pretty much...

this is pretty much my last post of the year... pretty much the last moor... the last sigh....
-----------------------------

We did have an awesome trek. 5000 ft of wild(ly) imposing raw terrain. (Wow!! That is just the phrase!) For the whole of the 10km trek (one way), there would been hardly a flat stretch of 300m-400m. And much of it was an inclination of 45 degrees or more which ensured that climbing down was as tough as the onward journey.

After a full 32 hours, my thighs and calf muscles are still aching for the grind! ;)

There were quite a few technicalities/fundaas involved. For example, people sometimes mistake the Kshesh Giri as the final accessible point and return. But there is a way through the forest and a dry waterfall (if it is not dry, you gotta take another circuitous route round the rocks) to take you to Pushpa Giri, the highest point of Kumara Parvatha, the second highest peak in Karnataka ?)

And another, the forest officials had banned trekking beyond the checkpost due to one researcher/scientist getting lost (and found after a week or so) during the August rains and the subsequent negative publicity. We were the first guys to get the permission after the ban, thanks to our efforts and my cousin's friend whose mother is with the Wildlife Dept, Aranya Bhavan. (After us, some 4 groups sneaked on to the top!)

If not for Mr. Bhattre at Giri Gadde, providing food and shelter midway, I think it would been impossible a trek to the top.

BTW, that dry waterfall wall fulfilled my dreams of rock climbing! :)

I would post the pics, Bhattre's phone number and some more sometime next year. For now, I gotta get ready for my HYD-CNAI flight..
-----------------------------

I saw her.. in the (very same exact) white embroidered baba (or bebe or babe or beba brand) salwar. And my mind skipped a beat.. heart beat a retreat..
-----------------------------


as another year draws to a close..
my dreams are yet unfulfilled..
are they turning sour?
or is it just my wants.. ?

Bhaskar
(May the Force and the Peace be with you in the New Year!)

Surreal World

Received by email from my cousin here.. Kalps, (Honeywell) Bangalore

--------------------------

Toys, in their different forms of engineering, colors and designs are the source of my interest of late!

From hot wheels to squeaky dolls, from game boys to Barbie girls, from flying UFOs to the down-to-earth spinning tops, the mechanisms and their creativity do not cease to amaze me.

So, this time when I had been to visit my cousin who had come from Australia, I was all geared up to relate to her little girl. A cute little one, who talks only in English, yet can understand every word of my Tamil.

She was not that interested in talking to me this time as she had another little girl for company. And there was something else too, with which she was very busy with. From time to time, she checked on a little dial that was tied along a colorful wire. I was getting curious as to what it could be and mentally guessed that it could be a small video game.

But when the other girl was checking on it too, my curiosity started eating me up. What could be on the dial that the girls checked often, without spending more than a minute every time they visited that contraption that lay placidly on the hall sofa? Logic started reasoning with my guess, that if it were a video game, then the kids would be holding it in their palms and not part away from it, till the time they win or lose the game. So what could it be?!

"What is that?” popped out my question to the little girls. “TamaGotchi" was something they seem to convey to me. It sounded Greek and Latin to me and I started wondering if Australia was moving towards their native language just like the numerous Indian city names are being renamed in their native tongues.

"It’s a virtual pet" answered my cousin's husband to my confused and querying brows.
"What’s that!!!" repeated a shocked me. "A virutal pet? How could it be?”
The kid answered to that now, "She is sleeping" and showed me the "she", who was a little "zzz" in the middle of oval shaped dial.

What is sleeping and where? asked me, who could not fathom where the kid is pointing to. Mustn’t the pet have a body? eyes? ears? a tongue to wag? or a pretty whisker that can tickle? or a fin to shake? or a pretty beak that can poke and nibble?

No! It needn’t! was what I understood from my cousin. This is a virtual pet that is being programmed along with the oval contraption. It would be born, it would cry for milk, (you should press a button to feed it milk), it would want to pee (another button to change the nappy), it would sleep (make it cozy - a button again, but I could see only a max of 3 buttons on the dial!). So all you need is to name the pet, feed it, change its dirty underwear and rock it to sleep. If you dare to ignore its hunger pangs, your pet would shrivel and die. And beware of the pet's early demise, as your kid might go into a depression as what is happening with the kids in many of the developed countries who are addicted to this toy. The last feature was a punch on my senses! If you are sure of your pet's sex, you can connect across a network and satisfy the sexual urges of your pet by finding it a suitable groom or a bride!
Gosh! It was becoming too virtual (weird?) to the human in me!

How could you have a pet only on a dial? How could you feed with the press of the buttons? How can you change nappies without the traditional wipes and Johnson’s powder? How can you mate without the traditional touch? How can you cry without a running nose?

Maybe I am getting old? Maybe I am not able to replace the old with the new? Maybe I am unable to free myself from the known?

But I know that no virtual touch can replace the traditional cozy cuddles and hugs to your cute poodle, no simulated feeling can replace the love that you feel towards a wiggling fish in your pond, no programmed behavior can replace the unpredictability of your cute little cat!

Mess is what makes life a wonderful art... to live, cuddle, love, play and cry. Real tears, real teeth, real touch, real growls and real hungry howls... reality bites but I do have a problem with the virtual highs!…

A virtually true!,
Kalps

Tirupati et al

It was a good trip.. quite different from my usual experience. The last couple of times I had been there with my cousins and relatives.. This time it was just the three of us, me and my parents. The last few times we had climbed up the hill/stairs.. This time we went on a package tour (AP Tourism). The last...we could see the sun. This time.. it was cold, drizzling and foggy (hardly any visibility.. 20m or so.. and the driver still managed to drive decently fast and safe downhill)

-----------------------------------

Disclaimer: A collage of my imagination/observation....

I didnt notice her when she boarded the coach. I had drowned myself in AR Rahman on my iPod. It was only after a couple of minutes of her staring at me did i notice.. quite a pleasant face, sharp eyes, neck-length hair. And there was nothing awkward about her stare... or her mother's. yes, they were 5 of them.. in fact, 6... she, her parents, her sister, bro-in-law and their small cute a-few-months-old baby.

I gave them a faint smile.. and got back to my music. It was only when the bus stopped for our dinner that I got to see them more. They seemed a loving family.. warm and friendly. Everyone was showering their attention on the newly born. And the baby was enjoying it all through! Once in a while, she would turn my side and give me a known-you-long kinda look.

I found out her name.. And then I noticed that her sister walked with a slight limp. Even she did. (I was wondering.. whats that? some kinda hereditary disorder or what.. but their parents seemed fine..) In a way, my respect for the guy (bro-in-law) increased. He has married someone with a walking disability (though quite slight a limp). It is quite rare to find somebody like that.. someone who values the person rather than their physical structure.. someone who didnt let the others' feelings of 'looking good or bad' cloud his own judgement..

And thus, we continued the journey up the hill and into the night.

Early morning, we reached our destination and were allotted our cottages at the resort on top. We met again at breakfast at the restaurant and thats when I noticed the thick, long, curved scar on the bro-in-law's face.

And I saw her crying.. rather sobbing.. Her family was trying to console her. Thats when I noticed her legs' finger rings..'metti'.. the like Hindus wear after marriage.

It seems.. she lost her husband a few months back in an accident at the same place.. when they and her sister's family were traveling downhill in their car.. and it took a tumble....

Travel Bug..

no updates for sometime... a bit busy at work and otherwise.. its time to chill..

The travel bug has bit me again... soon (over the weekend), I will be going to Tirupati with my parents. And then, the weekend next, me cousins & friends are trekking at Kumara Parvatha (near Kukke Subramanya)...it is an 18km trekk up to the mountain peak. read this!

Followed by travel to Hyderabad and Chennai. You asking why? just that my onsite customers would be off during christmas eve and then, Go Air gave me free tickets... so here I go!!

(try and catch me enroute :)
Bhaskar

in US? you can help this kid

My college friend Seena's 2.5 year old son, Viraj is suffering from Leukemia. And Viraj needs a bone marrow transplant. They live in Phoenix, Arizona. There are a number of bone marrow match drives arranged in Phoenix, Tempe and other cities in Arizona to help Viraj find a bone marrow match.

Details of the drives can be found in the following link. http://virajpillai.org/

Kindly forward this message to your friends, relatives etc. Your help is really appreciated.
Thanks.
AK.
( Ananthakrishnan Ananthanarayanan
hydroqual.com )

Sweet Revenge!

The best revenge on the person who wronged you is to forgive and forget that person...

Thats just what I am trying to do... it is pretty exciting and i might even succeed at it!!

Bhaskar

Best way - Q&A !!

Tagged, Again

under the influence of my love, Aekta, I follow her tag to the 'T'..!

10 years ago: November ’95.
I had missed cracking the JEE and decided not to join any aisa-waisa Engg college. Joined BSc (chem) at Vivekananda College, Chennai and was again preparing for the IITs. Being quite a strict college, within a month, one of the profs pulled me up for bunking so many of the classes and even the lab sessions. I stopped seeing him again ;) Around this time, I was bindaas!! just me and my coaching classes...


5 years ago: November 2000.
Somehow finished with my 4 years of UG in 4 yrs itself ;).. struggling nose-deep with the cream-de-la-cream.. Kinda disillusioned with the IIT (and its girls/whatever you call them ;) and computer science, decided MS(comp) isnt for me :P Wanted to build my management (work experience) muscles before I went to do my MBA. Joined as a software engineer with Philips Software Centre, Bangalore and it was our honeymoon period then! (with the company, i meant :)


1 year ago: November ’04.
Having safely cruised thro' the most my MBA, I was again enjoying the bindaas life... Last shreads in my marital relationship.. and I had more or less come to terms with it.. hence, no qualms on that front either.. Watched atleast one movie a day... With a lot of free time and free high-speed internet at my ready disposal, then started my honeymoon with the blogosphere.


