Of turning 82!!

I have a thousand little silly nicknames at home (although I wont divulge any more embarrassing nicknames than what the picture reveals); and they show up in random order on my birthday cakes at home.


Not this time.


I turned a million recently and was indeed made aware in a not so subtle (yet funny) way by my Mom.
The cake was addressed to 'Rajat' - I used to fight when I was actually younger when the cake was addressed to some 'Babloo' or other thousand people I didn't know of.
'Rajat' felt odd. And,also I was now turning 82 and not 28 ! Yikes!.

I always joked on my birthday- that I'm getting real old - that I will retire soon - that I need a new health insurance, knowing all too well at the back of my mind that I AM NOT actually getting old and I indeed have loads ....loads of time left....left for what?.ANYTHING!
Until now....

I dig back and find this post of mine(damn near 6 years back).
"
If you get up and don.t feel a nagging pain somewhere or dread, either you are young or better yet dead!.
That meant I was OLD.And I am 22 years OLD , not young.!

Coming back to MY bed(which prompted this web log)....
When I wake up (which i eventually do) from MY own bed I no longer feel dread or a nagging pain anywhere(which I never did ,fortunately).
So what could be the explanation???
Bed bugs of-course!! Friendly ones at that!

Shashi Taroor said he took stock of his life on his 30th B'day......hmmmmm...maybe I still have time.Or maybe I should read the book 'Life begins @ 40!'. Whatever the case I have time .
Like I care , need I?
"
Dated: 3/8/08. ( http://rajatscribbles.blogspot.in/2008/03/of-bed-bugs-and-beds.html )

This makes me happy that this blog is serving its purpose....its sole purpose .....for ME...to remind ME of ME ...
I digress.

So...Here I am...all of 28 ...thinking ....(not exactly worrying -not yet)....thinking....would things really be 'sorted' out by 30?.
Would Jose Mourinho hire me as his assistant by then ?
Would my debut novel be out and be an instant hit and I would land a 7 figure new book deal?
Would I be my nephew Yash's manager and he goes on to be this great football player?
(mind you , he already plays for a football club ..... I could be his Uncle Tony ...he just needs be be my Nephew Nadal....)
Would be stuck in the same job...in the same floor...in the same cubicle.....?
Would I start to care of about earning money?
Would I not care much about my job and run home early to my Wife......?
wait ....its getting scarier...again I digress!..I rather stop.

A part of me (a very large part) 'thinks' it still has a got loads of time. But a small part is beginning to have doubts....
Doubts...forced upon by:

Married Friends - yes ,most of the 'gang' no longer exist in singular form.
Married friends to me : " Come on man , what are you running away from! You have to get married sometime ...there is a shortage of good girls..."
Large part of my brain to me: "Haha ...morons ....they are trapped ...they want to trap me as well. I am a free bird, and this bird you cannot cage!"
Small part of my brain to me : "Dude....what if they say is true ...listen to them ...they are your friends after-all"

Single friends- oh the ever shrinking population.
Single friends to me- "why aren't you biting the bullet yet..what are you waiting for ? to become CEO of your company? "
Large part of my brain to me : "Idiots...don't know how to relax being alone ....look at me - I work when I want,how much I want , play tennis,spend on expensive watches ...I am awesome."
Small part of my brain to me: "listen douche! These people are getting married and settled before you and you know it...you are going to die alone!"

My neighbors to me: "Did your mom find you a nice girl eh?Till when you will make them live alone"
Large part of my brain to me :"Tell them some story of you in a live in relationship in Bangalore,that'll shut 'em up!"
Small part of the brain to me : "Just smile and wave boy.....just smile and wave."

Work Friends to me- "you bought a house? when you getting married?"
And I have to invent a story of heartbreak and a fake past which ended in me being betrayed by her. This lame attempt impresses no one.
Fake?Real? I am not going to admit anything ....keep guessing.....come on we all know the truth...or do you really???

Although I have joked aplenty on me quitting (retiring!) from my job...I always meant it...I do seriously think of retiring early.
(retire into what? - read some of the above lines again for what I hope to retire into....)

Based on my calculations,on the amount of money, I would need for I don't know what, I can retire in about 5 years after I would have been officially made to retire at 65 !
hmmm....bummer....

Old age is fifteen years older than I am.-
Oliver Wendell Holmes







I have done a lot of stupid things but being an adult is probably the dumbest thing I have ever done.

Yet,By and large I still can indeed make fun of myself.

Until 29.......!

The times they are a-changin' .... perhaps not

'Do you want cell with warranty or without warranty?' enquired the watch repairman. It was the same man sitting in the same shop for what seemed like forever. It seemed to me like this shop always existed and the person behind it was always there to repair watches. I've been coming here to this shop from what 15 years?!?.
With the same customary exchange of lines , I collected the repaired watches ( with 1 year warranty on cell).
Only this time I enquired 'Your name sir?'.
'Dhaani' he responded
I wanted to ask him of his experience , of his patience of being in the same service , in the same shop ,repairing watches . Did he love watches ? had he changed the color of the wall of his shop ? and why of all hadn't the period of the warranty for the watch cell not changed ? (still only one year )
'Thank you' was all I could muster. 

