New Year!!!!!!!!!

Year 2005 has not been good for me. Especially the first half. Nothing was going right. But I am not going to brood over it because I have been doing that the whole year(mostly in the second half). Lot of good things did happen, one such good thing being, me blogging. I have successfully completed 6 months of blogging. And my post about the lift reached 30+ comments!!!Never thought I would see such numbers. I thank all those who made it possible. :)

In continuing with the tradition of taking weird resolutions that I don't keep up, this year I will be taking these :
1) Keep my room clean. Not for the entire year silly. Just on New Years.
2) Help my Dog lose weight.
3) Get Driving License.
4) Try to remember facts/numbers/ statistics. I hate conversations that go this way. (Note X is just a random person, not someone who I have a crush on)

X : So how many employees are there in your company?
Me : Lots!
X: Like 10,000?
Me: Er maybe more....or less???

Or like this one:
X: You have been to Ramoji?How big is it?
Me: Oh its huge!
X: How many acres?
Me: Don't know, but its huuuuuugggge!

(I just found out, Ramoji film city is spread over 2500 acres. That is huuuuuuuuggggge!)

Can't think of anything else right now.


I don't have any special plans for 31st. Last minute plans to go to hyderabad didn't work out. But I successfully managed to convince my parents to cancel the party they were organizing for a group of people I don't really like. My mother is worried why I turned this way. (By this way she means my not attending family functions, weddings or any event that gets relatives at one place) Sorry mom, playing athakshari with people more than twice my age is not my idea of having fun! Oh hell, I will take resolution number 5. Try to be a little less that way.

In spite of everything I cant help being excited. New year is just round the corner,with that I hope it brings new hopes, joy and lot of happiness in all of your lives!

Happy New Year!! Have a blast!!!

IISc terrorist attack

What exactly have the terrorists gained by such a cowardly act? Opening fire on innocent people, it totally disgusts me. Will this ever stop? The mindless killing?

Why??? Why???

Why is it that every time I try not to make a fool of myself I end up looking like a bigger fool?

The otherday I got in the lift and another guy followed me in, we had to go the ground floor, I pressed '0' but didn't do it hard enough. The lift went down and then up again before it finally reached the ground floor. It was so damn embarrassing, people who took the stairs reached earlier than we did. I just hid my face and vowed to press the freaking lift buttons harder next time.

Yesterday, again its just the both of us in the lift. Same guy. Same situation. Both have to go to the ground floor. I remember my vow. I put all efforts in pressing the button. The lift shows no signs of budging, so I say "These buttons don't work" and curse the thing. He doesn't say a word, presses '0' and then says "we are in fourth floor". I was pressing '4' all the while! Argh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

He probably thinks I am an imbecile or something. Why? God why? Why do I have these 'Bridget Jones moments' so often? Please give me the strength to walk up and down the stairs 'cause I am never getting into a lift again.

Wooohooo!

I took part in the marathon that I mentioned here, ran all of 5 km!!!!!!!!!!!!! The feeling is awesome, there were some 100 people behind us, we (four of us) took slightly less time than what the winner of the half marathon took to complete 21 km. The last km was the best, when we saw the dome of Kanteerva indoor stadium nearing and started shouting "We did it!" much to the annoyance of other runners. My friend emphatically said "Never underestimate yourself", true, each of us carried extra cash just in case we needed to take an auto to complete the race.

Running/walking was fun specially because there were cute volunteers who cheered for us and friendly policemen who stopped traffic for us. To all those who yap all the time that Bangalore is choking blah blah and it isn't how it used to be (How do you know? You've been here only 6 months), my advice to you, take early morning walks around Vidhana Soudha and Cubbon park. Bangalore is beautiful! The only celebrities present were Ashwini Nachappa and Charu Shrama(almost celebrity, sports anchor). Charu Sharma gave some excuse for not running and goofed up big time while announcing the awards. There were some people protesting against the unequal prize money for men and women runners (Men get Rs 30,000 while women Rs 15, 000 for running the same distance of 21 km, I support them too BTW).One guy held up a banner that said "Same distance, Unequal prize money, Support female athletes" So Charu says "Its easy to hold up a banner, why don't you donate some money, we will definitely increase the prize money." Er.. Charu what do you mean? His reply was received with a lot of boos which he rightly deserved.

My friends who were elated with their achievements didn't thank me enough considering that I forced them to come, I registered for them, I collected their chest numbers, I woke them up! I am not complaining not after they treated me to breakfast. They now plan to go for long walks every Sunday morning. Yeah right! God only knows how much energy I wasted in convincing them to forfeit their one Sunday. They also swore to lead a more healthy life. These same people wanted to celebrate in Pizza Corner and Corner House (the official sponsors) . 5 km is not much I know but it was enough to inspire my friends. I deserve a pat on the back just for that.