Yesterday:
Reeling under the influence of Murphy's law.. Everything that could go wrong at work, went. Working overtime.. pitching-in for my colleague who was sick and on leave..


5 things I would do if I had a lot of money:
Build my dream house with runway (ala Travolta)
Buy my Skoda Octavia (and then whatever)
Hop onto my jet, in search of paradise island
Woo Perizaad Zorabian
Make sure 1% of my money reaches those who are in need


5 places I escape to:
Friendland
Musicland
Movieland
Blogland
Island

5 things I’d never wear:
(what a question??)
sudarmani jetty
govinda costumes
rupa's banians
janet's brassiere
paris's headbands (she doesnt wear much else, does she?!)

5 favourite TV shows:
Friends
Playboy series (on Russian channel!)/Baywatch
Fullhouse
Entourage
Sun TV Comedy time (a li'l)

5 things I enjoy doing:
Talking
Thinking
Reading
Working
Cuddling
(copied from Aekta!)

5 favourite toys:
(whats that.. kinky? you dont want me to name them, do you?!)

I further tag:
You, yes you!!

God Lives Elsewhere!

http://www.tehelka.com/story_main14.asp?filename=Cr111905do_bigha.asp

A thing of beauty is a joy forever... or so I was joyed to see the Akshardham Temple. But this article made me think... think thrice..

(thanks to Alok and Blog Bang)

God lives elsewhere

So how much space does god need to call it his home? How many crores
does god want us to spend on him so that he can possess a swanky,
sprawling mansion which dominates the skyline? So what will god do in
this huge expanse, move from room to room? Looking for what, inner
peace, outer silence, inner silence, bitter truth? Or will he play golf
or ride a horse and gaze at the distances of the private property he
possesses, till the eye can see, like landlord-princes in old European
paintings? Is god terribly afraid of darkness? Does he suffer from
insomnia? Is he a sleepwalker? If not, why does he need hundreds of
jazzed up lights all night in a city so starkly short of power and in a
nuclear power country where half the population still don't have
electricity (or enough to eat, below that mythical poverty line)? So
why does god need this rolling-in-wealth real estate?

And if he resides in the quietness of our hearts, in every word, bird,
leaf and leaf storm, in every butterfly, ant and inanimate object, in
rippling rivers, evening tides, moon shadows, mountain trees, and if he
lives in the winter wind which we breathe and if he is formless and
infinite, objective and etherised, essence and presence, then why does
he need a lavish palace in concrete as his residence on earth? Whose
god is this god?

Is god terribly afraid of darkness? Does he suffer from insomnia? Is he
a sleepwalker? Why does he need this rolling-in-wealth real estate?
President APJ Kalam, a pro-bomb scientist, inaugurated the opulent
Akshardham temple in east Delhi recently, modelled on the Akshardham
temple in Ahmedabad. Accompanying him was Dr Manmohan Singh, a man of
austerity and scholarship. Also present was the original patron of this
mega religiosity, 'pseudo secularist' LK Advani, who not only fights
elections from Gandhinagar, but compulsively backs Narendra Modi who
presided over the post-Godhra genocide. Find the links: the Akshardham
complex is controlled by the powerful, cash-rich Swaminarayan sect,
mostly based in Gujarat, with strong NRI links among the Friends of
vhp/bjp. And it won't be a misnomer to say that they, like the vhp
NRIs, are orthodox Hindutva loyalists, top-heavy in the caste society.

This pink sandstone dham of godliness, sprawled over 100 acres, as
mushy newspaper reports tell us, cost Rs 200 crore, (some say Rs 400
crore) and it is 141 feet high, with 234 ornate pillars, 20,000 gods,
sculptured flora and fauna, a vedic village, markets etc, the works.
God's own little sacred space. Next to a river which is dead, a dead
Yamuna, killed by urbanity's insatiable insensitivity, now nothing but
a nullah, a dirty repository of sewage and shit, static, with plastic
and polythene bags full of flowers and offerings to god floating in the
quagmire, like a rotten memory which refuses to die.

Across the temple, beyond the high, protective, iron fences, like an
apartheid fortress, live the other children of god. The invisible row
of proles, in sub-human ghettos. On Diwali, outside their thatched
homes, they smeared the courtyard with cow dung, some made alpana with
mashed rice, the little feet of Lakshmi, and lighted a diya with a few
drops of oil. Days after the festival of lights, the diya still burns
in this dark expanse under the Nizamuddin bridge, as if telling the
dazzling Akshardham adorned with hundreds of lights, that yes, god
lives elsewhere. In the ignited minds and wings of fire of democracy's
black irony. God's own democracy.

Shattered..

Dreams shattered...


could be the clearing for a bigger reality.

It is in MY hands, this time, everytime.

first time...

For the first time in my life, somebody has kinda dedicated a post to me. As they say, first time occurences are really sweet!!

Well.. find out!!

Anniversary of Sorts

Its that time of my blogging era and I looked back and read some of my initial posts. I also read some of the current posts of the people who kinda initiated me into blogging with their own writing. Wow! it does seem like a short time.. just about a year into my journey thro' the blogosphere!

Interesting.. and I am sure the future has many more in store of which I dont even an inkling of.

I was also searching for my post on the movie 'Chokher Bali', but couldnt find it. :)
Anyways, it is a fantastic movie and here are some of my thoughts (as I can recollect now). Caution: It will make sense to you only if you have watched the movie.

"it is subtle 'n graceful.... a great movie..

I had a lot of 'why's on my mind at the end of it and was chewing over the movie.. almost a year back. And this is how I think I interpreted the movie..

Binodini was smitten by Behari, but he was unattainable.. or so she felt. Her despair and lust took over her and she gave in to Mahinder. But then, life (thro' Mahinder's wife) starts screaming at you when you are in the wrong lane and with time she realized that she was riding against the traffic of life.

Binodini walks out but still she doesnt know what. And when Behari comes, she offers herself to him. But he refuses (he also says something like 'I am here to get you back for Mahinder', doesnt he?) She realizes many more things and also that she has been short-sighted in her dealings with life. Thats why she walks away when Behari comes back for her, 'cos she didnt want to succumb to his short-sightedness now'.

BTW, did you know.. 'Chokher Bali' in bengali means 'an irritant in the eye' "

Anyways.. Good to meet ya.. Thank you folks!!
Bhaskar

Just to get past 10000 ;)

Just to get past the ten thousand
Here is a post that has no start and no end!

Many milestones would come and many would go
but the webprints that your comments leave make my heart glow!!

why?

What fun?

what fun in writing when you can just experience it?
Indians wrote the KamaSutra and then they stopped writing or talking about it!
'Just Do It'?!
-----------------------------------------

Its been quite some time since I wrote anything much here.. But then, life has been quite a lot of bumps, hairpin curves, pot holes in between rosy, metallic roads.

-----------------------------------------

I went trekking in the interiors of Karnataka along with my cousins during the Diwali eve. Yaana was quite a sober affair while Kodachadri was hair-rising!! The leeches, the thick moist forests, the steep slopes, the tall green grass, the scent of a wild animal... whew!! it was just amazing!!

-----------------------------------------

One of my friends from the US will be here for the weekend and he says 'I owe it to him for the good time I had in NY!'

-----------------------------------------
Gimme more! Yeah, why waste time writing? ;)

Which Classic Movie are you?

I am the 'Apocalypse Now' it says...
something like ' I am the rogue wanderer searching in the meandering river of life for my shadow self'

check out for yourself!

Dell Champion Road Run: Nov 27

I and atleast two of my cousins are going to run in aid of these children. Your support will be useful too to these kids.


Community Champions of DIS Bangalore:

Are we keeping our commitment to run for the children of Freedom Foundation?

Hurry! Click on the links provided for your segment as below to register you & your family members:

Registration fee: Rs.150 (hand it over to your segment SPOC)


Dell Champion Road Run
For the HIV-afflicted children of Freedom Foundation

Date: November 27 (Sunday)
Time: 8:30 am

Thank you for your commitment!
Watch this space for more details!

what the $#@%@#%

I was about to post something.. something about me and my life that has been frustrating me all my life... and then, I read this.


From Varna's blog

"

Every now and then India throws at you an experience that changes your perceptions of its people and places forever. For me this time around it was ugly. I live in the Delhi, the capital city of this country. I live in South Delhi- the posh part of the capital of this country. Now I am ashamed of where I live.

It was eight thirty when I set out as usual to cross the Yusuf Sarai crossing that leads to Khel Gaon Marg for college. There is something troubling about this crossing. Automobiles rush past without a fraction of a pause, by the dozens, every second at top speed. The roads on either side stretch to AIIMS (arguably, India's most busy hospital on any given day) to IIT (one of the most used roads in south Delhi that has an extremely busy flyover) and the airport. The troublesome bit is the absence of a red-light signal along the whole length of the two kilometer long road at any pedestrian crossing here. Consequently all pedestrian crossing are unofficial.

A request and a PIL for a red-light on this road, as I found out, has been pending in Delhi Courts for the last seven years. Its heartening that there is, at the very least, someone who took the initiative to demand one - the fact it got lost in the administrative inefficiency of the bureaucracy, is not, something that we have a right as Indians to be angry about. No its all in the game you see. Its part of being Indian. Hence I am ashamed.

