The Blunder Blog

Okie, so I am at home. And I am nearing the end of the vacation time. I am really enjoying my stay at home and all that. So, in between the holidays I go for this marriage of one of my college friends, Shabna’s.

I am sitting in the bus with my friends, aana and minusa. In between the regular enquiries, the topic of me not blogging comes from nowhere. i went onboard. I was like; I have been writing and posting a lot these days, why have you guys not been reading them. This question is baseless!!! I was on a complaining mood, you guys don’t read what I wrote and you expect me to write more…..?

Minusa is a smart gal, she had her statistics right. She went on to quote my last blog and even the time frame that I wrote it too. I was no doubt, numbed!

But then, I was wondering they had put a strong point. I have not blogged for quite some time. The excuse that there is dearth of topics is untrue to a big extent too. I understand. Aana came up with the suggestion, that maybe I can write about the marriage. I nodded. I was just thinking…..

The marriage got over, so did the thought of writing something too. This happened a week before okay!

I am seriously getting to know myself. I knew that when I had the urge I would write. If I am not, this isn’t just the time. That’s it. And look how true it was.

After this Himalayan blunder of mine which I am gonna tell all you guys, I just couldn’t wait to start writing about it. My dad came up to me and said, are you writing about that stupidity? He was surprised, but you see, I realize that I am genuine, goddamn genuine in this business.

Let me be a bit of philosophical here, nothing is a big deal in this big world. I feel, what you need to do is just be genuine. Love what you are doing. That’s it. And you become the boss. The happy boss!

That is exactly what I am doing now, I am being genuine and at the same time I am making myself happy. I am actually smiling when I am writing this, ha-ha:)

Let’s get back to the “blunder”.

A lil bit of history, for all those who donot know.

It is sandy’s engagement coming up. By d by, sandy (Sandhya), she is my bestest friend. So, I want to attend her engagement. Very simple! Nothing complicated in all this. So I start with the planning. I call her up, asking when exactly all this is happening so that I can book tickets. It’s when I get into the funda of booking the tickets that I realize that the place where she stays, Kanhangad, which she is sooo very proud of, is nowhere near to my place. More than a seven hour journey by train; Shit!

irctc.co.in : There I go

ERN-KZE: Jan3rd I get tickets. Wondering what all these are? They are just station codes, no worry needed. It’s again, no big deal.

Now that I have reached, KZE (Kanhangad), I have to come back too. That’s where the entire problem starts.

As always, Jan4th, Sunday it is. Reopening after New Year and all that; yeh tho hona hi tha, that’s the feeling I got. I donot have tickets back. Bad, bad cheetah!!

I scan through all the trains available. Its like, everything is worse out there, you just need to figure out which is the bad one. In midst of the Waitlist (WL) 174’s and 200’s, I find solace in a 41’st and then the hope begins!

I hope, hope and keep on hoping until Dec29th. That’s when I thought, bahut hoping ho gaya, tomorrow is the start of tatkal booking for jan4th. One last look at where I am now, I see the most steady, stable status that I have ever seen in my entire irctc experience. I am still at 41^st. so, no other way, I have to book Tatkal.

In between, I call sandy up to say some harsh words. I say, if don’t get return tickets madam, I am sorry, I might not come!

Now, I felt bad. I wanted to go.

As Paulo Coelho says in Alchemist, if you really want something, the entire universe conspires with you to get that. I dint want the entire universe to waste its time here, but I just wanted irctc and Citibank to be kind enough with me. And ya, also my TataIndicom dialer! Yet again, not a big demand, is it?

This tatkal booking is kind off a challenging job. When you have a good broadband connection and all, it’s not a big deal. But, as great people say, the whole life is struggle of have and have-nots’, right. So when you donot have a fast connection and whole lot of experience with this tatkal thing, you tend to be apprehensive. So, was I, considering my past failed experiences too. 

I was determined to make it this time. This might seem to be a preparation for Olympics or so, but it is worth it. That will be my first tatkal booking myself and forget the happiness because of that; I will get to be with sandy, on her engagement. That was the big thing! 

I ask amma to remind me about it before 8.00(time when booking starts!). She does that. And the wait for 8.00AM begins.

I had  learnt a lesson from my previous failed experience with tatkal that the starting and the destination stations should not be the one which you actually be boarding and alighting, but the start and end of the train itself. Good that I knew that.

I was looking for a seat in EKM express. I give the date of jan4th and stations as PUNE and ERS. But I don’t see the needed train. I am wondering, wondering and then I realize that it starts from pune on jan3rd. Oh, Radhee, you are great.

I give jan3rd, and there you find it. I go for tatkal booking as time is up, but its already WL7. No…no….

I search for other trains!

I somehow manage to get the START-STOP of Malabar express and carry on with the jan3rd date and details. After a hell load of server problems and gateway problems (obvious one! Nothing works the first time principle applied...), I book the ticket. 

Yahoooooooo……I was ecstatic. Really, I was!

But then, I see the route and understand that Mangalore (where Malabar exp starts from) is not far from KZE. It doesn’t take one day to reach KZE. I should have booked the ticket on jan4th itself in this case. I felt like killing myself. What a big blunder.

Then comes dad’s statement, you cannot cancel tatkal tickets. GONE….I was shattered.

411 bucks, gone with the wind. A moment of ecstasy and the next moment look where I was……

So I keep aside my blunder and see whether I can get a ticket on jan4th. This is where the point lies. I was not expecting the ticket to be there. I had lost hope both about the ticket, making it to sandy’s engagement and myself! What foolishness did I do? I was left with nothing; moreover I lost 411 bucks too. And I cannot cancel the stupid ticket even! I thought. But as easy as a bee, I get all the sites, the gateway gets cleared and I book a tatkal ticket for Malabar for jan4th. Again, yahoo….but not that great a yahoo:( 

I simply try to see whether I can cancel the other ticket. I was so very happy that I could. I couldn’t believe my eyes, that I was actually able to cancel it. Then came the jatka, the amount reimbursed is Rs65/-. Hmmmm:(

This is the story of my blunder. I was disappointed. But, I am happy that I am making it to sandy’s engagement. I wanted to pen this down so that even she can read this and laugh. Also, at the same time realize that I took some pains to make it there!

