Journey to the unknown...

True Meaning of Life

2011-05-30T12:30:00.000-07:00

Of late, people around me keep talking a lot about the true meaning of life - finding one's destiny and such 'highly thought provoking' topics. How one guy went into Alaska for the same and died without anybody knowing. How another guy trekked up Everest and survived - but was paralyzed or something. How it will be 'cool' to just get away and do something crazy like that.

One parallel I see from all this talk is the need for everybody to get away from their laptops and phones and go to a place where nobody can reach them [read: bother them]. That is an expected line of thought for people in the software industry. But that shouldn't drive people insane.

There is more to life than shooting to fame just because you were dumb enough to go rock climbing in the canyon and get almost killed after 5 days. But these guys paint the illusion of freedom as the one-stop shirking of all responsibilities. And that is very alluring to everybody who never had to be responsible and are suddenly thrust with a cartload of to-dos. Some people become a Ray Barone and the others do crazy stuff.

Everybody has a long list of want-to-dos and another separate list of have-to-dos. I believe the key to being happy is aligning the 2 lists. Most people are burdened and irritated because they feel they are doing something that is totally unnecessary. It's like wanting to play the World Cup finals because it is too irritating to go through the qualifiers just because you think you are Spain - The belief that you are better than everybody else and don't need to meddle yourself with ordinary affairs.

There is no single leap that takes a person from where he is to a much better place. Opportunities do come knocking but if you are in the empire state building - you have to get yourself to the right door. And seizing that door doesn't mean you let go of what you have. People forget that life is mostly a balancing act. Sometimes you get toppled over - and it gets very difficult to get back on the the tightrope. But you need to get back on the tightrope otherwise there is nothing left to balance - there is nothing trendy about walking straight on the floor.

YAPA

2010-12-04T05:45:00.000-08:00

(Yet Another Potter Analysis - Muggles beware!)

The quest for Hallows and Horcruxes are completely different - and that is one thing that separated Voldemort from Dumbledore.

“That which Voldemort does not value, he takes no trouble to comprehend. Of house-elves and children’s tales, of love, loyalty, and innocence, Voldemort knows and understands nothing. Nothing. That they all have a power beyond his own, a power beyond the reach of any magic, is a truth he has never grasped.”

That was Voldemort's weakness. But if Voldemort had known about the Hallows - would he still have pursued his quest for Horcruxes? Keeping 3 objects safe would have been easier for Voldemort - plus, he could've retained his charming good looks that won him applaud from everyone and got his work done. The possibility of that would sound so unlike Voldemort to Potter fans - but we have only Dumbledore's analysis of him. Didn't he hesitate to kill Lily? Didn't he think that killing her would be unnecessary if she was sensible?

Voldemort has never been portrayed as pure evil by Rowling herself - he is said to be evil by many in the book. Then again, so was Sirius Black. Word of mouth is not really the best way to judge a person - and most people know it and will swear by it. But when it comes to forming a negative opinion - it usually flies out of people's mind. Why should the magic world be any different? Who knows the magical equivalent of Facebook, Twitter, Page-3 gossips and did-you-hear-about exaggerations?

Voldemort might have been the most brilliant student at Hogwarts for a long time, who was very power-obsessed and tried to become a dictator. Yes - he did kill - but that was a means to an end. On the contrary, Dumbledore voluntarily stayed away from confronting Grindelwald and knowingly let innocent people die. When he did nothing to prevent death (though it was well within his powers) - how different was he really from Voldemort? At least Voldemort got his soul preserved by murder - Dumbledore only managed to raise doubts about his abilities as a powerful wizard.

The reason Dumbledore and Voldemort were so powerful was probably because the rest of the world knew so little of them. And there is always a cloud of awe surrounding a mysterious person - which leads to many guesses, speculations and far-fetched theories. Some of them are true - some of them are ridiculously crazy - but all of them build the perceived persona of the individual. Sometimes - the persona might influence a person's instinct. And that was probably why Harry Potter was kept hidden until he could no longer be sheltered from the wizarding world.

Harry Potter was the chosen one - but by chance, not by ability. He had Hermione for brilliance, Ron for... em... well, oh yeah - to be his future brother-in-law and half the Order of Phoenix laying down their lives to keep him alive. Before you go up against me in arms - answer this, if it was the 'ability to love and feel pain' the reason Harry was better than Voldemort - how come Dumbledore was not upto the mark? Simple - Extra-ordinary people will be falling short of expectations if they do not do amazing things. Harry was plain and average and more akin to readers than the omniscient Dumbledore. Plus - if Dumbledore was the hero - Rowling would've ended up with a short story and no legacy to leave the world.

Innocent until proven guilty...

2010-10-13T15:29:00.000-07:00

There are 2 things you should know about me to make any sense of this post.

1) Almost everyone I've met have commented on how unique my name is and how fitting it will be to live up to its uniqueness.

2) Ever since my undergrad days - most people have started giving advice (mostly unasked for) with the statement "Everyone is doing it - so why don't you?". And whenever I get that - I do my usual rolling-of-the-eyes and here-we-go-again expression - at least mentally.

It is natural for people to be different from each other. Yet - most people accuse me of not doing what everybody does because I strive to be unique. I am guilty - but not exactly as charged. I believe that not all people think the same way. Most people agree to the same thing not because they have logically arrived at the same point - it is because they don't have an opinion of their own and it is easier to give the appearance of being more informed by merely nodding to what someone else says. And I have gone to extremes trying to defend that point - so much that I take everything personally. [Michael Corleone: Don't let anybody kid you. It's all personal, every bit of business. Every piece of shit every man has to eat every day of his life is personal. They call it business. OK. But it's personal as hell.]

To paint a clearer picture - let's take the example of buying a camera. Most people, experts or not, immediately start talking about SLRs, digital zoom, light filters, exposures - and every term that wikipedia throws at you. And maybe I'd consider all that if I'm a professional photographer. But I'm not. I don't even have a passion for photography like a couple of my friends. I'd much rather be in front of the camera. And for all those 'wow' looking photos - I'd browse through google, flickr or picasa and put them on my cubicle. That saves me effort, cost and gives credit to the people who love doing it and are great at it. My requirements for a camera? Low cost - easy enough to set - decent picture quality and slim enough to fit in a pocket. So I ditched the SLRs even though they were supposedly the best. In that sense - I feel that the word 'best' is used too loosely nowadays. Note: I'd still take the SLR if someone gave it to me for free! :)

I am impulsive - I choose what is best for me, given my knowledge at the instant of making the decision. And I'm probably more influenced by what NOT to do looking at others than by what to do. Maybe I'm not always right and more often than not, my choice would widely differ from what is considered the outright choice. And there are people who have judged me by those standards. I don't care. Someone recently told me, sometimes - it is better to think like a robot. I completely agree - but my emphasis is on the word 'sometimes'.

A phenomenon

2010-09-30T18:42:00.000-07:00

No denying Rajni. This is an excellent article for those who are in contempt of Rajni's fame. Facebook has been sending updates non-stop for the past one week about Chuck-Norris-Jokes-Adapted-To-Rajni, 'Tribute' to Rajni (ironically - half the people who shared it seem to misread the sarcasm!) and one even blaming the supreme court for giving the Ayodya verdict on the eve of a Rajni release - let alone the fact that it is the 'most anticipated' movie.

Why so much hype for Rajni/Endhiran, you ask? Well - Why was there so much hype about 'My name is Khan'? 'Raavan'? Aamir's 'Gajini'? or heck - 'Om Shanti Om' (For those who were fortunate not to see it - remember - the movie with all the faces you know in bollywood crammed into 1 song? Oh - and SRK's six pack?) or even 'Kites'?? 'Endhiran' can never be lesser than any of those movies. And when someone has spent so much cash on it - they'll want to ensure that it is well publicized.

For everyone who learnt the force of Rajni through Facebook or Twitter - you have NO idea. Rajni's true worshippers are not the people who write long posts heralding his greatness or trying to scorn at him while really thinking "WHO THE HELL IS HE?". Rajni's fan base does not need posters or media countdowns to herald his movie. 90% of them won't even have access to the media. They probably won't understand the movie the way Sankar would have wanted to portray it - but I'm sure Shankar realised that the second he chose Rajni.

When you compare the roles that Rajni and Kamal have respectively played - you can clearly see that Rajni's characters were simple. The plots predictable. And the stories relevant to what a lot of people can relate with. Kamal tried out complicated stories and portrayed extra-ordinary roles - as some would say 'way-ahead-of-his-time'. Maybe that's why he is not where Rajni is right now. Rajni kept it simple and straight - and he did it with style. The kind of style Rajni had cannot be described - and if someone else had done it - he would've gone straight to the circus. That's what set him apart.

But that's just me trying to analyse why he is WHO he is. I like Rajni not for the reasons that most people like him. No one in my family is a movie buff - so I had few chances of watching movies when I was a kid. But at that time - the national channel used to play new song releases with background info about the movie just before the evening news. One song was from a movie trying to depict the story of a hero involved in espionage and multiple flashbacks. Another was from a movie which showed the hero taking kids around to an animated forest and meeting cartoon characters. For a 5 yr old - the answer to "Who is better?" is obvious. Quote from another song: "Superstar yaarunu kaetta, chinna kuzhandhayum sollum!" [Translation: Even if you ask a small child who superstar is - he/she will answer promptly]

Water, Water, Everywhere!

2010-09-18T20:35:00.000-07:00

There was a moment of skin numbing chill - and then horrific blackness. Friction was no longer in control - there was a deeper, greater power at work. And the few moments before the head broke the surface of the saline water contained in them an eternity. It was a taunt - and the waves seemed to echo the mutual dislike. But it was obvious even to a fool who was the boss and who had to beg for mercy for having dared to invade restricted territories.

The first breath of air did not feel wonderful as is always described by others - it was salty and made her throat ache. But she was nevertheless grateful for it. Her life jacket seemed almost pointless as she bounced up and down - but she knew it was the reason that her head was above surface while the rest of her was weighed down by water. She flayed her hands about trying to find something to hold on to. Her fingers brushed the plastic surface of the overturned kayak. Barely 5 minutes ago - the kayak had been one among the handful floating gently beside the guide's - hearing him talk about the glory of La Jolla caves. She would never know how it decided to flip her over.

The 2 guides expertly jumped into the water and made sure she wasn't hurt. Then they flipped the kayak up and held it in place for her. Watching them work, she was sure they were fishes converted to human beings - no one else could feel that home in the middle of the water. And then she thought - she would've been a cat in her own previous birth. She was helped up the kayak - and the retreat began. Every nerve end screamed out, anticipating another fall and unpleasant thought of bringing all of them down again floated in her head. As the shore came closer, the ocean saved her the effort of getting down and dumped her on the beach with another huge wave. She was drenched again - but she had found her ground.

Lesson learnt: Stay away from the Pacific Ocean (or any water body) when you don't like it!!!

H-O-R-R-O-R

2010-08-22T21:52:00.000-07:00

I haven't seen horror movies for a long time. After Exorcist, Sixth Sense, Urban Legend, Child's Play and Ring. Seriously, seeing one of my best friends so close to me with her hair loose in the middle of a scary scene in Ring was enough motivation for me to quit such experiences. I haven't even seen "I know what you did last summer" and all its sequels that my sis loves!

The concept of back-from-the-dead-to-haunt-you-for-all-the-wrong-you-did-me doesn't bug me at all. But the way it's been captured on the screen by directors grosses me out most of the time. Scared is totally different from disgusted. But I guess that's just me. I remember a time when I used to be scared of the "Thriller" video - but over the years, I've learned to love it. So I decided to give myself another chance with the horror genre.

About a month ago, I was watching an episode of FRIENDS and Joey was too scared to read The Shining. The book had been in my to-read list for a long time. So I got a copy of it from the library. It was pretty good - and chilly. I knew I wouldn't be able to see the movie - there were too many opportunities for portraying the scary parts in a grotesque manner. Even in my mind it wasn't a pretty picture and honestly, I would feel better about reading a scary scene one line at a time and letting the horror in slowly rather than seeing it spring up suddenly like it ALWAYS does in movies.

So I passed up the chance to see the movie and settled for an Indian horror movie instead - "Arundhathi". I lasted around 15 minutes into the movie. God - the sound effects are too eerie. I still can't get the ghost laugh out of my head. I should have settled with watching Chandramukhi again instead! Anyway - from what I heard afterwards, that movie was pretty good. And I had pretty much made up my mind to steer clear of horror for a while.

And then came "Shutter". I lasted about a minute of the trailer in youtube before I felt I had had too much. I thought entertainment had lost all meaning with Vijay's "Villu" (or was it Kuruvi?) - but seriously, at least it's so bad that the audience's response comments are good. I seriously don't know what to say for this movie. The only reason the people who saw "Shutter" are promoting it would be to inflict the horror on others - to satisfy themselves that they aren't the only people creeped out by it - and to find atleast one person who is more scared than themselves so they can come out looking macho. Next time - let's cut to the chase: I don't like horror movies and I won't be watching Shutter unless my life depends on it. In fact, I don't like movies in general. I'm honestly better off watching cartoons and Disney Channel. Big Deal.

Dear budding teenager....

2010-08-04T00:55:00.000-07:00

I write this note to you, knowing fully well that you might not read it - but just bear with me for a few more minutes. I have completed the journey that you are about to begin. And even though our paths will be widely different - I want you to know that you'll reach the same destination eventually.

I know exactly where you are - for I have been there. I have had the same emotions and I have been as irritated as you now feel at being lectured. But this is not a lecture - far from it. I'm not going to tell you a lot of "do's" and "don'ts". I am not going to be at your back, watching out for you. I'm just going to let you be who you want to be - because that's what made me who I am today.

When I was your age, I went from liking school to hating it. "School life does NOT prepare one for life" was my argument. I quoted everyone from Einstein to Sachin Tendulkar who were school drop outs and still made it big. Now - I can knowingly add Steve Jobs to the list. But I also know that not everyone is an Einstein or Sachin or Steve Jobs. For the lesser people - life isn't always a rags-to-riches story - in spite of J.K. Rowling. I am not saying I changed - I still say that almost nothing I learnt in school helps me in what I'm doing now. But I've got the patience to see the other side too - and probably the right atmosphere to see its true value.

Even before ARR made "Break the Rules" and "Be a Rebel" household slogans, I was living it. It was considered cool to be a cut away from the crowd. At the same time - it was insecure to be different from others. Sounds crazy? Well - wait till you feel it. There's nothing wrong in being different. And even if you are wrong - let's face it - it's way better to make mistakes early on rather than when you're all grown up and too much is at stake. In life - some things are just better learnt the hard way. :D

I've had more than my share of wanting a time machine ("Willing to settle for a time-turner!!"). There were a lot of 'What-If?' moments that could've changed my life - for better or for worse. But now I know that no matter how many times I redo my life - I would arrive at this point with more than one thing that is really important to me right now missing. And that's how I know that I've made all the right choices. Ya - it took me a long while to go "Ooooooooh... that's why!" for a lot of stuff - but that phase of life is what is commonly referred to as "teenage mentality". It kind of fogs out a lot of stuff - but don't worry - it'll clear soon enough. And when it does - the best thing to do would be to accept reality and move on. The worst would've been over - for the time being. :)

Yours sincerely,
A mid-tweenager.

The Wait

2010-06-26T15:35:00.000-07:00

Ok... this is it!

Slides - check!
Meeting Rooms & Appliances - check!
Back-up Documents - check!
Make-up - perfect!

She can't POSSIBLY go wrong - after weeks of preparation, the moment has finally come. She couldn't see any loophole that her boss could identify. She remembered with the frown the last time she was asked to present the proposal to a client. In all fairness, she thought she did pretty well considering she had less than 3 hrs to prepare AND had left her make-up kit at home!! Well... she wouldn't be as harried today - she'd be cool and composed, she HAD everything in control after all.

The fact that her boss was unreachable since last evening was a bit of concern - but she guessed he needed his sleep. After all, he was pretty anxious about the deal too. She checked the outlook icon every few minutes looking out for new mail. Of course, nobody would want to be at work at 8.30 on a Monday morning.

At last at 9:03 am, the new mail icon flashed. Finally! She breathed a sigh of relief - one that was very short-lived.

"Hi Mary.

Thanks for all your effort - you were really brilliant!

There's been a slight change of plan though. The clients have other business to attend to and we'll be skipping the presentation. Looks like we can complete the deal over lunch.

Great job! Give yourself a break and take the day off! :)

Regards.
Robert."

