Life Extends Beyond Software Coolies

Once upon a time!

noreply@blogger.com (Anand Vaidya) — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 00:23:00 +0000

Once upon a time..
1. We used to maintain a dedicated address book for our emails, and used to forward interesting pieces religiously.
2. We used to BUZZ each others on Yahoo messengers just for fun.
3. We used to forward SMSes to each other
4. We used to religiously follow the profiles of people on Orkut, especially their relationship statuses.
5. We used to switch off the TV when Aaila Sachin used to get out.

Life changes, river flows, time changes, priorities shift, new winds blow.

Valentines' Day!

noreply@blogger.com (Anand Vaidya) — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 07:09:00 +0000

She was waiting for him in front of the posh restaurant on the wintry evening. The love was in air, and the roads were full of couples walking hand in hand. It didn’t need an astrologer to tell that it was Valentines’ Day. The breeze flew through her hair, gently unwinding them. Mumbling, she checked her hair in the pocket mirror. She was a petite woman in her early twenties, a sure head-turner in her college. Her favorite purple one-piece dress was endowed with matching earrings and make-up. Her eyes were looking for someone. ‘These men never come on time!’ she muttered, ‘Even on the day when it matters the most!’
Suddenly her mind went back a year, she was looking for her bogie in Mumbai-Kolkata Gitanjali Express. ‘Damn, it’s at the end of the platform, and I have so much of luggage to carry’ she exasperated. She looked around for coolies but seemingly there were on strike. She was so much tired, that she was about to give up and sit on the floor, and then someone offered to help. She looked up and found a charming person. He offered to help; she was worried at first instant but his friendly voice drove away her anxiety. Incidentally he was also seated in her compartment and in a while, she found her discussing with him subjects ranging from History to Astronomy, from cooking to Philosophy. On reaching Howrah station, she found it very natural to exchange their phone numbers.

He was based out of Kolkata and she was in Mumbai yet Tata Indicom helped them to remain in touch. The number of hours that they chatted per day averaged more than 4 hours. They just forgot about the geographical distance. He liked her personality, she was pretty, mature and understanding! Both of them enjoyed good music and movies and became quite close friends over the time.
Cell phone, google talk, the more they spent time together, the more she liked him. They had spent chatting almost 6 months, and then she decided,’ enough is enough; I am going to ask him!’ For her, he was the dream man, the handsome prince. He was the man of character, of conviction, of belief! And she wanted to go ahead in the relationship.
And suddenly, he told her that he is coming to Mumbai over weekend for some work. She was so elated! She treated herself with an ice-cream. She spent hours surfing the internet, trying to search the best lines. ‘We are going to meet this weekend’, she had thought while memorizing those line.

She loved him, and she was going to see him again after almost 6 months .She had wanted to do this for a very long time now.... and tonight she was going to tell him....
And suddenly her cheeks turned red, she saw her man walking towards the restaurant. He looked so handsome in his blazer, he had changed his hairstyle: Had gone completely bald. Her heartbeats increased,’ It has to be this time!’ She was nervous but was trying her best to meet her composure. In the mean time, the best guy in the world was next to her; they shook hands, exchanged pleasantries and walked inside the restaurant.
The dinner was ordered, and they started talking. She felt the romance in the air. Looking at him, she gave a smile. Her eyes were full of dreams, she was going to propose him and they were going to get married, and live happily ever after. She would see him everyday morning at breakfast, give a goodbye kiss when they leave for office - life would be perfect. ‘Yes, I want a perfect life. Don’t fret, go on! Be positive!’ She took a deep breath, and drank a glass of water. The blood ran into her brain, after all in a short while, she was going to say those lines , he will be positive to her and the rest will be history!

But..But she just couldn’t believe her ears.’ This is just not possible’, she gasped. She felt like losing consciousness. The nervousness started gripping her. She pinched herself. Her clothes were drenched; her face was full of tears. She heard him saying: ‘I met doctors and they said that its cancer………..’, her mind went numb. She couldn’t hear anymore, her smile went awry; the glass in her hand was shattered to pieces.

