Coucou! Ca va?

2011-03-04T11:22:00.002+05:30

Hype

So many things around us seem to be successful because of hype, ain't it?
And these things continue to happen.

Take facebook, twitter, the iphone, iPad, Dhoni, the IPL, the Old spice commercial - are these products really successful because they delivered. Partially yes, without a doubt. But for these entities to revolve around your life everyday is something we ourselves have caused, I suppose.

Let's take facebook. I did not even have an account on Facebook(FB) a few months back. I used to use other social networking sites to occasionally get in touch with my friends. Now, everyone talks only of FB. So, I was forced to login to FB and I see that as the only way to connect with my friends and near ones. So, would I be able to stay away from FB even I wanted to - I doubt it. Just the hype around the product is possibly causing everyone to create an account as if no other social networking site ever existed. Even worse, there was a movie made on it - luckily it did not shine at the Oscars. Products like Orkut, Ibibo, mySpace, etc are not even respected(most of us do not even know about these sites) - well because they are not too hyped. I still do not have a twitter account, but wondering how long I can stay away from that. Social media is a big thing, no doubt - but still most of the companies are only embracing FB due to the number of registered users.

Ditto with IPL. The months of April and May are really horrendous. IPL is simply the business interest of 10 people(read as owners) plus BCCI and Lalit Modi( luckily this bureaucrat(or autocrat?) is no longer in control). Every lunch or coffee discussion revolves around IPL for no good reason. In fact, I see that no one really cares about who wins - there is no bangalore/chennai loyalist in most of the cases. It's just the hype around the whole product that has generated so much buzz. So much of buzz that is has actually killed other forms of cricket. Why? - All becoz' the BCCI wanted to make more money.

Is the iPad the best thing that happened in the world. We all know the answer. But why was it so successful - all becoz' of the hype/buzz.

The Old spice commercial(The Man Your Man Could Smell Like) was possibly the dumbest ad I have ever seen. At least, I do not find the commericial any bit funny. Just check the number of YouTube hits and the increase in Old Spice sales that it caused.

So, is this the new marketing paradigm - remains to be seen!

2011-03-04T11:14:00.002+05:30

What's with the resignation?

2010 was the year of resignations, wasn't it ?
Theorem : I do not accept blame even if I am caught red-handed.
Corollary : I resign!
This was the norm starting for most of our 'beloved' politicians in 2010.

Shashi Tharoor was caught in the IPL web and paid the price for being too candid in Twitter. He resigned!

N.D Tiwari was caught doing the act. He resigned!

Ashok Chavan was blamed for the Adarsh scam. He resigned!

Suresh Kalmadi was caught for the CWG corruption. He resigned!

Raja - the '2G king' and I say no more!. He too resigned!!!

What I fail to understand is the rationale behind these decisions. I would assume that resigning means accepting culpability and if that is the case, why is the law not taking its course against these 'gentlemen'. May be the definition of democracy has fundamentally changed to absolve such individuals of crime since they have 'resigned' :p :p.

Sounds like an easy ticket out of hell while we confused denizens are in limbo not knowing whom to vote for. Do we 'resign' to this fact?

2010-03-22T22:51:00.005+05:30

11 Months Later

Realized my last post was in Apr 09. So, what was I upto ?

Well, was busy at work. Know that this is equivalent to saying that 'it snowed heavily in bangalore'. I leave you to interpret the first statement while I stand 'strongly' by what it means :-)

Also, I went on a 'paid vacation' to Austin / Seattle (read as business trip). After finishing off my 'business' in Austin, I headed to Seattle to catch up with my wingies. Was lot of fun as we caught up with everlasting memories of good-old BITSian days.

In a way, the US trip was a 'strange' experience for me. People understood the language I spoke. Having spent a good amount of time in Europe, I had to often use sign language(except in France) to make people understand what I was trying to convey to them either in a restaurant, or a mall, etc etc. Brings to memory a unique incident when I went to Andorra ( a small country between France and Spain) a few years ago - my friend wanted to buy a camera, he tells me in English as to what he wants; I then speak to someone in French as to what my friend wants; she finally speaks to the sales lady in Catalan( or some equivalent) and tells her what we want. My friend eventually did purchase the camera - so, such 4-way communications do work, ain't it ? :-)

Purchased the 'Wii' for my friend and have been a fan of this ever since. My friend and I fight it out in tennis - note that he always wins though I call it a 'fight' :-). I've never been any sort of an avid gamer, but with Wii, I guess I've changed!

Pics of my Seattle trip :

Seattle - Dec 09

2009-04-26T18:43:00.006+05:30

Day out in Moscow

Tried exploring Moscow over the weekend and to my own suprise - I was successful. Took inputs from my colleagues about the Moscow metro and though, I didn't understand the cyrillic characters, I still managed to find my way through.

For the intial few mins, was having agarophobia. Was unable to decipher the cyrillic names. However, with the help of the locals, I got into the correct trains. Put myself on two tours

- Kremlin tour - takes you inside Kremlin and

- The City tour - bus ride which takes you around the city.

Both tours were very good. Moscow center is gorgeous and full of rich history. Apparently, the wedding season in Moscow starts after the 40 days fast for Lent (which is now - also Russians celebrate Easter(orthodox Easter) one week after the 'regular' easter), so, saw brides/grooms in weddding costumes all over Moscow - be it the Red Square, Victory Park, Moscow University, wherever! Weddings, I am told, happens only on weekends and sometimes, around 1500 newly wed come to the Red Square over the weekend. Apparently, the first Sunday after Easter is called 'Krasnaya Gorka' in Russia - a day that promises, according to the Russians, an eternal bond of matrimony.

Photo links :

Moscow - Apr '09

2009-04-25T01:26:00.008+05:30

Mockba
Well, that is how Moscow is written in Russian and pronounced 'Moskva'. That's the learning in my first week here at Moscow. Thanks to cyrillic/english character comparison in Moscow guides. Yet to explore the place - would be doing so this weekend.

Sometimes, I can't help but feel that it's a 'Truman show' happening here for me at Moscow. Wake up at the same time, have the same breakfast ( not too many veg options) - infact, when I call 'Room service' the lady says ' Oh yes sir, I know what you'll have for breakfast', have a pick up taxi at 11 (most of the times its the same taxi driver), pass by the hotel receptionist who says the customary "Good morning", try to engage in some conversation with the taxi driver, keep looking out of the taxi window trying to identify the way(though we always take the same route, I always tend to find it new everyday), say hi to the russian colleagues, go for lunch at 15h00 sharp and have the same dish (again very few veggie options), try to engage in conversations with the russians colleagues, have a taxi back at 8, hot shower in the evening, have the same dinner(no more mentioning about the kinda food I get) , watch CNN and eurosport(watch the Sheffield Snooker championship) on TV ( only english channels) till about 12 in the night and hit the bed - AND this over and again for 5 consecutive days. Woah - the story of my life in the past week.

Nevertheless, with the weather getting better - from 2deg C few days back, it has gone up to 12 deg C today. Expected to go to 20 on Monday. Can I ask for anythign better?Also, I've booked myself on a Kremlin tour for the weekend. So, looking forward to it. Will have to see how many times I miss my way in the Metros. My cyrillic learning has still not been that quick. Though I've taken a lot of guidance and tips from my colleagues, it remains to be seen as to how I put them all into action and execute them :-)

Some interesting facts about Russia :

- The country has 9 timezones

- There is a train from Moscow to Biejing that has a 6-day journey time.

