It has now become a common occurrence... Every time we go shopping at one of the nearby Indian or any supermarket, one or another Indian couple with a big smile on the guy's face and a glib pick-up line approaches us..!
Let me tell you what happened the last time.. Me and my friend (roomie) were at India Cash & Carry buying some stuff.. our bi-weekly routine. This guy with his wife approached us (the wife seemed pretty young and enthusiastic.. she must be new at this game! ;-) And as soon as he opened his mouth, I knew what was coming "Hi.. you resemble one of my friends..."!!!!
Mez: yeah?!?!? [##$%^%*&*&^($#]
Hiz: Hi.. I am Rakesh [holding out his hand]..
Mez took one look at his face and another at her face... I did not want to disappoint the eager look in her's :P.. "Hi.. I am Bhaskar"
I think I saw a glow in her face ;-)
Hiz: Bashar? nice name....
Mez: [#@^#&*^**()@ ]... [nice name, it seems....at least pronounce my name properly!!!!]
Hiz: Where do you work?
Mez: [thinking to myself..."in the road-side gas station here"] blah blah blah...
Hiz: yada yada yada yada
Mez: blah blah blah blah
Hiz: yada yada..... can I have your phone number?
Mez: [thinking again... haan, aagayaa naaa... tu Amway/Quixtar waloon] [translated as... 'yeah, there you go... ya Amway/Quixtar guys']
I give them my cell number. And internally, I am laughing out aloud.... 'cos I have already become a member of this Quixtar thingy... (for a totally different reason... I will tell ya some other time!!)
More blah blahs and yada yadas... and we part amicably...
I go home and promptly, the next day evening, I get a call from this guy.... But, I did not pick up his call.... why? 'Cos I don't pick calls from guys who cannot pronounce my name right...!
-------------------------
Question of the day: How do you differentiate between cabbage and lettuce??!
Monday, June 30, 2008
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Redwoods and the Pacific
Me and a couple of my friends recently went to the Muir Woods National Park and some beaches around - Muir beach and Stinson beach. It was good (but not so good on my knees. I need to check with a doctor now :( )
The thing about redwoods is that they grow really straight and tall. And their barks look like somebody twisted the whole tree. Also, we noticed an inverted 'V' hole on almost all trees. Any idea why redwoods are the way they are?
The thing about redwoods is that they grow really straight and tall. And their barks look like somebody twisted the whole tree. Also, we noticed an inverted 'V' hole on almost all trees. Any idea why redwoods are the way they are?
Sunday, June 15, 2008
The big apple and its charms..
I gotta say this - New York is dirty, at least most parts of the regular city.
I got to see the big apple this time like never before - Up close and personal. For one, I stayed there for almost 10 days. For another, I commuted like any other NewYorker - in the subways and NJ transits. For one more, I saw the NY of the wee hours (May be I should add that I did not get to visit the SOHO as I had planned earlier).
Our Jersey city office by the Hudson was great. It had a spectacular view of Manhattan and there were ample light reflecting from the waters. Central park was great too - got to explore some more parts of it this time. But, the surrounding areas or the areas leading to it were pretty dirty. Some of these areas had garbage and dirt piled up in the mornings - I guess they were waiting for the garbage trucks to pick them up. Others like the Harrison station along the NJ transit route looked downright ugly (I thought it was an un-used station since my trains did not stop there. Later on, one of the trains did and I was shocked!)
If you walk around the regular city at a time when the regular guys are not around, you will get to see a lot more dirt and folks that live in the dirt. But, I think - what is amazing is that the city is so old and yet, has moulded itself with the times. Like the numerous subways/trains developed and connecting almost every part of this humongous city.
Many people over the decades must have thought like Annie Hall in the Woody Allen movie by the same name - Annie: "What's so great about New York? I mean, it's a dying city...". But, the charm of the big apple probably lies in its undying spirit - that it has thrived beyond its age. With and without its WTCs.
And it is so different and levelling.. you see executives (well, may be not the top honchos) wearing blazers traveling in the transits/subways.
---------------------------------
The NJ transits are another animal altogether. Once I got onto a train only to know that it was not going to stop at my station. What worse, the first stop in that train was an hour ahead, much after the station I was to get down. Another time, I got into the wrong train because my train was late and this train came to my platform (also late by itself) at the time it was supposed to come. (They don't even mention the destination on the sides of some trains) [Lessons - you gotta carry a schedule with you and find out the exact time of the train you need to catch - after looking at the stops listed on the schedule for each train. And confirm with the ticket checkers/staff before you board, especially if the train is delayed]
---------------------------------
On the subject of Annie Hall and Woody Allen,
this is what he says about California!
