But trust me, in 20 years you'll look back at the photos of yourself and recall in a way you can't grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked...

You're not as fat as you imagine.

Don't worry about the future;
or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubblegum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind; the kind that blindside you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday.

Do one thing everyday that scares you.

Sing.

Don't be reckless with other people's hearts, don't put up with people who are reckless with yours.

Floss
Don't waste your time on jealousy;
sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind...the race is long, and in the end, it's only with yourself.

Remember the compliments you receive, forget the insults; if you succeed in doing this, tell me how.

Keep your old love letters. Throw away your old bank statements.

Stretch

Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life... the most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives, some of the most interesting 40 year olds I know still don't.

Get plenty of calcium

Be kind to your knees, you'll miss them when they're gone.

Maybe you'll marry, maybe you won't, maybe you'll have children, maybe you won't, maybe you'll divorce at 40, maybe you'll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary...

Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself either- your choices are half chance, so are everybody else's.

Enjoy your body, use it every way you can... don't be afraid of it, or what other people think of it, it's the greatest instrument you'll ever own.

Dance... even if you have nowhere to do it but in your own living room.

Read the directions, even if you don't follow them.

Do not read beauty magazines, they will only make you feel ugly.

Get to know your parents, you never know when they'll be gone for good. Be nice to your siblings; they are the best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future. Understand that friends come and go, but for the precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle because the older you get, the more you need the people you knew when you were young.
(:-))

Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard.
Live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.

Travel

Accept certain inalienable truths, prices will rise, politicians will philander, you too will get old, and when you do you'll fantasize that when you were young prices were reasonable, politicians were noble and children respected their elders.

Respect your elders.

Don't expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund, maybe you have a wealthy spouse; but you never know when either one might run out.

Don't mess too much with your hair, or by the time it's 40, it will look 85.

Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia. Dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it's worth.

But trust me on the sunscreen...

The video of the song can be viewed here ....

Video Courtesy : You Tube

A neat one .. i must say ... ... :-)

Simmering beneath the ground .....

2006-10-16T11:05:00.000+05:30

Change, the universal truth is constant too!

What happens when this truth begins to experiment in a relationship? All of us, have a comfort zone and do not like to be miffed in that zone. The zone is where "you" are "YOU"! Most of us resist change, even though, sometimes that change is just for our betterment! We just want to be left the way we are .......

In one of our discussions, I remember Vasanth mentioning, "every individual is like a religion" . Pretty profound statement. Every individual has his/her own code of conduct. This conduct has evolved over time, based on the upbringing, culture, experiences that individual has been exposed to. What may be holy to some may be satanic to others. To make matters worse, there is no absolute of what's right or what's wrong! Whenever, one individual tries to manipulate others, in supporting his/her school of thought, there would be resistance.

Matters, which seem trivial on the exterior, sometimes, are the ones that cause devastating effects. When the individual is "driven" to change , he/she may not be able to reisist it instantly as there could be multiple layers of pressure on them. It could be peer pressure, attempt at sounding neanderthal, being conservative, being flamboyant, being brash ..... and so on .......... Though at that point the individual, seems to accept the situation, it has indeed scarred him/her. The individual already has begun to feel that he/she has "compromised" to a certain degree! Further acts .. of change would result in more scars and induce wounds on almost healed scars ....... Till the point that it is no longer acceptable by one of the individuals ........... and then ...... before you know it ........ the relationship begins to collapse. Soon, it's all over!

A discussion in time and identifying the changes that seem to be affecting a relationship .... and taking corrective action early on seems the only solution to it. If individuals 'agree to disagree' , it would solve most such issues. Simmering beneath the ground, change always exists in a molten state. It's upto the individuals to realize the same and plan accordingly.

On a day like .......

2006-10-10T10:00:00.000+05:30

A few days back, was probably my "bad" day! No, it was not "bad" like, "hey that movie is 'bad'" , but more of ..... "hey , this parachute dosen't seem to open up!" ... "OH THAT"S BAAAD".

Well, yeah like all good day's, that day too began well, and progressed to getting better, till i revved up my bike and picked up some pace. Cruised along Airport road, Inner ring road and lo .. there began a traffic jam. A good samaritan informed me the vehicle's back wheels' tyre was deflated. Now, that's bad! That's because, Hosur road, is hell for even the best of bikers and fittest of the bikes. My bike on the other hand ..... was crippled! Inflating, the tyres, seemed a hotfix and i carried on.

I wouldn't normally recommend biking on Hosur road (HR). Lorry and Bus drivers, consider HR as Suzuka during the testing weekend! They outsmart each other, find innovative means to drive, cause accidents, touch max speeds, check braking skills, slingshot, bring down barricades and pretty much do stuff, which would have disqualified them their licensce, if done during the test. (Or would it?! ) My friend had an interview appointment and thus, i had to bike.

All seemed well and good, till about quarter to four, when i left office heading towards HR. At the parking lot, the back tyre was flat! At my organisation, we boast of a self sufficient, Multi layer parking lot, whose air pump had to give way just that day! Pushing along, for another kilometer, I found a puncture repair shop in the service lane. After some examination and testing, the guy there came up with the theory that it was not a puncture, and i had parked the vehicle in the "heat'' (??!) for long! He also suggested, that i needn't change it right away! I tugged along joining the procession, on HR. Well, procession, that's how the traffic tugs along!

Just a few kilometers, on that road, the tyre gave way! On a National Highway, where people fly past, i was tugging a vehicle with a flat tyre! Luckily, i spotted , a petrol bunk where i thought i could just inflate it and continue along! That was not to be. The tube has given way and i was now forced to change it! One respite was a puncture shop close by. The owner of this puncture shop seemed a thug. He was looking around for cops and pushing a set of lorrt tyre (?) into his mini truck to be taken out! I had to get a new tyre. My bike was in its most vulnerable state, with a tyre removed and i was suppossed to get a tyre, leaving the bike with these thugs! Universe was having a blast that day! At my expense !

I had to get to the other side, of HR. Now, vehicles on HR do not show, any mercy to pedestrians. Once, you cross that road, you feel, you are the ONE! Well, that's how Neo should have felt when he dodged bullets! But, you do have a few vehicles, that speak to us in the same tone, Trinity, spoke to an Agent, "Dodge this ..... "! Well , nevertheless, with just my bike and its state, in mind, i wanted to get back ASAP . There was just one Hero Honda showroom! My luck seemed running out! My bike was a Bajaj! :-|. Also, i was out of cash and only my debit card to my rescue. The guy in the store seemed understanding and i was more than happy that they accepted the card. But his assistant din't. She seemed to have run out of paper roll for the card swiper! After 20 minutes, she managed to locate it! Damn! My mind, had all the worst case scenarios worked out ..... my bike wouldn't be there. It's all over kinds. Anyway, i rushed back. Yeah, my vehicle was there and the thug had stayed back to just fix my bike!

Then for the last of the surprises, the tyre sizes did not match! Although, this guy did manage to put accross the tyre finally! I tugged along joined the procession and reached home at 7 30 pm!

My friend's interview appointment had to be cancelled. Traffic jams. Tyre puntures. Sidy shop. Assistant running out of paper rolls. Hosur road. Misfit tyre ..... Could the day have been any better ......?

Atlas shrugged?

2006-09-29T14:05:00.000+05:30

Thurday's aren't days, one associates with fun. Generally. Even, if previously, I did have that impression about thursday, it turned out to be a myth.

On invitation from a friend of mine, I decided to join her in the Dandia celebrations hosted by her organisation. She had roped in quite a few of our friends too. Dance to me, is cricket to Michael Schumacher. Haven't i told you that i am the Emperor, of the Empire of two left legged? I haven't? Okie, that's me. For all those, who smirked, who do you think you are judging? Huh? :-)

The amphitheatre (?) where the event was hosted , contained (or did it? ;-)) a vibrant crowd. The event unleashed the "dancers" , who welcomed the break from rigmarole. The jockey manipulated the crowd to his whims and fancies, not that we begged to differ anyway! From the traditional Dandia numbers, there was a smooth(?) transition to Bollywood numbers, culminating with the disco dandia.

There was something about the atmosphere. It was charged up! The gang members were all crackers of enthusiasm. The music lasted long enough, the energy never seemed to die down. All this may a little too trivial to some of you guys who can 'groove'. To borrow, a cliche, "It may be small steps to you all, but its a gaint leap to me" . :-) . Ah, some gyrations i witnessed , yesterday, made me even forget " jhatkas" of Urmila. Yes, Urmila of Rangeela fame.

Overall, i relished every moment. Thanks to the gang , i had joined up with. Oh, by the way if you guys experienced some mild tremors in and around Bangalore, between 7 - 9 pm yesterday, I take responsibility for the same. :-) .

Valuable lessons, I learnt yesterday.

a) Anyone can dance. The emperor, says so. Trust him!
b) All they need is a conducive environment. :-)
c) When it rains, it pours.
d) Thursday's aren't that bad, after all.

Lage Raho ....

2006-09-12T08:24:00.000+05:30

A simple story. The protagonist , inspired by the Mahatma, experiences hallucinations. Unaware, that he is hallucianting, he feels, he can communicate with the Mahatma. The inspiration, he has drawn from the man, makes him impart this to the rest.

The message in the movie, was not like a sugar coated bitter pill, but more of a sugar coated calcium tablet, with loads of chocolate layers in between. The movie does not preach, but just reminds us of the values , that we must not have forgotten in the first place. The director, has indeed taken a big risk, in casting Gandhi as one of the characters around whom the movie revolves. The movie, is clean. It is a thorough entertainer. The chemistry amongst characters, the dialogue delivery, the screen play ........ it's composed of the right ingredients, to make a thoroughly lovable movie.

This is a movie, that kind of makes you ponder about this enigma called Gandhi. Will Gandhiism actually work, in today's world that is strewn with violence? Was there a clear cut understanding of what was Gandhiism? Or was Gandhiism, just a collection of *best practices* from the religious scriptures, and epics? Was the Satyagraha, a passive means to solicit victory? Was he a lateral thinker amongst his contemporaries, that he devised a means that was unthinkable as a path to victory? Is tolerance, an act of bravery? Is n't Honesty, giving up your right to be a survivor? The protagonist, in real life, being embroiled in a controversy, that aimed to destroy the very fabric the Mahatma, intended others to adorn? An irony?

Ah, this movie makes you think, albeit subtely. "Lage Raho Munnabhai" ............ the title seems to be a stab at "Lage Raho 'Insert your Name Here' " ......to the values that were once *noble* and now ..... out of vogue..........

Saas Bahu??!

2006-08-24T09:54:00.000+05:30

What do you want to hear first? Good news or Bad news?

Time's running out ............! Okie .... I ve made up my mind ......

The bad news ........

I watched the movie KANK, last weekend!

I pause ......so that you all could heave a collective SIGH.

You, the one who is so shocked at the statement above, i am talking to you. I did not say, "I trained Schumi to drive"! Stop giving that look!

Maybe some of you all could take time and advise me that I shouldn't have watched it in the first place. Those of you all, who advised me strongly not to watch this movie, from across the world, I know i let you all down! Sorry! Yes, I was abducted by a group of die hard Abhishek Bachhan fans! Yes, they screamed when John Abraham made an appearance on screen too! Yes, yes for once ................I felt i was subdued, i watched the movie without creating a ruckus. I couldn't join the gang!

Yes, now the good news, this is not a review of the film!

Okie, stop the hoorays! It's okie ....! :-)

This is about a couple i saw at the ticket counter. Two women aged about 50 and 65. The elderly amongst them, was waiting out of line. The woman in line, seemed enthusiatic and could beat all the college students in line before her, hands down with her enthusiasm !

She seems to be totally excited and kept conversing to .....

She: Is this for counter for 11 15 AM show?
Me : Yes.
She : 2 15 shows and evening shows sold out eh?
me : Yes, they are ......
(She Talking to the elderly person (EP))
She : Everyone, says the movie is just okie... .. but we need to see for ourselves .. naah ma?
EP smiles .
(To me)
She : This is my mother in law.
(An affectionate smile)
(To the guy in the counter)
She : Two balcony tickets please. How much? 100 each eh?

Ah ........ I thought!

Wow, Saas Bahu ........! Ekta Kapoor, better re- invent herself ....!

Seasons .....

2006-08-08T15:23:00.000+05:30

It's spring!
In the lives of some people i know .....

Upbeat, bright and filled with life !
They are so looking forward to the summer ahead!

It's Summer
In the lives of some people i know .....

The brightness, is welcome. Sometimes, the humidity joins hands and results in sultry conditions ! Nevertheless, its great to bask in it!