Just her luck - all that work and the presentation gets scrapped off. Looks like she'd be better off getting caught unawares - no matter how embarrassing it might seem. At least it'll save her the hard work!

Et tu, Ubuntu?

2010-06-08T20:37:00.000-07:00

After ages of cursing Windows Vista for crashing, creating unnecessary processes, wasting too much memory and essentially taking forever to complete a task - I moved to Linux. Wise? Nope - not quite. I should've known better.

Now I'm stuck with a system that has compatibility issues with half the software I used to regularly use - AND I cannot remote connect to my work desktop! And the beauty of the OS lies in the fact that it telepathically synced up with my work laptop and crashed the same day. Now I'm stuck with nothing but chrome at home running on an overheated laptop with the charger plugged in all the time cos Ubuntu prevents my battery from charging.

Sigh, the downside of being a software engineer is relying on the software others created - knowing that something's bound to go wrong!

Solution: Sleep. :)

'Match' ado about nothing

2010-04-25T16:33:00.003-07:00

The past few weeks have restarted the argument abt IPL being over-hyped, fixed, marketed strategically and essentially being everything that is targeted at killing the essence of the "Gentleman's game". It has been criticised for lacking the nuances that essentially define the game in its highest form - the test format. But most of all - it has been accussed of demeaning the popularity of the game by resorting to cheerleaders, movie stars, mass marketing and controversies to grab all the attention instead of focussing on the game.

But isn't it just another game? Within a span of 3 or so hours - it's one team facing another on the field and millions of spectators watching it. To me - it is no different from watching Federer vs Nadal, ManU vs Chelsea or even Steelers vs Giants (though I absolutely DO NOT follow it)! There is something about the anticipation that builds during the match that simply cannot be put into words by me. Even if everybody KNOWS who is going to win, you still want to know HOW the game is going to be won. If it was just about the results - no one would be watching Federer over the years OR the Aussies in the world cups.

As for the hype - I'll say that I'm very curious. A lot of people have been tweeting and blogging about how artificial the whole system is and how the true value of cricket is lost. I wonder how many of them watch the Ranji Trophy matches, which - as I understand from their posts - truly unearths the local cricket talent. How many ranji matches were telecast all over the world? When I was in India - I dont even remember having TV coverage of those matches. I had no idea that Raina, Ashwin and Badrinath were seasoned Ranji players. But I DO remember their hits, maidens and catches of IPL. I DO know their journey through the 3 seasons of IPL. Not only the CSK players - players from the other franchises too have had a better exposure to the masses than any of their Ranji games. I think that the players deserve recognition for their talent.

Of course - they have a lot more money through IPL. So what? As a viewer - I want to take my mind off my life and have some entertainment. And I suspect I'm not the only one wanting that. Crores of money spent on presenting matches or movies or any other form of entertainment is immaterial - I'm not the one spending all that! I am not part of the IT department to worry about funding. And I dont understand why commoners make a big issue out of it - the media is doing well enough without help from us. Am I missing something?

Dream on!

2010-03-03T19:54:00.003-08:00

She stared in awe at the long road in front of her. 10 yrs old and hailing from a place where there were people everywhere - the sight of fast cars and NO people(or animals) on the road was something that she still wasn't used to. But more than the cars travelling in an organized manner through clean roads - it was the place itself that she fell in love with. To her left, she saw the expanse that was the ocean - the color so blue that she was sure it must be out of the Little Mermaid movie. To her right, lofty hills rose - standing serenely still and mighty - watching the many cars go by. And between water and hills was the long stretch of road, laid out alongside train tracks - though she was yet to see a train. And she felt herself wishing that she was a part of this beautiful place - even before she KNEW what silicon valley was!

15 years later, she would return to the same place - and this time, she knew it was not coincidence. She knew that she had chosen the path that had eventually led her here - sooner than she had planned to come, but much happier than she had imagined. As she drove along the same scenery the second time - she remembered the very first time and how it felt. Nothing had changed. And she smiled to herself as she remembered her dad's caution: Be careful what you wish for - it might come true! :)

Too Much Information!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2010-02-10T09:28:00.004-08:00

Saturday - Facebook turned my online world upside down by changing its homepage and I lost all my customized feeds.

Today - Google invaded my inbox with Buzz and I have updates from people I really don't need in my inbox! @Google - FYI - I was very happy with accessing Google Reader at my leisure - I don't need the same thing right on my inbox!

One of the main reasons I quit Orkut was that it automatically logged me into chat and I got bombarded with "Hi" from people I havn't spoken to in over 15 years. And worse - I couldn't even identify them with their weird status names and profile pics! If I'm on a networking site - I should at least KNOW who I am talking to!!!

In that aspect - Facebook was better : except that it keeps changing its interface so often that it gets so irritating! I did not like the previous interface also - but I got used to it cos I was able to personalize my feeds and hence keep a steady track of only select few. And frankly - since moving to the US - it has so far been the best way to stay in touch with my sis and cousins. And they go ruin it by changing the whole homepage. Every time I log in to Facebook, I DO NOT NEED A REAL TIME UPDATE OF WHAT EACH ONE OF MY 200 OR SO FRIENDS ARE DOING THAT VERY SECOND!! If I had time and patience enough for that - I presume that I would have the patience to click a couple more links to access that information - like I had been doing so far.

And now Google's joined the bandwagon. I really love GMail cos it keeps things simple and clean and I can turn off any unnecessary feature - like chat from my inbox. And Google has been really good so far - giving me apps that I can use standalone if I am so jobless. But integrating a twitter-like application right into my inbox - that too adding a default list of followers that I can't even remove/block - is such a pain in the neck.

Yes - I know Google is trying to compete with Twitter and all the other "real-time news updates" sites. But in my opinion - Google's winning score has always been its simplicity more than its search algorithm. It has been able to put better search engines out of business by the sheer intuitiveness of its search page. And I really wish that Google will stick to the reason why people like it so much. If they want to roll out a twitter-like product, it would be far better to remove it from Gmail - at least give an option for users to disable it. I still want a peaceful life - Please don't make me switch to snail mail due to information overload!

Edit: Damn - my Google Reader gets messed up if I change settings on Buzz!! This is totally frustrating!!! :(

"Good" movie

2010-01-21T20:16:00.002-08:00

This is in response to a comment thread and the argument that sprung from it with a friend on Facebook.

What makes a good movie?

Before I attempt to answer that - I would like to clearly emphasize that I am not a movie buff - I have no idea what is involved in making it - I have absolutely no clue on the 'divine art' of movie making. What I DO know is that a movie is meant to tell a story to the audience.

Remember the times when you heard stories from your grandparents? I recall now how half those stories didn't have any real meanings. Those were meant to entertain - to keep a child involved and spend time without annoying others. Somehow - my notion of stories never changed. Whether or not there really was any story, a movie was good only if I could sit from beginning to end and not be bored.

And needless to say - I could not sit through/stay awake through most movies. And if a movie that lacked probably all characteristics of a "good" movie ["A good movie is three good scenes and no bad scenes" - as reinforced by my good friend] still managed to grab my attention, it has really achieved something.

Think about it - it doesn't take much for talent to attract attention. But it takes a hell lot to lack the required talent and STILL be at par or better than talented people. That's the case why Kamal and Rajini enjoy the same status in Tamil cinema - one for talent and one for pure showmanship.

Yes - I know I am retarded by my limited knowledge in cinema and it is probably wrong for me to judge movies by the minimum amount of movies I have seen - but having said that, I come back to the original argument: Does Avatar deserve an award? Maybe - maybe not; I have no idea on what basis movies are judged for awards. But does it qualify as a good movie? Of course - even though the story is a one-liner, it captures the audience from beginning to end. People knew what the story was - and yet they sat through the movie, more than once.

IF that is not proof of a good movie - I don't know what is.

P.S. - Yes, people have their own definitions of good movies. I am just stating what I feel qualifies as one.

Pride... and Perspective

2010-01-10T16:27:00.003-08:00

She was considered by all as the sweetest of the rope - After all, she did have the best scale leaves! She swelled with happiness when a savvy young gentleman picked her up at the grocery store and happily bounced along in the shopping cart, next to her friends.

She watched in awe as she passed the big aisles and saw all the people hurrying along. She had been underground when she was young, had been put straight into a carton when she was mature. Once unloaded at the grocery store, she was forced in between the messy tomatoes and the hardened potatoes.

Now that she was chosen - she knew she was on her way to fulfill her destiny. She had dreamed of this everyday because she knew she was different - she knew she was special. And as if to re-instate her special place, the gentleman who took her put her in a special basket and kept her on top of everyone else. He put the potatoes below her and the tomatoes - he shut away behind a door.

As the days went by, she learnt that the man was a head chef in a fancy restaurant. He loved to experiment with food and tried most of his dishes at home. She watched as he pureed tomatoes, diced potatoes, peeled carrots and sliced cucumbers. And she shuddered as fellow onions were finely chopped and mixed with other vegetables to finally make the dish of the day.

Mixed with other vegetables! It was beneath HER destiny! She trembled when she thought of being put in the same pot as the tiny tomato behind the door! Why - that little stout girl would get wrinkled up if she were on this side! And SHE be mixed with someone like that who can't even last outside? Unthinkable! She can't bear to think that another vegetable needs to be added along with her to enhance her taste. It did not strike her one bit that SHE is required to enhance the taste of others.

At long last, the day came - when the chef took her down to use her. With fear in every cell - she made a mental note to make him REALLY cry if he took out any other vegetable. To her relief - he only took her and sliced her neatly and eventually made french onion soup.

Thus, the onion met her destiny - proud as anyone could be. Even though she knew her destiny was to eventually be chopped up and eaten - she took pride in the fact that she was used in a dish that satisfied the chef's hunger and that no other vegetable was required to add taste. She did not repent the fact that she didn't get used with others and had to die separately. Neither did she consider it selfish that she wanted to be on her own rather than help add taste to others - for it never even occurred to her! She was happy - and she had made the chef happy by being herself - that was all that mattered to her.

There are thin lines between pride, vanity and arrogance - pride can't stand one's rightful place being tarnished by others!

CHILL pill

2010-01-01T11:50:00.003-08:00

My bad luck seems to win over everything else AFTER all! After meticulous planning, careful analysis and constant weather tracking - I planned to leave Pittsburgh before the cold REALLY kicks in. And I DID succeed in leaving Pittsburgh just a day before it is engulfed in snow.

What I missed was the factor of snow in Texas! Texas always reminds me of Texas Tom and his "HOWDY" in smoke. When I definitely did not expect it to be hot here, I did not dream that I'd be more cold in Texas than in Pittsburgh! And I thought we were suffering from Global Warming!!!! :( Guess hot gets hotter and snow gets snowier! Yes, I brought the snow with me to Texas - but at least I didn't have any more flight mishaps!

Happy New Year everyone! And for those of you in Chennai enjoying a Bangalore weather - I HOPE YOU SPEND WINTER IN A FREEZING COUNTRY AT LEAST IN THIS DECADE!!! yaam petra thunbam ivvaiyagamum perave! :D

Carnegie Mellon: Class of 2009

2009-12-11T21:46:00.002-08:00

The Diwali Petronas Ad

2009-10-17T20:24:00.007-07:00

All of you who frequent Facebook must have come across this video by now. This is for the benefit of those who still live in the dark ages of internet:

In line with this video, I'd like to inform all those "hep" people back home that there is a reason why people here dress the way they do:
1) The caps keep the chillness from the wind away.
2) The heavy jackets are for sub-zero temps.
3) Permanently putting your hands in the jacket is not for 'gethu'- (read style). It is an absolute necessity to keep your palm and fingers from freezing!

Think twice before blindly imitating "fashion".

Fall of '09

2009-10-13T21:56:00.003-07:00

All around me, the trees have slowly turned from bright green to lovely red. Especially the trees just in front of the sign that proudly says 'Carnegie Mellon University'. But somehow, most people seem oblivious to the change as they rush past the building to the Career Center for various interviews. Of course, nature can wait - recruiters won't!

So far, the fall semester has been a blur of events - TOC, shift in project focus, 2 fun but demanding courses, a fever-cum-allergy misdiagnosed (& hence house-arrested for a week) and a significant drop in hiring by companies - of course, that WAS expected. In the midst of all this, the last thing one would expect a CMU graduate student to do would be to stay relaxed. But yours truly simply can't be herself without defying such mundane expectations. :P

I once told someone that being highly ambitious can cost them their happiness. I realize now how wrong I was - happiness does not come from being content; it comes from achieving something that was dismissed as "not possible". It does not come from proving people wrong, but in KNOWING that you are right.It comes from climbing the mountain to reach the top, rather than staying safe in its shadow. Does that mean I should climb every mountain I see, just to prove a point? No.

The best way to win a war is to choose the battles well. And I choose to be a sniper instead of using a machine gun blindly. And that's not being dumb, arrogant or over-confident - it's knowing to leverage your strengths and hiding your weaknesses. This fall will decide my future in the US of A. This fall, I will have a chance to prove the correctness of my decisions. And this fall, I will yet again let destiny play its own game while I appreciate the season to its fullest in Pittsburgh. As Oogway says to Shifu in Kung Fu Panda - "My friend, the panda will never fulfill his destiny, nor you yours until you let go of the illusion of control". Cos there are only 2 roads from here - one leads to a better place and the other leads to the BEST place. Either way, I'll move forwards - cos there's absolutely NO turning back from here.

Why Software Architecture is different!

2009-07-10T13:21:00.003-07:00

[ At this stage of the studio project - I am very tempted to post this article that a friend forwarded to me looooooooong back. I think ALL software engineers should read this! ;) ]

What if architecting a house was similar to architecting software? We might see something like this:

Please design and build me a house. I am not sure of what I need, you should use your discretion. My house should have between two and forty-five bedrooms. Just make sure the plans are such that the bedrooms can be easily added or deleted. When you bring the blueprints to me, I will make the final decision of what I want. Also bring me the cost breakdown for each configuration so I can arbitrarily pick one.

Keep in mind that the house I ultimately choose must cost less than the one I am currently living in. Make sure, however, that you correct all the deficiencies that exist in my current house (the floor of my kitchen vibrates when I walk across it and the walls don't have nearly enough insulation in them.)

As you design, also keep in mind that I want to keep yearly maintenance cost as low as possible. This should mean the incorporation of extra-cost features like aluminum, vinyl, or composite siding. (If you chose not to specify aluminum, be prepared to explain your decision in detail.)

Please take care that the modern design practices and the latest materials are used in the construction of the house, as I want it to be a showplace for the most up-to-date ideas and methods. Be alerted however, that the kitchen should be designed to accommodate, among other things, my 1952 Gibson refrigerator.

To insure that you are building the correct house for my entire family, make certain that you contact each of my children and also my in-laws. My mother-in-law will have very strong feelings about how the house should be designed, since she visits us at least once a year. Make sure that you weigh all these options carefully and come to the right decision. I, however, retain the right to overrule any choices you make.

Please don't bother me with small details right now. Your job is to develop the overall plans for the house, get the big picture. At this time, for example, it is not appropriate to be choosing the color of the carpet. Keep in mind, however that my wife likes blue.

Also do not worry at this time about acquiring the resources to build the house itself. Your first priority is to develop detailed plans and specifications. Once I approve these plans, however, I would expect the house to be under construction within 48 hours.

While you are designing this house specifically for me, keep in mind that sooner or later I will have to sell it to someone else. It therefore should appeal to a wide variety of potential buyers. Please make sure before you finalize the plans that there is a consensus of the population in my area that they like the features this house has.

I can advise you to run up and look at my neighbor's house he constructed last year. We like it a great deal. It has many of the features that we would also like in our new home, particularly the 75-foot swimming pool. With careful engineering, I believe that you can design this into our new house without impacting the final cost.

Please prepare a complete set of blueprints. It is not necessary at this time to do the real design, since they will be used for construction bids. Be advised, however, that you will be held accountable for any increase of construction costs as a result of later design changes.

You must be thrilled to be working on as interesting a project as this! To be able to use the latest techniques and materials and to be given such freedom in your designs is something that can't happen very often. Contact me as soon as possible with your complete ideas and plans.

P.S: My wife has just told me that she disagrees with many of the instructions I've given you in this letter. As architect, it is your responsibility to resolve these differences. I have tried in the past and have been unable to accomplish this. If you can't handle the responsibility, I will have to find another architect.

P.P.S: Perhaps what I need is not a house at all, but a travel trailer. Please advise me as soon as possible if this is the case.

