I must write for you must think

Sticky summer, birthday blues and movies

2009-06-04T15:10:00.019+05:30

In this racially surcharged environment that engulfs our world today, I believe it is our responsibility to give everyone a fair hearing. As we make the painful transition from hot May to hotter June, here are a few reasons that might help the next few days fly by-:

Bhutta (corn on the cob)
The five-buck ice cream
Excessive sweating makes the face clear. Mathews, are you sure about that?
~~Summer Holidays~~. Sorry Garry, no such thing exists on this side of 20.
You appreciate the early mornings and the late evenings because the days are just so darned hot
Mangoes..
Blah.

Ok, I'm done. This wretched season is getting to my head, melting my brain and sucking away all energy. Ban summer I say! After two days of brainstorming, I have nothing more than a meek defence. It might be easier to find reasons to like Nadal. Then again, maybe not.

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I really love people who look forward to their birthdays. People have a tendency to act supercool and pretend that it is just another day. It's NOT. IT'S YOUR HAPPY BIRTHDAY. So stop acting pseudo-cool, get off your haunches and start counting down the days to your birthday.

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After months of keeping their heads buried in the sand, multiplex owners and producers have finally buried their differences. The strike is officially (alomst) over. Now I don't have to suffer the ignominy of going to watch Yeh Pal Ho Na Ho... Kal.

Instead, get ready to come with me to watch the first big, post-strike, release-- Kal Kisne Dekha, starring Jacky Bhagnani. Woohoo, anyone?

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The term 'racially surcharged' is in no way used to play down the seriousness of the prevalent problem or ridicule, insult or offend anybody.

Don't you dare make fun of 'corn on the cob'! It is just used to enlighten any international reader who might stumble across this blog.

I have nothing but total respect for the Bhagnani family.

Nandu, we know you love that dog (There, I saved you 200 words of coochiecooing the dog).

Image Courtesy: www.ahajokes.com

In conversation with Mr Krishnan

2009-06-02T11:23:00.023+05:30

I have wanted to inject some energy into this space for a while but I really didn't know what to write about. This four-day (yup, that's 4) weekend gave me a lot of time to browse through some old photographs. And boy did I trip on some good ones.

The picture above is of Ramanathan Krishnan, possibly India's finest tennis player. He created history by reaching the semi-finals of the Wimbledon in '60 and '61. Some would say "he was the most recognisable Indian face after Nehru during that period."

My grandfather was under the impression that Rod Laver was present at the Gymkhana when he clicked this picture. I decided to do some investigation. I called up the Nungambakkam Tennis Stadium in Madras and requested them to give me Krishan's contact number.

Armed with the information, I called up the number and a lady put me through me to him. All that I told him was "a picture in the 50s" and the "Delhi Gymkhana Club" and he immediately rattled off the details. In the picture, he is shaking hands with Jack Arkinstall after beating him in the final of the Northern India Championship in the January of '54 or '55 at the Delhi Gymkhana Club.

According to him, Laver only gained prominence around '59 and never played a competitive match in India. It was Laver who defeated him in the semi-finals of Wimbledon in '61. What amazed me was the power of his memory. Most sportsmen seem to possess this quality.

I was actually planning to brag about a rare picture of Rod Laver but instead I will just have to be content with sharing this little conversation.

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This here is a historic picture that my grandfather procured from someone. The scene is set in the heart of Delhi. The many thousands gathered are part of Mahatma Gandhi's funeral procession on January 31, 1948 -:

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Look who's back in town! Nope, I am not talking about Papa Bachchan and Bachcha Bachchan in Delhi. I am just indulging in truckloads of vanity.

And now that I have decided to get back to my old ways, I really do hope that the three of you will come back to me blog.

p.s. Why, Cricinfo, why?

Eid reporting at its best

2008-12-16T21:35:00.005+05:30

A must watch for anyone who wants to learn how to become an ideal reporter-:

Now that's what you call a good gift

2008-12-09T11:44:00.003+05:30

Winter is here! And the joy that accompanies the announcement is purely because I can put my birthday gift to full use. On 6th when I received the putter and a few days later, a sleeve of John Daly golf balls, I did not hesitate for a moment before trying it out on the marbled greens at my place. Unfortunately, putting on that surface felt like putting at Oakmont. It left me ego shattered, my game in a shambles, and my confidence severely dented. I contemplated giving up the game. And I did.

But with the fog that clouds the air, winter brings with it those wonderful persian rugs, more commonly referred to as 'carpets'. That is the tonic my game needed. I pulled out the wood out of my bag ( vintage three-wood walking stick) and the cutely assembled putter to show the world, the champion is back! Now my swing feels great, no divots to be found and you should have seen the ball fly from the room next to the balcony over the dining room and into the drawing room as it landed three feet from the pin. Sheer joy. One that can only be experienced when you play top level golf like I do. And yesterday in the championship round at Augusta, I had a 25-foot putt for birdie. Stroked it gently and the ball followed different paths on the two-tiered green. Raced quickly off the bat through a downhill lie before climbing the last few feet upto the pin. I thought the ball would break right, it didn't! Missed the cup by a whisker and the green jacket failed to embrace my shoulder. But one day I will win it.

Till that day arrives, I will practice diligently, night and day, mostly night and irritate the hell out of everyone at home :)

BTW, did I tell you guys, my favourite Titleist Pro v1 plastic ball went out of bounds on one of the holes, as it found its way down the bottom of the drainage pipe in the toilet :C It was my favourite ball but I shall not wallow in my misery. I will get out there and buy a new ten buck plastic ball and work my magic on it.

And, yeah, Thank You guys. What a super-duper-fantastic birthday gift it was, infact, it is, it IS!

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Did you know Shiela Dixit is 71 now? Come to think of it, the age is beginning to show on her face. But I always thought she was 50 something. And five more years, attagirl!

Teeing off with Free Radical 6

2008-12-01T16:40:00.005+05:30

I got a message from Mathews in the morning telling me that I would find my copy of Free Radical when I get home. I was already at work by then and had no other option but to wait. But through the day, a series of emotions raced through my mind.

It was nearly two and a half years ago, during one of the club meetings, that the idea was put forth. Within an hour of animated discussion, the four page newsletter turned into a magazine and after a few months of wading through what seemed like truckloads of red tape, we finally had a college magazine.

Today, sitting in the Times of India office, working on a book, a sense of deja vu overcame me. After all it was the same thing all over again. The hunt for sponsors (made ToI richer by 50 lakhs), finding content, finding pictures, proofreading, re-proofreading and then getting excited by that first, low-res A-4 sheet printout which suddenly makes all those random pages strung together, feel like something publishable.

And, lest I forget, great job guys! The magazine has a very nice and refreshing feel about it and for you Rohit, who thought this would be an apt reply for our negative thoughts about this magazine not coming out, sorry boss, can't hide my happiness :)

Aastha, Krits, Varuni, Srb n Sid..I am sure you guys too share my happiness!

Shashwat, Deepak, Yash, Shashank, Nandita, Nitish, Shaurya, Gargi, Etika and Rohit..Carry on guys. You've done a great job!

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Was at the Qutub Golf Course yesterday where Kapil and Nikhil Chopra were also there. Kapil actually wears a stud on the left ear; sad, very sad. But it was the sight of Nikhil Chopra that really could not stop me from feeling sorry for you know who (Sid, you do know!)

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Tom Cruise (in cocktail)-:

"Talk is terribly overrrated as a means of solving dispute"

I always knose this..

2008-11-24T22:34:00.002+05:30

Here is the result of a poll conducted online-:

Now who wouldn't want to pick that nose!

Hot Sizzling Pics of Mallika Sherawat

2008-11-15T09:47:00.008+05:30

It all started in a mad rush with me having to leave for the tournament within four hours of my sister’s wedding. I don’t think I managed a proper goodbye either, of which I would have had a lot of chances because on their way to the Andamans, they ( Ro n Arti) had to deplane coz my sister had left her handbag in the terminal. So that basically meant a shorter honeymoon!

I have always been told that Chandigarh is a beautiful and organized city but I never really understood the statement till I was in the city. Beautiful roads, lined by trees on both sides and perfect symmetry maintained with respect to numbering of the sectors gave the city a very elegant touch. It was more like a magnified version of Lutyen's Delhi.

I also bit into a temptation which I had managed to avoid with steadfast resolution. Spent the last few months of college playing flash, using Garry’s scrabble pieces as tokens. so I was all game for it when the guys said “let’s play flash”. It’s only when they asked me to cough up money after giving the tokens did I realize what I had gotten myself into! Unfortunately, I must confess, it was good fun and I was tempted to give it a shot again the next day. Greed is the root of all evil! Something that the tournament director found out to his misfortune :). No wonder then that he took the first flight back home the day the tournament finished!

On tour one gets the opportunity to meet and interact with so many players and other people that you feel you are looking at the start of new friendships.That, I like, for sure.

The week has come to an end and with all the wonderful newspaper clippings in tow, I write this on my way back on the Shatabdi that lets my Data Card access the cyber world with astonishing ease.

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Highlights of the week

* Rashid won his third straight title on the National Amateur Tour

* I had a phone conversation with Peter Thomson, five time winner of the British Open

* Apparently ‘cards’ is also played with money!

* Chandigarh is as much Haryana as it is Punjab

* APPARENTLY ‘cards’ is also played with money

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While Geroge Bush was saying something on T.V. , my room mate looks at the screen and says-:

“Doesn’t he look a little bit like a monkey”

DUDE! A little?

Anyway, Ab Dilli door nahin.

p.s. there was no other way you were going to read this ;-)

Get Lost you Mallikaphiles.

Of Donkeys and Elephants

2008-11-05T14:18:00.013+05:30

Four years ago sitting in the computer lab in college, I still remember how we were desperately hoping John Kerry would pull through and send Mr Bush back to Texas. Unfortunately that did not happen and the world was subject to four more years of Dubya Bush. As Michael Moore rightly pointed out after the defeat in 2004, the only positive that came out of the election was that it would be just four more years of Bush, no more.

But in that election campaign, in the midst of all the sloganeering on a donkey’s back (the Democratic Party’s symbol), there was this young African American chap from Illinois who gave a stirring speech at the Democratic National Convention. There were two lines in that half hour long talk that suddenly waltzed him into everyone’s living room and people started wondering who he was, the man with a Kenyan father and a Hawaiian mother. Incredibly simple yet incredibly powerful-:

'We should not divide ourselves into red states and blue states because we represent the United States of America'

When a man with incredible oratory skills delivers such a line, the world is bound to take notice. Four years later, he has been crowned(?) the President of the U.S.A., a nation state, whose leaders have more often than not caused a lot of heartburn to the rest of the world. While his being elected into the Oval office signals a remarkable wave of change, I only hope that his foreign policies will signal the dawn of a new era.

For too long, men and women in the corridors of power have failed to understand the importance of being a superpower and have successfully ensured that America has been antagonized and used as a rallying point by the fundamentalists to spread their vicious gospel. One can only hope, the 44th President of the oldest democracy in the world brings about real change. For a nation so powerful must learn to lead and facilitate peaceful coexistence.

So, as America goes to sleep with the words ‘Change’ on their lips, I go back four years to use the line that used to fill the air in Democratic rallies with nothing but unabashed (perhaps unsubstantiated) optimism-:

‘Hope is on the way’

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Dear Sarah Palin,

Having seen a Russian mountain from the backyard of your Alaska home does not count as foreign policy experience. Please get hold of a visa and travel the world.

Dear Asif Ali Zardari,

I am sorry to inform you that your attempt at trying to floor Sarah Palin with your Cassanovaesque lines will yield no political benefits.

Dear George Bush,

Thank god for small mercies in life.

Dear Katrina Kaif,

You have the hottest nose that I have ever seen on a woman

Image Courtesy: www.coxandforkum.com

Is Mr Genie listening ?

2008-11-01T21:40:00.002+05:30

I have always looked at people working at certain places and wondered how it would be to get their job for a day. It's one of those wish for a day things and I suspect it would give you a better perspective of life. No, forget that line, its just for cheap thrills for me, nothing else.

Here is my list of 5 jobs that I would like to have for a day-:

Toll Bridge Attendant: Each day, I cross the same point twice and see the hassled look on the attendant's face making me really want to sit in that booth and try and see how difficult it would be to wear a smile all day. Also, at least once I want to take a 5oo buck note from someone's hand and check it in front of their face to make them realise how terrible it feels.

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Auto Driver: Is there a better vehicle in this world that you could drive through all months of the year, except maybe those dirty months of May and June? Of course it won't hurt to drop two beautiful (make that hot) young women to their destination. Sh*t, I think I've jinxed it.. I would probably get to drive around a fat overweight obnoxious man from one end of the city to another all day :(

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Steam Engine Driver: At least once if I ever get a chance, I want to be at the head of a train with a steam engine on a longish journey, maybe Delhi to Bombay. Wait, maybe from Bangladesh to Peshawar on a track parallel to the Old Grand Trunk Road

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Sandalwood Smuggler: That's just a secret fetish. Shhh, you cannot tell anyone about that! I wonder what it would be like, living in the middle of the jungle, far away from Modern Civilisation, running your own little fiefdom while trying to evade the law enforcing authorities..Srirappan, maybe?

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Traffic Policeman: That is something I have always wanted to do, stand at one of the crossings and try and manage the traffic. They are after all the modern day shepherds !