So there I was crossing the road. I crossed the first half worrying about class, and how I am going to get yelled at for being late by a minute and a half by the teachers of my esteemed institution-- till this happened. A young man, only about twenty five was talking rather animatedly in Tamil into his mobile phone. I am a Tamilian (ahem... half Tamilian) therefore this caught my attention. The young man stood with me at the crossing for a good ten minutes. We watched cars, bikes and buses zoom past, indifferent to the mass of humanity at the fringes of the roads. We grew impatient. More him than I, for I am now used to being subjected to this form of torture everyday.

The young man crossed. He ran across. All it took was a fraction of a second. I could've imagined it, but, I saw a bike actually speeding up as he ran across the road. The bike hit him. The young man was lying on the road. Blood was pouring out of what seemed like a huge yawning hole on his left temple. We all saw it. We watched shocked. A second later a bus slightly to the right of the young man decided it had to move. It did. It ran over him. Over his arm and the right side of his body. It then stopped later. It was a DTC.

I pushed myself through a huge swarm of people around the young man. He was lying there in a pool of his blood. He had fainted. I could hear him breathing. His legs were broken. I have never seen legs broken like that. The white faschia was spilling out from the joints. Both legs had broken in half exactly at the knee joints. The right side of his body was oddly flattened, his arm was twisted out of shape. Some thing white and fragmentary was jutting out from the elbow. It was his elbow. There was a lot of blood. Inches away from they wheel of the bus was his phone, the LCD smashed broken into pieces so small it was hard to believe.

I wanted to help. So I asked. Was anyone going to take him to hospital? Then I shut up, because I heard people talking about how much money they could make out of this. One man said no-one should move him, because if he died there then they all could make more money. I was bewildered. It was like I had got transported to someplace barbaric. To a place in the dark ages.

Then I said something. I called an auto- asked the driver if he would take me and the man to hospital. The auto driver thought... and thought and thought. Finally he demanded a hundred and fifty rupees, I didn't have time to bargain. The distance was worth thirty. Amongst a lot of abuses, threats and such I managed to hoist the man into the auto. In the auto I searched his pockets to find a number I could call--only to find his pockets ripped off and empty. His money had been stolen. People had searched his pockets before I got there.

We reached Safdarjung Hospital. At nine the trauma care centre was devoid of any patients. The man and lady at the reception made me wait for a half-hour while they completed some paper work, despite my protests. They then brought out a sheaf of papers. Asked me if I was a relative, because only then would they allow surgery. I called him Senthil and signed as his sister. They brought him in on a stretcher. Then they left him there in the lobby with me for forty-five minutes, I timed it. When I asked why they were taking so long-- they said they had sent someone to stamp the papers and couldn't begin till they arrived. At long last the took him into the OT.

I took an auto back to Yusuf Sarai. I had missed the first three classes of the day. There were two more to go. The crowd had largely disappeared. The bus, its driver, conductor, a couple of touts, the bike owner and a large beefy policeman stood in a small circle pointing to the blood stains. From a distance, I imagined that justice just might be on its way. I went up to the policeman saying I was an eyewitness and would be happy to give a statement.

He looked at me curiously. I looked at the bus driver and the bike owner holding two five hundred rupee notes each in their hands. The police man had already collected a thousand. He tore the complaint notice in half in front of me. I asked what he was doing. He told me not to worry. He said the matter had been resolved. The bus driver, conductor and policeman left for Chai together. The bike owner drove off nervously.

I stood there for a while. Feeling defeated. Tired. Angry. I then took an auto to go to college. I was on my way, when I got a call. It was someone from Safdarjung. Senthil had died. I turned my auto around and went back home. I cried.

I want to know what makes people so inhumane? What makes people not care? What makes people accept this? Is this how selfish we ought to be? Is this our great legacy? Would he have lived if I could've been fifteen minutes faster?"

Thinking About You!

I was thinking of you again.. and It was as pleasantly invigorating as ever.
Just one soft brush of your lips.. and I swear, I cannot let it pass!
Singing my existence with your words.. and Killing me softly with your song..
If only I was my own self.. I would have taken my revenge in kind!!

Empowered, are you?

INDIA EMPOWERED TO ME IS

Opening avenues for growth of IT, i.e. Indian Talent

DR R A MASHELKAR
DIRECTOR GENERAL, COUNCIL OF SCIENTIFIC & INDUSTRIAL
RESEARCH & PRESIDENT, INDIAN
NATIONAL SCIENCE ACADEMY


India's future is in IT, but not in IT as in Information Technology, but in IT as
in Indian Talent. Giving every opportunity possible to Indian talent to reach its
real potential would truly empower India.

What happens to Indian talent today? Fifty per cent Indian children go to school.
Thirty per cent of them reach up to 10th standard. Forty per cent of them pass.
Thus, six per cent of our children go past the 10th standard. This is only a tip of
the iceberg, of which only a very small part shines. A huge part of the iceberg
remains submerged and dark. To me, India will be truly empowered when we let the
entire iceberg shine by lifting it.


I too belonged to that submerged part of the iceberg. I was born in a very poor
family. My father died when I was six. My illiterate mother did menial work to bring
me up. I went barefoot till I was twelve. I studied under streetlights. Yet I was
empowered again and again.

I studied in a free municipal school. Access to free education through public
funding was the first empowerment in my life.

On finishing primary school, I sought admission in a secondary school. I required 21
rupees as admission fee. My mother did not have the money. A lady, who herself was a
housemaid in Mumbai, gave her savings to us. One 'have not' sharing with another
'have not' was a powerful lesson of empowerment early in my life.

I stood 11th amongst 1,35,000 students in the state in the Maharashtra State Board
exam in 1960. I was about to leave the school, since my mother could not afford my
college education. Sir Dorabji Tata Trust gave me a scholarship of 60 rupees per
month until my graduation. Thus, my next empowerment came through the philanthropy
of an industrial house.My school teachers empowered me. Principal Bhave taught me
physics in the school. One day, he took us out in the sun to show how to find the
focal length of a convex lens. When the sun rays were focused on the paper, it got
burnt. He turned to me and said, ''Mashelkar, if you focus your energies, you can
achieve anything in life.'' That gave me an inspiration to become a scientist. It
gave me the philosophy of life; focus and you can achieve anything. Empowering India
to me, therefore, means growing millions of Bhaves, who will inspire young Indian
kids.

I was teaching and researching in England in the early Seventies. Indira Gandhi was
the Prime Minister. The news of Nobel Laureate Khorana not getting a job in India
had done rounds. She asked the then Director General of CSIR, Dr Nayudamma, to go
abroad, pick up the brightest and the best and offer them jobs on the spot.

Nayudamma came to London in 1974. He met me, among others. He offered me a position
at NCL in Pune. There was no application, no formal interview, no bureaucratic
hurdles. I came back to India, thanks to a science leader, who was trusted and
empowered by a Prime Minister.

India cannot be truly empowered until the best of its talent stays in India and
contributes. Why does talent leave India? An Italian Nobel Laureate, Riardo
Giacconi, who settled in the US said, ''A scientist is like a painter. Michelangelo
became a great artist, because he had been given a wall to paint. My wall was given
to me by the United States.'' To empower scientists, it is necessary give them a
wall to paint.

This year, I became only the eighth scientist from India to be elected to the US
National Academy of Science since 1863. After the Nobel prize, this is one of the
highest honours. Every scientist aspires for it. The honour came to me this year
because a visionary CSIR leadership had empowered a young Mashelkar by giving him
his wall to paint thirty years ago.

My lessons from my life are simple. A society, that gives an opportunity for
education to everyone, that has inspiring teachers, that has philanthropic
industrialists, that has visionary leaders in all walks of life and that gives the
talent every opportunity to reach its real potential becomes truly empowered.

(Thanks, Dr Arul & Dr C Gunanathan,
The Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel for this empowering message!)

Serious Business!

The members of the "Bloggers of Bangalore" community would like to bring to the attention of the media and society at large, certain unfair and intimidatory actions undertaken by the Indian Institute of Planning and Management (IIPM) against members of the Indian blogging community.

In June 2005, JAM, a popular youth magazine published out of Mumbai, ran a story on IIPM titled 'The Truth about IIPM's Tall Claims' pointing out blatant exaggerations in the institute's claims about infrastructure, courses, affiliations and placements. For instance, the magazine article pointed out how IIPM continues to use certain rankings conferred upon it AFTER those rankings have been withdrawn by the bodies conferring them.
The magazine ran an ethically researched investigative story on IIPM, revealing what was a marketing fraud by the college.

Alongside, the editor of JAM magazine and a former student of Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Ahmedabad, who is also a blogger, published the same on her personal blog. In August 2005, blogger Gaurav Sabnis, another Mumbai-based blogger, posted about this on his own blog, linking to JAM's original story. Soon after this, he received an e-mail from the IIPM legal department threatening to sue him for a huge sum of money unless he withdrew his comments. Simultaneously, he was also pressurised by IIPM through his employers, a global hardware manufacturer. Rather than put his employers in a tight spot, Sabnis decided to quit his job.

The mainstream media has picked up on this issue and the stories are available at the links provided below.

Hindustan Times
Indian Express
DNA
NDTV
Business Standard
MSNBC


This issue has created a furore in the blogosphere in India as well as internationally. The strength of blogging as a force to reckon with has previously been seen in the co-ordination or relief efforts in the Tsunami crisis and the Mumbai rains at Mumbai Help and Cloudburst Mumbai.

For detailed information on the bloggers vs IIPM issue, please visit Desipundit for chronological updates on the controversy.

