This movie is so bad, that I ain't going to bother writing a detailed analysis about it! Let me jump straight to my verdict:
This movie sucks ... Please ... For the love of god - stay away from it!!!
Thursday, February 21, 2008
My Back is all Messed Up
Aaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrggggghhhhhhhhhhh!!!
I don't know whether it is because of my daily 30+ kms commute to work on my 'dappaa' bike - or is it because of "Fireman's Lifting" Pradhaan at office today (He said he was not going to accompany me to breakfast. So, I "carried" him to the canteen!!!), but, the point remains that my back hurts like hell!!!
Dear Goooooooooooooood ... It hurts like hell!!!
:-((
I don't know whether it is because of my daily 30+ kms commute to work on my 'dappaa' bike - or is it because of "Fireman's Lifting" Pradhaan at office today (He said he was not going to accompany me to breakfast. So, I "carried" him to the canteen!!!), but, the point remains that my back hurts like hell!!!
Dear Goooooooooooooood ... It hurts like hell!!!
:-((
Robbed of Thirty thousand bucks!!!
In the hopes of pursuing an MBA, I had applied to the following universities/exams:
1. CAT - Rs. 1000/-
2. NITIE - Rs. 1000/-
3. SP Jain - Rs. 1000/-
4. FMS - Rs. 500/-
5. XAT - Rs. 1300/-
6. IMT - Rs. 1600/-
7. PGSEM - Rs. 500/- (IIMB's 2.5 year executive MBA program)
On top of that, I had enrolled for TIME's CAT classes. That cost me a whopping Rs. 20,000/-. Add to that the cost of traveling to and fro every weekend for the classes and exams, lunches, stationery, books, etc ... etc ... and I think I'd be justified in saying that it'd cost me around Rs. 2000/- over a span of 6 months (April - Nov).
Add to this, the cost of "moral boosting" with Rajesh after every dismal Mock CAT (read as booze party), and the sum goes up by another Rs. 2500/-.
Add these figures up, and, as if obvious, the amounts to well over thirty thousand bucks!
I feel I was looted because - after shelling out so much of money, time and energy, I did not get even a single call from any of the "A" grade MBA colleges. The only college that actually gave me a GD/PI call was IMT, which I was never very enthusiastic about anyways!
No offense meant to all you IMT'ians out there, but as per me - IMT just doesn't cut it!!!
1. CAT - Rs. 1000/-
2. NITIE - Rs. 1000/-
3. SP Jain - Rs. 1000/-
4. FMS - Rs. 500/-
5. XAT - Rs. 1300/-
6. IMT - Rs. 1600/-
7. PGSEM - Rs. 500/- (IIMB's 2.5 year executive MBA program)
On top of that, I had enrolled for TIME's CAT classes. That cost me a whopping Rs. 20,000/-. Add to that the cost of traveling to and fro every weekend for the classes and exams, lunches, stationery, books, etc ... etc ... and I think I'd be justified in saying that it'd cost me around Rs. 2000/- over a span of 6 months (April - Nov).
Add to this, the cost of "moral boosting" with Rajesh after every dismal Mock CAT (read as booze party), and the sum goes up by another Rs. 2500/-.
Add these figures up, and, as if obvious, the amounts to well over thirty thousand bucks!
I feel I was looted because - after shelling out so much of money, time and energy, I did not get even a single call from any of the "A" grade MBA colleges. The only college that actually gave me a GD/PI call was IMT, which I was never very enthusiastic about anyways!
No offense meant to all you IMT'ians out there, but as per me - IMT just doesn't cut it!!!
Monday, February 18, 2008
Feeling Very Lonely
Off late, I've been feeling very very lonely, and I have absolutely no clue as to why!!!
Maybe I can attribute this to suddenly having a lot of free time. For those of you who're wondering what that means - till about 4 weeks back, I was moonlighting and you could say - was juggling two full time jobs:
(a) My regular day job at Oracle, and,
(b) Consulting work at Carinov.
This left me very very busy, very very occupied, very very tired, and moreover stressed out. Ergo, all I wanted to do when I came home - during those days - was take a shower and crash!
Or, I could attribute this to having cut down on my liquor intake. From once/twice a week to once in maybe a month/two. Thanks to the cut down, I am sober in the evenings, and ergo, my mind is free to wander around and think silly (sometimes bordering stupid even) thoughts.
Or, I could attribute this to my office having shifted to outer ring road. Thanks to this, I come home pretty early these days - say by 6.30 pm (when my office was near Forum, I used to work, on most days atleast, till around 12 pm).
(For those of you who're wondering why I come home early now - its because Outer Ring Road is a pretty unsafe area once it gets dark, and like every other person - I fear for my life and valuables more than my work!)
To kill time during evenings, initially, I tried calling up my college and school batch mates. But, thanks to a soaring telephone bill, I had to give up that "hobby".
Later, I tried to revive the reading habit I used to have during my school days. But, sadly, reading is not so much fun when you do it every day, and moreover you're "having" to do it cause you have "nothing better" to do. Maybe many of you bookworms won't agree with me here - but hey - This is a democratic country, and in it - I'm entitled to voice my views and opinions too!
After this, I tried to work on improving my culinary skills. Justice be done, cooking does help one kill his time. And in my defense, I do make the "regular stuff" - like omelets, dosas, noodles, spaghetti, et al - pretty well.
But, when I try to experiment with new recipes, I end up either adding too much chilly or dhania or turmeric powder (or for that matter some ingredient or the other!), or if I am especially lucky - just burning it!
End result: The dish drills a wide hole in my stomach and large intestines, and I end up having to sit in the toilet - both at work and home - for extended hours till the excess chilly powder leaves my system. Finally, in my best interests, I decided not to experiment anymore!