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I can probably think of many more but off the top of my head this would be my list of five jobs that I would like to have for a day. Is Make-a-wish foundation listening?

GreeTings

2008-10-28T09:53:00.000+05:30

To the three of you-:

May the lights, luck and fun make this Diwali special in more ways than one

May the happiness that this season brings, brighten your life

Hope the year brings you luck and fulfills all your dearest dreams

Wish you a very happy,prosperous and a cracking Diwali (sans the crackers)

Eve Rulz

2008-10-26T12:41:00.000+05:30

It's about time I formulated my fictional rulebook for women. Thou shalt follow these commandments or be prepared to lose her to the serpent. NEVER hold me to ransom if I fail to live up to these rules.

Eve-Rules!

One must never keep a woman waiting

One must never insult a woman

One must never curse a woman

One must never curse in front of a woman

One must never insist on Pizza in front of a woman (but you can have it nonethless)

One must always let a woman pass through

One must always open the door for a woman

One must never expect a woman to compliment your singing (but that must not deter you)

One must never ignore a woman

One must always give a woman an indirect compliment

I think I have covered all the bases, I think. If there are useful inputs, I might consider adding it to the list. Since I know not one of the three of you is going to give me a pat on the back for the title, I shall do it myself! Ha.

Image Courtesy: Dave Thomas Collection

I know Alice, but who's Gary Lawyer?

2008-10-22T12:38:00.000+05:30

There is something about Boardroom meetings that I find really fascinating. For one it breaks your love affair with the computer and changes the dynamics of what you are supposed to do at work. Too many boardroom meetings can also mean your work is taking a beating and time to fly the white flag.

Anyway this was my first boardroom meeting; I say first because everyone was sitting around an oval table giving the setting a fairly intimidating look. At these places you have got to talk to create an impact and more importantly listen to prevent yourself from being fired.

I was pretty cowed down for the first 10 odd minutes, carefully weighing my words and listening intently just so that I did not miss out on something. but as the meeting went on, I started to relax, the shirt sleeve started finding its way up to the elbow and I was playing the part.

There came a point when the performer for a night show was being talked about(Gary Lawyer) and I chose to express my ignorance in the public domain by asking out loud "Excuse moi, who IS Gary Lawyer". Silence all around, me boss looked at me, almost as if sizing up his opponent(who in this case happened to be the prey) and very calmly said "He is a footballer".

Ah, Sarcasm! I guess you get what you give but I loved the answer, not because I was the least bit enlightened but it is the kind of humour that suddenly makes you grin from ear to ear. Thankfully, he followed up that repartee with a fairly detailed explanation on how culturally ignorant I was, not to know one of India's finest exponent of Western Music.

I am not the least bit ashamed about Googlin' my ignorance and this is what I found about him-:

Probably the only English singer in India, Gary Lawyer owns the entire music industry as his pleasing baritone reverberates on it’s own. Often called the man with the 'Golden Voice', he is regarded as the finest Indian artiste in the field of Western Popular Music

Ignorance definitely wasn't bliss in this case

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As the meeting went on, I became bold enough to start messaging in the middle of the meeting which was preceded by checking the score on cricinfo which BTW said 'INDIA Won'. Not the best thing to do but I am afraid, I don't care how important the meeting is, Cricket is just a tad bit more important. And I had to message coz some ignorant people(:P) needed to be told how important this win was !

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The best line I heard(whilst eavesdropping on someone's phone conversation)-:

In America when you earn $10,000, you first learn how to spend $100,000

What a line! Puts the entire bank crisis in perspective( or so I am told)

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Word of the day: Gobsmacked

Was used for me and I am still trying to figure out whether that was meant as a compliment or not!

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Come to think of it, now I know who Gary Lawyer is, but who is Alice ? Smokie is yet to give us a satisfying answer to that question. Who can blame them, with a name like that for their band, I doubt if they would be able to give us a satisfying answer to any question!

Morning Blues and Tie'd to death

2008-10-21T09:57:00.000+05:30

Q:What happens when you get up late ?
A:You reach office early.

This is the 86th time it has happened to me. I get up all flustered thinking that I am very late and in the bout of urgency that follows, I end up reaching my destination well ahead of time and that is something I really like :0. It's like the anti-Murphy law-:

"When I am in a rush, the universe conspires to get me to my destination well before time to leave me fidgety and bored"

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Yesterday because of the absence of qualified personnel, I had to accompany someone for a business presentation. I was quickly given a standby tie( very efficient people) and was off. So, sporting a tie, neatly creased trouser, ironed shirt and a semi tonsured head(which still feels like a Persian Rug) it felt like I was transported back to me school days. Apparently that also qualifies for a half decent business presentation look so no one was complaining.

It was around this time each year that the winter gear in school kicked in and out came that tie. Unfortunately I was so darned organised that I never undid the tie knot through the four years that I had to wear it. While it saves time, it also means that I would feel like a fish out of water when given a tie in hand. But again, the tie I was given yesterday had the knot in place, all I had to do was tighten the noose and the lamb was ready for slaughter.

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For those who care and those who don't, click on the link to read my Indian Open story, published exclusively for all three of you who read my blog. Two of you might not want to do it because it is about Golf and the third one, if you are trying to be nice and reading it then let me warn ya, if you are one who frowns over the misuse of the English language, then you are advised to give it a pass.

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Would you exchange a walk-on part in a war for a lead role in a cage ?

Answer the Question

2008-10-19T19:50:00.000+05:30

The last few days have been weird. weird good but weird.

Anyway, here is a message I got recently which asked me a question. I really would like to know what you think about it-:

The best of things fall apart, so labour not to make it last.
Instead happiness is in being happy now !

Hmm...I know my opinion about the above but would really like to know your views.

Can music save your mortal soul?

2008-10-16T22:45:00.000+05:30

Can it?

I cannot begin to describe the joy ride down to office today. Was feeling terribly tired and after the dinner celebration last night really did not feel like getting out of bed for office today. Somehow I convinced myself to get outta bed and got meself ready to park me lazy bum in office.

I started off with a frown but by the time I reached office and now that I am typing this, the look on my face has completely transformed and I am struggling to wipe the grin off me face. Ten minutes into the ride, this is the first song that plays on f.m.-:

"Where do you go to my lovely" -- Peter Sarstedt

I am not a sucker for lyrics, not one for remembering them anyway but this is one of the few songs that I can sing along( I know almost half of it and anyone who knows me would understand that is a big figure).

It did not end there. This is the list that followed-:

To Sir with Love
I'll Follow the sun (Beatles)

and then...

Bridge over troubled waters ( S n G)

I don't know what you call good music but this would be somewhere near the top of my list but wait, the story aint over. Just as I paid the 20 bucks and floored the accelerator they play-:

American Pie ( Don Mclean)

Now, that is what I call shout on top of your voice, 'bring on da headbanging' kinda music. Remember the rock concert in college last month and the statuesque pose I maintained thru the evening ? If you want to know what makes me act like you wild kids at a concert then play this kidna music :)

Add to that the snow in Kashmir and it was just the perfect weather to 'roll down the window and enjoy the drive' kind of day. Oh, before I forget the mystery girl.. There was this car tailing me ( well, it was behind me anyway) and as the wind lashed the toll bridge, her hair seemed to blow in the breeze in a very 'out of a film set' kind of way. Now the mystery girl is gone !

Wait, I am beginning to think all this is because of the Rum Chocolate my mum made in the morning!

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Last evening, I had reached home a little before the usual time and just when I thought I would relax and unwind, I had to slip into more 'publicly wearable' clothes coz we had to go celebrate Nitin's Skoda. So we drove down the expressway for what I thought would be the usual, Dominos ( and I wasnt complaining) but we ended up going to this really nice place called Yu Turn. Exotic frontier and Pan-Asian food was the line that caught our attention and the food was really good.

You know I would be the last person to talk about food so trust me it is a 'nice evening' kinda dinner place. Not as expensive as we thought it would turn out to be, so definitely worth a visit

P.S. Notice my 'I think this is how I should describe it' writing style ? Yes, words fail me today( as on most days), so have to resort to this ' not very elegant but still make it understandable to the others' kinda writing style !!

Quick Byte

2008-10-14T19:30:00.000+05:30

Two signs that student life is a thing of past-:

1) When you end up going to work on a day most banks are shut. Apparently today was Valmiki Jayanti, a regular part of the annual holiday calendar

2) When people you are used to seeing regularly might no longer be around, on a regular basis that is !

3) You cannot not do work.

Fine, that was more than two but then the third point was equally important

Thank You Mr Wilkins

2008-10-12T20:22:00.000+05:30

Can you not see the grin on my face???? While all those 'loserish autograph hunters(*sheepish Grin*) went after Liang, I hung around long enough on the 18th green to wait for Allan to seperate himself from the crowd and had a small chat with him which largely involved me being tongue tied and not knowing what to say even though he pretended to be very human. Considering that the man covers so many sports I always wanted to know whose company he enjoyed the most- Vijay Amritraj, Dom Boulet or Geoff Boycott. I got the answer from the horse's mouth: Vijay Amritraj and Dom Boulet !

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Another highlight of the week for me-:

Really enjoyed my first stint covering a big tournament. As it turns out Aabha Rathee( a very talented writer who works with Indian Express..If you don't trust me then go google her name) stumbled across me blog. She is one of the very few journalists who actually covers the game the way it ought to be covered. Follows the entire round with the main group and then files her story. The difference in her report and the report filed by other people is quite visible because you will always find something in her story that no one else could have possibly covered sitting in the media room ogling at the giant screen.

Aabha, if you read this...please keep the Wilko Autograph hunting bit to yourself.Pleeaaase :)

The tournament also gave me a chance to interact with some other golf journos including the two whose work I get to read regularly- Moushami Bora(T.O.I.) and Robin Bose(H.T.).

Of Course a longish interview with Daniel Chopra and a little interaction with Jeev Milkha Singh made this week special. All in all a really good few days. Period.

Autograph please

2008-10-12T10:00:00.000+05:30

I am quite enjoying this...sitting here in the media centre and Allan Wilkins sitting a couple of bays ahead of me. Last few days I have had the chance to meet and talk with quite a few people. Saw so many players from close range, through their practice drills and their round, had a chat with Jeev's dad, the legendary athlete Milkha Singh, but not once did I feel the urge to go and get an autograph. I decided some 10 years back that there is no fun in hunting for autographs.

But yesterday when Allan Wilkins walked into the Media Centre, I must admit for the first time in quite a few years I really felt like going up to him and getting an autograph. I cannot quite understand it because its not like he is the most famous person doing the rounds of this course this weekend but he is still a big star for me. Maybe it is because I have idolised guys like him and Harsha for such a long time.

Yesterday I even went and did rounds of the production office to catch hold of him but could not find him. But now I am writing this, he is sitting just a few meters away merrily chatting with the folks around him. I just don't know how to go up to him and introduce myself for the fear of getting tongue tied. Damn! I did not think twice or skip a beat when Danny's manager came to me yesterday and said "here, go do your exclusive interview with him right now" but right now something is holding me back.

I wish I had gotten my camera along. It is so much easier to ask someone to pose for a pic along with you than asking them to sign on a piece of paper. But what the heck, its not like the next time he sees me he is going to remember I was the jerk who kept pestering him for an autograph.

I will wait till he is in some secluded corner and pounce on him for an autograph.That way at least I get to keep my dignity in the public domain.

I even tried that last evening when he was giving a long interview, just when I found my chance someone else pounced on him, started talking to him and whisked him away :(

Today is my last chance. Let us see what I can do

Janamdin Mubarak Ho !

2008-10-08T21:01:00.000+05:30

In a few hours Mr Sinha will be bringing in his 22nd birthday. For those who do not understand it, that means 22 years of useless, crappy, 'want to barf right now', 'make me deaf' kinda jokes. But thankfully thats not the only thing about the man.

For the last five years, it has been a funny bond that we have shared. When in school we were never really as close as we are now. Maybe distance filters out the useless jokes and only brings to the fore the good times. Having said that I must confess, any tale of Navtanay without his jokes is really like saying the best thing about a Pamela Anderson are her eyelashes!

This chap grows on you and unfortunately so much that he is the only guy I can honestly say I have been in regular touch with and still continues to call even if I forget to return his calls. He who started off as a Kishore Kumar fan, now boasts of a music library that contains all kind of junk that you kids apparently call music these days. I remember he had come over once and one of my other friends who met him for the first time later said " Woh tera dost--Heera ladka hain". Which in English means- That friend of yours is a pearl! Err....I guess what he was trying to say was what a fantastic guy he is and I think the reason why he said that is pretty simple-:

No Hangups
Nothing that comes remotely close to being associted with ego
Extraordinary self depreciatory ability
A warm personality
An understanding friend
And most importantly: Ability to make a woman fly after kissing her ! (please forgive me :-D )

- Sorry dude, thot I would list out 22 compliments for you but the list ran out pretty quickly!

Unfortunately I cannot put up any picture of his because the only thing close to cute and publishable about him is his 10 year old brother. But I am sure everyone who knows him would agree with me- 'He is a good guy'.

Happy Birthday Sunita!

p.s. please take this as my penance for not wishing you when the clock strikes 12. Dude, I have better things to do in lyf ;) !

Ambidestro

2008-10-06T15:11:00.000+05:30

Isn't it absolutely amazing when you discover a new talent that has been hidden for many many years? What would you know, you probably don't have that kind of reservoir of talent! I chanced upon this gift of mine and I am so happy I did. I realised that I am Ambidextrous. Yup, you heard that right, AMBIDEXTROUS.

