My birthright is an unwritten law

--------------------------------------------
Joey: Face your fear. You have a fear of heights? You go to the top of the building. You're afraid of bugs? Get a bug.

Joey: Go for it man! Jump off the high dive. Stare down the barrel of a gun. Pee into the wind!

Chandler: Yeah. Joe, I assure you if I'm staring down the barrel of a gun, I'm gonna be pretty much peeing every which way.

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

This is an extract from the famous sitcom FRIENDS. Strangely, Joey’s making sense, isn’t he? Sometimes, I'm glad for people like Joey. I'm in a confused state of mind right now.

I get reminded of Nickelback's Far Away...
"This time, This place
Misused, Mistakes
Too long, Too late"

So right now, the last thing I need is more Joey-ness. But surprisingly, his stupidity is helping out a lil bit. What’s life like if you can’t live it to the fullest? And if you can’t trust what you’re about to do. So for the new years, whatever resolutions I'm making (or not), I plan to trust myself in whatever I do. In whatever I am capable of doing. Believe in myself. This makes me feel a lot better already. :)

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

Also, here’s a wonderful track by Eric Carmen from the movie Dirty Dancing (all you romantic-movie lovers should know exactly what I'm talking about). He’s got a ridiculous outfit on, in this video… but its Eric Carmen all the same :) And I particularly LOVE this song.

Here goes… Hungry Eyes! There’s such melancholy and profoundness in the lyrics.



Whenever I listen to this track, I always close my eyes and wear my earphones. :) I hope you guys enjoy it as much as I do.

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

Happy Holidays everyone. And have a pleasant new year. I hope 2008 brings you everything that you want, and more! If you think, you want more than you’re entitled to, then go ahead and make it your birthright! It then won't sound greedy after all! Trust me, it works! ;)

I'm gonna go get myself a bug now.

Love ‘ya all

Happy Birthday Chweetyyy

It feels like yesterday that I fooled around with your birthday gift. Now it's over a year and another birthday has come by. I guess this is by far the first time I'm away from you on your big day. And you're not even keeping well to enjoy it... :-/ Happy birthday sweety and warm hugs from over here. Get well soon and I'll soon be back to give you nice big tight ones. :)

Love always

And that's why we don't get mad at children

To play with the thunder

Would you want to write your own destiny, or would you rather go by what’s written in it already? Or are you the breed that doesn’t believe in either school of thought?

When you know exactly what's for breakfast on a Monday morning, it takes out the joy of looking forward to the kitchen area to check on mommy to see what’s cooking. When you know exactly what time the train departs, it steals away a sly thought from creeping in; the thought of oversleeping for a teeny bit more, hoping the train will be late as usual. I don’t peek out from my window anymore to catch a glimpse of the gift from the heavens. It doesn’t make me grin from ear-to-ear. I’m all covered up and ready to hit the road because the lady from the weather desk told me exactly what time the snow is expected to fall. How heavy it will be. And how long it will last.

My 4:45 PM shuttle is almost never late; it then doesn’t give me the opportunity to nervously fidget with my fingers waiting for the shuttle to pick me up. I know exactly when my train will arrive (which is a good thing ‘cos I get to book for a cab accordingly. That way I won’t get stranded at a lonely train station in the wee hours of the night). And I know quite well that I have to layer myself with clothing because it’s going to snow tomorrow.

I have nothing to look forward to when I leave from work, because again, I know what will await me at the Happy Hour back at my hotel. I even know the “French names” (if you will) of the wines that they serve from Monday through Thursday, and then, all over again from the next Monday through Thursday.

Even the bloody traffic lights are synchronized!

There’s not much left for imagination! There are hardly any surprises! There is little anticipation! There’s no exalt!!!

It doesn’t concern me that my future is already written out for me, but it does concern me that my day-to-day activities are already scripted! Some would think that it’s a good thing. But there are disadvantages. For one, I detest the fact that my personal life is planned out. Planning, as far as I am concerned, should stay shut at work! But that’s not the only disadvantage. My office security at the front-desk who smiles at me every morning and heartily wishes me to have an excellent day, refuses to recognize me if I forgot my office badge someday! It really doesn’t bother me much, but it tells me that relationships are like a canoe that meekly rocks on waves of golden protocols.

How much more scripted can life get, when even the thunder wonders if it should strike on a dark rainy afternoon, simply because it wasn’t on the forecast the previous day?!?

You must think I sound crazy, but back in Madras, however much indiscriminate things are, I kinda like it that I don't know what to expect next. Whether on road, at home, for lunch, at work, at a movie, what have you! Pleasant or unpleasant; what's the point in living after all, if there aren't little surprises to look forward to?

Destination Herndon > Baltimore > Washington DC

The four-day long Thanksgiving weekend saw me take off to a couple of North Eastern states in the US. While most of the country was busy shopping on Black Friday, wading through the crowded stores for offers and deals on everything from electronics to home furnishings, my friend and her husband were kind enough to have me over at their place at Herndon, Virginia for 3 days, starting the day after Thanksgiving. From over Herndon, they drove me down to Baltimore and DC over the next two days. Here’s a glimpse.

Baltimore, Maryland

Outside Capitol House – Washington, DC

It was a hectic weekend. The days and nights were both tightly scheduled. But in general, I loved the travel, and loved the feeling that left me exhausted at the end of it all.

While I'm on it, I have to mention about a great little town I visited yesterday. Bethlehem, also called as the “Christmas City of USA” is a nice little town in Pennsylvania; about an hour and quarter from where I live. The town is known for its culture rooted back to the 1700s, founded and inhabited by the Moravians. We took a 45 minute bus tour around the city by night. It was a weekday, so we did this after work. Our guide for the night took us through a timeless journey through the city, and explained the way early Moravians worked as missionaries to spread the word about their religion and the celebration that is, Christmas.

We ended the day by having exotic Indian food at a nice restaurant in Bethlehem. I know what you’re thinking, that Indian food can’t be exotic? Trust me, last night, it was!

