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learning, understanding and accepting

2010-06-08T13:12:00.005+05:30

There is this book which I read a few days back - 1984 by George Orwell. It's a book about how bad a society becomes when the body serving its interests becomes all too powerful. In the book, society is a country and the the body is the government of that country. Though I never write book reviews, this book is different because there are tons of similarities when I look around. Even today, independent thoughts are being curbed, ideologies being forced, people made to work with little gratification, etc, etc. Anyways, if you haven't read the book and you are planning to do so, then you might not want to read the rest as what follows might be a spoiler.

My most favorite character in the book is this guy called OBrien who serves the government and plays a very crucial role in the book. It was really horrifying to read what he did to the protagonist. How he was able to use fear and hatred to brainwash him. The reason why I was really taken by that aspect was because it happens all too frequently these days. A place where the governing body has too tight a control, where decisions are taken unilaterally and a person finds himself really helpless. In such a place, a person has very little choice but to surrender his thoughts and work like a comrade. Where the governing body passes its agendas (and ideologies) without the consent of normal people. And as they portray in the book, in the end, the human spirit is weakened and crushed. People forget what it is stand up and fight for their own rights. Partly because they have never seen anyone do that. Why? Because people who were their superiors never did that either.

And faithful to the back page summary of the book, there is something there for people with original thoughts - Room 101. As oBrien aptly put it, the USP of their torture was "Learning, Understanding and Accepting"

> The first part is learning where they learn that they should have shut their head long back. Exercising head and thinking is dangerous. Where they learn that they do should what they have been asked (blindly without questioning) and leave the thinking to the governing body.

> Second step is understanding where they understand that they have to pay a heavy price for not shutting their heads. They understand that they are insane and that they are wrong in believing that sanity is not statistical. They begin to understand that they are insane to even think that they could have done something or changed something.

> and then comes the third part - acceptance. The person believes it's his fault and that he should have been punished long ago for his insanity. Eventually he is. This is the phase that the governing body wants because it doesn't want martyrs. It doesn't want people to follow the footsteps of that person. And in doing so, makes sure no one again rises against the system.

Actually the book got me thinking in many ways. I imagined myself in the protagonist's shoes asking myself what would I have done and unfortunately there was little one could really do. One can do little against a governing body that changes itself like a chameleon and comes out all powerful and not ready to budge from its policies and ideologies. Actually the two biggest things in the book were a) doublethink and b) Room 101. Doublethink made sure the party spread ignorance, lies and deceit while keeping itself pure and safe. Room 101 for purging people who questioned the body. Like OBrien constantly said, "What happens here is for ever." The change that takes over you in Room 101 is for ever. You are never the same. Your fears are unleashed to an extent where you love (fear) the all powerful body and don't see any other way other than heeding to their demands. And it's not submitting yourself unwillingly. You submit yourself willingly and beg for wrongdoing.

Kind of a digression but it sort of reminded me of Sirius Black in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. When asked how did he preserve his sanity in Azkaban, he said he made sure he clung to one happy thought and didn't allow the dementors to take it away. hmmm... makes me think what would he have done in Room 101 because in both cases, the dementors and the governing body used fear and misery as their weapon in crushing an individual.

If I had to pick my favorite quote or sentence, it would OBrien's - "Obedience is not enough. Unless he [person in question] is suffering, how can you be sure he is obeying your will and not his own?"

In summary, an awesome book, a timeless classic which i might pick up again because the place where I am in, it reminds me of the world painted in this book.

adios

wrong side of skinny jeans

2010-06-04T09:14:00.003+05:30

I was reminded of this incident which happened a few weeks ago. Really funny it is. I was standing outside this place - Dahr-e-mehr in secunderabad to catch an auto. For folks closer home, it's this place which is in front of Chermas in MG Road. Curious like a cat, I wanted to see what was there in that place. More interesting was this guy who stepped out of that place. Really fair, tall, long hair, wearing skinny jeans like those in Jonas Brothers and those long pointed sort of shoes which again Jonas Brothers sorta popularized. Hmmm... strange but good to see metrosexuality out there on road showing hand, stopping vehicles and crossing road. But I'd not want to be caught on the wrong side of it, staring at it, ogling at it as that guy were a girl...

Anyways what happened was I landed at the same place a few days later and I was still interested to find what that place was. One thing I was sure about was that it was some Parsi place (the name, looks of that guy, etc.) So I gave a what-the-hell-let-us-check-it-out expression and went in. I walked in checked that place out. Turns out it was a fire temple and a few small houses in the back (populated by some Parsis) There was a library too. I don't know what was I thinking but started walking towards it that a guy (wearing that typical parsi cap) claps his hand and asked me where was I going. I told him I checking the place out. He said the place was a private property and not for random people to "check" out. And then like in those daily soaps, he pointed towards the gate and told me rudely to get out :( Not that I felt really pissed but I felt like giving a piece of my mind to that security guy. First of all he doesn't stop me when I enter the place and then when I'm getting out, he starts asking why did you go in (o.0)

some time back

2010-02-02T09:16:00.000+05:30

and here i am with yet another post on music. But this time it's about the stuff I used to listen to when I was in school days. Like all good stories, everything starts out good. For me it all started in early 1998 when we got a new TV. The crappy old BPL that we had before that had only 8 channels and there were no channels like cartoon network or CNN or MTV :( So when the new TV came, I almost became a couch potato trying out channels, watching new stuff, etc. Add to it, our school later shifted from a 6 day to a 5day school with saturday becoming "activity" day. I mostly used to bunk that "activity" day and watch TV. There were so many incentives you see. Baywatch used to come on saturdays when my mom used to be out and it was an important part of a typical saturday for me. It was at this same time that I started to watch many english songs and their videos. During those days our cable operator was hathway and it was considered a huge thing. They used to run this channel ITV where you call the system and through IVRS select a song. Mannn!!! people used to sit all afternoon trying to get the number. It was always engaged! The stupid thing is today ITV is not there anymore :( Instead we have Hi! TV which is filled with loadsa punjabi and hindi music. No problem with that but there were very few english songs and if I wanted to listen to hindi songs, I could've gone to B4U or ETC during those days.

Anyways the point of this post is not to talk about the music channels. This post is about the really nice music I used to listen to during those days. It was different. There was always this thing of songs looping over and over again in ITV and also music channels like MTV and Channel V. It was always possible to watch a song atleast three or four times everyday until you got bored and I used to listen to so much of stuff that I was able to spend almost entire day on TV just like that. I used to listen to backstreet boys and britney spears and westlife too but there was a lot of other stuff too and sadly today hardly people know these songs :( So this is a list of all those songs which seem to have gone off people's minds.

Artist - Moby. This was one video I loved watching! People know how I keep listening to a song over and over again and this was definitely one of them. I used to just listen to this song. Again and again and if possible again. :)

Pop Duo - Paola e Chiara. This is one song (and the other was ek pal ka jeena from kaho na pyaar hai) which were *instrumental* in changing my hairstyle from a side partition to somewhere in the middle partition. There is this guy with black shades looking from somewhere in back. Man, His hairstyle was so awesome during those days :)

Artist - Kimkay. Yes! I used to listen to whatever was there. This song was weird but had a really hummable tuney. I used to catch this song on ITV atleast two or three times everyday and god only knows how many times it used to come. :D I tried searching for the original video but seems like it's not there on youtube. But the most saddening part is that the singer of this song - Kimkay is suffering from some cancer and chances of her coming out ok are quite bleak :((

Artist - Chemical Brothers. Again a dance mix. I'm not much of a dancer but I like such electronica and dance stuff a lot. Even Moby's Lift Me Up was something of that sort.

Artist - Las Ketchup. Another song I loved! Even the girls were/are hot. My mom never approved me of watching this video. She used to give me the sort of looks. :O

Artist - Michelle Branch. At that time I might not have realized it but this may have been my first ever tryst with alt. rock. I loved the eeriness of the video and the way she looks at the camera. Today in this post avatar world of graphics, CG and VFX, the video seems a bit old and flawed but I still love it!

ok, I'll post some more such videos as and when I remember them!

adios

a shift in music genre

2010-01-13T12:22:00.001+05:30

The past few months have been really great. Great in the sense that I explored classic rock in a better way. Ofcourse, with generous help from Himank in this department. :) If classic rock was a 5xxx course in iiit, my course project on Allman Brothers, Dire Straits, Eric Clapton and the Beatles would have got me acing the subject. But as I always say it's time to explore other things(genres) too.

It all started when I found that classic rock was the only thing I had in my nokia music express. Though great and all, you feel a tad bit frustrated when you listen to classic rock while jogging or something. And it's easy to lose motivation while doing stuff like jogging and all. So decided to change the genre to trance and trip-hop. It's been sometime since I've listened to the likes of Tiesto, Paul Okenfield, Housexy and Hed Kandi. Now my mobile has a lot of trance and lounge stuff. And it's pretty good for a morning with some running around or something.

Personally I've always seen trance as very synthetic. Rock, specially the 60-70s kind of rock is much more organic. We listen to both to pass time. While rock mellows us down, trance and lounge music makes us alert and makes us wanna go shake some booty or something :P

And that's where I realized something. Weed, which tends to mellow us down goes well with classic rock. That's why I say weed is organic stuff. On the other hand, we have stuff like cocaine, heroin, etc. going with trance and all. The real drugs. The synthetic stuff. Stuff which make you lose your mind. Makes you needlessly alert, fidgety. A person you might not wanna become. Ok, I don't even know why I'm writing all this. Frankly speaking, writing all this to see how long a post can I write. Specially with all my recent posts being small and all. :D

adios

Vicky and Cristina in Barcelona

2009-12-18T16:10:00.001+05:30

by god, kya movie hai yaar! and here I thought Woody Allen had lost that charm of his :X Just watch this movie. It's really good in a different way.

Plus points of the movie
a. Scarlett Johannson, Penelope Cruz.
b. Shot in Spain giving it an exotic, european kinda look.

Juan has a lot of talent and he knows he has it. The way he totally changes when talking to Cristina and then to Vicky is something I should maybe learn someday. But deep within, both were falling for him for the same precise reason.The narration kind of reminded me of "Annie Hall" and "When Harry met Sally" Great movie, nice timepass of two hours, which you won't regret.

But what stuck me most was the girl-girl love making thing. It's as if people in US are doing all they can to bring this phenomenon out of closet (not that I'm complaining!) If you've seen FRIENDS season 1, you might remember what chandler's mom says when she hears about Ross's wife (that she was a lesbo) One thing that is for sure is that It's almost every guy's fantasy but what about gals? Do they think about it too. I mean gal with gal. Look at Katy Perry's video, the lyrics of the song are meaningless but they do send some signals. I guess it has to do with gals coming from Venus and being totally different from guys. That's why I say I'm a totally worried person whenever some news comes that stem cell research is achieving new breakthroughs.

mid day timepass

2009-09-29T14:28:00.004+05:30

so I went to NBH mess sometime near two in the afternoon for my lunch. I filled my plate with stuff and sat on one table. I was relishing the taste of cauliflower that I saw this girl. Black top. Straight hair and sunglasses adjusted above her forehead. I never saw her here in the campus before and I'm telling you she's not from IIIT-H. So I was like ogling at her all the while. She completed her lunch and went to wash her plates. Just then some friend of mine came by and said hi... I said hi. We exchanged some pleasantries and then he went away.