Trembling with fear, she went to the ladies' toilet. She gasped a sigh once she was in and locked the door from inside. Her clothes were drenched; her face was full of tears. She was motionless for some time; she somehow regained her composure and flushed some water on her face. ‘Oh my God, what has happened, he has Cancer! Unbelievable’ thoughts ran through her minds. ‘Now what should I tell my parents? That I am marrying a cancer patient? What will they feel?’ Thousands of the thoughts started running through her mind. She closed her eyes for a moment, and tried to remember some of the meditation techniques that she had learnt. She took 2-3 deep breaths and her mind started thinking. There were many questions, many unanswered, flurry of emotions, complex situations, analysis and more analysis. And she suddenly stood up firm and determined, she had decided her verdict. She washed her face, looked into the mirror and smiled a little. Come what it may, she was not going to change her decision. She had decided to go ahead with her heart and to support him.

She opened bathroom’s door, and found him waiting nervously at the door. He asked: Are you ok? You were in for a long time! I just came down to say that no need to worry at all. Dear, I came down to the door of the bathroom to tell you that no need to worry. Even though my brother has cancer, it’s in early stage and doctors have said that it is fully under control. So just be relaxed.

As soon as he had finished his statement, before she could react, there was a surprise!! There was sudden blackout in the hotel, and she found only her table to be dimly lighted. And she saw yummie chocolate cake on her table. Before she could speak something, there was a sonorous noise and at the next moment, she was listening to “I just called to say I love you” on guitar being strummed by none other than her prince charming. Tears came down her cheek.
Thank you God, thank you Coolies for going on strike, thank you Gitanjali Express, and the next moment she found herself in her arms. She wished that the music should go on for ever!

Iceland Melts!

noreply@blogger.com (Anand Vaidya) — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 11:58:00 +0000

Finding parallel with this and this, here is an Ad by HSBC which has become a joke now. This poster was still hanging outside HSBC Premiere shop in Powai (Clicked 1 week ago)

The Ad reads: Which country offers the highest rate of interest in developed world?

Answer: The Icelandic Krona

On back of this, how much clients' money has HSBC burnt there?

An Ode to Anil Kumble

noreply@blogger.com (Anand Vaidya) — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 05:02:00 +0000

To start, let me concede that I am not a die-hard Anil Kumble fan. And I still believe that Carl Hooper can turn the ball more than him. But this post is not about his turning the ball, but it’s about his never-say-die spirit (Now Antigua is going to be the most favourite tourist destination of Indians) , and the connection that I have with him which I value and honour the most!

How many of actually remember watching India in a live test/one-day match before Kumble made his debut? The reasons can be varied: Lack of TVs or we were too small to understand (Clichéd on the lines of: Too big to fail). And almost all of us grew along with Anil Kumble’s career. And that’s why we don’t feel as much connected with, say, Murali Karthik or Piyush Chawla as we feel connected to Anil Kumble.

For a moment, I had thought that Matthew Hayden will honour Kumble’s last ball by defending it with utmost respect. Of course had someone else been batting he would have even gifted wicket purposefully to Kumble, but defending the ball was the expectation from a Professional bull like Matthew Hayden. And he might have made up his mind to defend also. But seeing the full toss ball, Hayden must have remembered the words of his childhood coach to treat it accordingly, and he had no option but to dispatch it. At least there is honour in the fact, that the last shot that was played against Anil Kumble was a mesmerizing straight drive and not the ugly slog-sweep that is Hayden’s first love, even before his wife.

And last but not the least, Anil Kumble and most of us will have sleepless nights, pondering over the questions like:

Did he announce retirement at very short notice? May be
Was he indirectly pressurized by media to retire? May be
Did he take Dilip Vengsarkar’s words too seriously? May be

Anil Kumble could actually announce his retirement while playing. He could receive a stand of honour and farewell lap across the ground.
Imagine the plight of 2 W’s of Pakistan and so many other players who had to announce their retirement in press conference and not while playing!
And that’s the ultimate reason why all of us should sleep in peace!

TIme Flies..

noreply@blogger.com (Anand Vaidya) — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 13:19:00 +0000

Exactly 1 year ago, I was rummaging through the lanes of Hattenheim, Germany to find a house.
The housing department at my German university had done screw up and they gave me an unfurnished house. The wonderful owner took it as his responsibility and toiled very hard to give me a liveable room and offered me at very low rent. :)

And in the mean time, I discussed with my room partner that * Life straight forward hota hai to majja nahi aata, there should be topsy-turvey turns.* while munching over bread-butter.