It seems like it was only hours since I did all this, but it’s Wednesday and I’m already planning for the impending weekend. I’m hoping that will save me from feeling homesick again!

Seashore, seashells, delirium

4:30 PM. -8 Celsius. A magical beach.

NJ Shore, Atlantic City.

Stargazing

Having to treasure every best moment may not be very difficult; perhaps the finest and most powerful way to cherish them, is to not re-live those moments.

Thank God for dreams!!!

As Promised!

I was supposed to tell you the truth of it in the very next post but I didn’t. Just like I imagined, very few people decided to take a guess on which one of them was the lie. Clearly, my readership is falling waaay off the cliff deep into the Grand Canyon! :-/

Only a couple of them guessed and failed miserably. And that means you Dharma! No seriously, how many times have I written about my dreams? That was a dead give-away!

Anyway, those of you that guessed were wrong! Also, if you knew me well, you would know better than to trust me with promises. :P But ho; here’s the truth. I don’t run a no-shit blog! Hell I can’t even update this one on time. And I know I’m not following blogs regularly either. Between the last time I visited Devil and today (which is I think a week) she’s posted nine new ones. Or at least that’s what Google Reader tells me! And I haven't followed her blog, or anyone else' since! So lo, I’m not running any new blog and all that jazz; but I kinda like the way I made up that lie myself! Tee hee.

But now that the idea has bloomed unto me, I think I might just end up starting one. But nah, you’ll never know. Never trust my promises, remember?

Image: Courtesy-gettyimages. There's something about this picture that I could relate with, I'm not sure what tho.

From where I'm standing

It has been such a long time since I posted a favorite song that I can hardly call this one the 'song of the week'. Song of the month would be more appropriate, no?

Anyway, this one's an amazing song from the movie I'm Reed Fish and is sung by Schuyler Fisk.



From where I'm standing, you're the quiet side of the road
You're looking so lonely, and I can't stop looking at you
Your head is hanging, trying to beat those goodbye blues
I bet you'll be fine
I bet you'll be fine

I guess it's not the way you always planned it
Looks like you're heading for a crash landing
That's just the way it looks from where I'm standing
From where I'm standing

From where I'm standing, I think I caught your eye
Are you looking at me cause I swear I saw you smile
I'm coming over, gonna take things off your mind
I bet you'll be fine

I guess it's not the way you always planned it
Looks like you're heading for a crash landing
That's just the way it looks from where I'm standing
From where I'm standing

I might make you mine
I might make you mine
From where I'm standing

Tagged - True lies

I’m not someone that takes up all tags. Honestly, if I dislike the purpose of the tag or the way a tag is presented itself, I simply prefer not to take it up. When Dharma tagged me however, with this meme, I instantly decided to take it up. But when I sat down to actually put pen to paper, I realized that all I have to do is list out things ABOUT me; which is what I’ve been doing for exactly a year now starting from this post. Over a 100 posts elucidating what I like, what I don’t, what I do, what I pretend to do; everything! My readers can see through me now, nay? Then what the hell’s the point of this meme anyway? Before you get frustrated with all this self-brooding, I’ll let you in on what finally made me take it up!

A meme is only as good as it is written by the blogger that tags you. In this case, Dharma wrote this meme so well, that I couldn’t possibly refuse. That’s the simplest explanation! :)

______________________________________________


1. There are three things I can’t help but do every single day; whether it’s a day at work, or a day at home!

• I have to visit Crickler in order to constantly feed my need for both a new challenge each day, as well as my need to improve the English vocabulary. I simply love how it works, and it’s a lot of fun too. The thing about Crickler is that, some of the crossword puzzles are either way too easy or too difficult. Therefore, if my grey cells are highly active, I can prefer to take up the tough ones and if my brains are cooked too much a particular day, I simply prefer to take up the simpler ones. I still take one (or two) everyday nonetheless!

• My landing page on both Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox, Wikipedia.org is yet another site that I can’t seem to live without! There are times, when someone talks about an upcoming music band, a fallen hero, a forgotten freedom fighter, a new heart surgery break-through, the fantasy of Rome, a dying river, a mammal soon to be extinct, a nebula! Everything from A – Z, I simply find ‘em here. I love Wikipedia for just the way it functions, its wiki! The idea of having people (anyone) enter about practically any subject/person/place/event under the sun (or over it) and then allowing for it to be validated and published! Isn’t it a wonderful concept? I honestly think that the concept of Wiki should certainly be used more widely to share and encourage people to offer their opinions.

• Blogger! I’m not gonna justify that. :)


2. Even whist running this blog, there were times when I haven’t been able to bring myself to write everything I feel like right here. This tag for example, made me think quite a lot before I could come up with one in the list. Leave alone nine big ones! Precisely the reason why I run an anonymous blog! It’s a no-nonsense blog where I write only what I want to, and only as often as I feel like it! I give a damn to its readers and answer comments only when absolutely necessary. Basically, when I want to get silly, it’s right here! And when I want unbiased opinions on serious (mostly personal) issues from absolute strangers, it’s over there! It is pretty obvious then that I don’t give my name in there, don’t post pictures, and don’t write about my dad, mum, sis, BIL, cousins, friends, et al. And even if there’s someone that needs a mention, the name doesn’t find a place there. Spooky you think? I did so too when the thought crossed my mind in the beginning, but now I know that it has by far been the best outlet for me! :)


3. How do stars get their sparkle? How is it that men cheat so easily? What is that first thing, that started what we now call Evolution? Why should quantum physics be so confusing? How can shopping actually treat everything from a broken knee to a puffy cheek? Why does the FBI conduct a research on “Top 10 creative ways to murder” and post them online? What is Google doing right this minute? Or even why men think that crying would make them appear weak?

I’m inquisitive! And my thirst for knowledge will only keep increasing as long as I have questions in store (and someone to give me the answers)!