But, somewhere ..... they just want a change! Rain perhaps .....

It's rainy
In the lives of some people i know .....

From, drops of it,which they relished, till the point, it'ss almost drowning them ...! They aren't enjoying it anymore! It's pouring ....!

Oh, enough of all this rain ......... they claim!

It's autumn
In the lives of some people i know .....

Downbeat, and demotivated. They just need a new lease of life !

It's Winter
In the lives of some people i know .....

Cold, chilling and bitter, are their stories at this point!
They seem to be in constant search for something! Warmth, perhaps!

Thus, time moves, like a windshield on a bug, i read somewhere. True, perhaps! Hopefully, this Season of life, is better for these folks!

Random?

2006-08-02T14:10:00.000+05:30

Why?

Is there a pattern that universe follows?

Or is it random?

Or ............. is randomness a pattern by itself?

Frozen .....

2006-07-17T11:03:00.000+05:30

Frozen ......! There, a moment captured ! Though, insignificant at that point ... frozen moments can make time travel a reality. Transported magically , to the point when this moment was captured ....... one has an oppurtunity to ...... live ..... them again .......!

Chaos in tranquility.

A second chance to live.....

A new beginning......

A weird moment. ;-) Serve and Volley.

A moment to reclaim .....

Transitition .....

Does dusk indicate the gloom at the end of a day .... or is it the phase before beginning of another, probably better day?

A moment to celebrate ....

A moment to cherish .....

A moment to scale ....

A moment to ..... awe!

William Wordsworth, rightly said in his poem Daffodils,

"In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils. "

I guess, that holds good for these frozen moments as well ......

100 ....

2006-07-12T09:58:00.000+05:30

Dictionary defines,

Scintillations (n) : rapid change in brightness; a brief spark or flash

Life ....... is a journey. In this journey you do come across, a host of individuals, some make a mark, some fade away ............. Experiences, some good, some bad ...... and some just nostalgic. Events, some great, some good and ....... some you just wish ... you hadn't been there. Encounters, some welcome, some ...... not so and the rest ...... you just wonder ... if life's playing a cruel joke!

Thus, if life were a starry sky, all the above mentioned would definitely be responsible for the scintillations in them! Hence, the name of this blog. My life's scintillations .......... are the one's spoken about in this blogspace!

Scintillations has registered, the moments of mine that cover the entire spectra of emotions i.e. venting out my frustration, interesting encounters, ah......, take a stab, take a stand, nostalgia, On a High, life's melody , a travelogue and .......a record of individuals who made a mark.

This blogspace has also bought about a few of them closer too. I' ve made a lot aquaintances and a few friends through this space. Scintillations would continue, to be a prism through which i look at life. The image is refracted for sure ............. but hey, it does produce a spectrum! :-)

PS: 100 posts till date ....! ;-). Many sure to follow!

Migration ....

2006-06-30T13:53:00.000+05:30

Today, it seems as though it is the day of MIGRATION!

Quite a few of them i know are reloicating today.

Divs, a good friend of mine is leaving this weekend. She's somone, with wit and humor in abundance.Most of the conversations we have had can be featured on Humor sections of most publications! The fights, the arguments, the wierd talk (not a typo ... it is that weird :-)) ...................ah ....... she will be missed!

Chitra, another of the rare kind of buddies ..... is relocating too, although for a brief while (?!). An avid blogger, she is spontaneous by nature. Opinionated, strangely funny and humorous, she possess most of the ingredients that would be needed to make a good friend!

A couple of aquaintances are leaving on assignments, this weekend too.

Another, is quitting the firm we work for , and moving on.

It's Migration ..... indeed!

Life is short .....

2006-06-20T14:19:00.000+05:30

A few month's back, a popular south indian festival was the day I met this girl. It was a bad day at work, I was just planning for a quiet journey back home. I was not too keen to have a conversation that day. That's when she came in .........

She : Hai!
Me : Hai ......
She : So ....?
Me : ??
She : It's a long journey back and i don't like to go back "quiet"!
Me : Oh ....
She : Have you ever wondered .... all the leaders who have visited here have planted trees?
Me : Yeah ... so?
She : Bill Gates has planted a Bonsaii plant though!!
She : He he he
Me : ???
She : Well, for his empire he should have planted Bamboo or something!! Grows fast, don't ya think?
Me : Hmm...........
She : Oh, when exactly do you "experienced" folks stop appreciating humor ......

Well, that was the first meet .........

Another ...

She : You are not a part of the Quiz club?
Me : No?
She : Oh, you the experienced guy who is just on the call with Onsite all the time?

Well, i was a bit taken aback by the audacity of somone who is just an aquaintance. But somewhere .......... there ....... she had a point ...! I have met her quite a few occassions and the conversations have been quite diverse. From music to recruitment drives, from traffic flows to conspiracy theories, from Beethoven to plagiarism in music industry, from "work" to "life" ........ whetever be the topic, here was a girl who was filled with life ......and had boundless energy! To, a certain level where ......... it was just ......... contagious! It was almost two weeks since i had met her ...... I recieved a mail, from the ToastMaster's Club, in my Organisation ......

An excerpt

“Life is either a daring adventure or nothing”. Well that’s exactly how it should be. One long and adventurous journey where every moment was lived to its fullest. And that once you leave there are NO REGRETS. The more difficult is the challenge, the sweeter are the rewards. It’s the thrill of rising up to the challenge and beating it in its face that becomes the prize. It’s overcoming your fear and then beating then all together. And that feeling that moment is what redefines a person. To me this moment of truth was when I was in the cockpit of a glider, airborne for the very first time. And by the time successfully completed that first sortie of mine, Ladies and gentlemen, I was a changed person.

- Shweta Jha

The 149^th Meeting of the Infosys Toastmasters Club is dedicated to the Memory of Shweta Jha. We invite everyone who has known Shweta Jha to attend this Meeting and share your experiences. "

Surprised at the way in which the invite was drafted,(mentioning an excerpt from her), I mail her. There is no response .........! Slightly concerned .....I call up a common friend .... who confirmed the news that on June 10, when off to a project party, to Shivanasamudram, she had slipped from the rocks and had lost her life .........!!

Life .......... is indeed short! It sure is!

May her soul rest in peace!!

Shaadi se pehle .....

2006-06-19T12:32:00.000+05:30

Yeah, yeah ..... for all those who are wondering, whether, this post is a review of the movie with the same name, do not panic, this isn't ! Also, that movie did not deserve,a review is an aside!! This post is about, ad's , some select matrimonial ads ......... and the broad category they can be classified under .....

No changes have been made to the content taken from the site, names have been changed to protect identities. ">>" are comments/clarifications/doubts that occurred to me when I read these .......

1) "Crystal" and "Opinionated":

About our daughter:

Our daughter is very fair, 5 feet 6 inches tall and possesses very warm qualities. She is a certified health specialist and we definitely prefer her partner to hail from a medical profession- MBBS, MD or surgeons. She is currently pursuing her degree in alternative medicine (N. D. ) that would give her the initials of a traditional naturopathic doctor. Her accomplishments are endless and to know more, please contact us. She is easy-going, moderately religious, ambitious, family-oriented and an open minded girl with a calm nature. If you would like to know more, please contact us so that we can pursue further.

About the partner we are looking for:

The boy should be fair (Very fair a plus!), handsome and should possess warm qualities. Though we prefer hyderabad based families, we are also open to proposals from families based abroad whose origin should be either from New Delhi, Karnataka and Maharashtra. We are seriously considering doctors from Hyderabad. Please reach us through our contact information below with at least two pictures and biodata.

About us:

We are a respectable hyderabadi family, well-settled in ABS.

>> Very fair a plus??! Okie ... how is this "very fair" determined?

2) I-know-who-I-am-and-i-know-what-i-want:

See can really write a lot but there is no point. cause irrespective of what i have in me or think of me and whatever i am looking for in a person i would want to get married to,the most important thing is that vibes should match. compatibility has to be there. selfless care and concern with immense respect and complete faith. is what will result into a valid, smooth and may be beautiful companionship.by anychance we click and decide to spend our lives together we will certainly take care of each others families interest and not just care for each other but care for each others situations as well as i hear from my elders that marriages are not between two individuals but two situations,,,, two families. all we can do is deal with each others situation gracefully and honestly

>> Am I Frank enough?

3) i-want..........:

Hi my name is XYZ, i m a rajput and working in call center in dehli.I love listening to music and indain army.My father was an army personal and my elder brother he is in army .I m lookin for an army officer with good personality.Moreover an honest person with kind heart.

I m afun loving person enjoy life as it comes to me confident whatever i do like freaking out with freids but love my family alot.wants to contact me then send mail.

>> It's time somone started a matrimonial site where spell check was free!

4) Understand-who?:

looking for smart partner age between 23-25 yrs. should understand me and my family both.

>> Okie!

5) Resume - matrimonal-ad:

Iam native of Andhra Pradesh and settled in Mumbai.I have completed Btech computer science and Engineering.I am working in MNC in Mumbai since 7 years. In these 7 years i went to US on deputation for 3 years 3 times.I worked for telecom,oracle apps etc.Currently iam working in Telecom.Also,planning to travel to US this year end with H1B.Father is retired executive officer.Mother house wife.I have 1 elder sister and 2 elder brothers.

>> In response to your ad placed in Times Ascent .... i would like to enclose my matrimonial ad ........ Nice try, if not the alliance, a job is for sure!

6) Brief :

i want a smart and a person with a good sense of humour.for a journalist like me

>> I am sure, this journalist works on the "snippets" column!

7) Do you get confused easily? :

I was interested in married that boy and it was lovable boy like hindu so you will require to love me.

>> No comments!

8) Global :

I am a 31yr.MD,never married, ht.5'6", slim, tall, athletic,Indian-brahmin,raised in US. Looking for a Professional, 5'8" or taller, good family values,East&West mix, interested in:Indian,or North or South American or European, or Oriental. Religion,caste no bar.

>> Can somone ever reject such a global citizen?

9) The Regular:

Hi! its noneotherthan DBG KKK here.well i have completed graduation n waiting for my result of B.Ed. i follow simple living high thinking. I m looking for a kayastha guy who is smart,self dependable qualified n must b frm well reputed family.

>> None other than?!

10) Simple:

hai this is XTR YUS i am looking for good person handsome well educated and understanding . my self i am good looking girl .

>> Any questions, anyone??

Leveller .....

2006-06-13T11:44:00.000+05:30

Airport Road, Bangalore. This picture should go down in history. Wonder, when this was taken, because not even at midnight you would be assured of such a shot, offlate in Airport Road. Intel, Huawei, Sykes, Ness, HAL,Reuters,NAL,Texas Instrumentation...... work out of offices along this road, resulting in bumper to bumper traffic. Do these trees still exist there?

Ah, if Airport Road were a star , welcome to its galaxy. Hosur road. Electronic City the hub of IT firms lies along this road. Needless, to explain more, picture is worth .... a million words. No exaggeration or picture manipulation. This is the case, somedays.

Well, i did not get suitable pictures for quite some other junctions that face heavy traffic. Considering the "roles" they play in lives of folks who commute using them , they can not go unmentioned!

Marathahalli Bridge : Would soon enter the record books. It s a 700 metres stretch, but a nerve centre as it connects routes that have increased traffic flows.

Jam Factory : Ah... whoever named that ...... is definitely a visionary.

Yeah, the city's infrastructure is being tested. There are projects that are being undertaken to address these issues. Anyway, we do spend a significant part of our lives commuting! As goes this cartoon ......

Source : http://www.geocities.com/nkiruthikkumar/img/bangalore-traffic-2.gif

Source : http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v292/arjunprabhu/etc/HosurRoad004_t.jpg

James Shirley, in one of his poetic works claims, Death is a leveller. Well, Shirley, guess what, these traffic jams are levellers in their own rights too. Just take a stroll along these junctions i have mentioned, and you would see that for yourself!

Update : The link now points to the poem I mentioned !

Big Fish - Review

2006-06-12T11:40:00.000+05:30

Big Fish, would undoubtedly be, one of my all time favourite films! This movie was released in the year 2003.

This movie explores the relationship of a dad and son who have fallen apart. The father is an extremly creative story teller, but his stories are slightly more on an exaggerated scale! His stories are interesting and people awe at his skills, at story telling. The son, who apparently relished these stories as a child, finds them, ridiculous and insane at this point of time! He falls out with his father, as he feels, all his father can come up with are stories, which are far from reality!