Danke Frau Berg und Her Statzner for making my stay memorable! {Bold part is in English because my German is not very good}

It has been 365 days almost (Sorry 366: Leap year, too trained on this thing :now that I have had prepared for CAT), it feels like yesterday!

Training Gem!

noreply@blogger.com (Anand Vaidya) — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 17:47:00 +0000

Quotable quote on Internet Security:

"E-mail passwords are like underwears. Don't share them with anyone, don't display them in public. And change them regularly."

Deutsche Bahn Revisited!

noreply@blogger.com (Anand Vaidya) — Fri, 30 May 2008 14:00:00 +0000

The story is not mine, but surely worth reading!

It is about a boy named Harbhajan* from yet another IIM on exchange program in European Business School, Germany . He was travelling by Deutsche Bahn (German railway) from Frankfurt to Cologne for the first-time ever with 5 of us (Not the 1st time travellers).

On the way, the train stopped at one station.

One of us (To Harbhajan): Which station is it?

Harbhajan: Ausgang**

All of us: ROTFL.

*:Name changed for the sake of privacy
**: Ausgang= Exit in German

The rise and fall of Mumbai Indians!

noreply@blogger.com (Anand Vaidya) — Tue, 27 May 2008 09:33:00 +0000

A lot has been written and more trees wil be cut to describe Mumbai Indians' choking skills. So lemme add a few electrons as well :)
The biggest reason in my opinion i that Sachin should be stripped of captaincy. He is bringing lethargic thinking and subdued mindset to the team. Bring back Pollock as captain.
Mumbai lost 3 matches in last over:
Reasons are plenty: bad fielding, useless batting!
But the most glaring reason is the GOD's captaincy:
1. vs KXIP:
a. Bowled 2 of the most a$$-hole spinners with 4 overs each.
b. Underbowled Jayasuriya and Dwayne Smith
.c. Gave last over to Nehra when Pollock had 1.
2. vs DD
a. Over-relying on D Kulkarni and Sanath.
b. What was S Chitnis-the specialist offspinner doing in team? Chosen for batting?
3. vs RR
His mistake has been so obvious that even a 9-year neighbour told me about it during the match. Every TDH who was watching the match knew that 19th over should be given to Dilhara and 20th to Nehra. Nehra had bowled an awesome 18th over (Really unfortunate to go for cheeky boundaries of yorkers).But the incharge was not TDH but The apple of every woman's eye, the pride of india: Mr. SRT. An over to Raje: A guy who hasn't played a single First class match. When you have a clear cut example of: The wilting of young D Kulkarni in DD match under pressure.
Ofcourse he had choices of Jayasuriya and D Smith.But ok,that can be forgiven. Because at the bottom of the heart, we know that this *pearl in India's feather* can't think laterally like S Warne.
In the end Tendlya has thoroughly proved that forget MI, he is not worth captaining his Mohalla team. He is a good batsman, he takes stunning catches once in a while, But he can never be a good leader. He can clear CAT, he will never clear PI for a leadership course He can dig Mt. Everest but he can never lead a team to dig Mt. Annamalai.
All in all, Tendlya has put himself in fray for Man of Series award. Maybe Tanvir and Watson need to do a lot of hardwork to clinch the award from him.

The India Tour

noreply@blogger.com (Anand Vaidya) — Thu, 15 May 2008 20:05:00 +0000

April was quite hectic for me! Did a 20-day India tour, started in Mumbai and ended up in Mumbai and travelled approx 10000 km in the mean time! I will come up with posts detailing my experiences very soon.
Anyway here is the path:
Mumbai > Hampi > Bangalore> Cochi > Alleppy> Changnacherry > Munnar> Chennai > PortBlair > Kolkata > NJP > Darjiling > Gangtok > NJP> Kolkata > Mumbai
Met Indian navy guys in Cochin, met India army guys on India-China border near Gangtok and in the mean time, found many interesting facts.
So here are some of them:
1. In Hampi, tourist guides may not know Hindi but they know Spanish and German!
2. Hampi is full of excavations and still going on! One month ago, they found 32 kg gold at a depth 4 inches beneath the everyday walking road.
3. In Kerala, marriages take 1 hour flat. The people and bride-bridegroom arrive at marriage hall at 1030 am, the marriage is over by 1130 am. Then the lunch starts and gets over by 230 pm and people leave marriage hall.
4. In Maharashtra and most of the places, bride’s Mother cries after marriage. In Kerala, she laughs. 
5. In Andaman and Nicobar, you have only 1 zone for cars. So all car plates are: AN 01
6. Andaman & Nicobar is more nearer to Thailand than India
7. On NJP- Kolkata highway, the state police get into the bus and shoot each person’s face with video camera! Anti-terrorism eh?