Perhaps our minds are meant to perceive change very easily. We look for change. We crave change. We seldom do appreciate something that stays the same. There must be a catch surely !. Was he a government spy gathering information on the surrounding businessmen?......my thoughts drifted away.

Later in the day I observed the guy who serves soda /ice cream near the market - yes, same guy that has always been there.
The local librarian - same. His assistant - same!

There are so many things that I would like NEVER to change. Not that we are powerless to change them and have accepted the way they are. But because it is so much easier that way. The things that are taken for granted. These are things were we notice the change very easily.

'Baa Baa black sheep , have you any wool' rendered my niece to me over the phone.
I didn't wonder whether the nursery rhymes industry has changed or not. I just took comfort that I could respond back to her
'Yes ,sir. Yes , Sir. Three bags full!'

There are some things that does not change for a large part of our lives.
And thank heavens for that.!

Cheerio !

Of all the Nothings!

Oh well , when I look back at the old posts they are indeed serving their purpose. Reminding me of the old times.


Of how lame/stupid/erratic or downright brilliant I 'was' when i penned that entry.This ofcourse depends on when I read those old posts and yes they were indeed lame/stupid/erratic or downright brilliant!.

Then again , this is 2012 and there isn't an entry ....yet.


So ,here I am ,penning down an lame/stupid/erratic or downright brilliant web log entry.

So whats it going to be about ? NOTHING.! nothing ? yes,NOTHING.! (remember 'The Pitch' from Seinfeld ??).

Because the year has been about just that - NOTHING. Well , something might have happened at the office .....

something might have happened on the way...on the way to someplace ....something?....nope....NOTHING.


Hmm....or is it that those 'something' dont warrent a mention. Hence those 'something' remain 'nothing'.

Perhaps ,I should indeed pen down those 'something' which are infact 'nothing' because if I dont pen them down I wouldn't remember them.?

No. surely I wouldn't need to recollect events as it were. If an event meant something I would remember it just the way it was/were/is. (Disclaimer : plenty of events that did indeed mean more than something - but I have no trouble recollecting those events/conversations {smiles}. Its the bad ones I have trouble recollecting. -so far so good.!)


So,Am I going to do something about all this nothings !?. I try; trust me I do. Till now ,however,and sadly at that , those something I do about those nothing have all come to nothing. Sounds familiar ? Perhaps.
Nothing more ,nothing less.


Happiness is indeed short term stupid self-interest (as aptly put by a certain Mr Bill Watterson). It is this stupid self interest which perhaps would mean absolutely nothing in the long (or not so far even) run that perhaps i am looking for. but ...but...

one shouldn't know(surely!) that the pursuit is of 'stupid' self interest to start with.


Ofcourse there is no rocket science anymore;even the rocket scientist perhaps no longer do any 'rocket' science.

Its just that- if the short term stupid self interest doesn't seem 'stupid' at that time .....
oh how B-E-A-utiful life can be.......

A case of the blues....

"What I do not get is why people are running behind things that really do not matter in the long run"

"Oh boy...here we go again. Looks like you got a case of the blues myte ....cheer up !"


"No, I mean ...Seriously !...and I don't even mean in the far future ; but things that are really obsolete in the very near future to be"


"Everything is situational isn't it ?"


"Yes, it is....but....should it be ? You see people always worry the same amount. Take me for example : I cannot believe some 5-6 years back I worried about stuff such as some dipshyte college exams! "


"You always worry too much!"


"No...its always the same... the worry topics have changed that’s all."


"Life is but replacing one worry with another"


"Yes ...that’s the point! ...and that is what’s sad.....depressing even!. I look into the past and there have always been worries .... its not the worry that worries me...but the fact that it all seems so lame now that gets my goat"


"So..... you shouldn't have worried then because they wouldn't have mattered in the long run?"


"No...not that ....given everything is indeed situational...it must've really mattered at that time...but the question is 'should it have mattered?' "


"You should have a check on your ol' uncle n'Ed once!. One can only really answer that question if they know what is going to happen in the long run."


"Yes; you are right 'm afraid. With an unknown future the present is always tricky"


"So the point the you are getting ticked off on such things is that you have a set 'plan' "


"No....err...first ; stopping saying 'plan'. It ticks me off when someone makes a gesture for grammar quotes with their hands. I mean whats that for anyway !"


"Ok....so you got 'everything' figured out and 'nothing' ticks you off...."


"Yes; one more thing that ticks me off....smart @$$ sarcasm!"


"In all seriousness....there is NO grand design ; all are not born to fulfil some prophecy ; to accomplish something or the other ; there is NO great purpose ....mediocrity is the order of the day. "
 < bangs fist on the table >


"Woah ....Looks like you got a case of the blues myte ....cheer up ! "


P.S: If he existed I would have killed him.!