The people who competed in the senior category, junior's dash and the special mile were all received with lot of applause. The look on the people's face who completed the half marathon(21km) is something I'll never forget, may be one day I will run that distance too. Baby steps.

The proceeds of the event go to charity (Fame India). Also on Saturday I did some volunteer work organized by my company. I think I managed to impress Santa just in time. Even otherwise, I have been good the whole year. Really.

How to fix a pothole

1. Remove stones, plastic covers or any dirt that might have gotten into the pothole.
2. Pour a thin layer of chocolate syrup like looking liquid.
3. Fill the pothole with chunks of tar.
4. Pour another thin layer of the chocolate syrup like liquid.
5. Sprinkle white stone powder all over and wait for a BMTC bus to run over it.
6. Pothole fixed. Flat and even road ready.

As simple as that! Waiting at a bus stand I saw the whole process, hardly took 20 mins. Lot of people gathered to witness it, may be because it is such a rare event. But not anymore. The municipality seems to be on a road fixing spree, I see a lot of patch work on roads these days. God bless them. I hope they fix all pot holes mentioned here http://www.bangalorepothole.com/

Blah!

It took me almost 2 weeks to learn the route to my new office here. I used to get down at wrong stops (I use public transportation, being the environmentally conscious person that I am), walk in the wrong direction for a mile then take an auto who dropped me back to exactly where I started. Having no direction sense sucks. And all the one-ways here are of no help either. I mean, one should be able to take the same route one took from home to office, to get back home. People wonder how having lived most of my life here I still cant tell one road from the another. Direction sense, I don't have it. Ok? And yeah I lied about that environmentally conscious thing. I don't use my vehicle because I don't want to get lost.

Since I am in a bitchy mood let me talk about another common skill that I don't have. I cant throw. If you are laughing, let me hurl this coffee mug at you oh wait, I cant! When I try to throw something, its like gravity suddenly decides to show its might and the object lands right where I am standing (a feet away if I am lucky). This has never been a problem for me, in my line of work I don't have to throw anything (except may be an exception) but the problem arises when I have to cross this play ground near my place. Everytime I cross this park a tennis ball comes flying over to where I am, followed by screaming kids who go "Aunty ball, Aunty please ball". To save myself from a lot of embarrassment I pretend not to hear them and quickly walk away. I must admit I feel very guilty but what the heck? Serves them right for calling me aunty. If you are thinking why don't I just avoid the park, direction sense, I don't have it!!! I don't know any other route.

I should stop complaining, should also stop getting stressed. Today Deccan herald carried two articles Stress Causes Cancer and Stress may not cause Cancer. Either way getting stressed is not good. Also I saw a Santa Clause in an auto yesterday. May be he lost his way too. Holiday season is here, I should lighten up.

Goblet of Fire

Harry Potter and The Goblet Of Fire, the movie, is simply amazing. Having read the book quiet sometime back I had forgotten most of it which made the experience all the more exciting. I liked the first half especially the yule ball, too many things happen in the end but then it must have been a difficult task accommodating 600 something pages in a 3 hour movie. Since I suck at reviewing movies I'll stop at that. If you are a Harry Potter fan, then you'll not want to miss this. If you are not then you should read all the books, see movies 1, 2, 3 and then watch this one.

Inspired by Fleur Delacour, Cedric Diggory (Dear Dear Cedric!) and Victor Krum, I have finally made up my mind to take part in the marathon (Run Bangalore) that will happen on December 18. I know its not the Triwizard championship, I don't want eternal glory but I have always wanted to take part in a marathon, its high time I stop making excuses and take the plunge. The first time a Marathon happened in Bangalore I was still warming up to the idea of it. Yesterday there was one in Hyderabad for which I had convinced two friends to join along with me. But the transfer happened and I couldn't go. Now is the chance. I'll drop my name in the Goblet of fire (or some place I can register) and start training from tomorrow.

Now if I can only convince my lazy friends to join me.....

Does it matter where you sit?

I have never understood the importance, back benchers assign to themselves. I am talking about people who occupied the last few benches during their student years. On more than one occasion I have had people come up to me and announce with pride that he or she was a back bencher. What is it exactly that they have achieved? They are not exactly bragging about their athletic achievements, I mean how difficult is it to walk all the way to the end of the room and occupy the last bench? Class rooms aren'’t that big. No, that's not it. What they are trying to convey is that they are different form the rest or that they are '‘cool'’. I think its sad that people have to use the help of their seating location to prove that they are better than the rest.

There is a serious problem here if you think about it. Firstly, every other person claims to be a backbencher. Now, that's not possible. It could mean only one thing, people are lying and people are ashamed of where they sit or used to sit. Why is it that we label people who occupy the first few benches as nerds and the ones in the last as cool. It is time we stop this discrimination. We talk about equality all the time, then why differentiate between a first bencher and a last bencher?