Yay!

noreply@blogger.com (Anand Vaidya) — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 13:45:00 +0000

Venue: European Business School, Germany
A project presentation was being presented to a panel of 3 German Professors and an audience of almost 60 students. The project group consisted of an Indian and a Chinese from Beijing University.
After the presentation, the usual Q&A session started. And regarding one recommendation given by the project group, one of the panel members told them that this recommendation is not practical. But of course, the project group gave their arguments to defend their point. After about 10 minutes of tussle, the project group justified their point very well and the panel member agreed with their point and accepted that his point that the recommendation is not practical was wrong.
Now starts the best part: One of the panel members, who was a German, turns towards the audience and says: Beware guys, in the next 10 years, this is the way in which India and China are going to beat Germany.
And believe it or not, the audience gave a thundering round of applause to the project group!!

(F)art of making a CV

noreply@blogger.com (Anand Vaidya) — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 14:35:00 +0000

Here is a wonderful example of putting the same point in a flowery manner step by step:
Step 1: Did a course in Branding
Step 2: Did a course on Brand Management
Step 3: Audited a course on Brand Management
Step 4: Audited a course on Strategic Brand Management
Step 5: Participated in an audited course on Strategic Brand Management
Step 6: Create a heading Live Industry Exposure: Participated in an audited course on Strategic Brand Management
Step 7: Participated in an audited course on Strategic Brand Management, delivered by industry experts
Step 8: Participated in an audited course on Strategic Brand Management, delivered by renowned industry experts
Step 9: Actively participated in an audited course on Strategic Brand Management, delivered by renowned industry experts

Sharply Pointed Bullets

noreply@blogger.com (Anand Vaidya) — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 09:09:00 +0000

*An achiever is a person who has done nothing in life but who can portray himself otherwise* so said the sages. When you say B-schools placements, then inevitably Curriculum Vitae comes to your mind. The sentences are reworded, thesaurus is scanned,artistic language just flows like Ganges River . Just have a peep:

13. As a Hostel Rep, acted as a single point of contact between the students and the administration, also looked after relationship issues of 90 inmates
12. Received candidature for one of the most prestigious financial exam in the world: CFA Level 1, June 2008
11. As the overall coordinator of the event, raised 80 lakh (Font size 12 ends, font size 6 starts) paisas (Font size 6 ends, font size 12 starts) single handedly
10. Conducted an empirical study on mergers on BSE. Recommendations sent to Reserve Bank of India. Project under consideration as per the inland letter received from Dr. Y.V. Reddy, Governor
9: Summers Achievement: Helped to reduce lead time of the process by 42% which helped in a savings of 30 cr INR
8: Ops CV: As a Class Rep, Helped in logistics and scheduling of classes through successful negotiations with faculty
7: Sports Achievements: Scored a hat-trick at a ripe age of 8 years in inter-gully football match in front of a crowd of 2312
6: Academic Achievements: 100% attendance in PMIR, first 2 weeks
5: Fin CV: Academic Achievements: Missed B- in HRM by 0.25 marks just because I came late to a quiz by 5 minutes
4: Winner, INDEX 2007, the biggest marketing fest in India (Font size 12 ends, font size 6 starts) Dry Run Stage
3: As a placement coordinator (Font size 12 ends, font size 6 starts) operations liaison (Font size 6 ends, font size 12 starts) played a pivotal role in 100% placement of the batch in record time
2: Exposure to cross-cultural issues and delicate sensitivities, as a Buddy of an incoming STEX student
1: Fluent in the most romantic language of the world: French, attended 4 classes held by incoming STEX students

It Happens Only in Germany!

noreply@blogger.com (Anand Vaidya) — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 13:36:00 +0000

Take a simple task like throwing a used tea bag.
What will an average Indian person do? He will throw it on the road... Well, don't jump upon me, I said average Indian (If you happen to throw it in dustbin, then be sure that you are above average)

What will an average American do? He will throw the teabag in dustbin.

