The looking glass

The End!

2007-06-27T06:02:00.000-07:00

Thank you all for stopping by & leaving your footprints.
I have run out of inspiration to keep this up anymore.
Sometimes, heart wrenching though it is, you need to say good bye when its time!

Numbed..

2007-06-17T18:51:00.000-07:00

Read this.. The worst part is that after reading this our reaction is in all probability going to be.."India..it happens all the time.."
We are a country so full of armchair revolutionsits..yours truly included..who believe that something that has no chances of changing is not worth any attempt at getting our hands dirty..
Travelling is an eye opener i guess.. The view that was taken for granted after years of conditioning is now numbing.. human life..is worth all but a few thousand rupees..when it is invaluable!

From the Idiot Box..

2007-06-17T18:39:00.000-07:00

From the time we wake up
to the time we go to bed
our mind is full of questions..
"is he the right one for me?"
"is it going to rain tomorrow?"
"will she make my life as bright as i hope?"
"will there be love again?"

When these questions are answered
by the answers that we hope for...
that is when Happiness begins!

You..

2007-06-02T09:40:00.000-07:00

are everything
I am not..
but still
everything
I am

but then again..
you are
everything..

Justice?

2007-05-22T07:58:00.000-07:00

Drawing away from what
he had done..
surveying the carnage
all around
the blood spattered walls
seemed to speak
of a new interpretation
to justice..

Post #150

2007-05-21T03:47:00.000-07:00

..and I wait
to repeat
& be heady
again..

when my
eyes..speak
to yours

are you
me,or
me you?

Before Sunrise..again

2007-05-07T21:51:00.000-07:00

What a movie! I am still all attention when i watch this movie.. I must have watched this so many times but it doesn't fail to hold my attention every single time..The minute detail in the movie are so amazing..the progression of topics that Jesse & Celine discuss..the way they start getting comfortable with each other..the way they start predicting how the other one will behave..The way they try to pretend that this night will not affect the rest of their lives & pale everything else..The cliches..The nuances in the body language..
Just wish L was here to watch it with me...

Far?

2007-04-28T06:50:00.000-07:00

Waking in your memory
i realise..
divide us many a
thousand miles..

that cosy cafe..
not cosy anymore
inhabiting sugary
cooing twosomes

The familiar paths..
serve to remind
all the times
i want to rewind..again..

the many miles
now..trivial
sensing your vibes
keep pace with mine..

Sometimes..

2007-04-07T00:49:00.000-07:00

Sometimes
just sometimes
the mask reveals
a softer inside

a mask?
Does it really need
a shelter away

maybe not a mask!
we do believe it
when so trained
& for so long..

a hint of moist
for all those
missed most..

the perfect man..

2007-03-15T08:18:00.000-07:00

A perfect man shall never be
until the perfect she
knows all his chinks..

armour pierced
to none but one..

solace sought
in unpoken words
in a radiant smile
in a reassuring hug

A perfect man shall never be
until the perfect she
has covered all his chinks

Tere Bin..

2007-03-04T07:05:00.000-08:00

Tere Bin Sanu Sonya
Koi Hor Naiyo Labhna ,
Jo Dekhu Ruh nu Sakun Chuke Cho jo Nakhra Mera...!!!

Ve mein sara khum ke vekhya
America Roos MalayasiaNai kite vi koi v pharak c,
Har kisi de koi sharat c,
Koi Mangda mere si sama, koi hunda soorat te fida,
koi mangda meri c wafa,
na koi mangda meri bala,
Tere bin hor na kise mangni Meri ya Bala....

Tere bin hor na kise karni dhup wich shaa.....
Tere Bin Sanu Sonya Koi Hor Naiyo Labhna,
Jo Dekhu Ruh nu Sakun Chuke Cho jo Nakhra Mera...

Jiven rukya c tu zara Nai yo bolna mein saari umar ,
Jiven ankhya c aankha chura
Roovenga sanu yaad kar
Hasya si mein ehsa ajeeb Par tu nai c hasya,
Dil Vich tere jo raaz c,
Menú tu kyu nai dasya

Tere bin sanu eh raaz Kise to naiyo dasna
Teri Bin peed da elaj Kise veid kolo lavan….
Tere Bin Sanu Sonya Koi Hor Naiyo Labhna,
Jo Dekhu Ruh nu Sakun Chuke Cho jo Nakhra Mera...
Milya c aaj menu tera ek patra
Likhya c jiste tu sher bardasht da Padke c usnu aanju ek dulya
Aankha ch band c eh raaz aaj khulya

Tere bin eh mere aanju kise to naiyo chunga
Tere bin eh mere aanju Mitti wich roolna....!!!
Tere Bin Sanu Sonya Koi Hor Naiyo Labhna,
Jo Dekhu Ruh nu Sakun Chuke Cho jo Nakhra Mera...!!!

Zapped??Now check out the translation below..

besides you my love
i shan't find another
who'll give peace to my soul
and indulge me

i have gone and seen it all
america, russia, malaysiana
there wasn't any difference
they all had some condition
some asked for my time
some were fascinated with my face
some demanded my fidelity
none wanted my demons

besides you no one else
wanted my demons
besides you no one else
shall shade me in the sun

(the) way you paused slightly
i shan't forget all my life
you said, looking away
"you shall weep in my memory"
i laughed a strange laugh
but you didn't

you had a secret in your heart
why didn't you tell me
besides you none shall tell this
secret to me
besides you what druid
has the cure to my ills

i found today
a note of yours
on which you had scribbeled
a varis shah couplet
upon reading which
a teardrop fell

what was locked in the eye
was revealed today
that other than you
these tears of mine
won't be kissed by
none else

that other than you
these tears of mine
will wither in the dust

Awesome isn't it? :)
It is such a joy to read such eloquent lyrics..

Mangalored...

2007-02-12T00:06:00.000-08:00

Overnight Volvo journey..a very good friends marriage..morning walk in search for coffee..prolonged in search of breakfast..pre-marriage jitters..realization that it'll be my turn someday too!.. amazing lunch..parafet at Pabba's.. wearing a dhoti after eons.. stuffed after dinner.. wine & conversation.. super company..some serious talk & loads of laughter..
bus ride to the hometown.. walking around in the estate.. early morning dew..sweets galore.. those heavenly heavenly twisty roads..
sigghhh.. I want to go back.. & this time on my bike of course... :)

2006-12-25T22:57:00.000-08:00

I finally found someone
That knocks me off my feet
I finally found the one
That makes me feel complete

It started over coffe
We started out as friends
It's funny how from simple things
The best things begin

This time is different
And it's all because of you
It's better than it's ever been
'Cause we can talk it though

My favouite line
was "Can I call you sometime"
It's all you had to say
To take my breath away

This is it,
oh I finally found someone
Someone to share my life
I finally found the one
To be with every night

'Cause whatever I do
It's just got to be you

My life has just begun
I finally found someone

Did I keep you waiting?
I didn't mind I apologise, baby that's fine
I would wait forever
just to know you were mine

You know I love your hair
Are you sure it looks right?
I love what you wear
Isn't it too tight?

You're exceptional
I can't wait for the rest of my life

This is it,
oh I finally found someone
Someone to share my life
I finally found the one
To be with every night
'Cause whatever I do
It's just got to be you
My life has just begun
I finally found someone

And whatever I do
It's just got to be you
My life has just begun
I finally found someone

Nothing else sums it up better.. Touchwood! :)

The Departed

2006-11-08T22:10:00.000-08:00

Awseome movie..L & me had picked all the wrong movies recently.. movies where we wanted to run out midway..but didn't only because the tickets cost more than a meal..so after all the brain zapping movies it was such a relief to watch this kick-ass movie.. the background score..the dialogues..the tagline..the performances..all top notch..its an all start cast..you get to see martin sheen after a long time..there's Mark wahlberg..a superb performance as usual..a smaller role but meaty nonetheless..and he is superb every frame he is in..he gets to deliver some hard hitting dialogues too..literally..Leonardo..the look he has suits the role to a t..having done the irish immigrant roles before does help as you can see..he carries off the tormented mole part pretty well..Matt Damon..the cop working for the cartel..rendered as good as it comes..& the best player of them all..Jack Nicholson the kingpin..wine's not the only thing that gets better with age..
Scorsese is the perfect captain for this cops & criminals story..well shot..as always the play with words continued to thrill me no end as in all good gangster movies..
The story revolves around the Massachusetts state police & the irish gangster in town(nicholson) whom they been trying to nail for donkey's years now..matt damon is nicholson's mole inside the state police & leonardo gets to do the honours for the gangster club..Wahlberg & Sheen are the cops who recruit loeonardo for the covert act.. wahlberg is explosive in every scene he appears in..sheen as the composed older cop has underplayed his role to perfection..as fate would have it damon & leaonardo fall for the same woman..who ironically starts off being the shrink to one of them.. some of the scenes with the lady are the ones that have the best dialogues..& good background score too..imagine a pink floyd song in one of the steamier scenes..& the song has a cross reference to an earlier scene with nicholson..watch out..
The movie gets interesting when word is out that there are moles within the two organisations..& both the moles are now out to get the other's identity..who gets who first forms the rest of the fun which i shall leave you to find out..
a sampler of one of the dialogues: Jack nicholson meets leaonardo in a bar & asks him to come with him..when leaonardo stalls..he says"i'm not a cop..i'm not asking you"..subtle..& superb.. or maybe i'n not that hard to please:)

World trade Centre

2006-11-05T19:55:00.000-08:00

Think WTC & what comes to your mind..the destruction..the mayhem.. the sheer magnitude of such an attack that put the spanner in the works of an entire populace..now if you want to make a movie of this..what do you want to show? obviously the above said stuff..but no.. the makers of WTC had different thoughts.. they picked 2 survivors & showed us what they went through..how they got buried while trying to go about their rescue work...& how they are rescued..filled in between by how they try & stay alive(which btw is not filled with inspiring lines at all )..the pain their families go through when they can't hear from them..the slow pace did not help at all..i am sure the same plot could have been dealt with more effectively with just half the running time..maybe it would have been more watchable then..
how can you make a movie on a disaster & not show the disaster..to give them credit they do show a couple of shots of the WTC going down..but all that was from footage that we already have seen a gazillion times from CNN to NDTV to i am sure some bizzare station in Timbuktu..
The story starts with our protagonists starting the day..ending up at WTC..obviously at the wrong time.. the building collapses & they are stuck in the rubble..pinned & at the mercy of fate..waiting for someone to rescue them..as you'd expect they do get rescued in the end..you see the WTC when they are going down & then when they are rescued you see the remains of the WTC as they are lifted out of it.. what happened in between is all left to your imagination.. what about the people who were stuck on the floors above?..what about the ones who jumped?.. none of that is shown..what about the other rescue people who went down? what about the impact of this on the city? I am sure that would have made for a more gripping tale..
i am sure the story as told now will tug at a few heartstrings.. but if only it was not such a narrowed down version of a huge story..
& there is a small last ditch attempt to garner some of the magnitude into the proceedings by scrolling some stats of the toll..if only they were more evident during the couple of hours i squirmed around in my seat..

The lake house

2006-09-03T05:39:00.000-07:00

Before you go any furthur.. spoilers here.. so if you're planning to watch this movie..skip this..come back after watching the movie..
Now.. under normal circumstances would i watch this movie? most probably not.. but then here i am in korea..alone..its the weekend..i am done with all my work.. have absolutely nothing to do... so instead of vegetate i go out for a walk.. there is amultiplex close to the hotel..i walk in & the only english movie playng is..you guessed it..The lake house.. I am not in the modd to walk anymore.. or go back to the hotel & be aware of the lack of company again.. so i decide to watch the movie..
This is the story of Kate & Alex.. kate moves out of the lake house.. an absolutely wonderful structure.. its right on the edge of the lake..the whole house is built on stilts..& is made of glass & wood.. a house that lacks privacy!..but beautiful nonetheless..so..kate is movingout of this house..& she leaves a note in the mailbox for the next owner to forward any mails that she gets..
the catch is that the person who lives next in this house..is actually the previous one..ok that surely left you confused..
by some time warp thingie..the letter reaches Alex..2 years before Kate moves out..eh? yeah.. 2 years.. the idea os sort of ok.. all mushy mushy.. but then with this you tend to get a lot of loose ends..which ultimately is the downfall of this whole thing..
The time warped mailbox soon becomes the connection between the past & the future..between alex & kate.. they soon realise that they like each other but cannot meet..since they are 2 years apart!..
but then..they have met each other in alex's present...in kate's past.. the story keeps switching between alex & kate..the future & the present..or the past & the present..which every way you prefer:) as one the lines go..they are having a long distance relationship..
alls well until the ending of the movie..kate prevents alex from death... because she is in the future you see & she can tell him what is going on...& this experience is from one of the times before she has started her communication with him.. so that is where this whole idea takes a hit.. if she has intervened in his fate..then doesn't that change the fate of a lot of other people too?
too many loose ends in this theory.. She asks him to wait for 2 years so that they coud meet up.. but in between he was supposed to be dead..
ok this won't make any sense.. maybe you should watch the movie after all & then bash it yourself...
the future has always been an intriguing thing..if you can see the future. you should obviously not be able to change it.. if you can, then what you have seen is not the future.. right?

How wierd!

2006-07-14T01:03:00.000-07:00

I've been tagged by shub.. so here goes..

I always save the best for last..in almost everything i do.. this is especially when i am eating.. actually i do this with the morning paper too.. i normally save the comic strips for the end.. When checking mails..i check the ones from good friends last..ok that does not necessarily mean that the last one in this list is going to be the wierdest one...

When on rides..i normally tend to ride somewhere in the front of the pack.. at almost every break i go.."hmm that was fast..maybe i should ride the next stretch slow".. & then go & overtake everybody.. I just can't go slow on highways..

If i have a CD/cassette & happen to love a couple of songs..then the cassette is bound to get rewound( or CD track repeated) umpteen number of times.. till i can't take the song anymore..

College exams..papers were for 100 marks.. but the syllabus was for 160... i never could be at peace if i had not studied for the whole 160.. even if it meant i would not get sleep for 2 days..even if it meant that i would have to show up on d-day all red-eyed.. even if it meant that i would have to get a lift to get back home..even if it meant that i had to miss food!!

never carried a bag after school..all through till i completed engineering.. tried lots of alternative stuff...used to keep them in the handlebar of the bike.. used to carry them around in my arms doing a balancing act.. remember once i had lent some books & all of them returned them on the same day.. boy did i have a tough time carrying them in the bus!! even tied up my books with a belt sometimes...& in winter would tied my sweater around my shoulder with books precariously balanced between sweater & shoulder!!

had a pair of jeans that i was crazy about.. so wore them for three straight months without a wash.. finally washed them when a friend "mentioned" that they "looked a little dirty"..and mom refused to wash them..or get it washed by the maid.. so had to do the honours myself..

A friend & i had this wierd passtime.. we would go to the bus terminus.. get onto a bus.. without looking where it was going.. and ask for tickets to the "last stop".. get down there & figure out how to get back home.. managed to get ourselves stranded a couple of times!! this was before the cellphone days.. so no easy help too...

hmm... weird enough i guess ..maybe if written during my college days this would definitely have been more intersting!!..

..now whom do i tag?.. i can think of 2..C & U... & maybe U2...

Gangster...

2006-06-21T22:03:00.000-07:00

Finally managed to watch this last night..Courtesy C.. I like the way the movie was shot..
the locations were used well to blend in the story.. if not for the sub title we would not have too many clues that this was Seoul.. the local flavour has been kept out of the movie..normally a difficult thing to manage..
The movie starts with the last scene & is then told in a flashback mode through kangana( for the life of me I can't remember the name of her character in the movie)..Akash(Emraan) & Daya(Shiny Ahuja)... form the other ends of the triangle.. A good story with the twists in the right places keep you interested enough..
Shiny is great as usual.. he does not have to mouth many dialogues & doesn't actually need to when he emotes so well.. He plays the role of the gangster who is married to kangana but is away from her & is a fugitive..Emraan is the quiet lover who carves a place for himself in Kangana's life trying to protect her .. & Kangana dons the role of the lover trying to drown her life & guilt in liquor.. a good performance by her, but could have been better... her voice was one jarring experience.. not sure if she was trying to imitate Meena Kumari's drawl.. but it didn't sound good..
The famed kisser in action was sort of funny.. it looked like both were trying to chew the others lips rather than kissing.. trying to capture passion? didn't look like it!!
Somehow the best scenes were when the protanogists had to look hurt & let down.Shiny when he learns that he has been stabbed in the back.. the feeling of helplessness & being let down could not have been expressed any better..& even that of Kangana when she discovers the truth..
A good movie..worth a watch.. If only Kangana had a good voice..

Goa--the lazy Days..

2006-06-20T23:29:00.000-07:00

After the draining ride..& an amazing dinner.. we slept like logs..i remember waking up in the middle of the night hearing some noise.. & it was raining.. cats & dogs.. & the thatched roof amplified the noise.. somehow i find rain very soothing.. drfited off to sleep.. only to wake up late in the morning....The best part about the resort is that the cell signal doesn't stretch so far.. so no calls to disturb us .. the laid back atmosphere enveloped us soon enough & we lost track of time..bliss..
As soon as all were awake we made plans to head out for lunch.. there was this restaurant on the beach.. more of a shack that i really liked in Arambol.. so we hoofed the 2km on the beach.. the sun was blazing..but wading through the cool surf was good enough compensation..the beaches in this part of Goa tend to be very quiet & devoid of people..which is a very good thing.. no crowds to dilute the experience.. and it was the time of the year when monsoons are around the corner..so the place was much quiter than normal.. this was not that great after all.. cause the shack i wanted to visit was closed down for the monsoons.. but luckily enough we found an alternative..
Seafood..looking out on the beach..the horizon..the myraid cloud formations.. all these have to be experience to understand the sense of satisfaction it fills you with.. lunch in these environs was an affair of a couple of hours at least.. Sourabh & Smitha just love canines.. & there was one around to soak in all their attention..
The long walk back to the resort was just in motion when the skies decided to open up..after an initial sprint we realised that we were not going to beat the rain.. so might as well enjoy it.. packed in our cell phones & wallets into Sourabhs waist pouch & made merry.. Dusk was setting in & we all headed out to the beach as soon as we hit the resort..
Sitting on a beach when it is raining is something i've wanted to do for a really long time.. & at last the wish came true.. an hour on the beach was enough to tire us all.. soon it was time for dinner & a game of cards.. & of course lots of beer.. we talked late into the night & it must have been around 1:00 or so when we finally called it a day..
The next day.. i woke up early & decided to go for a jog on the beach..A very refreshing experience.. & the weather was just perfect.. was back & found only Anush awake..We had breakfast & he took off to vasco to meet some relatives..
Sometime after noon Sourabh, Smitha & me headed to Panjim for lunch..We discovered that all the restaurants were closed.. that's the tune to which we had lost track of time.. by now my bike had guzzled a lot of oil.. so we tanked up & decided to head to Baga or Calangute..we would definitely find some food there.. some of the beach shacks are open 24 hours..
A lazy lunch at Sam's shack.. & loads of beer.. some time on the beach & it was dusk already..as luck would have it just as we were to leave the place the skies opened up & the rain was powerful.. enough to keep us holed up in the shack for the next few hours.. with nothing else to do.. we played some darts.. & boy was it fun..or was it fun..
Soon it was time to get back to the resort & call it a day..
The best part about Goa is that you are so absorbed in the laid backness.. that you can drink like a fish.. the beer just doesn't seem to kick in.. or so i thought.. & was to be proved wrong the next day..

Caste-divide!!!

2006-06-15T21:17:00.000-07:00

Read this & this today..

Somehow the partial journalism is not very shocking as it should ideally have been..all this corruption that surrounds us has just dulled our ethical reflexes to such levels.. definitely not proud of it..
everywhere you turn around there's something happening that dents the "i-am-proud-of-my-country" feeling.. its is in the hands of people who just keep filling their coffers & emptying our's.. more taxes for what joy? same old roads...infrastructure development at a snail's pace.. snatching opportunities from the meritous..
how can you but not lose faith in the system when you read about this every single day..
how can you but not nurture thoughts of running away from it all..
On the other hand that would be escapism..
Any change that happens needs to be started at the grass root level.. every one of us has to change.. but with the lines already being drawn.. do we still stand a chance?

The Biker test..