(For example I tried my hand at making Potato Sagu last Monday (11/2/08). Everything went fine - till I added too much of the Potato Sagu Masala I'd bought the previous night. The end result - the dish was so damn 'hot' that my eyes and nose was watering. I tried to counter it by squeezing lemon over the dish, but lemon can only do so much. And thanks to the Sagu, I ended up in the toilet for the next 4 days!)
So, like all good things, that too came to an end.
Finally, I started resorting to watching movies. I found myself thinking - "Now, that is something that'd never fail!"
Well, to an extent, I was right. But, like my reading fiasco, when you're watching movies because you have nothing else to do - this too came to a screeching end.
And since we're on movies, let me talk about it a bit more...
After a very long hiatus, I started watching romantic flicks, and most surprisingly - started to like them!
I don't mean to say that I'm some sort of a "Grinch" when it comes to romancing and stuff. But seriously, I find most of the English and Hindi romance flicks a little toooooo mushy and gaaa-gaaa-gooo-gooo types for my tastes.
But, like I said a second earlier, I started savoring whatever bullshit the actors/directors were throwing at me!
And, I don't know whether its because of this, that I started feeling the need to "Complete Myself" (read as get myself a Girlfriend!)
(I can't believe I'm saying bullshit like this ... Must be an effect of watching them romance movies!)
Heck, its even got to the stage where, during the last couple of days, I was sitting and thinking - If I didn't break up with my college sweetie I'd probably not be feeling so damn low right now!!!
For those of you who know why we broke up - Well ... You'll understand that this means dire straits!
For those of you who don't know why we broke up - Well ... It's for good reasons you don't know about it - So, let's keep it that way!
As an engineer, and moreover an IT professional at that, I'm trained to solve "problems". So, I'm going to take this chance to solve this problem. The way I see it, I have the following options:
1. Start boozing everyday.
That way, I won't have the sense to feel lonely. And in the event I do - It’s just because I am drunk!
2. Tell my mom about this "feeling" of loneliness I am going through.
I already know what would happen if I did tell her about it. She's been trying to convince me to get married for a while now. This will just add value to her case. She'll start justifying and rallying her case by saying - "This will help you get over your loneliness!"
But, that’s like suggesting one to get their feet amputated - because your feet hurt. Agreed that moving forward your leg won't hurt anymore, but hey - you don't have a leg anymore.
Similarly, in this case, Agreed that I won't be lonely anymore. But, I'll be stuck with one girl for the rest of my life!!!
Not exactly the best of deals - at least the way I see it...
3. Hook up with someone.
Although this sounds like the most straightforward thing to do, it is also by far the toughest thing - for a plethora of reasons of course! So, let’s, at least for the moment, set it aside!
4. Shoot myself.
Well-wishers - don't worry - I'm not that desperate, at least not yet! It's just that I know Options 2 and 3 will "eventually" get me killed. So, I decided to put in another option that gets me there impromptu!
5. Find a new hobby.
But the million dollar question is what??? I've pretty much exhausted all my options - Reading Books, Cooking, Movies, Music ... Any suggestions are welcome on this front!
6. Enroll for Higher Studies.
Sadly, thanks to a "Not-So-Great" CAT score; I don't think I will be able to get into any good B-School this year. And, I'm not that desperate to enroll myself in some 3rd grade B-school like NIRMA or TAPMI! After all, B-Schools cost a huge pot of money, and I definitely want better and highly tangible return on investment than it proving to be a way to get over my loneliness!
Well, this is all I can think off for now. In case I find any more options, I will update this blog accordingly.
In the meanwhile, if any of you can come up with anything suggestive - please feel free to leave your valuable "ideas".
Maybe I can attribute this to suddenly having a lot of free time. For those of you who're wondering what that means - till about 4 weeks back, I was moonlighting and you could say - was juggling two full time jobs:
(a) My regular day job at Oracle, and,
(b) Consulting work at Carinov.
This left me very very busy, very very occupied, very very tired, and moreover stressed out. Ergo, all I wanted to do when I came home - during those days - was take a shower and crash!
Or, I could attribute this to having cut down on my liquor intake. From once/twice a week to once in maybe a month/two. Thanks to the cut down, I am sober in the evenings, and ergo, my mind is free to wander around and think silly (sometimes bordering stupid even) thoughts.
Or, I could attribute this to my office having shifted to outer ring road. Thanks to this, I come home pretty early these days - say by 6.30 pm (when my office was near Forum, I used to work, on most days atleast, till around 12 pm).
(For those of you who're wondering why I come home early now - its because Outer Ring Road is a pretty unsafe area once it gets dark, and like every other person - I fear for my life and valuables more than my work!)
To kill time during evenings, initially, I tried calling up my college and school batch mates. But, thanks to a soaring telephone bill, I had to give up that "hobby".
Later, I tried to revive the reading habit I used to have during my school days. But, sadly, reading is not so much fun when you do it every day, and moreover you're "having" to do it cause you have "nothing better" to do. Maybe many of you bookworms won't agree with me here - but hey - This is a democratic country, and in it - I'm entitled to voice my views and opinions too!
After this, I tried to work on improving my culinary skills. Justice be done, cooking does help one kill his time. And in my defense, I do make the "regular stuff" - like omelets, dosas, noodles, spaghetti, et al - pretty well.
But, when I try to experiment with new recipes, I end up either adding too much chilly or dhania or turmeric powder (or for that matter some ingredient or the other!), or if I am especially lucky - just burning it!
End result: The dish drills a wide hole in my stomach and large intestines, and I end up having to sit in the toilet - both at work and home - for extended hours till the excess chilly powder leaves my system. Finally, in my best interests, I decided not to experiment anymore!