Cricket, Cooking, Chit chat and some work... :)

2009-06-28T13:15:00.004-07:00

It's been a while since we "spent time" like we used to do in India... Lazy to cook separately... too tired to get some work done... and having no patience to stream India vs WI on separate laptops brought the 5 of us together on a rainy Sunday morning. Actually... 2 of us wanted to watch Wimbledon on a TV... but then the telecast was stopped! :(

It turned out to be a feast... well... in terms of the amount of food atleast! We had rice and Garlic Tortillas. I put very little salt in my spinach (out of practice) and Aparna's Baingan was missing spice (intentionally since none of the guys eat spicy food!!). But Sanjeev's rasam was good. Apart from that, we had spiced up buttermilk and 2 huge packets of chips. We also had baked potatoes and left over molagu kozhambu and yam. Had a long lunch - exchanging anectodes. ;)

Watched a match together - fearing that India would go 100 all out and then suprised that they managed to take it to 188. (As I write this, Sanjeev predicts that India will defend successfully). Now, we plan to take a break and start the work that we intended to start yday - and hopefully, will be able to complete by tomo! :P I'm lucky that both my project teams are highly motivated... :)

Edit: Sanjeev was woefully wrong in his prediction, but we excuse him since he hasn't been sleeping well for a while and was pretty drowsy! :) And we had cauliflower and rasam for the night, with buttermilk - ppl just loved the meal! Again, Sanjeev made the rasam, and I made the cauliflower and spiced up the buttermilk.. :D

Ghost in the house!!

2009-06-04T12:25:00.003-07:00

Its been 3 weeks here.... and strangely enough - stuff has gone missing from the house on a regular basis. I'm not saying tht I'm perfect at maintaing stuff - nor is my roommate. But then it's really freaky at how things keep disappearing around the house. It used to happen all the time in India - but then, we end up finding atleast one lost item when we're searching for something else!

And we've never lost items from the kitchen before!! The first item we lost was our cutting board. My roommate remembers using it atleast twice - and then it just vanished when I was looking for it. (Perfect excuse to NOT chop vegetables that day :D ). And then we lost a set of spoons... we've searched every part of the kitchen possible but cannot find where the spoons went!

Next to go was my roommate's ID card - she got it replaced - but it went missing only from the house cos she couldn't have gotten home from classes without her ID on the bus. It just vanished from her table. And finally, yday, a whole can of yogurt - unopened - vanished from the fridge! I mean there are chances that we might have misplaced any of the other items. But yogurt?? The fridge is the only place it goes into!!! We have NO clue how it vanished!

At this rate - we're going to end up searching for everything we bought and stored! Spooky...

Feels as good as home

2009-05-22T18:24:00.002-07:00

2 weeks in the US. And I feel at home. It feels as if I belong here. It's been 2 eventful weeks of mixed up flight schedules, arriving at an odd time, shifting into apartment, cooking, orientation, classes, projects, meetings and haywire timings. There are things that went really well and there are things that can go a little better. Yet, even in the most tiring situations - I never once regret what I do/did or feel bad abt being here or miss the fact that I'm NOT home in India.

It just helps that I have my family online from India, half my family over the phone in US and friends already settled [and willing to spend :P!]

Down Memory Lane

2009-04-04T08:06:00.005-07:00

This is one of those nostalgic posts that one can typically expect from a person going abroad for a long time. But then, in my defense, I'm penning this down because what I miss right now is a place I didn't spend enough time in. I miss Trichy a lot. Suddenly. Ever since I got the tickets to Pittsburgh in my hand. I lived in Trichy till my first standard and I've spent the bulk of my life in Chennai. Yet somehow, the memories from Trichy keep coming back most often.

I remember shuttling between Trichy and Thanjavur regularly to visit my grandparents. Being the first(and at that time, the only) grandchild, I was given royal treatment. ;) Grandpa used to have a new story every time I went for a visit - to add to the huge list of my favourite stories. And Grandma used to take me to the Kamakshi temple at the end of the road in the evenings. There was a point when I was afraid of the Adiseshan statue, but then, over time, I conjured up enough mental strength to take a photo with it - For a 4 yr old kid, standing next to a five hooded snake WAS a big deal. though it was only a statue!

I remember my cousin's birth and his punyaajanam. I am not really sure about the procedure, but as far as I can remember, the baby gets 3 names. As the elder sis, I got to pick out one of those names for him and write it in the sugar tray beneath his cradle. He'd murder me today if I use the name I picked out, but that was his nickname for a very long time. :)

I remember mom baking a cake for my birthday. I loved that birthday cos I got a toy percussion set. I drove dad nuts by playing a random beat on it all the time. That birthday also made me the joke of the family for a few years - apparantly, when given a box of chocolates and asked to distribute them to my classmates on my birthday, I ended up eating more than half the box myself claiming it was MY birthday and so, the entire box should ideally be for me!

My love of sports also started with the Tennis matches that I used to see with mom and dad then. I grew up watching Steffi, Sampras, Agassi, Seles, Ivanisevic, Becker and Chang. The first match prediction that I remember making was to my fellow "rickshaw-mates" that Steffi will win the Wimbledon in 92 as she was better than Seles anyday! I also said Sampras would win the title that year, but enjoyed the final though he didnt make it. I loved the game. I still like Tennis more than cricket or football. But I could never watch a Badminton match - somehow, that gets a bit boring after sometime.

To me, Trichy is the place of my childhood. And maybe that's why I miss it so much. I miss the feeling of not having any duty or responsibility, not having to make any decisions and just enjoying the small things in life for what they are worth. Compared to Chennai, life in Trichy was set at a slower pace - giving me the time to cherish it more. Just wish I had stayed there longer....

Lessons Learnt

2009-02-14T10:24:00.002-08:00

We had our mid point presentation of our project today. We were expected to showcase how we applied what we had learnt to a real world problem. It went fantabulously well in my opinion.

We had around 2 slides projecting our take-aways from the studio project. But I feel that more than the technical or decision making skills, the soft skills mattered. Personally, over the past 6 months, I've learnt to accept the following as facts:

1) How you are perceived matters a lot more than WHO you are.

2) Say exactly what the other person wants to hear - maybe something more; but nothing less.

3) People are unique and hence will have different perspectives. Therefore the most common answer to any question is: It Depends!

4) Sometimes, it's better not to take a decision until you have both sides of the coin - if it's based on only one side, it might just be the wrong decision!

5) Mistakes happen. But they should not be repeated. (CTRL-Z doesnt work once the document is saved and closed does it??)

6) Initial impression is the hardest to change.

7) Hard work cannot get you far if its not showcased properly to the right people.

By the end of this course, I feel I'd learn a hundred more!!! :)

The Mental Breakdown

2009-02-01T05:42:00.003-08:00

2 weeks of great expectations. 2 weeks of crazy knockouts in the women's tournament. 2 completely dissimilar semi-finals. And 2 champions battling it out like everybody hoped. At the end of it all, to actually see Federer cry through the presentation ceremony was more unsettling than watching him lose the Aus Open Finals.

After Sampras, Federer has been my favourite player for quite sometime. And despite his poor performance in recent times, he will continue to be one of my favourites. It's the sheer cool attitude with which he plays his game that appeals to me a lot. Witnessing Nadal break through that coolness was disturbing. And with the next tournament being the French Open, I doubt if THE Fed-Express can get back on track in time.

But at the end of this year's tournament, I loved the semi's between Nadal and Verdasco. Amazing match... and pity Verdasco had to lose because of a double fault. BTW is it just me or does anyone else think he resembles Cristiano Ronaldo??? :) No matter, he really gave Nadal a run for his money...

Endhiran shooting

2009-01-09T21:18:00.003-08:00

Superstar is coming to SSN Auditorium! To shoot for Endhiran!

I thought it was a joke - till we got a circular with information about auditions! Yup - auditions. Students will be screened to appear as part of the audience in the movie sequence. And the shooting started today.

Rajni seemed to have arrived in a Honda City... Ash in a Benz! Shankar and Rajni were together in a trailer discussing sumthing. The auditorium had the banner "International Robotics Conference 2009". But for so much hype about Sankar's movie.. they didnt even check our ID cards! We went to try catch a glimpse of Rajni and they just ushered us into the audience. We were asked not to bring anything with us. But no one checked anyways... think some of the UG people had phones with them.

There was dress code for guys! My friends had to go bak to their rooms, change into formals and come. I saw a couple of girls in western formals, but dont think they were from college. And there were loads of foreigners! They didnt even pay heed to the 'No Smoking' signs just outside the auditorium.

It looked like they wud take forever to start the shoot. Hmm... 3 days of this. Dunno if we'll get to see anything interesting!

Edit: Detailed first hand report of the Endhiran experience available here and here. :)

Misplaced Expectations

2008-12-21T23:19:00.012-08:00

First - Vaaranam Aayiram. Now JKR.

I wasn't particularly happy with the way JKR had handled Deathly Hallows. In fact, I thought a couple of fan fics gave a better ending to the series. Given that, I should have known that "The Tales of Beedle the Bard" would not be worth a read. But my curiosity got the better of me.

In her introduction, JKR says her characters "take their fates into their own hands, rather than taking a prolonged nap or waiting for someone to return a lost shoe". Hmm... I dont think all the so-called "Disney Princesses" from our fairy tales were just sitting in the corner waiting for fortune to strike them. As far as I can remember, Ariel did try taking her fate into her hands. And anyway, after I read the stories, I can only say that JKR's characters were dumb, if not dumber. I dont see how she can make such a statement when most of the stories dont exactly reflect that.

And Dumbledore's sidenotes was not really "enlightening" or "entertaining" as claimed by most reviews of the book. In one of the notes, he describes the reaction of children to Mrs.Bloxam's version of the tales. In my opinion, a milder version of the same reaction can be expected from readers of JKR's work. She could have added more substance to the stories. But I guess it will not make much difference since I believe all proceeds from sale of the book go to charity and NOT directly to her bank balance.

Atleast all the test matches were great. Go India!!! :)

Stuck

2008-11-28T03:40:00.003-08:00

I feel as if time has just stopped over the past week. Same scenes of flooded streets outside my house, same reports of Mumbai blasts on TV. And my semester was supposed to end today! Now that I think of it, where did the past month go?

This is the lousiest that I have ever been yet. Sumhow, it doesnt feel like all those vetti days in coll. Since everyone else is busy, feels like I'm the one with a permanent hangover. And am far from even trying to get better. My reaction is the same "whatever" to everything.

Spent the whole day yday watching NDTV and CNN-IBN. Not that it made me feel any different. They were interviewing a lot of celebrities about the blasts - as if their opinions will make a huge impact on future terrorist attacks. The whole point of terrorism eludes me - what exactly do terrorists gain by all this? And it's not like by having a different set of laws, it could have been avoided. I mean, when some one wants to break the law, what difference does it make?

And then Sun News keeps my sis updated on how many more hols she'll have. Reminds me of the time our UG exams got postponed. The same uneasiness in the air, just want things to get over soon and the next term to begin. I'm not really jobless, I do have a lot of work pending. But absolutely no mood to get started on anything. Right now, work doesnt seem important enough. :)

Everyone asks me HOW I could stay home, with no current, no internet and no chance of going out in the rain. Well, I have no prob sleeping time off. Sanjeev told me that early morning dreams come true... and there's just 1 way to find out if he's right! ;)

I, Me, Myself???

2008-11-02T21:13:00.005-08:00

I found this article thanks to Adi. This particular post caught my attention for one single reason - I can NEVER be as sure of myself as Evenstar is. Does that make me fickle? I guess so... But is tht bad? I really dunno... :)

Most of my friends say that I'm an open book, that what I really think is written on my face, blah blah... and those sentences almost always confuse me. It suprises me that someone else can know wat I think even before I can comprehend it myself. And its infuriating that I can follow Java or system models or any subject for that matter, and yet fail to comprehend myself completely.

In retrospect, the question "Describe yourself" has almost always been asked only during interviews or on networking sites. To the latter, I usually get away by putting up my favourite lyrics for the heck of it. And for the former, well, the answer to tht has always been along the lines of "What I want" rather than "Who I am".

One of my friends told me sometime back that I dont think - I worry. Since then, I've been worrying over the fact that I worry too much! :) Hmm... It has been bugging me for some time now that when I cant describe myself, how can others? Maybe the fact that I cant understand myself, or the fact that what I want changes so frequently, makes it difficult sometimes for people to understand me.

From where I stand, I feel that I can never describe myself. I am happy however I am now. And when I "mould" myself cos situation "demands" tht from me(thts how Sunu puts it), I know I'll still be happy. And I guess there's no point in trying to analyse that.

Lost in Ambiguity

2008-10-18T11:01:00.002-07:00

People tell me that I'm a good listener. But I guess I've lost that ability. Nowadays, whenever I sit in a meeting and someone starts talking, the only words I seem to hear after the first few seconds are "blah… blah… blah…". From prior experience, I know intuitively that only the first and the last 10 min of our meetings make any sense and everything else is just crap. And I've completely lost patience to sit through it for 2 hours when it can be done in 20 min.

Not that I can't talk… most people who talk to me wish that I could just shut up for a minute and give THEM a chance to speak! But then, that's completely in an informal context. When it comes to a mentor or a client, I keep things as short as possible and stick to just the facts. I don’t see any point in dragging things. And I'll never be able to do it just because everyone else does that.

To me, whenever people talk a lot, the concept gets more and more ambiguous, especially when the person talking has only a partial notion of the concept. Trust me, when you DON’T know what the context is, the best option would be to talk as LESS as possible.

But then, in some cases, ambiguity in communication would be essential. How else would you put across the fact that no work was done the past week while giving the impression that we’re only giving the "final touches"? How else would you reject a silly suggestion while keeping the other person happy? How else would you be able to push off all your work to someone else and yet give the impression of having worked a lot? From where I stand, THOSE are the qualities that make a person an effective manager a lot more than anything else… :). Guess ambiguity is an inseparable part of work after all. :(

Mr. FATE's Bday gift

2008-10-02T05:52:00.003-07:00

This would be my last bday in India for sometime.... and it somehow gets worse with every approaching minute. Assignment deadlines, client meetings, CLASSES on my bday tht I cant bunk and this time, I cant be with the people I REALLY wanna be with as they're not here. I know, I know... loads of my friends are still here and I should be thankful that I'm still home and with family and all that stuff... but nah... somehow, as always, the only things that hit me are the ones that are MISSING.

I've been on this "OMG.... last dussera in India, last live cricket match, last Independence day in India" stuff for quite a while now. I dunno.... the very thought of leaving creeps me out sometimes. Each time I go somewhere, a million memories will come and hit me out of the blue and I'd be dragged down memory lane. Those were the good times, when we had absolutely no care in the world, the tension usually builds up only for Ind-Pak matches and assignments were never done. I still cant believe I've changed so much... tht we've all changed so much.

Its wierd having to fix meeting times with friends.... Its wierd having them "try" to fit you into their schedule. Its so damn wierd when I or some1 else says "k.. gotta run now.... got some work... catch ya later" over chat! And it just creeps me out that i can keep blabbering on right now, but neither do I have the time nor do others have the patience to listen! Wow... so THIS is wat growing up is all about.... it SUCKS!

And maybe this time... ppl will send me wishes so tht the rest of my life would be like my final year days... I know life's all about change and tht I have to learn to live with it. But that does not mean we have to give up the things we love so much and mean so much to us... its ok for those things to remain the same... just like everlasting moments. They are the ones that bring out the beauty in life.

Padma Bhushan Shiv Nadar

2008-09-06T09:21:00.002-07:00

Shiv Nadar, the founder of SSN institutions, was awarded the Padma Bhushan by Government of India. A felicitation function was held in the college yesterday.

Shiv Nadar's speech was very interesting. SSN students have told me that he's a good orator but I got to experience that yesterday. Unlike a few other speakers who took the dias, he had the audience captivated. He shared some of the incidents from his childhood that moulded him to be the person he is today. He was as normal as you or me. He talked of life from his perspective and his reason for starting any venture.

One such was the staggering amount of scholarship he gives away every year. This year, the amount was around 4.3 crores and we had a ceremony today to distribute the scholarship. Unlike other colleges, special scholarship was given to people from rural areas who had excelled in their schooling. And inspired by him, the SSN Alumni also contributed towards the scholarship amount of 4 such students. Nadar's elder sister talked about how very special his own first scholarship was to him and how it made him stand on his own feet with confidence. What he received then, he's giving back to people who need it now.