The purpose of this petition is to express solidarity with the bloggers who have suffered threats and abuse at the hands of IIPM and also to draw attention to the original issues at the heart of the JAM story on IIPM.

If you believe that journalists and the media should be free to inform the public of false advertisement which directly or indirectly affects their lives;
If you believe education should not be reduced to a marketable commodity;
If you believe that blogging is a powerful supplement to traditional media;
If you believe that bloggers should be entitled to individual opinions as also their own online space for airing and discussing these opinions;

If you believe in standing up for your rights; as an active member of society, as a blogger, as a citizen with the right to know

Please show your support to this cause.


Sincerely,
The Undersigned



Sign the Petition here!

Ah Ha!!

You Should Get a MBA (Masters of Business Administration)

You're a self starter with a drive for success. You'd make a great entrepreneur.

What Advanced Degree Should You Get?

Key to my Heart or what ?!!

The Keys to Your Heart

You are attracted to those who have a split personality - cold as ice on the outside but hot as fire in the heart. In love, you feel the most alive when your lover is creative and never lets you feel bored. You'd like to your lover to think you are stylish and alluring. You would be forced to break up with someone who was emotional, moody, and difficult to please. Your ideal relationship is open. Both of you can talk about everything... no secrets. Your risk of cheating is zero. You care about society and morality. You would never break a commitment. You think of marriage as something precious. You'll treasure marriage and treat it as sacred. In this moment, you think of love as something you can get or discard anytime. You're feeling self centered.

What Are The Keys To Your Heart?

prove us wrong iipm...

[Disclaimers/Disclosures:
whatever written in this space is my own responsibility..
I have a couple of relatives who studied/studying from IIPM. And I studied from an IIM. ]

i dont want to spend much of my time on an institute like iipm.. suffice to say that if it is even worth a wee bit, it should tender an unconditional apology, taking responsibility for its own behaviour and that of its students. but then, knowing iipm well, i am just asking for too much.

my 2 paisa of facts here...

-students who get into IIPM are those who havent got into an IIM or one of the other top A tier institutes (this is plain vanilla.. ask any serious MBA aspirant)

-IIPM extracts lakhs of money as course fees

-IIPM does not give 'free' laptops to its students

-IIPM students have an optional international industrial tour/training. and the students who opt for it have to shell out tens of thousands of rupees. And they just visit some cities and a few company plants (like one's school industrial visits), basically having fun outside, usually europe.

-Arindham Chaudhari got his own degree (and gold medal?) from the very institute his father started.

-IIPM carries quarter page Ads in the Times of India and Economic Times during the student admission season. (And you know the lakhs of rupees it costs for such an Ad) (yesterday, it ran a full page Ad!)

-students give a lot of presentations in formal attire.. blazers et al

-And the exceptional students get a decent job.. one of my relatives, he topped last year at IIPM mumbai and he got a job with the Essar group for some 4lacs. Last heard, long after their course completed, many of his batchmates were still looking out for a job (read.. any job. that is after many many joining some door-to-door sales job or as a teaching faculty in still shadier colleges)

to read the whole drama, check these links
youth curry
A question of principles
blog war redux
Abhi shakes

Bhaskar

Future Tense?!

no.. I am in a state of confusion... not much of a shock or tenson yet. (see the pun? then, you are a tamilian ;) It has been just about 90 odd and even pages into 'Future Shock' by Alvin Toffler.

I am a bit amazed to know that I have been a li'l ahead of my times, and that there are other millions way ahead of me. More than that, a lot of things about myself have started making sense..like my interest in traveling and the uneasy gloom when i am tied down to a physical place.

But above all, it is the overpowering and sheer amazement that somebody could think of the future so clearly and concisely, sometime in the late 70s.. just about the time I was born!
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The Tryst with The God

Notwithstanding the rains, the hunger pangs and the shivers, me and my cousin went to meet the God live in all his glory. And what an experience it was!!

An unforgettable day.. And what a fitting finale... 'Maa Tujhe Salaam' and the heavy downpour blasted off on its way after its 3.5 hour break.

(For the benefit of the global audience, I went to see the AR Rahman perform at the palace grounds, bangalore ;)
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And people say.. beauty is divine.

guess who I saw at the palace grounds? someone I consider the most beautiful person I have ever 'known'. She was wearing a white shawl over a snow-white tshirt.. with her characteristic hair-do and the little strand (or whatever you call it) with the distinct curl over her forehead.. (and her hubby towing along! )
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Its been 5 days since I visited my own blog.. never happened earlier.. anyways, there is always a first time!
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Raj.. coming to your tag..

The rules are:
1. Go into your archive.
2. Find your 23rd post.
3. Find the fifth sentence (or closest to).
4. Post the text of the sentence in your blog along with these instructions.
5. Tag 5 other people to do the same.

So the 5th line of the 23rd post of mine is:
"This particular poem is quite unlike my other ventures...."

(This post was actually a Krazy poem by one of my friends. To read it, click here!

And now, I tag:
anyone and everyone who reads this post. feel free to leave your links on the comments :)

kick ass

everytime we have a QBR (quaterly business review), i am more charged at my work than ever before. one thing that is particularly special is the presence of my boss's boss's boss - an amazingly energetic and charged-up guy who just oozes with enthusiasm. everybody.. everybody without an exception, is left with the conviction and power at the end of the day and ready to tackle the coming quarter.
and to add to that, a couple of special mentions in my boss's and boss's boss's presentations made my day!

you (yes, you).. if not for anything else.. just to have the access to a 'kick ass' team like ours, you should do your MBA.

Bhaskar

Bored to Death..

Once in a while I get terribly bored... so bored that I cant get sleep.... (no.. 4.30am is quite a normal time for me ;)

anyways, let me ask you...
what do you do when you are bored to death?
your innovative suggestions are solicited. Personal experience would be highly valued.

I was here ;)

I was here.. now I am gone..
All you bleddy boys.. so much bakwaas!

It was my birthday that just went around the corner..

-Bhaskar aka JoeyTribbiani

Wanna Salsa?

Salsa Parties… now at Sin, the hottest new place where everyone’s got the Latin Fever!

Rock Around The Clock, in association with Sin and Zero Gravity bring to you Salsa Parties, every Wednesday night at ‘Sin’, on Airport Road, Bangalore. Commencing Wednesday, 28 September 2005, the party will kick-start with a Complimentary Salsa Workshop from 6.30-8.30p.m. so you can show off your moves at the party to follow! Performances and prizes galore!

Prithvi and Ree
Rock Around The Clock
Dance Studio at:
Alliance Francaise de Bangalore
P.B No. 108, Thimmaiah Road,
Vasanthnagar, Bangalore: 560 052
Telephone: (080) 55 34 93 27
E-mail: info@rockaroundtheclock.biz
Website: www.rockaroundtheclock.biz

(Some free publicity to my Dance gurus..
This place 'Sin' is also where the 'Megabowl' is..
If you are a pretty woman and you need 'a' pass to the event, you know who to contact ;)
-Bhaskar)

If Winter is Here..

Love is not blind.. It is just the harmones..!
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WCs in the US, atleast the public WCs for the Men, is quite 'open'. One can easily see the person's feet from the outside (and if one makes a little more effort, pretty much everything else ;)

One of my (a li'l eccentric, should i add?!) friends in the US commented that, at his company, he can identify the person inside from his shoes. But then, it is a different matter altogether that there are only 3 people (including himself) in their company!!

Who is the Winner?

There seems to be a great competition between the BSE Sensex and my Blog Visitors' Counter..
I bet on my counter..!!

Back to Sore!

I have a sore back and i dont know what i am doing awake yet...

oh..the sore back?
that came from lifting some 65kgs of french mass a couple of times followed by some 63.5kgs of indian mass..

ha..ha..the puzzled expression on your face!
those were my partners at salsa.. was pleasureable while lifting the ladies.. and sweeping them off their feet.. but now.. ouch!

stop that wicked grin..
just makes me that much more determined!! :)

Murphy's love laws!!

For sometime I have been wondering how Murphy's laws hold good in love and without. Here's an official compilation on love and love-making from http://www.murphys-laws.com/

My 2 cents' corollary:
If you are not with your childhood sweetheart, you are doomed to fail!
(Let me start my search right now.. Nithya, where are you?!)
Bhaskar

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All the good ones are taken.
If the person isn't taken, there's a reason.
The nicer someone is, the farther away (s)he is from you.
Brains x Beauty x Availability = Constant.This constant is always zero. Sent by Van Den Bossche Jochen
The amount of love someone feels for you is inversely proportional to how much you love them.
Money can't buy love, but it sure gets you a great bargaining position.
The best things in the world are free --- and worth every penny of it.
Every kind action has a not-so-kind reaction.
Nice guys (girls) finish last.
The good ones die first. Sent by Henry
If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.
Availability is a function of time. The minute you get interested is the minute they find someone else.
The more beautiful the woman is who loves you, the easier it is to leave her with no hard feelings.
Nothing improves with age.
No matter how many times you've had it, if it's offered take it, because it'll never be quite the same again.
Sex has no calories.
Sex takes up the least amount of time and causes the most amount of trouble.
There is no remedy for sex but more sex.
Sex appeal is 50% what you've got and 50% what people think you've got.
No sex with anyone in the same office.
Sex is like snow; you never know how many inches you are going to get or how long it is going to last.
A man in the house is worth two in the street.
If you get them by the balls, their hearts and minds will follow.
Virginity can be cured.
When a man's wife learns to understand him, she usually stops listening to him.
Never sleep with anyone crazier than yourself.
The qualities that most attract a woman to a man are usually the same ones she can't stand years later.
Sex is dirty only if it's done right.
It is always the wrong time of month.
The best way to hold a man is in your arms.
When the lights are out, all women are beautiful.
Sex is hereditary. If your parents never had it, chances are you won't either.
Sow your wild oats on Saturday night -- Then on Sunday pray for crop failure.
The game of love is never called off on account of darkness.
It was not the apple on the tree but the pair on the ground that caused the trouble in the garden.
Sex discriminates against the shy and the ugly.
Before you find your handsome prince, you've got to kiss a lot of frogs.
There may be some things better than sex, and some things worse than sex. But there is nothing exactly like it.
Love your neighbor, but don't get caught.
Love is a hole in the heart.
If the effort that went in research on the female bosom had gone into our space program, we would now be running hot-dog stands on the moon.
Love is a matter of chemistry, sex is a matter of physics.