(For example I tried my hand at making Potato Sagu last Monday (11/2/08). Everything went fine - till I added too much of the Potato Sagu Masala I'd bought the previous night. The end result - the dish was so damn 'hot' that my eyes and nose was watering. I tried to counter it by squeezing lemon over the dish, but lemon can only do so much. And thanks to the Sagu, I ended up in the toilet for the next 4 days!)
So, like all good things, that too came to an end.
Finally, I started resorting to watching movies. I found myself thinking - "Now, that is something that'd never fail!"
Well, to an extent, I was right. But, like my reading fiasco, when you're watching movies because you have nothing else to do - this too came to a screeching end.
And since we're on movies, let me talk about it a bit more...
After a very long hiatus, I started watching romantic flicks, and most surprisingly - started to like them!
I don't mean to say that I'm some sort of a "Grinch" when it comes to romancing and stuff. But seriously, I find most of the English and Hindi romance flicks a little toooooo mushy and gaaa-gaaa-gooo-gooo types for my tastes.
But, like I said a second earlier, I started savoring whatever bullshit the actors/directors were throwing at me!
And, I don't know whether its because of this, that I started feeling the need to "Complete Myself" (read as get myself a Girlfriend!)
(I can't believe I'm saying bullshit like this ... Must be an effect of watching them romance movies!)
Heck, its even got to the stage where, during the last couple of days, I was sitting and thinking - If I didn't break up with my college sweetie I'd probably not be feeling so damn low right now!!!
For those of you who know why we broke up - Well ... You'll understand that this means dire straits!
For those of you who don't know why we broke up - Well ... It's for good reasons you don't know about it - So, let's keep it that way!
As an engineer, and moreover an IT professional at that, I'm trained to solve "problems". So, I'm going to take this chance to solve this problem. The way I see it, I have the following options:
1. Start boozing everyday.
That way, I won't have the sense to feel lonely. And in the event I do - It’s just because I am drunk!
2. Tell my mom about this "feeling" of loneliness I am going through.
I already know what would happen if I did tell her about it. She's been trying to convince me to get married for a while now. This will just add value to her case. She'll start justifying and rallying her case by saying - "This will help you get over your loneliness!"
But, that’s like suggesting one to get their feet amputated - because your feet hurt. Agreed that moving forward your leg won't hurt anymore, but hey - you don't have a leg anymore.
Similarly, in this case, Agreed that I won't be lonely anymore. But, I'll be stuck with one girl for the rest of my life!!!
Not exactly the best of deals - at least the way I see it...
3. Hook up with someone.
Although this sounds like the most straightforward thing to do, it is also by far the toughest thing - for a plethora of reasons of course! So, let’s, at least for the moment, set it aside!
4. Shoot myself.
Well-wishers - don't worry - I'm not that desperate, at least not yet! It's just that I know Options 2 and 3 will "eventually" get me killed. So, I decided to put in another option that gets me there impromptu!
5. Find a new hobby.
But the million dollar question is what??? I've pretty much exhausted all my options - Reading Books, Cooking, Movies, Music ... Any suggestions are welcome on this front!
6. Enroll for Higher Studies.
Sadly, thanks to a "Not-So-Great" CAT score; I don't think I will be able to get into any good B-School this year. And, I'm not that desperate to enroll myself in some 3rd grade B-school like NIRMA or TAPMI! After all, B-Schools cost a huge pot of money, and I definitely want better and highly tangible return on investment than it proving to be a way to get over my loneliness!
Well, this is all I can think off for now. In case I find any more options, I will update this blog accordingly.
In the meanwhile, if any of you can come up with anything suggestive - please feel free to leave your valuable "ideas".
Doom 3 - Yahooooooooooooo ... Finished it
Finally ... After around 10 days of hard work, I finished the game. Accepted, that at certain levels I had to use cheat codes, but hey - I did finish of the game didn't I. And the way I see it - That's all that counts!!!
;-)
Anyways, here's my verdict regarding the game:
The graphics is mind blowing, the game settings and storyline is spooky/scary, its got a host of weapons, and even more types of aliens, the sound effects is absolutely stunning. On the whole the game rocks!
Those of you who haven't played the game yet - please don't miss an the opportunity to play it. Trust me when I say - "You'll love every minute of it!"
The next game I've installed on my PC, and am yet to try it though, is MS Flight Simulator 2004. Lets see how much I like that one. Till my next blog - Keep smiling!!!
;-)
Anyways, here's my verdict regarding the game:
The graphics is mind blowing, the game settings and storyline is spooky/scary, its got a host of weapons, and even more types of aliens, the sound effects is absolutely stunning. On the whole the game rocks!
Those of you who haven't played the game yet - please don't miss an the opportunity to play it. Trust me when I say - "You'll love every minute of it!"
The next game I've installed on my PC, and am yet to try it though, is MS Flight Simulator 2004. Lets see how much I like that one. Till my next blog - Keep smiling!!!
IMT GD/PI Calls
Yesterday (9-Feb-2008), my uncle rang me up and informed me that I had received calls for GD/PI from IMT Ghaziabad (Since we'll me moving into a new house soon - I had given my communication address as my uncles' address). I wouldn't say I was particularly elated or anything, but yes, I agree that I was indeed "happy" at having got at least "a" call from some college. The reason I ain't particularly elated is because - after having, as jealous people say, a "pedigreed" education at N.I.T Calicut, and working at Oracle, I frankly don't know whether doing an MBA from IMT is really worth my while. To put it point blank, I sometimes even think that it might dampen my presently bright resume.
Either ways, I think I should give it my best shot. If I do manage to clear it - I can then choose whether/not to accept their invitation to join. Since the interview is scheduled for 26-Feb-2008, I'd better start reading up on current affairs and the other crap that they'll be asking me for my GD/PI right away!
