Random Rumble in the Bronx!

For the pretty lady sitting prettily in her oh-so-pretty office in S’pore:

4 + 4 + 2 + 2 + 4 + 4 + 4 + 4 + 2 + 2 = 32 hrs n not 16 hrs! How can you expect to finish the work in half the time n tht too when u urself prepared tht stupid document which had to be read over n over again to understand wht u were trying to say n then spending hours modifying it to rectify the wrong steps u had written. Due to u I had to work in the office almost till midnite for the past 3 days. If u don’t know basic addition go to the Start menu of ur comp n then from the Programs fly-out menu go to Accessories n voila there is a Calculator hidden there for dumbos like u. Now if u use any other operating system than Windows may Bill Gates haunt u in ur dreams .. tht too for total 32 hrs in installments! :P

Actually writing this all here can’t vent out the frustration coz this will be the story again for every small project.. ohh another one starts from 1st Sept. I guess. Someone had appropriately said
Every organization is like a tree full of monkeys. Ones at the top can only see monkeys below them and ones at bottom see only assholes above them

Time tht I close the eyes of my juniors :D

Dad got ‘officially’ transferred to Madhya Pradesh from Himachal Pradesh. We were expecting it to be Rajasthan n mom n myself were happy coz we haven’t been there. But anyways we also haven’t been to MP. So au revoir to Shimla n Delhi n -soon- here I come Bhedaghat n Dhuandhar waterfalls. I hope tht soon will be really soon otherwise a senior person retiring here in December this year vacates a position n dad might be transferred back to Pune to fill it up. I mean tht is gud but it is bad too. Damn why do things have two sides.

We all Japanese language students in the company got certificates for the recently concluded training session. Also we gave a small treat to our teacher.. have got pics will upload them someday. As u can see the marks have come down frm 80 to 79. Thts coz I was honest enough to tell the teacher tht she had given me an extra mark in a question by mistake. I swear I m not tht honest but actually I had gone to tease her for giving me an xtra mark n demanded one more mark for pointing out her mistake. Had I known they were gonna write marks on the certificate I would have not displayed my honest side. See again, everything has two sides. Btw, a better handwriting on tht would have been nice.

Now everybody close ur ears. AAARRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHH !!Sorry Navdy tht wasn’t ur blog heading but I really shouted. If I don’t update this space anytime in future for 15 days in a row consider tht I have left blogging n sorry for tht. But I just can’t get over the feeling no matter how hard I try. It is the second time I m losing my smile to it. It is neither professional problem nor academic. I m not getting married n neither I have fallen in luv. So stop thinking ‘bout it n I will try my best to be on the blogging scene coz I have to parade the desktop beauties. Okk thts a gud thought for survival. Ciao!

Gods, Goddesses n Miracles!!

Bola Ganpati Bappa Morya, Mangalmurti Morya

Since evening, the only audible thing apart from the dhols n tashas is this sentence. It is festival season in the land of festivals. One has just enough time to relish n digest all goodies prepared for the festive occasion till the next one knocks the door. When in school we were given the topic ‘My Favourite Festival’ for essay I, like most other students, used to write on Diwali coz it had a huge matter to write. But, even today I m more fond of Ganesh Utsav as compared to Holi n Diwali. The decoration n themes put up by various pandals n the long walks to see all of them throughout the night, the immersion process n the 7-8 hrs of non-stop dance (both, the fav ganpati ishtyle dance n the decent one with a local school) n the best part of course are the modaks. I luv the fried version n never liked the steamed ones. Mom has gone out of station for two days n will be returning in time tomorrow for the puja. Till then, I got the idol today evening after hunting a few places to get the idol of perfect height to fit into the thermocol temple I had already bought.