2006-06-12T23:01:00.000-07:00

Midnight bugs taste best.
Saddlebags can never hold everything you want, but they CAN holdeverything you need.
NEVER argue with a woman holding a torque wrench.
Never try to race an old Geezer, he may have one more gear than you.
Home is where your bike sits still long enough to leave a few drops ofoil on the ground.
You'll get farther down the road if you learn to use more than twofingers on the front brake.
Routine maintenance should never be neglected
It takes more love to share the saddle than it does to share the bed.
The only good view of a thunderstorm is in your rearview mirror.
Never be afraid to slow down.
Only Bikers understand why dogs love to stick their heads out car windows.
Bikes don't leak oil, they mark their territory.
Never ask a biker for directions if you're in a hurry to get there.
Don't ride so late into the night that you sleep through the sunrise.
Pie and Coffee are as important as gasoline.
Sometimes it takes a whole tankful of gas before you can think straight.
Riding faster than everyone else only guarantees you'll ride alone.
Never hesitate to ride past the last street light at the edge of town.
Never mistake Horsepower for staying power.
A good rider has balance, judgment, and good timing. So does a goodlover. (AMEN!!!)
A cold hamburger can be reheated quite nicely by strapping it to anexhaust pipe and riding forty miles.
Never do less then Forty miles before breakfast.
If you don't ride in the rain-you don't ride.
A bike on the road is worth 2 in the shop.
Respect the person who has seen the Dark side of motorcycling and lived.
Young riders pick a destination and go... Old riders pick a direction and go.
A good wrench will let you watch without charging you for it.
Sometimes the fastest way to get there is to stop for the night.
Always back your scoot into the curb-and sit where you can see it.
Ride to work-Work to ride.
Whatever it is, it's better in the wind.
Two lane blacktop isn't a highway-it's an attitude.
When you look down the road, it seems to never end-but you betterbelieve it does.
Winter is Natures way of telling you to polish.
A motorcycle can't sing on the streets of a city.
Keep your bike in good repair: Motorcycle boots are NOT comfortablefor walking.
People are like Motorcycles: each is customized a bit differently.
If the bike ain't braking properly, you don't start by rebuilding the engine.
Remember to pay as much attention to your partner as you do your carburetor.
Sometimes the best communication happens when you're on separate bikes.
Well-trained reflexes are quicker than luck.
Good coffee should be indistinguishable from 50 weight motor oil.
The best alarm clock is sunshine on Chrome.
Learn to do counterintuitive things that may someday save your butt.
The twisties- not the superslabs- separate the bikers from the squids.
When you're riding lead--don't spit.
If you really want to know what's going on, watch what's happening atleast 5 cars ahead.
Don't make a reputation you'll have to live down or run away from later.
If the person in the next lane at the stoplight rolls up the windowand locks the door, support their view of life by snarling at them.
A friend is someone who'll get out of bed at 2am to drive his pickupto the middle of nowhere to get you when you're broken down.
If she changes her oil more than she changes her mind--follow her.
Catchin' a June bug (or yellowjacket in your goggles or honeybee downyour shirt) @ 70 mph can double your vocabulary.
There's something ugly about a NEW bike on a trailer.
Hunger can make even roadkill taste good.
Sleep with one arm thru the spokes and keep your pants on.
Practice wrenching on your own bike.
Everyone crashes. Some get back on. Some don't. Some can't.
Beware the biker who says the bike never breaks down.
Some bikes run on 99-octane ego.
Owning 2 bikes is useful because at least one can be raided for partsat any given time.
You'll know she loves you if she offers to let you ride her bike.Don't do it and she'll love you even more.
Don't argue with an 18-wheeler.
Never be ashamed to unlearn an old habit.
Maintenance is as much art as it is science.
A good long ride can clear your mind, restore your faith, and use up alot of gasoline.
If the countryside seems boring, stop, get off your bike, and go sitin the ditch long enough to appreciate what was here before theasphalt came.
If you can't get it goin' with bungee cords and electricians tape-it's serious.
If you ride like there's no tomorrow-there won't be. (Okay all youPower Rangers - pay attention!!!)
If you want to complain about the pace being set by the road captain,you better be prepared to lead the group yourself.
Gray-haired bikers don't get that way from pure luck.
There are drunk bikers. There are old bikers. There are NO old, drunk bikers.
Thin leather looks good in the bar, but it won't save you from "roadrash" if you go down.
The best modifications cannot be seen from the outside.
Always replace the cheapest parts first.
You can forget what you do for a living when your knees are in the breeze.
No matter what marque you ride, it's all the same wind.
It takes both pistons and cylinders to make a bike run. One is notmore important than the other.

So, how many of those made sense? For me each one of those brings on a smile or a memory!

Goa Biking..Day 1

2006-06-08T01:15:00.000-07:00

Goa..that wonderful place.. clean beaches..the laid back pace..just perfect for a relaxing couple of days..& it could not have come at a better time..work was getting to be very hectic..So when Smitha started planning a bike ride to i was all ready to grab it.. it did take me a couple of days to make sure I had the holidays & was done with the work..So the last couple of days before d-day became quite hectic...After the initial drop outs & the hiccups we finally had a plan.. we were to leave early on the 25th..make it to Goa the same day & then the next couple of days would be bliss..The final four were Smitha,Sourabh,Anush & moi.. We were to meet up at around 5:15 am & start off at 5:30..hit NH4.. we would have breakfast somewhere beyond Sira..have lunch somehwere just after Davangere..& make it to Dharward by around 4:00 in the evening.. from here we would take the state Highway to Londa.. & then on it would be NH4A all the way to Panjim..another 30km & we would be at Riva..the resort where we
had booked ourselves in...we expected to be sipping Some beer on the beach by 10:00pm.. if only we knew what was in store for us..

Day 1:Woke up at 4:30.. i knew i should have not hit the snooze so often..but then the warm bed was not so easy to give up.. managed to kick start myself & the bike by 5:20.. reached the venue to see that I was the first one there.. 5 minutes & Sourabh & Anush rolled in.. Daybreak was already here & the sun was coming out..we would have to leave soon..Smitha rode in
soon enough & we were all ready to start off..until this moment it had not yet sunk in that we would be biking to Goa..all the hectic work had robbed me of the excitement..It finaly sank in now ..So off we went..first pit stop was at the ATM & the next one was at Nelamangala..to warm ourselves with some tea..i was the self appointed ride captain & was egging the others
on.. not letting them take too much time on the breaks..The sun was just peeping out & the morning was pleasant..this helped us ride quicker.. we knew we would be in for a tough time when the sun came out.. managed to reach close to Sira by around 9:30 & stopped for breakfast.. its a four lane highway all the way & we were almost maxed out with the throttle lots of times.. Anush though had to curb his speeding as he was still running in his bike.. but the rest three had our fill of "throttle lock"..Breakfast was a little longish affair..we spent more time than we had planned for but the roads ahead were good & we knew we would be able to make up for it..& so we did..Our next destination was Chitradurga..this is one windy & dry place...making
good use of this is the windmills project here.. on the mountains on either side of chitradurga they have these HUGE windmills..which generate quite a bit of power..you can actually see the windmills from at least 50km away..we drew close to these windmills..& this was our next break..by now Sourabh,Smitha & me were reliving our Mumbai ride.. we were passing
through all the places we had some memory attached to..the next stretch from here had a lot of detours..the roads were still being built & this slowed us down.. The stretch beyond Chitradurga is a very dry stretch..there is hardly any vegetation & you can see for miles on end on both
sides of the road..very distracting if you like to admire cloud formations..& the heat was also beginning to get to us..We reached Davangere by noon..but none of us were really hungry..so we motored onto Haveri for lunch..so that meant another 80km or so of barren land..The deccan plataeu has such sparse vegetation..Sourabh kept comparing it to a desert & was not far
by a lot..Haveri..Lunch..It is always a wonderful thing to stop at some town..get off the bike & examine the looks on all the people watching you.. you find some that have their mouths open..some itching to come up..take a closer look..but staying back on account of being shy..but some others who actually come up & decide to give you some gyan..& those that do talk.. seldom
fail to understand why we were on bikes travelling so far..Almost everwhere we got mistaken for army guys..we were wearing camouflage trousers after all!.. & all the reactions were heightened when they saw Smitha get off her bike.. now if they could not fathom why we crazy guys were on bikes.. a girl on a bike..that too a bullet..was enough to send them reeling..Post Lunch we were all sleepy.. but then the next stretch woke us up with a rude shock.. windy was an understatement.. the winds were blowing across the road from left to right..& sometimes crosswinds too..it was so strong that the bikes would not cross 80kmph..& we could feel the bike shifting from left to right.. overtaking trucks was becoming a daunting task.. when passingthem we would enter a sort of vaccum region thanks to the wind getting blocked.. so we would get sucked into this pocket..& just as you com eout..the front wheel would get shaky.. & would push you more onto the wrong side.. it took quite a bit of skill to avoid running into oncoming trucks..
4:30 & we were at Dharwad..right on schedule.. & we were happy that we we had just finished a horrible stretch..all of us were already imagining ourselves sitting on the beach guzzling beer... We were just about 160km from Goa & we did not expect to take more than 4 hours to cover it.. Started off at 5:00 & we soon reached the turn to Londa..All of us were running low on fuel..so we had to go into Dharwad town to tank up.. locating a bunk that accepts credit cards ate into a lot of our "beach-time".. dusk was setting in & we hit the state highway.. we expected the road to be a little ill-maintained & were prepared to encounter the occasional pothole..but none of were prepared for what lay ahead of us..instead of the occasional pothole there was the occasional piece of road..We motored on hoping that it would get better..After some time we just had to take a break..the road was killing our backs.. met an old man here.. he told us that the road was worse ahead.. he had this heavy accent.. so could not figure out everything he said.. & he had already had his quota of his toddy..so i was not really sure if we should beleive him.. he even went on to tell us that the road was actually in much better condition now than before..& ahead of us there were potholes that were knee deep.. We found out the hard way that everything he said was true.. the stretch upto Londa was one of the toughest I have rode so
far.. there was no trace of a road..it was just a path with lots of loose stones..mud..and very dusty..& to boot it all darkness had set in.. the icing on th ecake was when we realised that this was in a forest..ater a few km we hardly came across anybody..the perfect setting for a horror movie..I was ahead of the others & decided to switch off my headlight just to check how dark it wa.. & it was freaking pitch dark..immediately switched the lights back on..in the one second delay that the light took to come back on..i think i must have missed a heart beat.. but this was also an adrenaline rush.. so tried this a couple of times more..realised that it had been some time since I had seen the others in my rear view mirror..so decided to stop.. slowed down the bike & realised that the place was too scary to stop..it was just soo dark.. imagine a
narrow road..pitch dark..trees covering it on both sides..freaky..kept going slow until i could see a headlight far behind me..luckily it was Anush.. both of us went ahead together & reached Londa.. we parked on the side & waited for Sourabh & Smitha to show up.. man it was going to be tough on her..as soon as they made it all of us were thankful that we made it so
far without any mishaps.. all it would have taken is a snapped cable to put a spanner in the works..we would have had no choice but to abandon the unlucky bike & retreive it when daylight was back..It was around 8:00 & we had about another 100km to Panjim..We were on NH4A now & expected the rest to be a breeze..our biggest worry was only the blinding light from the oncoming traffic..man we were again under-estimating what lay in front of
us..The road ahead looked very good..heavan compared to what we had left behind us..plus winding roads.. nothing like it.. picked up speed & had set into a good groove..& then the road started going bad again.. & soon there was no road again.. boy this was very irritating..to boot we had to deal with these oncoming trucks & some sandy slippery stretches..I was thankful that
it did not rain..else we would all be in a soup.. literally..at the end of another hour we regrouped & saw that it was close to 10:00 & we had only managed 30km so far..it took quite an effort to keep going..Ahead of us lay some ghats..we did not enough energy to even check the name..all that mattered to us were the milestones to Panjim..all of us were going through the ghats & visibility suddeny went down..i asumed it was dust..but to my surprise we
discovered that it was FOG!! fog late at night..on ghats..wher one side of the road has a sheer fall of a couple of hundred feet..yup you guessed it..luck was not with us..Smitha is too freaked about fogs & so sourabh was guiding her along..when suddenly we lost track of her.. he had to go back & make sure she was alright..Since Sourabh & me had done lots of night
riding before we knew how to survive..we managed to make sure that Smitha & Anush did not have any issues on these roads..Regroupe after another 20km..& by now it was 10:45..another 50km to go & we were all out of energy..the mind was not ready to
give up though..it was now a battle of mind over body.. all of us were now running on our reserves..Sourabh is the best night rider I have seen.. so he would be the lead now..Smitha would be right behind him..with me following her & Anush bringing up
the rear..& we would make sure that we kept track of the rider behind us..This last stretch had to be the best of the whole day..the roads were empty & winding..perfect for using all our riding
skills..& all the time each of us were not more than 500metres apart from the next rider..We finally made it to Panjim just a little after midnight..crossed the mandovi river & stopped on the other side..word would not describe how tired & releived we were..1 am & we were at Riva on Mandrem beach..Luckily we had thought of ordering our food earlier & it was waiting for us..Luck had now decided to be good to us I guess..we knew that we might expect some rain in Goa..& rain hit us just as we found Riva..now such luck we could definitely use..The day ended at around 2:00am with all of us being too tired to talk anymore..We had covered 670km in a day..longest for all of us.. .and we had been on the road for 19 hours! & for more than 16 of those we had been on the bike..one of my most gruelling rides...ever..

GOA ahoy..

2006-05-31T21:53:00.000-07:00

Very few pics.. attributed to..

too involved in the riding experience..
forgot to take camera along while travelling in goa...
Plain lazy...
alcohol content in blood preventing operating a camera...
drizzling..raining..pouring...basically not good for the camera...
bad...pathetic.. horrendous roads..preventing us from stopping...
Riding in forests at night..too scared to stop:)

Our Democratic Secular country!!!

2006-05-23T22:03:00.000-07:00

What a farce...secular government..democracy...in the interest of the people..
all those khadi clad morons have left no stone unturned in trying to make sure that India will take a couple of steps backward instead of being more competitive..
what a bunch of cowards.. not one has the guts to come out & say that this whole reservation is a big mess.. why can't we have somebody at the helm who can bring in better resolutions..
How is reservation going to make a difference? Why can't we have better infrastructure & try to help the people who deserve it..
The easier path is not necessarily the best path.. why can't there be enough reserach on this before implementing such a rule?The man who proposed this is clueless about the logistics of the whole thing.. read more here

My main grouse is that this takes away what a meritous candidate has fought & worked hard for all his/her life.To lose out to somebody who is not as qualified, especially when the means are readily available to both, is just too de-moralising.
Ask me how i know...

reservation should not be just because of what you were born into.. it should be for the people who have the potential but not the means to achieve it.. that is when this will have value..

All this is going to do is create more vacant seats.. so the khadi weasels go ahead & make more seats.. how is this going to help.. this my friend means that to meet this 8,000 crore fund..you & I will pay more tax.. yes you & I who did not get through reservation.. why can't this instead be used to provide better infrastructure..

..& this is surely going to create a lot of unrest between the masses.. & some speak of social harmony..

How does this reservation even make sense.. is this like an eye for an eye?.. if yes..then what about in another 50 years.. will things reverse? & will every fifty years after that be a see-saw about who gets reservation..

What about all the vacant seats/posts that were marked for reservation? So many of these are under utilised.. isn't that like taking away the chance somebody had at a decent livelihood?
Some guy with merit could have made use of it & probably made ends meet & fed a family..
isn't that injustice?

the need of the hour is to better the education standards in government schools.. identify the ones with merit..& provide them with the means to go ahead in life..
not this farce of a solution..

is it any surprise that we still have brain drain?
how can somebody not go to greener shores where their merit is rewarded?
..where you don't have to listen to all the white lies about secularism?..about rights..

..& I just can't wait for the next elections.. I just hope this momentum carries through...
I can't help but lose faith in our system each day..

Ankahee...

2006-05-22T09:54:00.000-07:00

After watching Ankahee.. Someday. I hope i meet Vikram Bhat..i'm gonna make sure that i can get my money back!! & twice over for this excuse of a movie.. hardly a wonder that lots of people left mid-way..all of them must have gone in search of Somebody to beat up in lieu of Vikram Bhatt.. C & me are lucky to get away unscathed after recommending this & dragging V & S to the multiplex..
The story is very arth'ish.. the other woman factor looming large..Somewhere down the line it felt like Bhatt was justifying his stand.. & not a very convincing one at that.. the acting is just passable..Amisha is either all sugar coated..or glycerine-coated..both too much to digest.. Aftab has three expressions & variations of that throughout themovie.. Esha is maybe just a tad ahead of the others..the wide psychotic look maybe helped..
The story could have been treated much better..with some more intelligent dialogues to hold the audience's interest...Sadly this department has been the one that has let us down miserably..The dialogues are as unimaginative as they get.. the arguments by aftab & easha were as far from convincing as possible. it was difficult not to wince at some of the poorly writen lines..
It looks like there was not a lot of effort that went into the making of ankahee.. watch it closely & you can see that continuity of the sets has gone out the window.. one of the scenes has a telephone that is not wired!! All excusable if the story had been worth it..
The saving grace though has to be the music.. an amazing score & superb rendering of "tumse yu milenge.." by Kunal Ganjawala.. just can't get this song out of my head.. wish the movie had been half as good.. But a lesson well learnt.. don't judge a movie by its promo!!

Secular country?? Yeah right!!

2006-05-17T07:44:00.000-07:00

Where else..but India..
A movie that's good enough to open Cannes.. needs to be banned here..

The reunion..

2006-05-08T02:53:00.000-07:00

Sunday was defintely a memorable one.. hope it was equally
so for all of us who caught up...tracing back i guess it
all started off with a few of us getting touch over the
net.. small pockets of us had kept in touch but never th e
whole group.. amazingly we hardly ever bumped into each
other the last three years.. & boom.. all of a sudden the
time is right & all of us meet up at college..10:30 was the time we planned to meet up.. & all of us
trickled in at our versions of 10:30.. was there by around
10:40.. Found that i was the first one there.. Shilpa had
text'ed that she was on the way .. returned Supreet's call
to find out where he was.Took a walk around college..going over all the memories
associated with each staircase..corridor..hangout.. Shankar dropped in soon & we thought we would check out
the medico "babes"..too bad none of them had turned up on
sunday.. Supreet rode in on his kinetic & all three of us
made ourselves comfy on the entrance stairs.. "Titanic"
was the initial venue for all of us to meet up..but then
the place was just too hot..So the shade it was.. So here
are the three of us trying to catch up on years & we see
a familiar looking girl walk by..& its Rashmi.. she did
not look very different apart from the pair of glasses
perched on her nose..This got us started off on our 3 year
updates again..which was all repeated when Ashwini
appeared in a couple of minutes.. We called up Divya & she
was still at Queen's road waiting for shilpa.. So all
prepared ouselves for a long wait..KC was the next to
arrive..kicking off with his jokes..he has certainly not
changed.. the next appearance was something unexpected..A splendor
comes in & parks right under our noses.. & lo and behold
it was our HOD.. a sort of uncomfy moment..mainly because
we had not expected this.. he wanted all of us to make it
to his chamber before we left.. he was insistent.. so we
decided to wait for the others & meet him at one go..Soon shilpa, Divya & suhas joined us..followed a little
later by Abhishek.. & how could we give up on this photo
op..got some good snaps of all of us.. ironially we had
not thought of such stuff in all the 4 years of college..
& here we were after 3 years..drowning in nostalgia..
Kicked off our search for the HOD..finally located him &
waited for him to finish his work before talking to him..
..all we wanted to do was to just head out for lunch.. so
all of us were looking to keep this meeting as short as we
possibly could..All of us trooped into his cabin..prepared to nod in
silence for a few minutes & then head out.. none of us
were prepared for what lay ahead..The HOD started off by
updating us on what was going on in college.. the new
ventures the college was thinking of.. the results..etc..
& soon we were ready to run... but then something
changed.. we all realised how much respect he was showing
us.. he was genuinely happy to see us...not saying
anything just for the sake of it..from then on not many of
us realised how time flew..All of us did not mind butting
in with our ideas..we were surrised at how much he
remebered stuff about us..a pleasant surprise..it was a
very healthy discussion which showed us a side of him we
did not knew existed.. a person concerned about his
students..not afraid to criticise the system he was a part
of.. all of us soon opened up & it was our turn to update
him on what we were doing & what we wanted to do.. time
just flew..it was more than an hour when we bid our good
byes to him.. promising to return in a couple of weeks
with more of our old comrades..
By now we had decided to head out to a resort on
Kanakapura road..& boy it was hot..made it there in about
a half an hour..& a filling lunch it was..the food was
really awesome..Here is where we get to the icing for the
day..midway through lunch..Divya could not find her camera
anywhere..so retracing our steps we reasoned that we must
have left it behind in the prof's chamber.. so called him
up & he offered to meet us back in college in about an
hour..all of us prepared to head back & what do we find?
The camera was in the car all the while!!.. so this meant
another call to thank the Prof.. & apologise for troubling
him..but then... Divya realised that she had "found" only
the camera case & not the camera..so another call by Suhas
to the HOD to tell him about the fiasco..By now Diva is
all flustered..the lost & found & lost again camera was
expensive.. so the tension was palpable.. A couple of minutes more & KC gives her the case & the
camera is mystically inside the case!! boy she was ready
to throw the kitchen sink at us..she would now have to
call up the prof AGAIN to explain the whole thing.. that's
when we break it to her that Suhas had faked the call & we
had hid the camera.. the expression was priceless.. & is
soon going to be posted here..as long as Abhisek decides
to send across the pic soon...None of us really wanted to end the day I guess.. we
headed back to college & talked some more.. finally called
it a day when people remembered that it was late & there
was much work to attend to the next day..Defintely a memorable day & looking forward to seeing all again..soon..

Compound sentences..

2006-05-02T21:20:00.000-07:00

Saw this...

..and this

...on the great wall of china..

..and if you are wondering about the title.. here's the background story...
A teacher is done explaining grammar to her primary students..and wants to know if anybody can come up with a compound sentence.. so one bright lad gets up & quips.."please do not stick bills on this wall" :)

Before & after...

2006-04-21T23:33:00.000-07:00

..and after about a year.. same place..

Prime..

2006-03-16T22:33:00.000-08:00

watched this movie on the in flight entertainment yesterday.. really well treated movie.. uma thurman & meryl streep have put in really good performances.. here's the story.. Uma,37 has just gone through a painful divorce & is undergoing therapy with Meryl. She is getting back to her life, when she meets Dave,23 & both strike up a chemistry..in spite of the age difference..here's the clincher..Dave is Meryl's son.. so the mother is now caught netween 2 worlds.. counselling Uma to grab at opportunities life throws at her & wanting her son to marry a good Jewish girl!! & she is now in need of therapy!! if you think i am giving away the plot.. then watch this & check out for yourself:) the movie explores the relationships & how equations change.. with such finesse..its filled with very good dialogues.. some that stuck out.."you are making me nervous in a way i am not really faimilar with" Dave tells Uma this when they have just started dating..and then there was the "you love.You learn. You move on.."the best part of the movie had to be Meryl's acting.. how she reacts when her patient tells her of the sexcepades she had with Dave..in detail!
watch it..

Getting Back..

2006-02-26T09:07:00.000-08:00

The simplest solution.. but then again.. its the tougher path!!

