Coucou! Ca va?: 2005

By Murali

Midnight lunch !

One of my friends had come down from France for a vacation. Having put up with him in dear old Fleury for two full years in bohemian Fonty, I had no choice but to hang out with him :-))

We roamed arnd the usual Hyd central area, followed by the usual sacred visit to the Prasadz multiplex. All went well. He bid me "au revoir" and left. As I was about to retire arnd midnight, I get a call from the f(r)iend.

"Man, I am stuck. No place to stay. Come and pick me up".

He was a "mere" 20 kms from where I stayed. Met him half way thru. Was 00h30 then.

"Lets head to Taj Krishna" was what came next.

I was in my nightwear. Since embarassement was a word which I encountered more in life than in the dictionary, I acceded to the request.

We were welcomed by the rather baffled secutiry guard outside. Waded our way into the restaurant. Luckily, there was a "midnight" menu though be it past 00h00 :-)

"I need tender coconut water" - my ex-roomate rocked.

The flabbergasted waiter got two of them. :-)

"Maintenant, on doit parler qu'en francais" - He now insists that we talk ONLY in french.

We were VEHEMENTLY dicussing french politics in our "bad" (read as really bad) french (with frequent "oh la la"s and "voila"s in between) as the others in blazers and suits watched us.

Arnd 03h00, there were malicious mis-interpretations one too many that we decided to call it off and headed back to my place.

And now, we know why "rendezvous" is a "french" word :-)

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By Murali

TAG-ging along!

Have been tagged twice now. Bus and Neelam being the culprits. So, will now "tag" along :-)

Seven Things I would like to do:

1. Visit Iceland and witness truest nature - "Aurora Borealis"

2. Learn Skiing!

3. Bungee Jump from a chopper

4. Visit South of France yet again, but atleast this time, with my spouse.

5. Speak french fluently.

6. Learn the "art" of talking less :p

7. Visit Eastern Europe ( more specifically - Prague!!)

Seven Things I can do:

1. Eat

2. Sleep

3. Blabber and continuously!

4. Shop and shop and shop

5. Bird watch

6. Get into trouble very easily :p

7. Lie effortlessly

Seven Things I say the most:

1. Oh Man!

2. Hmm hmm.

3. Oops!

4. Eeks!

5. ca va?

6. Absolutely!

7. Hey!

Seven Things I cant do:

1. Swim

2. Keeping my mouth shut!

3. Stop giving advices :p

4. Stop checking my e-mails once every two hours

5. Stop troubling my friends.

6. Grow younger. Nature is against me, unfortunately :-((

7. Play squash @ Hyd. ( no clubs, u see :p )

Seven Things that attract me to the opposite sex:

for ( int i= 0 ; i<7;i++)

System.out.println("Just being urself");

Seven celebrity crushes :

Too many in the list. Stating only "7" will be an insult to the others :P :P

Now that I've been thru' this, time to trouble others :

The lady @ S'pore :

http://www.mysterious-thoughts.blogspot.com/

The dude @ Redmond:

http://spaces.msn.com/members/palakkadiyer/

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By Murali

Thanks to thanksgiving!

Thanks to thanksgiving in the US, software folks in India had a relatively "trouble-free" week.

Friday - people rushed home in the afternoon to watch the "India - SA" fourth one dayer. End Result - "Oh man! Did I come home early to watch THIS match ??. I should have really stayed back at work " (no wonder after witnessing a 10 wicket defeat)

Two things are discussed predominantly these days during coffee / lunch breaks. Both not being about pay hikes or bonuses or whatever :-)

a. About ganguly / chappell/indian team / sachin's form. (tautology, this one :p )

b. About the mirza / suhasini / kushboo issue. (eeks! The goverment would go thus far to remove "freedom of speech", thanks to dirty politics )

People discuss these things so "vehemently" that sometimes, you just cannot hold your laugter :-). Thanks to the media for blowing things out of proportion, as always. Nonetheless, I enjoy these discussions as the silent spectator and break out of the break-out rooms, now and then, to laugh it all out :-)

Oh yes ! I watched "Harry Potter / Goblet of Fire" in an iMaX theatre. Contrary to what the palakkadiyer had to say, I really didn't like this one. I haven't read the book, but if "What I saw is what I would get" if I were to read the book, I really wouldn't bother to read this one.