But keeping equality issue aside if you ask me, the real heroes of the class, the real victors are the middle benchers. They are inconspicuous, notorious and have the most fun. As a middle bencher, you are not under constant scrutiny by professors nor are you expected to know answers to everything they ask. Look ahead if you cant remember that complicated formula, look back for some much needed entertainment, a snidey comment or a funny quip. You get the best of both worlds. Yes, you guessed right, I was a middle bencher. And am proud of it.

Poster Boy Dhoni !!!

Have you seen Reebok's newest poster with Dhoni, Dravid and Amrita Arora(whats she doing in it???)? For the first time I was gaping at someone other than Rahul Dravid. This is also the first time I am seeing a cricketer pose shirtless (If you ignore Ganguly's taking of his shirt in a fit of rage) and he looks hot...almost like John Abraham and hes got a tattoo!!!!

He is amazing on field ( yeah I do watch cricket and not just ogle at players) and with his 'not so typical long hair' look and his 'oh so hot' body, Reebok has found the perfect poster boy. I wont be surprised to see him hog the limelight in ads now. Unlike Dravid, I hope Dhoni gets to do decent ads even if he has to endorse Kissan jam or Anchor switches.

Talking about posters, what do these green posters which says "Green is not Yellow + Blue " mean? They are all over Bangalore and no one seems to know what it is all about. Any idea?

Surprise!!

I got a transfer back to Bangalore!!! Landed with luggage and all at our door step and surprised mom and dad. I thought they would be worried that I had lost my job or something like that, they reacted normally. Mom has been calling people all day to tell them I am back. Don't know what difference it makes to them.

Hyderabad has been good to me, will miss the place but it feels good to be home. :)

Time flies

Cant believe its actually November, just two more months before 2006. I know I am stating the obvious but the reason this is worrying me is that the resolutions I took on New Years eve, which I also shamelessly announced and made public (as I am doing again), haven't been fulfilled. What was I doing for the last 10 months? Now I have to implement them in 2 months or live with the guilt of not even trying to fulfill them. I think I'll choose the latter.

I still remember that day when we were trying to get drunk on 7 up(or was it sprite?) and I took those four simple resolutions.

1. Improve knowledge in geography, study atlas, world map.
2. Learn more about banking, income tax, mutual funds, bonds, stocks and shares.
3. See money grow using knowledge gained by 2.
4. Visit places discovered in 1. using money earned in 3.

Damn. Why does time fly so fast? Maybe I will carry over the same resolutions for the next year.

Updates from home....

Feels good to be home, got all the attention that I expected. Nothings changed much in the last month, my dog still recognizes me, my room unused, has started growing stuff mostly of the fungal kind thanks to all the rain and oh...Pizza Hut has opened up a new outlet in our neighbourhood, that is something to cheer about. Diwali was fun, though cracker free because the dog hates it. Met up with cousins, uncles, aunts and nephews. Attended poojas at two places. I casually mentioned that people up north play cards during diwali, everyone got excited and we played at uncle's place for quiet some time. I won. Didn't know I was this good. Should start gambling, this way I can save up for that Digicam I have always wanted.

With friends, plans were made, cancelled, remade and postponed. Today visited Garuda mall. Spent most of the time comparing it with Forum. Saw 'Truth about Love' in Inox. Silly raunchy British comedy, waste of 140 bucks. Paid one more visit to Blossoms (yay!) and Corner House. Next will be going to Sigma mall, this new place at cunningham road. More people to meet, more places to visit.

I got two messages from Income tax department. It said 'Happy Diwali. Have you filed your return for Ay 05-06? If not plz do so.' Read more here. Kinda puts you off when you get that message in the middle of all the celebrations. When thay say 'Happy Diwali', do they really mean it?
Anyway I did have a happy one. :)

Home!!!

Ah its Friday, my bags are packed, train is at 7. Though I go home very often this time is special for two reasons. One, this visit of mine doesn't coincide with any sibling's arrival from US (which means all attention is going to be devoted to me!!!!). Two, its Diwali(which means lots of sweets and good food). Have made lots of plans, got to meet up with friends, new and old, I hope rain doesn't play spoil sport.

Six more hours to go, have to kill time until then. Will blog next from home.

Happy Diwali to all! Have fun!

Voice of the City

"Tell me," I said, stammeringly, for I have no voice of my own, "what does this big - er - enormous - er - whopping city say? It must have a voice of some kind. Does it ever speak to you? How do you interpret its meaning? It is a tremendous mass, but it must have a key'

"Here are 4,000,000 people," said I, scholastically, "compressed upon an island, which is mostly lamb surrounded by Wall Street water. The conjunction of so many units into so small a space must result in an identity - or, or rather a homogeneity that finds its oral expression through a common channel. It is, as you might say, a consensus of translation, concentrating in a crystallized, general idea which reveals itself in what may be termed the Voice of the City. Can you tell me what it is?"

