A simple wish for u...
Thursday, December 30, 2004
As the countdown begins (and I'm counting in the comfort of a razai at home :) ), the hearts are racing faster. Everyone will try to wish his dear ones as soon as the clock strikes 12. But I'll most probably forget (as I'm very bhulakkad) or I'll be partying in my dreams, the venue being that razai I talked about earlier, hence I wish u all a very happy and prosperous new year in advance.
:-)
EDIT: The wish I made above might be simple, but don't make the mistake of thinking about it as just another mundane set of bits and bytes, being streamed to your monitor (actually ur hard disk) by the impassive routers of the internet. The wordings might have been simple and so might have been the feeling behind it but the intensity it has, packs the punch to ward off even the strongest of evils that even think about coming near to u....
So, once again....
Happy New Year
going home....
Wednesday, December 29, 2004
going home for a looooooooooooooooooooong weekend...... :-)
Tsunami........:-(
Monday, December 27, 2004
I don't have a television at my place so didn't know about it until today morning. I woke up just like any other day. Went out to the balcony just like any other day. Picked up the paper just like any other day. But the day was most unlike any other day as soon as my eyes became accustomed to the gory scenes splashed all over the front page....
Shook my head three-four times to clear the cob webs. But the spinning didn't stop...
The headlines were screaming as if they were live hooters...
Tsunami claims over 5,500 lives in India
Over 14,000 killed in SE Asia
Lanka toll 4,857, still climbingJust cudn't muster the courage to read the horrifying details.
My heart goes out to the hapless victims...and pleads and hopes that such an event of destruction never happens again, never.....
I hope I never get to read the word "tsunami" again, never......
Telecon with Parents
Thursday, December 23, 2004
Yeah, herez a sample of a typical telephonic converstation that takes place between a son who *was* ill a couple of days ago and his parents.
(Note: The son here is me)
Mom: Beta, ab kaisa hai?
Son: Mom, Ab bilkul thik hoon. Nothing to worry about.
Mom: Beta, teri awaaz to bahut dheere aa rahi hai. Tu to bahut kamzor lag raha hai...
Son: Arre nahin mom, bola na, I'm perfectly OK.
Mom: Khana to thik se kha raha hai na...
Son: Haan
Mom: Doodh pee raha hai na?
Son: Haan Mom
Mom: Dawai kha raha hai na?
Son: Haan Mom. I can take care of myself now. I know what things I've to do...
Mom: Haan beta I know that.
Son: Thnx
Mom: Vaise, garam kapde to pahanta hai na thik se. Bahar bahut thand hai...
Son: Moooooom....Not again....
(Dad chips in)
Dad: Ab thande paani se to nahin naha raha?
(I have a penchant for bathing in cold water actually and was doing the same until 21st of Decemeber)
Son: Nahin dad, i'm using warm water now.
Dad: Geyser lagwa liya?
Son: Nahin, I'm using a heating rod.
Dad: Heating rod is dangerous. U can get an electrical shock.
Son: Dad, I switch it off before touching the water.
Dad: Fir bhi beta, kabhi bhool gaye to?
Son: Nahin bhooloonga dad.
Dad: Nahin, I'm coming there to get a geyser installed.
......And after many more such dialogues I convince dad not to come down here.....
Yeah, I do feel irritated when they treat me as if I'm 5 year old. But simultaneously, I'm forced to think what if they hadn't done so. All this makes me feel so loved. Had it not been for the constant nagging by mom and dad, I'd have felt so lonely and left out.
Thank you Mom, Thank you Dad. I love u guys...... :-)
Been sick...
Wednesday, December 22, 2004
Had to live out the whole day yesterday on the bed as I was down with fever...:(
Its really a sickening feeling (pun not intended) to just lay there doing nothing. And with the electricity playing cat and mouse with the sockets of the household, the maximum fun u can have is watching the thick sheet of fog get even thicker thru the window.
Neways, am glad that it lasted just one day and am back....:) :)
The world is saved.....once again....jus' like ol' times
Monday, December 20, 2004
Yeah, the movie's great...Huh, what am I talking about???What else, dude, "
The Incredibles". Went to the movie yesterday. First time to the new DT Mega Mall in DLF Phase 1. And guess what, I got 5th row tickets (from the back), on a
Sunday evening, for the
5 o'clock show and that too when i bought the tickets at 3 PM. I mean, u can't get even a front row ticket at PVR or old DT cinemas at this time. Guess, it pays to go a little farther away from the buzzing malls road.
Neways, had a whale of a time, watching the movie, munching on popcorn (Hey
Neels, u listenin'?? :P), and in general, laughing all the way. The laughter induced in me was enhanced by the dude sitting next to me with his girl. The guy laughed like he was just coming back after playing his role in a Nautanki. (The nautanki being "Ramlila" and the role being of Ravana.) And in the complete movie, he went on sipping his diet coke like he was gorgin on his madira. But despite the distractions, I managed to catch most of the movie....