No pain, no gain…..goes the adage right, very true. 

I also learnt a couple of lessons right away.

1. As my good friend piggy says, don’t expect Radhee, don’t expect. It’s when you expect and don’t get that you get disappointed. No expectation, total happiness...but, I wonder how can I not expect to get that 411 as such back. His policy that money comes, money goes is a fact, but it’s so human to expect and I am human, am I not? I am!

2. Don’t get too excited about things. Stay calm. I was so very excited about getting that jan3rd (stupid) ticket, only to realize that was the wrong one! Just because you have great energy doesn’t mean, you should show it always!

It’s all about showing it at the right time, rather:)

Anyways, I enjoyed writing this, haha:)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FUN@WORK

hilariously hilarious fun@work....thats what it ws today!!!! ok....let me start....Fun@Work is something which happens in my company (which pays me for the work i do..!!), every last Friday of the month.The entire lot in the company is divided into 4 teams. Each team gets to organize events for the month in the cyclic order. I belong to one of the most enthu of the teams, the FUNKAARS.Usually what happens is either we would be organizing or would be participating for the events, thatwe never actually get to see the events.But,this time, it was ultimate fun being in the audience. kp, piggy, kulku, mani,amity and me....OMG.Appu's farewell had just got over. As usual, i was so very pressurised to speak.the complaint was that i dont speak in the meetings(although i speak too much outside them!!)....which was reinstated again and again..kulku was saying that i was showing so much of power or rather scope, which i wasn't.(the dongle buddies and their scope is obviously famous!!)
i spoke my mind out. i told that i did not like this formal act of saying goodbye or anything.but couldnot stop myself wishing her all the best.so, that being over, we marched for the ALL EMPLOYEE ADDRESS.
i like 'all employee address'. as always, we will be late for it, and end up standing in that cornerpathway, murmuring to the max resulting in seemingly yelling sound that people staring us from all directions.we donot bother, atleast i dont, and continue our bit of entertainment over there.
we had a similar all employee address. big decisions were being taken and everyone were keen and all ears to them.
after all the presentations and stuff, TBD starts(one of the 4 teams) off with their second round of FUN@WORk.
there were these 3 round---1. Kahin pe nigahein kahin pe nishaana

2. Zara gaake dikha

3. Complete the man
the first one was a dart game. we could see teams of two terribly failing to make it to the mickey's face.(Mickey Mouse's face being the nishaana...), if u hit the face then 10 points, if nose then 20 and if u make it there from a greater distance then double the points...all funny rules...!!!the darts flew in various trajectories sometimes nearly making it to mickey's face sometimes terribly failing to even get closer.
Funkaars did a good job in this game...the only one where they excelled this time..after that, the best of the three events started, zara gaa ke dikha.A duet was to be sung...the lyrics would be given, karoake on the background.all you have to do is......TO SING ALONG.
the songs where all too good,the first team picked the song, Tu tu tu, tu tu thara....from "bol radha bol"the female singer did justice, but male singer, gosh....what sound people...grrrr....
the second team was to sing---chura ke dil mera..even here the female singer was smart enough not to open her mouth that much too...the background female voice was markedly loud, so, she just had to do a lil bit of lip movement.the male singer again was ohhhh goshhhhhh...as soon as his line came, we all would start singing....!!!
the third was us...wid Mein tho raste se jaa raha tha...dint much live upto the big expectations, but....okie, dats fine..better luck next time, huh!!!
the last one, was the funniest. they had to sing--Dhak dhak karne laga..the female singer was ohhhh...no..thank god they got interrupted in between..the event got postponed..
after that, the third event of complete the man started...hehee:)there would be a heroine photo putup, u have to draw moustache for them.a team of two, one should guide the other to do it...teams came up with so funny moustaches...oh..goood...god!!!the priety zinta and bipasha basu's and deepika padukone's and aiswarya rai's will run off seeing that..but that was too much of fun..
then came the postponed event...utilizing the extra time that they got,they came up with a better female singer....to our surprise it was a MALE...!!two males with the DUET..and dhak dhaking...with added expressions and awesome rendering they jsut steeled the show.laughed continuously for some 5 minutes...that i started crying on the end..!!!
that was one of the most funniest of the performances....way to go people...!!!after the usual cake cutting and snacks, i got back to work..but i could not stop writing this ASAP...
I know from the olympic spirit that participating is more important than winning...but, i would say, being in the audience is more fun and joyous than anything...atleast for events like this!!!!

In Midst of Festivities

Its festival season!

Diwali is around. Everyone is happy. Monday, the 27^th is a holiday. All are going home. But here I am, mitigating or more of, helping to mitigate collisions! (Referring to my project:))

I am not at all being boastful out here, but I should confess that, the term which many software engineers dread of, the term “BENCH” is something, that I have never got to experience. I am sure, no one in my team would ever complain of not having work. May be I am missing out experiencing something, am I?

I would prefer not, still. 

Getting back, we are drowned in issues. Each one pops out of nowhere when we are just about to get back to normal work. Issues are good. They help you to learn more and deeper into what you are doing, and how exactly it should be done and all, but it takes a hell lot of time from you that, it becomes hard to find time out to do your regular work. The bottom line is, the team ends up kind of working 24 X7.

