GET TOGETHER - I

Mind is a very dangerous thing. You think you remember everything but you don’t. It slowly starts to lapse and the facts become distorted. It goes to a stage where you have to introduce your own story like Mr. Orange does in Pulp Fiction.

Well, keeping that in mind I begin our second ever meet after graduation (funny isn’t it? To borrow the words of Mr. So and So of CTS, if everybody writes “difference” as D-I-F-F-I-R-E-N-C-E, then what is the DIFFEREEEEEEENCE??). Everything DIDN’T go according to the plan but the end result seemed satisfying nonetheless.

AIM OF THE MEET:

There were six people namely (IITians--)George, Uday, Lokesh, (MS in US ‘ians)Abhinav, Alok, Laddoo ( also known as Srujana) ready to step into another EDUCATIONAL career. To make them feel homely again and also to make them understand that old bonds die hard it was decided to give them all a warm farewell and remind them of the beautiful days we had during the meet.
In simple words, to ingrain the message:

DON’T FORGET US – ENGLISH
Nonli dimentichi - Italiano (Italy, The Winning Team aka My Favorite)
不要忘記我們 - 漢語(Chinese)
Ne nous oubliez pas - Français (French)
Vergessen Sie Uns Nicht - Deutscher (German)
Mammalni Marchipokandi – TELUGU
Hame Bhoolna Math – HINDI

Me and Nikmo after witnessing the one of the most exciting and thrilling finale of FIFA 2006 World Cup, decided to have a second get together (don’t bother…there ain’t any logic there!!! I know). But first someone else was needed to put the plan on wheels. ‘Pokiri’ aka Harsha ( just made that nickname for the sake of the blog…for everyone he is Harsha…) enters the stage because I for one (and if you dare to disagree???) believe he is one of the most versatile personalities there is in our class and knows the right places for the right occasions. On talking to him for about ten minutes on phone there were TWO unanswered questions: How many would want to come in the night? Why not Lunch? Would Vegetarian Do?. So back to Nikmo the FOODIE (the lanky guy from VLCC who ironically hasn’t stopped any outing so far). We decide some names on random never actually hitting the target OR getting the positive responses. To achieve the objective we thought first by knowing which date would be convenient to the SEXY SIX hexos. It turns out except for Laddoo ( also called Srujana) everyone consented to the following night.

With a bit of prodding I knew she can make it but she being a girl (actually she thinks she is…) and the probabilities of dinner time going late there always is that hang up. With one more call to “Pokiri” somethings are clarified as to no. of people and the majority’s taste. Then came the most unexpected thing that I could never fathom to happen. Even he turned clueless for the selection of hotel. You see, we need to tell all the guys and gals where the meet would be and when. WHERE and WHEN…essentials. No point in phoning and telling them these TWO would be informed later. WE can do that but it is just waste of money phoning every idiot (excepting me and nikmo…) twice.

Time was ticking by…Back to Nikmo again. Well, guys I have to tell you this. Some things he does deserve a lot more recognition, particularly when it is something like a life-saving decisions. He is too great a person to tell everyone, so here I am taking up the job. IF NOT FOR HIS TIMELY AND MOST THOUGHTFUL DECISION WE WOULD HAD OUR OUTING AT “BAWARCHI”. On behalf of everyone who was present for the outing, and on behalf of all those absent too…thank you, thanks a lot for chosing

!!!SIX LEVEN!!!

More to follow...as is my wont I would like to retell all the happenings of the day so as to make the readers understand how the mood actually was before coming to the event itself. So PART II I would begin with me and Venky (wait...you read after I write...). I leave it to you if you want to read or not.

A Tiffin Centre I would Die For

To all 4/4 E.C.E - B passed out students....the reason why I like this tiffin centre

Raghvendra Tiffins

It sounds so unusual to write about a tiffin centre and it is one of the last things a person talks about. Forget talking writing a review on it is much more disgraceful and humiliating than running around naked in streets. Then why I am writing one and top of it how did it ever go uncensored and got listed in the site. These are all the questions which you might be thinking, if not Don't think, it might sprain your brain!!