Then I had an idea for the dinner. Was in a mood to try something new. One of my friends had suggested one "Aloo Posto" dish from "The Bengali Kitchen" at the Metropolitan mall. So, zoomed over to the place and ordered the same. The after effects were such that I'm glad that I've to "write" the blog and not dictate it. Yeah, u got it right, my throat has gone so bad that I can't utter even a single sentence without making the listeners run for cover from my thunderous cough.
Chalo, ek achhe weekend ke liye itna to seh hi sakte hain.......
The Irrationalities of Indian Police.....
Saturday, December 18, 2004
"Baazee.com CEO Arrested", screamed the front page of TOI today. I woke up to find this startling news which was punctuated with another smaller headline "Non Bailable Warrant Against the DPS boy".
It has been reasoned that the CEO was arrested cuz he was responsible for what was sold on his site (the MMS CD in this case). However, the police fails to understand that:
1. Trade worth lakhs of rupees is done thru baazee daily and it is quite difficult to track each and every transaction.
2. The CEO doesnt track any transaction, the hundreds of technicians involved, do.
So, why was the CEO arrested???
They say that it will set an example for other sites to take care in future...Example, my foot, I say.
What sort of example will be set when u arrest the CEO of a company which, from day 1, co-operated with the police to apprehend the culprits.
And is the destruction of a man' life and reputation (including the harrassment caused to his family), and that too for no apparent fault of his, worthy enough to "
set an example".
And if this wasn't enough, the police have issued a non-bailable warrant against the boy. Why isn't there anything regarding the girl, I thought. And then I came upon an innocuously added line in the report "Police have also decided to question the girl who was filmed."
That's all??? The boy is being hanged publicly while the girl goes scot free. Don't take it in any gender discrimination sense on my part but I'm just curious to know why is this preferential treatment being given to the second person who was as much involved in the incident.
The police are just searching for as many scape goats as they can so that they can close the case soon so as to save their face, or maybe even get a few accollades from the janta and the media.
In whole, I can only say what I'm "forced" to repeat every few months " Shame on the Indian Police..."
1 TB mail account?????
Tuesday, December 14, 2004
Came across this site today
Hellacious Riders, which is supposedly giving away 1 TB of mail space (Actually they start at 100 GB and u can continue to use any amount of space even if u cross that limit).
I went over to the site, though I was suspicious about it from the very beginning, and what did I see:
1. Patchy Design
2. Quite old scripts for carrying out various tasks
3. Not much depth in the site
which leads me to believe that its not run by a big company. Now, lwts ask why wud anyone give away so much space. Even hellaciously big companies like M$ won't (even though companies of such stature are the only ones that can probably provide it)
This seems to me like one of those sites where u get some space when they start out but soon after either the space u have is reduced or worse, the site is no longer there when u log on one fine day to check ur email....
And by all means, it could also be an email phishing scam.
Neways, coming to my opinion, I won't use it cuz my gmail account is enough for me (I've used just about 150 MB so far). Will create another couple of gmail accounts for myself even if this space is filled up.
Movie: Ocean's 12
Monday, December 13, 2004
Went to see Ocean'12 this Sunday. And have to say, this is the second time in recent time that I've felt that it was a sheer waste of money. And to think of it, I had to buy a Europa ticket, which is priced at 200 bucks against PVR's 150. So, there went my 200 down the drain.
The movie started off in a very solemn style. We thought that it must be the build up to a rousing storyline, ending with a goose-bumps wala climax. But all we got was a lousy storyline coupled with a sulane wala climax.
I have to say that the movie lived up to the old adage, " Sequels are just a waste of time and money. Don't ever fall into the sequel trap." (Okay, okay its not an old adage, I invented it)
The movie just goes on and on with silly sequences and then later tells the audience that actually something else had happened. Everyone seems to have a third eye to see what's coming.
Ocean's 12th person was julia roberts, who didn't have a role of more than 15 mins(putting together everything she did on the screen).
And to top it all, the heist that was pulled out by the 12 was of such a silly nature that we see everyday in Bollywood B-grade movies and that too with a huge outside help. Even the "supposed to be" thrilling break-in by their competitor gives u laughs instead of the chills.
My rating: *1/2 (out of 5 *'s. Deducted a 1/2 * cuz the director and producer clearly meant to just cash in on the first movie's success and there was no meaning to the story)
My advice: Better watch a "K" serial on star plus or zee. There u will get better laughs atleast.
Oh God, send in some nice movies, puhleeeeeeeeeeeeeez.
Bird Watching...
Sunday, December 12, 2004
Well, this weekend we (read "the cubicle dwellers of HSS") decided to do some bird watching. No, guys, don't get it wrong. Not the bird watching we do every evening at the malls and in the market place but the "real" bird watching. Decided to drive over to the nearby Sultanpur bird sanctuary. For a change, had to wake up so early (8:30 AM to be exact, and yes, don't be surprised, that
is indeed early for me).
But when we reached sultanpur, it had everything. Well, except the birds!!!