Singapore-Diaries-1

2006-01-30T18:35:00.001-08:00

The Singapore trip was on the cards for about a month or so. I was just hoping that it did not interfere with the Rider Mania plans I had..but as things turn out..Murphy.. i am gonna get you...I had to come to singapore & miss out on the RM'06 ....so when i get back i am just gonna plan a ride as soon as i can.. So gettingback.. RM06 apart..i was looking forward to the trip..would give me a chance to check out the place.. I had 2 weeks & i was gonna put it to good use.. i was gonna be flying Jet to chennai & then change flights to singapore..The bangalore to chennai was at 6:45 in the morning..sunday morning..so that meant i would have to give our saturday night party a miss.. darn... another fun sucker moment.. anyways gave me a chance to have a nice family dinner.. So the next morning..there i was at the airport right on time..& surprise surprise..my flight was cancelled because of bad weather.. so that was an eventful beginning to the day alright.. & what's more... now i wouldn't have to worry about the long stop over at chennai!! Finally they managed to put us into an air deccan flight.. which managed to take off by close to 8:30..that meant i would land at 09:30 & have just an hour & a half to get to the terminal ..& get through immigration..fun fun fun... so there i was in the chennai airport..lugging my luggage to the departure terminal..after a 10 minute half sprint half jog..i was at the terminal.. out of breath.. so here was the difficult part.. managed to get the baggage checked in in record time..& was on the way to immigration.. & they would not let us join the queue unless we filled in the forms.. now thats pretty schoolish.. but what the heck.. you just can't beat the system.. so managed to fill in the forms.. Stood in line... got to send a few sms'es to C.. & sailed through immigration.. i had not let the delays get to me.. so managed a couple of jokes & could draw a smile from the sour looking immigration officer also.. then was the securit check.. by now i was pretty tired of all the running around & not paying a lot of attention.. was following the majorit of people.. Thankfully they check your ticket before letting you board the plane.. i almost got on to the one going to colombo!! now that would have made the day REALLY interesting!! Got to my seat & reliased that i still had a good 15 minutes.. called home & got in the good byes.. & the ..yes ma..will watch what i eat.. yes ma won't forget to call/mail.. won't run away with any good looking gori!! A glass of white wine.. nice lunch & a nice book.. & singapore is already here.. this airport is a familiar place.. so did not have much trouble finding my way out..& caught a taxi to the hotel...must say.the taxi's here are pretty inexpensive.. a ride of about 12-15 km.. set me back by about 16S$.. in a merc that too... the city looked very well planned & very clean.. the sky scrapers looking out on the marina bay was quite a sight.. & my room had a view of the bay & the sky scrapers.. pretty neat.. fairly affordable are also the SIM cards here. got one at the airport on an offer.. would help me immensely in staying connected to back home.. sent out a few mails.. called the people who were waiting for news of my landing.. & then moved on to the unpacking.. Dinner was at a nearby KFC outlet in the HUGE suntec mall bang opposite to the hotel..Well tomorrow is going to be the big day..

Rang De Basanti...

2006-01-30T18:35:00.000-08:00

AWESOME..what more can i say.. brilliant score.. brilliant acting..brilliant direction..& beautifully shot.. maybe the only grouse was the semi-idealistic ending.. but i am prepared to buy it..
for me the best parts were when each character goes through his internal change..the moment of awakening is treated brilliantly.. for example Atul's character realising that the man whom he thought was an idealist is also a mere mortal.. the sudden realisation by DJ that his friend lost his life for nothing..GO WATCH IT....

Sigmund freud...here i come...

2005-10-02T07:17:00.000-07:00

Ok.. this may sound a little weird.. this just stuck me yesterday night.. i am sure everyone has these dreams in the early morns where the line between dreams & reality gets diminished...so that got me started off.. there have been so many times i have experienced this.. an example would be maybe you are dreaming about some elaborate sequence & the scene that is running presently is some car honking or some huge bell gonging in the distance.. and you suddenly wake up to realise that your alarm has gone off.. so the noise in the dream somehow is converted into a noise in reality...
So here is the twist.. did your subconcious hear the alarm before your conciousness did..and altered the dream to make the transition to reality smoother than an abrupt end of the dream?? Or was this just a coincidence?? ..and going furthur.. if the subconcious at some level reflects your emotions/reality in the dreams you see.. then is it toying with your conciousness.. you at some level know that what is going on is not reality..but your mind half belives the possibility of this being real..this is where the line starts to get thinner...

Passing thought...

2005-09-22T02:36:00.000-07:00

The more you understand someone...the more you like/dislike them..or the more you become aware of your own flaws??

Vini, Vidi, Vici...

2005-08-12T05:02:00.000-07:00

Chikmagalur...

2005-08-10T01:54:00.000-07:00

This was taken at a home stay in chikmagalur a couple of months ago..this photograph was completely unplanned & taken 5 minutes after we reached the place... one of my favourite ones...

I Am famous!!!

2005-08-08T02:47:00.000-07:00

Check out page 36 in the aug 14'05 edition of "The Week"..and you will find me there...:)
Will post the link as soon as it is available..

That & Sourabh's victory in the Snooker Tournament ensured that we partied through the weekend... one awesome weekend..started & ended just perfectly...

yeah!! post number 100

2005-08-03T21:57:00.000-07:00

So Far..So Good...

It's flying....

2005-07-27T06:04:00.000-07:00

Mera Gaadi...Mera Vesh...

2005-07-27T06:01:00.000-07:00

Look Ma.. the golden gate is not so big after all!!!

2005-07-27T05:31:00.000-07:00

Testing...

2005-07-27T05:10:00.000-07:00

if this works..then there are going to be a lot more images..

this one was when i was on a bike ride in the US..

Aiyooo...

2005-07-21T03:38:00.000-07:00

My leg is in this ^*&* crepe cast, with an Ankle binder to boot..so i have to cut down on my walking & running around..not around trees..but just general stuff:).. Now this should not be much of a problem because i have not got a tree i call my own..nor do i have anybody running around the tree in front of me.. or behind me..so that would make me just look silly..running around a tree on my own..ok..i am digressing here.. So getting back to the stuff i can't do.. the one that hurts the most..(BTW pun unintended)...is that i can't ride my bike..can you believe it..that's like taking away the tree also.( i know.. i know..but pun unintended..)..And boy oh boy does that hurt..(again pun unintended..) I have to now depend on my sis to drop me to the offce everyday..or else its gonna be the auto..and i don't want to waste so much of money on transport..at least not while i am saving up for my next ride..(again..pun unintended)
man..the doctor says i can't ride the bike for at least 3 weeks..3 weeks!!..that is gonna be sooooo loooong... aiyooooo... it hurts...( pun unintended)... That means i will be stranded at home for the weekends...
What hurts even more (pun unintended..last time .. i promise)... is that i did not have any heroic life-saving incident to show for this twisted ankle..nor did i fall off my bike like everybody thinks..all i did was to jump across a small table .. at home.. in the dark..with formal shoes on..the shoes had heels.. and i did not see my sis's leg over which i tripped... boy .. the perfect formula for a dumb accident.. now that really hurts..(pun INTENDED)....

Perspective

2005-07-19T06:23:00.000-07:00

Here is something Chaitra forwarded...

If you 'question', you don't understand.
If you 'understand', you've been co-opted.
If you 'talk', you're sanctimonious.
If you 'don't talk', you're frivolous.
If you're 'in the field', you're too involved.
If you're not 'in the field', you have no business talking about it.
If you 'ask why', you're stupid.
If you ask 'why not', you're very stupid.
If you 'qualify', you're equivocating.
If you 'don't qualify', you're making sweeping generalisations.
If you 'care', you're sentimentalising.
If you 'don't care', you're heartless and cruel.
If you 'critique', you need to cut them some slack.
If you don't 'critique', you're cutting them too much slack.
If you 'believe', you're naive.
If you 'don't believe', you're cynical.
If you 'do', you're damned.
If you 'don't', then you're damned, too.

Every word shifts, slips, has many meanings.
Every word is laden with complexities.
Every word holds a gun to your head and asks: 'Who are you? Declare yourself forthwith.'

I want a life without quotation marks

Now..how about this..with a few small changes...

If you 'question', you stand to gain.
If you 'understand', you've achieved.
If you 'talk', you've laboured well.
If you 'don't talk', you're a thinker.
If you're 'in the field', you're in touch .
If you're not 'in the field', you are done with the 'dirty stuff'.
If you 'ask why', you're inqusitive.
If you ask 'why not', you're letting logic take its path..
If you 'qualify', you're deserving.
If you 'don't qualify', you're making sure nothing gets in the way.
If you 'care', you're concerned.
If you 'don't care', you're heartless and cruel.
If you 'critique', you intend to improve them.
If you don't 'critique', you know they've improved
If you 'believe', you're bound to be rewarded
If you 'don't believe', you're cynical.
If you 'do', you know what doesn't work
If you 'don't', then you already know what doesn't work..

Every word shifts, slips, has many meanings.
Every word is laden with complexities.
Every word when looked through the right glass, appears more beatiful than the rest..
What's life without a little word play?eh?

I Am so busy...

2005-07-12T22:37:00.000-07:00

man.. this week i have been so busy.. i haven't even had the time to... Shoot!!! there's work coming my way...see ya later

Aiyoo....I've Been Tagged!!!

2005-07-03T21:27:00.000-07:00

No..i am not complaining..that was just for the dramatic entry..still hints of hangover from the mad ads we did on friday...Well getting back to the business at hand..i've been tagged by RK...
Thanks RK..i've lately been losing interest in my blog..imagine..i did not even post up my recent mangalore ride..and after it being one of my best rides.. hope this is a revival of sorts!!
So..here is my two cents worth..

Total number of books I own
Well..lets put it this way.. i had a small library of my own..and had made profits when in school.....but a majority of those were comics..i was into collecting them from a pretty young age.. i was building upon my dad's collection.. he had these Indrajal series..which had the Phantom, Mandrake,Bahadur,Drake,Garth..and such stuff..i remember that i even had copies from the first series..Sadly i lost most of those books..mostly while moving..and that too after i had taken the pains to get them all hard bound volume wise..Later it was archies..and in between i used to invest in the abridged(majorly) versions of great classics.. and the occasional Abridged one..these were most of the times bought when on a family trip.. my dad's guard would be down when he was relaxed.. so that would let me get a bigger better book!!..Soon my dad realised that my book buying sprees were turning out to be expesive..and so he got me memberships in a couple of libraries..he he that was not going to slow me down.. My monthly bill used to always be in excess of 300 rupees or so..and that was when Archies' used to cost 2 Rs a day, and Hardy boys and stuff was about 1 Rs a day..so go figure...And now after getting a job.. i have again started investing in books..so lets see how far this takes me..

The last book bought?:
That would be..umm...shoot I actually forgot what i last bought.. i have actually been buying stuff and stocking them up..and even borrowing and stocking them..ah i got it..it was non-fiction book about the London underworld..with pictures and all....

The last book you read?
..and am still reading "the city of Joy"..bu Dominique Lappierre...since the last two months..and was halfway through "Zen & the art of Motorcycle Maitenance"before i lent it to a friend..hopefully i'll finish them soon..else i will have lost the plot and have to start all over again..

Books I am currently reading:
'Please last question refer maadi...making my work easier aren't I??

Books that mean a lot to me:
this actually kept changing at different points of time..initially Asterix & Obelix ruled every waking hour..then came Enid Blyton..then it was the Agatha Christie series..then moved onto the Sidney Sheldon's(obviously in the adolesence stage)..and Arthur Hailey..and Jeffrey Archer..
amd presently its been the likes of Kiran Nagarkar..and Amitav Ghosh..and a host of indian authors..Oh.. and did i mention.. Playboy..

So..even though i have read quite a few books.. i am not very gravely affected by them.. they do contribute to the thought process..but i can't really pinpoint a few books and say that they have left an indelible mark on me..Guess one man's meat is another's wheat???

Anyways.. me not tagging anybody... i haven't read any blogs in quite a while and they must have already been tagged...

Man..this write up feels like i am coming out of hibernation...he he..so many more posts in the future..and in filmi style.."coming soon to a blog near you"...

Mangalore ride

2005-06-17T05:40:00.000-07:00

Here is Uday's account of our mangalore ride... One of the best rides i have been on...
My post has been "in-the-making" for some time.. but i doubt i can do as much justice to it as Uday has done...

My Latest Addiction

2005-06-17T05:07:00.000-07:00

Pearl Jam----> Last Kiss

Where, oh where, can my baby be? the lord took her away fromMe. she’s gone to heaven, so I’ve got to be good. so I can see my baby when iLeave this world.

We were out on a date in my daddy’s car. we hadn’t driven very far. there inThe road, straight ahead. a car was stalled, the engine was dead.

I couldn’t stop, so I swerved to the right. I’ll never forget the sound thatNight. the screamin tires, the bustin glass. the painful scream that I heardLast.

Oh where, oh where, can my baby be? the lord took her away from me. she’s goneTo heaven, so I’ve got to be good. so I can see my baby when I leave this world.

When I woke up the rain was pourin down. there were people standin all around.Something warm flowing through my eyes. but somehow I found my baby that night.

I lifted her head, she looked at me and said. hold me darling, just a little While. I held her close, I kissed her our last kiss. I found the love that iKnew I had missed.

Well now she’s gone. even though I hold her tight. I lost my love, my life,That night.

Oh where, oh where, can my baby be? the lord took her away from me. she’s goneTo heaven, so I’ve got to be good. so I can see my baby when I leave thisWorld.

Traffic Jams..Boring?? ..NAH!!!

2005-05-29T03:00:00.000-07:00

Friday i was stuck in this traffic jam..easily the mother of all traffic jams... a 6 km ride took me just over two hours..and to boot it it was raining all the time.. So i am on the road locked in between a million vehicles..and its raining..bad state of affairs?.. maybe not..Just a matter of perception maybe..
I did not have anything urgent that needed to be atended to..so just decided to enjoy myself..When you try this the jam actually gets interesting..you get to see all sorts of people..there were these i-HAVE-to-be-home-right-now types honking away to glory.. this resulted in raising the tempers of other motorists..and the hurry-burry types just had to stay put after a few choice abuses were hurled their way..
Then there were the generous ones.. who would let the other hurry-burry ones pass.. and then the ones who were on the phone with god-knows-who.. just yakking away like it was home..
Then there were the types like me with a song on their lips and just enjoying everything..Imagine i even had a couple of nice conversations with total strangers.. we discussed how the roads have got choked.. and just general stuff about weather..I even got the chance to hold a conversation with an auto driver..without either of us trying to out-scream each other!!!
To boot this..at one of the junctions..a kinetic pulls up next to me..i could make out that it was a girl..and then she honks and calls out to me.. surprise..surprise..its an old friend of mine..the last i had seen her was when at her marriage!!
We spent the next three or so Kms just talking..we were still in the mother-of-all-traffic-jams!!
Was pretty nice to catch up after so long..and in these surroundings..and i guess this would be the last time i was going to see her..she would be going away to the US with her hubby for good..and in a couple of days that too.. We could not say our good byes though..Somehow lost out on each other at the end of the jam..

So..who says Traffic jams have to be boring..huh??

I'm on the road again....

2005-05-17T15:33:00.000-07:00

Yesterday morning when i reached home.. i could not stop grinning for quite some time..I had a lot of fun working the previous night..and was done by around 6:0 in the morning.. which is pretty early considering my normal working hours... So there i was all bright and early..and wasn't really in the mood to go home so early.. so what do i do? I take a loong route home..
So to reach indiranagar from Richmond circle..which is about 6 km and a 10 min ride in the early morning traffic..I went all the way to Jayanagar..then went on to Koramangala..and then took the ring road back home...
You would think that the roads are so empty and good opportunity to set land speed records..but that was definitely not the case.. the roads were infested with all the morning joggers/walkers/oglers..etc..and most of them were on the road rather than the footpath.. their way of getting back at the motorists i guess!!! And one of the corners i nearly went into one of them enthusiastic guys..that should count as a good deed for me..his day could only look up from here!!!
The good thing was that the morning health-concious-janta also included a lot of bangalore's PYT's..that was a nice way to start the day..
Sadly i could not devote a lot of time to pursuing any ..and before you get any ideas..any of the other roads in the vicinity i mean..and simply went on to the ring road..here somehow the joggers/walkers/oglers stuck to the footpaths...so enough clear space to just rip.. pretty ironical that i was planning to do a lazy ride home..but seeing a clear no-obstancle road is too much tempation..

PINK FLOYD..

2005-05-15T16:52:00.000-07:00

I am rediscovering this band.. had heard lots of their songs before..but hadn't really paid a lot of attention to their lyrics.. Now i am practically hooked onto their songs.. Incidentally i have a CD with ALL their songs on it..and have been actually travelling with it everywhere..I have been taking it out on my rides too..am also shuttling it between office and home :)
Like all things my fav songs also keep changing (evolving??)..So initially it was "Coming Back to LIfe" This song had a strange appeal to me..the first time i listened to this song i could picture this highway stretched into the distance.. where i could see the road for many a mile ahead..and even knee-length-yellow-grass fields on both sides..and dusk setting in slowly.. as a biker..that scene is nothing short of pure bliss..
Next on the list was "Learning to Fly"..another awesome composition by them..This too somehow fell into the "biker song" category..and am all gaga over the lyrics..
..and now i found"Lost For Words"..In the last week i must have played this song at least a 100 times..yesterday i had this song playing in loop mode for about 3 hours straight!!The lyrics and the tune are just so transcedental..

I was spending my time in the doldrums
I was caught in a cauldron of hate
I felt persecuted and paralysed
I thought that everything else would just wait

While you are wasting your time on your enemies
Engulfed in a fever of spite
Beyond your tunnel vision reality fades
Like shadows into the night

To martyr yourself to caution
Is not going to help at all
because ther'll be no safety in numbers
When the right one walks out of the door

Can you see your days blighted by darkness?
Is it true you beat your fists on the floor?
Stuck in a world of isolation
While the ivy grows over the door

So I open my door to my enemies
And I ask could we wipe the slate clean
But they tell me to please go fuck myself
You know you just can't win

..I have been warned against listening to too much of the floyd "psychedelic" stuff..but just can't help it..and yes there is definitely nothing to beat Floyd on my discman while on my weekend biking trips ..at least for now...

The Nigerian Casanova!!!

2005-05-14T16:24:00.000-07:00

This is going to be a little long.. so if its not coffee break time yet.. then see ya later.. and if this is your Coffee break time..read on.. oh and i am not resposible if your coffee spills on your desk/clothes/book-you-are-pretending-to-read..as a result of all the laughing you are gonna do for the next few minutes.. and not to mention your neighbours looking up the local asylum's number..listenng to your i-am-trying-to-supress-my-laughter laughs....

So, here's the background.. I have this friend called Sajith, who has been on-site in Nigeria for a pretty long time..so this has actually been fodder for us lesser mortals living in more civilized parts of the world.. It so happenend that Sajith was pretty bored and with the aim of cheering up people with similar sufferings..he sent us all a mail which spewed a lot of spite against women!! So, us caring people(read friends) sent our thoughts on what led Sajith to such measures..
Here is what went on in the mails.. Sajith did get in his two bits every once in a while..So..here goes..

=====
Lets suffuce it to say that Sajith started off with this female-bashing maill..which if he was maried would have ensured the couch for him till the next time the martians came visiting....
===

Sajith
U are sounding so much like a poor harassed husband!! Has
something gone wrong? Hope u haven't been forced into marrying a
Nigerian woman so soon!!! U are talking about big girls , fat girls and
round shapes!! EVERYTHING FINE? OR DO U NEED SOME HELP?
BYE
Ranjani
=========

So Sajith .. how are the "babes" in Nigeria. not a happy experience I
gather from all the fire spewing out of your forward. Well, they are a
little hard to get used to i guess. But do not give up man..stay at it
and who knows you may leave your mark( read offspring) on our
neighbouing continent:)
Even if all else fails.. you always have home to look forward to..what
with the mails like the one below hollering out hope to you...
All,
Comments & thoughts on Sajith's African future invited.Let's make
this a discussion forum..at Sajith's expense of course... And Sajith,
hope you don't mind ..and if you do, then hope you find solace in the
arms of one of your Nigerian friends..
Regards,
Sumanth
========================
GREAT ONE SUMANTH. I ONLY HOPE SAJITH SPARES ME WHEN HE RETURNS;-)))
BUT , I AM IN FOR THE DISCUSSION FORUM.
SORRY S....
WE JUST WANNA MAKE UR TRIP MEMORABLE AND ENSURE THAT U DON'T MISS HOME
AND FRIENDS. ;-))
BYE
RANJANI
===============================
Hello Sajith
Hey Sumanth that was a nice one:)
I am sure Sajith would find solace in the arms of the nigerian friends I dunno how many :)
So sajith how is it goin buddy
Guess we would soon have a discussion forum:)
This is enable us to get updates from u buddy:)
Jayant Mehta
====================================
How come I still don't see Sajith's reply...
His Nigerian " Lady" must be keeping him pretty busy:)
let's hope he is still in one piece...
And Sajith, do let us know your date of arrival..I guess Ranjini,
Jayant and I will have to get as far away from Bangalore as possible,
to avoid being mauled( or worse things) by you and your " Babe from
Africa"
sumanth
===================================
Aha...............so U're looking for my reply huh? Try to throw in some laughs with that mail in ur otherwise boring life and you wash me with comments and hang me out to dry.
Well, well I'll be back someday............so U better decide how many pieces U wanna be in then(I'm talking to U Chummi.....and C and Jay). And whats with the forum.......whats this........something like an ED Sullivan show or somethin' with the topic being me? ARE U JOBLESS? People get back to work and let poor old me find a way to survive in this wilderness.............U ought to be praying for me - NOT, and I mean, NOT let ur comic sense go wild.
AHEM, atleast stop forwarding ur remarks to everybody in the LIST, for Pete's Sake -
I GOT A REPUTATION TO PROTECT!!!!!!
Sajith
====================================
Great going guys. We have finally instigated Sajith to reply!! THREE CHEERS TO US – FOR OUR EFFORTS;-))
As for u sajith - First get back to India and then then dream abt laying your hands on us.
Till then,
Jungle mein mangal karo.;-)) (DIN’T GET IT?) I don’t expect u to either;-))
Bye
Ranjani
==============================
Ranjani I think u got it wrong it isn’t Jungle mein mangal karo but Jungle mein MINGLE karo. Must be doin this already!!!!
--Nikshep
========================================
So Sajith, now that we have got your attention, I think our efforts
are going to double..no triple..:)
All this while I was thinking that this would be just firing shots in
the air.but now that we have a target, we are loading up man...
And by the way, why do you think our lives are boring?? How can it be
boring with your african wildlife experiences to explore and
anatomize...
Well I guess it might be boring compared to your safari life
there,what with all your nigerian "babes" and unexplored
"territory"... So how many lions/tigers/cheetahs have you dealt wih
already..or do they also assume you to be part of the landscape
already...:)
And don't think we are not praying..we too have noble souls..we are
definitely praying..even if it is for al those poor "unexplored"
Nigerian "babes" ....
Sumanth
P.S: I have already taken out an insurance policy against my
name..so that after Sajith returns my family can get some monetary
benefits from this . Anybody else intersted can contact me....
========================================
Hey guys...
Well Im all ready to get into the forum...No forums I ve seen are as interesting as this.
Hey Nigerian Casanova...(atleast he'll be in a few days)...so howz the junglee life?and this forum is not making it any better isnt it..
And guys dont worry abt Sajith coming and bashing up...He is an average Indian Women built ..Only u shud be scared of any of his Nigerian Babes...!!!and u know why!
Sundi Enjoy!
Ranjini
=================================
WHAT!!!!!....................YOU......................Average Women Build??
Why you ^%$^*@!@?~&................
Ohhhhhhhh.....................you just wait till I return..............................
--Sajith
==========================================
Chill Sajith
Enjoy ur stay there. Take ur own time. There’s no hurry to return. We are having enough fun this way itself.
Did u realize that there’s an entire ARMY against you. U are no match for the TROOP buddy!!!
Bye
Ranjani
==============================================
this is so much fun.............
AVERAGE WOMAN BUILT....................LOL......................
where did that come from mots.............too good..................
good going guys.........................will join u soon!!
Regards,
Abbas.
=====================================
Hello Buddy
Hey even if u return u aint gonna change u would still remain the avg womens height buddyJ
Yeah that diff. u could find a better match thereJ
So have u explored the jungle and have u mingled:P with the African guys:P
I am sure u would have opened a fan club already ……………….lots following u:P
Have fun J
Jayant Mehta
=============================================
So Sundi,
u guess u prefer African GUYS with rOund shapes...yeh????
awe..:0
Priya Goel
====================================
Macha it is AVERAGE INDIAN WOMEN HEIGHT...Dont u think so...we always had a n argument for that.
Also the person who can get sundi angry the most is going to win an KENYAN SAFARI well sponsored by ofcourse sajith..
see for the starters ...I cud make sundi go red in the face with anger!!
Sajith buddy chill...
Ranjini
=======================================
Hey Priya, Thanks for the new angle to the issue. I had completely
overlooked the Nigerian "men" angle..what with the whole "babes" stuff
going on...Your dating chances must have doubled overnight man.. so
tell us about your dates...
must be a cosy threesome:)
Imagine sajith and his mates..swinging in the jungle nights..without a
care in the world..not even bothered about those bugs crawling
everywhere..
And like Ranjini said..there is no hurry in coming to india pal...I
guess it is a few months away now anyway..by then we would have packed
up this forum and started a condolence/consoling forum in your name...
Ranjini,,by the way did you know that the average Indian Femae height
is only 5.5 feet.. and guess which of our friends qualify for this....
Sumanth
===================================
Hey , the Kenyan safari looks very promising.but that would put s in
risk,,what with the proximity to Nigeria..Lets look for something more
Medditerranean,,,we might as well make good use of Sajith's money..we
don't want him to waste it after all...He IS our friend...
Hey,,and Sajith's face would not be the only red thing he has right
now..I heard those Nigerians are pretty well built...
Sumanth
=======================================
Hey guys...have things cooled off with Sajith or am I out of the mail
chain.?????
Waiting with bated breath,
Sumanth
===========================
Things can never cool off when the "OBJECT OF INTEREST" is Sajith.
Whatta say S....?
By the way Sajith, whats up there? U seem to be very involved in/with
something/someone? U aren't even replying to our mails???
RAnjini
============================
Also Sajith, Speaking for all of us, fillus in on life in Nigeria.
How is the place..Are the peope friendly...or is it like how it is
seen in those african Safari movies..
We all seem to have such antique ideas of Africa, the same way , I
guess that others view India..cows on the road..Elephants for
transport..etc,etc..
Do fill us in man,