"I must go and find out," I said, "what is the Voice of this city. Other cities have voices. It is an assignment. I must have it. New York," I continued, in a rising tone, "had better not hand me a cigar and say: ' Old man, I can't talk for publication.' No other city acts in that way. Chicago says, unhesitatingly, 'I will;' I Philadelphia says, 'I should;' New Orleans says, ' I used to;' Louisville says, 'Don't care if I do;' St. Louis says, 'Excuse me;' Pittsburg says, 'Smoke up.' Now, New York - "

Excepts from O Henry's short story 'The Voice of the City'.

I wonder what my hometown has to say. Bangalore, where malls and mutiplexes are built in a day but new roads and flyovers and take ages, where traffic never moves, where infrastucture reeks, where IT companies and pubs spring up everyday.....What is it saying? 'I cant take it anymore'?

Hyderabad is almost there but not yet....do I hear it say 'I wannabe' ?

Weekend Report

People at my friend's office decided that they weren't having enough fun at office and felt the need to meet up at some place where they could all unwind. A committee was set up on Wednesday and 'Dublin', ITC Sheraton's hip pub was chosen as the place to be. People were informed and a big number of 25 tired and frustrated software engineers agreed to join. I decided to tag along since I knew most people and if not tired I was frustrated enough. Though I come from the land that is home to many pubs, pubbing and pub hopping are concepts that are alien to me. At best I have done 'Coffee Day hopping', No not even that. What we mostly did was 'Symphony Theatre-Rice Bowl-Corner House' hopping. Those were good days but let me not digress. Come Saturday, the number thins down to 15 but the enthusiasm continues to be high. A last minute rush to shopping malls for want of the 'perfect attire' resulted in nothing. Had to dig in our scanty wardrobe and decided to wear our 'attitude' for thats what matters and not what you actually wear(My 'attitude' was striped in case you are interested). Two hours to go and a sudden realization hits everyone that we probably aren't rich enough to afford the above mentioned place and had to settle for a smaller (and affordable) place called Sparks. Place was ordinary but music was good and we managed to dominated the tiny dance floor. I for one ended up having a really good time.

Sunday, I finally did something I have always wanted to do, watched DDLJ (Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge) from the start to the end at one stretch (ads and all). I now seize to be an object of constant jeering and the butt of 'She hasn't seen DDLJ yet' jokes. I am now one of them. Maybe because I am not a Shahrukh fan, maybe because I watched it after a decade of its release and maybe because I have never been in love(as some people seem to think), I was not able to appreciate the movie.

The two vodkas on Saturday and the most successful Indian movie on Sunday did not have the desired effect on me but it was a weekend well spent.

Tall, Fair and Handsome

Guys, your prayers have been answered.

If

• Your parents can't find you a girl or your proposals are being rejected and you have to settle for a old hag....
• You cant get a job as a steward in that coveted airlines.....
• You lost that job as a TV anchor to someone else....
• You are ignored, made fun of, teased at....
• You want Rakesh Roshan to offer a role in his next movie but cant get him to notice you...
• You want to sit next to Krishnamachari Shrikant in the commentary box but don’t have the confidence....

all because of your dark complexion, your prayers have been answered. Emami has launched Fair and handsome for men. Saw the ad yesterday, it is hilarious. A guy (made to look dark) sneaks in to a women’s hostel to steal a pack of 'regular fairness cream' (by which I mean fairness cream for women) who is then chased by women only to be rescued by a fair guy who gives the guy some much needed advice which unfortunately is not 'Get a life' but 'This wont work on you, use fairness cream specially made for men'. Dark makeup gone, guy looks fair (and lovely???) and girls fall all over him.

Long time since I laughed so hard at an Ad. Why do I get the feeling there is a woman behind this ad who is thinking 'sweet revenge’?

Bounce and the Art of Living

With most of the junta gearing up preparations for CAT (MBA entrance) most of my weekends are spent lazing around at home, for lack of company. It was during one such weekend that me and another aimless friend realized that we weren't actually wasting away our lives, that there was so much to be learnt, that one didn't have to be a manager to learn the mysteries of life and to enjoy its beauty. Call it enlightenment, call it nirvana, it came from the most unusual source, our aging Nokia 6610 phones.

When we first started playing Bounce it was all about points, levels, high scores, beating each other, it was our weapon against boredom. We soon realized that playing the game was not just draining the batteries and ruining the keypad but was in fact building our character and making us better humans.
Like when we I was stuck at Level 4, I had almost given up and even declared that it was beyond my capabilitiy. Level 5 was a distant dream for me. But one day my friend crossed it. I tried again, focused, learnt where I was going wrong and then it happened. Level 5. My happiness knew no bounds. Always believe in your dreams, nothing is impossible. Level 5 meant more hurdles, more difficulties. Dont lose hope. This time we both did it together, discussed strategies, helped each other and we both entered Level 7 together. Friendship is beautiful.