The Hungarian

We were on the way to Paris. The train was wobbling away from Munich at a slumber pace.
As exciting are the train journeys in India; as much boring they are elsewhere.

I realized (sadly) that there was not going to be any 'chaiii chaiiii' (Tea) selling attendant in the train.
I eventually decided to explore around a bit. Took a left and started moving forward (opposite to the direction of the moving train). The doors at the end of each coach were opened on the press of a red button near the side of the door.

After some 5 coaches the next door refused to open completely. I tired some 5-6 times and it opened just one third of the frame.
Can i squeeze through it? Let me see...naa...if only just a little more wide perhaps.
With nothing else to do I went back to my coach for some shut eye.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Woke up around 7.....what happened in the night you ask??? That’s a total new blog entry!!!!

Took a right and continued my search for 'chaii'. Paris was still some 2 hours away. After some 3-4 coaches was obstructed by a lady who was struggling with her luggage. I stood behind her and didn't even mutter as much as an 'excuse me'. (For the pathway was only big enough for one)

After a while she looked back, saw me and apologetically said "Bocsánat" (buchaaarnot?)
 [Pronounced "bochanot", Hungarian word for 'Sorry', 'Excuse me'].
Immediately my mind went to the sitcom "Mind your language" to the character of Zoltan Szabo. Sooo lost in thought at hearing this was I , that I didn't even noticed that the lady was nearly hugging the side of the train and lifting her luggage over her head so as to let me pass.

"Sorry", I said.

"Bocsánat", she repeated.

"That’s what means isn’t it ....Hungarian aren’t you !" and for some strange reason , I made a action on eating when I said this ! (Dunce)

"Bocsánat", she repeated.

"Bocsánat", I beamed (my feet going nowhere).

"barg gargb wubber wubber ding a along" said a man suddenly appearing beside her.

Instinctively, I turned and headed back to my coach. I thought I heard some snickering behind me.
To this day I do NOT know whether I could have got hold of some tea in the later section on the train.

My head was full of Hungary, Bucharest and buchaaarnot, no sooner did I see my friends, I started mumbling

‘You know what just happened.....mind your language ....Hungary ....buchaaarnot.......!'.

The look on their faces and the mismatched wavelength was enough for me to stop my mumbling, though I still remained lost in Hungarian thoughts.

After a while, got up, took the left and wandering ahead. Again crossed some 5 coaches and came to the door that was not opening the night before. What I saw through it made my heart skip more than a couple of beats. That was the last coach of the train and had I managed to squeeze through it last night , I , no doubt would lie clobbered on the tracks on Nantes.

I went close to the door and peered at the fast disappearing tracks outside, my heart was in my foot now.
After gazing through it for a few moments, I recovered slightly and turned back.

As I did so I nearly crashed into a lady coming out of the train restroom. Taken aback, I stumbled backwards towards the door.

Then I saw who that lady was,

"Bocsánat", she said!!!

P.S : She still haunts me .............

Europa !

In one of the popular sitcoms 'Friends' : Joey says to Chandler that the best way to pick up someone is to narrate a fascinating story. And he begins his story by saying


'When I was backpacking through central europe....'. This sentence stuck with me , whenever I thought of europe this funny sequence used to come up to my mind.

And now my so called 'Euro-Trip' is coming to a end. I don't see myself back in Europe in the near future. Why?. Thats a whole new story , lets leave it at that for now.

Now , what do I remember when I think of Europe ?

The trips to Germany (nachwanstien,munich) , France (Paris),Switzerland(Interlaken,Luzern,Bern and Zurich) , Italy(Venice),Czech Republic (Prague) and Austria (Salzberg).......

The numerous good humoured fights between friends.- :)





The more than numerous bad humoured fights with others. - :X

The shops that close as early as 7 P.M !. - Clearly no indian businessman is well established here. :P

The Cold weather of March-April to the searing heat of June-July. - The numerous fights regarding the temperature of the AC in the office. :D

A special mention to Alison , Anabel and Aniston (speculating on the 3rd name) : The lovely Tour Guides ;)
 (Thats the new profession , Barney Stinson are you taking notes?? )








The 'oh so many ' discussions with myself ( :| and many discussions with others ( lol )

The so called Veg burger that Burger King served in Praha (yeeeech).




The 2 haircuts I had whilst I was here. : Boy o Boy

The fussball night with Manuella and Bob. Manuella beat Bob 10 to nothing , boy was that embarrasing.

The night party at cafe walch. Had a couple of Red bulls while others were having alcoholic drinks and ended up staying awake for most of the night ! :







The world cup betting program at office. Had put the money (not literally) on Holland. So near , yet so far. :(

Mind your language. Totally re-discoved this sitcom at my time here. Por forvore? :D











Falafel. The only Veg dish that the eataries make here.