You see I have become butt of the jokes in my class and might have well been named Raghavendra just because I love this tiffin centre. First and foremost reason I love it is because it is very very nearer to my home. Hardly a minute’s walk. I don’t fancy myself as a connoisseur but at the same time I am not a glutton. Of late it has become a practice for me to eat at least five times a day. That happens to me during every semester holidays. College-time itinerary is different. My breakfast finishes at 8:00 and at around 10 or 11 my stomach starts rumbling. When there is breakfast still left over I would carry on with that if not you know what I do. For me then time would be very precious….every second I waste I would be dying of hunger.

That is the first foremost reason I love this tiffin centre. It just saved me so many times. Then again just another minute further walk down the lane there is Shanti Tiffins. Why would I stick to Raghavendra in spite of the former offering a seating place to eat?? QUALITY guys and gals QUALITY of the food is what drives me to this small, silent, busy tiffin centre.

It has all the varieties – Poori, Dosa, Idli ( my most hated one…) Vada, etc. I just can’t remember everything on the menu. The aforementioned ones are my favorites there. I do lot of eating outside with friends when coming from a CAT class, or going somewhere on an errand at evenings but I have to yet come across a restaurant or a tiffin centre that beats the quality of poori that is made here. Not even Ohri’s or Taj can give that sumptuous taste.

!!!! Ohri's No Match for Raghvendra Tiffins (Tiffin Segment Please) !!!

Take a token and give it to the person there. Within a minute or so your dish would be served hot with all the requirements chutney, sambar, spoons, ghee etc. The servicing is very fast and you can replenish the accoutrements once they are over. If the main tiffin itself is over you can take the token again and order a new tiffin. You see they are so polite and understanding too about your hunger, they don’t smirk at you or look at you with a weird face seeing you order for second time.

There is no sitting business, there are two big round tables separated by a distance, three fans- two to the ceiling, one attached to the wall, a long horizontal bar on one side and two flat platforms on the other- these two again are equally-spaced, on which you can keep your plate and eat. It is so congested you might say but I can assure you no problems finding a place and eating calmly. And hey there are two large windows flanked opposite to the horizontal bar giving you a outside view of the one of the busiest roads of the region - connecting road between Shivam Road and ShankarMutt . Endless traffic, constant moving of people here and there make you feel as if you are watching crowd at New York Times Square.

!!! Experience The Thrill of being in New York Times Square !!!

With cool breeze all around ( the fans are at top speed 5 for your information…) and absolute superb quality tiffin in front of you makes you forget all the problems you are burdened with and your mind becomes very clear.

Well I have given all the details and now it must be really clear to people why I like this tiffin centre. To all those who have even once visited my house I have let them eat at this place irrespective of the timings ( few exceptions are there…) and the response has been unanimous – Cannot be told in simple words . Well when you pass by the connecting road and not once felt like eating at this marvelous tiffin centre is like just taking a glance at Taj Mahal after going all the way to Agra. At least now wake up and remember the name RAGHAVENDRA TIFFINS.

Name: Raghavendra Tiffins.
Place: New Nallakunta
Timings: 6:00 A.M to 11:00 P.M. ( awesome isn’t it…)
Parking: Two-wheelers (yes), 4-wheelers (yes but not more than two cars fit) AND AND no parking money ( I know I know….calm down. It is hard to believe…)
Phone No. : They don’t like Advance Booking…

Please after reading so much and eating at this marvelous place let me know what you feel…I will always be glad to hear.

A T.T. Table Proposal

At the outset I would like to say that this proposal fell on deaf ears and all our efforts in persuading them went down the drain. But at least I thought sharing with you what the proposal is gives me a personal relief as I had lot of fun writing this in comparison to Cricket that we play in our apartment.

PROPOSAL FOR T.T Table

Table tennis is one of the most popular sports in the world in terms of player numbers, as well as being one of the newest of the major sports which is liked by both young and adult alike. After a hard day’s work at school or college the child gets exhausted by the time he comes home by 5 or 6 in the evening. The child then spends his time relaxing in front of T.V. before getting down to his studies. Occasionally depending on the time available he/she might be going to some vocational classes like singing/ instrumentation etc. to ease his/her mind.