Alvy Singer (Woody Allen): I don't want to move to a city where the only cultural advantage is being able to make a right turn on a red light.
And here is a classic dialogue from the movie:
Alvy Singer :[addressing the camera] There's an old joke - um... two elderly women are at a Catskill mountain resort, and one of 'em says, "Boy, the food at this place is really terrible." The other one says, "Yeah, I know; and such small portions." Well, that's essentially how I feel about life - full of loneliness, and misery, and suffering, and unhappiness, and it's all over much too quickly. The... the other important joke, for me, is one that's usually attributed to Groucho Marx; but, I think it appears originally in Freud's "Wit and Its Relation to the Unconscious," and it goes like this - I'm paraphrasing - um, "I would never want to belong to any club that would have someone like me for a member." That's the key joke of my adult life, in terms of my relationships with women.
I got to see the big apple this time like never before - Up close and personal. For one, I stayed there for almost 10 days. For another, I commuted like any other NewYorker - in the subways and NJ transits. For one more, I saw the NY of the wee hours (May be I should add that I did not get to visit the SOHO as I had planned earlier).
Our Jersey city office by the Hudson was great. It had a spectacular view of Manhattan and there were ample light reflecting from the waters. Central park was great too - got to explore some more parts of it this time. But, the surrounding areas or the areas leading to it were pretty dirty. Some of these areas had garbage and dirt piled up in the mornings - I guess they were waiting for the garbage trucks to pick them up. Others like the Harrison station along the NJ transit route looked downright ugly (I thought it was an un-used station since my trains did not stop there. Later on, one of the trains did and I was shocked!)
If you walk around the regular city at a time when the regular guys are not around, you will get to see a lot more dirt and folks that live in the dirt. But, I think - what is amazing is that the city is so old and yet, has moulded itself with the times. Like the numerous subways/trains developed and connecting almost every part of this humongous city.
Many people over the decades must have thought like Annie Hall in the Woody Allen movie by the same name - Annie: "What's so great about New York? I mean, it's a dying city...". But, the charm of the big apple probably lies in its undying spirit - that it has thrived beyond its age. With and without its WTCs.
And it is so different and levelling.. you see executives (well, may be not the top honchos) wearing blazers traveling in the transits/subways.
---------------------------------
The NJ transits are another animal altogether. Once I got onto a train only to know that it was not going to stop at my station. What worse, the first stop in that train was an hour ahead, much after the station I was to get down. Another time, I got into the wrong train because my train was late and this train came to my platform (also late by itself) at the time it was supposed to come. (They don't even mention the destination on the sides of some trains) [Lessons - you gotta carry a schedule with you and find out the exact time of the train you need to catch - after looking at the stops listed on the schedule for each train. And confirm with the ticket checkers/staff before you board, especially if the train is delayed]
---------------------------------
On the subject of Annie Hall and Woody Allen,
this is what he says about California!
Alvy Singer (Woody Allen): I don't want to move to a city where the only cultural advantage is being able to make a right turn on a red light.
And here is a classic dialogue from the movie:
Alvy Singer :[addressing the camera] There's an old joke - um... two elderly women are at a Catskill mountain resort, and one of 'em says, "Boy, the food at this place is really terrible." The other one says, "Yeah, I know; and such small portions." Well, that's essentially how I feel about life - full of loneliness, and misery, and suffering, and unhappiness, and it's all over much too quickly. The... the other important joke, for me, is one that's usually attributed to Groucho Marx; but, I think it appears originally in Freud's "Wit and Its Relation to the Unconscious," and it goes like this - I'm paraphrasing - um, "I would never want to belong to any club that would have someone like me for a member." That's the key joke of my adult life, in terms of my relationships with women.
My first above-5 miler...!
Yesterday, I ran my first 7-miler! (well, almost seven miles ;-)
I knew I had a target of 7 miles as a part of my training here. But, just the previous week (as I had wrote earlier), I had this bad knee pain and I had to stop at 3 miles. So, I was quite unsure. I did do some cycling over the week. And I did ice my knee multiple times.. like, wrapping a frozen water bottle around the different sides of my knee and then, once the area goes numb, I rub the area (it seems, the cold helps control the inflammation and the friction improves the blood flow)
So, I reach the Oracle trail (near Foster City) at 7am on the Saturday and it was a great cloudy day. The temperature must have been in the late 70s or early 80s and there was no wind - just the ideal day for a long run. I was all happy and excited (I was excited already - I woke at 6am and ate a protein snack bar!).