Today we are in a crucial stage in Level 7. What is it that we finally want? What are our goals? Reach level 8? What next?
What we really want and hope is that the learning continues so that we will be equipped to face life, deal with it and learn to appreciate the art of living.

Oh hell, I'll just use the cheat code to cross level 7. Two weeks after putting down 'The Monk who sold his ferrari', the effect hasn't gone. I think I should take a break from reading and get myself a social life.

Green Day

I love Green Day...Basket Case, The grouch, Boulevard of Broken dreams...perfect songs to listen to when you are angry, sad, frustrated, miserable, lonely(and you cant afford to see a shrink), when you want to yell at your boss or HR (but cant because you are worried about that impending appraisal), or when the auto driver charges double the amount the meter shows(because its too early or too late or gives one or the other shitty reason), or when you try to cross the road and it takes forever (and you forget why you crossed the road in the first place) or when you are perfectly normal but the world around you and everybody around you seems to have gone bonkers. Perfect. Have been listening to it since the past 3 days.

It helps if you play it on your new iPod Nano (specially if you didn't have to pay for it and got it as a gift).

Of Mice and Women

Now that I am back in Hyderabad, I am back to living independently. I have no troubles adjusting because I am just resuming the lifestyle I left behind. I enjoyed it then and am enjoying it now, late night discussions with roomies, bitching about our companies, arguing as to whose turn it is to pay the electricity bill, weekend movies, experimenting in the kitchen, fighting for the remote and more.
Currently we are facing umpteen problems in the flat we are staying, one such being rats.A family of rats (3 have been spotted) have been visiting us mostly in the nights but there have been sightings in the day also. We are also suspecting that they might have an establishment somewhere in the kitchen. Our kitchen, once a hang out for all of us, a place for discussing the days events, is now used only by the brave and fearless. Screams are heard every otherday followed by loud explecitives.
Initially some of us were not too eager on exterminating them. I have no sympathy for these beady eyed furry monsters. They are ugly, creepy and they steal our food. I don't know why they have been given so much importance in fairy tales, nursery rhymes and cartoons. I never liked Mickey Mouse. Then there's Jerry. Tom deserves some respect and some food too! But yeah, as a kid I took sides with Jerry. Stuart Little, Awwww he looked so cute. So did the mice in Disney's Cinderella, especially the fat one. Damn! I am actually feeling sorry for them now.......

Salaam Namaste

This is not exactly a review but it does have spoilers so don't complain that I didn't warn you.
The movie is supposed to be ground breaking and different because it is about Live In relationships. I don't think it is ground breaking at all but it is definitely entertaining. I cant think of any other Hindi movie about the same concept but unwed mothers aren't new to bollywood. Besides the second half is a rip off of the English movie Nine Months so it is definitely not original. But for a yash raj movie it is something new. No extended families, no sentimental drama and no excessive crying. Its a comedy movie with some masala that is tolerable.
Saif looks great, even shirtless! And his performance is top class. Even when he ditches Priety when she is pregnant, you just cant hate him!Songs are good except the one in which a very pregnant Priety is dancing to a song that sounds more like a nursery rhyme.

After watching the movie I couldn't help wondering, the movie works only because it is based in Australia. Had they been in India, the movie(if it portrayed reality) would have taken different turns, raising several moral issues. Live In relationships are not accepted in India. It is not easy for a single unwed mother to raise her child on her own. They played it safe by choosing a foreign land as the backdrop. Another reason why it is not ground breaking. All in all this one is definitely worth a watch.

Doctors

Its been a while since I last blogged and was beginning to worry that I was disappointing those few people who visit my blog. I even had a nightmare or a dream, call it whatever you want, that I had fractured my leg and was blogging about it. Got up to find everything was normal. I was actually disappointed that I didn't have a broken leg and something to write about. Is this normal? Anyway I have been awfully busy and have been traveling which proves that I have a life (Its another issue that my life is not interesting enough to blog about!)
Finished reading Doctors. I don't recommend the book unless you are interested in the medical profession. All the while I was reading the book my thoughts went out to my ex class mate, close friend and now doctor who is in Mysore. She had always been focused and had decided that medicine was the right profession for her, long before I knew what I wanted to do with my life. In college she was the perfectionist, sincerely attended all classes including language classes which most of us preferred bunking . And yet she was fun to be with, always energetic and enthusiastic and though she dragged me with her when she had doubts to ask the profs and though she made me do my chemistry lab experiments accurately, we had a good time in the two crucial years of our life. She went on to score brilliantly in the entrance and took up her dream profession while I took up engineering because everybody else did. I spent most of the four years in the parking lot and canteen while she slogged in the library. Fours years later when most of us got jobs and started working I could see the frustration in her. But the difference is clear now, five years later, she is a doctor and I am just another engineer. I have always admired her and now admire her even more for fulfilling her dream. Its not over for the both of us, we still have lots to do, lots to achieve, I hope we continue to be good friends and I hope I don't have to pay medical bills for the rest of my life :)

Achooo

Today's fortune:
Stop searching forever, happiness is just next to you.