Extraordinary!

I always knew there was something special considering that I used to bowl left handed and bat right handed but could never prove it.

It came to my notice that I am as creative( and darned good) while drawing with my right hand as I am with my left hand. The following picture will demonstrate how there is absolutely no difference in the quality of art even though I was using the right hand which I have never used before for drawing-:

The truth is in the pudding!

Don't ask me where, when and how. Oh well... Since you ask, this piece of genius was worked on at 5:30 in the morning with two people standing right behind me( Judging me) putting that much more pressure. I am just happy that I could turn around and say, Ha!

I wonder if Leonardo could recall where he was when he worked on The Last Supper.

Auspicio Regis et Senatus Angliae

2008-10-04T22:03:00.000+05:30

Nestled in the middle of the Noida Golf Course is a historical monument of great significance. As I was going for a walk around the course and the sun was melting in the west, its rays shone brightly on this monument which leapt at you out of nowhere. As you stand in front of it, you realise the beauty of the grand structure which has wide steps (in all likelihood built when the monument was built) leading up to it giving it a rather royal look.

Today it serves as the tee box for the 16th hole on the course but any player teeing off from that point would be overawed by every brick in the monument, each of which seems to want to tell a story

As I climbed up the stairs and stood in front of the arched structure I read what was inscribed on the structure-:

Near this spot
was fought
on
11th September , 1803
The
Battle of Delhi
where the mahratas led by
M.Louis Borquien were
defeated by the British led by
Gerard lake

There was something inscribed in Urdu near the bottom of the structure and I guess that it probably conveyed the same message. On top was carved the coat of arms adopted by the East India Company in its later years and a message in Latin(I think) which read-:

Auspicio Regis et Senatus Angliae

Translated, it reads " By the command of the King and parliament of England" which was the motto of the East India Company. According to historical records available-:

"The Marathas fought bravely but lost due to the cowardice of French officers who were assisting them. After this battle the areas of Haryana and Delhi came under the British."

Neatly inscribed on the back of the monument was the name of the contractor who was assigned the task of building the monument - Roopram Nannay Singh and also the name of the architect- F.Lishman. As I walked away, what struck me was the beauty of the structure as it stood out in the middle of nowhere and how hardly anyone knows such a structure exists. I will try and go to the course one of these days and click a few pictures of that monument and put it up on the blog. Such significant structures should not be lost to creepers
.

50 first dates

2008-10-03T20:13:00.000+05:30

I got my fourth-first pay cheque today and it is beginning to feel like the movie 50 First Dates, except I am yet to acquire an acute case of amnesia. Each time this first pay cheque comes along,it is supposed to be special. At least this time around it was slightly more than the Rs 400 that the folks at HT Next sent my way some four years back. I don't know why that stopped, coz considering the amount I blabber it might not have been a bad idea to continue with my contributions.

Actually come to think of it, I do remember why I stopped. Initially those guys were so starved of contributors that my article used to be published the very next day after I sent it but with time their pool of contributors grew and their response time to my articles dipped. So even though they did publish the article( i cannot think of any rejected piece) sometimes it used to get printed a week to ten days after I sent it. It kind of killed the spirit of some of the articles. Once I shifted to this side of the Yamuna, the newspaper barons refused to acknowledge my requests for a copy to be sent across and that was that. I made an honourable exit from my stint with the 'print media' !

But whatever said and done there was always the thrill of seeing the name come in print, something I always used to look forward to. A byline is a byline is a byline. It was on the strength of those articles that I went to the chaps at TSM in 07' to get meself an internship. While the internship did not materialise at least I got a job with them now. So maybe the article in HT Next did play a nice bit part in me employment.

Now when I yearn to get a piece printed with my byline, all that I get to do is ghostwrite for my boss and my work appears under his name. Apparently his name is more 'sellable'. Well, who can blame their way of thinking, my boss is a 17 time India international; Of Course his name is more sellable!!

But I shall wait, my time shall come and maybe one day you will see that outdated first name with an unbelievably long surname in print. But till such time all I know is that I have to stop dreaming and prepare meself to get outta bed at 4:30 in the morning tomorrow to start my second month at work.

Ah, life IS a bed of roses..

-X-X-X-X-

Happy Birthday to the Mahatma

2008-10-02T19:58:00.000+05:30

Gandhi's Shoe

While boarding a moving train one day, one of Mohandas Gandhi's shoes slipped off and fell upon the track. As he was unable to retrieve it, Gandhi - to the astonishment of his fellow travelers - calmly removed his other shoe and threw it down the track to where the first had landed. "The poor man who finds the shoe lying on the track," Gandhi explained, "will now have a pair he can use."

Optimist

In 1910, Mahatma Gandhi was sent to prison by South African prime minister Jan Smuts for leading a passive resistance campaign opposing discrimination aganst Indians in Transvaal. From his jail in Bloemfontein, Gandhi sent Smuts a letter offering his "sincere regards." "The prospect of uninterrupted study for at least a year," he declared, "fills me with joy."

Gone in a puff

Mahatma Gandhi upbraided smokers for misusing their nostrils as chimneys. That Gandhi secretly puffed in his school was and was weighed down by remorse is recorded by Robert Payne in his immensely readable Life and Death Of Mahatma Gandhi. In 1924 Gandhiji wrote an article in Young India objecting to the issue of a new brand of cigarettes by the late N.S.T Chari called "Gandhi Cigarettes". Chari at once renamed his cigarettes as "Silver Cloud" and as newspaper editor Pothan Joseph quipped "sales dropped and it melted like clouds in the silver sky."

-X-X-X-X-

Go U.P.A. !! While the new smoking law seems exciting, I really do hope it is implemented because half the wonderful laws are lost in implementation and the other laws are just plain stupid.

-X-X-X-X-

And Importantly, Arnab Dada-:

Herzlichen Glückwunsch zum Geburtstag (Happy Birthday)

(I have a sneaky feeling this impression will not be appreciated in today's hypersensitive environment. tsk tsk tsk)

.

Godfather IV

2008-09-30T08:18:00.000+05:30

The completion of the Wagah Trilogy..

Mathews, judge for yourself and may i specially recommend the sequence between 45 to 56 on the timeline!

Photology

2008-09-29T22:13:00.000+05:30

Waahgah

2008-09-29T21:34:00.000+05:30

This is going to be a few broken thoughts-:

Imagine a trip where everything goes as planned and you have loads of fun.. for some it might be oxymoronish and definitely not the 'eurotrip' but sometimes there is joy in clockwork perfection too..

-X-X-X-X-

Right from Nish scaring(:P) us by turning up at the station as the surprise addition to the group to the auto chap who surprisingly agreed to drive down to Noida on the way back everything was just perfect.Although on our way to Amritsar the train was a couple of hours late but that two hours spent at the station in itself was a nice snapshot of how the trip was going to be; how else can you explain 22 year olds playing gold spot on the overbridge at Nizammudin and making complete fools of themselves.

-X-X-X-X-

Amritsar the city, was surprisingly Chandani Chowkish, something which I did not really expect. But considering that we decided to hole up in a budget hotel, you really couldn't expect the city at its opulent best. The city might not be a thriving metropolis but it sure has traces of history littered all over the place. Statues springing up at every intersection, the old buildings, the incredibly grand Khalsa College and of course the holiest place for the Sikhs, The Golden Temple.

-X-X-X-X-

While the most important thing that I was looking forward to was the Wagah Border, I did not quite expect myself to be lost in the magnificence of the Golden Temple nor feel so disturbed by the Jallianwala Bagh. To think of a place where nearly 2000 people were brutally killed can shake you up, to be at the place where it happened gives you quite a jolt. Makes you understand why we must never take our Independence for granted.

-X-X-X-X-

But the best of the trip was the visit to the border. I have always wanted to be near the border and the closest I had been to it was in Dholavira in Kutch but that was different- Miles of No Man's land separated the two nations. Here it was a white line which clearly said "This land is your land, This land is my land"--Not quite the sentiments of the song by Woody Guthrie but a strange concept of the so called 'non neanderthals' but more about that some other time.

-X-X-X-X-

Megs had warned me it would be quite an experience and it was just that! Everything there seemed to be the last--the last petrol pump, the last gate, the last toilet, the last coca cola branded restaurant ! Of course all that could be the first, based on where you are coming from.!...!

-X-X-X-X-

The Golden Temple by night was a sight to behold and that walk to the sanctum sanctorum in the middle of the water body was special. So incredibly peaceful that I just hoped the walk would continue. The number of volunteers there and the way everything was organised was as Saurabh rightly pointed out " A perfect micro example of how an ideal country should function"

-X-X-X-X-

The night was dull and uneventful and everyone was so exhausted that they just did not feel like sitting around for a chat. Hic Hic,Excuse me

-X-X-X-X-

The ride back, hmm, how can I forget the bread cutlet which makes every train ride a joyous one. I ensured I skipped lunch just to dig into the cutlet. Of course a few other things that have to be left unsaid but will remain with me for a long time. Every moment was a blast and the trip did enough to ensure three weeks of work could be swept away and recharged the body !

-X-X-X-X-

Forgive the broken nature of the diary but I will follow this up with a photology

This is going to hurt just a little bit

2008-09-21T15:32:00.000+05:30

For some reason brushing my teeth in the morning has become an ordeal. If I decide to show some zeal and enthusiasm in the process, I somehow end up bleeding my gums; if I don't show much interest then the whole exercise is a waste. But the bleeding gums.. Not a fun feeling and I don't even feel like going to the dentist. It is that thought the brings me to the post today.

Back in 10th class we had a brilliant poem in our syllabus written by Ogden Nash. Every line is filled with wit and makes you grin. The best part about the poem is the fact that he captures the predicament of a visit to the dentist perfectly. I wrote reams on how the poem is a metaphor for blah and blah and blah but in all honesty it just seems he wrote it right after giving the dentist a visit-:

This is going to hurt just a little bit

by Ogden Nash

One thing I like less than most things is sitting in a dentist chair with my mouth wide open.
And that I will never have to do it again is a hope that I am against hope hopen.
Because some tortures are physical and some are mental,
But the one that is both is dental.

It is hard to be self possessed
With your jaw digging into your chest,
so hard to retain calm
When your fingernails are making serious alterations in your life line or love line or some other important line in your palm,
So hard to give your ususal cheerful effect of benignity
When you know your position is one of the two or three in life most lacking in dignity
And your mouth is like a section of road that is being worked on
And it is cluttered up with stone crushers and concrete mixers and drills and steam rollers and there isn't a nerve on your head that aren't being irked on.

Oh some people are unfortunate to be worked on by thumbs,
And others have things done to their gums,
And your teeth are supposed to being polished
But you have reason to believe they are being demolished.
And the circumstances that adds to your terror
Is that it's all done with a mirror,
Because the dentist may be a bear, or as the Romans used to say, only they were referring to a feminine bear when they said it, an ursa,

But all the same how can you be sure when he takes his crowbar in one hand and mirror in the other he won't get mixed up, the way you do when try to tie a bow tie with the aid of a mirror, and forget that left is right and vice versa
And then at last he says, That will be all, but it isn't because he then coats your mouth from cellar to roof
With something I suspect is generally used to put shine a horse's hoof,

And you totter to your feet and think, Well it's over now and after all it was only this once,
And he says come back in three monce.
And this O Fate, is I think the most vicious that thou ever sentest,
That Man has to go continually to the dentist to keep his teeth in good condition
When the chief reason he wants his teeth to be in good condition is so that he won't have to go the dentist.

-X-X-X-X-

My favourite part of the poem is -:

"So hard to give your ususal cheerful effect of benignity
When you know your position is one of the two or three in life most lacking in dignity"

image courtesy: www.dineshsoni.blogspot.com

The week that was

2008-09-20T22:02:00.000+05:30

What a fun week it was! Although, I must say as good as the trip was there is nothing that feels as good as your own bed. This was the first tournament I covered and it gave me quite a thrill to see some part of my press release finding its way into the major newspapers.

The best part and the worst part about the golf course was the fact that it was so far away. While it took an eternity to get there, once there, you felt so blissfully detached from the rush of the city. With the weather being at its best, there was very little else you could ask for.

I spent most of the day lazing around, covering a few groups and then slid back into my couch in the room that we were given in the clubhouse while I was not out on course. But it used to get hectic in the afternoon. I had to write the release as soon as the scores were in and dispatch it to all the contacts in the sports media across the country in a very short period.

It also gave me an opportunity to interact with the players, I guess the start of a few new friendships. I would be looking forward to the next tournament just to catch up with some of those chaps. The next tournament is sometime in November in the lovely city of Chandigarh.

I just wish there was some way to get to that course without having to do all that driving. It took the life out of me. Despite living close to Gurgaon, it took me a good hour to get there and that is the only thing I would like to change about the week.

The setup of the course was also so different from some of the courses I had been on previously. This one had a more links style feel to it and why not considering the fact that the owner of the golf course has not missed a single Open Championship in the last few decades.

-X-X-X-X-

Just a couple of pictures from the course-:

-X-X-X-X-

The bit that I loved was reading my press release in some of the Hindi newspapers. The best one was on the day I had started off saying "On a day when the sun god played hide and seek with the clouds....."