The promised lake of the much hyped "Supltanpur lake and bird sanctuary" turned out to be a large muddy pond of sorts. There we saw our first and only creature that we don't see normally, "neelguy" (Dunno what they call it in english). But it wasn't so pleasant as the "supposedly" blue cows were cows after all and then they have that old Prem Chopra saying "Bhains poonchh uthaygi to gana nahin gayegi, gobar hi karegi". I'm sure u can now do the rest of the mathematics urself and see where 2+2 leads to ;).
Neways, somehow after managing to jhelo all that bird watching, we came out to have lunch at the only restaurant there (run by the Haryana tourism). And the "nice hospitality" showed by them lead us to eating a Rs. 118/- per plate meal which wasn't even worth Rs 18/-.
But the trip wasn't a total failure. We decided to make good use of the situation to let our hair down. We played all those kiddish games like dodgeball, frisbee throwing, et al, and I'll be only understating it if I say that we had a lot of fun. It feels good to be a kid again. :-)
The journey (to and fro) was, as usual, punctuated by antakshari session in the bus, with me mouthing hindi filmi songs with such ease that it left me wondering about the effects of passive listening cuz I cudn't understand where from were the lyrics coming to my mind cuz I never indulge in this genre of music.
All in all, the trip was successful (though in a different way) and yeah, did i mention that i got to know so many new people...:-)
Quake III GOD, that I am :)
Wednesday, December 08, 2004
Just finished another Quake III multiplayer session in my office. And my 1 week flawless winning streak continues.....
Earlier we were majorly having sessions of UT and UT 2004. I used to win there too but comparatively the frequency was very low. Had some tough competition from Kiran and Utkarsh. But when it comes to Quake III, I think its my old attachment with the game that makes me so good at it. Kiran (maverick as he calls himself in the game) is really searching for a breakthrough nowadays....
Lets hope the streak coninues....
May the best fragger win
Doodle Board
Had been delaying the addition of a doodle board to my blog (out of sheer laziness. Getting myself to do that 2 minutes of work required a looooot of self-motivation)
Neways, here it is now on the blog.....
Brrrrrrrrrrrr
Tuesday, December 07, 2004
The cold weather is on the rise, the mercury on decline,
My poor soul, freezing to death, but can't even whine.
Have to wake up early morning to reach work,
to write these rhymless verses like a dork.
Yaaron, ye sardi thodi kam karvao bhai...... :-)
Resident Evil: Apocalypse and last week
Monday, December 06, 2004
Last week was pretty good. Got to see the movie Resident Evil: Apocalypse and that too for free.
Actually my room mate has got another job offer (one that pays almost double my current salary). So he took me and our other flat mates (a total of four of us) to the movie.
The movie was quite good, the graphics and the sounds enriching our senses of seeing and hearing.
What the movie lacks in the storyline, it more than makes up in stunning action (coupled with the fact that most of it is performed by two beautiful ladies).
In all, it makes for an enjoyable 70 mins as it is bound to keep u upto the edge of ur seats for the whole of the duration.
My rating: *** (out of 5)
My advice: This is a movie to be seen only in theaters. Dont go to that DVD store, instead drive to the nearest theater.
That's not all, after the movie we went to Pizza hut where my room mate than treated us all to a "whatever u wnat" treat. Budget: No limit. :-)
Had a hearty dinner. Gorging on Stuffed Crust Pizzas and soda.
Celebrations apart, I'm going to miss the guy. He's one hell of a fun-loving dude. And I like the humble attitude. I can say anything to him and he sitll doesn't feel bad. (BTW he just wrote a great testimonial for me in Orkut :-) ).
So, Bhols, just want u to know wherever u remain, u'll always be in our hearts. Bbye and Best of luck for the future.
We, the Explorers
Wednesday, December 01, 2004
From "The Indispensable Calvin and Hobbes"
Explorers are we, intrepid and bold,
Out in the wild, amongst wonders untold
.Equipped with our wits, a map and a snack,
We're searching for fun and we're on the right track.
I just love this comic strip. Calvin may sound so ridiculous to most but what I like about this puny character is the vivid imagination he has for a little boy and the fact that he lacks any sort of inhibitions. Reality of the world doesn't stop him from thinking and infact, experiencing things that we, adults, wudn't even dare to think about.
Oh, how I want to be a child again. Not knowing that Santa is not real was so much fun. Not knowing that wearing "action" shoes can't make me climb up the cealing was so thrilling. Not knowing that blowing a big bubble out of a bubble gum can't mek me fly was so exciting. Not knowing that there is no Peter Pan to take me to Never Never Land was so enchanting.
How I wish I could meet Peter Pan, so I could say" So Mr. Pan, (or is it Master Pan??) please turn back the process of aging and make me a child again. So that I don't have to think about the rationality (or the lack of it) of anything. So that I don't have to weigh the pros and cons of every move I make. So that I don't have to think before I speak. So that I can believe anything I want to without ever needing any proof for it....".
Calling Peter, if he's out there...
Wait, I still have a small feeling in some little corner that ther emight actually be a Peter Pan out there. May be, the child inside me isn't completely dead yet.
:-)
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