His dad's stories include a village where people were always happy, meeting a 14 foot giant, a manager of a circus who changed to a "fox" at night times, catching a BIG FISH alone ..... .and so on ........ (Described visually to great detail..... Tim Bourton captures all this beautifully .....)

The son comes down, to see his ailing father, and refuses to change his opinion about his dad, as his dad just wont stop those stories or accepting that the stories are "exaggerated". His father passes away, with the son still holding, all the stories his dad had told him as figments of his father's imagination!!

Well...... thats when the plot takes an interesting twist. All the characters, that his dad had talked about, in his stories ,actually turn up to the funeral! It's overwhelming, for the son, who did not "believe" his dad, all the while, when all the time he had been just speaking the truth!

Now if you are actually wondering,why a review of a movie that was released long back, well, its an awesome and must watch movie. A worthy addition to your DVD collection. Worth a watch, its a movie that will strike a chord for sure!

Orku(l)t!

2006-06-07T08:50:00.000+05:30

Yeah, from quite sometime, have been smitten by the work bug and hence the irregularity in the updation of this blog. From the drafts ...........

So, the prayers of all the single, jobless, "so want to be there" ..... cult is answered. Orkut, the "network" powered by Google has arrived. With 20,053,714 , the list just keeps growing! Yes, the scrap book is just another "open source" , giving others .....a peek view to what's hapenning in one's life!

The fact about being in that community is, it gives you a sense of belonging! Well, it makes you feel better. You probably thought there were very few folks who liked Sudoku, or the driving skills of Kimi, or believed Bangalore is Haven, or felt one should, "Ganchali Bidu, Kannada mathadu", or relished Jazz, or liked Curd rice and pickles, or were jingoistic, or adored a language ....... the list goes on! You are wrong! Orkut, also goes out of its way to prove the fact, you aren't the only jobless one around!

Oh, and the "Recently Visited" feature, was just thrown open the day i had visited the profile of an aquaintance, whom i had distanced quite sometime ago! So, much for luck because that person felt i was trying to get back!!

We were talking of jobless folks out there. One of the members of this community scraps another colleague of mine, "Hey ..... Did you visit my profile?".

Whoa! I am feeling much better. I am not that jobless as that "scrapper" atleast!! So, whats your Orkut Id? Er ....... I would be relatively free in the days to come !! I promise, i wont ask, "Hey ..... Did you visit my profile?" :D

Hearsay ......

2006-05-24T15:14:00.000+05:30

Mahabharat, an epic 1300 verses, 2109 chapters and eighteen divisions measures up as one of the greatest epics. This epic has been translated to many languages and indeed a source of inspiration to many .......

The hearsay , I encountered had a reference to an instance from this epic, when it were being staged in a junior school.

The scene that was being enacted was the one in which Dushasana humiliates Draupadi. The scene was perfomed by a group of guys in their middle school. In the play, Draupadi's evokes Krishna's blessings to overcome the humiliation. Lord Krishna comes to her rescue by handing over an endless garment , thus avoiding the humiliation, she otherwise would have had to undergo.

When this scene was being perfomed on stage, the guy playing the part of Dushasana got a bit overzealous and tugged on the garment , "Draupadi" had adorned. The tugging gave way and the garment fell loose. In what could have turned out as a panic situation, the guy who played "Draupadi" just held his nerve. He was up on stage with quite a lot of people watching the play and to his shock .. the "saree" he was in was off .. thanks to the over zealous "Dushasana". That's when this "draupadi" , displays his "spontaneous" side.

Looking up , he apparently said .... " Hey Krishna, I just asked you for more of a garment, and you ....... you ..... to save me from all this humiliation have changed my gender itself!!! Thank You .. Lord ... Thank you!! "

Apparently the applause did 'nt die down for quite a while ......... :-)

Heights ...... - Part III

2006-05-19T12:10:00.000+05:30

The previous night we visited Triveni Sangam, a place where three rivers met.

Early the next day was reserved for a visit to a park that goes by the name of "Raja's Seat" translated means "King's Seat". Well, I enquired about it and discovered it was "park" and in yester years king's used to visit this place at leisure. The view from this place, which is quite elevated is like this ............

and this ............

It was time to visit some popular tourist sites. On our way we found a tusker relishing his meal.
We were off to a place called "Dubare". A place where one can cool his heels in water and take on elephant rides. DUBARE is an island that can be commuted by boat or one can use a pathway and commute by foot. We chose the boat ride one way and walked back the opposite side.

Travel by boat ............

Beat the Summer heat .........

The floral side of Dubare ......

Relaxed in the water for sometime and we were off to the Tibetean Monastery at Kushalanagar.

The Monastery ........

On the inside .......

Paintings that adorn the walls ......

Their music .........

The towering Buddha stands at 60 feet and the temple is called popularly as the Golden Temple. With this, our trip to Coorg was coming to an end. Now, it was back to Bangalore. On the way we visited the Nimishamba temple, off Mysore Bangalore Highway.

As we were heading back , we encountered a huge pile up of traffic. Ah ..... reality creeps in!

This trip has given me some fond memories. Somewhere , all these memories are etched in the most indelible state of my mind ....... Somewhere ......... the term "Coorg" would no longer just evoke " a place I've heard off "feeling , it would infact evoke, "Oh ... I ve been there and it was awesome" feeling. It was a memorable trip and yeah due credits to all the folks who just let it be that way. :-)

Heights ...... - Part II

2006-05-18T17:42:00.000+05:30

Coorg,The Scotland of India. Er ..... it should actually read, Scotland, Coorg to Rest of the World. :-) A town that wakes up to mist most times of the year, except when rain god decides to flex his muscles. A laidback town in South Karnataka. Coffee plantations seem to be the predominant occupation , whereas honey processing and small enterprises that deal with food processing that work out of home seem to be the alternate choices. Er .. to stop this being a documentary........ For more details please visit this site.

Tourism seems to be another occupation here and we had no problems with the accomodation. We stayed in a house that was owned by Sumi and Venu Ponappa. Their kids seems to like the attention we were giving them. Ashiqa Bhojamma and Shreyas were their names! They had a neat little garden and the house overlooked the peaks. We heard a trivia that people in that region are given two names each! :o

About 9 am we began our journey to the base of Tadiyandamol, until which the path is motorable. We had hired a "guide" to this trek on the advise of the folks out there, that we may probably loose our way out there. Our guide seemed to have information only about the peak and no other place within Coorg. Thus , after a small amount of "misguiding" by him we were off track by 12 kms. Reiterating our path, we were back to the base by 11 30 am. Oh, all that misguding was when were in the luxury of our vehicle. Luckily. :D

and then .....we started .........

Our fears that the weather would be a spoil sport , turned out to be just a latent one. The weather was all for us to go ahead and conquer this peak. Oh, is that a tad too bold? Never mind! ;-). Narrow, constricted pathways filled with lush greenery was how the path could best be described.

The path was quite steep and jagged all the way to the top.

We were just walking along the pathway when our guide mentioned that what stood before us was the peak we were to conquer ;-). The sight was just stunning. The mist cleared, making way for us to see the peak we were to climb. This ladies and gentlemen is Tadiyandamol a 1750 metres high peak.

The path along which we scaled seemed to be covered with jagged igneous rocks all the way. The sight was stunning. Mist covers you all the way and the weather is just awesome!! Well from this point it was tiring as we were to trek the steepest incline of this peak. With the reserves of our energies running low, the trek was getting a tad strenous. Oh, wanted to quit at that point . Well, just rubbished that thought aside and decided to move on!!

Then, it hapenned. We were there on top. That was "Heights"! A view from the top!! WHOA! What a feeling it were. The peak conquered. The feeling of making it, despite all the desires to quit, is indeed nice . The catch remains in just covering a small step at a time and not worrying about the big picture! Yeah .. words of wisdom from somone who has been there and done that! :D . Ah ,..... thanks for all the applause! :D

A sumptuous meal at the top. WHOA! We were hungry and the food was just delicious. Relished the meal. Well, after spending some more time on the peak, it was time to move down.

A few of them decided to get down quite earlier than the rest. No issues, but then the guide was with them. Me, Kethan, Kiran and Chitra were the slow coaches. As we kept moving slowly, we realized at a certain point, that we were probably "not" in the right path. A call to laksh's mobile was futile as she had carefully left her mobile with me!! Oh, that was a wonderful moment. In Coorg, lost in a forest during the trek and no source to contact the rest, even when we had mobiles and the range. As, Kiran and chitra kept searching for alternative paths, I wondered what our options were. Maybe we could scale back the peak as that was the only "landmark" around!!

The train of thoughts were broken, by Chitra who discovered one of the paths, was the one we should be taking and that luckily turned out right! Thus, we rejoined our group who seemed to be having fun at a water body!!

The trek was tiring, hectic (maybe coz I am a first timer), gruelling at times. But if i din't have fun at this trek, then I never have had fun!! :D

Now ...... in an example to show what soaps have done to Indian audience .. i would say .................

To be continued .... ;-)

Heights ...... - Part I

2006-05-15T09:54:00.000+05:30

Weekends are generally reserved for ..... chilling, relaxing and just lazing around. Ah .... not all of them though! So, this weekend was reserved for a trek at Tadiyandamol.

Coorg, the land of coffee, scenic beauty and picturesque landscapes. A place where one can find himself on cloud no 9, romance nature and awe at its beauty. Mystic streams, lush greeneries, igneous rocks, jagged pathways, mist and greenery complete a brief introduction to this haven.

On friday evening, we left Bangalore, away for a break, away from traffic and all the commotion. It was a gang of seven of us. Faces were put to the email id's and names I had only heard about. The gang explained not in any particular order,

Lakshmi : Casual and fun element of the group.
Kethan : Die hard kannada music fan ( "Excuse Me", "Neene Neene", "Yello Jogapa Ninna...")
easily provoked. Fun, nevertheless. We learn everything from everyone, isnt it? Did somone say, "Yes, Sir?" ;-)
Aparna : The "silent" observer.
Chitra : Seasoned. You can know, more about her, here.
Shub : Was one of the reasons we had a fabulous fun filled trip and returned back with "memories" captured with a 12X optical zoom camera ;-)
Kiran : A friend, a philosopher and guide.
( Huh???! ;-). Not necessarily in that order. I know all the rest are going to kill me for being so kind to him, But then ..........)

Ofcourse me : Not much to say, just the quiet one!

Who was that??! Who was the one who smirked now???! :O. Humility is my middle name, I hope you all know that by now!! (:D)

The moment we all met at Laksh's place itself I got a feeler that the trip is going to be fun.
It started with Shub askin me a question, " Do you know who I am?" , After 12 years I knew Kiran and Shub being the only new guy entrant .......er... it was just not that difficult to guess! :D

So we moved .. narrating one fun story after another. Oh yeah ..... Coorg was calling and how could we let our number be engaged? ;-)

Morning ...... with a misty carpet .... Coorg welcomed us.

She seemed happy to see us ....... Infact we were recieved with flowers too ...

and this .......

and this ........

With such a lavish invitation ..... I knew this was going to be a memorable trip ........

PS : A lot of memories in this trip and hence the Memoirs are going to be in 3 parts.

It was one of the days ....

2006-05-03T14:21:00.000+05:30

It was one of those days,
One of those days when I was just lost in thought,
One of those days when I was so fixated,
When you offered a contrast to it!!

It was one of those days,
One of those days when I saw tears roll down,
One of those days when I was emotional,
When, somewhere, you were the reason for it too !!

It was one of those days,
One of those days when I was searching for words,
One of those days when I was speechless,
When, you were just the cause for it!!!

It was one of those days,
One of those days when I wanted to share my happiness,
One of those days when I was jubilant,
When, you weren’t there where I wanted you too ;-)!

It was one of those days,
One of those days when I was in a mood to argue,
One of those days when I was at my sarcastic best,
When, you were offering your views!!

It was one of those days,
One of those days when I was so excited,
One of those days when even I believed in divine intervention,

When, you just accepted!!

It was one of those days,
One of those days when I was just being me,
One of those days when I just belong here,

When, you just understood!!

Now,
Its one of the days,
One of the days when I want to say,

One of the days when I feel like proclaiming …………. Ah … of course you know what, don’t you? ;-)

- An amateur poet

Parts of Speech

2006-05-03T09:40:00.000+05:30

J U M P
GUN

----------------------
READING
----------------------

AMBECADNEIFNGG

Confused? No, this is no test. The above are

a) Jumping the Gun
b) Reading Between Lines
c) Hidden Meaning (Read alternate letters)

Well, we have all studied, "Parts of Speech", well here are some idioms which are very much a "Part of Speech" ! They are lethal too, and sometimes can suprise the individuals these are directed at.