The African safari and the Maruthi-800. What is this you ask ? I am sorry , there is nothing more that I could possible reveal in a public domain. :P

The junkies (hippes, call 'em what you like: Greeen,Red of Blue haired , over tattooed , drunk , satan worshiping , dog keeping 'people') that used to sit in front of KFC.











 The talk at the coffee breaks. :)


One tipsy turvy ride at Prater. (With BRAVE Anurag , who was shouting MUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMYYYYYYYYYYY the whole ride !! )

-------------------------------------------------------------
Oh so much , but mainly I will remember the time spent with people here : Alpa,Anurag,Rahul,Raj,Sanjay,Sudhansu (in alpabetical order : Love em all you see :P)

and I will indeed remember and miss Vienna , the quiet city with an endearing charm that seeped into my heart.........

I came to europe with just one funny sequence in mind....and now I leave it with ..........




 
P.S : If I indeed have a hard time remembering things I have 50 Gigs of photos , a clear abuse of memory space I know !

P.P.S : I know there is no relation between the pictures and the text accompaning it , but then again , there was not supposed to be one either !


Aloha und Adios EUrope!!

The great 'North-South' divide!

"What are you saying you Charlie Chapathi!"
"Oh you shut up ; you Pakistani Poppadom"

These are first things that cross my mind when talking of racist taunts.
Funny scenes from 'Mind your language' no less , but I realize that racism has not stopped filtering through the generations.

What makes a certain section of people divided by geographical areas behave differently? Or do they really behave differently?
Every talk is comparable to racism. If it not Black Vs White ( or White Vs Black : Read as you pefer please!) or Indian Vs Pakistan then it boils down to
North Vs South India! ( Mind you , the atomisation doesn't stop there.)

I Shamelessly, as most , admit that I enjoy racist conversations. Casual racism dominates most coffee table or water fountain discussions.
Thats what prompted this web log in the first place. Casual racism.
Casual racism dominates most lunch / dinner talks. Yet , i KNOW the people who involve in it are not at the very least racist.
Yet (repeat ; I have stop using 'Yet' so often....Yet .....NOT yet.), people do indeed enjoy having a go at other peoples ethnicity.
Though people have little (read as : No) malice on their mind, racist talk is still popular talk.
'Timepass' as you would put it in casual terms. Casual indeed!

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, racism is a belief or ideology that all members of each racial group possess characteristics
or abilities specific to that race, especially to distinguish it as being either superior or inferior to another racial group or racial groups.
Racism indeed exists, in a sense certain sects of people do indeed pocess certain traits particular to that race / group / region / company / project .......
Gosh,there is no limit to racism!!

A certain North - South discussion (racist talk) started this web log; though I 'm NOT (usually atleast :P) a active participant in these debates,
but compliments such as 'Karnataka is a sober and peaceful state;people don't protest even when something wrong is being done' makes you wonder,
was that really a compliment? or a racist snide!.
Tell you what , I don't really have the knowledge or the 'expertise' to talk of such sensitive subjects. (sensitive ,is it ? thats a whole other point altogether).
The truth is this is just a casual talk on casual racism!.
Inspite of racist remarks And I really LOVE the people who prompted this blog because south indian respect and welcome people
(Am I being racist here :) ) and I am sure they love me too.

If someone asks describe the purpose of this blog in my own words , I would say
'EIOHHF OF DASO DFOH ODHOSH UPAIPIFGADFÖ GROHOAHF HOEHOEVDOJ EJG k FGDIGO HEO'.

I LOVE LOOPHOLES!

Adios.

Hair 'raising' experience

There is something within me that keeps dying,and no, I'm not talking about anything philosophical I'm talking about 'cells'.
(Hair is a filamentous outgrowth of dead cells from the skin).

There are many a things I hadn't heard off before ,and one of them was getting an appointment to get your hair cut!.

"Willkommen" said the lady behind the counter with black hair.
"English?" I asked (not replying in kind to the greeting received), "Sprechen du Englisch?" I continued in unconvincing German.
"Ahhh, ya ...little little ", She smiled.
"gut , I'm looking for a hair cut"
"You come back by zwei ... 2 o'clock" she said ,showing 2 fingers to me," Shall i book an appointment?".
"err...ok sure" (What the !)


So here I was , reaching in time for my 'appointment' to get my hair cut.

"willkommen, welcome" said the lady behind the counter with red hair, I swear her hair was Black in the morning!. Then again, this is a hair saloon (where people have to take 'appointments') , so anything can happen.

And after getting my hair shampooed we walked to a separate room to get the hair cut (Goodness gracious me ! take some scissors and cut this extra hair , willya?)

"Do you like to trink a glass of wasser".
"No, Thank you".
"Please don't make it too short" , I have seen some locals with such tiny hair that it would put the military men to shame. However this statement was to prove a huge mistake.

< snip >< snip >
"ok?"
"yeah , ok"

< snip >< snip >
"ok?"
"yeah , ok"

"Do you like to trink a glass of wasser".
"No, Thank you".