As the days goes by with exams nearing he would have to cut down these visits too. One might have observed in the past few weeks many of the children playing cricket in the parking space available. It is to be informed that all is not well with the way things are going. The problems involved with this game are

• Try as we might it becomes quite an issue to see to it that ball doesn’t go hitting other vehicles in the parking lot.
• With balls being hit very hard, so often it lands up outside the corridor, sometimes hitting the people walking on the road which again creates some problem.
• It is not only the people that is a problem but also damage caused when the balls are hit onto other houses.

In spite of the problems stated above it should be noted that there hasn’t been any major issue so far. But cricket as one very well knows is something that can truly enjoyed only when playing on the ground.

Coming to T.T. nothing becomes an issue here. With ball as small as 4 mm in diameter and weighing 20 gms playing T.T. is safest and most enjoyable game for the children especially in the apartments.
The reason why this becomes so appealing is cited below:

• For one thing it is one of the easiest sports that can be mastered in few weeks for any amateur. Four people at a time can play the game. With an average time of 15 minutes per game in an hour span 8 people can play two games each taking turns every game. Furthermore there are games like Round-Robin game where more than 10 people can play at a time on the board.
• Competitive spirit can be encouraged by conducting small tournaments spanning a month duration in the apartment and giving away prizes for the best player, best smash etc.
• Night or day doesn’t become an issue as it requires a space less than half a room as the table spans 8 * 4 Feet in dimensions. So as the school starts he/she just spending half an hour of his/her time in playing T.T with peace of mind can then concentrate on the studies.
• Another major Highlight of the game is it’s equality for all. Because of it’s ease of playing all the office-goers and homemakers can also have fun time playing it.

It was on discussion with most of the children in the apartment we have come to decide to get a T.T. table done at ASIAN ENTERPRISES, a furniture and manufactures shop at Nampally. With all the requirements taken into account here are the cost details:


Table – 2800 *
Net – 500
Table Tennis Bats (4) – 1000
Transportation and Labour Charges – 700
--------------------------------------------------
Total - 5000
-------------------------------------------- -----

*- All in Rupees.

With Rs.500/- per flat it becomes a great investment in providing your child the access to the one of the best games in the world and ensuring his/her happiness.

Thanking You for your support

Friends, there is a dual purpose for writing this blog. One to tell you how desperately I wanted all the people in apartment to realise how much 500 bucks would mean to a child's future but also to give details on how one can get a T.T. table with least cost. The actual T.T. table cost is around Rs.9000. (think about it)

Kurnool ki Kahania...

When my mom tells most of the relatives how I end up being the lower mortal among the friends, I used to shrug it off thinking it is one of those pampering things that any mom would say about their kids. But boy was I not wrong as I recall now and blog about my 3rd Class pal: Praveen. This trend had set in long ago i.e. from 3rd class to till date. Excepting intermediate all the times I had people around me who were much better. And this is what puzzles my mom as she can’t comprehend how I haven’t been able to get some qualities from these guys and UP my studies. Even I wonder.

The days in Kurnool are the most memorable in my life. Ironically I don’t remember much of what has happened in classes but off the school, I do. Staying at Narsingarao Pet, it was always warm, traffic free, pollution free and more importantly free of endless apartments and noise that I am witnessing here. The whole area was cut off from the busy part of the town. Five to six parallel lanes made up the place with school as the entry point. It was ten minutes walk from my house to the school. My brother used to escort me during lunch hours, and with T.V switched on he had no problems taking care of me.

My tryst with Cartoons:

I am big crazy fan of cartoons right from childhood. During my breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks or whatever time it was to eat from me the first thing she does is to switch on the t.v. and put some Cartoon cassette Tom and Jerry, or Mickey Donald (my childhood favorite), or Popeye( I had huge collection of those..).


As she recollects I used to utter not a sound of approval or disapproval as she goes on feeding me with the spoon. Once she knows how much is enough, she promptly cleanse my face and continue with her work. Even now she relishes it telling it to everyone she meets how she used to make a doll out of me for feeding. Till 5th class this continued. Don’t get me wrong, I was a spoil child mind you with lots of lots of crazy and irritating things I used to do. But not during the EATING times, because of cartoons.