Sumanth
======================
Hey Sajith why u so silent dude??? U Dont like us pulling ur leg? Man u
must be Happy coz atleast by pulling ur leg u might gain a couple of
inches & surpass AVERAGE INDIAN WOMEN HEIGHT....Lol

Nikshep
============================
So sajith found any companions in the jungle and did u mingle with any:)
I am sure u would have fund a lot many of ur kind there:)
No mails from u at all.......................looks like u building ur club n bzzy with that.....not a problmeo we guys shall wait to hear from our "LOST "Nigerian Buddy!!!
Jayant
==========================================
I see.......everybody's jumping into this 'Sajith Bashing' bandwagon, huh,.........Well its not everyday that you people get a chance like this so I have decided to sit back and remain passive...(Ohhh...........how much I hate ye all)........
By the way.thanks for branding me as an 'Object Of Interest' though for the wrong reasons.....Gotta be honest C.me still wondering if you can be of any interest at all :-)
As for U Priya..........I AINT HANGING AROUND WITH GUYS HERE.........Never did all my life!!! AND THATS IT...no more arguments on that. Hey Mots...........U think u got me red in the face huh..........well tell ya what.........bask in ur glory as much as you want for it aint gonna remain that way for long.........
Jay, Chummi..think you've scored over me huh?.........dont get me started with that club shit!!!!.................better be concerned and find some place to hide for I'll BE BACK.
And Abu.what the hell?.................U think this is so much FUN. Well, I think NOT. And Niks........talk about mice gettin brave when the cats aint around.
PS...Isnt there anybody who wanna stand by poor ol' me.........Please , please there should be somebody in that rogue group my so called 'pals' who has some sympathy for me..........
Sajith
===============================================
FANTASTIC SAJITH. BUT I FEEL, U CAN DO STILL BETTER!!!! ;-))) ANYBOBY WITH ME???
Ranjini
========================
Is that so, C? Well, thats normal isnt it?...........But I aint trying any harder for I think I'm doing just fine. And why wouldnt people be with you especially when you are in the middle of something as interesting an activity as 'DIG YOUR PALS GRAVE'!!!
Hey, by the way, I thought someone wanted to know how things were here at Lagos.........well.....things here are just fine........wish I could send details across to you all but you know............ye people have kept me so busy reading your mails that I just dont have the time!!!!!!!!...:-D
With the worst Regards...........:-)
Sajith
==========================
Hehe Sajith u would have so many standing besides you juz look arund in the jungle who knows you would come across some BIG,ROUND IN SHAPE NIGERIAN (GUY/GAL) J
Jayant
==================================
Hey Sajith,
good to hear from you. though not one of the mails that I would
preserve for my grand children. Would make nice reading for a rainy
day though...
So, you seem to be back to your old cheerful self. :))
Lets not mail-bash you more than needed.
How is the work?How are the people? Fill us in on that country man..
I guess none of us might get a chance to visit Africa. Since you have
got the chance, do let us know how the place looks and feels.

Sumanth
=============================

Alright now that you all have had your laughs.. its time to turn the spotlight back to me.. After all this presumably, Sajith is not gonna let me get away light..so looks like a few broken bones are in order i guess.. or at least a consultation with a good plastic surgeon.. My only hope is to bribe him with a trip to more civilised places.. so people you can leave a comment and i will tell you where to transfer the funds..Hello..don't leave the page ..click on that comments link..heloo..hellooooo..Bah.. i should have known..Friends!!!

Love Boat Captain--> Pearl Jam

2005-05-11T11:17:00.000-07:00

Is this just another day,... this god forgotten place?
First comes love, then comes pain.
Let the games begin,...
Questions rise and answers fall,... insurmountable.

Love boat captain
Take the reigns and steer us towards the clear,... here.
It's already been sung, but it can't be said enough.
All you need is love

Is this just another phase?
Earthquakes making waves,...
Trying to shake the cancer off? Stupid human beings,...
Once you hold the hand of love,.. it's all surmountable.

Hold me, and make it the truth,...
That when all is lost there will be you,...
Cause to the universe
I don't mean a thing

And there's just one word I stil believe
And it'sIt's an art to live with pain,...
mix the light into grey,..
Lost 9 friends we'll never know,.. 2 years ago today
And if our lives became too long, would it add to our regret?

And the young, they can lose hope cause they can't see beyond today,...
The wisdom that the old can't give away
Hey,...Constant recoil...Sometimes life
Don't leave you alone.

Hold me, and make it the truth,...
That when all is lost there will be you.
Cause to the universe I don't mean a thing
And there's just one word that I still believe and it'sLove,... love. love. love. love.

Love boat captain
Take the reigns,.. steer us towards the clear.
I know it's already been sung,... can't be said enough.
Love is all you need,.. all you need is love,..Love,.. love,...Love.

Screw the past!!!

2005-05-11T09:54:00.000-07:00

Yes.. today will be the day i say to myself that i have "finally" moved on.. .. all attempts to even start a conversation have been thwarted..so no more effort from my end to "smooth" things out.. i know things are irreversible..so i am gonna let them stay that way..
Maybe life would be much simpler if i were a little bit more naieve and did not try to "practicalise" and rationalise all my actions..

Savandurga..

2005-05-01T22:20:00.000-07:00

This weekend saw me riding to Savandurga..This is a quiet little place about 70 km from Bangalore..I was to meet the others at 7:30 and we were to take off at 8:00.. Considering that i had been partying late the previous day..it was quite an effort to make it to the venue..but the fact that i was one of the ride co-ordinators egged me on.
I had actually crashed out at my friend's place the previous night..so after a gargatuan effort,i managed to wake up and make my way home by 6:30 in the morning..a quick bath and some quicker packing..and was out the door by 7:15..I was planning to ride slow upto the venue so that i could clear my drowsiness and the hangover..this plan did not work for long..just a couple of kilometres ahead i happenend to see Rocky and Lohith on Airport road.. So, it turned out to become a race to the venue thing...
Soon we were all at the Town Hall which was the designated starting point..After the introductions and a little planning it was time to set off..Lohith and me would be in the lead..and Rocky and Vikas were to sweep.. So..off it was at around 8:10..and bang into Sunday morning traffic..
the first 20 odd kms were just pure frustration.. the traffic was too much to bear.. but for me it was a blessing in disguise..it gave me enough of a buffer time to actually clear my head..and clear it did just in time for the clear roads that we soon came across.. they were pure bliss.. a biker's dream if i may say so. there were so many twists and every one of them banked so well..
I had last seen such good twists on the way back from Mangalore.. and then i was still learning the art of going around corners.. All that i read and had been told came to mind..and what better time to put it into practice..
I was in the lead and had to make sure that i kept the pace going..there was my motivation..and the speedometer just reflecting that.. i was slowly increasing my speed..and realised that all that i had learned on paper was now going well in practice.. I kept my lines well and leant into the curves as anybody would have.. this built up my confidence.. and soon i was doing about 80-90 on those curves ..i even took it upto 100+ once.. the feeling was just awesome... there comes a point in every ride when you feel one with the bike.and this was it for me today..especially with Pink Floyd in my ears..ah it was just bliss..
Soon..sadly since i was just getting warmed up...we were at Magadi..This was our breakfast stop..and that is when i realised how hungry i was..it was nearly 16 hours since i had last eaten a proper meal..
Post breakfast we set off to Savandurga..it was a short ride of about 15 -20 km..and all of it on narrow village roads..The rock is pretty imposing at first.. the sheer size of it is enough to say PHEW.. and was lost in admiring it.. and we were soon clamouring to scale this rock.. It was a pretty difficult task especially in the swelterin gheat.. but we did manage to cover about 1/3rd of the distance..After the climb the guys were all pining for beer..but i guess that would not be a good idea.. at least i am not comfortable with the drinking and driving thing..especially on a highway..After some debate on what next..it was decided that we would all head home..I was more than ready for a nice home cooked lunch and a longg siesta..
So off it was by 12:00 or so.. and this time too i was in the lead and was testing the speed limits on those twisties..these curves i could fall for anytime:)
The return journey was pretty similar to the onward one.. except for the rise in temprature..and the traffic too..
Was home by 2:30 and in time for a nice lunch and slept till late in the evening..
A fitting way to finish off a sunday ride.. So guess this means that i will be found on some highway or the other on most sundays:)))

Yelagiri-on MY terms

2005-04-24T18:57:00.000-07:00

I was back from the US, and wanted to go for a long ride on my bike. Once the itch had set in, a plan began to form in my mind and the only thing left was execution. However there were some obstacles that had to be dealt with. Sometime in the middle of the week, i got a call from some of my old friends, and they wanted to go on a day trip. I was game for it, as long as i was getting my bike along. As D-day came closer, a lot of people chickened out, and mainly because they had something else "suddenly coming up". I had made up my mind anyway, and was definitely not letting some spoil-sports ruin my ride.
With one day left for the ride, another friend showed immense interest, and i was taken in. Thought that some company would make my ride more interesting. But after all the planning, this friend also chickened out, and on the morning of the ride, when i had to pick him up. Could not let this ruin my day, could I.... so off i went.
I had been to Yelagiri before, but then it was in a car, and i had promised myself that i would do this route on my bike someday. Well.. someday had come. I started at 7:30 in the morning, and was surprised at the traffic, especially since this was a saturday morning. All the way upto Hosur the road was pretty choked, and this did limit my speed. Things took a turn after Hosur though. The open roads were going to be just pure bliss. I did make a photo stop before the wide roads started. I knew that once i started enjoying the roads, i would be very reluctant to make any stops. So after some clicking, it was time to roll.
Was planning to go at a sedate 80kmph or so, and was doing that until a Qualis overtook me, after Krishnagiri. The vehicle was pretty full with some family that included a lot of kids, gawking at me and and my bike. I thought i should give them something to cheer about, and set about trying to overtake the Qualis. It was a nice healthy competition. Neither of us took unnecessary risks, but did manage to keep up a good speed. Most of the time we were doing about 100-110 kmph. One stretch i managed to go upto 120. This went on for more than 50 km, until i decided to take a break. It was about 70 km since my last break, and i was getting real thirsty too. The heat was getting pretty oppressive.
Now that a quick pace had been set, going slow was out of the question. I was too hooked up on the speed factor. The turn at Vaniyambadi came soon, and i knew i was pretty close to the hills.
The ghat section of 14kms was true delight. There was hardly any traffic here, and so i could let loose again. There is nothing more fun while riding, than being able to take on the ghats, and not miss any turns!!
Was in Yelagiri by 10:15. Breakfast was a long drawn out affair. After stuffing myself with enough food to keep me going till lunch, i was ready for the return journey home. Started off by 10:45. He..he.. this was turning out exactly like my dad predicted. He knew that i was interested in the ride and not as much in the place.So, he had predicted that i would be back home for lunch...
Another shutter-bug break presented itself about 4km into the ride. The view from the hill was too good to pass without spending some time here. Finally managed to get away by 11:00. Now i was really in the mood to test my bike's endurance. So, once i cleared the ghats and was back on the highway, i rarely went below 100kmph. It was great to be dong those speeds. The only problem was that a lot of the localites were using the wrong side of the road. Looked like most of them were Americanising themselves!! It was very irksome, when i was doing good speeds, and had to slow down, because there was some moron coming the opposite way, treating the road like an extension of his living room. Since, these guys were so into the american driving style, i took it upon myself to introduce them to some choice american slang too!!
After the turn at Krishnagiri, i got involved in two ego-building races. The first was with a Qualis, where my ego took a beating, but not without a fight. The next was with an Esteem, where i got myself a chance to boost my ego. He he.. a bike leaving them behind, is a tough pill to swallow for many four-wheelers.. The rest of the ride home was pretty uneventful, with the usual traffic jam from Hosur. Still managed to reach home by 1:30, and just in time for lunch with dad..
Looking back, i had done pretty good time.I had d0ne 350 kms in six hours, with a 30 minute stop for breakfast. Also, the stretch from Hosur to home did take me about an hour and a half, the morning and afternoon combined. So that meant i took about 4 hours to do around 280 kms, at an average of 70 kms per hour. That was pretty neat, if i may say so. And that was all because it was on MY terms... this definitely means a lot more solo rides in the future.

Its been that long?

2005-04-17T08:57:00.000-07:00

Saturday night i had an amazingly swinging time at STYX.. and we were there till they closed down the DJ console.. and strangely the last song they played was "Don't Panic" by "Coldplay"....if my day had been good..it just got better.. i loved this song..and while i was lost in this song.. somehow all the confusion, apprehension and a whole other gamut of emotions in my head suddenly took a turn for the better..i realized that i was just indulging in so much self-pity..and life did suddenly feel so much better..and as the song goes.. "we live in a beautiful world"..only if you take time and notice it.. And if you are wondering..this is definitely not the beer talking..cause i had WAY below the normal stuff i consume..and still had a great time..
and oddly enough i had the chance to talk to a lot of old friends the next day..and the conversations somehow ended up in our careers..and i realised that i am the only one among them who was completely content with the job i was doing..the others seemed so bogged down by the work they were doing..and were using me as an oulet..
Thats when it hit me that we've been out of college for almost two years now..has it really been that long? it seems like yesterday that i was getting into trouble with my teachers..and look at me now.. It's been a short journey i accept..but still it has been wonderful..absolutely wondeful.. and if i could go back in time.. i don't think i would want to change anything..
In just a year there have been so many changes..and i know what i am capable of..and what i am not..it's not been a roller coaster ride..but it's been close..and the best thing other than finding new friends..has been my investing in my bike..and giving wings to the biking passion in me..

PLAGARISED WITH PRIDE!!

2005-04-17T04:53:00.000-07:00

He he.. yes. this article is plagarised from an old mail...was sifting through some old mail and came across this..It Definitely HAD to be posted here..