In the middle of all this, people are busy wishing “Happy Diwali” to whomsoever around and bidding adieu for a much awaited vacation. 

I just want to get out house (of office!). We four of us have planned on a trip and I am raring to go.

My parents are angry with me over the trip plans. All they want me is to stay home and take rest. Of late I was tripping hard and getting caught with cold and other unhealthy situations. Their concerns are very much genuine, but I just can’t let this trip go. 

I was thinking about it myself. It’s been a year in Bangalore and I have seen and been to more places than aunty at home. She keeps complaining about me not staying at home when Binu (her daughter) comes. Either there would be classes, or I would have gone to native or there would be a TRIP.

 

I have discovered myself, that its one thing I enjoy doing other than writing, reading, talking and sleeping. Now, that’s pretty a saturated list. I do not feel even a pinch of boredom even after exhaustive doing of any of this!!! 

This time, I was visiting the Banergatta National Park. I am not planning on writing anything about that visit as my good friend GMW has agreed on penning the travelogue as his first blog entry. I am so very sure, that it would be sumptuous read.

We had with us two great, creative, naturally talented photographers. We got to be part of some technically sound pictures. In between, we also got to witness some lavish cursing too, from one of them, as he dint possess an SLR as the other did. 

We were lazing around seeing the animals and wondering how simple and uncomplicated their life is!

It is so easy for them. They just have to get up, have something during the day, just lie like that in the cage, or just laze around in the open, at times strike a pose or two and then again doze off. No work to do, no commitments to make, no one to report to. They don’t have to make money to feed their children, never have to fill their bank accounts or drop cheques!

The one thing that they may be lacking is freedom but that too is there in these national parks. They are left out in open. So, I guess there’s nothing to complain about. Good food, enough freedom and great life. All the more, getting pictured too. People pay to see them!

But sad that they do not have brains to realize that, had they, they would not remain animals, don’t they? Strange:) 

This vacation time has been till now one with animals and wildlife and getting to know more about Earth.

I am seeing ‘Planet Earth’, the series from BBC. It’s a comprehensive documentary series covering almost everything on earth, from the poles to mountains, from caves to deserts, jungles to shallow seas and what not. I have just started to watch them and look at me; I cannot stop writing about it. 

I am mesmerized by the lucid narration of David Attenborough. Every single still in this motion picture is classic stuff. The chase being the best, where the technique of filming coupled with rich photography skills and some amazing soulful narration has made it exhilarating. One cannot stop wondering the amount of pains taken to make such a great informative and all-inclusive, widely accepted series of documentaries. It would have been so much of an adventure in itself and all the more of fun, pleasure, contentment and satisfaction. 

The cinematography is awesome, be it the penguins of the Antarctic, the polar bear of the Arctic, the cherry blossoms of Japan during the spring time, the wild dogs chasing the impala, the puma of the Andes, the Rockies, the Karakorum, the snow leopard or the Grand Panda of China. 

I am quite sure that as I continue to watch them, I would be more eager to write about them, which I would love to:) 

Signing off for now but promising with more of the “Planet Earth”:)

                                     

Wonderful "WONDERLA"

I just love trips. This is about the trip we made today to Wonderla.

First of all let me say, awesome it was....!!!

We were 7 of us, an all girls gang. We have been procrastinating this trip for quite a long time and in the end we were actually making it there. I would  reach Minu, Anna, Neenu and Tommy's home at Koramangala. From there we would goto Majestic to pick Franci and then would set off for Wonderla. 

This was the plan. The surprise element in the entire plan was the presence of Acha(Reenu Acha John). I was meeting her after college and that was a wholesome surprise. She remains to be as fat as ever!!!Quite sure that she will kill me reading this...:), although i have told her myself. She reminded me of the  "Still d One" song which i made her dislike after constant playing of the same...!!!! and ofcourse the "Sutta" song tooo...hehe:)

This plan got executed barring the unavoidable and most certain of the delays. on the way, we played UNO.

That was a funny game of cards which only two of the 7 knew properly. But thank god i wasnt a loser in this game compared to the BLUFF that we played in the Munnar trip..!!...But, my folly with the cards continued to reign supreme considering the fact that i failed to call the penultimate card "UNO", almost thrice...!!!

I was just reiterating that i am bad at it.....anyways..

we reached wonderla sometime around 11.30. that was quite late. but then we quickly took tickets and managed to start the rides by 12.

we had planned to start with the wet rides, but that would begin only at 12.30 so, we decided to go for some dry ones.

so here we were, standing in front of "MAVERICK" and "Y scream", confused as to which one to go for?

both seemed to be scary enough. The experienced person among the lot Minusa, gave us directions. we decided to start with Y scream and then MAVERICK. 

the time of waiting for the ride is the actual testing time. we are staring at other people screaming their heads out and thats when a lot of calculations happen in mind as to whether to go for or not...

then suddenly the big sum of 450 comes to the mind...and all confusions diffuse...!!!

there's no looking back.....courage is the last resort...

Y scream was dready for the first ride...it wasnt as scary though as expected....the only thing that needs after the same is some amount of stability to be provided to your head after all the turns and more of turns...

at that moment, i thought this was the most scariest one other than hurricane....but i was only wrong...

there was one "INSANITY" to come....!!

now that we were done with the BADE BAAP, MAVERICK would not be a problem at all, we thought.

we 7 of us lined in the back row. This time i was determined to keep my eyes open for the entire duration of the ride. that was a personal challenge. another collective challenge that we set for all of us was to count the number of upside down turns and the diagonal turns and to scream it out load !!!! (crazy us..!!)

by now it was past 12.30 and we set off for the water rides. water splash was on the way....

it was too good, that removed the twisty-turny feelings and we were refreshed...!!!

the WAVE POOL was the next followed by the RAIN DISCO. we danced and enjoyed our hearts out.

we were recollecting all those dances that happened during hostel days.... the old steps..the manjusha step...

d micheal jackson step...likewise...hehhehe:)...and ofcourse the regular gapfiller of those days and still now----mangapari -chelikkuthu:)..

the water pendulum and the twisters were the next. franci was shit scared of all the water rides, so was acha wid the dry ones...!!but both managed well.....they r brave...hmmm!!!

twister was kinda boring...so we went for the more adventurous VERTICAL FALL....