What really appealled to me was his concept of taking the COLLEGE to the STUDENTS. He says rightly that though people from rural areas are really good in studies, their sudden thrust into urban culture would mostly harm their self confidence. To prevent that and to nurture such talent, he proposed to start SSN schools where world-class education would be provided - but only to rural people. Such an environment will promote the competitiveness and culture that we find in urban society today in a healthy manner. Hats off to him for the initiative.

Moving on... I really felt that it would have been better if the students did not have a cultural programme following the ceremony. It felt totally awkward watching them perform dappaanguthu on stage on such an occasion in the name of entertainment. Puh-lease... If it were a cultural event, then fine... But cmon... when it was a function to honour someone, it was completely demeaning! And the mimicry was totally bad... only one guy was good. The music troupe was good but they could've chosen a different set of songs. The solo violinist was awesome. And the classical dance was good, though most of the audience found it boring to sit through the performance.

And even at the scholarship ceremony, some people walked up to stage in casuals. Yes, the college gives you the freedom to wear whatever you want... but there's a notion called 'dressing-for-the-occassion' and people think they're 'too cool' to follow that. It seemed so inappropriate to me. It made me think that atleast for such events, dress code should be made compulsory after all.

ERROR: The requested URL could not be retrieved

2008-08-18T09:24:00.004-07:00

OK... I did expect restrictions on browsing in the wi-fi zones in campus. But I did NOT anticipate the same restrictions in my lan at hostel. No VoIP... No chat applications... No online radio... And the network even blocked Kiran's blog! :P All other blog links work though.

I seriously dont see how ppl are expected to stay in hostel, completely out of touch with the world. What's the point of LAN and internet then? Ok... agreed that they're for 'academic purposes' only. But they cant expect college students to study 24x7. Thts insanity.

As expected, YouTube is blocked. I wudnt be bothered abt it normally. But the official site for the Olympics has turned out to be totally crappy. It doesnt even refresh the scores properly most of the time. And every "Olympic Moment" video on google invariably points to YouTube. :(

What really got to me today was MetaCafe and a couple of online gaming websites were not blocked - But earthCaller was! Too much... Have to resort to calling cards again... or keep trying to find a workaround.

High Alert!

2008-07-27T08:44:00.001-07:00

Serial Blasts rock the nation – All Metros on High Alert.

How many times have we seen this flash across the screen the last few years? I frankly lost count. Each time the government seems to tune up the security AFTER the incident and then things fall back to the normal easy-to-plant-a-bomb-anywhere routine in just a few days. Makes no sense. The people who are doing this are not going to do it with a banner display. They were ruthless enough to plant bombs near hospitals. They plan it meticulously to cause maximum impact. They work to stay ahead of the government – any government. New York could not take it. London could not take it. And India definitely can’t beat it.

Back to College….

2008-07-22T08:07:00.001-07:00

…and back to hostel. But this time I get my own room. :) I like it so far, if you can take away the 2 dogs tht hang around the entrance and a monkey tht wandered in once. Suji wud’ve loved the monkey… she used to click pics of the ones tht wandered into the Parallel Computing class. Those monkeys turned up almost every Tuesday afternoon – cant really say the same abt the students :P. But I’m sure Pooja wud never manage if she were to stay here. For one thing, there’s no complaint register. I remember very well the 4 complaints she wrote in the hostel register at Trivandrum the very first day:

1) The window lock does not work.
2) The wash basin is not clean. (It looked fine to me… but apparently madam found sumthing wrong with it)
3) There is a lizard near the window.
4) There are ants in the room. (You read it right…)

And I thought those rooms were good.

Even if she did end up liking the rooms by some miracle, she would throw a tantrum abt having to walk all the way to classes and back. She wouldn’t even do tht to get a decent lunch those days. And she’d go crazy coz there’s only one TV for the entire block. Lol… I still can’t believe I spent 2 months as HER roommate. Anyway, the best part is I have access to a squash court! Gotta learn to play though… but I’m not leaving here without playing there properly. There is a tennis court but havn’t found anyone to play with me. There is always basketball and shuttle though. And yes, despite my height I can get the ball through the hoop, thank you very much. All of us plan to play TT though. That’s gonna end up being fun, though am sure none here have J’s patience. ;)

I hate Murphy!

2008-06-20T14:06:00.003-07:00

“Whatever can go wrong will go wrong, and at the worst possible time, in the worst possible way”.

That’s just not fair but that’s the way the world works. Newton’s third law doesn’t seem to apply to life. Pity. You just don’t hit rock bottom and get away. Life makes you dig a 100 feet further down and bury yourself under all that crap. And everything goes downhill from THERE. Strangely enough, it always takes a looooong time before things become brighter, if ever. Sometimes, there is not even a silver lining to look for. And that’s when we go “Why ME? What the hell did I DO to deserve this?”. That’s a question that has got absolutely no answers. One can brood on a suitable answer and go completely crazy thinking of all the ‘Ifs’ and ‘Buts’. Yet, nothing can be done to overrule Murphy’s laws.

Curiously, this law does not apply to everyone. According to research, in a system that comprises only of perfect idiots Murphy's Law is invalid, and the system will work perfectly even if it is severely flawed. I think that also answers a few questions Ad i had sometime back. Guess people are punished for being sane after all.

Hits and misses of IPL

2008-06-01T12:50:00.004-07:00

Remember the auction? The common opinion rated Deccan Chargers as the best and Rajasthan Royals as the worst team in the league. The tournament turned the figures completely upside down. Rajasthan Royals hardly had any names on their team. They were fined for not spending enough money at the auction (Would they get the fined amount back now that their team IS the best?). I had to google to find out that the franchise is owned by Emerging India. They didn’t even bother getting a coach and pulled in Warney as coach-captain. (maybe that’s their key to success?). But what a tournament they’ve had!

The final match was a fitting finish to the tournament. After the 15^th over of the Rajasthan innings, I even dared to hope that maybe Dhoni would pull this one through just like the world cup. Alas, he didn’t have Sharma in the squad to pull off a last over miracle. But Balaji just got unlucky I suppose.

I still say that it was the fielding that cost the match. Not only in the finals, but throughout the tournament. Nobody could really replace Hussey and Oram in that department. And I’ve lost count of the number of catches dropped and the run out chances missed. That’s what has always set the Australians apart. That’s what cost Chennai the finals.

Other random thoughts on the tournament:

Display of new talent – The likes of Manpreet Gony, Abhishek Nayar, Shaun Marsh, Swapnil Asnodkar, Pragyan Ojha and Ashoke Dinda entertained more than some of the other established names in their respective teams. Yes, they have been performing in the Ranji trophy. But that never caught the people’s (or the selectors’) attention like the IPL performances.
Controversies – Ah yes, what’s a game without a couple of juicy fights? :) I think the Nokia ad featuring the Kolkata Knight Riders (“Kaun karega in villains ka Milan?”) says it all. The Bhajji-Sreesanth slap issue turned ugly. Then there was the Warne-Dada row. And Umar Gul to add negative impact to that. Whatever the situation, I don’t think it’s in the right spirit for a team player to criticise his captain in the media. Gul should have probably done a Ponting – should have dropped catches on purpose, given away free runs and refused to lift a finger for the team in any aspect. THAT will give the captain something to think on. ;)

Cheerleaders – Ok, I’m not gonna drag in the ‘moral grounds’ row here. Just wanted to point out to the Rajasthan Royals’ cheerleading team that wearing a bindi with a mini-skirt does NOT ‘Indianise’ the whole thing! It was such an eyesore. Anyway, the whole concept seems straight out of some Hollywood Teen flick. For any player, the people in the crowd are the best cheerleaders. And given that even the no-outcome matches were almost jam-packed, I don’t think we’ll need anything more.
The ‘youngster’s game’ concept – Everyone said T20 was a format that suited the younger players. And a resounding NO came from Shane Warne, Sanath Jayasuriya, Sachin Tendulkar, Anil Kumble, Shaun Pollock, Mathew Hayden and Kumar Sangakkara. I didn’t see the ‘young’ Yuvraj or even Dhoni for that matter shine much in the tournament. But I wont deny that Dhoni's one cool captain. He was just marginally outshone by Warne in the end.
Interesting Placards – There are always loads of these in any match. But at this time of the night I can remember only the following:

At the finals : “Sorry boss, we’ll be late for work tomorrow”
At the Wankhede Stadium : "Commit all your crimes when Sachin's batting. Even God will be watching him play"
During Gilchrist's blitzkrieg innings: "Gilly!! Its 20-20. NOT 10-10!"
At some match in Bangalore :

“The only thing good about the Royal Challengers team is the CHEERLEADERS”

Back to the Radio

2008-05-27T10:26:00.008-07:00

"Goooooood Moooorniing CHENNAI!!!". Thus starts my day... waking up to Suchi's morning news and gossip. Of all the tried and tested methods available.. the radio still seems to be the only thing that ensures tht I wake up fresh. Sometimes, the songs played make me so irritated that all I want is to switch off the radio... which still serves the purpose of me waking up. :)

I've collected(and disposed) through the years cassettes, cds, mp3s and even entire harddisks of music. But the radio's always been a part of my life. Earlier, there used to be only AIR... with the standard program of carnatic in the mornings, Hindi in the afternoon and Film music in the evenings. Of course, cricket commentary was available for all matches. Those were the days of good, uninterrupted music.

Now we have around 12 stations. But somehow, it has only made listening to radio a little less appealing. First of all, there are these RJs saying "helloandwelcometotheshowyouarelisteningtoxxxstation-
on123fmandiamyourfavouriteRJABCblahblahblah". Is it just me or are most of the RJs aspiring to be rappers some day? And then the callers with their "I'm so happy to be FINALLY speaking to you!" and "Your voice is soooooo sweet" and even "My pet dog loves you so much that he doesnt go for a walk if you dont come on air". Wish they'd get a life. Between these 2 and the advertisements, the music is lost. Anyway, even music channels on TV are full of reality shows or events or other such crap. Listening to music seemed to be more of an effort rather than relaxation.

Then came the internet radios. Well worth the upgradation of my airtel account. No silly RJs... almost no ads... Plain old music... that too of my choice! Though I started off listening to Yahoo's Launch... now I am a fan of Jango. Even the radio stations on iTunes are good. Of course, its not gonna match worldspace. But who cares? For free and good music, I dont demand excellent quality. Good is good enough. :)

Right stuff, Right Place, Right time....

2008-03-22T09:11:00.004-07:00

I'm a HUGE fan of Bryan Adams. Of all his songs.. my favourite 2 are "Summer of 69" and "Everything I Do". Both are special in very different ways. The former blares at full volume on my MP3 stereo system most of the days. But the latter, I listen to on my discman, mostly on a cloudy day or when I'm feeling down. That's the way I like them. If someone were to put the same songs in the other scenario, both the songs would make my skin crawl. It would be like expecting a pleasant drizzle but ending up with a violent storm.

Not only with songs, I'm that way with most things in life. I believe that there is a time, place and backdrop for doing anything. If any one part of the equation is wrong it puts me off so badly. And I dont think this "Wierd nature"(as some people like to put it) is unique to me. Think about it... Do people go to a formal occassion in tattered jeans? Can any Indian expecting some peaceful time watch a live cricket match? Would you choose a foodcourt to have lunch with your family? They just don't add up right! If such incidents were to happen, the whole point of the function would be missed - be it the diginity of formal meetings, fun and thrill of a match or the quality time spent with family. Its the rhetorical case of mud on a white dress - the beauty of the whole dress is spoilt because of the speck of dirt. Except, a dress can be washed free of dirt. But a blotch on events cant be washed away from memory, atleast not from mine. And like the dirt, the disturbing factors will be the first to come to memory whenever one remembers such events.

Some things in life are very trivial, but nonetheless important to be upheld. They're not always easy to understand or explain... they're just there. To me - its the sillyness of wearing a 'lucky' chudithar for important events, the stubbornness of not wanting to go to a particular place that all my friends love (cos it puts me off), the absurd belief that my mom wishing me for an exam is a sure sign that I'll score low and loads more. Yes, I know they're silly beliefs. Yet, I cant change them. Its like something's wrong with the world if I try breaking out. So I just live with them. After all, they dont take anything away from me if followed so why not follow them rather than gamble on spoiling the day? :)

Chak Diya India!

2008-03-04T09:19:00.002-08:00

Yeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!

First the T20 World cup, then the Under-19 World cup, now the CB Series...2-0 against Aussies!! Wow... We're sure rocking! When Dhoni was first selected as captain, I was very apprehensive. I stand corrected.

But still, our legacy to end win games on close notes continues. We still have a long way to go to be able to thrash Australia rather than sneaking through... but winning will do for now. I'm soooo happy to see the smirk wiped off Ponting's face and even more excited about seeing him play UNDER Ganguly in IPL.

The 'Boys in Blue' did well in the world cup and deserved to win it. But my heart goes out to South Africa once again. The entire team is jinxed I guess. Right from the time, way back in 92 I think, when they were set a revised target of 22 runs from 1 ball by Duckworth-Lewis method. Even in the 2003 world cup, rain was the reason for them crashing out early with some miscalculations in the D/L score. This time too, 160 from 20 overs was a gettable score the way they were batting. But the rains played havoc. As long as it favoured India, I'm fine.

Let's hope these guys keep up the momentum and not relax with all the money from IPL.

Take Diversion!

2008-02-20T08:36:00.003-08:00

Got the following mail last week from Admin:

Dear All,
This is to bring to your notice that restriction on IT Buses has been imposed by State Government due to heavy traffic in Sardar Patel Road - Madhya Kailash and L B Road - Adyar. Based on the instruction given by Additional Commissioner of Police - Traffic, few buses plying on the above routes will be diverted.

My friends from other IT companies had received similar correspondence. Funny. Isn't that route part of the so-called 'IT corridor'? So what exactly is the point of routing all the IT buses through different routes? Now all the buses are being diverted to routes in which either the roads are twice as small in width or are being dug up to accommodate a flyover.

As such, the journey to and from work is a pain in the neck - literally. The buses are comfortable enough, but I am yet to find a comfortable position to snooze in without hurting my neck. To top it up, my bus driver decides the most convenient time to start the bus based on his need rather than sticking to the schedule. So I had to ditch my heels - absolutely no chance of running after a bus from 2 inches above the ground!

Still missing those college days... Same bus top. Almost same starting time. Travelling took about the same time as it does now. The road to college was only half laid in those days. And the buses were not as good as the company buses. But the journey was fun. Sigh... Those were still the best days of my life.

Busy 24X7

2008-01-06T08:31:00.000-08:00

Ever felt 24hrs a day and 7 days a week are just not enough??? I've only now started getting that feeling. And I havn't even started working in the proper sense yet! Somehow time seems to be on fast forward all of a sudden. It generally wont make much difference to me but this time I feel vexed. Almost all my friends were down for the Christmas-New Year hols, but I couldnt spend enough time with a lot of them. Something or the other would pop up and I would be bogged down for the rest of the day. I even missed the Chennai Open this time. Hard to imagine that 3 months ago, I was complaining that I had absolutely nothing to do. Grass is ALWAYS greener on the other side.

It's irritating when most things in life push you from one corner to another, but never in the middle. I always get the feeling that at the end of the day, I'm left with either everything or nothing. So it's either completely good or totally rotten. How much ever I try I just cant seem to strike a balance. And those are the times when I completely hate being a Libran. Oh well... there's nothing I can do abt that. Hopefully, sometime in future, life will stop swinging me around and drop me in the middle lane.

Tryst with Trivandrum

2007-12-22T09:34:00.000-08:00

Past 2 months was like a rollercoaster ride. Seriously. I went from hating hostel in the first week to missing it now. But on the whole I honestly had a great time. The company probably made all the difference.

Hostel made me realise the value of washing machines and fridges, especially the latter. My entire eating habit had to change due to lack of a fridge. We stayed at around 17kms from the city, so not much variety food-wise. There were a couple of Dhabas and a restaurant nearby which were decent. And of course, a Baskin & Robbins shop near office. I was a regular customer there by default.

My favourite aspects of hostel life were celebrating birthdays there and of course, watching Indo-Pak series. Otherwise I didnt feel much difference. Sharing a room was fun, given the nature of my room-mate. It was like living with Monica (from "F.R.I.E.N.D.S"). Listening to her wud almost always instantly put me to sleep, not tht I need an excuse for sleeping anyway. ;)
Jokes apart, we got along well.