Talking about Harry Potter, I saw Mr. Hari Potter on one of the "Tantra t-shirts" with "Hari" doing a bit of "pottery". Most of you should have seen this one; I liked this one though :-)

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By Murali

After a break...........

Two weeks and no blog makes me a busy bloke.

Well, quite a few interesting things happened :

1. One of my wingies stepped into limbo (read as "just got engaged"). Couldn't attend his engagement. So, thanks to him, got to learn new curse words :-)

2. Another one is about to step into the same. ( read limbo as life betn. bachelor life and married life)

3. I was home for Diwali after a long long time. Was good fun there. Shopped and shopped and shopped with one of my close pals at Chennai. Shopping is great fun if you are two, have a bike and your friend is ready to evade the traffic. Hyd is really a bad place to be for Diwali. No festive atmosphere, nothing! Apparently, its not a big festival here.

4. Parents came to Hyd to check how their son was doing. Ofcourse, so, I had to "hide" quite a few things. My kitchen is now set and I am "expected" to cook rather than eat out :-). Had a deep cut in my finger the first time I attempted cooking here :-)

5. Oh yeah.. read a few books at home. ("Angels and Demons" was the best of the lot - ending is as usual very cinematic, but the book is loaded with great information. Now, I want to see Rome again ! )

6. Sat thru' two of the worst movies ever "Kyon ki" and "Garam Masala". Please don't watch. Even Mithun's movies would rate better anyday compared to these !

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By Murali

A no-snooze alarm

Its 00h00 in the nite and the alarm rings. I try to "snooze". Oops! No snooze button. The alarm tempo increases...

Oh yeah. Now, I remember this reminder. Indeed!! Its the day when I am EXPLICITLY reminded that I am getting "old" :-(((((((((((((

I wake up to see a star-spangled cake with a "few" (read as infinitesimal) candles on them.

"Joyeux Anniversaire" , says the delicious cake :-)

You cut the cake while others sing the age++ tune. Next min, the cake is ransacked :-)

Luckily, since the guy/gal ratio is at a record low, I am spared of the usual b'day bumps.

A relatively serene and non-violent session follows in which I am asked to walk them thru' my past year. Easy getting thru' this one.

Then, ofcourse, its "gifts" time. Since I vehemently spoke ( before my b'day) about a book I wanted, I get the same (no wonder :p). This trick really does work, huh :-)

A few phone calls and mails follow all trying to confirm if I would be 16 or 17 NEXT year ! Suprisingly, even my friends be it nappy-laden ones running behind their kids or be it the ones running behind their spouses manage to find time to call or mail :-))

A yearly reminder, but still a sweet one :-)

Btw, for all my dear ones who forgot about this, please note that I do "accept" belated b'day wishes. No cake left though !

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By Murali

Jaunt-lagged

Was off to b'lore for a "petite" vacation. Had a taste of all things from b'lore traffic to food-poisoining.

It indeed was something to try the "Gold Class" @ PVR, FORUM. The chairs were of ROSITA quality. Joey would love these for sure :-). Ended up sleeping so well in the chair that I don't remember anything at all about the movie.

Watched Iqbal the next day (ofcourse not in gold class for I remember the movie name). For once, I really LIKED a Hindi flick. Definitely worth a watch.

Played snakes-and-ladders with my 5 year old nephew. Ofcourse, he managed to win all the 20 times.

Had food in a so-called "plush" restaurant and ended up getting food poisoned:-)

Window-shopped quite a bit with two friends. The idea was to shop. Laziness was a fourth soul that travelled with us. So, end result - Window shopping :-)

Best part : Great time with family and friends.