That was the coolest of the water rides....without any safety gear....just a free fall...franci screamed the hell out of that place....!!

now that again, as we mastered the toughest one, we went for free racer, uphill racer and banded traits. 

if the free racer was flat, sliding and easy , the uphill racer was a bit more steeper and wavy...

one girl got stuck up in between because of lack of momentum because of her lesser body weight....

no too much physics here:)

we had got splitted after the vertical fall as 4 others, anna, neenu, acha and minu had decided to go for boomerang whereas we 3, tommy, franci and myself decided to go for uphill racer...we got separted after that...

we couldnt find them out, in the course of the search whereby we went for DROP ZONE and NET WALK..

Drop Zone was good and Net WALK the regular stuff...

we were on the look out for the 4...

we were hungry, none of us had even a single penny with us, neither the locker keys and we were not finding those 4...

after a hell load of searching....at last..we found them...near the restaurant itself!!!

had loads of food.....and then again...went for CRAZY CARS...

only i could make it to that as he dint notice that i was wet....

i literally jammed to everyone else's car....so did the other's in the group..

the other's later said that my expressions were way toooo funny..!!!....it was as if i was venting out all my frustration...i was literally fighting..hehehe:)

from there we went for BAMBA....that was too kewl..

i started off well, only to find that there was some locking error. in between the ride was stopped and the fault was detected ....the lock got corrected and we got to ride it twice....we were all dancing..it was absolute fun..

minusa was very enthu about her TORA TORA..her pet name for INSANITY..

she terribly wanted to go for it...and she wanted us also to accompany...

so...there we were all @ INSANITY...

the only thing i remember is the bad words showered by anna and neenu on her(minusa!!) after the ride..

that was actually an insane ride...

but still, i loved it.....the twisty turny INSANITY....we were all flying...n flying...

it was almost time by then...

we had to decide between giant wheel and musical fountain...

we decided on the fountain...

the laser show was way toooo kewl......amazing it was...

the laser beams coming from the projector, the smoke fumes that were sprayed in to it...which created the whole 3D effect....it entralled us....!!

it was 7....and we 7 were finding it hard to leave. 

but, that was the end of an absolutely rocking day...!!! of total adventure, fun and frolic....we all enjoyed to the max...as we wanted...

packed our bags by 7.30 and there we were, in the rented Qualis...back home...

dropped down at franci's place to meet anupa, hridya and mili...

i was meeting anupa after college for the first time.....10 friends from college days....it was kinda REUNION...

I just HOPE that this hope remains,

the hope that we would meet all the more again,

the hope that the friendships would be stronger and harder,

as the days pass by...

i just hope that i shall not stop hoping to hope more!!!

For Loving Darshu

Its a usual Friday morning.I am as drowsy as ever. I dont wanna go to office as always.I have a book to finish today.And i have to bid farewell to a very special person !!!! how hard can that be?Times are changing, markets are crunching, money value dwindling and people are all panicking everywhere.Over the past two-three months i have seen people moving in and out like anything..!!And here we are again, in the midst of another farewell....but this time its different, as its Darshu:(
The loving, bubbly, dancing, ever smiling person she is to all of us oozing out energy all the time. Alwayz active and making others too the same. You feel there is happiness in life and not everything is lost when she'z around. She makes you feel life's good.
Her gesture of forwarding my Letter's To The Editor which came in The Hindu, surprised me a lot. Many people responded reading that mail and it gave immense poularity for me in office. Oh my God, that was reallyunusual and kewl. I shot to Writer stardom that day!!!
Thanks a lot Darshu for all d wonderful days. Wishing you all the very Best in life:)keep rocking:)

Time for Introspection

It is delightful to see that the Indian polity was debating and eagerly waiting for the Trust Vote. But the stream of incidents which the parliament witnessed on Tuesday evening was shocking, saddening and a threat to the entire parliamentary decorum. The existence of horse trading was disputed among the media and was kind off known too. But one would never have imagined the manner it was brought out in to the open. The act of the so called Members of the Parliament, who represent more than a million of their respective population, to go on to such degrading levels of conduct, to accept bribes and moreover to display them, is truly devastating. To portray the bribe as a matter of proof made the parliament floor a court room arena. Just six months to spare, had the UPA government fallen, it would have been unfortunate for the people of India as such. This would have lead to political anarchy and other serious series of events, like the Third Front upheaval or even another election scare. At the time of high economic instability, inflation and high oil prices, this would weaken the country’s position in the global front too. The concerns of the Left Parties should also be given the due value. Criticisms have their own worth which would make the UPA to reconsider and help ponder over the nuclear deal in a better way and to negotiate our terms in front of the US. It should not be forgotten that, being the largest democratic country, we should not allow a country presuming to be the global police, to dictate terms to us. No one is no one’s boss. Our foreign officials should be diplomatic enough to put our concerns at place and also to achieve them accordingly.

The Cash for Votes scandal should be investigated imminently and the culprits punished. This should be considered as a serious threat to the democratic India. These are extremely unfortunate incidents which should not be repeated. The supreme legislatory institution of our country should not demean itself to such shameful levels. The sanctity of the Parliament should be maintained. The Prime Minister might have won it this time but not convincingly. It’s a time for introspection for him too. His infuriated remarks in reply to the debate on the confidence motion is agreeable to some extent but only time shall prove the credibility of his actions.

