LiFe Is a DRamA

My Best Friend’s Wedding I

2010-11-20T19:24:00.003+05:30

12/11/2010, Friday

I have known her since my 9th standard. In fact, when I joined Chettinad Vidyashram, she was the first girl I had befriended. It was really amazing to see her getting married to the guy of her choice. But I guess, she still hasn't changed, at least not towards me and my perception.

The reception was held on the 11th evening at the sai baba temple, at injambakkam. For the ones with lesser sense of direction, that's on the East Coast Road in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. The guy (Satish, who also happened to be her college senior) was in a suit, which felt kind of weird seeing all the males from both the girl's and the guy's family in suits. I mean, it's Chennai, its summer almost throughout the year, and these guys were in suits, which literally takes the life out of me. Geethu was in a pink sari and looking radiant. Well, from our school the only other person that had come was Ravindranath. He is an ex NCC maniac from school and a really good friend as well. He was there to give me the required company.

The marriage was the morning of the next day. In fact, it was at supposed to be at 6:30 in the morning. Well, I am not that early a raiser and to be there by 6:30 I need to have got up by 5:30, which I am proud to say I couldn't, keeping up with my tradition, of still being a late raiser, alive. Neways, after a small fuss about what dress I should get into I finally left the house at around 6:16, and still managed to reach there by 6:30 (Don't ask how fast I was driving; trust me you don't want to know). Well, the marriage hadn't started yet. The functions for the guy had started, and it was really different. One, of the rituals was of sending the guy to Kashi and bringing him back. Rest assured it didn't really involve sending him, just an assumption that he goes on a journey.

Then we went and got the girl, well, technically am from the girl's side since am her best friend. She had come in a golden yellow sari, looking totally stunning and beautiful, yet very silly at the same time. The rest of the ceremony was beautiful yet very confusing. The main thing being, the kettimelam was played around 6 times, which really confused me. In the normal marriages it would be played just once when the thali is actually being tied around the girl's neck by the buy.

Well, apart from all that, it was a really beautiful day and I wish her the happiest of days ahead, she deserves it, and more.

Clueless

2010-11-18T08:06:00.003+05:30

I have been in contact with most of my friends and they all seem to know exactly what they are after. But when I think back about what exactly I would like to do with my life, I am totally clueless, not having a goal in life. Kind of makes me empathise with the character of Hrithik Roshan in the movie 'Lakshya'.

The fact is I have no idea what I would like to do with my life. This includes my career as well. I love to stand out, but currently I just seem to be going with the flow and having not much of a say in the whole incident. Take my transfer for example. I have applied to Chennai for transfer.

(Q). Why did I do that? (A). I want to go Chennai.

(Q). Will it help me career? (A). It might, I have no idea.

Take my blog entry as well. These days I am clueless about what to pen down, as well. I better get into track pretty soon...

Skills of the Salesman

2010-06-12T11:08:00.001+05:30

Ever had a sales guy walk in and make you buy something totally unnecessary.

It is a very confusing experience, let me tell you that. Today morning a kid came in selling carpets, and I had refused him immediately. But my roommate (actually my housemate), got a sudden urge to check it out the carpets. So what does it do? He invites the kid in.

Now am not telling that the carpets were bad, but there was not necessary for us. And the price the kid quoted for them was around 1400/-. That totally evaporated my roomies interest from buying them. Now to get rid of the kid he quoted a price in return, which was around 300/- to 200/-. This rate was almost 78% less than that placed by the carpet seller. In fact, he was quite certain the carpet seller would refuse that then leave. Guess what, that was the exact opposite of what happened.

Finally the conversation ended with the roommate buying a carpet for 300/-. He was still surprised by what had happened. But that wasn't the end of it; even I ended up buy one carpet as well. And the best part is that both of us are scratching our heads trying to come in terms with what really happened. And also of what to do with the two carpets that we are having with us right now. Cos, we just realized, there isn't any space as such in our house to actually lay out the carpet.

The Newest Member of the Family

2010-04-18T18:41:00.002+05:30

17/04/2010, Sat: Before you guys start making some wild assumptions, it's not a baby, in fact it's not human at all. But she acts every bit as human as possible, starting from understanding to what we tell her to scolding us. She is our pet kitten, kitty. Thank my bro for the name; he came up with something that was very easy to remember about a kitten.

He found her when she was trying to be a heroine trying to cross a busy street, and he tells me that she was very calm and quite the whole day. In fact, she was sleeping on his lap the whole journey from the captured spot to home. Mom, like usually downright refused to her in. But after a small amount of pleading from bro's side and with the promise to get rid of her in the morning, she consented to let the kitten stay for the night. The next day onwards, she was so playful and cheerful, that my mom just didn't have to heart to give her away (typical, this isn't the first time too). And so now she stayed. [Based on account from my bro and mom, unfortunately I couldn't witness it]

Anyways, when I went home on the beginning of April, there she was sleeping like a baby (which she is). I had the misfortune of wake her up due to the noise I was making walking around, and the reaction I got, is the same I would get from any human in her place, was a nice long scolding. The only difference being that hers was more cat like, will a lot of loud meowing. After that she just turned around and slept off again. J

One this that I have to hand it to her is her punctuality (which me n my bro are successfully making her loose). She has very specific timings for going on a walk and waste removal. I believe she should have been a dog, but got the body of a cat instead. I have never seen any other cat chase her tail around so much like kitty does. And that quite a lot in fact! But for all her mischievous acts, she had truly captured the hearts of all the people in the colony, especially with the way she runs. She is the only cat that I know which runs in a 45^o angle. She keeps her body at 45^o then run forwards, its looks more like a very weird hoping, but she manages to reach her destination.