(I haven't read a news paper in around 7 years now!)
Wish me luck folks!!!
Either ways, I think I should give it my best shot. If I do manage to clear it - I can then choose whether/not to accept their invitation to join. Since the interview is scheduled for 26-Feb-2008, I'd better start reading up on current affairs and the other crap that they'll be asking me for my GD/PI right away!
(I haven't read a news paper in around 7 years now!)
Wish me luck folks!!!
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Widening Generation Gaps
I was watching this movie called American Chai today (05-Feb-2008). Although the movie deals with the topic - "Woes of 2nd Generation American Indian at the hands of their parents", it is a topic which has been picturized to death. I must agree, though, that it has some really bright performances - The most striking being Paresh Rawal. He's done the role of an Indian Dad who's son was born and bought up in the USA, and ergo has more American values than Indian ones, and has to cope up with his sons' decision to pursue a career in music!
From comedy roles to serious roles - this guy handles everything with panache ... Hats off to you Paresh!!!
But, my main intention of this blog was not to talk about the movie per se. What I wanted to write about was something else. I have this really good friend (I am not mentioning her name because I don't think she'd want me to be so damn public about what I am going to talk about) who, along with her parents, migrated to the USA about 7 years back.
And a lot of things about the movie reminded me of the stuff that she was (and still is) going through during her stay there. Her parents were the characteristic "Malayali Christians" who had stumbled upon a chance to go to the land of dreams and make it big. Translated into layman's terms - these were people who were in the land where "Gay Marriages" were legal - But at heart they were as Orthodox as Orthodox can be, and at the risk of sounding rude, maybe even pre-historic regarding their thoughts, view, outlook and approach towards life!
I won't side completely with my friend here - cause she did some stuff which were not very "Indianish", and moreover not very "Malluish", in nature (like having a Non-Mallu Boyfriend, chilling out with the "American" crowd, drinking liquor, losing virginity to someone other than your husband, having sex with her BF before marriage, etc, etc, etc). And I only say I wont side with her completely because - I do have to take into account the fact that no Indian parents, however modern they are, will be able to digest all those things - at least not in one stretch!!!
But, I will completely defend her by saying - it's her life and she had more say about it than anyone else!!!
But, anyways, the issue remains that her parents were not approving of her lifestyle! And as can be expected from any Indian family - and that too a Orthodox Mallu Christian one at that - they imposed "bans" after "bans" on her. She tells me that, at times, she got beaten black and blue and in a couple of occasions - even whipped!!!
(I just felt soooooo sorry for her when I heard her parents still beat their 21 year old daughter to get their points through!)
But, anyways, contrary to their expectations, it just made the situation worse.
She just got ticked off even more, and started doing stuff just to get her "revenge" (But, ofcourse, she was smart enough not to get caught!).
Again, I wouldn't blame her per se. What else could you expect from a teenager?
I mean - come on - haven't you done stuff just to tick off your parents, just because they ticked you off in some way or the other (for example - Just for shouting and grounding you for flunking that test in school - didn't you ever try to get revenge on your dad by smoking your first cigarette?)
;-)
All that said and done, I was just wondering - It would be great if parents just understood what kids were going through and helped them outlive those "phases" - instead of just bossing them around and making life a "living hell" for them!!!
I understand it might be very different from what/how things were during their generation - but they better accept it ... Times have changed ... And its best that they should too!!!
Lets try to do some justice to people under the "parents" category by saying "They're just not trying hard enough to accept the facts that things have changed in the last 30 years since they were teenagers". This is what leads to them to try and oppress their kids feelings and thoughts, and thereby, aid them in living in a world of denial.
All I can say is - they're in for a rude shock if thats what they plan to do forever!!!
Not that my one blog is going to change your mindset or viewpoint or culturally oriented stereotyped inclinations ... But - I believe - It would, at the very least, serve as food for thought!!!
From comedy roles to serious roles - this guy handles everything with panache ... Hats off to you Paresh!!!
But, my main intention of this blog was not to talk about the movie per se. What I wanted to write about was something else. I have this really good friend (I am not mentioning her name because I don't think she'd want me to be so damn public about what I am going to talk about) who, along with her parents, migrated to the USA about 7 years back.
And a lot of things about the movie reminded me of the stuff that she was (and still is) going through during her stay there. Her parents were the characteristic "Malayali Christians" who had stumbled upon a chance to go to the land of dreams and make it big. Translated into layman's terms - these were people who were in the land where "Gay Marriages" were legal - But at heart they were as Orthodox as Orthodox can be, and at the risk of sounding rude, maybe even pre-historic regarding their thoughts, view, outlook and approach towards life!
I won't side completely with my friend here - cause she did some stuff which were not very "Indianish", and moreover not very "Malluish", in nature (like having a Non-Mallu Boyfriend, chilling out with the "American" crowd, drinking liquor, losing virginity to someone other than your husband, having sex with her BF before marriage, etc, etc, etc). And I only say I wont side with her completely because - I do have to take into account the fact that no Indian parents, however modern they are, will be able to digest all those things - at least not in one stretch!!!
But, I will completely defend her by saying - it's her life and she had more say about it than anyone else!!!
But, anyways, the issue remains that her parents were not approving of her lifestyle! And as can be expected from any Indian family - and that too a Orthodox Mallu Christian one at that - they imposed "bans" after "bans" on her. She tells me that, at times, she got beaten black and blue and in a couple of occasions - even whipped!!!
(I just felt soooooo sorry for her when I heard her parents still beat their 21 year old daughter to get their points through!)
But, anyways, contrary to their expectations, it just made the situation worse.
She just got ticked off even more, and started doing stuff just to get her "revenge" (But, ofcourse, she was smart enough not to get caught!).