Here is a clipping from Hindustan. For some reason I found the translation of the first line very amusing-:

(Click on clipping to read the text)

Two Thoughts and a half

2008-09-14T19:02:00.000+05:30

Why is it that we don't understand that each time we react with rage to cowardly acts we are in a way strengthening their will and doing exactly what the terrorists want us to do, feel enraged, worried and in a way deranged. We have got to stop reacting like this.

I heard someone dish out the choicest of words, while someone else encouraged us to go out with sledgehammers and hunt down the people responsible for the blasts. What you guys don't realise is that you are happily falling into the trap set down by those people whose single aim in life is to leave civil society feel disturbed. They succeed in breaking the very fabric that binds together people with a conscience.

Once we lose that, then there is nothing else that can hold us together.

Quite often we spend too much time expressing rage and anger without really bothering to figure out why we are caught in such a situation. As individuals we must make an effort to act responsibly and ensure that we thwart every attempt made to disturb society as we know it.

Don't mistake me. I am not saying there should be no grief. I cannot recall how many many times we have had golgappas next to the Prince Pan Corner in M-Block Market after school. How many many times we have used that spot as a meeting point before we went to eat some place inside the market. All that I am saying is that this grief should not give way to the kind of madness that fails to differentiate between human beings and those who don't know how it feels to be human.

"In all things it is better to hope than despair"

- Anonymous

-X-X-X-X-

I am off on my first real assignment and my test at work starts tomorrow onwards and I cannot muck up. Spent the better part of the morning explaining to my dad how the game of golf works. After nearly an hour of patient explanation all that I got in return was " Golf just feels like a terribly boring game"

I have to leave at five in the morning tomorrow to be at the course by seven. Now that I am going to set up my temporary base in Dwarka for a week, I am looking forward to catching up with a few good friends after quite some time.

The two other things on top of my mind this week are-:

My first few golf lessons
Some good photography

Let us see how it turns out.

Karle tu Zyaada ka Iraada

2008-09-11T20:31:00.000+05:30

I absolutely loved this ad. It has been running on t.v. for the last few days and I fell in love with it the first time i saw it. Finally, I have managed to hunt it down online.

Nice hummable song and a brilliant storyline. It prompted me to come up with this gem-:

"When you have what you wish for, you wish for what you have"

NO Rifa, I did not flick that line from anywhere! Go ahead and have a watch. No idea how it is related to life insurance but a nice ad anyway.

Ba da Dum da da Dum

2008-09-10T20:35:00.001+05:30

When you cross two successive traffic signals just before the the light turns red and it reads 105 and 92, there is nothing else that gives you more joy. It is just the kind of thing that makes a long, tiring ride a joy ride out of nowhere

Had a fun day today. Was at a press con where Riya Sen was the main celebrity and for some reason I was looking forward to it. THAT, I must confess is worse than some guy who would perhaps waste time worrying about who will get chucked out of BIG BOSS this week. Tsk Tsk Tsk

Let me set the record straight. I was under the impression that Riya Sen was Raima Sen, which obviously was not the case. The lady was nothing more than a 'pretend celebrity' who would probably be ignored even if she poses and pouts in the middle of Chandni Chowk. No wonder then, her only claim to fame is a silly mms clip with some other wannabe star.

What made the day for me was being able to interview Shiv Kapur, one of the biggest Indian golfers, plying his trade on the European Tour. He was practicing at the golf club and under the pretext of wanting to do a story on him, I had a 40-50 minute chat with him. Now that I have had my little '15 seconds with the star', I need to make a story based on that conversation :(

The twist in the tale- Even Shiv Kapur asked me why I was doing Journalism after Engineering. Have had to fend off that question from a million people but never thought I would hear that from someone like Shiv!

P.S. Were we not supposed to be swallowed by a black hole a while back? Or have they not yet collided the particles 'down' in zurich?

Update: Vikram Chandra tells me, the actual collision will take place only a few weeks later.

Joy at 3:30 in the morning

2008-09-09T03:40:00.000+05:30

It's 3:30 in the morning. Federer has just saved two break points in the second set and the two guys are playing some amazing tennis. The kind of tennis that justifies getting up at this time when the rest of the world around you is still sleeping.

-X-X-X-X-

I just went outside in between games to spend a couple of minutes in the balcony and the weather right now is beautiful. Brilliant breeze hitting you in the face and not a soul on the street. I click a few pictures but nothing is visible in them. Proof that it is the dead of the night :)

Around six when I venture out, it would seem like it is the middle of the day. This is something that Krits and I noticed when we used to go the gym just around daybreak it would seem like it was too early. But once we started going a little bit before daybreak, 6:15 just seemed insanely late....

WHOA,,,, These guys are playing some tennis, Super Tennis. Wow!

-X-X-X-X-

There have been a few other occasions when I have had to get up at this time to watch a match. Back in 2006, it was around this time that I woke up to watch Yuvraj Singh try and guide India to victory in the last over. He hit two consecutive four's off Dwayne Bravo. We needed one run to win and three balls were still left. Bravo came in and bowled an amazing slower ball, and poof, that was that, we lost. The match finished around 3:45 in the morning and just a few hours later I had to trudge to I.P. College for a semester exam...

And another bit of MAGIC from Roger's racquet....Oh Wow. A beautiful pick from near the net, swinging forehand, the ball curls in and the champion goes up two sets to love....

-X-X-X-X-

Just once, I have actually been up till nearly four in the morning on the phone. If you want to 'talk', that is the best time, anytime after one and till a couple of hours before daylight. You will know more about the person in those few hours than trying to figure them out through hours of talking during the mundane hours.

WHAT a SHOT. A delectable drop with amazing backspin. The master is giving the young man a fine lesson....

-X-X-X-X-

It's going to be a long day. Anyone knows where I can buy a good cake ? If you do, please give me a buzz before six in the evening. It has got to be somewhere between Lajpat Nagar and Anand Vihar. Have to try and surprise a friend's dad on his birthday on 'behalf of my friend'. I hope he is surprised :). Yesterday, I wrote a feature story on a player after interviewing him sometime last week. It felt good. If you have time please go through the story and give me your feedback.

And the CHAMPION is back to doing what he does best, WINS another slam. Historic moment. He equals Sampras' record of Grand Slam wins. FedEx was back at his very best. I AM glad I was up to watch this match.

It's 4:30 and I reckon I can catch one hour of sleep. It was totally worth it.

WOOHOO. Roger IS BACK !

Update: 10:30 A.M.- It seems my dad was up at 02:30 to watch the match from the beginning. He went to sleep as soon as Federer won the first two sets. The weird thing is he is not even a huge tennis fan !

What happened to your beard, Sir ?

2008-09-07T10:00:00.000+05:30

The last couple of days, I have had the kind of sleep, one can only dream of (no pun intended). Pleasant breeze blowing into the room, the right amount of exhaustion and that morning dream just before you wake up that lingers on.

Yesterday was an oddity. Never before in my life have I woken up at 11:30, a real shame but if it counts for anything, there was a brief period between seven to eight in the morning, when I woke up, read the newspaper, idled around and then went back to sleep again.

And what a fun 3 hours of sleep it was, the kind where you long to sleep just a little more to let the dream continue for a little while more. Finally I was woken up by an Earthquake which was blissfully missed by most people.

The sleep last night was another one of those days. I was exhausted just the appropriate amount both physically and mentally, hung around till Roger whooped the Djoker but could not hang on long enough to see Nadal being sent scurrying around the court by the talented Andy Murray. A lazy day had taken a toll on me ~~and a mix of happy n irritating chats had come to an end~~ and I had dozed off before I could say Jack Robinson.

Another new morning dream, one that is still clear in my head for me to discuss it. The setting was surprisingly a classroom in college. I was surrounded by friends, but not the usual lot. A lot of friends I have always been cordial to, but never close enough to expect to see them in my dreams. These people were a mix of people from college, school and a few were brothers and sisters of people I knew in school who did not have any siblings. Strange.

Yet in the midst of these people I hardly knew, or let us put it this way, people I might have wanted to know better, I was having the kind of fun that made me want to sit in class, something I never felt in the real world ! Even a couple of teachers, I never thought I would see in my dreams.

I was sitting with Surabhi in class ( I wonder what she is doing these days, have not seen her after college). Anika, Jasmin and Shikha were sitting somewhere in the front (school folks I haven't heard from in the last 4 and a half years). I was merrily flirting with Ankita Kochar's sister( who does not exist) and there was Dr Gill teaching in class but with a black beard. What happened to the colour of your beard, Sir ?

Meaningless dream, but one of those that makes you wake up with a spring in your step.

That was Fun !

Boomshine

2008-09-07T09:09:00.000+05:30

It has come to my notice that there are a few regular visitors to this blog who come here just to while away time during office hours to play Snake and Copter. It is a serious nuisance for employers and we say....HooHooHaHaHa (Thanks Prerana for teaching me that laff !! )

This here is a game that had picked up quickly but then suddenly got yanked out of my uncle's blog and then people stopped discussing it. On the face of it, Boomshine looks fairly innocuous but has proved to be surprisingly addictive.

Instructions

Click on any part of the playing area
Try and create as big a chain reaction as possile
Sit back and enjoy the noise made by the bubbles( the high point of this game)

Cons

There are only so many points you can accumulate

Repeat Attempts are allowed

Does not help in determining who is the better player

I guess this game is not about competition. Just enjoy the chain reaction

Warning

Turn off the music on the bottom right of the main screen before you start playing. It is very irritating and does not sit well with the relaxed 'ambience' of the game.

Special Warning

TURN OFF THE MUSIC

No wonder then, Addicting Games is the version sponsor for this game

To me Mum and Dad

2008-09-03T09:35:00.000+05:30

When I was young, my sister was enrolled into a music school and her teacher always used to ask my mom to enroll me for music lessons. I don't know whether it was a calculated decision or they followed their heart but they were smart enough to keep me out of it. Unlike others who would push their children too much to make wonders out of them, my parents were smart enough to realise that only a vocal chord surgery would be able to fish out some form of musical talent from within me.

-X-X-X-X-

Fast Forward to a few years down the line and I was this kid who used to return from school, change his clothes, have his lunch and go out into the balcony with a tennis ball in hand and a makeshift bat and lose myself to my own make belief world of sports. Most parents would have contemplated doctor's help for their seemingly deranged kid. My Mom and Dad never ever discouraged me from it. Maybe that was the time, the first thoughts of wanting to become a sports journalist crept into my head and it was not nipped in the bud. This, despite the fact that a few neighbours used to ask them "Aapka beta pagal hai kya?" :-) .In fact, I remember my sister's friend asking her the same question in front of me!!

-X-X-X-X-

12th Class and my tryst with Brilliant Tutorials came to a rather abrupt end. The pressure got to me and it was just too much for me to handle. I had to quit and there was no other way out of it. All of a sudden, I began to doubt my abilities and I did not even know if I would be able to make it through the Board Exams. But my Mom and Dad were there with me, encouraged me to believe in myself again and provided the kind of support through that volatile period in July without which I would not have been able to make it through another 9 months in a board exam year. I don't know whether my results would be considered good or not but whatever it was, was due to their full support.

-X-X-X-X-

End of college and there were many roads leading out towards a new life. I chose a path that would have met with a lot of skepticism and most would have chosen to obstruct that path. But not my parents. They encouraged me to take the step and follow my instincts.They chose to support my new endeavour. Now that I think about it, it must have been a terribly hard decision to support me down a path not oft traversed, but they did.

-X-X-X-X-

They say you learn things along the way and my little honeymoon with my new venture came to an end. I decided to part ways and have started on another new adventure. While the past three months were truly educational, sometimes things don't work out and you have to move on. Most would have given up hope but my Mom and Dad still stood by me. They gave me the kind of support that I could only have dreamt of and helped me through the transition period. Buoyed by their support, I take a great degree of confidence into my new job and a belief that I would be able to move ahead with it.

While my 'pursuit of happYness' continues, they have always encouraged me to pursue my dreams and never ever discouraged me. They have stood by me on all occasions and as I drove down to office today I realised, they have always backed my dreams and stood by my side through out.

One day, I WILL make them Proud.

To me Mum and Dad, Thank You.

Compromise at what cost

2008-08-31T08:00:00.000+05:30

It happened for the first time in Bombay as the Hawaldar next to Gateway of India took the 20 Rupee note and walked away. I squirmed, felt uneasy and remained silent for the rest of the night. My sister narrated to the others in the car how I would start crying just at the thought of someone bribing a policeman. Maybe that was how I was when I was a kid. Maybe I had not grown out of it.

That was 3 years back. Today we had gone to India Gate to play with the fancy 10 buck frisbee while the Sun God chose to express all his warmth on an unusually hot day. After having had a good time, free of any inhibitions and terrible renditions of some song in 'Rock On' , we were on our way back and I jumped the red light. Then came the man in the dreaded Khaki outfit and asked me to park the car on the side.

With 5 others in the car, the haggling process started, he stated the laws, painted the facts, said everything possible to deter you from going to the court and asked us to furnish 400 Rupees. We started at 100, he squabbled a little more and finally we struck a deal at 200. The money exchanged hands and we drove on.

While I sit in the comfort of my house and write this piece, there is a sinking feeling that has engulfed me. There seems to be this great sense of loss that I cannot describe and I can assure you it is more than just the 200 Rupees debited from my Bank Account. It is as if I have started to compromise with my belief system. Today I let go of something that I cherished and held close to my heart, I don't know what it could be tomorrow. I was told "Such 'minor' acts can be condoned as long as you are honest to your conscience and do not commit an act that would hurt or harm someone else". All this is nothing but a compromise that you are making with your own way of thinking and the only thing that I can think about asking myself is Compromise at what cost?