Huh? Why are you looking so dazed ? ;-)

Contented?

2006-04-26T15:01:00.000+05:30

Each one of us have our priorities at different points of time. Contentment is closely linked to the same.

Searching for bright stones, amidst the vast desert, assuming that all those bright stones are gems, we sometimes loose the diamonds we already possessed!!

Disclaimer : The above picture was published with no intent of any monetary gain . ;-)

Miss Life

2006-04-21T11:28:00.000+05:30

Life's lessons.

We have many teachers. But amongst all of those, probably the most influential one would be, Life. Here's is a few, that she taught me!

Statutory Warning : Incoherent thoughts ahead. Reader discretion advised.

a) When, you feel this is the worst that could happen to you, you are wrong. There could be things far worse.
b) When, you feel this is the best that could happen to you, you are wrong again. There could be things far better.
c) Sometimes, the acts which caused immense pain, to you,like this, can bring a smile when recollected.
d) Sometimes, life can just be too kind!!
e) Sometimes confusions are good!
f) Following the traffic rules can get you bumped by a car behind.
g) Majority need not be right!
h) You can never wipe the slate clean. Sometimes there are just visible marks on it, or worse, scars on the board.
i) The most entertaining, gripping, comical play you could ever watch would be titled , " Life".
j) Anonyomity is not a hindarance to bonding.
k) Life is a theatre, but you need to switch on the lights, move the screens and invite your audience.
l) Your instincts need'nt be right.
m) Sometimes you could just be "stuck in reverse" ( Okie, I like Cold Play's "Fix you" track :-))
n) Your views and opinions season.
o) Sometimes you may have just missed the point.
p) You are better off being on your own, than changing yourself for someone else!
q) Some folks can be the "solitary reapers" and some the "daffodils".
r) You can make a difference.
s) Corporate ladders are a cliche'. Escalators and lifts are in!
u) Some movies are just not worth your money, when some are just priceless.
v) Sometimes you need a Redo, Undo, Cut, Copy, Paste, Refresh icons to your application called Life.
w) If you don't, laugh at yourself, you are just letting others do that job.
x) Change is good.
y) There is nothing called , free food.
z) Sometimes, you just overlook. Opportunity, flaws, strengths et al.

PS : There was no 't' bullet, in this list. Did you notice that when you read first time? ;-). Aha ... there .. I just proved my last point!

Lance Jay's Expedition.

2006-04-07T13:28:00.000+06:00

In news, Sujee, a friend of mine flew down from US marking the completion of his business trip. Speaking of Sujee, transports me back to that time ..........till that time my left foot hurts .....! Okie .. now go on .... read further to know what hapenned ....!

Once upon a time, in the pre IT boom era of medieval Bangalore , a new bicycle was launched. Bicycles ..er ....bikes as they were called ........were the in stuffs then. Street Cat, a 'bike' that had a funky seat and slick tyres. When, Street Cat was a rage, the world was wondering..... *exaggeration* that was the best 'biking' could get for a while........... and then Atlas Rebel was launched. Robust, rugged and tough .. this was one hell of a 'bike'. Sujee, one of the early birds, was a proud owner of this 'mean machine' .... er .... yeah that was in Std VII, now what was that smirk for??? ;-)

Anyway, the bike was delivered to his residence and he was all excited. Yes, we had to go on a ride on our respective bikes. When 'Tour de Tippasandra' , comes calling can Lance Jay be far away? Huh? *Any smirks on my name being derived from the legend is uncalled far* Oh, that reminds me ......at that point , before placing my order for a new bike, I had a "Raleigh" bicycle. No, it was not a bike!! It was a bicycle, what my grand dad had purchased for Rs.98 long back. Yes, i chose to ride that 'bicycle' and yes we were 'paralleling' ( thats bike speak for going parallel on on a busy road ;-)). It was a steep down and we guys were crusing along. Rebel was gliding along smoothly, when .... I had to do some additional work to keep my Raleigh in parallel.

At a certain point ...... I could sense a eerie silence but an expression of shock in Sujee's countenance. As i traced what he was looking at, i realized something startling ........ the brake shoes of the back wheel ....were just dangling . One look at them , seemed they were mocking at me !! In despair, i try the front wheel brakes, hoping for some support! No .... I guess fate had other plans ........... there were no brake shoes in the first place!

Survival, being the most basic instinct, kicked in .....! Sujee moved to my right, a human shield, to avoid me being exposed directly to the traffic. It's good to have friends. :-) I had to come to a crash halt and i had to evaluate my options soon. I was gathering more pace as the gradient was tilting to the higher side. I had a few options , each one of them measured up as the deep blue sea to the other devil. There we remnants of a borewell, a set of logs and a sand heap near a construction site. Borewells and logs seemed a higher risk and the sand heap seemed the safest. I navigated , used my foot to reduce some pace and directed the bicycle towards the sand heap. THUD!!! The contact with the heap jolted me right from the vehicle and i was hurled to some distance, as i just shielded my cranial section to avoid any concussions!! THUD!! It took some time to come in grips with the situation and as i just managed to get back on foot, i retraced my path back to the crash site. I was still wondering, how a sand heap could inflict such damage ...! The crash site , had an indication that what lay there was my bicycle and as i carefully noticed, the heap was not a sand heap at all! It was hardened concrete!! Some, good samaritan had covered it with sand!I wondered what his(/her) intention, could have been, behind such an altruitsic gesture!!Let me guess ..... maybe it was a ploy to trick desperate "crash site hunting cyclist(s)" aka me!!! The borewell or the logs would have been a much better option! Heck, even the traffic wouldn't have hurt this much!!

As i was walking back home that day..... just one thought lingered .... if I could just meet that good samaritan ...........!

A picture is worth ......

2006-03-31T14:00:00.000+06:00

Is it vast expanse called the sky,

Is it the rythmic (?!) splashing of waves,

Is it the beauty of sunset,

Is this the marvel, nature,

The serenity in chaos………

The simplicity of it all ……..

Who ever said “a picture is worth a million words” was wrong. This picture leaves me speechless! . Yeah … speechless coz , more than a million words that I want to say at the same time … at the same time!! Sometimes .. you remain silent , not because you dont have anything to say ...... you probably have too much to.......

Confuse(d)(ing)?

2006-03-23T11:07:00.000+06:00

Oh Bard of Avon, you have some serious competition!! Hamlet, the character you gave life too, did not face a dilemma as great as what some others, I know do!!

Blood is thicker than Cola ......

2006-03-22T14:49:00.000+06:00

Abishek Bacchan. Yeah, the same guy who featured in the Go Fida campaign. Yeah, the same who has had an awesome 2k5!! Okie ... now have you girls stopped *drooling*!! Okie ... stop the screams too. Ah ..... silence at last. Thank you!!!

Economic times in its Snippets section reports, that Abishek, aka Chote Sarkar turned down a lucrative offer from a Cola company to participate in their advertising campaign!! Well, the reason is rumored to be that his father, apparently endorses a rival cola brand !! Wow ... blood is thicker than Cola??!

But ..........but ........... what happens now??! The 'mistress of spices' endorses the cola brand that Abishek turned down! Yeah, and that happens to be the 'rival' company too! The ironies of Life ......! ;-)

For the uninitiated ........

2006-03-20T10:32:00.000+06:00

Sometimes, work can do "wonders" to your system. Weekend's , all for yourself, become a luxury. Stresses and deadlines can be the way of life ... and can results in conversations which sound like the one featured in this post ....

Well , what do you think the converstion, would be like when stressed Divs, meets Jay who seems to be enjoying his weekend? An excerpt .... ;-)

D : Hey Jay, whats up?
J : Hey Divs! How are you?? Don't tell me you are calling from office! (Okie, that was rhetorical ... :D)
D : Its the same mundane work!! Don't even talk about it!
J : Fine, I have some entrepreneurial ideas, that we could work on, interested? ;-)
D : Er .....Okie ... lets discuss ! :D
J : Lets write a book!!
D : A what? :O Did you mean something on the lines of Ritu Beri's book? ;-)
J : Not exactly, see we can write a book and quote a price of Rs.1,00,001, per copy . Well, I know the figure was chosen, to up the price from Rs. 1,00,000 what Ritu Beri had quoted, for her book! :D
D : Okie ..... I guess you are too much into work Jay, Relax!! :-)
D : So, what will be our book on? (:D)
J : Oh, we don't have to worry about that, we shall fill half of it with a foreward section, written by most folks we know.
D : How will that help us?
J : Simple, for example, well just get Chitra, write a foreward (one of the many ;-)) . Now people will start wondering who Chitra is .... they will start getting curious, what her other works are, as she has been invited to present a foreward, to a book priced at ........... ahem ahem ;-) ! Thats where our second plan comes in ..... we shall go into a deal with Google, charging them, for promoting their search engine as "celebrities" (or atleast thats what others would think, else why would they have been invited to write a foreward) who were featured on our book, would most probably be searched for on their site!! :D
D : Wow ....(:D) you think google will be ready to pay in dollars for this??
J : Oh, we shall charge them in pounds otherwise ! ;-)
D : Okie .. go on!
J : Now ...for why our book is quoted 1,00,001? Our explanation is that, the book is charged at Re.1, but people (read publishers) valued the "love and affection", that people have towards us at Rs.1,00,000 for each of the 10,000 copies of books we have printed! :D
D : Hey, jay was it a bad week at work? ;-)
J : Don't distract the entrepreneur in me! :D
D : Er .....Okie ! :D
J : Actually, we shall endorse our book ourselves ... in a cryptic manner, though!
D : How is that now?
J : Like , I would give a review in two words "Read it " and sign it as "J". Now , people are going to be wondering ... WOW ... who is this "J", and thats where you come in!!
D : Me?! How come!
J : * Evil Grin* You give a review, "Definitely, worth a read" and sign it as "D"! Now, people would have two menacing problems as to who this D and J are!!
Ah ... we have managed to manipulate innocent souls and in the process managed to make "some" money!
D : Half our book will only be forewards , that will leave with a very small section for the "contents" in our book right? ;-)
J : Oh yeah, what do people expect for a book that is just charged at Re 1? ;-). The Rs.1,00,000 is for the "love and affection" they have towards us!
D : Hurray .. Young turks are here!!
J : Yeah, richness and wealth ... here we come!
D : Ritu Beri, needs to be careful ......! :D
J : Er ......... You mean ..... Beri beri careful? ;-)
D : She better be "Beri beri careful", coz we are soon going to be "beri beri" rich and "beri beri" famous!! :D

Yeah ... and it went on for quite sometime! :-)

Company

2006-03-16T11:29:00.000+06:00

Is being alone, being lonely too?

Hitching a ride on Taxi No 9211?

2006-03-13T11:48:00.000+06:00

A bollywood movie, in its truest sense. A taxi driver, a passenger and their different yet similar attitudes (confusing? Well .,.,... ) set up an interesting ride in Mumbai.

A mumbai taxi driver, Nana patekar, has a very short fuse. He hates almost everyone around him and attributes his failures to the ways of the world. An individual who changes quite a few jobs , before setting his hands on the wheel, although lying to his wife that he has a white collared job.

A spoilt brat, John Abraham. Surrounded with fake individuals who are behind his money, flat, cars and parties than him.

A ride, where each individual wants to teach the other a lesson, that he is 'in control'. The screenplay was interesting. A event and winding back to profiling each individual was on the lines of the movie 'Yuva'. The world shown through eyes of individuals who differ only in their economic stature. Given an opportunity each would claim that Mumbai belonged to 'his' sect and would be happy without the 'other' sect! :D. Songs.'Zinda.....' and 'Meter Down' are foot tappers, while 'Ek Nazar.... ' sets you wondering. Dialogues ....... curt and sharp. Its worth a watch if you would set aside a few flaws. Ofcourse, the last few minutes are a serious let down .......it just has an anticlimax after the climax! You don't belive me.... watch it! ;-)

The foes .... turn friends ... returning favours and indeed teach each other a lesson. A lesson watchable once though! ;-)

En'light' ened

2006-03-10T12:39:00.000+06:00

"¿Siempre sería usted mi amigo? "

It means, 'Would you always be my friend" ( Yeah, yeah .. Spanish. You knew that? Okie, thats smart, if you did! ;-))

"Un amor que nunca termina"

It means, "A love that never ends"

Transcending from the first to second?? Isn't that easy after all ........

Moksha??!