Again, I wouldn't blame her per se. What else could you expect from a teenager?
I mean - come on - haven't you done stuff just to tick off your parents, just because they ticked you off in some way or the other (for example - Just for shouting and grounding you for flunking that test in school - didn't you ever try to get revenge on your dad by smoking your first cigarette?)
;-)
All that said and done, I was just wondering - It would be great if parents just understood what kids were going through and helped them outlive those "phases" - instead of just bossing them around and making life a "living hell" for them!!!
I understand it might be very different from what/how things were during their generation - but they better accept it ... Times have changed ... And its best that they should too!!!
Lets try to do some justice to people under the "parents" category by saying "They're just not trying hard enough to accept the facts that things have changed in the last 30 years since they were teenagers". This is what leads to them to try and oppress their kids feelings and thoughts, and thereby, aid them in living in a world of denial.
All I can say is - they're in for a rude shock if thats what they plan to do forever!!!
Not that my one blog is going to change your mindset or viewpoint or culturally oriented stereotyped inclinations ... But - I believe - It would, at the very least, serve as food for thought!!!
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
MBA Admissions
Like another 2 lakh odd people, this year - I too wrote the Common Admission Test (CAT 2007). My results were not dismal, but sadly, not very good either. With an overal percentile of 96.71 (95.02 QA + 69.75 DI + 98.93 VA), it is pretty obvious that I didn't get any calls from the prestigious IIM's.
And even more so, thanks to the dismal DI sectional score, my chances of making it into any of the other Top B-Schools - like S.P Jain, NITIE, etc - is also pretty much ruled out.
All I can say is - Next Year, hopefully, I'll be a bit more lucky!
:-)
And even more so, thanks to the dismal DI sectional score, my chances of making it into any of the other Top B-Schools - like S.P Jain, NITIE, etc - is also pretty much ruled out.
All I can say is - Next Year, hopefully, I'll be a bit more lucky!
:-)
Mid Night @ Brigade Road
On Saturday (02-Feb-2008), me and a couple of friends from school, headed over to Brigade Road around 1.00 am. There were quite a few pubs and night clubs in and around Brigades. And the prime reason we had decided to go there - was to get a glimpse of the party crowd. Either they'd be chilling out there, or heading home. But the point remains - they would be there!
I do agree that the 20 odd minutes we were there was visual ecstasy for all of us, but, I did see a couple of disturbing things as well.
For starters, there was this piss drunk kid on his bicycle who lost his balance and ended up falling right in front of our car! Thankfully, my friend Cherry - who was driving the vehicle at that time - was alert, and moreover quick enough, to apply the brakes and avert any untoward incident.
After this, for the first time in my life, I saw a hooker on the streets. At first I didn't notice. But, it was Cherry and another friend of mine - Fayaz - who pointed out the sight. She was dressed up in this blood red and really revealing costume, and was pacing up and down the road trying to find herself a "customer".
I don't know why - but seeing a "live" prostitute - freaked me out! All I wanted to do was get away from that place as fast as I could!
Another 30 secs later, I saw some drunk buggers molesting a foreigner (lady). That was a really sad sight. The girl was frantically trying to get away from 3 thugs, and all those jerks wanted to do was touch her privates! Cherry wanted to stop the car and fight the goons. Ofcourse - he's a body builder and has a black belt in Karate - and ergo can take on 3 people! But that was not the case with the rest of us. Besides, the guys looked really really shady. The typical underworld sort of characters! I was pretty sure that atleast one of them had a knife or gun hidden away somewhere in his clothes!
With these perturbing (read as freaking scary) thoughts in mind - we somehow convinced Cherry to just drive away from the spot. I feel guilty for not having gone to the rescue of that helpless lady. But, something tells me that if I did, I'd probably no be around to write this blog right now!
Hopefully - she got home safe and sound!
On the whole, these sights had a very disturbing feel to it. I wouldn't even hesitate to say - it kindda spoiled my mood!
I do agree that the 20 odd minutes we were there was visual ecstasy for all of us, but, I did see a couple of disturbing things as well.
For starters, there was this piss drunk kid on his bicycle who lost his balance and ended up falling right in front of our car! Thankfully, my friend Cherry - who was driving the vehicle at that time - was alert, and moreover quick enough, to apply the brakes and avert any untoward incident.
After this, for the first time in my life, I saw a hooker on the streets. At first I didn't notice. But, it was Cherry and another friend of mine - Fayaz - who pointed out the sight. She was dressed up in this blood red and really revealing costume, and was pacing up and down the road trying to find herself a "customer".
I don't know why - but seeing a "live" prostitute - freaked me out! All I wanted to do was get away from that place as fast as I could!
Another 30 secs later, I saw some drunk buggers molesting a foreigner (lady). That was a really sad sight. The girl was frantically trying to get away from 3 thugs, and all those jerks wanted to do was touch her privates! Cherry wanted to stop the car and fight the goons. Ofcourse - he's a body builder and has a black belt in Karate - and ergo can take on 3 people! But that was not the case with the rest of us. Besides, the guys looked really really shady. The typical underworld sort of characters! I was pretty sure that atleast one of them had a knife or gun hidden away somewhere in his clothes!
With these perturbing (read as freaking scary) thoughts in mind - we somehow convinced Cherry to just drive away from the spot. I feel guilty for not having gone to the rescue of that helpless lady. But, something tells me that if I did, I'd probably no be around to write this blog right now!
Hopefully - she got home safe and sound!
On the whole, these sights had a very disturbing feel to it. I wouldn't even hesitate to say - it kindda spoiled my mood!