- There is another train which goes all over Russia and takes 7 days.

2009-04-18T21:40:00.002+05:30

@Moscow

On a 'business' jaunt to Moscow for 2 weeks. Remains to be seen how the next two weeks pass by.

Have the following weeks to see the place. Luckily the weather is not bad 10 deg in the morning and around 0 deg C in the nights. Apparently, my hotel is in the middle of the city and so, all the good locations are nearby. Normally, I plan out what to do in such trips. Having come alone, am yet to look up even a Moscow map.

2009-03-04T22:16:00.007+05:30

More travel..
After moving to B'lore, I've been hitting the roads pretty often. Karnataka is a good place for tourism, especially after I've been hunting for good spots in zero-tourist-locations-in-AP. December - had been to Chikmagallur and in Jan - to Coorg/Nagerhole.

Chikmagallur, a small town overlooking the western ghats, is a calm and serene place and good for a weekend trip. We climbed up mountain peaks, drove through coffee plantations (ofcourse had lovely coffee) and basked in the lakes. First ever time I actually got to see a coffee plant and also got to know a little bit about the coffee history. The best part of the trip was the homestay we stayed in (http://www.thippanahallihomestay.com/) - again a first time experience for me(in an Indian homestay). Food was great as was the hospitality of the hosts.

Coorg - most of us would consider this name synonymous to coffee - lives up true to its name. You see coffee plantations all over. We stayed in a 'jungle resort' (http://www.bethelestate.com/) in the thick Nagerhole jungles. No lights in the night - evenings, the lights would be turned on for a couple of hours using the generator. We slept in tents and nights were pitch-dark with only the stars emanating some light. Ofcourse, we did hear the scary noises of who-knows-which-creature in the nights. Food - we were pampered with too many sinful-starters and great food. Add bonfire to this - was a fantabulous experience. After a couple of days in the jungle, we got in touch with mankind again. Drove to Talacauvery - was very disappointing. This place is supposed to be origin of river Cauvery - ironically though, there is no river/fall or source. Apparently, there is a small pond, which is considered to be the source. History has it that a natural spring here feeds water to Cauvery constantly. Drive from there towards B'lore and you'll hit KushalNagar. This place has a 'Golden Buddisht Temple' - lovely temple. Everyone who goes to Coorg does visit this place.

Overall, both these trip were rejevunating and coffee-licious :-) Attaching a few snaps .....

Buddhist temple - Kushal Nagar

Lovely tea estates - the only one is 'coffee' Coorg

Our jungle resort

Muliyangiri peak - Chikmagalur

Coffee - raw and ripe - unlike the usual hot and cold ;)

Lake placid in Chikmagalur

2009-01-13T10:39:00.006+05:30

Adios 2008!
Whoa! We finally did bid 'good'(or was it?) bye to 2008. 2008 was as bad as it was good. So much for the news channels to increase their TRPs - 'BREAKING NEWS' was the default marquee on most of the news channel all thru' 2009.

Not looking at the worst(we've had enough of that), let me pen down what I thought were the best sporting moments of 2008 :
- Topping the list was UNDOUBTEDLY the riveting five-setter between Federer and Nadal at Wimbeldon '08. Phew! What a match. I guess my blood pressure would have varied the most during this 5 hour period. For those of you who had seen this, 'THAT BACKHAND WINNER'(from Federer) to save a matchpoint in the fourth set will be etched in memory for ever.
- Bindra winning the olympic gold - no doubts there
- India riding on Sachin's ton to chase at Chennai
- SA halting the Australian juggernaut at Perth

For me personally, I moved from Hyd to Bangalore and that was, by far, the 'best' thing that happened to me in 2008 :-)

After all, life moves on and let's see what 2009 has in store for us. Hopefully, we hear a lot lesser of 'crisis', 'layoffs', 'bailouts' and 'downturns'.

2008-12-02T13:12:00.004+05:30

Quoi de neuf?
Well.. whats new? Few months into b'lore and am already having more fun than I thought I
would. Couple of road trips to Mysore, one to Nandi Hills, one to Chennai and a couple of mountain drives in the near future. What more could I ask for ?

Also learnt poker - now, I am looking for a Casino Royale DVD :p - didn't understand anything when I first watched the movie.(Ill)Luck is always with me and my bets are always bad, but atleast, I understand the game now.

Bought a new guitar finally - apparently I am getting better at it - and who said this?- my instructor (he is really being nice to me, isn't he ?). My wife is using more impenetrable ear blocks now, while I play.

Baddy - oh yes.. how did I forget this? I am a frequent visitor to a badminton club nearby. Really good work out this. Let me see how long this continues :p :p

Went to this place called 'Infinitea'(the menu here had more teas than I could ever imagine) - oh wow, the teas here are 'tealicious'. Should have another go at this one shortly.

2008-09-08T11:58:00.006+05:30

Bored to B'lored

Just when I was settling down in Hyd, I realised it wasn't to be. Moved to b'lore recently.And why not? Yet another new city. Yet another new place to explore. Boon in one way, bane in another way. The question that I frequented most was - Why Bangalore??????????? Well aware of the traffic situation(read as chaos and pollution on streets), I did take the bold decision of relocating to b'lore.

To my suprise, I guess the city is NOT as horrendous as I had expected. No wonder the traffic situation is bad. But then, the 'quality' of life is certain better. Hyd does get boring after sometime.. But I guess theres a lot more to explore here. Oh well.. No more telugu movies, music and radio.. Well, atleast for that, I am glad I am outta Hyd :-)

So, as I convince myself of the positives(read as overlooking the obvious painpoints) of B'lore, let me hope that this stint in b'lore would be pleasurable ;-)

2008-06-12T12:11:00.000+05:30

C-Drive
After 6 months of 'thoughtless' deliberation, I managed to go on a road trip. Srisailam was the destination. The route was reasonably picturesque and I enjoyed my first 'long car drive' in India. Was a good experience. We were a group of 10 and that added to the fun. The weather was the 'sad' part as the Sun was relentless on us. After visiting the Shiva temple, we took a rope way to descend down to the Krishna to hitch a boat ride. We repentedthe decision soon after as we roasted 'high and dry' in this process.

If that was not all with the driving, a couple of days later, we drove down to Chennai from Hyd. That was ONE lonnnnnnnnnng journey. The 730 km route took us about 13 hours (on a SANTRO) to complete. Went thru' the 'mango towns' in AP. So, had a chance to stop for some fresh-out-of-tree-mangoes - indeed was the most 'relishing' part of the journey :-)

2008-05-20T23:28:00.005+05:30

Long winter hibernation

After a long winter hibernation, thought I would once again get back to the scribbling ways. Have been wanting to write for a long time, just that my 'eternal' friend never refuses to leave me - read as laziness :-)

So, whats hot now? Ofcourse the weather and the inflation. Both these never tend to die down.
The India 'Paisa' league is eating into most of my evenings, amidst shouts of 'please change the channel' from my spouse. Wish the cheapest team wins - Rajasthan Royals. Can't derive more sadistic pleasure from the fact that the Deccan Chargers are at the bottom. Would be happy if the 'all-hyped' team finishes at the bottom of the table.

Went to one of the ICL matches at Hyderabad - a league that I love. Was fun.