2006-03-08T14:37:00.000+06:00

" An article in TOI, spoke about a suicide attempt at Varanasi. The switzerland national, who was drunk , jumped from the third floor of a building. He was badly injured, fracturing, his arms and legs, as he fell on the roof of another building. He claimed, some folks had mentioned to him, that if somone died in that 'city of temples' they would attain 'moksha'. "

How many of you all think he is a 'MORON' ? Okie, so can I safely assume all the rest of you all think he is an 'IMBECILE' ?

Pyramids?

2006-03-07T15:14:00.000+06:00

Rain gods ...... are having a "blast". It's a party and my city, seems to be more than happy to play host to them!! Ah ........ !!

The stage is set for the party to begin .......... ;-)

PS : Who says ..... "offices" are conventional?? ;-). One of the buildings at my workplace!
Yes, I said, "my city". :-)

Scary?

2006-03-06T10:37:00.000+06:00

"The last human being, alive, was seated in a room behind closed doors.

He heard a KNOCK on the door."

This is a short story , regarded as SCARY, by many.

Special ??

2006-03-03T20:25:00.001+06:00

The day before, during my evening snack break, I noticed a new dish , being listed in the Menu Board of the Food court.

It read ......... Special Mysore Pak.

Well, I am no addict to sweets. But then it was worth a try. The "special" seemed to do the trick. The sweet din't look any special and in fact ...... it tasted much worse !

As i headed back , I hapenned to glance at the menu board again. Well, i noticed it carefully, it actually read ........ "Today's Special : Mysore Pak" .

The 'Today's " was not clear .. thanks to the marker the vendor had used. Well .......... what could I say now .... it was not the "special" anyway .........

Roll .... Roll .... Bang ...... Cheers!

2006-02-27T12:45:00.000+06:00

Relax.
Friends.
Hang Out.
Sports Bar. Wait...... Wait....... Music. Music. Have Fun. Bowling Lane. Cackles (Huh!!). 10 pins. Concentration ...... er.. lack of it. Bad game. Score 96 (Damn .. thats the lowest ..... I have ever scored!!!). Still had fun. Unwind at home.

What??! Did you say, weekend was over??!

Sound of Music.

2006-02-24T09:21:00.000+06:00

Over the weekend that went by, I made a visit to Leela Palace, an indulgence in Bangalore. A game of bowling beckoned . The lead time, to being allotted a lane, was slightly more than what could have gripped me to their plush leather seats. Thus i took a stroll to their Galleria section.

As I was strolling by, music waffled in the air. Ah ......! Curious to find the origin of this, i looked in the direction from where it were probably emnating. Ah ... the Music. Ah.... the Music.

A pianist, seated at a slightly elevated platform which hosted the grand piano was the cause for this wonderful effect. The ceiling was adorned with beautiful lights and the effect was stunning, as it simulated a starry sky.Something about me was really impressed by this sight. But what was this ........... people loitered around the stalls and were engrossed in their chores. There were'nt many who stopped to listen to him. A few who did ........ relished the moments they were there for and then moved away looking at their watches. I wondered ......... what could possibly, be motivating this pianist? There were not many who applauded. There were not many who cared to even stand by and watch. Infact, they moved around and behaved as though he never existed. It was just as though, they considered him void.As i stood there for a while and watched him play, it just dawned on me what his motivation was!! He was not playing for the gallery. It did not matter to him that, no one watched him or applauded. The place where he was did not matter. All that mattered to him was the music itself. He was in a tango with the music. It was his date with music and he was relishing every moment of it. The piano, notes of Mozart he used, the place where he played from, were just tools to him. He had met his solace in the music he was creating. He enjoyed 'that' company as well. All the rest were just 'null and void' to him!!

Well ....... I can identify with the pianist. Did you ask why??? Er ........ lets just say, I am motivated too! ;-)

Story.

2006-02-13T20:56:00.000+06:00

For Sale: Baby Shoes. Never Used!

The sentence above was a short story by Ernst Hemingway.
Short in the truest sense!!

An infinitesimal change ...

2006-02-01T14:16:00.000+06:00

Elections , the process by which we, as a nation uphold the most distinct feature of India, the democracy. One of the most powerful, yet the most neglected , right that is offerred to an Indian national would be the Universal Adult Franchise . The right to cast a vote and decide the 'leaders' who could take India forward!

In a change , that should bring about cheers to the 'youth' , a group of five have jumped into mainstream politics. Armed with degrees from renowned universities, these folks have decided to make a difference by joining the political bandwagon. The party is named, Paritrana.

Its indeed a commendable gesture. But, that leaves us with many questions. My conversation with a few of them in this topic bought about a different set of view points.

#1 .

"Ah .. good ! But does it mean that if a few people are 'educated' they would not resort to the trend already set"

#2.

" Can they connect to the masses?"

#3.

"Their USP , will work in India you think? I mean , they have their credentials but can they have that influence on the masses"

#4.

" U think, they will manage to win elections"

A mixed bag of reactions! The way many of them see it , is as an infinitesimal change! This view should change and hopefully this 'infintesimal' change should pave way as a catalyst!! Kudos, to those who have taken the first step!

Memorabilia.

2006-01-18T14:03:00.000+06:00

It all started with an 'eventful' weekend. A lip smacking treat to dosas and ravee un-de's *. Ah ...... awesome!

Well, after all these delicacies, my friend decided to take me on a walk along memory lane. A collection of all the greeting cards , letters, photographs .........some dating way back to second grade!! Somone rightly said, ' A picture is worth a thousand words'. Well a small correction, a thousand words are a conservative estimate! Some pictures are just priceless. The moments frozen in those can sometimes transport you way back in time ........and just render you speechless.

The collection of greeting cards. Well .... priceless is the word. The gradual maturity in the way the cards are written and the general choice of the cards , the content in them, the change in writing styles ....... ah they were a treat themselves. Hand made cards customized to the individual , but filled with words that are genuine are just .........ah .......just awesome!!!

Ah ... I should have retained some of those too .......!! Atleast 'some' of them ........

* - A delicacy , in south india made of Soji aka Rava. Its sweet, spherical in shape and tastes ..... WOW!

Dynamics .....

2006-01-16T16:06:00.000+06:00

Electives. A set of sujects that are to be offerred to you , to allow you to improve your understanding of a particular field that interested or appealed to you.

That being the universal meaning to the term Electives. This , condition sometimes could not be met. As folks had varied interests, often choices were not in sync. Thus, we folks came to a conclusion, that we would take up subjects offerred by some 'popular' professors as we could then see electives as an oppurtunity to 'score'.

That, brings us to the HOD of Mechanical Engineering. An enthusiatic and fun loving bloke! Well, thats if you manage to subtract the egoism and his innate ability to drive others crazy with his 'i have to know everything around here' attitude!! He came over and talked to us about him offerring a subject called 'Gas Dynamics'. A quick check with the 'seniors' whether it was a scoring subject. Most of them reported positively. Some claimed to have got a 90 + on it too!! Unfortunately all these folks belonged to the syllabii that was altered two years back. Our immediate seniors had not chosen this subject!! Anyways .. with the overall feel being positive we decided to go for it. HOD, claimed that he was the 'one' who was an authority on that subject and he went ahead to suggest that he would provide thirty questions , out of which any twenty would appear in the paper!! Man ....we were all set for a rocking semester!! Fate, had other plans in store. :-/!!! This subject had one point, it was filled with equations. The speciality was that in the right hand side we just had three terms in funny combinations .. and thats about it!!!

Yeah, we were all set and the day arrived. Since the previous papers, had 'not been' according to plan .... we wanted to seek our 'share' of marks by maxing this paper. The papers were distributed ......... I saw the paper ...... MAN! This cant be my paper ........I mean some mistake ... I cant believe I cant even recognize any question .........

Me : Sir ... I am from V sem Mechanical, I dont think this is my question paper!!
Lecturer : (Suprised and shocked .... comes running to my desk)
Lecturer : (Gives me a suprised look .... then it turns scornful)
Lecturer : U from V sem Mechanical?
Me : Yeah ....
Lecturer : Gas Dynamics, is the elective you have chosen??!
Me : yeah
lecturer : Then this is your paper ..... All the best!
Me : :O

I look around .........all the guys have similar looks on the face. One says ..... 10 minutes.. er.. thats the max amount of time he expects to stay inside!! Sigh! Man ..... what a paper!! Did manage to pull it off ...... WHOA!! I was elated at the result or what!!! Oh .. those days ........... :D

What ?? How much I scored??! Er ..... Next question! ;-). What matters is that I did not have to repeat that as i very much feared i would have too :D

Virus attack?

2006-01-11T14:22:00.000+06:00

According to dictionary.com ...

col·lege
n.
An institution of higher learning that grants the bachelor's degree in liberal arts or science or both.

An undergraduate division or school of a university offering courses and granting degrees in a particular field.

Ah ......... what a simple definition, indeed !! Huh!

The term college , strikes a totally different chord. That term brings in a mixed bag of reactions!! Just for a moment, one tends to go back to those days .. where,attendance was a myth (make it 75% attendance) , Canteen a Laboratory ( I guess the Roti's served here should have been used Tensile testing specimens ;-)), Cricket Ground /Volley Ball Court/ Shuttle Court ..aka the real classrooms, the cultural fest(s), project works, pangas, 'huts' aka adda ..........ah and quite some more!

Mechanical Engineering! Okie .... are you all done with your collective sighs??! Huh??! Stop being that judgemental ;-). Anyway .. moving on .....in the first semester we had a C Programming lab, prescribed in our curriculum. The lab was managed by Digi (ah .. thats his nickname .. more abt him in a post sometime later), Gates (Murali) and Allen ( Ashok).

Er .. yeah we had nick named these two lab instructors as Gates and Allen. What did you ask? Oh ... No .. its not for their entrepreneurial skills. Its just that they believed that, they 'owned' the place. Well ... they were not that capable of managing the lab (with folks like us, who were in love with Infinite loops ...er....initially ;-)) ... but then they used to wear that 'imcompetence' skill right on their sleeve!! You dont believe me???! One of the samples .......

Our first lab session. We were all asked to remove our foot wear, before entering the lab. We did. Just as we were about to enter , Gates (G) stops my class mate Pranav(R ;-)) . Excerpt of the conversation ...(Translated )

G : Hey ..... I asked you to remove your footwear!!
R : I did that!
G : Foot wear includes the socks as well.
( As R got down obediently to do as told ........ curiosity ... took its toll on him)
R : Why .... the socks too??!
G : .............................. (Disappointed Look on his face )
G : I really donno how you guys made it to Engineering!!
R : Why sir?? :O
G : Don't you know, if you come in with your socks ...... it could lead to a Virus Attack!!
R : WHAT????!? (:O :O :O .. :D)
G : ....( Gets into the lab with a look, that read, * I have to train such incompetent folks*)

Believe me or not ......... that was exactly ............what hapenned! More posts on them in a while! Now ... do you agree , the definition ..... of college as per .. 'dictionary.com' is so ....... incomplete!!! :D

On Air ...

2006-01-09T10:19:00.000+06:00

Sometimes, in the journey of life , you meet a few people with whom you instantly strike a chord. The harmony , thus generated is pure melody. :-)

Radiocity, a popular radio channel in Bangalore , had a contest , close to the heels of Christmas, the festival of sharing. This unique contest had a beautiful concept. To participate, one needs to mail the channel nominating , somone whom they considerd, as those who deserve to be gifted!! Hence, its your chance to GIFT a GIFT! The simplicity and the concept was awesome, that I decided to participate nominating, a FRIEND of mine , called , Khushi.

The mail, I had sent in was shortlisted in the contest and I got to go 'On Air'. The radio jockey , Rohit Barker , indeed was curious to know why I had decided with that nomination. Well, I did not want to take up a lot of his airtime and thus restricted myself to just describe how , my nomination was so much in the spirit of christmas. Then was the suprise, the gift that I got to gift my friend was a pass to Parasail!!! WHOA! That was a suprise or what!! ;-). The details above are my side of the story. The other side, is available right, here. :-)

Up ..... Up and Away ........ :-)

Parasailing ..........!! This weekend was my tryst with this aero sport! An inflated parachute, a harness, a saddle and an automobile is all that is required to free ur spirit! WHOA! The trailing vehicle , infaltes the chute and U transcend into the free, boundless world! The panaoramic view , is just AWESOME!!! The feeling ........ WHOA! Amazing! At 300 feet from the ground ........ the view is just marvellous!! What a feeling, to just be there !! SIGH! Its really sad that all good things have to come to an end! The end of the tarmac marks the descent of the chute. The thrill of this just makes U long for more! Whats more ........ I actually got to gift this experience to my friend as well!!!

Life @ 300 feet ..................:-)

Ah ...... I was 'On Air' twice and the thrill derived both the moments ........... will stay etched in memory for times to come!!!