What will an average German do?
He will think for 2 minutes before throwing the teabag. Well, now something has struck into his mind. Hold your breath! He will tear the teabag and take out the wet tea powder. He will tear off the stapler and remove the cardboard paper displaying the brand name and the string.
Now he will throw wet tea powder in a dustbin marked *Biodegradable but not recyclable*
He will throw the stapler in a dustbin marked *Non-biodegradable*
And he will throw the string, the cardboard paper and the teabag paper in a dustbin marked *Biodegradable and Recyclable*

It Happens Only in Germany!!!

Funny Fotos- II

noreply@blogger.com (Anand Vaidya) — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 22:53:00 +0000

REWE-ALDI bhai bhai... The fierce competitors in Supermarket category, Munich

1 kg chawal Please ..3-D set up of an Indian Kirana Store, Innsbruck

Italians are crazy about names, but Amerigo Vespucci for an AlItalia Aircraft, bloddy awesome!

Can it get any cheaper? 1.5 ltr Cola for 39 cents ~ 23 Rs, Plus Supermarket,Germany

Let's have a round table conference!, United Nations Office, Geneve, Switzerland

Any Merchant of Venice around?, Taxi stand in Venice

You are in Germany...

noreply@blogger.com (Anand Vaidya) — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 18:24:00 +0000

You are in Germany when :

1. You see huge girls! (Not fat, mind you!) . There's little to doubt over the fact that German Women are World Football champs.

2. You meet people who start speaking in German, but when asked ," Sie spreechen Englisch?", will give a smile and start speaking flawless English.

3. You see the umlauts (two dots on a,o,u) and es-sete (the beta character) in spellings.

4. You meet people who will pull legs of French people (Ah! The popular love-hate relationship between French and Germans...A German student told me: In your project group, I did well by taking a Chinese in addition to 2 Frenchmen. Frenchmen never work like their railways. (Strike in French railway was ongoing))

5. You meet people with soft corner for England. (Quote: "Bundesliga is not as popular as EPL. And Miroslav Klose may not be a poster boy like Wayne Rooney. But atleast we reached Euro 2008 finals")

And last..but not the least...

5. You see bald girls in a shop and then you see boys with hair till asses in the next shop.

(Inspired by : http://pranavineurope.blogspot.com/2007/11/you-know-its-france-when.html)

All Good Things...

noreply@blogger.com (Anand Vaidya) — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 19:22:00 +0000

And finally my eurail pass has called it a day! I was a bit sentimental on last 2 days of the pass.
I had special plans for the last 2 days, which were specially arranged by days of procrastination.

Penultimate Day : Austrian Alps, Innsbruck, Austria
Last Day: Mainz-Koblenz-Cologne travel along Rhine.

Why was this so special?
My first travel with Eurail pass : Mainz-Koblenz-Cologne travel along Rhine.
My first overseas travel: Austrian Alps, Salzburg, Austria

It was just the order of fate that I went to one of the most beautiful country and one of the most amazing cities (Which I toured atleast 5 times) in those 2 days.

So I was just superstitious about completing the circle. In the mid-time Europe was raided like a cowboy. The soles of my shoes are testimony to the same

Germany!

noreply@blogger.com (Anand Vaidya) — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 16:15:00 +0000

Friends, countrymen and fellow students on exchange ask me: "Germany mei dekhne layak kya hai?"
I tell them: Five things: Berlin, Cologne (Rhine included), Munich, Black Forest and People.
They ask: People?
I say: Yes, that is true.

Never met people before, who took their country from rags to riches, not once but twice after World Wars! Never met people whose city consisted of only 2 *alive* buildings after World War 2, and they built an amazing city out of such a heap, so that the complete World would gave them a standing ovation! By the way, the only reason why those two buildings were spared was that they were the tallest structures in the city and their tallness helped the Bomber planes of Allied forces to recognize the city in night. (Guess the city :)). Never saw people, who not only built a country, but built a country with such an amazing infrastructure. And if you talk about German Railways, forget their ambience, forget their amazing connectivity at any hour during the day, forget the free travel in ICE trains, but the best thing was the cleanliness of toilets amongst all railways in Europe. NR Narayan Murthy was quite apt when he said: *A company is known by its toilets*. Let's extend it to countries, and that's where Germany stands!
Never expected that I would get an email in 2 hours after the project groups were declared in the class, for project meeting in the night, for the project, whose submission was 3 months afterwards. Never would have imagined that I completed a project 27 days in advance (And that's why German car companies can never beat the Toyotas, they can never learn JIT). Never saw students who would drive 100 km to and fro, for a silly project in a subject.