The so-called miracles in different parts of the country have been ruling the news for the past two weeks. Check Aditi’s blog where she has already written on the idols of gods drinking milk n salty water of a river (or better a glorified gutter?) turning sweet n more stuff. I was reading Farah Baria’s column n a few excerpts from it:
It’s easy to sneer at miracles from an Ivory Tower. Try it from a slum with a skinny, sick child in one arm and a bucket of brackish drinking water in another – you might just be singing a different hymn. The truth is, in a country where 1.2 million kids still starve to death every year and over 40 million citizens wage a daily battle with poverty and hunger, Faith is India’s coping mechanism – our only security blanket against hopelessness and despair. Purer than opium, safer than Valium.
The joke is that India is not just a country of miracles, it’s a miraculous country. Think about it. The way we submit to inept leaders, then vote them back to power, is a miracle. The way we accept corruption and deceit is a miracle. The way we somehow muddle through the chaos and make it work is most definitely a miracle. But these miracles we don’t see, the ones we take for granted.
When will we stop believing? Qutie simply, when every Indian can eat, drink, work and live with dignity. When we can cease to serve the government we have appointed to serve us. When India, like the Meethi River, can hold her head high and be proud of her name. But for the moment, these can only be miracles.

Well, all we can hope is that the God of Wisdom of whom we kick-start the 10 day festival from tomorrow instill knowledge in those superstitious minds.

The series I mentioned in the last post is going to be of wallpapers. Desktop Goddess of the Fortnight/Month will commence from next month. As the name suggests the wallpapers will be only of babes, so sorry gals :D. The name is inspired by a show on Channel V which goes probably by the name V Goddess of the month. I haven’t yet finalised whether to update tht section after a fortnight or a month. Going by my collection count till today if I update it daily the series would last for about 6 years from now. But daily wont be possible; so I had another thought to go by alphabetical order. Suggestions are welcome but let me tell u tht it won’t be a boob show here, definitely (though long live the SI photo shoots n VS ramp shows). I use all those wllpprs at home n in company so I got to be careful :). Most of the models/actresses are my fav but the main thing is the captured pic. So hats off to the photographers for capturing the stunning beauties in awesome frames. Btw, whts with these wllppr sites nowadays? Some are going almost porn n it is difficult to browse for a gud wllppr without a naked gal titillating on the sidebars n a foreign chick’s pic saying she is right here in Pune for me to make out tonight. WTF!! It is kinda difficult to pursue a hobby these days. Anyways, hope u r having a gud Sunday if reading this tomorrow otherwise have a nice week ahead.

Spoofed Nationalists

How many of you remember the national pledge we used to recite in school? I can only remember the part India is my country. All Indians are my brothers and sisters. Now, not remembering the next lines don’t make me an anti-Indian n neither does knowing the entire pledge by-heart make me a patriot. Why to make the national song Vande Mataram to be sung compulsorily everyday in schools? As it is, we already sing the national anthem along with the pledge. To be frank, I don’t know the meaning of each n every word of our anthem and neither can I tell how many regions are mentioned in it at the drop of a hat. But still I luv my country. Fine, I agree it is not wrong in singing the national song but making it compulsory is bad. Worse is making it a political issue n sparking off community hatred. But we can expect only this frm our politicians. Why do u go to a movie theatre? For pleasure.. right? Now why do we have to play national anthem in a place where ppl come to unwind themselves. The sadder part is many ppl keep on munching to the popcorn or slurping the coke while standing. Why the hell bring disrepute to the anthem like tht. Call me a traitor if u want but I hate this forced-nationalism. The sense of pride or feeling of gratitude towards ur own country shld come frm ur heart n not necessarily frm ur mouth thro songs of praise. If the politicians want everyone to be like tht then get someone to sit n transmogrify everyone.