Wierd things happened at work. A couple of colleagues appreciating my dressing sense - oh yes - even I was 'suprised'. A couple of colleagues and I played the guitar in some cultural event at work, we bagged the second place for our performance. Some things are best left uninvestigated :p :p

Let me hope I that continue to pollute the blogosphere more frequently. Ciao!

2007-10-16T13:58:00.000+05:30

G-Strings

Have been increasing the noise around my neighbourhood. Reason - have been learning the guitar for the past couple of months.

Still a beginner and trying hard :). This has long been on my 'to-do' list and finally, the unchecked check-box was checked. Also, the guitar lessons are good enough reasons to sneak out of office a lil' early on a couple of week days :-)

As of now, I am adoring playing the "G-strings" - occasionally, I do produce 'music', mind you :-) But it'll be hard identifying the 'music' in-between the cacaphony!

Just to remind myself of the fact that I am learning the guitar, I've started blogging (www.chordsandleads.blogspot.com) exclusively about the same with the notes I've gathered so far.

My mridangam learning lasted for 2 years, let me hope this stays atleast that long !

2007-10-06T18:56:00.001+05:30

Little Angels Day Out

Yet another outing(22nd Sep 07) with the specially challenged(hearing impaired / underprivileged ) kids from Ashray Akruti. This time, the venue was Mount Opera. Was a very very memorable day.

Should you wish to volunteer, please visit Ashray Akruti (http://www.ashrayakruti.org/) for more details.

Leaving you with a few images ...

2007-10-06T18:01:00.000+05:30

Cricket and telugu movies

Yet another delayed post. For people who are shocked to hear that I am 'busy', please do try to digest the fact that indeed I am !

Well, now that we are on a high after the T20 win, I just couldn't stop myself from comparing our DEAREST Agarkar(specifically) with Telugu movies. Funny as it may seem, lets see what the comparisons are :

Similarities
1. Both are disgustingly useless - Even before a telugu movie is shot or even before Agarkar comes to bowl, we know that we are heading towards disaster. 1 in a 1000 telugu movies is 'good'. 1 in every 1000 Agarkar overs, he does not concede a four.

2. Both still make money - As ironical as it may seem, both still are money making machines. The icing on the cake was Agarkar being awarded 15 lacs after the T20 win.

3. Both are heavily supported by lobbyists - I don't even have to explain this. Most of the protagonists(I wouldn't be even remotely tempted to call them 'heroes') in telugu cinema are offsprings of yesteryear 'protagonists. While telugu movie fans give their life to watch the ugliest movie on the day of the release, many of the ex-maharashtrian cricketers still consider Agarkar to be one of the best in business.

4. Both don't use their brains : Anyone who has watched a 'single' telugu movie will understand what I mean. Same with anyone who has watched Agarkar bowl a single over :-)

5. Both are appreciated for other factors : Agarkar was the fastest to reach 50 ODI wickets ( some gazillion years back). He has a good arm. Telugu movies have good songs, good comedy, argue fanatics - what about 'story' but?. Core 'required' competency in both - ZERO !

Dissimilarities

Agarkar is 'hopefully' history, but sadly, telugu movies can never be :-(((((((

Ramesh Powar was another classic case. We all know how 'terrific' his feilding is. He was bought in as an all"round"er. Note that the emphasis is on the word 'round'. So, if the selectors cannot find a bowler, who can 'field' as well - it merely brings out the inefficieny of the BCCI in selecting a person (lets not even go close in saying 'selecting a cricketer') to represent India. Oh hang on a minute - lets not forget that Powar is also from Maharashtra. I guess the Union Agriculture Minister should spend more them on the farming field than on the cricket field.

Amen!

2007-09-10T17:01:00.000+05:30

Junket to Phuket

Here I am, after a long 'summer hibernation' !

Had been to Phuket for a week, Thailand due to a 'small' status change in my life ! The place was much more than what I had expected it to be. The lovely mountains on the coastline, the 'all active' city, the adorable hospitality and to top it all, the cheap prices :-)

Visited Phi Phi island. This was the island where the movie 'Beach' was shot. Was a long 48 kms journey by a speed boat. Honestly, the boat ride is much better than the place. Phi-phi is just a hyped-up place like many other ones.

Ofcourse, Patong beach(where I stayed) deserves all the hype. The place reverberates with the tides as well as with the array of activities along the coast. It's busy all the time and bubbles with songs, thai massages, pedicures, parasailing, night clubs, etc. U name it and you have it !

Our last expedition was to the James Bond island. Apparently, 'The Man with the Golden Gun' was shot here. We canoed on the sea and that was fun. Had to go below mountains on a canoe with a torch. Couldn't have been better :-)

Well, coming to food - being a vegetarian didn't help the cause at all. All food comes directly from the ocean. So, had to be content with Pizza huts and Subways. The Indian restaurants that I tried atleast were not as good !

In short, a fun place to be at a reasonably cheap price (you can shop, rather than 'window' shop due to comparable-with-india prices)

Leaving you with a few images ....

2007-05-18T01:46:00.000+05:30

Was it cocky..... ?

No, it wasn't. It was Coccydynia!

It rained just one day in this blistering summer at Hyd. And that was enough. I somehow managed to loose my footing on a wet floor and fall on my back. As usual, ignored the pain for 3 weeks – only got worse. Panic button pressed!

Cause and what was the effect?

Went to a local medico. Diagnosis: ‘Just’ 3 weeks complete bed-rest. Excuse-me? Not approving the decree, I went to Apollo.

Verdict: Coccydynia!

Alleviation strategy: Resurrect the tailbone thru’ physiotherapy. No bed-rest required. Thank heavens!

So, there I was having an ultrasound device running thru’ ‘no entry’ zones on my back, for a few days.

Fall, for you scale great heights after that; but never fall ‘back’, for you can never lift even the smallest of weights after that !

2007-04-09T13:30:00.000+05:30

Good FrYday(s)

Good friday and so, a long weekend. So, yet another break from work, albeit in the hot and scorching weather. Was supposed to leave on vacation on Wednesday nite - however - wednesday was a 'bandh' at Hyderadad for no reason. It was a bandh - but then, all life was normal except the plying of the APSRTC buses ( which anyday, I wouldn't dare to get into ) :p :p So, essentially had a two day workweek !!!

Got a mail from one of my friends with the subject as 'status change'! Well, I had assumed on seeing the subject that he had mistakenly sent one of his official mails to me. Was wrong. A 'small RIGHT' shift in his life from being a confused bachelor to a sincerely committed bloke. Good news indeed!

Have to vacate my flat as my flatmate is heading to the US. So, the painful househunt begins (all at 40 deg :((). How much do I hate this ! Have to wear a talisman, I suppose, to get one in a single day. The chances are you getting hit by a meteor are higher than the probability of you finding a good house with low rents at Hyd.

A fifteen hour train journey beckons as I head back to Hyd. I normally do enjoy train journeys but with the very thought of a 3-day backlog at work, I guess this time arnd, my journey wont be as sweet :p :p

The train journey was not all well. Had to board my first train at 5pm, presuming it would reach well in time for the next one. Not to be so - the first one came in an hour late and reached an hour late. I was assuming I had the missed the connecting train. Long live Indian Railways - the second train was 30 mins late(I don't call this luck by any stretch of imagination :p :p) - so, just managed to board it in time !

2007-03-29T18:55:00.000+05:30

"Spring"ing back !