And I am happy that I met such people in abundance during exchange program.

P.S.: All the German readers: Mark the nearest Starbucks Coffee joint for me!

P.P.S.: will explain the other four *dekhne-layak* things soon.

The Crowd Factor

noreply@blogger.com (Anand Vaidya) — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 19:04:00 +0000

No Crowd: Stadium Tour, San Siro Stadio, Milan

75000 people: Barcelona FC vs Real Betis, CampNou, Barcelona

Best Comment From Class

noreply@blogger.com (Anand Vaidya) — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 16:48:00 +0000

Place: Real Estate Management Class.

Prof: Do you know what will happen to the beautiful houses in downtown Frankfurt in 2050?
Students: Nein. No.
Prof: They will be empty because there is no one alive to stay there. We are suffering from negative population growth rate. The average German woman conceives only 1.2 children. That's so bad. We need to do something; I mean you need to do something. I have had 3 kids, that's my share of work.
(Turns to German girls)
Prof: Please do something. Please do something for your lovely country.
(Sudden rush in class. Some girls stand up)
Prof: No no. Please excuse us. No national duties right now. Do it after the class.

And we, the students, were rolling on the floor, laughing!

Sarchasm Anyone?

noreply@blogger.com (Anand Vaidya) — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 21:15:00 +0000

Today we had a function arranged by DAAD, our scholarship-paying agency in Stuttgart. The arrangements were excellent, and this is one thing where I bow to the Germans. For three days, things took place as per the exact timing given in itinerary. Only once they were late by 2 minutes, and they apologized for the same. Over three days: We had hotel stay, amazing food, free tour of Stuttgart, Visit to Mercedes Benz Museum. So nothing more I could have asked for!

Then we had an interesting lecture by a Dutch Professor, who had been to India, Chennai to be precise. We asked him, what does he miss about India?
His reply: Beautiful Chennai Women!

I resign!

Arbit Experiences

noreply@blogger.com (Anand Vaidya) — Sat, 03 Nov 2007 12:52:00 +0000

I have been trying my hand at this game for quite some time. The Asian people are quite discernible in European countries thanks to their skin colour, hair colour and may be the colour of the eyes. So I was trying to find a list of features that will help me to identify the country of a person from his looks, especially for the Asian people.

So I came up with a few traits through *net searches and observing people* like:

Chinese looks: Japan, South Korea, China, HK, and Thailand
Indian looks: Rest of Asia

So after coming up with these traits, I started to test it. Every time I saw an Indian looking guy. I used to him * Are you from India?*. And depending on the answers, I modified my traits.

Indian with fair looks: Pakistan
Indian with dark looks: Sri Lanka
Else: India
Fair looks with sharp noses: Turkey, Israel and their Arab friends

But again, this wasn't comprehensive. I met many South Indians who were darker than Srilankans and met many Pakistanis who were darker than North Indians, and many Chinese looked people who were from East India.
So I gave up on finding country from traits. Just not possible!

And finally found the only way to find whether a person is Indian/Pakistani without even talking to him.
If you see an Asian looking guy, talk to Indian friend in Hindi *Train kitne baje ki hai?*. If he doesn't know the language, it will be chaos for him and he won't turn to see us. But if he knows Hindi, he will turn back.

So armed with this weapon, I was travelling alone from Paris to Frankfurt the other day by Eurail. And next to me was an Asian looking guy. Now the problem was, I could not ask my Indian friend *Train kitne baje ki hai?* because I was already in the train. And over to that, since I was travelling alone, there was no one to ask for this question. So I decided to talk directly to the person.

I: Are you from Asia?
N: Yes
I: Are you from *Pakistan*? (*India* had become too cliche)
Neighbor (N): Nope, India
I: Where in India?
N: Bombay
I: Where in Mumbai?
N: Vileparle
I: Where in Vileparle?N: EastI: Where in East?N: Sant Janabai Road
I: Oh, I live on the same road
N (Shocked): Do you have Sant Janabai Road in Pakistan?
I: Nah, I am from India. The first question was Just Like That!