That's when she came out, she was waiting near the place where plates are stacked(not inside but outside where they usually keep milk and tea) and while she was waiting, she caught me looking at her. Damn it! I tried to look away but it was too late. She saw me! A moment later I tried to again look at her and she caught me again! fuck! what happened to my technique? Where did I lose it!! Anyways, I decided to keep ogling at her and did so. She must have like taken pity on me and may have allowed me to stare at her. Dude! I wasn't staring at her just for the heck of it. I was staring at her to give enough material for this post here :D So I was like telling myself that this is so totally my type of gal - tall, wearing dark ash colored jeans, sunglasses and all. That's when I saw her sandals. They were like an inch and a half high heels. It's rare to find chicks in campus wearing such high heels. So, she was like waiting for someone... maybe her brother (why spoil my day by thinking it was her boyfriend??) and started walking towards the door. I knew she was giving me this cold look. So what did I do? I... well I... did the best thing possible. I put my tongue as if making a :P expression!! :P

I felt bad that this saga came to end here. But I knew it couldn't have. It can't. So I looked outside and there she was walking slowly (with her brother :P)on that road towards the library. In a flash I got up, dumped all the stuff in my plate, washed my plate so fast... Man I think I may have even beaten sharat in this :P and came out. By this time, she had pretty much come close to that barricade but I didn't lose hope. My strides were huge and covered distance pretty fast. I had almost crossed 3/4th of the football ground that I saw her entering the library block. Like that sprinter who puts his everything in the last few meters, I too put everything and made even larger strides. She was gone. I checked the library, checked CDE and also prof. B I's office :D No sir! she wasn't anywhere to be seen...

I was feeling hungry all over again. But then I didn't go to coffee shop. I instead opened my blog and here I'm writing all this as a post.

ciao!

big ass and other irrelevant stuff

2009-09-17T02:30:00.004+05:30

People often say I'm thin, but trust me I'm not. The other day, I was looking at myself and got a feeling that I'm getting a bulge. Yea.. you are right, the perennial problem of secondary growth, which is also called growing horizontally. I gave a goodbye kiss to vertical growth a few years back but that doesn't mean I'll let this h. growth stay here. NO! I shall not. So coming back to the topic - So I was looking at myself and realized that all the chocolates have started affecting me. My ass has started bulging! Gawd!!! If I don't stop it, I'll become a male version of Kim Kardashian... DUDE!! I can't even picture it. GROSS!!!

Two weeks ago, I used to spend atleast 25 rupees daily on chocolates. There was a time when I ate 6 Munch(es) - those chocolate wafer sorta thing in one hour. That is huge you know. It's not like I'm boasting of some record. It's bad. REAL BAD. Everyone has to pay a price for the stuff he/she does and my big ass is just a testament of that fact. I could've easily fallen prey to chocolate and made my life a sad story of chocolate addiction - the kind of life that could be documented and shown to children to stop chocolate addiction.

But that was two weeks ago and I've cut down on a lot of stuff. I'm eating healthy you know. There was a severe withdrawal problem as far as chocolates are concerned. Slowly reducing it, I've totally cut down on chocolates. Today I can proudly say that it will be the third day since I have not eaten any chocolate. I don't feel anything happening either. I ofcourse have the OBH shopkeeper offering me kit kat, perk and munch but now I moved onto a higher plane by refusing to fall for the greed. You may ask how? Well it's simple. I collected all these gross images of malnourished African children dying of hunger and all. I now have them in my mind and picture them everytime I seem to fall for chocolates. Believe me, it works! It's a sad, stupid, maybe hideous way of controlling stuff, but then that is what things have come to.

leaving on a good note, I should also tell how happy I'm on seeing my blog again on blogroll. The past few months which have seen my blog posts always without comments were bad as far as my blogging career is concerned. Hopefully things will now change.

ciao!

2009-09-06T01:06:00.003+05:30

Ever since the new people arrived, I have been having hots for a particular girl from pg. Two days ago, I was washing my plate alongside her that I saw how she wasted so much of water. She kept scrubbing the plate for a long time, chit-chatting with a friend beside her and all this time the tap was open and so much water went waste. Man! I felt terrible. With every passing moment, I felt she would NOW realize it and close the tap... BUT NO! and I didn't do it either. Felt it would be too rude. At the risk of sounding judgmental and all, I have to say that I have begun to see her in poor light.

Among other things, I'm stuck in my work. There is "no dawn as far as my research is concerned" would not be an exaggeration. Plus everyone these days seems to do KLPD. Why does it always appear to me as if everyone around is conspiring to fuck all my plans? why? WHY? WHY? WHY???????????

>blink< >blink<

Whoever said that you feel much lighter after venting out your frustration in a blog is one A-rate ch***ya. His ideas are nothing more than a piece of whore shit. "coz I still feel the same. No change here at all :(

2009-08-30T13:20:00.003+05:30

Every time I walk down the faculty quarters road, I look at all that wasted land and imagine what it would have been if we would have grown weed there. Cannabis to be more precise. Those dried twigs in the sun - they would have given the air there something different. One could have just gone there and stay there, taking deep breaths and get high... or maybe (mel)low as people call the feeling.

Sometimes I get a doubt. What the hell is argon doing there, up so high in the percentage wise terms? Isn't it shitty that we have to put up with a gas like argon which is seemingly so useless and all. I propose that we change it forever. Let's instead have the smell of weed in the air instead of Argon. That way, we can all enjoy some quality high. How? Take deep breaths. If we take 10 mL of air in very breath, we would have 0.075 mL of weed in our body => take 100 such deep breaths and we will have enough of it in our bodies to get high. so what say? i'm not talking trash rite??

lemme know if someone's interested. We'll think about it. for now... ciao

Charity or Lack of Clarity

2009-08-02T18:36:00.003+05:30

A few days back I met this random guy near station who came to me asking if I knew where Arya Samaj Mandir is. I didn't and said the same. And then suddenly he starts telling me his story of how he got robbed somewhere in the train and that all his stuff including his money is gone. Now I know we ger loads of people coming with this sort of crap every now and then. I mean, specially u get these guys who say they are from sholapur, kolhapur, pandharpur, etc. and ask you for money. But this guy was slightly different. He said that he was from mumbai and going to Mahbubnagar to visit his daughter and asked me to buy a ticket to Mahbubnagar.

Now a ticket to Mahbubnagar costs 18 bucks... yea, I know cheaper than lunch or dinner in any of the messes here. So I decided to do this one grand favour and buy him a ticket. To make sure I wasn't getting cheated or something, I stood with him in the line to get the ticket. The guy was quite good in English and started talking to about the terrorist attacks in Mumbai. From there we somehow went to the topic of Indira Gandhi's assasination and he told me about this dude - Jarnail Singh Bindra. By this time, we were done taking the ticket and now we settled near a ledge and started talking about Pervez Musharraf. It was some 10 min. later that I realized I had a bus to catch and put an end to the conversation.

* * * *

It happened over an year ago. I was walking in this gully in Banjara Hills that this guy in a typical maulvi dress comes to me and said that a portion of the roof in the courtyard of the mosque had collapsed and that many children are now not able to sleep. He went on to ask for some money to build it. He showed a paper where he had also written how much others have donated. Next thing I knew I was giving me 30 rupees. Thank god I didn't have more khulla money or else I'd have given that as well.

* * * *

I don't know if I got duped. Don't know where my money ended. Whether it was really for the ticket or for the mosque, I don't know. But atleast I got satisfaction and ofcourse a reason for not shelling out money for those kids near traffic signals, esspecially after watching Slumdog Millionaire, :D

Presidents and PMs exchanging pleasantries

2009-07-09T00:10:00.007+05:30

Today while reading the newspaper, I saw a pic of the Obama and medvedev sitting in a hall talking while all the press guys were taking photos. Ofcourse the press would have been asked to fuck off while these guys discussed matters of grave importance which would affect you, me and everyone in the world(all the pun intended as it's the two biggest nuclear countries we are talking about here.) They were incidentally enjoying a blame game, blaming each other for all the problems in the world today. As suspected, nothing much came out of the meeting.

But that is not why I'm writing all this stuff here. Everytime I see this pic of two world leaders sitting and talking, I feel kinda strange and start wondering what they might be talking about? Take the example of Obama and Medvedev. Medvedev doesn't know english and (obviously) Obama doesn't know russian, but still were seen yapping with each other to glory. What exactly were they talking? Or were they just posing? Why did they push the interpreters away? Why? What? and how? :(

****

But this is not the only problem that is haunting my head right now. I generally have loads of things going on in my head at any point of time and the thing that is bothering me the most is the way in which it is raining here in Hyderabad. It starts drizzling at around late evening and continues will into the midnight. This sort of drizzle bordering on dry and wet kills me 'coz a. I bought an umbrella and have not been able to do paisa-wasool till now and b. the plants kept in my house are drying and dying for getting water.

So god, please show some mercy and don't bring this carnival of dust and drought on us. Show us some water around, some puddles and some showers. Amen

adios
sashidhar

Revisiting Roald Dahl

2009-06-27T11:58:00.000+05:30

So when gilly a.k.a vinay asked me to issue two books for him, I went straight to the section where Roald Dahl's books were kept and picked up "Collected Short Stories of Roald Dahl." First of all, they are, well, short stories and add to it a brialliant combination of unpredictability, an old world charm and a decent speed and we have that nice recipe which is missing these days and so while the book is still lying in my room, I am re-reading some of the stories I like the best. Some of which are -

The Hitchhiker
The Landlady
Bitch
Lamb to the Slaughter
The Umbrella Man
The Butler
The Bookseller
The Visitor

Come to think of it, there is something about short stories which makes it a better option than the occasional huge novels (specially the ones like Fountainhead which ran 700+ pages and had such a small font.) Some blame it on my small attention span, but my strong feeling is that there's my father's influence at play here. He himself is a (very huge) fan of short stories and if one ever asked him the authors he liked the most, he'll always give the names best known for their short stories like Anton Checkov, O. Henry, Sommerset Maugham, Guy De Maupassant, Roald Dahl and Saki. Though I haven't read much of his stuff, I hope to complete all one day.

adios
sashidhar

Tagged - F.A.Q

2009-06-12T11:34:00.003+05:30

Haven't been blogging for a while. Blame it on twitter or on sheer laziness, either way I wanted to get outta this loop. Maybe this will hopefully serve as a motivation to write more often. So here go the questions as I lifted them from Karan's post

1. When you looked at yourself in the mirror today, what was the first thing you thought?
damn! why did i waste so much money on a stupid haircut

2. How much cash do you have in your wallet right now?
150 bucks

3. What’s a word that rhymes with DOOR?
ore

4. Who is the 4th person on your missed call list on your cell phone?
charan

5. What is your favorite ring tone on your phone?
Love me or Hate me by Lady Sovereign

6. What are you wearing right now?
tee and jeans

7. Do you label yourself?
i used to. But not now :)

8. Name the brand of the shoes you’re currently own?
i have nike floaters rite now. nothing else

9. Bright or Dark Room?
dark. fade to black baby!!

10. What do you think about the person who took this survey before you?
Karan: i guess, thoroughly systematic is the first word that comes to my mind

11. What does your watch look like?
I don't wear watches :P

12. What were you doing at midnight last night?
taking some quizes on facebook

13. What did your last text message you received on your cell say?
"Not able to reach you. call me ASAP"

14. What’s a word that you say a lot?
oh.k

15. Who told you he/she loved you last? (please exclude spouse , family, children)
i have been sorta starving to hear something like that... can't remember the last time someone said something like that :(

16. Last furry thing you touched?
a cat. it's there in OBH. its name is "my pussy" :P :P

17. Favorite age you have been so far?

got to be this one. So much fun, so many realizations...