Just hope we are able to see more of her in the years to come.

Wish You a Happy Vishu

2010-04-16T17:03:00.001+05:30

15/April/2010, Thu:

Vishu, one of the most important festivals for keralites.
Being celebrates in the new for the first time.
All the family has a chance to be together after quite a long time.

I guess that enough reason for anyone to be home. Same here! Thankfully unlike all her other activities, my manager never rejects the applied leaves of any of her team mates.

Reached home on the morning of the 14^th, this was the Tamil New Year. Now, another importance of this Vishu is that the entire family was together after 6 months. The last time all of us got together was in during October, 2009 in the previous house. Moreover, it's the first time everyone is together in the new house for the first time (house-warming ceremony not considered).

On the 14^th, all the preparation was for the main event of Vishu, the Vishu Kanni, which literally "the first to be seen on the Vishu day". It consist of a ritual arrangement of articles like raw rice, lemon (fresh), golden cucumber, Areca Nut, betel leaves, the yellow flowers konna, metal mirror, and holy text and coins, in an uruli (bell metal vessel) in the puja room of the House, with a lighted nilavilakku (bell metal lamp) is placed alongside. Now all this arrangement has to be made on the previous night. It was my main job to climb up and get the kindi, uruli, and nilavilakku and dad was helping with the fruits to be kept. Mom did all the major arrangements. As for my bro, he was not feeling well having got food poisoned, after eating a green apple. ("An apple a day; keeps the doc away", definitely wrong in his case. He had to always visit the doc when there is an apple involved).

On the day of Vishu, we got up before dawn (occasionally it's not an issue at all) and went to the puja room with our eyes closed so that the Vishu Kkani is the first sight of the new season. And it was a beautiful sight, really pretty with the lit lamp and all the decoration. Then comes the Vishu Kaineetam, which is mainly giving coins (notes these days), to the younger ones of the family. Well, i got around Rs 500/- from my dad, but it was my bro who hit the jackpot, that guy got 500 from dad, 1000 from me, another 500 from mom... HA HA HA...

It was really fun. Both, myself, and my dad were helping mom in the cooking, with me chopping the veggies and the dad with frying and cooking a bit. We left bro for the supervision since that was the only thing he was strong enough to do at that time. Anyways, the preparation part was really fun. I didn't lose my touch of cutting things up. The rest of the things was prepared by mom. And then the Sadhya, with a total of around 10 items (istew [made with coconut milk and potato], chakka thoran [made from jackfruit], aviyal [mixed veggies with coconut], kootukarri [made of channa, cheenna, coconut] to name a few) together with the two main dish (sambar and mango kaalan), mango pickles, and semiya payasam all on the banana leaf. Wow... now that was a feast. I was stuffed to the core. J

The only thing missing was the Vishu Padakkam, bursting of firecrackers. Apart from that an amazing and wonderful Vishu.

When the heaven poured their hearts out

2010-04-14T12:41:00.002+05:30

12/04/2010, Mon: It was towards the evening at ECC [Employee Care Centre] (one of the only good spots in the Mysore campus), since both myself and Dot forgot to bring the swimming trunks, ruling out swimming, we decided to go for a steam bath. Eventually, it was just a bath.

Coming out near the swimming it was a sight to behold, with the sky having darkened to a hellish degree. In fact, it gave an impression of an extremely angry bull, approaching. That was when I first heard the thunderous roar of the storm to come. As if on auto drive, I gave all my belongings to Dot for safe keeping and ran out into the open. I made it on time, with the rain striking at the exact moment.

Guess what was the next move? Walked towards the dolphin juice centre and order a mango milk shake. In fact, the guy over there thought I was crazy making an order rite in the middle of a down pour. Having cold mango milk shake rite in the middle on a rain is amazing, especially a hailstorm, which automatically provides the ice needed. It was Mango Milkshake on the Rocks. Although nothing beats having hot pakoda with hot black tea, during the rain. Mouth-wateringJ.

It went on for almost 2 hours. And what a rain it was. Absolutely satisfying! Soon after the rain, was followed by a continuous display of lightning flashes and bolts. That was the first time I have had the opportunity to see something like that, it was just so terrifying yet at the same time so beautiful and mesmerising. Just wish that I get to see that again.

Lending a Helping Hand!!!

2010-04-14T11:42:00.003+05:30

10/04/2010, Sat: Actually it was not like we had a choice. Our maid had not shown up for over 2 weeks. Which means the state of the house was pretty messed up, especially with three bachelors living together. Like my mom usually says, such places lack a feminine touch. So true!

Any ways, thankfully, that morning the electrician showed up. The ceiling fans in both mine as well as Dot's room had completed their tenure and needed a good tune up. With him being there, we had to move the beds around. And I don't know what happened, but it inspired both of us to finish with the cleaning of least the bedrooms and the bathroom. Being armatures, I can say that we did a pretty good job, especially with the bathroom. The bathtub is sparkling clean now. The only thing that is stopping us now from having a bath in that is the amount of water it would consume.