Did you know??

That you can use your ICICI Bank Credit card on an SBI ATM and you dont need a PIN for that?!?!?

Crazy!!!!

(This is a trusted content.. refer www.kiruba.com)

What do I write?

Is this writer's block or writer's degeneration or what? well.. I am slowly moving away from blogs. I am not updating this place much these days.. not even blog-hopping..
so, what is it? I dont know... I will find out in the coming days..

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Karting anybody? I just love it..
Alonso triumphs over M Shumi.. thats me fighting a stiff, roaring competition from one of my cousins :)

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This update is long due.. I joined Salsa classes for the second month now.. So, that makes me an ASD = Advanced Salsa Dancer.. (sounds like LSD.. yeah?.. it is quite like that.. heady stuff.. what do you expect.. Salsa, Hip-Hop, Merengue... dancing with french and irish babes.. [hmmm.. there has been only one of each kind till date :) But, I am not greedy! ] And I should say.. Indian girls can be cute too ;)

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Saturday night fever... went to this Fusion Bar.. as they call it.. Tuscan Verve. Recently opened.. just off Brigade Road. Absolutely wonderful ambience.. And they are not even fully functional.. It was jam-packed and almost an equal number were standing next to the bar counter. (Bangaloreites and jams... sigh! [Think of it.. there was one 'freedom jam' recently) They are planning to have ramps and fashion shows and all that over the weekends..








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Is it any wonder that I dont get to write much these days?!

Lagaan!

Had a great trip to my native place. As I said, the Kumbhabhishekham of our ancestral temple was the backdrop of some 60-70 of us, extended family getting together. Getting to meet some of them after almost 4 - 5 years, there just was not enough time to catch up with our lives. Or to pull each others' legs, play some pranks, etc etc

We cousins made the most of it - took bath in the tubewell ('pumpset'), initiated some of the younger cousins into the KuruviMalai Baywatch Team ;) (I hope we escaped from the prying eyes of the paparazzi!), played cricket against the local team and so on..

We have a river running just behind our house and most of the time, there is hardly any water flowing. So, that becomes our default cricket pitch. Usually we play amongst ourselves with all the uncles and aunts joining in, either in the team or the cheering squad. This time we decided to involve the locals too. There it was: Lagaan XI vs KuruviMalai XI (Or may be we were the goras!)

The first match was a complete rout: we just didnt have enough practise you see.. We made some 43 and they finished it in just 3 overs! @*#^#$ ! In the next one, we made some 52. And then the match saw some sterling bowling performance by you-know-who! I took three wickets in the second over of the match and the local team was grappling for runs :) That included a spectacular catch by one of my cousins that put the Indian cricket team to shame. Followed with some tight bowling by the inspired team and yet another three wicket haul by another cousin of ours and the local team was bowled out for some 38 or so. I ended with the match figures of 3Overs-0Maidens-10Runs-4wickets!!! (that doesnt include the local maidens bowled over by my performance ;) :P

The Pooja/Kumbhabhishekham went well and everyone was happy. But, more than anything else, it is the feeling of belongingness and the emotional bond that got stronger and that is preciously beautiful!

Be Right Back!

Hey Dudes and Dudettes,
I'm going outta-town for the weekend and will be back on tuesday. I am actually going to my native place, Kuruvi Malai (meaning, hill of the sparrows), a village near Thiruvannamalai. We have an ancestral temple there and thats gonna be the reason for a get-together of our kindred. Yeah! its gonna be fun.
Aloha!
Bhaskar

New-age Dhritharashtra

He was father to ten thousand sons and one daughter. But then, it cant be attributed so much to his virility as it can be to the popularity of the sperm bank.

The Night is Young Yet!!!

cont.. 2

Well.. the closer we were, the lesser was our determination! And by the time I was within a word's distance, my Logic went out of the window. I decided to just hang-in there and shake a leg or two.. For their part, the american girls were polite enough to let us :)

After a song, I tried striking a conversation with one of the girls.. but the Bose sound system coupled with her accent made it almost impossible for me to. But the attempt was enough to create an impression on my Metro pals. And then, we both were dancing a bit more in sync now. So, that was it! I had done it!! And so did Prem, my friend along with another American girl. So, thats how we won the challenge.

We went for another round of cocktails and we went for the Tequillas now(especially now that we knew we didnt have to pay for it ;)

I dont know if it was the Tequilla or the confidence from my previous dance (with an american babe ;) (may be both, rather all three!), I soon found myself dancing with a Desi. She was quite hot in a square-neck halter salwar.. the kinds that Jemima (ex) Khan launched. We could catch a few sentences in between the dances and it was fun! She was having fun too.. (how did I know that? I asked her, of course :)

Suddenly the song changed into a hindi-punjabi-english fusion number (guess it was the Bombay Rockers). And the beats were quite like our own dappaanguthu and I let myself go with the flow. She was quite amused to see me in my antics, I guess. She taught me a couple of steps too and we were soon oblivious to the surroundings.

One thing led to the other and then there was a romantic number in the air! She suddenly turned her back to me and started dancing to the smooth tune (and left me wondering..). It took me some time to figure out the best thing to do.. rest my hand on her hips! And soon the hands were entwined around her navel!!!

Those slender hips!! And the bare back!!! And the J'adore perfume..

Well.. let me stop here.. for, it is none of your business anyways.. :P ;)

The Night is Still Young!

cont..1

The metro guys started pulling our legs and challenged us to a dance. The condition was that we three had to dance with one of the babes there at Strata. (We haggled that down to two, as if that made much difference. But in the bargain, they plugged the loophole - we cant dance with the same girl! ) And the odds were very high; whoever lost had to foot the bill.

There we were! With the first round of vodka tonic in hand, we three were studying the field. There were a lot of pairs and there were atleast 3 groups of women on the floor. One group was totally lost unto itself. So, we diverted our focus to the other two.

"That group seems to be scanning the crowd too"

"yeah, but they seem to be Americans. They are probably looking for Americans."

"No da.. Its not like that."

"May be it is not. So, how do we find out?"

"I think we just need to ask. See.. if we dont ask, we would never know. And we would have lost out anyway."

That was me at my logical best! (of course, heroes are the best arent they.. and then I am the author and this story is a 'first person' account ;)

"Wow! my god, its only your first drink yet, right?!"

"well well... ahmm... who is coming with me"

"Aye" "Aye"

So there.. we were inching closer to the group of American babes.

(to be continued.. ha ha)

The Night is Young!

Statutory Warning: This is a piece of fiction. Any resemblance to the real life is just that.. a resemblance!

What a day it has been.. Slept at 5am.. Woken up by 2pm.. by the high-throated ecstatic cry of Andy.. "Hey! I got a free pass to the Strata!!"

Being in New York was itself a dream come true for me. Just the other day I was wondering whether I would get the visa to enter the USofA. I had the tickets already booked, courtesy the biscuit guys. Yeah, I had won them as a bumper lucky prize of the "Tiger Biscuit Khao, New York Jao" contest. And Now, I was going to a night club in New York and that again with zero cover charges. And I would ensure that my drinks were on Andy.. Can life get any better?!

The evening was spent in the high spirited anticipation of the 'high' spirits. The high (free) spirits are always infectious and soon we were 5 of us jumping into a car and driving down towards the 21st street.

The Strata on the outside looked pretty stolid, maybe because of the bouncers and everything. On the inside, it was pure class. Everything seemed to fit-in. Everything was perfect except that we didn't have our girl friends. Not like they were away someplace else, but we just didn't have one. Three of us, coming from quite traditional families from the interiors of South India, we were not exposed to the idea of girl friends. And the other two, though from more western oriented metro cities, didn't have any girl friend either. (Did you think we got together by chance?!)

And I should add, the influence of New York had not sunk in. But that was before tonight.

(to be continued)
PS: how many of you noticed the link right above, 'to be continued'?! Click it man!

fight!

Could anyone have guessed that what started out as a small fight would end in a couple of murders?

The brothers, during the fight for their share of the chocolate bar, ended up throwing it into the boiling water nearby. And the two small worms were burnt alive!

IndoPak!!

Whats the point, BTW?

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It is so heartening to see so many visitors' footprints (webprints) from various parts of the world. It is wonderful experience.. this 'www'.. People of the earlier generations didnt know what they missed!!

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A Visitor from Pakistan! Wow!! Thats great. And that reminds me..
Pakistani women are so beautiful.. There was this girl at a grocery store in Austin (she owned that store).. She was damn cute.. My heart went 'dhak dhak'!! Found out that she is from Pak and that she is doing her high-school there.

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If at all there is gonna be some sense prevailing in this world, WWW should be to our rescue. What nonsense.. this India-Pakistan battle...

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Americans.. whether you are from India or Pakistan.. once you are there, you become one. Thats so nice..