< snip >< snip >
"ok?"
"yeah , ok"

< snip >< snip >
"ok?"
"yeah , ok"

< snip >< snip >

"I leave it upto you , you can cut as you wish"
"sorry?"
"Please proceed to 'style' as you wish"
"ok", she obviously didn't understand!

< snip >< snip >
"ok?"
"yeah , ok"

"Do you like something to eat?"
"err...No , Thank you." , are these things included in the 'package'? I wondered.


< snip >< snip >

< snip >< snip >

< snip >< snip >

< snip >< snip >

< snip >< snip >

Phew , Finally she seems to have gotten the message.


< snip >< snip >
"ok?"
"yeah , ok", oops spoke too soon.


"Do you like to trink a glass of wasser".
"No, Thank you".

Looking at the sunny weather outside , I thought that might be the possible reason she keeps offering me a glass of water.
"Its too hot outside", I ventured.
"sorry", she said, I could see the confused expression on her face, all this while I would see her in the mirror and catch her smiling , I would smile back (which only made her 'smile' more.
"Its hot outside", I repeated.
"Thank you",she said , and to my horror I watched in the mirror as she blushed and gave a tiny bow!!!

Good lord, she has a freaking scissor and whatnot sharp instruments, you'd do better to shut the hell up! ,screamed my inner voice to me , lest some other things are lost in translation.


I started thinking whether she was too afraid to cut my hair , not more than 23 strands of hair was being cut at a time.
< snip >< snip >
"ok?"
"yeah , ok"
"ok then....."

Its Over??? I had come for a hair cut , or should I have mentioned 'HAIRS' to be cut.
"ok" , I said and stood up confused , this really was 'over'.

We went back to the counter ,
"naame?"
"Rajat"
"err...."
" R.....A......J..."
"Er...Ah.....what?????"
I quickly muttered by german ABCD and finally reached at J
"yoth"
"ahhhh.....Er....Ah...Yoth...?"
"That's it!",deciding for the first time that Raj sounds better than Rajat (which , ofcourse it doesnt!!!)
"Are you on a holiday?"

"Nope , Buiness", I replied. I controlled my laughter after I said 'Business' , hope I could have gotten a recording of that tone.


"sechzehn.....16 Euros"
And from the time I paid 16 € and till the time I reached back to my apartment ,
only one classic Bollywood film scene was playing in my mind;
(Film : Andaz apna apna)
Aamir Khan was saying to his Dad (whose profession was that of Barber in the film)
" Aaj meine bhal Rosy se katwa ke aaya hoon......Bhal bhi kate aur patha bhi nahi chala......."

(I got my hair 'cut' and no one will know)

How can I control my life when I can't control my hair?

The Ugly Good and The Bad

“If you do the job badly enough, sometimes you don't get asked to do it again” – Calvin.

Whilst you were a kid, when was the time you got yourself treated to an ice-cream or a huge candy bar? Probably the time you did something bad. Probably the time you bawled all day. Probably because you showed how upset you were for not getting that new toy by not eating all day. And, what did the neighbor kid get for putting his best behavior all day long and doing his ‘homework’ in time? A ‘small’ pat on his back. Nothing more. Nothing less.

At work: Person A does his ‘boring’ work on time.
Person B meanwhile complains and makes a mess of his ‘boring’ work.
The result Person A is ‘rewarded’ by getting to do Person B’s work as well , while Person B gets moved to some other real interesting work.
Person B gets to eat the proverbial ice-cream while Person A gets a small pat on his back!
Nothing more. Nothing less.

A person threatening to quit a political party is offered a better portfolio while the loyal party person gets nothing. A techie threatening to quit is offered a better position , a long term foreign assignment even; while all honest ‘bob’ gets is more demeaning work.
Nothing more. Nothing less.

Who do you think wins these ‘crap’ reality shows? The person, who picks a fight with everybody, uses abusive language and throws up on screen every now and then. What about those who display good behavior? No way, they are too boring; I am voting them OUT today.

You have plenty of industries contributing positively to the economy. What do they get? Nothing. Perhaps they are taxed even more! And what do banks get for being ‘oh so greedy’ and blowing away so much money? They get economic relief and more money.

When was the last time you’ve seen anyone ‘rewarded’ for good behavior?
Simply put, the rewards of bad behavior are aplenty.

So its time to put your best foot backward and get moving ahead!

I am but a ............

I am hot.
I am cold.
I .....