Worst part : Need I say 'em? Roads in b'lore :-) Had the ride of my life when I had to go from my sis' to my wingies'. The roads ( or are they?) in b'lore are so well designed that you start detesting the song - "On Road Again"

Its simple - for those who do not know what spondylitis means, b'lore is the place to be. Your may have a Class A Mercedez or a Mofa, the end result is the same :-)

Regrets : was not able to meet everyone due to the you-are-not-well-so-be-at-home-or-else-i'll-kick-u (my sis) scenario
Courtesy - the plush restaurant :-)

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By Murali

Nailed in Nalli**

Will you (as a male) ever go with two women to Nalli? No thinking twice here. The answer is an obvious NO :p :p :p. Well, ironically, I did :-) The idea was to make them select something for my sis. And select they did; in less than 5 mins. That was incredibly quick, ain't it.

Then, they said that they would "throw an eye" over the stuff. Well, to me, this sounded like a 5 minute glance. 15 mins pass by; a quarter of the store is ransacked. One hour later - The entire inventory structure of the shop collapses. You can imagine. Finally, I manage to pull them out.

They now head to a jewellery shop. (I was promised that I would be taken to a very good restaurant if I put up with this). Atleast here, I manage to get a comfortable reclining sofa and I dose off.

One hour later, I am woken up, not by these two, but by a call from my sis :

"Murali, you are getting old. You need to get married !!!"

Oh yeah! And thats what I wanted to hear from my sis after this "mishap" :-))))

**Nalli - A very famous South Indian women's clothing outlet

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By Murali

Weekend lessons

Had a "busy" weekend shopping in Hyd.

Lessons learnt :

1. Never ever step into Big Bazaar. This place is only for agoraphobic people. I am not and this place makes me claustrophobic and demophobic.

2. Don't trust people who say that you get "everything" (and at discounted rates) at Big Bazaar :p :p :p :P

3. Don't "borrow" a bike and drive to crowded places in Hyd.

4. Ask for directions repeatedly in Hyd. People in Hyd seem to be very confused with the directions.

5. If you don't follow 3 & 4, you may end up being Acousticophobic, Agyrophobic, Amathophobic, Amaxophobic, Dystychiphobic and Stenophobic.

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By Murali

One wedding, a geek and an antique clock

I had the privelege of atteding a Norvegian/Italian wedding in Paris. Ofcourse, in the western world, you don't go to a wedding if you aren't invited. So, I was indeed invited :p :p :p. The Norvegian was a good friend of mine and we used to play squash every week.

In France, weddings are not "official" until they happen in the town hall. May sound wierd, but thats the way it is. People who marry in the church will have to marry "again" ( in a normal context, this would be the "same" two people again)in the town hall for the wedding to become legal.

So, my roomate and I head off to wedding. Since this was our first "western" wedding, we decided to be there on time. We are there at 10h30 . There is a group waiting outisde. One person did resemble the groom's brother. So, we started talking to him. 15 mins go by. Still no sign of the bride and groom.

Finally, the bride and the groom arrive with their 4 month old baby. They apologise for coming late. Then, we walk into the 'hall'. 20 mins and the wedding is over. We now leave the hall and there is "another" wedding group thats waiting outside for us to leave.

As we now walk out for the "vin d'honneur" to a nearby restaurant, one of the ex-insead folks starts talking to us. My roomate, sensing danger excuses himself and leaves. Being a "nice"person, I continue to engage him in conversation. In 15 mins, I realise that all he wants to talk about is hardware, microcontroller, c++, c# and so on. Now, do I want to talk about all this in a wedding ???????????

SOS - I look for my roomate. He is happily flirting with the girls.

Soon, we reach the restaurant. We start talking to the groom.

Me : So R***, is there a huge crowd from Norway?

R*** : Yes, indeed.

Me : How many ?

R*** : About 10, I think. But there is even a bigger delegation from Italy. Italians are so well "family-knit", so, we have about 30 from there. Such a "big" crowd was unexpected.

My roomate: R***, My sis' wedding in India had about 3000 people.