4. How often have you wondered why relationships get so confusing just when you thought that things were going precisely the way you wanted it? Don’t bother answering that question, ‘cos believe it or not, I have never tried to “work things out” or whatever you want to call it. It’s easy for me to break away and easier still to get back into the same relationship. Good or bad? I don’t know and I can’t care less.


5. I can’t remember the name of the place I visited on our hill station visit a year ago. I can’t remember if I submitted my IT Returns last year and I can’t remember what I did last Deepavali. I can however, remember the first time I sat on a swing, the sliver moon sparkling night when I tried to raise up my finger and draw patterns in the air on a starry sky, and the first time I fell off my bicycle and bruised my knee. I remember some of the most cherished moments of my life and can recall every enchanting minute without a moment’s pause. Equally so, I can also conveniently forget what I don’t want to recall. There are times, when I’m grateful for this trait of mine. A painless way to avoid those guilt trips. Selfish me huh?


6. Given a chance to re-live any part of my life, I’d never want to re-live my college life ever again! I know what you’re thinking; that I’m kidding. Actually not. That’s three years of my life I wish I never lived to begin with and would never want to re-live.


7. I have had the most bizarre dreams; I continue to have them and I’m happy for it. The way I see it, these are things that you wouldn’t see happen in everyday life; so what’s the harm in seeing them in your dreams? You’ll be surprised at how imaginative you can get when you wake up from one of your strangest dreams; trust me. :)


8. I’m afraid of dark alleys, walking or driving on a road that isn’t well lit, … actually I’m just shit scared of darkness! I remember when I used to live alone in a city away from home; I’d always let one of the lights on during the day, just in case I return home after hours and suspect a ghost in one of the corners. Eventually, I walk into every room including the kitchen and turn on all the lights, save for the restroom’s. Chicken you think? Well, that’s moi.


9. What goes around comes around, doesn’t it?! I strongly believe in the higher law of Karma, that you are responsible for your actions, and that if you do good, the good will be returned three-fold.

________________________________________________________


Phew! That was one long meme. I can go ahead and tag a few from my frequent haunt’s list, but it appears my readership has significantly dropped and I don’t want to end up tagging someone that wouldn’t know s/he has been tagged simply because s/he hasn’t visited my page in the first place. Soo, I’m gonna make this an open meme; if you are here and if want to give it a shot, go ahead. I enjoyed writing this out and I hope you will too.

Here are the rules of the meme. “The tag is to say nine things about myself one of which is a lie. Can you spot the one which is not true? (Adding one more rule here, tell us what the lie was, when you next post)”

Enjoy writing and Happy Pooja holidays everyone! :)

We played as planned

MISERABLY! :)


Each time the Indian cricket team loses a match, I loathe them and the game more than I did from their previous defeat. But somehow, everyone around me seems to like the sport (if that's what you want to call it) more than they did earlier! :-/ Am I insane, or are they?

The law of gears

As soon as you shift to a higher gear, the brakes will need immediate attention, and you will have to shift one gear down!

I wasn't sleeping when Chennai's traffic became this terrible all of a sudden, was I? :-/

But I've been definitely sleeping when Blogger introduced video within our blog posts, 'cos I saw it just today, actually just now!

Disappointed with ...

... A Thousand Splendid Suns, I am now reading The Husband!

It is that time of the year again…

When the sheer passion for the sport would wake me up as early as 5:30 in the morning (or sometimes 5 AM) for three months in a row and I wouldn't complain once.

When every morning I would curse my ma under my breath for making me drink a tall glass of porridge (used to taste yuck) at 5:45 before I left for the club. Eventually, I was grateful she made me drink it!

When PR was as important as knowing the right rowing skills if you want the boats when you needed them

When the daily morning run would stop and the circuits would begin! How we hated doing it.

When my coach would give me a “tch tch” if my endurance wasn't good enough compared to the other guys on the land-work

When our calf muscles would beg for us to stop working out and rest them for a while

When the post-lunch nap at work cannot be avoided

When we dreaded the ergo-meter race more than any other race

When our head-coach’s call to flip the toss would make us weak at the knees clearly reminding us of the impending win-or-die race

When all around us, we would hear one seemingly important mantra … “Die on the boat”

When what appeared to be the most troublesome crew of all, sat quietly bundled up in one corner of the club wondering how much ahead of the other crews we are, or how far behind

When all the bars of chocolates, energy drinks, and red bulls would be our only life-savers between races

When I would eagerly await the knock-out races rather than do the circuits at the end of each race :-/

When we’d feverishly wait under the bridge, my heart pounding against my chest, waiting endlessly for what seemed to be never-ending passage of time, before we got the final call for the race-starts.

When eventually the success of the entire crew would be too sweet for any of the less trivial coxie problems to matter

The year of 2003 was by far the most fantastic rowing season for me! Yet again, it is that time of the year, except this Fall I’m not rowing! But the prestigious M&B corporate regatta is on and is at the Madras Boat Club, Adyar, on the last Saturday of this month. If you are in Chennai, be sure to attend it after 3:30 PM! You don’t have to row, but at least you can be there to witness and confirm that all of the above statements are accurate.

I'm grateful for...

... the finest woman in my life.

For being

radical

fanatical

magical

practical

remarkable

for being a pillar

for enduring

contributing

for ... just BEING there when I needed her.

I cannot begin to imagine the sphere of activities I will have to start doing on my own... starting from shopping till managing my finances (which just-so-you-know, I totally suck at!). :-/

I'm dedicating this post to my sister!

Reflections

Disclaimer: This post was originally written two weeks ago but is getting published only now… sooo some of them might not make sense and most of them may not be presently applicable.


A couple of observations that are specific to the country everyone is oh-so-interested to move to (or visit at some point at least). Some of them I totally concur with and some others I don’t! But remember, no pun intended.

• The days being longer than the nights, life here runs with a rhythm of its own. It would be Monday today and before you know it’s the weekend. I have never felt the days/weeks pass at this pace before!


• Coke, Diet Coke, Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, iced tea, flavoured water, and other unmentionable soft drinks all now become “sodas”.