Last night I was reading an article on the sudden influx of spoofs of best-selling novels. Spoofs/parodies are meant to be taken in a light way n the satire might be difficult to digest if one doesn’t has a taste of tht kind of humour or the original author is one of ur favs. I Moved Your Cheese is a spoof of Who Moved My Cheese. Till yest I was thinking tht Spencer Johnson had written the next part of the latter one. Lord of The Rings got Bored of The Rings while Star Trek turned into Star Wreck. But the best name of the spoof according to me is the on one of the famous books Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus. The name of the satire is Women are from Bars, Men are from Penus. After reading the original version would luv to skim thro’ the spoof as well. Has anyone read any spoof novels? While we are on spoofs, yest one colleague shared a parody on Harry Potter. It is awesome n Lindsay Lohan with xtra assets makes it super awesome. A laughter riot of 5 mins 20 secs.. search for it on youtube or any other sites n post the link in comments if anyone finds it. Would have mailed u all if the size was small but it is 50 Mb.

Btw, if u have ur mail id in ur blogger profile n got ur comments bounced off my mail id then m sorry for tht. Let us blame the system guys for this; have changed the comments-delivery to gmail again. It was gud when the comments directly landed in mail box so it was a refreshing change to read tht frm the official mails n boring forwards. Now, I have to refresh the whole page in free time to check for comments. So pls don’t expect a reply on a comment in posts in archives. I am thinking of starting a series on blog.. details in one of the upcoming posts.

Wanted - Hot gal with cool sunglasses! :D

2 days back as I was waiting at the Sangam Bridge signal on way to office saw a few school children standing across holding placards in their hands. The boards were in marathi language n I take longer time to read marathi in devnagari script than in English script thnx to the innumerable sessions of chatting. I was trying to figure out wht was written frm a long distance but couldn’t do so apart frm noticing a few exclamation marks. The signal turned green n the curious cat in me glanced sideways to read the banner. I just finished reading half of it n THUD!! I almost fell down in a big pothole in the middle of the road.. not middle it had covered the whole road. Guess wht was written on the placard.. Pudhe khadda aahe!! Vahane hallu chalva! which translated means Pothole ahead!! Drive slowly!. I was not hurt but tht pothole sure shook some of the vertebrae down the spinal cord. Tht is just one of the innumerable potholes here n every rainy season Pune is compared to the moon drawing a comparison of the potholes and craters over there. I wont be saying again n again tht the corporation sucks but it indeed is a gr8 effort by the students of school to come forward n help citizens (not by making them bump of course). Also a few IT companies’ employees have started manning traffic signals in peak hours while the pot-bellied policemen take a siesta. It is tht time of the year when u sport ur sexy sunglasses to hang around n not to move. If at all u have to move prepare urself for a roller-coaster ride.. woooohhooooo!!!

In the previous post, many said tht it is a passing phase n also the ‘grass is greener on other side’ feeling. I agree to tht, but yet I would like to say tht blaming engineering does not mean I did not enjoy those four years. It was one of the best phases of my life. Apart frm the gud frnds I made in this time I value these four years as discovering myself. I was not shy but introvert by nature in school. But conscious efforts frm my side n a nice grp of frnds has definitely transformed me into an extrovert. Not tht I was not social earlier but there has been a distinct transformation in me in a positive way. So for some of u .. engineering is gud.. fine? Now u can sleep peacefully :P. Also, someone pointed tht I need to find a gal so tht I won’t be stressed.. lollzz. I would luv to take this advice n start searching for a gal. But being lazy I would prefer to print some ads’ n let the gal come over here instead :D Any creative lines.. not pickup lines.. for the ads’ are welcome.. he he. My tennis partner Kunal is leaving for US this weekend to pursue higher studies. So tht means ‘The Sunday Tennis’ comes to an end until I find a new partner. Also, a few frnd frm my grp already left abroad in the past two weeks or so. Now m seriously wondering wht I would be doing over the weekend n whom to hang out with. Whts the use of sexy sunglasses if u don’t have anyone to hang out with.. lol. I guess the ‘gal’ thing shld be seriously considered now. Don’t be surprised if u get to see hoardings for the gal-search all over Pune. I will keep in mind to make those in english n not in marathi otherwise I will be the first one to take a tumble again.. ha ha.