What crap? Lying next to me is a dirty hanky. Was down with fever for the last two days. Fever gone, this annoying cold is not budging. Have been sneezing continuosly for the past 24 hours. Am not a pretty sight. Are there any reported deaths due to common cold? Dont answer that. I'd rather not know.

Achooo!

Happiness? Cure for common cold. Right now I am searching for that.

UPDATE

There is good news, the sneezing has stopped.
Of course, one does'nt die of cold... I was just being silly. Heheh. Having a bad cold does strange things to your head. heheh. And to your hearing. I was listening to this song from Hum and I thought I heard 'Hum sub hain kale'. We are all black?? What does that mean?? Then the next line 'Tu sabki chavi'...Oh ok..that was taale not kaale. 'We are all locks. You are our key'.
Hmmm that doesnt make much sense either.

Oh if you have a cold heres what will help

• Hot coffee
• Hot soup
• Steam inhalation with vics or eucalyptus oil (Thanks John.)
• Vics as it is, doesnt. You will only end up smelling like it, if you can smell that is.
  

Austen, Chadda and Mr.Darcy

Finished reading Pride and Prejudice few days back, took longer than usual to read it. I am not really into classics, read them mostly in school but I think I am now in a better position to appreciate them. Loved reading this one, the plot is not very complicated, the charachters are identifiable and the situations they get into and get out of are very real. Elizabeth Benett, the leading lady of this book is now one of my favorite characters. Aishwarya Rai played her role in Bride and Prejudice and was ok( I am not a fan of Ms. Rai). The movie though, was not ok, I thought it was very silly and was not surprised to see it fail miserably. But reading the book, I really think it was clever of Gurinder Chadda to come up with the Indianised version of the movie. The Benetts are like any other Indian family with their mother fretting over getting her five daughters married. But then, there was nothing really Indian about the movie except for the weddings, songs and a glimpse of the Golden temple. It ended up being a plain (and boring) adaptation of the book. She also had lifeguards singing and dancing in the movie! What was she thinking? She could have done better.

Talking about favorite characters, my other all time favorite is Bridget Jones from Bridget Jones Diary. Bridget is everything Elizabeth is not. Elizabeth is senisible, intelligent and yet vulnerable. She trusts her judgement, speaks her mind and does what she wants to do. Bridget is wild, quriky and confused. She lacks judgement, if she spoke her mind she would lose her job and she does what she cant avoid doing(like falling down the firemans pole!) .I cant decide which one is funnier, the book or the movie, Rene Zellweger was perfect as Bridget but to understand the psyche of Bridget one needs to read the book.

Though poles apart, they both have something in common (apart from being British and their creators being British women), they both fall for Mr. Darcy!!!!!!

I think there is a Bridget Jones in me who wants to be Elizabeth Benett. Meanwhile I'll wait for Mr. Darcy.

Auto Deal

I got down from the bus, tired from the long journey. I was happy to be back in Bangalore and glad to see an auto driver approaching me.

Auto driver : Kaha jana hai madam?
('Where do you want to go madam?' in Hindi)
Me : *****nagar
(Thats where I live)
Auto driver : 80 rupees madam, subah meter nahi chalta hai.
('80 rupees, no meter in the morning', again in hindi)
Me : 35 rupees kodtini, bartira?
('I'll give 35 rupees, are u coming?' in Kannada)
Auto driver : nalvattu rupayi kodi.
('Give me forty', in Kannada of course)
Me : Ayitu.
('OK')

Heh, all those who come to the city are'nt necessarily outsiders!

Kangana

Addiyan ton ki paiyan jhanjara laung mare lishkare
Kagna tera ni sanu kare ishaare

Kagne de vitch lage naag sat rang ni
Kale kale aashiqan to dil ehe mange ni
Apne es kagne nu saam ke rakh mutiyaare
Kagna tera ni sanu kare ishaare

I just love the acoustic version of 'kangana' by Dr Zeus. Can listen to it over and over again. It also reminds me of chudi bazaar, charminar where you will find the most beautiful colourful bangles.