Had a longer winter hibernation than I had thought, so no wonder my blogspace has been untouched for a while !We are hitting 'spring' now (well, no spring in Hyderbad, for sure), so, I am just about jumping back to write a bit. Too many changes in life in the past few months - just another lazy excuse to say that I had no time to blog.

Major 'achievements' in the past four months :

I managed to finish a book that I started, I guess, a couple of years back (couple <> 2)
I've finally started 'working' (reason - I've been shifted to a new team :) )
Played for an intra-company cricket tournament and lost miserably!
Completely stopped cooking, gymming and squashing ! corollary : getting rounder by the day !
Have been thinking about an Himalayan trek and the train of thoughts halted at the station of : 'Cut the crap - u'll never execute it'

Also, after a long time, met my ex-colocataire (ex-flatmate).. Well, the last I saw of him was a geekish software bloke. Now, that he has funnelled himself out thru' an MBA, I see a whole new guy. Oh man.. he was never so refined :-))

As cricket fanatics, we are always optimistic, aren't we ?

Heights of optimism:A friend of mine sitting all nite long watching the Bang-Bermuda match hoping that Bermuda would win.

Another good one : Sehwag applying sunscreen before going out to bat :-)

2006-11-28T12:21:00.000+05:30

Hyd 10k run

First time ever, I participated in the Hyd 10k run. Was quiet good. Ran 7. Walked 3. May be next time, I can run all 10 at a stretch.

Apparently, there were a lot of people (arnd 10k, I guess) who had registered; but Sunday morning at 7, their beds attracted them more than the run. So, the papers estimated the 'runners' to be arnd 2-3k. Not a huge number - most of the crowd being corporates with their huge banners.

Well, we had the star glitz cheering us and kick starting the event. The run was arnd the lake - never realised that the lake was so big. I am never used to running for 10k at stretch, so obviously had to take breaks after 3 kms or so. I play squash for hours together - there never is a problem, but running is definitely not my cup of tea. Two of my colleagues had to slow down because of me; finally asked them not to wait for me !I think that even most of the half marathon runners(21k run) finished much ahead of me :-)

Of course, threw up my usual tantrums of pains in the joints (visible signs of 'aging' out). That would last for a while !

Watched the much hyped D:2 later in the evening. Digusting is my verdict and fictional farce is the buzzword.

2006-11-15T11:14:00.000+05:30

Size does matter!

For people who are letting their thoughts run wild, I am talking about the size of books here ! I am not really the 'novel' guy - don't read too many novels. Probably reading novels was never really my cup of tea. Used to read Enid Blyton as a child - but thats about it.

So, just a couple of years back - my ex-roomate promised me that I would start loving reading if I read a few books that he suggested. Will - start I did with a few 'tiny' (or should I say minute) ones - Love Story, Animal Farm, Chronicles of a Death Foretold to mention a few. All these were good.

I guess am scared by the sight of a 'big' novel. The sheer volume repels me. Of course, like any one else - read Da Vinci Code - though it was big. Didn't like this book so much but for the pace and the data. Moved on to 'Angels and Demons' - this was easily my favourite. So, that kindled me to read the remaining two Dan Brown thrillers - both of them were really bad!

So, I thought I was getting over this phobia for big novels - not to be so. I am stuck up with a copy of Kate Mosse's Labyrinth. Apparently - this book is also a nerve gripping Grail thriller set in ancient locations betn France, Andorra and Spain. I read the first 50 pages just to re-read the same 50 pages after 2 months. Now, I guess I have to search for the book in my attic.

I guess I prefer watching 'movies'(of novels/epics) to reading them. Book fanatics would scourge me for that blasphemous statement, but I guess, I could put in two hours and watch it 'thru' rather than read thru' the same pages time and again. One of my friends told me that I should read 'Lord of the Rings' rather than watch it. The movie, inclusive of all parts, was 9 hours. I guess I would have to read the book my entire life to finish it :-)

Talk about 'To Kill a mocking bird' (considered the best book of the century by many) - One of my good friends gifted it to me on my last b'day - Last I remember was reading the the 100th page 200 days back :-). So, if someone has a DVD copy of the movie - please let me know!

2006-11-13T12:32:00.000+05:30

Ashray Akruti

I've always wanted to associate with an NGO and do some kinda service. Well, my workplace opened the doors to such an opportunity. Last year, I was a part of a group that arranged a sports day in a school for special children rescued from child labour. This year, it was a different experience.

Ashray Akruti(http://ashrayakruti.org/) is a school for the specially challenged. Here, hearing impaired children are taught by experienced teachers and they get into mainstream after spending a few years in this school.

So, we (about 25 of us volunteers from work) had a day out with these wonderful kids. 80 of them. We took them to the science museum, the planetarium and finally to the botanical garden where we arranged some fun games for them and gave prizes away. Thanks to the weather gods, it rained the day-before and the day-after but not on the D-DAY.Arranging an event of such a magnitude(125 of us in all) was no easy thing. But none of the volunteers sulked and we all pitched in with high enthusiasm.

End of the day - what did we get? - well, the priceless smiles on the children's faces. Kindness is a language which the deaf can hear - I guess we succeeded in that!

Ofcourse, such activities don't stop after a day. Continued association with NGOs would serve the actual cause and really help us transforming ideas into action.

2006-11-09T12:19:00.000+05:30

House-warming or was it ?

My sis found a 'new-place' in b'lore, so the consequence was me being invited to the 'house-warming'. Well, lil' did I realise that she had planned things before-hand for me even before I was there. I reach b'lore on a Saturday morning after a tiring 8 hour bus journey. As soon as reach my sisters', 'Ah! we've been waiting for u! we've got work to do'

She did add b'lore traffic to her planning, but still forgot the 'rains'. So, that compounded the equation pretty badly. A 6 km travel from the old house to the new-house always took an hour, one way :-) Even worse, there were diversions here and there.

We had to purchase a lot of things for the ceremony. We then go back home only for my BIL to say that their new car was getting delivered in 30 mins time. Well well! 18h30 evening traffic. We go there only for the guy to tell us that certain docs are missing. Thank you, Mr.Murphy!

Its 21h00 in the evening. We are all dead hungry. The purohit calls to say that he has to arrange a few things in the house for the early morning pooja. So, two of us to pick him up (15 kms from there) while my BIL stays back to get the vehicle delivered. By the time, we reach the new place, its 21h00!. Dead hungry!

The purohit then says that we cannot eat until the pooja is over. What pooja? He never told us about one the day before the actual pooja. Well, we then learnt that this is the way it happens in Kannadiga customs. As we had to wait for the head of the family (my BIL) to start the pooja, our hunger got the better of us.

Well.. the pooja started at 23h00 and ended at 24h00. As my sis and BIL were made to repeat the slokas by the purohit, I just couldn't stop laughing - honestly, we were absolutely not in any position to do anything at all - tired, sleepy and hungry!

At 24h00 they leave only to ask us to be back at 02h30 for the actual pooja!!!!! Well well.. the rest is history! House warming is normally a 'warm' ceremony to drive out the evil-spirts out of the house, but lil' did we know that we had to have such a 'fighting' spirit to overcome this event :-)

So, the next time someone calls me for 'house-warming' in b'lore - I'll have to think twice, I suppose :p :p

2006-10-31T16:37:00.000+05:30

Age ++

Yet another passes by. More strands of grey hair, more wrinkles on the face, more frequent questions in the mind such as 'Why me?' should all point to just one thing - age++. When we were young, we were 'growing up'. Now, we are 'growing old' (yes, the not-to-be-use three letter word).