It's frustrating, irritating and a lot of other such feelings that I am unable to express. There is a small token that my school gave me before I left, which is my most cherished possession. Today, I feel like throwing it out of the window because I have let down the faith entrusted in me by my friends and teachers. There are still many things I hold close to my heart but just like this I don't know how many other things I will let go of; These are the little acts of compromise that one makes to be seen as normal in civil society.

I just hope the traffic cops on duty can weigh heavy on us and tell us that there is no scope for discussion, the law of the land is supreme and no point in exploring 'other' options. We cannot get into the cycle of blaming everyone and everything in the system because it is a vicious circle. I failed the test of character, I can only hope that I can muster up enough strength the next time around to do the right thing.

What I know for a fact is that the next time I speak about corruption, I cannot get myself to make a convincing argument because I have not been able to practice what I have tried to preach. The sad part is, after a good night's sleep I will wake up without a feeling of loss. After all, I have 'Grown Up'.

First Day at Work

2008-08-29T19:30:00.001+05:30

How was my first day at work?

Hmmm.. Green Grass, Blue Skies, Cool Breeze and my first ride on a golf cart. Let me see, Not such a bad day, I guess. :)

That is not even the point. I did my first interview today. This was just supposed to be a 'get used to your team' kinda day because I am officially starting on Monday. Little did I know that I would be asked to go interview a player. I don't even know what answers he gave as he stared into the camera waxing eloquent about his game, future and god knows what else coz I was nervously playing the next question in my head before blurting it out.

For the record, the gentleman, was Gagan Verma, ranked 1096 in the World Amateur Rankings, but if it is any consolation, leading the seedings this year in India due to some impressive performances in the last few tournaments on the Amateur Tour.

Fine fine, you will see a small mention of the tournament in tomorrow's paper and an even smaller mention of Gagan's name coz he finished runner up and it will not tell you that he is the same chap who got interviewed by Mr Natarajan, but one thing I can tell you is that 3 weeks down the line when you see him speaking fluently on Ten Sports, you must remember then that it was me who was goading him to give a few decent answers!

Whatever be the case, I am pretty chuffed about the fact that I registered my first interview today. Last I heard, Tiger Woods was wetting his pants at the thought of being interviewed by me in the near future. :p

Yeay Yeay Yeay

My Workplace

Brand'ed

2008-08-29T07:00:00.000+05:30

Ever wondered how many products and brands we end up endorsing in a single day. I made a rough list and there were more than 30 brands that I seemed to endorse just because I use them on a regular basis. And they say Shah Rukh Khan has the maximum brand endorsements...tsk tsk tsk. Let me tell you, I do all this for free. In most cases I end up giving the brands money for promoting their cause. I am sure that is the case with most of you and I have a sneaky feeling most of the women end up endorsing even more brands.

Here is a breakdown of my day that was( One of the weekends, a couple of weeks back, I reckon)-:

05:30 to 07:00

07:00 to 08:30

8:30 to 10:00

10:00 to 12:00

12:00 to 15:30

15:30 to 18:30

18:30 to 22:00

After 22:00
Sorry guys. Anything after 10 in the night has got to be restricted to the strictly private domian. I think one has to be allowed a certain degree of 'privacy'. Ah privacy, what a lovely word (Not!, but that is another issue we will tackle some other day)

-X-X-X-X-

Quite unbelievable. Hard to believe we are so strongly chained to this highly commercialised world. I guess the advertisements obviously make an impact on our lives.

Try it out yourselves and you will realise just how many brands you end up endorsing in a single day.

Where the mind is without fear

2008-08-27T09:19:00.000+05:30

A few years back Just before I had joined college, I had gone for a short vacation to be with my cousin. There I had a very disturbing discussion with someone and it left me worried. I was frustrated to see so many believe that the very fabric of India is a facade and how inter-religious harmony is something that is a Utopian thought. I was told I was a kid who would grow up and understand the reality of life and how I would change my thinking accordingly. That prompted me to search for an answer and for a reaffirmation in my belief. I share with you the reply I got from my teacher. Ironically I got this mail on the 15th of August.

-----

Dr Anuradha Ghosh-:

I have lived by what I believe and that is exactly what I teach too. It is so easy to hate and spread the seeds of disunity but difficult it is to fight for a just cause, for equality, freedom and dignity for all people no matter what race, caste, religion, region they might belong to. I was born in a family that suffered the ravages of Hindu Muslim riots during partition as our ancestral home was in Bangladesh. Yet my father as well as uncle never saw it as an affair between communities while all others do. The rise of fundamentalism the world over is only the facade behind which lurks economic and power interests of the ruling elites in all communities.

What we need as individuals is roti, kapra and makan. We have no answers when farmers commit suicide; we euphemistically term starvation deaths as deaths due to disease; we create a violent order and mask our failings as individuals to fight for justice -economic, social and political. We feel secure in a make believe cocoon world and target the weaker to feel ourselves superior. Hence the blind war over Ram and Rahim, chinky and non-chinky, and the thousands of divides that tear our beings apart in a world that has suffered so many ravages.

Yet my faith in the human spirit remains unchanged. I believe in no God other than the will to achieve goodness in our self.The future cannot shake you if your conviction lies not in championing dogmatic national/regional/caste/ religious interests. The more you read and think the clearer will it be as to where from such thoughts emerge. You are 18 and at your age there were the Khudirams and Prafulla Chakis who died for the independence of this land. One might feel to what end. Perhaps to create symbols out of their lives that keep talking to us in the form of myths and legends keeping alive the power that we have to write our own histories and change the face of the institutions that enchain us by creating spectacles of our lives.

-----

While the country continues to burn from Orissa to Kashmir, I think what she had to say gains a lot more importance today than ever before. I just hope there are people out there listening.

P.S. Where in god's name have you disappeared ma'am? We need to get back in touch. Let me see if I can hunt you down!

Yol and the sands of time

2008-08-25T18:36:00.000+05:30

1. Apin-:

2.Anupam-:
3. Gautam-:

4.Siddu-:
5.Soumu-:

6. Mo-:
7.Adit-:

Dekh tere Sansar ki haalat kya ho gayi bhagwaan,

Kitna Badal Gaya Insaan !!!!

-X-X-X-X-

The first pic with all the cousins was taken in Yol, a wonderful little army town next to Dharamshala in Himachal Pradesh. It was probably my best vacation ever and this was in 94 or 95. The only one missing in this pic is Arti. If she had been there, I think it would have been the only pic with all the cousins together. We all have been together previously but a photo was never taken and whenever we made an attempt, invariably someone was always missing.

But yeah, if anyone of you is planning to buy a retirement home and has what in Delhi is called the "Approach", then get out there and book yourself a place in Yol. You will never regret the decision. Snow capped mountain peaks visible from the balcony, the pleasant weather throughout the year and the wonderful scenery all around, Yol is a place that must be visited at least once in your lifetime.

Add to that the playing facilities that are available and you will never ever want to leave that place. We were all so disappointed that the summer holidays had come to an end and we had to make our way back to the sticky weather of Delhi.

-X-X-X-X-

Talking about the sands of time, Apin is now married and with Arti set to join the club, time is flying by and of course that little matter of me being the next in line after them :X :D:D:D

Bollywood in Pakistan

2008-08-25T10:00:00.000+05:30

There has always been a great deal of love between the people of India and Pakistan thanks to Bollywood. Yet, why it is still banned from public screening in Pakistan is still a surprise to me. Even shady Yana Gupta albums make their way to the top of the charts in Pakistan. Was it not Laxmipathy Balaji who became an overnight hero in Pakistan thanks to a group of young women singing from the stands "Baalaajeee, Zarraaa Dheere Chalo"

Then there was the famous slogan coined by Pakistani fans in the 90's after the success of Hum Aapke hain Kaun... "Madhuri Dedo, Kashmir Lelo"

This was during the height of perceived animosity between the two nations! When Bollywood movies are so easily available in the Black Market and on cable t.v. , there is no real need to ban it. Public figures in Pakistan don't think twice before expressing their appreciation for some film star or the other, then why can't the Pakistani people be allowed to watch the movies on the big screen?

-X-X-X-X-

Someone who has always been associated with Bollywood has been Nawaz Sharif. Yesterday I was watching his press conference where he was expressing his grouse against Asif Ali Zardari for not reinstating the judges who had been sacked by Musharraf. How did he go about expressing his grouse? This is what he had to say(sing)....

"Kya hua tera vada; Woh kasam, Woh irada"

-X-X-X-X-

An excerpt from a book I read recently-:

During the tenure of Narsimha Rao, it was widely believed, Nawaz Sharif was in love with the sister of a famous bollywood actor. A worried ISI, issued a circular that said that the R.A.W. was using attractive women for espionage activities and that public servants should be vigilant at all times if an attractive woman approached them. The circular also said that about 50 attractive women had been infiltrated by the R.A.W. into Punjab to organise honey traps.

The circular, to the embarassment of the ISI was leaked. The "Frontier Post" in Peshawar came out with an editorial which made an appeal to R.A.W.-:

"Why this partiality towards Punjab? Even we Pashtuns love attractive women. Send us at least 10 because we are dying to be honey trapped by attractive Indian Women"

The I.S.I., I believe is still looking for a place where it could hide its face for that incident.

Strange but true!

image courtesy: www.bloomberg.com

Where the President is called Jimmy..

2008-08-24T04:30:00.000+05:30

It's a lazy Saturday afternoon and Garry continues to hurl a barrage of insults at me on GTalk. So I choose to shift my attention to the Namesake. Some things I thought I would share-:

The Best transformation: Moushami Majumdar, from the young girl who detests American Television to the one gyrating to Kamasutra beats on her wedding night.

Best One Liner: Irrfan trying to explain the intricacies of American Society-:

"With a President named Jimmy, anything can happen in this country"

The Most meaningful Scene: When Tabu slips in to Irrfan Khan's American Shoes and conjures up her first Great American Dream

The most well Acted Scene: Max and Gogol come over to visit Tabu and Irrfan. The East embraces the West. The differences stare you in the face.

Funniest Scene: When the Bengali Servant tries to explain how his heart will explode if he continued to run behind Gogol

Most Romantic Scene: When walking outside Victoria Memorial, Tabu asks Irrfan whether he wants her to say "I Love You the Aamerican Way"

Terrifying: The Wig that Kal Penn wore in the phase leading up to their India Holiday. It was worse than some of the hideous outfits that the beautiful Vidya Balan was made to wear in Heyy Baby.

Scary: There was something about the way that Tabu was informed about her Husband's death that made you wonder how one could live in a far off land away from family and the people you love and know.

Sekar Mama, I will miss you. I would have loved to spend a lot more time with you. To answer the question you always used to ask me, You are still my favourite Mama on that side of the Atlantic.

Scary 2: Again, the monstrous wig that Kal Penn sported leading up to the family's holiday in India

Most Thoughtful Line: "See the World, You will never regret it.

The End: What a drag, in a sense unfinished, but the director was staying true to the book and hence I would say that it was a good movie but not great

Tryst with the Book: I read most of the book sitting anxiously outside the dialysis room in R.R., in the first and second week of July last year

I am still to figure out what comes out of Gogol's Overcoat?

P.S. I might have missed quite a few moments. It was one such movie. If you have any favourite moments from this movie, do share it with me

-X-X-X-X-

I had gone to see this movie in Spice with Megs, Anuj and Sanjh. Another lot was watching the same movie in JAM. What was important was the fact that I chose not to exercise my right to vote( a crying shame) for the Club elections. In the presence of Mrs Pranava Manjari, the Lingua Franca elections were taking place and all reports seemed to suggest that the turn out was very sparse.

The results, thankfully represented the sentiments of most of the members. Rupali was wisely elected the President and Sid the Vice President. They did one helluva job, managing everything they were involved with in college along with this post. Good on you guys!

World Champion, eh? No big deal !

2008-08-22T11:35:00.000+05:30

Back in 2001 when another one of the usual days in school had just finished and I was trudging across the road to catch an auto I saw my mom standing outdside school.. Hmph, now that is never a good sign. Anything that isn't usual, you must always be wary of it. But what unfolded was truly one of the more magical days in my life.

My mom had come to pick me up to take me to R.R.(army hospital). Doesn't sound that great does it. You must have patience people! Viswanathan Anand was visiting the patients in R.R. as part of a promotional activity for N.I.I.T . My Uncle, an army doctor had duly informed me mother and asked her to bring me over to the hospital. Maybe a chance meeting was just possible.

By the time we reached R.R., the chance of a private meeting with Vishy had all but vanished and everyone had assembled in an auditorium where Vishy and his wonderful wife were to address the gathering. I thought to myself, something is still better than nothing and as long as I got to see him in flesh and blood I had nothing to complain about. Before the two of them had an interactive session with the audience, Vishy was scheduled to play a game of chess with 10 people simultaneously( He wasn't the world champion for nothing!). The players were a mix of patients and some senior army doctors and one of them happened to be my Uncle. While one by one the players sat on stage there was one seat vacant.