• Lunch being a battle every single day, now I can clearly comprehend the exact meaning of that lil prayer I used to say every morning in school for 14 years straight… “Give us today our daily bread”. Phew! Vegetarians sure do have a tough time :-/


• Wake up calls, voice messages, and Din Dins. Dinners were soo much fun ‘cos this is the only meal of the day that I get to cook for myself; especially my favourite food, south Indian! :) Sometimes, all six of us used to get into the kitchen and make elaborate dinners, which would all turn out to be absolutely yummo!


• I met a few very interesting people here and have come to make a memorable friendship as well, so much so that my angst to get back home sooner, lessened in time. I also came to realize that when you’re that far away from home, you tend to count a LOT on your friends. Damn good reason to stay together I must admit!


• New York. Undoubtedly, ever-enticing! :)


• I had a chance to meet a very interesting Blogger friend as well. It was very pleasant to meet you Oracle. :)


• The locals almost always smile and say a hello to everyone they see. The customary “Hi, how are you?” the “I’m good, how are u?”, and finally the “I’m great, thanks” has a way of getting onto my nerves! No seriously, when you really don’t expect the person to tell you the truth about how he/she really is, or when you don’t care a tinker’s damn yourself, why ask? Honestly, I think that’s very artificial. Maybe I’m wrong, but that’s only in my humble opinion. But just so you know, inadvertently, I’m practicing that too during my stint here. :|


• Flavoured yogurt! Especially the ones with peach… yummooo! Perhaps the single most awaited food every afternoon.


• Seaside heights, NJ. The sparkling blue-green water, the sun high and sharp, tiny boats tossing lightly farther away in the ocean, the golden speckless sand, women dressed to liberally serve the needs of the men. One amazing trip that will live in my memory longer than me.

More to come. :)

Addendum:
1. I got back on the last Sunday of August to attend my sister’s wedding.
2. The wedding went on very well and I’ve gotten back to the grind again! Thanks for all your prayers. Will try and post something on it soon, while I rub my feet to wear off the tiredness of the 3-day wedding business.
3. Dharma, thank you so much for tagging me. I feel honoured. I'm on it already, but I can't promise you on when it will finally get published. :)

undone

All attempts to crack me up having failed, I still am sincerely waiting for the day I won't have to be sincere anymore!

After four weeks of living in the US...

... I have come to realize that this is the best drink ever!!!


You should see the kinda flavoured sodas these people have!

And of course, the inevitable...

A Thousand Splendid Suns

My first update perhaps, should have been about New Jersey, how life’s been treating me here, work, fun, or the places I’ve visited and should probably treat you guys with some amazing pictures to supplement them. No? Yeah? Alright, maybe I will. But not just yet! Two of my three weekends here have been packed, and all I did was visit the enticing city of New York. Twice!! The city has an amazing energy about itself that I haven’t seen anywhere else. And I sure am glad I had the chance to be there. More update on NY and more pictures to come.

The rest of my time have been spent shopping, mostly groceries and sometimes shopping for my folks back home. Just a teeny bit though! Anything I see, all I can think of is my sister because this is undoubtedly the right time to shop for her, what with her marriage in the offing and all that. :) She has already started her countdown. And believe me, so have I! She, for the wedding day and I, to return home and give a bear hug to mum. I went into the countdown phase a few days ago and have been missing my people terribly since!!! :| I’ve shopped for ma, pa, sis and BIL and can’t seem to find anything for moi! Bad scene huh? Not really. :)

Anyway, before I write to you again and send you some loads of pictures (this time I promise I will), I treated myself in the meantime with this!


The hardcover of Khaled Hosseini’s latest. Not something great to take with me from a visit to the United States. But it sure will keep me good company during my flight back. I hope this one’s as good as his masterpiece.

Until the next time, keep well.

A come back

I have got to apologize for being so quiet for such a long time; I’m sorry I’ve been away. And from those ultra sweet messages I kept receiving on email and on the comments box, I can see that you guys have missed me as much as I missed you. I’ve been kinda jobless and busy all at the same time for a coupla weeks. You ask me how that’s possible? Yup it is, especially in the IT trend where projects are highly unpredictable! My earlier project got completed about four weeks ago and I got shipped from my client location back to my head office (where I did nothing but wait for some other projects that were in the offing) with very little (or sometimes absolutely no) internet access. That was some terrible time!!!

That said, it wasn’t as if I was totally jobless either, because the “project in the offing” all of a sudden made its way right to my desk, and landed piping hot! As part of the kick-off for the new project, I, along with five others from my team, are now in New Jersey! It all happened soo fast, in a blink of the eye, that I didn’t even have the time to call my closest friends about my absence either. Picture this; getting stuff ready for my visa application, appearing for the visa interview in short notice, and two days later travel to the NJ without having time to plan a single damn thing, all this in just one week! :-/

Well, anyway, up until now, things are fine here. I’m loving the place I’m living in; a nice, neat, calm country side of NJ called Bridgewater. Work has been fine, and I’ve been doing well too (this is for those that emailed me and asked me if I was keeping well). I visited New York today (the first Saturday after I landed here) and a small temple quite close to the office on Friday evening.

I will be here for the next six weeks and will be back just in time for my sister’s wedding in the end of August. There’s lotsa pictures of the B-E-A-U-tiful NJ country, and a few pictures from NY too, but yaaawwn … that’s all for now … right now I’m going to sign-off!

I’m homesick already and wanna go home and be a part of the big wedding preps :(. Sigh!!!

You guys take good care and big hugs for a great weekend while I try to catch up on all those new posts from you. Adios!

Missed ya all! :)

I’m a Gemini

That’s my sun sign. But why am I saying this? 'Cos that’s the prompt for this week’s scribble at Sunday Scribblings.