Well, that’s how life was till 5th. Maybe there was more but I don’t remember. But things stared changing for better. In the evenings all the children gather near one house where we had this 10th class student Srinath as our guide to make us understand what to play. We had somewhere like 10 to 15 people covering almost all the classes from 1st to 8th class. During weekdays it was mostly hide and seek(the toughest of all), gilli-danda, tops or chain game. After few games we all sit around for a while and then disperse for the studies. The actual fun was always in the weekends i.e. the time when Saturday ends to the time Monday begins literally. These were allocated to GAMES like Football and cricket.

Cricket was played extensively. So many rules, so many restrictions but still we managed to play with whatever options we had. We had these games hours together with lots of juggling. After assessing the two to three games we change the teams and when there seems to be good enough battle we had series of 5 or 10 to decide the best one. There wasn’t any betting. Everything taken in right spirit. Movies weren’t quite a craze nor was the t.v. No wonder there is eternal debate about the boon and bane of the Technology.

It was a mixed crowd all the time. Sometimes the fun was with my classmates and sometimes it was with colony people. As the night progresses, we end up in Kishore’s house (my bro’s friend..). there again was an option of playing cards or caroms. Rummy being everyone’ favorite, three to four decks were brought in and we used to catalogue the points to decide the winner and there was minimum of ten games to get that. This was only during the times when there was lot of time before the exam dates approached.

Of all the festivals, Vinayaka Chavati topped the list for the kind of celebrations we had. There was always one twenty-odd feet Statue kept in our lane and there was week long celebrations. The nights we see the entire lane being decked up with lights. Mimicry, dance shows, antakshari, singing competition would take place in the night- the carnival like of atmosphere is something that can be felt and seen only in towns and villages. All we guys used to make many trips round the queue for prasadam(it being free…).Over Three hundred people a day used to throng for the darshan, so it wasn’t easy for pujari’s to spot the second or probably fifth or sixth-timers too.

As I look back I feel sad with the hectic life that we are to put up with, nostalgic as they can never come back, happy because of such a wonderful atmosphere I had and overall immensely satisfied to be able to recollect and share my wonderful experiences.

Rang De Basanti.... Patriotic??

A pointless but entertaining movie...i mean just entertainment and nothing else...
I have reviewd in some points and here they are the reasons why I found this movie is highly overrated and would like to listen to non-abusive impersonal comments.

RDB lovers and those who can't criticism please avoid reading this ....I warn you...

************WARNING SPOILERS******************

1. Trying to bring out change in the system at accelerated pace. What I don't understand is the cause they are supposedly fighting for?

Is it for justice...
Flight Leiutenant Ajay Singh Rathore(Mahadevan)dies in plane crash. They stage a protest and charge that Minister of Defence should explain why such faulty equipments had been commissioned to fly. They are beaten black and blue in a senseless manner for such a peaceful protest which we come to know that MoD had a hand in this. But the protaganists are completely enraged and decide to kill him. Is that a proper recourse? And all because Flight Leiutnant is KILLED and they want justice for it. If that were to be the case what is this gung-ho about the film oozing out patriotism? It is a personal fight and great leaders don't fight for themselves and dont' do hasty things for personal reasons.

Is it fight against corruption...
Then film falls short. We have seen many films before and no doubt many films would be seen in the future highlighting this and the fact remains that it just can't be cleaned or brainwashed into making the minds of millions take a great rally against corruption wihtin a span of two to three hours. The proper recourse could have been trying to bring out the middlemen out something like "Tehelka Scam" and make sure no one goes scot-free. But then again whole movie would have needed a revamp. The short-sighted Film "YUVA" too tried to bring a novel change in the mindset of youth that getting into politics is a child's play and failed miserably but surprisingly this isn't.


2. Most of the movie we see the enaction of pre-freedom struggle in the making of the documentary which alternates with the reality. This takes up chunk of the time. And this is supposedly shown to make us understand that their attitude and behavioral changes in the second half of the film. That's fine but too many of the incidents is too much.For a eigth to tenth standard students (depending on the board of education)it might make a useful contribution to their Social Studies subject.

3. We needed a Foreigner(Alice Patten) to inspire us. In the guise of film making we come to see the transformation of four goal less youths.Wouldn't a Indian film maker do? Didn't Rakesh Omprakash Mehra didn't think of that?

4. Coming to the ending...: What was Soha Ali Khan doing at the end? Shouldn't she have taken the same responsibility as others in the murder as she was the one who suggesetd the crime in the first place?