It was a lovely December morning in the hottest city in the world. All right, so that was a little unfair. Chennai is not the hottest city in the world. But it certainly is the city with the most uncomfortable weather among the cities that I have lived in. And I've been around. But I digress.
I was in the company bus on my way to work, as usual trying to catch up with my sleep. On this particular day, a girl got on the bus, came to my seat and sat down. "Good Morning," she said. I looked back at her through half closed eyes, replied "Good Night," and then proceeded to return to my half hour nap before the bus reached the office. Unfortunately, I was woken up by a punch in the arm.
"Wake up, bozo!" She was looking at me with a big smile on her face. "I'm not sitting next to you to listen to you snore."
Half-heartedly, I opened my eyes and turned to her. "What's up?" I asked.
Preeti Mehra was tall, good-looking and slightly tomboyish. She was also my best buddy. "Come on," she said. "Don't look so disappointed. You'd rather sleep than talk to me?"
"I talk to you everyday, Preeti."
"You also sleep everyday."
"It's not enough."
"So you've had enough of talking to me, eh?"
You can't argue with a statement like that, so I had to give up. I grinned and said, "OK, sweetheart. What's on your mind?"
"I wanted to tell you what happened yesterday. Can you guess?"
"Anurag called you last night."
"How did you know?" She was stunned.
"Oh, he asked me for your number yesterday."
"And you gave it to him?"
"What else could I do? And stop complaining. You've been drooling over him for weeks now. He must have thought he had a chance."
Preeti was the kind of girl who would openly ogle at every other guy she saw. And yet, she would not respond to any advances of a romantic nature. She'd happily join a group of boys to go to a cricket match, but if asked out to a movie, dinner, or even coffee, she'd never say yes. She defined 'Hard-To-Get'.
"You like putting me in these situations, don't you?" she said.
"No. That's not true. I love putting you in these situations!"
That invited another punch in the arm.
I had known Preeti for a year. We'd tell each other about our joys and our sorrows, our victories and our defeats. I'd tell her about all my crushes and she'd scold me for being silly. She'd drag me to classical music concerts and I'd add them to the list of things she 'owed me' for.
And though I never let it show, I must say that she punched pretty hard.
~*~
It was 12:00 am and my phone was ringing. "Hello," I said, as I picked it up.
"Happy Birthday!" It was she.
"You're supposed to throw me a surprise party, sweetheart. Not just call to say Happy Birthday."
"Well then open your door, dumbo!"
So I did and found her, cell-phone in hand, at my doorstep -- with what seemed like half the population of my company. My roommates were supposed to be working late that night. Now I knew why.
I blew a lot of candles (seemed like much more than 25), cut my cake, got kicked in the behind, and got painted with the cake's icing. If Preeti had had her way, she'd probably have preferred to use a paintbrush and a can of paint. But I bribed her with a copy of the book "Lord of the Rings". She'd borrowed it from me three times already. I thought it was about time I gave her a copy for herself.
We chatted for an hour after everyone had gone. "I think it's time I left," she said finally, trying to stifle a yawn. I nodded. I dropped her home in my roommate's car. As she was getting out of the car, I stopped her.
"Hey, Preeti."
"What?"
"Thanks."
"Hey, don't get senti on me now!" she smiled. "Are you trying to worm out of that gift you promised me?"
"You know, it's interesting how I'm getting you a gift on my birthday."
"That's just because you're stupid," she grinned. "And you better get me that book, or I won't return your copy."
"Hey, that copy was a gift to me from my dear friend Preeti Mehra. I can't let you keep that."
She wasn't falling for that. "Your dear friend? And what about me? Am I not dear to you?"
"Very smart. That won't work with me. I'm not one of your Love Crazy suitors. Why do you need the book anyway? You've read it umpteen times already."
"That is besides the point. You are getting me the book. We both know that." She smiled that wide confident smile of hers. "Good night." And she got out of the car.
I sat there for some time, just thinking. Our conversations were always like this - a little joking, a little teasing and a lot of demanding. But somehow, I felt that something had changed since the moment she had turned up at my door that night. I was still in my reverie when a paper ball landed on the windshield. I craned my neck out of the window and looked up. She was standing in her balcony.
"What are you still doing there?" she whispered loudly.
"Waiting for you to start a paper-ball fight," I whispered back.
"We can do that tomorrow. Go home now. It's way past your bedtime!"
"Ok, mommy," I grinned back. "I'm going home now!"
~*~
I'm an extravagant gift-giver, and it is definitely going to be my downfall some day. I made her wait for it, but finally bought her the book. That, and half-a-dozen other omnibus collections of various authors, including a copy each of `The Complete Works of Shakespeare' and `The Complete Short Stories of Charles Dickens'. All I got for it was an "I told you so."
I started spending a lot of time at her place after that. Mostly because I wanted to read all those books, and she wouldn't lend them to me.
"I'm not as stupid as you, ape-man. I'm not falling into the same trap I laid for you. Plus, you dog-ear your books. You're not doing that to these masterpieces. So if you want to read them, you read them here. And if you want to mark your place, use a bookmark."
So that's what I did. She'd even make me wash my hands before I touched the books. It was as if they were sacred.
"Need I remind you that it was me that bought you the books in the first place? For my birthday!"
"So? They're mine now."
"Well, then. I've been meaning to ask you this for a long time. Where exactly is my birthday gift?"
"It was in your tummy at one point of time. It's probably been washed into the sea by now."
"Huh?"
"Remember the cake I baked you on your birthday?"
"You what? You can't bake cakes!" That was a mistake. She looked hurt. "You baked me a cake?" She didn't say a word. She just shrugged.
I was stunned. "But you never told me."
"You didn't ask." That was typical of her.
"It was fantastic! And you wasted most of the icing on me!"
"The cake was for you, dumbo."
"How long did it take you to make the whole thing?" It had been a two-layered vanilla-chocolate cake with three flavors of very creamy icing. She had done all that!
"Well, the chocolate cake took an hour and fifteen minutes, and so did the vanilla. Then cutting them up and putting them together took another 15 minutes. Each flavor of icing took 20 minutes for preparation, and then putting it on the cake took another half hour. Cleaning up the mess took an hour."
She seldom claimed the credit for anything, but once she started bragging, there was no stopping her. However, I wasn't thinking about that right then.
"You spent over five hours on that cake?"
"A little over four hours preparing it, and an hour cleaning up. Yes."
I was speechless. I didn't know how to react. She hated cooking.
"I forgot to mention," she continued, "the hours I spent the week before that, practicing. Even the birds wouldn't touch the first three cakes!"
I couldn't help but ask. "Why?"
"Because the first one got burnt, the second one was only half cooked, and in the third one, I forgot to add sugar."
It was just like her, to try to divert the conversation. "I mean why did you spend so much time on baking me a cake?"
She looked at me like I'd asked her why the sun rises in the east. "For your birthday, stupid. Of course, I also wanted to beat every gift you've ever got me. Try beating this one." She was grinning like she'd won the world championship.
As far as I was concerned, she had. I'd never spent a week making her anything. I'd never even spent an hour making her anything. Getting her a gift normally involved me taking her to the store, letting her choose and use my credit card. Suddenly, I felt cheap. "Thanks," was the only thing I could say. "Thanks a lot."
"Hey. Are you getting senti on me again?"
I was.
~*~
I was still mulling over my feelings for Preeti the next day at work when my boss asked to speak to me.
I went over to his cabin and he started with the usual greetings, asking how work was going and whether I was comfortable. He then told me that the company wanted to send me to New York for a couple of years. Normally, this wouldn't have made much of a difference to me. I could work anywhere and didn't have too much love for visiting places foreign. But right then, the first thought that came to me was that I'd be away from Preeti for two whole years. Twenty-four hours before, I'd have been disappointed to lose her company. But right then, I was devastated. That was when I knew I was in love with her. I'd had crushes before. Lots of them. But this was different.
"Do you have any problem in going?" my boss asked, since I hadn't responded.
"Not really," I replied. What else could I say? That I was in love, and couldn't bear the separation?
"When do I have to leave?"
I had a month.
~*~
"Wow! New York! Great! I've heard it's a fantastic city! Did you know it snows there in winter?" Preeti was obviously very excited about my going. She didn't seem to share my disappointment on what I now saw as 'separation'.
I had not decided then if I was going to tell her how I felt. We'd known each other for a little over a year, and we were very close, but beyond some mild flirting, the relationship had never got even close to romantic. That was, of course, until I found out she had spent a week baking me a cake. It's funny how small things seem to make such a big difference.
"What happened?" she asked. "You don't seem very happy."
"Oh," I replied, "it's just that it's so sudden, that's all. And you know I was never all that interested in going to America."
"What an idiot. Go see the place. I've heard the women there are amazingly beautiful." She had a sly smile on her face. I wanted to tell her I didn't care if I laid my eyes on another woman again, if she wasn't with me. But I didn't.
I realized that I only had another month with her. She'd rejected every guy who'd asked her out ever since I'd known her. I didn't want the same to happen to me, and I didn't want to make it awkward between us. I didn't want to risk that month. I wanted it to be the best time I had ever spent with her. After I came back from the US, I might not even get to meet her again. Two years was a long time.
We ate out almost every night. We visited some of the best restaurants in the city. She also helped me shop for warm clothes, formalwear, shoes, toothpaste and a million things I'd never have thought of on my own.
"You need to buy a nail-cutter." My roommates and I shared one.
"I've prepared a list of must-have medicines that you should carry."
"Your iron won't work in the US. No point buying one here as you need one that works at a hundred and ten volts and has flat pins. You can buy one at a K-Mart or Wal-Mart as soon as you get there."
"You need at least two pairs of formal shoes and at least ten pairs of dark socks. The East Coast has a formal dress code. And you won't do your laundry more than once a week or two."
"How many ties do you have? And which trousers do your blazers go with?"
"Better get a haircut before you leave from here. Knowing you, you'll postpone the first haircut for too long."
She'd call me up at one in the morning to tell me to add 'one more item' to my list.
And with every passing day, I was falling more deeply in love with her.
The month swept by quickly. The day I was supposed to leave, I asked her to come with me to the airport. "Of course, dumbo. You think I'd let you go just like that, or what?"
After packing my bags for me and checking the lists for the hundredth time, she finally pronounced me "Good to go."
We reached the airport four hours early to beat the rush, because it was an international flight. She got a visitor's pass to sit in the waiting area while I went ahead and checked-in my bags. Preeti had got a spring balance from somewhere and so we knew my bags were well within the weight limit. I finished the formalities and came to sit with her. We had only a few hours before I had to go for my security-check. We decided to get something to eat at the food court. And all the time, the one thing that was going through my head was that, after this, I wouldn't see her for at least another two years.
"Hey, Champ. Why so glum?" She saved 'Champ' for special days. Normally, it was just 'dumbo', 'bozo', 'ape-man', 'matchstick man', 'weirdo', or if she was very irritated with me, 'nutcase'.
"I don't want to go," I said.
"I don't want you to go either."
"No, you don't understand." I couldn't hold it in any longer. "I can't stand the thought of living without you by my side."
She stared at me. There was a strange look in her eyes. I couldn't read it.
"I am madly in love with you, Preeti."
At this, a sound escaped her lips that sounded like a cross between a sob and a laugh. "Well, dumbo, you've picked an absolutely fabulous time to tell me about it!"
A tear escaped her eyes. It was all I could do to stop myself from wiping it off her cheeks.
"How long have you felt this way?" She seemed amused, though she was definitely crying. I didn't know what to make of it.
"From the day I found out you had baked me a cake."
She laughed. "That's all it took? Well, bozo, I guess a way to a man's heart is certainly through his stomach! Hold it. A month? You waited a month? You were the one who kept saying that if you really liked a girl you wouldn't waste a day in telling her!" She was smiling widely now. It looked funny, with her eyes all wet.
"Well, I was confused. How did I know how you'd react? In fact, I still don't understand your reaction. I thought it would change things between us. You've rejected every guy who ever proposed to you!"
"That's because I'm in love with you, you overgrown idiot!"
"What?" Somehow, I'd never expected her to say that. She was in love with me? "How long have you been in love with me?"
"Ever since the day you offered to carry my suitcase for me."
"But that was the first day I met you!"
"I guess I was always a sucker for chivalry."
"All this time you've been in love with me and you never said anything! Then you go and complain that I waited a month!"
"You guys are so bad at reading a girl's mind."
"You women are so good at keeping your thoughts a secret! Even Einstein couldn't figure you out."
"Einstein was a nerd. Casanova, on the other hand, understood us very well."
"I love you."
"I know."
That moment, my dear friends, was magic. I looked into her eyes and took her hands in mine. Physical contact for us had been limited, until then, to a punch in the arm, a slap on the back of the head, or giving each other a 'high five'.
"You realize, don't you," she said, "that this is our first date?" Leave it to her to notice the little things.
"I really don't want to go." I'd always maintained that love is a bucketful of emotions. I wasn't exactly delighted to be proved right.
"Don't worry. I'm coming there in a couple of months."
"How? On a dependent visa?"
She laughed. "For that, I'll have to wait, won't I? I've got a project in New Jersey."
I couldn't believe my ears. "What? When did that happen? You never even told me!"
"Well, I wasn't sure you'd propose before you left. And I couldn't exactly sacrifice you to those New York women, could I? I had to watch out for myself. So I went on a project-hunting spree. There is an opportunity coming up for a project in about two months. Someone is coming back to India, so I'll be taking his place. They want me there for a little less than two years." She was beaming. "I realized I had struck gold!"
"And if I'd not told you how I felt? When were you planning on telling me about it?"
"Around a month before I reached there. I had to make it look natural. Or you'd think I was desperate."
"Well, you are desperate!" This was incredible. All I'd done in the past month had been to mope around, listen to sad songs and write her letters that I never intended her to read. "You've been scheming all this while! How come you didn't lay a trap for me a year ago?"
"I tried giving you hints, dumbo, but you just wouldn't pay attention!" She was laughing. "You're the only guy I ever spent any time with. Wasn't that a big enough hint?"
That was true. She would happily join a group of boys to go to a cricket match, but I now realized, only if I was one of them.
"What if I had rejected you?" I was extremely flattered that she'd been crazy about me for a year. My ego was swelling.
"You must be kidding!" she was clearly amused. "I get proposed to every few days. You are the one who's been rejected more times in the last year than I can count on two pairs of hands!"
She really knew how to burst my bubble.
"Hey," she said softly, "don't look so dejected. I said 'Yes', didn't I?"
I grinned. "Yes, you did. And you've made me a very happy man. But you know what would make me even happier?"
"What?"
"If you learn to cook as good as you bake cakes."
So she punched me in the arm again.

backstreet boys..duh??

2005-04-08T13:33:00.000-07:00

Recently read some stuff on another blog which sparked this off.. The guy had a friend who used to listen to Backstreet boys and was now listening to Metallica and the kind.. and was wondering why his friend was behaving weird all of a sudden..

I found that a little "weird". .. cause it somehow felt kind of personal.. even i listenend to backstreet boys and the kind when i was in college..seems like a long time ago though..well lets face it ..almost 99% percent of the fan base of all pop stars(what many like to call poop stars)are teenagers..at that age MUSHINESS sells big time.. next to the sex sells theme of course..
So when all your hormones are acting up..you do tend to listen to music that these poop stars make..and the music has thus served its purpose..They anyway consist of lyrics which the singers themselves don't seem too convinced of..anyway my point was that that is the age when you listen to such stuff.. at least it serves as the gateway to other good music..
a lot of this choice of music even depends on your peers..when most of your friends are doing something..you are not too keen on taking the path less trodden..at least that was how it was with me.. whenever we went out the car stereo was at full blast with Nick carter or some such singer in the same league crooning out love songs..
Slowly you do realise that hormones and your reactions to it are not the only things in life.. you do tend to sit up and notice other facts of life .. and that is when your music tastes also take a turn for the better..i believe that you can tell the mindset of a person by knowing what type of music they listen to..as long as they don't fake their tastes just to fit in..
So getting back..you tend to then look out for songs that you can relate to and they become your favourites..and what better outlet than this for your emotions..most of all people turn to rock(and metal of course) cause these somehow hit the target with their lyrics.. if you pay attention to what these guys are belting out..you will surely appreciate them more..and that is when you truly outgrow the pop music scene..It does not make you "weird"..it makes you wiser..or at least reflects that you are wiser..
If you listen closely every song has a story to tell..unlike the pop stuff(which was nothing more than "love sells")... take for instance Eric Clapton's "Tear's in heavan"..this was written as an ode to his dead son.. and what a beautiful song it is.. if you listen to it with all your heart i am sure it will leave a mark .. There are so many more songs which will leave a mark on you.. and when you have such songs my friend.. why would you want to listen to people wanting to know if they can hold their baby tonight or can touch them and do other things which i can't type here for obvious reasons'...

je suis de retour...

2005-04-06T17:07:00.000-07:00

Finally i am home after 5 weeks.. It has been a productive 5 weeks which has done me a lot of good..First of all the way i work will definitely improve.. and second it has shown me the importance of home.. I finally know what it means when we say:"there's no place like home"..
.. a cancerian at heart i guess.
The flights were a little too long for comfort.. but on the upside i had some good company and that helped get through it.. there was even a book i managed to finish while being with the clouds..
It feels great to be back home.. back to familiar things..talking to friends and family without a phone line dividing us..
Now i can do all the things that constitute "normal" life ,i missed out the last 5 weeks..And top on that list is meeting all friends and spending time with my family over the weekend..
Just can't wait to ride with RTMC and show off my new jacket.. have had a lot of people already turning green...

The trip has definitely brought some changes in me..at least my paunch has reduced, if nothing else:)
It has also instilled a desire to travel even more than i do now.. Seeing new places and meeting new people..making new friends is such a high...

Mama i'm coming home...

2005-03-31T18:34:00.000-08:00

Aha.. i'll be going home after 5 long weeks here in US..
can't wait to go back to familiar surroundings..
to talk to my parents and sis without a phone between us..
to eat home cooked food..
to ride on familiar roads...
to ride my bike..(boy did i miss it?)...
to meet my friends...
to visit STYX...
to play snooker..
to fight with sis..
to party on saturday nights.. and get back home at 1 am..
to wake up on a lazy sunday and accompany dad on the weekly shopping trip...
..and many many more things ...

Oh.. yeah .. i am waiting to board that plane home..It's gonna be great ..
It was an awesome trip though..Some part of me is gonna miss doing all the things i did here..
i made a few friends here.. whom i will surely miss when i go back..
I found some nice help from unexpected quarters.. Most of all i learnt that i do not have the US craze that a lot of my brethern have..i don't think this place will ever be home.... there are too many things i will have to give up.. and i definitely don't want to give them up...

I even got a chance to ride bikes on these roads...oh and speaking of bikes.. i am definitely looking forward to riding my bike back home.. i definitely need to go on a long ride soon..maybe i will be a part of the himalayan expedition that RE is planning....that would be so cool.. i would get to celebrate my birthday..literally while being on top of the world..

meanwhile... 3 more days to go!!!

make a wish?

2005-03-23T13:09:00.000-08:00

Remember this?

I had this eyelash experience again..and i COULDN'T think of anything i wanted to wish for...
Am i getting too content or am i finally letting go of this superstition too??

And if you are wondering why most of my recent posts have titles ending with questions..its because i like it.. and not because i am on an inner quest or something deep like that..

Multnomah Falls

2005-03-22T09:59:00.000-08:00

Sunday was a good day out...I was dying to go out.. evn though i did not have company and would have to do my explorations on my own...Homesickness was kicking in big time, and luckily I found out about this Falls.. I set out at about 9:00 or so in the morning..and reached the Falls in quick time..in just about an hour.. and i lost me way only once...
The drive was really scenic..There was greenery al around and it was drizzling too.. This added to the beauty of the whole place...The highway was designed to take you right next to the Hood river too... The actual falls is in two steps.. the water lands on a platform and travels for about 50 feet or so and then cascades again..It was a awesome sight... decided to trek to the top of the falls.. it was a pretty steep trek and i guess it was in excess of a mile.. I thought i would need a few breaks.. but was happy to find myself able to take on the terrain.. Not in as bad shape as i thought i'll beThe view from the top of the mountain was really fabulous.. on the way down i saw this couple who had got their 2 dogs along..and the wife was having an anxiety attack..she apparently had this fear of heights.and after going half the distance she lost it.. she totally freaked out..and hardly anybody stopped to help them..they all just assumed she was nuts i guess.
So being the good samartian i offered to help.. the husband was controlling both the dogs. so i offered to accompany the lady to the base of the falls and he could go up the trail and return back soon..The lady was totally freaked out in the beginning..but i managed to talk to her and calm her down.. she did make an immense effort to not feel scared and we managed to reach the bottom after some gruelling time.. And in return i did get more info about the place and about some other places i might be able to check out next weekend.
So. finished with my good deed for the day, it was time for lunch at the restaurant situated the base of the falls.. It was expensive but totally worth it...After lunch i headed to the mountains where i was supposed to find the river Hood..and there was also a scenic highway of about 100 miles that i wanted to drive through.. but sadly the weather got worse.and the rain that was expected here started coming in pretty hard.. This made driving very difficult and i HAD to come back..even though i had some more places n my agenda..guess i can try going there again next weekend
All said and done.. my happiest moment is going to be when i get on that plane 13 days from now...

Lake Tahoe

2005-03-22T02:55:00.000-08:00

Lake Tahoe
Posted by: sumanthp.

New city....

2005-03-17T13:29:00.000-08:00

Well i am in a new city now..and it is much much smaller than San Jose and i hardly know anybody here.... I do have work to keep me occupied during the day but the evenings get really boring..with nothing to do but watch TV...and i can't do that for very long...hope that the weekend is more interesting at least...
After all the fun i had in San Jose..it is pretty difficult to be doing nothing.. I do have a car at my disposal..but not much fun when i have to drive and explore places on my own...

Hopefully i will come up with something to keep me occupied..

U S yeah?

2005-03-10T08:18:00.000-08:00

This is gonna be a post after a looong time..and this is gonna be my first post while in the US..or San Jose to be more precise.. Been here since almost two weeks..it has definitely been a hectic two weeks..what with me being the official"driver" for our gang of 4 guys and 2 gals...
the training and work here has been very good and has met my expectations..and our weeeknd getaway was worth every bit of money spent...

Fortunately we have all stopped converting dolars into rupees whenever we buy something...else this would have hampered most of the fun we are otherwise having..The past week we have been working till late evening and then we head off to some nearby place..and most of the time it is to some shopping centre!!!

We all landed here on Sunday and it was not as great a cultural shock as portrayed in a lot of our "crossover" movies.. or maybe we knew what we were geting into and so it did not hit us hard....and anyway we had A, who had arrived 2 weeks before us and "educated' us on alot of american stuff...we did notice that mostly peple were very cordial with each other..and the roads were just awesome...being a biker..the roads are the first thing i observe..and they were just too good..so i was definitely looking forward to driving/riding on these roads..

We got a car..or rather Mini van on Tuesday..and A & i went to get it from the rental place..We had prepared for the return journey by equipping ourselves with some yahoo maps..but we should have known better.. We did make it to the Rental and took the van..then began my fast-track initiation into driving in the US!!! the rental guy gave me a couple of tips and watched apprehensively as I took off..A was my navigator and so i was paying more attention to staying in the right lane and not looking much at signboards...We thought the map would help us get back soon..but then we were so hopelssly lost that we had to rely on homing instincts!!.the roadsigns here do not follow the pattern that we follow back home ..and it did take us some time to get used to it...So we were learning more abut the lanes and signals and stuff..and also getting more hopelessly lost.. The upside was that we did get to see most of San Jose!! Finally after about an hour of U-turns and wrong turns..we did manage to get bck to where we started from...

Now that we had a car and an "able' navigator and a more "able" driver who could respond properly to the navigator's signals...we could see San Jose without any hiccups..and most of the eveneing we ended up in some mall or the other..we saw The great Mall,Wallmart,Frys (electronic stuff)..and many more ..oh and more roads also..most of the stuff unitentional ..we had made losing our way an art form by now..and we were getting to be really good at it..

So with our obvious navigational talents we decided to check out a few far flung places on the weekend. Luckily On Saturday we had P, who could drove us down to Lake Tahoe. He is such a cool person....We left at around 5:00 in the morning, so that we could reach the place by around 9:00 and start off early on our skiing lesons....and ski we did..this too was pretty much like our road experience..we kept fumbling and losing our way..we started off on a small slope and, boy we tried hard..after a lot of..ouch..falls, we did manage to get it right..
We had ski lifts to take us to the top of the slopes and we would ski down the slopes..and one of the times(the navigation skils again)...i managed to take the wrong lift...and wound up on the advanced slope...this was right after lunch..so i had got time to go over my skills in my mind and go all gaga about me geting it right.. Boy was this slope a leveller or what..literally ..just after a few minutes I was in level with the slope..down on all fours..looking like a cat with buttered paws on a waxed floor...The next time though i managed to get the right ski lift and the going was good...so there was another next time and another next time and so on..until my feet began to hurt and I could not ski anymore...
After all the skiing we went on a drive around Lake Tahoe..some parts of the lake were frozen and it was so beautiful to look at..The lake was so huge and awesome that we all could not help going gaga over it... The roads around the lake were just too good..it was a bikers dream...wish I get to ride on this road someday...

Sunday we were gonna do some more shopping and then go over to see Stanford and San Francisco.. Stanford was so impressive and we managed to leave the place only by around 4:00 in the evening ..this was when we actually perfected our navigational art form about which i have been talking all this while.. We managed to take 2 and a half hours for a 40 minute drive..most of the times we would take the wrong exit and enter some city and be even more lost.. Gas stations were our saviours and one time even a liquour shop!!..At one point i was sticking to my lane which we thought headed to San Francisco..and we suddenly saw the road branching and we were on a new freeway and the freeway we were supposed to be on was below us somewhere....

With all these pitfalls we did manage to reach SF and got on to the Golden Gate bridge also..man it was beautiful..with all the lights on and in all its splendour..hope i can see it one more time before leaving this place...

Next update as time permits..and the next one should be interesting..cause i am going on a bike ride in the US..that ought to be something special...

Damn good biker jokes....

2005-02-23T15:05:00.000-08:00

Go here for some realy wicked biker jokes..mind you this is only for the ones with a strong stomach...definitely needs to be taken with a handful of salt...

Oh and btw...there is a balance in life!!
The girl was so confused initially but decided to remain friends at last...
Am glad that it did not follow the path my story had taken...we defenitely do not need another uncomfortable couple in our group....which anyway is dying a slow death without us adding to it!!!
..and if you are wondering ..about the "my story" part..sorry folks that's all you get to do about it.. wonder...you certainly are not gonna get to anatomize it...for like a wise man said.."Its for me to know and you to guess".. and yeah..the wise man is "yours truly"!!!

The Good Old Times....

2005-02-16T10:24:00.000-08:00

These were all in PU..between '97 and '99.. This would be the time when we were free from the rigors and discipline of school and were out on your own in the big bad world... Well I was on my own.. My parents had seen my college only on the day of enrollment and never after that.. I had not wanted to take them away from their daily lives.. not even when i was asked to get my father for some mischief I had got caught for.. ha ha .. we had our ways to squirm out of them...
My first memories of college were the first day when the Princi gave his speech.. all i heard were a big list of don't do this.. and don't do that.. study responsibly.. etc.. and all this sounded very idealistic and binding for the sudden rebellious mood that I was in...
School to college was a drastic shift... good marks in exams were not cool anymore.. your clothes were not just an extension of you.. but they made up your personality....It was what defined you...You had to have your own mode of transport etc... the whole onus was on who was cool..
I had actually successfully made friends across the strata.. in ters of the cool ones and the uncool ones.. and had built up a good network...this helped lots especially during exams...
Hey this is turning auto biographical..not what it was intended to be...let me get to the fun parts...