The last line translated means 'Your bangles are giving me a signal'. Time to shop for bangles ;)

Books make me happy :)

If you are a banglorean and a book lover you have got to visit Blossoms on Church Street. Its a book store that deals with both secondhand and firsthand books at amazingly low prices. I first heard about it through a non banglorean who was here on a visit. And he was surprised to know that I hadn’t heard about it. Well, I did find out today that they opened in Jan this year, considering that I was not living in Bangalore that time, its not really my fault is it?

Anyways, they seem to have books of all genre and I got everything I wanted to buy so I think they have a decent collection. The staff is also very helpful and they do seem to know where to find what book. Unlike people at Landmark, who with all their computers and smug attitude couldn’t find a book I was looking for.

I ended up buying

* Contact - Carl Sagan
* Doctors- Eric Segal
* Picture of Dorian Gray- Oscar Wilde
* Pride and Prejudice- Jane Austen
* The Monk who sold his Ferrari- Robin Sharma

And don't know what to expect from this

* Kiss the girls- James Patterson

Its a strange feeling reading second hand books. Old and tattered, knowing that it has been in somebody's hand, you already have something common with that somebody, like you share a bond with someone you haven’t met and will probably never meet. Strange, until you start reading the book and forget about everything else. But being in a place that stocks old and dusty books poses a problem if you are allergic to dust. I was just about to get my hanky out when I entered the place but everything was under control. No disasters of the respiratory kind!

Have already started reading Pride and Prejudice, though not an Austen fan I think I'll like this better than Sense and Sensibility.

Books make me happy. Shopping for it makes me happier. I am happy today. Also had a good dinner today. I think Mark twain missed out Good food when he said
' Good friends, Good books and a Sleepy conscience - this is the ideal life.

If you are wondering whether this is the only quote I know, then yes.

Potter Mania

After almost two weeks of avoiding reviews, gossips and rumours about the newly released 'Harry Potter and the half blood prince' I finally got hold of a copy and read it. It was definetly worth the wait, all the time Rowling took to come out with the book has paid off. It is darker than ever, things fall into place and Harry has grown so much, I have a new sense of admiration for his charachter. But there are still questions to be answered so cant wait for the next one.

I have always maintained that Prisoner of Azkaban was my favorite, but I guess this one tops the list now. So my current order of preference is VI, III, IV, I, II, V.

I also have no idea when the next movie is coming out. Need to find out more about it.

On a slightly different note, one of my friends got it to trouble for forwarding the soft copy of this book using her office mail id on grounds of copyright infrigement. One might want to be careful.

The crystal ball and more..

I am a Leo but am unlike one. When people pointed this out to me, I used to get very irritated. Its almost as if they think I am a handicap, that I am a lesser person on account of not being one. Who makes these rules after all? Just because somebody says you are born under this star and you should be like this, doesn't mean one has to be that way. Instead the very fact that I am not like one, means that their logic(if there is a logic) is false and baseless. These days I just shrug and say 'I am unique' or even 'stars don't rule me, I rule them'.

But I cant honestly say I don't believe in astrology. For one, I seem to be following my daily horoscope in the newspaper these days. It amuses me. Just last week I picked up Sunday Herald and read the predictions for the week. It said I would be travelling and that I would get success. I was surprised because I was indeed traveling that very day and the reason for my visit was very crucial and could have gone either way(successful or unsuccessful). It was when I started reading the main newspaper that my hopes were all crushed. It said that due to a technical error the horoscope in the supplement was actually next week's and that week's prediction was given right below.I was disappointed because this prediction had nothing special.

This incident though funny made me think why people actually want to know the future. The answer is simple, it gives hope. I wanted to believe what was written. People look for something to hold on to and look for answers. But there is a downside, one could lose hope too. And for this reason alone I don't want to know about my future. I don't want to know what the lines on my hands say, I will never gaze into the crystal ball. I am what I am. If someone judges me because of my sunsign, it is his loss.

The best thing about life is that you don't know what happens next, why ruin the mystery?

Random Thoughts on Hyderabad

1)The roads here are much better than that in Bangalore
2)Yet traffic is chaotic and mad.
3)Crossing roads is imposible. I had to take an auto who had to take a U-turn all the way just because I could'nt cross the road.
4)The autos here are a dirty yellow in colour.
5)You will get better Andhra food in Bangalore. In fact I am yet to see authentic Andhra(Nagarjuna, Nandini, Mayura types) restaurants in Hyderabad.
6)Hussain Sagar lake, Eat Street and Necklace Road, three places in Hyderabad, nothing in Bangalore can beat them.

Main kahan hoon?

Memory loss and plastic surgery are two concepts relating to medical science that have been used in Hindi cinema over and over again. For those who don’t watch hindi movies, this is how it works.
1) Memory loss (Amnesia): The subject loses all memory mostly due to an accident, with the doctor proclaiming 'Only God can help'. In most cases memory automatically returns when the accident re occurs (If the person lost his memory because a boulder fell on his head, it will return when another boulder falls on his head)
2) Plastic Surgery: Anybody can look like anybody thanks to skillful plastic surgeons in Bollywood. All you need is a photograph of who you want to be and presto the next thing you know you will look like him irrespective of your bone structure, weight, height.