We were feeling pretty satisfied with the result, when enters our absentee maid. I and Dot had to leave for the campus, and so we couldn't make her do any work, leaving that job to our third room-mate. By the time we had returned, the entire ground floor was sparkling clean. And talk about her luck, since the first floor was all taken care of she was spared that headache. Talk about lending an unintentional helping hand.

Now what can he possibly do...

2010-03-27T18:54:00.001+05:30

For all those who are working, have u ever had the privilege of having your manager act as your English teacher. Don’t envy the guy who got the chance. It’s definitely not a pretty sight/experience. But like I say you just have to act well.

So on Friday (26^th March, 2010) noon, this guy (Three Guesses Who?) goes to his manager’s room. The reason being he had just come to office at 1pm (the office timing start at 9:00 in the morning). And surprisingly there were three missed calls from his manager at three different times (9:30am, 11am, and 12:30pm). Now, this guy has an amazing knack of getting into trouble with his manager given any circumstance and that streak continues.

So when he goes to his manager’s cabin, he is made to endure her usual string of speech about how much she is worried about the team, blah blah blah blah... during my college days blah blah blah blah... professionalism... blah blah blah... trainee graduates... blah blah blah... Mohit... blah blah blah... Next level... blah blah blah... etc...

Now when the guy was enduring this, she suddenly changes the topic (shocking in a way) and tells him that she wants him to go to the library to get a book named ‘I moved my cheese’. Reason: she wants him to improve on his writing skills. So, she wants him to go through the whole book and give her a whole summary for 20 mins on Monday. And what can he possibly do, it’s not like he can downright refuse her as well. Poor Guy!

Now, the first phase of the assignment is over, the book has been issued from the library. The reading is remaining. Let’s just hope he gets the urge soon to start reading that book, otherwise the trouble streak is going to further increase.

Project Party – 11/03/2010

2010-03-27T18:29:00.001+05:30

That sure was a surprise when we got the mail regarding the project party. There was no prior intimation about the same. In fact, am still not sure why there was a sudden project party in the first place. Anyways, it was the worse date that would have been chosen. On the same day there was another symphony being held in the campus. A choice had to be made and almost all of us selected the party, after all who can refuse free food (not free really, we had to pay for it, but still).

It was held at Hotel Grand Maurya (believe me there is absolutely nothing grand about that place) for the entire department. Even then many failed to turn up. But that didn’t really matter. I didn’t have a means of transport to reach there, so Kid (refer to previous entries) agreed to drop me. Both of us misjudged the place and there was a small goose chase. But we reached there in the end. But she wasn’t interested in coming. So I had to go on from there.

The rest of my gang was already there and were busy having a drink. Well, after I spoke with them I went to where the song was at its loudest. And believe me, it was not a pleasant sight. Since, there isn’t much to do or watch without the youngsters dancing. Well, I had no other choice, went back and dragged the team out. Once, all of us were gathered there, and then it really turned into a party. It sure was amazing, and the songs were really good as well.

Well, the main point of going to the party is definitely not the dance, it’s the food. And that was exactly what I went looking for in the middle. After two very fast exploding songs (“Manmada Rassa” and “Appadi Pode”), Man! It was tiring. So, I did the next possible thing. Went to have my dinner (Roti/Nan, Fried Rice, Paneer Butter Masala, Channa Masala, Gobi Fry, Raita/Curd, Vanilla Ice Cream) and the food was really good. Had a full stomach and then went back to the dance. Thankfully, I wasn’t missed. When the dance was over, all the rest went for having their dinner. But then they were so exhausted from all the dancing, that they couldn’t even have a proper dinner, especially DOT and he being a foodie, it was equivalent to being totally tortured.

But then, once that was over, me and DOT walked back home, while the others went using some other mode of transportation. But then, it was a really nice time. Hope they organise more of such project parties in the future but on a more suitable date.

I have to con… huh!!! What was that!!! OHHHH!!!... centrate.

2010-03-21T14:23:00.002+05:30

Have you even sat down with the full heart to finish something, only to the disturbed at the exact moment? Am sure it would happen to all of us, especially when we think we have been bitten by the concentration bug.

That is the same situation going on over here with me. Every time I would sit down decided to write a topic, am sure to be disturbed as trivial as a power cut, which would totally spoil my mood. There are times when I don’t bother about anything around me and continue to work. But such things happen when I am reading a novel with an unbreakable will.

But when I have ever tried to do something else, like say Study. BANG!!!!! Gone with the wind!!! Come to think of it, even wind isnt this fast. The speed at which our attention changed from one object / subject to another is just mind blowing.

The fact that my latest blog entry took so long to be published itself is a sign of that. Cant help it, although at times I get really good ideas am just too lazy to type them. I am sure that is one of the most common cases with almost all the people. But in the end, it all boils down to how much interest u are having in doing the task. The more the better, then concentration would automatically fall into place.

LiFe iS a dRaMA ... jUsT Act wElL

2010-03-07T11:45:00.000+05:30

I have always been asked my friends about that title where ever and whenever I use it. It sounds just like any other punch line from a Kollywood Movie. So I decided to explain that to everyone cos, am sure many would be wondering about the title whenever they see it.