Bhaskar

RBM and the Birth of EveryMan'sCityBloggers

We had a Real Bloggers' Meet (as against a Virtual Bloggers' Meet that I missed yesterday :) at Koramangala and it was just great. Though I hadnt read any of those peoples' posts (barring a couple of random ones), I could easily relate to them and we hit it off right away.

One of the ideas behind the Meet was to create ourselves together on the blogspace and otherwise.

We brainstormed on our identity and thus this new entity was born..

We are the Bangalore Bloggers - "everymanscity Bloggers".. And we are getting together to have fun and make a difference in our own way!

Join the fun.. Join the mission..

Bhaskar

Kilimanjaro

To write about my US trip, I dont need a lot of time.. just 3 words are enough. 'It was awesome!' But if I have to tell you the details, I have no idea how long its going to take.. so, let me give you the gist of it.. just the vital stats ;)

Number of school friends that I met : 5
Number of college friends that I met : 4
Number of relatives that I met : 1
Number of friends/relatives I spoke to : a lot

Cities that I spent more than 24 hours in : Round Rock (Austin), Minneapolis, New York
Cities that I spent more than 3 hours in : Amsterdam, Denver, San Marcos (Austin), Mumbai

Fun stuff : Rock Climbing, Boating, Tube Surfing, Playing Cards, Walking, Eating, Drinking... :P

Thats as much as I could mention here!

For a visceral experience, check my pics (with suitable titles!)
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/bhaskar10/album?.dir=fb68

PS: The theme of my trip was 'Friends'.. No.. not the series.. though that is also relevant in a way.. :)
Friends are to be mined out.. And that reminded me of the Mines of Kilimanjaro that I read about in my school days..
(wah! wah!!) ..Thank you.. Thank you!!

I am back

maine dame unt herren..

your prayers have been finally answered. your long wait has come to an end.. I am back!!
ha haaa!!!

Will post more soon..

tata,
Bhaskar

More pics on http://flickr.com/photos/40579381@N00/tags/us/

A Picture...

that is gone now!

Hmmm... it was very risky to leave that pic in here.. so, i removed it ;) Will upload more pics soon.

The fun continues..

Last friday, I had a champagne party. Saturday, I went out for dinner followed by cards (trump/bridge) session with one of my Modern school friends and his brother's family here at Austin.

Sunday, me and my colleagues here went to another US manager's house on lake Austin. we went boating and i also did tube-surfing.. thats like sitting on a big tube and being pulled by the boat. It was major fun and finally he managed to have me fall into the water :)

Soon it will be time for me to say 'bye bye' to Austin. I will be leaving for India on friday with a stopover at New York. I will be meeting quite a few of my school and college friends there.

And the fun shall continue!!

Images of Butter Chicken! ..cont

So, there I was sitting on the NorthWest Airlines flight from Minneapolis to Austin.. reading the book 'Five Point Someone' by Chetan Anand and reliving my IIT days. In fact, I was so engrossed in the novel that I didnt realize that my flight was still on the tarmac for about 3 hours before it was finally air-borne. During the take-off, I took an intermission from my reading. Only then did I saw how me and everyone around me were sweating the whole time and had been using all the inflight magazines and pamplets in fanning themselves. I was thinking..'So much for the state of technology in the high-tech country'!!

By then (the sun sets pretty late here), it was 10pm local time and I could get a fantastic view of Minneapolis - St. Paul, the twin cities. It was so spectacular a view, with the illuminated images of various regular geometrical objects and the roads and freeways that I was entralled by it. I dont know how, but then, I associated that with butter chicken.

Let me give a disclaimer here: I have not tasted butter chicken. But I have many close friends who were hardcore fans of chicken tikka butter masala at restaurants around IIT Kharagpur. And a couple of friends at Bangalore who have visited the US, were exclaiming in similar exalted tones about the butter chicken here. Thus, my knowledge is only hearsay!

As soon as the images vanished with the gaining altitude, I got back into my reading. And after about an hour or so, the seat-belts sign was turned on and captain announced that we are again in the path of high turbulence and that we should return to our seats and stay there. Soon, I started feeling a slight pain in the ear. I get this during low pressure conditions and I invariably use cotton earplugs on my flight but NWA did not have any :( I had to make-d0 with tissue paper. And I continued reading.

I knew we were in for some trouble, but then I never thought it will be this bad.. The plane was jolting quite a bit and probably I was sitting at the back of the place, hence the impact was more. Anyways, after a point, the plane went on a sudden descent!! The pressure went lower and I had a splitting pain in my ears. I had keep my book aside and hold my ears closed tight. And then, oxygen masks were deployed. Thankfully, a couple of times I had paid attention to the stewardess's demo (rather than herself!) on how to wear the oxygen mask and to pull it so as to start the oxygen flow. I did that but I was not really sure whether there was oxygen in the cylinder ;) The plane was back in control but it was a bit difficult to breathe, but then I didnt think much about anything 'cos I was afraid my eardrums were going to burst anyway. The whole place started getting HOT and there was the captain's voice in the background saying that the air would get very warm 'cos of the oxygen equipment and that it is only to be expected.

This went on for about 20 mins before things were back to normal and we were asked to remove the masks. We were then informed that there was not enough fuel now and the flight had to deviate and land in Denver instead of Austin, but then, nobody was really bothered as long as we could land safely at some place! Such was the relief that people were actually clapping when the airplane touched down!!!

PS: Somebody mentioned that one of the engines had failed.. but then, you just need one engine to take you to your destination (with of course more fuel being consumed)!

Images of Butter Chicken!

Aloha!

I'm in Texas.. finally reached here yesterday evening after a delay of about 20hrs. It was one hell of a trip!! Battered by the Hurricane (Emily?), oxygen masks on the flight, re-routed through Denver et al.. But then, guys, I have arrived! ;)

Bhaskar
PS: I'll keep adding to this post.. so, you keep checkin' this one!

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It was as good a start as I or anyone could have hoped for. In fact, I was wondering whats with my luck these days!!

On my international flight, I was sitting in between 4 girls :) On one side was a girl from Infosys, Pune and the other side from Wipro, Hyderabad and another girl, I dont know from where, by the side of the first girl ...she didnt speak much and was sleeping the whole time. Infywali was veeery sweet and she accompanied me all the way upto Minneapolis. We got talking from the start and it was fun! Wiprowali was like 'hmm.. I know you guys..' types and I thought she was putting up an airs, but after sometime she also started talking. She got down at Amsterdam.

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Went around Minneapolis and St. Paul with my cousin, his friends and one of my schooltime friends.. watching bikini babes at lake Calhoun ;) shopping at the Mall of America-the biggest mall in the US, riding on the metro/tram to the downtown, lunching at an Indian restaurant - Surabhi etc etc.. was really cool. I also did some rock climbing at the entertainment park within the Mall of America.. It was great and would like to do it again!

They guys have been in the US for close to a year now.. They were introducing me the babes of US in general...
"There are 2 categories - one that doesnt take care of their body and one that does. And in the second category, there is no one who is a direct reject!!"
"There is a lot of skin shows. After a while, one gets tired of them. Indian girls (back in India) are the best. They know how little to show so as to keep the interest going!! ;)"

Well..well.. I say.. thats only 'after a while'. And I'm going to be here only for a while!! ;)

-----------------------------------------

And then, I was waiting at the Minneapolis airport to board my flight to Austin. One flight was taxing on the runway ready to take off and it grinded to a halt on the runway itself. I was wondering what was happening.. In a few mins, I couldnt see the flight at all. visibility was hardly for some 10-20m. And rains and strong winds started lashing against the glass walls of the airport. It was terrifying.

After about half an hour, everything subsided and we got onto the flight. Our plane started moving and stopped short on the runway. I could see some 6 planes on each side of the runway lined up in front of us. And many more joined behind us. It seems there are some regulations that call for extra distance between flights in such weather conditions... It was some 3 hours wait on the runway before our flight could finally take-off..

I thought we were set finally.. little did i realize that i would end-up in Denver instead of Austin..

--------------------------------------------

to be added.. !!

History and Geography!!

I shouldnt be here.. have loads on my head and so li'l time.. but then how can I resist posting a coool forward with historical facts and stuff.. ;)
Before I go to the history part of it.. let me tell you what the geography is all about... The next time I post, I guess that will be from the American Continent. yeah! I'm flying off to the USofA this friday night. Will be a short 3 weeks' business trip, but then, it will be Fun!!

coming back to History..
Here are some facts about the 1500's: These are interesting...

Most people got married in June because they took their yearly bath in May, and still smelled pretty good by June. However, they were starting to smell, so brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the body odour. Hence, the custom today of carrying a bouquet when getting married. Baths consisted of a big tub filled with hot water. The man of the house had the privilege of the nice clean water, then all the other sons and men, then the women and finally the children. Last of all the babies. By then the water was so dirty you could actually lose someone in it. Hence the saying, "Don't throw the baby out with the bath water."

Houses had thatched roofs-thick straw-piled high, with no wood underneath. It was the only place for animals to get warm, so all the cats and other small animals (mice, bugs) lived in the roof. When it rained it became slippery and sometimes the animals would slip and fall off the roof. Hence the saying "It's raining cats and dogs."There was nothing to stop things from falling into the house. This posed a real problem in the bedroom where bugs and other droppings could mess up your nice clean bed. Hence, a bed with big posts and a sheet hung over the top afforded some protection. That's how canopy beds came into existence. The floor was dirty. Only the wealthy had something other than dirt. Hence the saying "dirt poor." The wealthy had slate floors that would get slippery in the winter when wet , so they spread thresh (straw) on the floor to help keep their footing. As the winter wore on, they added more thresh until when you opened the door it would all start slipping outside. A piece of wood was placed in the entrance way. Hence the saying a "thresh hold."(Getting quite an education, aren't you?)