Watched ‘The Game’ movie over last 2-3 days. It features Michael Douglas, don’t know if it is new or old. But if tht thing (a prank) happens to someone in real life, I doubt he will survive till the end.. the movie’s end not his end. I got myself new headphones in office.. the earlier ones had started to function well again suddenly but again gave problems last week. For a few reasons I have fallen in luv with 2 songs right now. They have been playing in loop since a few days. One is Lucky Ali’s Tu Kaun Hai and other one Pyaar Ke Naam by Bombay Vikings. Interestingly, both songs when used in movies are more melodious. I guess m correct or it’s only me thinking tht way. A few lines of the first song are:

Kahaan se tu aati hain kahaan ko tu jaati hain
Sapnon ko sajaati hain apnon ko le jaati hain
Baagon mein jab behti hain kaanon mein kuch kehti hain
Aati hain nazar nahin saanson mein par rehti hain
Hawa hain pawan hain vayu hain purwai hain
Jeevan hain jaan hain ya parchai hain
Dene aayi hain ya kuch mere liye layi hain
Puchu na main kya tuzhse kahanse tu aayi, tu kaun hain

Tu kaun hain Tu kaun hain Tu kaun hain

The *tu kaun hain* line doesnt fail to make me think every time i hear it. The second song’s lyrics are put up in the scrolling line on header. Have a superb weekend all of u!

Who Wants to be a Millionaire Engineer?

I wanna be your t-shirt when it´s wet
wanna be the shower when you sweat
I wanna be - your hot tub - when you´re dippin´
I wanna be - your bathrobe - when you´re drippin´
I wanna be - your cocktail baby - when you´re sippin´
I just wanna be right there - more than anything I swear
I wanna be - your underwear
But babe, I never wanted to be an engineer

Bryan Adams was lucky.. he just became everything a normal guy would desire n even he didn’t get to waste 4 years of his life getting a B.E. If u luv engineering run away now otherwise I will haunt u in ur dreams n turn them into nightmares. I HATE engineering. Now tht I have said tht let me clarify tht it was solely my decision to get into tht rut so neither can I blame my parents for tht. So all I will do is rant ‘bout it. The memories came back due to two main reasons.
First is tht m getting bored frm this routine life of work. I m itching to break free n do something else fully aware tht after 1 year I will be saying the same thing again in any field. Second was a guy (frm mom’s tuitions a few yrs back) who met me at the gym the other day. He has completed his 12th grade n filled in the form for engineering. Now gym is a place I dislike to be in the first thing in morning. As if tht was not enough this guy comes n starts asking which college is gud n which discipline he shld prefer. Honestly I felt telling him to drop the idea of becoming an engineer n instead do something else but fearing his parents would come to my home with sticks n brooms I kept my wise ideas to myself. It has been almost 2 years now I got out of the college but tht dude wasn’t able to understand when I said u shld look how the campus offers went for the last year n then choose a college. Adding to the already confused condition of admissions the university has added a Common Entrance Test (CET) which is now used to prepare the merit list. When I had gone for it, the merit list was prepared only on the 12th grade marks but all efforts of explaining this to him went in vain as he insisted to know my opinion ‘bout his score in the CET. I know he is in a tough position n wants some answers but get them frm a relevant n reliable source.. pls not frm me. I had a ‘gud’ reputation in my class of just passing on the border .. in fact I joined the 40/100 marks community on orkut n was pleased to read tht there were ppl having more subjects with the magical figure of 40. I will count my tally n post it sometime. But as of now I will say engineering sucks n if there is someone in favour of engg. don’t sue me but pls guide tht kid as a favour.

With due respect to all engineers n the females in the world

Becoming an engineer is similar to getting pregnant. You just have to enjoy the success n not count the efforts and years tht went in, to become one

I would have luved to become a sports person.. not table tennis of course :D. Wht would u have luved to become instead of wht u r into today? If u r a student are u flowing in the stream u like or want to get to the shore n settle for something else?