Any ways, although it might look obvious at first, it is one line which is very difficult to follow especially the second half. Considering everything to be just another part and parcel of life is pretty difficult and would require quite a bit of practice to get used to. One of the main concepts of it is to have a neutral feeling towards everything. If something good happens, that good, at the same time, if something bad happens, that again happens for the good. If u would notice even the way it is writing is with ups and downs in it.

I have been getting used to this concept for quite some time and although I haven’t become good at it, I sure have got the hang of it. And the only reason I realize this is cos I had two profound experiences.

The first was on February, 14^th in the third year (2006). I was supposed to go on a date and was driving towards the Anna Nagar (that a place in Chennai). So, when driving my dio on the main road, a car came from my right and took a sudden turn to the left. The back of the car hit me n I was literately sent flying. Now, I know this might sound crazy, I the only thing that at time in my mind was absolutely nothing. I was just admiring the way the road was moving under me. I am kind of finding it a bit difficult to explain, but it just felt like any other day.

The second one was on 22^nd April, 2008. My girlfriend of 6 months had broken up with me without informing me. Now I didn’t know that, she had just told me friends to inform about that. But since my final year exams were going on, they didn’t want my concentration to break. Well, it so happened that I met the girl in college, and was trying to talk with her, but she walked off without even bothering to look at my direction. I was surprised with that kind of reaction cos it was something totally unexpected. Then later when I spoke to friend about this, I was informed that she had broken up with me without informing me about it. It was felt more or less like a jigsaw puzzle falling into place. I never felt bad or hurt! My friends were shocked and surprised seeing my reaction (well so was I).

But this is what is realized from these two incidents. If the concept of life is a drama is made clear, then we would leave to take everything in our stride and thankfully no more devdases any more. J .

All set to write about...

2010-02-27T12:07:00.000+05:30

Hmmmm... !!!!

This is where the problem starts. Since I stated blogging, I have become an addicted to updating almost every day. But contrary to my expectation I have been managing to come up completely blank. Although I had decided to create this to share my memorable every day experiences, coming up with topics is proving a challenge in itself.

That’s one of the main reasons that I haven’t been able to post regularly. By the time I am done thinking about topics it’s almost the end of the day. It’s come to such a state now that, these days I get to sleep only by around 1:00 to 2:00 in the night.

Well I guess it just because I am totally new to this entire world, hopefully I should be getting better at this soon. Least my friends are telling me that am writing is improving. That is a bright sign.

Team Meeting (24/Feb/2010)

2010-02-27T09:10:00.003+05:30

(Note: names changed to retain identity, or whatever that is supposed to help with)

23/02/2010 5:14pm - Tuesday

Everyone gets a sudden mail regarding a meeting to be conducted the next day. The topic regarding was unclear to everyone. But some were pretty unhappy regarding the timing of this meeting, Maajin BOO (pet name, it is a Pink Monster from Dragonball Z) for one was very keen on having the meeting on Friday, just so that she could bunk it.

24/02/2010 4:30pm – Wednesday

I arrived late for the meeting together with “South Africa” [that is our manager, hence forth called Pain I] and “Vivek DOT B”. “Old Man” [that’s our manager’s manager, hence forth called Pain II] was already then already present with the rest of the team. On quickly turning around Pain I was missing, almost like the floor had swallowed her up [I wish].

Now Pain II showed us the new kindle that he had just received from a friend in US. (He didn’t even know how to use the device properly, is a totally different issue). That’s when Pain I reappeared with her empty cup, giving the impression she was waiting outside just to finish drinking her coffee. Now, once she takes her seat Pain II, gives a small brief introducing about what is going on over there. The reaction of each member:-

1. Rochak: bored (thought: what is this guy blabbering)

2. Kid: Sleepy (thought: I wanna sleep)

3. Mohit: Serious

4. KJ: Trying very hard to please both the Pains. (thought: Will you even listen to me)

5. Boo: Clueless (thought: ---------------)

6. Dot: Yawning

7. Gins: Missing from Action

That’s when Pain II decided to share something very interesting (according to him). In fact, he went on to tell that we would be jumping with joy listening to that. Then he drops the bomb, the guys were supposed to be leaving in a year’s time would have to stay back for another year. He added a few more incentives to this, but they fell on deaf ears. All eyes were boring onto the both the Pains with upmost hatred. The reaction for each member:-

1. Kid: That’s the first that I have ever seen the team Kid actually awake in a meeting. She was actually listen with her eyes wide open

2. Mohit / Rochak: If looks could kill, that was the perfect timing. Unfortunately, it didn’t work.

3. KJ: The same process as before continues

4. Boo: Trying to put up a face of concentration

5. Dot: Wide awake

6. Gins: Still missing from Action

And the uniform thought going through every single mind: “I wanna beat him up with my bare hands”.

This suddenly hostility even seemed to charge the atmosphere in the meeting hall, so much so Pain II was actually sputtering (a first in front of us) while talking. They even tried to crack a few meaningless jokes to get out attention. But then when all else failed they did the next best thing possible. They closed the meeting and left. It definitely was not one of the best meetings that we have ever had, but this one had some serious impact on the entire team. I can even say nothing unites a team better than hatred towards someone or something. That exactly what bought the entire team together, well that’s one heck of a team building.