Patience is a VIRTUE.

2006-01-03T15:12:00.000+06:00

A typical day on the way to office is marked with a brisk walk, greetings to a few familiar faces, optimism on my sleeve, radiocity (@ 60% volume ;-)) and a test of patience!!

Well for all those with an expression of :O .... let me explain. There are many reasons that could qualify, for my patience being tested, well let me assure .. its not ......the bus timing, songs played within that time frame or the traffic jams. Its an aquaintance (X) who boards the bus from the point I board!

I am somone who believes the 'more the merrier'. Well .. here is somone who has made me love solitude. This person feels he needs to have an opinion on all the issues around him and he would offer them unsolicited! Sometimes ..I just have to go that extra mile to retain my calm! Some excerpts ..........

#1
X : Hey .. Jay! U are not sending any messages (SMS) today??! Hmm? Hmm??? Hmmmm???? ;-)
Me : Yeah ......
X : Ah ....... why??!
Me : Hey ... I think its time to board the bus!
#2
X : Hey Jay .... U are SMSing eh?:O
Me: Nope .. not really just checking if my keys are working fine!
X : Messages are charged eh??! :O
#3
X : I think India should go for three seamers.
Me: Oh .... Okie
X : But I don't think we have three world class seamers!
#4
X : These traffic jams are getting really sad!
Me: That's right.
X : I think we should start by 6 am and wind by 3 pm.
Me: Why?
X : We can beat the jams!!
Me: Why not start at 12 midnight ... lesser jams ....Hurray! (:-|)
X : These people will not listen to us yaar!
#5
X : Oh ... ur friend is leaving to Ireland? Beautiful place .. I must say!
Me: Yeah .. he is. Oh U have been there? Any suggestions as places not to be missed there?
X : I haven't been there!! Not even heard about it!
Me: Okie .... (Man!)
#6
X : U cleared the NCFM for ur Certification eh? ( NSE's Certification on Financial Markets).
Me: Yeah .....
X : But I am self trained ..... and I know abt the markets better.
Me:Okie ....
X : No Certifications ... for people like us eh?
Me: I am not sure ......

So U see many of such instances ......its a kind of test of patience ..... everyday! Did I mention that .. he is a Manager too ? I really wonder .... it should be so difficult for the folks who report to him!

Light (ning) .....

2006-01-02T14:16:00.000+06:00

An eerie sense of calm.
Waves make their routine visit to the shore and rush back.
The view from the shore ....... endless miles of sea and islands located quite far away.
A lighthouse.
Time ticks away ........ leaving me just loneliness for company.
It's dark.
In my mind ...... amidst a lot of questions, I request for some light to be shed on some concerns.
I guess somone heard me .......
The calmness disappears.
The clouds seem to be meeting in an emergency.
My request seems to be fulfilled.
Lightning's batter the open sea.
As I leave the shore towards some shelter ......... I just wonder ....... All my questions are being answered, Er ....... am I actually asking the right questions?
If i am indeed asking the right questions ........ am i ready for the answers!?

Life@2005

2005-12-30T16:06:00.000+06:00

Life @ 2005 has been .....

Fun.
Challenging.
Rivetting.
Delightful.
Splendid.
Interesting.
Bright.
Relaxing.
Taxing.
Lively.
Exciting.
Dusky.
Demanding.
Disappointing.
Enterprising.
Stressing.
Filled with anticipation.
Jubilation.

A Roller coaster ride ... alright! It has ended just right, paving a way for a new year, a new beginning, the slate has been rubbed clean for the Graffiti of 2006 to be traced! Some impressions of the graffiti of 2005 are still on the slate though! :-)

Here is wishing all of you all a Happy and SCINTILLATING 2006!!! :-).

Okie ... Fine!

2005-12-29T12:27:00.000+06:00

Well, I am no expert on Venusians. Er .... well, that's what one famous book calls them. Infact, I don't know them that well at all. But yeah, they can indeed communicate the same language you speak and yet communicate differently!

You dont believe me??! Okie Fine.

Just sample the different meanings this phrase, "Okie Fine" can imply, when used by them.

#1 . Martian not able to make it to a particular venue on time. Excerpt

Martian : Hey ...... I guess I won't be able to make it on time.
Venusian : Okie Fine.

( Implied meaning by the Venusian. "Damn! I'll ensure I shall ditch U next time!!").

#2 . Martian misses to pick a gift on some significant occassion (Risky one).

Martian : Oops , man ..... its your birthday today , right?! :O
Venusian : You forgot? Okie fine.

(Implied meaning ..... " Yeah right! I knew it ,U would do that! Sheesh, U are a #%#%". Addition of any more words with "Okie Fine" indicates criticality)

#3. Martian discussing a lot about his work.

Martian : Yeah, it started with some proposal and then after three conferece calls and some changes to the design , i was really going to clinch that deal.

Venusian : Okie fine (:-))

( The "Okie fine" with a smile is a very dicey situation.U have crossed the limits of her tolerance . Corrective action to be taken immediately. Change the topic).

#4 . Martian explains his side of the story.

Martian : U know what, U were wrong. I told you not to do that!
Venusian : Okie fine (:-()

(Implied meaning ........ "You're finished buddy!! Even if I am a fraction right ......next time round")

#5. A new wardrobe being chosen. Seven already scanned.

Martian : Hey can we pick this stuff?
Venusian : Hmm .... Okie ..... Fine!

(Implied meaning " I really think that is not the right choice. But U seem to be insisting!!! U are being so impatient that I am just accepting to "that" choice of urs! Sheesh how 'insensitive' :O )

So U see , the same phrase can induce different meanings when uttered by Venusians!

:-)

Go 'Fida' !!!!

2005-12-26T15:50:00.000+06:00

Christmas, a festival of sharing. The carols, festivities, cakes and merriment ....ah ..... One can always sense Christmas in the "air"! ;-).

The Christmas tree, Santa Claus .. and people dressed in shades of red and white! The festival had finally arrived! One of the plans this weekend was reserved for meeting a few friends and catching a movie with them.

Garuda Mall. A new address , where 'Shopper's Stop'! ;-). The mall located off Magrath Road has been groomed keeping the urban buying spree in the background. Yes it has it all from multiplexes, food courts and a range of outlets covering apparels to footwear. Did U "SIGH!" and ask , "A typical mall??! ". Well .. yeah , thats what it is! :-)

Abishek Bacchan has been roped in to promote Ford Fiesta! The fan following that Abishek, seems to have garnered, owing to success of his flicks, seems to be IMMENSE. That brings us to the point of this post ..........

A car parked in the center of the mall. A large hoarding of Junior B. Two posters of Junior B, life size placed next to the car. Now is the contest. The compere announces that he is about to conduct a contest which has an "awesome" reward! One has to say "Go Fida" as many times possible,within a minute. One of "contestants" goes forward ... " Go Fida ..Go Fida . Go FidaGoFidaGoFida" ... he goes. At the end of a minute, the crowd wait with baited breath. Yes, our man has made it. He has recited "Go Fida" a 151 times. ( Somone actually counted it! Damn!). The compere announces, " Ah.. we have a winner. Your prize is , U Can picture Ur self with Abishek Bacchan's poster"!!!! Did you say WHAT???!!! ( Yes!! That was my reaction tooo!!! U are better off . I was at the venue!!) . The "winner" is overjoyed and goes ahead and pictures himself with the poster!! Well, ladies and gentlemen it was not just him, there were arleast 15 people I saw do that in about 2 hours I spent in the mall!

Well adoration to this extent ........ Abishek must be wondering!! Whether people go fida over Ford Fiesta or not, is debatable but they do "Go Fida' for sure!!!

Man .. what a prize!!!!

It happens only in Udupi ......

2005-12-19T11:54:00.000+06:00

Weekend's are meant for relaxation, for letting yourself loose, to just unwind, to just enjoy......... Aaah! Thats exactly what it turned out to be. This weekend was a trip to Udupi. ( Well, a couple of posts are going to be dediacted to the entire trip ...... which is going to be in phases... So wait on ...)

Udupi, is a coastal town in Karnataka, a state in India. A small town, it is quite famous for Krishna temple and beaches. The beaches ...... ah ..... I guess it would quite unfair if I just mention it just here...... I think I would atleast require a post to describe its beauty.

My friend and I decided to take a stroll , to explore Udupi . The mornings are quite warm out here. A few minutes of walk and she spots the 'town bus'. These buses are suppossed to be quite nice to travel by and they boast of 'huge windows'. Well ..... thats what I was told! We jump into the bus that was all set to leave.

The 'conductor' is on his way to issue us a ticket ....

Me : Destination?
She : 2 stops from here?
Me : I tell him that ? Any place, landmark?
She : Hmm .... No 2 stops is fine ......
Me : 2 stops

The conductor issued the ticket and we hardly travelled about 500 metres. The bus had a flat tire. WOW! The bus was pulled over to the 'right' side of the road ensuring a small traffic jam. As for the compensation, SIGH! Apparently thats the minimum charge. :-). So, back to walking agin.

Tender coconuts ...... Well .... on a warm day, probably there is nothing that comes close to quenching your thirst, like them!!

Sandiges (Rice Flakes ) , Sonte Chips (Let me get the translation for that ... ), Nipput (Another spicy treat), Chakli and quite a few delicacies. Hmm ..... it was an eventful outing alright! :-)

It takes Two to Tango.

2005-12-15T10:25:00.000+06:00

It has been two years since I joined this firm.

The journey has been fun. Away from the, realms of college's, 'easy going' life to this 'concrete' jungle's, 'professional' life, it has been quite a roller coaster ride.

( Well, my college would easily fall under the 'concrete' and 'jungle' definition quite comfortably. But U know .. what I mean right! :-))

Some of the salient features of this journey :

F.R.I.E.N.D.S : Yes, its suprising how 'work' brings in some 'life' ! At these stages, when people would be more focussed to build careers,family and all the rest that goes with it ............, it is suprising how U can form 'F.R.I.E.N.D.S' . Ah, what is it that makes them so special? Is it coz, they are 'good' , or coz they can smack Ur face with a specially made cake, or they are the happiest when U have achieved something, or the small gestures they involve in, that suprise you and keep that magic alive? Well .... a guess a lot more would go into this actually. Sometimes, I wonder ...how life would have been if I had not met them. Nope, reality is better!

Professionalism: Well, work ........ is a good teacher! Tact, Diplomacy, Assertiveness which were all just 'nouns' you used ... yeah practised them sometime too ... now seems to be the way of life!

Patience : Sometimes, you may just end up being a bit hasty. Patience is a virtue.

Achievement : Every day is a new day. Who ever said that 'work' is monotonous and not challenging is faking it. There are millions of things which you could change, improve and excel at. You don't have to wait for somone to throw you a challenge. Set up internal deadlines, challenges and indulge in some kind of 'reward' after reaching that 'milestone'! Believe in yourself, that itself should keep your motivation up! In the long run ... it pays!!

Sensitivity: The workplace, brings about people from varied backgrounds. Sensitivity is a cruical issue. One man's food is another's poison .. goes an age old proverb!

Yes, it definitely takes two to tango. The dance has been exciting by the way. Tired, did you ask? No way. I am loving it!!

Uss mein kya hai ?

2005-12-14T14:38:00.000+06:00

Train journeys' often provide you with a lot of "food for thought". All the more if you are embarking on a long journey. On such journey's sometimes you aquiant yourself with some, you chat with a few and some transcend all these boundaries.

On such a trip, there was one of the tea vendors, who had , what I thought was a diffcult rally. He was trying to offer tea, and I politely refused.

Tea Vendor : Saaab, tea chahiye?
Me : Nahi.
Tea Vendor : Le lo bhaiyya ... Badiya Hoga!
Me : Nahi ... bhaiyya
Tea Vendor : Lelo Bhaiyya .. Uss mein kya hai??!

I was kind of taken aback. Uss mein kya hai??! Was he mocking at me??! Huh?! Anyways , he went away rallying again.

Sometimes, when we sit back and think a few issues we have encountered .... we regret as most issues would have been resolved if we had just thought, "Uss mein kya hain"!!!

On one such a trip, I came across ... a jewel. A rather, precious one! Some jewels transcend the "precious" tag with ease!!! Why are U looking so suprised? Ah ...... did U ask ... " Uss mein kya hai??!" "Uss mein bahut kuch hai , bahut kuch! " :-)

Jay's Cuisine

2005-12-12T15:13:00.000+06:00

A few years back ..... was when I realized that I had an alternative career option as a "Chef" ! It all hapenned when a small group I was a part of, dared me to "cook". Ah .... that was the moment !