Then again why were they all killed when more than thousands of people were listening in on that radio about their escapade? Doesn't it bring more pressure on the government and all. Is there a rationale for killing? I mean suppose they were caught say and we all know very well that they have nothing to support their claim that Siddarth's Father or MoD had a hand in the faulty accessories of the aeroplane, they would be destined to be hung. so why kill them?? What were they afraid of letting them lose? The film doesn't explore anywhere near this issue.

Some may say, these men who have gone to the extent of killing MoD might be so very notorious (in common man assumption...) shooting them is the best recourse. But what if these men had many other plans ? what if they were part of criminal conspiracy or some terrorist group? What if they had many more bombs and whole lot of things in place in case something should happen to upset their plans? (all this again in common man's assumption...)If common man can think this way I am sure police truly would? so what was the point in killling them. Utterly Senseless.

Overall:

Everything said and done there are some moments in this film where you can really sit back and enjoy with whole gamut of emotions flowing within. The song "Khoon Chala...khoon chala" played in background as we see protestors being beaten strikes a painful chord among us. The funniest moments were to see Sharman Joshi trying to hug the lady for saving him(even though she didn't...), the realistic potrayal of drinking and whining, and all the songs were excellent. Also the change brought about in Atul Kulkarni on knowing the other side of his "guru".

The movie seems okay in bits and put together one entertainer with great songs. But patriotic...you must be joking...

As the Time Flies By...

18th is when officially I was set free or rather I set myself free or even better when my last ties with college ended or to make it absolutely clear it is when our project viva was taken and that ended our correspondence with college.

A little diversion….

It gives me great pleasure in letting all know that for the first time after the previous 5 semesters I feel absolute confidence that I will pass this semester meaning FOURTH YEAR, SECOND SEMESTER- I WILL PASS. Big Deal eh? You might say. But the repercussions are unimaginable and the mental trauma can be enough for me to go without computer for days. To follow what I am saying please read “Confessions on the Blog floor”.

I would like to thank each and every person who have made these papers so very easy and made sure an average guy can successfully complete. I owe them a lot. The cream of the whole papers was Speech Processing for sure. Oh my god!!! I thought I would die of the uncontrollable emotions of joy erupting inside my body threatening to burst out. Then the second place goes to Java followed by Radar and lastly -.. no forget it, not even worth mentioning as only PASS is required for it.

Focusing on Java paper I would like to say that it is extremely biased paper and the setters had no clue which are important and which are not. For example, who in the right mind would give a question like: Write about the applications of PERL for freaking 10 marks? Nuts for sure. But everything said and done I did lot of writing and took an additional. Additional with my writing gives me lot of confidence even as I write this. And that exam was like roller-coaster ride, not a moment to waste enjoying and relishing the words that are flowing out of the pen for that 180 minutes beginning from 11’o clock.

Diversion ends here…Please proceed on the main road…

What does that mean…

• No going back in the college bus,
• no more proxies,
• no more fighting to sit in the last bench, or sudokus in the last bench
  
• no more bunking and spending time in canteen,
• no more endless chatter about nothing in particular,
• no more last-minute batting for internals, no more tensions of back-log ,
• no more mass-bunking (not that there were any in the last year)
• no more planned outings,
• no more money collection for parties or discos (for record, we had an excellent class with absolutely amazing co-operation in any regard.)

There are so many others that ended with that passage of the day. All those days I didn’t think it would come to haunt me so much. It always seemed like wonderful journey with ups and downs. A certain pattern has set in and it takes a lot of effort to break it free. Loitering aimlessly and lazily till the day of internal approaches, frantically reading just before exams, a lull period again and the grand finale in the form of SEM EXAMS. It is the gap in these things that one can remember, all the others are just an illusion. But it gives me great pride looking back how effectively I have utilized some of those times during the gaps starting with a paper at NIT Warangal, one at Osmania University, one small project at Wipro E Peripherals, and to end it all entering a robotics competition at IIT-Bombay. It ain’t no big deal when compared with peers like Adi or Mr.Swaminaidu who have many more reasons to cherish about but the fact that I had done something useful, something that might help in my course of life (which turned out to be one of the biggest reasons why I have gotten recruited…), something other than doing nothing is a great satisfaction.