In those old days, they cooked in the kitchen with a big kettle that always hung over the fire. Every day they lit the fire and added things to the pot. They ate mostly vegetables and did not get much meat. They would eat the stew for dinner, leaving leftovers in the pot to get cold overnight and then start over the next day. Sometimes stew had food in it that had been there for quite a while. Hence the rhyme, "Peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold, peas porridge in the pot nine days old." Sometimes they could obtain pork, which made them feel quite special. When visitors came over, they would hang up their bacon to show off. It was a sign of wealth that a man could "bring home the bacon." They would cut off a little to share with guests and would all sit around and "chew the fat." Those with money had plates made of pewter. Food with high acid content caused some of the lead to leach onto the food, causing lead-poisoning death. This happened most often with tomatoes, so for the next 400 years or so, tomatoes were considered poisonous. Bread was divided according to status. Workers got the burnt bottom of the loaf, the family got the middle, and guests got the top, or "upper crust."

Lead cups were used to drink ale or whisky. The combination would sometimes knock the imbibers out for a couple of days. Someone walking along the road would take them for dead and prepare them for burial.They were laid out on the kitchen table for a couple of days and the family would gather around and eat and drink and wait and see if they would wake up. Hence, the custom of holding a "wake".

England is old and small and the local folks started running out of places to bury people. So they would dig up coffins and would take the bones to a"bone-house" and reuse the grave. When reopening these coffins, 1 out of 25 coffins were found to have scratch marks on the inside and they realized they had been burying people alive. So they would tie a string on the wrist of the corpse, lead it through the coffin and up through the ground and tieit to a bell. Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all night (the"graveyard shift") to listen for the bell; thus, someone could be "saved bythe bell" or was considered a " dead ringer."And that's the truth... Now , whoever said that History was boring !
Educate someone...Share these facts with a friend.

Book Tag

Have been stuck by the book worm tag ;)
[Jammy Rammy, unna gavanichikkaraen http://ramanuj.blogspot.com/]

Number of books owned:
unlike the typical engineering guys, I didnt get to buy any (yes.. absolute zero) of the books during my BTech days. We had a very good College library and if, by chance, we couldnt get our books there, we had our hostel libraries as well. And if I couldnt get it even then, then that book didnt deserve to be read and I wouldnt ;)

And then, I was the library secretary of my hostel in my final year and so, I had access to the choicest of books.. non-academic especially.. and anyways I wasnt too academically inclined :P That must have been the best period of my bibliophilism.

But, then management was a different ball-game.. or book-game.. they gave each one of us all the books required 'brand new' compulsorily at the start of the term . Thus, I have a stockpile of
mgmt books.

And then, I have about 20-30 other books.

Last book bought:
"The Da Vinci Code" by Dan Brown.
I dont think this book needs any introduction or addendum.

Last book read(ing):
"The Five People You Meet in Heaven" by Mitch Albom
Pretty good one.. I'm taking it in slowly.. it is philosophical.

Book in hand:
"Direct From Dell" by Michael Dell
Absolutely simple and common-sensical. Very relevant in this charged-up Computing era. If you want to know how one company, started just a couple of decades ago, has been rocking the world of IBMs and HPs.

My Favorite(s):
sci-fi: "Timeline" by Michael Crichton
humor: "The Inscrutable Americans" by Anurag Mathur
philosophy: "Fountainhead" and "Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand
history and politics: "The Great Indian Novel" by Shashi Tharoor
in a class of its own: "The Da Vinci Code" by Dan Brown
marketing: "Positioning" by Al Ries & Jack Trout
finance: "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" by Robert T. Kiyosaki, Sharon L. Lechter
letter-writing: "Letters to the Penthouse" dont remember which series
photography: "Playboy" any issue that you can get your hand to :P

Each of them is a treat to be savored :)

5 books that mean a lot to me:
I dont know if it means a lot or not.. but all the above influenced me in some unique way.. ;)
And apart from them, "The Alchemist", "Tuesdays With Morrie", "Only Love is Real" and last but definitely not the least "Asterix" have made an impact on me.

Books I read as a kid:
Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, Chandamama, a li'l bit of Tinkle (I read the entire Asterix and Tintin series only during my engineering!)

Who's next to be eaten by the tag worm:
Every one on Jammy Rammy's frequent-visiting blogs list ;)

Have Fun Like Hell !!

"Have Fun Like Hell !!
What a phrase..
But then, what the hell..
Have fun anyways!! "

Wow! That is inspiring and thought-provoking.

At times, I just wait for the right things to happen, the right results, the right mood..
to be happy and to have fun.

And at some such moments, I realize that I dont have to. I dont even have to wait for happiness to be happy. I can have fun any which way things are.. any which way I am. And I have been doing that.

See.. what meeting new people, opening up to life, some blog-hopping, checking mails at 4am after a week's backlog, blah blah blah can do. Well, its probably not about anything in particular. But then, it is a cumulative effect..

There is something that has been bothering me at times. And I was in two minds.. whether to blog it or not.. For one, it is my personal matter and nobody has any business with it. Second, I didnt want to hear any of those smart-alecky or sympathetic comments even in your head (yeah.. I can hear that.. in my mind's ears :) And third, I wasnt sure why I wanted to blog it.

But then, what the hell.. I'll go with my first choice.. of blogging it. 'I am taking a divorce. And I am clear that is what I want for myself and the people concerned.'

Two things about it. She is definitely one of the five people who have made a difference in my life. And everything that happens, happens for the best!

Bhaskar
4th of July!

One puff and half!

Ban on smoking and depiction of smokers in movies.. this was the topic of discussion in a few of my friends’ blogs, last week. Well..I think the ban is a good move. For one, it should put an end to the glorification of smoking and smokers in Indian movies. (For instance, actor Rajinikanth and his cigarette antics..) For another, it is a logical extension to the ban on smoking in public places. (Is it actually being implemented??)

But then that is not the reason for this post. I’m here to publish ‘Joey Bhasky’s laws of smoking’!!

But before that, here is a li’l background of the case. Looking at some of the reasons why people smoke.. craving and addiction to nicotine is one the most common reasons I have come across. A variation to this is the reason that they need a smoke to clear their head, to get their creative juices flowing, to stay awake, etc. Another common reason is that they smoke to kill time. (For these guys, I say, you cant kill time with your smoking.. your smoking would only kill you and the people around you. And time.. time will die a natural death ‘with the passage of time!’)

So, with that background, let me come straight to the Joey Bhasky’s laws of smoking ;)

The First Law:

Every smoker in a state of regular smoking tends to remain in that state unless an external force (read compulsion) is applied to it. (like their lover's or spouse’s ultimatum!)

The Second Law:

The pleasure from smoking is directly proportional to the number of people who admire his/her style of smoking and the number of free smokes he/she can lay hand to.

The Third Law:

Every puff has an equal and opposite ruff (on your lungs)

Now if you are interested in funding my research on smoking and smokers, feel free to contact my campaign coordinator Jam mentioned on the links!

Taggie!!

The proverbial devil has struck! I've been tagged....
The worst part is that I didnt even know what struck me.. :(

Anyways.. Here you are...

Three Names You Go By:
Bhasky
Bhas - Bedhha Bhas
Bhaachoo

Three Screen Names You Have Had:
Bhaskar
Joey - Joey Tribbs - Joey Tribbiani
B aka JT

Three Physical Things You Like About Yourself:
(arre.. yeh bhi koi question hai?!)
Triceps
Jaw line
Dimple(!)

Three Physical Things You Don't Like About Yourself:
(yaar..&*#%*$)
The slight tummy
Nose
Eyebrows

Three Parts Of Your Heritage:
Fighting Spirit
Will power
Lack of Wills power ;)

Three Things That Scare You:
scare? whats that??!!

Three Of Your Everyday Essentials:
Stretching myself (physically and otherwise)
Checking mails and blogs and stock prices :)
Good food and sweets

Three Things You Are Wearing Right Now:
My watch
shorts and.. .. :P
A grin

Three Things You Want In A Relationship:
Honesty
Respect
Matching values and interests
Maturity
Common sense
Charm
Chemistry
Grace
Good voice
...oh you asked for 3 ?!

Two Truths and A Lie (in no particular order):
What is a lie?!
what is truth?
what is a lie well-told ??

Three Physical Things About the Opposite Sex That Appeal To You:
Height with grace
Charm
Sensibility (....and the not so common common sense!)

Three Things You Want To Do Really Badly Right Now:
Kill the person who tagged me ;)
Watch a good movie
Meet a friend

Three Careers You Are Considering:
Being a manager!! (yeah :)..thats a life long pursuit)
Being a writer
Being an Executive Coach

Three Places You Want To Go On Vacation:
Seychelles
whichever is that place.. rock climbing !!
Swiss Alps

Three Kids Name You Like:
Babloo
Kutti
Dinku (remember the ad?!)

Three Things You Want To Do Before You Die:
Own a jet
Make loads of friends
Make a difference to life

People Who Have To Take The Quiz Now:
ha haa haaa!!

Cerebral Shangrila
Chandoo
Govar
Jam
Manoj
Neha
Ram
Ramesh
Shub
The Carp
Venguttu I
Venkat L

will add to this list soon!!

Compulsary Post! - Parineeta

Hmmm... I'm waiting for one larrrrrge file to download.. Apparently some hugely funny guy.. Russel Peters.. canadian-born Indian or something.. anyways, i'll let you know once i get to see it.