The dinner was suppossed to contain,
Starters - Tomato soup and Samosa (Don't give that puzzled look, the decision was unanimous on deciding that ;-))
Main course - roti's, paneer (masala Dry), veg biriyani, raitha and
Desserts - Cocunut Burfi ( Well .... that was something, which I was really confident I could pull it off and thats the reason it was chosen).

Yeah, so each one had his task cut out. We took a break and decided to meet in the evening with our delicacies. The dinner was on to be hosted at Sujee's terrace , which was being decked up for this evening!

Cocounut burfi. Well it all seemed very easy when I chose that. A quick check with my mom regarding the recipe .(:P, No! Thats not against the rules , I did "make" it on my own).

Requirements :
2 Medium sized Cocunuts ( Depends on Number of ppl U need to serve),
3 Bowls Sugar
Essence (Vanilla Flavoured) and
Culinary Skills. :-)

Mode : Grate the cocunuts, patiently. It is essential, U keep your cool. Cocunuts do not grate at the pace U want. Transfer the contents to a dish. Fry the cocunut gratings till they reach golden brown. Parallely, you could have a dish with sugar syrup being heated at medium flame. Once the gratings are fried, transfer them to the sugar syrup. Kindle. When, you feel that the contents are "mixed" properly (This comes out of EXPERIENCE, :D), then transfer the contents to a tray. Allow it to cool. Once it is cooled sufficiently, then cut them in the shape of rhombuses or ..... any shape U feel like. Ur Cocunut Burfi is ready!!

Serve : Serve with a small amount of fresh coconut gratings as topping!

Chef Jay now serves it to members at his home! People who look really shocked , suprised and scared that they were being used as "subjects" to experiment, smile on tasting it!!

Yeaaaaaah! I had completed my task. I had "COOKED" a dish all by myself and everyone at home relished it!!!!

It was indeed a "memorable" dinner. But if the folks who were a part of the dinner are reading this ......

Starters - Verdict - Good!

Sujee, how did ya manage to make a few samosas, round? Er .. What were they? Tasted good though!

Main course (Part I) - Verdict - Awesome!

Rahul - Great work indeed . BHM degree has not gone for a waste after all!

Main course (Part II) - Verdict - Average!

Raghu - Rice doused inb Soya Sauce??!

Desserts - Verdict - Awesome!

Well, I havent rigged the results! Try the dish the way I have mentioned and you get back to me! Well, if you have messed it up big time .. then you know whom to blame. Well, everyone can't have the culinary skills of Jay!

Did the simple recipe look, too robust ? Thats intentional! :p!

Mera naam .....

2005-12-10T12:04:00.000+06:00

Some movies, transcend from just being frames on celluloid to capturing the imagination and emotions of its viewers. I remember one such movie, released in the year 1970, for which Raj Kapoor is remembered for even today. The movie I think was called ... "Mera Naam .....". Argh! I am not able to get the last word. What? What did you say? Really? SIGH! I don't think that is the last word. Wait let me think about it .........

Moving away from that topic, On stage and perfomances, there is one character who is much loved. Yeah, the "Clown" aka "Joker". In Circuses, he is somone who perfoms menial gimmicks and stunts to have the audience in peels of laughter. Some of the stunts what he performs maybe death defying and risky, yet the audience are never exposed to that stark side . The act normally ends with something funny and thus the audience can continue laughing! Also, the clown would be a jack of quite a few trades , that he would very well supplement for any other members weakness!

Medieval Europe, the royalty were entertained by a "jester". The jester would be witty (Touchstone .. in "As You like It". Is the name right? ;-)) and sharp and would engage the best minds in intellectual tiffs. The jokers, clowns or jesters , whatever we call them often end up showing one face to the world regardless of what they would be personally going through! The world always wants them to "entertain" and does not care about what "they" go through! They are supposed to "mask" out their "feelings" and just entertain! Brilliant ain't it!! Brilliant!!

Ah ....., I think I remember the movie name and ........ I guess you were right! The movie name is indeed, "Mera Naam Joker".

Hitchhiking on a Time Machine? Why?!!

2005-12-09T10:48:00.000+06:00

A typical day,here, ends with folks wishing you 'Bon Voyage'. No .... not that we are embarking on some pioneering journey around the world. We are just leaving office to head back home. The traffic jams indeed make it a long journey back.

Someday your only respite is the local radio station, as most of your colleagues are fast asleep after their 'ordeal' . The programs being aired on radio sometimes wish you craving for more choice as monotony creeps in. As all these thoughts , keep running in the background, I notice the reflection of the clock. Time ...... seems to be moving back. (Yeah, U guessed it, I've had a tough day at work ;-). Okie stop that smile!! )

Well, I have heard some of them 'long' to go back to a certain time in their life where they consider themselves to have been 'very happy'! Well ... why would someone want to just go back to the time they were 'happy' and just stay there? In life we come across many experiences and not all of them render the same 'feeling'.Well, thats how the package is, and that's its beauty! Also, you attach a special significance to that 'time' because, you have probably faced not so 'happy' moments later. Well ... if you were in the same 'happy' time frame, would you still attach the same significance to 'that time'? Well, I guess one wouldn't. Also, you may encounter experiences in future which may teach you that your 'absolute' itself is 'relative'!! One would be able to appreciate events and experiences only when they are viewed in perspective.

You get one shot , one life and one oppurtunity to make a difference i.e to lead a life. Why would you want to keep going back to just a time frame? Why do you want to hitchhike on a time machine and go back to 'that time' ? Why??!

:-)

'Fan' brigade.

2005-12-08T11:32:00.000+06:00

Madurai, a district in Tamil Nadu, in the southern part of India, popularly known for the Meenakshi temple. This temple is an architectural marvel, with sculptors speaking their hearts out through their creations ..er... should I say elimination ;-). Stone pillars , which emnate musical notes when incited, thousand pillars adorning the walkway, sculptures and a whole array of specialities make the visit to this place a visual treat which lingers around for a long time.

Well, apart from the temple ,Madurai, is popular for its "jasmine" flowers. Going by the name of, "Madurai Malli", the aroma of these flowers are suppossed to be an olfactory treat.

Yes, there is something more, what I encountered in Madurai too. The people are 'fanatic', (very strictly adhereing to the meaning of that word) about their film stars. You would have seen people adoring stars, here they 'worship' them.

Well, as luck would have it , my ticket on the train was waitlisted and I had to take the bus to reach an intermediate point. As i wanted to reach the destination as soon as possible I took the bus that was already leaving the bus stop. I had'nt noticed that the bus was a 'DVD coach' * . (:-(). The bus driver seemed to be throwing the bus around corners as though he were testing G Force endurances on human beings. The journey was suppossed to be for four hours, but i suspected that it would be much lesser.

I had taken the last but one seat and had almost comfortably settled. Probably it was around midnight when I heard a shre(eee)ik from a passenger behind me. I woke up startled and turned back. He seemed gleeful and happy. He was visibly excited and was cheering loudly. Confused I look ahead and I can see the reason. A movie, called 'Muthu' was being screened and the 'Super Star' , Rajinikanth was the hero in it. Our 'fan' was excited at the sight of his' star' on screen!!! For people who are not quite familiar, Rajinikanth, is the hero of the masses. He is a much celebrated and immensly popular STAR. Our 'fan' was joined by quite a few others who started whistling frantically and there seemed to be a brigade of them. One was apparently bragging as to how he was watching the movie for the fortieth time. If he were this excited for his fortieth .. I wonder ... !!! With such rampant enthuisam .. one can just amaze at the adoration these people have for their 'stars'.

At around 1 30 am ... one of the 'fan''s wakes me up. Puzzled I turn back , quite agitated.

(Translated, the conv was in Tamil)

'Fan' : Sir, could you move your head to the side sirrrr?!
Me : What?
'Fan' : I can't see Rajini properly !!
Me : U 've been watching this movie all this while , its 1 30 am , you wan't me to move so that U can 'see'??
'Fan' : I am a Rajini 'rasigan' (fan). Kindly adjust.

I am just dumbstruck. Amazed, suprised and confused at his 'adoration' I move towards the side.

'Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee' 'Wheeeeeeeeeeeee' ( He goes ....)

'Fan" : Thank U sirrr! U go to sleep!!

'Wheeeeeeeeeeeh'

I smiled back.

Yeah, right!! I am going to sleep!! :-)

* DVD coach (noun) : A state transport run bus, which takes pride in playing music and movies in full blast. I learnt about this definition , from my co passenger towards the end of the journey!

"Drawn" to a line!

2005-12-05T19:25:00.000+06:00

A lecturer in the Mechanical Engineering department, is no mean achievment. You have to have been a seargent in Hitler's army in your previous stint on earth (and haven't lost those traits, yet) or University of Timbuctoo is working on you to just see the critical levels of stress that human beings can subject fellow human beings too. ( Actually not all of them fit under this description, but a "select" few , definitely do).

Machine Drawing. One of the finest subjects, I have come across. This subject , aids an "engineer" to communicate in the "langauge of mechanical engineers" i.e. Engineering Drawing. Material conventions, "Projections","Different Views" (jargon unavoidable), the subject was indeed interesting ...... until that day I came across Lect 1.

The assignment on "Universal Swivel Bearing", for the folks from other streams .. .. it is one of the difficult assignments, to complete with all the "conditions met" . I had reached home late, also Brazilian Grand Prix was being telecast. Leaving behind all that I worked on that assignment as I had heard a lot about "Lect1". The next day after 7 hours of painstaking efforts the previous night, i submitted the assignment to Lect1. With no comments, right away, from him on submission, I headed back. I was even wondering if people were spreading "malicious" rumours about him being "sadistic".

The class was about to be dismissed, when he called over my name. I headed to his desk, where he was "evaluating" my assignment. Excerpts from the interaction

Lect 1 : What's your name?
Me : X
Lect1 : How does it appear on the register?
Me : (!!) Er .... that would be X.S
Lect1 : But U have written X in this sheet.

( Unbelievable expression .. on my face .. No words to explain the reaction on my face )

Me : Er ....... ??!!
Lect1: Since you have not written your full name on the sheet I can't award you any marks for this sheet.
Me : What?

(As I watched in disbelief, the red pen went across the "white" sheet )

Lect1 : U get 0/ 10 for the sheet. ( Smiles)

( He looks at me and then gives a sinister grin and goes on to change 0/ 10 to ZERO/ 10.)

Soapy Operas.

2005-11-30T13:15:00.000+06:00

Dictionary .com defines

soap
n.

A cleansing agent, manufactured in bars, granules, flakes, or liquid form, made from a mixture of the sodium salts of various fatty acids of natural oils and fats.
A metallic salt of a fatty acid, as of aluminum or iron.

o·pus
n. pl. o·pe·ra or o·pus·es

A creative work, especially a musical composition numbered to designate the order of a composer's works.

tor·ture
n.

1. Infliction of severe physical pain as a means of punishment or coercion.
2. An instrument or a method for inflicting such pain.
Excruciating physical or mental pain; agony: the torture of waiting in suspense.
Something causing severe pain or anguish.

Ofcourse it also define's soap opera as follows .....

soap opera

A radio or television serial with stock characters in domestic dramas that are noted for being sentimental and melodramatic.

Well, here is a secret, soap opera and torture are synonyms.

If there is one set of programs I absolutely hate, on television, they would be the soap operas telecast in these regional channels. John Baird must be churning in his grave if at all he knew how these soap operas have rendered his invention as the 'idiot' box.

If you were of the impression that the KK blah .. blah .. blah and Ekta's "masterpieces" were probably the worst kind of programs you can come across .... ah I have bad news in store for all you folks.

Welcome the the real world .

The soap operas telecast in channels, who have their viewer base predominantly south indian are much worse. These programs are telecast throughout the day, on those channels . The writers for all these soaps have ensured that the protagonists have involved in and belonged to all the "relationships" man has ever known. (Puns intended). Ah.... you were of the opinion,there can be no soap, with the protagonist being the daughter of a father's friend's second brothers relatives aunt, who is apparently an "angel", full time, ( It is convoluted ... but U get the point right :-)) ..... ha ... don't be disheartened .. there is a writer out there who is already scripting that very story.

With all this hatred you must even be wondering, how did i watch ( read survive) enough of those soaps to even be ranting against those. My dinner time apparently coincides with the "prime time" in these channels , a few days of the week. Sometimes I even spend some more time at office to avoid the clash with "prime time". These soap's always have some CRUEL villain or .... to make the story more interesting, villainesses and ever so ideal protagonists ... who seem to have dropped straight out of heaven.