R*** - Astounded and speechless :-))

We then give him the gift. Its an "antique" clock.

R*** - Ah! Now I know why you are giving me this gift. Its just to remind me that I came late for my own wedding, ain't it? :-))

So, thats just a very "small" cultural difference betn Indian and western weddings, I suppose :-)

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By Murali

And finally... the 8th wonder!!!

Its simple. Try calling up ur friends (working in software firms, ofcourse) for a movie anyday. (yes, be it a weekend too). Suprisingly, everyone says "yes" to the movie idea at the get-go. Try "executing" the plan - it just never happens. Atleast one of them has to save "Planet Earth" from sinking and so, would have to stay back to some write panic-stricken C code ( No wonder Planet Earth goes down faster due to this last minute "fix") !

Well, being new to the staying-away-from-home-carefree-bachelor-in-India lifestyle, I always take such initiatives to pull people to the cinema! I just tried calling "three" people et voici les reponses :

Character A : Hey.. We've planned for a movie thrice and not once have we made it. We have to go today. Its been too long ( read as three days back) since I saw the last film. Weekends, I go home ( and watch movies there too). I LOOOOOOOOVVVVVVVVVEEEE telugu flicks (athadu, okadu, eedu, vaadu, , maavaadu, e-naadu, ....). I have malaria; but still I want to watch a movie. I am taking medicines now for malaria. If you don't take me to the movie, I shall consume all the pesticides and insecticides to kill all the mosquitoes in me !

Character B : What do u think, huh? I am the Assistant Manager at XXX and I am also an MBA grad. How dare you intimate me just 48 hours in advance about the movie? Do you know what planning is? (a list of management jargons follow).

Summary : I have to buy Pizzas for my dear developers working late (feed junk to those who do junk :-) ) and while they slog, I have to be on phone with my guy !!!

Well, apparently, this character has forgotten that most of us do read "Dilbert" and know what most Managers and Assistant managers do ;)

Character C : Movies and me? Too boring and am too lazy too, you know. I am too busy and I work on multiple projects. I am tensed, stressed. Things are not working; i have a demo tomorrow. I want to work; but I don't want to work too.

Me : Fine, up to you. Please finish your work.

Character C : How dare you NOT force me and assume that I'll NOT come. How dare you think I am a spoilsport. ( some expletives follow). I shall not come to any movie from "next" time on, but for this one, I WILL, even if I am NOT invited.

So very simple to use a "show-sympathy-and-ask-not-to-come" strategy on this character.

I finally did manage to pull these three variegated characters to "Maine Gandhi ko Nahin Maara". A different Hindi flick worth watching once. The second half is not so good though.

Btw, no prizes for guessing the three characters :) :)

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By Murali

Faint, France and the French

It was a normal day, like any other day in mid-Sep '04 @ work at F'bleau. I was a happy man whiling away time in front of my computer ( read as "working"). Two of my colleagues( ch*******_bits & a***_mi), in adjacent cubicles, were "working" as well.

I was off for a few mins to the town hall to get some paperwork done. I am there ...Et voila :
call from ch*******_bits : Man, a***_mi has fainted!!!!!!!!!!!!
Me : WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOTTTT ?

Alarmed, ch*******_bits calls up the emergency and a***_mi is taken to the Fontainbleau Hospital. I rush to the hospital too.

Since the "patient" was already with the doc, I had to give in the details. Also, there is a gross misconception here amongst the BITSian group that I do speak a bit of french and so, I am the one thats always pulled up for such formalities :-((
It all started well with the receptionist.The receptionist asks me in french as to whom I am registering for .

Me : C'est une fille (Its a girl)

As i say that, ch*******_bits asks me something and I start talking:

Receptionist : C'est votre fille?? ( Its "your" girl?", meaning "its YOUR daughter??")..

I just nod without realising what she asked. I give her the name, address, etc.

Receptionist : Date de naissance ( DOB)??

I start blinking.

Receptionist : (Now that scornful look from her) Its your daughter and u do NOT know her DOB :-((( ( she howls at me in french, all of which I "understand" very well)...