But this I thought was thing of the past. The audience (people like me) today have gotten intelligent. We don’t take bullshit anymore and quality films are being made. Hindi movies even make it to the Oscars.
I was proved wrong, thanks to the movie I saw in the bus which I later realised was in fact a new film called Yakeen. To come up with a movie today, with a story involving both the above-mentioned concepts requires tremendous courage, no insight and a producer with lots of money.

I have been travelling from Bangalore to Hyderabad (and back) quite often now and I have noticed that they never play good movies. The bad moviemakers and the travels people have some sort of a tie up. It makes sense if you think about it, this is the only way you can get people to watch bad movies. Because when a movie is played in the bus, you have no choice, you either have to watch the movie or you have to watch the movie.

Now coming to the story, the order in which things are unfolded in the movie are supposed to create suspense, I will kill all suspense (and you will thank me) and come to the crux of the story. Priyanka Chopra is this psycho woman who is married to Arjun Rampal and is having an affair with Sudhanshu Pande (if you are wondering ‘Who Sudhanshu?’, he was in a band called Band of Boys).
She then kills Arjun (I told you she is a Psycho). Sudhanshu is upset but still helps in hiding Arjun's body and on their way back they meet with an accident. Now for the incredible turn in events. Sudhanshu loses memory and his face is disfigured, so Priyanka gets a surgeon from London to make him look like Arjun Rampal. If I were Sudhanshu and got up one day looking like Arjun Rampal I would have been very happy, but the guy has lost his memory so he doesn’t remember how he looked like. Priyanka tries to convince him that he is in fact her husband but he is not convinced. By this time I wanted to stop the bus and jump out of the window. (Windows in Volvo buses don’t open).
While I was trying to keep myself from going mad, Sudhanshu (who looks like Arjun) finds out the truth. Priyanka kills two other people who had small roles in the movie.
And then some kind soul in the bus yelled at the bus driver to switch it off. What happens in the end I will never know. I think Priyanka kills herself and Sudhanshu gets another plastic surgeon from America and looks like before. He then regrets it for obvious reasons.

I was saved from seeing the end of this one but what scares me is that, this is not the end, I have more travelling to do, more bad movies to watch. God, have mercy on me.

Mail wars

This is not the first time I have gotten into trouble while chatting with friends. While the previous one was serious, this was quiet silly though somebody wanted to make a big deal out of it.

After continuously bombarding my very busy friends with mails, I finally got a reply from one, R.
Half way through our conversation,(mails, no messenger) I realised I had'nt included the other friend S, in the loop which is normally the case. This was an honest mistake and I am sure S would have understood but I asked R to keep it a secret.
Now, my friend turned traitor R, forwarded this to S. Let me tell you something about R, she has got this sweet smile, but dont get deceived, inside lies a not so sweet person with a devilish mind(To which she will shamelessly admit)

Anyways, when S finally responded, it turned out that she didnt mind after all. True friend that she is. Sorry R, better luck next time!
Hey Sari, I just realised we still havent got back at Ranj after what she did in Mysore. After this incident we have to, dont you think?

Something else that I realised today : It has been seven years since we have known each other. After our 12th all of us ended up in 3 different colleges (3 different branches) and as per an unsaid rule we met every semester hols. (Thanks to me, it was always I who did all the planning. We could have met more often but we all lived in 3 different corners of this city. You guys owe me one for all the fun we have had.)

I think we should celebrate. what say? Ranj come to Bangalore, soon.

I am not bribing you guys to comment. But then maybe I will ;)

Hey, you guys should blog too, I am feeling kinda lonely out here :(

Then and Now

Everytime that I look in the mirror
All these lines on my face gettin’ clearer
The past is gone
It went by like dust to dawn
Isn’t that the way
Everybody’s got their dues in life to pay


Dream on, dream on
Dream yourself a dream come true
Dream on, dream on
Dream until your dream come true
Dream on, dream on, dream on...

-Aerosmith(Dream on)

Five years ago if somebody had asked me to describe myself, I would have said "I am a dreamer". Today I am not so sure. Some of those dreams are reality, some still not, some forgotten, new ones added. The past is gone. The future intrigues me. I still have so much to do.
But now I am more at peace with myself. Have learnt to enjoy life while I can. I try to do new things, try to meet new people, yeah I try. And yeah I still dream.

But between then and now few things have'nt changed, things that remain important to me.
Good Friends : Why hasnt anyone called me today?
Good Books : There is a pile of books on my table, all waiting for me to read.
Sleepy Conscience : Responsibilities? What's that?

Mark Twain was right. This is the ideal life.