18. What was the last thing you said to someone?

19. The last song you listened to?
Beautiful: Eminem

20. Where did you live in 1987?
no idea

21. Are you jealous of anyone?
yea, loads of people. I'll go as far as saying that it's not even jealousy, it's plain loathing

22. Is anyone jealous of you?
i'm not sure if there is anyone

23. Name three things that you have on you at all times?
this is something i can't think of. they keep changing

24. What’s your favorite town/city?
Hyderabad.

25. When was the last time you wrote a letter to someone on paper and mailed it?
i had this pen friend during my school days. Wrote a letter to him. More than 8 years back i guess.

26. Can you change the oil on a car?
nope

27. Your first love/big crush: what is the last thing you heard about him/her?
tried searching her on social networking sites, asked friends but looks like she has disappeared off the radar :(

28. Does anything hurt on your body right now?
my back. slept the wrong way... feeling miserable

29. What is your current desktop picture?
the default ubuntu wallpaper

30. Have you been burnt by love?
never been in love to be burnt :D

adios

sashidhar

Avial, Backwaters and Steamers

2009-05-18T21:00:00.001+05:30

The milestone read Alappuzha was some 18 odd kilometers and I could already see a canal by the roadside running in parallel with the highway. A glance towards the other side side of the road and I realized that another canal was running in parallel on the other side as well. It was sometime later that I saw that there was another canal too! Every 2 kilometers or so there were these old rusted sort of bridges which connected the roads on either side of the canals.

* * * *

So many times have I imagined myself as Anthony Bourdain, roaming around tasting food in different places. In Kerala too, I stuck to Kerala’s cuisine in search of that one gastronomical delight that would would be worth talking about. That search for the holy grail finally ended in Alappuzha where I had my lunch. Each and every course had something in it. Whether it was Avial with drumsticks or the date+lemon pickle. But the thing that stood out was Cabbage Fry which was simply put was out of this world. My mom knows how much I love cabbage and how much I love the cabbage fry my mom makes but I’ll have to concede that the cabbage fry these guys raked up was simply outstanding, leaving me begging for more! The other major point worth noticing was the rice that these guys used. The rice grains were large, fat and in total contrast to what we usually would want to eat. Though I could eat it, I’d prefer our desi rice any day :)

* * * *

The sun had set and we reached Marari beach(on the outskirts of Alappuzha) in twilight. Though we didn’t get to see the “usual stuff” like golden sands, coconut trees, I definitely got to see water around me, extending further than my eyes could see. Whether it was the joy of jumping in the water or the pain when the salt water went into ones eyes or the the frustration when one was not able to get the sand and salt off his body, everything had its own charm and romance. I was as happy as an ardent pilgrim who reaches Tirupati and gets his head shaven. Gave that example ‘coz I gave my bermuda to the beach in a similar fashion. I left it there after taking bath :D

* * * *

Without doubt the best part of the batch trip ‘09 was Alappuzha. Though most of my friends say that Munnar was the best part of the batch trip, I beg to differ. Alappuzha was love at first sight for me. Never had I thought there was a place in India where more than three quarters of the town would be on the banks of canals. The water was surprisingly clean, with some of my batchmates swimming in it too :D There were boats and steamers in the canals, the boats were shops, homes and well, simple boats. The canals which ran in parallel (with the highway road) for more than 20 km was an absolute thrill to watch. Equally great was the boat ride in the canal itself. A point where a large lagoon acted as the junction for the three canals gave some postcard perfect scenes with the setting sun and a bunch of coconut trees in the background. All in all Alappuzha was a great place which more than made up for the disappointment that was Ooty :)

in which world am I stuck?

2009-04-06T23:21:00.004+05:30

It was late evening. As usual I had my dinner early and as planned headed for the terrace of the unfinished building. Being afraid of heights, the climb was scary to say the least. But the effort was well paid for. The breeze had this eerie effect and set a tempo for the rest of the evening. Lying on my back, I was counting the stars that I heard a sound from the other corner of the building. A girl in white sari had also climbed up the building was sitting by the edge. Her hair was left loose and was blowing in the breeze. She had this dreamy, sad expression on her face. The strange part was that I called her by some name (i don't remember) and she got up, came near me and sat by my side.

But the strangest part was that she looked at me and asked why I hated myself. I must say I don't hate myself per se. Everyone has complaints. My complaint register runs miles and miles in length and I admit that if I had a chance I would have done some things better. I can (with much confidence) say that I made many mistakes and that I've spent far too many nights regretting them but I don't hate myself. But the case was different. I heard myself saying wierd things to her. I heard myself saying that I hated myself for not growing up. For being such an open book. People could see through my feelings as if I was nothing but a silly see-through gown. People read my feelings as if I was a damn page out of a bloody Jeffrey Archer novel. I hated myself for not knowing occlumency. I looked in her eyes, my eyes searching for solace but there was none. And then suddenly she said, "You know you can jump from here." I first laughed and then felt angry that how could she even say something like that. But before I could anything she was gone. I felt a slight jerk and awoke with a start.

Soon I realized that it was a dream. I sat up and looked at the sky. Then I stood up and walked to the edge of the building. My legs were shaking as if any moment they would betray me and I would fall. Taking some half a dozen steps back, I looked forward, took a deep breath. Gathering some momentum I ran forward and jumped out of the building. But before the rubble and dust could come and kiss me I awoke cold and shivering, my temples drenched with sweat. Now this is the part where I should say that I'm happy that the nightmare was behind me. But oddly enough I felt a pang of relief run through my body.

****

[epilogue] - Walking past the library, I gazed at the building concentrating at the part from where I had jumped and traced the path to the ground. I closed my eyes and imagined something heavy hit the ground. I went to the spot and looked at it carefully that I was reminded of what Morpheus said in The Matrix.

"Have you ever had a dream, Neo, that you were so sure was real. What if you were unable to wake from that dream. How would you know the difference between the dream world and the real world?"

The Anakin Connection

2009-03-28T16:04:00.000+05:30

Dear d

I was under the impression that I was the mad guy here. A mad guy who had these strange dreams of humiliation. Of anger and hatred. Recurring dreams which I could never explain in words. But now it's complete, atleast to the point that I can put it in words. All thanks to Star Wars - Episode I - The Revenge of the Sith. I now feel everything has fallen into place.

Everytime I think about it, I see myself in Anakin Skywalker's place by the molten lava river. My limbs cut and eyes bloodshot. I hear myself shouting I HATE YOU with all that is left of me. If only I had my hands and legs intact, I would have taken the lightsaber and slashed you open a thousand times for what you have done to me. That wasn't the end. I thought you were the one would love me unconditionally but you let me lie there wasted. You saw me as a burst of lava caught me and burnt my entire body. My hair was gone, my body was beyond repair. But I somehow survived. I survived to write all this and more. To say this to myself that while every single strand of vein in my body carries dirty blood, I will live to hate you. I never played or will play mind games or guerilla warfare. I will be patiently waiting for the day when we have a face-off.

I HATE YOU
s

Female Pop Stars

2009-03-08T15:43:00.001+05:30

Today is Women's Day and while I can't make much difference to the world by preaching or otherwise, I can definitely talk about women who are making great music these days. I listen to all these artists quite a lot and love many songs of theirs. So in no particular order, some of the artists are

1) Rihanna - Totally love her songs. Specially Disturbia. In the song, I like the lyrics the best which make so much sense (in today's world.)

2) Lady GaGa - While I don't really "love" her kind of music, she has been making some nice songs which one can sprinkle around in a playlist to get a difference. Her songs have this disco like feeling and she tends to go gaga over fashion. Anyways Poker Face and Papparazzi are worth a listen.

3) Duffy - First time I heard her sing, found it a bit strange. Her voice is somewhat like those retro singers like Janis Joplin. One must try track is Mercy.

Some other honorary mentions might be Katy Perry, Gabriella Cilmi and Natasha Bedingfield

Also there are these totally cool bands which are either into Indie or Electronica kind of music. They have a female vocalist and are totally awesome to listen to -

1) Asteroid Galaxy Tour - Their song, Around the bend is really good. This incidentally was also used for the iPod ad sometime back. I haven't heard to any other song of theirs though.

2) The Ting Tings - Again into Indie music, these guys have been making some really humorous songs. Last.fm lists them as one of the most popular bands of 2008. Worthy mentions - Shut up and let me go, Great DJ, That's not my name

3) Goldfrapp - In the electronica scene. Happiness is a must listen.

4) Minipop - All the people having Nokia XpressMusic might know this band as their song, Like I Do is included by default. This song (and others too) have this ethereal sort of music to it. Great to listen to.

5) Carpenters - An old band. Both the artists are now dead. Some great vocals and really soulful music. Must listen tracks - Superstar, Sweet Sweet Smile, Rainy Days and Mondays.

adios
sashidhar

and then in Sikkim

2009-02-15T21:52:00.002+05:30

Long back, during my sixth class, I went to Darjeeling with my brother and my parents. Though the trip was awesome and memorable one, the sad part was that I spent only 4 hours in Gangtok. It has been a long time and now I hardly remember a thing. I was trying to recollect stuff when I started googling and wiki-ing around to check out Gangtok again. Along with Gangtok, I discovered a ton of other places. Instead going to sleep, I spent half the night exploring Sikkim on net. In these few hours I totally fell in love with that place. Someday, I'll get away for some 10-15 days and check out Sikkim and only Sikkim.

Actually I can already picture myself going there. It'll all start with start with taking Satavahana Express early morning and reaching Vijayawada sometime in the afternoon. Eat some lunch and catch Coromandel Express(yea, the same train which got derailed two days back) which goes to Kolkata. I'll catch a bus and either go directly to Gangtok or go to Siliguri and from there go to Kalimpong. Kalimpong is just off Teesta river which is the most scenic river in the north east.

The image was lifted from flickr. Click for more pics on Teesta River

From there I'd head to Gangtok where all the action would begin. Maybe roam around and finally head for Nathula Pass. I'll walk, take pics and do some more stuff...