------------------------------------------
"I swear to you, I'm gonna kill someone one of these days!"
"yeah , i know........."
------------------------------------------
"Whose that girl dude?"
"not so loud man,she nearly can hear you"
------------------------------------------
"wow, India are winning man!"
"Whatever !"
------------------------------------------
"Watch that girl!. she keeps staring at me!"
"I don't think so pal......"
------------------------------------------
"Did you hear about ******, he put in his papers today"
"how much are they offering him !"
"Gosh, nobody will want to hire us"
------------------------------------------
"That son of a bitch is working from home!"
"And....we are not doing so from here"
------------------------------------------
"Enough is enough.! I have really had enough !!"
"me too , you know what I..........."
------------------------------------------
"I'm leaving early today, no matter what !"
"that's what you keep saying ......"
------------------------------------------
"Did you hear about the political crisis in Andra pradesh?"
"I think Shewag will hit a double hundred today"
------------------------------------------
"damn it....India seem to be losing!"
"Shewag is the most irresponsible player ever, he should be dropped"
------------------------------------------
"Hurry up dude, I gotta go"
"just keep your @$$ parked"
------------------------------------------
"9 o clock. look at her"
All 3 turn.
"Not NOW! you idiots!!!"
------------------------------------------
< ring >< ring >< ring >
"hey,transfer that song"
------------------------------------------
"Wow , what an innings by Shewag!"
"I think he should be made captain"
------------------------------------------


------------------------------------------
"That girl stares at everyone it seems!"
"I still don't think so pal............."
------------------------------------------
"Good god ! here she comes !!! hide"
"I have work !!! I'm going"
------------------------------------------
I am hot.
I turn cold.
I am empty.
I am but a Tea cup.

My story

There is No story.
Come to think of it; there is no background music,no nasty silence when something bad is gonna happen,no creepy narration,no monsters,no ghosts.
The funny thing is a LOT is happening. People behaving differently ; you behaving differently. One moment you hate someone , the next - well , err....not love but not hate either. A story , how do i put it , needs a bit of twists and turns. Something that makes it worth telling. A story needs to be crazy.!
And NO all stories needn't have a love element ( full of heartburn's and 'strong' men who do cry). I would have termed 'em as losers but i guess i don't have the required 'qualification'. It would kinda be like a Manchester united fan speaking of sportsmanship.!. Go figure.

So, do you make up a story ........or is a there a story and you haven't seen it as one.

The day does start with enough excitement -
6:45 - out of the apartment.
6:48 - a call to a friend asking the current position of the company bus.
And depending upon the answer - a jog or a frantic run to catch it.
6:49 and a few milliseconds either way I'm in the bus and calling my other friend to notify him that the bus is headed towards his stop.
And then it comes to you. Slowly at first and then its all consuming........sleep.........


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Draft auto saved. Whoever designed this decent little feature at blogger deserves a mention.!
When I started writing this blog some three months back, the time must have been around 2:30 A.M. And as it turned out I never finished , leave alone publish it. By the time I fell asleep in the blog ,I very nearly did so while writing it to. Perhaps the very mention of sleep did the trick.
Since then ,at least something has changed!.
No more early morning excitement. I've shifted my base(house) , which means i now have the luxury of waking as late as 8:30 !.
What other excitement was there?? ? .. i mean is there ??
wait for it....... still wait for it..... keep waiting .......

There ends the day ..... when i really should have said - there begins my day.

My favorite pastime recently is going on asking people if they can fill out 4 blank pages with they are doing currently or what they have done in the recent past.
Most thankfully have said Yes, some after due consideration. I , rather unfortunately couldn't say Yes.
Perhaps because what i am really thinking is, what I ought to be doing rather than what I'm doing.
so , what ought i be doing ????? hold it right there , that's a discussion I rather not get into. cause i fear i might loose out that argument as well.
Why am i writing out such random mumblings .....maybe so because writing something may help bring out clarity to myself. or perhaps that one day I'll read this and have a laugh by myself.

I really can't think of a subject.!

Seriously, I wish I could classify each year with a suitable subject. The reason I say this is perhaps because my last post came nearly an year back. Perhaps I also reason to myself that this blog would sort off serve as a memoir for myself. Perhaps to kind of help me in telling the 'story' to my kids one day. Perhaps I 'm using the word 'Perhaps' too much.Perhaps.

Not that its just this year that I find hard to recollect. what about the year before? or the one before that????? geez , surely loads of things have happened.! yeah thats for sure.! Perhaps my memory serves me only this well.

So here I am sitting up at near 3 A.M in the morning trying to think of a good subject , a right tagline , for the year that has nearly gone by.......... nothing yet. Before typing out this line let me tell you there was a substantial pause. Yet , no recollections could be made. The grey cells in my brain could have gone black if you know what I mean. The past is always supposed to be glorious ain't it. Or maybe a not so great present makes the past 'oh so glorious'. Future? well , thats a part of speech I rather not delve at the present.

Still nothing. I don't wanna write my memoir about my 'job' or the work I did/do. Don't wanna bore my kids ,do I now.! Thats it!!! The reason perhaps why I'm not able to find a suitable subject is because I hardly never did anything besides work. hmmmm bummer.

Not that I haven't been thinking of late. oh no no no , maybe I am thinking a tad too much. Thinking of what? usually my thoughts are 'oh what was I thinking!!', I think.

As I write this I realize one thing......... I am awesome.!!
Naa...... I just wanted to write that above line for the heck of it. Those having watched the sitcom 'How I met your mother' would easily understand where that come from. Aha , so that is responsible for my current predicament. A sitcom!. Maybe thats the reason i'm sitting here and trying to write this blog in the first place.
Stories to tell my kids , where else would I get this crazy idea from anyways.
or maybe I am writing this because I might forget the present in the future.Do I have a weak memory ??? quite frankly I simply don't remember!!!!.

Time.!

Its often said that 'Time' is the one of the dimensions that one should master before even thinking about the other dimensions.
What other dimensions ?

gee , I don't know , i haven't had 'Time' to think about that.

The real trouble with time is that you never have enough hours in a day but there are always enough days before the weekend. I never really remember having time to kill , but then again time is flying like an an arrow released from a gladiators quiver.

Time is God's way of keeping everything from happening at once. Perhaps he finds it easy that way to keep tabs that way.

Flowing with the tide , ah yes the respite of the person who knows not what the coming 'time' holds.but then again (and again) isn't 'Time' the best utilized when you don't for once bother about the past and also worry (not) about the future. What is meant to be , will be. so needn't you do anything about it ???.

Don’t count every hour in the day, make every hour in the day count.Alas , I was always weak in math.!

We need to keep an account ? gees , I thought someone was employed for that task.

So , that's it now , no more does one need to be the slave of 'time' , yes , you can indeed invent time!. Time flies, yes , but only when we are on a roll (quite literally). So we are the ones who can go against the grain , manufacture 'time'.A wise man once said to me "If I knew that one day I would find so much time for myself, maybe I would have practised the art of killing it effectively." .

so Never late I said for myself "Start wasting time , so much so that i always feel that I HAVE TIME!".

The other day I heard Homer(Simpson) advice his son , Homer says "Son , There is no substitute for hard work in life. You have to work very hard in life if you ever want to succeed. Now , keep quiet they are announcing the lottery numbers.!"

Now if you excuse me , I have some 'Time' to kill.

so long , until next 'Time'.

I scored !

In pic : With me best mate , Adya .

Business as usual...

A couple of posts in a couple of days.
Lets just say I'm a thinking man.! :P



I'm in a very busy street surrounded by many people. Some looked familiar others made me feel alien.
The setting had changed 'oh so much' over time. I have known the street my entire life.

We walked to a store that hadn't changed a bit since I've first known it.
I've frequented the store since as long as I can remember.
Lord , let lightning strike me and take my soul to hell if I were to say I know the name of the store casue it would be a LIE.!

We enter the store , order the usual(mango milkshake with icecream).
The store looked the same . Not a thing has changed .
Well for only one thing , the rates have changed .
The board displaying the rates was the same . A new layer of cheap paint displaying the new rates over the old one(over and over again) (The old ones we could still make out , with some not so carefull observation).

The man taking the order was the same . The same man doing the same job probably since ever!.
The man has stark white hair as before (or was it black/grey/greying earlier??? I dont know , my memory serves me only so long.).
This man was never a man of so many words. Sometmes I wondered if he simply wasnt interested in speaking.

He took the order , repeated the same to someone inside and waited for the processing to get over. I looked into his eyes for the first time perhaps expecting to see dispear , misery even?. Yet they protrayed NOTHING. I wondered if he would recongnize me if he saw me in an different setting?. I wondered if i would have before tonight?.......

He served the order in a clinical fashion (stone faced as ever . no smile . no nothing). it was business as usual for him.

Took the billed amount , returned the change(didnt complain over the high denomination note given to him) and went about to take and complete further orders. It indeed was business as usual.


Life goes on , I told myself.
But for him it was business as usual.

business as usual......same...same....Business as usual.!

The word most (well everyone) wait for ,and fear.
Appraisal.

It was appraisal time for me.....
...and here is a piece of conversation that went on...


Me : Good morning.!!

(Greetings are exchanged with the appraiser and reviewer in a very non formal way, then again it was never meant to be formal.!)

Reviewer : Good morning.!

(It was quite early in the morning. Usually this conversation takes place around 10 A.M . But this time it was taking place at 6 A.M)

Appraiser : You haven't been doing well I see..! (getting straight to the point)

Me : err,what makes you say so?

Appraiser : Just look at you ....you are .... 2 maybe 3 !

Reviewer : come on..you are being a bit harsh here.

(Me : (phew) alas, someone talks on my behalf)

Appraiser : oh come now....its easy to see...he is going down here!

(Reviewer grins)
Appraiser : alright lets put him to test.

(I take the test dutifully.)
Appraiser : ah see....its 2.!(with a smile that was part victory part looking down at my 'misery' )

(I sometimes thought it could be 4 even...but i was wrong.!)

Me : ok ok....I'll try to do a 5 next time....on the other side.

Appraiser : lets see whether you are full of false promises or not.!

(Off that ..only time will tell...)



And that was the end of my Appraisal........


Disclaimer :
The characters in the above mentioned text are real and not imaginary. And any resemblance to real life is highly intentional.