Saturday Night Bonanza
Finally, after an extremely loooooooooooong hiatus, today (02-Feb-2008) was a weekend when I didn't have anything related to "work" bugging me - be it my full time job, my freelance consulting, or anything else for that matter!
So, as can be expected, I caught up on some sleep (read as I woke up @ 11 am), and after that I was checking out the movie - National Treasure (Ofcourse - a Pirated version of it!)
That's when I got a call from one of best friends - Cherry B Koshy. Before I go on to rest of the story, let me speak a few words about Cherry. Cherry and me go back a loooooooooooooong way. To be more precise - we we were classmates during 11th Grade @ Chinmaya Vidyalaya, Vaduthala (Cochin). We were best of friends then - as we are now!
If you want me to describe him in one sentence - "He's got King Kongs' body and a puppy's heart!"
(Cherry - If you're reading this - PLEASE DON'T KILL ME!!!)
So, with no further ado, lets move on to the story ...
Cherry: "Da ... What you doing today?"
Me: "Nothing much ... Just watching a movie!"
Cherry: "Then you do one thing! Get dressed ... We're going out!"
Me: "Is it to check out that 2nd hand car thingy?"
(I was planning to buy a second hand car - for which he had said he'd help me find a good car/deal!)
Cherry: "Not really ... We'll do your car thingy later into the day though. But right now, its for a re-union."
Honestly speaking, I wasn't very ultra thrilled by the idea of having to drag myself out of the comforts of my home to meet with my friends whom I hadn't spoken to in over 7 years now. But since Cherry had asked me - I couldn't refuse.
Me: "Ok ... What time are we meeting?"
Cherry: "For Lunch."
Me: "You picking me up?"
Cherry: "Sure ... You wait at that petrol bunk near your house ... I'll pick up in a bit!"
Me: "Fair enough ... Who else is coming?"
Cherry: "Lots of our old friends will be coming ... It'll be fun man!"
Me: "I hope so ... Anyways - see you in a bit."
At the petrol bunk I met my school mate Thushar. It turned out that Cherry had offered to pick him up as well.
Since Cherry was late by about 15 mins, we took the opportunity to catch up on old times. It was really fun chit-chatting with old pals like him!!!
:-)
As promised, he picked us (Me and my friend Thushar) and we headed over to Barbecue nation for lunch. I found out during the course of the journey that a couple of other people had backed out and it was just the 3 of us for the re-union per se.
A 25 min wait time later, we were enjoying a lovely meal at Barbecue Nation (They have the best Kebabs in Bangalore - and that too - its unlimited!).
The lunch lasted around 3 hours (I mean it - we were the last people to leave the restaurant - At 4.30 pm).
After this, we were supposed to meet another friend - Fayaz - at the Barista outlet nearby. That meeting lasted another 1.30 hrs. It is at this point that another old friend - Pallavi- said she'd drop in, but she'd be another hour. So, everyone decided to kill another hour and meet up with her as well.
By this time, do your math if you wanna cross-verify, the time was around 7.30 pm. And, all I wanted to do was leave. Don't get me wrong here - I was having a good time catching up with friends from school. But, I had another appointment to make - with my batchmates from college!
But, come what may - Cherry kept compelling me to stay. If anyone else in the trio there had asked me to stay - I'd have very politely wriggled my way out. But, like I said earlier, since it was Cherry who asked me to stay - I just couldn't brush it aside. So, I decided to stay back - albeit half-heartedly!
But, you know what, it was the best decision I took in a really loooooooooooooooooooooong while!
(I'll explain why in a bit ...)
Since Cherry wasn't very comfortable driving with an unfamiliar girl in co-passenger seat (although it was his car we were in), Fayaz offered to drive. So, we head over to Pallavi's place - pick her up and then head over to a pub at Indiranagar, called "Stones", for a beer. It's a pretty neat spot - but, let me add a disclaimer - it isn't all that great a place to hang out either! In other words - it's just worth one visit. Period!
We had a nice time there - catching up on old school stories, gossips, pulling each other's legs ... etc ... etc ... etc ...
(Btw - Pallavi is getting engaged sometime soon - Please join me in congratulating her on that!)
After pub closing hours, obviously, we had to drop Pallavi home. This time, Cherry said - "I'll Drive!". A couple of Wheel spins, 120 Km/hr drags, nail bitting and tyre screeching 90 degree turns - we dropped her off at her place. After that, we headed over to Brigade Road to grab a cup of tea.
Once we were done with our teas', Cherry suggested that we go for a drive. Since, none of us had anything better to do, we tagged along. This time, Fayaz was at the wheels.
We hit the Tumkur - Hebbal highway. We were easily doing 100+ when a guy in a Maruti Swift challenged us to a drag race. Fayaz took on the dare. What followed was an adrenaline rush, mind blowing 20 seconds! Our car was doing 120 kmph in the 3rd gear. The Swift didn't stand a chance against the monstrous power the Palio was churning out.
To put it in a drags'ters terminology - "We Smoked em!"
After that race, we dropped off Fayaz at his place and headed home. This time, we took the Inner Ring Road route via Domlur. It goes without saying that Cherry was at the wheels.
Suddenly, without any warning whatsoever, he says - "Hold on guys!"
And before we realize, he's racing with a Scorpio. That guy already had a lead of around 300 mts when Cherry down-shifted to 3rd gear. But, in less that 7 secs - we were at 130 and had overtaken the Scorpio bloke. On top of that - Cherry's driving was fucking cool. He swinged in and out of the traffic with such ease that it left me and Thushar spellbound.
At this time, we also saw a couple of bikers doing races and stunts of their own. I saw 2 guys on a Fiero 2 pull off a wheelie. It was a pretty cool sight, but I must also add, that it was pretty stupid of em to do it right in the middle of the Inner Ring Road!