Maybe I'll also shake hands with Chinese Army guys here ->

Again both are from flickr. Anil Suri's album

From there I'll go to Lake Menmecho and Tsongmo Lake. Maybe go for a yak ride too :D. Later I'd head north

Lake Tsongmo

Once in northern Sikkim, my first stop will be Yamthung Valley from where I'll go further north to reach Gurudongmar Lake which is one of the highest lakes in the world.

Gurudongmar Lake

From Gurudongmar Lake the second half of my journey would begin wherein I set for the western part of Sikkim. Here I'll go to Khecheopalri Lake and from there go here and there and come back to Kalimpong to see the coronation bridge over Teesta river. From there a bus back to Kolkata and from there back to hyderabad :)

Khecheopalri Lake

so how's the iterenary? any more places which I might be missing??

adios
sashidhar

my take on The Age of Reason

2009-02-05T05:10:00.000+05:30

There is this girl (whose name is the last thing I'd want to post on this blog :D) who talks a lot about existentialism. I did a bit of wiki-ing around on existentialism and found some nice things. From what I could understand, Existentialism is nothing but saying that all this philosophy thing is a bucket load of shit and that every man is an individual and philosophy can neither be used to generalize the behaviour of a person or set some arbit framework.

* * *

Around two or three weeks back, I found this book - The Age of Reason written by Jean Paul Sartre who happens to be this author who gave shape to the early theories of existentialism. Now, I consciously stay away from the likes of Marquez, Dostoyevsky, Ayn Rand who, I heard, write in a very abstract sense. Yet I found myself issuing this book. The book didn't disappoint my expectations of what it might be. It was a philosophical treatise disguised in this story set in France in world war 2 era. The book was outright boring. It was about this guy Matheiu who had this totally wierd way of looking at life. He loved two women(Marcelle and Ivich) but wanted to marry neither. He had friends(Boris, Lola, Daniel, Brunet) but wanted to be a loner, etc, etc... The book was so depressing that I left it after reading some 180 pages and gave it back to the library.

* * *

Yesterday when I went to the library and saw the book still lying around. Better senses DIDNOT prevail and I took the book and decided to see how the story ends. Hence started reading from the last 40 pages. Matheiu grew more frustrated, his friends were only more pissed with him, he deserted his mistress(Marcelle) who was pregnant and found out that she married one of his friends(Daniel) who was gay. He stole 4k francs from Lola who thought that the thief was Boris. The book ended by saying that Matheiu is truly free because "he exists in nothing." Wow! what a great way to end things. As if things weren't depressing enough.

Seems like the author wanted to convey the fact that it's ok to be frustrated in life. Frustration in life is a kind of lifestyle and the earlier you accept it, less miserable your life will be.

Moral of the story - Though there are people who are great fans of Existentialism in general and Sartre in particular, I'd want to stay away from it.

PS : does anyone know if there is any Spinoza stuff in library?? :P

Why library gives me so much of "pleasure"

2009-01-30T22:48:00.000+05:30

Today evening when I went to the library for my usual dose of book browsing and keeping up with the activity of doing nothing, something new caught my eye. No, it wasn’t a new chick in the library. It was the New Arrivals section. Generally empty or barely filled, it was totally flooded with books. Got a mild shock when I went there. I don’t know who can recommend the books or how does the entire system works but today I became a fan of the system. SUch a big fan that I have decided to do a bit of publicity. So here are a few snaps of what I found the most awesome.

The book which caused it all

Awesome cover description

some more... one for everyone :D

So what are you waiting for? Go and grab the book before someone else issues it

adios
sashidhar

Escapades

2009-01-01T10:05:00.005+05:30

Yesterday I went to Durgam Cheruvu. Never made a plan to go there. Was coming back to insti from Hitech city that I saw this signboard saying that Durgam Cheruvu was just a km from madhapur police station. Realizing that I still had the camera in my bag, I got off the bus and headed to Durgam Cheruvu. The first thing that came to my mind was that whoever named the lake that way still has the lake live to its name. The entrance to the lake from the kavuri hills side is totally obscure. Had to keep asking for directions to get there.

The place was totally awesome and I kept wondering why I never visited this place before. The visit was well timed considering the fact that
a. I had worn my sneakers 'coz there were these huge boulders which seemed pretty ideal for what I can call "boulder climbing"
b. had the camera with me. To get the best snaps, I went on further and further. The entire thing seemed something out of Farcry game where one saw a satellite station on top of some hill and one had to get there. I picked up this particular point and decided to get there. Took me two hours to get there. In these two hours snapped many awesome pics and had a helluva time. Here's wishing adios with some of the pics. I've put all the durgam cheruvu pics on flickr. and yeah... Happy new year too!! :)

The Catcher in the Rye and The Breakfast Club

2008-11-01T22:41:00.004+05:30

With regards to my previous post, I'm trying to write as few posts as possible but while I keep trying, here's one more :D This post is 'bout a book I read a few days ago. The Catcher in the Rye. To be honest, there is really no story in the book. Just another guy traveling all over New York. The thing that stands out is it's narration. The book reminded me of The Breakfast Club a lot. Why?

Both portray teen angst. Teens criticizing each and every thing and mocking the values of which the society is built and all.
Both talk 'bout sexual issues in an open way. Though not a big deal today, it was when the book was released in the 50s era. The narrator talks 'bout losing virginity, cute asses, etc, etc... The Breakfast Club also had people(especially Claire) talking about her virginity and how she has to deal with the pressures of being the princess of the school, etc, etc. That's one reason why i think the movie and book were a generation ahead of their counterparts.
profanity, vulgarity and portrayal of sensitive issues. The narrator of the book makes extensive use of profanity. Calling everyone and anyone a goddamn phony bastard, he is shown drinking as a minor. In Breakfast Club too, Bender brings in pot and all the people in the detention start smoking pot.
Pop culture. Both had big impact on the pop culture. Many phrases like "sort of" as in I sort of liked it and "and all" as in I know it's bad and all.... slang like "screw up", "dough", "it kills me" etc, etc. all seem to have originated from this book. The movie too had a huge effect on the culture. It started the genre of high school movies, the concept of glorification of prom, sitting in the detention room thinking of ways to get out, etc...
and finally, the transformation of the protagonist(s) In both the book and the movie. The protagonists realize that they are not what they thought they were. Writing it here might not be a good idea as it might become a spoiler :D

All in all this guy put it right. If you thought like him when you were 16 or 17 years old, you are forgiven. If you still identify with him, you need to find some more joy, somehow…fake it ’til you make it. Do something.

The last one?

2008-10-23T02:40:00.001+05:30

I thought it was only me but there are others who are thinking on the same lines too. One of my most favourite bloggers has decided to stop writing. I sort of used to see a bit of myself in what she wrote. I never wrote anything about a lot of things that I would generally love to sit and chit-chat about, because it was already there on her blog. But today it isn't and something is amiss.

When I first started this blog, the one thing I wanted to do was to constantly ask myself how deep the rabbit hole goes? How long can I keep writing about the stuff that I write about ? Sadly I've lost most of those sentiments. Maybe because there is a different question I'm asking myself. Maybe something else. Maybe because, like her, I too am a bit selfish when it comes to me. Like Sharukh Khan puts it, it's always about me, my stardom, my family, my wife, my world, etc, etc...

In these 2 + something years as a blogger, I've written about a lot of stuff. Stuff which might not even make sense now. Ok, agreed everything has it's own place, serious contemplations, moments to laugh at, poetic reflections, etc, etc... but then change is inevitable. Change comes back to haunt us because it's the only permanent thing in life. I'm an optimist, not as big an optimist as Andy in Shawshank Redmption, but an optimist nevertheless. I see this as a sign that a phase has just passed. Maybe it's time to move on. Not necesarilly to greener pastures but also to some drylands with only forage bushes around.

Today as I stand on a crossroad, I don't know if it's a goodbye or just a hibernation, but whatever it is, i'll come to know about it in due time. Till then I'll just pretend this space was never mine...

till then adios!
sashidhar

5 reasons why IMDB is bad

2008-10-07T11:52:00.000+05:30

imdb is a very good resource when it comes to movies, movies and tv shows' trivia. everything is fine except the top 250 list. For some stupid reason, it's going to the dogs. :( but why?? here's why

1. God Father part 2 in 3rd place. ok agreed i go gaga over dark knight and all but godfather part 2 is definitely not better than dark knight. Dark Knight never deserved this kind of a treatment x-(

2. Once upon a time in west on 19th position. anyone who has seen the movie will agree that the movie is boring and the plot has been stretched more than the elastic of a sagging underwear. it is a disgrace in the name of western classics.

3. Fight club in 23rd position. were the hell did all that junta go who say that fight club is one of their favouritist movies? i feel it should be somewhere in top 15

4. Forrest Gump in 46th position. need I say anything more? if tom hanks ever saw it, he would feel bad for all the running he did and the bullet he took in his ____.

5. Annie Hall and Ratatouille beyond 100. Someone once told me that you can tell if a movie is great if u find any 10 min sample of the movie good. Atleast on that basis, Ratatouille and Annie Hall are both very good movies and deserve to be atleast in top 100.

atleast this is what i feel :|

My decadence

2008-09-18T01:30:00.001+05:30

It all started with the fever. The fever's gone but the feeling's still there. I don't feel like sitting in front of the computer and work. How can one sit in front of the computer when one can instead go out and roam? The weather is so totally awesome. Cloudy and breezy. One would want to take an umbrella, go out and walk in the rain.

Nothing seems to inspire me to sit in front of the machine. I've walked atleast 5-6 kms in the last two days hoping to "find" inspiration. I've spent hours doing nothing, hoping that, the activity of doing nothing will frustrate me and I'll start doing something. But no! nothing is working!! Is this it? is this My Decadence??

Standing on the edge of a cliff,
I look down the abyss, so very deep
No thought, no plan, I make a leap.
Too bad, I didn't jump well.
There were rocks down under, I hit them.
Hit one and broke my arm.
Though much was the pain, it wasn't the end.
I hit another and broke my neck.
As I lay on the ground, the last thing that came to me -
show me how deep the abyss is...
atleast the next time, I'll not try this.

totally random phone calls

2008-08-30T18:43:00.000+05:30

There was a girl. Her name was Swapna. There was a guy, Madhav. Swapna and Madhav were chums and most prolly used to hang out together. It so happened they gave each other their numbers. So instead of our classic, thoroughly tested technique of giving the other guy a miss call and recording the number, they "gave" each other their numbers. It so happened that Madhav gave his number as 9989314387, which was the number of this guy by the name Sashidhar. Blissfully unaware, Sashidhar was browsing the net when he got the first call.

tring-tring!! tring-tring!!
###I pick up the phone and without our usual hello, she starts!###
Swapna - enti madhav phone enduku cheyatiledu?? :( What's up Madhav?? why aren't you calling me??
Sashidhar - ok, i think...., meeku wrong number aiyindi! ikkada Madhav undadu!! idi sashidhar :) I think u've got the wrong number. Madhav doesn't live here. This is sashidhar.
Swapna okkkk... sorry.