Clash Of the Titans

Every sport thumps your adrenaline, keeps you at your feet and makes you joyous, challenging and happy. Tennis is no different. Its one sport where you get to see a lot of nerve breaking games. After the retirement of Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras, I had somehow had stopped following the game. But when I came to know that this years Wimbledon final is between Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, I thought it would be worth watching. All their encounters have been epics in itself. These two players set such high standards for themselves that it’s a treat to see them play.

Sunday was the D-day. It was a finale day. On one side there was India-SL Asia Cup final going on whereas on the other Wimbledon final. As Sehwag was literally bashing all the Srilankan bowlers I decided to watch the Wimbledon final. It was a casual start, I just wanted to watch a little and then switch to cricket but, I could not resist seeing. The match had already begun with Nadal gaining the first set 6-4. The second set was in progress.

If you ask me whom I supported, then it would be a unanimous answer which is Nadal. Yes, I wanted Nadal to win very badly. Federer was certainly the best player in grass court, but my support was with Nadal. I always liked his aggression at play.

In the second set, Rafa was down by 1-4. I believed that he would be bounce back and he did. The three sets which followed showed the ultimate character of Rafa the player. The great temperament to stay calm and cool, to fight back as if it’s the last chance and in the end to take those sets, was awesome. It involved fierce aces, speedy volleys and superb backhand shots. The fact that within 2 sets, out of the 9 break points, Fed was able to convert only one shows the challenge that Rafa had put up against him.

Each serve and volley went on for minutes. I was wondering the stamina of both the players. They have to be too good, I thought. Of course they are. No doubt about that. In any game, what I look up to, in players is their fighting spirit. I tend to derive inspiration from them. That’s the reason why all my favorite players have been great fighters. Be it Steve Waugh or Pete Sampras or Nadal or even Dhoni, they are all damn fighters of the games which they play.

During the course of the game, reflections of Fed’s greatness in the grass court was seen. The swiftness by which he served and the aces (they came in a flash, just a wink’s time!!), they were just so good. He gained points in such rapid pace when he was at his better self, during the game. The instances were very few, as Rafa steeled the show most of the time. But that does not make Fed inferior to Rafa, on his day still no one can beat him. That’s sure. But unfortunately for Fed, this was not his best, it was Rafa’s.

I am wondering how much frustrated Fed would have been, when he hit the nets for his 9^th break point. He could not convert that as he could not for the previous 7 of them. I felt pity for him. But still, I wanted Rafa to win. Instincts don’t lie.

The every single break point that Fed lost, the every single chance that he could not convert, showed the brilliance of Rafa. He was at his terrible best. Fed was challenging him but Rafa was winning. I get reminded of what Sampras had to say after one such epic final which he had with Agassi. Sampras said that Agassi was such a great player that he always brings out the best in him. I feel Rafa-Fed is synonymous to Sampras-Agassi. God is also strange. Geniuses come in pairs or what? May be only if its so, that they would continue to be genius. Don’t know. I am not one:)

Anyways, the way Agassi made Sampras a better player and a champ of his era; Rafa and Fed are making themselves better players. This is the only place where I feel, rivalry is good. It makes you to improvise your game and brings out the best in you.

Rain interrupted the game after the second set. I switched channels. India after a flying start given by Sehwag was numbed by Mendis. I dint want to see the game anymore. I wished I could kill Dhoni and his men.

On the other side, I knew Rafa would make it big. He did. After a long (the longest ever Wimbledon Final) of 4.48 hours, Rafa was the winner. The third and fourth set was taken by Fed and the final decider went for a tie breaker which Nadal clinched 9-7. He would have been the happiest man at that moment on earth. After that win at Wimbledon, he became the first player after 28 years, to win both the Wimbledon and the French Open in the same year. My favorite Sampras couldn’t make it, but I am happy that my other favorite Nadal did it. The one at Wimbledon on Sunday, the 6^th of July was an epic final and one of the rarest of its kind with sportsman spirit at its best display.

I hope that in the coming years, we would be able to see many more of this kind.

Passing Thoughts

The day I created my blog, I don’t remember the date though, was a very special day in my life. On that very special day, I was extremely happy. It was as if, I created an identity for myself in the big world of INTERNET. My views, my thoughts were getting expressed, that to, to the big big world, everything being free.

It was a personal milestone especially for a person like me, who somewhere at the bottom of her heart cherishes to write more and more and be more readable.

The entire act of blogging got into my mind very late, but once it started, it has become a favorite, serious and lovable pastime.

Somehow I have the feeling that writing gives the same extent of bliss that a mother experiences when she gives birth to her child. I feel so complacent when I write even a single good readable sentence which is just right. In my opinion if a sentence when reread does not bore you, qualifies to be a well written one. If you feel like reading it again and again, then that surely is something that you should be happy about.

The day I created my blog, I knew that I had become a different person altogether. Not due to the reason that I was doing what I wanted to do (which is to write!!), but that I was doing it well. I was surely feeling a sense of great pride and joy.

Now, when I see people who are keen to blog and those who have already started to, I am reliving the pleasure I felt when I started and hence this blog!!!

Jaya He Jaya He......

JayaHe…Jaya He…..Jaya Jaya Jaya Jaya he….