I remember a friend saying “If you have one Gemini friend, you have at least five of them.” But oh, exercise care, ‘cos having five of them around isn’t really a boon. Born under a high-voltage energetic sign, it usually takes me very little time to get accustomed and adapted to people, places, and culture. Although the last part is a load of crap and can’t be proved, plainly because I haven’t experienced many different cultures myself. See? That also proves another point about us fickle Gemini’s – we can lie very easily! :-/

I absolutely hate monotony! You let me travel to work by train one day, by car the next, and by bus the day after, I’d be glad to. I’d rather create a schedule today, document some facts tomorrow, and play crossword the day after. But you can’t tie me down with one thing. I want to be e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g! :D That’s probably why I’m not able to last in one job for a long time. We’re great “talkers” though, love to read and love to be in the communication business. That would explain my constant need to blog perhaps.

We’re cheap people and mostly expect favors to be returned. Sometimes, I’m guilty of that myself! :-/

When I asked a friend about the negatives of the sign, he said
“Unpredictable unpredictable unpredictable unpredictable unpredictable unpredictable. There's my contribution!
Marriage...?? nah.. ain’t their style. Can never ever decide, always asks others to make a big decision, takes love as a game, fascinated about the idea of having multiple partners (good or bad??).”

Quite strangely, I’ve not been able to deny any of them. Of course I’m unpredictable; sometimes I wouldn’t know how I would react to a situation at any given time myself. All normal day-to-day functions would seem like a new challenge to me and I’ll end up trying to do it a different way everyday (and sometimes end up developing a headache. Can I blame the sign?). Phew! I guess that is the greatest mystery of the Twins! You never know when the other one would take over.

I could go on and on. But let’s stop it at that and find out about you. What sign are you? What are your traits? Are you big enough to spill out your negatives as well? ;-)

Picture courtesy: Google Images

Magic carpet

Yep I need one of those. Why? Makes life a lot easier and a lot more fun. :)

1. Flying! Just think about it. I can fly whenever I feel like, to wherever I want.


2. No fuel expenses.


3. Parking? What’s that? I’ll fold it up and stuff it in my bag.


4. Can you imagine how much traffic I can avoid? In fact, I can cover the 22 kms to and from work in a matter of minutes!


5. No pollution. I’ll be doing my little to save the dying environment.


6. I’ll probably find the man in my dreams (just P.R.O.B.A.B.L.Y). :D I know I’m treading on thin ice, but remember how Aladdin found Jasmine?


7. I can forget about all the Spicejet, Air Deccan, and Air Sahara offers. Who wants them anyway?


8. I can go visit all my blogger friends and probably give them a ride or two in my magic carpet (if they’re good to me). ;-)


9. Low maintenance! It’s even lower than maintaining a bicycle.


10. Free rides to everyone! :)

See? The more I think about it, the more I want to own a flying carpet!

Of course I dance in front of the mirror!

A friend gasped in sheer astonishment when I told her one of my traits which she considered inappropriate or unethical. Well, maybe inappropriate in a work environment.

Nevertheless, here are some really stupid things I end up doing impulsively. At least the ones that I can remember right away:

1. When I walk on the road that doesn’t have a pedestrian pavement, I inadvertently move further and further toward the left as I walk along, for fear of being knocked down by a truck motorcycle.


2. If I doze off with a book in my hand, my fingers would involuntarily clutch the edges of the book so as to mark the page I am reading. I know what you’re thinking. Use a bookmark? But I said “doze-off”, didn’t I? So what good is a bookmark by my bedside?!?


3. I save the best food for the last. Don’t get what I’m saying? Think about the last time you saved that black forest cake, or a last potato chip for the end of the meal? Yep, I do that too!


4. After I kill the engine in my car, I continue to press my foot on the brake while I’m digging into my bag, or taking things out before I get out of the vehicle. I don’t know why I do it, but I know quite a lot of women who do the same thing.


5. And oh, if you didn’t know already, of course I talk (smile, laugh, giggle) to myself. Hell, I dance in front of the mirror. And don’t you tell me that you don’t. I know quiet well that you do too. :)

Anything unique (or uniquely stupid) that you do in front of the mirror? Or anything just plain stupid that you do? :)

Bookmarks

As much as books are important to me
So are these
For they really help me trace my words
Where I leave them astray
Made of leather
Painted in bright hues
They will stay with me forever
My friend and companion it has been
Bookmarks they are
I’m thankful to my Brother-in-law for his thoughtful gifts from Durban

>/||

A weekend of audio and video. Here are some pictures from the PodWorks unconference at Chennai.

Conference Venue: Tidel Park, Chennai

PodWorks @ TIdel Park, Chennai

A session is on.

The works!

The attendees.


Podcasting is all about money. Sunil Nair, CEO of Nautanki.tv talks about the much needed Vitamin M and how to monetize your podcasts.


A session on Adobe Premier, by far the most interesting session for me. Video editing didn't sound this simple to me earlier.


Organizers unwinding

Podworks.in is on!

The PodWorks unconference is on! I must mention that although I walked in a lil late, I don't seem to have missed much. For the last two hours, a lot of talking and interaction has happened. Right now, even as I'm entering this post, Karthik Kannan is giving the 120 200 odd participants a presentation on 'Quick and easy podcasting'. As it seems to me, using ODEO and recording a podcast is child's play. As Karthik was even presenting it, I had my microphone on and recorded a 59 second audio in studio.odeo.com. Ta daa:


powered by ODEO

As you can see, the recording is not so great. The ambiance noise added to it too. But far as I can see, this, and the fact that you can't edit the audio, seems to be the only disadvantage.

Also, with ODEO, the entire thing is over in very minimal time. In this case, 59 seconds + 30 seconds for saving the recording and another minute or two to ramble about it and publish the same on my blog.

PS: Just attending a wiki conference such as this and not being able to do it hands-on is such a BIG disadvantage. Sooo here goes a BIGGER thanks to my cousin M who lent me his laptop for a day.


Addendum (Saturday June 09, 7:59 PM)

The post-lunch sessions included one on the do's and dont'ts of recording for a podcast or taking an interview. Then, a presentation on Integrating a podcast into wordpress/blogger including tips to promote your podcast et al. I had to leave right when Sunil Nair, CEO of Nautanki.tv started giving us some heads-up on how to go about gaining some Vitamin M :-/

Hopefully, tomorrow I'll be there for the sessions on video podcasting or vodcast, without having to rush back on some other emergency. More updates and photos to follow.