###Two minutes later, my mobile rings again and it's the same number###
Swapna - hello madhav! nuvva?? Hello, Madhav! is it you??
Sashidhar - nopes! this is still sashidhar. meeru oka pani cheyandi. naaku madhav number chappandi. crosscheck ceddamu! tell me madhav's number. let's crosscheck it!
Swapna ok ###pauses for a few seconds and### 99894314387. that is the number.
Sashidhar ###ok, this Madhav dude has really done it this time! gave my number to her!!### ok... meeru number correct chepparu, but ikkada Madhav undadu! You've given the correct number, but this isn't Madhav's number. ###and i keep the phone###

###a minute later, i get the phone again. You might ask why do i even bother it. Why don't I ignore the call.. But the thing is the day had been boring till now and something was needed for timepass###
Swapna - Hello! Madhav?? lepote sashi?? Hello. Madhav? or is it still sashi??
Sashidhar - It's Sashidhar. Still the wrong number... :X
Swapna - ok... oka pani cheyavaa... me pakka inti lo Madhav ani everena untara?? vaadu maybe me phone number ichaadu! ok... do one thing. check if you have Madhav living around you. Maybe that's why he gave me your phone number.
Swapna Sorry ikkada evearu Madhav ledu! Sorry! There is no Madhav!! ###and hung up###

###then go to drink water, have a small chat with this guy near the water cooler and come back to the room in about 10 min and I see that I have already got 2 missed calls from her!!! A minute later, she calls again. Girl in distress!!###
Swapna - hello, Sashidhar? Madhav dorkeda?? Hello sashidhar! did u get Madhav!!???!! :O
Sashidhar - ok... first nenu madhav ki etakavanki vella ladu. inka ikkada Madhav undadu. Nenu hostel lo untanu. naku telusu, na pakkana evaru untaro! first, I didn't go searching for Madhav and second, I live in a hostel. I know who lives around me! ###shit! why did I ever have to say that!!!###
Swapna - Hostel aa?? College lo unnava?? e college?? Hostel?? U r in college or what?? which college?
###now why did she ever have to ask that! something stupid is going on here!###
Sashidhar - iiit - hyderabad.
Swapna - okkkkk... sorry for the phone calls. Bye.
###felt kinda sad for her. Wasted three phone calls and still din't get hold that Madhav dude!!###

With this incident I am actually reminded of the Priya-Anita-Sohan incident. Wanna share it but this post is already too long. So I'll do it in the next one!

What inspires laziness?

2008-08-26T19:38:00.002+05:30

Standing in the corridor, I was staring at the sky. The sky was clear except for these slender patches of white, as if someone had lazily painted a few strokes of white on a blue canvas. A few friends of mine had just started a game of cricket. Birds were flying in flocks over the hostel. The leaves were rustling in a sprightly fashion. All was well till I saw these wispy cotton like clouds at the horizon. Floating lazily in the air, they passed over me. The motion of the clouds was LAAAAAANGUID. Suddenly the birds disappeared, leaves went quiet. The bowler bowled an extremely lazy ball which was answered by an equally lazy stroke (and the fielder didn't even bother to follow the ball.) From what I saw, the world was lazier than a lazy donkey which sits in the sun because it's lazy to move and go into the shade. All this laziness made me feel lazy. I fell asleep and now when I wake up, I realize something. Yes! this is what inspires laziness. :D

Searching for Answers

2008-08-24T10:24:00.006+05:30

I run from one end of the cave to the other
desperately seeking light.
I clear the haze and mist in front of my eyes
only to find more than I can take.
I Walk down streets, roads and crosses
wondering what I could have done differently.
How much ever I think, I'm still miles away from it.
That it will eventually catch up with with me
is what frightens me the most.
Like a splinter in my head,
driving me crazy, driving me mad.

Historic moments caught on camera

2008-07-12T13:41:00.001+05:30

On weekends, when you go to the office and discover you have nothing great to do, so you decide to check out the girls' restroom [Historical Significance: Entered a girl's restroom for the first time after puberty]

You spot this prehistoric, decrepit bar. People coming out of it and lying on the road. You are totally excited and add it to the "must visit spots" in Bangalore [Historical Significance: Your favorite brand of vodka is nowhere to be seen in this desi bar :(]

Though this chick doesn't look slick and sexy in this pic, she actually was! What's more! we stalked her from Garuda Mall to Brigade road! [Historical Significance: Stalked a chick for about half a mile and managed to click a photo too :P]

It's drizzling, so you open your umbrella. A gust of wind comes and takes the wind out of your umbrella! Now that your umbrella has ditched you, it starts raining heavily :( [Historical Significance: Mother nature bitchslapping you. Caught on camera :D]

Caught on camera! what interns are upto :P
[Historical Significance: Mondays are boring 'coz you don't wanna come out of the weekend mode. Fridays don't see any work 'coz you are too excited to slip into the weekend mode.But wednesdays exhibit the eternally strong laziness and bc tendencies in all of us! :D]

An ode to Kothari Complex

2008-06-14T04:30:00.000+05:30

When we came to Bangalore, we first went to this place called Kothari Complex. We decided to settle at some other place, but our friend Venkat still stays there.

This poem is dedicated to Venkat. He rocks.......... {warning - might be explicit}

Kothari, Kothari, Kothari
why so totally awry?
a pro will definitely come
and then she will "come"!!!
till then... don't worry :)

cya!

HR Managers - A non-objective classification

2008-06-08T20:03:00.000+05:30

I've had my mind on writing this post for sometime and now that it has been over a month since I joined the internship program, I can base these facts somewhat well. :P

Before I begin, some things -

Non-objective... but why?
The facts have been created and not discovered :P + this discussion assumes that we are talking only 'bout the ladies... :D

a) Pr Type -
- They come to the office dressed in skirts (mostly in light colors) and dark top (I've seen several shades of red go well with the skirts.)

- Generally have straight hair, maybe last moment use of hair straightening irons or something...

- These people represent the global face of the company and are mostly found introducing the companies, giving out press details, etc.

- Hard to spot them in cafeteria, recreation centers, gyms and lounges because they are either out or have everything on their desk. Lunch, coffee, documents, anything!

b) Sh Type -
- Generally dressed in sleeveless kurtis. Have an awesome face, come with nice, sophisticated bags and all. Great accessories to complement their looks.

- Their hairstyle is bad, lazily put together with a clip or something. But have these awesome glasses. Like the ones Preity Zinta wears in Kal ho na ho.

- They come to the office with the Let-us-get-it-done attitude. Though it's us who actually do everything in the end :(

- Work really hard and are sometimes seen discussing their work place problems and pressures of working hard all day long.

c) An Type -
- Among all the types these are the oldest of all.

- Come dressed in saris, they look stunning. Stunning as in a respectful way, 'coz they are in the higher rungs of the company.

- Mostly very serious, they have a weird sense of humor and tend to crack these very silly jokes which put you in a dilemma - should I laugh or not?

d) Sa Type -
- Most beautiful of all (seriously!!!) They come to the office in these formal shirts and trousers.

- Have great english. Talk 'bout things other than work too.

- Actively involved in discussions. Have an active presence in social networking sites like Facebook and all.

- The worst part is that they give you loads of work and you never realize it until you get back to your desk. It's like "haste haste kaam de diya aur tumhe pata hi nahi chala tumhara kab kat gaya :P"

e) Me Type -
- Among all the HR managers, the most informally dressed. They come to the office in tops, jeans, converse style shoes.

- They are seen running around taking printouts, following their seniors and all that stuff.

- The best part is you can always go out for lunch with them, though the only problem is that by the time you go there, someone else would have done it... :(

- seen in malls during the weekends where you can always stop by and have a quick hi-hello-bye-see you act.

Hopefully this list is not gonna be exhaustive.............. :)

ciao!

Calvin - The latest avatar of fundaebaazi

2008-06-08T12:50:00.000+05:30

Read on to get a clearer picture

History is the fiction we invent to persuade ourselves that events are knowable and that life has order and direction. That's why events are always reinterpreted when values change. We need new versions of history to allow for our current prejudices.
- calvin

Life is like topography, Hobbes. There are summits of happiness and success.Flat stretches of boring routine... And valleys of frustration and failure.
- calvin

I used to hate writing assignments, but now I enjoy them. I realized that the purpose of writing is to inflate weak ideas, obscure poor reasoning, and inhibit clarity. With a little practice, writing can be an intimidating and impenetrable fog!
- calvin

BBC, here we come!

2008-05-17T07:22:00.000+05:30

Hey there! For all those depsos who are bored in the city which offers the best nightlife... here's BBC - Bored Bangaloreans' Club. With a slew of activities lined up every weekend, we are sure you'll find yourself in the thick of things and what's more! you'll say goodbye to our club in no time... So! what are you waiting for?? Apply straight away to get out as fast as possible.

Just to set the ball rolling, here's a rough idea of things to come

1. Bungee Jumping at MG Road

2. Stand very close to the VIP stand in the cricket stadium and shout - "Katrina you're so hot but you're also so dumb!!" :P

3. Just like they did in Eurotrip, get a bus full of Liverpool fans (not Manchester Utd. :D) and become rowdies.

4. Get a camera in a room, dump all the people there and play some elimination games, with lots of politics.

Some of the things we are definitely NOT going to do -

1. Watch OC or Gossip Girl in the weekends and drool over their lifestyles

2. Drink vodka all saturday night and wakeup with a hangover on sunday and do nothing

3. Watch Manchester Utd. Vs. Chelsea shitting it out in the Champions League final.

4. Watch a Deccan Chargers match.

5. Going to Cafe Coffee Day just because you don't have anywhere else to go!

Here's hoping people join this club and have loadsa fun....................................................

till then,
ciao!

In a far away

2008-05-09T22:47:00.000+05:30

land (where things were still as sane as we think they are in the fairy tales) there was a boy who played pool a lot. But then he used to work in a company where there were deadlines. So he decided to do the worst. He decided to stay in the office late night and play pool but then compilcations arose. His productivity fell. His attitude took a blow and his credibility went for a toss!! man... in no time he was in the same world as us. Screwed up!! Today he feels guilty but there is no place for remorse in the world. Even in harry potter's world, what great did snape get with his remorse?? Try as hard as you may, you can never think of a reason which can justify the rationale behind things as they happen in this world... :(

Off to Bangalore!!

2008-05-02T19:17:00.001+05:30

Oops! or rather Bengaluru. Totally excited. Though not so 'bout most of the things one might expect but 'bout the scope of things I'd be trying out there. Have some major plans. Maybe some people might join me there too :P My train would be arriving Bangalore at around 10:30 in the morning and most prolly my bro will pick me up. My agenda for the first day is already chalked out --

a. Go to The Forum. It's just a kilometer and a half from my bro's place and is totally awesome!!

b. Maybe scout for a place of stay for the next 2.5 months... yeah! 2.5 months!! that means my summer hols are gone though... :(

c. Chill maaro!! :P

ok... then ciao! and my next blog post will be in Bangalore!