Nothing much to say about Trivandrum. In my opinion it's a ghost city. I mean, where are all the people? The couple of times I had been to the city centre, the only folks I can see are corporate people or tourists. There were a lot of places to see nearby though. I went to Alleppey,Varkala,Veli,Shankmugam and Kovalam. The others had been to Ponmudi falls the first weekend but I missed it [ was too lazy to wake up early :) ]

Life at TCS was good. It was more like an extension of college, especially since entire CS dept from my coll was in the same batch. The remaining people in my batch were also too good... great entertainers. Hardly noticed the time go by so quickly. We had German sessions which were so much fun. Also spent my learning period trying to learn different regional languages. Improved a lot on my Hindi... but Kannada I still mess up.

Most of the friends I made there have been posted in Chennai. Will definitely miss all those who arent here. I know 2 months is too short a time to say tht I've made close friends, but in my opinion, it doesnt matter how long you know people as long as you know them well. Ironically, I had the same feeling last december and 2007 turned out to be an awesome year for me. Waiting to see what 2k8 has in store! :D

'Almost-There' Generation?

2007-10-06T05:29:00.000-07:00

This forced me to give an opinion. As usual I dont agree with Kiran. Yes, we want things done in a jiffy. But is that wrong? Taking his example, I'd rather watch a cricket match that gets over in 3 hours than sit 5 days and watch the batsman play defensive shots and hit a 4 once an hour. And that isn't just because India won the T20 world cup! And, contradictory to expected beliefs... the bowlers DID do well in T20.

Gone are the days when one can afford to work at one's own pace. Gone are the times when your talent was measured absolutely and not on a relative scale. Everyone lives highway style now-if you wanna slow down, get out of the way...the people behind are racing ahead. Typical middle class insecurity?? lol... I can give a list of people from Narayanamurthy to Indra Nooyi who are celebrated coz they broke the bonds of 'mediocre'. Quoting a HP5 dialogue (Harry's of course) "Every great wizard in history has started out as nothing more then what we are *now*(i.e. Students - for the uninitiated). If they can do it, why not us?". OK... agreed that IS a bit far fetched. But still, I dunno... the term 'middle class insecurity' somehow doesnt sound like an excuse for a drab life. It's more often used by people who dont really know wat they want to do in life yet.

You want to do challenging work, you have to prove that you are capable of it. Nobody's gonna give anyone a chance to show that they are special. As long as we wait for others to notice us, we'll still be 'almost-there'. We have to create our own breaks and there-in lies our speciality. And the sooner we do it, the better for us.

Note to Kiran - Ya, Dravid might not have made it even if he had made himself available. You cant blame the format for it or end up saying he's a bad player. There's nothing wrong in abstaining from something wen u know u arent made for it! Its actually wise. :)

Awaiting the end...

2007-09-24T01:08:00.000-07:00

A couple of months ago, I wondered why TCS assigned us a very late date of joining. Now I know. They want to make us all feel so utterly jobless and desperate for work that we'll take whatever they throw at us right from day 1. My last stretch of hols for a very very long time is the one that I'm keen to get out of. Its more like a huge void in my life than a break.

I'm actually fed up of people telling me to enjoy the few months that I get to be free. I mean, all my friends are busy and most of them arnt in town(or country for that matter) anyway. Wat am I supposed to do alone? Working part-time is the last thing my dad will let me do. And to top it up, I was stuck without the net for like a month. I never thought I'd get tired of just eating and sleeping...but here I am, too fed up to even go to sleep. Call me a lunatic..but I've even lost interest in icecream!

I dunno.. Hope the one month goes fast. If hols are gonna be like this, I hope I never get another break in my life ever.

European Extravaganza

2007-07-31T23:18:00.000-07:00

This was probably the best idea that my dad came up with for a vacation. I mean, we go on a ‘family tour’ every other year, but it usually ends up being a big flop… including the Singapore trip. That was slightly better only coz it was Singapore. But this year, wow…. Dad made it reaaally worth the wait. Going with a tour group, which serves Indian food 3 times a day in all countries is MY idea of sight seeing. ;)

So once my mom made up her mind to go to Europe this time, dad had no other option but to book a tour. And ya, I remember he took almost 4 months going through the various operators, packages, combos and the works. Let me tell you, they all look very similar but once u read between the gaps u’ll find the differences. Finally after much research and scrutiny, Dad settled on Thomas Cook. It was more expensive, but worth the extra amount in more ways than one, as we soon found out.

Day 1:

The start of our trip was rather exhaustive actually. We had planned to stay one week longer in London once the tour was over. Since it was a deviation from the package, we were booked into separate flights. So we had to make 2 transits on the way to Rome. And the airline was one of the worst!! Never travel in Alitalia if you can avoid it please…. Indian Airlines will seem a lot better comparatively. :(

Anyway, all flights lead to Rome and we met our fellow tour mates at the airport, sometime in the afternoon, all flocked around a guy carrying the Thomas Cook banner. We were soon checked into a local hotel to freshen up. Oh, a small point to note about the group… we were 44 in all, from different parts of India. Yet, of the 4 people in Software field, all 4 were TCS!! Ok… only my dad was already actually working in it. The remaining 3(including yours truly) are to join this year. And my fellow college mate and bus mate had also come on the same trip with his family. Small world after all.

That evening we went on a city tour of Rome. It’s a very beautiful city man. The past and present mingle seamlessly wherever you see. We can the ruins of the ancient city of Rome in many parts. The cobbled roads open into the modern tar ones near the places of historical importance. And the city is littered with fountains and sculptures wherever here is space enough for one! We were taken to the Trevi fountain… which was the largest fountain there. Supposedly, if you throw a coin into the fountain over your left shoulder, you will return to Rome in future. I did so…lets see if I go back to explore the city more. :)

We then went on the ‘Time Elevator’. It was a 4-d show that took us on a journey through time and the changes that Rome had gone through. Mostly it concentrated on the contributions of Augustus and Michelangelo. It lasted about an hour. Then we had our dinner, Indian buffet, with optional complimentary drinks. Don’t bother imagining, I had coke only… everywhere. Then off to bed.

Day 2:

We were rushed off early the next morning to the Vatican border. It’s actually just a tall wall going all the way around the city. But the queue was nearly endless, actually more than the ones at Tirupati. Luckily we arrived early, so we only had to wait for one and half hours. But God, almost a 100 people keep joining the queue every 5 minutes! We slowly inched our way into the entrance of the Vatican Museum. There was another queue going the other side of the entrance, an even longer one, presumably for the church.

The guided tour of the museum was interesting. We had a local guide there, who I remember very well coz of her strong Italian accent. She carried a mini-mic and we all were given headphones. Neat. Saves the trouble of getting almost 50 people together and yelling at the top of ur voice. Anyway, the museum itself was filled with beautiful paintings, frescos, tapestries, mosaic paintings and sculptures. It was amazing, each and every masterpiece had people spell bound. In one particular tapestry, the artist had woven Jesus such that His eyes follow you wherever you are in that room! Spooky… :)

We were then led to the Sistine Chapel, where the elections for the Pope are held. It would have seemed like a dungeon had Michelangelo not brought it to life. The masterpiece “The Last Judgment” adorned the ceiling of the chapel. According to the guide, Michelangelo apparently had some issues with the then Pope about what he wanted to paint. So he had included a depiction of his soul being ripped away from his body by that of the pope in the painting itself!

We then made our way out to St.Peter’s Basilica. A newly elected gives his first sermon from a balcony out there. Also, He makes an appearance at a particular office window every Wednesday [or was it Sunday?? Sorry I lost track there… :)]. Hmm… hope the security would be good on those days. It sure wasn’t when we were there. Next we entered St.Peter’s cathedral. It is believed to be built over the tomb of St.Peter. Oh… and it is also the longest cathedral in Europe. To prove this point, it actually has on the floor a scale of all important churches starting from the smallest marked out for comparison. The church also has on display Michelangelo’s famous Pieta. Not only is the sculpture famous for bringing to one’s eyes the unmistakable talent of the renowned sculptor but also, it is his only autographed sculpture. His sign can be seen across the sash in Virgin Mary’s chest as she holds the dying Jesus in her lap.

After spending enough time admiring the various works of art, we were herded off to the main landmark of the day-The Colosseum. The building still looked menacing to me. I mean, one part of my mind was still bugged by the fact that I was awed by a place in which God knows how many people were killed for sport. Before such thoughts filled my mind, dark clouds filled the sky. So one moment, I was taking a pic of my parents with the Colosseum in the backdrop. The next, I was drenched from head to shoes! The onslaught of rain was sudden and chilling. That was our first unpleasant taste of European weather. And so our tour of the ruins was almost washed away. Only a few of us were desperate enough to go exploring inside the Colosseum with our umbrellas. Alas, we were able to only take a few pics. The rain also ruled out the possibility of visiting the Roman Forum. My sis had already started chanting “Rain, rain, go away…” to no avail. We were taken directly to our next hotel where we had a quiet evening.

Day 3:

Another day, another wonder. :) This time it was the Leaning Tower. The place surrounding the tower is called the Square of Miracles. It comprises the cathedral, the leaning tower-which is the bell-tower of the church, the baptistery and a walled cemetery that is claimed to be the most beautiful in the world. With the leaning tower in front of us, we weren’t much inclined towards visiting the other buildings. We didn’t have an appointment to climb up the tower. So we spent our entire time there clicking pics of the tower from all crazy angles! Dad, sis and I posed in turn, holding up the tower, leaning against it, trying to pull it back straight and what not. But this one is my favourite of the lot:

Oh, and we went window shopping here. Almost all stalls around the square belong to Bangladeshis. So if u know Bengali, bargaining just might work out here.

Next, we traveled to Florence. We were taken straight to Piazzalle Michelangelo. The square is situated atop a hill. From that height, we had a breathtaking view of the city. The square also has a replica of Michelangelo’s famous David. After having a sumptuous meal, we were taken on a guided tour of the city. First we saw the cathedral. The exterior of the church looked more like that of a Mosque to me. Influence of Arabic architecture maybe, who knows? Also, looked like the city was full of replicas-the interior of the Dome had a replica of The Last Judgment! Then we walked through an open air museum that contained sculptures of famous artists and even Galileo Galilei. We saw the Ponte Vecchio Bridge across the river Arno. It’s one of Europe’s oldest bridges and also the only bridge in Florence that wasn’t destroyed in World War 2 by Hitler. Today the bridge is lined with shops. Thus finishing the local tour, we started to Venice where we had our dinner and rested for the night.

Day 4:

We were finally in “Romantic Venice”-the place I had been dreading ever since the tour was confirmed. I ALWAYS get sick in boats and there’s no escaping them here where 75% of the city is under water! They have water-taxis, water-police station, water-ambulance, water-buses and even water-bus-stops!! The actual trip to the city over the Adriatic Sea was slightly dizzying for me. But the Gondola ride there was very pleasant. Guess row boats don’t affect me much :). The ride lasted for abt half an hour through the water alleys of the city. When I described the trip to my aunt, she alleged that it is NOT a gondola ride unless the gondolier sings a romantic song. Lol… we didn’t have him crooning. But then again, I didn’t go on a romantic trip, so it made the least bit difference. The trip was enjoyable. Period.

After the gondola ride, we were taken to the Murano glass factory. They described here how the special glass wares are created. After the demonstration, we were allowed to buy at reduced price from the factory itself. Believe me, if you really are interested in Murano glassware, there is no better place to go buy them. We were later given free time to explore St.Mark’s square. A point to be noted is, when we crossed the square in the morning on our way to the gondolas, it was dry. But by noon, the entire square was immersed in ankle deep water. The guide told us that the city is sinking at an alarming rate due to global warming. If no steps are taken, it may sink completely in a decade or so.

Lunch, to my discomfiture, was served on the cruise back to land. This time, we did have a musician playing Italian music on an accordion to entertain us. Romantic? Sorry, even if it was, I couldn’t enjoy it coz of the boat. I didn’t even know whether what I ate hit my stomach or not!! Anyway, finally we were back in the bus in an hour and were on our way to Austria.

Wow… the first sight of Alps!! Truly breathtaking man. I fell in love with Austria immediately. We checked into our hotel at Innsbruck. We then took a stroll along Maria Theresien Strasse. It’s basically the main street of the town. With the Alps looming in the background and the climate pleasant, it was relaxing to walk down the cobbled streets. Actually, given the time, it would have been worth renting a bicycle and exploring the town. But THAT wasn’t in our itinerary.

Day 5:

Early the next day, we proceeded towards the Swarovski Crystal Museum located in Wattens. The museum’s awesome and holds some of the biggest and costliest crystals in the world. Like in Murano, we were allowed to shop here. The rates (especially if converted to Rupees) were obviously very high. But what I didn’t know then was that the cheapest rates come at the museum only. Elsewhere it’s at least twice as costly. And the museum has a wider range and variety of crystals. Apart from shopping there, you can enjoy the landscape outside. It also has a kind of human maze behind the building. It was fun. :)

We then made our way into Liechtenstein. It’s one of the smallest countries in the world. Despite its size (or probably because of it), it is also one of the wealthier countries. We made a trip around its capital, Vaduz, in a mini train. The whole city comprised only abt 10 streets. In fact, the entire country is smaller than Washington D.C. The climate alone was good. Nothing else worth seeing, unless u find huge patches of vineyards here and there interesting.

By evening, we had moved across the border and into Switzerland. The journey through the passes in Alps was interesting. We didn’t see much that day, just checked into our hotel in Engelberg.

Day 6:

Our stay in Switzerland started out badly enough. It was raining heavily and visibility was poor. And we were only just beginning to go higher up into the mountains! First stop was Trummelbach falls. It is a glacier waterfall, that too one INSIDE the mountain. Tourists are taken till the 6^th level of the falls. Then, till the 10^th level, we can use the stairs. Caught in the middle of the rains wasn’t exactly how I’d have liked to see a waterfall. Plus, the stairs were dangerously slippery, especially for my sis. So we gave up trying to go to the top level. The other families went till the top. But it wasn’t something I’d repent for having missed out on anyway.

Next, we made our way up to the highest point in Europe – Junfraujoch. Jungfrau (read “yoong fro”) means ‘young lady’. We made our way up this mountain in a train. It was something like the trains in Ooty, except that halfway up, snow started appearing. By the time the journey was over, we could see nothing but snow. We were now at 3570 m above sea level. At the destination point, there was a climate controlled reception area plus 3 levels of various restaurants for the tourists. And the first thing I saw at the top most point in Europe was a poster of Rajinikanth! Lol… talk abt Indian Invasion.

After lunch, we were given time off to play in the snow. It wasn’t as freezing as I expected it to be. I mean, initially the wind was blowing so hard that my face seemed frozen. But once it died down, it was pretty much fine. If we got too cold, we cud always step back into the reception area. They had heaters all around the wall to ‘un-freeze’ urself. We also had a visit around the Ice Palace. It was basically an exhibition of ice sculptures and it was awesome, though it was uncomfortable walking on the slippery snow inside the exhibition.

On the way back to our hotel, we stopped for a short while at Interlaken. It was a beautiful sight to look down on the city from the pass as our bus approached it. It was sandwiched between 2 lakes and surrounded by mountains all around. Apparently, DDLJ was shot here and hence it is frequented by a lot of Indian tourists.

Day 7:

The second day in Switzerland was pretty much the same as the first. Only difference was, this time, we made our way up Mt.Titlis in cable cars. The second half of the journey was in a revolving cable car that could accommodate 80 people in a single trip. Of course, it was still snowing badly, so we couldn’t actually see the panoramic view. And we couldn’t go on the mountain snow rides either coz of the light blizzard. I kinda got tired of the snow factor by then. But that didn’t stop me from having snowball fights with my sis. :)

After descending and having our lunch, we traveled to Lucerne. Here, we first saw the Lion Monument. It is dedicated to 760 Swiss soldiers who died in the French Revolution trying to protect the last King and Queen of France. Their bravery and eventual betrayal by others are depicted by portraying a weeping lion, which has been stabbed through the heart from behind. The Swiss Guard’s fierce loyalty has also been reflected in the way the lion, though dying, prevents the flag from falling by holding out its paw. Curiously, the sculptor who was promised money for the monument was never paid. Hence, rumour has it that he carved the outline of the monument to look like a pig to symbolize the attitude of the authorities. I really doubt if that is true… but the outline DID look like it was meant to be a pig and not a lion.

We were then given time to shop. Swiss knives and watches and chocolates wherever we turned! Dad got a bunch of Swiss knives and a wide range of chocolates. I really wanted this cute looking Calvin Klein watch… but by then dad had disappeared. :(

Next on the itinerary was a cruise across Lake Lucerne. Just what I needed. Thankfully, it was only for half an hour or so. We then had a pleasant ride to Zurich. It is the financial capital of Switzerland and is hence home to the famous Swiss Banks. Didn’t see much of the city though, we were just spending the night there. One thing I found out there was that there is no interest on savings in a Swiss Bank account. Actually, for the not-so-rich-folks, having a Swiss bank account could well turn out to be a nightmare! So no point opening one just for the security factor, unless I turn into a millionaire over-night.