As is always turns out, you do not receive the expected calls from dear ones (plainly becoz' they've forgotten it) and the bulk of the others do call/mail rejoicing the fact that I am getting old :p :p (what saddists :p :p ?). Well, thanks to all of them for remembering the 'aging' man! :-)

Was in a train on my b'day eve. So, luckily no b'day cake and bumps ! :-) Missed all the calls too - thanks to the 'hutch'(we'll-go-wherever-u-go) network!

For the 'unforgivable' few who forgot my b'day, you still have a day or two for penitence! After that, you fall into the 'completely-forgotten' category :-)

Spent my b'day and Diwali at my sisters. Was a lot of fun. Was pampered as usual and came back 'all-round' in shape.

Tried playing baddy after a long time. Bad idea. Result was a bad pull on my thigh that troubled me for almost 5 full days!

2006-10-09T18:47:00.000+05:30

After a long hiatus

May be it was pure lethargy that has stood between me and blogging or may be it was just that I was disconcerted by a hiatus in my thinking process. I am still 'thinking' about which one to pick ! In either case, my contribution to the ozone depletion- equivalent in blogosphere has been zero for the past two months.

After I imposed self-imprisonment on myself after an overdose of travel, I finally managed to get out of the cage and went home after almost 4 months. Was a good break. Went with my sis to all the crowded streets in Chennai. Well, she was looking more for knicknacks and baubles; so no wonder, we had to do a lot of searching in all the narrow lanes. Diwali is in the air and it always feels good to smell it. First time ever that we shopped for almost 6 hours and I didn't get anything for myself. Guess something is 'really' abnormal with myself :-)

Lotsa travelling to be done this month and this was good 'kick-start'. People have already started commenting about the 'changed-me' in terms of size. So, have made strong resolutions to start 'squashing' again. Hopefully, this time, I transform my ideas into action.

Due to very-much avoidable circumstances, I've not been cooking as well for the past two months. Its time to turn the tide now. Accidents do happen in the kitchen; but still, we have no choice but to eat them. Eventuality has to be accepted, ain't it :-)

2006-08-07T14:16:00.000+05:30

Weather and wither

The whole of AP has been experiencing intense rain in the past few weeks. Not so good news. Consequences - one too many. First sickness and then bad roads.

Roads in Hyderabad are back to 'normalcy' (read as concave craters in the middle of the roads). This is how I saw Hyd when I first visited the city. A few roads have disappeared and guess even a google search would not help us find them. I guess we all know the answer - Conduct a Congress Plenary and invite Sonia again. Should this be done, the 'matter' would be 'laid' to rest in a coupla days !!

My roomate and I were the first victims to the vagaries on the monsoon. Both of us fell sick the same day and were ill for about 4-5 days. House arrest for so many days was not an easy thing. Frequent medications made drowsiness our third roomate. Now that we are outta sickness, the-then-gloomy weather seems very 'pleasant' now :))

Weekend - watched the most spectacular F1 races in recent times. All new podium finishers - can it get any better? Schumi going out with three laps to go was a sad sight to watch; nonetheless, I would always vouch for such eventful races where you have a new leader every five mins !!

2006-07-17T14:00:00.001+05:30

'Weak'-end

Started off on a bad note. Was in a meeting Friday afternoon; came out of the slumber (what else do you do in meetings, huh?), back to my desk and my colleague says "We've got bad news for u". Was wondering if someone had captured me 'napping' in the meeting.

"We are going for a telugu movie today evening and we've booked for you as well". You expect something bad and get something even worse.

If a theorem states that "u are going to a telugu movie", the corollary has to be "u went to a telugu movie? how could u????". May be I have this compulsive need to please people ?? :p :p So was a mournful Friday evening.

Sat and Sun, had planned to do a lot of things; one of the most trivial tasks being 'putting my clothes for wash'. Thanks to Mr. Parkinson for his wonderful law 'Works expands to fill the time available', I am always used to procastinating tasks. After all, its a law and we HAVE to abide by it, ain't it ??? So, that should sum up how many things I actually did this weekend !!!

Have not been playing squash for a while now; was determined to go for it this weekend. Lethargy and I are opposite poles, so its strongly attracts me :p :p. No wonder my paunch is getting the better of me.

One 'accomplishment' was a long due rendez-vous with a fellow BITSian. We hogged heavily and walked down to his house only to be greeted with few more rounds of sweets as it was his sibling's b'day. So, couldn't say NO. After sometime, the very thought of food caused nausea.

2006-07-17T12:11:00.000+05:30

At 'bay'

Well, guess when people realised the what the first four letters in 'Bombay' was , they soon wanted to change the name to 'Mumbai' after the '93 blasts. That really doesn't seem to have had an impact at all! From being 'one' of the dangerous cities, Mumbai is probably becoming 'the' most dangerous city for dwelling. Apparently, some statisticians have said that Mumbai has had more blasts than any major city (in the world) in the last decade. From the rains to the shivsena bandh (one of their yet another dastardly acts) to the blasts, dear ol' Mumbai has had it all - Good lord!

I guess soon this ever-active metropolis will have to change its epithet from 'the financial hub of India' to 'the most scary place in India'. Sad but may well be true :((

Oh yeah! And how well do most of the news channels dramatize any 'catastrophe'. One too many hyperboles used these days. Talks about 'figthing spirit', etc etc are always endless. Well, CNN-IBN had a diff view. Went arnd talking to the denizens the next day where all of them had to say that they had NO choice but to get back to the trains or else they would be thrown out of their jobs. People probably are getting stoic to such things, no doubt! Nonetheless, the newsworthiness of these rather romanticized content provided by these new channels is open to moot.

2006-07-11T11:40:00.000+05:30

Au Revoir, Les Bleus

So was indeed 'Bye, Bye' to a French victory. Think the Italians deserved it for all their consistent work. After all, the two goals they conceded (one a self goal, the other one a zizou penalty) never really 'broke' the 'China wall' of Italian defense.

Was reading a few french newspapers after the defeat. None of the newspapers actally sullied the French teams image. Rather they were made heroes, nevermind the Zidane ghastly incident. Same was with Germany who came in third. And look at us, we curse the Indians after they loose a match. Something for us to learn, I suppose. How much have we bad-mouthed Zaheer Khan after his first over in the finals ? :p :p

World cup is over; so means I can sleep early. Met up with a friend and her hubby yesterday. Meeting her just for the second time in the last five years, I suppose and meeting her hubby for the second time (after the two mins I spoke to him at the wedding ). No wonder we spent a LOT of time reminiscing the past.

Was 'trying' to cook this weekend. Bad experience. Had a 'fight' with a knife; end result was inevitable - a deep cut in my finger.

Moral of the story : Never fight with a 'SHARP' knife; the knife always wins !!!

May be after marriage, I can probably replace 'knife' with 'wife' :p :P !!

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

Allez, Les Bleus!

Oh well! For once, my 'oracl(e)ular' predictions turned out to be true. Thierry did disprove 'theory' and how well did Zizou complement him !!!!