As she howls, the "fainted" one ( three years younger to me) comes in and gives her DOB. After seeing my just-three-years-younger-to-me-daughter, the receptionist faints :-)

And how I used to appreciate those "subtle" nuances in languages :-)

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By Murali

Where is she?

She was a 94 model. And how faithful was she.She was German. No wonder she was "irrestible".

Whenever I was stressed, I used to take her for her ride.
She never used to complain about the way I handled her. I've been harsh on her many a times. We've been on long road trips together. I may have got tired, but not her :-). She used to entertain me with her music.

Whenever I shopped, she never would allow me to carry the stuff. She would take it all on her. Chivalry - where was that?

All my friends like her too. She makes such a wonderful companion. We've all made trips together.

She has a scar on her side, but thats almost un-noticeable with the impeccable character she had. She is not the one who would complain if you let her alone for a while. She knew that I was always there for her.

All good things come to an end and so did our relationship. Both of us had to move on. I headed to India while she stayed back in France. We don't see each other any more.She didn't want to go on the bumpy roads here. So, had to let her go.

Yes, she is still there, my dear Volkswagen Golf (110DGW77). Though she has found a new partner, I shall remain one of her proud owners :-). Hopefully, I bump into her someday, sometime.

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By Murali

Squash @ Hyd

Having played a lil' squash at INSEAD, my friend(mo********_smile) and I decided to search for squash courts in Hyd. We identified this to be the only way to reduce our pot-bellies. He got a list of sites (essentially clubs), all of which listed "squash" as one of the available amenities.

All thrilled, our man (mo********_smile) calls up. No response from two clubs.

From the third on, it gets all very exciting. The club asks him what "squash" is :-)))) Well, mo********_smile patiently explains to them for about 10 mins. No use :-)

4th, 5th, 6th calls - mo********_smile is now a perfectionist in explaining what "squash" is; be it in Hindi or English or Telugu.

End Result - We probably think we can never find one :-)

Ironically, all malls in Hyd have huge racks dedicated to Squash rackets. Dunno how they sell them :). They probably have a strategy to sell them as baddy rackets ;)

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By Murali

Koide9??????????

Most of you would be wondering what the blog title means.

Here you go : "koi de 9?" is "quoi de neuf?" (french) and means "Whats up?"

Thanks to the French SMS verlan, we have such confusing and undecipherable lingo. :-)

Finding a name wasn't easy, atleast for me. Intially,"Koide9" was rejected and so, I had to do a lot of "title-searching". After giving up ( obvious, ain't it? ), I mailed to one of my good friends ( ne****pg).. Et voila, she came up with so many creative names. Hats off to her!!!

Though not my ideas, I would state few of her suggestions here :
1. "Hyd-n-Seek"
2. "pas-de-chance-with-the-URL"
3. "FRIdays" - FRI meaning "Fontainebleau returned indian" ( though a bit presumptuous, still a very good idea)

Just when I was about to pick one of these, my "Koide9" was "allowed" and I just decided to stick on to that :-)

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By Murali

The usual "why-did-I-start-blogging" story

Well, quite a lot of reasons for the same.

a. The "Most-of-my-friends-write-So-why-not-me" thought :) Analogy : I underwent an executive education program at INSEAD. Atleast some of the participants ( most of them in mid 40s) when asked why they are attending the program answered " My boss did it. So...." Well, my blogging is on similar lines:-)

b. Apparently, most of my friends are unable to put up too much of my talking that they've pleaded me to talk less and write more :-)

c. I did get my french driver's license after truly painstaking efforts. This may sound a preposterous reason to start a blog. I had a silly bet with my ex-roomate (ch*******_bits) that I would start blogging should I get my french "permis-de-conduire". Since he was a typical victim of my sermons, he prayed more than I did for my license tests :-)

d. I've finally found time to do this. ( read as "I eat and sleep less" )

e. Now that I've bored people around me enough, I would want to reach my other friends all over and invite them over and over to read my blog and post their comments :p :p :p

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