I am sure that every literate Indian is knowledgeable of our National Anthem. Thanks to the continuous efforts of the like of A.R.Rehman and BharathBala Productions who come up with good videos of anthem to promote the same.
It’s a treat to see all the great musicians come together for such a noble cause. It’s at times so touching.
As our national anthem is known to all, the existence of movies is also known to every Indian.
But one would wonder what am I trying to convey here?
It’s something that touched me a lot.
I shall explain.
Indians like me generally can’t live without watching movies. Be it Bollywood or other respective wood’s (be it Molly, Tolly or Kolly!!!), I don’t think there a life without watching movies for any sane Indian. That’s because movies have become such an integral part of the entertainment circle of one’s life that, without that life is unimaginable.
That’s why when all four of us classmates, Suma, Rupa, Rashmi and myself decided to chill out after the MS Semester 1 exams, going for a movie became our obvious choice. So there we were at Fame Lido, a new multiplex near Indira Nagar, to see Sarkar Raj.
We had taken Gold class tickets and were busy settling ourselves down in those extremely cozy cushioned sofas out there at the last row, when the theatre people started screening the regular routine pre-ads. Commenting on the sofa controls, in between giving attention to those ads, time passed by. Suddenly they started playing “Jan Gana Mana”, the A.R.Rehman video of our National Anthem. To my astonishment, the seemingly young generation seated in front of our row, got up. Seeing that even I got up, my friends followed suite. A minute past, the entire theatre was there standing, singing along with the great musicians of the like of Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhonsle, Hariprasad Chaurasia, Bismillah Khan, Jagjit Singh and A.R.Rehman himself.
The moment when A.R.Rehman started singing the last high pitched Jaya He-Jaya He-Jaya-Jaya-Jaya-Jayahe, eyes got watered. I don’t know why. Was this the same Radhee who dint even drop a tear on seeing Tare Zameen Par? I couldn’t believe myself. What was there in that gesture and the anthem as such that made me so emotional? I still don’t know. It was just so impulsive and spontaneous. The pride, the belongingness of being an Indian, I guess that made me emotional. It reminds of all those Olympic award ceremonies, when the national anthem of the winners are played, all their eyes water. The only difference here is that, I am not a winner exactly!!! But even I might become one, who knows?
Another thing that’s worth mentioning here is that the gesture was triggered by the young guys and gals sitting in front of me. Was I seeing the very same so called morally depreciating younger lots? I don’t believe.
These young chaps showed even to the elder generation that they are so deeply rooted, even they respect there country and what a nice way to show that to the whole world.
It was the first experience of this sort in my life. It made me proud, happy and feel good not just as an Indian but as an Individual. Even though the film was not that good as it was expected to be, this small incident made my day.

I was happy that I lived my life KINGSIZE(at least for a day!!)

MESSY CROSSING

Not every day in life is bad. It’s at times either worse or worst.
March 14, 2008 was also one such worse day, might be the worst morning also. I am seriously fed of this Railway crossing. I am seriously pissed off. Every single person who passes through that place knows that it’s a place where you face the ultimate test of patience. I always loose my control when I sit in the bus and find myself stuck up in that dirty shitty traffic. The commotion, smoke in the air, all these are a constant citing, but one would wonder whether there are really so many two wheelers on road. One will start hating all the people who live on earth, or at least who are there at that time. The bike fellows squeeze themselves in to nowhere. The trucks are not able to move. The other side of the road is completely messed up with all sorts of vehicles cuddled.
The funniest of the situation is the one in which, you wait for the train, for a long time, only to find just an engine pass by driving you crazy. Why the hell did I come in this bus, yaaar!!!
You end up cursing the whole railway system from the driver to the minister himself, Mr. Laloo Prasad Yadav. This shows the height of frustration.
I often pity the co-travelers for their lack of road sense, mainly common sense. More importantly, the urgency to get there first. Restraint, is one thing which can never be expected of them.
The moment you reach the other end of the crossing, you feel this hell lot of relief within yourself. It’s a kind of perfect bliss.
I admire the amazing driving ability of the BMTC bus drivers. Of late, I have felt their job to be one of the most adventurous. They have to do a load of circus with the huge bus and get all the people safely to their homes. They even serve as the real life examples of the theory of Darwin—Survival of the Fittest.
They rest their life on road, based on the principles like:
Only the smartest of the driver’s can survive on Bangalore roads (not just here, everywhere the situation is the same!!!)
No single space to drag your vehicles should be unused.
One should not allow other vehicle’s to capitalize at any point of their travel.
The lesser the distance maintained between the vehicles, the lesser is the chance for others to capitalize, more the chance of you yourself to move ahead and of course, cause accidents alsoJ
Big trucks and buses should be given their due respect lest they shall show their might in a very awful way.
These are just a few of them. God knows what the rest would be.

The saddest part of all these experiences is that, after many of this kind happen in life, you tend to live with it. That’s bad. You start accepting it as a bitter truth of life and stop bothering. There lies the problem. We no longer react and there we lose.
These are cases where we should react, to the world, to act more sensibly and make life easier for other’s also.
The railway crosses which once drove you crazy no longer affect you. The plight is no longer seen. The inner self admits that you cannot help it. You just transform yourself to that common man with more of emotions and less of actionsL

At least I wanted to be different. Even though I cannot be that sensible TCS guy who managed to control the dirty mess the other day at the railway cross, even though I cannot transform myself into a traffic police inspector, I can write…..

And so, I am writing this, and I am sure that makes a difference.
That’s because I know that not many write about all this. So, here I stand apart, with my words speaking louder than many other’s actions (the hope is still thereJ)

Radhee Krishna

IT’S PAINFUL TO BE BEAUTIFUL

Life’s a battle field, many say. But I never thought that battles of this sort can also be fought. Fought harder, even!!!
Yes, I am talking about my battle with myself!! Sounds fishy, spooky or whatever??
This was a battle to make me beautiful…..

Of course the protagonist of this entire drama was me…Radhee Krishna, a rather not that concerned a female about her self, forget her beauty.
The director, script writer, producer (very very important role!!!) and else everything was Ashwini K.P…..who is a very good person who likes Radhee (the protagonist) that she wants her to be BEAUTIFUL…..