Have You Ever Felt Exhilarated?

2010-02-24T08:55:00.000+05:30

ex·hil·a·rate

tr.v. ex·hil·a·rat·ed, ex·hil·a·rat·ing, ex·hil·a·rates

1. To cause to feel happily refreshed and energetic; elate.

2. To invigorate; stimulate.

The meaning explained, and then what significance does that have with our daily lives. Does just being joyful for qualify as having an exhilarated experience. We experience plenty of little joyful things in life. Although they bring us plenty of memories, they cant be classified as the blissful joy that one would experience totally forgetting everything else. The only place to ever experience exhilaration is nature.

Walk to upto the shores / climb up the tallest point in the locality and look towards the horizon / east in the morning. The sigh that u would see would literally take your breath away and render you speechless. I have had the pleasure of seeing at time, and let me tell you, it just changes the perspective about the whole world, nature just looks like the perfect artist with the magnitude of color combinations that have been used in creating them.

You should definitely experience this at least once in a lifetime. When you gaze upon that sunrise, believe me, you would automatically bow your head down and be thankful for this life, just for the fact that you were able to witness poetry being made.

When Friends change! because of their boyfriend / girlfriend?

2010-02-20T12:30:00.000+05:30

Ever had you best friend suddenly acting weird and all of a suddenly u hear the news that she / he has been going out with another guy / girl. And then all of a sudden, things are just not the same anymore.

This happen more in case of friendship between opposite genders, than with the species of the same kind (after all there are two species among humans rite). It happened with a close friend of mine. In fact, we had been friends for almost 6 yrs before that happened. She was one girl who was totally against love marriage, and used to always scold me if that line of conversation came up. She was quite close to me, the two of us spending over hours talking on the phone almost daily.

Then one day, BANG!!! Everything just stops. It started slowly at first. It started with her telling about talking with a senior of hers, and their conversation period slowly started increasing, intruding into the time we used to spend together. Then one fine day, she tells me that she is changing her number. I was expecting her to change to same sim as mine (as all I had been asking her to do same for quite some time), but then she said it was as the senior. That really struck a chord. Since then the conversation time dropped drastically.

Then finally after almost 4 months apparently keeping me in the dark (or so she thought), she finally decided to tell me about the relation she is having with the guy. Guess what, I was able to guess the whole thing before she could even get it out of her mouth. Close friends for 6 yrs, what did she expect. I had known her inside out. Anyways, since then the conversation rates had drastically reduced, from once a week to over months. Now, I don’t even remember the last time I spoke with her, guess it was somewhere in the starting of November, 2009. And frankly am not bothered any more. There was a time when I really felt bad, but then I realized that I just don’t mean anything (or least not the same friend) to her any more.

But I don’t blame the guy, not at all, because he never restricted her. She just decided involuntarily to lose touch. The best part is, the guy never lost touch with any of his friends and even she is part of that gang now, considering all those people to be her close friends. That thing that hurt wasn’t that the conversation time reduced, but the fact that over night I lost all the importance of a having been close friend of hers for over 6 yrs. Well, am not bugging anyone anymore with this piece of history. All I want to convey is that, if just because a new person comes into your life, doesn’t mean that you can ignore the old one. Because, at the end of it all, you still lose someone who cares a lot about you.

Temporary Friendship: Does it really exist?

2010-02-20T08:40:00.002+05:30

What is friendship? It’s the feeling of complete comfort and emotional safety with one particular person. It’s when you don’t have to speak a single word and still end up having a beautiful conversation and feeling satisfied.

So then what is temporary friendship? Well, a friend of mine seems to believe that it’s not possible for a boy and girl to be friends for ever unless they are a family. Now she didn’t mean these two would fall in love, but on the contrary, others would come into their lives and then the friendship would lose the priority and finally just disappear. For example, when the guy gets married, then there is a good change that the wife wouldn’t be so happy to have the guy hanging around with the girl all the time. But that wouldn’t be the case if the wife would also become her friend (but doesn’t happen often). So she seems to think that all relations are just temporary. No relation is permanent.

Well, I have been enough examples to counter both. But the fact remains that there exists a health amount of both, the ones who stick with their friends no matter what happens and those who would totally lose all contacts with their friends as soon as they find someone. In fact, I have had the experience of having both types of friends. So, I definitely know what it means and how it feels. But if the second type of person does exist, then it’s definitely their loss since they would have lot a very good and loyal friend. But, the fact remains everything happen with a reason.

But losing trust in friendship altogether, now that would be some very extreme reaction. The best thing would be to enjoy the time that you have with your friends. In fact, create as many good memories with them, as much as possible. Never lose faith in friends, even when there are those u walk away because, they always have a reason, no matter how small and lousy. And at one point of time, they would always come back.

Power Cuts... Cutting into my Net life

2010-02-18T02:32:00.001+05:30

Power Cuts: - one extremely hated word, especially among electronic and net users. And even more among avid TV watchers which mostly comprise of homemaker, basically our mothers and others wife (can't say our wives yet, single and happy to be one).

So now in Mysore, they have a very beautiful system. Starting from the morning (at times even from 7 onwards) there is a blackout at almost every alternate hour. For the ones who are working, that doesn't seem much of a problem. But it is a big one for the ones who remain at home. And the sick part is they don’t inform the timings in advance. They seem more inspired by the uncertainty theory. The minute we think that we have finally identified the power outage pattern; they immediately do something totally different.