At this juncture, Cherry slowed down so as to not hurt the bikers unintentionally. The Scorpio guy, who BTW was still frantically trying to catch up with us, made the maximum use of this and almost caught up with us. But, then, it was back to 3rd gear and 130 Kmph for us. We "smoked" him yet again! Another 10 secs later, he was no where to be seen. An ecstatic Cherry was shouting - "That fucker picked the wrong car to mess with!"
For those of you into Computer Gaming - If you've played Need For Speed ... Well - Let me just put it this way - I was pretty much living Need For Speed that Saturday Night.
(For those of you who don't know what Need For Speed is - Its a game adaptation of the movie Fast and Furious. For people who don't know what Fast and Furious is - GET A LIFE!!!)
Maaaaaaaaaan ... It was by far the most amazing drive I've ever had. I do agree, there were moments when I really thought what we were doing was crazy, and that we were gonna end up dying for sure! But, my trust in Cherry's driving skills was what prevented me from jumping out in between!
But, honestly, on the whole - It was a fun, extremely crazy and most importantly - a very fulfilling evening!
Thanks a looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooot for this Cherry. I really needed the break!!!
Btw - I'm so damn impressed with your car - that I'm gonna start saving up for one!
:)
*****************************
* Very Important Disclaimer *
*****************************
Street Racing is very very very dangerous and moreover - Its illegal. It could cost you your life or at the very least - get you a jail sentence!!!
I would never advise anyone anywhere, whoever it be, to try this on the streets!!!
So, as can be expected, I caught up on some sleep (read as I woke up @ 11 am), and after that I was checking out the movie - National Treasure (Ofcourse - a Pirated version of it!)
That's when I got a call from one of best friends - Cherry B Koshy. Before I go on to rest of the story, let me speak a few words about Cherry. Cherry and me go back a loooooooooooooong way. To be more precise - we we were classmates during 11th Grade @ Chinmaya Vidyalaya, Vaduthala (Cochin). We were best of friends then - as we are now!
If you want me to describe him in one sentence - "He's got King Kongs' body and a puppy's heart!"
(Cherry - If you're reading this - PLEASE DON'T KILL ME!!!)
So, with no further ado, lets move on to the story ...
Cherry: "Da ... What you doing today?"
Me: "Nothing much ... Just watching a movie!"
Cherry: "Then you do one thing! Get dressed ... We're going out!"
Me: "Is it to check out that 2nd hand car thingy?"
(I was planning to buy a second hand car - for which he had said he'd help me find a good car/deal!)
Cherry: "Not really ... We'll do your car thingy later into the day though. But right now, its for a re-union."
Honestly speaking, I wasn't very ultra thrilled by the idea of having to drag myself out of the comforts of my home to meet with my friends whom I hadn't spoken to in over 7 years now. But since Cherry had asked me - I couldn't refuse.
Me: "Ok ... What time are we meeting?"
Cherry: "For Lunch."
Me: "You picking me up?"
Cherry: "Sure ... You wait at that petrol bunk near your house ... I'll pick up in a bit!"
Me: "Fair enough ... Who else is coming?"
Cherry: "Lots of our old friends will be coming ... It'll be fun man!"
Me: "I hope so ... Anyways - see you in a bit."
At the petrol bunk I met my school mate Thushar. It turned out that Cherry had offered to pick him up as well.
Since Cherry was late by about 15 mins, we took the opportunity to catch up on old times. It was really fun chit-chatting with old pals like him!!!
:-)
As promised, he picked us (Me and my friend Thushar) and we headed over to Barbecue nation for lunch. I found out during the course of the journey that a couple of other people had backed out and it was just the 3 of us for the re-union per se.
A 25 min wait time later, we were enjoying a lovely meal at Barbecue Nation (They have the best Kebabs in Bangalore - and that too - its unlimited!).
The lunch lasted around 3 hours (I mean it - we were the last people to leave the restaurant - At 4.30 pm).
After this, we were supposed to meet another friend - Fayaz - at the Barista outlet nearby. That meeting lasted another 1.30 hrs. It is at this point that another old friend - Pallavi- said she'd drop in, but she'd be another hour. So, everyone decided to kill another hour and meet up with her as well.
By this time, do your math if you wanna cross-verify, the time was around 7.30 pm. And, all I wanted to do was leave. Don't get me wrong here - I was having a good time catching up with friends from school. But, I had another appointment to make - with my batchmates from college!
But, come what may - Cherry kept compelling me to stay. If anyone else in the trio there had asked me to stay - I'd have very politely wriggled my way out. But, like I said earlier, since it was Cherry who asked me to stay - I just couldn't brush it aside. So, I decided to stay back - albeit half-heartedly!
But, you know what, it was the best decision I took in a really loooooooooooooooooooooong while!
(I'll explain why in a bit ...)
Since Cherry wasn't very comfortable driving with an unfamiliar girl in co-passenger seat (although it was his car we were in), Fayaz offered to drive. So, we head over to Pallavi's place - pick her up and then head over to a pub at Indiranagar, called "Stones", for a beer. It's a pretty neat spot - but, let me add a disclaimer - it isn't all that great a place to hang out either! In other words - it's just worth one visit. Period!
We had a nice time there - catching up on old school stories, gossips, pulling each other's legs ... etc ... etc ... etc ...
(Btw - Pallavi is getting engaged sometime soon - Please join me in congratulating her on that!)
After pub closing hours, obviously, we had to drop Pallavi home. This time, Cherry said - "I'll Drive!". A couple of Wheel spins, 120 Km/hr drags, nail bitting and tyre screeching 90 degree turns - we dropped her off at her place. After that, we headed over to Brigade Road to grab a cup of tea.