With all that gone I feel lonely and no wonder they say graduation is the best part of anyone’s life and no matter how much we try we cannot recreate that beautiful passage of time.

Before I forget I want you all to know I am now Karthik, B.Tech (Electronics and Comm. Engineer).

First Class at the Matt...

At 6’O clock after the gym, I have gone to Ramakrishna Matt to begin my Chinese Language Training. If it were not for the anachronistic feeling I felt during the first hour i.e. from 6 to 7 wherein we had a sermon I wouldn’t even have cared to blog this.

In the huge auditorium hall with somewhere around 600 to 700 people gathered the whole thing was like the first day I stepped into my college, Little Flower Junior college. Noise all around, sweating profusely as I was not in the line of fans, I felt strange seeing the absolute orderliness with which people here conduct the proceedings. After about ten to fifteen minutes are so there came the mission head and we all rose in unison to greet him. A prayer was chanted and everybody settled down.

He began to read out some of the rules of the organization:

• Please show respect to girls. If found misbehaving direct expulsion. Hmm… interesting. With a time span of two hours max I wonder we would find anytime to have interaction at all.
• Girls have their own stairs and a separate one for boys. Please maintain queue before entering. Should that be told? I mean is it not plain enough for us to see that with more than 100 people trying to get the class there is no other way than queuing up.
• There would be 40 classes in one session spanning four months. Only 3 leaves in the whole session would be allowed. Anything more Director needs to be contacted to decide whether to expel the student or anything else. And on top of that no two leaves one after another.
• Everybody is expected to reach the premises at least 15 minutes before the class commences. A grace time of 5 to 10 minutes is allowed exceeding which DIRECTOR needs to be contacted to decide etc.
• Read two hours every day and don’t forget to do the homework. Good thing there was no mention of EXPULSION if one is found not obeying this rule.
• Please see notice board everyday for announcements and the above rules are subject to change and new rules will be added as the time progresses.

And there were lot more which I don’t remember as I didn’t find worthy of arguing. To end it all we are told all the rules are meant to develop discipline, punctuality and character. But is this the way discipline is to be enforced? Is it not known to them that all these things had been drilled to us from schools and that it is high to let the character grow by themselves? Who is the loser here if he/she doesn’t attend the classes? It’s us meaning it is those who pay who lose. What the heck does it mean that taking more than 3 leaves might lead to one getting expelled? Is it not some sort of threat? I felt like being chained. I know most of what I said sounds over the top but at some point of time that’s the truth. You can’t be all along one’s progress watching every step. You have to wait for them to make mistakes and realize on their own.

Going away from the above discussion the assortment of students in the class was very amusing. There are total of 33 students in the class. We were all told to introduce ourselves to the entire class and also the reason for joining this particular course. At the end of the exercise I felt being part of wild assortment of people who have come there for different purposes.

• More than 35% of the students there wanted to pursue MBBS in China, after completing their 10+2.
• One lady(an example of perfect shyster...) wanted to learn the language as her “would-be” is expected to stay in China after tying the nuptial knot.
• An old man of around 70 years wanted to know what their culture, diversity and language is all about as he is very much interested to know about various things.
• A project manager from Satyam computers found it very difficult to converse with the clients there in China.
• One guy (that’s me) wanted it as he expects the company he is going to join in to expand it’s branches in China.
• A bike manufacturer who is in the process of rolling out bikes which can go 60 kms at Rs.2/-, which powered by dynamo, wants it as the mode of communication between himself and the clients is becoming very difficult. He is basically importing the material from China and fixing it up and there was one more who wanted to join as he was expected to run his father’s business in China.
• Some joined because they had to meaning they wanted other foreign languages like French, Spanish or German but it turned out they had no seats except CHINESE.
• Some just for fun.

It is very interesting because it just shows you how important a language can play a role in the life and also as you come face to face with people from various strata of life. I understand this happens even during the computer language courses but you wouldn’t find such diversity there. With basics being taught in first class and some introduction on how this language has come to be, we were told there are 10,000 characters in the language and 4 tones. A particular “word” say “ma” in four tones has four different meanings and some words with same tone has different characters and different meanings. Oy!!! Take it lite, don’t worry. I can do it. The largest Chinese speaking people follow mandarin Dialect as it has been made the official language of China and also the world’s largest spoken language.