NDTV And Headlines Today

2008-04-24T19:30:00.001+05:30

Most people see these two news channels as rivals but I beg to differ :D They both complement each other very well and they must be tuned next to each other for maximum fun (and yeah a bit of knowing-what-is-happening-in-the-world thing too.) What is best is that both deal with very different kind of news. While NDTV is all for junta needs to know and journalism is the gift of god, Headlines Today is more of gossip related news.

So it's not surprising to see that while NDTV is carrying out a story on children dying after taking measles vaccines, Headlines Today is covering The Great Khali's escapades with The Big Show (in case you don't know our very own khali tried showing some gandhigiri, in well, the most violent of the games we can get to see today :D) It's absolutely of no use to argue over which channel is a better news channel as they both are doing their part of the job well and that is where my point of tuning both the channels side by side comes up. It's so awesome to listen to what both have got to offer. It's so entertaining to watch NDTV discuss the effect of the creamy layer thingy on the whole process of admission while Headlines Today talks about the wardrobe malfunction of... guess who?? J K Rowling!!!! :D (sorry to digress but) Apparently the strap of her gown came off and revealed her... oops!!! :P Her agent (in true Matrix isshtyle) moved in a flash to save her the disgrace!! Guess what? Someone is in dire need of Invisibility cloak to protect herself from the mysterious forces!! :P

Among other things, I was all over the place in City Center Mall today. Was there for about 2 hrs. Also went to the Spencer's plaza (a km down the Banjara Hills road from City Center Mall.) Went to iStore and saw all the Apple Ads on a Macbook Air. They were friggin' awesome and so was the machine I saw them on :P and yeah I'm having a tough time getting the tickets for Tashan... seems like I'm not the only one dying to watch it!

ok then... Bye!

Mumbai Indians - way to go!!!

2008-04-24T00:31:00.001+05:30

Of all the matches I've seen in IPL, the CSK Vs MI match is gotta be the best. Over 400 runs scored in 40 overs and everyone putting their everything in order to get their team to victory, it was totally a match worth watching. And with the bulls (read Deccan Chargers) shitting their way to glory, it's time to change loyalties. :P

Apart from that, the UEFA Champions League semi-finals are also taking place. As I'm writing this, Barca Vs ManU is gonna start in a few minutes and I'm hoping to see some action here... Specially the duel b/w Messi and Ronaldo. Maybe also because yesterday's match proved to be a damp squib :( The match was a boring one, and Liverpool were unlucky too... when they sent the ball into their own goal at the last moment and thus tied the match 1-1. Though slightly disappointed that Henry has been made to sit on the bench :)

Great! A penalty. Milito blocks ronaldo's header and ManU is awarded a penalty. But Ronaldo succumbs to pressure and ManU fails to capitalize with an early goal... :)

ok,,, then I'll watch the match now.

btw, I'm going to the Vancouver Film School's Roadshow tomorrow. Totally excited to meet those guys there. Hopefully it'll be fun... and maybe something nice to eat too! :P and yeah in case you're wondering what VFS is... here it is.

Gopal @ blogspot!!

2008-04-18T10:46:00.001+05:30

Today I showed the amazing capabilities of live writer to gopal!! He was impressed!!

In Manhattan

2008-04-17T14:02:00.000+05:30

If there's any place I'd love to be, it's gonna be Manhattan. Everytime I watch some movie set in Manhattan I fall in love with that place! I would so give anything to walk in that Central Park. Walk in those long green avenues... walk across those blocks(that kid in Little Manhattan talks 'bout it rite!)

and finally go the Upper East Side too... maybe check out a few private schools there! :P

one must watch Little Manhattan. Once again... to see Manhattan and New York City in general. :)

Yana Gupta - The new blonde in the town!!

2008-04-13T12:42:00.001+05:30

Yana gupta is the newest gal to sport the blonde look! Some others, as you might have noticed, are Saif Ali Khan, Bebo (didi :D) and Akshaye Khanna in their latest flick Tashan (bam!) Deviating from the topic, I must say that Tashan is one movie I'm very much looking forward to. Why??

I don't know what Tashan means!! :( want to watch the movie to check it out... :D
To watch the chemistry b/w Saif and bebo (I still feel bad for Shahid :( but then it seems he's hooking up with Jiah Khan!! :P)
thanks to this peice in a bebo interview -

reporter : so, aapne tashan ke liye itna weight lose kiya? Kya apne movie mein bikini pehna hai... jiki wajah se apne weight reduce kiya?

bebo : nahi jab role weight lose karne ke liye demand karta hai to, wieght lose karna padta hai... :(

reporter : so... apne bikini pehni hai!

bebo : uske liye aapko movie dekhni padhegi :)

ok, coming back to the main topic - Yana is now a blonde gal! She was looking friggin' awesome. Though I have a thing for brunettes, even a blonde like Yana or Serena in Gossip girl look great! :D and guess what? she is doing some Hip-Hop number now in which she has lent her own voice. Yeah! that's right you'll get to listen to her singing too!! this only proves one thing... that gangsta rap is going places :P

though the hip-hop number is a sexy, raunchy one with Yana shaking her leg quite literally, the other songs are, as told by her, reflections of her life in the past few months and years. Now I see, it's not only us who have been writing reflections! :P

no funda for today... :( :(

Yeh Hai Jalwa!!!

2008-04-12T21:58:00.001+05:30

As much as I hate to make my blog an RSS feed of reality shows, this is one show which I'd never miss to talk about! God knows when the show is gonna premiere or has it even hit the air, but I'd love to watch the show, atleast once, 'coz it has something different in it. It definitely not because of the usual crap like "it's the first reality talent show without a judge panel" or "the audience and the junta will be the ultimate judges of the show as their votes would decide the fate."

So what's so special about the show?

Reality shows is the newest testbed for experiments. Beauty and the Geek by Ashton Kutcher was one such attempt. Yeh Hai Jalwa seems to the the brainchild of Saif Ali Khan and Sajid Khan(I'm not sure... just guessing from what I saw :D) The best part is the hosts! The hosts of the show are Smriti Irani(Tulsi of Kyunki saash bhi kabhi bahu thi) and Tanveer(Parvati of Kahaani ghar ghar ki), the hallowed bahus of the Indian Soap Operas(this is advantage of watching the preview of the show with many aunties! You get to know who is what!! :D)

The show was basically about fusing indian songs with western ones and coming up with the right moves. The contestants were dance troupes consisting of some "laymen" and TV stars. Saif Ali Khan and Sajid Khan were the guests in the show commenting on the performances. Rakhi Sawant, the queen of item numbers was the first one coming up with a junglee number. Though it was not a fusion number it definitely managed to lead to some con-fusion with almost the entire junta in the audience not getting what the dance was all about!!! :P

There were some more performances, one by Shewta Tiwari(Prerna in Kasauti Zindagi Ki) who along with her "comrades" danced to a fusion of our very own telugu song, a ante Amalapuram and some song by Christina Augilera. Rohit roy and Rosa Catalano(yeah!! Saif's ex-girlfriend!) came up with some waltz again mixed up with some hindi song. All in all, a timepass show which one can always watch! :P

Funda of the day : Aunty Gossip - The genre or brand of gossip which you get to listen when you hang out with all the aunties in your apartments in your gali.

Aunty1 : Pata hai, chaawal ka bhaav bad gaya hai, khaana kya banoongi? :(

Aunty2 : woh supermarket waala to fizuul mein aur bhi paise maar raha hai!! x-( Reliance fresh to itna door hai, kaun jaayega!! :(

Ideas Lost!

2008-03-05T14:23:00.000+05:30

In fond memory of all those ideas lost. All the ideas which could never see the face of this world. Maybe because the thinker wasn't brave enough or the circumstances around him were too intimidating. Either way, things happened for the worse and all that is left to say is this poem

So what if this world is a place where ideas rain
What if something spectacular comes out of this brain
Who cares if there are ideas on which one can think
and things which one might want to link
at the end of the day, everything goes into the drain

Machines with wisdom?

2008-03-04T03:34:00.000+05:30

Prof : You can't be an experimentalist! Do you really think you can think of an algorithm which works in all the cases. x-(

The fact is everytime I see myself trying to solve a problem in AI (Vision to be specific!) and trying to make the machine think, I somehow get a feeling that I've adopted the machine and now I'm morally obliged to take care of it and do everything in order to make it think. Do you know what that means? You have to slip into the boots of the machine. Think in the same way as it does - sequentially, one thing after the other. And this is where problems begin. I can't seem to think straight. Crazy it may sound but more frustrating is the fact that each and every guy seems to be thinking straight!

People sometimes ask you of the thing you are most afraid of. This is what I'm afraid of... that a day might come when you would have lost your confidence over yourself. Let alone think of the solution to a simple problem, you can't even think systematically. :(

Today If I would have got a chance, I would love to go back in time and do things differently, undo the damage of some of the decisions I've taken this far. But then it's life rite! It's an adventure!!

On movies

2008-03-03T07:36:00.000+05:30

A few days back I, Srirang and Bhargava were having this discussion on bollywood movies when I realized that I had missed out on a lot of good movies. For example, till yesterday I didn't watch Rang De Basanti. Not that I never got the time to watch it. But then better late than never!!

The film was awesome and would very easily be one the best movies I've ever seen. But the most impressive were the dialogues in the movie. I felt they were kinda inspirational. It was the first movie of Soha Ali Khan that I had seen and so I don't know whether she is really a good actor or she acted very awesome only in this movie... I guess it was the talent of Aamir Khan which inspired everyone to act really well.

So what's next??

I plan on covering a few more movies which are tagged as a "must see" like

1. Munnabhai MBBS
I really wanna watch this movie. They say it has a mix of everything and it's a bit senti towards the end too! It might seem a bit amusing but I have seen Lago Raho Munnabhai. Lago Raho... was nice. I actually saw it bacause I sorta like Vidya Balan :D

2. Dil Chahta Hai
Another cult movie. People sometimes laugh that I never saw this movie. The problem is I can't get hold of the movie!!

3. The last 45 min of Lagaan
Actually I was watching this one at home when power went off and I could never see the last 45 min... as above can't seem to find this anywhere either!!

4. Taare Zameen Par
My cousins actually stopped talking to me for a week or two when I told them I didn't watch this movie!! This will be the movie I'll cover first. By the time you are reading this post, hopefully, I would have covered the movie!!

5. Chak De India
One more of those inspirational movies, Srirang calls it a must watch movie and has also told me that I should cover it immediately after Taare Zameen Par.

I'm planning on covering these movies and then maybe i'll check on a few hollywood movies too. Did I ever tell you that Forrest Gump is the only movie of Tom Hanks I've ever seen?? :D

Crappy Point#1 : This post has been as a draft for quite sometime now... Thought let's post it!

Crappy Point#2 : Went to attend a Blogger's meet in MS campus yesterday. Nice Campus, nice food, nice people, boring session... :(

what happens next?