And this way, I found the person who lives on the same road, from the question *Are you from Asia?*

And the award goes to....

noreply@blogger.com (Anand Vaidya) — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 12:58:00 +0000

Vatican City: The smallest country in the world!

Monaco : 2nd smallest country in the world!!

Funny Fotos!

noreply@blogger.com (Anand Vaidya) — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 08:01:00 +0000

Koln : Open toilets, will you relinquish your fluids here?

Dusseldorf Petrol Pump: That 0.999 fever, prices upto 3 decimals

A Hotel in Frankfurt: Where the hell is Da Vinci?

A German Keyboard: That's why we make so many spelling mistakes.

If Stockholm tourist guide doesn't lie: World's smallest coffee house (5 seats only)

On Stockholm-Helsinki Cruise: Some cigarette kills, the other can kill

French sense of humour at its best

Couple on the either side of broken Berlin Wall

The fish market in Bergen,Norway: They can speak every possible language!

Scandanavia Tour

noreply@blogger.com (Anand Vaidya) — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 16:08:00 +0000

Hi all

We are done with scandanavia. Many people are asking about tour plan So here is a quick guide :

3rd Oct: Frankfurt to Flemsburg ( Supposed to reach Kobenhaven in the night, but there was an accident on track). And instead of sleeping at Sid Jain's place, we slept at Flemsburg station, on Germany-Denmark border.

4th: Reached Kobenhaven. Sightseeing. Night at Sid Jain's Place

5th afternoon: Kobenhaven(1323) --> Goteburg --> Oslo(2145) --> Bergen (Overnight train)

6th : Bergen Sightseeing : Bergen(1558)-->Oslo.
Reahed Oslo in night,decided to stay in station.Oslo station closes at 115 am, so they kicked us out in 2-3 degree temperature and it was a blessing! It was Saturday night, and the streeets were flooded with people. So we went around the streets.

7th: Deprived of sleep...Dummy travel to Gyrovic(4 hrs to and fro and sleep in train). Saw Gyrovic town too.. Back in Oslo and sightseeing in Oslo
Night: Train to stockholm

8th: Stockholm sightseeing. and ferry to Turku(1915)
9th: Turku sightseeing --> Train to Helsinki--> Helsinki sightsseing--> Ferry to Stockholm (1700)
10th: Stockholm --> Kobenhaven-->Hamburg
11th morning: Frankfurt
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1.Plz carry your own food and drinks. Scandanavia (espl Norway is damn expensive). Bergen had cheapest youth hostel at 55 euros, and toilet costed you 1.5 euro. In case you want to save toilet money in Bergen, there is Galleratiat shopping mall next to fish market. On 5th floor, there is a toilet for handicapped people. It is free if you know the code , the code is 6859.
2. Carry euro card if you have. All scandi countries have their own kroners. And forex counters charge a flat fee of 20-25 kroners for conversion, hence minimize the conversions.
3. Bergen --> Oslo has been voted as the most beautiful railway track in world in some damn survey. hence dont travel overnight both times.
4. Ferry ride is also a must, don't go to Turku, it was a bad decision on our part. Take Sholm --> Hsinki ride and back. Category C cabins are free on eurail pass. Tax free shops on board of cruise, where you can get cheap chocolates and liquor.
5. Go to Fjord tour if possible, costs 50 euro.We missed it. http://www.fjordtours.com/ I guess
6. Take Kobenhaven--> Hamburg direct train. Here the whole train goes inside the ferry as there is sea in between.

Leg Before Wicket

noreply@blogger.com (Anand Vaidya) — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 09:46:00 +0000

Germany: A land of fitness freaks. In every nook and corner, we can see people taking good care of their health, to compensate for beer binges. So we see games like Football, Tennis, Cycling and running. You will see an office-goer going to office in a cycle, a Professor coming to university on a cycle. For us in India, fitness becomes an issue when we sit in office cubicles for 13 hours, and then fitness becomes more of an ornament, were going to gym is flaunted as an achievement. Here fitness is a way of life.

Needless to say, Football, Lawn Tennis, Cycling and Running makes their legs stronger and sexier. And these people aren't shy about flaunting the same, like: