Alvida pai Layout

It was in August that I came to Bangalore from Hyderabad, knowing pretty well that I wouldnt be killed by boredom here-I knew I was staying with one of my good friends-Nirmal. I arrived at 12 midnight-thanks to JetLite :). It was then I got to speak to Sen-though we were in the same college, we hadn’t spoken much there! PaiLayout proved lucky-I got the much needed change of destination n it was confirmed I would be put up in Bangalore come August15th. Bingo I got freedom from C*C…..

KempsAvenue was the Apartment name-2 flats 405 and 406-I, Sen and Pravs . I was looking out for a roomie-when my junior was looking out for a place with close proximity to bus-stops. Mine was a one-bedroom apartment and I welcomed him with open hands-problem solved. I can say with pride-this is probably one of the best groups I ve been with-and probably the best college group . Praveen was one guy with whom I hadnt spoken in college but trust me just after 2 months-we were one of the closest! Sen is someone who always makes the atmosphere cheery. There is never a dull moment when Sen is around! N it’s quite a rarity to find a genius like Sen.
And then there was Nirmal-he is more of a family friend to me…..We ve known each other since my first sem and its tough to find guys like Nirmal around-dedication personified-(but then we guys have tried changing him just a little bit-and we ve been successful ;)

This was my circle in Pai Layout. PaiLayout is a bachelor’s paradise-home made food-mess, hotels, juice shops, hospital, departmental stores (where they accept sodexho coupons), medical shops-what not!!

This was the place from where I experienced my first trek-thanks to Pravs-he introduced me or rather inducted me into the trekkers group which is special by its own way!!....
Pai layout has many many fond memories….but this was not meant just for Pai-Layout!....

Now that I am moving out of Pai Layout-I should say that I ll be missing just one thing-the elite group of Kemps Avenue-Sen, Pravs n Nirmal!
I do not wanna sound formal-but then, thank you guys for making this one year memorable-I personally feel that this is the one of the best groups I ve been with! There was never a dull moment when u guys were around!....

Sorry Junta-this post might sound like greek-but its coming from the heart! So kindly bear :)

TRUTH CAN BE BITTER!!

Disclaimer: There is no direct reference to anybody here, though I have come across such people in my life! I don’t remember who said these but I definitely remember what was said! So guys take it easy!!!

I am feeling sick today-fever, cough, soar throat…..I was napping just when I got up thinking about something. I basically am a straight forward person and I expect the same from the people around me! Sometimes though “these people” who are increasing in number of-late have this funny feeling that they can remain un-noticed even if they try to hide things or say things that are totally freaky…..totally weird…totally out of this world! Little do “these people” realise that we aren’t fools or kids! Or is it that they are reluctant to tell us and we people are foolish not to understand this!
Whatever be it I would just recollect some of these FUNNY THINGS I ve heard in the last few weeks!!

•Me: Dude!!....How much have u scored in CAT??
This Dude: Hey I flopped terribly…..cannot reveal the score…..damn CAT…..damn the entrance tests…..
Normally when people answer me like that I remain silent, do not entertain in asking them their mark again……There was also this friend of mine who said she d lost her CAT id card. I just have one question for these guys: Is CAT the end of it all? Is there no life beyond CAT??.....
To this gal: If ur not so serious about the exam why do u even write it??.....grrr….”These People”!!

• Me: Are u seeing that gal (I ask to THIS friend of mine).
He: Hey not serious buddy……may be…errr……well nothing like that!
For God sake what did u even mean man??.....not serious, may be, nothing like that??.....

• This incident happened to my friend, who is working in Delhi. There is a friend of his who told him this “Hey Ash, I got a call from Harvard University-GMAT mein 770/800…..Still I feel I should be here!!! I am not going to Harvard! ” He is working in an MNC which definitely is not worth the toss he has given to Harvard. I have this question to THIS guy, “Why did u even apply if u were not interested, my friend?!?!?!”…….U think we ll just listen to whatever u say??......God Bless u!

• Me: Hey y don’t u come online in messenger?!?!?.....