Stay ... away

The future has a dirty habit of arriving unannounced. – Anonymous

I’d say, the past has a dirty habit of resurfacing unannounced!

Some thoughts stay, and some don’t. Our mind is an amazing storage unit that few of us are able to comprehend. Some things remind us of significant achievements and some others remind us of trivial details, things that we wish we didn’t remember. Things we wish happened a different way, or didn’t happen at all. An erase or undo button would be of much help, wouldn’t it?

Sometimes, the more we try to forget something, its memory snaps itself back deeper and deeper sculpting its way through, making an imprint in our minds; mind over heart or heart over mind being a constant battle!

Is that why they say it’s easier to forgive than to forget?

Podworks.in

I'm attending Podworks, are you?



This is the first 'unconference' that I will be attending. Will keep you posted on any updates through and over the weekend. Meanwhile, if you're in Chennai this weekend, you could try and make it to the unconference that is held at Tidel Park, Taramani. Feel free to go to podworks.in and get a hang of what it is all about.

I'm surely looking forward to the experience!

Your wish will be done

Such an intense music video and so much depth in those lyrics; and we thought the Backstreet Boys were just another teen-attraction, boy band, whatever. Nonetheless, this one's been my all-time favorite.

I hope you enjoy it too :)

Fountain

The human mind is not capable of grasping the Universe. We are like a little child entering a huge library. The walls are covered to the ceilings with books in many different tongues. The child knows that someone must have written these books. It does not know who or how. It does not understand the languages in which they are written. But the child notes a definite plan in the arrangement of the books---a mysterious order which it does not comprehend, but only dimly suspects.

- Albert Einstein

Science and spirituality, or scientific spirituality perhaps; that’s been my mood for what you could call an extended weekend.

After watching four back-to-back movies on Saturday, all starring Hugh Jackman, I’m still reeling from his their effect. It started with X-men, then X 2, and X 3. I was fine until then. ‘Cos until then I was only watching a science fiction. Then came, The Fountain! I’m not even sure if I can explain that movie in just a few words.

Spanning over a 1000 years with three tales running in parallel, the story transports you from the age of Spain in bondage in the 1500’s through the present day, to the 2500’s, in an inexplicably unimaginable way. One man’s journey through time and space (literally space), Hugh Jackman acts in the lead role in all three stories.

In pursuit of love, life, Tom Creo (Hugh Jackman) experiences frustration, pain, suffering, loss, death, re-birth and finally immortality. All three stories get inter-woven toward the end of the screenplay leaving you practically disoriented. At least I was! Well you would be too, if you saw Jackman as a faithful solider trying to free his Queen by fetching the tree of life and delivering Spain from bondage in scene one; in the very next scene, you find him in a state-of-the-art research facility trying to get a medical breakthrough in a drug that would cure his dying wife of cancer, and in the subsequent scene, he’s in a bubble in outer space with a lone dying tree, trying to give life back to it from a nebula somewhere in the 26th century (three different people from different eras of course). See what I’m saying?

Although I didn’t understand much of concept behind the movie itself, I did impulsively put it under my favorite movies list :) Maybe someday I’ll get what he’s saying.

It might sound like a thin plot, but the movie is a little heavy on its viewers, so if you’re the kind that lets the waterworks run on every emotional scene; you should stay away from it. But if you do succeed in understanding the underlying plot of the story, do let me know, because I’m still trying to find an explanation!

Anyway, Sunday was good for me. Watched Pirates of the Caribbean – At World’s End. I heard mixed reviews about the movie before I watched it, maybe because they compared it with the older parts. But I haven’t seen the earlier parts, so I liked it all the same. For what its worth, there was butter popcorn, a soft drink, and Orlando Bloom in front of me. :-D. Sailed the high seas with him for three hours(?) got sea sick [cheesy smile] and had to bunk work on Monday! :)

A roller-coaster weekend you could say! Have a great work week ahead and hugs!

Remember… the summer?

I’m tagged! I don’t take up all meme’s, only the ones I like or only the ones that are a little challenging. This one falls under the latter category because I absolutely hate the summer. Soo, its quite a challenge for me to come up with a list. Wow! The excuses I come up with, I cant believe them myself :-P

Anyhow, here’s an attempt:

1. Watermelon juices (has to top the list)


2. Summer holidays, which I wish were on for the rest of our lives; especially for the Carrom tournaments, Monopoly, beach trips on weekdays (this used to be fun), visiting our gramms at the village, running across the fields, eating ripe tamarind and getting a tummy ache. Given a chance I’d re-live those moments all over again.


3. Warm lazy nights, cloudless starry sky, lying on the overhead water tank, listening to Roxette! Errrr…Have I mentioned this before? :D


4. Loooooooooooooong showers, sometimes even thrice a day. I’d rather just stay in the shower for as long as I can!


5. Iced tea!


6. Mango milk, mango juice, mango pickle… actually all things mango. This season the mango yield was substantially low here. But thanks to Auntie M who brought us a box full of ripe mangoes from Hyderabad.


7. Train journeys. We used to wait endlessly, for these were a boon during the summer when we get to visit our gramms.


8. Sorry, I tried real hard; just couldn’t come up with 1 more thing I love about summer!

To be perfectly candid, I’m sure this tag was started by someone from a more wintry part of the world. How else can you justify this tag?

Now that we’re on it, I think I’d like to list a few things I loathe/loathed about summer too. Hee hee.

1. The most obvious point? The heat itself!


2. Bus rides. I hate them, cos the inside of the bus has this strong odour of a combination of sweat and urine of at least 50 different people. And when I get out, I’m sweaty and stinky too. Yuckkk!


3. The traffic and the unmanageable temper of the commuters. I’ve noticed that this is more during the summer than during other seasons.