So, here I am.. trying to think of something to post.. Haannn.. 'Parineeta'.. I caught this movie last saturday night. It is a very nice movie. I say 'a must watch'. Actually, I never expected it to be so good. I was wary of Saif Ali Khan in a serious role.. I was scared to death with the thought- 'what if Saif tries to cry in the movie'.. Thank God, he doesnt. And the movie wasnt so serious afterall.

Saif plays something that comes quite naturally to him.. the carefree, irresponsible egoistic young man who cant express himself and silently revolts within. Well, thats what I think of him.. some of you might ask me to watch the movie again.. but then.. I will not!

Vidya has given a splendid performance. She looks a natural before the camera and I'm amazed at how well she has done those intimate scenes ;)

Materials of Change

How I wish time just fast forwards itself and sets me down at the end of this year! I have so many plans to complete/accomplish before the end of the year and I want to know and live the end of the year now itself..

But then, at many other times, I'm happy the way things are moving.. or may be I want it to go slow.. cos if it moves any faster, I would be losing out on that much more time to accomplish what I want. This is probably what is called the pull of contradictions.. tension of the opposites by Morrie in the book "Tuesdays with Morrie". (Yeah! I've been reading some books off-late.. and this one is a nice short book.. a good companion on a train or flight journey)

Coming back to the things I want to accomplish, I've quite a small list.. but then it is going to be tough..challenging. Things like buying a house.. not any house.. I already have my eyes set on something and it will be a dream-come-true if I can pull it off.. buying an SUV.. settling some personal stuff.. possibly a legal battle.. etc.. etc..

Which brings me to something else mentioned in the same book.. ['greed, and how we as people put our values in the wrong things'. We put our values in money, cars, clothes, and many others, but we all know that that is the wrong place to put our heart. I’m sure that we have all heard the quote, “When you die, you can’t take it with you".] I would not agree to the term 'wrong', I dont subscribe to the view that being materialistic is wrong. But then, I do understand the hazard of making material things more significant than the intangible things in life. Again, another tension of opposites, as I would prefer to view it!

Laughs...anyone?

This is too good! A great collection..
Courtesy http://dagnyspeaksat.blogspot.com/

These are Ads taken from shaadi.com. These are actual ads on the matrimony site. Grammar and spell errors have no place in a profile description as everything is straight from the heart!

Disclaimer : I am not responsible if you forget your basic grammar after reading this.....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- Hello To Viewvers My Name is Sowmya , I am single i dont have male, If anyone whant to marrie to me u can visite to my home. I am not a good educationbut i working all field in bangalroe.. if u like me u welcome to my heart...when ever u whant to meet pls viset my resident or send u letter.. Thanksyours Regards Sowmya ~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
i want very simple boy. from brahmin educated family from orissa state sheis also know about RAMAYAN, GEETA BHAGABATA, and other homework(Homework?)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wants a man who knows me better and can adjust with me forever. he may nevercreate any difficulties in my life or his life by which the entire life canrun smoothly. thank you(The principle of running life smoothly was never so easy!)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
he should be good looking and should have a service. he Shoulsd have onebrother and one sister. he should be educated.(ain't it unique !! 1 brother 1 sister criteria !)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I am a happy-go-lucky kind of person. Enjoys every moments of life. I love to make friendship. Becauese friendship is a first step of love. I am looking for my dreamboy who will love me more than i. Because i love myself a lot. If u think that is u then why to late come on ........hold my hand forever !!!(The dilwale dulhaniya effect)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
i am simple girl.I have lot of problem in my life because of my luck now i am looking one boy he care me and love me lot lot lot(I don't know why but this is one of my favorites)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My husband should be as 'Shiva' as in Kahani Ghar Ghar Ki and as Tanwerr asin KSBKBT......(Ok I haven't seen these soaps but I am sure she must be demanding too much, ain't he?)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
i want a boy with no drinks if he wants he can wear jeans in house but while steping out of house he should give recpect to our cast(by not wearing his jeans? Wat the hell...)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
HYE I AM A GOOD LOKING GIRL,WHO HAS THE CAPABILITY TO MAKE ANY BODY TOLOUGH.I BELIEVE IN GOD AND ACCORDING TO ME FRIENDS ARE THE REAL MESSENGER OFGOD. THE 3 THINGS I AM LOOKING FROM A BOY ,THEY ARE 1.THEY MUST BELIEVE INGOD.2. THEY HAVE TO LIKE MY PROFFESION AND THEY SHOULD NOT GET BORED WITHME WHEN I WILL TRY TO MAKE THEM LOUGH.(all of us are loughing{laughing})
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
whatever he may be but he should feel that he is going to be someone groomand he must think of the future life if he is toolike this he would bdecalled the man of the lamp(I am clueless, I feel so lost. Can anyone tell me what this girl wants)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
i love my patner i marriage the patner ok i search my patner and i love thepatner ok thik hai the patner has a graduate ok(I am again clueless but I liked the use of "ok". The person is sufferingfrom "Ok-syndrome")
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
HI IAM VERY COOL NUATHER OK MY HOBBY IS SEE T.V AND NEWS OK I HAVE 1 CAR AND1 BONWL OK MY MOTHER ALSO GOOD OK MY FARUET WORLD IS OK(the "ok syndrome" again)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
iam pranati my family histoy my two brother two sister and fater&mothersister complity marred(somebody please explain in comments section how to get married'completely'?)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
iam very simpel and hanest. i have three sister one brother and parent.iam doing postal sarvice and tailor master my original resdence at kalahandidiste naw iam staing at rayagada dist.(actually what is this girl doing? Postal service or tailor.??)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
my name is farhanbegum and i am unmarried. pleaes you marrige me pleaespleaes pleaes pleaes pleaes pleaes pleaes(height of desperation! ;) )~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Iwant one boy who love me or my mother. he love me heartly or he havea frankhe's skin colour 'normal'not a black or not a whitey. IThink the main thinkis heart if your heart is beautiful then you are beautiful.butiam not a handsome girl or not a good looking. but my Mom say that Iam agood girl. My father already expired . iam ''AEKLAUTA''. THE CHOICE IS YOUR.bye bye.(uttama purishinin)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
iam kanandevi. i do owo businas.one sistar.he was marred.(No comments)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I AM LITTLE FAIR INDIAN COLOUR. I DON'T HAVE ANY HABIT.(maybe the poor guy meant BAD habits)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
hello i am a good charactarised woman. i want to run my life happily. i divorced my first husband. his charactor is not good'. i expect the goodminded and clean habits boy who may be in the same caste or other caste accepted ...(but credit cards not accepted..???)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
my colour is black,but my heart is white.i like social service(Zebra..???)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
i'm looking out for who lives in bombay, boy simple who trust me lot shouldbe roman catholic, LOVE ME ONLY.(Now that criterion is a must, isn't it?)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
to be married on jan-2005. working man perferable(this girl has fixed the marriage date too! But she is yet to find a bridegroom.I wish her best of luck on behalf of all of us. I am sure she will get onesoon.)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
i would like a beautyfull boy. and i do not want his any treasure.because boy is the maharaja.(Now he is going to be a lucky boy! Any takers?)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ssc failed three times and worked with privated ltd company which not paying salary at present.(Any takers again?)

Anonymous blogs vs Identified blogs

There are a lot of things that I would have wanted to post on – if only I had an anonymous blog - which I haven’t. Now that my office people and even my counterparts on the other side of the globe know about my blog (!!), I have an even greater responsibility on my shoulders :)

That actually takes me onto two things.. one, I don’t think I can ever maintain a totally anonymous blog. It just isn’t me. Even if I start something like that, I would leave it unattended for quite a long time before I again find the desire to post anonymously. (For that matter, this blog started anonymously with the blog name of Joey Tribbiani and within a few minutes I knew I would never continue with it and shifted to my original name)

Two, having an identified blog is such a responsibility which increases with the viewership category. If it is like this for me with just a small-time blog, how will it be for a big-time blogger like Kiruba (you know about Kiruba and his famous Trisha post, don’t ya?!?) and for a famous personality.. in real life?

( may be continued or may not be continued!)

Machao Delhi!

I had a tottttal machao time in Delhi, Noida & Gurgaon.. 3 states in 3 days.. And if one of us had had an suv/car, we would visited some more states too!

The capital has great infrastructure.. esp. the roads.. man... it was heavenly.. those wide roads and smooth traffic.. only a bangalorean can appreciate that ;) And of course, the malls and 'maall's in gurgaon and noida were great... the cool thing in the otherwise roasting heat...

But the best part was the riot we guys had together. On saturday, I reached Delhi just-in-time for the mini-gettogether of my batchmates at Rodeos, CP - Delhi on saturday evening.

and the party continued at one of my friends, Subbu's place, Noida with about five of us staying over. Booze brings out the best of bakar.. These guys were sooo OUT and at 3am we starting calling the guys in delhi, mumbai, hyd, b'lore and all places.. In all, we should have woken some 20 - 30 of our mates..

We posed 3 very serious and tough questions to each of them.. ( This is for the benefit of the people who missed the quiz and want to re-take it)
1. who is the CM of UP, Uttar Pradesh?
supplementary question 1.a If you think it is Mayawati, then who is Sonia Gandhi???!
2. where do we get daaru(booze) in noida at this time.. (3am)
3. This is a caselet coming your way..we want to go to chandigarh and we had booked a cab.. but the cab hasnt arrived yet. so, where can we get a helicopter at this time and what are the rates ?!?!

Some of the guys were called back in an hour's time to check if they had the answers yet... ;) ;)