We were a bunch of 5-6 watching, all but me backing Brazil. No wonder the 'result' had a bad impact on them. So, I had to cut down on the ephiphany as celebrating the victory 'loud' would have only elicited a 'brawl' in my 'hall':)))

All said and done, for me, it was like watching India defeat Australia in a cricket world cup quarter-finals. So, even if India were to lose the next match, it still wouldn't matter. David slaying Goliath is always a treat to watch :)) Heard from a friend in Fonty that there was a wild revelry on the streets after the victory. Hmm.. I missed it !!!

Now they move on to meet Portugal, one of the four semi-finalists who least deserve to be in the last four; thanks to a listless England always 'paying (and not playing) the penalty':)). Germany now play the Rahul Dravid of football (the Italian WALL of defense). Nice set-up this time compared to last time where the two minnows (South Korea and Turkey) made the semis very boring and one-sided.

So, I bet on France/Germany showdown - anybody with me ?? :)
And my slogan for the next few days - 'Allez, Les Bleus'

2006-06-29T14:05:00.000+05:30

Being Ch(B)eerful!!!

After the >> shift, ofcourse, comes the 'house warming' and in the 'literal' sense.So, my roomate and I invited our team to our place so that the 'house' could be blessed with 'warm and hot' wishes. Had to leave out the two women in the teamdue to obvious reasons. No discrimination this; we'll soon have a 'softer' get-together as well. Food was never a problem; in India atleast, it so much easier, cheaper and faster to have food ordered and delievered. My roomate took care of the 'spirits'; and everyone, no wonder, appreciated his spirit.

As always, the tee-totaller me had to take a coke as the others, being 'beer-ful' and 'cheer-ful' reached the next dimension ( after all, according to one of my friends: 'Reality is an illusion created by the lack of alcohol'). Unfortunately, I've never liked the taste of any of the CnH2n+1OH (Note to the dude at c'cut - please forgive me if this formula is wrong :p :p). An un-invited guest was a 6 foot long snake. Somehow, the care takers of the house managed to kill it. May be snakes smell alcohol pretty well :p :p

THe next day morning, my aunt was supposed to visit me. God bless her, she didn't.. would have only been shocked with all the beer bottles strewn arnd :))

Lying dormant for less than 4 hours these days - thanks to football. Was so thrilled to watch dear old France destroy the Spanish. Atlast, they have come to life. In 'THEORY', they should be bulldozed by the Brazilians in the quarterfinals; but lets see if "THIERRY" proves it wrong :)

2006-06-13T11:41:00.000+05:30

>> Shift

Moved into a new place with a colleague a few days back. So, was the 'RIGHT' shift, I should say. THe new place, though expensive, is very very good and also has pushed me back to the cook-at-home mode as the kitchen is very 'appealing'. Moreover, I've already had an overdose of outside junk.

Since its a 'BIG' place, my roomate and I have started furnishing the appartment to remove the 'voidness'. Took a while to get the cable connections; but well in time before the world cup - clear indication of the 'exponential' rise of the 'laziness' co-efficient in me :))

Too bad this - we have all the 'action' happening at the same time. French Open, Wimbledon, Cricket at Caribbean, Soccer, F1. Mon dieu!! too much to discuss during coffee breaks these days. We are just 'loaded' with information. Too much into soccer and was talking to an Australian customer today more about their 'late resurgence' against Japan yesterday than about work. Was a great match, nonetheless. Well, c'est les bleus aujourd'hui'. Lets see how the French perform !

Had another friend visiting me this weekend. Since I had to show him something arnd, we took a very wrong step and headed to 'Ramoji' film city. Well, catastrophically disastrous is a categorical understatement. This place truly sucks. Add 'afternoon heat' to this and you can imagine the 'experience'. Hunting for the marketing experts who have made this 'sound' all too good.

Taking this Friday off yet again. Would be on a pilgrimage down south. Have long been trying to convince my team-mates that I am a 'full-time' employee, but then, they are always under the assumption that I work only four days a week :))

2006-06-02T11:54:00.000+05:30

Whats in a name?

No rhetoric this. Having a relatively 'long' name with my first and last names all mixed up, I always have trouble telling people my 'correct identity'. People only end up getting more confused. To compund matters, my passport just all the three names as my first name (no surname specified) leaving the immigrant official with flabbergasted looks.

Having said that, I still enjoy the incongruity in my name. My 'dear ones' faction-out by the way they call me; rather a way for me to secern who the 'caller' is !!!!!!

'Good'
Hello DM : Wow! a sweet old dear school pal.
Hello Murali : Thats from someone in the family! :)
Hello Damak/Damuk/Dhamak : someone from the BITSian fraternity. Will be a LONG call :)

'Bad'
Hello Krishna : Oh nooooo!!!! call from someone at work. do I have to take this call???

'Ugly'
Monsieur Devadas : God damn! should be some tax or insurance bloke from France. No way I am taking this one :p :p

Furthermore, many people assume that I hail from Andhra Pradesh as 'Krishna' (think one of Cheiros books came into play for the 'n' to be removed) is more typically telegu than the more tamilian 'Krishnan'. One of my managers at work was so suprised when he heard me talk in Tamil and even more puzzled when I told him that I was from Chennai :)

Well, read 'Freakonomics' and the 'freakonomisitic' analysis goes on to 'predict' what the possible 'most popular' girl/boy names would be in 2015 !!!Hmm and I was always thinking 'whats in a name'!!!!!!!!!!!!. Gazette - here I come!

2006-05-30T21:22:00.000+05:30

A short break..

Headed to Chennai for the weekend due to the Hyd-overdose. Coincidentally, a close friend was coming down from the the US. So, had a chance to meet him after after three years. Suprisingly three years of married life hasn't changed him a bit. He is still a 'happy' man contrary to the fact that a man can either be 'happy' or 'married' :p :p :p. The 'whining' me was boring him with all my stories as the 'jet-lagged' him pretended to patiently listen. Decided that he has to pay it back that he has promised to come to Hyd before heading back to the States.

Finally, managed to drive a car in India. Was Indica Xeta first followed by Alto. That should tell you the reason. Was actually test driving for a friend who is not too comfortable driving cars. Xeta won by a LONG margin. No wonder with a 1400 cc engine it would fare any day better than the 800 cc Alto; cost being the same. (hats off to the TATAs for pricing it aggressively) For comparison, even the latest 'sensation' Maruti Swift has just a 1300 cc engine. Please - I am not marketing anything here :)

Went to this new mall in Chennai (Chennai citi center). Pretty good, I should say and more importantly, very spacious. Also, very close to dear Marina. I would any day join the race to support new malls in the city to 'dethrone' the 'where-I-feel-ONLY-claustrophobic' Spencers. Weather in Chennai was suprisingly good with the occasional showers !

Hats off to the Indian team - made me sit all thru' the nite to watch them loose pathetically to Windies. We are just becoming too consistent in creating stars in the opponent teams !!! :)

Waiting for a friend to pick me up and 'break-into' my own house as I've lost the keys. (typical me :p ) No wonder I am writing this blog !!

2006-05-23T17:26:00.000+05:30

MAY, I...

Had a friend visiting me from S'pore. She was on her way to France and stopped by in Hyd for a coupla days. So, we had a chance to roam and roam albeit in the centralised superheated environments in Hyd. Was late to pick her up. Ofcourse, reason was that I had 'overslept'.