Wishing all the Indians a very very Happy Independence Day for 15th August. I sincerely hope tht every kid grows on to become wht he wants n even if he/she doesn’t land up in the dream job, he/she helps India to outshine the rest of the world. On tht optimistic note, lets end this post by repeating after me “Engineering Sucks!!!” I luv u all.. thnx!

Ghost - 1990

Do u believe in ghosts? I don’t till date. There is a news tht two cities are currently affected by a ‘music-lover’ ghost. It may sound funny but wht is more funny tht if someone sings or hums Himesh Reshmiyya’s songs then tht ghost loves it (or hates it.. might be Himesh’s publicity stunt) but yeah the ghost chases the person who is singing. There was a nice discussion on tv (don’t tell me I said anything against watching tv) whether ghosts are for real or an illusion we have due to some fears, imagination or just some widely spread tales. There was a tarot card reader too n she said tht she never believed in ghosts until she witnessed one herself n pointed out tht until one doesn’t witnesses it himself or herself not to believe in them. Tarot cards, palmistry, astrology n horoscope are definitely sciences but since we are not taught these in school I have something somewhere back in my mind which tells me not to believe in them. But still, the first thing I do when I grab the newsppr in morning is read Calvin & Hobbes n then Peter Vidal’s daily horoscope column. I must admit tht I wonder that even though I don’t believe in it, most of the things in tht column come quite true. I first thought tht reading tht in morning, I must be trying to do wht was written but then I started reading tht while sleeping n still it tallied most of the times.

It is a debatable issue whether these things are for real or not but those who believe highly stress on the existence of ghosts. As for my believing in ghosts, I want to do two things for tht. First is go to a trek to Torna fort n stay there overnight. I luv trekking but apart frm tht fact I want to do this esp coz have heard many stories of ghosts on this fort who haunt the place in night. Second is some lane in Pune where a Chinese boy sits with folded legs in mid-air. If I see these two then I will surely update this space. Nah.. ghosts don’t kill simply coz if there are ghosts surely they also are facing the problem of population explosion. U tell me.. have u seen a ghost?

The weekend break was gud. My grandparents are well n gr’ma is also recovering. At this age wht they need more is love rather than medications n tht they sure are getting frm my lovely cousins. These kids amaze me every time I visit or they come here. I have this firm belief tht there is more to learn frm kids than elders. U just shld have tht patience to understand them. Being a single child, I really am bad at giving n sharing n I sure get an inferiority complex seeing them think so much for each other n tht too even in small small things. I yesterday vowed tht I would try to share my chocolate bar next time with someone.. yes it was hard to even think of it, but I did do it. Also, a small boy on the road made me realize yest why my bike’s headlight was on even when I had tried all things to turn it off for past 2 days n the mechanic also failed to understand why it was continuously on. Apart frm tht I was also at the receiving end of umpteen methods to get rid of my cough n cold. Gr’mother insisted on me drinking haldi-ka-doodh (turmeric flavoured milk) while one of the aunts had masala-doodh ready. Had to gulp down both at diff times of course. Then another aunt got me ugly-coloured-horrible-smelling syrup which I had to drink much to the amusement of two younger cousins. I was wondering whether I had gone to visit a patient or to turn myself into one. It is a fact tht if u take medicines u get well in a week while if u don’t then u take around 7 days, still the fuss over it.

Happy Raksha Bandhan to one n all. I just cant get over this joke.. sorry if it hurts someone’s sentiments, but since it is in marathi I don’t think many will be able to understand it. I m not taking any efforts to translate it coz it loses the punch after translation.

Ek sundar mulgi college madhye rakhi gheun aali aani vargatlya saglyat waatrat porala mhanali “Haath de, rakhi bandhte”. Porga tar aagav hotach, mhanala, “Wah ga wah! Udya mi mangalsutra gheun yein, bandhun gheshil ka mazhya kadun” :))

I am leaving!!