Yup you guessed it right! I was prodded by my aunt to go and occupy that seat because there seemed to be no other taker. There I was, a ninth class student who had just graduated from shorts to trousers playing against the World Champion. Vishy himself game me a hand and with that smile that never leaves his face, asked me to take a seat and we were all set for the 10 simultaneous matches.

There is something that has to be said about the fearlessness of youth....Looking around me, I gauged the situation and figured if he really had to play 10 matches, there is only so much he could think. I began to secretly fancy my chances. Vishy came to my table, gave me a hand and said all the best. He probably thought I was a little kid and he should go easy on me. I was the proverbial Wolf in Sheep's clothing. He should have read the look on my face for it was screaming out "Anand, you are in for a fight". I started with the classical King's pawn opening setting up the board for a three move mate.

A few iterations (enough time for my mood to go from amazingly effusive to abject dejection) later, Anand stuck his hand out yet again, this time to say well played although I knew he was saying to himself "This Schmuck seriously thought he could beat me??HOOHOOHAHAHA". I was the first of the 10 players to lose. The only consolation being that the rest of them followed suit.

The terrible part was that my Uncle was the last one to lose and he still gloats about that fact till date. His gift, a chess board, personally signed by the Champion. I use the same board to defeat my uncle again and again and again each time he chooses to chance his luck. Tough luck, Colonel !

As Vishy was making his way out of the auditorium, I was sitting in one of the aisle seats and he gave me a warm smile as if to say, maybe next time you will get the better of me! I am still waiting for my second shot at him....

I played against the best player in the world and a true sporting hero and I am darned proud about that :-)

-X-X-X-X-

On his way from Coimbatore to Chennai by train early in his career, Vishy was asked by a fellow passenger what he did for a living.Vishy replied " I am a chess player"

Wearing a slightly bemused look on his face the elderly gentleman said " Young man, you must do something steady in life. You cannot build your life playing chess unless you are a Viswanathan Anand" !!!!

image courtesy: The first one courtesy Tribune India and the not so pleasing cartoon courtesy Susan Polgar's blog

The Silent Stud and the Bimbettes

2008-08-15T11:24:00.000+05:30

Dl 1 P B 5117

There is something about a bus ride that always leaves you with a smile when you reach your destination unless of course-:

The bus is over crowded
You are accused of eve teasing
An oversized lady decides your toes are just perfect to balance her 90 Kg frame
The driver decides to try and understand the effect of Newton's law of motion
You feel the sensation of flying while trying to disembark

So, like I said, if that is not the case, then you are doing just fine. So when I decided to take the bus from C.P. back to work I am glad I did not regret the decision. Why a bus ride always fascinates me is becuse you get to observe so much around you in the bus and there is a lot to amuse you.

Eavesdropping is something I can never resist and thankfully I cannot switch off from my immediate surroundings. So I was privy to this conversation that two young girls, Neha and Ritika from Amity(college) were having-:

Neha and Ritika are listening to the radio and one of the songs from the abnoxious music album of Singh is Kinng is playing

Neha: Kat luks nyc in a sari in this song

Ritika: She luks nyc in anything yaar

Neha: Yeah, I know, She is bomb

Neha: I imagine Akshay and Katrina wala song sequence in my head.

What, What the hell is wrong with you lady, why would you imagine Akshay and Katrina in your head. Surprisingly the conversation never veers towards Katrina's nose, which I must confess has got to be the sexiest nose in the industry. Conversation resumes two red lights down the line-:

Neha: What will we do in TGIP

Ritika: Foodcourt. baithenge wahan aur kya karenge.

Ha! Now seriously, who does that? Go to a mall just to sit in the foodcourt( no no guys, I am not pointing an accusing finger at anyone of you)

Ritika: Oh, did I tell you, I loovved Ugly and Pagli! Mallika acted so well, specially in the second half

Neha: Of course yaar, what else do you expect from Rahul Bose?

Neha: You know what, I almost ended up not going for the movie because no one was ready for a mass bunk. I mean, why would they want to sit in class and study? I just don't understand!!

Ritika completely ignores the above and picks up the thread of conversation from Rahul Bose-:

Ritika: I even loved Pyaar ke Side effects. If only Rahul was handsome he would have been a superstar.

Whoa! Ouch! In Rahul's defence, I think a lot of intelligent women are head over heels for him.

Neha: Hmm, I loved Ranvir in the movie

Ritika: Yeah, Ranvir and Vinay are just brilliant

Neha: Did yousee Mithya?

Ritika : Yeah, I did yaar.

Neha: I think it was ok. Although it was an intelligent movie I really did not like it.

Hmm... agree with Neha, Mithya was not a good movie. It was a crappy movie hiding behind the veil of new age cinema. Sue me, for I expect a little more colour and a lot more humour( dark or bright) in a movie which has such a brilliant cast.

Getting back to the bus, besides a couple of people engrossed in deep conversation, there is of course the silent stud wearing those tight body hugging flaming jeans, leching shamelessly at any woman who does not have a moustache.

The arguing conductors, the usual fight for change and the enterprising young men who think they are the Smartest Alecs in town letting out the usual excuse, "Staff". May I add, they were unceremoniously 'discarded' at the next stop.

I think I would love to study Behavioral Science.

Alas, my destination came and my journey came to an end.

and as Amit says-:

Shabha Khair, Shubh ratri, Good Night..

Be the Change

2008-08-07T21:48:00.000+05:30

We have the power to be agents of change and we must not let the opportunity go by. Our country stands at the crossroads today with an exciting future in front of us but as we usher in the change we must keep in mind that without equitable development we can never hope to be a successful nation. As youngsters we have the power to be 'facilitators' of this change.

A group of Students from a Medical College in Chennai have started a wonderful organisation called Sangam India. Their main aim is:

"To adopt one disadvantaged community at a time and to guide it toward self-sufficiency and to provide support for a higher standard of living. They are especially focused on children, who are the leaders of tomorrow. They aim to foster in them a strong sense of civic responsibility."

They are presently working in a place called Ramavaram, a slum area in Chennai. Their operation mode is fairly simple-:

They use a "buddy-system" approach with the children to provide positive role models and to be able to pay personal attention to individual children and their specific needs. By organizing constructive and educational activities, they hope to combine education and value-based learning with recreation and team-building.

You could play a small yet pivotal role in helping them achieve success and enable them in carrying out their work in other parts of the country and also get many more young people to be involved in such a task to help society.

They need your help in whatever form possible to be able to bring about visible change. It could be in the form of-:

Financial Assistance
Books for Kids
Medicine
Clothing
Toys
Voluntary Work

Please help spread this message and do try and do whatever you can to help them make a difference.

For further information do visit their website www.sangamindia.org

If you can help in anyway please do come forward and extend your support. You could contact Rifa Khan, an active member of the organisation-:

tel: +91-9962001234 (Chennai Number)
email: khan.rifa@gmail.com

Alternatively, you could contact me on +91-9818224774 or reach me through email at sridinats@hotmail.com

For years I have used this quote, again and again and again on various occassions but I cannot think of a more appropriate line than this at this moment-:

"The future lies in the hands of those who believe in the beauty of their dreams"

-Elena Roosevelt

Do spread the word. Be the change.

Why, GOD, Why?

2008-08-02T11:15:00.000+05:30

Thank god she is beautiful !!

Beauty and Brains.. The Twain shall never meet. It's not like our beauty queens are much better anyway-:

Priyanka Chopra and the famous Beauty Pageant Goof Up

Venue: Miss World 2000, Final Round, Millennium Dome, London

Question: Who is the most successful living Woman

Priyanka's Answer: Mother Teresa

Fact: Mother Teresa passed away three years before Priyanka Chopra delivered her answer with such poise and grace on stage. Maybe she meant that Mother Teresa still continues to live in our hearts

Result : Priyanka Chopra was crowned Miss World.

No wonder then that Priyanka did not think twice before acting in a movie called Love Story 2050 with a red wig in one sequence!

O! How they con us with their beauty..

Barkha Dutt

2008-07-29T20:40:00.000+05:30

There is a great deal of aura associated with Barkha Dutt. Right from her days with Star News where she rose to fame along with Rajdeep Sardesai to her present status as the top news anchor on NDTV, people across this country have been fascinated by her. We even have roles sketched out in Bollywood based on her. We had Preity Zinta playing the gutsy reporter in Lakshya and more recently some new bollywood lass called Shriya Saran claiming that her character in Mission Istanbul is loosely based on Barkha.

While she has risen to the top as perhaps India's most recognisable face in the electronic media, through the way there have been many people who claim that all was not clean in her rise to the top. I remember, earlier this year, the day we won the test match in Perth, I was over at someone's place for Brunch and there I was talking to the business editor of Indian Express. He told me how early in her career, Barkha Dutt used to come for a press conference, accuse one of the fellow journalists of misbehaving with her, create a bit of a ruckus and pretty much intimidate everyone around her. The others then tried to keep distance from her and in the process she found it pretty easy to grab attention, ask her questions, make an impact and leave the venue.

There are many who claim some of her reporting from Kashmir was staged but I am not sure how much credence one can give to those comments. Whether she is arrogant or not, well that is a simple one, YES she is. Have noticed it a couple of times myself during the recording of "We the People" in the G.K. studio where she used to shout at whoever was listening to her at the other end in the production room during the ad breaks in a very derogatory manner. Even eavesdropped on a couple of journalists in the NDTV office expressing their disapproval about her style of work. She might be all nice and charming on T.V. with politicians but I guess that is how you have to act to be able to get that valuable line out of them. But I won't blame her for her arrogance, after all any poor soul who has the misfortune of calling Modern School Barakhamba Road as their alma mater is automatically 'elevated' to the arrogant category.

But whatever maybe her flaws or however crooked might have been her rise to the top she managed to bring to our living rooms the reality of war when she camped herself in the forward areas, a trait she obviously imbibed from her mother who did war reporting herself. Her reports that came out of Nagapattinam after the tsunami did give me goosebumps, that was the strength of those reports that she sent after tragedy struck on that fateful day in December a few years back.

The most poignant memory of Barkha Dutt's reporting will be that of Captain Vikram Batra answering Barkha's question on his motivation to fight for the country by saying "Yeh Dil Maange More". Unfortunately the brave soldier became a martyr soon after that interview.

Only on Second Saturdays....

2008-07-26T22:36:00.000+05:30

This is perhaps the best piece that has managed to find it's way into my mailbox. Each time I read it, I can't stop laughing. Hilarious, yet tragically true!. Who wrote this piece is a mystery but the initial chain mails suggested it was some guy from IIM-A. Read on to understand the travails of Single South Indian Men....

The Travails of Single South Indian men-1

Yet another action packed weekend in Mumbai, full of fun, frolic and introspection. I have learnt many things. I have gathered many insights into the endless monotony that is the love life of South Indian men. What I have unearthed is most disheartening.

Disheartening because comprehension of these truths will not change our status anytime soon. However there is also cause for joy. We never stood a chance anyway.

What loads the dice against virile, gallant, well educated, good looking, sincere (Kanna)diggas, mallus and tams?

Our futures are shot to hell as soon as our parents bestow upon us names that are anything but alluring. I cannot imagine a more foolproof way of making sure the child remains single till classified advertisements or that maternal uncle in San Francisco thinks otherwise.

Name him "Parthasarathy Venkatachalapthy" and his inherent capability to combat celibacy is obliterated before he could even talk. He will grow to be known as Partha. Before he knows, his smart, seductively named northy classmates start calling him Paratha. No woman in their right minds will go anywhere near poor Parthasarathy. His investment banking job doesn't help either. His employer loves him though. He has no personal life you see.

By this time the Sanjay Singhs and Bobby Khans from his class have small businesses of their own and spend 60% of their lives in discos and pubs. The remaining 40% is spent coochicooing with leather and denim clad muses in their penthouse flats on Nepean Sea Road. Business is safely in the hands of the Mallu manager. After all with a name like Blossom Babykutty he cant use his 30000 salary anywhere. Blossom gave up on society when in school they automatically enrolled him for Cookery Classes. Along with all the girls.

Yes my dear reader, nomenclature is the first nail in a coffin of neglect and hormonal pandemonium. In a kinder world they would just name the poor southern male child and throw him off the balcony. "Yes Appa, we have named him Goundamani.. ." THUD. Life would have been less kinder to him anyway.

If all the women Upadhyays, Kumars, Pintos and, god forbid, the Sens and Roys in the world were distributed amongst the Arunkumars, Vadukuts and Chandramogans, we would all be merry Casanovas with 3 to 4 pretty things at each arm. But alas it is not to be.

--xx--xx--xx--xx

Click here to read the rest of the story

Only on Second Saturdays..(contd)

2008-07-26T07:00:00.000+05:30

Only read this after you have read part 1 of the story. No Point in reading this without having read the first part. This is the second half to the brilliant piece written by god knows who, chronicling the reasons for why life is a struggle for South Indian men of conservative upbringing..

Travails of Single South Indian Men(contd.)

Of course South Indian women have no such issues. They have names which are like sweet poetry to the ravenous northie hormone tanks. Picture this: "Welcome, and this is my family. This is my daughter Poorni (what a sweet name!!) and my son Ponnalagusamy (er.. hello..).." Cyanide would not be fast enough for poor Samy. Nothing Samy does will help him. He can pump iron, drive fast cars and wear snazzy clothes, but against a brain dead dude called Arjun Singhania he has as much chance of getting any ...., as a Benedictine Monk in a Saharan Seminary. Couple this with the other failures that have plagued our existence.