4. Waiting for exam results. I absolutely hated this!


5. Headaches. It would frequent during the summer. :-/

Now that was easy!

Whom should I tag? Anyone who would like to take it. Also, if you want to list things you dislike about summer instead of the things you like, go ahead and do it. :)

A Stranger’s Masquerade

This post is in response to this week's prompt at Sunday Scribblings: Masks.

She grew up learning that they all needed to wear masks. She was practically fed with details every single day on what masks to wear and when.

When she was three, her mum asked her to say “please” when she had to request something, or “thank you” when she had to display her gratitude, especially with people whom we grammatically categorize as “third person”; nonetheless she never bothered to say a “please” or “thank you” at home with her parents or siblings.
She was told to wear a mask.

When she was seven, her parents told her to smile and be gentle with relatives, friends (other inconsequential people); people that didn’t mean anything to her, but she had to behave that way so she didn’t eventually hurt anyone.
She was told to wear a mask.

When she was twelve, she was told not to brag about her test scores (the fact was, she was over-confident that she was scoring better than more than half of the students in her class). But no, she shouldn’t! She should be polite.
She was told to wear a mask.

When she was sixteen, she was told to hide her emotions and pretend that all was well, when in reality, nothing was. Again, she was told to wear a mask, or not!

Over the years, she has come to realize that now she’s actually being herself outside home and wearing a mask at home!

Click here for more masks at Sunday Scribblings.

Older Men?

People at work have decided to go watch Spidey 3 and I thought that it was a good idea to take my 14-year old cousin V who is supposedly bored at home during the summer, save her only entertainment; her IIT preparatory classes. This was part of the conversation we had.

Me: Our office has decided to take us to Spiderman 3 on Monday, wanna join?

Cousin V: oooh! You’re gonna go watch that movie? It wasn’t all that great you know, more like our Indian masala.

Me: Ok. So you’ve watched it! Any chance that you may want to go once again? (Duh! She just sounded like she wished she didn’t watch it the first time.)

Cousin V: Noooo. Won’t your office to take you to The Pirates of Caribbean - 3? Then I could join.

Me: No, but we could go if you want to. (I didn’t even know there was a 3rd part :|)

She sighed, we talked about this and that (Johnny Depp taking up a big portion of our time), and hung-up.

So basically, while I go watch Tobey Maguire, she’s drooling over older men like Johhny Depp! :-/ Am I to learn a lesson here?

Not dead yet... a second chance

When Emily hurriedly left from home that afternoon, she had a feeling that something was not quite right. She didn’t often receive such premonitions; precisely the reason why she couldn’t bring herself to think that “something was wrong”, instead she just thought that her inner feeling meant that “something was not quite right!”

Her 3:00 ‘o clock appointment on Sunday afternoon was long gone; and not met. She could scarcely remember what day or time it was now. She was barely 22, tall, about five feet eight, slender, had the body of a angel and the eyes of an adolescent. She wore a knee-length fitting black skirt and a beige open neck shirt that vaunted her full bosom. But right now, none of the boasting beauty showed in her eyes. She was unconscious and all that was left of her beautiful face was a gag in her mouth. Her legs haphazardly placed and her hands bound against her back and held together with piano wires. Her cheeks were blotched red, possibly as a result of hours of crying.

She half opened her eyes praying hard and hoping it were all a dream and that when she woke up, she’d be in her warm cozy bed with her dog Patsy excitedly licking at her face. Sadly, it wasn’t.

Oh God, please let this not be true, she prayed.

The harsh reality struck on her when she realized that these weren’t the walls of her room after all. When she finally woke up, her head still reeling from what she thought was the aftermath of some kind of strong drug that would have been induced upon her, it seemed to her that she could vaguely smell the sea, very close to where she was kept. She instantly became fully awake, tried to clear her head and thought of the last dreaded time he entered this same room.

“How much do you love me”, he had asked her. And when she hadn’t answered, he had grotesquely tortured her until she screamed out for help. And then, he had drugged her and tied her up.

She could still see two of everything. Her mind wasn’t clear yet. She tried to wriggle out of her bound hands but her body refused to co-operate; she fell back asleep knowing there is absolutely nothing she could do to free herself from the confinement.

She didn’t know how many hours, or days perhaps, she had been lying there until she didn’t feel the pain anymore. She was in the same room when she opened her eyes once again. Only this time, she wasn't gagged and her hands were unfastened. The man had been here, in this very same room, untied her hands.

The scent of the sea returned, along with the musty smell of the walls. She couldn’t hear it, but she was sure it was close. She couldn’t possibly be wrong on that one. How many many days had she spent on the sparkling sands of the beach 13 (or was it 14) years ago.

All those memories came flooding back to her; her parents and she driving to the beach two hours away from their home, Emily nonchalantly kicking sand behind her while running across the sandy beach, watching her delicate feet sink into the damp sand while the waves left the shore, inhaling the sent of the sea, letting the sea water lap against her hair while she playfully dipped her head into the waves, making the weirdest shaped sand castles with her castle equipment and cleverly asking her daddy if she did a good job (knowing well that she was daddy’s girl and he’d never do or say anything to hurt her).

All this and more came crashing down her memory lane, while lying in the bare bed. Her body was beaten, sore, and numb from the trashing she endured before. She regretted leaving her cozy apartment, leaving her faithful dog Patsy behind, leaving for her 3:00 ‘o clock appointment a little later than required, rushing to catch a cab, jumping out of the cab in a hurry, jaywalking, getting kidnapped!!!

She tried to scream out for help but all that her physical condition allowed her to do was let out a dull croak that merely came out as a whisper from her throat; she finally drifted off to sleep praying again that someone would find her, someone would save her, that in the remotest of possibilities she would (might?) be able to go all the way over and alter her course of actions. If only she had a second chance, to change her plans… Then, she would probably be able to play along the sands of her favorite beach once again, once again, until the next time!

PS: A work of fiction for Sunday Scribblings.