So the best times I remember are the ones where we bunked classe and went to watch movies...the quality of the movie did not matter as long as we had good company.. So these shows we wanted to catch were normaly at around 12:00 and some of us would be in the labs then.. especially on fridays(when new movies came out)... So the first half of the day was spent in planning ways to get out of class and executing them... Most of the times we would just bail out of class or else come up with some lame excuse and get permission to cut class... once in the physics lab we actually blew the fuse by connecting the live and neutral wire.. so no power.. no experiments..no class... and then it would be time to set land speed records between college and the theatre...

Our college was pretty close to JNC, a girls college, and as boys will be boys. there would be more of us in attendance outside their gates than in our classes.. the two colleges had even come up with this devious plan of having diferent lunch times for both colleges(12:00 to 01:00 for them and 01:00 to 2:0 for us)...but that in way detered us from bunking and going over to ogle at them.... We actually had a few friends who studied there.. and so we had an excuse to hang out near their college.. They did have one strict rule though.. no boys were allowed inside their campus unless it was a fest day.. I rememer one occassion when a bunch of us landed outside their gate.. and were "chatting" with a couple of our friends from JNC... One of the guys was getting pretty excited looking at all the PYTs there.. We all told him that today was a special day and guys would be allowed inside the campus...This guy could not believe his ears and made for the gates.. It was sight seeing him trying to convince the guard to let him insde..and the guard in turn threatening him physical harm.. Finally the guard could not take it anymore and chased this guy out with his stick..running behind him..he gave up only after our friend had run about 500m....

Nidhi Bete...

2005-02-14T11:00:00.000-08:00

It really feels good to be a winner...and this was more than the perfect high point of a happening weekend.. After a lot of yes and no... Chaitra and me participated in the treasure hunt(Nidhi Bete) organised by RTMC and.. surprise.. surprise.. we won it!!! It was really cool to do the 120 km ride around bangalore and I had the perfect pillion for it.. I was apprehensive that she would get bored on the long stretches.. but she was really enjoying the whole experience...there are very few people I know who enjoy being the pilion and C is surely one of them....Don't think I could have won this without Chaitra's and Sourabh's help... Sourabh helped us with the dead cockroach and Chaitra cracked most of the clues... So I am definitely looking forward to RTMCs forthcoming events..

So you though life was all rosy??

2005-02-14T10:58:00.000-08:00

No prizes for guessing the outcome of the previous post..

Is it too late??

2005-02-07T18:24:00.000-08:00

Today was such a friggin cold day.. I almost didn't make it to office..So you must have guessed by now that this would not be the best time to mess around with me... So right when I need something to perk me up I see this mail..
This was a letter my friend has written to a girl he has had a crush on... he's doing this 5 years after meeting her...He is living in another city and felt he owed it to her that he let her know how he felt... And all this coming from a guy who i knew was like me.. not that great at expressing emotions.. at least mouthing them.. I can see that a very big effort has gone into writing this...
So here goes...

Hi *****,
How are you doin….? this mail is going to be kinda lengthy so plzz be patient……
Well I guess u must be thinking …..wht next…..???…i mean there is this guy whom u hardly know……(whose voice u can’t even make out…J ..!!)and all of a sudden out of the blue from nowhere …one fine day he calls you up …. starts sending u msgs…….mails etc…!!! Right (pestering u wud be a better term…).
I mean if I was in ur place I wud be really wondering why some guy whom I met 5 yrs back…..tht too hardly 3-4 times and
to whom i haven’t even spoken for the last say 3 years…… suddenly calls up n starts being friendly….n nice to me…..
Well you know wht **** first of all don think I’m sitting n writing all this becoz I have nothing better to do in life ….
if u notice the time n day of the mail u will see tht it is A SATURDAY EVENING n I’m sitting in office ……
(well tht’s becoz my project has started n I have loads of work in fact it’s the first time I’m sitting in office on a sat evening …)
N I don know how ur going to react after reading this mail….u might not even talk with me ……or u might get really pissed of with me…
( tht is if ur not already becoz of all the SMS’s I keep sending….tht too late at night…)
Well You know what **** in all our lives there are some people n incidents that we can never forget no matter where we are or what ever we are……N for me …..
You ***** is one such person …..(I probably should have told all this 4 years back …but I guess better late than never…..)
I really don know wht to write ….. …..
Even though u hardly know me I know so much abt u (off course no prizes for guessing from whom..) I really had a big crush on you from the very first time I met you ……there are 2 things that really made me like you a lot apart from the fact tht ur a wonderful human being … your eye ‘s they are just so beautiful ..( no I’m not copying sharukh khan…..) I truly mean wht I say …..
& your Non stop talking .!!!! it so nice to just listen to you talking ……believe me or not i really have never liked any other girl as much as I liked you…..
don worry I don expect anything back ……...
but I never told u anything becoz first of all I was shy n secondly i really did not know wht u would think…..
So it is not tht one fine day from no where all of a sudden i remembered you …..you have always been there in my mind.…….
But it was just that i felt at least I should let a person whom i like so much know abt it (even if they don like me …)
becoz may be few years down the lane even if I want to i will not be able to let them know it…… (if not now then when …)
I guess u must be thinking wht is wrong with this guy ………
Neither is my language nor style of writing tht great n never in my life have i wrote a mail like this to any one….
N I don think i will for some time ……
( I have never felt like this about any other girl. ….) So all this might sound like very adolescent stuff
N don worry I will not disturb you in anyway …. if u don like it becoz
If you love something, let it go. If it comes back, great. If it doesn't, it's probably having dinner with someone more attractive than you. ;-)
but always remember ,
Somewhere there's someone who dreams of your smile, So when you're lonely, remember it's true: somebody somewhere is thinking of you.
I don expect anything from this mail ***** ,but just to let you know what I feel about you…. …
Well I guess thts about it…… n ha in my eyes you truly are the one of the most beautiful persons i have ever met…….
Thanks for ur patience I don know whether u will reply or sms me again but i surely hope ur not tht mad at ..me …..
Hope as they say is one of the few really good things in life……….
--#####
" To the world you may be one person, but to one person you may be the world "

I do not think the others who read this may appreciate this as much as I did..because they don't know the protagonists.. and the efffort that has gone into this..

Keep checking this space.. Will let you know what happenend after this mail was read...

Just kidding??

2005-02-04T02:40:00.000-08:00

Check out this joke.. This came up on Saturday night.. just like most priceless ones do.. This will sound better when told in person..but anyway here goes..

There was this monkey smoking a few joints up in a tree in the middle of some obscure jungle... he was somewhere between cloud six and seven..and he suddenly think he is Elvis reincarnated in this form .. He's belting out some good jungle variations...at this point there is this lizard who is just minding his business and wandering through the forest.... he looks up when he hears some jungle music..and he sees our friendly monkey puffing away on a joint.. So the lizard gets curious and goes " hey whay you doing dude?".. the monkey invites the lizard to join him.. the lizard is more than happy.and they both start puffing away on more joints... and the lizard thinks he is better than Elvis.. and they are singing away to glory... Soon the lizard is thirsty.. he tells the monkey he'll be back soon and goes down to the watering hole.. by now he is really high.. and while drinking water falls into the pond.. Lucky for him..a croc is nearby and rescues him.. He revives the lizard and asks him what happenend..the lizard is a bit sober and tells him that he was smoking a few joints with a monkey.. the Croc pooh pooh's at this and calls him aliar.. the lizzy then asks the croc to go check for himself... So the croc ambles along into the jungle while the lizard stays back..still recovering.. He soon spots the monkey and is staring at him in amazement... the monkey who is still high looks down and goes " Dude how much water did you drink??"...

I know..lame attempt.but this sounds a lot better with a little beer already down the hatch..
Anyway.just for surviving this ordeal of a joke.. here is a good one.. a biking joke at that...

A biker was driving down the highway and all of a sudden he hit a sparrow. He pulled over, picked the poor sparrow who was still alive, but unconscious. He decided to take him home.
When the biker got home, he put the sparrow in a cage, leaving him some bread and water inside. When the sparrow regained consciousness, he looked around and said: "Bars, bread, water...Oh my God...

I have killed that poor biker!!!"

Ravan & Eddie

2005-01-31T07:20:00.000-08:00

This was one awesome book by "Kiran Nagarkar".. Man was this book funny or was this funny.. the book had me in splits upto the last page..Nagarkar has his way with words..he has an acute sense of humour and writes with such ease and detailing that you can actually picture what he is writing..many times I had to actually keep the book aside, finish my laughter and then get back to the book, just to break into laughter again.. this book would have been perfect for a 70 mm version if not for the erotic parts interspersed with all the fun bits.. the Indian Censor board would definitely blow their top and then some...
The story is about Ravan, a hindu, and Eddie, a catholic, who are growing up in the CWD chawl in Mumbai. It begins with Ravan( who was Ram at birth) "murdering" Eddie's dad. The first few pages introduce you to Nagrakar's style in no mean words. It is one heady experience, and you just can't getting hooked on to it. We all go through Ravan and Eddies's turmoils as the grow up. The premise of the story is basically that they both sem to be leading parallel lives and the ways they discover life in their own way. The scenes where the Father Angello is trying to mend Eddie's way are just priceless. Ravan's realisation of power is also note-worthy, once he discovers his role in the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi( yes you read that right!).
Saying anything more about the book would be injustice, as I would be imposing my thoughts. It is something that is something for the reader to savour and enjoy the after taste for a long time.
One piece of advice though. Questions of your sanity would definitely arise if you happen to be reading this around some people who have not read this. So, if your sanity is already under question, do read this when you are alone. No point in confirming other's doubts..whattsay?

UNMAAD...

2005-01-31T06:48:00.000-08:00

This weekend saw me enjoying myself at the IIMB rock shows...they have this yearly affair called UNMAAD..and this year they had 2 rock shows..the first was on Friday featuring Indian Ocean and Strings..and the second part was on Sunday featuring Parikrama and Moksha...
I was there both the days and both had their own charms.. C was gonna come with us for the Friday event but office work prevented her from coming..she missed some good stuff..it was definitely her kind of music..
Indian Ocean opened the act and I knew them only by their "Black Friday" fame.. This band has a very earthy sound and is very good at fusion.. they had this imprompto jugalbandi and the audience was spell bound ...In bangalore you need good stage presence or you will get booed off stage.. And this band had good stage presence..they had a lot of their tracks in one of the dialects of north india..it is a variation of hindi..so I actually did not catch the meaning of most of their songs but they all sounded good..i loved it whenever they broke into an instrumental..
String was the perfect band to top this up..they too have very good stage presence... they also sure do know how to woo the crowd..in the middle of their gig they broke into a medley of hindi songs ranging from "Om Shanti Om" to the popular" Koi Kahe" from Dil Chatha Hai.... There was even a little marketing done for their home country...Pakistan.. I was hoping that they would play "Dur" which was the song that shot them to fame.. they had saved this for the end.. We left as son as they were through with "Dur", ensuring that this song was stuck in our head until the next day..
Sunday was no less fun..Moksha took to the stage and played some brilliant covers peppered with their own compositions.. they actually built up the mood for Parikrama to take the stage.. They were definitely playing some hard stuff.. Just as I was wondering if it can get any better, we had Parikrama on stage.. they had covers mostly and just one or two of their compositions..
I loved all the covers they played..they played some of my favourite stuff..maybe THAT made me appreciate them more... The played "Coming Back to LIfe" by pink floyd..and this is like one of my all time favourite songs.. As soon as the first parts of this song wafted to our ears..Sourabh and Smitha gave me this knowing look..they knew that i absolutely trip on this song.. this song always reminds me of an open highway and me on my bike trying to get across..
They also played "yellow" by "Coldplay" which all of us love.. this song is very beautifully written and i love the video of this song..so simple...
this was one weekend well spent.. Techincally it ended on Monday for Sourabh and me as it was around 12:30 am when we got home after dropping S and her sis back home.. We did have a nice drive back home.. i always enjoy driving at night..the whole atmosphere is so peaceful and the roads are devoid of all traffic..it so serene...

Rider Mania'05-- Part III

2005-01-24T23:51:00.000-08:00

Day3 ---> 08-Jan-2005
Today the event was supposed to kick of at 10:00 am. Finally it did so after lunch. We seized this opportunity to get our bikes tuned and washed(all free thanks to RM of course). After lunch began our hunt for the beer. We heard that Castle Lager was one of the sponsors and a pint would set us back by only 10 Rs. This was a bloody steal if you ask me. So Samarth, Ambar and me set off hunting for this elusive stall that looked more like the Elixir fountain in this heat. Coming to the mumbai heat, it was outright oppresive. Man my shirt was stuck to my body. After giving up our search for the elusive beer stall, we guys went out of the venue looking for some watering holes. Found one soon enough and what do we see, Harsh, Vipin and sanju had already thought of this. Downed a couple of beers and headed back to the resort.
Finally the event kicked off. and the Indiethumpers showcased their concept bike. It was one cool looking bike. Just when we were planning another visit to the watering hole, we spotted the Beer stall. There was no stopping us after this. Within a half hour we were surrounded with more empty bottles than people. Sourabh and me were supposed to participate in the arm-wrestling even, but our names just did not materialise. This resulted in us downing more beers, but we were not complaining. The music was good, and the company even better. by the evening, it was time for some more events, and sadly we did not win in any of them. But we put in our best effort, backed up with lots of beer, and that should count.
Evening we had this wonderful band called Sceptre and all the metal-heads came out in numbers.Some of them were multitasking near the stage-cigaette in one hand, beer in the other, and in between and drag and a swig, they would get on with their head banging. It took a lot of skill mind you. Some of the guys, spat their sig out, thinking it was their drag, and others made the mistake of taking a drag and forgetting to retreive the cigarette, ensuring that it went flying, once they got on with their head banging.So in a nutshell this was tedious work, especially with a lot of sigs and lots more of drags already having found their way into their system.enjoyed the whole ambience, and had a lot of good discussions with some like-minded people. Diner was an extended affair, as all of us were very hungry. Hit the bed at around 1:30 or so.It was agood day, considering that we got to relax after being on the road for 2 days.
DAY 4 ---> 09-Jan-2005
This was suppossed to be the day, when all the bikes went to Mumabi for the collective ride. But as most of the people were recovering from their hangovers, this did not materialise. It was a pretty lazy day too, what with all the people happy to just hang around and reluctant to do anything more. There were alot of modified bikes on display though. It was a treat to watch them. So, most of the day was spent at Kirthi's Cramster stall ogling at these bikes, and comparing notes with others.Wanted to get a tatto, but got back after the inhibitive prices. Looked like the guy was planning to buy a few islands and retire after this tatoo gig.
Sourabh's bike chose this day to start acting up. His headlight had fizzed out and he needed to go to Panvel city to get some spare. This ensured that he missed the group riding, which eventually took off at 3:00 or so and ended back at the resort within an hour of starting.In the evening Kirthi joined us in our partying. Till then he was pretty subdued (part-wise), as he had to tend to his stall. Once he shut shop at Rider Mania, there was no looking back for all the "Caman the enjayment". We called it quits only by around 3:30 or so in the "wee hours" of the morning. We had a gala time pulling the legs of one particular Bearish character, who had this wrong notion that riding 50 kms on a bullet had made him a better bulletter than all of us.

Rider Mania'05-- Part II

2005-01-24T23:48:00.000-08:00

DAY 2 ---> 07-Jan-2005

All of us managed to wake up only by 7:00 and we were supposed to hit the road by 7:00. We were bang on time, as us bikers go. Here we were joined by Ambar and Samarth. These guys had started off at 6:00 the previous evening and had rode through the night. To top this, they would be carrying on with us to Panvel. man these guys were made of sterner stuff. By the time the guys tanked up on food and fuel and were ready to leave it was close to 10:30. This meant that we would reach Panvel late at night. The stretch from Belgaum to Kolhapur is an amazing 6-lane stretch. Here Sourabh and me did speeds of 130kph. i don't care if we have speedo errors. The feeling was too good to be diluted by such thoughts. Abhi had a stock silencer unlike the two of us, and even he went upto 125 kph. The feeling was amazing. Stooped over at Nippani before crossing over into Maharashtra. It was time for a few snaps and some calls home. Called up my friends at the office too.
Soon we landed in Karad where the road situation was completely on the other end of the spectrum. Without local help we would have never been able to get on to the road to Chiplun. Soon after locating the highway, we found a decent looking place for lunch. The owner was thrilled to see so many hungry-looking bikers at his doorstep, and was more than happy to prepare our meal. A long relaxing lunch, and all of us sleepy heads took off towards Chiplun. The ghat roads here were just awesome. Scraped my foot-rest lots of times. It was more of a treat to see Sourabh & Abhi taking those turns.
At Chiplun some guys filled up their tanks while we feasted on some Vada-Pavs. Man were they tasty or were they tasty. It was the perfect snack , like Keerthi mentioned, neither too heavy , nor too light.
We were then to move on to Pen(it sounds better in hindi), where a couple of Indiethumpers would meet us, and direct us to the RM'05 venue.Managed to reach Pen only by 10:00 pm. Rajiv and Ashish of the Indiethumpers then led us to the venue. Checked in by 11:00 pm, and then started our hunt for the booze.Lucky for us Belli had stocked up some from Bangalore. After a couple of rounds, feeling all warm, we headed for dinner. Passed out at 2:30 am hoping to get some good sleep before the event kicked off the next day.

Ladies Coupe..

2005-01-23T18:33:00.000-08:00

Karthik told me about this book and i was all gung-ho about reading it..The urge to read this was heightened after Chaitra said that the story was scary..not in the spooky kind..but scared her a bit about life..
The book is a very depressing book if not scary..it speaks of the anguish that women go through in their lives..there were hardly any silver linings and if they were there it was over-shadowed by all whole brooding way the novel went on... But if it had been written any other way, i don't think the message ccould have been put across.. The whole book was all about taking charge of your own life and leading it in a way that you deserve to...
This was brought about with Akhila who is 45 years old and has never done anything for herself as she has been working her butt off to support her father-less family.. She has been so busy that she had no time to even contemplate marriage.. When finally she does like a guy, she finds him too young for her..
Her life takes a turn when she decides to take a break..alone..and finds herself travelling in this Ladies Coupe..All the experiences of her travel mates changes the way she thinks and she sheds her old self and transforms into a new confident person..
The main premise seemed to be the fact that a woman needs company..but not with all the strings attached..which is perfectly alright..she needs her freedom too.. It talks about all the things we normally consider as taboo but actually they already exist in Society..though wrapped under layers of tradition.. that's when we get to see the Hypocrisy of society..
Most of the incidents in the book are ones we have come across.. but here it is more of in-your-face stuff and you cannot escape the details..which makes you more sensitive to the subject..It is very well written in this aspect..
The ending i am sure will bring about a different reaction from every reader..there are bound to be differences of opinion here..As far as I am concerned.Akhila got what she deserved.. She has taken charge of her life and gets what she has been missing out..it shows you that in life it is never too late for taking charge of things.. So maybe here is the silver lining after all..

Australian Open.

2005-01-23T18:21:00.000-08:00

Agassi won! His match against Johansson yesterday was just amazing...Both of then were fighthing tooat and nail for the win and finally it went Agassi's way...the fact that Agassi is competing at an age when all his compatriots have hung their socks and reapping the benifits of their glorious moments on court..This man just won't quit..
coming back to the match...both the guys were so good that neither had their serve broken until the fourth set...Johansson broke Agassi in the econg game to take a lead of 2-0..but Agassi returned the favour in the very next game... For me the highlight of the match was this one game where Johansson was serving and Agassi was looking to break him. He was 0-30 ahead and had two break points...This had visibly upset Johansson..his reply was to fire down four flawless ACES and take the game back..too good..and this was among the total of 51 aces he served in the whole match.
..and the best part is yet to come..In the quarter finals Agassi is gonna face Federer..both of them are my favourites and it is gonna be very hard to back either of them..only wish they did not have to square off at this stage..If this had been saved for the Finals, it would have been one amazing match..I defenitely need to catch this match on TV..not much fun reading about this..

My bike!!!

2005-01-20T18:53:00.000-08:00

My bike is at the garage recovering from the ride..I visited it yesterday and saw the engine all openend up..actually felt a little sad to see that.. it was like looking at a relative being operated upon..It was gruesome...with all the oil spilling out and all the parts lying scatterrred....
looks like the whole deal is gonna cost me more than I had expected...
On the way from Mangalore to back home, there was some strange vibration coming from the back of the bike..In the garage I realised that this was because both the mudgaurd stay's had broken..must have happenend in the bad stretches what with all that lugage on the back seat...and each of those stay's cost around 350 bucks..my credit card is gonna be stretched this month..
But this in no way means that I won't be planing another trip..i am already planning another one actually..money and leaves are the only things that will be holding me back..
This time around I want to explore Kerala..want to ride all the way to the tip..this would have to be a ride stretched over a week at least, or else I don't think i would have seen the true beauty of Kerala..
Before this longish trip i want to do one bangalore-Chennai-pondicherry-bangalore over some weekend...i want to travel in the famous east-coast-road and I guess upto feb at least would be the ideal time to do this..hopefully I can do this one trip before taking off to the US....and the catch here is to break this news to my folks as tactfully as possible..now that is something to think about..So me getting busy plotting this one..