Any attempt at spiking hair with gel fails miserably. In an hour I have a crown of greasy, smelly fibrous mush. My night ends there. However the northy just has to scream "Wakaw!!!" and you have to peel the women off him to let him breathe. In a disco while we can manage the medium hip shake with neck curls, once the Bhangra starts pumping we are as fluid as cement and gravel in a mixer. Karan Kapoor or Jatin Thapar in the low cut jeans with chaddi strap showing and see through shirt throws his elbows perfectly, the cynosure of all attention.

The women love a man who digs pasta and fondue. But why do they not see the simple pleasures of curd rice and coconut chutney? When poor Senthilnathan opens his tiffin box in the office lunch room his female coworkers just disappear when they see the tamarind rice and poppadums. They have all rematerialised around Bobby Singh who has ordered in Pizza and Garlic bread. How can a man like me, brought up in roomy lungis and oversized polyester shirts ever walk the walk, in painted-on jeans (that makes a big impression) and neon yellow-rib hugging t- shirts? All I can do is don my worn "comfort fit" jeans and floral shirt. Which is pretty low on the "Look at me daddy" scale, ... just above fig leaf skirt and feather headgear a la caveman, and a mite below Khakhi Shirt over a red t-shirt and baggy khakhi pants and white trainers a la Rajni in "Badsha".

Sociologically too the tam or mallu man is severely sidelined. An average tam stud stays in a house with, on average, three grandparents, three sets of uncles and aunts, and over 10 children. Not the ideal atmosphere for some intimacy and some full throated "WHOSE YOUR DADDY!!!" at 3 in the morning. The mallu guy of course is almost always in the gulf working alone on some onshore oil rig in the desert. Rheumatic elbows me thinks. Alas dear friends we are not just meant to set the nights on fire. We are just not built to be "The Ladies Man". The black man has hip hop, the white man has rock, the southie guy only has idlis and tomato rasam or an NRI account in South Indian Bank, Ernakulam Branch.

Alas as our destiny was determined in one fell swoop by our nomenclature, so will our future be. A nice arranged little love story. But the agony of course does not end there. On the first night, as the stud sits on his bed finally within touching distance and whispers his sweet desires into her delectable ear, she blushes, turns around and whispers back "But Amma has said only on second Saturdays... "

Mount Usu- Smokin' Aces

2008-07-24T14:45:00.000+05:30

Of all the exotic locations, I cannot think of something that has fascinated me more than Mount Usu, a live volcano in Japan.

While the world knows and recognises Mt Fuji as perhaps the most famous tourist destination in Japan, there is one major difference between the two. Mt Fuji as beautiful as it is, is a dormant volcano, one that has not spewed lava for a few centuries now. Mt Usu on the other hand is an active volcano. The last eruption was in 2000.

What made it so fascinating was the fact that smoke was rising from the volcano as we made our way to the top. We were taken right to the top by a ropeway . A nice pathway had been made for the tourists and right next to it was the very hot surface of the volcano. I still can't believe that we got the chance to go to the top of a volcano which was releasing smoke. This image taken by Amanda Kendle shows you the kind of view a tourist gets on top of Mt Usu

It was my Grandmom who first noticed the smoke from the base of the mountain but all of us laughed it off. After all, whoever heard of a cableway to the top of a volcano releasing smoke, threatening to erupt(well at least the possibility existed). But that was actually the case!

There is Lake Toya near Usuzan and it has a mountain within it made entirely by the volcanic eruptions from Mt Usu years back. Lake Toya was the venue of the recent G-8 summit and that is exactly the place where our Prime Minister was when the Left chose to withdraw support to the government which led to the trust vote in parliament.

This image from cache.daylife.com shows the smoke rising from Mt Usu before the eruption in 2000.

Getting to Usu is an adventure in itself.

From Tokyo you've got to take the Shinkansen(Bullet Train) till Morioka.and then switch trains to go to Aomori which is the northernmost tip of Honshu. From there you need to take a train to Sapporo the capital of HokkaidoThe real fun starts from Aomori. There is a 54 Km long tunnel that connects the two islands Honshu and Hokkaido. An underwater tunnel. Amazing architectural feat. What would have been even more awesome as my grandfather put it, is if we had been able to see the sea underwater like in SeaWorld. Now THAT would have been an experience.

I can think of a lot of natural wonders: Grand Canyon, Niagara Falls, Victoria Falls, The Great Barier Reef, Everest and many other places. Undoubtedly all these places are completely out of this world, but there is just something about getting to the top of an active Volcano that takes your breath away.

Prime Minister Mayawati

2008-07-22T18:15:00.000+05:30

Let me try and list out a few important reasons as to why we need Mayawati to become the Prime Minister of India-:

We need Dr Manmohan Singh the Economist not the Politician

We will stop worrying about a weak President once we are faced with the prospect of Mayawati as our Leader.

After the combination of Dr Abdul Kalam and Dr Singh we will have worthy replacements in the form of Pratibha Patil and Behen Mayawati as the two most important figures in our Democratic Structure

India for the last decade has seen consistent growth and we need to head in the other direction to satisfy the laws of Game Theory

If Carla Bruni can be the first lady of France, we too deserve a good dose of glamour in the higher echelons of power and Mayawati ji will be the one who will come to our rescue

I think I have pointed out in a fairly clear manner as to why for the benefit of our country we need Mayawati to lead us into the future.

Aarrrgghh. I can't do this anymore.

We are considering a future where the same lady who took money to build a mall in front of the Taj Mahal, will be the one who will lead us in the 21st century?

Bad enough our country has parliamentarians who go by the name Dharmendra and Govinda, I cannot bear to envisage a future where we might have someone like Mayawati imposed upon as the Prime Minister. That would be the day Democracy is defeated, for she will never be the voice of the people. Just the leader of an alliance cobbled together by opportunistic people with the sole aim of ensuring that India's future is doomed. May they never have the power to do that.

May other nations never get an opportunity to laugh at us because of those who lead us.

The only way to avoid such a situation is to strengthen our democracy in such a manner that Electoral Democracy just becomes a bit player and people strengthen themselves enough to ensure that the country runs on Auto Pilot irrespective of what the goons in parliament do.

-This is a disgruntled citizen making an Ardent Plea.

Image Courtesy: www.tribuneindia.com

Beach Volleyball in India

2008-07-20T12:14:00.000+05:30

When I found out that Chennai was to play host to a Beach Volleyball Championship, I felt slightly uneasy. Don't get me wrong, the city is one of the fastest growing cities in India and has all the amenities available to host an international event of repute, it even has the beach!

But for years I have built up a strong conservative image of the city, a city which loves to live within the walls of rigid practices developed and strengthened over years. This image of mine was partly aided by all the recent activities in the city. The 'uniform'ed colleges, the shackled night life, the brouhaha over public display of affection and everything else that could possibly be construed as an uninviting place for the youngsters.

In such a city the idea of a beach volleyball championship seemed improbable. The slim chiseled bodies, jumping around in the sand, with no more than a bikini to protect them from the voyeuristic gaze of the men who would turn up at Elliots beach, was it really possible?

As I write this piece, on the final day of the championship, one thing is for sure, that the people of the city have taken to the sport and it is not just because of the sex appeal the sport carries with it. The young, the old, the women and children and 'shockingly' even men have loved every bit of the action and want to see more such events.

The players themselves seem to have taken to the city and have had no qualms about playing in India. The report in today's Hindustan Times says, no lewd remarks, no catcalls, no ugly scenes yet. The tournament has been a great success and everyone has loved it.

Of course the rules had to be bent slightly to accommodate the Indian women who refused to play in bikinis. They were allowed to play wearing T-Shirts and shorts but barring that no other controversial issue has raised it's head.The neo-cultural hawks who operate under the garb of political activism have been kept at bay.

According to the FIVB officials, there is no difference in crowd behaviour between this and any other venue of the world. To be fair to the city, Chennai has always been known for sporting crowds and there is no greater testament to that fact than the wonderful ovation the Pakistani cricket team received at the end of a gripping test match back in 1999. But a mature and sporting audience at a Beach Volleyball championship in India is music to the ears.

Salaam Chennai!

The Beautiful Game

2008-07-18T18:27:00.000+05:30

Snake

The mobile game was perhaps the only reason I would look back at the first two years of college with any sort of fondness. The many hours spent in class maneuvering the snake through the tiny screen, the high score of 6,500 odd, that amazing conversation with Varuni's brother(Saurabh was witness to that), a play scripted around the phone because of my addiction to snake and the countless hours spent borrowing other phones after I had switched allegiance to Motorola.

Imagine the joy, when I stumbled across "the beautiful game" online.

Almost as good as the traditional Snake with a few changes-:

You cannot barge through the wall
No Bonus opportunities
The quicker the snake eats the food, the more points you get

Other than the few minor differences, it feels almost as good as the real thing. Three levels to suit your style. May I suggest the python as the level where you should be wasting time.

Arrow your way around the screen and spacebar to pause. Most importantly, 'M' to mute. You don't want your boss to discover how you spend time at work. Happy snaking!(no no, not the gujju version)

Let's play 24

2008-07-15T22:41:00.000+05:30

For some reason number plates have always fascinated me. If you are like me and drive around the city, you know that more often than not, rather than zipping around at 80kmph, you are more likely to be bunched up with a number of cars moving at a snails pace.

Here is a simple game that would keep you engrossed through all your long drives as long as there are other cars on the road.

Rules for 24

Note down the last four digits of some other car's number plate

One of the four digits should not be zero

Apply BoDMAS (Division,Multiplication,Addition or Subtraction on the digits) and try and convert the number to 24

Almost all of the four digit combinations on the number plate can be made to 24. Of course there are a few exceptions, i.e. 1122 or 1132. Come on guys, at least pick numbers that stand a chance!

Other than a few combinations almost all other numbers can be mathematically converted to 24

If you can't make 24, trust me the fault is at your end. These numbers have a special affinity towards 24!

Examples

Some car numbers-:

DL 3c E 5881

(8-5)*8*1= 24

DL 3c AZ 1824

8*(4-2+1)=24

HP 35 5673

(5+7)*(6/3)=24

DL 5C E 7832

(7-3)*(8-2)=24

These are just the numbers of a few cars that I know of and they pretty much fit into this bracket.

Trust me, this is one of the best ways to make a long car drive entertaining and it really helps if you are not that smart. That way it takes you more time to solve the puzzle for one car.

If you can't manage a number then don't assume the game is flawed, get back to me, give me the number and I will give you the solution. There are very few numbers that cannot be solved. Almost 80 precent of the cars on the roads without a zero in the last four digits come under the 'can be solved' category.

Drive safe, Think Smart

p.s. only cars you see on the road can be included, not stolen cars!

image courtesy: www.kangguru.org/

What's in a name?

2008-07-13T20:42:00.000+05:30

From:
Sridinats,
Random Blaber'er',
New Delhi, India

To:
Mr William Shakespeare,
Stratford upon Avon,
United Kingdom

13th July,2008

Subject: What's in a name?

Dear Sir,

In the year 1595 when you wrote the now famous novel Romeo and Juliet, a protaganist in the novel made an important statement-:

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet."

Please forgive me but I think it is important for me to tell you that in the Year 2008 there's a lot in a name. If I were to make the mistake of calling Rose by some other name, she might never ever come back to me. Worse still, what I did today shall continue to embarrass me for a long long time. The people who coined the wonderful term Faux Pas(faw pah) would have had my situation in mind while giving the word it's meaning.

As I went to a friends place to attend a merry get together, I could not for the life of me remember the name of a wonderful lady who had come to the party with Aastha. What made the matter worse was the fact that she remembered me(eeks). The issue finally ended with me having to cajole her into revealing her name. Don't think I would be hearing from her anytime in the near future.

Terrible eh? The trouble was not over. A little while later I gave another friend a whole new identity because I could not recall his actual name. Of course, this time around someone else pretty much "threw me to the wolves" by not correcting my mistake, before I actually publicly humiliated myself.

-------

A few years ago on a drive to Niagra Falls from D.C. we had stopped over at Burger King for a quick bite. My uncle tipped the lady there and also thanked her by name for her wonderful service. I was impressed. After all it is always cool to thank someone like that and all that he did was give the badge on her shirt a quick glance before thanking her.That is what revealed her name. Pretty Cool,I thought.

As we resumed our journey towards the border we stopped at a toll plaza. A very pretty woman at the toll booth returned the change and I employed the same trick as above, did the needful and said "Thank You Nysta". Instead of getting a warm/flirty/lovely smile in return all I got was a weird look. Almost as if she was trying to say "Who the hell is this jerk?"

For the rest of the journey my cousins could not stop laughing and I just could not understand where I went wrong. When enlightened, I could not stop laughing myself, I was a jerk.The lady at the toll booth had a badge on her shirt but it did not have her name on it. NYSTA, was not an exotic name, but an abbreviation for New York State Thruway Authority. Don't think I am gonna here from her either.

I apologise to Anupriya, Anchit and to whoever was representing the N.Y.S.T.A. that day and to you WIilliam I say, trust me, there's a LOT in a name.

Warm Regards

Sridinats

Summer of '03 in South Africa

2008-07-10T22:45:00.000+05:30

Nostalgia is a funny thing. You always yearn for more and you hope it never ends. Was just lazing around when the mind wandered to April 2003 and the trip to South Africa. It struck me that somewhere at my place there was a small cd container that contained all the cd's of that trip.