Wht did u think frm the title? Did u think I m leaving blogspot since it again got blocked in the company.. nah! Ur torture won’t come to an end so soon … but don’t worry it will surely end one day :)

Can’t put down wht I had intended to so wrapping it up. I m having a very bad cold… sneezing all the time since yest evening. My nose is hurting like hell. I don’t remember getting wet in the continuous downpour which is taking place here the whole week (though yest it was gr8 weather) but it seems the weather change had me in. I will be going to my mom’s native place tomorrow to meet my grandparents. Grandma is not well n she got a fractured leg too. U all too tk care n have a gr8 weekend. Catch u all on Moday now.. tada.. :))

EDIT: A Happy Frndship day to all of u (it is on Sunday if u were not aware like me).. so if u r my frnd be happy always n if u r not then WTH r u doing here :D

Hiiiiiissssssss...

It was Nagpanchami on Sunday. Nag means snake n panchami is 5th day.. don’t know wht 5th day is but ppl worship snakes on the Nagpanchami (snake being one of the creatures alongside one of the most powerful gods in Indian mythology). There were some pics in the newsppr of ladies celebrating it so I assume tht it is a more female-sided day so no wonder I don’t know anything about the festival. But snakes do evoke some memories frm the past. Dad being a zoologist, his office had (when he was in Pune) insects n animals of all size, sex, caste n creed.. okk at least the first 2 I guess. There were beautiful butterflies to ugly beetles, creepy snakes to grasshoppers, crickets, praying mantis n wht not. I have had my wonderful share of scaring gals in school during my science projects when mostly I used to take an empty box of sweets n arrange all those insects in it. Of course they were dead but not all knew tht fact n it was real fun. But, before tht as a kid I also wasn’t aware tht all those snakes were dead n kept in spirit for preservation. I always thought tht they were alive n were kept in special mineral water which kept them alive for many years. I never used to venture in tht area of the office n used to keep myself happy watching the butterflies n moths.

The first time I came across a live snake was when I was in 7th grade I guess. Tht time dad was a member of an organization WILD. Tht organization had caught some snake-charmers (don’t know wht is charming ‘bout these ppl) who sewed the mouth of snakes n then made money by either making them dance on tune of bin or skinning them. The whole lot of snakes recovered frm them was kept in an exhibition to spread awareness about snakes in the masses. I was roaming around keeping a safe distance frm the exhibits when one of dad’s frnd recognized me n said “Hey this is Dr. Sharma’s son.” Now god knows why but this statement prompted one guy frm the organization to come forward n place a huge python on my neck with the python’s neck region in my right hand. I can’t forget tht feeling till date. I was shivering n I could feel my palms going wet with sweat. Luckily tht lasted only for few seconds but in such situations the few seconds also seem like long hours. (Off record: I later boasted ‘bout handling a live python alone n tht ‘live’ word was said with due stress :D) The point is tht m in awe of ppl who can handle those poisonous n non-poisonous asps. I always take my lil cousins to the local snake park to show them how they take out venom. The snakes there are in deep pits so no problem of being scared, but yes snakes are scary n far far away from being cute. Take my word for tht.

Weekend was meant to be fun but the incessant rain did play a bit of spoilsport. Met a lot of buddies in this whole week. Two of them were in India on vacn frm France n US. Another was here frm Singapore while two frm within India frm Banglore n Hyderabad. Lotz to talk, lotz to eat n lotz to learn too. Watched Omkara movie which is an adaptation of Shakespeare’s Othello. It was nice but Saif took away the whole movie n might sweep the awards too. Also watched (or say re-watched if permitted to use the word) Saving Private Ryan, Apaharan n half of Chronicles Of Narnia. Finished off the season one of 24 n still I have dreams of Elisha Cuthbert being kidnapped again n again n me being her sole saviour. I was wondering if I had too much on hands before Saturday evening came but now wonder how could I squeeze all this too along with getting up at 1 on Sunday. Amazes me!

Out of context.. today’s evening made me very very happy.. it is past midnight but m still smiling :)