Day 8:

A trip to the Rhine falls. It wasn’t that interesting. I mean, the falls didn’t even look 25m high. But it was just a short stop there before we crossed the border into Germany. Our journey took us through the heart of Black Forest. We stopped at the lake Titisee. Here, we had a demonstration of the making of Cuckoo clocks. Boring. But once that was over, the lake side was pretty enjoyable. Lunch was served with the authentic Black Forest cake. It may be authentic, but I still prefer what we get in India – it wasn’t sweet enough for me. Another curious fact was that Titisee seemed to have more dogs than people! And I’m not talking about stray ones here. Every person was walking at least 2 dogs. It was interesting to watch so many breeds.

The evening was a complete let down, for me anyway. We were supposed to see the Heidelberg Castle. Now, I know I shouldn’t have let my imagination run away, but I had envisioned something on the scale of Hogwarts. Sadly, the castle was half in ruins. It was situated on a hill, so we had a view of the city of Heidelberg. But no huge corridors, no dungeons, no Great Hall… :(.

Day 9:

Couldn’t possibly have a worse start to a day! Yup, another cruise. This time across the Rhine. But actually, the trip was OK. I stayed in the top deck of the cruise ship. So could catch a couple of castles scattered on either side of the river. Having the wind in my hair DID feel very refreshing. By the end of it, I almost felt cruises weren’t as bad as I thought they were. Sadly, I was proven wrong in Paris.

Next. We journeyed to Cologne to see the majestic cathedral there. It was very interesting. Its Gothic style leaps out at you as soon as you see it. Moreover, it has a curious bit of history too. During the World War 2, the city of Cologne was flattened due to air raids. 14 bombs hit the cathedral alone. Yet, the spires stood erect with very little damage.
After lunch, we moved on to Brussels. It was in the highways here that I first encountered pits and bumps. It kind of left a bad impression, though I was thoroughly used to loads of those on Indian roads. We visited the Grand Place, the central market square of Brussels. After that, we made a photo stop at the Atomium. It was built for the world expo of 1958. It represents a unit cell of an iron crystal.

We then continued our journey on to Antwerp, where we spent the night.

Day 10:

The day started off pretty early, as we made our way to Netherlands. First stop was a small fishing village called Volendam. We were shown around a Cheese and Wooden shoe factory. The fact that the traditional Dutch wear wooden shoes was interesting, but the factory wasn’t. Then a photo stop at a traditional windmill. Some of the villagers still live inside these mills to preserve their culture. Also, each house in the village had a unique door! Anyway, we were given time off for souvenir shopping. What surprised me was even in this traditional fishing village, there’s no escaping Bollywood invasion.

There was also a bag with Devdas on it, but the shopkeeper kicked me out before I could take more pics. :D

Next stop, Amsterdam. From what I’ve seen in movies, I really thought I’ll like Amsterdam. But in reality, it was pretty bad. Graffiti all over the place, crazy driving (worse than in India) and a dodgy crowd in most places. Our guide explained that most of the teenagers were bound to go bad easily in that country coz drugs were legal. One can actually plant seeds of Cocaine, Heroin, etc in one’s backyard! Of course, heavy restrictions are imposed on their export.

We took a canal cruise through the city. Most of the buildings were in a state of disrepair. Nothing much to see anyway. Later on, we made our way to Dam Square, centre of Amsterdam. Our guide kept reminding us to watch out for pickpockets! That, combined with the not-so-good feeling that the general atmosphere created, made the entire group want to just get away as soon as possible.

Next stop was Madurodam. This was a very interesting place. The whole of Holland was shown there on a scale of 1:25. It gives a person the feeling of having seen all the important places at one go. And since most of them were buildings of some nature or other, this was more efficient anyway. It shows both the harbour and the airport. Not only that, the ships and planes actually keep moving around - as do the trains, cars on racing tracks etc. It has been designed and maintained superbly. It’s a place worth seeing.

Day 11:

Paris at last! We arrived just in time for lunch. After checking in, we started on the city tour. The city was well planned and well maintained. Except for a few special streets, all other streets were lined with trees. We visited the Concorde Square, drove down Champs de Elysees till Arc de Triomphe honouring Napoleon’s victories. We stopped at a tourist spot to get a good shot of the Eiffel tower. We passed past the Opera House. Only the streets facing the Opera house were treeless. We also crossed Hotel Ritz. Almost all the famous people choose to stay at that hotel. Of course, there are exceptions, like me. :) We also saw the tunnel were Princess Diana met with her accident. Curiously, her car rammed itself on the 13th pillar! Talk abt unlucky.

Then, we proceeded to the Eiffel Tower. We went all the way up till the 3rd level. From this height, the symmetric layout of the city made it so beautiful. There was only one sky scraper inside the city limits. After that particular building came up, the French authorities passed a law according to which tall, modern buildings were forbidden to be built within city limits as they mar the beauty of the city.

We then went on a Paris-By-Night dinner cruise. Yes, another cruise and fortunately my last one. We slowly crawled along the Seine. The highpoint of the cruise was when the Eiffel Tower burst into life with a thousand lights shining bright. This happened at 10 in the night. It was spectacular, like a massive display of fireworks! The shining lights stayed on for about 5 minutes and then were replaced by ordinary lights.

At 7.30:

At 10:

At 11.30:

Meanwhile, I was still stuck in the cruise. We had a dance floor too and people were having fun grooving to the music. But the boat-effect got to me before I could start really getting onto the floor. So had to settle for sitting out in the air and hoping my head would stop throbbing soon. Luckily, the cruise ended at around 11.30. We dropped of a small set of people who had opted to go to the Lido show and then made our way back to the hotel.

Day 12:

We started off the day with a trip to the Versailles Palace. Apart from being famous for its history, it also made the headlines recently as Lakshmi Mittal’s daughter’s marriage was held there. Grand place for a grand wedding though. The Gardens of Versailles reminded me of the Brindavan gardens, but of course there were a lot many statues here, around 300 I guess. The tour of the palace was interesting. It gave an insight of the lives of the last royals namely King Louis and Queen Marie Antoinette. The longest room in the palace was the Hall of Mirrors, consisting of 17 huge mirrors each facing a window. Quite luxurious considering the era in which it was built.

The afternoon was dedicated to the Louvre museum. Ever since Da Vinci Code, I had wanted to see the museum and to explore the art. Though I knew the museum was huge, I was still mesmerized by its sight. Section after section of paintings, sculptures, artifacts divided by age and region. And we had only 2 hours there! Pity. We had to rush and limit ourselves to a section of our choice. I chose to move around the Egyptian sections. But only after I saw the Mona Lisa. The room containing it was the most heavily guarded place that I saw in our entire trip. 10 guards were moving around the painting to prevent it being photographed.

That evening, we drove to Montmarte, another cathedral. But by then, most of us were tired and decided to stay back in the bus. Even the few who really wanted to see it were deterred by the steep climb up to the cathedral. So it was just a quiet evening and a sumptuous dinner.

Day 13:

Immediately after breakfast, we made out way to the Gare Du Nord station where we took the Eurostar. The guide made it sound like a really exciting trip coz we would be under the English Channel. But it was just a 2 hour train journey, of which near the end, we were in a tunnel for 15 min. That was the ‘going under the English Channel’ experience. It would have been good if only the walls of the tunnel were see-through. But nevertheless, we were in London in time for lunch.

First stop at London was of course Madame Tussaud’s Wax museum. Unfortunately, I missed Harry Potter by a couple of weeks. :( That does make me sad. However, there were quite a few of my favourites – Sharukh, Amitabh, Ashwarya, Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow, Bekham, Will Smith, Princess Diana, Tom Cruise and lot more. But not as many as I thought. Oh, and my sis’s favourite Hulk was there too!

Later, we made our way to the London Eye. It is really a very slow moving, huge giant wheel that shows the city of London. It was a bit misty so we couldn’t see much anyway. A round trip took a little more than half an hour. So after having a glimpse of London, we proceeded to the Swami Narayan Temple. The entire temple was carved out of Italian marble and was very beautiful. After our Darshan, we checked in to our hotel for dinner and a good night’s sleep.

Day 14:

The last day of our tour with the group. After breakfast, we made our way to Trafalgar Square, one of the most famous spots for public meetings. Nearby was the road that lead down to Buckingham Palace. Usually, the change of Guards ceremony takes place there in the morning. But as the city was gearing up to celebrate the Queen’s birthday, we saw instead the final rehearsals of the birthday parade. The rest of the city tour was pretty much covered in the bus. We were pointed out Albert’s Hall, Downing Street, Hyde Park, Piccadilly Square, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, Lakshmi Mittal’s house and even the building that was used as Gringott’s Bank in the Harry Potter movies! We also visited the St.Paul’s Cathedral where princess Diana’s wedding took place.

After lunch, we went to the Tower of London. The place held the crown jewels. There were a lot of things to see I guess, but we had eyes only for the Kohinoor and the Cullinan. So we hurried up with it, coz the next and final stop we made was Oxford Street. It was the busiest street I had seen yet in London. After 2 hours there, we made our way back to the hotel for a group snap and dinner.

A week in London:

The next day, we bid goodbye to our tour-mates. We were extending our stay in London by a week, though in a different hotel. We were also planning to cover Scotland and the Stonehenge. But unfortunately, mom’s health was starting to turn bad, so we decided to stick with London city. We explored the city in leisure. We got ourselves an Oyster week pass which allows the holder to use any bus and/or underground service within the accepted zones. It was pretty much the best way to see London.

We took a day to explore Wimbledon stadium and the Chelsea Stamford Bridge stadiums. Another to relax at the Hyde Park after yet another shopping spree. We saw the Sherlock Holmes museum and the London museum. The dino section there was pretty cool. And we spent a day at Lord’s watching a match! Well, it was just a county match and the only player I recognized was Chaminda Vaas. But it was still a cricket match at Lord’s. :) And we went saw platform 9 ¾! It was specially erected at the King’s cross station in honour of Harry Potter.

We spent our last day at London with mom’s cousin and her family. And then it was to Heathrow and back to India.

My favourites:

Country - Austria

Hotel - Novotel(Paris)

Indian restaurant(Lunch/Dinner) - Bhojan(Paris)

Breakfast - Hotel Marriott(Zurich)

City - Rome

Tourist Attraction - Maduradam

Prisoner of Mambalam :(

2007-05-21T12:08:00.000-07:00

Yup... am the prisoner. My crime? Being the eldest person among my cousins. So the duty to babysit the others automatically falls into my lap. Grrrr.... The little trouble makers are all atleast 12 years younger than me! (the youngest one is 20 years younger). And to make it even worse... my uncle and aunt decided to crash in home right after I finished my exams. How thoughtful... now I'm stuck home and cant even spend time with friends. God knows when I'll see them all again once they leave! :(

I could have calmed down a bit if I had atleast some quality time to spend the way I want. But no... thats not on cards. I have a backache from sleeping on the couch... had to relinquish my room. Fair enough. But I cant even sleep there peacefully...the little ones end up waking up at all odd hours and end up jumping on me. Wish their jetlag would go away quick. Cant sit on the comp coz they're playing games 24x7. Cant even make a long phone call without being interrupted all the time. Damn! Life's irritating.

While all my friends were out enjoying the last days together, I had to sit home and listen to age old family gossips abt people I dont even know(or rather I dont even remember). And now everyone I wished to spend time with have left town... :(

The only thing that keeps me going is that I myself am leaving town... looking forward to 20 days of excitement. But still... Wish I could have stayed here... Got so many things I long to stay back for...But it cant be helped.

A Disappointing Show...

2007-04-29T05:50:00.000-07:00

Yet another World Cup,this time really long and exhausting, but no change in the final result. I'm kinda getting frustrated seeing the Aussies take away yet another trophy with the apparent lack of effort. I dunno how they do it but they sure do intimidate anyone playing against them.

There were more downs than ups this time, especially since India and Pak crashed out even before the action began. But full credit to Ireland and Bangladesh for bringing that abt...it wasnt entirely luck on the side of the so-called minnows. There was some fast paced cricket in the early part of the tournament where all sorts of records were created.

But for all the promise that the tournament held, I felt it was a disappointing end. I had hoped Fleming's men wud pull it off, but they exited after a tame fight with the Lankans. The horrible performance of the South African team made me wonder how they ever pulled off the unbelievable victory chasing 434. The final deserved to be determined by a full 50 over match and not by Duckworth-Lewis method. Only the limited overs prevented Aus from yet again reaching 300+ batting first. I was suprised that the Lankans gave a good fight and batted well... I somehow thought bowling was their forte and it deserted them at the crucial moment.

Hope the 2011 edition wont be this disappointing... and I hope atleast THEN it wont be dominated by the Aussies. I'm determined to catch the Indo-Pak match even if it means losing my job, IF they make it that is.. :)

MOTO ROKR - Worth a buy??

2007-04-13T23:30:00.000-07:00

I must admit, I've never been a fan of Motorola.... Nokia has always been my choice for its sheer durability. It's only coz of the catchy ad featuring AB that I looked this phone up. And the reviews seem pretty good.

Priced at around 17.5K, this sleek phone is an entertainment PDA. The sound quality is OK, but cant compete with Sony's Walkman series. Since I'm not a hard-core music buff, that shudn't bother me much. The camera has abt the same quality as a RAZR, so bad from my point of view. It does have a macro flash facility, but I'm not sure if the pics will still come out good. Battery Life is pretty low too.

But on the positive front, its more user friendly than the other Motorola phones I've seen so far. With touchscreen facility and a Linux platform, it should do better. It has integrated MS Office tools that I'm hardly likely to use. And it does look damn good(but I'm afraid, very fragile).

But 17K? And it doesn't come with the wireless earphones featured in the ad!! Seems a bit high to me. Will probably wait till the price drops to buy it. I'd need more than AB to get me to spend that much on a Motorola....

UNICEF - Make a difference

2007-03-18T06:46:00.000-07:00

I get a lot of messages that ask you to sign up for a fund raiser... But I thought this one is worth it. Its by UNICEF USA. For every person you introduce to the org, you help raise $5. It takes hardly a few minutes to send an invite out to ur friends. Why not help make a difference??

Join Now!!

And please spread the word.... It CAN make a difference...

Come On INDIA!!!

2007-03-07T01:37:00.000-08:00

At last, the world cup's about to begin. Apart from the excitement of catching all the action on the field... the overwhelming reactions of the masses always perks me up. Its about the only time the country prays together as a whole for the victory that all of us know may never come... the only time Indians show their patriotism.

We had a general discussion in class once about India becoming a superpower by 2020. Our professor came to the conclusion that the only thing impeding India's progress is lack of institutions providing 'quality education'. Dont even ask me HOW he reached that conclusion...thats what the entire class was wondering. Knowing him, we stuck to our usual silence...

So what then keeps India from leaping ahead?? I'd say it's the lack of patriotism. The very Indians who cheer their throats sore for the sake of our cricket team lack the pride of being an Indian in almost all other walks of life. This generation of Indians loves aping the west in so many aspects that it has almost lost its identity. Thats why we aren't competent enough to become the best.

Take the average middle-upper class Indian. His/Her dream would be to go abroad, either for studies or on a company project. Once that happens, he/she will find a job there, then apply for citizenship and ultimately cut off everything that makes one an Indian. Some of them even consider it as a stigma to be called Indians. That is the gap that exists between India and the other 'rising powers'. The Chinese,Russians and Japanese know who they are, and are proud of it.

The problem is not entirely with the people. The system is at fault. The basis for anything and everything in our country is corruption, and there's almost no place for values or talent. So one cant really expect the people to back the country. Yet, the system cannot be changed unless WE take steps to change it. It cannot be achieved in a day, so no point saying it cant be done. The outcome of the Jessica Lal case should be evidence enough to show what people's power can achieve.

So this time, when we come together for the sake of our cricket stars, let's stay together and be proud. All of us are as good as our team, and sometimes a lot better than it!!

Its ONLY words...

2007-02-10T01:46:00.000-08:00

Watched V for Vendetta a couple of days back.... and was absolutely spellbound by this scene [got the dialogue from another blog... :) ]

Evey Hammond: Who are you?

V: Who? Who is but the form following the function of what and what I am is a man in a mask.