This Friend: My gmail is hacked; my yahoo id is also hacked 

I go scratching my head…..” GOD save me…..even I know little bit about hacking….either your security question should ve been so stupid that every Shiv, Ram and Krishna can answer the question, or u should ve given ur password to ur friend considering he/she is so loyal. Decision pays friend!” Please people if u find such hackers do report them to Networking companies, they might get highly paid!!! After all they hacked ur gmail and yahoo id with ease, didn’t they??....Freaks!

It may be that they really meant what they said……It may be that they are lying, it may be that they want to make a fool of us, whatever be it…..I feel so bad for them(if they said these for making a fool out of us). They are probably trying to make a fool out of themselves and not us…..You can very well be frank in telling people what u want to, I used to hesitate a few years back, but learnt if I have to survive here in this HONEST world I got to be frank and point blank!!!.....

This was meant not to hurt anybody, so pardon me if it hurt anyone……
I am off to bed again……!!!

BLAH BLAH.........

Browsing the net is no more as passionate as it used to be……There was a time when I used to love forward messages, I rarely receive any now….Speaking about cell-phones-No more good morning greetings, no jokes, no ‘what is true love’ messages…..nothing…..For once I feel I should go back to Nokia 1100, since I use cell phones ONLY for speaking and not for anything else-no messaging, no listening to music from cell-phones, no using cell-phone cameras; nothing! I also notice the change in me-from someone who used as many as 6 cell-phone models in 4 years of college to the one who is searching for THAT RIGHT person to sell the moto-Rokr phone for at least 5k bucks!!...I know it’s too much of an asking but kya Karen??....I bought it just about a year ago for 14k!!!....I don’t know the reason why I ve stopped giving importance to cell-phones-is it because that now I am earning and that is why I don’t want to spend on cell-phones, or is it because cell-phones are no longer attractive to my eyes anymore!?!?!....Whatever it may be, this change is for good :-)….
Coming back to browsing the net-I more often check mails as a ritual, no mail worth a read; gtalk is no more of a use now! .None of the sites are restricted in my office or home still I don’t find any website interesting barring a few……I use ibnlive.com for checking the latest in India, Goal.com for checking day-today football news, wiki for reading about some personalities I admire, orkut.com for the sake of checking scraps (though no one scraps me nowadays), youtube.com for watching some interesting videos, some interesting blogs for passing time, Tech republic for some techie stuffs……I might have missed a couple of them but I am sure the list is short compared to the list of 2003. One good thing is that I have developed the patience to read some good blogs. Coming to Orkut.com-the number 1 social networking website…..I never knew she would betray me-orkut.com has also started to bore!!!...It’s never a good time-passing-medium anymore!!!! You cannot stay in it for more than 10 minutes nowadays……I don’t know why but I feel most of the things boring in orkut nowadays…..
Well guys, I don’t know y I even wrote about this, may be I am trying to get used to blogger.com….My Blah-Blah hasn’t ended-shifting gears now-I went for a trip to Udupi , Malpe and some other beaches!.....It was one of the best trips-made me forget all the things that I ought to and enjoy the things around me. Had darshan of Lord Krishna in Udupi. The beaches in South Canara are neat and clean; you can visit the place once!
With a change in my life-style and the way I look at life nowadays, I sign for this month!

The Great Indian Dream!!

I didn’t watch the Oscars live but got myself updated after every award Slumdog Millionaire fetched for itself-felt proud that a film on India was fetching its crew some awards. This post is dedicated to Rahman…..one of the best music directors of contemporary cinema, if not the greatest!!....Never ever even in my wildest dreams did I know that a Tamilian would go to the Oscar stage and make us all proud by starting his speech in Hindi, continuing in English and last but not the least, ending in Tamil.When some of the people from Tamil Nadu feel ashamed to speak their mother tongue, here is a man who after reaching such a peak doesn’t hesitate to end his speech in Tamizh. Hats-off to the maestro.
As an Indian I only wish Rahman all the best in the years to come.

PSst: In my previous post I had written if this film ever deserved an oscar….I m not sure about that even now whether it deserved it but as an Indian I am very proud of Rahman-how much he has achieved as an Indian!!!

Slumdog Millionaire!!! Oscars????....