And I started my run comfortably with my jerkin on. Reach 1.5 miler and I was getting really warmed up.. rather hot and I left my jerkin at the water station. I then reached the 3 miler and had a couple of gulps of Gatarode and I could feel a li'l pain in the knee area. But, I was happy because I had already crossed my previous limit!
I was also happy because I was only 0.5 miles from the turn-back point!! Man, these small joys... So, I reached the 3.5 miles, kissed the line and was on my way back.. and the pains started getting bigger - not so much as to stop my run, but still it was getting to me. But the view was nice and scenery was good and of course, the weather was great, so I kept on. Oracle trail or Bay trail, as it is also called, I think runs all the way to the bay.
And beyond 4.5 miles, I had to stop running and start walking because the pain was considerable and I was afraid I will make it worse. But, I saw that the pain subsided as I was walking (this was contrary to last week - when the pain increased and remained even after I stopped running) So, I started running again at 5 miles. I took a few small breaks in between my runs (either walk instead of run or run slower) and I managed to finish the 7 miles in (approx.) 2 hours.
I am happy for my first six/seven miler.. this is at least 2 miles more than what I had run in a single shot earlier! :-)
Cross-posted on my Sun Runs blog
Check it out here
I knew I had a target of 7 miles as a part of my training here. But, just the previous week (as I had wrote earlier), I had this bad knee pain and I had to stop at 3 miles. So, I was quite unsure. I did do some cycling over the week. And I did ice my knee multiple times.. like, wrapping a frozen water bottle around the different sides of my knee and then, once the area goes numb, I rub the area (it seems, the cold helps control the inflammation and the friction improves the blood flow)
So, I reach the Oracle trail (near Foster City) at 7am on the Saturday and it was a great cloudy day. The temperature must have been in the late 70s or early 80s and there was no wind - just the ideal day for a long run. I was all happy and excited (I was excited already - I woke at 6am and ate a protein snack bar!).
And I started my run comfortably with my jerkin on. Reach 1.5 miler and I was getting really warmed up.. rather hot and I left my jerkin at the water station. I then reached the 3 miler and had a couple of gulps of Gatarode and I could feel a li'l pain in the knee area. But, I was happy because I had already crossed my previous limit!
I was also happy because I was only 0.5 miles from the turn-back point!! Man, these small joys... So, I reached the 3.5 miles, kissed the line and was on my way back.. and the pains started getting bigger - not so much as to stop my run, but still it was getting to me. But the view was nice and scenery was good and of course, the weather was great, so I kept on. Oracle trail or Bay trail, as it is also called, I think runs all the way to the bay.
And beyond 4.5 miles, I had to stop running and start walking because the pain was considerable and I was afraid I will make it worse. But, I saw that the pain subsided as I was walking (this was contrary to last week - when the pain increased and remained even after I stopped running) So, I started running again at 5 miles. I took a few small breaks in between my runs (either walk instead of run or run slower) and I managed to finish the 7 miles in (approx.) 2 hours.
I am happy for my first six/seven miler.. this is at least 2 miles more than what I had run in a single shot earlier! :-)
Cross-posted on my Sun Runs blog
Check it out here
Saturday, June 07, 2008
Omar and the Niagara!
And, as the Cock crew, those who stood before
The Tavern shouted - "Open then the Door!
You know how little time we have to stay,
And once departed, may return no more."
Alike for those who for TO-DAY prepare,
And that after a TO-MORROW stare,
A Muezzin from the Tower of Darkness cries
"Fools! your reward is neither Here nor There!"
That is Omar Khayyam for ya...
But time comes to a standstill at the Niagara... Majestic, as it is - where does all the water go?!
Here are some pics (and some Patel shots!; no! not the typical staring into the camera ones)..
Don't you feel like jumping into the water and stoping the flow....??
For the full album, check this link!
The Tavern shouted - "Open then the Door!
You know how little time we have to stay,
And once departed, may return no more."
Alike for those who for TO-DAY prepare,
And that after a TO-MORROW stare,
A Muezzin from the Tower of Darkness cries
"Fools! your reward is neither Here nor There!"
That is Omar Khayyam for ya...
But time comes to a standstill at the Niagara... Majestic, as it is - where does all the water go?!
Here are some pics (and some Patel shots!; no! not the typical staring into the camera ones)..
Don't you feel like jumping into the water and stoping the flow....??
For the full album, check this link!
Wednesday, June 04, 2008
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Eternal Life!
Javeda Zindagi I love this song from the movie, Anwar... just melts my heart every time I hear it. (Courtesy: musicmania from ...