Evey Hammond: Well I can see that.

V: Of course you can. I'm not questioning your powers of observation I'm merely remarking upon the paradox of asking a masked man who he is.

Evey Hammond: Oh. Right.

V: But on this most auspicious of nights, permit me then, in lieu of the more commonplace sobriquet, to suggest the character of this dramatis persona. Voilà! In view, a humble vaudevillian veteran, cast vicariously as both victim and villain by the vicissitudes of Fate. This visage, no mere veneer of vanity, is a vestige of the vox populi, now vacant, vanished. However, this valorous visitation of a by-gone vexation, stands vivified and has vowed to vanquish these venal and virulent vermin van-guarding vice and vouchsafing the violently vicious and voracious violation of volition. The only verdict is vengeance; a vendetta, held as a votive, not in vain, for the value and veracity of such shall one day vindicate the vigilant and the virtuous. Verily, this vichyssoise of verbiage veers most verbose, so let me simply add that it's my very good honor to meet you and you may call me V.

Evey Hammond: Are you like a crazy person?

V: I am quite sure they will say so.

I seriously found it ridiculous. Ya, it was good from the movie's point of view but the reason I found it funny was that people around me often employ verbosity and now I know where they got their inspiration from.Such grandiloquent talk is fit for movies, political speeches and other places where the idea is on enthralling the audience and not on the actual message. But when trying to communicate something, it'll only irrate the reader/listener.

The art of communication does not depend on how flowery your words are, but on how efficient you are in conveying the message to the other person. Some people absolutely refuse to accept this point and simply continue writing/talking in a language knowledgable only to people who have completely memorised BARRON'S GRE GUIDE. Ya, good vocabulary is required, but excessive use of it gets on other people's nerves.

The best communicators often use simple and straight-forward english so that everyone can understand his/her point. Thats why they are good to read/listen to. So, if you are one of those who flaunt their GRE vocabulary unnecessarily, please give it a rest. It'll only get you good scores and nothing more. [And, maybe a "Are you like a crazy person??" impression too... :) ]

Tagged again...

2007-02-09T22:44:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Gadhadharan.... I'm now facing the FIERY FIFTY....

1. Were you named after anyone?
Nope... :)

2. Do you wish on stars?
Used to... But they hardly come true, so gave up.

3. When did you last cry?
Hmm... I do that a lot. Last night was most recent...

4. Do you like your handwriting?
Cant say I do... but its not THAT horrible.

5. What is your favourite meat?
uh... I am Veg....

6. What is your most embarrassing CD on your shelf?
I've got a compiled photo CD of my life in coll... wudnt like a LOT of people to see it completely... :)

7. If you were another person, would YOU be friends with you?
Sure... for obvious reasons...

8.Are you a daredevil?
Sort of...

9. How do you release anger?
Sleep.

10. Where is your second home?
Sunu's place... :)

11. Do you trust others easily?
Ya. To an extent.

12. What was your favourite toy as a child?
Teddy Bear!! (It still IS my favourite... though now i've got a bigger bear!!)

13. What class in school/college do you think is totally useless?
Aren't all classes a waste of time???

14. Do you use sarcasm a lot?
Not much.

15. Have you ever been in a mosh pit?
Nope.

16.What do you look for in a gal(/guy)?
Hmm... A looooong list. Basically trust.

17. Would you bungee jump?
Sure...

18. Do you untie your shoes when you take them off?
Na... Waste of time...

19.what's your favourite ice cream?
Choco Crunch.

20. What are your favourite colours?
Black and Dark Blue.

21. What are your least favourite things?
Eating vegetables... (yuck!!)

22. How many people do you have a crush on right now?
No one. [The question says RIGHT NOW so I am being honest here... :) ]

23. Who do you miss most right now?
My brother.

24. What are you listening to right now?
Linkin Park... "In the End"

25. If you were a crayon, what colour would you be?
White.

26. What is the weather like right now?
Chilly....

27. Last person you talked to on the phone?
Nilesh.... woke me up early morning!!

28. The "first" thing you notice about the opposite sex?
Dressing sense.... and body language.

29. Do you like the person who sent you this?
Sure... I like all Ganguly fans... and He's definitely one!! :)

30. How are you today?
Am vetti.... :)

31. Favourite non alcoholic drink?
Coffee.

32. Favourite alcoholic drink?
No experience.

33. Natural hair colour?
Black.

34. Eye colour?
Black.

35. Wear contacts?
No.

36. Siblings?
Younger sister.

37. Favourite month?
June. Start of academic year.

38.Favourite food?
Butter naan with paneer/gobi masala.

39. Favourite day of the year?
None in particular.

40. Have you ever been too shy to ask someone out?
Nope... :)

41. Scary movies or happy endings?
Happy endings

42. Summer or winter?
Summer.

43. Holi or Diwali?
Diwali.

44. Do you like your name?
Ya.... :D

45. What book/magazine are you reading?
Harry Potter series..... :P

46. What's on your mouse pad?
Nothing... only my mouse.... ;)

47. What did you watch on TV last night?
Friends...

48. Favourite Smell?
Coffee.

49. Have you ever regretted breaking up with someone?
Not for breaking up....

50. Most tiresome thing you’ve ever experienced/done?
Trekking in Coorg.... but it was fun too... :)

OK... Since Kiran's already tagged, I'll tag Anu and Adi specifically.

Friendship.. or Friend??

2007-01-16T22:23:00.000-08:00

Jai and Dev were best friends... the typical movie type - together since childhood, same school, same college and eventually same company. But they weren't exactly alike in all aspects. Jai was brilliant, ambitious and had a penchant for testing exactly how good he his in whatever he did. He wanted the best in everything coz he knew he was worth it. Dev was smart and humble. He accepted what he got and never thought of trying for more. He was happy where he was, wherever it may be, and didnt want to risk losing that happiness.

As expected, the 2 had been through a lot together. Dev, being emotionally more mature, was always there for Jai. It rarely happened that Jai lent a shoulder to Dev... not because he didn't want to, but because Dev never had anything to crib abt. So it was generally assumed that Jai needed Dev to get him through any crisis.

Both started working in the same company (yes.. software comp), at the same level. After a few years, Jai felt that he's got far more capabilities than just sticking to the technical end of things. He wanted to do more... learn more... and command more. He wanted to start his own firm. But Dev didnt share his enthusiasm. Though Dev had valid reasons to be apprehensive abt a new firm's future, the major reason on Dev's mind was that he could not be at par with Jai. And given Jai's hunger for more, Dev felt that starting a new company would somehow spoil their friendship.

Jai refused to see it Dev's way. According to Jai, it would be foolish to stay where he was just for the sake of 'not spoiling friendship'. He saw no reason why starting a company can in anyway affect their friendship. He argued that eventually the 2 were not going to be put in the same place forever, so why not use his abilities to get the best offer?

Dev knew that he had no right to stop his friend from doing what he wanted, but he also felt that if Jai went ahead, he would lose a good friend. He couldn't explain why, but he knew he would eventually be right. He tried his best to persuade Jai out of his decision, but the more Dev tried, the more adamant Jai became. Eventually the 2 parted ways, just as Dev thought they would.

So who's mistake ruined the friendship??

Was it wrong for Jai to pursue his dream coz he had the ability to do so? Was it wrong for him to go ahead without his friend? Was he being selfishly human? Was he, in effect, abandoning his friend in anyway?

Or was it Dev's mistake to expect his friend with him forever? Did he not have the right to question Jai's decision? Having guided Jai in many a crisis before, was it wrong for him to expect Jai to understand and listen to him once more? Was he wrong in worrying abt his friendship rather than his friend?

All this while, you've been reading my views on this page. Now its my turn to read yours. Post a comment saying who YOU think is right/wrong and why. If YOU had been in either position wat would have happened?

In the End… It DOES matter. :(

2006-12-25T00:40:00.000-08:00

The year’s almost drawn to a close. It kinda gives me a nasty shock to realize that this is the last year of college. Probably the last New Year hols I’ll be spending with most of my friends. Each time my mind is jobless (that’s like 24x7), every memory of the years I spent in coll, with the people I’ll miss so much in the near future, all the fun and yeah,all the pain hits me with full force. With 2007, it’s not just another new year… It’s the end of a significant part of my life.

I still can’t believe am gonna complete 4 years in college! Funny how the time just flies by when one’s having fun. Though the future holds a lot more, there are certain things that I just can’t get back once I leave coll.

No more riotous fun to match the one we had at Veegaland with the entire class.

No more sitting vetti on the beach with nothing to do and nothing to talk abt.

No more birthday celebs in the middle of the classroom – especially with Sunu around ;)

No more calls to people in the middle of the night just to irritate them and hear their voice; just to know that they’re just a call away when u really need them.

No more trips to ECR with 9 people packed in 1 Lancer – Hats off to Suji for achieving that feat.

No more sitting on the rocks at Mahabs and discussing the rise and fall of waves! Yup, that was a memorable trip ;)

No more logging into Orkut late into the night only to find half the class STILL actively scrapping each other.

No more ‘Combined Study’ sessions. These usually meant a dozen card games, uncounted hours of chatting, movies, matches and a HUGE profit to Pizza Hut, Marrybrown and Subway. We do manage to squeeze in a couple of chapters of study in between. ;)

No more bunking! Will miss THAT big time.

I still have around 5 more months to go at coll, but somehow it just doesn’t seem enough. It’s so teensy compared to the loads of fun I’ve had all along. It’s a shame for it all to end. But only when one journey ends, can another begin. I know I still have time enough to relish the memories of coll and have still more memorable moments, but with the dawn of ‘007, I really look forward to a new life, a new me.

Happy New Year Everyone. :)

Purrrrrrrrrrrr........ :)

2006-11-19T04:52:00.000-08:00

Yup... U guessed right! Thats a TAMED CAT!! (ok ok.... I did my bit of prep hence the PJ to let it all out). Seriously, the paper bowled me over--- CAT's not supposed to be this simple!! Looking at the instructions I thought "Wat the hell!! 4 marks per question??" and within 2 minutes I was like "Ok why are these questions so easy and straightforward??? Am I making a mistake somewhere???"

I breezed thru the questions...though I didn't attempt the entire paper. I had enough time but there were these couple of sets that were hard to crack. U think thats good? I thought so too... until I tuned into NDTV and saw people crack the entire paper. So where do I stand? Gotta wait for the results to know that!! :)

Until then, its goodbye to major exams and hello to stories!! Sem exams round the corner.... And if u thought I tell good stories U gotta read some of our textbooks.... U wont wake up from sleep for a loooooooong time.

Beyond SRK…

2006-11-02T21:13:00.000-08:00

I’ve probably watched Kal Ho Na Ho 2 dozen times, but only last week did I actually focus on Saif rather than SRK. And the effect kinda startled me. I mean,I was under the impression that SRK’s character was the best, the most romantic possible. That was only because that was what I’ve always thought of him. But looking at Saif, I think he’s gradually unveiled the romantic side of his character in a quiet mature style rather than SRK’s usual flamboyant way. And that appealed to me a lot.

I know this blog is out of place. People everywhere are raving abt ‘DON’ [which is mind-blowing by the way :)] and here I am talking abt a movie that came years ago. That’s coz I've just now realised that the King Khan may rule bollywood for a while more, but he’s not the sole ruler.Yeah, Don has re-instated his status, but that’s only coz of the different role and the brilliance of Farhan Akhtar.

Don’t get ready with your arguments yet! I too am a big fan of SRK but till KANK I didn’t really watch his other movies for anything apart from him. If the movie had SRK, It was bound to be good. And I didn’t really need any other reason.

But after seeing KANK, I had to admit that the show went to Abhishek. SRK did justice to his role of the ‘frustrated husband’. But sadly, he couldn’t match the effective portrayal of Abhishek. Abhi takes the cake and that too in style!

Since then, I’ve watched his other movies and actually focused on the movies rather than on him. And I’ve learnt to appreciate the others too. Be it Saif,Abhi or Kajol ,I know now to praise a movie for its elements and not for SRK alone.

But DON definitely rules for now…. And no one can catch him yet! :)

The STARS speak...

2006-08-16T10:35:00.000-07:00

"Today would be a day to sit back and relax." was the prediction of the day as per my paper. It turned out to be the exact opposite. I missed my bus in the morning,had to take an auto and go chasing after it. Finally after catching up with the bus, I realised i had no change and ended up paying 50 bucks for a ride that costs less than 30 bucks.

At college, the classes were boring,as usual. I couldn't sleep though...spent my time writing a record that was actually supposed to have been submitted last week. After having completed it...i rushed to find my prof to get it signed atleast then...only to realise that she had left home early and wouldn't be back for 2 days!!

On the trip home,heavy traffic. I was hungry,tired and really wanting to sleep by the time I reached home. I hit the bed after eating...and within ten minutes,power cut! Sit back and relax...huh? I really hate the guy who predicted it! But i do know i'll be sitting with his column tomorrow morning again to see what to expect!

Ya...Astrology facinates me. It can be funny at times to relate the day's happenings to the predictions....and irritating at times,like today. All the stuff about stars ruling our life....just makes me wonder if any of our work really do count.When u come down to it, everything in life's ruled by luck. I know you are up in arms to protest, but accept it-no matter how hard one works, whether it pays off or not finally depends on lady luck.If even after hard work, a person fails, he can say 2 things:"I probably didnt do enough" or "Wat more do u expect me to do? Wasnt this enough?"

Believe me...its best to say the latter and move on instead of slogging on for the rest of ur life. Wen u know u r unlucky, there's no point in pushing too hard and eventually failing! Its better to expect less and be satisfied. That's life... coz its ruled by chance and not by penance!

Love Sardar Jokes??

2006-08-04T00:23:00.000-07:00

This is a nice fwd....

A Sardarji is in a Quiz Contest trying to win prize
money of Rs.1 crore....kaun banega crorepati...

The questions are as follows:

1) How long was the 100 yr war?

A) 116

B) 99

C) 100

D) 150

Sardar says "I will skip this"

2) In which country are the Panama hats made?

A) BRASIL

B) CHILE

C) PANAMA

D) EQUADOR

Sardar asks for help from the University
students

3) In which month do the Russians celebrate the October Revolution?

A) JANUARY

B) SEPTEMBER

C) OCTOBER

D) NOVEMBER

Sardar asks for help from general public

4) Which of these was King George VI first name?

A) EDER

B) ALBERT

C) GEORGE

D) MANOEL

Sardar asks for lucky cards

5) The Canary Islands, in the Pacific Ocean, has its name based on
which animal:

A) CANARYBIRD

B) KANGAROO

C) PUPPY

D) RAT

Sardar gives up.

If u think you are indeed clever and laughed at our Sardar's
replies,

Then please check the answers below:

1) The 100 year war lasted 116 years from 1337-1453

2) The Panama hat is made in Equador

3) The October revolution is celebrated in November

4) King George's first name was Albert. In 1936 he changed his name.

5) Puppy. The Latin name is INSULARIA CANARIA
which means islands of the puppies.

Now tell me who's the dumb one....Don't ever
laugh at a Sardar again.

Mission Possible!!

2006-04-27T06:38:00.000-07:00

It was a hot, horrid summer noon. I was stuck at headquarters(read sunu's place) with her. Both of us were completely bored and were debating on where to spend the evening. No good movie was running, we were too tired of the beach and no one else was free so we were stuck with each other.

As we were running thru wat options remained, there was a hurried knock. Wondering who the hell comes knocking at such an odd hour, we reluctantly opened the door. And who should we find there? Our own local kumbakarnan...Mr.Premkumar! "Enga veetula current pochu. Adhaan thoongalaannu inga vandhutten!!" Having thus explained his presence there, he hit the bed faster than light!

That put us in a huge dilemma. Knowing Prem, it wud be hours before he woke up from his blissful sleep. And waking him up is easier said than done! But bravehearted that we were, we decided to take that risk and let him visit slumberland.

Time ticked by....and the noon turned into a pleasant evening. By then we had made up our mind on where to go. The only predicament was waking Prem up so that we could leave. Knowing the enormity of that problem, we decided to approach it systematically. We first used the time-tested method....switched off the fan and AC and let the room become so unbearably hot. But soon, we found the flaw in it...it is effective only against people with senses!!

Next step was easy enough...switched on the player and let rock and rap beats blare at full volume. This had a slightly better effect. He twitched a little but went back to sleep, turning on his side this time. Encouraged by this, we brought the player close to his ears. That got him. He got up, settled himself on the swing and again started dozing away.