The plots (I think these writers understand," plot" as " a secret plan for a hostile purpose") are insipid . ( Ok, that was an understatement). The characters ..... ah, less said the better. The story line ......whats that??!! Anytime the viewership drops, a character is brought alive with "divine" assistance. Sheesh and so many more such gems.

Capital punishment should be abolished. I agree. Instead,these criminals must be forced to watch these soaps back to back for a month ... no a week. Ofcourse, we would appear to be "humanitarian", as we have abolished Capital punishment, but the punishment what we have given these people is worse than what people were subjected too in concentration camps!

You don't believe me? Watch a couple of soaps telecast on these channels .....Well, don't come back complaining that i din't warn you. Watch it at your own risk :-)

Abyss ...

2005-11-29T11:23:00.000+06:00

I see it.

It looks inviting .

I decide to avoid it.

I move away from the standpoint.

I am pulled back.

It lies there, deep, mysterious, surreal and ...... yeah inviting.

I take a plunge to experience what it is like to see the abyss.

Water cuts like a knife, i beat that, move towards the abyss.

Weeds block my way ....... I still keep moving, I am approaching it, the abyss.

Quite a struggle, yet the abyss ....... is calling.

I move and move .. till my lungs ache ... and I am completly deprived of air.

Yet i move on .... and on towards the abyss.

I can't take this ...... and my body shudders ... survival instinct kicks in ........

I am pushed back .... I am shaken ..... I head back ... albeit involuntarily.

I hit the surface , gasping for air.

I relax .... I look back.

The Abyss .... lies inviting .. right where it was.

There is an ABYSS which most of us have come across ....... in our lives.

Masked for Life.

2005-11-25T16:23:00.000+06:00

It was the December of '97 . I was one of the few folks who were selected in a state wide Talent hunt to particpate in a Youth festival held at Jigani, Bangalore.

Jigani, i should mention is about 40 kms from Bangalore and is indeed beautiful. This facility was amidst lush green fields, a trekking section and tranqulity . :-). The camp had a diverse group. Camping, trekking, collage, pottery, art, music and stage, were the activities that were to be covered over our period of stay. The overall exercise and the exposure we had is almost etched in an indelible state of my mind. One of the exercises we involved in was called MASK and the process was roughly as discussed in this site, ofcourse excluding the spooky special effects that this site also goes on to describe.

At the end of the exercises each one was supposed to talk about their learnings from that exercise. One of them from my group remarked,

" This exercise taught us something what we all do subconsciously. We all wear a MASK. ".

It was apoint which most of us had missed indeed.

We all wear a MASK.

The bard , in his play, "As You Like It" , rightly said .......

"All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players:
They have their exits and their entrances;"

Ah .... he was right!

Inviting ....

2005-11-24T09:59:00.000+06:00

Looks inviting ... Does it? Let me clarify, though it looks inviting, its not all that great when some smacks half of that on ur face. :-).

A tale of tagging.

2005-11-22T19:17:00.000+06:00

Yes, finally I fall prey to the TAG. Aknowkneemoose, has tagged me this time. What? Suprised? Oh wait till you see the name of his blog. :-)

Here it goes,

Seven Things I plan to do (not in any particular order):

1) Experience Free Fall ( Probably in the form of Bungee Jumping or Sky diving. Wow, approaching 'terra firma' at 160 kmph . It should be quite exhilarating. Tom Petty's ,'Free Falling' that currently playing on my system has nothing to do with this).

2) Visit Venice and Rome ( Have been fascinated by these places since time immemorial. Ofcourse, not alone. Okie stop that sneer.)

3) Drive a Lambhorgini, Ferrari , BMW 7 series, Maybach, Hummer (Huh? Ofcourse I meant one at a time. Yeah, the best in their class and probably buy one of them ;-)).

4) A Startup

5) Stage ( Always loved that. Theatre ........ yeah its awesome).

6) To attempt some of the craziest things. ( Plan to visit Gulmarg, in winter does not qualify as one :-), Cricket at 2 am .... Hmm maybe you could. )

7) Adopt a Child .

Seven things I can do :

1) Graphology. ( Yeah , still a novice, but its interesting).

2) Get the party going.

3) Start with baking a cake and end up with hot chocolate that tastes awesome (yeah did that once. I am sure, you will stop smiling once you do taste that hot chocolate).

4) Act on stage.

5) Pun ( Quite a lot)

6) Write short stories.

7) Watch Matrix again though I remember the movie frame by frame.

Seven things I can't do:

1) Salsa Dance (Don't worry folks ... I am making attempts to improve that :p)

2) Cook ( Attempted it a few times, but results are quite disastrous. What? U smiled? I atleast accepted that I cook bad ... Huh?! ;-)).

3) Bartending Stunts (Yeah that was after watching Cocktail. Keep the jeers coming! :-)).

4) Skate ( Roller Skates ..... Never got a hang on that. I got to hang on to all the rest of the stuff on the roads though).

5) Follow a sport without passion. ( Yeah F1 and Cricket).

6) Quench a desire to annoy freinds by calling them at weird times (No, thats not a prank :-)).

7) Rafting ( Going to give it another try in 10 to 15 days ..... Hopefully I do well this time :-)

People I tag :

Well most of the folks in the Blogsphere i know have already been tagged. Thus, I would leave it optional for the folks I tag here.
1) Vasanth
2) Vikram
3) Kushi
4) Jyo
5) Ashwin
6) Well anyone else who are actually interested but I forgot to tag U , and you are reading this.

Black or White.

2005-11-16T13:19:00.000+06:00

It's Black.

It's White.

(No , it is not the track from Dangerous Album)

It's grey?!!!?

Decisions made should be binary. Why do people complicate issues by keeping it in 'grey'. A little more effort from them, on their 'grey' section can help them evaluate a solution that is either Black or White!

Why don't they just do that? Why?

On a day like today ....

2005-11-12T08:01:00.000+06:00

# 5 50 AM
Alarm goes "HMMM .....HMMMM .....HMMM" .... Snooze turned on.

(Oops the last song I listened to is still lingering on ....... :-))

# 6 20 AM
Reapeat the same procedure everytime the alarm goes.

#6 30 AM
Enlightment dawns ....... "The bus is at 7 10 am!!!"

# 6 31 AM
Action begins ......

Cut to the chase ....

# 7 10 AM
Realize i am going to be late , zip accross the loaclaity on my bike and reach the bus stop. Sheesh bus is late today!

#7 28 AM
Finally!

# 7 30 AM
SMS friends on the way to office.As i look around, a colleague is playing 'Solitaire' on his laptop, another head banging to a old hindi track being played on the radio (mobile) (:O) , another eagerly 'reading' Page 3 in Times, one solving the SUDOKU, one narrating, how worse her Project Manager is to her friend through her mobile, ( I guess she should use her mobile to communicate to her friend, the whole bus seems to know about her PM now), a few with their Economic Times, two discussing how a 'technical' issue has to be resolved and majority of the 'workaholics' sleeping.

# 8 10 AM
Reach office, A bicycle ride . (Bicycles on campus are a better means to commute. Eco Friendly and a mini workout guarantee)

# 8 20 AM
Microsoft Outlook unveils the startling news of , the logistics issue I am expecting to have been resolved overnight has not been. Sheesh! What a waste of time its gonna be today!!!!!

# 9 AM
Frantic attempts to contact the System admin in US. Alas, too late. He has left for the day.

# 9 05 AM
Contemplate how JOBLESS its gonna be today!!

# 9 15 AM
Blog hop, Justice being done to the forwards recieved, replies sent to the ones with intriguing questions, Yahoo Messenger, MSN.

# 5 00 PM
Bad news folks ..... the loop in which the above seems to be hapenning is scary!

# 5 30 PM
Decide whether to blog this?
Decision made!

Okie .....I am bored too! On a day like today (Bryan Adams, my treatement of 'On a day like...' is so different from Urs ) ........ hope I never have a day like this at work again!! :-|

Secret of Success ....

2005-11-08T09:46:00.000+06:00

Well, this anecdote was during my I year Pre University. We had a Physics lecturer who used to double up as a Moral Science lecturer, during his two hour sessions. His sessions were filled with a lot of tips on how one must abide by certain social norms and on Value systems , oh yeah ... a little bit of Physics too.

He used to come up with some 'creative' anecdotes to drive home his point. One such 'creative' example.

PL : What is the single most determining factor if one has to be successful or 100% in any assignment?

Class : ..................

PL : Will anyone answer !!!!

Cacophony : Luck ...... Toil ..... Dedication ............. (Silence)

PL : Let Me explain, Assign each alphabet a number , linearly, i.e .. A = 1, B = 2 , c=3...... z = 26.

PL : Now for each of the factors you all have mentioned add up the Values of the alphabets in that word

Cacophony : LUCK ----> 12 + 21 +3 + 11 = 47
TOIL ----> 20 +15 +9 +12 = 56
DEDICATION -----> 4+5+4+9+3+1+20+9+15+14 = 84

PL : So ... it shows that none of these are sufficient to attain 100%

Class : ....................................

PL : Now try DISCIPLINE

Cacophony : DISCIPLINE -----> 4+9+19+3+9+16+12+9+14+5 = 100

PL : So , that clearly shows one needs to have DISCIPLINE to achieve a 100%.

( Well, as luck would have it I was seated in the third row as I was late to the class and the last rows taken .........)

Me (nudging a friend) : Hey , then what about INDISCIPLINE?

SIGH! PL heard me,fumed, well was a bit late to go into Damage Control mode. Well, yeah I enjoyed the view from my college canteen after that! :-)

What the .....

2005-11-03T17:24:00.000+06:00

Blog hopping, I came across this site .

Apparently this site expects its members to register with it. On registering I get an error saying
"You must submit the word that appears in the image".

Take a close look at that page again and look at the "word" they wanted me to replicate!!

Either its a technical glitch or the person responsible for having created that validation has a wicked sense of humor indeed!!!

Object of Faith ....

2005-11-03T16:59:00.000+06:00

Came across this anecdote ....

" The fields were parched and brown from lack of rain, and the crops lay
wilting from thirst. People were anxious and irritable as they searched
thesky for any sign of relief. Days turned into arid weeks. No rain came.

The ministers of the local churches called for an hour of prayer on the town
square the following Saturday. They requested that everyone bring an object
of faith for inspiration.

At high noon on the appointed Saturday the townspeople turned out en-masse
filling the square with anxious faces and hopeful hearts. The ministers were
touched to see the variety of objects clutched in prayerful hands - holy
books, crosses, and rosaries.

When the hour ended, as if on magical command, a soft rain began to fall.

Cheers swept the crowd as they held their treasured objects high in
gratitude and praise.

From the middle of the crowd one faith symbol seemed to overshadow all the
others: A small nine-year-old child had brought an umbrella."

Torn ...

2005-10-31T16:24:00.000+06:00

The ideology behind some incidents seldom make sense, sometimes!

A 'co ordinated' effort by a team that triggers a chain of bombings leaving more than 70 dead and many injured. A previously unheard off organisation claims 'responsibility' for it!! Damn I hate that word when used in this contect! 'Responsibility', damn ...... if they so wanted to prove their mettle there were other means than an assault on innocent people!!!!

People who were shopping for diwali, people who were just out on the day prior to one of the most celebrated festivals in the nation! Well, enough chances have been given to peace! It dosent seem to be working!!! When countries can cross half the globe to strike at another for harboring a 'few' people ............Damn!!!

"Tornado of souls" was a blog i had commented on a few days ago! "Soul torn in ado" was what I had said on that. The television coverages over a few days have just reiterated the same ............. "Soul ... torn and ado"!!!! :-|

Mirage.

2005-10-29T20:47:00.000+06:00

Many a times, we subconsciously pick up some traits from people we see around us. These traits maybe in the form of habits, gestures, mannerisms or personality traits that we probabaly lack in ourselves but admire those traits anyway.

Sometimes this collection of traits can go a bit far and we make a 'character' out of it. This character is even identified by a name in some cases. This is the 'character' which has all the traits you basically' expect' if somone has to measure up to your expectations. You compare 'real' people and 'evaluate' them to the 'character' you have created. Most times this character tends to score more on the idealistic scale. 'Real' people would obviously not fit or live up to the record scores your 'character' has set.

This 'character' often ends up serving as a check list for the traits you expect in people whom you interact with. You tend to be more prejudiced and feel 'real' people would not be able match up to your 'character'.

The point is the 'character' that you have evolved over time , is just a 'Mirage'. This 'Mirage' should never be allowed to convert itself into a 'Doppelganger'!