She was like 'Oh, so you sleep at home as well; I thought you sleep only at work'.. Good god! Dunno how people find out all these 'secrets' :p :p

We both along with two friends watched 'Ice Age 2' - I guess anyday these animation movies are better than the so called not-fiction-all-real-with-MATRIX-stunts tamil/hindi/telegu flicks. Atleast, you don't come out of the theatre with a 'why-did-I-waste-my-time-and-money' look:)

Helped my friend with shopping.. Well, normally when such things happen, the roles get reversed with the helper being 'helped'. Luckily not to be so this time. 'Self' was under control and though temptation was trying to lure me, I managed not to fall for it. Infact, even on a second occasion, when I helped another friend 'shop', I was 'under control' and my signature was not wanted on any of the receipts :p :p. To people who are 'shocked', sometimes, these miracles do happen :)

Next was 'house-hunting' - Will move in with a colleague as he has been rendered 'homeless' (read as his roomates are moving out). Rental rates have gone up so much here that you would wonder if you are looking for an apparment in bay-area. After a painfully long search (not to forget the above stated superheated weather conditions) in which we had to look at almost 20 houses, we finally managed to get one. Will move in first week of June.

Have taken a break from 'travelling' - read as 'have not travelled in three weeks'. May head home just to get pampered a bit. Gets too boring to see too much of Hyd all the time :))

2006-05-02T16:38:00.000+05:30

Travelling deeeeeeeeep down!

Travelling down south wasn't as easy as I had thought it to be. Touched all the four southern states in a span on 24 hours ( all in a bus) and realised how tough that could be. From Hyd to B'lore to Mysore to Coimbatore and finally to Palakkad to attend my best pal's wedding. After a tiring 24 journey, I get off the bus in Coimbtore, head to a shop to buy a bottle of water and ask the shop-owner something in (my bad and sad) Hindi.

My wingie : "Dude, wake up, u are in TamilNadu; u may want to speak in Tamil and not confuse the poor bloke". So, that should sum up the journey.

Wedding are always wonderful if you have a gang to bitch, rant and rave about things and thats exactly what we had in store there. Wingies, their spouses, moms, dads and our never ending disucssions - soothing to the ears as always ;). Even a slightly coy wingie's spouse got into our 'wingie talks' and was in full flow:)

Ofcourse, in some corners, you see the old ladies completing their mission - exchanging their kids' horoscopes stealthily with the others while, in a not-so-furtive manner, my wingies (I hope only the bachelor ones) continue their ogling as well. No luck as always :-)

Talk about god's own country and talk about food. The 'ada pradhaman' is something one will ever forget. Mallu food was great. Palakkad is pretty serene, traditional and beautiful. We went to the Malampuzha dam nearby and that was pretty good.

Well, thought return would be peaceful. Not to be so; blame it on lady luck. Our train was stranded in the middle of nowhere due to some god forsaken derailment. So, yet again 'bus journeys' stood betn me and my destinations. Was supposed to reach Chennai at 6 in the morning. Reached at 5 in the evening all in the sweltering heat of 43 deg :-) Started again in a couple of hours (in a bus again). A normally useless telugu flick was screened as usual and thats when I realised - "Oh boy! back to Hyd and back to boredom!!!"

2006-04-26T17:59:00.000+05:30

Whats with the sneaker????

In IT firms in India with no formal dress code, I guess you should have seen most of the 'software' pros coming to work with sneakers !!!!!!.. You sneak up a lil' more and there you see the hiding white sock! :-)

Well, whats indeed with the sneaker??? People call it 'fashion' and make it their 'passion'. Probably, most of them have forgotten the fact that sneakers are worn only while you work-out or play. And this 'passion'( I term it disease) is catching up with women as well. Probably, there is a misconception on the difference betn a 'shoe' and a 'sneaker'. A good formal shirt and a great trouser. Oh no! just look below - its a white and shiny 'sneaker' :)). No wonder 'adidas' and 'reebok' have started manufacturing exclusively for corporates :p. A very 'American' and 'cool' thing is what I heard from some people :p :p :p I used to wear it on a few occasions as well. Realised when I was in France how uncouth that could be :p :P.

About the white 'socks', here is an anecdote :
I was attending this executive program taken by an ex-Harvard prof. He was talking about some one and he went

"Guess wot, he was a geek, he was wearing white socks"!!!! .

Need I say more!!! :-) That should tell you something about white socks :-)

2006-04-26T17:38:00.000+05:30

Just a quick update !

Yet another long weekend coming up and guess most of us would be travelling. Would be heading to Kerala to attend my friend's wedding. Irony is that I am heading to 'God's own country' and still would be there for just a day :( Nonetheless, should be a lot of fun with my dear pals. Have to endure an almost 20 hr bus journey as the lethargic me procastinated in booking trains tickets. Also, was a bit apprehensive to book air tickets after I read about this 'mid-air' drama in an Air-Deccan flight, which suddenly dropped altitude !!

One of my friends has come back from the US. Being this 'ardent' telugu-flick fan, he goes to any released movie. Ofcourse, since he needs company, books the tickets and then calls me up. So, have no way out :-(Watched 'Pournami' with him. Well, honestly, I would STRONGLY recommend this movie to anyone just to make you realise how bad the south indian film industry is. For a change, even my friend couldn't bear it. We are in 2006 and these movies make you wonder if we are apes in the neolithic era. Please watch it :-)

Had attended the 'Art of Living' basic course. Was exhilarating to say the least and a great discovery. was a slightly 'hectic' 6 day course; but thorougly worth it.

2006-04-10T12:46:00.000+05:30

Escaping the heat!

You have a holiday on thursday and so, what do u do ? Well, this is no riddle. C'est facile. On fait le pont :-) After spending 3.5 years in take-vacation-whenever-u-want-France, I took off to b'lore for the Ugadi break. Well, it was more so to escape the heat at Hyd. For people who want to understand heat-exchanges and thermodynamics better, Hyd is the place to be. Lived thru' Pilani heat with no complaints; however after all the so called sophisitcated life of slogging 24/7 in air-conditioned software envs, throwing tantrums about the heat should be no suprise :-)

B'lore people complain about the heat as well. So, have invited all of them to Hyd :p :p

Had a good time getting pampered as usual. Well, don't see too many places where people ask me often (once every hour) if I've replenished my stomach :-). Inventory was never a problem.

Ofcourse, troubled my nephew a lot as well :
My nephew : Mulli maama ?

Me : Niki, do NOT use maama (conscious of my age, u see). Call me Murali.

Niki : Ok mulli maama.. how do u spell 50.

Me : '5' and '0'

Niki ( very confused ) : No no, please spell 50.

Me : Very well.. its 'five' and 'zero'

Niki (flabbergasted).. runs to his mom and complains !!! :-). the rest is history:-)

Met up with a few friends, ofcourse. The other were smart enough, realised that I was coming to b'lore and headed home :-))..

Now, back to heat and work!! :-((((

2006-04-09T15:52:00.000+05:30

Minting money!

Recently discovered a new 'business model' to make quick bucks.

You are a top notch prof. from some top notch school in India. Call for an All-India 'some' summit where in you request papers/articles from all the corporates. Well, my sis was contacted for the same and since she had to do it, sent a rough draft of her 'paper' to me. I am definitely no 'paper' evaluator, but definitely someone with a lil' common sense :p :p .. After a read-thru', asked my sis not to publish as the content was definitely not 'paper-worthy'.