Bottom-line: A very tough language to master and to get a grip on with lots and lots of practice. ( Phew!!! Another way of making me restless for months to come…) With that I would say zai chin (see you again, good bye) to all

My First Blog...of the month :)

“No blogging…”, orkuts Swami Naidu. That’s the sort of motivation I need. I mean when I have taken up this blog I have decided to make it packed with every little that my mind feels and have it as a sort of guidance for me.

By putting my memories on web I wanted people’s opinion to the way I have felt during particular times. Even without that it would be a great help for me to know how stupid I was or how mature I was in handling something. I haven’t yet explored to the ways in which opinions can be gathered and banking on the comments. Will be doing that sometime from now?

But what bugs me is the long hiatus I have taken. Of course there are nothing new to report and not MANY GREAT things that I have done. As I have learned from the great film, Akira, human mind is capable of storing trillions of bytes as one starts growing, consisting of past, present and the future. I should be able to let my readers know at least 1/100000th of that information. To put it plainly there is whole lot of fantastic memories hidden in my 20 years it should be enough material for the whole month.

It is now I come to realize how dangerous mind can be when you are not in control. When I knew nothing about blogging I have read some articles on the net regarding it. Most of them have said that of the 100 blogs created every month say, only 10 of them go further than three months. I am at a stage to decide which group I belong to.

How it all began...
My tryst with writing began with our erstwhile website www.vasavionline.co.nr. I loved the whole concept of the site. With only fellow people around it gives a homely atmosphere, I had so much fun participating in the forums, writing some articles, getting some feedback, guessing the dialogue, etc. So many things that could have been done. I still remember the times when my mom used to get so very bugged up to find me browsing that site. Writing just means so much to me. I am not the person who would want to correspond in paragraph’s but rather in pages. That was how my mind started thinking what if I could find a place and audience who can mutually contribute and share what they think of my writing, and also their advices or their own articles.


Seeing others is what motivates me much further. There is lot of refinement is to be done in the way I write and also lot of vocabulary and matter has to spaced rightly. To borrow some lines from the movie “Sister-Act” : "If you wake up in the morning, and you can't think of nothing but writing, then you spose to be a writer."

(for those of you who are desperately in search of motivation Click Here )

That was what I exactly felt. I wanted to be a writer. So seeing me going lethargic day by day by day it gives me creeps on thinking where I will land up with this attitude. Now that I have reached end of the page I feel happy that process is starting again.

!!!Welcome back Readers!!!

Confessions on The Blog Floor...

“Job Insecurity…” said Mrs. Talkative. Quite right. That’s what it is then. If not why is it that the first feeling I get after scanning through the question paper is RELIEF that I am going to pass. Have I become so bad that I can’t look beyond 75% marks? Is it because of the way I have been performing the last two semesters averaging 70%, I feel that’s how I am and nothing I am going to do is going to change my vulnerability to fail, or is it?

“What do you want to achieve getting marks? you have a goal, the marks follow you,” reasons Adi. It is very hard to digest it but it is true. Whenever I sit up to study right from my first year it was only for few hours with as many breaks as the number of speed breakers on O.U. Road. I regret, feel bad, feel guilty, determine to change the sem that follows. The pattern repeats. There is no denying the fact that I haven’t put all my efforts and loafed around.

Of late it is these two things running in my mind. One thing I have come to realize is that consistency is vital in no matter what you do, till you see the end of whatever you want to do. Sounds little gibberish but I will clear with what I have gone through. The last three sems my preparation was in the drawing room of my house late in the night with T.V. running in the mute mode. I make sure I know all the topics on the syllabus book for a given subject. The day before the exam is when I cover all the topics of all five units. But it is that late night t.v. viewing and the complacency that sets in because I covered the topics and lack of revision that has gotten me those miserable marks. Supposing there were five holidays for the exam, I do my prep for the last two days. This must have been the trend among many of you out there.

