Darkness .....?

Light

Happy Diwali :).

Lost in Halloween?!

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!

'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!

The week that was .....

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 ...

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 .....

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.

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 .....

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 .....

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

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 ...

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.

:-)