Now, I was really irritated. All other methods having failed, I did the only thing that came to my mind at that point. I grabbed a bottle of ice cold water and emptied it on his head! Completely mad at me for startling him out of his sleep, he stomped out of the house wet and fuming. At that point he reminded me of a mad Donald Duck!! Wish I had taken a pic of him looking so furious....that wud get the pic of the year award!! I was really proud of myself for having done the un-doable!!

Oh, and as to where we went after turturing Prem out of his beauty sleep, we had a girls' day out. Went to the parlour and had my hair cut. Believe me...u wont wanna see the effect...u'll die of laughter!!

Once an addict...always an addict!!!

2006-03-29T06:03:00.000-08:00

All my life I've seen people around me become addicts. Some are addicted to TV, others to cricket, still others to more serious stuff like smoking and drinking. Seeing them, I always used to think "What a waste of time!". It never occurred to me that I'll be among them one day. Yes, my dear reader, I now confess to something that has been slowly eating my soul day and night, robbing me of the precious joys of everyday life. Yes...I've become addicted.. to ORKUT!!

Yes! Orkut has completely changed my life. I've now started talking in terms of scraps and communities! I go crazy reading every scrap received and faithfully reply. I break my head trying to put some good points in a testi when none exist! It drove me crazy that I actually quit at one point! But after I quit, I realised it wasnt all vetti. There were actually a lot of good things abt being on Orkut...

For starters,it improves marketing skills.Dont believe me? Well, just take a look around. Orkut is the best place to put up an advertisement of anything happening anywhere....that too for free!! You can put up announcements of special events in ur city. Or you could swamp every scrapbook within reach with details of ur college symposium. Ya, a few weeks back it was the people from SSN advertising their culturals. Now its Hindustan's turn. Or u can go the great SVCE's way and start a community to advertise the important places near ur college (for more info CLICK HERE).

Orkut also lets us give out our opinions on current affairs. There were open protests thru communities and display pics abt the treatment meted out to Saurav. Others were busy letting everyone know that they dont think much of the best-selling novels (Read: "5.Someone sucks!!").

But the best part abt Orkut that made me rejoin it, is the ease with which I could keep in touch with all my friends. A friend's scrapbook gives me everything i need to know abt wat mischief he/she is upto!! And makes it all the more easy to spoil things for them...he he! On a more serious note, I got back in touch with most of my schoolmates after abt 5 years only through orkut, both seniors and juniors. Nice to know people still remember everyone else and miss school as much as i do. And its still better to know that no one has changed much over these long years.

So am back to the vetti world with the same enthu that i had previously, but alas with lesser time on my hands! I've learnt a lot of things from orkut (like there are over 120 people as crazy as i am abt black clothes!!) and i hope to continue to do so....i need to improve my "General Knowledge" u know!! ;)

AM TAGGED!!

2006-02-26T21:45:00.000-08:00

OK....just now discovered the concept called 'tagging'....thanks to ADI!! Well...I gotta put my views on the same topic on which he tagged me.

What do I do to be the change--unconditionally?(My thanks to Sudhish for the topic)

1. Be honest. If not to others, then atleast to myself. I know its difficult but then nothing in life is easy.

2. Smile-even in pain. Coz when we smile, it makes the day brighter for all those around us and instills a feeling of hope in ourselves.

3. Aim high-without being afraid of failure. It's the fear of failure that kills the best of our abilities.

4. Be myself. Ya, sometimes being myself has had more negative effects than positive ones...coz deny it though we all may, we still live in a male dominated society. And in such a case, when a girl wants to put her foot down on something she feels is right, then it is always looked down upon. But just because i belong to the fair sex doesnt mean i have to be dependent on all the guys around me.I am an individual and i have my own opinions....and i stick to them.

5. Settle in India. I dont want to go to US just coz its "THE" destination for students. According to me, its not worth it. Sure, I'd like to milk money from them and pump it here, but spending my entire life there is a definite NO!!

6. Like Sudhish mentions, take responsibility for the cleanliness of our surroundings. When we stop littering, we make the place a fraction less messier. If we can join together, we ensure the place is clean by not littering in the first place. Remember,prevention is better than cure.

7. Learn to forgive and forget. Unlike in math, 2 negatives DO NOT make a positive in life. So instead of getting back at the person who wronged us, the world would be a better place if we could just let matters rest and not pick arguments at every oppurtunity.

Ok...done. Now for the tough part...i'm supposed to continue the chain. Since i'm new to blogging, I dont know many fellow bloggers. So, I'm tagging everyone who has left a comment on any of my posts!!

People I wish to tag:

1. Ravikiran
2. Anuradha
3. Balaji
4. Varun Khaneja
5. Naren
6. Hariharan
7. Naren Balaji

Adios...for now!

The subtle subconscious

2006-02-22T04:16:00.000-08:00

Humans are a step ahead of all other beings because of their ability to think. Or so we assume. But what exactly is "thinking"? Oxford dictionary would tell you that it is the art of "using one's mind to form ideas,solve problems,etc..". But is it really?

"Look before you leap" is a very famous saying...but i prefer its alternative statement- " THINK BEFORE YOU WINK ;) ". But do we consciously wink? Do we always have an explanation for all our actions?

Take for example smokers-all of them know that it is bad for their health. Some of them can even advice you at length about why a person shouldn't smoke. But ask them to give it up...and you'll know they cant do it that easily. I know people who have tried their best to give it up. But their day just wont go without smoking atleast once. None of them wanted to become an addict...none of them wanted to ruin their health. But they thought they could give it up, they thought its all in their "thinking" and their "attitude" towards it.

So what went wrong? Well, though we have the ability to use our brain to think, we have control over only 10% of it. The remaining 90% comprises of the subconscious. And we have no control over our subconscious while it can take almost complete control of us.

Have you ever been in a situation where you couldn't put a finger on what made you behave in a certain way? Have you ever found it difficult to give an explanation for your actions? Have you ever done something the logic of which you cannot fathom? The explanation to each situation would probably lie in your subconscious - but sadly, even you cannot reach there, let alone others.

The subconscious is like an invisible hand- it guides most of our ideas,thoughts,emotions and behaviour. It learns through our experiences and through the behaviour of others around us. It forms our opinions for us, though we hardly ever realize it. But i'm not talking only about our reflex actions.

Some of the most important decisions in our life are also sometimes made by our subconscious. In a yes/no situation, all practical knowledge and logical thinking would be in favour of saying 'yes' but if the subconscious says 'no', we end up going with our subconscious without even realizing what we are doing. Such is the power of the subconscious.

In life, we make a lot of decisions. Some of them may be right,some of them wrong. Some of them can be explained, some of them cant. Some of them we would have taken after thorough deliberations,yet others in the blink of an eye. But whatever decisions we take, it is the invisible hand that guides us. It is not perfect, yet it has the power to learn from its mistakes. If it were perfect, then we'd have no need to believe in a Higher Power that ultimately rules over us.

All's fair in love and war?

2006-02-03T02:22:00.000-08:00

Well...I've seen loads of people fall in love-some enjoying it,some suffering it,some fearing it and yet staying with love coz they fear coming out of it. But why they do it...no one knows! I am one of those "romantic types"-would just love to have a storybookish life. The struggles in life, yet love coming out as the triumphant feeling, winning over all else and then the couple live happily ever after! But all this is nice to read, but absurd in real life! How many people do you know who live a life that way?

My point is I've literally seen normal people become totally crazy because of love. They'd do anything for it....to the extent of killing themselves(ya...i've seen such cases too!!) But is love really worth all that? Especially at a point when we aren't really settled in our life and have enough other things to cope with? Sorry... I dont think I'd be game for that.

The most important thing in any relationship is being true to it....not only true to the other person, but true to urself too. No relationship can live if we are not 100% sure abt wat we are doing and it holds true all the more for love. Love cannot last even if one of the two fall slightly below that mark. If it does, then surely it cannot be because they are happy-it must be purely circumstantial. The number of divorce lawyers around u wud prove that point.

All i wanna say is...its ok to lose urself in love. Just make sure u dont give up something more in ur life for its sake!

Potter...a Cheater??!!!

2006-01-04T09:42:00.000-08:00

I, like many around me, am a die-hard potter maniac. To the extent that i try to conjure up a Patronus if I'm feeling bad....obviously the dementors wud go away.(and i always end up with a chocolate...it works!!!). SO i was a bit edgy abt the fact that my sis is a complete muggle!! So this new yr... i resolved to explain to her the magic of HARRY POTTER.

Now, my sis is 9 yrs old....is clueless abt Potter...and hates reading books without pictures!! So i was left with the only option of making her watch the movie, and giving side-commentary!!

So there we were...watching sorceror's stone on TV on new year's day. She got along pretty well till the sorting ceremony. Then the feast began.

SIS: "(Pointing to Hagrid) Is that Gundodharan??"
ME: "No...that's Hagrid. Who's Gundodharan anyway??"
SIS: "You dont know Gundodharan? He comes in that old movie abt Lord Shiva. He sings kalyaana samayal saadham....."
ME: "Oh that fat guy?? Wat's he got to do with this??"
SIS: "Mummy told me that he has special powers...whenever he feels hungry,food will automatically appear on his plate!! See that's what's happening here!!"

OK...I didnt know that. So i decided to ignore it and continue with the movie. Part one ended and then Chamber of Secrets started... Lucky pogo chose to air back to back episodes(..yet again!). We were almost at the climax and she was enjoying it!

Tom Riddle had unleashed the Basilisk and it was chasing Harry. Then suddenly Harry grasps the sword and slays the beast. At this point... my sis started shouting "CHEATER! CHEATER! HARRY IS A CHEATER!!".

I couldn't comprehend wat she was saying! So i asked her what went wrong...and this is what she told me before stomping off:

"That is a BIG lie!! Harry didnt kill that snake! Lord Krishna did!! And He didnt have any sword... He only danced on the snake! And they didnt even name the snake correctly... its name is KALINGA!! The movie is trying to fool me!! But i already know what happened...."

There ended my resolution.... NEVER try to teach an old dog new tricks!!!

FIRST LOVE....

2005-11-24T10:14:00.000-08:00

Was clearing my table (i had a difficult time locating it under the load of mess) when i came across a photo i had originally assumed to be lost... the photo of the first person who said the 3 words that every girl loves to hear!.(i mean 'I love you'.. NOT 'My wallet's full!!').

The sight of the photo took me back to that wonderful day in my life.. 4th June 2004.
I was spending my sem hols in Singapore with family. Actually, it's a very beautiful city... if u spend enough time seeing it. Unfortunately for me, my mom was particular abt window-shopping and we didn't get to tour much. But on that lucky day, we had joined a tour group. And it was there that i met him.... Charlie!

He was intoduced to me by the tour-guide. Found out he was from South America...But was working in Singapore. I never thought i'd actually be charmed by someone's looks... but man did he take my breath away! I was a bit shy with him initially, but then he flattered me by his speech... talked non-stop! Even now whenever I think of the way he talked, i can't help but giggle!

But anyways... one thing led to another and i ended up having lunch with him. Needless to say, a very enjoyable time. Didn't want the meal to end... and for once, i didn't take note of what i was eating!

But then...all good things must end sometime(how i hate that phrase!!) I was bidding him goodbye, when quite unexpectedly he said.."I LOVE YOU"!! I was taken aback...but pleased!

But my parents would NEVER approve of him....So i had to leave him there... with a very HEAVY heart. Well, atleast i have a photo of him to remind me of the one day we shared... an unforgettable day! I'll never forget him...but only wish i could have brought him home with me.... Look at him, and U'll agree too!!..............................................!

That's me with Charlie......

WHAT"S IN A NAME???

2005-11-14T02:06:00.000-08:00

Earlier today evening....

Pizza hut guy:"Thanks for calling Pizza Hut. Can I have ur name and number please?"
Me:"I'm Suprema..."
Him:"Miss. Prema?"
Me:"No!SUPREMA"
Him:"Pardon?"
Me:"S-U-P-R-E-M-A!"
Him:"Thank u ma'am. And ur number?"

After giving him my number and going on to place my order, I sat down and reflected on all the times that I've had a similar conversation.(I had 35 min. to kill as i awaited my pizza..)

Many people struggle to get my name right the first time. But then, once they do... no one ever forgets it! The meaning/origin of my name was a root of quite a few bizarre stories when i was in school... the wierdest of them being that my dad works in Supreme court/oil company/furniture company. I'd like to clarify that my dad DOES NOT work in any of the aforementioned. And even if he did... why would he want to name me after his place of work?? Quite dumb!!

Interestingly, my name has not one but TWO different meanings(both in different languages!!)

1) Pronounced: "su-'pri:-ma:"

The word 'suprema' in spanish means 'supreme'... as in the 'supreme being'!!
Dad did have high ambitions when he named me... though now i know he thinks otherwise. And no.. my dad doesn't know spanish.. he just happened to pick it up from a dictionary!! (I still wonder why he spent his time going thru dictionaries for a name...But i'm glad he did!)

2) Pronounced: "su-'prei-ma:"

Imagine dad's suprise when i told him my name means something else in sanskrit!! I learnt this meaning recently... when i was studying sanskrit last 2 years of my school. Apparently, 'suprema' in sanskrit roughly translates to 'the most endeared/the most loved' person!! Now that's something that says a lot abt the person i really am!!

Well... people mostly use the spanish version of my name... but i love the sanskrit version the most... it kind of pins my roots to India.

Anyhow, my name is the one thing that i love about myself... it makes me unique! I mean...how many other 'suprema's do you know? See what i mean.. I'm one-in-a-million!! [No, make it one-in-a-trillion.. ;) ] So numerology experts...better back off!! Nothing's gonna make me change it... My name's lucky enough for me the way it is...and it's definitely a way to leave an impression on anyone!

HOUSE ARREST!!

2005-11-11T00:01:00.000-08:00

Yup.... i've got the worst punishment possible. My crime??? Riding a 2-wheeler from my house(T.Nagar) to my friend's house(West Mambalam).

"Wat's wrong with that?"-U may wonder. Well nothing....except that the roads were filled with knee-deep water and my vehicle got stuck in the middle of the road! It absolutely refused to start!!

"You shud have had sense enough to stay at home then"-U may reproach. But then, dear reader, that statement would just prove ur ignorance of my strange aversion to "home".... will put up a blog to enlighten u on this sometime later...

Anyway... coming back to my current problem... basically it boils down to one statement.... I HATE RAINS! Whoever said rains are 'Oh!So romantic!!!'??? (Ok... I know it's Sunu... But i refrain from killing her this time 'coz she still owes me a treat!!)

I'm basically used to chennai being 'Semma hot machchi'...with or without Radio mirchi. Don't get me wrong.... i do enjoy getting drenched in mild showers... but i'd hate to have to swim my way to wherever i go!! And now, though it's stopped pouring cats and dogs, i'm still stuck at home without my vehicle. I should have known not to trust that guy when he said "U'll have ur pep back in 2 days ma'am, as good as new!!"

And for all those out there who're praying that the exams should be postponed... WAKE UP AND SMELL THE COFFEE!!! It's already bad enough that the exams stretch for 3 WHOLE WEEKs.... i'd go mad if it stretches any longer!!(my current mental status can be debated later please..) If u think postponing the exams gives u more time to prepare, then u r nuts! If u care that much abt time.. u wouldn't be wasting it reading this crap, buddy... So there!!

Anyways... gotta endure 3 weeks of exams.. i've actually planned to study this sem (Don't blink... u read it right!!) Well... I got nothing better to do at home, so might as well do something worthwhile.. If u have a suggestion on how better to spend my time.... do let me know. I'm all ears!!

???

2005-11-09T05:13:00.000-08:00

OK... finally trying the one thing that i've been putting off for tooooo long.... BLOGGING!

Y u ask? simple.... where i'm concerned, creating a blog and maintaining it is like trying to define GOD... each of us define him in our own way but no one knows WHY He's there or WHAT He'll do... u've got to be a dedicated believer to reach HIM finally.

my idea of blogging may be quite different from urs... but the basic need remains the same.. to BREAK FREE!! [ or atleast that's what it is to me ;) ]

For the uninitiated.... here's a formal intro. My name is Suprema. I'm a 3rd yr CS student of SVCE. I'm a very practical person.... according to my friends my biggest negative point is trying to find a logic behind everything.

I love talking.. nothing makes me feel more alive! I'm a non-stop chatterbox, can talk at length with anyone irrespective of whether they are my close friends or complete strangers..

But my online-self is still a bit shy.... hopefully my original self will manifest itself online as soon as it comes to terms with the fact that the computer is not gonna reply to whatever it says!!