It’s the same case at nights, starting from 6 in the evening, the same alternate blackout patterns continue. And it extends up to 4 in the morning. As for the pattern again it’s a mystery. I doubt even the electricity board know about it. For example, the day before the timings during the nights was 8pm to 9pm, followed by 10pm to 11pm. And then yesterday was 9pm to 10pm, followed by 11pm to 12pm. So naturally I was expecting another shift in the hour and guess was the timings were today, 9pm to 10pm, followed by 11pm to 12pm. Amazing isn’t it.

Now since that I would be home only during nights, the net is access only then. And these power cuts again are cutting into my browsing time. I would not have been bothered much if it was simple browsing. But two of my very important jobs remain pending due to this.

Playing Travian. And since I am acting as the sitter (playing in behalf of another player) on DOT. I need all the time that I can get to manage his village and 3 of mine
Downloading all the amazing manga available. Currently ongoing is the get backers series. Bleach is next in queue.
Chatting with my friends on Facebook.

The only other thing worrying me is frequency of blackouts given the fact that winter and monsoon just got over. It’s very scary to imagine what the condition would be during summer. Hope they thing of a solution soon, else I can wager my monthly salary (on second thought, made that one day’s salary) on the fact that, they might just switch off the power n forget to switch it back on for a pretty long time.

Manga - Ye Dil Mange More

2010-02-16T03:56:00.003+05:30

It all started with a harmless search for pictures of recca (Flame of Recca) in the net. I wanted to upload it as my profile picture. That’s when I stumbled across "onemanga.com" (Read Free Online Manga Anytime). Been hooked onto that site ever since. Now instead of have a picture of Recca, I have the entire comic collection of that manga. Not to mention various other ones like Rorouni Kenshin, Full Metal Alchemist (although I didn’t understand half the story properly), XBlade, Basilisk, ½ Prince, AIKI etc. There are so many of them, it almost feels like a gold mine.

It just has a small side effect, actually a major one. It is making me lose focus on everything else, work included (especially work). I agree is tedious work, but the satisfaction of getting the entire series is just amazing. I have currently got around 17 series, out of which 3 are completed with 2 having about 200+ episodes in each [Rorouni Kenshin - 256, Flame of Recca- 329].

Another side effect is the reaction that I get from my friends. the minute any of them see me downloading the series (well I confess, it isn’t exactly downloading, but more like Right Click + Save File, after all everything is a picture, so nothing much to download), especially the Kid of the team. Although she is the kid of the team, she can give lectures better than South Africa. I would know, I have got plenty of them from her. I know it’s childish, but I can’t help up, just because I have grown up, doesn’t mean that I have to give on the things I love after all...

I agree, I do need to set my priorities, like grownups do. I have people to take example for that, like Mohit and Rochak. So no problems in that as well...

Valentine's Day Special ?

2010-02-14T23:16:00.003+05:30

Happy Valentine's Day everyone... i know its funny but being a single guy, there are no restrictions in wishing anyone he meets...

But the idea of a special day to love, it still something that i find a bit weird. Being an Indian, all these kinds of celebrations seem just another way of spending unnecessary money (NOM). Its not like we need a special day to describe our love. If u wanna make someone feel special, then its always the small things in life, like "a beach side date", "a drive down the free-lane" that make some of these moments special. any girl can be made to feel special and that is exactly what she desires as well. and one of the best ways to do that would be to spend quality time with her. if that is done properly, then giving card would have absolutely no significant meaning, since everyday becomes special.

and as for the guys, stop trying to make most of the proposals on Feb 14th. its too predictable and boring. if u wanna make it more interesting, then pick a day the girl would have associated with something and then go ahead. basically what am telling you guys is to do your background work properly. it shouldnt be like, u see the girl, fall in love with her, and then propose to her on Valentine's Day (only to get either rejected by her or beaten by someone close to her). that sounds more like a Bollywood movie script.

When going for a walk in the night (a while back), a cute puppy just came running and started running around my legs. its was amazingly cute, totally white n very soft. kinda reminded me the puppy from the movie Bolt. then it struck me. if people really express love. then do so by taking care of a pet. there is so much love to be distributed in this world, that it doesnt matter whom you share it with. and more over, you love life lasts or not. the pet would never break up with u, even if u force him/her to go away. hence if you are really interested in squabbling away all you saving, then do it to preserve life. makes the reward more sweetening.

Girlz Rule (Quite Literally)

2010-02-13T04:56:00.003+05:30

1. The Female always makes The Rules.

2. The Rules are subject to change at any time without prior notification.

3. No Male can possibly know all The Rules.

4. If the Female suspects the Male knows all The Rules, she must immediately change some or all of The Rules.

5. The Female is never wrong.

6. (If the Female is wrong, it is because of a flagrant misunderstanding which was a direct result of something the Male did or said wrong.)

7. (If Rule 6 applies, the Male must apologize immediately for causing the misunderstanding.)