Rider Mania'05-- Part I

2005-01-19T00:31:00.001-08:00

Rider Mania '05 had stirred me into action a long time before it actually happenend. I Heard about it in Nov'04 and was pretty excited and wanted to be a RM'05 at any cost. Sourabh and me discussed this and started our research about the event. For us the thrill of riding to Mumbai for the event was a huge kick, maybe bigger than attending the event itself. The venue would also give us a chance to travel down to Goa, Mangalore and then to Bangalore. These highways were something we had been wanting to do for a long time. So, finally after some reserach and planning we were all set. We talked to Vipin from RTMC and were to ride with them. Vipin had chalked out all the details of the routes and other such details. We were to start off on the 6th of Jan at 5:30. For Sourabh and Myself this day could not have come any sooner. On D-day the two of us met up and reached the venue by 6:00. The riders soon assembled and we were set to go.
Keerthi Jayasimha --> Thunderbird
Vipin Rajan --> Electra
Beliappa & Sanju --> Electra
Abhijeet --> Thunderbird
Sourabh & Smitha -> Thunderbird
Harsh --> Std 350
Sumanth --> Thunderbird
DAY 1--> 06-Jan-2005:
We managed to start off by 6:15. It was a good start considering that we planned to start off at 5:30. The usual introductions were done and I already started feeling comfortable with the group. The air was very cold and i was thankful that i had worn my gloves.Poor Sourabh and Smiha wern't wearing Gloves and felt the pinch. After some good riding with the sun just starting to come out it was time to stop at Tumkur for breakfast. As I was familiar with the roads I was alowed to take the lead. The road upto now was realy good, wide roads, sparse traffic. The only niggling factpr was the cold, and we knew we would be rid of this pretty soon. At Tumkur we had some amazing Thatte Idlis. After a longish 45 minute break we managed to get back on the road. The road continued to be good for a few more kms. However we knew we were in for some bad roads for at least 500 km of our journey to Mumbai. Most of NH4 was under construction and so we had to keep taking diversions every 10 minutes or so.
Soon Sourabh picked the pace up and I just fell in behind him. We managed to cover the distances in pretty quick time. this was an advantage as we would then get longer breaks, as we would stop at the designated places and wait for the others to turn up, and then all of us would start off again. The stretch to Chitradurga in particular was very good. Abhi, Sourabh and Me were doing 100 kmph most of this stretch. Both of those guys are awesome riders and it was treat to watch them. Soon Smitha took over Sourabh's bike and she had a gala time with Sourabh riding as her pillion.By 1:00 we managed to reach Davangere and had a hearty lunch. I ordered some "Fried Chilli" which was exactly that, green chillies fried in oil. After some apprehnsion the guys sampled it and pretty soon the plate was empty. lunch was also turning out to be an extended affair, but not with Vipin policing us. He soon kick started all of us and we on the road again.
Our next stop was at Haveri, this too was a longish stop, but Vipin seemed more relaxed and this prompted people to take a longer break. The chai wallah also helped our cause. After hitting the road towards the Hubli-Dharwad bypass, we came upon a railway crossing and had to stop as the gates were closed. Soon the train passed by and we moved on ahead. Within a few minutes we came upon another railway crossing with its gates closed, and the cool part was that it was the same train that passed us again. The Hubli-Dharwad bypass merited another stop. By now it was beginning to turn dark and visibility was reduced. i had a lot of trouble riding in the dark. Found that following Sorabh's tail light was my best bet, but had a pretty tough time keeping up with him. This guy rides the bike with amazing control.
We hit Belgaum by around 8:00 and soon found a place to shack up for the night. The place was called Keerthi hotel, and this led to another round of jokes. Freshened up and it was time to hit "Keerthi" bar. Vipin was concerned about everybody drinking too much resulting in a delaed start the next day. All of us on the other hand wanted to get Vipin drunk, so that we could get some good sleep.

Home..At last..

2005-01-15T11:49:00.000-08:00

Ah! I am back home today after a loong 10 day ride.. This was one awesome ride I did and today was the last leg.. The start of the day saw me at my uncle's house in Puttur( near Mangalore).. I was very keen on making it to bangalore by the afternoon, so I wanted to start off by 5:00 in the morning... My bike's headlight was acting a little weird, but I though I would take the chance...

I woke up at 4:30 am and tried to get ready without waking anybody else.. But my uncle and Aunt were such sweet people..They had woken up by 4:00 and had hot water and Hot tea ready for me.. Both helped me a lot in warding off my sleep.. After declining breakfast I stacked up all the luggage on my bike and took off... It was going to be a journeuy of a little over 300 km..

The air was very chilly and I was hoping it would get warmer as the day progressed..It was pitch dark on the highway..and the oncoming Trucks had blinding headlights.. It took me quite a while to get adjusted to the conditions... I was surprised at the heavy traffic for this time of the day... Soon I hit the ghats and it was an uphill climb all the way.. Bangalore happens to be at ahigher level than Mangalore and we need to climb these ghat roads.. Around 6:30 my headlight went bust again..I must say I am lucky for if it had gone out earlier I would have been in a lurch.. Now with daylight the going would be easy...

The air kept getting colder and I had signs of frostbite.. After some time my fingers just went numb..and I even missed pressing the clutch at one turn.. This was a sign for me to take a break...luckily i had covered about 70 km and was near Sakleshpur.. Stopped at the first Hotel and drank up Hot tea.. Sent a few SMS'es and was off soon after that.. Was planning to stop at Hassan after this.. Reached Hassan but dd not feel like stopping and carried on.. Was surprised that I was not very tired.. The morning air was fresh and the roads had somehow gotten empty again..

my next stop was at Yediyur..and by then I had covered about 180 km and it was still around 9:30 am or so.. Called up the office and Home and realised I would have to be in the office by 3:00 for an appraisal meeting... Was pretty hungry by then and went to work at a nearby Maurya.. The service was lousy but the Vada's were absolutely delicious..

By now I was ready to take on the road again.. I had a problem with my bike and so could not go beyond 75-80 kmph... This was frustrating as the roads were very good and i knew I could do speeds of 90-100kmph easily on these roads.. If I could have I would reach much faster..
Finally hit bangalore at 12:00 in the noon..

The ride was a fitting end to the whole 10 day ride.. I had done 300 km today in just a little over 6 hours and with only 2 breaks.. I am very sure no other 2-wheeler can ever take this kind of strain..reached home after 10 days and 2600 kms.. I had left for Mumbai on the 6th of Jan and reached home on the 15th after visiting Goa and Mangalore..
Am stil in the process of putting down the whole experience on paper(or monitor rather)... Will post it soon..

It felt great to be home.. My family was one releived bunch.. They had been pretty scared all the time I had been away..Can't blame them, considering the indian roads.. But thankfully I had a safe journey and so did all the 11 guys who had set out on this ride from Bangalore..

After reaching home got ready as soon as possible and went to the office.. Had a quick lunch..got the trip photos developed and had an absolutely rewarding meeting..

..and now I am in the office hoping to leave as early as possible..But there's miles and miles to go before I sleep!!!

Happy New Year...

2005-01-03T14:25:00.000-08:00

Happy new year.. Man this new year I had a blast.. It was one long party... The night was as close to being the perfect party as possible.. Did not have too much to drink..Danced till I could dance no more.. Ogled at some awesome looking girls..was ogled at..ha ha just kidding..(I know I am not ogle-material)... basically had a lot of fun and rounded it all off with some cofffe before heading home at 7:00 in the morning..

The last month has generally been a fun filled time for me..I have been having long holidays thanks to the yearly shutdown...This gave me a lot of options..just to summarize..I have watched a few movies..though I am to see Swades and Raincoat as yet.... Went on a couple of day trips to Ranganthitto..and Devanhalli..Been out with the guys playing some snooker and going home late most nights.. and lots more..

I had been cooped inside the office for nearly a year and these past few weeks allowed me to catch up with a lot of stuff I had been missing on.. I met a lot of old friends and made some new ones...The advantage now was that like before, I did not have to rush off midway, and had all the time to pursue conversations...this was something i had been missing out on, for some time.. I even managed to read some good books and realised how little I knew about our nation's history.. definitely want to change this.. I have now promised myself that I shall make some serious efforts to know more about the history of our country and all the religions that we have..especially Hinduism.. I believe my atheism stems from the fact that i have not read much of our literature or maybe i have closed my mind towards it..

I think I am ready to draw up my new year's resolution list..so here goes..

1) Learn more about our country's rich history/culture.. We get to see & hear this more from the foreigners who visit us, than from our brethern..Want to explore this through our books and definitely want to see the length and breadth of our country some day..

2) Be more open to ideas from others and not dismiss them.. Need to think from the other person's perspective too.. I seem to always try to see their world from my eyes.. Every body's world differs and I think i need to be more sensitive to that

3) listen more and talk less... that way I should be able to avoid some foot-in-the-mouth scenarios

4) travel more.. our state has a lot to offer.. It has not been projected as much as it should have..

5) Shed some of the fat I have been accumulating...definitely need to lose weight..especially those hoopla rings around my waist...

6) make more time for friends and family..not rush through( and definitely not into) relationships..

..well this sums up most of what i need to do..lets see how i cope with these...Should be much easier to achieve than Nirvana...

As a parting though I had this weird idea about life.. We have actually successfully divided our lives into 2 hemispheres.. One which involves our work environment and the other inculdes everything outside this.. The working hemisphere is essential to earn a livelihood and keep the other hemisphere alive.. The other hemisphere is where we satisfy the soul with pleasures..maybe spiritual..or materialistic..or just the pleasure of living out our relationships and enjoying our lives... Now the working hemisphere needs the other hemisphere to be able to look forward to the next day..and the other hemisphere needs the working one to be able to fulfil its needs.. the problem starts when one of them starts encroaching into the other..well I guess you get the drift..
Simple philosophy ain't it..or maybe this could even be a socially accepted "multiple personality disorder"??

..anyway HAPPY NEW YEAR...

I am alive....

2004-12-26T07:55:00.000-08:00

the past ten days have been just wonderful... i had this long holiday and just in time i might add.. I was working long hours and needed the break and was blessed with one..but it did take time for me to slow down.. I kept visiting the office even though i did not need to..i had got into this workaholic mood and would get very restless if i was idle for more than half an hour..the break has been just the right thing for me..

Have utilised these free days to the max..been out for lunch almost every day.. almost everyday i have watched a movie...gone bowling..drove down to Ranganthitto and lots more..even managed a small 100 km ride on the bike in between...

Lately I have been witing just to keep my blog alive.. I have all these ideas but never have been able to put them down.. Somehow they elude me once i get hold of a comp... Maybe i need to start writing again..like i used to do some time back..the flow of words has not been as smooth as before and a lot of times i find myself searching for the right word...

The zing in my life should be back soon.. I will be riding to mumbai for an all-india-bikers meet.. It should be awesome.the itenary does look promising.. It should be a blast.. Sourabh and I are looing forward to this very much and we have been doing some research and stuff to make our journey smoother.. As of now it does not look like a lot of guys from bangalore are coming..hopefully a decent number of people should be able to make it there..it would definitely be more fun...

Looking forward to clicking lots of pics..
The high for sourabh and me is because we have been planning to take off on a long trip since a long time but have had to cancel every time for some reason or the other.. This time we have not run into an y roadblocks as yet and we are keeping our fingers crossed...more over the roads we will be travelling through are something we have been craving to ride on from a long time...

The whole ride for the two of us is going to be close to 10 days as we plan to visit Lonavala..Khandala..Goa..Mngalore..Krkala..and my native Puttur... We are surely gonna be 2 very tired people when we come back..we should have covered nearly 3000 kms by then..and when on the road we will be doing nearly 500 kms in a day...ah that has got me excited....

Now time to get back to planing for the trip.. adios..
Next update as time permits...

Swades???

2004-12-15T11:29:00.000-08:00

Swades???
Posted by: sumanthp.

Swades??

Ouch..Ouch..Ouchh..

2004-12-12T01:51:00.000-08:00

That's what I am saying every time I hit a key while writing this..MAn..evey muscle in my body hurts...Well every thing has to be balanced..and this is the only downside of all the fun we had yesterday...

Yesterday was the annual office picnic..and this time it was to be held at a place called JALADHAMA..which is pretty close to TALAKADU....This resort was actually an island and was a pretty good getaway..I feel that with the right management and promotion..this place can be made much beter than what it is now..it has tremendous potential but has not been expoilted enough...
The place was a 3 hour drive from the office and we were there by around 10:30 in the morning.. After the welcome drink we decided to head to the Basketball court..and what followed was just fun..tiring... but fun...Karthik and me were this two man team against our opponents..Chaita decide to do more of waiting-for-the-ball-to-come-to-me.. ....Our opponents were pretty good..We were good at defence..but when it came to shooting baskets we sucked BIG time..we were lucky to just get the ball near the hoop and not project it out into orbit...
After a half hour of geting beaten Sriram came to or rescue..and we paid back the other team their dues... Two games down and we all were down too...literally.. All of us were out of breath..and ordered some lime-soda to help us recover...but we did not get to see it till a looong loong time later....
Then came the turn of badminton..It was more of a swing and then hope to connect exercise because of the court being outdoor.. After soaking up enough sun to last the day we decided to call it quits... talking of the sun reminds me of one crazy friend we had back in school..Once during our games session this guy decided to stand in the sun for as long as he could.and this was at noon when every body was elbowing each other for a place in the shade...The teacher saw this guy and asked him what he was upto..and this guy came up witha priceless " I am trying to evaporate my sweat sir"..and the teacher was a bit on the slower side..and by the time he got the joke the rest of us were rolling in laughter...

After "evaporating our sweat" Arvind and I decided to head to the pool.It was absolutely refreshing..and I loved the underwater swimming..I managed to do a whole lap underwater without coming up for air, even once..It felt good to do that.. It had been a loong time since I tried this...

Lunch was again good..with nothing being very oily...the only dissapointment being the Jamoons not being fully cooked.. Post-lunch we decided to relax on the swings..and we were all within an inch of falling aslep right there.. people were coming up with real good one-liners pulling every body else's legs...this was what managed to keep us awake..

Soon it was time to head out to the dam to try out some HYDRO-THERAPY...But not before all of us tried our hands at some of the boats and canoes there... Some of were happy to just laze in the boats and the more adventerous ones wanated to display their sea-worthiness....At one point we all were pretty sure that we would be heading at least one man short or one very very WET colleague..when two of these guys wanted to go in a boat..one with half an oar and the other witha bamboo pole...It was a sight to watch them trying to keep the boat afloat and moving..and they did manage to do it somehow....

The dam we were to visit was a 10 minute boat ride away... We got to see some clear water on the way.. the dam had some water leakage which had created a small water-fall. This HYDRO-THERAPY consisted of standing below the waterfall and letting the water fall on you..I was pretty hesitant to get in..but after the great reviews by others decided to jump in.. It felt absolutely wonderful...The waer hitting your body with all that force somehow had htis massaging effect...Once inside.we did not feel like coming out... But soon it was time to go..
On the boat ride back we managed to see a bird fishing..It swooped into the water and then went right out..We could see for ourselves the amount of effort the bird had put into this exercise...It must be very difficlt to start flying with water laden wings...

Tea followed soon after and before you could say JALADHAMA we were back in the bus and heading home... Soon the music system roared to life..and the small passage in the bus was being convereted into a dance floor..For the first half hour or so..Karthik and I were happy to play the part of the audience... Soon somebody pulled both of us onto the dance flor..and then there was no turning back.it was like they had unleashed these two dancing-crazy beings in us.. The two of us danced even when all others quit and we both just did not want to stop..we have invented a lot of dance moves and will be soon making patents..Karthik and I should have made a bundle by the next trip..thanks to all the royalties we are gonna make... we had the "Agent Smith" dance..the window washer dance..and the smelly armpit dance...and many many more...

Reached office at around 9:00 and there were long lines at the rest-room and the pantry... people were either in need of drinking water or releasing it...!!
This also was a good fun filled day..but very tiring mostly because of being out in the sun for a long duration....and now it is time to let the poor body recuperate..Sitting in office and typing this out is, I agree, not the best way to be doing this....

so ..Until next time..OUCH...

Co-incidence???

2004-12-02T05:52:00.000-08:00

What Color is Your Brain?
brought to you by Quizilla

At work or in school: I need to be "hands on": I like to play games, to compete, and to perform. I enjoy flexibility, changes of pace, and variety. I have difficulty with routine and structure. My favorite subjects are music, art, theatre, and crafts. I often excel in sports. I like solving problems in active ways and negotiating for what I want. I can be direct and like immediate results.
With friends: Planning ahead bores me because I never know what I want to do until the moment arrives. I like to excite my friends with new and different things, places to go, and romantic moments.
With family: I need a lot of space and freedom. I want everyone to have fun. It is hard for me to follow rules, and I feel we should all just enjoy one another.

..and now check out this blog....

bangalore???

2004-11-29T06:44:00.000-08:00

Cantonement....
Pensioner's Paradise.......
Garden City.....
Pub City.....
Silicin Valley Of India...
Fashion City.....
Cosmopolitan.....

One-way roads City?????

Five point someone...

2004-11-26T21:02:00.000-08:00

Was intrigued by this book after reading Chaitra's blog....
This is a book by an indian author..and so the identification-with-the-characters is a defenite reality unlike most of the books that claim to be... This was one of the books where the characters have this coming-to-age experience... I for one was completely enamoured by this book..
It basically dealt with how things can go wrong, when you are " not thinking straight"... Hari, Alok and Ryan have got into IIT, and things take a nose-dive after their initial jubiliation at making it into one of the premier Educational institutes in India.. They are frustrated at the onus on assignments, tests and basically being burdened with work...they yearn to be free, but are scared to go against the system..Until Ryan comes up with his ideas, and this is where they let him take over their lives and begin to enjoy their life..
They have a lot of good times and their friendship goes through many hardships...They have a whale of a time and are content mostly because they have lost the drive to get good grades...
The book has a lot of emotions, ranging from comic drunk scenes, to ones of love blossoming and bearing fruits...and veering off towards tragedy and guilt ridden nights... This book must be a Bollywood producer's dream...and it is no wonder that the 70mm version is going to be out pretty soon..

I am not sure if i am going to watch this on the big screen..for I already have a vision of this book, and have been able to identify with a lot of the parts here.. The movie is going to be a projection of the director's view and I do not want to be imposed upon by that view...
On the othr hand it might be a good idea to watch it..if only for the sole reason as to see how much this book could impact people...

I am sure that there are going to be alot of mixed reactions based on their own college experiences... I can identify with these guys..because I was never ine to be buried in books..I was always doing these last-minute thingies..and somehow managed to do well... i did not want to lose out on some of the best years of my life..Luckily I knew where to draw the line..and was careful not to go overboard... That is actually what I guess the author wants to put across..that fine line between veering off into oblivion or having the best of both worlds.. The boundaries for each of us lies completely in our hands and we ourselves are solely reponsible for what we do...

This book has actually inspired me to start off on my writing once again...Hopefully I get to do some soon..as I expect to have a lot of free time on my hands..

The sensual nosering...

2004-11-23T18:31:00.000-08:00

Recently observed that a nosering adds this sensual touch to a woman..Almost all the girls whom I have seen wearing a nosering..I felt them to be sensual.. and this is like way different from sexy..I abhor at people who use these two words in the same sense..not a lot of people differentiate between sensual and sexy...there is this huge difference..an example would be.....Sushmitha Sen is sensual but Mallika sherawat is sexy...

Views and reviews..

2004-11-22T00:02:00.000-08:00

I have gotten into this new craze of buying movie CDs. I have been buying them faster than I can watch them..I still have to watch some of them before they catch dust and my mom dumps it in the garbage mistaking it for some trash.... Anyway..managed to watch some of them over the weekend and thought I' d put in my 2 cents worth about them..

English Patient...
This is a romantic movie set in the second world war..It is not the mushy mushy kind of movie..more of a mature romance..with some wild passion thrown in for good measure.. It starts off with this plane being brought down and the pilot has a miraculous escape but is badly burnt and injured.. A nurse who has had her share of woes takes it upon her to help this man recover..then follows th story of how the man landed into his present state in Italy,from being an explorer in Africa....
The basic premise of the film is his love story with a married woman..their passion for each other is pretty strong..but so is her love for her husband.... This film takes a sort of neutral stand on the adultery theme.. and the user can decide what he wants to see. This is something pretty difficult to achieve in a movie....since most times the directors opinion spills on to the screen...The camera work is pretty brilliant..and there are some interesting side plots too...
The movie has this uncanny knack for introducing twists just when the going seems rosy... It sort of makes you stop getting all dreamy eyed and take notice... Overall this is well worth the dough I had to shell out for buying it...
One word of caution though..If you are watching this at home..make sure your parents are away or at least cannot walk into your room...my folks have this unique gift for walking into the room just when the steamy scenes come on..And boy oh boy..the silence of the room is enough to put a graveyard to shame... then you get weird looks for the next day..and they start wondering if they need to marry you sooner than needed... Well in one word it gets pretty uncomfortable..oh that's two words...but what the heck...

The Day Of the Jackal....
This is another good movie well worth the money I invested on it...and this too needs to be watched with a lot of care and definitely without parental invasions... this is the movie adaptaion of Fredrick Forsyth's novel of the same name.. This movie does absolute justice to the book..especially because of the cast... The remarkable fact about this movie is the lack of background music in most parts of the movie..this is actually paying the audience a compliment and acknowledging their intelligence...as the main purpose in background scores is to spoon-feed you with the right emotions... You tend to associate certain scores with certain emotions.. but here the director has managed to steer clear of it... The assasin is such a cool person..who has planned the whole thing to absolute prefection.. it is so perfect with even small contingency plans thrown in..that you want the guy to succeed...the cold-blooded way he goes about his whole mission has definitey involved a lot of research... So go find out for yourself..if the Charles de'Gaulle can survive the Jackal's plans.....

Apart from watching these movies, the weekend was pretty normal..Saturday night's talk was revolved around our plans for New years eve.... and here started my problems... I do not have a date and so this would be a problem as entry to some parties would become an issue...Smitha came up with this brilliant idea.. she said I would have to catch some dumb looking chic at the venue and strike a deal with her..Pay for her entry in return for her accompanying me inside the party and then we part ways... anything after that would involve furthur negotiations...
Seems like a nice idea..but am very sure that I will not find any takers...
So... the hunt continues....

testing..testing...pic testing...

2004-11-16T20:34:00.000-08:00

sumanth-01

Do I look cool or what???

more pics on the way soon...Thanks to Chaitra

..Santa's Gonna visit me

2004-11-15T17:47:00.000-08:00

Yeah.that's right..Santa should be visiting me this christmas..My good deed for the yuletide season was done yesterday..I Donated Blood..
On a more modest note..I donated blood yesterday at the Sai Baba Hospital..A heart patient was in urgent need of it and so had to go all the way near ITPL in the night..Feels very good though that you have somehow contributed to making some person's life better..I don't know who the patient was..
Ok..now its down to brass tacks..Let me see what I need from Santa.. I think a four wheeler( preferrably a Sierra) should do..also to adress one of my more immediate concerns..I think I will be in need of a date for the new years eve party..This I sure am gonna need a lot of help with..

Realised something about my riding yesterday..As i was saying, I had been near ITPL and was accompanied by my sister..We were returning at around 10:00pm and I was not going faster than about 60-70 kmph...I transform into this safety concerned rider whenever I have a pillion..And the ironical part is that about 2 weeks ago..me and my friend were trying to set land speed records on this particular stretch..at around 1:00 in the morning..on our respective bikes....Now that is a trait in my riding that I like..Maybe it is that subconcious feeling of being responsible for the other person's safety more than your's...

Oh..and Santa..I wouldn't mind some chocolates too....

..the week that was..

2004-11-14T18:26:00.000-08:00

I managed to finish that write up of the kemmangundi trip last week. I must admit that this is not one of my better works, though..I should have put more effort into it..I was in this great rush to finish it as I wanted to complete it when I was not loaded with work ..and this took its toll on the quality..Oh well..there will be more rides and I am sure I will make up for it pretty soon...

Diwali was pretty low key this year..Anyways I have stopped with all the fireworks stuff..do not want to add any more noise and pollution.. This is definitely one downside of Diwali..there is so much of noise and pollution all around..and to top it, I developed an allergy to the fumes and had a bad cold the latter part of last week... I was working night s during Diwali and so, I slept through most of it anyway.

I went back home from office on the festival day..and was made to take an oil bath..it was actually pretty good..I must vist a spa soon.and see how relaxing an ol bath and a massage can be..:-) Then came the shopping for some home appliances which was loong overdue..Now we have a lovely new refrigerator and hopefuly this time..the cockroaches don't assume that we have brought them a new home..as they did with the last one..A delicious lunch follwed this..and then it was time to hit the sack..
That was my diwali..nothing very inspiring I must admit..but the upside was that I did not contribute to all that noise and air polluion..

The weekend was as usual..Saturday was filled with running erands for home..and of course a visit to STYX in the evening.. I was very envious of all those guys with looong hair and was cursing myself for choping my locks.. This weeks STYX sojourn had a purpose..We were celebrating my friend being accetpted by his girlfriend's parents'..Looks like a marriage in the offing....returned home in the wee hours as usual..

Sunday was a lazy relaxed day..The highlight was that I taught my sister how to ride the bullet and she is picking up very fast..

Kemmangundi --> Serve Chilled FINAL PART

2004-11-09T16:29:00.000-08:00

Here is DAY 3...

DAY 3 NOV 1

Today was going to be the last day for our road trip. We were up by around 7:00 after just 5 hours of sleep. We were all a little groggy, but still managed to get up. I was promised that since I was their guest I would be treated to Davangere's special dosa's for breakfast. This inspired me more than anything else to get ready. I was soon all washed and spruced up. We first visited all of Uday's classmates who were in the neighboring hotel. I was introduced to them. They were all enjoying their reunion, and so was I. I hardly felt left out, even though I did not know most of them before today.

Breakfast was supposed to be at a small place, which was the hangout of these guys when hey were studying here in Davangere. It was called something like "kottureshwar". I do not remember the name properly. By now I was hungry and not thinking very straight. We had to wait for a very long time for a table. After we finally got a place, we placed our orders and the waiter was taking too long to get our orders. By this time we realized that it was 10:15 and the wedding was supposed to be at 10:30. We had to leave the place even before our food arrived. I was hoping to come here before we left for Bangalore.

We then raced across the town to the church to attend the wedding. This was the first Christian wedding I was attending. At least the first one where I was paying attention. The last one my friends and me were just making noise and had got thrown out off. Anyway, that is a story for another time. The reason I was paying attention was because I was expecting to see the "now you may kiss the bride" part. Apparently they skip this part in Indian weddings. Anyway learnt a lot about Christian weddings. After the wedding there was a reunion photo session and we guys hurried back to the room, to start packing for our departure to Bangalore. We decided that our lunch would be the Dosas I had missed in the morning.

Murgesh would not be coming back to Bangalore with us. He was going to stay at Davangere as he had taken a few days off from the office. The remaining three started packing and we were awaiting Reddy to join us. We went to get lunch and as my luck would have it the place was closed. I guess I will have to visit Davangere again, to be able to eat those Dosas. We next went on to visit BIET where Uday and his friends had studied. After that was a lunch stop at a dhaba pretty close to the college. Lunch was over nostalgic memories by Uday and Reddy. They told us of all the good and bad times they had experienced during their stay at BIET. It was pretty nice listening to all their exploits and I was getting very envious of Hostel life, as I have always been a day-scholar.

Post-lunch we got onto NH4 and set off towards Bangalore. By now the time was 3:00 pm. Sine this was the last day, we were all eager to get home, and get some well-deserved rest. We had a lot of sleep to catch up on. Also, our butts had started aching by now. Our first stop was after about 70 kms. We stopped for just 5 min, especially to give our sore butts a chance to recuperate. Stretched our legs and moved on and the next stop was somewhere midway between Davangere and Bangalore. We stopped at a Dhaba, which was populated by truck drivers. The truck drivers were pretty amused by our antics. We were all stretching and none of us wanted to have a seat. After a very long break here, we moved on. The problem was that the longer you rested you would want to just keep on sitting. All of us washed our faces and helmets and got back onto our steeds.

The NH4 is a very god road for night riding. Upto now half the road was under construction and so we had to make do with a 2-lane highway. After Sira, it was a 4-lane highway, and a huge divider separated the oncoming traffic. This made sure we did not have to worry about oncoming headlights blinding you. The roads were so good, that even though darkness had set in we were doing speeds in the 80's and 90's. Also, from here started our " I just can't go on" stops. Every 20 or so km one of us would overtake everybody and stop. This was because the rider's butt would not be able to take the torture anymore. The others would curse, but would take the break. Even our butts were sore by now.

After a few such stops we reached Tumkur by 7:40 or so. Getting off the bikes we realized how famished we were. This hotel we stopped at had an unique offering- "half-masala-dosa". This was a first for me. They would give you half a masala dosa, if you thought you would not be able to put the full one away. After our break here, we started off by around 8:10, and the roads after this were just too good. We were all doing very good speeds, as we wanted to reach home as soon as possible. We hit the city and parted ways. I dropped Jaggi and was home by 9:30, before my dad reached home.

I was able to surprise dad by opening the door for him when he came home. He was expecting me to get in late at night. The good roads had ensured that I reached earlier. Had a loong hot bath and a good home-cooked dinner. After dinner it was my turn to narrate my experience. They were happy to see me return safely and we all had a nice talk late into the night. A good sleep was what I needed.

I was so tired from this trip that I took , the next day off and spent all f it sleeping. All the riding and lack of sleep was catching up. In spite of this I was still heady from the trip. This is one trip I am going to remember for a long time. I met my friends the next evening and we all spent a long time discussing my trip. I even inspired them to go on one. All those wonderful memories still fill my thoughts and I am waiting to do this again sometime soon, and hopefully, the company will be as good as this one. I must say that the company I had on this trip was really good. It helped making the whole trip even more enjoyable.

Overall I was very happy with my bike's performance. We had done 800 km in 3 days and I had got an average of 41 kmpl, which is very good considering some of the bad roads we had to traverse. I also enjoyed all those looks my bike got on those highways. However one grouse remains. Everybody's first question has still been-"what's the mileage?” This apart, all those envious looks add to the whole riding experience. So then, Cheers until next time.

Kemmangundi --> Serve Chilled PART II

2004-11-09T13:51:00.000-08:00

DAY 2: 31-Oct-04

The plan was to get up early and go to Z-point where you supposedly get a fabulous view of the sunrise. The place was still covered in fog early in the morning so this plan was cancelled and luckily no-one woke me up until around 7:00. Sleep had become a very precious commodity to me. We woke up lazily and finished our morning duties and headed off for breakfast. After breakfast it was off to Z-point which is the highest point in Kemmangundi.We reached halfway to this place and were about to turn back, since the cloud cover was still thick. Luckily ( as in most of our trip), the cloud cover disappeared and we had a fabulous view of Z-point. Looking at it we made up our minds that we just HAD to go there. We trekked up to the end and boy was it worth it? The view was absolutely fantastic and you can see for miles and miles and miles.. The locals told us that this was the plae the maharaja's used to visit on their horses for a view of the sunrise.

By 12:00 we got back to our guesthouse for we had to vacate it by then or we would be charged for 2 days.Next on the agenda was the Habbe Falls.This had a very trecherous road which ran for 10 kms. There was no way our bikes would survive this road, so we hired a jeep to take us there. This road was the worst I have ever seen. I truly admire the jeep for being able to take us there. On the way we saw a Safari, and the ease with which it moved on this road was amazing. Habbe falls was a treat after this ride. We had to trek for about 15 minutes through an estate to reach it.The falls is just awesome.. I know I am using such expletives throughout this piece I am writing. I just can't help it that all the places we visited had so much to offer us that we could not help but be overwhelmed by the beauty of nature.

We had a good time clicking snaps and just taking in the full splendour of the falls. We had to hurry back as we had to get back to Kemmangundi soon and start off to Davangere. our plan was to reach Davangere by night which was already a distant possibility. By the time we were back in Kemmangundi again it was 4:00 pm and it was then that we realised that none of us had any lunch and we would not be getting any for some time. We had to make do with some bananas and start preparing for the next leg of our journey.

Around 5:00 pm or so, we set off from Kemmangundi. There was promise of rain in the air and we were expecting to meet it at some point in our journey. The next 20 or so kilometres were just potholes but it was a descending road and the twilight made the view of the valley below just too irresistable to ride away without stopping and savouring it. After our descent we came in contact with the rain, we had been lucky to avoid so far. This lasted for a good 10 minutes, but as luck was on our side, it was not heavy enough to reduce visibility and we pushed onwards. Our next stop was a place called "Tarikere". Here we had a long stop for refuelling our bikes as well as our stomachs. After the delicious Dosas we had to prepare for the night. This part was something I always enjoyed. We would clean our Helmets and then wrap ourselves in our warm gear. We set off at around 7:00 or so from here and our next port of calling was "Shimoga". The road for another 10 kms was unexpectedly bad from here and the darkness made it more difficult to avoid the huge craters in the road.

In this stretch Jaggi was my pillion and I was making good progress on my bike as my headlight was pretty good. After some distance we found that we were alone on the road and the others were not anywhere near us. Jaggi and me waited for nearly 10 minutes and still nobody showed up. We beagn to get worried and took our mobiles out to call the others and realised that both our batteries had died out. We had no choice but to backtrack. After about a Km we found the others. They had stopped to help two guys who had just had a fall. Luckily our group was alright. We moved ahead at a reasonable pace after this, as the road also improved. Jaggi knew this road very well and so we did not have to rely on any signboards.So we could travel even faster.

Davangere was still 50 km away, when we reached Murgesh's and Jaggi's Aunt's village. We were to visit them and also finish our dinner there. They were a very hospitable family and we had a hearty meal. The downside was that there was no power and the whole house was in semi- darkness illuminated by a candle here and a candle there. So, I doubt if they will recognise me if I vist them again. I seriously doubt this.After dinner we clicked a few snaps and it was time to set off again.

We entered Davangere limits at around 11:00 pm. We were stopped at at-least 3 places by the cops. They would check whether we had been drinking, queston us for some time, check our licenses and then ask us to go on. They would even take down our vehicle numbers. This was the first time I had seen such an exercise and was wodering if there were somebody these cops were after. Jaggi informed me that this was normal practice for vehicled entering the city after 11:00pm. The nice part was that the cops would give us funny looks when we told them that we were biking all the way from bangalore. One cop even started chatting about the weather up in Kemmangundi, but al of us were too tired to get involved in his discussion.

At Davangere we got a room at a place called "Shanti Comforts". It was a vrey good room hich could accomodate 5 people and it cost us only about 400 bucks for a day. As we were settling in one of Uday's and Murgesh's old friends paid us a visit. It was around 12:30 by now. We all got talking and were looking at the pictures taken so far. It was nice to see a reunion going on. We hit the sack by around 2:00 in the morning. It was the end of a veru loong day, and we had a wedding to attend and also to get back to Bangalore by the next evening.

SMS conversation...

2004-11-09T11:59:00.000-08:00

This is a SMS conversation I recently had with a friend.

ME: Dear GOD, please keep my friends healthy & happy and give them some money so that they SMS Me regularly.

Friend: Dear friend, when I ask U flower, U give me bouquet. When I ask a stone, u give me a statue. When I ask u feather, u give me peacock. ARE U Really DEAF?

ME: Sometimes when U cry no one sees ur tears, when ur worried no one sees ur pain, when ur happy no one sees ur smile, try farting all will stare.

Friend: @#$%^

Kemmangundi --> Serve Chilled PART I

2004-11-09T07:59:00.000-08:00

The last weekend of last month I visited Kemmangundi. This was a bike trip, and I am always a sucker for bike trips. I jumped at the idea when Uday invited me for this. I was writing a log of the whole thing and realised that it would be a very long recount. So I have decided to break it up into three parts recollecting the three days we biked. Here is the first of the series.

The riders:Uday (Ambition)
Reddy (Electra)
Murgesh (Pulsar)
Sumanth (Thunderbird)
The pillion: Jaggi

This was an amazing ride whose memories will linger for a long long time. Good roads, good company and a damn good bike. What more do you need? The planning was all done by Uday. We had a long weekend coming up and so I too jumped at the offer. initially I was a little aprehensive as Uday was the only one I knew in the group. This apprehension vanished in just a little while as I got to know the others and they were all just great. There was a lot of camaradrie and I was happy to gel in so quickly.
The ride was planned over 3 days. We would visit Kemmangundi and then move on to davangere to Attend uday's classmate's wedding and then return home.

DAY 1: 30-Oct-04

We were to start off at 6:00 am from tumkur road, near the Outer ring road. I was working in the night shift and was planning to go home, pick my bag and start off. I knew I was not going to get any sleep for at least another 14 hours. This was fine as I knew the ride would make it worh it. The initial plan was for the others to start off, and I would catch up with them on the way, as I would not be able to make it only by 6:30 am. Lucky for me Reddy ran a little late and I left the office earlier than expected and was at the meeting point by 6:10. The early morning empty roads also played their part. By now it had started drizzling and we thought we would come across some heavy rain soon. luckily that too did not happen. We were actually very lucky throughout our journey. We had got hardly any planning other than the destinations and everything just fell into place as we moved ahead.

The road from Tumkur to Kunigal was just awesome and we al let loose. I had fun testing out the top end of my bike. Initially I was planning on doing a steady 80 or so. After watching everybody let loose I too starting speeding and reached 120 kmph at one point. I had fun dragging with a SUMO. I would overtake this guy evry once in a while and then let him pass just to bruise his ego another time.Going al out we reached Kunigal in no time and stopped for breakfast here.

Breakfast was a 30 minute affair, and after that the good roads continued. I was hoping that we get some narrow roads for some time at least, as I was getting tired of riping at high speeds all the time. Our next stop was just before Hassan. From Hassan we were to go to Belur. We were asking people for directions and one of the cops gave us the wrong directions. We went on for anout 2 kms before reklising we were headed in the wrong direction. We got back on the right road soon, not before passing through a lot of HAssan traffic. From here the roads got a little bad. For quite a distance there was only half a road as it was still under construction. It was fun to ride on this however as th eroad was more like a maze, and we had to keep swnging from left to right, to avoid all the potholes.

At Belur we had a small break at a Bakery. Here the owner confused us with his broken english. We asked him how much furthur to Chikmagalur and he said 74 kms, and we later found out that this was actually only 24 km's. Chikmaglur was conquered at 12:30 pm. Here we settled down for lunch and boy was it good. Chikmaglur is something straight out of some R.K Narayanan's book. It has the mix of the old and the new and both co-exist peacefully, at-least that's how it looked to me.

After lunch, we set off towards Kemmangundi. from now on we would be travelling on Narrow winding roads and would have to keep to our formation. Murgesh was in the lead, and Uday was the tail. The two bullets would keep swapping our places intermittently. Upto now, we had seen lush green fields on the highway. Now we got to see the Red soil for which this place was famous for. As it had been raining, the road was pretty slippery and muddy. The highlight of this part of the ride, was that we saw a HUGE battalion of cops swarming all over the highway, going towards Chikmaglur. Reddy almost met one of their trucks head-on but missed getting packed off into the mountain by just a few inches. After this it was relatively smooth sailing except for the road being slippery thanks to the rains that had lashed this place.

We stoppped at almost every bend and viewpoint to experience the sheer beauty of the place. The place was just so beautiful and Serene that I canot put it into words. The pictures we have taken do a lot of justice to the place but the real experience is something else.Our next stop was at Dattatreya Peeta. this is a shrine where the hindu and muslim Gods co-exist. This place is an eye-opener. Sadly it is not maintained as it deserves to be. After this shrine, there is a road that goes up to the top of this mountain, where a supposedly sacred sanctifying water-fall existed. By now the place was enveloped in a thick fog and visibility was down to around 10 feet or so. Now thanks to my sharp headlight I was the lead. The next 3 kms took us almost 10 minutes. This part of the ride was absolute thrill and was heightened by the fact that if we went off the road, that ould be the nend of us. The road came to a sudden halt and I had to brake suddenly to stop from driving off the cliff. We then explored the water-fall here. The story goes that you come here and have a bath in this falls to wash away your sins. You will have to leave behind every piece of clothing you came with. This was the sad part and people used this as an excuse to defile the place. The place was absolutely filled with clothes left behind by all those "sinners". According to me their sins would have doubled by resorting to discarding their clothes in this manner and spoling this place.

We left this place and started off on our journey towards Kemmangundi. This was going to be the last stretch. Here we passed a stretch of road which I have enjoyed the most. The road was a very narrow and winding one. Also, it had grass which was about waist height enveloping the edges of the road. We all went full blast on this stretch. At any given time, the gap between any 2 vehicles was just 5 feet. This required complete trust in the rider ahead, because if one rider had braked suddenly, we were all goners. Sadly we do not have any pictures of this stretch as we were all so thrilled at the ride that it slipped our mind completely.

Reached Kemmangundi finally by around 5:30, but found the whole place engulfed by fog, and so we missed the sunset. Darkness set in pretty quicly and we launched our hunt for a place to stay. We wer lucky that we got a decent enough place to stay at even though the place was pretty crowded. Since it was a long weekend, there were a lot of people here. Dinner was by 9:30 and we spent time just making arrangements for our food and stay until then. Hit the sack by around 10 or so. It was then that I realised that I had not slept a wink in the past 28 hours.

Next update as time permits me....

I am Back ...again...

2004-10-25T17:20:00.000-07:00

I am beginning to feel very predictable and boring..lately all my posts have been just posts about my weekend and so is this one for lack of anythng better...
The weekend was the usual one..partying on Saturday and relaxing with family on the sunday and back to the Grind on monday...

This Sunday was an experience however..Me and two of my friends had entered a quiz competition in our club.. I was very sceptical about us making it to the venue..let alone qualifying.. We had al reached home at around 1:00 on Sunday morning and the quiz was at 9:00 am..and it was not like all of us had been drinking pepsi the whole night...:)

9:00 am saw Sourabh messaging me that he might not be able to make it.... a few frantic calls later all of us were up..and stumbled to the venue... The others must have misinterpreted our looks to be fatigue from preparing for the quiz..now that would be a laugh..Coffee revved us up. and we were ready to take on the quizmaster.. Since we knew the organisers we were trying to pull a few strings..unsuccessfully in the end..

We had about 30 min to answer 40 questions.. And we would be lucky to get 10 right...
We decided to have fun in the quiz and not tax ourselves too much... our answers were as far from the truth as possible...
One of the questions was " who was the last man on the moon" and our answer.."the guy who went after Neil Armstrong".. There was another question about some king of england..and we knew that it was one of the Henry's..so our answer was.."King Henry V/VI/VII/VII" ..I guess you get the general idea of how we fared..
After turning in our papers we were all given the answers..and this was the best part..after every answer was announced ..me and my partners would start giving each other high-fives.and after all the answers were announced we were all yelling so hard and celebrating... Those people are sure going to be one surprised bunch when they don't see us on the stage in the finals..

I just remembered a joke that came up on Saturday night..This one had us in splits for a pretty loong time...
A lady at a party: " Oye Sardarji..zara susu karne ki jagah dekhao."
Sardarji: Oye naughty..pehle tum dikhao"

Ahh..finally I am blogging again..

2004-10-18T05:43:00.000-07:00

It has been such along time since I blogged. It has most definitely not been for the lack of material, but just for the lack of time..but what matters now is..I AM BACK

This weekend will be remembered for a long time..It started off on friday itself with a visit to the new McDonald's and a good loong drive, and with good company to boot..I felt like I was back in college and bunking classes(which i absolutely love to do)

The Saturday started off with something I like to do best..RIDE MY BIKE..
Was riding with three friends. Sharan was riding pillion with me and Ragu and Sandeep were on the formers's Pulsar.Our initial plan was to ride to Shivanasaudram to catch the beautifull waterfall there.When we were pretty close to our destination we saw a board to a place called Mutatthi.On an impulse we decided to ride there and boy.. was it a good decision or was it a good decision..The roads were pretty narrow and we met more cattle and sheep than the number of humans we had come across for the day.The road kept sloping downwards, and we were enjoying the fabulous ride. The roads were in good condition too.We suddenly realised that we were in a jungle and soon we could hear the river Cauvery.We suddenly came across the river and it was just fabulous to see the river in full force.We were so enamoured by the river and the beautiful roads that we kept riding and did not realise that we had passed our destination. It was too late to turn back and so we kept riding hoping to hit the highway soon. The roads became more of a dirt track after this.
At one point our bikes were pretty deep in slush and we were hoping that they would not stall or pushing our bikes in this slush would be nothing short of a mudbath. After we hit the highway we took a break and only then realised what a state we were in. Our trousers and bikes had enough mud on them for us to make people stare at us. Here we decided to turn back to Bangalore without visiting the falls.
Visiting the point would set us back by at least another two hours and it was vital for us to reach bangalore before 3:00 pm as Sharan was working that night and needed to get ample rest. Sadly we had to make this decision and save the ride to Shivanasamudram to another day.

Now I was thinking what better way to top off this wonderful ride. The answer was a visit to STYX with my friend and his girlfriend. This place has to be my favourite hangout... Was in STYX almost until they closed down for the night. The three of us were completely blown away by the fabulous music and had a whale of a time. S was however always concerned about how much we two guys were drinking, as we had to drop her back home.We finaly dropped her off at around 12:30 and we guys reached home at around 1:00 in the morning.

Now after all this sunday was a day to just relaxxxx and go zzzzz. Woke up in ime to see how India was faring at the chennai test. Met up with a few friends and was back home for the Sunday Famiily lunch.Surpise surprise.my favourite uncle was visiting us..Felt really good catching up with him after a verry loong time.
The only downer was that I had to catch up with some friends and had to meet S whom I was not ready to meet as yet..guess it will take some more recovering before we can get to a stage where S and I can talk.But this did not cast the shadow that I thought it would..guess that means I am well on the path to recovery..a few months ago, this would have left me in bad spirits for a day or two..not now..

Overall a fab weekend with the right flavours to make it balanced....