Since my sis had put in 6 hours to prepare the slides, she sent it anyways, expecting a reject. Not to be so. She was called in to present the same. Suprise! Suprise! :-)She goes for it and guess wot? - The icing on the cake - She is awarded the 'first' prize.

So, now all the 'papers' go into a book. I am sure if you would look at the book, looking at the cover page with the flashy titles, you would be tempted to buy it. I had a look at few articles. Well well.. If 'celebrating' a person's b'day and having an annual day in a company is an 'innovative management practice', then what is common sense? I fail to understand :p :p :p

Even worse, my sis published a second paper. One of her colleagues had written hers in less than 2 hours and had submmitted the same. One of the sentence made no syntactical sense, but guess wot ? the same grammatical error occurs in the book as well. The editors didin't even have time to go thru' the papers :-)))) Disgusting is the word that comes to my mind.

So, the word of caution is that when you see any book in the store with 'edited by' XYZ (where XYZ may be on the greats) on the cover page, please ensure that you read thru' the content before you make a decision.

2006-01-29T15:02:00.000+05:30

Two wedddings and a ...

Had been to Chennai to attend two of my friends weddings (on the same day) last week. One in the morning and one in the evening. So, in essence got to eat 'great' food 'twice' in a single day. Realised that I was actually attending a wedding in India almost after 2.5 years. Since these two that got married were best buddies, both of them managed to attend the other's wedding :-)

Receptions are not to my liking. You wait patiently in a queue for about 30 mins to get to say "hi" to the bride and groom, pose for a snap, walk straight to the dining hall and then walk out. I emphatise with the bride and groom who would have to repeat the "hi" and the "posing" (both mostly superficial) with atleast about 1000 people :(((.May be there could be a change. I don't see it happening though, in near future.

Since I had no vehicle, had to use the autos in Chennai. Actually 4 - 5 Shell gas stations have come up in Chennai. And guess wot? As you enter the gas station, there is a person saying "Vanakkam"(Namaskar) and as you leave, a pleasant "Thank you, bye". Thats good news indeed. Finally, courtesies heading from the West as well :)

Always enjoy these talks with the auto drivers who talk more about inflation than anyone else as their charges never tend to go down :) Got to know about all the flyover projects that are in standstill in Chennai. Ofcourse, every two mins, they go brouhaha about the rising fuel costs and curse the government :-) You befreind these guys and they take you that extramile whithout charging you more. Thats what I did :-)

2006-01-28T16:02:00.000+05:30

Trapped twice - plumb in front!

One of my good friends was supposed to fly to the US. So, we caught up just a week before and planned on going for a movie the foll. day. We converged on '15 Park avenue'. I pulled two other friends of mine. So, the US-borne bloke promised us that he would reserve 4 tickets for this movie.

Next day, we headed to the theatre. I was so kicked as I heard some good reviews about the movie. The lights go down only for us to see movie titles in telugu go up. I thought it was some trailer, so was trying to pull my friend's leg saying we had tricked her into coming to a telugu flick (she doesn't understand a bit of telugu).

Two more mins and I witnessed disaster. "Chukallo Chandrudu" it was. My friend that reserved the tickets then says that this was the 'only' movie that was available. Need I say more about how the movie was ????? Felt sorry for my friend who didn't understand telugu. Though she remained quiet, I could read her mind. Was full of curses :p :p

Next, I had to go to chennai last week. Normally, I take these volvo buses, which are quicker and more comfortable. You always have these guys screen a TELUGU movie with speakers rite above your head. Unless you've just been marauded by a giant dinosaur, you just cannot sleep with the sounds on :-) You just have two choices - close your eyes and hear only the 'noise' or watch the movie. Being an eternal optimist, I preferred getting murdered to committing suicide and so, I watched the movie.

'Bunny' it was. Again, I don't think I have to say more. To claim that the hero resembled 'Bugs bunny' would be a HUGE insult to the cartoon character.

2006-01-27T18:28:00.001+05:30

Queen Cong

Hyderbad(for a stretch of say 15kms) is now a diffrerent place, thanks to a lot of political melodrama. All roads clean, neat and wide and all for one reason. Well, if you think serving the public was the 'intent', I beg to differ with you:-) The obvious answer was Queen Cong(Sonia) and the plenary that happened in Hyd.

The pace at which the roads were laid were flabbergasting. Two months back, the roads leading to the "hi-tec" city had all their cracks and potholes and there was no progress.Come Jan 21st and the plenary and the politicians had to stick to their task.

I wonder why this "beautifying" cannot be extended to the whole city. No funds would be the 'prompt' answer. If people had witnessed the number of cutots and the posters for Queen Cong, they would have clearly seen where the 'funds' went (down the drain) :-) Preposterous is the word that comes to my mind.

On the contrary, I wish more and more such political dignitaries visit diff places. Atleast this way, the cities wake up :-)

Whether the roads wither with the weather(rains) remains to be seen:-))

2006-01-10T23:19:00.000+05:30

Seekin' Hyd

We all know that gravity is an illusion, its just that work sucks :-)

Tomorrow is a holiday here; still I've been asked to come to work. So, no wonder my blogs have been hibernating for a while now.

Anyways..one of my best pals had visited me for a few days.. He belongs to the unemployed and underpriveleged category (read as he quit his firm and is joining a new one in a few days).

Thanks to him, I understand the geography of Hyd better. We roamed all over Hyd.

And food - the gargantuan appetites that we had, we stopped at every possible food outlet and hogged to our pleasure. This was exemplified when three of us almost managed to finish a HUGE ( really huge) sundae meant for 6 people :-)

This is apart from the dinner we had with other friends in plush restaurants.

To remove all the guilt from my head, I went to the gym today ( yes indeed):-) This way, I've pardoned myself :p

2006-01-02T21:42:00.000+05:30

Bonne Annee 2006

Here, wishing all my dear ones a happy new year.

Was on vacation for Christmas at my sister's. My sis' family and I headed to a wild life sanctuary called Barnawapara (this is in the state of Chattisgarh). Was on a safari for the first time in life. Was fun being in the thick jungles. Though we scared away most of the animals as they did not seem to turn up, the drive was lovely thru' the dense forest. Stayed in a resort ( in the midst of the jungle) where electricity was a step function. So, we relied more on the bonfires in the freezing weather.

There was a lot of baby-talk with my lovely lil' 6 month niece. Kids are adorable, as always:-)

Came back all in one peice back to Hyd, but along came the "rhume".

So, new years eve was all under the quilt with a wet nose.

As always, the usual question " What are your new year resolutions? "

Prompt answer " Not to make any " :p :p :P

2005-12-08T11:18:00.000+05:30

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 :-)

2005-11-28T10:11:00.000+05:30

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/

2005-11-27T21:36:00.000+05:30

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 :-)

2005-11-14T12:09:00.000+05:30

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 !

2005-10-27T11:53:00.000+05:30

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 !

2005-10-19T19:53:00.000+05:30

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 :-)

2005-10-11T10:14:00.000+05:30

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

2005-10-10T09:01:00.000+05:30

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.

2005-10-08T13:52:00.000+05:30

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 :-)

2005-10-07T12:00:00.000+05:30

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 :) :)

2005-10-05T19:51:00.000+05:30

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 :-)

2005-10-01T17:28:00.000+05:30

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.

2005-10-01T16:48:00.000+05:30

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 ;)

2005-10-01T16:22:00.000+05:30

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 :-)

2005-10-01T15:24:00.000+05:30

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