After nearly an hour of searching I found what I was looking for and spent another hour just going through the various cd's. Here is something that I thought I would share with you guys. Had to first convert the .dat file to a .avi file and then upload it on to youtube. Krits was the one who guided me through the process( that girl is smarter than one might think!).

This was outside Jan Van Riebeeck High School in Cape Town and the beautiful Table Mountain stood in front of us.

Have lost touch with most of them. Have no clue about Opu(the guy behind the camera), Kriti and Aparajita. Saumya is pretty much in town completing his degree in IIT Delhi. Aashini is also around and as for Arnab, megs tells me that he is off to Germany later this year for his post-grad. All the best Dada!

The Wallet Unravelled

2008-07-09T14:30:00.000+05:30

A wallet usually a tool for keeping money more often than not becomes a storage area of sorts for various kinds of documents. You never realise it but before you know, it becomes heavy and it's not because you have been blessed by the goddess of money. I thought I would just rummage through all that is there in my wallet and it was a nice trip down memory lane if you may!

First I thought I would empty all the money in my wallet. I was pleasantly surprised to find a One Yuan note that a shopkeeper in Beijing had returned as change. That along with the 500 Tanzanian Shillings and the good old Fifty Rupee note adds up to a nice princely amount of Rs 77. Thank God for the debit card.

--------X--------X--------X---------

Then came out all sorts of Identification material. A number of B&W photographs and colour photographs that I have religiously kept in my wallet.

There is of course the college I-D Card which was bruised and battered through the four years of college and despite the two pieces the Bar Code scanning worked just fine. As for the Driving License, well that is the most cherished possession of the lot.

This is a new form of identification which of course is a professional hazard. The title says "Corporate Manager". Sounded pretty fancy initially but now I just like to distance myself from it. It just has too much of a "corporate" feel about it and that is one thing that I would like to distance myself from in life!

--------X---------X--------X---------

I swear to god I have no clue how these things landed up here-:

->First Citizen Card from Shoppers Stop
-> ClubWest card for shopping in Westside

Hell, I am surprised how Kritika has not yet flicked it from me!!

--------X---------X--------X---------

The illustration says " It has been named after her recent world rankings"

The Slide is called the 'Sania Mirza Slide'

A piece of paper I never really loved but one that a good friend of mine Salil from Ahmedabad had given to me mocking my eternal support of the inconsistent tennis star. He specially got this cut out and handed it over to me calling it a "gift"

--------X---------X--------X---------

The Varuni Language

Wow! I can't believe that I found this. I still remember it was back in our first or second year during the middle of a terribly boring class(the usual) ,Varuni shared with me her 'secret' language. There was a different symbol for each alphabet.

I am not even sure if Varuni remembers this but it was definitely a pleasant surprise to find this in my wallet!

--------X---------X--------X---------

Last but not the least my Favourite item. The old grainy image was taken 8 years back. Anna on the left and Su on the right in that pic. Just look at them(!) Of course now they have grown up into gorgeous young women(images above the old pic) but boy they looked different back then. As for the image that has been lost to the past, that was Navtanay and apparently he looked adorable back then, that's what the girls say anyway!

Year 2008 -> Year 2000

*to take a closer look at each one of the 9 pics you can click on them to see the enlarged image*

Limewire addict?

2008-07-08T20:55:00.000+05:30

Name: Anupam Sanyal

Age: 20

Location: A dorm room in VirginiaTech

'Past' Hobby: Downloading his favourite songs from Limewire

Villain: MPAA

Case: Filed a notice against Anupam for "Illegally" downloading songs from a P2P network

Result: Anupam fined $4000 by the MPAA. Yes, he was asked to pay Four Thousand Dollars in an out of court settlement.

I guess this is what they meant when they coined the term 'Apocalypse'.

It's not only happening in the U.S. Check out this story about the U.K. music industry winning a case against online file sharing. Here are the highlights of the story-:

High Court judges ordered two men to pay the British Phonographic Industry between £1,500 and £5,000 for making thousands of songs available online.
.....

The two men, who the BPI decided not to name in publicising the cases, were accused along with three others of using peer-to-peer software to share 8,906 songs over the internet.
.....

A postman from Brighton, said he was unaware that what he was doing was illegal and did not seek to gain financially.His case was also thrown out, with Judge Justice Lawrence Collins declaring: "Ignorance is not a defence".

Reminds me of the line in Sweet Child o Mine... Where do we go now, where do we go?

Funny, I downloaded that song using You Know Who !

*The Above image courtesy photo number 467 in Anupam's facebook photo album*

The Helicopter Game

2008-07-08T16:03:00.000+05:30

The Copter Game

This is perhaps the best game ever and trust me, I don't use that term lightly. I cannot recall how many countless hours I have spent sitting in front of my PC playing this game, trying to improve my score.

Back in my "heydays", I had flown that copter past the trecherous terrain filled with so many obstacles to a distance of nearly 7650 meters. Now I struggle to get it past the 1000 meter mark. How times change. I guess the body has aged and the cockpit is not the place for me anymore.

The simplicity of the game is its greatest attraction.

Instructions

Click and hold the left button on the mouse to take the copter up.
Release the left button to make the copter go down
Avoid all the obstacles in the path and avoid the ceiling
Try and fly it to the maximum distance possible
Don't curse if you get an obstacle in your path which is impossible to cross. It happens!

Lets bless the amazing guys at www.seethru.co.uk for this great game

Finger Length Ratio

2008-07-07T21:55:00.000+05:30

While I sit and finish off my fourth "regular" Pizza for the day I notice that there are many people around the world who have wasted more man-hours doing stuff they consider far more useful than sitting at home and eating Pizza.. Hmph!

I strongly advice you to rubbish the following conclusions and keep in mind that half of these researchers have been widely discredited and their views dismissed (or maybe not)

So before you go reading further, I suggest you compare the length of your Index finger and the Ring finger and then read on-:

It has been found that people with longer Ring fingers than Index fingers tend to be good in Math as they possess superior numerical ability. On the other hand, people with a longer Index finger than the ring finger tend to be good in Verbal Ability.

Researchers over the years have agreed over the fact that men with much longer Ring fingers than Index fingers tend to be far more physically aggressive.

A critical observation in this field has been that boys with shorter ring fingers than index fingers have an increased chance of acquiring a heart disease and steps must be taken to ward off that threat.

It is believed that Women who drive their car on the other side of the road ( no, i am not talking about British women) tend to have shorter Index fingers as compared to their ring fingers. The usual feminine pattern suggests that the two fingers are usually equal in length or the Index finger is slightly longer.

Professor John Manning claims that he can predict the winner in a race based on the relative finger lengths of the runners. John Manning is in fact working with a Sports Academy in Qatar to help them identify future athletes based on his research.

I would love to hear from you and see if there is any truth to the conclusions that have been made by many scientists around the world.

For those of you who think that all of the above is a good amount of hogwash, well, you can always finger the research !

Gend'erred' Shirt

2008-07-06T17:51:00.000+05:30

We were in Reliance Trends (yes, and rumour has it that those boys are also getting into the notebook manufacturing Industry, phew) and my Uncle asked us, while pointing towards a fairly unisexual(?) shirt whether it was womens wear or menswear?

I had no clue and in my defence it was not outlandishly pink neither was it right out of the Peter England line. So, how do you know whether a formal shirt put up in the middle of nowhere is supposed to adorn the body of a beautiful woman or some clumsy man?

They say God lies in the details and a simple answer to that question is left over right and right over left... HuHh(yup, that was my pristine reaction.. aint i just great with words?)

Buttons on women's shirts are on the left and they are on the right on men's shirts. Notice the buttons on the left in the image-:

image courtesy:www.thomaspink.com

Enlarge the image and you will understand what I am talking about.

The next obvious question is, WHY?

Apparently we have history to blame for it. We can go back a few hundred years when men used to button themselves whereas the wealthy women had chambermaids to button the shirts for them. After all for the wealthy women during that time it would have been akin to hard labour to put on their clothes without any help. Soon they asked their tailors to sew the buttons on the other side so that most of their right handed maids did not waste too much time in dressing them up.

The question that begs to be asked is why is the practice still followed? I cannot think of many women out there other than perhaps Queen Elizabeth who would ask maids to dress them up and the last time I checked she did not think very highly of formal shirts!

Would it not be more convenient for most of the right handed women to have the buttons on the right side to make it easier for them?

While I was digging through the internet in search of an answer I found this-:

"They put buttons on the Left because if they didn't it probably wouldn't look Right"

Indian Open- Review

2008-05-06T10:32:00.000+05:30

New Delhi, Oct 12: The putter made contact with the ball, it traveled at an achingly slow pace, the fists clenched together, eyes trained firmly on the ball, ‘cluck’ and immediately the flagstick fell to the ground, the cap went traveling into outer space and wild celebration followed…

You could be mistaken for thinking that was how the final few moments panned out for Liang Wen Chong, the winner of the 45^th edition of the Indian Open but you would be wrong. The dramatic celebrations on the 18^th green were kick started by his caddie who seemed to be a perfect match for the stoic look on the face of the Chinese talent through the week. The only time Liang let go of himself and allowed the moment to sink in was when he was lifted almost forcefully off the ground by the young caddie who finally seemed to have passed on some positive energy and Liang obliged with a double fisted thump in the air.

The last few major tournaments played at the Delhi Golf Club have heralded the rise of a new star and it wasn’t too much to expect another Indian win this year. Jyoti Randhawa was on the verge of a memorable hat trick and more importantly seemed all set to write his way into the record books but that was not how the script played out. Joining him in the expectations bandwagon were Jeev Milkha Singh, just shy of breaking into the top 50 in the world rankings again, S.S.P. Chowrasia who stunned a quality field earlier in the year to clinch the Indian Masters and of course the story of the week, the return of the prodigal son, the two time winner on the PGA Tour, Daniel Chopra.

It was almost as if the media was not willing to entertain any other possibility. Everything seemed just perfect, a million dollar event, a course that has been a happy hunting ground for Indians in the past and you could feel that the stage was set for another Indian win but the man from Zhongshan had other plans.

To say that his win was out of the blue would be demeaning the achievements of this young star who has emerged as the torchbearer of Chinese golf and carried forward the baton from the Chinese veteran Zhang Lian Wei. An Order of Merit winner on the Asian Tour, he has done his cause no harm by becoming the first Chinese golfer to play at the PGA Championship and also the first one to make the cut at the Open Championship earlier this year.

He served an emphatic notice on the first day and never relinquished his lead after that. While the gallery was following Daniel Chopra, word soon got around that a Chinese guy was playing a super round. As the murmurings grew louder, you could sense a distinct buzz in the air as one of the leaderboards showed Liang at 12 under par, five clear of Jeev Milkha Singh who had played his best ever round at the Delhi Golf Club. A super round does not begin to describe the enormity of his achievement as Liang had smashed the course record. The same course where Ernie Els had vowed never to return after getting ripped in the bushes, a place most players end up visiting through the course of their round with a sense of religious fervor. Ironically, it could have been a 59 had he not three putted on the 18^th, a hole where you would struggle to do worse than a birdie. One cannot help but feel sorry for the little known Dutchman Guido Van Der Valk who took everyone by surprise, including himself, after he carded an 11 under in the second round. A day earlier, he would have been toasted as the story of the day, a day later, he was just another good round.

What was incredible about Liang’s conquest was the fact that he held on to the lead almost throughout the tournament except for a brief phase during the dying stages. Even in the third round, considered the moving day, the only thing close to dramatic was the Nilgai wandering across the 18^th green, blissfully unaware of the activity around him as the people on the grandstand wore a bemused look.

But like every intriguing battle, this too had a twist in the tale. Everyone had resigned to the fact that Liang was going to run away with the title and there was no stopping him. Young Australian Darren Beck made a brave charge on the final day but it seemed to serve the purpose of propping him up the leaderboard more than anything else, or so it seemed!

On the home stretch with five holes to play, the leader, quite inexplicably, made a bogey after failing to get the ball out of the bunker from a fairly easy lie. Was that a minor blip or could we sense a hint of wavering nerves? The next hole, it happened again. From the middle of the fairway, Liang miraculously made a double bogey and suddenly a lot more people were in contention. A good few groups ahead of him, Beck birdied the final hole and for the first time in the week there was another name on top of the leaderboard. The soothsayers sprang out of nowhere to spell the end for Liang wen Chong.

But champions are not the kind to topple over like nine-pins. A fabulous tee shot on the 17^th, hit the pin and left him with a 3 foot birdie which he gleefully accepted. The stage was set; a birdie on the last hole would seal the deal. His approach shot from the fairway landed right next to the greenside bunker leaving him with a fairly awkward stance to make a birdie in two.

As he stood next to the ball, his shadow stretched across the length of the bunker almost as if pleading to tell a story. But there was no more drama in store; he chipped the ball and it came to rest merely two feet from the pin. A steady putt and the Indian Open, after what seemed like an eternity, had a winner who did not go by the name of Randhawa.

The most poignant moment came when he posed for the camera, being coaxed by the people around to give the trophy a warm hug, he struggled to achieve that simple task. It took many retakes but the trophy was willing to wait. It had finally reached the hands of the most deserving candidate and it was in no mood to walk away. Finally, he managed that perfect pose and allowed the moment to be captured for posterity. On being quizzed about his plans to return, without batting an eyelid he said “I’ll be back!”