The whole beautifooooooooool stuff turns out to be a very cool and painful (indeed!!..dats what I am concentrating here upon!!!). here’s the drama unfolded.

SCENE: 1
2.00pm: Friday:7-03-2008
Ash: Radhee..shall we go for your MAKEOVER today????
Radhee: But kp..you told that we would go tomorrow!!! I have loads of work today ya…
Ash: ok, try to complete it early, if you finish early, then we shall go?? What do you say…fine rite..i have something tomorrow dats y!!
Radhee: ok, I shall try, but I don’t think I will be able to…anyways…will try..

In the meantime, I even think of not going for the makeover at all. Chances where there that if I miss today, as she is busy the next two days, and the makeover might not happen at all!!!! HeheheeJ

But, nothing of that sort happened. Even though I had not done with any of my work, I was sitting there in the 5.15 bus with her.
My mind had made up with the whole idea of getting MADEOVER. Somehow, kp managed to take me, that’s the truth….she’s smart…ahah

So, we get down the bus, walk all the way to Beijing Chinas, the Saloon where I would have my makeover. On my way, I saw a BMW also…

So here goes Beijing Chinas:--------
There were two cheeni girls there. One of them were doing a pedicure for a lady, the other was doing something else. Don’t know what that was!!!! this certainly shows that I am poor in this entire thing….of being beautiful…and becoming one!!!

And the battle began with the chinkies. I had asked kp to give a disclaimer to those people that I am completely new to this and since it’s the first time, there might be repulsive tendencies seen from my part. There’s a chance of me, even not able to withstand the pain induced by the processes.
So the disclaimer held , they first started with my eyebrows. I should say one thing here that, the reason why I haven’t ever tried even, to make an entry into a beauty parlor is that, I always thought of myself as beautiful “ENOUGH”. Seriously, I mean it. But why now, that’s a question…Yes why now??? Simply because, it was KP’s gift and I dint want to disappoint her. She was (and is!!) my closest friend colleague. And I knew that all her concerns were very much genuine and sincere.

I had a very sentimental attachment with my eye-brows for that matter. Sounds funny, but its true. People can have sentimental attachment to their eyebrows and all as they have with their doggies(I mean pets, pens, books and so like..). it was due to the fact that, my thicker eyebrows attributed its good shape to the rather strenuous efforts of my dad when I was a small kid. He used to do my makeup for school as mom was away with work. All the while I had preserved its shape just because of that. But the make over was changing it (hopefully for the better!!!)

Kp had warned me that plucking eyebrows would be painful for the first time. Later we will get used to it, she said. Later ki bath tho later hain ( I thought!! let me do this for first time, then I might not even do it @ all!!!)
Thanks for the warnings---kp!!! I had thought of it to be very scary, but in the end it was not that painful too. Yeah!!! I had won the first battle….i was happy, but unfortunate though, I dint find any difference in myself. I consoled myself that there were many more things to come. Hopefully, there would a difference!!! After all, I had come for a makeover right.

Then they did a haircut. I would not say that I had a sentimental attachment to my hair also. That’s bullshit. I dint have any. I wanted a hair cut, badly. In the name of makeover, in fact I just wanted a haircut to be done….but all the other stuff…was like muft..!!! ek lo…ek muft!!! Anyways, when I reached home and narrated the whole hungama that had happened that day, I understood that my mom had sentiments for my hair….hehehhe;)

Now that the hair cut was also done, what followed was the most embarrassing procedure of hand waxing. They make you wear that weird gown and they do the normal waxing of applying some powder followed by some hot fluid kind off a thing. They keep a paper on the applied area and pull it off. Ooof, it seems so easy, but the pain it causes. Its bad. Again came the consolation comment from kp and also the chinki who was doing it, it will pain for the first time, but you will get used to it. My mind was flooded with JUST the thought that IT’S PAINFUL TO BE BEAUTIFUL!!!!! (in the meantime the pedicure lady wishes me HAPPY BIRTHDAY…that was certainly sweet of her…!!..was that a consolation prize???????? From GOD???)

After this makeover of mine, whenever I see all this ads which pictures beautiful gorgeous women, I realize how much pain they underwent to be so. At that instant, I happily accepted the fact that, natural beauty itself is good. At least its not of a self-inflicted pain!!!!

Understanding Mom's....