Yes! I saw Slumdog Millionaire……A very neat Hollywood film directed and cinematographed brilliantly by the foreign crew!!! Right from the beginning till the end, the movie doesn’t bore a bit…..driven by extraordinary music and an amazing screenplay, the movie is carried forward by Dev patel playing the teenaged Jamal, and Anil kapoor playing the arrogant Prem Kumar!!! But the real hero of the movie is the younger Jamal in the slums-he knows nothing about the bad, an ardent Amitabh fan, and a guy who instantly shows his helping hand to Latika, another slum girl!!! That’s so typical of kids-very sweetly directed by Danny Boyle!!! As for the music, Jai Ho….song rocks, so does Ringa Ringa though it reminds u of Laxmikanth Pyarelal’s musical brilliance Choli Ke Peeche……MIA’s paper planes song is also used here but it does fit very well in the movie!!! Overall Slumdog Millionaire is good-thumbs up definitely…….but if u ask me if it deserves all the hype and the big O award-as an Indian, Yes go for it Rehman!!!.....but as a film goer-I am sorry…..there have been better films than this; musically directed better!!!!!

Now for the second movie of the week-12 Angry Men- an absolutely brilliant movie, that stars just 12 actors (in the whole movie itself) as Jury members trying to convince each other to hang a young boy who is charged of murder of his own father!!! Just one room and an oval shaped table, 12 Angry Men is all about dialogue delivery and stupendous acting!!! Inspired by the IMDB rakings, I downloaded this movie but never felt like watching it-“It’s a %&*$ing 1957 movie!! Y should I waste my time in this “, I thought; for someone who didn’t mind watching crap like Mummy-3 and Constantine, it was utter stupidity!!!.....Somehow, driven by boredom at home, I started watching it-and trust me I got glued to the monitor!!! I recommend this movie to everyone who likes Classics……!!!
PSst: Its Rear Window and Raiders of The Lost Ark next in the list!!!...

It's Different!!

After a long long time I got up early to breathe the fresh cold air of Bangalore! I meekly followed the saying “Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise “. It was way different from getting up at 7:30 or 8….Today I got up as early as 5:45, called up my mom to tell her about this-my parents were astounded about the fact that I got up so early. While speaking to her over phone I was able to hear the sweet voice of MS Subbulakshmi in the background. Vishnu Sahasranamam was being played. After a 15 minute conversation with parents I immediately switched on the TV. Today is ‘Vaikunda Ekadashi’ and “Swarga Vasal” meaning ‘Doors of Heavan’ is opened today in Srirangam. I was hoping for some slokas in TV. To my happiness, Vishnu Sahasranamam was being played in one of the channels-Listening to that peacefully, I switched on my lappie to do some left over office work. I have never felt this peaceful while working. I was in an all diferent world- -early morning- MS Amma’s Sloka- Ranganathar Darshan in TV-what more can I ask for being a SW professional who can seldom afford to bunk office and goto temple that is sited in another state? After watching the repeat telecast of Rangathar Swamy pooja, I got set to go to office. I was there by 7:30 and the watchmen were gaping at me as if I was some creature who forgot the office timings!! I was happy that I had come to office as early as the sub-staffs!! I was the first in my floor….So with a good beginning to the year I just hope I maintain this throughout 2009!!!
ALVIDA!

This week that Year!!

Inspired by my friend Abi, I thought y not try writing blogs in different styles...All these days I ve been blogging abt my day-today happenings…..this time a step backward-lets go to 2007-December…..probably a year back…..Flashback Starts!!!!

I was in Hyderabad then and was having a good time with friends…..There was company for everything and I used to not miss a restaurant or a movie…..Probably visiting these restaurants proved costly to my tummy……I had visited almost all the good restaurants in Hydearabad, especially the ones in and around banjara and Jubilee hills…..Its fun to freek out when u have company….It was December end and we thought y not peek into on of the best restaurants in town-Ohris-Banjara!!!.....”There should be something special since its New Year eve today”-we thought…..We dropped into one of the restaurants in Ohris (which houses a chain of restaurants inside). We were awe-struck….It had a forest ambience-filled with tress (plastic ones though) and the people serving us were dressed like forest hunters….I was just gaping at the scenary there…..Thankfully we had the camera with us-these scenes shouldn’t be missed! We started with soup or rather a shorba….then went for naan, and tandoori side dishes…..”I have been to many good restaurants but this is special “, I thought……we frenz had a great time then….hope this year too New year eve would be as entertaining as last year!!!!!