8. The Female can change her mind at any given point in time.

9. The Male must never change his mind without express written consent from the Female.

10. The Female has every right to be angry or upset at any time.

11. The Male must remain calm at all times, unless the Female Wants him to be angry or upset.

12. The Female must under no circumstances let the Male know whether or not she wants him to be angry or upset.

13. The Male is expected to mind read at all times.

14. The Male who doesn't abide by The Rules, can't take the heat, lacks a backbone, and is a wimp.

15. Any attempt to document The Rules could result in bodily harm.

16. At no time can the Male make such comments as "Insignificant" and "Is that all?" when the Female is complaining.

17. If the Female has PMS, all The Rules are null and void!

The Value of the Irreplacable

2010-02-13T04:49:00.004+05:30

Breaking up with a girl friend / boy friend is tough. That is a pain that many are not able to come out of, because of which they slowly befriend the escapist (the bottle of drinks of course). But there is a pain that far surpasses these yet, shows up in a subtle but powerful forms and that is losing a friend.

Losing a friend is tough, but getting that friend back is even tougher. After all, a friend is one person with whom u can be your complete true self. To lose someone as close as that, it almost close to becoming mad. Unfortunately, I did lose a friend like that. She was someone who was the closest to me [mom, dad n bro aside], someone with whom I could be at my best childish behaviour n not feel awkward, because she accepts me the way I am, the whole package and not just parts of it. She is my bulby (well, am not explaining why I call her that, but know that it was one of her big goof ups). The worse part, after the “Big Fight”, wasn't just the feeling of complete emptiness. But rather the realization that the gap left can never be filled. because to be able to fill the empty gap in yourself, you need to meet someone who's heart is as empty as yours.

But the best part is 3 yrs after everything, my chat symbol showing available (thankfully i had gone without the invisible mode after a very long time) which caught her attention. And then starting to chat with her (she was the braver of the two, to initiate). N guess what, nothing has changed. Overnight, the gap just got filled. Then it struck, childhood friends are on a league of their own. No one can be on par with them [© bulby, the realization lighting had struck her]. In fact, it’s just so amazing to have her back, that all my old feelings of possessiveness just came back in an instant [God alone known’s where they were hiding till now]. So much so that, when she was telling me about her break up, facially I was very sad, although I can tell the same thing was going on in my mind.

But, one lesson that I have learnt the hard way is to make sure to patch up almost immediately after a fight. Granted that there might still be a few bitter feelings to begin with, but that would heal over time. In fact, that’s a much simpler process than waiting for the right opportunity to occur. I would never ever lose my bulby again.

One Hell of a Trip on 9.01.2010

2010-02-11T03:58:00.003+05:30

Never ever insult a scooty again. That fragile looking vehicle is capable of more than we think is possible. Ever imagined going on a 300km trip on a scooty with your friend. Am sure many of you may not even think that wouldn’t be much of a hope for the rider to reach the destination and back within the same day, and none for the vehicle.

Well, let me tell u something. It’s very much possible to have such a trip can come back in one piece. I and DOT went on a trip to two architectural locations namely Halebidu and Belur [In case you are wonder, these locations are in Karnataka] on January, 9^th 2010. The original plan was to take a sturdier vehicle for the trip. But then, all the other vehicle renters were not willing to easily part with their vehicles. Nope, can’t blame them either. People don’t readily trust a “Drumstick” and a “Tomato” [I won’t lie, am not the Drumstick and DOT is not the Tomato, and rest is for u to figure out].

Let me just describe to condition of the scooty before continuing any further. The brakes were loose, the indicators were out of service, the horn had gone completely hay wired, the back wheel had just been fixed for a puncture about three weeks back, the last service was about 4 months back, max speed obtainable was __ (the speed indicator doesn’t work so I am not sure. Something between 40 to 50 km/h, I think.), the vehicle is itself is about 10 yrs old, and to top it all, it belongs so a friend of mine (that’s rite folks, wasn’t even mine).

So well, on the morning of 9^th [a Saturday on top of everything], we two brave souls set out to make one of the journeys of a life time. Our first destination was originally Belur but seeing that Halebidu was shorter by 5 km we decided to slightly alter the route. It actually didn’t matter; since we still had to cover over 150km (to the original 155km). The onward journey was without much incident in the initial phase except for a few smiles from people who were just shocked to discover our starting city (Mysore) and our destinations. In fact, it would be more appropriate to state that they really thought that we had lost our minds.

Neways, the first phase was till Halebidu, and it went well till about 5 km before we reached our destinations. What happened? Something very common! A puncture. The back wheel for punctured. And thank fully for us, just about ½ km from a village. Once, the tyre was fixed, then we set out on our way again and reached there by around 1:30pm. Then we started from Halebidu by around 4:30 and went towards Belur. Now finally when we had started out the return journey it was about 7:00pm.

About driving for 70km, in the pitch black darkness, and deserted road, we felt it again. The back wheel just gave way to another puncture. Amazing conditions: - middle of nowhere, punctured scooty, two guys who don’t know kanada, and time: 9:30pm. Thankfully, a guy stopped and informed us about a village about a km away. Luckily, we positioned in a very approachable position, since once that village would have been crossed, the next one is very far away and almost impossible to reach by foot.

We push the scooty till the village, park it inside a police station (we had no clue that it was one), and found the mechanic of the village (who happened to be only person, in a village of over 800 people, who knew Hindi). Imagine our plight, when the power goes off as repairs were going on (under the street light). But he continued the repair under the light from our cell phones. Thankfully, the power was back in another 30 minutes. But even after fixing all the repairs (quite a few emerged, seems that it was because of the excessive heat produced) there was still a small leakage.