To overcome this I decide to stop seeing television. I had successful continuous 30 non-television days before my resolve goes pfffff. Those 30 days I had wonderful time reading books, magazines, surfing the net, etc. How did I revert back? It started as a slow poison. One day I was dead tired after coming from college. I thought ten minutes of t.v. does no harm and then it goes on to an hour. The next day another hour gets added because of the “Passion of the Christ”. The next next day one more hour this time due to the excellent coverage of some amazing underwater species in Discovery. All this sound unadulterated fun. Flip- Channel [V] , another flip – Zoom t.v. – little more pleasure than what had been two days before. I become so relieved now as I come to understand what the hell were Chitti and Laddoo referring to when talking about so-and-so song and so-and-so movie trailers. I ain’t a outcast anymore. This is my number ONE Inconsistency.

Anybody who knows me little more than hi-bye would know that my memory is as good as writings on the sand (Confirmation: just pm Shadow…). I enroll to a yoga teaching center that runs the classes early in the morning. Religiously I did what ever asana they said without missing a class. I felt so happy doing whatever was asked and did as much publicity as possible to let all others follow my suit and realize the power of yoga. It makes you more agile, more fit, more alert and most important of all improves your concentration and memory power. As the days passed on this came to an end too and my chances of improving my memory power goes kaput.

Now that you read till now I ain’t need to tell you what to do. Trust me guys, you wouldn’t know about the guilt that is written all over me because I can’t stick on to anything new I take up and now I feel really intimidated thinking about the future challenges that I have to take up. They say whatever difficulties you have faced till now are just tip of the iceberg.

Knowledge is power they say and to get that you need to discipline yourself and that’s all I have to say about that.

Fair & Lovely – at last it is so lovely…

This is about the latest Fair & Lovely ad. Finally the morons realized it is not about getting people look like sh** before and demi-god after using their product makes not a sense.

Let’s look at what happened so far:

• A lady keeps lip-synching the cricket match telecasted sitting on the couch. She is dark. Mother steps in, gives her daughter F&L. Oh..la..la she is in the commentary box alongside Srikanth and we see press photographers taking autograph!!!! Heights I tell you. Fans for a female Commentator???
• Father takes her daughter to get her joined in some academy for Air-hostess. The people there throw a sarcastic remark about the way every tom, dick and harry wants to become air hostess indirectly pointing to the people that have come. In a fit of rage and shame they return. We see old man rummaging through the chest and taking out F & L. Oh..la..la the next shot we see her completely transformed and into the office.
• Rakesh Roshan, the idiot who gave us Hrithik Roshan, bumps into a lady who, if the viewers haven’t understood by now with that nonsensical background music which neither emotes nor feels anything special, uses the product F & L. Oh..la..la we see this bald guy getting mightily impressed and asking her for her approval in casting for heroine. There, There, it’s okay the price isn’t that bad. Go get one. Rakesh Roshan is waiting for you.
• This is most ridiculous of all. We see a lanky, pimply fellow running around in girls hostel for borrowing a cream. (Hello!! No, I am not mistaken. He goes into the girls dormintory in the early wee hours. Wonder which idiotic hostel was that allowing boys to enter their premises.) The girls chase him and he somehow escapes with a person next to him who ridicules for trying to steal girls products. Oh..la..la then we see the same girls who chased going ga-ga over our guy who takes on F & H. Fair and Handsome – an absolute filth on this planet.
• Girl comes in for a job at customer care. She goes through humiliation as she comes to realize first requirement for the job would be beauty and nothing but the beauty. You guys understood!!! First thing for customer care would be beauty. She cries, goes in to the house furiously. Oh..la..la Next day she is at the same counter talking to the same person who ridiculed her and DING!!!!!! She is in. No other requirements, mind you. All thanks to --- F & L.

In all of the ads I have quoted so far and some I can’t remember the first thing you notice is the girl is very dark. So dark that you can easily find out with her face contrast to the skin. After 10 or 15 seconds depending on the ad duration we see she getting completely transformed to a white angel with no marks at all. Another common theme running would be the lady whoever she is first has to face humiliation.

It is now the ad comes with a breather as for once the lady ain’t dark and there ain’t any humiliation. I have become so disgusted with this ad that I couldn’t wait to observe this change and blog it. Now that I have done it, I would be happy if people too notice the change.

( If there was ad missing that I couldn’t recollect please do let me know through your comments…)