I AM AN ONLY DAUGHTER
I AM AN ONLY CHILD TOO.....
For the past 10 years, i have stayed in Cochin, Trivandrum and now in Bangalore.
Cochin for School, Trivandrum for College and Bangalore for Work matters.
There is one thing which is common to all these cities. MOM's!!!!
Be it any city, urban or rural...of late i have understood that mom's are the very same.They have similar concerns and they behave very much ALIKE...!!!
No, i am not generalising Mother's altogether. NO...I AM NOT!!
The people under consideration here are the Mothers whom i have seen, met, talked to and ofcourse lived with....
I have already mentioned that, i am now in Bangalore.Here, i stay as a Paying Guest(P.G) the famous acronym..popular in the software world.yes, i am here, working as a Software Engineer(!!!!!) ...leave all that.
I am here, not to talk about myself, but none other than Mom's.
Before discussing on that matter, let us move through a small, very small story.
The protoginists in this story are a nine year old girl and her mother. The girl is walking back from her school to home.She doesn't want to reach home at all.she's walking unusually slow for that reason.Guess why?
what better reason should a nine year old have? other that her exam marks!!!
very true, she has got het Hindi marks sheet, the greatest disaster hapepned to her 50/100(D grade.OMG)...i m gonna get beaten like hell...she thought..back at home...and she was scared about none other than her mom!!!
of course, she got beaten like hell...dats Past now...
every now and then, comments about not dressing up well, not putting a bigger bindi..not doing that...not doing this..being bad in studies...not concentrating... kept on coming...and she got fed up of all that.
but even she moved on, thank god, even she was able to make it in the Boards pretty well...and she moved to a different place...for college..away..from home.!!!
how many more 50/100 happened in her life after that, she dint care anymore. but one thing has changed, she wasn't scared anymore...about her MOM... she had started loving her Mom, maybe because she complained less and advised more...(as she's was away...and at college too...!!!)
even after her college....there were compulsions of asking her to not do that, dont go for this...instead do this...dis would be better and stuff.....but she had her mind made up for work...and she again..went away..from her MOM...
this is none other than my story.back then,i always, used to think about amma(MOM...) as a very...very very CRUEL mother.although i was a her only daughter and her only child too...(this is quite important i guess!!)..i never used to enjoy any advantages...
there is a popular misconception that single children are spoiled brats!!!...but...for me...forget being spoiled..i was not even pampered for even a continuous 5 minute time...i even started believing it to be intentional from my parents....!!!
but after moving to college, thinks changed.....to be true...
Hostels are places where you get to see a lot of people...from different backgrounds, cultures and obviously from different parts of the state and country...
i made out that all mothers are the same....but not that obvious too, until i reached Bangalore, started living as a PG in my distant realtive's home....and closely observing the aunty there...
even she was a mother..of two children. even she had a daughter(only daughter) and her son was away with work...
that made matters pretty much like at my home...the way she quarelled, the way she used to get hurt and disappointed.....i started realising something....how hard its to be a mother!!!
As every single day passed by....
I started understanding my AMMA..(a.k.a MOM)
I understood that she was just being my thoroughly caring, loving mother.
SHE WAS JUST BEING HERSELF...WHAT SHE IS SUPPOSED TO BE...
TO ME....
and i just love her for what she's.......:)

Complicated

i was just reading that article which tells abt the wonderful episode in which Mr.brad Hogg is reportedly accused of calling Indian Test n One day captians...bas***s...
what a great way of getting over with it men...
he is supposed to hav called dada also dat name..but dada being smart enough and not passive like d other guys in d team, retorted bak with...much better...f**k o**...hehhe..
dats sounds cool...dada knows hw to handle situations like dis...he wud say.."i hav seen dis funda a lot in ma life...nothin new ppl.."
i alwz thought dat rahul dravid wud b a better captian dan dada...ya...i believed so...
i ws a great fan of dada's captaincy n all....but hated his aggressiveness..
i m also a very aggresive person,personally....and i hate dat trait of mine.
so, i din want him to be dat aggressive.but...who am i...to want???
its in dat respect dat i favoured dravid.
but he, resulted a bit more passive than expected,he dint even show the necessary aggression at times and lacked the sense of wat u call, do or die approach towards d game.
i was also startled by the way he gave up the captaincy.that was not at all "OF HIS TYPE",i felt.
but,dada gav tit 4 tat to Hogg,dats d point...and wen hogg wen on to malice the other 2, Indian Team suddenly feels bad and lodge a complaint.
nw....Australians are busy thinkin of a way to get over it.
n guess wat their point is, hogg did the very same thin to three ppl....since 1 din complain....the others also need not...atleast (they shud not....y do just 2 ppl of a team have a problem and the other one don't...cool analogy....if anythin happens....team shud b a team...dey shud do d same things...in d same way....!!!! IT SEEMS... as per the Australian mantra.they are the real Team)
hahaha..dis s not a joke.....dats d way dey wer breaking their heads on it(THE AUSTRALIANS)....to derive such a complicated solution...to a very simple problem!!!
wat disheartens me,is dat dey dint even think of a settlement....thank god,Indian Team has.!!.....Kudos...anil..

Bday Funda

written on Dec19th 2007 11.32am
there was dis very storng desire in me 2 write somethin. don kno y?
but....this s pretty usual dese days.....n frequent too...so....taut will pen down watever i feel
not literally penning down...typin instead....
its amit's n valsan's bday....
have alwz wondered as 2 y s bdays soooo special...
d reasons put by shashi tharoor in his article on his bday...they were thought provoking.
yes dey were...it showed us a side...which no1 wud have dwelled upon....
its ur MOM who deserves all d credit on ur BDAY...n NOT U>>>YAAR
yes...dats very much true...right...yes..dats wat atleast i feel...
but wat i wanna say is dat....y r bdays celebrated @ALL???????
u wer born on some day.....some 22 years bak....!!!!
y s dat day remembered with soooo happiness.....
isnt it 4 d others to decide...whether its worth remembering!!!!?????
ISN'T IT????
mayb...its dis way round....ur bday is a special day 4 u....to make urself happy....atleast
once in a year......it can b that way also...yaya...
may b forefathers were tired of all d hardships which dey had during their time...
and they wanted somethin to cheer about...once in a while...n dat became ur BDAY>>>
a very good reason to be celebrated and genuine in ur case too.......mayb...dat mite b d reason!!!!!!
anyways....my bday is d day...when i want all dose ppl who kno me 2 wish me....
give me a load of gifts.....n make me happy...n feel good....
ya...its true....i m my FAV.....alwz...n its good to treat u,urself....alwz....(not just once in a while...but alwzzzzzz:) !!!!!:)
its not a matter of being proud abt yourself, but being what u r!!! and most importantly loving u as a person
URSELF......
i have found dat it helps one a lot.....u smile all d while.....as ur sooo happy...
n i look soooo good when i smile......!!!!
so the ultimate reason to all dese stuff is to LOOK GOOD!!!!!!!hehhe...strange:)

Here I m.....

Hmmm.....so Here I m...
Of late i have been writing a lot in my personal space. I used to sent it to friends for their feedback.Many of them repled back asking me to start blogging.So thats the reason why i am here......
N i shall keep going.....as i do....
with a lot of writings to come...hihi:)