Since it was close to midnight, we took up on the offer of the mechanic to stay in his house. It was pretty small house [One room split into three: 1.Storage / wash area 2.Sleeping 3.Kitchen, each divided by a wall], but a happy one. We had dinner (imagine at midnight, there is lots of humanity still left man), but we were asked to sleep in the first room (not surprising since he was married), and although there were no fan in the house, the village was cool enough (in fact, v were using blanket and that too after wearing our jackets).

But frankly, it was one of the best sleeps I have ever had. We got up really early in the morning, got the final repairs done and then quickly left by around 8:30am, but more before he introduced us to almost everyone in the village telling out weird story. The rest of the journey was uneventful and we soon reached back home by around 10:30am.

So that’s the whole journey in a nut shell (a big nut shell). So now you know, why I would furiously supposed the scooty, irrespective of the comments that I would receive against that vehicle. It after all saved our lives.

Addiction

2010-02-07T17:38:00.010+05:30

Ever felt happy about being introduced to something so amazing, that nothing else matters. No, am not talking about meeting a new girl in a friend's party.

Am talking about Travian. "Dot" aka "Viv" aka "Vivicio" aka "Vicious" aka "Vivek" aka "B DOT Vivek" :) [Am gonna get beaten up for try to document all his name] was the one who had introduced me into this one. Now me being a die hard war craft fan, didn't bother much about this online game. after all, where is fun, when there isn't any movement in around the world. or so i thought.

But now am totally hooked onto it. its been almost a week and a half since i did anything else with my system. before this, i was busy planning strategies in Dragon Age : Origins, kicking some serious mutant ass in Ninja Blade, and driving around fast cars in Need For Speed : Shift. But now its been ages since i played Ninja Blade, i don't rmbr what my next move was supposed to be in DA : Origins, and have totally uninstalled NSF : Shift. All this cos am too involved in Travian and don't have any time for anything else.

its come to such a state that am in fact plotting to spend money to get a few resources. i have no idea where this whole thing is gonna end. But, one is certain, DOT definitely has to get beaten up for getting me into this. There shouldn't be a problem regards that after all, the whole team is up to the task. :)

A Memorable Night

2010-02-06T09:12:00.004+05:30

What’s the best and cheapest way to spend a Friday night???

A gang of friends, Rs 2000/- each, the dance floor of the disco?
Four friends, McDowell's No. 1, 4 Gobi Fried Rice (1 without onion) + 4 Gobi Manchurian (1 without onion), 2 2 litre Drinking Water, 1 2 litre Coke + 1 1 litre Coke, Rs 900/- (approx), the terrace, calm n cool breeze, whole night, no sleep.

Well, I would definitely opt for the second one. After all, instead of just watching other "people" shake their assets around and not really being able to talk anything at all with others.

It was a very different experience to what I am used to having. That is mainly because; my group of friends now, are at a whole new level. Although at times I feel a bit out of place with them, they make sure that am roped in. that in itself creates a feeling of belonging to the heart.

We started the night at around 9, when I finally managed to reach Dot's [aka Vivek's] house. Mohit and Gins [aka Ginny aka Sid aka Siddu aka Siddarth] were already waiting. The starting was with the usual round of talking n teasing. But I wasn’t able to take a more active part in the conversation since I was interrupted by a phone call.

But that was the good part of the whole thing. I came back after around 105 mins later n then the guys were in a good state then. Together with our dj Gins playing the songs the evening couldn’t have got any better. By now the time was close at 12:30 and we suddenly got this sudden urge to go to the terrace. There was no looking back after that. 4 glasses (1 with only coke + water: mine. J ), one pack of smokes and a box of matches.

Once on the terrace, then it was just general talks or just listening to music gins was playing. Guess it was the climate, because mohit was really inspired to recite a few shayari. And man, they were lovely. In fact, time just seemed to fly n before v knew it; it was almost 5:30 in the morning. Now was the best part. There were four of us, n just one bed. Well, no other choice, two of us remained awake while the other two slept off... finally after letting them have a nice sleep for about 2 hrs, woke them up n send them back home...

All in all, a good night, well spend. In fact, memories that would remain etched for a very long time.

First Time

2010-02-06T06:50:00.001+05:30

Well, here I am finally, with absolutely no idea of what I am supposed to be doing. I have always been apprehensive about starting a blog because I just didn't understand the whole concept of it. In fact, I found it a bit odd that people would actually want to just publicly post their feelings for everyone to see...

But then I got a chance to reading a few blogs written by two friends of mine, Ginny and Dot [heaven forbid, that’s not their real names, although at the current rate, hopefully none would remember what they were either]. Their writing styles and the contents were very refreshing and amusing. Or should I say, inspiring even...

So here I am finally having taken up the initiative as I have over often heard in every single self development class. Just types word as they come to my mind without giving heed to the content. In, fact even when typing right now, my entire mind is blank. It does feel strange voicing one’s thoughts and ideas so opening. But it does feel nice, almost like being completely spontaneous. Guess I can really get addicted to this...

Guess I would try to cut short here since I don’t want to push my luck with the amount of spontaneous typing, least not on my first day...

So this is Sathya, signing off, until next time...