The characters are :
Me : Me.
Appraiser : Mom.
Reviewer : Dad.

The number that is mentioned is my decrease in weight.
The situation is when I return home after a long absence (nearly a month!).

There are many a life mysteries.
Another addition: My mom always finds me thinner the next time she sees me.


until my next Appraisal ....... see ya! :-)




"Somethings gotta go wrong cause I'm feeling way too damn good.!"

Of Bed bugs and Beds...

Ever heard of friendly bed bugs???
Well ,I got them at MY home.

'Sleep is when you sleep on your own bed'.

If you get up and dont feel a nagging pain somewhere or dread, either you are young or better yet dead!.
That meant I was OLD.And I am 22 years OLD , not young.!

Coming back to MY bed(which promted this web log)....
When I wake up (which i eventually do) from MY own bed I no longer feel dread or a nagging pain anywhere(which I never did ,forunately).
So what could be the explaination???
Bed bugs ofcourse!! Friendly ones at that!

Shashi Taroor said he took stock of his life on his 30th B'day......hmmmmm...maybe I still have time.Or maybe I should read the book 'Life begins @ 40!'. Whatever the case I have time .
Like I care , need I?


I love my neighbours.
I love my work.
I love the dogs that dont let me sleep at night.
I love Manchester United.
I love Australian cricketers.
I love everything!.


I woke up from MY bed today!

The return of the Blogger!!

The urge to pen down things had taken over me for a good couple of months or so.

Yet , now , as I'm writing i can barely think of something, anything , worth mentioning.
All seems so rather banal now. Observing something while life is passing by can be, at best ,a brief moment of indifferent pondering.


"I afraid i will become an insomniac!", i was saying to my friend just half a year ago.
For those of you who know me(at least a tiny bit!) will know that i Love my sleep.
But thankfully , my fears never really materialized. Now , as i hit the bed , i sleep like a log.
Wanna know the cure ??? well , lets just say I'm 'Projectified'!!!

No ,No ......that's not some spell(or a curse for that matter!) from Harry Potter , but it is a cure none the less. Maybe being in a project isn't enough , just like being in a hotel isn't enough to ensure a good appetite. You need the ambiance too. Maybe Bangalore is just the place to be. Bangalore at times (most times) can be very tiring. The garden city (yeah Bangalore is know by that name too , just in case you were wondering where the greenery was!) throws at you just about anything you can expect and of course , a lot of unexpected things.

Anyone who thinks India ain't that over-populated needs to be sent to Bangalore. A ride back from office takes a good 2 and a half hour at the very least. In those near 3 hours , observing life takes priority. Since I got nowhere when it came to seeing where my life is headed , i decided to look around (an easy option right?!).

Ear-phones on , Listening to the radio , Head at an awkward angle , Dozing off blissfully unaware..........that's the typical scene you can imagine in any company bus carrying loads of people on dusty , crowded roads. Yet some are (like me) talking nineteen to a dozen through out.
Once we (me ,Deepak and kishan) dozed off in the return journey. Thankfully we woke up just 2 Kms past our drop point.

"We are going to kick off another Forty minutes of non-stop music!!".That's what a FM channel says. And i hear that very phrase 3 times on my travel back home. In my hometown(Hubli) no sooner did the track change a couple of times i would be there at my destination.

This post has certainly lived up to the 'Title' i guess.......Random.!(that very word ,'Random' ,which i have attributed to my company many times in the past......or maybe, i really needed to attribute it to my life!!).



And now, if you will excuse me , I have to go to sleep.!!

The departed!!!

Date : 21-07-07


Infosions depart....



Infosions were to report to work on 23rd july 07

blah blah blah ....

Amid all the tears that some (most) shed (Damn i forgot to click picture's!), i began pondering about
my eventual departure from the city that i have hardly left for more than a week at a stretch(Departure Aug 1st 07).
I never really look forward to the future nor back at the past(not too distant anyways!).

I began to wonder all the things i would miss , thought of unusual things , as usual.

"But need i miss them?" (thats my stupid over-clocked brain speaking!)

"first , lets know why they cried!" (thats my sensible part of my brain!)

"err , maybe because they are seeing their friends for the last time?"

"last time?? huh ... things dont happen for the last time unless they happen only once!"
(some chinese proverb goes like this : when things happen for a second time they are bound to happen for a thrid time!)

"forget that....tell me , would you cry??" (thats my stupid over-clocked brain speaking,As usual!)

"Good god..."

"what?"

"now , somehow i gotta stop mom from coming to the railway station to see me off!!!"

"how??"

"can i say the previous night that the damn train is delayed by a good couple of hours , wake up early (right time for train!) leave behind a note and vanish!!?"

"you really are stupid"

"huh... look who's talking!"



p.s:i aint got no split persona!!!

The scribbles.......

so...i begin to scribble.....

Here i will pen down whatever i find worthy to pen down and lots of things that aren't worthy of a second mention!.