2008-02-06T13:02:00.000+05:30

I enter my room. The room is dark, so I go and switch on the tubelight. An instant later, the room is lit and I suddenly look at the shabbiness of my room. NO PROBLEM!! I'll just go with it. Maybe just switch off the light and have a nice good sleep.

So, I switch off the light and get under the blanket. It's too hot now and I realize I forgot the fan. SHIT!! Get out of the bed and switch on the fan. Now it's better, but you don't feel like sleeping anymore... Pick up a book and start reading it da! So I pick up and switch on the light (yet again!) and start reading it. You start feeling drowsy... your eyes drooping... you are about to fall asleep... you are almost there... that someone knocks the door!! SHIT!!

Wassup man! Did you check that mail? Did you talk about that thing... did you check out that girl... did you know Pepe Jeans is having 50% discount... bc, bc++, bc 2.0!!! basically another night gone awry :(

moral of the story -- neva mind! :)

Days back then...

2008-01-09T15:45:00.000+05:30

Time :: Maybe when I was in my 8th class

I and my gang of 4 others, we would run to our friend's place and grab a stool or a chair and sit in front of the TV and tune to Star World. We would all wait with our mouths wide... very wide... extra wide open.... Why??? Because it was BAYWATCH da!!

Pamela Anderson and Yasmine Bleeth were two people who made us look forward in life and expect some really good things... And then there was another favorite of ours... V.I.P!!! How can one ever forget that show which used to come on AXN!! Totally friggin' awesome it was!

Back in those days, I was a confused guy, but life was great back then... I wish I could relive those moments... :( Just for once.

Arbit Musings...

2007-12-16T14:00:00.000+05:30

1. The moment a person loses his self-respect, he becomes a corpse... A Walking Corpse.

2. The only reason a man looks at himself in the mirror every morning is because he either finds himself great looking or is in need to prove something...

3. Life is an MST. The points are your various goals in life and you need to construct an MST. Some people plan their journey using their instincts and take a decision which appears the best at that particular time(Kruskal's Algorithm) while others take a decision which will prove beneficial in a long run(Prim's Algorithm.) All I want to say is people following Prim's algorithm need to get a life.

4. Human being by nature is not a sadist but if someone drives him up the wall, he would do a anything to piss off the other guy and totally f**k his case.

Amen x-(

Strange, Stranger and fubar!

2007-12-09T05:06:00.000+05:30

An intellectually stimulated guy after watching Om Shanti Om had his own views on the matter.

Sharukh Khan : Agar tum kisi cheez ko paane ki koshish karo to saari kayanat tumhe use milane se nahi rok sakti"

However, this guy X had something else to say here. "The harder you try to achieve something, double the effort is put by the world to completely F**K your case!!"

Think about it, it's actually right! None of our plans ever materialize. Partly 'coz of our laziness but mostly because things around us are so very pissing off... :X

Thanks to Hawkins, the pressure building around us has become so intolerable that upholding on'e Prestige is an uphill struggle.

Phatta of the day
Me (in Amitabh Bachchan style) : Mein orkut mein hoon, mein Facebook mein hoon, mySpace mein hoon, Flickr mein hoon, Photobucket mein hoon, Youtube mein hoon, blip.tv mein hoon... Tu kisme hai bey??

Him (slightly shocked and looking around) : Mein apne room mein hoon...

Till then...
xoxo CRAP BOY :D

2007-11-13T23:15:00.000+05:30

On a day, not so cloudy
Standing on the road (like a rowdy)
watching the traffic in marredpally
I saw a beggar, his hair so unruly
just then a hot girl passed by (riding a scooty)
wearing a faded denim capri

Just then my mom called me
and gave me a gujia so yummy

Aah! So crappy!!

I so very desperately wanna write one more poem!! :D

The Attack of the ...

2007-08-24T12:15:00.000+05:30

There lies an enemy. You can't hear him. You can't feel him. But you can definitely see him. We are under a threat. Yes! We are under the threat of crappy mails in the LiFe mailing list. Of late, the liFe mailing list has become a platform where disgruntled people can express their views and a few people can show their thumbs up by sending mails which only say --- "Yeah, I too agree!!"

Whether it be lack of telugu movies being screened or the menu in OBH GF or "some ernest requests", Life mailing list is the best way to vent out one's frustration!!!! :P

Moon Shine... :O :D

2007-06-15T00:07:00.000+05:30

Fedora 7 was released a couple of days back (for the uninitiated, Fedora 7 is a variant of the GNU/Linux Operating System) and with Kulbir and Gopal writing it off, I was really not sure if I was going to install it. Nevertheless I went ahead and and to say the least, I wasn't disappointed. The most obvious thing was the MoonShine theme. Parachutes in air at night bathing in the moon shine. Had William Wordsworth seen the picture, he would have written a poem :P I opened a terminal and to my surprise, the fonts had changed. I recognised the fonts! They are of Red Hat Enterprise Linux!! :P I immediately made a few changes... Lucida Mac fonts for desktop, A redhat logo for desktop! All in all, Fedora 7 is nice, though I'm not sure if they've made any dramatic change in the OS.

Crappy Point #1 : Ubuntu 7.04 is also great, but then I'll always be loyal to Fedora. I'll use Ubuntu to only rescue my system :P

Crappy Point #2 : It's so friggin' great to write posts like these...

Crappy Point #3 : This need to solve life's mysteries from the simplest of questions is so very typical of renaissance!! :P

A Musical Orgasm...

2007-05-31T07:49:00.000+05:30

Ever heard of a musical orgasm? Neither did I. It was only yesterday that I came across this word. Though one can make most most of what the word would mean, I guess it would be more or less like a musical high or something. So as always, I sat back and ran a scanf function over my mind trying hard to remember the songs I feel give me a musical orgasm (ok, whatever!) and I have a feeling it has to be Led Zeppelin's Stairway to Heaven.

The amount of passion which the members of the band put in the song is quite remarkable. Starting as a folk song, it gives way to one of the most beautiful guitar solos one could possibly get to listen to (Now after all it's Jimmy Page.) And the best part is that Led Zeppelin is a British Band which is something one can easily conclude if one reads their lyrics. It's also rumoured that when played in reverse, it sort of glorifies satan (I'm not sure about this one... just heard about it!) But then what the heck! Who cares about satan when one is in a musical orgasm (ok, whatever!) I'll end this post with the favourite portion of this song...

If there's a bustle in your hedgerow
Don't be alarmed now
It's just a spring clean for the May Queen

Yes there are two paths you can go by
but in the long run
There's still time to change the road you're on

Your head is humming and it won't go in case you don't know
The piper's calling you to join him
Dear lady can't you hear the wind blow and did you know
Your stairway lies on the whispering wind

Crappy Point #1 : As you move in Life, you meet people. Some fall by the way, some fall over their faces. But there are those who stick with you through and through. They give you hope. Why? Because hope is a good thing!!

Now if anyone can guess where those lines come from?? :P

footboarding!

2007-05-29T09:21:00.000+05:30

Till a fews days back, standing on the footboard of the bus seemed to be the most exciting thing. But not anymore. Now it is footboarding in the local train, also called MMTS. Though suggested by Gokul Srinivasan (one of my role models! :D) in the first place, I actually didn't get an opportunity to try it. But now that I've tried it, all I can say is that it's an awesome experience.

As the air rushes to meet you... hitting you on the face.
You lean out of the door. You see the bridge down under. What if I set my hands free and take a free fall (like Peter in the Heroes...)
And then comes the Begumpet station. At this point it's better if you leave the footboard! It's because the next thing that is going to come is the Hussain Sagar Lake and with it comes a whole lot of stench. You see a bridge and underneath it, a stream whose water is black. You wish you could dip your fountain pen in it and take some of the jet black liquid as ink...

crappy point #1 : I call such a post (Whatever)^whatever!! :))))

crappy point #2 : How I wish I could not be sashidhar for a while... :(

dreams, hallucinations, etc... Part II

2007-05-16T18:12:00.000+05:30

Before continuing from where I left in the last post, A few points...

1. I may have exaggerated a wee bit on the conversations. I guess that's ok :D
2. It has really been a strange sort of experience to write something of this kind. :D :D

"Do I? You are the first one to tell me so. After all you first person for whom I've developed some feelings!" A few feet apart, I surveyed her entire face, my gaze stopping at her bland, brownish-pink lips. I could have sworn on my grandfather's grave that I would have kissed her had she not stepped back.

As if reading my mind, she started with a grin, "Now don't even think of it. Wo might here any moment!"

"Only if he uses a supersonic jet to come here." I added lazily knowing perfectly well that Wo was some 400 miles away. "He must be busy negotiating with those portfolio managers!"

"But Wo is my fiance!" sputtered Sc, as if the fact settled all the matters.

"Don't you think we are running out of excuses here," I said grinning as I took a cautious step forward.

"But still..." The rest of the words were lost as I leaned forward and kissed her.

Human beings are the strangest of the creatures. Our knowledge of our own bodies may have grown immensely but there are still things we haven't accounted for. Things which have puzzled the smartest of scientists world over. The very fact that a human brain can think of so many things at the same time, analyze their outcomes and at the same time not let the senses drift away has awed people for centuries. Back here I felt a slight tingle rise up my spine. Suddenly my heartbeat had increased as I found myself wondering if I had done the right thing. For all I knew, I may have lost her forever! From the outside it may looked outrageous on my part to have kissed someone else's fiance, but inside I knew I was still the perfectly sane guy I was a few minutes back. I once again looked into her eyes which now were looking back in a strange sort of way. At first I thought it was fear, but an instant later I figured out that it something else. It was an invitation to feel her sudden rush of emotions. An invitation to fall into the abyss...

As her lips touched mine, I decided that I would stop at that and wait for her to make the next move. I would just enjoy the feeling of her lips touching mine. I wanted it to last forever. I wasn't disappointed. Even if it hadn't been for her eyes, I would have got the signal otherwise. Her hands were now on the edge of my shoulders and it seemed to me as if they were pulling me towards her.

My own hands which were a bit passive too jumped into action. My left hand was holding her arm while my right hand slowly crept under her overcoat feeling the charmeuse cloth, her top was made of. Caressing her back, my right hand was ever moving down, the fingers exploring newer territories. Her hands were in a world of theirs too. Starting from my shoulders, one of them in no time had reached for my hair on the back of my head. Then it happened. One of my fingers had gone past her top while the others were still lingering on the edge of the top. My fingers took a U turn and slid under her top now going up along a x = sin(y) curve as I wanted to spend as much time feeling her bare back.

dreams, hallucinations etc...

2007-05-11T22:09:00.000+05:30

Initially I was a bit hesitant about posting this stuff on the blog, but then this a blog right? The major inspiration behind this post was Abhishek Sainani. These days, all the posts in his blog are what he sees in his dreams. Why should I be left behind?? So here it goes...

disclaimer : All the characters in the dream are fictional. Some (frankly speaking most) of stuff is quite _________.