Happy Birthday, KK

Today is my BIL's Happy Birthdayyy :D. So here's a lil poem (that I stole) for him...

Instead of counting candles,
Or tallying the years,
Contemplate your blessings,
As your birthday nears.
Consider special people
Who love you, and who care,
And others who’ve enriched your life
Just by being there.
Think about the memories
Passing years can never mar,
Experiences great and small
That have made you who you are.
Another year is a happy gift,
So cut your cake, and say,
"Instead of counting birthdays,
I count blessings every day!"

Source: Internet

Essentials - I

An excerpt from The Kite Runner. One of the many lessons…

We were upstairs in Baba’s study, the smoking room, when I told him what Mullah Fatiullah Khan had taught us in class. Baba was pouring himself a whiskey from the bar he had built in the corner of the room. He listened, nodded, took a sip from his drink. Then he lowered himself into the leather sofa, put down his drink, and propped me up on his lap. I felt as if I were sitting on a pair of tree trunks. He took a deep breath and exhaled through his nose, the air hissing through his mustache for what seemed an eternity I couldn’t decide whether I wanted to hug him or leap from his lap in mortal fear.

“I see you’ve confused what you’re learning in school with actual education,” he said in his thick voice.

“But if what he said is true then does it make you a sinner, Baba?”

“Hmm.” Baba crushed an ice cube between his teeth. “Do you want to know what your father thinks about sin?”

“Yes.”

“Then I’ll tell you,” Baba said, “but first understand this and understand it now, Amir: You’ll never learn anything of value from those bearded idiots.”

“You mean Mullah Fatiullah Khan?”

Baba gestured with his glass. The ice clinked. “I mean all of them. Piss on the beards of all those self-righteous monkeys.”

I began to giggle. The image of Baba pissing on the beard of any monkey, self-righteous or otherwise, was too much.

“They do nothing but thumb their prayer beads and recite a book written in a tongue they don’t even understand.” He took a sip. “God help us all if Afghanistan ever falls into their hands.”

“But Mullah Fatiullah Khan seems nice,” I managed between bursts of tittering.

“So did Genghis Khan,” Baba said. “But enough about that. You asked about sin and I want to tell you. Are you listening?”

“Yes,” I said, pressing my lips together. But a chortle escaped through my nose and made a snorting sound. That got me giggling again.

Baba’s stony eyes bore into mine and, just like that, I wasn’t laughing anymore. “I mean to speak to you man to man. Do you think you can handle that for once?”

“Yes, Baba jan,” I muttered, marveling, not for the first time, at how badly Baba could sting me with so few words. We’d had a fleeting good moment--it wasn’t often Baba talked to me, let alone on his lap--and I’d been a fool to waste it.

“Good,” Baba said, but his eyes wondered. “Now, no matter what the mullah teaches, there is only one sin, only one. And that is theft. Every other sin is a variation of theft. Do you understand that?”

“No, Baba jan,” I said, desperately wishing I did. I didn’t want to disappoint him again.
Baba heaved a sigh of impatience. That stung too, because he was not an impatient man.

“When you kill a man, you steal a life,” Baba said. “You steal his wife’s right to a husband, rob his children of a father. When you tell a lie, you steal someone’s right to the truth. When you cheat, you steal the right to fairness. Do you see?”

I did.

“There is no act more wretched than stealing, Amir,” Baba said. “A man who takes what’s not his to take, be it a life or a loaf of naan... I spit on such a man. And if I ever cross paths with him, God help him. Do you understand?”

I found the idea of Baba clobbering a thief both exhilarating and terribly frightening. “Yes, Baba.”

“If there’s a God out there, then I would hope he has more important things to attend to than my drinking scotch or eating pork. Now, hop down. All this talk about sin has made me thirsty again.”

Colour me saffron, or whatever else

While some people are still trying to figure this out, and while some others are praying hard that Peter Parker of the all-time Spidey fame doesn’t get killed in Spiderman – 3 (Oh grow up will 'ya. How else will they make millions of more dollars if they don't make SM-4 and SM-5?), here are the waves of water-colours that have been happening with me…

- Three Mondays back, on a hot sultry afternoon, after seven and a half hours of standing in many different queues and open grounds, waiting diligently for my turn on the test drive, I got my driver’s license at 4:30 in the evening. So, Yaay!!!

- Started reading and then discontinued a book called “The Seven Minutes” by Irving Wallace. I didn’t think it was even worth retaining that book and paying that extra money to the library! :-/ No really, I was waiting and waiting and waiting endlessly for it to catch on some speed, in vain! I rather liked “The Seventh Secret” by the same author. A fantastic read I should say; read it about 4 or 5 years back and wouldn’t mind reading it again, but my library doesn’t seem to have it (*sniff*) maybe because of the controversial nature of the plot; but they’ve stacked loads of hard-bound and paperback versions of The Da Vinci Code all the same!

- I’m also reading “Shock” by Robin Cook and it isn’t any different from an earlier read “Brain”. I’m hoping this would have a credible storyline.

- Recovered from a migraine that lasted 40 hours, one sleepless night, and a whole day of internal audit meetings and all things relating to the assessment. Get what I’m saying? It was a miracle I didn’t throw things at the auditors. :D. But clearly, I'd been rude to someone, 'cos he oh-so-sweetly sent me this!

- Watched Rang De Basanti again!!! :) One of the very very few Hindi movies that I watched not only in the theatre but also watched it again at home! :)

And oh, the song I picked for this week may not be as chirpy as schnappi, but will guarantee to bring a smile to your lips. Thank God for friends! :)

No one could ever know me, no one could ever see me.
Seems like you're the only one who knows what it's like to be me.
Someone to face the day with, make it through all the rest with,
Someone I'll always laugh with, even at my worst, I'm best with you.

It's like you're always stuck in second gear,
Well, it hasn't been your day, your week, your month, or even your year.
But I'll be there for you

PS: But really, how can a superhero (a cute one at that) die? :-/ Please tell me he’s not gonna die! :-P


Picture Courtesy: Google