Once we were done with our teas', Cherry suggested that we go for a drive. Since, none of us had anything better to do, we tagged along. This time, Fayaz was at the wheels.
We hit the Tumkur - Hebbal highway. We were easily doing 100+ when a guy in a Maruti Swift challenged us to a drag race. Fayaz took on the dare. What followed was an adrenaline rush, mind blowing 20 seconds! Our car was doing 120 kmph in the 3rd gear. The Swift didn't stand a chance against the monstrous power the Palio was churning out.
To put it in a drags'ters terminology - "We Smoked em!"
After that race, we dropped off Fayaz at his place and headed home. This time, we took the Inner Ring Road route via Domlur. It goes without saying that Cherry was at the wheels.
Suddenly, without any warning whatsoever, he says - "Hold on guys!"
And before we realize, he's racing with a Scorpio. That guy already had a lead of around 300 mts when Cherry down-shifted to 3rd gear. But, in less that 7 secs - we were at 130 and had overtaken the Scorpio bloke. On top of that - Cherry's driving was fucking cool. He swinged in and out of the traffic with such ease that it left me and Thushar spellbound.
At this time, we also saw a couple of bikers doing races and stunts of their own. I saw 2 guys on a Fiero 2 pull off a wheelie. It was a pretty cool sight, but I must also add, that it was pretty stupid of em to do it right in the middle of the Inner Ring Road!
At this juncture, Cherry slowed down so as to not hurt the bikers unintentionally. The Scorpio guy, who BTW was still frantically trying to catch up with us, made the maximum use of this and almost caught up with us. But, then, it was back to 3rd gear and 130 Kmph for us. We "smoked" him yet again! Another 10 secs later, he was no where to be seen. An ecstatic Cherry was shouting - "That fucker picked the wrong car to mess with!"
For those of you into Computer Gaming - If you've played Need For Speed ... Well - Let me just put it this way - I was pretty much living Need For Speed that Saturday Night.
(For those of you who don't know what Need For Speed is - Its a game adaptation of the movie Fast and Furious. For people who don't know what Fast and Furious is - GET A LIFE!!!)
Maaaaaaaaaan ... It was by far the most amazing drive I've ever had. I do agree, there were moments when I really thought what we were doing was crazy, and that we were gonna end up dying for sure! But, my trust in Cherry's driving skills was what prevented me from jumping out in between!
But, honestly, on the whole - It was a fun, extremely crazy and most importantly - a very fulfilling evening!
Thanks a looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooot for this Cherry. I really needed the break!!!
Btw - I'm so damn impressed with your car - that I'm gonna start saving up for one!
:)
*****************************
* Very Important Disclaimer *
*****************************
Street Racing is very very very dangerous and moreover - Its illegal. It could cost you your life or at the very least - get you a jail sentence!!!
I would never advise anyone anywhere, whoever it be, to try this on the streets!!!
Latest Computer Gaming Craze - DOOM 3
After a tryst with it around 3 years back (during the final year of my college), today I started playing DOOM 3 again. It's every bit as scary and difficult as it was back then. Sadly, during my college days, I was so damn spooked by the game that I discontinued playing it and pursued less scary games like AOE and Quake 3.
Take my word for it when I say its a very scary game to play - especially if you have a Good Graphics Card (to be read as a GeForce 6 series, and upwards, card) and a 4.1 Creative Inspire Speaker System!
Hopefully, this time around - atleast - I will muster all the guts I'd need to complete the game!
Doom 3 Aliens - Here I come!!!
Take my word for it when I say its a very scary game to play - especially if you have a Good Graphics Card (to be read as a GeForce 6 series, and upwards, card) and a 4.1 Creative Inspire Speaker System!
Hopefully, this time around - atleast - I will muster all the guts I'd need to complete the game!
Doom 3 Aliens - Here I come!!!
An Expensive Habit
Yesterday evening, I was plain bored - as usual - and so, I decided to create an Index of all the book titles I had bought over the last 12 months of my stay at Bangalore. And whilst I was at it, i thought it would be fun to find out how much I had blown on books during this period. The results were, if nothing else, SPOOKY!!!
I had blown Rs. 7658.50/- on books in the last 1 year alone, and if I hadn't done the accounting bit yesterday, I would have been in the dark about the same! I never actually realized that those "kutti" ... "kutti" (read as teenie weenie) book shopping trips of mine - each of which would cost me around Rs. 500 to Rs. 800 - would culminate in such a Goliath amount!!!
Justice be done - I loved every book I bought. And to me atleast, they represent a collectors item.
Each of them, in some way or the other, helped me - either by means of motivating me or giving me an additional info or "gyan", so to say, which I was able to use at some point or the other.
So, honestly speaking - I dont really repent having pumped in so much of my hard earned cash into buying these books, but, atleast moving forward, I am seriously considering NOT investing so much in books. Maybe a budget of around Rs. 2000 - Rs. 3000 per year would be more of an acceptable scale per se.
What say???
I had blown Rs. 7658.50/- on books in the last 1 year alone, and if I hadn't done the accounting bit yesterday, I would have been in the dark about the same! I never actually realized that those "kutti" ... "kutti" (read as teenie weenie) book shopping trips of mine - each of which would cost me around Rs. 500 to Rs. 800 - would culminate in such a Goliath amount!!!
Justice be done - I loved every book I bought. And to me atleast, they represent a collectors item.
Each of them, in some way or the other, helped me - either by means of motivating me or giving me an additional info or "gyan", so to say, which I was able to use at some point or the other.
So, honestly speaking - I dont really repent having pumped in so much of my hard earned cash into buying these books, but, atleast moving forward, I am seriously considering NOT investing so much in books. Maybe a budget of around Rs. 2000 - Rs. 3000 per year would be more of an acceptable scale per se.
What say???
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