It was nearing sunset. The sun was just above the grass which grew knee high extended far and wide as far as one's eye's could make out, except for a small patch land which had a thatched house, maybe with not more than a single room within. A few yards away from the house were a few swings. I was leaning against the wall of the house watching her.

Sitting on the swing, Sc was lost in her thoughts. Her legs every now and then carelessly kicking the ground trying to impart some momentum to the swing. Her blonde hair which grew slightly beyond the shoulder was swaying lightly in the breeze. As always her sense of dressing was nothing short of impeccable! A skin tight blue top coupled with a gray Tommy Hilfiger jeans. To top it all, she wore a green overcoat. A few strands of hair were lying against her eyes. I felt a lump develop in my stomach as she lazily brushed back the hair from her face. Her hair was neatly parted on the side and it would have been so easy to get lost in it's subtle layers.

I could take it no more. I silently but briskly walked and stopped right beside her. Deeply engrossed in her thoughts, she hadn't even sensed my presence around her. It was only when she pushed the ground under her and set the swing in motion, her hair brushed against my shirt , she realized that I was just beside her. Slightly taken aback, she stopped the swing and stood up. A feet apart I looked into her eyes. Those black eyes which had mesmerized me from the moment I first saw them a week back.

"I'm not too sure about the whole thing. I think we must leave it at that. I have my doubts about the whole thing!" started Sc. I continued looking at those pair of eyes of hers. She continued, "Aren't you gonna say something? You are just gonna stare at me?"

"You've got a terrific smile. Has anyone ever complimented you for how nicely your eyes blend with that maskara you've applied?" I said, still looking at her without a single blink.

"Yeah! I know one guy for sure who has complimented me atleast half a dozens and that guy is standing right in front of me," quipped Sc and then taking a step or two backward she continued, "Has anyone ever told you that you play a very aggressive game?"

to be continued...

blues, rock, etc...

2007-05-08T22:45:00.000+05:30

In these times when boredom has become a never ending saga, VH1 has definitely been a saving grace. Why?

Yesterday, I saw the newest video of Linkin Park, "What I've done" from their newest album "Minutes to Midnight."
Today I saw the video of "Kashmir" by Led Zeppelin. Till yesterday, I had only heard to their music. Today I had seen them perform!

Crappy Point #1 : I just found a CD containing performances of Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page (of Led Zeppelin) in my house! More on this in the next post... ;)

Crappy Point #2 : ABBA is cool! Their song "Dancing Queen" is friggin' cool!

Cribbing?? Me??

2007-05-06T22:05:00.000+05:30

Yesterday while coming back from my institute, I came along with my room mate. He wanted to buy an external harddisk. As usual we headed to CTC (Chenoy Trading Center) in Parklane. After spending about half an hour bargaining, we decided to buy a hitachi 80 GB harddisk for Rs.3000. I guess we cracked a good deal.

Are you wondering why am I boring you with my tales?? Well, the thing is I wanted to talk about the attitude of the shopkeepers there. Let us consider a few of the many things I noticed...

1. As we all are aware, Pentium D is not a true dual core. A true dual core offers Instruction Level Parallelism (ILP) whereas pentium D offers Thread Level Parallelism. Pentium D is nothing but a pseudo dual core. Rather than buying a pentium D, it is much (much, much) better to buy an AMD X2 or a Core 2 Duo processor both of which are true dual core processors. It was really sad to see the shopkeeper trying his level best to get rid of his pentium D stock by recommending it to everyone. Ok, agreed Core 2 Duo is costlier than Pentium D but then what happened to AMD X2s... They are great and in some cases slightly better than Core 2 Duo!

2. Come to the motherboard. The shopkeeper is again trying his best to get rid of the old motherboards. Today even laptops have an FSB of 667 MHz. Our honorable shopkeeper was selling a 533 MHz motherboard to the customer. It would be a bad idea to invest in a motherboard with an FSB less than 667 MHz. 800 MHz would be much better and 1033 MHz would be great!

3. Come to the processor again! processors come with company warranty. Many shopkeepers in order to be completely sure that only those processors which they sell come back to them, make a signature on the golden circuitry on the back side of the processor. Now what should one call this?? assholicity??

Ok, now back to what we do the best! Post Crap!

Crappy Point #1 : I felt ultra pissed off at home. Decided to run away. Took my bag and ran away from the house while my mom was busy scolding the watchman. It was only in the bus that I called her and told her not to make lunch for me. 8)

Crappy Point #2 : I broke my toe nail again. It happened while I was climbing the bus. A bastard stepped on my leg and tore the nail away!! :X

Crappy Point #3 : Standing on the footboard while the travelling from the Jubilee Hills Checkpost to Satyam Center is an awesome experience. One must try it some day!!

pissed off???

2007-05-03T19:08:00.000+05:30

When I left my institute for home, I had made a small list of what to do in the holidays (the list was short because the journey was quicker... more about it in the end) As usual I slacked off. Rather than doing all that stuff, I resorted to doing some really frustrating stuff. From watching cartoon shows in telugu to experimenting with cleansing lotion to my face, I had tried various things... but not the stuff I had planned on...

crappy point #1 : Ameerpet roads, a shining example of how hyderabad's roads can really show you the middle finger was different this time. the result -- rather than reaching home in some 2 hrs, I made it in a little more than an hour!

crappy point #2 : AC Milan Vs Man U match was booooooooooooooooooring... ok, one knew AC Milan would always win, but it looked as if Man U was never interested in playing!

crappy point #3 : NFS MW is still not complete! I still need to defeat Blacklist #1 driver. I just got Mclaren Mercedes and it's awesome!

What I did in the final class of the Artificial Intelligence course

2007-04-09T18:22:00.001+05:30

Image031
Originally uploaded by clones r unknowns.

The last class in AI was a bit philosophical with our professor discussing what AI really is. Bored, I started writing something, then drawing something. The result was a page full of crap!!

Some of the lovely things i had done on the page were ---

1. write an empty openGL code!!! Man! I think i'm going crazy now...

2. Drew a triangle and tried to derive the sine rule, of course I don't remember a thing about it now!! (though unsuccessful :( )

3. Our professor was talking about human brain being a thick network of neurons... associativity huh? i've tried to put it there!!

4. How I wish I could go to some place in my holidays :(

5. Mera Bharat Mahan!! Frustoo!!! Despo!!

6. A bird, a dinosaur, an elephant!!

7. A nice, lovely "if and only if" symbol!!

I guess I've loaded this post with enough crap already. I don't I need to bore you further...

What the hell!

2007-04-01T22:11:00.000+05:30

What has happened to me! Why am I not able to write anything here!!!

Everytime I sit to write something, I either lose track or lose my interest. Boys, girls, ladies and gentlemen, Never lose track of your sights...

Crappy point #1 : omg!, am I sounding despo, frustoo, whatever!

Crappy point #2 : Saw Scarlett Johansson in Matchpoint yesterday. She looks too goodin that movie!

Crappy point #3 : Don't have any idea what to read in ToC and Algorithms!

Crappy Point #4 : I am in CSE/D!

Musings!

2007-02-22T16:28:00.000+05:30

Yesterday, while having my usual stroll, starting from the NBH mess to the dried-up-lake point (infamously known as the smoker's point too), I suddenly stopped in front of the motorola school and began to stare at the stage (in the ground) as if it had just sprung out of nowhere. Cutting short my stroll, I sat down by the ledge and began recollecting all the things I had seen happening here.

The first thing that came to my mind was the performance of Nemesis and After Death during the rock show in Felicity 06 and the performance of Insomnia a couple of weeks later. I had started listening to rock some years back, but watching a live performance was beyond anything. Though I know as much as nought in guitar and stuff, I could easily make out that before each performance, the team guitarists would first make sure they were getting the right feedback from the speakers etc. Being one of the volunteers of the rock show, I saw the enormous effort that had gone into getting all the amplifiers and other stuff to work properly and in sync with each other. Getting a first hand experience of all these things could not have been possible without the rock show! Earlier I used to wonder why would anyone feel like haedbanging when one would listen to metal/rock songs. One look at the people around me (headbanging ofcourse) on that night and realised how natural it was! I still remember how the entire crowd erupted into hysteria when that guy (Nemesis, from IIT Kharagpur) started playing that particularly superb peice of solo guitar in Comfortably Numb. All in all, that night was a night to remember!

Crappy Point#1 : I'm still in Black List number 3. With Felicity and an overload of assignments and stuff like that, NFS has taken a backseat :X

Crappy Point#2 : I dropped my fx-880MS casio scientific calculator yet again. This was the 1001th I dropped it. Though it is still working properly, I doubt if it will be able to survive another fall. No matter how many times I try to keep it in, I always take it out the next moment for some stupid purpose!

Crappy Point#3 : The food in NBH mess has started degrading again. As far as I'm concerned, I see it as a sign of change and hope. Everytime the quality of food at NBH starts degrading, people start exploring other options forcing the mess guy to sit up and take notice!

Crappy Point#4 : I'm really missing the 3rd floor!

Done with Exams!

2007-02-15T00:22:00.001+05:30

Today, I woke up at 8:00. With exams behind my back and still in a mood to have some fun, I decided to have a quick bounty run in NFS Most Wanted before going for breakfast. The police pursuit turned out to be the best one so far. I was in pursuit for 17 minutes and reached heat level 5. I had completed all the milestones and was all ready to evade Sergeant Cross' corvettes but got busted! shit!

Decided to check orkut before going for breakfast. Didn't get any scraps! shit! Went to google and tried searching for ibm pSeries. A link pointed to FC5's installation problems in IBM pSeries. Read what was written and decided to give it a shot. Had my breakfast and in no time, I was in the lab, trying what was written on the site. After struggling with the machine for about 3 hours, I managed to get Fedora Core 5 working. linux working --> excellent! 3 hours wasted --> shit!

Wasted some more time in the lab, went to the mess and had my lunch. Came to the room and did what I did best... waste time browsing the net. Feeling guilty, I opened my openGL code to complete it (or rather make a decent beginning!) but soon lost interest. Assignment postponed by a day more! shit!

Crappy Point#1
After a lot of struggle, I finally managed to build beryl from source code. While the binaries were being built, I managed to download many beryl themes(minimalist are my favourite ;) ) The buttonless ones are really cool!

Crappy Point#2
For the (n+1)th time, I changed my wallpaper and this time it is Kaley Couco. The wallpaper blends very well with my current beryl theme!

Crappy Point#3
Curd was very good in mess today. I managed to get my hands on 3 cups of curd and ate my favourite curd rice with our typical mess waala "alu coora" :X

Crappy Point#4
If anyone reading this blog has ever built Lapack and Blas libraries from source, please drop me a mail or better still call me. My number is (+91)9989314387 !!

Ok! Today's Shit factor ---> 4/16 = 0.25

Technically speaking, My first post!

2007-02-15T00:16:00.000+05:30

Just ignore the shit below in the previous post. I was trying something stupid, the details of which are least necessary right now...

Moral of the story ---> Ignore the previous post!